Apricot Jam, pt 2

This round of apricot jam was much smaller apricots that were not entirely ripe, so I had to cook them a bit longer. Despite admonitions, I did scorch the bottom of sweetie's big pot, but since it is teflon and it was only fruit (no sugar) it came right off. I ended up with 24 cups (that's 1.5 gal) of apricot -- no added water or anything.

After it simmered quite a while, and made a gorgeous apricot tinted white foam on top of the pot, I divided the batch into 10 cups and 14 cups in two different pots, added the pectin to a mixture of unrefined cane sugar and demerara sugar -- the demerara gave the apricot jam a much darker orange color.

YIELD:

APRICOT JAM:
10 - 16 oz jars
8 - 8 oz jars
1 - 4 oz jar

Sugar...

CANNING: I'm either hitting the bottom or reaching new heights -- I had to run to the store for more pectin on my bicycle at 9:30. Though I'm pretty happy with Pomona's pectin, but it comes in two parts, and the dry part (you make a liquid with the other part) runs out at a ratio of 3 dry envelopes to 1 wet part envelope. I need a bulk solution.

Like the organic unrefined cane sugar... I've ordered a 50# sack, it'll cost me $36 at Whole foods.

I'm not ready to join a canning 12-step program yet. There are still green gage plums, yellow peaches, pears, figs, quince, apples, Concord grapes and tomatoes still to be had. And lots more lemons from Regan's tree to keep the costs down since every jelly/jam recipe calls for some lemon juice. I should start saving the seeds to put in cheese cloth -- that might help reduce the amount of pectin required.

SOLAR DEHYDRATOR: my brother is making progress. He's thrilled that he has an excuse to get angle clamps and he caught something in the plans that Jon and I missed, which accounts for the extra 30' of 1" x 2" ... yay for brothers!

PICTURES: I swear, I am going to insert pictures into past postings, but for now, you can view my canning madness on my Flicker Food album.

Maple scented splurge...

Of interest - picked up a small packet of dried candycap mushrooms (ridiculously expensive!) for making an infused vodka. Good vodka, not the cheap stuff. Mmmm!!

I'm going to be the infused alcohol/fruit brandy queen if I keep this up.

Peachy Keen...

Tonight was the night to finish up the white peach jam and jelly -- my brother came over to help with the solar dehydrator, and says he'll return to complete it. Tonight, I didn't scorch the bottoms of any pans badly and it all seems to be setting well. I also used my food mill attachment for the first time to pulverize half the peach flesh for the jam. I think it came out quite well. When the rest of the neighbor's peaches are ready -- I'm going to make peach chutney and canned peach slices (big jars of 'em!). I find myself eagerly anticipating the availability of Concord grapes -- two neighbors have those and I have always wanted to make grape jelly! I need to build a garage to store all these jellies!

WHITE PEACH JAM
1 - 4 oz
7 - 8 oz
6 - 16 oz

WHITE PEACH JELLY
9 - 4 oz
10 - 8 oz

My home is filled with the plink-a-licious sounds of success. I still have to cut up and cook down some apricots so there is room in my fridge. Yes - more apricot jam tomorrow night. I'm just going to put this all in 16 oz jars -- these are the apricots from my sweetie's neighbor's tree. I have a feeling that this batch of apricot jam will be going to the homes of the kids in James' neighborhood!

Raw, Vegan Lasagna

This evening, my brother came over to help me kick start the assembly of the solar dehydrator. A friend of his came along and brought homemade dinner -- something people rarely do at my house. At my house, we often cook things and order takeout but having someone bring a ready-to-eat raw vegan lasagna was a real treat.

Here's the recipe:

Pignoli Ricotta
2 c raw pine nuts
2 T lemon juice
2 T nutritional yeast
1 t salt
6 T water

Place everything but water in food processor and pulse a few times and then slowly add water till you have a ricotta consistency.

Tomato sauce
2 cups sun dried tomatoes
1 small tomatoes, diced
1/2 small onion
2 tbls olive oil
1 tabls agave nectar
2 tsps salt
pinch of hot pepper flakes

Add all ingredients to blender/food processor and blend till smooth

Basil-pistachio pesto
2 cups packed basil leaves
1/2 cup pistachios
1/2 cup plus 2 tbs. olive oil
glove or two of garlic
1 tsp salt
pinch black pepper

Combine in food processor and blend well.

Lasagna
4-5 tomatoes, thinly sliced
3 medium zucchini sliced with a mandoline
2 tabls olive oil
1 tabls fresh oregano
1 tbs fresh thyme
pinch salt
pinch black pepper

Toss the zucchini with the other ingredients (except tomatoes), you can adjust with more oil if needed and let sit for 30 min.

Layer in a baking dish:
Zucchini overlapping each other. Spread about 1/3 of each of the tomato sauce, then dollop on the ricotta and pesto then a layer of tomatoes then continue layers till all is used up. Let sit for a few hours at room temp or stick in fridge and let sit overnight.

