Category: Fruit

Various Pickled Peppers and Scuppernong Fail… Ideas for Meatless Monday

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Food Blogs are full of culinary success stories. Few of us own up to our failures. As you know I’m on a canning kick this summer,but have failed miserably with my confitures. Now my pickles have been exceptional! No jam or jelly I have attempted this year has set properly. Yes I used pectin and still fail. I don’t know about you but the thought of remaking and reprocessing doesn’t appeal to me at all. A peach brown sugar /balsamic jam turned into a lovely glaze for pork and chicken. So not a complete fail. I read one high brow blogger in her air of superiority claim

Pectin was for the timid…

Well color me timid, because if it doesn’t work with pectin, its not going to work for me without pectin. And some fruits need that Pectin push more so than others due to natures genetic makeup.

I find my inspiration to blog from the grocery aisles , travels,dining out, and markets. I saw these ugly yet beautiful Scuppernongs in the new market around the corner. I have always been fascinated with name Scuppernong. It resounds in my mind and I can’t place the origin. Scuppernong are a form of muscadine that’s prevalent in the Southern states, particularly North Carolina. Wines and jellies are common culinary applications . Scuppernongs have thick skins and seeds, but yield plenty of juice. After mashing , cooking , and straining, my beautiful golden jelly did not set. They still sit sealed , as I wonder what to do with them. Perhaps a pate fruit? I hate waste.

I have had some success over the past month. They are proving popular as I give them away to friends.

I love pickled onions. And I love heat. Playing around with various peppers I came up with the this great pickle to use atop sandwiches or serve up with greens. Use your imagination.

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Pickled Onions and Peppers

* I’m not exact giving measurements , as that would depend on your batch. But this roughly makes 6 pint jars. Vary your peppers according to taste and heat sensitivity.

  • 2 large red onions, sliced
  • 2 Habenero Peppers
  • 6-7 Serrano
  • 2 Cubannelle or other sweet pepper
  • 2-3 whole all spice
  • 1 teaspoon hot mustard seed
  • 4 cloves fresh garlic sliced into slivers
  • 1/4 cup Coarse Kosher Salt
  • White Vinegar
  1. Slice your peppers. Leave the seeds in the Serranos, but seed your Cubanelles and Habenerros.
  2. In a lidded food grade container, place your sliced onions, and peppers.
  3. Cover with salt and add water to cover.
  4. Let soak overnight in the refridgerator.
  5. Drain salt water off the onions and peppers.
  6. Sterilize jars and lids.
  7. Heat White Vinegar and all spice to a boil.
  8. Pack the onions and peppers tightly with some garlic slivers for each jar.
  9. Pour hot vinegar solution over the vegetables leaving slight head space.
  10. Cap and Seal.
  11. Process for 10 minutes in a water bath.
  12. Let flavors settle in jar for at least 2 days .

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This recipe follows the same principle as above. I was walking with my friend Beth last week at the Logan Square Market and knew I had to pickle these babies. I added fresh basil and local Wisconsin garlic to the mix. Pickled whole, they will be beautiful on and Antipasti or relish tray for the heat lover.

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Pickled Michigan Cherry Pepper Poppers

* makes 4 pint jars

  • 1 pint/punnet of pepper poppers or cherry peppers.
  • White Vinegar to cover
  • 1/4 cup Kosher Salt
  • 2 tablespoons sugar
  • Fresh Basil Leaves
  • Dried Italian herbs
  • 2-3 cloves whole garlic
  1. Stem and soak whole pepper with seeds intact in salt and water solution.They may float so you can weight down with plate. Soak for 4-6 hours.
  2. Drain.
  3. Sterilize jars and lids
  4. Heat Vinegar , sugar, and dried herbs to a rolling boil.
  5. Pack whole peppers, basil, and garlic in jars tightly. They may crush a bit and that’s OK.
  6. Cap and seal.
  7. Process in water bath for 10 minutes.
  8. Let set for 2 days in the jar.

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I suggest you consider these pickled vegetables to jazz up your Meatless Monday Fare. Think Falafel sandwiches!

