I’ve been out in McCarthy, Alaska for almost six weeks this summer. I think it is the best summer ever. In my 17 years as an AK resident, I have never seen it as sunny as this year. Every time the sky thinks about raining, it changes it mind. We’ve all got sun tans.
One of my McCarthy goals is to become a better canner. To put it another way, I want my pantry to look like my Aunt Kathy’s. Last night, I attended a Pickling Workshop With Mark Vail at the Wrangell Mountains Center, and it was just the thing to get me moving or should I say canning.
This morning I got up early and picked LOTS of raspberries. I also gathered some rhubarb. This is the third time I have made this jam–and each time it has been extra yummy–a perfect combination of sweet and tart.
Here is my modified version of this recipe. The original can be found at Serious Eats.
Besides sugar, all you really need to make this jam is lemon, ginger, rhubarb, and raspberries.
Ingredients
2 1/4 cups sugar
3 teaspoons Pomona’s Universal Pectin
10 stalks diced rhubarb plus 1/2 cup water
2 cup raspberries
1 tablespoon zest and 2 tablespoons juice from one lemon
1/4 cup water
2 tablespoons grated fresh ginger
My friend Tamara stopped by during my canning session and took this picture. She also suggested that I might want to invest in a jar lifter instead of using a BBQ tong. She’s right, but closest store with canning supplies is at least three-four hours away.
Process
1.Whisk the sugar and pectin in a medium bowl and set aside.
2. Combine the rhubarb and 1/2 cup water in a large saucepan. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat, cover, and simmer just until the rhubarb breaks down, 10 to 12 minutes. Meanwhile, puree the 2 cups of raspberries.
3. Add the pureed raspberries to the saucepan with the rhubarb. Add lemon zest and juice and water and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Add the sugar-pectin mixture, and grated ginger and return the fruit mixture to a boil, stirring constantly. Boil hard for one minute.
4. Remove the pot from the heat and skim any foam from the surface of the jam with a cold metal spoon. Ladle the jam into hot sterilized jars and process them in a hot water bath for 10 minutes.
The color of this jam is quite beautiful.
I hope all of you are getting a chance to enjoy the bounty of late summer. The popping of canning lids is music to my ears.
I love rhubarb and because it does not grow here no one knows what to do with it. Miss the strawberry rhubarb pie and mom’s preserves. Yumm.
Nysha- This is the year for me embracing rhubarb. I have had so many delicious rhubarb treats this summer. You need to visit the far north and have some rhubarb!
Elsie, my mom, in NJ had huge rhubarb bushes and we loved to make rhubarb pie with streussel on top. Here in SC figs have to replace them and it is remarkable what sugar, lemon rind and juice, figs and some ginger, or cloves or allspice can do to make this a breakfast treat. The juice is like rose wine and sounds very similar to your recipe. Each location has its greatest delicacies. We just have to find them……Carole