Preserving Recipes

Around 500 AD, chutney was created in India. Its name comes from the Hindi word “chatni” meaning lick. Early chutney was made from fresh ingredients using a mortar and pestle, in a similar way we would make basil pesto. As preserving methods evolved, in the 17^th century the East India Company was exporting chutney to Portugal, England and beyond. Like any great food idea, chutney found its way around the world being customized by the cultures of various global communities.

Today, fresh chutney is prepared as a condiment frequently served with samosas. Preserved chutney is characterized by slow cooking of fruits, vegetables, spices, vinegar, and sugar. Chutney can be mild or highly spiced. It is excellent with curry, beside meats or even as a spread on a sandwich. The aroma of chutney cooking is amazing. Recently I made a tomato-apple chutney which sounds odd, but it was a wonderful combination of fruit with a sweet spicy and mild taste profile (Canadian Living). Today I made an apple chutney with loads of spice and quite a lot of heat. From fresh to preserved, chutney is an excellent condiment to accompany many foods.

Fresh Mint and Cilantro Chutney (Recipe below)

Please click to view Apple Chutney with Raisins and Ginger Recipe (adapted from Canadian Living) 

Three cheers to chutney – fresh, sweet, spicy, mild or hot!

Preservingwithmartha@gmail.com

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Fresh Mint and Cilantro Chutney

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Ingredients

• 2 cups cilantro 1 cup mint
• ½ roasted poblano or serrano pepper chopped
• 1TBSP roasted and chopped cashews or peanuts
• 1 TBSP lemon juice
• 1 tsp grated ginger
• Salt to taste
• Note: If too thick, add up to ¼ cup water

Instructions

1

Put all ingredients into a food processor and process until a pesto-like consistency. Refrigerate and/or freeze.

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

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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.

In my view all the best fruits arrive in Fall. Plums are one of them. I frequent Oaklane Orchards in the Town of Blue Mountains for Fall fruit including plums. They grow three varieties: Damson, Mount Royal and Italian. Each variety has a unique flavour profile and different uses. I like the Italian variety for baking such as in plum tarts or cakes. Mount Royal are sweetish and are very nice for canning or eating. And then, the great Damson plums!

Damson plums are a beautiful purple with green inside. They are quite tart but are amazing for jams due to the sweet-tart profile and very high pectin levels. As their name suggests, they originated in the Damascus, were exported to England by the Romans, and then introduced to North America. The plums were used for cooking and preserving but also for dyeing (take note) and to produce alcohol. Damson plums are very hard to find. They are not commercially grown in large quantities. So, when you find a source, grab the opportunity!

I’ve recently made plum and crab-apple jam (delicious), plum jam with Grand Marnier, straight-up plum, and Damson plum for those who love the tartness of this jam.

How about a quick scone, thick slice of sour dough bread, or toasted English muffin with butter and a tart Damson plum jam? It is a treat to have this jam on hand.

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Damson Plum Jam

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Serves: About 6 - 250ml jars

Note: Wear gloves. These plums weren’t used for dyeing for no reason!!!

Ingredients

• 5 cups chopped, washed, pitted plums (about 2.5 lbs)
• ¾ cup water
• 3 cups sugar (add a bit more if you like it sweeter)

Instructions

1

Add the plums and water to a large saucepan or Dutch oven and bring to a boil stirring often.

2

Simmer the fruit for 5 minutes.

3

Then add sugar and stir until it is dissolved.

4

Bring to a boil and cook until it reaches the gel point at about 218 degrees on a candy thermometer. Or watch the jam closely and it will start to thicken, and the foam will subside indicating the gel point is near.

5

Take a spoon from the freezer and test the set – the jam will sheet the spoon. Because of high pectin levels, this jam sets quickly.

6

Check at 15 minutes and go from there.

7

Once set, ladle into hot 250 ml jars leaving a ¼ inch headspace.