Kentucky Pulled Pork

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I like to call this Kentucky Pulled Pork. The recipe was given to me by a genuine Kentuckian, Mel Doerr. Now Mel is what I would like to call my spiritual adviser, who I have consulted with for years. His intuition and instinct are always been dead on, so naturally I trust his recipe. He gave me this recipe for a crock pot style slow cooked pulled pork ,handed down from his grandmother.What makes it true Kentucky Pulled Pork is that shot ( or two ) of Bourbon you are going to add.Yes sir, Bourbon! No need to slave over an open pit barbecue, turn on that crock pot this summer and save some electricity while staying cooler in the process. Mel also mentioned his coleslaw, but didn’t provide a formal recipe. The draw to his coleslaw was pineapple. Pineapple and Pork are always delicious. This recipe is really easy. Yes it takes approx two days with marination and cooking, but it’s worth it and wont cause you a lot anxiety in preparation. It practically cooks itself!

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Kentucky Pulled Pork

*time preparation approx 2 days. 10 hours slow cooking.

  1. Marinate all ingredients over night in a non reactive food grade container with lid.
  2. Place in Crock Pot with a little extra liquid (water) and set for 10 hours.I also added an optional few drops of liquid smoke toward the end of cooking.
  3. Serve with coleslaw.

Coleslaw With Pineapple

  • 1 head of cabbage shredded
  • 1/2-3/4 cup Mayonnaise
  • 1 small can of crushed pineapple with its syrup
  • 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
  • 1 tablespoon sugar
  • 1 carrot grated
  1. Mix all ingredients together. Start with the 1/2 cup of Mayonnaise and add more as needed. You don’t want your slaw too runny.
  2. Adjust to taste
  3. Chill and let set for at least 2 hours in the refrigerator

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Tastes of Summer…Cherry and Apricot Ideas

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Most of us in this hemisphere are reveling in the beautiful bounty of summer. I don’t know about you but my eyes get bigger than my stomach and I want to buy up the whole  farmers market, yet can’t  eat the produce quick enough. Here are some ideas for summer fruits. Enjoy!

Apricots in Brandy

Brandied fruits were and still are considered a delicacy. Alcohol paired with sugar preserve the fruits year round.Peaches, berries, plums all work well. Use your imagination. The longer the period to ripen and mellow (a few months), the better. So start now.

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Apricots in Brandy

Makes 2  1/2 liters

  • 2 punnets of apricots halved and stoned ( peeling or unpeeled optional)
  • 1 1/2 cup of sugar
  • 3/4 cup of Water
  • Brandy  to fill half of each jar
  1. Prepare and sterilize your jars and lids.
  2. In a heavy sauce pan  make a heavy syrup of sugar and water. Boil and reduce a bit .
  3. Neatly pack apricot halves decoratively in sterilized jars.
  4. Pour brandy until it comes up half way.
  5. Pour in hot sugar syrup to fill the other half. Make sure apricots are covered .
  6. Seal with lids.
  7. Process in a water batch for 10 minutes.
  8. Allow to cool and store.

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Michigan Sour Cherry Syrup

Confession. This was a delicious mistake. My intent was to make a pectin free cherry jam, as I could not find any pectin, nor had any apples laying around. I used the method of lemon juice and sugar,  yet couldn’t get it up to jelling stage for various reasons ( too much water mainly). I didn’t want to waste my beautiful Michigan cherries that were bursting with ripeness.  So a syrup was born. It is on the sweet side with a huge sugar content. But goes well mixed with fresh blueberries on pancakes. I also suggest adding a spoon or two to your next vodka or bourbon based cocktail. Ice cream, cheese cakes, the possibilities are endless.

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Michigan Sour Cherry Syrup

  • 2 punnets of cherries, washed and pitted
  • 2 1/2 cups sugar
  • 1  cup water
  • Brandy or Rum optional
  1. Bring cherries , water, and sugar to boil.To about 210 degrees.
  2. Pack into sterilized jars.
  3. Top with brandy or rum *optional
  4. Seal.
  5. Allow to cool.
  6. Store.

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Fried Green Tomato Sandwich with Bacon

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Consider this a creative variation of a BLT sandwich.In this case I skipped the L (lettuce). I love fried green tomatoes with a spicy remoulade. Having purchased some , with a slab of hickory bacon , the creative juices were flowing.I posted about Fried Green tomatoes before. Paired with a sweet and spicy remoulade, this sandwich is full of tangy zip. So if you like fried green tomatoes and want an usual sandwich, try this . If you don’t eat bacon , try substituting turkey bacon instead. Enjoy.

