Midweek Check-In
Midweek Check-In
Green cherry tomato lemongrass pickle + reduced sugar jam (and pectin tips) + today's Zoom hangout reminder
Fall is upon us. The Harvest Moon Festival coming on Friday, September 29 so moon cake season is nearly here. But before that, I’m thinking about preserving the summer’s bounty.
First up is a cherry tomato pickle accented with lemongrass, chile and garlic. It’s my take on Vietnamese pickled eggplant, which is typically made with small, white eggplants called cà pháo trắng. I’ve been making this pickle for a few years with end-of-the season fruits to make the most of my tomato gardening skills, which are limited. (I only grown cherry tomatoes because they’re more or less a sure thing.)
This is what I put up this afternoon. The jar will be ready to eat tomorrow. I spent the waiting time today to snap some shots and write up recipe. I’ve been winging it but writing the recipe down means commitment. Along the way, I had a minor revelation about how to pack the jar efficiently.
If you’ve got a cherry tomato plant, the pickle recipe at Viet World Kitchen is a fab way to extend the season and enjoy the fruits in a remarkable, unusual way.
Read on for a sweet preservation recipe!
Reduced sugar jam blueprint
Recently, with a bunch of very ripe strawberries and plums on hand, I made an impromptu batch of jam. My recipe is written on the jar:
Many recipes call for a 1:1 ratio of fruit to sugar, but I didn’t want to use all that sugar. I’m not a super sweet person. I’m bitter/tart/sweet!
The role of sugar in making jam? You may know this already, but according to Don Mercer, a food science professor, sugar is extra important in jam when fruit is watery (like berries) because sugar binds to water, and consequently helps pectin to form and thicken the jam.
To lower the sugar and ensure jelling, I used apples and a big lemon. Yes, I could have used pectin, but my pectin was ancient. I didn’t want to run to the store for an extra ingredient. This is a casual, small batch of jam.
Apples and citrus are excellent sources of pectin.
Commercial pectins are derived almost exclusively from citrus or apple, both by-products of the manufacture of juice or cider. While the apple pomace contains 10–15% pectin on a dry matter basis, the citrus peel contains 20–30%. The pectin of citrus fruits and apples is equivalent from the point of view of the application. However, citrus pectins are light cream or light tan; apple pectins are often darker.
Source: Extraction and Characterization of Pectins From Peels of Criolla Oranges
Note that when people talk about citrus peel — they mean the peel and the spongy pith underneath! There’s a reason why citrus marmalade is popular. For a citrus pectin recipe, go to Mother Earth News.)
The apple added fiber and gelled. The citrus added pectin too along with a pleasant bitter edge. I finished the jam with a bit of cardamom extract for fragrance. The jam was amazing with toasted slices of the food processor lime pound cake.
RECIPE
Reduced Sugar Jam
This recipe is written a bit differently because it’s a recipe in progress. You can use different fruit and vary the sugar levels. Today when I wrote up this recipe for you, I thought of an alternative thickener and mentioned it in the recipe NOTE below!
Makes about 1-quart
Put the jam base in a 3-quart pot, squeezing the lemon to release its juices before dropping it in:
1 quart halved, hulled strawberries
4 plums, chopped
2 cups sugar, or to taste
2 tart apples, peeled and chopped
1 lemon, quartered
8 Makrut lime leave <= These were a bust. They didn’t do much. Try 1/4 cup finely slivered ginger instead.
Simmer the ingredients until thick like a loose jam, pull off the heat, and remove the lemon. Set aside to cool, uncovered, for about 10 minutes. Check the texture. Taste and if you want a touch of flair, stir in cardamom or almond extract by the 1/2 to 1 tsp.
When satisfied, let cool completely. Finally, use a canning funnel to easily transfer to a jar. Keep the jam refrigerated.
NOTE
Instead of apples and citrus for pectin, try ground or whole chia seeds. The seeds are tasteless but thicken well, with a slightly slippery texture. You can greatly reduce the amount of sugar in the recipe below. I’d cook the jam to taste, turn off the heat and add the chia. Finesse the amount used remembering that a little goes a long way.
PTFS Virtual Hangout Details
To further build community and get to know folks better, I’m hosting a virtual hangout with paid subscribers today. If you’re a premium PTFS crew member (or want to jump off the fence and join us!), the details are below.