Peach Chipotle Cole Slaw

My sister Nellie, a faithful Jam taster, came over yesterday to try my Peach Chipotle Jam. She liked it... she really liked it, but she posed the same question that comes along with most Jam.... "What would you use that on".  As you can imagine this question comes up a lot. It has actually gone from being a question to more of a spring board. As soon as the questions leaves the lips the wheels start turning, and the recipes start forming.

This one took a good nights sleep and a craving for pulled pork to develop but here it is. The perfect topping for a nice juicy Pulled Pork Sandwich..............Peach Chipotle Cole Slaw.

  
                                                   Peach Chipotle Cole Slaw

  

1 16oz Bag of Cole Slaw

1Tbsp of Milk

3 Tbsp of Mayo (or more depending on how creamy you like it)

4 Tbsp  Peach Chipotle Jam

11/2 Tbsp Apple Cider Vinegar

1/2 tsp Paprika

Salt and Pepper to Taste

Mix together and Refrigerate until ready to serve



Hot Pepper Glazed Shrimp K-Bobs

When I make a Jam my mind never goes to toast. Toast is a given, an expectation and a last resort. If I'm going to heat up my kitchen, and stand over a boiling pot of fruit, pectin, and sugar when its 104 outside, its going to be for something exciting or at least experimental.

 Hot Pepper Glazed Shrimp was my motivation. I wanted some true heat from my hot peppers and the last batch of Jalapenos I bought just weren't cutting its. It was time to try the Serrano Pepper...... I'm a chicken when it comes to heat, but if someone says they would enjoy my Hot Pepper Jam with a little more heat I'm going to do my best to give them more heat. So on went the rubber gloves, goggles, and a headband. I was soooo rock'n a kitchen dork look but several Serranos and a few Sweet Peppers later I had a nice spicy glaze/jam ready to jar up.

The week prior I had ordered a new Lodge Cast Iron Grill Pan. I was excited about using that too. So I skewered up some shrimp, red peppers, and few sweet onions. A word to the wise here, non stick cooking spray should be in a holster on your hip when cooking with jams and glazes. Add that to the picture of me with gloves, goggles and a headband..... that should give you a laugh.  These glazes stick to everything which is good for your shrimp, not so much for your pans.  Just cut yourself some slack in the dish washing department and be very liberal with the non-stick spray if you try this recipe.

With my well sprayed pan ready to go I gave the skewers a little dusting of salt and pepper and let them sizzle for about 5 minutes in the pan and then began basting them with the Hot Pepper Jam, rotating them until they were cooked through. Throw a few veggies in a skillet on the burner next to your grill pan with a little olive oil and a tablespoon of butter, put a couple of cups in the rice cooker (if you have one) while your veggies and skewers are cooking up and you will have yourself a nice meal ready in no time.

These Shrimp K-bobs turned out very nice, they had a beautiful color and a nice caramelization from the glaze. Unfortunately the heat from the Serranos did not come through as much as I would have liked it to. So my experimentations will continue until I get a nice spicy flavor to come through from the Hot Pepper Jam.  The thought of a Habbanero in my future worries me, does anyone have a Haz-Mat suit I can borrow?

Jam Tasting



Me and My eldest, Seth

This past Sunday, much to my delight, I hosted the first ever Jams by Jen Tasting Party. I had been thinking about doing this for a while but was unsure if there would be enough interest to make the effort worth while. Thanks to the encouragement of some vintage friends I took the leap, set a date, posted a Facebook event and off it went. I will always be grateful for the encouragement of these two wonderful ladies because that Sunday was amazing!!!!

One of the best parts of making Jam for me has been the look of delight when someone tastes a Jam that they really like. My belly does a back flip when I see a smile appear and an eye twinkle as the taste is registered in the brain as pleasing and acceptable. I think I finally understand why the grandmothers of past generations were so happy to fill everyone's bellies with their delicious creations. I get such a sense of satisfaction from  making something that brings others happiness.  That is the reward I get from making Jam. So a very big THANK YOU to my vintage friends, my new friends, and off course my wonderfully supportive family for allowing me to share my Jam with you. The happiness and fulfillment this new Jamming adventure has brought into my life is amazing!!!!

Rosemary Glazed Pork Loin

I have several Rosemary bushes in my back yard. I didn't put them there, in fact I didn't have a clue what they were until someone experienced in the botanical arts pointed them out to me. Thank you Chone! What a happy find! Not only are they pleasant to look at but they bring a beautiful aroma to an otherwise bland back yard.

