Thursday, September 23, 2010

Forbidden Banana Rum Jam

Hi-Ho Jammers, glad to see you back! It’s almost the weekend and I am sooo ready. I have a very stuffy nose and head and am dreading taking the awful cold medicine, blah. Good thing we bought a case of tissues at BJ’s. We are hosting a little private dinner party on Saturday night and I have shopping, cleaning and cooking to do…no time for side effects of meds. It is an Italian themed meal with bread and dipping oil (I am making the seasoning herbs myself) and an Italian crisp salad followed by two types of pasta dishes and I am going to make my first ever Italian Love Cake for dessert. I have heard it's a yummy dessert…we will see.

I have created a fan page on Facebook. The link is
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Jammin-From-The-Hearth/110986352295641 . You can visit this page and hit the “Like” button and this will be where I send out notices that the blog has been updated, for those of you that do not want to subscribe directly. I started getting friend requests for my personal Facebook page but that is reserved for friends and family only. Sorry, hope I didn’t offend anyone, but I thought a fan page would be the solution so everyone, known and unknown, can stay updated and share there.

So, I put-up a new jam on Monday and I know you have all been waiting to hear about it (yes, I did get emails asking for it to hurry up and be posted). Are you ready…drum roll, please…Banana-Rum Jam. Now, before I get to the recipe part I want to share in something I did a bit differently. The pot I use as my canner is really tall (it’s the pot that came with the turkey fryer) and my round cake rack sits perfectly in the bottom. The downside to that tall pot is that I basically have to stand on a chair to lift the jars in and out while it sits on the stove…I know, I know, it’s dangerous. This time I thought I would try my large spaghetti pot that is part of my cookware set which is not nearly as tall but it’s almost as big around. Turns out my cake rack would not sit down inside of it though, so I remembered that I had read that you can tie some old jar rings together (I used bread ties to do it with) and use that as a rack.
 
It did sit in my pot nicely and when I put my empty jars into it to simmer I noticed that they did not sit perfectly flat on the rack. I adjusted to water level to make sure I could get 2 or 3 inches of water over the top and the pot was just tall enough. Well, I went ahead and made the jam and then I removed the hot jars from the water to fill them. Now, I was not using the science side of my brain (think water displacement here…actually water and vinegar displacement) and when I started to load the filled jars into the pot (I didn’t have to stand on a chair this time which was nice…not to mention much safer) the water rose to the top and by my 3rd jar the water overflowed everywhere. So now here I stand with a pyrex measuring cup trying to remove some of the hot water, so I could continue adding the jars, and it turned into a messy nightmare, quick! By the time it was loaded I had to have the water level right at the top of the pot, to make sure there was enough to cover the jars properly BUT the jars would not sit upright. It took long wooden spoons in each hand trying to upright the jars and not burn myself too badly. Over half of them were cock-eyed but mostly upright to I put the lid on and cranked the stove to high. Remember, you have to bring it to a full boil before you start the processing time…well when it finally starting boiling, it was spitting and sputtering from under the lid and water was coming out all sides (vinegar water due to the white residue I mentioned in another post) and I ended up with the WHOLE stove top covered in hot water AND, as I was so mildly informed this morning, it had also leaked down into the stove top (under the burners) and was an inch or so deep in there! EEEKK! Anyway, I guess I will be wishing for that “real” canning pot with the nice lift out rack that I saw at Walmart the other day, as a Christmas present…it was under $20.

So on to the jam recipe. This one was requested by many and my first time of tasting a banana jam. Let me tell you, I LOVE it! It reminds me of one of my favorite all-time desserts, Bananas Foster. This would be great warmed over a good vanilla bean ice cream. I also thought about one of my favorite sandwiches from childhood…banana and peanut butter, which is the first thing I did with it. Oh my…it was delicious! Now, bananas are associated with fertility, potency and prosperity and are most often associated with a masculine energy as opposed to feminine energy. A good internet search will show that women in Hawaii were once forbidden to eat bananas, by law! Go figure. I am naming this one my Forbidden Banana Rum Jam.


Forbidden Banana Rum Jam


3 ¾ cups peeled and diced ripe bananas (about 9 medium)
6 tablespoons lemon juice
1 teaspoon Fruit Fresh (or you can use antioxidant crystals or ascorbic acid crystals)
5 cups sugar
1/2 teaspoon unsalted butter
1 3oz pouch liquid pectin
1 ½ teaspoons rum extract

Preheat canner and prepare jars and lids. In an 8 qt pan combine the bananas, lemon juice and Fruit Fresh. Stir in the sugar and butter. Over med-low heat, stirring constantly, heat the mixture until the sugar is completely dissolved. Increase the heat to med-high and bring to full rolling boil, stirring constantly. Stir in the entire contents of the pectin pouch, Return the mixture to a full rolling boil and boil, stirring constantly, for 1 minute.

Remove pan from the heat. Skim off any foam. Stir in the rum extract. To prevent the jam from separating in the jars, allow the jam to cool 5 minutes before filling the jars. Gently stir the jam every minute, or so, to distribute the fruit. Ladle the jam into the hot jars, leaving 1/4 inch headspace. Wipe the rims of the jars with a clean damp cloth and add the lids and rings, turning the rings until just finger-tight. Place the jars in the preheated canner and bring canner to a full rolling boil. Process jars for 10 minutes (adjusting according to your altitude, if necessary) then remove canner from heat. Let canner sit for 5 minutes, then, carefully remove hot jars from water with a jar lifter and place them on a towel on the counter and leave them undisturbed for 24 hours. Check the seals before storing and use within 12 months.

Makes about 7 half pint jars.

I love this jam! The texture is nice and it is perfectly sweetened. I won’t change a thing next time. I would like to maybe try one variation to it just for some variety and substitute some brown sugar for some of the granulated sugar (I will research how to do this) for a true New Orleans flavor reminiscent of one of my favorite restaurants there, Antoine’s.

Ok…I am headed to dig out the vapor rub. Mabert would always smear some on our chests (actually she would then cover that with a warm washcloth tied around our necks) and a dabble under the nose to help clear the stuffiness. I’m also gonna brew a cup of hot tea with honey.

Make sure to vote in the poll, to the right at the top, for which jam I should make next week. I am going to do another basic peach (they are on sale this week) but I want to do something else too…what shall it be? You decide!

Till then...Be Blessed and Be Sweet!
 
 
 

6 comments:

Andrea the Kitchen Witch said...

this sounds so good!! I never ever thought of making jam out of bananas, what a great idea! I can imagine this on ice cream, on stuffed into a crepe much like bananas foster! Please do find out about the brown sugar - I'd love to make some with the brown sugar, YUM!

Anonymous said...

I am going to try this one it sounds wonderful.
Thank You Pat

Sean Sullivan said...

I've been contemplating banana jam recipes -- this one might just get me off the fence! Thanks.

Anonymous said...

I have been looking for a banana jam recipe for years...thank you for sharing!

Unknown said...

I've never heard of fresh fruit and when googled nothing comes up...what is it?

Anonymous said...

Maybe try the "half-pint" jars, rather than pints. Better size for jams, and undoubtedly more stable with your canning situation. With 2 real racks that fit, though, you can do 2 layers. Your pan may allow the coverage of these much shorter jars, then. Also, try adding raisins. (Perhaps rum-soaked? Skip the extract. Add a touch of rum, perhaps 8 minutes before the end of the jam-making, and it will cook off the alcohol so it won't fight the bananas.) I may have seen that in a canning book somewhere...add a little canning time, to be official?
Have fun!
❤πŸ™❤πŸ™❤
Elizabeth