My first beet pickle!

The first thing I thought of while gazing lustfully at my shiny new jars were the beets that were very ready for harvesting from the garden.

So I decided to give er a go and can the little guys (well, not so little).  If you'd like to do the same, here's what you need:

500g beets (of same size, roughly)
500 ml red wine vinegar
112 g granulated sugar
1 cinnamon stick
1 star anise seed
2 peppercorns
1 small bay leaf
a pinch of salt

Cut the stems off the beets being careful not to injure the beets so they don't bleed.  In a heavy bottom saucepan, mix all the ingredients except the beets.  Heat gently until sugar dissolves, and then bring to a boil. Add the beets and boil for 1-2 hours until beets are VERY tender when poked with a skewer. Let cool in broth.

This is when you get your canning pot full of hot water (so it will cover the jars by at least 5 cm).  Bring to a simmer (not rolling boil at this point) and place your jars into the hot water as well as your lids.  This is to prevent jar breakage.  Leave in the simmering water for 10 minutes or until ready for use.

When your beets are cool enough to handle, remove with a slotted spoon, peel and dice.  Take your hot jars from the water immediately before use and fill until 0.5cm headspace remains. Remove cinnamon stick, bay leaf and anise seed and bring liquid to a boil again.  Once boiling, remove from heat and fill jars until 0.5 cm headspace remains.  Wipe the jar tops with a clean cloth as well as the lids - you want NOTHING coming between the jar and the seal or else it won't form properly and you won't get a seal - leading to fool spoilage (bad!).  Place the lids on and tighten the bands finger tight.

Immediately put your sealed jars into the canner and crank up the heat.  Wait till it comes to a rolling boil and set your timer for 30 minutes.  After processing for 30 minutes, remove the jars and place on a towel  10 cm apart and let cool naturally for 24 hours.  You should hear a 'ping' when the seal forms.  After 24 hours, label and place in a cool dry place.

You should wait for 1 month for the flavours to mature but the pickle will stay for 1 year if you can wait that long!  Come back in a month for the outcome of my first canning adventure!  Can't wait to do it again!

Enjoy,
Kat

Canning gear!

I've always wanted to start canning.  It's such a great way to preserve tasty ripe fruit and veg from the garden and it allows you to make your own spreads, marmalades, chutneys and pickles!  But, in order to do things properly (and safely, I might add) you need the right equipment.

I found a great (and relatively cheap) preserving kit from Red Back Trading Company, which comes with a dozen Ball Mason jars (more about these in a bit), a giant canning pot with a handy rack, lids, a great book and some handy canning accessories.  The whole kit was around $250, so a great value.  I got my jars on Saturday and see how happy I am!

Here in Australia we also have Fowlers Vacola jars...however I find the start up costs for these jars to be astronomical and the amount of accessories you need is over the top.  The Ball Masons have been made in America for over 100 years and only consist of a jar, a lid and a band which screws on the lid.  The only thing you can only use once is the lid.  The other handy feature of these jars is that you can screw the band back onto the jar once you use it and put it in the fridge (whereas you need to purchase a plastic lid for the Vacola jars once the seal is opened).

Stay tuned for my first canning adventure!

Enjoy!
Kat

The lemon glut

It is lemon season in Perth with work colleagues bringing bags and bags of lemons to work in the hopes that some generous person will take them off their hands.  But you think..."What could I possibly do with all those lemons?"  Here are an idea I've tried and it has turned out beautifully:

Lemon and Lime Marmalade
I like my marmalade zesty!  This one fits the bill nicely...

Approximately 250g each of lemons and limes (about 2 large lemons and 3 large limes)
1 orange
500g granulated sugar
A square of muslin or an fresh, unused kitchen cloth (I used a disposable & biodegradable kitchen wipe)
A few recycled jam jars
Waxed paper and plastic wrap
An elastic

Remove zest (no white stuff!!) from all fruit and shred it finely with a knife.  Remove all white pith from fruit, and reserve.  Chop the fruit up roughly, remove any thick membranes and place any seeds with the reserved white pith.  Put the white pith and seeds into the middle of your cloth and tie it up to make a small bag.

Place zest into a heavy-bottomed sauce pan (if you have one...I didn't use one and it turned out fine...just stir it) along with 1 L of water and the bag o' pith.  Add the chopped fruit and simmer on low heat for approximately 1 hour to soften the peel.

Yes, yes, you do see a fair amount of pith...which does make me a bit of a hypocrite, but no one's perfect and it was still uber tasty!

Clean and sterilize your jars.  The easiest way I know how to do this is clean with hot soapy water, invert on a cookie sheet to dry and then place in the oven at 140 degrees C or 275 degrees F for 15 minutes.  Remove from oven and let cool on your counter top.  Best to do this now, and not way ahead of time to maintain sterility of your jars.

When simmering is done, remove the bag (squeezing to get out all the pithy goodness) and put it into your food scraps bucket (will do nicely in the compost due to the biodegradability of the cloth).  Add the sugar and stir until it is dissolved.  Bring back to a boil and boil rapidly for about 20 minutes or until set.  But how do you know when it is set?  Two ways, really.

1.  The back of the spoon test
Place some marmalade in a small bowl.  Dig in with your wooden spoon and scoop some up.  Hold the  spoon above the bowl to cool and then tip it to allow the marmalade to fall off.  Does it stream off the spoon like sugary water?  Not done.  Heat some more.  Or does it flake/dribble off in chunks?  Ready.  Stop boiling!
2.  The plate test
Chill a plate in the fridge.  Place some marmalade on the chilled plate and wait for a minute.  Drag your finger through the marmalade...does it wrinkle up and can you make a path with your finger? It's ready!

I found 20 minutes was sufficient for a set.

Once 'ready', let your marmalade rest so it forms a skin and then ladle into clean and sterilized jars.  Top each with a wax paper square and then some plastic wrap with an elastic band to seal it all in.  You could also use the lid of the jar, just sterilize it as well.

There you go!  A couple jars of beautiful home made marmalade!  Easy eh?  The flavour does improve with time, I've found...but it's hard not to dig in right now :)  Next time, I shall make more!

Next on the agenda is preserved lemons...but that's another post...

Enjoy,
Kat