Preserving Classes - Why take one?

For some reason, people don't very often give me preserves. I guess they think that because I have shelves filled with preserves in my basement that there is no point. But on Thursday of last week I received a lovely bag of preserves from my friend Cheryl. In fact, I never would have met Cheryl if it hadn't been for preserves. She came up to my table at my very first farmer's market last summer and then she attended a couple of my preserving classes last summer. The rest is history.

Last Thursday, Cheryl joined me on a little trip to Tap Phong so that I could ogle expensive kitchen equipment I hope to one day own. On our little adventure together, Cheryl shared 4 lovely jars of jam with me that she had made. An organic strawberry jam that I sampled this morning on toast for breakfast. It was jam packed full of organic strawberries and tasted fresh and not overly sweet. Amazing. I am savouring the ramaining 3 jams; strawberry basil, rhubarb vanilla and strawberry rhubarb.

But the other gift that Cheryl gave me was one I don't even think she realized she gave me. We were winding our way up and down the aisles at Tap Phong and casually, over her shoulder she said 'You know, until I took your classes, preserving wasn't really that interesting to me. You changed all that' and then she proceeded to tell me how she has a pickle recipe she is dying to try out.

'Yes, yes, yes', I screamed inside my mind. That is EXACTLY why I love teaching my classes. My goal is to convert as many people into canners and preservers as possible. To show them how much fun it can be, how wonderful it is to have a pantry full of summer awaiting you all year round and to make jams, jellies or pickles that taste of the fruit or vegetable inside the jar and not of preservatives.

And check this out...Cheryl got busy once again today. Wonder if she will share?

Top reasons for why your jars may have lost liquid during the hot water bath

Ever spend an afternoon or even a couple of hours pickling or preserving something tasty only to be disappointed when you pull the jars out of the water bath canner and see that the liquid level has dropped significantly? When this happens you are often left scratching your head and wondering what went wrong and wondering if it is still safe to eat.

The top reasons for this occuring (in no particular order) are:

• Overpacking your jars. I know we want each jar filled with as much goodness as possible, but it is possible to overpack your jars
• Ensure that after you have filled the jars with brine that you take the time to release air bubbles before sealing the jars
• Accurately measure the head space provided in the recipe. Over filling the jars can cause them to overflow in the hot water bath
• If using the raw pack method ensure the brine or liquid you are adding is still HOT when added to the jars
• Starchy foods tend to absorb more liquid. So make a note to use more liquid when pickling these types of items
• Don't over or under tighter the band on the jars. Over tightening can cause too much pressure to build up inside of the jar as air attempts to escape and under tightening can allow the lid with the sealing compound to float up off the jar in the water bath.
• Ensure that you cover the jars with at least an inch of water during the water bath

Is it still safe to eat?

All is not lost. I wouldn't suggest putting these jars in your pantry and planning on storing them for months. However, if the liquid loss is not significant and if your jars have all sealed properly keep an eye on the jars and eat them up quicker than you originally planned.

July's FoodiePages chef box contains Manning Canning goodness

Chef Sebastien Houle from Restaurant sEb l’artisan culinaire in Mont-Tremblant, Quebec and FoodiePages.ca collaborate on a summer lunch or light dinner.

FoodiePages.ca, the online marketplace where you can buy Manning Canning products and have them delivered to your front door, continues its collaboration with top Canadian chefs and award winning cookbook authors. Its July Chef’s Box is curated by Chef Sebastien Houle from Restaurant sEb l’artisan culinaire (Mont-Tremblant, Quebec) and has everything you need to make a delicious summer meal – including Manning Canning Angry Pickled Garlic.  Recipes and these ingredients are delivered right to your door!

Gluten Free Pizza Crust Mix from Full of Beans (Bornholm ON) – Kim learned to make gluten free dishes to alleviate the health problems of one of her children.  Today, she`s turned this into an award-winning business.  Her whole romano bean flour is recognized by the Celiac Association as a substitute for wheat.

Pickled Ox-Eye Daisy Capers from Gourmet Sauvage (Saint-Faustin-Lac-Carré QC) – Gérald trains and leads groups to recognize and forage wild edibles, making sure to never threaten the plant population.  The pickings are cooked slowly in small batches to retain their natural flavours.  Ox-eye daisy capers are mild and spicy, and can be used just like a regular caper – with smoked salmon, on a tomato salad, in sauces etc.

