Watermelon Rind Jam with Lemon
Love watermelon? Put it up as jam for the winter! It's a wonderfully practical, zero-waste recipe. The kids happily eat the juicy flesh, and luckily that leaves me the rinds, which used to get tossed out — until I found this simple recipe from Galina Poskrebysheva back in 2000. She suggested making candied rinds, but I leave it as jam. Ever since, I look forward to thick-rind watermelons every year (Krasnodar ones, mostly) and cook up this little treat.
Cooking method
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Step 1:
A thick-rind watermelon is best for this recipe. Eat the flesh and keep the rind with a thin layer of fruit still on it.
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Step 2:
Cut into slices and trim off the hard green outer skin.
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Step 3:
Cut the trimmed rind into even cubes.
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Step 4:
Cover the watermelon pieces with water, bring to a boil, and cook for 3 minutes. Then drain and rinse the boiled pieces with cold water.
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Step 5:
Drain in a colander.
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Step 6:
Grate the lemon zest and squeeze the juice from the lemon.
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Step 7:
Make a syrup from the water and sugar.
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Step 8:
Add the lemon zest, lemon juice, and watermelon rind pieces to the syrup. Bring to a boil and cook over low heat for 15 minutes. Turn off the heat and let it cool.
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Step 9:
Bring to a boil once more and cook over low heat until done. The rind pieces will turn translucent.
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Step 10:
Pack into jars and wait for guests to drop by.
- An unusual dessert to surprise your friends and family with. It's my favorite treat.
Caloric content of the products possible in the composition of the dish
- Lemon - 16 kcal/100g
- Lemon zest - 47 kcal/100g
- Granulated sugar - 398 kcal/100g
- Sugar - 398 kcal/100g
- Water - 0 kcal/100g
- Watermelon rind - 18 kcal/100g
