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mercoledì 15 giugno 2011

The first Batch was Cherry...la prima pentolata era Ciliegie iliege

The annual jam session has begun. It's music to the ears of the family when I have gotten out the basket in which I count out jars and caps, pull out the big old cooking pot, take out the heavyduty scale, stock up on fructose and pectin and begin humming unfathomable tunes which usually make my daughter say 'cut it'. But it is the jam session season and the humming is just a nonsensical way to sing since I don't have a good voice. To compensate for the lack of voice I do have a pretty good amount of recipes for the jam session...the first one was CHERRY JAM:

1.5 kilograms of Cherries(that's 2.2 lbs a kilo) pitted
350 grams of chrystallized fructose
1 packet of pectin (or the USA equivalent for the pounds you use)
juice of 1 lemon

procedure:

put all the pitted cherries into a heavy-bottomed cooking pot. On top of the cherries put the fructose and on top of the fructose pour the lemon juice. I usually do this in the evening and let it marinate all night. In the morning it's ready for the first 20 minutes of cooking. Once cooked the 20 minutes, take out your homogenizer(that blender on a stick) and blend in the pot until half of the cherries have become a cream. BE CAREFUL not to blend it too much or you'll end up having a buttery consistency instead of a cherry-ful one. Place a tiny plate into the freezer(for the jel test) and in the meanwhich pour the pectin in the jam which is again on the stove. Using a large whisk blend the pectin into the hot jam (I know you usually do it in cold fruit but I no longer follow instructions and do it my way). Continue cooking for at least 4 minutes. Turn off the stove and do jel test. A tbsp of jam onto that little plate and then put it back into the freezer a minute. If it is jelled correctly it will make an indentation and remain indented.
To sterilize jars I usually fill them with water and Micro them until water bubbles. Keep the water in the jars until ready to fill, then empty, dry and fill. At this point put on the caps, turn them upside down a minute and then right side up. I then place the jars on a towel and cover them with another towel to keep them hot as long as possible. It helps the sterilization....
Next day the jars should be ready to label(I use a white magic marker instead of labels). Check lids and place in a cool dry place for the winter.


La prima ondata di confetturazione era Ciliegie - Tante ciliegie diciamo 1.5 kg di ciliegie raccolta proprio in tempo per oggi. Snocciolate le ciliegie le ho messe in una pentola fondo pesante. Sopra le ciliegie ho messo 350 grammi fruttosio e sopra questo il succo di 1 limone. Lasciato macerare per tutta la notte e questa mattina cottura per 20 minuti. Preparato poi i vasi nel MO con acqua in ogni vaso. Fatto bollire(quasi) acqua nei vasi per sterilizzarle. Si lascia in vaso affinche pronti per uso. Poi messo in freezer piattino da caffe per prova gelificazione. Poi tirato fuori omogenizzatore e frullato meta delle ciliegie per farne un po di cremina dentro la pentola. Lasciate almeno metà delle ciliegie a pezzi altremente diventa troppo burrosa la confettura. Poi con frusta a mano grande ho cominciato mescolare confettura nella quale ho poi messo 1 bustina fruttapec 3:1. Continuato cottura 4 minuti, spento tutto e tolto vasi da MO. Asciugati vasi, riempiti di bollente confettura, chiusi con tappi di metallo, messi sotto sopra per 1 minuto. Poi rigirati i vasi e messi su un asciugamano e coperte con un altro asciugamano pesante per assicurare calore per piu tempo. Domani mattino saranno pronti. Controllerò i tappi, scriverò con marker bianco nome e data...e metterò i miei tre vasi(soltanto peccato) al fresco per quest'inverno.

Colore rubino scuro....non vedo ora di usarli!