Maple and Mustard–Glazed Root Vegetables
Mustard and Bourbon–Glazed Pork Roast
Texas-Style Barbecued Brisket with Spicy Barbecue Sauce
Sustainable Seafood Stew with Meyer Lemon and Parsley Aioli Croutons
Red Wine Vinegar and the Cribari Family
Aunt Mil’s Jam-Filled Sugar Cookies
What’s the Deal with Processing Jam?
Pulled Pork Canapés with Fig-Rosemary Jam
Apple Galette with Persimmon-Spice Butter
Almond Butter Sandwich Cookies with Spiced Pear Filling
Spicy Southeast Asian Peanut Sauce
THE RECIPES IN THIS CHAPTER serve as the foundation of your D.I.Y. kitchen. The mustards, vinegars, and sauces are combined with one another and other items elsewhere in the book to add flavor and versatility to your cooking, without additives or unnecessary packaging. Think of these as your own homemade “convenience foods.” Time invested in making mustard, ketchup, vinegar, jam, or salsa is saved later when you utilize them to create simple and healthful meals. The first thing you’ll notice is how easy it is to make most of these foods. The second thing you’ll notice is how much better they taste than their supermarket counterparts—usually for much less money.
Customization is key. Learn how to make mustard from scratch, creating the flavor profiles you want. Your delicious, inexpensive, gourmet mustard can then be spread on sandwiches or whisked into homemade vinegar to make the best vinaigrette you’ve ever tasted. In minutes you can make a quick mustard glaze and use it to create a colorful and healthful side dish of roasted root vegetables or a simple and succulent pork roast. Perfectly spiced, fresh-tasting homemade ketchup easily becomes Texas-style barbecue sauce and can be incorporated into a homey stuffed cabbage recipe. Homemade jams appear in both sweet and savory preparations, and fresh nut butters can be used as is or made into desserts and sauces.
Homemade mustard has so much more flavor than store-bought and has many uses in the kitchen. Whisk it with bourbon to make a glaze for pork or with maple syrup to caramelize root vegetables, stir it into vinaigrette, or simply spread it on sandwiches.
Mustard is simple to make, economical, and easy to vary to your taste. A word of warning: Your homemade mustard will always be quite a bit spicier than store-bought. You can control this somewhat by varying the ratio of brown to yellow mustard seeds (brown are more pungent). You can also add sugar, honey, maple syrup, or other sweeteners to temper the spice. You won’t need to use much in a recipe or on a sandwich to get a big mustard flavor, and the mustard will mellow with time in the refrigerator.
Here is a basic formula with three variations, but I encourage you to create your own favorite recipe.
TIME REQUIRED: about 10 minutes active; 24 hours passive
YIELD: makes 1 cup
¾ cup liquid (mixture of vinegar and wine, beer, or some other alcohol)
½ cup mustard seeds (brown or yellow)
About 1 tablespoon finely chopped aromatics (onions, garlic, or shallots)
About 1 tablespoon chopped fresh herbs (optional)
About 1 tablespoon sweetener (sugar, honey, or maple syrup; optional)
Salt
Put the liquid, mustard seeds, aromatics, herbs (if using), and sweetener (if using) in a nonreactive (ceramic or pottery) bowl and let soak overnight in the refrigerator.
In a blender or food processor, blend the mustard to the desired consistency. Depending on your equipment and inclination, this can take up to 5 minutes. Don’t expect your mustard to be as smooth as factory-made mustard. Season with salt as you blend. Transfer to jars and seal. The mustard will keep, refrigerated, for up to 3 months.
NOTE: If you don’t wish to use alcohol, replace the alcohol portion of the liquid with water. Mustards made solely with vinegar can be overwhelmingly vinegary.
VARIATIONS!
BEER MUSTARD WITH THYME
½ cup hearty beer (not stout)
¼ cup champagne vinegar
¼ cup yellow mustard seeds
¼ cup brown mustard seeds
1 tablespoon finely chopped shallot
1½ teaspoon chopped fresh thyme
Salt
Prepare as for basic recipe.
SHERRY-DILL MUSTARD
½ cup dry sherry
¼ cup sherry vinegar
¼ cup yellow mustard seeds
¼ cup brown mustard seeds
1 tablespoon finely chopped shallot
1 tablespoon chopped fresh dill
Salt
Prepare as for basic recipe.
HONEY MUSTARD
½ cup dry white wine
¼ cup rice vinegar
½ cup yellow mustard seeds
1 tablespoon finely chopped shallot
Pinch of allspice
1 tablespoon honey
Salt
Prepare as for basic recipe.
This recipe provides a wonderful way to utilize your Grainy Prepared Mustard and makes it easy to turn humble root vegetables into an exciting side dish. Roasting the vegetables gives them a deep flavor and caramelizes their natural sugars. Since homemade mustard is quite spicy, it’s nicely tempered by the sweet maple syrup. The green onions bring together the sweet, spicy, and savory with a touch of freshness and crunch.
TIME REQUIRED: about 20 minutes active; 1 hour passive (excluding mustard preparation)
YIELD: 4 to 6 servings
3½ pounds mixed root vegetables (any combination of rutabagas, sweet potatoes, potatoes, carrots, beets, parsnips, celery root)
About 4 tablespoons olive oil
Salt
¼ cup maple syrup
2 tablespoons any version Grainy Prepared Mustard
3 green onions, sliced on the diagonal (white and green parts)
Freshly ground black pepper
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
Peel each vegetable and cut it into bite-sized chunks of roughly equal size. In a medium bowl, toss each type of vegetable separately in oil to coat and add a few pinches of salt. Lay each type of vegetable out in a single layer on parchment-lined baking sheets, keeping like vegetables with like vegetables, since they will cook at different rates.
Roast until the vegetables are soft, brown, and beginning to caramelize, 40 to 50 minutes, checking them every 10 minutes and removing the vegetables to a large bowl as each type finishes cooking.
In a small bowl, whisk together the maple syrup and mustard into a glaze.
When all the vegetables are cooked, pour the glaze over them and return them all to the baking sheets. Roast until the glaze thickens and the vegetables are warmed through, an additional 5 minutes. Transfer to a serving bowl, add most of the green onions, and toss. Season with salt and pepper, toss, garnish with the remaining green onions, and serve immediately.
Here is an uncomplicated, crowd-pleasing way to cook an inexpensive cut of meat. This recipe utilizes your Grainy Prepared Mustard and pairs well with a variety of side dishes. Leftovers can be used for Pulled Pork Canapés with Fig-Rosemary Jam, in sandwiches, on pizza, or stuffed into Corn Tortillas with Simple Tomato Salsa.
TIME REQUIRED: about 25 minutes active; 3 hours passive (excluding mustard preparation)
YIELD: 6 to 8 servings
One 4-pound boneless pork shoulder roast (ask your butcher to roll and tie it)
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper
½ cup lightly packed brown sugar
¼ cup bourbon
3 tablespoons any version Grainy Prepared Mustard
Preheat the oven to 250 degrees F. Season the roast all over with salt and pepper.
In a heavy, dry cast-iron skillet over medium-high to high heat, brown the roast all over. Start with the fat side down, and turn with tongs until the roast is a deep caramel brown all over, 10 to 15 minutes. The fat from the roast should render, helping to brown the roast. (If the roast is very lean and you feel you need oil, use a tablespoon or so of refined vegetable oil suitable for high-heat cooking.)
