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Preserving Know-how/ Summer

A Rosy Summertime!

Rose Petal Jelly

Recently I was treated to a stroll through my friend’s magnificent rose garden. She mentioned that her neighbor came over to harvest petals for jelly. I hadn’t really thought about the culinary uses of roses. I went home and took another look at my wild and domesticated rose bushes. I was struck by the fact that nature provides so much for us to eat and enjoy if we open our eyes to possibilities. As always, I went on a quest to learn more about roses and their uses in in cooking and preserving.

I recalled old fashioned rose water grandmothers spritzed into the air to freshen a room or on themselves as a rose perfume. I remembered candied rose petals used to decorate special cakes. But they are also used chopped in a floral butter, as a tea (tisane), infused in sugar for baking or to flavour honey. They are used in Middle Eastern dishes most notably in Turkish Delight! Rose petals and hips are typically thought of in sweet recipes, like jellies, puddings, panna cotta, syrups and so on, but they also play a role in savoury ones. For example, a tagine spice blend called ras el hanout combines rose petals with savoury spices like cinnamon, cloves, turmeric, and coriander. Rose petal water is sometimes added to Hyderbabadi Biriyani (Great Chefs of Britain). Sweet or savoury, the beautiful rose offers up some mighty delicious possibilities.

For the preserver, petals (or hips) can be dehydrated for teas or to flavour sugar, crystalized for decoration, infused for waters or syrups or transformed in a stunningly lovely jelly. Use fragrant bright coloured rose petals (wild or domesticated), picked in mid-morning, rinsed, and lightly dried with a tea (paper) towel. From the University of Alaska, here is the recipe for Jelly.

The rose petal jelly makes a wonderful gift. It is so beautiful and a reminder of warm, lush summer days. Try it on scones or biscuits, or with goat cheese.

It is indeed a rosy summer to behold!

Preservingwithmartha@gmail.com

 

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Rose Petal Jelly

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Ingredients

  • 1 ¾ cups rose petal juice
  • 2 TBSP lemon juice (bottled)
  • 3.5 cups sugar
  • 3 oz liquid pectin (one pouch)

Instructions

1

First extract rose juice: Pack cleaned petals tightly into a cup measuring 1.5 cups. Place in a saucepan and add 2 ¼ cups boiling water. Turn off heat, cover and let steep for 15 minutes. Strain through a cheesecloth lined sieve or jelly bag.

2

Measure 1 ¾ cups rose petal juice (freeze extra). Place the juice into a large saucepan and watch what happens when you add lemon juice! The extracted juice will be pale in colour but when the lemon juice is added, BAM!, the colour changes to a deep rosy hue. It’s dramatic and worth doing even once to see this phenomenon.

3

Add sugar and bring to a full rolling boil. Add in the pectin and bring back to a boil. Boil hard for 1 minute. Skim.

4

Ladle into 3-4 clean, hot Mason jars leaving a ¼ inch headspace. Clean jar rims and attach lids and rings to finger-tip tight. Process in a water-bath or steam canner for 10 minutes. Let rest for 5 minutes before removing jars.

5

The rose petal jelly makes a wonderful gift. It is so beautiful and a reminder of warm, lush summer days. Try it on scones or biscuits, or with goat cheese.

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Preserving Know-how/ Summer

Peachy Keen

Peachy Keen Jam

Peaches have an incredible history here in Ontario. According to “tenderfruit.com”, in 1797 peaches were harvested at the mouth of the Niagara. By the mid 1780s, Peter Secord, brother of Laura Secord, was the first Loyalist farmer to accept a grant to grow peaches. Although peaches originated in China and were introduced to Europe 2000 years ago, our history is relatively recent. Today, 81% of peaches are sourced from Niagara and 18% from the Okanagan. This year has been a bang-up year for peaches. And who doesn’t love peaches in everything from fresh salads, baked pies or crisps and the options for preserving are endless!

I confess that I am not as adventurous with peaches as I should be. But I do have some peach favorites. I also have to make and freeze my husband’s favorite peach pie!

In the last two weeks, I’ve made a pure and simple Niagara Peach jam (a few batches) (Canadian Living), a fiery peach salsa and peach-ale mustard (Ball). I have also made peach jam from Test Kitchens of America which uses grated Granny Smith apple as the pectin booster. Reading that recipe changed my approach to peaches entirely!

