Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Strawberry Vanilla Syrup

Howdy Jammers!  Sorry it’s taken me so long to get this last strawberry batch posted.  We have been super busy here at the cottage with yard and garden work (we have spring fever), plus I wanted to give this last batch as long as I could before giving up any hope for it being anything more than a syrup.  As you can see by the title of this one, syrup is what I got.  It’s thick but still syrupy, none the less.  I don’t want to call it a failed jam, that sounds negative, and would effect the taste of it simply by the forethought that it was failed.  I prefer to simply change the name based on the outcome and give it to someone who will instantly think of it as a perfect “sauce” or “syrup” and will be none the wiser!  It’s a trick that my Mabert taught me…nothing is ever a complete failure and no one has to know it was ever meant to be something different (unless you tell them).  You can also think of it as truly making the best with what you have.  Focus on the positive and never dwell on the negative, she would say. 

I mentioned that I would tell you about my favorite sugar to use in my creations.  It is Domino brand sugar and we buy it by the ten pound bag from the local warehouse style store. 054 It is superfine granulated sugar and the texture is so very fine, almost powdery, but not a true powdered sugar.  It dissolves quickly and thoroughly in everything I use it in from my infamous sweet tea, to powdered drink mixes for the Scouts and now in my jams and jellies.  I never have sugary clumps and it dissolves very quickly, even in cold liquids.  When I first open a new bag I get a nose full of sugar dust, because it is superfine, and all I can think about is how glad I am that I don’t have a candle burning too close to it or that I don’t smoke anymore… Did you know that sugar dust is combustible if exposed to sparks or flame?  Be careful with the sweet stuff…in more ways than one!

Now a few weeks ago, I bought the flat of strawberries and had just enough left for a third batch of jam and decided to try a strawberry vanilla jam which turned out to be a wonderful strawberry vanilla syrup.   When I went to gather my ingredients I could not find my whole vanilla beans and decided to heed my Mabert’s advice…use what you have and make it work, so I pulled out the pure vanilla extract.  I always place a few dabs behind my ears and on my wrists when working with my vanilla, it is such a comforting smell.  I hope you enjoy this syrup and I can’t wait to hear how you end up using it.046

Strawberry Vanilla Syrup

4 pints strawberries, hulled and pureed (I used the food processor)
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
7 cups granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon unsalted butter
1 pouch liquid pectin

Preheat canner and prepare jars and lids. Combine pureed strawberries, sugar, vanilla and butter in a large, deep pot and bring to a boil over high heat, stirring constantly until sugar is dissolved and mixture can not be stirred down.  Stir in pectin and boil for 1 minute.

Remove pan from heat and quickly skim off any foam from the top. Ladle the syrup into the hot jars, leaving 1/4 inch headspace. Wipe the rims of the jars with a clean damp cloth and add the lids and rings, turning the rings until just finger-tight. Place the jars in the preheated canner and bring canner to a full rolling boil. Process jars for 10 minutes (adjusting according to your altitude, if necessary) then remove canner from heat. Let canner sit for 5 minutes, then, carefully remove hot jars from water with a jar lifter, place them on a towel on the counter and leave them undisturbed for 24 hours. Check the seals before storing and use within 12 months.

Makes about 9 half pint jars.  I did 5 half pints and 2 pint jars in my batch.

I am not sure if it was the fact that I pureed the fruit, used the extract instead of the bean or if it was the pectin but I ended up with a beautiful velvety syrup that is perfect over french toast.  I have also stirred it into plain greek style yogurt and even blended it into milk for a fresh frothy treat.  It is fabulous and so much fresher than any store bought syrup I have had.  I love it and hope it turns out just like this next time, too!

I made a new banana jam that I will post next time.  Till then, Be Blessed and Be Sweet!

Monday, March 14, 2011

Jalaberry Sauce

Good Monday morning Jammers!  Hope you all had a fabulous weekend…I did.  Both gardens are fully planted for spring and we are looking forward to an amazing bounty in a few weeks.  The home garden was fun to build, it’s our first year doing one here.  In the past we have container gardened but this will be the first year for an actual bed this size.  We went with a raised bed measuring 6ft. x 15ft and I have spent the last week hauling load after load of dirt from the front yard to the back yard one wheelbarrow load at a time.  We tore up the old sod out front and needed to excavate 5-6 inches of dirt before we replant grass. I have never been so happy to finish a project, whew!  My back is killing me but I have enjoyed building the garden and getting it planted. 

