Strawberry Raspberry Balsamic Jam / Çilek Frambuaz Balsamic Reçeli

Writer's Note:  Berlin is refusing to acknowledge spring.  We have a few warm days and then, pow, like a slap upside the head, the cold and rain come pouring out of the sky like the wrath of a thousand Prussian soldiers.  I am in serious denial about the weather so spring jam seemed like a properly defiant act. 

Ingredients:

1 lb. strawberries
pint of raspberries
juice from 2 lemons
1/4 - 1/3 cup balsamic vinegar
2 1/2 cups sugar

Directions:

Clean strawberries and raspberries and cut off strawberry stems.  If the strawberries are really big, cut them into two or three.  Macerate the strawberries and raspberries in the lemon juice and sugar overnight in the fridge.

Heat the stove to medium and cook the berries for about 20-30 minutes in a teflon or copper saucepan.  Jam can really ruin your pots so teflon is a must unless you have a copper saucepan.  After about 15 minutes pour 1/4 cup of balsamic vinegar into the jam.  Taste after 5 minutes and continue adding until you have a balance of sweet and acidic that is to your liking.  Jam is ready when you spread a small amount on a plate and it has a thickened jammy consistency.

You can store the jam in pre-sterilized jars.  Sterilize the jars by boiling them for 5 minutes.

Ginger Whiskey Pear Preserves / Armut Reçeli

Writer's Note: Turks make their own preserves.  Strawberry, sour cherry, fig, green walnut, quince, unripe pistachio, orange . . . you name it, they will turn it into a sweet, sticky beautiful spread.  Rarely, however, do you see pear preserves.  Since there aren't that many fruits in season right now, pear is an obvious choice in Berlin (always available here in the Arctic tundra). Turkish preserves are not like American jams, they are bits of lovely fruit swimming in a viscous pond, less jammy, more fluid.  And if you want the mother lode of jam recipes, I suggest picking up a copy of Christine Ferber's Mes Confitures, which is the only book on jam making you will ever need.  These preserves make an excellent peanut butter and jelly sandwich -- gingery and less sweet than your usual fare.

Ingredients:

3-4 ripe pears,* peeled and diced into 1/2 inch pieces
3 cups sugar
1/2 cup whiskey
1 inch ginger, minced
juice from 2 fresh lemons (the lemons have pectin, and allow the preserves to thicken properly)

Directions:

Macerate the pears in the other ingredients for at least two hours on the counter, or overnight in the fridge.  Pour ingredients into a non-stick saucepan or skillet (I use a copper saucepan which evenly distributes heat and prevents scorching but they are expensive and, frankly, unnecessary for this recipe).

Heat over medium heat for 20-30 minutes until the sugar bubbles and has thickened.  To check doneness, take a small spoon of the liquid and spread it on a small plate.  When the liquid is viscous and jammy, it is done.  Preserves that have been boiled too long will harden into a rock after they cool so it is best to start testing after 20 minutes.

If you are going to use the jam right away, you can put it in a jar in the fridge without sterilizing the jar.  This recipe makes one medium jar of preserves.  However, if you want to put some away for later use, it is best to boil the jar and lid for 5 minutes and then pour the jam in while it is hot so that the jar reseals.

*To ripen pears:  put the pears in a dark paper bag somewhere warm for 3-4 days.  Even hard as rock pears will ripen.  I used to use the laundry closet, which really confused my roommate but accelerated the ripening process.