Archive for the 'preserves' Category
I’m in full Christmas mode, finishing up a piece for the holiday issue of Parents Canada magazine. I actually pulled up Bing and Bowie in order to jolt my brain into writing something sufficiently holiday-spirited, then baked gingerbread. (Upside-down Pear Gingerbread – remember it? The one that apparently caused a run on molasses in Jakarta? Oh yes, ’tis almost the season!)
But since they frown on eating cake for dinner, I thawed some of that pork. (I may just start throwing the shrinkwrapped tenderloins in W’s bathtub to thaw in the evenings – they’d make fine sea monsters for his pirate ship.) Tenderloin #1 was hastily rubbed with a dry barbecue rub I had on my shelf and grilled. Bam.
And really in the end the pork was just a mode of delivery for the pear chutney, which I’m quite enamoured with. It’s from Well Preserved by Mary Anne Dragan, a newly re-released cookbook I’ve had on my shelf for years (I do love the new makeover though!) and reference quite often when I’m in the mood to put stuff up in jars. If you’re looking to do something with all those pears, here’s just the thing. It may just oust the cranberry sauce from our Thanksgiving table this year.
(Please note: as you may be able to tell from this photo, I forgot it on the stovetop and nearly candied it. I had to add a bit of water just to coax it back into something remotely chutneylike. It was still fabulous.)
Pear Chutney
The author suggests serving this chutney alongside roast chicken, turkey or pork, stirred into curries, or spooned over baked squash or sweet potato. (Sounds just about perfect for Thanksgiving to me.) Reprinted (with permission) from Well Preserved, Small Batch Preserving for the New Cook (Whitecap).
6 cups chopped pears, peeled or not
1 cup chopped apple
1/2 cup finely chopped onion
1/2 cup finely chopped red bell pepper
3/4 cup dark raisins
1/2 cup chopped candied ginger
2 cups brown sugar
3/4 cup cider vinegar
finely grated zest and juice of 1 lemon
1 Tbsp. mustard seeds
2 tsp. dried chili flakes
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1/2 tsp. cloves
Prepare the preserving jars according to package directions. (For me, this means wash them. I like giving them a run through the dishwasher, so they come out clean and hot – when you ladle in the hot preserves, they seal perfectly as they cool.)
Combine all the ingredients in your preserving pot. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring occasionally. Simmer, stirring often, until the pears are tender and the mixture has thickened, about 1 hour.
Remove from the heat. Ladle the chutney into hot, sterilized jars, leaving a 1/2 inch head space. Wipe the rims clean. Seal according to manufacturer’s directions. Process the jars in a boiling water bath for 10 minutes. (Or not.)
Makes about five to six 8 oz. (250 mL) jars.
One Year Ago: Skillet Jambalaya
September 29 2009 | pork and preserves | 21 Comments »
We’ve spent more time than usual at the dog park this week, having doubled the quantity of dog in our house by taking in a stunning Rhodesian ridgeback, truly a supermodel among dogs. To say her dad is a young, outdoorsy type is a colossal understatement, so as Comox is accustomed to spending her weekends on backcountry ski trips, mountain biking, hiking/rock climbing and the like, she’s ripped. She’s Wonder Woman to Lou’s Fred Flinstone. Quite the dominatrix, too. They are the best of pals.
I had been noticing some sort of berry growing in abundance up and down every path, and over the past week they have been turning a more alluring shade of wine-purple, hanging all lusty and low in clusters, like teeny grapes with a little more breathing room.
Every time I stopped to examine them and wonder aloud what they might be, Mike would put his head down and walk faster.
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August 28 2009 | preserves | 31 Comments »
It’s Official: I’m a grown-up. Married to a dude with gout.
At 41, this is not the first of his old-guy afflictions: in 2005, when we moved back from Vancouver in blazing hot late June, packing everything we owned into a rented U-Haul with me 8 months pregnant and nowhere to live (besides my parents’ basement) when we got back, he came down with a raging case of shingles. Shingles! Damn sexy, they are. I wish I could find that photo I made him pose for – in his tighty whities, black socks and nothing else, reclining chaise-lounge-style on the bed with a can of Pil and ring of red blistery scabs around his middle. I called him Fred Garvin, Male Prostitute.
