Ingredients:

half of a Fairytale or Cinderella pumpkin—a 5 to 6 pound chunk when raw

2 cups water

organic or Demarra sugar

smoked Pimentón or Espelette paprika, or smoked red New Mexico chile powder

red pepper flakes, especially the mild but flavorful Turkish Marash or Aleppo chili flakes

salt

Method:

1  Scrape out the pumpkin’s seeds with the edge of a tablepoon, then cut the halved fruit into one-inch wide strips (following the natural vertical folds). Poel each strip with a quick turn of the vegetable peeler. Cube the flesh. Place in a kettle with 2 cups water and simmer for 20 minutes until very soft.

2  Run the cooked pulp through a food mill or chinois (you could also use a potato masher if you don’t mind a chunkier butter.) Measure the puree, note the quantity and put it in a preserving pan. For every 3 cups of pumpkin, add 1 cup of sugar. (Or less to taste, or add a tablespoon of molasses for a stronger flavor, or replace some of the sugar with half as much honey.) Stir well to dissolve the sugar, and reduce the mixture over high heat until sufficiently thickened, at which point a dollop of the butter put a cold plate for 60 seconds will no longer leak liquid at the edges.

3  At the end of cooking, stir in a fat pinch of smoked paprika, 2 pinches of red pepper flakes and a pinch of salt. Taste and adjust the seasonings to preference.

4  Before storing, allow the hot butter to cool somewhat, then ladle it into airtight containers to freeze or any covered container to refrigerate. Use within a week or freeze for up to several months.

Yields about about 2 pints

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Ingredients:

1 pound cranberries
1 hard apple such as Arkansas Black or Granny Smith, peeled, cored and sliced into 1/2-inch chunks
1 cup water
2 cups sugar
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1 tablespoon chopped fresh ginger or crystallized ginger
3 inch cinnamon stick
zest of 1 orange in finest possible threads
1 teaspoon brandy
1/4 cup chopped pecans

1: Rinse cranberries and put in a kettle with water, cubed apple, ginger, cinnamon stick, and orange zest. Bring to a boil and simmer for 5 minutes until berries pop.

2: Add sugar to the kettle and return to a gentle boil, stirring constantly. Once the sugar has fully dissolved, add brandy and nuts and cook for 2-3 minutes more until thickened, stirring carefully to prevent scorching.

3: Remove cinnamon stick and serve or refrigerate in a covered container for up to two weeks. If you want to can the jam: ladle hot jam into prepared 1/2 pint jars and seal. Process sealed jars in a boiling water bath for 10 minutes.

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2 pounds black mission or brown Turkey figs, about 5 cups quartered
2 cups sugar
1/2 cup honey
1/2 teaspoon or more fennel seed
3 bay leaves
zest from one lemon
juice from one lemon

1. Figs don’t need much prep. Just trim the stem end and quarter for quicker cooking.
2. Layer figs, sugar, honey, lemon juice, zest and wild aromatics in a bowl. Macerate overnight.
3. Put the fruit-sugar mix in the preserving pan, bring to a full boil and skim. Moderate heat and continue skimming, gently stirring or shaking to prevent figs from sticking to the pot and scorching. About 10 minutes cooking should reduce it sufficiently. Ladle into jars and process in boiling water for 10 minutes.

YIELD
2.2 pounds figs yielded 2.5 pints 

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For 10 pints

Any quantity of mixed heirloom tomatoes (One word of caution: weight your mix heavily in favor of red tomatoes over lower-acid yellow ones, since the high acid content of tomatoes is what allows us to safely can them using the boiling-water method).

1 Tablespoon of bottled lemon juice ***PER PINT*** (must be bottled, not fresh, for controlled acidity)

1. Prepare the tomatoes: blanch them a few at a time in a large quantity of boiling water for 1 minute, then lift out with a slotted spoon and plunge into a basin of ice water. When cool, remove them to drain but do not begin to peel until you’ve blanched them all.
2. Now you need to work quickly: peel three or four tomatoes and quarter them into a pot large enough to hold your entire batch. Crush the tomatoes (I just squeeze them with my hands). You want to have enough pulp and liquid to cover the bottom of the pot. Bring to a boil.
3. Once the boil has begun, continue to peel and quarter tomatoes one at a time. Press them into the boiling pot so that they heat through as quickly as possible. Stir occasionally so your pot doesn’t scorch, but maintain a steady boil. Once all the tomatoes are into the pot, boil for 10 minutes.
4. Pass the tomatoes through a food mill. (I use a coarse blade because I like the texture, but use a finer blade or a Chinois if you’d prefer to strain the seeds.) Return puree to the pot.
5. Return to a boil and reduce while stirring by half, or until thickened to your preference. Salt to taste—but use a fairly light hand, since you may further reduce the sauce when cooking with it later.
6. Line up your clean jars. Add into each jar 1 Tablespoon of bottled lemon juice ***PER PINT.*** (I.e., a quart jar gets 2 Tablespoons lemon juice.) Ladle tomatoes into your jars, seal and process in a boiling-water bath per USDA guidelines: 35 minutes for pint jars (at sea level), 40 minutes per quart (at sea level.)
7. When boiling-water bath is complete, turn off the heat and allow jars to sit in the pot of water, uncovered, for 5 minutes. This allows the pressure inside the jars to stabilize and prevents leakage when you remove the jars to cool.

