Bliss & Baker's Elevated Rice Crispie Treats

Popcorn balls, Dubble Bubble, Sidewalk Sundae ice cream bars, and Helm's glazed doughnuts fresh from the truck were the treats of my childhood.

And Rice Krispies treats. Everyone made them. Sticky, gooey, with a little bit of crunch. Easy to make. What's not to love about them?

So when I heard that about a year ago a San Marcos mother and daughter had launched a business to make them, I thought, yeah, really? I mean why not make them myself? Or buy them at Starbucks or some other coffee house or even at the market?

It wasn't until I saw what they were up to--or more precisely tasted what they were up to--that I got it. These small batch treats are good. They turn up the volume on a cherished childhood memory.

Laura and Natalie Potter are the team behind what they've named Bliss & Baker. Just one year ago they started making their treats, which you can eat as snacks, but also chop into ice cream--or even use to make extravagant s'mores.

"Mom always made them when we were growing up," recalls daughter Natalie. "It was something we thought we could play around with."

Mom Laura says that she used to dip the squares in chocolate and bring them to parties. She's always been a big baker and, in fact, used to enter the Pillsbury Bake-Off, even competing one year. She also wanted to start her own business after years of being a stay-at-home mom to Natalie and son Stephen. And how perfect to be in business with her daughter, who also loves to bake and, at 21, is in her last semester of college at Cal State San Marcos studying sociology?

The two started testing flavors and eventually came up with six: Salty Caramel, El Churro, Peppymint, Peanut Butter, Coconut Caramel, Sugar Cookie, and gluten-free Brown Rice Salty Caramel. They also create seasonal, holiday, and specialty flavors throughout the year.

Yes, they use Rice Krispies cereal and marshmallows. They tried some organic versions but the flavors and textures just didn't work out. And they tried making their own marshmallows but, according to Laura, they didn't work out texturally and they needed to keep costs down to make the treats affordable.

But, Laura notes, they use some local purveyors, like La Jolla Sea Salts and San Marcos' Hollandia Dairy Cream. Yeah, the dairy itself is no longer there but she has fond childhood memories of visiting it and is trying to stay local. And, because she knows some of our local dairies are part of the Challenge cooperative, Bliss & Baker also uses their butter.

I tried four of the flavors. My favorite was the Salty Caramel. Laura and Natalie make their own caramel and that mashup of sweet and savory really appealed to me. The El Churro, with its sweet cinnamon flavor was also terrific. And while I'm not a huge peanut butter person, I was surprisingly taken by that variety. They use a generous amount of peanut butter so you really get that gooey, salty, nuttiness combined with the Rice Krispies. To be honest I was less wowed by the Sugar Cookie. That would really appeal to a child, but for me it was just a bit too sweet.

No chocolate? Yeah, I'm disappointed, too, but, said the women, they found it was just too difficult to control the quality of the chocolate when packaging and shipping it--especially since they don't add any preservatives.

With the name Bliss & Baker, they've given themselves room to grow beyond the Crispies. Like a really great brownie. "And I've got bread pudding on my mind," says Laura. They're also working on new varieties of Crispies, including a Whiskey Crispie, adding Maker's Mark to their caramel. And a yet-to-be-determined flavor with an Italian spin.

Their ultimate goal is to open a storefront, perhaps in downtown San Diego. But today, you can find their Crispies at El Pescador Fish Market and Green Acre at Campus Pointe, as well as online. They'll also be at the Williams-Sonoma Artisans' Market in Fashion Valley on March 19 and on March 24th, will be participating in a pop up at Solace & the Moonlight Lounge to benefit the North Coast Unit--Rady Children's Hospital Auxiliary.




