Kumquat Jam

I don't think I will come down with scurvy this winter ... I can't seem to get enough oranges and their cousins. You name it, and I've eaten it, tangerine, clementine, blood orange, and mandarin oranges.  The kumquat however was unexpected.  I remember being given one as a child and told it was good.  No it wasn't, it was to my young palate very bitter and unpleasant.  I brought home this one pound box and read the package.  It's the skin that is the part you eat the inside is mostly seeds and pith.  So I sliced off the skin and ate it.  Then I went and bought two more boxes.    

I spent 3 hours cleaning and and removing the stems and seeds and most of the pith.  I did some research on different recipes and of course changes up what I found.  In the end it took 3 days to make this jam.  One recipe said to bring the kumquats and the sugar etc., to a boil, remove from the heat and let rest at room temperature for 18 hours at least.  So I did that .... continued on the next day with the rest of the instructions and dam jam would not jell.  With no pectin in the pantry had to stop the process again and wait until today.  

I believe my efforts have not been wasted...yum!  Anyone want to try kumquat jam I've got a few extra jars.

Kumquat Jam

3 lb kumquats 

4 cups of white sugar

8 cups of light brown sugar (not packed)

9 cups of water

one vanilla bean

1/4 cup of lemon juice

3 boxes of Ball brand pectin

Wash and slice all the kumquats and remove the seeds and as much pith as possible.  I left some of the pith for some substance.  Put them in a large pot with the water and sugar.  (Do not pack the brown sugar.)  Add the lemon juice and bring to a boil.  Reduce and simmer 1 hour.  Remove from the heat and let rest at room temperature for at least 18 hour.  Next day return to a boil and make sure the boil reaches 220 degrees.  Scrape the inside of the vanilla bean and add the seeds to the pot.  Be sure to stir often with jam it can burn easily.  At this point the recipe I used as a guide said it should jell when dropped onto a cold plate.  (Nope not gonna do it.)  So I turned it off and let it rest a few more hours until I could get some pectin.  Brought it back to a boil again tonight and added the pectin and it finally jelled on the cold plate. Yahoo. Jam.  

My pretend daughter and miso soup

I had the greatest day today.  I took my pretend daughter Erika (she is real, she's just not mine)shopping for food (today is her real dad's birthday and she's cooking dinner for him.)  I convinced her to buy filet mignon.  If your going to eat red meat... go all the way, explained some fancy way to make potatoes that Joe loves, and let her make a giant chocolate chip cookie at my house instead of the traditional birthday cake, her idea and a great one my house smells amazing.  After we shopped we went to lunch.  She suggested Sake a Japanese place, I am embarrassed to admit I've never had Japanese before.  It was amazing.  I am now in love with miso soup.  

It's fun to take pictures of your food in restaurants, it freaks the wait staff out....Erika just says "It's OK I'm a food blogger."

It was all very delicious and of course I wanted to make miso soup right away so I would be able to have it whenever the wind blew that way.  

After baking the giant chocolate chip cookie, 

it was time to take her home, but not before a trip to the Asian market to pick up a couple of things needed for miso soup.  

Mine was not as good as it was at Sake today but I'll get it there eventually.

Erika's blog is "Finding The Thyme"

boring.....I blame myself

This was Joe's dinner tonight...BORING....flounder dipped in flour, egg and panko (Japanese bread flakes), roasted potatoes with rosemary and peas.  First, Joe is not a friend of the fish.  Does not like it at all.  (Well he does like swordfish and the catfish with shrimp and basil sauce that I make) Fish is good for you....well better than a big old hunk of red meat. (which we eat very little of for different reasons)  Anyhoo, he ate it and said it was OK, but I like to hear "that was unbelievably good" which... not going to happen with fish.  I blame myself.....I like to experiment with food and flavors and once in a blue moon I stumble onto something "unbelievably good." Then everything that comes after is a bit of a disappointment until I stumble onto the next "unbelievably good" thing.  Sometimes I think I should just repeat the good things over and over but then they too would become boring.  I guess its the same with everything in life you must have the good and the boring in order to appreciate the good.  Still I wish I had made chicken piccata tonight.

Braised Fennel with Blood Orange

I saw a recipe the other day for Braised Fennel over on my favorite site Simply Recipes.  Fennel has a licorice flavor and I'm not a lover of licorice.  My only experience with Fennel until tonight was slicing it thin and making a salad of orange sections and red onion that I learned to make when I lived in Italy a lifetime ago.  Cooking fennel never entered my mind.  I really wanted to try this recipe but it called for some sambuca which would just enhance the licorice flavor and bring it out more.  So I dropped the sambuca and added some other changes.  What I came up with is this.

Braised Fennel with Blood Orange

2 fennel bulbs
2 TBLS of butter
3 TBLS of Smart Balance (or 3 more butter but I'm trying to be healthy)
salt & pepper
the zest of 1 blood orange
the juice of 1 blood orange
1 cup of chicken stock

Clean the fennel bulbs and cut the green tops off.

Slice them in half and then into 4 or 5 slices.

