Strawberry Balsamic Jam and Peach Crostata!

There's nothing as simple as making a crostata.  This italian rustic freeform dessert is perfect anytime of the year.  If company is coming over and you want to prepare an effortless yet delicious dessert to serve with coffee this is ideal.

While visiting the blog Scrambled Henfruit last week I happened the come across a recipe for Strawberry Jam with a Twist.  Of course I was intrigued, and when I viewed the recipe found that the twist was Balsamic Vinegar a favorite ingredient of mine, and a recipe Scrambled Henfruit found on the blog Savory Sweet Life. 

The world wide web is wonderful for sharing and finding recipes and ideas.  One recipe leads to another and before you know it your meeting total strangers that have the same interests as you do.  I love it!

Anyway, when I saw this recipe I knew I wanted to make it.  I've actually never attempted to make jam before but I had all the ingredients at hand since it didn't use any pectin. The National Center for Home Food Preservation has guidelines for cooking without pectin that you might find helpful. 

Since my husband goes through jars of Strawberry Jam I figured why not try this and if he likes it, then I'd have more fun making batches of Strawberry Balsamic Jam for him than purchasing jar after jar of the ready-made varieties.

The recipe made a small amount so it wasn't necessary to "can" it, which thrills me.  Since that would take a whole other lesson that I wasn't in the mood to tackle. However, uncanned jam will keep in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.  Here's more information if you'd like to learn how to can jam.

Once I made the jam, I decided that I'd make a crostata using the Strawberry Balsamic Jam and the White Peaches that I had just purchased.  Together the two were a marriage made in heaven.  Warm out of the oven it was everything I had imagined and then some.  To say the least, it didn't last the day.

Strawberry Balsamic Jam and Peach Crostata
serves 6

Ingredients:

2 cups chopped strawberries
1 cup sugar
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
2 large peaches, cored and sliced into 1/4-inch slices

1 (9") premade Pillsbury pie crust
3 tablespoons sugar
water
1 tablespoons sugar

Directions:

Strawberry Balsamic Jam:

Combine strawberries, 1 cup of sugar and balsamic vinegar in a saucepan and bring to a boil.

Reduce heat and simmer uncovered for 20-30 minutes until sauce is a honey-like consistency or 220 degrees on a candy thermometer.  (For altitudes other than sea level see this chart for guidelines).

Remove from heat and cool.  If desired you can run through a blender to puree once completely cooled.

Crostata:

Slice fruit and place in a bowl with 3 tablespoons of sugar.  Mix together and set aside while preparing the dough.

Place parchment or foil on a countertop and roll out one 9-inch premade Pillsbury pie crust to approximately 12-inches. Place all on a pizza pan or sheet pan.

Spread approximately 3 tablespoons of the jam over the surface of the dough as if spreading sauce onto a pizza, leaving a 2-inch border all the way around.

Add the sliced peaches to the top of the jam and carefully pull up the sides of the dough over the edges of the fruit.  Leave an opening in the middle. Be careful not to tear the sides of the dough or fruit juices will ooze out during cooking.

With a pastry brush, spread water over the top of the dough and then sprinkle with 1 tablespoon of sugar.

Bake at 400 degrees for 50 minutes.

Remove from heat and allow to cool at least 10 minutes.  Place on serving platter and serve slices warm or at room temperature.

Note:  You can make any type of crostata using your favorite ingredients.  Simply follow these guidelines and you're sure to have a perfect tasting crostata everytime.

Enjoy!

Here's the recipe for a Peach and Blueberry Crostata that I posted in a previous blog.

(For those of you that have been following my blog for awhile, what type of recipe would you like to see me post or what topics would you like me to discuss?  Your feedback is important to me).

Grilled Watermelon Salad with Goat Cheese and Balsamic Reduction

There's nothing better than watermelon in the summer.  Whether having it as a side dish, dessert, watermelon gazpacho or salad, it's refreshing and light.  

This sweet, juicy watermelon is actually packed with some of the most important antioxidants in nature.  An excellent source of vitamin C and a very good source of vitamin A  it's so refreshing and light, I could literally sit down and eat and entire bowl and not feel stuffed.  This is probably due to the fact that's it's packed with 92% water, making it an extremely thirst-quenching fruit. Plus, it has a good concentration of lycopene, it's rich in B vitamins necessary for energy production and magnesium and potassium. And at only 48 calories per cup, it packs more nutrients per calorie - an outstanding health benefit!

Of course, all this helps to know when I eat buckets full.  However, I eat it mostly because I just love it and it's so refreshing and satisfying. 

