We went out in search of strawberries this weekend and found a great farm that had just opened for the season, we were the only people picking in the field, with bright red berries and a beautiful day. We had to contain ourselves and settled on picking 4 buckets, even though I am sure we could have easily done twice that. The next step was figuring out what to do with them. Besides the easy answer of just slicing them over ice cream, I decided to have some fun as well. This morning I made strawberry muffins with strawberry butter. I would post the muffin recipe, but it really wasn't that special and needs some adjustments before posting for the world. The butter on the other hand was wonderful and will definitely be made again. Besides putting it on muffins, I would suggest tossing it on pancakes, bagels, english muffins or any other foods that you want, it was delicious.
Strawberry Butter
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup chopped fresh strawberries
1 C powdered sugar
Fold all ingredients together until combined. Chill until ready to use.
Sunday, June 19, 2011
Sunday, June 5, 2011
Fun with Jam
As I was excited about fruit in the store, I decided to have my first canning run of the season. This weekend, we made 4 jams: Cherry Bourbon Jam, Nectarine-Rhubarb Jam, Cherry Jalapeno Jam and Strawberry Nectarine Conserve. The best of the bunch seems to be the Strawberry Nectarine Conserve and conveniently it was the easiest to make too!
Strawberry Nectarine Conserve
Makes 3 12oz jars
1 1/2# Nectarines, peeled and pitted
8 oz Strawberries, cut in half
2 C sugar
4 T powdered pectin
4 T lemon juice
Combine all ingredients in a large saucepan (don't go too small on the pan as this will bubble up quite a bit). Bring to a boil and simmer gently for 10 minutes. Turn up heat and bring to a rolling boil for 10-15 minutes or until it has reached the setting point (see below). Remove from heat and put into sanitized jars. Seal in hot water bath (see below) for 5 minutes, then remove and place on kitchen towel for 24 hours.
Setting Point: This happens at about 220 degrees, however to test, remove pan from heat, put a small amount of jam in bowl and with a spoon allow some to cool for a moment. When it has reached its setting point, the last of the jam should flake off the spoon in a larger clump rather than drizzle off in small drips.
Hot Water Bath: A boiling pot of hot water where the jars can sit freely without touching and will cover the jars by at least one inch.
If anyone has other fun jam recipes, let me know, I would love to find more. Strawberries are right around the corner and I will be looking at many ways to use these.
Cheers!
Strawberry Nectarine Conserve
Makes 3 12oz jars
1 1/2# Nectarines, peeled and pitted
8 oz Strawberries, cut in half
2 C sugar
4 T powdered pectin
4 T lemon juice
Combine all ingredients in a large saucepan (don't go too small on the pan as this will bubble up quite a bit). Bring to a boil and simmer gently for 10 minutes. Turn up heat and bring to a rolling boil for 10-15 minutes or until it has reached the setting point (see below). Remove from heat and put into sanitized jars. Seal in hot water bath (see below) for 5 minutes, then remove and place on kitchen towel for 24 hours.
Setting Point: This happens at about 220 degrees, however to test, remove pan from heat, put a small amount of jam in bowl and with a spoon allow some to cool for a moment. When it has reached its setting point, the last of the jam should flake off the spoon in a larger clump rather than drizzle off in small drips.
Hot Water Bath: A boiling pot of hot water where the jars can sit freely without touching and will cover the jars by at least one inch.
If anyone has other fun jam recipes, let me know, I would love to find more. Strawberries are right around the corner and I will be looking at many ways to use these.
Cheers!
Coming back around
So I feel like things are finally getting to a point where I can have fun with cooking again. Started a new job last September and it has been a ton of fun since starting, but it has also taken a lot of time. I think I am finally getting to a point to where I have a rhythm and I can make time for more things that I want to focus on. One of these things as of late is enjoying the weather with grilling and enjoying some of the great fruits that are showing up in the grocery store (as the local stuff isn't quite ready yet). So here is the first recipe that I enjoyed when I got excited to see fresh apricots in the grocery store:
Grilled Apricots with Blackberry Sauce
8 apricots
1/2 pint of blackberries
2 T sugar
4 T butter
2 T brown sugar
Vanilla Ice Cream
Put blackberries in small sauce pan with sugar. Cook until blackberries breakdown, then remove from heat and cool. Cut apricots in half and remove pits. In sauce pan, heat butter and brown sugar until melted. When melted, toss in a bowl with apricots. Over indirect heat on a grill, place apricots. Cook 2-3 minutes, turn over and cook 2-3 minutes more. Serve immediately over vanilla ice cream and drizzle with blackberry sauce.
Cheers and there will be more to come!
Grilled Apricots with Blackberry Sauce
8 apricots
1/2 pint of blackberries
2 T sugar
4 T butter
2 T brown sugar
Vanilla Ice Cream
Put blackberries in small sauce pan with sugar. Cook until blackberries breakdown, then remove from heat and cool. Cut apricots in half and remove pits. In sauce pan, heat butter and brown sugar until melted. When melted, toss in a bowl with apricots. Over indirect heat on a grill, place apricots. Cook 2-3 minutes, turn over and cook 2-3 minutes more. Serve immediately over vanilla ice cream and drizzle with blackberry sauce.
Cheers and there will be more to come!
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