House 1 me 0. Actually the score is probably more skewed than that if we look at the entire time I’ve lived here. But this week I am definitely on the losing end! And it’s all my fault. Which is really annoying.
It’s time to redo the front porch so we began the project this past Sunday. Parts of the old boards were being very stubborn in coming loose. I tried pounding them up with a crow bar. Really not the thing to do. I reinjured my injury from the fall in January. Each day I’ve brought the computer in bed with me in hopes I could sit up long enough to do a blog post. Finally I can do it today. Cooking this week has been pretty basic as well. But I’m properly on the mend so I can blog! Plus we need to do more on the porch this weekend. I have a cunning plan as they say to not screw my back up again. I feel optimistic.
I made this jam a couple of weeks ago and talked about it on the radio show. I was inspired by a jam I had in France. And we had a bumper crop of black currants so I had to do something with them all! We froze quite a bit for later crumbles. I wanted a jam that wasn’t overly sweet so I could easily use it for savory dishes as well.
I like to keep my jams on the rustic side, it’s less fussy that way. In a saucepan put in equal amounts of black currants and blueberries.
On medium low heat bring the berries to a simmer. Once enough liquid has been released from the berries turn up the heat a bit to continue a high simmer. To start I added 1/2 cup of white sugar and incorporated it into the berries. Then I added 1/2 a cup of brown sugar. The tricky bit with black currants is that they are very tart. But you don’t want to add so much sugar that the jam becomes stiff. To offset this I added maple syrup. Add a bit of a time until the jam has thickened.
Sorry about the quality of that pic! Couldn’t use a tripod at this step! Remove from the heat and can the jam. I served this with homemade crusty bread and stinky French cheese. The creaminess of the cheese balanced well with the tart jam.
Fingers crossed the porch doesn’t defeat me tomorrow!
I like your jam recipe – my kind of jam! Interesting that you do not need pectin. Is that because the currants have it naturally? Do you know approximately how much maple syrup you added?
I basically added maple syrup to taste. I don’t always use pectin, it depends on how it thickens up. And because black currant is so tart I needed to make sure I got the sugar in there. If a fruit is already sweet I go the pectin route.
That is a good way yo decide.
Rustic is good and with stinky french cheese – yum! Sorry to hear about the back, do take it easy…
Thanks, unfortunately the back issue isn’t new! Ah well, such is life.
That jam will help you recover. Lovely.
Thank you. 😊
Lovely! Don’t hurt yourself! You need your back in tact as you age!!!
That’s what scares me! It’s not in good shape. I’ve been working hard to get it in good working order so I’m functional when I’m elderly. Easier said than done!
I had to have a rod put in my lower back 7 years ago, and when the doctor said to rest for 3 months, I did. The back problem really scared me because I was used to being active. It was a good reminder to care of the body!
Yikes, that can be scary!