Blueberry Jam and My Preserving Pan

July for me means it is time to make Blueberry Jam and Mint Jelly.  Unfortunately, the mint in our garden has been taking a beating from both the heat and some kind of bug so nix the mint jelly this year.  But Blueberries are such a “Jersey thing”.  If you drive down into South Jersey on Route 206 toward Hammonton you will see endless blueberry fields and stands selling blueberries and blueberry plants. 

And Blueberry Jam is so easy to make.  After the summer, opening a jar of Blueberry Jam takes you right back to those hot July days.  For the past twelve years I have been a total jamoholic.  I started a journal and began teaching myself how to make jam (I could not find a class to take at that time).  That first year I made 34 different jams and jellies; this year I am at 4 including taking (for the first time) the marmalade class in England.   At this point, I have collected over 25 books on preserving and jam making, but overall my favorites are always the British recipe books.  They are so much more authentic.

Over the years, I have learned a few things – but most important has been investing in a good preserving pan (one where you are fairly certain that you won’t burn the jam or have it spill over the sides of the pan when the jam is in the rapid boiling stage – all of which I have done.  Cleaning up jam off a stovetop is no fun task).   

My favorite pan is the one I bought from England back in 2000 when you could not really find a decent pan in the United States.  Today, you can find great pans (sometimes called Maslin pans) at William Sonoma, Lee Valley and Amazon, to name a few. Here’s to the summer of 2012 and another fine batch of Blueberry Jam – almost always guaranteed to be made in sweltering summer heat when the lilies are in bloom. 

A Heat Wave, A Watermelon and Some Time on my Hands

This weekend was bloody hot with temperatures hovering around 100 degrees. Lucky for me,  I had a watermelon sitting on the counter looking for something to do.  I could, of course, just cut it open and eaten it.  That would have been too practical and healthy.  Instead, a business colleague of mine was in town, visiting his sister who was celebrating her 50^th year as a Salesian Nun (Wow!) so I decided to break out the Cuisinart Ice Cream and Sorbet Maker (a ‘red’ beauty snagged by my husband Irv for $2 last year at a Catholic School Rummage Sale – I just realized the Catholic connection here as I am writing this – karma) and make sorbet.  Perhaps I gilded the lily too much, but instead of simple Watermelon Sorbet (last year’s attempt ended up all over the ceiling after I opened the blender lid while it was running – I think I still see the pink dots up there), but…

Watermelon-Jersey Strawberries with Sea Salt and Pepper Sorbet

1 ¼ cup sugar

1 ½ cup water

3 cups fresh watermelon puree

3 cups strawberry puree

Juice of one lime

Sea Salt and Coarse Ground Pepper

In a medium saucepan, bring the sugar and water to a boil.  Reduce the heat and simmer until the sugar is dissolved completely.  Set aside to cool.

Put watermelon chunks in a blender or food processor (keep the lid on!).  Pulse to chop the watermelon and process until it is completely pureed.  Press the watermelon through a strainer to remove the seeds and extra pulp.  Aim for three cups of strained watermelon puree.  Put strawberries (fresh or frozen, I had some local strawberries that I had frozen) in a blender or food processor.  Pulse to puree the strawberries and process until completely pureed.  Aim for three cups.   Combine the purees with the juice of one lonely, soon to be happily married lime and cooled sugar syrup.  Chill in refrigerator for one hour or many more.  Pour into the freezer bowl of your hopefully bought-at-a-yard-sale ice cream maker and whirr away.  Add sea salt and coarsely ground pepper as it is whirring and making all kinds of noise.  Eat right out of the freezer compartment or put the sorbet directly into a container (better yet, a snagged - unused please - Whole Foods take out soup container) and freeze.  Serve when the temperature is too hot to sit outside, but you still want to sit outside because it is summer.  Nobody complained about the sorbet (just the weather).   Enjoy!