Jalapeño – Yea Yea Pueblo

Life in Fairbanks has sure gotten sweeter since the snow melted away. Almost any day of the week we can head out to a number of local events; the Farmers market, Monday market downtown, Festivals, fun runs — it’s like the entire city of Fairbanks is playing catch-up for the dormant winter where everyone hunkered down indoors. Pedestrians, bicyclists, and tour buses full of foreigners fill the streets, all breathing new life into this sleepy town. It’s nearly impossible to go anywhere without running into the other military families we’ve met while living on post. The festive hustle and bustle of summer in Fairbanks reminds me of life in my old college town.

I had no idea it would be this way. I thought the pace set last winter would continue at its lumbering rate. Turns out I was really wrong about what ‘pace’ was set. It seems as though everyone else was busy during that time, making soap, knitting, and sculpting … at least that’s what I concluded while walking around at the Farmers Market this weekend. I’m feeling the need to play catch-up, too. The insanely long daylight hours motivate me to work long into the night on projects small and large. Canning is one of those back burner projects I’ve been meaning to get back to.

Last summer Isaac and I lived around the corner from a Costco, which sold us big jugs full of sweet and spicy mango habanero sauce. We adorned everything with that delicious treat. It was seasonal item that eventually disappeared from the shelves, then we disappeared from Washington. But that sweet and spicy memory didn’t disappear at all. I wanted to recreate it at home using seasonal ingredients.

With strawberry season in full swing, I thought now was a good time to jump on the canning bandwagon again.

Et voilà, strawberry jalapeño jam! — I just love how these things come together.I’m a little embarrassed to say that we’ve already emptied one of the 10 jars of this sweet and spicy treat that I prepared yesterday. I made homemade ice cream last night, and swirled in this jam before it even had time to properly set. Then today we indulged in the jam slathered on a layer of cream cheese on artisan bread. It was divine.

Strawberry Jalapeño Jam Recipe

We haven’t shared with Margot, since this stuff packs a punch (I’d give it a 7 on a scale of heat from 1-10), then again my heat tolerance has gone down since we went on a short juice fast earlier this year. My Margot isn’t a fan of spicy food, yet.

The fresh jalapeños were strong, even though I almost completely de-seeded them. Between the jalapeños, rogue splashes of boiling water, and multiple loads of dishes, my hands are raw. I recommend wearing food prep gloves for this recipe if you have any, you’ll regret not doing so when you accidentally rub your sleepy eyes with your spicy fingertips like I did.

If you’ve never canned before, don’t be intimidated. It’s much easier than you’d think if you’re using the water bath method (which is only to be used for high acid foods like fruit preserves). The special equipment needed is minimal, too. I have my Ball canning pot, funnel and jelly jars. I do recommend specialty tongs. My normal tongs work okay, but I will be purchasing specialty tongs soon.

Strawberry Jalapeño Jam Recipe For more information on canning, head over to Food in Jars, my favorite blog for canning and preserving foods.

Strawberry Jalapeño Jam

Recipe Type: Canning

Author: Crystle

Prep time: 30 mins

Cook time: 20 mins

Total time: 50 mins

Serves: 10 half pints

This sweet and spicy jam works well on cream cheese and crackers, swirled into yogurt, topped on ice cream and even as the J in classic PB&J sandwich.

Ingredients

4 cups crushed strawberries (use 3 lbs fresh strawberries)
1 1/2 cups fresh minced jalapeño (about 4-5 jalapeños, depending on size)
1/4 cup classic pectin
1/2 cup lemon juice
6 cups sugar

