How many times have you wished you could bottle up the rich days of summer to savor on winter’s bleakest days? For many of us, grandmother did just that-by packing the fruits of summer in squat, thick-bottomed jars.
Today’s cooks are less likely to can, preserve or “put up,” as grandmother used to say, as much produce as in yesteryear. Most of us don’t till the same expanse of garden and we don’t have the need to stock the larder-if indeed we have a larder.
Rather than preserving foods out of necessity or to use up garden surplus, modern cooks can primarily for the pleasure of the process, for gift-giving and to capture those irreplaceable tastes of summer.
Two new cookbooks, both by veteran cooks and authors, offer many recipes for elegant preserves. In “Clearly Delicious” (Dorling Kindersley, $24.95), Elisabeth Lambert Ortiz uses more than 300 step-by-step photographs to illustrate preserving, pickling and bottling. Ortiz, author of the award-winning “Encyclopedia of Herbs, Spices and Flavorings” also includes recipes for herb and spice blends and flavored oils and vinegars. Recipes include a simple blueberry jam, cherry brandy, exotic five-spice peaches and red tomato chutney and about 200 more.
“The Glass Pantry” (Chronicle, $29.95) by Georgeanne Brennan, a California food writer and gardener, likewise offers an unusual assortment of recipes, organized by the seasons, including poor man’s capers (made from nasturtium seedpods), green almond conserve, pomegranate jelly and pink pickled shallots. Brennan suggests storing many of her recipes in the refrigerator rather than canning the small quantities.
Both books concentrate on canning and preserving high-acid foods, such as fruits, tomatoes, foods with vinegar added, pickles, relishes, fruit butters, conserves, marmalades and jams. All of these recipes will keep several weeks in the refrigerator, and most, with the exception of pickles (which lose too much texture), will freeze nicely for many months.
To store on the pantry shelf, or for gift-giving, these foods require processing in a boiling water bath. This involves immersing the closed jar in plenty of boiling water for a designated period of time to properly seal the jar and to destroy potentially harmful microorganisms.
Brennan says that “in modern home canning, food is preserved by being brought to high temperatures long enough to kill any microbes and to stop destructive enzyme activity. The containers become hermetically sealed during the process, which prevents reinfection and allows properly canned food to be stored at room temperature with no risk of spoilage.”
Almost any deep kettle can be turned into a water bath canner simply by setting a rack on the bottom of it to sit the jars on. Just be sure the kettle is deep enough that the jars can be covered with 1 or 2 inches of boiling water. Once the water starts to boil, start timing the processing-which ranges from 10 to 20 minutes depending on the foods. After the jars have cooled completely, check to be sure they are sealed-the center of the lid will be slightly concave.
When making jams and the like, Ortiz prefers a preserving pan-a heavy-bottomed, stainless steel pan-so they can cook without scorching. Most cooks are likely to own other items needed for preserving, such as strainers, ladles and spoons.
Here are a few guidelines from the experts to follow for water bath canning:
– Do not use ordinary kitchen jars for canning. Only use jars, bottles (free of cracks and chips) and lids made specifically for canning. To sterilize the jars and lids before filling, submerge them in a kettle of boiling water for 10 minutes. Let jars remain in the hot water until you are ready to fill them.
– Never reuse the metal vacuum lid of the two-piece canning lid; the metal screwbands can be reused.
– Avoid extreme temperature changes that could cause the jars to crack.
– For the best results, use firm-ripe (not overly ripe) fruits and vegetables in excellent condition. Poor-quality ingredients will give poor results. Firm-ripe fruits also are rich in acid and higher in pectin (a water-soluble carbohydrate that contributes to thickening).
Follow water-bath processing times recommended in recipes; if a recipe does not say to process in a water bath, store the finished food in the refrigerator.
– Do not try to cut back on the amount of sugar in jam and preserve recipes, or the amount of vinegar in pickles and chutneys; these substances are important for proper setting and for keeping food safe.
– To check jams, preserves and marmalades for setting, try the cold plate or the saucer test: After you’ve cooked the jam for the recommended time, put a small spoonful onto a cold plate; refrigerate for a few minutes. If the mixture has boiled sufficiently, a thin skin will form on the surface and the mixture will hold its shape when pushed with a finger. It is now at setting point and ready for pouring into the jars. If not, continue to cook a few more minutes.
– Fill the jars so that any whole pieces of food are completely covered with juices, syrup or water as the recipe specifies so that the food does not darken. Do not fill the jars completely. Leave enough space at the top-usually 1/4-inch for jams, jellies and pickles and 1/2-inch for fruits and tomatoes-to allow for expansion during processing and cooling.
