It’s impossible to beat the sweetness of a freshly picked strawberry, but you can preserve most of it with a bit of culinary magic by making strawberry jam.  In this tutorial I’ll not only provide you with an easy strawberry jam recipe, but also show you step by step how to can it so you can enjoy that strawberry flavor throughout the year.

Strawberry Jam Recipe

3 3/4 C Crushed Strawberries
1/4 C Lemon Juice (Freshly Squeezed)
7 C Sugar
1 Package Liquid Pectin
1 Tablespoon Butter (optional)

1. Wash and Hull the Strawberries
Strawberries are generally pretty dirty little bastards, so make sure to give them a good washing.  This is also a great time to get rid of any questionable strawberries as well as cutting off any parts that you wouldn’t want to be eating.  Any piece of rotten strawberry getting into your jam can easily spoil an entire batch of jam.

Once clean, hull your strawberries making sure to remove any pieces of white.  If you’re strawberries are large, you can cut them in half at this point.

2. Smash the crap out of those berries
Now’s the time to get out your pent up frustrations because you need to smash your berries so that you have a good mix of berry chunks and juice.  While you could use a food processor, blender or food mill, I prefer my good old potato masher so that there are still some considerable chunks left.

3. Add the berries, lemon juice and sugar to a pot.  Stir to combine.

 
4. Gently heat up the berry mix.
Put the pot with your mixture on medium heat and stir to incorporate everything. You can add, if you’re so inclined, the butter here to reduce foaming later in the process.

5. Get set for canning
While the strawberry mix is heating up, get things set for canning.  Get your largest pot of water boiling and put in your cleaned jars. This allows them to heat up so that when you put in the hot strawberry jam they don’t explode.  So yeah, don’t forget this part.  Also too, take your lids and put them into a small pot with water on medium heat.

I also like to take this as an opportunity to make sure I’ve got everything I need for canning, because once things get going, a missing component could be a disaster. So get out your funnel, bands and canning tongs.

6. Get the strawberry mixture boiling.
Turn up the heat on the strawberry mixture to high so that it comes to a boil.  Be careful here as this can pop and splatter, and it’s hotter than hell.  It could make for a cool body modification, but I’d prefer a tattoo.

Stir continually to prevent burning.  You’ll know when it’s reached the right point when stirring no longer dissipates a boil.

7. Pour in the liquid pectin.
The strawberry mixture should be at a roaring boil and now it’s time to put in the pectin.  Make sure you get it all out of the package, and stir it in.  Now let this mixture continue to boil for one minute.

8. Take the strawberry jam mix off of the heat.

9. Take your jars out of the canner and set them aside to drain.

10. Start filling your jars.
I use a big funnel for this because I like my counter tops, but I know a lot of folks who just pour it in and wipe off the rims later.  Fill up each jar all the way to 1/4 from the top. Do this for each jar until you’re out of your jam mixture.

11.Seal the jars. 
Once all of your jars are filled, wipe off any jam that you may have gotten on the rims.  One by one, take the lids out of the hot water with tongs and set them on top of the jars.  Either using tongs or a towel to protect your hand, fasten the band on the jar.

12. Can those suckers.
Carefully place your jars in boiling water.  They’ll need to take a bath for 10 minutes before they are ready. Once you’ve hit the 10 minute mark, remove them from the water and place them on a towel.

13. Bask in your jammy awesomeness.
You’re done.  You just have to wait 12 – 24 hours before your jam sets up, but don’t fret, it will be about that long before these damn things are cool enough to handle again. You’ll notice that one of these things in the picture does not belong.  That little guy on the right with the plastic wrap on it was my left over jam and since I will be eating it within the next few days, there was no need to can it.  Stored in the fridge it will last at least a month.

You strawberry jam will last canned for a least a year, but I’ve kept some jars much longer with no issues.  There are a couple of things to make sure of though to prevent yourself from dying from tainted jam. Never store the jars with the bands on because if the lid were to pop off (a good sign the stuff is spoiled) you’d never know.  Also, be sure to keep these in a dark, cool area as light can effect the product. 

One note of caution: Beware of sharing your supply with friends and family as once they know you make strawberry jam from scratch, they’ll be asking for it every year.

