What Are You Preserving, and How Are You Doing It? (2006 - 2016)

[FrogPrincesse]

On ‎4‎/‎19‎/‎2016 at 3:12 PM, Anna N said:

To me it seemed illogical to make 4-6 lemons that must be used within two days!  Surely even a Moroccan cook would find that a bit of a stretch. Seems to me that with all that salt and lemon juice not much is likely to prosper. We shall see. 

They keep forever. I've had a jar in the fridge for more than 6 months, maybe a year? The flavor changes a bit over time but they are still fine after all this time.

[kayb]

In honor of the first day of the local Farmers' Market: spring pickles. 

 

Cucumbers, carrots, cauliflower, radishes (best radishes I've had in forever; I regretted not buying two bunches). The brine, of cider vinegar, water, sugar, white pepper, dry mustard and celery seed, mixed and poured over, and the whole thing refrigerated. I'll eat this whole tub in probably a week and a half. One of my favorite things about spring.

[JoNorvelleWalker]

@kayb what is this thing "spring"?  I'm still working on last year's pickled okra and trying to stay warm.

[kayb]

@JoNorvelleWalker, come on down here to God's country. 80 today. And my pole beans have finally peeked through the dirt!

 

We've had gorgeous weather this week, and next week promises the same. Could use a little rain.

 

[Wayne]

 

This is my most recent lacto-fermented pickle: starting with 2 lb. sliced jalapenos, 1 each of a red and orange bell pepper and 1

large head of garlic in a 6 %(w/v) solution and fermented at approximately 65 F.

 

The first photo is day 0. Peppers are a nice bright green, the brine is clear and the jar's contents are resting on the bottom.

 

 

 

This photo is day 7. Note the color change and the presence of bubbles indicative of CO2 evolving. Also notice the

contents are floating away from the bottom and the brine is getting somewhat cloudy.

 

 

 

This is the day 10 photo. The fermentation has slowed down considerably and the peppers have a pronounced sour component to their taste. CO2 production has slowed down and the brine is very cloudy. The jar will go in the fridge overnight to cool and be ready to start consuming tomorrow.

 

 

[Tere]

The wild garlic was in flower when I stopped at my Mum's to pick up my car just outside Cardiff. They have enormous luxurious drifts there and each time I wish I'd brought foraging gear. Next year I will clear a patch and plant some scapes. Next year.

 

In the meantime the jack in the hedge has exploded in my time away and is well and truly ready. I didn't forage enough hazels last year to be completely home grown but I sense an addition to the Sainsbury's delivery and jack in the hedge pesto and processed leaves in oil on the cards... A couple of buckets worth should be plenty. The flowers are delicious too  

[kayb]

When Arkansas strawberries are in season...

 

 

You make strawberry jam!

 

 

Incidentally, you make a mess.

 

[FrogPrincesse]

Aprium vanilla jam a la Christine Ferber (except I quartered the apriums instead of halving them, and didn't bother removing their skin...).

 

 

 

 

 

Edited May 17, 2016 by FrogPrincesse
rotate picture (log)

[Thanks for the Crepes]

@FrogPrincesse, Those look more like the apricots from the tree in Chula Vista when we lived there than I have ever seen. I'm sure they are divine. I can no longer get apricots fresh that are any good. I still enjoy the canned ones, but they pale in comparison to what I ate as a child. You are so lucky! I would not have removed the tender skins either.

[Anna N]

Another instance of serendipity at my house. I am a recipient of the Leite's Culinaria newsletter which contained a recipe for rhubarb jam.  I forwarded the recipe to Kerry Beal who showed up the following day with rhubarb from her garden ( I meant for her to make the jam not me.) In my crisper drawer were a few very,very sad strawberries.  Resistance was futile.  The jam did not quite reach setting point. I could stay on my feet not a second longer and the fuit was beginning to catch on the bottom of the pan.  This is a little runny but I enjoyed it still warm on a toasted English muffin last night and I know I will find many uses for it.  I will treat it as refrigerator jam as I did not process it although I have never processed jam in my life! The recipe suggested that as a necessary step and I guess if you are  so inclined it's not a bad idea.  

 

 

[Smithy]

I wonder what would happen if Kerry freeze-dried some of that jam?