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Help Send Fishermen to Slow Fish 2016

How many of you know about Slow Fish 2016? This Slow Food event is an international gathering of fishers, scientists, chefs, students and food artisans. Together they'll address the many environmental, ecological, economic and political challenges that impact fisheries, habitats, oceans, sustainable fishers, and cultural seafood systems. Slow Fish has been held every two years in Genoa, Italy. Slow Fish 2016 in New Orleans, which takes place March 10-13, will be the first time the event will be held in the western hemisphere.

 We have a contingency from San Diego that will be attending the event, including Slow Food Urban San Diego board member, vice chair, and seafood liaison Sarah Shoffler; Pete Halmay, sea urchin fisherman and president of the San Diego Fishermen's Working Group; Chef and activist Andrew Spurgin; Baja Chef Drew Deckman, Chef Michael Poompan of the Coronado Marriott; three UCSD SIO students focused on sustainable fisheries; and several members of the local Slow Food community.

Andrew Spurgin

"Slow Fish aims to create community and connections between fishermen, the public, chefs, etc. and thus reconnect the public with its food producers and our food producers with the public -- like Slow Food does for all food producers, but Slow Fish focuses on seafood," explains Shoffler. "San Diegans are not very connected to our local fishermen, and vice versa, much like other food producers in general. I hope those of us going from San Diego will learn some tools to better do this with the overall goals of a San Diego citizenry that understands the many facets of sustainable seafood and supports a thriving local seafood industry." Her goal is access for all San Diegans to local seafood and for San Diego to be recognized as a sustainable seafood destination.

"We are lucky in San Diego to have an abundance of good, clean and fair seafood," Shoffler says, explaining the issues. "U.S. seafood is some of the most sustainable in the world. U.S. fishermen are some of the most stringently regulated in the world. Because our laws require that if there's a problem with a fishery -- either the fish being caught are overfished or the fishery is negatively affecting other animals like endangered sea turtles -- we must do something about it. Whether it's close the fishery, change fishing gear, or shorten the fishing season, for example. Plus, our fishermen need to get fair wages; they are not slaves. And by buying locally-harvested seafood, we reduce our carbon footprint compared to eating imported shrimp or tilapia, for example. So, by consuming locally-harvested US-caught seafood, we ensure good (fresh and tasty), clean (environmentally sound) and fair (workers get living wages) seafood."

For Halmay, Slow Fish 2016 is important to San Diego because he feels Slow Food had given a lot of attention to farmers and very little to fishermen. "I am committed to changing this to put equal emphasis on all producers of food." He expects that what will come out of the event is a recognition that fishing and fishermen are important to the culture and history of San Diego. To do that, "I am going to introduce the attendees to the idea of fishermen's markets and their role in a working fishing harbor," Halmay adds. "I hope to get support of working fishermen from all over the world."

But Halmay will need help getting out his message. What's needed are more fishermen--from San Diego and elsewhere--to attend the event and share their experiences and issues. The problem is that many fishermen are struggling financially and don't have the resources to travel to New Orleans for the event.

Recognizing that, the Slow Fish program committee and the Northwest Atlantic Marine Alliance established a crowdfunding program to raise money to send fishermen to Slow Fish. Leaders, including Shoffler, are encouraging the donation of funds and frequent flyer miles via the Generosity website. Donation requests start at $10 and they have a goal of reaching $10,000.

In San Diego, Slow Food Urban San Diego is supporting the travel of two local fishermen, including Halmay. "We'd like to send another fisherman and we've reached out to quite a few," says Shoffler. She explains that if there are any San Diego fishermen who would like to attend and need financial assistance, they can apply for travel scholarships from Slow Fish 2016 here or let SFUSD know (reach out to Shoffler at sarah_at_slowfoodurbansandiego_dot_org) since they still have funds available to send a local fisherman.

Want to make a contribution? Just head over to the Generosity website and help a fishermen attend this significant event. Then share the campaign socially using the hashtag #slowfish.


