Can-Do Attitude: Balsamic Fig Jam

Fig and Balsamic Jam

2 lbs figs (I used dried calamata pack from Costco)

4 cups sugar

1/2 cup lemon juice

1/2 cup very good balsamic vinegar

1/2 cup water

Prepare jars, lids, rings and boiling water bath. 

Place all ingredients in a large pot and bring to a boil. Continue to boil, reducing heat when the jam starts to thicken. Use a potato masher to break down the figs as they cook. 

Stir frequently to prevent scorching. When jam begins to reach a desirablethickness, scoop a little out onto one of the spoons from the freezer and place it back in the freezer to cool to room temp. When the jam mounds nicely and does not run quickly off the spoon, it is ready. 

Remove the jam from the heat and skim off any foam. Ladle into hot prepared jars. Wipe the rims and top with prepared lids and rings. Process in the boiling water bath for 10 minutes. Turn off the boiling water bath and wait 5 minutes to carefully remove the jars to a towel lined tray. Allow to cool, undisturbed, until room temperature. Wipe off any excess water and label.

Makes 12, 4oz jars.

* This is a great, savory jam.  I'd recommend it with a nice crostini and brie.

Mmmm....  Fig jam and brie...

Caprese Salad Skewers

 There's not much to a Caprese salad, but I wasn't in the mood for finding forks.  Luckily, I found this idea at Terri's Table!

All you need is fresh mozzarella, grape (or cherry) tomatoes, and fresh basil leaves for the skewers.

If your basil leaves are large enough, you can skewers them on either side of your tomato and mozzarella cube.  If not, make due the best you can.  If you've grown your own basil, it's easy to pick the right size, but when shopping at the market, you need to just go with the flow.  No biggie.  Make it the best you can.

When you're done, just lightly drizzle the skewers with olive oil and then balsamic vinegar.  Instant hit and easy to eat.

Balsamic Butter Penne with Roasted Asparagus

 This is the week of easy, but amazing, recipes.  I could rant and rave about certain websites, but I know that's getting old.  I just love being inspired!

Today, I kind of think this recipe is akin to mac and cheese.  Not because it is, but because the butter and cheese create that same consistency as when you mix the butter and cheese out of the blue box.

Sorry that there isn't a lot of pictures, but the process goes surprisingly fast (about the time it takes to make the noodles), and I kept forgetting to show my progress!

 The recipe can be found here from Food and Wine.  The only thing that really intimidated me was that I needed to reduce the "1/2 C plus 2 T" down to 3 tablespoons.  It went really quickly, though, mostly because I checked my conversions and I was going from 10T down to 3T, so I was shooting for a reduction of less than a third of the original amount.

Next time, I'll probably use more asparagus, but I'll wait until it's on sale or at our Farmers Market.  I also used a little more than the requested Parmesan cheese, but that can't be surprising to anyone who has read this blog before.