Vanilla Bean (or Cardamom) Pear Jam Recipe

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breakfast, cardamom pods, cast iron pan, cooking, food, jams and jellies, lemon rind, pear jam recipe, pears, pint jars, sugar jams, vanilla bean, vegetarian

It took a perfect storm of a new backyard pear tree with more pears than I knew one tree could produce and a new cookbook to get me to make my first jam without pectin. And while I did try a pectin based jam in my pear-a-palooza canning fest, these two without pectin actually ended up with a better set. If a food preservation book like Kevin West’s Saving the Season was intimidating before, I learned that making preserves is never fool proof and sometimes you just have to go for it.

I started with the Pear Jam recipe in the book which incorporates a whole vanilla bean (and yes, I did buy a half pound of them from Amazon) and also ended up making the Smooth Pear Jam with Cardamom variation which swaps the vanilla for cardamom pods. The images below are from both recipes since the process was virtually identical.

Step one, dice up five pounds of pear (per batch) and drop in a water and lemon juice mix. The recipe called for this being two cups of water plus lemon juice but I found that I needed way more liquid to get the pears in all the way so I made more of the mixture.

Once pears are prepped, they are drained and added to a bowl with lemon juice, sugar, honey and a vanilla bean. For my cardamom batch I swapped the vanilla bean with a small sachet of crushed cardamom pods and some lemon rind. For the latter, the original recipe does not include lemon rind and the pods end up going through a food mill so they are left in the jam. I don’t have a food mill so I used the cheesecloth in order to easily remove them and figured the lemon rind could stay in the end product.

The sweetened fruit mixture then sits and macerates for at least two hours or overnight. Because I busted a jar in my canning pot from an earlier batch, these ended up in the refrigerator overnight so I could have a clean canning pot the next day.

Now we’re jammin’. 🙂 Bring to boil, reduce to gel point, about 20 minutes.

I was reading the Hip Girl’s Guide to Homemaking blog (I also have the book from the same aunt who gave me this cookbook!) and she said that you can actually tell a lot from the bubbles in your jam as it related to gel point. Earlier in the process the bubbles are smaller and close together but once you are at the gel point they are bigger and darker. I never knew this before but could definitely tell the difference once pointed out!

If you’re using a food mill or immersion blender to make this a smooth jam, you do it 10 minutes into boiling but since I didn’t use that step I continued on. Gel point gets checked (a dab on a cold plate, into the freezer until it’s cooled and see if it’s the right consistency) and then into hot prepared jars! I used half pint jars that then were processed in the boiling-water bath for 10 minutes.

I left the skin on the pears because 1) I like the texture and 2) it’s pretty but really 3) I’m lazy. This recipe turned out a very beautiful jam and while I love vanilla, I might be partial to the uniqueness of the cardamom. Below, vanilla bean on the left with the little ‘v’ on the lids and cardamom on the right with the ‘c’ on the lids.
The vanilla bean caviar in a light colored jam like this, though, is just beautiful. Next year when I have pears coming out of my ears again I’ll probably try vanilla bean AND cardamom for the best of both worlds.

Pear Jam from Saving the Season (notes in parenthesis and italics)
5 pounds ripe pears
4 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice (I used the real lemon juice for my jam but the kind that comes in a fake fruit-looking squeeze bottle for the acid in the water because it’s easier! Also, you may need more lemon juice since you may need more water with acid than is called for)
2 cups sugar
2 tablespoons honey
1/2 vanilla bean, split lengthwise (I used a full bean since I love vanilla!) OR 5-6 crushed cardamom pods

1. Peel (if desired or skin is thick) and core the pears, and cut them into 1/2-inch dice. As you work, place the diced pears in a bowl with 2 cups of water acidulated with 1 tablespoon of the lemon juice, to prevent browning. (I needed 6-8 cups of water to soak all my pears and that means 3-4 tablespoons of lemon juice which is easiest if you’re using the bottled kind for this purpose!)

2. Drain the pears, and toss them in a bowl with the remaining 3 tablespoons of lemon juice. Stir in the sugar, honey, and vanilla bean. Set aside to macerate for 2 hours or overnight.

3. Turn the fruit-sugar mixture into a preserving pan, bring to a boil, and reduce over high heat to the gel point, about 20 minutes. (If you are going to make a smooth jam, cook 10 minutes, remove vanilla bean if using, then pass through food mill and continue to cook to gel point.) Discard the vanilla bean. Ladle the hot jam into six prepared 1/2-pint jars, leaving 1/4 inch headspace. Seal, and process in a boiling-water bath for 10 minutes.

Note from the author: Adding 2 tablespoons per eau-de-vie, also known as Poire Williams, will boost flavor in either of the preceding pear jam recipes.

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Cape Gooseberry and Pear Jam

Tags

canner, canning, canning supplies, cape gooseberries, cape gooseberry, cooking, food, gooseberries, ground cherry, home preserving, jams and jellies, pears, pint jars, recipe, recipes, sugar jams, sweet flavor, thinking out of the box

Until recently, I had no idea what a ground cherry was. Or that they were also called “Cape Gooseberries.” Or that there is a difference between this kind of gooseberry and a “true” gooseberry (thank you, Wikipedia). Maybe you’re more advanced than I am, but if not, here’s what a ground cherry/ Cape Gooseberry looks like:

When we were checking out our new house, I assumed that the husked things growing on a crawling plant were tomatillos. When I finally got around to moving my tomatoes into the garden, I realized that these were something else. I opened one up, it was orange, and popped it in my mouth. Mostly just a sweet flavor, no tartness, and a great bit of crunchiness from the small seeds. Very interesting. Then the question was, what the heck do I do with it? Last weekend I was working on over 25-pounds of pears that I had from our new backyard tree and while I had the canning supplies I figured I’d get to work on the gooseberries as well.

