Can-O-Rama Challenge - Raspberry Peach Jam

Late in August, Linsey from Cake and Commerce helped put together Boston's Can-o-rama Cantacular, a day filled with learning about all types of canning and general "putting up" of food. I'm sure I wasn't the only one who left eager to put food in jars.

As part of the event, Linsey has started a monthy (or so) canning challenge on her blog. The first challenge was "summer in a bottle," since we were on the tail end of summer produce. I scoped out the farmer's market and decided on white peaches and raspberries for my jam. When I said I didn't need the paper pints for the raspberries, the woman behind me was concerned that they'd all get crushed on the way home. "I'm just going to mush them up to make jam," I told her, and she gave me a look like I was crazy. Crazy like a fox, perhaps...

I have about 8 half-pint and 4 quarter-pint jars of this to keep me in a summery frame of mind throughout the winter. One jar didn't seal correctly in the waterbath, so I stuck it in the fridge. When the urge for more peanut butter cookies struck, I baked my cookies, putting thumbprints in the middle instead of using a fork to push them down, pulled out my jam, and made delicious peanut butter and jelly bites. Yum!

Summery Raspberry Peach Jam
4 cups fresh raspberries
6 cups fresh peaches, chopped
5 cups sugar
1/4 cup bottled lemon juice
pinch of salt

Combine ingredients in a heavy-bottomed pot and mash fruits up. Let stand 30 minutes or so. Bring to a boil, stirring occasionally, and cook for about 40 minutes. As the jam thickens, check the temperature with a candy thermometer - you're aiming for 220°. I'm usually a little impatient with projects like this, so I go with a slightly softer jam (218° or so).

While jam cooks, fill the largest pot you have with water and place some sort of rack on the bottom (I use a lobster pot that comes with a fitted strainer, so I just use that strainer). You don't want the jars to touch the bottom of the pot. Bring to a boil. Place clean glass jars in the water and boil for at least 10 minutes to sterilize. Water should come to an inch or two above the tops of the jars. Prepare lids according to manufacturer's instructions.

Remove jars from water when the jam is done. Fill jars with jam, leaving 1/4 inch headroom on top. Wipe the rims of the jar so they're clean and place on the lids on the jars.

Place the jars back in the boiling water, put the cover on the pot, and process for 10 minutes (start timing when the water returns to a boil if it has become cooler). Carefully remove the jars from the pot and place on a kitchen towel to cool. You will hear the jars seal shut as they cool.

Asparagus Ricotta Tart

"Something creamy."

That was the direction we were given for dinner last night. None of us could really decide what we wanted, so the challenge of "creamy" was thrown out there. Ann and I spent quite a while perusing Tastespotting, various blogs, and saved recipes to see what we could find. Eventually, I found this recipe from Bon Appetit, and we all agreed that it sounded fantastic.

It wasn't until we were actually eating it that we realized just how creamy and delicious it was. The puff pastry was light and airy, the ricotta and asparagus puree tasted like spring, and the Comté cheese (which smelled like feet while it was being grated) added a nice saltiness and just a hint of tang. The recipe, with our revisions, is below.

And of course, as I've mentioned before, it irks me that puff pastry comes two to a package, making it necessary to use both. Ann devised a raspberry chocolate tart with the second half that was just amazing. I'm pretty sure we'll be hanging on to both of these recipes for a while.

Asparagus Ricotta Tart, adapted from Bon Appetit
1 sheet frozen puff pastry, thawed
1 egg, beaten
1 pound slender asparagus spears, trimmed
1/2 cup whole-milk ricotta cheese
3 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
1/8 teaspoon salt
3 slices of proscuitto, cut into 1/3 inch pieces
2/3 cup grated Comté cheese, divided

Preheat oven to 400°. Roll out dough slightly, to mend creases. Cut a half-inch-wide strip from each side. Brush the edges of the dough with egg, then top with the strips to form a raised border. Brush the border with egg; reserve rest of the egg. Transfer to a baking sheet and set in the fridge to chill.

Blanch asparagus until tender, about 3 minutes. Immediately move to an ice water bath to stop the cooking. Drain, and snap the tips off the stalks and reserve. In a food processor, puree the asparagus stalks with the remaining egg. Mix in the ricotta, oil, salt, and 1/3 cup of the Comté. Remove pastry from fridge. Layer the proscuitto pieces along the pastry, then top with ricotta mixture. Lay the asparagus tips over the top of the ricotta, then sprinkle with the remaining 1/3 cup Comté.

Bake until the puff pastry is browned and the filling is set, about 25 minutes.

Sunnydale: Come for the Food, Stay for the Dismemberment!

A very interesting party invitation showed up in my Google Reader a couple of weeks ago, and, as my friends know, I've been obsessing over it since then. Stephanie at Dispensing Happiness called for appetizers and drinks in the theme of Buffy the Vampire Slayer... and all I could think about was finding a mug.

A little background - I'm only a recent Buffy convert, but it didn't take more than an episdoe to get me hooked. Thankfully, I was able to fly through all seven seasons on DVD. When I started library school last year, I tried to find a copy of Giles' "Kiss the Librarian" mug, but the search got difficult and I gave up. This party invite started the search anew, and I had people across the country searching for something similar. Still no luck. So, using a little Buffy girl power, I took matters into my own hands and painted the damn mug myself. Yes, I am a geek.

