Plum and Cardamom Preserves

7 1/2 c. pitted, chopped plums (about 3-3.5 lbs)
6 c. sugar
1.5 c. water
1 t. + 1 t. ground cardamom

Makes ~3.5 pints

Sterilize 4 pint jars, lids, and rings according to your favorite method.  (I heat the jars in a 350 degree oven for 30 minutes, and boil the lids and rings for 10 minutes in a saucepan)

Combine plums, sugar, water, and 1t. cardamom in a large, heavy pan or kettle.  Bring to a rapid boil and skim off foam.  Boil for ~20-25 minutes, stirring frequently to prevent burning.  After 25 minutes, check that the mixture is ready using one of the following methods.  If not, boil until done, checking every 3-4 minutes.

You can check that the preserves are done in one of two ways:
1) using a candy thermometer, monitor the temperature of the mixture.  Once it reaches 220 degrees, remove pot from the heat
2) the ‘wrinkle test’: while mixture is cooking, place a small plate in the freezer.  Spoon a small amount of the mixture on the plate and refrigerate for 2 minutes.  Push the mixture with your finger — if it wrinkles, then it’s ready;  if it stays smooth and acts more like honey, continue to boil.

Once the mixture is ready, stir in remaining 1 t. cardamom, then ladle hot mixture into sterilized pint jars.  Wipe rims with a wet paper towel, then place lids on jars and secure by screwing on rims finger-tight.  Flip hot jar upside-down onto a clean kitchen towel and allow to cool.  If any of the jars do not seal, process in a hot-water canning bath for 10 minutes, or place in the refrigerator and use within 1 month.

Enjoy!

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

This preserve came about thanks to one of my co-workers with a prolific plum tree in his backyard.  He brought me about 4 lbs of delicious, ripe, and juicy black plums, which begged to be made into some sort of preserve or pickle… Thanks Scott!  After perusing my many cookbooks, preserving guides, and pickling books, I decided to go with a spiced twist on one of the simplest recipes I came across.

The spice twist I added was cardamom.  Cardamom is one of my favorite spices, and I happened to have a few teaspoons kicking around my spice cabinet from the last Daring Baker’s Challenge.  Cardamom, though it is strong and pronounced, goes wonderfully with many things — blended into yogurt and water for a yogurt drink, with cranberries for cranberry sauce, with Indian curries, and of course, with fresh stone fruit — delicious!

Usually when making no-pectin preserves, you want to use a mixture of under-ripe and ripe fruit, as under-ripe fruit has a higher pectin content.  Since I was using 90% ripe fruit here, I had to boil the mixture a bit longer to get it to the right consistency;  in this way, preserve making is a bit of an art — since each piece of fruit is different — different ripeness, different peel-to-flesh ratio, different seed size, etc — there are no hard and fast rules for preserve making;  you just sort of boil, test, boil, test until it’s ready…  after one or two attempts, you’ll most certainly get the hang of it.

Some other interesting preserved plum recipes I came across were pickled plums in red wine (from Linda Zeidrich’s The Joy Of Pickling), plums in rum, and plum butter.  Perhaps if I come into some more plums I’ll give these a try (especially the plums in rum — I’m a sucker for rhyming recipes!)

No-Knead Wheat-y Rye Bread
Adapted from NYTimes No-Knead Bread recipe

2 cups all-purpose or bread flour, more for dusting
1/2 c. whole wheat flour
1/2 c. rye flour
water
1/4 t. instant yeast
1 1/4 t. salt
Cornmeal or wheat bran as needed.

1. In a large bowl combine flour, yeast and salt. Add 1 5/8 cups water, and stir until blended; dough will be shaggy and sticky. Cover bowl with plastic wrap. Let dough rest at least 12 hours, preferably about 18, at warm room temperature, about 70 degrees.

2. Dough is ready when its surface is dotted with bubbles. Lightly flour a work surface and place dough on it; sprinkle it with a little more flour and fold it over on itself once or twice. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rest about 15 minutes.

3. Using just enough flour to keep dough from sticking to work surface or to your fingers, gently and quickly shape dough into a ball. Generously coat a cotton towel (not terry cloth) with flour, wheat bran or cornmeal; put dough seam side down on towel and dust with more flour, bran or cornmeal. Cover with another cotton towel and let rise for about 2 hours. When it is ready, dough will be more than double in size and will not readily spring back when poked with a finger.

4. At least a half-hour before dough is ready, heat oven to 450 degrees. Put a 6- to 8-quart heavy covered pot (cast iron, enamel, Pyrex or ceramic) in oven as it heats. When dough is ready, carefully remove pot from oven. Slide your hand under towel and turn dough over into pot, seam side up; it may look like a mess, but that is O.K. Shake pan once or twice if dough is unevenly distributed; it will straighten out as it bakes. Cover with lid and bake 30 minutes, then remove lid and bake another 15 to 30 minutes, until loaf is beautifully browned. Cool on a rack.

