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!

Days of Wine and Walnuts

This past weekend I volunteered with the Tour de Green Belt, a biking and local food adventure tour through the greenbelt of Ontario. There are 4 different tours showcasing different regions- two were held in the Niagara/St Catharine's area this past weekend. The Niagara region is mainly known for vineyards and orchards so it was fitting that our home base was Henry of Pelham's. My original plan was to ride one of the tours but somehow I didn't get organized to bring my bike so I spent both days helping out at main event. Which worked out fantastic as I found plenty to see and do without ever leaving the winery!

Henry of Pelham Estates is currently owned and operated by three brothers, Matthew, Paul and Daniel Speck. Their father Paul Speck was a descendant of the original settlers of the property, Nathaniel Smith and family who were awarded the deed to the land in 1794. Henry Smith, the youngest of the 7 sons used his portion of the property to build an inn and tavern which operated under many names until the existing buildings were purchased by the Speck family in the mid 1980's. The Smith family burial plot is still located on the property and now carefully preserved as a monument to Loyalist settlers. There's even a plaque commemorating Nathaniel's history as a member of Butler's Rangers, who fought on the side of the British in the American Revolution.


Surrounding the burial plot are a
number of ancient fruit trees; in the midst of these I was surprised to find an English walnut tree! From Daniel, the youngest of the Speck brothers, I learned that this particular tree had been planted in memory of their father who passed away in 1992. It's now a full sized tree producing buckets of walnuts which Daniel graciously allowed me to pick!



Daniel who is a wealth of knowledge of the region explained that the surrounding area is heavily populated with black walnut trees and part of the Black Walnut Trail. The earliest settlers, mainly Loyalists and German Mennonites who left the States during the Revolution learned to recognize the black walnuts as excellent indicators of the type of land they wished to settle on From the Grand River Trails Association site:

The pioneers followed the "Trail of the Black Walnut" which clearly stand out in the fall when leaves have been dropped and its fruit is clearly exposed . It indicated a deep, rich, moisture-holding soil, light enough to be easily penetrated by its taproot and hence easily tilled by the would-be farmer. The trunks of such trees have good lumber. It became the source of the well-known furniture industry of the region.

Daniel also led a Dirty Hands bike tour on both days which were designed for families with young children. We toured the vineyards, tasting different grape varietals and the end results: wine for the parents, grape juice for the kids! We saw the weather station and learned how technology helps them produce the best crops without harming the environment. The vines are not irrigated so they are dependent on the water table; Daniel described how they are using old school methods like weeping tiles and layers of wood chips to help clean the water of excess phosphates. They've also invested in and designed netting that protects their grapes from being nibbled on, but still allows local wildlife to use the vineyards as corridors between the wooded areas that surround the fields. It's easy to see why Henry of Pelham was the first vineyard in Ontario to be Local Food Plus (LFP) certified.




Back at the main camp, participants were treated to a barbecue lunch featuring local produce- amazingly sweet bi colour corn ( bushels of which were shucked by the volunteers), a delicious pasta salad loaded with local veggies, and from the grill, hot dogs and burgers topped with local onions, lettuce and field tomatoes. For dessert there were baskets of fresh from the tree pears, apples and peaches. There was even a farmer's market where you could buy Coronation grapes, more juicy peaches, and nine varieties of apples including some you won't find at the supermarket like Golden Ginger and Paula Red.

After lunch I was able to slip away and do some exploring on my own and in a near by wooded area I found the black walnuts. Just as suggested they were easy to find; the leaves have already begun to turn brown and fall but the walnuts hung in large clusters looking remarkably like limes. I was able to pick about two dozen staining my hands in the process. I brought them home along with the English walnuts and a bottle of Cabernet-Baco from the wine store on site. The walnuts will quickly get eaten and used in preserves, the wine will likely be sipped over a meal sooner than later but the memories of two days in the Niagara fields will stay with me for a long while.

For info on upcoming Tour de Greenbelt events, check out:

http://www.tourdegreenbelt.ca/

September 25^th in York Region

September 26^th in Durham Region

I'll be there, this time with my pretty pink bike !