Lemon Marmalade

A friend has a lemon tree that is currently covered in lemons. She let me have as many as I want, as long as she gets some of the results.

So today I made lemon marmalade. It is a sweet - tart treat. I especially like it on thyme scones with a little Devonshire cream. It is a fairly easy recipe, though labor intensive.

I use a vegetable peeler to remove the skin, with as little white pith as possible. I then use a thin, flexible knife to trim off any excessive pith from the back of each piece of peel. I have a ultra thin Teflon coated sushi knife that is ideal for this. I then fine julienne the peel, and chop into about one inch long bits.

I make a simple syrup of two cups water and 2 cups sugar, then simmer the peel in that until it is soft and translucent, about one hour. Strain out the peel. Hold on to the syrup. A lightly lemon flavored syrup has lots of uses.

While that is goung, I remove the pith from each lemon, cut out sections, and squeeze the remaining core of as much juice as possible.

I weigh the resulting juice/pulp, and add one and a half times that weight in sugar. This time, frim 20 lemons I got 42 oz , so added 63 oz. sugar. I then add the peel.

I simmer the mix until it reaches 220 F.I then bring it to a rolling boil, and add a 6 oz; of  liquid pectin. I bring it back to a rolling boil for one minute. I remove it from, then put up in jars. I got 10 half pint jars, plus a bowl for immediate use.

Lemon Marmalade

20 lemons
1 tsp. sea salt
1 1/2 times the weight of the pulp and juice in sugar, approx. 60 oz.

Simple Syrup:
2 cups water
2 cups sugar

Using a sharp vegetable peeler, remove the skin from the lemons, trying to get as little pith as possible.

Remove any excess pith from the back of the peel with a sharp knife.

Cut the peel into a fine julienne, then cut into one inch long pieces..

Over meduim heat, combine 2 cups water and 2 cups sugar. bring to a simmer. Add peel, simmer until translucent and soft, about an hour. Strain out peel.

Using a sharp knife, remove the white pith from the lemons. Cut out segments, do not get any inner membrane or seeds. Squeeze out as much juice as possible.

Weigh out pulp and juice. Add 1 1/2 times that weight in sugar. Add salt and peel. Simmer over medium heat until it reaches a temperature of 220 F.

Remove from heat, can marmalade.

Happy eating!

Renaissance Marmalade redux

So last year, about this time, I tried redacting a recipe for marmalade from a early 17th century cookbook, the 1609 edition of Hugh Plat's Delights for Ladies. While inspired by the original, I altered it a lot to resemble a modern marmalade more.This year, I decided to try to follow the recipe more closely.

Modernly, a marmalade means a preserve with shreds of peel. This is not the meaning in the renaissance. Then, it meant a sweet congealed paste of fruit and sugar. Since it is cooked as whole fruit and strained, there is no peel in the result.

The original recipe was: TAke ten lemmons or orenges & boyle them with half a dozē pippins, & ſo draw them through a ſtrainer, then take ſo much ſugar as the pulp doth wey, & boyle it as you doe Marmalade of Quinces, and then box it vp.

 Since the recipe calls for either oranges or lemons, I wanted to try lemons this time. Also, I used Granny Smiths last time, and they never disintegrated. This time I used Red Delicious, which fall apart more easily. The lemons I found were a little small, I felt, so I used twelve instead of  ten.

For good food safety, I canned using modern water processing technique with modern jars and seals.

Because it is cooked with the lemon pith intact, it retains a fair amount of bitterness, but not in an unpleasant way. There is definitely a lot of pectin, it set up solid easily. 

Since it calls for even weights of pulp and sugar, I can't tell you exactly how much sugar. Expect around 45 ounces. My first batch weighed in at 43 oz., my second at 49.85 oz.

Hugh Plat's Apple Lemon Marmalade

12 medium lemons

6 large red delicious apples

sugar to match weight of pulp

1 tsp. salt

Cut lemons and apples in eighths. Put in a covered pot over medium low heat. Simmer until apples disintegrate. 

Press through a colander. Weigh resulting pulp. Combine with equal weight of sugar, and return to stove over low heat. Add salt, simmer and reduce. Marmalade will darken. 

Press through a strainer. Return to the stove on low heat to stay hot while canning, Can using water process or pressure canner.

Happy Eating!

A Trio of Persimmon Preserves

A friend with a very productive persimmon tree gifted me with two full grocery sacks of fruit. I'm always looking to make preserves for my tea business. It is nice to be able to offer a range of possibilities to prospective customers.

I ended up making three different preserves from them, so far. In the upper left is a straight persimmon jam, in front is a bourbon persimmon jam, and in the upper right is a lemon persimmon marmalade.

I figured the straight jam would have the best presentation of the fruit. Always good to have a simple, straightforward option.

When I tasted the persimmons, I thought bourbon would be a great match, flavorwise. Coincidentally, the spouse had just purchased a large bottle of bourbon for her own culinary purposes. She wasn't going to need all of it.

I'm always in the need for marmalade, so thought that would be a good idea. And, persimmon works well with lemon, anyway. I was a little surprised at how red it turned, but think that it is a fabulous color. The lemon peel stayed tougher than I would have liked. Have a plan to fix that in the next batch.

