Fall preserving

CarlaCooks September 30, 2014

I made a ton of apple butter. This year I am going to try pickled pears apple chutney.

aargersi September 30, 2014

Single recipe from a website, but I make and can it every year with late tomatoes - it is cheese's BFF forever - I usually up the chili flakes because that's how I roll, and sometimes I add vinegar (depends on the tomatoes0
Tomato Jam with Rosemary and Saffron ...

http://herbivoracious.com/2010/07/tomato-jam-with-rosemary-and-saffron-recipe.html

Horto September 29, 2014

keep this topic going my friends, this is a good one!

AntoniaJames September 29, 2014

I agree! ;o)

Horto September 29, 2014

West's book is a go to for me, I find the british books a little vague on processing times…..but the recipe collection is interesting…..Paul Virant, yes.

AntoniaJames September 29, 2014

I agree about the British books; I usually go find a comparable recipe from a US-focused book to get the processing time. Many British cooks don't process at all, I've noticed -- as many of our mothers and grandmothers did not/do not, for high acid items -- but rather, just confirm a successful seal after filling hot sterilized jars with hot jam, etc. ;o)

Horto September 29, 2014

what other resources are folks using for canning recipes?

AntoniaJames September 29, 2014

You might find this thread helpful: https://food52.com/hotline/25211-your-favorite-jam-pickle-preserve-discoveries-what-must-make-again-canning-other-preserve-recipes

In addition to Virant's "The Preservation Kitchen," I like Pam Corbin's River Cottage Preserves Handbook and (for a few recipes), Kevin West's "Saving the Season." I am not as wildly enthusiastic as some about the popular "Mes Confitures" by Christine Ferber, but I have made great use of her two-kinds-of-apricot preserves, adapting it several times using other stone fruits + dried apricots.
I'll be making a few mostardas this fall using this method: https://food52.com/blog/8577-how-to-make-mostarda-without-a-recipe ;o)

AntoniaJames September 29, 2014

Just to clarify, I won't be canning the mostardas . . . . ;o)

Pia S. September 29, 2014

I've been making a sweet and salty plum pickle from the abundance of plums we've been getting from our CSA - based on this recipe but without the cloves and fennel seeds: http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/salty-sweet-spiced-pickled-plums. It's really delicious and the syrup makes a great drink mixed with seltzer - I may try it with some other stone fruits.

AntoniaJames September 29, 2014

Those sweet and salty plum pickles sound so good, Pia S. I'm going to see if I can make a batch this weekend. We'll have plums for at least another few weeks here; pickled plums are so easy (almost no prep; no cooking except the syrup). I'll most likely infuse the pickling syrup with Thai basil and skip the star anise, as I'm not crazy about the latter. (As one Food52'er so aptly put it, star anise makes everything taste like Good 'n' Plenty.) ;o)

Pia S. September 30, 2014

AntoniaJames - I really like that modification. I'm also not crazy about star anise, I tend to break off just a piece of a pod per jar for this for a little hint of south Asian flavor - I love the idea of Thai basil instead!

Diana B. September 29, 2014

Citrus is starting to come in and I love to make marmalades. I just finished making a few pints of pink grapefruit marmalade with star anise...mmmm! Apple jam and apple jelly, especially crab apple jelly, with a handful of thyme thrown in.

SKK September 28, 2014

Right now I am preserving 'Pear and Vanilla Aigre-Doux' from Paul Virants "The Preservation Kitchen". It calls for white wine, champagne vinegar, honey, whole vanilla beans and peppercorns. The pears are amazing placed on top of St. Agur Blue Cheese, and I am sure there will be other uses. This season I have pickled green beans and carrots, preserved garlic marinara sauce and another recipe of marinara, blueberries, tomato jam, cherries, and a lot of other things. I have things in the freezer as well, and if the power goes out will still have food to eat. If you have not checked out The Preservation Kitchen I highly recommend it. As well as any book written by Eugenia Bone.

AntoniaJames September 28, 2014

In September, I make Damson plum pickles, as we don't see them until now. Within the last few weeks, I've made apple chutney with various dried fruits and have pickled some Emerald Beauty plums as well. http://instagram.com/p/tds8PPmB9-/ Next week, I'll be pickling golden beets in white wine vinegar with ginger. I'll pickle some Asian pears at the same time. In late October, I'll make pumpkin butter (Paul Virant's recipe in "Preservation Kitchen") and a few mostardas, and then start my Thanksgiving planning/baking for freezing, etc. in earnest. https://food52.com/blog/8826-how-to-hike-a-mountain-and-serve-thanksgiving-dinner-on-the-same-day

Julie September 24, 2014

Wow, thank you! So many great suggestions. It's going to be a busy weekend : )

jamcook September 24, 2014

Just remember that you can't do a whole summer's worth of preserving in one weekend. Each project can be time consuming, and you don't want to get frustrated and left with piles of fruit or veggies that you didn't get to. You want this to be a pleasure and not a chore. There is almost nothing more satisfying than hearing those jars go "ping" at the end.

