cooking

Making Jam Is Easy, Canning is the Hard Part

Ella, Free

Oh, summer, with its oppressive heat and humidity also brings an abundance of fresh fruit. Stone fruits and berries are all in season and relatively cheap. Unfortunately, the temptation to buy large quantities is in conflict with these fragile fruits’ limited shelf life. One way to preserve these tasty fruits for later in the year is to make jam.

I know it might seem daunting, but making jam is actually quite easy. Canning is the hard part, and if you have enough room in your freezer for a few containers of jam in choice flavors, it is completely unnecessary. Homemade jam is perfect on toast, ice cream, or oatmeal. All it requires is fruit, a little lemon juice, a pot, and maybe some sugar or spices if you’re up for it.

Just take that extra fruit that you bought, but forgot to eat, cut it up, and throw it in a pot. I recommend starting with at least a pint of fruit. This can be all the same fruit, like those peaches you were going to eat with lunch every day and then didn’t or the hodgepodge of berries you impulse-bought on your last grocery trip. Rinse the fruit and cut it into bite-sized chunks if necessary. Add a little lemon juice to help break down the fruit and cut some of the sweetness. This quantity will vary depending on your tastes, but I usually use a tablespoon per pint of fruit. Bring the fruit slowly to a simmer, stirring constantly. The fruit will begin to break down and thicken as the water boils off.

Taste as you go and add sugar, ginger, cinnamon, or whatever you feel is necessary. When the jam has reached its desired thickness, remove from the heat and allow to cool. Transfer the cooled jam to a freezer-safe container and store until ready to use. Depending on the amount of fruit you use, the amount of jam you get could be very small. It’ll still be enough jam to use on a few pieces of toast or on some vanilla ice cream.

Now to the big questions:

  1. Why would I stand over a boiling pot of fruit for an hour in the middle of summer? Well, it might make you feel cooler when you step away from the stove. And sometimes we have to put in a little effort in order to waste less. If it’s ungodly hot out, you can always freeze the fruit before it turns and make jam later.
  2. Why would I spend all this time making jam when it’s so easy to buy? Like I said, I’m talking about solutions for fruit that’s about to go bad. You can’t get that at the grocery store. And sometimes it’s a nice break from the troubles of reality to stir a boiling pot of fruit and not think of the rest of the world for a while.

 -Ella

Summery Syrups to Delight and Refresh You

Ella, Free

Summer is undoubtedly upon us. Here in St. Louis that brings an oppressive humidity and a bottomless appetite for all things cool and refreshing. Citrus, mint, and ginger are three flavors I often turn to when looking for a reprieve from the heat. One issue I have found, however, is that many recipes calling for these ingredients often require much less than is available at the grocery store. The chunks of fresh ginger root are often much larger than the one or two tablespoons a recipe often calls for. A recipe calling for lemon juice leaves much of the pulp and the rind discarded. And anyone who has ever grown mint knows it is far more abundant that it seems to have uses.

One solution is to use these extras and castoffs to make syrups. The syrups keep for a very long time in the refrigerator and are perfect for flavoring everything from cocktails to iced tea to just adding a little bit of sweetness to a glass of seltzer. They are easy to make as well. Simply add equal parts sugar and water to a sauce pan along with whatever you are using for flavoring, whether it be citrus rinds, sprigs of mint leaves, or leftover ginger. If you are using citrus rind, make sure to wash them well and with dish soap before you put them in the syrup. Stir the mixture constantly and allow it to come to a boil. The longer you keep the flavor in the syrup and keep it on the heat, the stronger your flavor will be. Taste as you go and when the syrup reaches your desired flavor, remove it from the heat, pour it through a strainer, and discard the used flavoring.

Maybe you don’t want to spend your day boiling lemons, but the result will be worth it.

I know it seems hypocritical to complain about the heat and humidity while I suggest that you stand over a steaming pot of boiling sugar water for up to an hour. You have to believe me that it will be worth it. First off, it’s possible that releasing all that heat and humidity into your kitchen will make the rest of your house feel so much cooler. The copious amounts of steam produced will allow any incorporeal residents of your home the chance to be seen, should they choose it. They often miss their bodies dearly and the water vapor in the air gives them a chance to approximate a physical presence.