In the past I would go through the process of blanching and peeling the peaches. It’s a labour-intensive process but I thought it was necessary to create a fine jam or condiment. Well, no longer! It is not necessary to peel peaches for jams or the mustard I made. Anything that has a longer cooking time will allow washed with their skins to dissolve into a wonderfully fine texture that has the benefit of enhanced colour from the skins. The moral of the story is, don’t bother blanching and peeling the peaches. If you have a short cooking time, you can always use your immersion blender to quickly blend the peaches, skins into a smooth and silky texture. But most of the time, this won’t be necessary. It’s amazing how well the skins blend into the flesh, unlike tomatoes.

Compliments of both Canadian Living and Test Kitchens of America, here is the pure and simple Niagara Peach Jam recipe.

This is seriously simple and delicious jam. Enjoying the summer and the bounty from Niagara.

For more about peaches and other preserving topics, see my website: www.thevalleypreservery.ca

preservingwithmartha@gmail.com

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Niagara Peach Jam

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Ingredients

  • 6 cups peaches washed and thinly sliced. Then mash to measure 4 cups.
  • 1 package light pectin (like Certo or Bernardin)
  • 2 TBSP bottled lemon juice
  • 3.5 cups sugar

Instructions

1

Prepare peaches and measure 4 cups crushed.

2

Mix peaches with pectin and lemon juice in a large Dutch oven pot. Stir to combine.

3

Bring mixture to a boil stirring often.

4

Once boiling, add sugar and stir until dissolved. Bring back to a full rolling boil. Boil hard for 1 minute. Turn off heat, skim if necessary.

5

Ladle into 250 jars that have been warmed. Leave a ¼ inch headspace. Clean rims and screw on lids and rings to “finger-tip tight”. Process in a boiling water bath or atmospheric steam canner for 10 minutes. Let rest with the lip off the canner for 5 minutes. Remove the jars and let rest.

 

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Preserving Know-how/ Summer

Be a Savvy Consumer!

It is the time of year when we visit markets and farm-gates in search of local produce and products. I was prompted to write this piece after recently visiting a farm-gate where stewed rhubarb and jam were being sold in Cheese Whiz jars. As a food preserver or a consumer, there are a few things you should keep in mind as a savvy consumer!

In the US, there is an extensive infrastructure to support food preservation research and evidence-based practice. The research is aggregated by the National Centre for Home Food Preservation located at the University of Georgia. The science generated there informs the regulations of the USDA. Equally important is the commitment to disseminate the knowledge throughout the States. This is done though the university cooperative extension programs which offer a Master Food Preserver course. Eighteen universities across the US offer these programs across their respective States. These universities are big-time like UCLA, Cornell, Perdue, the University of Washington etc. The objective is to help people develop knowledge and skills to safely preserve food at home. In some States, like New York and Vermont, a person must have completed the Master Food Preserver program to sell products in a store, market, or farm-gate.

The contrast with Canada is remarkable. We have not one Master Food Preserver program or anything vaguely resembling one. We have no infrastructure to support food preservation at home. We have no regulations about preserved food sales at markets or farm-gates other than no preserved meats or dairy. While I have had to become Public Health approved to sell at a store, and I must have inspections, keep detailed records, comply with labelling requirements and so on, most people simply sell at markets or farm-gates without regulations. In fact, some religious and fraternal organizations are completely exempt from Public Health regulations.

My colleague and I, along with other interested parties, are making an effort to introduce a Master Food Preserver program in Canada. We know there is incredible interest in food preservation and a growing number of people who want to preserve; to know what is in their food, to have a lighter footprint on the planet and to be less dependent on commercial food production. We will continue the effort not only to help people learn, but also to allow consumers to have greater confidence in what is being sold at our markets and farm-gates.

In the meantime, here are some tips for making you a savvy consumer of preserved goods:

Ask vendors how they process their products. All jams, jellies, relishes, pickles, salsas etc must be heat processed using a water bath or atmospheric steam canning process.

Check jars: Mason jars with lids and rings are the only recommended jars for home food preservation. Never buy anything that is in a previously used commercial jar!

Check labels for contents and date of production or best before dates.

Ask about recipes: The vendor should be able to give you a source especially one that is current and reputable (Bernardin, National Centre for Home Food Preservation, Canadian Living). If you hear a response like “we’ve done this for years”, take a pass.

Storing: If you buy something in a Mason jar, when you get home, remove the ring on the jar if you are putting it in your pantry for later use. If anything goes wrong with the contents, the lid will pop. If the ring is off, it will be clearly evident and will indicate the jar should be thrown out.

