Belly of the Beest

Peach Jam

I have posted about jams and jellies before on this blog, but this one is going to be different. For the first time in my life, I used pectin.  What a fool I have been for doubting its awesomeness. It is a million times faster to make jam and the texture is more jelly-like than compote-like. I’m not entirely sure why I never used pectin before, I think I was under the impression that it made jams and jellies gummy. Or maybe it is because I thought it wasn’t a natural product, which is false, it is derived from apples. At any rate, it was silly to shy away from it.

Chopped peaches

We only made one kind of jam this year: peach. And it exceeded my expectations. We made a traditional jam and a sugar free jam just to see what would be more delicious. I think both are very tasty, but could be used for different purposes. The sugar free jam turned out with a mildly sweet flavor and finished with more pieces of whole fruit so I think it is perfect for oatmeal. The regular sugary jam is perfect for toast and pairs nicely with strong hard cheeses. We made this jam at my mom’s house and my dad ate a whole jar of the sugary one in about three days.  I have to restrain myself or I will do the same. We only made 6 small jars of each so they are coveted at this point. I may end up making more or saving a couple to give away as Christmas gifts.

Peaches and raspberries cooking

In the near future we will be making fig preserves and I can’t wait. The recipes for all these jams come from the Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving. It is among my favorite recipe books now. Every time I turn the page I say, ””Oh wow! That sounds good!” Or “Oooo I want to try that!” I will run out of pantry space long before I run out of amazing recipes from this book. Here is where you can buy it!

This is the traditional jam recipe. If you would want to try the sugar free recipe go buy a box of sugar free pectin and follow the recipe on the box. Both types of pectin come with many recipes.

Peach or Pear Jam (makes about six 8-ounce jars)

4 C Finely chopped, pitted, peeled peaches

2 Tbsp Lemon Juice

1 package (1.75 oz) regular powdered fruit pectin

5 C granulated sugar

1. Prepare your cans, jars and lids. If you don’t know how then go here.

2. In a large, deep stainless steel saucepan, combine peaches and lemon juice. Whisk in pectin until dissolved. Bring to a boil over high heat, stirring frequently. Add sugar all at once and return to a full rolling boil, stirring constantly. Boil hard, stirring constantly, for 1 minute. Remove from heat and skim off foam.

3. Ladle the hot jam into the hot jar, leaving 1/4 inch headspace. Remove air bubbles and adjust headspace, if needed, by adding more hot jam. Wipe rim. Center lid on jar. Screw band down until tight.

4. Place jars in canner (ie the huge pot with tons of boiling water) ensuring they are completely covered with water. Bring to a boil and process for 10 minutes. Remove canner lid. Wait 5 minutes, then remove jars, cool, and store! My favorite part is listening for the ‘Ping!’ that you hear when the jar has sealed. It is a satisfying sound!

This recipe is lifted from Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving. If you want to see more recipes from it, and you should, you need to buy it. Or check it out from your library.

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Apple Pie Filling

A couple weeks ago I bought a bunch of apples from the last farmers’ market of the year. I wasn’t entirely sure what I was going to do with 5 lbs of apples, but once I got them home it was obvious. I was going to can them. What else do you do with pounds and pounds of produce?  This worked out perfectly because every year my husband’s family and my own get together for Christmas and have a gift exchange. It has become something of a tradition for us to put together a collection of foods we’ve put up over the summer. This year the baskets will feature ginger pear jam (post coming soon) pasta sauce, pickles, and this, apple pie filling. There will be other treats too, but I’m debating what to do exactly so I’ll post about those later.

Anyway, this recipe is safe, comes from the Ball canning website and it makes about 7 (16 oz) pints.  Here’s the thing with canning: it is becoming popular and recipes are popping up every from crafting websites and magazines to the New York Times website. It is exciting to see, but before you try a recipe, verify that the methods used are safe. Nothing ruins your day like a nice serving of botulism.

