*ugh, blood orange marmalade with the whole peel is WAY too bitter, some people may like it but its a bit much for me. It set without pectin very well, but the flavor is not what I wanted. Going to can it and use it to make an asian orange chicken sauce later, oh well. Learn from experience! Next time I'll peel zest off and supreme the fruit before chopping it up.
EDIT: 2nd and 3rd batches turned out way better! theres still a lingering note of bitterness, but its only really noticeable straight from the jar, I don't notice it on toast.
*satsumas make lousy marmalade so far, not enough flavor there after (gently) cooking, and the fruit just stays floating as the little juice sacs, had to mix in some pulp from the murcott tangerines and add some TJs tangerine juice to up the flavor. They are great for eating fresh, but after trying to cut them with a mandoline slicerr the skin separated off instantly ( they are so easy to peel) and there was a whole lot of 'pith' to clean off the fruit before chopping it up and adding it to the thinly sliced peels to simmer.
*Kumquats are a huge pain in the ass to cut up, but they make the most awesome, INTENSE citrus spread, ever! I don't know how a fruit so tiny could have 3-5 seeds in each, makes the food processor or mandoline useless and gives the wrists a ton of exercise cutting them by hand.
*cara caras, limes, and mayer lemons make good "whole fruit" marmalade, whole peel and all (sliced thin with a mandoline) after simmering and leaving to sit overnight so the pectin can dissolve into the juice/water.
EDIT: Huzzah! I realized that letting the fruit/sugar mixture come to a boil for a bit, then let sit overnight (again) seems to fix the floating fruit bits issue.
Showing posts with label canning. Show all posts
Showing posts with label canning. Show all posts
Thursday, February 23, 2012
Saturday, August 29, 2009
Lesson learned: do not add cold jars to a hot canner...
I had chicken stock simmering all night, and today needed to get it strained, chilled (to remove the fat) and canned. My mind must have been somewhere else entirely, I had turned the stove on to heat up the water in the pressure canner while I filled jars with cold stock...then when I added the first jar in- CRACK!
I freaked out and checked to see what cracked before it hit me that the water was hot, the glass jar was cold, bad combo. I've never had a jar crack on me. So I carefully lifted it out with the jar lifter and ot my surprise the whole bottom of the jar fell off in one piece! LOL
So I ended up with a bottomless jar and a canner of stock-y hot water. Kinda cool actually. The edge where the glass cracked isnt even sharp surpriseingly enough. I'm saving the jar to use as a cloche in springtime. Now I'm curious to replicate cracking just the bottom off of big clear wine jugs and such to make my own glass cloches for plants.
Later while waiting for one batch of stock to cool and the next batch to warm up so I could put them in the canner I noticed how much the color changes after being in the pressure canner. I hope I'm not "burning" the stock in the process, I'll have to wait till I open one to taste and compare to some fresh stuff that I have frozen into cubes.
I freaked out and checked to see what cracked before it hit me that the water was hot, the glass jar was cold, bad combo. I've never had a jar crack on me. So I carefully lifted it out with the jar lifter and ot my surprise the whole bottom of the jar fell off in one piece! LOL
So I ended up with a bottomless jar and a canner of stock-y hot water. Kinda cool actually. The edge where the glass cracked isnt even sharp surpriseingly enough. I'm saving the jar to use as a cloche in springtime. Now I'm curious to replicate cracking just the bottom off of big clear wine jugs and such to make my own glass cloches for plants.
Later while waiting for one batch of stock to cool and the next batch to warm up so I could put them in the canner I noticed how much the color changes after being in the pressure canner. I hope I'm not "burning" the stock in the process, I'll have to wait till I open one to taste and compare to some fresh stuff that I have frozen into cubes.
