Category Archives: breakfast

June Can Jam: Fresh Strawberry!

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Soooooo I guess I should mention that I’ve never canned fruit jam before. This was my first time, y’all. And let me tell you…

It’s a good time.

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I mean, I’ve only been canning since January, but I’ve never even tasted home-canned fruit jam. I ended up trying three different concoctions for this month’s Tigress Can Jam. First I made a blackberry jelly (a recipe will come, don’t worry), but I found it too sweet. Way, WAY too sweet for me. I tasted sugar rather than fruit, and what’s the point of that?

Having striked out on that first run, I was all about trying a low-sugar jam for the second round. I had to do a little research but I really liked the low-sugar. I hadn’t seen a ton of low-sugar recipes, but after a little searching, I found some low-sugar pectin at the store. It depends on which pectin you choose to use (I ended up using both Sure-Jell in one batch and Pomona in another) as to how exactly you’ll need to add the pectin.

I’ve mostly just given these away to friends, but I’m thinking this, with cream cheese… on toast. Sigh. Yummy.

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Fresh Strawberry Jam

From The Kitchenette

Makes 3 half-pint jars or 6 4-oz jars

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Gather:
4 pounds strawberries, washed, hulled, and quartered
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar, plus 2 tablespoons
1 packet low-sugar pectin

Prepare:
Toss strawberries with sugar and let macerate overnight.

The next morning, put a small (non-plastic) plate in the freezer. Bring a hot-water bath canner (or very large pot) to boil and sterilize jars by boiling glass jars for at least 10 minutes. Let stand in hot water until ready to fill with jam.

Bring a small pot of water to boil over high heat (this will be used to sterilize the lids for the jars.)

Add macerated strawberries to a heavy pot and bring to boil over medium-high heat. Mix pectin and 2 tablespoons of sugar in a small bowl. Once strawberries come to boil, add pectin/sugar mixture and stir to dissolve. Bring back to boil, and then reduce to heat to medium.

Add lids to boiling water. Boil for at least 5 minutes to soften the rubber seal.

Begin testing the jam for a proper “set” as it begins to thicken, or after approximately 15 minutes of cooking the jam. To test the jam, drop a small spoonful onto the frozen plate, wait 10 seconds, and then run your finger through the jam. If the top of the jam wrinkles, your jam has set. If the jam is still runny, cook for 5 more minutes, and test again.

When your jam is ready to can, pull the jars out of the hot water, and carefully ladle jam into each jar until there is 1/4 inch space between the top of the jar and the top of the jam. Run a knife around the inside of the jar to remove any air bubbles. Wipe the lid of the jar to clean off any jam that may have been spilled, and top the jar with a lid from the hot water, and twist on a ring. Repeat with other jars.

Boil the jars in a pot for 10 minutes (if at sea level; use an altitude-adjustment chart if you’re more than 1000 feet above sea level).

After the jars have been boiled, for 10 minutes, remove the jars from the canner and let stand on a towel for up to 24 hours. Check the seals (the lids will depress, you may hear a “pop” when they do). Remove the rings and store in a cool place.

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Homemade Yogurt, Or, Step 3 to Becoming a Dirty Hippie

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At the end of the day, when you’re laying in bed and trying to go to sleep… what do you think about? I always try and think about relaxing things that make me happy. I imagine other people think about counting cute little sheep or something. Or maybe the latest pair of Louboutins that they have their eye on. Or they plan what they are going to wear tomorrow that will totally knock the socks off the cute guy in Sales.

Me? I think about the future… or what I want to be my future. I think about my house. I have visions of Sub-Zero refridgerators and double ovens dancing in my head. I dream of plum-colored walls and a walk-in closet. I dream of a white house on a hill in the country, with a huge garden and a chicken coop. And I dream of making cheese from scratch.

Wait… what?

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Yeah. I’m in my hippie phase. I not only feel the need to make homemade ricotta, homemade pasta, and now homemade yogurt; I want to make breads every day, homemade marscapone, and homemade tomato paste. (And that’s just the food. Hello, homemade soap… will you be my friend?)

And why am I suddenly morphing into Anne of Green Gables? I have no experience with this. I grew up in the suburbs of Virginia… not the boondocks. Not on a farm with cows and horses. I went to college for 5 years. I have a master’s degree. The closest I’ve ever come to a farm is driving by the ones on the interstate.

