Moving on to Ginger: Ginger Rhubarb Jam

I'm a big fan of Ginger on so many levels.  Any food that has the potential to clear out your sinuses is fine with me. Go big or go home.

  

Before I found candied ginger and before I discovered I could make candied ginger, I kept left over ginger in a zip lock bag in the freezer. Now, my jar of candied ginger stays in my fridge.  Recipe coming soon.  But for now - 

Ginger Rhubarb Jam
4 c. fresh rhubarb, cleaned and chopped
3 c. sugar
3 T. candied ginger, finely chopped
2 T. lemon juice, from the bottle.  

Combine ingredients.  Allow to stand for about 30 minutes.  

Turn into a large sauce pan and bring to a slow boil at medium heat, stirring.  Cook until thickened, about 20 minutes.

Ladle into hot sterilized canning jars and seal.  Process using the boiling water bath method for 10 minutes.  If you are not familiar with the boiling water bath method of canning, consult a canning cook book.

Beautiful dark red.  Texture is lovely.  Of course, a little sweet, but the ginger is distinct.  This is going to be awesome over Tillamook Vanilla Bean Ice cream.  I'm very happy.
  

Green Chili Sauce and Pacific Cod

I'm a big believer in keeping projects.  There are lots of advantages to staying busy and no advantages to being a couch potato.  I've almost always got a few half finished projects.  Right now, I've determined to learn to make green chili sauce using those green tomatillos. 

So off I go to Gateway Produce yesterday afternoon to buy tomatillos and jalapenos.  I'm standing in front of the tomatillos examining and selecting.  I don't have a lot of experience with tomatillos.  Besides me is a lady, clearly Hispanic, putting jalapenos in a bag.  Literally, she must have had a dozen of those things!  I wondered what on earth was she going to do with them and why can't I go home with her to watch.  Most people would have talked to her, asked her what she was making.  I have trouble talking to strangers so I wondered and decided to double my efforts to learn some new things.

I'm cooking from The Complete Book of Year-Round Small-Batch Preserving by Ellie Topp and Margaret Howards.  A beautiful little book.




 Tomatillo Mexican Salsa:

1/2 lb tomatillos, husk removed, cleaned and quartered

2 jalapenos, seeded and chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 red bell pepper
1/4 large white onion
1 carrot
1/4 c. each:  apple juice and cider vinegar
1/4 t. pickling salt
1/2 t. each ground cumin and dried oregano
1 T. granulated sugar. 

Chop the vegetables coarsely in preparation for the food processor.  Into the food processor and puree the vegetables, then add remaining ingredients. Of course, I had to stop to taste.  Cleared my sinuses right out, but in a good way.  Uncooked, the vinegar was strong, but the jalapenos was right there talking to me.  Into a pot and bring to a gentle simmer.  Maintain for 30 minutes. 

Meanwhile prepare hot water canner with boiling water.  Previously, I ran several 1/2 pint canning jars through the dishwasher.  They sat on my counter most of a day.  They heated in the hot water canner while I made this sauce.  I heated and sterilized the lids in another pan, also.  This recipe made 2 1/2 pints plus most of another cup.  I filled the jars to within a 1/2 inch of head space, added the lids and bands and processed for 20 minutes.  If you need more detail about canning, start with a basic canning book.   

Meanwhile I started some Pacific Cod to cooking in a little olive oil and a good hard shake of salt and pepper.  Dinner was Pacific Cod with Green Chili Sauce.   For lunch, I used it as a spread on my sandwich bread then added tuna salad, lettuce from the greenhouse and a tomato slice.  Pretty tasty.  Remember to just get started. 

Red Currant

One of the funny things Husband said recently is that he looks forward to reading the blog so that he can see what's going on in his life.  (He's such a funny guy.)  We are busy and working hard at our business, but I have a busy mind and here is one of the things I'm thinking about.  (Also, that the upstairs guest bathroom needs to be painted.)

This poor pitiful thing is Red Currant.  I've had it a couple years, given to me by a plant swap friend from her yard.  I forget what I gave her in return.  Last year, the little kids stripped it and sucked it clean of every yummy bit.  I got nothing.

