Roasted Red Pepper Spicy Jelly - Rrrrrrr Rrrrrr

There is so much to love about this Roasted Red Pepper Jelly. It's just so versatile. It's sweet, like you'd expect from a jelly, but it also has a kick of spice, a tweak of tang and the earthiness of roasted bell peppers. And, just look at that color. Those sexy red velvet belles, comfortable and proud in every size and shape, come with their very own flirty curl top. They have a very seductive nature, which fits in well with the theme for today's Lets Lunch bunch (my online virtual lunch buddies.)This month's theme is Seduction and it just happens to fall on the date of 11/11/11. How powerful, passionate and perfect is that?

Blue Cheese Meat Balls
kissed with warm
Roasted Red Pepper Spicy Jelly

Today's theme was chosen as a celebration of a new book written by one of our Lets Lunch buddies, Mina Kahn. Check out her steamy romance novel - The Djinn's Dilemma. Then, have fun with all the links below (and also on twitter with #LetsLunch) to see all the great recipes with Seduction as the theme.

I roasted these fresh peppers in the oven on a sheet pan at 400F for about 20 minutes. I covered them in plastic wrap, individually, for about 10 minutes. After that, I opened them up, seeded, chopped and pureed them in a blender.Sometimes these multi-lobed beauties are under-rated considering they contains tons of vitamin C, antioxidants and fiber. The red bell pepper does not contain the same ingredients as hot peppers, in fact it's usually a bit sweet and crunchy and blends well with many other vegetables, or just with a simple garnish.A luscious spoonful of Roasted Red Pepper Jelly (which is spiced up a bit with red pepper flakes) gives a nice little kick to a toasted goat cheese covered crostini, garnished with black sesame seeds. It makes a nice ruby accompaniment to chicken and can give a regular hamburger a reputation among your friends. Served with eggs, the whole plate looks like a party.Don't forget to check out these Lets Lunch Bunch Seduction themes:

Mina Kahn - Smokin' Seafood Soup (and a new book!)
Joe Yonan - Sword Fish Stew for Seduction
His With Hers - Seduce me Apple Cider Donuts
Hapa Mama - Spaghetti for Adults Only
Monday Morning Cooking Club - Seduction Food - Pavlova
Spicebox Travels - Way To A Man's Heart Stew

RECIPE: Roasted Red Pepper Jelly

1 1/2 cups (about 3-4 ) Roasted Peppers Puree
1 cup White Vinegar
1/2 cup Rice Wine Vinegar
1 1/2 tsp. Red Pepper Flakes
2 cups Sugar
1 Pkt. liquid fruit pectin (3 oz.)

1) In a large deep pot: Heat Roasted Pepper Puree, vinegars, red pepper flakes and sugar over medium heat, stirring to dissolve sugar.

2) Increase heat and bring to a boil for about 10 minutes.

3) Add pectin, bring to a boil, stirring for only 1 minute and remove from heat.

4) Pour into sterilized jars 1/4 inch from the top, and seal. Boil in hot water bath for 10 minutes, remove and let cool for 24 hours. You may also pour into sterilized jars, seal, allow to cool and keep in refrigerator for several weeks, or freezer for several months.

Here's to the magic of 11.11.11 until the next 100 years~

Moroccan Pickled Carrots - Oh snap!

Pickles aren't something I think of often. Yet, when good ones are served with a meal, or just put out on a plate on the table, I'm the first one to munch them down to their tiny little pickled stems. Pickles are the accent, that perfect piece of jewelry that brings the rest of the whole look together. February's ingredient for TigressCanJam is carrots, chosen by Doris and Jilly. Since I make jams a lot, I thought I'd spice it up a bit and can some pickles. Spice is a good word to use for these tongue trippers.

MOROCCAN PICKLED CARROTS

I was inspired by one of my favorite books: Jam It, Pickle It, Cure It by Karen Solomon. The colors in her photos and the simplicity of her recipes give you the confidence to use them, yet leave room for experimentation. Besides the spices (seen below), I also added Cumin and a pinch of tumeric.

I had a blast picking out multi-colored Heritage Carrots and Oranges at the Hermosa Beach Farmer's market.

