Apricot Jam with Saffron and Rose

You know how some people hide money in their mattresses, I'm pretty sure my Dad does that with saffron. There is a running joke in my family that he has a secret bounty worth millions stashed away. He won't tell anyone where it is or how much he has, but whenever we are running low he always seems to have more. I know it is a big time luxury to have a seemingly endless supply of the world's most expensive spice so I try to only use my stash on special occasions and this jam is totally worth it. I usually gravitate towards simple jams, just fruit, sugar, lemon juice and maybe a bit of Pomona's if I am making jelly, but I am trying to step up my jamming this season so I pulled out the big guns. Saffron and rose are a common paring in Middle Eastern desserts so to honor my Pops and his generous, spicy spirit I put them together with some rosy cheeked apricots and made some fancy jam.

Apricot Jam with Saffron and Rose
Inspired by The Blue Chair Jam Cookbook
yield, roughly 2 pints jam

2lbs apricots (weight after removing the pits)
14oz sugar ( I used vanilla sugar, but it's not necessary)
juice of 1 lemon
pinch of saffron threads
1/4t-1t rose water, depending on your taste

1. Dump the pitted apricots and sugar into your canning pot and mash with a potato masher or fork, or your clean hands if you feel like it. Don't worry about making the pieces uniform in size, just mash them well.

2. In a small mortar and pestle combine the saffron threads with a pinch of sugar and grind. The abrasive quality of the sugar will help to break up the saffron. Set this to the side and get jamming.

3. Over medium high heat, bring the apricots and sugar to a boil. The jam will cook very quickly, so stir constantly with a rubber spatula to avoid scorching the bottom. If any foam appears on the surface of your jam just skim it off, I didn't have to do this.

4. After about 10 minutes, check the jam for doneness. It should be thick and will spatter like hot lava, so watch your hands!

5. When done, take the pan off of the heat and stir in the saffron sugar mixture, rose water and lemon juice. Pour into sterilized jars and process in a hot water bath for 10 min.

Hot tip from Food in Jars: just pull the apricots in half with your fingers to remove the pits. Easy!!
Be careful with the rose water, it is VERY strong. No one wants jam that tastes like perfume.

I entered this jam in the Can You Can It? contest over at Garden of Eating, you guys should enter something too!

Whole Wheat Zucchini Muffins with Nuts and Cherries

Last weekend, when I heard that two of my best pals were heading upstate to their beautiful cabin I couldn't help but invite myself along for the ride. After a week long heatwave it was high time to get the f out of the city and into the woods to take a dip in the swimming hole and breathe some non-conditioned air. Luckily my generous pals don't mind sharing their special spot, so to thank them for their never ending hospitality (and to ensure they invite me back) I brought a little treat. I wanted to bring something along that would be equally tasty for breakfast before hitting up the u-pick farm nearby and as a snack by the creek later in the afternoon and these hearty muffins fit the bill. They utilize lots of zucchini which is ever so plentiful this time of year along with toasted nuts, seeds and some dried cherries for a nice tart zip, but feel free to switch up the additions to suit your personal preference.


Whole Wheat Zucchini Muffins with Nuts and Cherries
adapted from 101cookbooks
yields about 24 muffins

2c whole wheat flour
1c all purpose flour
1 1/2t baking soda
1/2t baking powder
1t salt
1t cinnamon
1/4t nutmeg
3/4c olive oil (or canola oil)
1c sugar
1/2c brown sugar
3 large eggs
2t vanilla extract
zest of 2 lemons
1'' piece of ginger, grated with a microplane
3c finely shredded zucchini (about 3 medium), squeezed gently to remove excess liquid
1 1/2c mixed chopped nuts, toasted (I used half pecans and half walnuts)
1/3c poppy seeds
1/2c dried cherries roughly chopped

Preheat oven to 350º and line 2. 12 cup muffin tins with liners

1. In a large bowl, whisk together the flours, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Then stir in the chopped nuts and poppy seeds, making sure to reserve a few tablespoons to sprinkle on the top of the muffins.
2. In a separate bowl, whisk together the oil, sugars, eggs, lemon zest, ginger, and vanilla extract.
3. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir gently to combine. Fold in the zucchini and cherries.
4. Fill your muffin liners 2/3 full, then sprinkle the reserved nuts over top. Bake until the muffins are lightly browned and a toothpick comes out clean, about 25 min.