I didn't really mind.  Remembering days of my own childhood, picking crabapples and blackberries until I had a tummy ache.  Washing green beans and yellow corn with the hose and then eating them raw.  Then washing hands and feet with the hose so as to be allowed back into the house.  Last year the kids stripped my peas, parts of my beans, as well as my red currants and I was happy for it.  I bought what I wanted from the farmers stand.  

I have a new cookbook about home canning.  I grew up with home canning and got away from it, but something is drawing me back.  I'm picking out salsa and relish recipes, considering purchasing a pressure cooker, contemplating pickles.  

With the red currants, what should I make? Raspberry Red Current Jam on page 25 sounds appealing. Raspberries are readily available in season.  This is a combination my mother did not considered.  

Just plain Red Current Jelly on page 115 maybe.  I prefer the pouches of liquid pectin.  Do what you like.  I just feel comfortable with that.  

 

Then there is Rhubarb Red Current Preserve on page 67.  That sounds more like me.  I'm a rhubarb sort of girl. But you saw my currant plant.  

And here is my rhubarb plant.  So it will be a while. And it uses orange zest as natural pectin.  No added pection.  Not sure how I feel about that.  What do you think?

And there you are, Dear.  Did you know all that was going on?

Remember to work when you have to, but think and dream when you can. 

Peach Preserves

Here is one way I'm preserving tastes of summer 2010


Peach Preserves
About 10 large firm but ripe peaches, peeled and sliced
6 cups sugar

Combine the fruit and sugar in a 4 quart pot.  Cover and let stand in a cool spot for 18 to 24 hours.  After standing, bring pot to boil, stirring frequently.  Bring slowly to 200 degrees F and continue simmering for approximately 40 minutes.  Continue stirring frequently.  The fruit softens and becomes more opaque.  The syrup thicks.  Skim off foam if necessary.  Or add a t. butter to help keep the foan down. 


Immediately fill hot, sterilized half-pint jars with preserves leaving 1/4 inch head space.  Wipe jar tops and threads clean.  Place hot lids on jars and screw bands on firmly.  Process in boiling water canner for 5 minutes.  Yield 6 half pints.


I had a little more which went into a bowl and into my frig.  It will sweeten my morning yogurt for a while.


Remember to enjoy yourself.

Blackberry Jam

This is a submission to a blog jump.  To see the other entries, go to http://www.sustainableeats.com/2010/08/25/simple-lives-thursday-august-25/

I live in the Pacific Northwest.  I'm always amazed that blogging has no borders, so let me explain.  Blackberries grow as a weed here, everywhere that is untended.  It can be quite a problem if you own land that isn't regularly stomped or grazed on.  They grow in unfortunate places, thick.  Little critters hide in them just waiting scare the pants off of little kids. 

After you've picked all that you can reach, you notice that there are many just beyond reach, high and low, through the stickers.  Grandpa used to take a big board (like a sheet of plywood) and lay it down across the blackberry vines, then stomp it flat.  We'd climb on the boards, the more of us the better, and pick berries.  Then grandpa or one of the boys would come along and move the board.  I love free food.  And I love all the experiences you have teetering away standing on the board picking blackberries.

My Golden Retriever dives into the berry vines based upon sounds or smells that we don't even get.  You hear him thrashing about.  I worry for him.  What will he encounter?  Is there something that might hurt him.  Husband says "he is a dog, afterall.  And he has about an inch worth of down and fur."  Husband is prone to exaggeration.  But no, he emerges from the stickers looking like a freekin' maniac, but basically unhurt and very, very happy.

Okay, so I bought these blackberries from Bizi farms, but I've picked like this many Augusts.  Back when I was poor and single, I made it every year among other things because it made good hostess gifts and other small gifts and because everyone loves it.  The way I do it isn't fancy, but stuff that works often isn't.

Blackberry Jam at the Osbornes

4 cups cleaned blackberries

7 cups sugar

1 pounch liquid pectin

1/2 t. butter, optional

Crush the berries in a large bowl with a potato masher.  Run 1/4 to 1/2 of the berries through a food mill to remove extra seeds.  Discard unwanted seeds. 

