Loquat Chamoy

Flipping through the latest Edible SD magazine, I turn to the last page and see a simple, short recipe for chamoy.  I'm not a huge fan of sweet-spicy but my little brother and sister love it, so I thought I'd whip some up for them.

It seemed odd to me that their recipe called for apricots, which are not easily or often grown in San Diego.  With a plethora of loquats on my trees and multiple jars of freshly jammed loquats in my cupboard, it struck me as the perfect use for them.  Being ubiquitous here, currently in season, and, while not native, a big part of my Mexican culinary heritage, it's an obvious choice.  So here's my version:

4-6 loquats, peeled and seeded
1/2 cup loquat preserves
zest and juice of 3 small limes
3/4 teaspoon sea salt
3/4-1 teaspoon ancho chile powder (to taste)
3/4-1 teaspoon cayenne chile powder (to taste)

Add all ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth.

Makes about 1 cup.

Serve on fruit sorbets, fresh fruit, fruity drinks, shave ice, cheesecake, tostilocos...

Vanilla Loquat Preserves

A great crop on my favorite loquat tree this year!  I'll be making a few versions of this jam this month:

16 cups loquats (seeded and quartered)

4 cups sugar (or less)
1/2 cup lemon juice

2 tsp vanilla extract (or see other variations)

Remove the blossom end of the loquats, seeds, and cut into quarters.  In a large enameled pot (or other high heat tolerant, non-reactive pot), mix the loquats with sugar and lemon juice and let sit for at least a half hour.

On high heat, bring to a boil, stirring constantly, to gel point (could be 20-60 minutes - test a small amount of jelly on a plate you've kept in the freezer; return the plate to the freezer for 1 minute.  If the jelly wrinkles when you push it with your finger, it is done.)  Stir in vanilla extract.

If you're canning, fill jars leaving 1/2 inch head space and process in a boiling water bath for 5 minutes.

Makes 9 cups.

Variations:
Instead of vanilla, try 16 leaves rose geranium, zest of an orange, or 1 teaspoon cardamom added when you bring it to a boil.

Lavender Mulberry Preserves

Looking at and smelling the lavender growing next to my mulberry tree made me think their delicate flavors might be nice together.

Lavender in foods can be tricky.  Too little and you can't detect it, too much and it tastes like soap.  To avoid overpowering flavors I always use fresh lavender.  It's quite subtle in this recipe:

6 pounds fresh mulberries

4 1/2 cups sugar
24 springs of fresh lavender, tied together in a bouquet garni
3/4 cup lemon juice
2 tablespoons calcium water (comes with Pomona's universal pectin powder)
2 tablespoons pectin powder

Rinse mulberries and clip the little stem off (this part takes forever).

In a large enameled pot (or other high heat tolerant, non-reactive pot), mix the mulberries with sugar and lavender and let sit in the fridge for 8 hours.

Put mulberry mix on high heat.  Stir in the lemon juice and calcium water.  Slowly sprinkle in the pectin stirring it in as you goes so as to avoid lumps.  Boil, stirring constantly, to gel point (test a small amount of jelly on a plate you've kept in the freezer; return the plate to the freezer for 1 minute.  If the jelly wrinkles when you push it with your finger, it is done.)

If you're canning, fill jars leaving 1/2 inch head space and process in a boiling water bath for 5 minutes.

Makes 12 cups.

Variations:
Try a different herb instead of lavender, such as sage, mint, lemon verbena, or rose geranium.
Instead of lemon juice, use 1/4 cup white or dark balsamic vinegar and eliminate the herb.

Mulberry Preserves with Homemade Pectin

In the past, I have not been patient or experienced enough to get mulberries to the correct jam consistency.  Mulberries don't have enough pectin on their own to jam, I've always wanted to make my own pectin, and I had a couple pomelos hanging around.  So this year, I did a bit more research, used the turbo burner on my stove to get the temp up and voila!  Success!

4 pounds fresh mulberries
homemade citrus pectin from half a pound of pith
2 7/8 cups sugar
1 tablespoon white balsamic vinegar (or lemon juice or vinegar of your choice)

Rinse mulberries and clip the little stem off (this part takes forever).

In a large enameled pot (or other high heat tolerant, non-reactive pot), mix the mulberries with sugar and let sit in the fridge for 8 hours.

Put mulberry mix on high heat, add pectin and vinegar, and stir frequently to 220 degrees or to gel point (this part can take awhile - be patient to get to that gel point)

If you're canning, fill jars leaving 1/2 inch head space and process in a boiling water bath for 5 minutes.

