Ingredients:
- Plums: About 8 cups raw, unprepared plums
- Lemon juice: either fresh squeezed or bottled. 1/4 cup
- Water: 1/2 cup
- Sugar: About 4.5 cups of dry, granulated sugar
- Pectin: 1 box
How to do it:
Wash the plums and remove any stems, leaves, etc. Dip the plums in boiling water for 30 to 60 seconds, then imerse in ice water. The skins will now slide off the ripe plums. Unriped plums will take longer.
Cut the plums however you desire (sliced, halved, etc) and remove any brown or mushy spots. Sprinkle the prepared plums with the lemon juice and stir to coat evenly.
Mix the dry pectin with 1/4 cup sugar. Mix the pectin with the plums and begin cooking over medium heat. Stir often to prevent the fruit from sticking or scorching. It will take 5 to 10 minutes to bring the plums to a full boil. Add the remaining sugar and return to a hard boil for 1 minute.
Fill your warm, sterilized jars with the plum jam and process according to your canner’s directions.
Yield: 10 8 ounce jars
From the files of Chef Paul Prudhomme comes another recipe for the pounds of figs I have coming out of my ears.
Ingredients:
1 recipe Sweet Dough
1 pint Fig Preserves
1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
6 paper thin slices of orange
4 paper thin slices of lemon
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1/4 cup water
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Pinch of salt
How to do it:
Line the pie pan with the dough, reserving one third of the dough.
In a medium sized bowl, combine the fig preserves and grated nutmeg. Mash well with a pastry blender to break up any chunks of figs. Add the remaining ingredients and mix with a large spoon.
Pour the prepared fig mixture into the pie shell and spread evenly over the dough. Distribute the lemon and orange slices evenly so each slice of pie will contain some. Push the slices down into the preserves and make sure they’re coated. Use the reserved dough to form a lattice.
Bake at 375º until dark golden brown, approximately 24 minutes. Remove from oven and cool until firm (about 15 minutes.)
Also know as confiture aux figues, you can either can the preserves or use them make Fig Sweet Dough Pie. Use firm figs that are as ripe and unblemished as possible.
Ingredients:
3 pounds firm, ripe figs, about 9 cups
4 cups sugar
1 cup water
1/2 to 1 teaspoon of lemon juice or 1 slice lemon per pint
How to do it:
Wash the figs in cold water, removing any blemishes. Drain well, then wash again. Drain and remove the stems.
Combine all of the ingredients in a large stainless steel pan. Bring to a boil over high heat, stirring occasionally. Continue boiling while skimming off any yellow foam which forms on the surface. This will take approximately 10 minutes.
Reduce heat to medium and continue cooking for 50 minutes, stirring and scraping the bottom of the pain to prevent scorching. If the mixture becomes too thick during cooking, add 2 to 4 tablespoons of water. Toward the end of the 50 minutes, the mixture should become very thick and the large figs should be broken down to the consistency of a puree. Remove from heat and can as usual.