There was a fair amount of fruit that was past its prime, and I decided to keep some of the greener ones in there to increase the amount but in the end I ended up with about three cups of fruit. My recipe, see below, called for just under four cups of fruit, and since I was using added pectin from a packet, it was important to have the right measurement. I still had some pears sitting around, so I peeled and chopped enough to make up for the gooseberries I didn’t have.

The resulting jam is a beautiful golden color and very sweet because the fruit is so sweet on its own. I’ve adjusted the recipe below to include lemon juice, not for the pectin and acidity it adds to the recipe but because I think some acid would balance this jam better.

I would like to also note that there are a ton of uses for jam besides spreading on toast or pairing with peanut butter. When you’re suddenly up to your eyeballs in jam (more to come on the jams I made, soon) you start thinking out of the box about what to do with it. A very sweet jam like this would be great for thumbprint cookies. Any jam would be good in homemade pop tarts. Or how about crescent jam and cheese cookies? A jam tart is quite a good use of most jams. Of course I like to use jams and jellies in between cake layers, or on a cake. A dollop of fruit jam works beautifully on a cheese plate. And lately, with one of the batches that is a little more syrup than jam, I’ve been using over ice cream and stirred into plain yogurt. If all else fails, stir it into a glass of champagne or mix with your favorite spirit for a classy cocktail.

Cape Gooseberry (Ground Cherry) and Pear Jam (adapted from “Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving”
Makes about seven 8-ounce jars
3 cups crushed cape gooseberries
3/4 cups peeled, chopped pears
juice of 1 lemon (at least 3 tablespoons)
6 cups sugar
1 pouch of liquid pectin (3 oz.– I used Certo)

1. Prepare canning pot, jars and lids. (I usually use an oven method for preparing my jars which you can find here. This time I used the hot water method since I already had hot and clean boiling water)
2. In a large, deep stainless steel or cast iron pan, combine pears, gooseberries, lemon juice and sugar over high heat. Bring the mixture to a full rolling boil that cannot be stirred down. Stir in pectin and then boil hard, stirring constantly, for 1 minute. Remove from heat and skim off foam if needed.
3. Ladle hot jam into hot jars, leaving 1/4 inch headspace. Remove air bubbles and adjust headspace, if needed, by adding hot jam. Wipe rim, center lids on jars and screw band down until fingertip-tight.
4. Place jars in canner making sure they are completely covered with water. Bring water to boil and process for 10 minutes. Remove canner lid, wait 5 minutes, then remove jars and cool on a kitchen towel before storing.

 

10-Minute Microwave Steamed Artichokes

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artichoke, artichoke heart, dinner, flower buds, food, gentle squeeze, kitchen scissors, steamed, vegetable, vegetable peeler, vegetarian

If you’re lucky enough to have access to fresh artichokes now is the time to get these thistles. Spring is the official season for artichokes and with farmers’ markets full of them, it’s good to know how to quickly cook them for a weeknight dinner without having to boil a pot of water or turning on the oven.

How do you pick the best artichoke at the market? Look for ones with the petals (these are flower buds, you know) that haven’t opened much and listen for squeaking when you give them a gentle squeeze. This applies for any size of artichoke, the ones you see here would qualify as large. Medium to large artichokes are some of the best for steaming. With luck you will find artichokes with some stem like these which is great because the stem is edible and similar in texture to the artichoke heart.

Before starting, prepare a microwave-safe dish — I use a glass one– with about 1/2-inch of water with a dash of lemon juice or white vinegar. Artichokes will oxidize and the acid will prevent them from turning brown. Also don’t forget to give these flower buds a rinse! They are from the outdoors and it’s best to rinse them of any contaminants (mine obviously had a visit from a birdy…).

If you’ve ever worked with fresh artichokes you know they have little thorns so use a pair of kitchen scissors to cut the tips of the petals off. The top of the bud doesn’t need to be trimmed because you will be cutting off the top inch or so.

Make sure to use a very sharp knife for slicing off the top of the choke.

Then slice off the stem. Dip the stem side of the choke in your prepared water and flip it around and put it petal side down in the prepared water.

Don’t throw away that stem! Pull off any small leaves, slice off the old cut end and then use a pairing knife or vegetable peeler to peel the stem.

When you have peeled the stem, roll it around a bit in your prepared water to keep it from coloring. I’m only preparing two artichokes here but this method would apply to as many as you need to prepare (think bigger glass casserole dish!). Keep the water in the dish and cover with plastic wrap.

For two large artichokes, start with 10 minutes in the microwave and then check them for doneness. Time should be about 10-13 minutes depending on your microwave. Add time for more artichokes. CAREFULLY pull back the plastic wrap (there’s hot steam under there!) and use a fork or paring knife to poke gently, if it easily slides into the flesh, it’s done. If there’s resistance, recover and return to the microwave for a few minutes.

