In June I bought a flat of strawberries and five pounds of rhubarb. In an effort to be super efficient in my kitchen and minimize the amount of dishes that I had to do, I cooked the following preserves in this order.
Pickled strawberry jam (about one pint of strawberries)
Strawberry-rhubarb jam (about two pints of strawberries and 1.5 lbs rhubarb)
Strawberry-basil jam (about two pints of strawberries)
Rhubeena (remaining rhubarb)
Red hot rhubarb (2 lbs rhubarb)
My first piece of advice is to chop and measure out all of the fruit before starting to ensure that you have enough ingredients to complete each recipe.
In one pot, I made the pickled strawberry jam. Then, without washing the pot, I made the strawberry-rhubarb jam. A quick wash and then I concluded the strawberry portion of the day with the strawberry-basil jam, which included a quick trip to the back yard for fresh basil.
In the other pot, I cooked the rhubarb that was to be strained for the rhubeena. Then, without washing the pot, I made the red hot rhubarb. The following morning I completed the rhubeena.
The other piece of advice that I have when working with similar ingredients is to start with the plainest flavours and work towards the more prominent flavours. For example, if I had started with the red hot rhubarb, there is the possibility that all of the recipes that followed would have acquired a cinnamon flavour.
The strawberry basil jam sounds delicious.
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