How to Make Strawberry Jam

• Pick Your Own Strawberries in Northeastern Ohio
• Another Cake Recipe
• Lime Sorbet Recipe
• Blackberry Jam
• Pabellon Criollo – Typical Venezuelan Dish

Outback Steakhouse:
http://www.outback.com/foodandmenus/fathersday2009.aspx

Father’s Day 2009 Restaurant Deals

• Buca di Beppo Celebrating 15th Anniversary
• Our Town and All Around – Coupon Book
• Coffee Addict – Are you one of us?
• La Tortilla Feliz
• Scooter’s Dawg House

I’ve always had a thing for old recipe collections where half of the recipes are illegibly written on 3×5 index cards and the other half are crude cutouts from magazines and newspapers.  They jam little recipe boxes so tight they are chore to get out. 

There is something nostalgic and sentimental about these collections that people took time to create, especially now when recipes are emailed off with the click of a mouse.  I’ve got an inbox full of recipes and while convenient, it’s also pretty vanilla. 

I was sent a link (by my favorite knitting/gardening blogger) recently for a website that combines these two worlds into one easy to use, but beautiful website: Recipe Curio

Recipe Curio has scans of old recipe index cards and cutouts, so you can enjoy the sights of those times now long gone.  Additionally, they type up the recipe for you so you can make some of these forgotten treasures.

Really a lovely site, I hope you check it out.

recipecurio.com

Great Old-Time Recipes Website

• Olivepit
• Abraham Linkin [Eatingcleveland's Best of the Food Web]
• How to Cook Everything – Book Review
• The Cleveland Cupcake Project
• Easy Fill Taco Shells – Not So Easy

Rice, Risotto , Lentils, Black Beans, Platanos (Plantaines, Yuca, a variety of fish (Salmon, Talapia, Shark), Avocado, Onions, Tomatoes.

Pretty much everything my hubbie and I have for dinner, is what she eats.  Even if she doesn’t quite like it the first time, I always have her try it again.

For those of you who are reading, here’s my advise to you when it comes to young children and food.

• The first initial “yuck” look on a babies face is normally just the reaction of something new, which is why a second round is always a good idea!
• If you child ask’s “Do I like this?”, always say yes.  When you tell a child they don’t like something they will automatically engrave in their mind just that.
• Even if it’s something you don’t like, or wouldn’t normally eat, let your child try it.  You might find that their taste buds are much different than yours.

Does your 2 year old eat these foods?

• Organic Baby Food
• How To Store Extra Onions
• Swanson Soups – Good for these Cold, Winter Days
• Original Tacos El Lobo – Painesville, Ohio
• When a Hero Comes Along….

1. Learn from the Pros: One of the neat things about Twitter, is that you can follow anyone using the service. (Ok, some people have their updates blocked, but they are few and far between.) By following professional chefs, food writers and food bloggers you can find a lot of useful information about cooking and ingredients.

2. Find a good Restaurant: You’re followers are a great resource, so use them.  Ask your followers where you should eat, you’ll be sure to get a number of recommendations.

3. Get Food Deals: As Twitter has grown in popularity there are now tons of restaurants, both national chains and local mom and pop’s, with Twitter accounts.  Many of these restaurants use Twitter as a marketing tool offering discounts, coupons and even freebies to their followers. @Calaspizza is a great example of this locally.

4. Find local favorites when out of town: Going out of town?  Want to know where the locals eat?  Start following some of the locals using services like Nearby Tweets or use twitter search to cross reference the name of the city with words like “eat” and “food”.  You’ll have list in no time.

5. Find recipes that work: Looking for a good recipe?  Twitter search allows you to find out realtime if recipes are winners or losers, so you can pick the good ones from the start.

That’s what I’ve got.  How do you use Twitter to fill your tummy?

Twitter as a Tool for your Tummy

• 5 Free Ways Google Can Help in Your Kitchen
• Restaurant Coupons – 5 Ways to Find Them Online
• 50 Fabulous Food Lists
• Eatingcleveland.com Now on Twitter
• Our Town and All Around – Coupon Book

Here’s a link I found that has a nice long list and descriptions of flowers that can be eaten.  It’s on about.com, the Edible Flower Chart.  

Let me list a few examples of flowers that are edible are: Basil, Chamomile, Carnations, Chrysanthemum, Dandelion, Fuschia, Jasmine, Marigold, Rose, Sage, Squash Blossoms… Also the site gave a few tips on what do and not do with the edible flowers, which I’ve listed below.