Yield: One 1½-pound loaf.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

I have tried to make bread from scratch many times, and I have failed miserably many times… It’s probably that I don’t knead enough, but whenever I try to make bread from scratch (quick breads excepted), they turn out as dense and heavy as a brick.  In the words of the lolcats, homemade bread - FAIL!

And then…. and then… and then I found this amazing NO-KNEAD bread recipe!  It’s been making it’s way around the blogosphere with very good results in the past couple of months, though it originally appeared in the NYTimes last fall…  It’s not often that innovation happens in the baking world, but this no-knead bread was most-certainly an innovative recipe.  Who’d have thought that by being lazy, you could get super delicious, airy, crusty, artisan-style bread?

And oh, this bread is good — it’s light and airy like the best bakery breads, the crust is crisp, and the interior has a beautiful crumb.  And best of all, it is SO EASY!  Though the recipe takes time (give yourself 24 hours), the active time is only about 20 minutes in total.  The patient cook knows, save your energy and let time do the work.

The original NYTimes recipe calls for all-purpose flour, but for the sake of experimentation (and healthiness, and cleaning out the cabinets), I decided to substitute 1 c. of the AP flour with a mixture of wheat and rye flours.  I imagine you could experiment here quite a bit with good results — whole wheat flour, potato flour, amaranth flour, rye flour, quinoa flour, rice flour, even mesquite flour (this has a very strong taste so just use a bit) would work well here — but note, the lower the gluten content of the flour you use, the longer you should let it ferment and proof.  And note, thought the NYTimes recipe calls for a 6-8 qt pan, I used my 5 qt. Le Creuset pan with great results.

Anyhow, whether you’re a seasoned bread maker or have never tried it before, I encourage you to give this a try — it’s simple, delicious, and versatile.  Oh yeah, and you’ll probably get a lot of compliments if you serve it to anyone!! :)

Deviled Eggs

12 hard-boiled eggs
3 - 4T. mayonnaise
1 T. mustard
1/2 T. apple cider vinegar
1 T. finely chopped pickled cocktail onions
1 T. pickled onion juice
1/2 T. dried dill (or 1 T. fresh)
1/2 t. cayenne pepper
Paprika, for garnish

Carefully peel hard-boiled eggs, being careful not to break the whites.  Slice the eggs in half vertically.  Carefully press or spoon out yolks into a medium mixing bowl and reserve whites.  Add mayonnaise, mustard, vinegar, pickled onions, onion juice, dill, and cayenne.  Mix until smooth (I buzzed the mixture with a hand blender for an extra smooth consistency).

If you have a pastry bag, fill it with the yolk mixture;  otherwise, fill a plastic sandwich bag with the yolk mixture, then cut the corner from the bag to make a make-shift pastry bag.  Arrange the egg whites on a serving dish, then pipe the yolk mixture into the egg halves.  Garnish with a sprinkle of paprika.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Ah, deviled eggs — an unsophisticated American classic… simple but loved, plain but comforting… a little creamy, eggy, savory, vinegar-y — what’s not to like?

Steven asked me to make these for a barbecue we had last weekend before going to a Stevie Wonder concert at Shoreline Amphitheater.  As we were going to see an American musical icon, we decided to go with a pretty traditional, comfort-style menu — deviled eggs, slow-cooked ribs, sausages, pulled pork, corn, melon, berries, and a lemon-berry tart (recipe coming soon!)

And even though these were the most prolific appetizer (there were 24!), they were the first to disappear.  I’ll admit to throwing back at least 2, but really, there were only 8 people here by the time these ran out!  That’s the sign of a successful appetizer!

There are as many different ways to make deviled eggs as there are chickens on the earth, and I’m curious to know how YOU like to make deviled eggs.  Here I added some pickled onion juice for some flair — what do you add? do you make yours spicy? pickle-y? salty?

Recipes

Photo from Go Frolic

Debs from Go Frolic sends a recipe for a super-delicious looking Summertime Tomato Salad.  Her tomato pictures will most certainly make your mouth water, and erase any patience you had waiting for your own tomatoes to be ready (ahem :) …)

Damaris from Within the Corners of My Kitchen sends a post about making the perfect pot of beans.  When done well, beans are incredibly delicious and healthful, though when done poorly are about as appetizing as a pile of dirt…  The moral — everyone should learn to make beans!  She adds garlic, onions, herbs, and… bacon!  I thought this was *my* secret to delicious beans!! :)

From My EpiKorean comes Bebop for Kimbap, a healthful, organic version Korean fast-food sushi.  If it has to do with sushi, count me in.  I’m particularly intrigued by the ‘Kickin Chicken’ roll….

Photo from Cincinnati Locavore

The Cincinnati Locavore sends a recipe for Garlic Mustard Dill Pickle Relish.  Perhaps it’s just that I am discovering pickling and preserving for the first time, but more and more people seem to be taking the plunge and preserving their own (often home-grown) food.  Delicious recipes like this are invaluable to the home pickler.  Thanks Valereee!

