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Strawberry Jam

July 2, 2018 by Carine Clary Leave a Comment

Strawberry JamSummertime brings baskets of strawberries and this is a way to feel all creative with strawberry jam sans the Grandma Moses all day jam for the masses routine. No sterilizing, no giant kettles with scary bolts on the lid. None of that. This yields one pot of the best jam I’ve ever had (due to a couple of not so secret ingredients). It’s enough for crepes, a batch of kolaches, toast, or just spooned out of the jar.

To get started you need to know the difference between jam and jammin, although I highly recommend the jammin part as background music while you stir the pot. It won’t take long.

Strawberry JamAfter it starts boiling some people skim the foam off the top. I don’t because I don’t think it matters but you can if you’re just standing around watching it.

You don’t have to be constantly be stirring, but if you step away don’t step away for long. And remember, the more times you make this the better you get at just eyeballing the pot to know when it’s done. The great thing about strawberry jam is that if it’s a bit runny it’ll still be great over ice cream or cake or in smoothies or even toast. If you cook it too long stir in a bit of honey to thin it.

Once you’ve done this a few times you won’t go back to grocery store jams (except maybe in the depths of winter).

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Strawberry Jam
Author: Carine Clary
Cuisine: Southern
 
Ingredients
  • 2 cups sliced strawberries (1 16 oz. container of berries)
  • ⅔ cup sugar, scant
  • 1 tablespoon lemon juice
  • One 6-ounce glass jar
  • ½ tsp. rose water
  • ¼ tsp. scant almond extract
Instructions
  1. Place a spoon into the freezer to use for testing the jam.
  2. In a deep pot, add strawberries, sugar, and lemon juice and let set for a few minutes to draw out the juices.
  3. Heat and stir until it reaches a rolling boil. Boil and stir until it thickens, 10 minutes.
  4. When it starts to thicken take your spoon out of the freezer.
  5. Hold the spoon for 30 seconds then tilt it. If it slides too fast, keep cooking. If it moves slowly, it is done. Test every minute or two and do not overcook it. As the mixture reduces you should notice a ring around the pot where it has shrunk from the original volume.
  6. Pour into a clean glass jar and let set.
3.4.3177

 

Filed Under: Pickles & Preserves, Southern Tagged With: strawberries, strawberry jam

Ajvar

May 5, 2018 by Carine Clary Leave a Comment

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAAjvar. Rhymes with cavyar, which is caviar in English and havyar in Turkish but everyone in the eastern Mediterranean knows it as an appetizer starring red pepper and eggplant. The supporting cast includes garlic, lemon juice and hot peppers. I think the “caviar” attribution comes from its ability to be spread on toast or pita like caviar but without the expense of caviar, making it the poor man’s vegetarian version.

The fact that it’s healthy should not deter you from indulging because it tastes very good and is somewhat addictive which is why the recipe can easily be multiplied for groups larger than four. And how can you not like it? After all, it’s fire engine red and hot as that little car you saved up for back in high school, so enjoy!

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAThe only challenge presented by Avyar is getting the peppers cooked so that they’re easy to peel. Some people will just tell you to cut them in half, lie them face down and put them under the broiler. However, I’ve found that they cook faster and better if they’re quartered. That way the inner part is mostly touching the cookie sheet and absorbing its heat. The other advantage is that with the skin side being flatter to the pan the peppers will char more evenly. Once they’re soft you need to put them in a bowl and cover with a rag or plastic. Don’t skip this step. Steam coming off the cooling peppers will make them easy to peel.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAThe eggplant can be sliced in half lengthwise and broiled in the oven. I’ve found, however, that if you peel and slice it into chunks, then cover it with foil it will cook in the same amount of time it takes the peppers. The foil will trap the steam coming off the eggplant which will speed the cooking process.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAIf you’re using the roasted garlic instead of the raw, just hold it by the papery outside and gently squeeze the cooked cloves into the eggplant before pureeing. The rest is just a trip to Cuisinart land or some vigorous smashing with a potato ricer. If you do use the Cuisinart go easy on it. Two or three quick pulses should render a satisfyingly chunky texture. Think appetizer, not Gerber’s Strained Ajvar. You don’t want to experience what happened to me when I attempted to make this on vacation at a friend’s house. She didn’t have a Cuisinart so we decided to make it in her brand new Vitamix. The result was basically grey sludge. Interestingly, it didn’t even taste quite the same which illustrates the importance of texture.

So, when you’re done (however you did it) it’s great just eaten off your fingers, but best on toast or pita as shown above.

