Cinnamon Peach Swirl Sourdough

 This recipe was born because we wanted strawberry jam.  ...I'll explain:  We only have so much fridge door real estate, which is where jams and other condiments live, of course. And we also have this sort of unwritten rule about not having more than two types of jam/jelly open in the fridge at once (probably because we need to make sure we have plenty of room for the 5-6 types of pickled things that also live in the door).  There was a new, unopened jar of strawberry jam in the pan but first we needed to use up a partial jar of peach jam that had already been in the fridge for a while.

I couldn't find a recipe for exactly what I wanted to do, so I modified a cinnamon raisin swirl bread I'd had some success with in the past.  The peach jam we had (used about half a jar, or 1 cup) was homemade, from my Aunt Betty, and was delicious, but I wanted some other flavor notes in there. So I mixed in some cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg (to taste). I tried to spread the filling as thin as I could, but with chunks of peach in there, it wasn't perfect.

This got rolled up from right to left, taking plenty of time to make sure I was sealing the edges well, so that there wouldn't be much leakage. Then it went into a well-greased metal loaf pan.

One busted seam...not too bad! Used an egg wash to get a nice glossy, golden top.

This was fabulous toasted with a bit of butter, but some of the slices where the filling was thicker were a tad undercooked, and wouldn't hold up well enough to go in a vertical toaster (would be fine in a toaster oven).  My favorite thing we made with it?  Griddled BLTs.  The peach went so well with the smoky bacon and some pepperjack cheese.

All Things Peach!

I was looking through my backlog of pics and recipes that I haven't shared yet, and noticed a surplus of peach recipes.  Since peach season is coming up soon, it seemed like a good time to share all of these!

First things first:  I was craving bruschetta, but didn't want JUST tomato bruschetta.  So I bought some goat cheese, added some sliced peaches to one, sliced strawberries to another, and sliced mint to both.  UH-MAZE-BALLS.

Next up, I made a peach and proscuitto pizza.  I used a pre-made crust, brushed the crust with garlic & olive oil, then laid down the proscuitto & peaches, and topped with fresh-sliced mozzarella.  After it came out of the oven I added shredded basil and drizzled it with a balsamic glaze.

Next up:  I had some over-fresh peaches that my Aunt sent down from her garden that needed to be used up STAT.  We were out of sugar, so I decided to make a sugar free version freezer jam, using some Splenda for Baking blend.  

Ingredients: (per pint jar)
2 peaches
1/4 cup Splenda for baking
1 Tbsp instant pectin
2 tsp lemon juice
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp nutmeg

Directions: combine in a blender, food processor, or simply using a hand masher.  Then jar and place in the freezer (or fridge if you're ready to eat right away.

Note: this came out a bit runny, but still delicious. I think my pectin is past its expiration date, which may reduce its thickening powers.  So if you're in the same boat, maybe double the amount of pectin.

Here are some other peach recipes from past entries!

Peach Bread Pudding

Peach Muscadine Sangria

Peach Brandy Fizz

Blackberry Chipotle Freezer Jam

My cousin sometimes lets us come raid the blackberry bush at their farm when they've got a surplus.  I was itching to make some freezer jam, but didn't want to make plain ol' regular boring blackberry jam.  No...I wanted to do something INTERESTING.

...in retrospect, I really should have split the batch, and been boring with half and then played with the other half, because now I have 6 pints of INTERESTING jam when I would occasionally really like some regular ol' blackberry freezer jam.  But not to worry. I'll share the recipe for both, so you can learn from my mistakes.

INGREDIENTS (makes 4 jars):
4 cups crushed blackberries (you can use a potato masher or pastry cutter, but I'd shy away from a food processor, otherwise you'll end up with puree. A few pulses with a stick blender might work well.)
4 Tbsp Instant (no cook) pectin (or one 1.35 oz packet)
1.5 cups  Sugar
2 Tbsp lemon juice

DIRECTIONS: 

Combine the pectin and the sugar and mix well, then add the lemon juice and the blackberries, and stir well until fully incorporated.  At this point, if you're making straight up regular blackberry jam, you can go ahead and divvy these into half-pint jars.  Let sit at room temp for 30 minutes, at which point it should be soft-set. Then you can put one in the fridge and the rest in the freezer for later.

However, if you want to ramp things up a bit, then add the following to the mix:

1/4 tsp Chipotle powder (per jar)
1/4 tsp Cumin (per jar)
1/4 tsp Cinnamon (per jar)
1/4 tsp Tabasco Chipotle Sauce
a pinch of smoked salt (per jar)

I'm providing these as "per jar" ratios so that if you want, you can make a full batch of the base, and then make the Chipotle version in one or two of the jars.  Just make sure you label them appropriately! 

The Chipotle version is pretty versatile. It makes a great grilled cheese (like this one), or you can put it in a Crockpot with a pork tenderloin for a delicious dinner. And of course it goes great on a biscuit.

