Meyer Lemon Limoncello Marmellata

Hot off the heels of a visit to San Francisco and a cooking class with renknowned jam-maker, June Taylor, I find myself standing in the kitchen with my copper jam pot and a big bundle of Meyer lemons. I hauled the precious produce home from the Ferry Plaza Market and generous pickings from a our foodie friends', Caryl + Ken, backyard tree.


Meyer lemons are an indigenous fruit typically grown in California. Different from the typical Eureka lemon, these lemons are bright yellow, have thinner skins, are much sweeter and aromatic with a slightly floral flavor.

I am no jam expert and baking+ making sweets is not what I do best, but I couldn't resist giving a go at making my own marmellata as a fun experiment. With a bit of trial, experimentation and error {the first batch burned!}, I finally I created a recipe that was worth eating and enjoying {and maybe even repeating}.



Slightly bitter and somewhat sweet, with an undetectable hint of home-made limoncello, the marmellata made a perfect pairing as an early evening appetizer with olive bread and a spread of goat cheese. Cue in the glass of white wine.........success! A day and two jars of jam later, I think it's fair to say that jam-making won't be in my regular repetoire anytime time soon, but it sure was fun to make {and eat} while meyer lemons are still around to enjoy.

If you have any recipe ideas you want to share, please do before I start recipe testing round two.

Buon appetito!
copyright 2010 Alisa Barry

Jammin' with June in the kitchen

June Taylor is an inspiration.  I have been enjoying her jams + preserves for many a year.   They're unusual, esoteric, exceptional...and expensive. As an artisan producer myself, I can certainly understand and appreciate why.  The fruit is of the finest quality, most of which comes directly from local growers and farmers. The method of preserving is one of painstaking labor. It's hands-on cutting, cooking, stirring, extracting and making of all natural pectin. Everything is made in small batches.  {Watch her video: how to make jam. Art in the making}.

Needless to say,  it was a great thrill for me to be to take a class with June.  She is British, which makes the class seem somehow more authentic at first blush. But, it is her gentle command of the kitchen that is most awe-inspiring.  She is deliberate, sometimes surprisingly delicate,  and clearly passionate about what and how she makes her beloved jams.  She is adamant about the science of her methods, and then in another breath, makes spontaneous decisions on the spot like an artist orchestrating a piece of art. 

My favorite lesson learned in the class was not how to make jam, but how to cut the fruit to make the jam.  Watching June remove the membranes to reveal glistening segments of citrus fruit was like seeing precious pearls being extracted from their protective shells.  There is so little fruit in the end, and every piece is treated like a piece of gold. And, rightly so.  We cut cups and cups of three kinds of fruit. We sliced and diced the pungent rinds.  We boiled and toiled until the fruit was reduced to a not-too sweet syrupy thick goodness. At the end of the day,  a mere 13 jars of jam were finally made. Precious gold, indeed. 

Isn't it sometimes the most simple of pleasures that make life easy to savor? Thanks, June. I will savor my memory of you often when I eat your jam, often.

Buon appetito!
copyright 2010 Alisa Barry

Jam session in the kitchen

When I saw strawberries on sale at the market, making jam immediately came to mind. Fresh berries in season boiling on the stovetop with a hint of meyer lemon zest and juice. mmmm. My sweetie loves jams and jellies. Ok, he loves just about anything sweet. He loves me more when I cook. Smart man. Smart me....I got cooking immediately.

I pulled up the Weck glass jars and copper jam pot from the basement, dusted and cleaned them off, and began my jam making session. It was hard to resist eating all of the sugar covered strawberries, blueberries and blackberries before they made it into the pot. They were surprisingly sweet and perfectly ripe.

The jam scented the whole house like a delicious perfume. I would walk around the house and say, what is that smell? Realizing when I walked into the kitchen, it was the jam cooking. Steam rising from the base of the pot and settling into the air like a delicious cloud of sugary sweetness. mmmm.

Jam is easier to make than you think. Ripe berries, sugar, apples {I like to make my own pectin from apples}. It takes some time, but not as much as you might think. If you have some time to peel, chop and stir, you have time to make jam.

My preserving bible is now spotted and the pages are tattered. It has been my "go to" guide since I started cooking professionally back in the late 80s. It's called Perfect Preserves and you can get it here.
I have since learn to experiment more freely, but always pick it up when the summer starts for a refresher course.

If making jam is pushing it for you in the kitchen, you can get it from one of my favorite purveyors in Northern California.
June Taylor makes incredible jams with amazingly interesting combinations of flavors .

Here is my recipe for the fresh seasonal berry jam:

12# fresh berries in season [mix and match!}
4 cups sugar
zest and juice of one meyer lemon
3/4 cup apple pectin

In a large copper or heavy bottom pot, add the berries, sugar and lemon. Cook over medium heat until the sugar has dissolved and the berries have reached a temperature of
Add the pectin and stir until combined. Carefully ladle the hot jam into sterilized jars.
Refrigerate and enjoy the "fruits" of your labor!

To make the pectin:
2# apples, chopped

Heat the applies with 6 cups of water. Boil over medium high heat for about 30 minutes, or until apples are soft and most of the liquid has been absorbed. Place a bowl under the colander to catch the liquid. Prepare a cheese cloth liner over a colander.
Strain the apples and tie the ends of the cheese cloth. Hang it up overnight so that the remaining liquid can drain into a bowl.
That is your liquid gold! Keep refrigerated until ready to use.

Buon appetito!
copyright 2009 Alisa Barry