Strawberry and Chamomile Jam

Went to the farmers market... And you will say... big deal Yannis..
Yes, but I went to a special farmers market rather far away from where I live.
I go there on Fridays because I can find Christos one of the producers there that I really like. Will write an article about him one of these days and you will realise why he is so special.

Anyway... He had fresh and tasty strawberries and I bought about 3 pounds of them. Also bought a lot of veggies and as he always adds a few freebies, he added this bunch of chamomile. And he actually put it in the same bag as the strawberries.
When I went home I took one of the strawberries and ate it... The scent of chamomile lingered and it really complimented the taste of the strawberry. Then I had an idea to make a jam out of both of them.
And boy was I glad I did!

Only turned out 3 jars... one big and two small ones.
Yesterday while I was doing the photo shoot for the final product the guy came to fix the alarm system. As he came outside from the back door he saw the process and I gave him a piece of bread with some jam to taste.
He loved it...
Afterwards when I asked him how much I owe him he said: One Jar of that jam....
I gave him the big one...

And now I have none.. I must visit the farmers market again very soon!!
Recipe follows.. oh! One thing! I love coriander and I added 1 tbsp of it in the jam.
Big mistake.. it overpowered the taste of the chamomile and so in the recipe I more than halved it... beware...

Diffuculty: 1 of 3

Duration:40 minutes active time and a night in the fridge

Serves:3 jars

Ingredients

1 kilo of strawberries trimmed and cut in 2 or 4 if they are too big

600 g of caster sugar

20+10 g of chamomile (flowers only)

1 tsp coriander seeds

Juice from 1/4 of a lemon

Method

Trim and wash the strawberries.
Let them drain well.

Prepare the chamomile. In a small pot we boil the 20 g of flowers with 100 ml of water for 10 minutes. Drain, keep the liquid and discard the used flowers.
Add the liquid in a big bowl. Add the strawberries there with the sugar.
Crush the mixture with your hands.
Add the coriander seeds and the rest of the flowers really chopped up finely.
Leave the bowl in the fridge all night.

Next day we boil the mixture till it reaches 105 Celsius.
Skim the scum that is produced in the beginning... You could omit that step but the color of the jam will be better if you skim it.
When the jam sets add the lemon juice, stir and remove from heat.

Transfer Jam in 3 jars and keep them in the fridge. Do not worry about sterilizing the jars. They will not last that long.