Bear Cuisine

The Fire This Time

Every year , the first weekend in March, The Fiery Foods Show comes to Albuquerque. When I lived back east, I would dream of attending this show. Now, it's just around the corner from where I live and it has become one of the harbingers of spring in the southwest. This year I found a new favorite among the vendors.

Terri Maize of Hacienda Maize has created three of the best pepper jellies that I have ever tasted. They are absolutely fabulous ( you can imagine French and Saunders here). If you want to spice up your cooking with a lot of flavor and a very well-balanced bit of heat, this jelly is for you.

 

My favorite was the Mira Sol Chile Jammin' Jelly. You could taste the cilantro and the lime as well as the pepper. Check out the website for some spurs to your cooking imagination.

Terri Maize and her brother who helps to keep the business afloat

Do take a look at their website for inspiration and to order these truly flavorful and original creations.

 

Another not-so-new favorite was at the show again this year. Cindy Reed Wilkins' Cin Chili has been a staple in my pantry for years. (Click here for her original recipe.) This year she offered some wonderful new products. All of her sauces are good, but I was especially partial to her Perky Peppers Chipotle Hot Sauce and Kay liked her Cin-namon Apple Barbecue Sauce.  The Habanero Passion Pickles are a great addition to her product line, crisp and just spicy enough. That's one of the great things about all of Cindy's products. The heat is not overwhelming; it just offers just enough kick to be interesting.

Cindy Reed Wilkins and her brother Donald

Dave DeWitt's latest book, Precious Cargo was on sale at the show. This is his latest effort in the culinary history genre and it won the IACP (International Association of Culinary Professionals) Award for the best book in 2014 on culinary history. Congratulations Dave!

 

Navel Orange Marmalade

When winter settles in, I think fondly of the summer's mad scramble to get all that gorgeous produce preserved. I miss that rhythm.Fortunately, winter provides us with beautiful citrus that also needs to be canned. I found an intriguing recipe for orange marmalade in Rachel Saunders' The Blue Chair Jam Cookbook. This is truly outstanding and proves that you can make marmalade with a slight bite without Seville oranges.

NAVEL ORANGE MARMALADE

(makes 10 8-ounce jars)

1. 2 pounds lemons, cut into eights
2. 2 pounds navel oranges, halved crosswise, each half cut length wise into quarters and sliced crosswise medium-thin
3. 3 1/2 pounds white cane sugar
4. 1 to 2 extra lemons, to make 3 ounces strained freshly squeezed juice.

Day 1

 
Place the lemon eighths in a nonreactive saucepan where they will fit snugly in a single layer. Add enough cold water for the fruit to bob freely. Cover tightly and let rest overnight at room temperature.

In a separate nonreactive saucepan, place the sliced oranges with water to reach 1 inch above the tops. Cover tightly and let rest overnight at room temperature.

Day 2

Prepare the cooked lemon juice. Bring the pan with the lemon eighths to a boil over high heat, then decrease the heat to medium. Cook the fruit at a lively simmer, covered, for 2 to 3 hours, or until the lemons are very soft and the liquid has become slightly syrupy. As the lemons cook, press down on them gently with a spoon every 30 minutes or so, adding a little more water if necessary. The water level should stay consistently high enough for the fruit to remain submerged as it cooks.

When the lemons are finished cooking, strain their juice by pouring the hot fruit and liquid into a medium strainer or colander suspended over a heat proof storage container or nonreactive saucepan. Cover the entire setup well with plastic wrap and let drip overnight at room temperature.

Prepare the orange slices. Bring the pan with them to a boil over high heat, then decrease the heat to medium and cook, covered, at  a lively simmer for 30 to 40 minutes, or until the fruit is very tender. If necessary, add a little more water during the cooking; the fruit should remain submerged throughout the cooking process. When the orange slices have finished cooking, remove the pan from the heat, cover tightly and let rest overnight at room temperature.

Day 3

Place a saucer with five metal teaspoons in a flat place in your freezer. You will be using these to test the marmalade later.

Remove the plastic wrap from the lemon eights and their juice and discard the lemons. Strain the juice through a very fine mesh strainer to remove any lingering solids.

In a large mixing bowl, combine the sugar, cooked lemon juice, fresh lemon juice and cooked orange slices and their liquid, stirring well. Transfer the mixture to an 11 or 12 quart preserving pan.

Bring the mixture to a boil over high heat. Cook at a rapid boil until the setting point is reached. This will take at least 30 minutes, but may take longer depending on your stove and pan. {I cooked the mixture for a little over an hour.} Initially, the mixture will bubble gently for several minutes, then as more moisture cooks out of it and its sugar concentration increases, it will begin foaming. Do not stir it at all during the initial bubbling; then, once it starts to foam, stir it gently every few minutes. As it gets close to being done,stir it slowly every minute or so to prevent burning, decreasing the heat a bit if necessary. The marmalade is ready for testing when its color darkens slightly and its bubbles become very small.

