Meyer Lemon Jam

It's Meyer lemon season! Meyer lemon is a hybrid of a regular lemon that's crossed with Mandarin oranges. Small and round with thin skins, they are perfect for cooking because they are not as sour and they have a ton of juice compared to regular lemons. Here in California, I can find them in the grocery stores six months out of the year but Meyer Lemons are at their peak in the winter. I'm also fortunate that my mom has a Meyer lemon tree in her backyard so I get these little lovelies every year and lots of them beginning in late summer. How do I take advantage of these jewels before they go bad? I make jam. Don't worry, there's no canning or sterilizing needed. This is an easy freezer jam.  You may be asking yourself, so what if it's easy... What can I make with Lemon Jam? 

This jam is terrific on fish, seafood, chicken and vegetables, or simply dilute some with ice water to make a sweet lemonade or add to iced tea. Add to vodka for a refreshing lemon drop martini or tequila for a lemon Margarita. Add to a scoop of vanilla ice cream for a luscious lemon sauce. Add to cakes, scones or frostings to add a punch of lemony goodness to baked goods. Seep for a week in the fridge with vodka for a cool Limoncello for your next diner party. The possibilities are endless. In particular, I'll share my recipe for Scallops with Lemon Jam next, so keep an eye out for it. 
 
Next time you see some at the store, pick up a bag of Meyer lemons and make this freezer jam to use throughout the year. 
Note: If you can't find Meyer lemons, don't sweat it, substitute with regular lemons, but cut some of the pith out of the lemons so it doesn't get too bitter. Enjoy!

Meyer Lemon Jam

(slightly adapted recipe from Mario Batali)

4-5 Meyer lemons, seeded
1 1/2 cups of sugar
1/2 tsp salt

Cut Meyer lemons into quarters and remove seeds. Not to worry if you don't get all of the seeds because Meyer lemons have a ton of seeds (10+ per lemon), but try to get most of them. Place lemon quarters, rind and all, into a food processor and puree. Add sugar and salt and blend until smooth. Place in pint size freezer bags and freeze. Or store in a clean mason jar up to 1 week in the refrigerator. Enjoy!

Other recipes to try:

Sweet Pepper Jam

Quick Pickled Onions

Nana's Salsa

Whipped Feta Dip

Cheese, glorious cheese! I'm sure I'm not alone when I say, I cannot go a single day without eating cheese...lots of cheese. It's probably my only calcium source next to leafy green veggies. Feta, Cheddar, Jack, Gruyere, Parmesan, Brie, Bleu Cheese, Mozzarella...you get the picture. Plain and simple, cheese just makes life better. 
This Whipped Feta Dip is heaven! It's creamy, salty, lemony and slightly sweet. It's so delicious that it would be great with just about anything. Throw it on cold sandwiches, or hot sandwiches like grilled cheese or a savory panini. Stuff it in a chicken breast with mushrooms or an omelet.  It would be an incredible addition to a charcuterie plate or a veggie platter, the possibilities are endless. Or just, keep it simple and smear it on a cracker! Enjoy! 

Whipped Feta Dip

Makes ~1 cup

4 oz. cream cheese
1/2 cup feta cheese, crumbled
1 clove garlic, minced
zest and juice of one Meyer lemon
1 tsp extra virgin olive oil
chives or fresh dill, chopped
honey drizzle

Add cream cheese, feta, garlic, lemon juice, and olive oil into a food processor and process until smooth. Transfer to a small bowl and add chopped chives (or dill) and lemon zest. Stir in gently and refrigerate for about 30 minutes or overnight. Serve with crackers or sliced baguettes and drizzle generously with honey. Enjoy!

