It’s common knowledge that strawberries and rhubarb go well together. Just about everyone I know has a fond memory of a pie or cobbler made with a smattering of sugar and those two ingredients. It should come as no surprise to you that these natural partners make an exceptionally good jam. Truly, it’s exceptional in it’s tart, freshness.
I’ve made this recipe a couple of times recently, though as I looked for photos to use in this post, I realized that I didn’t manage to capture the process. This happens sometimes. When I’m awash in fruit and canning more for myself than for the blog (I know it might shock you, but this does happen), I will head into the kitchen and let myself slip into the meditation that cooking something familiar can offer. The camera doesn’t get much play when that happens.
Outside of the stack of sealed jars now cooling their heels in my coat closet, the only evidence that I even made this jam is the corner of that yellow bowl off on the right edge of this picture. It’s full of macerated berries and chopped rhubarb. The new copper preserving pan I got obviously stole the show that day. (I’ve made a few batches in the copper pan so far and I’m really enjoying it. I plan on writing up my thoughts in a more organized fashion sometime soon, so keep your eyes peeled for that.)
Before we get to the recipe, there’s just one more order of business to take care of. That’s right, it’s giveaway time! This week, I have a gorgeous pair of Santoku knives from Cutco to offer up to one lucky winner. This is the second year I’ve had the opportunity to work with Cutco and I’m delighted to do it. I like their knives because they are sharp (and stay sharp), have heft without being too heavy and are fairly indestructible.
I don’t adore the look of the handle (though it’s far more appealing in the pearl finish), but it’s shockingly comfortable in the hand and doesn’t mind spending a couple of hours soaking in the sink (not so for my wooden handled knives. And yes, I know that that’s not how you’re supposed to treat knives, but life doesn’t always allow me to wash dishes immediately after they’re made).
If you’re interested in a chance to win this pair of knives, leave a comment here tell me about your favorite kitchen knife (my parents still prefer the ancient L. L. Bean fileting knife that my dad inherited from his father in 1971 above all others). One entry per person, please. Winner will be chosen at random. Comments will close on Sunday, June 19, 2011 at 11:59 p.m. and I will post the winner promptly the next day.
Disclosure: Cutco gave me a pair of these knives for free and is offering the set for giveaway at no cost to me. Happily, my opinions are still all my own (I’m not nearly that cheap).
Now, on to that recipe!
Small Batch Strawberry Rhubarb Jam
Ingredients
- 2 cup of chopped rhubarb approximately 1 1/2 pounds of stalks
- 4 cups of chopped strawberries approximately one quart
- 3 cups sugar
- 1 lemon zested and juiced
- 1 packet liquid pectin
Instructions
- Wash your jars and rings and lay them out on a towel to dry. Place your lids in a small saucepan and put over medium heat, so that the sealing compound softens in preparation for canning.
- In a 8-quart, non-reactive pot, stir the rhubarb, strawberries and sugar together off the heat. Once the sugar has begun to dissolve, place pot on burner and bring to a boil.
- Add the lemon juice/zest to the pot and let it bubble gently for approximately 15-20 minutes. As the jam cooks, use the back of a wooden spoon to mash any large pieces of fruit. Add the pectin, stir to combine and let cook for a few more minutes.
- At this point, dip a spoon in the jam and see how it coats the back of the spoon. You can also try the saucer test. If you get a nice, even sheet, the jam is done. You can also taste at this point, to see if you like the balance of flavors. Add a little more lemon juice if you feel it needs additional brightening.
- Pour into hot jars, wipe rims to remove any spillage and apply lids/rings.
- Process in a hot water bath for ten minutes.
- Remove from water and let cool. When jars are cool, remove rings and test seals. Refrigerate any jars that didn’t seal and store the rest in a cool, dark place.
My favorite knife is a really old wood-handled paring knife that belonged to my grandmother. It was her favorite too and she took good care of it and kept if nice and sharp. Every time I use it I remember her peeling an apple for me into one long curly peel. That was an amazing and magical feat for me when I was little lol.
I have an old steel paring knife with wooden handle inherited from my Auntie Coe. It was sharpened so many times that the blade is concave. You have to dry it right away when you wash it so it won’t rust. I love it!