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Sweeten Your Valentine's Day with Le Parfait Paris Strawberry Macarons

I am admittedly a Valentine's Day grinch. I get this from my dad, who used to dismiss it as just a Hallmark holiday. However, I do love the edible Vday bling--chocolates, those little NECCO sweethearts, cinnamon imperials... You name it.

But, honestly, as a grown up, what could be a better sweet gift than a box of French macarons. They're sweet, but not too sweet, and crunchy and gooey. They make you feel très elegant even as the bite you take utterly ravages them.

Funny, though, I'd never actually tried to make them. So when the folks at Le Parfait Paris offered to teach me, I was all in. Guillaume Ryon, who with his wife Ludivine Mas owns the bakery, met with me last week at their massive kitchen in Mission Valley. The Gaslamp bakery prepares their products offsite so that they can devote their downtown space to table service and point of sale and make their wholesale deliveries more efficient.

Ryon and macaron specialist Hayder Jasim spent a couple of hours showing me the ins and outs of macaron production.

It begins with a blend of almond flour and powdered sugar that Jasim weighs and then sifts together. He then whips egg whites in a stand mixture and prepares a simple syrup that he slowly incorporates into the egg whites as he continues to whip them.

Next Jasim adds natural food coloring to the almond flour/powdered sugar mixture. Then, using a scraper, he gently incorporates the egg white mixture into the flour mixture. Jasim explained and demonstrated that the texture should be soft and thick so that it flows like a ribbon. He warned against over mixing.

Now you're ready for piping. Here, technique is again important. As you can see below in the video, you don't swirl as you pipe. You gently press it out and with a flick of the wrist twist it off. Here Jasim made small macaron shells of about an inch and a half. You can also make them larger and there are sheet templates you can use to be accurate and consistent.

Then Jasim slams the cookie sheet on the counter a couple of times to remove that tail at the top and create a smooth top. He sprinkled these cookies with coarse sanding sugar that he had mixed with food coloring.

What happens next is the key to getting a crisp macaron. You let the cookies sit and dry. Depending on the weather and humidity, it takes between 20 to 30 minutes for the macarons to go from glossy to matte. Feel free to use a fan if you're impatient.

Then you'll bake the cookies in a 300˚ F oven. While the cookies bake, make the filling. This is pretty easy. Just dice the berries and mix them in a pot with water and agar agar--a vegetarian gelatin substitute--to cook for about 10 minutes. Then puree.

Finally, you're going assemble your macarons. Ryon showed me how they make a small indentation on one cookie with a thumb to be able to add a bit more filling. Pipe the filling into that cookie, then cover with another, gently twisting to secure it.

If you want to elevate them even more, you can dip them in chocolate.

That's it. To make them tastier, Ryon suggests putting them in the freezer for two days so that the flavor from the filling is infused into the shell.

Le Parfait Paris Strawberry Macarons
(Printable recipe)

Yield: 20 to 30 macarons, depending on how large you make them

Ingredients

210 grams powdered sugar
125 grams almond flour
3 eggs, separated (save the yolks for another use)
30 grams sugar
Water--enough to just wet the sugar
1 teaspoon natural red food coloring
10 grams coarse finishing sugar
1 drop of red food coloring
225 grams fresh strawberries
3 teaspoons water
1 gram agar agar
50 grams Valrhonna Dark chocolate or other high-quality chocolate

Pre-heat the oven to 300˚ F.

Mix and sift the powdered sugar and almond flour.

In a stand mixer, begin whipping the egg whites. While the whites are being beaten, combine the sugar and water in a pan and place over heat to make a simple syrup. When the syrup starts boiling, remove from heat and slowly incorporate it into the beating egg whites. When the mixture is fully incorporated, stop the mixer and set the egg white mixture aside.

Add the food coloring to the almond flour/powdered sugar mixture. Now gently mix in the egg white mixture, a little at a time, using a bench scraper. Don't over-mix. The texture should be soft and thick and pour like a ribbon. Combine the coarse finishing sugar with the food coloring and set aside.

