Broiled Clementines.

                                             

Broiled Clementines

Eat these as a treat, toss them into salads, use them on ice cream.
The wonder of broiled clementines goes on and on. Chop them up and they become a delightful addition to morning yogurt or scattered on pancakes or waffles. Stir them into muffin batter.  Serve them to compliment the richness of roast pork. And know that this method also works beautifully with lemons or Meyer lemons.

Ingredients:

4 Clementines

Directions:Preheat a broiler. Ideally setting a cooking rack about 3 inches below the heating element. Prepare a large baking sheet by either lightly oiling it or lining it with a sheet of parchment.
Working with 1 clementine at a time, cut off and discard the stem end. Then slice the rest of the clementine, discarding the other end piece (or broiling it—your choice!). Remove and discard and seeds. 
Lay the slices in a single layer on the prepared baking sheet. Repeat with the remaining 3 clementines.

Broil the sliced clementines until the edges are browned and the juices are bubbling, 3 to 5 minutes. The timing with vary greatly between broilers, so keep a close eye on them. Remove the pan and gently turn each clementine slice over. Broil on the second side until those edges are also browned, 3 to 5 minutes. As always with broiling, keep a careful watch so they don’t go from beautifully browned and caramelized to burnt and ruined.
Notes
Let the broiled clementines cool before using. They will keep, covered, for up to 1 day, or covered and chilled up to 3 days.

Spicy Cranberry Ketchup

Spicy Cranberry Ketchup

Serve festive Spicy Cranberry ketchup with chicken, turkey or pork.  A festive cranberry ketchup is amped up with ginger and hot sauce. (The recipe yields extra ketchup; this can be kept in the freezer for up to 1 year. 

Ingredients:
1 bag (12 oz/340 g) fresh or frozen cranberries, about 3 1/2 cups 
2/3 cup (150 mL) honey
1/2 cup (125 mL) cranberry juice

2 tablespoons rice vinegar

1 tablespoon sriracha

2 teaspoons finely grated ginger

1 teaspoon finely grated orange zest

Large pinch salt

Directions:

Place ingredients in a medium saucepan over medium high heat.  When it comes to a boil, reduce heat to maintain a vigorous simmer.  Cook, stirring occasionally, for 8 minutes - most skin will have split.  Remove from heat.  Cool 5 minutes then puree in blender until smooth.  Pass through a fine-mesh strainer, discarding solids.  Transfer to an airtight container.  Cool completely.  Cover and refrigerate up to 2 weeks.  Serve at room temperature.

 

Slow Cooker Peach Butter

Peach Butter

This easy peach butter recipe is made in the slow cooker. My Crockpot peach butter is simple and delicious! 

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 5 hours.

Yield: 1 Quart

Ingredients:  

About 8 to 10 good-sized peaches) = 8 cups; peeling is optional; chopped

1/3 cup coconut sugar

¼ to 1/2 cup water, optional (if your peaches are juicy, as mine usually are, omit the water)

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

Directions:
Wash and rough chop the peaches. Pare away any softer spots, but otherwise don’t bother peeling the peaches if you are using organically-grown ones.

Add the peaches to your Instant Pot.

Stir in the lemon juice and sugar.

Cover and slow-cook on the medium setting for 4 hours. When you open the lid, do your best to capture and discard the water that has collected in the lid.

At this point I use my hand blender to puree the peaches. I’m not concerned about getting all the lumps, because I like my peach butter to have little surprises in it. If you want completely smooth peach butter, you can puree yours in a blender, then return it to your Instant Pot.

Cook for an hour or more on medium until the peach butter is as thick as you like. My guideline is that it mounds a little on the spoon when you lift some out of the pot. 

Another way to tell if it is thick enough is to run your finger down the middle of the spoonful of peach butter. If the butter doesn’t fill in the strip, it’s ready. It will thicken slightly when it cools. It will also darken a little during this last heating step.

Ladle the hot peach butter into a clean jar or jars and let cool before capping and refrigerating. Consume within a couple of weeks, or follow safe canning or freezing practices.

Serve on biscuits – Yield 1 quart.

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Bacon Jam

Bacon Jam
Wonderful in mashed potatoes and
a great addition for baked beans.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 lbs. bacon, chopped into 1" chunks 

2 medium onions

3 garlic cloves

3/4 cup coffee

1/2 cup cider vinegar 

1/4 cup maple syrup

1/2 cup brown sugar

Directions:

In a large skillet, cook over med.-high heat, stirring until fat is rendered and bacon is lightly browned, about 20 minutes.  With a slotted spoon, transfer bacon to paper towels to drain.  Pour off all but 1 tablespoon fat from the skillet (reserve for another use); add onions and garlic, and cook until onions are translucent, about 6 minutes.  

