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Marisa of Food in Jars, decided to really thrown down the gauntlet with a canning challenge that completely baffled me:

HERBS.

Uh… how do you can herbs all by themselves? Yeah, I had no idea either. I was thinking of the cilantro sauce at Wahoo’s Fish Taco… preserved in a hot water bath. (Actually, that sounds really good, but that’s another post.) And then, I saw some discussion over twitter (or at least I think it was Twitter) where some of the canners were discussing doing herb-flavored jellies. OH DUH. That’s how you do it! Whatever, I’m new to this whole canning thing.

I was thinking of what was in season now… which is very little, of course. And I happened to be at the grocery store and they had rhubarb from southern Colorado! Having never cooked with rhubarb, I was hesitant, but I know Mr. Kitchenette LOVES rhubarb, so I figured I’d give it a go. Since I had no experience working with rhubarb, I consulted one of my favorite cookbooks, The Flavor Bible. Basically, The Flavor Bible lists well-known flavor combinations for major ingredients. Among it’s many varied recommendations for rhubarb, was rhubarb + mint +vanilla. Sounds weird, I know… but hey, this is a published cookbook. Surely someone there knows what they are doing, right?

Although there are, like, 17893502935 recipes for strawberry-rhubarb jam, I finally (after much work) found a rhubarb jam recipe involving no strawberries at all in Linda Ziedrich’s The Joy of Jams, Jellies, and Other Sweet Preserves. I was super freaked out about swapping mint for rose petals, I guess because I was still in the mindset from dealing with low-acid carrots and alliums. But, I consulted with some expert canners, and I was assured that rhubarb was a high-acid vegetable (fruit? whatever) and that it would still be safe.

The final jam turned out perfect (at least for my low expectations, anyways). A deep pinkish-red hue, a spreadable consistency but not too thin. The mint and vanilla flavors are there, but not overpowering. It was a tiny bit sweeter than I would have preferred, but in hindsight, I’m not sure how to reduce the sugar in the jam without sacrificing safety. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

And, since I ended up with quite a few jars, I’ve taken a page out of Marisa’s book and used some up in recipes already, so be on the lookout for those in a few days.

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Rhubarb, Mint, and Vanilla Jam

Adapted from The Joy of Jams, Jellies, and Other Sweet Preserves

Makes 6 8-oz jars

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Gather:
2 pounds rhubarb, washed and cut into 1-inch pieces
3 cups sugar, divided
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1/4 cup packed mint leaves
1/2 cup water
2 tablespoons vanilla extract

Prepare:
Toss the rhubarb with 2 1/2 cups of the sugar, reserving the remaining 1/2 cup for later, in a medium bowl. Cover the bowl with a towel and let macerate at room temperature for 8-12 hours.

Make the mint simple syrup: In a small saucepan, combine the remaining 1/2 cup sugar with mint leaves and water. Bring to a boil over medium heat, and boil for 1 minute, or until the sugar is dissolved completely. Remove simple syrup from heat, stir, and let stand for 30 minutes to infuse the simple syrup with mint. Discard mint leaves and set aside.

Transfer the rhubarb/sugar mixture to a medium saucepan, and add mint simple syrup and vanilla extract to saucepan. Cook for 12 minutes, or until the jam begins to thicken. Remove from heat, and transfer to a food processor bowl. Process in pulses until the jam meets your preferred consistency. Let jam sit 5 minutes before ladling into hot canning jars. Process for 15 minutes (don’t forget to adjust for altitude).

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Now Playing: The Dig / You’re Already Gone

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