Sunday morning we were at the Kingfield Farmer's Market enjoying some Sun Street Pastureland Cheddar Biscuits (to die for!) & iced coffee when I spied something round & yellow over at the Swede Lake Farms booth. Could that be stone fruit? Matt thought perhaps it could be apricots so, we finished breakfast & hurried over to see. Yes, it was apricots & right away I decide we need a bunch for jam. As I'm pondering how much we'll need, Matt suggests we do an apricot & blueberry jam. Then we're off to another booth to pick up some beautiful MN blueberries (seems last year we had a hard time finding local blueberries, not sure why). Matt's final inspiration was to add fresh basil from our herb garden because basil & blueberries just go together so well. Next thing you know we're spending Sunday afternoon canning 16 jars of jam.
What we ended up with was a beautiful reddish-purple jam full of bits of apricots & blueberries. The basil adds a ton of aroma to the jam as well as a flavor that makes for an unique jam. Matt says that the you know there is something different about the flavor but you wouldn't necessarily peg it as basil right away. This one might end up being a new favorite that we make every year.
Apricot, Blueberry & Basil Jam
3 c seeded & chopped apricots (measure after seeding & chopping)
3 c whole blueberries, stems removed
1/4 c lemon juice
1 package powdered pectin
7 c sugar
1/4 c chopped basil (measure after chopping, I started with about 1 cup of leaves)
Prepare the jars & lids for canning. Jars should be boiled in water for 20 minutes & lids for 5 minutes.
In a large enamel or stainless steel saucepan combine the apricots, blueberries & lemon juice. Mash a little with your spoon to break down some of the blueberries. Whisk in the pectin until completely dissolved. Turn heat to high & bring to a boil (it should not stop boiling when stirred). Stir in the sugar all at once. Return to a boil. Boil hard while stirring for 1 more minute. Remove from heat & stir in the basil. Skim off the foam.
Ladle into eight hot sterilized half-pint jars leaving about 1/4-inch headroom. Clean off the tops of the jars & cover with a lid. Close with a neckband & finger-tighten. Process in boiling water for 10 minutes. Turn off heat & let sit for 5 minutes. Remove jars from the water to a heat-proof surface & let cool for 12 - 24 hours (do not dry jars). Check to make sure the top of the jar has been drawn downwards, creating a seal. If it hasn't either reprocess that jar or store it in the fridge to be eaten within 3 weeks. Remove the neckbands & store jam in a cool dark place.
Makes 8 cups
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This jam looks marvelous! My mother-in-law gave me a book this weekend on canning and preserving. She had walked me through the steps last fall when I made apple sauce but I haven't tried it since. I did, however, make a raspberry-basil refrigerator jam recently and would love to do more, this time putting it up properly. Now, I'm feeling very inspired by your weekend jam sessions! 8-)
ReplyDeleteI absolutely love your jam creations. I haven't gotten a lot of fruit yet this season, but my nephew and I are headed to a nearby farm next week. They should have peaches, plums and maybe some blueberries so I'm hoping to get a good amount to start some experimenting!
ReplyDeleteI didn't know that blueberries and basil went together. I'm intrigued.
ReplyDeleteThis looks delicious! I'd never have thought of adding basil to jam. The amount looks rather large...it doesn't overpower the berries?
ReplyDeletejessyburke88@gmail.com
Jessica - It's really not that much when you think that it is divided between 8 cups of jam. Really the flavor that stands out the most is the fruit. Also fresh herbs are subtler than dried.
ReplyDeletethere are all kinds of magical things going on with this jam, kat! i love the color, and the hint of basil must be so intriguing and tasty!
ReplyDeleteI facilitate canning classes for a CSO here in Toronto- this week we had 56lbs of apricots and 14 lb of blueberries as part of the shares. I found your recipe and used it in my class last night and it was a huge hit- we made 6 batches of it!
ReplyDeleteCallie - Glad to here it was a hit!
ReplyDeleteHi! My name is steph and I found your through foodgawker... I'm hosting a jam exchange and thought you might be interested :) http://stephchows.blogspot.com/2010/07/2nd-annual-jam-exchange.html
ReplyDeleteI just drove by a road side stand with apricots yesterday and wanted to stop and buy some ! My husband doesn't like apricot jam, but maybe if I stuck some other things in it, he would. Or just more for me!
ReplyDeleteI wrote a post about our CSO canning workshop and included a link to your recipe- post is here
ReplyDeletehttp://backyardfarmsto.blogspot.com/2010/08/passing-on-traditions.html
Thanks again for sharing it!
Can this recipe be turned into a freezer jam, rather than canning? It looks so good.
ReplyDeleteChristina - I've never made freezer jam so I really don't know how it would work frozen. From what I understand freezer jam doesn't need to be cooked while this recipe does.
ReplyDelete