Thursday, 22 July 2010

Courgette and Ginger Jam - Post 98

My Courgette and Ginger Jam

Only 4 ingredients - courgettes, 1 lemon (juice and grated skin), jam sugar and ginger!

 
1.2 kg courgettes (weigh after peeling [if necessary] and deseeding, chopped into small 1 cm pieces).


1 kg Special confitures sucre (This is a jam sugar with extra pectin.) The jam sugar  is available in the UK, but the quantity of fruit may be different, so check the instructions. I gather that it is unavailable in the USA, so I would simply use sugar and add pectin when you finish off the cooking)
Two different types of jam sugar found here in France.

2 inches of freshly grated ginger

I usually parboil the courgettes, but I have omitted this step when in a hurry. I think the parboiling does slightly improve the jam. (I have this year, 2012, used a wand liquidiser to break down the courgette as the sugar starts to melt, just 1/2 liquidise, leave a few lumps!)

Meanwhile put well washed jars into the oven at 100C to heat and sterilise them.

Mix the 4 ingredients together in a saucepan,(liquidise see above)  bring to boil and boil for 5 mins exactly. (This is the time given on the gelsuc packet)
Put into hot bottles and seal.

Allow to cool and as the jars cool the tops should 'pop' and seal. I am still using the last bottles from last year, so this jam keeps well.

TOUR DE FRANCE

Stage 16 - Bagnères-de-Luchon - Pau 199.5 km 20 July 2010

Yet another stage win for the French, and a second place as well, so we are all very proud of their success this year.

Stage winners
1. Pierrick Fedrigo (BTL) France
2. Sandy Casar (FDJ) France

3. Ruben Plaza Molinar (GCE) Spain

I was quite sad that Lance Armstrong, who made a strong bid in the sprint to win this stage, only got  6th place.

There was no change in the yellow, white, or polka dot jerseys, but Thor Hushovd has regained the green jersey, 3 points ahead of Alessandro Petacchi.

21 July was a rest day, giving the riders a chance for recovery before the final 4 days of stages.

28 comments:

  1. I have made vegetable jams in the past and they languish on the shelf... what do you do with them, Diane? Your recipe looks so green and delicious!!

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  2. longpastremebered. We do not normaly eat a lot of jam, but when we are in France we are inclined to eat a lot more toast than normal. Simply because the bread does not last, so we end up toasting it for breakfast and eat it with jam. We do not eat a lot of cakes either, but this would be great with a ginger cake as the ginger flavour is reasonably strong. I also like brie and camembert type cheeses with jam of any kind. AND guess what people get for Christmas presents? My father-in-law goes through bottles and bttles of marmalade so it forces him to make a change! Diane

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  3. Bonjour Diane,
    Je suis absolument époustouflé du nombre de personne qui suivent ton blog !!!
    Bravo !
    Sébastien

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  4. This is a squash jam...right? I've never heard of that...would you eat it on toast or biscuits or with savory dishes?

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  5. Bonjour Sébastien – Je suis très populaire!! Je suis contente avec ça. Diane

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  6. Bo, anything in France that looks like squash, marrow or Zucchini is called courgette! I also have yellow ones as well as the green in my garden and I use any one of them. I basically invented this recipe myself last year as my freezer was full, and I was overrun with courgettes. Take a look at my answer to longpastremembered as she has more or less asked the same question. Diane

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  7. Your jam looks very beautiful and will help bring warmth to the cold winter ahead. I love the jewel-like tones of put by food of cupboard shelves. I love the pastel tones of this delight. Have a wonderful day. Blessings...Mary

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  8. Thanks for your comments Mary. Have a great day. Diane

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  9. This sounds so interesting! I just picked up some ginger jam. I would love a jar of yours! It looks beautiful in that lovely photo you took!

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  10. That sounds wonderful Diane. You are making me hungry again. :)

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  11. Hi Diane
    I found the recipe I promised you
    Enjoy! Let me know how it goes

    3-4 large cucumbers
    3 large onions
    50g salt
    550ml vinegar
    500g brown sugar
    1/2 level teaspoon turmeric (curcuma)
    1/4 level teaspoon ground cloves (clous de girofle)
    1 tablespoon mustard seed (black is nicest)

    slice (peeled) cucumbers and onions. layer them with salt in colander over a bowl. leave for 3 hrs.
    Put vinegar, sugar and spices in large saucepan and stir over medium heat until sugar dissolved. add cucumber and onion to pot. bring to boil and simmer uncoverd for just one minutre.
    remove pan from heat. use draining spoon to lift cucumbers etc out and into jars. boil the spiced vinegar, again uncovered for about 15 minutes until it has reduced to about half.
    Pour mixture itno jars to cover contents. (save any let over to top up of for another batch)
    seal immediately and store for a month before serving.

    fills about 1 1/2 litres.

    Roz xx

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  12. Lyndsey, Wish it was easy to send you a jar, I wonder if it would arrive in Florida in one piece? Diane

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  13. Joan I am sure you would love this jam, it is really yummy and goes well with soft cheese:) Diane

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  14. Thanks so much Roz, I picked my first cucumbers over the last couple of days, once Nigel leaves I will have surplus looking at the ones coming on. I will let you know how it goes. Diane

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  15. Diane,
    I will be glad if you keep for me one of these jars when we'l see eachother I've never eaten such jam :-)
    Sébastien

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  16. This is a similar recipe to Marrow and Ginger jam I made last year, and it was the absolute best for using as a fruit ingredient in cakes, especially if spooned over the top of the cake before cooking. Made the cake all yummily sticky. Will have a go at this recipe as well.

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  17. Your jam look wonderful Diane! I love the colour and ginger is so good for you!! Cheers, Susan :)

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  18. Sébastien, only a pleasure, we must make a plan. Diane

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  19. Vera, that sounds like an excellent idea. I will try it with cooking cakes as well. Thanks. Diane

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  20. Susan it is such an easy recipe and the ginger gives it a really yummy flavour. Diane

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  21. Pam it tastes as good as it sounds. Diane

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  22. Great recipe indeed!
    I see you are becoming more French every day!! LOL!!
    And when the weather is rainy, it is a great occupation!
    We had 14.5 ml of rain yesterday alone!
    great for the garden, less for me!!
    But it allowed me to change from Canalblog to Blogger since it was becoming a pain to publish my pics!
    Keep well!
    Ps: I also changed my pseudo from Carlib to Noushka! LOL!!

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  23. Carine I have just looked at your new blog. Great new look Noushka. I keep meaning to ask you, I presume all the drawings, which are excellent, are your own?

    I wish I was becoming more French everyday..... my memory is a huge problem:(
    Diane

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  24. This is so very deliciously beautiful. What a lovely comfort to have it on my pantry shelf. And, here in the midwest, we have a wonderful number of different squash to choose from.

    Best,
    Bonnie

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  25. Great thing to do with your courgettes! My mother in law used to make pies from her winter squash. But those are not such a problem as the summer squash or courgettes, because they'll keep a reasonably long time.

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  26. From the Kitchen, Thanks for visiting. We love going through all the jars in winter while I am in the UK. It brings back all the French memories:) Diane

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  27. Marjie, yes this is the problem with the summer cougettes and squash, they do not last that long. The pumpkins are not a problem as I just take them back to the UK for winter there. Diane

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