Sweet Cherry Lemon Jam

Sweet Cherry Lemon Jam

 

The bounty of summer just keeps on coming.  Last week, it was the 7 pounds of cherries Marc and the small Things picked at our favorite U-pick place.  The girls and I really love cherries.  The day that I go into the supermarket and see bags of cherries for $3.99 a pound I get very excited.  I usually manage to eat a two pound bag all by myself over the course of a couple of days. 

Cherries!

 

You can imagine how thrilling it was to see a huge mound of bright red cherries (with a few Rainier cherries thrown in).  After three days of eating cherries for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacking on them throughout the day, I decided that I needed to actually make something.  I thought about making this again, but ultimately decided that I wanted to go the jam route.  I feel that store-bought cherry jam is never that good.  I wanted something with deep cherry flavor but also a jam that was bright and full of spark. 

Simmering cherries and lemon

 

I knew that I didn’t want to go the full canning route.  I wanted a small quantity that we could eat in a few weeks (and I didn’t feel like spending two days pitting cherries).  So I went looking for some inspiration and found this and this.  I cut the proportions but upped the lemon zest.  After cooking the fresh cherries down, I ended up with a thick, rich jam that is full of cherry-lemony flavor.  If you can get your hands on some fresh cherries, definitely try this delicious jam. 

The right jam consistency

 

Sweet Cherry Lemon Jam 

Adapted from The Hungry Mouse and David Lebovitz 

Ingredients: 

1 lb sweet cherries, pitted and stemmed 

1/2-3/4 cup of sugar (use as much as you need, depending on the sweetness of your cherries) 

1 lemon 

To Make: 

Start by zesting the lemon into a heavy-bottomed, medium saucepan.  Cut the lemon in half and juice each half into the saucepan.  Next, pit the cherries.  I don’t have a cherry pitter so I cut each cherry in half and pull the pits out.  Put half the cherries (either whole or cut in half) into the pan and toss with the lemon juice to prevent browning.  Roughly chop the remaining cherries and add them to the pan. 

Place the pan over medium-high heat and let it sit until the juices start to simmer.  Turn the heat down to low and loosely cover the pot.  Let the cherries simmer until they are soft and starting to fall apart, about 15-25 minutes (stir occasionally and be careful not to let it boil over).  Add the sugar and stir until combined.  Raise the heat and let the mixture simmer until the jam thickens (anywhere from 5-20 minutes, depending on how watery your cherries are).  To test if the jam is done , place a small dollop on a ceramic plate.  Put the plate in the freezer for a few minutes until the jam is cold.  Take it out and give it a little nudge with your finger.  If the jam wrinkles and forms a skin, it is ready.  It should coat the back of a metal spoon. 

Once the jam is done, take it off the heat and let it cool to room temperature (it will continue to thicken).  Once it is cool, place in a small, covered bowl and refrigerate. 

To Serve: 

Makes about 1 cup.  Jam will keep for a few weeks in the fridge.  Use it to spread on toast, top ice cream, make a glaze for grilled chicken / pork.  Or just eat it with a spoon.  It is that good.

Apple Cider Butter

Apple Cider Butter

So, what do you do when you get an email from one of your favorite U-pick fruit farms saying that they are closing for the season and offering buy-one-get-one 1/2 bushels of apples? If you are anything like us, you hightail it over to the farm before the apples are gone.

Fresh apples

That is just what we did last Friday. We put Thing 1 and Thing 2 in the car and drove up to Northborough to pick 40 pounds of apples. It was a little strange because the day was gray and cool and the orchard was almost empty… it didn’t feel like a typical apple picking outing. The apples, however, were fantastic; large, sweet, crisp, and delicious. I think Thing 1 ate five of them while we were picking.

Apples chopped and boiling down

Now that we have all these apples we have to figure out what to do with them. We usually cut and freeze slices for winter apple pies, make applesauce, and eat lots of them.  This season however, we are starting with apple butter. I have never made apple butter before but I really wanted something that went beyond our classic apple applications. This recipe uses fresh apples and apple cider to make a delicious apple butter that isn’t too heavily spiced. If you decide to make this fall treat, make sure to review the appropriate canning techniques, which can be found here.

Jars ready for processing

I followed the recipe pretty much as listed with some minor adjustments to the spices. The most important change I made was to keep the cores and peels on the apples for the first boil. I then used a food mill to remove the skins, seeds, and cores. The cores have a lot of pectin which helps the butter thicken nicely. However, when I did it this way I had no where near the required 12 cups of apple puree, despite using the 6lbs of apples called for in the recipe. Therefore, I have adjusted the recipe posted below to reflect my yields.

Apple Cider Butter

Adapted from Freshpreserving.com

6 lbs of apples, mixed varieties, quartered

2 cups apple cider

2 cups granulated sugar

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1/4 tsp ground cloves

1/4 tsp ground allspice

6-7* (8 ounce) glass preserving jars with bands and lids

To Make:

Combine apples and apple cider in a large stainless steel saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce heat and boil gently, stirring occasionally, until apples are soft, about 30 minutes. Using the fine disc of a food mill, puree the apples, discarding skins, seeds, and cores. Measure 8 cups of apple puree.

In a clean stainless steel saucepan, combine the apple puree, sugar, and spices and stir until the sugar dissolves. Bring to a boil over high heat, stirring frequently. Reduce heat and boil gently, stirring frequently, until mixture reduces, thickens, and holds it shape on a spoon.

Prepare boiling water canner. Heat jars and lids in simmering water until ready to use (do not boil, especially the lids). Ladle hot apple butter into hot jars leaving 1/4 inch of headspace. Remove bubbles and wipe rim. Center lid on jar and apply band until it is fingertip tight.

