More jam? How is this possible? What kind of a glutton for punishment am I? After standing up almost all day yesterday while engaged in the Plum Crazy jam-making activity, you’d think I’d prefer a day sitting on the sofa with my knitting in hand. Well, you’d think so, but only if you discounted the six pounds of strawberries on my kitchen counter waiting to be addressed.
Rather than make run-of-the-mill, regular old strawberry jam (god forbid), I hauled out Christine Ferber’s excellent master-class book, Mes Confitures, and thumbed through its jam-sticky pages in search of uncommon inspiration. At last, I found it. As a jam-maker who shies away from the ordinary, nonetheless it hadn’t occurred to me to combine strawberries with an assortment of spices and – several cups of pinot noir. Not until now. The siren call of novelty sounded loud and clear, and here is the beginning of that unusual concoction:
It doesn’t look disgusting. After macerating the fruit in the fridge overnight with the wine and sugar, I brought it all to a boil in my copper confiture pot. At that point, it didn’t smell disgusting anymore, either – although at first it smelled like fermented strawberries, and not in a good way. But the heat mellowed out the rough odor, and now its fragrance is deliciously winey, berryish, and rich. Now, I have to let it chill once again overnight in the fridge. Tomorrow, I get to actually make the jam. Stay tuned.
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