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This blog is about my journey into the world of canning, or "putting up" as others would like to call it. I will try to pickle almost anything and smash berries and sugar together on any given day. I'll also write about general baking, which is another passion of mine, but not as overwhelming, addictive or obsessive as canning has become.

Thursday, September 29, 2011

Brandied/Amaretto Vanilla Peaches

What's better than boozy fruit? Seriously.  Fruit soaked in delicious booze sitting on your shelf.. just waiting... waiting for a cold winters day for you to pop it open and pour it all over vanilla ice cream, or even better yet, eat directly out of the jar with a spoon.  Seriously.  I am serious.  Delicious.

I probably should have done this earlier in the summer but that was clearly before my canning craze.  It would have made sense to start canning early summer while I'm on a 7 week hiatus from teaching, but no, I wait until a few days before school starts to "suddenly" feel the need to can everything in sight.  There's always next summer.  And next fall and winter.  You get it.

The other night I'm pacing in-between the kitchen and my couch - watching tv.  It's really doing nothing for me - I need to make something.  If I make brownies or cookies I'll just eat them.  So what are my options... let's see...oh yes, that's right.  Canning.  Preserving.  Squishing as much fruit as I can into a jar and ladling sweet, sweet brandy or amaretto over those beautiful peaches.  Every time I get up off the couch, my dog Chloe decides it's a requirement that she gets up and follows me the whole 10 feet into the kitchen. She's confused.  I'm confused.  I want to watch tv and relax but the other half of me wants to can.  The canning side wins.  Chloe and I head into the kitchen, defeated.

I must have bought 9-10 pounds of peaches.  You know, my favorite store down the road.  That's right - I got out of there with ONLY peaches.  Then I went next door to the packy and bought a cheap(er) bottle of Brandy.  Then 3 bottles of wine, you know, to have.. just in case.  Then I see a nip of Amaretto sitting on the counter and it makes me think - what if... ok let's get a decent size bottle of Amaretto too.  Might as well, right?  Amaretto itself is delicious.  I get home and crack it open - pour myself a little sip. Mmm. Warm and sweet and smooth.  Brandy, eh - not really up my alley, but I pour a little sip just so he doesn't feel left out.  I pour myself another little sip of Amaretto.  Alright, onto the peaches.

Peaches are slippery little suckers when they have been peeled.  To peel a peach - please do not labor over the counter for 47 hours with a vegetable peeler.  Get a pot of water, bring it to a boil, make a small "X" in the bottom of each peach and carefully drop those babies in the boiling water.  Boil for ONE minute then immediately transfer to an ice water bath (fancy term for a bowl of very cold water with tons of ice in it).  Let the peaches hang out in their Arctic bath until they are cool enough to handle - it shouldn't take long.  Once you can grab them and they don't burn your fingerprints off, start peeling.  The skin should almost literally want to fall off.  Basically like they got so hot in the boiling water, then didn't have time to decide what to do because they were immediately drowned in a freezing bath of ice water.  They're confused.  At this point they just want to get their skin off, so let it happen.  After I de-skinned all of my scared little guys, I put them back in the cold water and let them bob around until I was ready for the next step.  They're numb and naked - stunned by the cold water - kind of like going to Ogunquit Beach in Maine - so cold you're stunned then don't know what to do so you just stay in the water.  I swear, it affects your mind. 

Next you just want to de-pit the peaches and then cut them up into pieces.  You can be dainty about this if you'd like but it's time consuming.  I started off by cutting my peaches into 8's.  I was very meticulous about how each piece was the same uniform size, then about 5 peaches in I got a little sloppy.  Between making sure you don't cut your fingers off and avoiding the flinging of these buttery peaches onto the floor, the idea of making Martha Stewart slices was lost.  I didn't want ugly chunks floating in a jar, so I tried to do my very best.  In the end, they turned out pretty nice.  I was sick of cutting peaches by the time it was over, that is for damn sure. 