OK, why is it I can’t access video of FGMP from NBC, MySpace or Hulu unless I’m in the states? what century is this? have they not heard the phrase WORLD WIDE WEB??
So it’s a good thing it’s cherry season – apparently cherry juice is good if you’ve got The Gout. (I discovered this on GoutPal.com. GoutPal. For real.) Something to do with the fact that they help your body eliminate uric acid. Something I didn’t expect to have to know for another good twenty years or so. BC cherries are all over the place, but there are a handful of Nanking cherry bushes on our block that are loaded with fruit about to turn winey. The birds are taking care of some, and two bushes (trees? shrubs?) are curiously devoid of fruit, but the rest are almost too easy; there’s no sport to it. I run my hand down the underside of a branch and loosen each cluster with my fingers, holding a colander underneath to catch them. Easy. Also, my excellent neighbours brought me over a Tupperware container full, knowing my obsession with free-growing fruit of any sort.
The problem with Nanking cherries is that they’re small. You can’t really pit them and make a pie (or maybe you can, but I sure don’t have the patience to try). However, their tartness makes them ideal for cherry lemonade and cherry jelly. Here’s what I do: put as many cherries as I’ve picked into a pot, and add a bit of water. (Not much, like half a cup to a cup to half a pot of fruit?) Bring it to a boil and let it cook – the berries will soften and burst and release their juices – let it go for about 20 minutes, then take it off the heat and cool, mashing occasionally with a potato masher or whisk or something. If you want something jammier – or don’t care about cloudy jelly – just strain it through a colander to leave the seeds behind. Otherwise line the colander with cheesecloth and strain it – you’ll get clear, ruby red juice. (Which I made Mike drink a bunch of, straight-up, before I turned the rest into jelly, as I’m not sure toast and jam provides sufficient cherry intake for gout patients.)
At this point you can make jam or syrup for cherry lemonade: for lemonade, add about half as much lemon juice as there is cherry juice, then an equal amount of sugar. So if you have 4 cups of cherry and lemon juice, add 4 cups of sugar. Heat and stir to dissolve the sugar, then store the syrup in the fridge to use as a base for lemonade (add water -sparkling or still- and ice) or boozy drinks (you’ll figure it out).
To make jelly, add a splash of lemon juice if you have it, and then add as much sugar, or a little less. I cheated and sprinkled in half a package of Certo (to just over three cups of juice and three cups of sugar, and a couple tablespoons of lemon juice), just for insurance. Generally what I do is add some chopped apples from the tree for their pectin, but they aren’t ready yet – but tomorrow I’m conducting an experiment: adding a few apple cores left over from W, since the pectin is largely in the seeds and it’s all being strained anyway. So the Certo batch was kind of part of the experiment. I’ll keep you posted. I have a very exciting life.
Boil it hard for two minutes, then skim any foam off the top, ladle into hot, clean jars, and seal. And in case you hadn’t noticed my very Martha Move: paper muffin liners under the screw bands – seal them properly first, so that you know the tops pop in as they cool – then remove the bands and put on the papers. (I used to do this with the glittery gold and silver-flake paper squares you can buy at Asian groceries, but they were too thin.) Bonus: you can write what it is on top.
July 30 2009 | preserves | 30 Comments »
Dinner tonight was inspired by Linda’s comment. (I do read all of your comments, although I’m a bit behind – quel surprise – on replying to some.) She reminded me of the jar of rhubarb chutney I had in the fridge – I too heard a mention of rhubarb chutney recently, and it seemed to me a Very Good Idea. So I made some. Tonight we ate the last of it for dinner with a grilled pork tenderloin (excellent pairing), pickled beets (all eaten straight from the jar, with a fork, without making it onto dinner plates) and some grilled asparagus. To grill asparagus, roll it around in a bit of oil and throw it straight on the grill, running the stalks crosswise against the grills so that they don’t fall through. Thicker asparagus – which is not lesser asparagus, nor necessarily woodier – is easier to handle with tongs.
If you’re looking to turn some rhubarb into jam, I made some last year that was pretty tasty on toast.
