Marisa McClellan's Blog, page 83

Giveaway: Strainer Lids for Mason Jars

Sometimes, someone will email me to tell me about a new mason jar product that they’ve designed and I’ll think, “Yes! I’ve always wanted that!” Such is the case with these stainless steel wire mesh lids. So often, I’ve wished for an easy way to strain from a jar, or a quick way to turn a small mason jar into a parmesan cheese shaker for parties, and now, here it is!

Other ideas for these lids include using them to sprout beans and seeds, or any time you want an easy way to soak and then strain things (prepping small amounts of beans for adding to soup springs immediately to mind). I’m really curious though, how could you see something like this being useful in your life?

For this week’s giveaway, I have ten (yep, ten!) of these lids to share with you guys. Here’s how to enter!

Leave a comment on this post and tell me how you would use one of these lids in your kitchen.
Comments will close at 11:59 pm eastern time on Saturday, July 25, 2015. Winners will be chosen at random and will be posted to the blog on Sunday, July 26, 2015.
Giveaway open to United States and Canadian residents. Void where prohibited.
One comment per person, please. Entries must be left via the comment form on the blog at the bottom of this post.

Disclosure: The nice woman who produces these lids sent me some for testing, photography, and giveaway purposes. No additional compensation was provided for this post and all opinions expressed here are my own. 

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Giveaway: Spicy Preserves from PRiMO
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Giveaway: New Edition of the Ball Blue Book

July Philly Foodworks CSA Share

The nice folks from Philly Foodworks dropped off another lovely box of produce for me last week. I’ve cooked and processed my way through most of it now and will be sharing those details over the next couple weeks. But as a little sneak preview, here’s what came in this box and what I’ve done (or am planning) to do with it.

A head of cabbage (it’s become a batch of sauerkraut streaked with fennel fronds)
A bundle of rainbow carrots (these, I’m afraid, met a bitter end. I put them in the oven to roast and then got distracted. Incinerated)
A bag of mixed beans (pickles)
A bundle of Chioggia beets (more pickles)
A quart of cherries (they’ve become part of a batch of peach cherry jam)
A head of escarole (soup)
1 sweet onion (a relish I’ll be telling you about soon)
3 green bell peppers (also in the relish)
A jar of garlic and rosemary fermented carrots (I’ve been eating these with my lunch)
A tub of Mediterranean sesame dip (delicious on everything from crackers to cucumber rounds)

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CSA Cooking: Salad Pickles (aka Waste Prevention Pickles)
CSA Cooking: Shredded Everything Salad
CSA Cooking: Green Hummus

CSA Cooking: Salad Pickles (aka Waste Prevention Pickles)

Like many of the recipes I’ve posted on this site over the years, this pickle is a highly practical one. It’s not really a looker, and it probably won’t be the thing you tuck into gift bags, but it has the ability to use up a lot of produce, and makes edible many of the scraps and bits that might have otherwise ended up in the garbage.

I also appreciate it because all the various vegetables are chopped into similar sizes, so you can spoon it directly into vinaigrettes, or pasta, grain, or potato salad with zero additional work.

Every time I make a batch, it is different. The version you see pictured here included asparagus, garlic scapes, kale stems, and broccoli stems. At other points in the year, I’ve made it with various green/purple/wax/flat beans, chard stems, fennel, minced zucchini, radishes, and the thick stems from beet greens. Essentially, you gather up things of similar densities, chop them into small bits, and pickle the heck out of them.

This is a great one to have in your back pocket when your garden starts producing like crazy, or your CSA share becomes unmanageably abundant. This batch was made with some of the goodies from the Philly Foodworks box I got back in the beginning of June (I’ve been meaning to post this recipe for a while now).

I call it a salad pickle because I find that it most often gets used in a salad of some kind. In other regions of the country, you might find something similar being called a relish or chow chow (I don’t think anyone would hang the title piccalili on this one, but you never know).

