Where did summer go? Did it even happen? I think many of you are just as confused as I am but like it or not, we need to wake up and smell the roses - it is now officially fall. Hey, don't you get depressed on me now because one thing's for certain: fall always means warm and delicious comfort food! Pumpkin, cinnamon, orange, nutmeg, apricots - they all conjure up such wonderful visions of cool-weather comfort foods.
In the spirit of a new season, I've included three super-easy pairing recipes using jam and various fall ingredients. Each recipe takes only 15 minutes to create and has 5 ingredients or less. I think they all taste great and are worth a try if you want to embrace the cool weather as we head into autumn.
ORANGE GLAZED SWEET AND SPICY PORK
September has arrived and with it, hints of autumn, leaves turning orange and red, and kids everywhere going back to school. With orange already a natural choice for flavouring pork in fall, the addition of chili flakes in this pairing recipe serves as an additional fall dimension to the dish. The pork loin, which is sliced thin, makes this dish perfect as a canapé or as an hors d'oeuvre at dinner parties.
Ingredients
2 boneless pork loin chops, thinly sliced
2 tablespoons orange marmalade
Salt, pepper and chili flakes to taste
Directions
In a shallow dish, mix together salt, pepper and chili flakes. Add pork slices and turn to coat evenly with mixture. Preheat grill for high heat and lightly oil grate. Cook on grill for 15 minutes, or until meat is cooked through. Remove from grill. On a plate, brush on orange marmalade before serving.
SKINNY PUMPKIN SPICE GRANOLA PARFAIT
Since pumpkin and cinnamon are so popular this time of year, I thought it would be a great idea to add the two ingredients to granola, which is super tasty as a snack, with milk, or in this case, over yogurt. As a food blogger who dines out way too much, I often have granola and yogurt for lunch. It is quick, healthy yet tasty and filling. This particular parfait uses non-fat yogurt and Smucker's Sugar-Free Wildberry Jam, making this a really nutritious, low fat, high-energy lunch.
Ingredients
1/2 cup non-fat yogurt
2 tablespoons of Smucker’s Sugar-Free Wildberry Jam
2 tablespoons granola
1 teaspoon pumpkin spice
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
Directions
Mix granola, pumpkin spice and cinnamon together in a small bowl. Layer mason jar with yogurt and jam, then top with spiced granola.
VANILLA SPICE APRICOT OATMEAL
Brrrrr! There's a chill in the air. You know summer is long gone when 1) It's still dark outside when you open your eyes, 2) You find yourself huddled under the covers, contemplating whether you need to start turning the heat on, and finally 3) You crave a hot breakfast. With the temperature creeping lower and lower these days, the one thing that motivates me to get out of the bed is the promise of a bowl of hot spiced oatmeal. This hearty breakfast is so fast and easy to make that it almost seems wrong to just have it for yourself. So, in honour of chilly mornings, I cooked up a batch on Sunday so that everybody in the house could have some to eat all week.
Ingredients
3 1/2 cups water
2 cups old-fashioned oats
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon apricot jam
Pinch of nutmeg
Directions
In a medium saucepan, bring water to a boil. Stir in oats. Reduce the heat to low and simmer, stirring occasionally, uncovered, for 5 minutes. When the oats are cooked, remove pan from the flame and stir in the vanilla extract and nutmeg. Place the oatmeal in serving bowls, add jam, stir and serve.
Smucker’s Pairings for Fall Entertaining are a simple, easy way to create delicious food combinations with jam and other ingredients, designed help you discover how Fall flavours mingle together for mouthwatering results. Each pairing has 5 ingredients or less, and is ready in less than 15 minutes. Because with a name like Smucker’s, it has to be good. For specific information on our jam flavours and varieties, please visit www.smuckers.ca
Disclosure: This post was brought to you by Smucker’s Foods of Canada via Mode Media Canada. The opinions expressed herein are those of the author and are not indicative of the opinions or positions of Smucker’s Foods of Canada.