Putting Food By - Janet Greene [195]
Aside from maple syrup, the first crop is rhubarb. Some souls enjoy it on hot buttermilk biscuits as old-time Scottish Rhubarb Ginger Jam—a comfort on a snowy Sunday morning more than half a year after the rhubarb was cut. Give a foil pan of biscuits along with the jam. (What did we ever do before disposable foil dishes came along?)
CONVERSIONS FOR PUTTING BY CHRISTMAS PRESENTS
Do look at the conversions for metrics, with workable roundings-off, and for altitude—both in Chapter 3—and apply them. Note: this chapter has Water-Bath processing—adjust for your altitude.
Rhubarb Ginger Jam
Nine ½-pint jars
You can put this by from May through June—or when the rhubarb crop is available in your area. This is a favorite old British recipe.
4½ pounds rhubarb, cut in 1-inch pieces
6⅓ cups sugar
4 medium oranges
5 teaspoons ground ginger or 1 cup coarsely chopped crystallized
ginger
Mix rhubarb and sugar and let stand covered overnight to start the juices. Peel oranges by scoring the rind with a knife and removing it in tidy inch-wide strips; cut rind in 1- × ⅛-inch pieces, cover with water, and simmer until tender (about 15 minutes); drain and save. Chop orange flesh, removing any seeds. Combine rhubarb mixture, orange pulp, and ginger in a wide stainless steel or enameled kettle. Bring to full rolling boil, stirring constantly, then reduce heat to medium and cook, stirring often, until jam holds a soft shape on the spoon, 30 to 60 minutes. Remove kettle from heat and add orange rind; stir, skim. Ladle into hot ½-pint jars, leaving ¼ inch of headroom; cap with two-piece screwband closure, give 5-minute Boiling–Water bath. Remove jars from kettle and cool upright.
Buttermilk Biscuits
About 1 dozen good-size biscuits
These can be made anywhere from a week to 10 days ahead of time and frozen in their aluminum baking tins, wrapped in plastic wrap and packaged in a plastic freezer bag.
2 cups sifted flour (cake flour is most delicate)
1½ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoons sugar (for light browning)
¼ cup (2 ounces in weight) lard or vegetable shortening
¾ to 1 cup fresh cultured buttermilk
Stir dry ingredients together. Rub in shortening until the mixture is mealy. Stir in buttermilk until all dry ingredients are gathered, and turn out onto a floured board. Knead gently a couple of passes, roll lightly to ¾ inch thick. Cut with floured 2½-inch round cutter, place barely touching in a greased pan. Gather, roll, and cut scraps. Bake at 425 F/218 C for 15 minutes, or until golden. Let biscuits cool upside down on a cookie rack if they aren’t going to be eaten right away; package individually.
For a gala breakfast (so rich it could double as a shortcake): roll and cut biscuits, let them rest. Meanwhile, combine 2 cups of maple syrup, ¾ cup broken nutmeats, and 2 tablespoons butter in a sauce pan and boil gently over medium heat, stirring, until the syrup is slightly reduced and sticky looking. Remove from heat, pour into a 13- × 9-inch baking pan, and immediately lay cut biscuits on the maple-nut mixture so that biscuits barely touch, and put into the oven. Bake 15 to 20 minutes, remove from oven; let sit 2 minutes, then turn over upside down onto a serving tray. Eat hot, with cold, cold rhubarb sauce on the side.
For the Children
Then mini-harvests and preserving bouts follow on each other’s heels as the preserving season takes over midsummer. There are jams and jellies, and relishes, and late autumn specialties as they come along—ending with treats expressly for the children’s holiday.
A specialty of any house at Christmas is Gingerbread People—to tuck into a hamper, string on the tree, or serve with a light custard dessert to take the curse off too many heavy sweets.
Gingerbread People
About 4 dozen small figures
These cookies can be made months ahead of time and frozen. Or the dough can be made months ahead of time—freeze it in a flattened ball wrapped closely