Now that the weather has turned a bit cooler, we have been enjoying Manoa and butter lettuce from the garden. During the summer it is impossible to grow lettuce in Kihei, it’s just too hot. We also planted radishes that turned out to be a tasty addition to our salads.
Our new lilikoi (the most fragrant of tropical fruits) are doing well. Their vigorous vines quickly claimed the fence as their home with their tendrils grabbing on to anything within reach. We even caught one reaching up to the sky and fastening itself to a mango branch. Our first season of growing lilikoi yielded a small, healthy, crop of fruit that we quickly used to make the best jelly ever. Lilikoi vinaigrette came to mind when I was picking those tender lettuce leaves from the garden. So with the few fruits left on the vines, the juice was frozen in small containers and will be enjoyed throughout the next few months.
Lilikoi makes everything better.
Press the pulp to extract the precious juice.
Manoa and butter lettuce with cucumbers, tomatoes, radishes, avocado and feta.
Mango season is over and, alas, we have no lilikoi either. We love making jams and jellies from our own fruit, but when these fruits are out of season we look to other sources.
A mixed berry jam came to mind when John received his copy of Little Jars, Big Flavors published by Southern Living. The book was on the Serious Eats list of best Christmas gift books for 2013. The recipes consist of small-batch jams, jellies, pickles, and preserves. We were making our weekly trip to Costco and discovered that their selection of blackberries, raspberries and blueberries were all in perfect condition. Buying various types of berries can be tricky. I’ve purchased a container of blackberries that looked fine, however the next morning when I opened the container, to my dismay they were moldy. Aargh!
Though the recipes in the book are “small-batch” we doubled the recipe because we had bought so many good-looking berries. Why not?
This was a very simple recipe that produced the most delicious berry jam. No pectin required. We expected to have 8 half-pint jars of jam but ended up with 9 jars. Since we only prepared 8 jars for canning we refrigerated the 9th jar and it was gone in a week! Have you ever had peanut butter and jam on toast for dessert? Scrumdiddlyumptious.
Mixed Berry Jam
Southern Living ~ Little Jars, Big Flavors
Makes 9 half pint jars
Ingredients:
24 ounces (5 cups) blackberries
12 ounces (3 cups) raspberries
24 ounces (4 cups) blueberries
38 ounces sugar (6 cups)
2 tablespoons lime juice
Preparation
Rinse berries thoroughly under cold running water. Remove and discard stems and any blemished berries. Drain well. Mash with a potato masher until evenly crushed. Most of the blueberries will remain whole but that’s OK, they will soften once cooked and add a nice chunky texture to the jam.
Wash jars and place them in boiling-water canner. Fill the jars and canner with water to the top of the jars. Cover and bring water to a simmer over medium heat, do not boil. Prepare the two piece closures. Wash lids and place in a small saucepan and cover with water. Heat to just a simmer but do not boil. Do not heat screw bands.
While jars are simmering, bring crushed berries, lime juice and sugar to a rolling boil in an 8-quart stainless steel sauce pan or enameled Dutch oven over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, until sugar dissolves. Continue cooking, stirring often, until it reaches 220 degrees on a digital thermometer (about 7 minutes). Remove from heat and let foam settle (about 1 minute). Skim off and discard any foam.
Lift the canner jar rack and fix into place on the rim of the canner. Remove one jar at a time from canner and empty hot water back into the canner. Place jar on a cutting board and place a canning funnel in the jar. Ladle hot jam into jar leaving 1/4 inch head space. With a clean damp cloth or paper towel wipe jar rim to remove any food residue. Using a magnetic utensil, lift hot lid from water, center it on the jar and place screw band on jar. Tighten screw band evenly and firmly just until resistance is met. Then increase to finger tip tight. Do not over tighten. Return jar to canner rack. Continue filling jars individually until all jars are filled, then lower rack into canner and ensure that all jars are covered by 1 inch of water. Cover canner and bring water to a full boil over high heat. Process for 5 minutes, starting timer only when water reaches a full boil.
Remove jars from water, and let stand, undisturbed, at room temperature 24 hours. You will hear the seals pop rather quickly once the jars are removed from the water. If any of the lids do not seal, refrigerate the jam and enjoy right away. Properly sealed jars will keep in your cupboard for up to one year, but why wait? Share them with your family and friends. They will be delighted to receive a precious jar of homemade jam.
***We write the date the jam was made on the bottom of the jar with a Sharpie pen.
I was in the garden mid-morning yesterday checking out our first lilikoi fruits that are gracefully hanging from the vines. There were many flowers that hadn’t opened up yet so I went back to check on them at 3:00 p.m. Wow! The flowers had opened up and I was able to take a few photos of these gorgeous Passion Flowers.
