Every year we grow hot peppers, jalapeños and fresnos. Occasionally we have a particularly large crop, and after putting up our usual jars of pickled nacho rings, jalapeño hot sauce and Maui cowboy candy, we still have peppers left over. After a little research, John discovered a jalapeño jam recipe on the Serious Eats website. He tweaked it a bit and this terrific, sweet, spicy jam is the result.
These particular jalapeños are a hybrid known as Mucho Nacho. They are particularly hot!
Prepare the peppers by cutting off the stems, slicing them lengthwise and removing the seeds with your fingers (disposable gloves are essential). Contrary to popular myth, the seeds do not contain capsaician. If you want a milder jam, remove the pith and ribs from the interior of the pepper as seen above.
Once the stems and seeds are removed, place the peppers in a bowl of a food processor fitted with a steel blade and pulse until the peppers are finely chopped.
Late in the season your peppers may start ripening to red. You can use them to make a beautiful red version of the jam. Do not mix the two colors of peppers or you will end up with brown jam!
28-30 medium-sized jalapeños (28 ounces after removing stems and seeds)
1¼ cups cider vinegar
¼ cup fresh lime juice
1 teaspoon kosher salt (we use Diamond Crystal)
6 tablespoons dry pectin (we use Ball brand Real Fruit Classic Pectin)
6 cups granulated sugar
Preparation
Special equipment: Food processor, boiling water canning equipment, (7) 8 ounce canning jars with rings and 2-piece lids.
Wash jars, place in water filled canner. Bring water to a simmer.
Wash peppers and remove stems. Slice in half lengthwise and remove the seeds with your fingers (gloves are essential). Place the peppers in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a steel blade and pulse until finely chopped. Transfer peppers to a deep saucepan. Stir in the cider vinegar, lime juice, salt and pectin. Bring to a rolling boil over high heat. Add the sugar and return to a rolling boil for 1 minute, stirring constantly. Remove the saucepan from heat.
Remove jars from canner and ladle hot jam into hot jars leaving ¼-inch headspace. Secure lids and rings just to finger tight. Cover and process jars in boiling hot water bath for 10 minutes. Turn off heat, leave jars in hot water for additional 5 minutes. Remove jars and let cool for 24 hours. Serve on crackers with cream cheese, use as a spicy barbecue glaze, or a spicy PBJ.
These “biscuits,” popular in Australia and New Zealand, are soft and chewy in the middle with crisp edges. They are packed with oats, coconut and in this case tart dried cherries. Some recipes call for cranberries, hence the name Cranzac biscuits. Others call for sultanas (golden raisins), and many omit dried fruit. The three things they all seem to have in common are oats, coconut, and Golden Syrup. I first learned of these delightful cookies via David Lebovitz’s blog. David’s explanation of how wonderful these cookies are, convinced me to order some Golden Syrup from Amazon so that I could make these as quickly as my order arrived. And I did, two days in a row.
Lyle’s Golden Syrup (also known as “light treacle”) is made from cane sugar and has a wonderful caramel flavor. It is quite thick and sticky. I used sweetened coconut flakes the first time I made the cookies (biscuits) since that was all I had on hand. They tasted great. But I wanted to try the recipe with unsweetened coconut so I bought a small bag at our local health food market. I found that the coconut flavor really shines when using the unsweetened version. So for a more detectable and bright flavor, use unsweetened shredded coconut.
These tasty cherries are good addition to one’s pantry. They are a nice snack served with nuts and cheese or baked in cream cheese scones.
After baking two batches of these cookies I had a lot to share with family and friends. Everyone thoroughly enjoyed them.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees with oven rack positioned in the middle. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
In a large bowl, mix together the oats, brown sugar, flour, coconut, dried cherries, baking soda, and salt. Add the water, melted Buttery Sticks and golden syrup. Stir until everything is well combined.
Shape dough into 14 small balls and place them evenly spaced apart (about 1") on the baking sheet. Use your hand to slightly flatten each ball so they are about half as high as they originally were.
