Persimmon Ginger Jam

When persimmons are in season, they can be a sweet treat all by themselves, or blended down to make a nice jam to go along with your morning pastries or an accompaniment on any homemade charcuterie board.

Ingredients

• 2 (300 g) persimmon, flesh only
• 50 g golden raisins
• 2 tteaspoons crystallised ginger (or fresh ginger root)
• 1 Tablespoon honey
• 120 ml water
• A simple way to thicken up your mixture would be to
  add 1 teaspoon of chia seeds to the raw jam, mix, and let stand until thickened; add more if desired to adjust to a thicker consistency.

Directions

1. Place a pot of boiling water on the stove. Remove the cores from the persimmons and gently score an "x" on the bottom of each persimmon.
2. Gently place the persimmons into the boiling water for 30-45 seconds. Immediately remove from the boiling water and place into an ice water bath to "shock" the persimmons. Once chilled, you should be able to easily remove the skins. Once the skins are removed, cut in
   half and remove the seeds, leaving just the fruity fresh.
3. Place the fresh of the persimmon (should be about 300 g into a small sauce pot. Add the remaining ingredients and cook over medium heat for 10-12 minutes, stirring occasionally. Ingredients should be reduced and broken down into a similar syrup/jam style consistency.
4. Cool mixture completely. Place half of the mixture into the Vitamix container and secure the blade base. Depending on the consistency desired, you can run the machine at different speeds - for a chunkier style jam, select Variable 5 and pulse 8-10 times. For a smoother texture, start the blender on its lowest speed, then quickly increase to its highest speed,
   blending for 15 seconds.