Remove the roast to a plate and let the pan cool slightly. Pour off the excess fat and wipe out any burned bits. While the pan cools, in a small bowl, whisk together the sugar, bourbon, and mustard to make a glaze.
Return the roast to the pan and pour half of the glaze over it, turning the roast to coat it completely and using your hands to distribute the glaze evenly. Cover the pan with aluminum foil and roast for 2 hours, turning and basting every half hour with the remaining glaze.
Remove the foil and increase the oven temperature to 350 degrees F. Continue to roast uncovered, until the glaze reduces and the pork is glossy brown and thickly coated with glaze, 45 minutes to 1 hour. Let the roast rest for 10 minutes before slicing and serving.
I was pretty indifferent to ketchup until I learned to make my own. Commercial ketchup tastes mostly of sugar and is usually filled with stabilizers, additives, and high-fructose corn syrup. Real Ketchup tastes like tomatoes, with a nice balance of spice and a gentle sweetness. It’s familiar enough that ketchup lovers will like it but refined enough to make a great barbecue sauce for Texas-Style Barbecued Brisket. When added to the sauce for Sarma: Serbian Stuffed Cabbage Rolls with Sauerkraut, it adds just the right touch of childhood familiarity. Real Ketchup takes a while to cook down, but this can be accomplished while you’re in the kitchen (or nearby) doing other things. You just have to keep an eye on it and stir occasionally. Because it doesn’t have the shelf life of commercial ketchup, it’s best made in small batches.
TIME REQUIRED: about 20 minutes active; 1½ to 2½ hours passive, but watchful
YIELD: about 1
cups
Two 28-ounce cans whole peeled plum tomatoes, or 3 pounds fresh Roma tomatoes, peeled and chopped
½ medium yellow onion, cut into chunks
2 garlic cloves, peeled and left whole
½ cup cider vinegar
¼ cup sugar
One 2- to 3-inch stick cinnamon
2 teaspoons yellow mustard seeds
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
1 teaspoon whole cloves
½ teaspoon celery seeds
6 black peppercorns
½ teaspoon dry mustard
½ teaspoon cayenne pepper (or to your taste)
½ teaspoon salt
Put the tomatoes and their juices in a blender. Add the onion and garlic and blend until smooth. Pour the mixture through a fine strainer, pressing on the solids with the back of a spoon. Discard (or compost) the solids.
In a large pot over medium-low heat, bring the tomato mixture to a simmer. Lower the heat and cook, stirring occasionally, until the mixture is reduced by half and beginning to thicken, about 1 hour.
Meanwhile, in a small saucepan over medium heat, bring the vinegar, sugar, cinnamon, mustard seeds, cumin, cloves, celery seeds, peppercorns, dry mustard, cayenne, and salt to a boil. Stir to dissolve the sugar, turn off the heat, and let it sit while the tomatoes continue to reduce. When the tomatoes are reduced by half, strain the spice-infused vinegar into the tomatoes, discarding the spices. Continue to simmer the ketchup, stirring often, until thick, 20 to 30 minutes more. Taste for salt and spice, and adjust to your liking. Transfer to a jar and seal. The ketchup will keep, refrigerated, for 2 to 3 months.
NOTE: If fresh tomatoes are used, the ketchup will take about 2 hours to reduce and thicken, will have a final yield of about 2¼ cups, and will be slightly less smooth than commercial ketchup.
√ TIP: The ketchup will taste sweeter, but less salty, when it is hot than it will after chilling, so use a light hand with the salt initially.
Brisket is the traditional Texas barbecue-pit meat, but it can be a bit unpredictable and frustrating to cook unless you have a real smoker or pit. Buy a brisket with the fat cap left on and prepare to cook it low and slow for five or six hours, or you’ll end up with great barbecue sauce on a piece of shoe leather. If you have a smoker, by all means do it the right way. For those with only a grill, I’ve devised this combination method. If you’re intimidated, this recipe can easily be done with a friendlier cut of meat, such as tri-tip (and it won’t take nearly as long). Or, you could do the entire recipe in a low, slow oven and skip the grill. You’ll miss out on that smoky taste, but the smoked paprika makes a nice “cheater’s ‘cue.” It’s really about the tasty homemade barbecue sauce made with Real Ketchup anyway. Either way, start one day ahead as the meat needs to absorb the rub for at least 24 hours. Serve with cooked beans and Potato, Green Bean, and Radish Salad with Creamy Herb Dressing. It’s also good with Corn Tortillas or Flour Tortillas.
TIME REQUIRED: 30 to 45 minutes active; 30 hours passive (excluding ketchup preparation)
YIELD: 8 to 10 servings
SPICE RUB (MAKES ABOUT 1 CUP)
4 garlic cloves, peeled and left whole
Salt
¼ cup ground mild pure New Mexico chile powder
3 tablespoons lightly packed brown sugar
1 tablespoon dried Mexican oregano
2 teaspoons smoked paprika
1 teaspoon ground cumin
½ teaspoon cayenne pepper
½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
One 4- to 5-pound brisket, fat cap on
Mesquite, alder, applewood, or other wood chips
1 cup medium-bodied beer, such as IPA
BARBECUE SAUCE (MAKES ABOUT 1 CUP)
¾ A cup Real Ketchup
½ cup apple cider vinegar
¼ cup lightly packed brown sugar
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon dry mustard
¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
To make the rub: Pound the garlic to a paste in a mortar and pestle with a pinch of salt.
In a small bowl, combine the garlic paste, chile powder, brown sugar, oregano, 2 teaspoons salt, paprika, cumin, cayenne, and black pepper. Mix to blend.
Reserving about 3 tablespoons of the rub for the mop, coat the brisket all over with the rub, using your hands to massage it into the meat so it penetrates into the grain. Wrap the meat well and refrigerate for at least 24 or up to 48 hours.
The morning of the day you plan to cook the meat, soak a couple handfuls of wood chips in water.
Start a fire in the grill for low indirect heat (keeping the coals over to one side of the grill). When the coals burn down to ash, and you can hold your hand over them for several seconds, or the grill temperature reads no higher than 250 degrees F, put the drained wood chips in a tin pie plate or sheet of aluminum foil, edges folded over but open at the top. Place the chip tin on top of the coals, but not covering them completely. Put the meat on the side of the grill away from the fire, fat-side up.
Make a mop by mixing together the beer and the reserved rub. Set aside for basting.
Cover the grill and cook the meat for 1 hour, basting with the mop, flipping, and rotating once halfway through. If you are using a real smoker, you can continue to cook until the brisket’s internal temperature reaches 185 degrees F, another 3 to 4 hours, continuing to baste every half hour. If you’re cooking on a grill rigged out as a smoker like I’ve described, baste the meat well, wrap it in foil, and transfer it to a 200-degree-F oven until the internal temperature reaches 185 degrees F, 3 to 4 hours. Unwrap and baste once and then re-cover and let rest before slicing.
To make the sauce while the meat rests: in a small saucepan, whisk together the ketchup, vinegar, sugar, soy sauce, mustard, and pepper. Bring to a simmer and cook, stirring occasionally, until thick and the flavors are blended, about 10 minutes.
Slice the meat very thinly against the grain and serve with the barbecue sauce on the side.
√ TIP: You can mix up big batches of the Spice Rub and store it at room temperature in a glass jar, but leave out the garlic, adding it only when you are ready to use the rub.
