Preservation Link Roundup 8/20/10

Tomatoes, Tomatoes, Tomatoes

The Can Jam deadline is upon us and there is post after post of canned tomato recipes.

Ketchup seem particularly popular and people are using a variety of recipes and techniques to make it:

• What Julia Ate - Tomato Ketchup: August Can Jam
• Putting By - Ketchup
• Hitchhiking to Heaven - Roasted Red Pepper Ketchup -- With Kudos
• Yes, Another Cooking Blog - Ketchup for August Can Jam

There are other interesting posts as well.

Such as a tomato jam, which makes a refreshing change of pace in both savory and dessert applications Backyard Farms modifies one recipe with the addition of bay leaf and celery seed (CanJam # 8 Tomato Jam). I like the use of savory spices in jams. Bay leaf is almost always a good call and celery seed pairs very well with tomatoes, so why not?

Barbecue sauce is a great cannable item and Putting By has some good suggestions (Barbecue Sauce).

Local Kitchen makes a classic salsa but uses some time-saving techniques (Can Jam: Roasted Tomato & Chipotle Salsa). In addition to Ketchup, Yes, Another Cooking Blog also made salsa (Salsa-August Can Jam Tigress).

Tomatillos aren't green tomatoes, but they still make amazing salsa, as Put a Lid on It uses them instead of too expensive tomatoes (Roasted Salsa Verde).

I'll end the tomato posts with Well Preserved (Stewed (Canned) Tomatoes). A simple and classic recipe, to be sure, but check out the list of tips for canning. Some are tomato specific, but many are just general good ideas. Especially "Never do it if you don`t want to. It is supposed to be fun and it`s well worth it when you are in the moment." But read them all.

Ok, so maybe you are tomatoe'd out. August is also the best time of year for peaches. Stick a Fork in It, the OC Weekly's food blog, looks at peaches (At the Farmers' Market: Peaches), as does The Atlantic (The Annual Hunt for Perfectly Ripe Peaches):

These are my words of wisdom when it comes to peaches. Never squeeze a peach, as you basically ruin it. Select unbruised peaches with nice color, full shape, and nice weight for their size. Place the peach stem side down on a linen napkin or cotton tea towel—no substitutions. Make sure the fruits don't touch, and keep them in a cool place, not in the sun, then cover them with another linen napkin or cotton tea towel. It may take a few days. They are ripe when they smell like peach and the stem side is pressed down a bit from the weight and softening of the peach. The perfect peach should be quite perfumed, juicy, and soft.

Canning recipes almost always say to remove the peach skin before various types of processing take place. I say, not always. Check the peach first. Biting is the best method. Is the skin too thick, too chewy, too annoying? Then go ahead and skin those peaches. But if the skin is thin and not too chewy, why not leave it on? If you're going to chop finely or purée (as for a peach butter), then the skin is even less of a problem.

With all the August preserving emphasis on tomatoes and stone fruit, it might be easy to forget that pepper season is coming soon, if not already here. Squid Ink looks at a pepper variety now showing up in the farmers' markets (What's in Season at the Farmers Markets: Sometimes Spicy Padrons) and The Kitchn provides a recipe for pickling and canning them (Savory Canning: Pickled Peppers).

The Paupered Chef makes homemade pineapple vinegar (How to Make Homemade Vinegar (It Couldn’t Be Easier)). I'm a huge fan of homemade vinegar in all its varieties. What is happening here, of course, is an alcoholic fermentation of the pineapple and brown sugar (the more traditional piloncillo is readily available - and cheap - in Mexican supermarkets), and then a secondary fermentation from an alcoholic beverage into vinegar. I'd probably distinguish the two fermentations myself, and innoculate the alcohol with my own mother, but his method couldn't be simpler.

Emergency Food Storage Pros sing the praises of "Lock & Lock" food storage containers (Food Storage Containers: Lock & Lock). They love them, but there might be a little bias:

One thing that I have not spoken enough about on this food storage website is food storage containers. I have no excuse, now that I have been in South Korea for the past six weeks, and my brother in law is Chief Production Officer of Lock & Lock here.

I've never actually used them myself; I'm more of a Cambro guy (Surf City rulz!), but I've been seeing more and more of them, so they're probably pretty good. They're available on Amazon and at Bed, Bath & Beyond, but if you are here in Southern California, you'll find the best selection and prices at Korean supermarkets or department stores, where they are readily available. When next I need some storage containers, I'll probably give these a try.

Last but not least, Little Homestead in the City does their weekly roundup of what is happening at their urban farm (Homestead Happenings). Their canning shelf is absolutely fantastic!

Preservation Link Roundup 8/19/10

The Kitchn features a beverage I thought was only homemade: sauerkraut juice (Kraut Juice: A Tasty Can Full Of Stink!). I've always been a fan of pickle juices and sauerkraut juice, I just didn't know it was sold on its own. Apparently it is fairly common in Europe and those places in the US where German immigrants settled. It is full of vitamins and, bonus if you make your own, you get the probiotic benefits as well. The Kitchn also has a recipe (Try This! A Tomato Tang With Kraut Juice). Try some in soups or salads as well, as a substitute for vinegar.

Patrick Costello is matching peaches with lavender both for preserves and syrup (More Canning and Whoa Lavender Peach Syrup!).

Sometimes when preparing stone fruit, you might have bits and pieces of fruit that you can't really use, such as the parts that cling to the stones in clingstone fruit (especially likely

Sake + Cheese fell in love with giardiniera and when the supply she bought ran out, decided to make her own (The Canning Continues: Hot Giardiniera). Good call. This is one of the most satisfying pickles to make. The flavor is rich, has plenty of depth and is texturally eclectic. Not too mention it looks spectacular.

Moo Said the Mama has an excellent photo essay on making and canning ketchup, well worth checking out if you're thinking of making some (Ketchup Canning Tutorial). MStM does note that the recipe they used ended up tasting more like cocktail sauce than ketchup. That is a problem with ketchup recipes, they do vary a lot in terms of flavor. As I've noted before, we're used to that commercial flavor. Don't be surprised if your ketchup tastes different. (Although I look for clove and celery seed in recipes ... they are definitely two flavor keys to ketchup, as far as I am concerned) Keep trying recipes until you find one you like. And know also that the sweetness of homemade ketchup can vary a great deal depending on the sweetness of your tomatoes. The golden cherry tomatoes from my garden are crazy sweet, while my Romas are sweet, but not like the cherry tomatoes.

The National Post also provides a recipe and description of making homemade ketchup (Field Trip: Canning Tomatoes).

If you're a canning beginner, this first time canning experiment by Frugal and Focused would be a useful experience to read about (Learning the Art of Home Canning: Experiment #1 - Blueberry Syrup). Yep, fruit syrups can boil over very easily. Use a big pot. Syrups might seem a bit thinner than you're used to. Don't thicken them before canning, but thicken just before use, if you choose to thicken them at all.

The Santa Cruz Sentinel interviews a local canner, Anna Cameron of Ladysmith Jams, who uses many foraged fruits in her preserves (The new can-do spirit: Santa Cruz jam maker savors the fruits of her foraging).

