Try it on a cheese plate, mixed with meat stock, cooked, and mounted with butter for a sauce, spread thin and dehydrated to make a sweet-sour fruit leather, etc. Yield: about 2 cups of jam
1.5cupsripe rowan berriespicked after a couple hard frosts
1cupwhite granulated sugar
5cupsdiced firm appleslike braeburn, fuji, honeycrisp or granny smith, peeled and diced
1tablespoonfresh gingerroughly chopped, or more to taste
Pinchof salt
Instructions
Cook all ingredients on medium heat in a non-reactive pot until soft, about 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. If the pan gets dry, add a tablespoon or so of water.
Pass the mixture through a food mill. Put the jam into a labeled, dated container, then freeze or refrigerate until needed.
If the jam looks watery, put it back on the heat and cook gently to dry it out until it thickens. The jam will keep in the fridge for a week or two and will mellow with time.
Notes
Rowanberries are an acquired taste. Picking the berries after a frost will help calm their astringency, but they will always have a certain edge to them. Look for hints of grapefruit and orange along with the astringency.