This summer, turn plums into a tangy and lightly spiced plum sauce. Then, come winter, you can use it as a base for sticky plum sauce-glazed meatballs, chicken lettuce wraps, and even wings.
Ingredients
4 pounds fresh plums, pitted and quartered
1 small onion, quartered
1 garlic clove, peeled
3-1/2 cups sugar
2 cups cider vinegar
1 tablespoon ground ginger
1 tablespoon ground mustard
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
Instructions
1Puree the plums and aromatics and cook
2In a blender or food processor, process the plums, onion and garlic in batches until smooth. Transfer to a Dutch oven. Stir in the remaining ingredients. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer until reduced by a third, 60 to 90 minutes.
3Ladle the sauce into jars
4Carefully ladle the hot mixture into hot sterilized half-pint jars, leaving 1/4-inch headspace. Remove the air bubbles and adjust the headspace, if needed, by adding more of the mixture. Wipe the rims of the jars. Center the lids on the jars and screw on the bands until fingertip tight.
5Process the jars
6Place the jars into the canner with simmering water, making sure they're completely covered with water. Bring the water to a boil and process for 15 minutes. Remove the jars and let them cool. Test Kitchen Tip: The processing time listed is for altitudes of 1,000 feet or less. Add 1 minute to the processing time for each 1,000 feet of additional altitude.