Gently place the cookie mixture into a piping bag with a #2 tip. Pipe into small round discs on a sheet pan covered with either silpat or parchment paper. Sprinkle with the coarse finishing sugar. Let the cookie shells rest for 20 to 30 minutes until the surface goes from shiny and glossy to matte.

Put them in the oven and bake for 16 minutes if small, 20 minutes if large.

While the shells bake, make the filling. Dice the strawberries and place them in a pot with the water and agar agar. Cook for 10 minutes on high. Use an immersion blender to puree. Let cool.

Remove the shells from the oven and let cool.

When ready to assemble, use a thumb to gently press into the flat side of half the shells to create an indentation. Fill a piping bag, using a #2 tip, with the strawberry filling. Pipe about a teaspoon of the filling onto the indented shells. Then cover with the flat side of a non-indented shell.

At this point you can melt chocolate in a double boiler. Then dip half the cookie into the chocolate and place on a sheet topped with wax paper. Let rest until the chocolate has cooled and set.

Freeze cookies for two days before serving.

Le Parfait Paris is located at 555 G. Street in the Gaslamp.


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Radish Greens Pesto

On a gorgeous January Sunday two weeks ago I spent the morning trailing Chef Norbert Moniz around the Hillcrest Farmers Market. Moniz runs the kitchens at Blind Lady Alehouse and Tiger! Tiger!.

I met him just before 8 a.m. at Tiger! Tiger! and we headed out in his fire engine red Ford Ranger pick up. On our drive over to the market Moniz told me that he's been in San Diego for about a year after spending six years working in Chicago. Originally from Santa Clarita, in L.A.'s San Fernando Valley, Moniz attended the California Culinary Academy in San Francisco and then ran a little restaurant in Santa Barbara. Concerned that he wasn't learning enough, he gave his notice and packed two bags--one with his clothes and other personal stuff, the other with hockey gear, and took off for Chicago. It was there he seems to have truly learned his trade, after working for what he calls "a lot of great chefs."

After six years, the SoCal native had had enough of Chicago winters and learned from a friend working at Blind Lady Ale House that there was an opening for a chef at Tiger! Tiger!. He got the job. That was a year ago. Now he oversees Tiger! Tiger! and Blind Lady.

Clearly, Moniz loves what he does--to the extent that on Sundays, his day off, he's up early to pick up orders and shop at the Hillcrest Farmers Market and then deliver his groceries to the chefs at the three restaurants.

"I do it because it gets me up and out of bed, I get to hang out with friends at the market, and I can see what's coming in," he says. "And I can geek out with my chefs over the produce when I deliver it."

While we were picking up orders from farmers at the market I came across the most gorgeous Easter Egg radishes at the Maciel Family Farm stand, where Moniz bought beets, mixed greens, butternut squash, fennel, kale, turnips, and other vegetables. Over the years I've bought from them, too, and was delighted to meet owner Paul and his daughter Sara, who is very involved in 4H. The family farm is up in Bonsall, where they also grow flowers.

Moniz was singing the praises of the Maciel's mixed greens so I bought a bag, but I couldn't take my eyes off the plump and colorful radishes so I bought a bunch of them, too. When I got them home I cut the stems off and, unlike your typical sad, wilted supermarket bunches, they were so fresh I couldn't bear to toss them. I'd sautéed radish greens with garlic before so I knew how wonderfully peppery they are. But what to do with them now?

I had to decide quickly. What you learn about radish greens is that they have a pretty short shelf life. I could make soup with them, make a stir fry, roast them, add them to pasta or an omelet, or make a salad with them.

Or, hmmm, make pesto. I had all the ingredients I needed, including a fresh bottle of herbaceous young olive oil from California Olive Ranch that would match the spicy radish leaves.