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Urban Homesteading: Appreciating the "Bounty" of the supermarket
Just because I'm not growing anything right now doesnt mean I cant find an excuse to get out the canner, jars, clean the freezer and exercise my food budgeting prowess! When having limited space/time for growing food sometimes you have to meet in the middle with 'normal' folk and rely on the wonders of the local supermarket . Some have 'points' you get back in the form of coupons or store credit rewards, its nice to get some money back to spend on other necessities. If you pay close enough attention theres a cycle to the prices of meat and produce when they are in season and plentiful. I have price "limits" that I set for myself to know when to buy/stockup and when to pass. Just read the weekly flyers they mail you for a few weeks and you will see the trends.
For example I do not buy boneless, skinless chicken breast unless they are $1.99 a pound or less. Usual price is 4-5 a pound, but every 4-6 weeks 1 or more stores will have them on sale. Latly I havent been buying it as much since I finally learned how to cut up my own whole chicken and take the breasts off myself- which on sale is usually 69-79 cents a pound instead of 3.99 a pound. More cluck for my buck, I got some inspiration from another blogger and now I take the breasts off and freeze them separately, roast the rest of the bird and then use the bones to make stock. This week whole chickens were 77 cents a pound, so I got the limit of 3 birds and happily brought home my days 'hunt'.
My other favorite 'budget' staple is chuck roast. This humble piece of meat is more then just a pot roast. Using my wonderful slow cooker I can leave it cooking overnight until its falling apart and shred ot make tacos/fajitas. Or I add red wine and potatoes and make a Portuguese meal called Al Catra, which is a roast with red wine, lots of onions, garlic and potatoes. The shredded meat is also good stuffed in pitas with hummus like a gyro, or fried crispy with some eggs to make machaca for breakfast. Add broth and rice/quinoa and we have a gluten free version of beef n 'barley' soup. Normal price is 3-4 dollars a pound, this week Vons had it on sale for $1.47 a pound. So I bought 4 5 pound roasts to freeze and cooked one for meals this week.
London Broil is another good 'cheap' cut- also known as top round, or more specifically its the bottom part of a top round cut. ( or maybe its the other way, need to check my book again). It can serve all the functions of a chuck roast, but when cut into cubes and marinated it can be quickly cooked to make tender cubes of beef for kebabs, stir fry, fajitas, curries and stew. The trick with London broil is to cook quickly and marinate well first, or you get little cubes of rubber. I learned this by trial and error!
Ground beef always comes in sale for $1.99 or less occasionally. Its endlessly useful, from adding some protein and flavor to red rice n beans to meatloaf (stretched with rice/quinoa) to thickening pasta sauces, I love ground beef, and try to always have some on hand for a fast meal my toddler and preschooler will eat.
Last but not least theres pork shoulder/boston butt roast or a picnic shoulder roast ( with bone). Once again I rely on the slow cooker to make a nice sort of pulled pork. Sometimes I use wine and garlic, or tomato sauce and Italian herbs, sometimes BBQ sauce, sometimes salsa- the variations are endless. Leftovers have same use as shredded beef. If the roast has a bone I save the bone and boil it later to add some flavor to split pea soup. a Ham bone from Easter also works well for this and has even more flavor.
Deals on supermarket produce come in handy as well. Bananas turning brown are clearenced to 10 cents a pound before they toss them: freeze them for smoothies or make banana bread/muffins, which also freezes well. Bruised apples can still be chopped with onions and fried for a side dish. If i had a cider press I would try cider or vinegar. I got a kitchenaid artisan mixer for Christmas from my birthmom and hubby got me the attachment set for my birthday, so we now have a food mill, I want to try my hand at applesauce. In strawberry season I know the berries are local so when they are $2.99 for the flat (6 pints) I get a few and make a bunch of jam and/or syrup, so far everyone tells me my jam is better then anything store bought. That always cheers me up.
One market was carrying "rainbow" carrots (bag mixed with white, yellow, purple, and red carrots as well as orange) for the first time and no one was buying them. I guess people saw they werent all orange and didnt want to try them. So they were a managers special: 5 x 2 pound bags for only $1. Yup, 10 cents a pound. I bought a whole lot and canned them. The colors fade a bit when canned but they still look pretty in their jars, and taste very nice and sweet. It was the first vegetable I used the pressure canner for this summer.
