A belated apologetic Thank You...to... someone here.

M

marilynfl

Moderator
Yesterday, I pulled out the kitchen stool to reach the topmost shelf in the pantry and moving aside the tortilla press used exactly twice (to two failures) and the manual pizelle iron (never used) I noticed a small jar. Turning it around, it said:

BLACKBERRY LEMON JAM 2013.

Damn!

I suddenly remembered reading that on the gift jar and thinking THAT would make an amazing thumbprint cookie. So I shoved it on the top shelf to keep Larry from using it with his morning toast.

And then, like so many other things, I forgot about it.

Well, let me tell you, "Kind Person Who Thoughtfully Shared Your Bounty With A Nit Wit Who Completely Forgot It Was There"...IT IS AMAZING.

I had it yesterday with toast, I had it this morning with more toast and also used some as the filling for a Victoria Cake for the neighbor, adding lemon zest and lemon juice to the sugar icing to mimic the flavor of the jam.

Thank you, Kind Friend. I'm sorry you didn't hear this sooner.

 
Surprised it was still edible smileys/smile.gif

I'm glad you enjoyed it. That was the year my CSA had small quantities of blackberries for picking - 1/2 pint here and there. So I just tossed in freezer and then when there was enough I winged it - tossed in some lemon zest and bottled up some jam. It was pretty good.

I had sent you a little goodie package and you had sent me an Alton Brown cookbook - whenever my friend's son is out for a visit we pull it out, find a recipe and go at it. And if there's a related TV good eats episode - score! He'll be back for a visit in August.

Maybe my CSA will have blackberries again this year....

 
Tortilla Press

Did you line your tortilla press before pressing the masa? That is the "big" secret for me to making it work. I learned my Mexican tips and tricks from a lady from Monterrey, Mexico. Slit a plastic storage bag large enough to overhang your tortilla plates. Place dough in the center of the bag and center on the plate. Press. Then the tortilla just peels right off the plastic into your hand and onto the griddle.

 
Yep. Didn't help as my dough was too wet. So I added more masa and then the dough was too dry and

Crumbly. I had watched Rick Bayless makes these perfect 4" tortillas (like the kind we had in Mexico) and he made it look SOOOO easy. He said the secret was to add a bit of lard to the dough so I actually processed some lard from scratch just for that recipe. He also used plastic wrap for ease of removal.

I think this is one of those Zen recipes. You just have to keep doing it until magically the Monk turns to you and says "you have reached tortilla enlightenment."

Or Malcolm Gladwell and his 10,000 hours of practice to become a master of...whatever you just spent 10,000 hours doing. I gave up after two failed attempts.

Now the press just sits there, hiding amazing jars of gift jam.

 
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