Lemon Chutney -- Kitchen Tools, Sugar & Recipe Modifications

ZESTING LEMONS: First, I cannot stress how important it is to use a microplane or some ergonomically-friendly item to zest 3 dozen lemons. I was up until 2AM zesting, supreming and sectioning lemons. This morning, I remembered I had bought a microplane - it was hanging on my baker's rack, laughing at me.

SUGAR: After reviewing the recipe, and retasting the last bit of chutney from the last batch, I considered my fruit and sugar options for this round. So many chutney recipes call for brown sugar -- this is basically white sugar mixed in with the molasses that was taken out of it to make it dry and white. I usually use unrefined cane sugar in my house, as well as dehydrated sugar cane in these forms:

• unrefined cane sugar: looks like white sugar but it's more tan in color. This is not whitened through bone char and considerably less processed than white sugar.
• demerara sugar: sugar cane juice that is centrifuged to make nice big crystals. It has more molasses than unrefined cane sugar.
  
• rapadura & sucanat: both dehydrated, powdered forms of unrefined sugar cane juice, containing all the molasses and sugar. I'm not entirely clear on how different these two are from each other and am still experimenting.
• blackstrap molasses: this is the gooey black/brown stuff that is left when the sugar cane solids are separated from it.
• organic brown sugar: unrefined cane sugar with some of the molasses mixed back into it.
  

RECIPE MODIFICATION: I decided to make two batches. One batch would be "sweeter" -- and I used organic/vegan brown sugar. The other would be more "savory" with onions, more garlic, chili flakes and demerara sugar and a small amount of blackstrap molasses.

As I mentioned, I originally mostly followed a chutney recipe from Laura Colwin's cookbook. This time, I made a lot of changes. First of all -- I was working with a lot more lemons. I quadrupled the recipe and then halved it. After prepping 32 lemons, I realized I didn't have enough lemons left over to make 2 cups of additional lemon juice, so I went up to my friend Regan's house and picked another sack of lemons. This was a bit more work -- I zested the lemons before juicing them, grabbed any loose bits of pulp from the lemons and the juicer, and also saved the seeds to add to the chutney in cheesecloth later.

Supremed and Sectioned Lemons

Lemon Pulp in the Pot

1. Lemons, pt 1: Zest, supreme and section 32 lemons, reserving the seeds and discarding all pith and membrane.
2. Finely mince zest, and add with lemon pulp into glass or earthenware container (my grandmother's Hull beanpot works great for this, you might use a tagine or Pyrex covered dish) with 8 T of sea salt. Let sit overnight. The lemon pulp will release plenty of juice!
   
3. Lemons, pt 2: Zest, halve and juice enough lemons to get 2 cups of lemon juice (in my case, this was 15 of Regan's lemons -- many didn't have seeds, so I think they were a bit underripe but still tasted plenty lemony). Reserve the seeds with the other seeds and divide the zest into two equal portions.
   
4. The next day, strain the salty lemon pulp and zest, reserving the liquid. Divide evenly by weight using a kitchen scale (this was 3# of pulp and zest in my case, with 2.5 c of juice), and put into two separate pots. Divide reserved juice evenly by volume into the two pots, as well as the reserved extra zest.
5. Mise-en-place for two batches of chutney as follows:
   
   
   
   
   

   Sweet(er) 1 c fresh lemon juice 1 c cider vinegar 3 T finely minced fresh ginger minced garlic 8 cloves (1.25 oz) 1 c currants 1/2 c finely chopped dates 1/2 c finelychopped dried figs 1.5 lb organic brown sugar 1/2 Ceylon cinnamon stick (leave whole in chutney) 1 t cayenne powder Toast Spices, then grind: 2 t black cardamom seeds (from green cardamom pods) 2 t coriander seed 1.5 t dried red pepper flakes 1 t whole clove 1 t whole allspice 1 t fenugreek seed

   Savory 1 c fresh lemon juice 1 c cider vinegar 3 T finely minced fresh ginger minced garlic 12 cloves (2.5 oz) 1 c raisins 1/2 c finely chopped dried apricot 1 large yellow onion, chopped 1.5 lb demerara sugar 1/4 c blackstrap molasses 2 bay leaves (leave whole in chutney) 1 t cayenne powder Toast Spices, then grind: 2 t black cardamom seeds (from green cardamom pods) 2 t coriander seed 2 t dried red pepper flakes 1/2 t black pepper 1/2 t brown mustard seed

6. The spices are pretty labor intensive -- if you haven't bought hulled cardamom, put the green cardamom pods into your mortar/pestle and bust them open until you have enough. Toast the spices -- except the cayenne (believe me - you don't want to breathe that in!). Once they toast and the coriander starts popping, put them in your mortar & pestle and grind as finely as you can, or put into a spice mill/coffee grinder.
   
7. Cook everything for 60 minutes or so until it reaches the right consistency.
8. Remove cheesecloth with lemon seeds. Let sit overnight. Taste, make any corrections (additional lemon juice, more ginger or chili, for example).
   
