posted
I've been having the worst marmalade craving and having to resist the lure of the ORANGES.
Then this week I saw some kumquats & I thought, hmm.... it could work.
So I bought a fair few (I only wanted a jar of marmalade so not a whole lot) and looked up recipes on the net. After combining the principles of a few, I came up with:
wash & dry the kumquats. Over a bowl, cut kumquats in half lengthways (I used scissors) and then slice rind & pulp thinly - it is the rind that needs slicing, but the pulp is so little it is easiest to do it at once. I put the larger seeds in a separate bowl, then kind of cut or broke them up & added them in. Their pectin will help the jam set. They are pistachio green inside!
Add juice of one lemon. Put in medium saucepan. Add water to show through but not to cover. Simmer with a lid on for about 20-30 minutes till all softened.
Pour into a measuring jug and note roughly how much. Pour back, then measure about half , to two thirds, as much in sugar (one recipe said half, one said equal amount, my 2/3 may have been a bit sweet but again you need a certain amount to get a set and to allow the jam to have any keeping qualities). Add to kumquats and leave to dissolve, off heat. When dissolved, bring to boil. I covered and simmered for about 20-30 minutes but this may not have been necessary. I then boiled it harder, uncovered and tried for a set every 5-10 minutes. I did this by chilling a saucer and dripping a few drops on, in the usual way. If you can easily wrinkle the surface of the few drops (ie it has a sort of skin) after a minute on the saucer, it is done. other wise try again in 5 mins. This works for any jam. You may have your own way, like using a thermometer or dripping in water, or seeing how the jam runs off the spoon. But if you haven't done marmalade or jam before, my way is easy enough.
Once done, leave to cool about 20 minutes. Pour into a jar (or jars) that you have either washed in the dishwasher or "sterislised" in the warm oven or with boiling water. Put lid on, turn upside down for a while, then right way up. Leave to cool. Eat.
If in the morning you find you are pouring the jam onto the toast put it back in the pan and boil up again. You had not reached setting point after all!!
The less sugar you use the more likely you will have to store this in the fridge, where it would keep less time. The more proportion of sugar the longer it keeps and without refridgeration. Your call. Any half-jars should be used first.
Now, this was not bitter and delicious like seville orange marmalade but it was MARMALADE and NEUTRAL and orangy and I am very pleased with it. It was so easy too.
-------------------- 40 yrs old woman, A2 MN secretor, presently challenged by secondary breast cancer, lives in UK, married, 7 yr old son. Posts: 1288 | From: London, UK | Registered: Mar 2002
| IP: Logged |
Sounds very delish indeed! I now have a GREAT handyman (!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!), and someday will see if he can fix my defunct stove, so that I can make this. Eventually, the whole kitchen needs an extreme makeover complete with NEW stove (stoves are not expensive, turns out...but redoing the rest of the kitchen to make it new-stove-worthy? Ah, therein lies the rub...), but that is so far down on my list now. Well, not that far down, actually, but still buried under a ton of other priorities, housewise. It didn't help as far as moving along down the list that I just had an unexpected car repair expense of almost $400.00.
Great to see ya posting here and on Doc D.'s. Your posts are always a good and edifying read! btw, did you read where I recently posted that I planted not one, not two, but three entire kumquat trees in my side yard? Yep. They are very young but two already bear fruit. However, the fruit seems a tad bitter, so I don't think they are totally ripe yet (fruit is not quite as orange as it should be, either). Supposedly, they are ripe here between November and May, but maybe mine are bitter because of the stress of being planted, etc. Anyway, they are pretty little trees and the fruit is lovely. Two of the little darlings that play next door at the Extreme Unsupervised Skateboard Park (otherwise known as the Rental House from Hell) already asked if they could have some and come pick some whenever they want. I was like, sure, have some now (brahahahahaHAAAA!). Then I took an inordinate amount of glee in the expressions on their faces upon biting into the bitter little gems. Tee HEE! That'll learn 'em from taking my lava rocks, etc.
P.S. In fairness to myself, I must add that I did, in fact, warn the little dears that they (the kumquats) would be bitter and were not quite ripe yet, but hey, they still wanted to try 'em, so is it my fault that it was BIG FUN watching them recoil at the bitterness? I think not!
posted
You are evil with those kumquat trees!! Snaring little children into eating the sour fruit just to see them pucker. LOL!!! Serves them right for trying to mooch your delicacies. Even if it may take a while for them to reach perfection. Now that they've had their taste test, maybe the kids won't eat your trees bare.
Erica
-------------------- Humor from Steven Wright: "The problem with the gene pool is that there is no lifeguard." "Everyone has a photographic memory, some just don't have film." -and my favorite- "What happens if you get scared half to death twice?" Posts: 427 | From: Wheaton, IL | Registered: Sep 2002
| IP: Logged |
Copyright 1998-2004 Thomas Dekany. All Rights Reserved. Material presented for information purposes only and should not be construed to replace the services of a physician.
UBBFriend: Email this page to someone!
Printer-friendly view of this topic
![[Eek!]](eek.gif)
![[Big Grin]](biggrin.gif)