To test the marmalade for doneness, remove it from the heat and carefully transfer a half-spoonful of marmalade to one of the frozen spoons. It should look shiny, with tiny bubbles throughout. Replace the spoon in the freezer for 3 to 4 minutes, then remove and carefully feel the underside of the spoon. It should be neither warm nor cold; it still warm, return it to the freezer for a moment. Tilt the spoon vertically to see whether the marmalade runs; if it does not run and if its top layer has thickened to a jelly consistency, it is done. If it runs, cook it for another few minutes, stirring and testing again as needed.

 

When the marmalade has finished cooking turn off the heat but do not stir. Using a stainless steel spoon, skim off any surface foam and discard. Pour the marmalade into sterilized jars and process for  15 minutes (Add an additional 15 minutes to the processing time if cooking above 6,000 feet.)

Favorite Cookbooks of 2014

It's always difficult to choose my favorites, especially since I want to keep the list short. All of these were published in the past year and are the ones most likely to stay in my library. Some have been listed on many such lists while others are relatively unknown. Each author has made me want to cook their food. Maybe they will do the same for you.

You wouldn't think that there was anything left to say about Southern cooking, but chef Sean Brock writes with conviction and erudition about his family's legacy of the cooking of southwestern Virginia in Heritage. He has traveled extensively and has been able to apply what he has learned to the cooking he now does in his restaurants in Charleston and Nashville. Heritage is a beautiful tribute to a family,a region and a way of life.     Reading his recipes makes my mouth water. ( I don't think I will be waiting until next New Year's to try his "Lowcountry Hoppin' John.") His passion inspires mine. I think his creativity will spark yours.

 

At the opposite end of the spectrum from Heritage is Yotam Ottolenghi's Plenty More. This book continues his collection of vegetarian recipes begun in Plenty. Using the ingredients and flavors of the Middle East, Turkey and Greece, he makes it possible for omnivores to visit the vegetarian world. Some may even decide to take up permanent residence. The recipes offer foods that are full of flavor and so substantial that you won't miss the meat. You won't be asking "Where's the beef?"

 I am a huge fan of David Lebovitz's dessert cookbooks and I love his latest offering, My Paris Kitchen. Partly because I like the way he writes and partly because I adore Paris, this book is a joy to read. An armchair trip through Paris with recipes. It doesn't get much better than that. Unless, of course,one is actually in Paris. I should add that his recipes really do work should you be inclined to try some of them. I recommend the "Chicken with Mustard." Excellent!

 You knew there had to be a book on preserving in the list, didn't you? Mrs. Wheelbarrow's Practical Pantry grew out of Cathy Barrows blog, Mrs. Wheelbarrow's Kitchen. This is a great book for any home canner,i.e., one who is obsessed with keeping the larder well-stocked. My mother was the one who lived through the depression, but I think I must have had a previous life of deprivation. I'm not happy unless the pantry is full of jars of this and that, preferably jars that I've filled with top-notch ingredients . I thought I knew a lot about home preservation, but this book has added to my education in a big way. I have learned something new on almost every page. You not only learn the basic technique, you also get a recipe that uses your creation. If you have ever thought you wanted to make your own jams or pickles, this book will tell you what you need to know.It's almost as if Cathy Barrow were in the kitchen with you, guiding you through the process.

I've been an admirer of Eugenia Bone ever since I found her book Well-Preserved in 2009. This year she published The Kitchen Ecosystem which is a fascinating tour of the kitchen. As she paid attention to the patterns of her own cooking, she observed that each ingredient she used could be used to make more than one meal and with a bit of planning she could produce delicious meals without starting from scratch each time. Each ingredient has recipes for some basic dishes, recipes for preserving some of it, recipes for using the preserves and when possible, recipes for using the scraps. Once you get the idea, you can use her template with the ingredients that you use most often. It's obvious once you start thinking about it and,at the same time, it's a genius idea.

That's it for 2014. Any one of these books could keep you very busy and happy in the kitchen for a long time.

What were your favorites?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Favorte Cookbooks of 2013

2013 is already fading history, but there were several books that made it into my annual pantheon of cookbooks I think worthy of note. The first is Deborah Madison's Vegetable Literacy.

Deborah Madison has long been known as the American guru of vegetarian cooking and her latest book will only add to her reputation. She lives near Santa Fe and our paths cross from time to time at various food-related events. I overheard her tell a friend that this book was tremendous fun to work on. It is also tremendous fun to read and cook from.

She explores vegetables by families, noting the similarities among them that we might not have noticed before. Chapters have intriguing titles such "The Knotweed Family:Three Strong Personalities" or"The Sunflower Family:Some Rough Stuff from Out of Doors." I was intrigued to find that plants I had never thought of as being related belonged to the same family. (A bit like human families I suppose. ) So in the nightshade family we find belladonna, datura, eggplants, husk tomatoes,mandrake, pepino, peppers and chiles, petunias, potatoes, tomatillos, tomatoes, tobacco. Some plants are poisonous (belladonna, datura and tobacco). Others are prized and we look forward to their appearance at the markets--peppers, chiles, eggplants and tomatoes.

