So far . . . another atmospheric river moved through the Pacific Northwest. Any snow we got last week is now mostly gone.
We had a surprise visitor this week.
Frequently we see deer, birds, chipmunks and cats moving through our outdoor spaces. To our amazement we saw a fox scoping things out, then scampering away. So cool.
With inclement weather the majority of our time this week was spent on kitchen projects.
Fire roasted pizza is the best.Juicing fruit
We’ve been perfecting our pizza dough and sauce and we’re finally getting around to processing all those pounds of fruit and berries we froze last summer.
We usually put off canning during the heat of summer and schedule most projects during the colder months.
This has become a standard winter activity, especially when the weather isn’t conducive to excursions.
Lemon syrup
Apple juice
Added to this year’s preserving, we are trying small batches of fruit juice and syrups. These are delicious poured over a scoop of yogurt or ice cream. They are also great for refreshing spritzer drinks and used to sweeten sauces.
Ft Rock … an amazing geological structure
We did manage an afternoon jaunt to Fort Rock , , , mostly just to get out of the house. We had a great walk and managed to view some soaring hawks. It was so quiet and we had the road to ourselves. Heaven!
Spent a couple of days trying to recover drone footage that mysteriously disappeared from the camera card.
Gave up . . . so you get JQ’s fun stroll footage. The cloud cover offered excellent backgrounds.
In all it was a great day jammed into the middle of a good week.
So, now we have to wait and see what the weather brings next week. At this point it seems the outlook could be anything.
It has been a very un-winter like winter and the blame is on an oceanic weather pattern. This “Southern Oscillation” (ENSO) or El Niño/La Niña isn’t a recent phenomenon.
In the sixties an environmental scientist, Jacob Bjerkness, linked known changes in ocean temperatures with shifts in atmospheric condidtions.
Hoarfrost on barbed wire
So as the trade winds off the coast of South America shift, the Pacific Northwest’s winter is affected.
As with most weather events, the measures are in less than accurate terms. Less snow? Less than what? . . . warmer, wetter winter . . . perhaps?
The lack of snow on roads just presents more opportunities for adventure. So, bring on your oscillation.
Quail feathers caught on a wayward breeze
Tip’s favorite spot
“Sculp Snack” streamer
Despite the weather, we managed a trip to the Crooked . . . meeting our minimum once a week fishing trip quota.
The remainder of the time was spent in the kitchen, getting caught up on canning projects and starting the holiday baking (see recipes below).
Just in time for the holidays, Loganberry Icebox Cookies
Portions of last season’s berries have been waiting in the freezer for cooler temps and preserving. We discovered a new fave . . . berry goo.
Raspberry Syrup
Well, technically it’s syrup.
This Raspberry Syrup is only pourable when heated, so we/ve taken to spooning it out of the jar over warm waffles on Sunday mornings. The flavor is intense.
Cowboy Candy
We also put up some Cowboy Candy. Pickled chillies. It’s a super simple pickle.
We use a variety of sweet and hot peppers, including banana and jalapeños, adjusting the heat to our tastes.
With a nod to German traditions, JQ made Christ Brot (Sweet Christmas Bread). It features rum soaked citrus and almonds in a sweet bread dough covered in a sugar glaze.
Sweet Christmas Bread (Christ Brot)
Creating the sugar crust
Features rum soaked citrus
The loaves, warm out of the oven are drenched in melted butter, covered top to bottom with vanilla bean sugar, then dressed in sifted confectioners sugar. Yeah, num . . . so much better than Stollen.
Six shopping days to Christmas and then it’s the new year.
Wow, this one went by in a rush. Looking like the week ahead is rainy, so we’re planning more baking and reading, with the mandatory fishing trip thrown in there somewhere.
12Tbspunsalted buttercut in to pieces and softened
1largeegg yolk
2tspvanilla extract
1 1/2cups flour
2/3cup dried fruit (match complementary dried fruit with jam, i.e. cherry jam with dried cherries)Dried fruit helps thicken jam mixture.
6Tbspjam or preserves
Instructions
Process sugar, brown sugar, and salt in food processor until no lumps of sugar remain, about 30 seconds.
Add butter, egg yolk, vanilla, and process until smooth and creamy, about 20 seconds, scraping down bowl as needed.
Add flour and pulse until cohesive dough forms, about 20 pulses.
Transfer dough to counter and pat into 5 inch square. wrap square tightly with plastic wrap and chill until firm, about 1 hour.
Heat dried fruit and jam in small saucepan over medium heat until just bubbling, Let cool completely about 30 minutes. Process fruit mixture in clean, dry food processor until smooth, about 15 seconds.
Roll dough between 2 pieces of parchment paper into 10 inch square, about 1/4 inch thick. Freeze dough until firm, about 15 minutes. Cut chilled dough into four 2 1/2 inch wide strips.
Spread jam mixture evenly over 3 strips and stack, fruit mixture side up. Place plain strip on top. Wrap stack in plastic and freeze until firm, about 15 minutes.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line baking sheet with parchment paper. Slice chilled dough into 1/4 inch thick rectangles and place, one inch apart on baking sheet.
Bake until edges are just golden, 13 to 15 minutes, rotate sheet half way through baking. Immediately and carefully transfer cookies to wire rack and let cool completely before serving.Optional: Dust lightly with confectioners sugar.
