Canning Applesauce

A friend recently brought by a dozen apples from the tree in his yard. I had no idea what kind they were but they joined an already full plate of fruit from a variety of sources.

My own apple tree is getting close to harvest-time so I thought this might be a good test run on canning some applesauce.

So I ran down to my local hardware store and picked up a dozen half pint jars. I came home and stuck some in the dishwasher to get them sterilized. I followed my earlier recipe for applesauce again using some honey in lieu of sugar. In order to can the applesauce, follow the earlier recipe and then add these steps.

Once the applesauce is processed, bring the applesauce back to a boil. Using a canning funnel, ladle in the hot applesauce into sterile jars leaving a half inch of head space. Use a wooden chop stick or other non-reactive utensil to stir out any air bubbles. Clean the rim and screw on sterile lids.

Set the jars in a boiling hot water bath for 20 minutes. Remove them from the water and let cool on a towel for 12 hours. Check that the lids sealed. Put them away to enjoy in a future recipe.

Canning Peaches

Last year, I made jam out of the peach harvest. I still have some jars in the pantry. This year's harvest was just canned over the last two weekends. It was quite an event with multiple pans going all at once: the hot water bath pan, a saucepan to boil the lids, boiling water to dip the peaches into, and a simple syrup.

I have an old Ball Blue Book from the '50's and it's pretty much the bible for canning. When I went online and looked canning peaches, it's amazing how little has changed. If you don't have this book, you need to get a copy.

So here are the "cheat sheet" directions

• Drop batches of peaches into boiling water for about 1 minute and then transfer to a bowl of ice water. The riper the peaches, the easier the peel will come off.
• Remove skin; halve and pit; place face down in a sterile jar. You may need to quarter the peaches.
• Gently push down on the peaches to maximize the space as you begin to fill up the jar.
• Ladle in syrup to cover leaving about a 1/2 of head space.
• Run a knife along the inside edge of the peaches to remove air bubbles.
• Clean the rim of the jar with a damp paper towel.
• Put on the lid and drop into a boiling water bath with a water level above the jar lid.
• Boil for 30 minutes and remove.
• Place jars on a towel to dry for 12 hours.
• Listen for the "pop" of the jars as the lids seal as it cools.

For this first time run, I went with the extra light syrup and I had to make a second batch:

Syrup

• 1 1/4 cup sugar
• 5 1/4 water

Add sugar and stir until dissolved. Bring to a boil and ladle into jars.

Here's the formula:
Extra light = 1 1/4 cups sugar to 5 1/4 cups water
Light = 2 1/4 cup sugar to 5 cups water
Medium = 3 1/4 cup sugar to 5 cups water
Heavy = 4 /1/4 cups sugar to 4 /1/4 cups water

Here are some YouTube videos that demonstrate the process.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KoyEV0p0Ky8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G309JyFpuFs

Fall Garden

Here's a great article on planting fall veggies. If you live in California, there's lots of details on the various microclimates.

Most of my summer plantings are moving into their dying off mode. I need to find the time to get outside and pull up crops in order to make room for the next wave.

Read the article from the SF Chronicle

Roasted Pistachios

A few months ago I needed some raw, shelled pistachios for a cold soup recipe I was working on, but I bought waaaaay more than I needed at the bulk foods section of my local Whole Foods. It was a little like buying way more ahi tuna or premium gasoline these days. I don't remember the exact price but it wasn't cheap.

But I ended up with 4 or 5 cups of leftover pistachio nuts after I made the soup. They have been sitting in the pantry waiting for me to figure out how to roast them which I finally did today. Since they are already shelled, I feel like have a few month's supply of pistachios.

Pistachios, like almonds, are quite nutritious with lots of fiber, vitamin B6, thiamin, copper, and phosphorus. Most of the fat is monounsaturated, similar to olive oil.

So thanks to a handful of internet sites, this is how I roasted the pistachios. Tasty!

Roasted Pistachios

• Preheat the oven to 250 degrees
• Dissolve 2-3 tablespoons salt in 1/4 cup of water in a wide-based saucepan. For salt, figure 2-3 tablespoons for 5 cups of pistachios and up. Use that as a starting point and adjust to your tastes and the amount of pistachios you have.
• Add pistachios to salt water and heat the saucepan to high heat
• Stir constantly until water is evaporated and the salt water is distributed all over the nuts
• Spread on cookie sheets and smooth out into a single layer of nuts
• Roast for 1 1/2 to 1 3/4 hours stirring every 30 minutes. I ended with two cookie sheets full so it took the longer amount of time. The fun is sampling to decide when they are roasted enough.

