bon appetit's rhubarb and raspberry jam

once again, it was another washed out weekend here in greensboro and once again, it was another early morning rise for delana and i. it really should be a crime to have to wake up at 3:45 in the morning on a sunday morning. sunday's are meant to sleep in right? i think so. i also think this message needs to be passed on to starbucks....wishful thinking. it's fun but that's all it is, is wishful. so what to do when life gives you rainy days and early mornings? complain? i just did that. so yes you can do that and you can also make jam. jam is what i did yesterday and boy did it turn out gooood.

my inspiration came out of Bon Appetit's March 2008 issue (pg.121?not sure but it sounds right.) i've been wanting to try it since the magazine made its way through my mail slot but have not been able to since the grocery stores around me didn't seem to realize that it was rhubarb season up until this past weekend. so behind the times. the first supermarket i came across that carried these elusive, red stalks had them at a whopping $6 a pound. my cash flow was not as great as my desire to make this jam. i continued on through the produce section, grabbing the stuff i actually needed. once done, delana and i made a stop at the Fresh Market to pick up some almonds since this location carries them in bulk at a much fairer price than the vacuum sealed packs found at our first stop. this second stop satisfied much more than our need for almonds, it also provided us with rhubarb for a $3 a pound. six dollars vs. three dollars? the latter makes for a much happier checking account balance. this along with the half jar of raspberry preserves i had in the fridge, some sugar and water and i was on way to rhubarb and raspberry jam minus the roly polys. i did make profiteroles from gourmet's march issue but i'll post about those later. i guess i too am a little behind on my recipe trials but better late than never. if you too are waiting to try this recipe out don't wait too long because it's definitely something that you're going to want ot have waiting for you in your 'fridge. i had some this morning spread over some toast with a side of oatmeal. delicious.

Bon Appetit's Rhubarb and Raspberry Jam
March 2008 issue

1/2 pound fresh rhubarb, cut crosswise into 1/2-inch-thick slices (about 2 cups)
1/2 cup sugar
1 tablespoon water
1/2 cup raspberry jam



Combine rhubarb, sugar, and 1 tablespoon water in medium saucepan. Stir over medium heat until sugar dissolves. Cover; cook until rhubarb softens to thick pulp, stirring often, about 8 minutes. Mix in jam; cool. do ahead Can be made 1 week ahead. Cover; chill.

bbq and pomegranates

last night while some were trying to figure out where to get their starbucks fix, i was trying to figure out how to use the pomegranate molasses that i had ordered from the Zingerman's website
.i'd all ready opened it once and had a taste and it was definitely more on the tart side, somewhat vinegar-y you could say. i've been researching different ways to use it and nothing had really inspired me so i knew i was on my own. i ended up deciding on trying to make some good ol' bbq sauce with it. i mean, i am in north carolina right? and bbq is big here so why not try and create something based on local fare with a non-local ingredient.
after reaching that decision, i had to think about what goes in a bbq sauce? i knew vinegar, sugar, and either tomatoes or ketchup and a medley of dried seasonings were the norm. for mine, i wanted to keep it low key and easy to do again if i were to be happy with the result. i started out by skimming the fridge and trying to see what i might need from in there. hmm... what to grab??? ketchup, some rosemary i had in a glass of water and half of a yellow onion leftover from monday night's hotdog and coleslaw dinner. again, im in the south. hotdogs and coleslaw are not reserved for the summer. and no, they don't have to be nathan's and your slaw does not have to be from the kfc down the street. there are just some things us ny'ers are oblivious to i guess. anyways, my time at the fridge was done. off to the cupboards.
my raiding of the cupboard produced a gallon sized ziploc bag of dark brown sugar,a jar of regular sugar, sweet hungarian paprika,one clove of garlic, olive oil and white distilled vinegar. now to the spice carousel. spin,spin,spin,weeee! good ride no? now stop.after that lovely ride, down came the red pepper flakes. i was now set and ready to venture into bbq world. oh wait, i did make one last stop at the wine rack and grabbed some armenian pomegrante wine that i thought might work nicely in tonight's sauce creation. so really now i was set. here's what i had gathered:

• 1 large bottle of ketchup
• 1/2 of an onion
• fresh rosemary sprigs
• dark brown sugar and regular sugar
• sweet paprika
• 1 medium garlic clove
• olive oil
• plain vinegar
• red pepper flakes
• pomegranate wine
• our star ingredient - pomegranate molasses
• salt/pepper- always at hand

i had now acheieved what the french would call "mise en place." all that i needed was ready. time to get busy. here's the breakdown of how much you'll need of each of these ingredients...

