The Food in Jars Kitchen: 140 Ways to Cook, Bake, Plate, and Share Your Homemade Pantry

by Marisa McClellan

The book Food in Jars readers have been waiting 140 recipes for the preserving kitchen, helping you use up your homemade pantry!

Marisa McClellan wants everyone to know that a pantry full of homemade jams, jellies, salsas, and pickles can do a whole lot more than accompany toast. They can add bold bursts of flavor to your home cooking! In her fourth book, she provides 140 recipes for incorporating preserves into everyday dishes. It is as simple as stirring applesauce into a dish of baked oatmeal, brushing apricot jam onto a whole chicken, or building your pasta salad with a jar of pickled vegetables. Recipes
With chapters focusing on great ways to use preserves throughout the day and for every meal, readers aren't required to have a specific preserve on hand to work, making this cookbook flexible and easy to use for both experienced and novice canners.

As one of the most beloved voices in canning and preserving, Marisa serves as a kitchen muse to help each reader complete the cycle of empty jar to empty jar. Add The Food in Jars Kitchen to your collection, an inspired workhorse of delicious eats.

Genres: Cookbooks, Food, Nonfiction, Cooking, Food Preservation, Reference

240 pages, Hardcover

Published April 2, 2019

About the author

Marisa McClellan is a food blogger, freelance writer and canning teacher based in Center City Philadelphia. She runs a website called Food in Jars, where she writes about canning, preserving and delicious things made from scratch.

She writes for the Taproot Magazine and Edible Philly. She is the author of four cookbooks. They are Food in Jars, Preserving by the Pint, Naturally Sweet Food in Jars, and The Food in Jars Kitchen.

Reviews

[Shipshapeeatworthy · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Food in Jars Kitchen is, in my opinion, unique and completely inspiring. As she tells it in the introduction most people "love canning, but have trouble using up the contents of their homemade pantry." This is where the book was born -- providing ideas on how to use preserves and not just in the obvious ways (hello, toast!) Now, while I don't have a homemade pantry I do have a pantry full of store-bought sauerkraut, jams, salsas, and pickles that I need inspiration on how to use. I know I'm not the only one to have a half-jar of this-or-that in my fridge that I don't want to go to waste! What I appreciate most is that McClellan offers easy and accessible ways to curb potential food waste. With her book I've baked and cooked many things that my family has enjoyed. From granola to scones, dressings to soups, she offers recipes big or small to suit any occasion.

Now I like toast and jam as much as the next person but through the recipes in The Food in Jars Kitchen I found more than a handful of ways to use jam that doesn't require a butter knife or toast. The first recipe I tried was her recipe for Basic Jam-Streaked Scones -- here the jam is pocketed in the dough so that once the scones are baked your welcomed by some delicious ribbons of jam woven into the oven-warm scone. This recipe also serves as a blueprint/guide for making other variations on this theme (throughout McClellan's cookbook she offers flexible recipes like this that you can use in any way that suits you). It's not a one jam fits all type of scenario. Her recipes work whether you're using your own homemade pantry or the store-bought stuff -- a sign of well-tested recipes.

Another recipe that I tried and really loved is her Basic Jammy Granola -- which is made in the same way that every other granola is made except for the liquid ingredients, which consist of butter/oil and jam. Not only does the jam work to sweeten the granola and add flavour, I found that it gives a nice chewy texture to the granola. My daughter and I mixed it up, baked it, and found that it was nearly impossible not to eat it off the baking sheet before we could get it stored. This granola is insanely good! And, as you can see, I'm a big fan of Bonne Maman jams (not sponsored, I wish!) and I think that when the holiday season arrives, I'll be baking up this granola to gift instead of cookies (it'll also let me use up all of the jars that I've been saving too)! Since I've mentioned giving homemade food gifts, another great example of this is her dad's recipe, Mo's Famous Pancake Mix, that she shares in the book. The mix itself is full of great ingredients (whole wheat flour, honey toasted wheat germ, fine cornmeal -- just to name a few). Reading her recipe head notes she explains how her dad perfected his own pancake mix that he would gift to friends and family over the holidays. The mix results in some delicious pancakes -- both the flavour and texture owing to great ingredients.

