Plum & Orange flower jam - the hills are alive with the sound of music

This past summer was a bumper crop for plums here in BC. With a mission of plum jam on my mind, I goose stepped myself down to Santa Barbra Market and loaded up with some of the most juicy and precious looking plums on hand. After trying orange flower water in cake, I knew that summer fruits were better with a blessing of this most holy of waters. I cooked the whole mess outside on the side burner of the bar-b-que and then put it all through a water bath out there too. If that bar-b-que was masculine before, well, it's now wearing tutus, at afternoon tea while belting out show tunes.  "the hills are alive, with the sounds of music"

What you'll need to get in touch with the princess within:
12 cups of cut up juicy plums
1 cup cherries
2 cups of sugar

3 - 4 tbsp of orange flower water
1/16 cup lemon juice

package of certo pectin

Method - slowly cook plums so as to avoid adding any additional water.

Once cooked down use an emersion blender to buzz the fruit and skins, some might consider a food mill instead, to remove the skins and mash the fruit - up to you. However I chose to keep the skins on account of the colour and pectin content.

Add the sugar, flower water and pectin and go back to the heat. Taste and adjust for sweetness and continue heating until the jam sets. 

Once jarred and ready, water bath those precious ruby fruity flowered gems as usual, and for the love of microbe fearing gods, process as per the instructions. 

12 c. fruit & sugar 

buzz up the fruit and skins 

add orange flower water

jam hot tubbin'

 Warning - this jam will induce your inner girl to come skipping out, twirling about and endeavour to turn everything fabulous and pink. Enjoy the flirtation with femininity with whipped cream and cake and a summery rosa with bubbles, cause pink it so hot right now.

Cocoa and the Black Bean, black bean brownie delight.

This is my first pseudo guest post - a recipe my mom promises produces a rich decedent brownie visa vie the humble black bean. I'm a skeptic - but there is some wisdom in the concept that the humble black bean can piggyback in moisture in a recipe highly dependent on eggs and butter. I'm willing to take a leap of faith, after all it's just a brownie. Be sure to check the icing too - this is a verified recipe that I know for a fact is top notch, tried and true.

Mom's black bean brownie's

Vegan Black bean Brownies

9x13 pan or two cake pans.           

350 F oven for 25-30 mins


1 1/2 c ww or unbleached white flour
1 tsp. baking powder (necessary) and salt (opt.)
2 1/4 c. raw or brown sugar
1 1/4 c. cocoa
4 tsp. coffee powder
1 1/2 c. hazelnuts, chopped or into grinder/blender
1 15 oz. can black beans, rinsed well and back into can, top with fresh water
1 tsp. vanilla (add chocolate extract for coco kick)
1 c. water

Method: mix dries well. Drain beans and rinse thoroughly. Add beans back to the can and top with fresh water. Puree the beans and water really well. Add vanilla and the extra cup of water. Stir well, dump dries and nuts in and stir again. Pour into the pan or pans (greased or lined in parchment), bake half way and rotate the pan and continue until toothpick comes out clean.

Cool and ice with this frosting:

4 tbsp. cocoa
1/4 c. butter (or canola margerine)
1 c. icing sugar
2-3 tbsp milk or orange juice or water (orange water?)
1/2 to 1 tsp. vanilla

Method: combine cocoa with the butter and heat stirring well, in a saucepan until mixture boils. Stir until smooth and glossy.

Cool completely and pour into mixing bowl. Add icing sugar alternately with the liquid, beating to spreadable consistency. Blend in the vanilla. Spread thickly over top only. (as opposed to the bottom?) Chill brownies in the fridge to set the frosting.

Mom says "Shockingly delicious!!!

Points to mom for over using the exclamation point

my Beans - 2011

Carmalized Onion Relish. Turkey's new BFF

Let's face facts friend, turkey is a bird too large to roast without drying out. All the butter and basting in the world won't change the simple problem of mass to necessary cook time that is essentially baking then ultimately dehydrate that modern day brontosaurus. No matter how complacent the rest of the family might be to this plain as day fact, or how convinced the cook might be that they can roast the perfect bird, a dead turkey is a unrelenting task master hell bent of psychological warfare. Basting and buttering that bird is a futile ritual we attempt to make-believe we could possibly bend the laws of physics. So for the love of turkey, and if you love the cook - make this small offering of salvation.