Mulberry Cordial

Mulberry season is in full force, but a month later than recent years after a long, cool, wet winter.  My tree is quite prolific; I have plenty to share with neighbors, friends, family, birds and squirrels.  I'm also looking for more recipes to try to use them up.  Of course, I always jam them.  I love them in a meyer marmalade.  I'll borrow my mom's dehydrator.  And here's a cordial/syrup:

3 cups mulberries
1 1/2 cups evaporated cane sugar

juice of a small lemon

In a quart jar, crush berries and sugar and add lemon juice. Let steep in fridge for 1-2 days, then strain out the fruit.

Keep refrigerated up to a week. This can also be canned to be shelf stable for up to a year.

Serve with sparkling water over ice or to sweeten iced tea or lemonade.

Variation: add 1 1//2 cups of vinegar (balsamic, red wine, or apple cider) after straining to make a shrub.

March in my garden

grey skies and golden poppies

I'm relishing the cold weather.

I can't remember if San Diego has ever had a winter like this one before.  With consistently cold temps and steady rain for the past few months, many wild flowers, weeds, and volunteers have grown tall and green.  Almost nothing is in bloom yet, except the native poppies.

That's not quite true: my lavender blooms year-round – much to the bees' delight – with aggressive dead-heading, the sour grass and arugula have both been flowering for weeks, and several plants are just starting to bloom: the purple splash climbing rose, nasturtiums, blackberries, and calla lilies.  After no citrus this winter, the tangerines, calamansi, orange, and lemons are in blossom – the smell of neroli is heavenly.

The mulberry just started leafing out and our always-late loquats are thankfully growing little green fruits.

Plan

I've bought my seeds and I've been collecting materials to build supports for my tomatoes.

I'm researching companion planting, especially for tomatoes (marigolds, calendula, green onion, chive, garlic, basil, carrots...) and chiles (basil, chives, carrots, leeks, oregano, parsley, marigolds...).

Prep

I'm prepping beds for tomatoes and corn.  I'm harvesting the mulch and bedding from the chicken coop and yard for mulching the garden beds.

Weed

Now is the time - don't wait!  The ground is soft and moist, making it easy to pull them and you probably want to pull them before they go to seed.  Do it! Do it now!

Plant

Started many tomato seeds last month from Baker's Creek but the seedlings are still too small to plant.  Not to worry, as Tomatomania is this month.  Not only did they have the Gardener's Delight cherry tomato that did so well for us a couple years ago, but I got a few other new varieties to try:

• Spoon currant (a teeny tiny tomato)
• San Marzano Lungo paste (cuz I like to make the sauce)
• Madame Marmande beefsteak (I generally only plant heirlooms but I overheard a few people waxing poetic about this hybrid)

I also got a few peppers: poblano, anaheim, and corno di toro.

Actually, I probably went a little nuts with the seeds I bought, which is why I didn't buy too much at Tomatomania.  Here's what I'm growing from seed:

• Chestnut Chocolate Tomato
• Lucid Gem Tomato
• Lucky Tiger Tomato
• Cour Di Bue Tomato
• Brad's Atomic Grape tomato
• Dark Galaxy tomato
• heirloom poblano
• heirloom anaheim
• purple jalapeño
• Paradicsom Alaku Sarga Szentes
• Chinese Pink Celery
• Hyssop - Korean

These I've started indoors and will transplant sometime this or next month.  The rest will be planted directly in the ground, mostly this month:

• Queen Sophia Marigold
• Cosmo - Black Magic
• Red Skin Mix Dahlia
• Zinnia - Scabiosa
• Goldfinger Mexican Sunflower
• Hopi Turquoise Corn
• Ojo De Tigre Bean
• Tommy Apple Melon
• Blacktail Mountain Watermelon
• Valerian
• Basil - Thai Sweet
• Basil - Lemon
• Basil - Blue Spice
• Hopi Red Dye Amaranth

I'm continuing to work on a circular series of beds of mostly perennial herbs, but I'll also plant the peppers and the 3 sisters (corn, beans, squash/melon + amaranth & cosmos).

Also good to plant this month: radish, beets, broccoli, cabbage, lettuce, potatoes, greens, turnip, cucumber, squash, citrus, avocado, macadamia, dill, marjoram, mint, oregano, parsley, rosemary, sage, thyme, and the last chance this year for natives.

Feed

Fertilize citrus, avo, orchids, 3# on passionfruit, everything (except natives and drought tolerant) in the waning moon.

Water

I'm grateful for continued rain!
Water deep in the morning every 10-14 days if it doesn't rain, more often for new seedlings. I'm blasting my fruit trees (that aren't flowering) with water a couple times this month to help control ants, aphids, white fly & scale.

Prune

I'm pinching off new growth on the grape vines below the trellis to concentrate the energy into the growth to cover the top of the trellis.

Here's what I'm harvesting...

eggs, arugula, nasturtiums, parsley, cilantro, thyme, garlic chives, lavender, lemon grass, rose geranium, lemon verbena, passion fruit

Here's my post from March last year.