Strawberry Rhubarb Jam Recipe
My kids have always loved my strawberry jam, which was fine, but I started to feel the need of a fresher taste, a colour more intense and a stronger aroma. I found the solution in rhubarb - a perennial from which only the stalks are used in cooking. It has a strong, tart taste and the flavour is not as intense as to cover the taste and the flavour of the strawberries. Actually, the combination strawberry-rhubarb is not new and quite popular, I haven't invented it myself, I just applied it to strawberry jam.
Rhubarb would be like using a greater amount of lemons, also adding more texture and pectin for a more uniform jelling. You can modify the amounts as you like. I think the right proportion would be 1:1 strawberry-rhubarb.
One last thing - rhubarb is used and recommended in low-carb dessert recipes, so if you like goodies and don't want to feel guilty about it, you should definitely use it!
First of all, we prepare and clean the strawberries and the rhubarb.
From the rhubarb, we only use the stalks, discard the leaves as they are poisonous.
I recommend cutting the rhubarb into medium sized cubes and then, if you want to, you can make smaller pieces in the food processor.
That's what I did because I only wanted to add rhubarb for the texture for the strawberries to feel better.
Place the chopped rhubarb in a big bowl, add in the strawberries. I used the food processor to chop them because the kids prefer the jam. You can put the whole strawberries, if you like it like this.
Add the sugar and the juice from a lemon on top.
Stir everything with a spoon and refrigerate for 2-3 hours (or overnight), for the mixture to release as much juice as possible.
After this time, mix everything well.
In order to boil the jam, I use the "skillet method" - just like in the strawberry jam recipe.
So, I take a big deep skillet, I pour in 4-5 ladles from this mixture and bring to a boil.
In total, a skillet round takes about 10-15 minutes:
-when it comes to a boil, I turn the heat down and stir occasionally;
-then notice that the jam thickens and less foam forms. Now I mix frequently and I turn the heat down a bit more.
-it's ready when it's not watery any more and quite homogeneous and it looks like in the picture when you mix.
The entire process lasts about 10-15 minutes, the jam doesn't lose its colour and flavour (this usually happens if boiled for too long), and still it will have a dense consistency because a small amount was boiled in a big skillet. This way, water was able to evaporate much quicker.
Transfer the hot jam to sterile jars, seal.
Pour another 4 ladles of strawberry mixture in the skillet and bring to a boil.
If a jar is not completely filled after a skillet round, cover it with the lid and wait for the next round to finish boiling and fill the jar.
Place the jars upside down and let cool - this is a way of checking if the jars have sealed properly.
Then label the jars (I recommend labeling, so that after a few months you know exactly what you have in each jar).
Serve with anything you like. And Sofia just told me it has become her favourite jam - this shows how wonderful the strawberry rhubarb jam is :)
Enjoy!