While I tried many jam recipes, it's not all about jam! Her recipes for pickled vegetables are great too! Sometimes I find that when I buy a big jar of sauerkraut, we get about half-way through before my family gets tired of it and I'm forced to force it on them. Using her Sauerkraut Frittata recipe, I was able to take the lingering jar from the fridge and finish it off. The combination of eggs and sauerkraut is delicious and tastes great with hot sauce. Next, I tried the recipe for Pickled Beet Borchst -- don't tell my baba this but I think this version is way better than hers! The recipe uses the pickled beet brine to flavour the soup and the pickled beets (chopped with chives) as the garnish. I normally have a jar of pickled beets on hand because we love to eat them in salads, however, I think I'll be putting this soup recipe into my rotation. Normally I have a jar of salsa in the pantry for when the urge to dive into a plate of nachos arises, but I seconded the jar to use in her Brown Rice, Bean, and Salsa Casserole. The epitome of a one-pan weeknight meal, we really enjoyed this deconstructed skillet-version of our favourite burrito. Hearty, delicious, and warming (inexpensive too!) this skillet meal is the ultimate comfort food -- I highly recommend it for a Meatless Monday main dish.

Although The Food in Jars Kitchen does offer recipes to suit those who enjoy a meatier diet, I found there were more than enough plant-based recipes to satisfy me. The cookbook is divided into 13 chapters: Breakfast + Brunch, Snacks + Toasts, Dips + Spreads, Sauces + Condiments, Salads + Sides, Braises, Soups, + Roasts, Yeasted Loaves + Rolls, Cookies + Bars, Cakes, Puddings, + Cobblers, Pies + Tarts, Drinks, Frozen Treats, and, finally, Essential Preserves. As I've cooked through her book, I've come to really appreciate her clear instructions and her homey, comfort-food based recipes. She offers recipes that home cooks of any ability can enjoy making.

In our modern era of food preservation, it's not only important to have the preserves in your pantry but to also have a plan on how to use and consume them. As McClellan says what she's offering is an "empty-jar-to-empty- jar education" -- she shows how to preserve, then how to cook or bake with those jars full of preserves and pickles. I really appreciate that McClellan offers recipes that suit any occasion from a basic weeknight meal to ones perfect for when you're entertaining family and friends. With 140 recipes there's an abundance of inspiration!

Please note that this review is an excerpt of a review posted to www.shipshapeeatworthy.wordpress.com

I would like to take this opportunity to thank Running Press and Hachette Book Group Canada for providing me with a free, review copy of this book. I did not receive monetary compensation for my post, and all thoughts and opinions expressed are my own.

[Jessica Hicks · Rating 5 out of 5]

Food In Jars is for people like me who get way too excited about canning season and find themselves with 80 jars of jam to use in one year 😅. Marisa McClellan does a great job of establishing herself as an authority on how to use preserved food in a variety of ways. It’s rare that I LOVE everything I make from a cookbook but that’s what happened here! Even more rare- my kids loved everything too! What a treat!

Here’s what I made:
🍐 Fruit Butter Baked Oatmeal- I used pear butter and it made my house smell so good. I loved how long it lasted in the refrigerator- I got to have yummy oatmeal all week!
🍑 Jam-Lacquered Chicken Wings- I have this peach jelly that didn’t set very well and now I know what to do with it! It made a great sauce for these wings.
🍕 Peach Jam, Onion, and Goat Cheese Pizza- I knew this would be good when I read the recipe but it really blew me away. The peach jam and goat cheese complement each other perfectly. I loved every bite! I can’t wait to try more jam pizzas!
🥩 Sweet-and-Sour Beef Short Ribs- I used plum jam for this one. Braised it for 3 hours. Seriously tasty. Who knew plum jam and red wine vinegar made such delicious sauce?

Excited to keep cooking from this book!!