The peaches can't just go into the jars alone.  They need something to swim around in.  I concocted a sweet syrup for these eager little slices based on a 1951 recipe from the NY Times by Jane Nickerson on Brandied Peaches.  Here is the original recipe:


1951 Brandied Peaches

Ingredients:
3 pounds ripe peaches
3 cups sugar
About 1/2 cup brandy

Directions:
1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Using the tip of a paring knife, make a shallow “X” in the bottom of each peach. Add the peaches, one at a time, to the boiling water and cook for 1 minute. Remove the peach from the water and plunge into a bowl of ice water. Repeat with the remaining peaches. Peel off the skins, then pit the fruit and quarter the flesh.

2. In another large pot, combine 3 cups water and the sugar and bring to a boil. Add the peaches and simmer until just soft.

3. Have the jars, bands and new lids scalded and ready. (To scald, dip the jars and rims in boiling water. You don’t need to sterilize the jars, as you will be processing them for more than 10 minutes.) Simmer the lids in hot water to soften the rubberized flange. Gently pack the peaches into the jars.

4. Boil the leftover syrup until it thickens slightly, then spoon it over the fruit, filling the jars ¾ full. Use a butter knife to release any air bubbles caught in the jars. Pour in enough brandy to fill the jars, leaving ¼ inch of headroom. Wipe the rims, cover with the lids and screw on the bands fingertip-tight. Place the jars on a rack in a big pot and cover with 2 to 3 inches of water. Cover the pot and bring to a boil over high heat, then lower the heat to medium and gently boil for 20 minutes. Remove the cover and then, after about 5 minutes, remove the jars. Allow them to cool, untouched, for 4 to 6 hours. Check the seals and store in a cool, dark place for up to a year. Refrigerate after opening.

* Cook's notes - If you are canning at a higher altitude, be sure to consult the Ball Blue Book Guide to Preserving for proper instructions and canning times.

Here are my little guys, swimming around in their sugary syrup

Up to them swimming around, I followed the recipe exactly, except I made it much, much larger than it was originally set for.  I had my hot, sterilized jars ready and waiting so I just filled them up with as many peach slices as I could.  I ended up using 7 pint jars - 4 of them I did exactly as the recipe said:  filled with peaches, then ladled the hot syrup 3/4 of the way up the jar and topped the jars off with Brandy.  Leave enough head space, cap and process in a hot water bath for 20 minutes.  Technically, since you're processing them for over 10 minutes, they don't need to be sterilized.  Any time you process over 10 minutes, they are sterilized automatically in the process of the water bath.  Easy enough to remember for next time - less prep work. 

I had three jars left and a very alluring bottle of Amaretto staring at me.  I shouldn't forget to mention the insane amount of vanilla beans I recently got from eBay.  Who knew that $25 would get you 1.25 POUNDS of vanilla beans? In the store you pay $10+ for two shriveled, dried out beans.  I got over a pound of fresh vanilla beans for 25 bucks.  Amaretto and vanilla play nice together.  The addition of peaches would just create a party in a jar if all three mingled together.  So I did it.  Instead of topping the last 3 jars off with Brandy, I topped them off with Amaretto and slid in a sliced vanilla bean as well.  Some of the vanilla beans have this sweet little curl to the bottom of their tails, they remind me of seahorses. 


All in all, this was a very productive canning project.  The only thing I don't like is how the peaches float.  Technically, that's an imperfection.  It just means I didn't get enough of the air out of the peach slices so they're floating to the top. There are ways around this, but honestly, I don't care.  I'm pretty sure my boozed up peaches are just as happy in their party jars floating then they would be sinking to the ground.  Actually, if I were a schnockered up peach, I'd rather float.


Wednesday, September 21, 2011

Jalapeno Peppers w/Garlic

Mmmmm jalapenos.  Mmmmm garlic.  Mmmmm jalapenos WITH garlic.  Pretty basic but pretty delicious as well.  The idea of making these little beauties entered my mind as I was browsing the http://www.foodinjars.com/ canning blog.  Marisa always has some of the best ideas for preserving food in even the simplest fashion. 

