Friends, this week (like so many of the others in recent memory) has left me breathless and dashing from one thing to another. I have so much I want to say here and so little time in which to do it. However, I hate leaving this space fallow for too many days in a row, so I’ve dropped in to offer up a quick little mention of one of my current favorite ways to eat up jam.
It is simply a piece of toast, spread with ricotta cheese and topped with some sort of preserve. The one you’re looking at now is apricot jam. It works equally well with something with a peach, plum or cherry base (ricotta likes the stonefruits). It’s basic, grocery store ricotta that I first picked up on a whim a few weeks back. Now it’s a refrigerator staple.
Cheese & jam, together at last. 🙂 I bet this would be exceptional with fig jam and maybe a couple basil or mint leaves.
I do this frequently with chevre. I love the tang of the cheese with the sweetness of the preserves.
Also delicious with cream cheese & jam.
Toast with ricotta and tomato jam is fabulous. Also, using jam as a spread with a grilled cheese is lovely.
There’s a fabulous bit in _Scout’s Progress_ (or maybe the one that comes after in the series) by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller that talks about making toasted cheese sandwiches with either a sweet or spicy spread. They go for sweet, using apple butter and two kinds of cheese. Aside from being a very sweet romantic scene, it sounds incredibly tasty.
Depending on the fruit, cheese and jam is wonderful. Last year I made fig and it was wonderful with chevre and hot pepper jelly is great with cheese.
Another simple breakfast is toast cottage cheese topped with jam. This year I have so far made blueberry and blackberry jam. Next up is peach and hoping for a good crop of figs.
Marissa, have your tried making ricotta from scratch (the milk way takes minutes, but technically it’s really paneer, I’ve read)? Sooooooooooo easy and much better than store bought. I just tried it last week and will never buy store bought again. I am also now willing to eat it in ways other than just lasagna, so I’ll now have to try your jam and ricotta combo.
Oh, thanks for this idea! Peanut butter isn’t quite what I’m looking for with my ginger plum jam, but I think ricotta would be perfect.
Looks amazing, I wouldn’t have thought to put jam and cheese together!
I love cheese and pepper jelly together! I made jalapeno jelly early in the summer and pairing it with cream cheese and crackers is one of my favorite snacks!
I am hooked on goat cheese (chevre) made by a local creamery and my own apricot jam. Food of the Gods! It’s so unbelievably good — I took a little 4oz jar of my jam to the goat cheese gal at the farmer’s market so she could experience the bliss!
Ah, jam & cheese! A winner. Try carrot cake jam over cream cheese. Or apple marmalade over homemade cheddar cheese spread. I’ve been eating my cherry whiskey jam over Greek yogurt lately, too. I know that the Brits sometime sweeten tea with jam. Haven’t tried that yet, as I’m the sort who uses a slice of lemon, if anything, in a cup of tea. But it’s on the list.