This Lovely Jam Tastes as Bright as it Looks.
Here’s a recipe that came about because of a screw-up on my grocery order. I inadvertently ended up with a huge amount of pomegranate juice and decided that some type of jam or jelly was in order.
I got to work looking up recipes and not being able to find one that suited my taste, I came up with this one. I like my jellies and jams on the looser side. And I normally make them by simply cooking down the fruits and sugar until I get the consistency I like. Seeing as I was working with only the juice, I needed to use some pectin for this, but didn’t want it to be too solid and thick.
When using powdered pectin, the juice is first brought to a boil, along with the pectin before adding the sugar. I also wanted some texture so I chopped up an Asian pear and added it to the juice in the beginning so that it could be cooked to a reasonably soft texture, but still maintain it’s structure. I also added both lemon and lime juice and zest, and a couple sprigs of rosemary for some herbal interest. After this came to a boil, I then added the sugar and all the pomegranate arils from one big fresh pomegranate. I wanted the fresh pop of flavor from the arils.
I didn’t plan on canning them in a boiling water bath, so I simply ladled them into jars, put a lid on them, let them cool and stashed them in the fridge. They’ll last a good long while, but will be eaten up way before they’d have a chance to go bad.
Here’s something interesting that happened after it cooled. The arils and pieces of pear floated to the top, which I expected. But they seemed to be sitting in a small pool of liquid which didn’t set like the rest of the jelly. So, I just took a big spoon and stirred it all into the thicker jam sitting below it and the texture ended up being exactly what I wanted. A beautiful, but slightly loose jam/jelly, with an exceptionally bright and interesting flavor. I love it.
Besides the obvious use of spreading it on warm buttered toast or biscuits, I’m thinking of other things to do with it. I think a spoonful would be so delicious on top of panna cotta. Yeah, I think that will be coming in the near future.
Pomegranate Jam
5 pints
servingsA beautifully colored jam made from pomegranate juice, pomegranate arils, and a chopped Asian pear, amongst other good things. Super easy and makes about 5 full pints.
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Ingredients
5 cups 5 pomegranate juice, I used bottled POM brand
2 large 2 sprigs rosemary
2 tablespoons 2 fresh lime or lemon juice, or a combination of both
1 tablespoon 1 finely grated lime or lemon zest, or a combination of both
1 1 Asian pear, peeled, cored and diced
1/2 teaspoon 1/2 butter, salted or unsalted
1.75 ounce 1.75 package of Sure Jell powdered pectin
7 cups 7 (1,400g) granulated sugar
1 1/2 cups 1 1/2 fresh pomegranate arils (from one large pomegranate)
Directions
- In a large Dutch oven, combine the pomegranate juice, rosemary, lime and/or lemon juice, lime and/or zest, diced pear, butter, and pectin. Bring to a full boil over high heat, while stirring constantly.
- Immediately stir in the sugar and pomegranate arils. While stirring constantly, bring to a full rolling boil and let cook for exactly 2 1/2 minutes. Remove from the heat. If necessary, skim off any foam. Ladle into jars. This makes almost 5 pints. Either continue with a boiling water bath (there are full instructions online) or let the jars sit for 24 hours and then refrigerate, which is what I did.
2 Responses
“When life gives you lemons….. ” make pomegranate jam! I love the way your roll! Can’t wait to give this a try.
Thank you, Gary! If you like pomegranates, then I think you’ll like this. We are really enjoying it. I mentioned that I was thinking about making Panna Cotta and spooning on some of the jam. Well, I made it last night and it is a winner. I’ll be posting it soon.