Marisa McClellan's Blog, page 81

CSA Cooking: Roasted Tomatillo and Banana Pepper Salsa

My August Philly Foodworks box landed last Thursday. It contained a big bunch of beets, one naughty eggplant, a nice head of lettuce, a jewel melon, a couple red onions, 12 ounces of sweet banana peppers, a pound of tomatillos, a pint of cherry tomatoes, and a few gorgeous heirloom tomatoes.

I first turned my attention to the peppers and tomatillos. My summer thus far has been entirely bereft of fresh salsa and I felt that it was time to change that.

I have found that you can make consistently delicious salsas without a recipe by throwing a combination of peppers, tomatillos or tomatoes, onion, and garlic into a baking pan, roasting them at high heat (400 to 450 degrees F works pretty well) until you get some nice char and then throwing it all in a blender with some salt and lime juice.

This version was 12 ounces of banana peppers, a pound tomatillos, five cloves of garlic, the juice of one lime, and a very generous pinch of kosher salt. Had there been some cilantro in the crisper drawer, I would have thrown that in, but sadly there was none. Once roasted, I did let everything cool down until handleable, so that I could pluck the heat-loosened skins off the peppers.

Once pureed, this salsa is an amazing meal starter. Sure, you can dip chips in it and call it done. However, you could also plunk a couple pounds of chicken thighs in a saucepan, cover them with the salsa, braise them until tender, and shred them with forks. You could also use it as an enchilada sauce. Or make yourself a veggie-laden quesadilla and smother them with your tomatillo salsa. So many options!

Oh, and just to make it clear, this salsa isn’t designed to be canned in a boiling water bath canner. My batch made a single pint jar, which we’ll use up around here in no time. If you want to make a shelf stable tomatillo salsa, there are recipes in both my cookbooks!

Related Posts:

CSA Cooking: Zucchini, Fennel, and Green Pepper Relish
CSA Cooking: Salad Pickles (aka Waste Prevention Pickles)
CSA Cooking: Green Hummus

Spiced Nectarine Jam

Earlier in the summer, the folks from the Washington State Fruit Commission sent me a glorious box of sweet cherries as part of their canbassador program. In the past, I’ve only gotten a single shipment from them and so I thought that was it for this summer. However, a few weeks ago, they got in touch saying I should expect a shipment of peaches and nectarines.

The box arrived last Tuesday and immediately filled the apartment with the fragrance of ripening summer stonefruit. So far, I’ve made a spicy peach dipping sauce (think homemade ketchup, made with peaches instead of tomatoes), a small batch of oven roasted fruit, and a batch of this spiced nectarine jam.

I’ll tell you more about the other two tomorrow and Thursday, but since I happen to be teaching this particular recipe tonight, it seemed only right to share it today.

PrintSpiced Nectarine Jam

Yield: Makes 8-9 half pints

Ingredients

10 cups chopped ripe yellow nectarines
5 cups of sugar
4 tablespoons powdered fruit pectin
1 tablespoon cinnamon
½ teaspoon grated nutmeg
½ teaspoon ground cloves
2 lemons, zested and juiced

Instructions

Prepare a boiling water bath canner and enough jars to hold 5 pints of jam.
Place chopped nectarines into a large, non-reactive pot that can hold at least 6 quarts.
Measure out sugar and whisk in the pectin, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves. Add the spiked sugar to the fruit and stir to combine. Let the fruit sit for a few minutes, until sugar starts to dissolve and begins to look syrupy.
Place pan of fruit on the stove over high heat and bring to a boil, stirring regularly. Cook at a rapid boil for 15 to 20 minutes, until the fruit softens.
Once the fruit is quite soft, use a potato masher to break the fruit down into smaller pieces. Continue to cook until the jam has thickened and passes set tests.
Remove jam from heat and funnel into prepared jars. Wipe rims, apply lids and rings, and process in a boiling water bath canner for ten minutes.
When time is up, remove jars from canner and place on a folded kitchen towel to cool. When the jars are cooled, check the seal by pressing on the top of the jar. If there’s no movement, the jar has sealed. Store up to one year in a cool, dark place.
3.1http://foodinjars.com/2015/08/spiced-nectarine-jam/

Related Posts:

Low Sugar Spiced Peach Jam
Honey-Sweetened Peach Vanilla Jam
Urban Preserving: Italian Plum Jam with Star Anise

Four Cookbooks I’ve Been Enjoying This Summer

I’ve fallen very behind in sharing some of the terrific new cookbooks that I’ve liked recently. In an attempt to get some of them off my desk and into the blog, I’m going to post them in groups. This first group consists of four books that I think are useful, interesting, and delicious.

