Easy Freezer Jam and My New Book is Out! Canning Cents!

 My new book is out! 
 Canning Cents, The Money-saving Whole-foods Handbook
Canning just makes sense… and dollars! My latest book teaches you how to get that fresh, farm-to-table taste by preserving your own organic produce and whole foods. Whether you're a canning pro or novice, this book is sure to become your go-to guide for canning foods with remarkable flavor and gourmet flair!

 Treat your family and friends to fresh organic produce, whole foods, and healthy choices—at a fraction of the grocery store price! 

With tons of helpful tips and instructions, I walk you through the process of preserving your own foods. It’s easier than you think! 

Stock your pantry with the delicious flavors of:

Whole Tomatoes with Herbs 
Mango Jalapeño Jam 
Peppery Grilled Onion Relish 
Mountain Man Beef Stew 

Once you’ve done the prep work, you’ll have a variety of ready-made meals your family will love. Invest in your health without spending a fortune.

The biggest money-saver is the section on homemade condiments including barbecue sauces, ketchup, and more...

Save dollars a jar when you make homemade jams and preserves.  
Spiced Peach butter is my favorite...

 I give out some of my gourmet dessert sauces and spreads too! 
You won't want to miss the blueberry lemon sauce. 

I'll help you learn the basics on canning acids foods like these vanilla cherries...

 Homemade pickles like my bread-n-butter pickles...

 There's also tons of recipes for remarkable relish and pickles galore...did I mention pickles galore?

Tomorrow I'll be on Good Morning Arizona, 3TV Phoenix with my easy jam recipes. 

Chef Tess Bakeresse™ Freeze Jam

No Cooking involved, just a few simple ingredients and you're on your way to fresh and delicious homemade jam!

Basic things to know:

• Most freezer jam uses a natural product called Freezer Jam Pectin.
• All freezer jam can also be made for fridge use, as long as it is used up in about 3 weeks.
• No special canning jars or equipment are needed for freezer jam!
• You can make it today at a very low cost by using seasonal produce.

ANY fruit into freezer jam basic recipe:

4 cups of crushed fruit

1 ½ cups sugar

1 Pouch of Ball Fruit Jell® freezer jam pectin

In a large glass 2 quart bowl, combine the pectin and sugar. Mix until well combined, about 1 minutes. Add the fruit, mashing well and combine 3 minutes. until well mixed. Add your choice of spices and flavorings. Put into 1 cup containers leaving 1/2 inch head space if you plan on freezing it. This recipe yields 5, 8 oz. freezer jars. Allow to sit at room temperature 30 minutes until jam sets. Freeze up to one year in freezer containers or just put in the fridge and use within 3 weeks.

Chef Tess' Sugar Free Poached Pear and Pineapple Freezer Jam

2 cups cooked (or extremely ripe, fresh) peeled pears

2 cups crushed sugar free pineapple

1 pouch (2 in a package)Ball Fruit Jell Freezer Jam Pectin

1 1/2 cups spoon able xylitol, 24 drops of stevia, or Spenda

1/2 tsp each, LorAnn vanilla bean paste, LorAnn sweet dough emulsion, and Chef Tess Wise Women of the East Spice blend

In a large glass 2 quart bowl, combine the pectin and spoon able xylitol, stevia or Splenda. Mix until well combined, about 1 minutes. Add the fruit, mashing well and combine 3 minutes. until well mixed. Add the spices and flavorings. Put into 1 cup containers leaving 1/2 inch head space if you plan on freezing it. This recipe yields 5, 8 oz. freezer jars. Allow to sit at room temperature 30 minutes until jam sets. Freeze up to one year in freezer containers or just put in the fridge and use within 3 weeks. It's that absolutely easy! Crazy right?!

There you go darlings!

Always My Very Best,

Your Friend Chef Tess

Chef Tess Savory Sweet Onion-shallot Balsamic Jam with black pepper and fennel

Organic onions were on sale. I'm an idiot. There I said it. After loading up my cart because I was not about to pass up a smokin' deal, I paid for them. However, when I got home I realized I had twelve pounds of onions staring at me. They were right next to the two pounds of shallots that I had purchased a few days earlier...and my gosh...I realized I better make something cool. To my utter joy and happiness, my dear friend Lisa gave me a culinary epiphany last night when she mentioned some onion balsamic jam she was having on brie. Baaazing! The evil think tank master-minds in my coco starting coming up with all kinds of ideas. Lisa willingly agreed to letting me come to her house to help me cut onions.
This amazing jam was born.
It has a little fennel.
It also has vibrant fruity undertones from this amazing Wild Groves Ripe Blueberry Balsamic Vinegar

