Wednesday

Figs - The Food of the Gods


Our precious Fig tree was ravished by the hard freeze a couple months ago. I had such great hopes, but ended up with shriveled up rotten fruits. How did that happen? Come to find out that figs soaked in rain water, frozen and exposed to heavy freezing winds are just dammed to die. 

If it doesn't come back we must start again with a hardier variety. 
A few months ago I received a couple of bags of fig fruits from my sister in law Catherine. They were super ripe and because I had no way of using them right away, they went in the freezer.
In fact, Figs freeze super well and will, this year, be used to make a fine jam, maybe even a fig/pear jam. After long research I've obtained a recipe that looked simple enough and sounded absolutely delicious. Simplicity and quality in home made foods is essential to me. 4 ingredients or less are preferred, but hey, I will get "helpers" too if it's more than 6 pounds

Here is the recipe: 
FIG JAM
6 qt. boiling water
6 qt. fresh figs
1/2 cup sugar for each cup of crushed figs
1 qt. water
8 slices lemon
Pour boiling water over figs; let stand 15 minutes. Drain and thoroughly rinse in cold water. Pat dry; remove stems Crush and measure figs, place in a large Dutch oven. Add 1/2 cup sugar for each cup of crushed figs. Add 1 quart water. Bring to a rapid boil, reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, 3 hours or until thickened, stirring occasionally.
Ladle jam into hot sterilized jars, leaving 1/4 inch head space. Add a slice of lemon to each jar. Cover at once with metal lids and screw on bands. Process in a boiling water bath for 10 minutes. Yields 8 1/2 pints.

Digg this

1 comment:

Jam-Es said...

Honey, have I got one for you (or 2)---
8 cups figs
3 cups sugar
Cook 15 minutes.
Add 3 small packages of strawberry Jello and 1 package of raspberry. Cook 10 more minutes. Mash up the figs.
OR----------
This is one of my favorites!
10 cups figs
7 1/2 cups sugar
3 sm pkg strawberry Jello
2 sm pkg raspberry Jello

Cook figs and sugar for 25 minutes. Add all Jello and cook 15 more minutes. Mash up figs.
---Put in jars and seal.

Good luck darling, let me know it goes. I love your blog, it is so versatile!

James, CA