Kolache-coo....

One of the things I didn't really appreciate about Texas until I moved away was the food. I mean, I knew that the Tex-Mex was second-to-none, and growing up on the Gulf Coast has forever spoiled me for fresh shrimp and other seafood. But, sometimes you don't really appreciate how special or unique something is when you have access to it every day. My vacation in Texas this past fall really brought that home for me, and that trip has been a source of culinary inspiration for yet another post.

The central region of Texas, roughly encompassing the area from San Antonio to just north and west of Austin, was settled back in the early and mid 1800's by immigrants from Germany, Poland and Czechoslovakia. Their influence is felt in the names of the towns (New Braunfels and Fredericksburg, for example) and also in the cuisine. German and Czech bakeries are found all through this region, and there is one traditional Czech pastry that has become a staple in the state: the kolache.

Kolaches are made from a tender, buttery yeast dough, and can either be baked with sweet fruit and cream cheese toppings, or filled with savory meats and cheeses. There is some debate whether the savory versions can truly be called kolaches since the original Czech version was only made with sweet fillings. But, I think of it like Tex-Mex food--it's not truly Mexican, it's the hybrid that evolved in Texas. So, maybe kolaches are really Tex-Czech?

I've spent quite a few weeks working on this recipe, I wanted to get the dough right. I started with my mom's recipe for yeast rolls--the dough in the kolaches reminded me a lot of my mom's yummy rolls. But, it wasn't quite right. Kolache dough was more buttery and richer, almost approaching a French brioche. So, I kept tinkering with it, adding more butter, enriching the dough with an extra egg yolk, using all milk instead of water. This version, I think, hits it just right.

Kolache Pastry Dough

Makes about 16 fruit-filled kolaches, meat-filled kolaches, or dinner rolls

1 packet active dry yeast
1 cup whole milk, warm
2 sticks unsalted butter, melted and cooled, plus additional for brushing
¼ cup granulated sugar
1 egg
1 egg yolk
4 cups flour
1 ½ teaspoons Kosher salt

Mix the yeast and warm milk together in a small bowl. Allow the yeast to fully hydrate in the milk for about 10 minutes. You should begin to see bubbles forming on the top of the milk.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the butter, sugar, egg and yolk until well blended. Mix in the milk and yeast mixture.

Mix together the flour and salt and place in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook. Add the wet ingredients to the mixer bowl and turn the machine on low speed. Mix until dough comes together into a smooth ball and is springy to the touch, about 5 to 7 minutes. 

Transfer the dough from the mixer bowl to a large, buttered stainless steel or glass bowl, and cover with plastic wrap. Allow the dough to rise until doubled in size, about 1 to 1 ½ hours. 

Remove the plastic wrap and punch down the dough. Cover the bowl again with plastic wrap and allow the dough to rise a second time, for about 1 hour.

Preheat the oven to 375 °F.

To make fruit-filled kolaches:

Divide the dough into 16 pieces, and roll each piece into a round ball. Evenly space the round balls onto a parchment lined sheet pan. Using the back of a spoon, make a circular indentation in the center of each ball. 

Fill each indentation with a spoonful of fruit jam or preserves, cream cheese filling (recipe follows), or a combination of the two. Brush the kolaches with melted butter and bake until golden brown, about 14 to 16 minutes.

For the kolaches in the picture above, I used Red Plum Jam (8/27/16) and Chardonnay Vanilla Bean Apple Butter (10/23/15). For the kolaches that used the cream cheese filling, I topped half of them with Brandied Cherries (6/26/15), and the other half with Peach and Vanilla Bean Jam (9/9/15). The recipes for all of these fruit preserves are from this blog, and the dates in parenthesis are the posting dates where you can find them.

Cream Cheese Filling

8 ounces cream cheese
¼ cup granulated sugar
1 egg yolk
1 tablespoon flour
½ teaspoon vanilla bean paste

Place all of the ingredients into a food processor fitted with a metal blade. Process until smooth.

To make meat-filled kolaches:

Divide the dough into 16 pieces and roll each piece into a round ball. Stretch the dough ball into a flat oval, using your thumbs to make an indentation along the length of the oval. Place a cooked and cooled breakfast sausage or cooked and crumbled bacon into the indentation and top with cheddar cheese. Fold the edges of the dough to enclose the filling, pinching along the seam to seal. 

