Dessert By Candy

Let's Go Hiking: Bulgogi Beef Jerky

Trail mix and beef jerky are the culinary counterparts of hiking boots and cargo shorts. They belong in the great outdoors and I am suspicious of them in urban setting. I am far from being the outdoorsy type even though I am athletically-inclined. Call me a princess, but the whole concept of camping, lack of running water, no flushing toilet, and sharing my living space with critters stresses me out to no ends. Given my aversion, it is a small miracle that I am planning a 6-days hiking trip in New Zealand’s North Island later this year. I am excited about the new experience but also a bit skeptical of my ability to adapt.

In the spirit of theme cooking, I made my first batch of beef jerky last weekend. I occasionally indulge in Jack Links on road trips when they are one of the few nutritionally sound snacks available at gas stations. I never consider making it at home even though my paleo/crossfit/Atkins-preaching friends swear by it. My interest was piqued when I came across savorthis’ contest-winning recipe from food52. Bulgogi jerky sounds absolutely fantastic featuring some of my favourite flavour profiles from Korean cuisine.

When Laziness Calls, Ploughman's Lunch Answers

Holiday season is a busy time for most and it is easy to let regular meal planning slide when you’re occupied by a million other things on the to-do list. Personally, I am taking a laid back attitude about holiday planning and let myself off the hook this year for tree trimming, gift shopping, and even holiday baking. But that doesn’t mean I am devoting time to regular meal planning either. Sitting with my foot elevated continues to be a big part of my post-surgery recovery plan. The stitches were gone since Friday and my doctor was very pleased with the healing progress. Although I can now walk for short period of time at a normal pace without signs of limping, standing for hours in the kitchen is still not a good idea yet. I too need quick and easy meal ideas.

One of my favourite dinner requiring minimal preparation is a Ploughman’s Lunch. With a pantry full of preserves I made in warmer months, this is a great option to incorporate chutneys and pickles into my meal too. Last weekend, I visited Wychwood Farmer’s Market and brought home enough goodies to create this beautiful platter.

Mistaken Identity

I bought a small container of late season yellow plums at the market the other day. The vendor called them Yellow Damsons and warned me that their tartness is best tamed by cooking with sugar. Plum is one of the easiest fruit to deal with in jam making with its abundance of pectin. I bought a bunch without even a second thought.

My quest for the elusive damson plums has been handsomely rewarded this year. Both batches of jam have the deep flavour reminiscent of prune and wine. Of course the hassle of extracting the stones from my food mill was not exactly enjoyable but then the hard work is all behind me now. When I looked at my fresh basket of round little yellow plums, I was not looking forward to the work.

Before I rolled up my sleeves, I examined my bounty a little more closely. Each plum looked like an oversize cherry. The skin was smooth and taunt. I cut one in half and was surprised by the semi-clingstone. True damsons are clingstones. The plum was tart as expected but the flavour was vibrant. Since my container was rather small, I decided to stone the plums by hand.

Detour And Back Again

In the last two days, I had a hiccup with my recovery from infection. It was stressful and frustrating but I am incredibly glad that things are back in order. My IV antibiotics treatment concluded on Sunday and I began an oral antibiotics treatment the next day. Unfortunately, the strain was ineffective and I relapsed back to pain, swelling, and losing range of motion with my knee. I rushed back to the doctor very next day and he prescribed a different antibiotics. The symptoms all reduced in severity immediately after first dose and I am now merely experiencing minor discomfort. For those who are curious, the doctor officially diagnosed it as cellulitis (unrelated to cellulite). Scary stuff that could have gone very very badly. I really can do without all these medical dramas.

Obviously I am not exercising nor even walking much. However, it is difficult to keep my bum on a chair as soon as I regain mobility. Sooooo, I cooked, baked, and canned a few things. You can say I put a nice little dent on my overly long list of bookmarked recipes. Please don’t preach. I can only sit still for so long.

Damsons, You Ended My Jam Hiatus

This year I am on a self-imposed hiatus for canning and preserving. As much as I love making jam, managing my out of control larder got on my nerves. Wasting good food and hard work just isn’t right. So rather than filling the shelves with more jars, I aim to clear them instead. For the most part, I have been very disciplined. In 2013, I only made bergamot marmalade, candied Seville orange peels, Meyer lemon curd, and my all time favourite minty strawberry jam. I scaled back drastically compared with my output from previous years.

What Have I Done?

In 9 days I’ll drive to Montreal with two slow cookers, two massive camping coolers, and enough food to feed 27 hungry skaters for 24 hours. That’s right, it’s the annual 24 hour inline relay race at the F1 race track. And yes, I just said 27 skaters. Have I bitten off more than I can chew? I will find out soon enough.

