Blackberry Jam

I bought some canning jars the other day because I thought they would be useful storage containers. I'm now one step closer to actually canning food. I thought about taking the plunge, but I don't have a pot large enough to boil the jars. Someday...

I don't know how much longer I'll be receiving blackberries in my CSA share, so I thought I'd make them last longer by preserving them in jam form. I haven't actually eaten the jam yet, as I put it in my freezer. My fridge already has a container of strawberry jam, so I'll have to wait until that's gone to take out the blackberry jam.

Blackberry Jam
adapted from several web sources

4 cups crushed blackberries
3 1/2 cups sugar
1 Tbsp. lemon juice

To prepare fruit: Sort and wash the blackberries. Crush the berries with a potato masher or back of a spoon.
To make jam: Measure crushed blackberries into a kettle. Add sugar and stir well. Boil rapidly, stirring constantly, until the mixture reaches 220° – 222° F or thickens. Remove from heat.

Pour into prepared jam containers. I put these jars of jam in the freezer, but sealing the jars through the canning process works as well.

Baby Back Pork Ribs - no grill required

I've made ribs a handful of times, each time trying a new recipe. There are so many different methods to cooking them - grill, boil, slow roast, crockpot - and many different ways to flavor them - dry rub, cook in sauce, add sauce at the end.

I searched for some tasty looking recipes from fellow food blogs and pulled together three different recipes. These ribs turned out fabulous. Ribs are one of my husband's favorite items to order when eating out, and he highly approved of these. Success!

The two most important characteristics for good ribs are tenderness and flavor. These ribs were super tender due to the cooking in the crockpot. The BBQ sauce provided the taste.

Baby Back Pork Ribs

One full slab baby back pork ribs

Dry Rub
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
6 TB smoked paprika
2 TB chili powder
4 tsp granulated garlic
4 tsp granulated onion
4 tsp dry mustard
2 tsp kosher salt
2 tsp ground black pepper

In a small bowl mix all the spices together. This makes over a cup of rub, so you can use some now and save some for later. Store the rub in an airtight container, such as a jar or resealable bag.

BBQ sauce
1 cup ketchup
1/4 cup molasses
1/8 cup dijon mustard
2-3 tbs hot sauce
1 tbs worcestershire sauce
1/2 onion
2 cloves garlic
1 tbs butter
1 tbs cider vinegar
dash of liquid smoke

Rub ribs with dry rub and let sit overnight in the refrigerator.

CROCKPOT: Cook in the crockpot on high for 1 1/2 hours, then turn to low and cook for at least 5 hours.

INSTANT POT: Put trivet in instant pot. Add 1 cup of water and 1/2 cup apple cider vinegar. Arrange ribs standing up around perimeter of pot. Cook on manual for 25 minutes, and then let natural release for 10 minutes.

Near the end of the cooking time, prepare the BBQ sauce. In a stock pot melt butter, add garlic and onion and cook until onions are translucent. add all other ingredients into pot, and bring to a boil. lower heat and cook 10 minutes to combine flavors, stirring every minute or so. With an immersion blender, blend all ingredients until smooth.

After the ribs are finished cooking in the crockpot or instant pot, remove from crockpot or instant pot. Brush ribs with BBQ sauce and broil in oven for just a few minutes until sauce is baked on.

Chocolate Cookies with White Chocolate Chips

These cookies are fudgy and divine. Make them soon. Or don't, because you won't be able to stop eating them.

Chocolate Cookies with White Chips
I've forgotten my source

2 1/4 c. flour
3/4 c. sugar
2/3 c. cocoa
2/3 c. brown sugar
1 tsp. soda
1 tsp. vanilla
1/4 tsp. salt
2 eggs
1 c. butter, softened
2 c. white choc. chips

Heat oven to 350˚. Mix flour, cocoa, salt, soda, and salt in small bowl. In large bowl, mix butter, both sugars, and vanilla. Beat in eggs. Gradually add flour mixture. Stir in chips. Drop by tablespoonful on baking sheet. Bake for 9-11 minutes.

Chicken Salad Sandwiches

My mom discovered this chicken salad sandwich at a local deli/sandwich shop. She was able to find out the secret key ingredient: Honeycup Uniquely Sharp Mustard. It's basically honey mustard with a good kick. The first ingredient listed is brown sugar. This mustard is available in local grocery stores, but I'm not sure in what other cities it's sold. I found it sold online here.

Because the mustard is so yummy, I don't do anything special to the actual chicken salad. I boil the chicken, shred it, add mayonnaise, salt and pepper, and chopped dill pickles. So if you don't have a splendid mustard to serve it with, you probably should look elsewhere for a tastier chicken salad recipe.

For the sandwich, use salted rye bread or a croissant. Generously spread on the Honeycup Mustard (really, the more the better. See it oozing out from under the tomato in the photo?). Add a slice of swiss cheese, a dollop of chicken salad, sliced tomato, thinly sliced red onion, and a piece of lettuce.

Ice Cream Sandwiches

Who needs those soggy store bought ice cream sandwich cookies?

The cookies baked up a little crunchy, but they softened after being in the freezer next to the ice cream. The cookies were pretty sturdy and worked well for making sandwiches.

I used plain homemade vanilla ice cream, but next time I'll try a different flavor, or vanilla with something stirred in.

Chocolate Ice Cream Sandwich Cookies
from The Perfect Scoop by David Lebovitz

1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup sugar
1 large egg, at room temperature
1 tsp. vanilla
6 Tbsp. unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder
1 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/8 tsp. salt

Preheat the oven to 350. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats.

