I'd never actually canned anything before, but this recipe looked perfect for our surplus of watermelon. I had to give it a try!
The process was much easier than I expected.
(Except for scraping the lids out of the boiling water. Cohesive properties were not on my side)
All the spices smelled so good!
I'm trying to hold off eating them until at least September, but its a struggle.
"Fever" The Black Keys
Adapted from Emeril Lagasse's Farm to Fork: Cooking Local, Cooking Fresh
Ingredients:
6 cups cold water
1/3 cup pickling salt
6 cups peeled watermelon rind (white and light pink part only), cut into 3/4 inch cubes
2 cups ice cubes
4 1/2 cups sugar
2 cups distilled white vinegar
2 cups water
4 cinnamon sticks (3 inches long)
2 bay leaves
1 tbsp mustard seeds
1 tbsp coriander seeds
1 1/2 tsp allspice berries
1/2 teaspoon whole cloves
Directions:
In a large bowl, whisk together the cold water and pickling salt. Place the watermelon rind in another large nonreactive bowl, and pour the salt-water mixture over it. Add the ice cubes, transfer to the refrigerator, and let sit for at least 6 hours or over-night.
Drain the watermelon rind and rinse it thoroughly under cold water. Transfer it to a large pot, cover with water, and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to a simmer and cook until fork-tender, 10 to 15 minutes. Do not overcook. Drain and set aside.
Combine all the remaining ingredients in a large pot, and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to a low simmer and cook for 10 minutes. Then add the drained watermelon rind and cook for about 1 hour, or until the rind is almost completely translucent.
Divide the watermelon rind between two sterilized pint canning jars, and add enough pickling liquid to cover the rind by at least 1/4 inch. Add a cinnamon stick to each jar. There should be at least 1/2 inch headspace. Wipe the rims clean with a damp paper towel and attach the lids and rings. Process the jars in a hot water bath for 10 minutes.
Remove the jars from the hot water bath and let them cool. The jars should seal as they cool. Any jar that does not seal properly should be refrigerated and the pickles consumed within two weeks.
The pickles will keep, stored in a cool dark place, for up to 1 year.
I joined the Leftover's Club last month, and shipped my fist box of leftovers last week.
I had some trouble settling on what to ship. What wouldn't break up into crumbs if it was shaken too much in the mail? What wouldn't go bad or melt in the oppressive heat? After scouring pages of recipe books and the far reaches of the internet, I finally found these chocolate-coconut macaroons.
They are so easy and so crunchy and chocolatey!
I ate a few too many! (They are really good!) So I supplemented them with chocolate-dipped apricots.
You just dip dried apricots in melted chocolate and sprinkle on the chopped almonds.
These are the delicious jam-filled white chocolate cookies I received from Shashi at Runnin' Srilankan
"Space Cowboy" Steve Miller
Ingredients:
1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips
2 1/2 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup Dutch-processed cocoa powder
1/8 teaspoon table salt
2 large egg whites
1 tsp vanilla extract
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
Put the chocolate chips in a microwave safe bowl and heat on high power for 1 minute. Stir and then heat for another minute until completely melted.
In a large bowl, combine the coconut, sugar, cocoa powder, and salt. Stir to combine.
In a small bowl, thoroughly mix the egg whites and vanilla with a fork. Stir the egg whites into the coconut mixture. Add the melted chocolate chips to the batter, andm ix with a rubber spatula to combine.
Using a small cookie scoop or a spoon, scoop out small rounds of dough - about 1 1/2 tbsp each- onto parchment-lined baking sheet, leaving 1 inch between cookies. Using your fingertips, shape each cookie into a neat little dome. If the batter is too sticky, wash your hands thoroughly and leave them a bit wet.
Bake the cookies for 12 minutes or until they are slightly crisp on the outside but still soft inside. Do not over-bake. Transfer the macaroons to a wire rack and let them cool completely.
My mouth is watering just looking back at the pictures of this sauce.