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3 large ruby red grapefruits
3 cups water
4 cups sugar
1 vanilla bean, seeds scraped
2 tablespoons rose water or lemon juice

1. Set a large pot of water to boil. Cut off the peel of the grapefruits, working to get good thick slices, but leaving the inner white pith closest to the fruit still attached to the fruit. Cut the peels into strips. Blanch the peels by submersing them in boiling water for about three minutes. Drain in a colander and rinse under running water. Bring a fresh pot of water to a boil and repeat the blanching process again, this removes any bitterness. Drain and rinse again.
2. Place the peels in a large pot. Cut off all the white pith from the remaining fruits then, working over the pot, cut between the grapefruit membranes so that the fruit sections fall into the pot. Squeeze juice from the membranes and discard them. Repeat with remaining fruits.
3. Add the water and sugar to the pot and bring to a boil, stirring to combine. Lower the heat to a very low simmer. Simmer until the marmalade is thick and translucent, about one hour. The marmalade may still appear a touch watery- keep in mind it will thicken as it cools.
4. Add the vanilla bean seeds and simmer another five minutes. Remove from the heat, stir in the rose water (or lemon) and set aside to cool. You could can this and process in a hot water bath or simply store in jars in the fridge.

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My friend Susan Rush was an angel and made up a couple of different citrus recipes for tasting.
Following is one great and easy lemon curd recipe:

Good enough to eat by the spoonful, this curd can be used as a cake or tart filling or served with scones, muffins, or fresh fruit. 

Ingredients

• 3 to 4 Meyer lemons (about 1 pound)
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 large very fresh eggs
• 1 stick unsalted butter, cut into 4 pieces

Preparation

Finely grate enough zest from lemons to measure 2 teaspoons and squeeze enough juice to measure 1/2 cup. Whisk together zest, juice, sugar, and eggs in a metal bowl and add butter. Set bowl over a saucepan of simmering water and cook, whisking, until thickened and smooth and an instant-read thermometer registers 160°F, about 5 minutes. Force curd through a fine sieve set into another bowl. Serve warm or cover surface of curd with wax paper and cool completely.

Cooks’ notes: • Lemon curd keeps, covered and chilled, 1 week.
• If substituting regular lemons, increase sugar to 3/4 cup.

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Christine Ferber, author of “Mes Confiture” inspires with her recipe for “Pectin Stock”, a natural alternative to packaged pectin.

3 1/2 pounds green apples 
4 2/3 cups granulated sugar
6 1/2 cups water
Juice of one small lemon

1. Rinse apples in cold water.  Remove stems and cut fruit into quarters without peeling.  Put them in a pan and cover with water.  When mixture comes to a boil, simmer for half an hour on low heat.
2. Collect the juice by pouring preparation through a fine chinois sieve and pressing lightly on the fruit with the back of a skimmer.  Then filter a second time through cheese cloth that has been wet and wrung out.
3. Pour 4 1/4 cups of the juice into a preserving pan with the lemon juice and the sugar.  Bring to a boil, skim and continue cooking on high heat for 5 to 10 minutes.  Skim again if necessary. 
4. Return to a boil.  Check the set.  Pour the jelly into jars and seal.
5. This is a “pectin stock” jelly and can be added to jams such as pear or cherry which have very little natural pectin:  it will facilitate the jell.  Choose very green apples, preferably at the beginning of July when they haven’t ripened yet.  You can make a compote with the pulp by putting it through a coarse food mill and adding sugar and spice to taste.

Thanks to my good friend Susan the pastry chef who shared Ferber’s book with me.

