Pear & Ginger Jam

Another mouth watering from the Village Kitchen

Ingredients:

3.2 kg / 7 lb pears

1.2 litres / 2 pints of water

3 lemons

1 piece of fresh root ginger (2.5cm / 1 ins)

2.25 kg / 5 lb sugar

Method:

Peel, quarter and core pears. Slice them and put them in a preserving pan with the water.

Thinly peel yellow rind from lemons. Squeeze the juice.

Peel ginger and bruise it. To do this, put it on a chopping board and bang it with a rolling pin.

Tie pear peelings and cores with lemon rinds and ginger in a large piece of muslin and put in preserving pan.

Bring to the boil and simmer pears for 30 minutes or until soft.

Meanwhile, put the sugar in a bowl to warm in a very cool oven, Gas 1/4 , 225 degreesF, 110 degreesC, and prepare clean jam jars.

Put them to dry and warm in coolest part of the oven.

Lift out the bag with the back of a wooden spoon, press it against the side of the pan and squeeze out as much juice as possible.

Add the warmed sugar and stir without boiling until dissolved .

Add the lemon juice.

Increase heat and bring jam to the boil. Boil for about 15 minutes or until the setting point is reached

Skim off the scum and allow jam to stand for 15 minutes to prevent pear pieces rising in the jars.

Fill the warmed jars to the brim. Immediately put on well-fitting waxes tissue, wax side down.

Wipe jars and put on outer covers either while hot or cold but not between

Label with name and date and store in a cool, dry, dark, well-ventilated place.

The Village Kitchen