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HFTM | Hollywood 30Jan11

just a few things that made it home from the market… just not today…

Today’s trip to the Hollywood Farmers Market was called for rain.  Well, kinda.

I wasn’t really planning on going this morning.  I left the option out there, but, really, I’ve got plenty and don’t need to shop for another few days.  That and and it was raining.  Heavy.  Okay, heavy enough.

Since I’m into process and practice, here’s a bit of what I did with what I brought home the most this month.  I love some citrus.  Made the spiced citrus pomegranate marmalade I tweeted about trying to figure out.

meyer lemons| tangelos| tangelo peel| navel oranges| ginger| cardamom| pomegranate molasses

Recipe? Ha! Ha! Ha!  You do know me, right?  Let’s just say I’m in “perfecting” mode.  I’ll get back to you with the real when that happens.

I do need a name for this creation.  This joyful melange of flavors that has me giggling at the thought of breakfast tomorrow.  Mmmmm, help.

N♥

Here’s a quick look at what made it home this month…

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HFTM | Back In The Hood Again 21Jan11

just a few things that made it home from the market…

Tangelos | Onions | Navel Oranges | Brussels Sprouts | Asparagus | Tomatoes

It’s been ages since I’ve been able to get my farmers market on around the corner from the apt.  I saw familiar faces and noticed how tiny it is compared to Hollywood.  I forgot how much I missed the ease of it, too.   I loved being able to shoot within minutes of my last purchase.  Of course, I tore into the oranges before the first click.  It’s so last year in a very good way.

I’m thinking there might be a citrus cardamom marmalade in the making this weekend.  Okay, it really is like old times.  Hopefully, this time I’ll be taking notes.

N♥

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Tigress’ Can Jam | CherryMeyerGingerLade (Dec)

i’m so glad we had this time together…

Wow.  This is, well, it.  The last Tigress Can Jam post.

I think it’s kind of fitting that I’ve had random conversations with people offline about canning this month.  From the woman I met at the airport who just saw another grandchild born to the woman on the train who was thinking about another way to make homemade gifts for friends and family to the co-worker who talked about how his parents canned throughout his childhood. These interactions not only shared a bit of history and camaraderie, but, also, looked to the future.

Having grown in this space of TCJ, I feel challenged to do much more.  I’m so happy that canning can be another way to hold dear a bit of family that could easily be forgotten or missed in the passing of generations.  It’s time to really dig in to the stories and the history of my family and food and canning.  Before it’s too late, I want to find out as much as I can about how roots in the South and Midwest played a role in how we ate and what we eat.  And I need to get that recipe for Cha-Cha* and, um, make it.

So.  For the last month of Tigress’ Can Jam,  I’m starting kinda where I began, with a marmalade.  We’ll see how it turns out this time.

CherryMeyerGingerAde
Framework adapted from Ashley English’s Cherry and Lemon Thyme Marmalade

1 lb meyer lemons
1/4 cup dried cherries, chopped
2 cups loosely packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon, fresh grated ginger
1 tablespoon bottled lemon juice

yield: approx 2 1/2 pints or 2 .25L weck jars

Prep your canner and sterilize your jars and lids.  Put a couple of saucers in the freezer.  Wash lemons well.  Quarter and remove seeds and pith.  Chop lemons and cherries into small pieces.

Add lemons, cherries, and lemon juice into non-reactive pot/saucepan.  Bring to a boil.  Reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes.  Add sugar and ginger.  Bring to a boil over medium-ish high heat for 25 minutes.  Watch and stir.  Lots.

Time to test for a set.  You are good to go when the jam reaches 220° f or you can do the wrinkle test.  Put a teaspoon of jam onto a chilled saucer and let it cool off for a sec.  Push it.  If it wrinkles a bit, it’s set.  If not, boil for 5 more minutes and try the wrinkle test again.

When ready, fill jars.  Leave a 1/4 inch of headspace. Use knife or other bubble releaser to make sure there are no air pockets.  Wipe rim clean with a damp cloth or paper towel.

Process for 15 minutes in the hot water bath.
NikkiBits: I♥Meyer Lemons.  I♥Cherries.  I♥Ginger, hardcore.  Every month has been filled with love.  Well, except, for July, but that was just a lot all around.  This here marmalade is GOOD.  Cooking at night with no flash.  Not so much.  I’ll shoot more in the am.

What’sNext: Where are my tangelos?  Seriously, it’s all about some marmalade.

So,  what else can I say about this amazing year of canning?  Not sure.  Now that it’s over, I want to take a minute to reflect on it.  I’ll either update this post or give Tigress’ Can Jam its own gratitude post.

Nikki♥

*Some folks call it Chow-Chow.  We’ve always called it Cha-Cha.  It’s that cabbage, tomato, hot pepper relish.  I’ll make it for you.  Soon-ish.

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CurseWorthy Cooking | That Mystery Marmalade

i still don’t remember.

Keeping track of my kitchen adventures has always felt like it took the fun out of cooking.  Well, now, it really has come back to bite me.

I made a peanut butter and spiced citrus marm sandwich.  I got so excited and angry to the point of letting the expletives fly mid-bite.  It was ecstasy in my mouth and I still don’t know how to get it back again.