With the important matters out of the way, I had to decide on an appetizer. Not knowing what kind of party this would be (gathering - brie, mellow song stylings; shindig - dip, less mellow song stylings, perhaps a large amount of malt beverage; or hootenanny - chock full of hoot, just a little bit of nanny), I went with something that would work for all three.

Staked and Dusted Flank Steak with Rhubarb Dipping Sauce
1 pound flank steak
1/3 cup soy sauce
1/3 cup olive oil
4 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
salt and pepper
4 stalks rhubarb (about 1 pound), chopped
6 garlic cloves, finely chopped
4 Tbsp cider vinegar
6 Tbsp honey
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp Dijon mustard

Place steak, soy sauce, oil, and roughly chopped garlic in a large ziploc bag and let marinate overnight in the fridge. Remove from fridge roughly 1 hour before cooking.

While steak is warming up, chop rhubarb and garlic and combine in a medium pot with vinegar, honey, salt, and mustard. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes or until the rhubarb falls apart. Transfer mixture to a blender or use a stick blender to give the sauce a smooth texture (you can add some red food coloring here if you really want to go for the bloody effect).

On a grill at roughly medium-high heat, grill steak for about 4 minutes on each side. Let meat rest for 10 minutes before slicing thinly against the grain. Thread steak strips on skewers and dust with fresh black pepper and sea salt. Serve with rhubarb sauce for dipping.

Bloody Cosmos - I know, not really a cosmo, but it's close enough for me
2 oz. cranberry vodka
4 oz. blood orange juice
lime-flavored seltzer

In a tall glass filled with ice, combine vodka and orange juice. Top off with seltzer and give it a good stir (bendy straw optional).

Caprese My Way

This has been years in the making.

Mozzarella curd is not easy to find. I've looked online, but the minimum amounts and shipping prices have been crazy. I've called just about every cheese shop in Boston looking for it. In the best cases, I got a "Well, we could order 10 pounds, but you'd need to buy it all." In most cases, I got a "No way." That is until I asked, out of habit more than actually expecting an answer, at my local Whole Foods.

"We don't have any here, but give me your phone number, and I'll see what I can do."

Roughly 24 hours later, I got a call that the cheese guy at the Fresh Pond Whole Foods was holding 2 pounds of curd for me. Hallelujah!!


So I've wanted to try this recipe for a long time, and when I saw this posting for Blog Party 26 - "It's What's Inside," I longed to be able to make it. The stars aligned, though, with that call from Whole Foods, and I raced over to the store as soon as I could.

I've never worked with mozzarella before, and I think that shows in the final presentation. I mean, they taste great, but they lack the polished quality of fresh mozzarella you buy in the store. Now that I have a source, I can practice as much as I want!

Those look like your typical mozzarella balls, seasoned with a little olive oil, salt and pepper. I wanted them to be a little different, though. Just pop one in your mouth and you'll see what's inside...


Each ball is stuffed with a cherry tomato and a piece of basil. It's like a portable Caprese salad! Just serve with some prosecco, and you have a lovely appetizer... or top a salad with them, and you have something more like a meal.

Caprese My Way
1/2 pound mozzarella curd
1/2 pint cherry tomatoes (the smaller the better)
handful of basil leaves
1 Tablespoon salt

Fill a large bowl with cold water; add salt and stir to dissolve before setting this aside.

Cut mozzarella into small chunks and put in a two-cup microwavable bowl. Microwave for 2 minutes or until the cheese is melted together. Remove the bowl from the microwave and stir contents until they become shiny. Pour out the liquid, carefully holding back the cheese. Working quickly, wrap a tomato in a basil leaf, then wrap that in a section of cheese. The more you work the cheese, the tougher it will get, so if you want very soft cheese, don't mess with it too much. As you finish each ball, drop it in the salted water.

To serve, drizzle on olive oil or pesto and toss. To store in the fridge, place the balls in a sealed container, making sure they are covered with the salt water.

Note: Yep, still tasty the next day over a romaine and basil salad.

Why am I being so quiet? Plus, a call for help

So I realized that 2 posts in 2 weeks was a little lame. Yes, I had fun with my pomegranate in my home Glamor Shots studio, but I still feel like I've been neglecting my blogging duties. I started grad school last week, on top of already being employed fulltime, and have found myself thrown back into the world of homework and workshops and waiting in God-awful lines in the bookstore. While shopping for supplies, I saw something very close to a Trapper Keeper and was tempted to buy it... and then I realized that I am no longer 10 years old.

Anyway, time to cook is now at a minimum. So I need your help (do you think Stephen King will mind if I call you Constant Readers here?). Point me towards recipes that can keep all week - for example, this week, I made million-veggie lasagna (ok, there were only actually 6 veggies, but that's still a lot!) and this terrific quinoa salad. I need things I can make on Sundays (or very quickly on Monday or Tuesday nights) and can sit in the fridge until Friday. It doesn't matter if it's hot or cold - hot things I'll eat for lunch at work, cold things I'll eat on campus for dinner. Oh, and bonus points for really healthy!!