How many opened jars of jams, jellies and preserves are hiding in your refrigerator? Two? Five?
If you’re Kathy Senft, the answer is “at least” seven or eight. She and her husband Wayne, along with David Baranik and two of their sons, are One Screw Loose, an artisan jelly company based in Stockbridge, Georgia. They sell at local farmers markets and through retailers like the Beehive and Ale Yeah! that sell locally produced products.
The jars in the Senfts’ refrigerator include their own commercial products, as well as jars of the fig preserves and muscadine jelly they make for themselves and to share with friends.
“I’ve always made jelly and things like that,” said Kathy Senft. “About five years ago my husband retired and we decided we wanted to start a business. My youngest son, Chopper, said I ought to try making jelly with beer. It turned out to be a lot harder than we thought but in September 2011, we were in business.”
Four years later, they’re busy making jams and jellies almost every day. They keep at least nine flavors in rotation including Orange Apparition (oranges with ghost peppers), Brew Ha Habanero (IPA beer with habanero peppers), Big Apple Cider (apples and cinnamon) and Blue Chip Bourbon (blueberries with chipotle peppers and bourbon).
Each of their 24 flavors is made by hand in a small commercial kitchen. Seasonal and holiday favorites like apple-onion-sage and orange-cranberry-pecan rotate through production along with the beer and wine flavors they’re widely known for. “The beer flavors turned out to be the biggest challenge. We had to figure this out on our own, but it seems the carbonation from the fermentation process means you have to cook the jellies to a higher temperature.”
On a big production day they might make as many as 600 jars of jelly from recipes that make 48 to 60 jars per batch. “We find our customers are looking for food that is ‘simple.’ We see them reading our ingredient list all the time. Tea, peaches, sugar, ginger and pectin. That’s all that goes into our Sweet Tea Ginger Peach jelly.”
They’re particularly proud that much of what they use is grown or made in Georgia. “We buy our beer from Jailhouse Brewing Company in Hampton. We buy from all the farmers at the farmers markets and do our best to do business with as many local people as we possibly can,” said Senft.
Aside from slathering their jellies on toast and biscuits, how do the Senfts use up all those jars? (And make room for more?)
Sixteen ideas from Kathy Senft on how to use up those jars of jam and jelly in your refrigerator:
1. Top a hot dog (try any pepper jelly).
2. In a grilled cheese sandwich.
3. In a ramen noodle bowl (instead of a sweet Asian chili sauce, use a sweet or tangy jelly).
4. Glaze roasted or steamed vegetables.
5. Over meatballs. Mix a small drained jar of sauerkraut with your favorite jelly and pour over meatballs in a slow cooker.
6. Glaze a hot-off-the-grill fish fillet or chicken thigh. Or chicken wings.
7. In a turkey or chicken burger. Mix 2 tablespoons of jelly into a pound of ground chicken or turkey. Add a chopped onion, an egg and two teaspoons mustard. Form into patties and grill.
8. As a marinade for seafood or poultry by mixing jelly with orange juice and soy sauce.
9. Deglaze a roasting pan instead of using wine or broth.
10. As a topper for cheese. Cover brie with any wine or pepper jelly and bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes. Serve with crackers and fruit.
11. As a brie or goat cheese bite. Unroll a tube of crescent rolls and put a small cube of cheese into the center of each roll. Roll up and bake according to package directions, then top with a tablespoon of jelly while hot.
12. In thumbprint cookies.
13. In muffins. Drop a spoonful of jelly into the center of muffin batter before baking.
14. To candy pecans. In a large skillet, toast pecans until they just become fragrant, then stir in a tablespoon of jelly and heat until jelly becomes very thick and coats the pecans.
15. As a filling for a layer cake.
16. In a peanut butter and jelly sandwich (this is the Senfts’ favorite).
Topper: Jams and jellies are great with toast, but they make wonderful condiments, too.
Our Favorite Pork Tenderloin
Kathy Senft likes to use locally grown mushrooms in this dish, particularly oyster or shiitake mushrooms, but button mushrooms will do as well. The mushrooms and onions will exude a lot of liquid, which turns into a loose gravy the Senfts like to serve over rice or mashed potatoes. If you want to reduce the amount of liquid the dish produces, slowly dry saute the mushrooms and onions until they have shed a little of their liquid and then add them to the tenderloin and bake.
Senft also suggests using this same method to cook chicken breasts or a salmon fillet.
