Every summer I say, this is the summer I’m really going to make some amazing raspberry or blackberry jam. But something about sterilizing the jars and waiting for that suctioning pop just still seems complicated to me. So I’ve been sticking with refrigerator jam. And today, since the summer heat is taking its own sweet time to arrive (and I discovered my Maggie Beer is way past its expiration), I made dried fig and port jam with black mission figs.
I love fig jam as part of a cheese plate, especially w/ blue cheese. It’s also terrific on ciabatta rolls with Trader Joe’s frying cheese (haloumi-ish, but made from cow’s milk) heated in a pan for a few minutes on each side until heated through and just getting melty. Add a handful of arugula and you’re good to go. Sorry, no photo, we snarfed them down for a quick dinner. :-)
Mix the port, water and sugar in a medium sauce pan and bring to a boil. Add the orange zest, cinnamon stick, peppercorns, ginger and figs. Reduce heat and simmer for 20-25 minutes until reduced and slightly syrupy and the figs are tender. Remove the cinnamon stick, orange zest and ginger and allow to cool. Once cool, pour the mixture into a blender and process until nearly smooth. It will be thick. Stir in lemon juice.
Store covered in the refrigerator. It'll last for ~2 weeks.
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Sorry, one more question. How do I adapt this to use fresh figs.. And then sterilize/can it for longer shelf life?
How do I alter this so that I can sterilize the jars and keep the jam for a much longer time on the shelf?
Hi Jackie - I'm not an experienced water bath canner, so you may want to consult a book, but I don't see why you couldn't make this as is w/ the dried figs and simply process it in a water bath for 10 minutes. The only issue might be that it's such a small amount. As for switching it to fresh figs, there's a simple recipe in Food in Jars that you could adapt and add the port and spices to, and it'll make an amount that'll make it worth your while for water bath canning.
Hope that helps!
I made a large batch of this jam and gave it as part of a basket for Christmas gifts. Everyone told me it was great and it was the first thing that disappeared! I'm now making a double batch for someone's birthday because her husband ate the entire Xmas jar before she could try it.