Just as the peach season winds down in Maine, a jam recipe using fresh peaches and crystallized ginger cropped up last week, suggested by Nina Scott in Friendship. If you are a ginger fancier, you’ll love this stuff.
Another aspect of this jam to love is that it is fairly low in sugar — three cups of the white stuff to six cups of peaches. You can use pectin if you want; I’m a sometimes-pectin user, and I make my own pectin with crab apples from the tree in my yard. I just cooked all the peaches, sugar and ginger together until the mixture sheeted from a spoon. Not infrequently, I also mix the ingredients together and let it stand overnight and boil it the next day. It seems to help with the jellying.
If you don’t have crystallized ginger you can, of course, grate some fresh ginger into the mix, and/or add a tablespoon of dried ginger.
When advising newcomers to jam and jelly making, I point out that if at all possible, choose a dry, sunny day. Sugar absorbs moisture, you’ve no doubt noticed, and when it is damp outside it is harder to get jam to reduce. You aren’t going to hear me complain about getting rain, but the past couple of weeks, I’ve been challenged to time my preserving around raindrops.
Ginger Peach Jam
Makes about 1½ pints.
6 cups of peaches, cut small
3-4 tablespoons crystalized ginger, finely chopped
3 cups of sugar
1 tablespoon lemon juice
Mix all the ingredients together. If you have time, let it stand overnight in the fridge.
The next day, boil the ingredients together for at least a half hour, until it sheets off a spoon.