Ingredients:
7 cups finely diced strawberries (about 3 quarts)
3 cups diced rhubarb
1/3 cup minced crystallized ginger*
1 bunch fresh mint
4 1/2-5 cups sugar (depends on how sweet your berries are)
1 box liquid pectin (6 oz., 2 little packets)
Directions:
Prep jars/lids for canning. Lightly bruise the mint and stuff as much as you can into a tea ball. Set aside. Add the sugar, tea ball, strawberries, ginger bits and rhubarb to a large pot. Bring the mixture to a boil. Smash any large chunks. For a smoother jam, remove the tea ball and pulse with a immersion blender. Cook until the jam looks thick, about 20 minutes. Add the pectin (both packets!). Continue cooking at a low (rolling) boil for 5 minutes. Remove the tea ball if you haven’t already. Fill the jars. Process in a hot water bath for 10 minutes.
Yield: I ended up with 8 8-oz jars and 1 4-oz jar
*I actually used The Ginger People’s Crystallized Ginger Chips, which are tiny bits of “baby” ginger rolled in cane sugar.
Note: A great source for canning information is the Blue Book guide to preserving. I highly recommend it for learning how to can. Here is a bunch of other canning books and equipment I find useful.
My thoughts:
Strawberry and rhubarb are an almost cliche combination. Possibly because rhubarb’s tartness tempers strawberry’s sweetness but it could just be that they are available for the same short season. Honestly, I try to avoid pairing the two because I like rhubarb just on its own but when faced with some strawberries that even though just bought today from the farmers market had to be eaten today or we would be the proud owners of a bowl of moldy strawberry slime instead of berries. It is pretty late in the season for them and they were on the small and tarter side but still very tasty. We also picked up what I fear may be the last of the rhubarb* so I thought why not hook the two up. I didn’t want it to be boring though so I tossed in some mint from our garden and some of the ginger chips my husband found for me. The result? Anything but ordinary! It is sweet, tart, spicy and herbly minty all at the same time. I might have to horde these jars for myself.
*I did freeze about 2 1/2 lbs of it this year. Planning ahead!
Ok, I am obsessed with the combination of strawberry and rhubarb, so this sounds right up my alley! Love the addition to mint and ginger.
Yum! I love strawberry and rhubarb together.
It was great to meet you at Wilton this week!
~Liz
My batch of this jam is all bottled and in the sealing process. What was left in the pot tasted very good! My mom suggested I try the "less sugar" pectin, so I'll have to wait to see how it comes out.
I was lucky today because the organic strawberries were on sale, and I was able to find organic rhubarb.
Ohh this sounds so good and extremely delicious!!! Awesome recipe and I love how it looks!!!
Have you tried strawberries and gooseberries together in a jam? Delicious!
Franziska
I have! I love gooseberries but they are really difficult to find locally. A lot of states don't allow them to be grown because the American gooseberry can be invasive.
I just made this tonight and it is delicious! This is so much better than plain strawberry rhubarb. Thank you for sharing this recipe
My grandmother used to grow green and red gooseberries… sigh! It's difficult here too, to find them. Usually on small farmer's markets or out in the country in rural shops.
This is the most delicious-sounding combination of flavors that I have ever heard of. Yum! Thanks for posting!
Rachel, you're right . . . rhubarb and strawberries are a match made in food heaven! Lovely photos!
Looks sweet, tart and wonderfully delicious. Yum
This pleases me greatly. I just happen to have all these ingredients on hand, and needed to do something with the strawberries (the blueberries were more tempting to me and I never quite got around to eating the strawberries). And rhubarb in this town seems more prolific than zucchini-you can't pay people to take the stuff away. I was looking for something new to do with at least some of my rhubarb. Thanks!