Category Archives: preserve

oil and vinegar

05 Wednesday Oct 2011

Posted by in cook, garden, preserve

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Fresh herbs in the garden can be dried, frozen (most) or enjoyed immediately in recipes such as herb breads, herb butters, and pestos. You can also preserve the fresh flavors of summer herbs in oils and vinegars, which can then be added to salads, sauces, or used to flavor most cooked dishes, adding a lovely depth of flavor.

Herb Vinegar

1 sprig rosemary

2 large sage leaves

1 garlic clove, crushed

apple cider (to fill the bottle)

Combine all ingredients in bottle. Seal and keep for one month before use.

Tarragon Vinegar

5 sprigs tarragon

2 cloves garlic

White wine vinegar

Put both ingredients into bottle. Fill with white wine vinegar.  Seal and keep for one month before use.

Pizza Oil

2 garlic cloves, crushed

1 or 2 chili peppers

1 sprig rosemary

8 peppercorns

extra-virgin olive oil to fill the bottle

Place herbs and spices in clean bottle and fill with oil. Seal and allow flavors to blend for a week before use.

Olive oil is the very soul of a salad, and far beyond this, for it is one of the finest foods and medicines ever bestowed upon man [and woman]… A teaspoon a day, taken with vegetables in the course of the daily meals, will calm the troubles of many a storm-tossed digestion, and make the world a better place for the brief dwelling of man [and woman]. ~The Epicure’s Companion, E. Buyard, 1937

Pictured above: the raspberry vinegar that I made last month. All just waiting for labels now!

rosehip syrup

21 Wednesday Sep 2011

Posted by in cook, forage, preserve, wild berries

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The brandy added to this syrup makes it taste so good! A concentrated and potent syrup bursting with vitamin C. Add a few tablespoons to smoothies or add to a mug of hot water for tea. Mix with prepared black tea and chill for a fruity ice tea or mix with soda water for a rosehip Italian-style soda. Pour over top cakes or puddings, pancakes or waffles. Or simply take a spoonful as medicine when feeling under the weather.

5 cups rosehips

water to cover

honey, or natural sweetener of your choice

brandy

Put rosehips in a stainless steel or glass) pot. Add enough water to cover and bring to a boil. Then simmer on low heat for about an hour. Let cool then mash the rosehips well.

Stain the liquid through cheesecloth or jelly bag, pressing the juice through the bag.

Measure to see how much juice you have, then pour into a clean Stainless steel (or glass) pot. Bring to a boil and add sweetener. For every cup of juice add 1 cup of honey or sweetener of your choice. (Note: I only use half the recommended amount of sugar for a more tart syrup). Boil for a few minutes. Then pour into a large sterilized jar. Allow the syrup to cool before adding 1 teaspoon of brandy for every cup of syrup.

Refrigerate. Note: should keep from 6 months to a year in the refrigerator.

rosehip jelly (Rosa acicularis)

13 Tuesday Sep 2011

Posted by in cook, forage, preserve, wild berries

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This jelly is very high in vitamin C and has a wonderful tangy, hibiscus-like flavor. Serve on toast, pancakes, waffles, crepes or on top of a wheel of brie.

rosehip jelly

8 cups of rose hips

6 cups of water

4 cups of the prepared juice

1 box of certo

1/2 cup lemon juice (bottled or fresh)

5 cups of organic sugar (I only used 3 cups as I like my jelly tart in flavor)

Remove stems and wash rosehips. Put hips into a stainless steel pot (never use aluminum as this destroys the vitamin C) and add water. Boil for about 10 – 15 minutes, until the fruit is soft enough to crush. Crush and squeeze through jelly bag. Put prepared juice into stainless steel pot, add lemon juice and certo and bring to a boil. Add sugar and boil hard for 2 minutes. Remove from heat and pour into sterilized jars up to ¼ inch from the top and seal.

Enjoy!

highbush cranberry jelly & thumbprint cookies

31 Wednesday Aug 2011

Posted by in cook, cookies, forage, preserve, wild berries

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 wild highbush cranberry jelly

Clear, ruby-red, tart and delicious. Serve on toast, over ice cream or yogurt, or as a condiment with meat.

5 cups highbush cranberries

3 cups water

4-1/2 cups prepared juice

1- 2 oz package (57 g) or pectin crystals

4 cups sugar

3 tablespoons lemon juice, fresh or bottled

Put highbush cranberries and water in a large pot. Bring to a boil. As the berries begin to soften, mash or crush them gently. Boil for 10 minutes, then put berries into a jelly bag and strain overnight.