Here are a few sites that my friend and chef, Carla, shared with me when I asked her about the recipe I was planning to use.

http://www.freshpreserving.com/pages/all_recipes/215.php?catID=Home-Canning&pageNum=1

http://www.homecanning.com/

http://www.canningacrossamerica.com/

Check them all out and decide what sounds good over the winter, then plant your garden accordingly!

Here’s the recipe for Apple Pie Filling, the original came from Ball, but I doubled the spices. And use whatever apples you’d like! We used a few different varieties for a more interesting flavor.

You will need:
12 cups sliced peeled cored apples, sprinkle with lemon juice to prevent browning (about 12 medium)
Water
2-3/4 cups granulated sugar
3 or 4 tsp ground cinnamon, generous
1 tsp ground nutmeg, generous
2-1/2 cups unsweetened apple juice
1-1/4 cups cold water
1/2 cup lemon juice
7 (16 oz) pint glass preserving jars with lids and bands

Directions:
1.) PREPARE boiling water canner. Heat jars and lids in simmering water until ready for use. Do not boil. Set bands aside.
2.) BLANCH apple slices, working with 6 cups at a time, in a large pot of boiling water for 1 minute. Remove with a slotted spoon and keep warm in a covered bowl.
3.) COMBINE sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg in a large stainless steel saucepan. Stir in apple juice and cold water. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring constantly, and cook until mixture thickens and begins to bubble. Add lemon juice, return to a boil and boil for 1 minute, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Drain apple slices and immediately fold into hot mixture. Before processing, heat, stirring, until apples are heated through.

4.) LADLE hot pie filling into hot jars leaving 1 inch headspace. Remove air bubbles. Wipe rim. Center lid on jar. Apply band until fit is fingertip tight.

5.) PROCESS jars in a boiling water for 25 minutes, adjusting for altitude. Remove jars and cool. Check lids for seal after 24 hours. Lid should not flex up and down when center is pressed.

Before dumping this pie filling into the pie crust, you will need to add a thickener. You need 1 tbsp of cornstarch mixed in with a bit (1/4 c?) of cold water. When combined, stir into the pint of filling. Each pint needs this cornstarch/water slurry. This slurry prevents clumping when you add it to the filling. You will need 2 pints of filling to make a 9 inch pie.

I’m giving away two of the 6 jars we got, the rest will be enjoyed by friends and family sometime this winter. Enjoy!

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Ickle Me, Pickle Me, Tickle Me Too
from the book “Where the Sidewalk Ends” (1974)

Ickle Me, Pickle Me, Tickle Me too
Went for a ride in a flying shoe.
“Hooray!”
“What fun!”
“It’s time we flew!”
Said Ickle Me, Pickle Me, Tickle Me too.

Ickle was captain, and Pickle was crew
And Tickle served coffee and mulligan stew
As higher
And higher
And higher they flew,
Ickle Me, Pickle Me, Tickle Me too.

Ickle Me, Pickle Me, Tickle Me too,
Over the sun and beyond the blue.
“Hold on!”
“Stay in!”
“I hope we do!”
Cried Ickle Me, Pickle Me, Tickle Me too.

Ickle Me, Pickle Me, Tickle too
Never returned to the world they knew,
And nobody
Knows what’s
Happened to
Dear Ickle Me, Pickle Me, Tickle Me too.

Whenever I say or hear the word ‘pickle’ the first thing that comes to mind is that poem by Shel Silverstein. For a while when I was a kid I only read “Where the Sidewalk Ends” and “I Wish I had a Computer that Makes Waffles.” That book is SO awesome. Out of print though, so you need an awesome brother-in-law to find you one…but back to the topic at hand:

Cucumbers. What do you do with hundreds of cucumbers once the thrill of eating cucumber sandwiches wears off? You make pickles! This year we had a lot of pickle cucumbers– which is perfect because this year I found a couple pickle recipes I wanted to try–one for dill pickles and one for bread and butter pickles.

