Kumquats

Confession.   I think kumquats are adorable.

A. Dor. A. Ble.

So I've been wanting to preserve some for a long time.   Just 'cause they're cute.

Even though I didn't know what they actually tasted like. 

Especially when I found a few links to some kumquat jam recipes at Food in Jars. [halfway down the link list in that post.]   Seriously beautiful food. 

So, when I found these tiny ones at Trader Joe's up in Indy last weekend, I grabbed a box, then came home and preserved a very small batch - just one pint jar - with honey and vanilla.

I'm going to just come right out and say this:  Kumquats are weird. 

The peels are the sweet fruity part and the insides are sour.   Very sour.   They're sort of an inside out marmalade experience - you know, the citrus, sour, bitter mashup.   They need sugar and lots of it.

Here's how I preserved these beauties:

Kumquat Preserves
www.rurification.com

12 oz. box of kumquats, washed, with stem bits removed.
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup honey
1/2 cup sugar
1 vanilla bean, sliced so the seeds are exposed

Bring to boil, then reduce heat to simmer.  Let simmer until peels are transparent - about an hour.

It made just one pint.

Notes:    I was hoping that they'd keep their shape, and they probably would have if I hadn't cooked them so long.

I cooked them so long because that's the best way to candy those peels.  The longer they cook in sugar water, the better they taste.

They're still pretty puckery.   You could leave out the water and add another 1/4 - 1/2 cup of honey and probably get a nice and very balanced preserve.  Next time I find some of these, I'm going to try that. 

2013 Canning Preserving Record

January: 

• Blood Orange Marmalade: 1 batch
• Honey Vanilla Orange Marmalade: 3 batches
• Four Fruit Marmalade: 1 big batch
• Seckel Pear Ginger Jam:  1 batch  

February:

• Maple flow started Feb 6th. 
• Chocolate Orange Jam
• Chocolate Ginger Pear Jam
• Chocolate Raspberry Jam

March:

• Maple Syrup:   16 pts

April: 

• Blueberry Lime Jam:  3 batches

June:  

• Strawberries, frozen: 2 gallons
• Strawberry Mango Mint Freezer Jam:  4 batches 
• Strawberry Vanilla Jam: 4 batches
• Sour Cherry Jam: 1 batch 
• Cherry Orange Jam:  1 batch

July: 

• Sweet red plums: frozen, 29 pts
• Black raspberries, wild:  frozen, 1.5 gallons
• Blackberries, wild:4 gallons +
• Sour cherries [Michigan]: 20 lbs
• Blueberries: 10 lbs
• Peaches: 1 bushel frozen
• Blackberry pie filling: 5 quarts
• Sour cherry jelly
• Sour cherry pie filling syrup [Fabulous over chocolate cake and ice cream!!]: 6.5 quarts
• Apricot jam
• Peach chutney: 2 batches
• Onion garlic jam: 2 batches

August:

• Green beans: 3 bags frozen
• Grated zucchini and summer squash:  A lot.  Frozen.
• Peaches: canned 1 bushel
• Peach Plum Raspberry Pie Filling:  3 quarts 
• Peach Plum Vanilla Pie Filling:  5 quarts

September:

• Apple Pear Pie Filling: 5 quarts canned
• Apple Pie Filling:  6 bags frozen
• Elaeagnus Orange Ginger Jam: 3 batches
• Applesauce:  7 quarts
• Basil, dried and crushed: 1 quart
• Celery, chopped and dried: 1/2 gallon bag

October:

•  Pumpkin:  pressure canned, 5 quarts

Missing:

• tomatoes:   terrible year for tomatoes.

Lemon Honey Tea Concentrate

I love all sorts of lemon pickles and preserves.   The top shelf of the fridge and sometimes the window sills are crowded with lemon pickles in various stages of fermentation and preservation. 

So I was kind of excited to see another type of lemon preserve over at the blog Twenty Two Pleasant.   [It's a lovely blog with some of the best photography I've seen in a blog.  It'd be worth your while to click around and look at her gorgeous pics.]

Twenty Two Pleasant made Lemon Honey Tea Concentrate after she saw it here and it was so beautiful and sounded so good that I had to try it, too.   All you do is slice up lemons, put them in a jar and pour honey over them.  If you like ginger as much as I do, you can add some thin slices of ginger to the mix, too.

After a time, the honey and lemons meld into a jam-like consistency which you can use as a lemon tea concentrate by putting a spoonful in a mug and then pouring hot water over it.    Easy squeezy.

Generally, lemon pickles take a few weeks to do their thing, so start now and be patient.    By the time cold weather hits, it'll be ready to dip into.  Honey is anti-bacterial and that combined with the high acidity in the lemons makes this an almost fool-proof preserve.   As the lemons do their thing, they'll start to float.   That's normal.  

You can bet that I'll have a few jars of this stuff around all winter long.   Mmmmm.