You just have to know whats on season and know when to take advantage of the stores having alot of supply or just a great limited sale.
Stater Bros had a 2 days sale on potatoes this weekend: 10 pound bag for $1.99- so 20 cents a pound, can't beat that nowadays! I remember when that was the normal price and on sale they were 1.00 a bag...but oh well, food prices keep going up. So I clipped my coupons and hit 2 stores to get 40 pounds, (4 bags) of potatoes. I should have got more, but I'm on my last case of new quart mason jars, and now that its winter no local stores carry them- I checked everywhere. Rather then order them online I'll just use what I have, now that we're cycling thru the pantry more with better meal planning ( relying on my pantry instead of running to the stores for everything) I end up with 2-3 empty jars a week to be washed and put away anyhow.
My plan is to peel/slice 2 bags and can them in quarts, for stews, pot roast etc, and the other 2 bags peel and dice into cubs and can in pints, for quicker things like hash or soups or whatnot. I don't cook with potatoes as much as I used to- now that I have expanded my repertoire of vegetables beyond carrots, onions and potatoes. What usually gets me hung up is scrubbing and peeling them while watching 2 kids and getting other things cooked and cleaned at the same time. Rather then pay $2 per 16 oz can of sliced potatoes at the store, I'd rather just do them myself. Sounds pretty simple, peel, slice/dice, boil for 2 minutes, and hot pack into jars ( add salt is desired). Can in pressure canner at 10 pounds for 40 minutes.
Overall I'm quite proud of myself this week. I spent $40 at Vons just getting roasts and chickens that were on sale and a couple of gallons of milk and my total was about $47 with tax, and at the bottom of the receipt it said "You saved $39.85 this week" Woot! So my chest freezer has more then enough meat to last us thru the rest of this month, I have potatoes to can and I still have canned squash, green beans and carrots in the pantry. I used the last of my canned whole tomatoes and sauce tho :( Hence why I am dreaming and drooling of the tomatoes I hope to plant this year, and pray they do wonderfully in the containers I am planning.
Just because you arent completly self sufficient in the food you eat doesnt mean you can't exercise some good homesteading skills of 'waste not, want not', preserving 'extra' food for later and being in tune with the produce of the season. All it costs is a little time to plan out and patience to wait for the sales. :)
For example I do not buy boneless, skinless chicken breast unless they are $1.99 a pound or less. Usual price is 4-5 a pound, but every 4-6 weeks 1 or more stores will have them on sale. Latly I havent been buying it as much since I finally learned how to cut up my own whole chicken and take the breasts off myself- which on sale is usually 69-79 cents a pound instead of 3.99 a pound. More cluck for my buck, I got some inspiration from another blogger and now I take the breasts off and freeze them separately, roast the rest of the bird and then use the bones to make stock. This week whole chickens were 77 cents a pound, so I got the limit of 3 birds and happily brought home my days 'hunt'.
My other favorite 'budget' staple is chuck roast. This humble piece of meat is more then just a pot roast. Using my wonderful slow cooker I can leave it cooking overnight until its falling apart and shred ot make tacos/fajitas. Or I add red wine and potatoes and make a Portuguese meal called Al Catra, which is a roast with red wine, lots of onions, garlic and potatoes. The shredded meat is also good stuffed in pitas with hummus like a gyro, or fried crispy with some eggs to make machaca for breakfast. Add broth and rice/quinoa and we have a gluten free version of beef n 'barley' soup. Normal price is 3-4 dollars a pound, this week Vons had it on sale for $1.47 a pound. So I bought 4 5 pound roasts to freeze and cooked one for meals this week.