Place the filled kolaches onto a parchment-lined baking sheet, seam side down. Bake until golden brown, about 12 to 14 minutes.

To make dinner rolls:

Divide the dough into 16 pieces and roll each piece into a round ball. Brush the cups of a muffin tin with melted butter and place a dough ball into each prepared muffin cup. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise about 15 minutes. Bake until golden brown, about 12 to 14 minutes.

I'm on a roll...

I've been feeling nostalgic lately. I spent a few weeks in Texas back in September, taking a much needed vacation. One of the best parts of being back in my home state was getting to eat some of my favorite foods. I had amazing Tex Mex and margaritas. I ate kolaches for breakfast on more than one morning. I even rediscovered and fell back in love with Texas-style barbecue. (A bad experience with food poisoning and barbecue sausage back in high school took a LONG time to get over.) There was one favorite food that I didn't get to eat while I was back home, though, and that was pizza rolls.

Pizza rolls? Texas and pizza rolls?

I know, it sounds odd, but there was a pizza place near where I worked in Houston that I ate at much more frequently than I should probably admit--Double Dave's. I never once ordered pizza, the dish to order was pizza rolls. They had two kinds--pepperoni rolls and veggie rolls. Pizza dough layered with pepperoni or veggies and cheese, then rolled up like an egg roll and baked. You ate them with your choice of tomato sauce or ranch dressing (yes, ranch dressing) to dip.

I'm not alone in my love of DD's pizza rolls. Two of my best friends from college were equally smitten, and a few years after graduation, they moved from Houston to St. Louis. About a year after they moved, I flew up to spend the weekend with them, and I asked if there was anything I could bring. They asked for two things--good flour tortillas, and DD's pepperoni rolls. So, I bought a couple dozen rolls, wrapped them in plastic wrap, froze them, then packed them in my carry-on bag with the tortillas. Guess what we ate for dinner after they picked me up from the airport?

So, the weather has been really cold these last few days, and I'm craving comfort food. That combined with the Texas nostalgia, so I decided to try and recreate the pizza rolls. They didn't come out exactly like Double Dave's, but I think they're still pretty good. I also had some fun with different fillings. I hope you enjoy.

 

Pepperoni Rolls

This is my attempt to duplicate the rolls at Double Daves. Not exactly what I remember from my days in Houston, but pretty good...

Makes 8 rolls

1 recipe pizza dough (recipe follows)
1 cup marinara sauce (recipe follows)
4 ounces grated mozzarella cheese
1 cup thin sliced pepperoni

Preheat the oven to 500 °F

Using a bench scraper or knife, divide the pizza dough into 8 equal sized pieces. 

With a rolling pin, roll out each of the pieces of dough into a round, flat circle about 6 to 8 inches in diameter. Spoon about 1 to 2 tablespoons of marinara sauce onto each of the dough circles and spread into a thin layer. Top with cheese and pepperoni.

Lift the bottom edge of one of the dough circles and roll/fold it up towards the middle. Fold and tuck the two outer edges in, and continue rolling to close up the pizza roll.

Place the roll, seam side down, onto a sheet pan and repeat with the remaining rolls.

Bake for 8 to 10 minutes, or until well browned. Serve.


Marinara Sauce

The word marinara comes from the Italian word for sailor. The idea is that this is a sauce that sailors could easily make on a ship at sea using pantry staples. It makes a great pizza sauce, too.

Makes about 6 cups of sauce.

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 small onion, finely diced
1 large garlic cloves, finely chopped
2 tablespoons tomato paste
28 ounce can crushed tomatoes
28 ounce can tomato puree
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 teaspoon dried oregano
½ teaspoon dried rosemary
Kosher salt and black pepper, to taste

Heat a saucepan over medium heat. Add the oil and onions and cook, stirring, until the onions are softened and translucent, about 5 minutes.  Add the garlic and cook, stirring, until the garlic is fragrant, about 1 minute. Add the tomato paste and stir to coat the onions and garlic, then add the crushed tomatoes and puree. Mix in the dried herbs. Bring the sauce to a simmer and cook, stirring occasionally, until slightly reduced, about 20 minutes. Season to taste with Kosher salt and pepper.

Pizza Dough

This pizza dough is so easy to make, you'll wonder why you don't make pizza at home more often.

