Marisa McClellan's Blog, page 87

Giveaway: Mrs. Wages Perfect Pickle Sampler

This week’s giveaway comes to us from long-time Food in Jars sponsor Mrs. Wages. I’ve been doing a bit of work with the folks from Mrs. Wages for the last five years and one element of our annual partnership is that they always offer up one or two awesome baskets of their mixes, spices, and starters for me to give away to my equally awesome readers. Happily, this summer is no exception!

This is the first of two baskets of goodies I’ll be giving away from Mrs. Wages this summer. This Perfect Pickle Sampler basket contains every single pickle product that Mrs. Wages makes, which should make the pickle lovers out there very, very happy. Here’s exactly what’s in the prize.

Pickling Lime
Pickling and Canning Salt
Kosher Dill Pickles Quick Process Pickle Mix
Zesty Bread & Butter Pickle Quick Process Pickle Mix
Polish Dill Pickles Quick Process Pickle Mix
Sweet Pickle Relish Quick Process Pickle Mix
Bread & Butter Pickles Quick Process Pickle Mix
Sweet Pickles Quick Process Pickle Mix
Spicy Pickles Quick Process Pickle Mix
Dill Pickles Quick Process Pickle Mix
Kosher Dill Pickles Refrigerator Pickle Mix
Filled Green Beans Refrigerator or Canning Mix
Sweet Pickles Refrigerator Pickle Mix
Polish Dill Pickles Refrigerator Pickle Mix
Spicy Pickles Refrigerator Pickle Mix
Pickled Beets Refrigerator or Canning Mix
Pickled Vegetables Refrigerator or Canning Mix
The Mrs. Wages Home Canning Guide and Recipes

If this massive collection of pickle spices and starts appeals to you, here’s how to enter the giveaway.

Leave a comment on this post and tell me about your current favorite pickle. Whether it’s one you make, one your mom always has in her fridge, or just your favorite local brand, I want to hear about it.
Comments will close at 11:59 pm eastern time on Saturday, June 13, 2015. Winners will be chosen at random and will be posted to the blog on Sunday, June 15, 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: Mrs. Wages is providing the basket for the giveaway. They are also a Food in Jars sponsor and so do help contribute to the running of this site.

Related Posts:

Giveaway: Mrs. Wages Berry and Pie Mix Basket
Giveaway: Mrs. Wages Pickling Spices and Starters
Giveaway: Mrs. Wages Tomato Mix Basket

Upcoming Classes: Mullica Hill and Chestnut Hill

Hello friends! I have both a free demo and a class on offer this week in the Philly region and I hope to see some of you there!

The first is tonight, Monday, June 8. I’ll be doing a small batch strawberry jam canning demo at the Gloucester County Library’s Mullica Hill Branch starting at 7 pm. Because of the library rules, I won’t have any books to sell, but if you bring your own copy I would be delighted to sign it! This event is free.

Then, on Wednesday, June 10, I’m teaching my second class in my Weaver’s Way series. In this session, we’ll pickle cucumbers two different ways. I’ll show you how to make both preserved vinegar pickles and slower fermented ones in the kitchen at the Chestnut Hill Friends Meeting House. 7-9 pm. Click here to register.

As always, my complete teaching and demo schedule can be found over on my Classes and Events page. I’m also planning on adding a few more online classes to the calendar soon, so check back!

Related Posts:

Pomona’s Pectin Jam Class at The Morris Arboretum
May 2015 Canning Classes
The Philly Farm & Food Fest is Coming!

Links: Strawberries, Cauliflower Hummus, and a Winner

This last week was blissfully mellow. I played tourist with a dear friend who was visiting, managed to get to the bottom of my overflowing inbox, and took care of some necessary household tasks like laundry and car maintenance. I also finished a book for the first time in a couple weeks. It was good. Now, links!

Strawberry limoncello jam.
Apricot preserves with rosewater.
Braised rhubarb with wine and ginger.
Ramp powder!
More good things to do with strawberries.
Fermented dilly beans (these became my favorite pickle last summer).
Chive cheddar biscuits.
Irish brown bread.
Apple spruce tip shrub.
A gorgeous smoked salmon tart.
Cauliflower hummus!

The winner of the Driftaway Coffee giveaway is #47/Kari K. Thank you all for taking the time to enter!

