Don't you just love summer fruits, they look good, they smell good, they taste good and by golly, they do you good. We're right bang in the middle of summer, so eat up, Dear Readers, eat up!
She went down to Fulham Broadway to change an appointment and to buy grapefruits this morning and oh, lookie, lookie, there were piles of cherries for sale and she had a £2.00 coin burning a hole in her pocket.
This old family recipe is one she has been making for fifty eight years! True, not a gross fib, for when she was six she stood on a little squat stool and sliced and de-pipped cherries for Constance, then the stool was moved in front of the Aga and she was shown how to stir the pot. 'Health & Safety', show a child how to cook properly and they don't get burnt.
Buy as many cherries as you can carry home (try not to eat them all), old Wheelie Wicker was not with her yesterday but she will go to the market again on Thursday and WW will go with her.
Take the stalks off and the stones out. She just cuts them in half with a small sharp knife and flips the stone out with a twist of a finger.. there is no fancy cherry de-pipper in our kitchen.. she does this over the big stainless steel saucepan so that the juice drips into the pan that they will cook in.
Add the thinly peeled skin and juice of two big lemons to the cherries. Slice the skin into very short thin slices as otherwise you will be chewing long strips of lemon peel!
Simmer the fruit for about 15 minutes, she gives it a good pressing it with a potato masher, then measure the fruit and juice.
Add a ratio of 3/4 of sugar to the amount of fruit, for example, if you have 4 mugs of fruit mix you would add 3 mugs of sugar.
Bring to the boil, watch very carefully that it does not burn, stir the fruit frequently with a wooden spoon making sure the fruit is not sticking to the bottom of the pan.
When the liquid level starts to drop and it looks thicker, test for setting point, chill a small plate or saucer in the freezer, take it out, plop a spoonful of the mix onto the saucer, place it back in the freezer for a couple of minutes, take it out and push it with your finger.
It is wrinkles, it is ready. If it is still very runny, it needs a little more boiling, be very careful NOT to burn it! Constance taught her that to have it a bit loose-wrinkly was best as it always hardens up a bit more when it cools and who wants 'stiff' jam!
When it is ready to bottle, pour in a big slug of (preferably homemade) Cherry liqueur. She made several bottles of this six years ago when we had our best ever crop of fat and very juicy Stella cherries! She used Lidl's own brand White Rum and Vodka as the base alcohols.
Give it a good stir and ladle it into your washed and dried glass jars and close the lids lightly.
NOW you see why she collects glass jars! Allow the jam to become cold and then tighten the lids.
There you have it, the very best cherry jam with much less sugar than shop bought stuff and NO chemicals!
She uses this recipe for Plum jam as well, there are masses of Seneca plums and Yellow Gages out at the garden which will be picked this week end and made into jam.. to help us get through dreary winter days when there is no fruit a'hanging on the tree.
It is, of course, utterly divine on ice cream and a spoonful does not go amiss on a breast of duck either! Both the lemon juice and the alcohol stop it from being ordinary cherry jam, go and get some cherries, two lemons, use a large pan, make some and see. You'll never buy cherry jam again!
Slurp.
GeeGee Parrot.
July 14th, 2014.
Aka Bastille Day.
PostScripts:
There are a couple of other twists to her family's recipe for Cherry jam.. one adds fresh Mint leaves, another adds freshly ground black Pepper and one adds Spices! She will reveal all sooner or later! So hang about as Cherries are in season.
Oh, we cannot wait for Miss Montmorency Cherry to start producing her fruit, she is a sour / tart cooking cherry.
She went down to Fulham Broadway to change an appointment and to buy grapefruits this morning and oh, lookie, lookie, there were piles of cherries for sale and she had a £2.00 coin burning a hole in her pocket.
This old family recipe is one she has been making for fifty eight years! True, not a gross fib, for when she was six she stood on a little squat stool and sliced and de-pipped cherries for Constance, then the stool was moved in front of the Aga and she was shown how to stir the pot. 'Health & Safety', show a child how to cook properly and they don't get burnt.
Buy as many cherries as you can carry home (try not to eat them all), old Wheelie Wicker was not with her yesterday but she will go to the market again on Thursday and WW will go with her.
Take the stalks off and the stones out. She just cuts them in half with a small sharp knife and flips the stone out with a twist of a finger.. there is no fancy cherry de-pipper in our kitchen.. she does this over the big stainless steel saucepan so that the juice drips into the pan that they will cook in.
Add the thinly peeled skin and juice of two big lemons to the cherries. Slice the skin into very short thin slices as otherwise you will be chewing long strips of lemon peel!
Simmer the fruit for about 15 minutes, she gives it a good pressing it with a potato masher, then measure the fruit and juice.
Add a ratio of 3/4 of sugar to the amount of fruit, for example, if you have 4 mugs of fruit mix you would add 3 mugs of sugar.
Bring to the boil, watch very carefully that it does not burn, stir the fruit frequently with a wooden spoon making sure the fruit is not sticking to the bottom of the pan.
When the liquid level starts to drop and it looks thicker, test for setting point, chill a small plate or saucer in the freezer, take it out, plop a spoonful of the mix onto the saucer, place it back in the freezer for a couple of minutes, take it out and push it with your finger.
It is wrinkles, it is ready. If it is still very runny, it needs a little more boiling, be very careful NOT to burn it! Constance taught her that to have it a bit loose-wrinkly was best as it always hardens up a bit more when it cools and who wants 'stiff' jam!
When it is ready to bottle, pour in a big slug of (preferably homemade) Cherry liqueur. She made several bottles of this six years ago when we had our best ever crop of fat and very juicy Stella cherries! She used Lidl's own brand White Rum and Vodka as the base alcohols.
Give it a good stir and ladle it into your washed and dried glass jars and close the lids lightly.
NOW you see why she collects glass jars! Allow the jam to become cold and then tighten the lids.
There you have it, the very best cherry jam with much less sugar than shop bought stuff and NO chemicals!
She uses this recipe for Plum jam as well, there are masses of Seneca plums and Yellow Gages out at the garden which will be picked this week end and made into jam.. to help us get through dreary winter days when there is no fruit a'hanging on the tree.
It is, of course, utterly divine on ice cream and a spoonful does not go amiss on a breast of duck either! Both the lemon juice and the alcohol stop it from being ordinary cherry jam, go and get some cherries, two lemons, use a large pan, make some and see. You'll never buy cherry jam again!
Slurp.
GeeGee Parrot.
July 14th, 2014.
Aka Bastille Day.
PostScripts:
There are a couple of other twists to her family's recipe for Cherry jam.. one adds fresh Mint leaves, another adds freshly ground black Pepper and one adds Spices! She will reveal all sooner or later! So hang about as Cherries are in season.
Oh, we cannot wait for Miss Montmorency Cherry to start producing her fruit, she is a sour / tart cooking cherry.
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