Pork Chops with Balsamic Cherry Preserves

I was looking around the kitchen, trying to decide what I wanted to make for dinner tonight, and my eye rested on the pork chops that I had bought ... beautiful, thick-cut pork chops. I had wanted to grill them and then make a sauce to pour on top. Usually I'd make a mustard-blue cheese sauce or another creamy sauce during the winter, but I wasn't really in the mood for that so I went down to the pantry shelf where I keep all my jars of preserves that I make during the summer and fall harvest.

I had made a small batch, about 4 half-pints, of a Balsamic Cherry Preserves (and I had never really known exactly where I would use it) but today I thought ... well, pork and apples go well together, pork and other fruits go well together, why not pork and balsamic cherry preserves? I just heated the canned Balsamic Cherry preserves in a small saucepan on the stovetop until it was heated through. It gets more liquid as it heats, but if you wanted, you could add a splash of white wine to thin it out to a thinner sauce-like consistency.When the pork chops were done, I just poured the sauce over top.

IT WAS DELICIOUS!! Definitely how I will be using the other jars. And I wanted to share the recipe for the Balsamic Cherry Preserves. I made this recipe last summer when our Cherry tree was abundant, we were overflowing with cherries, and I didn't want to use ALL of them to make jam. This sauce is something I would absolutely make again. The mix of dark, sweet cherries and a tart, tangy balsamic vinegar is almost decadent. This is nice as a sauce for Pork or other savoury dishes (Roast Beef comes to mind), but would also be really nice spread on buttered toast (or maybe even over ice cream or yogurt).

Balsamic Cherry Preserves

Ingredients:

8 Cups             Sweet Cherries, stemmed and pitted and quartered/halved

1/4 Cup           Water

1 Cup              Sugar

1/4 Cup           Balsamic Vinegar

2 pinches         Salt

 

Directions:

In a medium nonreactive saucepan, combine the cherries and a splash of water. Bring to a boil, stirring and crushing the cherries with the back of your spoon. This breaks the fruit up and releases juices.

Once boiling, add the sugar, vinegar and salt. Decrease the heat slightly and cook at what I'd consider a medium boil - not going crazy, but more than a simmer. Frequently stir and crush the cherries. Cook for 20 minutes.

Turn off the heat and let your pot sit for five minutes. Skim off any foam, and stir one final time.

Ladle into hot, sterilized jars, leaving 1/4" headspace.

Process in a boiling water bath for 10 minutes, or refrigerate.

Notes:

These preserves are a bit looser than a classic jam. Cherries are low pectin fruits so unless you were to add pectin, it’s a more syrupy kind of final product.

Variations:
Try it with a vanilla bean cooked with the cherries. Also try using a stick of cinnamon or some finely grated orange zest.

Apple Season

Roasted Green Salsa

Well, this is the time of year when tomatoes are coming ripe in bunches, peppers are ripening (especially chili peppers in our Northern climates, they do come late in the year, don't they!), and even onions (the long-day ones) are ready to harvest ... which all adds up to ... well ... SALSA. At least in my house it does!! Salsa is a great way to use up the bounty of all of these vegetables at once, when you are already swamped with produce. Salsa is also a great idea if you get a bunch of tomatoes (too many for fresh eating) but not quite enough for canning (making sauce, or crushed tomatoes or a canned recipe). If you are freezing salsa, you can use whatever number of tomatoes you happen to have on hand, and tweak the recipe to fit. That's freezing, mind you... if you want to can your salsa, you have to stick to the recipe exactly.

I grew my own Cilantro in the herb garden this year just for salsa. I wanted to try several different varieties this year, fresh versus roasted, different colours of tomatoes, a version with paste tomatoes, canned versus frozen, etc.

Today, I picked quite a few green-when-ripe tomatoes, so I decided to make a green salsa ... roasted green salsa for freezing, to be specific. If you use green tomatoes, green peppers, green chili peppers, and green herbs, it becomes an all-green salsa. There isn't enough acid in this recipe to can it safely, so I froze it in small tupperware containers. It doesn't all HAVE to be green, that just seemed like a fun thing to try. You can use any colour tomato/pepper etc of course, if that is what the garden gives you that day. Without further ado:

Roasted Green Salsa

Ingredients:

8                      Heirloom Tomatoes – green when ripe

2                      Green Peppers – Bell Pepper or Cubanelle

1                      Jalapeno Pepper

1                      Poblano Pepper

1 large             Onion

4 cloves           Garlic

½ Cup             Lime Juice

1 tsp                Sugar

1 tbsp              Chives, fresh and chopped

1 tbsp              Cilantro, fresh and chopped (or dried)

1 tbsp              Parsley, fresh and chopped

1 tsp                Oregano

2 tsp                Cumin

2 tsp                Chili Powder

1 tsp                Salt

Makes: about 6 Cups

                                   

Directions:

Cut the Tomatoes in half. Scoop out seeds.

