A little bit of Persia in an Italian restaurant......

One of the best parts of starting a small Jam Biz is the amazing support from my friends. One of which has so generously opened her restaurant kitchen to me and my crazy vision of simple seasonal and local fare ......Kitchen space can be one of the biggest expenses for a young small food product company and this gift of kitchen time paid in jars of jam,my fresh chevre and lots of hugs is a gift I'm not sure I could fully repay....
Well in this kitchen I have the foods of the world at my finger tips. A Turkish Bar tender(Zafir) who gave me the recipe for Turkish meat balls and yogurt. Or the adorable server Flower from Egypt but grew up in Brazil who makes the meanest Hummus around. The Italian bus boy who eats but is useless otherwise. Jalisco, Micheuacan, Sonora, Mexico City is all represented in the kitchen and staff lunch represents from Caldos to blk Chili Pollo stew. ohhh and Ruchi  the book keeper from India with all her colorful vegetarian recipes from her Mothers book of kitchen tricks....Sigh I'm in heaven.
Ohh back to why I'm writing this diddy. The owners are an amazing Mediterranean mix of Italian and Iranian. Hmmmm love it. I posted this picture of my baby grape cluster up here on the Ghetto Vineyard and Carolyn let me know there is a phenomenal Persian Stew that uses un ripened grapes. REALLY.......off I went to pour over the web, books and picked the Persians brain and after a few trials n errors here is a classic KORESHT-E BADENJAN egg plant stew with un ripe grapes. I tweaked the various recipes and came up with this gem...hope you enjoy.
KHORESHT-E BADENJAN
Egg Plant Stew
5T cold press Kalamata olive oil
3lbs any egg plant ,I'm digging the Asian white little bombs. Slice in strips and salt both sides to leach
1 large yellow onion diced not too small you want the texture.
12 oz of loin, leg or Butt(shoulder) of Lamb. Cube.
1t. Ground turmeric, fenegreek,mustard seed and fresh coriander

2T tomato paste
2 ripe in season tomatoes seeded and diced
3 C of veggie stock(of course home made)
1/2 C un ripe grapes( no one will say if a particular varietal is in order say Shiraz?origin would be correct)
Zest and juice of one lemon.
Sea salt n white pepper to taste
Ok let's go...
Sweat the onions with half the olive oil and herbs . Put aside.
Brown the lamb.
Pat the salted egg plant to remove the excess moisture and brown in the pan the onions were sweated to pick up the rich pan flavours left behind from the onion spice blend.
Now pull out your big soup pot reserved for this very chore and toss everyone in the pool. Remove the baby grapes from the stems and no need to worry about pips the young grape should not have the pip at this stage.
Simmer till all the flavours have meshed and the lamb is cooked through.
Savory, sour and filling. A dollop of cultured cream(sour cream,creme fraiche , yogurt etc...) A zest of lemon, Batsmati rice with a pinch of Saffron and a pile of warm Naan bread. Voila a little Persia in the heart of the Santa Cruz Mountain wine region.

Thank you Carolyn and Jalil for having faith and love for me and my little Jam co.  I couldn't do this with out your support and kitchen time.

Thank you Beto, Ricky,Jose, Manny, Isreal, and the rest of you boys in the kitchen who have made me feel like family and sharing your recipes, stories and camaraderie. I so love my Tuesdays with all of you.
Big respect for my kitchen family you work so hard for beauty with so little recognition.

Next time you have a rocking meal out ....try to give a tip to the kitchen . It will mean the world to them that you realize the hard thankless work happening behind the scenes.

party on......




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Mother Nature trained in La Honda with a belly full of LSD

Two jars of my Lavender Plum jelly(recipe to come) so amazing to stand back and look into Mother Natures eyes. Just like children, every plum brings something a little different to the outdoor table. Two different trees same yard same varietal. Two vastly different colours. I get dark in the summer my sister is fair. Same parents different circumstances. Same but different. Shit I love this......Summer is here......
Now off to the Bacon Takedown at the Thirsty Bear in SF. Gotta get my judge tounge some rest......why yes a Bourbon will do the job...ADIEU
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Sweet alliums come to mama

After a long weekend feeding the souls of the adventurous ones out in the Santa Cruz Mountain AVA

Jams,preserves ,jellies n such have brought out a bevvy of enthusiasts with love in their heart and not much skill to back the want for a lovely product. (calm down I'm not talking about you it is just a generalization to make my point)Hence the world of sweet vs savory and the balance that has been forgotten.

  I have nibbled my share of "onion jams" from SKILLET Truck (or Airstream) to Bbq joints all over and I have been let down ,even dissapointed a bit. Overly sweet forced jams with hunks of onion either cooked to death or not near  it's destiny: origin unknown with too much brown sugar no spice and sitting on the fence of blechhhh.

  Time and a little care can create a celebration of the mighty allium. As complex as a wild ramp or as simple as a globe red oinion. So today I'm going to let you in on my secret, my recipe that keeps a roof over my head selling my wares to the fine folks of the Bay....Join me on a bit of a journey and isnt anything worth its value a journey?

 

SPRING ONION JAM

This sweet, sour, savory nuggets of lumpy  love could be thought of as a Marmalade but the jam like consistancy is more my liking in terms of definition.

