It has been a good year for beetroot. It has also been a fabulous year for oranges.
Too fabulous for many of the farmers as bumper crops have lowered prices domestically whilst the high Australian dollar has seen export sales plummet. After years of drought and pests it is the dollar which is currently causing citrus growers pain amid something of an orange glut. It seems that my daily juice is not enough and so I have been looking for other ways to use oranges and indeed to encourage others to use oranges. Today’s enticement is Beetroot & Orange Jam.
Beetroot & Orange Jam
Note: The below recipe makes enough for one small jar – I have written the recipe in a small quantity to show it can easily be made with one medium beetroot. If you have more beetroots it would make sense to double, triple, or quadruple the amounts given here.
- 200g beetroot peeled and finely grated. (I use the same size grater as I do for Parmesan cheese).
- 200g sugar
- 2 oranges
- 200ml water
- 1/4 tsp chilli powder (optional – this amount works as a flavour enhancer rather than adding any real heat to the jam – if you are unconvinced then pls omit)
Zest one of the oranges and reserve the zest. Cut the oranges in half and juice them retaining the empty orange skin. Place the water, grated beetroot, orange juice and orange skin halves into a saucepan. Bring to the boil and simmer until the beetroot has cooked – about 1/2 hour. Remove the orange skin and add the sugar and chilli powder if using. Bring back to the boil and cook until the mixture thickens and reaches setting point. Stir in the zest, cook for another minute or so. Pour into sterilised jars and seal.
I enjoy this jam with both sweet and savoury things. It is good on toast or on scones (I keep thinking I must try it on pumpkin scones) but it is also good with cheese and cold meat.
To see what others are doing to preserve their seasonal produce head over to the Garden of Eden.
This recipe sounds wonderful! I make a lot of different jams and jellies and am always looking for some new and unusual recipes. This one sounds like a winner…going to have to give it a try!
Sounds very different and interesting. I don’t eat jams and jellies but DB does. However like I commented on Greens and Jeans I am trying to figure out how to reduce the sugar for him. I have no more fresh beets for this year but will keep the recipe.
Recipes like this always inspire me to think more out of the box on my vegetable crops. I love fruit combined with items but tend to stick to tried and true combinations. I would never have thought of this – and yet now that you present the concept and recipe… it sounds perfectly wonderful!
Ooh I hope i remember this for next year, for when I intend to start growing my own again. I know my husband would love this too, as he likes anything beetroot.
We have a favourite salad that combines beetroot with orange, watercress and Chinese leaves. It works really well.
What an unusual recipe! I love jams that can compliment both sweet and savory items, but unfortunately we don’t suffer from an orange epidemic around here.
What other fruits do you think would fare well in this recipe?
Oh…this sounds fantastic!!!
Thanks all, I do like the combination and am now fevervishly thinking what other veg fruit combo’s could work.
Mark – I think I’d enjoy your salad – perhaps iwth a bit of feta thrown in for good measure.
Prairie Cat – You could try lemon, alternatively something like Date would work – I posted a recipe for Beetroot & Date Chutney last week which is a chutney but is almost sweet enough to work as a jam. Alternatively Apple goes well with Beetroot – I make Beetroot and Apple relish all the time (again it has vinegar in it though). Hmmm now you’ve got me thinking……
Wilderness – if it just refined sugar you want to cut out the substituting something naturally very sweet would work well particularly as beets do have a high natural sweetness. I think you could probably make a version which is Beetroot, Date and Orange that would be nice. Otherwise I think sometimes its not so much a matter of substituing in the recipe but just of using the end result more sparingly….easier said than done I know…..
Shaheen – I’m really looking forward to seeing what you make with your own produce!
ooh, I like the sound of this, and thanks for the small quantity recipe, always handy for a first try! 🙂
I made your jam yesterday on a snowy cold day here in Vermont. This morning, I completely enjoyed it on some toast. The color was fantastic, and the orange flavor blended so nicely with the beets. Your suggestion of using a small cheese type grater to grate the beets was very helpful. The only change I made was I used minced crystalized ginger instead of the hot pepper. I will definitely make this again, thank you!
No problem at all and I’m glad you enjoyed it. I like the idea of a snowy day in Vermont very much – I’ve just had a week of temperatures close to 100F with bushfires close by so snow in Vermont sounds altogether too romantic for words.
I did a google search for beetroot jam and this came up. I have beetroot and oranges. I wondered if it keeps like other jam or relishes?
It does keep as in doesn’t go off but I think the flavour is best when it has been made pretty recently. In generally I find jams tend to be best immediately and chutneys best after about 6 months.
I finally made one without the chilly powder. Kinda DIY’d it a bit by adding some dates, figs, 2 limes… And it tastes bomb! But my main issue was I didnt have a grater so I used scissors to chop it inside the pot itself and from time to time I use fork to smash the beetroot.. Kinda cursing myself for not having a grater but it was worth it in the end! All in all it took me almost two hours to make it.. And Im a bit of a noob at cooking so skills arent will sharpened yet hahaha