Pear-athon continues: Ginger-Pear Marmalade.

While the batches of pear preserves from last time were pretty fantastic, I was keen to expand upon the previous success by adding a new twist. This time I stumbled onto a bunch of red pears and a new, delicious sounding recipe.

Ginger-Pear Marmalade:

8-9 medium red pears.

2 1/3 cups sugar.

3 limes limes (zest and juice).

1 tablespoon grated ginger root.

Start by washing and peeling the pears, then quarter and core them. Set them aside. Next, zest three limes - I used a peeler and then sliced the peel into short thin strips. I like the color and texture these strips add to the jar. Now, juice the limes, discarding any seeds.

Combine pears, lime strips and juice, and sugar in a dutch oven. Grate the ginger in.

Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring frequently Boil until it begins to thicken - about 15 minutes or until you reach 222°.

Ladle directly into your hot, sterilized jars (it jells fast). Leave a quarter inch of headspace. Remove any air bubbles and be sure to wipe your rims clean. Lid directly and process in a boiling water bath for 10 minutes.

Makes about 2 1/2 pints.

I love ginger and the flavor it adds to the pears - I think this might be my new favorite batch.

Pear-athon: Pear Preserves.

A couple days ago I got an email from a friend expressing his interest in learning how to make preserves, and as an incentive he offered to share a large box of pears, which he had collected from his parent's house. I was happy for the opportunity to share my new found passion with a friend for the first time, so I invited him over.

He showed up with a beer box near full to the top with beautiful, fresh green pears. They were beautiful in all their irregularities. They were firm, smelled tart and earthy, and seemed perfect for preserving. Now I have to admit, I do not recall ever having had pear preserves before, but as pears are one of my favorite fruits, we could not possibly go wrong.

Pear Preserves:

6-8 medium pears.

2 1/2 cups water.

3 cups sugar.

1 lemon.

Start by washing and peeling the pears - be careful, they get pretty slippery. Now, quarter and core them. Place them in a large bowl and set aside. As thinly as possible slice a lemon into rounds and remove any seeds; set aside.

Next, pour all of the water and half of the sugar into a dutch oven. Stir to mix and bring to a boil over medium heat. After two minutes, add the pear chunks and return to a boil. Be sure to stir often, it can stick fast. After about 15-20 minutes, add the remaining sugar and the lemon slices. The pears should just be softening at this point. As the pears softened I slowly began to chop them using my handy bamboo stirring spatula.

Return the mixture to boil, this time over medium-high heat. Cook rapidly, stirring often, for another 25 minutes or so. The pears should be soft and fairly translucent and the liquid syrupy. Remove from heat.

If it does not start to gel, you can return the batch to the stove for a hard re-boil. It should only take a few minutes more. This is not ideal but you can thicken your preserves this way.

Ladle directly into hot, sterilized jars, leaving a quarter inch of headspace. Remove any air bubbles that might have formed and wipe the rims clean. Lid directly and process in a boiling water bath for ten minutes.

Over a two evening run we made about eight batches, filling about 24 eight ounces and 20 four ounce jars. It was quite the marathon.

We ended up with a substantial amount of variation. The first batch was the most like the preserves I had made previously - soft fruit chunks in a substantial gel. One batch we near completely neglected right at the end - the sugar caramelized into a deep brown gel with a very distinct flavor. The last batch, we went for a double and it never seemed to reduce correctly, ending more like a fruit-in-syrup than preserves. Overall the flavor was sweet and tart and I was reminded of sour apple flavored candies from when I was young, albeit more natural tasting.

These two nights were the busiest and most tiring trials in home preserving I have experienced so far, and I tell you what, I slept like a baby afterwards.

Spicy Blueberry-Citrus Marmalade.

Well, I have received two requests for a specific jelly flavor combinations. The first was Jalapeño Peach jelly, requested by my friend Mandy (which I will make soon).

This is the second:

Spicy Blueberry-Citrus Marmalade:

1 valencia orange.

1 meyer lemon.

1 persian lime.

2 cups of water.

1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes.

2 cups of sugar.

2 cups fresh blueberries.

Start by thoroughly scrubbing your citrus, especially if you are using store bought fruit. This is important because we will be using the skin for this recipe, and you do not want anything disturbing the natural flavors.