Wild berries, especially when grown in unfortunate places, can be seedy but sweet and delicious.  Domestically grown berries can be much less seedy.  Your choice how much seeds you remove.  Return everything you are keeping to the berry bowl. 

Carefully pour the contents of the berry bowl into a large heavy pot with the sugar and bring slowly to a full rolling boil.  A full rolling boil is one that can not be stirred down.  Add pectin and continue boiling for 1 minute.  I recommend using some sort of timer.  Not that you don't know what a minute is.  Just that canning is always easier if you plan ahead and be prepared.  I think they call that Mis En Place in professional cooking.  My Mom called it "Get all your stuff out first." My Mother didn't speak any French.

Ladel into prepared jars.  I recommend running all jars through the dishwasher as part of the Mis En Place thing.  Then, you know they are very clean and spider free. 

Place hot lids and bands on each jar.  Start a small skillet or sauce pan on the back of your stove about the time that you finish crushing the berries.  Bring it to a slow simmer.  Put the lids in the simmering water.  You'll be fishing them out with tongs, so put the tongs in the simmering water.  That way you are ready and everything has been boiled.  The rubber band on the lid needs to make a firm seal on the rim of the jars so make sure they line up. 
I'm not too particular about the bands.  They never touch food. 

This makes me deliriously happy, so feel free to enjoy the process.  The rubber of the lid needs to be firmly against the rim of the jar.  The band holds it in place until it seals.

Process jars in a boiling water canner for 10 minutes.  Set a timer and remove them when the timer goes off.  The water level should be just at or just above the top of the jars.  The water should be a full boil.  Don't worry about the pot.  I use my largest stock pot.  Don't go out and buy something unless you really don't have a large heavy pot; then you need one. 

Careful with yourself.  Use pot holders and lifter tools.  Remember to make a memory.

Apple Butter

I'm almost out of jam.  I found one little 1/2 pint in the back of my pull out, but that's it.  It will be a while before I can start strawberry rhubarb jam.  I've been enjoying all the blogger talk about marmelade, but I'm just not a marmelade sort of girl. 

So back to my roots once again.  And back to Diane's produce.  I bought a total of 4 pounds of apples (1/2 fujis and 1/2 galas) from her for a total of $2.76.  They came through the Hood River distributor, which I've decided is okay with me for now. 

My canning isn't original or family recipes.  As I've already mentioned the only canning recipe I came away with from the family is the strawberry rhubarb jam.  And it was my own fault for not listening.  So I've decided not to post canning recipes unless to are truly mine to give.  Here is the recipe I used.  I following the directions exactly. 

 http://www.101cookbooks.com/archives/000125.html

I sterilized everything including the funnel and ladel in the dishwasher.

I kept my lids hot by keeping them in a skillet of simmering water and fishing them out as needed with tongs. 

I used my big kettle as my canner. 

This recipe isn't very clear on the yield, but I got (7) 1/2 pints plus most of another.

And what will I do with my apple butter?  Well on toast of course.  Also, in my yogurt, to sweeten my cereal, and maybe on ice cream.  We'll see if Papa likes it.  And I'll try to give it to the kids.

As I found myself saying this week, "food doesn't come from Starbucks."

Remember the old fashioned things. 

www.sustainableeats.com

This may be my 15 minutes of fame.  If you don't know what I mean, google "Andy Worhale + 15 minutes".

Annette, at http://www.sustainableeats.com/, asked me to be a guest blogger.  I was delighted and honored.  Annette is a very interesting person with all sorts of interesting and stimulating ideas. 

I wrote about my sort of quest to buy only local food and to know where my food came from.  I talked about  two year round, produce-only markets in my area and my imperfect desire to buy all of our fruits and vegetables from them. 


Check it out if you want. 

One leg of this quest involved the decision to buy a pressure cooker.  What is it in our culture that says any real change requires that we buy something new?  During the process, I discovered that some, but not all, of what I want to do next can be accomplished with the stuff my mother and grandmother tried to teach me during my teenage years but that I didn't listen to because I was so cool (big surprise). 