The richness of the butter and salmon was matched perfectly with the tartness of the vinegar and wine.
Tchaikovsky - Symphony No. 5 in E minor, Opus 64
Adapted from Mark Bittman
Ingredients:
2 tablespoons minced shallots
2 cups fruity, not-too-tannic red wine
2 tablespoons balsamic or red wine vinegar
1½ to 2 pounds salmon fillet
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 stick butter, cut into 6 or 8 pieces
Chopped fresh parsley or chervil for garnish.
Directions:
Combine
shallots, wine and vinegar in a small saucepan and turn heat to high.
Cook until it is reduced to about ¼ cup, 10 minutes or so.
Meanwhile, put a nonstick skillet over medium heat; no fat is needed in
pan. Sprinkle salmon with salt and pepper and place it, skin side up,
in skillet. Cook over medium-high heat until nicely browned, about 5
minutes, then turn.
When red wine mixture has reduced, turn
heat to very low. Add butter a piece at a time, stirring after each
addition until it is incorporated. When all butter has been added,
taste and adjust seasoning.
Use a sharp knife to peek inside
thickest part of fish to judge doneness. When done to your liking, about
3 to 5 minutes after you turn, remove it to a platter or serving
plates. Spoon sauce over fish, garnish if you like, and serve.
We got sumac after a Turkish cooking class, and I've been scouring the far reaches of recipe books and the internet for recipes.
This is great salad recipe if you want to try sumac. For a simpler sumac recipe, try adding sumac and salt to sliced red onion and letting it sit for about an hour. My mother, who usually picks onion out of everything, loved the onions.
1/2 cup lemon juice
1/2 cup olive oil
2 to 4 cloves garlic, minced
Salt & pepper to taste
2 cups shredded romaine lettuce
1 large or 2 small cucumbers, small dice
2 cups of fresh tomatoes, quartered in bite-size pieces
1/2 cup chopped parsley
1/4 cup chopped mint leaves
1 green pepper, diced
3 scallions, finely sliced
1 teaspoon sumac
2 pieces of pita bread toasted until golden brown, broken into pieces the size of a quarter
Directions:
In a large bowl, whisk together the
first four ingredients. Add everything else and toss well. This keeps
very well in the fridge and can be made ahead. Serve as a side salad, a
meze plate accompaniment, or as a filling in a pita sandwich with some
grilled vegetables and roast chicken or lamb.
While we were in D.C. in the spring, absolutely everything was cherry blossom themed.
Predictably, we came a week before the trees bloomed, but the city was still vibrating with expectation.
We passed cherry blossom smoothies, stopped for tapas at a bar that served cherry blossom sangria, and walked by a bakery serving up cherry blossom cupcakes on the way to Georgetown for a college visit.
You can tell what caught my eye.
(No, we did not wait in line to try the Georgetown Cupcakes. If you want to, order ahead on their website and skip the line!)
"Big Black Horse and a Cherry Tree" KT Tunstall
Adapted from Georgetown Cupcakes
Ingredients:
For the cupcakes:
1/2 cup fresh cherries, chopped (or frozen and defrosted if fresh not available) 2 1/2 cups flour, sifted 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder, sifted 1/4 teaspoon salt 8 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature 1 3/4 cups sugar 2 large eggs, at room temperature 2 1/4 teaspoons pure vanilla extract, plus seeds from 1 vanilla bean 1 1/4 cups whole milk, at room temperature For the cherry buttercream frosting: 16 tablespoons butter 4 cups confectioner's sugar, sifted 1 teaspoon whole milk 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract 1/8 teaspoon salt 1/4
cup of fresh cherry juice (juice squeezed from cherries; if you use
frozen cherries, there should be enough juice once the cherries have
thawed)
Directions:
Line a standard cupcake pan with 12 paper baking cups. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
Sift together the dry ingredients on parchment and set aside.