The trick with making pickles is salting them before you pickle them if they are sliced. That way they lose some water and retain their crunch. If you don’t do this, they will be rather limp and unappealing. If you are using whole cucumbers for the recipes, don’t worry about salting them. The first round of dill pickles was a little too salted and we ended up with very, very salty pickles. The second round was much better.

These wonderful pickle recipes come from Carol Grant in Meadow Grove, Nebraska. I’m sure they are from a church cookbook or something like that…Anyway, the recipes are very easy to follow and the pickles are better than store bought! But don’t bother making your own pickles unless you enjoy canning, because you really aren’t saving any money unless you have a million tiny pickle cucumbers piling up in your refrigerator. We’re going to make more this weekend.

These recipes are typed as they appeared in the cookbooks. I think they have a funny cadence, sort of like they were using the minimum amount of words to get their point across.

Fresh Kosher Dill Pickle Recipe

30-36 3-4 in cucumbers

3 c vinegar

3 c water

6 tbsp pickling salt

fresh dill

garlic

mustard seed

Wash cucumbers. Make a brine of vinegar, water and salt. Bring to a boil, place a generous layer of dill, 1 clove of garlic (sliced) and ½-1 tsbp mustard seed in the bottom of the jar. Pack cucumbers, more dill, and complete packing the jar. Fill the jars within ½ inch of the jar top. Add boiling brine. Seal with 2 piece lids, screwing the bands tight and process for 5 minutes in boiling water. Use good vinegar, fresh cucumbers and be sure to use pickling salt.

Delores (Lewis) Hannes

We actually spread the dill, garlic and mustard seeds throughout the jar so the flavor would be more evenly distributed.

Bread and Butter Pickle Recipe

Slice cucumbers medium thin, also an onion, and let stand in salt water 1 hour. Drain.

2 c vinegar

1 c sugar

1 tsp tumeric

1 tsp mustard seed

1 tsp celery seed

1 tsp ginger

1 tsp salt

Boil with pickles 5 min. and seal.

Bertha Lewis Lemon

Perhaps the two ladies who submitted these recipes are related! I hope you try this or at least come over to our house and enjoy the ones we have already made.

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Cherry Peach Jelly

My sister and I were talking about “spirit animals” a couple weeks ago and I decided my spirit animal was the pika. They are small rodents that live in the mountains and have an amazing ability to store food for the long, harsh winter months. Seriously follow that link. They are so cute! What amazes me most about the storage is how they stack the food neatly into piles so they know which food to eat when. They store food that would be poisonous if they ate it right away, but the poison keeps the food fresh through the winter, and with time, the poisonous food become edible. Incredible, as the commentator says….This week, my pika instincts kicked in.

I went to the farmers market the other day and the fruit vendors had the most beautiful displays of peaches, berries, cherries, and grapes. I can’t believe how perfect the fruit has been this year. I know the sweet little jewels’ stay is brief so I’ve been working hard to preserve some of the summer for the long haul that is winter in Chicago.

This is another jelly recipe, I know, I know, lots of jelly this year, but we use it every day! It is prefect for our oatmeal in the morning and if you make it thick enough, it is perfect for cookie filling. I’ve also been freezing a lot of fruit, but there is no recipe for that so I’ll just let me know when I make something with that stuff this winter…

Inspired by delicious jelly I had from a vendor at the market, I had to find my own recipe for Cherry-Peach jam. I also made more fresh blueberry rhubarb jam. This is what I’ve come up with. It is a universal recipe for pure fruit jam. Universal recipes are the best since they just give you the outline and you get to fill in with whatever food you are obsessed with at the moment. Though I would suggest Cherry Peach Jam right now, since the peaches are perfect right now.

I don’t remember what cookbook I found this in,but I believe it was called “Homemade.” What I love about this recipe is that there is no added sugar, apart from the juice. That’s what kills me about jelly recipes, you take perfectly delicious fruit and coat it in sugar! It makes no sense. This does. Enjoy!

