Blueberry mint jam

 

On Sunday the heat wave finally broke, and I got to venture outside without melting. I got up early and drove up to Cider Hill Farm in Amesbury, and was in the blueberry field before the dew dried off the grass. The picking was excellent, and some of the berries were massive, check out the picture above. In an hour, I had picked almost 10 pounds of blueberries, and it was jamming time.  

While I did not enjoy the 90+ degree weather last week, my mint plants sure did. The chocolate mint in the front has been in that pot three summers now, and this is the first time it has been this happy. The peppermint in the back was a single 3 inch potted plant a few weeks ago, and now it is spilling out of a 12 inch pot. Time to start cooking with more mint, so why not put some in my blueberry jam? I plucked a few generous sprigs of the chocolate mint for this recipe. 

Blueberry mint jam

8 cups washed and mashed blueberries
1/2 cup lemon juice
4 teaspoons calcium water (prepared from calcium powder included with Pomona's pectin)
4 teaspoons Pomona's pectin
1/2 cup agave nectar
2 teaspoons stevia extract
3 sprigs of chocolate mint (or mint variety of your choice), about 6" long each

Makes  about 8 cups (fills 8 half pint or 4 pint jars)

Mix together mashed blueberries, lemon juice, and calcium water in a large, heavy bottom pot. Bring to a boil, stirring frequently. Meanwhile, mix together agave and pectin powder in a small bowl. When the blueberry mixture is at a boil, add agave mixture and stir well. Bring back to a boil. Remove from heat. Use a small metal spoon to skim foam from the surface of the jam. Discard foam. Add stevia extract and stir well.

 Drop whole mint sprigs into the jam, stir, and allow to steep for about 5 minutes. Remove and discard the mint sprigs. Ladle jam into sterilized jars, add caps and rings, and process in a boiling water canner for 10 minutes. Remove from canner, allow to cool. Once cooled completely, check the seals, clean off any residue from the canner, label, and store in cool, dark place.

Strawberry Jam

 

Low-sugar Strawberry Jam

8 cups cleaned, hulled, and mashed strawberries (about 5 quarts of whole berries)
1/2 cup agave nectar
4 tsp calcium water (prepared from calcium powder included in Pomona's pectin box)
4 tsp Pomona's pectin
1 tsp stevia extract

Makes  about 7 cups (fills 7 half pint or 3 pint jars)

Mix together mashed strawberries and calcium water in a large, heavy bottom pot. Bring to a boil, stirring frequently. Meanwhile, mix together agave and pectin powder in a small bowl. When the strawberry mixture is at a boil, add agave mixture and stir well. Bring back to a boil. Remove from heat and use a metal spoon to skim foam from the surface of the jam. Discard foam. Add 1 tsp stevia extract and stir well. Ladle into sterilized jars, add caps and rings, and process in a boiling water canner for 10 minutes. Remove from canner, allow to cool.

The jam will separate, but don't worry. As soon as the jars cool enough to handle, swirl the contents gently. Do this a few times as it cools to room temperature, and the solids will integrate.

Once cooled completely, check the seals, clean off any residue from the canner, label, and store in cool, dark place.

Gingerbread apple butter

While produce shopping to make my ginger pear butter, I also picked up a peck of Cortland apples to make apple butter. I had some fresh ginger left from the pear butter, but I didn't just want to make the same recipe with apples. So I thought, what else can I incorporate into the butter? Add molasses to ginger and you have classic gingerbread flavors! Gingerbread apple butter is the perfect fruit butter for the winter holidays.

 Gingerbread apple butter

4 pounds apples, peeled, cored, and sliced into 1/2" thick pieces
2 tablespoons finely grated fresh ginger
2 tablespoons lemon juice (about 1 lemon)
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
4 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon fresh ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 cup honey
1/4 cup molasses

Combine all ingredients in a large, heavy bottomed pot. Cook over medium heat until the pears begin to break down, helping them along with a potato masher if you wish. After about 30 minutes, reduce the heat to low and cook for about another hour. Puree in the pot with an immersion blender, or transfer in batches to a blender. Return to heat and continue to cook, if necessary, to desired consistency, which should be thick enough to mound on a spoon. Transfer to sterilized jars and process in a boiling water bath canner for 10 minutes to make butter shelf stable, or allow butter to cool in jars and store in the refrigerator, treating as a perishable.

Makes 5-6 half pints.