Wednesday, 14 February 2024 16:09
Written by Madelaine Bullwinkel

DEPT OF EXCEPTIONS: THE GRANNY SMITH APPLE

The Granny Smith is an exceptional apple in a world addicted to sweetness. This tart, green apple remains a popular choice for snacking, cooking and baking 150 years after its discovery in Australia. Granny Smith apples are also an exceptionally rich source of fruit pectin which makes it the key ingredient in artisanal fruit preserving .

Fruit jam and citrus marmalade don't require the addition of apple pectin, but shimmering jellies made with low pectin fruit or vegetables as well as preserves containing chunks of fruit benefit from the addition of homemade Apple Jelly made with pectin stock. So I began testing recipes for the fourth edition of Artisanal Preserves with a supply of pectin stock from Granny Smith apples.

The routine for making a stock calls submerging the key ingredient in water, cooking, straining, and then reducing the juices to the desired concentration. I began with four pounds of apples and eight cups of water in a large pot. After a half-hour simmer, the pectin-rich apple juice was strained from the solids and reduced by half. I will prepare jars of vacuum-sealed Apple Jelly with this stock. It is the artisan preserver's alternative to commercially sold pectin powders.

Admittedly, this process takes planning and time to execute, but in the case of preparing apple pectin stock, there’s a bonus. The apple mash that remains after straining the juices can be turned into sauce or added to pie fillings, cookies and cakes.

I used a generous amount of this apple puree to bake a spiced Applesauce Cake. Granny Smith’s thick consistency and tartness makes a flavorful, low-calorie substitute for vegetable oil and eggs in this batter. It is moist with a tender crumb and a spicy apple-tinged flavor. The batter can easily morph into cupcakes or a layer cake with a cream cheese frosting. The recipe is yours in advance of publication.

Enjoy!

Sunday, 21 January 2024 19:32
Written by Madelaine Bullwinkel

JAMMING WITH STRAWBERRIES IN JANUARY

Winter is a great season for making strawberry preserves. This may sound counterintuitive but hear me out.

In the process of testing recipes for a new edition of Artisanal Preserves, I purchased a pound of half ripe strawberries at the supermarket. They were too sour to enjoy eating raw, but my intention was to cook them and check their pectin strength. To my pleasant surprise they had enough pectin to form a jell with the right amount of added sugar and a little lemon juice. Even more surprising was their intense flavor of summer strawberries. Who knew?

This discovery has simplified my summer preserving calendar. I will be content to make a softer, looser jam with ripe summer strawberries that have very little pectin. Past attempts to produce a firm jelled preserve with them always meant concentrating juices, losing flavor and texture in the process. The alternative course of forcing a jell by adding tablespoons of commercial pectin resulted in preserves that were too sweet.

I'm finding the process of preparing Artisanal Preserves for a 40TH anniversary edition to be a challenging adventure. You can follow my progress in my blog posts and in my online cooking classes. There are benefits to making cooking discoveries after 50 years of practice. One is the pleasure of spreading fresh Strawberry Preserves on a homemade English muffin on a Sunday morning in January.

Tuesday, 19 December 2023 17:03
Written by Madelaine Bullwinkel

DEPT OF TRADITIONS: A CHRISTMAS WRAP

The menu for Christmas dinner used to be a no-brainer. The meal was always the same as past years, in a word, traditional. In the 1950’s our family gathered around a table of middle-America’s favorite ‘gourmet’ foods: roasted beef tenderloin and twice-baked potatoes with a green vegetable on the side. As I recall, we all ate the same food without much reflection or complaint.

Today, two generations later, a once consensual menu has become burdened with a list of food restrictions that would overwhelm a short order cook. Home cooks are more skilled and better equipped to handle numerous food allergies and moral restrictions of family members. They are also aware that holiday foods have health and social consequences. Faced with all these factors, is there a way to satisfy everyone at the table and spare the cook?

My solution this year is a Holiday Wrap aka Coulibiac of Salmon, a filet of fish set on a bed of rice, covered with spinach and baked in a crust. It looks like a traditional ‘gourmet’ entrée and is somewhat more demanding than assembling a burrito. Let me add that this all-in-one wrap fills the plate beautifully and eliminates the need for side dishes. Dress it up with a simple sauce of sour cream seasoned with Dijon mustard. Just don’t try to pick it up.

Best wishes for Happy Holidays and a Healthy, Productive New Year!

More Articles ...