"It's something to see that little piece of heritage," she said. "But foraging goes back to an even deeper genetic history. Even before we were hunters, we were gatherers. Picking fruit calms me, it makes me feel human in this world of business and to-do lists and screen time. Go pick blueberries down an alley and you'll feel better!"

The article also has a brief history of canning.

Preservation Link Roundup 8/18/10

I really appreciate that Well Preserved discusses in some depth the acidity problem in canning tomatoes (Well Preserved Tomato Sauce Recipe). Yes, the USDA is pretty conservative and you can get away with fudging their safety guidelines quite often. After all, your grandmother probably violated a number of their current rules and you're reading this, right? But,

The spoilage risk is very real. The family who taught ours lost an entire batch (around 200 jars) due to low acid and things began to ferment in bottle. They lost an entire weekend of work, a virtual crop of tomatoes and sauce for the year.

The Atlantic Food Channel has an excellent article on various ways to preserve venison, from curing to corning and, of course, making sausage (both fresh and fermented) (Venison Sausage: A Whole Different Animal). Bonus for Southern California readers, the deer was shot on Catalina Island.

Another cured meat (and a favorite of mine) is pâté. The Kitchn provides a few links on the subject (Do You Have a Good Recipe for Homemade Pâté?). Be sure to check out the comment section for additional links. If you've never made pâté or a rillette or similar, I highly suggest giving it a try. They can be surprisingly easy to make and are a wonderful side dish or appetizer. And you can play with flavors quite a bit. I make my own teriyaki-flavored "spam" for use in homemade musubi.

Food in Jars has a good post on substituting other salts for pickling salt (if you can't easily find it) (Canning 101: On Substituting Salt in Pickling). At the end of the day, there are only a few things you need to know:

1. Substitute by weight. 3/4 of an ounce per tablespoon for pickling salt. Simply weigh out the other salt.
2. Make sure the salt is pure. No iodine or free flow agents. The only ingredient listed should be salt.
3. Take into account that other salts won't dissolve as quickly as pickling salt.

If you can't find pickling salt, popcorn salt makes an excellent substitution. You can also process kosher salt into something resembling pickling salt by pulsing it in a food processor a few times.

The Blueberry Files goes through the steps of pressure canning beets (Pressure Canning Beats). Beets are an excellent candidate for pressure canning, since they generally survive the process quite well. Of course, if you don't have a pressure canner you can pickle beets and can them with a boiling water bath. There are plenty of recipes out there.

A Nutritionist Eats is getting into canning and has a Ball Canning Discovery Kit to giveaway (Canning with Lucia). Visit her blog for information on winning the kit.

I can't emphasize enough how canning works best as a social event. Feast After Famine learns canning from some neighbors at a canning party, "replete with wine and cheese and good cheer... "(Canning Party). Why not invite some neighbors over to learn canning from you?

Tigress in a Jam takes advantage of the fantastic stone fruit out there to make a lovely preserve using summer savory (an inspired choice) and white pepper (Nectarine Preserves with Summer Savory & White Pepper).

I've got mixed feelings about white pepper. It is generally used in dishes as a substitute for black pepper when you don't want little black flecks in your dish, such as in white sauces, lightly colored soups or mashed potatoes. However, there are distinct flavor differences. To me, black pepper is fruitier and more well-rounded, while white pepper is a little more directly spicy with less depth of flavor. More importantly, however, I think that white pepper suffers more from being pre-ground than black pepper. Frankly, I hate pre-ground white pepper. I dislike pre-ground black pepper, but can't stand the white pepper version. So, please, use freshly ground white pepper when you do use it.

Canning seems to get all the press, but sometimes it is important to remember that freezing is an important aspect of food preservation. Putting By freezes their bell peppers (they don't can well by themselves) (Bell Peppers). I like everything they did, except place the pepper strips into gallon ziploc bags. You should usually freeze in quantities that you would use. That way you don't have defrost/refreeze what you haven't used. So, instead of gallon ziplocs, why not quart or pint bags? And I can't emphasize this enough when freezing: label, label, label! When you freeze a lot of stuff, it will save many headaches months later.

Freezing is great, but they seem to fill up quite quickly, so back to canning it is. Putting By also has a post on canning pasta sauce (Pasta Sauce). They use those commercial square-ish pasta jars that I know many people have around the house. I know many people who use them for canning successfully, but I do have to point to the FAQ from the companies page:

Can I reuse the Classico® jar for home canning?
No. A coating is applied at the glass plant to reduce scratching and scuffing. If scratched, the jar becomes weaker at this point and can more easily break. This would increase the risk of the jar breaking when used for canning. Also, the lighter weight of our current jar could make it unsafe for home canning.

Do as you will, just passing on the information.

The LA Weekly's Squid Ink blog reviews yet another new canning book, Canning for a New Generation (Cookbook Review: Canning For A New Generation).

The book might as well be called Canning and Preserving For An Eager But Sometimes Lazy (Or Just Plain Busy) Generation. And that's exactly why we think it's pretty great.

Preservation Link Roundup 8/17/10

Yes, Another Cooking Blog cans tomato halves for the Can Jam (Tomato halves for Can Jam-August). Why halves? Much less floating. Floating doesn't affect flavor, but isn't an aesthetically pleasing.

But that's not all - how about a basic tomato sauce? Basic Tomato Sauce for August Can Jam

Bread Experience makes a non-basic tomato sauce (Roasted Vegetable Pasta Sauce: Tigress Can Jam).

Plate to Plate goes through some tomato canning basics (Canning Tomatoes). For more advanced tomato canning you can check out this post from Well Preserved (A Guide to our best Tomato Preserving (Canning) Posts).

If you need more hands on information, how about a class from my fellow Master Food Preserver Delilah Snell and the famous Evan Kleinman? The class is $100 and takes place September 11th (Tomato Canning Class: Mucho Mas with Evan Kleinman). I'll be doing a demo on the 29th.

I talked about pesto and basil yesterday, and today Road to the Farm has a lovely photo of some pesto she has put in canning jars for freezing (Oh, Pesto!).

Simply Daily Recipes reviews one of the newer canning books, Put 'Em Up (Put 'Em Up Book Review). As a beginning canner, she liked it. I've got a copy myself and will provide my opinion when I have time to play with it a bit.

Speaking of new preserving books, Doris and Jilly Cook are doing a giveaway of another new one (Giveaway: The Fresh Girl's Guide to Easy Canning and Preserving).

And, speaking of giveaways, Food in Jars is giving away vanilla beans to three lucky winners, but everyone gets her recipe for peach sauce with vanilla - or follow the alternative directions to make peach butter (better than apple butter in my book) (White Peach Sauce with Vanilla (+ giveaway!)). There are some really great notes on acidification of white peaches, since they have borderline acidity.

Of course, vanilla is good, but why not some rum in that peach sauce? Local Kitchen makes a peach sauce with Kraken Rum (Pirate Peaches). Love the labels too. Wish she'd post the file.

Simply Recipes is on a frozen yogurt kick (Blackberry Frozen Yogurt). And why not? If you make yogurt on a regular basis (which you should) why not toss some of that yogurt (along with some flavorings and some sweetener) into an ice cream churn? It's a lot easier than making a French-style ice cream and the sweet/tart flavor is fantastic. Doesn't have to be dessert either, why not frozen yogurt as an intermezzo?