After sterilizing the jars, I packed the peeled, and sliced carrots into the jars, added my spices and filled them with a concoction of acid and citrus.


This was a fun can/pickle session and I'm thinking of giving these as gifts to my friends who just aren't the sugar/jam/jelly types. These have crunch with a collection of sweet citrus, lively dill and mustard, and earthy cumin. I think I just made myself want to go pull another carrot out of the pickle jar.

You Say Tomato, I Say Tomato Jam

This post is about my first virtual lunch with virtual friends whose names start with @, and although I don't know them-know them...I know them. I joined in on the wonderful idea to "create a BLT with your own spin on it, photograph it, and blog about it". Mine is a BLTea ~I'm kinda new to the social media scene, twitter schmitter, life in 140 characters or less, but I'm hooked! I'm trying hard to catch up with some of the big guns in the foodie/chef/cooking online world. I have to say, most of the time I've found them to be amazingly intelligent, creative, passionate, and generous with info and time. I'm having a blast and so thrilled to be playing. This #BLTlunch idea was one of those twitters that I read between @cowgirlchef and @cheryltan88 and @pinchmysalt. They explained briefly (because that's all you can do on twitter) about doing something that sounded like a virtual picnic, a Friday web-lunch, a Recipe Roundup where BLT sandwiches were the star of the moment. I loved the idea and also knew that it would get me off my canister with the blogging thing.

I cook - every day. I think about food - every moment. I take "sorta" good photos - every meal. My family is already so used to eating food that has to be warmed up after it has starred in its own 15 minutes of fame. I wrote to each one of those well established and extremely talented bloggers and said, "count me in". They responded as if we had been friends forever, excited that I was aboard and anxious to see what BLTea was about.

Well, my BLTea is about making a Bacon, Lettuce, Tomato sandwich that would be good in all seasons - made with seasonal and farmer's market heritage tomatoes. To do that, I turned the tomatoes into a savory, just a bit spicy, jam infused with smokey tea.For about a year now, I've been developing recipes for the very highly respected ALGABAR, a Home and Tea Salon in Los Angeles. I'm Executive Chef for their catering division, Fete Du The, and I've grown to appreciate the healthy, spiritual, sensual qualities of truly great tea-- like the ones they have in the shop on La Brea in Los Angeles. Gail and Robb are more than retailers, they are passionate artists and connoisseurs of taste and style. It's rare to be able to say such great things about people that you work with, and I think of them as friends. But before I throw-up the sandwich I just ate (and loved) with all this mushy talk - let me finish with the bullet points of my BLTea sandwich and I hope you will try making the jam. There is such a self-loving feeling that happens when you spread your own, home-made jam on a piece of bread. You feel - no matter what else - I can survive. I can make jam! Jam on.

SMOKEY TEA TOMATO JAM for a BLTea-

300 grams (about 8) Farmer's Market Heritage Tomatoes (red, zebra, yellow, etc. peeled, cored, seeded, chopped)
200 grams (about 3) Apples (peeled, cored, sliced)
300 grams (about 1 1/4 cups) sugar
1 tsp. minced serrano chili pepper
1 lemon (zest and juice)
2 Tbls. Smokey Tea

In a deep sauce pan combine the tomatoes, apples, sugar, minced serrano, lemon zest and juice. Heat just to boiling then remove the pan and let cool.
Meanwhile, wrap 2 Tbls. of smokey tea leaves in a cheesecloth and tie tightly with kitchen string. Place the wrapped tea into the pan with tomatoes and push into the liquid. Cover the pan and place in refrigerator over night to infuse.The next day, heat the pan of tomatoes and tea to just before boiling. Remove the wrapped tea and continue boiling the tomato mixture til it reaches 224F. and is concentrated. This should take about 20 minutes. Check the set and carefully pour into prepared jars immediately and seal properly. If not preserving, this can be sealed and kept in refrigerator for 1 week.

My BLTea is prepared by spreading the Smokey Tea Jam on one side of dark, multi-grain Russian Rye bread. Add crisp Bacon on top, then wild Rocket Arugula and the second slice of bread. This is a great sandwich for traveling.

Let me hear about your jamming, too. Enjoy!