Thursday, December 23, 2010

Merry Chirstmas My Darling Clemetine

I have been getting a farm box from Farm Fresh To You; http://www.farmfreshtoyou.com off and on for several years now. I love the abundance of fresh food delivered to my door step every week. Occasionally I have an over abundance, such as  this week when the children and I sent most of the week out of town. So I came home from San Jose on Wednesday night to most of the fruit that was here when I left, and a whole new box on my doorstep Thursday morning; Clemetines, navel oranges, apples, kiwis, pomegranates. Far more than we will eat before the next batch arrives next week, what's a girl t do? Jam I say!! And just in time to gift the Grandparents with for Christmas.
I looked at the fruit I have the most abundance of and peeked at two of my fave canning blogs; http://www.punkdomestics.com and http://www.hitchhikingtoheaven.com/ to get some ideas.

First I decided on a Clementine Marmalade taken mostly from http://put-a-lid-on-it.blogspot.com/2010/12/my-darling-clementines-marmalade.html, with the addition of some liquor of course!! As well as using the whole fruit instead of just the juice and peel.   

Cointreau Clemetine Marmalade. 
1 case clemetines washed and sliced thinly into half moon shapes
3 cups sugar
1 pkg pectin
1 cup water
1tb vanilla
1/4 cup Triple Sec or other orange liquor

Slice clementines thinly into rings, and then cut circes in half again.
In a large non reactive pot, combine clemetines, and water and bring to a boil, lower heat, and rapidly simmer for 30 minutes.
Add sugar, vanilla, and pectin and cook at a high boil for 2 minutes. Stir in the liquor, and let stand for 5 minutes to be sure that the peel is evenly distributed, and ladle into jars. Attach your lids and rings and process for 10 minutes.










Next I decided to try a Brandied Pear Butter, this is my favorite of the three, and possibly my favorite Jam experiment ever :) I think it will be fantastic on ice cream, oatmeal, or fresh warm biscuits.

 Brandied Pear Butter


6 pounds of pears cored and cut into chunks ( I used 1/2 Bosc and 1/2 Bartlette)
1/3 cup dry white wine
1/3 Cup Good Brandy or Cognac
6 tablespoons lemon juice
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 White Sugar
1 vanilla bean split open with seeds removed with flat edge of knife or thumbs removed.
1 1/2cinnamon stick
pinch salt
3 additional tablespoons Brandy or Cognac

In a large non reactive pot, combine pears, wine, cognac, and 5 tablespoons of the lemon juice; simmer until softened, about 20 minutes. Run pear mixture through a food mill, or mash through a wire colander, discard the skins, then return pears to the pot. Combine the vanilla bean seeds with 1/4 cup of white sugar, then mix the pears with sugars, vanilla bean, cinnamon, and salt. Boil gently stirring occasionally for about 40 min until thickened. Remove the cinnamon stick and vanilla bean (I cut my bean into pieces and put one piece in the bottom of each jar before filling), mix in remaining cognac and tablespoon of lemon juice. Ladle into jars, attach your lids and rings and process for 10 minutes.
I think you can omit the food mill step and make a nice Pear Syrup, I'll let you know if I try it!
Enjoy!! And Merry Christmas!! 


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