Cut Peppers in half, remove seeds.

Cut Onion into quarters after removing skin.

Remove skin from Garlic cloves.

Roast all vegetables on a roasting pan (with sides) at 375 degrees for about 30 minutes, until onions turn translucent and peppers are beginning to char a little.

Let cool. Peel tomatoes and Peppers if you wish.

(This is more of a texture issue than anything to do with safety, some people dislike the texture of peels even after processing, and some - like me - don't notice and don't mind. Personal preference here).

Add to the food processor. Also add the Sugar, Lime Juice, Salt, Cumin, Chili Powder, Oregano, Cilantro, Parsley and Chives.

Then use a food processor to chop into a fine, smooth consistency.

It will probably still be fairly juicy, especially if you used tomatoes that weren’t paste types.

Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for around 20-30 minutes, until the salsa reached the desired consistency. Keep in mind that after freezing, and thawing for use, it tends to become more watery, so it is nice to have a thicker salsa to begin with.

Remove from heat and let cool.

Fill freezer-safe Tupperware jars with salsa leaving ½” headspace. Make sure the Salsa has completely cooled, to avoid condensation and ice on top of the salsa. Place lids on and freeze.

Alternatively, you could also measure a cup or two into resealable plastic bags, gently press flat, then freeze for easy and swift defrosting whenever a snack attack occurs. Depending on your freezer space, this might be a space-saving option.

Freeze some ice cube trays as well (for use with eggs in the morning, or other small additions to recipes)

Spicy Corn Chowder

I love when corn is in season. The flavour of fresh corn is unbeatable. Here's another recipe for your fresh corn ...

Now, this is not meant to be a soup ... this is a chowder ... and a chowder needs a bit of body to it. The fresh Corn is the star here, so we use cornmeal instead of flour to thicken it, and we simmer the corn cobs in the stock to give it an even richer corn flavour. The peppers give a nice smoky, lingering heat to balance the sweet Corn, but nothing overwhelming. The chorizo is also a nice smoky, meaty addition but you could easily omit it to keep the Chowder vegetarian-friendly.

Ingredients:

1                      Onion, chopped

2 stalks            Celery, chopped

1                      Bell Pepper – green or red, chopped

1                      Chipotle Pepper, chopped (or Chipotles in Adobo) – if you like it spicy, increase.

2                      Potatoes, peeled and chopped

4 cloves           Garlic, diced

4 Ears              Corn Kernels (about 3-4 cups)

1 tbsp              Cornmeal

½ lb                 Chorizo sausage

4 Cups             Vegetable Stock

2 Cups             Water

½ Cup             Lime Juice (or the juice of 1 lime)

½ tsp               Salt

½ tsp               Black Pepper

½ tsp               Chipotle Chili Powder (or Ancho Chili Powder, Smoked Chipotle Powder)

1 tsp                Cumin

1 tsp                Coriander

2 Cups             Milk or Light Cream

2 Cups             Cheddar Cheese, grated

2 tbsp             Cilantro, fresh

Directions:

Husk and clean the corn, chopping the kernels off and reserving the cobs.

Dice the Onion, Celery, Garlic, Pepper, and Potato.

Melt down the butter and sauté the Onion and Celery for 5 minutes.

Then, add the Pepper, Chili Pepper and Potato for 5 minutes more.

Finally, add the Garlic for a minute further.

Sprinkle the corn meal over the sautéed vegetables, toss things around for a moment to coat.

Pour in the Vegetable Stock, Water, and Lime Juice.

Scrape all the brown bits off of the bottom of the pot and add the corn cobs (not the corn kernels), Salt, Pepper, Cumin, and Coriander.

Raise this to an active boil. You want to make sure that the corn cobs are reasonably submerged. If you need to, add a bit more water.

During all of this, in another pot, remove the Chorizo from its casings and brown the meat, breaking it up with a spoon, until totally cooked through. Drain off excess grease and set aside.

Once the corn pot reaches an active boil, add the corn kernels to the pot.

Lower the heat, cover, and simmer for 15 minutes.

After 15 minutes, remove the corn cobs and add the Cilantro.

Use a food processor or immersion blender to puree the Chowder.

Drop the heat to low.

Add the Milk and grated Cheddar Cheese. Stir to combine. Add cooked Chorizo.

Cover the pot and leave it on low heat for 5-10 minutes.

For garnish, I used a spoonful of sour cream and some chopped fresh parsley. Tortilla chips would be nice for a crisp contrast, or a fresh salsa would be a different way to go (diced tomato, pepper, corn kernels).

Serves: 4