Ingredients:
3 - 4 lbs chopped onions
1/2 cup cranberries or more if you want more
3 tbsp balsamic vinegar
water - read the who to and use your horse sense.
1 tsp butter/oil/coconut oil
herbs of your choice if you want them
large heavy pot - preferably enamel coated cast iron

the how to:
1. chop your onions into edible pieces - don't over think it, just cut.
2. start by heating your pot, add the butter and onions.
3. allow the onions to develop colour, at this stage add a couple of TBSP's of water to deglaze and continue the caramelization.
4. repeat step 3 until you like the colour of the onions, then add cranberries and a little water to allow the cranberries to cook and avoid the onions from burning.
5. ensure the cranberries have cooked down and finally add your balsamic vinegar to the pan along with any herbs if you want.

I jarred these and water bathed them for shiny christmas gifts. Hopefully I saved some poor family members from that terrible thunder bird's dusty grip.

Eat and be merry.

When the sun sets at 4:30 - it's nice to look back on the summer bounty

Christmas baking for an army

Is christmas baking about to put you in an early grave...yeah me too.
This is the run down thus far:

Cocoa snicker doodles
 see Choco bombs for recipe.

Niro Panforte - super traditional (vegan)  
Orange Hazelnut biscotti (vegan) 
Lavender tea dunkers (vegan)
Coco snickerdoodles (vegan)
Sugar cookies 
Mustard - if you got some, just know - the  mustard needs to mellow for a while and I was a little low on mustard in each of the jars, but theres an excellent seal, no worries.
Carmalized onion relish with cranberry - turkeys new BFF!

Pictures to come, and if you want recipes lemme know...right now I need to rest my cookie dough mixing hands and kiss my stand mixer goodnight.

A load of crock-ery

I've recently been enjoying mexican food and have been eating beans  and rice en masse. With a high demand of beans in our household we needed to find an economical way to bake enough beans to feed a (small gasy) mexican army. Solution. On a whim I bought a late 70's electric crock pot from the local second hand store, the kind decorated with 70's brown specs and uses more energy than my current fridge, stove, MacBook, all the lights and street lights on my block combined. Despite it's faults I'm in love with this tough old work horse. Ready set 70's!


1 lbs beans, white navy beans, black beans or even mixed beans.
1 onion
3 cloves garlic
1 can of tomato paste
4 - 6 cups water - use your judgement
can of tomatoes  or a couple of frozen tomatoes, when you can;t use them immediately, the tomatoes go for a freezer nap.  


flavor flaaaav
1 TBSP mustard
1 TBSP molasses
splash of apple cider vinegar 
corinader, cumin, dried chili and any other spices you so desire.
bacon or liquid smoke would be a reasonable choice as well - but I've managed by without no problem.

Method:
Soak the beans in the crock pot in a generous amount of water overnight
in the early am (9-ish) ditch the soaking water and add in all the ingredients to the crock pot
Meanwhile boil up some water in your kettle
add in the boiled water to the crock pot and place those beans on high if your pot has that option
now watch for boiling over...but leave those beans to get good and hot
once the mix has reach a boil - turn down to medium heat and allow to simmer away deliciously
stir the whole mix well every so often to avoid burning on the bottom and adjust the heat to ensure it can be lefted to cook unattended. Add more hot water if necessary to ensure the beans have plenty of liquid to rehydrate with.
at the end of your cook period check the sauce, if it's too liquid, remove the lid and blast up the heat to reduce.

Eat with rice and lots and lots of beer and celebrate that your indulging in some vegetarian fare. 

Rice is nice

If there is anything as satisfying as rice pudding, I haven't met him yet.

There are cool drinks on hot summer days, turkey gravy on mashed potatoes and rice pudding in that order of highly satisfying food to dine on.

I used to belong to a fringe group of people who baked their rice pudding, same basic ingredients but blapped into the oven for hours and hours only to get sweet golden baked rice. In the words of so many stereotypical movie side kicks...

