Homemade Plum Jam
This is one of the easiest jams you can make. You don’t need pectin and it cooks pretty quickly into sweet, thick jammy goodness. I prefer a softer set, so I stopped cooking mine a little sooner than you might prefer. I like a jam that spreads easily, even after it has been opened and stored in the fridge. I love this jam.
I did a test with just a couple of plums. The flavor was great, but some of the pieces of the peel seemed too big. I could see them in the finished jam. To insure the skins got chopped up, I cooked my jam for awhile then used an immersion blender to smooth it out. This is just a cosmetic preference. You can just cook down chopped up plums and they will be fine.
So here is the recipe. I got it from the NCHFP website. The only changes I made was to up the processing time to 10 minutes, so I didn’t have to sterilize the jars. I also let the jam sit in the canner a few extra minutes to prevent siphoning.
Plum Jam
2 quarts chopped, pitted tart plums (about 4 pounds) – any plums will work
6 cups sugar
1½ cup water
¼ cup lemon juice
Combine all ingredients; bring slowly to boiling, stirring occasionally until sugar dissolves. Cook rapidly to, or almost to, the jellying point (which is 8°F above the boiling point of water, or 220°F at sea level). Stir constantly to prevent sticking or burning.
Pour hot jam into hot jars, leaving ¼ inch headspace. Wipe rims of jars with a dampened clean paper towel; adjust two-piece metal canning lids. Process in a boiling water bath canner for 10 minutes. Turn off the heat and allow jars to remain in canner 5 minutes before removing. Set jars on cooling rack or towel in a draft free place while they cool down. Check seals once jars are cool. Yield: About 8 half-pint jars.
Plum Glazed Wings
I love when local fruit is in season. I found myself with lovely red plums and I decided to use some of them to make a sauce for chicken wings. The sauce came out really nice. I started with onions, garlic and plum puree. I added more ingredients as I went until I felt the sauce had the flavor I was going for. This sauce/glaze would be great on pork or duck, too.
I pan fried my wings, but they could be grilled and basted with the sauce instead, or baked in the oven.
Plum Sauce/Glaze
2 T. oil, butter or bacon fat
1 medium onion, minced
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
1 c. plum puree made from about 1 lb. of plums
¼ c. cider vinegar
2 T. honey
1 T. hot sauce
1 t. fresh grated ginger
Salt to taste
I started by peeling the plums. You could leave the skins on, if you like, but I prefer them off. I put the plums in boiling water for a minute and then in cold water. The skins came right off. I removed the pits and pureed the plums- I ended up with a cup of fresh plum puree. Saute onion in a little oil- you could use butter or even bacon fat. Add garlic once the onions are tender. After that, add the plum puree and the rest of the ingredients. Let it cook for about 10 minutes to thicken and give it a taste. I decided to smooth the sauce out in the blender but it would be fine to leave it chunky. Makes about 1 1/2 cups.
To cook the wings I just pan-fried them. I had just over a pound of wings. I cooked them in a skillet, covered for about 20 minutes, turning a couple of times. I poured the sauce over them and turned the heat down to medium. I let them cook, covered, another 10 or 15 minutes. Once I was sure the wings were cooked through, I uncovered them and let the sauce cook down and thicken a little. It created a nice glaze on the wings. Easy and very tasty. I could also see baking or grilling the wings and just tossing them in the sauce at the end.
I ended up pureeing more plums and tossed them in the freezer so I can make this sauce again when the weather is chilly and no fresh plums are around.
Homemade Plum Jam
This is one of the easiest jams you can make. You don’t need pectin and it cooks pretty quickly into sweet, thick jammy goodness. I prefer a softer set, so I stopped cooking mine a little sooner than you might prefer. I like a jam that spreads easily, even after it has been opened and stored in the fridge. I love this jam.
I did a test with just a couple of plums. The flavor was great, but some of the pieces of the peel seemed too big. I could see them in the finished jam. To insure the skins got chopped up, I cooked my jam for awhile then used an immersion blender to smooth it out. This is just a cosmetic preference. You can just cook down chopped up plums and they will be fine.
So here is the recipe. I got it from the NCHFP website. The only changes I made was to up the processing time to 10 minutes, so I didn’t have to sterilize the jars. I also let the jam sit in the canner a few extra minutes to prevent siphoning.
Plum Jam
2 quarts chopped, pitted tart plums (about 4 pounds) – any plums will work
6 cups sugar
1½ cup water
¼ cup lemon juice
Combine all ingredients; bring slowly to boiling, stirring occasionally until sugar dissolves. Cook rapidly to, or almost to, the jellying point (which is 8°F above the boiling point of water, or 220°F at sea level). Stir constantly to prevent sticking or burning.
Pour hot jam into hot jars, leaving ¼ inch headspace. Wipe rims of jars with a dampened clean paper towel; adjust two-piece metal canning lids. Process in a boiling water bath canner for 10 minutes. Turn off the heat and allow jars to remain in canner 5 minutes before removing. Set jars on cooling rack or towel in a draft free place while they cool down. Check seals once jars are cool. Yield: About 8 half-pint jars.
Plum Glazed Wings
Plum Glazed Wings
I love when local fruit is in season. I found myself with lovely red plums and I decided to use some of them to make a sauce for chicken wings. I started by peeling the plums. You could leave the skins on, if you like, but I prefer them off. I put the plums in boiling water for a minute and then in cold water. The skins came right off. I removed the pits and pureed the plums- I ended up with a cup of fresh plum puree. From there it was a matter of creating the sauce. I minced an onion and cooked it in a little bacon fat- you could use butter or oil. I added a couple of cloves of minced garlic once the onions were tender. After that I added the plum puree, 1/4 cup of apple cider vinegar, a couple of tablespoons of honey, a tablespoon of hot sauce and salt. I let it cook for about 10 minutes to thicken and gave it a taste. It was pretty good, but needed something more. I added some fresh grated ginger and let it cook a few more minutes. It was wonderful. I decided to smooth the sauce out in the blender but it would be fine to leave it be.
To cook the wings I just pan fried them. I cooked them in a skillet, covered for about 20 minutes, turning a couple of times. I poured the sauce over them and turned the heat down to medium. I let them cook, covered, another 10 or 15 minutes. Once I was sure the wings were cooked through I uncovered them and let the sauce cook down and thicken a little. It created a nice glaze on the wings. Easy and very tasty. I ended up pureeing more plums and tossed them in the freezer so I can make this sauce again when the weather is chilly and no fresh plums are around.
