... But Never Jam Today
So says the White Queen to our heroine when she travels through the Looking Glass. I was thinking about this recently when Sue was discussing marmalade on her blog.
She was commenting that her jar of home made lemon marmalade was three years old, so having opened it, she is now keeping it in the fridge.
Various comments appeared about keeping preserves - jams, marmalades, pickles and chutneys. Surely the very name preserve implies something can be kept for a while before eating?
Yes, I agree with Sue - once opened, I prefer to keep these things in the fridge - partly because they stay fresher, and also because they don't get pushed to the back of the shelf and forgotten until too late. I don't think commercial jams keep anything like as long as they used to. Here are my top tips for using up preserves - the savoury and the sweet kinds
- Put a dollop of chutney or pickle into your casseroles to give a bit of added oomph
- If you have a lot of jars of pickle/chutney each with just a spoonful or two in the bottom, then make a couple of River Cottage Brown Sauce. Recipe below.
- If you make your own sausage rolls, use Jamie's tip and mix a tbsp of pickle or chutney into the sausagemeat.
- Blitz mango chutney with cream cheese using a stick blender to make a dip for crudités
- Spread chutney/piccalilli/etc on toast before topping with cheese and grilling.
- Puree chutney with a little water for a ham glaze
- Cranberry Sauce is not just for turkeys! Use it in desserts too - a spoonful on top of vanilla ice cream, or as the topping on a sponge pud, or stirred into plain yogurt.
- A leftover jar of mincemeat will make a brilliant Belgian Cake
- Marmalade can glaze a ham beautifully
- Sieve out the peel and use marmalade in place of apricot jam for holding marzipan onto a fruit cake
- Marmalade adds a fresh citrus zing to simple sponge cakes [loads of ideas online]
- Top a sponge pudding with marmalade
- Use the end of a jar of jam in 'thumbprint' biscuits
- Swirl jam into homemade icecream
- Blitz jam with a banana and milk for a pink milkshake
Assemble your nearly-finished jars of chutney, pickle, relish etc.Scrape all the stuff into a large saucepan, [add a little
boiling water from the kettle if it is very thick]
Bring to the boil, and
simmer for 10 minutes. Then taste for flavour. If needed add in some more
salt/sugar or vinegar [I add a tsp of tamarind paste] . Gill suggests that
some mango chutney will add 'brightness'. Now purée with a stick
blender/processor. Boil for 5 minutes more, stirring constantly. Pour into
sterilised bottles. Screw on caps firmly.
From jars to bottles in about half an hour. This sauce
should keep for a year. Once opened, store in the fridge.
How do you use up leftover preserves?
I always put a spoonful of homemade chutney into home made curries too.
ReplyDeleteAlso keep in fridge once open and rarely throw any out because now I only make a couple of different sorts that I know I like!
Jars of chutney are a popular gift at Christmas - but I do sometimes wonder if there are jars in circulation which have been regifted every year since pre-pandemic times!
DeleteWe always have a load of jars of chutney, jam, honey and marmalade open in our cupboards. It drives me insane but CBC just opens everything at once and goes between them (more often than not, forgetting about them). The only one I might use myself, regularly is chutney but only if not fruity ones. He's dreadful!
ReplyDeleteI don't like it!😁
DeleteAh, that is a problem... Perhaps you can use ideas from Bless (see below) in your curries and stirfries
DeleteI read somewhere that modern jams don't keep as long because they are made with less sugar. The sugar is of course the preservative but the trend is now for foods to be low sugar. That is why they advise you to keep them in the fridge.
ReplyDeleteThank you - I think that 'low-sugar' is a sensible explanation for the fridge recommendation
DeleteMy very well off ex-boss used to scrape the mould off the tops of any jams or jellies she found in the pantry and proceeded to feed them to her unsuspecting family. I think she thought she was contributing something to the country's economy by doing so. I won't tell you how much she used to spend on the various lotions and potions for the upkeep of her youthful appearance! I will try that brown sauce recipe.
ReplyDeleteWe are all very inconsistent in our spending habits I think! I remember as a child, watching my great-aunt scraping off mould on the jam. Then I heard a biologist on the radio saying the jam mould spores went down well below the visible furry layer, so I haven't felt the need to follow Auntie's 'thrifty' example.