Enjoy the markets and farm-gates but be a knowledgeable consumer when it comes to home preserved foods. And, please help us advocate for the creation of a Master Food Preserver program in Canada!!!

preservingwithmartha@gmail.com

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Preserving Recipes/ Summer

Elderberry Flowers

The common Elderberry bush is in blossom, so what better time to harvest the flowers. Elderberry bushes are found in home gardens but also grow wild along streams and in ditches. The blossoms taste like honey, but the stems, roots and leaves are poisonous so be careful to harvest only the blossoms.

Historically, Elderberry blossom cordials have been recorded back to Roman times, but the cordial became a very popular drink in western Europe during the Victorian period. As a medicinal plant, the blossoms have been used as a tea, tincture, or salve both in fresh and dried form. For centuries they have been used to treat inflammation, stave off colds and flues, and to support immune system function. But the blossoms have also been used for culinary purposes like Elderberry blossom fritters, wine, and cordials.

Elderberry flower cordials, sometimes called a squash, are essentially an infused syrup combining blossoms, sugar, lots of lemon and a touch of citric acid which sharpens tartness and helps preserve the mix. It is beautifully flavoured with sweet-honey taste and is potent, so you only need a couple of tablespoons in a drink. It is often mixed with sparkling or still water, tonic or is used in cocktails with gin or vodka. The cordial can also be added to recipes like pancakes, crisps, jams, drizzled over pound cakes, or added to a fruit salad.

I hadn’t made Elderflower cordial before, but I truly believe we need to connect with and use the bounty of Mother Nature, so I tried it. It is good! I had four children and parents here today to learn how to make freezer jam. I offered the cordial and they accepted. Not every child was inclined, but the parents gave it a big thumbs-up. I am looking forward to using the cordial as a summer drink, cocktail, and in my baking.

preservingwithmartha@gmail.com

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Elderflower Cordial (BBC Good Food)

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Ingredients

  • 2.5 kg sugar
  • 1.5 litres water
  • 2 unwaxed lemons, scrubbed
  • 20 Elderflower heads, stalks trimmed, swished in cold water to remove bugs or debris
  • 85 gm citric acid (I bought mine at Misty Meadows in Conn)

Instructions

1

Mix together sugar and water in a very large pot. Gently heat until sugar has dissolved. Stir occasionally. Using a vegetable peeler, pare off the zest of the lemons and then cut the lemons into rounds.

2

Once the sugar is dissolved, bring the sugar-water mixture to a boil, and turn off heat. Add cleaned blossoms, lemon slices, zest and citric acid to the pot and give it a stir. Cover the pan and leave it to infuse for 24 hours.

3

Strain syrup through a dampened cheesecloth lined sieve.

4

Ladle the syrup into sterilized jars or food-grade plastic containers. The cordial can be kept in the refrigerator for 6 weeks or frozen for long-term storage. It is possible to pasteurize the cordial, but pasteurization is a topic for another day!

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Preserving Recipes/ Summer

A Gift of Nanking Cherries

Recently, someone got in touch with me offering some of her Nanking cherries. I jumped at the chance even though I knew nothing about them. It turns out she has many bushes which were a gift to her husband who remembered them fondly from his time growing up in Calgary. Now, they were a gift to me.

Nanking cherries are a bush cherry indigenous to Asia including China, Japan, and the Himalayas. These cold hardy bushes were introduced to North America in 1882. They set fruit within two years and grow to heights of 15 feet but can be trimmed back. They bloom early in spring with prolific qualities of small red cherries that are only a half inch in diameter and do not have a long shelf life. So, they are best planted at home for delicious fruit used in preserves, wine, liqueur, and syrup. These wonderful bushes will live up to 50 years providing an annual source of heavenly cherries that have powerful antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties.

I decided to go in search of a jelly recipe as the cherries are small and pitting them would be very labour intensive. As I only use recipes developed in test kitchens, it took quite a while to find one. Eventually I did on the Bernardin website (not in the book).

The Nanking cherries are stunningly deep pink with a sweet-tart taste akin to a sour cherry but sweeter. Imagine having a bounty of cherries each spring and never having to climb a ladder to reach them! I passed on seeds to fellow growers and preservers with hopes we will see more cherry bushes in our area in future.

preservingwithmartha@gmail.com

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Nanking Cherry Jelly

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Serves: Yield: 9 x 250ml

Ingredients

  • 16 cups Nanking cherries
  • 1 ¼ cup water
  • 4 TBSP lemon juice
  • 7 cups granulated sugar
  • 1 package fruit ‘original’ fruit pectin crystals (powder)

Instructions

Extract Juice:

1

Wash cherries. Combine with water in large saucepan. Bring to a boil crushing with a potato masher. Reduce heat and let cook about 35 minutes. Pour into a dampened jelly bag or cheesecloth lined sieve. Let the juice drip for 2 hours or overnight without squeezing which will cause a cloudy jelly.