Typically when I make this pickle, I keep things simple and add just mustard seed, red pepper flakes, and garlic cloves for flavor. This time around I skipped the garlic cloves because so much of the vegetable matter was made up of garlic scapes. It would also be good with dill seed, coriander seed, and black peppercorns. I make mine without any sweetener, but a little sugar or honey in the brine would be just fine.

Do any of you make something similar?

PrintSalad Pickles (aka Waste Prevention Pickles)

Yield: Makes three pints

Ingredients

2 pounds hardy, leftover vegetables like asparagus, beans, scapes, or stems
2 cups apple cider vinegar
1 cup water
2 tablespoons pickling or fine grain sea salt
6 garlic cloves
3 teaspoons mustard seed
1 1/2 teaspoons red pepper flakes

Instructions

Prepare a boiling water bath canner and 3 pint jars.
Wash, trim, and chop the vegetables you're using (go for similar sizes so that everything pickles at the same rate).
Combine the vinegar, water, and salt in a large saucepan. Set it over high heat and bring it to a boil.
Once the brine is boiling, add all the chopped vegetables. Cook just until the brine returns to a boil and then remove the pot from the heat.
Pull the jars out of the canner. Divide the garlic cloves, mustard seeds, and red pepper flakes between the jars.
Using a slotted spoon, fill the jars with the chopped vegetables, leaving 1/2 inch headspace.
Fill the jars with brine, taking care to retain the proper headspace.
Tap the jars gently on the countertop to loosen air bubbles. Use a wooden or plastic chopstick to remove any stubborn ones.
Wipe the rims, apply the lids and rings, and process the pickles in a boiling water bath canner for 10 minutes.
When time is up, remove jars from the canner and set on a folded kitchen towel to cool.
Sealed jars can be stored in a cool, dark place for up to a year. Any unsealed jars should be refrigerated and used promptly.
I like to give this pickle at least a week of rest before I crack open a jar. 3.1http://foodinjars.com/2015/07/csa-cooking-salad-pickles-aka-waste-prevention-pickles/

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CSA Cooking: Green Hummus
CSA Cooking: The June Share
CSA Cooking: Ramp-infused Vinegar

July Canning Classes: Goodwill at Homefields & Christina Maser Co.

It feels a little hard to believe, but I only have two classes left to teach this month (summer seems to be flying by!). Both of these classes are out in the Lancaster area of Pennsylvania. If you’re within a couple hours drive, it’s a great region for a day trip! Here’s all the info!

This Saturday, July 18, you’ll find me at Goodwill at Homefields Farm (Manor Township – 150 Letort Road, Millersville, PA). The class is from 10:30 am to 12:30 pm and we’ll be making spiced nectarine jam. I’ll also talk about boiling water bath canning, best practices, and pantry storage. To register, contact Heather Conlon-Keller at 717-808-7060 or heather@homefields.org. Class fee is $22 per person, payable to Homefields.

Next Saturday, July 25, you’ll find me in Lancaster City, at the Christina Maser Co., talking about tomatoes. In this very hands-on class, we’ll make both cold packed whole peeled tomatoes and hot packed crushed tomatoes. Everyone will go home with samples from the class, a tomato canning how-to packet, and the knowledge to do it again. The class is from 10 am to 1 pm and costs $65. Click here to sign up.

To sweeten the deal, our friends at Fillmore Container are also giving away a stainless steel canner to a one participant in this class. More details about that are here.

Related Posts:

Upcoming July Classes: Chestnut Hill! Lancaster County! Online!
Links: Cherries, Chick Pea Crackers, and Winners
Giveaway: Fillmore Container $50 Gift Codes

Giveaway: Spicy Preserves from PRiMO

One of the more interesting preserving trends I’ve noticed in recent years is that of taking sweet jams and jellies and making them spicy. Sure, people have been making pepper jellies for years, but it wasn’t until the last decade did you start to see companies bringing things like sweet cherries preserved with smoked peppers to market.

This week’s giveaway comes to us from PRiMO, a preserves company that specializes and excels in the arena of sweet heat. All their preserves are made by hand in small batches with good ingredients and are designed to be balanced. The goal is not to wipe out your tastebuds with heat, but instead to enhance the flavors of the fruit with complementary chiles.

