What Are You Preserving, and How Are You Doing It? (2016–)

[Anna N]

"I spent time yesterday cutting up massive amounts of okra, tossing it..."

I read this and got so excited that you had finally figured out what to do with okra. Damn. 

 

 Carry-on.

[catdaddy]

4 hours ago, Shelby said:

I spent time yesterday cutting up massive amounts of okra, tossing it with cornmeal and then baking it at 300F for 20 mins.  This "sets" it so it doesn't stick together.  I put it in zip locks and tossed in the freezer.  Next up:  jalapeños 

 

Brilliant. Definitely will try this.

[Tere]

I spent a good two hours at the weekend shelling the runner beans that had gotten away, and then had a fail as I tried placing them in the Aga lowest oven to dry out. They baked instead. Trying drying them the traditional way anyway. We shall see. No longer that glorious plum pinkness, but might make a winter stew.

 

[HungryChris]

It is hard to stand by helplessly and watch summer slip away, but this helps a little. One dozen ears of corn. The first snowy winter night, I'll be happy I did this.

HC

[rotuts]

@HungryChris

 

nice      Ive been wanting to do this for ages  but don't seem to get around to it

 

bet the corn will be mighty tasty this winter !

 

 

[ninagluck]

I got some vinegar mother (is this how you call it?), put on some fermented raspberry juice, lets wait and see

[Ashen]

Scotch Bonnets two ways.  pickled and smoke dried.   Also made a double batch of Tomato jam and lots of hot pepper jelly. 

[HungryChris]

Onion refrigerator pickles. I started doing these last year and really liked them.

HC

[Wayne]

 

Starting a lacto-fermentation of 2/3's Aji Limo and 1/3 Habanero peppers for what should be killer hot sauce. I plan to finish this with some pureed mango after fermentation is complete.

 

[ElainaA]

Our local cider mill opened this weekend so I made cider jelly (recipe from Christine Ferber's Mes Confitures). The color is just lovely. After a month processing tomatoes into everything I could think of it was fun to do jelly. 

 

[Shelby]

I'm slowly whittling away on that huge bag of jalapeños.  These suckers are HOT.  

 

The all green ones are pickled...the red and green are a recipe I found online called Cowboy Candy.  They are sweet and spicy.  I saved some of the leftover liquid.  I'm thinking it would be awesome on chicken wings.

 

 

Today I'm going to make some jelly....if I can get off my lazy butt.

[Shelby]

Ok jelly makers.  Did I miss a step?  How do you disperse the jalapeño throughout the jelly?   Or is this normal?  After the jars came out of the water bath I swirled them around but it made no difference.  

 

It took forever to de-seed and chop up 2 3/4 cups of jalapeños.  And I was nervous.  I'm a very new jelly maker.  But it set up nicely and it tastes really good.  I decided to skip the adding of the green food coloring.   Also, I was consulting two different recipes--that were ultimately the same.  I followed the directions precisely but they both said I would come out with 6 1/2 pints of jelly.  I got 3 with a bit in a 4th jar.  

 

Anyway, I have used up all those peppers so I'm happy.

 

 

 

[Wayne]

31 minutes ago, Shelby said:

Ok jelly makers.  Did I miss a step?  How do you disperse the jalapeño throughout the jelly?   Or is this normal?  After the jars came out of the water bath I swirled them around but it made no difference.  

 

It took forever to de-seed and chop up 2 3/4 cups of jalapeños.  And I was nervous.  I'm a very new jelly maker.  But it set up nicely and it tastes really good.  I decided to skip the adding of the green food coloring.   Also, I was consulting two different recipes--that were ultimately the same.  I followed the directions precisely but they both said I would come out with 6 1/2 pints of jelly.  I got 3 with a bit in a 4th jar.  

 

Anyway, I have used up all those peppers so I'm happy.