4 lb Pipin or Granny Smith Apples

1lb of red globe onions. gather all the papery peels and do not toss this is an important ingredient when making you stock .the color with bring a vibrancy and a color that will zingggggg

2 oranges zested and halved

2 cinnamon sticks

1T madras curry

pinch of sea salt

3C. white wine vinegar 5%

3C Turbinado sugar

OK time to get the stock pot out. halve the apples toss in the pot , cut the tops and bums from the onions and peel the papers and toss in pot. ohhhh just add everything except the sugar and skinned red onions.

Add a cup of water to the slurry and place over med high heat til all the apples are almost completly broken down. The house is going to smell exotically intoxicating with the curry ,cinnamon mingling with the apples cirtus and skins.

Strain the stock and soak in the amazing color and smells that will rise form the slop. A Chiniose works best and another pot to catch this elixir. After draining (put a weight on the slurry to get every bit of liquid and flavour this mess has to offer)

Put aside.

Break out your Mandoline and set the blade ot 1/8inch and slice all the remaining onions.

Add to stock and refridge over night, this flavour bomb needs some alone time to get to know each other and macerate the onions. DO NOT CHEAT you miss this step its all going to be in vain when your jam sucks. Sooo it's day two.

Pull out your stock pot with the happy pool of crimson onion goodness. Add your sugar and whip out the candy thermometer we are going to 220 and it's gonna take a bit so pour a bourbon and pull up a stool you are gonna be at the stove for a spell. Begin on high and let the onions start to soften in the pool of spice and onion essence. As soon as it begins to hard boil and rise lower the temp to be able to handle the lot. The added cooking time tenderizes the onions in a way only time can achieve. The photo below is the onions beginging to become translucent and you are only a third of the way done. the changes you see will clearly signify the stages of this process in the long wait to get to 220 (jelly set temp) It seems from 218-220 is a long ten minutes again do not walk away you will be let down.

After about fifteen minutes the onions take on the deep jewl tones of the stock and your house is purfumed for the rest of the day. You know you are getting closer and the liquid takes on a thicker slower bubbling roll almost like they turned to Bubble Machine soap. The slow gurgling and verge of the oinions breaking down is the sign you are almost there. 218 hovers on the thermometer for what seems a decade and then the mercury jumps to attention and pops right on the 220 mark .Count to twenty and pull the pot. Sweet JEEZUS something very special just entered your life.

Let this pup cool for about three to five minutes while you dig up your stick mixer with I hope a metal not plastic blade.(will melt trust me)Whizzz your jam just to break up the long strings of jammed onion for easier consumption. a long string of onion jam slapped on your chin after a big bite of that Buffalo buger can be a bit nasty. I like my food in my mouth not on or around it.

There you have it a complex enticing jam that is worth its time and a little effort. A jar of this in your hand when going to a weekend cook out you are sure to be the hero. This picture is of my Charcuterie and Spanish cheese plate that I served last Friday for my wine club at a local restaurant with a bright Albarino, onion jam, spicy dry Chorizo, Caper berries, Picholine olives, almonds, La Serna(washed rind triangle in the back) , Beuna Alba (cheese slivers in front)and San Simon(the batons under the chorizo). The grilled onions were a great exercize in different onion application and last a bit of my forbidden fruit marmalade. (we  covered that already) 

Agian if you don't wanna just call me I've got ya covered.

BEUNO APPITTO

Even if its out of season there still is a reason to pull out the jam pot.

My beyond nice neighbour came over yesterday with a big bag of vine tomatoes. She was gifted these babies and now I am the proud parent of re gifted out of season food. What's a girl to do? Well waste not no matter the season. Sooo. I whip out the smoke box and got the jam pot warmed up.
Soaking some apple wood in apple juice while the oven heats up. Halved the tomatoes, quartered a shallot,cut up an apple, splash o Balsamic a plop of brown sugar sea salt pepper and a rangy handful of creeping thyme from the garden. All in a pyrex.
Drain the apple juice soaked chips and got my lil smokie on the bottom of oven with pyrex on lowest rack. And...the oven door shuts. 25 min. Til its all brown bubbly hot mess.
ok here we are at hot bubbly mess in the pyrex. The house is filled with apple wood smoke. cough cough choke ...blechhhhh ahhhhh I love it. The dog smells like a camp fire so as you see in my insane close up of molten hot tomatoes n apples, the caramelization on the edges and broken down nature of it all is telling you its gonna be a good night in Jam town.

 She surrendered to fifteen minutes in the pan with some apple cider vinegar, some more sugar and dose of sea salt. 220 takes forever to get to but oh so needed to get that perfect jam consistency.
Patience Grasshopper it will pay off in grand ways. so I only yielded one vintage pint canning jar plus enough to bribe Boy Racer to wrangle the chickens tonight.
I need to tweek this recipe for certain so I'm not telling you yet all the details. Its a tad lack luster in the smoke department. I need to let it play Fire House a bit longer. I think more shallot would be nice balance and get the sugars right. Now don't get me wrong it rocks and I'm gonna be macking on Chevre dipped in this elixir of Love Apple goodness for awhile. It just can be better and this was a very cool Canary in the coal mine experiment.
So awesome that a gift from a neighbor(thank you DJ xoxo)has gotten me on a Dexters Lab afternoon on this much too temperate Sunday in May up here on the Ghetto Vineyard.