The word aioli is often misused to describe any flavored mayonnaise. But it seems fitting to use the term aioli to indicate that this is special mayonnaise. Follow this basic recipe to make any variety of mayonnaise you like. Depending on how you are serving it, you might want to add cayenne, capers, anchovies, different types of herbs, or chopped, canned chipotle chiles. This is lovely in vegetable sandwiches, in BLTs, as a dip for roasted asparagus, or as a dressing base for potato salad. My very favorite use for Meyer Lemon and Parsley Aioli is to spread it on croutons and float them like buoys in Sustainable Seafood Stew. Of course you can make this in a food processor, but washing slippery mayonnaise out of a food processor always makes me cranky, while whisking it by hand is quick and soothing.
TIME REQUIRED: 10 to 15 minutes active
YIELD: about cup
1 garlic clove, peeled and left whole
Salt
1 egg yolk, at room temperature
½ cup good, but not too pungent, olive oil
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed Meyer lemon juice, at room temperature
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
Freshly ground black pepper
Pound the garlic to a paste in a mortar and pestle with a pinch of salt. Set aside.
In a medium bowl, whisk the egg yolk until smooth. Add the oil a few drops at a time, whisking continuously, and making sure that each addition of oil is incorporated fully before adding more. You can begin adding the oil more quickly about halfway through the process because the more oil the egg has incorporated, the less likely the aioli is to separate.
When all of the oil is incorporated, and the aioli becomes very thick and yellow, like lemon pudding, add the lemon juice a little at a time, whisking continuously. If you want your aioli to have a thinner consistency, add warm water a few drops at a time. Stir in the parsley and the garlic paste and season with salt and pepper. Transfer to a jar and seal. The aioli will keep, refrigerated, for 3 or 4 days.
To make in a food processor, follow the same procedure, adding the oil a little at a time through the feed tube while processing continuously.
Seafood that’s low on the food chain is healthier for both you and the oceans. Plus, it’s tasty and economical. This recipe combines clams, mussels, and squid, but you could replace all or some of these with crab, lobster, or even sustainably caught or farmed fish, local to your area. You can gussy up this dish with chopped fresh tomatoes, citrus zest, or saffron, but it’s quite good as is. A good trick for making a flavorful, quick stock is to ask the fishmonger for some heads or bones of fish trimmed that day. It’s cheap, fresh, and flavorful. To shop for sustainable seafood, get a Seafood Watch card for your local area and take it to the store with you.
TIME REQUIRED: about 1 hour active; 20 minutes passive (excluding aioli preparation)
YIELD: 4 as a first-course or light-supper servings
¼ cup olive oil, plus extra for croutons
½ medium onion, roughly chopped
1 celery rib, roughly chopped
1 medium carrot, roughly chopped
½ small fennel bulb, chopped
2 garlic cloves, left unpeeled and smashed with the side of a knife blade
Salt
1 pound fish heads and bones
½ cup dry white wine
3 or 4 sprigs fresh parsley
6 black peppercorns
Pinch of fennel seeds
½ baguette, sliced into ¼-inch slices on the diagonal
Freshly ground black pepper
1 pound mussels, washed and debearded
1 pound clams, washed
½ pound squid, cleaned (see note)
In a medium soup pot over medium heat, warm the ¼ cup oil. Add the onion, celery, carrot, fennel, garlic, and a few pinches of salt. Let the vegetables cook gently until soft and aromatic, about 10 minutes.
Add the fish heads and bones, 3½ cups water, the wine, parsley, peppercorns, and fennel seeds to the vegetables and bring to a boil. Skim any scum from the top and lower the heat to a simmer. Simmer until fragrant and the broth begins to color, about 20 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Lay the baguette slices on a baking sheet in a single layer, brush with olive oil, and bake until lightly toasted, about 7 minutes.
Remove the broth from the heat and strain it, reserving the fish for other uses (see “No-Waste Tip,” below). Return the broth to the pot, taste, and adjust the salt, pepper, and acid by adding a little more white wine if desired.
Add the mussels and clams, cover, and simmer until they just open, 3 minutes or so. Add the squid and turn off the heat. Let sit, covered, for 30 seconds. Discard any unopened clams or mussels and ladle the stew into 4 warmed, shallow bowls. Spread the croutons with aioli and float in each bowl of soup.
NOTE: To clean fresh squid, lay them all out on a cutting board near the sink. Position a bowl in the sink below the cutting board and have a colander ready in the sink. For each squid, pull the head free of the body and cut off the tentacles just above the eyes. Put the tentacles in the colander and pull out the remaining portion of the head with the eyes and guts that come with it. Discard them into the bowl with the ink sac. Using the dull edge of a knife, scrape the squid body so that the opaque, white viscera inside falls into the bowl. Do this several times to get out as much as possible. At the same time, scrape off the mottled skin so the squid is clean white. Turn the squid over and do the other side. Reach inside the body and pull the bony quill out, making sure to get it all.
Place the cleaned squid in the colander with the tentacles and rinse thoroughly, letting the water run through the bodies to remove any remaining sliminess. Drain and cut the squid bodies into rings about ½ inch thick.
√ NO-WASTE TIP: If you have a dog or cat, reserve the fish heads and trimmings after you strain your broth. Boil in fresh water until the bones are completely soft. Puree and add to your pet’s food for a special, healthful treat.
To make vinegar, you need four things: A vinegar mother (a mass of acetic acid bacteria); a glass, ceramic, or wooden crock of at least one-gallon capacity; two or more bottles of good red wine; and time—anywhere from three weeks to four months, depending on your vinegar mother. It’s really quite simple and requires little actual effort. The quality of vinegar you can make at home rivals expensive specialty store vinegars. Most commercial vinegars are manipulated to hasten the conversion, and diluted. There is no substitute for time, though. Once you’ve tried your own vinegar, you will never want to use supermarket vinegar again.
These instructions and the mother I use are from Ken Cribari, of the original Cribari wine family. Depending on where you obtain your mother, your instructions may be different and require different timing. Ask the person or business where you source your mother and experiment, tasting your vinegar often. See Sources for supply information.
I use an Italian-made glass demijohn set in a straw-lined basket. These are much less pricey than the more common wooden barrels. I like them better because they allow easy access to the vinegar and don’t have a spigot that can become clogged with mother over time. The straw-lined basket allows air to circulate, which is important. You can accomplish the same thing by setting a plain ceramic or glass vessel on top of a milk crate or a few bricks. A wide-mouthed crock is essential because the more surface area you have, the faster the conversion.
TIME REQUIRED: about 10 minutes active; 2 to 4 months passive
YIELD: varies, depending on evaporation
Two 750-milliliter bottles red wine (see Tip)
1½ to 2 cups vinegar mother
Using hot, soapy water, wash the crock (if it’s wood, follow curing instructions) and a bowl large enough to hold the wine. Rinse well. Pour the wine into the bowl to allow the sulfites to dissipate. Let sit for 20 minutes.
Transfer the wine to the crock and add the mother and half of a 750-milliliter bottle of cool water. Swirl to aerate. Cover the crock with a towel or paper towel fastened with a rubber band. The vinegar needs to breathe, but you want to keep bugs out. Cheesecloth isn’t the best because tiny fruit flies can get through it.
