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Fall/ Preserving Know-how/ Preserving Recipes

Fruit Butters: History, Methods and Uses

Fruit butters are creamy, slow cooked fruit pulp combined with sugar or cider that turns dark and thick due to caramelization. Think about what would happen to apple sauce if you cooked it long and slow for hours and then you will have a sense of apple butter. Many fruits can be used for butter like peaches, grapes, quince, or strawberries, but generally fruit butters are made with Fall fruit like apples, pears, or plums.

Fruit butters were believed to have been introduced to North America by the Pennsylvania Dutch who settled in Pennsylvania and Ontario as early as the 1600s. Despite the name, these folks were not Dutch but of German-speaking countries like Switzerland, Germany, and Belgium. References to fruit butter making are recorded in Canada and the US around the mid 1800s. In the early days, large copper pots were put over a fire beginning with cider which was cooked until it was reduced to a third of the volume. Then apples were added and slow cooked for 12-15 hours. It was a family affair, with each person taking a turn at stirring the pot with a large wooden paddle to prevent scorching.  The purpose of the enterprise, of course, was to preserve fruit for the winter season.

There are many modern recipes for fruit butter. According to Oregon State University extension, any amount of fruit can be used. The basic process is:

  1. Wash, peel, and core fruit. Chop.
  2. Place in Dutch oven or large heavy bottom pot and add water or cider to just cover fruit. Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer, and cook stirring frequently until the fruit is very soft. If desired, add spice to the cooking liquid like star anise, cinnamon, or cloves. For pear butter, you can use orange juice and zest as the cooking liquid instead of cider.
  3. Run the soft fruit through a food mill or fine sieve to obtain pulp.
  4. For each cup of pulp, add ½ cup of sugar.
  5. There are two options for cooking the pulp: One, is stove-top on low heat constantly stirring. The other is to cook the pulp in the oven at 275 degrees for about 3 hours stirring occasionally. Use a pan lined with parchment or foil.
  6. Check for doneness: The pulp will become dark and very creamy. Remove a teaspoon and put it on a cool plate. If no liquid appears around the edges of the pulp, it is done.
  7. The butters may be frozen but for long-term storage, process 250 ml jars in a water bath or steam canner for 10minutes adjusting for altitude. Rest for 5 minutes before removing from the canner.

Fruit butters are spreads that can be used like jam. They are also great as fillings between cake layers or sandwich cookies. For low-fat baked goods, use fruit butter to replace the fat in the recipe. As was historically the case, fruit butters provide an intensely flavoured spread, preserving autumn’s bounty for the winter months.

preservingwithmartha@gmail.com

www.thevalleypreservery.ca

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Fall/ Preserving Know-how

What’s Up Doc? Bugs Bunny Reporting on Carrots

The cartoon figure Bugs Bunny made famous the phrase “what’s up doc?”. The carrot-loving bunny lives on in the hearts and minds of many of us who watched this Saturday morning show. Carrots, of course, aren’t just popular with rabbits! Humans have been eating carrots for 2000 years. In Canada, the farmers of the Holland Marsh grow enough carrots to feed every Canadian 4 pounds per year. Carrots are tasty but also an excellent source of beta-carotene which the body converts to Vitamin A necessary for healthy skin and eyes. A fun fact: carrots were the first commercially canned vegetables.

Besides cold storage, carrots can be preserved by freezing, dehydrating, pickling and pressure canning. Here are some tips.

Varieties: For preserving, Nantes or coreless varieties are recommended. If you are harvesting your own, allow them to remain in the ground until the first frost to maximize their sweetness. If you are using multi-coloured carrots for pickling, avoid the dark red ones as their colour will weep into the brine causing the liquid to become brownish.

Freezing: Carrots freeze well. Blanch whole small carrots for 5 minutes or 2 minutes for sliced or diced. Cool quickly and pat dry. Package in containers with ½ headspace or in freezer bags. For freezing carrot soups, chill the soup. Freezer vessels may include Mason jars (1 inch headspace), freezer containers such as Bernardin’s, good quality freezer bags which may be flattened, frozen on a cookie sheet and stacked in the freezer. There are also cubes that can be purchased such as Soupercubes. The soup is frozen in rectangular or square cubes. They may be frozen as is or removed from the ‘cubes’, vacuum sealed and stacked in the freezer. Always label and date frozen foods. “First in, first out” is the way to keep inventory rotating for quality and safety.

