Tag Archives: canning

Canning, Food Storage

How To Preserve Nuts

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This is so easy!

Preheat your oven to 250 degrees F.

Take whatever nuts you want to store. Shell them or just make sure there are no bits of shell or debris.

Place the nuts in whatever size jars you want and place new lids and rings on.

Place your jars on a baking tray (for stability), and bake for one hour. Remove and let cool.

As long as they are sealed, they will store almost forever.

Canning, Dinner, Food Storage, Low Carb, Lunch, Preserving, Pressure, Recipe, Supplies

Homemade Corned Beef

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I can’t believe I didn’t post about this!  I made homemade corned beef last year, leaving out the sugar and the pink salt, and it was fantastic!  I thought, well, I could make this, then can it so I know exactly where it came from and what was in it.  I haven’t gotten around to canning this because it usually doesn’t last that long!

Anyway, if you are interested (I wanted to see if I could and I did), here is how I did it:

http://www.amazingribs.com/recipes/beef/home_made_corned_beef.html

And here is how to can it (ever since I canned that chicken, I prefer raw canning meats):

http://canninggranny.blogspot.com/2011/05/canning-corned-beef-brisket.html

There you go!  Give it a shot (even if you only do one).  It really wasn’t as difficult as my brain said it would be!

Canning, Food Storage, Potatoes

Canning Potatoes

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Yesterday, I canned my first batch of potatoes. I will be canning both red potatoes and sweet potatoes. I purchased two 10 pound bags of red potatoes (I figured this was the best choice, since the only other option was russet potatoes) and two 10 pound boxes of sweet potatoes.

This was one of the easiest things to do! I left the skins on, cut them in half or quarters (depending on their size), and followed the directions here: http://jordansfarm.wordpress.com/2008/08/23/canning-potatoes/. They all sealed beautifully and only two sucked up some of the water (the jars are about half full of water) so those will be used first (miss paranoid here).

The 20 pounds of red potatoes filled 19 quart jars (with a few left over so I could enjoy them with dinner) and 20 pounds of sweet potatoes filled 14 jars (actually 16 but I did not want to pressure can 2 jars so mashed sweet potatoes were for lunch and dinner the next day).

Further down on the web page above page is instructions for canning sweet potatoes. That is how I will be doing the sweet potatoes tonight:

Sweet Potatoes canned:

Boil first for about 5 min. so as the skins will rub off.

Leave small ones whole/ or cut,

Pack into jars

Fill with water or med. syrup (med. syrup: 3 1/4 cup sugar and 5 cups water= 7 cups syrup)

Leave 1 inch head space, remove air bubbles

Pressure can 10 pounds for:

Pints: 1 hour 5 minutes
Quarts: 1 hour and 30 minutes

I packed in syrup but a light syrup instead. I went looking around for light syrup recipes that would allow me to incorporate honey. I found this page (http://www.pickyourown.org/sugarsolution.htm), and it turns out you can replace half the sugar with honey! That’s what I did!

I love fresh sweet potatoes but after seeing how the red potatoes bleached out (no longer red) I am afraid of blah, bland sweet potatoes. I have not tried the sweet potatoes yet but last night we had corned beef hash with the canned red potatoes. I cubed them, put plenty of oil in the pan, let it brown without moving it around much, then removed them from the pan. We added them back right before the eggs were set. They tasted wonderful! They did not have that canned potato smell when we opened up the jar, and tasted just like boiled potatoes right out of the jar!

Canning, Chicken, Food Storage, Pressure, Soup

I Got My Pressure Canner!

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Presto Canner


After 20 years of waiting, I have finally gotten a pressure canner! I am so excited I can hardly think straight. This was my Christmas present from my husband (in addition to loving me, I think it was mostly to get me to stop bugging him about it). It’s a Presto 16 quart.

The third day, I was re-canning some of my #10 cans of food. I never wanted to open the cans because I did not want to freeze the leftovers. I processed all foods for the recommended times/pressure settings and they all turned out really nice! All except my beets. They look bleached out but one thing I noticed as I was opening up the can of pickled beets. They use high fructose corn syrup! I’ll be making my own from now on.

My first big canning project is going to be chicken. Yeah, I know. Meat first? Yup. See, we buy a lot of whole chickens and load up the freezer. Canning most of the chicken will free up that freezer space for something else.

