Hello you, hungry and happy people!
I have a quite simple recipe for fig jam to brag about today. If you knew me, you would know that cooking is not really my thing (I wanted to say, not really my jam but that pun would be too much).
Preparation is super simple, all you need is to move in to a house that has a fig tree in the backyard, wait for it to grow some fruit and to ripen. Then it's time for the global pandemic to become a real deal, so much so, that it makes you want to make something new. Like a jam! Then, you bribe your husband to go and pick the figs for you, because wasps really like it too, especially when they are ripe, and he runs faster than you do!
Or you know, buy the figs, it's all the same.
Once your husband picked enough or as much as he could, wash those beauties and take the skin completely off. It's quite easy when they are ripe, you don't even need a knife. I do have a bread backing little thing that also makes great jam, so that was a big help. Jams are tricky in that sense, because they have to be stirred constantly, this machine does that for you.
The figs kind of break apart on their own, but if they don't cut them up a bit so it's easier to cook. I did use hand-held mixer in the end to make it even smoother, but if you don't mind the chunks you don't have to.
I have to say, I'm not the biggest fan of the figs, especially eaten raw. There is something about their grainy texture that bothers me. I know it's good for your digestive system but I just don't like it. On the other hand I like jams and dry figs. Go figure.
They are pretty sweet and I knew I wanted to give it to my toddler to eat, so I put only about 3 tbs of sugar with 500 grams of figs. I added some lemon juice and let the machine do it's job. It took almost two hours, but since I din't do all the stirring I din't mind.
A little trick I learned from my grandmother is to pour the jam while it's really hot in to the jar and close the lid. Further more, you should keep the jar in a warm place or wrapped up in something, so it doesn't cool too quickly.
I got one jar out of the batch and I am keeping in the fridge, to be safe, since it doesn't really have any preservatives.
And if you are wondering it tastes amazing!
With love,
Tamara