Seville Orange Marmalade

Marmalade

I had only had store bought marmalade until recently, and I just didn't care for it.  A few years ago, our friend of ours handed over a jar of her homemade marmalade.  It was completely delicious!  A lovely blend of tart, sweet, bitter, pure citrus deliciousness.  When another friend pointed out Seville oranges in the store and mentioned how good they were for marmalade, I thought, "What the heck, I''ll give it a try."  I really love preserves and jams, but am not yet an expert jammer.  A fan of the soft set, I like try to take my sweet confections off the stovetop before they set up very firmly at all.  Long story short, I did not hit the soft set sweet spot on this marmalade adventure, and instead created something that could be called Marmalade Gummy Candy.  It's not easily spreadable...though it can be forced to spread on a warm piece of toast but the flavor is damn good!  A must have for those that love the tart and bitter in life, with just a touch of sweet.

seeds of the Seville oranges are the pectin source: they are in a cheesecloth bag

I'm looking at this picture and realizing our stove top is due for a good cleaning!  (By the way...best and gentlest way to clean a stainless steel appliance?  Baking soda and water paste and a paper towel.  Rub in the direction of the grain of the metal, then wipe with damp sponge and dry.  Works great!)

Anyways, Seville Orange Marmalade recipe is as follows:  http://www.davidlebovitz.com/2007/02/seville-orange/ complete with the story of how Seville orange marmalade became popular.  I had no idea orange seeds contained so much pectin.  Next time, I will remove the seeds sooner and take the marmalade off the heat sooner and hopefully have the soft set marmalade I'm aiming for.  My marmalade is very tasty nonetheless.  Three cheers for the warm orange color of marmalade on a grey winter day!

Elderflower Cordial

Pick elderflowers in the morning.  Fill jar and cover with alcohol (I used 100 proof vodka).   Weigh down flowers with a second jar or glass to avoid oxidation. (Optional).  Steep 2 - 4 weeks.  Add sugar or honey, strain and bottle!  

Secret Nest & Maggie's Farm Rum

I thought the chickens were taking a winter break from laying until I moved some things around in their coop and found a pile of 17 eggs.  They had been squeezing behind the straw bales that I store in there until needed as bedding, and laying eggs in a secret hidden spot.  Fine by me; now I know to look there!

Secret Nest

On another note, a group of friends and I visited Maggie's Farm Rum, Pittsburgh's very own rum distillery.  After a tasting, owner Tim Russell gave us a tour and explained the process.  Distilling alcohol is an area where my knowledge base is down near zero, so I just sat back and admired the lovely copper pot still and (kind of) absorbed how it all works.  This I gathered: rum is made from sugar, methanol is bad alcohol and ethanol is good alcohol as far as drinking, and different things come from the distillation process called "heads", "hearts" and "tails".  Maggie's farm re-uses the "tails" and redistills them to get "the heads of the tails" which they use in their signature Queen's Share rums, inspired by rum distillers of days gone by.  Interesting stuff, and good rum!

"Flame Thrower" Habanero Hot Sauce (and chickens)

In the fall, I like to use up the last of my hot peppers and make a hot sauce to give as gifts.  This year our chocolate habanero plant was extremely prolific and since that fruity, hot, hot pepper is one of my favorites, habanero hot sauce was on the menu.  Hot peppers will stay fresh for awhile if you keep them bagged in the fridge.  I didn't exactly follow a recipe for this batch, but I did pH test it, and it is vinegar based with a pH of around 3.7 so it should keep well in the fridge for quite awhile. My previous vinegar sauces were fine for over a year.  I ordered the bottles from Fillmore Container...website can be found here.

I used roughly:

big bag of carrots

1 quart of canned whole tomatoes

onions, a lot (I cant remember how many!  Maybe 10 or so?)

50 habaneros

3 c vinegar

1 c lime juice

1.5 c water

salt to taste

Chop onions and carrots and cook in oil until tender. Add tomatoes and simmer.  Make a paste with habaneros in food processor with some liquid.  Combine everything except lime juice.  Blend well with immersion blender.  Heat through and barely simmer for 20 minutes.  Add lime juice, put through a food mill, and bottle.  

Habanero Hot Sauce

Fancy "taped on" label

In other news the chickens are getting into the holiday spirit by kicking around some evergreen bough trimmings we picked up from a christmas tree seller.  These are woody and will not be breaking down anytime soon but they are a nice bulky, airy bottom to this giant compost pile I'm building for chicken winter entertainment and soil conservation.

Compost Beginnings

Getting into the Holiday Spirit with some evergreen boughs

Fermented Garlic Radishes Recipe

Fermented Radishes

The fermented radishes I made came out very well so I wanted to share the recipe.  It is very simple.

Scrub enough radishes to fill a 10 L crock or several quart jars.  Nestle 2 cloves of garlic per jar or 7 cloves in the crock.  Fill with radishes.  Pour a salt brine over under 1" above radishes.  (Brine = 4c filtered water and 3 T pure pickle salt).  Weigh down radishes.  If in a jar, use a plastic baggie and fill with brine once you stuff it in jar mouth (leave room for this).  The crock has its own ceramic weights to use.  Let fizzle for a week....then refrigerate, or move somewhere very cool.  These are great garlicky snacks, and a plus is that the salt brine draws out the color of the radishes to make a pretty pink display in the jar.  

