Kitchen Jam

Making jam when fruit is fresh is a wonderful way to save the season, but it can be hot work. Peaches usually show up in central New York markets when the days are around 85 degrees and 100% humidity! Some years, I will freeze fruit slices or berries when they’re fresh, and make jam later in the fall after temperature and humidity have dropped and cut me some slack.

I didn’t freeze any fruit of my own this year, but the growers who supply frozen fruit to my local supermarkets did. Right now I can buy these fruits frozen without sugar: strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, peaches, mango (!), and cherries — along with several variations of berry mixes. That means that a simple, no-canning-required freezer jam is only 15 mintues and my supermarket freezer case away, all year long.

Peaches are one of my favorite frozen-fruit jams, but this recipe will also work with an equal amount of thawed strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, raspberries or mango puree. I haven’t tried it (yet) with cherries…that experiement is on my to-do list! The recipe started with frozen berries, and my peach and mango improvs are based directly on those instructions included in the inserts packed into years of Sure-Jell and Ball powdered pectin – check out the section with instructions for jams from frozen fruits, and let your imagination take over!

Since this is a freezer-refrigerator jam, make sure that you label the containers with a use-by date, and tell gift-ees to keep the jam either refrigerated, or frozen. Enjoy!

PEACH FREEZER JAM from frozen fruit *
3 c. frozen sliced peaches (or raspberries, strawberries, blueberries or blackberries)
1 1/2 c. 100% orange juice, unsweetened *
1/4 c. lemon juice
5 1/2 c. sugar
1 pkg. powdered pectin

DIRECTIONS

• Thaw the peaches (or other fruit.)
• Blend or process the thawed fruit until pureed; you should have at least 2 cups of fruit puree.
• Pour the fruit puree into large, heat-proof bowl (I use my Pyrex(R) 8-cup measuring bowl.)
• Mix 3/4 cup of the orange (or other fruit) juice with the lemon juice, and stir into the fruit puree.
• Stir sugar into the fruit puree, mixing thoroughly (make sure no lumps remain.)
• Let the fruit puree stand for at least 10 minutes.
• While the puree-sugar mixture rests, combine in a 2qt or larger saucepan the remaining 3/4 cup of orange (or other fruit) juice and the powdered pectin.
• Bring the pectin-juice mixture to a boil, and boil 1 minute, stirring constantly.
• Stir the immediately into fruit mixture, and keep stirring for 3 minutes to be sure the pectin is well-distributed.
• Ladle the jam into sterilized freezer canning jars or containers, leaving 1/2 inch head space.
• Cover jars or containers with lids.
• Let the jams stand at room temperature 24 hours; check the gel.

Store the cooled jam in the refrigerator for up to 3 weeks, or in your freezer for up to 1 year. Makes approximately 5 one-cup containers of jam.

* You can also use 1 ½ cups of 100% or blended, no-sugar added: pineapple, pineapple-orange or peach juice (mix and match the juices used with the fruit!)
This recipe also works with 3 cups of frozen unsweetened whole raspberries, strawberries, blueberries or blackberries, enough to make about 2 cups of pureed fruit before adding fruit juice.

We didn’t get many early-season peaches in Central NY this summer. The ones in the local markets never met my buy-me criteria: they never seduced me with their peachy aroma as soon as I entered the stand or market. Yes, I know I could have used nectarines — but they didn’t convince me, either. Now some small harvests of aromatic peaches are finally showing up in the market. While their aroma is calling me to gather enough peaches to make jam, it also makes me crave some sharp, spicy peach salsa.

In 1994, just outside Hilton Head, South Carolina, I picked up my first jar of homemade peach salsa. Since that summer vacation, I’ve improvised on many recipes, attempting to duplicate the sweet-hot spicy goodness I’d found in that farm stand jar of salsa. Here are some internet sources for both fresh and canned peach salsa recipes I’ve tried along the way:

From The Seasonal Chef (www.seasonalchef.com), these five variations of Peach Salsa include a recipe with honey, another with tomatoes, one with mint, and two which use increasingly hot varieties of peppers.

Here are fresh peach (and other fruit) salsa recipes from Great-Salsa.com

You can also find several peach salsa recipes at That’s my Home

Christis’s Corner has a fresh peach salsa that only needs 3 or 4 fresh peaches for those times when you can only get a few peaches at a time. You can also make it with frozen peaches.

My peach salsa recipe combines peaches, sweet and hot peppers, basil, red onions and garlic, along with lime juice and white balsamic vinegar. It’s a bit of work to can from a small harvest, but the taste is such a strong reminder of my summer vacation in Hilton Head that I make it as often as I can.

Peach Salsa

4 cups peaches – peeled and chopped
1 cup red onion – chopped
1 jalapeno pepper – chopped fine (about 1/4 cup)
1 red pepper – chopped (about 3/4 cup)
1/2 cup chopped fresh basil – loosely packed*
1/2 cup white balsamic vinegar*
1/4 cup fresh lime juice

1 teaspoon lime zest
2 tablespoons honey
2 cloves garlic – finely chopped (about 2 tablespoons)
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon cayenne (or to taste)

• The peaches should be chopped in a coarse 1/2 inch dice. The peppers should be in smaller dice. It’s okay to use slightly under-ripe peaches, and to leave under-ripe peaches unpeeled for a bit of contrast.
• * If you prefer, you can use cilantro or Italian flat-leaf parsley instead of the chopped basil. If you can’t get white balsamic vinegar, white wine or white distilled vinegar will be fine.
• Simmer all of the ingredients for 5 minutes. Pack into hot jars, cover with caps and bands and tighten according to direction. Process in a boiling water bath for 10 minutes (0-1000 ft.), 15 minutes (1001-6000 ft.), and 20 minutes (above 6000 ft.).