Pickled Onions in Basic Brine

Whoa, I'm waaaay behind on my blog posts now, so I'm going to blast through these next couple recipes in order to tell you all about something really exciting in my little world of canning..

This brine recipe is great for pickling any fruit or vegetable. This time I filled my jars with red and Vidalia onion and fresh sliced garlic, then processed for ten minutes.

Basic Brine:

4 cups water

4 cups apple cider vinegar

1/2 cup canning salt

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/2 piece cinnamon bark

1 Tbsp black peppercorns

1 Tbsp mustard seeds

2 cracked juniper berries

1 clove

1 bay leaf

Bring to a boil, cover and let simmer on low until you are ready to fill your jars.

*Some recipes add allspice, dill or coriander. I've also substituted brown sugar for the granulated when I wanted a more caramel note in the flavor. You can play around with different combinations until you have something that suits your palate. Have fun!

Coriander Onion Marmalade

Thanks to Mother's Kitchen for inspiring this delicious onion marmalade with coriander and Clementine zest. The zest we had left from making My Darling Clementine's Marmalade, but I'm sure any citrus zest would pair well with coriander. We had this on Greek-spiced roast chicken and it was incredible!

Onion Marmalade
3 sterilized 1/2 pint jars, lids and rings
2 Tbsp vegetable oil
4 lbs julienne Vidalia onions
1 lb julienne red onion
1 Tbsp garlic and ginger paste
2 tsp toasted, ground coriander
1 Tbsp dried Clementine zest
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup orange juice
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
1/2 package powdered pectin

Heat oil in a pot and saute onions on low until translucent. Add garlic and ginger paste, coriander, zest, sugar, salt and orange juice. Cook on low for 30 minutes. Stir in vinegar. Add pectin in small increments until it reaches a thick, jam-like consistency. Pack into jars and process 10 minutes.

Greek Spice Rub
2 tsp oregano
2 tsp course salt
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp paprika
1 Tbsp lemon juice
olive oil to taste

Mix spices and lemon juice. Drizzle in enough olive oil to make a paste. Use on chicken, lamb, or pork.

Hot Dog Relish

One can only have so much cucumber salad- so here's a recipe for relish that will last you all through grilling season!

4 sterilized 1/2 pint jars, lids and rings
4 cups small diced cucumber
2 minced garlic cloves
2 cups apple cider vinegar
2 cups water
4 Tbsp sugar
 3 Tbsp canning salt
1 tsp mustard seed
1 tsp peppercorns
1 tsp crushed red pepper
1 bay leaf
1 cm cinnamon stick
1/2 clove

Bring water, sugar and all seasonings to a boil. Cover and let steep for 10 minutes. Stuff jars with diced cucumber and garlic, strain brine and pour into jars. Process 10 minutes.

Cream Cheese Dill Bread

Now that I have a Kitchen Aid, I'm not sure how I ever lived without one! Along with pizza crust and banana bread, Joe used it to grind lamb for a delicious Moussaka. This month Mother's Kitchen challenged us to use dried dill in a recipe, so I whipped together this Cream Cheese Dill Bread. It is easy to make, and comes out looking very impressive. This biscuit-like bread is great to tear into big chunks and sop up soup or plate juices.

2 tsp yeast
5 Tbsp warm water
3 1/2 cups bread flour
1 tsp salt
1 Tbsp dried dill
2/3 cup cream cheese at room temp
2 small diced onions
2 beat eggs
4 Tbsp butter

Sprinkle yeast in water, let it stand 5 minutes. Saute onions in 1 tablespoon butter then cool. In a mixer with a paddle attachment mix flour, salt and dill.  Add cream cheese, onions and remaining butter and mix until it looks like pie dough. Drizzle in eggs and yeast water and mix on low for 5 minutes. Let stand, covered, in a warm place for 1/2 hour. Knead for 1 minute. Form into balls in a greased pan and let it stand again for another 1 1/2 hours. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Bake 45 minutes.

Swedish Cardamom Breakfast Bread

This bread is the Frankenstein's Monster of breads. It's a weird, delicious combination of a raised bread, a cinnamon roll and a croissant with an European filling thrown in for good measure. It contains a full pound of butter, so even if you fudge it a bit, you know it will still be incredible. The directions may seem complicated at first, but if you read through them well, and stay organized, it's actually pretty easy.