The giveaway is one three-pack of preserves to a single, very lucky winner. Winner will get to choose the three preserves from PRiMO’s current stock (I highly recommend the Raspberry Habanero). Here’s how to enter.

Leave a comment on this post and tell me how you add spice to your preserves. Are you a pepper jelly fan? Do you do apricot with red pepper flakes? Have you tucked ancho chiles into cherries? Inquiring minds want to know.
Comments will close at 11:59 pm eastern time on Saturday, July18, 2015. Winners will be chosen at random and will be posted to the blog on Sunday, July 19, 2015.
Giveaway open to United States residents only.
One comment per person, please. Entries must be left via the comment form on the blog at the bottom of this post.

Disclosure: Vic from PRiMO sent me the preserves you see pictured above for tasting and photography purposes. No additional compensation was provided for this post and all opinions expressed here are my own. 

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Giveaway: New Edition of the Ball Blue Book
Giveaway: Fillmore Container $50 Gift Codes

Culinary Nutrition Conference – A Free, Online Event

In the craziness of the last few weeks, I realized that I haven’t made mention of an event that I’m part of that is happening tomorrow. Called the Culinary Nutrition Conference, it’s a free, online one-day event featuring an array of speakers talking about health, nutrition, and cooking and food. This event is being hosted by Meghan Telpner (you may know her from her book The UnDiet) and the Academy of Culinary Nutrition.

Now, I realize that some of you might think that a conference about nutrition isn’t for you (and at first, I wasn’t sure I was the best fit to participate). However, if the conversation that Meghan and I had is any indication, it’s really an event for people who love food and are looking to be inspired to eat better and more deliciously.

If that feels like it resonates, I do I hope that I’ll “see” some of you there!

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Links: Berry Jams and Cucumber Soup

Last week was intense. Between the photo shoot for the new book, finishing edits on the manuscript, recording audio for a new podcasting project, and also staying present and focused for my husband and mother-in-law as they dealt with her health struggles, I ended the week feeling pretty spent. I’ve spent most of today cleaning up the apartment, doing some closet purging, and trying to get myself back on track.

Here are a few of the links I’ve collected for you!

Gooseberry elderflower jam.
Kate’s classic blueberry jam technique.
Raspberry jam made with framboise lambic.
Blackberry syrup.
Simple, small batch peach jam.
Low sugar white peach jam with rosé (and a tart recipe to help you use it up).
Cucumber yogurt soup.
Raspberry rose rugelach.
Four minute egg caesar dressing.

No giveaway winners this week, because the MightyNest giveaway is still in progress. If you haven’t entered yet, now’s the time!

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Links: Pumpkin Syrup, Cranberries, and Winners
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Small Batch Peach Jam for Live Online Class

Tomorrow night at 8 pm eastern time, I’ll be teaching my third live online class of the summer. For this one, I’ll make a small batch of peach jam and talk about how to preserve summer stonefruit without making yourself crazy. During the first class, a participant suggested that I make demonstration recipes available ahead of time, so that if you so desired, you could can along with me. So that’s what I’m doing!

This is the recipe I’ll be making on Monday night. You’ll want to have your canning pot prepped, your peaches peeled and chopped, and your sugar measured out. The rest we’ll do together.

And just to be clear, you don’t HAVE to can along with me to take the class. However, I do love the idea of all of us making the same thing at the same time.