Makes 1 large or 2 or more small pizzas, or 8 pizza rolls

1 teaspoon instant or rapid rise yeast

3 cups all purpose or bread flour (about 14 oz), plus more for kneading

2 teaspoons kosher or coarse sea salt, plus extra for sprinkling

1 cup water

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, plus more for oiling the bowl

Combine the yeast, flour and salt in the container of a food processor. With the machine running, add 1 cup water and 2 Tbsp olive oil through the feed tube.  Let the machine run for about 30 seconds, adding more water, a little at a time, until the mixture forms a ball and is slightly sticky to the touch.  If the dough looks dry, add another tablespoon or two or water through the feed tube and process for another 10 seconds.  If the dough is too sticky, add flour, a tablespoon at a time, and process until it is dry enough to handle.

Carefully transfer the dough to a floured work surface and knead by hand a few seconds to form a smooth, round ball.  Grease the inside of a large bowl with a small amount of olive oil.  Roll the dough ball in the bowl to coat the entire surface in oil, then cover the bowl with plastic wrap or a damp cloth.  Let the dough rise in a warm, draft-free area until the dough doubles in size, about 1 to 2 hours.  (You can let the dough rise more slowly in the refrigerator, for up to 6 to 8 hours.)

Veggie Rolls

You really can use whatever vegetables you like, but I do think it's important to cook the vegetables before rolling them up in the dough. The rolls don't bake for very long, so the vegetables won't have time to cook completely. They will also release their moisture as they cook, which will make the pizza roll filling too wet.

Makes 8 rolls

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1 small onion, diced

1 small fennel bulb, diced

1 red bell pepper, seeded and diced

8 ounces cremini mushrooms, stemmed and sliced

2 teaspoons fresh thyme

2 tablespoons chopped chives

Kosher salt and black pepper to taste

1 recipe pizza dough (recipe above)

8 slices provolone cheese

4 ounces goat cheese, crumbled

8 basil leaves, thinly sliced

Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the onion and fennel and cook, stirring, until softened and translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the red bell pepper and continue to cook, stirring, until softened, about 2 minutes.  Add the mushrooms and stir. The mushrooms will act like little sponges and absorb all of the moisture out of the pan. Resist the temptation to add more oil to the pan, just keep stirring until the mushrooms start to release the liquid back into the pan. Continue to cook for about another 5 minutes to dry out the vegetables. Stir in the herbs and season to taste with Kosher salt and pepper. Transfer the vegetables to a plate to cool.

Preheat the oven to 500 °F.

Using a bench scraper or knife, divide the pizza dough into 8 equal sized pieces. 

With a rolling pin, roll out each of the pieces of dough into a round, flat circle about 6 to 8 inches in diameter. Place a piece of provolone on the dough, then top with a spoonful of the vegetables. Sprinkle some of the goat cheese and basil over the top.

Lift the bottom edge of one of the dough circles and roll/fold it up towards the middle. Fold and tuck the two outer edges in, and continue rolling to close up the pizza roll.

Place the roll, seam side down, onto a sheet pan and repeat with the remaining rolls.

Bake for 8 to 10 minutes, or until well browned. Serve.

Roasted Butternut Squash and Caramelized Onion Rolls

This roll was inspired by a butternut squash tart I had several years ago. 

Makes 8 rolls

1 small butternut squash, peeled, seeded and cut into ½ inch cubes
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
Kosher salt and black pepper to taste

4 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 medium yellow onions, thinly sliced
Kosher salt

1 recipe pizza dough (recipe above)

2 cups baby arugula

4 ounces grated Gruyere cheese

Preheat the oven to 350 °F

Place the butternut squash in a mixing bowl, drizzle with the olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Toss to coat, the spread the squash onto a sheet pan. Bake until softened and just starting to brown, about 15 minutes. Remove to a plate to cool.

Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium low heat. Add the onions and sprinkle with a large pinch of Kosher salt. Stir the onions occasionally and cook until they have softened and caramelized, about 20 to 30 minutes. Remove to a plate to cool.

Preheat the oven to 500 °F.

Using a bench scraper or knife, divide the pizza dough into 8 equal sized pieces. 

With a rolling pin, roll out each of the pieces of dough into a round, flat circle about 6 to 8 inches in diameter. Arrange a layer of arugula leaves on the dough, then top with a spoonful of the onions and a spoonful of the squash. Top with some of the gruyere cheese.

