March a reason to celebrate…
March is no doubt a great month for celebrating. This March we will see March Break, St. Patrick’s Day, Day Light Saving time begins, the First Day of Spring, and Maple Syrup harvesting! All of these events are worthy of a feast and recipe to share but I can’t help myself when it comes to this time of year because I get a little giddy about maple syrup.
Maple Syrup can be enjoyed in many forms like candy, taffy, sugar and jelly. Maple Jelly is an easy to make spread using maple syrup, water and a thickening agent. The thickening agent used is either Gelatin based made from animal bone marrow or it can be can vegetable based from carrageenan which is harvested from Irish moss or seaweed. Genugel is a commercial brand of carrageenan that is easy to use and is available to purchase on-line or at Maple syrup supply stores. It should be noted that fruit produced Pectin does not work as a coagulant in Maple syrup.
Maple Jelly is an easy to use condiment that can be used on toast, vegetables, roast pork loin, beef and salmon dishes alike.
It is time to get your Maple on and get and celebrate spring with many area Maple Syrup producers hosting tours and festivals in the coming weeks creating educational experiences for all to enjoy as well as giving us a taste of the first harvest. Pick up some extra syrup this year and try making your own Maple Jelly using the following recipe.
This basic recipe can easily be flavoured with clove, currant, cinnamon, bourbon, all spice, apple, or cranberries. It will lose its amber translucency which is prized among Maple Jelly producers but it will bring a whole other dimension of taste to your jelly and accompanied foods.
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Tapped Sugar Maple producing sap for maple syrup
Maple Jelly
1 liter Grade A Medium Amber pure maple syrup
1.5 cups cold water
1 tsp. Genugel
Prepare 3-5 Mason jars in a hot water bath so that they are ready to use. In a medium sized bowl whisk the Genugel into the cold water. Combine the Genugel water mixture with the maple syrup in a large, heavy bottomed stainless steel pot. The pot will need to be at least large enough to accommodate 4 liters or a gallon of liquid as the Jelly mixture will foam up and expand during the cooking process thus avoiding the pot boiling over.
Over medium low heat bring the soon to be jelly to a boil and allow it to continue to boil until it reaches a temperature of 103 °C / 217 °F. To ensure a nice clean jelly it is important to skim off all of the foam that appears on the surface while it is boiling.
Immediately reduce the heat to as low as possible and begin to fill your preserving jars. It is important that you use a portioning tool like a ladle or measuring cup that can fill your jars in one smooth motion as this jelly will set very quickly. If you have to fill your jars in 2 or 3 steps you will find that air bubbles will get trapped in your jelly and they will look quite visibly layered which in the jelly making world is undesirable. If this happens don’t worry as it will still taste delicious the jelly will simply appear rather cloudy. Place the lids onto the jars and process them in hot water bath at a temperature of 82°C /180 °F for 10 minutes. Cool and store in the refrigerator after opening.
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Looking for hard to find ingredients and gourmet foodstuffs?
Check out http://cookculture.poolpatioandbbq.com
