CanJam # 12- The Grand Finale- Dried Fruit

Sniff. I can't believe it's over already. Seems like it was just a few days ago that I read about the CamJam on Well Preserved and convinced Colette to sign up with me. Actually she didn't take much convincing; since the first time I taught her how to make my dad's dill pickles she's been a complete convert. But she's also been a bit of a silent partner on this journey- we both thought she'd be a regular addition to the blogging portion of the challenge but other than one guest post in Feb she hasn't really had time to contribute her thoughts. Which is a shame really- if you knew her in real life you know she's as chatty as I am and and canning with her is more fun than work! So it seems only fitting that she chose this final recipe and actually wrote about it!

Colette:

My friend & fellow can-jammer Heather is a wonderful writer and extremely creative. This is why I’ve left the stories to her. For the dried fruit CanJam, we made Pear Port Compote – from the Bernardin Guide to Home Preserving.

Pear Port Compote

5 cups prepared pears – washed and cut into little pieces

1 cup each golden raisins and dark raisins ( we also added some dried cranberries)

Juice and zest of 1/2 of one lemon and one orange

¼ cup dried apricots - chopped

¼ cup packed brown sugar

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1 tsp ground nutmeg

¼ tsp ground ginger

Pinch of pickling salt

½ cup walnuts, chopped

½ cup port

Peel, core and chop 10 cups of pears.

Combine raisins, apricots, zest and juice of lemon and orange, brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and salt in a nonreactive pot. Add pears and bring to a boil, stirring occasionally. Simmer with lid on for 30 minutes.

Uncover and boil about 15 minutes until thick, stirring frequently to prevent scorching. Add walnuts and port and boil for 5 more minutes, stirring constantly.

Ladle into sterilized jars, leaving 1/2 " headspace, and add seals and rings. Process for 15 minutes in a hot water bath.

My pears were picked from the neighbour’s tree earlier this summer and saved in the freezer for a perfect recipe like this one. I have no idea what kind they are, just that they are definitely local. My port was actually an amazing find during our summer holiday from a farmer’s market in Quebec City- it's called Portagen and it's made from berries, chokecherries and other delicious local fruit. I was saving it for a special occasion – and what’s more special than our year-end can-jam?

The recipe for the Pear Port compote says “Like fine wine, aging improves the flavor of this product (best used with a year). Spoon the compote into tart shells or pie crusts. For a rich, decadent dessert, serve warm with a dollop of whipped cream” which is just what I plan to do. YUM. Hey Heather – maybe we can try it with your mom’s Blanche Mange!

Heather:
I loved this recipe as soon as I saw it because I had something in mind but hadn't figured out a way to put it into action. Back in Sept I wrote about my adventures at Henry of Pelham Winery (see Days of Wine and Walnuts). Since then I'd been mulling around the possibility of making a preserve using both the wine and the walnuts. The Pear Port compote seemed like a good jumping off point so here is my take on it that I'm calling Pelham Preserves. We divided the original recipe in half and included some of the remaining pears I picked in Oct with Not Far From the Tree. By incorporating other ingredients found in the Niagara region where the winery is located and using the walnuts I picked on site as well as the wine it was a way of capturing the spirit of that weekend.







In place of the raisins and apricots I used 1 1/2 cups of mixed dried fruit which included apples, cherries, blueberries and for colour tho they aren't local to Niagara, a few dried cranberries. I also added some whole spice- cloves, allspice and star anise. And because the wine is less concentrated than port I used a whole cup of Henry of Pelham's Cabernet Baco 2006 vintage. I allowed the mixture to cook down slowly, concentrating the the flavours and the results are sublime- it's like Christmas in a jar! It's fitting finish to the year and I'll be proud to give it as gifts.



It's been a wonderful year of preserving adventures and I want to send a big thank you to Tigress [Tigressinajam, Tigressinapickle] for organizing the CanJam. She did a fantastic job of reading and commenting on all the recipes each month for the past twelve! I'm sure when she originally set this in motion she had no idea the response would be so huge and it can't have been easy to keep tabs on all the submitters every month. Thank you for challenging us, for keeping it fun and for not laughing at us as we bungled our way through pickles and pectin. I sincerely hope the CanJam continues but I won't blame you if you decide to pass the torch or retire it altogether.