The local grocery store by my house has the best local produce.  I mean, the BEST.  I could get lost in there every time I go in, which is almost on a daily basis.  I tend to stop in for something like romaine lettuce and end up leaving $60 poorer.  They make their own specialty foods, bake their own artisan breads and even have a great dessert section that are all made in-house.  They also have a HUGE brick oven for flat bread pizzas.  Now although I've only tried them twice in the almost 3 years I've lived here, the size of the oven is impressive in itself.  Moving on... yesterday, when I got the idea of these jalapenos, I decided to quickly stop in the local store to see if they had enough for my recipe.  The basic recipe called for 1 lbs of peppers but I wanted to make quite a few jars so I got almost 4 lbs.  They were $2.99 a pound, which I thought was pretty reasonable.  I already had the garlic cloves at home and the rest are pantry staples which I already had on hand.

I resisted the urge to deposit my entire paycheck into the store and hurried home to begin washing these bright green little guys.  They are so vibrant in color I almost expected them to start jumping out of the bowl with salsa music playing in the background.

 This really was one of the simplest recipes I've followed to date and one of the most gratifying for some reason.  Literally, all I had to do was wash them, cut their little stems off and then slice in half.

Now, for the brine, it was as simple as preparing the peppers.  Bring water, vinegar and pickling salt to a boil.  Done.  Really - that's it.  No crazy spices or spending $15 on a jar of anise stars.  In addition to being one of the easiest recipes to create, it's also one of the cheapest.  Vinegar is pretty inexpensive and water is, well, free.  A sealed bag of pickling salt set me back maybe $4.00 a few weeks ago and will last for many, many recipes.  An economically sound purchase.

While the brine was coming to a boil, I just dropped one garlic clove in the bottom of each hot, sterilized jar and then packed the jars with slices of jalapenos.  Make sure you pack 'em in there good but don't hurt the little guys.  No one wants a broken or bruised pepper. 


Once these jars are stuffed with the spicy little green monsters, just pour the hot brine over the peppers, leaving 1/2" head space.  Process in a boiling water canner for 10 minutes - remember, don't start your 10 minutes until the canner has returned to a rolling boil.

Finished product is pretty nifty, I must say.  I'm excited to crack open a jar in November when I make my first batch of chili.  Cold day, fire going, glass of wine - add a few slices of these guys to your chili that's cooking in the crock pot and you're good to go.  If you didn't have the patience to wait for the cooler weather to hit for chili, you could certainly open these guys up in about 2 weeks and use them in some salsa.  It'll definitely give you the added kick you're looking for with a hint of garlicky deliciousness.

Here is my recipe, borrowed from http://www.foodinjars.com/, but tweaked a bit to add the garlic.

Ingredients:
  • 4 pounds of jalapeno peppers
  • 8 cups of white vinegar
  • 8 cups of water
  • 8 tablespoons of pickling salt
Directions:
  1. Wash peppers, slice of stems and then slice peppers in half.
  2. After your jars have been sterilized and are sitting in hot water, dd vinegar, water and salt to a large pot and bring to a boil.
  3. Drop a clove of garlic in each jar and fill with sliced peppers.
  4. Pour hot brine over peppers/garlic leaving 1/2" head space.
  5. Wipe rims of jars before sealing, then process in a boiling water bath for 10 minutes.
I'd wait about 2 weeks to open these little firecrackers up, but they'll last for up to a year in a dark, cool area.



It's obvious that these little guys are anxiously awaiting the hot brine to join the party



Monday, September 19, 2011

Becoming Addicted


My very first canning experience this year began with making Blueberry-Lemon Preserves around July 2011.  I never knew that it would grow to be an obsession, or to put it more eloquently, a passion that I now have. 

I am literally waking up each morning and besides the usual, “I don’t want to go to work or get out of bed” thoughts floundering around in my brain, I’m wondering what I’m going to make that night after I get home from work. 