The first thing you need to do with radish leaves is wash them. Thoroughly. As root vegetables, the greens are close to the ground and seem to attract dirt like spinach. I did several rounds in a salad spinner before I got the grit off to my satisfaction. Once washed and dried I gave them a rough chopping for the blender.

With that, it's just a matter of grating your favorite hard cheese (I used Parmesan), toasting walnuts to bring out their flavor, and trimming some garlic cloves. You'll want to add a touch of butter to round out the flavor, and some salt--but not much because of the saltiness of the cheese.

After that you'll put everything but the oil in the bowl of a blender or food processor and gradually add in the oil until it reaches a smooth and creamy pourable consistency. Then you have the perfect sauce for pasta, salmon, roasted vegetables and all sorts of other dishes.

You can find the Maciel Family Farm at the Hillcrest, Coronado, Oceanside, Old Town Temecula, and Old Town Poway farmers markets. 

Radish Greens Pesto
(printable recipe)
Yield: 2 cups

6 ounces radish leaves, with tough stems removed (save and snack on them or add to a stir fry)
1 cup walnuts, toasted
5 cloves garlic, peeled and trimmed
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 tablespoon butter, room temperature, cut into pieces
Pinch of salt
3/4 to 1 cup of good quality extra virgin olive oil

After removing the tough stems, wash and dry the leaves thoroughly and roughly chop.

In the bowl of a blender or food processor, add the leaves, walnuts, garlic, cheese, butter, and salt. Put the lid on but leave the opening available to add the oil. Turn on the machine and slowly add the oil. Puree the contents until the mixture reaches a loose, creamy consistency. Periodically, stop and scrape down the sides to incorporate all the ingredients. Taste and adjust seasonings.

You can keep the pesto refrigerated for up to a week, although it's best used right away. Be sure to pour some oil over the surface to keep it from oxidizing and turning brown. Or you can freeze it.

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Quinn Wilson's Bone Broth

Close to two years ago, Quinn Wilson, a San Diego chef I've known for several years, approached me with two concepts she was developing into a business. One was a master tonic that features freshly grated horseradish, fresh chiles, onions, ginger root, and garlic cloves. It's meant to alleviate colds and viruses, along with assisting with a number of other health-related issues. Whether it does or not, it's got an interesting flavor and the solids are wonderful for cooking. So, I featured it here, along with the recipe.   

The other concept Quinn was working on was a bone broth that she turned into a business called Balanced and Bright. Now bone broth has become quite the trend. The claims are that this ancient remedy can assist in the repair of joints and bone tissue; improve hair, skin, and nails, thanks to the collagen released from the bones; alleviate acne, promote fertility, help in post-surgical healing, and provide symptom relief for autoimmune disorders. In fact, there is a long list of ways it's suggested bone broth can be healthful.

I have no opinion on it one way or the other since I have no medical training. And, Quinn acknowledges that there is still no scientific evidence for how bone broth works or confirmation of its long-term benefits. What I do know is that it tastes delicious. And since I grew up with chicken soup--the Jewish penicillin--who am I to doubt the beneficial effects of broth, especially if it's made with care and good ingredients.

Well, Quinn came at this at exactly the right time. An avid social media participant, publisher Sonoma Press discovered her on Instagram. They were looking for someone to write a book on bone broth and picked her. Quinn had five weeks to produce a manuscript and recipes. She met her deadline and the book, Bone Broth: 101 Essential Recipes & Age-Old Remedies to Heal Your Body, has just been published.

In the book Quinn has provided a thorough explanation of bone broth and its history. She also explains how to select bones--whether those of large animals or poultry, rabbits or game birds or fish. She addresses the various ingredients you'll need to make her basic broths, cooking methods (pressure cooker, stove top, or slow cooker), and how to store it. She even explains techniques for effective clean up since it can be a messy process, complicated by fat. 

The basic broths range from beef, chicken, duck, and lamb to pork, rabbit, wild game, fish, and shellfish. Her Master Tonic is included, as is a joint soother, pregnancy broth, cleaning broth, stomach soother, and thyroid support broth, among others. 