Melt the butter and smart balance in a large fry pan. 

Add fresh ground pepper and sea salt and brown on both sides.

Zest and juice 1 small blood orange.

Sprinkle the zest and juice and add 1cup of chicken stock to the browned fennel and braise. 

Cook until most of the stock has been absorbed about ten minutes.

Oh my God good....If you are a fan of licorice check out the recipe on Simply Recipes.

Dinner Tonight

Above cold "Buckwheat Soba Noodles" with peanut dressing.  Buckwheat noodles are from what I have read pretty healthy.  OK ... but don't think I will be making them this way again.  I have more so will experiment with them some other way.  (The mini cucumber are very yummy!)

These veggie spring rolls however where sooo good.  I will share the recipe as best I can... as I have mentioned before I'm not one to follow a recipe .... I just cook.  I made notes as I went so hopefully I can get you to this very delicious place.

Grate two carrots

half of a small jicama grated

about a cup of grated cabbage

one small sweet onion chopped very fine

one clove of garlic minced

1/4 cup of asian chives

2 TBLS of cilantro chopped

1/2 to a cup of enoki mushrooms

1/3 cup of fresh grated ginger

I saute the carrot, jicama, cabbage, onion and garlic in 2 TBLS of olive oil and 2 TBLS of sesame oil for a few minutes.  Take it off the heat and let it cool.  Add the chives, cilantro, enoki mushrooms and ginger.  Add a splash of each soy sauce, asian black vinegar, fish sauce and mirin.

Mix it all and let it sit for a few minutes so the flavors of the sauces can be absorbed.  Place the mixture onto one half of a cookie sheet and raise the side with the veggies and set it on something so the all the liquid will run out of the mixture.  You have to get as much liquid out as possible or your spring rolls will be mushy.  Let it drain for an hour or more. It doesn't hurt to press the veggies with a spatula to help the liquid roll out.  I use frozen spring roll sheet from my Asian market.  You lay one sheet out put a good TBLS of filling on and flip the bottom up and over the filling.  

Using your finger mold the filling as you roll and form the spring roll.  

Fold the sides in toward the middle.  In a small bowl put a few tablespoons of cold water and a bit of corn starch to make a thin paste.  Dip your finger in the paste and run it along the top of the flap.  Then continue to roll all the way until you have a spring roll.

Instead of dragging out the deep fryer tonight I just cooked them on top of the stove.  Heat the oil until very hot.  The spring roll should start cooking as soon as they hit the oil or its not hot enough.  

I like these with Hoisin sauce, but they are tasty enough to eat without any sauce.  

Full Moon

 The moon was really cool tonight, full and pink.  It was huge as it was rising, but by the time I could find a safe place to pull over it wasn't as big.  That is one of my favorite things, when the moon is so big it doesn't seem real.

This was also cool.  A hawk in the back yard a few days ago.  I believe this explains why I have seen what looked like blood in the snow over the past few weeks.  I almost feel guilty that we feed the birds and squirrels, because we are ultimately feeding the hawk. 

Very cool are these beautiful roses from the old man for valentines day....

And last but not least on the cool list is this book.  I have wanted it forever and finally got it.  I toasted it with a fine pinot noir in honor of Julia.  My sister called me the other night while I was toasting and asked if I had blogged about my new cookbook yet and I said "No but I am hugging it right now".

And now for the not cool.  I got the results of the stress test and echo cardiogram I had a few weeks ago and I have to go see a Cardiologist.  Seem the stress test found that there is a decreased blood supply to an area of my heart.  Could be nothing to worry about....but this is me we're talking about.  I come from a long line of worriers.  I just want to hear "your fine" and I'm not going to be happy till then.  On a positive note I did get my Cholesterol down 76 points.  Oh well, nothing I can do till I see the Cardiologist.  They say red wine is good for your heart, I think I'll go hug my cookbook and have a glass.

Soda Bread Recipe

I have been making this soda bread over and over again since I found it on 101 Cookbooks.  Each time I change something.  I'm trying to get away from using white flour because it's bad for me and I'm trying to be healthy. (Healthy sucks sometimes) So here is the recipe I ended up with.  Again the best part of this type of bread is no rising time.

Oat, Wheat, Almond Soda Bread (makes two loaves)

4 cups of oat bran
4 cups of whole wheat flour
2 cups of almond meal
3 1/2 tsp baking soda
2 1/2 tsp fine sea salt
3 1/2 cups of buttermilk (or milk white 1 tbs of organic apple cider vinegar per cup)

Butter two loaf pans and set aside.   Preheat the oven to 400.  Mix flours, baking powder and salt.  Make a well in the center and pour in the buttermilk and mix all.  It may be sticky.  Dump it out onto a well floured surface and knead until not sticky.  (If it's to stiff add a little more milk) form into loaf shape and place in the pans.  Brush a little milk on the top of each loaf and add some seed.  I use poppy, sesame and flax.  

Bake for 50 minutes, turn the oven off and let them sit in the hot oven for another 5 to 10 minutes.  

 

Yum!