Lift the bottom edge of one of the dough circles and roll/fold it up towards the middle. Fold and tuck the two outer edges in, and continue rolling to close up the pizza roll.

Place the roll, seam side down, onto a sheet pan and repeat with the remaining rolls.

Bake for 8 to 10 minutes, or until well browned. Serve.

Apple of my eye...balls....

One of my favorite things to do in the fall is to go apple picking. I usually go to a pick-your-own farm in Chester County, about a 45 minute drive from my apartment. That's one of the things that's so great about living in this part of the country, it doesn't take hours of travel to get out of the city and find yourself on a farm. I usually pick WAY too many apples, I think last year I ended up with about 80 pounds that I turned into two different kinds of apple butter and apple chutney. 

This year, between my work and travel schedules and some ill-timed bouts of rainy weather, I never managed to make it out to the orchard. Luckily, close proximity to the farms means that many of the local grocery stores also carry locally grown produce. So, instead of picking 80 pounds of apples at the orchard, I bought about 30 pounds of apples from the local Acme. I didn't want to miss the chance to make apple butter, it's become a bit of a tradition to give it as a gift to friends and family during the holidays.

I've also had this idea kicking around in the back of my head to do something with apples and brandy. Last year's brandied cherries were such a hit, and I missed the cherry season this year so wasn't able to repeat that recipe. One of the nice things about the cherries is that they look so pretty in a cocktail glass, so rather than wedges, I used a melon balling tool and balled the apples. 

Yes, I said balled.  Apple balls. Brandied apple balls. (Try to keep from giggling, I dare you.)

Well, one of the consequences of balling the apples (stop giggling) is that I had a lot of leftover scraps and bits of apples that I didn't want to waste. They were such odd shapes, they really wouldn't work for a pie, but I could cook them down into an apple sauce. I then remembered a cupcake recipe that I had developed for work a couple of years back that calls for fresh-made apple sauce. So, I made a batch to take to work for Black Friday. I still have apple sauce in the fridge...eh, maybe I'll just eat it for breakfast!

Enjoy!

Brandied Apple Balls

I used Granny Smith apples for this recipe, they have a firm texture and tend to hold their shape when cooked. (I didn't want to end up with mushy balls...sorry I just couldn't help myself...) You'll have extra syrup after filling the jars--don't throw it out. It's delicious as a cocktail mixer. Try it with vodka and gingerale. Tasty!

Makes 15 8-ounce jars

6 pounds Granny Smith apples
Juice of 2 lemons mixed in a large bowl of water
5 cups sugar
10 cups water
2 cinnamon sticks
2 green cardamom pods
4 allspice berries
15 tablespoons brandy


Peel the apples and using a melon balling tool, cut balls out of the apples and transfer them to the bowl of lemon water. Save the apple scraps for another use.

In a large stainless steel pot, bring the sugar, 10 cups of water and spices to a boil. Add the apple balls and reduce the heat to a simmer. Cook until the apples are just starting to soften and become a little translucent. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the apples to a bowl. Continue to simmer the syrup until it has reduced by about one third.

While the syrup is reducing, prepare your jars for canning. Remove the lids and rings from the jars. Bring a large stock pot of water to a rapid boil. Sterilize the lids and rings by lowering them into the boiling water for about 3 minutes. Transfer them to a clean towel. Repeat with the jars.

Divide the apples amongst the jars and ladle in enough syrup to leave about ½ inch of headspace. Spoon 1 tablespoon of brandy into the top of each jar, then cover the jar with a lid and a screw top ring. Tighten the ring to just finger tight.

When the stock pot of water has returned to a boil, lower the jars into the pot, standing them upright and in a single layer across the bottom of the pot. Make sure the jars are completely submerged under the water. Cover the pot and when the water in the pot returns to a boil, set a timer for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, remove the jars from the pot and set on a clean towel. Repeat the process with the remaining jars, being sure to let the water come back to the boil each time.

Let the jars sit undisturbed until they are room temperature. You should hear a noticeable "plinking" sound as the jars cool and pull the center of the lids down. After they have cooled, gently press on the center of each of the lids to be sure they have fully depressed. Any jars with lids that have not pulled down tight have not properly sealed. Place those jars in the refrigerator and enjoy them first. 