This is what a year's worth of CanJamming looks like.

So cheers to Tigress and all our fellow CanJammers- now I'm going to go crack open a jar of something delicious and polish off the bottle of wine. A toast to all of us! Let the festivities begin!

CanJam # 11 Spiced Apple Rum Jelly

The year is winding down and winter is knocking at our door. We haven't seen snow yet in Toronto but it won't be long. The frosty weather and waning daylight makes me crave warm beverages like apple cider and mulled wine, not only for the taste but for the smell of cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg and allspice simmering on the stove.

Our choices for CanJam # 11 included apples, pears and quinces. I'm still dying to try working with quince but have yet to discover a source for them. I have a few pears left but I'm still hoping to sugar dry them- it's a lovely way of preserving but it doesn't involve canning. So that left apples of which I have copious amounts left from the last renegade pick. Turns out my apples are a variety of Delicious apples- I didn't recognize them because apparently I have never actually tasted a Delicious apple until now. Those deep red tasteless things they sell in supermarkets bear no resemblance to the intense flavour and colour of these gems. The tree I picked them from is likely close to a century old. It's the tallest apple tree I've ever seen, towering over the three story building it grows beside. I could pick only the lowest branches even with a ladder and picking pole; most of the fruit I gathered was windfall which thanks to the muddy ground below was intact and bruise free. I ended up with about 60 lbs of apples from two picks that way. If the building is still unoccupied next year I'm going to ask the owner if I can pick from the 3rd story windows since the best fruit was high out of reach.

So we had our apples and on a lovely fall Sunday my sister Meghan and I trekked over to Colette's with a bagful for an afternoon of canning. It was an ambitious day- we were also making red onion jam again because we can't seem to make enough of that stuff( see CanJam #3 )

We decided on an apple jelly but didn't have a particular recipe in mind. So we cut up the apples ( about 4 lbs), leaving the skins and cores and added them to a pot of water ( about 5-6 cups) and left them to simmer on the back burner while we made our onion jam. When the apples were soft we strained the liquid through cheesecloth and put it aside while we came up with a plan. I had made a gorgeous apple jelly with Thai basil from these apples a few weeks earlier and was delighted with the rosy pink jelly they produced. This batch was more tawny than pink and made us think of hot buttered rum. Like mulled wine and apple cider, hot buttered rum also makes use of spices like cinnamon, nutmeg. cloves and allspice and what better way to capture those flavours than in a jelly? Colette just happened to have some Appleton's Amber Rum on hand so using my basic apple jelly recipe and comparing notes on alcohol infused jelly ( we depended heavily on Shay of Hitchhikingtoheaven.com/) we came up with this lovely creation!

Spiced Apple Rum Jelly

4 1/2 cups of strained juice from cooked apples (see above)
4 cups sugar
2 tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp whole cloves
1 tbsp whole allspice berries
2 cinnamon sticks
2-3 slices of fresh ginger
1 tsp fresh grated nutmeg
1/2 cup amber rum

In a non reactive pot add juice, sugar, lemon and spices. Grated nutmeg, ginger and cinnamon sticks can go straight in, place cloves and allspice in a spice bag or teaball. Heat to boiling and stir frequently. Cook it until it gets near gelling point and add rum. Reheat until it starts to sheet from the spoon- check for set using cold plate in the freezer. When it's reached gel point, remove whole spices and quickly pour in jars.


We added one clove and one allspice berry to each jar for appearance. Add seals and tighten rings to fingertight. Place in boiling canner pot for ten minutes. Remove and allow to cool.



This jelly turned wonderfully, gorgeous to look at and seriously delicious. Just ask my sister -if she ever gets her head out of the pot.

CanJam # 9 Local Peach Loco Jam

Every month it seems like the Canjam posting deadline comes faster! Maybe it's because I've been so busy canning everything else. I feel a bit like a squirrel this time of year- Winter is coming! Must save food!