9. Heat up, taste again, when satisfied, put into clean, hot mason jars and hot water bath can.
   
   

Yield:

SWEET(ER) LEMON CHUTNEY
6 - 4 oz
2 - 8 oz

SAVORY LEMON CHUTNEY
7 - 4 oz
2 - 8 oz


I have to admit -- the sweet(er) version surprised me. The chopped figs really thickened up the chutney and it is very fruity and yet very lemony. The savory version definitely has a kick to it. The sweeter version is much darker in color (the figs and dates, to be sure). Both are pretty darned tasty.

PEACHES: I managed to cook down the peaches and have a full half gallon jug and a 2/3 half gallon jug of the juice, and a big pot of fruit. I'm letting it cool so I can make jam and jelly tomorrow while canning the chutney. Apricots are still in the refrigerator.

My brother visited and brought Indian food this evening. I'm hopeful that he'll come over and help me tomorrow night by assembling the pieces for the solar dehydrator. He knows how to straighten slightly warped 1" x 2" pieces! He was taking pictures of my stacks of jars of jelly and inside my refrigerator for "proof" that I'm turning into Grandma Clark.

When Life Hands You Peaches...(and a peach of a neighbor!)

My darling cats are little foragers -- and in chasing them one day, they showed me a neighbor's burgeoning peach trees. Right across the street -- from my driveway, I can see fruit on the ground, rotting. Today I introduced myself, and we had a great visit -- I showed him my garden, we shared homemade liquers with each other (his fruit brandy is made with currants and he liked my limoncello).

E. is in his 50s, originally from Iran and he works as a general contractor and teaches construction at a nearby community college.. He loves planting trees and believes, "well, if you need plants and greenery, why not something that produces fruit and is useful?" I found out that he's responsible for planting trees all along our street where none existed when he first moved her in 2003.

He invited me to pick all the fruit I could -- two trees should be ready next week, even tastier than the white peach we cleaned up together this afternoon. I now have about 15# of apricots, 20# of peaches and 10# of lemons. I still need to paint the solar dehydrator pieces, so it looks like I will be spending my evening in the kitchen with all the fruit, alternating with applying coats of varnish to the wood.

wheee!!!

When Life Hands You Lemons

Actually, it seems more difficult to get ahold of lemons lately. When I bought two 3L bottles of olive oil at Napa Valley Olive Oil Manufactory, I also picked up a pile of lemons so I could make some more lemon chutney this weekend. The first batch I made was with this recipe from Love and Cooking, but I might actually try this recipe from Nourish Me -- and I just got a copy of "Nourishing Traditions" and "Wild Fermentation," so am going to scour them for interesting ideas.

No rest for the wicked -- after backpacking in Yosemite (photos to be up on Flickr soon!) and three days at Harbin (where I had 5 massages in 3 days), I have a lot on my plate for this weekend:

• re-tie and stake tomatoes -- they are going nuts!
• weeding & watering
  
• finding a place to plant beans (where broccoli rab used to be), dill, garlic and purslane
• lemon chutney - zesting and juicing the lemons today, cooking tomorrow
  
• painting all the pieces for the solar dehydrator with spar varnish in preparation for putting them together (my friend Eric said he might even be up for helping with assembly)
• finish Matthew's quilt - it's all pinned, I just have to get it on the machine and do the top quilting
• buy more soil and clothesline (my line snapped in several places due to weathering!)

All that and I still plan to see Persephone's Bees at the Uptown tonight!

Infused and ready to go...

INFUSING: My friend Eric gave me an idea for those gorgeously scented Santa Rosa plums: infused vodka, with a liberal helping of fresh ginger. Fortunately, I picked up some ginger on sale (embarrassingly, at Safeway -- not organic but not an "at risk" food) for $1.09/lb while walking over to pick up more canning jars at Long's (talk about your $65 tomato! I spent $70 on jars yesterday and $110 on lumber for the solar dehydrator - so much for paying down the credit cards!).


I digress - I now have a half gallon mason jar full to the brim of red-purple plum and ginger vodka goodness, next to a similar jar of apricot. Seriously considering adding a ceylon cinnamon stick or a vanilla bean...

I need more lemons so I can make up an other batch of limoncello and some more lemon chutney. Dear Universe, where can I raid someone's backyard Meyer lemon tree? Even Eureka lemons would be ok...

CANDIED APRICOTS

One of my fondest memories of life in New Orleans is from the summer I worked as a bike messenger. Every time I had a job that would take me into the heart of the French Quarter, I would go into a great candy store called Laura's. It had more space than it needed for customers and was always dark and quiet as a church, except for the hissing of the air conditioning. It was also freezing cold, like walking into an ice box.

I'd lean my bicycle against the wall by their door on a quiet street a few blocks from Jackson Square so I could see my front tire and go in and buy a single, dark chocolate dipped candied apricot. It was always so cold and satisfying - rich candied fruit and dark chocolate. I would always start eating it inside the store to get the cold chocolate & apricot sensation, and then take it outside for the big, gooey melt down in the 100 degree afternoons of New Orleans in the summer. Then, I'd lick my fingers, wipe them on my black tshirt and shorts and hop on my bike back to the fountain plaza at the New Orleans Board of Trade where my best friend Lara and I would wait for her brother to radio our next job to us on walkie talkies. Sometimes, if she was going to be there when I arrived, I would bring her a treat, too.