8

Clean rims. Affix lids and rings to finger-tip tight.

9

Process in a water bath or steam canner for 10 minutes adjusting for altitude. Let rest five minutes.

10

Remove from canner to heat-proof surface and cool completely.

11

Check seals, label, and store.

Previously I wrote about my favorite cranberry sauce, a recipe from Canadian Living. It is excellent using apple juice as the cooking liquid and spicing up the liquid to impart the sauce with a wonderful rich spicy-orange flavour. Whether you use this recipe to can cranberry sauce for the year, or you are making a single recipe for this Thanksgiving dinner, the principle of spicing things up can apply either way.

It is always necessary to use a liquid in which to cook the cranberries for a sauce. Apple juice, half orange juice and water, or all water. Whatever liquid you use can be spiced up to impart flavour during the cooking process. 

Thanksgiving is the time to celebrate the harvest and to give thanks to those who grow our food and to those who prepare our meals. Happy Thanksgiving to all!

preservingwithmartha@gmail.com

www.thevalleypreservery.ca

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Ingredients

• 1 ¼ cup water
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 bag cranberries washed
• 1 tsp grated orange peel
• Spice bag: In cheesecloth add 2-inch piece cinnamon, 1 star anise, 3 cloves, 2 cardamon pods or one whole allspice. Tie the cheesecloth around the spices and secure.

Instructions

1

In a small saucepan, add the spice bag to the water.

2

Bring to a boil and simmer for 5 minutes.

3

Add cranberries, grated orange peel and sugar, and bring to a boil.

4

Boil for about 10 minutes.

5

Remove spice bag and cool the sauce.

6

Then refrigerate until ready to use. The addition of spices to the cooking liquid really takes the sauce from good to great!

This summer has been amazing for zucchini. As always, I’m interested in the story of food. Summer squash is the broad category of tender gourds which grow in summer. Zucchini is a member of that family, but it also includes yellow, Crookneck and Pattypan squash among others. These vegetables were brought to North America in the mid 1500s by Italians. No surprise there. They have great versatility in the kitchen.

In the last weeks I’ve canned zucchini relish & tangy and sweet zucchini & yellow squash pickles; I’ve baked and frozen several zucchini breads; I’ve made salads, grilled them, sauteed them with and without pasta; I’ve dehydrated zucchini chips and have frozen grated amounts that will be useful for an impromptu zucchini bread in winter. I’ve also given away a lot! Today, I want to focus on two recipes I’ve recently made: First is zucchini lasagna and the second zucchini pancakes. Even my husband, a staunch carnivore and one who claims to be allergic to all vegetables except corn and potatoes, thought they were good!

For the lasagna, I used my canned marinara sauce, but any tomato sauce will do. I had a few oven-ready noodles, so I threw them in, but they really are optional. The zucchini/yellow squash act like noodles. As with any lasagna recipe, there are various layers. In this case, a layer of ricotta mixture and a layer of creamed Swiss chard and leeks from the garden. Mozzarella, parmesan and off you go to a great meal now or in winter. Check out the full recipe on my webite.

So many ways to use and preserve summer squash. From stuffed blossoms, to pickles, baked goods, pasta and more, these gourds provide a year-round healthy, low-calorie vegetable for even the most vegetable-averse folks!!

preservingwithmartha@gmail.com

www.thevalleypreservery.ca

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Zucchini Pancakes

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Ingredients

• These are delicious! Freeze them for a great side-dish or even as a vegetarian option.
• 1 pound summer squash (use zucchini, yellow squash or other)
• Wash and cut squash avoiding seeds. Then weigh the 1 lb.
• Grate the squash using a large-hole box grater. Lightly salt and put it in a sieve over a bowl for at least 20 minutes. Then squeeze vigorously to remove moisture.
• 2 eggs lightly beaten
• 1/5 tsp pepper, 1/5 tsp salt
• 1/3 cup organic or gluten free flour
• 3-4 chopped green onions
• 1/3 cup chopped parsley
• ½ mixed herbs (I used tarragon and basil but use what the garden provides)
• 4 oz cheese (I used feta crumbled but you could substitute grated cheddar, gruyere, or any other cheese)

