When you have too many cherries you really do find new ways to incorporate them into recipes and this was my favorites to make - the taste, the smell, oh wow! Great for Grilled Chicken and Pork! Can you say "RibFest!" Enjoy! Diane
Atomic Roasted Cherry BBQ Sauce Ingredients 1 pound fresh sweet cherries, pitted and halved (just about 2 1/4 cups halved cherries) 2 tablespoons butter 1 onion, diced 2 cloves garlic, minced 1 8-ounce cans tomato sauce 1 small can rotel tomatoes with green chilies** ½ cup packed light brown sugar ⅓ cup molasses ¼ cup apple cider vinegar ¼ cup apple juice 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce 1 tablespoon prepared mustard 1 teaspoon salt ½ teaspoon black pepper 2 Tbs lemon juice Instructions Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Place the cherries on the prepared baking sheet, cut-side up. Roast for 30 minutes. Remove from oven and set aside. Melt butter in a large, heavy-bottomed pot over medium-high heat. Add the onion and sauté until translucent. Add the garlic and cook for another minute. Add the cherries and remaining ingredients to the pot. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low and simmer for 20-30 minutes, stirring occasionally, until slightly thickened. Remove from heat and blend using an immersion blender until smooth. Check the thickness of your sauce. If you would like it thicker, return to the heat and simmer for another 10-20 minutes until your desired thickness. Allow to cool; pour into jars and store in the refrigerator. Makes 24oz. You can water-bath can 3 (8oz) half pint jars with 1/2 inch headspace for 20 minutes (plus any adjustment for altitude or local canning regs) My altitude required an extra 10 minutes (30 minutes total) NOTE: **Don't want it HOT (atomic) then replace the Rotel with just another can of 8oz tomato sauce Diane Recipe Adapted from: Eat Your Heart Out Photos by: Diane Baker for Canning and Cooking at Home
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There are times that my lasagnas are created by what I have in the house. This one I opted to use spinach and roasted red peppers and turned out perfectly amazing! You can make this with or without adding Italian sausage. I don't mind 'oven ready noodles' when I am in a time crunch but, if you have the time - freshly cooked noodles are thicker and to me, always taste better - Enjoy! Diane
Roasted Red Pepper & Spinach Lasagna with Italian Sausage 1 pound Bulk Italian Sausage, optional 1 Large Vidalia Onion, sliced 2 cloves Garlic, chopped fine 2 Cups Shredded Mozzarella 16 oz Ricotta Cheese 1-2 Cups Parm/Reggiano Cheese, shredded 1 tsp Fresh Basil, chopped fine 1-2 large jars of your favorite Marinara 1 small jar of Roasted Red Peppers 1 package of Chopped Spinach Olive oil, to coat baking pan/s 1 Box of Lasagna Noodles (cook according to pkg) OR 1 Box of Lasagna 'Oven Ready Noodles' Heat oven 375. (Serves 4-6) Makes two 8x8 or one 9x13 Place Italian sausage and onions into skillet and crumble/cook until meat is no longer pink add chopped garlic into pan & stir the last few minutes so garlic does not scorch. Microwave spinach, strain out any liquid and set aside for assembly. You will be making 3 layers.
