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

[FauxPas]

14 hours ago, ElsieD said:

I want to make some hot red pepper jelly.  Ingredients are red bell peppers, Scotch bonnets, sugar, vinegar and pectin.  Is there any reason why I can't freeze this in canning jars instead of canning them in a boiling water  bath?  Thanks!

 

As @blue_dolphinsaid, it's a safe choice. Just the usual caveats when freezing - leave a bit of room in the jars for freezer expansion, let it cool and set up/gel before freezing, thaw and store in fridge, and you may get a bit more 'weeping' or separation once thawed than with water-bath canned jelly.   

[FrogPrincesse]

Salicornia (aka samphire, sea bean, glasswort…) foraged in Morro Bay. I love them in my Gibsons!

 

 

 

 

[Shelby]

16 minutes ago, FrogPrincesse said:

Salicornia (aka samphire, sea bean, glasswort…) foraged in Morro Bay. I love them in my Gibsons!

 

 

 

 

I was able to buy these online a few years ago.  SO good.  They were expensive and not many came in the package but still.  I ate them plain just as a snack and added some to a salad.

[lindag]

27 minutes ago, FrogPrincesse said:

Salicornia (aka samphire, sea bean, glasswort…) foraged in Morro Bay. I love them in my Gibsons!

 

 

 

 

A girl after my won heart!

Now I will have to try them!!!

[heidih]

47 minutes ago, FrogPrincesse said:

Salicornia (aka samphire, sea bean, glasswort…) foraged in Morro Bay. I love them in my Gibsons!

 

 

 

 

Wow! It was my regular twice a year vacaton spot and I never took advantage. Where I first had Santa Barbara spot prawns  from tank at fish market. Thanks for the share.

[FrogPrincesse]

7 minutes ago, heidih said:

Wow! It was my regular twice a year vacaton spot and I never took advantage. Where I first had Santa Barbara spot prawns  from tank at fish market. Thanks for the share.

You are welcome! I was walking by the water absorbing all the natural beauty, and it dawned on me that I was surrounded by samphire! I couldn't believe my luck and filled a small bag, careful to not overharvest any one area (no risk of that really, there was a ton of it everywhere). 

 

 

 

Edited August 13, 2023 by FrogPrincesse
Added pictures (log)

[blue_dolphin]

18 hours ago, FrogPrincesse said:

Salicornia (aka samphire, sea bean, glasswort…) foraged in Morro Bay. I love them in my Gibsons!

 

What a nice find!  If you should find yourself with more, I can recommend the recipe for Sand Dabs with Shallots, Sea Beans and Sherry Vinegar from the Zuni Cafe Cookbook. 

I haven't had the pleasure of foraging it myself but Murray Family Farms was offering it regularly at their farmers market stand.  They said it grows on their property near Bakersfield.  Go figure! 

I tried that Zuni fish recipe (posted here) and an easy, briny anchovy and samphire pasta recipe from Ottolenghi's Simple (posted here) which was also very good. 

I need to get some more to play around with!

[Senior Sea Kayaker]

One method of preserving herbs (which I call 'cigaring').

Pruned basil blanched, shocked, wrung out, rolled into a 'cigar' and frozen. Whenever some basil is needed I just slice off what I need.

 

 

Garlic chives.

 

 

I've already done dill, italian parsley and coriander.

 

 

[heidih]

Great freezer cigar method. Your basil looks particularly healthy and vibrant. My scent memory of fragrant bail is in high gear and made me smile.

[ElsieD]

48 minutes ago, Senior Sea Kayaker said:

One method of preserving herbs (which I call 'cigaring').

Pruned basil blanched, shocked, wrung out, rolled into a 'cigar' and frozen. Whenever some basil is needed I just slice off what I need.

 

 

Garlic chives.

 

 

I've already done dill, italian parsley and coriander.

 

 

Great idea, thanks for posting this.  I'd like to do this with cilantro tro.  How long do you blanch it for?

