Autumn is the time for cooking. Apples, a variety of berries and fruits ripen in summer cottages, from which you can make delicious homemade stewed fruit, jelly, jam and juices. However, sometimes one wants to bring a drop of exotic to everyday routine. Indeed, tropical fruits unfamiliar in our latitudes are good not only in fresh, but also in canned form. How about making your own feijoa jam for your family?
This unusual in appearance fruit is already quite firmly established on the Russian shelves. Perhaps, everyone saw small fruits of saturated green color with dense skin and the aroma of fresh cucumbers. But do you know how useful the fruit with this outlandish name is? Feijoa fruits, jam of which has useful qualities, are saturated with a large amount of iodine and vitamins. Regular use of them will significantly reduce the risk of thyroid disease. In addition, the fruit is useful in spring vitamin deficiency. That is why it is so important to preserve it correctly so that the jam preserves not only a pleasant taste, but also the beneficial properties of fresh fruit.
Since growing feijoa is a very laborious and costly process, it is easiest to buy ripe fruits for jam. The recipes of this treat are a lot. Today we will meet the two most interesting and simple.
Classic Feijoa Jam
To prepare it, you will need:
- 1 kg of fruit;
- 1.5 kg of granulated sugar (note that 1 kg is enough to store the finished product in the refrigerator, otherwise the jam may be sugared).
You can start the cooking process. Feijoa should be washed, peeled, cut the stalk with a sharp knife, as well as the remains of inflorescences. Fruits can be cut into small pieces or they can be passed through a meat grinder. It depends on how homogeneous you want to get the mass in the end. The resulting fruit "minced meat" is mixed with sugar, add a little boiled water and set to simmer on low heat. From time to time, the contents of the container should be stirred so that it does not stick to the walls of the dishes. Feijoa jam will be ready in about 6 hours. After that, it will need to be cooled, poured into glass jars and refrigerated. Do not be alarmed if the product darkens and becomes saturated brown. This is due to the large amount of iodine in the fruit. A change in color in no way indicates a deterioration in taste.
Feijoa Whole Fruit Jam
A much more interesting delicacy is obtained if the fruits are not chopped. Here is a list of the necessary ingredients:
- a pound of feijoa;
- 1 faceted glass of granulated sugar;
- 1 teaspoon of cognac (to taste and preference);
- half a liter of boiling water.
The fruits, as in the previous recipe, are peeled, but the peel is not discarded. So that the fruits do not darken, they will need to be temporarily put in a container with cold water. Pour sugar into a saucepan and place on a stove. Reduce the fire to a minimum. Stir the contents constantly so that it does not burn. To make sugar dissolve and melt faster, you can add a little water. Once you have a caramel-like mass, remove the pan for a short time from the stove (about a minute). Then pour the boiling water very carefully. Now we have sugar syrup, with which later feijoa jam will be prepared. Put the cleanings in it and put the pan on the fire again. The contents should boil, after which it should be boiled for another 7 minutes. Then we get rid of already unnecessary cleanings by filtering the syrup through a colander or cheesecloth (it is better to use the first, since the mass will turn out to be quite thick).
Now you can add the remaining sugar and feijoa fruits to the finished mass. We cook everything for 40 minutes over medium heat, stirring occasionally. Cognac is added about a minute until ready. After the jam has cooled, put it in the banks and put in the refrigerator.