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that also grow here at the house this year i found myself with a bumper crop of berries and picked then diligently each day or two until the crop ran out to my surprise i ended up with about a gallon bag of berries i decided to use this years crop to make blackberry jelly nothing could be more simple to make than fruit syrup jam and jelly are equally achievable some of the important points i can bring to light are to make sure everything is sterile this just means boiling your jars utensils etc another is to strain through cheesecloth the solids and seeds that are especially prevalent in wild berries strain twice if you need to i m including a basic recipe here but with just the basic ingredients berries sugar water a little lemon juice and pectin i was able to make 7 1 2 pint jars of jelly blackberry jelly ingredients 10 cups fresh blackberries 1 1 3 4 ounce package dry pectin 5 cups granulated sugar water to cover 1 4 cup fresh lemon juice preparation wash berries and put in a non reactive pan stainless steel no aluminum add sugar and enough water to cover stirring constantly bring to a rolling boil and boil 1 minute a rolling boil can not be stirred down remove from heat strain though cheese cloth and a fine sieve wisk in pectin and lemon juice skim off bubbles ladle jelly into hot sterilized containers one at a time fill to within 1 8 inch of top wipe rim of jar or glass with a clean damp cloth refrigerate until ready to use jelly should keep for a couple of months there are a number of circumstances that affect whether or how well your jelly sets never ever double a jelly or jam recipe for some reason this effects the setting if your jam does not set chances are it contains too little pectin an imbalance between the pectin and the acid in your jelly adding a little lemon juice helps the pectin and also helps create an environment hostile to bacteria high humidity in the kitchen can cause problems with jam and jelly finally you can defeat the whole purpose of adding pectin if you boil the mixture too long overcooking causes the pectin to break down and lose its thickening capacity this is a refrigerate jelly and not a preserve it needs to be refrigerated i am not using canning techniques in this recipe written by ed schenk august 9 2013 at 10 17 am posted in blogging food recipe tagged with blackberry detroit eats food blogs jam jelly preserves tostada de ceviche on cinco de mayo with 6 comments for many years i have had a love affair with eating raw or preserved cured fish the first experience i remember had to have been smoked salmon i was introduced to it as a topping for my bagel of course cream cheese and red onion were the accompaniment as my interest in food and cooking grew first into a passion later into a career i took every opportunity to acquaint myself with the various forms that raw fish took oysters and clams on the half shell were always a treat when i discovered sushi a love affair i maintain to this day no type of fish was off limits sea urchin octopus tuna yellowtail were all favorites of mine back in the early 1980 s thanks to a free flight from an air freight company i found myself in los angeles california with a week to kill being young and foolish i decided that i would continue my west coast adventure by making my way down into mexico i really had no idea what i would do when i got there but it seemed like a good idea at the time i began by taking a bus down to san diego followed by a trolley ride to the border of mexico and finally another bus ride on to ensenada mexico getting off the bus i began to wander around i couldn t help notice all food vendors around town i also learned two important facts the first was that my high school spanish lessons didn t prepare me for communicating with the folks in mexico and the second was that the mexican food i had eaten growing up in new jersey was different than what was being sold on the streets of ensenada it was here that i had my first taste of ceviche the fish was very fresh due to the fact that ensenada was a fishing port mixed to order with lime juice onion cucumber chile pepper tomato and cilantro it was presented in little paper cups with a slice of avocado on top the results were outstanding between the ceviche and the fresh lobster that seemed to be everywhere i ate very well that week after returning to the u s i didn t have ceviche again for many years when i moved to detroit michigan in the late 1980 s i learned that there was neighborhood called mexican town in southwest detroit and although my wife and i went and ate out there the menu selections were once again watered down for american tastes and it remained that way for a long time at some point however tastes changed and authentic mexican recipes began appearing on menus it wasn t really new it was just that it was only being enjoyed in mexican households then something new happened real authentic mexican fare began appearing in