Store in a cool, dark place. The cooler it is, the longer the conversion takes. I was told my mother must not be stored anywhere hotter than 85 degrees F. But all mothers are different. Ask the person who gave you your mother.
Swirl once a month, tasting every 2 weeks. After the wine has turned to a vinegar you like (in 2 to 4 months), you can add more wine and water to fill the crock and let it continue to convert for another 2 to 4 months, or decant it, depending on the size of your crock. You can even add leftover wine now and again a little at a time, but this will slow things down.
When you want to extract vinegar, you can decant half the vinegar in the crock, leaving the mother behind, and replace it with an equal amount of wine diluted with water in the proportion above (1 part water to 4 parts wine). Or, you can empty your crock and start from scratch, removing the mother and giving some to other happy vinegar makers, while reserving some for your next batch. It will take much longer to produce a batch of vinegar starting from scratch each time. However, you will eventually have to clean out the crock and start over, as the mother will continue to grow and take over the crock. As this happens, parts of the mother will sink to the bottom and die. You can tell because the mother will look old and leathery and dark red. Take the dead mother out and compost it. The new baby will float in the vinegar. You don’t need a lot of mother, so be sure to give some away when you decant.
√ TIP: For choosing wine to make vinegar, the better the wine, the better the vinegar. Choose a good-tasting wine that you would drink yourself. You don’t have to spend a lot, but you should never make vinegar with wine you wouldn’t enjoy drinking. Don’t add a wine if it is “corked” and don’t add fortified wine such as sherry or Madeira to the vinegar crock.
The Cribaris have been a respected wine-producing family since before Prohibition. Though they sold the main label many years ago, sacramental wine is still produced in California’s Central Valley under the Cribari name. The Cribaris and my brother-in-law’s family became close friends nearly fifty years ago, when both families lived in Lodi, California. One time, after visiting his friend Ed Cribari, my brother-in-law brought home a bottle of the most incredible homemade red wine vinegar I’d ever tasted. I never forgot it.
I’d tasted vinegar like the Cribari’s once or twice, at specialty stores or food shows where good vinegar was being sampled. Vinegar of that quality is so expensive I never would have purchased a bottle. This homemade vinegar was so good, I had to learn how to make my own. So I arranged a trip to Ed and his wife Vickie’s house to meet Ed’s father, Ken, and to get my own vinegar mother, and the instructions to make vinegar.
Ken Cribari carries on the family’s long-standing vinegar-making tradition from his home in Las Vegas, nurturing the vinegar mother his grandfather made over one hundred years ago. Ken makes his vinegar as a hobby, giving it away to family and friends. Each recipient receives a page of written instructions, and a little bit of mother just in case they would like to make their own vinegar.
The mother originated with Beniamino Cribari, who came over from Calabria, Italy, as a young man. He bought a small vineyard in Paradise Valley, California, and began pressing, fermenting, and selling wine locally. It was about that time that he started making vinegar.
Beniamino developed the mother himself from scratch. He made his vinegar in a ten-gallon wooden barrel and gave it to friends, much like Ken does today. When Beniamino died, Ken’s uncle Tony, the youngest of Beniamino’s four boys, took over the vinegar cask, which was then passed onto Ken, who carries the tradition on today, along with his son Ed. I’m proud to be part of the Cribari vinegar tradition, even though I’m not part of the family.
The combination of tart plums and fragrant lemon verbena is just so right. Easy to grow, lemon verbena is a perennial shrub with pointed, pale green leaves. It is sometimes available in high-end grocery stores. If you can’t find it, it’s okay to leave it out of the recipe, or experiment with other aromatic herbs like lavender. If you do grow it, and have a good crop, another great use is to pair it with mint and muddle it with sugar for cocktails or lemonade. This jam will taste different depending on the type of plum you use, but I’ve tried it with many and it’s always good. My favorite summer breakfast is homemade Yogurt with fresh melon and a spoonful of this jam stirred in. You may want to top it with a little Granola Your Way, but it’s great on its own. This is also a wonderful jam to use for Aunt Mil’s Jam-Filled Sugar Cookies.
TIME REQUIRED: about 45 minutes active; about 1 hour passive
YIELD: about 32 ounces
3 pounds ripe plums (14 to 18 medium)
2 cups sugar
1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh lemon verbena
EQUIPMENT NEEDED
Eight 4-ounce jars or four 8-ounce jars with rings and lids
A set of canning tongs (see Tip)
A large stockpot with a tea towel or water-bath canner with a rack
Tea sack or cheesecloth
Put a small plate or saucer in the freezer to chill. You will use this to test the jam for the proper consistency.
Cut the plums into quarters and then chop them into pieces of roughly ½ inch. Put them in a medium, heavy saucepan. Add the sugar and set aside while you prepare the jars and lids.
Put the jars and canning tongs in a large stockpot. Add water to cover. Slowly bring the water to a boil while you cook the jam. Once it boils, turn off the heat and let the jars sit in the hot water until you are ready to fill them. This step is necessary for sterilizing the jars. Do not touch the jars with your hands once you have sterilized them, but use sterilized tongs.
Put the lids in a small bowl and pour boiling water over them. Let them sit until you are ready to use them.
Put the saucepan with the plums and sugar on the stove. Bring the plums to a simmer over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until the sugar dissolves and the plums begin to release their juices. Lower the heat to a very slow simmer and cook, stirring occasionally, until the mixture begins to thicken, about 20 minutes. Put the lemon verbena in a tea sack or in a square of cheesecloth tied into a bundle and add it to the plums. Continue to cook until the jam becomes darker in color and begins to thicken noticeably, 20 to 25 minutes more. To test for the proper thickness (gel point), drop a small spoonful of jam onto the chilled plate. Check it after 30 seconds; it should move slightly when you tilt the plate, but not run. If it runs, you need to cook the jam longer. If it doesn’t budge, your jam might be over-firm. This won’t hurt the jam, but as it ages, it becomes drier, and you may need to heat it before using.
With the tongs, remove the hot jars from the water bath, saving the water for processing, and place them, right-side up, on a tea towel. Ladle the hot jam into the hot jars, discarding the lemon verbena. Leave ¼ inch of headspace. If you see air pockets on the sides of the jars, dip a knife in the boiling water to sterilize and run it along the insides of the jars to eliminate.
Carefully wipe the rims of the jars with a clean damp cloth or paper towel. Place the lids on top and fasten the rings. Now you must process the jam. If you’re using a canner, simply bring the water you used to sterilize the jars to a boil. Place the jars in the rack that comes with the canner and lower them into the boiling water. Process for 5 minutes. If you don’t own a canner, use the large stockpot you used to sterilize the jars. Place a folded tea towel on the bottom of the pot to cover it and bring the water back to a boil. Using tongs, carefully place the jars on top of the tea towel, right-side up so none of the jars touch the bottom of the pot. Process for 5 minutes. Depending on the size of your jars and stockpot, you may have to process in batches.
Remove the jars from the boiling water bath and place them on a clean towel to cool on the counter. After several hours, push down gently on the tops of the lids. The lids shouldn’t move, bounce, or make a popping sound. If they do, they aren’t sealed adequately to prevent spoilage. Refrigerate any jars that failed to seal and consume them first. Properly sealed jars will keep at room temperature for up to 1 year as long as there is no mold or obvious signs of spoilage. You can remove the rings after the jars are sealed and reuse them. Never reuse the lids.