Rhubarb Chutney
This stuff is pretty fab on a leftover roast chicken sandwich.
canola or olive oil
1 small onion, finely chopped
4-5 stalks rhubarb
1 small apple, chopped (optional)
a handful of raisins
1 Tbsp. grated fresh ginger
3/4 cup sugar, white or brown
1/3 cup red wine vinegar
1 cinnamon stick
Heat a drizzle of oil in a medium saucepan and cook the onion for about 5 minutes, until soft and starting to turn golden. Add everything else, bring to a simmer, then reduce the heat and cook for about half an hour, until everything is nice and soft and it looks like chutney. Ladle into clean jars and seal, or refrigerate. Makes about 2 1/2 cups.
One Year Ago: Spaghetti Carbonara with Caramelized Onions
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June 16 2009 | preserves | 16 Comments »
I had a bit of a scare this morning. I woke up, or rather got pushed out of bed by two three-year-old feet and licked awake by the dog, and went to get an espresso and check my blog (as always Saturday mornings are a bit like Christmas on account of the surge of comments I get for FSF), and it was GONE. This blog. Nothing there. No connection, through the www. or WordPress. For hours. P.A.N.I.C. I called tech support and they said the system was being upgraded but I didn’t quite buy it, and fretted through a three hour long panic attack which included a lot of reprimanding myself for not backing this thing up, only because I never got around to figuring out how.
I have now. Phew. The thing popped back online at around noon. There is a moral to this story: BACK STUFF UP. Just in case.
I’m sorry that some of these recipes come along a little too late, after the occasion that might call for them, as is the case with this cranberry ketchup. Maybe you’ll hang on to the recipe for next year. Or maybe, like me, you like cranberry condiments at other times of the year too. This is like regular cranberry sauce but a little more savoury – made with onions and vinegar as well as sugar and spices – and pureed to a ketchupy consistency. My mom hates it, but I love it. Some rooting around the freezer unearthed a container, so I got to have my turkey sandwich after all. (The turkey seemed a little on the dry side, so I mayoed it up a bit and added some chopped green onion and celery.)
Cranberry Ketchup
1 medium red onion, chopped
Grated zest and juice of 1 orange
1 cup water or apple or orange juice
1 bag fresh or frozen cranberries
½ cup red wine vinegar
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 tsp. grated fresh ginger
2 cinnamon sticks, or 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp. salt
A good grinding of black pepper
Combine all the ingredients in a largish pot set over medium heat. Cook, stirring often, until the mixture boils, the onions become soft and the cranberries pop; about 20-25 minutes.
Let it cool a bit and then transfer to a food processor or run through a food mill until smooth. If it seems too thick, add a little extra water or juice. If you like, press it through a sieve (this is a good idea if you want to keep it in a squeeze bottle) to get rid of all the solids.
Pour into hot, sterilized jars and seal according to the package directions, or let it cool and transfer to plastic containers to store in the fridge for up to a week or freeze for up to 4 months. Makes 2 1/2-3 cups.
Also, I decided that for all my raving about real hot chocolate this season I have yet to offer up a recipe. (Although pouring warm milk over chopped chocolate will do the trick, provided you can whiz it smooth, which can be a little tricky and is made infinitely easier with one of those little hand-held milk frother things. But please, if you have kids around, don’t let them play with them, particularly in close vicinity to long hair.)
I have heard drinking chocolate called all sorts of things, but I think “bisque” captures its essence best.
Hot Chocolate Bisque
3 cups 2% or whole milk
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup sugar
6 oz. bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped (Lindt 70% cocoa or Bernard Callebaut – you can get nibs or flakes from Bernard Callebaut that work great)
In a medium saucepan, combine the milk, water and sugar over medium heat. Whisk until the sugar is dissolved. Increase heat to medium-high and bring the mixture to a simmer. Remove the pan from the heat and add the chocolate. Let it sit for a few seconds, then blend it with a hand-held immersion blender. Or for individual cups, divide the chocolate among the cups and pour the warm milk overtop. Whiz with one of those little frothers to make it very smooth and foamy.
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December 27 2008 | beverages and leftovers and preserves | 4 Comments »
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