And once the syrups are made and stored in the refrigerator, you will feel infinitely fancier than before. Maybe you’re like me and the idea of purchasing flavored syrups or anything with the word “infused” or “botanical” for just one recipe seems like a gamble. What if I don’t like it and now I have too much? But if I can make it to my taste and save something from the trash, it seems worth it. And when you hand a friend a cocktail made with orange and ginger syrup and casually reveal, when asked, that you made it, they are sure to be impressed.

-Ella

Fancy Cocktail Syrups Aren't Hard to Make
Spices

Start Small with Spices: Separate the Art of Seasoning from Cooking

Ella, Free

For those who are entirely new to the art of cooking, or those whose creations always turn out all right rather than just right, the practice of seasoning food can seem quite daunting. Often times those friends or acquaintances you consider the best cooks excel at seasoning. Their skill with flavoring often makes replicating their recipes impossible.

Rather than attempt to re-create someone else’s dish or spend hours trying to study flavor profiles in search of perfection, I suggest starting small. Learning to season and cook at the same time is a recipe for disappointment. Executing two new concepts at the same time creates two windows for error and therefore twice the possibility of discouragement. The last thing I want to do is discourage you.

Instead, I would suggest experimenting with seasonings on those nights when you are simply too tired or too busy to cook and must turn to prepared foods. It happens to all of us. There’s no need to be ashamed. And it goes without saying that no mass-produced meal is going to match your tastes exactly. There is always room for improvement. You may think this sounds silly but realize that whenever you add Parmesan cheese or red pepper flakes to a frozen pizza or salt and pepper a TV dinner this is exactly what you are doing. Why not take it a step further?

The possibilities for this exercise are endless. You can start with a jar of plain tomato sauce and figure out what it might be lacking to suit your taste. And if that doesn’t work, at least you haven’t botched someone’s Nona’s recipe and you really only waste the price of a two-dollar jar of pasta sauce. You can spice up a store-bought rotisserie chicken and pop it in the oven for a few more minutes to let the flavor really sink in. And of course, you can add a little spice to your microwave meals that never really packs the same punch as takeout from your favorite restaurant. But for today, I will focus on what you can do to personalize a can of soup.

The amount of canned chicken and rice soup Erica eats is staggering. To an extent, I can understand why. She does not have a microwave and soup can be easily heated up on a stovetop. It supplies protein, starch, and vegetables, although I’d say not enough to be considered a complete meal. And I know for a fact that chicken soup with rice is one of her mother’s specialties.

So, where can Erica begin to make her canned soup more like what she is used to at home? First, she can start by adding ingredients she knows her mother uses. Frozen spinach is a great way to add more vegetables to any soup, and a nice flavor if spinach is your thing.  You can also add frozen peas or carrots or any sort of vegetable that strikes your fancy. I say frozen because that would require much less washing and chopping that fresh vegetables. This is not a prohibition against fresh vegetables, but I assume chopping is something you’ve elected to avoid if you are eating canned soup.

Now that the base of your soup is somewhat more reflective of hearty soups from home, we can begin with the herbs and spices. Here is where Erica should personalize it to her own taste rather than try to replicate her mother’s soup. If she does not know what she wants yet, salt and pepper are always a good place to start. Frozen vegetables will dilute your soup a bit, so salt is highly recommended. A dash of cayenne will give it a little kick. Rosemary and thyme are always welcome, especially in chicken soup. I sometimes add some basil and oregano as well.

At this point, none of your spices are anything that I would consider terribly adventurous. They are probably already in your spice cabinet from previous cooking adventures or misadventures. If you have any spices you bought for a single recipe, but are reluctant to add to your repertoire, now is a great time to try them out. You may also add some garlic or onion powder if you like the flavor but don’t want to chop any garlic or onions. I also highly recommend a dash of caraway seeds, especially if you are used to having your chicken soup with a giant, well-buttered slab of rye bread.

Of course, these are all just suggestions and I encourage you, and Erica, to experiment. Take note when you do so of approximate amounts and proportions. That way you will know what to replicate or not. If you run into a bad combination and don’t feel like finishing it, all that’s gone is one can of soup and you only need to grab another one and start again. Or you can eat what has already been prepared for you. That is much more appealing than wasting an entire stock pot full of soup or eating something that you don’t like all week just because you don’t want to go back to the store.

Good luck and happy seasoning!

-Ella