Big thanks to the folks over at The Kitchen Generation for mentioning the Baking Co. last weekend and thanks to everyone on twitter and facebook who have been so friendly and supportive of my bloggy-blog recently.

Tart Cherry Jam

It's not very nice of me to post a tart cherry recipe seeing as their cruelly short season is pretty much over, but I just love tart cherries so much. So much that I blew a good chunk of my grocery budget on tart cherries a few weeks ago. Some girls like shoes but me, I like expensive produce, sue me. Their bright tart flavor makes them the perfect fruit for jamming and baking. This year I made this batch of jam which I will carefully ration until next year (wishful thinking) and I froze a few quarts so I can bake up a cherry pie the next time someone invites me over to dinner. Maybe I'll bring some homemade ice cream too, any takers?

Tart Cherry Jam
Adapted from David Lebovitz and The Blue Chair Jam Cookbook
yield, about 5 half pint jars

4lbs pitted tart cherries, pits reserved
2 1/4 lbs sugar
1/3c freshly squeezed lemon juice

1. Place the cherry pits on a hard surface (like the floor) in between two old towels and gently tap them with a hammer until they crack. I used a paper grocery bag for this step and it got a little messy, lesson learned. Remove the tiny kernel from the cherry pits until you have about 1 1/2T, coarsely chop them. If you have no idea what I am talking about, the kernels look like this and they lend a subtle bitter almond flavor to the finished jam. Place the kernels in a tea infuser or a tightly tied cheesecloth bag.

2. Combine 3lbs of the cherries with 1 3/4lbs of the sugar in a large heatproof bowl. I use my hands for this step, squishing the cherries between my fingers to "chop" them a little bit.

3. Put the remaining cherries, sugar, and 2oz of water into a non-reactive jamming pot. Slowly bring the mixture to a boil stirring often, then boil the mixture until the cherries have shriveled and the liquid is thick and syrupy, about 7 minutes. Immediately strain this mixture over the reserved cherries in the bowl, pressing firmly to extract as much cherry goodness as possible. Discard the cooked cherries.

4. Add the cherry mixture, along with half of the lemon juice and your reserved pits back into the jam pot. Bring the mixture to a rapid boil, stirring often and cook for 10-15 minutes being careful to not let the jam scorch. Remove the pot from the heat and let the mixture rest for a minute or two. Skim the foam off of the top of the jam and discard. Stir in the remaining lemon juice.

5. Return the pot to the heat and bring to a boil. Cook the mixture for 5 more minutes, then test for doneness. If necessary, cook for a few more minutes. I ended up cooking my jam for about 5 more minutes. Remove the cherry kernels, then pour the jam into clean, sterilized jars. Store in the fridge or process in a boiling water bath for 10min to make the jam shelf stable.

Notes:
- A friend of mine bought tart cherries at the Union Square Greenmarket yesterday, so NY'ers will probably still be able to get tart cherries until the end of the week. Run, Quick!
- Before ladling my jam into jars I usually sneak a few spoonfuls of the cherry syrup from the pot and save it for cocktails and soda. I don't know if this is proper jam etiquette, but I do it anyway, and it is good.
- Following Autumn's lead, I spiced up one of my jars by stirring in a few crushed red pepper flakes and a 1'' piece of vanilla bean before sealing the lid. I am pretty excited serve it with my next cheese plate.
- If you can't find tart cherries, feel free to use this recipe with sweet cherries. The finished jam won't have the characteristic pucker that tart cherry jam does, but it will be delicious none the less.
- This jam has a fairly soft "set" which makes it great for topping things like ice cream and yogurt and less good for eating in a sandwich. It's too precious to mix with peanut butter anyway.