Recipe Time: Rhubarb Orange Preserves

We do a lot of canning around here, even in the summer heat.

A quick share this week of a recipe that I think I've finally perfected. The addition of orange peel and nutmeg, and making sure to vary the size of the rhubarb pieces has really improved the final product. Don't be surprised, friends of mine, if you find a jar of this yumminess in your Christmas stocking this year.


Rhubarb Orange Preserve

INGREDIENTS:
2-1/2 lbs. rhubarb, before processing
½ cup fresh orange juice (I got this much from one smallish orange)
½ cup water

2 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice

6-3/4 cups sugar

2 packets liquid pectin
Coarsely ground rind of 1 orange
¼ tsp. ground nutmeg

Red food color as desired

DIRECTIONS:
1. To give the final preserve a variety of textures, I divided the rhubarb into three batches. Batch number one I chopped really fine in the food processor, batch two not quite so fine, and the last batch was coarsely chopped so some larger pieces would remain.

2. Put orange and lemon juice and water in a a large saucepot with the chopped rhubarb. Add the orange rind and nutmeg to the rhubarb and cook at high heat for about 10-15 minutes, until boiling. Add as much red food color as you wish to color mixture, or omit entirely.

3. Stir the sugar into the rhubarb. Add ¼ tsp. of butter to prevent foaming. Bring the mixture to a full rolling boil, stirring constantly.

4. Quickly add pectin to mixture and stir, returning to a full rolling boil for exactly one minute. Remove from heat and skim off foam.

5. Fill half-pint jelly jars with the preserve and process in a hot-water bath for 15 minutes. Let jars stay in hot water with lid off until cool, then remove jars to countertop where seals on lids will eventually “pop.”

NOTE: This preserve turns out runnier than jam but a little thicker than syrup. It is delicious on toast or English muffins, ice cream, yogurt, stirred in oatmeal or other hot cereal, or spread on pancakes.

 Teri Kman’s own recipe, based on several years of experimentation with lots of rhubarb!