salsa recipe from a farm nearby

 The farmstand near where I used to work just posted this recipe for salsa on their Facebook feed, and I'm interested in giving it a try.  

• 12 cups diced tomatoes, drained
• 2-4 large onions, chopped
• 1/2 cup jalapenos, chopped
• 5 cloves garlic, minced or pressed
• 2 cups anaheims, chopped
• 3 T salt (that seems like a lot - will reduce to 3 tsp or less) 
• 1 cup cider vinegar  
• (I'll add spices such as cumin, oregano, cilantro) 

 Bring to a boil, simmer 30 minutes (or less if canning).  Eat fresh, freeze, can. 

If canning, water bath for 15 minutes in pints or smaller.  

canning tomato passata

 I ran across "passata" as an ingredient in a recipe I found, and it sent me down a rabbit hole.  It sounds like it's fresher tasting because less cooked than tomato sauce, and it also frankly sounds quicker to get canned (I hate peeling tomatoes! what a mess!), so I think I'll make up a batch today.  Because my tomatoes are not mostly a canning variety like San Marzano or Roma, I expect that what I'll end up with will be quite watery - which will be fine most recipes and I can always cook it down as necessary.  [Edit: it's very flavorful and though it's not concentrated it doesn't taste watery.  This may be my new favorite way to can tomatoes.] 

Ideas from here.

• clean tomatoes, cut out out any damaged areas, remove stems, halve or quarter to speed processing
• put in large pot and simmer for 10-15 minutes, until softened
• run through a foodmill to remove skins and seeds
• heat jars in water bath canner
• heat tomatoes back up
• fill jars, leaving 1/2" headspace 
• add lemon juice (1 T per pint)
• process in water bath for 40 minutes per pint, 45 per quart

applesauce for canning

 Here's how I make and can applesauce to use for baking throughout the year.  My apple tree is productive every other year, and I get a lot of windfall apples.  I pick up the apples every day and toss the really damaged ones and set aside the ones that seem ok.  I have a very serious problem with coddling moths, so almost every apple is wormy, which sucks BUT it's also not a big deal.  I just cut around the worm-affected parts, any bruises or blemishes, and there's still a lot of good apple left.  When I have a 5 gallon bucket imperfect apples, it makes about 5-6 jelly jars worth of applesauce.  I've made two batches this year, not sure if I'll make more.  It seems about time to pick the apples so I'll examine - the good ones can be put into storage, the blemished ones can be cut up and frozen to use throughout the year.  Though, I'm running short on freezer space so there may be more applesauce ahead this year. I do use a foodmill - I picked up a cheapo one on a good sale and it works fine.  It's not fast or anything but it gets there with enough cranking.  

Ingredients

• apples.  I have no idea what variety my tree is, and I also picked a bunch of apples from a person out the road who has no idea what variety hers are.  They're all good.
• water.
• nothing else.  I don't add any sweetener or spices because I usually use it for baking. It's also good for just eating from the jar and I could zhuzh it up later if I wanted to. 

Directions

•  wash apples (I have them in a 5 gallon bucket that I fill with lukewarm water and vinegar, and I rinse the apples and check for dirt, etc.)  I also don't let the apples set for long on the ground
• prepare apples.  Chop them up and remove any bad spots.  For me the cores are almost always bad because of the worms, and then any other spots.  Peeling is optional if using a food mill.  Put them in a pot.  
• Add a bit of water - the amount depends on juiciness of apples, how closely I'm tending to the pot, etc.  I probably put in anywhere from 1/2-1 1/2 cups.  
• Heat up the apples, stirring as necessary.  Let them cook down and fall apart.  This always happens faster than I expect, usually showing progress at about 15 minutes.  I let them cook a lot longer last time because there were some that weren't breaking down, and I used my potato masher.  Plus, I'd added too much water so that needed to cook down.
• when sufficiently cooked, let cool, and run through a food mill to remove peels, cores, etc.  
• Heat up the jars while that's happening. 
• Heat the applesauce back up to boiling - everything needs to be hot for canning.
• Put hot applesauce into hot jars and add lemon juice (note: I don't always remember to do this and I'm unsure it's really necessary; some websites say that it is, but I just checked the official canning websites and they don't require it; if using it, the recommendation is 1 T per quart, so scant tsp per jelly jar); leave 1/2" headspace
• Process 15 minutes in water bath (for pints or smaller).  

lower sugar peach jam

 I've got heaps of peaches and they are so good.  I went low on the sweetener with this peach jam and I think it's great.

