Marisa McClellan's Blog, page 85

July 4 Picnic: The Wrap-Up

Last week, the lovely Madame Fromage and I shared the various components of summery 4th of July cheese and preserve picnic we made. Our hope was to create something that would help inspire all of you to open up your pantries, buy a few wedges, and invite friends over to celebrate.

I started the week with a batch of spiced blueberries. Preserved in a syrup spiked with just a bit of apple cider vinegar to cut the sweetness, these blueberries were lovely with cheese. They would also be nice spooned over vanilla ice cream or angel food cake, should you prefer a dessert-y pairing.

Oh, and in case you’re curious, you can replace the vinegar with a little lemon juice, if you don’t love the assertiveness of the vinegar.

While I was writing about blueberries, Tenaya was sharing tips for making light, refreshing, cheese-friendly cocktails. The recipe she included was one that was made with gin and a bit of raspberry shrub, but could be made with any light spirit and tangy fruity syrup.

The next day, my suggestion was to make a batch of sweet cherry chutney. This is a preserve I first shared last summer and is a very good one. When I’m not eating it with a slice of cheese, I like stir it into a bowl of warm couscous, chopped arugula, and a soft boiled egg.

One of the components that Madame Fromage made for our picnic was a batch of whole grain graham crackers. The recipe is one that Heidi Swanson first posted on her site more than a decade ago, but is well worth a revisit. These crackers are sturdy, slightly sweet, and once you eat one with a bit of crumbled blue cheese, you’ll never again be satisfied with a basic Ritz.

My final offering for this celebratory meal was a batch of spicy pecan brittle. Broken into shards, it was delicious with bites of cheese. In slightly larger pieces, it was eaten as a sweet treat at the end of the meal.

For her second to last post, Madame Fromage turned her attention to the cheeses. We made the choice to buy the cheeses for this series from Trader Joe’s, in the hopes of making our selections more widely available while also showing that there are some really great budget options available out there.

I hope you enjoyed our picnic as much as we did! Make sure to check out Madame Fromage’s wrap-up here. And once again, many thanks to Peg & Awl for lending us the gorgeous boards (I’m just sad we didn’t find a way to work this jar caddy into the shoot).

And now, a question for all of you. How are you planning on working your homemade preserves into your summer celebrations?

Related Posts:

Cheese and Jam for the 4th of July
July 4th Picnic: Sweet Cherry Chutney
July 4th Picnic: Spicy Pecan Brittle

July 4th Picnic: Spicy Pecan Brittle

Earlier today, Madame Fromage posted a little something about the cheeses she picked for this picnic. All three were from Trader Joe’s and our intention was to show that you don’t have to spend a ton of money to create an inviting spread.

The final thing I contributed to the picnic was a tray of spicy pecan brittle. This sweet, salty, and spicy slab was good to nibble on alongside a slice of the mini basque and we all found ourselves crunching on it throughout the afternoon.

The one thing I’ll change next time I make this brittle for eating along side cheese is that I will make it thinner. I used a quarter sized sheet pan because I was thinking about portability and it produced a rather thick brittle. For pairing with cheeses, a thinner brittle with a texture that shatters more easily would have been nice.

To add the spicy element, I stirred in some gochugaru. This is the Korean chili powder that’s typically used for making kimchi, but it works beautifully in this brittle. If you don’t have it in your pantry, Aleppo or ancho chili powder would also work. I’d stay away from cayenne, because you don’t want to overwhelm the brittle with heat.

I used pecans in this brittle because I had jar in the fridge that wanted to be used. Other seeds and nuts will work nicely as well. If you were planning on taking it to a potluck where a warning about food allergies had been issued, try making it with a blend of toasted sunflower and sesame seeds. It would be delicious!

