The first homemade jam I ever tasted was made with homegrown plums. I was just four or five years old and the trees in our backyard were having a bumper year. My mom picked enough to fill her yellow enamel colander, gave them a good rinse under the tap, and turned them in sweet, slightly drippy preserves. We ate those plums over pancakes and with oatmeal every chance we got.
Though I will often tell people that blueberries are my foundational fruit (and they were the star in my very first solo batch of jam), there is something about the flavor of plum jam that makes my brain go, “ah yes, THIS is what homemade jam should taste like.”
I recently made my first batch of plum jam for this season (I was asked by Anolon gourmet cookware to develop this particular recipe), from the same kind of sturdy black plums that used to grow in our southern California yard. I added a little ground cardamom for extra depth and I cooked the whole thing in the 7.5 quart wide stock pot from the Anolon Advanced line. Though I don’t normally gravitate towards non-stick cookware for jam making, the width and low walls of the pan made it irresistible.
Disclosure: This is a sponsored post (hopefully that was clear before you got to this disclosure statement). Anolon has compensated me for the creation of the plum jam recipe. They sent me the stockpot in which I made the jam (I did really like it, though), and they’re providing the cookware set for the giveaway. The thoughts and words are still all entire mine.
Plum Cardamom Jam
Ingredients
- 5 pounds plums
- 4 cups granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon ground cardamom
- 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
Instructions
- Wash plums well and cut them in half to remove pits. Slice the plums into thin half moons and heap them into a low, wide pan.
- Add the sugar and stir to combine. Cover the pan and let the plums macerate for at least an hour.
- When the plums are quite juicy and most of the sugar has dissolved, remove the cover from the pan and place it on the stove.
- Add the cardamom and lemon juice and bring the fruit to a boil.
- Cook the fruit at a controlled boil, stirring regularly, for 30 to 40 minutes, until the plums soften and the syrup thickens. You’ll know when the jam is done because it will become more resistant to stirring, and when you pull the spoon out of the pan, the droplets will be thick and slow moving.
- While the plums cook, prepare a boiling water bath canner and 8 half pint jars.
- When the jam is done, remove the pan from the heat. Funnel it into the prepared jars.
- Wipe the rims, apply the heated lids and clean rings, and process the closed jars in a boiling water bath canner for 10 minutes (do not start your timer until the pot returns to a full, rolling boil).
- Once the time is up, remove the jars from the canner and set them on a folded kitchen towel to cool. The lids should seal promptly and will often make a pinging or popping sound as the vacuum forms. When the jars are sealed, the center of the lids will be concave and when pressed, the lid will not move or wiggle.
My favorite cookware right now is my stainless braiser/skillet! One meal pan is what it is.
I don’t know if this counts but I have recently fallen in love with my mezzaluna knife! I use it to not only mince garlic and herbs, but we use it instead of a pizza cutter! I can’t wait to find more uses for it. But if that doesn’t count
I guess the piece of cookware we use the most in our house is a aluminum caldero I bought while I was living in the Dominican Republic. It is light, performs as well as a dutch oven and is perfect for making rice with crunchy bits on the bottom. I hope to get a bigger one next time I go down with my husband to visit his family.
My stainless steel skillet is definitely the thing I love and use most in my kitchen. It makes everything – eggs, pancakes, curries, sauces, sauteed veggies.
My All-Clad 12″ saute pan (with the 2nd handle on the opposite side) is my go-to for everything. I wouldn’t be able to cook without it.
High-walled skillet definitely gets the most use.
These days it is mostly our enameled green cast iron Dutch oven. But I run into trouble when I want to make one thing at a time.
I am really enjoying my ceramic coated pans.
My Ikea 6-quart pot! It’s scorched on the sides and a little burned on the bottom, and I use it for just about everything.
(I’ve already entered with another comment, so don’t count this as an entry)
The links for the Anolon Advanced 11-Piece Cookware Set, Anolon twitter, and Anolon facebook don’t seem to be working.
I use my 10″ cast iron frying pan for everything! I love it! Next in line is my cast iron Dutch oven. I love that I can use them on the stovetop and in the oven. They clean easily because they are so seasoned they’re practically non- stick!