√ TIP: Though you can make do without a proper canning pot, I do recommend purchasing the special canning tongs. They have a wide, nonstick surface that makes it easy to fish the jars out of the water bath safely.
These were always my favorite cookies growing up, and they still are. My Aunt Mil fills them with her crabapple jam from the trees in her yard. The cookies are soft, a little chewy, and very buttery. Another thing that sets them apart is their wonderful buttermilk tang. I tend to save my Cultured Butter for table use, since it’s special, but you could certainly use it here (unsalted). I definitely recommend using the buttermilk from your Cultured Butter in these cookies, if you can time it properly. This is the cookie dough I always use for cutout, decorated cookies during holidays but they do just as well when served with tea or coffee anytime.
TIME REQUIRED: about 1½ hours active; 8 hours passive (excluding butter and jam preparation)
YIELD: about 1 dozen
4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1½ cups sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon kosher salt
1½ cups cold unsalted butter, cut into ¼-inch cubes
½ cup buttermilk, from Cultured Butter or store-bought
2 large eggs, slightly beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
¼ to 
cup Plum-Verbena Jam or jam of your choice
In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt. Cut the butter into the dry ingredients with a pastry blender or two knives until the mixture resembles cornmeal.
In a small bowl, whisk together the buttermilk, eggs, and vanilla. Add to the bowl with the dry ingredients and mix with a wooden spoon until smooth.
Gather up the dough into two equal portions. It will be very sticky. Wrap each portion well and flatten into 2-inch-thick disks. Refrigerate for several hours or overnight.
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.
Working with one portion of dough at a time, roll out the dough to inch thick. The dough will be sticky, so you’ll need to use plenty of flour to roll it out, but try to use no more than you absolutely need or you may end up with tough cookies. It’s a delicate balancing act. It’s important to work quickly and keep the dough as cold as possible.
Using a 2-inch round cookie or biscuit cutter, cut the dough into circles. Dollop about 1 teaspoon of jam in the center of half of the circles and top with the remaining dough circles. Using your fingers, press down gently around the edges of each cookie to seal, working quickly. If you have special cookie cutters with patterned cutout shapes, you can use these for the top layer of cookie. They produce a pretty little “window” of jam. You can reroll and cut the scraps from your first batch one time, but you should refrigerate the scraps for 10 to 15 minutes first if it’s an especially warm day.
Bake the cookies on an ungreased baking sheet until firm, fragrant, and lightly browned on the bottom, rotating the sheet halfway through for even browning, 8 to 10 minutes.
Transfer the cookies to a cooling rack. Store uneaten cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 week. These cookies age well. I think they always taste better 1 to 5 days after I’ve baked them.
Rosemary might sound unusual for jam, but it adds an interesting complexity that goes well with musky figs and citrus. The jam is subtle enough to taste good with toast or crumpets, but adds a twist to savory preparations like Pulled Pork Canapés. This is a small batch because figs are so precious. If you have a windfall, this recipe can easily be doubled without adjustments. If you want to make more than double this amount though, it should be made in batches.
TIME REQUIRED: 45 minutes active; about 1 hour passive
YIELD: about 24 ounces
1½ pounds fresh Black Mission figs
1 cup sugar
½ teaspoon chopped fresh rosemary
¼ teaspoon finely grated lemon zest (Meyer, if available)
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice (Meyer, if available)
Salt
EQUIPMENT NEEDED
Six 4-ounce jars or three 8-ounce jars with rings and lids
A set of canning tongs (see Tip)
A large stockpot with a tea towel or water-bath canner with a rack
Tea sack or cheesecloth
Put a small plate or saucer in the freezer to chill. You will use this to test the jam for the proper consistency.
Stem the figs and cut into eighths and put them in a medium, heavy saucepan. Add the sugar and ¼ cup water. Set aside while you prepare the jars and lids.
Put the jars and canning tongs in a large stockpot. Add water to cover. Slowly bring the water to a boil while you cook the jam. Once it boils, turn off the heat and let the jars sit in the hot water until you are ready to fill them. This step is necessary for sterilizing the jars. Do not touch the jars with your hands once you have sterilized them, but use sterilized tongs.
Put the lids in a small bowl and pour boiling water over them. Let them sit until you are ready to use them.
Put the saucepan with the figs and sugar on the stove. Bring the figs to a simmer over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until the sugar dissolves and the figs begin to release their juices. Lower the heat to a very slow simmer and cook, stirring occasionally, until the mixture begins to thicken, about 20 minutes. Put the rosemary in a tea sack or in a square of cheesecloth tied into a bundle and add it to the figs. Continue to cook until the jam becomes darker in color and begins to thicken noticeably, 10 to 20 minutes more. To test for the proper thickness (gel point), drop a small spoonful of jam onto the chilled plate. Check it after 30 seconds; it should move slightly when you tilt the plate, but not run. If it runs, you need to cook the jam longer. If it doesn’t budge, your jam might be over-firm. This won’t hurt the jam, but as it ages, it becomes drier and you may need to heat it before using.
Once the jam is cooked, stir in the lemon zest and juice and add a pinch of salt.
With the tongs, remove the hot jars from the water bath, saving the water for processing, and place them, right-side up, on a tea towel. Ladle the hot jam into the hot jars, discarding the rosemary. Leave ¼ inch of headspace. If you see air pockets on the sides of the jars, dip a knife in the boiling water to sterilize and run it along the insides of the jars to eliminate.
Carefully wipe the rims of the jars with a clean damp cloth or paper towel. Place the lids on top and fasten the rings. Now you must process the jam. If you’re using a canner, simply bring the water you used to sterilize the jars to a boil. Place the jars in the rack that comes with the canner and lower them into the boiling water. Process for 5 minutes. If you don’t own a canner, use the large stockpot you used to sterilize the jars. Place a folded tea towel on the bottom of the pot to cover it and bring the water back to a boil. Using tongs, carefully place the jars on top of the tea towel, right-side up so none of the jars touch the bottom of the pot. Process for 5 minutes. Depending on the size of your jars and stockpot, you may have to process in batches.
Remove the jars from the boiling water bath and place them on a clean towel to cool on the counter. After several hours, push down gently on the tops of the lids. The lids shouldn’t move, bounce, or make a popping sound. If they do, they aren’t sealed adequately to prevent spoilage. Refrigerate any jars that failed to seal and consume them first. Properly sealed jars will keep at room temperature for up to 1 year as long as there is no mold or obvious signs of spoilage. You can remove the rings after the jars are sealed and reuse them. Never reuse the lids.
You may have noticed that many older preserving books don’t call for processing jam in a water bath, but just for filling the hot jars with hot jam and then cooling until the jars seal. To be honest, I don’t always process my jams, and have never had any trouble. Since the USDA now recommends it as an extra measure of sterilization, I give processing instructions in the jam recipes here. Please note that I would never take this risk with anything but jam, due to its high sugar and acid content. I always refrigerate any jars that fail to seal, whether they were processed or not, and I always refrigerate after opening.
Here’s an elegant way to repurpose your leftover Mustard and Bourbon-Glazed Pork Roast and it is a fun thing to try with your Fig-Rosemary Jam. Of course, you can use any leftover pork or any other jam you have on hand to make this rather impressive and inexpensive cocktail hors d’oeuvre.