To clean the thistle out of the artichoke, turn them on their base and remember there’s still steam in there so they are HOT. Be careful. Let them cool a little if possible. Then 1) gently “open” the choke, 2) pull out the center smallest petals which still have spikes at which point 3) you should see purple petals which you 4) should use a spoon to gently scrape out including the little hairy bits.

Make sure get all the hairy parts off of the heart…

But leave as much heart as possible because it’s the best part!

If you’re feeling fancy these can be filled with a dipping sauce (like aioli or mayonnaise if you’re feeling lazy) or at this point you can put them on the grill, petal side down, for some extra flavor and char.

My husband and I enjoyed them as is with dipping sauce on the side. I mixed crushed garlic, fresh lemon juice, mayonnaise, kosher salt and harissa infused olive oil to make a dipping sauce. Melted salted butter, plain olive oil or a vinaigrette would also be great as a dipping sauce.

For those unacquainted with eating these, you simply pull off a petal and use your bottom teeth to scrape off some of the soft flesh. As you make your way to the more tender petals there’s more and more of the soft flesh to enjoy before you get the always wonderful artichoke heart.

No steamer basket needed! Do you have artichokes in your markets? What do you use to dip your artichoke in?

Sriracha and Ham Fried Rice

Tags

canned pork, dinner, food, sauce mixture, vegetarian

This recipe is perfect for using up any sort of leftover meat (or tofu!). Really, even the vegetables could be switched up or added to depending on what you have available. The only things you absolutely need on hand are Sriracha, soy sauce, eggs, garlic and rice. Pantry staples. Otherwise, any meat and vegetables (frozen is great here) can be used. Everything on the plate below can be switched up depending on what you have on hand.
In our house there was a lot of leftover Easter ham (still is in the freezer!) so every year when I have more ham than I know what to do with this fried rice comes into play. This recipe is based on a recipe from The Sriracha Cookbook posted on Serious Eats, Sriracha and SPAM Fried Rice. While the canned pork product generally gives me the heebie jeebies (unless it’s SPAM masubi) it’s easy to use another protein in its place. I also had some yellow rice I had saved in the freezer– it’s yellow from Goya seasoning, regular white or brown rice is fine– and simply used some leftover onion and frozen peas as my vegetables. Corn, carrots, even green beans or broccoli would also be welcome additions. The only thing that’s not easily identifiable above would be the sesame oil on the far right but even that could be replaced with coconut oil, canola oil or another oil with a high smoking point.

Add the oil to the wok on high until it’s shimmering then throw in the protein and vegetables to get them a little brown. If your vegetables release liquid, just wait until it’s boiled off and cook, stirring constantly, until you get some charred spots.

Once the char is going on, add the rice and mix it in letting it get some char. Then smoosh everything to the sides of the pan forming a little “well” in the center, add the eggs and garlic to the little “well” and stir vigorously to scramble the egg. Once the eggs are mostly cooked you stir the rice into the eggs and add the Sriracha/soy sauce mixture and stir.

That’s it, done. All your prep work is done before cooking and it’s only a matter of throwing everything in and stirring until it’s done. You can garnish with a little extra Sriracha and green onions if you have them on hand (which if you keep them on your windowsill you should!)

Using less than 10 ingredients, and all of which are pantry staples or leftovers, you can have a very quick meal that’s better than takeout! Can you picture this with shrimp and asparagus instead? What about chicken and broccoli? I might have to try some other combinations so I don’t have to wait for ham next year to make this again!

Sriracha and Ham Fried Rice (Adapted from here)

1/8 – 1/4 cup Sriracha (depending on your heat tolerance)
1/8 cup soy sauce
3 tablespoons toasted sesame oil (or another high smoking point oil like peanut oil, coconut oil, etc.)
1 1/2 cup ham
1/2 onion, diced
1 cup frozen peas
3 – 4 cups cooked rice, cooled (preferably day-old)
2 eggs
1 clove garlic, minced
Sliced green onions, green part only, for garnish

1. In small bowl, stir together Sriracha and soy sauce. Set aside. Make sure all ingredients are prepared before moving on (mise en place!).
2. Heat a wok (or nonstick or cast iron skillet) over high heat with 2 tablespoons of oil is shimmering. Add the vegetables and protein and stir occasionally until charring begins. This could be 3-5 minutes if your vegetables are not wet, otherwise, wait until the water boils off and then charring should begin.
3. When the vegetables and protein have some browning/charring add the rice and stir to coat rice in oil and combine ingredients. Continue stirring to get char on all ingredients, no more than 3 minutes.
4. Once all ingredients have a bit of char, move everything to the sides of the pan to make a “well” then add the last tablespoon of oil and heat for about 15 seconds. Add the eggs and garlic, stirring vigorously. Cook the eggs until cooked through then combine with the rice mixture.
5. Add the Sriracha and soy sauce mixture and stir to combine while heating for another 30 seconds or so.
6. Serve and garnish as desired. Enjoy!

Sourdough Pizza Crust

Tags

breakfast, cast iron pan, dinner, food, king arthur flour, shredded mozzarella

Sometimes when you make pizza at home you have to go all out with a high hydration, 24+ hour rise dough and homemade sauce (from your own tomatoes) and the fancy pepperoni from Whole Foods and pull out all the stops for a resulting pan pizza that will make you wonder if you should probably open your own pizza joint because, gosh darn it, the pan pizza (recipe here) you just made should not be kept from the world. And sometimes you just want to use a little leftover sourdough starter up, a little leftover canned Trader Joe’s marinara, and you happened to remember to buy shredded mozzarella and pepperoni.