Beat together the butter and sugar in the bowl of an electric stand mixer, or by hand, until smooth. Beat in the egg and vanilla.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the cocoa, flour, baking powder, and salt. Stir the dry ingredients gradually into the creamed butter mixture until completely incorporated and there are no streaks of butter.

Form the dough into sixteen 1 1/2-inch rounds. On the baking sheets, flatten the rounds so they're 3 inches across, spacing them evenly. You can get 8 on a normal 11 by 17-inch baking sheet, with 3 going lengthwise down the sides and 2 in the center in between.

Bake for 20 minutes, rotating the baking sheets midway during baking, then remove from the oven.

Once cool, sandwich ice cream between 2 cookies, then wrap each ice cream sandwich in plastic wrap and store in the freezer.

CSA - Week 8

Here we go again.  This week I received corn, yellow squash, green pepper, green and yellow beans, potatoes, banana peppers, an unidentified hot pepper, a carrot, tomato, eggs and blackberries.

This super simple recipe from the super simple Mark Bittman is super tasty.

Mexican Street Corn
from Mark Bittman

Mix together mayonnaise, freshly squeezed lime juice, chili powder, salt and pepper. Spread on husked fresh corn and grill.

I know I posted a cobbler recipe recently, but that one is tried and true for peaches. In this cobbler, the lemon juice and cinnamon complimented the blackberries so well that I thought it was worth posting.

Blackberry Cobbler
from thehungrytxn.blogspot.com

for the filling:
3 1/2 c blackberries
1/2 c sugar
2 tbsp. cornstarch
1 tsp. lemon juice
1/4 tsp. cinnamon

for the topping:
1 c flour
1/2 c sugar
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
6 tbsp. cold butter
1/4 c boiling water

Combine the filling ingredients, cook over medium heat until sauce starts to thicken, about 5-10 minutes. Remove from heat.

To make the biscuit topping, combine dry ingredients. Mix thoroughly. Cut in cold butter until mixture resembles rice. Add boiling water and stir to combine. Drop spoonfuls on top of filling.
Bake for 20-25 minutes at 400 degrees until top is golden brown and filling is bubbling.

I found this recipe surfing food blogs and decided to make it since I had all the ingredients. One of my friends is going to tease me because it's yet another French-titled recipe, though I had no idea what it was when I came across it. This dish is actually from Louisiana - good ol' southern cooking with the vegetables cooked in bacon grease. This made a super yummy bowl of vegetables.

Crispy Bacon and Corn Maque Choux
from Emeril Lagasse on foodnetwork.com

1/2 pound bacon, chopped
6 ears young sweet corn
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 1/2 cups chopped onions
1 cup chopped green bell peppers
Salt
Cayenne pepper
2 cups chopped, peeled, and seeded tomatoes, or 1 cup chopped canned tomatoes
1 cup milk
1/4 cup chopped green onions

In a large skillet, over medium heat, render the bacon until crispy. Drain the bacon on paper towels and set aside. Pour off all of the bacon fat except for 2 tablespoons. Cut the corn off the cob by thinly slicing across the tops of the kernels and then cutting across a second time to release the milk from the corn. Scrape the cob once or twice to extract the milk. You should have about 4 cups of corn with the milk. To the pan, over medium heat, add the oil, onions and bell peppers. Season with salt and cayenne. Saute for 2 minutes. Add the corn. Season with salt and cayenne. Continue to saute for 10 minutes. Add the tomatoes and cook, stirring occasionally, for 15 minutes, or until the corn is tender. Stir in the milk and remove from heat. Stir in the crispy bacon and green onions. Serve immediately.

Peppermint Patties

Who knew making homemade peppermint patties is so easy? Well it is! You can do it!

I have made this recipe twice. Once, following the original directions, which makes big slabs which are cut into smaller pieces. Since the recipe is from an ice cream cookbook, the patties aren't pretty because they're supposed to be stirred into ice cream. When I made them I noticed the mint dough was pretty easy to work with and stayed together very well when dipped into chocolate. So the second time I made them, I patted the dough flat and then used a cookie cutter to form small disks. It worked like a mint charm!

Peppermint Patties
from The Perfect Scoop by David Lebovitz

2 cups confectioners' sugar
3 Tbsp. light corn syrup
2 tsp. water
scant 1/8 tsp. peppermint extract or oil
6 ounces bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, chopped

Line a baking sheet with plastic wrap or parchment paper and dust it with about 1 tablespoon of the confectioners' sugar.

In a bowl, mix the corn syrup, water, and mint extract or oil. Gradually stir in the remiaing confectioner's sugar. As the mixture thickens, knead it with your hands until it forms a smooth ball (it will seem dry at first, but it will come together).

Pat the dough out ounto the sugar-dusted baking sheet about 1/3 inch thick and let it dry, uncovered, for at least 8 hours or overnight.

Melt the chocolate in a clean, absolutely dry bowl set over simmering water, stirring until smooth. Remove from the heat. Line a dinner plate with plastic wrap. Cut the mint disk into 6 triangular wedges, as if cutting a pie, and brush off any excess powdered sugar. Using 2 forks, dip each wedge in the chocolate, turning it over to coat both sides, then trasfer each piece to the plastic-lined dinner plate.

Chill in the refrigerator or freezer until the chocolate has firmed up, then chop into bite-sized pieces.