For more information on frozen yogurt, The Kitchn collects a number of recipes in an attempt at answering a question about making creamy frozen yogurt (How Do I Make Creamy, Low-Fat Frozen Yogurt at Home?).

Since I make my own kombucha at home I didn't realize that they've stopped carrying it many stores. The Kitchn asks whether you're getting your fix of kombucha now (The Great Kombucha Freakout: Are You Getting Your Fix?). My answer is yes, of course. Couldn't afford that store bought stuff in the first place. Even if I could, I'm not sure I'd want to pay so much for something that is simply tea and sugar and culture and some time.

Preservation Link Roundup - Catching Up - 4/9/10

Since last week I discussed pickling leftover Easter Eggs, I decided to share a "before" shot of some of the four dozen eggs I pickled this week. In a couple of weeks, I'll share a photo of the finished eggs and even a dissection (to see the color gradation inside). I tried the pineapple pickled eggs and a soy sauce/pineapple brine.

Master Food Preserver (and co-author of this blog), Delilah Snell, has finalized her food preservation classes for the near future - check them out! I'll be doing one, wish I could do more, but my new job means my schedule is uncertain right now: Food Preservation Classes, Workshops and More - FINAL

She also is on the lookout for free fruit to preserve, especially loquats (Adventure in Loquats and Other Backyard Fruit - and a Special Request for Readers of this Blog!):

if you have any fruit trees that you want me to pick or you can pick and hand over-i will give you a few jars of whatever i make....viva Spring!

I was a participant in "loquat-a-palooza" last year, they are a great preserving fruit (though a little labor intensive).

Food in Jars takes a look at Ashley English's new book: Homemade Living: Canning & Preserving with Ashley English: All You Need to Know to Make Jams, Jellies, Pickles, Chutneys & More (A Good Book for the Can Jam or Anytime). She discovers that it is perfect for providing some ideas for April's Can Jam.

Not everybody has the room for a backyard smoker, or even a backyard. The Chicago Tribune runs a nice story on stovetop smoking (Smoke Signals). If you haven't tried smoking food at home yet, the stovetop method is a great place to start. You'll be surprised by the flavors you can achieve. I love smoked foods, and what you can do easily at home beats the heck out of what is available commercially. Smoke is another one of those techniques that can be used to transform routine dishes and take them to a new level. Mmmmm ... smoked roasted chicken salad.

Leda Meredith of her eponymous Urban Homestead did a radio interview on the Heritage Radio Network's Hot Grease in which she discusses lacto-fermentation as a preservation method among other topics (Hot Grease Interview).

If you are lucky enough to have access to ramps (foraged or in farmers' markets), then you might want to read a bit about using and preserving them. Local Kitchen provides some excellent ideas and information (Ramps):

The Spring ramp season is short; to preserve your bounty for the coming months, blanche & freeze the leaves as you would chard or kale, or make pesto or infused oil or vinegar as you would with fresh herbs. Dry chopped bulbs and leaves in a dehydrator or low oven, or use in pickles, chutneys, or confit. For a host of allium preserving recipe ideas, check out the March Can Jam round-up. I have a big pile o’ ramps to cook with, and I hope to score some more to preserve, so I’ll update this post as I experiment. Stay tuned!

The Canning Doctor roasts a chicken and then makes and cans stock from the carcass (Pressure Canning Again). This is an excellent practice whenever you roast a chicken (one of the greatest, most versatile meals there is). If you don't have time to make the stock that day or the next, freeze the carcass and make the stock when you do have the time.

The Practical Preserver provides instructions for properly freezing strawberries (Strawberry Season). Though I'm a huge fan of canning, in my book, it is always a good idea to have some frozen berries available in the pantry - then you are ready for all sorts of quick desserts and sweet/savory dishes.

One Perfect Bite makes a versatile pesto (aren't most pestos versatile?) from homemade sundried cherry tomatoes (Red Pesto Sauce + Home-Style Sun-Dried Tomatoes). It'll be awhile before tomato season is back, but I'm lucky enough to have a stock of homemade sundried (actually, dehydrator'd) cherry tomatoes from last August to give this pesto a try.

What Julia Ate is clearing out her freezer by canning the contents, in this case combining summer stone fruit with her homemade pectin (Apricot Plum Jam with Orange Pectin). Once again, she shares her valuable experience in working with homemade pectin.

After learning how easy it is to make buttermilk, What Julia Ate also learns how easy it is to make crème fraîche (Crème Fraîche). Crème fraîche is basically buttermilk made from cream, so it is richer and thicker. It is an excellent substitute for sour cream in most recipes, and is incredibly useful in its own right. It doesn't curdle and it is a great addition to hot dishes, such as soups and sauces. Or use it to make your own "ranch" dressing.

Preservation Link Roundup - Catching Up - 4/8/10

So, last week was spring break for many as well as Easter and I had to work six days. I work the afternoons/evenings and in the mornings I was driving an hour each way to interview for my new job. So far this week I've had to drive to my new job twice in order to sign all the paperwork that goes with starting in a new place. Unfortunately for me, I forgot that when you get a new job you need to show proof that you can be employed (passport or SSN card and Drivers License, etc.) so, I had to make that second trip to take care of that little detail. In any case, that is what has kept me from my updates. It'll take me a some time to get caught up, so please be patient. I've also got a few special posts planned (such as a book review), but those will have to wait as well. Oh, yeah, and I've got to get some studying in for my Master Gardener class (I dropped my studies for Advanced Sommelier for now, but will have to pick that back up in the summer).

The New York Times Magazine has a review of the Little House Cookbook, based on the cooking found in Laura Ingall Wilder's Little House books (Little House in the Hood). Preservation, of course, was an important part of life in the big woods and on the prairie, and it isn't clear how much preservation makes it into the book, though the review touches on it, but it would be interesting to learn more about preservation in frontier America.

The Jam and Jelly Lady provides a "semi-homemade" recipe for a trifle, layers of pound cake, cream (in this case, a tarter cream cheese mixture), fruit and jam (Strawberry Amaretto Trifle). The actual recipe is here: Jammin' Good Food. Trifles are simple, fresh and delicious. Garnish with some fresh mint and served chilled as they are wonderful warm spring evening or summer desserts. They can be prepared well ahead of time and don't require any cooking, unless you insist on making your own pound cake (which isn't necessarily a bad thing). They are wonderful for playing with flavors as well. Add your favorite liqueur, herb or even spice.

