Category Archives: jams

Strawberry Jam with Mint, Basil & Habanero

10 July 2011 by local kitchen

It’s cruel to do this to you, I know, since strawberries are long gone in most parts of America. But I still have some fresh, local strawberries in the fridge (albeit they are starting to look a little peaky), and they are just coming into full season for our friends in the North. If you are one of the lucky ones that still has fresh strawberries in your neighborhood, or one of the industrious ones who put-up a few pounds in […]

Categories: basil, berries, canning, hot chile peppers, jams, mint, preserving • Tags: berries, canning, chiles, food, local, preserving, recipes, strawberries

Rhubarb & Black Currant Jam

30 May 2011 by local kitchen

I feel like some tout in a seedy doorway, at once bored and alert, tossing out my banter with practiced skill, repetitious yet intriguing, tacky yet titillating. Except, instead of GIRLS! GIRLS! GIRLS!, the neon sign over my head blinks RHUBARB! RHUBARB! RHUBARB! “Come on and get your rhubarb heAH, just one taste my lovlies, just one taste, it’s sweet, it’s sour, it’s tangy and tingly, step right up now, step right up!” Maybe I should just throw in the towel on […]

Categories: canning, currants, jams, preserving, rhubarb, spring, summer • Tags: canning, cooking, currants, food, jam, local, preserving, quince, recipes, rhubarb

1-2-3-4 Citrus Jam

14 March 2011 by local kitchen

I’ve been sick since Wednesday’s epic 9-hour air travel adventure coming home from Toronto. (Yes, Toronto to New York. Nine hours. Did I mention there was curling and bad airport beer involved? Sigh.) Nothing major, just a cold I’m sure, but since I’m almost never sick, I’m completely impatient with the whole process. Like I figure a 2-hour nap and a tall glass of OJ ought to fix me right up. And when it doesn’t, I’m totally cranky: What? You’re […]

Categories: breakfast, canning, citrus, jams, preserves, preserving, winter • Tags: canning, citrus, cooking, food, local, marmalade, preserving, recipes

Tartilicious Concord Grape Jam

6 October 2010 by local kitchen

I came back from Maine with 13 pounds of Tai’s grandmother’s homegrown grapes, a Concord varietal that are amazingly delicious. So I’ve been busy this week with various batches of grape jam, jelly and syrup. I wish I could share with you the smell of the house as these grapes cook down into jammy goodness: delicious hardly does it justice. Delectable, delightful, swoonworthy. All of the above. This jam is as simple as it gets: grapes and a little bit […]

Categories: canning, fall, grapes, jams, preserving • Tags: canning, cooking, dessert, food, local, preserving, recipes

Tomato Jam

2 October 2010 by local kitchen

I was going to name this “Marisa’s Former Coworker John’s Wife Amy’s Tomato Jam” but it seemed a bit of a mouthful. No disrespect to Amy, or to Marisa, but this is one of those recipes that everyone seems to adore and I simply… don’t. Granted, I made a whole bunch of changes, so I can’t say that I really tested the original recipe, but it did start out somewhat close to the original – I just kept adding more & more […]

Categories: canning, jams, preserving, seasons, summer, tomatoes • Tags: canning, condiments, cooking, food, local, preserving, recipes

Can Jam: Nectarine, Pear & Chile Jam

16 September 2010 by local kitchen

September already and three-quarters of the Can Jam entries tucked away in the pantry, dreaming of winter. Where did the year go? I have to admit that when Miss Kate over at Hip Girl’s Guide to Homemaking announced stone fruit as the September Can Jam fruit-of-focus, I’m sure I let out a huge groan. Having just preserved about a bizillion-and-one pounds of peaches, not to mention plums, apricots and nectarines, I thought that I was done with stone fruits for the season. […]

Categories: Can Jam, canning, fall, hot chile peppers, jams, peaches, pears, preserving, summer, wine, beer & liquor • Tags: canning, condiments, cooking, food, local, preserving, recipes

Caramelized Pear Jam with Vanilla Bean

13 September 2010 by local kitchen

“Burnt” is such an ugly word. “Caramelized” is so much prettier, inspiring visions of caramel apples, gooey caramel melting into a sundae, or caramel candies festooned with America’s favorite pork product. Let’s face it, there is a fine line between “caramelized” and “burnt” and it is mostly one of taste: does it taste good (caramelized) or bad (burnt)? In fact, the very definition of ‘caramel’ can be “burnt sugar“ (although most do not put it quite so crassly). So why […]

Categories: breakfast, canning, fall, jams, pears, preserving • Tags: canning, condiments, cooking, dessert, food, local, preserving, recipes

Peach Jam with Caramelized Onion & Basil

27 August 2010 by local kitchen

I was thinking of saving this recipe for the September Can Jam but; who am I kidding? We all know that I couldn’t wait that long. And it gives me the perfect excuse (as if I needed one) to dig in to peaches, plums and nectarines one more time before the season ends. This is another Michel Nischan preserve (he of Strawberry Rhubarb & Caramelized Onion Jam, Pickled Sweet Peppers and Blueberry, Lemon & Chilé Jam fame) and while, once again, there were […]

