Peach and Jalapeno BBQ Sauce - My birthday is coming up, would you make me a pretzel?

Nothing says summer to me like Peaches do.  I'm lucky my friends own a peach orchard, so I can literally eat them till I'm sick.  This year they made it into my favorite Peach Jalapeno BBQ Sauce, jam is already in the pantry and a crazy good pizza recipe was created, that I just may not share.   Fine I'll share if you do me a favor.

My birthday is coming up right around the corner, and I was hoping in lieu of gifts you wouldn't mind making me a pretzel.   Miss Foodiva threatened (okay, maybe asked politely) that we have a pretzel challenge.  She even went as far as to imply that she was going to kick my pretzel cooking ***.  Do you really believe anything I say at this point?

The rules, well there are none.  So if you love me, make me a pretzel and post it on Sunday August 14, 2011.  Send me a link and I will link us all up in another post.  If you love me even more, I'll give you my address and I'll be waiting for the postman to arrive with that bottle of Patron Silver and some gourmet chocolates.  If you need a basic pretzel recipe you can refer to this recipe.  You can fill them or not, use your imagination.

Peach and Jalapeno BBQ Sauce

8 large yellow peaches

2 tbsp. unsalted butter

1/2 cup red onion, chopped finely

1 jalapeno, seeded and chopped finely

3 tbsp. apple cider vinegar

4 tbsp. brown sugar

1/2 cup catsup or tomato puree

1/4 tsp. chipotle powder (or you can sub paprika)

1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper

1/2 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. freshly ground black pepper

To get the skins of the peaches for slicing, you will need to put a pot of water on to boil.  Cut an X in the bottom of each peach and place in the boiling water for a couple of minutes.  Remove from the boiling water and place into a large bowl filled with ice water.  Once cooled, peel and cut the peaches.

In a large skillet melt butter on med-low heat.  Add onions, cook 5 minutes or until softened.  Add jalapeno, cook 2 more minutes.  Add peaches, cook 5 more minutes.  Add vinegar, brown sugar, catsup, paprika or chipotle powder, cayenne, salt and pepper, stir and reduce heat to simmer for 20-25 minutes until nicely thickened.

I run an immersion blender in mine to make it a little smoother.  But it is also good chunky.  This sauce is pretty spicy, so you could only put in 1/2 of the jalapeno if you wanted to tame it a bit.

I used this for the pulled pork I made the other night, I will have that one up really soon.

Enjoy,

Gina

Apricot and Garam Masala Jam

I've been wearing out the tread on my tires running back and forth across town to hit the orchards the last couple of weeks.  The fruit is ripe and ready to be picked on all the trees around here. Not one to let a good thing get away, I've been trying to use as much of it as I can before it's gone.

I was at one of my favorite stands when they told me there would only be another week or so to pick apricots.  After I composed myself from my complete panic, I grabbed 3 more pounds for a quick batch of jam.  I have been experimenting with different flavors and combos this year and one of these experiments apricot with garam masala turned out to be one of my favorites.

I must have a jam making aura about me or something, I was in the checkout line of my local market when the checker said, "You are buying lids, you must be making jam".  He then peppered me with jam making questions.  I gave him a quick run through of how to make jam and thought to myself, maybe others don't know how or maybe they think it's harder than it really is.

Apricot and Garam Masala Jam

3 pounds fresh apricots

1/4 cup lemon juice

2 1/2 cups granulated sugar 

1 tsp. garam masala

2 tablespoons powdered low-sugar pectin

You will need a few other items also.  I used 4 - 8 oz. size jelly jars and 2 - 4 oz. minis, make sure you have lids and bands.  Last year I bought a kit that included this handy basket that you place in the hot water and jar lifting tongs.  I know I whined about having too much cooking equipment in the last post, but I'm sticking by this purchase.

Peel the apricots and cut them into smaller pieces, place them in a large saucepan, add the sugar, lemon juice, and garam masala.  Turn heat on to medium-high and bring to a boil then turn heat down to medium-low, now add the pectin.  You want it bubbling but not a hard boil or your sugar could scorch. Continue to cook for 20-25 minutes until the fruit is broken down and the mixture is really thick. It should slowly drip off your spoon, not run off.

While the jam is cooking fill a large stockpot 3/4 of the way with water and bring the water to a boil.

Once the water is boiling place the clean jars and bands in (but not the lids) for 5-10 minutes. Rinse the lids off with hot water. Remove the jars and bands and set aside to cool a bit.

Skim any foam off the top of the jam that forms.  Once the jam is nice and thickened place it into warm jars leaving 1/4" of space on the top.  Wipe rims of jars and place lids and bands on top of each jar and place in the boiling water for 10 minutes.  If you don't have a handy basket like this, place a metal rack at the bottom of your pot to suspend the jars.

Make sure the jars are covered with boiling water by an inch or so.  If not add some boiling water from a tea kettle.

Remove the jars from the hot water and let sit on the counter, as they cool you will hear the lids go pop, pop, pop; this means they are sealed properly.  If the lids don't pop (or depress) that means the jars aren't sealed, you can try putting them in the hot water for another five minutes.  

The garam masala adds a nice lingering finish to the jam and I used less sugar because my fruit was ripe and had a lot of natural sugar already.

Lisa the Authentic Suburban Gourmet, who loves making jam too has a great recipe here you might want to try.

Lisa wanted to know where to find the green basket.  I bought mine at a local Target, but I did find an online source so you can order one for yourself.  I have the Ball Canning Discovery Kit and the Utensil Set here is the link for you. 

Happy Canning,

Gina