Let stand 5-10 before cutting into and serving. Recipe & Photos by: Diane Baker for Canning and Cooking at Home Oh! this one may have pushed me over the edge! The flavors are a perfect mix. This larger then life cheesecake packs a lot of flavor without weighing you down. It has a lighter quality to it from the eggs and sour cream mixed into the "batter" Enjoy ~ Diane Homemade Cherry Topped New York Cheesecake 7 graham crackers, finely crushed (about 1 cup) 3 Tbsp. butter, melted 1 cup plus 3 Tbsp. sugar, divided 4 pkg. (8 oz. each) Cream Cheese, softened 1 cup Sour Cream 1 Tbsp. vanilla extract 4 eggs 1 cup cherry preserves *approx 30 cleaned & pitted, whole cherries - I used one quart of my preserved whole cherries Preheat oven to 325ºF. Crush graham crackers into crumbs, add melted butter and 3 Tbsp. sugar; press onto bottom of 9-inch springform pan. Bake 10 min. Meanwhile, beat softened cream cheese and remaining sugar with mixer until well blended. Beat in sour cream and vanilla. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating on low speed after each just until blended. Pour batter over crust. Bake 55 min. to 1 hour or until center is almost set. Run knife around rim of pan to loosen cake; cool before removing rim. Refrigerate cheesecake 4 hours. mix cherry preserves; spread over cheesecake just before serving and top with fresh cherries if preferred (I top mine with approx one quart of my home preserved/canned cherries) Recipe Adapted from: Kraft Photos by: Diane Baker for Canning and Cooking at Home Sweet Cherry Jam 4 cups prepared fruit (buy about 3 lbs. fully ripe sweet cherries) 1/2 cup fresh lemon juice 1 box SURE-JELL Fruit Pectin 5 cups sugar, measured into separate bowl 1/4 tsp. almond extract BRING boiling-water canner, half full with water, to simmer. Wash jars and screw bands in hot soapy water; rinse with warm water. Pour boiling water over flat lids in saucepan off the heat. Let stand in hot water until ready to use. Drain jars well before filling. STEM and pit cherries. Finely chop or grind fruit. Measure exactly 4 cups of the prepared cherries into 6- or 8-qt. saucepot. Stir in lemon juice. STIR pectin and lemon juice into fruit mixture in sauce-pot. Bring mixture to full rolling boil (a boil that doesn't stop bubbling when stirred) on high heat, stirring constantly. Stir in sugar and extract. Return to full rolling boil and boil exactly 1 min., stirring constantly. Remove from heat; skim off any foam with metal spoon. LADLE immediately into prepared jars, filling to within 1/4 inch of tops. Wipe jar rims and threads. Cover with two-piece lids. Screw bands tightly. Place jars on elevated rack in canner. Lower rack into canner. (Water must cover jars by 1 to 2 inches. Add boiling water, if necessary.) Cover; bring water to gentle boil. Process 10 min. Remove jars and place upright on a towel to cool completely. After jars cool, check seals by pressing middles of lids with finger. (If lids spring back, lids are not sealed and refrigeration is necessary.) To reduce foaming, add 1/2 tsp. butter to the sauce pot along with the pectin & lemon juice. ALTITUDE CHART: At altitudes above 1,000 feet, increase processing time as indicated: 1,001 to 3,000 feet-increase processing time by 5 min.; 3,001 to 6,000 feet-increase processing time by 10 min.; 6,001 to 8,000 feet-increase processing time by 15 min.; 8,001 to 10,000 feet-increase processing time by 20 min. Recipe Adapted from: SurJel/Kraft Photos by: Diane Baker for Canning and Cooking at Home My Favorite fruits: Peaches & Cherries! While I am still waiting for peaches to roll in from Colorado's Western Slope - I found wonderful Sweet Cherries at the Farmers Market this week. Problem is (not really a problem) I bought 15 lbs of cherries! I am suddenly becoming the "bubba gump" of cherries - dreaming up new ways to utilize all these! The hardest part - the pitting! I have a nice Cherry pitter from Oxo that has a nifty little splatter guard - I suggest you consider a good pitter if attempting this recipe and another few I will be sharing! I love these done in a simple syrup so that I can lock in the freshness of the cherries but, take time to use in baked goods and salads later on - Enjoy! ~ Diane Sweet Cherries in a Light Syrup *Cherries are an acid food and can be safely water bath canned. *These directions are for sweet cherries from Simply Canning. Prepare light or medium syrup. I prefer light syrup. Simply heat water and sugar in a sauce pan until sugar dissolves: Light – 2 cups sugar to 1-quart water Medium -3 cups sugar to 1-quart water wash and pit cherries. Actually canning cherries with the pits is perfectly acceptable. It just makes them quicker and easier to use if you go ahead and pit them now. If you want to can them with the pits just prick each cherry with a sterilized needle to prevent it from bursting. Place cherries in jar. I have found it works to add 1/2 cup or so of syrup to the jar, then fill half way with cherries. I added a bit of split vanilla bean to each jar *Optional Tap the bottom of the jar on a pot holder laid on the counter to settle contents. Fill the rest of the way tapping to settle without smashing. Cover cherries in jar with syrup leaving 1/2 inch head space. Remove air bubbles and clean rim of jar. Wipe the rims clean, remove any air bubbles and place your lids. Process pints or quarts for 25 minutes* check your local regs for increasing processing time for altitude (I have to add 10 mins due to the altitude in which I live.) *I did take two vanilla beans and split - then let them set in syrup until ready to can...I then took those and cut up and divided between the 5 pints. Adapted from: Simply Canning Photos by Diane Baker for Canning and Cooking at Home |