Jam Making -- Jammaking!

Homemade Pineapple Jam

I LOVE jam. I have a hard time quantifying the things I love but jam, or fruit preserves containing both fruit juice and pieces of the fruit's flesh, would defintely be near the top of the list (somewhere between chocolate and my Texas state-flag under shorts). At one time, the contents of my refrigerator consisted soley of Tecate, milk and at least 10 varieties of jam. Although my proclivity for drinking cheap beer and copious quantities of milk has greatly diminished, I am fairly confident that jam will always remain dear to me.

Growing up on a ranch in rural Arizona, I was blessed every summer, not only with an abundance of readily available fresh fruit but also with more homemade jam than I could shake a mason jar at. I would gorge on the best blackberry, peach, apricot and cherry jams that have ever been made.

With all this jam eating experience under my belt, I consider myself to be something of a connoisseur; I can taste the quality of the product or the lack thereof, which is why I have always stayed away from store-bought pineapple jam. Although I think there are some fine jam brands out there, I have consistently been under-whelmed with the quality of the pineapple variety. Unfortunately, I’ve never made my own because jam, preserves, and canning in general has always seemed like some mystic art that was just beyond my skill.

So last weekend, with no trustworthy brand to turn to and a wicked yearning for pineapple, I decided to finally try my hand at jammaking (oh, it’s one word on this site, baby—pronounced “jamma-king”). I couldn’t have been more pleasantly surprised; it turns out that homemade jam is both incredibly easy and exceptionally delicious. I started with this recipe as a base and made my own modifications, which ultimately inspired a “Wow!” from my roomie upon her first taste.



Pineapple Jam
2 cups of freshly grated pinapple (basically one grated pineapple)
1 orange – peeled, seeded and grated
1 lime – peeled, seeded and grated
1 ½ cups white sugar
½ teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon chinese five-spice powder

Method
Use your preferred method of peeling and coring your pineapple and cut it into 4 manageable chunks. Using a cheese grater, run the pineapple across the large grater/shredder-wholes into a bowl until it is all evenly grated.



Peel and grate the orange and lime in the same manner.



Combine the pineapple, orange, lime, sugar, vanilla and five-spice powder in a large saucepan, mix together and bring to a boil.

Reduce heat and allow the mixture to simmer for 30 minutes (stirring frequently) or until it reaches a thick jammy consistancy. Now you jammaking! Allow to cool and enjoy!

Pineapple jam makes a great spread for toast, biscuits, pancakes or other jams. It’s good on everything!

Of Best Laid Plans

Homemade Lemon Curd

Silky lemon curd ice cream, sandwiched between rich chocolate cookies! Oh, how I wanted this dessert to turn out well.

Unfortunately, in my arrogance and over-confidence, I decided that I didn’t need to follow a recipe. After all, I could make cookies and lemon curd, and though I had never made ice cream, I felt that I understood the basic principles involved.



As it happens, there is more to this frosty confection than just ice and cream and it seems that simply combining heavy cream, half and half, lemon curd and cold does not a tasty ice cream make.

Although the sandwiches received a fairly positive reaction from my taste testers, I found them to be gritty and icy, so I won’t be sharing the recipe at this time. However, the lemon curd recipe I used is delicious, has never failed me and I feel secure passing it on as a winner.

Lemon Curd Recipe
Adapted from Lemon Curd by Stephanie Jaworski

3 eggs
The juice from 3 lemons
¼ cup granulated sugar
4 tablespoons of butter (cut into small pieces)
1 tablespoon freshly grated lemon zest

Method
Whisk together eggs, sugar and lemon juice in a stainless steel bowl until blended.

Place the bowl over a pot of boiling water, cooking the mixture while stirring constantly for about 8-10 minutes.

After about 6 minutes, the mixture should start to take on a white creamy appearance and will begin to thicken. Somewhere between 8 and 10 minutes, the mixture should look like lemon pudding and be noticeably thicker. Remove from heat and strain through a fine-mesh strainer into another bowl (or a Kitchenaid mixer with whisk attachment).



Add the butter and lemon zest to the mixture and whisk until the butter has melted and the zest is evenly distributed. Allow to cool and enjoy!



Fresh lemon curd makes a delicious spread for toast, pancakes, or scones. One day, it will also make delicious ice cream sandwiches as well. This, I promise!

Salsa Fresca, Fresca! Salsa Fresca, Fresca!

Fresh flavors, bright colors and crisp textures make salsa fresca the perfect accompaniment to any summer meal! I’ve enhanced my version with sweet Fuji apples and smoky roasted bell peppers. It’s really quite tasty.

Salsa Fresca – Blackberry Pockets Style

Two medium sized tomatoes – small dice
One small red onion (or half of one large red onion) – small dice
One roasted yellow bell pepper – small dice
Half of one Fuji apple – peeled, small dice
One Jalepeño – fine dice
Half cup of fresh cilantro*– course chop
Juice from one lime

*Note: Personally, I love the strong sagey, citrusy flavor of cilantro but some people really seem to hate the stuff. If you happen to be one of those people (you know, one of those…), you can either omit the cilantro from the recipe or substitute fresh Italian parsely.

Combine tomatoes, onion, bell pepper, apple, Jalepeño, and cilantro into a bowl, squeeze the lime juice over the contents and fold the ingeredients together to mix.

You now have a bowl of delicious salsa! Open a bag of chips, add it to your fish tacos or simply help yourself to a spoonful. However you choose to eat this salsa, you will enjoy the hell out of it.

I really enjoy adding fruit to my salsas and I think the crispness of the Fuji apple works really well in this recipe. Pineapple might be a nice touch as well. Ooh, or jicama! As always, feel free to use your imagination, add a few of your favorite ingredients to the mix and work to make this recipe your own.

Po-Tay-Toes! Boil ‘em, Mash ‘em, Stick ‘em in a Stew!

Or in this case, slice 2 potatoes into ¼ inch strips, toss with a tablespoon of olive oil, place them on a medium heat grill (around 370 degrees), close the lid, cook them for about 6 minutes, flip them and give them another 6 minutes.



Pull them off, season with salt, pepper (and any other seasonings you like on your potatoes) and enjoy! Serves 4 as a side dish. Otherwise, serves 1 potato lover!

Ok, so not the most exciting post this week, but sadly, I have just not been cooking that much lately. I suffered some battle damage to my back and it has put me in kind of a lazy mood. That being said, grilled potatoes are really excellent! If you haven’t tried them, you are in for a treat. Light, crispy and smoky and I promise, you won’t miss the deep frier.