Apple Cider Cupcakes with Cider Cream Cheese Frosting

Back in my early days with Sur La Table at their location in Arlington, VA, I was known as the cupcake queen. I served as the primary pastry instructor at that location, and one of my favorite classes to teach was cupcakes. Cupcakes are just a happy dessert, and unlike a lot of baked goods, not intimidating to the novice cook. I used to create seasonal menus, one for spring, summer, fall, winter, and holiday. I had customers who I would see 5 times a year, each time I changed the menu. This recipe was one of my most popular, and found its way into a lot of menus beyond the fall cupcake class.

Makes 24 - 28 cupcakes

For the cake:

1 pound Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored, diced

¼ cup apple cider

2 ½ cups all purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking soda

1 ½ teaspoons ground cinnamon

½ teaspoons Kosher salt

¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg

¼ teaspoon ground cloves

2 cups sugar

1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature

1 tablespoon brandy 

1 ½ teaspoon vanilla bean paste

4 large eggs

For the icing:

2 cups apple cider

8 ounces cream cheese, softened

½ cup unsalted butter

1 ½ cups sifted confectioners' sugar

crispy apple chips for garnish

Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a cupcake pan with 24 paper liners.  (You may need additional liners depending on how full you fill the cupcake cups with batter).

Combine apples and cider in a small saucepan. Cover; simmer over medium-low heat until apples are tender, about 20 minutes. Mash with a fork until you have a smooth-ish sauce. (I like to keep it a bit chunky.)

Place the flour, baking powder, spices and salt into a medium bowl and whisk to combine. Using an electric mixer, beat the sugar and butter until well creamed, light and fluffy. Mix in the brandy, vanilla and eggs until blended. Mix in half of the flour mixture and 1 ¼ cups of the apple sauce, then the remaining flour mixture (save any remaining sauce for another use). Divide the batter among the cupcake cups.

Bake the cakes until tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 17 to 20 minutes. Cool for about 10 minutes in the pan, then remove the cakes to a rack to cool completely.

To make the icing, place the cider in a small saucepan and boil until it is reduced to about a thick syrup and let it cool. 

In a bowl with an electric mixer beat together the cream cheese and butter until well combined.  Add about half the confectioners' sugar and mix to incorporate, then add in the second half and continue to mix until smooth. Add the reduced cider and mix until the icing is smooth. (If the syrup has become too cool, it may not easily come out of the pan. Just warm it slightly to loosen.)

Spread each cupcake with some of the icing.  Garnish with crispy apple chips.

Someone was stealing my tomatoes....

There's probably nothing better than a fresh, ripened on the vine, home-grown tomato. Tomatoes have become one of those vegetables that we expect to be able to buy in the supermarkets all year round, but tomatoes are a summer vegetable. So, it's the first of November, why am I writing about tomatoes when we are clearly well out of the summer? I have a tomato thief.

Tomatoes are fairly temperature sensitive. If it gets too hot, in the upper 80's, for too many days in a row, the blossoms will drop off. If it doesn't cool down enough at night, below about 70 degrees, then the blossoms will drop off. When I lived in Houston, the timing of planting was critical because of how hot it gets there in the summer. Generally, you wanted to put your plants in the ground by March 1st to ensure that you were well past the chance of frost and that there were enough days for the growing season before the night time temperatures consistently stayed above 70 degrees. This meant that tomatoes were harvested in May and early June. When I moved north, all of those planting schedules shifted. Tomato plants go in the ground in mid to late May, and we harvest here in the Philly area in August, September, and even October.

This year, I got my tomato plants in the ground a bit later than I normally do, over Memorial Day weekend. My first tomatoes were just beginning to ripen in mid-August. They were so good, I planned my meals around whether I would have ripe tomatoes out of the garden that day. For those few weeks, I was in tomato heaven.  Then, I went out of town...

I spent the first 2 weeks of September on vacation. I haven't had a proper vacation since I moved to Philadelphia in 2010. I traveled to Texas and spent time with friends and family. I was in the Texas Hill Country, my hometown of Houston, and with my parents in Tyler. I drank amazing wine (trust me, the Texas Hill Country is putting out some fantastic wines, makes me think of California before the 1976 Paris wine tasting), ate some great food (Tex Mex, barbecue, and Whataburger--if you're from Texas you'll understand why I missed Whataburger), and had a lovely, lovely time. 

