Sunday, August 28, 2011

Canning Plum Sauce


I got some beautiful red plums at the farmers market... what to do with them? 

I love fruit and I love to make jams, jellies, and preserves, but in all honesty, we don't eat that much of it... we tend to have more than we need most of the time. Now if you're talking my brother's peach preserves, that's a different story... I can eat that stuff with a spoon, no bread needed! But as a rule, jams and jellies last awhile at our house... I give a lot away as gifts.

So... imagine my delight when I happened upon a recipe for plum sauce... using fruit... my beautiful plums... and it's not jam! Yay!

This sweet and spicy sauce is wonderful with Asian style foods, chicken... and is wonderful with pork dishes... I've cooked pork tenderloin and chops... slow cooking in the oven in my covered terra cotta cooker (that I got at a yard sale for $3, yay me!) and it's fabulous! I've used it as a dipping sauce for everything from prosciutto wrapped figs to chicken nuggets.

Here's how I made this delicious, versatile sauce...

In a large, stainless steel saucepan I combined...

2 cups lightly packed brown sugar
3/4 cup chopped onion (I used red onions because I had them on hand, use whatever you like)


2 Tbsp. finely chopped seeded green chili pepper (I made two batches... in one batch I used jalapenos, in another, the small chili peppers... they're both great, use peppers with the "hotness" you like)


1 Tbsp. salt (I used canning/pickling salt)
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 Tbsp. gingerroot, finely chopped (I had some crystallized ginger on hand, used it with great results)

I brought the mixture to a boil over high heat, stirring constantly.


I added 10 cups chopped, pitted plums...


And returned to a boil. I then reduced the heat and boiled gently, stirring occasionally, until thick and syrupy... took between and hour and a half and two hours.


While my sauce was simmering and thickening, I prepared my half pint canning jars by heating them in a pan of boiling water. I simmered my lids and rings in boiling water and kept everything hot until my sauce was ready.


I ladled my hot sauce into the jars leaving about a half inch headspace, removed any air bubbles and adjusted headspace as needed. I wiped the rims and tightened the lids on to fingertip tightness.


I processed the jars in a boiling water bath... placing the jars in the canner ensuring they are completely covered with water... brought to a boil and processed for 20 minutes.

I removed the jars from the canner after processing using my jar lifter... set them on a folded dish towel on the counter to cool and to listen for the PING of each successfully sealed jar.

*Remember... wear rubber gloves while seeding and chopping hot peppers or you WILL burn your hands! The best way to seed peppers is to trim off the stem end and then cut the pepper in half lengthwise. Scrape out the seeds and veins using a spoon.

Canning Granny©2011 All Rights Reserved








14 comments:

  1. looks great! love the site by the way!

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  2. I am going to try this, it sounds really good!

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  3. Yummy on a pork roast!

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  4. adapted from your recipe today. tasted great!

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  5. Granny- sounds great, I have red plum trees and it made fabulous jam--the color, texture & intense flavor allow me to I pass it off as cherry & no one is the wiser. But how many jars of jam does one house need?
    Will give it a go!

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  6. It's me "anonymous" again. Got to thinking. This Plum Sauce recipe is in theory, a cousin to a recipe I use from Juliet Child for making Chicken a L'Orange. It uses orange marmalade, fresh rosemary, some vinegar, some olive oil, a little Dijon mustard and onion wedges. So I make it--and we love it. I use my own canned orange marmalade (I add a few dried cranberries for color)and mix in the other ingredients. But could I can the whole sauce? Add the onion etc. while I am making orange marmalade? Would it be a boiling water bath or pressure canned?
    I like to use dried cranberries because they add color without dying the whole dish bright red. They really look cool in lemon marmalade.

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    Replies
    1. Sounds wonderful... except for the olive oil (which it's not recommended to can oils) you could certainly can it... water bath, I'd use the same time as the plum sauce, 20 minutes. If you only use a small amount of olive oil, it would be OK to include it (like a Tablespoon or so, just not larger amounts) ~~Granny

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  7. I looked through this site and cannot find the yield. Can you clarify this please?

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  8. I looked through this site and cannot find the yield. Can you clarify this please?

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  9. Thanks so much for your response. I want to make this since our plums are ready! Sounds so yummy. I can imagine it on a pork roast.

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  10. I made this tonight and got 4 pints after boiling and reducing it by about half, for anyone who is wondering.

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