plums

the weather is turning

this morning we picked the

almost last

bit of plums

-

scout is a good early morning companion

she loves fruit as a treat

and 

the bright little orbs

appear to her

to be a bucket of balls

-

she is very attentive

her inspection flawless

tomatoes!

in the dog days of summer

gardens overflow with tomatoes

i find myself

with 

stores of the fruit

and

preservation on my mind

here are a few 

ways to preserve  the bounty

to enjoy

when days are not so long

Sun Dried Tomatoes

(recipe here)

Tomato Chutney

(recipe here)

Tomato Vodka

this is really simple.  peel tomatoes and cram into a jar, use a skewer to secure tomatoes if they start to float to the top.  fill the jar with vodka and store in the refrigerator for at least 5 days.  i make several jars because i like to use the tomatoes and the vodka for pasta alla vodka sauce. leftover vodka is really great for a bloody mary pick me up.

boozy kumquat marmalade

it is 

a thousand degrees

in my kitchen

so warm

i keep the lights off

somehow believing

darkness=cool

not. really. working

yesterday

hubster and i

did a drive by pick off

you see

the day before

we were at my brother's new home

and i noticed

a line of

kumquat trees

my brother

didn't know what they were

so i figured

he wouldn't mind

if i took 

a handful or 10

yesterday

while he was at work

we helped ourselves

today

i didn't feel much like

hovering over the hob

stirring 

&

canning

which led to

a small batch

3 jars of jam

one for us

one for him

and

one for pouring over vanilla ice cream

no canning required

with a sweet as honey peel

and

puckering sour flesh

kumquats make a perfect marmalade

add a splash of booze

and 

it becomes an adult only

morning treat

boozy kumquat marmalade

3 cups finely slice kumquats (pits removed)

1 cup granulated sugar

1 generous shot tequila

pinch of kosher salt

place all ingredients in a glass or ceramic bowl and let steep for about an hour.  dump into a heavy-bottom pot and cook over medium heat. let simmer until it becomes jammy..about 20 minutes. stir occasionally and watch it closely. you do not want it to become like sticky candy.  pour into sterilized jam jars and allow to come to room temperature.  store in the refrigerator.  

"sun dried" tomatoes

our first tomatoes to ripen

this season

were our romas

unfortunately

they ripened 

while we were away from home

by the time i picked them

they had

shriveled on the vine

handfuls upon handfuls

baking in the sun

going from

sun-kissed

to

heat stroke

solar energy

had zapped my tomatoes

once picked

i sliced each tomato in half

placed cut side up on a sheet pan

sprinkled with sea salt

and

placed in a 175-200 degree oven to dry

about 2 hours later

or maybe 3

i lost count

(check on them every 30 minutes after the 1st hour)

they were done

dry but not dried out

after cooling 

i stuffed the deep red chewy goodness

 into a fancy jar

and 

smothered them 

with good olive oil

sugared oranges

a couple of weeks ago

my good friend julie

handed me

two grocery bags

stuffed full

of 

blood oranges

amazingly sweet

stunningly hued

orbs of delight

best part

they were all mine

for the past fortnight

i have been

concocting 

all sorts 

in my kitchen

first up

 sugared oranges

*to make approx 9 pint jars

(printable recipe)

blood oranges-or thin skinned oranges

(this recipe uses about 180-200 orange slices)

granulated sugar

ground ginger (optional)

6 cups granulated sugar

3 cups water

1 cup blood orange juice

2-1" knobs of fresh ginger

choose your oranges carefully.  make sure they have thin skin and that they are not so large that they will not fit into the jars you are going to preserve them in. slice the oranges in rings no thicker than 1/8" beginning at stem end.  arrange in a casserole dish in a single layer, slightly overlapping.  once you have your first layer, sprinkle sugar to lightly cover.  lightly sprinkle ground ginger on top as well (no more than 1/8 tsp per layer). continue with a second layer of oranges and repeat with the sugar and ginger. continue until you have reached your desired number of orange slices. remember to reduce the amount of syrup if you are reducing the number of oranges.