Well Preserved has just been going crazy with some wonderful spring preserving posts:

• Dandelion Wine, Jelly and Coffee - A fine introduction to the possibilities of preserving dandelions.
• Lamb Jerky - Something delicious that you are unlikely to find in your local megalomart or even gourmet food store.
• Rhubarb Two Ways - Simple jams and a chutney. I can't recommend playing with rhubarb enough - it is another of those secret ingredients that can punch up so many different dishes without anyone knowing for sure what you've done.
• Beech Tree Noyau (Infused Gin) - I'm not really sure if there are beech trees in Southern California, but if I find any, I'm going to give this a try.
• Asparagus - Pickled and Pressure Canned - I'm a fan of pickling asparagus, of course, but haven't tried pressure canning them yet. I'll have to give it a try.
• Pickled Fiddleheads - I used to forage these in New England, but haven't found many in Southern California (though last week on one of my walks I did find some Alpine Strawberries). They're delicious freshly steamed or sautéed, but pickling sounds delicious as well.
• Wild Leeks (or Ramps) - There is very useful advice on foraging - making sure to leave enough after harvesting for the wild crop to flourish.

Serious Eats alerted me to the fact that I missed Peanut Butter and Jelly Day, which is held each April 2nd (Happy Peanut Butter and Jelly Day). What an opportunity to make something special to celebrate the holiday. It is going on my calendar for next year.

Tired of traditional scones? Looking for something a tad bit healthier? Why not try some oatcake bannocks? Serious Eats has a recipe for what may be the scone's wholegrain ancestor (Sunday Brunch: Bannocks). Delicious with clotted cream and your favorite jam or marmalade.

Food in Jars turns some whole preserved fruit into a delicious cake (Pear Cake). Sounds great, would probably work with a number of different fruits and FiJ recommends it with yogurt for breakfast ... sounds like my way to start the day.

Hot Water Bath comes home to a nearly empty pantry and improvises some Triscuit/chevre/pickled pepper snacks (Thank Goodness I Canned: Pickled Hot Peppers). They may not sound particularly fancy, but I bet they tasted pretty darn good. Hot pickled peppers are great to have around - and don't forget the brine:

The canning brine (I use a very standard 2 parts vinegar, 2 parts water, 1/2 part kosher salt) can likewise be used in marinades, drinks (yes! Really!), as a stir-in for plain rice or potatoes, or to punch up the flavor in all kinds of otherwise insipid dishes.

Leda Meredith's Urban Homestead makes a pizza chock full 'o local preserving goodness: tomato puree leftover from some home canned tomatoes, lacto-fermented garlic, in state cheese and foraged wild greens (Wild Pizza Improv).

Miia Monthly's sauerkraut is ready for eating (Sauerkraut is Done). She uses an interesting technique before putting the sauerkraut in the refrigerator, however - she removes the brine, boils it, chills it and puts the kraut back into the brine and refrigerates it.

Tigress in a Jam provides a little more guidance on April's Can Jam: Herbs (Preserving Herbs in Jars). Tigress points to some of her favorite herb books, some links, and provides these comments:

the rules state that the food in focus must be integral to the canned product. in the first few months when canning citrus, carrots and alliums it was easy to consider the chosen produce to be the main ingredient. this month's herbs are a little different and i would interpret integral as being essential to the flavor of the preserve but not necessarily the main ingredient.

this will open up a world of possibilities and i hope will allow those in zones where things are beginning to burst from the ground and jump off the trees to take advantage of what's springing in tandem with the essential herb. and for those of us who are still anticipating spring's abundance it may offer an opportunity to use up the last of the root-cellared produce.

finally, herbs are generally considered the leafy green parts of a plant (i would include flowers in here too) while spices are derived from other parts of the plant, particularly the seeds, berries, bark and roots. so while spices are certainly welcome in this month's entry they are not considered the food in focus and must be in addition to the integral herb.

Finally, for today, Two Frog Home shares a homemade pattern for knitting a cover for mason jars - perfects for gifts (Knitted Jar Pouch). Darn cool.

Preservation Link Roundup 4/1/10

All sorts of preservation news from Master Food Preserver Delilah Snell. First, she has a list of food preservation classes for the next couple of months. Most are at her shop, the Road Less Traveled Store, but a few are in other places (Food Preservation Classes, Workshops & Events April and May 2010). I'm doing one at her store on April 18th (fermentation: yogurt, kombucha and vinegar) and we'll be doing another demo together at the Hollywood Farmers' Market on May 16th. There are many classes, so check them out.

Delilah is also making some progress on her root cellar (Root Cellar Upodate). Root cellars are great preservation spaces. Many types of food (often root vegetables, natch) store very well in cool dry spaces and don't need refrigeration. They are also good spaces for many types of fermenation; Delilah will be using her for vinegar.

I haven't talked about cheese much on this blog, but making cheese is a food preservation technique, of course. It is actually appropriate to discuss cheese-making in the spring because we seldom realize nowadays that milk was (and still is, in some cases) a seasonal good. For example, due to seasonal breeding seasons, both goats and sheep produce milk a maximum of ten months a year and usually (much) less.

Slashfood provides some background on a traditional fresh cheese from Italy that is often a featured part of the Easter holiday feast (What is Easter 'Basket' Cheese?). Make your own basket cheese following instructions provided on eHow (How to Make Basket Cheese). It's simple, give it a try.

Not too different from basket cheese is fromage blanc. Know Whey shares a recipe for the cheese and also a wonderful use for it (Fromage Blanc Tart).

What Julia Ate tries another method of milk preservation (Buttermilk). Hers is a good story of how one can have a consistent supply of buttermilk without paying the outrageous prices at the supermarket every time you want to make biscuits, pancakes, fried chicken or any one of thousands of dishes improved by tart, fermented milk.

So, apparently, there is no refrigeration in space. Which means that NASA is big into food preservation for space travel. Slashfood has an interview with NASA's leading food manager for the International Space Station, Vickie Kloeris (NASA Chef Talks About Food in Space).

"All our food has to be processed because there is no dedicated refrigeration," Kloeris explained to Slashfood. "We use freeze drying and thermo-stabilizing, which is like canning but we use pouches. We also use natural form products like cookies and dried fruit."

Read the whole thing.

Oh, Briggsy... enjoys some salami from Mario Batali's dad and is intrigued and entranced by pickled sunchokes (Tuesday Night Pickling Club: Pickled Sunchokes).

Congratulations to Well Preserved on their first published article in Edible Toronto (Our First Published Article – Spring Preserves). It is beautifully layed out, a pleasure to look at. They will be doing an entire series - highly recommended.

I would love to see the various Edible Communities magazines featuring a quarterly preserving feature, preferably written by local preservers.

Backyard Farms publishes a photo of her father's humble preserving shelves and reflects on why she preserves (Where I'm From - Part One).

When I find myself getting too caught up in trying to make something exotic, or longing over designer jars, I think of this shelf with its plain jars and handwritten labels. I think of the long hot summers of work that go into making these, and how good they taste when we eat them in the dead of winter, and I remember why I do this.

Amelia Saltsman, author of the Santa Monica Farmers' Market Cookbook, provides a market update for Eat LA: there are seedlings perfect for gardeners and also some beautiful purple baby artichokes - perfect for pickling (Spring "Starts" at the Farmers' Markets).

Preservation Link Roundup 3/30/10

The Emergency Food Storage Pros explain why a food storage book is a great asset in properly storing enough food for your family in event of emergency (Using a Food Storage Book to Make a Food Storage List). While you may not be interested in storing enough food for your family for a year, the information you can gain from these sorts of books on how to stock and cook out of your pantry is very useful for nearly everyone.

