The Radical Radish

We’re one week away from the frost date, and a few weeks after the start of Spring.  Which means that its still cold, but at least the sun is shining.  It feels like the perfect weekend to start a garden (my plan for tomorrow), take a long walk outdoors, and enjoy a glass of rosé.  I picked up this bottle at Cline Cellars in Sonoma and damn is it good.  It’s made with Mourvèdre grapes which are rare in California, but more widely used in French Rhone blends.  Cline’s rosé perfectly rides the line between sweet and dry and reminds me of the bright red cherries you see on vintage 50s fabric and putting on pink shimery lip gloss as a child dressed in my mother’s silk slips and designer heels.  So sorry that I’m not sure what is on the pallet and what is on the finish or if there are any lingering tobacco or chocolate notes.  That is not how I experience or describe wine.

Oooo, I’ll have to buy a cherry studded retro bathing suit from Esther Williams, get alittle Bonne Bell lip gloss for good time sake, sit on a beach recliner, and drink a glass once the air temperature matches the sun’s glare.  But for today, the chill in the air makes me crave some polenta and kale from the garden while the hint of spring draws me to include bright yellow kale flowers.  And as a nod to my people and our traditions, some eggs as a reminder that it is Pesach.

Enemy is a strong word, but it makes for a good title.  Broccoli isn’t my enemy, it’s just not really my friend.  But here in Mexico the vegetable selection is, well, not really much of a selection.  So I’m glad this often overlooked and underappreciated brassica is here to help me meet my cravings for something green and crunchy.

And for a new twist on an old not-so-favorite, I sauteed up some broccoli with olive oil, tomatoes, and oregano.  I added it to my sweetie’s sincronisada, a quesadilla with ham, onion, sour cream, avcado, lettuce, and tomatillo salsa.  Damn, fusion can be delicio(u)s(o).

This spoiled Northern CA cook has moved to Mexico for two months, making even the simplest of things a whole lot more complicated.  Every day is an adventure and every attempt to make eggnog is, well, nearly impossible.

Not to imply that I don’t love Mexican food.  I do, especially the home-cooked kind.  But sometimes my taste-buds and my stomach want something more familiar.  Which means I need more than just a few pesos in my pocket; more than the spanish phrases in my memory bank.  I need luck and a whole lot of perseverance.

This mornings adventure was making one of my staple meals.  Brown rice with butter and salt topped with sauteed veggies and a poached egg.  The liquidy egg yolk makes a thick sauce that coats the whole dish.  And rice with butter and salt is way better than sliced bread.

The veggies I already had in my fridge.  Eggs, I learned after many a smirking salesperson, are bought by the kilo.  Two ingredients mastered!  Butter I can only find in the pharmacy of all places.  So I picked up a stick along with some soap and some toilet paper, and carried on with my mission.  The brown rice.  I was taken to a store last week that is filled with wonderful things like pumpkin seeds and garbanzo beans and, low and behold, brown rice.  Brown rice in Spanish is arroz integral not arroz el color de cafe it turns out.

My meal turned out sort-a kind-a like the real thing.  Arroz integral includes unhusked rice grains which, I’m guessing, should be sorted before cooking unless a crunchy teeth poking texture is desired.  And my eggs didn’t poach as usual.  Maybe this has to do with my living 6, 729 feet above sea level instead of my California 20.

But still, I know how to buy juevos.  I know where to buy mantequilla.  And I can buy all the strangely unsorted arroz integral my heart could desire.  It’s a start, right?

Tomato jam?  Really?

I’m probably not the only who has reacted to the thought of tomato jam with hesitation.

Well, tomatoes are fruits, right?  You can find them spiked with sweet spices such as cinnamon in Moroccan and Greek dishes, right?  They combine well with peanut butter and white bread….right?

Okay, so maybe tomato jam isn’t a direct replacement for other well-known standards.  It’s an old-timey product, found most often at country fairs and Great Aunts’ country cupboards.  It’s less often found in between the Skippy and Fluff on a suburban kitchen shelf like the ones I prepared snacks from as a child. All of which adds to its intrigue.

I am always up for an experiment, especially when it comes to using produce in creative ways.  So this year I plunged in with organic heirloom tomatoes from the garden, organic cane sugar, organic lemon juice from the orchard, organic cinnamon, organic nutmeg, and sea salt.  This jam’s combination of sweet and savory elements is a great way to extend the tomato harvest into the holidays. It adds a pop of color and festive spice to holiday cheese plates and a playful twist to grilled cheese sandwiches.  You can also serve it alongside roast chicken and pasta salad or use it as an alternative to ketchup on lamb sliders.  It is essentially a sweet and savory “secret ingredient.”

Despite my initial misgivings, it turns out that I like tomato jam and maybe you do too.

As you know, I’m not one for suggesting specific recipes, but here are my tips:

-  Use paste tomatoes.  I didn’t.  And while it meant I got to look at all sorts of lovely tomatoes, it also meant a lot of time draining away liquid before being able to really make the tomatoes into jam.

-  Unfortunately, it seems that the ratio here is 1:1 in final tomato weight and sugar.  By final weight I mean the weight of the pasty juice after blanching, peeling and then straining the tomatoes.

-  Remember to add fresh lemon juice or another acid.  While we think of tomatoes as acidic, they are actually less acidic, and therefore more dangerous to can, then most fruits.

-  Play around with your spice additions.  I used cinnamon and nutmeg because I thought it would be fun to treat the tomato as a fruit and, therefore, added things I would use with pears, apples, peaches, etc.  Rosemary is also great with tomatoes.  Along with Mediterranean spices and, of course, basil.

-  Before making jam, make sure to read about safety precautions to take when canning.  Jam is a relatively safe preserving process because of the high acid and sugar content involved, but the last thing any of us want is to make people sick from our creations.  Check out the USDA Complete Guide to Home Canning.