You will need:

6 lbs of onions (your choice--we used red and white)

1 lb peeled shallots

1/4 cup lemon infused olive oil (Meyer Lemon Certified Extra Virgin Olive Oil)

1 cup balsamic vinegar Traditional-Style Balsamic Vinegar

1/2 cup Wild Groves Ripe Blueberry Balsamic Vinegar

5 cups sugar

1 cup honey

2T sea salt

1T fennel seed

2T cracked fresh pepper

4 bay leaves

2 boxes of Sure Jell

12 sterile half pint jars.

Chop the onions fine. Yes...I had a friend to help. Lisa is a good sport. So...we shared sappy stories and talked about how amazing women are. We laughed, we cried...it was better than...a sappy chick-flick for tears.

20 cups of onions later...we are gooood. Ready to re-apply mascara, stop talking about boys...and cook. Lisa's husband came in half way through our onion chopping adventure and was man enough to bring me a box of Kleenex.
Lemon olive oil adds a brightness. I highly recommend picking up some Wild Groves Meyer Lemon Olive Oil

In a 2 gallon large pot heat the oil over medium heat about 3 minutes. Add the onions.

Put all the ding-a-dang happy seasonings of joy in the pot with the onions. Give it a stir and then...talk about boys some more. It takes a good 20 minutes of sweating the onions before you add the vinegars.

Now. once the onions are translucent looking...add the vinegar and bay leaves. Simmer...
30 minutes later it looked like this.
One hour later...it was perfect. Ready to add the pectin. Mix it in and return the whole mixture to a boil.
In order to ensure proper quality, we made the ultimate sacrifice...and ate half a wheel of brie.
It wasn't entirely unhealthy. It was on crackers. Okay...we may need to do a lot more exercise tonight than normal. I've walked my 5 miles today...but may need to add a couple more, just to be sure.
This made 14 cups of jam. Since this isn't a canning recipe I have tried before, it is in fact one we came up with today, I didn't have my Ph paper strips to test the acidity. Home Canning Safety 101 is a good place to start if you have never home canned before. This time, to be safe, we just sealed the jars and put them in the fridge. They will be good up to 2 weeks. So. There it is. I didn't process them. This batch will have to be used up quickly. I'll keep everyone posted on the actual canning time or if it can even be done safely with a water bath canner.
There you go. Sweet Onion-shallot Balsamic Jam.

Using Freeze Dried Fruit to Make Cooked Jam and Freezer Jam

Now seeing that my teaching next week be basics on homemade jam and canning safety, I had to do some experimentation. You may ask, "Can luscious homemade jam really be as simple as adding water and a few basic ingredients...and yet be so far above most people's grasp?" I wonder that exact question. Sometimes I wonder if I'm just too "simple silly". I hope I am. I hope that when folks read my words of wisdom and sound understanding that they will feel empowered to make wonderful things. Now...that being said I don't know how to say this...but this raspberry jam was made out of a little honey, some freeze dried raspberries and some pectin. Why freeze dried? Well...just for the danggum-fun-of-it-all. Honey...because I found this yumm-a-licious honey made from my native Sonoran Desert Blossoms...and I was a happy girl.

For argument's sake, let's just say that perhaps raspberries are out of season and I have a can of freeze dried fruit just laying around my house. If I don't have to spend money...even on a bag of frozen berries...I won't. I'm a tight wad. There. I said it. I like freeze dried fruit for making muffin mixes and cake mixes.

They look really crazy freeze dried...but the only ingredient in the can is raspberries!

Chef Tess Raspberry honey jam

4 cups freeze dried raspberries (or frozen work)

1 1/2 cup honey ( I love the dessert blossom honey)

2 cup water (only add water if using freeze dried berries)

1/2 cup UltraGel or 1 box (1.59 oz) low sugar pectin

Combine all ingredients in a pot for cooked jam except the UltraGel. This hydrates the berries and they look remarkably like what they are...real berries.

Bring to a boil and cook 5 minutes. Whisk in the ultra gel or pectin. Return to a boil and cook a minute more.

Process in sterile half pint jars in a boiling water bath canner for 10 minutes at sea level.

Freezer jam is even easier. Simply add the honey, water and fruit together. You can also use agave nectar in place of the honey if you need lower glycemic or vegan sources. Use freezer pectin instead of low sugar pectin. Ultra gel works in both applications (cooked or freezer jam).

