Hey, creative thinkers -- melon jam ???

[Denninmi]

Hello, I need some help thinking up something useful to do with melon freezer jam. I grew a lot of melons this year, a bumper crop in fact, no doubt due to the hot weather. They're great.

So, I made freezer jam -- watermelon, muskmelon, honeydew, and a mixed batch. Very simple, just pureed fruit, lemon or lime juice, pectin, sugar, and a little fruit fresh.

It turned out great. I've got about 4 1/2 - 5 cups of each kind in 1 cup containers.

But, what the heck to do with it? I don't think it would taste very good on hot toast with peanut butter. Not even sure if you could use it in a jelly roll.

I need some creative thinkers to help my justify my use of sugar, pectin, and freezer space. Thanks!

[Warpy]

1. Whiz the partially thawed stuff in your blender next February

for a taste of summer and a real pick me up fruit smoothee, with or without yogurt or protein powder. Mix with sparkling water if you need it thinned.

Other than that, dunno.

[Tesha]

2. mmmm, lets see...

If you try it and it doesn't have the right zing you could add add lime and ginger
http://chocolateandzucchini.com/archives/2004/03/lime_and_ginger_melon_jam.php

garden web has this, maybe you could tart yours up a bit...
Ambrosial Jam

8 Peaches, peeled
3 lg Oranges
Pulp of 1 med. cantaloupe
1 Lemon
1 (8 1/2 oz.) can crushed
Pineapple
Sugar

Chop all ingredients fine.
Put oranges through food chopper.
Combine all with 3/4 cup sugar for every 1 cup of fruit. Mix well and let stand overnight.
Next morning, gently cook mixture 1 hour, stirring frequently. Pour into hot jars and seal. I did the WB to seal them.

Makes 8 pints.

______________

and if it still doesn't taste good as a jam - how about a glaze?
on a fruit tart? on ham or lamb?

[cbayer]

3. I have never seen it before. Can it be used to make cold fruit soups?

I love chilled fruit or vegetable soups.

:hi:

[grasswire]

6. watermelon jelly is not unusual

But how to use it up is another thing. I'm wondering about using it in filling donuts, or a sweet roll. Or maybe in a kuchen of some kind. Or maybe between cake layers.

[csziggy]

11. How about as a filling in puff pastry - homemade pop tarts!

[blueworld]

13. Excellent idea; I do it with all my homemade jams

Sometimes I mix cream cheese with a little sugar & spread that on the bottom first.

[csziggy]

14. That gives me an idea!

Mom likes guava jelly with cream cheese on crackers, but it can get messy. I wonder how she would like guava jelly pop tarts?

[blueworld]

15. I first got the recipe from Ina Garten on Food Network

She calls them "danish" & cuts the puff pastry sheets small, mixes a sweet cream cheese & schmeers on the jam:) I've made mine smaller, used many types of jam & my whole family loves them. Guava jelly sounds exotic & delicious!

[csziggy]

16. Guava jelly was a taste she acquired from her cousin that married

A Tampa Cuban. The brand she preferred came in a block about 1.5x2" and maybe 8 to 12 inches long. I have no clue what the brand name is - I just remember seeing those long blocks.

On a Google search, it looks like La Cubanita brand: http://www.cubanfoodmarket.com/mm5/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=CFM&Product_Code=JAL00015&Category_Code=10303

[eleny]

4. A friend's mom used to make pickled watermelon rind

She was from Germany and did a lot of things the old fashioned way like baking her famous lemon meringue pie. Anyhow, her pickled rinds were delish.

[cbayer]

5. Blast from the past! My German grandmother used to make those too, and I loved them.

She also made ice cream parfaits with all kinds of fruit and had a big freezer with a whole shelf of them when we would come to visit.

What fond, fond memories this brings back.

:hi:

[supernova]

8. We still make pickeled watermelon rinds

here. :-)

Some of my favorite pickles. WR gets very translucent and fragrant with cinnamon and clove.

[japple]

7. I'll bet you could use them to make granita or sorbet. Ask hippywife.

She's our resident expert.

Would be great used to flavor drinks as well.

[yellerpup]

9. How about making a frozen daiquiri with coconut

rum and lime juice, a sprig of mint for garnish. A simple appetizer of prosciutto wrapped around grissini or other breadstick would go well, I think, with this cocktail. :hi:

[beac]

10. Mix it with some Caribbean spices and rum and use it as a marinade?

Cook it down with some butter and use it as a glaze?

The honeydew would be great warmed with some grated coconut and served over vanilla ice cream.

[japple]

12. Chutney? If you could add the melon towards the end of the cooking time

it would probably preserve the flavor. Might make nice Christmas gifts, too.


http://forums.about.com/n/pfx/forum.aspx?tsn=1&nav=messages&webtag=ab-southernfood&tid=6787

Wirtabel's Melon Chutney Makes 8 cups

Source: Lost Recipes by Marion Cunningham

Note: I have made this with all melons and with a combination of melons and apples.

12 cups peeled, seeded, and diced fruit *
1 cup golden raisins and 1 cup dark raisins, mixed (I used all golden raisins)
1 cup peeled, chopped fresh ginger
41/2 cups sugar
3 cups white vinegar (Cider vinegar works, too)
1 teaspoon whole allspice
1/2 teaspoon whole cloves
2 cinnamon sticks, each about 2 inches long

*Use about 6 cups ripe or unripe cantaloupe or honeydew melon cut into 1-inch cubes; the remaining fruit may be pears, apples, or peaches.

Mix together the fruit, raisins, ginger, sugar, and vinegar in a large Dutch oven or heavy saucepan. Tie the allspice, cloves, and cinnamon sticks in a piece of cheesecloth. Use a hammer to smash the spices in the cheesecloth a couple of times to release more flavor during cooking. Tuck the bag of spices into the fruit in the Dutch oven.

Bring the mixture to a boil, stirring occasionally. Reduce the heat to a simmer and cook for about 2 hours, until the chutney has thickened and turned darker. Taste occasionally to check on the need for more spices or sugar or salt. When thick and dark, remove from the heat and discard the spice bag.
Put the hot chutney into clean hot jars, cover, and refrigerate when cool. The chutney will keep for up to 1 month. For longer preserving, fill hot, sterilized jars with the hot mixture, leaving a 1/4-inch headspace. Put on the lids and tighten, and process in a boiling-water bath for 15 minutes.