:: steph chows ::: recipe

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It was birthday earlier this week! Jeanne's too! So lets jam! I love apricot jam, and I equally love raspberry jam. For some reason I never thought to make a combo of the two... until this summer. I was at a local farm picking apricots when the farmer asked if I wanted to grab some raspberries while I was there. A big basket later and I was on my way home contemplating what to make.

Inspiration struck. Why not make a combo of the two!? 2 on the left are straight up raspberry, 2 on the right are apricot. Dead center is the 2 for 1 deal!

Apricot Raspberry Jam
recipe by steph chows
Makes 5, 1/2 pint jars

3 cups pitted and quartered apricots (I don't skin mine, I'm a rebel)
2 cups mashed raspberries
3/4 cup + 1 Tbs water
2 Tbs Ball RealFruit Low or No Sugar Pectin (I bought the flex batch jug)
1 cup white sugar

PREPARE waterbath canner, jars and lids according to manufacturer's instructions, if preserving. Prepare and measure ingredients for recipe.
COMBINE prepared fruit with water in a large saucepan. Gradually stir in Ball RealFruit Pectin. Bring mixture to a full rolling boil that cannot be stirred down, over high heat, stirring constantly.
ADD sugar. Return mixture to a full rolling boil. Boil hard 1 minute, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and skim foam if necessary.
Process jars for 10 minutes. To learn more on how to do this head here.

Depending on the amount of fruit you pick and type you can always use this handy dandy calculator over at Ball. It's super easy to use!

Your email will never be displayed publicly, so don't be scared to comment! :) Oh and make sure you type in your blog link so I can click over to you! There is a spot you can type it in.

First off, THANK YOU ALL WHO VOTED!!! We've made it past the first challenge of Project Food Blog and are now into the second round! You all rock!!! Voting for this challenge begins Monday, the link to vote will be posted here at that time, or you can always click on the Project Food Blog button at the top of the left column of this page. Please vote to help me get through to the next round! Voting is open now!

For this challenge we have to tackle an ethnic dish outside our comfort zone. I know most are probably tackling sushi for the first time, or maybe a big bowl of Pho... I thought about doing both of those but I just kept thinking about how John and I eat bagels out ALL THE TIME... and I have yet been able to tackle them at home! Maybe you don't consider Jewish bagels a very ethnic dish... or maybe you didn't know bagels were Jewish at all! According to the New York Times:

What’s Jewish about a bagel?
The short answer is: Sure, there are non-Jewish boiled and baked ring-shaped breads in Italy, Greece, Finland and Poland (among other countries), but the bagel is the Jewish version and as such it has accumulated a rich folklore and history that it cannot shake off easily.

Now onto a little background on me and my love of bagels. I grew up in northern NJ and the best place in town was Sonny's, a wicked good Jewish bagel bakery that my family frequented on a weekly basis. (My mom just told me that it was just voted best bagel shop in NJ! But we already knew that)

Did I mention that I LOVE bagels?

To prepare for the challenge I scoured the internet for what seemed like days to find the best and most authentic recipe possible. I even sent emails out to old friends who at one time worked in Sonny's to see if they could give me the secret!! I really wanted to try a version featured on Mags blog (she's awesome, I love her) but I was lacking the malt powder her recipe called for. In truth I think this is the true secret ingredient to make a good bagel (since my bagel shop friend also mentioned a form of malt), and without it I knew it wouldn't be up to par.

I knew I didn't have enough time to order the malt powder online since this post had to be up in a few days. After visiting multiple stores and calling ahead to a few more I found malt syrup lurking in the organic section of Pittsford Wegmans! Next was to find an authentic recipe that used the syrup instead of the powder!

The process sounds much more complicated than it really was. The instructions are long and detailed, intimidating to say the least! I forged on and after mixing, kneading, rising, shaping, boiling, and finally baking, sweet glorious bagels made their way out of the oven!! Want to give it a try yourself? I highly recommend it! For the holy grail of bagel recipes, click here for the deliciousness.

Just look at how crusty and chewy those things are. This isn't just bread in the shape of a bagel, these are the real deal! And yes everyone, that secret ingredient of malt syrup is the best secret I've ever found out.

Now onto the next task... figuring out how to make them into gingerbread flavored bagels... stay tuned!

And if you liked the post, please go vote for me!

I just want to give you all a huge thank you for taking part in this! I think it was a great success! We had 27 people from all over join in! I know for a fact new friendships were made through this, which is over the top exciting!

OK here is what people sent... at least what people wrote me back about what they sent (or what I was able to find on their blog- i'm sneaky like that)! (click on the images to see them larger) (Images were either sent to me or taken from your blog post or the post of the person who received the jam)

Darice who lives in CA sent Jen of Maple and Cornbread strawberry-kiwi jam, strawberry tarragon jam and lemon basil jelly

Jen of Maple and Cornbread (who picked all the berries she used in these!) sent me strawberry rhubarb (the first jam she ever learned to make as a girl), blueberry cinnamon, and spiced peach (picked from her father-in-laws tree!). How great is that!