Adventures in Pepper Jelly: aka Smoked Pineapple Jalapeno Refrigerator Jam

As I mentioned in my last post, we were recently bestowed with an ENORMOUS stockpile of jalapenos & banana peppers.  I decided, "hey, I've never made pepper jelly before, and I have a Cajun food blog--I think it's about time!"

And so began my adventure.  Let's just state for the record--I have little to no jelly-making experience. I've made some cranberry-pineapple refrigerator jam which turned out pretty well, but in general, my homemade jam experience primarily involves magical childhood memories of enjoying strawberry freezer jam made by my Nana over warm Amish-made sourdough bread.  So...mostly I just have experience with EATING a lot of fridge & freezer jam.

As with most cooking adventures, I started on Pinterest.  The first recipe I tried resulted in an absolutely beautiful product that tasted lovely...but was the consistency of roof tar.  I couldn't even clean out the jar to try & reuse it.  *sniff* So sad.  

Lesson learned: Not all pectins are the same.  I have a jar of INSTANT pectin SPECIFICALLY for making fridge & freezer jam, meaning it's not intended to go through the boiling process.  I'm sure if you try this recipe with the RIGHT pectin, it would be fabulous.  

So for Attempt #2, I went straight to the Ball Website to find a pepper jelly recipe for my type of pectin.  And I did!  We decided to tweak this just a little bit: instead of green peppers & canned chilis, we went with our fresh jalapenos, and we grilled the pineapple & jalapenos first to add an extra layer of flavor.  

Lesson learned:  You are not as bad@ss as you think you are.  Remove at least SOME of the seeds before you puree.  We ended up having to puree more pineapple and add in a bunch of pineapple juice in order to bring this down to an edible level--and even then it was really ONLY tolerable with cream cheese to kill the capsacin.

THIS is exactly why I only make one jar of things, rather than a whole batch.

So...we made ONE MORE BATCH, using all our lessons and tinkering, and THAT'S what I present to you today.  

(Served over cream cheese for our most recent work potluck luncheon.)

INGREDIENTS (per 8oz [pint] jar):
1/2 cup sugar
1 Tbsp INSTANT Pectin (for fridge/freezer jams)
About 8 oz of pineapple slices (we did use canned for our last batch and it still tasted fine)
3 jalapenos, seeds & ribs removed (you can leave the seeds in one if you like heat)
Juice of 1/2 lime
1/2-1 tsp Liquid Smoke (optional, to taste)
Pineapple Juice (as needed--grilling removes some of the moisture so you may need to add a little juice to get a full jar)

DIRECTIONS:
Have a clean, sterilized pint jar ready (as always, we used EasyClean, but you can also use your dishwasher or any of the other sterilization methods)
Grill your pineapple rings & jalapenos until they have a light char.
Stir the sugar and pectin together in a medium bowl, set aside.
Add your pineapple, jalapenos, lime juice, and Liquid Smoke to a blender or food processor and pulse until finely chopped.  Then pour the mixture into the bowl with the sugar/pectin and stir for 3 minutes.  Taste & decide if you want to add more of the Liquid Smoke (a little goes a LONG way, but we think it ups the smoky flavor from the grill).

Transfer the jelly into your pint jar, and add a little pineapple juice if you need in order to get a full jar, and mix well.  Stick in the fridge for at least 30 minutes to thicken.  You can keep it in the fridge for about a month or in the freezer for a year.

Cranberry-Pineapple Refrigerator Jam

I can’t seem to commit to full-on canning & preserving.  I like the idea, but really, our pantry is full enough with random jams, jellies & salsas, and a lot of the time, I don’t want to make a full batch of something, using a new recipe, and then find out it sucks.  So I like that Ball offers these little packets of “small batch” pectin so you can make two half-pint, or one full pint jar. 

Cranberries are super-cheap this time of year, so I tend to stock up.  There’s at least two bags in the freezer right now, waiting to be turned into sauce or gooey butter bars, or who knows what.  But I also just made some of this cranberry-pineapple jam and was pretty pleased with the results.  Since I made only one jar, I can put it straight into the fridge and not have to worry about preserving it for shelf-storage.

INGREDIENTS: (makes one pint)

• One packet of small-batch pectin
• 1 1/3 Cups cranberries
• 1 Cup of crushed pineapple with juice
• 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1 Tablespoon orange juice
• 1/2 Tablespoons orange zest
• 3/4 Cup sugar (to taste—I like my jam to be a little tart)
• One sterilized pint jar (I use Easy Clean)

 

DIRECTIONS:

Pretty easy stuff--combine the cranberries, pineapple, juice, zest, nutmeg, sugar, and pectin in a pot & stir over low heat. Continue stirring  until the sugar dissolves and the mixture begins to boil.

Then, crush the fruit in the mixture with a potato masher over medium heat on the stove; let the jam boil for approximately 15 minutes; longer if you want a thicker jam.

If you plan on using right away, you don’t have to worry about doing a water bath or freezing. 

Makes a mean PB & J!