Sliced Misato Rose Watermelon Radish

Misato Rose Watermelon Radish

Harsch Fermenting Crock

Treating Butternut Squash Right To Maximize Storage Life

Butternut Squash harvest

I love growing butternut squash.  I get a kick out of their sprawling vines, productivity, and ability to provide delicious starch all winter for us as a storage crop.  Butternuts have been so reliably productive, it has been hard to try any other winter squash varieties, but I plan to branch out into the amazing world of winter squash colors and textures and try a few new varieties next year.  In my short squash growing career, I have read many variations on the perfect time to harvest, and the best way to cure butternut squash.  I'll share with you those variations and way I have chosen.

Harvesting:

Many an extension site recommends to harvest when the squash stem has turned from green to brown and the skin is hard enough to resist your fingernail if you try to puncture it.  Fair enough.  However, Butternut take a long time to mature, usually around 100 days, and since I got mine in a little late, they were at the "almost mature but could have used a few more warm weeks" stage in late October.  The extension sites recommend to definitely harvest before a hard frost as cold damage decreases storage length.  Where it got a little murky was that cold damage could occur in the 40s as well.  So....if a long period of nights in the 40s and rain were upon us, is it best to harvest or leave them in the field to hopefully mature fully?  With a mix of completely mature and almost mature squash, I went with harvesting them.  One more tip on testing maturity....green stripes near the stem disappear when the squash is fully mature.

Curing:

It was obvious from the literature that ideal curing happens outside in the field during 10 days of warm sunny weather.  Not the case here during harvest, so I took them inside to cure in the warm basement near the furnace.  Humidity is good during this period.  Another point of contention was to wash the squash and bleach them, or to leave them unwashed.  I wasn't thrilled with dipping my squash in a 10% bleach solution so I went with option 3: gently wash the soil off with water, then a dip in straight vinegar.  In the past, any spoilage that has happened to my squash started near the stems, so I paid particular attention to getting the stems clean.  After drying on towels, 10 days of curing on cardboard cushioned the squash from bruising.

Storage:

Butternuts can store for many months, if storage conditions are perfect.  In fact they taste best after several weeks of storage.  Storing them in a dry, warm location will cause them to dry out and become woody.  So, it was clear ideal temp was 50 - 55 degrees F, with no chance of dipping below 40 degrees F.  The best place I have for that kind of storage is our spare room with the door closed and the radiator turned off.  We have an unheated porch where I am trying to store onions and garlic in an old dishwasher for insulation....but that definitely gets colder than 50 degrees once it really starts getting cold.  Shelves with padding make the squash nice and comfy.  Old fabric or cardboard work well to line the shelves, with space between each squash.  I plan to check regularly for any squash that is going south and eat promptly if found!

Fermentation Station

I have a little area of our counter I call my fermentation station.  In addition to dehydrating, I appreciate lacto fermentation for how quick and easy it is to process and preserve the harvest.  Salt + water + vegetables.  That's it!  Right now at the station I have some sauerkraut, habanero hot sauce, and salad turnips.  They are all bubbling and smelling good.  Full disclosure...ferments can sometimes smell Quite Funky, but still taste delicious!

Turnips, habanero hot sauce, and kraut.

For the turnips I used a brine of 4 c filtered water: 3 T pickling salt (pure salt/no additives).  For the hot sauce, the habaneros got chopped in the food processor with some garlic then sprinkled with salt (2 lb peppers to 2 T salt) and then packed in the jar with a splash of kraut brine to give it a jump start.  The kraut was made with cabbage sliced thinly on a mandolin and then layered in a bowl with sprinklings of salt.  I then knead, squeeze the cabbage and then let it sit for about 15 minutes.  By then it has released juice from the salt and I pack it in the jar with some juniper berries and caraway, punching it down as I add each 4" layer or so.  Then, on top of the ferments, I put a plastic baggie, which I fill with brine.  That serves as a weight to keep all the vegetable matter under the brine and out of contact with the air, which is what causes funkies to grow.  They all then get covered with a towel to keep off the dust.  Sometimes scum will form on top of your brine.  It is not a problem, just remove with a wooden spoon.

Fermentation time is flexible and varies with temperature.  The kraut has been going for a month and I'll let it go a bit longer.  The radishes have only been going a few days and they are already pickling up pretty nicely.  When the hot sauce seems done, I'll strain and press out the seeds and pulp and bottle it.  All our fermented pickles and sauces go in a fridge in the basement, but a cold room would work for storage as well.

Fermenting crock and radishes

The other way I like to ferment is with this harsch fermenting crock.  It has ceramic weights included to take the place of the baggies of brine, and an airlock built in.  The "moat" that the lid sits in gets filled with water.  Small holes allow carbon dioxide to escape, so sometimes you hear your crock burp and gurgle.