I mailed Doug of Javaholic some strawberry jam, some cherry jam and some pumpkin butter!

Doug sent Jen of Beantown Baker Lemongrass-kaffir lime leaf-pepper jelly and a jar of Rosemary Peach Jam

Jen sent Sunshine of Eating on Tulsa Time some Rhubarb Raspberry Jam, and some Peach Bourbon!

Sunshine sent Diana of A little bit of Spain in Iowa Pineapple-Rhubarb Jam and Quadruple Berry!

Diane made her own pectin... no joke!! She sent to April of Abby Sweets some strawberry honey jam along with a jar of homemade pectin!

April (who was my first jam exchange partner ever last year!! woohoo!!) sent Cranberry, pear-vanilla, apple-cinnamon and sweet potato butter to Jeanne of The wrong Century (Jeanne does awesome crafts btw!).

Jeanne sent Tricia of Tricia Chaves some Strawberry Rhubarb, Strawberry, and Black and Blue jam!

Tricia sent Leslie Strawberry and Kiwi jam!

Leslie sent Krystal of The Special K Treatment some Strawberry Balsamic and a jar of Coco Banana! Very creative.

Krystal sent Beth a jar of Sirachi Jam.

Beth sent Becky some Raspberry Jam, and some Amazing apricot jam. How do I know it was amazing you ask? Because I made them both with her! This was Beth's first time making jam and she did great!

Becky sent black raspberry and some pineapple banana with a hint of strawberry to Steve.

Steve (who makes like 18 kinds of jam, mostly from fruit picked from his back yard!! so cool!!) sent my lovely roomie Steph some “Donner Family Farms” Cardamom-Plum and Dark Berry & White Fig Jams!

Steph (my roomie) sent Natalie of Natalie's Killer Cuisine a jar of Strawberry Rhubarb, Triple Berry and Apple Butter.

Natalie sent two jars of Tomato Jam! You got that right!!! To Lori of Lori's Lip Smacking Goodness.

Lori (who lives in Rochester but I've never met... yet!) sent green tomato jam andMargarita Strawberry Jam to Rebecca of Playful Noshings.

Rebecca sent Mike of Food Muse some delicious looking fig jam!.

Mike sent Christine of Sandwich Hoss some Quadraberry Jam and a jar of no-pectin Apricot Preserves.

Christine sent Megan of Megan's Cookin some strawberry plum jam, Peach jam with orange and ginger, and Blueberry-peach Jam (her posts are freakin hilarious btw!)

Megan sent Leslie of Spilling Buckets (another Rochestarian I have yet to meet!) some Lemony Peach Jam with Basil, Raspberry Chocolate topping, and a container of grill seasoning. Doesnt' that just sound interesting and tasty!?? Sure looks pretty.

Leslie sent Sieda strawberry lemon, blue berry, multi berry, and peach cinnamon!

Sieda sent to Jayme of Delectable Deliciousness some raspberry jam! yum!

Jayme sent sent Darice some (on the left) peach, raspberry, vanilla bean jam and (on the right) raspberry, strawberry, vanilla bean!

OK only two left! I paired them with each other since Jen of Piccante Dolce lives in Canada. Her partner was Shann. This way they were both shipping international and getting something international (only fair that way). I haven't heard from either of them so I don't know what they sent!

If anyone didn't receive their jam please let me know!!

That was seriously fun! Thank you again everyone and hope you join again next year!

PS Leslie of Spilling buckets was so inspired by this exchange, she's hosting a canning exchange! You can read about it in her post here, you have until Sept 4th to sign up!

Hello my name is Stephanie... and yes, I am a carboholic. Really now, how do you say no to a nice hot, right of the oven, slice of bread??? I'd like to see you try!!

This is the recipe I mentioned last week that I saw and made all in the same day. Full day of work, hour long spinning class with Brian the beast (seriously he's insane, I LOVE the class, and if he catches you talking to your neighbor he starts yelling about how if you have enough energy to talk... you aint working hard enough... ahh Brian love it), then it was home to make this bread... it just sounded so good! I couldn't resist.

I have one of the big kitchen aids, the 5 quart "heavy duty" kind... and this recipe made it jump around a bit... it's a BEAST of a ball of dough.

I mean look at it once it was done, it's about to jump ship!!

