raspberry lemon jam

raspberry-lemon jam (with kiwi and grapefruit marmalade behind)

last night i made this jam - i had frozen raspberries and a bunch of lemons in the house - it is pretty tasty! i love raspberry jam - it has always been a favourite and I have to say the addition of lemon is a great sweet/tart combo.

Raspberry Lemon Jam

• 4 medium lemons
• 1/8 teaspoon baking soda (to adjust acidity)
  
• one package (600 grams) frozen raspberries
  
• 6 cups sugar
• 1 (3 ounce) pouch liquid fruit pectin

1. Slice the lemons in half (along equator) and remove any seeds . Place in a deep pot and bring to boil, simmer, covered, for about 30 min. or until rind is soft. * I thinly sliced half of the lemons into rounds (these didn't go into the food processor) I don't think I'd bother again - the rounds are pretty but kind of a pain to spread on toast

2. Toss the boiled lemons in the food processor until its a nice even pulp

3. Meanwhile defrost raspberries

4. Place lemon pulp and defrosted raspberries into pot - i use my le creuset (dutch oven), bring to a boil, slowly add sugar, stir over heat, until sugar is dissolved. Bring to boil, boil uncovered for 2 minutes. Quickly stir in pectin; return to a full rolling boil. Boil for 1 minute, stirring constantly. Remove from the heat; skim off any foam.

5. Pour into hot sterilized jars; leaving 1/4-in. headspace, seal.

Yields: about 8 cups

easy organic grapefruit marmalade

so the first marmalade i made was blood orange based on this recipe from design sponge. it came out a lovely deep red .... it was a lot of work and i think i over cooked it. so much prep work! ... segmenting the oranges, making sure none of the white pith remained in ....

but then i read about boiling the fruit - it removes the bitterness - and the beauty is once they have been boiled - toss the orange etc in the food processor - yep the whole (mushy) thing!

OK on to the recipe!

easy grapefruit marmalade

5-6 Medium grapefruit (i used organic ruby red)
1 Medium lemon
10 Cups sugar, approximately

1. Slice the grapefruit and lemon in half (along equator) and remove any seeds - you won't get them all but no worries you can scoop out any stray seeds later. place in a deep pot and bring to boil, simmer, covered, for about 45 min. or until rind is soft. many suggest leaving them overnight - i have done this as well using them right away - i can't tell the difference

2. Toss the boiled citrus in the food processor until its a nice even pulp

3. Measure fruit mixture; allow 1-cup sugar to each cup of fruit mixture.

4. Return fruit mixture to your pot - i use my le creuset (dutch oven), add sugar, stir over heat, without boiling, until sugar is dissolved. Bring to boil, boil, uncovered for about 15 min. or until marmalade jells when tested.

5. Pour into hot sterilized jars; seal.

Yields: About 10 cups

Vegan Peach Cobbler

Vegan Peach Cobbler, originally uploaded by girl from finito.

Horrah for peach season! I had a few friends over on tuesday and whipped up a vegan cobbler for them. I replaced the butter with all vegetable shortening, the whipping cream with soy milk and omitted the blueberries (which I admit would have been really nice).. I cooked it in ramekins in a water bath as an alternative to serving it in one dish which worked out quite well.... yummy yummy yummy.

PEACH AND BLUEBERRY COBBLER
from A Matter of Taste .. Waverman and Chatto
filling....
4 cups sliced peeled peaches
1 cup blueberries
2 Tbsp lemon juice
2 Tbsp brown sugar to taste
1 Tbsp cornstarch
1 Tbsp butter
topping....
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup cornmeal
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 cup butter, diced
1/4 cup whipping cream

preheat oven to 350
combine peaches blueberries, lemon juice, brown sugar, and cornstarch.
place in a buttered 8in square baking dish and dot with butter
combine flour, cornmeal, brown sugar and nutmeg for topping. cut in butter until mixture is crumbly. stir in cream until mixture is just moistened.
drop batter by heaping spoonfuls onto fruit mixture. Topping will spread slightly during baking.
bake for 30 minutes, or until topping is golden and fruit is bubbling. serve warm.