It had such a simple light nuanced flavor.  It’s even mellowed in the last few weeks.  There’s only a bit of cardamom kick that hints at what else is in there.  I remember most of the ingredients, but not the amounts and definitely not the process.  I, unintentionally, did some quirky stuff.

I really want that marm back.  I’ve said it before, now I mean it.  Experiments and escapades must be recorded.  I’m a pen to paper kinda gal.  I’m deciding between Rhodia and Moleskine to capture the magic.

I’ve got one jar of the mystery marm left.  And I’ve got 8 months to figure this out.

Nikki♥

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Market.Watch | 26feb10 + March TCJ Selection

a little late and lacking in market posts. sorry about that.

I have a confession.  I think I’ve got a tangelo problem.  I mean, really.  I’m having a hard time going a day without one.  You wouldn’t even know that I bought, umm, 3 from the photo, but I did.  And I ate them.  Not slowly.

They’ve kinda bumped the blood oranges out of the sweet spot in my citrus loving heart.  They’ve been making me forget about the Meyer lemons I buy every week.  I’ve even let a few go bad.  (♥: Wasteful much?)

Thankfully, I decided to experiment with a new marm, instead of letting everything else rot.  It was filled with aging limes, meyer lemons, blood oranges and a tangelo that I wouldn’t allow myself to eat.  I spiked it with a bit of Korean Black Raspberry wine.

It was one of those ‘let’s just do it’ kind of things.  No pen, paper or keyboard in sight.  I think I was trying to trust my memory.  It was spec-freakin-tacular.  And I still can’t remember what I did.  Great.

So, I’m trying again.  This time I’ve written everything down.  Okay, I just wrote everything down.  Time for the overnight soak.

Small Measure‘s Ashley English announced the March produce selection for Tigress’ Can Jam.  It’s the Allium family.  There’s lots to choose from.  I can play with garlic, scallions, shallots, onions, leeks and more.  Low acid, again.  That’s cool.  Much less anxiety than last month’s carrots.

I love that the green onions from the Farmers’ Market were super dirty.  I’ve already used some in a bit of soup.  I was hungry and they were good.  Mild.  Liked them.  The others are about to join some carrots in a good sweet peppery brine.

Not sure what I’m doing for TCJ, yet.  So, I guess it’s off to the books, again.

Nikki♥

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Tigress’ Can Jam | The Ballad of The Blood Orange Marmalade

consider me your cautionary tale.

It all started with massive performance anxiety.  I was feeling a bit intimidated.  Before I’d even begun, I was feeling like whatever I was going to do wouldn’t to be good enough or interesting enough.  Uggghhhhh!!!!! Where did the giddy go?  These self-inflicted wounds are BOOOORRiNnnnggg.

Wallflowers at the Organic Blood Orange Dance
Someone else's trash is my What? Really? Thx!

I took the Just Go approach.  Every single cookbook owned and borrowed was perused for tips, tricks and ideas.  Why not just go trad with my ’53 edition of The Joy of Cooking?  From there it was pretty easy to decide to do plain ol’ Blood Orange Marmalade.  Simple.  Simple.  Wait.  Irma and I are going to make this crazy complicated, aren’t we?

I adapted the recipe, scroll all the way down...

Follow directions?  I pretty much followed Irma S. Rombaur’s recipe for Orange, Lemon And Grapefruit Marmalade up until the point it said cook the fruit mix in batches.  Really, I did the whole soaking fruit thing.  Overnight.  For Real.

Remember up there I said up til the point… Well, I cooked it.  And kept cooking it because there was so much of it and it wouldn’t spoon or saucer test well.  At some point, I know it was hours later, I said to heck with it and thought it might set up if I went ahead and processed it.

I’m a bit of a Weck person.  I’m a Weck person and this was my first time with the water bath.  Oh, bubbles, how you scared me.  I did lose a jar midway through.  I was kinda wild to see pulp just appear in the water.

Instead of getting weepy,  I took out the offending jar and stuck in a spoon and almost cried.  It was good.  Loose and syrupy, but good.

I finished processing the other jars.  Let them cool.  I just waited to see what the next day would bring.  The next day brought just as much movement in the jar.

I looked around for ways to save my marmalade.  There it was on p.85 of Anne V. Nelson’s The New Preserves.  For every 2 cups of fruit goo add 1 tablespoon of commercial lemon juice.

I pulled the seal on all the jars. Measured and dumped back in the pot.  Added the lemon juice.  Cooked until the spoon test looked right.  Processed and waited.

Oh, what a good morning can bring.  Blood Orange Marmalade and plain yogurt.  Bliss. That simple.

It was sweet and tart.  Smooth, with hints of texture.  The bits of rind really were a candied surprise.  I enjoyed the Blood Orange Marmalade with yogurt a bit more than the pita.  The fresh, cool tang of the yogurt lifted the marmalade and tempered the sweetness.  Twas quite good.

ahhh, exclamation point eating!

So where’s the adapted recipe?  I could just say since I didn’t do it right, why would you want it?  Well, the truth is… I forgot to write it down.  Next month, I promise?

♥