Month: July 2011

Sweets

Bluebarb Jam

by Wendi18 Comments on Bluebarb Jam

There ought to be a PSA for home canners – This is your kitchen on bluebarb jam.

Note to self, the next time you want to make seedless jam, try and think about it before the jam is cooked.  Because I bet it would be a helluva lot easier to put the berries in the food processor and then push that through a fine mesh sieve than the way I did it…which was to cook the jam and then spend an hour trying to force it through the sieve.  Yes, I know Ball says not to use the Cuisinart, that it can impact the gelling of the jam.  I know and I am willing to take my chances. In fact, I used the Cuisinart to make a mostly seedless version of this jam since the unfortunate incident pictured above.  And it worked just fine.

I’ve given this jam away to friends, neighbors, and family.  Most recently, I sent my father in law back to Florida with a 4 ounce jar when he was visiting this spring.  He called me a few weeks later to say it was his favorite jam ever and he might have to schedule another trip in order to get resupplied.

In case you were wondering, this is the other half of the lemon/blueberry sauce combo.

Do you really need another reason to make this?

Bluebarb Jam

Adapted from The Complete Book of Small Batch Preserving

BAH Note: I got a solid 6 cups out of this recipe.  Please note that you should have your water bath at nearly a full boil and all your jars and supplies prepped and ready to go before you start the jam because this jam is super quick to cook.  I got a little creative when I realized the jam would not cook long enough for the fruit to really break down and I chose to ignore the instruction to roughly chop my blueberries (as if).  Once I had added the blueberries, lemon juice, and pectin, I gave the pot a good turn or two with my immersion blender.  If you’re a stickler for the rules, ignore that suggestion and go ahead and chop your blueberries…just don’t ask me to wash your cutting board.

  • 3 1/2 cups fresh or frozen rhubarb, chopped
  • 1/2 cup water
  • 2 1/4 cups fresh or frozen blueberries
  • 1 tablespoon lemon juice
  • 1 box dry fruit pectin
  • 5 1/2 cups granulated sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon cardamom

Place the rhubarb and water in a large stainless steel pot or enamel dutch oven over high heat and bring to a boil.  Cover, reduce the heat and simmer for 5 minutes, stirring often.

Add the blueberries, lemon juice, and pectin to the pot.  Stir to thoroughly combine.  Bring to a boil over high heat, stirring constantly. Using an immersion blender, carefully blend the mixture to smooth out the texture and break down the fruit.

Add the sugar and bring the jam to a boil, stirring constantly, letting it reach a hard boil for 1 minute.  Remove from the heat, ladle the jam into heated jars, leaving 1/4 inch head space, and process for 10 minutes.

Let the jars cool for 24 hours before checking the seal and storing the jars. Any jars that have not sealed should be refrigerated or immediately reprocessed using new lids.

{printable recipe}

Uncategorized

Gingered Rhubarb Jam with Honey

by Wendi17 Comments on Gingered Rhubarb Jam with Honey

Once I finally bought a pot large enough to boil more than seven quarts of water at a time, I wanted to jump into canning.  The problem was that in our teeny, tiny house, there’s not a lot of room to store the stuff we already have, let alone the stuff that I want to can.  I convinced The Mistah to clean off a shelf in the basement for the canning supplies to live on.  But I still don’t have a great place to store the jars that are filled and sealed.  I see a trip to IKEA in my future to add another shelf to our IVAR system for the exclusive use of jams, pickles, and chutneys.

Fortunately, I made no promise to The Mistah that canning would ever save us any money.  But when he asks why I need to go out and buy a new shelf, especially since we got rid of a bunch of them just a few years ago, I’m going to hand him a jar of jam without saying a word.  The jam speaks for itself folks.

Gingered Rhubarb Jam with Honey

Adapted from The Complete Book of Small Batch Preserving

BAH Note: This book has been my canning salvation.  The recipes are all geared towards small batch production which suits my style perfectly.  I thought the Gingered Rhubarb came out tasting more strongly of honey with a gingered undertone.  It was a great addition to my steel cut oats in the morning but could also be used with pork, chicken, or biscuits.  I use a 5.5 quart dutch oven to make my jams and wouldn’t recommend using a pot any smaller than that.  I was able to get seven 4-ounce jars out of this recipe which is as close to the 3 1/4 cup yield stated in the book as I could hope to get.