Measure juice, adding water if the liquid doesn’t add up to 4-1/2 cups. Put into a large pot and add the pectin. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Add sugar and lemon juice. Stir until sugar is dissolved. Then boil hard for 1 minute without stirring. Skim off foam. Pour liquid into hot sterilized jars to within ¼ inch from the top. Seal. Makes 6 half pints.

For more information on highbush cranberries (Viburnum edule), click here to see a previous post. Also, see my recipe for highbush cranberry compote.

thumbprint cookies

This recipe comes from my Betty Crocker Cookbook (40th Anniversary Edition).

Making thumbprint cookies is a fun and great tactile activity to do with kids. With this recipe, I can enjoy my home made jam and it also lets me use up the ground almonds that are a by-product of my home made almond milk.

¼ cup packed brown sugar

½ cup butter, softened

½ teaspoon vanilla

1 egg, separated

1 cup all-purpose flour

¼ teaspoon salt

1 cup finely chopped nuts (I use toasted ground almonds)

jelly

Heat oven to 350 degrees (F). Mix sugar, butter, vanilla and egg yolk. Stir in flour and salt until dough holds together. Shape into 1-inch balls.

Beat egg white slightly. Dip each ball into egg white. Roll in nuts. Place 1 inch apart on ungreased cookie sheet. Press thumb deeply in the center of each. Back about 10 minutes or until light brown. Cool. Fill thumbprints with jelly. (Note: in the picture I used highbush cranberry compote instead of the jelly. The gingery tart compote balanced the sweetness beautifully!). Yield: 2 dozen cookies.

Why not have a ‘jam tasting’? Make a batch of these cookies and use an assortment of your favorite jams and jellies and fruit butters to fill them. A yummy and colorful addition to your Christmas cookie platters.

Resource:

Zeman, A.M. (1991). Betty Crocker Cookbook: 40th Anniversary Edition. Prentice Hall:New York.

savory gooseberry jam with bay leaf & raspberry vinegar

18 Thursday Aug 2011

Posted by in cook, forage, oil & vinegar, preserve, wild berries

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A tart and savory gooseberry jam to serve with lamb, roast turkey, pork or wild game pie.

I had more gooseberries to work with today and decided to adapt the previous recipe to make a tart and savory jam for meat dishes. The gooseberries growing near the garden have ripened to a lovely ruby red color. I wonder if they are domestic gooseberries, as the wild bushes on the trail have ripened to a deep purple color?

I mixed the red gooseberries together with the wild gooseberries from the trail and made the jam.

Savory Gooseberry Jam with Bay Leaf

1 cup water

3 cups sugar (I only used 1-1/2 cup of organic sugar for more tartness)

4 cups gooseberries

6 small whole bay leaves, fresh or dried

Heat the water on the stove. Mix the sugar in until it is dissolves and add the bay leaves. Allow the mixture to boil down for about 10 minutes.

Add the berries and allow to boil, stirring frequently, for 20 minutes, or until mixture has thickened. Skim off the foam if needed. Remove the bay leaves and place one bay leaf into the bottom of each sterilized jar. Pour jam into jars to within 1/4 inch from the top of the jar. Mix the jar around with a chopstick or small spoon to release any air trapped under the bay leaf. Seal. Makes 6 half pints.

I also made another batch of raspberry jam, started a jar of raspberry vinegar and froze more raspberries for winter smoothies and sauces.

Raspberry Vinegar

1 cup raspberries

500 mL white wine vinegar

Place raspberries in jar and crush them with a wooden spoon. Pour in the vinegar and seal. Keep on your counter for 1-3 weeks (longer for a stronger vinegar). Strain and pour into a decorative bottle.

Note: I poured a whole new bottle of white wine vinegar into the jar. Then I washed the label off of the bottle (it’s a pretty bottle) and will use it to store the raspberry vinegar when it is done with a new cabinorganic label. Speaking of labels, come back tomorrow and I will show you how I make mine.

Below, raspberries for freezing.

I just had to end with this shot of Lucy, taken today. She has a ‘hot spot’ on her leg which is really itchy. To keep her from licking off the medicine, I have made her wear a shirt for the past three days. Today’s shirt matches the berries. My neighbor L, just dropped off an Elizabethan collar for her and I will use it tonight. Good night, everyone!

raspberry jam, gooseberry jam & apricot butter

04 Thursday Aug 2011

Posted by in cook, forage, preserve, wild berries

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I spent another two hours picking wild berries this morning and I also had two large bowls of raspberries picked from a friend’s yard the evening before. I decided to spend the day preserving the harvest.

