Marisa McClellan's Blog, page 117

Links: Preserved Lemonade, Hamantaschen, and Whole Grain Cornbread

I’m in Chicago. I got here on Friday afternoon and go home Tuesday night. The first few days were turned over entirely to the IACP conference and tomorrow and Tuesday, I’m headed to the International Home and Housewares Show. So far, it’s been a spectacular trip. I signed a bunch of my books last night at the Book & Blog Festival, there’ve been a number of delectable meals, and I’ve gotten to see so many people that I just adore. It has been so good. Now, links!

Do you  have a jar of preserved lemons in the back of your fridge? Make lemonade!
Craving hamantaschen but lacking the will to do all the necessary pinching and crimping? Try a triangular galette instead.
Whole grain cornbread. Drizzle mine with honey, please.
Marmalade cake. Yes, please.
Vanilla honey! Seems like a lovely way to add vanilla flavor to honey sweetened preserves.
Chocolate almond butter. I’d eat this one with a spoon.
I could read Rebecca write about sourdough baking all day long.
Transform your leftover jam into barbecue sauce and make these tacos.
Meyer lemon bitters.
The heavy responsibility of free fruit. Preserves will relate.
And don’t forget to enter the Craftsy giveaway!

I’ve got no winners to announce because the weekly giveaway is on vacation! However, don’t fret! I will be back on Monday, March 24, so stay tuned!

 

Related Posts:

Links: Author Copies, June Taylor, and Winners
Links: More Kumquats, Pickled Cabbage, and a Winner
Links: Marmalades, Muffins, and Puddles

Sponsored Post: WÜSTHOF CLASSIC 8-inch Cook’s Knife Giveaway From Craftsy

Photo courtesy of Wüsthof

My love of fancypants kitchen knives is well documented and one of my very favorite knife makers is Wüsthof. I have a number of their knives on the magnetic strip in my kitchen, and use them nearly every day.

The Wüsthof knife I reach for most often is WÜSTHOF CLASSIC 8-inch Cook’s Knife. It’s well balanced, stays wickedly sharp, and is a joy to use. The one that lives in my kitchen came with my husband when we combined our households back in 2008. He still refers to it as his knife, but I think we all know that it’s really mine.

A few weeks back, I wrote a post about Craftsy’s free Complete Knife Skills class and all the useful things I’d learned from it (along with a recipe for carrot and red pepper refrigerator pickles). In order to continue the knife skills love, Craftsy has kindly offered to give away one WÜSTHOF CLASSIC 8-inch Cook’s Knife to a Food in Jars reader.

This giveaway is a little different from the ones I typically offer here, in that you need to go over to the Craftsy site to enter your name (comments left on this post won’t get you entry this time). If you don’t have one, you will need to create an account on Craftsy in order to enter, but it shouldn’t take long and they are good citizens when it comes to user information.

There’s just one entry per person. The winner will be chosen at random. The giveaway closes at 11:59 pm on Saturday, March 22, 2014.

Click here to enter to win a WÜSTHOF CLASSIC 8-inch Cook’s Knife!

PS: All Craftsy food and cooking classes are up to 50% off through the weekend, so if you’ve ever wanted to learn more at Artisan Bread Making, Mother Sauces, or Vietnamese Classics, this is your chance to do so at a bargain!

For more about this series of sponsored posts and my year-long partnership with Craftsy, please visit this post.

Official disclosure statement: This is sponsored post from Craftsy. I was compensated for this post. However, all opinions remain my own.

 

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Meyer Lemon Syrup

I’ve been a little off my preserving game of late. My pantry is still full to bursting, so I haven’t had much in the way of motivation to make anything new (though truly, that’s never stopped me before). Add to the fact this is one of the least interesting times of the year for produce, and it’s been at least two weeks since I pulled my canning pot out of the cabinet.

Even my annual box of Meyer lemons from the Lemon Ladies failed to motivate me fully. I made jam and curd, but beyond that, I’ve been keeping the bulk of my lemons in my crisper drawer, waiting for inspiration.

Knowing that my busy season is coming, I finally turned my attention to those lemons today. As I pondered them, I realized that I was experiencing something akin to writer’s block, only with preserves. I put a lot of pressure on myself to come up with interesting and novel recipes, and those expectations were tangling me up but good.

As soon as I understood what was going on, I decided to let myself entirely off the hook. I released my crazy expectations and spent a moment thinking about what I could make from those lemons that I would most use and enjoy. After about two seconds, I realized that was I most wanted was a batch of Meyer lemon syrup.

Think of this like lemonade concentrate. It’s tangy first, sweet second, and is one of my favorite things drizzled into a glass of iced sparkling water. Cathartic canning, at its best.