I have a set of oxo knives that we use, and my favorite might be the smaller serrated knife that looks like a mini bread knife. I use it for slicing tomatos and english muffins all the time 🙂
I purchased a small chef knife from a vendor at a craft show. It is completely impractical because it must be sharpened with every use and its motion is off ever so slightly, but the knife is shaped like a bird in flight and is so elegant that it fills me with joy every time I pick it up.
I love my little Kuhn Rikon paring knife.
I haven’t yet made the jump to quality chef’s knives yet. One day….
I have a santoku (Furi 8″?) and love it. These knifes have a slightly different shape and they look like they might fit in my hands better. The other bonus is that the handles are odd and make me think of the Bryan Adams song ‘Cuts Like a Knife’. Is that a good thing? You be the judge…
My favorite knife or I should say knives are a set I inherited when my Grandmother passed.There’s a paring knife & a 15 inch matching with no maker stamps or names. They’re all metal including the handles & while not perhaps the most attractive, they rarely need sharpened & at an estimated 50 years old, served my Grandmother & now myself well beyond their purchase price.
My favorite knife…how I wish I had one! Sadly all my knives are useless! Hoping to change that and win the giveaway!
I have a very VERY old Sabatier that I love love love! A friend of my Dad’s got it for me when I was 12, because he was convinced I was going to lose a finger using my chefs knife (still have all my fingers and thumbs!). The blade of the knife was found in an abandoned factory (along with many others), and is believed to be over a hundred years old! It’s fitted with a beautiful wooden handle (that’s starting to split, I really should get it replaced.) It holds an edge like nobodies business, and feels just right in my hand.
I love our Henckles (?) chef’s knife…
I love my random knives – no clue on brand. They are sharp, so they work. I’m not hard to please.
What knives do I not love? My mom’s that haven’t been sharpened in 20 years. If I won, I’d probably keep these at her house (not give, because then she might get rid of them). 🙂
Goodness, I wish I had a knife worthy of being called my “favorite.” Every knife I have is terrible!
Not that it’s my favorite, but I always choose my chef’s knife. That one and the bread knife. I love the “sawing” sound it makes when I cut tough stuff with it! Thanks for the chance at winning!
Perfect timing on this recipe as Inscored lots of rhubarb at my farmer’s market this weekend! My go-to knife is a Wustoff 8″ chef’s knife, though as a few mentioned above, doesn’t carry a lot of weight behind it. Can’t wait to see how the rhubarb turns out!
Our family LOVES Cutco! Slowly building an assortment, they are great for everything from the kitchen to the garden, we have one in most rooms of the house! Great tools!
I have 2 kitchen aid knives that need replacing. The big one has a chip in it and they don’t stay sharpened long. Would love to try this set out! 🙂
Love my small paring knife that got left behind after a roommate moved out. Always sharp enough and good for veggies.
I have a small Henkel paring knife that I use all the time. We’ve only ever been able to afford cheap knives, and it would be nice to have something that will actually cut my food and not me!
I don’t think I’ve ever owned a quality enough knife to have a fave!
These knifes look great. I need new knifes the ones I work with are the set my husband had since he was in the navy. I would love to get a few new knifes. 🙂 the strawberry rubarb sounds yummy!!
My favorite kitchen knife is my set of steak knifes I received from a relative that were won at a casino in vegas. I don’t know what brand they are but they are sharp, quirky and always remind me of the relative that won in Vegas and shared his winnings with me 🙂
Hmm … toughie. My trusty old Chicago Cutlery 6″ boning knife is go-to no. 1. My Wusthof 6″ chef’s knife is go-to no. 2. And my Cutco kitchen shears cover all sorts of tasks that would probably cause me to wound myself if I used a knife!
I have a Wusthof bird’s beak knife that I love — and it’s just as cute as the dickens! 😉
My knives are Pampered Chef-My family has Cutco and they love them!
My favorite knife…my butcher knife…no clue what brand it is…sad…I know. One Christmas probably almost 15 yrs ago I asked for things to put in my hope chest…my uncle gave me this knife. I use it almost every time I cook something. It is fabulous.
My French knife is what I use the most often. I love good knives!
I don’t have a favorite knife, but I like to sharpen mine often so they keep in good condition and still do a good job after many years of use.
I’m dreaming of a Shun santuko knife that I visit every few months at House of Knives – sooo pretty!! But I have a cheapo Henkles chef knife that can handles about anything – not a favorite, but it’ll do till I get a great one!