Prepare Jelly:

2

Measure 6 cups of extracted juice. Put in a large Dutch oven. Add lemon Juice. Whisk in pectin to dissolve. Bring this mixture to a full rolling boil that can’t be stirred down. Add sugar stirring constantly. Bring back to a boil and boil hard for one minute. Remove from heat and skim.

3

Ladle into prepared hot jars leaving a ¼ inch headspace. Wipe the top of the jar clean and place on lids and rings tightening to ‘finger-tip tight’. Process in a boiling water or atmospheric steam canner for 10 minutes adjusting for altitude. Let rest 5 minutes. Remove from canner and let rest for 24 hours. (refer to the Bernardin website or book for details about canning)

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Preserving Recipes/ Summer

Strawberry-Rhubarb Galette

 

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Strawberry-Rhubarb Galette

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Ingredients

  • Sour Cream Pastry
  • 2 and ¼ cups all purpose flour
  • ¼ cup cake flour
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp sugar
  • ½ cup cold unsalted butter cubed
  • ½ cup cold shortening cubed
  • ¼ cup plus 2 TSBP sour cream
  • 2 TBSP ice water
  • Strawberry-Rhubarb Galette Filling
  • 5 cups rhubarb chopped, 2 cups strawberries quartered
  • ¾ cup sugar
  • 1/3 cup flour
  • 1/3 cup store-bought or home-made amaretti crumbled

Instructions

1

In a food processor, blend dry ingredients. Then add butter and shortening and process until the mixture looks like course meal. Mix sour cream and water together and add to the bowl and blend together until pastry starts to come together in a ball. Bring together into a ball, divide in two, flatten and wrap in plastic wrap to cool in the fridge or to freeze.

2

For the galette, use one half of the pastry. Roll out in a circle at a thickness of ¼ inch. Remember to leave 2 ½ inches that will fold over the strawberry-rhubarb mixture. Place the pastry on a parchment line rimless baking pan.

3

Strawberry-Rhubarb Galette Filling

4

5 cups rhubarb chopped, 2 cups strawberries quartered

5

¾ cup sugar

6

1/3 cup flour

7

1/3 cup store-bought or home-made amaretti crumbled

8

Sprinkle the amaretti on top of the rolled-out pastry. Mix remaining ingredients and pile in the middle of the pastry. Spread around leaving 2 ½ inch edge. Fold the pastry over the filling, pleating it to create the edge. Bruch the pastry with an egg wash and sprinkle with sugar.

9

The filling will look nicer if you brush the fruit with a glaze such as melted apple or rhubarb jelly.

10

Bake in the lower rack of a 425-degree oven for 10 minutes. Then reduce heat to 375 and bake for another 50 – 55 minutes.

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Preserving Recipes/ Summer

Rhubarb Ice Cream

 

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Rhubarb Ice Cream

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Ingredients

  • 4 cups chopped rhubarb
  • ¼ cup sugar
  • 1 TBSP lemon juice
  • 2 lg egg yolks and 1 large egg
  • 2/3 cup sugar
  • 1 cup whole milk
  • 2 cups heavy cream
  • 1 tsp vanilla (instead of vanilla, 1 tsp grated orange rind

Instructions

1

Prepare ice cream maker according to manufacturer’s instructions.

2

Step 1:

3

4 cups chopped rhubarb

4

¼ cup sugar

5

1 TBSP lemon juice

6

Mix in a small saucepan and cook over medium heat, stirring regularly, for 12-15 minutes until the fruit is soft and liquid is absorbed. Cool. Puree the mixture in a food processor or blender.

7

Step 2:

8

2 lg egg yolks and 1 large egg

9

2/3 cup sugar

10

1 cup whole milk

11

2 cups heavy cream

12

1 tsp vanilla (instead of vanilla, 1 tsp grated orange rind

13

Whisk together eggs, sugar and milk. In a saucepan, heat the cream until it starts to bubble at the edges. Don’t boil. Temper the egg mixture by gradually adding drizzling the hot cream into the egg mixture. Blend and return to the saucepan. Cook, stirring constantly, over medium heat until the mixture coats a spoon and appears to be custard-like. Make sure it doesn’t boil. Pour the custard through a sieve to remove any bits. Allow it to cool in a bowl covered with plastic wrap and then refrigerate until very cold. I let the custard chill for 24 hrs.