Steeped by Annelies Zijderveld – This slender volume contains recipes designed to help you see tea as more than something to drink hot or iced. Annelies was in Philly back in the spring and I saw her give a presentation about this book and it started my brain buzzing about all the ways to use tea to add flavor. I’ve made her Lapsang Souchong salt and love using it to add smokey flavor to tomato salads.

Summer Cocktails by Maria Del Mar Sacasa – The title might lead you to believe that this book starts and ends with liquid refreshment, but that’s not true. Sure, it’s got plenty to offer in the beverage department, but it also contains frozen treats, pickles, and even a recipe for fried chicken. A more descriptive title might have been, A Love Letter to Summer.

Yogurt Culture by Cheryl Sternman Rule – This genius book will make you deeply hungry. Cheryl spent years researching and experiencing the ways in which yogurt is made, used, and eaten all over the world, and then brought all that knowledge together. She shows that there is no time of day when yogurt is not an appropriate thing to eat. So complete is her excitement for yogurt that this book could not fully contain it. Find her continuing yogurt passion over at Team Yogurt.

Rose Water and Orange Blossoms by Maureen Abood – This deeply personal book features the food of Maureen’s Lebanese family. There are spreads, salads, vegetable-heavy main dishes, pastries, and a most glorious selection of pickles and sweet preserves. Nearly every other page of my copy is marked with sticky notes and if I didn’t have to head out soon to teach a class, I would be making her Garlicky Lentil Soup with Swiss Chard and Lemon (page 136) for dinner tonight.

What have you been cooking out of this summer?

Disclosure: All four of these books were received as review copies. However, I still mean every word I said! 

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Team Yogurt and Nutmeg Crunch
Cookbook: Ripe
Cookbooks: Real Sweet

Giveaway: Fante’s Fruit Ripener Bowl

My grandma Bunny died more than 20 years ago, but my memory still holds a detailed image of her kitchen. The sink was under the windows on the left side of the room. The stove and wall oven were in the rear corner. And on the passthrough counter to the right of the entrance was where the covered plastic fruit bowl sat.

In summer, the bowl would hold ripening peaches or apricots. In winter, persimmons would be tucked under the domed lid. Just about any time of year, a few Meyer lemons from her backyard would join the rest of the fruit. Often, there’s also be a honeydew melon perched nearby (they so rarely

Recently, I got an email from the nice folks at Fante’s (a fabulous, family-owned kitchenwares store here in Philadelphia) asking if I might be interested in trying out their fruit ripening bowl. One look and I realized that it was just like the bowl that Bunny had used. I was sold before I even had a bowl in my hands.

The way it works is that the bowl helps retain and circulate the water vapor, ethylene gas, and carbon dioxide that the ripening fruit naturally release, helping improve and speed ripening. I’ve used it on several batches of fruit since having it in my kitchen and fine it particularly useful for softening rock hard avocados (tucking a banana in the bowl helps).

I have three of these handy bowls to give away this week. Here’s how to enter.

Leave a comment on this post and share how you’d use the Fante’s Fruit Ripener.
Comments will close at 11:59 pm east coast time on Saturday, August 15, 2015. The winner will be chosen at random and will be posted to the blog on Sunday, August 16, 2015.
Giveaway is open to US residents only (and is void where prohibited).
One comment per person, please. Entries must be left on the blog, I cannot accept submissions via email.

Disclosure: Fante’s provided the fruit ripening bowl you see pictured here at no cost to me and are also providing the giveaway units. No additional payment has been provided and all opinions expressed are my own. 

Related Posts:

Upcoming Events! Scranton! Philly! Hellertown! Boston!

Monday Morning Odds and Ends

This weekend was an exercise in extremes for me. I spent all of Saturday engaged in the intensity of teaching. This activity took place in the classroom at the US Botanic Garden in Washington, D.C., where I set up for two classes (wrangling 25 pounds of cooked beets and 50 pounds of raw carrots), taught for four hours, and then cleaned and packed up again.

Sunday, in comparison, was blessedly slow. We slept late, made pancakes, visited Scott’s mom, and took ourselves out for dinner. I also snuck away for an hour to take a walk with a dear friend. It was good.

