A jamarchist twist on a classic, Anarchy’s Marmalade Manhattan is a fun late summer drink for your next garden/stoop/deck party.  Rowan’s Creek Kentucky Bourbon is smooth, rich, with notes of caramel and vanilla. More vanilla, some pear and a little smoke hit the palate too, and when muddled Grapefruit and Smoked Salt marmalade is added, along with a hit of lemon juice and some citrusy bitters, it’s a party in the mouth.  An orange twist and a brandy soaked cherry make delicious garnishes.

giant watermelon!

hot! girls and watermelons!

Watermelons are the essence of summer, and the only people who seem to dislike them are usually turned-off by the watery, grainy texture. Putting them up in a jar is a great way to circumvent the texture and still get the great and refreshing watermelon taste.

Our neighbors at the New Amsterdam Market are a lovely family with a farm in New Jersey. Z Food Farm is run by the young and industrious David Zaback, and his parents help him out, working alongside him at the markets in NYC and Philadelphia. They’re the nicest folks, and generously ply us with GORGEOUS and delicious certified organic veggies at each market.

Yesterday they gave us a ginormous 27 lb watermelon to use for jelly. They also had some amazing lemongrass that will go great with the melon for a super refreshing jelly.

Watermelon & Lemongrass Jelly Recipe

4C mashed fruit
2C sugar
2t calcium water (Pomona’s Pectin)
2t pectin (Pomona’s Pectin)
3tbl lemon juice
3 stalks lemongrass, smashed & bruised (use a meat mallet or the back of a knife) and tied in a knot
pinch of salt

Wash and rinse jars; bring to a boil and boil covered for 10 minutes to sanitize. Let stand in hot water. Bring lids and rings to boil; turn down heat; let stand in hot water.

Clean and prepare fruit. Measure fruit into a stainless steal or copper pot (DO NOT use aluminum). Add lemongrass stalks tied in a knot, pinch of salt and proper amount of calcium water from jar into pan; stir well.

Measure remaining 1 cup 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 (this may take up to 12 hours), then check seals –lids should be sucked down.

Jam will last two to four months once open and refrigerated. Unopened, it will last up to a year on the shelf.

Note: The jam will jell completely and reach it’s proper “jam” texture when thoroughly cool — this might take 8 to 10 hours at room temperature.

our watermelon is almost as big as this one in Japan

Mixing jam and booze into a delicious cocktail is the perfect summer drink (come to think of it, we love them in fall, winter and spring too). This one uses our Apricot Jam with Thyme & Vanilla, which is the bomb and perfect for mixing with cognac.

The Apricot Scuffle

2 tsp. apricot jam with thyme and vanilla
1/2 tsp. sugar
3 oz. Cognac
twist of lemon
1. Add jam, sugar, and 1 teaspoon water in a small microwave-safe bowl and heat for about 30 seconds. Stir to dissolve sugar, and allow mixture to cool.

2. In a cocktail shaker filled with ice, combine apricot jam syrup and cognac, and shake until well chilled. Strain cognac mixture over ice in the Collins glass, gently stir, add more crushed ice if necssary. Top with a lemon twist.

nice spot for berries

On a wild and rainy summer night, I pulled up to the curb and met a man at the Bowery Hotel, where I slipped him an anonymous and unmarked envelope of cash. After a brief exchange under the the awning that shrouded us from the street behind a perpetual veil of rain, I left with my reward fleeing into the street, the night, back over the Williamsburg Bridge to my burrough.

Back in Brooklyn, I stashed my loot in the walkin, where they wedged beside grapefruits and apples to await their fate tomorrow when they will be turned into jam.

Wild blueberries, such divine little nuggets! I got these organically grown beauties from Doug at Continuous Harmony Blueberries, who farms some of the prettiest country up in Lincolnville on the coast of Maine.

Keep your eyes peeled for what magical concoctions are divined with these berries….

beautiful blueberries being harvested (this is hard work, the bushes are spiky)

little migrant worker, slaving away

Our friends and jam fans often share their favorite jam pairings and recipes they’ve created with our flavors when they stop by our stand at the market. This week we got a few great ones!

Rhubarb Hibiscus Jam used as a glaze on pork ribs.

Spiced Beer Jelly stirred into a homemade mayo and put on a burger.

Hot Fireman’s Pear grilled with sharp chedder on Roberta’s City White bread.

Lime & Pandan Marmalade used as a marinade on grilled fish.

Come visit us at Smorgasburg tomorrow! We’ve got fun new flavors: Lime & Pandan Marmalade, Pickled Strawberries, and Blackberry Lavender Jam.

Although I spend most of my time jammin’, I have a soft spot for things in brine. The really fun thing about learning to make pickles is once you understand how to balance the brine and process the jars, you can pickle almost anything! We’ll be doing two kinds at my pickle class on August 9th: fruit and vegetables. Come join us for a fun time!

I will show you how to take advantage of your victory garden (or local CSA or farmer’s market) and make delicious pickled fruit and veggies in this hands on class. This class will teach you the time-honored tools and tricks to preserve summer in a jar. Each participant gets a jar that they’ve helped preserve! Wine and sparkling water will be served to help loosen up your pickling skills.

Tuesday, August 9
At the Ted & Amy Supper Club in Fort Greene, Brooklyn
7:00-8:o0pm
$40/class

For those wanting jam classes, there will be one on September 7th, same time, same place.

It’s that hot hot time of the year again, and with the temp in the 90s and rumored to hit the triple digits this week we’re bringin’ back an old favorite: Lime and Pandan Marmalade! Folks keep asking for it at markets and since we love it too, it seemed the perfect time to revisit.

For a special twist on our classic flavor, we got our hands on some awesome key limes, so we mixed those with the juice and zest from regular Persian limes. We also added pandan leaves, which are long green leaves of the herbaceous tropical Pandanus plant (also called Screw Pine, a much less charming name). In Southeast Asia, pandan leaves are used to lend a unique nutty, tropical, almost musky taste and aroma to desserts and drinks. Pandan leaves are used in everything from textiles to medicine to religious ceremonies. And they’re delicious with limes! Laena’s friend Carla, who she used to cook alongside at Chestnut in Carroll Gardens, is a renowned pastry chef and designed chocolates for an infamous chocolate company for many years. She exposed Laena to the awesomeness of pandan by slipping her a little vial of the extract years ago and after she dribbled some into limes, this magical marmalade was born!

Poor Emma had to chop these tiny little suckers until her fingers ached! But at least they smell great.

As posted before, each batch of beer jelly gets a new beer. The honest truth is I go to Sixpoint Craft Ales in Red Hook and hang out around their “water cooler” taps in the back room with Cathy Erway and the beer guys, and we chat about what would be good to use this time. Often these taps have the small batch beers, special flavors that they’ve been working on. Each one has been amazing and this time I’m using the Vienna Pale Ale. It’s awesome!! What does it taste like? It’s very pretty with a hazy golden opaque color. They used chamomile in it, but there’s a base of malt that gives it a honey and yeasty flavor. The body is light and vivacious with a little bit of gentle carbonation. Lots of delicious herbal flavors bounce all over your mouth and I think it will work great in a jelly.

Look for it next week at the market!