TIME REQUIRED: 10 to 15 minutes active (excluding bread, pork, and jam preparation)
YIELD: 18 to 20 pieces
About baguette, or 5 or 6 slices Half-Wheat Sourdough Bread or Sourdough Cornmeal-Pumpkin Seed Bread
About ¼ cup olive oil
1 cup shredded leftover Mustard and Bourbon-Glazed Pork Roast
About 3 ounces soft, creamy blue cheese, such as Maytag or a locally produced version, at room temperature
4 ounces Fig-Rosemary Jam or jam of your choice
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
Cut the baguette into ¼-inch slices or cut each slice of homemade bread with a 1-inch biscuit cutter, to make perfect rounds. Arrange the bread slices on a baking sheet in a single layer. Brush with oil. Bake until browned and slightly crisp, about 7 minutes. Let cool slightly.
Put the pork in a small skillet over medium heat. Add a little bit of leftover Mustard and Bourbon Glaze, if available. If not, add a little oil. Toss the pork around in the hot skillet to heat and crisp it slightly. Set aside.
Spread each toasted bread piece with blue cheese. Top with a few shreds of hot, crispy pork, distributing it evenly. Top each canapé with about ¾ teaspoon of jam. Serve immediately.
I like to serve this spiced butter on wheat or rye toast topped with thin slices of Gruyère. Fuyu persimmons are more widely available than the bitter-until-squishy-ripe Hachiyas. This recipe makes a great gift, so you may want to increase the recipe and process it to make it shelf stable. (Follow the chart in a recently published canning book [see Sources]).
TIME REQUIRED: about 2 hours active
YIELD: about 1¾ cups
2½ pounds Fuyu persimmons, peeled and cut into 1-inch chunks
½ vanilla bean
cup sugar
2 tablespoons maple syrup
Seeds from 1 green cardamom pod, crushed or ground finely
One 2- to 3-inch-long cinnamon stick
2 tablespoons white rum
Zest of 1 lime (about ½ teaspoon)
In a food processor, puree the persimmons until smooth. You will have about 3 cups of pulp. For a smoother texture, put the pulp through a potato ricer or food mill. If you don’t own one of these implements, don’t worry, as the pulp will break down as it cooks.
Put the persimmon pulp in a large, wide, heavy-bottomed pot. Enameled cast iron works well. The wider the pot, the shorter the cooking time. Also, the taller the better, as the pulp will splatter.
Slice the vanilla bean up one side lengthwise, open it up, and scrape the tiny seeds into the pot with the pulp. Add the vanilla bean hull to the pot. Add the sugar, maple syrup, cardamom, and cinnamon. Set the pot over medium-low heat and bring to a simmer, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Adjust the heat so the pulp is just barely bubbling and cook, stirring occasionally and checking often to avoid burning and sticking until the pulp thickens and begins to turn dark, about 1 hour.
Add the rum and cook for another 10 minutes. Add the lime zest and turn off the heat. Let cool, remove the cinnamon stick, transfer to a jar, and refrigerate. The butter will keep for up to 2 weeks.
Tart apples and sweet Persimmon-Spice Butter make a very nice pairing when tucked into a flaky crust. Choose apples with a nice balance of sweet and tart that hold their shape when baked. I usually ask the vendor I’m buying from which ones he or she prefers for baking and then I taste them to see if the flavor seems right. This is the kind of uncomplicated dessert anyone can make. If you’re intimidated by piecrust, don’t worry. The cornmeal makes a sturdy, easy-to-handle dough. The true secret to flaky, tender crust is to keep the ingredients as cold as possible, work quickly, and don’t overmix the dough. Stop when the liquid and the dry ingredients just barely come together.
TIME REQUIRED: 20 minuted active; 2½ hours passive (excluding persimmon butter preparation)
YIELD: makes one 12-inch galette
3 tablespoons Yogurt
cup cold water
1 cup all-purpose flour
¼ cup cornmeal
1 teaspoon sugar, plus about
1 tablespoon for sprinkling on top
½ teaspoon salt
7 tablespoons chilled butter (or a mixture of butter and lard divided fairly evenly), cut into small pieces, plus additional butter (melted) for brushing on top
About ¾ cup Persimmon-Spice Butter
3 large or 4 medium apples, peeled or unpeeled, sliced thinly
In a small cup, stir together the yogurt and the cold water and place it in the freezer while you mix the other ingredients.
In a large mixing bowl, with a whisk, combine the flour, cornmeal, the 1 teaspoon sugar, and the salt. Add the chilled butter and work it in quickly with a pastry blender, leaving some pieces of fat the size of small peas.
Sprinkle the yogurt mixture over the flour mixture gradually, mixing it in with a fork. Be careful not to overmix. The dough should be crumbly, but stick together when pinched. You may not use all of the yogurt mixture.
Gather the dough into a ball, wrap and refrigerate for 2 hours.
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
On a lightly floured board, with a rolling pin, roll out the dough to a ¼-inch thickness. Fold the dough carefully into quarters, pick it up gently and transfer to a baking sheet. Unfold the dough so it sits centered on the baking sheet.
Using a rubber spatula, gently spread the persimmon butter thinly and evenly over the dough, leaving a 1½- to 2-inch border along the edges.
Lay the apple slices on top of the persimmon butter, working in a spiral from the inside out, covering the persimmon butter, but leaving the same 1½- to 2-inch border. Fold the edges of the dough inward to encase the fruit, and sprinkle the entire galette with the 1 tablespoon sugar.
Bake on the center rack of the oven until the crust is brown and flaky and the apples soft and fragrant, 20 to 25 minutes. Halfway through, rotate the pan and brush the apples and the crust with the melted butter. Give the galette a final brush of butter when you remove it from the oven.
Let cool slightly before cutting. Serve warm or at room temperature. Store any leftovers at room temperature, covered, for no more than 24 hours.
It’s easy to make your own nut butters in an ordinary food processor, and they provide several advantages over store-bought nut butters. You control the smoothness to your liking; you can choose to make raw or roasted butters; and you’ll never again worry about sodium, trans fats, sugar, or other additives. I’ve found homemade nut butters to be half the price (or less) of commercial ones. Since no stabilizers or preservatives are used in homemade nut butters, I like to make small batches of just a cup or two. Keep your homemade nut butters in the refrigerator, as they are highly perishable. If you like your butters ultrasmooth, you need not add any oil to them at all, just salt to taste. Continuous grinding will bring out the oils in the nuts, making the butters perfectly spreadable at room temperature. If you like them chunky, stop while the butter still has texture and add one to two tablespoons of vegetable oil (peanut oil works nicely) to make the butter spreadable.
Great on toast or a crisp fall apple, this butter also makes wonderful cookies. Try Almond Butter Sandwich Cookies with Spiced Pear Filling. You could also toast the nuts in a 350-degree-F oven for 10 minutes if you prefer a roasted almond butter. Let cool before grinding.
TIME REQUIRED: about 15 minutes active
YIELD: 1 cup
2 cups (about 10 ounces) unsalted, raw whole almonds
1 to 2 teaspoons vegetable oil (optional)
Salt (optional)
Put the almonds in the bowl of a food processor and process until the butter is the desired consistency, stopping occasionally to scrape down the sides of the bowl, 5 to 8 minutes. Add the oil (if needed) and season with salt (if necessary). Watch the butter closely. Over time, it will progress from chunks of chopped almonds to small, dry pieces of almond to a cohesive ball of creamy, spreadable softness. Transfer to a jar and seal. The butter will keep, refrigerated, for up to 8 weeks.
