September Daring Cooks - The Art of Food Preservation!

The September 2010 Daring Cooks’ challenge was hosted by John of Eat4Fun. John chose to challenge The Daring Cooks to learn about food preservation, mainly in the form of canning and freezing. He challenged everyone to make a recipe and preserve it. John’s source for food preservation information was from The National Center for Home Food Preservation.

 

"...steam was generated beyond the power of the canister to endure. As a natural consequence, the canister burst, the dead turkey sprang from his coffin of tinplate and killed the cook forthwith."

News report of an early canning industry accident (1852)

Whenever I fully immerse myself in the kitchen during a project I get a sense of power. I get the opportunity to create. To experiment. To provide. During WWI home cooks found the power to prolong the surplus from their victory gardens through canning, allowing commercial goods to be distributed to the army. Likewise, the depression of the 1930s and WWII also gave home cooks a reason to preserve their homegrown food. We've come a long way from from WWI, but that's no reason to loose sight of the power of home food preservation.

This month's Daring Cooks challenge gave me the chance to experience the power to preserve. This month's host, John from Eat4Fun, challenged us to test the waters of food preservation. He provided recipes for canned apple butter and a bruschetta topping as well as oven roasted tomatoes using the freezing method for preservation. 

I chose to make apple butter and the bruschetta topping. This was not my first experience in home canning, but the challenge did give me the opportunity to try new recipes and continue practicing the canning method. I've also tried my hand at pickling and making strawberry-lavender jam. 

Additional Resources: Miss Vickie

Want to learn more about the Daring Cooks? Check this out! 

Let's get canning! 

Canned Bruschetta Topping

Recipe Source: Bernardin Canning Website

Ingredients
3.5 lbs. Roma Tomatoes
5 cloves Fresh Galic
1 cup Dry White Wine
1 cup White Wine Vinegar
1/2 cup water
2 T. Balsamic Vinegar
2 T. Granulated Sugar
2 T. Dried Basil
2 T. Dried Oregano

Headspace: 1/2"

Processing Time:

20 minutes for altitude of 0 ft (0 m) to 1,000 ft (305 m)
25 minutes for altitude of 1,001 ft (305.1 m) to 3,000 ft (915 m)
30 minutes for altitude of 3,001 ft (916 m) to 6,000 ft (1,830 m)
35 minutes altitudes above 6,000 ft (1,831 m) to 8,000 ft (2,440 m

1. Place 7 clean half-pint mason jars on a rack in a boiling water canner; cover jars with water and heat to a simmer (180°F/82°C). Set screw bands aside. Heat lids in hot water, not boiling (180°F/82°C). Keep jars and sealing discs hot until ready to use.

2. Wash, seed and chop tomatoes into 1/2 inch pieces (about 9 cups), set aside. 

3. Combine garlic, white vinegar, white wine, balsamic vinegar, water, sugar, basil and oregano in a deep stainless steel saucepan. Bring to a full boil; reduce heat. Stirring occasionally, boil gently, covered, 5 minutes. Remove from heat. 

4. Pack tomatoes into a hot jar to within 3/4 inch (2 cm) of top rim. Add hot liquid to cover tomatoes to within 1/2 inch (1 cm) of top rim (headspace). Using nonmetallic utensil, remove air bubbles and adjust headspace, if required, by adding more tomatoes and hot liquid. Wipe jar rim removing any food residue. Centre hot sealing disc on clean jar rim. Screw band down until resistance is met, then increase to fingertip tight. Return filled jar to rack in canner. Repeat for remaining tomatoes and hot liquid.

5. When canner is filled, ensure that all jars are covered by at least one inch (2.5 cm) of water. Cover canner and bring water to full rolling boil before starting to count processing time. At altitudes up to 1000 ft (305 m), process –boil filled jars – 20 minutes.

6. When processing time is complete, remove canner lid, wait 5 minutes, then remove jars without tilting and place them upright on a protected work surface. Cool upright, undisturbed 24 hours; DO NOT RETIGHTEN screw bands.

7. After cooling check jar seals. Sealed discs curve downward and do not move when pressed. Remove screw bands; wipe and dry bands and jars. Store screw bands separately or replace loosely on jars, as desired. Label and store jars in a cool, dark place. For best quality, use home canned foods within one year.

 

Reduced Sugar Apple Butter

Recipe Source: National Center for Home Food Preservation

Ingredients
4 lbs. Apples
1 cup Apple Cider
1/2 cup Sugar (or Sucralose, Honey, Agave)
1 T. Cinnamon
1/2 t. Allspice
1/4 t. Cloves

1. Wash apples well and remove stems. Peel and cut apples into quarters or eighths and remove cores.

2. Combine unpeeled apples and cider in an 8-quart saucepan. Cook slowly and stir occasionally to prevent sticking. Cook until apples are very soft (falling apart).

3. If your apples have been peeled, using a potato masher, mash them in the pot. If your apples have not been peeled then position a food mill or strainer securely over a large bowl. Press cooked apples with cider through the food mill or strainer to make a pulp. Be sure to collect all the pulp that comes through the food mill or strainer; for example, scrape any pulp clinging under the food mill into the bowl.