1 (1 1/2 -pound) pork tenderloin
Salt, black pepper and cayenne pepper, to taste
1 pound sliced mushrooms
2 cups sliced onions
1 cup jelly or jam, your choice
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a 9-by-13-inch baking dish.
Trim any bits of fat and silverskin from tenderloin. Arrange tenderloin in baking dish and sprinkle with salt, black pepper and cayenne pepper on all sides. Arrange mushrooms and onions around tenderloin. Pour jelly on top. Don’t worry about breaking it up, the jelly will liquefy as it cooks and baste everything in the dish. Cover with foil and bake 45 minutes or until tenderloin registers 145 degrees. Remove from oven, remove foil and allow to cool 5 minutes before serving. Serves: 6
Per serving: 307 calories (percent of calories from fat, 12), 26 grams protein, 43 grams carbohydrates, 2 grams fiber, 4 grams fat (1 gram saturated), 74 milligrams cholesterol, 79 milligrams sodium.
Raspberry-Merlot Jelly
Senft likes the combination of merlot and raspberries, but says Syrah will work as well. If you like, add finely chopped rosemary or freshly cracked black pepper to the wine-raspberry mixture. She likes adding a tablespoon of this jelly to a sheet pan of roasted vegetables, or serving it with goat cheese and toasted pecans.
3 cups merlot
8 ounces raspberries (about 2 cups)
4 cups granulated sugar
1 (6-ounce) package liquid pectin (2 pouches)
Fill a large stockpot or canner half full of water and bring to a simmer.
Wash jars and screw bands in hot, soapy water; rinse with warm water. Pour boiling water over flat lids in a saucepan off heat. Let stand in hot water until ready to use. Drain well before filling.
In a large saucepan, bring wine to a boil. Add raspberries and then sugar and stir. When sugar is dissolved and the mixture returns to a boil, add both pouches of pectin. Bring the mixture back to a boil, and boil one minute. Remove the saucepan from the heat. Ladle the hot jelly into your prepared jars. Wipe rims and threads. Cover with two-piece lids. Screw bands on tightly. Place jars on elevated rack in stockpot or canner. Water must cover jars by 1 to 2 inches. Add boiling water if needed. Cover and bring water to a gentle boil. Boil 10 minutes. Remove jars from water and place upright on a towel to cool completely. After jars cool, check seals by pressing middle of lid with finger. If lid springs back, lid is not sealed and you must refrigerate the jars for storage. Makes: 7 cups
Per 1-tablespoon serving: 38 calories (percent of calories from fat, 1), trace protein, 9 grams carbohydrates, trace fiber, trace fat (no saturated fat), no cholesterol, 7 milligrams sodium.
Perfect Pear Preserves
Senft says she wouldn’t make any changes to this recipe, prepared just the way her grandmother would have made it. While these preserves are a classic match for hot buttered biscuits, they’re delicious served with goat cheese or blue cheese or used as a glaze for a holiday pork roast.
Traditionally these preserves would have been made with hard Southern pears like the Kieffer, but Bartlett or Anjou pears will work fine.
2 1/2 pounds firm pears (about 6 pears)
7 cups granulated sugar
Peel, core and thinly slice the pears and put them in a large bowl or saucepan. Add sugar and stir. Move bowl or pan to refrigerator and let rest overnight. Do not add water. The sugar will draw liquid from the pears.
The next day, fill a large stockpot or canner half full of water and bring to a simmer.
Wash jars and screw bands in hot, soapy water; rinse with warm water. Pour boiling water over flat lids in a saucepan off heat. Let stand in hot water until ready to use. Drain well before filling.
In a large saucepan, slowly heat the pear-sugar mixture for an hour or until it reaches the thickness you prefer. Ladle the hot preserves into your prepared jars. Wipe rims and threads. Cover with two-piece lids. Screw bands on tightly. Place jars on elevated rack in stockpot or canner. Water must cover jars by 1 to 2 inches. Add boiling water if needed. Cover and bring water to a gentle boil. Boil 5 minutes. Remove jars from water and place upright on a towel to cool completely. After jars cool, check seals by pressing middle of lid with finger. If lid springs back, lid is not sealed and you must refrigerate the jars for storage. Makes: 4 1/2 cups
Per 1-tablespoon serving: 84 calories (percent of calories from fat, 1), trace protein, 22 grams carbohydrates, trace fiber, trace fat (no saturated fat), no cholesterol, trace sodium.
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