Cooking with Apricot-Pineapple Jam

Remember the Apricot-Pineapple Jam (click here) I made back in August last year? As the new growing season (which all too quickly will turn into preserving season) begins, now is the time I take stock and begin planning for next year. What worked and what didn't, what was too much or not enough, and what should be changed, eliminated or added this year. I begin deciding which kinds, and how much, jam I should (allow myself to) make, and I was thinking about how Apricot-Pineapple Jam is more than just a condiment for toast. I would like to share with you some of the ways I use it in cooking.

1) Besides slathering it on toasted homemade bread for my breakfast (click here), biscuits and scones, or with PB on pancakes, it is also delicious as a topping for rice and bread puddings (click here), and ice cream.

2) To serve on Irish Soda Bread (click here), mix in a mini-food processor: 1 c. jam, 1 minced shallot and 2 T. Jameson Irish Whiskey.

3) An Upside-Down Jam Cake like this (click here) made with Apricot-Pineapple Jam is scrumptious!

4) I make a glaze for broiling ribs and other meats by mixing 1/2 c. jam, 2-4 T. soy sauce, and 1-2 T. white wine or rice wine vinegar. I add 1 t. each grated ginger and minced garlic if I think of it, or not if I don't or am in a hurry, and then I baste the meats with the glaze during the last 5-10 minutes of cooking time. We had lamb ribs with this glaze a couple nights ago and (as if there could be any doubt about it) they were incredibly good!

5) To make basic muffins into extra-yummy jam muffins, I fill the paper-lined muffin cup 1/4 full of batter (a couple tablespoons), add 2 t. jam, and then fill it to 2/3 full with more muffin batter and bake as directed. Yum!

6) I haven't made this yet, but I am convinced that Apricot-Pineapple Jam with Chili Sauce will make a great sauce for meatballs like these Beef Meatballs with Grape Jelly and Chili Sauce I recently made (click here), or as a sauce for baked chicken wings or riblets.

7) I absolutely adore this Asian-style Apricot Salad Dressing, especially on shredded cabbage salad served over warm rice. I blend in a mini-food processor: 1/2 c. jam, 1/4 c. rice wine vinegar, 2 T. soy sauce, 2 pressed garlic cloves, 2 T. honey, 1/2 c. canola oil, 2 t. sesame oil, and then stir in 1 T. toasted sesame seeds.



I hope everyone is enjoying our lovely weather this week! I'm off to weed the strawberries now -and to think about strawberry jam and wee little lambs and all the joys of summer.

Apricot-Pineapple Jam

Apricots are a very soft fruit that is difficult to transport to markets, and they are not as popular as many other fruits available this time of year. As a result, many growers have stopped producing and selling them. I watch for the brief period when they show up at our Farmer's Market and when they do, I immediately buy some to make Apricot-Pineapple Jam.



We made this jam every year on the ranch when I was growing up there. The Farm Journal describes it as 'pure gold' and in the gray darkness of our winters here in the Pacific Northwest, we welcome this bright sunshine-gold jam on toast -or jam on pancakes and waffles European-style, rather than North American-style with maple syrup.



Despite anxieties and intimidating directions surrounding the process, making jam is really easy: Chop up the fruit, add sugar and cook it until its jam. "What they don't tell you is that when it has turned into jam, it looks like jam. It is thick and has the consistency of cold molasses" points out the immortal and always amusing Laurie Colwin in her essay 'Jam Anxiety.' It really is that easy.



Apricot-Pineapple Jam
Adapted from Farm Journal's Freezing and Canning Cookbook

Mix in heavy bottomed preserving pot:
8 c. (about 4 lbs) diced apricots
8 c. sugar
Bring to a boil and cook for 20 minutes.

Add:
2-20 oz cans crushed pineapple, drained
Bring to a boil again. I often don't actually read these incredibly simple directions and then of course, forget and dump the undrained pineapple in with the apricots and sugar. I just cook it all for 30 minutes or "until it looks like jam" and it works out just fine.

Put jam in jars and seal. Leave undisturbed overnight. Label and store. Makes 6 pints.

Note: Use some slightly under ripe fruit. If all the apricots are dead ripe, the jam will have a softer set -not a bad thing if serving it on pancakes and waffles.



Apricot-Pineapple Jam mixed with an equal amount of soy sauce and a bit of white wine or rice vinegar makes a really great glaze to baste on grilled or roasted meats, and pork tenderloin and duck breast are especially good with this glaze. This is roasted goat I made last night for dinner.



Yesterday after I'd made this jam, we harvested our potatoes, and I was making pickled carrots and dill pickles and packaging goat meat. For dinner I put these vegetables in the roasting pan with a bit of water before adding the meat. Bake 350 for 1 1/2-2 hours covered, and add glaze last 15 minutes of cooking, without the cover. So easy and so good.