This is that pizza. The recipe I used was from King Arthur Flour but with more water so I have listed the updated recipe below. The crust doesn’t get super brown because sourdough changes the pH of the dough but if possible, you should bake on a stone or in cast iron because it will help the bottom brown. This post showed the difference between baking in cast iron and a standard cake pan which makes all the difference in the world here.

If you don’t have a 12-inch cast iron pan in your arsenal? A pizza stone or a pan placed directly on the pizza stone may work. Or parchment paper on a pizza stone if you use the higher hydration. Or go get yourself a 12-inch cast iron pan already.

I did not use the preheat the pan then try and plop a pizza in a blazing hot pan method. I stretched the dough in an unheated pan with plenty of olive oil, topped it and then put it in the oven waiting for the top to brown a little. I probably could have left it in there for even longer but I got hungry. It smelled so darn good.

One of my favorite parts of the recipe is that it makes enough for two 12-inch pies (my second ball of dough went in the freezer with the rest of the shredded mozzarella, pepperoni and some sauce!) or you can make one larger square pizza with all of the dough. If I’m making pizza dough these days, I like to make enough to freeze some for the next time my husband suggests pizza for dinner which is at least every other week! In our house, pizza gets served with a simple green salad with chickpeas and an Anchor Steam on the side.The best part about this recipe is that you can use unfed sourdough starter which is great for those of you who might have starter but forgot to feed it however many hours in advance you need to. Or even for those of you who have “discarded” starter after feedings. See the King Arthur recipe for way more details than I give you below which only tells you how I made my pizza.

Recipe: Sourdough Pizza Crust (originally from King Arthur Flour)
1 cup sourdough starter, unfed (straight from the fridge is fine)
3/4 cup hot tap water (do not overheat water as it will kill the yeast)
2 1/2 cups All-Purpose Flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon instant yeast

1. Stir sourdough starter and measure 1 cup into mixing bowl. A stand mixer with a dough hook works great for this soft dough.
2. Add ½ cup of the hot water and the rest of the ingredients. Mix to combine, then knead, adding the additional water (and more as needed) until dough is smooth and slightly sticky, about 7 minutes at medium speed using a stand mixer. Dough should easily come away from the side of the bowl. If it’s still sticking to the bowl, you may have too much liquid and may want to sprinkle in a little flour and continue kneading.
3. Pick up dough and oil the bowl then return to the bowl for a rise. The dough should double in bulk, about 2 to 4 hours. If your starter is not used often, this rise will take longer and if you regularly use your starter it should take less time.
4. When dough is doubled, divide in half if using a 12-inch pan. Reserve half the dough or wrap in plastic wrap and freeze. With the other dough fold it in half to deflate then coat the bottom of a baking pan liberally with olive oil, and place dough in the pan. Gently stretch the dough to the edges of the pan.
5. Preheat the oven to the highest setting, for me this is 525-Farenheit. Let the stretched dough rest for 15 minutes while the oven preheats.
6. Top the rested dough and pop the whole thing in the oven. Bake until the edges are browned and the cheese is brown and bubbly, 10-15 minutes. Enjoy!

Best Homemade Pan Pizza (Ever)

Tags

cast iron skillet, food, grated mozzarella, new york style pizza, pizza lover, restaurants

My husband is an East Coaster. Specifically, he grew up in Massachusetts and went to school in Downtown Boston. Needless to say, he’s had his fair share (and then some of pizza). Good, East Coast, legit pizza. Now we live on the West Coast. And while I– the West Coaster– would argue it’s not all bad here, there are less pizza options in general and more crappy ones in California. My disclaimer is that there are some really superior ones in Northern California that sort of balance things out.

When it boils down to it, it really depends on what your ideal pizza is. If you prefer greasy chain pizza, well then you are in luck, you can find that most anywhere. If you’re after an authentic Italian Neapolitan, then your average delivery place isn’t going to cut it. Deep dish? That’s a smaller cut of the pizza market but depending where you live, it’s out there (and we have some really excellent versions of it in this area). However, a true pizza lover probably has a wide appreciation for several different types of pizza, right? And trumping all the restaurants is a really good homemade pizza if you ask me.

This is by far, the BEST pizza I’ve ever made at home. It’s baked in a cast iron skillet –that I used earlier in the day for a batch of bacon– so it’s really a “pan pizza” similar to what you might get from Pizza Hut. I got the recipe from Serious Eats for this Foolproof Pan Pizza. It’s no-knead, no-stretch. And while it certainly takes a lot longer than any pizza recipe I’ve used before (with an 8-24 hr. first rise) if you start the day before and give it that full rise time the dough becomes a beautifully yeasty, bubbly, wet thing. Dare I say that it’s a downright sexy dough? I do dare. Yes, I do.

We topped ours with the recommended New York Style Pizza Sauce using my own canned Roma tomatoes. Then a dry grated mozzarella (the recipe says using fresh mozzarella would be too wet) and the only pepperoni we could find at the market– aka Whole Foods, but I’m embarrassed to mention I shop there sometimes– with a sprinkle of parmesan when it came out of the oven. And you know what my husband, the ultimate pizza critic, told me? “This is the best pizza I’ve ever had in California.” And I’ll take it.

