We’ve been a little bit MIA on the old jam blog here, it’s been a busy summer, what with jamming, farming and shakin’ our jammer booties at different events around town. But Autumn is upon us, [...]]]>

"Farm Frank" hot dog with hot pepper jelly, green tomato relish, radish and carrot pickles, & smoked paprika aioli

We’ve been a little bit MIA on the old jam blog here, it’s been a busy summer, what with jamming, farming and shakin’ our jammer booties at different events around town. But Autumn is upon us, and we’ll make sure to write more often and fill these pixels with luscious picture of jam and things to make with jam.

Here is a tardy update on the 5th annual Great Hot Dog Cookoff, which we always participate in and always find some way to put jam on our hot dogs. The first year we had the Colombian Dog, with pineapple, grape jelly, “pink sauce”, and crushed potato chips, last year we had the PB &J dog, and this year we did a “Farm Frank” with hot pepper jelly, green tomato relish, radish and carrot pickles, & smoked paprika aioli. We used all local produce, and the hot pepper jelly was made from peppers Igrew from seed and tended with love on my man’s rooftop farm.

JAM CROSTATA

SERVINGS: MAKES ONE 9-INCH TART

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour 2 tablespoons sugar 1/2 teaspoon grated lemon [...]]]> In our attempts to encourage everyone to live in our jamarchy — a utopian society of individuals who enjoy complete freedom from food tyranny –we’re adding to the roster of things to do with jam. Pastry + jam = pure goodness.

JAM CROSTATA

SERVINGS: MAKES ONE 9-INCH TART

Directions
In a large bowl, using a fork, stir together the flour, sugar, lemon zest and salt. Using your fingertips, work in the butter until the dough resembles coarse meal. Make a well in the center and add the ice water 1 tablespoon at a time. Gently blend the ingredients 1 tablespoon at a time until moist clumps form. Gather the dough into a ball and flatten it into a disk. Wrap the disk in plastic and refrigerate until firm, at least 1 hour or overnight.

Position the rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Roll out the dough on a floured surface to an 11-inch round. Transfer the dough onto a heavy baking sheet that has been lined with parchment paper. Stir the lemon juice into the preserve and spread the preserves on top of dough, leaving a 2-inch border. Fold the dough border over the filling to form an 8-inch round, pleating loosely and pinching to seal any cracks in the dough.

Bake the crostata until the crust is golden, 35 to 40 minutes. Allow to cool. Sprinkle with the almonds and dust with the powdered sugar, if you wish. Slide a metal spatula under the crust to free the crostata from the baking sheet and serve.

*Note: try making the crostata with two kinds of preserves–it looks pretty!

Note: you can make these as tiny crostata babies instead using the same ingredients and method, but shaping a bunch of small crostata shells. experiment to make your own foodtopia!

Blood oranges don’t need a sell, they’re perfect: tart, sweet, and bitter. The taste makes you feel enlivened and awake as the best citrus does. I’ve kept it simple and haven’t added any complex flavors. Pure. Simple. Good.

I posted my recipe last year, but decided to skip the addition of [...]]]>

blood oranges, before the slaughter

Blood oranges don’t need a sell, they’re perfect: tart, sweet, and bitter. The taste makes you feel enlivened and awake as the best citrus does. I’ve kept it simple and haven’t added any complex flavors. Pure. Simple. Good.

I posted my recipe last year, but decided to skip the addition of meyer lemons this time, as their beautiful flavor gets buried by the intensity of the blood orange.

pandan leaves in the wild

Today we made Lime & Pandan Marmalade with pandan leaf extract. We’re extremely lucky to work alongside pastry chef Carla while cooking our jam at Chestnut (her and her husband also run the delightful Mama’s Food Shop on the [...]]]>

pandan extract about to enter the marmalade

pandan leaves in the wild

Today we made Lime & Pandan Marmalade with pandan leaf extract. We’re extremely lucky to work alongside pastry chef Carla while cooking our jam at Chestnut (her and her husband also run the delightful Mama’s Food Shop on the Lower East Side). Not only is she incredibly kind and lovely, she’s also a flavor master who has worked in some of the finest restaurants and haut-dessert enterprises. We often get into discussions about flavor as we groggily listen to NPR in the morning–Carla concocting delicious desserts while we mix our elixirs of the jar. She suggested pandan, which she used in a chocolate she designed for Vosges Chocolates.

