STRAWBERRY PINOT AND MINT JAM

The Jam: This jam’s elegant, full-figured entrance, notes of California sunshine, and long-lasting mint finish will melt your troubles away. With a full child-size serving of berries of and wine, this jam is the perfect start - or end - to any day. This recipe is based heavily on Laena McCarthy’s wonderful recipe for strawberry jam in “Jam On”.

Makes about 12 4oz jars or 6 8oz jars

Ingredients:

  • 3 lbs strawberries, diced

  • 3 TBSP lemon juice

  • 2 tsp calcium water (comes with Pectin)

  • 3/4 cups pinot noir

  • 2” in diameter bundle of fresh mint, wrapped in cheesecloth

  • 2 cups sugar

  • 3 tsp pectin (Pomona’s Universal Pectin is best)

Making the Jam:

  • Place several spoons in the freezer ahead of time for testing jam consistency once hot. Prepare ingredients as listed above and set aside. Combine sugar and pectin, mixing with a fork or whisk to ensure pectin is completely mixed in with the sugar to avoid clumping.

  • Bring diced strawberries, lemon juice, calcium water, pinot noir, and mint bundle to a boil at least 3-5 minutes or until you can appreciate a strong aroma of mint. Remove mint bundle, then return to a boil. If at any point it starts to foam, skim foam off and discard it.

  • Add sugar-pectin mixture slowly. Boil again for at least 1 minute. Drop about a 1/2 tsp of jam onto the frozen spoon to check if it is at desired consistency. If jam is still too runny, make more sugar-pectin mixture (1/2 tsp pectin in 1/4 cup of sugar) and add, boiling for another minute before testing again.

A Word on Canning: In order to safely keep this jam at room temperature, is necessary to follow proper canning protocol, including completely sterilizing the jars and lids, adding in contents when they are boiling hot, and reboiling the filled jars, keeping only those lids which have properly sealed. If you have not canned food before, please refer to further resources on proper technique! You can also make small batches of this jam, and store in the fridge for a few weeks, avoiding canning entirely.

If you decide to can this jam, fill still-hot freshly sanitized jars with boiling jam, wipe lip of jar with a damp cloth, secure lid, tighten rings finger-tight, and process in boiling water for 6 minutes. Properly canned jars whose lids compress on their own while cooling can be stored in a cool room for up to 1 year.