Magic Un-sweet Raspberry Jam

RASPBERRY LIME CHIA JAM - via seriouseats.com

Ingredients

• 2 cups (8 ounces) frozen raspberries, divided
• 1 tablespoon mildly-flavored honey
• 1 1/2 tablespoons chia seeds
• juice of 1 lime

Procedures

1. 1
   In your smallest saucepan, warm 1 cup of raspberries over low heat, covered, just until they appear fully defrosted and have begun to give up their juice.
2. 2
   Remove berries from heat and stir in honey until fully melted and berries have broken up into a uniform texture.
3. 3
   Stir in lime juice and chia seeds. Allow to sit undisturbed until chia seeds have bloomed, about ten minutes.
4. 4
   Gently fold in remaining cup of raspberries. Store in the refrigerator.

TIP FOR KEEPING BERRIES FROM GOING MOLDY:

When you get your berries home, prepare a mixture of one part vinegar (white or apple cider probably work best) and ten parts water. Dump the berries into the mixture and swirl around. Drain, rinse if you want (though the mixture is so diluted I find you can't taste the vinegar,) and pop in the fridge. The vinegar kills any mold spores and other bacteria that might be on the surface of the fruit, and voila! Raspberries will last a week or more, and I've had strawberries go almost two weeks without getting moldy and soft.

Moroccan Preserved Lemons

• Scrub the lemons with a vegetable brush and dry them off.
• Cut off the little rounded bit at the stem end if there's a hard little piece of the stem attached. From the other end of the lemon, make a large cut by slicing lengthwise downward, stopping about 1-inch (3 cm) from the bottom, then making another downward slice, so you've incised the lemon with an X shape.
• Pack coarse salt into the lemon where you made the incisions. Don't be skimpy with the salt: use about 1 tablespoon per lemon.
• Put the salt-filled lemons in a clean, large glass jar with a tight-fitting lid. Add a few coriander seeds, a bay leaf, a dried chili, and a cinnamon stick if you want. (Or a combination of any of them.)
• Press the lemons very firmly in the jar to get the juices flowing. Cover and let stand overnight.
• The next day do the same, pressing the lemons down, encouraging them to release more juice as they start to soften. Repeat for a 2-3 days until the lemons are completely covered with liquid. If your lemons aren't too juicy, add more freshly-squeezed lemon juice until their submerged, as I generally have to do.
• After one month, when the preserved lemons are soft, they're ready to use. Store the lemons in the refrigerator, where they'll keep for at least 6 months. Rinse before using to remove excess salt.