I am always looking for new and exciting recipes. Yes, new Jam and Jelly recipes are exciting to me. While most Jam recipes are easy to me, Jellies have been more of a challenge. Jams are full of chunky fruit and their texture allows for a wider margin of error, but not Jellies. A great Jelly, as I learned from Linda J. Amendt's book, Blue Ribbon Preserves, is not only about the flavor of the Jellie, but the appearance and clarity as well. You could call it the Diamond of the of the preserving world. While my clarity remains a work in progress, the flavor of this jelly turned out wonderfully.

For this recipe I used a rub composed of 1/4 tsp Ground Ginger, 1/2 tsp of Garlic Salt, 1tsp Dried Oregano and 1/4 tsp each of Salt and Pepper. I squeezed half a lemon over the loin then sprinkled the rub over it. I made sure to coat all sides and the end as well. Next, I dropped about a tablespoon or two of Olive Oil in a saute pan, let it get hot enough to get a good sear on the Loin. Be careful with this part, the Oil can be quite moody.

Once you have seared all sides of the meat place it on a foil lined baking sheet that has a rack coated with non stick cooking spray. Bake at 350 degrees with an oven save thermometer inserted into the Loin. While the Loin is roasting away I warm the Rosemary Jelly and the juice of half a lemon in a small sauce pan over very low heat, stirring as needed.  At about 20-30 minutes or when the thermometer reads 160 degrees I pull out the pan and start basting with the warmed Rosemary Jelly. I turn my ovens broiler to low, raise the oven rack from the center position to the next row up. I baste every 5 minutes until the internal temperature of the meat is 170 degrees and the Loin had a nice crackling glaze kind of like the picture below. You have to be very attentive of your Loin at this point, there is a fine line  between a nice crispy glaze and a charred mess. Just keep a good eye on it.

Remove your Loin from the overn and let it rest for about 5 minutes before you start slicing. As with most things in life a good rest will do your dinner good. For a garnish I clipped a few sprigs of Rosemary from the back yard and sprinkled the Loin with Dried Parsley. And here you go; Rosemary Glazed Pork Loin.

Jam'n up Some Chicken



Due to last weeks berry picking adventure I had quite a bit of blackberries to use. The bambinos had eaten their fill and my jam cabinet had a sufficient supply of Blackberry Jam, & Blackberry Jelly so something different was in order. I think it's nice to have a sweet and savory version of the same fruit spread when possible. Strawberry Chipotle has been on top of the favorite list since I started making Jam so I thought I would try that pairing with the Blackberries. It came out quite nice. The Blackberries have a stronger darker flavor and the Chipotles in Adobo give the jam just the right amount of heat along with a nice smokey flavor. When I made this Jam I had every intention of trying it on chicken. The pairing just seemed to make sense to me.

Now being that we have a variety of taste buds in our home I knew the Chipotle wouldn't fly with everyone at the dinner table. Not wanting to make two separate dinners it occurred to me to use two separate Jams to glaze the main course.  Our "please everyone" glaze has consistently been anything involving Apricot Jam so popped open a jar of that along with the Blackberry Chipotle.

So here is what I did. First I preheated the oven to 350 degrees. Next I seasoned both sides of the chicken breasts with a little salt, pepper, season salt, a dash of garlic powder and some dry herbs then I placed them on a flat roasting rack sprayed with non-stick cooking spray that I put on a foil lined baking sheet and I let them bake for approximately 20 minutes.

While the chicken breasts were baking I warmed the Jams in two separate small pots on the stove. You can warm the jam in the microwave too if you like, just a few seconds will get it nice and warm.  At about the 20 minute mark I pulled the chicken out and basted the top side, returning it to the oven for 5 minutes. I flipped the chicken breasts one more time, basting the bottom side. I turned the broiler on Hi and moved the rack with the chicken to it highest point in the oven to get a nice caramelization on the chicken. 

During the second flip I also inserted and oven safe thermometer into one of the breasts. I have consistently ended up with the most moist chicken when I cook it to 165 degrees. This is the temperature at which my thermometer packaging says chicken is done and safe to eat.  You do have to keep an eye on your chicken when it is placed that high in the over to prevent scorching. If you have a tendency to wander from your stove I would put it one level lower. It might take longer to get the Jam to caramelize but at least it wont burn. :) When the thermometer reading said 165 I removed my chicken from the over and let it rest for five minutes or so. They turned out delicious!

The Apricot and Herb Chicken was delightfully moist and  had a nice sweet and salty flavor. The Blackberry Chipotle had a rich smokey flavor with a nice kick at the end. If there is a downside to the Blackberry Chipotle it would be the blackberry seeds but if you don't mind those you should give this one a try.  There were full, happy bellies all around the dinner table that night.