56 & 57: Currant Jam and Curd

I'm probably insane. Need a reason? Despite the crazy heat wave, I spent several hours in front of the stove. Making and canning ONE HALF PINT JAR of currant jam. Then a little later making (not canning) currant curd...which does require one to stand at the stove and stir for a decent chunk of time. Also simmered some barley for yet another recipe, which takes about an hour. And sauteed some kohlrabi. Lotsa heat. Lotsa crazy.

I started by placing all of my currents (meager amount, about two cups) with a little water in the bottom of the pan. Cooked until they popped, then mashed a bit and ran them through a mesh strainer. I withheld 1/3 cup of the juice for the curd, then weighed the rest of the juice and added about 80% by weight sugar (actually, weighed out the sugar then put about that much honey in. It was a weird method I'm not sure is correct, but I got the right consistency so I don't mind). Put that back on the burner then simmered/boiled until it passed the nudge test.

Apologies for not defining terms. I'm not going to get into canning basics today, but Food in Jars is an amazing resource.

Then filled my jar (could've used like two tablespoons more to get the ideal headspace, I'll try not to sweat it) and processed in a water bath for 10 minutes. The seal seems to be holding, but as I won't use it for a few months, I won't know for sure how it turned out. I honestly have too many jars from this winter I still need to work through. The leftovers in the pot were delicious though.

That lovely 1/3 cup of juice I withheld was used in a curd scaled from this recipe (the reason I had sooo many eggwhites for breakfast). I wanted about a cup, ended up with a cup and a half. No worries. It will get eaten.

I've made curd before- meyer lemon- so I was prepared for how much of a process it is. Definitely have everything ready to go when you start, as you need to stand there and stir it). This turned out well consistency-wise, but I was hoping for more of the tartness of the currant to come through. I needed more juice. That would help with the pepto color this guy's got going on, too.

Notes for Improvement:
- Don't use a towel in the bottom of the pot for canning again, it just gets all wonky. Maybe one of those 4th burner pots would be helpful? Not that I need more kitchen stuff, but still...
- Get some shortbread for that curd. It's the best combination.