Follow the Pomona Pectin recipe but use only 1/2 c of sugar for 4 jars (that's 25 grams per jar, which is usually at least 6 servings).

• 4 cups peaches
• lemon juice  
• calcium water
• pectin
• 1/2 cup sugar 

So basically I'm just memorializing this here so I don't forget I went even lower sugar than the recipe because the peaches are so good!

dill relish (for canning)

One of my favorite farms has pickling cucumbers ready, so I rushed out to pick some up and actually ended up with a very good deal.*  I eat dill relish especially with tuna, and what I can find in the store has a lot of additives.  So why not make my own?  I can control quality better and it's local (the garlic is from my yard).  

Recipe from here. I doubled the recipe because I ended up with 5 pounds of cucumbers and it looks like it'll fit into my stockpot (I'll probably have to do two canning loads though since I have such a little canner).  (Note:  actually it filled the canner with odd various jars from pickles and such, and then there was about a pint and a half left over that I will just put into the fridge to eat first)

Ingredients 

5 lbs cucumbers (weighed prior to peeling and seeding),peeled, center row of seeds removed, and finely diced

2 large yellow onion, finely diced

2 small red bell pepper, finely diced

2 small green bell pepper, finely diced (I used anaheims as I don't really care for green bell peppers)

6 cloves garlic, finely minced

0.5 cup kosher or pickling salt (neither of these have additives which is important to avoid when canning)

6 cups white vinegar

1 cup sugar (optional or use less according to taste) - I put in 1 T for this double batch

4 teaspoons dill seeds

2 tablespoon yellow mustard seeds (note: don't use heaping spoons as it's already a lot)

4 teaspoons celery seeds

1 teaspoon turmeric

4 bay leaves

 Instructions

• Place the diced cucumbers, onion, bell pepper, and garlic in a large mixing bowl. Combine with the salt and pour water over the mixture until covered. Let sit for at least 6 hours or overnight (I did not refrigerate). Drain the cucumber mixture in a fine mesh strainer, rinse thoroughly with water, and drain again.
• In a large stock pot, add the sugar, vinegar, and spices and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer for 5 minutes. Add the drained cucumber mixture and return to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer, uncovered, for 10 minutes. Discard the bay leaves.
• Ladle the hot relish into hot sterile jars, leaving ¼ inch of headspace. Wipe the rims of the jars clean and seal tightly with the lids.

  Process the jars in a boiling water bath for 10 minutes.
• Sealed jars will store in a cool, dark place for a year. If the seal is broken, the relish will keep in the fridge for at least a month. Makes 4 pints (you can use pint-sized or half pint jars).  

  Best eaten at least a week later after the flavors have had time to meld and the vinegar mellows out a bit. In addition, the relish needs to sit to give it time to absorb some of the liquid and to thicken.

 

*(This farm is run just like the farm that used to exist down the road, where I worked after college for several months until I figured out what to do with my college degree with honors.  Just kidding, I just went to other low-pay no-education-required job for years.  I finally became a teacher when I was about 30 years old, which at least requires my college education.  At the time of working at the farm, I had no idea why people would get so excited for these massive bags of pickling cucumbers, often little old ladies.  And now here I am, rushing to get them.)

tomato paste for canning

 Today I'm canning tomato paste.  These are all San Marzano tomatoes that I grew in my garden, and as I got overwhelmed with processing them in the summer, I just cleaned them and tossed them into Ziplocs in the freezer.  I pulled out a couple of bags last night and filled the pot and put in the refrigerator to thaw overnight.  Spoiler: they didn't really thaw, but they were thawed enough to be able to chop them.  

I'm using the official recipe from here, with some modifications.  Yield they say is about 4-4.5 half pints (though I'm putting into quarter pints and reusing other small jars). 