Before I left town, I made one last check of the tomato garden and saw that several of the tomatoes would probably ripen during my trip. When I got home, I checked the garden, and not surprisingly, all of the tomatoes that I expected to ripen were gone from the plants. Being away for so long, I sort of hoped that one of my neighbors might have picked the tomatoes so they didn't just rot on the vine. So, in that moment, I really didn't mind to much. I noticed that there were a couple of tomatoes that were just starting to ripen, so I left them on the plants and went about my day. Two days later, I went to check on them, and they were gone. I never got another ripe tomato off my plants. As soon as I would see one starting to ripen, if I left it on the plant even one more day, I would come out and find it gone.

By now it was getting on into October, and the weather was definitely starting to cool off. My plants were covered in green tomatoes, but there just wasn't going to be enough days left in the season to allow them to ripen before we would inevitably get our first frost . And, even if that wasn't an issue, with my tomato thief, chances were slim I'd get to enjoy any of them anyway. So, I picked all of the tomatoes, regardless of size, maturity or ripeness, dug up the plants and got the garden plot ready for winter.

But, what to do with so many pounds of green tomatoes? Why, create recipes for a blog post, of course! I hope you enjoy!

Green Tomato Bisque

Serves 4

Tomato soup is a classic, but I wondered how it would taste if you swapped out the traditional ripe tomatoes for green. The green tomato flavor is very bright, almost a bit citrusy. I wanted to boost the green flavor and color, so I added in spinach to the soup base. I also added the herbs in at the very end of cooking, as I was pureeing the soup in the blender, to help keep the green color. It also kept the herbal flavor very fresh which nicely enhanced the flavor of the soup.

4 tablespoons unsalted butter

1 medium yellow onion, peeled and diced

2 stalks celery, diced

1 small bell pepper, seeded and diced

3 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped

8 cups chopped green tomatoes

5 ounces baby spinach

4 cups chicken stock, low or no sodium

½  cup Italian parsley leaves

½  cup fresh basil leaves

1 cup cream

juice of ½ a lemon

Kosher salt and black pepper to taste

to garnish: sliced cherry tomatoes, chopped chives and fleur de sel

Melt the butter in a large saucepan set over medium heat. Add the onion, celery and bell pepper and cook, stirring, until softened and translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute.  Add the tomatoes, spinach and stock. Bring to a simmer and cook, stirring occasionally, until the tomatoes are tender, about 15 minutes.

Working in batches, puree the soup in a blender, adding the parsley and basil to the blender as you process the soup. Place the pureed soup in a large saucepan set over low heat. Stir in the cream, lemon juice, and season generously with salt and pepper.

To serve, ladle into soup bowls and garnish with sliced cherry tomatoes, chopped chives, and sprinkle with fleur de sel.

Pickled Green Tomatoes

Makes 8 8-ounce jars

What can I say, I've been having fun canning these last few years. Unlike fully ripened tomatoes, green tomatoes have a much firmer texture that I thought would hold up well to pickling and canning. These are great paired with a sharp cheddar cheese.

3 cups apple cider vinegar

3 cups granulated sugar

2 tablespoons Kosher salt

½ teaspoon whole cumin seed

1 teaspoon whole coriander seed

½ teaspoon whole black peppercorns

1 cinnamon stick

8 cups diced green tomatoes

2 large shallots, peeled and thinly sliced

3 cloves garlic, peeled and thinly sliced

Place the vinegar, sugar, salt and spices in a large saucepan and bring to a boil over medium high heat. Add the tomatoes, shallots and garlic, and return the mixture to a boil. Remove from the heat while you prepare your canning jars.

Bring a large stock pot of water to the boil. Remove the screw rings and lids from the canning jars. Place the jars into the boiling water in batches and submerge for 30 seconds. Remove the jars and place them upside down on a clean dish towel. Place the screw rings and lids into the boiling water and submerge for 30 seconds. Remove and place them on a clean dish towel.

Carefully ladle the pickles and their liquid into the prepared jars. Be sure to wipe away in drips from the mouth of the jar, and top each with a lid and screw ring. Tighten the ring down until it just feels tight, then tighten it just a bit more. But don't crank down too hard!

