Alton Brown taught me about free radicals

[egerandi]

I new about free radicals, and that they are bad for your skin (and other parts of your body). I also knew that anti-oxidants are good against free radicals. However, it had to be Alton Brown to put it together for me in his Strawberry Fields episodes. He explained about cells losing electrons, becoming angry free radicals, stealing from other cells and causing damage during the electron transfer. Anti-oxidants can loan electrons to the cells and thus calm things down. Something like that. Awesome.

For those of you unfamiliar with Alton Brown, he's the host of Good Eats (and appears in Iron Chef of America too), a whacky cooking show infused with entertaining science and multipurpose utensils. His demeanor is somewhat of an acquired taste, but I simple love the guy. No-nonsense cooking and kitchen advice spiked with some cool background information. It's worth checking out his DVDs. I also bought some kitchen gear based on what he's using and made my cooking/baking so much easier.

The show was even more on point for me now that I'm planning on going on a 'U Pick' trip with my girls to get lots of strawberries. Mmmmm

[karen]

I love him too! The process that self tanners use to make your skin dark is related to the Maillard Reaction- another thing I wouldn't have known about without AB! Knowing the "why" behind everything in a recipe has made me a waaay better cook, and now I couldn't live without my pressure cooker.

If you're going strawberry picking you could try making jam...it's really easy, and AB has a show all about it! He uses powdered pectin, but I go for either the liquid, or Pomona's Universal because you can do anything with it.

There are episode transcripts online too! http://www.goodeatsfanpage.com/GEFP/index.htm

[egerandi]

Haha, talk about coincidence: I'm going strawberry picking in Pomona I know, I know, Pomona's Universal is a pectin, just thought it was funny. Oh, I like it doesn't need sugar as I've been cooking and baking with agave nectar instead.

We had a pressure cooker when I was growing, but that thing was scary. I can remember at least twice when it blew the head and the painted the ceiling. I'm sure the current ones are better, that that monster burnt some memories into me. One day I'll get mine, as I prefer cooking then freezing my own beans instead of using the canned stuff.

I checked that link but I can't find strawberry jam. The jam session shows recipe for blueberries - did you use the same recipe for strawberries?

[karen]

That is funny! For jams I usually grab a box of pectin and follow the recipe in the box...there's usually a giant sheet of them included and it tells you how to make just about any type of jam you can think of. I just looked at my canning books and it's usually something like
4 cups crushed strawberries
7 cups of sugar
4 tablespoons lemon juice
1 pouch of liquid pectin

Bring to a full rolling boil on high heat- boil for one minute. Turn the stove off, add the pouch of pectin, and then put it in jars. The Ball book wants you to process them for 10 minutes in a boiling water bath...I do that most of the time, but if you don't have a canner, you can also just screw the lids on tight, then flip them upside down for 5 minutes, provided that the jars and lids are well sterilized. That usually gets most of them sealed- and the ones that don't you just store in the fridge and eat right away. There's also no-cook freezer jam that are super simple, and really yummy too.

The liquid pectin is a lot lot different from the Pomona's...it uses a lot of sugar to make it set, and the recipes are handed-down from "on high" and you really can't modify them without really messing things up. The rules are so rigid that if you follow the directions you'll usually get something pretty yummy. Raspberries are the exception- I feel like they're really hard to gel with Certo and I always use Pomona's for them because I can test it before I seal the jars.

I found this one in my Canadian Bernardin book for spreadable strawberries without pectin:
12 cups hulled strawberries
5 tart apples, peeled, cored and chopped
2 cans undiluted frozen apple juice concentrate thawed

They want you to boil that one for 30 minutes until it's thick and spreadable...then jar it, and process in a boiling water bath for 10 minutes. I haven't made that one...but I think I'm going to try a half batch when strawberry season rolls around in a few weeks.

If I'm feeling adventurous or in a "control freak" mood I go with the Pomona's because it doesn't rely on sugar to set it- so you can really make whatever your heart desires that day- and use pretty much anything or any amount of sweetener in it. Susan's mother makes hers with reduced apple cider, I've had some sweetened with concentrated white grape juice etc.

Yeah...AB started a little jam obsession with me. There's so many u-pick places around here that I just can't help myself sometimes.

[egerandi]

Oh boy oh boy oh boy... Might just have to try jamming this summer I'll try the sugar-free ones, with Pomona or the others you showed. I don't have a canner, I usually go for stuff I can keep in the fridge (been living on refrigerator pickles for a couple weeks now, eat them for breakfast even). I may just have to invest in one, except I lack pantry or storage space in general, so dunno (it's maddening). Our loft has pretty high ceilings, maybe I can store them up there? We don't really eat that much jam... ok, I have to stop thinking out loud

[karen]

Oooh refrigerator pickles sound yummy! I can't wait for things to be ripe!

Lack of space held me back for a while too. We don't tend to eat a lot of jelly either- but I just enjoy the whole process so much that I feel compelled to make a batch of something every once in a while. We don't have a big freezer, so making jam gives me an excuse to go out and pick fruit- which is the part I really love! The cherry orchard we go to overlooks the lake, and it's just a wonderful way to spend the day outside. My husband grew up in a city, and it's cute to see him climb trees, and act like a "country boy". Yeah- canners are kinda big, but other than their size there's nothing special about them. A good sized stock pot works just fine too, especially if you're doing just little jars of jelly.