Beautiful lilikoi fruit.
The tendrils grab on to anything they can reach. We found one attached to one of our mango tree branches so we quickly put an end to that! We’ll have to keep an eye on these feisty tendrils.
Look closely and you will see the large carpenter bee on the left of the flower. We used to call these bumble bees however I found they are actually carpenter bees. I read they were purposely introduced into other Pacific islands for the purpose of passion fruit (lilikoi) pollination. Well they were certainly having the time of their life.
I took this photo a little while back when the Big Beefs were in full bloom.
Here’s a Big Beef ripening in the Maui sunshine.
Yikes! These Brown Anole lizards are everywhere these days. They scurry around in the garden jumping from one herb to another. They quickly run for cover when they see you but I was able to get pretty close to this guy.
Marjoram has a delicate floral aroma and goes exceptionally well in Braised Cannellini Beans in olive oil. They are beautiful cut and placed in a slender vase for your windowsill.
Arugula grows so easily, and fast. I love its rich, peppery flavor. Give this arugula salad a try.
Beautiful Sunset papaya flower. This particular papaya has a salmon-pink flesh and is sweet as can be. This papaya tree is “low bearing.” What this means is that the fruit develops lower on the stalk than the typical Solo Papaya.
Baby Sunset Papayas.
John under our huge White Pirie Mango tree!
“McChicken” has been living the good life across the street from us for years, keeping the neighborhood bugs at bay. We once saw “McChicken” gobble down a 6 inch centipede!
Green Gold avocados. Waiting patiently…
Home grown tomatoes can’t be beat. Slice and drizzle with good extra virgin olive oil, sprinkle with coarse sea salt, freshly ground pepper and feta cheese.
Hawaiian Chili Pepper. A popular condiment in Hawaii – Hawaiian Chili Pepper Water.
Whew! It’s been awfully hot this summer and we still have 4 more months of this sweltering heat. A swimming pool would be nice this time of the year. My step-daughter Jessica lives in Portland where the temperatures soared to 98 degrees so she bought a kiddie pool for her dog but ended up in the pool with her pet! Here is a cooling treat for those warm summer nights.
If you’re like me and love citrus desserts that are a snap to make, you’ll love this recipe. I’ve been making these tart lemon squares from Cooking Light magazine since their March/April 1994 issue was published.
Bake the crust until lightly browned then set aside while you mix the lemon filling. Keep the oven set at 350 degrees.
These lemon squares keep well if made a day in advance. Store in the refrigerator until ready to serve then cut into squares and dust with powdered sugar. A scoop of vanilla ice cream is a perfect accompaniment.
Tart Lemon Squares
Adapted from Cooking Light magazine
Ingredients ~ Crust
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter an 8 x 8 inch Pyrex baking dish.
1 cup flour
1/3 cup powdered sugar
dash of salt
1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon chilled butter
Preparation
Combine flour, sugar and salt in a bowl. Cut in the butter with a pastry blender until the mixture resembles coarse meal. Press firmly and evenly into the baking dish. Bake 20 minutes or until crust is lightly browned. Set aside while you prepare the lemon filling.
Combine sugar, flour, lemon rind, baking powder, salt, whole eggs and egg whites in a medium bowl. Stir with a wire whisk until blended. Whisk in lemon juice and food coloring if using. Pour mixture over prepared crust and bake at 350 degrees for 20 – 25 minutes or until set.
Cool on a baking rack then chill for about 3 – 4 hours before cutting into squares. Sift powdered sugar over the lemon squares before serving.
Now that the weather has turned a bit cooler, we have been enjoying Manoa and butter lettuce from the garden. During the summer it is impossible to grow lettuce in Kihei, it’s just too hot. We also planted radishes that turned out to be a tasty addition to our salads.
Our new lilikoi (the most fragrant of tropical fruits) are doing well. Their vigorous vines quickly claimed the fence as their home with their tendrils grabbing on to anything within reach. We even caught one reaching up to the sky and fastening itself to a mango branch. Our first season of growing lilikoi yielded a small, healthy, crop of fruit that we quickly used to make the best jelly ever. Lilikoi vinaigrette came to mind when I was picking those tender lettuce leaves from the garden. So with the few fruits left on the vines, the juice was frozen in small containers and will be enjoyed throughout the next few months.
Lilikoi makes everything better.
Press the pulp to extract the precious juice.
Manoa and butter lettuce with cucumbers, tomatoes, radishes, avocado and feta.