Pickling: I have written before about my family’s passion for pickled carrots. I am partial to adding dill and coriander seeds but there are many recipes for pickled carrots. Use only those from authoritative sources like Ball, Canadian Living, or Bernardin to ensure sufficient acidification and adequate processing times.

Dehydrating: Drying carrots is easy, efficient, and makes for quick additions to soups, stews and braises. As carrots are dense, slice them thinly at 1/8 inch or dice finely. Blanching by simmering the carrots for 3 minutes is recommended. Once cool and dried, place them on the racks of your dehydrator. Set the temperature to 125 degrees F for 6 – 10 hours. Once they are crisp, cool and place in a jar. Check the jar daily for 5 days, shaking to see if there is any clumping or sticking. If the carrots remain crisp, store in an airtight container. Vacuum seal if you prefer. For excellent coverage of all things, dehydrated, see www.thepurposefulpantry.com  

Pressure Canning: Carrots are low in acid so they must be pressure canned. If you are pressure canning carrots, you will need about 8 pounds of carrots for 9, 500ml jars. Hot packing is recommended. This means simmering the sliced carrots for 2 minutes before packing into jars. For up-to-date information about pressure canning, refer to the National Centre for Home Food Preservation.

Thanks Bugs Bunny for drawing our attention to your favourite food!

PS: I recently made and froze a carrot and parsnip soup with thyme and cumin. It froze beautifully because it is made without cream. To view the recipe, check out my website.

preservingwithmartha@gmail.com

www.thevalleypreservery.ca

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Fall/ Preserving Know-how

No Root Cellar? No Problem!

This is the time of year to stock up on pesticide free root vegetables and fruit. Some of the lucky ones have root cellars designed specifically for preserving the harvest through winter. Others of us might not be as lucky. But there are alternatives to help preserve the bounty. Do you have a closet with an outside wall or a room where the baseboard heater can be turned off? Do you have a mudroom, porch, cellar, attic, shed or barn to use for storage? Do you have picnic coolers to insulate produce, garbage bins or food-grade plastic containers as preserving vessels? All of these are options to help retain the quality of fruit and vegetables.

The key to preserving the Fall harvest is understanding what fruits and vegetables need in terms of temperature, air circulation and moisture. Once you have that knowledge, many creative root cellar substitutes can be used.

Cold and Moist (0-4.5 degrees Celsius) with 90% humidity)

Beets, carrots, turnips, radishes .

Store in dampened sand or sawdust. Choose your container and moisten the sand or sawdust layering vegetables. Carrots go straight down into the sand.

Cold and Dry (0 – 4.5 C with 60 – 70% humidity)

Apples, pears, Brussel Sprouts, potatoes.

Store apples separately as they produce ethylene gas. Even in the refrigerator store apples away from other fruit and vegetables.

Potatoes need a dark environment to prevent the development of greening and related toxins. Note: Do not refrigerate potatoes as this will cause their starch to convert to sugar.

Cool and Dry (0 –10C and low humidity)

Onions, garlic, shallots.

Braid garlic and hang. Place onions or shallots in breathable mess bags or use a pantyhose leg tying a knot between each onion. Snip off the stocking below the knot to release the onion one at a time. For larger quantities, use a bushel basket, orchard rack or cardboard box with holes. Moisture is the enemy for onions, so they need lots of circulation.

On the Warmer Side and Dry (up to 15C and dry)

Pumpkins, squash, and sweet potatoes.

Many vegetables such as potatoes, pumpkins, squash, and onions benefit from a curing phase before storing. Allowing them to sit on a porch for 10 days when temperatures are moderate allows the skins to firm up and readies the vegetables for winter storage.

So, understand what your vegetables and fruit need – temperature, moisture, air circulation. Choose a location and a vessel. And remember that many root crops can stay in the earth until needed if they are well covered with stray or hay. In fact, vegetables like parsnips and carrots benefit from a frost. The chill sweetens the flavour!

Even without an official root cellar or cold room, it is possible to store vegetables and some fruit for many months during the winter. Even one container of beautiful potatoes kept in the garage or chilly room will bring plenty of great taste to a winter meal. It’s simple to preserve good, healthy food!