Tomato paste recipe

Ingredients

•  7 pounds tomatoes - paste variety
• 1/2 tsp citric acid or ** lemon juice
• 2 bay leaves
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 clove garlic

Instructions

• Prepare jars (4-5 half pints worth) and lids; keep warm.
• Clean tomatoes if not already done.  (Recipe calls for coring which I did not do.)
• Chop tomatoes.  I chopped them in half or quarters depending on size (they were small); recipe calls for 1/2-3/4 inch size.
• Bring to a boil, then slowly simmer until volume reduced by half (an hour or more).  Keep stirring regularly to keep from burning or sticking.
• Remove from heat and run through a food mill or a sieve.  (Recipe specifically says not to use food processor or blender but I"m not sure everyone follows that)
• Return to pot, add remaining ingredients.
• Cook slowly until reduced by half again (two or more hours).  Stir frequently and be careful of hot spatter.
• Remove bay leaf and garlic.
• Put into prepared jars, remove air bubbles, 1/2" headspace, clean rims, lid.
• Process for 45 minutes in half pint jars.  
  

 

pizza sauce for canning

 Pizza sauce for canning recipe from here. I think I'll use up some of the Roma tomatoes that I've frozen for this and start making homemade pizza on the regular.  I'll update this after I try it.

Ingredients

• 2 teaspoons olive oil
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 2 - 3 garlic cloves, pressed or minced
• 2 teaspoons Italian seasoning
• 2 teaspoons dried oregano
• 1 teaspoon dried basil
• 7 pounds fresh paste tomatoes (Roma, Amish Paste or San Marzano)
• 1 6 ounce can tomato paste
• 1 tablespoon brown sugar (I plan to cut this significantly)
  
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 bay leaf
• 1/8 teaspoon Citric acid or 1 1/2 teaspoons lemon juice per half pint jar (increases the acidity and lowers the PH for safe water bath canning)

Instructions

1. Wash the tomatoes and coarsely dice. If using frozen tomatoes add them to a strainer to drain off any liquid. Set aside.
2. Heat the olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add the garlic and onions, stirring a few times around the pot.
3. Add Italian seasoning, oregano, and basil. Stir the mixture a few times to allow the herbs to draw out their flavors.
4. Add the strained tomatoes, tomato paste, brown sugar, salt and 1 bay leaf. Stir to combine and bring the mixture to a light boil.
5. Turn the heat to low, taste and season if needed. Allow the sauce to simmer for 30 minutes to 1 hour partially covered with the lid.
6. While the sauce cooks, wash and sterilize about 6 half - pint size jars, lids and rings. Prepare your water bath canner according to your canners instructions.
7. Remove the sauce from the heat and remove and discard the bay leaf. Use an immersion or stick blender to blend the pizza sauce to a smooth consistency.
8. Gather your sterilized half - pint jars and add the citric acid or lemon juice (It is either or not both) to each jar.
9. Ladle the pizza sauce into each jar, leaving a 1/4 inch head space.
10. Clean the rims of the jars with a paper towel dipped in white vinegar to remove any residue and to ensure a clean seal.
11. Add a lid and a ring to each jar and tighten to finger tip tight.
12. Add the jars to the canner and lower the rack into the canner. Add more water if the jars are not covered. You need at least 1 inch of water to cover the jars.
13. Bring the water to a boil, reduce heat to a low boil and and cover the pot. Process half - pints for 15 min - 35 minutes (the instructions posted were 15 minutes but that seems low so I looked around and times are all over the place; I'll probably go with 30 minutes). 
    
14. When the processing time is complete, turn the canner off, keep the jars in the canner for an additional 5 minutes before removing to the counter covered with a dish towel.
15. You will start to hear the jars popping that means the jars are sealing.
16. Leave the jars undisturbed for at least 12 hours.

salsa for canning

When wanting to can some salsa, I cut this recipe significantly keeping the ratios.

• 7 cups peeled, cored, chopped paste tomatoes
• 1 cup seeded, chopped anaheim peppers
• 1 1/4 cup chopped onion
• 2-5 chopped and seeded jalapenos, to spice level taste
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1/2 cup lemon juice
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp pepper
• 1 tsp ground cumin, oregano, cilantro (optional)

Combine all except spices and bring to a boil stirring constantly; lower heat and simmer 10 minutes.  Add spices and simmer another 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Put in hot jars, prepare, water bath can for 15 minutes for pints.

