Kitchen Jam

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From the exhibitors page of the 2009 NJ State Fair, here are the official results for the canning and jamming competitions at this year’s fair — and a shout-out to all of the entrants and prize winners in every category! Keep preserving the seasons in jars, so that you’re ready for next year’s fair — August 6-15, 2010 at the Sussex County Fairgrounds, Augusta NJ.

Section I – Canning

Class 1) Canned fruits
First: Jim & Sue Armstrong, Stanhope
Claire Demetroules, North Arlington

Class 2) Canned vegetables
First: Jim & Sue Armstrong, Stanhope
No Second
Third: Jim & Sue Armstrong, Stanhope

Class 3) Canned tomatoes –
(a) Whole tomatoes- no entries
(b) Tomato-based sauce
First: Jim & Sue Armstrong, Stanhope
Jim & Sue Armstrong, Stanhope
No Second
Third: Dawn Dembrowski, Newton
PROFESSIONAL
First & Second: Neil Nederfield, Lafayette
(c) Tomato Juice- no entries
(d) Tomato-based BBQ sauce
First: Nancy Doyle, Secaucus
Second: Jim & Sue Armstrong, Stanhope
No third
PROFESSIONAL
First: Neil Nederfield, Lafayette

Class 4) Canned pickles
(a) Cucumbers
First: Shawna Bengevenni, Wantage
No second or third
(b) Other vegetables
First: Bill Forgerson, Wantage
Second: Shawna Bengevenni, Wantage
Third: Jerri Powers, Newton
(c) Dill
First: Jerri Powers, Newton
No second, third
(d) Bread and Butter Pickles
First: Carol Oesen, Wantage
Second: Nancy Doyle, Secaucus
Third: Shawna Bengivenni, Wantage
(e) Watermelon Rind
First: Shawna Bengivenni, Wantage
No second or third

Class 5) Relishes -
(a) Salsa
First: Nancy Doyle, Secaucus
Second: Robin Hanak, Sussex
No third
PROFESSIONAL
First & Second: Neil Nederfield, Lafayette
(b) Pickle Relish
First: Shawna Bengevenni, Wantage
No Second or Third
PROFESSIONAL
Second: Neil Nederfield, Lafayette
(c) Other
First: Jerri Powers, Newton
Second: Kelli Puryear, East Orange
No third
PROFESSIONAL
First & Second: Neil Nederfield, Lafayette

Class 6) Jellies -
(a) Grape
First: Nancy Doyle, Secaucus
No second/third
Honorable Mention: Claire Demetronleo, North Arlington
(b) Other
No first or third
Second: Judy Nylen, Branchville
Nancy Doyle, Secaucus
PROFESSIONAL
Honorable mention: Raj Sinha, Sandyston

Class 7) Jams -
(a) Low or Sugar-free
First: Judy Nylen, Branchville
Second: Judy Nylen, Branchville
No third
(b) Strawberry
First: Carolyn Kent, Newton
Linda Pierson, Lake Hopatcong
No second/third
(c) Other
First: Sharon Spangenberg, Layton
Shawna Bengevenni, Wantage
Second: Linda Pierson, Lake Hopatcong
Third: Claire Demetroules, North Arlington
Judy Nylen, Branchville
Honorable Mention: Dotty Valkema, Sussex
PROFESSIONAL
First: Neil Nederfield, Lafayette

Class 8 ) Preserves –
(a) Low or Sugar-free- no entries
(b) Other(Special Award)
First: Claire Demetroules, North Arlington
Second: Shawna Bengevenni, Wantage
Third: Judy Nylen, Branchville

Class 9) Conserve
First: Judy Nylen, Branchville
Second: Judy Nylen, Branchville
Third: Judy Nylen, Branchville

Class 10) Fruit Butters
First: Kelli Puryear, East Orange
Second: Dotty Valkema, Sussex
No third

Class 11) Marmalade(Special Award)
First: Claire Demetroules, North Arlington
Second: Judy Nylen, Branchville
Third: Judy Nylen, Branchville
Honorable Mention: Judy Nylen, Branchville

Class 12) Chutney
First: Nancy Doyle, Secaucus
No second or third

Class 13) Mustards – no entries

Class 14) Vinegar-
(a) Fruit
First: Patricia Vasto, Parsippany
Second: Nancy Doyle, Secaucus
No third
(b) Herb- no entries
(c) Other- no entries

Some state fairs are much larger than others — and California’s state fair is a big one (the website url is even named www.bigfun.com.) It’s so big that I’m afraid it would take several blog posts to recognize by name all of the competitors and winners from the 2009 California State Fair’s competitions in Canning, Jams & Jellies, Fruits and Soft Spreads. So for this very big state fair, here are the links to the official competition results.

