When the temperatures drop, my palate shifts along with my craving for cozy fall sweaters, and I find myself drawn to new flavour combinations that mimic the changing fall colours and my desire for something a little on the spicier side. 

Last weekend, Kitten and the Bear had the pleasure of being the guest chef at our friends Food & Liquor’s weekly summer BBQ series!  It was such a blast, and allowed us to do something new and different from our normal routine.  A big thank you to everyone who came out and joined us for the end of summer fun!  

While preparing our little jam & tea themed BBQ menu, we realized that this would be a great chance to share some different ways to use jam to spice up your standard BBQ offerings.  Of course, in typical KATB style, we also couldn’t resist the opportunity to style a rustic backyard BBQ, perfect for this beautiful time of year when summer begins to give way to the first hints of autumn.  Pops of bright yellows and rich golds, fresh fruit and greenery transform a simple picnic table to a BBQ fit for a jam and tea queen!

Sweet Orange Marmalade Glazed Chicken

Ingredients:

6 humanely-raised chicken legs, skin-on
3 tbsp KATB Sweet Orange & Honeyed Whisky marmalade
1 tbsp dry white wine
1 tbsp olive oil
2 cloves of garlic, chopped fine
Sprigs of fresh rosemary and thyme, about 1 tsp chopped finely
Sea salt

Method:

1. Sprinkle your chicken legs generously with salt, set aside.
2. To make your marmalade glaze, combine marmalade, white wine, olive oil, fresh herbs, garlic and an additional sprinkle of salt (about ½ tsp) in a small jar or bowl.  Shake (or whisk) vigorously to thoroughly combine.
3. Oil the grill with a heat-proof grill brush to ensure your chicken legs won’t stick. Then heat up your BBQ to about medium-high heat.
4. Begin to sear off your chicken, starting with skin-side down - this will be your “presentation” side, so allow the chicken to cook until the chicken lifts easily off the grill and you have nice, neat grill lines, about 5-8 minutes with the grill top closed.  Then, open, flip the legs, and sear on the bottom side for about 5 minutes, closed.
5. Lower the heat to medium-low, and transfer all of the chicken legs to the top rack of your grill so they are off the direct heat.  Paint on your glaze, making sure to get some slices of orange, herbs and garlic chunks on there.  Close the grill, and cook for about 15 minutes, basting with more and more glaze about every 5 minutes.
6. Your chicken will start to look more and more golden brown and delicious as the sugar in the jam and wine caramelize.  We recommend checking your chicken with a meat thermometer to ensure its doneness -  chicken is fully cooked at 165 F degrees.  At this point, remove from the grill, and allow to rest about 3-5 minutes.
7. We served our marmalade glazed chicken alongside classic potato salad, fennel slaw, and a KATB mini scone, but any and all of your favourite BBQ sides will pair perfectly! Enjoy!

recipe created by Nigel French of Food & Liquor, yields about 4-6 drinks

Ingredients:

soda water
lots of ice
beverage dispenser or punch bowl

Method:

1. Brew your tea leaves in 1 L of boiling water for about 10 minutes, or until you have a strong, aromatic infusion.  Allow to cool to room temperature.
2. Combine all of the ingredients in a beverage dispenser or punch bowl, adding the Galliano last in small splashes to-taste.
3. Pour over ice and top with soda water for a bit of bubbles, and enjoy!

Mother's Day is right around the corner, and we are so excited about the jam and tea themed menu we’ve dreamt up for our Mother's Day Afternoon Tea that we wanted to share some of the highlights with you here.

Finally, Spring  is in the air!  As I’m sure you can imagine, this is one of our *berry* favourite seasons here at the jam factory.  Not only can we leave the door open with the beautiful, clean Canadian air filling the shop, but we begin to have all of the springtime bounty at our fingertips. The most flavourful berries and stone fruit of the year start to show up at the market, and thanks to all of the amazing growers that we work with, we also have the opportunity to get our hands on fresh petals- rose, violets, and elderflowers, all of which show their beauty during this sunny season.

What better way to celebrate the gorgeous weather than a tea-themed cocktail that promises to transport you to afternoon tea in an English garden?

-Serves 2-
Ingredients:

3 oz Dillon’s Unfiltered Gin 22
1 oz Lillet Blanc
5 dashes of Rhubarb or Cucumber Bitters
1/2 oz Wildflower Honey Syrup (4:1 ratio of honey to water, heated to a simmer then cooled)

1/2 tsp Jasmine Pink Lemonade loose leaf tea from Sloane Fine Tea
Edible Dried Rose Petals or Lavender Blossoms
Cucumber Ice
Sugar
Fresh Cucumber for garnish, sliced as thin as possible

Method:

• To make cucumber ice, add 1 large cucumber and splash of water to a food processor.  Blend completely, and add to 1 L of water.  Allow to infuse for 2-3 hours.
• Filter the cucumber water through a fine strainer, and pour into an ice cube tray.
• Allow to freeze overnight or until completely solid.

• To make floral dust to rim your cocktail coupes, add a tablespoon of dried flowers of your choice and a small pinch of sugar to a mortar and pestle. Grind until completely turned to dust.  
• Pour onto a small plate or teacup saucer, and add a teaspoon of sugar for sweetness and crystalline texture.  
• Using a small wedge of cucumber, moisten the rim of your glasses, and gently dip into floral dust. Set aside in a safe place.

• Combine Dillon's gin with the Jasmine Pink Lemonade tea leaves in a small bowl.  Flash infuse at room temperature for 5-10 minutes, then strain directly into your cocktail beaker.  
• Continue to add the Lillet Blanc, bitters, and honey syrup.
• Fill ¾ of the way with your homemade cucumber ice, stir thoroughly for approximately 1 minute, or until sufficiently cooled.
• Strain through a julep into your floral rimmed coupes. Garnish with a thinly sliced cucumber wheel, and enjoy!

Cheers to Springtime and fresh florals!

Barware available through Cocktail Kingdom or BYOB Cocktail Emporium.

Welcome to the colourful, lovely life of Kitten and the Bear!  

It's hard to believe that we are coming up on Kitten and the Bear's 5th birthday. It seems like just yesterday my husband Bobby and I started this adventure as a small side project to create something magical together, and over the years we’ve watched it grow into so much more. It makes me smile to think back on how far we’ve come from our tiny KATB online shop- we now have a beautiful storefront in our favourite bit of Toronto, we’ve met the most amazingly talented people from all over, and there’s something so special about knowing our jam is nestled in all of your pantries. In short, it’s absolutely surreal and oh so astounding.  

Here in our little world of fruit, sugar, and butter, we've enjoyed more yogurt parfaits, tea cocktails, cheese boards, and confiture-topped ice cream sundaes than you can dream of.  Within the pages of this blog you can look forward to endless delicious jam-centric recipe ideas, plus a glimpse into what goes on behind the scenes in our kitchen, the team that we like to call our “jamily”, and more. We’ll also be featuring guest posts from all of the friends we've met along the way - from farmers to bakers, tea sommeliers to style icons, chefs to bartenders- the list goes on and on!

Our sugary world is pretty sweet here at KATB, and we thought it was about time to spread the love!

Sophie