Adventures in Preserving 4 and 5: Plum Jam and Gingered Courgette/Zucchini Jam

The next two jams I tried (a couple of weeks ago) I had full recipes for - from the preserving course.

The first is a plum jam recipe. I used three types of plums:


And then did the usual boiling and sugaring and boiling:



And it ended up as jam!



The other recipe I wanted to try was demonstrated at the preserving workshop day. It's called "Gingered Courgette Jam" which for some reason does sound better than "Gingered Zucchini Jam." For some reason, it feels like it would be normal to make a jam out of courgettes, but not out of zucchinis, even though they're exactly the same vegetable.

Anyway, we got to taste some on the workshop day, and it was pretty good - almost like candy, actually, because of the ginger. And I had a couple of courgettes that I had grown (yay!) that were getting a bit too big to eat normally, so I thought it was worth a try, especially since it was enough to make half a recipe - not a whole one, which I thought might be too much.

So you start out by peeling and grating the zucchini/courgettes and ginger - which is what turned out to be the most time-consuming part, since I don't have a food processor (poor me):



And then you do the normal boiling and sugaring and boiling:



And it also ends up as jam.

We haven't tried the courgette one yet, but I have been eating the plum jam, and it's pretty good. I tried the variation that uses orange juice and some nutmeg, which gives it a nice flavor.

Here they all are, plus two bottles of the previously mentioned shrub. I'm now up to four bottles total of shrub, having finished off my second batch this last weekend.


So not a bad output, considering I'm brand new to it, and not taking it too seriously. And it's not just about jam, as you'll soon see...

Adventures in Preserving 2 and 3: Raspberry and Blueberry Jam and Red Currant Shrub.

After my preserving course, I'm now trying my hand at jam and other preserve making. Here are the first two experiments of the last couple months:

After the failed marmalade attempt, I thought I need to try jam. I had some raspberries and blueberries available, so I thought I'd just try to put them together. I didn't have a recipe for that mix - so I just winged it.

I forgot to take a picture of the process, but here's the end result:


And here it is, in action:


It ended up being a bit too strong. I'm not sure what I did wrong - not enough sugar, or not the right flavors together, but it just wasn't all that great. I'm glad I only ended up with two jars of it! I guess I'm not quite experienced enough to go off recipe. But the consistency was really good, at least, so I got something right.

One thing that they let us taste, but didn't demonstrate, on the preserving course, was an old-fashioned drink called "Currant Shrub." It's like Sloe Gin or any other fruit flavored alcoholic drink. In this case, it's red currants and brandy. I liked the taste of it on the day, though I don't go in for those kinds of drinks normally. It tasted just like Christmas, and the longer it sits the better it is, so I thought I'd make some for this holiday season.

You start by getting the juice from the red currants:



Then you need to strain the juice out. I don't have a jelly bag stand, so I rigged one up using two potato mashers, and some other kitchen objects, including a jam jar filled with water, acting as a weight to press the red currant juice out:


Then you mix the juice with the alcohol, plus some lemon juice and nutmeg and let it sit.

Like this:


After a week or two (or three - as I accidentally did the second time I made it), you add sugar and raise its temperature to around 60 degrees Celsius. Then you strain it through a jelly bag and bottle it up. Then you let it sit for a few months. Hopefully it will be just about right by the time Christmas rolls around.