Sunday, July 05, 2015

strawberry jalapeno jam

Summer always signals the beginning of the canning season for me. We begin with jam of course. I am a jam lover and while the grocery store stuff will do in a pinch, homemade jam just tastes like sunshine.

This year had a couple of twists to the jam making process, first being my sous chef MyPie. Who decided that she needed to learn to cook and quick because what was going to happen when she was out in the big bad world all on her own without her Mama to cook her dinner? Obviously we needed to start the "taking care of yourself Life Classes" with a instructional session on jam making. Toast and jam shall always be on grown up Maya's menu.

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Also this year I decided to try a strawberry jalapeno jam that I thought would be the perfect addition to our brie and goat cheese addiction.

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And guys I was so so so right. It was actually pretty tasty on a croissant I'm not going to lie to you. If you already posses jam making skills it was incredibly easy to put together.

4 cups, crushed fresh strawberries
1 cup minced jalapeno peppers
1/4 cup lemon juice
1 package powdered fruit pectin
7 cups sugar (yeah I know but it's jam. Slot it in the sometimes food section.)

I put the berries, jalapeno, lemon juice, and pectin in a pot. I used my own pickled jalapenos for this and it took most of a 500ml jar to get the 1 cup minced just fyi. I brought it to a boil over high heat and then added the sugar all at once. It's a good idea to have to sugar pre-measured in a big bowl so you can quickly get it into the pot. Bring back up to a boil and cook for 1 minute. Remove from heat and divide between your canning jars. I got 7.5 - 250 ml jars of this deliciousness. Process for 10 minutes in your water bath and you're good to go.

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I ended up making 2 batches of regular old strawberry jam, one batch of strawberry jalapeno and one of strawberry maple cinnamon but I am now wishing I had doubled up on the strawberry jalapeno. Notes for next year, I guess.

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I also learned I prefer making jam with powdered pectin versus liquid pectin. The finished product just looks more appealing and the fruit seems to be better distributed. Again, notes for next year.

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An afternoon well spent with my little sous chef. Are you canning anything this summer?

1 comment:

Lynn said...

Now I have a huge jam craving - yours looks spectacular! Canning and jamming is one of those things I've always intended to learn how to do, but never gotten around to, like quilting. The older I get the more I find I value knowledge from the past - probably part of my Laura Ingalls fantasies :). Guess I better get on it.