 Angry Pickled Garlic from Manning Canning (Toronto ON) – Christine makes each jar by hand, and takes special care in the selection of ingredients right through to the execution of her imaginative recipes.  This pickled garlic is great in a spaghetti sauce or on a charcuterie board.

Cointreau Liqueur Flavoured Honey from Heavenly Honey (Blackburn Hamlet ON) – Bill makes this from traditional Country Garden Honey flavoured with Cointreau, just one of his many popular liqueur-flavoured specialties.  Bill has been making honey with his bees for over 20 years, and never stops innovating!

Mini Motza Mozzarella Kit from Make Cheese (Calgary AB) – Ella interned as a cheesemaker, visiting and working on 25 farms.  She learned about nature, animals, people, and most of all, making cheese.  Now you can `make cheese` too!  You can make 8 batches of mozzarella with this kit!  Each batch takes about 30 minutes!

Chef Houle spent several years as head chef  on some of the world’s largest yachts, including Tatoosh, the 303 foot private yacht owned by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen.  In 2005 he returned to Quebec and opened Restaurant sEb l’artisan culinaire.  His inventive cuisine is inspired by his many voyages throughout the world, while using the very best local products in the Laurentians and throughout Quebec.  Locals and celebrities alike come here to appreciate extraordinary cuisine in a congenial atmosphere.

CHEF’S BOX subscriptions are available online at FoodiePages.ca. The Chef’s Box is $55 per month (either as a single month or a recurring order billed monthly), $150 for a 3-month subscription or $270 for a 6-month subscription.  Each CHEF’S BOX is curated by a top Canadian Chef and contains their favourite foods and recipes, delivered to your door monthly. 

Mint Lime Lemonade

It has been a couple of hot and humid days here in Toronto and working in a commercial kitchen tends to be pretty thirsty work. Yesterday the temperature soared into the 30's and I started my shift in the commercial kitchen at 8am. At any one given time there were a minimum of 5 burners on the go and of course the AC in the building was on the fritz...so you can only imagine how hot it got.

And what did I forget to do? You guessed it, I forgot to drink water and stay hydrated.

It only gets worse from here. After I wrapped up in the kitchen, I went home and unloaded approximately 120 jars of pickled cauliflower, unpacked all the tools I needed in the kitchen and repacked and reloaded the car for the evening's preserving class. It would be another 3 hours in a kitchen over a stove and once again the AC was on the fritz and once again, I forgot to drink water and stay hydrated.

So all day long today I have been thinking about a cool, refreshing drink.

On today's kitchen agenda is mint jelly, which I am making special order for a local butcher shop and while chopping the mint I was consumed with the thought of a mojito but lacked the ingredients to whip one together.

Looking around the kitchen I found lemons and limes, sugar and honey and of course mint. I came up with this and at this very moment I am sitting on my front porch with that cool, refreshing drink I have spent the better part of the day fantasizing about.

Mint Lime Lemonade

Ingredients

7 cups water

2 cups sugar

1 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice

1 cup fresh squeezed lime juice

1 tbsp honey

1/2 cup mint, chopped

In a small pot combine 2 cups of water and 2 cups of sugar and over medium heat while stirring on a regular basis until the sugar dissolves, bring to a boil. Turn off the heat and allow the sugar mixture to cool.

Squeeze your lemons and limes and put the 2 cups of lemon/lime juice into a large pitcher. Add 2 cups of the sugar syrup, the remaining 5 cups of water, 1 tbsp of honey and the 1/2 cup of chopped mint.

If you have the luxury of time or perhaps more patience than I, place in the fridge and allow to cool. If like me, you want to drink this the moment it is made, add handfuls of ice, pour and enjoy!

During the monotony

Straw cattle shed on my grandparents farm

When you finally determine efficiencies in your process and begin to produce hundreds of jars of pickles or jams on a daily basis, there are some good things that come with that and then there are some bad or shall I say 'less good' things.

The good things are obvious, such as being able to sell to more stores, be part of more farmer's markets, etc. The 'less good' are things like - you wake up after a busy week in the commercial kitchen and find yourself staring at 1,000 jars that need to be labelled. Hopefully one day I will look back on this post with a warm fuzziness and find myself laughing at how time intensive the process used to be now that I own a labeller and it is all done more or less automatically. But for now, I sit and swear and feel my mind turn to mush as I label jar after jar after jar.