First, I froze some of the raspberries, laying them out on a cookie sheet and putting them in the freezer. Then, I bagged the hard frozen berries in a ziplock freezer bag. Freezing them this way makes for easier handling, keeping the berries from getting squished and freezing together in one large lump. Then, I repeated the process with saskatoon berries, black currants and red currants, placing them in separate freezer bags.

Next, I made a triple batch of raspberry jam, using Jean Pare’s recipe from her Company’s Coming ‘Preserves‘ cookbook. Here is the recipe I used:

Raspberry Jam

4 cups raspberries, packed

3 cups sugar (or your preferred natural sweetener)

1 tablespoon lemon juice, fresh or bottled

Place raspberries in a large pot. Cover with sugar and stir. Let stand on counter for about 1 to 2 hours until berries release their juice.

Add lemon juice. Heat on low, stirring occasionally, until the mixture begins to bubble. Simmer slowly, stirring until the sugar dissolves. Increase heat to high and bring to a rolling boil. Boil hard for about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally until it thickens. Test a little on a chilled saucer to see if it is the thickness of jam. Pour into hot sterilized jars with within 1/4 inch of the top. Seal. Make 2 half pints and 1 small jar.

Then, I made a half batch of wild gooseberry jam. It took a little time prepping the berries as I first had to remove the stems and tails from each one. Here is Jean Pare’s recipe:

Gooseberry Jam

4 cups sugar (or natural sweetener of your choice)

1 cup water

2 lbs. (about 4 cups) gooseberries, tipped and stemmed

Combine sugar and water in a large pot. Heat and stir on medium-high heat until sugar dissolves. Bring to a boil.  Boil, uncovered, for 15 minutes, stirring occassionally.

Add gooseberries. Return to a boil. Boil for about 30 minutes until a small amount cools and sets on a chilled saucer. Skim off foam if needed. Pour into hot sterilized jars to within 1/4 inch of top. Seal. makes 4 half pints.

I had never tasted gooseberry jam before and was very pleased with the tart fruitiness of this jam. I only have 1 jar so this will sit on the pantry shelf like treasure until the darkest days of winter when we can taste some summer sunshine on our breakfast crepes.

While I am here and sharing preserving recipes, I will also share the recipe I use for apricot butter, also from Jean Pare’s cookbook. I just made this butter just a few weeks ago but will need to make more.

Apricot Butter

3 lbs. (5 cups)  pitted organic apricots

1-3/4 cup sugar (or natural sweetener of your choice)

1 tablespoon lemon juice, fresh or bottled

1/4 teaspoon almond flavoring (optional)

Remove pits from apricots. Grind or mash the ripe apricots. Combine the pulp with the sugar, lemon juice and flavoring in a large saucepan. Bring to a boil on medium heat, stirring often, for about 1 hour 15 minutes until thickened. A spoonful cooled on a chilled saucer should remain smooth with no watery sign. Fill hot sterilized jars to within 1/4 inch of the top. Seal. Makes 2 half pints and 1 small jar.

Happy canning everyone! Can you believe that it’s August already???

Swamp Red Currant Jelly

29 Friday Jul 2011

Posted by in cook, forage, preserve, wild berries

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I decided to use the strained juice to make a teeny tiny batch of jelly. I was thinking of the Potted Saffron Brioche I plan on making for breakfast tomorrow morning and thought how wonderful it would be to have a tart little dollop of wild red currant jelly to go with it. My 2 cups of fresh Swamp Red Currants only yielded 1/4 cup of strained juice. As you can see, it wasn’t quite enough jelly to fill this little jar, but it will be just enough to spread on a few brioche tomorrow morning!

Swamp Red Currant Jelly

8 cups wild red currants

2 cups water

4 cups of the prepared juice (after straining)

3-1/2 cups organic sugar (or whatever sweetener you prefer to use) Note: I only use half the amount of sweetener as we don’t like things to be too sweet.

Juice of 1 lemon

Combine the currants and the water in a pot. Gently crush or mash the currents to a pulp. Bring to a boil over medium heat and allow the mixture to boil for 15 minutes while stirring gently. Drain in a jelly bag for 3-4 hours or overnight.

Place the drained juice in a pot. Bring to a boil on medium heat and boil rapidly for 5 minutes.

Stir in your sweetener and the lemon juice. Boil hard for 10 minutes, stirring a few times. Test for the jelly stage. Pour into hot sterilized jars to within 1/4 inch to the top. Seal. Yield: 3 half pints.