detroit taco trucks were the first to serve up authentic mexican fare tacos with various fillings beef pork chicken tongue etc were available also something i hadn t had in years ceviche de tostada this was a fried corn tortilla tostada topped with the same ceviche i had had so many years before i was thrilled today is cinco de mayo mexican independence day this holiday celebrates the victory of mexican forces over the french at the battle of puebla in 1862 while not a major holiday in the country of mexico mexican communities in the united states celebrate with great enthusiasm here in detroit s mexican town the streets are overflowing as parades commemorative events and general celebration are the order of the day in memory of that first taste of ceviche i had in mexico so many years ago as well as the cinco de mayo celebration i decided to make tostada de ceviche while any fish or shellfish can be used i chose mahi mahi as my protein lime juice olive oil cucumber onion tomato and garlic dressed the fish for my tostada i used a white corn tortilla and fried it in order to create a bowl by placing a ladle in the center and allowing the tortilla to curl up around it the trick i found was to not marinate the fish for too long tostada de ceviche 1 fresh mahi mahi or other mild white fish cu t in a medium dice 1 2 cup sweet onion small dice 1 2 cup roma tomato small dice 1 2 cup seedless english cucumber small dice juice of 3 limes 1 4 cup extra virgin olive oil 1 4 cup fresh cilantro chopped fine kosher or sea salt and fresh cracked black pepper to taste diced ripe avocado 6 corn tortillas fried until crispy 1 fry tortillas until crispy and drain on a paper towels set aside 2 mix diced fish and lime juice in a non reactive bowl plastic works fine 3 marinate for approximately 30 40 minutes do not over marinate fish should be white and firm but not dry 4 add remaining ingredients and marinate for an additional 5 minutes 5 using a slotted spoon to drain some of the juice spoon the fish mixture into onto the fried tortilla shells 6 top with diced avocado 7 serve immediately traditionally diced jalapeno peppers are added for heat i omit them here ketchup or hot sauce is also traditional again i omit it any fish or shellfish can be used although i find a mild white flesh fish works best written by ed schenk may 5 2013 at 12 48 pm posted in food mexican tagged with ceviche cinco de mayo mexican food tostada de ceviche cooking my way through the deep freeze leave a comment it s been quite some time since i last posted on this blog i am hoping that the kind readers who read my posts in the past will forgive me and participate again by participate i mean not only read what i ve written but respond with comments it s those comments that validate my efforts and let me know that i have something to say on to business having been though the warmest recorded winter year in michigan it was only a matter of time before mother nature said don t get used to it this past week we got the message when the temperature plunged to around zero and i decided it was time to get the wood burning stove fired up when i bought my house years ago it was one of the feature that came with the addition on the back of the house the down side is that when it get on the cold side in winter we need to burn wood to keep the house warm i remember one winter where the temperature stayed below zero for a month and i kept the fire going continuously the entire time what does this have to do with food you ask hang with me one winter our stove gas needed to be replaced and rather than rely on takeout while replacing it i got asked myself what if i tried cooking in the fireplace so i marinated some boneless skinless chicken breasts dragged out the cast iron skillet set it on the fire logs and low and behold i cooked up some awesome chicken breasts i mean i was truly impressed inspired since then i ve cooked chicken breast pork chops and roasted fish mahi mahi i ve also done the accompaniments potatoes vegetables etc and everything i ve done has turned out well the food took on a luscious smoky taste recently i got extra ambitious and decided to try a whole chicken as with everything else i have cooked in the stove the trick is to keep it from burning this requires almost constant attention as there are a lot of variables when working over an open flame and in the wood burning oven i began by spatchcocking the chicken while this sounds like it could be complicated what it means is to remove the backbone of the chicken for roasting i just uses a pair of kitchen shears and cut it out the next step and a very important one was to brine the chicken brining give you and incredibly moist and flavorful bird my brine is just salt and sugar although you can add spices for flavor as well my recipe is 1 2 gallon cold water 1 2 cup kosher salt 1 4 cup sugar i brought the ingredients to a boil and allowed it to cool completely you could do this the night before and just leave it on the back