4. Combine pulp with sugar and spices in an 8-quart (about 7 ½ litre) saucepan. Simmer over low heat, stirring frequently. [Tip: Use an immersion blender to mix in the spices and to create a smoother apple butter]

5. When cooking down the apples, you want to leave the lid ajar or use a splatter screen. This will allow for evaporation. Another trick is to support the lid by laying two wooden spoons across the top of the pot.

6. To test for doneness, spoon a small quantity onto a clean plate; when the butter mounds on the plate without liquid separating around the edge of the butter, it is ready for processing. Another way to test for doneness is to remove a spoonful of the cooked butter on a spoon and hold it away from steam for 2 minutes. It is done if the butter remains mounded on the spoon.

This stuff is good, pho real!

I often enjoy any opportunity to abandon all other responsibilities in order to spend the entire day in the kitchen. The laundry could be piling up. The puppy could be nipping at my heels for playtime. The house could be in complete disarray. Yet the minute I think of a fun cooking project, any chance of getting my to-do list whittled down is completely lost. 

I couldn't remember my last all day cooking adventure, so when Eric said he wanted us to make pho, the traditional way, I jumped at the chance! Although making pho from scratch is time consuming, it's really not that difficult. You may be able to buy a huge bowl of pho from your favorite Vietnamese restaurant for under $10, but who can resist a steaming bowl of fresh pho right from your own kitchen? We can't!

It was all about layering flavors. Beef bones boiled in water created a simple broth to act as the base. Charred onion and ginger added a mellow, sweet flavor. Star anise, cinnamon, coriander, fennel, cloves and cardamom came together to round out that perfect pho taste. 

Jalapenos, limes, bean sprouts, cilantro and basil topped the bowl off and all we could do was sit back, take a deep breath and savor every last drop in each of our bowls.

  

Now it's your turn to try - it'll be photastic!

Vietnamese Pho - Beef Noodle Soup

This recipe is from Jaden Hair over at Steamy Kitchen, she adapted this recipe from 

Into the Vietnamese Kitchen by Andrea Nguyen.

THE BROTH
2 onions, halved
4″ nub of ginger, halved lengthwise
5-6 lbs of good beef bones, preferably leg and knuckle
1 lb of beef meat – chuck, brisket, rump, cut into large slices [optional]
6 quarts of water
1 package of Pho Spices [1 cinnamon stick, 1 tbl coriander seeds, 1 tbl fennel seeds, 5 whole star anise, 1 cardamom pod, 6 whole cloves - in mesh bag]
1 1/2 tablespoons kosher salt (halve if using regular table salt)
1/4 cup fish sauce
1 inch chunk of yellow rock sugar (about 1 oz) – or 1oz of regular sugar

THE BOWLS
2 lbs rice noodles (dried or fresh)
cooked beef from the broth
1/2 lb flank, london broil, sirloin or eye of round, sliced as thin as possible.
big handful of each: mint, cilantro, basil
2 limes, cut into wedges
2-3 chili peppers, sliced
2 big handfuls of bean sprouts
Hoisin sauce
Sriracha hot sauce

Char: Turn your broiler on high and move rack to the highest spot. Place ginger and onions on baking sheet. Brush just a bit of cooking oil on the cut side of each. Broil on high until ginger and onions begin to char. Turn over and continue to char. This should take a total of 10-15 minutes.

Parboil the bones: Fill large pot (12-qt capacity) with cool water. Boil water, and then add the bones, keeping the heat on high. Boil vigorously for 10 minutes. Drain, rinse the bones and rinse out the pot. Refill pot with bones and 6 qts of cool water. Bring to boil over high heat and lower to simmer. Using a ladle or a fine mesh strainer, remove any scum that rises to the top.

Boil broth: Add ginger, onion, spice packet, beef, sugar, fish sauce, salt and simmer uncovered for 1 1/2 hours. Remove the beef meat and set aside (you’ll be eating this meat later in the bowls) Continue simmering for another 1 1/2 hours. Strain broth and return the broth to the pot. Taste broth and adjust seasoning – this is a crucial step. If the broth’s flavor doesn’t quite shine yet, add 2 teaspoons more of fish sauce, large pinch of salt and a small nugget of rock sugar (or 1 teaspoon of regular sugar). Keep doing this until the broth tastes perfect.

Prepare noodles & meat: Slice your flank/london broil/sirloin as thin as possible – try freezing for 15 minutes prior to slicing to make it easier. Remember the cooked beef meat that was part of your broth? Cut or shred the meat and set aside. Arrange all other ingredients on a platter for the table. Your guests will “assemble” their own bowls. Follow the directions on your package of noodles – there are many different sizes and widths of rice noodles, so make sure you read the directions. For some fresh rice noodles, just a quick 5 second blanch in hot water is all that’s needed. The package that I purchased (above) – needed about 45 seconds in boiling water.

Ladling: Bring your broth back to a boil. Line up your soup bowls next to the stove. Fill each bowl with rice noodles, shredded cooked beef and raw meat slices. As soon as the broth comes back to a boil, ladle into each bowl. the hot broth will cook your raw beef slices. Serve immediately. Guests can garnish their own bowls as they wish.

Chocolate cake makes everything better.

Little miss puppy chewed her leg splint off.

Kitty boys were throwing a tantrum for second helpings of dinner. 

I remembered I get to drive all three of the furry children 45 minutes to the vet tomorrow. 

It was a bake-a-cake-at-10pm kind of night.