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Ajvar
Author: Carine Clary
Recipe type: Appetizer
Cuisine: Croatian
Serves: 4
 
Ingredients
  • 2 lbs. red peppers
  • 1 lb. eggplant
  • 1 small head of garlic, top cut off & drizzled with oil
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 tablespoon lemon juice
  • dash of red vinegar
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • red pepper flakes to taste
Instructions
  1. Cut peppers in quarters, remove seeds and white inner membrane.
  2. Turn the broiler to 500 degrees.
  3. Toss peppers in olive oil, coating all sides, then put on a cookie sheet cut side down and run under the broiler till the skin starts to blacken and bubble. Watch them carefully. Ovens are variable in their heating capacity and you don't want them to burn.
  4. Peel the the eggplant, toss in a little oil then place on a cookie sheet or grill pan and put in the oven with the peppers. Slice the top off the garlic head, drizzle with oil and place on the pan with the eggplant. Cover with foil.
  5. When peppers are done remove to a bowl, cover with plastic and let them cool, then remove the skin. Covering them creates steam and will make it easier to remove the skin.
  6. Put peeled red peppers in a food processor and puree. Remove and set aside.
  7. Put cooked eggplant and garlic in the food processor and pulse several times.
  8. Add seasonings to taste, garnish with parsley and serve with french bread or pita.
Notes
You can use a finely diced smoked jalapeno pepper in place of the red pepper flakes. Just add it carefully and taste along the way so there's not too much heat.

If you use raw garlic instead of roasted, reduce the amount to 2 small cloves which you should mince and then smash with the side of the knife. You want to avoid biting down on a hard piece of it.

I usually double this recipe because it goes fast.
3.2.2708

 

Filed Under: Appetizers, Croatian, Vegetables Tagged With: ajvar, red pepper appetizer, red pepper eggplant appetizer

Crawfish Monica

April 29, 2018 by Carine Clary Leave a Comment

Crawfish MonicaWhat says Jazz Fest to you right after the music? The food! And besides the smoked turkey wings and gumbo what says it the most? Crawfish Monica.  So if you can’t make it to the food tent consider your kitchen your very own tent and make it like this.

Invented on a whim by chef Pierre Hilzim and named after his wife Monica, Crawfish Monica was born in the 80s and is now served at Jazz Fest and available to order from their company Kajun Kettle.

My version is very similar but since I also love fennel in all its forms I decided to add it and it’s good (if you like fennel.)

I also did a version with leeks instead of green onions but the taste wasn’t different enough to warrant the trouble and expense of the leeks so it was back to green onions. The only other variation was the use of lemon juice only instead of wine and lemon juice. If you have wine by all means use it but the lemon serves well. And one other thing – I like lots of crawfish so I only use half a pound of the rotini instead of the whole box, but you can always add more if you need or want to stretch it.

To get started you will chop up all the choppable items including the root of the fennel bulb as you see below:

Crawfish MonicaThere’s a hard part at the base that needs to be removed, the rest you just chop into small pieces so it will cook quickly. You’ll want to keep the feathery top for garnish and extra flavor.

Once the veg has softened add the cream, spices and crawfish (I get the bagged kind) and set it aside to let the flavors meld while you boil the pasta. I use rotini because it’s traditional and those little kinks hold the sauce well. However, it’s also great for parties while eating on the hoof since you can eat it with a spoon like this:

Crawfish MonicaSo happy listening &  Crawfish Monica eating during this latest Jazz Fest season!

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Crawfish Monica
Author: Carine Clary
Cuisine: Creole Italian
 
Ingredients
  • For the sauce:
  • 1 stick butter (1/2 cup)
  • 1 cup sliced green onions (white part, reserve green tops)
  • 3 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 diced fennel bulb (retain tops)
  • ½ cup chopped parsley
  • 1 tsp. ground fennel
  • 1 tsp. ground thyme
  • 1 tsp. salt
  • 1 tsp. red pepper flakes
  • ¼ cup lemon juice, scant (or half lemon juice/half white wine)
  • 2 cups heavy cream
  • 1 lb. crawfish meat tail meat
  • 1 cup Pecorino Romano cheese, civided, half for sauce, half for topping
  • For the Pasta:
  • ½ lb. Rotini
Instructions
  1. For the sauce:
  2. In a large pot melt the butter and add the green onions, garlic, and fennel. Cook over medium heat until softened but not brown, about 5 to 7 minutes.
  3. Add parsley, ground spices, salt and red pepper flakes and cream.
  4. Stir in crawfish meat with the fat and gradually add the lemon juice tasting it along the way. You may prefer a little less than ¼ cup.
  5. Once the crawfish is heated through add the cheese.
  6. For the pasta:
  7. Boil the rotini in salted water according to package directions, let drain for several minutes and add to the sauce.
  8. To serve:
  9. Place in serving dish or individual bowls and add reserved parsley & cheese to taste.
3.4.3177