The recipe makes enough for two pizzas and for my 12″ cast iron pan (thanks, Grandma for the hand-me-down!) the recipe has 50% added for each measurement. But this also means that in the freezer there is another ball of this lovely dough waiting to be defrosted and baked into some pizza magic next time my husband tells me, “I feel like pizza.” Or, you know, every night.

Does anyone have any go-to pizza recipes that they swear by?

Multi-Grain Sourdough Boule Recipe

Tags

bread flour, flour bread, food, king arthur flour, rye flour

Sourdough starter came up a few months ago as it relates to my quest for the perfect cheese roll I ended up borrowing my aunt’s Cheese Board Collective Cookbook (a local place in Berkeley, CA) so that I could follow their recipe for a sourdough starter of my own. This particular starter only calls for rye flour, bread flour, water and 11 days of constant feedings and patience before you have a sour smelling culture of bacteria ready to be added to bread. Right away I went to work creating my sourdough bread with just the starter, flour, water and salt. And my first two attempts weren’t so good producing flat, dense, white bread. I learned that adding some yeast (as in my new favorite sourdough cheese roll recipe) helps the whole bread along.

When I came across another King Arthur Flour recipe using sourdough and yeast to produce a multi-grain boule (a round of bread) I got to work. The recipe below is based on the King Arthur recipe and I will try and note where I have made changes. Most importantly, I’ve tried to make it so you can swap out the specialized ingredients and make good bread with just starter, yeast, salt and flour. If you don’t have your own starter, you can easily make your own, buy some from King Arthur’s website, or contact me and I will send you some if you cover the cost. Sharing is caring! This recipe has now taken the place of buying weekly bread from the store and I’ve made it every weekend for the past three weeks so I’m confident it’s a good one.

Before you even start baking you should make sure you have at least two cups of active starter (with enough extra to feed and continue the starter). Your starter should have large bubbles around the size of the tip of your pinky. If your starter needs to be fed and made active (like if you just took it out of the refrigerator) you should feed it 3-12 hours before baking with it.

The first thing we make is a “soaker” with 1 cup of boiling water and about 2/3 up to 1 cup of grain. If you don’t have any grain (ex. cornmeal, flax seed, bulgur, millet, etc.) then you can use the water only and omit the grain. King Arthur uses a “Harvest Grain Blend” with whole oat berries, millet, rye flakes, wheat flakes, flax, poppy, sesame, and sunflower seeds so feel free to use any of those in your own blend. I use multi-grain cornmeal and bulgur for 2/3 cup total soaker. Add it to your water and let it sit until the grains have softened, at minimum 15 minutes but up to an hour.

While the soaker is doing its thing, prepare your other ingredients. The below image does not include everything in the dough but I wanted to let you see the different flours clearly and the bubbles in an active starter. See them all over that gloopy starter? That’s a good thing. For my recipe I use some rye flour for extra flavor but feel free to swap it out for wheat flour.

What’s the difference between “instant” or “rapid rise” yeast and “active” yeast? Technically the first two don’t have to be “activated” while the latter should be “activated” before adding to the recipe with a little sugar in water. I’ve tried both in this recipe and either one will work.

Dump all the dough ingredients into a mixing bowl. If you don’t want to add the two tablespoons of olive oil, you can omit it with no problem. I like the flavor so I leave it in.

Can you use a mixer? Sure. Can you use a food processor? Sure. Bread machine? Yes. But if you are able to do this by hand I recommend it to save on things you have to dirty. Use a spoon to mix everything as best you can and then use your hands to bring the rest of the flour that’s stuck on the bottom of the bowl into the dough. I also prefer to do my kneading in the bowl so I don’t have to worry about another surface to clean up afterwards because this is a pretty soft, tacky dough. It only takes five minutes of kneading (yup, only 5!) but feel free to do a little more if you want. It’s hard to over knead when you’re doing it by hand. Below is a shot right before I removed the spoon and switched to my hands.

Once it’s kneaded, pick up the dough, spray or drizzle a little olive oil in there, spread it around and plop the dough back in. Cover it with a towel or plastic wrap and let rise 1 – 1.5 hours. You can also put the dough in the refrigerator overnight at this point then continue the next morning.

Once the dough has risen, prepare a cast iron baker (like a Le Creuset). You can use a 5-quart baker here but mine happens to be 7-quarts. If you have one of the oval ones, that works, too. Liberally brush or spray the bottom of the baker with olive oil and sprinkle with cornmeal. I say “liberally” because I had some sticking issues the first two times I made this, but the pot below released the bread with no issues. If you don’t have  a baker, you can also use a sheet pan but will need to slightly adjust baking times.

The next step is to turn your dough out onto a greased surface. Unless you don’t mind oil on your countertop, use a baking sheet brushed or sprayed with olive oil. I set mine on a kitchen towel so it stays in place. Fold the dough over a few times to deflate, then shape into a boule.

Never shaped a boule before? Use your hands to create surface tension by gently pulling down as you turn the bread and tuck under. Ideally while wearing a sweater that matches your baker. Yes, it’s my favorite color. Duh. Anyhow, to demonstrate, this is how the bottom of my dough looks once I’ve mushed the dough under gently. Kind of like a brain.

Once shaped, the boule goes into the baker for the final rise for 1 – 1.5 hours.