Bake cookies, rotating the baking sheet half way through, until the cookies are lightly browned, about 12 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool on the baking sheet for a few minutes. Transfer cookies to a rack to cool completely.
Asparagus is one of the most versatile vegetables around. Endless preparations come to mind: steamed and served with a drizzle of olive oil, salt and pepper, stir-fried and seasoned with sesame oil and soy sauce, and crispy panko coated tempura. Now that summer is here, grilling is the obvious choice for many reasons. The weather is gorgeous, your kitchen stays cool without the stove or oven in use, and you can make this for two people, or for a group. The marinade for this recipe is truly delicious, and this has become my favorite way to serve asparagus.
Thick asparagus spears fare better than the pencil thin type when grilling. They hold their shape and texture without becoming droopy and soggy. To peel or not to peel the stems. It’s up to you. With thick asparagus I always peel a thin layer off the lower part of the stems. The spears look beautiful and they are guaranteed to be tender and are never stringy.
This recipe comes from Nate Appelman of San Francisco’s popular A16 and SPQR restaurants. The marinade is a combination of mayonnaise, grainy mustard, olive oil, lemon juice and zest, garlic and salt and pepper. It coats the asparagus beautifully and any extra marinade can be slathered on the grilled asparagus before serving if you wish.
Whisk the mayonnaise with the mustard, oil, lemon juice, lemon zest. garlic, salt and pepper. Pour the marinade over the asparagus (use a large plate) and turn to coat. Let stand for 30 minutes. Meanwhile, heat your grill to medium-high (we use a gas grill which takes 15 minutes to heat up). Grill the asparagus, turning occasionally, until the spears are tender and lightly blistered in spots, about 6 minutes.Serve the asparagus hot or at room temperature.
I have always loved falafel though it’s not something you find often in Hawaii, and especially where we live, Maui. Cook’s Illustrated developed their recipe a few years back and I finally got around to making it. Maybe it took so long because in my mind I thought it would be a time consuming and fussy recipe. But once I made my own falafel, it was so delicious I was convinced that it was worth the effort and as it turned out, it’s not very fussy at all.
One of the important things to know is that dried chickpeas rule in this recipe. I soak them in the evening before I go to bed, then drain them in the morning.
Good falafel is full of fresh herbs and spices like cumin, coriander and a bit of cayenne pepper. The herbs make for a gorgeous color and terrific flavor in each bite.
Cook’s Illustrated incorporated the Asian bread-baking technique of using tangzhong in their falafel. This helps to make a cohesive mixture that ensures the falafel is moist and tender once cooked. The tangzhong for this recipe, consists of flour, water and baking powder. Try to work quickly once the tangzhong is ready. The baking powder is full of life.
These beautiful falafel patties are crisp on the exterior with tender interiors. They cook quickly and evenly and are easy to stuff into soft, warmed pitas. I pan- fried my falafel in a bit of oil, however, the original recipe instructs you to deep fry the falafel. You may prefer to follow this step if you shape your falafel into balls rather than patties. Serve the falafel with tahini sauce.
2 ounces fresh herbs: Italian parsley, cilantro and mint
½ cup chopped onion (fine)
2 garlic cloves, minced
¾ teaspoon ground coriander
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon fine sea salt
⅛ teaspoon cayenne pepper (up to ¼ teaspoon for spicier falafel)
¼ cup all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
oil for shallow frying or more for deep frying
Preparation
Place chickpeas in a large bowl and cover with water by 2 to 3 inches. Make sure your bowl has plenty of space for the chickpeas to expand. Cover and soak in the refrigerator for at least 8 hours or up to 24 hours.
Process Italian parsley, cilantro, mint, onion, garlic, coriander, cumin, salt and cayenne pepper in a food processor for 5 seconds. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Continue to process until the mixture resembles pesto, about 5 seconds longer. Add drained chickpeas and pulse 6 times. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Continue to pulse until the chickpeas are coarsely chopped and resemble sesame seeds, about 6-10 more pulses. Transfer mixture to a large bowl and set aside.