 

 

raspberry jam (no pectin)

 Just made a batch of raspberry jam from the berries picked yesterday, and it seems fabulous so far.  

Ingredients

• 3 pounds raspberries (48 oz)
  
• 3 cups sugar (21 oz)
  
• 3 T lemon juice

Process

 Get fresh raspberries and clean them (rinse under gentle stream of tepid water, put on towels to dry).  Put raspberries and sugar into a large pot, stir, leave to macerate (I put into the fridge if macerating more than a couple of hours). 

The next day, take pot out.  When ready to begin, turn heat to low-medium and let them slowly heat up, stirring occasionally.  Once there's some bubbling, crank the heat to higher until a full rolling boil for 2-3 minutes and add the lemon juice.  Put the heat back down to just warmer than simmering, stirring regularly, for about 20 minutes.  The color will deepen and texture will become more gel.  There are heaps of tests to use like freezer plate, temperature, etc., but those never quite work for me. 

While this is happening, sterilize jars and warm up lids.  When ready, fill jars to 1/4" and water bath or steam can for 10 minutes out of abundance of caution.  Shelf stable for at least a couple of years, refrigerate once open.  

Yield: 8 + 8 + 6 + 13 + 13 = 48 oz (6 jelly jars, but I reused some Bonne Maman jars and one jelly jar didn't quite fill).

damson plums - canning

By the end of the season, I got a little overwhelmed with my damson plum trees (or whatever hybrid they are).  I have heaps of jam and syrup, and I even froze some.  But there was still a full 5-gallon bucket staring at me.

So I canned 'em.  I washed them, put them whole into the jars, filled with hot light syrup, and pressure canned for 10 minutes.  

Last night I popped the first one open.  I strained the juice and put the plums into a baking dish. I used my hand to feel around and remove all the pits.  Then I made the pudding cake I so liked with rhubarb (cutting back the sugar because they were canned in syrup).   

Delicious.  I think I'll drink up the rest of the juice mixed with seltzer water.  I'd cook it down to syrup but I"ve already got a fair amount of that. 

Next year I won't get many plums because we really hacked the trees all back, but they'll come back.

And I'll be ready. 

I went to a farmer's market recently where a man was selling some unrelated products but really just wanted to share the gospel of damson plums.  Nutritional powerhouses! We talked for ages about these plums.  He really likes his as fruit leather.  

How funny that I'd never even heard of these fruit as recently as three months ago, and now they're a real part of my life. 

calamondin marmalade

 I've been letting the calamondins on my tree stay on because they're pretty in a drearier season and in a prominent front yard spot, but today I was inspired to use them instead.  I first encountered this fruit when I lived in Oceania, and they were known by the local name "ging gong."  The juice is outstanding with fish - such as with sashimi, and also as a marinade.  Also outstanding as a beverage and I drank a lot of lemonade with it and with gin and tonics.  I was delighted to find out that they grow well here, so last year I put in a tree and it's already giving me a lot.  

So how about marmalade?  I've got everything on hand.

This recipe is across the internet in numerous places so not sure of an original source.

Ingredients (ratios):

• 4 cups calamondins, deseeded and thinly sliced (keeping all juice, pith, skin, etc.) - could use a food processor
  
• 3 cups water
• 4 cups sugar (or if lesser amount of fruit, make it match, and 3/4 c. water for 1 c. fruit)

Steps:

After processing fruit, put into a pan and add the water.  Bring to a rolling boil and keep it there for 15 minutes.  Remove pot from the heat and let it sit overnight.  

The next day, bring it back to a boil and very slowly add the sugar (can take 10 minutes).  Stir until it completely dissolves.  Bring temperature to 220 degrees.  

Prep (sterilize) jars and lids, and put marmalade into them.  No need to hot water bath.

pickled okra

 Years ago I made an amazing pickled okra but I apparently did not record the recipe. 

So here goes.

This is what I did today, and I can adjust accordingly.

