Tigress Can Jam: Apples & Rosemary
This assignment was a hard one to figure out. What we had in our herb garden was rosemary, chives and thyme, and I'm not a big fan of chives or thyme. But I did have a bunch of apples that needed to made into sauce or something similar and I'm very fond of a pork & sweet potato stew that uses apples and rosemary to great effect. I thought, why not combine the two projects? So I looked at my books and decided to take Eugenia Bone's Spiced Apples recipe from Well-Preserved
and adapt it to suit my needs. Out with the cinnamon, ginger and cloves, in with the fresh rosemary!
So, without further ado...
Gather 3 sprigs of rosemary. Wash well. Then wash again. Pat dry.
Wash your apples well. Core them and chop into slices.
Pull out your food processor and shred the apples. Don't own a food processor? Poor thing. You can always grate them.
Put your shredded apples in a colander lined with cheesecloth on top of a bowl. Juice should start draining from the apples into the bowl. Squeeze the cheesecloth to expel more juice. You should have about 2 cups of apple cider (essentially) and 8 cups of apple mash/shreds/stuff
Sprinkle 1/4 cup of sugar over your apples and strip the rosemary off the stem and mix that in, too.
Combine 2 cups filtered water with 1/2 cup of sugar and bring to a boil until it becomes a syrup.
Add your apple mash to this mix, cook down for 5 minutes.
While this is cooking, scald your pint jars in your boiling water bath. Add 1/2 tsp citric acid (or Fresh Fruit) to the bottom of your jar.
Pack your apple mash into the jar. Run a knife along the sides to remove air bubbles. Make sure you have 1/2-3/4" of headspace. Place in hot water bath. Bring water to boiling, simmer, covered for 25 minutes. Remove cover and simmer for 5 more minutes. Remove from heat.
Thoughts: I really need to read recipes all of the way through - I really missed the 'heat to boiling' bit. I also had too little water, then too much water, then I refilled the pot and figured I'd about evened out to the 'heat to boiling' and put it in to process. I think I may have squeezed out too much liquid, so I added some water back in while they were cooking. The apples also stained my cheesecloth, which I'm a little annoyed about, but will deal with.
The Verdict: Haven't had a chance to try this yet. Will update later this week.
Without all the bajiggedy - Apples & Rosemary:
Mess of apples
3 sprigs rosemary
3/4 cups of sugar
2 cups water
citric acid
Wash apples & rosemary well. Core apples & shred in food processor or grate. Strain apples through cheesecloth and expel 2-3 cups of juice. You should have about 8 cups of apple mash. Macerate with rosemary leaves (removed from sprig) and 1/4 cup sugar. Bring 2 cups of water and 1/2 cup of sugar to a boil. Stir until sugar is evaporated. Add apple mash and cook 3 to 5 minutes. Scald pint jars and add 1/2 tsp citric acid to the bottom of each jar. Add apple mash, leaving 1/2-3/4" of headspace. Seal and place in warm water bath. Cover and bring to boiling, then simmer for 25 minutes. Remove cover and simmer for another 5 minutes. Remove from water and allow to cool overnight.
Makes 4 pints.