Big shout-outs to all of you home jammers and canners in California; now it’s time to get ready for your 2010 state fair.

California State Fair Jam & Jelly show results (19 page .pdf)
Pickle-Relish-Sauce-Salsa show results (8 page .pdf)
and Fruit & Soft Spreads results (5 page .pdf)
2009 Fair Dates: August 21 – September 7
official website

I make jams, pickles and salsas all year ’round, but I admit that when the first berries come to the farmer’s market in early June until the autumn’s killing frost is my pantry-making busy season. My fresh herbs are protected, so I’ll save drying them for last. It’s almost time to cut the herbs to dry, but before that will be pears, plums and apples to can, more zucchine to pickle, peppers to roast and can.

Unfortunately, high harvest is also my last chance to get in some camping weekends. When I can’t be in the kitchen playing with my own recipes, I’m sifting through everyone else’s summer of putting food by, marking which recipes I want to try.

My first posts on this blog were about the cookbooks on my canning bookshelf and my favorite online preserving resources. Some of my other favorite preserving and jamming resources are in the sidebar — linked in my blogroll.

Canning Across America: Canvolution (CAA) describes itself as “an ad-hoc collective of cooks, gardeners and food lovers committed to the revival of the lost art of “putting by” food.” I first discovered the Canvolution on Twitter, where several food bloggers including @SeattleTallPopp were talking about a Can-a-Rama. Before I knew it I was sharing recipes, and planning my own personal can-a-rama on the weekend of August 28 (in between making state fair entries!) The CAA site has recipes contributed by participating chefs and food lovers, an extensive list of sources and how-to’s on its resources page,  and keeps a calendar of upcoming events focused on canning, jamming and preserving.

A Crafty Lass, written by Erin McCleary, isn’t all about jam — but her Minnesota State Fair blue-ribbon jam recipes are all on my must-try list (especially one of her most recent: Peach Ginger Conserve.) Erin’s beautiful photos draw me into each recipe.

Charmian Christie writes Christie’s Corner, another blog that cooks more than jam and preserves. However, those recipes come with a sense of humor that always makes me smile (Real food. Real life. It ain’t always pretty. — what a tagline!) I found her first when her recipe for Butterscotch Peach Jam was suggested in my reader, and I was hooked. Christie is about to move her blog to WordPress (Oct. 1) and when that happens, I’ll be updating my blogroll link.

Cake and Commerce author Linsey includes many preserving recipes, including Spicy Roasted Red Pepper Jam (I’ll be trying that one as soon as I’m back from my fall camping trips!) You’ll also find recipes at C&C for pickles and fermented foods, and other whole and organic, locally-produced food ideas.

These are just a selection of the food writers, resources and recipes which keep me intrigued and inspired. I hope you’ll check them out while I’m busy checking out some nature in my outdoor kitchen!

What is the most inspired canning or preserving recipe you’ve stumbled upon in the past few months? Please share!

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To enter the cooking competitions at the NY State Fair, contestants need to pick categories in early July, a good seven weeks before the fair judging at the end of August. Sometimes, I see a category and know right away what I’ll make. This year I knew as soon as I saw Vegan Dessert that my mom’s Chocolate Wacky Cake would be perfect for that category.

Freezer Jam was more difficult; I made five test batches and recipes before I decided to enter Apricot Chipotle (freezer) Jam. My experiments were the perfect opportunity to try out several new pectins Ball(R). I really liked the results and ease of use in Ball’s new low-sugar, practically-no-effort ‘Simple Creations’ no-cook granulated pectin for freezer jam.

‘Simple Creations’ (SC) is a dextrose-pectin combination which adds about 0.5g carbohydrate to recipes. The relatively small amount of destrose in the pectin mixture means that even the no-cook recipes using SC require far less sugar to fruit — only 1 1/2 cups sugar to each 4 cups of crushed fruit and juice. SC works with most types of fruit, although Ball(R) provides a special recipe for peaches.

This summer, in addition to the Apricot Chiptole Jam I made for the fair, I also used SC pectin to made Strawberry Balsamic Jam, Lime-Vanilla Jam and Peach Balsamic Jam.

I used the peach jam variation on the package as a guide for my Apricot Chipotle and Peach Balsamic jam improvs. For both, I did take the package’s suggestion that boiling the fruit for one minute would produce thicker jam. I boiled the chopped fruits for about 1 minute prior to mixing in the sugar, acids and pectin. That extra effort produced jam with wonderful consistency and didn’t steal too much of the fresh-fruit flavor. Use a big saucepot, and it will still be a quick, one-pot jam recipe.

