Fig Jam

Having a sweet tooth simply means, it is a daily struggle to keep your hands mouth away from anything and everything that has sugar = these days anything that is processed. Even products that are sold as savory or healthy options have sugar in them. Think Fat Free means Sugar Full :) Store bought jams and jellies for morning breakfast means you are consuming 4-5 tsp of sugar right in the morning. Fruits are good but store bought jams and jellies, I am not so sure. I'd rather save the sugar for savoring some dessert later in the day. Homemade jams/jellies gives you the option to control the sugar and what else goes into it.

Should I grow Fig Trees?
Having fruit trees at home gives you the option to have fresh fruit right away :) If you live in a tropical, semi tropical or an area where you do not get sub zero temperatures, there is no excuse not to grow them. They are no fuss and do very well with fairly minimal maintenance. We get freezing temperatures in the winter, early morning frost and copious amounts of snow some years but even in these conditions figs do very well for instance near a south facing wall. The wall gives protection and some warmth. In much colder places they can be grown in containers which can be brought indoors during the cold months. Your local extension might have advice on how and where to grow and what varieites. Here is a link to what grows best in for us in Maryland.

End of August is when we start harvesting figs. This year the first fall frost was 2 weeks late so we enjoyed figs for a bit longer. If you are hard pressed for time to do anything with them, you can always eat them fresh and freeze the excess for use in smoothies. With the season extended I got some time to savor the figs and make some jams. Just 3 ingredients and I have resorted to cooking jams/jellies in an Instant Pot and that makes it even more easier to do.

it is just as easy on the stove top and should take the same amount of time or lesser. I use an Instant Pot because the saute mode provides constant heat and there is no danger of burning or sticking to the bottom of the pan. I have added far less sugar than the usual jelly recipes call for. Usually the ratio of fruit to sugar 2:1. That is a lot of sugar for a fruit like fig which is itself extremely sweet when ripe. All I needed was 1/4 cup of sugar for 2 cups of figs. So adjust for your needs accordingly.

Get the ingredient for the fig jam ready. Chop the figs.
Transfer the figs, sugar and lime juice and gently mash.
Cook the figs mixture till the liquid evaporates and the jam coats the back of the spoon.
Transfer to sterlized containers.

Fig Jam
Preparation Time:5 minutes
Cooking Time:15-20 minutes
Ingredients

1. 2 cups of figs (about 15-20)
2. 1/4 cup of raw sugar
3. 2 tbsp of lemon/lime juice

Method

1. Wash and pat dry the figs, remove the top step and cut the fig into smaller pieces.
2. Transfer the cut figs into a saute pan if cooking on stove top or instant pot, mix in the sugar and lemon juice into the cut figs and gently mash with a potato masher.
3. Place the saute pan on the stove or if using Instant Pot set it to cook in saute mode.
4. Stir continuously till the liquid almost evaporates and the jam coats the back of the spoon. Do a water test, take a small plate with some water in it. Add a small bit of the jam on to the water and if it does not dissolve the jam is ready.
5. Transfer to a sterilzed glass jar once the jam is coolerd down to room temperature.

Jam is ready for toasts or to sppon over ice cream and enjoyed. Like what you are reading? Subscribe!

Currant Jelly - Using an Instant Pot

Instant Pot has become an indispensable apparatus in my kitchen . Did I tell you that already? I must have mentioned only a few dozen time surely. The Instant Pot makes an easy job of making jelly without having to spend time standing in front of a stove stirring and making sure it does not stick to the bottom. With an Instant Pot while you still have to stir occasionally, the even temperature prevents it from charring and sticking even when you let your attention wander off for a few minutes.

If you do not have an Instant Pot and have to use the stove top, use this recipe, still easy to do without very many steps. Right after we harvested currants in early summer I did a batch of the jelly and the subsequently harvested fruit was frozen. It took me about 45 minutes from start to finish and unlike on the stove top I left the Instant Pot to do its thing in the first 20 minutes and then during the next 20 minutes did an occasional stir till the jelly sets.

The currant seeds are slightly bigger in size and we do not like the texture so I filter it out but if you use a fruit this process should be even more faster. Once the fruit is cooked, blend, strain, add the sugar and cook again in the Instant Pot.