When your last rise has been done, your bread will be looking mighty fine.

Preheat your oven to 425°F and get your seed topping ready. You can skip the seed topping or just do one type like sesame seeds but I like to mix it up and use what I have on hand: 1/4 tsp. salt, 1/4 tsp. fresh cracked black pepper, 1/2 tsp. each of sesame, poppy and fennel seeds. Mix together with your fingers.

Next, spray, slash and seed. Spray with water (or use a brush again), slash with a lame, razor or sharp knife into a cross hatch pattern, then sprinkle your seed topping.

Your bread has good surface tension if the slashes immediately start to open. Congrats! Cover and put it in the oven for 40 minutes, then remove the cover and bake 10-15 minutes more.

Bam, fresh bread. Great for everything you do with bread. Let it cool off (you know you’re not supposed to cut into fresh-out-of-the-oven bread just like you wouldn’t cut into a hot steak, right?) then dig in. The crust is crackly, the inside tender and hearty.

I recently read a great book, 52 Loaves, and learned that bread should be stored cut side down on a dish (we use an oval platter) to keep it fresh. Out on the counter. I couldn’t believe it but this bread stays out all week this way and never gets stale. Ready for the beauty shot?

This is hands-down the easiest bread recipe I’ve ever made and one of the best. We can actually make sandwiches and toast out of it so it has completely replaced store-bought bread in our house. Here’s the recipe, enjoy!

Multi-Grain Sourdough Boule
(Adapted from King Arthur Flour)
Hands-on time: 25 mins. to 35 mins.; Baking time: 38 mins. to 55 mins.; Total time: 2 hrs 3 mins. to 3 hrs
Yield: 1 large round loaf

Soaker
• 1 cup boiling water
• 1/3 cup coarse whole-grain polenta or corn grits (like Bob’s Red Mill)
• 1/3 cup bulgur wheat (like Trader Joe’s or Bob’s Red Mill)

Dough
• 2 cups sourdough starter, fed and ready to use
• 3/4 cup rye flour (like Bob’s Red Mill; or use wheat flour here, too)
• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 1 3/4 cups Artisan Bread Flour or Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
• 3 teaspoons salt
• 1 1/2 teaspoons instant yeast (or 1 packet)
• 2 tablespoons olive oil

Topping
1 tablespoon sesame seeds, or your favorite blend of seeds (1/4 tsp. salt, 1/4 tsp. fresh cracked black pepper, 1/2 tsp. each of sesame, poppy and fennel seeds)

Directions
1. Add the corn polenta and bulgur to the boiling water and soak for 15 minutes to an hour to soften grains. Allow water to cool to lukewarm.

2. When cooled, add the water/grain mix and the remaining dough ingredients (through oil) to a large mixing bowl. Combine ingredients and knead – by hand, mixer, bread machine or food processor – until you’ve made a soft dough, adding additional water or flour as needed. With any method, you only need to knead for about 5 minutes, less if using a mixer or food processor.

3. Cover the dough in the bowl, and let it rise until it’s almost doubled, about 1 to 1.5 hours.

4. Turn the dough out onto a lightly greased work surface, and gently fold it over a few times to deflate it. Shape it into a large round by gently pulling sides toward the bottom of the round to create surface tension.

5. Cover the round with lightly greased plastic wrap or place in a round covered baker that’s been sprayed with non-stick baking spray or brushed with olive oil and sprinkled with sesame seeds or cornmeal, and put on the cover. Let the loaf rise until it’s very puffy, about 1 to 1.5 hours. Towards the end of the rising time, preheat the oven to 425°F.

6. Just before baking, brush or spray with water, and sprinkle with seed topping. Use a lame or a very sharp knife to make four slashes across the top of the loaf, in a crosshatch pattern.

7. Bake the bread for 40 minutes. Uncover the loaf if in a covered baker, and continue to bake 10 to 15 minutes, until the loaf is golden brown and an instant-read thermometer inserted into the center registers 190°F. (A loaf baked on a baking sheet will need to bake for 38 to 45 minutes total.)

8. Remove the bread from the oven, let sit in the baker for 5 minutes, then turn out and cool on a rack. (Note: If you use a baker, the bread may slightly stick on the bottom if there wasn’t enough oil/cornmeal. Use a silicon spatula to loosen the loaf before gently removing.)

22 Pounds of Pumpkin

Tags

dinner, food, pumpkin bread

Each year I spend time breaking down a large pumpkin to be stored in the freezer in puree and/or chunks. Last year I had one large pumpkin that was used in pumpkin curries, pumpkin bread, pumpkin pie and more. This year, I had three small pumpkins and one very, very large and dense heirloom pumpkin. My largest pumpkin, weighing in at over 22 pounds, was featured on our Thanksgiving table this November before it was moved to our fireplace mantle (the pilot light has been off, no fires!) until I decided to use it.

The time finally came on Sunday when I was inspecting the pumpkin to make sure it was still holding up and noticed there was some kind of mite that had made its home in the deep crevices of this behemoth. Time for the knife!

I’m not sharing a picture of the bugs because, ew. But I cleaned them out then sliced this pumpkin open. And yes, that is a bottle of vodka, my second loaf of fresh bread and my compost bucket on my counter. This is real life.

