Fruit Pectin

Some fruits have more pectin than others and those fruits low in pectin often need some assistance to help the jam set quickly without hours of boiling away at your jam, losing the flavour and the preserve going hard and not the desired medium set that most of us aim for.  This is where a bottle of fruit pectin comes in very handy to help assist with this.  I used it in my raspberry jam the other day which has come up really well.  When I purchased four bottles of this well known Certo brand the other day I got a freebie called Jams, Jellies and marmalade recipes.  It is actually quite a substantial little booklet (Look out in Lakeland) if you want to get hold of one, but you will have to buy some pectin. 

Anyways there are some really good recipes in there and one has popped up straight away that I would quite like to make as I can see it not only being useful to serve with cheese and biscuits but for gravies and sauces or anywhere where you would use garlic and/or shallots (depending on which version you make).  There are also some useful recipes for Apple and Thyme Jelly, Apple and Sage Jelly, Mint Jelly, Sweet Cider Jelly, Hot Green Pepper Jelly, Onion Marmalade etc. etc.

GARLIC OR SHALLOT JELLY

Ingredients:

3oz/85g finely chopped garlic or shallots

3lb/1.kg Sugar

2floz/700ml White wine vinegar

16floz/450ml water

1/2 bottle of Certo

Method:

1. Mix the garlic or shallots with the vinegar and simmer gently uncovered over medium heat for about 15 minutes.
2. Remove from heat and pour into a suitable glass jar or casserole; cover and let stand at room temperature for 24 to 36 hours.
3. Pour vinegar through a wire strainer into a large pan pressing the garlic or shallots with the back of a spoon to get as much liquid as possible and then discard the residue.
4. Add water and sugar.
5. Bring to a full rolling boil over a medium high heat.
6. Stir in the Certo and bring to a boil stirring constantly for approximately a minute.
7. Skim if necessary, pot and cover.

Makes approximately 5lb of jelly

To tell you the truth there are lots of good recipes in here which I intend to try over the next few weeks and put up a few more useful jars of this and that for use during the year and through the winter months in my Pantry.

Please note this is not an advert for said consumables but my own personal view and something that I have come across during the course of my moochings.  The little recipe book is very useful but you do have to use the pectin for them but hopefully once I have my canner and I have found a source of crab apples  I will pop up my own pectin for use during the year.  Well that is one of the aims anyway.  Crab apples just for the picking and a little bit of effort in processing can help provide the setting agent for your home produced jams for next to nothing.  Crab apples often get left because people do not really know what to do with them.  If you do have access to a regular supply of crab apples it is also worth making your own crab apple jelly.  It is really delicious served with roast pork as an alternative to traditional apple sauce.

Right must get a wriggle on.

Hopefully will catch you later on.

Pattypan

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