JAM ~~ French Style
You’re going to say that it’s the wrong time of year to be making jam! I say, it’s never the wrong time of year! Whenever you come upon just right, ripe produce, picture perfect, the time has come.
My neighborhood market has a large produce section and sometimes there is fruit that is just ripe but tomorrow will be over-ripe and pulled from the shelves. This fruit is often reduced in price for quick sale and that’s when I buy it, take it home and turn it into jam. Of course, it is heroic or heroine-ic (feminine for heroic) to go into the country and purchase pecks and bushels of fruit and I formerly did that when my family was still at home growing up, but now since the troops have thinned and most of my jam making effort goes for gifts, the grocery store is a good fruit option.
My taste has never much run to jams/ preserves and jelly even less, but the French method has changed my taste buds forever. We were at Biarritz airport after visiting friends in Saint-Jean-de-Luz in the very most southwest crook of France; Basque country, bordering Spain. Fabulous area and I was regretting having to leave. Wandering around the airport looking for a bit of France to take with me, I gravitated toward the local artisan food display and ended up purchasing a jar of plum jam, mostly because of the creative packaging. A few weeks later, upon opening and serving the jam, the taste nearly blew us away. Fortunately, the ingredients were printed on the label: Mirabella plums, sugar and lemon zest (translation mine!)
Doing a bit of research, I found that the Mirabelle plum is a specialty of the French region of Lorraine where the climate and soil are ideal for cultivating this fruit and 80% of the Mirabelles consumed globally are grown there. What a perfect fruit for french jam, but not something I’m going to find at the local framer’s market! Never mind, we can duplicate the simple method of production with any number of fruits and have astonishing results: Equal weights of fruit and sugar, plus the zest and juice of one lemon. The French are very much purists when it comes to food and would never use such things as powdered pectin. This recipe works; I have used it successfully over and over with all sorts and combinations of fruits. Fruit with a very low level of natural pectin such as cherries, do not thicken well, so we simply use them as toppings or ‘thin jam’ as we call it. Sometimes, toward the end of the boiling process, I add a bit of natural essence of almond to the cherry jam; excellent.
Recently, I combined peaches, plums and nectarines which work together into a wonderful flavor. It’s very good to serve with poultry as well or glaze hams.
1. Wash the fruit, remove stones and cut into walnut sized pieces.
2. Using kitchen scales weight the fruit and put into a heavy, thick bottomed pan. 3 pounds is about the maximum amount to work with.
3. Weigh an equal amount of granulated sugar and add to fruit.
4. Place over low heat and prepare to be patient. Cooking too fast will only scorch the fruit and burn the pan. Stir frequently.
5. While the fruit is coming to a boil, grate the zest from a clean lemon, then squeeze the juice from it. Add all of this to the jam.
6. Once the fruit has just begun to boil and become soft, taking care not to burn yourself, use a hand held blender to break down the fruit. I prefer to have plenty of pieces of fruit in jam, but blend until you arrive at your preference of consistency.
7. It is difficult to say how long to cook the jam as that relates directly to the water content of the fruit used. But keep at a gentle boil until the jam temperature stabilizes at 219° F to 220º F. Personally, I do not use a thermometer, but when the preserves look to have reached a good consistency, I spoon a little into a saucer and see what it does as it cools. When you like the thickness, it’s time to put the jam into containers.
8. Sometimes I make just enough of this divine concoction for a couple of meals so it goes from the pot to the table. Just imagine the treat of fresh hot strawberry jam over biscuits or French toast or waffles, or…..otherwise it goes into hot, sterilized jars and sealed. A proper cooking expert will tell you to put the jars through a water bath. I never do that, but for liability (!) purposes, must tell you to do so.
This is a very simple, no fuss approach to jam making and the results will please and astound you, I feel certain.
My neighborhood market has a large produce section and sometimes there is fruit that is just ripe but tomorrow will be over-ripe and pulled from the shelves. This fruit is often reduced in price for quick sale and that’s when I buy it, take it home and turn it into jam. Of course, it is heroic or heroine-ic (feminine for heroic) to go into the country and purchase pecks and bushels of fruit and I formerly did that when my family was still at home growing up, but now since the troops have thinned and most of my jam making effort goes for gifts, the grocery store is a good fruit option.
My taste has never much run to jams/ preserves and jelly even less, but the French method has changed my taste buds forever. We were at Biarritz airport after visiting friends in Saint-Jean-de-Luz in the very most southwest crook of France; Basque country, bordering Spain. Fabulous area and I was regretting having to leave. Wandering around the airport looking for a bit of France to take with me, I gravitated toward the local artisan food display and ended up purchasing a jar of plum jam, mostly because of the creative packaging. A few weeks later, upon opening and serving the jam, the taste nearly blew us away. Fortunately, the ingredients were printed on the label: Mirabella plums, sugar and lemon zest (translation mine!)
Doing a bit of research, I found that the Mirabelle plum is a specialty of the French region of Lorraine where the climate and soil are ideal for cultivating this fruit and 80% of the Mirabelles consumed globally are grown there. What a perfect fruit for french jam, but not something I’m going to find at the local framer’s market! Never mind, we can duplicate the simple method of production with any number of fruits and have astonishing results: Equal weights of fruit and sugar, plus the zest and juice of one lemon. The French are very much purists when it comes to food and would never use such things as powdered pectin. This recipe works; I have used it successfully over and over with all sorts and combinations of fruits. Fruit with a very low level of natural pectin such as cherries, do not thicken well, so we simply use them as toppings or ‘thin jam’ as we call it. Sometimes, toward the end of the boiling process, I add a bit of natural essence of almond to the cherry jam; excellent.
Recently, I combined peaches, plums and nectarines which work together into a wonderful flavor. It’s very good to serve with poultry as well or glaze hams.
2. Using kitchen scales weight the fruit and put into a heavy, thick bottomed pan. 3 pounds is about the maximum amount to work with.
3. Weigh an equal amount of granulated sugar and add to fruit.
4. Place over low heat and prepare to be patient. Cooking too fast will only scorch the fruit and burn the pan. Stir frequently.
5. While the fruit is coming to a boil, grate the zest from a clean lemon, then squeeze the juice from it. Add all of this to the jam.
6. Once the fruit has just begun to boil and become soft, taking care not to burn yourself, use a hand held blender to break down the fruit. I prefer to have plenty of pieces of fruit in jam, but blend until you arrive at your preference of consistency.
7. It is difficult to say how long to cook the jam as that relates directly to the water content of the fruit used. But keep at a gentle boil until the jam temperature stabilizes at 219° F to 220º F. Personally, I do not use a thermometer, but when the preserves look to have reached a good consistency, I spoon a little into a saucer and see what it does as it cools. When you like the thickness, it’s time to put the jam into containers.
8. Sometimes I make just enough of this divine concoction for a couple of meals so it goes from the pot to the table. Just imagine the treat of fresh hot strawberry jam over biscuits or French toast or waffles, or…..otherwise it goes into hot, sterilized jars and sealed. A proper cooking expert will tell you to put the jars through a water bath. I never do that, but for liability (!) purposes, must tell you to do so.
This is a very simple, no fuss approach to jam making and the results will please and astound you, I feel certain.
posted by Bobbi at
9:20 PM
1 Comments
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