Enjoy Northwest peaches all year with preserves
Published 8:31 am Tuesday, August 3, 2010
It’s a pity, really, that our first sampling of the aromatic peach tends to come from California. By the time local varieties are genuinely ripe and ready to fire our imaginations, many palates have been tainted by the hard and flavorless imports — specimens that were picked unripe and, hence, unable to ever realize their full potential.
Better to wait, perhaps, for the real season of the peach here in our own backyard. It’s a relatively short one.
Coming on in mid-July, peaking in August, then trailing off by mid-September. But its essence can be enjoyed well into winter and beyond if you turn your summer peaches into exquisite preserves.
Of course, I couldn’t let this discussion on preserving go by without talking about one of my all-time favorite jams, which (of course!) has a bit of a back story.
In my library of cookbook favorites is “Fancy Pantry” by Helen Witty. For anyone interested in the art of preserving, it’s a valuable and inspirational book, filled with delicious ways to capture the harvest.
One of Witty’s best jam recipes is called Peerless Red Raspberry Preserves. I began sharing it with readers back in the early ’90s.
Each season I would fine-tune it a bit, adding a dab of butter to reduce foaming, increasing the cooking time slightly to guarantee a gel, tweaking the preparation of the berries (if you add a handful of slightly under-ripe ones, which is where more natural pectin resides, you’ll achieve a firmer gel).
But because the basic technique — a brief, fast boil, in a wide, shallow skillet — is the key to the recipe’s success, I have always strived to give credit where credit is due. Thanks, Helen!
For any of you thinking that you simply don’t have enough oomph to tackle preserving this summer, take heart. When time and energy is short, I like to do my canning in steps. Otherwise I’d have to forgo some fruits completely. For jams, I peel, chop and measure out the fruit and combine with the appropriate amount of sugar (and lemon juice if it’s called for) in a large bowl; cover the mixture with plastic wrap and refrigerate.
Then, hours — or even days — later, I proceed with the recipe by scraping the mixture into a large, heavy-bottomed pot and cooking the mixture as instructed.
If you’re using a recipe that calls for commercial pectin, you will have to pay attention to the order the ingredients are added. This brings me to a few of the basics I want to cover this week:
Adding pectin: When making jams and jellies, if you’re using a recipe that calls for added pectin, the steps for combining the sugar and pectin are very specific. WHEN you add the sugar depends on the type of commercial pectin you use.
Follow the recipe and do not attempt to substitute powdered pectin for liquid or liquid for powdered; the two are not interchangeable.
Here’s a simple rule of thumb: When using powdered pectin, it is added to the strained juice or chopped fruit BEFORE heating. Next, bring the mixture to a full, rolling boil — a boil that cannot be stirred down; stir constantly so you won’t scorch the mixture! — THEN add the sugar. Bring to a boil again and boil for 1 minute.
When using liquid pectin, first combine the chopped fruit (or strained juice) with the sugar and bring the mixture to a full rolling boil. Then add the liquid pectin, bring to a full rolling boil again and boil for 1 minute.
Testing for doneness: With added pectin, jams, preserves and marmalades will be done when they are boiled according to the individual instructions given in the recipe. Make sure you only use the quantities called for.
Without added pectin, jam is done when it reaches 8 degrees ABOVE the boiling point of water. And remember, because water boils more quickly the higher up you go on this planet, it tracks that adjustments would have to be made when determining the jelling point.
Thus, the jelling point:
220 degrees from sea level up to 1,000 feet;
216 degrees at 2,000 feet;
214 degrees at 3,000 feet;
212 degrees at 4,000 feet;
211 degrees at 5,000 feet;
209 degrees at 6,000 feet;
207 degrees at 7,000 feet;
205 degrees at 8,000 feet.
Peach and cinnamon preserves
6pounds fresh, tree-ripened peaches
3cups granulated sugar
3tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1cinnamon stick
Peel and slice peaches to measure about 10 or 11 cups of fruit (the fruit should be sliced into chunks about 1/4-inch thick and about 1-inch wide; but some can be larger, some smaller). Toss the fruit with the sugar, cover with plastic wrap to help prevent browning of the top layer, and let stand for 3 to 4 hours at room temperature (Note: it is all right to let the fruit stand overnight in the refrigerator).
Wash 7 half-pint jars; keep hot until needed. Prepare lids as manufacturer directs.
Place a large colander in a large, nonaluminum skillet or wide-mouthed pan. Pour the fruit and juice through a colander and let it drain for 20 minutes. Remove the fruit to a bowl. Add the cinnamon stick, then measure the depth of the juice collected in the pan by standing a chopstick in the juice and marking its surface with a pencil. Bring the juice to a boil over high heat, then reduce the heat enough to keep the juice boiling fairly rapidly (the surface will appear foamy with small bubbles covering the entire surface). Boil until the juice is reduced by half. This will take about 20 minutes. To test the amount of reduction, stand the chopstick in the pan and see where the juice hits in relation to your original pencil marking. By this time, the juice has become a light, slightly glistening syrup.
