Welcome to My Pantry

This is where you will find recipes for those little things to keep on hand as embellishments or ingredients. My definition of pantry includes the refrigerator and freezer.

I'll start off with syrups for no better reason than I just finished making some.

This delightfully fragrant syrup will transform simple orange slices into an elegant dessert. Or try it in fruit salads or as the moisturizing syrup for genoise and similar cakes. It is also good added to drinks and to stewed prunes

1 cup sugar
2 cups water
3 whole star anise
2 tsp Orange Flower Water

Bring sugar, water and star anise to a boil. simmer until reduced to 1 cup. Cool. Remove and discard star anise. Add Orange Flower Water. Store in a glass jar or bottle in the refrigerator until needed.

Orange Flower (or Blossom) Water is found in 10 ounce bottles in Indian or Middle Eastern stores. It is the result of distilling water over orange blossoms and contains no alcohol. This inexpensive flavoring (more properly fragrance) lasts forever in the fridge.

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Lemon Honey Syrup

This is from Serry Greenwald's recipe for baklava which I have enjoyed for many years. Use it whenever the flavor of honey but not its thick sweetness is wanted.

2 cups sugar
1/2 cup water
1 Tbsp lemon juice
2 Tbsp orange blossom honey

Boil sugar, water and lemon juice 5 minutes. Then add honey. Store in the fridge in a glass jar.

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Rosemary Syrup For Berries

A small amount of this syrup will perk up those less flavorful berries we sometimes encounter.

3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup dry white wine
1/3 cup water
3 Tbsp roughly chopped fresh rosemary
1 large bay leaf
1/2 tsp slightly crushed black peppercorns
1 to 3 Tbsp balsamic vinegar OR lemon juice

Place all in a saucepan over high heat. Bring to boil, reduce heat and simmer 10 min.Cool & strain. Store in the fridge in a glass jar.
Try this as a flavoring in making mustard spreads. More about mustards will be coming later.

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Pommegranet Syrup (Grenadine)

I haven't made this is five years or more, so I'm a little sketchy on the recipe. My 25 year old daughter loves Shirley Temples, so I gave my last bottles to her.

Puree pommegranet seeds in food processor. Strain through a sieve. Add a little lemon juice and about half as much sugar as pommegranet juice. Boil until it is syrup. Bottle in sterile bottles or jars and store in a cool cupboard.

Add a little to lemonade for pink lemonade or to Seven Up for a Shirley Temple.

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Hazelnut Crunch

Make this only on a clear dry day, then store it away in an airtight bag or container and try to forget it until you have company.

1/2 pound butter
1 cup sugar
1 Tbsp water
1/8 tsp cream of tartar
1 1/2 cups roasted and partly skinned hazelnuts, roughly chopped
chocolate chips (optional)

In a medium sized heavy bottomed saucepan, melt butter; add sugar, water and cream of tartar. Cook and stir with wooden spoon to about 270 degrees. The mixture will darken and start to come away from the pan, preferring to stick to itself in a mass. When it looks like the butter wants to separate, it is ready. Quickly mix in the nuts and pour onto a marble slab; spread it out as thinly as desired and let cool. While the candy is still quite warm, you may sprinkle it with chocolate chips and when they have melted from the heat of the candy, spread the chocolate to coat. When cool, break into rough pieces.

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Storing and Using Nuts

I keep nuts in ziplock freezer bags in the freezer. They are expensive (especially pine nuts) and I don't want them to turn rancid. I use them directly from the freezer. Think of adding finely chopped hazelnuts or pecans to waffle batters or any nuts to coffeecake toppings. Ground almonds, hazelnuts or walnuts can be added to pie dough.

Make your own nut butters in a blender or food processor; only salt is added for flavor. These butters can be used in cheesecakes. I like hazelnut or cashew butter spread on bagels and topped with alfalfa sprouts.

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Streusel

Keep a jar of streusel in the fridge. Then you're always ready to make a quick coffeecake.

