FIJ Mastery Challenge: kumquat marmalade & others
Kumquat Marmalade
in part for the Food In Jars food preservation challenge: January Marmalade
Recently, M and I were at our local Fruit & Veg Market. I spotted a large basket of kumquats on the counter and made a joke as if I were sweeping the entire basket into our grocery bag. The owner, who usually works the counter on the days we're there, asked if I seriously wanted them. He'd been having trouble moving them, they were starting to go bad, and would give us a deal on the whole basket. Well, sure! I'll take 'em!
After getting them home and sorting out the too-far-gone ones, I ended up with 2.75lbs of kumquats for $10 - originally '6 for $1'. I made a few things with them.
Kumquat Jam - my MIL loves the stuff. Unfortunately, this batch of kumquats were a bit old and dry, and on the bitter side. I also have no patience in slicing rinds into thin ribbons, so it's a whole fruit jam rather than a marmalade. I ended up adding a lot more sugar than I'd wanted to, and a bunch of grated ginger to balance out the bitterness from the rinds.
Pickled kumquats - I sliced the tops off so the brine would have an easier time getting into the fruit.
And I saved all those kumquat tops, stuffed them in a jar, and covered them with vodka. It's, of course, a rather bitter infusion. M suggested going the extra distance and making Bitters with it. Maybe later. We'll just leave it as it is for now.
Check out the Food In Jars tag for the other 11 months of the FIJ Mastery Challenge 2017.
in part for the Food In Jars food preservation challenge: January Marmalade
Recently, M and I were at our local Fruit & Veg Market. I spotted a large basket of kumquats on the counter and made a joke as if I were sweeping the entire basket into our grocery bag. The owner, who usually works the counter on the days we're there, asked if I seriously wanted them. He'd been having trouble moving them, they were starting to go bad, and would give us a deal on the whole basket. Well, sure! I'll take 'em!
After getting them home and sorting out the too-far-gone ones, I ended up with 2.75lbs of kumquats for $10 - originally '6 for $1'. I made a few things with them.
Kumquat Jam - my MIL loves the stuff. Unfortunately, this batch of kumquats were a bit old and dry, and on the bitter side. I also have no patience in slicing rinds into thin ribbons, so it's a whole fruit jam rather than a marmalade. I ended up adding a lot more sugar than I'd wanted to, and a bunch of grated ginger to balance out the bitterness from the rinds.
Pickled kumquats - I sliced the tops off so the brine would have an easier time getting into the fruit.
And I saved all those kumquat tops, stuffed them in a jar, and covered them with vodka. It's, of course, a rather bitter infusion. M suggested going the extra distance and making Bitters with it. Maybe later. We'll just leave it as it is for now.
Check out the Food In Jars tag for the other 11 months of the FIJ Mastery Challenge 2017.