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Step 3:

15

Mix the rhubarb puree into the custard. Pour into the frozen bowl of the ice cream maker and churn using manufacturer’s instructions. Put into freezer containers leaving at least a 1.5 inch headspace. To prevent crystallization, put a piece of parchment paper on top of the ice cream and then add the lid.

16

To serve, bring the ice cream out of the freezer for at least 10 minutes to soften and make it scoopable.

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Preserving Know-how/ Summer

A Word About Wild Pickling

Ramps (wild leeks) and fiddleheads are just two of the great foraged foods to pickle in spring. Whether you use a quick pickle method or pickling for long-tern storage, here are a few tips for wild pickling.

Wild Leeks

The beautiful wild leeks lie at the bottom of the deciduous forests. Both the leaves and bulbs are edible. They are wonderful to use in cooking as a sauté, in a soup, as a pesto or pickled. As wild leeks are being over-harvested in many areas, my policy is to take a minimalist approach – pick sparingly and never take more than a 1/6th of a clump. For pickling, because I generally have a small amount, I will do a quick pickle using only the bulbs. I use the greens to make and freeze a wild leek pesto.

Quick Pickled Wild Leeks (Test Kitchens of America)

Clean and trim wild leeks saving leaves for another purpose. Prepare a brine of 1.5 cups vinegar (any kind as long as it’s 5%), 1.5 cups water, 3 TBLS sugar, 2.5 tsp pickling salt and herbs or aromatics of your choice. Mix and bring to a boil. Put leeks tightly into clean, hot jars. Ladle brine over top. Leave a ¼ inch headspace. Clean rims and let jars cool on the counter. Once cool, put lids and rings on, label and refrigerate. Leeks will last, refrigerated, for 3 to 4 weeks. PS: If you have excess brine, you can pickle other vegetables!

Fiddleheads

While fiddleheads can be foraged, they are readily available in markets and grocery stores at this time of year. If you forage, check with a reputable foraging site to properly identify the Ostrich fern which is the only edible variety of ferns. Many ferns are toxic so identifying the right ones is critical. Fiddleheads are a bit “fiddley” when it comes to preparation, but the process is important to make them safe for consumption. They should be soaked in water, scrubbed to remove the papery film, and rinsed several times. They should be steamed for 10-12 minutes or boiled for 15minutes. Now they are ready for cooking or pickling.

preservingwithmartha@gmail.com: 

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Dilly Fiddleheads (University of Maine Extension)

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Ingredients

  • 3 lbs raw, trimmed and cleaned fiddleheads
  • 8 cups cider or white vinegar (5%)
  • ½ cup pickling salt
  • 1 tsp dill seed per jar
  • 1 clove peeled garlic per jar
  • 1 tsp red pepper flakes per jar (optional)

Instructions

1

Clean and prepare fiddleheads as described. Make the brine: Add vinegar and salt in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Pack fiddleheads in clean, hot jars. Ladle in the brine to ½ inch headspace. Remove air bubbles and adjust headspace again. Clean rims and place lids and rings on to finger-tip tight. Process in a water-bath or atmospheric steam canner for 15 minutes adjusting for altitude. When complete, let rest for 5 minutes before removing from canner.

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Preserving Know-how/ Preserving Recipes/ Summer

Chive Blossom Vinegar

The blossoms of chives are bountiful at this time of year. While blossoms can be used to adorn salads, soups, or meats, they can also be used to create a flavourful shelf-stable vinegar to please the pallet the whole year through.

I make many herb vinegars, but I love the chive blossom vinegar for its gorgeous rosy colour and delightful taste. Once it is ready, it will make a super vinaigrette or an addition to a sauce to brighten the taste. Because vinegar is acidic (at least 5%), it is an environment unconducive to most bacteria. It is possible for some yeasts and molds to grow in this environment so if you notice mold or see bubbles indicating yeast fermentation, don’t use it. But overall, herb vinegars are safe. I’ll note that herb infused oils are another story. Oils with herbs and/or garlic create an environment highly conducive to the worst bacterium clostridium botulinum (you got it – the botulism bacteria). It is possible to safely produce herb-garlic infused oils by acidifying the herbs and garlic, but please refer to the National Centre for Home Food Preservation for specific instructions about how to do it safely.