Process jars in a boiling water canner for 10 minutes (adjusting for altitude). Remove jars and cool. Check lids for seal after 24 hours. For any jars that do not seal after 24 hours, either reprocess or place in the refrigerator and use.

* The total number of jars will depend on how thick you like your butter

Apple Cheddar Risotto

A Hearty Fall Meal

Thanks to my new toy, I am on a bit of a risotto kick.  I am also thoroughly enjoying the fall weather that has come to New England.  This time of year always makes me start jonesing for winter squash, slow roasted meat dishes (especially pork), and all things apple. 

With a simple dinner of pan seared pork chops and roasted delicata squash planned, all that was missing was the apple.  We decided to be a little whimsical and turn the classic flavors of apple and cheddar pie into a rich, creamy risotto.  The combination of apples, aged English cheddar, a dash of cinnamon, and a splash of cognac was fantastic.  It was both sweet and savory with a nice richness.  I made this in my pressure cooker so it was also quick and easy.  You can make this the conventional way as well, and I think it would definitely be worth the effort.

The makings of a delicious risotto

Apple and Cheddar Risotto

Ingredients:

1 tbls butter

1 small to medium apple, peeled, cored, and finely chopped

1/2 cup aborio rice

1 cup apple juice

2 tbls cognac (you could also use brandy or bourbon, if you want to omit the alcohol, make sure you replace the liquid with additional juice or water)

3 ounces cheddar cheese

2 tbls heavy cream

Dash of cinnamon

To Make:

In a sauce pan (or your pressure cooker) melt the butter over medium heat.  Add the apples and saute, stirring, until just starting to soften and caramalize.  Add the rice and continue to stir until the rice is light golden, about 3 minutes.  Add the apple juice and cognac, put the lid on the cooker, and bring to pressure.  If you are making the risotto the conventional way, make sure the liquid is heated and add slowly, one ladleful at a time.  Stir each infusion of liquid until it is completely absorbed before adding more. 

Once up to pressure, cook for 8 minutes.  Once the rice is tender, remove from heat and stir in the cheese, heavy cream, and the dash of cinnamon until creamy.

To Serve:

This amount serves 2-3 people (pretty hefty portions).  Serve alongside pork chops and roasted squash. This recipe can easily be doubled.

Classic Apple Pie

All-American Apple Pie

Alex, I’ll take “Apples for $400.

A:  It’s as all-America as.

Q:  What is apple pie?

Apple pie is wonderful and this has a great, simple twist.  Let’s start with what you need.

Classic Apple Pie

The Crust

Ingredients: 

1/2 cup lard (yes, you can find it in the supermarkets these days)

3 tbls cold butter

2 cups all-purpose flour

Pinch of salt

1 tsp cinnamon

2 tbls sugar

5-7 tbls ice cold water

To Make:

Measure out 5 tbls of water in a cup and drop an ice cube it.  In a bowl, bring your wicked (awesome) whisk to the flour, salt, sugar, and cinnamon.  Set aside. 

Cut the cold butter into a dozen or so small pieces.  Add the cut butter and the lard to the flour mixture.  Combine using a pastry plenty blender until the mixture resembles coarse bread crumbs.  Add the water a few drops at the time until the mixture just holds together.  Once you have a great big ball, wrap it in plastic wrap and toss in the fridge.  It should remain there for at least one hour. 

The Apple Filling

The base of this comes from the Joy of Cooking, Apple Pie II.  What makes this recipe so appealing to me is that the apples are cooked down before being put in the pie.  This prevents cooked apple shrinkage, thus preventing the ugly gap between the fruit filling and the top layer of the crust in the finished pie.

Ingredients:

11 small to medium apples (about 3 lbs 4 oz) cored, peeled and cut.  I’m not sure what type of apples they were because we got them in from our CSA.

3 tbls butter

3/4 cup sugar

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/8 tsp salt

1 vanilla bean – fresh or previously used (more on this later)

To Make:

Core, peel and cut the apples.  I used a mandolin to cut the apples to 5/16” thick slices.

Heat a large skillet over high heat.  Add the 3 tbls of butter.  Wait for that butter to start to brown and become fragrant, and toss in one previously used vanilla bean.  Our vanilla bean was initially used to make vanilla ice cream so the seeds had been scraped and used already (that’s a different post).  Apparently one bath in the heavy cream didn’t take the vanilla bean’s entire flavor life.  Toss the bean to coat with the butter and then dump in the apples.  Again, toss to coat, put on the lid, and drop the heat to medium-low.  Cook for about 5-7 minutes, the apples should be soft on the outside but still have some bite in the middle.  Remove the lid, add in the sugar, cinnamon, and salt and turn up the heat.  Reduce the juices to the consistency of a thick syrup, about another 3 minutes.  Transfer the apples to a cookie sheet, spread out in one layer, and allow to cool to room temperature. 

To Put it all Together:

Preheat your oven to 425 degrees.  Remove the chilled dough from the fridge and cut it in half.  On a well floured board, roll out the dough to about 1/8 of an inch thick and place it in your favorite pie plate.  Add the room temperature apple filling to the pie plate.  Roll out the other half of the dough and top your pie.  Cut a few vent slits in the top.  Bake the pie for about 40-50 minutes.  After about 25 minutes, take it out and cover the edge of the crust with aluminum foil to prevent the edges from burning.  The pie is done when the crust is a nice golden color and the filling begins to bubble.

 To Serve:

The pie should cool on a rack for 3-4 hours to allow the filling to set.  This is best enjoyed with some equally awesome homemade vanilla ice cream.

By the way, this pie is excellent for breakfast.  No?  Okay, I’ll wrap the apple filling some squares of pastry, fold it into a triangle and call it an apple turnover.  Good enough for you now?