I don’t have a personal favorite knife yet. I look for the sharpest one in the kitchen. My favorite knife recollection is my grandpa’s butcher knife. He used it for just about everything and it was always sharp. I would love to win these knives.
luv strawberries frozen for smoothies!
The Cutco knives really like the photo and would be added to my set of white steak knives
my favourite knife is my HENCKEL, gifted to my by my good pal & cooking cohort. after a recent spring time sharpening from the mobile sharpener who came to the neighbourhood to sharpen my neighbour’s old school push lawn mower, i do seem to be trimming bits of my left index finer nail off. time to get my knife skills back in shape!
I don’t have a favorite knife. I really really really want some good knives! I hope I win!!!!
I have a set of Henckels that are the bottom of the line of Henckels and they are still good knives, but I have a top of the line Henckels Chef knife that I absolutely love. It is just the right weight and perfect size. It’s about 20 years old and still cuts like a charm.
I have a cuisineart knife that i really love but honestly I havent invested in good knifes yet. I would love to win those
!!! Lucky 500 range!?!??!!?
I would love to have a good knife. Thank you Cutco.
My favorite knives are small, sharp paring knives, so versatile.
My favorite knife is one from my mom. An old butcher knife that’s oxidized with age, but still holds a keen edge.
A hand-me-down Henkel is my favorite! Strong, sturdy, has good heft and control — and free!
I have been using dull, generic steak knives to cut everything:(
I bought my Cutco knives to help out a college student several years ago. They turned out to be the best knives I have had.
My best knife happens to be a Cutco knife that I bought from my daughter’s best friend. She needed to demo for me with no pressure to by. She was just out of high school and was very nervous. I didn’t plan on buying a knife but I ended up getting 3 different ones. That was over 15 years ago and I’m still using the knives.
I bought my parents a set of Henkles while I was in germany.. oddly enought I got a better price from an american company than I could actually in germany but for some bizaare reason I didnt buy US a set of Henkles … go figure.
My favorite knife is my Pampered Chef Tomato Knife. It’s the only knife I’ve ever used that doesn’t squish my tomatoes (of course I haven’t been exposed to any high class knives before).
I love my Cutco serrated knife. It always gets hand washed because we need it more often than we run the dishwasher!!
Love my KitchenAid santuko & my Henkels serrated bread knife. I call that last one my “killer knife, as it was incredibly sharp when I first got it, that I was getting cut all the time or putting tears in my apron ot towels when wiping it between uses!
I have a small Santoku chef knife that I love. The rest of our knives belonged to my hubby before we got married, and they weigh a ton. Great for him, but not very comfortable for me!
My favorite is my mom’s old chef’s knife. I have no idea what brand it is because it is so old.
My favorite knife is my Wusthof chef’s knife. It has served me well!
My favorite knife is a chef knife by calphalon. I use it all the time.
I love cutco!! We have a couple we got as gifts and use them constantly!! Thanks for the opportunity.
I found my favorite knife at a garage sale. It has a wavy edge and an adjustable bar for cutting bread. I have since found another one at a garage sale 🙂 I took the adjustable thing off and use it for cutting just about everything. It seems to stay sharp! 🙂
My favorite knife is my Calphalon Katana series chef knife. Hot damn, I use it for everything! It it weighted so nicely that mincing garlic is like pie and it is easy to sharpen and stays true to me!
My hubby has some kind of German knives (not well known) that are sharp, There’s one I use a lot that works well, and we always seem to fight over it. there’s not a santuko among them.
I look forward to hearing about your copper experience…I still don’t know when to use copper and when not to, so I avoid it all together 🙂
Thanks for the contest, too!
my favorite knife (so far) is a red wood handled paring knife by L’Econome that I picked up for $6 from the clearance section at Sur La Table. I’ll be honest – I haven’t even had a chance to use it yet, but I just love the way it looks.
I love my Henckels paring knife!
My favorite knife is a pairing knife that isn’t high quality, and has to be sharpened often, but it fits in my hand well and gets the job done.
2 cases worth of jars have been filled this weekend. I blame you, Marisa. Interested to see how the copper pot works out. I’m loving my weird Italian stockpot. P.S. I’m a knife whore.
My favorite knife of all is my Wusthof paring knife ….I’ve had it for about 7 years and still use it daily. I love Cutco, too!