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Showing posts with label condiments. Show all posts
Showing posts with label condiments. Show all posts

Wednesday, June 17, 2009

Marmalade Emergency!

Mildly funny story.

I decided to make my dad some homemade marmalade for Father's Day this year, seeing as it's a favorite thing of his. Canning is not my forte, let me preface with. I've done a recipe or three of the famous Loibner salsa and that's about it. Maybe an unsuccessful batch of Ina Garten's strawberry jam a year ago as well.

So Anna Pump's Orange Marmalade was entirely new territory.

Most of my ten half pint mason jars were already tied up with the formerly mentioned salsa, but I was betting that the two I had remaining and several other small ones would be enough for the 3 pint recipe.

Wrong.

Making this marmalade is a two day process, and the second day requires about 3 hours of watching, stirring and skimming to make sure that all goes well. After finally coming to the end of the recipe and pouring it into my two jars, I still had a least half the pan left.

Of course. Because I am an idiot about math and have been since we hit long division in fourth grade. (Ironically I was bond trader, but I always told people that I only work with numbers in the "millions.")

So what to do, what to do with the quickly cooling jam in my pot?? I threw a protesting Sam in the carseat, jumped in my car and drove to our nearest Williams-Sonoma in hopes that the utterly fabulous and infamous Dana Williams (no relation to Chuck, at least I don't think so...) would be working and be able to direct me to some new jars within the hour. (I was lucky enough to get to know her during our wedding registry process...five full pages long and I got every item on it. Knew and loved almost everyone in the store by the end of that year.)

Walking into the store, I announce "Marmalade emergency Dana!" and she runs me over to the wall with the plethora of gourmet jams. I proceeded to explain that I was attempting to make it on my own and had run out of jars.

Her face fell, eyes flickering behind her funky black glasses as she thought out loud rapidly, "Nope, not a jar in sight. We carried canning items about five years ago or so, there was a huge display right there." She glanced over towards the checkout and then looked back at me, a smile coming to her face.

"ACTUALLY", (her voice rising and words coming quickly as she became more excited). "I bought a bunch of canning equipment when it went on clearance way back then and I think IT'S STILL IN THE BAG IN MY BASEMENT!!!"

She raced over to the phone behind the desk and says, "Stay right there, can you wait two minutes while my son Max checks to see if it's still down there?"

Sure enough, Max dug around their basement, by the "Fourth of July chairs, over in the corner" and there it was.

Two gorgeous Williams-Sonoma bags, full of $100 worth of beautiful german canning jars and canning equipment that she bought for something like $9 five years ago.

Thanks to the adorable Max, and a quick trip to their house, all the marmalade is now in it's new home and I am utterly grateful for my friend's generosity.

It is now 8:48pm and the 2 hr 30 min (yeah right Ina,) project is finally at a close.

Dana, check your mailbox tomorrow. It'd be really good on your homemade french bread. Love you.

Anna Pump's Orange Marmalade (totally worth the hassle)
4 large seedless oranges
2 lemons
8 cups sugar
8 cups water

Cut the oranges and lemons in half crosswise, then into very thin half-moon slices. (You can use a mandoline if you wish.) Discard any seeds. Place the sliced fruit and their juices into a stainless-steel pot. Add 8 cups of water and bring the mixture to a boil, stirring often. Remove from heat and stir in the sugar until it dissolves. Cover and allow to stand overnight at room temperature.

The next day, bring the mixture back to a boil. Reduce the heat to low and simmer uncovered for about 2 hours. Turn the heat up to medium and boil gently, stirring often, for another 30 minutes. Skim off any foam that forms on the top. Cook the marmalade until it reaches 220 degrees F on a candy thermometer. (Unfortunately very necessary for this recipe, but only a $5-$10 purchase.) If you want to be doubly sure it's ready, place a small amount on a plate and refrigerate it until it's cool but not cold. If it's firm, neither runny nor too hard, it's done. It will be a golden orange color. If the marmalade is runny, continue cooking it and if it's too hard, add more water.

Pour the marmalade into clean, hot Mason jars; wipe the rims throughly with a clean damp paper towel and seal with the lids. Store in the pantry for up to a year. (Ina didn't call for you to boil the jars in order to create the vacuum, but I did anyways, just to be safe.)

Yield: 3-4 pints (hint, you will need MORE then 2 half pint jars. Ahem.)

Wednesday, November 14, 2007

Thanksgiving

So I've decided our menu for Thanksgiving, at least my portion of it.  We're hosting for the first time EVER at our humble abode, which means that I'm responsible for the bird, stuffing, gravy, bread, and cranberries.

Here's what I've decided after much research and shopping around:

-A frozen Jennie-O turkey, from Jewel, purchased with the $10 coupon in today's junk mail, defrosted slowly in mom's extra fridge. 

-We will be brining this lucky, lucky bird for 12 hours in a luxurious bath of apple cider, kosher salt, honey, brown sugar and white sugar.

-Stuffing will be an old family recipe with apples, onions and fresh herbs, tweaked a bit...don't tell Grandpa but I'm going to leave out the prunes...Baked outside the bird with homemade turkey broth added for flavor.

-Gravy will be made with the aforementioned homemade turkey broth, pan drippings and an apple cider syrup reduction.

-Two types of cranberries, one with traditional cooked fresh berries, apples, sugar, orange and lemon zest and the other, a cranberry "dipping" sauce from Alton Brown.  It sounds totally delectable, with ginger ale and maple syrup.  Unfortunately it calls for an immersion blender...Mom can I borrow yours?  Perhaps a blender will do fine.  Here's the recipe if this sounds good to you:

Cranberry Dipping Sauce from Alton Brown
1 lb. frozen cranberries
2 cups orange juice
3 cups ginger ale
2 TB maple syrup
2 TB light brown sugar
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1 orange, zested

Combine all ingredients in a non-reactive saucepan and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, for 30-45 min or until liquid is reduced by half.  Carefully puree with an immersion blender or upright blender until smooth.  Check for seasoning and serve in individual small ramekins so people can dip their own turkey.

-Parkerhouse Rolls, recipe courtesy of Anna, will be prepared and shaped the day before and baked off Thanksgiving Day 

Sound good?  I'm having so much fun.  You should see all the lists going in the back of my yellow steno book, slightly out of control.


Monday, August 27, 2007

The Wonders of Basil

It's that time of year again, time to break out the Cuisinart, olive oil and parmesan and get cranking!

Time to make and freeze multiple batches of PESTO! It's such a delight in mid-January to reach into the freezer and grab a bag of this emerald jewel to marinate chicken breasts in, put over pasta or just smear on toasted bread. Here's one of my favorite recipes:

Pesto alla Genovese
1 1/2 cups fresh basil leaves (packed)
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
2 tablespoons pine nuts or walnuts, toasted
1 teaspoon minced garlic (or you can just throw the whole cloves in)
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil (I like Olio Santo for this recipe, or use a good Italian one)
the juice of half a lemon, more to taste

In the bowl of a food processor, combine the basil, salt, and pepper and process for a few seconds until the basil is chopped. Add the cheese, pine nuts, and garlic and, while the processor is running, add the oil in a thin, steady stream until a mostly smooth sauce is formed. Transfer pesto to a bowl and set aside. (Note: Pesto may be made 1 day in advance and kept, refrigerated, in an airtight container, until ready to use. If making in advance, be sure to cover the top of the pesto with a thin layer of olive oil to prevent the pesto from darkening. Pesto may also be frozen in the same manner in small quantities for use at a later date.)