Here is the recipe in pictures,

Take the frozen currants in the Instant Pot. Cook for 25 minutes.
Once the currants have cooled blend and strain or use the juicer attachment of the blender and extract the pulp .
Add the top attachment that prevents the seeds from getting mixed with the pulp. Blend till all the pulp is extracted.
Pour the pulp and measure, I had about 1 1/2 cups.
Mix the pulp and the sugar in the Instant Pot and in saute mode, normal setting cook the mixture.
Mix the pulp and the sugar in the Instant Pot and in saute mode cook the mixture.
Cool to transfer to sterilized glass jars.

Works perfect on toast, pancakes or as a topping for ice cream.

Currant Jelly in an Instant Pot
Preparation Time: 10 minutes
Cooking Time: 45 minutes
Ingredients

1. 3 cups of frozen currant which gave about 1 1/2 cups of fruit pulp
2. 1 1/4 cups of sugar

Method

1. Take 3 cups of currant in the Instant Pot, put it in manual cook mode for 25 minutes. (Since the fruit was frozen I did not add any water. If using fresh fruit add about 1/4 cup of water.)
2. Let the pressure subside naturally. Remove the lid and let the fruit to cool.
3. Take the cooked fruit in a blender (I used the juicer attachment of the blender) and blend for 3-4 minutes. By now the pulp should be oozing out. If you are using a regular blender, blend till the fruit is mashed up completely.
4. Measure and tip the pulp back in the Instant Pot along with the sugar.
5. Put the Instant Pot in Sauté mode in Normal setting. Once the Instant pot flashes hot keep an eye, stirring every 5 minutes or so.
6. In 15-20 minutes the jelly should be set. Do a water test - put a drop of the jelly in a small plate of water and if it does not run the jelly is ready.
7. Cool and pour into sterilized glass jars.
   

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Farm to Plate - Currant Jelly

I have seen currants on a lot of European blogs. They looked kind of pretty and when I had the chance to grow them in my farm, I planted a couple of baby currant bushes. The first three years the plant grew vigorously and I was reluctant to trim it. The berries were hard to reach and the few that ripened were hidden in a mass of leaves. Last year I started reading about pruning and figured out how to prune the bushes. Pruned them in early spring as recommended. This summer we have an abundance of fruit but the problem now seems to be how to harvest them. The 3 lbs of fruit that we harvested was made into jelly.

The fruit are not that great was eating like other berries. They have seeds and are tart. But they are perfect for making jelly. I used the recipe from Martha Stewart for the measurement of sugar and fruit. I had a little over 3 lbs of currants. Using a recipe that calls for fruit but uses the juice is always tricky because the given measurement of fruit does not give the required amount of juice or pulp. Adjust the sugar quantity of the juice the fruit eventually produces. The recipe from Martha Stewart said 4 cups of juice for 3 lbs of currants. I got about 3 cups of juice for the same quantity.



If you want a plant that regularly produces fruit for a jelly but you don't want to do too much work, currant bushes are the plants for you. If planting and then harvesting fruit seems like something you don't want to do, look for them in farmer's market or see if a friend grows them ;)

The jelly making process is pretty easy. Making jelly at home means you can control the amount of sugar and the ingredients that go into it. Here it is just 2. What more can you ask?

Wash and drain the currants and add to a thick bottomed vessel with about 1/3 cups of water.
Cook the currants till they are soft and mushy. Use a hand blender or a back of a laddle to break them down further.
Strain the currants through a mesh strainer to get the juice.
Add the sugar to the juice and let it come to a boil.
Cook for about 20 - 25 minutes till a drop placed in a plate of water does not dissolve.
Transfer to sterilized jars.

With some bread toasted with butter or ghee morning breakfast is fun and delicious.

Currant Jelly
Preparation Time: 10 minutes
Cooking Time: 40 minutes
Ingredients

1. 3 1/2 lbs of currant which yielded 3 cups of juice
2. 2 1/4 cups of sugar

Method

1. Wash the currant and remove the stems. Take them in a thick bottomed pan with about 1/3 cup of water. Let it come to a boil and become soft about 8-10 minutes.
2. You can use the laddle to mash the fruit. I use the hand blender to further break down the fruit.
3. Use a fine mesh strainer to strain the skin and seeds to get the juice.
4. Take the juice and the sugar in a heavy bottomed pot. Let it cook for about 20 - 25 minutes till a drop poured on a plate with water does not dissolve in the water.
5. Transfer to sterilized jars.

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