Blueberry Lemon Basil Jam

3 pounds of blueberries, stems removed

1 1/2 C. of sugar

2 T. of lemon juice

Zest of 2 lemons

3/4 C. of water

10 basil leaves

1 T. of powdered pectin

 

To start, stick a small plate into your refrigerator to chill. This is used to test the jam constancy later on. In a great big bowl, you’re going to mix up the blueberries with the sugar, lemon juice and lemon zest. Allow to sit for a bit. While it’s sitting, get your jars together and start preparing them. Prepare your jars for canning – I use a ball canning kit so I just followed the directions on the insert. I used two mason jars and 2 old small jelly jars I’d been saving for the photos. (seen in photo) Four Mason jars should work sufficiently for you. Depending on your canning equipment on hand, you might need to purchase a canning kit to properly prepare your jars for canning. In a small piece of cheese cloth, lay the basil leaves on top and smash, and slice them up a bit so they release their full flavor. Tie the cheesecloth closed with some kitchen twine or string. In a medium pot on medium heat on the stove, add the blueberry mixture and the basil cheesecloth package with the water. Heat the mixture to a boil. Once the mixture is boiling, mash the berries up so they are no longer chunky. You can use whatever you want to mash them, I just used the back of a spoon. You want the mixture to be much smoother. Don’t hesitate to smash that bag of basil down into the blueberry either, just to get some more of that flavor in. Boil the entire mixture for about 20 minutes or so. Be sure and stir it up frequently so it doesn’t stick and it’s evenly cooked. At the end of 20 minutes, use a spoon to skim off the foam that collects on top. Remove as much as you can. It all has to go. Reduce your heat to a low simmer (make sure it’s still bubbling) and continue skimming off the foam and stirring often until the jam thickens. If you don’t stir often enough, and the jam begins to thicken, you will burn the jam. To get to the properly thickened stage, it took me to about the 45 minute mark but can take more than an hour to accomplish. Stir in the pectin at this point and stir well. You can now test the jam with the plate we put in the refrigerator. Grab the plate and plop a small spoonful onto the plate and then stick it back into the refrigerator for about a minute. Remove and tilt the plate a bit to the side. If the jam runs, it’s not ready. It should stay right where it is. If it’s not ready, continue cooking and stirring and add a little more pectin if needed, but often if you just give it a bit more time it will thicken and gel. When the jam is finally ready, remove the cheesecloth filled with the basil with a slotted spoon. You can throw this all away. Using a ladle with a spout, ladle the jam into your jam jars leaving about a 1/4 inch of room between the jam and the top of the jar. Screw on the lids (be careful jars are VERY hot). Submerge them in rapidly boiling water for an additional 5 minutes. When they are done, remove them from the water and listen for the audible sound which will let you know they are sealed. It’s a weird kind of pop sound with a little metal ring to it and sometimes isn’t very loud. Allow the jam to sit for at least 24 hours before using.