I didn’t get a links and winners post up last night because somehow, I didn’t manage to collect any links last week (it’s rare, but does occasionally happen). So instead, I thought I’d drop in with a few updates and those Anolon Vesta braiser winners this morning. Here are the updates, in convenient list form.

I’m teaching a class in Carlisle, PA Tuesday evening. If you’re out that way, it’s still not too late to register. The class is from 6:30 – 8:30 pm and costs $15. Contact Deb Yorlets at 717-574-2217 to sign up.
There is still space in my Omega Institute (in Rhinebeck, NY) workshop at the end of the month. It’s August 28-30 and will be an immersive weekend of food preservation. If you want to join me, you can find all the details here.
My friend Joy and I launched a new podcast last week. Called Local Mouthful, it’s a half hour show devoted to food in Philadelphia and beyond. In the first episode, we talked about turkey burgers, Joy’s Dry July, and homemade pizza. You can listen here and subscribe here.
I’m going to be in Spokane August 20-23, hanging out with my husband as he attends Sasquan. I was thinking about trying to organize a canning meet-up while I’m in town. If you live in the Spokane region and would be interested in such a thing, leave a comment!

The winners of the Anolon Vesta 5-Quart Cast Iron Braiser are #79/Joy and #694/Alyson. Congratulations, ladies! To all of you who didn’t win, I will have another giveaway up later today, so stay tuned for that.

Related Posts:

Links: Poached Tomatoes, Spicy Beans, and a Winner
Links: Berry Jams, Pickles, and Winners
Links: Berry Jams, Pickles, and Winners

August Sponsors: Cuppow, iLids, Mason Jar reCAP, Fillmore Container, and More!

I realized with a start this morning that we’re nearly a week into August and I’ve yet to thank the businesses who help sustain this blog (oops!). Truly, I couldn’t do it without their support. If you appreciate them as much as I do, please follow a link or two and show them that you care.

Cuppow is the creator of the original mason jar travel mug topper and the BNTO, a small plastic cup that transforms a canning jar into a snack or lunch box. They also recently expanded their product line to include branded jar coozie and they’ve teamed up with the EIO Kids Cup folks to bring the manufacturing of that kids drinking system onto US soil. I’m loving filling up a jar with iced coffee and sliding on the coozie!

iLids is a Seattle-based small business that makes both storage and drink lids in both regular and wide mouth sizes for mason jars. Their storage lids are water tight and the drink lids can accommodate a straw. Best of all, their lids come in a whole bunch of different colors, so there’s something for everyone!

Mason Jar reCAP is a company based right here in Pennsylvania. They are the producers of the original reCAP pour lid and have since expanded to include the reCAP Flip. They also sell pump and spray caps to fit regular mouth mason jars!

Fillmore Container is a family-owned business based in Lancaster, PA and sells all manner of canning jars, lids, and other preservation gear. They also publish a blog that is a very useful resource for canners. This week, they’ve been talking pressure canning!

MightyNest is an amazing resource for non-toxic, natural, and organic products for homes and families. Check out their new subscription program called Mighty Fix.

Mrs. Wages makes pectin, vinegar, and more canning mixes than I can count. Their website is an incredible preserving resource and I can’t say enough good things about their salsa mix. Sign up for their newsletter for monthly installments of canning goodness.

Fermentools offers a brilliant fermentation starter kit that involves a heavy-duty glass pickling weight, an airlock, a lid with a reusable rubber seal, and mineral-rich salt. Get one (or several!) to help turn your CSA goodies into naturally fermented pickles.

Orchard Road makes mason jars, lids, and rings for home canners. Now in their second year of business, you should be seeing their jars in more physical stores. Their online store is now open for business, so you can now order them straight from the source.

Preserving Now is a small business based in Atlanta, Georgia run by Lyn Deardorff. This summer, in addition to teaching her regular Canning Immersion Classes, Lyn has added a Summer Preserving Series at Serenbe in Atlanta and Nashville. Each class in the series features both a seasonal fruit preserve and a pickle or relish.

If your company or small business is interested in becoming a sponsor, you can find more details here. I offer discounts for multiple month purchases and am always happy to work with your budget.

Related Posts:

June Sponsors: Cuppow, iLids, Fillmore Container, MightyNest, Mrs. Wages, Fermentools, and Preserving Now
June Sponsors: Cuppow, MightyNest, Fillmore Container, Mrs. Wages, and Preserving Now!
March Sponsors: Cuppow, Fillmore Container, Spice Ratchet, Mighty Nest, and Fermentools

Slightly Sweet Zucchini Fridge Pickles

When I was in Portland a couple weeks ago, my parents’ garden was in full swing. There were pole beans, baby greens in a big tub, slicing cucumbers, and an endless number of zucchini. I spent most of my time there preoccupied by the zucchini and all the culinary options it offers.

