Marisa McClellan's Blog, page 66

Cashew Butter with Honey and Cinnamon

Back in late March, before I left for three weeks away, I tumbled into a flurry of making. I find that this often happens to me just before I leave for a trip, for so many reasons. I’m a procrastinator by nature and so often have a few ingredients that must be used or preserved before I leave town.

I always need things to write about on this site and so I scramble to get a few things in the can (jar, really) to share while I’m gone. And knowing that I probably won’t be doing much cooking beyond demos and classes during my travels, like to cook up until the last minute, to fill up that creative tank until I return to my little kitchen.

I’ve been thinking a lot about homemade nut butters lately. I’ve long had a weakness for interestingly flavored and spiced peanut, almond, and seed butters, but hate spending $10 or $12 for a nine-ounce jar (not that I haven’t done it on occasion). Several years back, I went through a phase when I often made my own, but hit a point where the elderly food processor I used for all things began to struggle with nuts.

Last summer, things changed in my nut butter making world. I got a new food processor. A former canning student got in touch to say that he and family were moving out of the country, and would I be interested in buying his barely used 14 cup Magimix processor for a very good price? We made a deal that day.

This isn’t to say that you need a fancy new processor to make nut butters, but I won’t deny that this new, zippy beast has sped up the process. I also no longer worry that my machine is going to die halfway through the making ritual, which is comforting.

Now, a bit about the actual cashew butter. I flavored mine with honey and cinnamon, but variations using maple with vanilla, or golden syrup with cardamom would also be nice. I also use a little coconut oil to help aid the transition from nut flour to nut butter. However, if you can’t stand the slight taste of coconut that it imparts, try using a neutral oil like grapeseed or canola.

PrintCashew Butter with Honey and Cinnamon

Yield: Makes about 2 1/2 cups

Ingredients

1 pound raw cashews
1/4 cup honey
2 tablespoons coconut oil
2 teaspoons sea salt
2 teaspoons cinnamon

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Pour the cashews onto a rimmed baking sheet and arrange them in a single layer. Bake for 10-15 minutes, until the cashews smell fragrant and have taken on a bit of color.
Remove the cashews from the oven and let them cool for a few minutes.
Pour the toasted nuts into the bowl of a food processor, along with the honey, coconut oil, sea salt, and cinnamon.
Process the nuts. You want to run the processor in relatively short bursts. Let it run for 30-45 seconds, scrape down the sides, and then do it again. This can take as much at 10 or 15 minutes before the butter finally comes together, but if you persist, it will happen. If you find that your food processor starts to overheat, let it cool for a few minutes and then begin again.
Once you're satisfied with the consistency of the butter, scrape it into a jar and store in the fridge. 3.1http://foodinjars.com/2016/04/cashew-butter-honey-cinnamon/

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Curious Feast Postcard Box from Princeton Architectural Press

I have always loved the convergence of food and art. Whether it’s a carefully arranged platter of cut vegetables designed to please the eye, or a more enduring still life rendered in oils or water color, I am always drawn in. Which is why I found the new box of postcards from Princeton Architectural Press so appealing.

Called Curious Feast: 100 Postcards by 10 Artists, this compact box features cards from artists who specialize in food-related art. The pieces are wide-ranging and include a realistic bowl of ramen, close-ups of food that look more like the surface of the moon than something edible, hand-written recipes, food sculpted out of fabric, and lots more.

The artists featured in Curious Feast are Naz Sahin Ozcan (curator), Alex Proba, Brest Brest Brest, Caren Alpert, Melinda Josie, Patricia Curtan, Michele Humes, Mimi O Chun, Wijnand Warendorf, and Joel Penkman. It should come to no surprise that my two favorite cards in the box are Mimi O Chun’s canning and pickling-themed ones. I want that plush jar!

 

The box would make a good gift for food lovers, those who like to send (or just collect) postcards, or anyone who wants to brighten up their workspace, kitchen, or dining room with whimsical pictures of food. The Curious Feast box is available from Amazon, or directly from Princeton Architectural Press.

Disclosure: The PR folks at Princeton Architectural Press sent me the Curious Feast box in the hopes that I might be charmed by it and be moved to share it here on the blog. I was entirely delighted by it and so wrote this post. No additional compensation was provided and all opinions expressed in this blog post are my own. 

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Giveaway: Mason Jar Lifestyle Mother’s Day Coffee Gift Set

I’ve been excited about this week’s giveaway since Maggie from Mason Jar Lifestyle (a Food in Jars sponsor!) first reached out about it. Her Mother’s Day Coffee Gift Set pairs up two of my favorite things (jars and coffee) and gives people the opportunity to celebrate their favorite maternal individual. It’s a very winning combination!

