A year doesn’t pass at the Mail Tribune without its food section running a jam story — usually more than one — usually written by longtime, semi-syndicated columnist Jan Roberts-Dominguez.
This year is no different with this week’s A la Carte highlighting peach preserves, in particular. But whereas canning once seemed quaint, relevant only to “home economists,” as they were once known, the concept has taken off in recent years and now is prime fodder for foodies everywhere, including bloggers.
If you’re still looking to shake your county-fair, farmhouse-kitchen notions of preserving, check out some of the hottest blogs: Food in Jars, Tigress in a Jam, Anarchy in a Jar, Saving the Season and Eugene’s own Our Home Works, which documents efforts by couple Amy McCann and Matt Scheibe to eat as locally as possible.
The locavore movement with its seasonal emphasis has helped renew enthusiasm — in sophisticated circles, no less — for do-it-yourself culinary endeavors like canning. The only way, of course, to enjoy locally grown fruit all year is by preserving it.
But surpassing mere necessity, jams also have become vehicles for culinary creativity. They contain spices, herbs, florals, liqueurs and unexpected flavor combinations to create signature tastes and styles. This trend is evident in a booming niche market for boutique jams and other preserves, an ideal way for many small businesses to get their start.
If you’re unsure how to start preserving in your own kitchen, rest assured that it doesn’t require a huge investment in time, as Jan attested in this week’s column. Bloggers have the same message: Preserves are meant to extend the season a little bit, not indefinitely.
“We’re not trying to put something up for the bomb shelter 10 years from now,” Saving the Season author Kevin West told the Los Angeles Times. “But if it’s apricot season, maybe you just put up 5 pounds of that, and you’ll enjoy it until September.
“And in September, when you’re out of apricot jam, then you can put up some pears and maybe apple jellies. And then you can enjoy that into January when the citrus is really hitting its peak … and you’ll get five jars out of that. And that will carry you through strawberry season, and then you’ve got five jars of that, and then you’re back at apricot season,” says West.
“You’re making and eating jam all year-round, and then you never have to make this huge effort to make ’a year’s worth’ of something.”
LA Times food writer Russ Parsons agrees and detailed his technique in a recent story for making small batches of jam, instead of using farm-wife recipes that call for 6 pounds of fruit. The end product, says Parsons, is intended for refrigeration because it’s not that much. And you use less sugar and no added pectin, making this suited to slightly underripe fruit. Of course, you have to be a fan of a slightly looser texture. Here’s the basic method:
Cut up the fruit and weigh it. Add an equal weight of sugar. Bring it to a boil on top of the stove and then let it sit overnight to macerate. The next day, finish the jam a couple of cups at a time in a nonstick skillet. Cooked over medium-high heat; it’ll set in less than five minutes.
The benefit of this process, says Parsons, is it takes only about 30 minutes total, and the small batches are easily adapted to a variety of distinctive additions for flavoring. He advocated lemon verbena, rose geranium and basil in nectarine jam. Try his recipe.
Perfumed Nectarine Jam
2 pounds pitted, cut-up nectarines
1 3⁄4 pounds sugar (about 4 cups)
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 teaspoon chopped lemon verbena (or 2 teaspoons chopped basil or 1 teaspoon chopped rose geranium)
In a large, heavy-bottomed pot, stir together the nectarines and sugar until thoroughly combined. Warm over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until mixture is liquid and flowing. Bring mixture to a full boil, stirring occasionally to keep from sticking. Remove pan from heat, stir in the lemon juice and set aside for at least 8 hours to give fruit time to macerate. If you’re going to leave it for more than a day, refrigerate after 8 hours.
When you’re ready to finish jam, ladle 2 to 2 1⁄2 cups fruit and syrup into a nonstick skillet and place over medium-high heat. Add the lemon verbena and cook, stirring constantly, until mixture falls from side of a spoon or spatula in sheets, or until a drop of mixture spooned onto an ice-cold plate gels and is firm, about 3 to 5 minutes (add 2 to 3 minutes if mixture has been refrigerated).
Spoon mixture into a container and refrigerate until ready to use. If you prefer to can traditionally, you can follow instructions from jar manufacturer.
Repeat with remaining fruit and syrup.
Makes about 5 cups.