– After filling the jars, wipe the rims clean so the lids seal properly.
– Put the filled and covered jars into the boiling water bath as soon as they are filled. Leave space between each jar and do not let the jars touch the bottom or sides of the pot. Start the timing when the water comes to a full rolling boil.
– After processing, remove the jars from the boiling water with tongs and let them cool on a towel. When they are completely cool, check the seal by pressing the center of the metal lid-it should now be concave. If a lid is not sealed, start again with a new lid and reprocess or store the jar in the refrigerator.
– Store the jars in a cool, dark place. Most canned foods will keep well for about a year, after which they may start to lose quality in texture and color and nutritional value. Discard any jar that has cracked or broken its seal.
If you don’t want to bother with the hot-water bath part of canning, all of the following recipes can be stored in the refrigerator for several weeks; the jam will freeze nicely for many months.
RHUBARB AND STRAWBERRY JAM
Preparation time: 25 minutes
Standing time: Overnight
Cooking time: 15 minutes
Processing time: 10 minutes
Yield: About 6 cups
Adapted from “Clearly Delicious.”
3 pounds fresh rhubarb
About 1 quart (1 pound) strawberries
7 cups sugar
3 lemons
1. Trim the rhubarb and cut the stalks into 1/8-inch thick slices. Hull and halve the strawberries. Layer the fruit pieces with the sugar in a large non-metallic bowl. Halve and squeeze the lemons, keeping the seeds, juice and lemon halves. Pour the juice over the layered fruit. Cover and let stand overnight to draw out the juices.
2. Roughly chop the squeezed lemon halves. Place the chopped halves with the reserved lemon seeds on a square of cheesecloth. Tie up tightly into a bag with a long piece of string. Pour the rhubarb mixture into a preserving pan. Tie the cheesecloth bag to the pan handle, so that it rests on the fruit.
3. Heat the mixture to a boil over a high heat and boil rapidly, without stirring, until it reaches setting point, about 15 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat to test. A candy thermometer should read 220 degrees. If you do not have a candy thermometer, test for setting by the cold plate test (see guidelines above.) Lift the bag out of the pan and squeeze all the juice back into the pan. Discard the bag.
4. With the pan off the heat, lightly skim off any froth from the surface of the jam, using a long-handled metal spoon. Immediately pour the jam into warmed sterilized jars, to within 1/4 inch of the tops. Seal the jars and process in a boiling water bath 10 minutes.
FRESH HERB AND VEGETABLE RELISH
Preparation time: 30 minutes
Standing time: 4 days
Yield: About 6 cups
2 cups finely diced, peeled cucumber
1 1/4 cups finely minced mixed fresh parsley, mint, tarragon, basil and chives in any ratio
1 cup each, finely diced: onion, celery
1 cup finely diced red or green sweet pepper
1/4 cup each, finely diced: cabbage, garlic
2 tablespoons salt
3 cups red wine vinegar
1. Combine all the ingredients in a large glass bowl. Cover and refrigerate 4 days.
2. Using a slotted utensil, remove the vegetables from the bowl, reserving the vinegar, and snugly pack them into dry, sterilized jars to within 1/2 inch of the rims. Pour in enough of the vinegar to cover the vegetables completely. Cover with the lids.
3. The relish will keep in the refrigerator up to 3 months.
Help is a phone call away
For more information on home food preservation, equipment and canning safety, contact the following sources:
– The local offices for the Cooperative Extension Service will screen and forward calls to a specialist; the specialist will return calls within 24 hours:
Chicago, north: 312-286-6767. Chicago, south: 312-737-1178.
North suburban Cook County: 708-818-2901.
South suburban Cook County: 708-532-3337.
DuPage County: 708-653-4114.
Lake County: 708-223-8627.
– The Alltrista Corp., marketers of Ball Brand Home Canning Products, 800-240-3340.
– Kerr Group, Consumer Affairs, 312-226-1700, between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. (number good only until August, when the firm will move to Tennessee.)
Book steers you to safety
For more information on canning safety, equipment and detailed instructions for water-bath and pressure canning, check out the latest edition of the “Ball Blue Book Home Canning Guide.”
The thick paperback volume, filled with illustrations and color photographs, is available by sending a check or money order for $4.50 (which includes shipping) to the Alltrista Corp., Box 2005, Muncie, Ind., 47307-0005, or by telephone with a Visa or Mastercard, 317-281-5228.
