Happy New Year and happy jam-making

Happy New Year to all, and may it bring each of you everything you wish for. 

Our aim this year is to forge forward in our quest to eat either from our own garden or farm and if we can’t, then we try to eat as locally as we can.

Tonight’s dinner is almost as local as you can get – pork chops from the farm, Jersey Bennes and cabbage from the garden, mushrooms from Parkvale (15 minutes away) and carrots from the local Farmers Market.

Out of sheer laziness (and it is New Year’s Day after all) I made Red Currant Jelly in a hurry this evening as our dinner was cooking.  It is not for the purists but it is a superb colour and almost as clear as the jelly we make and sell under our Martinborough Manner label. 

Red Currant jelly for the non-purists

Place equal quantities of red currants and sugar in a large pot.  Try to remove the leaves and spiders (and their webs) from the fruit but otherwise put it all in the pot.  Stir until the sugar has dissolved and there is quite a lot of red liquid coming out of the currants.  Bring to the boil, and boil for 8 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Using a sieve that fits the largest glass jug you have, pour the now cooked fruit into the sieve and drain it into the jug.  Shake the sieve a few times to drain as much of the about to-be-jelly out of the fruit pulp.  Do not push it through the sieve with anything as this will make your jelly cloudy.  Carefully pour the jelly liquid into jars that have been sterilised (wash and place in the oven at 110^◦C for 40 minutes) and seal with lids (that have been sterilised by boiling for 10 minutes).

We also have a fantastic crop of strawberries this year so it seemed a good idea to try making both fruits into jam.  If you don’t have enough fruit from a single day’s picking, collect what you have and freeze it until you have a reasonable amount.  500g of each would be a sensible small quantity to make.

Strawberry and Redcurrant Jam

Equal quantities of strawberries and red currants

Sugar equal in weight to the (total) fruit

juice of one lemon per kilo of fruit

Hull and quarter the strawberries and destrig the currants.

Place the fruit and sugar in a large bowl, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight. The next day, pour the fruits and sugar in to a heavy base saucepan.  Heat gently until the un-dissolved sugar has melted.  Then turn the heat up and bring the jam to a vigorous boil.  Boil for about 10 -12 minutes, until the temperature reaches 104°C – 106°C.  Use a thermometer or place a small amount of jam on a chilled saucer – if after a few minutes the jam has formed a skin you are done.  Add the lemon juice.

Pour into sterilised jars and seal.