The menu is still going to be slow roasted beef roast with merlot wine jelly, garlic smashed potatoes, roasted brussels sprouts with chorizo and parmesan and Chocolate Espresso Martini Cake with candied pecan, walnut and almond crunch ice cream.
Today I will share the Merlot Wine Jelly that I made last night, it was delectable when warm, yummy when cool and I imagine after it has had a week to age it will only be better. It was ridiculously easy, you might wish to give it a try.
Merlot Wine Jelly
-we will be serving this as a glaze to compliment the beef.
3 1/4 cups Merlot (or your favorite dry red wine)
1/2 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice (3 large lemons)
4 1/2 cups sugar
1 package (1.75oz/49 to 57 kg) regular powdered fruit pectin
- Prepare canner, jars and lids
- In a large, deep stainless steel saucepan, combine wine and lemon juice. Whisk in pectin until dissolved . Bring to a boil over high heat, stirring frequently. Add sugar all at once and return to a full rolling boil, stirring constantly for 2 minutes. Remove from heat and quickly skim off foam. (I didn't have any)
- Quickly pour hot jelly into hot jars, leaving 1/4 inch head space. Wipe rim. Center lid on jar. Screw band down until resistance is met, then increase to fingertip-tight.
- Place jars in canner, ensuring they are completely covered with water. Bring to a boil and process for 10 minutes. Remove canner lid. Wait 5 minutes, then remove jars, cool and store.
Since I have been canning foods off and on for the last 20 years, I have all the supplies that are needed, maybe not all that I "want", but all that I "need". There are several things you really need if you are going to take this on and although they may seem expensive to start out, it pays off in the end after you have visited the local farmer's markets all summer into the fall buying all your produce and "putting it up" for winter consumption. Last year we canned tomatoes, bbq sauce, summer salsa, bruschetta, hot sauce, 2 - 3 different chutneys and roasted peppers as well prepared and froze zucchini, eggplant and broccoli. Oh, we also dried our own tomatoes. I'm not sure if I like them better in pasta or eating them like chips :O).
I made most of these foods for my pantry for under $75 and we still have a lot left.
Last year's spoils after one trip to the Hometown Farmer's Market.
Another thought to ease the cost of the supplies is to do this with a friend or family member and share the expense of the equipment and buy your produce in bulk for a lower price.
If you sitting there telling me to forget it, you have no idea how to get started and may not return to my blog, relax. I found a great website that shows you exactly what you need to get started and gives some basic directions on how to do it. Bella Online - The Voice of Women gives much better details on canning than I could ever give here without just plagiarizing their site. :O)
Another great resource for recipes and directions is the Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving. I have two of Ball's books, the one above printed in 2006 (this is where the recipe above comes from) and then an older version with some family favorites called "Ball Blue Book - The Guide to Home Canning and Freezing" printed in 1988 that I found at yard sale when we lived in Bradford, PA back in 1994. Sadly it is no longer in print.
I hope you give this a try, it is absolutely worth the time it takes and as my daughter pointed out to me a little while ago, it is the perfect opportunity to start consuming wine with breakfast :O).
See you tomorrow with the recipe for the Brussels Sprouts.
Hugs!
dina
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