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Links: Strawberries, Rhubarb, and Winners
Links: Jam, Doughnuts, and Winners
Links: Ramps, Water-saving Canning, and Winners

Low Sugar Strawberry Vanilla Jam

Last Friday, I stopped in to Reading Terminal Market to see Annelies and pick up a few things. While there, I wandered by the Fair Food Farmstand and commented on the gorgeous, fragrant strawberries. In response, the operations manager Anne, offered to sell me a flat of seconds*. Cheap.

I am unable to resist fruit bargains and so ended up walking the eight blocks home hugging a flat of berries. I found that people responded to the berries in much the same way they do when I’ve found myself carrying a new baby through a grocery store. They smile at your parcel and murmur under their breath, “Baby! (Berries!).”

I made it home, berries intact, and set my load down near the air conditioner to cool (there was no space in the fridge). There they sat until later that evening. When I finally started disassembling the flat, I discovered that these were true seconds and needed careful culling.

I put on a podcast and sidled up to the sink. I hulled and sliced, ruthlessly eliminating all the bits that moldy, slimy, or had started to smelly boozy. In the end, I had enough berries for some slow cooker strawberry butter (a batch of this, sweetened with cane sugar instead of maple) and a batch of low sugar strawberry vanilla jam.

I pureed the berries for the butter and set them up on low in my ancient four quart cooker to reduce overnight. I put the rest of the berries into a large bowl and pummeled them with a potato masher until I had about nine cups of pulp. That went into a eight quart pot with 2 cups of cane sugar and 2 split and scraped vanilla beans.

Now, had my refrigerator not been packed to the gills, I would have put the sugared berry mash in there and kept it cold overnight. However, there was no space in the inn, so I cheated a little. I brought it to a rolling boil for a couple minutes and then turned off the heat. I covered the pot, shoved it to the back burner, and left it there overnight.

Food safety experts might ding me for this practice, but the quick boil kills off the worst of the bacteria and the sugar acts as a preservative (plus, it was a relatively cool night. I don’t do this during the true heat of summer).

It was entirely fine when came back to it the next morning, and so I pulled the pot back to my most powerful burner, added 1 tablespoon of calcium water and the juice of 2 small lemons, and brought it back to a boil.

I boiled the fruit for 25 minutes (or so), until it had reduced by about half, was thickening up a little, and the worst of the foaming had subsided. I stirred 1 tablespoon of Pomona’s Pectin into 1/2 cup cane sugar and whisked it into the jam in a thin, steady stream so that the pectin didn’t clump.

Two more minutes of rapid boiling and it was done. The batch made 4 1/2 pints and I processed them in a boiling water bath canner for 10 minutes. The finished is sweet, but the primary flavor is strawberry. It’s a very good one for stirring into plain yogurt because it doesn’t overpower the pleasing tartness of the yogurt.

And remember, you can always treat this recipe as a template. You can add different flavors (strawberries with a little cinnamon and nutmeg is always nice). You can also slice the batch in half if 4 1/2 pints of a single flavor is more than you want in your pantry.

*If you’re in Philly and want in on cheap flats of berries, Anne has yet more. Leave a comment on this post and I’ll connect you.

PrintLow Sugar Strawberry Vanilla Jam

Ingredients

9 to 10 cups strawberry pulp
2 1/2 cups cane sugar, divided
2 vanilla beans, split and scraped
2 small lemons, juiced
1 tablespoon calcium water
1 tablespoon Pomona's Pectin

Instructions

Prepare a boiling water bath canner and enough jars to hold 4 1/2 pints.
In a low, wide, non-reactive pot, combine the berry pulp, 2 cups sugar, vanilla bean seeds and pods, lemon juice, and calcium water.
Set pot over high heat and bring to a rolling boil. Reduce heat to medium-high and cook at a vigorous boil for 20 to 25 minutes, until the volume has reduced by approximately half and the foaming has subsided.
Stir pectin into the remaining sugar and stream it into the cooking jar, using a whisk to stir to help prevent clumps.
Return the contents of the pot to an active boil and cook for an additional 2 minutes. Remove the pot from the heat.
Funnel the jam into the prepared jars, leaving 1/2 inch headspace. Wipe the rims, apply lids and rings, and process in a boiling water bath canner for 10 minutes. 3.1http://foodinjars.com/2015/06/low-sugar-strawberry-vanilla-jam/

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Be a Recipe Tester for my Natural Sweeteners Book

Friends, I am delightfully honored and just slightly overwhelmed by your excitement and interest in being recipe testers for my new book. Over 300 of you have signed up since I published this post earlier today. Thanks to this abundance in volunteers, I am closing the tester sign-ups.

