Using Up Last Year's Strawberry Jam

Before I delve into different ways to preserve berries (such as freezing, jams, drying, etc) I think its important to mention ways I am using what I put up year in order to make room for this season's stores. One of the easiest (and possibly most delicious) ways to preserve berries is by making jam.  Last year I experimented with jam recipes using a local variety of berries that are so sweet I wanted to come up with a 'formula' that used less sugar but still jelled properly (because pectin requires a certain amount of sugar to perform its jelling duties effectively).  This season I am going to look into low sugar pectin, but that is for another post and another time.  Because I was testing out different ratios I ended up with a ton of strawberry jam (close to 18 jars for a family of 2).  Basically, there is a lot of jam in the cupboard still!  Luckily jam is a wonderful thing.  Its great on toast of course, but also biscuits, crackers, pancakes, waffles, crepes, rolls (pretty much anything that counts as a carbohydrate).  Jam can also be quickly added to yogurt for flavoring or made into a syrup for ice cream.  One of my favorite ways to use up jam, especially if I have a have full pint jar that is only half used up but has been sitting int he fridge for a while, is to make peanut butter and jelly cookies.

This isn't your childhood PB&J in a plastic baggie.  Same great flavor with a grown up touch.

Peanut Butter and Jelly Cookies
Makes 30 cookies using a small cookie scoop.
Oven temperature: 350 degrees

Seasonal Summary
Jam!- once preserved its in season all year long.

Ingredients
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
3/4 cup smooth peanut butter 
   (freshly ground is best because it contains nothing but roasted peanuts!)
1/2 cup softened butter- 1 stick
1/3 cup packed light brown sugar
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
more granulated sugar for rolling
1/2 cup jam use any flavor you have on hand)

Adding the sugar to creamed peanut butter and softened butter.

Directions 

1. After preheating the oven, combine the dry ingredients in bowl and whisk two or three times to combine.  
2. Beat peanut butter and softened butter with a mixer on medium speed until smooth.  Add sugar and continue beating until smooth.  Continue beating until the egg and vanilla are fully incorporated.
3. With the mixer on low, add the dry ingredients.
4. Using a small cookie scoop, scoop out dough and roll into balls.  Roll each ball in sugar and place on a cookie sheet covered with parchment paper of a baking mat.
5. Bake for 10 minutes (cookies with be puffy) then remove from oven and use the end of a wooden spoon or other utensil to make an indentation in the center (I use a tool that makes about a 1" indentation so that I have more room to put jam!).
6. Return to over and bake for 6-7 more minutes.
7. Remove baking sheet from oven and lace on a wire rack to cool.
8. Spoon 1/2 tsp. to 1 tsp. of jam into the indentation of cooled cookies.  The bigger the indentation the more jam!
9. Store cookies in a single layer.

These cookies get gobbled up quick! They are also great at potlucks due to the large batch.

Individual Flash Freezing Technique for Preserving Berries

Berries are quite delicate and don't keep for very long in the fridge. After just a few days they start to get soft and darken and if they are not stored in a single layer (ie you leave them in the berry basket they come in) they can even begin to mildew in that short amount of time. Luckily berries preserve quite well when frozen using a technique called Individual Flash Freezing. Once frozen berries are great in pies, cobblers, cakes and other desserts. They also work well in smoothies and other frozen drinks.  Berries can be thawed and turned into sauces, chutneys and spreads. They are great thrown into oatmeal just before its done cooking or in pancakes and waffles where they add a touch of sweet and juicy flavor to an otherwise boring and routine breakfast. They do not work well thawed and eaten as if fresh.  Keep in mind that once frozen, thawed berries are very mushy. What is preserved however is the incredible color and sweet flavor.

Raspberries are frozen unwashed in a single layer.

Begin by washing* and placing berries that have been patted dry in a single layer on a cookie sheet covered with parchment or freezer paper. If you are freezing strawberries, slice off the green top also. Freezer paper is sometimes available in grocery or big box stores only on a seasonal basis, but it is a lot cheaper than parchment so I recommend picking it up if its available near you. *Note: I actually don't wash the berries I buy because I know the farmer I get them from and know that they use growing methods I approve of and that they wash them before taking them to market. So for me its a time saver- one less step!  I do wash berries I pick at u-pick farms.

