kint
in
fursthatcook
Canning like crazy!
This seems as good a time as any to do a bit of a food porn pic dump. Last year we ended up with an excess of peaches from a pick-your-own place. Jam seemed a fantastic idea to me -- and so began the descent into canning! Blueberry and plum-apricot jams followed, soon after I was jarring tomato sauce. Now in the new year I want to do more... and More... AND MORE!!!! Here are a few choice pictures.
First up is a batch of fermented pickles. They're lovely in the glass, but as they prefer a cool, dark place they're now parked in a cooler in which I regularly add a bit of ice to keep things around 68F.
Edit: the relish recipe is now at the end of the cut for those interested!
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These are just classic vinegar brined pickles. I was rather giddy by the fact that I was finally putting to use a crinkle cutter I inherited from one grandmother when she passed away as well as recipes from my other grandmother. These are her mother's hamburger dill and bread & butter recipes.
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This is Hot Beekeeper's Relish from Pickles to Relish. It is very much a Rhode Island creation for me -- most of the ingredients are from either the local farmers market or my own garden, save for vinegar and a bell pepper from the grocery store. Oh, and pickling salt.
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And now for some fruity things, two pints of these lovely raspberries were turned into jam. I didn't get pictures of those, but these are quite pretty, no?
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And lastly, this was actually my first jam of the new season -- strawberry rhubarb. The rhubarb was from a local farm, but we sadly had missed strawberry picking season by the time I got going this year.
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As per requests, here is the recipe from Pickles to Relish for Hot Beekeeper's Relish. I did about a 1/3 batch and ended up with 4 1/2 cups of relish.
8.5 c chopped Kirby cukes
6 c chopped onion
1 lg seeded, chopped bell pepper
1/2 c salt
1 tray ice cubes
2 t mustard seed
2 t celery seed
4 c clover-ginseng honey
5 c cider vinegar
20 unseeded, chopped jalapeño peppers
5 hot finger peppers or Serrano peppers
Layer the chopped cucumbers, onions, and bell peppers with salt and ice for 6 hours. Drain/squeeze. Cook the spices, honey, and vinegar for 15 minutes. Add the hot peppers and cook for 10 minutes. Add the drained vegetables and cook 5 to 10 minutes. Jar, seal, & process in rolling water bath for 10 (8 oz jars) to 15 (16 oz jars) minutes. May substitute red wine vinegar.
Unfortunately, the author occasionally lacks in useful details -- like exactly what she means by layering with salt and ice. Since the main purpose is definitely to get a lot of excess water out, I tossed the veggies with salt, parked in a colander in the fridge with an ice pack on top and periodically tossed out the liquid drainage.
The author was also quite emphatic about using a high quality, preferably local, raw honey for optimal flavor. I opted for a high quality processed local honey (since it was readily available to me) and the flavor is still quite exceptional. I'm sure regular grocery store honey would be fine, but I do think the good stuff added a little extra something!
-------------------
Enjoy!
First up is a batch of fermented pickles. They're lovely in the glass, but as they prefer a cool, dark place they're now parked in a cooler in which I regularly add a bit of ice to keep things around 68F.
Edit: the relish recipe is now at the end of the cut for those interested!
-------------------
These are just classic vinegar brined pickles. I was rather giddy by the fact that I was finally putting to use a crinkle cutter I inherited from one grandmother when she passed away as well as recipes from my other grandmother. These are her mother's hamburger dill and bread & butter recipes.
-------------------
This is Hot Beekeeper's Relish from Pickles to Relish. It is very much a Rhode Island creation for me -- most of the ingredients are from either the local farmers market or my own garden, save for vinegar and a bell pepper from the grocery store. Oh, and pickling salt.
-------------------
And now for some fruity things, two pints of these lovely raspberries were turned into jam. I didn't get pictures of those, but these are quite pretty, no?
-------------------
And lastly, this was actually my first jam of the new season -- strawberry rhubarb. The rhubarb was from a local farm, but we sadly had missed strawberry picking season by the time I got going this year.
-------------------
As per requests, here is the recipe from Pickles to Relish for Hot Beekeeper's Relish. I did about a 1/3 batch and ended up with 4 1/2 cups of relish.
8.5 c chopped Kirby cukes
6 c chopped onion
1 lg seeded, chopped bell pepper
1/2 c salt
1 tray ice cubes
2 t mustard seed
2 t celery seed
4 c clover-ginseng honey
5 c cider vinegar
20 unseeded, chopped jalapeño peppers
5 hot finger peppers or Serrano peppers
Layer the chopped cucumbers, onions, and bell peppers with salt and ice for 6 hours. Drain/squeeze. Cook the spices, honey, and vinegar for 15 minutes. Add the hot peppers and cook for 10 minutes. Add the drained vegetables and cook 5 to 10 minutes. Jar, seal, & process in rolling water bath for 10 (8 oz jars) to 15 (16 oz jars) minutes. May substitute red wine vinegar.
Unfortunately, the author occasionally lacks in useful details -- like exactly what she means by layering with salt and ice. Since the main purpose is definitely to get a lot of excess water out, I tossed the veggies with salt, parked in a colander in the fridge with an ice pack on top and periodically tossed out the liquid drainage.
The author was also quite emphatic about using a high quality, preferably local, raw honey for optimal flavor. I opted for a high quality processed local honey (since it was readily available to me) and the flavor is still quite exceptional. I'm sure regular grocery store honey would be fine, but I do think the good stuff added a little extra something!
-------------------
Enjoy!