Other recipes to try:
 

White Corn and Cotija Dip

Homemade Hummus

Morrocan Carrot Dip

Cinnamon Sugar Skulls

Coffee! My husband makes the best coffee! What makes his so delicious is that he adds a sprinkle of cinnamon to the grounds before brewing. It's rich, coffee flavor with a hint of cinnamon tastes so good! I like my coffee a little sweet so I add just a smidgen of sugar as well. So you can imagine my excitement when I saw this idea on Pinterest to make skull-shaped sugar cubes. First, I love Halloween and two, I love my slightly sweet cinnamon coffee in the mornings so I adapted this recipe by adding a little cinnamon to them for the perfect cup of fall coffee! Drop one of these skulls into a super-sized coffee, grab a blanket and a good book and enjoy! 

Surprisingly, sugar cubes are super easy to make and are a great way to add a festive touch to any holiday, not just Halloween. Imagine making little stars for Christmas, chicks or bunnies for Easter, or hearts for Valentine's Day. Imagine adding different flavors and food coloring to them. Replace a little water with vanilla extract to make the perfect vanilla sugar cubes. Or make a strong Chai tea and use it in place of the water for a tea infused sugar cube. Add some red food coloring to the water to make pink hearts for Valentine's day. The possibilities are endless.
Depending on the size of your silicone molds, these sugar cubes are bigger than your traditional 'one lump or two' sugar cubes in the store, so make sure you use these with a super-sized cup of coffee unless you like it really sweet! Enjoy!

Cinnamon Sugar Skulls

Makes 2 dozen

1 cup granulated sugar
1 t ground cinnamon
2 t water
2 silicone Skull molds

Mix the cinnamon and sugar until evenly incorporated. Add water and mix with a fork until the sugar is the consistency of wet sand. Spoon into silicone skull molds. (I got these from the 99centsOnly Store ,2 for $0.99.) 
Pack sugar into molds with the back of a spoon. Cover the mold with a cookie sheet or cutting board and holding on to both, flip the whole thing over to un-mold the skulls. Let dry for 5 hours or overnight. 
If you prefer you can let the sugar dry in the molds however it'll take a little longer to dry.

More Halloween inspired recipes

Sweet Pepper Jam

This is one of those recipes that, at first look, seems really yucky. Who would make jam out of vegetables? And why would you want to?

I'll admit, it doesn't look all that appetizing in the jar but, put aside your judgement of questionable looking canned vegetables and make a batch of this jam! Why make it? 
"It is delicious!"

I made this Jam last summer when peppers were cheap and abundant. Canning is a good way to preserve summer fruit and a great way to transform all those peppers into an delicious and versatile condiment.

I know you are probably asking, "What the hell will I do with an entire jar of Sweet Pepper Jam?"

Here are few ideas...


Sweet Pepper Jam makes a quick and easy appetizer for all those holiday get-togethers. Open a bottle of wine. Spoon a generous amount (1/2-1 cup) of this sweet relish over a block of cream cheese. Put out some crackers and watch the faces of your guests turn from skeptical hesitation to smiling, taste bud euphoria!

Your friends WILL eat the entire plate so make sure you have enough crackers on hand. It is just that delicious! The taste is similar to Jalapeno Poppers with the creamy cream cheese filling, only without the heat.

This jam is also great in the summertime when you grill hot dogs and Chicken.

Hot dogs: Substitute the typical hot dog relish with this Sweet Pepper Jam. It is makes each bite the perfect combination of sweet, sour and savory. 

Chicken: Coat chicken with some Sweet Pepper Jam after grilling for a uniquely sweet BBQ sauce.
 

Sandwiches: Add it to your favorite sandwich, such as Turkey, Ham or grilled cheese. 
More ideas: Add it to quesadillas, bagels, scones, simple toast with butter, and to top warm Baked Brie. The possibilities are endless. Enjoy!

Sweet Pepper Jam

(Jam recipe and instructions from Sure Jell® Fruit Pectin)

Makes 6 cups

2 medium green peppers
3 medium red bell peppers
10 large jalapeno peppers
1 cup apple cider vinegar
5 cups sugar
1 package of Sure Jell® Fruit Pectin


Sterilize canning jars according to directions on canning jars. And keep jars in hot water bath until ready to use. 

