Jam it, that's good...

strawberry and blood orange jam

When I think of making jam it makes my brain hurt. Disturbing images dance through my head: me standing over the stove with a 10 gallon pot, bushels of strawberries waiting to be washed and hulled, and rows of jars waiting to be sterilized. (For some reason when I imagine this I also see myself in a frilly apron. I’m not sure why, but why fight it). And in the end? 15 jars of jam with no one to give them to and nowhere to store them. As soon as I hear mention of those things I turn my head in the opposite direction, scrunch my nose up like I’ve just eaten a bad pistachio, and flick my hand in such a way as to indicate that I will have nothing to do with any of it.

And there are 2 reasons why jam making elicits such a dramatic response from me.

1. the thought of all that makes me tired and I am instantly overcome by a great and wide mouthed yawn.
2. I like to do things the easy way.

Yes, in my happy little world, easy = good. I know that jam purists may disagree with me. And I am certainly not suggesting that they change their methods. I’m only hoping to introduce the world of fresh jam to those who subscribe to my aforementioned equation.

And truthfully, if I had to do it any other way I’d never do it at all. And that would be oh so very tragic. So here it is, my own recipe. And it puts a big smile on my jam smeared face.

Strawberry and Blood Orange Jam

3 cups chopped strawberries (Washed and stems removed)
The juice of one small blood orange (or a regular orange, but the blood orange intensifies the jam into a deep red colour)
½ cup of sugar
One gelatin sheet

Put the first 3 ingredients in a saucepan and bring to a simmer over medium high heat. Then reduce heat to medium for about 40 minutes. Stirring occassionally.
Near the end of cooking time, soak one gelatin sheet in cold water for approximately 5 minutes. Wring out the excess water with your hands and add it to your fruit mixture. Stir until dissolved (just a few minutes). Let the mixture cool a little then pour it into whatever container you like. (The only thing I had with a lid was a butter dish.)
Refrigerate. You’ll end up with a cup to a cup and a half of jam. I didn’t actually measure it but it fit perfectly in my butter dish, if that’s any indication. It should last up to a month.

And that, my friends, is it. Your own jam. No special tools and lots of time to spare. This recipe makes for very spreadable jam, which is how I like it. But you can add another sheet of gelatin if you so desire, or reduce the amount of juice, or add more sugar.

In fact, you can leave the gelatin out altogether but you will have to reduce your juice to just a tablespoon or two, or it will be way too runny, and won’t really be jam at all. (although it would still probably taste great on vanilla ice cream). I really wanted the orange to make a statement in the jam, so I opted for the gelatin to firm it up.

And also note that the cooking time is variable depending on how much you want your strawberries to break down. If they are still too chunky for you after 40 minutes, cook it longer until its right for you. Or less if you want it chunkier!

The point is, there’s lots of room for experimentation..