Preservingwithmartha@gmail.com

www.thevalleypreservery.ca

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Fall/ Preserving Recipes

Carrot and Parsnip Soup with Cumin & Thyme

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Carrot and Parsnip Soup with Cumin & Thyme

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This soup freezes very well. It is creamy but made without cream. The vinegar is important in this recipe to achieve balance as the root vegetables are sweet. This is a wonderful Fall or Winter soup.

Ingredients

  • 1 lb carrots, trimmed, peeled, and chopped
  • 1 lb parsnips, trimmed, peeled, and chopped
  • 2 litres vegetable broth
  • 2 TBSP olive oil
  • 1 large onion, peeled and diced
  • 1 clove garlic, grated using a micro plane or finely chopped
  • ¼ tsp hot chilli flakes
  • 1TBSP fresh thyme or 1 tsp dried
  • 1.5 tsp cumin
  • ¼ cup apple cider vinegar
  • Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

1

In a Dutch oven or heavy bottomed pot, heat olive oil over medium heat. Sauté onions stirring until translucent and soft, about 10 minutes. Stir in garlic and hot pepper flakes and stir one minute. Add the carrots, parsnips, and broth. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer until vegetables are soft – about 25 minutes. Stir in cumin and thyme. Add in vinegar and stir. Adjust seasoning by adding salt and fresh ground pepper.

2

To serve: Place the soup in a bowl. Add a dollop of sour cream, crème fraiche and a sprinkle of chopped fresh thyme

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Fall/ Preserving Recipes

Trending This Thanksgiving – Cranberry Apple Pear Relish

Cranberry Apple Pear Relish

Thanksgiving in Canada is said to have been inspired by Fist Nations people giving thanks to The Mother for crops, game and all the Earth provides. Modern Canadian Thanksgiving was first celebrated 43 years before American Thanksgiving according to historian Alison Nagy. In the late 1500’s and early 1600s, French settlers and Mi’kmaq held feasts of thanksgiving which is where the Mi’kmaq introduced the French to cranberries as “les petites rouges”. Since then, cranberries have played a central role in our holiday traditions.

Cranberry sauce and jelly have been around for decades, first being canned by Mr. Urann in 1912 under his company name “Ocean Spray Preserving Company”. Today Ocean Spray sells 70 million cans of cranberry sauce! Pretty amazing given how easy it is to make!

Last year I profiled a wonderful cranberry sauce recipe from Canadian Living which uses apple juice to help with the sweetness reducing the sugar. I love this recipe and will make again this year. Having cranberry sauce in the pantry is handy year-round. It’s great with turkey, chicken, vegetable casseroles, pot pies, sandwiches, and even mixed with mustard for a fondue dip. But what’s trending this year?

In the recent edition of Cook’s Illustrated magazine, they focused on cranberry relish as an alternative to traditional cranberry sauce. Their recipe used raw cranberries with oranges or clementines. For long-term storage, I found this flavourful recipe by Topp & Howard for cranberry, apple, and pear relish with a hint of orange. It is excellent.

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Cranberry Apple Pear Relish

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Serves: 5-6 250ml jars

This relish is a lovely compliment to turkey, but it is also good for glazing oven roasted carrots or parsnips. I’ve used it to top baked sweet potato rounds as an appetizer. Get trending this holiday and try cranberry relish instead of, or in addition to cranberry sauce!

Ingredients

  • 3 cups fresh or frozen cranberries
  • 3 apples, peeled, cored, and chopped
  • 2 pears, peeled, cored, and chopped
  • 1.5 cups golden raisins
  • 2 cups granulated sugar
  • 1 cup orange juice
  • 2 TBSP grated orange rind
  • 2 tsp cinnamon & ¼ tsp nutmeg
  • ½ orange liqueur (optional)

Instructions

1

In a Dutch oven, combine fruits, raisins, sugar, orange juice & rind, cinnamon, and nutmeg.

2

Bring to a boil.

3

Reduce heat and boil gently for about 25 – 30 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the mixture thickens.

4

Remove from heat and stir in liqueur if using.

5

Ladle into hot 250ml jars leaving a ½ headspace.

6

Remove air bubbles and adjust headspace.