Next, you want to cut the rinds from the orange, lemon, and lime from the fruit in thin strips. I used a normal peeler, which worked well and made for irregular strips - which is nice. Set the strips aside.

Slice the citrus trio in half and use a reamer to extract as much juice and pulp as you can and set aside. Be sure to remove any seeds from the juice.

In a dutch oven, bring two cups of water the citrus strips and red pepper flakes to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer for about 30 minutes or until the rinds a tender. At 25 minutes, mine ended up on the firm side of tender - which I really liked.

Start your jars to sterilizing in a boiling water bath.

Now add your blueberries, sugar, and citrus juice and pulp to the pot. Bring to a full rolling boil, stirring often (222˚F). After about 15 minutes it should start getting syrupy. Remove from heat and if any foam has formed skim it off - foam can have adverse effects of headspace if you are canning the marmalade.

Ladle directly into hot, sterilized jars (it jells fast). Leave a quarter inch of headspace. Remove any air bubbles and be sure to wipe our rims clean. Lid directly and process in a boiling water bath for 10 minutes.

I had some left over, so I quickly threw some french bread on the stove for toast and spread it over. I really love the consistency - the blueberries spread like preserves. I was also impressed by the flavor. It is tangy, and more tart than sweet, and finishes with a pleasant burn in the back of your mouth after you swallow. Success tastes sweet.

That is all.

jon.

p.s. if anyone has any requests...

I got big plans. Big.

Jars and jars.

After last weekends trip to the farm and the reminder of just how much I love jarred goods, I began thinking about making my own pickles and preserves. I started researching how-tos and materials and there are so many great resources out there. Even the USDA pitched in:

http://www.uga.edu/nchfp/publications/publications_usda.html

Then, I glanced through my older cookbooks and found that I already had plenty of recipes I could try. Well, I really sold myself the idea, so yesterday I bought some jars, and a lot of white vinegar, and pickling salts, etc.

Saturday, I plan to wake up early and head out to the farm to get the best selection and maybe just rely on that to dictate what I end up making.

I am thinking/hoping:

Dill Pickles (of course).

Spicy Pickled Okra.

Pickled Eggs with Beets (Yes, eggs).

Strawberry Preserves.

...or Raspberry.

Peach Something.

I know what you are thinking, "What are you going to do with all that stuff?" Well I intend to start small, keeping some for myself of course, but I think I could sell some to friends and family - and maybe people I do not know yet...

Go cottage industry! That is all.

jon.

Froberg Vegetable Farm.

It was such a beautiful day, I wanted to get out and do something fun.

I have fond memories of traveling out into the country for fresh watermelon and strawberries when I was young. One farm my mom took me to was Froberg Farm in Alvin.

I did not consider how busy it would be the day before the fourth. Unfortunately for me, they were all out of strawberries - they said it had been a busy morning and they sold out fast. It made me miss the days of pick-your-own berries.

They did have quart cups of tasty sweet cherries, but cherries are not berries, so I did not get any.

Various freshness:

Hot Tomato Peppers

Hot Banana Peppers

Hot Serrano Peppers.

(I love peppers.)

Freshly Harvested Corn.

Just Picked Tomatoes.

When I was really young I was surrounded by freshly jarred fruits and vegetables. Lately, I have found myself strongly attracted to small batch and home jarred goods.

Froberg's offers their own line of preserves and jellies, salsas, and pickled cucumber and beets. They looked amazing and were very reasonably priced, so I picked up strawberry and fig preserves and a huge jar of pickles. The ingredients of the fig preserves include only figs, sugar, and water and I dug in as soon as I got home - all I can say is Amazing!

Jars and jars.

Froberg's also offers local farm raised meats.

Pecan Smoked Pork Sausage "Sandwich."

From the Alvin Convention and Visitors Bureau website:

"Froberg family farm is run by the third generation of Froberg farmer and his wife. In the late 1930's, Fred and Katie Froberg bought the property where the current store sits. Froberg's Farm started as a small strawberry farm where people were allowed to pick their own berries. Now the farm raises not only strawberries, but also blackberries, satsuma oranges, persimmons, figs, and all kinds of vegetable, all are picked fresh everyday. Tours are available by request during May and November, Monday through Friday. The farm is located on Country Road 190. For more information call 281-585-3531."

Map:

View Larger Map

You should check it out. That is all.

jon.