A Delivery System for Jam

It’s always fun to try something new. Last week I was browsing one of my cookbooks (Blue Chair Cooks, a companion book to Blue Chair Jam) and found an interesting recipe for making English muffins. That same day we received our new Fine Cooking magazine and it featured a recipe for English muffins. I took this quinky-dink as a “sign” and “Make English Muffins” went on our weekly list (actually, Verne’s list) of projects.  The process was similar to making our favorite no-knead pizza dough. The basic bread ingredients were mixed and then left to rest on the counter for 12-16 hours. The next morning, Verne rolled the dough, cut the muffins with a 3-1/2" cooking cutter, and baked as follows: placed on a griddle over low-medium heat to brown for 3-4 minutes per side and then into the oven to finish for about 8-10 minutes. The muffins were removed and fork-separated (rather than trying to slice them with a knife, the tines of the fork are inserted around the circumference of the muffin leaving the center in tact). When ready to eat, they are further separated and toasted, buttered, and of course topped with a generous slathering of my homemade jam. For a first try, they were excellent and are without a doubt the perfect delivery system for my jam!

Speaking of my jam, it’s been a while since I’ve said much about it. Don’t get the idea my obsession with jam making has waned. During the off season (now), I spend my time reading jam books (15+ and growing), making the occasional batch of jam using fresh-frozen fruit, teaching MFP classes (three so far this year), and planning my jam making for the new year. I’m just like a gardener who spends the winter months browsing seed catalogs, planning the garden, and anxiously anticipating the first sign of spring…I browse recipe books, magazines and the Internet for inspiration, plan my ("our", I don't jam without my trusty assistant) summer jamming, while I anxiously anticipate the first sign of April strawberries.

Yes, I did indicate above that I’ve made a few batches of jam from frozen fruit over the past few months.  In January, a fellow MFPer asked if I had a recipe for peach marmalade. I thought the question absurd, as everyone knows marmalades are pure citrus, and I was quick to tell her. Wrong! (I’ll get to that in a moment.) Shortly after that, I was again browsing my cook books and came across a recipe for Peach Marmalade. Imagine my surprise (and embarrassment). I contacted my friend regarding the recipe and she asked if I’d make it with her. She furnished the peaches and citrus and I provided the sugar and a couple of afternoons. The recipe called for a pound of lemons and three pounds of peaches. Gail’s home-grown peaches were frozen from last summer. They were a beautiful orange-red color and tree-ripened sweet. Our jamming session went well and she went home with eight half-pints of jam (I kept three jars and a three-pound bag of her frozen peaches). The following week I made a second batch of Peach Marmalade and it turned out equally delicious. In fact, it’s so good I think it might be a jam worthy of entering in the 2015 Amador County Fair (I’m getting a lot of pressure from the family to participate in the Fair).

Okay, back to my faux pas…here’s what I’ve learned about marmalade. The term is thought to have come from the Portuguese word “marmelo” or “marmelada” and was first used centuries ago to describe one of the earliest preserves, a sweet paste made from quince fruit and honey. In many languages, variations of the word marmalade refer to fruit preserves in general and of varying types, not strictly citrus. The English, however, adopted the word “jam” as a generic term for different preserves and narrowed the definition of marmalade to be jam made from predominantly citrus fruits and their peels. Interesting...whatever we call it, marmalade by any other name would be just as sweet!