Pages

Friday, January 25, 2013

Winter Jam Recipe: Pineapple-Orange Conserve

In this cold weather, who thinks about making jam? And yet, this is a good time for canning because we can all use the extra heat in our homes, and we tend to have a little more time on our hands at this time of year. And if we're canners, we also have some empty jars that can be filled again to restock the shelves.

I had some oranges in a basket that were looking pretty sorrowful--you know how they get after a week or so. The skins lost their luster and were beginning to look shriveled. I hate to throw away something I paid good money for (I wonder about that saying-what is bad money anyway?). I had a can of crushed pineapple left from the cheesecake I didn't make over the holidays, so I decided to make pineapple-orange jam. Only I thought it needed a fancier name, so I'm calling it Pineapple-Orange Conserve. It just sounds better, doesn't it?

Ingredients: 5 sorry oranges, 1 20-ounce can of crushed pineapple, 3/4 cup water, 1/4 cup boiling water, 2 TBSP dried orange peel, 1 box dried pectin. (You could substitute the grade rind of your oranges if your oranges are fresh.)

To make this recipe, I had 5 pitiful oranges, the 20-ounce can of crushed pineapple, and some orange peel I'd dried earlier in the winter. I try to dry it whenever I can because dried orange peel is so useful in recipes like scones, cookies, and jams. I poured 1/4 cup of boiling water over 2 tablespoons of the dried peel and let it set for about 10 minutes to soften. If my oranges had been nice and fresh, I could have simply grated their rind but these oranges were beyond that point, so the dried were a good substitute for the fresh.

I put the pineapple, juice and all, into my big jam-making pot (a 6 quart stainless steel dutch oven). Then I juiced the oranges and added the juice and whatever pulp also came loose into the pineapple. I stirred in the soaked peel and one box of dried pectin, then added another 3/4 cup of water and turned the heat on high. I stirred until my mixture reached a good boil, then added 3 1/2 cups of granulated sugar. I cooked it until it came to a rolling boil and timed it for 1 minute, stirring constantly. I turned off the heat, set the timer to 5 minutes, and stirred occasionally as the jam cooled. This step is necessary for jam, but not for jelly--it prevents the fruit from floating to the top of the jam.

When the timer dinged, I ladled the jam into hot, sterilized jars, put on the lids and bands, and turned the jars upside down for about 10 minutes to help the seal take hold; then I tightened the bands again and that was that. Most authorities recommend putting jams and jellies into a water bath canner for a short period of time. I don't do that, so check your cookbooks for the recommendation time.

End result was a very pretty, and completely delicious jam that is not too sweet--a cross between orange marmalade and pineapple preserves. It was a good use of the oranges, helped warm the house, and looked right pretty in the bargain.

And you know, it was delicious on the Orange-Cranberry-Walnut scones I made too. I'll share that recipe tomorrow.


Copyright 2012 Susanna Holstein. All rights reserved. No Republication or Redistribution Allowed without attribution to Susanna Holstein.

6 comments:

  1. Susie, about 2 weeks ago Hope Renae and I made blackberry jam! I found I had a lot of berries still in the freezer and no jam! I really like making jelly, it is very relaxing to me and I like the results better than any jelly in the stores. Love and hugs. tm

    ReplyDelete
  2. Looks and sounds yummy and then you mentioned the scones which makes it even better.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Ohh I want some scones and jam please. I too make my jam in the winter. We live in an area that grows thousands of acres of raspberries, blueberries and strawberries. We can buy them from the farmers right at the farms for 12.00 for a flat of berries - so I buy them up in season, freeze on cookie pans and then bag them up for pies, scones, and making jam in the winter. I'll keep your recipe for the next time I have extra oranges (or decide to buy some just for the jam)

    ReplyDelete
  4. I have some of this that I bought at the farmer's market a few months ago. Delicious stuff!

    ReplyDelete
  5. 5 pitifull, sorry oranges made some beautiful jars of Pineapple Orange Conserve! Children of parents who experienced The Great Depression are careful. Okay. Frugal. I'm the same. Nance

    ReplyDelete

Thank you for sharing your thoughts! Comments are moderated so may not appear immediately, but be assured that I read and enjoy each and every word you write, and will post them as quickly as possible.

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...