I'm not trying to bore you with more
mangoes...but this time, I just want to share with you the last of our mangoes and the Mango Jam
recipe that my daughter Lora and I share. My recipe calls for
lemon juice, which her Italian recipe does not, but from the last batch that I made she like the slight tangy lemon taste...this time, I used the juice of fresh lime, and that even made it taste better!
I'm going to share my little secret of how to can jams perfectly and to make sure they stay sealed, tight. You have to hear that 'pop sound' when you twist the jar to open...otherwise its not sealed right! I could never do this kind of work in my tiny beach condo kitchen, now you can understand why I spend just about every day at my daughter's house...not so much because she has a much larger kitchen, but because they have plenty of counter space and the kitchen is open and well lit! Also, the patio has ample
natural lighting as well. I made this batch last week, and hoped I would catch a little sunlight that was 'sneaking around' for a short time...then the rain came!
I will guide you through the easy process...although a little time consuming, but I promise you that you can make this with the half of the amount from the full recipe!
This is what 1 kilo (2.2 lbs) of
fruit will allow you to make. These are 12 oz
canning jars with lids, that have to be sterilized (just run it through the dishwasher cycle lid too) or boil in a large pot of water, and let it cool to the touch.
You can make this with other fruits...peaches is what I would love to make it with, hoping that the price will come down from $1.99 a pound, we will probably get it less at our local produce market.
Plums would work well also, for this recipe.
I used
Sure-Jell pectin for my previous batch, but this time I use my daughter's Italian pectin that comes in a big pouch, so I counted out how many
Tablespoons it requires, and marked down everything on paper to be saved, so good thing that I'm actually typing up this recipe and method to save for myself too!
With a jar of leftover mango jam, I also made cream cheese bars filled with mango jam
Mango Jam
adapted from Italian basic jam recipe
2 kilo (4.4 lbs) mango, or other fruit
750 g.(about 2 1/2 cups sugar
juice of 2 lemons, or limes
5 Tablespoons pectin (I used Italian import)
note: you can cut the amount exactly in half if you
want to make less jam.
Wash, peel, and dice the mango, or other fruit, and put into a large bowl. With a potato masher mash it well, but leaving little chunks of fruit which is really very tasty.
Add the pulp of the fruit to a large heavy
stainless steel, or other heavy duty pot. Add the sugar, the pectin and the juice of the lemon or lime, and simmer constantly, over med. high heat.
Make sure you keep stirring, constantly, until it comes to a bubble and a slow boil. You must take it off the heat as soon as it does that, and start getting your jars ready to be filled by the hot jam. Don't be alarmed that it looks liquidy, because it will start to jel, as soon as it starts to cool a little.
With a ladle, carefully spoon the jam up to about where the neck of the jar is, to assure it will not spill over...do not fill to the very top!
Just set them on a dish towel making sure the lids are well sealed, and here comes the tricky part that will assure double seal!
Turn the filled jars upside-down, and leave them sitting like that for about 10 minutes to assure safe sealing for the lids. You can also do a water bath in a large pot with water only up to half way, and simmer for 10 minutes, or just follow this method!
note: if you are planning to leave jams in a cool place in your cupboard, then you have to do the water bath method...otherwise just proceed with this method, but you must refrigerate after opening the jar...either way, when you open a jar of jam you must refrigerate it!
Jam is done...now you can go 'jamming along'...a cool song of Bob Marley...Jammin!
Enjoy the jam...and share, sparingly...it's that GOOD!
Linking to: Thursday Favorite Things @ Katherines Corner