The gift set costs $39.99 (including shipping!) and includes a bounty of jar-related coffee goodness. First thing you’ll spot when your recipient (or you!) open the box is a 12 ounce bag of medium roast coffee from the Mason Jar Coffee Company (best name ever!), based in Linden, MI. You can get either whole beans or opt to have them ground.

In addition to the bag of coffee, your recipient will get a wide mouth mason jar and a faux leather sleeve handle, designed to protect your fingers and make manageable a jar of piping hot coffee. The handle sleeve feels sturdy, fits the jar securely, and does a great job of absorbing heat.

Also included in the set are a pair of Mason Jar Lifestyle-branded silicone drink lids. Maggie included two in the kit because she understands that dishes can sometimes sit in the sink for a day or two and wanted to make sure that busy moms could always find at least one clean drink lid!

The last thing your mama will find in her box of coffee and jar goodness is a clip-on coffee spoon, made by Jarware. It fits snugly on both regular and wide mouth mason jar, so that you always have the perfect portioning scoop on hand (excellent for groggy mornings).

Maggie will also tuck one of the mason jar “Happy Mother’s Day” notecards you see at the top into every box. If you want a special message written on yours, just make sure to indicate that at check out!

To enter the Mason Jar Lifestyle Mother’s Day Coffee Gift Set giveaway, complete at least one of the tasks in the widget below! If you can’t bear to leave things to chance, you can order your very own set right here. Just know that they’ll be closing orders on this deal on May 1, to ensure that all sets arrive in time for May 8.

a Rafflecopter giveaway



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Sponsored Post: Revol Dutch Oven and Braised Chicken and Potatoes

I have long considered myself something of an enthusiastic amateur cookware expert. I can discuss the pros and cons of enameled cast iron, tri-ply stainless steel, non-stick, and anodized aluminum with the best of them. However, until recently, there was one cookware category about which I had no first-hand knowledge. Ceramic cookware.

I’d had my eye on an array of ceramic Dutch ovens for years now, but never managed to pull the trigger and add one to my collection of pots and pans. So when the folks from Revol got in touch and asked if I might want to try out something from their collection, I said yes.

I spent hours studying the Revol website before settling on 3.75 quart round ceramic Dutch oven in white. When it arrived, I pulled it out of the packaging and was pleasantly surprised to discover that it was both incredibly sturdy and yet far lighter than similarly sized enameled cast iron pieces.

I found myself choosing the Revol Dutch oven over other pots and braisers in my collection, particularly during the time when my mother-in-law was so sick, because it was perfect for the simple, stovetop to oven dishes that I made for ease and comfort during that time.

I discovered that the Revol Dutch oven worked beautifully on my electric range and cleaned up with less scrubbing than the other cookware I often used. I also appreciated the fact that the lid had braising spikes to help the moisture circulate within the pot during cooking. They just make for more delicious food.

One of the dishes I made several times before leaving on my recent book tour was a one-pot braise of chicken, cabbage, onions, and potatoes. You brown the chicken in a little olive oil and then pull it out of the pot. Then you sauté the onions and cabbage in the remaining fat, deglaze with a little white wine or chicken stock, tuck the chicken back in, and arrange some quartered potatoes on top.

The lid goes back on the pot and you slide it into a moderate oven to cook. It stays there for about an hour, until the chicken is falling apart and the potatoes are tender.

I always make enough for two meals and we eat it with steamed broccoli or sautéed kale (though since there’s cabbage in the pot, you could also skip the side and call it a complete meal).

For more information about Revol cookware, visit their site. The recipe for the braised chicken and potatoes is after the jump!

PrintSponsored Post: Revol Dutch Oven and Braised Chicken and Potatoes

Ingredients

1 tablespoon olive oil
2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs
1 large yellow onion, sliced into half moons
4 cups shredded cabbage
3 garlic cloves, grated or pressed
1 cup white wine or chicken stock
1 pound Yukon gold potatoes, cut into bite sized pieces
salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Heat the olive oil in the bottom of a Dutch oven until is shimmers.
Brown the chicken pieces, cooking just until they get some nice color. The intention is not to cook the pieces all the way through, but just to get a bit of caramelization happening on their exteriors.
Remove the chicken from the pot and set it on a plate.
Add the onions and cook until they begin to brown. Use a spatula to work all the flavorful bits off the bottom of the pot.
Add the shredded cabbage and garlic and cook until the cabbage has slumped.
Pour in white wine or chicken stock and work it around and through the vegetables.
Arrange the chicken back in the pot, tucking the pieces into the cabbage and onions.
Add the potatoes and give the whole thing a generous dusting of salt and pepper (if you happen to have any fresh rosemary or thyme, tuck a sprig or two into the pot).
Put a lid on the pot and slide it into the oven. Bake for 25 to 35 minutes, until the chicken is falling apart and the potatoes are tender.
Serve with a green vegetable, if possible. 3.1http://foodinjars.com/2016/04/sponsored-post-revol-dutch-oven-braised-chicken-potatoes/

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Updates from the West Coast Book Tour

This is it. The last day of my west coast book tour. It has certainly been one for my personal record books. I taught six hands-on classes, spent nearly 16 hours demonstrating how to make Strawberry Cocoa Jam, went to ten different cities (in two different countries!), did a TV spot, a radio interview, and spoke at Powell’s Books (huge thanks to Ivy Manning for helping with that event).

