Well, canning season seems to have continued into the fall, despite school starting! I still have a second batch of blueberry maple pecan compote to mix up, but after a bonanza at the last day of Crampton's Market, I've got lemons to preserve and I ended up with a large batch of baby beets to pickle! Now, like most of the things I pickle other than the traditional dills, I know that pickled beets are an acquired taste. So acquired, in fact, that I'm not sure that I even like them. But, being that I have a wife who's been salivating over the possibility of pickled beets since we started canning lo those four years ago, it was time to try.
Ultimately, they were really easy - you have to pay attention to a lot of things, including spending twice as much effort trying not to make a mess as normal since beets stain so badly, but it was an easy solo canning adventure. The beets took forever to boil, but once they were tender their skins came off easily after I drained them and refilled the pot with cold water. The brine was easy enough to mix up - the similarities to my dill pickle brine were too obvious to miss. I will say that the one thing I had to do this time for ALL four jars, that I rarely have to do otherwise is clear air bubbles. Most liquid canning solutions call for your "non-metallic" tool to swish around the jar, and I usually do, but I've never seen so many air bubbles as today. Luckily that's easy to clear up though, and then it was just a matter of boiling the jars!
Now we'll just have to wait and see what they taste like... And what my wife considers appropriate repayment!
Sunday, October 4, 2009
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Road Grill: Crab Salad Stuffed Avacados
We were watching Road Grill with Matt Dunnigan of all things over the summer and came across this fairly easy recipe for a light, cool meal.
1. Drain and rinse a can of crab meat, making sure to check for shells.
2. Add a decent sized dollop or two of Miracle Whip or Mayonnaise.
3. Zest a lime directly into the crab. Reserve some juice to brush the avocados then juice the rest into the crab mixture as well.
4. Add a generous amount of your favourite hot sauce.
5. Season with salt and pepper.
6. Mix and adjust to taste as necessary.
7. Slice, skin, and de-stone two avocados so you end up with 4 half avocados. Brush with reserved lime juice. Any remaining lime juice can go into the crab mixture.
8. Spoon crab mixture onto avocados.
9. Top each avocado with green onion or chives.
And voila!
1. Drain and rinse a can of crab meat, making sure to check for shells.
2. Add a decent sized dollop or two of Miracle Whip or Mayonnaise.
3. Zest a lime directly into the crab. Reserve some juice to brush the avocados then juice the rest into the crab mixture as well.
4. Add a generous amount of your favourite hot sauce.
5. Season with salt and pepper.
6. Mix and adjust to taste as necessary.
7. Slice, skin, and de-stone two avocados so you end up with 4 half avocados. Brush with reserved lime juice. Any remaining lime juice can go into the crab mixture.
8. Spoon crab mixture onto avocados.
9. Top each avocado with green onion or chives.
And voila!
Monday, September 28, 2009
Sun Dried Tomatoes
The Italians have lied to us for years! For that matter, most of the Mediterranean nations have been stretching the truth to us "westerners!" There is no such thing as sun dried tomatoes! There are dried tomatoes, and they have a sweet, concentrated tomato flavour, but there's no "sun" involved, that's just a flowery name for them.
Nope, sun dried tomatoes are dried in the oven. Any tomatoes will work, although I find cherry and grape style tomatoes work the best. Simply wash and dry tomatoes, then slice them all in half and combine them carefully in a medium/large mixing bowl. Drizzle them generously with olive oil and add salt and pepper. Use your hands to mix them gently. Take a cookie sheet/baking tray and arrange the tomatoes skin side down so none are touching. (If you're wondering if you need to grease the tray, you need to go back and add more oil to the tomatoes!) Then put the tray in the oven or toaster oven at the lowest possible setting for several hours, preferably overnight!
When they come out of the oven, the tomatoes will have shrunk, concentrated, and become tiny morsels of goodness! Just make sure they go straight in the fridge for maximum shelf life!
Nope, sun dried tomatoes are dried in the oven. Any tomatoes will work, although I find cherry and grape style tomatoes work the best. Simply wash and dry tomatoes, then slice them all in half and combine them carefully in a medium/large mixing bowl. Drizzle them generously with olive oil and add salt and pepper. Use your hands to mix them gently. Take a cookie sheet/baking tray and arrange the tomatoes skin side down so none are touching. (If you're wondering if you need to grease the tray, you need to go back and add more oil to the tomatoes!) Then put the tray in the oven or toaster oven at the lowest possible setting for several hours, preferably overnight!
When they come out of the oven, the tomatoes will have shrunk, concentrated, and become tiny morsels of goodness! Just make sure they go straight in the fridge for maximum shelf life!
A Gardener's Nemesis
If there's a sure way to rain on a gardener's parade in the mid to late fall, it's the arrival of his/her nemesis Jack Frost. After having such an unbelievable September and finally having things GROW in the garden, I was really hoping that our first frost would be delayed according. Unfortunately, the day after I start cleaning out the garden it's forecasted. Well, my tomatoes are stripped and my pumpkin is covered....everything else is just going to have to withstand Jack's touch. I guess this means I can pick the turnips now...
