Jelly Jamming and Jalapeños

Jelly Jamming and Jalapeños

Bread Machines are not just for bread!

3½ cups fresh berries, such as strawberries, blueberries, cranberries (shown above)  slightly crushed but not mashed.

*Sidenote: All of the berries work well.  I want to try finely chopped jalapeños - let me know how it works if you do!

1- 2 oz. pkg. powdered pectin

3 tbsp. lemon juice

1 cup sugar

Put all ingredients in the bread machine and press the jam cycle. Pour hot jam into freezer safe containers, leaving ½” at top. Cover tightly to store in freezer or refrigerator. Jam will thicken upon cooling.

Food for Thought:

Fun Facts about Jalapeños

• Cooking reduces the heat of jalapeño peppers. While it would be rare to eat a whole jalapeño pepper, sliced and diced jalapeños make a spicy addition to tomato and mango salsas, nachos, black and pinto beans and corn-based dishes.
• If you like your food hot, leave more of the inner white membrane on the chopped pepper, as that is where most of the capsaicin is concentrated. You can also roast jalapeños and other chili peppers, for a smokey flavor.
• Jalapeños are mostly available green, turning red as they mature. Only 4 calories in one pepper.
• Like other peppers, jalapeños are a rich source of vitamin C, with almost 17 milligrams in a small pepper. That is equal to 18 percent of the recommended daily allowance for men and 23 percent for women.
• Vitamin C is an antioxidant that helps prevent damage from free radicals, rogue molecules that can cause cell damage in your body. 
• Jalapeños also supply a good amount of vitamin A, which supports skin and eye health.

Welcome to the 2018 A-Z Blogging challenge.  This will be my fourth year. Every year I take on the challenge with hopes of disciplining myself to keep writing throughout the year as much, if not more than just through the monthly challenge. (It certainly is a challenge.)  Some years are better than others.  Some I just lose track of time.  This year I have decided to put my favorite hobbies together. A recipe that is tried and true as well as some thoughtful insight.  Please note some of these recipes have been shared before, however they have gone through years of testing and this is the perfected recipe.  I really hope one of my recipes or “Food for Thought” inspires you to do something great.  Enjoy the read and the photos, try the recipe, share your thoughts or comments, and most of all, have FUN with the challenge this month!

Cheers,

White Pizza

Chicken Chile Pepper White Pizza

Pizza Dough

6 oz cream cheese

1 Tbsp sour cream

1 tsp Italian seasoning

½ tsp garlic salt

1 cup basil seasoned sundried tomatoes

1-1½ cups chopped cooked chicken

½ cup sliced jalapeno and Chile peppers

1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

Preheat oven 400°

Soak sundried tomatoes in 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil.

Combine cream cheese, sour cream, Italian seasoning and garlic salt in mixing bowl and blend until smooth. 

Spread cream cheese mixture over pizza dough.  Finely chop tomatoes and sprinkle over cheese.  Cover with chicken and peppers, and top with mozzarella cheese.

Bake 400° 20-32 minutes.

© Crackerberries 2012

Hot Pepper Sausage Corn Cakes

Hot Pepper-Sausage Corn Cakes w/Honey Lemon Butter

These are great for any meal of the day... even just a snack.

¾ cups Jimmy Dean hot breakfast sausage, cooked; reserving grease
1 cup self-rising buttermilk corn meal

½ cup whole wheat flour

2 Tbsp sugar

1 tsp kosher salt

1 tsp fresh ground pepper

½ tsp baking soda

¼ tsp baking powder

¼ tsp cayenne pepper

1 ¹/₃ cups buttermilk (1½ tbsp lemon juice and top off with whole milk)

3 medium eggs, slightly beaten

1 medium onion, diced

2 Chile or jalapeno peppers, finely chopped

1½ cups frozen corn

Cook sausage in cast iron skillet, crumble as it cooks.  Remove sausage; set aside to cool.  Cook onion, peppers and corn in reserved sausage grease until lightly browned (5-7 minutes).  Remove from skillet and cool.

In medium bowl combine flour, cornmeal, sugar, salt, pepper, baking soda, baking powder and cayenne pepper and mix well. 

Combine eggs and buttermilk and pour over dry ingredients.  Stir just to combine and moisten.    Fold in cooled sausage, corn, onions and peppers. 

Grease large skillet and pour ¼ cup portions onto skillet or grill.  Cook cakes until golden brown on edges (2-3 minutes), flip and cook an additional 1-2 minutes.  Serve warm drizzled with honey lemon butter.

Honey Lemon Butter:

½ cup butter

½ cup honey

1½ lemon zest

Melt butter in small pan, whisk in honey and lemon zest; spoon over corncakes.  Store leftovers in fridge and re-heat in microwave.

© Crackerberries 2012

Cherry Tomatoes & Hot Peppers

When in Rome …

Do you have an over abundance of those leftover garden vegetables?  Believe me, as a native Mainer I never thought I’d see the day when I’d be deep-frying cherry tomatoes, but… as they say, in the South, “it ain’t food unless it’s fried”.  These fry up so tasty and who would have thought anything fried could be good for you? 

1-2 dozen cherry tomatoes

1-2 dozen hot peppers (I used jalapeño and Chile peppers)

1 cup self-rising buttermilk corn meal

½ cup all purpose flour

1 egg

1¼ cup beer

1 tsp Creole seasoning

Oil for deep frying

Wash and dry veggies and let stand at room temperature before cooking.

Combine corn meal, flour and Creole seasoning and mix well.  Beat egg slightly and add to beer, pour over corn meal/flour and mix well. 

Dip veggies in batter to coat.  Be sure to cover all of the tomato before dropping into the oil or they will pop.

Cook in batches a few at a time.  Peppers for two minutes or so and one minute for the tomatoes.  Cool at least 10-15 minutes before eating tomatoes because they are very hot.  Serve with your favorite dipping dressings.  Honey mustard and Ranch works really well.

© Crackerberries 2012