London Broil is another good 'cheap' cut- also known as top round, or more specifically its the bottom part of a top round cut. ( or maybe its the other way, need to check my book again). It can serve all the functions of a chuck roast, but when cut into cubes and marinated it can be quickly cooked to make tender cubes of beef for kebabs, stir fry, fajitas, curries and stew. The trick with London broil is to cook quickly and marinate well first, or you get little cubes of rubber. I learned this by trial and error!
Ground beef always comes in sale for $1.99 or less occasionally. Its endlessly useful, from adding some protein and flavor to red rice n beans to meatloaf (stretched with rice/quinoa) to thickening pasta sauces, I love ground beef, and try to always have some on hand for a fast meal my toddler and preschooler will eat.
Last but not least theres pork shoulder/boston butt roast or a picnic shoulder roast ( with bone). Once again I rely on the slow cooker to make a nice sort of pulled pork. Sometimes I use wine and garlic, or tomato sauce and Italian herbs, sometimes BBQ sauce, sometimes salsa- the variations are endless. Leftovers have same use as shredded beef. If the roast has a bone I save the bone and boil it later to add some flavor to split pea soup. a Ham bone from Easter also works well for this and has even more flavor.
Deals on supermarket produce come in handy as well. Bananas turning brown are clearenced to 10 cents a pound before they toss them: freeze them for smoothies or make banana bread/muffins, which also freezes well. Bruised apples can still be chopped with onions and fried for a side dish. If i had a cider press I would try cider or vinegar. I got a kitchenaid artisan mixer for Christmas from my birthmom and hubby got me the attachment set for my birthday, so we now have a food mill, I want to try my hand at applesauce. In strawberry season I know the berries are local so when they are $2.99 for the flat (6 pints) I get a few and make a bunch of jam and/or syrup, so far everyone tells me my jam is better then anything store bought. That always cheers me up.
One market was carrying "rainbow" carrots (bag mixed with white, yellow, purple, and red carrots as well as orange) for the first time and no one was buying them. I guess people saw they werent all orange and didnt want to try them. So they were a managers special: 5 x 2 pound bags for only $1. Yup, 10 cents a pound. I bought a whole lot and canned them. The colors fade a bit when canned but they still look pretty in their jars, and taste very nice and sweet. It was the first vegetable I used the pressure canner for this summer.
You just have to know whats on season and know when to take advantage of the stores having alot of supply or just a great limited sale.
Stater Bros had a 2 days sale on potatoes this weekend: 10 pound bag for $1.99- so 20 cents a pound, can't beat that nowadays! I remember when that was the normal price and on sale they were 1.00 a bag...but oh well, food prices keep going up. So I clipped my coupons and hit 2 stores to get 40 pounds, (4 bags) of potatoes. I should have got more, but I'm on my last case of new quart mason jars, and now that its winter no local stores carry them- I checked everywhere. Rather then order them online I'll just use what I have, now that we're cycling thru the pantry more with better meal planning ( relying on my pantry instead of running to the stores for everything) I end up with 2-3 empty jars a week to be washed and put away anyhow.
My plan is to peel/slice 2 bags and can them in quarts, for stews, pot roast etc, and the other 2 bags peel and dice into cubs and can in pints, for quicker things like hash or soups or whatnot. I don't cook with potatoes as much as I used to- now that I have expanded my repertoire of vegetables beyond carrots, onions and potatoes. What usually gets me hung up is scrubbing and peeling them while watching 2 kids and getting other things cooked and cleaned at the same time. Rather then pay $2 per 16 oz can of sliced potatoes at the store, I'd rather just do them myself. Sounds pretty simple, peel, slice/dice, boil for 2 minutes, and hot pack into jars ( add salt is desired). Can in pressure canner at 10 pounds for 40 minutes.
Overall I'm quite proud of myself this week. I spent $40 at Vons just getting roasts and chickens that were on sale and a couple of gallons of milk and my total was about $47 with tax, and at the bottom of the receipt it said "You saved $39.85 this week" Woot! So my chest freezer has more then enough meat to last us thru the rest of this month, I have potatoes to can and I still have canned squash, green beans and carrots in the pantry. I used the last of my canned whole tomatoes and sauce tho :( Hence why I am dreaming and drooling of the tomatoes I hope to plant this year, and pray they do wonderfully in the containers I am planning.
