A little stoned...fruit...

I've been back in Texas for almost a year and a half, and one of the things I'm still getting re-used to is the difference in the seasons. Just a couple of days ago, I had a "memory" pop up on Facebook from October 2016 - I had posted a picture about how my little vegetable garden in Philly was still producing tomatoes, and I had to harvest them green because we were expecting our first freeze. (Those green tomatoes inspired a blog post, check out the one from November 1, 2016.) My tomato plant on my patio here in Texas stopped producing fruit back in June, it's just too hot here in the summer and the blossoms drop off. But, now that the weather is starting to cool off, it's covered in new blossoms, and I might even get a second crop of tomatoes before it freezes. Seasonal is definitely local.

I'm learning that one of the mantras of the grocery store business (really in all types of retail - Starbucks pumpkin spice, anyone?), is that we tell our customers when the seasons change. So, even though it may still be pushing 100 degrees outside, if it's after Labor Day, that means we start selling pumpkins, apples, all of the fall produce items. We'll still keep a selection of the more summery fruits and vegetables, but they are no longer the spotlight and the displays are much smaller. 

For some reason, the selection of peaches, apricots, and plums pulled at my heartstrings this year. We had more varieties of stone fruits this summer than I think I've ever seen. Colors ranged from deepest purple, to every shade of orange and yellow, and even green. Seeing that last small display in the produce department made me a little sad, like it was the last vestiges of summer, standing in defiance to the mounds of apples and butternut squash that surrounded it. I suddenly felt inspired to try and capture end of summer with what else? A jam. Peaches, nectarines, plums, even the last of the basil from my patio, all tied together with rosé wine. 

This recipe can be made with any variety of stone fruit. For this batch, I used yellow peaches, nectarines, and red plums. I chose not to remove the peels from the fruit, in part because I just didn't feel like taking the time to peel over 20 pounds of fruit, but also because the peels, especially the plum peels, give a really beautiful color to the jam and are a great source of pectin to thicken the jam. 

One last note - I started with about 21 to 22 pounds of fruit. After I finished cutting, removing the pits, and trimming away any bad/bruised areas, I ended up with 18 pounds of fruit. In the recipe below, I've scaled the amounts to a more manageable 2 pounds of fruit, but be sure that you measure out the 2 pounds after trimming and removing the pits.

I hope you enjoy!

Summer Sunset Jam

Makes 9 to 10 cups jam, or 5 ½-pint jars

2 pounds mixed stone fruits (peaches, plums, nectarines, cherries, apricots), pits removed, cut into chunks

1 cup granulated sugar

½ bunch fresh basil

½ cup fruity rosé wine

Combine all of the ingredients in a very large stainless steel saucepan.

Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally. Reduce heat and boil gently for 30 to 40 minutes or until mixture is reduced and thickened. There should still be some tender stone fruit chunks in the mixture. 

Remove the basil stems and discard. Using an immersion blender, puree the cooked fruit and basil leaves until it smooth. 

At this point the jam can be cooled to room temperature and refrigerated where it will keep for about 2 weeks. Or you can place the jam into canning jars and process in a hot water canner. 

While the stone fruits are cooking, prepare your jars for canning. Remove the lids and rings from the jars. Bring a large stock pot of water to a rapid boil. Sterilize the lids and rings by lowering them into the boiling water for about 3 minutes. Transfer them to a clean towel. Repeat with the jars.

Carefully ladle the hot jam into the hot jars, leaving about ½ inch of headspace. Cover the jar with a lid and a screw top ring. Tighten the ring to just finger tight.

When the stock pot of water has returned to a boil, lower the jars into the pot, standing them upright and in a single layer across the bottom of the pot. Make sure the jars are completely submerged under the water. Cover the pot and when the water in the pot returns to a boil, set a timer for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, remove the jars from the pot and set on a clean towel. Repeat the process with the remaining jars, being sure to let the water come back to the boil each time.

Let the jars sit undisturbed until they are room temperature. You should hear a noticeable "plinking" sound as the jars cool and pull the center of the lids down. After they have cooled, gently press on the center of each of the lids to be sure they have fully depressed. Any jars with lids that have not pulled down tight have not properly sealed. Place those jars in the refrigerator and enjoy them first.