Summer

There is nothing like the beautiful flowers of the Scarlet Runner Bean plant. The beans climb around any trellis or arbour producing the flowers that are transformed into beans. To be honest, I grow these plants for the flowers, but the beans themselves are delicious in summer and dry beautifully for winter. They are also so much fun for children to plant.

The beans are rich in protein, high in fibre and add essential minerals to the diet. Scarlett Runner Beans can be eaten raw when very young, but they need to be cooked as they mature. When mid-size in summer, they can be cleaned, strings removed and cut diagonally into 2-inch pieces, then tossed into salted boiling water for three to four minutes depending on size. Drain and toss in olive oil, salt, and pepper. Simple and good.

As summer progresses the beans get quite large. I harvest them and remove the beans inside. These beans of a mottled dark and lighter pink can be dried for later use. I put them on my dehydrator trays to naturally dry in a dry and covered space. Once dry I store them in a mason jar.

Dried Scarlet Runner Beans should be soaked in water for 6 hours before use. They are unique because they retain their firmness as they are cooked turning creamy in texture but not disintegrating. Soaked, drained beans can be added to salad, stewed with tomatoes, added to chili, made into a vegetarian casserole, or used as a base for a bean salad.

Scarlet Runner Beans are beautiful, adorning any trellis, and are great in their young form but excellent dried and saved for the winter. There are many applications of their use, both raw, blanched, and cooked in stews, soups, salads, and casseroles. Try them if you don’t already have them in young garden.

Newsworthy

I recently bought the USDA Guide to Home Canning (2024). It is an excellent resource that is based on the most recent research related to high and low-acid canning. The book includes how-to’s and many recipes that are tested and dependable. This book is priced reasonably at $25.00 CDN and is available on Amazon. If you are looking for a great resource book, check it out.

preservingwithmartha@gmail.com

A steam juicer is a stacked cooking vessel that looks a bit intimidating but is very simple to use. The bottom chamber holds water, the middle chamber collects juice which then flows through a plastic tube, and the upper chamber holds the fruit and/or vegetables you are juicing. As the water boils, steam is created causing the fruit/vegetables to release juices. The juices then flow into the collecting chamber. The collected juice is ready for canning, freezing, and making into a jelly. And the residual pulp can be put through a food mill, sweetened, and dehydrated making great fruit leathers!

Preparing Fruit:

Wash all fruit. You don’t need to remove smaller stems, but in the case of apples/crab apples, it is best to remove the hairy end, so the littles hairs don’t end up in your juice. Large fruit can be quartered, but smaller fruit may be left whole or simply halved with pits removed. The upper chamber can be filled to the top as long as the lid fits firmly.

Boiling and Juicing:

Fill the lower chamber with water according to manufacturer’s instructions. It’s about 3 inches of water. Bring the juicer to the boil. In general, it takes one to two hours to extract the juice depending on the density of the fruit/vegetable. The process is complete when the juice coming out of the plastic tube diminishes and when the fruit appears pale and compressed. Most juicers have a metal clamp on the plastic tube that can be turned on and off when you are ready to put the juice into a heat proof container (8 cup Pyrex measuring cup for instance). I find the clamps get very hot, so I let gravity do the work. I place my Pyrex measuring cup on a cutting board sitting on a stool that is lower than the stove. I simply open the metal clamp and watch the juice come out. My method avoids burns but you do have to watch the pot!

Preventing Crystals

Some fruit and vegetables are prone to producing tartrate crystals which appear as sediment. Grapes are particularly inclined to do this. To ensure a clear juice, allow the juice to cool and place in the fridge overnight. The crystals will sink to the bottom. Decant the juice avoiding the sediment or pour juice through a dampened coffee filter.

Preserving Juices

Pasteurization: Even juices you will be immediately consuming should be pasteurized by heating the juice to 160F. This avoids risk of E-coli or salmonella that have been associated with extracted juices.

Freezing: Juices can be frozen. Ensure you use a freezer container and leave a 2 inch headspace for expansion.

Jelly-Making: The extracted juices can be used to make jelly. Use a reputable recipe to determine sugar, lemon juice, need for pectin and processing times.

Long-term Storage: Juices should be water-bath or atmospheric steam canner processed. For a 500 ml jar leave a ½ headspace. Process jars for 10 minutes adjusting for altitude. Rest for 5 minutes. Label and enjoy all winter long!

The steam juicer makes quick work of juicing almost any fruit and vegetables. Cherries, plums, apricots, peaches, blueberries, cranberries, apples, rhubarb, strawberries, tomatoes, cucumbers, and the list goes on. Create your own preservative-free juices, jellies, and leathers. The steam juicer can also be used for steaming or blanching vegetables by removing the centre section of the appliance for this purpose.

preservingwithmartha@gmail.com

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

Print Recipe

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.

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

Print Recipe

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.

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