Canned Apple Pie Filling – New Recipe

October 18, 2011 By 7 Comments

Well its new for me anyway. Here is my other recipe.  

This one is a bit different.

Apple Pie Filling

10 pounds tart apples – peeled, cored and sliced
5 1/2 cups sugar
1 1/2 cup Clearjel
1 T. cinnamon
2-1/2 cups cold water
5 cups apple juice OR use water, its up to you.
1 tsp. nutmeg
3/4 cup bottled lemon juice
In this recipe you first want to boil your apple slices. This cooks the apples and keeps them from shrinking so much once they are cooked in the canner, and from making your jars look like they are missing some apples.
So bring a large kettle of water to a boil. Add about 1 quart of apple slices at a time and bring the water back to a boil. strain the apple slices out of the boiling water and add the next batch of apple slices. Keep the boiled apples covered while you are boiling the rest of them.
Once you’re done, you can empty out the water because you will need the kettle.
In your large kettle, preferably heavy-bottomed, add the sugar, Clear-Jel, nutmeg and cinnamon. Add the apple juice or water and stir. Turn up the heat and cook the mixture until it is thick, bubbly and smooth. Turn off heat.
Add the apple slices and lemon juice. Stir.
Fill hot jars 3/4 full of apples and syrup. Top of each jar with syrup to within 1 inch of the rim of the jars.
Run a plastic or rubber spatula around the inside of the jars to release air bubbles.
Clean off the rims with a clean, wet cloth.
Add lids and rings.
Water bath the jars for 25 minutes. Remove from pan and allow to sit on a dishcloth on the cabinet.Allow the jars to remain undisturbed over night.
Makes 6 or 7 quarts.
Filed Under: Canning Drying, Cooking School

Classic Bread and Butter Pickles

May 26, 2011 By 9 Comments

These pickles and onions are sweet and tart, spicy and delicious….

Ingredients

  • 2 1/2 lbs pickling cucumbers (as fresh as possible)
  • 1 pound white or yellow onions, thinly sliced
  • 1/4 cup pickling salt (its important NOT to use table salt, which has added ingredients which turn the pickles dark and soft and juice muddy)
  • 1 1/4 cup white distilled vinegar (5% acidity)
  • 1 cup apple cider vinegar (5% acidity)
  • 2 1/4 cups sugar
  • 1 Tbsp mustard seeds
  • 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
  • 3/4 teaspoon celery seeds
  • 1 inch cinnamon stick
  • 6 allspice berries plus a pinch of ground allspice
  • 6 whole cloves plus a pinch of ground cloves
  • 1/2 teaspoon turmeric

You’ll also need:

  • 5 pint-sized canning jars, clean, unused lids, metal screw bands for the lids
  • 1 16-qt canning pot with rack
  • Jar lifters or tongs

Carefully rinse the cucumbers. Scrub the cukes well, get all dirt and spines off.

Slice off 1/8-inch from the ends and discard. The stem end of the cucumber contains enzymes which cause the pickles to be soft.  Old fashioned recipes sometimes called for adding grape leaves to the pickles before canning to inhibit the enzymes.

Slice the cucumbers in 1/4-inch thick slices, place in a large bowl. Add sliced onions and pickling salt.

Stir very well, so that the salt is well distributed all over the cucumber slices. Cover with a clean, thin kitchen towel. Place about 2 inches of ice on top of the towel .  Put the bowl of cuke slices in the refrigerator and let chill for 4 hours. Discard ice. Rinse the cucumber and onion slices thoroughly to remove all the salt, drain.

Rinse and drain again.

Put a kettle or pot of water on to boil from which you can add water to the processing pot later

Prepare your jars, lids and rings.

Wash jars with hot soapy water, rinse well. Sterilize jars by putting them in a large pot of water on a metal rack, bring to a boil and then simmer for 10 minutes.  Keep the jars hot.

Put the lids and rings into a small pan of water, bring to a boil. reduce heat and keep hot.

In a 6 qt pot or larger, place the vinegar, sugar, and all of the spices. Bring to a boil, stirring until the sugar is dissolved. Add sliced cucumbers and onions. Bring to a boil again.

Immediately begin packing the jars with the vegetables. Use a slotted spoon to lift the cucumbers out of the vinegar mixture. Pack vegetables to within 1 inch of the jar rim.

Pour the hot vinegar mixture over the vegetables to within a half inch from the rim. Wipe the rim clean with a damp clean towel or cloth.  Place a sterilized lid on the jar. Secure with a metal screw band.

Return filled jars to the same canning pot with its already hot water.  Add enough hot water to cover the jars by at least 1 inch.

Bring to a boil and let boil hard for 15 minutes. If you live at an altitude over 1000 feet, boil 20 minutes. If you live at an altitude over 6000 feet, boil 25 minutes.

After the appropriate time, take the jars out of the water and place them on a clean towel on the counter top.  Let them cool completely and don’t bother the lids until they are cool.

You’ll probably hear the lids “pinging” of the lids sealing as they cool.  After they are cool, you can check the seals by lightly tapping the tops of the lids with a metal spoon. A sealed lid will sound with a “ring” and a lid that isn’t sealed will sound with a dull thud.

This recipe makes about 5 pint jars.