So last night I decided to make BBQ Salmon with a Grilled Watermelon Salad with Goat Cheese, and a Balsamic Reduction.  Since I had some pineapple I decided to add that to the grill as well and set that under my salmon for a light and luscious meal. 

The Watermelon Salad was so delicious that I thought I'd share the recipe with you.  For my next post I'll share my salmon dish that I think you'll enjoy as well.  All are so simple to prepare in addition to being healthy and delicious!

In the recipe below, adjust the amount of watermelon needed for the amount of people you're serving.


Grilled Watermelon Salad with Goat Cheese and Balsamic Reduction

Ingredients:

Watermelon (seedless)
Spring Mix lettuce or Arugula
Balsamic Vinegar
Olive Oil
Goat Cheese, crumbled

Directions:

For each serving cut 2 rectangular pieces of watermelon (about 3"x2") and set out on a paper towel for approximately 30 minutes.  This will absorb the extra water in the melon and allow it to get to room temperature before grilling.

Prior to grilling rub just one side of each piece of watermelon with olive oil.  Place each piece, oil side down, onto a very hot grill.   Grill just the one side for about 8 minutes.  After about 4 minutes you can rotate the watermelon to create hatch marks, if desired.

Place one piece grill side down on a plate.  Top with Spring Mix or Arugula.  Then place the other grilled piece of watermelon with the grill marks facing up on top of the Spring Mix. Set a couple pieces of the Spring Mix on top with some goat cheese crumbles.  Additionally, sprinkle some of the goat cheese around the plate and drizzle with the balsamic reduction.  (My balsamic reduction moved a bit as I moved my plate to the outdoors for photo taking).

Balsamic Reduction:

Take one bottle of balsamic vinegar and place in a heavy duty saucepan.  Bring to a boil, then turn down to a simmer and reduce until just 1/4 of the vinegar is remaining in the pan.  It will be thick and sweet.  Perfect for salads, ice cream on fruit, etc.  Cool before serving. 

Store in a squirt bottle for easy serving.  Will last indefinitely.

Serve and enjoy this light, delicious and refreshing salad!

Have a Happy & Safe 4th of July!

Balsamic Vinegars

As I mentioned in previous posts, I spent some time in Italy a couple of years ago. One of the places that I vividly remember was the Mercato Centrale in Florence. This is the main market and houses a variety of commercial activities, as well as cultural and artisanal ones. Along the years this place has become the cities barometer. It is where people of all classes, from the artisocracy to the bourgeoisie mingle as they look for traditional products, as well as for an informal friendly chat. There you will find people looking for good value and natural products, tourists in search of fine wines, and Italian or foreign students spending their money to savour Tuscan delicacies. All mixed together, with the voices, colors and perfumes of a place that gives real pleasures to the senses and filled with incredible meats, cheeses, breads, pasta, fish, olive oils and vinegars. It is truely an experience that my daughter and I must have spent several hours exploring.

Of all the places in the market our favorite was a place called Baroni Alimentari. There they had cheese, wines and liquors, meats, fish, pasta, pickles, pate's, honey & jams, olive oils and the best were the balsamic vinegars.

Never in my life had I experienced such incredible tastes as with their traditional balsamic vinegars drizzled over the most luscious parmigiano reggiano. I thought I'd died and gone to heaven. There we sampled so many different varieties along with getting a tutorial on each and everyone.

Did you know that in medieval times balsamic vinegar was thought to have medicinal value, believing that they contained soothing qualities aiding in relieving pain? Years later it was set aside for special celebrations or set aside as special gifts for dignitaries.

Balsamic vinegar is dark in color and has a thick syrupy texture due to the high sugar content and condensing of the syrup with flavors that range from tart to sweet.

There are specific standards that go into the making of Traditional Balsamic Vinegar. Great must is put in large barrels and placed in the attic for years to rest, then transferred from barrel to barrel as it reduces in size. It is transferred to different wood barrels in this order:

Oak

Chestnut

Mulberry

Cherry

Ash

Juniper

each one giving the vinegar a distinct flavor.

The grapes only come from the Emila-Romagna region a process that only takes place in a specific region called Modena.

After the 12-25 years of aging the traditional balsamic vinegar is taken to the Consorzio which grades the balsamic vinegar on color, taste and texture. After graded and approved it is bottled and given a serial code so that it can be authenticated.

Because so much care has gone into making traditional balsamic vinegar is gets granted the DOP status which stands for Denominazione D'Origine Protetta (Denomination of the Origin of Protection)

If you travel anytime soon to Florence be sure to make a morning or afternoon trip to the Mercato Centrale and visit Baroni Alimentari and all the other incredible vendors. It is something you absolutely can't miss.