I logged countless hours in cars (both a rented Passat and my parents’ trusty Outlander wagon) and managed to recover from a case of the flu in a relatively short amount of time. And best of all, I met so many wonderful people and signed lots of books.

I’ve got a demo and book signing tonight at the Book Larder in Seattle. After that, I drive back to my parents’ house in Portland, give them back their car, and fly home to Philadelphia on Thursday (just in time to make brisket for our Saturday Seder).

I’ll have a recipe up for you guys tomorrow, but in the mean time, I’ve got a few links I want to share.

First up is the clip of me making jam and pickles on AM Northwest last Friday. I only had six minutes, so I couldn’t do anything completely, but I think you get the idea behind those two recipes.

A few weeks ago, I did an interview with Margaret Roach for her radio show, A Way to Garden. If you haven’t heard it yet, you can find it here.

The interview I did for the Food Show on KBOO (Portland’s Community Radio Station) aired earlier today. The archived version isn’t up yet, but when it is, you’ll find it here. Running Press has also donated two copies of Naturally Sweet Food in Jars to KBOO for their fundraising drive. It’s a great way to support a small radio station AND get a copy of my new book.

Over at the Fillmore Container blog, you’ll find a really great post in which a number of preserving writers offer up their thoughts on what preserving means to them. I wrote a few paragraphs for them, as did Theresa Loe, Joel and Dana from Well Preserved, Amanda Feifer, Linda Ziedrich, Sean Timberlake, Sharon Peterson, and Nancy Wilker.

And finally, it’s Wednesday, which means that there’s a brand new episode of Local Mouthful available for your listening pleasure. This week, Joy and I chatted about potatoes, Passover, stinging nettles, and more!

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Giveaway: $150 of Freeze-Dried Food from Harvest Right

Photo courtesy of Harvest Right

When I was a kid, freeze dried foods seemed magical. They looked like their fresh counterparts, but when you bit into them they were typically crisp and a bit crumbly. The one my sister and I liked the best was the freeze dried ice cream (aka astronaut’s ice cream), because it was such a sweet treat.

Photo courtesy of Harvest Right

When I started preserving food and was researching at all the various ways to do it, I looked into what it took to freeze dry food and discovered at that time, it just wasn’t something that could be done at home. The machines cost tens of thousands of dollars and were far bigger than anything I could fit into my apartment-sized kitchen.

However, in recent years, a company called Harvest Right has entered the market with a freeze dryer that’s scaled and priced for home use. While not cheap, it allows home users to preserve food in a way that makes it light, easily storable, and still delicious.

I’ve not had a chance to try a Harvest Right Home Freeze Dryer myself (sadly, this machine is still a bit too big for my little apartment), reading this post over on Our Best Bites made me itch to take one for a spin. However, I have had a chance to try some food dried in one of these magical freeze dryers and I’ve found them to be flavorful, texturally interesting, and really fun to eat.

For today’s giveaway, Harvest Right wants to give one lucky Food in Jars reader a chance to try some food preserved in their Home Freeze Dryer. Use the Rafflecopter widget below to enter to win $150 worth of food dried in a Harvest Right machine (to maximize your chances, make sure to enter using all the different options)!

a Rafflecopter giveaway



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Seattle Area Events for Naturally Sweet Food in Jars

These events make up the last leg of my west coast book tour. Both the classes at Lepp Farm Market and The Pantry are wait list only, but there’s still plenty of space available for my Book Larder event. Hope to see you guys there!

Monday, April 18 (Abbotsford, BC)

Next, a leap to the north. I’ll be teaching a canning class at Lepp Farm Market (33955 Clayburn Road) from 7 to 9:30 pm. This class costs $77 (which includes a copy of the book) and you can register here.

Tuesday, April 19 (Seattle)

I’m returning to The Pantry at Delancey (1417 NW 70th Street) for a canning class focused on natural sweeteners. We’ll make four recipes from the book, and everyone will go home with a jar or two of freshly made preserves. The class is from 6:30 to 9:30 pm and costs $85.Register here.

Wednesday, April 20 (Seattle)

I’ll be at the Book Larder (4252 Fremont Ave. N) in Seattle from 6:30-8 pm demonstrating a half batch of the strawberry cocoa jam from the new the book and signing as many copies as I can. The event is free, but they ask that you RSVP using the form at the bottom of this page.