I almost went to fix this next picture because I thought maybe the tint was off. I mean, it’s so orange. Then I realized that the rest of the picture is fine. These Musque de Provence pumpkins are super vibrantly colored with an orangish red hue. Absolutely beautiful for anything where you see the squash.
More importantly… look how dense this pumpkin is!!! I couldn’t believe my eyes. No wonder this big boy weighed over 22 pounds when fresh– it had hardly any space in the middle like most pumpkins. In fact, the hollow middle was so small there was only one seed. Yup. And the goop you have to scrape out? Maybe 1/3 of a cup total. By comparison, my largest small pumpkin which was slightly larger than a softball had about the same amount of space inside of it and about a cup of seeds not including goop.

The down side of having so gosh darn much pumpkin is that it would take hours to fully bake this squash down. Instead, I plopped it in the oven for an hour then finally gave up and decided to break it down just barely softened. The hour in the oven helped the skin come away from the flesh though most of the pumpkin was still crunchy. Out came the food processor and I worked away removing skin, chopping up squash, and pureeing.

I actually decided not to freeze any cubes this time because after sitting out for over a month the flesh had become a little stringy from drying out and wouldn’t be so great in curry. Instead, I used about four quarts of puree for pumpkin butter and froze the rest in different cup measurements to be used later (bread, muffins, soup, pie, empanadas, etc.). Also, near the end I starting being a little more free with throwing bits of skin out that still had some pumpkin attached so I didn’t 100% utilize absolutely all of the pumpkin but with four quarts of pumpkin butter and all this frozen pumpkin (almost 3 quarts), I’m fairly satisfied.

Wanna know what else lives in my freezer besides ice? From upper left going clockwise: Potato pierogis from the farmer’s market, frozen pizza, tomatoes in a jar that I did not heat process like my other canned goods, turkey broth, tahini, liquor and limoncello, jar of bay leaves (laurel) from Manarola, Italy, greenbeans, fresh frozen ramen noodles, pumpkin (duh), pie crust and more turkey broth. You can’t see some frozen mean (chicken and beef), puff pastry, and all the frozen fruit, nuts and vegetables that live on the freezer door as well as a few other odds and ends. We don’t do a lot of processed foods in our home unless I’m the one doing the processing. But I digress!

Anyone have any fantastic pumpkin recipes to send my way? I’m a big fan of trying out savory uses for the squash that make it into dinner. Aside from curry and empanadas I mentioned above, I’ve used it to make savory scones and even used it instead of potatoes on a shepard’s pie. I skipped a few canning recipes this year since it was easier to just process everything in one go. Link me to your favorite pumpkin recipes!

Cast Iron vs. Cake Pan

Tags

breakfast, cast iron pan, cheese roll, cheese rolls, food, king arthur flour

I’ve mentioned a few times that my goal in life is to make the perfect cheese roll, right? I’ve found a great simple recipe that uses my sourdough starter and yeast on the King Arthur flour website that is easy to put together. It’s what I used for the cheese rolls at my DIY card workshop and they were a big hit. So when the office pot-luck was announced and my co-workers said, “Alanna you pretty much have to make something home made” I said, “Well my cheese rolls are okay.”

This recipe is so easy and I’m working on a few tweaks but right now the only ingredient switch up is that I would recommend swapping out 1 cup of the white flour for wheat flour. I also obviously use cheese along with butter before I roll them up and slice (I slice thinner than the recipe calls for but I think it’s personal preference) and all kinds of things could be used in these. The biggest discovery I had as I made about 30 of these last night was these are a million times better baked in cast iron! The recipe calls for baking in a cake pan (see above) but I only have three cake pans so I tried baking in my 12″ cast iron pan and it completely changed the recipe. Here’s a shot of the bottom of the rolls:

Same dough, same time in the oven, etc. The only difference was the pan they were baked in.

You see, the sourdough in the recipe changes the pH of the dough and makes it harder to brown but this is overcome by the cast iron on the bottoms because it conducts heat better. I also broil these for the last few minutes, watching closely, to brown the cheese on the tops. Obviously both are delicious, but tell me which one you would rather eat?Most people probably don’t have a giant 12-inch cast-iron pan (thanks for the hand-me-down, Grandma!!!) but if you have any size of cast iron, you have got to try baking in it! Pizza, cinnamon rolls, corn bread, you name it. Give it a try and see if it improves your recipes.

Low Sugar Strawberry Jam

Tags

breakfast, food, frozen strawberries, jams and jellies, sugar jams, vegetarian

Between all the carb loading and turkey cooking saturating the internet these days, I thought it might be nice to have a little summer flashback to sunnier days. When the sun wasn’t already down by 5pm. When strawberries were still crazy sweet and bright red at the farm stand (I know you can still find strawberries in markets, but they aren’t the same… and I know that those in warmer climates can grow them in their backyards just about year round. You don’t count!). I want to show you what I did with some of the last strawberries from the farmers’ market.

The first time I made jam I tried a sweet cherry variety but was super bummed when it resulted in jars that were barely half fruit and mostly cherry-colored jelly. I was also surprised just how much sugar goes into standard jams and jellies (like, seven cups or more!). I figured for my first attempt at low sugar jam I would go with most folks’ first foray into canning: strawberry jam. I wanted a final product that tasted like fruit and not fruit flavored syrup.

