Quince Jam and Marmalade

Quince are very rare to find in Montreal and when they are, usually they are expensive. It's basically more cost effective to buy already made jam. But, once a year I like to make homemade jam, marmalade or paste. I have already posted the recipe for quince paste last year.

In this recipe I am using 2/3 of the sugar called for in the original recipe. Two reasons for that: first I know it will not last (sugar acts as a preservative, so a high sugar jam will last longer) and second I am trying to cut the amount of sugar we eat for health reasons.

I used the same proportions for both jam and marmalade. Once the fruit was cooked, I blended half in Marmalade and left the other half in pieces.

Ingredients
6 small quinces (around 2.2 lb)
2 cups granulated sugar
4 cups water
1 lemon juice

Directions

1. Combine the water and lemon juice in a large pot.
2. Peel and cut the quince in small pieces and place directly in the pot.
3. Add sugar and bring to a boil (the quince should be covered with water). Reduce the heat and simmer, stirring from time to time, until the fruit is soft, about 40 minutes.
4. Blend the quince, if desired, and pour it still hot into sterilized jars.

Note: I left half of the quince in pieces and blended the other half.

Green Tomato Jam

The Joy of gardening in Canada!
Even if the calendar says it is spring, you cannot seed or plant yet.
The growing season (the number of days between the last frost in spring and the first frost in fall- time for plants to grow from seed to maturity) in a cold climate won’t begin until end of May, when the risk of frost is completely gone.
In February-March there is a lot of excitement around garden planning and even starting seeds inside. And then the waiting begins.

Basically there are just 3.5 months of « safe gardening » June, July, September and the first 2 weeks of October. And then the inevitable occurs : you wake up one morning just to find your plant leaves half burnt from an early freeze.
How frustrating ! Your vegetable leaves are all withered. The beautiful tomatoes that you just starting enjoying, the butternut squashes, your pride hanging naked now that their huge leaves are withered. I will not list all of them.

So you have to pay attention to frost warning issued by the weather forecast and harvest everything that’s ready or almost. I used to let green tomatoes continue to ripen on the counter but most of them were damaged after few days before ripening.
And then I remembered that my mother used to make ripe tomato jam, which I hated! I thought I should try it with green tomatoes and maybe just maybe my family will like it.

Guess what? I like it more than they do! The longer it cooks the better it gets. Actually it tastes very much like fig jam. If you try it let me know if you agree.

Ingredients
2.2 lb green tomatoes washed and cut into small pieces
1.1 lb sugar



Directions

1. In a large pot, mix the tomatoes and the sugar, cover and let stand few hours or overnight in the fridge. The tomatoes will release their juice.





2. Bring to a boil on a medium-high heat. When the liquid reaches the boiling point lower the heat to medium-low. Cook around 45 minutes or until the jam takes a slightly amber color.
3. Fill the jars while jam is still hot, so you will not need to sterilize.
4. Wipe the rim clean and seal.