Whisk flour and ⅓ cup water in a bowl until no lumps remain. Microwave, whisking every 10 seconds, until mixture thickens to stiff, smooth pudding-like consistency that forms a mound when dropped from end of whisk into bowl; 20-40 seconds. Stir baking powder into the flour paste.
Add flour paste to chickpea mixture and using a rubber spatula, mix until fully incorporated. Divide mixture into 20 pieces (24 if forming balls) and gently form into a patty shape. If making balls, roll mixture into golf ball-size spheres. Transfer patties to a parchment paper-lined rimmed baking sheet. The formed falafel can be refrigerated for up to 2 hours, covered.
Heat enough oil to reach ¼-inch up the sides of a wide high sided skillet (mine has 3" sides) over medium to medium-high heat. (If deep frying, heat oil in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat to 325 degrees and fry half at a time for about 5 minutes until deep brown in color). Once the oil is hot, add patties and fry, turning the falafel to ensure all sides have browned nicely. You may need to turn the heat down if it's too hot (medium). Transfer cooked falafel to a paper towel-lined baking sheet. Serve with tahini sauce (see link to recipe above).
I came across this recipe on the always interesting Serious Eats blog. It seems that instant ramen fried rice is the latest food craze in Japan. Everyone there has instant ramen in their cupboards, and so do many of us. This dish is inexpensive, perfect for single servings, and most of all so tasty.
I added some Bacon Spam to my ramen fried rice for an extra umami boost but you may omit it to make things simpler and quicker. For just one serving, use your favorite flavor of Cup Noodles instant ramen. I used Kimchi ramen since it was what I had available and it was perfect for the two of us.
Unlike many other ramen recipes that suggest you throw out the flavor packet and make your own soup, you’ll want to keep it this time. This is suppose to be a no fuss meal after all.
Crush the noodles into small pieces before adding the soup base and boiling water.
Pour just enough boiling water over the noodles and soup base to rehydrate the noodles. You don’t want to use too much water which would lead to soggy fried rice. Give the noodles and soup base a quick stir, cover and let sit for a few minutes.
With Spam (the unofficial state food of Hawaii), there are two options: either you like it (add it) or you loathe it (leave it out).
Almost any type of rice will work in this recipe. I used 2 cups of cooked short grain brown rice.
Since eggs are one of my favorite foods, I couldn’t resist frying up a couple of sunny side up eggs to eat with our ramen fried rice. A good drizzle of sriracha sauce is the ideal accompaniment for this satisfying meal. Oishii!
2 pieces Bacon Spam, diced small and fried until crisp (optional)
2 sunny side up eggs (optional)
cilantro for sprinkling over fried rice (optional)
Sriracha (optional)
Preparation
Crush ramen noodles and place in a bowl with soup base. Pour boiling water over noodles (just enough to barely cover the noodles) and give them a quick stir. Cover and rehydrate noodles while you continue with the recipe.
Heat 2 tablespoons canola oil in a large (I use 11") non-stick skillet over medium-high heat. Once the oil is shimmering, add beaten eggs and scramble just until barely set. Add rice to the pan and heat through, breaking up any large lumps, about 1-2 minutes. Add cooked Spam cubes if using.
Add noodles along with any liquid (you shouldn't have too much liquid left after rehydrating the ramen) to the rice and stir constantly until excess moisture has cooked off. Taste and season with salt if needed. Press the rice mixture in an even layer on the bottom and up the sides of the pan to allow crispy bits to form. Serve ramen fried rice with sunny side up eggs, cilantro, soy sauce and sriracha.
Last summer we had an incredibly large tomato harvest from just two Early Girl plants. The fruit kept coming and soon they were piled high in baskets on our dining table. Having made fresh sauce and freezing it on many occasions, our freezer was already maxed out with other foods with little room for more. I was very happy to come across a water bath safe canned tomato sauce recipe. This recipe is adapted from Jami Boys of An Oregon Cottage. It is a great recipe and we are so happy to have found it.