Lane from Vegan Bits shares her Love Affair with Quinoa, which I too share.  A lovely alternative to brown rice, quinoa can be prepared in an incredible number of ways.  In fact, I had mexican-style quinoa for lunch today (read: leftover taco meat + quinoa… oddly delicious!)

Ellen from Health Freedom Coaching sent a collection of recipes for Wild Dandelion, a powerhouse wild green.  I love dandelion greens, though it’s possible I negate any healthful properties by adding thick sliced bacon whenever I make it!  The combination is my guilty pleasure… :)  Ellen writes, “Dandelions are still in season if you know where to find them. In this article I so enjoyed writing, some personal dandelion lore, unique recipes for dandelion greens and hints on where you can still find succulent leaves. As well, storage suggestions and ‘dandelion detox’ procedure to rinse away environmental toxins.”

Kalva from Curry in Kadai sends a recipe that is close to my ‘Modern Beet’ heart — Spicy Beets and Pea Curry! — it’s rare that I come across a beet preparation that I’ve never heard of before, but spicy beet curry is most certainly new to me!  I’ll definitely be trying it!

Suzanne from Adventures in Daily Living sends a recipe for Awesome Fruit Crisp that looks absolutely delicious!  Plums are coming into season around where I live, and I imagine this would be a delicious manifestation of the recipe.

Gardening

Ametrine from Ways to Simplify submits Gardening for a Sustainable Planet, a lovely discussion of gardening, the role of technology, feelings of separation from the earth, and locavorism — as a software engineer, I can identify with the sentiment that though technology enables us to do many things, it also has the potential to alienate people from the earth which for millennia has sustained us.

Musings

Photo from Green Me

Alison from Green Me sends a timely post discussing her adventures making organic strawberry jam, entitled ‘Living la Vida Local’.  A farm just down the road from me started their U-pick about two weeks ago, and I envision myself picking fresh berries to make homemade strawberry jam very soon…  For anyone near Longmont, CO, she writes ‘Monroe Farms also sells at the Longmont, CO farmer’s market, but they allow CSA members to pick their own strawberries, and we could not miss such a sweet opportunity! ‘

Walter from Highlight Health sends an article entitled ‘The Upside of High Food Prices’.  With the price of ‘regular’ food going up, the disparity between it and organic/local becomes less pronounced, perhaps leading more people to give SOLE ( S.ustainable O.rganic L.ocal E.thical) food a try.

Shaheen from Brain Blogger sends an article discussing the possible link between food additives and hyperactivity.  So many health problems have arisen due to our overly-processed, additive-filled food supply that I wouldn’t be surprised at all if food additives were linked to hyperactivity… sheesh!  what is it going to take for people to get back to eating ‘real food’?

Thank you very much to everyone who participated this month!  I thoroughly enjoyed reading all of the submissions!  The deadline for the next ‘Fresh From the Farmer’s Market’ carnival will be at 11:59PM on Friday August 1st.  You can submit entries here

Simplest Summer Fruit Melange

1 handful strawberries, trimmed & sliced
1 handful blackberries
1 handful sweet cherries, pitted & halved
1-2 T. fresh mint, chopped
1/2 T. balsamic vinegar

Combine strawberries, blackberries, cherries, and mint in a bowl.  Drizzle with balsamic vinegar and toss to coat.

Note: You can cut and mix the fruit ahead of time, but don’t add the mint or vinegar until you’re about to serve it — otherwise the mint turns a bit brown and the balsamic will overpower the flavor of the fruit.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Here’s another dish that barely qualifies as a recipe, but is so delicious that I wanted to share… simple summer fruit salad with fresh mint and balsamic — it’s sweet, tangy, minty, a little savory, and surprisingly, with just two additional ingredients, it’s leaps and bounds beyond plain mixed berries or fruit salad.

During these warm summer months I find myself eating a lot of simple, barely-prepared foods, favoring raw preparations and allowing the natural flavors of summer produce to shine.  As much as I love fall and winter vegetables, most of these you simply can’t enjoy raw — imagine, raw butternut squash?? raw turnips?? raw rutabaga?? no thank you!

So, while I can, I bathe in the loveliness of raw summer produce — tomato salads, stone fruit (with or without a touch of warm honey), berries, raw corn (yep, if it’s super fresh, corn is absolutely delicious raw), fresh leafy herbs, juicy peppers, crisp cucumbers with a pinch of salt — ah!  even though it’s July, these delicacies are just getting into full swing at the farmer’s market.  I am looking forward to 2-3 months of harvest!

This fruit salad may even make an appearance at our July 5th BBQ (yep, 5th) — instead of celebrating on the 4th, we’re BBQ-ing on the 5th, then heading to a Stevie Wonder concert at Shoreline Amphitheater…  gotta love Stevie!  Are you making anything special for the 4th? or 5th? :)