Although, another several dozen green tomatoes after several dozen ripe tomatoes yesterday? What's a chef to do? "Sun" drying!
Although, another several dozen green tomatoes after several dozen ripe tomatoes yesterday? What's a chef to do? "Sun" drying!
Sunday, September 27, 2009
Change Of Season
Almost hard to believe that it's time to think about autumn chores around the garden. Sure, school started almost a month(?!!) ago now, but things are still growing and we're just finally ending our summertime temperatures...which hadn't even started until Labour Day! Made it very hard to accept today when I realized that I should be planting next year's garlic in the next 2-3 weeks!
Anyways, things I did today to facilitate the changing of the seasons...
-dug the last of the garlic and all of the red and spanish onions, setting them up to dry in the garage for at least a week
-harvested the last of the Juliet tomatoes and all of the ripe Snow White and Sungold tomatoes; still lots of flowers and green ripening fruit on the latter two plants, so we may get a few more yet depending on the weather...
-brought the Tomatillo into the house - maybe I can get some actually fruit off of it now that it won't go below 50 F at night!
And with the tomatillo came some indoor gardening chores...
-adding soil to the former pepper pot and planting my next indoor fruiting olive tree :)
-redoing my aloe vera pot and replanting all of the plants that were trying to escape
-getting the tomatillo established indoors
-reawakening the Amyrillis
Oh well, at least colder temperatures mean I get to dust off my chili recipes... ;)
Anyways, things I did today to facilitate the changing of the seasons...
-dug the last of the garlic and all of the red and spanish onions, setting them up to dry in the garage for at least a week
-harvested the last of the Juliet tomatoes and all of the ripe Snow White and Sungold tomatoes; still lots of flowers and green ripening fruit on the latter two plants, so we may get a few more yet depending on the weather...
-brought the Tomatillo into the house - maybe I can get some actually fruit off of it now that it won't go below 50 F at night!
And with the tomatillo came some indoor gardening chores...
-adding soil to the former pepper pot and planting my next indoor fruiting olive tree :)
-redoing my aloe vera pot and replanting all of the plants that were trying to escape
-getting the tomatillo established indoors
-reawakening the Amyrillis
Oh well, at least colder temperatures mean I get to dust off my chili recipes... ;)
Friday, August 21, 2009
Daily Dinner Review - Fried Chicken, Corn on the Cob, and Tomato "Salad"
We had two of our more food aware friends over for dinner tonight, so I wanted to put together a meal that was both representative of my cooking, easy-ish to prepare, and was fitting for a summer evening. Of course, average summer evenings this year are cold, rainy, and gloomy, but we'll ignore that for now.
I started out with my fried chicken, which besides my family spaghetti sauce, is probably the dish that I've most amalgamated and personalized in the past few years. The roots for my friend chicken started out with Michael Smith and Tyler Florence, but have now seriously melded with Big Daddy Aaron McCargo Jr. Ultimately I'm doing a Maryland style fried chicken now - I rub the chicken with my spices and let it sit before flouring, unlike more Southern styles that require a buttermilk soak and only add spices to the flour. My spice choices are a little fluid, although the currently revolve around paprika, cayenne pepper, FRESH ground black pepper (very important), kosher salt, and garlic and onion powers. I'm tempted to try either white pepper (good heat, but minimal flavour) or something green in the future though. The current combination provides good flavour and just the right amount of zing/heat in your mouth though, so there's no drive to change things up too much. I also added a quick bake for the chicken for after they've fried in the stove top oil - things ended up a touch dry tonight, but the baking helped with the crispiness of the coating and got rid of some of the oily issues we had last time.
Corn on the Cob is probably the simplest BBQ dish to make. Soak your corn for 20 min, and then throw it (husk and all) onto the grill, rotating for 20 minutes. If you're still cooking other things, wrap it in newspaper and throw it in the microwave or oven until just before you're ready to eat. The corn comes out with a great flavor, good sweetness, and rarely has any char marks. All you need to do is add butter and salt! Now if only I could figure out that lime butter recipe...
One of the easiest and tastiest "salads" I can make is a true Italiano treat - repeating layers of fresh sliced tomato, boccochini (mozzarella balls), and basil, then doused with balsamic vinegar over top. It's a quintessential summer time food - both light and flavourful, and very much a reminder of a hot summer's day. It works just as well in the middle of the winter if you can find the right tomatoes too!
Overall, a good variety of flavours and a balanced meal in terms of different types of dishes too!
