pear jam with fresh sage & honey

oh my, i almost missed my own can jam selection month! it seems that fall is almost everyone’s favorite time of year by the response to the november selection of fall only type fruits like apple, pear, and quinces. it’s mine, too. this is a lovely, delicate and floral preserve that i hope you enjoy. equally nice with a nice triple cream brie, walnuts, and crusty french bread or your morning toast.

pear jam with fresh sage & honey (makes 10-11 eight ounce jars)

7 lbs ripe bartlett pears

juice of 2 lemons

4 c sugar (i use organic cane sugar)

3-4 tbsp local honey

2 -3 tsp aged white balsamic vinegar

1 small bunch fresh sage

peel and core pears. chop into small dice and place in large bowl with lemon juice, turning and covering pears with juice as you cut. add sugar and mix. cover and place in fridge overnight. place in large pot and simmer for about 20-25 until pears are almost translucent. puree with an immersion blender until a small amount of pear pieces remain. simmer for about 15 minutes until thickened. remove from heat. add honey, vinegar, and sage. taste after 2 minutes to test sage infusion – and every minute thereafter until desired level of flavor is reached. be careful, it can get strong quickly.

process for 10 minutes in a water bath.

texas peach pickles

at last glimpse, our heroine had just started a preserves company called ‘confituras‘ and she was about to embark on a long, arduous journey that would take her to parts unknown. well, my friends, i am here to tell you about the great beginnings my journey has enjoyed. firstly, my time at the farmer’s market has exceeded expectations so much so that i am pinching myself weekly. it has been a near sell-out every week. and, beginning in a few weeks, i will start at the triangle farmer’s market on wednesday afternoons. secondly, the food community here in austin has been supportive in ways that i would have never imagined, both in coming to buy my confituras at the market and encouraging other like-minded folks to do the same, and in the press i have received thus far: first this lovely blog, then this one, then this other one. then edible austin got a piece of me, then our local newspaper. holy smokes, people! you sure know how to make a girl blush! and lastly-my friends and family, many of whom have been long-standing guinea pigs testers and tasters, volunteers, web designers, label makers, sous chefs and the best cheerleaders a girl could have.

and now on to more interesting things. i first saw this recipe for pickled peaches in the texas monthly in october of last year. ‘texas, our texas’ peaches may be small, but flavor trumps size and fredericksburg offers some good ‘uns. i have waiting patiently for almost a full year to make it. and although i have to admit that i have sneaked some from  the jar, the hardest part is happening now: i am awaiting the marriage of flavors that occurs in a jar full of fruit, vinegar, sugar, ginger, allspice, cloves, and cinnamon. and i will wait until thanksgiving. this is southern tradition, folks. the preserving happens at the peak of peach season. the enjoyment happens at a special place at the most special time of the year~the holiday table. it is also tradition to stud the peaches and preserve them whole but i decided on doing it my own way-a more conservative half peach swimming amidst it’s warm holiday spice soak.

texas peach pickles (makes 6-7 pints)

8-10 pounds small texas peaches, peeled, pitted, and halved

lemon juice or crushed vitamin c tablets for aciduation (to prevent browning)

1 quart distilled white vinegar

5 cups organic cane sugar

1 small knob ginger, peeled and left whole

whole cloves-5 for each jar plus a tbsp for the syrup

whole allspice-5 for each jar plus 1 tbsp for the syrup

cinnamon sticks-1 for each jar plus 4-5 for the syrup

place vinegar, sugar and spices in a large stock pot. heat until simmering to dissolve sugar. add peach halves, bring back to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 3-5 minutes. turn off heat, cover and allow to stand overnight where the peaches will plump up and say howdy. sterilize jars and prepare canner and lids while you heat this mixture back up to the boiling point. add 5 or so whole cloves and whole allspice and hot peaches to hot jars. add 1 cinnamon stick to each jar and top with syrup and adjust for 1/2 ” headspace, removing any air bubbles as you go. process for 20 minutes in a hot water bath. wait until thanksgiving or christmas dinner to enjoy them!

zucchini marmalade

so the main reason i wanted to participate in this year-long canning challenge was to learn a few things not only about canning, jamming, pickling, etc. but also about the personality and behavior of the actors (aka produce) going into the jars. i have gardened for about fifteen years and some of these plant genera are still foreign to me. for instance, i had never heard the term ‘cucurbits’ in my life, although most in this family of plants are very familiar to me and i’m sure to you as well: summer and winter squash, cucumbers, gourds, and a whole mess of melons. this month’s challenge was to get one of these preserved in jars.

i knew immediately what i needed to do when this category was announced: correct that bad feeling i had when i made cucumber pickles last year. they were disgusting. i swore that i would remedy that when the opportunity arose the following summer. but when i went to the market looking for pickling cucumbers, wouldn’t you know it, there were none to be found. so in the meantime, my dearest friend, kathy, gifted me with what she referred to as a ‘steroidal zucchini’ from a garden she had been caring for earlier in the day (along with almost 10 pounds of figs–i know i choose my company well). she wasn’t kidding–look at this thing! it’s not the type of zucchini that tastes good in just a simple saute. this motha needed to be baked in a bread or….made into zucchini marmalade! ever since i came across the idea of making marmalade out of zucchini, i have been intrigued. the resulting concoction is a bright, sunny citrus spread with, yes the color of zucchini flecks but also the nutritional whallop of the squash. i used a full two-thirds of this in the double-batch i prepared using the recipe below. i feel healthier already.

zucchini marmalade (4 half pints)

adapted from dinner with julie and ball complete book of home preserving

2 lemons

1 large orange

1 medium-large zucchini (about 2 cups grated on large holes of a box grater)

2 cups water

4 cups sugar

wash lemons and orange well and grate using the largest holes on a box grater. place in a large pot or preserving pan with the water. peel some of the white pith from the lemons into large pieces and place in in the same pan (you will be removing these later, so size matters as you will have to fish them out).  simmer for about 30 minutes.

meanwhile, finely chop the flesh of the lemons and oranges (after removing any remaining pith and all seeds). remove the pith from the pot and add in the lemon and orange flesh and the grated zucchini. bring back up to a simmer and allow to slowly cook for about 20 more minutes. add in sugar and bring to a boil, taking care to monitor that the mixture doesn’t foam up and boil over. boil gently, stirring often so it doesn’t stick to the pan, about 30 minutes. check temp with a candy thermometer or, my preferred method is the wrinkle test to test for gel set.

ladle into prepared jars and  process in a water bath for 10 minutes.