7

Apply lids and rings to clean rims and tighten to “finger-tip” tight.

8

Process in a boiling water bath or atmospheric steam canner for 10 for 250ml jars and 15 minutes for 500ml jars, adjusting for altitude.

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Fall/ Preserving Recipes

All Mixed Up! Antipasto Pickles

Antipasto Pickles (Canadian Living)

The end of summer means the garden and vegetable stands are overflowing with produce! It is the perfect time of year to gather together those vegetables and get pickling. Mixed pickles are fabulous as an accompaniment or added to a salad in the winter months when veggies are expensive and of lower quality. Mixed pickles are my favorite. They are beautiful, useful, and always remind us during the dark days that the garden will again renew its colourful bounty.

I have made many recipes for mixed vegetables. Hot Mixed Pickles, Mustard Pickles, Jardiniere (Bernardin). The only Bernardin recipe I didn’t like was one for the “End of Garden” pickle. The flavour was fine but the use of brown sugar as a sweetener darkened the brine to a muddy brown colour which was visually unappealing. I have made countless batches of Topp & Howard’s “Winter Pickle”. What I particularly like about this recipe is they provide specific quantities of vegetables but, in a note, they say to use whatever vegetables you like if they are chopped evenly and measure 8 cups. That gives flexibility which is nice. This weekend I tried Canadian Living’s “Antipasto Pickle” and it is lovely. Quite delicate with the mixture of wine and vinegar steeped with a nice flavourful spice mix.

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Antipasto Pickles (Canadian Living)

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Serves: 6 - 500ml jars

Let’s get “mixed up” using the many recipes for mixed vegetables pickles. Whether you like them hot, sweet, unsweet or with a mustard base, all are wonderful additions to the winter pantry.

Ingredients

  • Spice Bag: In cheesecloth tie together:
  • 4 cloves smashed garlic
  • 3 bay leaves
  • 1 TBSP coriander seeds
  • 2 tsp fennel seeds
  • 1 tsp black peppercorns
  • Brine:
  • 2.5 cups white wine vinegar
  • 1.5 cups white wine
  • ¼ cup sugar
  • 4 tsp pickling salt and spice bag.
  • Vegetables:
  • 3 cups cauliflower florets
  • 3 cups peeled and diced eggplant
  • 2.5 cups green beans cut in 1-inch lengths
  • 2 cups chopped onions
  • 2 cups each green and red peppers
  • 1.5 cups chopped carrots
  • 1.5 cups chopped celery
  • 1.5 tsp oregano divided
  • 1 tsp hot pepper flakes divided

Instructions

1

Bring brine to a boil and simmer 5 minutes.

2

Add vegetables and return to the boil cooking 5 minutes to soften.

3

Remove spice bag.

4

In each hot jar, add ¼ tsp oregano and small pinch hot pepper flakes (optional).

5

With slotted spoon ladle vegetables into jars.

6

Use a chopstick or plastic knife to remove air.

7

Ladle brine into each jar leaving ½ inch headspace (Note: for clear brine, strain through a fine sieve before ladling,).

8

Remove bubbles.

9

Clean rims, affix lids and rings to finger-tip tight.

10

Process in a water bath or atmospheric steam canner for 10 minutes and rest for 5 minutes.

11

Transfer to cooling rack and leave undisturbed for 24 hours.

12

Check seals.

Notes

As always, use only recently developed recipes for canning including pickling (within 20 years). Old recipes do not generally have sufficient acidity to be considered safe. Remember the 50-50 rule: For pickling, brine ratios should be 50% vinegar to water. Finally, modern recipes are tested using 5% vinegar. There is no reason to purchase newly marketed “pickling vinegar”.

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Fall/ Preserving Know-how

The Grape Harvest

Nothing says approaching autumn more than grapes. We are so fortunate to live in an area where there are lots of wild grapes as well as other domesticated varieties like Concord and Coronation. Wild grapes can be found along riverbanks, beside ponds and growing up trees with their long tendrils. They are edible but eaten off the vine back a mean bitter punch, so they are best used for juicing rather than eating. Whether using foraged wild grapes or domesticated grapes, both are wonderful to preserve as juice or jelly.

