Fig season...

You wouldn't know by looking at it that this little fruit is SO delicious.  We completely lucked out when my sister-in-law asked us to come stay at their house with my mother-in-law...it was during the peak of fig season!  There are three fig trees in their yard, and Carey was diligent about harvesting.  I don't think I have ever in my life eaten so many raw figs.  Each time I walked through the kitchen, I popped three (or maybe six) in my very happy mouth.  

Coincidentally while we were there, Joolz mentioned in a post that her new cookbook had a fig jam recipe that she would like to try.  I left a comment that I was happily overdosing on figs at the moment, and she emailed me the recipe.  I had my doubts about it when I saw that it called for candied ginger.  I'm not a fan of ginger.  But the recipe did sound interesting, so today I made it almost as printed (except that I decreased the ginger just a little, and I added some very thin slices of lemon...because my mother always did).

Joolz, I owe you a BIG thank you!  And I happily recommend that you give it a try when you have figs ripening in Australia...which would be January maybe?  It was pretty easy, and it didn't need to be watched every minute.  The only downside was that the recipe only made three half pints!  :(  

I probably have enough figs left to make two more recipes worth.  Though I had looked up a couple of other recipes in case this one didn't hit the mark, this one turned out SO delicious that I am discarding the other recipes and using this one for the remainder of my figs.  I think I will try doubling it, though that's not always recommended.  (edit:  The second doubled batch tastes okay, but it did not set up the same and is a little cloudy...I wish I had not been in a hurry to get it done and had done individual recipe batches.)

Dear Laurie Beth,  my lovely and generous fig-preserving friend and sharer of your bounty, I want you to know that I won't come simpering and whining begging your hard work...this year.  :)

FIG JAM RECIPE
from The Australian Blue Ribbon Cookbook by Liz Harfull

1 kg figs (2.2 pounds)

¾ cup orange juice

¼ cup lemon juice

2 Tbsp sweet sherry

2 cups white sugar

125 g crystallized ginger, finely chopped (4.4 oz)

Wash figs and dice into small pieces, about 1 cm square.  Place them in a large saucepan with the orange and lemon juices and sherry.

Bring to boil over a medium heat.  Continue to boil gently, uncovered and stirring occasionally, for about 50 minutes, or until the figs are soft and the liquid is reduced.

Add the sugar and ginger to the pan, stirring continuously until the sugar is completely dissolved.  Boil gently for about another 30 minutes, or until the jam sets.

Pour into hot sterilized jars, and seal while hot.

Makes 3 to 4 cups.

The only changes I made were: I quartered the figs instead of cutting any smaller, I decreased the ginger by about half, and I added about half of a lemon VERY thinly sliced.