PrintJuly 4th Picnic: Spicy Pecan Brittle

Ingredients

2 cups toasted whole pecans
1/2 cup butter
2 cups granulated sugar
1 1/4 cup water
1/3 cup corn syrup
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 1/2 teaspoons gochugaru
1/2 teaspoon baking soda

Instructions

Line a rimmed cookie sheet with parchment paper and set it near the stove.
In a roomy, heavy bottomed pot, the butter. When it’s just liquid, add the sugar, water, and corn syrup. Stir to combine.
Cook the toffee over medium-high heat until it turns golden brown and reaches a temperature of 285 degrees F, about 25 minutes.
When the toffee has reached the necessary color and temperature, remove the pot from the heat and stir in the salt, chili pepper, and baking soda. It will foam madly. Keep stirring.
Once both are well-integrated, stir in the toasted pecans. Pour mixture out onto the parchment-lined cookie sheet and spread using a rubber or silicone scrapper.
When it's entirely cool, break it into pieces and eat. 3.1http://foodinjars.com/2015/06/july-4th-picnic-spicy-pecan-brittle/

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July 4th Picnic: Sweet Cherry Chutney
Cheese and Jam for the 4th of July

Industree’s Hail to the V Event

Next week, I’m participating in an event that’s a bit outside my regular sphere. It’s a panel discussion put on by Industree called Hail to the V and it features women in the food and beverage industry in Philadelphia. Topics of conversation will include building brands as females, professional and personal stories, lessons learned, building respect, cultivating loyalty, and kitchen life.

This event is on Wednesday, July 1 from 2 to 5:30 pm at the The Restaurant School at Walnut Hill College. The moderators will be Madison Alpern and Jen Carroll.

Charlotte Calmels – co-owner, Bibou and Le Cheri
Phoebe Esmon – head bartender, Emmanuelle
Laura Frangiosa – chef-owner, The Avenue Deli
Monica Glass – executive pastry chef, Sbraga Dining
Chloe Grigri – general manager, The Good King Tavern
Joy Manning – editor, Edible Philly; recipe editor, Zahav cookbook
Marisa McClellan – writer, Food in Jars, Preserving by the Pint, and more
Erin O’Shea – chef-owner, Percy Street Barbecue
Valerie Safran – co-owner, Lolita, Barbuzzo, Jamonera, Little Nonna’s, and more
Marie Stecher – pastry chef-instructor, The Restaurant School at Walnut Hill College
Heather Thomason – head butcher, Kensington Quarters
Alice Tran – general manager, Laurel

Tickets are $15 for students, $25 for industry, and $40 for non-industry. Use the code “JARSVIP” to get 20% off admission. Drinks and snacks will be provided. Get your ticket here.

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July 4th Picnic: Sweet Cherry Chutney

I have spent the last couple weeks preserving my way through a sea of cherries. First came a 20 pound box of sweets from the nice people at the Washington State Fruit Commission as part of the annual Canbassador program. Then, just when I’d finished turning them into chutney, jam, kompot, clafoutis, and shrub, I picked up a flat of sour cherries from Three Springs Fruit Farm. I have one more pound of those to work through from that flat and then I’m done.

Happily, cherries were a perfect fit for this July 4th cheese board project. I made a fresh batch of sweet cherry chutney with some of the Canbassador fruit. Paired with a wedge of sturdy blue cheese and piled on those homemade graham crackers, it was pretty darn delicious.

If you don’t have the time or desire to pit four pounds of cherries (admittedly, it can be a little tedious), I suggest you make a batch of pickled cherries. These can be preserved with the pits still in them and after a few days, they are ready to eat. These honey-sweetened cherries with fresh rosemary would also pair up nicely with that wedge of blue.

Tenaya posted her tips for stirring up tasty summer sparklers to drink with cheeses today. Make sure to head over there and take a look!

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July 4th Picnic: Spiced Blueberries & Goat Brie

Blueberries were one of the very first ingredients that Tenaya and I discussed when we first started talking about creating this 4th of July-themed cheese and preserve picnic. They typically come into season in our area in the last days of June and they can be transformed into all sorts of cheese-friendly preserves.

Instead of making jam, I opted to make blueberries in a highly spiced, slightly tangy syrup. I wouldn’t call them pickled blueberries, because they don’t pack a huge amount of pucker, but they have a small amount of apple cider vinegar in the preserving liquid to ensure that they taste zippy.

We paired these blueberries with a round of goats milk brie and it was an awfully good bite. They were also tasty gently mashed into the homemade graham crackers that Tenaya made. One of our friends who came over to help us eat the cheeses and preserves after our shoot was over was of the opinion that they would also make a very nice addition to a bowl of oatmeal. I wouldn’t disagree.

Like many of the recipes I post here, consider the listed spices as mere suggestions. You can change the flavorings without impacting the safety of the finished preserve. These would be equally good with vanilla beans, lightly crushed cardamom pods, or even some dried hot peppers if you like spicy things.