Categories: basil, canning, jams, peaches, preserving, summer • Tags: canning, condiments, cooking, food, local, preserving, recipes

Red Raspberry & Dark Chocolate Refrigerator Jam

5 August 2010 by local kitchen

“So what convinced you to sacrifice good chocolate to a jam?” Nadine said. I had to laugh. My friend Nadine is a certifed chocoholic, as am I, and like most chocoholics, tends to like her chocolate in its purest form: chocolate. Whether it be melted into a cake center, heated as a drink, or a sweet square morsel after dinner, good quality chocolate is so purely indulgent, in and of itself, that it seems the ultimate in lily gilding to gussy […]

Categories: berries, chocolate, dessert, jams, preserving, summer, year round • Tags: berries, chocolate, cooking, dessert, food, local, preserving, recipes

Blueberry, Lemon & Chile Jam

25 July 2010 by local kitchen

Run, don’t walk to your nearest blueberry patch and make this jam while blues are still in season. This one is classic Nischan: pure blueberry flavor, accented with the tang of lemon, and just enough sweetness to off-set the surprise heat of jalapeno and habanero peppers. So good that this is my second batch in as many weeks and I’m contemplating a third. Worth firing up the canner on a 90-degree, 99% humidity July Sunday – it’s that good. Adapted […]

Categories: berries, breakfast, canning, cilantro, citrus, hot chile peppers, jams, preserving, summer, year round • Tags: berries, blueberry, canning, chile, cooking, food, lemon, local, preserving, recipes

Can Jam: Black Cherry, Rhubarb & Red Wine Preserves

24 June 2010 by local kitchen

You might think I’m stuck in a can-jammin’ rut: last month, strawberry, rhubarb & Amaretto sauce. This month, swap sweet black cherries for the strawberries, red wine for the Amaretto, and Bob’s your uncle, it’s practically the same recipe. Except it’s oh so not. When I think of preserves, this recipe is exactly what comes to mind: chunks of fruit, just barely broken down by a quick-as-you-can boil, suspended in a thick, syrupy glaze that is not stiff enough to […]

Categories: Can Jam, canning, cherries, dessert, jams, preserving, rhubarb, spring, summer, wine, beer & liquor • Tags: canning, cooking, food, preserving, recipes

Strawberry Rhubarb Preserves

26 May 2010 by local kitchen

How many strawberry-rhubarb recipes does one girl need? Apparently, you can never have enough. Or that’s what it seems like lately, with strawberry rhubarb crumble, strawberry rhubarb Amaretto sauce, strawberry rhubarb caramelized onion jam and today’s contribution, a Ferberesque strawberry rhubarb preserve. Not to mention last year’s contributions of a local, made-with-honey and a reduced-sugar jam. What I should be telling you about on the rhubarb front is the Sweet Cherry Rhubarb Pastry that I made yesterday for the US […]

Categories: 100% local, berries, citrus, jams, preserving, rhubarb, spring • Tags: berries, canning, cooking, food, preserving, recipes

Can Jam: Lemon Lavender Marmalade

18 April 2010 by local kitchen

April’s Can Jam assignment was herbs, which are, according to the Tigress “generally considered the leafy green parts of a plant (flowers, too!) while spices are derived from other parts of the plant, particularly the seeds, berries, bark and roots.” It’s a lovely category; wide open with choices, and I’m excited to see what the variety & inventiveness of the Can Jammers can deliver. Problem is, here in New York, as Marisa reminds us, April really is the cruelest month: things have […]

Categories: breakfast, Can Jam, canning, citrus, herbs, jams, preserving, winter, year round • Tags: canning, cooking, food, local, recipes

Christine Ferber’s Pumpkin Jam with Vanilla Bean

24 March 2010 by local kitchen

Sigh. I tried – I really tried. Following this conversation on Tigress’ blog, regarding my disappointment in the recent purchase of Mes Confitures, Christine Ferber’s famous jam & jelly cookbook, I decided that, in order to give the cookbook a fair shake, I would attempt one of the recipes, as is, without any tweaking from me (you have no idea how hard this is for me). Since I had lots & lots of pumpkin to use up, I decided to try […]

Categories: canning, citrus, fall, jams, preserving, winter, winter squash • Tags: canning, condiments, cooking, local, recipes

Pumpkin Cascabel Marmalade

22 March 2010 by local kitchen

Can you believe that I still have a pumpkin from last Fall? Well, had a pumpkin, I should say. The vernal equinox, not to mention the 70+ temps this weekend, convinced me that it was finally time to say goodbye to the Last Fall Pumpkin, which has been gracing our countertop, courtesy of Fishkill Farm, since late October. So in celebration of the first day of Spring, I took my biggest knife to this 14 lb sucker and hacked it’s […]

Categories: canning, citrus, condiments, fall, jams, preserving, winter, winter squash • Tags: canning, cooking, food, local, preserving, recipes