[Senior Sea Kayaker]

11 hours ago, ElsieD said:

Great idea, thanks for posting this.  I'd like to do this with cilantro tro.  How long do you blanch it for?

I just toss the washed herbs into boiling salted water for a few seconds (it'll wilt) then shock in cold water. I compress and roll in a square of parchment then wrap in cling film. As for basil, parsley, coriander.

Herbs like chives and garlic chives just get rolled and frozen.

Herbs such as sage and oregano I just dry.

 

Edited August 24, 2023 by Senior Sea Kayaker (log)

[rotuts]

@Senior Sea Kayaker 

 

do you briefly bench to preserve color ?

 

what result do you think your cigar // Fz  method 

 

would produce , w/o the blanch    

 

in the dished you use the C-F for ?

[Senior Sea Kayaker]

57 minutes ago, rotuts said:

@Senior Sea Kayaker 

 

do you briefly bench to preserve color ?

 

what result do you think your cigar // Fz  method 

 

would produce , w/o the blanch    

 

in the dished you use the C-F for ?

 

Blanching wilts the herbs making them easier to pack but primarily to permanently inhibit any autolytic or other enzymes present.

Since they are used for cooking the texture is not important and the flavour is much better than drying.

 

Edited August 24, 2023 by Senior Sea Kayaker (log)

[Smithy]

1 hour ago, Senior Sea Kayaker said:

 

Blanching wilts the herbs making them easier to pack but primarily to permanently inhibit any autolytic or other enzymes present.

Since they are used for cooking the texture is not important and the flavour is much better than drying.

 

 

16 hours ago, Senior Sea Kayaker said:

One method of preserving herbs (which I call 'cigaring').

Pruned basil blanched, shocked, wrung out, rolled into a 'cigar' and frozen. Whenever some basil is needed I just slice off what I need.

 

 

 

I need some clarity here: are the basil leaves shown here before blanching, or did you manage to blanch and dry them and still have them come out like that? (Either way, thanks for the preservation and usage tip!)

[Senior Sea Kayaker]

@Smithy

The photo is of the pruned basil prior to stripping off the leaves, washing and blanching. It takes a few seconds for the basil to wilt in the blanching water and is then immediately shocked, the liquid squeezed out and formed into a 'cigar'.

 

 

[Smithy]

2 minutes ago, Senior Sea Kayaker said:

@Smithy

The photo is of the pruned basil prior to stripping off the leaves, washing and blanching. It takes a few seconds for the basil to wilt in the blanching water and is then immediately shocked, the liquid squeezed out and formed into a 'cigar'.

 

 

 

Thanks. I have a pretty good crop of basil this year, and this looks like a good way to save what I can't use now!

[Senior Sea Kayaker]

We've got quite a few old apple trees on the property. Most are in the once pasture wooded areas. 

I tried something different by cooking down a Kg. of the apples with some apple cider vinegar, strained it, cooked it with sugar and a few habanero peppers. Once it reached the jelly stage I strained it through cheesecloth and ended up a very hot habanero jelly.

 

 

 

[ElsieD]

6 hours ago, Senior Sea Kayaker said:

We've got quite a few old apple trees on the property. Most are in the once pasture wooded areas. 

I tried something different by cooking down a Kg. of the apples with some apple cider vinegar, strained it, cooked it with sugar and a few habanero peppers. Once it reached the jelly stage I strained it through cheesecloth and ended up a very hot habanero jelly.

 

 

 

 

I'd like to try this using Scotch Bonnet peppers.  Do you have actual measurements for the ingredients?

[Senior Sea Kayaker]

3 hours ago, ElsieD said:

 

I'd like to try this using Scotch Bonnet peppers.  Do you have actual measurements for the ingredients?

 

Scotch bonnets should work fine.

The original recipe came from "The Complete Book of Small Batch Preserving" by Ellie Topp and Margaret Howard 2007.

The apples I used are an old variety that were, according to my BIL, most likely planted in the 1930's. They are about 20 cm. in diameter and very sour and tannic. They're not crabapples though crabapples would work.

