Marisa McClellan's Blog, page 53

Black Friday Deals from FIJ Partners and Friends

Good deals abound today and so I thought I’d round up some of the specials and sales that some of the Food in Jars friends and partners are offering for Black Friday, Small Business Saturday, and Cyber Monday. Happy shopping!

Cuppow: Use the code BLACKFRIDAY to get free shipping and 25% off all everyday reusable products. Good through Monday, 11/28/16.

Mason Jar Lifestyle: Use the code BF30 to get 30% off all orders. Buy on Saturday, 11/16 and they’ll donate $1 from every order to Americares. Good through Monday, 11/28/16.

Masontops: Use the code SAVE25 to get 25% off all orders. Free shipping on orders of $25 or more. Good through Monday, 11/28/16.

EcoJarz: Use the code FBFRIDAY2016 to get 40% off your order. Spend more than $40 and get a free silicone band gripper. Good through Monday, 11/28/16.

reCAP Mason Jars: Deals abound! The best buy is their 10 pack of regular mouth POUR lids. They’re currently 35% off!

New West Knifeworks: Knives and knife sets are discounted. Reduced prices good through Monday, 11/28/16.

Earlywood: Use the code EARLYFRIDAY15 for 15% off your order. Free shipping on orders over $100. Good through Friday, 11/25/16.

Mason-re: Use the code THANKS to get 20% off your order. Good through Monday, 11/28/16.

Kefirko: Use the code 20KEFIRKO to get 20% off kefir brewing jars. Good through Thursday, 12/15/16.

SipSnap: All products are 15% off site-wide. No code required. Good through Monday, 11/28/16.

Rough Linen: The makers of my favorite pinafore-style apron are offering free shipping on all orders. Good through Friday, 12/23/16.

Beanilla: Use the code BLACK15 for 15% off all orders. Good through Friday, 11/25/16.

And one last deal. Over at Amazon, the 6 quart Instant Pot is on sale for $68.95. This is the one I have and I’m a huge fan. If you’ve been on the fence about getting one, I highly recommend it.

 

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Honey Maple Cranberry Sauce for Thanksgiving

This Honey Maple Cranberry Sauce is sweet, tart, and perfect for serving with turkey on Thanksgiving!

Let’s take a moment to talk about cranberry condiments. They are a Thanksgiving staple and are one of the easiest things to make rather than buy.

I’ve made a number of different versions to serve with turkey over the years. There was my “canned” cranberry sauce in which I molded a homemade version in a tin can in order to achieve the classic ridges. Before that, I shared a simple cranberry jelly made with just a pound of berries for easy DIY-ing.

I’ve also made a bunch of cranberry-centric jams that go well with the traditional Thursday meal. Spiced Cranberry Jam. Pear Cranberry Jam. Low-sugar Pear Cranberry Jam. Apple Cranberry Jam. Apple Cranberry Compote. Any one of these would be a natural addition to your menu. (And if you need more inspiration, each one of my books contains at least one Thanksgiving-appropriate cranberry preserve.)

Despite the fact that I’ve got so many variations at my disposal, I couldn’t resist making this Honey Maple Cranberry Sauce. Initially, I was going to mold this naturally sweetened version in tin can like I did all those years back. But honestly, it felt like too much trouble and do we really need another gimmick these days?

I find that cranberry skins are often tough, so I typically work my finished cranberry sauce through a food mill when it’s finished cooking. That results in a sauce that it more uniform in texture and is an easier sell to the people who have only just graduated from the overly sweet canned cranberry jelly. It’s an entirely optional step, though.

The finished cranberry sauce is flavored lightly with lemon zest and a cinnamon stick and is sweetened with both honey and maple syrup. It’s appealingly tart and sweet, and I am looking forward to heaping a generous scoop onto my plate come Thursday.

Do you have a house cranberry sauce or relish? Share your tradition in the comments!