Filed Under: Canning Drying, Cooking School, Recipes

Drying and Marinating Tomatoes

May 16, 2011 By 18 Comments

 

Soon, my tomatoes will start to come out of the garden in large numbers.  Then in a week to two after that  they will be pouring in and I will have to start canning in earnest. In the mean time I don’t want to lose all those little tomatoes that come first, so I like to dry them.

Dried tomatoes can be used in cooked dishes, salads, soups and stews, casseroles and marinated they take on all kinds of delicious flavors. The drying concentrates the sugars and makes the end product sweet, chewy and delicious.

I use a food dehydrator, but if you don’t have one, you can use a low oven, no hotter than 140*F.  It can take from 4 to 8 hours to dry tomatoes in an oven.  It all depends on your oven, the moisture content of the tomatoes and how thick you have sliced them, so you must always keep an eye on your tomatoes as they are drying.

You can dry tomatoes until they are crisp and then crumble them in soups, dressings and stews, or you can dry them til they are leathery and use them in casseroles and pasta dishes and for marinating. I dry them both ways.

If your tomatoes are NOT plum tomatoes, you may need to cut them open and wash out the seeds and pulp before drying them. Seeds and pulp dry up to an unusable crumble, so just wash it all out and then slice the fleshy part of the tomato to dry.

Lay the slices on mesh screens in your dehydrator, or lay the slices on parchment paper on a cookie sheet in your oven. Dehydrators take different amounts of time but the usual is about 4 hours for leathery tomatoes where the tomatoes have been sliced 1/4″ thick.  The temperature for drying tomatoes in a dehydrator is 135 – 140* F. Longer drying time will result in dryer, crisper tomatoes.

Some people like to lightly oil the mesh screen or parchment paper before adding the tomatoes. Unless you are going to marinate the tomatoes, I don’t think its a good idea. It adds oil to your tomatoes, obviously and that oil will not allow your tomatoes to get crisp if that’s what you’re looking for.

After your tomato slices get to the texture you are looking for, gently remove them from the cookie sheet or mesh screen. Let them cool and pack them inside small glass jars or in zip top plastic bags. They will last longer if you freeze them.

If you want to crumble them, put them in the zip-top bag and press them with a glass or rolling pin until they are broken up and crumbly.

To marinate dried tomatoes:

For marinated tomatoes you want to use tomatoes that have been sliced and dried to a leathery texture.

You can use a simple olive oil marinade. Pour good grade olive oil over the tomatoes in a small jar. Push the oil around in the jar with a small plastic spatula so that it gets all around the tomatoes. You can add a clove or two of garlic if you like and as many fresh herbs as you like. I sometimes use basil, oregano and thyme along with the garlic. I don’t normally measure, I just use a sprig or so of each and a couple of garlic cloves. You could also add some peppercorns.

Remember that these tomatoes need to be refrigerated. The oil will solidify, but when you take it out it will quickly get liquid again as it comes to room temperature. Use the olive oil that the tomatoes have marinated in for cooking too, it is delicious!

These make great gifts too. You can dry your tomatoes, pack in zip lock bags and freeze them. At gift-giving time, pull them out, and re-pack in a small jar, pour the marinating oil and herbs over, put a lid on and let sit in the frig a couple of weeks before giving.

Filed Under: Canning Drying, Cooking School

Rhubarb, Strawberry and Rose Petal Jam

May 12, 2011 By 3 Comments

This is the most delicate, tasty jam. Its luscious! Be sure to use rose petals that have not had pesticide sprayed on them and choose only rose petals that are very fragrant. The color of your rose petals will have a lot to do with the final color of the jam.

Rhubarb, Strawberry and Rose Petal Jam is probably one of those things that you might never make, but its so nice to have on hand for gift-giving and for special occasions or just for smearing on a hot scone and having a cup of tea with a friend.

This recipe takes a couple of days to complete so plan accordingly.

Here is what you will need:
2 lb Rhubarb, trimmed weight
1 lb Small strawberries – slightly under ripe is best
1/2 lb highly scented rose petals
1 1/2 lb Sugar
4 small. juicy lemons- save the seeds!
Tie the seeds in a little muslin bag. They help to gel the jam.

Slice the rhubarb and layer it in a large bowl with the whole hulled strawberries and the sugar. Pour on the lemon juice, cover and leave overnight.

Pour the contents of the bowl into a 2 quart, heavy-bottomed saucepan. Add the lemon seeds tied in a muslin bag and bring gently to a boil. Boil for 2 minutes then pour the contents of the pan back into the bowl. Cover and leave in a cool place over night.

Put the rhubarb and strawberry mixture back into the saucepan. Pinch out the white tips from the bases of the rose petals and add the petals to the pan, pushing them well into the fruit.The white tips are bitter, so remove them completely.

Bring to the boil and boil hard for about 15-20 minutes. Check to see if it is thick by putting about 1 teaspoon of the jam onto a cold plate. Run your finger through the jam on the plate. If it doesn’t run back together the jam is thick enough. If ti runs together, then boil it longer.

Pour hot jam into hot jars. Seal with lids and rings. Put into a hot water bath for 15 minutes.
Makes 6 or 7 half pints.

Filed Under: Canning Drying, Cooking School, Recipes
« Older Posts