Mixed citrus marmalade recipe

Since we have 3 citrus trees in our garden, I am trying to find some good ways to preserve it. Last year my favorite was preserved  lemon Meyer (lemons with salt), this year is new quick mixed citrus marmalade and lemon Meyer curd bars. I will be happy to share all of them.

Let's start with mixed citrus marmalade.

You will need:

1 lbs of lemon Meyer

1 lbs orange

3 cups sugar (or add some more if you feel that the mix is not sweet enough for you. I'd say, to taste :) )

2 tablespoon pineapple rum (I used Captain Morgan Pineapple rum)

water (to boil the peel)

Wash your citrus with warm water and wipe it dry. Peel them, then remove the inner white lining with a flexible knife. Discard the lining. Use the electric chopper to chop the peel to a small pieces.

Place the chopped peel into a small pot, cover it with water and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and cook on a medium heat for about 1 hour. Strain and discard the liquid.

While peel is cooking, prepare you citrus. Cut fruits in small pieces on a plate, remove the seeds, leftover of white linings and membranes, transfer it to a wide stainless steel pot. Add sugar, mix it and let it stay at the room temperature until the peel is done.

Prepare your canning jars. I am washing mine with warm water and dish soap, then cleaning jars with baking soda, rinsing it well and drying it on a clean kitchen towel. Then I am placing jars without the lids to a baking tray, placing it in the oven and heating it to 200'F to sterilize. They sits there for about 10 minutes or a little longer, so the cooked marmalade will go to a warm sterile jars.Meanwhile, I will place the lids to a glass bowl and add some boiling water on top to cover them. I will let them stay there for about 5 minutes, then transfer them with a kitchen tongues to a clean paper towel. The lids and jars have to be dry so wipe the excess water with a clean paper towel.

Add strained peel to the pot with citrus, mix it well with a wooden spoon and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and cook on low for about an hour. Add pineapple rum, stir into mixture and let it cook for another 10 minutes. Pour the marmalade into prepared jars and top with lids and rims. Close them tight and turn them over to cool on a clean kitchen towel.

Store in refrigerator.

Try it, it's delicious.

Apple and tomato relish

Canning fruits and vegetables is very common in Ukraine. People often living in small city apartments but pretty often they have a little summer house outside of the city with the little garden. Gardening for many becomes a great way to relieve stress of daily routine and of course, this is an opportunity to make some food preserves for winter. Many using their  family recipes which are often kept as a secret and being passed from generation to generation. Many however are sharing their recipes with others.

This one I got from my mother many years ago. This type of relish is often served as a side dish, with cooked meat or like a snack between meals. It can also be canned.

You will need:

1lbs tomatoes

2 medium carrots

2 medium bell peppers

2 apples

6 garlic cloves, minced

1 chili pepper

3/4 cup of olive oil

Salt and pepper

Thoroughly wash the fruits and vegetables. Remove the steam and seeds from the peppers, core and stem from the apples. Peel the garlic and carrots. Dip the tomatoes in boiling water for several seconds, remove them and peel off the skin.

 Roughly chop all vegetables except the garlic. Add the chopped vegetables to a blender or large vegetable chopper and mince until almost a paste but you can still see a pieces in it. Transfer all the ingredients except the garlic into a large pot and bring it to a boil. 

Reduce heat and cook on a low setting for about 2 hours, stirring as needed. Mince garlic and add it to your pot. Bring to boil, add salt and pepper to taste, stir and reduce the heat to medium and let it cook for additional 15 minutes.

Let it cool and serve it chilled with fresh baked bread.

Enjoy!

Late summer garden

It is still hot here in Arizona and not much you can do in a garden right now. You can still run outside and quickly do something at about 6 o'clock in a morning when it is finally getting a little cooler but other than that there is no time for gardening yet.
During day I am quickly running outside to walk dogs and it is brutal... I am surprised that my garden has survived this summer! We had some wonderful monsoon season rainy days earlier this Month, I wish there would be more! The desert needs it !Well, on a positive note, my roses are starting to bloom again which is a good sign. That mean Fall is almost here with it's moderate temperatures. I can not wait :)Another nice thing is that we got our first harvest of bananas! We planted this small banana bush 3 years ago with intention to give our garden a tropical flair. Well, 1 bush turned into the tree, than another one, and another one... it is very pretty and huge now but the sad thing is each tree dies after producing fruits. Pity ! The good thing is the new one is quickly growing since it is multiplying from the rhizomes. There is still hope we will be lucky to have it for years to come! :)
I did some canning (yes, I thought of my friends & family, the jam is a lovely Holiday gift) and finally digged out the spring bulbs of freesias, hyacinth and paperwhites. It is time to dry them and prepare for the Fall storing!