PrintHoney-Maple Cranberry Sauce

Yield: makes between 7 and 8 half pints

Ingredients

3 pounds fresh cranberries
2 cups apple juice or cider
1 1/4 cup honey
1 cup maple syrup
1 cinnamon stick
1 lemon

Instructions

Prepare a boiling water bath canner and enough jars to hold 7 cups of product.
Wash the cranberries and remove any that seem to be beyond the pale.
In a large pot, combine the berries, apple juice, honey, maple syrup, and cinnamon stick.
Using a vegetable peeler, remove strips of the lemon zest and add them to the pot.
Set the pot over high heat and bring to a boil. Reduce to medium high and cook, stirring regularly, until all the cranberries have popped. This should take 15-20 minutes.
Remove the pot from the heat and let the sauce cool for a few minutes.
For a sauce that's uniform in texture, fit a food mill with its' medium screen and position it over a heatproof bowl. Work the sauce through the mill until only dry skins and bits of lemon zest remain in the top.
For a whole berry sauce, remove the cinnamon stick and the strips of lemon zest.
Taste the sauce and add a bit of juice from your denuded lemon, should it need balance.
Funnel the finished sauce into the prepared jars. Wipe the rims, apply the lids and rings, and process in a boiling water bath canner for 10 minutes.
When the time is up, remove the jars and set them on a folded kitchen towel to cool. When the jars have cooled enough that you can comfortable handle them, check the seals. Sealed jars can be stored at room temperature for up to a year. Any unsealed jars should be refrigerated and used promptly. 3.1http://foodinjars.com/2016/11/honey-maple-cranberry-sauce-thanksgiving/

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Home “Canned” Cranberry Sauce Made in a Tin Can Mold
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My Imaginary 2016 Thanksgiving Menu

The Cookbook Stall + Food in Jars = Signed Copies for the Holidays

We are firmly in the season of wish lists, gift guides, and holiday shopping. If getting or giving a signed copy of one of my books is on your mind this year, I’ve got good news. I’ve teamed up with my friend Jill Ross at The Cookbook Stall (Philly’s only cookbook-only book shop) to offer a way for you all to buy signed copies of my books.

To get a signed copy, head over to The Cookbook Stall’s online shop and put a copy of Food in Jars, Preserving by the Pint, or Naturally Sweet Food in Jars into your cart and head to check-out.

In step five of the check-out process, there’s a field where you can add comments about your order. Use that space to tell us to whom you’d like the book to be signed and if there’s a specific message you’d like me to convey in my note (Happy Hanukkah! Merry Christmas! Happy New Year! Good Solstice! Happy Birthday!)

Deadline to order your signed book is December 9. I’ll head into the shop the following week to sign the books you all ordered and then she’ll get them into the mail for you guys, in plenty of time for holiday giving.

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My Imaginary 2016 Thanksgiving Menu

I’m cooking Thanksgiving this week. I’ve not gotten to make the whole meal since 2008, so I’m feeling pretty giddy about the whole thing. As I’ve planned the menu and made lists, I’ve realized that my fantasy Thanksgiving and the reality of the one I’m cooking are pretty far apart.

In my fantasy, I’d make all sorts of fun, new things, taking inspiration from some of the new cookbooks I’ve gotten recently. However, I’ve come to realize that the classic are where for the crowd who will be gathering around my table. So I’m satisfying my urge for the new by sharing my dream menu here.

For nibbling before the meal begins, I’d make the Sriracha Pimento Cheese from Kristin Donnelly‘s gorgeous book Modern Potluck. I’d serve it with baguette rounds and cucumber slices. And for the very start of the meal, the Creamy Sunchoke Soup from The Vegetable Butcher by Cara Mangini.

For the main event, I’d use the recipe for Herb-Roasted Turkey with Gravy from Jenny Rosenstrach‘s book, How to Celebrate Everything (I love this book. There’s nothing that I like more than a good food tradition).

I confess that I like a traditional cranberry sauce (we’ll have a honey-sweetened one on the table this year), but this one combining cranberries and persimmon from Vegan Vegetarian Omnivore by Anna Thomas speaks to me.

My husband would be very sad if I omitted traditional mashed potatoes, or did anything to them that made them “interesting”, but if I had my druthers, I’d make a batch of this celery root, potato, and celery stalk mash from the book Mashed by Holly Herrick.

This roasted sweet potato pudding from Rebecca Ffrench‘s Whole Protein Vegetarian looks awfully good and might be something I make for Christmas at my sister’s house. I like that it’s minimally sweetened with maple syrup.

