It’s crunch time for the fruit harvest. From caneberries and blueberries to apricots, peaches and cherries, for home preservers, it translates into white knuckles and frazzled kitchens.
So before things spin totally out of control, repeat after me: I can only do so much. I will enjoy the season. I won’t lose the joy in the process.
In other words, relax! Do what you can do, save the rest for next year.
Let’s look at some of the stress-free ways you can harness the season’s bounty in smaller steps without cheating yourself out of the end result, which is a pantry, refrigerator and freezer full of glorious preserves.
Freeze first, make preserves later
Freeze batches of prepared fruits as they come into season, with the intention of making your preserves later.
For recipes either not using additional commercial pectin or using liquid pectin, here’s how: Cut, measure and combine the fruits with the sugar (and lemon juice if it’s called for) according to the recipe. Then store in air-tight freezer containers or plastic pouches.
At the point down the road when you’re ready to make the jam, simply thaw and proceed with your recipe.
For recipes using powdered pectin: Freeze the prepared and measured fruit without the sugar since ultimately the recipe will require you to add the pectin to the fruit before adding sugar.
Be sure to measure each batch of fruit before packing into containers because freezing increases the volume of fruit.
Spread out the process
If you don’t have huge chunks of time for preserving right now, but don’t want to put off the process, look at your recipes and figure out ways to spread the activity over several hours or days.
For instance, prepare the fruit and combine with the sugar (and lemon juice if it’s called for) one day, then store in the refrigerator until the next day when you can proceed with the cooking and packing into jars.
If you can’t begin a recipe until you’ve got the juice extracted from the fruit, you can throw the fruit into a pot and place on a burner set on low, which will gently get the juices flowing in the fruit.
Then just pour the fruit into a colander and let it drain over a bowl for several hours or overnight in the refrigerator.
Go with cold
For most folks, the boiling water canning process is the bottleneck for time management.
If space isn’t an issue, simply pack your preserves in appropriate containers and refrigerate. You can also freeze traditional jam recipes (make sure you pack them into appropriate freezer containers).
Or you can use a bonafide freezer jam or jelly recipe (you’ll find several to choose from in boxes of commercial pectins).
Try chutney instead
For the hurried canner, commercial pectins — either powdered or liquid — really do make life simple. But which should you use? It’s truly a matter of taste.
The main difference between the two is that liquid pectin produces a slightly softer jam than powdered pectin. Just remember to follow directions exactly since procedures do vary slightly depending on the pectin product used.
Meanwhile, why not consider using some of the local fruit in savory chutneys? They’re less finicky to make than jams and jellies, and come together fairly quickly.
Plus, like I said earlier, if you have room in your refrigerator, you can skip the boiling water canning process and simply stow the chutney in your fridge because it will keep beautifully for months.
Gill de Villiers is responsible for this delicious chutney which she finds is “absolutely wonderful with any savory dish — except those strongly tomato and basil — even veggie casseroles, sandwiches, and salads.”
Every summer when the apricots are in, she prepares several batches, which are bottled in pretty jars (“Suitable for the table!”) and kept in the refrigerator.
Friends and family members are always asking her when her next batch will be ready. As for credit to the creator, she says that the recipe is so old that the original source has long been forgotten.
Gill’s favorite apricot chutney
4 pounds apricots (stoned if fresh, or dried), chopped
1 pound golden sultanas
1 tart green apple (such as Granny Smith), peeled, cored and chopped
2 cups apple cider vinegar
3 large onions, chopped
8 cloves garlic, crushed
2 teaspoons fresh ginger, chopped
1 small chili, seeded and chopped
1 cup light brown sugar
2 teaspoons good-quality curry powder
1 teaspoon ground allspice
In a large non-aluminum pot, combine the apricots, sultanas, apple, vinegar, onions, garlic, ginger, chili, sugar, curry powder and allspice. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer gently for up to one hour, stirring occasionally, until the mixture is about the consistency of apricot preserves.
For long-term storage at room temperature: Ladle the hot chutney into 1 hot 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 (15 minutes at 1,001 to 6,000 feet; 20 minutes above 6,000 feet).
For storage in the refrigerator or freezer: Place in plastic freezer containers or glass jars, cover with tight fitting lids and refrigerate or freeze.
Hints from Gill: You can chop the fruit and onions in a food processor, but not too finely. It’s not a sauce. When fresh apricots were unobtainable, she tried dried apricots and that’s when she discovered they would also work very well, in spite of the lower moisture. Just reconstitute them slightly by pouring boiling water over them in a colander.
Chili cherry chutney
2 pounds dark, ripe cherries
2 1/2 cups golden raisins
1 cup chopped yellow onion
1 cup apple cider vinegar
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 small jalapeno chili, seeded and chopped
1 teaspoon allspice
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/4-inch thick slice of fresh ginger, chopped
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
Wash 4 half-pint jars. Keep hot until needed. Prepare lids as manufacturer directs.
Halve and pit the cherries. Place them in a large, non-aluminum pan and add the raisins, onion, vinegar, sugar, jalapeno chile, allspice, salt, ginger and pepper flakes. Stir over low heat until sugar dissolves, then bring the mixture to a boil over medium high heat and cook for 3 minutes. Reduce the heat and simmer until the chutney thickens, about 20 minutes.
For long-term storage at room temperature: Ladle the chutney into 1 hot 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 (15 minutes 1,000 to 6,000 feet; 20 minutes above 6,000 feet).
For storage in the refrigerator or freezer: place in plastic freezer containers or glass jars, cover with tight fitting lids and refrigerate or freeze.
Makes about 4 cups.
Citrus spiced blueberry jam
2 1/2 cups coarsely chopped blueberries
2 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1 cup honey
1 tablespoon fresh-squeezed lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon fresh orange zest
1 (3 ounce) pouch liquid fruit pectin
Wash 4 half-pint jars. Keep hot until needed. Prepare lids as manufacturer directs.
Combine the blueberries, sugar, honey, lemon juice, cinnamon, nutmeg and orange zest in a large, non-aluminum pot. Bring to a full rolling boil over high heat and boil hard for 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and stir in pectin.
For long-term storage at room temperature: Ladle the hot jam into 1 hot 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 (15 minutes 1,000 to 6,000 feet; 20 minutes above 6,000 feet).
For storage in the refrigerator or freezer: place in plastic freezer containers or glass jars, cover with tight fitting lids and refrigerate or freeze.
Makes about 4 cups.
Jan Roberts-Dominguez is a Corvallis, Ore., food writer, artist, and author of “Oregon Hazelnut Country, the Food, the Drink, the Spirit,” and four other cookbooks. Readers can contact her by email at janrd@proaxis.com, or read her blog at www.janrd.com.
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