I have a New Year's resolution, even though the new year is a month away. I vow to show more restraint when making preserves. In other words, more small batches!
It's easy for me to get caught up in larger batches of preserves when I'm looking at a 30 pound box of fruit, but today I'm being more realistic.
It's my gift to those of you who write to me and ask: "I have ONE quince...now what should I do with it?"
For this small batch recipe you'll need that one quince, plus one apple, one lemon & 1/2 cup of candied ginger
Core & chop the quince & apple.
(I used a Granny Smith apple for this recipe.)
Add the fruit to a pan, along with 2 cups of water
Simmer for 15-20 minutes...
...or until the fruit is soft.
While the quince & apple are cooking, you should chop the ginger. Orange is my favorite color, so it's not surprising I adore the happy color of my latest find, a FüRI Gusto Grip Knife
You want to end up with about 1/2 cup of chopped candied ginger.
Back to the quince/apple mixture.
Once it's soft, spoon or pour it, along with any liquid left in the pan, into a hand-cranked food mill
And get to work, turning the handle 'round and 'round...
...until all you are left with is peel & fiberous pulp.
Discard or compost whatever is left in the food mill, and pour quince/apple puree into a large measuring cup.
You want to know how much puree you have, because you're going to add an equal amount of sugar to the puree in a minute.
For the record, I ended up with 1-1/2 cups of quince/apple puree.
Pour the puree into a heavy-bottomed pan, then add the ginger.
Now add the sugar too. (1-1/2 cups in this case.)
Add lastly, add the juice of one lemon. If you don't have one of these handy-dandy lemon juice squeezers
Stir together well, then cook over medium high heat -- stirring often to be sure it doesn't stick -- and simmer for 10-15 minutes, until the jam is thick. Quince, "Granny Smith" Apples and fresh lemons are all high in natural pectin, so this jam will set up quickly; just one more reason I love to make this jam...almost instant gratification.
I like to use a flat-edge wooden utensil when making preserves. It's easier to scrape the bottom of the pan and check for the proper gelling point. If you draw the utensil across the bottom of the pan and can see a bare spot for a few seconds, your jam is ready.
Spoon the preserves into pretty jars.
In one hour, start-to-finish. you can have quince jam fit for a queen.
Note: This recipe made 2 half-pints, but this stuff is so fancy you could opt to divide it into 4 4 ounce canning jars
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