Seed and chop peppers. Make 4 cups of prepared peppers. Wear gloves when handling jalapenos. 
Add peppers into large saucepan. 
Measure out the 5 cups of sugar and place in a separate bowl and set aside.
Add 1 cup of apple cider vinegar and pectin to the peppers and bring mixture to a full rolling boil (a boil that does not stop bubbling when stirred) on high heat. Stirring constantly.
Stir in sugar quickly. Return to full rolling boil and boil exactly 1 minute, stirring constantly. Remove from heat, skim off any foam.
Ladle quickly into prepared jars, filling to within 1/8 inch of tops. Wipe jar rims and threads. Cover with lid and bands. Hand tighten. 
Place jars on elevated rack of canner. Water must cover jars by 1 to 2 inches. Cover and bring to a gentle boil and process jam for 10 minutes. Remove from the canner and cool jars on a towel. Once jars are cooled, check seals by pressing down on center of lid. If not sealed properly, refrigerate jam. If properly sealed, jam can be stored on a shelf for up to 1 year. Opened Jars must be refrigerated.


Other recipes to try:
Dill Pickles                                  Quick Pickled Jalapenos & Radishes                    Pickled Onions     

Pickled Shrunken Heads

This idea was just way to clever to not make myself. Of course I found it on Pinterest, but it was just a photo from Kim Hellemans, no link to a blog or anything. Here is the link to her photo however. I absolutely had to make these cute little shrunken heads. Imagine them along side my Amputated Appetizer cheese platter or to turn your plain old hamburgers into a Halloween themed meal by topping them with a skeleton pickle. They are just too much fun. :)

These shrunken heads are made from two kinds of pickle recipes so you can choose which one you like. The cucumbers are the classic dill pickle from my Dill pickle blog from last year. I did revise the recipe just a little, so see the recipe below for the changes. The radishes are pickled with a sweet but spicy pickling brine with an added Serrano pepper for added spice. Feel free to omit the peppers if you just want them sweet. Both are delicious! Enjoy!

Pickled Shrunken Heads

Radish Heads
12 Radishes (makes 1 pint sized jar)
1 Serrano pepper
sweet and spicy pickling recipe

Cut radishes lengthwise or crosswise. Use BBQ skewers to poke faces into the radishes. Now slice the radishes thinly into pickles that have fun faces on them. Place sliced radishes into sterilized jars. Slice Serrano pepper and add to each jar of radishes. Prepare quick pickling recipe and pour liquid into radishes/peppers and let them sit for about 5 minutes. Place lids and rings and let cool on the counter top. Once cooled store in the refrigerator. These pickles are not canned and will not keep without refrigeration so make sure to store them in the refrigerator. Enjoy!

 














Cucumber Heads
(makes 2 pint sized jars)

• 1 large English cucumber
• 4 Tbsp dried minced onion
• 3 cloves garlic, sliced
• 2 tsp pickling spice
• 3 heads of fresh dill
• 3 cups water
• 1 cups vinegar
• 3 Tbsp canning salt (do not use regular salt, used canning salt)

In a large pot, add onion, garlic, pickling spice, dill heads, water, vinegar and canning salt. Bring to a boil to dissolve salt and let cool.

As pickling brine is cooling prep cucumbers. 

Cut cucumber into 4 3-inch long sections and stand up the 3-inch sections on the cutting board so that the seeds are facing you. Use chopsticks and BBQ skewers to poke faces into the cucumbers. Then slice down the sides of the cucumber to narrow out to create the hollowed out cheeks. Now you are ready to slice them into pickle slices. Cut about 1/4" slices and place into sterilized jars along with some fresh dill springs. Once pickling brine is cooled, add mixture to the cucumbers and place lids and rings. Place in the refrigerator and the pickles will be ready to eat in three days. Turn the jars upside down to mix each day and return to the fridge. Like the radish recipe above these pickles are not canned and must be stored in the refrigerator. Enjoy!

Doesn't this head look like Michael Meyers Mask from the movie, Halloween?