This recipe is very straightforward and uses everything you should already have on hand assuming you have strawberries and SURE-JELL For Less or No Sugar Needed Recipes Premium Fruit Pectin. I’ve heard that there are other pectin brands that can be used to make low or no sugar jams so this certainly isn’t the only way to go. So, strawberries, water, pectin, a optional half tablespoon of butter and either 1/2  cup of sugar or Splenda (or 12 packets of Splenda). I opted for sugar since 1) I don’t have Splenda in my home 2) I don’t use Splenda or any other artificial sweeteners (anymore). Compared to EIGHT cups in a normal recipe, this is a significant difference in sugar!

These berries were so sweet and fragrant they filled our house with their scent. You need six cups of fruit for this recipe which is about three pint baskets of strawberries. While I haven’t tested it, it may be possible to use frozen strawberries that have been thawed in place of fresh.

Wash and slice the strawberries. I hate it when fruit tastes like a cutting board so I actually use a not-razor-sharp paring knife and cut without using the board but if you like to slice and dive on a surface, try a clean plate if you’ve recently cut garlic or onions on your board. Either way, no need to be perfect about your cutting here as the next step makes it unimportant.

Mash your strawberries using a potato masher but LEAVE CHUNKS. because it’s better that way. And try not to be too upset about mushing up a bunch of beautiful strawberries because, trust me, the jam is worth it and when it gets to be cold and gross outside it will be nice to crack open a jar of this strawberry goodness.

This is my stove setup including my beautiful new canning pot that has a rack (it’s off to the right on a white towel). The black pot that is gigantic is the canning pot, the other large pot is for cooking the jam and behind that is a smaller pot I use for the jar lids. Instead of boiling my already clean jars to sterilize them I put them on a clean kitchen towel on a baking sheet in the oven at 225-degrees for at least 30 minutes. It means I have dry jars that I find easier to handle and so far I’ve had no issues but use this method at your own risk.

The recipe in my pectin box called for dumping all ingredients into the saucepan at once– sugar, pectin, water, fruit– and then bringing to a boil, stirring constantly. Check the recipe on your pectin box to confirm.

Boil and bubble, toil and trouble. Bring the jam up to a rolling boil that cannot be stirred down. The butter can go in once boiling and will prevent some of the foaming once in the jar. After boiling for one minute, this goes into the jars, topped with the boiled lids and a band and then directly into onto the canning rack and into the boiling water in the canning pot.

I only spilled a little. The steps that aren’t pictured are taking that tray (where you can see the rings from the jars) out of the oven, flipping each jar, filling, adding the lid and ring and then into the boiling water. Red handled tongs for the lids since I don’t have a magnetic jar lifter but I did finally buy a spring handled jar thingy (about the red handled tongs) that makes thing so much easier.

Boil/process in a water bath for 10 minutes. When done, remove from the water bath. If you’ve properly sealed your jars you can stand them upright with no problems and they should seal, but in order to be better safe than sorry, I stand them upside-down until they have completely cooled so that I can ensure I have a good seal.

I’ve got to work on my filling amount– you’re supposed to leave a little room but I’m a little inconsistent. The half full jar was used a short while later and was completely awesome. I’m not sure I want to give any of these up they’re so good!

Here’s the recipe as it appears on the Kraft, maker of SURE JELL, website. The instructions that came with my pectin were slightly different so make sure to reference the instructions for your product. Also, the jam boiling process takes maybe 15 or so minutes so make sure your jars have been fully sterilized and are still hot when you are done boiling so the jars can immediately be filled.

Low Sugar Strawberry Jam from thismodernwife
3 cups strawberries (about 3 pints fully ripe strawberries)
3/4 cup water
1 box SURE-JELL For Less or No Sugar Needed Recipes Premium Fruit Pectin
1/2 cup sugar (OR Splenda or 12 Splenda packets)
1/2 Tablespoon of butter (optional)

1. Prepare your jars, lids, rings and get your canning pot half full of water boiling. Clean jars should sterilized by boiling or baked in the oven at 225-degrees on a towel lined baking sheet for 30 minutes.

2. Wash, de-stem, quarter and then mash the strawberries. Add them to a 6 or 8-quart saucepan with the water over high heat.

3. Gradually stir in the pectin and sugar (I added mine all at once and it still worked!). Add butter if using to prevent foaming. Bring the mixture to a full rolling boil that cannot be stirred down. Boil exactly 1 minute and then remove from heat.

4. Immediately ladle jam into hot jars (a wide-mouthed funnel is helpful here) within 1/8-inch of the top. Wipe the treads and rims then put on the warm lids and screw bands on tightly.

5. Place hot jars on canning rack and place in the boiling water canning pot making sure water covers the jars by 1 or 2-inches. Cover canning pot and bring to a gentle boil. Process for 10 minutes.

6. After processing remove jars and place upright (or upside-down to really make sure they have a good seal like I do, but this really isn’t necessary) on a towel to let cool. Once jars have completely cooled check the seals by pressing down on the lid. If the lid springs back, the jar has not sealed and should be refrigerated or frozen.

This recipe will only require four 8-ounce jars for most people but I am not the best at making sure my jars are full enough yet. Besides, it gives me an excuse to make a half jar that I can open to test shortly after making my preserves! Let me know if you’ve ever tried one of these low or no sugar recipes before or if you always go the classic route? After the success I had here I will probably be sticking to the low/no sugar pectin from now on! And think of all the possibilities with making updates to the strawberry jam– strawberry bail, strawberry vanilla, strawberry with lemon rind….