We ended up moving forward without the pressure cooker for now.  But the question persists.  Where does our food come from?  I insist on reaching a point where I know the answer at every turn.  It is up to me to decide whether the answer is acceptable for me and my household.   You may find another answer, which is perfectly fine with me. 


As for part of where I used the 8 pound sack of carrots,

Pickled Carrots. Not my recipe (see link below)  I used it as stated and it is very nice.  The step-granddaughter asked me that the little balls were.  I said they were mustard seed.  She asked if mustard seed grows into carrots.  (She has seen her mother and myself grow seeds into a garden.)  I told her no, mustard seeds add seasoning and flavor.  She is a brilliant and perfect child.

Brought me back to some memory of my grandmother planting red mums in her planter box.  Funny how the mind works.  Probably, I figured some of this stuff out myself about the time that my grandmother changed her planter box plan.

Husband came through the kitchen as usual, sniffing the air, and said the house smells like vinegar. 

http://www.uga.edu/nchfp/how/can_06/pickled_carrots.html

Remember to share.

Summer in a Jar

I want to can.  When I was younger and constantly broke, I made pints and 1/2 pints of blackberry jam every year.  Blackberries grow wild here and with a small amount of effort and organization it is fairly easy to pick large quanties when they are ripe.  Throughout the year, when I needed a small hostess gift or thank-you gift I gave away my jam.  I haven't done it in a few years, but I often make strawberry/rhubarb jelly or raspberry.  I like pickles and determine each year that I will make tons, but often life gets in the way.

Canning makes me remember the way summer feels.  It gives me hope.  It makes me smile.  Why don't I do it more?  Thank you mom, once again, for teaching me how.

When I was young, my mother and grandmother canned all summer.  They ended up with dozens and dozens of jars of beans, cherries, peaches, pears, pickles, relish.  They didn't have much money during those years.  Mom, my Grandmother, my sister and I went to U-pick fields.  We picked the product in the morning then went home to can it in the afternoon.  Many an afternoon, I spent belly up to the sink with a pairing knife peeling sinks and sinks of fruit.  To this day, I can peel an apple with a pairing knife faster than anyone I've ever known.  Really.  Try me.

Last summer, I made pickled three-bean salad in pints.  My husband won't even consider eating it, so it's all mine.  Here's what I have left. Not much.

When I make a sandwich, Husband gets potato chips and I get a scoop of this.  Crunchy and tart.  Colorful.  I bought the beans at a farmstand down the road from my house.  Green beans and wax beans.  There was an earthness in the air.  The smell of a working farm.  Fans were placed in the windows to keep air moving through her little building.  I dipped my hands into big bins of beans and dropped handfuls into paper bags.  I picked out leafs and stems and said, "The wusses.  These are machine picked bush beans.  In my day, pole beans were picked by hand."  Sorry, that's just what I said.

I went home and filled one side of my sink with water and poured the beans into it.  Beans float.  Or they don't.  But mostly they do.  Then I transferred handfuls into the other sink.  Let out the water and fill the sink with clean and back into the pool again, boys, for bath number two.  Then, set a colander into the second sink and deposit the now clean beans to drain. 

And I snipped.  Between thumb and first finger, twist off the stem and tip end.  Break them in two or three to get a uniform length.  A satisfying sound when beans snap.  This is what food is people.  Real food, Real life.

Pickled Three-Bean Salad from Kerr Kitchen Cookbook   

3 cups (2 to 3 inch) fresh green bean or yellow beans or a combination
2 (16 oz) cans red kidney beans, rinsed and drained.
2 (16 oz) cans garbanzo beans, rinsed and drained
1 cup sliced onion
1 cup sliced celey
1 cup sliced green bell pepper
2 1/2 c. water
2 cups white vinegar
3/4 c. sugar
1/2 c. bottled lemon juice
1 t. Kerr Pickling Salt.