If the table could hold one more root vegetable dish, I’d call on the Healthy Root Vegetable Gratin. This is another one from Modern Potluck and is something that is on my to-make list this winter.

No meal is complete without a green vegetable and the Roasted and Raw Brussels Sprouts Salad from Modern Potluck looks a good, seasonal one.

For dessert, the Normandy Apple Cake Tatin Style from French Desserts by Hillary Davis. Served with vanilla ice cream, of course!

Now, a bonus recipe. This one for Wild Rice and Turkey Muffins and is from Cooking Wild by John Ash and James O. Fraioli seems like a really great one for using up leftover turkey and would be far more inspired than my typical pot of soup.

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Low Sugar Pear Cranberry Jam
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My Imaginary Menu: Thanksgiving

Quart Jar Cabbage and Carrot Kraut

Three ingredient cabbage and carrot kraut is an easy and delicious ferment for beginners and seasoned picklers alike. Try it with scrambled eggs!

I learned to make sauerkraut nearly a decade ago on a episode of Fork You (an online cooking show that my husband and I used to make. The website still lives, but after a long-ago hack, there’s not much there). Since then, it’s rare that I don’t have a jar in the fridge or bubbling away on the countertop (often, I have both).

Back in my early kraut making days, I made lots of different kinds. I’d use spices. I’d add fresh herbs. But there was always one variety I came back to. Cabbage and carrot kraut.

A couple of years ago, I gave up on the fancy krauts and accepted the fact that this is my house version. It’s the one that I like best and happily eat with eggs, tucked into sandwiches, and with turkey kielbasa.

I make one quart jar at a time, because I don’t want to devote my whole fridge to the endeavor. I combine three parts shredded cabbage with one part grated carrot, add a bit of salt, massage it until it releases a bunch of liquid, and pack it into a jar.

Weigh it down with one of these glass pickle pebbles from Masontops, set the jar on a saucer and cover it with a small kitchen cloth, held in place with a rubber band. Then I wait about a week, until it’s tangy and bright. Into the fridge the jar goes, ready to be eaten.

Occasionally, I do make a plain batch or one threaded with fennel fronds, but this particular version forever has my heart.

PrintCarrot and Cabbage Kraut

Yield: makes 1 quart

Ingredients

1 1/2 pounds shredded cabbage
8 ounces grated carrot
1 tablespoon sea salt

Instructions

Combine the cabbage, carrots, and salt in a large bowl and rub them together until you have a goodly amount of liquid in the bowl.
Pack the cabbage and carrots into a wide mouth jar a handful at a time (press each layer down firmly. If you push it all in at once, you won't get it all into the jar).
Once you have all the veg into the jar, weigh it down with a pickling weight or a four-ounce jelly jar filled with water.
Set the jar on a sauce. Cover it with a little kitchen cloth or a paper towel and secure it with a rubber band.
Check the kraut every couple of days and push it back down as it expands.
When it tastes tangy and good, it's done!
3.1http://foodinjars.com/2016/11/cabbage-and-carrot-kraut/

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Cookbooks: Preserving Italy by Domenica Marchetti

Over the last several months, I have done a truly terrible job sharing the wonderful preserving books that have been published recently. I’m going to try to do a better job, because there are some exceptional new books out there that you should be checking out of the library and putting on your holiday wish lists.

First among these excellent books is Domenica Marchetti’s Preserving Italy. Focused on preserving food in the traditional Italian style, this gorgeous paperback neatly fills a void in the canon of food preservation writing. I often get questions from people wanting to preserve tomatoes, eggplant, peppers, and garlic in the same manner as their grandparents once did, and this book deals with all of those topics (as well as many more).

The recipes are divided up into eight sections. They deal with foods preserved in oil, food preserved in vinegar, sweet preserves, tomatoes and sauces, infused oils and vinegars, fresh cheeses and basic cured meats, syrups and boozy things, and confections. In addition to the recipes focused on preserving, Domenica also tucks recipes into each chapter that are designed to help you use what you’ve preserved.

One of the things that I most appreciate about this book is that fact that it balances tradition with safety. Domenica includes a section on pressure canning and addresses the issues that exist when you preserve foods in oil (the start of that section includes some safety tips that should be required reading for anyone thinking about using this method of preservation).