Once the berries have absorbed the water, add the pectin or ultra gel. Stir a minute or two. Freezer pectin will take about 10-20 minutes to gel. Ultra gel will set almost instantly. Transfer to freezer safe containers. Keeps good up to a year in freezer safe containers.

There you go. Fast easy jam even with crazy dried fruit. Who knew?!

Always My Very Best,
Your Friend Chef Tess

How to Make Fig Jam (for Gabi in South Africa)

Gabi Fischer in Namibia, South Africa wrote me last December asking if I had any experience cooking fig jam in my solar oven. After I fell out of my chair at the shock of having a fan in South Africa, I set out to find figs. Arizona should have figs I thought. Wow did I have a doosey of a time. I should have planted a fig tree. I know there are people here with them...I just don't have one. As for Gabi, from her letter, I knew she was cooking in on a wood stove or using a solar oven as her main sources of heat. I find that amazing in and of itself.

Gabi wrote,
"I use fresh figs. We always have a small harvest at the beginning of December and now the big harvest will start. As I don’t have much time to cook it this time of the year I always used to freeze the figs, already taken the skin off and later in February I cooked it on a stove which works with wood. But it is more “ lecker” ( can’t find a word in English)when the jam is made out of fresh figs. I have cooked already 2 recipes. I always use a bit less sugar than the mass of figs, it gets very sweet but holds longer. I have cooked already two big pot full of fig jam, and it works very good. it is interesting that it does not cook over neither burn (in the solar oven). At the moment I don’t have a black pot, should cook quicker then. I also thought to ask my husband to put the oven on wheels s that I always can turn it, and when it looks like rain, which is not very often in Namibia, I can drive it into a room. We have the small one, is not too heavy but If I have to protect it from the rain I will have to carry it far.
Gabi Fisher,
Nazimbo Camping Safaris"

Well. I finally found figs. Nine months later the fruit was finally in my hand. I searched for two reasons. One, I was actually very sympathetic to Gabi's plight. Second, I was bugged that I had not had any experience with fig jam in my solar oven. Isn't that funny? I get so anxious to try new things. This was something new to me and I wanted to make it work. Now we have it!

Thank you California Black Fig farmers who distribute through Trader Joe's in Arizona. I love you.

Those who have never seen a fresh fig before, here it is.

Trader Joe's, I apologize I squealed in your store. I know it didn't make any sense to anyone looking at me...but I was giddy. I'm sure your produce stocker almost wet his pants. It must have been a scary sight.

Figs are amazing. They all have a skin. The black variety look like this when the stem is cut off.

The fruit is actually quite different to look at as well. The flavor is much like a bland kiwi.

For the jam you will need:

2 lb black figs (4 cups) washed and chopped (blanch and remove skin if desired)

1/2 cup lemon or lime juice

7 cups sugar

1/4 cup Ultra Gel starch or 1/2 cup flour (Americans can use 1 box pectin)

optional: 1 1/2 tsp vanilla

1 tsp ground cinnamon

dash of ground nutmeg and cardamon

Directions:

Heat the figs and lemon juice in your solar oven (or stove) until soft, about 10 minutes stove top or 15 minutes solar.

Mash or run through a blender. I used a blender or a food mill.

If you peeled the figs the blending step isn't necessary. You can just mash the fruit. Make sure you mash it very well, as I've noticed it helps the jam hold thick better when the fruit is very well mashed. I like keeping the skin. It makes the jam very red colored and I like the flavor.

Return the fruit puree to the pot. Add the sugar and jell. I also add 1 1/2 tsp vanilla and 1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon and a dash of nutmeg and ground cardamon. Simmer for 20 minutes until thick. The starch will help the jam to hold better.

Those using pectin, bring mixture to a boil. When sugar is dissolved, add the pectin and cook one more minute.

Transfer hot jam to very clean and sterilized canning jars with new lids. Put canning jars in a hot water bath canner on the stove making sure the water is well over the lids. Bring water to a boil. Cook 10 minutes. Remove from the water bath and put on a clean towel. Do not disturb jars for 12 hours. This will ensure a good seal. Label and use within a year.

There you go Gabi. I know you probably have it all figured out by now, but I just want to say thank you for inspiring a chef half way around the world. If I ever make it to South Africa, I promise to look for you. Maybe we can cook jam together.

The rest of you...there you go. Make some jam.