A New Use For Lapsang!

[Mary R]

Every year my grandmother makes a ton of different jams and jellies (lots of orchards and berry farms in her area of Pennsylvania!), and sends them off to all her children and grandchildren. Unfortunately, I just opened a jar of her gooseberry and discovered that Gran must have forgotten that she'd already added the sugar. That sucker was sweet.

I didn't want to waste Gran's love 'n labor, though, so I melted the jam in a saucepan and added about 1 cooking cup's worth of quadruple-strength lapsang souchong. I thoroughly mixed the two, then let the solution reduce to the original volume of the jam. (One of these gizmos is excellent for judging adequate reduction.)

I've got to say...not bad. The sweetness is definitely cut and the smokiness is really complementary. I wouldn't put it on a PB&J, but it would totally pass for one of those ritzy gourmet jellies people often put out with cheese and crackers at parties. I'm not going to go through the rigmarole of sanitizing a canning jar, so it'll have to stay in the fridge, but I'm still pretty impressed with my creation.

[CynTEAa]

Ooooo, Mary! That sounds wonderfully yummy and darn creative! I'm kind of a kitchen gadget freak, but admit to not having a 6" stainless pocket rule on hand.

[Mary R]

It's a necessity for me. I'm so darn impatient, I never let things reduce enough without it!

[skywarrior]

That sounds just awesome.

[CynTEAa]

So, one could theoretically take any jar of decent jam and the super strength lapsang and apply Mary's method to make a fancy schmancy smoky jelly for their holiday table, yes?

Think I'm going to need that pocket rule.... "add to cart."

[Mary R]

I guess you could! My gran's jelly was super sweet, so perhaps maybe a little less lapsang strength, but I think it could work just fine.

And for the kitchen gadget freaks , a Windsor pan or a saucier (aka reduction sauce pan, aka about a thousand other names) will help speed up the reduction. I sort of prefer the saucier because the rounded pot shape makes it a little easier to stir. Actually, sauciers make for great general saucepans too...

[hop_goblin]

Mary, I have tried boiling eggs in a Lapsang. I thought that the smokiness would go great with my ham. I didn't boil the eggs but made them softhard. They came out nice. Not as smoky as I would of liked but smoky nonetheless. They looked cool as well. Almost like faux alabaster or marble.

I just put 4 teabags of Lapsang in the boiling water, and Voila. Oh, to get the marble effect, I used a spoon to crack the shell ever so lightly when they were halfway done.

[Mary R]

I've been meaning to try that tea-egg thing, but hadn't thought of doing it with lapsang. It would be a great way to finish that tin off, though. (I'll never drink it...no matter how good my intentions are.) I'll put that on my "to do soon" list.

[hop_goblin]

I think the LapS eggs are great! My girl friend likes them as they are an alternative to a smoke breakfast meat ( She is a veg-head) Give it shot!