As we head into the holiday season, this becomes an even more vital addition to our collective food preservation libraries. I am considering making a batch of the Coffee Cream Liqueur for gift giving and the Pear Mostarda would be so fabulous for a New Year’s Eve cheese board.

If you haven’t checked this book out yet, please do! It’s very much worth your time!

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Odds and Ends Banana Bread

I think we can all agree that this has been the most divisive election cycles in recent memory. I don’t typically talk about politics here because my goal is always to foster a sense of community and connection that transcends party affiliations, religious convictions, and ideological differences. I firmly believe that creating spaces where diverse people can connect around shared interests is one of the ways that we can foster peace and hope in the world.

But my candidate lost and her defeat has left me seeking solace in friends and homemade food. Yesterday, I had coffee with a friend, took a walk, and made a big pot of chicken soup for dinner that Scott and I ate in our pajamas while watching The Crown on Netflix.

Today, I made some banana bread. The goal here was to salvage three aging bananas, use up a bit of almond meal I had kicking around, and to fill the apartment with warmth and fragrance. May we burst our bubbles of isolation, break bread together, and remember that more unites us than divides us.

PrintOdds and Ends Banana Bread

Ingredients

1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup almond meal
1 cup coconut meal
1/2 cup wheat germ
1 1/2 tablespoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon grated nutmeg
3/4 cup butter
1 cup sugar
3 large bananas, mashed
3 eggs, beaten
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup chopped walnuts or pecans, toasted

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter two loaf pans.
Whisk together the flours (you can also use a combination of ap and whole wheat flour. Just make sure that it adds up to 3 1/2 cups), baking powder, cinnamon, salt, and nutmeg.
In another bowl, cream the butter and sugar together. Add the mashed bananas, eggs, and vanilla extract.
Stir the dry ingredients into the wet. Add the nuts, if you're using them.
Divide the batter between the two loaf pans and bake for 50-60 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean. 3.1http://foodinjars.com/2016/11/odds-ends-banana-bread/

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American Lifestyle Magazine + Food in Jars

Back in June, I spent a couple of days filming a pair of videos with a team from American Lifestyle Magazine, to compliment a story they were writing about Naturally Sweet Food in Jars and me. The issue containing the story is now available and so I thought it was high time to share the videos we made that day. I hope you enjoy them (and that they help take your mind off the stress of Election Day, if only for a moment or two).

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Giveaway: Lids and Jar Sleeves from Intelligent Lids

Looking for storage lids that are liquid and air tight? Want a one-piece drink lid for your mason jar? In need of a cute, waste-free jar sleeves in which to wrap your jars for giving? Look no further than Intelligent Lids!

Back in the days when I worked in an office, I transported a lot of my food to work in mason jars. I’d pack yogurt and jam in a wide mouth half pint. I’d have my coffee in the three-cup capacity pint & half. And my lunchtime soup would be in a regular mouth pint (I always kept a bowl at my desk, into which I’d decant the soup for the microwave).

There were two primary challenges to all these jars. The first was that options for one-piece lids that didn’t leak were scarce. The second was that I had to carefully wrap my jars in dish towels to keep them upright and unbroken in my lunch bag (the totes from A Tiny Forest would have been so useful back then).

Happily, there are so many more options for jar lids and sleeves these days. Some of the best are coming from the folks at Intelligent Lids in Seattle. They make one-piece drink and storage lids, and just recently added a line of colorful, fabric jar sleeves to their product line (they’re not up on the website yet, but should be soon!).

The drink lids have a slider so that you can open and close the opening. The one-piece storage lids are truly liquid and air tight. They are my preferred storage lids for things that absolutely cannot leak or get stale. Plus, they come in an array of bright colors, which I really enjoy.

The jar sleeves are designed as a fabric bag that cinches at the top, so that they’ll fit both regular and wide mouth jars. In addition serving as insulator, breakage preventer, or hand protector, you can also use them as a cute, waste-free wrapping for jars that you’re giving as a gift.

For this week’s giveaway, I have two lid and sleeve sets from the folks at Intelligent Lids to share with you guys. Each set includes a drink lid, a storage lid, and a sleeve. The winners will get to choose between regular and wide mouth lids, and pint or quart sized sleeves.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Disclosure: Intelligent Lids sent me the product you see pictured here. All opinions expressed remain entirely my own.