Instructions

Prep strawberries by rinsing and removing green tops, and mince the jalapeños. Add to blender or food processor and blend on crush setting for a minute, or until semi-smooth in consistency.
In large canning pot, sterilize 10 half-pint jelly jars and lids for five minutes in boiling water. Remove from canning pot. Dry lids and rings and be sure to allow excess water to drain out of jars. Set aside on a dish towel (use one that’s okay to get messy). Don’t drain the water, you’ll use this exact set up in a moment.
In large dutch oven, bring strawberries, jalapeños, lemon juice and pectin to a boil. Slowly add in sugar until dissolved. Bring ingredients to a boil, stirring regularly. Check the temperature of the jam mixture using a digital thermometer. When it reads 220F, remove the pot from the heat.
Ladle the hot jam into jars filling to 1/4 inch of the rim. Run flat knife, or thin spatula along interior walls of jar to remove air bubbles. Wipe rims of jars for proper sealing. Tightly place lids on jars (use oven mitts to hold jars, they’ll be hot).
Gently place filled jars into bottom of canning pot giving them 2 inches of space in between and making sure they have at least 1 inch of water covering the lids. Bring water to a boil. Boil for ten minutes. Remove pot from heat, and remove jars from pot.
Allow jars to cool and set on wood or cloth covered surface overnight. Check the lids for proper seal. They should not have any play vertically. Store in cool dark place for up to one year.

Notes

– If you have food prep gloves, I recommend using them for the jalapeño preparation. [br][br]- If you’re worried about a proper set for your jam, use the freezer plate method: place several salad plates in the freezer in advance. When you think your jam is done cooking, spoon out a sample on the frozen plate and allow to cool for a few minutes. Remove dutch oven from heat in the meantime to prevent overcooking. Once cooled, slide your finger through the jam, if it has a skin and parts readily, it’s ready. If it’s still very runny, place dutch oven back on heat and test again a few minutes later when you’re think it may be ready.[br][br]- It’s always a good idea to sterilize a few extra jars in case your yield runs on the large end.[br][br]- Recipe adapted from All Recipes Strawberry Jalapeño Jam

Every Tuesday morning, before the sun rises, fresh eggs, butter and milk are delivered to an insulated box on my front step. I look forward to the arrival of these local farm fresh products and I don’t know what I’ll do without them this fall when we’re up in Alaska, predictably enduring the harshest winter of our lives.

I opened my fridge today, to contemplate dinner plans and I realized I had three dozen eggs from Smith Brothers Farms. Not wanting to wait for an evening frittata, I whipped up a new egg salad recipe.

This recipe is adapted from Pam Anderson’s Cook Without a Book: Meatless Meals. She provides a basic egg salad recipe, and you can plug in anything you like. I chose to make a southwestern style egg salad, mainly to accommodate what I had in my pantry.

It works! Jarred jalapeños, spicy red onion and salsa provide a unique twist on an otherwise ordinary side dish. I ate it for lunch with tortilla chips, but I highly recommend trying it in a whole wheat wrap. That’s what I’ll do next.

This recipe used up almost one carton of eggs, now I just need to make a couple of frittatas to use up the rest.

Jalapeño Egg Salad Recipe:

Ingredients:

6 eggs

1/4 cup light mayo

1/4 cup diced red onion

1/4 cup salsa – hot

1/4 cup diced jalapeños (fresh or jarred)

1 tablespoon fresh cilantro, chopped

Salt & Pepper to taste

Instructions:

Place eggs in one layer in a deep pot and cover with water. Bring to a boil. When water begins to boil, remove pot from heat and let sit for 10 minutes. Drain the hot water, and replace it with cold water and ice. Let cool until the pot has become cool itself.

Dice onions, jalapeños, cilantro and eggs. Combine all ingredients in medium mixing bowl and stir well. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Serve with tortilla chips, or in whole wheat wraps.

Notes:

I took the eggs from the pot and put them in a mixing bowl and ran cold water over them for a few minutes to get the process started. Then I let them soak in ice water. You can do this, or as noted in the instructions using the original pot to cool the eggs. It doesn’t seem to matter much. The point is cooling the eggs as quickly as possible, and keeping the eggs from sticking to the shell. Hint: run cool water over the eggs as you peel the shell, it keeps the shell together and separates the insides and the out rather neatly.