I did not grow up in a family where canning was a part of our summer. We didn’t live near a farm, and we didn’t have much in the way of a garden. We were city folk.
Well, now I’ve married into the country lifestyle, and I adore the idea of canning. But it scares me.
I’ve canned a few things and then I rarely end up using it because I’m always nervous about random bacteria. That, and I live on a well and the water leaves this nasty white residue on the outside of the jars. I know, I know, its just minerals and it wipes right off, but still. It freaks me out.
But I WANT to be a canner. I really do.
So when I was out browsing for a jam recipe, I ran across Steph Chows blog and learned that there is such a thing as a “Jam Exchange”. That’s right, a bunch of people all over the country make jam and then send it to each other. I am sooooo signing up for THAT!
As you may have heard if you follow me on Twitter, I’ve recently been endowed with large quantities of fresh blackberries, courtesy of the hubs’ buddy, MG. More than twenty quarts. So, I did a lot of freezing, but I still had several quarts in the fridge I needed to do something with, and that means jam.
I had seen recipes for blackberry with port, or strawberries with port, but since port never last long at my house, I didn’t have any on hand and I didn’t want to wait until I could get to a decent liquor store to pick up a bottle.
But you know what else goes really well with berries? Red wine. So, in place of the port, I poured some red wine into a saucepan and reduced it down to the ¼ cup the original recipe called for. I worried about the amount of sugar it called for, but I didn’t want to chance changing the recipe too much so I left it. The jam did end up awfully sweet, but still quite tasty.
Well, I signed up for the jam exchange this morning, and this will be one of the jars I send out! Unless, of course, one of the dozen or so other jam recipes I have filed away turns out better....
Coming up next – Blueberry and Lavender Jam! Stay tuned!
Well, now I’ve married into the country lifestyle, and I adore the idea of canning. But it scares me.
I’ve canned a few things and then I rarely end up using it because I’m always nervous about random bacteria. That, and I live on a well and the water leaves this nasty white residue on the outside of the jars. I know, I know, its just minerals and it wipes right off, but still. It freaks me out.
But I WANT to be a canner. I really do.
So when I was out browsing for a jam recipe, I ran across Steph Chows blog and learned that there is such a thing as a “Jam Exchange”. That’s right, a bunch of people all over the country make jam and then send it to each other. I am sooooo signing up for THAT!
As you may have heard if you follow me on Twitter, I’ve recently been endowed with large quantities of fresh blackberries, courtesy of the hubs’ buddy, MG. More than twenty quarts. So, I did a lot of freezing, but I still had several quarts in the fridge I needed to do something with, and that means jam.
I had seen recipes for blackberry with port, or strawberries with port, but since port never last long at my house, I didn’t have any on hand and I didn’t want to wait until I could get to a decent liquor store to pick up a bottle.
But you know what else goes really well with berries? Red wine. So, in place of the port, I poured some red wine into a saucepan and reduced it down to the ¼ cup the original recipe called for. I worried about the amount of sugar it called for, but I didn’t want to chance changing the recipe too much so I left it. The jam did end up awfully sweet, but still quite tasty.
Well, I signed up for the jam exchange this morning, and this will be one of the jars I send out! Unless, of course, one of the dozen or so other jam recipes I have filed away turns out better....
Coming up next – Blueberry and Lavender Jam! Stay tuned!
Blackberry and Red Wine Jam
4 cups fresh blackberries (crushed)
1lb sugar
Juice of 1 lemon
1/4 red wine reduction
Simmer about ¾ cup of red wine in a small saucepan until reduced to about ¼ cup.
Add the crushed berries and the sugar to a large, deep pot. Heat on low, stirring often, until the sugar is dissolved.Add the lemon juice and bring the heat up to Med/High, stirring to blend.
Cook until the berry mixture reaches 220F. Carefully add the wine reduction, stir and reheat to 222F. (Note: I could not get my jam to break 220 degrees, so I quit mine a bit early, but it turned out fine. Remove from the heat and let rest for 3-5 minutes so the berries can mix with the syrup. If any obvious hard blackberry cores rise to the top, remove them for a smoother jam.
Note: at this point, I actually put my jam through a food mill to remove all the seeds and hulls. My jam also did not seem to be gelling very well, so after straining off the seeds, I put the mixture back in the pan, brought it up to a boil and added some liquid pectin.Pour hot jam into sterilized jars, seal properly and finish with a hot water bath for 10 minutes. OR, just pour into freezer containers and freeze.
The turkey was so flavorful with the herbs and the touch of port infused in the cranberries, and the fresh farmers market green beans were wonderful with the lemon to really make the flavor pop. But the polenta was by far my favorite. Rich and creamy, the gorgonzola was a standout ingredient in this lovely dish. That is one I'll make again and again. I also especially love that the cooking class always had wine with their meals, and so I enjoyed a nice glass of Merlot with mine as well.
Bake at 300 degrees for 1 ½ to 2 hours or until toothpick comes out clean.
And, although my mom says the cake is plenty sweet and moist for her without it, I've never been able to resist topping this cake with cream cheese frosting.
I know, this isn't the greatest picture in the world, but just LOOK at how moist that cake is.
Here are a few shots of the festivities for you!
What you can't see is that they were both perched on the very edges of their seats.