Filed Under: Cajun, Creole, Fourth of July, Mardi Gras, Rice & Noodle Dishes, Seafood

Vietnamese Shrimp Toast

March 31, 2018 by Carine Clary Leave a Comment

Vietnamese Lemongrass Shrimp ToastHow does Chinese Shrimp Toast become Vietnamese Shrimp Toast? Well, you have Chinese immigrants to Vietnam who adapt it with the addition of some lemongrass and you’re good to go.

At least that’s one version of the story. My version is that shrimp toast tastes so good that anyone with access to shrimp will want to eat it.

I was inspired to develop a recipe for these after eating some frozen, overpriced & mediocre Trader Joe ones. I kept munching and wondering, looking at the ratio of white bread to shrimp, what the profit margin on the item was and whether or not I should fry the box to get my money’s worth.

After making them I can honestly say you’re getting poor not making your own. Plus, laminated boxes don’t fry well.

The beauty of this recipe is threefold. One – the shrimp topping doesn’t require a lot of steps. Just drop the raw ingredients into a food processor & whiz until it becomes a paste. Two – it tastes great. Three – it freezes great, making it superior to stale Doritos for late nite noshing.

As you start loading your food processor you’ll notice that one ingredient is soy sauce. For true Vietnameseish authenticity you will want to use Maggi soy sauce or Nuóc Tuöng. It’s the iconic Vietnamese soy sauce.  Maggi was brought in by the French who imported it from Switzerland where it was first bottled by Julius Maggi, making its addition to colonial cooking an early form of fusion cuisine. However, the FrangloSaxon’s refrigerator door stash yielded only Kikkoman and it tasted fine, so I say go with what you got.

Another variation frequently employed by Vietnamese cooks is the use of thinly sliced baguettes as the carrier for the shrimp paste. These can be either fried or laid out on a cookie sheet and run under the broiler until brown.  If you cook them in the oven get them about 4 inches under the broiler and broil at 425 until brown. Stay in the kitchen for this and keep a close watch so they don’t burn.

Finally, you’ll see that the little shrimpy toast points in the photo are accompanied by my carrot vinaigrette salad. This is a perfect side since besides tasting good the acidity counteracts the richness of the fried toast.

So there you have it. Shrimp Toast you can enjoy now or later.

Print
Vietnamese Shrimp Toast
Author: Carine Clary
Cuisine: Vietnamese
 
Ingredients
  • For the shrimp paste:
  • ½ lb. raw shrimp, peeled & deveined
  • ¼ cup water chesnuts
  • 2 tablespoons finely chopped lemongrass
  • ¼ cup chopped cilantro (or flat leaf parsley)
  • ½ cup sliced green onions
  • 2 cloves garlic
  • 1 small Thai chili*
  • 1 tablespoon grated ginger
  • 1 tsp. toasted sesame oil
  • 1 tsp. Red Boat fish sauce
  • 1 tablespoon soy sauce
  • 1 egg white
  • ¼ tsp. salt
  • sesame seeds
  • For the toast:
  • 6 slices white sandwich bread, toasted on one side
  • For the garnish:
  • sliced green onion tops
  • sliced chilis
Instructions
  1. Put shrimp, water chestnuts, cilantro, green onions, garlic, ginger, fish sauce, sesame oil, soy sauce,egg white, sugar, chilis in the bowl of a food processor. Pulse several times and scrape down bowl. Continue to process until the mixture is a paste. Cover with plastic and refrigerate for an hour.
  2. Very lightly toast the bread and cut off the crusts. Spread the paste onto the toasted side and cut the bread into triangles. Sprinkle with sesame seeds.
  3. Fill a heavy skillet about 1 inch with oil. When oil is hot place the toast shrimp side down & fry till crispy, about 1 to 2 minutes. The oil should be 350 degrees or if you don't have a thermometer you can just take some of those crusts you cut off the bread & hold them in the oil. If the oil bubbles around the edges it's hot enough to fry.
  4. Drain on a rack or plate lined with a paper towel.
  5. Garnish with thinly sliced chilis or green onion tops.
Notes
* If you forgot to buy a chili don't despair! Substitute a quarter teaspoon of cayenne & all will be well.
3.4.3177

 

Filed Under: Appetizers, Seafood, Tet, Vietnamese Tagged With: lemongrass shrimp toast, shrimp toast, Vietnamese shrimp toast

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