Tag Archives: foraging

Recipes | Wild Plum Jam

Posted on by under country life, Recipes

The wild plums are sure bountiful this year! I don’t know what they were like last year, but this year has been amazing. I went picking again this morning with a friend, and we picked about 6 gallons of plums! I couldn’t believe it. When we drove up to the (secret) plum thicket, my heart sank a little, since the branches seemed awfully bare. But we climbed down into the thicket and the ground was covered with beautiful, firm, ripe fruit. Most of what we picked we actually picked off the ground. The plums that were still on the tree were barely attached and just fell off into our hands, or fell to the ground as we shook the branches.IMG_4288eYesterday, I finished processing my first batch of plums as plum jam, and it did not disappoint. Here is the recipe, the process adapted from a recipe on Kitchn and a Sure-Jell recipe.IMG_4270eIngredients

  • ~1 gallon of plums
  • 1 box powdered pectin
  • 8 cups sugar
  • 1/2 tsp. butter (optional)

Process

Wash plums and cut off bad spots. In a stockpot with about a half a cup of water, cook the plums with pits, stirring constantly to prevent scorching. Bring the mixture to a boil and cook for about 5 minutes, mashing the fruit as you go. A potato masher can also be used to help loosen the pits. When the plums have reached a sauce-like consistency, remove from the heat and pull out the pits, leaving as many of the skins as possible. Use an immersion blender to blend the pulp and chop up the skins. Measure out 6 cups of pulp. There will be extra. In a stockpot, combine the plum pulp and the powdered pectin. Add butter if desired to reduce foaming. Bring mixture to a rolling boil, stirring constantly. Mixture should continue to boil even while you are stirring. Add the sugar. Return to a boil, and cook for one minute, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and allow to cool for a minute or two. Skim off any foam that forms, and save for a taster.

Pour into prepared jars, clean the rims and threads, and seal jars with two-piece canning lids. Process 10 minutes in hot water bath (I adjusted for altitude and processed for 15 minutes).IMG_4272Notes

Jam differs from jelly in that jelly uses only the juice, while jam uses all of the usable fruit, including the skin. Plums can be pitted before or after cooking. Either way is bound to be tedious. I left the pits in and after an hour of pulling the pits out, I was almost in tears. Part of that may have had to do with the fact that I didn’t start processing them until 11:00 pm, so it was 1:00 am and I was still pulling pits out. So it was bad timing. If I make jam again, I don’t know if I will leave the pits in and cook them, or pit them ahead of time. I may try to use a ricer, which would unfortunately pull the skins out, but would at least make it easier to separate the pits and the pulp. It would be worth a try. IMG_4281eI had never made plum jam before, and I don’t know if I have ever even eaten plum jam before. But it is exquisite on bread with a generous quantity of butter. Enjoy!

 

Recipes | Crabapple Syrup

Posted on by under country life, Recipes

Finally! Fruit processing season has been here for a few weeks now, and I am thrilled to report a few new recipes that have been added to my recipe collection. This recipe for crabapple syrup is adapted from one I found on the Backyard Forager website – here is the original article and recipe. I have my own method of juice extraction, but I needed the sugar-to-juice ratio and the cooking and processing time. It is a wonderfully tangy syrup, and I look forward to using it on or in a number of things – yogurt, pancakes, icecream or sorbet, lemonade or iced tea…The list could be endless.

Ingredients

10 c. crabapple juice

10 c. sugar

1.5 T pectinIMG_3892Method – Combine all ingredients in a large pot. Heat the mixture to boiling and simmer for 5 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and allow to cool slightly. Skim foam off the top and save the skimmings for a taster. Pour syrup into sterile jars. Clean rims and threads, and seal with two-piece canning lids. Processes for 1o minutes in a boiling water bath, or adjust for altitude. I processed the jars for 15 minutes, since we are at ~3600 feet above sea level. Yields about 7 pint jars.IMG_3906Notes – I added the pectin in the hopes of thickening the syrup a little. The original recipe doesn’t include any pectin. The chokecherry syrup I made last year was very runny, even though it included pectin, and I liked the consistency even though other family members didn’t. Crabapples have a fair amount of natural pectin, so I was hesitant to add too much pectin and end up with jelly rather than syrup! However, the 1.5 tablespoons didn’t really do anything. After thinking about it, I realized it was kind of a joke that I even thought that little pectin would do anything at all to that quantity of juice and sugar, but math and ratios (yes, simple math, I know) are not my strong suit. They aren’t even my weak suit. They just aren’t. Period. I also added a splash of lemon juice, and could have added more (go back to math not being my strong suit). As far as the headspace, I left about a half inch of headspace, which might be a little much, but I don’t think it will matter. I probably could have gone with 1/4 inch.

There is something exceedingly satisfactory about the process of home canning. I’m so glad it is that time of year!

 

Not Bad for a Morning’s Work

Posted on by under country life

And really, it only took probably a half hour to pick these. The bigger the fruit, the funner (yes, funner) to pick. Because it goes so much more quickly. I love picking chokecherries, I really do, partly because it is somewhat therapeutic, partly because I love chokecherry jelly. But when it takes about 2 hours to fill a gallon-sized bucket…Well, plums are much better in that regard. However, if you ever get a chance to pick wild plums, be sure to wear tough jeans and a thick jacket or sweatshirt. They have some serious thorns. IMG_3883eIMG_3672eNot bad for a morning’s work.