To break up the monotony of this task I will do things like watch tv, get up after every 2-3 cases and get some water, make a tea, read one of my favourite blogs to see what other people have been up to, annoy my dog Betty Boo, call someone, etc. But more and more often in this moments I find myself turning to my gran's journal.

On this day in the years 1937-1942 here is what she found herself doing.

June 20, 1938

So very hot and sultry. Smoke all the way from Peave River. Worst fire in history of the province ravaging North Country. Over to Grandma's in the afternoon. Roy works at shop.

June 20, 1939

Bright sunshine. So under the weather. Roy had to mix bread. 13 little chicks from pig pen. Roy thrown from plow in afternoon comes in sore and stiff. Can 6 qts of rhubarb jam.

June 20, 1940

Cold and windy. Reseeding peas. Roy tilling summer fallow. Cultivate garden in evening. Some things reviving so rows to follow. Beans, tomatoes and cucumbers quite gone. Ray wieghts 17.5lbs

June 20, 1941

Cold and cloudy, strong wind. Light frost this morning. Roy ploughing about sick with cold. Carol and I pick nice lot of strawberries. Children to Rosyth to play ball. Win for once.

June 20, 1942

Rain stopped. Rosemary at school. Garden gorwing fast but so many weeds. Cut out shirts for Kenny. Misfit somehow, must make alterations. Leo walking around in crib.

Now Available at Grilltime Gourmet Meat Shop

Perhaps one day as the business grows, my excitement will fade when a new store begins to carry Manning Canning products but somehow I doubt it. I literally just dropped off my first order to Grilltime Gourmet Meat Shop at 62 Laird Drive.

I was introduced to Andy (owner) through Peter Visima (so thank you Peter) and I remember the first time I walked through the door's at Grilltime I was overwhelmed by all of the delicious smells coming off their grill. Andy's big smile and warm welcome made me feel more like I was in his home than in his meat shop and we chatted like we were long time friends.

Here's hoping his customers enjoy my Spicy Zucchini Relish, Angry Pickled Garlic, Onion and Garlic Jam and Spicy Pickled Celery as much as the customers at both Withrow and Appletree Farmer's Markets have. The quicker they sell, the sooner I can be back in the commercial kitchen with Jack and Jill (my new steam kettle friends).

Spicy Red Pepper Jelly and Pickled Roasted Red Peppers

Now that I am one of the fortunate few who has access to some fairly large steam kettles, I am in the process of batching up some of my most favourite recipes. A side effect of this process is that I sometimes over estimate how much produce will be required in the commercial kitchen. When this happens, I am left with excess produce that I simply can not allow to go to waste. This is why I was left with a bushel of red peppers and why today instead of just sitting around on my caboose I was futzing around in the kitchen.

I decided to try two completely different things. The first a spicy red pepper jelly. I always get asked at the market if I have red pepper jelly and my answer is always 'Yes I do...I just don't have any here". The second is a recipe that I read several months ago and have always wanted to adjust slightly and try...Pickled Roasted Red Peppers.

I will share the jelly recipe now because it is tried and tested...the roasted red peppers you will have to wait a couple of weeks so that I can taste them once they have sat in the brine for a while.

 

Spicy Red Pepper Jelly (Yield: approximately 4-5 – 250ml jars)

Ingredients

• 1 cup finely diced sweet red peppers
• 1 tbsp minced hot red peppers
• 3 cups granulated sugar
• 3/4 cup cider vinegar
• 1/4 tsp hot pepper sauce
• 1 pouch (85 ml) liquid pectin

In large saucepan, bring red and hot peppers, sugar, hot pepper sauce and vinegar to full rolling boil over medium-high heat, stirring constantly. Boil for 5 minutes.

Stir in liquid pectin and stir constantly. Return to a rolling boil and remain at a boil for 1 minute. Remove from heat and skim off foam. Allow to cool for 5 minutes stirring occasionally before filling jars. Using funnel and measure, fill jars, leaving 1/4-inch (5 mm) headspace. If necessary, wipe rims with damp paper towel. Centre lids on jars; screw on bands fingertip tight.

Process jars in a boiling water bath canner for 10 minutes.

When time is up, remove jars from pot and let them cool on a kitchen towel. When jars are cool enough to handle, remove rings and test seals. Place any unsealed jars in the refrigerator and use promptly. All sealed jars can be stored in a cool, dark place for up to 1 year.