Also! Once all your lemons are juiced, gather up the peels, push them into a large jar, and cover them with white vinegar. Let them sit for awhile, until the vinegar is infused with the lemon essence. Use it for household cleaning.

Print

Meyer Lemon Syrup

Yield: 4 half pint jars

Ingredients

2 1/2 pounds Meyer lemons
2 cups sugar

Instructions

Prepare a boiling water bath canner and four half pint jars. Place lids in a small saucepan and bring to a low simmer.
Juice the lemons and measure out 2 1/2 cups of juice. Pour it into a saucepan and add the sugar.
Stir to combine, bring to a boil and simmer for two minutes.
Funnel into the prepared jars, wipe rims, apply lids and rings, and process in a boiling water bath canner for 10 minutes.
When time is up, remove jars from canner and let cool. Sealed jars are shelf stable for up to one year. Schema/Recipe SEO Data Markup by ZipList Recipe Plugin2.2http://foodinjars.com/2014/03/meyer-lemon-syrup/


Related Posts:

Honey Sweetened Meyer Lemon Jam
Air-Dried Lemon Peel
Eight Ways to Preserve Meyer Lemons

Preserving by the Pint at the IACP Book & Blog Fest

My new book doesn’t officially come out until March 25 but unofficially, things are starting to get under way. I’ve heard through the grapevine that Amazon started shipping some of pre-ordered copies this week. Fillmore Container has a copy and posted a sneak peek earlier today. And I’m doing my first event for this book on Saturday.

I’ll be at the IACP conference in Chicago this weekend and on Saturday from 7-9 pm, I’ll be signing books at the conference’s Book & Blog Festival. If you’re not attending the conference, tickets for the Book & Blog Fest are $35 per person. It’s a little bit pricy, but there will be a number of cookbook authors there, so if you’re a cookbook fiend, it’s a good chance to see a number of your favorite folks all in one place.

I hope to see some of you there!

Related Posts:

One Month Until Preserving by the Pint
Physical Copies of Preserving by the Pint
Upcoming Classes: Temple University! The Brooklyn Kitchen! And More!

Links: Author Copies, June Taylor, and Winners

On Saturday, some of my author copies arrived. I went from having a single copy of the new book in the apartment to having a stack of 15. My email is exploding with logistics and my to-do list has run over to a second page in my notebook. I’m dealing with the stress of it all by continuing to knit simple scarves and walking to the dog park to watch the pups run wrestle and run after toys.

The quiet before the storm is always the hardest part for me. Once the book is out there and everything starts rolling, I’ll be good. It’s just this period of anticipation that’s making me ever so slightly crazy. Now, links!

The Kitchn ran a pair of posts about June Taylor (she’s the high priestess of sweet preserves) that I found interesting. One focused on five essentials for preserving, and the other was touched on her thoughts about the popularity of preserving.
If you’re trying to use up your 2013 preserves, consider a canned pear cake!
A gloriously sunny citrus round-up.
Put dinged jars to good use by making a couple of these get-well kits.
Homemade peanut chips! Genius!
Got citrus peels going into the trash? Dehydrate them and put them in your tea.
Apple ginger orange marmalade.
Everyone has their own version of a jam-filled cookie bar. This very nutty one looks perfect to me.
As I start to think forward to a bunch of travel, I ponder the perfect road snack. These chocolate chip cookie energy bars are going on the top of the list.
Bright red lime pickle.
Pretty pictures of a table lined with jars with votive candles. Makes me long for summer like a pain.
Finally, Saveur has opened nominations for their Best Food Blog Awards. If you feel so moved, how about nominating this site in the Best Original Recipes category?

So many thanks to everyone who entered the Tulid giveaway last week. The winners are:

#17/Maryanne
#36/Jeannette Harnish
#101/Pirate Jeni
#338/Kateiline
#389/Flip Miller

The giveaway is going on vacation for the next couple weeks, but will be back on March 24. Stay tuned!

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Links: More Kumquats, Pickled Cabbage, and a Winner
Links: Meyer Lemons, Pour Spouts, and Winners
Links: Jar Jewelry, Links, and a Winner

Cookbooks: Metropolitan Bakery 20 For 20

One of my favorite things about my neighborhood is the Metropolitan Bakery. They bake the most glorious breads and pastries (I’m a fool for their millet muffins and fennel soft pretzels), have a refrigerator case stocked with free range eggs, local dairy products, and produce, and serve as a pick-up location for a number of area CSA shares. I’m in there at least once a week (if not more).

