I said I wanted to try something different with rhubarb this year and, behold, I went and did it! I haven’t made a lot of jellies, so that was a nice switch-up too. And the colour, divine. This jelly is a lovely sweet-tart. The original recipe suggests it for breakfast or as an accompaniment to chicken or pork. In our house, it’ll no doubt be friends with toast.
You’ll need:
10 cups chopped rhubarb (about 3 lbs)
1 orange (plus i used a few bonus clementines)
1 and a 1/2 cup water
1 pkg light fruit pectin crystals (I use Certo Light in the blue box)
3 and 1/2 cups white sugar
5 or 6 250 ml mason jars with rings and lids
Making the juice
Wash the orange, peel and all. To make it extra juicy, press down on the orange and roll it around on your cutting board. Halve and squeeze juice from orange into large stainless steel pot.
Cut the now mushed-up orange into wedges and add to pot. Add rhubarb and water.
Bring to a boil, stirring occasionally.
Reduce heat, cover and simmer until rhubarb is tender, about 10 minutes. With potato masher, mash any chunks.
Wet and wring out jelly bag or several layers of cheese cloth. Suspend jelly bag on frame or layer cheese cloth in colander over a large measuring cup or bowl. Fill with rhubarb mixture.
Let drip – no squeezing allowed! – until you get about 4 cups (1 L)of juice. It will likely take at least 2 hours. Try as I might, I only ended up with 3 and 1/2 cups of juice. I guess my rhubarb wasn’t super juicy. So I squeezed in 3 more clementines and topped up with a splash of water.
Making the jelly
Wash your jars in hot soapy water.
Start heating your water bath. If your water is hard, you can add a splash of white vinegar to help prevent water stains.
Mix pectin crystals with 1/4 cup of the sugar.
Put the juice in a large stainless steel pot. Stir the pectin mixture into the juice.
Bring juice to a full rolling boil over high heat and stir in remaining sugar.
Return to full rolling boil. Boil hard, stirring constantly, for 1 minute.
Remove from heat and skim off any foam.
Put the lids in a saucepan of water and bring to a simmer. Keep them in the hot water until you are ready to use them. Lid manufacturers say this is no longer necessary, but I still do it.
Fill each jar, leaving 1/4-inch (5 mm) headspace. If you are working in an air conditioned or otherwise chilly kitchen, it’s a good idea to heat your jars before filling so they aren’t shocked by the heat of the jelly.
"Bubble" each jar with a skewer or chopstick to release any trapped air. Wipe each rim with a clean paper towel dipped in vinegar. Place the snap lid down and screw the ring on fingertip tight.
Put the jars into your water bath canner. Make sure there is at least an inch of water above the top of your jars. Put the canner lid on and return to the boil for 10 minutes. Don't start your timer until the water is boiling.
Remove jars from the canner or let them sit in the canner until everything calms down.
Make sure all the jars are sealed before you put them away. Any that still haven’t sealed within 24 hours go in the fridge.
Mine all sealed beautifully. Love them pops! I am hoping the jelly continues to firm up a bit over the next few days as it’s a tad runny. I’m told jelly can take up to 2 weeks to completely set, so fingers crossed!
Source: http://www.canadianliving.com/food/recipe/rhubarb-orange-jelly