Instructions

1

Mix drained zucchini with all ingredients. Put a couple of tablespoons of cooking oil in the sauté pan and drop ‘batter’ by tablespoons into the hot pan. Cook about 3-4 minutes a side until brown. Place on a parchment lined cookie sheet and sprinkle with finishing salt. Serve warm or at room temperature. Or, cool completely and freeze.

Fall is just around the corner. That means cool weather preserving with tomatoes and Fall fruits. This week, I harvested some rhubarb (the vegetable that keeps on giving) and combined it with apples for a truly Fall inspired chutney with dried cranberries. Nothing says transition more than combining spring and Fall fruits!

As I prepared the apples for the chutney, I treated them to prevent oxidization. That reminded me of a woman in the grocery store who was asking whether citric acid could be used as a substitute for ascorbic acid. I thought it might be useful to explore that question.

There are two reasons to use acids: First to prevent browning or oxidation. And second to acidify foods that are not naturally acidic enough to be safely preserved.

Oxidation is a naturally occurring phenomenon that happens when pale fruits and vegetables are exposed to oxygen. Apples, pears, peaches, and some vegetables will turn a brownish colour in the presence of air. Treating them with acid prevents this from happening.

Ascorbic Acid (Vitamin C)

Six crushed Vitamin C tablets in 2 litres of water will do the trick to prevent browning. The tablets are easily available in pharmacies. A 10-minute dunk in the acid/water bath will help hold the colour of fruit as you prepare the recipe.

Citric Acid can also be used to prevent oxidation with cut fruit or as a pre-treatment for frozen or dried fruit. Alternatively, using lemon juice in a solution of ¼ cup lemon juice to 2 litres of water will provide an effective solution for prevent oxidation. Many people choose to use Fruit Fresh, a commercial anti-browning agent that contains citric and ascorbic acids and silicon dioxide. I like lemon juice as it contains both ascorbic and citric acid and it’s natural!

Citric vs Ascorbic Acid

The question is whether these two acids can be used interchangeably? The answer is NO. While citric acid can be used as an anti-browning agent, it is mostly used to lower pH in foods as it is far more acidic than ascorbic acid. For example, tomatoes, which hover around the 4.6 pH level need to be acidified for safe canning. Citric acid or lemon juice are effective for this purpose. Ascorbic acid is a strong antioxidant and preserver of colour but is not used alone to acidify foods. As always, use authoritative recipes that will recommend the type and amount of acid to prevent oxidation or to properly acidify food.

Transitioning to Fall brings a whole new life to the preserving kitchen. Aromas of spice, mixed with fruit, tomato bubbling with vegetables for chili sauce. It feels like a new season is upon us.

preservingwithmartha@gmail.com

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Apple-Rhubarb Chutney (adapted from Bernardin)

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Ingredients

• 4 cups diced peeled and cored apples treated to prevent oxidation. I used Sunrise Apples and Granny Smith.
• 2 cup chopped rhubarb
• ½ cup water
• Zest and juice of one lemon.
• ½ cup dried cranberries or use raisins, currants, dried cherries, or blueberries
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• ½ tsp each nutmeg and ground allspice

Instructions

1

After draining apples, combine with rhubarb, sugar, water and lemon juice and zest. Boil gently for 15 minutes. Add dried fruit and spices. Continue gently boiling for another 15 minutes until the chutney thickens. Ladle into 4 250ml hot jars leaving a ½ inch headspace. Remove bubbles and adjust headspace. Clean rims and affix lids and rings to finger-tip tight. Process in a water-bath or steam canner for 10 minutes adjusting for altitude. Allow jars to rest for 5 minutes before removing to a heat-proof surface.