I visited Quinn at her home and she first prepared a drink I had my doubts about, called The Cinnamon Roll. It's made with a neutral broth--one that omits vegetables in favor of ginger and fennel--as well as cinnamon, coconut sugar (or honey or stevia), and pastured butter. A sweet broth? It didn't sound promising. But I was won over. It was lovely, with a rich subtle flavor that was comforting.

In fact, Quinn adds neutral broth to all sorts of unusual applications--smoothies, hot chocolate, cocktails, pancakes, brownies, and other desserts. The savory recipes range from French Onion Soup, Ratatouille, Chicken or Rabbit Mole, and Poached Scallops to Braised Lamb, Pork Agrodolce, Posole, and this marvelous Autumnal Pork Stew below.

Quinn created the stew recipe on a whim, adding some very strange ingredients, like orange marmalade, brandy, and smoked sausage. But it works. She made it for me and I loved both the textures and the sweet slightly smoky flavor, made complex with citrus and spices. It's rich, aromatic, and satisfying--especially on a chilly day or night.   

Autumnal Pork Stew

From Bone Broth: 101 Essential Recipes & Age-Old Remedies to Heal Your Body by Quinn Farrar Wilson

(printable recipe)

Serves 8 to 10

Prep: 15 minutes

Cook:             Slow Cooker:

                        4 hours on high

                        8 hours on low

·      This autumnal stew gets better the longer it sits. For an extra flavorful stew, prepare it a day before serving.

Ingredients:

1 teaspoon tallow (or some other cooking fat, coconut oil, etc.)

1 (1 ½ pound) pork shoulder, cubed

½ cup finely chopped smoked pork sausage

4 cups diced butternut squash

1 large white onion, chopped

1 small fennel bulb, cored and thinly sliced

½ fuji apple, peeled, cored and finely chopped

3 ½ cups bone broth of your choice

¼ cup brandy

3 tablespoons orange marmalade

3 sage sprigs, tied into a bundle

1 ½ teaspoons Celtic sea salt

2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar

1.     In a large pan, heat the tallow over med high heat. Add the pork cubes and cook until well browned, stirring frequently. Transfer to a slow cooker using a slotted spoon.

2.   Add the sausage to the pan and brown well. Transfer to the slow cooker.

3.   Add the butternut squash, onion, fennel, apple, bone broth, brandy, orange marmalade and sage to the slow cooker. Cover and cook on high for 4 hours or low for 8 hours.

4.   Stir in the salt and apple cider vinegar. Serve.

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Meyer Lemon Marmalade and My Lesson in Jamming

I love the craft of preserving--for me it usually take the form of making pickles. Periodically I make jam, but only if I've managed to get my hands on more seasonal fruit than I can eat or bake with before it spoils. A case in point? My Meyer lemon trees have been weighed down with fruit. I adore Meyer lemons, but how many can I use on my own? I gave some away as holiday presents but that still didn't make a dent. And the fruit needed desperately to be picked. So, how about making Meyer lemon marmalade?

I've successfully made marmalade from a wonderful Ina Garten recipe in her Barefoot Contessa at Home cookbook, but her large oranges didn't really translate into my much smaller lemons so I searched through my cookbooks until I found an actual Meyer lemon marmalade recipe in my ginormous compendium of all things Ruth Reichl, The Gourmet Cookbook. I was tickled to have just what I needed from one of my cooking bibles.

Other than tripling the recipe to use 4 1/2 pounds of lemons, I followed it precisely. It took me hours to halve the lemons, remove and reserve the seeds, then quarter the juicy halves and thinly slice them. I pulled together all the seeds into a cheesecloth parcel I tied with string. I mixed the lemons with water and the seed pouch and let the mixture stand at room temperature for 24 hours.