Making chive blossom vinegar, like all herb vinegars, is a two-step process. First, the sanitized herbs are placed in a sterilized Mason jar (warm) and hot vinegar is poured over. The mixture is left to steep for 2 weeks although you can decide to use a shorter time if you wish. At the end of the steeping period, the blossoms or herbs are strained out. I use two steps: First, strain using a sieve reserving the liquid. Second, pour the liquid through a dampened coffee filter to remove small sediment. The second phase of the process involves sterilizing the glass jars you will use to store the vinegar and heating the herb-infused vinegar to just below boiling point. Then de-cant the vinegar into the warm jars or bottles leaving a ½ inch headspace. Cool, put on lids, caps or corks, label and store in a cool, preferably dark location.

The particulars:

For chive blossom vinegar I use white wine vinegar and about ½ cup of blossoms for 500 ml. It’s really a matter of how many blossoms I can get my hands on.

Sanitizing solution: Blossoms or herbs should be knocked gently to remove insects or debris. It is recommended that they be quickly submerged in a solution of ½ tsp household bleach to 3 cups water, then thoroughly rinsed and patted dry.

Jar sterilization: Use the dishwasher cycle if you have it or submerge the jars or bottles in boiling water for 10 minutes. Invert on a towel and fill with the hot vinegar while warm. If you are using bottles with corks, use only new corks and sanitize them by dipping them in boiling water 3 or 4 times.

Getting creative: As the herbs begin to produce, it’s possible to create various infused vinegars. Strong herbs blend well with apple cider vinegar or even white vinegar. Milder herbs like chives, basil, tarragon blend well with white wine or champagne vinegars. Fruits also make super vinegars. You can experiment to determine what you enjoy.

The chive blossoms are here and ready to be used as culinary accents or to be infused into vinegar for a gloriously tinted vinegar with a gentle chive background ready to elevate your vinaigrette to new heights!

preservingwithmartha@gmail.com

 

 

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Preserving Recipes/ Summer

Get Pickling

It is the wonderful time of year for pickling. The gardens and markets are bursting with fresh vegetables and fruits. And pickling enables us to enjoy local, healthy produce all year round. There are several approaches to pickling such as refrigerator pickles for short-term use, fresh pack quick process pickles for long-term storage, and fermented or brined pickles. What these methods have in common is that they use a brine and pickling solution to control acidity which is necessary for safe preserving. Pickles, relishes, salsas, chutneys and even pickled fruit add tang to any meal.

Fresh Pack Quick Process Pickles

This method is easy to do and involves covering vegetables or fruit with a boiling solution of vinegar, spices, seasoning and sometimes sugar and water. This is called the pickling solution. Many recipes call for the vegetables to be brined in a salt and water bath for several hours before they are pickled. The purpose of the brining is to extract water from the vegetables so that they will later absorb the pickling solution more readily and it also creates a crisper product.

Fermented Pickles

In this method, vegetables are submerged in a salt-water brine for one to several weeks. The brine controls bacteria, preventing the growth of spoilage bacteria while allowing the growth of lactobacillus bacteria which produces lactic acid. Weights are necessary to keep the vegetables submerged under the brine to prevent the growth of molds and yeast.

Pickling requires specific amount of salt and vinegar to create a safe canning environment. Don’t be tempted to cut back on salt. It is a functional element of pickling. The salt bonds with water reducing microbial growth. Only use pickling salt or salt that is free from added iodine or anti-caking products. Because pickling controls acidity, it is important to use vinegar that is at least 5% acetic acid. To maintain the proper level of acidity you can’t just add extra vegetables (which are alkaline) to a recipe as this creates a potentially unsafe canning environment. So, stick to a tested recipe that specifies the correct amount of salt and acid for vegetables or fruit.

I have been expanding my pickling this year. Salsa, relish, chili sauce, dill and bread & butter pickles, mustard pickles, pickled asparagus, carrots, beans, beets, and wonderful mixed pickle blends using cauliflower, beans, cucumbers, zucchini, sweet and hot peppers, carrots and spices to create a beautiful salad in a jar. Coming up? Spiced pickled crab apples!

I know many of you are keen picklers. If you haven’t done much in the way of pickling, give it a shot. There is nothing nicer than opening a jar of vegetable or fruit pickles to accompany lunch or super or just as a snack. Even for breakfast! Scrambled eggs and chili sauce!

For information: preservingwithmartha@gmail.com

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