Hot Water Bath takes a more improvisational approach to pantry-filling (Maintaining My Amateur Status).

It wouldn't do at all to set your heart on the peaches only to find out that, this year, you're more gifted in the hot pepper area. Better instead to focus on ideas - maybe you could use more jam or sandwich enhancers or fruits suitable for side dishes. Focusing on concepts allows you to bop and weave with your canning - you'll get your jam, but maybe it'll be blackberry instead of strawberry. Pickles might end up as green cherry tomatoes rather than hamburger dills. See what I mean? Bop and weave right around whatever the garden, the weather or your mood throws at the affair. For my part, I'm focusing on finished items rather than ingredients - salsas over plain tomatoes, brandied fruits over plain berries, for example, things I can use more or less as-is without further massaging after the jar is open.

I couldn't agree more in being flexible and open to possibility when canning.

Speaking of possibility, my friend and fellow Master Food Preserver Delilah Snell made a cameo appearance on an upcoming segment of Good Food, as part of a report on local foraging (New Friends, Old Friends and KCRW's Good Food??). The radio segment came about thanks to a foraging class and cooking demo held at Delilah's shop, the Road Less Traveled Store. There is another class coming on April 25th. Wouldn't some jam or jelly flavored with foraged herbs be perfect for this month's Can Jam? I'll let everyone know when I find out when the show will be broadcast.

Ithaca's Food Web reports on a very interesting sounding widget that allows food preservers to bulk order straight from farmers (New Web Widget Developed in Ithaca will Connect Local Farmers and Home Food Processors).

Harvestation will create an opportunity for farmers to link up with the growing home food processors market using web tools designed specifically for this task. Home food processors require bulk quantities of farm products in order to can, freeze, ferment, dehydrate, and root-cellar food. The harvestation widget will match produce growers and meat producers with food preservers and vice versa.

Sounds pretty darn interesting. This is a tool I'll be following closely.

Finally, some photos of the abundance at last week's Hollywood Farmers' Market:

Preservation Link Roundup 3/29/10

Mere hours after I posted my weekly email on making homemade vinegar using "Two Buck Chuck," a cheap an inexpensive, but decent wine, I got the news that some people are suggesting a ~$5 tax per bottle of wine here in California, according to LAist (Initiative to Tax Alcohol Could Bring California Billions — That's Because Your Vodka Will Cost $17 More).

A new initiative that would increase the tax on alcohol was cleared for signature gathering today by the Secretary of State's Office. And it's not a modest tax increase, it's huge. Tax on a six-pack of beer would increase from 6-cents to $6.08. And say goodbye to two-buck chuck--a tax on a 750 ml bottle of wine would go from 4-cents to $5.11

Hopefully they won't get enough signatures to get on the ballot and, if they do, I hope Californians realize what a bad idea this would be, not just for homemade vinegar but for cooking and eating in general.

Know Whey is celebrating sugar making time in the Northeast with a breakfast cake that features two preserved foods: homemade applesauce and yogurt (Sugaring Time: Maple Sugar Applesauce Breakfast Cake). It looks delicious.

I'm wondering if you alter the recipe and substitute in any fruit butter (with a little liquid) in order to alter the flavor and look.

Speaking of breakfast cake, Kevin West reports on the breakfast he makes as a preserver (A Preserver's Breakfast). Here's hoping he feels better soon.

They always say the toughest step is admitting you have a problem, and it appears as if Hitchhiking to Heaven has taken that step (I Need a Canning Intervention).

This will be my first time entering anything in the [Marin County] fair and I'm kind of spazzed out about it. I'm pretty well set in most of the categories I want to enter: I have three marmalades, three jams, and a conserve, which are the things I do best -- and you'd think that would be plenty. Except I got it in my head that I want a jelly. One really nice jelly.

H2H is having a few problems with the jelling point. This isn't an uncommon problem, especially when you are working with new recipes. Experience really helps, so just keep at it!

And a reminder for my local readers - don't forget to get ready to enter preserving judging at the LA County Fair (Time to Prepare for the Oscars of Food Preservation - Weekly Email).

The Waterbury, CT Republican American profiles Tom Wallace, a local gardener/canner (A Year-Round Gardener Cans It in Seymour).

Last year, the Wallaces canned 237 quarts, 220 pints and 57 half-pints. Since 2000, they have canned 4,336 jars. He stores them in his basement, except the peppers, which he keeps in the freezer.

I'm such a slacker.

The Santa Rosa Press-Democrat reports on a "Spring Gleaning" (Spring Gleaning: An Evening of Hope and Bounty).

Spring Gleaning was an inspiring event held Sun., Mar. 21, 2010. Hosted by Slow Food, Slow Harvest, Farm to Pantry and Susan and Lou Preston, it was a celebration and collaboration of sustainable farming, gleaning, canning, caring and community

Sounds like a cool idea.

Finally, Nelson's Home Canning Tips makes some loquat jam (Loquat Jam). Loquats are coming into season in Southern California. They are rarely seen in the markets, because they go bad so quickly and don't travel well. They are sometimes seen in the farmers markets, but not often.

Of course, if you live in LA, you've probably seen an incredibly fecund tree or two in the neighborhood. Enjoy the fruit fresh, but preserving them is the only way to enjoy them outside that two or three week window. More on the loquat in a later post.

Preservation Link Roundup 3/27/10

Food in Jars announces the Can Jam for April: Herbs (April Can Jam: Herbs!). With a few exceptions (herb jellies are the only one I can think of off hand), herbs are supporting flavors in pickles and preserves. The possibilities are infinite. I look forward to seeing some awesome flavor combinations I would never have thought of.

What Julia Ate has been saving the pith of her citrus peels for some time ... enough time to gather 2 1/2 pounds of pith. What does she do with it? Turn it into pectin for a jelly (it is the jelly-rific WJA, after all) (Strawberry and Orange Pectin Jelly). Most excellent, with some good lessons learned on making your own pectin.

There's a definite orange taste to the jelly, and a slight but noticeable bitter bite. But it's not overpowering at all. The set is firm and jammy, and it's not crystal clear even though I strained the pectin twice. The puree was dark and opaque, admittedly. I wonder if I stuck to pith only, or left out the pits, or peels, what the outcome would be.

The LA Times' Market Watch report by fruit detective David Karp spends some time at the Corona del Mar Farmers' Market (Market Watch: Corona del Mar Farmers Market is Small but Mighty). I haven't been to that market, but I'm intrigued by this description of a citrus:

Low acidity is not a defect in the fruit that Eli's Farm of De Luz is marketing, rather inventively, as "strawberry oranges." These are naturally acidless sweet oranges that have an odd mild flavor reminiscent of orange Creamsicle. Other farms also give this variety made-up names such as "mango orange," perhaps because its proper name, Vaniglia Sanguigno ("Vanilla Blood" in Italian), is a bit of a mouthful. It's not really a blood orange, anyway, since instead of being pigmented red with anthocyanins, like Moros and Taroccos, it derives its pink from lycopene, which colors pink grapefruit and tomatoes.

The Kitchn has a seasonal preparation for sauerkraut, the traditional Polish Easter dish Hunter's Stew or bigos, "a hearty stew filled with smoky sausage, tangy sauerkraut, and plenty of garlic" (Easter Diner: Make Bigos!).