In 2003 after ten years in business, they published a really nice cookbook that featured a number of their greatest hits from the bakery, including those millet muffins (I wrote about them back in the first year of this site). Amazon has a number of used copies, or you can get a shiny new one directly from Metropolitan.

Recently, Metropolitan opened up a cafe next door to their Rittenhouse bakery that serves an array of sandwiches, soups, salads, coffee drinks, and desserts. In concert with that opening, they’ve put out a new collection of recipes. Called Metropolitan Bakery 20 For 20 (that means 20 new recipes for their 20th anniversary), it features recipes from the new cafe as well as a handful from the bakery.

The book has the feel of a high end quarterly magazine and is gorgeously photographed and designed. The recipe selection is eclectic and features such things as fermented dill pickles, bay leaf panna cotta with candied kumquats, homemade cream cheese, and pink peppercorn shortbread. Oh, and if you do get your hands on a copy of this book, don’t miss the salted chocolate cherry cookies in the very back. They are one of my very favorite things.

Related Posts:

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Millet in Jars and Muffins

Honey Sweetened Meyer Lemon Curd

After I posted the recipe for blood orange curd last week, my mom’s best friend Maria sent me a note asking whether if curds could be made with honey instead of sugar. She and her husband are on a limited diet right now, but honey, eggs, citrus, and dairy are allowed. If a batch of curd could be sweetened with honey, she though it would make a very nice treat in the face of a whole bunch of food restrictions.

I’d not tried making a citrus curd with honey before, but dove into the challenge. I used the same recipe framework that had worked so nicely for the blood oranges, but cut back on the egg yolks by one (to account for the extra liquid the honey would be adding) and swapped in honey for sugar by weight (3/4 cup of sugar weighs 6 ounces, so I used that much honey. Because honey weighs more than sugar, the volume measure is 1/2 cup).

It took a few minutes longer to set up, but it came together beautifully. I used Meyer lemons for this batch because they’re the citrus that most needed to be used in my kitchen. The flavor is gloriously tangy and the sweetness is nicely balanced. I may start sweetening all my curds with honey from now on.

Print

Honey Sweetened Meyer Lemon Curd

Yield: approximately 2 cups

Ingredients

5 egg yolks
1/2 cup honey (if you have a scale, measure 6 ounces of honey right into the bowl with the yolks)
1/2 cup meyer lemon juice
zest from fruit
1 stick butter, cut into cubes (1 stick is 4 ounces)

Instructions

Whisk the yolks, honey, juice, and zest together. Position bowl over a simmering pan of water and stir with a silicone spatula until the curd coats the sides of the bowl and the spoon.
It should be about the thickness of regular whole milk yogurt (not greek yogurt) and will take between 6 and 9 minutes to achieve the proper thickness.
Remove the bowl from the pan and stir in the butter. Once the butter is melted, run the curd through a fine mesh sieve to remove the zest and any scrambled bits.
Pour into a jar and refrigerate. It may look a little runny when it's still warm, but it will thicken up as it cools.
This is not a curd that should be canned. It will keep in the fridge for 10-14 days or can be packed into small jars and frozen for up to 6 months. Schema/Recipe SEO Data Markup by ZipList Recipe Plugin2.2http://foodinjars.com/2014/03/honey-sweetened-meyer-lemon-curd/


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Honey Sweetened Meyer Lemon Jam
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Preserves in Action: Whole Wheat Crepes

I taught myself to make crepes when I was in high school from a recipe in my mom’s fabric-bound copy of the Joy of Cooking. I was home sick from school (though truly, I wasn’t particularly ill) and needing something to do with my time, turned to the kitchen for entertainment.

The first crepe was terrible (I’ve since learned that the first one always is), but I soon found the right flame and amount of batter to pour and eventually made myself a satisfying stack of paper-thin pancakes. I don’t remember exactly how I ate them, but imagine that either peanut butter or maple syrup was involved.

These days, I make crepes far less often than I’d like, but when I do remember to blend up a batch of batter, I am so very happy to have them on my plate. I’d like to make them a more regular part of my culinary rotation, because they make such a glorious vehicle for jams and fruit butters.

I mostly still follow the Joy of Cooking recipe (they’re called French Pancakes in my edition), but do make a couple adjustments. I use whole wheat pastry flour in place of all purpose and blend the batter using my Vitamix to ensure a lump-free cake. When I want to make a batch that can be used in a savory situation, I omit the vanilla extract and powdered sugar.

Normally, I post these Preserves in Action recipes on Thursdays, but since today is known in some quarters as Pancake Day, I thought I’d move this one up a couple days for the sake of timeliness. I’m so rarely coordinated when it comes to holidays such as these, but there’s a first time for everything!

