Corn Cob Jelly

Please excuse the wild children and Cozy Coupe in the background.

File this under "Weird Things To Can" (perhaps along with Tomato Jam). Corn cob jelly sounds so, well, weird, right? How could that possibly taste good?

It does, I promise. In fact, it tastes remarkably like wildflower honey. I've heard others make that claim, but I didn't believe it until I tried it for myself. But kind of like Queen Anne's Lace Jelly, this isn't something I would necessarily want to add to my PB&J's. So after I made it I had to figure out how to use it. Turns out it tastes great on a cheese board, on fried green tomatoes, on hush puppies, and even on top of more corn (in the form of fritters). I'm sure it would be delicious on any other kind of pan-fried offering. I might even get brave and try it in place of honey in different sauce and dressing recipes. If you try to make it, let me know and tell me how you used it!

Oh, and my pal Jillian has a great how-to for freezing corn, in case you were interested (save those cobs, Jillian!).

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Corn Cob Jelly
Makes 3 1/2 cups, or 3 1/2 half-pints

12 sweet corn cobs
4 1/2 cups water
3 1/2 cups sugar
1 packet liquid pectin

1. In a large pot, combine water and corn cobs. Cut the corn cobs in half (carefully!) if necessary. Cover and boil for 30 minutes. Allow to cool slightly.

2. Using cheesecloth and/or a fine mesh strainer, pour out the liquid and reserve it. Discard corn cobs (carve yourself a pipe, leave for squirrels and other critters, or simply compost). Rinse out the pot and add the "corn stock" back to it.

3. Place the pot over medium-high heat and add sugar. Bring to a boil and add pectin. Reduce heat to medium and continue to cook until the jelly is at preferred "set" stage (when it sheets off your wooden stirring spoon or congeals as soon as it hits a plate pulled from the freezer).

4. Carefully pour the hot jelly into desired vessel(s) (freezer jars, canning jars, or a dish for the refrigerator). Wipe rim(s) and cover. If you want shelf-stable jelly, process in a hot water-bath canner for time appropriate to your jars (5 minutes for quarter-pints, 7-10 minutes for half-pints, 15-20 minutes for pints). Jelly will last for 3-6 months in the fridge and up to a year in the freezer or pantry (if processed properly). Enjoy!

*Optional step: If you want your jelly to be more yellow, add a few drops of yellow food color to the corn stock before adding sugar and pectin.

A Night of Cheese - Second Course

The second course for our cheese workshop featured a really fun cheese called Eclipse. Crafted by R&G Cheesemakers in Cohoes, NY, Eclipse is a goat's milk cheese that is soft ripened and features a coating of vegetable ash. A bloomy rind develops over the ash (which is all edible), and the cheese itself is slightly sweet.

The cheese was paired with orange marmalade and toasted pistachios. Both are traditional pairings for cheese: The acidic citrus rind in the marmalade balances the chalky characteristics of the vegetable ash; the pistachio is a nice contrast to the creaminess of the cheese's paste.

The beverage pairing in the second course was a 2010 Domaine Des Vieux Sancerre. A quick note about Sancerre - it's not an actual type of wine or grape, but rather, a region in which the wine is made (in the Loire Valley in France). The grape variety it is produced from is Sauvignon Blanc, and the wine gets its mineral qualities from the soil in which the grapevine is grown (that's why you can have wines produced from the same varietal of grape but with different flavor notes). The style of the cheese is typically of the Loire Valley, so pairing the Eclipse with the Sancerre was a nod to the traditions of wine and cheese.

I made the marmalade for this course. Marmalade is a different beast from some of the other jams or jellies that I've made in the past. It involves a few more steps and can take a few weeks to set; with that said, marmalade is still an easy recipe and is a great to keep in one's repertoire. Note that I kept the traditional peel in the marmalade to a fine zest. I think for the purpose of pairing with cheese, it helped to balance the bitter/sweet ratio of the marmalade as to not overpower the cheese. Feel free to make the peel/zest as fine or thick as you would like!

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Orange Marmalade
Makes about three pints
Based on the recipe from the Better Homes and Gardens New Cookbook

5 medium oranges
1/8 teaspoon baking soda
5 cups sugar
1/2 of a 6-ounce package of liquid fruit pectin (or 3 ounces of homemade liquid pectin)

1. Zest the rind of the oranges, being sure to avoid the white pith. Bring the zest, 1 1/2 cups of water and the baking soda to a boil. Simmer, covered for 20 minutes. Do not drain.

2. With a sharp knife, cut the pith off the oranges, then cut out the segments of the oranges, being sure to cut between the segment membranes and avoid seeds. Discard pith, seeds and membranes. Squeeze the segments to extract juice into a bowl, then add the juice and the fruit to the boiled zest mixture. Simmer, covered, for 10 minutes. Measure three cups.

