Throughout the year we make various seasonal and other products. Almost all of our jams and jars are made from our own produce, picked fresh during their season. That means the fruits and vegetables are farmed sustainably without added nasty chemicals, almost all are heirloom varieties, or in any case chosen for their flavor. That’s just not true of commercially-produced jarred goods, which depend on large-scale commercial farming (who knows how — they never say), and the addition of enough salt, sugar, and preservatives to make them taste like, well, salt, sugar, and whatever.
No commercial pectin in any of these.
Most of these products are available through Gilmanton’s Own Market or you can purchase direct through us by emailing vsapiro@gmail.com .
FRUIT JAMS
ASIAN PLUM SAUCE: This is delicious — local plums, our peppers, and a rich mix of spices. Sweet and aromatic — not hot.
BLOOD ORANGE MARMALADE: Blood oranges are nice, sweet oranges with skins tinged with red, and flesh deep red. This is a traditional marmalade — sweet enough to keep you from puckering, but definitely not as sweet as most jams. Thick, with its chopped skin detectable. Just orange, sugar, water, and a little lemon, made just when citrus fruits are ripe early in the calendar year.
CONCORD GRAPE JAM: This is a classic, with its beautiful deep color, but if you grew up with Welch’s Grape Jam, it’s a little different. Not nearly as much sugar, so it’s sweet, but you really get the slight aromatic taste of Concord grapes. Concord grapes were invented in Massachusetts in 1849, so they are good local fruits — and these really are local, from Gilmanton, from the Gilmanton Winery & Vineyard.
GINGER PEACH JAM: This is a great, bright, somewhat sharp jam because of the fresh ginger we mix in with the local peaches. As with all these jams, good as a breakfast jam, but also nice as with cheeses and meats.
LAVENDER BLUEBERRY JAM: Blueberries from just up the road, made into a jam that is scented with lavender from our garden. Not a strong lavender taste, but gives it an added richness.
RASPBERRY JAM: Classic, made from raspberries from our garden and other local farms.
SICILIAN PEACH & LEMON PRESERVES: This is a version of a wonderful Sicilian preserve — more like a marmalade because it has slivers of sliced peach in it. Local peaches, sugar, lemon, and orange flower water. Use on toast or with cheese or roast meats.
STRAWBERRY: Classic strawberry jam from local strawberries.
SWEET SPICY YELLOW TOMATO JAM: Beautiful yellow tomatoes from our garden — mostly cherries, made into a sweet jam with our home-grown chopped hot peppers. A nice accompaniment to cheese, roast meat, roasted veggies.
THE TOMATO COLLECTION
When you grow 40 or so varieties of heirloom tomatoes, the end of the season means doing cool things with them to last the winter. These recipes take advantage of the fact that tomatoes are fruits — and taste like fruit when they are cooked and the sugars come out. This year we have:
HEIRLOOM TOMATO SAUCE: Each jar contains a mix of different tomatoes, either reds, blacks, purples, and other dark colors, or yellows, oranges, and whites to create two different color sauces. This sauce is slowly cooked down until it is concentrated to about 1 pound of tomatoes per cup of sauce. Just a little salt (and citric acid for preservation), means it can be used any way you want. Spice and herb it up for spaghetti sauce, use it in a stew, make tomato soup out of it — anything.
PIQUANT CHERRY TOMATO JAM: A sweet jam with a good jolt of hot peppers. Use this with cheese or on roasted meats.
MOROCCAN SPICES SWEET & HOT CHERRY TOMATO PRESERVES: Cherry tomatoes simmered whole in middle eastern spices and sugar
SWEET SPICY YELLOW TOMATO JAM: Beautiful yellow tomatoes from our garden — mostly cherries, made into a sweet jam with our home-grown chopped hot peppers. A nice accompaniment to cheese, roast meat, roasted veggies.
Jones Mill House 