Put Those Preserves to Work!

So you just received a jar of strange jam. Now what do you do with it?? Eat it! But how? Duh, with a spoon.

If spooning jam into your face isn’t really your thing then I have PLENTY of ideas for you…

Spread on toast. Yes, even strange jam loves toast. Grill up a fat slice of rye bread, spread on some salted butter and then slather with India Pale Ale Jelly. It’s is absolutely acceptable to eat beer jelly for breakfast.

Pair with cheese. Jams and jellies are an excellent accompaniment to cheese. Sweet spreads lend themselves well to salty, fatty, stinky, & tangy.

Serve on veggies.  Try adding beer jelly to mashed sweet potatoes, or to caramelized onions.  Braise beets or carrots in wine jelly, toss roasted breakfast potatoes with pineapple habanero or use it to spice up stir frys.

Use with meats. From glazing chicken wings & slow cooker roasts, to baked ham & duck pan sauce. Use jelly in recipes that you might use barbeque sauce, honey, or other sweeteners. When cooking at low temperatures add at jelly at the beginning of cooking time so it will melt into a sauce. When using high heat such as a grill or broiler add jelly at the end of the cooking time and it will caramelize and become crunchy and sticky.

Try serving dark & gamey meats with flavorful jams like Oatmeal Stout or Burgundy Anise.

Light meats like chicken and fish lend themselves to lighter jams like Hefeweizen and IPA.

Ham calls for an Apricot Ale in my book while a pork roast is stunning with Rosemary Garlic Chablis.

Sweeten up barbeque sauce with Strawberry Chipotle or Blueberry Sage.

Make a pan sauce! Add 1 Tbs jam/jelly and a splash of liquid into a hot skillet once meat, poultry or fish has been removed. Reduce liquid until thick. Stir in a bit of butter or cream, and spoon over each portion and serve.

Bake into sweets. Use jam and jellies for things like thumbprint cookies, cake filling, and swirl it into brownies or cheese cake. Stuff jam into doughnuts or macarons.

Flavor cocktails. Add a heaping spoonful of jam to cocktails and shake until the jam is dissolved.  Try Strawberry Chipotle Margaritas, Blueberry Sage Mojitos, or a Marmalade Old Fashioned.

Shake into salad dressings. Combine oil, vinegar, water, and jam/jelly & seasonings in a cruet or jar, seal & shake until uniform.

Favorite flavor combos include:  Blueberry Sage & Balsamic, India Pale Ale & mustard, Rosemary Garlic Chablis & Herb de Province.

Hopefully this gives you tons of good ideas how to use Potlicker preserves! Below is a more specific list of favorite flavor combos. And remember, when you are all out of ideas Pinterest is there to save us all.  

• Black IPA – blue cheese, tome, cured meats
• Blueberry Sage – bloomy rind goat, ice cream topper, cocktails
• Burgundy Anise – cows milk blue cheese, gamey meats, pan sauces
• Carrot Cake – cream cheese, yogurt, oatmeal, cake filling
• Hefeweizen with Orange – goat gouda, baked fish
• India Pale Ale – mild cheddar, pepperoni, pretzels
• Oatmeal Stout – smoked cheddar, braised short ribs, chocolate cake
• Spiced Wine – brie, cream cheese, poached pears, thumbprint cookies
• Strawberry Chipotle – chevre, peanut butter, bbq sauce starter

Happy Holidays from the Potlicker crew! 

Yes, That is me running on little sleep, sitting on the edge of my truck which was loaded like this 2 times a day from Nov 28th to Dec 23