Favorite piece has to be my enamel coated cast iron 7qt. pot! Perfect for everything!
Hands down, it’s my dutch oven. i use it almost every day. what an amazing contest — thank you!
My 4.5q Le Creuset dutch oven – it looks great and I can make almost anything in it!
Just a big aluminum skillet that heats fast and is super nonstick. I use it every day for dinner!
Toss up between my Dutch oven and my crock pot. Hate having to run the oven all day in the Florida heat.
Wow – I think from all the comments I need to invest in a cast iron skillet. Until then, I use a 10″ deep walled skillet for just about everything.
my big calphalon soup pot! make all kinds of goodies in it!
Our enameled cast iron legumier!
I like to use my mother’s old Revere Ware stainless steel stockpot for making jam and jelly. Not even sure of the size-6 or 8 quarts or so
I can’t live without a stockpot! Soups, chili, applesauce…all for a large family. 🙂
Cast iron skillet! Works for practically everything 🙂
I have a cast iron skillet that used to be my grandmother’s. It’s well-seasoned from years of her cooking potato pancakes and other treats. She’s gone, but the skillet makes me happy to think of her every time I use it. It has become my go-to preserve pan and was my tool of choice when I cooked up a batch of plum jam earlier this summer.
I use my deep skillet basically daily! It’s perfect for searing protein as well as making a yummy sauce!
I love my cast iron dutch oven!
I’m excessively fond of the teal Le Creuset dutch oven my grandmother gave me when I got married.
A tie between my cast iron skillet and my non-stick dutch oven.
I have a 3qt Calphalon chef’s pan that I reach for a lot (right after my slow-cooker).
I own two “real” skillets(aka not part of the Kmart special set of pans I bought for my first apartment) one cast iron perfect for oven adventures and one anonized non stick. Both are basically always out in the kitchen and the non stick one gets a lot of use this time of year for small batches of jam.
I love my rice cooker, because it’s not only a great, non fuss item, but it has many uses. Rice and quinoa, veggie steamer, etc.
My favorite is my Sur la Table nonstick skillet. It cooks like a dream and has a sassy lime green handle and was surprisingly affordable.
A stoneware cloche I picked up at a garage sale for 50 cents. It is amazing.
My favorite piece is my Le Crueset Dutch Oven! I cook everything in it! Extremely versatile and so easy to clean and care for!!
A friend gave me an enameled stockpot, and I love it so much. Granted, the uses for it are limited, but it is by far the best pan I own. It has made me realize what a difference quality cookware can make.
I love my enamel cast iron dutch oven and my 12″ Tfal skillet. Both are used regularly in my kitchen.
Love the dutchoven!
I heart my cast iron Dutch oven!!
I have a Le Crueset Dutch Oven I love for everything. It’s forest green enamel so that tells you how old it is!!
I am obsessed with my cast iron Dutch oven, I do not know what I would do without it!!
My cast iron dutch oven. I love that thing!
My favorite piece of cookware is a beautiful Staub dutch oven that a friend of the family gifted me when I graduated from grad school. I love cooking in it and pretending to be Italian-Irish like its gifter – plus together we make beautiful soups, which are so comforting!
Ooooh… it’s a tie between my cast iron skillet and my dutch oven. I use them both almost daily!
I give my wife a hard time over how much our Le Creuset dutch oven cost us, but hands down, it is one of the most versatile useful pans in our cupboards. That or a good non stick skillet so I can feel like a rockstar “stirring” the pan with a flick of the wrist.
This is a tough one, but I think my very favorite must be a cast iron skillet!
I love my dutch oven!
My cast iron pan is an all-time favorite, especially for eggs.
I love my Allclad items. I use the small sauce pan often since it it perfect for a quick meal. But I also have this shallow curved edge large pot that I love and use for all sorts of things including jam making.
I love my dutch oven. I have an old school flame-colored one.
My favorite piece of cookware is an unmarked dutch oven that my mom bought for me years ago. Everything I make that’s over a quart or so gets cooked in that pan.
I love my Dutch oven, and use it for everything! Although I hear a cast iron skillet is pretty sweet, and it’s worth it to find a well seasoned one at a thrift store or garage sale.
A 10″ cast iron skillet is my current favorite. I use it for everything.