But then I think, maybe that’s exactly why I’m so enamored of ”country” life… I didn’t have any of that growing up. I didn’t have a garden or fresh milk or fresh pasta or homemade cheese. Most of the things that I grew up eating were bought at a grocery store, not homemade. Not that I blame my mother (Hi Mom, you’re my best friend and you know I love you). It’s just the way things were in my little suburban neighborhood. It’s not like the lady down the street was growing vegetables next to her BMW; she was growing roses.

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These jars of yogurts have halos because they are heavenly-tasting

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And now, here I am: 25, living in the largest city in a 600-mile radius, and what do I want? A plot of land, a garden, a gaggle of kids and a view of the sunrise. The time to attempt making homemade mozzarella, the garden space to plant the 87 different kinds of veggies I want to try growing, and the freezer space to store them. I guess I just want to be able to attempt my vision of a green household as much as possible.

So yeah… here’s my 3rd step towards becoming a dirty, unshowered hippie who spends all day making stuff from scratch. You know you want to be one, too.

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Homemade Yogurt

From the Kitchenette

Serves 8

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I like to use whole milk for this recipe. You can use lowfat milk, or skim milk, but I find that whole milk yields the creamiest yogurt. Plus, it just tastes better! Regardless of the fat percentage, ensure that the yogurt you use as your “starter” says “contains live cultures” on the container. I like to make my yogurt in a large glass canning jar that I bought at a grocery store for less than $5. I would stay away from plastic containers, as the plastic might melt. Even if it doesn’t melt, it will probably impart a nasty taste to your yogurt. Don’t forget to reserve about a cup of your homemade yogurt to use as a “starter” for your next batch. It’s the dairy that keeps on giving.

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Ingredients:
2 quarts whole milk
1 cup whole milk yogurt
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Directions:
Preheat the oven to 250F degrees.

Heat the milk in a heavy saucepan over medium heat until steaming. Do NOT let the milk boil. (If using a thermometer, this is about 180 – 185F degrees.) Remove milk from heat and let cool to 110 – 115F degrees. Add yogurt to cooled milk, and whisk to incorporate. Pour yogurt-milk mixture into a glass jar and wrap jar in kitchen towels. Put towel-wrapped jar in oven, close the door to the oven, and turn off the oven heat. Leave in oven (while oven is turned off) overnight, or until yogurt has thickened. Refridgerate yogurt until it’s consumed.

Serve with granola and/or seasonal fruit, if desired. Or eat straight from the jar. Depends on how mannered you can be when still unshowered and in pajamas.

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Now Playing in the Kitchenette: The Hollies / I’m Alive  – In the spirit of getting old school and making our own yogurt and stuff.

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What do you think about at night?  Is there anything you’d like to try making at home?

What’s all the fuss about this Black and White Granola?

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Black and White Granola - Mixing

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So, I don’t know if you follow any foodie blogs (I may or may not follow 112… or so) but if you do, you’ll notice that there are some recipes that everyone and their mother is making at any given moment. A few weeks ago it was monkey bread, today it is chocolate-zucchini bread/muffins/cake/unidentified unleavened product. It’s like the universe is screaming at me, “CARTER. MAKE THIS RECIPE NOW.” Well, I get it.

… this isn’t one of those recipes. But I thought it was!

What I thought I was making was this olive-oil granola, which was the recipe to make a few weeks back. I mean, seriously, Whitney made it, Kelly made it, the Kitchn made it… it was EVERYWHERE. So this past Saturday, when I was planning my meals for the entire week (yes, I do this… yes, I know it makes me a nerd, I embrace the nerdiness) I was all, “OMG I totally have to make that olive-oil granola! What a great idea!” and totally patted myself on the back for being so ridiculously awesome and obviously, a genius.

Uh-huh.

I got online and searched my Google Reader for “olive oil granola” and this recipe for “Black and White Granola” was the first recipe that came up in my search. Olive oil was listed as an ingredient, and so I thought I had found the Holy Grail of Granola.

So I gathered my ingredients – I hit the bulk aisle at Whole Foods like it was my job – and set to work on this granola. When I mixed it all together, it looked good. When I put it in the oven, it smelled good. When it was done toasting, it tasted good. When I ate it the next morning with yogurt… it totally grossed me out.

