Bitters: A Few Pictures of a Work in Process

Four bitters in process: Cherry, Angostura, Meyer Lemon and Mixed Citrus. Pictures only this time, recipes to come in a few weeks if they come out okay.

Angostura

Meyer Lemon

Cherry--the 3 jars will eventually be combined and filtered.

Mixed citrus, including lemon, meyer lemon, lemon and orange

Lime, Polenta and Almond Meal Muffins

Baker and taste-tester "They are really good."

Our first stop each week at the Ferry Building farmers market is always Della Fattoria. There K selects her treat of the week, whether it be our favorite mini-rhubarb bundt cake, a butterhorn or rarely a fruit galette. I often opt for a galette myself, especially in the summer, but also am a big fan of their polenta cake. This cake, which is always available in an individual size but sometimes in much larger versions, is nutty and moist and covered with a wonderful crumb topping. I've thought of trying to make a version of it for years. This recipe is not that cake. 
Conveniently, K also feels that a trip to the market is not complete without a sample of toffee from Alfieri Farms. If you've been to the market, you have probably sampled it yourself, though likely not every week. I often buy their roasted pistachios while I wait, but this time opted for a bag of almond meal. With that on-hand, it was time to experiment.

Ingredients

Yes, the limes are more yellow than green. Plus, a closer look at the almond meal.

Google sent me to a recipe from Nigella Lawson for a Lemon Polenta Cake. Using that as our guide, we opted for lime over lemon, as we had some on-hand.  Pre-Christmas I purchased a bag of limes from Mariquita and it has served us well--lime jelly, lime curd and now muffins. We used the lime juice, in addition to the zest Nigella called for. We also opted for muffins rather than a full cake and skipped the suggested glaze. For a fancier, in K's words "tea party" presentation, I might top them with lime curd.

Kitchen scale and karaoke on the i-pad.

Often the messiest step.

Lime, Polenta and Almond Meal Muffins

• 7 oz unsalted butter
• 7 oz caster sugar
• 7 oz Almond Meal
• 4 oz Polenta
• 1.5 teaspoons baking powder (If it matters to you, look for a gluten free brand)
• 3 medium eggs
• 2 medium limes-juice and zest

Preheat the oven to 350.
Place 16 wrappers in your muffin tins.
Beat the butter and sugar until well combined, either by hand or using a freestanding mixer.
Mix together the almond meal, polenta and baking powder.  Add 1/3 of that mixture to the butter and sugar, followed by 1 egg, then alternate dry ingredients and eggs, beating all the while.
Add the lime juice and zest and continue to beat until combined. Spoon the mixture into your prepared muffin tins and bake for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick or knife tester comes out clean. 

Note: Depending upon the baking powder used, these muffins may be gluten free. The baking powder we used is. For more info on baking powder and gluten, see here. 

A January Mariquita Mystery Box

The box is really a bag.

 Another in an occasional look at the contents of a Mariquita Mystery Box, this one from January 17, 2013. As I have said before, I love that this is an opt-in rather than subscription box. If the pick-up location is inconvenient or we are out of town, we just skip a time. The cost is $25.00.

Sunchokes

Apples

Potatoes

Willow, with Oolong in the back, checking everything out.

Couve Tronchuda (aka Portuguese Kale)

Broccoli di Cicco

Macerata Cauliflower, baby white turnips and carrots

Rosemary and a tail

Brussels sprouts and Willow

Leading Between the Vines: A Film by Terry Theise

Not a review, because as the publicist for both this project and Terry's book, Reading Between the Wines, I can claim no objectivity. I will say that my favorite parts of the film are all about family-the relationships between generations, the question of whether or not children follow in the footsteps of their fathers and the challenges they face when they do. 

Instead, I'll tell you what Terry has to say about Leading Between the Vines. 
"We're calling it Leading Between The Vines because we wanted to link it to the book, and because honestly we didn't know what else to call it. Yet it's not the "movie of the book," but rather a means of testifying to the beauty of authentic wines and the cultures that give them to us all. Like the book, it wants to answer the question "Why care deeply about wine?" and in this case it uses the German Riesling culture as its nexus.
We filmed at Strub, Schlossgut Diel, Dönnhoff, Loewen/Schmitt-Wagner, Adam, Selbach-Oster, Willi Schaefer, Merkelbach, Weingart and Leitz. We had things we wanted to show, but the film isn't really an argument, it isn't ideological. It wants to depict, in human terms, what lives are like in a culture that gives us the world's most connected, authentic and complex wines. We asked about terroir, about the benefits of intimacy-of-scale, about what makes a person choose this work, and finally we tried to limn the moment we all experience in our lives, when we hear ourselves ask what did it all mean?
It isn't like any film ever made about wine. It's a love letter to the people and places that have given such meaning and joy to my life.”