Return the large stock pot of water to the boil. Working in batches, transfer the jars into the pot, making sure that the tops of the jars are fully submerged under the surface of the water. When the water returns to the boil, cover the pot with a lid and set the timer for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, carefully remove the jars from the pot and place on a dry towel to cool. After a few minutes, you should hear a noticeable "plinking" sounds as the lids contract. If any of the lids have not contracted after about 30 minutes, these jars didn't seal properly. They're still safe to eat, just put them in the refrigerator and enjoy them first.

BLFGT Sandwich  (that is Bacon, Lettuce and Fried Green Tomato, of course!)

How can I have a posting about green tomatoes and NOT have a recipe that uses fried green tomatoes? I must admit, it was hard to not just eat the fried green tomatoes right off the plate, but I did manage to save enough of them to make one sandwich.

2 large green tomatoes, cut into ½  inch thick slices

½ cup all purpose flour

2 eggs, beaten

1 cup panko bread crumbs

Kosher salt and black pepper

olive oil for frying

To assemble the sandwich: toasted whole grain bread, crispy cooked bacon, arugula, and mayonnaise

Place the flour, eggs, and panko in three shallow dishes. Season the sliced tomatoes with salt and pepper. Dip the tomatoes first in the flour, then the beaten egg, and then the panko, being sure that the tomatoes are well coated in each dish before moving on to the next. Place the breaded tomatoes on a plate.

Pour enough olive oil into a large skillet to reach a depth of 1/4 inch. Heat over medium heat until hot--I like to test the temperature by dropping a few panko breadcrumbs into the oil to see if the sizzle. If they do, you're ready to go. Carefully place the tomato slices in the skillet and fry until golden brown on the bottom. Flip them over and continue to fry until golden brown on their second side. Transfer the fried tomatoes to a wire rack set over a sheet pan and sprinkle with additional salt and pepper.

To assemble the sandwich, spread the whole grain toast with a layer of mayonnaise. Add a layer of arugula, then a layer of bacon. Top with two or three slices of the fried green tomatoes, then a second piece of toast. 

I'm in a pickle....or a jam....actually both....

Where has the summer gone? When I last looked up, it was the 4th of July, and now I'm staring Labor Day in the face. What gives? 

This has been an incredibly busy summer at work. (I know, I know...Do I ever write a blog post where I don't talk about how busy and hectic work is?) I feel like I've just been coming home to sleep most days, and a coin toss determines whether I actually get to take my scheduled days off. One of consequences of this busy, busy time is that I haven't had much time to cook at home.

Hence the blog drought.

Those of you who have been following my ramblings these many months know that since moving to the northeast, I've developed a fondness for canning, and no time to cook at home means that I've missed the season on some of my favorite fruits to jam and pickle. At the beginning of the summer, I had visions of strawberry balsamic jam, blueberry compote, and a new favorite--brandied cherries. I missed the peak seasons for them all. With the end of our summer kids cooking camps in early August, my schedule started to ease a bit, and I found myself back in the kitchen.

Instead of mourning the missed canning opportunities my late start this summer has caused, I took a fresh look around at the markets to see what was in season locally. And I saw stone fruits--too late for cherries, but not too late for plums. I also saw melons, lovely seedless watermelons. And so, I pulled myself out of the jam I was in by diving into pickles. 

(Yes, I know. Bad pun. Feel free to groan.)

Those of you on my holiday list, here's a peek at what you can expect in your stockings this year...

Plum Jam

Since I tend to can with gift giving at the holidays in mind, I tend to make very large batches. The following recipe is written as I prepared it (yes, I really cooked down 18 pounds of plums earlier this week), but I've also listed in parenthesis the scaled down measurements I would recommend for making smaller batches.

Makes 32 half-pint jars 

18 pounds plums, red or black, pitted and roughly chopped (2 lb)
9 cups granulated sugar (1 cup)
1 cup fresh lemon juice (2 tablespoons)
2 cups water (¼ cup)

Place several small plates in the freezer. These will be needed to check if the jam has reached the gel stage.

Bring a large stock pot of water to the boil. Remove the screw rings and lids from the canning jars. Place the jars into the boiling water in batches and submerge for 30 seconds. Remove the jars and place them upside down on a clean dish towel. Place the screw rings and lids into the boiling water and submerge for 30 seconds. Remove and place them on a clean dish towel.