More Halloween inspired recipes.
Amputated Appetizer
Ghoulish Goat Cheese Torte
Roasted Fingers and Toes

Pickled Onions

Pickled onions? Eew! Or at least that's what my kids say. They're still too young to appreciate pickled vegetables outside of cucumbers. That's okay though because that means there's more for me and my husband.
I was inspired to make some pickled onions after I had the most amazing slider in the history of hamburgers a few weeks ago. I ordered some Pan Seared Chicken Sliders from a local food truck called Belly BombZ where one of the key ingredients on this slider was pickled onions along with a few other yummy ingredients! I'm craving them now as I type. They were so incredibly delicious that I had to try to make a copycat version of them at home.  In my homemade attempt to recreate these delicious sliders, I first had to make some pickled onions. I remembered seeing this easy recipe for Pickled Shallots on Pinterest from one of my favorite blogs, The Cutting Edge of Ordinary. I made some with red onions rather than shallots since that's what I had on hand, and recently made the shallots too. 
Instead of a big fancy dinner for New Years Eve, this year I'm making a copycat version of Belly BombZ's Chicken Sliders. I'll blog my copycat version of the Chicken Sliders recipe on New Years Day but here's the first step, pickling onions. Enjoy!

Pickled Onions (recipe from The Cutting Edge of Ordinary)
(makes 1-16 oz jar)

1 1/2 cup red onions, sliced (~2 medium red onions)
3/4 cup water
3/4 cup red wine vinegar
1/3 cup sugar
2 T kosher salt (I used canning salt)
1/4 t red pepper flakes

Sterilize canning jars, lids and rings and set aside. Slice onions and place into canning jars. Stack the rings in layers like this.

 
Add water, vinegar, sugar, salt and red pepper flakes to a medium saucepan and bring to a boil. Boil for about 5 minutes and then pour hot pickling liquid into the onion filled jars and fill to the top. Place lids and rings over filled jars and hand tighten. Let cool to room temperature and store in the refrigerator. Let them pickle in the fridge for 2-3 days and Enjoy!

Note: These are not canned, only quick pickled so these must be stored in the fridge.

These are great on hamburgers, sandwiches and salads or a great addition to an appetizer cheese plate. Enjoy!

Other pickling recipes to try:
Quick Pickled Jalapenos and Radishes
Dill Pickles
Looking for another onion recipe to try, these are delicious.
Parmesan Creamed Onions 

Happy New Year!

Black Bean Hummus

This recipe came about this last summer when I was experimenting with making different kinds of homemade hummus. I went through a "bean" phase, so to speak. Anyway, I wanted to make a Black Bean Hummus and there were a lot of recipes on Pinterest, as you can imagine, but instead of using those recipes, I adapted the Hummus recipe I posted back in June. I swapped the lemon for lime juice, chickpeas for black beans and of course, I added Chipotle and cayenne peppers and some cumin and spices. It turned out so good, I wanted to blog it right away. However, I quickly discovered, after I blended all these wonderful ingredients together, my incredible tasting black bean hummus turned a horrendous shade of vomit. Kinda of grayish-purple and kinda pink all at the same time. Yuck! My oldest son said, "It looks like cement!" 

Well gee? I can't photograph that bowl of grey mush and make it look appetizing. It's just too ugly. Despite the intense flavors of this recipe, the picture still has to look good, right? So, I scrapped the idea of blogging the Black Bean Hummus. Although I was a little discouraged at not being able to share the recipe, I happily ate the entire bowl. In fact, that's all my husband and I had for dinner that night.  Then, fast forward a week. I was on a hike with my hiking group and I was recapping my ugly hummus problem when it came to me! ...It may be ugly, but I can use the "gross" factor and make it a Halloween-themed dish! 
My girlfriend, Neidin called it, "Mummus" offering up her Halloween themed name. :) I thought of Monster Mash or Zombie Vomit...well whatever you choose to name it, it may not look appetizing, but it more than makes up for it's looks in flavor. Serve it with pita chips, sliced cucumbers, snow peas or other veggies and plate it in some creepy Halloween way.  I like the images all over Pinterest, of Jack-o-lanterns vomiting up a plate of guacamole. It's clever and pretty gross...Don't you think this dish would be awesome for a vomiting jack-o-lantern?  Anyway, have fun with it and enjoy the Halloween season with gross looking, but great tasting food. Happy Halloween!