Sterilize jars in boiling water bath.  Warm lids.  

Make brine:

- 2 cups white vinegar

- 2 cups filtered water

- 1 T. salt

Heat it up for salt to dissolve.

Clean okra and trim caps (but not all the way).

Into each jar (pint size or somewhat larger*):

- 1 tsp mustard seed (scant)

- 1 tsp dill seed (scant)

- 1 tsp peppercords (heaping)

- 1 garlic clove

Fill with okra, pour in the brine to 1/4".  Put on lids.

Process in hot water bath** for 10 minutes.

Let them brine for three weeks or so before opening.  Shelf stable though I refrigerate after opening.

*I reused some jars a neighbor gave me, probably about 24 oz, that had grape leaves in them and were nice and round.

**The jars were too tall so I processed on low in canner for 10 minutes. 

pickled jalapenos

 A neighbor gave me a bunch of jalapenos earlier this year, with which I made "cowboy candy."  I did not care for that at all, and I'll reserve them for being chopped into cornbread in the future.  So when my plant started producing heavily, I decided to go the more traditional pickled jalapenos route, and I'm very glad I did because these are great.

• jalapenos (I had about 3/4#)
• garlic cloves (about 2, sliced) 
• bay leaves, peppercorns
• water & white vinegar in equal amounts (I did about 1.5 cups of each)
• salt and sugar (about 1 T each)

Sterilize jars in water bath, heat lids.

Slice jalapenos and garlic.

Heat water, vinegar, salt, and sugar.  Bring to simmer.

Pack peppers and garlic into hot jars, add a bay leaf and peppercorns to each jar, pour brine over. 

PRocess water bath for 10 minutes. 

mulberries

 Got a bunch of mulberries and I'm having some fun.

Mulberry jam - I use Pomona pectin and their instructions because it always works great for me and it gives me a low-sugar option.

• 4 cups mashed mulberries
• 1/4 c. lemon juice
• 2 tsp. calcium water (needs to be made up from the powder in the pectin package)
• 2 tsp. pectin, in a separate bowl, added into
• 1 c. sugar
  

Mash fruits and add lemon juice, bring to boil, add calcium water, bring to full rolling boil.  Add the bowl of sugar/pectin and stir it in well for a couple of minutes and bring to full boil again.  Put up in sterile jars, water bath for 10 minutes.  

Mulberries for yogurt

I then took the rest of mulberries and heated them up again.  (Because I gathered them from a dirty tarp, I wanted them cleaned thoroughly and cooked.)  I added some honey then put in clean jars to refrigerate and add into yogurt or other such things. 

loquat jam

I have a beautiful loquat tree in my backyard.  Here in New Orleans they're called "misbeliefs" and they are also known as Japanese plums.  They're not something you'll buy in the supermarket because they don't travel or store well, but they are very tasty.  The dog and I have eaten countless loquats this year, as well as birds who like to come peck at them, and it just keeps producing.  So I grabbed a heap to make loquat jam and remembered that they are not fun to process.  Picking is easy, deseeding not so much.  I skinned probably about half or more because of marred skins, and I removed seed and tried to remove the dark part of the seed sack that goes to the hard blossom end part.  I kept a variety of ripenesses, from barely ripe to very ripe, for pectin and flavor differences.  Cut in half, I then put them with sugar overnight in the fridge.  Recipe below, taken from my own jamming knowledge and various websites.

Ingredients

• loquats - about 4.5 pounds prepared - seeds removed, etc.)
• sugar - about 1.5 pounds (a 3:1 ratio is what I'll try)
• lemon juice - 3.5 Tablespoons
• cardamom - 1/2 teaspoon (or more)
  

Directions

• Mix sugar into prepared loquats and allow to sit at least an hour.  Add lemon juice and cardamom.  Put into a large heavy bottomed pan.
• Prepare jars and lids at this time (sanitize, warm up, etc.).
• Gradually heat up the ingredients.  Bring to simmer until skins burst and juices start to boil.
  
• Increase heat to medium high and cook to a slow, thick boil (about 35 minutes or so). Stir often.
  
• Hot pack water bath process for 5 minutes.