[Anna N]

42 minutes ago, Smithy said:

I wonder what would happen if Kerry freeze-dried some of that jam?

Then I'd have to kill her.  It is so good the way it is  that I would not be prepared to experiment with freeze-drying any of it .

[Kerry Beal]

6 hours ago, Anna N said:

Then I'd have to kill her.  It is so good the way it is  that I would not be prepared to experiment with freeze-drying any of it .

Of course there is more rhubarb in the garden that I could bring since I missed your hint that I was supposed to make it!

[Anna N]

My favourite fruit is the cherry. My daughter thought she would treat me to some cherries but I can only eat so many. Before they all turned into compost I made a small batch of cherry jam using the "no recipe" recipe from  David Leibovitz.  This time I was able to get the jam to set remembering as I made it to look for the jam sheeting off the spatula  which is something I had learned a long time ago.   I am quite taken with this whole concept of small batch preserving.

[Anna N]

 

Strawberry curd.  Two lessons  I learned….You can make curd from things other than lemons and limes but don't mess with the recipe if you don't know what you're doing!   I thought six eggs seemed an unreasonable quantity for only 225 g of strawberries. I decided three egg yolks would be sufficient. I was so wrong. This will never set up but I am quite happy to spoon it straight from the jar. The yield was actually 2 1/2 pints but photography is being too challenging for me today and all my photographs of the full yield were overexposed. 

[Spork]

Eggs. 

 

 

Garlic, Habenero, Dill, Mustard, Onion, Salt, and white vinegar cut with a bit of water. 

[HungryChris]

6 minutes ago, Spork said:

Eggs.

Garlic, Habenero, Dill, Mustard, Onion, Salt, and white vinegar cut with a bit of water. 

 Very similar here. We had a bit of a surplus.

HC

[Spork]

3 minutes ago, HungryChris said:

 Very similar here. We had a bit of a surplus.............

 

 

Tis the season.

[kayb]

 

Maiden voyage at making sauerkraut. Two huge heads of cabbage made about 1 1/2 to 2 gallons of kraut, which went into the bucket to ferment on Friday. I'll check it next week to see how it's progressing.

 

 

Improvisation when it came to weighting it down. The yogurt container with the cottage cheese lid holds water for a weight.

 

 

[Smithy]

I predict that you'll become a sauerkraut convert, like me, and never look back at the store stuff!

[kayb]

@Smithy, my father used to make it (only indoor "cooking" he ever did, but he was the kraut-maker in the family), but I've never made it myself. Of course, when I was a kid and we had it regularly, I hated it. I've seen the error of my ways as I've gotten older!

 

[HungryChris]

I love pickled asparagus and when I saw these big beauties on sale, I knew they were headed in that direction. After blanching, all, but one, fit in the jar, so out came the last of the garlic and lemon aioli.

HC

 

Edited June 7, 2016 by HungryChris (log)

[rotuts]

I really have to start pickling.  my concern is salt.   Id like to keep my salt intake to a minimum

 

are their any refs to 'low-salt' pickling ?   Id refrigerate and not keep the items long if that's helpful for Low-Salt

 

many thanks for the inspiration(s)

 

[Anna N]

1 hour ago, rotuts said:

I really have to start pickling.  my concern is salt.   Id like to keep my salt intake to a minimum

 

are their any refs to 'low-salt' pickling ?   Id refrigerate and not keep the items long if that's helpful for Low-Salt

 

many thanks for the inspiration(s)

 

Hmmm.  Seems to me there are ways to pickle without the use of salt. Without spending more than a second contemplating I know my pickled beets are made with nothing more than sugar, vinegar and cloves.  It's going to depend very much on what the final product is expected to be.  I cannot imagine you can make dill pickles without the use of salt.  

[kayb]

There's also a fairly minimal amount of salt used in a lot of pickling recipes. My pickled green beans didn't call for any salt, but I thought they needed some, so I added a teaspoon per pint jar. Kraut requires only three tablespoons of salt for five pounds of cabbage. My bread and butter pickles require a very little salt, and my ripe tomato relish doesn't have much. 

 

Vinegar is a key in preserving things; salt's not a requirement, except for taste. Anything with enough acid content can be water-bath canned for shelf stability.