For another Halloween themed Dish, try "Beet"ing Hearts Salad with Blood Red Dressing

Black Bean Hummus 
(aka: Zombie Vomit, Mummus, Monster Mash, cement, :) you get the idea...)

1/4 cup tahini
1/4 cup lime juice
1 T water
1 clove garlic
1 1/2 t cumin
1 t coriander
1 t chili powder
1/2 t salt
1/4 t cayenne pepper
1-2 Chipotle peppers,to taste (optional) 
1-15oz. Black Beans, rinsed and drained

Blend tahini, lime juice and water until emulsified. Add garlic, spices and peppers and blend until well combined. Lastly add the black beans and blend until smooth. 
Garnish with black olives and thinly sliced Chipotle peppers and a squeeze of lime.

Nana's Salsa

For this blog, I wanted to highlight our friend's family Salsa recipe, affectionately called Nana's Salsa. We've known the Ponce family for about twelve years. They are a warm and welcoming family who always make you feel like a part of their family. They are generous and kind and just plain fun! When I first met the Ponce's, I was astonished to find out that their family would host two big family events each year; their summer picnic and a formal winter dance held at a local hotel. 
The picnic was no 'bring a basket of food to the beach' kind of thing and the winter dance...well 'formal' says it all. You can imagine how much planning it would take to pull off a 'formal' anything. Both of these were organized events, which I came to understand, took a year of planning, every year. The duty of planning these events rotated through different family members each year. Incredible, because these were no small events. The family picnics were huge, with easily 300 people in attendance. Family, friends and neighbors all brought something potluck style. There were raffles, a mariachi band, beer trucks, food, games for the kids, water balloons, egg toss, the whole enchilada.  It was an amazing event, one which I was honored to attend a few years and always looked forward to attending. In fact, I remember, the first time I brought my husband (before we were married) to one of the Ponce's picnics. Afterward, he commented how awesome the Ponce Family was and how they made him feel like a part of their family.  I couldn't have agreed more.
So in honor of the Ponce Family, I thought it would be great to have my friend and writer, Paul Ponce, write up the story on how his Nana's Salsa recipe came to be and how he resurrected it when he thought the recipe was lost. The salsa is incredibly delicious and super fresh with lots of cilantro. I practically ate an entire bag of chips while I polished off the whole bowl of salsa. So here's Paul's family story and recipe. Enjoy! 

Thank you Paul and the Ponce Family for letting me share your story and recipe. 

Nana’s Salsa

by Paul Ponce

Back in the sixties, my grandparents opened up a Mexican food restaurant in Garden Grove, CA. They featured a full service menu consisting of what you might be accustomed to these days. Dishes such as tacos, enchiladas, and chile rellenos were some popular entrées, but before any of that came to the table, the first thing served was always a basket of chips and a bowl of fresh salsa.

Looking at grocery store shelves today, you might notice most jars and bottles of salsa have a red tomato base. A variety of chilies differentiate one product from the next but basically they are all about the same. Back in the day though, sometimes the price of tomatoes would be so high, the salsa needed to be stretched out a little. That is where Nana came in.

My great-grandmother a.k.a. “Nana” had her own salsa recipe that she brought to my grandparents new restaurant and it quickly became a local favorite. A couple years back, after not having tasted that salsa in over twenty years, I asked my Nino for the recipe. When he gave it to me he said there were no exact measurements, only ingredients and suggestions on “about” how much to use.

I remember the look and consistency of the salsa like it was yesterday but it wasn’t until I started blending it all together that the smell brought back a flood of memories. Then, when I took that first taste with a tortilla chip, I knew I had nailed that recipe right on the money. The process is fairly simple and the ingredients are few. The only culinary tool you really need is an emulsion blender and before long you can enjoy this recipe yourself!