I started out with my fried chicken, which besides my family spaghetti sauce, is probably the dish that I've most amalgamated and personalized in the past few years. The roots for my friend chicken started out with Michael Smith and Tyler Florence, but have now seriously melded with Big Daddy Aaron McCargo Jr. Ultimately I'm doing a Maryland style fried chicken now - I rub the chicken with my spices and let it sit before flouring, unlike more Southern styles that require a buttermilk soak and only add spices to the flour. My spice choices are a little fluid, although the currently revolve around paprika, cayenne pepper, FRESH ground black pepper (very important), kosher salt, and garlic and onion powers. I'm tempted to try either white pepper (good heat, but minimal flavour) or something green in the future though. The current combination provides good flavour and just the right amount of zing/heat in your mouth though, so there's no drive to change things up too much. I also added a quick bake for the chicken for after they've fried in the stove top oil - things ended up a touch dry tonight, but the baking helped with the crispiness of the coating and got rid of some of the oily issues we had last time.
Corn on the Cob is probably the simplest BBQ dish to make. Soak your corn for 20 min, and then throw it (husk and all) onto the grill, rotating for 20 minutes. If you're still cooking other things, wrap it in newspaper and throw it in the microwave or oven until just before you're ready to eat. The corn comes out with a great flavor, good sweetness, and rarely has any char marks. All you need to do is add butter and salt! Now if only I could figure out that lime butter recipe...
One of the easiest and tastiest "salads" I can make is a true Italiano treat - repeating layers of fresh sliced tomato, boccochini (mozzarella balls), and basil, then doused with balsamic vinegar over top. It's a quintessential summer time food - both light and flavourful, and very much a reminder of a hot summer's day. It works just as well in the middle of the winter if you can find the right tomatoes too!
Overall, a good variety of flavours and a balanced meal in terms of different types of dishes too!
Thursday, August 20, 2009
Planning Canning
Well, it's already mid- (err...late?) August, and it seems like canning should be winding down for the summer, except that thanks to our unseasonal temperature and mass deluges of rain, it hasn't even really begun yet. Pickling cucumbers are still on the vine, and most of the July and August produce is still waiting to be harvested, never mind the fall arrivals. At this point, we'll be getting fresh veggies and fruit well into October baring any early frosts.
Dill pickles are always the centerpiece of my canning season and seem to be the most popular of my creations. While not overly labor intensive they do take forever, thanks to the need to maintain the hot water bath in a specific temperature range to guarantee preservation but at the same time maintaining the crunchiness of the pickles. Last year I ended up doing 36 pounds of pickles in one day (1 lb = 1 jar) but I'm thinking of splitting t hings into 2 or 3 days this year, depending on when orders are available...and whether or not school starts first!
Wasn't sure what to do about other canning this year, especially as neither of our apple trees are going to bear fruit this year thanks to the canker worms in the spring. We're well stocked on both "regular" apple chutney and Kashmir chutney, and there definitely isn't a demand for apple butter this year, so I think we can skip the apples altogether. Thanks to the desires of my SIL, we're also still well stocked with triple citrus marmalade as well. Most other things can be replenished or added to though.
I wasn't sure where I was going to find my recipes or inspiration from this year, when I stumbled across a book called "Put a Lid on It!" at the checkout stand at the library. I figured I'd take it home and copy any recipes that looked interesting and see it that would kick start my canning plans. After the first time I went through the book, I had over 40 recipes marked...so I ended up ordering the book, as well as it's sequel. Lots in there to go through, and I'm sure I'll find some things to make...possible even raspberry chambord jam!
More canning planning to come as I narrow down my choices...and decide what do to about our dwindling stock of pickled onions!
Dill pickles are always the centerpiece of my canning season and seem to be the most popular of my creations. While not overly labor intensive they do take forever, thanks to the need to maintain the hot water bath in a specific temperature range to guarantee preservation but at the same time maintaining the crunchiness of the pickles. Last year I ended up doing 36 pounds of pickles in one day (1 lb = 1 jar) but I'm thinking of splitting t hings into 2 or 3 days this year, depending on when orders are available...and whether or not school starts first!
Wasn't sure what to do about other canning this year, especially as neither of our apple trees are going to bear fruit this year thanks to the canker worms in the spring. We're well stocked on both "regular" apple chutney and Kashmir chutney, and there definitely isn't a demand for apple butter this year, so I think we can skip the apples altogether. Thanks to the desires of my SIL, we're also still well stocked with triple citrus marmalade as well. Most other things can be replenished or added to though.
I wasn't sure where I was going to find my recipes or inspiration from this year, when I stumbled across a book called "Put a Lid on It!" at the checkout stand at the library. I figured I'd take it home and copy any recipes that looked interesting and see it that would kick start my canning plans. After the first time I went through the book, I had over 40 recipes marked...so I ended up ordering the book, as well as it's sequel. Lots in there to go through, and I'm sure I'll find some things to make...possible even raspberry chambord jam!
More canning planning to come as I narrow down my choices...and decide what do to about our dwindling stock of pickled onions!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)