2 eggs
1 package dry yeast
3/4 cup water- 115 degrees
4 cups a.p. flour
1 tsp salt
10 crushed cardamom seeds
2 tbsp plus 1 tbsp sugar
1/2 cup plus 1/2 cup plus 1 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup confectioner's sugar
1/2 cup blanched, sliced almonds
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 egg yolk
2 tbsp milk
In one small bowl beat eggs; in another mix yeast and water. Chill yeast in refrigerator 5 minutes then mix with eggs. In a large bowl mix flour, salt, cardamom and 2 tablespoons sugar. Cut in 1/2 cup butter, then mix in yeast and egg mixture. Bring together to form a ball and knead for 2 minutes. Cover with a towel and let rest in the refrigerator for 20 minutes. Roll dough out into a large rectangle. Smear on 1 cup butter.

Fold dough into thirds, flip and roll out to a rectangle. Repeat this 3 more times, ending with a dough folded in thirds. Cover and chill for 2 more hours. Meanwhile, mix on high 1/2 cup butter, confectioner's sugar, almonds, cinnamon and vanilla extract to make filling. Roll dough out to a rectangle and spread filling over center portion of dough.




Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Roll up dough, lay out on a greased pan in a ring.






Beat egg yolk with milk. Use scissors to cut segments, brush with egg and milk mix, sprinkle with sugar and bake 25 minutes.

Lip Smackin' Strawberry Jam

Sometimes you just want an unadulterated classic. Last year I was so excited to be making something new that I got a bit carried away with my flavor combinations. This year I'm concentrating on quality: great flavor, color, and the proper "set". I want a jam that's done the right way, a jam that you would expect to come home from the fair with a blue ribbon. This is that jam.

6 1/2 pint jars, lids and rings
3 pints strawberries
1/2 tsp vanilla
2 Cups sugar
2 packages powdered pectin

Wash jars and store in a 200 degree oven. Hull and quarter strawberries. Cook strawberries on medium heat until they soften and begin to release water. Use a potato masher to mash strawberries in the pot. Add vanilla and sugar and stir until it is completely dissolved. Add pectin 1/2 box at a time until is properly set. Ladle into jars, wipe rims and attach lids and rings. Process 10 minutes.

Marmalade de Pamplemousse Rouge

Well, here we are in marmalade season, again! We're back to work and busy with the little one, but managed to make this at the end of January. Despite there being no canjam this year, I'm making a personal goal of canning one local ingredient and making one specialty bread every month.We kept this one local by using Florida's Ruby Red Grapefruit; I named it so just because I love saying the word "pamplemousse". Honey and a hint of vanilla complement this bitter-sweet jam, and the set came out absolutely perfect! We are very happy with this marmalade and plan on using it on everything sweet to savory.

Marmalade de Pamplemousse Rouge :
6 Florida Ruby Red grapefruit
1/2 cup honey
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
4 cups sugar
1 1/2 boxes fruit pectin

Pour boiling water over grapefruit and scrub with a vegetable brush to remove any remaining wax. Slice fruit in half and juice into bowl. Pour juice through a strainer into a medium cooking pot and press juices from pulp into pot. This should yield roughly six cups of juice. Begin heating juice on medium low. While juice is heating, cut peels in half and remove all traces of membrane with the back of a spoon.  Cut in half lengthwise and again width wise, and julienne finely until you have about two cups.  Add peels to juice and bring to boil on medium high, skimming acidic foam periodically with a ladle.  Cook until peels are translucent and tender, about  30 minutes. Add honey, vanilla and sugar and return to boil. Cook until sugar is fully dissolved.  Add 1 box of pectin slowly while boiling.  Check for set and slowly add additional pectin as needed and until marmalade is set.  Let rest for a few minutes, then ladle into hot jars and process for ten minutes.


 Orange-Almond Bread:
1 Cup sugar
5 Tbsp butter, room temperature
3/4 Cup milk
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
2 Clementines zest + juice
1 Cup a.p. flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 Tbs baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
 1 slivered almonds

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cream together sugar and butter. Stir in milk, egg, vanilla and orange juice and zest. Sift together flour, baking powder, salt and cinnamon. Combine wet and dry ingredients then stir in nuts. Pour into a greased loaf pan and bake 50-60 minutes.