Yield: about 6 jelly jars (half pints)

canning salmon

Notes so I remember next time. 

Last year I canned sockeye salmon because a friend's boyfriend had too much and so they shared, and it was FABULOUS.  I especially like the salmon patties I make with it.  Also of course I love it because it's free. 

Well, this year isn't free, but I found a source with coho.  He says it'll be great for canning because of all the good oil.  I'll give it a whirl. 

Last year I canned all pints (except a practice run with some past-prime pink fillets my friend's kid gave me; they were not great but dogs have enjoyed that).  This year I realized that half-pints would expand how often I use it.  It's a commitment to open a pint and have to eat it quickly, especially since the dog can't eat it (she gets stomach problems).  But a half pint I could make into a sandwich spread and eat for breakfast on toast.  Oh, yes.  So, I pulled out all the half pint jars and ... I need more.  It'll still be mostly pints. 

So, today I went and got the coho and it was such a delightful experience to chat with the fellow and learn. 

I got 20# with the heads on, gutted and bled.  That was 4 fish ($80 as it's $4/#).  I'll mark here when finished how many jars that makes.

I need a good fish knife.

It took me about 1.5 hours to process the fish - chop off the heads (save to make fish broth to can so that I can make salmon chowder in the deeps of winter, and then bokashi the fish heads since I can't just bury them outside), chop off the tail and fins (then chop to put into bokashi bin), cut into pieces.  I wash the fish off in cool water and scrape off easy scales, but I don't really scale the fish, and I don't remove bones or skin.  I don't usually eat the skin when canned, but it slides right off (MUCH less waste than trying to skin it raw).  The bones get soft and are crunchy, and a good source of calcium.

My canner (an electric Carey canner aka Nesco, that I use A LOT) only holds about 4 jars, but I think I can stack the half-pints on top of the pints, so I can do 4 pints and 3 half-pints per load.

Pressure can on high for 100 minutes. 

So I can do one load tonight and hopefully can finish tomorrow.  I have to let my canner cool down and rest between loads, but I'm guessing I'll be doing about 18 pints worth, so ... maybe 3 loads tomorrow?  I can start early since I just have to warm lids and fit it into jars and roll.  Then I'll make the fish broth and can that. 

Not bad.  Maybe two hours worth of work and $80 for 18 pints of fish and a few quarts of broth. 

If I'm still feeling chipper when all done processing, I'll ask him to try again for some sockeyes on his next run ($5/pound). 

I'm gonna need more jars!

canning milk

Edit:  standard procedure - into room temperature jars and tap water in canner, pour cold milk with significant headroom (just under 1").  Put into pressure canner to heat up, vent for 10 minutes, then turn off and let cool. (I put it in for 1 minute.)

***

 

 Now that I can't have much dairy, it can be hard to get through a container of milk before it goes bad.  But, I really like to keep it on-hand for baking and such.  And I'm a stickler for humanely raised dairy, etc. which is SUPER expensive so I like to stock up when on sale (which usually happens when it's about to go bad). I do now have a local source of goat milk, but it's ... goaty.  So will use sparingly.  (It made some nice chevre, but the yogurt didn't work.  Will try once more with yogurt.) 

When I was at the store recently I picked up two half-gallons of milk because they were buy one get one free and I thought I saw that they were both "sell by" in a month, so I thought I could make yogurt later (I do still make it, just much less than before).  But I got home and saw one is sell by this week.  And because it's ultrapasteurized as most milk is here, I knew it could last awhile, but ... I didn't want the waste of it turning.  And I could freeze, but my freezer is already full. 

So, I decided to can it.  USDA doesn't sanction this, but loads of people do it without ill effect.  Also, the milk is likely to spoil but not botulism, so I will be able to detect it's gone bad if it does. 

I canned 2% and apparently that's better than whole for quality sake.  I have an electric canner and I couldn't find directions for this, so out of an abundance of caution, I went with 10 minutes.

I used cold milk in room temperature jars; water in canner from tap.  I did about 1/2"-3/4" headspace and there was some overflow.  Put it in canner on high, set timer for 10 minutes, making sure good steam flow before closing vent.  

