Polish Rhubarb & Strawberry Jam

It’s the middle of June and I’m still enjoying the ruby red rhubarb here in Warsaw.

During the past month, I’ve made rhubarb mini tarts, rhubarb quick bread, rhubarb-strawberry vodka (recipe coming soon) and two batches of rhubarb & strawberry jam. The Poles seem to love rhubarb as much as I do because I’ve seen it all the local markets. (Remember last year when I smuggled rhubarb from Nebraska to Istanbul?)

Plus, rhubarb is ridiculously cheap here! I’ve been buying bunches for about 3 PLN per kilo (about $1 USD). I’ve even stashed away two kilos of diced rhubarb in the freezer so I can extend its season through the summer. Yesterday, I bought another two kilos that I need to freeze.

Fresh produce from the Polish market at Hala Mirowska in Warsaw.

What I’ve learned from all this rhubarb madness is that making homemade jam is a pain in the butt! It’s been nearly three years since I made my last batch of Turkish Grape Jelly. I’d forgotten how many hours it takes to wash, cut and prep the fruit and then process the jam and how much the jam boils up like a cauldron of lava-like liquid and spills all over my countertop.

Because of the fruits of my labor, I now have about two dozen small jars of homemade rhubarb & strawberry jam sitting in my pantry. I decided I would like to have some homemade gifts on hand that I can give to new friends I meet here in Warsaw or for visiting friends.

I tested two batches of the jam and learned not to cook the rhubarb beforehand if you want it to retain any of its stringy texture. My first batch of jam looked a bit more like red fruit jelly versus chunky jam. I like seeing the rustic pieces of fruit in my jam. I also doubled the amount of lemon juice so the resulting jam has a nice, tangy, but sweet flavor.

Who knows I may even brave another round of jam making as a plethora of Polish berries flood the summer markets.

Smacznego! (Bon appétit in Polish)

At the Polish markets, strawberries are sold in these cute wooden baskets!

Polish rhubarb & strawberry jam served on top of my rhubarb quick bread at home.

Rhubarb & Strawberry Jam

Yields: about 12 4-ounce (120 ml) glass jars

Ingredients:

2          lb.        (900 g.)            rhubarb, washed and cut into ½-inch pieces

4          c.         (1025 g.)          strawberries, washed and mashed (I recommend placing the amount of strawberries in a large bowl and then mashing with a potato masher. Just mash enough to leave the berries chunky. Also, if going by volume, measure the strawberries after you mash them.)

4          c.         (880 g.)            granulated sugar (If you like really sweet jam, I saw some recipes online that called for as much as 6 c. of sugar.)

½         c.         (118 ml)           fresh lemon juice

¼         c.         (55 g.)              granulated sugar set aside to mix with the pectin

1          package                       Sure-Jell Fruit Pectin (or the amount of pectin needed if you use another brand. For example, the Polish version I recently bought calls for 1 package of pectin per kilo of fruit used.)

1. If you are canning the jars of  jam, you will need hot and sterile jars and lids. I like to run mine through the dishwasher on the hottest cycle and time it just right so they are ready to use once the jam is finished cooking. My machine’s cycle is 60 minutes, and I pulled the jars out around 50 minutes. Alternatively, you can place the jars and lids in a pot of simmering water. (See this excellent article for more canning tips: The Basics of Home Canning. I also re-read my grandmother’s Ball canning cookbook from the 1960s to refresh my memory.)

2. Meanwhile, in a large stainless steel pot (6-8 qt. pot) over medium-high heat, mix the strawberries, rhubarb and 4 cups (880 g.) of sugar. Add the lemon juice. Combine.

3. Additionally, I filled my 12-qt. pasta pot and strainer with hot water, and set in on a high heat burner so that the water would be boiling by the time my jam was done. This pot perfectly served as my water bath canner.

3. In a small bowl, combine the pectin with the remaining ¼ cup (55 g.) of sugar. Add the pectin mixture, stirring well to combine, to the large pot.

4. As the mixture cooks and fruits start to soften, I like to use my handy potato masher to crush the fruit a bit. This helps release the natural pectin so the jam will thicken.

5. Bring the jam to full boil – the kind of hard boil that cannot be stirred away. This could take up to 15- 20 minutes. Using a rubber spatula, stir constantly. Watch out for burning fruit on the bottom of your pot. I had to turn down the heat a notch or two because the jam was starting to burn on the bottom in a few places.

6. Once the jam has reached a hard boil, you’ll want to test the jam to see if it’s thickened enough. I like to place a plate into the freezer. Using the cold plate, I place a dollop of jam on the plate and see if it runs or not and whether it’s reached the consistency that I want. Alternatively, some people like to place a metal spoon in a cup of ice water and test the jam on the cold spoon. If your jam is too runny, you may want to add more pectin and bring the jam to a second boil.

7. Remove the pot from the heat. Using a large spoon, skim foam off top of the jam mixture. The foam can cause bacteria to grow on top of the jam once placed in the jars.