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Oregon Events for Naturally Sweet Food in Jars

For those of you in Portland, Beaverton, or Eugene, here are all my upcoming book events in a nice, neat blog post. Please join me!

Friday, April 15 (SW Portland)

Come out for a demo-style class at The Cakery (6306 SW Capitol Highway), from 6:30 to 7:30 pm. The $30 cost of the event includes a copy of Naturally Sweet Food in Jars. Sign up by calling 503-546-3737.

Saturday, April 16 (Beaverton)

You’ll find me at the Beaverton Farmers Market (12375 SW 5th Street) from 10 am to 1 pm. I’ll be demoing continually and will have books on hand for sale and signature.

Saturday, April 16 (SE Portland)

Later that same day, join me for a hands-on natural sweeteners canning class at Portland Homestead Supply from 3-5 pm. The class costs $45 and you can register here.

Sunday, April 17 (Eugene)

At 11 am, you’ll find me at Down to Earth’s Olive Street (532 Olive Street) location for a canning demo and book signing. It’s a free event and a good time will be had by all.

Sunday, April 17 (Portland)

That evening at 7:30 pm, I’ll be at the main location of Powell’s Books (it’s something of a dream come true), having a conversation with fellow food writer Ivy Manning. There will be a book signing to follow. More details here.

 

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Giveaway: Deluxe Fermenting Tool Set From Masontops

With the days warming and spring produce is starting to appear, there’s no better time to get a couple jars of fermented pickles bubbling away in your kitchen. And today, I’m featuring some terrific tools to help you do just that!

Our friends at Masontops have offered up one of their Deluxe Fermenting Tool Sets for this week’s giveaway. This set includes four of their wide mouth Pickle Pebbles (designed to fit smoothly into a wide mouth jar and keep your produce comfortably below the liquid line), a three-pack of their Pickle Pipes (the easiest airlock ever!), and their Pickle Packer (never has it been simpler to tightly press sliced, shredded, or chopped veg into a jar).

The folks at Masontops produced a really terrific Fermenting Guide during their Kickstarter campaign and have kindly allowed me to reprint their recipe for Gingered Carrots, which you’ll find after the jump. I didn’t manage to make these carrots before I left on book tour, but they’re top on my list for when I get home!

PrintMasontops' Gingered Carrots

Ingredients

4 large carrots (about 1lb.)
1 garlic clove
1/4 teaspoon red chile flakes
Fresh ginger root, about 2-3 inches
Brine: 2 teaspoons salt dissolved in 2 cups water

Instructions

Wash and peel the carrots. Cut them on the bias into wide, quarter-inch thick slices. Then cut each slice into quarter-inch thick sticks.
Peel the ginger and slice it into paper-thin coins, until you have 1/4 cup.
Peel and slice the garlic and place it in the bottom of a 1 quart mason jar with the chile flakes.
Layer the carrots and ginger in the jar, until you reach the bottom of the neck, then place a Pickle Pebble on top and add enough brine to submerge the carrots.
Wipe the rim of the jar, add the Pickle Pipe, and secure the ring. Set in a dark place to ferment for 2-4 weeks.
When the carrots have fermented to your taste, remove the Pickle Pipe and Pickle Pebble. Seal the jar with the mason jar lid and ring, and store in the refrigerator.

Notes

Recipe reprinted from the Masontops Fermenting Guide.

3.1http://foodinjars.com/2016/04/giveaway-complete-fermenting-kit-masontops/

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Bay Area Events for Naturally Sweet Food in Jars

Hi friends! The book tour is going hot and heavy for the next ten days, so I’ll be dropping in each morning for the next few days to spotlight the three regions where I’ll be. First up? The San Francisco area!

Monday, April 11 (Half Moon Bay)

Come see me at the New Leaf Community Market in Half Moon Bay (150 San Mateo Road) starting at 4 pm for a canning demo and book signing. No pre-registration is required and it’s a free event.

Tuesday, April 12 (San Francisco)

I’ll be at 18 Reasons (3674 18th Street), co-teaching a canning class with the delightful Shakirah Simley, Canner-in-Residence for the Bi-Rite Family of Businesses. We’ll make two recipes from my new book, and there will be a goodly amount of hands on involvement. The class starts at 6:30 pm and costs $55-65. Register here.

Wednesday, April 13 (San Francisco)

I’ll be at Omnivore Books (3885 Cesar Chavez Street) at 6:30 pm, demoing a half batch of strawberry cocoa jam, and signing books. There will be samples and they will be delicious.

Thursday, April 14 (Berkeley)

Join me for a Meet and Greet at Books Inc. (1491 Shattuck Avenue) in Berkeley from 3:30 to 5:30 pm. I’ll do a short demonstration, have some jam samples for tasting and will be available to answer all canning questions.

 

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