Postmodern ecology. Not a great subject to start the day’s reading. Much better to procrastinate. I’ve been meaning to raid my friend’s cherry tree (with permission) for some cool jam. Maybe canning is a form of postmodern ecology.
There’s something I’m really attracted to about jars of food. Low-tech-traditional. A craft to learn. Creativity. Making foods I can’t get anywhere else. All good reasons to boil-and-seal.
Cherries are not easy to pick. Abrasive branches. Thick foliage. Eric and his roommate had already picked a bunch of the “gettable” cherries, leaving mostly those hard-to-reach varieties. I’m so thankful for the cherry-charity, and the cuts and scratches were actually totally worth it. I picked for two hours. Beautiful morning. Sunlight through branches. Thought of Robert Frost’s poem “After Apple Picking”:
… and there may be two or three
Apples I didn’t pick upon some bough.
But I am done with apple-picking now.
Essence of winter sleep is on the night,
The scent of apples: I am drowsing off.
I’m still a huge rookie when it comes to canning (or anything with food, really). I’ve made some memorable treats, though. Cinnamon ketchup. Ginger-Pear Jam.
I had already settled on a recipe for Almond Cherry jam. It’s recommended as a spread for the holidays, but for the life of me, I’m not sure why. Key ingredient: almond liqueur (I hate saying that word). But guy helping me the liquor (ah, that’s better) store was only “pretty sure” Amaretto is an almond liqueur. The last thing I wanted was a $20 bottle of zuchini liqueur (two ugly words) above my refrigerator. Something else, then. Something original and interesting. What goes well with cherries? Chocolate. Coffee. Ice cream. So… Kaluha? Close. Perfect! Mmmm. Kaluha “Mocha”.
Picked cherries are beautiful. I’ve included some pics below. However, to my eventual horror, it seems that picked cherries are not pitted cherries. And there’s really no short-cut to pitting them. Apparently, using a straw is a great way to get them out. I didn’t have one. After a few disastrously messy attempts with my fingers, I chucked the old-school sensibility and hit the internet. Cook’s Illustrated. Best cooking site ever. Great mag, too. Anyway, it turns out that a needle-nose pliers works wonders. Just so happens… Wow. That’s cool. Like I was doing arthroscopic surgery or something. Nose in. Open. Grab pit. Pull. Minimal ripping and tearing. I guess I’m not an arthroscopic surgeon. Luck for the injured. I prefer words. To pitting, then.
So I might have been a bit overzealous with my harvesting. It didn’t look like that much in the bucket. Two big bowls worth. I can promise you one thing. Pitting cherries takes a long time. Even if you’re genius enough to use a needle-nose pliers. I spent an hour at the sink. Only made it through half. When I measured the post-op fruit piles, I had a half-gallon. (Another half gallon still awaits pitting even now.) Lots of work. Lots of jam.
At this point, the story of my canning is pretty standard. Boil the cherries with pectin, lemon juice, and Kaluha Mocha(!). Then add sugar. Boil. Rolling boil. Fill some canning jars with the goodies. De-bubble. Clean. Lid. Band. Water bath. Boil. Boil. Pull and cool. Get this: fifteen pints. And I still have to pit and can the other half tomorrow!
I always leave one jar unsealed so I can cool it and taste immediately. All this wholesome-traditional-old-school-low-tech culinary coolness hasn’t exactly improved my sense of patience. So I wait an hour, toast a slice… and take a picture.
My dog, Rilke, is excited. A new smell. For me, too. The taste? Cherry, coffee, cream, chocolate, lemon. Mostly cherry. This might be a bit rich for breakfast, but I think it could really bring out the coffee-ness of coffee. Helpful if, like me, you eschew the expensive stuff for store brand breakfast blend. This spread is probably best consumed on toasted sourdough after dinner, just before that second glass of Shiraz.
If you’re curious (and happen to be reading postmodern ecology) I’ve included the recipe below. If you’re a friend of mine, bring over a cup of cheap coffee or a bottle of Shiraz. I’ll indulge you. I’ve got fourteen pints to go.
Mocha-Cherry Jam
36 oz Sour Cherries
1 pack powered pectin
¾ c Mocha Liqueur
4 ½ c Sugar
Finely chop cherries. Combine cherries, powdered pectin, mocha liqueur and lemon juice in a large sauce pot. Bring to a boil, stirring frequently. Add sugar. Stirring until dissolved. Return to a rolling boil. Boil hard 1 minute, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Skim foam if necessary. Ladle hot jam into hot jars, leaving 1/4-inch head space. Adjust two-piece caps. Process 10 minutes in a boiling-water canner. (Originally called for sweet cherries and almond liqueur. I substituted same amounts.)(Recipe from: Ball Blue Book of Preserving)