After racing out in the rain to get more sugar (12 cups!), running all my jars through the dishwasher, and then setting up my canning equipment, I started the cooking process. Everything went fine. I put a couple of small plates in the freezer to chill so I could test that the marmalade had cooked enough. The soaked lemon mixture simmered for 45 minutes, reducing by a third. Then I stirred in the sugar and brought it all to a boil, stirring and skimming.

Per the directions, after 10 minutes I pulled out a frozen plate, dropped a dollop of golden marmalade on the plate, put it back in the freezer and waited for a full minute. I tested it. Still runny. I cooked the mixture for five minutes more, tested it. Still runny. I did this four more times and by then the peels were collapsing. Enough.

At this point the jars had been sterilized so I started filling them, hoping that the mixture would set. I processed the filled and sealed jars and set them on the counter overnight, cleaned up the kitchen, and crossed my fingers.

I shouldn't have bothered. The next morning I had what I generously called Meyer Lemon Marmalade Syrup. It tasted delicious, but was still runny.

Fortunately, because I posted some of this on Facebook, pastry chef Kathleen Baran Shen of Bake Sale Bakery offered some advice. And this is why I am writing this--because this Gourmet recipe didn't mention it--you need to measure the temperature of the mixture and that temperature needs to hit 223 degrees to reach the jelling point.

"There are varying amounts of water in every lemon and the temperature assures a specific percentage of water remains in the mixture," she said. "Just cooking for a set amount of time doesn't get you a specific end result.

"Pectin needs a few things to set," she explained, "proper sugar concentration, acid, and to be cooked to the right temperature."

She added, "If you want to go to the trouble to dump it out and recook it, use a thermometer and bring it to 223 degrees and re-jar it. It will be good."

Kathleen was right, of course. I had some leftover jars of "marmalade syrup" in the fridge--jars I didn't have room to sterilize. I dumped the contents into a pot and followed her directions. After I poured the recooked mixture back into the re-washed jars, I let them cool and then put them back in the fridge. A couple of hours later I opened one up. Sure enough, it was perfectly jelled. I went back and emptied all my marmalade syrup into a large pot and brought the mixture to the right temperature, re-washed and sterilized the jars, filled them, processed them, and relabeled them--this time as just Meyer Lemon Marmalade. Okay, a slightly darker marmalade, though. Turns out that while sugar doesn't caramelize until reaching 300-plus degrees, if you don't stir constantly as you get close to the magic number or use a copper pot that conducts heat more effectively, the bottom gets hot enough to caramelize. And, as Shen added, some color change will happen no matter what as the fruit changes color when cooked. Second lesson learned!

So, if you are starting out as a jammer be sure to find the right recipes and also don't give up because it didn't come out right the first time. Kathleen not only saved my batch of marmalade, she saved my hard-earned lemon harvest--and gave me the gift of knowledge that will be used for my next jamming foray.

Here's my version of Meyer Lemon Marmalade, adapted from the Gourmet recipe with Kathleen's advice included. In terms of special equipment, you'll need a large canning pot and rack; canning jars, lids, and bands; a jar lifter; a funnel; a lid lifter; cheesecloth and string; and a candy thermometer.

Meyer Lemon Marmalade
(printable recipe)
Yield: About 6 cups

1 1/2 pounds Meyer lemons
4 cups water
4 cups sugar

1. Halve the lemons crosswise and remove the seeds, placing them in a bowl as you work--they'll provide the pectin you need to thicken the mixture.

2. Tie the seeds in a cheesecloth bag and reserve.

3. Quarter each lemon half and thinly slice crosswise.

4. Combine the lemon slices, seed bag, and water in a pot and let stand, covered, at room temperature for 24 hours.

5. When you're ready to make the marmalade, wash and sterilize jars in a large canning pot filled with heavily simmering water. Keep the jars in the water and keep the water simmering. Wash the lids and put them in a small saucepan. Fill with water and bring to a simmer. Wash the bands and set aside.

