Food preserving techniques & recipes

[Shannon]

Why? Because the idea of living on beans, rice and lard alone is singularly unappealing. Variety is the spice of life. Our grandmothers preserved foods as a matter of course. The tools for learning are not all that difficult to master, and are even fun if done either with others or in small batches. I would recommend just four books to get you started on a gastronomic adventure and a wonderful and satisfying hobby.

Ball Blue Book, Guide to Home Canning, Freezing & Dehydration
This is the beginners Bible. Make sure you purchase a recent addition as the guidelines for time spent in the canner were changed in the last few years.

Putting Food By
Janet, C. Greene, et al, author. This provides more recipes and also gives guidelines for storing and using some of your canned, smoked, dried and pickled foods. It also has guidelines for how and what to stock for emergency situations.

Joy of Pickling
Linda Ziedrich, author. Guidelines for pickling well beyond the usual asparagus to zucchini. Included are methods of pickling everything from eggs and meats to fruit. I use this volume several times a year.

Charcuterie, The Craft of Salting, Smoking, and Curing
Michael Ruhlman & Brian Polcyn authors. Everything you ever wanted or needed to know about the preservation of meat.

I have other favorite volumes but, the above will certainly cover most of the foods you are likely to preserve.

[JJackson]

Have any of you had any experience in salting fish?

I live on the edge of Morecambe bay in NW England and there are plenty if flounders (a flat fish much like plaice) which I can easily catch by walking in the shallows at low tide and trap under my feet and then pick up. On a good day I can catch several pounds of fish in half an hour and plan to use this free food if things get bad. Unfortunately the catch can be very variable so some way of preserving them would be good.

I have tried brining and smoking, as I do for salmon, but they were disgusting and would not have kept for long. If you have seen the film Babette's Feast the fishermen are drying flat fish on a 'washing line' and I have not been able to find instructions for this but would like to give it a try.

[Shannon]

Here is a link for you JJackson
http://seafood.ucdavis.edu/haccp/compendium/Chapt04.htm

[JJackson]

Thanks, a bit commercial and no flat fish. I will experiment and if I survive I will let you know how I got on.

[Shannon]

Jackson, here you go.

Clean fish completely making sure when you catch the fish you do not bruise the flesh. Soak the fish in cold water mixed with 4 tablespoons of canning salt in the refrigerator overnight. Rinse the fish and pack the fish in a mixture of large and small grained canning and pickling salt. The fine grains quickly enter the fish and the coarse allow the liquid draining off the fish to drain away more easily. Put the fish in a food grade plastic bucket with some holes in the bottom to allow moisture to drain away. Keep the fish in the fridge. After a few days rearrange the fish with the dryer fish on the bottom and those that are still moister on the top. After two weeks you will need to dry the fish completely. You can air dry if you live in an extremely cold environment like Finland or Northern Canada, otherwise you are going to need a food dryer or use the oven. Dry until very firm. If you don't do both your fish will rot. If you hae removed nearly all the moisture, salted well, and keep it in a dry and cool place, your fish will last for years.

[JJackson]

Thanks again, well found!

[Shannon]

Dh came back from Eastern Oregon with lugs of peaches, cherries and the most delicious apricots you can imagine. Today I am canning the apricots. (This way I don't just sit and eat them. lol) I am making preserves using two different recipes. One adds some of the apricot kernels and the other a portion of a vanilla bean. If anyone wants either of these recipes please speak up.

[Shannon]

Pickled Nasturtium Buds (false capers)
Recipe from Stocking Up.
Gather the buds or seed pods before they turn yellow. If the buds are starting to open then wait until they set seed pods. A FYI, the buds make better 'capers' than do the seed pods but the seeds are still very tasty.
Place the buds in a 10% brine to cover-made by adding 1 cup salt to 2 quarts water (it should float a potato). Weight the produce, if necessary, to hold them in the brine. Allow them to cure for 24 hours.
Remove from brine, and soak in cold water for one hour. Drain the buds. Bring vinegar to a boil in a non-reactive pot. Pack buds in hot, scalded, pint jars and cover with boiling vinegar, leaving 1/2 inch head space. Seal and process for 10 minutes.
Let the capers rest undisturbed for 6 weeks prior to tasting.