Anarchy in a Jar is getting inspiration from cocktails nowadays - riffing off their flavor profiles. One experiment in the works is a pear-based version of an Aviation (Aviation Pickled Pears). Makes me want to run out and buy a bottle of crème de violette myself.

The Minneapolis Star-Tribune has an article on eating sustainably through the winter. Two of the recommendations incorporate two types of food preservation: Freezing and Canning (Eating Sustainably All Winter).

Go frozen – Yes, a freezer does use energy, but likely, you have a freezer already pulling power as part of your fridge. If you are ambitious in the summer and fall, freeze fruits and veggies from the Farmers Market when they are fresh. Or buy U.S. grown or better yet, locally-grown organic frozen produce to get you through the winter. Frozen goods are nutritious because they are picked and frozen at their seasonal best.

Have a canning party – Proper storage can ensure that fruits and vegetables will last through the winter months allowing you to take advantage of local goods when they are in season and inexpensive. Canning with family, friend or neighbors is a fun activity and many hands make it possible to can a winter’s worth in a weekend.

Healthy Green Kitchen made some lovely three-citrus marmalade, but is afraid to can it (Marmalade and My Fear of Canning). Does anyone have any suggestions for her to get over her fear of canning?

Finally, Prepared, Not Scared has a recipe for canning shepherd's pie (Preserve It ... Canning Corner: A Jar of Shepherd's Pie). You don't actually can the whole pie; the mashed potatoes and cheese are made just before the pie is baked. It is the ground meat filling that is canned. Sounds like some wonderfully convenient comfort food to me.

Preservation Link Roundup 3/26/10

Sharon Astyk, author of Independence Days: A Guide to Sustainable Food Preservation and Storage, will be hosting an online course in food preservation starting April 15th (Food Storage and Preservation Class!). The cost is $150 (there are some scholarships) and you can pay with barter.

The New York Times Fashion & Style section provides yet another article on the growing popularity of kombucha (A Strange Brew May Be a Good Thing). Although you can buy kombucha more readily, making it is so inexpensive, costing nothing more than brewing tea with a little sugar and having some patience.

Food Forward, a group that gleans or harvests otherwise unused fruit in Los Angeles, reports that they're "Can It" initiative has its first product - preserved meyer lemons (CAN IT’s! First Vintage is here).

If you recall, about a week ago Put a Lid On It pickled some beets - but not simply for the beets, but so that the beet brine could subsequently used to make pickled eggs. Well, now the pickled eggs are ready (Pennsylvania Pickled Easter Eggs). Looks like a great recipe. I'll be writing more on pickled eggs next week.

The Pickle Blog from Rick's Picks (an artisan pickle maker in NYC) has an interesting book to read, Pickled Potted and Canned, a history of food preservation (Pickled, Potted and Canned). I look forward to Rick's forthcoming review, but it is definitely going on my wish list right away.

This is cool. The LAist reports that urban farming has taken a big step towards legality in Los Angeles (Fruit & Flowers Go Legit: Ordinance on Urban Farming Approved). What this means is that (hopefully) soon small-scale urban farmers will be able to legally sell their produce and flowers in Los Angeles. This can only be good for food preservation.

Preservation Link Roundup 3/25/10

The New York Times is starting a new series on certain "power" ingredients (Making a Foreign Staple Work Back Home).

This is only one of the many potent flavor boosters that can be appropriated from relatively unfamiliar cuisines. Over the next few months, we’ll check out a number of them, exploring how they are used traditionally and how they can be slipped into your daily cooking. The more you use them, the more uses you’ll find for them.

In other words, we’re going to exercise a little benign culinary imperialism, appropriating ingredients and adding them to our larder. No one gets hurt, and dinner becomes more interesting.

The first ingredient they note is pomegranate molasses, a thick syrup of pomegranates with some sugar and lemon. This versatile stuff you can make and can at home, if you access to a pomegranate tree. Last year I made and canned grenadine, which is basically a less-reduced version of pomegranate molasses.

As a matter of fact, I broke out a pint of my grenadine to make "pink" lemonade (lemons from my backyard tree) last night.

Know Whey has had a number of good food preservation posts over the past week or so.

Last fall, KW purchased a beautiful hand-thrown pickling crock. I have one of the same design, but from Germany. They're relatively expensive, but well-designed for their job. To justify the expense, though, they've been making a lot of sauerkraut (Sauerkraut and Vermont Choucroute Garni).

When you have sauerkraut a classic preparation from Alsace is choucroute garni. "Choucroute" is a Francophile version of the German word "sauerkraut." The dish is usually a braised sauerkraut served with various sausages and/or cured meats. WK recommends a good Riesling with the dish, but look for a dry one, which is more typical of the style of Alsace.

Bonus: they provide a homemade sausage recipe for the dish.

KW also has a recipe for Seville Orange Marmalade that is very similar to Kevin West's (Marmalade). There are some excellent photos of the process.

Technically, apparently, if you make a clafoutis with anything other than cherries, it is called a flaugnarde. KW passes along that tidbit of information, as well as a recipe for using frozen blackberries and her home canned peaches in a flaugnarde (Almost Spring: Peach and Blackberry Clafouti). What a great idea for using all sorts of home canned fruit.

The Kitchn uses Weck canning jars for dry storage. What is really interesting is that they use a white indelible ink marker to label the jars which, if you have good penmanship, looks like a pretty cool way to label jars in general (Pantry Style: Weck Canning Jars and a White Pen). The only problem?

The ink can easily be removed, but only by using solvent based removers (like nail polish remover) or by carefully scraping with a razor blade, both which require extra caution.

Food in Jars is inspired by the Passover Seder to make a jam based on the traditional dish, charoset (Charoses Inspired Jam for Passover). Brilliant! Sounds delicious!

There is some discussion as to whether this is a jam or conserve but, since charoset can contain various dried fruits, add some and you're definitely in conserve world.

The LA Weekly's food blog Squid Ink keeps you up-to-date on what is in season in Southern California in their Farmers Market Report. This week, the focus is on sorrel (What's in Season at the Farmers' Markets: Sorrel). Although the article focuses on sorrel's use as a leafy green, it is also frequently used as a flavoring herb. Sorrel jelly, anyone? It will lose some of its flavor when heated, but it has an affinity for grapes and mustard, and would certainly be good as a flavoring for vinegar. Taste some and consider some of the other flavors it would pair well with or enhance.

Speaking of flavored vinegars, the EpiLog fears canning, but will happily preserve the flavor of tarragon in vinegar (Flavored Vinegar: Saving Tarragon In A Bottle).

Need a t-shirt to show off pride in your canning? How about this one from JP Harris' shop on Etsy (YES WE CAN - Just Food - Green Print on Natural Organic Tee)? via The Kitchn

The Penny Pantry - "Recapturing the Old Fashion Art of Pantry Building While Drastically Reducing Your Grocery Bill!" - discusses growing and canning your own greenbeans (Canning Greenbeans in the Garden). Greenbeans alone must be pressure canned, but pickled dilly beans are always popular and can be waterbath canned.