You should get three pints of berries from this recipe, with approximately 8 to 12 ounces of liquid leftover. There are two really good things to do with this leftover goodness. You can store it in a jar in the fridge for adding to glasses of sparkling water. Or you can cook it down into a thick syrup that you can then drizzle over slices of toast spread thickly with fresh ricotta. The choice is up to you.

More about our celebratory picnic tomorrow!

PrintSpiced Blueberries

Ingredients

3 pounds blueberries
1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
1 cup water
1/3 cup apple cider vinegar
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon whole cloves
3 star anise

Instructions

Prepare a boiling water bath canner and 3 pint jars.
Wash the blueberries and look them over for lingering stems and leaves.
In a medium saucepan, combine the sugar, water, apple cider vinegar, cinnamon, cloves, and star anise. Place over high heat and bring to a boil.
Once the syrup reaches a boil and the sugar is fully dissolved, add the blueberries. Return the liquid to a boil and reduce the heat to medium high.
Cook the berries for 3 to 4 minutes, until they start to pop and have colored the liquid a deep purple.
Using a slotted spoon, evenly divide the cooked berries between the jars. Take care to remove the star anise pieces as you work, so that they don't overwhelm the flavor of the berries. Top with liquid, leaving 1/2 inch headspace. Use a wooden chopstick to remove any trapped air bubbles and adjust the headspace, as necessary.
Wipe the rims, apply lids and rings, and process the jars in a boiling water bath canner for 15 minutes.
When time is up, remove the jars from the canner and place them on a folded kitchen towel to cool. Let them rest for a few days before eating, so that the flavors can mellow and mingle. 3.1http://foodinjars.com/2015/06/july-4th-picnic-spiced-blueberries-goat-brie/

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Cheese and Jam for the 4th of July

One of the things that I firmly believe is that my job here as the writer of this website is not just to offer up canning instructions and recipes, but also to offer up suggestions on how to use and enjoy the things you’ve made. After all, there’s no point in preserving seasonal fruits and vegetables if you never open the jars and empty them out again.

To that end, my dear friend Tenaya (aka Madame Fromage) and I dreamed up a little 4th of July picnic to share on our blogs that features a handful of cheeses paired up with preserves, crackers, and a slab of spicy pecan brittle. The cheeses are all from Trader Joe’s, so they’re quite widely accessible, and the preserves are mere suggestions. Feel free to take inspiration from what you already have on hand.

We know that we’re still a couple weeks out from Independence Day, but we figured posting this series now will give you the time to do a little preserving and make a plan for your own celebratory gathering.

All this week, we’ll be posting tidbits from our little cheese and preserve party. Over on her site, you’ll find the recipes for hearty whole wheat graham crackers and an easy shrub sparkler as well as tips on pairing cheeses with various jams, pickles, and other edible delights.

I’ll be sharing the recipes for the spiced blueberries and the pecan brittle, as well as pointing you to the cherry recipes that would best accompany this board (we used a jar of my sweet cherry chutney in the shoot and it was heavenly with all three cheeses). Make sure to check back all week long for all the celebratory fun.

Oh, and huge thanks to Margeux Kent and Peg & Awl for lending us all the pretty boards you see in the pictures above. I wanted to tuck one or two into my bag, but managed to keep my sticky fingers to myself.

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Giveaway: New Edition of the Ball Blue Book

The Ball Brothers started making canning jars as we know them in Buffalo, NY in 1884. In 1888, production began in Muncie, Indiana (thanks mostly to an abundance of natural gas and a friendly cadre of local businessmen). And in 1909, they published the first edition of their canning guide and recipe pamphlet.

Initial printings bore the title The Correct Method of Preserving Fruit. A few years later, it was called The Ball Preserving Book. And in 1915, the first edition was printed that included the name The Ball Blue Book.

When I first became aware of the Ball Blue Book, I wondered briefly about how it came to bear that name. Soon after, I read somewhere that originally the cover was blue and so people gave it that nickname for ease. However, the term blue book (think Kelley Blue Book) has also long been a phrase used to describe an authoritative handbook or reference book, so chances are that’s how it acquired the name.

The Ball Blue Book has gone through a multitude of editions and revisions in its 106 year history and 2015 marks the release of the 37th edition. It is 200 pages long, features more than 500 recipes (75 of which are brand spanking new), and is a really great resource for anyone who cans.

I own several editions at this point in my canning career and have often reference them when looking for both hard facts and canning inspiration.

