I love my steam canner. I find it so much easier to use then submerging Mason jars into large pots of boiling water.
While searching the web for information on steam canning, I was surprised to find that there are some groups that suggest it isn’t adequate for preserving high acid foods. I find this hard to believe as I’ve been canning preserves with it for many years now and have had no issues.
This weekend I harvested our rhubarb and made a lovely strawberry rhubarb preserve. I also purchased 15 lbs of apricots and made enough apricot preserves for 2 years!
On the strawberry rhubarb I used the technique of sugaring the rhubarb and allowing it to macerate for a few hours before cooking them down. I did the same for the strawberries and then added them to the rhubarb after about 1/2 an hour of cooking the rhubarb.
I don’t use a lot of sugar when I make preserves. In fact for the 15 Lbs of apricots I used about 5 cups of sugar. For the 4 quarts of strawberries I used a cup of sugar and 1 1/2 cups of sugar on the 4 lbs of rhubarb.
Canning is a lot of work but if I consider how much a single jar of preserves costs at the farmer’s market ($7.00 for Plum!) for 1 rainy afternoon of prepping and canning, my yield was significant.
Granted I’ve been doing this for a few years so I’ve got the method down: Prepping the fruit one day ahead and then reheating it to can the next day (make sure you reheat it to boiling) and then placing all the canning jars in the dishwasher and running them on the sanitize cycle and keeping them hot just before filling, and keeping a pot of boiling water on the stove for all the lids.
If you’ve never canned before, try and find someone who has to get the method down. After all canning historically was a community event. With homesteading on the rise, some local cooking schools are offering classes on canning techniques.
In Boulder the Culinary School of the Rockies is offering a class on August 14, with a wonderful chef and urban homesteading guru Teresa Brown. Get your homesteading on and reap the rewards all winter long!
After reading about how much Elana loves her julienne slicer, I decided that I should give one a try. I have a mandolin slicer that I use for uniform, thin sliced potatoes but I don’t love the mandolin and I am generally fearful that one of the kiddos is going to cut themselves with it.
Enter the Huhn Rikon julienne slicer that I ordered myself for Mother’s Day. Love it! I have used it to make a few cucumber salads like this one and for carrots (check back later this week for French-Inspired Grated Carrot Salad). I imagine it could also be used to make some cool potatoes that could be fried up rosti-style.
I love the idea of vegetables mimicking noodles, not for trickery but for added health and calorie counting. Zucchini can fill in for thin noodles in hot dishes, while julienned cucumbers substitute nicely in cold salads. When fall arrives, I will give Elana’s Chicken "Noodle" Soup a try.
How to Roast a Lamb is written by chef and restauranteur Michael Psilakis of New York. I saw him in the fall on the Martha Stewart Show and decided that this was a book worth purchasing. As I mentioned before, I really don’t care for the title, but the contents deliver excellent meals. I took a few liberties with his recipe.
I am now fully committed to cooking beans in clay pots. It takes a bit more work, but the results are superb every time.
With the strange warm weather I am being seduced into thinking that we are through with winter. Spring just might be around the corner so here is a lovely menu for all those inclined to defy the groundhog. I loved the white gigantes beans as they are impressive, toothsome and tasty.
The first night I served the fasolada with a very simple roasted boneless leg of lamb with a pomegrante dried cherry reduction. We had leftover white beans and I served it as a soup with a fresh gremolata (recipe below) and feta cheese on top. It was outstanding in both presentations. This soup has just the right notes of herbs, onions and creamy beans.
1 lb dried cannellini beans or white gigantes, soaked overnight
2 Tbsp. canola oil or olive oil
1 large parsnip, peeled, woody interior stem removed, chopped
2 stalks celery, chopped
1/2 large fennel bulb, diced
1 white onion, diced
2 bay leaves
4 large sprigs of fresh thyme
1 cup dry white wine
1 leek, halved and thinly sliced
water
1/4 cup lemon juice
3 cloves of garlic, minced
Warm the oil in a large heavy bottomed pot. Add all the vegetables, except for the leek, and saute until soft, about 5 minutes. Deglaze the pan with wine and allow to evaporate.
Add the beans, leeks, bay leaves, thyme and stir to incorporate. Now transfer the contents into the clay pot. Pour in the water to cover the beans by 1 1/2 inches and bring to a boil on the stove. Cover and transfer to a preheated 350 degree oven. Cook for about 2 hours, checking the beans after about 1 1/2 hours.
When beans are tender, remove from the oven. Season with salt and pepper and stir in the lemon juice. and chopped garlic. Take out about 2 cups of the soup and puree in a blender or in a food processor until smooth. Stir the pureed soup back into the pot. Cover and allow to cool, or place back into the oven with the heat off until you are ready to serve.
Gremolata -This is traditionally used on top of Osso Buco. I’ve started to use it on so many things from grilled fish to beans soups.
1/2 cup freshly chopped mint
1/4 cup chopped parsley
1/4 cup minced garlic
2 1/2 Tbsp. lemon zest
Place all the minced/chopped ingredients together and toss together well. Serve a heaping Tbsp. on top of each bowl of soup.
One of our regular readers picked up a Wrap-n-Mat this past fall for her daughter’s lunchbox. She is very happy with the wrap’s performance.
Here’s what she had to say "It has worked out great! I really like it, and will buy two more so each child has their own. I mostly use it for peanut butter sandwiches, bagels and cooled quesadillas (haven’t tried anything too messy). I just wipe clean with soap and water. It has lasted all school year with no rips and it has returned home each time. Wrap-n-Go is definitely worth the money. "
Check out Wrap-n-Mat’s website for its signature product and other re-usable food wrappings. Considering Wrap-n-Mat is good for the earth and good for the wallet, we give it a Flavorista thumbs up.
Many thanks to Flavorista Jen from Indiana for this product testing and reporting back. Jen’s daughter would also like to add "Once you unwrap the sandwich it’s like you have your own placemat."
Happy Saint Patrick’s Day, for some Irish recipes for tonight’s dinner, click here.
I happen to love avocados and have eaten hundreds of them over my lifetime. Sometimes, I find them a bit messy to prep, especially if they are on the over ripe side.
The avocado slicer works just as you would suspect (see photo below) and it yields perfect, little avocado slices to be used immediately or further chopped. In researching this post, I found some avocado slicers also have pit removers but I have always zipped the pit out with my French knife, a trick I learned in my intro to culinary arts class.
Beautiful slices of avocado ready to be placed onto a salad or into a sandwich.
Chow’s quick video on how to pit an avocado using a French knife:
Give the gift of a flavor trip this holiday season with Frooties! This is a great activity for the whole family. Watch everyone eat lemons, limes and grapefruits with gusto!
I am now fully committed to cooking beans in clay pots. It takes a bit more work, but the results are superb every time.