In large bowl.combine rasberries, lemon juice, sugar and water. Let sit at room temperature for at least 2 hours.
Scrape berry mixture into stockpot and heat. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly, hold at a boil for 6 mintues.
Have a mesh sieve placed over a second sauce pan and run hot syrup through the sieve. use a wooden spoon to 'mush' all but the seeds through the sieve.
Ladle strained liquid into hot canning jars, clean rims with vinegar, add lids and hand tighten rings.
Process in hot water bath (an inch or two of water covering jars) for 15 minutes.
3 lbspeppers (jalapeno, banana and a variety of small sweet peppers)
2cupscider vinegar
6cups sugar
1/2tspturmeric
1/2tspcelery seed
1Tbspgranulated garlic
1tspcayenne pepperadjust to personal taste (we omit altogether)
Instructions
Wearing gloves and a mask, remove stems, seeds and membrane of peppers. Slice into 1/4 inch strips. In the case of jalapeños, you can include seeds and membrane, which will increase the heat.
Bring vinegar, sugar, and spices to a boil (use a pan large enough to hold the sliced peppers) reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes. Add in the peppers and return to a boil for 4 minutes.
With a slotted spoon, transfer the peppers into warm, clean jars to within 1/4 inch of rim.
Bring syrup back to a boil and hold for 6 minutes. Ladle syrup over the peppers, adjust for about an inch of head space and release trapped air. Wipe rims, add lids and hand tighten rings.
Process in hot water bath (and inch or two of water over the top of jar) for 10 minutes.
8 1/2Tbspunsalted European style buttermelted and cooled slightly
2eggs
1/3cupsugar
1/4tspsalt
1grated peel of a lemon
3/4cupblanched almondschopped
TOPPING
1/2vanilla bean
1/2cup sugar
9Tbspunsalted butter
1 1/4cupconfectioners sugar
Instructions
Two days before baking, place the raisins and citrus peel in a bowl and add the rum. Cover and set aside, stirring occasionally.
The day you plan to bake, stir flour, yeast, sugar and grated lemon peel together in a large bowl.
In a separate bowl, whisk together the milk, melted butter, and eggs. Make a well in the flour and pour the milk mixture into the well, stirring as you go. Knead briefly until dough is shaggy.
Dump the dough out on a lightly floured work surface and knead by hand until smooth, 5 to 7 minutes. Add flour only if absolutely necessary, form the dough into a ball and place back in the large bowl. Cover with a clean dishcloth and set aside in a warm, draft free spot for 30 minutes.
Gently pull the dough onto your work surface and pat out until about 1 inch thick. Distribute the chopped almonds and rum soaked fruit (include any rum remaining in the bowl) over the dough, and then gather the sides up around the fruit and almonds. Kneed together until the fruit and nuts are well distributed throughout the dough. Form the dough into a ball, place back in the bowl and cover with cloth. Allow to proof for another 30 minutes.
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Divide the dough in half and form each into a round loaf. Place the loaves on the prepared baking sheet, cover and set aside for 30 minutes.
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place the baking sheet in preheated oven and bake for 40 minutes or until loaves are golden brown.
While loaves are baking, make the topping. Place the vanilla bean in small food processor or blender with 2 Tbsp of sugar and pulverize until the sugar turns nearly to a powder. Combine with remaining sugar and set aside. Melt the butter.
Remove the baked loaves from the oven and let cool on rack for 5 minutes. Brush melted butter over loaves evenly. Do several coats until you have used up all the melted butter.
Sprinkle vanilla sugar evenly over the buttered loaves, lifting up the loaves to coat all sides evenly.
Finally, sift the confectioners sugar evenly over all the loaves, making sure to coat all sides. Let loaves cool completely.
When loaves are completely cool, wrap in foil. Loaves can be frozen for up to a month. Serve in slices.
It may not sound like a great combo, but TRUST US, this is delicious!
This year we smoked a turkey breast (in the Webber grill) for our holiday feast. The addition of this chutney really added some pop to the meal and spiced up sandwiches for days after. We came across this recipe at Savory Spice and it has now been added to our permanent recipe file. A printable version of this recipe is available at the end of this post.
This is the season when you can find fresh NW cranberries, often on sale, so we took advantage, bought a couple of bags and preserved a quadruple batch. We used the Ball Canning guide for cranberry relish and put up half pint jars. The original recipe called for twice the amount of chilies, so if you like it hot you can increase those portions to suit your taste. It did mellow out after a couple of days sitting in the fridge, but the recipe here is how we like it. We’ll let you know if the same thing happens to the canned chutney.
It’s not very likely you’ll find crushed Urfa chilies, or even whole ones for that matter at your regular grocer. Did a bit of digging and seems that Urfa or Urfa Biber is a pepper grown in Turkey, has a moderate heat level and after harvest is sun dried and then the whole pepper is crushed or ground. It is used for it’s smoky flavor and you can can substitute Aleppo peppers (dried and crushed) or smoked paprika.
The trick to this recipe is patience. The recipe says 15 to 20 minutes to reduce the sauce, but JQ went about twice that on a single batch and we did nearly 50 minutes on today’s large batch for canning. As for ‘coat the back of a spoon’ – that’s a simple test. Dip a spoon into the sauce, hold it on edge over the pan. A finger run through the sauce should leave a clean line. We did the coating test, but think honey as a consistency example when chutney is running off the spoon.
