Rhubarb and Ginger Jam

It has become apparent to me that I have married into a family of rhubarb and/or ginger lovers.  Who am I kidding, they actually love both!  Now the fond affection for Rhubarb I totally get.  Even now as an adult rhubarb holds fond memories of an elderly couple who lived on the corner of my street.  Mr and Mrs Ellis were like adopted grandparents to most of the kids in my street and their veg patch was legendary, I imagine the feeling I had on entering their garden was something pretty similar to how Peter Rabbit felt wondering into Mr McGregor's garden, and you should have seen the giant stalks of rhubarb they grew!  This was my first introduction to the vegetable/fruit (I'm not weighing into that debate!) and if memory serves me correctly I ran a mile when Mrs Ellis tried to get me to eat some raw straight from the garden bed.  Thankfully one or two years (!!!!) have passed since then and I am now a total convert.  Ginger on the other hand ... not so much so!

But I digress!  As soon as I saw this recipe in the February issue of Good Food Magazine I knew I was going to have to make a batch ... lets face it everyone needs to keep in sweet with their in laws and its a good thing mine are always receptive to some home made treats ;0)

Rhubarb and Ginger Jam
1kg pink rhubarb, trimmed weight
1kg jam sugar (which has added pectin)
Zest and juice 1 lemon
50g stem or crystallised ginger, finely chopped
4cm piece ginger, peeled

Wash the rhubarb under cold running water and slice into 2cm pieces. Tip into a large ceramic or plastic bowl and add the jam sugar, lemon zest and juice, and chopped stem ginger. Finely grated the peeled ginger directly over the rhubarb.

Stir the mixture thoroughly, cover loosely with cling film and leave to one side for about 2 hours to allow the sugar to dissolve into the rhubarb juices. You may need to stir the mixture occasionally to encourage this process along.

Pop a few saucers in the freezer. Scoop the fruit and all the sugary juices into a preserving pan and set over a medium heat. Stir until the sugar has completely dissolved, and bring to the boil. Continue to cook at a fairly swift pace until the rhubarb is really tender and the conserve has reached setting point – this should take about 10-15 mins.

To test for a set, drop ½ tsp of the jam onto a cold saucer, leave it for 30 seconds, then gently push it with the tip of your finger. If the jam wrinkles the setting point has been reached. If not, continue to cook for a further couple of mins and test again.

Remove the pan from the heat and leave to one side for 2-3 mins before pouring into sterilised jars. Seal immediately and label with the date once completely cold.

Makes 4 x 450g jars
Good Food, Feb 11

• Forced rhubarb will produced the best coloured jam.

Even though I am not massively fond of ginger (small doses only please!) this jam is nothing short of scrummy!  My in laws will be very fortunate indeed if they actually manage to receive a bottle from this first batch as Hubby and I are quite partial to eating it smeared on crumpets or english muffins .... I might be tempted to share with Peter Rabbit though, being the kindred spirits that we are and all ;0)