If you missed your chance, please know that I will be sharing a few new, naturally sweetened recipes here on the blog this summer, so you’ll get a chance to preview some of the types of recipes you’ll see in the book. 

One of the things I came to understand while I was writing the recipes for my next book is that they were going to need more external testing than I undertook with my first two books.

Because there’s been so little work in the area of naturally sweetened preserves, I didn’t have nearly as deep a well of knowledge on which to draw when developing these recipes. Additionally, just because something works in my kitchen doesn’t always guarantee that it’s going to work in yours.

So I’m asking for your help. There’s a form at the bottom of this post where you can sign up to be a recipe tester. Tell me what sweeteners you’re interested in working with, how many recipes you’d like to test, and if there are any fruits you avoid. In about a week, I’ll send you some recipes to try.

Recipe testing is a volunteer gig for which you purchase the supplies (but also get to keep the results). When I send you the recipes, I’ll also include a short questionnaire that you’ll complete for each recipe you try. Of course, I will thank all the recipe testers profusely in the acknowledgements of the book!

I have no idea what kind of response I’ll receive to this request, but I will do my very best to include as many people as possible. All recipe testing will need to be completed by August 15, 2015, so please do take that into account before signing up!

Thanks to you all!

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Cold Brew Coffee + Driftaway Coffee Giveaway

I started drinking coffee when I was 14 years old. It was the early 1990s and Portland, Oregon was ground zero for the onslaught of espresso bars that was soon to sweep the nation. Boyd’s, one of the early local chains, had a location just a block from my high school and whenever my budget allowed, I’d get myself a latte (often with hazelnut syrup) or when the weather warmed, an iced coffee.

I’ve been a fairly regular coffee drinker ever since. And so, when the nice people at Driftaway Coffee got in touch a few months back to see if we could team up in some way, I said of course. They are a subscription coffee company that will send you installments of freshly roasted beans every two weeks.

They trick is that they like each new subscriber to start with their Rise & Grind kit, which includes four different varietals in one-ounce samples. Once you’ve brewed through each one, you let them know which one you liked best and that’s the one you’ll get in each shipment. It’s a pretty great idea, particularly for people who are just starting to explore single origin coffees.

They sent me one of the two-ounce Rise & Grind kits and once I was finished admiring the packaging (I’m a sucker for good design), I popped open one of the 2 ounce packets and got to work making a batch of cold brew.

I’ve been a cold brew coffee fan for years now (you can see that the first time I mentioned it was way back in 2010) and make it a lot when the days warm. I’ve refined my approach and upgraded my equipment slightly in the last five years, so an updated post on the topic seemed like a good idea.

I’ve found that everyone has their own ratio for cold brew. My preferred recipe is 2 ounces of coarse ground coffee to 3 1/2 cups cold, freshly filtered water. This makes a strong brew that produces enough to last 2-3 days (depending on how many deadlines I’m pushing to meet). I don’t typically add water to thin it out, but instead add a couple of ice cubes and a generous pour of milk and call it good.

I grind the beans and funnel them into a quart jar. I add a splash of cold water and swirl the jar a little to dampen the grounds and let them bloom a little. Once they’ve grown a little, I add the remaining water and put a lid on the jar. I tuck into the corner of the kitchen and let it sit for 12 to 18 hours.

The next day, I perch a cone filter over a clean quart jar and fit it with one of Coffee Sock cloth filters that Cuppow sells. I pour the sludgy coffee through the filter in a couple of batches, until the lower jar is filled with perfect, ready to drink coffee.

One of my favorite things about cold brew is that it has the ability to take mediocre or slightly elderly beans and make them drinkable. However, when you’re shooting for more than just simply drinkable, using good, freshly roasted beans creates a brew that is transcendently good.