I used Tattler lids which are cheap because reusable, but also more prone to failure for me at least, so we'll see if there was full seal. The jars look good, not too much flowed out.  I did three pints and two jelly jars which look to be about 12 oz. each (more than half gallon, to use up the milk already on hand). 

I'll plan to use them up in the next few months and will report back here about quality.

salmonberry jelly

I used Pomona Pectin* for this salmonberry jelly, as it always works well. I picked about three gallons of fruit (approximately - it was about three Folgers containers full) and got about 5 cups of juice, with 5 jelly jars and a bit extra to taste.

After mashing and straining the salmonberries, the ratios are

For every 1 cup of juice:
-1 tsp calcium water mixed in
-1/4 c. sugar (because salmonberries are pretty milk flavored, I think honey - which I usually use with Pomona - would overpower their taste)
-1 tsp pectin mixed into sugar

Makes about 1 jelly jar per cup of juice.

Process:

I'm told freezing the berries works to get the most juice out, which makes sense.  Thaw and then I also heat it up a bit.  Mash with potato masher, put through strainer.  I don't care about having crystal clear jelly so I don't use cheesecloth to strain finely.

Measure the juice and add calcium water.  (Start the lids simmering and the jars sterilizing - you'll want them hot since the jelly will be hot.)

Measure the sugar in a bowl and add the pectin, mix it up.

Bring the juice and calcium water to a full boil. Then add the sugar-pectin and stir it vigorously 1-2 minutes and bring it back to a full boil. 

Fill jars, 1/4" headspace.  Wipe rims cle, screw on lins, Put jars into boiling water bath for 10 minutes.

Note that because this is low-sugar, once opened it won't last as long as high-sugar.  Should be used up within three weeks or so. 


*Note:  I always use Pomona Pectin.  I love that it doesn't require sugar, so I can use a little honey or anything else I want.  It has almost always set up for me (sometimes takes a couple of days), and the one time I thought it didn't I called their jamming hotline and the person had a long, super helpful conversation with me.  I love supporting the sort of company that does that - especially because the quality is so good and i can not use sugar.  Highly recommend!

canning sweet potatoes

It seems like every listing of how to can sweet potatoes involves cooking them first and using a sugary syrup.  I don't want to do either of those.  I just want to can what I can get inexpensively on sale when it's available.  I use it for the dog or I could use it as an ingredient.  Obviously I don't want botulism or any other issue, but cooking first seems silly.

So, I followed some information here and here, and came up with:

Chop sweet potatoes into chunks and put in jars; fill jar to bottom of rim with boiling water.  Process at 10 pounds of pressure for 65 minutes for pints.

canning beans

So, a month or two ago, I bought a small electric pressure canner (a Carey or Chard). It was on sale and I can't pressure can on my stovetop (it's flat-top and temperature doesn't stay constant, plus I already cracked it so can't stress it more).  I bought it for a few reasons, including that I can can many leftovers.  Make a big pot of red beans and rice?  Eat a bit and can the rest.  Meatloaf.  That sort of thing.  It's pretty great. 

But also, because I want to can beans.  Because I prefer glass to metal, and the quality of the beans that I can buy, and no salt.  I want to control my food, and it's considerably less expensive than buying canned. 

I cooked some white beans and canned them, and they turned to mush.  Black beans were somewhat better. 

But then I discovered: I can can uncooked beans!  I just rinse and sort them, then put about 1/2 cup in a pint jar and fill up with water (leaving appropriate headspace), and can for 75 minutes pints, 90 quarts.  (I do pints.  Though maybe if I were really into making hummus I'd do garbanzos in quarts.) 

So, for the garbanzos that my friend sent me when I'd requested soybeans - they are right now in the canner. 

I'm thrilled!  My top three beans are garbanzos, black beans, and white beans.  I'll keep a stash on hand for easy tossing into food. 

I use Tattler lids which are a bit more fussy than the "regular" Ball or Kerr lids, but they are reusable many times.  In the event a lid doesn't seal, I put the jar into the fridge to use up quickly, or the freezer for longer storage.  I rotate through canned goods pretty quickly, but I just didn't have the freezer space to keep storing broth and beans and so many other things like that.  So, I'm stoked!