Strawberry Balsamic Jam

Last year, I made jam for the very first time. The process was pretty simple and straightforward and not as daunting as I had thought it would be. Yesterday, after a very long time, I made another batch of the same jam. I used my original recipe but made a couple of changes. This time I added a splash of balsamic vinegar to the strawberries while they were cooking. I also substituted the cloves with some nutmeg. Both balsamic vinegar and nutmeg turned out to be fantastic additions to the recipe and the resulting jam had the most wonderful taste.

Ingredients:

• 1 16 oz. pack of strawberries, hulled and chopped
• ½ - ¾ cup sugar (I used ½ cup- adjust according to your taste and sweetness of the strawberries)
• 2 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
• Juice of half a lime
• 1/4 tsp or a large pinch of freshly grated nutmeg
• A pinch of salt

Method:
Place the chopped strawberries in a saucepan and cook, stirring frequently until the juices are released. Crush the larger pieces of fruit.

When it starts to boil, add the sugar, balsamic vinegar, lime juice, nutmeg powder and salt. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture thickens (it took me about 25-30 minutes).

Allow the jam to cool and transfer it to a clean jar. Store in the refrigerator. It will keep for at least a week.

Strawberry Jam

Despite the fact that strawberries are available year round here and we buy them regularly, I really don't do much with them when I bring them home. Usually, they end up in some kind of a milkshake or smoothie, or I make some kind of a dessert using them.

In my previous post I'd mentioned that we'd gone strawberry picking. We came back home with more strawberries than I knew what to do with. We enjoyed some as is, then had some more with balsamic syrup (which by the way is the best way to enjoy strawberries, in my opinion), and then I made this.

By this point I was down to 2 cups of strawberries and was looking to make something that I'd never tried before. I decided that it was time to give jam-making a shot. While searching for recipes, I came across many simple ones for making jam before I finally discovered Zainab's recipe, which was by far, the easiest of them all. I also found Mandira's adaptation of the original version. And so, with the help of these two recipes, I set out to make my own jam for the first time ever last week.

Ingredients:
2 cups strawberries, hulled and quartered
3/4 cup brown sugar (adjust according to sweetness of berries)
3 tsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
¼ tsp powdered cloves
A pinch of salt

Method:
Place the quartered strawberries in a saucepan and bring to a boil, stirring often. Crush the larger pieces of fruit. Skim any foam that rises to the top if necessary.

As soon as it starts to boil, add the brown sugar, lemon juice, clove powder and salt. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture thickens (it took me about 30-35 minutes).

Allow the jam to cool to room temperature, spoon into a clean jar (2 cups of strawberries gave me just enough jam to fill the small jar you see in the picture above) wipe the rim with a clean cloth or paper towel, and seal with lid. Store in the refrigerator. It will keep for at least a week.

Sterilizing the jars is required for long-term storage; I did not do it since I did not expect the jam to last more than a week. To preserve the jam longer, sterilize, pack and seal in canning jars according to the manufacturer's instructions. You can find some guidelines here if you are interested.

Nothing beats the feeling of making your own jam. And because I’d made my own jam, H and I had a breakfast of bread, butter and homemade jam for dinner that night!
Making jam was so incredibly easy that I'm wondering why I hadn't tried it before.

This goes to the Happy Cook for her event, Strawberry Feast.