It is available now on Amazon. More info can be found at http://www.terrytheisemovie.com/ or send me an email with questions. 

Pickled Cipollini Onions

Onions, to be peeled

Peeled

Canned and sealed

Having made mustard and lime jelly during the past two weeks, it was time for more pickles, as I was running low. In addition to carrots, we decided to pickle cipollini onions again. I have friends who like the onions in cocktails or with a ploughman's lunch, but I seem to use most of mine on burgers. However you choose to use them, they improve greatly after a few weeks of storage time.

Pickled Cipollini Onions
Based on a recipe from the National Center for Home Food Preservation 

We ended up making two batches, some packed in standard wide-mouth pint jars and others layered, as above, in taller, thinner jars.

8 cups peeled cipollini onions (approximately 3 pounds purchased onions)
5½ cups white distilled vinegar
1 cup water
2 teaspoons canning salt
2 cups sugar
4 scant teaspoons mustard seed
2 scant teaspoons celery seed
Thyme (optional)

Yield: 3 pint and one 1/2 pint jars

Peel onions. I find that cipollini onions hold their shape well when peeled (see the photo above.)
Combine the vinegar, water, salt and sugar in a stockpot. Bring to a boil and continue to boil gently for 3 minutes. Add the peeled onions and bring the pot back to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer until the onions are half-cooked (about 5 minutes).  
Meanwhile, place 1 scant teaspoon mustard seed and 1/2 scant teaspoon celery seed in the bottom of each clean, hot pint jar. I always add an optional thyme sprig, both because it looks nice and because I like the taste. If you are not a thyme fan you can omit it and/or experiment with a different flavor.
Ladle the hot onions into your jars, leaving 1-inch head space. Cover the onions with the hot pickling liquid, (a funnel helps with this) leaving ½-inch head space. Finger seal your jars and process in a boiling water canner for 10 minutes. 

If you have any brine leftover, as we did, I recommend using it for other pickles. We used our leftover brine for pickled carrots. For our usual pickled carrot recipe, see here. You could also use it for a refrigerator pickle of your choice, keeping in mind that the brine will have an onion flavor.

Carrots were part two of our project.

Albino Redwoods: A Few Pictures from a Guided Walk in Muir Woods

Our ranger guide, Tim.

You won't see the albino trees up above

But you should still look up.

And up!

Can you spot one?

Here maybe?

Closer and clearer.

They even feel different than the green.

It really does look painted.

Barely visible: a spawning salmon

Rye & Brown Sugar Mustard

An easy to make mustard, perfect for holiday gifts. It is fairly strongly flavored, but I am imagining it as the perfect addition to a ham sandwich. We started with a recipe posted on the always wonderful Food in Jars, which turned out be a guest post from Kaela Porter of Local Kitchen.The recipe there, for Bourbon Brown Sugar Mustard, was adapted from Oktoberfest Beer Mustard in The Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving. As I have said before, if you don't have the Ball Book, buy it.

Rye & Brown Sugar Mustard

• 2 cups rye
• 1 cup water
• 2 cups brown mustard seeds
• 1 cup cider vinegar
• 12 tbsp dry mustard powder
 • 1 1/2 cups lightly packed brown sugar
• 2 tsp salt

Combine rye, water and mustard seed in a bowl. Mix well and steep until nearly all of the liquid is absorbed, about 4 hours, or overnight.
Using an immersion blender, blend to desired consistency.  Add vinegar, mustard powder, sugar, and salt and continue to blend well until combined. Transfer to a saucepan and bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring constantly. Continue to boil mustard until it reduces to your desired thickness, remembering that it will thicken further upon cooling.
Fill jars leaving a generous1/4-inch headspace. Pass the handle of a wooden spoon along the edges and middle of the jar to eliminate bubbles. Wipe rims, finger tighten your lids and process in a boiling water bath for 10 minutes.
Yields about 6 cups.