Butternut & Vanilla Jam

Happy New Year!  A new year…a new look for Putting Up With the Turnbulls.  We are still playing around with things here and imagine that they will change again from time to time…but don’t be fooled…we are still the same two crazy canning Canuks from Northern Ontario. 

This autumn, our friend provided us with a glut of butternut squash from her garden and with several small butternuts still hanging around in our cold storage room we decided to adopt this recipe to suit our glut.

This recipe comes from Gloria Nicol’s book Fruits of the Earth.  For those of you who read this blog on a regular basis you know we think the world of Gloria.  She is a wonderfully inventive home preserver who creates the most beautiful combinations of flavours in a jar.  She also has a great blog that you should check out…Laundry Etc

BUTTERNUT & VANILLA JAM

• 2 pounds butternut squash flesh
• 1 vanilla bean
• 4 3/4 cups sugar
• juice of 2 lemons

1. Place the butternut squash in a pan with just enough water to stop it from catching, and cook over a moderate heat for 10-15 minutes until it is cooked through but still retains its shape.  Drain off any excess juices, and when the pumpkin is cool enough to handle, chop it into finer pieces.
2. Slice the vanilla bean in half lengthwise and scrape out the seeds with the blade of a knife.  Place the pumpkin, sugar, and lemon juice in a bowl, tuck the vanilla bean pieces in among the pumpkin, and add the seeds.  Cover with a piece of waxed paper pushed down onto the surface and leave overnight.
3. The next day, pour the contents of the bowl into a preserving pan and stir over a low heat until all the sugar has dissolved, then turn up the heat and boil rapidly to reach setting point.
4. Pour hot jam into hot sterilized jars leaving 1/4″ headspace, wipe rim, place lid and rings on adjusting to finger-tip tight.  Process in the hot water bath for 10 minutes.

You may not think that a butternut squash would make a beautiful tasting jam…but this is where you’d be wrong.  These home grown butternuts were a deep orange colour with a natural sweetness that peaked the interest of our senses.  Their fleshy earthy goodness pairs wonderfully with vanilla to make a tasty spread for some home-baked scones or what about using it as pie filler (instead of pumpkin pie…why not butternut?).  So, when you are faced with a glut of butternuts…we highly recommend taking the path not always preserved and try making them into some jam.

Put up Total:

• 1 x 125mL regular mouth mason jar
• 1 x 250mL wide mouth mason jar
• 3 x 250mL regular mouth mason jars