[Jenna · Rating 3 out of 5]

No pictures 😔 but a few things that sound interesting to try

[CrystalIsReading on StoryGraph · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Food in Jars Kitchen is a fascinating, creative cookbook, full of excellent food photography, and easy-to-follow yet flexible recipes. The genius of the cookbook is the basic concept--that we all have various forms of preserved foods--jams, sauerkraut/ kimchi, pickles, etc--sitting around waiting to be used, and often going to waste. This might be foods we preserved ourselves, but is just as likely to be leftovers of preserves we purchased. Marisa McClellan has come up with recipes that make use of these products in delicious, often-unexpected ways. The food photography makes me hungry. The personal notes or explanations with the recipes are generally short and relevant. And the recipes come in a range of fascinating for me--some sound like clear winners (Jam Glazed Nuts, Pickled Beet Borscht, Jam Vinaigrette, and Plum Teriyaki Sauce, for example. Others have great potential (Chocolate Sauerkraut Cake, Peach Jam. Onion, and Goat Cheese Pizza, Sauerkraut Soup, Herbed Marmalade Marinade, and Sauerkraut Frittata). And then there's a few recipes, like Marmalade, Olive, and Feta Pizza, that trigger my gag reflex just reading the recipe.
Of course, some recipes simply aren't relevant to me--I have so many food restrictions that this is my experience with most non-specialty cookbooks, and isn't a criticism of the book. If you eat meat, Jam Lacquered Chicken Wings and Brisket with Cherry Jam both sound delicious. If you can eat gluten, there are so many recipes for baked goods and breakfast items and granola and other snacks that sound delightful but unfortunately would involve too much substitution for me to be even worth it. There's also a fair number of recipes with dairy and eggs, which I also prefer to avoid.
I will admit I didn't get around to trying any recipes other than the Borsch so far--but that was delicious, and I have confidence that may of the other recipes will as well. My copy is due back to the library, so I'll have to get my hands on a copy of my own so that I can try the rest of the recipes I'm interested in at my leisure. I do recommend picking up this cookbook and giving it a try. In our culture of food waste, cookbooks like this, that promote making use of food that might otherwise go to waste, are badly needed, and this is a brilliant example of that type of cookbook.

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

I initally thought this was a book about making perserved food (food in jars) but it is more about using perserved foods. I liked the concept of this book. Would have liked this to go a bit further than it did but there were some great ideas especially the ones about using jam to add flavorings to salad dressings, drinks, marinades and homemade ice cream.

[Patricia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved every word! So many great recipes and versions to use up all those cans in the pantry. Her writing is clear and her tone so warm and encouraging. I can't decide which recipe to start with, but I'm super excited to work through this book.

[Rachael · Rating 5 out of 5]

Full of fun ideas to use up jams and jellies, not just for people who have excess from canning, but when you needed that little bit of apricot jam for a recipe and then didn't know what to do with the rest.

[Alice Garner · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thoroughly enjoyable! Recipes a novice can handle and they sound scrumptious! Whether the reader cans their own produce or buys it off a store shelf, they can use and enjoy this book and the homey notes that accompany each recipe.

[Julie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting ideas about how to use your home canning in ways beyond the obvious. There is only so much jammy toast one can eat… Savoury uses for fruit jams as well as sweet. Pickles and chutneys are covered as well. Worth a browse.

[Mary Beth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great ideas for pantry items.

[Terri · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautiful book - lots of hints and recipes

[Abbe · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved how versatile this cookbook is. I've already made the focaccia and the tomato jam which were both big hits. I can't wait to make many more of these recipes!

[Dna · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not what I thought it was going to be. Some nice recipes, but overall forgettable.

[Tam G · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting ideas. A collection of recipes which would use home-canned (fruit and pickles mostly) items.

[Rachel Mercer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good ideas for using different ingredients

[Terri Fleming · Rating 1 out of 5]

Very disappointing. Not at all as advertised.

[Jessica · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've seen other cookbooks that are half canning and half recipes using the canned ingredients, but this one is very unique. McClellan talks about the value of canning produce at peak season and using those canned products in a variety of ways, but her recipes aren't tied to specific canning recipes. They say things in the ingredient list like "fruit butter," "any runny jam," "any well set jelly," etc. It makes using these recipes MUCH easier and it's based on what you've canned or like to eat. She also emphasizes that it doesn't have to be home-canned, it could be canned products from the farmers market, a friend, or the grocery store. I think this makes for a much more well-rounded cookbook. There are also several recipes I'd like to try.