6. Place the lemon mixture on the stove and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer uncovered until reduced to about 4 cups--about 45 minutes.

7. Stir in the sugar, attach the candy thermometer to the side of the pot, and bring to a boil over moderate heat. Stir occasionally and skim off any foam until the mixture reaches 223 degrees.

8. Place a kitchen towel on the sink where your filled jars can cool. Remove a jar from the canning pot and drain it of water. Fill it with marmalade to within a 1/4" from the top. Wipe off any excess marmalade from the jar, particularly where the lid and band will go.

9. Place a lid on the jar. Seal the jar with a band and gently twist it. Do this with each jar and then return them to the water bath. (Note: If you have any leftover marmalade, place it in a container and refrigerate it to use right away). Discard the bag of lemon seeds.

10. Cover the pot and bring the water back to a boil. The jars should be in actively boiling water for 10 minutes. Turn off the heat and leave the jars in the bath for another five minutes. Then remove the jars to the towel on the counter out of a draft. Don't worry if there's water on the lids. It will evaporate. Let the jars alone overnight. Within minutes you should hear popping as the lids seal.

Questions about the nuts and bolts of preserving? My bible is the Ball's Complete Book of Home Preserving. You'll find a step-by-step guide to the canning process. It seems intimidating at first because of the number of steps but it actually is very easy.


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Broccoli Flower Salad

Last Saturday I went shopping at the Little Italy Mercato and was tickled to see Idzai Mubaiwa of African Sisters. I wrote a piece on women farmers for Edible San Diego last year and included this amazing woman, who emigrated here from Zimbabwe in 2002. Idzai got started farming in San Diego four years ago, thanks to the International Rescue Committee. They taught her how to run her business and helped get her into the North Park Farmers Market. Idzai has four daughters. One is at Howard University and, she bragged, one of her younger daughters was just accepted to Vassar.

This time of year, of course, the pickings at some of the farm stalls are slim, but I found two items to buy from Idzai. One was a gorgeous bunch of rainbow Swiss chard, which I'm cooking up in a hearty mushroom barley soup--just to also have some greens in there. The other was a bunch of broccoli flowers.

Now broccoli flowers sound unusual but really they are simply the sweet, petite yellow blossoms that sprout from the mature heads of broccoli. Yes, the florets you love to eat more than the stems are actually flower buds in waiting. Let them go and they'll blossom.

The challenge with eating them is that as the broccoli ages enough to bloom, the stems become tough. So, no roasting these. You can certainly boil or steam them to serve with a nice sauce or vinaigrette or strip the flowers, add the stems to soup, and then use the flowers as a garnish. But I like a good crunch, so I make a salad with them. If the ones you find are too tough to eat raw for your taste, then you can blanch them for about a minute.

This week, I basically rummaged through my fridge and pantry to figure out what would pair nicely with the broccoli. I had celery and scallions, mandarin oranges, a bowl of walnuts I'd already toasted, and garbanzo beans. I figured a hard-boiled egg would go nicely in there, too.

For a dressing, I made a simple vinaigrette with a sharp-flavored aged red wine vinegar, extra virgin olive oil, whole grain mustard, and kosher salt.

What I found worked for me in prepping the broccoli was to slice the stalks, then remove most of the flowers from the florets before chopping them.

I used the small, tasty inner stalks of the celery and pulled as much of the fibrous strings off the peeled mandarin sections as I could. For the hard boiled egg, I used an egg slicer and just ran it twice in different directions to get a dice.

As I write this, it's the first Monday of the new year--heavy with dark clouds that portend a week's worth of rain. So the bright colors and flavors of this salad really lightened my day, even as it gave me a hearty lunch. The potent punch of the vinaigrette complemented the broccoli. I love the crunch of the stems and walnuts and the burst of sweetness from the little slices of orange. This is a happy meal! Plus, it's a great way to start the new year off healthfully.

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