Apple or Pear Scrap Jelly
Miller Union, Atlanta
This gorgeous jelly is sure to impress your family and friends without them ever knowing the secret ingredient is actually leftovers: the cores, peels, and bruised pieces of apples or pears. JBF Award winner Steven Satterfield serves this at his restaurant alongside chicken rillettes, but this preserve also pumps up a pedestrian PB&J.
Ingredients
- 4 cups apple or pear scraps (cores, peels, bruised fruit, etc.)
- 2 cups apple cider
- 2 cups water
- 1 cup apple cider vinegar
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- ¼ cup cranberries (fresh or frozen)
- ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
Method
Combine apple (or pear) scraps, apple cider, water, vinegar, sugar, cranberries, and salt in a medium saucepot. Cook on medium until solids are soft and falling apart, about 30 minutes.
Transfer the mixture to a fine mesh sieve and strain over a large bowl to catch the liquid. Do not press down on the solids as they drain and allow to strain for 30 minutes.
Discard the solids, then return the remaining liquid back into the saucepot and cook over medium heat until reduced by three-quarters and large, slow bubbles form, about
20 minutes.
Remove from the heat and let cool. Once the jelly is cool, check the viscosity. If it’s loose, return the mixture to the pan and cook over medium heat one more time until large bubbles form. (Be careful not to cook the jelly to the point of caramelizing. Watch out for nutty smells—it should smell like bright apples while cooking.) Store in the refrigerator for two weeks, or preserve using the method below.
While the jelly is cooking, sterilize jars in a water bath by submerging the jars in simmering water in a large pot lined with a jar rack. Keep in water for 5 minutes then carefully pull out with tongs and set upside down on a clean work space to dry.
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From Waste Not: How to Get the Most from Your Food by The James Beard Foundation/Rizzoli Publishing.
Yield
2 cups