8. Remove the jars and lids from the dishwasher. Ladle the jam into the sterilized jars to within a ¼ inch of top of jar.

9. Wipe jar rim off with a clean, damp towel. Then place lids on top and secure tightly. (Be careful as the glass jars will be super hot from the boiling jam. Use a kitchen towel to prevent burning your fingertips.)

10. Next, place the jars in the boiling water bath canner. Be sure to have the jars covered with at least 2 inches of water. Process the jars for 10 minutes, in general, once the water returns to a boil.  

(Note: if you live at a higher altitude, you will need to increase the processing time. This website has a handy altitude processing chart and other tips.)

11. Once the cooking time has been reached, carefully lift the pasta strainer out of the boiling water. Use a towel-covered hand or canning jar tongs to remove the very hot jars from the strainer.

12. Place the jars on a towel-lined countertop and allow to cool for 12-24 hours. Once the jars are cool, you can check they are sealed by pressing down gently in the center of the lid with your finger. If the lid pops up and down and makes a popping sound, the jar is NOT sealed. If you place the jar in the refrigerator right away, the jam still will be safe to eat. (I had two unsealed jars in the first batch and just one in my second batch of jam.)

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Baking With Incir (Figs)

Not to scare you away immediately, but this recipe takes several hours to make.

However, you will be rewarded with a flaky, melt-in-your-mouth, fruit-filled pastry. If you use store-bought jam instead of homemade, you save yourself a few hours of prep work.

Yesterday, I sent a box full of these incir ve fındık pasta (fig and hazelnut pastry) to my husband’s office. Rave reviews as usual. =)

This pastry is actually a type of rugelach (also known as Rogelach), which is a rolled cookie with Jewish origins. Rugelach, which literally means “little twists” in Yiddish, has Jewish Ashkenazic (Polish) origins. In Europe, bakers originally made the dough with yeast; but later Jewish-American bakers introduced a cream cheese-based rugelach dough. At Zabar’s in NYC, I could buy rugelach filled with chocolate or stuffed with cinnamon and raisins.

At my first pastry job in Kansas, we used to fill our rugelach with cinnamon-sugar, walnuts and raisins. At home, I would take some of the leftover scrap dough and make mine with raspberry jam and chocolate chips. Since then, I’ve also used the cream cheese dough as the base for my fall and Thanksgiving pecan tarts at the restaurants I’ve worked at and my home.

I first was inspired to make this pastry after recently tasting something similar at a pastane on Büyükada. The concept was good, but the resulting pastry was dry and bland. I knew my version would be much better. I don’t understand why the majority of Turkish pastries are so dry unless you just want to dunk them in your çay.

These may look tasty, but the pastry part is very dry, unfortunately.

First order of business, make homemade fig jam. I overcooked the first batch, so I threw it out and started over. The second batch turned out perfect! Making jam is a great way to use up mushy fruit. The general idea is to use 1:1 ratio of fruit and sugar, but I think that’s too sweet. Instead, I do 2 parts fruit to 1 part sugar for jam I just want to store in the refrigerator.

Secondly, make the cream cheese dough, and I easily adapted my recipe with krem peynir. This simple dough only requires 3 ingredients! Let the dough rest in the refrigerator for awhile before you roll it out.

Because I am used to working in a professional kitchen, I measured my rolled out rectangle of dough exactly - 7” in width and then cut into 6”-wide triangles. You could easily just eye ball the dough to cut your triangles. Or here is a different, but helpful tutorial on how to make traditional rugelach.

Whatever you call these scrumptious pastries - pasta, rugelach or even cookies, you will love them and so will your friends.

Afiyet Olsun!

Perfectly paired with an afternoon tea.

Incir ve Fındık Pasta (Fig and Hazelnut Pastry or Rugelach)

Incir Reçeli/Fig Jam
Ingredients:
500 g. fresh figs, cut into quarters or smaller if the figs are larger
250 g. sugar
½ -1 juice of a lemon
1 ea. cinnamon stick

1. Place the ingredients in a small/medium-sized saucepot, cover and let stand overnight at room temperature.
2. Place the pot over low heat, stirring to dissolve the sugar.
3. Bring the mixture to a boil, then cook over very low heat (about 3 on my flattop) for 45 minutes or longer until the jam is thickened and sticky. Remove the cinnamon stick. At this point, I roughly blended my jam with the immersion hand blender for a smoother consistency. Alternatively, mash the figs with a fork or potato masher to break them up.
4. You might need to let the jam cook a bit longer, making sure it is set. To test when jam/jelly is at its setting point, check out this link.
5. When done cooking, remove the pot from the burner, let cool and seal in a glass jar, placing in the refrigerator.

My fig jam stored in a 1 TL cute, little glass jar.