The recipe comes from Sugarlaws and there were a few questions I had while following her recipe... my comments in red italics.

mmmmm Perfect hot out of the oven, or toasted with a little butter the next day. This bread has a dense but not too heavy crumb. Even my boss who normally shys away from my healthy cooking I bring in liked it :)

Oatmeal Wheat Bread
recipe from Sugarlaws

3 cups whole wheat flour
3 cups bread flour
2 cups warm water (i'm assuming you use 1/4 cup for the proof and then the remaining 1 3/4 for the actual dough part....)
1 packet yeast (2 1/4 tsp if you are using a jar of yeast, or 1 cake fresh yeast)
1/2 cup instant oats, plus additional oatmeal for sprinkling on the loaf (I used whole oats instead of instant)
1/2 cup water (use this to make the oatmeal... I used a little more eyeballing it)
1 tsp sugar
2 tsp salt (I used 1.5 tsp)

Proof the yeast in 1/4 cup of water (I warmed the water to 110 degrees first) with 1 tsp of sugar. At the same time, microwave the oatmeal grains and water until oatmeal has absorbed the water, about 30 seconds to 1 minute (since I used whole rolled oats, I microwaved mine with a little more water for 3 minutes). When the yeast and water turns milky/creamy, mix it with the flour, the oatmeal, the rest of the water and salt and knead for about 10 minutes (took less time with the kitchen aid). If dough is too sticky, add a little bit of flour to make it easier to knead. Place the dough in a greased bowl and allow it to rise for 90 minutes, or until doubled in size. Punch down the dough, knead it again briefly, and place it in a greased pan for baking (she didn't mention what size pan, I used a normal size loaf pan and then a smaller loaf pan since there was too much for one loaf).

Preheat your oven to 450 degrees, and allow the dough to rise for an additional 45 minutes, or until it rises to the size you want. Sprinkle some additional oats on the top of the loaf. Bake for 25 minutes, allow to cool, and slice.

Can't you just smell the yeast proofing? Question for you. Do you LIKE or DISLIKE the smell of proofing yeast? I love it!! Which is ironic in a way since it reminds me of beer and I'm not a huge beer fan...

Imagine... hundreds of local farmers and vendors, all showing up no matter what time of year it is, no matter what the weather, to this open air place:

Rochester NY's 103 year old Public Market is thriving like crazy in these tough economic times. Found in the heart of the city, thousands show up every week on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday looking to find the best, freshest, local veggies, among other not so local fair (mango anyone?). Vendors' offerings range from fresh fruits and veggies, meats, cheese, bread, honey, clothing and other household goods... and the occasional live chicken (it's legal to raise chickens for eggs in your backyard in the city! No roosters allowed though):

I'm thankful for being picked again to participate in this months 24 24 24 by Foodbuzz. I proposed a task in cooking for a group with only $20 to spend at the local public market... Each person's task was easy... or maybe not so easy for some. Roam the market, $20 in hand, and buy up ingredients to make a delicious meal to feed 8 adults and 1 kid later in the day. Each person came up with creative ways of spending their money and brought amazing dishes to the party last night. (no one bought a live chicken though... I totally should have!)

Let me tell you a little more about the market... It is not for the claustrophobic, you tend to feel like cattle being herded through the lines of tightly packed vendors... it's rather easy to loose your friends, I've definitely lost John more than once there (thankfully he's tall and easy to locate!) I mean just look at all those people!

And that's just one aisle of the market!! This place is huge. And let me tell you, it will try your patience... after almost two hours of being trapped behind slow moving people and numerous sets of parents attempting to fit a double wide stroller full of kids and veggies down a crammed isle... you may end up looking like this:

Yeah I was reaching my point of wanting some people free time here... Thanks for making sure to capture the Kodak moment John! :D But the payoff of fresh local veggies...

totally makes it worth it!

To give you an idea of what I bought... I got this huge thing of tomatoes, eggplants, yellow and green squash for a total of $5. Impressive huh!

I also picked up dessert for us, a large marble angel food cake $1.50. A mini chocolate cake $2. And some cannoli for $1.25 each. Delicious!

Once everyone got home from the market the cooking began! Not everyone has sent me their recipes yet, so I'm going to do posts all week about the specific recipes everyone made as they send them to me! Then I'll link them back to this post so everyone can see all the recipes! So check back for an update link at the end of this each day this week!

For now though here's a little taste of what we had. Starting with an appetizer I made, simple and seriously delicious!

I bought some chicken andouille sausage from a butcher for $3 a pound. Pairing this with some extra sharp cheddar ($2 for 1/2 lb) from an Amish run stand and a loaf of honey wheat bread ($3) from a local baker... made for an irresistible appetizer!

Andouille & Cheddar Slider
1 lb chicken andouille sausage (or other VERY spicy sausage)
1/2 lb extra sharp aged cheddar cheese
1/2 loaf honey wheat bread

Cook the sausage on the stove or a grill until an internal temperature of 160 is reached. Slice into bite size pieces. Slice bread into small chunks, top with cheese and sausage. CHOW!

Totally easy and amazingly flavorful!

We had an amazing time and THANK YOU FOODBUZZ for making it possible! A glass of wine to you in thanks!