Thanks for the canning recommendations. Here's what's in the lineup for tomorrow...

looks like the old fashioned way is the best. thanks smileys/smile.gif I rarely make jams and jellies except

for a wonderful tomato and lemon jam. I've never gotten that recipe to setup properly but it's just so good, who cares! smileys/wink.gif

 
cool Meryl, thanks. I'll have to see what's available here. I can see jam in my very near

future. the watermellon pickles have me going too. haven't had those in ages. we aren't big on sweets here but I have some friends who would swoon over some of these.

 
if anyone would like the tomato/lemon jam recipe, I'd be happy to post smileys/smile.gif

 
I've had something like this served with chicken liver pate and it was awesome, but Pat No Cal also

has a recipe serving something like it with shrimp.

Grilled Shrimp with Tomato Jam
SERVES: 4
Sweet, spicy tomato jam is a popular Moroccan condiment, but here Kenney uses it as a marinade.
ingredients
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
2 tablespoons finely grated fresh ginger
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 cup cider vinegar
1 cinnamon stick
One 35-ounce can imported peeled tomatoes--drained, seeded and coarsely chopped
1/4 cup light brown sugar
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 cup honey
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 pound medium shrimp, shelled and deveined
directions
Melt the butter in a saucepan. Add the ginger and garlic and cook over moderately high heat, stirring, until fragrant. Add the vinegar and cinnamon stick and cook until reduced to a glaze, about 1 minute. Stir in the tomatoes, sugar, cumin, cayenne and cloves. Reduce the heat to low and cook, stirring occasionally, until the liquid has evaporated, about 1 hour. Discard the cinnamon.
Stir in the honey and season with salt and black pepper. Transfer the mixture to a food processor and puree until smooth. Let cool.
Light a grill or preheat the broiler. In a medium bowl, coat the shrimp with the tomato jam and let marinate at room temperature for 30 minutes.
Grill the shrimp for about 2 minutes per side, or until lightly charred on the outside and opaque throughout.
MAKE AHEAD The jam can be refrigerated for up to 4 days. Let return to room temperature before using.

http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/grilled-shrimp-with-tomato-jam

 
I have no idea what the shelf life is...the original recipe didn't call for it being canned. We did

though and it turned out great. We couldn't get cherries today, so Chief Canning Guru suggested any stone frut would work. So we used peaches. Yowza. The ladies were swooning over this one! We'll definitely be making it again....and I seriously doubt it will sit on the shelf long enough for us to find out how long it will last. smileys/smile.gif

 
We fooled around with this one a bit and in the end, it didn't turn out . We tried

cooking it before canning it and the ginger came out in reckless full-force. Ended up tossing it.

But it was delicious before we started to get creative with things. smileys/smile.gif

 
Okay, we didn't end up doing the big batch and really wish we did. We did 4x the amount

of the orginal recipe and it wasn't nearly enough. The rest of my crew were a little hesitant about this one when I originally suggested it, in the end, I'm sure we'll be making a massive batch next time! Mmm...it's even better once it's had a little heat on the stove. YUM!

 
We did 2 x this recipe and were quite pleased with the quantity. Plenty to give as gifts.

 
Recap and pictures are here...

I have to say, we moved pretty quickly and I wasn't really inspired to take photos...but see that shot of Hope Sandler? She's amazing. Hope designed the original Sur La Table Culinary Program, and she contracted for Starbucks. If you've got grilled breakfast sandwiches, salads & other sandwiches for lunch at yor local Starbucks...Hope designed them.

She's also ghost written several cookbooks for noteable chefs. She's sworn to secrecy, but apparently I own a few of them!

Hope kept us organized and moving all the time. In the end, we canned 5 items (and attempted 6), had a run to the store for more jars, and had lunch...and we were still done in less than 4 hours (Including a clean kitchen.) Amazing, amazing woman.





 
Yes, we did...It didn't quite work out...but we were fooling around with the recipe too.

 
Thanks for the pictures Traca it looks like you had a fun time. I was wondering

about the headspace in the jars. I thought that there shouldn't be more than 1" and especially with jams and jellies there shouldn't be more than 1/4". Doesn't it matter so that they don't start spoiling? I know we have some veteran canners here so maybe they can tell me.

 
Hi Orchid! The headspace is to allow the food to bubble up during processing. There should

be no more than 1/4 inch in jams and jellies. If there is more space, the foods may darken but it won't spoil.

 
I posed the question to Hope and here's what she had to say:

USDA RECOMMENDATIONS FOR HEAD SPACE IN CANNED FOODS
Head space is the unfilled space above the food in a jar and below its lid. USDA recommends head space in specific foods as follows:

* Jams and Jellies 1/4 inch
* Fruits, Tomatoes, Pickles, Relishes, etc. 1/2 inch
* Low Acid Foods Processed in pressure canner - 1 inch to 1 1/2 inches.


Traca, since we only prepared higher acid foods (lots of vinegar and lemon juice) in a water bath canner (versus a pressure canner), our head space of 1/2-inch to 1-inch is perfectly safe. We had some half-filled jars of product that will be eaten immediately-- those half filled jars would not be safe to preserve the food for any length of time, but fine for immediate consumption. I hope this helps! Wasn't yesterday FUN! ~Hope

 
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