Wash and snip the beans.  Blanch in boiling water for 3 minutes, the cool in ice water.  Drain well.  In a very large bowl, combine beans and remaining vegetables.  Set aside.  In 4 quart saucepan, combine water, vinegar, sugar, lemon juice and pickling salt. Bring to a boil over medium - high heat.  Pour hot vinegar mixture over vegetables.  Mix well.  Cover and refrigerate overnight.  In saucepan, bring vegetables/vinegar mixture to a boil over medium-high heat.  Immediately fill hot pint jars with vegetables, leaving 1 inch headspace.  Pour hot vinegar mixture into jars leaving 1/2 inch head space.  Wipe the jar tops.  Place lids and bands.  Process in a boiling water canner for 15 minutes.  Remove and cool. 

You know they sealed when you hear that lovely deep popping sound.  I remember lieing in bed at my grandmother's and hearing that sound every so often after a day of canning peaches.  Also, you know a jar has sealed if you press with your thumb on the lids and there is no give.  The lid of an unsealed jar will pop in when pressed on.

Remember to put a dated label on each jar. 

And remember to enjoy the process and feel good.

Judy's Pepper Jelly

Judy's Pepper Jelly is a favorite treat in my house.  Judy was a student of mine.  Prior to starting our business, I worked as a business management and computer aps teacher for a small college.  At some point, the administrators of the college had the bright idea that I might be able to teach public speaking in addition to business.  I was a good business teacher and a devoted Toastmaster -  so done deal!  That is another story, but Judy was one of my public speaking students. 

One of her assignments was to prepare a demonstration.  It was the pepper jelly that she demonstrated.  I've been making it ever since.  Now, I make it as gifts for my family members.  When people come over, they expect to be served it.  It is interesting how we all have affects on each other. 

Judy's Pepper Jelly
6 1/2 c. sugar
3 Bell Peppers, (Green, Red, and Yellow)
8 oz can jalapeno peppers, chopped and drained
1 1/2 c. Apple cider vinegar
2 pouches pectin

Puree the green peppers in the food processor.  Drain the liquid through a sieve now to get a jelly consistency.  If you don't, you'll have a syrup consistency which isn't bad.  We like the jelly.

Combine the pureed peppers and canned peppers with the sugar and vinegar in a large kettle.  Boil 6 - 10 minutes, stirred farly regularly.

Turn down the heat and add both pounches of pectin.  Stir to combine.  Bring to a boil and cook an additional 3 minutes.

You'll need 4 prepared pint canning jars.  Prepare canning jars by running them through the dishwasher or washing them very well in very hot soapy water, rinsing well and letting them air dry.

Every tool you use while canning needs to be very clean.  That includes spoons, ladles, everything.  You can't go wrong by running every tool through the dishwasher first, but this type of canning was being done long before dishwashers. 

You'll also need 4 prepared  lids and bands.  Prepare lids by placing them in a skillet with a half inch of boiling water.  Make sure they lay in the skillet in a single layer.  Boil them for a few minutes.

You may also want to consider having one of these funnels especially for filling this type of jar and a lifter for lifing the jars in and out of boiling water while canning.

Use your ladle to fill each jar, leaving 1/2 inch from the top of each jar unfilled.  If you have any extra, pour it into a bowl and use it now.  It doesn't last long in my frig.

Use a clean tool to lift the lids from the boiling water and place them on top of each jar.  My kitchen tongs work well for this.  Add the band and screw it down.

Place each jar in a large jettle and fill with boiling water to just below the lids.  I do this from my tea kettle.  Turn on your stove and bring the water back to a constant boil for 8 minutes longer.  Lift the jars from the boiling water and set them on a towel on the counter. 

As they cool and the lids seal, you may hear a popping sound.  If you press with your thumb in the center of the lid and there is any give, they are not sealed yet.  After they seal, there is no give when you press on them.  Store them in the pantry.  Use immediately if any doesn't seal.  I rarely get to keep one.  I give them away.

We eat this by placing a bar of cream cheese on a plate and spooning the jelly over top.  Then people dip into it with crackers.

I still have contact with Judy and plan to tell her I've blogged about this.  Judy, when you read this, leave me a comment, please.  By the way, my kids thank you for this recipe.

Hope you enjoy this.