I used a Kg. of the apples, cut into about 6 pieces, including the cores, seeds and stems. Cooked for 30 minutes with 125 ml. apple cider vinegar.

Strained through a coarse sieve, added 375 ml. sugar and 3 chopped red habaneros, then boiled, as per the recipe, for 30 min. It took an additional 30 minutes of boiling to get to a gel stage. Then strained through cheesecloth.

The result was good. A very hot pepper jelly with a strong apple flavour.

It's worth doing if you've got access to free apples. We've access to so much that they feed the deer (and get them drunk). Otherwise it's a waste of apples if you're buying them.

Hope this answers your question.

Cheers.

 

 

Edited August 27, 2023 by Senior Sea Kayaker (log)

[ElsieD]

17 minutes ago, Senior Sea Kayaker said:

 

The original recipe came from "The Complete Book of Small Batch Preserving" by Ellie Topp and Margaret Howard 2007.

The apples I used are an old variety that were, according to my BIL, most likely planted in the 1930's. They are about 20 cm. in diameter and very sour and tannic. They're not crabapples though crabapples would work.

I used a Kg. of the apples, cut into about 6 pieces, including the cores, seeds and stems. Cooked for 30 minutes with 125 ml. apple cider vinegar.

Strained through a coarse sieve, added 375 ml. sugar and 3 chopped red habaneros, then boiled, as per the recipe, for 30 min. It took an additional 30 minutes of boiling to get to a gel stage.

The result was good. A very hot pepper jelly with a strong apple flavour.

It's worth doing if you've got access to free apples. We've access to so much that they feed the deer (and get them drunk). Otherwise it's a waste of apples if you're buying them.

Hope this answers your question.

Cheers.

 

 

 

Thank you.  I can get crabapples, that's the easy part.  My SIL has a couple of ancient apple trees on her property and if my husband goes down to see his mother before they freeze he can bring some of those back and I'll use them instead.  But I'm curious - why is it a waste of apples if one has to buy them?  Also, when you strained the mixture, do you scrape the solids through or just use the juice?

[Senior Sea Kayaker]

10 minutes ago, ElsieD said:

 

Thank you.  I can get crabapples, that's the easy part.  My SIL has a couple of ancient apple trees on her property and if my husband goes down to see his mother before they freeze he can bring some of those back and I'll use them instead.  But I'm curious - why is it a waste of apples if one has to buy them?  Also, when you strained the mixture, do you scrape the solids through or just use the juice?

 

I just pushed as much juice as possible through the sieve as it would be eventually be filtered through cheesecloth.

As a child of parents who grew up during the Great Depression I can't abide wasting food. I suppose repurposing the apple pulp to make applesauce or apple butter would avoid wasting it.

Post how your version turns out.

Cheers.

 

Edited August 27, 2023 by Senior Sea Kayaker (log)

[ElsieD]

Is apple cider vinegar the only liquid used when cooking the apples?  Sorry to ask so many questions.

[Senior Sea Kayaker]

3 minutes ago, ElsieD said:

Is apple cider vinegar the only liquid used when cooking the apples?  Sorry to ask so many questions.

No. I really need to quote from the recipe rather than memory.

Apples plus the apple cider plus 1.5 L. water.

Sorry.

 

[chromedome]

7 hours ago, Senior Sea Kayaker said:

 

I just pushed as much juice as possible through the sieve as it would be eventually be filtered through cheesecloth.

As a child of parents who grew up during the Great Depression I can't abide wasting food. I suppose repurposing the apple pulp to make applesauce or apple butter would avoid wasting it.

Post how your version turns out.

Cheers.

 

We're doing much the same right now (20 lbs of crabapples from a friend) and granddaughter has requested that we turn the pulp into fruit leather for her lunchbox.

 

[Smithy]

22 minutes ago, chromedome said:

We're doing much the same right now (20 lbs of crabapples from a friend) and granddaughter has requested that we turn the pulp into fruit leather for her lunchbox.

 

 

Will it have any flavor left, once the juice has been squeezed out?