Add vinegar, brown sugar, maple syrup, and coffee and bring to a boil, stirring and scraping up browned bits from skillet with a wooden spoon, about 2 minutes.  Add bacon and stir to combine.  Mixture will be syrupy.

Transfer to a food processor; pulse until coarsely chopped.  

Transfer mixture to a 6-quart slow cooker and cook on high, uncovered, until liquid is syrupy, 3 1/2 to 4 hours. 

 Let cool then refrigerate in air tight containers, up to 4 weeks.

Fig Catsup

Fig Catsup

(recipe not tried)

DESCRIPTION

Fig ketchup goes well with: squab, game birds, poultry, mashed potatoes.

Ingredients

2 T cooking oil

1 onion (chopped)

1 T garlic (minced)

1 T ginger (grated or minced)

2 T tomato paste

1⁄2 c vinegar (rice wine vinegar)

1 t salt (to taste)

1 t sugar

Directions:
In a medium sauce pan, heat the oil over a medium heat until soft, about 5 minutes. Add in the garlic and ginger and cook an additional 3 minutes. Mix in the tomato paste, and cook for 2 more minutes.

Deglaze with the wine. Continue to cook until it is almost completely evaporated, add in the apple juice and figs.

Reduce heat and simmer 30 minutes.

Puree the mix and season to taste with the vinegar, salt and sugar. Strain and set the liquid aside.

Mix the agar agar with 2 cups of the reserved liquid. Allow to sit for 12 minutes, then heat to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes.

Fold the two mixes together and chill. This will turn into a jelly, place this into a blender and puree until smooth

1 batch

1 hour, 15 minutes

Fig Catsup

Tweaked Fig Catsup
recipe made. Too Hot For Me!
Jars #1

Ingredients

1 pound figs quartered

1/2 pound Roma tomatoes, quartered

1 teaspoon coriander seeds

1 teaspoon cumin seeds

1 teaspoon palm sugar*  
     (use regular cane sugar)

1 cup malt vinegar, plus more to taste*
     ( apple cider vinegar is fine)

3 teaspoons pomegranate

1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper*  
    (Change to 1/4 teaspoon)

1 teaspoon Thai-style chili paste* 
   (I would eliminate the chili paste)

1 cinnamon stick

1 bay leaf
Salt
Read note at bottom.

Directions:

Make the fig ketchup: Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Lay figs onto a parchment lined rimmed baking sheet. Lay the tomatoes onto a separate parchment lined rimmed baking sheet. Roast them both in the oven until they begin to color, about 15 minutes for figs about 20 minutes for tomatoes.

In a medium sauce pot, toast the coriander and cumin over medium heat until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add the roasted figs and tomatoes, scrapping up as much of the juice and crusty parts as possible, palm sugar, vinegar, pomegranate molasses, cayenne pepper, cinnamon stick, and bay leaf. Raise the heat to high and cook until the mixture reaches a boil, then reduce the heat to low and simmer until it’s thick and jam-like, about 30 minutes. Let cool.

Discard the cinnamon stick and bay leaf. Use a blender or food processor to thoroughly puree the mixture, adding a splash of extra vinegar to achieve the proper consistency if necessary. Taste and adjust acidity with more vinegar to taste. Refrigerate for several hours before using.

This recipe is nothing more than a classic recipe tweaked with expensive ingredients to sound gourmet.  $4.99 Palm sugar for 1 teaspoon.
$3.99 for Thai Chili paste.
$4.99 for malt vinegar when apple 
   cider is fine.
I really question if the cayenne pepper and the Thai chili paste are necessary.  This recipe will dominate its flavor and make the meat flavor secondary rather then enhancing it.

Fig Chutney

Fresh Fig Chutney

Yield: Four jars  (4 cups, 500g) Ingredients: 1 tablespoon vegetable oil 1 large red onion, peeled and finely diced 1/2 inch (2cm) piece of fresh ginger,              peeled and minced 2/3 cup (120g) packed light or dark brown sugar 1/2 cup (125ml) apple cider vinegar juice and zest of one lemon 3/4 cup (100g) raisins and diced dried fruits (any mix) 1 1/2 teaspoons mustard seeds 1 small cinnamon stick 1/4 teaspoon ground allspice 1/4 teaspoon salt 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves pinch red pepper powder 1 pound (450g) fresh figs, stemmed and diced Directions: In a wide saucepan, heat the vegetable oil over medium heat. Add the onions and cook until translucent, which will take about ten minutes, stirring occasionally.

Add the remaining ingredients, except for the figs. Let cook at a steady simmer for 20 minutes, then add the figs, cover the pot, and cook for 5 to 10 minutes, until the figs are tender and cooked through.

Remove the lid and cook 10 to 15 minutes over low heat, stirring, until the mixture thickens and becomes jam-like.

Use immediately or refrigerate or seal in jars with hot water bath.