"Oh no you didn't"

So no, I don't,

bake rice pudding anymore - it's nothin’ but stovetop for me.

This is the only recipe I've ever purposely used raisins. 
Little know fact: Raisins remain the most unholy of all the dried shrivel fruits,  Eve didn't offer Adam an apple, she offered him a box of raisins. A millennium of re-editing the bible turned the raisins to an apple, but sure as you are reading this blog, the Devil had a "fun sized" box of Sunmaid raisins ready for unsuspecting souls. Why do you think adults hand them to children at Halloween?? They're the food of the devil; adults just follow the tradition of trying to corrupt the innocent through the power of the wrinkly grape.   All true.

"Hey Adam, you wanna box of raisins?"

In this recipe you'll learn the awesome power of rice to counteract the evil lurking in the raisin, just don't deviate...unless you feel lucky punk, well, do ya?

Ingredients:

• 1 c. short grain white rice
• 1/4 c. sugar or sweet stuff of your choice
• 2 c. water
• 2 c. milk or milk substitute
• 1/2 c. raisins
• Vanilla, extract (ghetto) or 1 scraped bean pod (gourmet) it's up to you
• 1/4 c. coconut water, milk or cream

Place the first 5 ingredients in a saucepan EXCEPT the vanilla extract and coconut

Say some prayers to the gods of good will asking they protect you from the evils evoked when you pulled out the raisins.

Turn that pan right up and get a boil started - stir often and do not scold the milk...seriously it's sensitive. 

Turn the heat to a low temp and feel free to stir the pudding frequently, remember we're making a pudding so whip those starches up.

When you think it's about done, that's when you introduce the vanilla and coconut. Coconut? But why? It's in ambrosia, ambrosia is the foods of the gods, ergo, and it’ll counter balance the evil raisins.

Remember to hold off to allow this puddin’ to cool before performing a triple twisting double pike in, a direct hit of rice puddin’ immediately after cooking with burn you taste buds off. Take a break; relax and the world will be your pudding.

Eat, in good taste.

It's not easy being green

Too many heads of iceberg lettuce out there blanding the whole world up with their tastelessness. If your in the grocer and your buying iceberg, please for the love of sweet bearded baby Jesus remember this ...

                    you CAN buy good taste.

There is no reason for this leafy treason, it's time to be introduced to the new green in town. Time to give up on the regular leafy ho hum, and approach the greens as an experiment in developing new flavors and combinations. Salads, cole slaws and fresh veggies platter can all be better when your try something new.

 

Here's a simple chart to help you start your picking, of greens…I don’t even what to think about what else your picking sitting in front of your computer, alone, without anyone watching …ewwwwww.  

Type	taste	Colour
Black Kale	Brassica-spinach x brocolli	Dark purple to blue often dusty looking
Red Cabbage	X-crunchy slightly sweet, brassica finish	Dark purple, sometimes shiny and sometimes dusty
Ridicioo	Bitter & Herby	Dark purple and white, shiny
Beet Greens	mild beet root flavor with boost of grassy	Shiny green and deep purple, stems are deep ruby red leading to red veining.
Green Kale	Like seaweed without that ocean flavor	deep green/blue, should be even in tone. May even look dusty
Spinach	fresh green grass – cud	shiny vibrant green
Arugula or Rocket	Green + pepper or horse radish	shiny vibrant green
Swiss Chard	green and earthy – same taste regardless of stem colour	leaf is shiny green, stems range in colour form white, yellow orange and red
Dandilion	green and bitter	vibrant green, pale green and white stems
Mustard	Horseradish and greens	less vibrant green than above, but still grass green
Romaine	Greens and celery – crispy	Shiny vibrant green and white stems, paler as the leaves go into the centre
Butter Lettuce	tender fresh green, mild	Shiny vibrant pale green
Green Cabbage so many varities!	mild broccoli lots of crunch	Variable from emerald to pale green to white
Frisse	mildly bitter	variable dependent of light source white to pale yellow and tinted green
Sprouted Seeds	mild and crunchy	variable dependent of light source white to pale yellow and tinted green
Endive	mildly bitter	White to pale green

_{Time to go out and turn over a new leaf.}