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Roasted Quince Butter with Warm Winter Spices

A small batch of sugar-sweetened roasted quince butter is a tasty preserve for the fall canning kitchen.

Back in September when I was in Portland, my mom and I drove out to Sauvie Island for a picnic and a walk. The day was crisp and sunny, and we both felt buoyant and energized by the gloriousness of the day. After we’d eaten, we went for a wander around the antique apple orchard at the old Bybee-Howell House.

A maintenance worker was there raking up the fallen apples. We asked if we could gather a few of the windfalls that were still in good shape (as we’ve been doing for years) and were told that they were headed for the compost and to help ourselves. I filled a bag with bruised but flavorful fruit and was entirely satisfied with my haul until I spotted a single quince laying on the ground amidst the apples.

The game had gotten real. I love quince. And this year, they’ve been particularly hard to come by on the East Coast, in large part thanks to the wonky weather we had earlier in the season. So finding untended and unappreciated source for quince was a thrill. My scavenging went from casual stroll to focused searching and my determination paid off.

I finally found the single quince tree. There was a bounty of quince on the ground and I picked up every single one worth salvaging. While I was still in Portland, I made a batch of apple and roasted quince butter, using all the apples and the about half the quince (all that wouldn’t travel well). The rest of the quince? I bagged it up and brought it back to Philly with me for a batch of roasted quince butter.

Because quince is incredibly dense and unyielding when raw, I bake it until soft before I try do anything with it. This step doesn’t fully cook the fruit, it just softens it enough that you can cut into it without fear that the knife will bounce and slice your finger instead. It’s not the right approach if you want to make jelly with it, but it’s wonderful if you are planning to make jam, butter, paste or chutney.

Once it cools down from the oven, I cut away any remnants of the blossom, cut the quince into eighths, dump it into a saucepan, and simmer it with water until tender. Finally, I fit a food mill with its finest screen and push the cooked quince through. When that’s done, you’re left with a dense, fragrant, tart puree that is ready to be cooked, sweetened, and spiced into the preserve of your liking.

For this batch, I opted to sweetened with sugar and spice with cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and cloves. It is fragrant, smooth, and spreadable. I really like to spread a thin layer on a slice of craggy toasted sourdough and then top it with whispers of a well-aged farmhouse cheddar. Paired with a mug of tea, it’s the perfect afternoon pick-me-up (and makes me feel like perhaps I’m traveling in time to a less complicated era).

How have you been preserving quince this season?

PrintRoasted Quince Butter

Yield: makes 5 half pints

Ingredients

2 pounds ripe quince (it should smell fragrant and floral)
3 cups water
2 cups sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Set the quince into a baking dish and pour a bit of water into the bottom. Bake the quince for 25-30 minutes, until they can be pierced with a dinner fork.
Remove the quince from the oven and let them cool. Once you're able to handle them without burning yourself, cut away any remnant of the blossom and then cut the quince into eighths.
Place the cubed fruit into a sturdy saucepan with a tight fitting lid and add the 3 cups of water. Set the covered pot on the stove over a medium-high heat and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer the fruit until breaks down into a chunky sauce.
Fit a food mill with its finest screen and push the quince sauce through. Work the food mill until all you have left are seeds, skins, and core material in the top.
Rinse out the saucepan to remove any scummy residue and return the puree to the pot. Add the sugar and spices and stir to combine over medium heat. The butter will need constant stirring at this point, or it will splash all over your stovetop.
Typically, I'm quite pleased with the consistency at this point, but if you find that it is too runny for your tastes, continue to cook, stirring all the while, until it reaches your desired thickness.
For a perfectly smooth butter, use an immersion blender to even out the texture just before canning.
Funnel the butter into clean, hot jars, leaving 1/2 inch headspace. Wipe the rims, apply the lids and rings, and process in a boiling water bath canner for 15 minutes.
When the time is up, remove the jars and set them on a folded kitchen towel to cool. When the jars have cooled enough that you can comfortably handle them, check the seals. Sealed jars can be stored at room temperature for up to a year. Any unsealed jars should be refrigerated and used promptly. 3.1http://foodinjars.com/2016/11/roasted-quince-butter/

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