Pandan (P. amaryllifolius) leaves are amazing. They’re used in Southeast Asian cooking to add a distinct aroma (coconutty? hazelnutty? leafy?) to rice and curry dishes such as nasi lemak, kaya preserves (Malaysian/Indonesian coconut egg jam which has coconut, pandan & duck eggs–total anarchy), and desserts such as pandan cake. The aroma is caused by the aroma compound 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline, which is what gives jasmine rice its unique smell.  Pandan are called daun pandan in Indonesian and Malay; and 斑蘭 (bān lán) in Mandarin.

But what to mix it with? She brought us a little sample and we started experimenting. The Southeast Asian aroma instantly made us think lime marmalade. But with the heady, exotic flavor notes of pandan, we didn’t want our marmalade too bitter or chewy as it often is with big hunks of peel. We microplaned the peel and finely seperated the membrane from the fruit to make it as pure and dainty as possible. It’s insane and delicious! Great on toast, poundcake, as a glaze on meat or fish, or mixed with a little water and drizzled over fruit.

Lime & Pandan Marmalade Recipe

20 limes
8 cups sugar
1/2 teaspoon pandan extract (found in SE Asian markets)
about 4-5 cups water

Scrub limes and zest them with a microplane into a large measuring bowl. Remove the bitter white pith from the lime peel. Section out the lime pulp from the tougher membrane with a paring knife. Squeeze Juice out of membrane before discarding.  Add enough water to equal 8 cups of total pulp & water and pour into saucepan.

Bring the lime pulp, zest & water mixture to a boil for ten minutes.  Turn off the heat and let cool thoroughly–cool for at least two hours or refrigerate overnight.

Add sugar and bring the mixture to a full rolling boil, stirring constantly.  Boil for approximately 20 minutes, or until jam is set and has reached 220 degrees (put some on a spoon in a dish, and set it in the fridge for a few minutes, to test the set). Do not overcook or marmalade will solidify. Add pandan, bring back to a boil and turn off heat. Let sit 3 minutes and stir to make sure zest is distributed.

Fill jars to within a ¼ inch of the top and sealing (for jar preparation, see this detailed recipe). Boil for 10 minutes in a water bath. Let rest 5 minutes in bath, then remove. Listen for the jars to “pop” letting you know the jam is sealed! Do not move for 6 to 12 hours to get a proper set.

Eat with pleasure.

Our strawberry jam tastes like pure strawberries because we use fresh picked berries and instead of commercial pectin, we use “Pomona’s Universal Pectin“. Pomona’s is an all natural pectin that doesn’t require sugar to jell, so jams and jellies can be made with less, little, or no sugar (stevia, honey, etc can be used as [...]]]>

Our strawberry jam tastes like pure strawberries because we use fresh picked berries and instead of commercial pectin, we use “Pomona’s Universal Pectin“. Pomona’s is an all natural pectin that doesn’t require sugar to jell, so jams and jellies can be made with less, little, or no sugar (stevia, honey, etc can be used as sweetener). You can buy Pomona’s online, in many health food stores, and in Brooklyn at the Brooklyn Kitchen.

4C mashed fruit
2C sugar
2t calcium water
2t pectin
2t lemon juice

Remove hulls and wash. Lightly mash your fruit (potato masher, wooden spoon, hands–beware the acid can cause a rash for delicate hands)

Before you start jamming make calcium water
1. Put 1/2t white calcium powder and 1/2C water
in a small, clear jar with lid.
2. Store in refrigerator between uses. Lasts a
number of months—discard if settled white powder discolors.
3. Shake well before using.

Wash and rinse jars; let stand in hot water. Bring lids and rings to boil; turn down heat; let stand in hot water.

Prepare fruit. Measure fruit or juice into a stainless steel pot (or Le Crusseut, or copper if you are so lucky) with a weensy bit lemon juice.

Add proper amount of calcium water from jar into pan; stir well.

Measure sugar into separate bowl and thoroughly mix proper amount of pectin powder sugar. Bring fruit to boil. Skim foam off the top and discard. Add your mixed pectin sugar and stir vigorously 1-2 min. while cooking to dissolve pectin. Return to boil and remove from heat. Skim off all foam that has formed at the top.

Fill jars to 1/4″ of top. Wipe rims clean. Screw on 2-piece lids. Put filled jars in boiling water to cover. Boil 10 min. (add 1 min. more for every 1,000 ft. above sea level). Remove from water. Let  jars cool. Check seals–lids should be sucked down. Lasts about 3 weeks to infinity once opened.

Notes: Pectin completes its jell when thoroughly cool. Color changes over time do not affect flavor or quality. Lemon juice will make your jam brighter, and is essential for color duration in strawberry jam. If mixture foams while cooking, add 1/2t butter or margarine per batch.