For the batch of cold brew that is pictured here, I used Driftaway Coffee’s Guatemalan beans and it was magical. Earthy and a bit chocolatey, with just a bit of acid for lightness. Oh, and if making your own cold brew feels like too much work, I hear that Driftaway Coffee is soon going to be making their own concentrate.

The nice folks at Driftaway Coffee want to give a three-month subscriptions away to one of my readers so that’s what we’re going to do. Here’s how to enter!

Leave a comment on this post and tell me what you’re drinking these days. Cold brew coffee? Homemade kombucha? Hot tea with honey?
Comments will close at 11:59 pm eastern time on Saturday, June 6, 2015. Winners will be chosen at random and will be posted to the blog soon thereafter.
Giveaway open to US residents only. 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: Driftaway Coffee sent me their Rise & Grind kit and are providing the giveaway subscription, both at no cost to me. No additional financial compensation has been provided and all opinions expressed are mine alone.

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June Sponsors: Cuppow, iLids, Fillmore Container, MightyNest, Mrs. Wages, Fermentools, and Preserving Now

Happy first of June! The change in calendar means it is time to thank those companies who help support Food in Jars. It would not be sustainable for me to write here so often without their support! If you like something they do, please do 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 (which I’ve been using non-stop) and they’ve teamed up with the EIO Kids Cup folks to bring the manufacturing of that kids drinking system onto US soil.

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. Add some to your kitchen today!

Fillmore Container is a family-owned business based in Lancaster, PA and sells all manner of canning jars, lids, and other preservation gear. Check out the recipe for low-sugar strawberry rhubarb jam they recently posted on their blog.

MightyNest is an amazing resource for non-toxic, natural, and organic products for homes and families. If you’re looking to stay hydrated this summer, make sure to check out all their selection of reusable water bottles.

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. Make sure to 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. I’m using one as I type for a batch of pickled carrots. Get one (or several!) before the summer growing season gets going!

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.

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

Links: Strawberries, Rhubarb, and Winners

This last weekend was a good one. On Saturday morning, I wandered my favorite farmers market and turned a flat of berries into batches of strawberry vanilla jam and strawberry butter. Annelies stayed with us on Saturday night and we went out for a unhurried brunch this morning. A few hours after she left, I picked my dear friend Andrea up at the train station. We met the very first day of college and have been close ever since. She lives in Southern California, so we don’t get to see each other often, but whenever we do, it’s as if no time has passed. Now, links!

Rhubarb and strawberries seem to be everywhere! You could can your stewed rhubarb.
Make it into syrup for enhancing sparkling water or cocktails.
If baking is your thing, try these rhubarb jam bars.
On the strawberry front, there’s always the u-pick option.
Strawberry jam two ways (and a discussion on foam. Just so you know, I don’t skim).
For those down south, prickly pear molasses.
Erin has been a busy pickler of late. She did asparagus with tarragon and lemon and a batch of quick pickled radishes.
Peanut butter and jelly muffins.
Chive blossom vinegar is always a good idea.
For those of you still wondering about the Ball FreshTECH Electric Canner, Sean offers up a review.
Unusual spring syrups!

The winners in last week’s Candy in a Jar giveaway are #33/Alicia, #86/Madeleine, and #104/Sandy. Thanks to all who shared their favorite sweet preserves!

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Links: Ramps, Rhubarb, and Winners

Roasted Rhubarb and Strawberry Compote + OXO GreenSaver

A couple months ago, I started hearing some positive buzz about the new OXO GreenSaver containers. I like to keep a variety of greens on hand for smoothies and salads but it’s always something of a race against time to eat them before they get turn slimy. More often than I care to admit, I’ve pitched the last quarter of a bag because it’s gotten too funky to be good.

In an attempt to waste less, I bought myself the medium GreenSaver and started packing it full of greens as soon as I got them home from the grocery store. After the first week, I was a believer (hallelujah!). Those greens stayed good days longer than they would have if stored in bags in the crisper drawer. Week after week, I used up every last spinach leaf and arugula tendril.

The way the GreenSaver works is that the filter pack absorbs the ethylene gas that ripening produce releases, while improving airflow around the produce, and helping control the humidity in the container (the door the holds the filter pack in place slides back and forth to help either retain or release the moisture).