Place all of the ingredients in a large saucepan and stir to combine. Bring to a boil over medium high heat, then reduce the heat to medium and continue to simmer. Stir regularly--as the plums cook down and the natural moisture evaporates out of the pan, the sugars will concentrate and you run the risk of scorching the jam. (Not only will you taste the burnt flavor in the jam, you'll curse a lot trying to clean the blackened jam off the bottom of the pan.)

Continue to cook and stir the jam until the plums are very soft, starting to break down, and the liquids have begun to thicken. For the large batch I prepared, it took over an hour to reach this stage, but for smaller batches, it should take closer to 30 minutes. Using an immersion blender, puree the plums in the pan.

Continue to cook and stir until the jam has reached the gel stage. To check for the gel, remove one of the plates from the freezer and put about a teaspoon of the jam on the cold plate. When the jam has completely cooled, check the consistency to see if it has reached your desired thickness/firmness. Since the jam is relying only on the natural pectins found in the plums, it will stay relatively soft and have an apple-butter-like consistency.

Carefully ladle the hot jam into the prepared jars. Be sure to wipe away in drips from the mouth of the jar, and top each with a lid and screw ring. Tighten the ring down until it just feels tight, then tighten it just a bit more. But don't crank down too hard!

Return the large stock pot of water to the boil. Working in batches, transfer the jars into the pot, making sure that the tops of the jars are fully submerged under the surface of the water. When the water returns to the boil, cover the pot with a lid and set the timer for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, carefully remove the jars from the pot and place on a dry towel to cool. After a few minutes, you should hear a noticeable "plinking" sounds as the lids contract. If any of the lids have not contracted after about 30 minutes, these jars didn't seal properly. They're still safe to eat, just put them in the refrigerator and enjoy them first.

Watermelon Pickles

Growing up in the South, I'd heard of watermelon pickles, but I'd never tasted them before making them in a canning class. This is my version--the pickles are great as a garnish with cheeses. In fact, one of my pastry instructors a couple of years back borrowed this recipe to use at his restaurant on their cheese plate. Make sure to trim all the green skin off the rind before pickling.

Makes about 16 4-ounce jars

1 cup kosher or pickling salt

2 gallons water, divided

8 cups 1-inch cubed watermelon rind, white portion only

3 whole (3 inch long) cinnamon sticks

1 tablespoon whole cloves

1 tablespoon whole allspice berries

¼ teaspoon whole mustard seeds

½ teaspoon black peppercorns

7 cups sugar

1 thinly sliced lemon

2 cups apple cider vinegar

Mix 1 gallon of water and the salt in a large bowl to dissolve. Add the watermelon rind and let sit overnight. Drain the rind through a colander and rinse well, then drain again. Place the rind in a large stockpot and cover with the remaining 1 gallon water. Heat over high heat and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium, and simmer until the rind is tender. Drain the rind through a colander and place in a large mixing bowl. Set aside.

Bring a large stock pot of water to the boil. Remove the screw rings and lids from the canning jars. Place the jars into the boiling water in batches and submerge for 30 seconds. Remove the jars and place them upside down on a clean dish towel. Place the screw rings and lids into the boiling water and submerge for 30 seconds. Remove and place them on a clean dish towel.

Place cinnamon sticks, cloves, allspice, mustard seeds and peppercorns in the center of a piece of cheesecloth. Roll cheesecloth to enclose spices and tie ends with kitchen twine to secure. Place the spice pouch in a large saucepan and add the sugar, lemon slices and vinegar. Heat over high heat until the mixture boils, then reduce the heat to medium and simmer 10 minutes. Add the watermelon rind and simmer until the rind turns translucent. Remove and discard spice pouch.

Carefully ladle the pickles and their liquid into the prepared jars. Be sure to wipe away in drips from the mouth of the jar, and top each with a lid and screw ring. Tighten the ring down until it just feels tight, then tighten it just a bit more. But don't crank down too hard!

Return the large stock pot of water to the boil. Working in batches, transfer the jars into the pot, making sure that the tops of the jars are fully submerged under the surface of the water. When the water returns to the boil, cover the pot with a lid and set the timer for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, carefully remove the jars from the pot and place on a dry towel to cool. After a few minutes, you should hear a noticeable "plinking" sounds as the lids contract. If any of the lids have not contracted after about 30 minutes, these jars didn't seal properly. They're still safe to eat, just put them in the refrigerator and enjoy them first.