sugar and ginger the top layer of oranges, cover with plastic wrap and allow to sit for an hour at room temperature.  after 1 hour or up to 2 (if waiting longer than 2 hours, place in refrigerator) lightly pack your oranges into sterilized jars--each pint jar will hold approximately 20 pieces.

 make the syrup.  

place the sugar, water, blood orange juice and ginger in a saucepan over medium heat. add the leftover juices from your oranges as well.  bring to a boil and stir until the sugar is completely dissolved and the syrup appears clear.  remove from heat.  using a ladle, spoon the hot syrup over the oranges, making sure there are no gaps of air.  use a knife to maneuver the oranges so the syrup can seep through. leave a 1/4" gap at the top of the jar.

seal the jar and process in a water bath per standard canning methods. 

for tips on canning please click here

i processed my jars for 20 minutes at high altitude, but i cannot guarantee that this method will be appropriate for your batch.

And now for the big question

what would you use these for?

well,

coming soon is a

cake recipe using sugared oranges

but you can also use for

cocktail garnish-using the syrup in the beverage

dry them in a slow oven and dip in chocolate

top cupcakes and cheesecakes

sweeten your morning yogurt

garnish grilled chicken

be imaginative

the list is endless...

watermelon and lemon confit

we just returned from an exploration

okay, a road trip 

exploring the South

where i tasted my fair share of good things

and probably your share too

one late evening in new orleans 

hubster and i 

found ourselves hungry 

and anxious to try alligator

after a quick search on his phone

hubster found

Cochon

which is not famous for alligator

but serves it none-the-less

but this story is not about alligator

it is about a last minute decision

to try the ribs

which was quite possibly

the best ordering decision

 i have made in a very long time

cochon might just have

 the best ribs i have ever tasted

no lie

the sauce is a secret

but i did buy a few bottles for my personal eating pleasure

now here is where the watermelon comes in

on top of the lightly sauced, wood-fired ribs

was a watermelon rind pickle-slash-preserve

i didn't like it

too heavy on the star anise 

(or something...not quite sure)

but i loved the idea 

of a watermelon pickle-slash-preserve on my ribs

so i set out this morning to make a watermelon rind confit

that will go just as nicely on my wood-fired pork ribs

as it will on my morning scone

here's the other thing

it is pretty too!

Watermelon Rind and Lemon Confit
(printable recipe)

this recipe requires some time

4 cups watermelon rind--cubed

water

1/2 cup kosher salt

peel the rind and cut into dice.  place in a large bowl and cover with cool water. add 1/2 cup kosher salt and let sit overnight (or 8 hours) soaking. drain in colander and discard salt water.

8 cups water

1 Tbs vanilla extract

2 lemons, thinly sliced

1 bay leaf.

7 cardamom pods, lightly crushed

1 knob (about 1" ginger)

place drained watermelon rind in large pot and cover with 8 cups water.  add vanilla, lemons, bay leaf, cardamom pods, and ginger. bring to a simmer and let cook for about 30 minutes, or until the watermelon rind begins to soften.  drain into a colander reserving 2 cups of the liquid.  remove lemon seeds, cardamom pods, ginger and bay leaf.

2 cups reserved water

drained watermelon rind and lemon

2 Tbs marachino cherry juice (for color--optional)

2 tsp finely minced fresh ginger

1/2 tsp ground cardamom

4 1/2 cups sugar

place all in the same large pot and simmer until the watermelon and lemon rind are clear and candied, and sugar syrup is quite thick (like corn syrup).  this can take several hours on low. do not let the sugar caramelize.  place in jars and process as if canning jam or keep in refrigerator for several weeks.

I will use mine with meats as well as on panna cotta, simple lemon cake and lemon ricotta pancakes.  I also intend on giving small jars of this as gifts this winter--summer need not end!