of the stove covered i then marinated the chicken in the brine for 3 4 hours refrigerated after which i towel dried it and sprinkled it with a mix of salt little cumin and black pepper not to miss a step but i had already gotten my fire going a couple of hours before to make sure it was good and hot i then placed my chicken in the cast iron skillet and set it in the oven making sure it was close to the flame but not directly on it i then closed the doors and let the magic happen not wanting to oversimplify the process it bears saying that i checked it every 5 10 minute making sure it wasn t burning and that it sat level on a log i also added white wine and water to create pan juice to baste with and control the heat under the bird constant shifting and turning were part of the drill i also used my thermometer calibrated to make sure when my chicken was done one and a half hours later i had a bird that any chef would be envious of i mean when you go to that 4 star restaurant and they have roast chicken on the menu 25 00 and up this is what you get although maybe not as good for those of you who say i can t do that you can still brine your bird you can maybe try it on the grill outside when the weather gets warmer the important part is to have fun with the experience i know not everyone has the equipment to take this on but cooking is an adventure and the journey is what make the experience memorable written by ed schenk february 5 2013 at 5 46 pm posted in bbq chicken chicken entertainment recipe tagged with detroit eats just poking around in my yard leave a comment it s been quite some time since i have last posted not much has changed in my life i still work too hard too long and too much i am not sure if it is a blessing or a curse but it sustains me i have always considered myself a casual gardener to me this means that i plant it if it grows great if it doesn t no biggie i decided to take a walk in the yard this morning as a measure of relaxation just to see what was growing i was pleasantly surprised years ago when i first moved into my house i planted oregano now 20 years later it still grows i use it in marinades for steak and chicken the neighbors must think i am crazy as they watch me pick what some have described as lawn clippings if they only new i love fresh dill in the spring it is mandatory for my new potato salad i was happy to find that it still grows wild all around my yard something i can t take credit for is the mint that grows in the yard it was here when i moved in last but not least i got a gift this year courtesy of the birds i think a wild raspberry bush popped up this year along the fence line i am planning on making good use of these i found all of this in my tiny yes tiny yard take a walk let me know what is growing in your yard written by ed schenk july 1 2011 at 11 11 am posted in blogging food food destinaltion just messing araoun in the kitchen tagged with detroit eats food foraging fresg herbs raspberry meatless fridays 7 vegetarian taco salad leave a comment welcome back to meatless fridays the more i do these posts the more challenging it becomes for today s effort i had a taste for something south of the border i have always loved a taco salad but wondered if i could get all the depth of flavor without the meat i believe i came up with a very satisfying answer i began by making the shell i heated a pan of vegetable oil to 350 degrees and dropped a flour tortilla in i then used a big ladle and pushed it down the tortilla curled around the ladle to make my bowl when it had crisped i carefully turned it over with a pair tongs to complete the crisping process i then drained my shell on a paper towel and let it cool i though about the flavors i wanted in my taco salad beans tomato avocado and corn all came to mind rather than just toss the ingredients together i decided to deconstruct the taco salad i took a ring mold and began layering first beans than corn more beans avocado and finally tomato and cilantro salad i must confess i was very pleases with the results as with all great dished every element on the plate comes together and just pops in your mouth vegetarian taco salad for 1 one large onion finely chopped 2 teaspoons chopped garlic 1 can cooked black turtle beans drained and rinsed cumin to taste 1 teaspoon chili powder kosher salt 1 can whole kernel corn 1 ripe avocado 1 ripe tomato juice of 1 lemon or lime olive oil 1 flour tortilla vegetable oil for frying sauté 1 2 the onion with the garlic until translucent add the black beans and cumin to suit your taste and toss until the beans are warm season with kosher salt remove and mash slightly drain the corn and toss in a pan with the chili powder season with salt to taste dice the avocado and toss with the remaining onion and 1 2 the lemon juice add some olive oil to carry the flavor make a quick tomato salad using diced tomato chopped cilantro olive oil and the remaining lemon juice fry the flour tortilla in vegetable oil using a lad...