Julie September 24, 2014

Thanks Jamcook - I'm narrowing it down to just a few projects. I usually try to do as much as I can once I've got all the equipment out, etc., but I definitely don't want to bite off more than I can chew.

Kristen W. September 24, 2014

Bevi, my mouth is watering reading your list!

Horto September 23, 2014

i
canned tomatoes today

Bevi September 23, 2014

This year I put up bread and butter pickles, strawberry balsamic black pepper jam, strawberry black pepper and lime jam, strawberry vanilla jam, plum apricot cardamom jam, fig cognac jam, pickled sweet and sour red onions, all kinds of blueberry jams (with lemon verbena; ginger and vanilla bean; ginger peach; cherry and lime; and cinnamon mint), wild blackberry jam, plum anise jam, and brandied apricots and peaches. I still plan on making caramelized apple jam, some kind of pear jam, Meyer lemon marmalade, and mandarin orange and lemon marmalade. I will make roasted tomato jam for the refrigerator, and some mango chutney.

jamcook September 23, 2014

I make tomato jam (there is a great recipe on this site). I also use the last of my peaches and fall plums for jam. I stopped canning applesauce when I realized how well it freezes, and how fresh it tastes when it is defrosted . I also make basil pesto, and freeze it without cheese, adding the cheese when I defrost it,and it is ready to serve.
I thought that I would make a fig jam as I have so many figs, but they are ripening at the rate of two at a time, so I just eat them for breakfast. Figs do abound at this time of year, so you might want to get some. Have fun!

Diana B. September 29, 2014

You can freeze those figs as they ripen and the texture change that results won't matter in making a jam (I make mine with cardamom).

kimhw September 23, 2014

I make a few different types of pickles, spicy and dill green beans, beets, salsa and sour kraut.
I freeze tomato sauce, cream less corn chowder(I'm in love with corn broth too) corn, apple sauce, zucchini bread, apple bread, lots of herbs, and green beans.
Already done are many varieties of jams, pickled asparagus, frozen peas, pesto and dried herbs and variety of dried spicy peppers.
Yes I had to buy a freezer.

aargersi September 23, 2014

I like to make a lot of jams and jellies in prep for the holidays - I have fig, grape and cherry already, and now I will do plum and port jam, and apple butter - all of those are hot water bath canned. In the next day or two I will make and freeze basil pesto - need to pick before the deer do it for me (they do not share nicely)

I have lots of chow-chow put up, too - both corn and green tomato. Oh and I am obsessed with corn broth and have been freezing that too!

Susan W. September 23, 2014

I'm into the freezer method as well. If Armageddon comes, I will be able to provide us all with Marcellas tomato sauce, Francis Lam's ratatouille, gingered zucchini soup, chicken stock, short ribs and as of yesterday, ten lbs of fire roasted tomatoes. I have also discovered freezing grape tomatoes, kale and fresh herbs. I'm going to need to buy a small freezer if I don't stop. :)

MissChristina September 28, 2014

Hopefully, Armageddon doesn't knock out the electricity that runs the fridge! :-)

Susan W. September 28, 2014

Hopefully, if that happens, it will be 32° or colder here. There was a Friends episode. Joey's freezer broke. Chandler came home and found Joey in a food coma because he ate everything. :)

sfmiller September 23, 2014

I'm in a household of two, so do a lot less canning than I used to. These days, I mostly make small batches of refrigerator pickles (jalapenos; green-tomato bread and butter pickles; beets), fermented pickles (cucumbers, green beans, kraut, hot pepper mash and sauce). Saves the trouble of dragging out the canning gear and heating up the house.

I do make a big batch of apple butter and can some of that, sometimes plum butter, too. And a few jars of chow-chow to use up the odds and ends of the garden around first frost.

I freeze tomato sauce and sometimes oven-dry plum tomatoes (not this year, though, thanks to racoons with a taste for Amish Pastes).

Meaghan F. September 23, 2014

I do most of my preserving via my freezer, and recently I've been putting away bags of roasted red peppers, homemade marinara made with fresh tomatoes, minced fresh ginger (fresh as in without the tough skin yet - a must for my fall baking), and chopped nectarines and peaches. I made plum preserves two weekends ago though as part of an upcoming cooking project. This weekend, I'll be stringing a ristra (dried chili peppers) and making compound butter with the last of my herbs.

Fall preserving

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