Recipes

Persimmon Jam

6 cups diced persimmon ( peeled and cored)

1/2 cup lemon juice

7 cups sugar

1/2 tsp. kosher salt

1 pouch liquid pectin

Combine persimmon and lemon juice in a stock pot over medium low heat. Bring to a simmer. Let simmer until persimmon is soft. Use an immersion blender to process smooth. Force persimmon mixture through a sieve to remove any peel, seeds, or fibrous material. Return liquid to pan. Add sugar and salt. Bring to a rolling boil. Add pectin, bring back to a rolling boil. Cook three minutes. Remove from heat. Transfer to sterilized hot jars. Seal, process in a water bath for 15 minutes.

Bourbon Persimmon Jam

6 cups diced persimmon ( peeled and cored)

1 cup bourbon whiskey

6 cups sugar

1/4 cup lemon juice

1/2 tsp. kosher salt

1 pouch liquid pectin

Combine persimmon and bourbon in a stock pot over medium low heat. Bring to a simmer. Let simmer until persimmon is soft. Use an immersion blender to process smooth. Force persimmon mixture through a sieve to remove any peel, seeds, or fibrous material. Return liquid to pan. Add lemon juice, sugar, and salt. Bring to a rolling boil. Add pectin, bring back to a rolling boil. Cook three minutes. Remove from heat. Transfer to sterilized hot jars. Seal, process in a water bath for 15 minutes.

Lemon Persimmon Marmalade

6 cups diced persimmon ( peeled and cored)

1 1/2 cups lemon juice

7 cups sugar

peel of 4 small lemons, all pith removed, cut in fine julienne

1/2 tsp. kosher salt

1 pouch liquid pectin

Combine persimmon and lemon juice in a stock pot over medium low heat. Bring to a simmer. Let simmer until persimmon is soft. Use an immersion blender to process smooth. Force persimmon mixture through a sieve to remove any peel, seeds, or fibrous material. Return liquid to pan. Add sugar,, peel and salt. Bring to a low simmer. Let simmer until mixture has thickened, and lemon peel is translucent. Bring to a rolling boil.  Add pectin, bring back to a rolling boil. Cook three minutes. Remove from heat. Transfer to sterilized hot jars. Seal, process in a water bath for 15 minutes.

Happy Eating!

Renaissance Marmalade

As most of you know, I belong to a group that does medieval/renaissance re-creation. One of the rituals common in it is the passing of gifts between landed nobles. It can be particularly difficult for the King and Queen, as they may need to give gifts to a large number of people over the course of a reign. 

So, a call was made for artisans to provide a dozen items each that their Majesties could use for largesse. It can be difficult as a cook to help with these things. Most food items have a limited shelf life. Canning was invented in the Napoleonic era, well after the renaissance. Right at the end of the renaissance, we see recipes for marmalades that are recognizable as similar to modern ones. They were not canned, but rather stored in boxes. As a highly concentrated paste of sugar and pectin, they should probably be sterile, as long as they don't get wet.

For the challenge, I decided to make a set of jars of marmalade from a period recipe. I looked at several, then decided on the one by Hugh Platt, published in 1602. I did alter it based on other recipes from around the same time, and in line with modern practice. I did can it with a modern water bath method, for food safety reasons.

It is a supremely simple recipe, with only three ingredients: oranges, sugar, and apples. I used juice oranges, as they were cheaper, and since I wanted to maximize juice/pulp, rather than having pretty supremes. I used granny smith apples, because I wanted the tartness, but next time I will probably try it with a mealier apple, as the apples are supposed to disintegrate, and the granny smiths never did, even after 3 1/2 hours of simmering.

One redactor I read suggested the apples were there to stretch the expensive oranges. That is a possibility, but I think there is a more practical reason: pectin. While the cooks of the day didn't know of the existence of pectin, they did know that certain fruits, cooked down with sugar, would form a thick paste. Quince was known to do this by the Romans, and I'm sure that similar properties were noted with other high pectin fruits like apples and pears.

The original recipe was: TAke ten lemmons or orenges & boyle them with half a dozē pippins, & ſo draw them through a ſtrainer, then take ſo much ſugar as the pulp doth wey, & boyle it as you doe Marmalade of Quinces, and then box it vp. 

Don Avenel's Renaissance Marmalade

12 juicing oranges

approximately 4 3/4 lbs. sugar

6 granny smith apples

Using a vegetable peeler, remove the skin from the oranges, being careful to not get any of the white pith underneath the skin. Fine julienne the peel. Set aside.

Using a sharp knife, remove the white pith from the oranges, and cut out the sections, being careful not to get any of the inner membranes. Remove any seeds. Squeeze all the juice you can from the core, then dispose of the core. Set aside juice and segments.

Peel, core, and slice apples.

Combine orange peel, segments, juice, and apple slices. Weigh mixture. Mine came out to 4 3/4 lbs. In a large stock pot, combine mixture with the same weight of sugar. Stir to dampen sugar. Place over medium low heat. Bring to a simmer. Simmer gently until sugar is dissolved, and peel and apple slices are soft, about 3 1/2 hours. 

Can marmalade using water bath method. Process jars for 10 minutes. Makes 12 half pint jars.

Happy Eating!