Let’s Jam!

Let’s Jam!

  I know a lot of people use jam or jelly for meatballs, and over brie, but I thought I would share a few others. I’ve been teaching myself how to make jam and I plan on giving out a few jars this year as gifts.  Just in case you get too many jars of jam, here are some ideas of what them. By the way should you not get jam for the holidays? Often you can find less popular varieties on clearance in the kitchen specialty stores. You can also find homemade jam and jelly at farmers’ markets in the spring. Oh, and if you want to try to make your own, you tube is a great resource but  the hard working folks at the farmer’s market always  answer my questions.

1.       Make your own salad dressing, just add a bit of raspberry jam to a basic recipe of olive oil and balsamic or rice vinegar—it’s a zesty dressing with almost no effort! Other ingredients you can toss in include lemon juice, garlic, Dijon mustard, herbs like sage or basil, and salt and pepper!

Try using this basic recipe:

Basic Vinaigrette from Martha Stewart

·         1/4 cup white-wine vinegar

·         1 tablespoon Dijon mustard

·         1/4 teaspoon salt

·         1/2 teaspoon pepper

·         Pinch of sugar

·         3/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

In a small bowl, whisk together 1/4 cup white-wine vinegar, 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard, 1/4 teaspoon salt, 1/2 teaspoon pepper, and a pinch of sugar.

Slowly add 3/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil, whisking until emulsified. Or shake the ingredients in a jar, or whirl them in a blender.

To make different types of vinaigrettes, do the following:

 Add jam in place of the sugar. I like apricot, lemon curd, apple jelly.

 Martha’s recipe call for Garlic: Add 1 teaspoon minced garlic or 1/2 clove crushed.  I recommend you roast it first. Roasting garlic makes it sweet and creamy.

Balsamic: Substitute balsamic vinegar for the wine vinegar.

Citrus Parmesan: Use fresh lemon, orange or pineapple juice instead of vinegar; add 1/4 cup finely grated Parmesan.

Scallion: Add 3 chopped whole scallions (about 1/4 cup).

Herb: Add 2 tablespoons chopped fresh herbs, such as thyme, parsley, or tarragon. Blue Cheese: Add 1/2 cup crumbled blue cheese, such as Roquefort.

2.       Any Jam will make a great ham glaze just microware it and pour it over the ham for the last hour and ½.  Ham loves fruit so don’t be afraid to try a different flavor of jam.

 8lb Ham

1 1/2 cups blackberry jam

1/2 teaspoon dry mustard

1 tablespoon prepared horseradish

Heat ham as directed on the label or at 325 degrees for 1 1/2 hours. Remove from oven and score, cutting diagonal lines 1/2 inch deep and 1 inch apart. Cut across the lines to make diamond shapes.  Combine jelly, mustard and horseradish. Spoon mixture in small amounts over the ham throughout the remainder of baking. Increase temperature to 425 degrees and bake until ham is browned and glazed about 30 minutes.

3.        I am not a baker. I’m a cook. I do keep a maybe 75 bake goodies in my recipe back pocket just cause.  Fill your cupcakes with your favorite jam.

Prepare a decorating bag with your icing filling and Round Decorating. Insert tip in top center of an un-iced cupcake and squeeze out a small amount of filling, which includes a filling tip and an easy-to-control cylinder for adding just the right amount.  Or, use a apple corer to hollow out the cupcake just a bit to leave a hole for the jam to set in and just spoon in the jam, cover with icing.

 Time to enjoy!

4.        How to make Jam into mix drinks? What it’s sweet?    You’re going to have to check out a fellow blogger for this one. But trust me you will be happy you did.

Jam & Gin Cocktail

1 Tablespoon jam (pick something interesting, flavorful, & special.   The creator of this article used Sour Cherry and Blueberry Vanilla – both excellent)

2 oz gin

juice from 1/2 lemon

1 oz simple syrup

Ice to serve

Combine jam, gin, lemon, and simple syrup in a cocktail shaker.  Shake vigorously, then strain and pour over ice.  Garnish with mint and serve.

 From Two Tarts blog (June 13, 2013)

5.      simple syrup

It is also good to make jam into a simple syrup for non-alcoholic and one of a kind drinks. Combine water and sugar Jam in a saucepan over medium-high heat; stir until sugar is dissolved. In a saucepan and bring to a boil; boil for 10 minutes. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer until jam becomes mushy and sauce is thick, about 10 minutes. Strain liquid into a bottle and refrigerate.

6.      Dips

This one is really simple, use either a 16 oz container of Greek yogurt or a soften block of cream cheese. In a bowl mixed your favorite jam with the yogurt or cream cheese with the jam to taste. Start with 2 tablespoons of jam and go from there. I adjust this recipe all the time because sometimes I serve animal crackers and can use less jam and sometimes I us plain pita crackers, so more jam may be needed. I prefer to use the cream cheese. I can mold the cream cheese in the refrigerator for 2 hours before a party to make it look fancy.

7.    Sweet and sour sauce made from strawberry jam

1 c. of rice vinegar
1 c. of shaved palm sugar (or dark brown sugar)
½ c. of strawberry jam thinned with about 2 tbsps. of water
½ tsp. of salt

Make the sweet and sour sauce. Place the vinegar and sugar in a small pan and set over medium heat. Cook without stirring until the sugar dissolves. Swirl the pan and boil over medium heat for 15 to 25 minutes or until syrupy. Add the strawberry jam and salt during the last five minutes of cooking.

8.      How to make Jam into Ice Cream

1 cup cold milk – I used 2% 

2 cups heavy whipping cream, chilled

1 pint jar jam of your choice – I used strawberry

Put all your ingredients into a mixing bowl and combine using an immersion blender. Pour mixture into your ice cream maker, following the manufacturer’s directions.

Since this will be a soft set, I like to place it in a freezer safe container and firm up overnight. The lovely thing about this recipe? It doesn’t get rock hard. My ice cream scoop easily cuts through it and I serve it up with a little chocolate sauce for dessert. It’s rich, so one or two scoops will satisfy. (Adapted recipe from Northwest Edible Life)