Nana's Salsa

3 Roma tomatoes, chopped

1 14 oz. can diced tomatoes

1 bunch cilantro, chopped (about 2-3 cups)

1 bunch green onion, chopped (about 1 1/2 cups)

1 yellow chile (chile guerito), seeded and chopped 

2 Serrano chilies, seeded and chopped

1-2 cloves garlic, chopped (or 1 tsp. garlic powder)

salt, to taste

Clean and coarsely chop the three Roma tomatoes and place them in a deep bowl along with half of the canned tomatoes with juice. Clean and chop the cilantro. Don’t worry about taking each leaf off the stem, just throw it all in. Clean and chop the green onion, make sure to add some of the green part of the stem as well. Remove seeds and veins from the chilies.  Coarsely chop and add chilies to the bowl. Add the remaining half of canned tomatoes. Using an emulsion blender, slowly blend the ingredients together. Add salt to taste.

Refrigerate and serve. 

Note: Letting the salsa, refrigerate overnight will give you the best flavor allowing the ingredients to meld together, but it is not required. Enjoy!

Quick Pickled Jalapenos and Radishes

Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers.
A peck of pickled peppers Peter Piper picked. 
If Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers, 
Where's the peck of pickled peppers that Peter Piper picked?

I say that nursery rhyme in my head every time I think of pickled peppers. If only I could remember most other things that well and for as long. Anyway, I stumbled on a pound of Jalapeno peppers for a $1 yesterday and wanted to attempt to make some pickled jalapeno peppers. I thought it would be fun to top some burgers or hot dogs with these little babies for a Memorial Day BBQ.  

I searched the Internet for 'pickled jalapenos' and this super quick and easy recipe popped up from allrecipes.com  I also had some radishes in my fridge and decided to add these too and see how they turned out. I told myself that if they were good enough, I would blog about them. They turned out great and they were super delicious and very spicy! But I like spicy. 

The video on allrecipes.com suggested to rinse your cut jalapenos in cool water to help remove some of the seeds to help lower the heat.  If you didn't know already, the hottest parts of peppers, comes from the seeds and the ribs holding the seeds. So if you are wanting to reduce the hotness of peppers in this and other preparations, do remove the ribs and seeds. (I skipped this step in my preparation of this recipe)

I like this recipe because it's easy and it's intended to make a small amount to be used in a short amount of time. You can prepare and serve them in a matter of hours rather than in days as in traditional canning methods for pickling vegetables. Store them in your refrigerator for up to three months*. (*I'd previously stated that you could only store these in your fridge for about a week, but I have since been doing more research on quick pickling and these pickles will keep in your refrigerator for up to three months.) 

Here is a picture of my breakfast this morning using the peppers I pickled. Pretty perfect. The radishes were terrific too, surprisingly delicate and flavorful, you pick up the notes of oregano well in the radishes. Pickled radishes are my new favorite discovery and I plan on pickling them again so I can experiment with dishes to incorporate these bad boys. :) 

Quick Pickled Jalapenos and Radishes (recipe from allrecipes.com)
(Makes 2- 8oz jars)


3/4 cup water
3/4 cup vinegar
3 T granulated sugar
1 T kosher salt (I used canning salt)
1 clove garlic (I used 2 garlic cloves)
1/2 t Mexican oregano
10 large Jalapenos, sliced into rings
5 radishes, sliced into rounds (I added radishes to the mix as well)

Add water, vinegar, sugar, salt, garlic and oregano in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil over high heat. Add Jalapenos and radishes to pot with vinegar mixture and remove from heat. Stir and let sit for 10 minutes.

Use tongs to transfer peppers and radishes into 2-8oz jars. Top off each jar with remaining vinegar mixture. Place lids tightly and refrigerate.

These are only quick pickled peppers and radishes and can be used immediately and/or stored in your refrigerator for up to three months. Enjoy!