The majority of the time, we only use whole chickens for my husband’s tacos and enchiladas. Those recipes require us to boil, then de-bone the chicken so why not cut those steps out?

So I went searching around and found this great blog:

http://lovehugsandgiggles.blogspot.com/2008/11/canning-chicken.html

Then I’ll use the bones for chicken soup. Can you tell I’m excited?

Canning, Pumpkin, Recipe

Pumpkin Butter!

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I was gifted with approximately 10 pumpkins. A friend wasn’t expecting the vines to come up this year so we had plenty to give to co-workers, neighbors, and hold onto.

So, I was looking around online. I usually freeze my pumpkin puree but here’s a woman who cans it! I figure, using her recipe, I’ll end up with pumpkin pie filling with one quart being enough to make two pies. I am so excited!

http://www.theneitherworld.com/pumpkin/canning.htm

UPDATE: This was fantastic and lasted a LONG time! Next time, I will make it without spices.

Canning, Desserts, Lemon, Pie, Preserving, Recipe, Wine

Lemons, Lemons, Everywhere!

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I was gifted with a lot of lemons from my neighbor’s tree last week. I didn’t realize just how many I had until I washed them all! What the heck was I going to do with all those lemons?

So far, I have started Lemon Wine. I used this recipe:

Lemon Wine

http://www.abc.net.au/wa/stories/s394386.htm
Print Recipe
Ingredients Method Notes

Ingredients
  

  • 6 – 10 lemons medium
  • 1/2 pound raisins
  • 4 pounds sugar
  • 1 ounces dried yeast
  • 1 gallon water

Method
 

  1. Grate all lemons and put them aside. Halve the lemons and squeeze the juice into one gallon of boiling water.
  2. When the water boils again, cut off the heat at once. Pour the hot liquid over the sugar and stir until all the sugar is dissolved.
  3. Cut up the raisins and add these to the liquid. Then add the lemon rind and allow the brew to cool. Sprinkle the yeast on top and stir in. Cover and ferment for 14 days after which you strain and bottle. Leave it for one to three months and enjoy (in moderation… this has quite a kick).

Notes

I gave some to my sisters and they said it tastes like limoncello.


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The second thing I did was make Canned Lemon Curd.

Lemon Curd

I used the canning instructions from the National Center for Home Food Preservation (.pdf link below) but this recipe.
Print Recipe
Ingredients Equipment Method Notes

Ingredients
  

  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1 cup lemon juice
  • 3 tbsp butter chilled, cut into approximately ¾" pieces
  • 3 eggs large
  • 1/2 cup lemon zest
  • 1/4 – 1/2 teaspoon citric acid to adjust for sweetness of your lemon juice. If you are using store bought lemon juice, you will not need citric acid.

Equipment

  • 1 double boiler or a pan for boiling water and a bowl to place on the pan

Method
 

  1. If you are using fresh squeezed lemon juice, taste it. If it is sweeter than store bought lemon juice, then add a little citric acid. Stir until the citric acid is dissolved, then taste again. If it is still too sweet, continue doing this step until you are satisfied.
  2. Combine the sugar and lemon zest in a small bowl, stir to mix, and set aside about 30 minutes.
  3. Heat water in the bottom pan of the double boiler until it boils gently. The water should not boil vigorously or touch the bottom of the top double boiler pan or bowl.
  4. In the top of the double boiler, on the counter top or table, whisk the eggs. Slowly whisk in the sugar and zest, blending until well mixed and smooth. Blend in the lemon juice and then add the butter pieces to the mixture.
  5. Place the top of the double boiler over boiling water in the bottom pan. Stir gently but continuously with a silicone spatula or spoon, to prevent the mixture from sticking to the bottom of the pan. Cook until the mixture reaches a temperature of 170 degrees F.
  6. Remove the double boiler pan from the stove and place on a protected surface, such as a dish towel on the counter top. Continue to stir gently until the curd thickens (about 5 minutes). Strain curd through a mesh strainer into a glass or stainless steel bowl; discard collected zest.