Roasting the tomatoes gives the sauce a wonderful flavor and gorgeous color. And being able to keep the jars shelf stable for 18 months is absolutely the way to go. We regularly send care packages with homemade jams, peppers and pickles to our children. We have increased our product selection with this terrific sauce.
Early Girls are amazing tomatoes. They are juicy, meaty, and have a particularly deep red color.
This time we also harvested and used these beautiful Katana beefsteak tomatoes.
The halved and seeded tomatoes are placed in a pan with a bit of olive oil, dash of balsamic vinegar, onions, garlic, dried herbs and seasoning (salt & pepper) and roasted for about 40 minutes.
I recommend using meaty tomatoes for a luscious, thick sauce. If the tomatoes are more on the watery side, you may end up with mostly tomato skins once they have roasted.
The onions and herbs smell divine as the tomatoes roast.
The fastest and easiest way to remove the tomato skins is with a food mill. Place a large pot under the food mill and process the tomatoes in batches. If you don’t have a food mill, pinch off the skins then pulse the tomatoes a few times in a food processor. Try to keep the sauce a little on the chunky side. If you process the tomatoes too much, you will end up having to reduce the sauce quite a bit as it will be much thinner.
10 pounds meaty tomatoes (I used what we had growing in our garden; Early Girl and Katana)
1½ cups diced onions
2 - 3 large garlic cloves, finely chopped
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 - 2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar (optional)
3 teaspoons canning salt (or fine sea salt)
2½ teaspoons dried oregano
2 teaspoons dried basil
1 teaspoon dried marjoram
½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
citric acid (essential for canning safety): ¼ teaspoon per 16 ounce (pint) jar, ⅛ teaspoon per 8 ounce (1/2 pint) jar
Preparation
Special equipment: Water bath canner, pint and/or half pint jars, lids and rings, 2 large roasting pans 14x10-inches, food mill for removing tomato skins, food processor or immersion blender.
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Have 2 large 14x10-inch baking pans ready.
Halving all ingredients to work in two batches, divide olive oil, balsamic vinegar, onions, garlic, dry herbs, salt and pepper between the two pans.
Wash tomatoes and remove the cores. Cut each tomato in half, or if very large, cut into fourths. Gently squeeze the tomatoes to remove as many of the seeds as possible. Place seeded tomatoes cut side down on top of the ingredients in the prepared pans.
Roast for 35-40 minutes, until most of the skins are a bit puffed and browned. Remove pans from the oven and let cool a bit. Transfer the tomatoes in batches to your food mill with a large pot underneath collecting the tomatoes and their juices. Using the large hole disk, process the tomatoes so the skins are left behind. Continue with all of the roasted tomatoes. Be sure to add all of the remaining pan juices and solids as well.
You may keep the sauce chunky or pulse a few times with a food processor or an immersion blender to get to your desired consistency. If you do not have a food mill, pinch off the skins once the tomatoes are cool enough and pulse tomatoes in a food processor (just a few times for a nice thick sauce). Taste and adjust seasonings, adding more dried herbs or salt if needed. If the sauce is very thick, you may not need to reduce it. If you prefer a thicker sauce, bring sauce to a boil over medium-high heat, then lower the heat and simmer until sauce thickens. This could take anywhere from 20 - 45 minutes depending upon the type of tomatoes used. The tomato sauce must be hot before ladling into the jars.
Prepare a water bath canner, wash jars and lids. Place clean jars into canner and bring to a simmer. Important safety step: Once jars are hot, remove all jars from the canner and add citric acid to each jar before continuing. Ladle hot tomato sauce into the hot jars one at a time, leaving ½-inch headspace.
Wipe rims, attach lids and secure rings just finger tight. Place all jars back into the canner. Cover and bring to a boil. Once water is boiling process for 35 minutes. At the end of 35 minutes, turn off heat and let jars sit for 5 more minutes. Then remove jars to a cooling rack or towel-lined surface and let cool for 24 hours. Remove rings, check seals, label and store for 18 months. (The newer version of lids are good for 18 months). ***Do not replace dried herbs with fresh herbs. Using fresh herbs will change the pH (acidity)