Cream Cheese Dough/Rugelach Dough
Yields: 48+ cookies

Ingredients:
400 g. krem peynir (cream cheese)
535 g. butter, room temperature
700 g. flour

1. In a medium-sized bowl, using a stand mixer or hand blender, cream the krem peynir or cream cheese until smooth.
2. Add the butter and blend again for a few minutes until completely combined.
3. Add the flour and blend just until incorporated.
4. If dough seems a little sticky, add a bit more flour but slightly knead the dough with your hands. Divide the dough into small plastic-wrapped packets (mine yielded 3-500 gram packets) and place in the refrigerator until cooled and slightly stiff, about 1 hour.

Now you are ready to roll out the dough.
You will need:
As needed fig jam
As needed hazelnuts, finely chopped
As needed cinnamon-sugar mixture (Just mix a bit of ground cinnamon with granulated sugar.)
Flour
Rolling pin
Knife or pizza cutter

1. Preheat the oven to 350 F/175 C.
2. Place one packet of dough on a floured work surface. Roll out the dough into a long rectangle, about 7-inches in width. Trim the dough so you have an even-edged rectangle. Then, using a sharp knife or pizza cutter, cut the dough into triangles every 6 inches.

3. Place about 1 tablespoon of fig jam and a pinch of chopped hazelnuts along the bottom of each triangle.

4. Roll up the sides of dough and lightly pinch the edges down to seal.

5. Continue rolling up each pastry. Then, roll in the cinnamon-sugar and place on a metal baking sheet, seam side down. (Note: The pastries can be frozen at this point and baked later. To do so, place on a tray in the freezer. Once frozen solid, place in a storage container, with each layer separated by baking paper to prevent sticking. They should be baked frozen, not defrosted. Simply add on 5-10 extra minutes when baking.)

Roll the unbaked pastry in the cinnamon-sugar mixture.

6. I leave about a 2-inch space between each pastry to allow for even baking.

Pastries always should be lined up like soldiers in a line
to promote even baking. 

7. Bake the pastries for 10-12 minutes until lightly browned on the edges.
8. Ball up the dough scraps, cover with plastic wrap, place in the refrigerator until chilled again, and then re-roll out the dough. Continue with steps 2-7.

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Laboring Over Jelly in Istanbul

(A side note: I’ve been very busy in my Istanbul kitchen this week. I made chocolate chip and snickerdoodle cookies, a flourless chocolate cake, grape jelly, tomato pasta sauce, a hearty winter beef stew and roasted a whole fish. Now, I have to start writing and posting. Stay tuned!)

Making jelly from scratch is a lot of work. It’s a job that requires you to roll up your sleeves, protect your white kitchen countertop from the exploding purple juices (when you’re working with grapes) and pray that you don’t burn yourself in the process.

I had never made jelly before, but I was up for the challenge. I remember both my grandmothers making jelly and then canning it as well as other fruits and vegetables. It was a hot, arduous process. Consider yourself lucky if you didn’t burn a fingertip or two by the end of the day. The reward was that you filled up your kitchen pantry/basement to make it through the winter months.

I do not have a pantry to stock up. But I do have time on my hands, and I just wanted to play in my kitchen.

Well, it took me 3 hours to make about 2 cups of jelly! Silly girl! But what else would I have done with all the grapes I bought at the pazar?

Well, I know what I used to do as a pastry chef. Every fall, we made countless quarts of Concord grape sorbet or some batches of pate’ de fruit at the restaurants. One year I made a version of a “PB & J” dessert with a toasted sesame seed ice cream and Concord grape sorbet. 

"PB & J Vacherin"

Well, my jelly making experience may be my first and the last. I just found it to be a lot of work for a little yield.

I’d be better off making wine from the grapes – if I knew how to do that! Next time, I think I’ll just buy the jelly at the store or from the Turkish ladies at the pazar.

Afiyet olsun!

Grape Jelly

(Adapted from a 1964 printing of “Joy of Cooking”)

2 # 4 oz.          Concord or similar grapes, rinsed

2          oz.       water

1          ea.       Granny Smith apple, cut into 8 pieces (The apple will provide pectin for the jelly.)

1. Place the grapes, water and apple in a 6-8 quart stock pot. Cover with a lid. Bring to a boil on high heat.

2. Once the fruits start getting soft, crush them with a long-handled potato masher. Reduce heat and simmer for 5 to 10 minutes.

3. Strain the fruit through a fine sieve, pressing down on the fruit to extract all the juice.

4. Let the pressed fruit hang in the sieve for 1 hour. Set aside. (I extracted about 4 more ounces of juice from this process.

Then:

2          c.         grape juice (from the previous steps)

1 ½      c.         granulated sugar

5. Place the juice and sugar into a 2-quart pot. Boil over high heat until the temperature (using a candy thermometer) reaches 220 F/104 C or until the jelly “sheets” from a spoon. This process took about 20-30 minutes for my jelly.

According to the “Joy of Cooking:”

“As the jelly thickens, two large drops will form along the edge of the spoon, one on either side. When these two drops come together and fall as a single drop, the sheeting stage has been reached.”

The sheeting stage of jelly.

6. Remove from heat. Pour the jelly into small glass jars and seal. Refrigerate the jars unless you want to try canning too.

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