Notes

Here is the .pdf with the detailed instructions to water bath can this recipe. To download it, right-click, then choose “Save As.”  Lemon_Curd .pdf

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Right now, I have some Bitter Orange Marmalade (Orange-Lemon Marmalade) going in my crock pot (because my stock pot has the wine in it). Not sure if it will get hot enough to thicken, so I may have to separate and cook in batches. This recipe I got out of Stocking Up III by Carol Hupping and the staff of the Rodale Food Center. I used Mandarin Oranges, since I had a lot of those that needed to be used.

Bitter Orange Marmalade

An aromatic and delicious variation of the classic.
Print Recipe
Ingredients Method Notes

Ingredients
  

  • 5 oranges
  • 2 lemons
  • 12 cups water
  • 2 cups mild-flavored honey
  • 1 cup sugar

Method
 

  1. Place oranges, lemons, and water in an 8-quart stainless steel or enamel saucepan. Cover and bring to a boil. Lower heat and simmer 2 hours.
  2. Remove fruit; seed and quarter. Chop fruit in food processor or by hand. Return to water.
  3. Bring fruit mixture to a boil. Stir in honey and sugar. Return to a full rolling boil, stirring constantly, until mixture resembles a thick syrup, 15 to 30 minutes. (Keep at a full rolling boil or it will take longer to reach the gel stage.)
  4. Pour into hot, scalded half-pint jars, leaving 1/4-inch headspace, and seal. Process for 10 minutes in a boiling-water bath.
  5. Allow the marmalade to "age" for 2 weeks before tasting or it may be too bitter.

Notes

Based on the recipe from Stocking Up III by Carol Hupping and the staff of the Rodale Food Center

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The next (and I hopeful final) recipe I will be making is a Lemon Meringue Pie. I’ll be making this one tonight, using a recipe out of The Joy of Cooking (which is basically this recipe by Alton Brown):

Lemon Meringue Pie

Print Recipe
Ingredients Method

Ingredients
  

Lemon Filling
  • 4 egg yolks reserve whites for meringue
  • 1/3 cup cornstarch
  • 1 1/2 cups water
  • 1 1/3 cups sugar
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 3 tablespoons butter
  • 1/2 cup lemon juice
  • 1 tablespoon lemon zest finely grated
  • 1 9-inch pie shell pre-baked
  • 1 recipe meringue recipe follows
Meringue Topping
  • 4 egg whites
  • 1 pinch cream of tartar 1/16 to 1/8 teaspoon
  • 2 tablespoons sugar

Method
 

Lemon Filling
  1. Adjust the oven rack to the middle position. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
  2. Whisk egg yolks in medium size mixing bowl and set aside.
  3. In a medium saucepan, combine cornstarch, water, sugar, and salt. Whisk to combine. Turn heat on medium and, stirring frequently, bring mixture to a boil. Boil for 1 minute. Remove from heat and gradually, 1 whisk-full at a time, add hot mixture to egg yolks and stir until you have added at least half of the mixture.
  4. Return egg mixture to saucepan, turn heat down to low and cook, stirring constantly, for 1 more minute. Remove from heat and gently stir in butter, lemon juice, and zest until well combined. Pour mixture into pie shell and top with meringue while filling is still hot.
Meringue Topping
  1. Place egg whites and cream of tartar in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Beat egg whites until soft peaks form and then gradually add sugar and continue beating until stiff peaks form, approximately 1 to 2 minutes. Use to top lemon filling.
  2. Make sure meringue completely covers filling and that it goes right up to the edge of the crust. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes or until meringue is golden. Remove from oven and cool on a wire rack. Make sure pie is cooled completely before slicing.

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I was wrong! One more recipe, since there were just a few lemons left over. I made Lemon Extract! I remembered a wonderful Lemon Poppy-seed Bread recipe an online friend of mine gave me (I don’t have permission to post it here) and my lack of the necessary ingredient Lemon Extract. So, I made some!

Lemon Extract

Print Recipe
Ingredients Method Notes

Ingredients
  

  • 2 large lemons, zested no pith (white part)
  • 1 cup vodka

Method
 

  1. Use a vegetable peeler, sharp knife, or cheese grater to remove the zest off the lemons (ensure there is no pith, or it will make this bitter).
  2. Place in a sterilized pint mason jar, and pour vodka into jar.
  3. Place the cap and ring on the jar and leave for two weeks (shaking occasionally).
  4. Strain into a dark colored bottle.

Notes

This should keep for about a year or more if you store in a cool, dark place.