Boozy Preserving Class

What could possibly be better than the combination of fresh local raspberries and Prosecco in a beautifully clear jelly? Perhaps Rhubarb Brandy Vanilla Jam is the answer? You get to decide in this preserving class because we are going to make them both. We will discuss the differences between jams and jellies and create some delicious adult preserves.

Join me on Monday, June24th at 6:30pm and I will teach you how to incorporate alcohol into jams and jelly recipes. You will walk out of this class with the basic understanding of jar sterilization, safe canning practices and important do’s and don’ts of canning and preserving. You will also get a copy of both recipes to take home and at least 1 jar of jam each.

$40 +HST

Reserve Now by Credit Card or PayPal
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Learn more about Workshops at The Depanneur
http://thedepanneur.ca/workshops/

June 8th, 1938 - 1942

I can only describe the last 10 days as crazy busy. Between commercial kitchen days, farmer's markets, days spent weeding in the garden and just simply catching up on paperwork I am not sure which way is up. That is why I chose to ground myself with a ponder through my gran's journal. No matter how busy I feel I am, her journal always makes me feel somewhat lazy and appreciate how great I have it.

June 8, 1938

Clear and bright in morning Cloudy, windy and dust storm in the afternoon. Children play ball regardless. Win against Battle Ridge. Drive to Grandmas. Bleeding heart broken by wind.

June 8, 1939

Cloudy this morning, still cold but no frost. Search everywhere for purse containing money for order. Afraid Dennis (NOTE THAT DENNIS IS MY DAD ;)) must have carried it about. Heavy downpour in afternoon. Roy and children soaked. Phone, tomorrow sports off. Mr Stocks borrows horse to ride to C. Manning. Charlie to Delane for horse in evening.

June 8, 1940

Raining, but steady and warm. Make dress for Rosemary and Carol. Fix Jeanne's coat. Plans for picnic off. Roy fixes brakes in car. Plans to attend Czar track meet are off

June 8, 1941

Sun. Mice day. Roy and children off to mass. I stay with the little ones, get dinner. Plan for camp 7th. Rita, Jeanne and Kenny bring in crow feet. Young crows leaving nest. Cloudy at night. Hope for rain.

June 8, 1942

First exam. Health. Not too bad. Mrs Abrassart died at noon. Donations toward wreath. Canned 6 qts rhubarb. Ike brought oats.

Her last entry made me smile about the rhubarb. Today at the farmer's market I sold out of my Rhubarb Vanilla Jam and the Rhubarb Brandy Vanilla Jam. Perhaps I was channeling her today;)

Rhubarb Brandy Vanilla Jam

I know it sounds like a mouth full, but trust me your taste buds will be dancing when you taste it. This rhubarb brandy vanilla jam is not only great on toast or pancakes, it is wonderful on all types of cheeses, stirred into yogourt or poured over top of vanilla ice cream.

I met Todd Chambers, owner of Really Horrible Enterprises this past weekend at a The Great Canadian Cheese Festival and I was drawn to his booth by the alluring smell of vanilla that seemed to permeate the air around it.

I use vanilla beans a lot in my preserving and am always looking for fresh beans that don't come in the glass little test tubes from major grocery stores. Well Todd did not disappoint. But in addition to some wonderful fresh vanilla, Todd also had some flavoured Vanilla extract that got my creative juices flowing. I picked up a bottle of this and as you can see in less than a week, I have already used 1/3 of it.

Rhubarb Brandy Vanilla Jam

Ingredients

• 8 cups of chopped rhubarb
• 4 cups sugar
• 1 cup earl grey tea
• 1 lemon, zested and juiced
• 3 tsp brandy vanilla
• 1 packet liquid pectin (3oz)

Preparation:

Sterilize jars and warm lids.

In an 8-quart, non-reactive pot over medium heat stir the rhubarb, sugar and tea together and bring to a boil stirring regularly.

Add the lemon juice/zest and brandy vanilla to the pot and let it bubble gently for approximately 10-15 minutes. As the jam cooks, use the back of a spoon to mash any large pieces of rhubarb.

Add the liquid pectin, stir to combine and bring back to a boil and let boil for 1 minute and then remove from the heat.

Add a little more lemon juice if you feel it needs additional brightening.

Fill your pre-sterilized jars, leaving 1/4" headspace. Wipe rim of the jars with a clean damp cloth and place lids and hand tighten rings. Process jars in gently boiling water for 10 minutes.

Yield approximately: 4 – 250ml jars.