3. In an 8- to 10-quart heavy pot combine the three cups of fruit mixture and the sugar. Bring to a full rolling boil, stirring constantly. Quickly stir in the pectin and return to a full boil. Boil for one minute, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and skim off foam with a metal spoon.

4. Ladle marmalade into hot, sterilized jars, leaving a 1/4-inch headspace. Wipe the jar rims clean and screw-on lids. Place in the fridge (for up to three months) or hot-water bath can for 10 minutes.


A very special thanks to Eric Paul, The Cheese Traveler, for his expertise. Without him, this night would not have happened! Be sure to follow him on Facebook. R&G Cheese can be purchased through The Cheese Traveler.

Queen Anne's Lace Jelly

Sometimes when I make a recipe, I can't help but wonder who thought of that? Who decided to try these ingredients, and how many did they try before they found the right one? This notion ran through my mind often while making Queen Anne's Lace Jelly. Seriously, who was the first person to walk through a field, gather an armful of the flower and think hey! I bet that would make a tasty spread. Let's cook it up and see what happens! I think of things like this a lot (blame the history buff inside me - I keep a journal of ideas for history books I intend to write one day, and subjects like culinary history are front runners). Of course I had to turn to Dr. Google for such answers. Here is what I found:

- Queen Anne's Lace is the progenitor of modern carrots. In fact, it is know as "wild carrot" (and if you dig it up and crush the roots, it smells like carrots)

- The flowering period for Queen Anne's Lace (in the Northeast) is typically June through August

- Queen Anne's Lace has medicinal qualities, much like many other herbs and wildflowers. It is thought that the plant can act as a diuretic, sooth the digestive tract, support the liver and aid in waste removal by the kidneys. It also aids in the treatment of dropsy/edema

- The leaves of Queen Anne's Lace (as with modern carrots) contains a high level of porphyrins, a hormone that stimulates the pituitary gland and can increase sex drive (bonus!)

- There is conflicting evidence on the effect Queen Anne's Lace has on fertility (depending on what part of the plant is used). While some claim it can increase fertility, others claim it acts as a contraceptive, and can even cause miscarriage. If you are preggers, I recommend you stay away, as with most other herbs

- Queen Anne's Lace is a dead ringer for Hemlock (yep, like the kind that killed Socrates). Be extremely careful when harvesting the flower to make sure you have the right one. The easiest way to differentiate the flowers is that Queen Anne's Lace has a "hairy" stem, while Hemlock has a smooth stem

- The source of the name is disputed, but many stories point to Royal fashions, the Patron Saint of lacemakers (St. Anne), and several instances related to Queen Anne of England/Denmark

For more information on Queen Anne's Lace and to see pictures, please visit The Carrot Museum

So, back to the jelly - Queen Anne's Lace Jelly isn't what I would refer to as a Peanut Butter and Jelly staple (like Strawberry Jam is), but more an accompaniment to a lovely cheese plate (alongside a nice creamy brie, candied nuts, and buttery crackers). Like other flowers jellies (lavender, rose, etc) it has a very herbaceous, medicinal taste. The only way to know if you like it is to try it, so here's the recipe, have at it!

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Queen Anne's Lace Jelly

Makes Approximately 2 Pints

18 fresh, large Queen Anne's Lace flower heads*

4 cups boiling water

1/4 cup lemon juice

4 cups sugar

2 packages powdered pectin

3 drops natural red food coloring, if desired

1. Fill the sink or a large bowl with cold water. Submerge flower heads in the water and slosh around to remove any insects. Drain flowers.

2. Place the flowers in a large pot** and cover with boiling water. Cover and let sit for several hours or overnight. Essentially, you are making a very strong, stinky Queen Anne's Lace tea.

3. Strain the cooled "tea" through a sieve lined with cheesecloth. Save the tea, discard the flowers.

4. Rinse your pot and add the tea back in. Heat over a medium-high flame. Add the lemon juice, sugar and pectin. Stir to dissolve and bring to a boil. Boil for one minute, then reduce heat to medium. Stir frequently and be sure to scrap the bottom of the pan to prevent burning. Cook for 8-10 minutes until thickened (a good "set" test is to place a plate in the freezer for 15 minutes. Drop a small spoonful of the jelly onto the cold plate. After 30 seconds, the jelly should form a soft set and not run).

5. If you wish, add food coloring to the jelly to give it a peachy-pink color. Otherwise, the jelly with be a very light chartreuse color.

6. Pour jelly into sterilized mason jars or other storage container. Keep in the refrigerator or process in a hot water bath for five minutes. Enjoy!

*You can definitely pick Queen Anne's Lace from fields and pastures (like I did), but pick several feet away from the road to be sure the flowers aren't contaminated with pesticides or road grime. Queen Anne's Lace can also be found at the Farmers Market.

**When making a floral or herbal jelly, be sure to cook in a ceramic or stainless steel pot. Cooper or aluminum pans can chemically alter the properties of the flowers/herbs.