Here you have almonds and pears, a classic dessert flavor combination repurposed into a cookie. Fragrant mashed pears are gently infused with sweet spices and sandwiched between thin, nutty, crispy-chewy cookies to make this common dessert combo into something both homey and elegant. On its own, this pear filling makes a wonderful companion to ice cream or a filling for the Fresh Cheese Crêpes. I like to bake these in the fall when pears are at their best. Off-season, you can experiment with other fillings (jam, chocolate, or applesauce) or simply make almond butter drop cookies—like peanut butter cookies, only more interesting. The dough is a little crumbly and a bit difficult to roll out, but if you work with your fingertips to keep it together as you roll, it won’t be too laborious. You’ll need a spatula to transfer the cut cookies from the rolling board to the cookie sheet.
TIME REQUIRED: about 1½ hours active; about 1½ hours passive (excluding butters preparation)
YIELD: 24 sandwich cookies
COOKIES
cup unsalted Cultured Butter) or store-bought unsalted butter, softened
½ cup granulated sugar, plus extra for sprinkling
½ cup lightly packed light brown sugar
1 large egg
1 tablespoon unsulfured molasses
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1½ cups unbleached all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon kosher salt
¼ teaspoon baking powder
SPICED PEAR FILLING (MAKES ABOUT 1 CUP)
3 d’Anjou or Bartlett pears, peeled, quartered, cored, and sliced thinly
cup granulated sugar
One 2-inch cinnamon stick
4 whole cloves
4 whole green cardamom pods
1 star anise pod
½ vanilla bean, split down the side
To make the cookies: In a large bowl, using a handheld mixer, beat together the cultured butter and almond butter until well combined and creamy. Add the ½ cup granulated sugar and the brown sugar and continue to mix until fluffy. Add the egg, molasses, and vanilla and beat just until combined.
In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, and baking powder.
Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and stir to blend. If the dough seems crumbly, add 2 to 3 tablespoons of water a little at a time to bring it together. Form the dough into two equal-sized disks; wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour, or overnight.
To make the filling: In a medium, heavy-bottomed saucepan over low heat, combine the pears, sugar, cinnamon, cloves, cardamom, star anise, vanilla bean, and 2 tablespoons water. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the mixture begins to brown and turns syrupy, about 1 hour. Remove from the heat, remove the spices, and mash the pears with a potato masher until they resemble chunky applesauce. Return the pan to the stove and continue to cook over medium-low heat until the mixture is soft and fairly smooth, with a thick texture, another 20 to 30 minutes. Set aside to cool.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
If you’ve refrigerated the dough for several hours or overnight, remove from the refrigerator 15 minutes prior to rolling. Leaving one portion of the dough refrigerated, roll out the other portion on a lightly floured board to ¼ inch thick. You may need to stop and gently push the edges of the dough toward the center with your fingertips. You will find the dough somewhat crumbly, rather than sticky. Using a 2-inch round biscuit or cookie cutter, cut out the cookies. Using a spatula, transfer them to an ungreased baking sheet as you work. Gather up the scraps and reroll. The third round of scraps will probably need to be refrigerated before rerolling. Repeat with the other portion of dough, baking the cookies in batches. Sprinkle half the cookies with a bit of granulated sugar just before baking. The sugared cookies will be the tops of the sandwiches. Bake the cookies until brown and fragrant, rotating the pans halfway through, 6 to 7 minutes. Let cool completely on the sheet, then transfer to a platter.
When all the cookies are baked and cooled, assemble the sandwiches by placing 2 teaspoons of pear filling atop the unsugared cookies. Top each with a sugared cookie and serve. You can also make the cookies and pear filling up to 1 day in advance and assemble just before serving. Unfilled cookies can be stored at room temperature in an airtight container for 3 to 4 days. Filled cookies should be kept covered and eaten the day they are made, or frozen for up to 2 weeks.
Create a mind-blowing peanut butter and jelly sandwich with the Plum-Verbena Jam and the Sourdough Cornmeal-Pumpkin Seed Bread. Or make a Spicy Southeast Asian Peanut Sauce with it.
TIME REQUIRED: about 30 minutes active
YIELD: 1 cup
2 cups (about 10 ounces) unsalted, raw shelled peanuts
1 to 2 tablespoons vegetable oil (optional)
Salt (optional)
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Spread the peanuts on a baking sheet in a single layer. Toast until light brown and fragrant, about 15 minutes. Let cool completely.
Transfer the peanuts to the bowl of a food processor and process until the butter is the desired consistency, stopping occasionally to scrape down the sides of the bowl, 4 to 5 minutes. Add the oil (if needed) and season with salt (if necessary). Watch the butter closely. Over time, it will progress from barely chopped peanuts to tiny, dry pieces of peanut to a cohesive ball of creamy, spreadable softness. Transfer to a jar and seal. The butter will keep, refrigerated, for up to 6 weeks.
Make this with your homemade Roasted Peanut Butter or any other peanut butter. It’s good to have on hand to turn simple food into exciting quick meals. Wrap leftover meat and vegetables in lettuce and use this as a dipping sauce. Toss rice noodles in it or drizzle it over steamed vegetables. I like to serve this sauce with baked or grilled chicken dunked in a quick marinade of pounded garlic, fish sauce, lime juice, water, and lots of black pepper.
TIME REQUIRED: about 10 minutes active (excluding peanut butter preparation)
YIELD: 1 cup
1 or 2 serrano chiles, seeded and minced
1 garlic clove, peeled and left whole
Salt
½ cup Roasted Peanut Butter
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice (about 1 lime)
1 tablespoon fish sauce
1 tablespoon vegetable oil (peanut oil is a good choice)
2 teaspoons sugar Cayenne pepper (optional)
¼ cup chopped unsalted peanuts
With a mortar and pestle, pound the chile(s) and garlic to a paste with a pinch of salt. Transfer to a small bowl. Add the peanut butter, lime juice, fish sauce, oil, sugar, and cayenne to taste. Whisk until smooth. Check for a sweet, salty, spicy balance. Adjust seasonings by adding more lime juice, sugar, or cayenne as desired. Stir in the peanuts and add about cup water to reach the desired consistency. The sauce will keep, refrigerated, for about 2 weeks.
This sauce is a great staple to have around. It’s so easy to make and is a huge improvement over canned or jarred enchilada sauces. I use it in the Pinto Bean and Sweet Potato Enchiladas, but there are plenty of other ways to make it work for you in the kitchen. Add it to Mexican-inspired soup broths, pots of beans, egg dishes, or Chilaquiles, or make up a tamale pie with cornmeal dough and leftover Mustard and Bourbon-Glazed Pork Roast, using this as the sauce. It freezes well, too.
TIME REQUIRED: about 30 minutes active
YIELD: about 2 cups
5 or 6 dried ancho and/or New Mexico chiles
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
½ yellow onion, diced
3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
Salt
½ teaspoon dried Mexican oregano, crumbled
With scissors, slit the chiles up the sides and remove the stems and seeds.
Bring a kettle of water to a boil. Heat a medium cast-iron skillet over medium-high heat. Open the chiles up flat and lay them down in the skillet in a single layer. You may need to work in batches. Toast them for about 30 seconds per side, holding them flat and turning with tongs, until fragrant. Don’t let them smoke or they’ll turn bitter. Transfer the chiles to a small bowl and pour the boiling water over them. Push down to submerge them. Soak until soft, at least 15 minutes.
