What can I do with tons of nectarines & melons?

westcoastscot

melon is lovely cut into cubes or balled and frozen - very refreshing on a hot day.
Jam would be best for the nectarines - do you have a recipe?
Pauline :-)

mrbadexample

sylv1 wrote: »

You could always slice the nectarines and put them in brandy or vodka and preserve them that way, then you have some lovely alcoholic fruit that should be ready for christmas...

:think: What, like some sort of Rumtopf? That sounds good.

Frugalista

westcoastscot wrote: »

melon is lovely cut into cubes or balled and frozen - very refreshing on a hot day.
Jam would be best for the nectarines - do you have a recipe?
Pauline :-)

No, but if you have one I would be very grateful

westcoastscot

Hi,
For every 1.75 kg fruit you will need 1.5 kg granulated sugar, 300 mls of water.
Chop up the nectarines roughly and add to the water in a large pan - you can leave the stones in or take them out, whichever is easiest - sometimes its easier to leave them in to start, you can lose fruit stuck to them otherwise. Bring to boil and simmer until soft, skimming off the stones as they rise to the surface. Once the fruit is soft, turn down the heat and add the sugar, stirring until disolved. Bring to the boil, and boil hard - this is why you need your biggest pan - to contain the jam while it boils hard. After ten mins of hard boiling, take off the heat and test for set - if set you can pot - if not re-boil for 5 mins and test for set again - it can take around 30 mins, depending on the fruit.

To test for set - unless you have jam making equipment - put some wee plates in the fridge for half an hour - bring one out, put a tablespoon of the hot jam mixture on the plate and leave to cool for a mo - if when cool you can push your finger through it and either the jam wrinkles or you leave a clean bit of plate behind your finger, the jam is ready.
I keep mine in small tupperware dishes in the freezer these days, but if you have jars and want to pot - steralize the jars by either sitting empty jars in a warm oven for a while, or putting one cm of water in the bottom and microwaving them for 10 secs - carefully remove from the microwave and put upside down on a clean teatowel to drain. Fill to brim with jam, cover with wax jam papers either straight away or when cold - I do mine straight away and as the jam contracts it pulls down the wax paper and forms a seal. when totally cold put on the jar lid, or use those cellophane covers to keep out the dust.
Sorry for the long post - realised you said you hadn't made jam before and wasnt sure if you knew the process - if my instructions are as clear as mud do ask :-)
This same recipe is good for apricots too - oh and you can add some almonds if you like - makes a lovely change.
Pauline :-)

fedupfreda

Try making nectarine wine (would be very similar to peach, which I have made before and is lovely hic!):o

Never tried making wine from melons, but don't see any reason why it would not work.

Otherwise puree the fruit and freeze in small portions for later - you can then use it as crumble/pie filling, ice cream sauce, smoothies, you name it, any dish which would use pureed fruit. HTH

Bombchelle

Nectarines? Clafoutis and jam.

Got melons? Got a blender? Good! Now go and make yourself a smoothie (the best IMHO). Add sugar to taste.

sylv1

mrbadexample wrote: »

:think: What, like some sort of Rumtopf? That sounds good.

Hi,

Yes like a Rumtopf....my brain wasnt working when I replied to post so couldnt think of the name for it - so thanks :T