Local Kitchen continues her exploration into canning pumpkin preserves (not recommended by the USDA) by trying a recipe from the lauded Mes Confitures (Christine Ferber’s Pumpkin Jam with Vanilla Bean). Not only is she disappointed in the tooth-achingly sweet results, the error in the recipe translation (700g ≠ 2.25lbs), and the recommended non-processing, and the fact that the acidity level is questionable (read her analysis). The USDA recommendations are conservative, of course, but do you really want non-conservative rules where potential botulism is involved?

Anarchy in a Jar is experimenting with apple jelly flavored by juniper berries (Apple Jelly with Juniper Berries). We'll have to wait to hear the results.

Preservation Link Roundup 3/24/10

Tigress in a Pickle provides the full roundup for the March Can Jam (Can Jam March Round-Up: Allium). A must read, but that pun "can i officially change the name to all-yums?", ouch. ;-)

Keep an eye on Food in Jars for the secret ingredient for April's Can Jam.

All Types of Cooking, and a Whole Lot of Canning Here! explains how easy it is to pressure can chicken (Chicken Breast). Yep! Jane chooses chicken breast because they prefer it. I prefer legs and thighs myself (dark meat is more flavorful, IMHO), but when I can chicken I use breast. White meat seems to can better: less fat and looks better in the jar. Probably that is why you usually see "white meat" in commercially canned chicken.

Big Black Dogs makes a classic flavor combination for a spicy pepper jelly (Savory Cheddar and Pepper Jelly Cookies). There are other ways to go as well. Instead of just flour, use a cornmeal based cheddar cookie. I've made spicy jelly tarts, with a cheesy tart crust - you get a higher jelly-to-crust ratio. Or match the cheese and jelly inside a mini-turnover. There are many, many options for this flavor pairing.

What about a cornmeal cake with pepper jelly filling? It would be an interesting alternative take on a Victoria Sponge (aka Victoria Sandwich), which is a two-layer sponge cake separated by jam. The Atlantic Food Channel provides history, background and recipe for this classic tea cake (Victorian England: Age of War, Politics, and Cake).

In another post related to using home preserved foods Cold Cereal and Toast makes another classic: applesauce cookies (Baking Gems: Applesauce Cookies). Apple sauce is one of those things that should really be a pantry staple as it can be used in numerous sweet and/or savory recipes as well as in baking. And compared to things like marmalades, it is very, very easy to make and can.

Farm to Table has an excellent post on the great health benefits of nettles (Stinging Nettles are Good for You). One thing I didn't know before reading this article was that nettles could be dehydrated.

You can also dry the nettle for tea or tinctures either by hanging bunches of it upside down in a cool, dry place, or by using your dehydrator. Either way, wash the leaves right after harvesting.

If dehydrating, remove the leaves from the stem. Allow the leaves to air dry for about 30 minutes or pat dry with paper towel. Place the leaves in a dehydrator, spreading them out on the rack in single rows, making sure to not pile the leaves on top of each other. Keep enough space between each leaf so there is good air circulation.

Dehydrate for 8 to 10 hours or until the leaves are completely dry (to avoid mold). If necessary, rotate the tray a few times through out dehydrating. Store in an airtight container until ready to use.

Hmmm, nettle tea. Sounds good to me.

Two great posts yesterday on making labels for your jars.

Wendolonia made some Lemon Ginger Marmalade and some very impressive labels to go with it. Now she has generously shared the template for download - and in three color combinations - excellent for orange, lime or lemon-based preserves (Printable Marmalade Canning Labels).

Hitchiking to Heaven gives step-by-step instructions for how she makes some simply beautiful labels (Easy DIY Canning Labels). I'd never thought of using stamps on labels before. What a brilliant idea. She also uses a color wash to add more interest. Again, gorgeous.

Thanks to both for providing their labeling info.

The Kitchn links to a Princeton study that High Fructose Corn Syrup is more likely to cause obesity than regular sugar (Scientists Finally Prove High Fructose Corn Syrup Risks). All the more reason to cook at home and preserve your own foods. Although jams and jellies shouldn't be a major part of one's diet, many commercial versions contain HFCS, while home preserved ones generally don't. The same goes for such things as bread-and-butter pickles and similar. Every little bit helps.

Molecular gastronomy might not be for everyone, but I find the concept of perfect, relatively labor-free citrus supremes quite intriguing. The mad cooking scientists of Cooking Issues use enzymes to remove the pith from citrus, leaving perfect supremes behind, as well as pith-free skin (Enzymatic Peeling? Hell Yes!).

And, finally, the Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal picks a canner as their cook of the week (Tupelo, Mississippi, Cook of the Week: Mantachie Mother Makes Time in Busy Day to Preserve).

"Canning and putting up vegetables is my passion," said Moore, who works in the central billing office for North Mississippi Medical Clinics. "I just love looking at them."

Last year, the 45-year-old put up pepper jelly, hotdog slaw, muscadine jelly, raspberry fig preserves, blueberry syrup, canned tomatoes, canned green beans, tomato relish, pear preserves, banana peppers, apple butter and canned okra.

Wow. I'm such a slacker.

Preservation Link Roundup 3/23/10

Regrettably, marmalade canning season is past its peak. Though there is still great citrus in the markets, many of my favorite citruses are on the wane. The LA Times' Market Watch report by fruit detective David Karp can help you figure out which fruit is still good and which is not quite what it was just a couple of weeks ago (Market Watch: When Citrus is Past its Prime).

Of course, just because a fruit is a bit overmature doesn't mean it won't still make a great preserve. In fact, such fruit may be better in a preserve than for eating out of hand. Ideally, you want perfectly ripe fruit for preserving, but if the choice is whether an overmature fruit should be eaten out of hand or preserved, preserving might be the answer.

Be assured though, that while some citrus is making its exit from the farmers markets, some citrus is just hitting its own peak. The Kitchn notes the wonderful (grapefruit or pomelo)/tangerine hybrid tangelos that are in markets right now (Farmers' Market Report: Tangelos).

Master Food Preserver candidate Kevin West and artisan preserve maker Valerie Gordon of Valerie Confections will be doing a series of preserving classes starting in April (Sign Up for Private Preserving Lessons!). Space is limited, so sign up now.

Can't get to the class? Try some self-instruction as Kevin also shares his favorite recipe for Seville Orange Marmalade (Recipe: Seville Orange Marmalade).

If you're looking for a more difficult marmalade recipe Leite's Culinaria has a recipe for blood orange marmalade from Mes Confitures (Blood Orange Marmalade). Blood oranges are reaching their peak of color about now, so they are a good choice for a spectacularly colored marmalade.

My friend Rachael Narins of the sustainable, private supper club Chicks with Knives is also holding some classes, one on pickling and the other on basic knife skills on April 17th (Cooking Classes).

If you have ever attended a CWK dinner, you know we love anything pickled. Join us for this event and learn to make your own! We will start with a brief lecture on the different types of preserving methods, equipment and safety. We will learn to make quick, brined and fermented pickles using seasonal, farmers market ingredients to create several treats for you to try. At the end of the class you will have samples to take home, along with some basic tools, ingredients and equipment.