Extracting juice: Steam juicers make quick work of extracting juice from fruits including grapes. But if you don’t have one, no problem. For a typical jelly batch, 3.5 lbs of grapes, washed and removed from stems will yield 10 cups of grapes. In a large pot, crush grapes with 1 cup of water and cook gently for 10 minutes. Pour the mash into a dampened jelly bag or cheesecloth lined sieve and allow the juice to naturally drip out (no squeezing!). In about 2 hours, you will have about 4 cups of juice. No interest in extracting your own juice? You can also buy it locally. Check with http://fiddleheadnursery.ca

Grapes are one of the few fruits (technically a berry) that has a natural abundance of tartaric acid. The acid binds with naturally occurring potassium forming crystals that sink to the bottom of the container. You might have seen this phenomenon in a glass of red wine. To ensure the juice you process is clear, it’s recommended that you extract the juice and let it sit refrigerated for at least 2 days. Pour the juice through a dampened jelly bag avoiding the last bits of the juice. Juice can be processed for long-term storage or frozen.

Grape jelly is the quintessential match for peanut butter in the iconic PB&J. The jelly is great with cheese or melted and used as a glaze on seared duck breast. It is also useful in baking like adding a dollop into a muffin mix before baking, topping a thumbprint cookie, or spreading over a genoise cake and rolled into a “Jelly Roll”.

The grape harvest is upon us. Gather up the family and forage along the riversides, collect grapes from friends or purchase them locally. Grapes are a gift of nature with endless possible uses.

Martha Rogers

www.thevalleypreservery.ca

Preservingwithmartha@gmail.com

 

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Grape Jelly

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Ingredients

  • 4 cups of grape juice
  • 1 package pectin crystals
  • 5 cups sugar

Instructions

1

Mix the pectin into the juice and bring to a hard boil. Add the sugar all at once. Bring back to boil and boil hard 1 minute. Ladle into hot 250ml Mason jars. For long-term storage, process the jars in a water-bath or steam canner for 10 minutes. Allow to rest 5 minutes before removing from the canner. For short-term storage, simply allow the jars to cool, label and store in the fridge for up to 3 months. This makes about 7 jars.

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Fall/ Preserving Recipes

Sage and Roasted Walnut Pesto

Sage and Roasted Walnut Pesto
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Sage and Roasted Walnut Pesto

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Ingredients

  • 1 cup sage leaves compressed
  • 2 cups parsley leaves compressed
  • 1 large or 2 small garlic cloves
  • ¾ cup olive oil
  • 1 cup chopped walnuts roasted until lightly browned
  • 2/3 cup grated parmesan
  • Salt & pepper to taste

Instructions

1

Roast walnuts in a 350 degree oven until brown. About 5 to 10 minutes.

2

In a food processor, with the engine running, drop the peeled garlic through the feed-tube until finely chopped. Put sage and parsley into the bowl and whiz it until it is fairly finely chopped. With the engine going drizzle in the olive oil. You may need to adjust the amount to achieve the texture you like.

3

Stir in the parmesan and chopped walnuts. Add salt and pepper to taste. Remember that the parmesan is salty so add salt after the cheese has been added.

4

Serve with penne or spirals (pasta that will hold the sauce), regular or gluten free. If you want, add fried sage leaves for a little extra pizzaz. I freeze this pesto in food grade plastic containers.

 

 

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Fall/ Preserving Know-how

Autumn Herb Bouquets

Herb Bouquet

The winds are blowing, the evenings are cool, and the end of season is in sight. But before the weather turns, it’s time to pick the final herb bouquets to dry, freeze and store for winter. Of course, using them fresh while they last is wonderful too!

Freezing:

Some herbs are better frozen than dried because the drying process reduces flavour. A typical freezing method is chopping herbs, adding a bit of water, and placing them in ice cube trays. They can be tossed into a soup, sauce, or pasta. I also chop herbs like mint and cilantro in amounts required for favorite recipes. One or two tablespoons of the herbs are placed in tiny mini paper bags I found at Michael’s. I freeze sage whole in wax paper as shown above and then placed in a small freezer bag. Since I love sage with squash and sweet potatoes, I will often freeze the cooked vegetables with sage and brown butter for use later in the season.

