A couple weeks back my wife bought some lovely looking plums at the farmer's market, they looked so meautiful in their little wooden panier. Sadly, they didn't taste nearly as good as they looked. Actually, to be fair, they tasted just fine, it was their texture that was all kinda funky.
Now, I am not a big fan of plums, love prunes, but fresh plums….not so much.
Not sure why, but plums (with the exception of the Mirabelle's that I fell in love with in France) have never done much for me. That said, if we've got some nice fresh ones in the fridge I'll be a good little soldier and eat them.
Unless, of course, they have a mealy-nasty texture that makes me want to gag. If that's the case I'm not touching the buggers. Not surprisingly, everyone else in the family felt the same way about the poor little fellas, and they sat forlornly in their cute woven basket for about a week before I finally decided that I had to make a project out of them or throw them away.
I HATE throwing food away, even if it is, mealy-nasty-gaggy, so a project it was. I had just enough time and energy to throw the little poppets into a pan with some sugar, ginger and lemon and cook the bejeesus out of them for about 20 minutes…et voila…a deep, crimson jam with a touch of ginger spice, and brought into balance by the acidity of the lemon. A perfect use for our less than stellar plums, don't you think?
Don't I have the cutest little heart-shaped pan?
Cheers – Steve
Plum and Ginger Jam
Ingredients
- 1 pound of plums, washed,pitted, and roughly chopped
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1/4 of a lemon, seeded
- 3 -1/4" thick slices of fresh, peeled ginger
Instructions
- In a medium sized, nonreactive saucepan, toss the plums with the sugar and the ginger slices and let stand, stirring occasionally, until the sugar is mostly dissolved, about 1 hour.
- Squeeze the 1/4 lemon over the plums, then add the whole thing to the saucepan and bring to a boil, stirring until the sugar is fully dissolved. Cook over moderate heat, stirring, until the liquid runs off the side of a spoon in thick, heavy drops, 20 to 25 minutes.
- Discard the lemon and ginger slices and let the jam cool slightly. Spoon the jam into a jar or Tupperware container and refrigerate.
- You can store the jam in the refrigerator for up to 3 months.