TIME TO JAM

MIRABELLE PLUMS

PLUM JAM

I'm jamming!
Hope you like jamming too.  It's that time of the year again when fruit is ripening in the garden & heaped high in the shops. Nature seems to love getting ready all at once & suddenly you have fruit coming out of your ears! For me it's also my busiest time here at Chateau Perroterie & I have very little time to bottle, pickle & freeze kilos of fruit. This year our apples are not abundant, thank goodness, unlike last year, the wild boar had a lovely pig out rooting & gobbling up all the dropped fruit. This year the quantity may be less but the quality is gorgeous. I love to freeze slices of apple which I can later turn into apple ice cream, or a apple & cider sauce which is yummy with roast pork. My neighbour kindly gave me 2 kilos of apricots which I converted into 12 jars of jam, this will be enjoyed with buttery croissants & is fantastic in curry sauces. This year our mirabelle plums are a good, 2 weeks late, but they are my husband's most important crop for his precious Eau d'Vie. I love our plums because they make a fantastic sauce for duck confit.

Apple sauce
Peel core & slice 3 large apples. Place them in a pan with 75ml of cider, 50g of butter & 2-4tbsp of sugar to taste, slowly simmer for 10-15 minutes, the sauce is ready when the apple starts to collapse but isn't mushy. Allow it to cool, serve with pork. It can be frozen too.


Basic Plum jam.
3 Kilo plums, wash, add to pan, with 500ml water, bring to the boil then simmer for 30 minutes. Sieve to eliminate pips, measure the juice and return to the pan, add the same quantity of sugar. Boil up & allow the jam to steadily reduce to a syrup, 40-60 minutes. Pour into sterilized hot jars. If you choose, add chopped red chillies & chopped rosemary, absolutely gorgeous melted in a small pan with some pineau liqueur or port, serve with any red meat dishes.