Drying:

I have a dehydrator, but I don’t bother with it for herbs. They dry well using less energy-consuming methods. For smaller quantities I put bunches in a paper bag with air holes created using a hole punch. Each bag is labelled and tied to my portable laundry rack. Pictured above are various herbs that will be used for home-made Herbes de Provence. For larger quantities such as those I use for teas (mint, lemon balm, lemon verbena, bergamot), I hang them on my main laundry room rack (until there’s no more room for my husband’s shirts!). Drying can also be done in the oven simply by placing herb leaves on a screen, perforated pizza disk or a cookie sheet. Turn on the oven light and leave the herbs to dry overnight. Small amounts can be dried quickly in the microwave. Thyme (my most used herb), basil, parsley, savoury, tarragon, lavender, oregano, marjoram, rosemary, bay laurel and chives are all suitable for drying. If you are drying herbs, thoroughly shake and dust them off but don’t rinse them. The water can contribute to mold growth.

Fresh:

Capturing the end of season herbs is every cook’s delight. Take pesto for example. Use up basil, parsley & chives in a traditional pestos. Get creative with a sage-parsley and toasted walnut pesto. Freeze the pesto. Quick fry sage as an accompaniment to a pre-dinner drink or atop of a sage-butter pasta. Use herbs for a stuffing for pork, poultry, peppers, or cabbage. For a casual dinner, whip up brown butter scrambled eggs with herbs and an end of season green salad. The sky’s the limit.

Overwintering:

Finally, it’s time to bring in the herbs indoors. I bring in parsley, sage, rosemary, thyme and bay laurel and put them in a west-facing window. As the sun diminishes, I add a small grow light on a timer to keep the herbs going until spring.

The blessings of the autumn herbs are wonderful. Dry them, freeze them, use them fresh or use them in preserves, and bring them in for the winter! Keep the faith until spring!

For more information:

Preservingwithmartha@gmail.com

For information: preservingwithmartha@gmail.com

 

 

 

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Fall/ Preserving Recipes

Foraging in the Neighborhood – Plum and Crab Apple Jam

Crab Apples

While on a recent walk into my village, I spied three grand crab apple trees positively laden with ruby red, blemish-free apples. When I got home, I emailed the owner of the house and asked if they had any excess apples I might pick. They said all the apples were excess since they didn’t do anything with them. Baskets in hand, and a promise to deliver some canned goods, I went down to collect the beauties. There’s nothing like foraging in your own neighborhood!

Crab apples (malus coronaria) are the only indigenous apples to North America. They are abundant, not sprayed, and are mostly free for the picking. Crab apples are high in Vitamin C and minerals. A great option to preserve for winter in many ways.

I made crab apple jelly (of course). The high pectin makes it easy to get a good set without adding commercial pectin. From the pulp I had after extracting the juice, I ran through a food mill which left a smooth rosy coloured puree to which I added a small amount of corn syrup and made crab apple fruit leathers using my dehydrator. Delicious snack. I also tried a pickled crab apple recipe which was a disaster. Despite pricking the apples all over, my apples burst during processing and ended up looking like a rough apple sauce! The taste was good but aesthetically unappealing. I also made a jam with plums which turned out to be quite nice. Tart from the crab apples but balanced from the addition of the plums. This recipe is from Canadians Topp & Howard.

For further information:

preservingwithmartha@gmail.com

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Plum and Crab Apple Jam

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Serves: 6 - 250ml jars

With crab apples still in abundance, try various approaches to preserving this fruit as a jam, jelly, pickle or leather. They can also be fermented and turned into crab apple cider. So flexible, so inexpensive, so good for you!

Instructions

1

3 cups quartered, unpeeled crab apples (washed) in 1.5 cups water plus one 4-inch cinnamon stick. Bring to a boil and simmer 10 minutes until soft. Remove the cinnamon stick. Press apples though a food mill or sieve to remove skins and solids.

2

To the puree in a Dutch oven, add 4 cups of sliced blue or purple plums. Add 5 cups of sugar and ¾ cup of red wine or grape juice. Bring to a rapid boil for 20 minutes stirring frequently. Check the gel. Remember both crab apples and plums are high in pectin so look for a loose set. It will firm up as the jam cools.

3

Ladle into hot 250ml jars and process in a water-bath or atmospheric steam canner for 10 minutes adjusting for altitude. Let rest 5 minutes before removing the jars.

 

 

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