 

 

 

 

Hot pepper jellies are the only kind I make and I puree the de-stemmed peppers in a food processor or blender with liquid, leave it steep for awhile, strain through cheese cloth, then add the pepper 'tea' to your sugar as the recommended liquid component.

Works for me.

How did that Cowboy Candy work out? Like a hot pepper version of bread and butter pickles?

 

 

 

 

Edited October 5, 2016 by Wayne (log)

[sparrowgrass]

Shelby, cowboy candy rocks.  The syrup is the best part.  The first time I made it, I had to improvise, because I had no cayenne or turmeric.  I used an equal measure of Penzey's hot curry powder.  Everyone who tries it raves about it.

 

[Shelby]

14 minutes ago, Wayne said:

 

Hot pepper jellies are the only kind I make and I puree the de-stemmed peppers in a food processor or blender with liquid, leave it steep for awhile, strain through cheese cloth, then add the pepper 'tea' to your sugar as the recommended liquid component.

Works for me.

How did that Cowboy Candy work out? Like a hot pepper version of bread and butter pickles?

 

 

 

 

 

Ah.  Ok, so no pepper pieces.  I didn't look at enough different recipes to run across that method.  Thank you.

 

I think we will really like the Cowboy Candy.  These peppers are hot so I'm hoping the sweet helps lol.

Just now, sparrowgrass said:

Shelby, cowboy candy rocks.  The syrup is the best part.  The first time I made it, I had to improvise, because I had no cayenne or turmeric.  I used an equal measure of Penzey's hot curry powder.  Everyone who tries it raves about it.

 

YES!  The syrup!  I skipped the cayenne because of the hot in the peppers and I didn't have turmeric, either, so I just used plain curry powder.    Have you used the syrup in different ways?

[Smithy]

@Shelby, for what it's worth I'm glad you didn't put green food coloring in that jelly.  There's something revolting to me about vividly, unnaturally green jelly, like that cheap "mint jelly" that almost invariably accompanies lamb at restaurants. A green that's found in nature - for instance, from a good mint or basil jelly - now, that's another story: it can truly be a revelation.  But green food color?  No, thanks. Yours looks much prettier.

[ElainaA]

@Shelby  One way to get less fruit-float in jam is, once the jam is fully cooked, turn off the heat and leave it in the pan for 10 minutes or so, stirring it occasionally, before you put it in jars. It helps - but I still get float in some of my jams. For me, strawberry is the worst. Sometimes I pretend that it was on purpose - half jam, half jelly.  (I'm not sure anyone believes me though.)

[Shelby]

4 minutes ago, Smithy said:

@Shelby, for what it's worth I'm glad you didn't put green food coloring in that jelly.  There's something revolting to me about vividly, unnaturally green jelly, like that cheap "mint jelly" that almost invariably accompanies lamb at restaurants. A green that's found in nature - for instance, from a good mint or basil jelly - now, that's another story: it can truly be a revelation.  But green food color?  No, thanks. Yours looks much prettier.

Thank you!!!!  I feel the same way...that green is just.....icky.  But, I almost felt like I was committing a heretical act by leaving it out lol.

 

The first time I ever saw hot pepper jelly was when I was in like 2nd or 3rd grade in Colorado.  A family up there always hosted a Christmas Eve party and they served both the red and the green over cream cheese with crackers.  I thought it was so pretty and festive and it tasted soooooo good.  A whole new food for me.  After I filled up on crackers, jelly and cheese I then turned my attention to getting my parents to leave because I was terrified that Santa would stop by, see me NOT in bed, and leave.

[Shelby]

7 minutes ago, ElainaA said:

@Shelby  One way to get less fruit-float in jam is, once the jam is fully cooked, turn off the heat and leave it in the pan for 10 minutes or so, stirring it occasionally, before you put it in jars. It helps - but I still get float in some of my jams. For me, strawberry is the worst. Sometimes I pretend that it was on purpose - half jam, half jelly.  (I'm not sure anyone believes me though.)