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Perfect Fried Green Tomatoes

4 green tomatoes
1 cup buttermilk or 1 cup milk with a few tsp of vinegar/lemon juice
( allow to sit for 5 minutes or more)
2 eggs lightly beaten
1 cup corn meal
salt
1 tsp cayenne pepper
vegetable oil

  1. Prep your station with a dish of buttermilk, a dish of
    beaten egg, and a dish of corn meal .
  2. Mix 1 tsp of cayenne
    and salt in the corn meal.
  3. Slice green tomatoes into 1/2
    inch rounds.
  4. Dip each slice first in buttermilk, then egg, then
    dredge in cornmeal.
  5. Heat approx 1/2 cup of vegetable oil in a fry pan.
  6. Fry tomato
    slices until golden and crispy on each side.
  7. Drain finished pieces
    on paper towels.
  8. Sprinkle with additional salt if desired.
  9. Set aside until assembly of sandwich.

Spicy Sweet Remoulade

  • 1/3 cup mayonnaise
  • 2 teaspoon Sriracha
  • 1 teaspoon honey
  1. Combine all ingredients and mix.
  2. Chill until ready to use.

Assembly of Sandwich

Components Needed:

  1. Bread of choice ( Italian loaf, sandwich roll, kaiser roll, etc)
  2. 3 strips of crispy bacon for each sandwich
  3. 2-3 slices of fried green tomato
  4. Remoulade to spread

Spread Remoulade on each slice of bread. Place the fried green tomato slices. Top with bacon.

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Roasted Strawberry Balsamic Ice Cream

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Strawberries are pretty cheap these days due  to the Nations Strawberry Glut. A late Florida Season caused by a cold winter is meeting up with California’s traditional spring crops and the US market is flooded.Seeing as how I could purchase  two containers of berries for the price of one,  I went ahead and then put the ice cream freezer bowl in the freezer. I love to make ice cream , yet don’t do it as often as I would  like .I always seem to forget how easy it is and how creative you can get.
While announcing my weekend intention on Twitter/ Face Book, renown  and highly respected pastry chef, Shuna Fish Lydon suggested I roast my strawberries with vanilla sugar to coax out more flavor. That’s what I love about social media. Great chefs with a wealth of experience ready to help or just talk and share with no pretense. I took Shuna’s suggestion and ran with it a little more by roasting the berries with both vanilla sugar and Balsamic Vinegar. Oh WOW! I also decided to use Sour Cream , in addition to Half and Half and Milk. Did I mention just a bit of Creme de Noyaux, an  pink almond  flavored liquor made from apricot kernels? In the end the Creme de Noyaux was very subtle, but I added it to keep the ice cream from freezing  hard and to enhance pink color, as homemade ice creams tend to do. My pastry instructor in the workshops at French Pastry School last summer declared Ice Creams will be next big thing in terms of trends in pastry . I do believe he is right.

Roasted Strawberry Balsamic Ice Cream

3 cups Strawberries  washed, hulled and halved
2 tablespoons Balsamic Vinegar
1/4 cup Vanilla Sugar ( save used vanilla beans and add to containers of sugar)
1 1/4 cups granulated sugar ( reserve 1/4 cup)
1 teaspoon Vanilla Paste ( extract can used as well)
2 tablespoons Creme de Noyaux
1 1/4 cup whole milk
1 1/4 cups Sour Cream
1 cup Half and Half

Prepare Freezer Bowl according to ice Cream makers instructions.
Line a baking sheet with lips with aluminum foil. Spread the halved strawberries. Combine Vanilla Sugar and  1 cup of granulated sugar . Sprinkle over the berries. Drizzle the Balsamic Vinegar over the berries and sugar. Roast at 400 F  until the sugar dissolves and the juices start to bubble and caramelize. This will take about 15 minutes or so. Remove from the oven and carefully pour into a bowl. Using a strainer separate the  the berries  from the juices, while mushing them slightly. Set aside the mashed berries in one small container and allow the hot strawberry sugar balsamic juice to cool in another container. Add vanilla paste or extract and the Creme de Noyaux. Set Aside.
In a bowl or stand mixer mix the whole milk and remaining 1/4 cup sugar for a few minutes on low speed. Add the Sour Cream and  half & half. Mix well. While mixing, add the Berry Juices, and mashed berries. Pour the mixture into the freezer bowl and churn for 25 minutes. It will be a soft consistency. Pour and spread into loaf pans and cover . Freeze for several more hours in the freezer until ready to serve.