Sandwiches + Preserves
I’ve been super tucked away in the Minifactory kitchen, but last week I got outside to harvest the first snips of evergreen tips from around the farm. We sent the first batches of Rhubarb Cherry Evergreen Tip Honey Conserve straight to Poppy Cafe in Burlington.
For the second year Poppy is filling their ‘Rhubarbra Streisand’ with my favorite VSP conserve. Co-owners of Poppy, Abby and Emily Portman, opened their shop during Covid and immediately started selling out of their stacked, juicy, veg forward sandwiches. They instantly established themselves as experts on crafting the perfect textural and flavor cross sections and their sammy cutaways on IG are local legend. Behold…
Abby and Emily Portman of Poppy Cafe, in front of a mural painted by Juniper Creative at 88 Oak St, a collaborative kitchen space with Cafe Mamajuana and All Souls Tortilla.
Poppy Cafe’s ‘Rhubarbara Streisand’
Prosciutto cotto, lemony asparagus salad, manchego, basil/tarragon aioli, pickled reds, watermelon radish, arugula, focaccia bread crumbs and the Rhubarb Cherry Evergreen Tip Conserve.
Sandwich Chat with Poppy Cafe
V Smiley Preserves: What came first, the Rhubarb Cherry Evergreen Tip Honey Conserve flavor or the sandwich?
Poppy Cafe: The preserve came first! We wanted to do a collaboration with V Smiley Preserves, and this was a flavor that was in season and we wanted to highlight. We spent a few weeks recipe testing until we came up with this specific combination. Our main focus was using the jam to showcase spring flavors and vegetables.
VSP: When developing new sandwiches for your menu, does a single ingredient act as a springboard? Or do you build off of a compelling pairing of flavors?
PC: It depends. We are all over the place when it comes to recipe development. In the past, we have started with an ingredient, a region of the world, colors, childhood dishes, and even funny names. It keeps things interesting for the crew!
VSP: What about this flavor do you find so appealing as a sandwich condiment?
PC: This jam is a perfect sandwich condiment. It has such a complex flavor, yet is light and easily pairable. It gives the perfect touch of sweetness while enhancing the savory elements.
VSP: Other preserve flavors and pairings you recommend everyone tries when making sandwiches at home?
PC: I love the Navel Orange Mission Fig Cardamom Marmalade. To me, a thick slice of sourdough bread with the marmalade and a swipe of cream cheese is perfection.
Take it Home
This super simple and classic flavor combo briefly appeared on the Minifactory Menu when we could get our hands on Slowfire Croissants. All those croissants are currently going to the Burlington Farmer’s Market but you can make this at home!
Pick up some local croissants, mix 1/2 tsp of dijon in 1 TBSP mayo to make the dijonaise, grab some Cherry Fennel Sherry Honey Jam, melt your favorite cheese on slices of ham while the sliced croissant warms beside the ham.
One side of the croissant interior gets dijonaise and the other gets the jam. The dijon and cherry combo is the magic! (Doooon’t skip the mustard.) Stack it all up and eat!
Bring Us Home
How do you like to stack sweet and savory? Adding marinated veggies, sharp cheeses and meats bring more texture and flavor depth.
Start simple with a grilled cheese slathered in chunky marmalade (for that bit of texture) or take a nod from Poppy and opt for a slice of fresh sourdough bread with preserves and a swipe of cream cheese.
You can get this marmalade and fresh cheese experience at Minifactory right now! Ours comes on a biscuit naturally.
Rich, thick and tangy rhubarb jam infused with spruce and pine tips from the trees' spring growth. The evergreen tips give a green and bright perfume to the flavor. The rhubarb comes from our farm, Lil To Do, and evergreen tips are foraged in New Haven. The dried sour cherries and plums are organic. Wonderful cheese pairing preserve, this is also one that I'm guilty of eating straight from the jar.
Ingredients: rhubarb, honey, dried organic sour cherries, lemon juice, dried organic plums, evergreen tips.
A popular marmalade among the citrus marmalade collection. It's full of lemon juice plumped organic mission fig pieces and the navel orange peel is unblanched so the flavor has enough heartiness to make orange marmalade fans happy.
This marmalade is rich and sweet from the figs and warm from the cracked green cardamom pods steeped into the marmalade throughout the cooking process.
Eat this with aged cheddars!
This honey sweetened marmalade contains: honey, organic lemons, organic navel orange, organic mission & turkish figs, lemon juice, cardamom, (the existing label says this marmalade contains rum, but we stopped using rum in the recipe in 2016) .
A jammy nod to BBQ sauces, this savory & HOT preserve tastes like August summer. A jar of this Peach Tomato Lime and Chili Jam slides gracefully from your cheeseboard to pulled pork sandwiches and into your arsenal of BBQ mops you pull out alongside your grill and favorite style of ribs.
The tomatoes and chilies come from our very own Lil To Do Farm. Bulgarian Carrot Chilies live up to their name in looks (slender and orange) and pack a fruity flavor but without the heat of a habanero though the piquancy on this preserves falls into the HOT category.
This honey sweetened jam contains: peaches (Hudson Valley, NY / Pennsylvania / VT / certified organic), tomatoes, honey, lime juice, bulgarian carrot peppers, lemon juice, lime zest.
I use this jam in my home kitchen more than any other flavor. I use it every and anywhere I'd use ketchup. Organic heirloom tomatoes (from our home farm Lil To Do at 3343 River Rd New Haven) and Singing Cedars Farm, cooked with honey, lemon juice, urfa biber and silk chili peppers and sea salt. This jam celebrates all that is fruity in the tomato. Heat level on this is medium-hot
An exceedingly versatile preserve, Tomato Jam is salty, sweet, spicy and wants to join almost any toast, egg, beans or combine with tart fresh cheeses and create a base layer for flatbreads. This plays beautifully alongside many cheeses. Then Tomato Jam steps easily into pastry fillings. If you're still confused by Tomato Jam, just fry up some bacon and start dipping.
This honey sweetened jam contains: tomatoes, honey, lemon juice, urfa biber pepper, silk chili pepper, habanero and bulgarian pepper, sea salt.
The evolution of the elderflower into elderberries is the most simultaneously sensible and magical of transformations.
A jam that leans savory with the peppy grapefruit and piquant white peppercorn, this flavor is perfect for morning toast especially if it involves a fried egg and some avocado.
This jam would also be perfect for lamb, beef and game roasts.
For Cheese, start with blue cheese but try it with hard raw milk cheeses and even cheddar is delightful too!
Ingredients: elderberries, gooseberry, honey, lemon juice, grapefruit rind, white peppercorn
A customer favorite, this savory leaning jam is complex and surprising.
Cherry Sherry Fennel Jam can temper super sweet bakes and tame intense vegetables. It gets along with nearly every cheese type.
Eat this with mustard and prosciutto, roasted ham, sheep's milk cheese, roast beef sandwiches with lots of mustard, or use it as a sauce with labneh for roasted brussels sprouts or any brassica like roasted cabbage, rapini, cauliflower, etc.
This honey sweetened jam contains: sour cherries, honey, apples, lemon juice, pedro ximenez sherry vinegar, orange zest, toasted fennel seed.