Greetings from the Grove,
How was the first month of 2024? We ended January with an epic atmospheric river. The grove is a little swampy, but all the trees are standing tall.
January is pretty quiet in the grove, but we’re only a few weeks away from the stone fruit trees blooming! Fortunately, I had a healthy harvest of Meyer lemon and Bearss lime to keep me busy. The zest and juice are frozen to use in future jams and jellies, but I also made preserved limes and many jars of lemon curd & lime curd that I’m freezing for spring/summer baking projects.
It’s also the time of year the strawberries and rhubarb wake up. I’ll be harvesting rhubarb very soon but will have to wait a bit for strawberries to ripen.
Jam/Jelly of the Month!
Orange & Grapefruit Preserves
Ingredients: Oranges (slices and juice ), Grapefruit (slices and juice), Dried Orange & Grapefruit Peel, Sugar, Lemon Juice, Pectin (monocalcium phosphate, methoxyl citrus pectin)
If you love marmalade, you’ll want to have a jar of these preserves in your pantry. They have the sweet bitterness that makes citrus marmalades so beloved. I steeped a sachet of orange and grapefruit zest in the juices and added juicy chunks of the fruit to the mix before boiling it with the pectin and sugar. The permit I have for making jam out of my home excludes marmalades (a huge bummer), but these preserves are pretty darn close in flavor if not in texture (I do miss those chunks of candied peel).
How to use:
-Mini-Trifles-use this Lemon Berry Trifle as a guide and replace some of the berries with these preserves
-Serve with slices of your favorite pound cake and whipped cream for an easy dessert
-Add some to a warm bowl of polenta, grits, oatmeal or other cooked grains
-Joy the Baker just posted a King Cake-inspired Bostock recipe to her Instagram. She uses orange marmalade, but these preserves would work. It looks so delicious.
-Make a glaze for salmon, mahi-mahi or swordfish
Restocking Soon:
-Nectarine Jam with Rosemary & Pink Peppercorn
-Strawberry Guava Jam (this is a new recipe with more guava goodness)
-Guava and Orange Jelly-2.75 oz jars
Other news:
-Head to our website to see our new custom jam bundles. You can mix and match four of our mini-jams and jellies for $18. If you want to add a gift box with a label, it’ll be $20. Either way you’re saving 10%.
Citrus Vinaigrette
3 tablespoons Orange & Grapefruit Preserves
2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
1 tsp whole grain mustard
1 pinch of salt
¼ cup avocado oil (or any vegetable oil)
- Add the preserves and rice wine vinegar to a large glass jar and whisk until the preserves smooth
- Whisk in the mustard and salt
- Add the vegetable oil, put on the lid and shake until
- Adjust according to taste.
- This is delicious on an arugula & fennel salad with black olives and shaved parmesan