[Shannon]

Preserved Lemons
Recipe from Perfect Preserves.

The lemons need at least 6 weeks to absorb the salt and develop the full flavor. Once the jar is opened, any remaining lemons will keep, chilled, for months.

4 very firm medium lemons.
1/3 cup fine sea salt
3-inch stick of cinnamon stick
2 tsp. coriander seeds
1 tsp. peppercorns
4 whole cloves

Bring a large saucepan of water to a boil and add the lemons. Return the water to a boil and boil the lemons for 3 minutes, transfer them to a bolw of cold water. When the lemons are cool enough to handle, drain and pat dry.
In another saucepan combine the 3 cups water with the salt, cinnamon stick, coriander seeds, peppercorns, and cloves and bring to a boil. Set aside.
Stand each lemon upright and cut it into quarters, leaving the quarters attached at the base. Pack the lemons tightly into a warm sterilized 1 1/2 quart jar (I use quart jars and simply double the recipe) and pour the boiling-spice micture over the lemons to cover. Distribute the spices between the two jars if you are doubling the recipe. Tuck the cinnamon stick(s) into the jars and seal immediately. This recipe does not call for a boiling water bath but I give it one for 10 minutes just to be on the safe side.

[Sally Furniss]

Thank you Shannon!

Those two recipes are just what I was looking for

[LeaSoul]

An elderly friend told me years ago that her mother had a sand pit in their basement where she would store fresh carrots for the winter. They lived in Wyoming, elevation about 4,000.
From an old Reader's Digest book also: Live storage-either aboveground or belowground-preserves produce with minimum alteration in taste, color, and vitamin content. However, such storage requires certain temperature ranges: winters must be cold enough to slow down food deterioration, but food must not be allowed to freeze. In addition, only certain fruits and vegetables can be stored by this method, notably apples, pears, and root crops.
There is also a section on Setting up a Simple Root Cellar indoors. An 8-foot by 10-foot root cellar will accommodate 60 bushels of produce, more than enough for most families. If anyone is interested the Root Cellar idea please let me know.

[Wisdom]

Thanks Shannon, for the inspiration! I have to admit I have never done any canning myself. I use to help my mom when I was a kid and she would wait until it was the hottest day of the summer and start canning. It wasn't my favorite time of the year if you can guess but recently I found a site that actually gave instruction on canning butter so I may give it a try.

[LMonty]

Lea- it would be great if you could post that info on setting up a basement root celler in the Prep room area. Sounds like its well worth its own thread. Thanks for offering.

[LMonty]

Lea posted the root cellar thread here:

http://www.flutrackers.com/forum/sho...ht=root+cellar

well worth a look, if you have a basement or similar area it may be easily adapted to this money and time saving storage technique.

[DRJJ]

40 years ago, I used to buy canned butter and canned bacon from "Eastern Block" countries from local supermarkets. Anybody got any current sources? The bacon was terrific.

[MHSC]

I don't have sources, but I have a recipe.

Melt butter slowly until it comes to a boil, reduce heat, cover and simmer for 5 minutes. Pour melted butter into heated canning jars, wiping rim and cover with canning lid and ring. Optional: shake jars a few times during cooling to prevent separation. Place in cool place until butter hardens. After hardening, butter will store for 3 years.

[MHSC]

I didn't have a bacon recipe, but I found one

this is not a USDA approved method, can bacon at your own risk.

You will need:

1 Pound of bacon for each quart jar
Parchment paper
Roasting pan or other pan for the oven
Quart jars, lids, rings and Pressure Cooker Procedure:

Boil jars, lids and rings for 10 minutes, keep simmering.
Get water in Pressure Cooker boiling
Trim long sheets of parchment paper so that they will fit, rolled up in a quart jar. The paper should not be any wider than the jars are tall from their bottom to their necks.
Lay strips of bacon on a baking pan or roasting pan and pre-cook in a 350* F oven until they are about 2/3 their original length, but do not cook them until they are crisp. If they are crisp when they are placed in the jars, they will crumble.
After pre-cooking, place the strips of bacon, still limp, on a sheet of trimmed parchment parchment paper. Roll the paper and bacon up and insert this roll into a hot, sterilized quart jar. Wiping rim with damp cloth.
Pour the grease from the bacon into the jar, do not fill more than 2/3 full of grease.
Process at 10 pounds pressure for 1 1/2 hours. Higher elevations should use 11 pounds pressure.
To cook: Open sealed jar, unroll paper and remove bacon. Cook bacon in a skillet until crisp.

