Red hot birthdays...

So, many of my friends are next to impossible to shop for... either because they have esoteric tastes that they just satisfy for themselves, or expensive tastes that I can't afford, or the irritating habit of never "needing" or "wanting" anything...

My friend Linus is like that, but this year I have the perfect gift. I like cooking (you may have noticed)... or in this case canning... so at first I was going to make him pickles, my garlic refrigerator pickles... because pretty much all the pickles available in Korea are sweet pickles and he hates sweet pickles (so do I, for that matter). But I soon realized/remembered that I couldn't get dill at my local supermarket. So, no dill pickles. But then I had it... You see Linus likes spicy food, so I decided that I would pickle some peppers instead. Peppers are very available at my supermarket.


I checked out Punk Domestics, my favorite canning site and that led me to this recipe for pickled peppers. I, of course, had to change a few things... for one thing my kitchen is metric now, so some math was called for... and my jars were a different size - more math... and I ended up not having as many peppers - math... but perhaps most distressingly, there was no garlic in the recipe and that simply wouldn't do... so, my version!

Pickled Hot Pepper Rings

(adapted from Marisa McClellan)

yield: makes 4 - 250mL jars, active time 30-45 minutes (I'm not sure how long it took me to cut up the peppers), total time 48 hours

Ingredients...

•              335 g chopped hot peppers (about 3 cups)

•              6-7 cloves of garlic, sliced

•              150 mL red wine (grape) vinegar

•              200  mL rice vinegar

         (a total of about 1 ½ cups vinegar)

•              350 mL water (about 1 ½ cups)

•              22 g pickling salt (1 ½  tablespoons)

What I did...

• Sterilize the jars, whatever method you use - here I boil, because I have no oven.
• Chop, slice, smell the yumminess!!!
• Combine vinegar, water and salt in a pot and bring it to a boil.
• When brine is boiling, add pepper rings and garlic, and stir to submerge.
• As soon as the brine returns to a boil, remove the pot from the heat.
• Spoon peppers into jars and top them off with brine, leaving 1/2 inch of space at the top.
• Tap jars gently to remove any trapped air bubbles. If necessary, add more brine to return the headspace to 1/2 inch.
• Wipe rims, apply lids and rings and process jars in a boiling water bath for 10 minutes (start your timer when the water returns to a boil, not when the jars first go in) - this is approximately three Enrique Iglesias songs and 7 text messages, in case you forget the timer... not that I would ever do that...
• When time is up, remove jars from the water and let cool on a folded kitchen towel.
• When jars are cool enough to handle, test the seals and tighten the lids.
• Store jars in a cool, dark place. They are ready to eat with in 48 hours, but can be kept up to one year.

Applebutter!

So this year's batch of apple butter has arrived!

I did it a bit different this year... I don't have a slow cooker here in Korea (or an oven for that matter), so I had to use a stove top method. I used the ratio of ingredients that I used the for the slow cooker method, but this year I added fresh ginger and some green cardamon - since G. isn't here to complain about them. I started out with a low fire until the sugar pulled some of the juices out of the apples. Once I didn't have to worry about burning (as much), I turned the heat up and got a nice boil going. Stir, stir, stir... It cooked down for about an hour and a half. Then I pulled out the cardamon pods, ran an immersion blender through it to smooth it out, and ladled it into jars. Boil the jars for 15 minutes and...

Voila, applebutter! I had to stir it at least every 10 minutes, but I have to say... totally worth it!

There's nothing like fresh, warm applebutter!

Peach Jamming...

My favorite part of Peach Jamming is quite possibly the flummery that you skim off as it boils... sweet and light and foamy, it is like a jam mousse, a cloud of happiness in my mouth. I like to mix it with yogurt for a tasty treat... but sometimes I just eat it by the spoonful... yummery!


The perfume of the boiling peachy goodness is fabulous, permeating the house and making mouths water...


...Okay, so, this is my real favorite... watching jam-spread toast disappear into my roommate's mouth... satisfaction!

And excited to have much more peachiness to bring the summer with me throughout the rest of the year... or at least as long as the jam lasts...

Farmer's Market Bounty...

Orange roma's, green beans, red heirloom tomatoes, green bell peppers, blackberries, basil, canary melon, and ...



I am so excited for peach jam...

A taste of summertime...

This summer has been a crazy trip, what with existential crises, life decisions, and some awesome re-connections with friends new and old. We have managed to get some tastiness in among all that turmoil, though...

Little Miss Picky Pants is the baking sister in our house - which makes sense when you think about it. I am convinced that her super-power is organization, and that along with her picky nature makes for a great baker. These are her shortcakes(ok, she used Nigella Lawson's recipe, but she made them). Not that we don't all love to bake, but G. just has a precision that M. and I don't, and so everything she makes is just a little bit better.