Add the fruit and any additional juice that has accumulated and continue cooking until the peaches begin to take on a translucent, caramalized look around the edges, and the syrup is quite thick. This will take about 15 minutes. There’s a great deal of spattering toward the end, so protect your hands and arms to avoid tiny burns.
Remove the mixture from the heat. Remove the cinnamon stick.
For storage in the refrigerator, ladle hot preserves into clean jars or plastic food grade containers. Attach lids and let cool. Store in the refrigerator. Jam keeps for ages — 24 months and beyond, really).
For long-term storage at room temperature: Process the jars in a boiling water canner for 10 minutes (15 minutes at 1,001 to 6,000 feet; 20 minutes above 6,000 feet). Yields 6 or 7 half-pints. Remove the jars and let cool, undisturbed, on the counter overnight. After the jars have cooled, test the seal by pressing down on the center of the lids. The lid should be concave and not bounce back into a convex position after you press them.
Makes 6 to 7 half-pints.
Peach and raspberry jam with added pectin
3cups peeled, pitted and crushed ripe peaches (about 3 pounds)
3tablespoons strained fresh lemon juice
7-1/4cups sugar
1cup crushed and seeded raspberry pulp (see note below)
1/2teaspoon butter
1(3 ounce) pouch liquid pectin
Wash 7 half-pint jars. Keep hot until needed. Prepare lids as manufacturer directs.
In a large, heavy-bottomed nonaluminum pot, combine the peaches and lemon juice. Stir in about half of the sugar. Cover the pan and let stand for 20 minutes.
Remove the cover. Stir in the raspberry pulp, remaining sugar and the butter. Over medium-low heat, stirring constantly, heat the mixture until the sugar is completely dissolved. Increase the heat to medium-high and bring the mixture to a full rolling boil, stirring constantly. Remove the pan from the heat and skim off the foam.
Return the pan to the heat and bring the mixture to a full rolling boil. Stir in the contents of the pectin pouch. Return the mixture to a full rolling boil (a boil that cannot be stirred down), stirring constantly. Boil, stirring constantly, for 1 minute. Remove the pan from the heat. Let the jam cool for about 5 minutes, and skim off any foam.
For storage in the refrigerator, ladle hot preserves into clean jars or plastic food grade containers. Attach lids and let cool. Store in the refrigerator (jam keeps for ages — 24 months and beyond, really).
For long-term storage at room temperature: Process in a boiling water canner for 10 minutes (15 minutes at 1,001 to 6,000 feet; 20 minutes above 6,000 feet). Remove the jars and let cool, undisturbed, on the counter over night. After the jars have cooled, test the seal by pressing down on the center of the lids. The lid should be concave and not bounce back into a convex position after you press them.
Note; To puree and seed raspberries: Place ripe raspberries in a blender jar or food processor and blend until pureed. Scrape the mixture into a sieve and press the pulp through with a rubber spatula or wide spoon.
Makes about 7 half-pint jars.
Beyond Peerless Red Raspberry Preserves
4heaping cups red raspberries (make sure that about 1/3 cup of the berries are slightly under-ripe)
3-1/4cups granulated sugar (1 pound, 6 ounces)
1/3cup strained fresh lemon juice
1teaspoon butter
Sort fresh berries, discarding any that are soft, moldy, or otherwise suspect. Rinse them and drain them well. Stir the berries, the sugar, and lemon juice together in a bowl, using a rubber spatula; let the mixture stand, stirring gently once or twice, until the sugar has dissolved, about 2 hours (many times I let it sit all day in the refrigerator, or overnight). Do not reduce the amount of sugar called for in this recipe because it aids in the gelling.
Wash 4 half-pint canning jars (note: you need to use canning jars if you’re planning to prepare the jam for storage at room temperature, because you’ll be processing the jam in a boiling water canner; if you plan to store your jam in the refrigerator, any jars or plastic containers will work just fine). Keep hot until needed. Prepare lids as manufacturer directs.
Scrape the mixture into a large skillet or saute pan. Add the butter. Bring it to a boil, stirring constantly with a straight-ended wooden or nylon spatula, and boil it rapidly for 7 minutes. (Note: if you have a candy thermometer and want to be absolutely sure that you’re going to obtain a gel, cook the jam until the thermometer registers 220 degrees) Remove from heat.
The butter helps reduce foam, but if some foam remains after you’ve removed the skillet from the burner and let the jam settle for about 10 seconds, just skim it off.
For storage in the refrigerator, ladle hot preserves into clean jars or plastic food grade containers. Attach lids and let cool. Store in the refrigerator (jam keeps for ages — 24 months and beyond, really).
For long-term storage at room temperature, ladle the hot preserves into 1 hot canning jar at a time, leaving 1/4-inch head space. Wipe jar rim with a clean, damp cloth. Attach lid. Fill and close remaining jars. Process in a boiling-water canner for 10 minutes (at 1,000 to 3,000 feet, process for 15 minutes; 3,000 to 6,000 feet, for 20 minutes; above 6,000 feet, for 25 minutes).
Makes 3 to 4 half-pints.
Jan Roberts-Dominguez is a Corvallis, Ore., food writer, cookbook author and artist. Readers can contact her by email at janrd@proaxis.com, or obtain additional recipes and food tips on her blog at www.janrd.com.
