Looking for ways to stretch your food budget? One tip is to re-think your food “scraps.” Some things you might normally discard in the trash can be transformed into some tasty items to add to your freezer or pantry for future use. You can make homemade bone broth from a chicken carcass or beef bones left from cooking a roast. Those carrot peelings and ends of celery sticks? You can throw those in with the bones to flavor the broth or to make homemade stock. I even knew about using watermelon rinds to make pickles, but I only recently discovered that they can also be used to make preserves, and it is delicious!
This is a simple recipe to make, but you will need to allow two days as the cubed rind has to macerate in sugar overnight in the refrigerator before cooking and canning it. This recipe uses a water bath canning method.
WATERMELON RIND PRESERVES
- 6-7 cups of peeled and cubed watermelon rind
- 4 cups sugar
- 1 T. lemon juice
- 1 tsp. cinnamon
Peel the dark green skin off of your watermelon rind, then cut up into 1 inch chunks leaving a little bit of watermelon flesh on the rind. Place cubed rind into a large bowl and pour the sugar over the cubes. Stir until well mixed, then place in the refrigerator overnight to macerate. (That means get juicy!)
The next day, pour the cubes and juice into a large stock pot. Stir in lemon juice and cinnamon. Bring up to a low boil, then turn down to low and let simmer for about two hours. You’ll want the rinds to begin to look translucent. Carefully blend with an immersion blender to puree.
You can do a “spoon test” to see if the preserves are thickening up. Just dip a spoon into the preserves, then turn upside down on the counter and allow to cool for a minute or two. Run your finger down the middle of the back of the spoon to leave a trail. If the two sides stay set up and don’t immediately run onto the trail you made, the preserves are ready to can up.
Ladle preserves into clean, hot, sterilized pint jars (or half pint jars), leaving about a 1 inch head space. Wipe the rims with a damp cloth to remove any sticky residue. Place lid and bands on the jars and tighten.
Bring the water in your water bath canning pot to boiling, making sure it is deep enough to cover your jars by at least 1-2 inches. Place the jars of preserves into the boiling water and process for 15 minutes. Turn off burner, carefully remove jars from the stock pot and place on a clean towel to cool. Do not disturb or move for at least 12 hours. The jars should “pop” to seal. After they’re completely cooled, check the lids to make sure they’re sealed. (They should have no give when you press on the middle.) If a jar did not seal, simply place it in the refrigerator and use within two weeks. This recipe yields 2-3 pints using a smaller size watermelon. I used a very large watermelon that yielded 5 1/2 pints, so I simply doubled the recipe.
If you’re wondering how this tastes – it tastes good! It is very sweet and has a flavor that is similar to apple jelly.