Notice the focus here. These shortcakes were amazing! The were definitely great with the strawberries, and what could be more summertime? But I actually preferred them plain with a cup of tea. They somehow managed to be both light and airy and substantial at the same time. These will definitely be revisited, especially if I can convince G. to do them for us again.

I love small-batch canning. We got some damsons (ok, I insisted) at the farmers' market and neither M. nor G. liked them- weird, right? Especially, since they like plums and I don't really. So, rather than eat them all myself, I thought they'd like them better in jam. See what a giving sister I am? Never mind that I haven't made jam all summer, and I want to. So I was off, with my favorite all purpose jam recipe (though I did have to do some math, because I didn't have a whole kilo of plums). While they were macerating, Miss Picky Pants dipped a finger in and tasted it (ok, I know you figured it out - I dipped and made her). "It tastes weird - like cough syrup." Great! I thought, she was going to hate it even as jam. But I persevered - who cares if we have yet another jar of jam/preserves/spreadable fruit substance that only I liked.

I've never worked with damsons before - honestly, they have never stayed around long enough for me to do anything with them. So I was pleasantly surprised as I started to boil the fruit - look at that color! I knew the color, I'd seen it before, but watching it slowly appear and deepen was magical. At that point I didn't care if no one liked how it tasted, it was gorgeous!

Luckily, it also tastes gorgeous. Even Little Miss Picky Pants says so.

In which failure becomes perfection...

...or at least better.


The other day at the supermarket I saw, and immediately purchased, some Devon cream. While Little Miss Picky-pants wrongly believes that it is gross, I love it - on scones, on toast, on pancakes, on French toast, and sometimes, when no one is looking, even on a spoon. This purchase got me thinking about scones, and other tea-time accoutrement. And I started to wish for some lime curd to go on my scones.

It should be noted that I have not yet made scones, I am hoping to convince one of my sisters to do my dirty (or floury?) work for me.

While ruminating on the yummy goodness of citrusy, custardy, fruit curd, I remembered that I had some Ruby Red Grapefruit syrup in my cupboard. It was supposed to be jelly, but never set up. Yes, sometimes my kitchen projects don't work like they are supposed to - G. is still happy to tell everyone about my high school kitchen learning curve.

So I have this grapefruit syrup languishing for want of use. But I have never made a fruit curd, or really much of anything that requires tempering of eggs. And none of the recipes start with failed jelly. I am not afraid, though ...much.


Off to the internet for research. I first checked Tea & Cookies, my favorite-est food blog, because she has written about both Lemon Curd and Raspberry Curd. Ok, now I have two different methods for curd-ing. Next on to Saveur, which sends me to theKitchn. It now appears that everyone does curd a little differently.

Ok, well I will just dive in then. Heat the syrup and the butter. Beat the eggs. Slowly, oh so slowly, add about half a cup of the heated citrus to the eggs, and whisk all the while. Slowly, again so slowly, whisk the eggs back into the pan. Hold your breath. And whisk. Switch hands and whisk some more. Look closely. Is that egg white? Oh well, it is going to be strained out anyway. Whisk some more. Has it been twenty minutes yet? Strain. Pour into sterilized jar.

Now I can lick the bowl. Hmm, better taste it again... I think I could taste it better if I had a spoon. I guess it is ok. Hey, look! I made grapefruit curd!

Now, if I can just convince G. to make those scones... while I clean out that bowl... with my fingers... so yummy!!

Update: G. rocks!!!

So, applebutter...

The applebutter experiment was a rousing success. I love that I was able to make it in the slow cooker. And the applebutter aficionado in the house says that it tastes like his favorite store-bought brand - a ringing endorsement, to be sure. Photos of the finished product need work, maybe the batch I do on Saturday will photograph better than this batch did.So, the recipe...

2.5 kilos apples, cored and finely chopped (I ran them through the food processor)

800 g raw sugar

1 1/2 Tbsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp allspice

1/4 tsp ground cloves

1/4 tsp nutmeg

1/4 tsp salt

Place the apples in a slow cooker. In a bowl, mix the sugar, spices and salt. Pour the mixture over the apples in the slow cooker and mix well. Cover and cook on high 1 hour. Reduce heat to low and cook 9 to 11 hours, (mine took about 10) stirring occasionally, until the mixture is thickened and dark brown. Uncover and continue cooking on low 1 hour. During the last hour, blend it smooth with an immersion blender. Ladle into sterilized jars. Boil filled jars for 15 min. Cool and store.

I used organic Gala apples, but I think Granny Smiths or Jonathans would work well, too.

Peaches!

Yay jam! My first attempt at peach jam appears to be a success. I used a super easy recipe from a food blogger, Orangette, called Italian Family Jam. I am very happy with how it turned out - though my normal tasters have not yet passed down their verdicts, so we shall see.

I made pickles!!! This may only be exciting to me, but I have never done it before and it is an exciting kitchen accomplishment for me. They are Garlic Dill Refrigerator Pickles and when the 3 days is up and I know if they are good, I might post the recipe. Until then....

Squeee!