I am not new to this culinary and logistical challenge. Last year I fed 20 skaters with enough leftovers for one week’s worth of dinner at home. I have a good idea of dishes that hold well at the paddock, food that skaters prefer during the race, and enough variety to keep things interesting. It also helps that I already have an elaborate spreadsheet to organize menu, links to recipes, shopping list, budget, inventory, and food preferences. You can say this is going to be business as usual. What is NOT usual is that I extend my meal plan service this year to a few skaters outside of my own team. Words travel quickly and that is how I end up with magic number 27. It would have been 30 if I didn’t already declined a few requests.

Use That Apple Butter

Any avid jam maker can tell you it is all too easy to overstock the larder. I try to keep mine in manageable supply which explains why I am down to my last jar of apple butter. That beloved batch was made with lots of apple cider vinegar. At first, the apple butter tasted too sharp to my liking. But a few months in, the flavour mellowed and I grew to really like it. I wanted to use it for something special.

It is now maple season in eastern Canada and saps are flowing. Maple baked goods are everywhere I look. Last weekend I stopped at Cora’s for brunch. On my way out, I picked up a recipe card that caught my attention. It was a recipe for Apple and Maple Muffins, “the ideal lunchbox recipe”. I generally don’t get distracted by randomly distributed recipes but something about the ingredients spoke to me. Three things were aplenty: diced apples, maple syrup, oats. The recipe actually sounds healthy!

Small Token Of Appreciation

I love presents, you love presents, everybody loves presents! One of the main reasons I became a jam-maker is to have a stash of homemade gifts at the ready all year round. Sure I love to give a box of assorted cookies (labour intensive) or a jar of jam (jam again?), but recently I want to branch out. My first name is a giveaway that confectionery holds a special place in my heart. Candy By Candy sure has a nice ring to it! My latest foray into the world of candy making is candied citrus peels.

I don’t know why I thought candying citrus peel would be difficult. I made countless batches of marmalade before, even in someone else’s bachelor kitchen. I put up jars of candied kumquats. I have no fear of playing with heat and sugar. This is a classic treat to introduce newcomers to the wonderful world of homemade candies.

Use That Rumtopf

The phrase “use it or lose it” always rings a tone of desperation to me. It makes me feel panicky. Unfortunately, it is how I feel about my 8L of homemade rumtopf (read about its story previously). For a “dry” household, why did I feel the need to make such a ridiculous amount of fruit in rum? It all started with a very logical decision for risk management. Four smaller jars would surely give me a higher chance of success than one big jar, right? Lucky me, all four jars turned out to be awesomely delicious and I am stuck with the enviable problem of having too much rumtopf than I can realistically consume.

I have no head for alcohol. Even a small serving of boozy tutti frutti would quickly get me smashed. Among the great list of ideas from Well Preserved, using the rumtopf to bake a cake caught my attention obviously. Fortunately, my appetite for cake and my ability to share cake fare much better than my drinking prowess. Besides, I was confident a drunken rum cake can make a serious dent in my rumtopf supply. I need to come up with a recipe.

There is certainly no shortage of rum cake recipes but I have one specific requirement. I want a recipe that can accommodate large amount of rum-soaked fruit pieces. Not only do the fruit add extra moisture to the cake, they are heavy too.

Preserved Not For Eternity

When I see jars of pickles, my mind involuntarily wanders to the biology classroom of yore with its rows of creatures suspended in poisonous formaldehyde cocktail. Spearing a well preserved piece of cucumber pickle from its bath of seasoned vinegar, I feel a tinge of weirdness about its past life. I cannot help myself. Preserving the summer bounty is a regular part of my culinary life now but the mad scientist imagery never fades away.

Reading the National Center for Home Food Preservation guideline, the stern warnings for food safety intimidate effortlessly. I feel like one misstep and I’ll have an arsenal of bio-weapons in my kitchen pantry. Knowledge and advance in science are wonderful and they certainly contribute immensely to food safety. But at some point I wonder how we all managed to survive the dark ages without making ourselves sick after every meal.

In the interest of my own safety, I do follow the guideline and stick with lower risk projects such as jams and refrigerator pickles. I have an occasional cravings for pickled cucumbers especially when making egg or potato salads. Every time I walked by the knobbly kirby cucumbers at the market, I wanted to take them home. Last winter I received many jars of pickles from my CSA but the supply has finally dwindled. It was time to put on my mad scientist lab coat.