Madelaine Bullwinkel, AM’68, has been teaching cooking in her Hinsdale, Illinois, kitchen since 1977. Her cookbook Gourmet Preserves Chez Madelaine (Contemporary Books) first came out in 1984, “at a time when people were getting into gardening again,” she says, “and when small quantity food preserving was an idea that seemed—pardon the expression—ripe.”

The book was reissued in 2005, then again in 2017 under the hipper title Artisanal Preserves: Small-Batch Jams, Jellies, Marmalades, and More (Agate Surrey). Bullwinkel has a new title too: “cyber chef.” In May she began teaching a series of Zoom classes for alumni on egg basics, egg yolks, and egg whites.

The recipes in Artisanal Preserves include some unusual combinations: tomato prune jam, rhubarb fig jam, rosemary red onion jelly, lime zucchini marmalade, ratatouille marmalade. Less esoteric is blueberry jam with mint, which brings together two flavors of summer. When Bullwinkel has taught this recipe, she says, “people go bananas over it.”

Blueberry Jam with Mint

Yield: 5 cups

2 pounds fresh blueberries
½ cup water
2 tablespoons lemon juice
2 cups sugar
4 6-inch sprigs fresh mint

Pick over the berries, rinse, and combine with water in a heavy nonreactive 5-quart pan. Cover and bring mixture to a boil. Simmer, uncovered, for 10 minutes.

Add lemon juice, then begin adding sugar ½ cup at a time, allowing the mixture to regain the boil before adding more. Let jam boil for 5 minutes.

Pour the jam into a 2-quart measure. Submerge the mint sprigs tied with twine, crushing them against the sides and bottom of the container. Let them steep for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove the mint.

Fill hot sterilized jars to within ½ inch of the lips. Wipe rims clean, attach new lids, and screw caps on tightly. Invert the hot jars momentarily for a quick seal, or process in a boiling water bath, submerged by 1 inch, for 10 minutes.

Reprinted with permission from Artisanal Preserves: Small-Batch Jams, Jellies, Marmalades, and More by Madelaine Bullwinkel, Agate Surrey, June 2017.

Read “You Can Fix It,” an interview with Bullwinkel.