With apologies to Flo Rida and Will.i.am: Oh hot damn, this is my jam! To give credit where it’s due, I got the idea from my friend Carrie, who found it in Food & Wine magazine. I love when I stumble upon recipes by spying on people’s grocery carts. Carrie shared the recipe with me, and I knew immediately how I wanted to alter it. I added harissa since carrots, lemon and harissa work brilliantly together. The original recipe calls for cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg, so pumpkin pie spice was the obvious substitute.
This recipe is so easy to make, though please do not cheat and buy pre-grated carrots. They are far too dry and will not macerate well. You have to grate by hand for this jam. It’s a wonderfully versatile condiment; serve it to guests with crackers and goat cheese or use it as a base for a terrific dressing for a spinach salad (mix 1 tablespoon jam with 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard, 2 tablespoons white wine or cider vinegar and ¼ cup olive oil). It is equally delicious on a bagel with cream cheese. Or serve it with pork tenderloin. Or just grab a spoon and dig in (I admit to nothing!).
Spiced Carrot Jam Adapted from a recipe from Food & Wine magazine Makes 2 pints
6 cups freshly grated carrots (about 1 lb. medium carrots)
1¼ cups white sugar
¼ cup lemon juice
1 Tbsp. lemon zest
½ tsp. Kosher salt
1 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
1 Tbsp. harissa (or to taste)
• Mix the carrots, sugar, lemon juice, lemon zest and salt in a nonreactive bowl, cover and refrigerate 6 to 8 hours or overnight.
• Pour mixture and all the juice into a medium pot. Stir in ½ cup water, harissa and pumpkin pie spice and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Lower heat to medium and cook 40 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the liquid reduces and reaches a syrupy consistency (Add more water if needed.).
• Remove from heat and let cool to room temperature. Place the jam in sterile mason jars and refrigerate. Jam will keep refrigerated up to 3 weeks.
This article appears in December 2013.