Last weekend, if you recall, I bought a flat of strawberries 044and made three different varieties of jam.  Well, I think that I have learned something about working with strawberries…I over processed my berries and none of the batches seemed to get a good set.  I read that instead of hand mashing them with a fork you could pulse them in the food processor, which I did, but I over pulsed them.  I had some chunks but all of my jars ended up with a liquidy clear bottom 2/3rds of the jar and the top 1/3rd was fruity.  I am guessing that this had something to do with the soft set results I got.  It worked out fine for the first batch, which was the Refreshing Strawberry Lime Jam, which was a medium set and I will still refer to as a “jam”.  The second batch I did that day was a special request for my sweetie, a strawberry jalapeño blend I came up with.  Let’s put it this way, I have renamed it from “jam” to “sauce” which is perfect for this flavor combination, anyway.  We have gone through 2 jars in a week, if that tells you anything. 

I focused on the intensity aspect of the strawberries, again for this batch, and looked to the jalapeños for protection.  When doing our spring cleaning/cleansing of the house I also wanted to make sure to envision a strong protective bubble around it protecting my hearth and family from any negativity and ugliness that seems to be everywhere in the world right now.  This sauce serves the purpose, for sure!  It’s very powerful.

JalaberrySauce

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4 pints strawberries, hulled and hand crushed (NOT pureed)
3/4 cup minced jalapeno peppers (about 5 medium, including seeds
                                                                    and veins)
1/4 cup lemon juice
1 (2 ounce) package powdered fruit pectin
7 cups granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon unsalted butter

Preheat canner and prepare jars and lids. Combine crushed strawberries, jalapeños, lemon juice and butter in a large, deep pot and bring to a boil over high heat, stirring constantly. Add sugar, stirring until dissolved and mixture can not be stirred down.  Stir in pectin and boil for 1 minute.

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Remove pan from heat and quickly skim off any foam from the top. Ladle the jam into the hot jars, leaving 1/4 inch headspace. Wipe the rims of the jars with a clean damp cloth and add the lids and rings, turning the rings until just finger-tight. Place the jars in the preheated canner and bring canner to a full rolling boil. Process jars for 10 minutes (adjusting according to your altitude, if necessary) then remove canner from heat. Let canner sit for 5 minutes, then, carefully remove hot jars from water with a jar lifter, place them on a towel on the counter and leave them undisturbed for 24 hours. Check the seals before storing and use within 12 months.

Makes about 9 half pint jars.  I did 5 half pints and 2 pint jars in my batch.

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This sauce is so savory and peppery but NOT flaming hot so it doesn’t leave you with a burning throat but does give you a wonderful burst of jalapeño flavor combined with a sweetness that is the perfect combination.  So far it has been used in this house as a glaze for pork chops (not once but twice), a wonderful addition to warmed cream cheese and crackers and was the best sauce we have ever used with fried mozzarella cheese sticks.  We were also brave and used it to dip Jalapeño Poppers in and ……eeekkkk, I just drooled on my keyboard….oh-my-gosh were they incredible!  I would like to figure a way to make a salad dressing with it too…any ideas on how I could make a vinaigrette out of it?  I am also thinking of brushing it on burgers at the last minute next time we grill out.

Enjoy the sauce…remember, jams and jellies are never failures they just morph into something else with another use.  Waste not, want not!

Next time I will talk about my preference for sugar in my jams, butters, jellies and sauces.  I do have a specific brand I prefer to use and I will share why, along with the final strawberry batch.

Till then…Be Blessed and Be Sweet!

Wednesday, March 9, 2011

Refreshing Strawberry Lime Jam

Good morning Jammers!  Spring is right around the corner, officially, but we have been celebrating early for the past few weeks.  The weather has been gorgeous and in the mid to upper 80’s over the last 3 or 4 weeks.  I’ve got babies in the ground at the community garden and need to harvest out the rest of our cabbage soon.  With the great weather we have had, I decided a trip down to the main Farmers Market, downtown, was in order.  I mean, what better way to honor the warmth of the sun and the beginnings of our seasonal bounty from Mother Earth?  We decided to meet up with some great friends that are seasoned veterans of the Market and headed out early last Saturday morning.  I was very surprised and the variety and prices of everything there.  I picture myself becoming a Market junkie by the time summer arrives.  My goal was strawberries, which are in peak season right now, and peanuts.  I came home with both of them plus a huge bounty of delicious goodies like squash, corn, mushrooms, broccoli, asparagus, tomatoes, cucumbers, tiny creamer potatoes, green beans, onions, radishes and even a mango.  033