For Peach Balsamic jam, I replaced the lemon juice called for on the SC package recipe with lime juice and white balsamic vinegar and added lime zest. The batch filled 5 Ball(R) one-cup plastic freezer jars. Hope you enjoy my riff on Ball’s Simple Creations Peach Freezer Jam recipe!

Peach Balsamic Jam

4 cups crushed ripe peaches and their juice

1 1/2 cups sugar*

1/4 cup white balsamic vinegar*

2 tablespoons fresh lime juice

1/2 teaspoon lime zest, finely grated

1 pkg. Ball Simple Creations no-cook freezer jam fruit pectin.

5 one-cup freezer containers

• Peel, stone and chop the peaches.
• If the peaches are under-ripe, or ripening before you can jam them, you can ‘hold’ the fruit by macerating the chopped fruit in 1 tablespoon sugar and 2 tablespoons white balsamic vinegar the day before. Reduce the amount of sugar and vinegar used in the recipe by the amounts used to macerate the fruit.
• When you have time to jam, measure the macerated peaches and juice into a saucepan and bring to a boil; boil for one minute. Remove from heat.
• Stir into the hot peaches the lime juice and zest, the rest of the balsamic vinegar, and the sugar. Stir until dissolved, and let stand for 10 minutes..
• Stir into the fruit mixture the package of Simple Creations powdered pectin.
• Let stand 30 minutes to confirm set. Refrigerate and use within three weeks, or freeze the containers.

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My herbs are in full thunder, and this weekend, it was time to start the mass-cutting and enter the putting-by phase.

First in: Basil. Basil leaves don’t freeze well, and I’ve never had much success drying the herb. But give me basil, pine nuts and good extra virgin olive oil and basil transforms into pesto, an earthy sauce I use all year long. My freezer just isn’t complete if it doesn’t hold a couple containers of frozen pesto waiting to perk up my winter! I love pesto so much that in years when my garden basil under-performs, I buy basil to make pesto. Even at the cost of fresh basil bunches, the resulting pesto is worth it!

I first improvised this Citrus Pesto recipe several years ago when my basil crop did so well that I was able to give jars of pesto to friends. I published it on the low carb Protein Power support forums (yep, that’s me — Gaelen!) because pesto is one of those condiments which is safely on plan and gives a protein boost to vegetable dishes. This recipe includes complete nutritional information obtained from Mastercook(R) recipe analysis software. If you’d like to see more of my low-carb recipes, visit the Protein Power website, and check out the Let’s Cook area of the discussion forums. Forum members can search on my username (Gaelen) and my recipes will come up.

Since Pesto is traditionally topped with and contains extra virgin olive oil, it’s safest to preserve it by freezing the containers. Once thawed, keep refrigerated and keep the pesto sauce covered with extra virgin olive oil. Use within three weeks. I’ve also frozen my pesto sauce, without the olive oil coating, in ice cube trays. Each ice cube of pesto equals about 1 tablespoon; freeze the pesto in an ice cube tray, and you can pull it from the freezer one piece of summer at a time.

Citrus Pesto

4g protein, 2g ECC per 1/4 cup serving
Serving Size : 1/4 cup, serves 6

Preparation Time : 20 min.
Categories : sauce, vegetarian

3 cups fresh basil leaves — packed, no stems
1/3 cup pine nuts (pignolia) — toasted
1/3 cup grated parmesan cheese
3 cloves garlic
1/4 cup lime juice — (or lemon, or orange)
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

• Toast the pine nuts in a hot dry pan. When they are golden brown and aromatic, remove from heat and set aside to cool.
• Wash the basil leaves and spin or pat dry. Use the freshest possible leaves, and no stems.
• Put the garlic, pine nuts, half the cheese, half the basil, the salt and the lime juice in a food processor and pulse briefly until the volume of the basil is reduced by about half. Add the rest of the basil and half of the olive oil. Put the food processor on continuous grind, and drizzle the balance of the olive oil into the mixture. Continue to process the mixture until it’s a fine paste.
• Divide the pesto into 4-oz. narrow-mouth canning jars or plastic freezer-safe food storage containers (fills about three, with head space.) Cover the pesto in each container with a thin layer of extra virgin olive oil (just to cover all the pesto in the container.) Seal tightly and freeze the pesto for up to six months, or keep refrigerated and use within three weeks.
• Magic Bullet directions: layer in the tall cup in this order–basil leaves, pine nuts, lime juice, olive oil, cheese, garlic cloves. Pulse until creamy and all chopped up (you will need to shake and tap to get all the basil down into the mix and chopped up.

Recipe makes about 1 1/4 cups
Per Serving : 150 Calories; 14g Fat (82.1% calories from fat); 4g Protein; 3g Carbohydrate; 1g Dietary Fiber; 3mg Cholesterol; 84mg Sodium.