Print

Preserves in Action: Whole Wheat Crepes

Ingredients

1 cup milk (most of the time I use cow's milk, but almond milk is also nice)
2 eggs
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
3/4 cup whole wheat pastry flour
2 tablespoons powdered sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

Instructions

Combine the milk, eggs, and vanilla in a blender and puree to combine.
Sift the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt together and add to the blender. Pulse to combine.
Let the batter rest for at least 30 minutes before cooking (you can also make it the night before and stash it in a covered jar in the fridge).
When you're ready to cook, heat a small non-stick skillet over a medium-high flame. Pour 2-3 tablespoons of the batter into the pan and tilt it so that it spreads to over the bottom of the pan.
Let the crepe cook until the batter is set and doesn't look at all drippy and the edges begin to pull away from the sides of the pan. This will take 2-3 minutes in the beginning, and just 60 to 90 seconds as the pan heats up.
Carefully run a thin spatula around the edges of the crepe to loosen it from the pan and flip it. Let it cook for 15-30 seconds on this side.
Slide the crepe out of the pan and onto a plate. Repeat with remaining batter.
You should get 12-15 pancakes from this recipe. Schema/Recipe SEO Data Markup by ZipList Recipe Plugin2.2http://foodinjars.com/2014/03/preserves-action-whole-wheat-crepes/


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Giveaway: Tulid Reusable Leak-Proof Lids

Traditional two piece canning jar lids are designed to seal easily and safely. That is what they’re best at and they do it well. However, those of us who use our mason jars for dry goods, leftovers, liquids, and other acts of storage and toting know that two piece lids often leave something to be desired.

Ball does make some plastic one piece lids, but they are neither air or liquid tight, so their utility is limited. Happily, the folks at Simpler Products have stepped into the void with a product called the Tulid. It’s a one piece lid that is reusable, totally leak-proof, and has a removable gasket that makes it dead easy to clean.

I first discovered Tulid last fall when they were running their Kickstarter campaign. I backed the effort and got a package containing lids for both regular and wide mouth jars in early February. I’ve been using these lids very happily on a daily basis since then and am contemplating ordering more (they sell for $25 for three lids).

The Tulid lids are great because they give you a very secure seal. I know that when I put them on a jar holding teriyaki sauce or maple syrup (two things I find myself storing on a regular basis), if the jar tips over in the fridge, it is not going to leak.

I also appreciate how easy they are to clean. The silicone gaskets pop out so that you can clean them completely and then slip right back into the lid when they are dry. The tops of the lid also work with wet erase markers, which means that you can clearly mark what’s in the jars (so that no one confuses the teriyaki sauce with the maple syrup).

Obviously, these lids are not designed for canning. They are for storage and transportation and do a fabulous job of it. And thanks to the nice folks at Tulid, I have five sets of these lids to give away to Food in Jars readers. Here’s how to enter.

Leave a comment on this post and share how you’d use these jars.
Comments will close at 11:59 pm on Saturday, March 8, 2014. Winners will be chosen at random and will be posted to the blog on Sunday, March 9, 2014.
Giveaway open to US.
One comment per person, please. Entries must be left via the comment form on the blog at the bottom of this post.

Disclosure: Tulid has generously offered to provide the lids for this giveaway. No money has changed hands, I bought my own lids, and my opinions are, as always, my own. 

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March Sponsors: Cuppow, Fillmore Container, New West KnifeWorks, Preserving Now, and The Clay Studio

It’s the beginning of a brand new month and that means it’s time to thank the companies and businesses who help keep this site chugging along.

In the top spot is jar accessory maker Cuppow! They are the creator of the original mason jar travel mug topper and, more recently, of the BNTO, a cup that fits into a wide mouth mason jar and transforms it into a lunch box. Domestic shipping is free on all their products right now, too!

Second on the list is our friends at Fillmore Container. They sell all manner of canning jars and lids, as well as a handful of books and jar accessories. They’re a family-owned business based in Lancaster, PA and they happily work with home canners and commercial producers alike. And I hear that they’re going to have the new green jars in stock by next week!

Next up is  New West KnifeWorks. Based in Wyoming, they are makers of gorgeous, sturdy, crafted in the US kitchen knives. They are a joy to work with.

I’m also happy to welcome Preserving Now back! Operated by Lyn Deardorff, Preserving Now is both a website and school dedicated to helping people expand their canning and preserving skills. If you’re in the Atlanta area, make sure to check out her schedule of upcoming classes and events!

The Clay Studio is back with us again! This Philadelphia-based non-profit was founded in 1974 and is dedicated to affirming the importance of the ceramic arts. They work to make clay an accessible medium to a broad range of people. I regularly drool over the many gorgeous pieces in their shop.

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