I used to just enjoy making myself dinner or bake some sort of treat for my coworkers.  Ever since that batch of Blueberry-Lemon Preserves, it’s like a whole new creative canning world lies in front of me.. waiting… waiting for me to pick more berries, buy more sugar and boil pectin into a smashup of tasty, fruitful delight.

When I started canning I wasn’t a pro with my camera and to be honest, wasn’t pleased with it at all.  I bought the camera two years ago and spent about $240 – plenty, I thought, for a good, reliable camera.  I’ve never been too impressed with its picture taking abilities and to be honest, my iPhone camera has always done a better job.  That was until I started paying close attention to the pictures posted on some food blogs that showcased food in a new light.  The food item was the star of the show – it was on display – and it was beautiful.  The background was soft, the food was glimmering but in a very detailed and in-focus fashion.  I spent hours one night searching through random food blogs, just loving all of their pictures.  I finally emailed one blog author and asked how she got her pictures to look so amazing.  She emailed me back and to my shock, she said she had an old hand-me-down camera that had an aperture setting that made the food look comforting, inviting and in focus with a dewy, soft background taking everything out of focus, just a bit.  It softened the background and that allowed the food to take center stage and really shine.  I ran in my room, grabbed my camera and found an actual FOOD setting on my camera.  Go figure.  I also found about 25 other very specific settings that would have come in handy over the past few years, but I digress.  As fast as I could switch it to the food setting and line up a few bananas for a test shot, my camera displayed the following equivalent of the “blue screen of death” on a computer – “battery is exhausted”.  I figured it needed to be charged so I plugged the little guy in.  A few hours later it still says the same sad line.  The next morning, same thing.  I finally realize that the lithium ion battery has literally bit the dust and I needed a new one.  Isn’t it funny how when you really need something it suddenly becomes unavailable?  The next day I stopped at the local electronics store and picked up a new battery - $40.  Unreal.  But worth it for the pictures I’m now able to take.

Needless to say, for the first few recipes, I won’t have any pretty blog-type pictures to go along with my post.  You’ll notice when I figured out how to use my camera just by the pictures – a few posts in, I predict. 

For now, here is the first canning recipe I tackled which won my heart and now has me completely obsessed with smashing fruit and sugar or vegetables and vinegar into little glass jars:

Blueberry-Lemon Preserves

Ingredients:

·         5 cups blueberries
·         4 cups of sugar
·         Zest of two lemons
·         Juice of two lemons
·         2 (3 ounce) envelops liquid fruit pectin (Ball Fruit Jell)

Directions:

In a large saucepan over high heat add blueberries, sugar, lemon zest and lemon juice.  Stir frequently while bringing to a rolling boil.  I used a meat tenderizer at this point – I have one from Pampered Chef that is reversible – one side has spikes and the other is flat.  I used the spiky side and smashed these little berries so that they were somewhat beat up but not completely destroyed.  There should be some whole berries left and the rest should almost resemble a quick run through a food processor – very torn apart.

Stir in the pectin and continue boiling for 1 minute.  Remove from heat.  Skim any foam if necessary and ladle into the hot prepared jars.  Be sure to leave at least a 1/4” space at the top of the jar.  Place the cap on the jars and process for another 15 minutes boiling water canner.




I made two batches of this jam – the first one I followed Paula Deen’s recipe perfectly and it was really just too sweet.  Too sticky sweet for my taste buds, but I’m a skim milk with one sugar kind of girl – I don’t like anything too sweet.  I cut the sugar down by 2.5 cups and it seems to be perfect now. Still sweet but not overpowering like it was.

I ladled this beautiful dark blue chunky syrup into cute jars that almost resemble the shape of a mini pumpkin – short and fat with curved sides.  Not typical canning jars, obviously, but their presentation is certainly something to appreciate.  I made up labels that perfectly fit on a flat part of the jar and I tried my best to tie in the blue and yellow hues from the blueberries and lemon.  The ending result is quite nice, I think, for a first round of canning.

The only picture I have is the finished product -