[Jonesie]

Originally Posted by JJackson

Have any of you had any experience in salting fish?

I live on the edge of Morecambe bay in NW England and there are plenty if flounders (a flat fish much like plaice) which I can easily catch by walking in the shallows at low tide and trap under my feet and then pick up. On a good day I can catch several pounds of fish in half an hour and plan to use this free food if things get bad. Unfortunately the catch can be very variable so some way of preserving them would be good.

I have tried brining and smoking, as I do for salmon, but they were disgusting and would not have kept for long. If you have seen the film Babette's Feast the fishermen are drying flat fish on a 'washing line' and I have not been able to find instructions for this but would like to give it a try.

For those readers who want dried fish, shrimp, and calamari, and don't have access to shallows at low tide, I did see a huge variety of dried seafood being sold at Asian Import Markets. In cellophane bags. (All sorts of dried seaweed too.)

I would not know what to do with dried seafood, as I don't think I could tolerate eating fish stew, but some of you may love it. The smell would drive me out of the house!

But I might just go buy some dried shrimps and see if I could soak them overnight and put them into a stir fry.
Has anyone done this?

I did talk to a Korean woman at the store. She says in the Orient, the people eat the tiny dried fish and shrimp as is, right from the bag. Like we would eat potato chips. They like the crunch and saltiness.

Myself, I don't think I would want to eat raw dried seafood.

[runninghorses]

Originally Posted by Jonesie

I would not know what to do with dried seafood, as I don't think I could tolerate eating fish stew, but some of you may love it. The smell would drive me out of the house!

I have plucked up the courage to buy some dried shrimps, but alas the bag remains unopened after a year.
Believe me the smell is M-I-G-H-T-Y powerful! It will take desperate times for such desperate measures.

[Jonesie]

Originally Posted by runninghorses

I have plucked up the courage to buy some dried shrimps, but alas the bag remains unopened after a year.
Believe me the smell is M-I-G-H-T-Y powerful! It will take desperate times for such desperate measures.

I know how bad it smells.
(But the aroma would be heavenly for those who like this food)
I once bred tropical fish. I ran dried shrimp and minnows from the Asian stores through my coffee bean grinder. The powder I fed to the tiny fry..snails also. They grew really fast and were very healthy.
It was the best food there was. Nothing commercial could match it.
But I had to wear a mask when I poured it out of the grinder. And I stunk up the house with it.
If someone can eat this type of food, it would be a really good source of nutrients and protein.
There are 2' long dried fish sold at these markets too. Whole and fillets.

[susieM]

Originally Posted by MHSC

I don't have sources, but I have a recipe.

Melt butter slowly until it comes to a boil, reduce heat, cover and simmer for 5 minutes. Pour melted butter into heated canning jars, wiping rim and cover with canning lid and ring. Optional: shake jars a few times during cooling to prevent separation. Place in cool place until butter hardens. After hardening, butter will store for 3 years.

I strain mine as I pour it into the jars, and I also give the jars a ten minute boiling-water bath.

[susieM]

Those little tiny dried fish that look like minnows are very good fried with shoyu and vinegar and served over hot rice...Mmmm! Makes my mouth water, just thinking about them.

I buy packets of frozen mixed seafood cocktail...shrimp, calamari, squid, mussels...fry them gently til the liquid is gone and then dehydrate them. With some rice, spice, vegetables, canned chorizo and dried chicken, it makes perfect paella.

[gjs47]

Does anyone remember where the article is on how to vacuum seal grains, etc. in the oven? Someone wrote about how to put the jars in the oven for 20 or so minutes on a low temperature to create a vacuum for long term storage. Thanx!

[Amish Country]

Putting glass jars in an oven even on a low temperature (say 200 F) will weaken the glass and cause it to "run". Distortions will appear in the sides of the jar which look like the glass in some very old window panes. Glass is more of a rigid liquid than a solid. You would not want to keep them in there too long.