September's pick for the CanJam was stone fruit which includes peaches, nectarines, apricots, plums and cherries. Colette and I did cherries in June, I've done plums and apricots in July and both peaches and nectarines in Aug - this crazy hot summer made everything ripen so early! But one of the most appealing things about the CanJam is that it's challenged us to work with new ingredients and recipes and we've both learned so much! So for Sept we decided that our goal was to try to create something entirely local. We didn't put a specific distance factor to it but homegrown was first choice where possible and locally farmed/grown was next.


We started with peaches- I wasn't able to pick any myself this year but at our local Farmer's Market I was able to get peaches from Two Century Farm who are near Grimsby, not far from where I spent last weekend. Two Century is so named because the land has been farmed by the same family since 1788! Beginning with John Smith who arrived from the US in 1787, right up to Duncan Smith the current owner, the Smith family has been farming that land for over 200 years. I wonder if they are related to Henry ( Smith) of Pelham and if they followed the black walnut trail as well?( see previous post).




We wanted a spicy jam so we used hot peppers that I grew on the roof- a mix of red and green jalapenos and one golden habanero. We charred the peppers over a flame to remove the skins and intensify the flavours; another time I'd love to try smoking them instead.






For sweetener we used the last of the maple syrup we made back in March using sap from Colette's maple tree see . And for pectin we used the apple pectin I made earlier this summer from green apples, thanks to Tigress for the directions! We made just a small batch as a tester and we're pretty pleased with the results!





Local Peach Loco Jam

7 cups peaches, peeled and sliced
1/4 cup of hot peppers, roasted and skins removed
1 1/2 cup maple syrup
2 tbsp lemon juice
1 cup apple pectin

In a large sauce pan cook peach slices and hot peppers over med- low heat until soft. Use a potato masher or immersion blender to mash peaches until blended. Add maple syrup and cook mixture on low for 5 -10 minutes until well blended and starting to thicken. Turn heat to high and add lemon juice and pectin. Bring to a boil and boil for one minute. Pour in sterilized jars and process for 10 minutes in a hot water bath.


The jam is lovely and peachy with a nice afterburn. We omitted the lemon juice step ( no such thing as local lemons! ) so our jam didn't really set but it has a nice thick texture, with chunk of peaches so I actually like it better that way. And we can proudly say it's truly local!

Maple Syrup in the City and other projects to beat the winter blahs

It's minus 15 C without the windchill today but the sun is shining and it makes me antsy to be doing stuff. Indoors of course. I am not one of those crazy Canadians that likes the cold. I'm a big fan of winter sports as long as I'm inside watching them on tv. ( Can't wait for the Vancouver Olympics!) So to keep myself from going completely stir crazy I need projects- lots of them!

So far I have kept myself pretty busy. This past week I had lunch with my aunt to update her on my genealogy research. She gave me a ton of photos to scan (with my new scanner!) and lent me a pile of books- a new series that I am devouring in quiet moments. I also met with Brenda Dougall Merriman who was kind enough to share her research on our mutual family name ( but sadly not mutual ancestors) She also introduced me to a fantastic book -History of the Counties of Argenteuil, Quebec & Prescott, Ontario., written in 1896! ( Okay maybe it's only fantastic if your family is from there or you are some kind of Canadian history nut).



Colette came over for an evening of CanJam planning. We decided in the interest of fairness we would each pick one recipe, make them both and have a taste off before making our final decision. We perused an number of recipes, some old and some new and narrrowed it down to two, with a back-up if we can't obtain the ingredients we need for one of our first two choices. Then because we were all fired up and I had lemons in the fridge, we made preserved lemons just for the heck of it. We did two different versions- one based on Joel from Well Preserved's lemon confit which uses a lot of salt and another version that suggests you crush the lemons slightly in the salt to release the juice and tops it up with more lemon juice. Both jars are currently doing their thing on my window sill and it will be a few weeks before we can test the results. We'll be making one of our chosen CanJam recipes tomorrow!



The most exciting project- Maple syrup! The gang at Not Far From the Tree have a new project- tapping maple trees and making syrup right here in downtown Toronto. Crazy? Ambitious? Brilliant? We'll see! Right now we are just in the planning stages so there's not much to tell. I'll post more when we have an actual plan!