Rhubarb & Mint Jelly

Well, it seems that if you add enough sugar, anything can taste good....even Rhubarb. It makes me wonder if Nan or Mum ever put sugar in their Rhubarb and Apple....It was far too tart for my liking....and until the other day, I thought I would never like the taste of Rhubarb. I guess it just depends on the way you serve it!

For those who are wondering what book these recipes came from, the book is called ......
"Preserves" by Catherine Atkinson & Maggie Mayhew.
Published by "Hermes House, an imprint of Anness Publishing, Wigston, Leicestershire LE18 4SE"
ISBN: 13 :  978  *  1 *  84681  * 571  *  3
ISBN: 10 :  1  * 84681  *  571  *  3   (sorry for the funny asterix's, the pc was picking up that this was a code if I typed it correctly.)


Here is a photo of the front cover....I picked this book up at a newly opened book store in Warrawong, where all the books were $5.00 each. I think this is a reasonable price for a comprehensive book like this.

Rhubarb & Mint Jelly

Sorry for those who prefer to print the recipe by copying and pasting....this looks a lot nicer, but it is definitely not printer friendly.

After cooking the Rhubarb and beginning to strain overnight.

I was too tired to cook this when it was ready, so I put it in the fridge until the following day.
Then it was time to get cooking.

 

My Nan and my Mum have always added a blob of butter to settle the scum that forms on the top of a rolling boil jam. This was beginning to make a scum, so I added the blob of  butter.....

 

Going from memory, I thought the butter would dissolve the scum, but it didn't. It did however make it nice and thick and contained in one area, so it was easier to scoop off the top.

I'm sure I have used this method and had the scum disappear before my eyes.....Hmmmmm

Here is the scum that I scooped....but I only took the photo after I had removed the mint, which is at a later step.

Use a latex elastic band to bundle the mint together...
Quicker than tying a string, and re-usable time and time again.

After boiling for what I thought was enough time to be thickening and getting close to setting point..I decided to add about half a cup of lemon juice (from the freezer) to help reach setting point. Lemon juice is high in pectin, which is what is needed sometimes to make a jam or jelly set.

adding the lemon juice

The instructions say to add the chopped mint after removing from the heat...I was weary of this, as I felt that the mint should feel cooked on the palate. So I added the mint once it started to thicken. I'm glad I did, as the fresh mint floated on the top of the jelly in the saucepan. I figured, if it floated in the saucepan, it will float in the jar....Which is not what I wanted.

I'm pleased to say that the jelly soon thickened after adding the lemon juice, I think another 20 minutes did the trick too.
I also cooked the jelly longer to make sure the mint was cooked.....but it still floated....so I decided to wait until it cooled considerably until pouring it into the jars. Having the jelly thicker, I was able to stir the mint through the jelly, and it remained mixed through. (Genius thinking on my behalf..lol)

But now I had another problem.........
The jelly would be too cool to seal the lids....I remembered that Rhonda had posted about canning in the oven with small batches, so I had a read and decided on popping them in the oven for roughly 35 minutes on a medium heat.
This method sealed them nicely once they cooled. It popped those little buttons down as soon as I tried to move them.
Done!
I think I will have to try this jelly on a cold meat like lamb or silverside. It would also be good on toast or a crumpet too. I can taste the rhubarb flavour, then comes the light minty flavour at the end. It's very delicious and very light in flavour, but I'm not sure I will make it again, unless I add the lemon juice from the start of the cooking process to help set the jelly.

4 lovely jars with a delicate flavour of Rhubarb and Mint.

I love how the freckles of mint dance through the colour of the rhubarb.

even after all that fussing, some settlement of the mint on the top still remains....Oh well.