DeleteWe now buy jam and marmalade as we don’t use very much. I love to buy chutneys or jams at farmers’ markets to try something new. I like to make marmalade cake or mincemeat cake if there’s any left in the jar. Catriona
ReplyDeleteI am thinking that I will NOT make chutney this year. Perhaps if there is a glut of apples, I shall try applesauce though [Have you seen Diane Keaton in the film Baby Boom? she got the applesauce thing down to a fine art]
DeleteApple butter is lovely not that you want something else to spread.
DeleteI'm still enjoying the 'old' jam, and yes it lives in the fridge. :-)
ReplyDeleteLast time I made some sausage rolls I spread some orange marmalade on the pastry before topping with veggie sausages and rolling up, they were delicious. As you say there's lots of uses for jam and marmalade.
Marmalade in my sausage rolls is a new idea. Thanks Sue
DeleteHi Angela, I use Cranberry Sauce, Cranberry Jelly, Crab Apple Jelly, Redcurrant Jellies when making gravy. Also use up Blackberry, that way too. Pickle juices from onions or the like are always reserved and used as a spicy fish and chip vinegar. Bottled fruits if I do not need the syrup for whatever I am using the fruit for I sometimes thicken up and use as a fruit sauce. Nothing is ever wasted. Chutney always goes into stews and casseroles. Marmalade also used as glazes, for making cakes and Gingerbread. I always keep jar of preserve in fridge after opening as once the seal is broken not air tight anymore. If no Apricot jam always sieve marmalade and use to secure Marzipan to Christmas cake. Apple sauce is used with porridge, granola or Muesli. I also understand although have not tried it that you can use apple sauce as a replacement for eggs. Might have to try that one. Also use in sweet and sour sauces for home made style stir fries. Use up any leftover jams with some pastry in a mixed fruit tart segregating different jams with Pastry strips. or jam pasties. Central heating does not help with long term keeping of preserves they need to be kept in a cool room another reason for keeping in the fridge. Even though I have a Pantry, it is more what I call a dry Pantry suitable for storing dry ingredients but not cold enough to store fresh veggies or jams or indeed my bottled fruits, so these are stored under the stairs which is always far cooler throughout the year. No need to waste anything. Pattypanxx
ReplyDeletePattypan, as ever you have loads of innovative and useful suggestions,. Thank you. I'm going to investigate applesauce ideas further...
DeleteI hope you use some of your marmalade for the Cabinet Cake recipe you published a while ago; it has become a staple bake in our household. I use chutney in curries too. I now use less sugar in jam making too, having read that reducing to two thirds sugar will work. So far unopened jars have kept satisfactorily in the cupboard since last year. Once opened they go in the fridge.
ReplyDeleteSueJay - that recipe was 13 years ago!! But I am glad you are still using it - link here...https://angalmond.blogspot.com/2010/12/date-with-mr-churchill.html
DeleteGood Grief! 13 years ago, that’s hard to believe.
DeleteSome great tips there. I have added cranberry sauce to the apples when making apple pie. I keep any opened jams, pickles, chutneys, sauces in the fridge and try to use them up in a reasonable time. I even kept opened peanut butter in the fridge but decided that since it didn't mention this requirement on the label, it was probably safe to keep it in the pantry.
ReplyDeleteBob gets thru the PB so quickly it doesnt need to be in the fridge!
DeleteI often add spoonfuls of marmalade or jam into puddings and cakes....... my favourite way to make a posh bread and butter pud - slice croissants and spread them with marmalade or jam, layer up in a buttered ovenproof dish then pour a creamy milk/egg/cream mix over ( add a small amount of sugar, also vanilla extract if liked) let this stand for a while if you can, then bake in a moderate oven for about half an hour until beginning to set, if you like a nice crispy top turn the oven up for the last few minutes, the baking time does depend on the amount you make of course!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the tips x
Alison in Wales x
Oh that is a delicious recipe - also useful for leftover Xmas panettone/panduro cakes, I imagine
DeleteAbsolutely x
DeleteAlison x
😇
DeleteWhat is this 'leftover panettone' you speak of? Nope, never heard of it. ;)
Delete~ skye
🤣🤣🤣
DeleteWhat excellent ideas, suggestions, and recipes! Yum!
ReplyDeleteHugs!
I love it when blogfriends share good ideas
DeleteLots of wonderful ideas! I usually store opened jams and chutneys in the fridge and they sit there until they are used up. I usually eat chutney with rice and curries, as a condiment, not stirred into a curry. But, sometimes, I use some of my chutney to glaze chicken when I bake them.
ReplyDeleteGreat ideas - I like the idea for glazing a chicken
ReplyDelete