• 2 tsp of olive oil
• 2 tsp of chopped rosemary
• 1 tsp of minced garlic
• 1/4 tsp of red pepper flakes
• 1 c of chopped onion
• 1/4 c of pomegranate molasses
• 1/4 c of vinegar
• 1/2 c of dark brown sugar
• 1/2 c of sugar
• 1/4 c of pomegrante wine
• 3/4 c of ketchup
• 1/2 tsp of sweet paprika
• salt and pepper to taste

1. in a medium saucepan over a low flame, add the 2 tsp of olive oil and swirl to coat. add the next 3 ingredients and allow to cook for about 7 minutes. it should look something similar to this...

2. once these 7 minutes have passed, add the chopped onion and increase your heat to medium.toss the onions to coat them with the garlic and rosemary mixture. cook long enough for the onions to have time to soften. you don't want the onions to caramelize, you just want them to be somewhat glossy. this should take 8-10 minutes.congratulations- you've made it past the halfway mark. 3. add the next ingredients from the molasses to your sugars and give this a quick stir. once the sugars have melted and we are now onto step 4.

4. add your final 4 ingredients- ketchup through the seasonings and give your mixture one final stir to combine everything and then bring to a boil. once it hit's that boiling point, down goes your heat and bring on the simmer. 15-20 minutes is plenty.

5. this step is optional but i chose to do it this time- you can strain your final product through a sieve to remove the onions you cooked in step 2. however, if you want a chunky sauce, then go ahead and leave them in there. it's not going to have any impact on flavor, just texture.

now, to figure out what to serve this sauce with. chicken? sure. pork? why not. turkey? go for it. beans? could work. if you decide to venture out and try to make this, let me know how it turns out and what you pair it with. have an idea of your own? please share because i do still have quite a bit more of that molasses left and i'd like to put it to good use. if you're looking for more ideas,here are some recipes that highlight the use of pomegranate molasses:

Simply Recipes
Food Network
Epicurious

sunday's spiked marinara

do you have more cans of diced tomatoes than you know what to do with? how about some leftover wine from dinner the other night? if so then get ready to make some extra room in your pantry and an excuse to go to the liquor store because tonight we're having some spiked marinara. here's what you'll need:

• 2 teaspoons of extra virgin olive oil
• 1/4 teaspoon of crushed red pepper
• 2 teaspoons minced garlic - about 2 small cloves
• 1.25 cups of finely diced sweet onion - 1 medium sized onion should yield this much.
• 2 cups of diced tomatoes - canned in sauce works just fine. How do I know? it's what i used
• 1 6 oz can of tomato sauce
• 1/4 cup of dry white wine - I used a Alsace Riesling
• 1/8 tsp salt
• Few grinds of black pepper
• 3/4 tsp and 1/2 tsp of dried parsley
• 3/4 tsp dried basil

Heat the 2 tsp of olive oil with the red pepper flakes and minced garlic in a 3 to 4 qt sauce pan over medium-low heat to allow the oil to become infused with both of these flavors, about 5 minutes. Toss the diced onion with 3/4 tsp of dried parsley and 1/4 tsp of dried basil. Once your oil has steeped, turn the heat up to medium and add the onion. Allow the onion to soften and once it has a clearer color to it, add the diced tomatoes and white wine. If using canned, add the white wine to the can to pick up whatever remnants are left and pour into the pot.Once the summer comes, I'd like to try roasting some fresh tomatoes instead but since it is winter, i'll have to leave that for a future experiment.

Proceed to add the can of sauce along with the remaining seasonings. Bring to a boil, then turn your heat down back to a medium-low flame and allow to simmer for about 25-30 minutes. I've never added white wine to my marinara sauce and I have to say, it added a nice dry heat to it. The addition really was quite satisfying. We served this atop spaghetti fixed according to package directions with a small salad of field greens on the side and the leftover rosemary, olive oil batard. To add some zing to the bread, feel free to just rub it with a clove of garlic and top it off with your favorite kind of mozzarella or even some parmigiana reggiano.