In her introduction she writes:

"When we look closely at the plants we eat and begin to discern their similarities, that intelligence comes with us into the kitchen and articulates our cooking in a new way Suddenly our raw materials make sense. We can see how we might substitute related vegetables when cooking or how all the umbellifer herbs, including cilantro, parsley and chervil, flatter umbellifer vegetables, such as carrots and fennel. And when we encounter plants with all their leaves,roots and maybe even flowers intact, we can observe the shapes of leaves, the patterns of petals, the changing forms as they progress from their first true leaves to the perfect stage for eating to maturity and, finally, their going to seed. Curiously,we might discvoer that broccoli leaves and stalks are quite edible, or that a neglected leek makes the same flower as a chive when it finally blooms. Bringing plants' features into view can free us as cooks, make us unafraid to use some amaranth that's going full guns in the garden in place of spinach, which has bolted and dried up. They are, after all, related."

Vegetable Literacy is more than a cookbook. It is also a reference work and,although not intended as such,a course in gardening. It's well worth its hefty price tag.

 Regular readers may groan and mutter something like "What?! Another book on preserving food?" Yes, another book on preserving food. Kevin West's Saving the Season is a masterpiece of this sub-genre and it is so good that Celia Sack of Omnivore Books told me that I would never need another book on the subject. I pointed out that need and the desire to acquire weren't the same thing. Back to the book.

There are a number of unusual recipes here that sound delicious. I tried his recipe for Pepper Relish and it was a definite winner. Quite literally. The NM State Fair judges thought it was pretty tasty. What I really love about this book is the way that West weaves poetry, history, literature,and the visual arts into his cooking narrative. This book is a gold mine for the cook and the student of the food culture. Saving the Season should be on the shelves of everyone who fancies herself a Food Preservationist.

There was a lot of competion this year in southern titles.Edward Lee's Smoke and Pickles and Andrew Ticer's and Michael Hudman's Collards and Carbonara were strong contenders and could easily have made this list. But John Currence's Pickles, Pigs, and Whiskey won out.

John currence holds a special place in my heart for his work on Willie Mae's Scotch House in New Orleans. After Katrina, the Southern Foodways Alliance organized the reclamation project on Willie Mae's and we spent a weekend in NOLA kocking down walls, removing mold and whatever else needed doing in the first stages of the work. The project was way more involved than anyone intially thought and John kept the work going and practically single handedly saw it through to completion. He has great dedication, determination and heart. He is also a great cook. Breakfast at his City Grocery in Oxford Mississippi is one of my happiest culinary memories.

My favorite chapters might be the ones on condiments -"Slathering, Squirting  and Smearing"-and "Pickling and Canning." These alone are worth the price of the book. When I finish writing this post,I'm going to be making some Roasted Red Pepper Harissa and Worcestershire Sauce. I'll let you know how they turn out.I love this book. It captures John Currence's talent as a chef and his quirky personality. Even if I never cook a thing from this book, I get a kick out of reading it. 

I was determined to keep this list to three books this year and there were wonderful books that didn't make the cut. I solace myself with the thought that any such list is idiosyncratic and tells more about the person doing the selecting than the books themselves. In any case, I think all of these books deserve attention and study. I'm jus' sayin'....

Meyer Lemon Marmelade

 Summer and fall are the busy seasons for those of us who like to preserve fruits and vegetables, but winter offers us beauiful citrus for preservation. This is the season for Meyer lemons and this year I experimented with making a marmelade with these tart and sweet fruits. I have to say the result was amazing--not as tart as regular lemons with just a hint of sweetness. One of my friends, who usually doesn't like marmelade, enjoyed this one.

MYER LEMONS

MEYER LEMON MARMELADE

(Makes about 7 half-pint jars)

• 16 Myer lemons, thinly sliced and seeds removed
• 4 1/2 cups liquid, water plus lemon juice released from slicing lemons
• Sugar

Combine the sliced lemons with the water and lemon juice in a large bowl. Set aside in a cool place overnight. The next morning put the ingredients in a kettle and simmer 5 minutes. Return to the bowl and store in the refrigerator for 24 hours.

After the second marinating, return the ingredients to the jam kettle and cook quickly until the peel is tender. Measure the fruit and liquid.(I had 6 1/2 cups.) Add one cup sugar for each cup of fruit and stir until the sugar dissolves. (If you like a jam which isn't as sweet, reduce the amount of sugar to 3/4 cup of sugar for each cup of fruit.)

Bring the mixture to a boil over high heat, stirring so that the mixture doesn't stick or burn. When the mixture has reached the gelling point, remove from the heat. Ladle the hot marmelade into sterilized jars, leaving 1/2-inch head space. Adjust the two-piece caps and process in a boiling-water bath for 10 minutes.