Thank you!  Ok.  I will remember that.  It never crossed my mind about float until it was too late --I was going to ask here but I was nervous that the jam would start setting up before anyone answered lol.

[Ashen]

    you can also do a careful swirl  after processing with a very slight 15- 20 %  tip over angle at most.  certainly not best practice for canning but it works if you are careful. 

Edited October 5, 2016 by Ashen (log)

[Wayne]

 

It's interesting what you can learn from these forums.

Given that I'm a mediocre photographer at best I didn't think to use natural light to get a good jelly shot.

With regards to @ElainaA for the cider jelly , @Shelby for the jalapeno jelly and @Ashen for the pepper jelly shots here are my jalapeno and habanero jellies:

 

[Okanagancook]

Shelby, when I made my j jelly I kept flipping the jars as it cooled and the jelly set.  On its top then flip over to the bottom.  You can put them in the fridge to speed the setting and when it's getting thick take out and flip every 10 minutes or so.

 

i know that sounds like a lot fussing but it works.  You can easily be doing something else in the kitchen.

[ElainaA]

I just realized that we are down to the last 2 jars of ketchup. Luckily I still have lots of tomatoes. This started out as 4 quarts of cooked tomatoes pulp (put through the coarse disk of the food mill). It ended up as 5 cups of ketchup.

In process:

Finished:

[Shelby]

Oh Elaina, nice job!  Have you told me your ketchup recipe before?

 

[ElainaA]

3 hours ago, Shelby said:

Oh Elaina, nice job!  Have you told me your ketchup recipe before?

 

You know, I thought I posted it last summer but I can't find it. So here it is again:

We like this lots more than the commercial stuff.  It looks like a million ingredients but i bet most are in your pantry.

 

TOMATO KETCHUP    

here is the original recipe. My notes are at the end.

 

8 Quarts tomatoes (preferably plum tomatoes)

1 1/2 cups chopped onion

1/2 cup chopped sweet red pepper

1/2 cup chopped celery

2 cloves garlic minced

2 T salt

2 cups cider vinegar

1 T mustard seeds

1 stick cinnamon

1 T whole allspice berries

1 bay leaf

1 T. whole black peppercorns

1 t whole cloves 

2 T whole coriander seeds or 1 t ground coriander

1/4 t celery seed

1/4 t dried red pepper flakes or to taste

1/4 c. granulated sugar

1/2 c. packed dark brown sugar

 

1. Wash, drain and quarter the tomatoes. Boil them stirring occasionally, until soft, about 30 minutes. Measure 4 quarts of pulp into a large pot.
2. Add the onion, sweet red pepper, celery, garlic, salt and vinegar. Bring to a boil. 
3. In apiece of doubled cheesecloth, tie up the mustard seeds, allspice, cinnamon,peppercorns, cloves, bay leaf, coriander, celery seed and pepper flakes. Add to the tomatoes. Add the sugars. 
4. Cook over medium high heat, stirring occasionally, until ketchup thickens moderately.
5. Strain through a large sieve, pressing hard on the vegetables. Discard pulp and spice bag and strain again through a finer sieve (or line the sieve with doubled cheesecloth.) Taste for salt and sugar.
6. Boil until as thick as you want it, stirring occasionally.
7. ladle into sterilized, hot jars, leaving 1/2” head room, seal and process in a boiling water bath 10 minutes for half pints, 15 minutes for pints, adjusting for altitude. 
8. Ketchup will be best if you allow it to mellow in the jars for a month.

 

My notes: 

After cooking the tomatoes i put them through a food mill with the coarse disk to remove the skins. 

After I strain the ketchup through a sieve, I run the pulp through the food mill with the fine disk and add the resulting pulp to the pot.

For me, cooking it down to the thickness I like takes HOURS - like 4-5 hours. So I do this when I have other things to do in the kitchen.

 

This recipe is from Helen Witty's Better Than Store Bought. One of my favorite books ever.

Edited October 8, 2016 by ElainaA (log)