I pan-fried thick rounds in olive oil and garlic one night. The next day I made a big batch of zucchini butter to spread on toast and toss with pasta. I also made a huge batch of quick zucchini pickles for my parents to layer into their sandwiches.

One thing you might notice about this recipe is that it calls for whole grain mustard rather than dried mustard seeds. This choice was driven entirely by what my mom had available in the house. And truly, I think the prepared mustard was a really nice addition. It adds a bit of extra body to the liquid and a nice roundness to the finished pickle.

Because I made these pickles with an eye towards sandwiches, the slices are pretty thin. I you prefer something a little chunkier, feel free to do a thicker cut. You could also process these in a boiling water bath. However, if you have the fridge space, the texture of the fridge version really is a bit more sturdy and toothsome (which I like). To each his own!

PrintSlightly Sweet Zucchini Fridge Pickles

Yield: 2 quarts

Ingredients

2 cups apple cider vinegar
1 1/2 cups water
1/2 cup coconut sugar
1 tablespoon pickling or fine sea salt
2 tablespoons whole grain prepared mustard
2 1/2 pounds zucchini
1/2 large sweet onion
4 garlic cloves

Instructions

Combine the vinegar, water, coconut sugar, salt, and mustard in a pot that can hold at least 4 quarts. Set over medium-high heat and bring to a boil.
While the pickling liquid heats, trim the ends off your zucchini and thinly slice using a food processor, mandoline, or kitchen knife.
Cut the onion into thin half moons.
Gently bash the garlic cloves enough to help the cloves come away from their peels.
Once the liquid is boiling, add the sliced zucchini and onion to the pot. At first it won't seem possible that their will be enough liquid, but within a minute or two, the zucchini will wilt into the liquid.
Remove the pot from the heat and divide the pickles between two quart jars. Tuck a couple peeled garlic cloves into each jar.
Let the jars cool until the are at room temperature. Put lids on the jars and stash them in the back of the fridge for at least a couple of days (though they'll get better over time).
These pickles should keep at least 8 weeks in the refrigerator. 3.1http://foodinjars.com/2015/08/slightly-sweet-zucchini-fridge-pickles/

Related Posts:

Guest Post: Pickled Green Tomatoes
Multi-colored Carrot and Green Radish Pickles
Quick Pickled Romanesco Broccoli

Giveaway: Anolon Vesta Cast Iron 5 Quart Braiser

I have a minor cookware obsession. I shop thrift stores for old cast iron skillets. I scan yard sales for vintage Le Creuset or Cousances. And I pick up stainless steel skillets at discount stores, always in the hope of finding a piece that will eclipse all others.

Because of this preoccupation, I find that I’ve become something of a cookware attractor. One more than one occasion, strangers have walked up to me with gifts of grill pans and ancient canning kettles. And last spring at the IACP conference, I unwittingly chose a seat that had been marked as a winner in an Anolon Vesta 5-Quart Cast Iron Braiser giveaway.

I turned in the card that marked me as a winner (there were a number of us that day) along with my mailing information, and several weeks later, this lovely braiser arrived on my doorstep.

The outside is a shiny red and the interior sports a matte black enamel interior. The interior of the lid is studded with raised nubs that are designed to channel flavorful liquid back into the food as it cooks. It conducts heat beautifully, cleans up easily, and makes an excellent small batch jam pan.

Back in June, I ran into the ladies who help Anolon with their PR and gushed about how much I’ve enjoyed this piece of cookware. They were delighted to hear it and asked if I might like to give a couple of them away. I think I said yes before the question was even finished.

So that’s what I’m giving away this week. I have two of these Vesta Braisers for two of you. Here’s how to enter.

Leave a comment on this post and tell me something about your cookware situation. Do you you have very pot and pan you’ve ever dreamed of? Are you a cast iron person, or do you prefer stainless steel? Or perhaps, you’re on a mission to find the perfect skillet to complete your batterie de cuisine.
Comments will close at 11:59 pm east coast time on Saturday, August 8, 2015. The winner will be chosen at random and will be posted to the blog on Sunday, August 9, 2015.
Giveaway is open to US residents only (and is void where prohibited).
One comment per person, please. Entries must be left on the blog, I cannot accept submissions via email.