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042We have feasted like royalty these last few days.  I also picked up a bag of limes for one of the jams I wanted to make.  Turns out I only needed a few limes and ended up with a lot left over so today I made a new recipe and it is awesome!  It is a honey limeade and I am in love,  I can’t wait to try it as a margarita base.  I spent all of Saturday with a HUGE pot of raw peanuts smothered with bayou seasoning, salt and red pepper flakes boiling on the stove.  In true Southern form (my Papa would be so proud) I left them boiling all day (almost 7 hours) and they are some of the best I have ever had.  We put them in freezer bags in individual serving packs and will be able to reheat them anytime we want peanuts!  My Papa always had bags of boiled peanuts in the big freezers with the rest of the garden’s bounty and meats.  He and my MaBert had 3 huge freezers that were always stocked in their basement.  There was also a full kitchen down there for canning and shelf after shelf full of mason jars of beans, soups, jams, jellies, pickles, tomatoes and anything else you could think of to can and YES, they grew it all.  I really miss those days of sitting perched on a stool watching her can.  I was her audience as I was always watching her and she was always busy showing and telling me about everything she was doing whether it be gardening, sewing, cooking or canning.  I would just sit by her side for hours on end watching and talking. 

I spent Sunday making three batches of strawberry jams with the flat of perfect berries we picked up. 044 I have to thank my reader, Andrea, for the idea for the first batch, a strawberry lime jam.  It came out perfect and she was right, the flavors are VERY complementary.  The properties of lime are for cleansing and one of the things strawberries are known for is intensity.  Those traits are oh-so fitting for this time of year.  We have spent our inside days, of late, cleaning and purging the house.  Call it spring fever, I suppose, but it's spring and time for some deep cleaning, whether it be flower beds, veggie gardens, closets or cabinets now is the time!  Strawberry lime jam is a perfect representation of our season.  When I first went into the kitchen on Sunday morning to prepare my work area the first thing I did was open the windows.  A dear friend of mine, Trish Telesco, writes that in the kitchen your windows represent vital energy, refreshment and winds of change.  As the cross-breezes played with my recipes on the counter my mind kept thinking about how refreshing it felt and when I started zesting the limes the smell was nothing short of refreshing.  In honor of that sentiment I call this one my Refreshing Strawberry Lime Jam.

Refreshing Strawberry Lime Jam

4 pints strawberries, hulled and crushed
7 cups granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon unsalted butter
2 teaspoons grated lime peel
1/4 cup fresh lime juice
1 pouch liquid pectin

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Preheat canner and prepare jars and lids. Combine crushed strawberries, lime zest, and lime peel in a large, deep, pot and bring to a boil over high heat, stirring constantly. Add sugar, stirring until dissolved and mixture can not be stirred down.  Quickly stir in pectin and boil for 1 minute.
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Remove pan from heat and quickly skim off any foam from the top. Ladle the jam into the hot jars, leaving 1/4 inch headspace. Wipe the rims of the jars with a clean damp cloth and add the lids and rings, turning the rings until just finger-tight. Place the jars in the preheated canner and bring canner to a full rolling boil. Process jars for 10 minutes (adjusting according to your altitude, if necessary) then remove canner from heat. Let canner sit for 5 minutes, then, carefully remove hot jars from water with a jar lifter, place them on a towel on the counter and leave them undisturbed for 24 hours. Check the seals before storing and use within 12 months.

Makes about 9 half pint jars.

This jam is my new favorite.  It has a perfect blend of flavors and a very spreadable texture.  I just finished a hot buttermilk biscuit with this jam and it was heavenly.  Thank you Andrea for the inspiration and the suggestion.  Winking smile  Too bad you live so far away or you could come by the Hearth for a visit and some biscuits with jam!  My sweetie has a new favorite and I will share that recipe with you next time.  We enjoyed its heated sweetness last night as a glaze on 2 inch thick boneless porkchops and they were amazing…stay tuned and I will have it up in the next few days.

Till then...Be Blessed and Be Sweet!