Tops are cut off strawberries and then placed on a baking sheet to be individually frozen.

Place the sheet in a freezer for at least 2-3 hours.  Thicker berries (like strawberries) take longer to freeze. Once frozen, place berries in a freezer baggie or other freezer container. Be sure to label and date the container.  Most preservation guides will tell you berries keep for 1 year. Its true that in a year you will be able to replenish your stock, but I can say that they are just as good when kept longer. One year we significantly over picked blueberries at a u-pick farm (just like grocery shopping can be dangerous when you are hungry, so can picking berries when you ran out of last year's stores early and haven't had any for months!) and it took two years to use up the stock.  The quality of the berries did not diminish in the second year in my opinion. I date the container for another reason. To me this serves as an important reminder of when I need to pick or purchase the following year in order to replenish my supply. Although seasonality fluctuates each year, I've found that the date on the container gives me a good idea plus or minus two weeks of when I should keep my eye out at the market or start checking with u-pick locations. Its a good idea to keep a preservation log just for this purpose. Two or three years into this seasonal style of eating you will be able to tell how early or late the season is based on precedent with the very first crop. In my region, I use asparagus to judge this! Even though there are earlier home crops, asparagus is the first reliable market crop. It can't be forced earlier in a green house, hot house or cold frame so I consider it an to be honest vegetable.

Its crucial to label and date anything you preserve.  Keep a preservation log or write directly on the container.

The great thing about this technique is that once the berries are frozen individually, they stay separated even when thrown into a container together.  That way you can remove and use only what you need without having to thaw out your entire stock. Get ready to enjoy berry smoothies and cobblers all year long!

A Very Berry Smoothie

Berry season is in full swing where I am located (as I thoroughly mentioned in my last post) and for the moment I just can't gobble them up quick enough!  That's what happens when you adopt a seasonal style of eating.  After eight months without fresh berries, they seem like heaven when they arrive.  Since I'm on that note though, I have to mention one thing.  I've tried thus far not to post too much on why I think seasonal eating is the way to go, but I must sit on a soapbox for a moment. When you eat strawberries year round from the grocery store you lose appreciation for them.  I have nothing against big supermarket store bought strawberries (well actually I do because they just don't taste as good, but another point still).  I once lived in a small coastal agricultural community in southern California where the city moto was "California's Strawberry Coastline."  That place was a revolving door as far as strawberry season is concerned.  If I remember correctly they get three plantings in one year. When you have plump red strawberries at your disposal all year long there is no waiting, no anticipation and thus no appreciation.

Mmmm, refreshing and sweet.

One way to show my appreciation for fresh strawberries is to pop berry after berry in my mouth, which makes my taste buds go crazy by the way. I love making fresh berry smoothies.  I make berry smoothies year round (using fruit I freeze when its in season) but its important to enjoy them when the fruit is fresh because let's face it, berries don't stay fresh for long.  So when you get down to the bottom of the berry basket and there are a handful of fruits that are starting to get mushy I throw them into the blender and whip up a smoothie.  Sometimes I throw in vanilla yogurt, spinach or flax seed.  When I'm feeling really decadent or making a smoothie to fulfill a dessert craving I'll top it off with whipped creme like the one above.

The Beginning of Berries

I've bought strawberries the last couple of weeks at the farmers' market (and even some raspberries).  These are the first of many yummy berries coming our way! Berries are great.  They can be eaten now or later.  They are oh so delicious when freshly picked or purchased.  However, they can also be eaten in winter because berries preserve remarkably well when frozen.  Now don't get me wrong, a frozen strawberry in November is not the same as a fresh strawberry in June.  While it is still the same fruit and tastes pretty much the same, the properties are different, one is juicy and tender, the other is mushy!  The point is, you use a fresh strawberry different than a frozen one.  For instance, in the summer I enjoy strawberries (and any berry for that matter) with vanilla yogurt and granola for a quick on the go breakfast.  In the winter, I mix the berries with warm oatmeal topped with a pat of butter and a sprinkle of brown sugar. Of the course of the next few weeks I look forward to sharing ways to use berries now and discussing how to preserve them for later. For now, enjoy a bit of summer in a bowl for breakfast.

To me this is a sign of summer!