So, when I got an email from OXO, saying they were looking for bloggers to participate in a campaign they were running with Melissa’s Produce featuring the GreenSaver containers and an assortment of seasonal produce, I submitted my name for consideration (since I was among the converted).

I danced a small jig when I heard I was picked and waited anxiously for a large GreenSaver and a bundle of rhubarb to arrive.

Now, this is not the first time in my life that I’ve received produce in the mail as part of some blog campaign. Typically I clear my schedule when I know fruit is arriving, because I know it’s going to need to be used within a fairly short window of time.

In this case, the point was to store the rhubarb for a bit in order to prove the efficacy of the GreenSaver so when it arrived on May 15, I simply trimmed the stalks down enough so that they’d fit in the container and popped them in the fridge.

There they sat until the following Thursday. I could have let them go longer, but we were headed out for the long weekend and I wanted to couple those rhubarb stalks with some strawberries and they weren’t going to last until we got back.

After a week in the GreenSaver, the rhubarb was in amazingly good shape. It had aged some, but had it been stored in a plastic bag it would have been unusable (just a few weeks back, I’d neglected some rhubarb in the crisper and it molded and liquified after a five days. It was tragic).

I trimmed the rhubarb into lengths of about 2 inches long and quartered the strawberries. I tossed the fruit with a scant half-cup of cane sugar and rubbed the seeds from a split vanilla bean into the mess.

The pan went into a 350 degree oven and the fruit roasted for 20 to 25 minutes. I like the rhubarb to have retain some structural integrity and so pull it out when it has softened but before it fully disintegrates.

I like to eat this rustic compote with plain yogurt and a sprinkle of simple granola (Cheryl’s nutmeg crunch would be good too). It’s also good as a topper for oatmeal, pancakes, waffles, and french toast. Hey, I wouldn’t judge if you ate it straight out of the pan (I may have done a bit of that myself).

For more information about OXO GreenSavers, visit their website. If you long for rhubarb and live in a place where it’s hard to come by, Melissa’s Produce has got you covered.

PrintRoasted Rhubarb and Strawberry Compote

Ingredients

1 1/2 pounds rhubarb, cut into 2 inch lengths
1/2 pound strawberries, hulled and quartered
1/2 cup sugar
1 vanilla bean, split and scraped

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Combine the rhubarb, strawberries, sugar, and vanilla seeds in an ovenproof baking dish and toss to evenly distribute the sugar and vanilla.
Place pan in oven and roast for 20 to 25 minutes, until the fruit looks juicy but before the rhubarb begins to dissolve.
Remove pan from oven and let compote cool. Serve warm or cold.
The compote will keep in a jar in the fridge for up to two weeks. For longer term storage, it can either be frozen or canned. 3.1http://foodinjars.com/2015/05/roasted-rhubarb-and-strawberry-compote-oxo-greensaver/

Disclosure: OXO provided the large GreenSaver and Melissa’s Produce sent the rhubarb, both at no cost to me. No additional compensation was provided. All opinions expressed are mine and mine alone. 

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Strawberry Lavender Caramel + Giveaway
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Steeped Book Events in Philly

I’m not sure when I first met Annelies Zijderveld. Our paths have crossed at more food blogger gatherings than I can count and I am always happy when I spot her face in the crowd at registration or those oft-uncomfortable opening receptions.

Annelies recently published her very first book, called Steep: Recipes Infused with Tea, and is currently zigzagging across the country promoting its release. She’s going to be in Philadelphia tomorrow doing an event in the City Kitchen at Reading Terminal Market, demoing her recipe for Walnut White Bean Tea Toasts. It starts at 12 noon, runs until 1:30 pm and is free. The Cookbook Stall will be there as well, selling books.

On Saturday, Annelies will be at the Locust Moon Gallery (34 South 40th Street) from 1-4 pm, in conjunction with Alexandria Quarterly’s magazine launch. She plans on sampling the Buddha’s Hand Rooibos Marmalade there.

If you’re not in Philly and want to know if Annelies is coming to your town, follow her on Twitter or Instagram. She’s also sending out regular newsletters detailing her travels that you can subscribe to here. Her blog, The Food Poet, is a very good read as well.

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Upcoming Events: New York! Philadelphia! Toronto!
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