Lazy Saturday Breakfast with Rhubarb Compote

It was a beautiful Saturday morning to enjoy some recently-made rhubarb compote on toast along with some freshly-brewed coffee.

This compote (French for "mixture") is a versatile recipe that could work in a breakfast or a dessert. I cut the sugar level in half from the recipe I found online. I did use real maple syrup instead of sugar, too. The result is a simple, not overly-sweet concoction.

For breakfast, serve as pictured on toast or with a muffin or scone.

For dessert, spooned over a simple cake or corn bread. It could also be served atop some vanilla ice cream.

And did you know that rhubarb is widely considered a vegetable, but in 1947 a New York court decided that it's used like a fruit so they ruled that rhubarb is a fruit in the US for the purposes of duties and regulations.

Basic Rhubarb Compote

Ingredients:

• 5 or 6 rhubarb stalks, washed and chopped
• 1/2 cup orange juice
• 1/4 cup maple syrup or brown sugar

Directions:

• Combine all of the ingredients in a medium saucepan.
• Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring occasionally.
• Cover and simmer gently for about 5 minutes or until rhubarb softens.
• Uncover and continue to cook for another 5 minutes.
• Remove from heat and let cool.

See also:
http://www.simplebites.net/salute-spring-ten-ways-to-enjoy-rhubarb-compote/

In the Garden: May 2012

The summer vegetable garden was installed over the last two weekends. I also got some mulch to put over everything (not pictured).

Now in the ground:

• San Marzano tomato - looking forward to trying this famous varietal.
• Roma tomato - Hope to make some more spaghetti sauce.
• 2 Green beans - Thought I bought one but when I got home there were two.
•  Zucchini - Of course.

• Leeks - First time trying these. I use them in my homemade broth.

• 8 Italian basil plants - Hopefully, I'll be making lots of pesto for the freezer.

• Bell Pepper in a nearby pot - I've got a lot of potting soil and a lot of empty pots so I may try some more plants in pots.

Adapted Parkey Stew

Cabbage can be a bit of a struggle. Let's face it, when it shows up in the CSA box it's just not that exciting. Sadly, too often, it sits there in the fridge until it's too late.

I've been looking for some go-to recipes for cabbage so that we could use it and enjoy it when it's in the delivery. I know it's good for you and all that. So I've tried a few approaches to come up with something tasty for cabbage but nothing has done the trick for us yet.

Until...

A few months ago, I was paging through the Penzey's catalog (Winter 2012) and saw this recipe for Parkey Stew which was named after this person's grandfather. This recipe was for a cabbage stew that I knew I could adapt to our tastes and it might be that elusive go-to recipe for cabbage. I cut it out and added to my notebook of recipes to get to (most of which haven't been gotten to).

The basic idea is kielbasa and cabbage in a tomato and broth base. And it worked!

Below is just my starting point and my first adaptation of the original recipe.

Adapted Parkey Stew

Ingredients:

• Olive oil
• Carrots - 3 to 4, peeled, and quartered and chopped into fingers
• Garlic - 2 to 3 cloves, minced
• Broth - 16 oz. 
• Tomatoes - 1 15 oz. can crushed or diced tomatoes. Some brands have extra herbs and ingredients.
• Cabbage - 1 small to medium head of green cabbage
• Kielbasa - 2 Tofurky kielbasa sliced
• Herbs - Various - Use what you have - Tonight I used some Foxpoint Seasoning and some Mural of Flavor. Next time would add a few shakes of red pepper flakes.
• Salt - 1/2 teaspoon
• Pepper - 1/2 teaspoon
• Rice - 1-2 cups of cooked rice
• Parmesan cheese - grated as a garnish

OK, in the original recipe, there were 3 leeks which I skipped because I finally did a good job using them up in the last post. But know you can add them.

I also added the rice to the recipe because we had it as a leftover in the fridge. My wife suggested tossing it in. It was the perfect suggestion since the rice absorbs the flavors and makes it a more filling and satisfying dish.


Instructions:

• In a medium saucepan, heat olive oil and brown kielbasa slices and then remove
• Add sliced carrots (and leeks) and cook about 10 minutes stirring often
• Add the garlic and cook about 2 minutes
• Add broth, tomatoes, and cabbage to pot along with seasonings and herbs
• Bring to a mild boil and simmer for 20-30 minutes
• Add back the kielbasa as the recipe approaches completion
• Add cooked rice with the kielbasa (optional)
• When done, remove from heat and let cool a few minutes
• Top with grated cheese and some freshly grated black pepper

We decided that this was a keeper and it could evolve with time. I think having some strong but not overpowering herbs and spices can take this recipe to another level.

There's lots of room to be creative with this one.