The Wonder Pets were up next....
And then there was Dora. None of my pictures of Dora turned out well except for this finale group shot where you also get Moose A. Moose and his friend Zee D. Bird.
Bittman says this is best straight out of the machine or after no more than an hour in the freezer. I couldn’t agree more. Naturally, I doubled the ginger, but that’s just how I roll. Other than that, I made no changes. This recipe is the essence of perfection. Fresh, cool, and flavorful, it just caresses your mouth and makes you utter noises that probably shouldn’t be heard at the dinner table.
In this case, I was very pleasantly surprised. I’m not going to try and blow smoke and tell you this is a fantastic wine and to rush out to your local liquor store and demand that they carry it. But it IS a wine that will be taking up permanent residence in my wine rack....if I can manage to keep from drinking it, that is.
Place on a baking sheet. Repeat with the remaining asparagus and place the tray in the fridge until you are ready to put them in the oven. (These can be done in advance, just cover with plastic wrap and leave in the fridge until you need them.)
These were really fantastic and I'll definitely be adding them to my party recipe box!
and 
Mofongo is not a Bittman recipe, but a carryover from Ginny’s recent trip to Puerto Rico that she was itching to try back here in the landlocked Midwest. It is a dish that takes roasted, mashed plantains to a new level.
We also had 
Serve immediately or at room temperature, with lemon wedges.
Now, clearly, as a former bartender, I didn’t need a recipe for the tequila sunrise, but since there was a rendition of it in Bittman’s HTCE, I thought I’d go ahead and include it here for your reference. What we REALLY did was pour a shot (or so) of good tequila in each glass, then topped that with a orange-pineapple juice blend (since we had a “pineapple” theme going already). Just as a rule of thumb, the proportions should be about 2 to 1. Two parts juice to one part alcohol. Then, very carefully, drizzle a little bit of grenadine around the edges of the drink. As the syrup falls into the glass, it makes the famous “sunrise” effect, as you can see in the picture.
NOTES: We quadrupled the recipe for the jam and doubled the recipe for the syrup so that we would have plenty, and use as much of the rhubarb as we could. The taste combination of rhubarb and ginger is absolutely phenomenal. The jam was like eating ambrosia and I’ll be hoarding my share and rationing it out over the winter. The syrup? Yeah well, the syrup didn’t last long in my fridge at all.....it is summer, you know....and you really should hydrate regularly..... 
Notes on the sauce/glaze: With the meat cooked just right, this didn’t need a marinade at all. The glaze had a terrific flavor. Just the right amount of orange and sesame, but I think next time I’ll add more red pepper. The flavor was wonderful, but next time I want a little more heat. The only thing I might change would be to fire up the heat at the end so that the glaze actually “glazes” the meat instead of just saucing it, but it still worked out well. The hubs and I both enjoyed it, so this one will definitely be a keeper at my house.
Congrats, again, and thanks to everyone for giving me such a great blogaversary! I’m already looking forward to next year!
Then, fill the pot with water, as full as you can. There is really no recipe for stock, you just use what you have. The only trick is to not add too much water for the amount of food you have in the pot. Start by covering the solids and go maybe another inch or two. Remember, you can always add more water if its too strong, but you can't add flavor if it is too weak.
Bring this 
Then, separate the fat from the liquid either by using a gravy separator, or letting the stock chill and peeling off the layer of fat. I use the first method, since my pot is too big to fit in my fridge. Now, that being said, you don’t have to skim off the fat completely. A little fat gives the stock some flavor, but use your own judgement.
Some people tell me that making stock is too intimidating or time consuming. I will agree, making your own stock does take time, but it is really a hand off process. If you’re going to be at home on a weekend day, all you have to do is pop it on the stove and let it go. Best of all, it is made almost entirely of items you would otherwise have thrown away. Our grandparents had it right – why throw something away that you can use again? 
Variations:Add grated mild cheese, such as Cheddar or Jack, about one cup per batch of batter.
Let me start by saying, there are very few recipes that are this easy. It’s one of my favorite kinds, much like pesto, where you dump everything into a food processor and give it a whirl. The only spot where I ran into trouble was in forming the balls. The recipe indicated that the dough would be stiff, and it did appear that way in the bowl, but in reality it was too soft to handle. I ended up freezing the dough until it was firmer to form the balls and roll them in sugar. The recipe also says to bring these to room temperature before serving, but honestly, once they start to warm up, they tend to go soft again, so I am serving mine to my co-workers today straight out of the fridge. Maybe I did something wrong, maybe it was just a variation in the brand of vanilla wafers, I don’t know. They were still tasty though! They actually remind me a lot of a recipe from my friend Tara’s mom back in Ohio that she called Pomanders. We always had them at the holidays and they had a base of vanilla wafers as well. So, for me, this recipe was a bit nostalgic and made for quite a sweet afternoon! They are not as rich as a standard truffle, so don’t be expecting that. They do not have the typical chocolate base that you are familiar with, but have a nice dense texture and give off just a hint of the wine.
I started off with a fantastic book for the winner. Sherri Brooks Vinton’s "Put 'em Up!: A Comprehensive Home Preserving Guide for the Creative Cook, from Drying and Freezing to Canning and Pickling" which was just published a few weeks ago.
