Martha Stewart joins the canning party

("Now remember to color coordinate your preserves!")

Sometimes i partake in a little Martha Stewart Living Magazine. I like the Good Things section and i love how she takes something i have collected (from yard sales and thrift stores) 10x's more expensive because she did an article about them :)
In last month's magazine, i noticed that there was a section about canning/preserves. i would have posted about it earlier, but i was trying to find links/images to post as well-couldn't find any, and got busy-hence a little late.
But late is better than never-and the Martha article has a beautifully photographed spread on making your own canned goods. While pressure-canning, diagrams of actually preparing/processing goods and tidbits that one would get from a Ball Canning Book are not really covered (heck, it's only a few pages!)...i liked the article for 2 reasons:
-new recipes like lemons with artichokes-have to try it!
-creative applications of the recipes beyond the cheese and bread.

below is one of the recipes from the article-if you end up making it, let us know!

OLD BACHELOR'S JAM (from Martha Stewart Living)

• 2 lbs blackberries (7c)
• 3 1/2 c sugar
• 2 lemons halved
• 2 lbs raspberries (7c)
• 4 oz kirsh or other cheery-flavored liquor (1/2c)

bring blackberries, 1 3/4c sugar and the juice of 1 lemon in a large pot over medium heat. Cook until sugar dissolves and berries are soft. Press parchment on the jam and put in the fridge overnight. Do the same with the raspberries and same amount of sugar.
remove parchment, bring each pot to a boil-thicken (about 12-17 min). do jell-test to make sure it will set.
fill each jar, half with one jam, half with the other and top with 1/2 oz kirsch. Process in a water bath for 10 min.


NOTE: if you are interested in preserving classes, both Ernie and i have a few classes coming up in the next few months-again, let us know if there is something that you would like to see.
happy preserving!

Ernest and Delilah do a canning demo in Hollywood

Ernest and I just had our first Hollywood canning demo yesterday and let me just say that i was VERY thankful that it didnt rain (driving our VW bus is not the easiest, but in the rain??). The Farmers' market really hooked us up with a killer booth for the event, a tent with screens, tables and an awesome grill-that and produce for the event-so sweet of them!

(ohhs and ahhs from Ernest's knowledge of canning-paging Alex Trebeck!)

Despite it being Oscar Day, there was a pretty good crowd (from 5 to 25!)...so refreshing and happy to see that people are interested in food preservation-gives us hope that perhaps the Master Food Preserver Program will come back to LA!
Ernest did a gorgeous pickled asparagus recipe. They looked beautiful with their slightly pink/red tops and bits of garlic and dill floating in the crystal weave glass...hard to believe that with a little work you can make something that costs you $8 in the store.
I opted for a curried carrot pickle. i am a big fan of the hot-sour combo. recipe below.

(tag team: cannin' at ya!)

(cooling the curry carrots)

CURRIED PICKLED CARROTS

• 3-4# carrots, peeled (if not organic), cut into sticks
• 5 cloves garlic
• 3 c. cider vinegar/white vinegar
• 1 c. water
• 2 tbsp salt
• 2 tbsp curry powder
• 2 tbsp mustard seeds
• 1 tbsp cumin
• 1-2 tbsp red pepper flakes (optional)

prep the carrots. in a stainless steel pan, combine water, vinegar, spices
and heat to boil. stuff the jars with the carrot slices and a garlic clove. pour brine over carrots, wipe lids and secure with lids and rings. process for 15 minutes.

(a few lucky audience members received goodies!)

we will let you know when we do this again!

more kumquat recipes: kumquats in vodka

basket inventory: lots of kale and carrots, lettuces, cilantro, rosemary, tangerines, blood oranges, mandarins, limes, lemons, kumquats, broccoli, avos, mac nuts, sprouts

booze is a great way to preserve items..not only is it incredibly easy, but you are going to have some pretty delicious cocktails!
NOTE: if you want to make this for a party, you need to start a few weeks in advanced so that you have a well developed flavor.

KUMQUAT VODKA

• 1 liter/5-6 c. good vodka
• 2 c sugar
• 1 pound well washed kumquats

pierce the quats a few times do that they can soak up the booze. dump them into a sterilized glass jar/pickling container and add sugar. add the vodka and close the container well. let it sit for about 2 weeks or until the sugar is dissolved...
i should be doing a follow-up to this recipe in a few weeks!

Honeyed Kumquats-Delilah's first blog post!

Hello fellow food preservationists!
My name is Delilah and i am a Master Food Preserver (mostly in Orange County). I do a weekly recipe based off my CSA basket and well this past week was perfect for a blog post here.
i will be making weekly contributions to the blog with recipes, products, adventures in food preservation and any classes that might be coming up. If you want to see my day job you can go here or if you want to read my blog, try here.
I am usually at the Hollywood Farmers' market on the 1st Sunday of the month so stop by and say hello!



basket inventory: kale, chard (rainbow!), sprouts, radish, 2 kinds of lettuce, mandarins, tangerines, limes, lemons, strawberries, celery, kumquats, herbs

Kumquats seem to have a limited number of uses, most of the time people just eat them raw...but after a few weeks, that can be a little too much. Our CSA has been serving up kumquats for the past few weeks and i have accumulated a little stockpile of them...perfect time for canning.
This reminded me of a recipe i have been using from Linda Ziedrich's: The Joy of Jam, Jellies and Other Sweet Preserves.

Honeyed Kumquats
(from The Joy of Jam, Jellies and Other Sweet Preserves)

• 1 # stemmed kumquats
• 1 1/2 c. water
• 3/4c. sugar
• 1/2c. honey

let the kumquats sit in boiling water for 10 min, rinse them then slit each one and boil them in water for another 10 min.
in a saucepan, combine the other items, add kumquats and boil together for 25, set aside for at least 8 hours.
pour into a jar and put in the fridge, lasts a month at least OR...
heat the mixture again, skim off foam and ladle into jars leaving 1" head space. process in a boiling water bath for 15 min.

(honey from Backyard Bees)

(bees really like the warmed honey mix)

this recipe is incredible for ice cream and super for making a simple cake gourmet.

NOTE: if you are making this in the daytime, you kitchen might fill-up with bees (we had about 15 bees my little kitchen while making this)! make it at night if you are afraid of them.