In the bowl of an electric stand mixer, cream together butter and sugar
for 3-5 minutes, or until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a
time, mixing slowly after each addition.
Add the vanilla to the milk.
Add a third of the dry ingredients to the bowl, followed by a third of
the milk. Mix thoroughly. Repeat. Using a spatula, gently fold in the
cherries.
Scoop the batter into the cupcake pan using a
standard-size ice cream scoop, and bake for 16-18 minutes or until a
toothpick comes out clean.
For the frosting:
Combine the ingredients in a mixer and whip together at high speed until light and airy, approximately 3-5 minutes.
Frost each cupcake with a signature swirl of icing.
Donuts make me sick. I really don't understand people's obsession with them. Once after a Saturday track practice in junior high, I almost passed out after eating one.
Boston Creme Donuts always drag me back from my hatred, beckoning me with chocolate icing and reassuring that they won't make me ill with the custard filling. I'm such a sucker.
I've always loved Boston Creme Pie is my favorite type of cake, besides cheesecake..
This cupcake lives up to its two other forms and does not disappoint.
"Let's Call the Whole Thing Off" Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong
Ingredients:
For the Pastry Cream:
1⅓ cups heavy cream
3 egg yolks
⅓ cup granulated sugar
Pinch of salt
4 teaspoons cornstarch
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, chilled and cut into 2 pieces
1½ teaspoons vanilla extract For the Cupcakes:
1¾ cups all-purpose flour
1 cup granulated sugar
1½ teaspoons baking powder
¾ teaspoon salt
12 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened but still cool, cut into 12 pieces
3 eggs
¾ cup whole milk
1½ teaspoons vanilla extract For the Chocolate Glaze:
¾ cup heavy cream
¼ cup light corn syrup
8 ounces bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
Directions:
Make the Pastry Cream:
Heat the heavy cream in a medium saucepan over medium heat until
simmering, stirring occasionally. Meanwhile, whisk the egg yolks, sugar
and salt together in a medium bowl. Add the cornstarch and whisk until
the mixture is pale yellow and thick, about 15 seconds.
When the cream reaches a full simmer, slowly whisk it into the
yolk mixture. Return the mixture to the saucepan and cook over medium
heat, whisking constantly, until thick and glossy, 1 to 2 minutes.
Remove the pan from the heat and whisk in the butter and vanilla extract
until the butter is completely melted. Transfer the pastry cream to a
small bowl and press plastic wrap directly on the surface. Refrigerate
until set, at least 2 hours or up to 2 days.
Make the Cupcakes: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a standard 12-cup muffin pan with paper liners and set aside.
In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the flour, sugar, baking
powder and salt on low speed. Add the butter one piece at time and mix
until the mixture resembles coarse sand. Add the eggs, one at a time,
scraping down the sides and bottom of the bowl after each addition. Add
the milk and vanilla extract, increase the speed to medium, and mix
until light and fluffy and no lumps remain, about 3 minutes, stopping to
scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl halfway through.
Fill the muffin cups three-quarters full and bake until a
toothpick inserted into the center of a cupcake comes out clean, 18 to
20 minutes. Let the cupcakes cool in the pan for 5 minutes, then
transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely.
Make the Glaze:
Combine the heavy cream, corn syrup, chocolate and vanilla in a small
saucepan over medium heat, stirring constantly, until smooth. Set the
glaze aside to cool and thicken at room temperature for 30 minutes.
Assemble the Cupcakes:
Using a paring knife, cut into the center of the cupcake at a 45-degree
angle about ⅛-inch from the edge and cut all the way around. Remove the
cone and cut away all but the top ¼ inch, leaving a small disk of cake.
Fill the inside of each cupcake with pastry cream and top with the
disk of cake. Spoon the chocolate glaze over top of each cupcake,
covering the top completely. Refrigerate the cupcakes until the glaze is
set, about 10 minutes. The cupcakes can be refrigerated in an airtight
container for up to 2 days; bring to room temperature before serving.