What really got me was the poppy seeds – they were floating around in my yogurt, and I can think of a lot of not-so-delightful descriptions of what those poppy seeds looked like, but I won’t subject you to that so early in the morning. Suffice it to say, this granola just didn’t do it for me. I’ll definitely make the “real” olive-oil granola soon, and I might venture to try this one out sans extreme amounts of poppy seeds. However, I’ll post the recipe anyways, so that you can make your own decision. I would highly recommend toning down the presence of the poppy seeds, though – to maybe a couple of tablespoons.

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Black and White Granola

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Ingredients

1 and 1/2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
1 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
1/2 cup raw sunflower seeds, hulled
1/2 cup raw pecans, walnuts, or almonds, coarsely chopped
1/2 cup poppy seeds
1/4 cup Gomasio (black and white sesame seeds)
1/4 cup maple syrup, preferably Grade B
1/4 cup olive oil
Coarse sea salt

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Procedure

Preheat oven to 300°F.

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Black and White Granola - Ingredients

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Place oats, coconut, sunflower seeds, nuts, syrup, poppy seeds, sesame seeds, olive oil, and 1 teaspoon salt in a large bowl and mix until well combined. Spread granola mixture in an even layer on a rimmed baking sheet. Transfer to oven and bake, stirring every 10 minutes, until granola is toasted, about 50 minutes. Watch granola closely in last 10 minutes of baking to ensure that it does not burn.

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Black and White Granola - Baking

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Remove granola from oven and season with salt to taste. Let cool completely before serving or storing in an airtight container for up to 1 month.

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Another con:

Black and White Granola - Dirty Dishes

You may not be aware of this but… I LOATHE doing the dishes. So this is fail.

UPDATE: Anna, in all of her gloriousness, has pointed out that, should I choose to recreate this granola-gasm in the future, I would not, in fact, have to use 1938567204968246 bowls to measure out each ingredient. I could instead use my brain measure the ingredients straight into the mixing bowl. Thank you, Anna, for pointing out that shortcut.

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Playing in the Kitchenette: The Pipettes / ABC – fun retro beats for Friday morning

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Market Week 2009: Herbed Scrambled Eggs

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So while we bought both a 3-pound chicken and a 2-pound cut of flank steak from the market, we were unable to get either of them to defrost by the time dinner rolled around on Saturday night. So I decided to kick it old elementary school and have breakfast for dinner!

Although, I have no idea which elementary schooler is cooking Ina Garten recipes.

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As Ina Garten says, the best way to make scrambled eggs is to cook them low and slow. This was kind of a surprise to me, as I tend to cook mine as quickly as possible over high heat. But no one can contradict the Barefoot Contessa! She knows her schtuff.  And no surpise, these eggs are really freaking good. I mean, I had to convince myself not to eat them for breakfast, lunch, and dinner for the next 2 days. I’m still seeing a repeat performance of these happening in my very near future.

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This post also conveniently fits in with Real Food Wednesdays – the theme this week is “100 ways to eat more fat.” Eggs, check. Whipping cream, check! Plus, the eggs and herbs are all sourced locally. Omit the bread, and it’s a gluten-free dish.

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The Flip-Flop Contessa’s Herbed Scrambled Eggs

Adapted from Ina Garten

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Ingredients

  • 3 eggs
  • 1 tablespoon heavy cream
  • A dash of chiffonade basil
  • A dash of minced thyme
  • A dash of minced parsley
  • salt and pepper

Preparation

Combine minced herbs in a medium-sized bowl. Crack eggs into bowl and whisk to combine.

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A helpful note: I like to crack one egg at a time into a smaller bowl, just in case one of my eggs is bad. That way I won’t have to throw away everything I’ve been working on, like I would have to if I cracked all of them into the bowl at once.

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Add heavy cream and whisk again to combine. Season with salt and pepper. Melt a knob of butter over medium-low heat. Add the egg mixture. Scrape the bottom of the pan with a spatula until the eggs come together. Serve with toast or hashbrowns.

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Playing in the Kitchenette: The Black Keys / I’ll Be Your Man, dedicated to Kristin (remember your promises should your 4GB thumb drive come into use)