Edible Flower Tips:
• Place a colorful gladiolus or hibiscus flower (remove the stamen and pistil) in a clear glass bowl and fill with your favorite dip.
• Sprinkle edible flowers in your green salads for a splash of color and taste.
• Freeze whole small flowers into ice rings or cubes for a pretty addition to punches and other beverages.
• Use in flavored oils, vinaigrettes, jellies, and marinades.
• One of the most popular uses is candied or crystalized flowers, used to decorate cakesand fine candies.
• Asthmatics or others who suffer allergic reactions to composite-type flowers (calendula, chicory, chrysanthemum, daisy, English daisy, and marigold) should be on alert for possible allergic reaction.
• Never use non-edible flowers as a garnish. You must assume that if guests find a flower on a plate of food, they will think it edible.
• Use flowers sparingly in your recipes, particularly if you are not accustomed to eating them. Too much of a pretty thing can lead to digestive problems

Do you have any recipes that include edible flowers?  Have they been a big hit at a family get together, a fancy dinner party, just a regular old family dinner?

Photo:  HarlanH

Edible Flowers

• How to Create Your Own Cookbooks
• Food Virgin – Rice Water
• Paladar meets Paula Deen (and probably a lot of butter)
• Quick Hits: Max and Erma’s Paella
• Best Wedding Cake in Cleveland – Ask the Readers

What you need:
1 container of chicken livers or 1 tray of beef livers (your choice, but they really taste same)
1 small yellow onion
soy sauce
cumin
salt
pepper
minced garlic

How to prepare:
1. Place the liver in a container.  Add the following  1/4 cup of soy sauce, 1/2 tablespoon of cumin, 4 minced garlic cloves and mix so the liver is covered with the spices.  Add salt & pepper to taste.  Let this sit in the fridge for about 1 hour to marinate.

2. While the liver is marinating in the fridge, take the yellow onion and cut it into little/thin slices.  I normally cut the onion in half and then slice it really thin. 

3.  Take the liver out of the fridge and place in a skillet.  The burner needs to be set on high heat.  Make sure you add a little bit of oil to the skillet.  Let the liver sear for about 5-7 minutes.  Make sure you stir it so it doesn’t burn or stick to your skillet.  Once the liver is seared, add the sliced onion and lower the burner to low heat.  You will need to cover the skillet now.  Let the liver & onions simmer for about 10 minutes. 

4. Serve the liver & onions over plain white or brown rice.  and.. Enjoy!

Photo: mhaithaca

Liver and Onions

• Stacy’s Red Pasta Sauce
• Pabellon Criollo – Typical Venezuelan Dish
• Stacy’s Turkey and Three Bean Chili
• Basic Western North Carolina Barbecue Sauce
• Lexington NC BBQ Sauce Recipes

Please take a moment today to remember the brave men & women who served and are serving our country.  

Memorial Day

• Mallorca- Excellent Spanish and Portuguese Cuisine
• Another Cake Recipe
• Maggiano’s Little Italy – Beachwood
• Country Bob’s All Purpose Sauce
• McNulty’s Bier Market in Downtown Cleveland

Now when was the last time you had any of those vegetables plain?  And I mean plain.  No salt.  No sugar.  No butter.  No garlic.  Just the vegetable itself.

My wife recently started making baby food for our son and each item is essentially a puree of the vegetable or fruit, but that alone.  Absolutely nothing added.

After feeding these to my son for a few weeks I noticed that he reacted very differently to every food.  Some, like carrots, he seemed to tolerate, but others like sweet potatoes he couldn’t get enough of them. 

How could this be, I thought?  I mean, they’re all pureed vegetables, how different could they taste from each other?

So I tried them for myself.

I was amazed.  I couldn’t believe how flavorful they were, each with different notes that I’d never tasted before.  The peas were grassy and floral.  Carrots were slightly sweet but bright.  And no wonder the kid loves sweet potatoes.  They were amazingly sweet with earthy undertones you’d expect from a potato. 

Luckily for me, as my son grows, I’ll be able to experience a number of foods in their purest forms.  But I’d like to challenge you to do the same.  The next time you’re at the grocery store, grab some produce and try it without any modification, maybe some cooking, but nothing else.

You probably won’t be able to make a meal out of it, but you will get to know your food a little bit better than before.  I think you’ll find that’s a good thing and who knows, it might change the way you eat.  It will certainly change the way you taste.

Photo: moria

What Does a Carrot Taste Like?

• Mi Pueblo – Cleveland, Ohio
• Potato Tart – Kitchen Disaster
• Mamacita, a Nice Latin Meal
• The Food Virgin
• Fried Polenta