1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup butter
1 cup brown sugar
2 tsp cinnamon
Blend ingredients with a pastry blender or fork until crumbly. Do not be tempted to use a food processor to make streusel; the butter will melt and you will have a sticky product that will sink into and melt into your coffeecake rather than staying crunchy on top.

Use whole wheat flour in your streusel; even finicky eaters will not notice it. You can add wheat germ, sesame seeds, chopped or ground nuts to the basic streusel.

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Garlic in Oil

This is a good way to store a lot of garlic so it will not sprout and will be ready to use Peel garlic cloves and place in a sterile jar. Cover with olive oil to at least 1 inch above the garlic. Tightly cover jar and refrigerate until needed. The oil will become opaque and thick with cold but will return to its usual clarity and consistency when warmer. Use the oil in frying, cooking or to brush on pizza dough. Fish out the cloves and use as fresh garlic in cooked foods.

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Deli Style Fresh Dill Pickles

Buy some pickling cucumbers fresh from a farmers' market. Use them the same day. Scrub and remove any residue of blossoms. Cut into spears or however you want. Place in a glass jar with lots of fresh chopped or sliced garlic, dried crushed red peppers, and fresh dill. Cover with hot brine made by boiling , until salt is dissolved:
2 quarts water
1/3 cup distilled vinegar
1/4 cup pickling salt
Allow jar to stand until cool and then refrigerate, covered. Will keep several weeks.

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Pick a Peck of Pickled Peppers

I like to have a mixture of pickled jalapenos, onions and carrots on hand for adding to burritos, quesadillas or anything that can benefit from this spicy relish. Here's one easy and economical way to prepare two gallons:
Buy a gallon jar of pickled jalapeno slices.
Pour half the peppers and half the liquid into a second clean gallon jar.
Slice carrots thinly and blanch in boiling water until slightly cooked but still crisp.
Drain carrots and add to both jars. Cut onions in half through root ends then slice crosswise, thick or thin. Add to both jars. Fill each jar with additional brine made as for dill pickles above, adding garlic and bay leaves and any other desired seasonings.
Keep in the refrigerator. Will keep indefinitely. You will probably want to give some away in smaller jars.

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Adult Grape Jelly

Jelly made from wine is more intereting to adult palettes but still appeals to the inner child. I like to use a good rose, fruity but not too sweet. Try different varietals. There are many easy recipes available in cookbooks but beware of recipes that don't call for vigorous boiling of the wine (to retain alcohol?) They may not set up well.

Mine has been going more than eight years

To start your rumpot, select a crock or jar with a tight lid. Mine is a gallon jar; yours could be smaller. Use whatever fruit is in season at the time. It's nice to start in spring with strawberries. Wash and dry the fruit. Weigh it and add half its weight in sugar. Mix and let the fruit sit with the sugar for a good hour or until the sugar is mosstly dissolved and juice is extracted. Put the fruit and any unabsorbed sugar in the pot. Cover with dark Jamaican rum. There must be a half inch of rum above the fruit.

If you start with a pound of strawberries and a half pound of sugar, you will need about a bottle of rum. Later additions will not require much liquor--just enough to maintain the half inch covering of liquid.

Throughout the year add seasonal fruits in the same manner: cherries, peaches or apricots, pitted and cut up, blackberries, pineapple, plums, ripe pears, peeled, seeded and cut up. Whatever you fancy. Avoid apples, though. This will keep indefinately.

1/3 cup olive oil
2 1/2 tsp cayenne
1 1/2 tsp ground cumin
1 clove garlic, minced
1/4 tsp salt

Mix in a small sauce pan and cook over medium heat about 5 minutes. Use warm or at room temperature. Will last indefinately, refrigerated.

Make this fresh when needed; the flavor will deteriorate quickly.
Just mix dry mustard (like Coleman's) with enough water to form a slightly soft sauce. Let it sit a few minutes; it will become thicker. If it becomes too thick, thin with a bit more water.

I buy mustard in half pound bags at an Indian/Middle Eastern Store; it's much cheaper that way.