Just because you arent completly self sufficient in the food you eat doesnt mean you can't exercise some good homesteading skills of 'waste not, want not', preserving 'extra' food for later and being in tune with the produce of the season. All it costs is a little time to plan out and patience to wait for the sales. :)
Wednesday, August 6, 2008
The season of Bounty is upon us, woot!
Just taking a break from the sweltering hot kitchen...todays preserved count thus far:
5 quarts of Dilly Beans
8 pints of Fig Jam
2 Trays of fig dehydrating
1 tray of 'fig leather'
1 tray of tomatos drying
3 pounds of banana cut up and frozen
2 gallon bag packed with bell pepper strips frozen
I HAD to use those figs today or lose them, when I picked them yesterday most were almost to the point of overripe, the sudden humidity with the heat made a whole bunch ripen on the tree even faster then I would have anticipated. They were too squishy to can whole. I still have 4 quarts of whole figs in syrup in the pantry ( I gave some away to family), they look cool in the jars. I'm watching the tree more carefully, with the next 'wave' of figs I want to can them whole again.
My face is all greasy feeling, all that steam and boiling water from canning and blanching is like a sauna, opens the pores which is good I guess but man I feel hot and gross. I keep washing my hands and face to cool off and not feel so oily but my face keeps pumping out more LOL. I'm just letting the kids eat something then mybe they will go take a little nap so I can shower.
I need to do another tray of tomatos in the dehydrator and probably chop some to freeze as well. I have the rest of the row of green beans to pick as well, I only got thru about 5 plants worth, they are so packed with beans right now. Need to do something with the eggplant....not sure if I can freeze it. Oh wait, lookkee HERE I can freeze it , nifty! Fresh eggplant to make curry with for the next few weeks.
I also have a bumper cop of basil I need to do something with, its flowering. I'll probably end up freezing it for later. I tried to keep up with snipping it so it wouldnt flower and affect the flavor, but serious, basil WANTS to flower, I swear the more you snip it the faster it tried to flower LOL. Time for frozen pesto.
5 quarts of Dilly Beans
8 pints of Fig Jam
2 Trays of fig dehydrating
1 tray of 'fig leather'
1 tray of tomatos drying
3 pounds of banana cut up and frozen
2 gallon bag packed with bell pepper strips frozen
I HAD to use those figs today or lose them, when I picked them yesterday most were almost to the point of overripe, the sudden humidity with the heat made a whole bunch ripen on the tree even faster then I would have anticipated. They were too squishy to can whole. I still have 4 quarts of whole figs in syrup in the pantry ( I gave some away to family), they look cool in the jars. I'm watching the tree more carefully, with the next 'wave' of figs I want to can them whole again.
My face is all greasy feeling, all that steam and boiling water from canning and blanching is like a sauna, opens the pores which is good I guess but man I feel hot and gross. I keep washing my hands and face to cool off and not feel so oily but my face keeps pumping out more LOL. I'm just letting the kids eat something then mybe they will go take a little nap so I can shower.
I need to do another tray of tomatos in the dehydrator and probably chop some to freeze as well. I have the rest of the row of green beans to pick as well, I only got thru about 5 plants worth, they are so packed with beans right now. Need to do something with the eggplant....not sure if I can freeze it. Oh wait, lookkee HERE I can freeze it , nifty! Fresh eggplant to make curry with for the next few weeks.
I also have a bumper cop of basil I need to do something with, its flowering. I'll probably end up freezing it for later. I tried to keep up with snipping it so it wouldnt flower and affect the flavor, but serious, basil WANTS to flower, I swear the more you snip it the faster it tried to flower LOL. Time for frozen pesto.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)