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SPECIAL EQUIPMENT:
2 5-liter (or five-quart) jars with a sealable lids.
5 750 ml bottles with stoppers

INGREDIENTS
6 yellow grapefruits (please try to find organic fruit, since the peel macerates for a long time in liquid you will want to drink)
6 pink grapefruits
2 limes (or lemons)
6 bottles light, crisp white wine
1 750 ml bottle good vodka
5 cups sugar
2 vanilla beans, split lengthwise
2 8″ chamomile branches with flowers, or 2 bags of chamomile tea
honey

TECHNIQUE

1.  Trim the grapefruits by cutting a round slice off either end, going deep enough to reveal the fruity core beneath the thick pith. Set aside these endcaps. Cut each trimmed grapefruit in half and then cut the halves into 1/2″ slices. Cut the limes or lemons into thin rounds.
2. Thoroughly wash your two large jars in hot, soapy water and rise well. Scald with boiling water and drain.
3. Divide the sugar evenly between the two jars. Add a split vanilla bean to each.
4. Layer the grapefruit slices into the jars, alternating yellow and red slices and mashing them down as you go. Distribute the lime or lemon evenly as you put in the layers. Once the jars are almost full, poke a chamomile branch down the inside or lay the teabag on top. Now take a few of the reserved rounds cut from the grapefruit and lay them over the top of the fruit, peel side up, to make the final layer.
5. Pour the vodka in over the fruit, evenly dividing the bottle between the two jars.
6. Top up each bottle with white wine. You should have about a bottle left over, which you will need to keep for later use.
7. Seal the jars and invert them a time or two to make sure you have no air pockets. Don’t worry about the undissolved sugar on the bottom.
8. Place the jars in a cool, dark place. Invert the jars to agitate the contents once a day for the first week. At the end of the week, the level of liquid will have gone down a bit. Top up each jar from the reserved bottle of wine. Over the next month, check on the jars and agitate every few days. Once a week, top up with wine.
9. At the end of 40 days, unseal the jars and pour the contents through a colander to capture the liquid. Allow the soggy fruit to drip for an hour and then gently press to extract more liquid. Taste it and adjust the sweetness, if you like, with a few tablespoons of honey. Allow the captured liquid to settle overnight in the refrigerator, then pour it through a double-thickness of damp cheesecloth, trying to avoid disturbing the sediment. Bottle the wine and then stopper the bottles. Keep bottles in the fridge for as long as it lasts. Over time, more sediment will settle out. If it bothers you, and it doesn’t me, just pour gently so as to leave it in the bottle. 

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2 lbs blood oranges (about 10 small fruits)
1 lb Meyer lemons (about 3 large fruits)
1/2 lb sour Eureka lemons (about 2 small fruits)
3.5 cups white granulated sugar
3/4 cup sage honey, or any other pale, floral honey
3 cups water

1. Remember that marmalade uses the fruit peel, so please use un-sprayed, organic (or backyard) fruit if at all possible. Also note that store-bought citrus is often coated in wax to extend shelf-life, so if that’s what you’re using, first rinse the fruit with boiling water to remove all traces of wax, then scrub well in cold water.
2. PEELS: Using a vegetable peeler, remove the peel from all the citrus in wide strips, taking only the colored exterior zest and leaving behind the albedo, the bitter white pith. Slice the peel into 1/4″ threads (or wider, confetti-like pieces if you prefer a more textured marmalade.) Put the prepared peels in a preserving pan.
3. PULP: First remove all the albedo. The technique is to take a peeled fruit and slice a round off both ends, deep enough to reveal the pulp beneath the albedo. Then stand the fruit on one of its flat ends and slice downwards along the fruit’s outside edge to cut away the albedo. Work your way around the perimeter of the entire fruit until you’re left with the beautiful “heart” of the fruit. Cut the heart crosswise into round, 1/2″ slices and finally quarter each slice. Remove whatever seeds you find. Put chunked pulp in the preserving pan with the peel.
4. Add water to the preserving pan with peel and pulp, bring to a boil and add sugar and honey. Return to a moderate boil and stir constantly until the mixture had reduced by as much as half to reach the jell point.
5. When a jell set has been achieved, turn off heat and allow the hot marmalade to cool for 5 minutes before ladling into prepared jars. If you wish, process sealed jars in a hot-water bath for 10 minutes (for half-pint size) to pasteurize for long storage.

NOTES
***You can use any combination of citrus fruits in this recipe, but be sure to achieve a balance of sweet (navel oranges, tangerines, Meyer lemons, etc) and sour (Seville oranges, Eureka lemons, grapefruits, etc).
***Feel free to add flavorings. For example: add 1 split vanilla bean to the preserving pot midway through the reduction. Or: take a 4″ branch of rosemary, crush it to release its fragrance and swish it through the finished marmalade just before ladling into jars. Or: add 2 tablespoons of alcohol (Grand Marnier, citron-flavored vodka) towards the end of reduction.

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If you’re looking for copies of the recipes, they’re up on the home page, or click below:

• Chunky Cranberry Jam with Ginger and Orange Zest
• Fresh Persimmon Butter
• Persimmon Chutney