Blueberry Rhubarb Jelly

Pure Fruit Jam
This recipe yields 6 8oz jars of jam

4 cups of pitted, peeled and chopped very ripe fruit (peaches in this case)
1 cup of pitted, peeled and chopped barely ripe fruit (cherries in this case)
1/2 c apple juice concentrate, thawed
3 tbsp white grape juice
2 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 tsp vanilla
4 oz (1/4 c) liquid pectin

Combine the fruit, all three juices, and the vanilla in a heavy pot over high heat. Add pectin and cook, stirring constantly for 20 minutes or until it comes to a full rolling boil. Lower the heat and simmer, stirring constantly for 5 minutes, or until slightly thick.

Remove from heat and pour into sterilized jars. Then vacuum seal them by inverting the jar for 5 minutes. After that time is up, turn the jars up right and them on a cooling rack to set for at least 24 hours. Do not disturb the jars during that first 24 hours or you might break the seal.

Tomorrow: More canning!

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Scenery on the way home.

I’ve been feeling a little sentimental lately and I’m not sure why. I’ve been thinking about summers past and looking forward to all that remains of this one. Every summer when we were young my parents would take us across Iowa to Nebraska, where my grandparents and several aunts, uncles and cousins lived. We’d all have our bags full of games, books, and favorite stuffed animals, but I always found myself just staring out the window, watching the beautiful green fields go by. I hadn’t gone in a long time, but last year Nick and I traveled through on our way to South Dakota and really enjoyed the short time we spent there. We decided to go back over the holiday weekend this year too.

My one living Grandma lives in a town that you’d have no business going to unless you know someone living there. Turning off the state highway into Hubbard meant candy from the little drug store/bar, listening to distant trains, playing hide and seek with cousins we rarely saw and hours of boredom that were filled with hilariously campy game shows. My grandma is getting old and I guess the thought of no longer belonging in a place you once felt so comfortable has me a little shaken.
We only spent one day in Hubbard and then headed further west to a little town called Meadow Grove to pick up some furniture and visit a friend of my dad’s. We picked cherries, rhubarb and mulberries. The rhubarb was prolific so you’ll be seeing a lot of rhubarb recipes over the next few days.

Rhubarb cooking for the strawberry rhubarb jelly

Anyway, this is one of the best ways to use the odd vegetable. My grandma introduced this one to the family years ago and it has all the classic 1950s short cuts that involve Jello. But you can be a purist about it and just add the sugar and stand in front of the stove for hours while the fruit and sugar gel up.

The big pots of hot water and jelly.

I had enough to make all three of these jellies and I like all of them. The pineapple one is from an awesome cookbook called “Cooking Capers” I’ll post more about that one soon.

Rhubarb-Pineapple Preserves

Rhubarb—Pineapple Preserves

5 C diced rhubarb
3 C sugar
1 can crushed pineapple

Cook over low heat for approximately 2 hours and seal in hot jars.
Alternately, after the rhubarb is soft remove the pot from heat and stir in one 3 oz box of pineapple flavor Jello.

Strawberry- Rhubarb Jam

4 c Rhubarb, cut into ½ in pieces
4 c sugar
1 quart of strawberries

Cook over low heat for 2 hours and seal in hot jars.
This is the way my grandma does it: Place in pan and cook over very low heat until sugar is dissolved. Increase heat and cook until rhubarb is tender. Remove from heat, add one 3oz strawberry Jello and stir until dissolved. Pour into hot jars and seal.

Blueberry- Rhubarb Jelly —original recipe from Grandma Rooney

5 cups chopped Rhubarb
cook in ½ c water until tender
Add 3 cups sugar. Stir in and cook until dissolved.
Stir in 1 can blueberry pie filling, cook for 6-8 minutes.
Remove from heat and stir in one 6 oz package of raspberry Jello. Stir until dissolved and seal in hot jars.

Or you can substitute fresh blueberries around 2 cups and another cup of sugar and then cook on low heat for 2 hours, or until thickened.

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