  • 1 tablespoon lemon juice
  • zest of 1 lemon
  • 2 cups fresh or frozen rhubarb, chopped
  • 1 large Granny Smith apple, peeled, cored, and finely diced
  • 1/2 cup water
  • 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
  • 1 cup honey
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons crystallized ginger, finely diced

Place the rhubarb, apple, water, and lemon zest into a large stainless steel pot or enamel dutch oven over high heat and bring to a boil.  Cover, reduce heat, and simmer for 15 minutes or until the fruit is tender.

Add the sugar, honey, ginger, and lemon juice.  Raise the heat and boil uncovered, stirring frequently, until the mixture gels, about 8 to 10 minutes.

Ladle the jam into heated jars, leaving 1/4 inch head space, and process for 10 minutes.  Let the jars cool for 24 hours before checking the seal and storing the jars. Any jars that have not sealed should be refrigerated or immediately reprocessed using new lids.

 {printable recipe}

Main Course

Flashback Friday – Some Assembly Required

by Wendi10 Comments on Flashback Friday – Some Assembly Required

Flashback Friday

The following originally appeared on 11/19/08 at Exit 51.

Some Assembly Required

That phrase has gotten such a bad reputation thanks to our collective experiences putting together Barbie Dream Houses or Huffy Bikes or anything bought at IKEA.  I will admit that just seeing those words sends an icy chill through me…do I want it enough to figure out how it goes together?  Often, the answer is no.  But sometimes, not only is it worth it to say yes but the assembly is actually easy. I’ll give you an example.

I have a recipe for foolproof Shrimp Salad from Cook’s Illustrated.  From start to finish the whole thing takes maybe thirty minutes.  But I was feeling a bit lazy one day and didn’t even want to do that much cooking.  So instead of cooking the shrimp myself, I let the nice man at the Wegman’s seafood counter take care of that for me.  He didn’t seem to mind one bit.  And really, they know how to do shrimp.  I highly recommend using their court bouillon (plain) shrimp and their garlic/old bay shrimp.

All I had to do then was introduce Wegman’s shrimp to Cook’s Illustrated’s recipe.  It only took a few moments for everyone to be mixing and mingling in my big glass bowl.  They got along great and I was sad to see them go (onto other people’s plates that this).

Don’t think that you have to use fancy schmancy store cooked shrimp though.  Whether you cook your own or outsource it like I did, this is some assembly that you won’t mind.

Foolproof Shrimp Salad

From Cook’s Illustrated

CI Notes:  This recipe can also be prepared with large shrimp (26/30); the cooking time will be 1 to 2 minutes less. The shrimp can be cooked up to 24 hours in advance, but hold off on dressing the salad until ready to serve. The recipe can be easily doubled; cook the shrimp in a 7-quart Dutch oven and increase the cooking time to 12 to 14 minutes. Serve the salad on a bed of greens or on a buttered and grilled bun.

Serves 4

1 pound extra-large shrimp (21-25), peeled, deveined, and tails removed
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice plus 1 additional tablespoon, spent halves reserved
5 sprigs fresh parsley leaves plus 1 teaspoon minced parsley leaves
3 sprigs fresh tarragon leaves plus 1 teaspoon minced tarragon leaves
1 teaspoon whole black peppercorns plus ground black pepper
1 tablespoon sugar
Table salt
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1 small shallot , minced fine (about 2 tablespoons)
1 small stalk celery , minced (about 1/3 cup)

1. Combine shrimp, 1/4 cup lemon juice, reserved lemon halves, parsley sprigs, tarragon sprigs, whole peppercorns, sugar, and 1 teaspoon salt with 2 cups cold water in medium saucepan. Place saucepan over medium heat and cook shrimp, stirring several times, until pink, firm to touch, and centers are no longer translucent, 8 to 10 minutes (water should be just bubbling around edge of pan and register 165 degrees on instant-read thermometer). Remove pan from heat, cover, and let shrimp sit in broth for 2 minutes.

2. Meanwhile, fill medium bowl with ice water. Drain shrimp into colander, discard lemon halves, herbs, and spices. Immediately transfer shrimp to ice water to stop cooking and chill thoroughly, about 3 minutes. Remove shrimp from ice water and pat dry with paper towels.

3. Whisk together mayonnaise, shallot, celery, remaining tablespoon lemon juice, minced parsley, and minced tarragon in medium bowl. Cut shrimp in half lengthwise and then each half into thirds; add shrimp to mayonnaise mixture and toss to combine. Adjust seasoning with salt and pepper and serve.