All Four Burners

Posts related to Recipes

• 18 September 2012 - Hot Inferno Pepper Jelly (and announcing Can It Up!)

  

  I am so eager to kick off  Can Jam next month that I am practically hyperventilating.

  Patience, grasshopper. It’s only 12 days until October 1st.

  Instead, I will distract myself (look, shiny object!) by sharing the kick-ass hot pepper jelly I made yesterday.

  Indeed, I was going to share a long, rambling story about going to the Wheat Ridge farmers market (a mid-week market to which I had never been, among the many benefits of joblessness), the crazy [read: knowledgeable] pepper lady (as I delightfully refer to her), and its stunning array of peppers.

  Mostly, though, I am disproportionately proud that I didn’t 1. set the stove on fire or b. blind myself by touching my eyes after chopping hot peppers. Small victories.

  I can’t wait any longer. Let’s talk about Can Jam.

  
  
  Announcing Can Jam!

  I have been preserving and canning for well over 5 years now, but haven’t kept up with it consistently. This held true even when I lived in California, where there is always something to preserve and can. Sure, there were several months when I made 2 or 3 preserves per month, but entire months would pass when I didn’t preserve anything at all.

  I also used the wide variety of fruits and vegetables available in California as an excuse to take the easy way out of preserving. Fruit + sugar = call it done. I can’t tell you the number of jams that are sitting in my larder right now. I should be out there trying jellies! conserves! pickles! mustards! ketchups! relishes!

  Selfishly, in the interest of pushing my preserving and canning boundaries, I need an excuse (and accountability) to preserve every month. Although I didn’t participate in the Tigress’s original Can Jam, she was kind enough to bless this new undertaking, though she will not be able to participate, in the interest of encouraging local food production, consumption, and conservation.

  Can Jam ground rules:

  • Starting October 1, 2012, the seasonal fruit or vegetable of the month will be announced on the 1st of each month. Your selected recipe can contain other fruits or vegetables, but the selected ingredient should be the preserve’s shining star. The preserve must also be water-bath canned.
  • You can post your preserve any time during the month, but only during that month. Make sure to mention the Can Jam and link back to the month’s original post. If you tweet, please include the hashtag #CanJam.
  • You can join every month, 1 month, every other month, or as often as you have time for. Since this is not a 12-month challenge, but an on-going one, there’s no pressure to participate every single month. I’d appreciate it if you kept me company, though.
  • Winter will be scary. Don’t stress if you can’t find the selected ingredient locally — get it somewhere else. The Can Jam is all about having fun.
  • There may be prizes. There may not be. I can’t promise anything, other than having fun (paaaar-taaaah!) and being inspired by other bloggers.
  • Encourage the other preservers you know to join us! If they blog, that’s great! If they don’t, they can join us by tweeting a photo (including the hashtag #CanJam) or posting in the comments section for that month.
  • If you don’t blog, you can join us too! Tweet a photo (include the hashtag #CanJam) or post in the comments section for that month.

  Most importantly, the Can Jam should be fun! If it stinks or the ingredients stink or I stink (hopefully, not literally), then let me know. If you have suggestions for selected ingredients, let me know. If you want to host 1 (or several) months, let me know.

  I should have kept this shorter, but become chatty when excited. And I am super-duper extra excited about the Can Jam!

  If you’d like join us, please leave a comment, along with a way to contact you, or email me at allfourburners {{at}} gmail {{dot}} com. I can’t wait until October 1st!

  

  Hot inferno pepper jelly

  Recipe Type: Sauces/Condiments

  Serves: Yields 3 8-ounce jars

  Ingredients

  • 1/3 cup finely sliced dried apricots
  • 3/4 cup white vinegar
  • 1/4 cup finely chopped red onion
  • 1/2 cup finely chopped hot peppers (I used inferno peppers)
  • 3 cups granulated sugar
  • 1 pouch liquid pectin

  Instructions

  1. In a large deep saucepan, combine apricots and vinegar. Cover and let stand at room temperature for at least 4 hours or overnight.
  2. Add red onion and hot peppers to apricots. Stir in sugar. Over high heat, stirring constantly, bring to a full rolling boil that cannot be stirred down. Stir in pectin. Boil hard, stirring constantly, for 1 minute. Remove from heat and quickly skim off foam.
  3. Either can (process for 10 minutes) or refrigerate for up to 1 month.

  Notes

  To reduce the heat, you can replace up to 1/4 cup of the finely chopped hot pepper with an equal amount of finely chopped sweet red pepper.

  Adapted from the Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving

  3.1.03

   

• 05 September 2012 - Musk Melon (Cantaloupe) Basil Sorbet

  I never gave a second thought to where cantaloupes are grown. Actually, I never even gave them a first thought. Italy? El Salvador? China? Seriously, no clue. But, once I moved to Colorado, summer was all “peaches peaches peaches” and “cantaloupe cantaloupe cantaloupe.”

• 29 August 2012 - Watercress and Potato Soup (Potage Cressoniere)

  Exhilarated, I hurried home to scour Amanda Hesser’s distillation of the New York Times food archive for a suitable dish with which to commemorate the show. Initially, the horror of jello, jello molds, and other gelatinous substances overwhelmed. That is until I stumbled on this lovely potage — with watercress, no less.

• 22 August 2012 - Brown Butter Strawberry Vanilla Bread

  High-altitude baking intimidates me. I know the gougeres turned out fine last week. But those didn’t contain any leavening agents. Bread requires leaveners. Sometimes, as in this case, even 2. I’ve spent months avoiding baking whenever possible. I’ve combed the interwebs to understand the science and — let’s be honest here — exact formulas that […]

• 15 August 2012 - Gougeres (Cheese Puffs) with Manchego and Black Pepper

  Do you think that Julia Child in real life was really as charming as portrayed by Meryl Streep in the movie? I like to imagine so. I admire the fictional Child’s zest for life, her frank delight in well-prepared food, and her supportive, loving relationship with her husband. And her work ethic. I didn’t know much […]

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