When: Monday, July 13 at 8 pm Eastern Time

Where: Your living room, kitchen or office, via Concert Window

Cost: Pay what you wish

PrintSmall Batch Peach Jam for Live Online Class

Ingredients

2 pounds yellow peaches, peeled and chopped
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
juice from 1/2 a lemon
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, optional

Instructions

Prepare a small boiling water bath canner and 3 half pint jars.
Combine the peaches and sugar in a 12-inch nonreactive skillet and stir until the sugar dissolves and the peaches look juicy.
Place the skillet on the stove over high heat and bring to a boil. Once the jam starts bubbling, reduce the heat to medium-high.
Cook, stirring regularly, until the jam thickens. You know it's done when you can pull the spatula through the jam and the liquid doesn't immediately rush in to fill the space.
Add the lemon juice and cinnamon, if using. Stir to combine.
Remove the jam from the heat and stir for a few beats, to help the fruit release the last of the moisture.
Funnel the jam into the prepared jars. Wipe the rims, apply lids and rings, and process in a boiling water bath canner for 10 minutes.
When time is up, remove jars from the canner and set them on a folded kitchen towel to cool. 3.1http://foodinjars.com/2015/07/small-batch-peach-jam-for-live-online-class/

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International Can-It-Forward Day and Curried Fruit Compote from the Ball Blue Book

Saturday, August 1 is the fifth annual Can-It-Forward day. This yearly event is organized and hosted by Jarden Home Brands, the company that makes all of our beloved Ball and Kerr products. In the past, they’ve offered a day of live streaming canning and jar usage demonstrations from New York City. This year, they’re bringing the festivities home to their new headquarters in Fishers, Indiana.

Last year, I hopped a train up to New York and joined the fun in Brooklyn. This year, I’m really excited to be heading to Indiana for the weekend to demonstrate my recipe for Sweet and Tangy Pickled Blueberries. I’ll have that recipe for you all in a couple weeks. Today, I want to talk about an entirely different preserve.

As we were planning ways to get the word out about this year’s Can-It-Forward day, the nice folks from Ball Home Preserving suggested that I could pick out a couple of recipes from the Ball Blue Book to share with you guys. I went flipping through and picked out a handful of options. One that we settled on was the Curried Fruit Compote on page 134 of the newest edition of the book.

I chose this one because I’ve been digging compotes lately (they’re so easy! And such a good way to capture fleeting summer fruit) and I was intrigued by the idea of an assortment of adding a savory spice blend like curry to a heap of sweet fruit.

So, after a busy week of photo shoots and book edits, I went to my local product market to round up a ripe pineapple, a not too ripe cantaloupe (so that it would hold its shape after cutting), three pounds of peaches, and a lime (I already had the necessary apricots from last weekend’s half bushel).

With products like this, the bulk of the work is in the preparation. Once you’ve peeled the peaches, pitted the apricots, seeded the cantaloupe, and tackled the pineapple, the cooking happens in a snap. I brought my curry-spiked syrup to a boil as I was finishing up removing all those pesky eyes from the pineapple and then once it was bubbling, heaped the fruit into the pot.

Once the fruit seemed to be heated through, I used a slotted spoon to portion out the fruit into a two-cup measuring cup and filled up the jars. The recipe in the book called for quart jars, but I opted for pints instead, because I knew that it would be a better, more usable portion for my household (and I kept the processing time the same, just to be safe).

Once all the jars were filled, I had a few bobbing bits of fruit in the pot. I tasted a hunk of pineapple and the curry flavor was pleasantly mild. I think that come winter, I’ll be pairing this compote with scoops of cottage cheese for easy workday lunches.

PrintCurried Fruit Compote

Ingredients

3 pounds peaches (about 12)
2 pounds apricots (about 16)
Ball Fruit-Fresh Produce Protector
1 fresh pineapple (about 5 pounds)
1 cantaloupe (about 4 pounds)
3 cups sugar
3 tablespoons curry powder
4 cups water
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/2 cup thinly sliced lime (about 1 small)