In the same skillet, warm the oil over medium heat and add the onion, garlic, 2 pinches of salt, and the oregano. Cook, stirring, until soft and fragrant, about 10 minutes. Turn off the heat and leave undisturbed.
When the chiles are soft, transfer them to a blender and add the sautéed onion and garlic. Blend until smooth. Wipe the skillet to remove any onion or garlic pieces and pour the sauce from the blender into the skillet. Cook over low heat, stirring occasionally, until thick and smooth, 10 to 15 minutes. This will help tame the natural bitterness of the chiles and blend the flavors. Season with salt. Use immediately, or let the sauce cool. Transfer to a nonplastic container, cover, and refrigerate for up to 7 days, or freeze for up to 1 month.
If I had to live out life on a desert island and could take only one food item, avocado would be it. I love the smooth creaminess it lends to this salsa. Tuck this into the Zucchini and Mushroom Quesadillas or use it to make Chilaquiles. It’s also wonderful as a sauce on grilled chicken or beef.
TIME REQUIRED: about 30 minutes active
YIELD: makes about 2½ cups
1 pound fresh tomatillos
¼ teaspoon cumin seeds
½ medium red onion, cut into ½-inch slices
2 or 3 serrano chiles, left whole
3 garlic cloves, unpeeled and left whole
1 medium avocado
3 green onions, chopped (green and white parts)
3 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro Juice of 1 lime (about 1 tablespoon)
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Bring a pot of water to a boil, peel the papery husks from the tomatillos, rinse, and drop the fruits into the pot. Boil until they are soft and turn dull green, about 10 minutes. Drain and set aside.
While waiting for the water to boil, toast the cumin seeds over medium heat in a dry skillet until brown and fragrant, 5 to 7 minutes. Remove from the pan, let cool, and finely grind them in a spice grinder or with a mortar and pestle.
In a medium, dry skillet over medium heat, toast the red onion, chiles, and garlic, turning occasionally, until browned, fragrant, and soft, about 10 minutes. Remove them to a plate as they finish cooking.
When the garlic is cool enough to handle, peel it. Remove the stems from the chiles and some, none, or all of the seeds, depending on how hot you want your salsa.
Transfer the tomatillos, garlic, chiles, toasted onion, cumin, and the flesh of the avocado to a blender or food processor. Process until smooth, pour into a serving bowl, and stir in the green onions, cilantro, and lime juice and season with salt and pepper. You can make this salsa several hours or up to 1 day ahead. Extra salsa will keep for 3 or 4 days, covered well and refrigerated, but will discolor slightly.
Here’s a simple, smooth, all-purpose salsa that is great for both cooking and dipping chips into. Enjoy this with Zucchini and Mushroom Quesadillas or use it to make Chilaquiles. It’s easy to adjust the heat to your liking by adding additional dried chiles or more or less cayenne. The classic Mexican technique of roasting the salsa ingredients in a hot, dry pan gives this salsa its authentic, smoky flavor. A well-seasoned cast-iron pan is best for this job, unless you happen to own a traditional Mexican clay comal.
TIME REQUIRED: about 40 minutes active
YIELD: about 2 cups
1 dried New Mexico or ancho chile
¼ teaspoon ground cumin seeds
½ yellow or white onion, cut into ½-inch slices
3 garlic cloves, unpeeled and left whole
1 pound fresh whole Roma tomatoes
1 small handful fresh cilantro leaves
1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lime juice, or more to taste
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper Cayenne pepper (optional)
Using scissors, slit the chile up the side and remove the stem and seeds.
Bring a small pan of water to a boil. Heat a large cast-iron skillet over mediumhigh heat. Open the chile up flat and lay it down in the skillet. Toast it about 30 seconds per side until fragrant, turning with tongs. Don’t let it smoke, or it will turn bitter. Transfer the chile to a small bowl and pour the boiling water over it. Soak until soft, at least 15 minutes.
In the same skillet, dry-toast the cumin seeds over medium heat until brown and fragrant, 5 to 7 minutes. Remove from the pan, let cool, and finely grind in a spice grinder or using a mortar and pestle.
In the same dry skillet, over medium-high heat, toast the onion and garlic until soft and brown, turning occasionally with tongs, about 10 minutes. Remove each one to a plate as it finishes cooking. Peel the garlic when it is cool enough to handle.
Put half of the tomatoes in the skillet and roast, turning often with tongs, until charred on the outside and beginning to soften, about 10 minutes. While they roast, peel the remaining tomatoes with a sharp knife and set them aside.
When all of the vegetables are roasted, and the soaked chile is pliable, remove the chile from the water, reserving the water to thin the salsa if needed. Put the chile, onion, garlic, and both the roasted and fresh tomatoes in a blender or food processor. Add the cilantro, cumin, and 1 tablespoon lime juice. Blend until smooth. Season with salt, pepper, cayenne (if using), and more lime juice to taste. Add the chile-soaking liquid if you desire a thinner salsa. Refrigerate, well covered, for up to 10 days.
Ajvar is a wonderfully versatile eggplant spread for sandwiches and impromptu appetizers, and a handy cooking ingredient. It’s often found in specialty stores and I have always loved it. For years I assumed it was Middle Eastern, but I recently found out it’s Serbian. Since I’m Serbian on my mother’s side, and many of the recipes in this book originated in the house where she grew up, I love ajvar even more. Still, its unmistakable Middle Eastern character has me convinced that it came to the Balkans with the Turks. I don’t remember eating this as a child, so I’m happy to bring it back into the fold. See the tips for using ajvar.
TIME REQUIRED: 30 minutes active; 30 minutes passive
YIELD: about 2 cups
1 globe eggplant, about 1 pound
2 red bell peppers
2 garlic cloves, peeled
Salt
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
½ teaspoon ground Aleppo pepper see headnote or paprika
¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil
Freshly ground black pepper
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
Wash the eggplant and poke it with the tines of a fork in several places. If you have a gas burner, lay it right on top of the grate, turn the burner to high, and roast until blackened all over, turning often with tongs, about 15 minutes. Alternatively, you can do this step under the broiler in your oven, but it won’t yield quite the same charred character. Transfer the eggplant to a parchment-lined baking sheet.
Roast the bell peppers the same way and transfer them to the sheet as well.
Put the charred peppers and eggplant in the oven and roast until completely soft, about 10 minutes for the peppers and 20 to 30 minutes for the eggplant. Remove the peppers to a bowl, and cover with a plate so they can steam. Leave the eggplant in the oven until it is very soft all the way to the center. Test it with a fork to be sure.
Once the peppers are cool enough to handle, peel them, and remove the seeds and stems. Transfer the flesh to a food processor. In a mortar and pestle, pound the garlic with a pinch of salt until you have a smooth paste. Add it to the food processor with the peppers and pulse until chunky smooth.
When the eggplant is cool enough to handle, scrape the flesh from the skin and remove as many of the seeds as it is easy to do, without worrying too much about removing all of them. Transfer the eggplant to the processor with the roasted peppers and garlic. Add the lemon juice and Aleppo pepper and pulse a few times. Add the oil slowly while pulsing. Season with salt and black pepper. Serve immediately or refrigerate, well covered, for up to 10 days.