Yummy Supper makes dandelion jelly (Dandelion Jelly). If a flower is edible, you can make jelly from it and capture that floral essence in a jar. Just be careful, however, since even if a flower is edible, the rest of the plant may not be.

Chickens in the Road is giving away a copy of the Ball Blue Book Guide to Preserving (Ball Blue Book Giveaway). Post a comment for the chance to win.

Rurally Screwed was having some difficulty getting good flavor from pickled eggplant (What is Up with Pickling Eggplant???).

The other day I made eight different versions of pickled eggplant, trying to find one worthy of the canning cookbook I’m writing with Brooklyn chef Kelly Geary. And the consensus was that all eight versions more or less sucked. That’s right, I’m touting myself as a canning pro and my pickled eggplant was no good. You won’t find any of these recipes in the cookbook, that’s for sure.

But pickle and all-around preserving guru Linda Ziedrich stepped in to comment on the difficulties of pickling eggplant. The result? A delicious garnish or addition to salads (Pickled Eggplant Postscript).

The National Center for Home Food Preservation has only one recommendation for canning pumpkin: cubed in a pressure canner (Resources for Home Preserving Pumpkins). Local Kitchen set out to prove to herself that at least some canning recipes featuring pumpkins are safe (Pumpkin Cascabel Marmalade).

Obviously, I can't say that this recipe is safe, but I do think that LK's analysis is interesting, informative and well worth reading. There are some tests that can be done with the resulting marmalade, for example, puréeing the canned marmalade in a couple of weeks and checking the pH level. Of course, I would be interested in seeing what data the NCHFP based their analysis on as well; to see if LK is missing anything in her analysis.

Smoking cheese isn't really about food preservation. But, if you already have a smoker for preservation, smoking cheese is a great way to add flavor to all sorts of things. Savory TV demonstrates this with a recipe for (Smoked Cheddar Grits). I smoke a lot of cheese: pepper jack, cheddar, gouda, mozzarella, etc. Anywhere you would normally use cheese, substitute in some smoked cheese and you've got some amazing flavor.

Nearing the last of the March Can Jam:

• Rufus and Clementine uses tarragon (a great idea) to flavor pickled pearl onions (Tigress’ Can Jam (March) | Pretty Pickled Pearls).
• Small Measure, who picked alliums for the can jam, makes an interesting seasonal relish, though she subs out tarragon in favor of thyme (Onion, Orange and Thyme Relish).
• The Cosmic Cowgirl makes cocktail onions, though not for their beverage prowess - she plans to use them when grilling season is in full swing (Pickled Pearls of Wisdom).
• Backyard Farms makes a red onion jelly - imagine how good that would be in all sorts of savory applications (It Must Be Jelly Because Alliums Don't Shake Like That! CanJam Episode 3).

Preservation Link Roundup 3/22/10

Yeah! We will soon have another Master Food Preserver in Los Angeles County! Kevin West of Saving the Season is making the long commute to San Bernardino every week in order to complete the Master Food Preserver certification course, which is only offered in three California Counties, two up North and one in SB (MFP). Yet another step closer to reviving the program here in Los Angeles.

Serious Eats highlights a video from Food Curated (highly recommended web series) about an artisan maker of "bacon marmalade" (Bacon Marmalade, from 'Food Curated'). The idea is very interesting and I know people who are making bacon jams. However, I am uncertain of the safety of canning such recipes, as opposed to merely refrigerating them. I was surprised that, near the end of the video (5:56), the artisan was shown merely screwing on the 1-piece lid for the jar with no processing at all. Perhaps there was processing that was not shown, but it is certainly not clear whether they were processed or not.

Wow, hasn't What Julia Ate been busy? She has a new flock of chickens, and still had time to stuff a trout with some tangelo lemongrass jelly which was accompanied by homemade ricotta cheese (a wonderful way to preserve milk) (Trout with Vegetable Hash and Fresh Ricotta Cheese). Wonderful choice. Lemon-y jellies of all sorts (I made a lemon/lemongrass jelly last year) go wonderfully with fish (and chicken). Stuff, as Julia did, use as a glaze, or an accompaniment.

Wendolonia is very happy with the results of her "easy" lemon ginger marmalade - easy because it uses powdered pectin (Actually Easy Lemon Ginger Marmalade). That is one of my very favorite flavor combinations (try it in lemonade). There are a lot of fish dishes this would pair well with.

As you may recall, last week Well Preserved dehydrated some beets, onions and celery root. This week, they used the dried onion and some other homemade spices as a rub for ribs (Homemade Ribs – Preserved Dry Rub Included…). Quite a bit more satisfying (and flavorful) than buying one of those stale rubs at the store.

Ground spices, because they have so much surface area, lose their flavor much faster than whole spices. Since a rub is usually mostly ground spices, depending on how long they've stayed in a distribution center or store, commercial dry rubs are often much less flavorful than a freshly ground one made at home. Try it yourself and see the difference.

Just last week I was noting the beautiful rhubarb in the local farmers markets. Hitchhiking to Heaven makes the first rhubarb preserve of the season that I'm aware of (Rhubarb, Pear, and Vanilla Jam). She also explains a little bit about substituting Pomona's Pectin into the recipe.

If you haven't tried rhubarb yet, the simplest thing in the world is to grab a stalk (only! the leaves contain dangerous oxalic acid), dip the end into some sugar and bite. The original sweet and tart. Brown sugar is also an option, or get fancy and dip it into vanilla sugar - makes an elegant, yet simple and fun dessert at your next dinner party.

A few days ago Eugenia Bone shared her recipe for pickled fennel. Now she shares two recipes for using it (Two Recipes that use Pickled Fennel). Use these recipes as inspiration for some of the things you can do with any sort of pickle.

I've been pretty harsh on Slate recently, but they published a good article on a story I've posted about a couple of times here, in this case the ongoing canned tomato scandal (Rotten Tomatoes: Scandal Strikes the Tomato-Paste Industry). The article is the best I've seen yet on the structure of the tomato industry, a brief history and how the scandal fits into all of it. Read the whole thing.

Here is a somewhat lengthy response (for a blog post) to that Slate article I disliked so much from the Ethicurian (Yes We Can ... and We Relish It!). Wow, two puns in a single title. The article is a great description of Preserving Traditions:

Preserving Traditions was begun in February, 2009 in Ann Arbor, Michigan, as a way to keep alive (and re-teach) "traditional" foodways, including preserving and cooking food from scratch.

Very cool.

What is it with knitting and canning? Detroit Knitter made Jalapeño Apple Spread on St. Patrick's Day. - which is what most would call jelly (Jalapeño Apple Spread).

More March Can Jam:

• Putting By makes pickled garlic (Pickled Garlic).
• Cafe Libby isn't so sure how her onion relish will come out (pickles can take a couple of weeks to develop flavor) and cutting all those onions made her cry. (Can Jam: This One Made Me Cry). My favorite anti-crying trick? A sharp knife. Seriously.
• Plot 22 hates onions and is not a big fan of fennel, so let's hope that this pickle changes her mind somewhat (Tigress’ Can Jam March: Sweet Onion & Fennel Relish).