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General Reference/Tutorial

Breakfast/Brunch, General Reference/Tutorial

How to Make Strawberry Jam

Everyone has their own way of doing this, so here is mine.

Step 1:
Find yourself a Pick-Your-Own Strawberry Place. There are a number of them in Eastern Massachusetts, but I happen to like Russell Orchards in Ipswich because it is a nice drive up to Cape Ann. Once there, pick yourself a whole lotta berries… at least 4 quarts. Try not to get eaten alive by mosquitoes or to get a sunburn.

Step 2 and 3
Take the berries home. Wash them and prepare 12 cups worth. Put 6 cups through a food mill to mash them up a bit, and the other six cups, just cut into slices or chunks. Add 6 cups of sugar and bring to a full boil. It should look a little like the molten lava of a science experiment for the 6th grade.

Step 4 and 5
Add 1 and a half packets of Certo Liquid Pectin and bring back to a full boil. Cook for an additional 5 minutes. Turn off the heat and add the juice of one lemon. This keeps the flavor nice and bright.

Step 6 and 7
Fill into your prepared jam jars and let cool completely, open. Drizzle 1/2 teaspoon of vodka into each jar and swirl to cover the surface layer of jam. Seal tightly and make pretty with a bow or jam cover cloth.

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19. June 2011
General Reference/Tutorial, Pasta

How to Make Spätzle

Spätzle are a German soft pasta (also sometimes referred to as dumplings). It literally means “little sparrow” in Swabian German, and are common in Swabia, Bavaria, Switzerland, Austria and Hungary. You often eat them as the pasta with Goulash, Roasts, Rouladen (anything with a gravy) and as Käsespätzle (a type of Mac-and-Cheese). Note that while some people have the magic touch of rapidly scraping the dough/batter off a wooden chopping board into boiling water (my grandparents were masters at this), I use a “Spätzlepresse”, which looks like a complex potato-ricer. Other Spätzle-making-gadgets include pushing the dough/batter through a strainer or using a food mill or coarse grater (“Spätzlehobel”), which typically produce smaller Spätzle often referre as “Knöpfle” (little buttons; more commonly found in Bavaria and Austria). I make Spätzle in large batches and freeze them.

Here are a couple of photos of the hardware you will need: The Spätzlepresse, a large bowl for the dough/batter, a medium bowl for cold water to shock the spatzle, a large pot of water, a spider, a wooden or spoon, a scraper and a sheet pan.

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2. April 2011
General Reference/Tutorial

How to Make Lobster Stock

Lobster Stock is a necessary ingredient in such dishes as Lobster Bisque, Seafood Stew and Lobster Risotto. Because it is often easier to buy the “picked” lobster meat for these dishes, when I do have the opportunity to make the stock, I typically make a batch and freeze it. It freezes well and keeps for 2-3 months.

Step 1:
Cook lobster in large pot of simmering salted water until cooked through, about 10 minutes. I spared you the picture of me dropping the live sea-bugs in the boiling vat of water, but this is him trying to crawl out [grin].

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6. March 2011