Kumquat, Apple, and Grapefruit Section Jam

I don't think I had ever even seen kumquats until last week. They are kind of adorable and I had been dying to make something from this book.

This jam/marmalade takes three days to make -- but only about an hour of active time. All of the fruit cut up and then combined with sugar and lemon juice and brought to simmer --then transferred to a bowl and covered with parchment paper and refrigerated overnight. The fruit is again brought to simmer the next day and refrigerated again overnight. On the third day, the fruit is brought to a boil until it reaches 221 on a candy thermometer. Which is supposed to take 8-10 minutes. At 18 minutes, and never having passed the 219 point on the thermometer, I gave it up.

But this jelly turned out just fine (sweet with a hint of bitter) anyway. I do think I would have preferred all of the fruit to be have chopped in smaller pieces than called for in the recipe.

This tasted equally good on an English muffin yesterday and used as a glaze for a piece of baked tilapia at lunch today.