Tuesday, January 19, 2010

January Canning Challenge Begins - Clementines


I signed up to do a canning challenge - which means every month someone picks a seasonal fruit or vegetable and everybody cans it. This months pick was citrus. Honestly, I wasn't very psyched to do this one as I think only English people actually like marmalade, but I found a recipe in Fine Cooking and adapted it to my tastes. And it has inspired me to use something like this for my January Market Supper dessert! Now, the one thing that ended up being a flop - I bought this adorable jar at Sur La Table and I had actually never tried the hot water canning method with this type - meaning the type with a clamp. The directions for sealing this type of jar said to boil then let sit 24 hours to cool and test the seal. Well, when I opened the clamp the gasket came off with the top - not sealed! So, since I only did one jar - it is going into the fridge!! It is a cute jar though...

Preserved Clementines and Meyer Lemons makes about 1 quart

1/4 cup honey
1 cup sugar
1 cup water
1 cinnamon stick
1 lb clementines cut into 1/2 inch slices
1 meyer lemon cut into 1/2 inch slices

Bring the top 4 ingredients to a boil. Gently slip the orange and lemon slices into the syrup and cover and simmer for 10 min. Remove from heat and let sit overnight. Remove the slices to a couple pint jars and then bring the syrup to a boil and cook about 5 min. Pour the hot syrup into the jars leaving about 1/2 inch headspace. Process in a hot water bath 10 min. Serving suggestions: top yogurt or cottage cheese with a couple slices, bake a simple white cake and pour over the syrup and decorate with slices and a dollop of whipped cream.

For detailed directions on Hot water bath canning - or if you are not up to that challenge yet, it will keep in the fridge for at least 3 months.

Post Note: Market Supper is this weekend and I've decided to make more of these and top a Pound Cake!

2 comments:

  1. I tried canning with a jar like this once and had a horrible time getting it out of the waterbath--a little bit too large for my jar lifter! I seem to remember it sealed alright, though? Either way, I've decided that while these jars are cute, they are more practical for dry goods or refrigerated things, not canning.

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  2. Mmmmm what a unique idea!
    Sounds good on cake!

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