Instructions

Wash peaches, apricots, pineapple, and lime under cold running water; drain.
To peel peaches and apricots*, blanch in boiling water for 30 to 60 seconds. Immediately transfer to cold water. cut off peels.
Cut peaches and apricots in half lengthwise, remove pits and fibrous flesh. Slice peaches; leave apricots cut in half. Treat with Fruit-Fresh to prevent darkening.
Cut off top and bottom ends of pineapple; core and peel. Cut pineapple into 1-inch pieces.
Peel and seed cantaloupe; cut cantaloupe into 1-inch
Combine sugar, curry powder, water, and lemon juice in a large saucepan. Bring mixture to a boil; reduce heat to a simmer (180F).
Drain peaches and apricots. Add peaches, apricots, pineapple, and cantaloupe to syrup.
Simmer until fruit is hot throughout.
Pack hot fruit into a hot jar, leaving 1/2-inch headspace.
Put on lime slice into jar.
Ladle hot syrup over fruit, leaving 1/2 inch headspace.
Remove air bubbles.
Clean jar rim.
Center lid on jar and adjust band to fingertip-tight.
Place jar on the rack elevated over simmering water (180F) in boiling-water canner. Repeat until all jars are filled.
Lower the rack into simmering water. Water must cover jars by 1 inch.
Adjust the heat to medium-high, cover canner and bring water to a rolling boil.
Process quart jars 30 minutes.
Turn off heat and remove cover
Let jars cool 5 minutes.
Remove jars from canner; do not retighten bands if loose.
Cool 12 hours. Check seals. Label and store jars.

Notes

*I did not peel my apricots. I find their skins entirely inoffensive and so always skip that step when it is listed.

3.1http://foodinjars.com/2015/07/international-can-it-forward-day-and-curried-fruit-compote-from-the-ball-blue-book/

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Mustardy Potato and Cauliflower Salad

Potato salad has long been one of my favorite summertime foods. I can be completely content to eat a bowl of it and call it a full meal. Sadly, it’s not really a nutritional powerhouse. In the past I would add some lightly blanched green beans, but they are one of my husband’s least loved foods and so if I’m cooking with the expectation that he’s going to join me, I leave them out.

Maybe a month or so ago, I was pondering the topic of potato salad (truly, this is one of the ways that I spend my time) and the thought occurred that adding blanched cauliflower would help lighten it and make it a more acceptable meal.

So I tried it and discovered that my hunch was right. It’s a delicious combination. The potatoes are creamy and the cauliflower (cooked with the potatoes for the last few minutes) is tender but sturdy. Of course, a few days after I made it, I was eating Indian food and was reminded that potatoes and cauliflower often accompany one another in that cuisine. I’m not nearly as original as I thought I was.

To keep the dressing simple, I stirred together some store-bought mayonnaise with a healthy dollop of Maile horseradish mustard (this zippy mustard has become one of my favorite secret ingredients since I discovered it in a box of goodies sent to me by Maile), and half a minced red onion. I also like to return the drained potatoes and cauliflower to the hot pan after draining them and then pour a little vinegar over the top, to infuse them with bit of vinegar tang.

PrintMustardy Potato and Cauliflower Salad

Yield: serves 8 as a side dish

Ingredients

2 pounds small red or golden potatoes
1 small cauliflower
2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
1/2 large red onion, minced
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1 heaping tablespoon horseradish mustard
salt and pepper to taste, plus more salt for the cooking water

Instructions

Bring a pot of water to a boil (I like to use something that can hold at least 4 quarts, though 5 is even better).
While the water boils, wash the potatoes and cut them into medium chunks of equal size.
Once the water is boiling, add a generous pinch of salt and the potatoes.
While the potatoes cook, break the cauliflower down into bite-sized florets. Once the potatoes are half way done, add the cauliflower to the pot.
Cook for an additional 5-6 minutes, until the potatoes are tender. Remove the pot from the heat and set your flame to its lowest setting.
Position a colander in your sink and drain the potatoes and cauliflower. Return them the pot and place it over the very low flame. Add the vinegar and shake the pot a little to distribute.
Once the vinegar has evaporated, remove the pan from the heat and turn off the stove.
While the potatoes and cauliflower cool, stir minced onion, mayonnaise, and horseradish mustard together.
Stir the dressing into the cauliflower and potato combination with a silicone spatula. Taste and add salt and pepper. Serve warm or chilled.

Notes

If you can't find horseradish mustard or don't want to add another jar to your fridge, plain dijon will also work. It just won't be quite as punchy.

3.1http://foodinjars.com/2015/07/mustardy-potato-and-cauliflower-salad/

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