This new edition has much to offer. The authors have streamlined the recipe language to make it as clear and straightforward as possible. The recipes are organized by style of preserve (whole fruit, jams and jellies, pickles, etc.). They indicate clearly places where you can safely adapt and personalize recipes. And for those of you who itch to get more use out of your pressure canner, pages 97 to 119 will please you mightily.

This week, I have three copies of this new edition of the Ball Blue Book to give away. Here’s how to enter.

Leave a comment on this post and share a story or memory of the Ball Blue Book. Did your grandmother can from a copy? Did you learn to can from an earlier edition? Was your family loyal to a different canning bible? Or, is this the first you’re hearing of it?
Comments will close at 11:59 pm eastern time on Saturday, June 27, 2015. Winners will be chosen at random and will be posted to the blog on Sunday, June 28, 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: The PR team for Jarden Home Brands (parent company of Ball Canning) sent me a review copy of the Ball Blue Book that you see pictured here. They have not compensated me for this post and all opinions expressed are entirely my own. 

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Live Online Canning Basics on Tuesday!

Tomorrow night, I’m teaching my second live online class via Concert Window. This session will dig into the basics of boiling water bath canning. I’ll show you the gear I find essential for safe and easy canning, talk about the things that are nice to have but not necessary, and walk you through prepping, filling, and processing a batch of jars.

One of the cool things about the Concert Window app is that it includes an interative chat stream. As you watch, you can type in questions and comments and I’ll respond to them live.

This class starts at 8 pm eastern time and will last about an hour. It’s a pay what you wish session, so if your budget is tight, you can pay just a dollar to participate. If you feel like you’ve gotten a lot of value from the class, you can leave a tip at any point while the class is still live.

The only downside of using this platform is that there’s no way to offer the workshop for view once it’s over. So unfortunately, if you’re not available at during the class session, there’s no archive for you to watch (but you can check out this post for detail on boiling water bath canning).

Please do let me know if you have any questions in advance of the class. I hope to see a bunch of you there!

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Links: Cherries, Chick Pea Crackers, and Winners

I’m not sure when it started, but somewhere in the last few years, I started marking the passage of summer by seasonal fruit. And so by the fruit calendar, summer is flying by (despite the fact that it only officially started today). Rhubarb and strawberries are gone and the cherries are present but they last so briefly. I’m just grateful that there’s still so much more wonderful stuff to come. Now, links.

This three-ingredient, gluten-free buckwheat loaf sounds amazing.
A dinner time omelet with pickled onions. Yes, please!
Rhubarb syrup. An oldie but a goodie.
Preserved cherries.
Strawberry balsamic jam.
Fermented carrots with galangal and lime.
Homemade Luxardo cherries.
Individual ice box cakes in jars.
Lemon-scented spoon oil.
Cherry blueberry shrub.
Walnut ketchup.
Pickled radishes.
These chick pea crackers! Sign me up.
Tips for gearing up for canning season.

Time to announce the winners in last week’s wildly popular Fillmore Container giveaway! They are #51/Marie and #802/Kristine. Thank you all for taking the time to enter!

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Links: Cherries, Pickles, and a Winner

Preserves in Action: Honey Mustard Chicken

There is a recipe for a maple and roasted garlic mustard in my next book that I made three times before I got it right. The final result is a great condiment, but all that testing left me with a veritable bounty of mustard to use up. I’ve been plugging away at it, making salad dressings and decanting it into smaller jars to give to friends.

One of my favorite uses for this mustard is a super simple marinate for chicken. I use a wide mouth half pint jar as both a measurement device and a mixing bowl. I use about a 1/2 cup of the mustard (filling the jar about half full) and then pour in 2-3 tablespoons of honey.

I stir it the two together until they seem mostly integrated. Sometime before I started making the honey mustard, I pulled an appropriately sized baking dish out and set the oven to 375 degrees F. Once the sauce is ready, it’s just a matter of arranging the chicken in the pan, rubbing the sauce into the chicken, washing your hands, and then applying an even dusting of salt and pepper.

Baked until the skin browns and bubbles and the meat is cooked through, it makes a delicious dinner that reminds me of the food my mom used to cook when I was growing up. I serve it with whatever vegetable I can pull together and call it good. In the summer, it’s particularly good with corn on the cob and sliced cucumbers.

How are you using up your preserves these days?

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