For more information about Anolon and their cookware, follow them on social media. Here’s where you can find them.

Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Pinterest | YouTube

Disclosure: Anolon is providing the two braisers I’m giving away at no cost to me. Additionally, the one you see photographed here was itself a giveaway prize, so I did not pay for it. However, no money has traded hands in order to bring this giveaway into being. This blog post exists simply because this is an excellent product and I’m happy to have an opportunity to share it with you guys. All opinions expresses are entirely my own. 

Related Posts:

Plum Cardamom Jam and a Anolon Advanced 11-Piece Cookware Set Giveaway [sponsored]
Giveaway: Anolon Tri-Ply 5 Quart Dutch Oven
Links: Poached Tomatoes, Spicy Beans, and a Winner

Upcoming Classes: Online Tonight! Collingswood Tomorrow!

It’s August and I am teaching some classes this month (as well as one in early September)! This week, you’ll find me online, at the Collingswood, NJ library, and in Washington, D.C.

Tuesday, August 4 – Live online class via Concert Window! This time, I’ll be talking about pickling (quick, processed, and fermented) starting at 8 pm eastern time. Class is pay what you wish. Sign up here.

Wednesday, August 5 – Small batch canning demo and book signing at the Collingswood library. 6:30-8 pm. Free!

Saturday, August 8 – Canning classes at the United States Botanic Garden in Washington, DC. The morning session is Pickled Carrots Two Ways (10 am to 12 noon) and the focus of the afternoon session An Introduction to Preserving Beets. That afternoon session will include a pressure canning demonstration.

Tuesday, August 11 – Jam making class through the Cumberland County Society of Farm Women in Carlisle, PA. Class is from 6:30 – 8:30 pm and costs $15. Contact Deb Yorlets at 717-574-2217 to sign up.

Wednesday, August 26 – Live online class via Concert Window! This class will be all about canning tomatoes. I’ll demonstrate how to cold pack and process whole tomatoes starting at 8 pm eastern time. Class is pay what you wish. Sign up here.

Friday, August 28 through Sunday, August 30 – Canning workshop at the Omega Institute in Rhinebeck, NY. More details here.

Wednesday, September 2 – Low Sugar Plum Jam with Weaver’s Way. I’ll show you how to make a lower sugar jam using late summer plums and Pomona’s Pectin in the kitchen at the Chestnut Hill Friends Meeting House. 7-9 pm. Click here to register.

Related Posts:

Upcoming Classes: Online! Collingswood! DC! Carlisle!
Upcoming Classes: Morris Arboretum and Online!
July Canning Classes: Goodwill at Homefields & Christina Maser Co.

Links: Poached Tomatoes, Spicy Beans, and a Winner

For most of the year, my work is confined to my apartment, where I cook, take pictures, and write. Then summer comes and I spend vast swaths of time traveling to distance cities to teach, demonstrate, or collaborate. This last week was heavy on the traveling and collaborating.

I spent Wednesday and Thursday in San Francisco, filming a canning video with the crew from Brit + Co. From there, I flew a very indirect itinerary to Indiana, arriving on Friday morning for Saturday’s International Can-It-Forward day (which was totally delightful). I headed home on Sunday morning and was so happy to sleep in my own bed last night (blame the lateness of these links on my extreme weariness). Here are this week’s links!

Think apples are the only fruit you can sauce? This peach sauce will have you thinking again.
A jam technique comparison.
Pickled sour cherries (if you can still find ’em).
Homemade cocktail cherries.
Blueberry and lemon verbena jam.
Strawberry plum jam (This is a combination I’ve never tried because these two things don’t ever come into season at the same time in Philadelphia.)
Super quick spicy pickled green beans.
Marinated artichoke hearts for the fridge and a universal brine recipe.
Oil-poached tomatoes! (I bet these would freeze gorgeously!)
Lemon sage mustard.
Meatless balls!
Peanut butter and jam bars.
The NY Times gives Tamar Adler the space to wax poetic about preserving.
This final link has nothing to do with food preservation, but it features much of the great food to be found in my adopted city of Philadelphia. I tell people all the time that this is a great food town and that we have so much more than just cheesesteaks. Maybe this time they’ll believe me!

The winner of the Mrs. Wages tomato mix giveaway is #275/Martha. I’ll be in touch shortly!

Related Posts:

Links: Cherries, Pickles, and a Winner
Links: Cranberries, Quick Breads, and Winners
Links: Pickles, Hard Cider, and a Winner