Misato Rose radish

I harvested a few of the Misato Rose watermelon radish to put in the pickled radishes.  They are so beautiful and varied, and the flesh is very fine compared to other radishes.  I really enjoyed cutting them, since it was always a surprise what would be inside.

Misato Rose fall radish

In Praise of The Excalibur Dehydrator and The Preservation of Tomatoes

September is the time of year for processing, processing, processing tomatoes.  Pick your weapon: the canning jar, the freezer bag, or the good ol' dehydrator.  I have to admit, after sweating over the stove canning sauce, I have to sing the praises of the ease of dehydration.

I love the idea of solar dehydrators and I think our south facing kitchen window is prime real estate for some "solar drying add on" that could be extended out the window in sunny weather.  But, I digress.  As far as electric dehydrators go, we have a great one.  The Excalibur, a gift from my mom, has been a workhorse when it comes to drying tomatoes.  It costs maybe about 40 - 50 cents per 12 hour drying cycle or so, using about 400 watts.  I can tomatoes and tomato sauce as well, but in terms of little work for big return, drying tomatoes is very rewarding.

Jaune Flamme.  A bit juicy for drying but I'll take it any day, any way.  So delicious!

Dried Tomatoes

A few things I've learned when drying tomatoes...

1) Variety matters.  Meatier, drier tomato varieties are better than super juicy varieties.  Common sense, I know.  Any variety works though, and will, eventually, dehydrate to a nice, leathery state.    A few varieties that I have tried and really like for drying include my favorite, Juliet, and a new trial this year, Heather.  Juliet is like a large grape, slice in half and dry, and Heather is a blocky, tennis ball sized tomato with not so thin skin, easy to slice and not much juice.

Juliet.  My go-to drying tomato.

2) Rotate!  Rotate the trays 1/2 way through.  I find at about 130 degrees a full load of tomatoes dries in 12 - 16 hours, depending on how thick I slice them.  I check every 6 or 8 hours and remove the dried ones and put the "not-done-yet" ones back in.  About 1/2 way through, I rotate the drying trays 180 degrees since the heating fan is in the back of the unit, the back 1/2 of the tray dries first.  Overall drying in the Excalibur dehydrator is much more even than the round models with a heating element in the bottom.

Excalibur dehydrator.  Comes in 4, tray, 5 tray and 9 tray models.

3) Dream Tomato Sauce is easy.  This involves rehydrating some dried tomatoes in hot water and then pulsing in a food processor with olive oil and herbs.  Pasta. Parmesan.  Sigh.

So, when your boiling water canner makes you tired just looking at it, consider dehydration!  I think this type of appliance would be a perfect thing to share between households, since it does cost a nice chunk of change.  I know this sounds like an ad, but trust me, I am getting no kickbacks for endorsing the Excalibur.  It's just simply the queen of the dehydrator lineup.

Dried and Fresh, together.  

Mozzarella at Quiet Creek's Cheesemaking Class

My friend Rebekah makes mozzarella with the instructor Rusty at Quiet Creek Herb Farm's Cheese making class today. The class was organized by PASA. The reference and recipe book we referred to was Home Cheesemaking by Rickie Carrol. She runs an amazing cheese-making-necessity emporium called New England Cheesemaking Supply in South Deerfield Massachusetts where one can order any number of molds, cultures, and cheese press plans.

Farmhouse Cheddar

Applesauce

To make applesauce, follow this information from National Center for Home Food Preservation Check out their site for more detailed tips and information.

Quantity: An average of 21 pounds is needed per canner load of 7 quarts; an average of 13½ pounds is needed per canner load of 9 pints. A bushel weighs 48 pounds and yields 14 to 19 quarts of sauce – an average of 3 pounds per quart.

Quality: Select apples that are sweet, juicy and crisp. For a tart flavor, add 1 to 2 pounds of tart apples to each 3 pounds of sweeter fruit.

Please read Using Pressure Canners and Using Boiling Water Canners before beginning. If this is your first time canning, it is recommended that you read Principles of Home Canning.

Procedure: Wash, peel, and core apples. If desired, slice apples into water containing ascorbic acid to prevent browning. Placed drained slices in an 8- to 10-quart pot. Add ½ cup water. Stirring occasionally to prevent burning, heat quickly until tender (5 to 20 minutes, depending on maturity and variety). Press through a sieve or food mill, or skip the pressing step if you prefer chunk-style sauce. Sauce may be packed without sugar. If desired, add 1/8 cup sugar per quart of sauce. Taste and add more, if preferred. Reheat sauce to boiling. Fill pre-heated jars with hot sauce, leaving ½-inch headspace. Wipe rims, adjust lids to finger tight and process.

Process hot-packed pints for 15 min in a boiling water canner and hot-packed quarts for 25 minutes in a boiling water canner. This applies to altitudes of 0-1,000 ft. For high altitude canning or pressure canning instructions for your sauce, go here.

Canning Tomatoes

Here is Western Pennsylvania, frosts are looming on the horizon. We have not had one yet, but there is definitely a chill in the air and I have one eye on the weather. Over the past few months I have been learning how to preserve foods so we can munch on them over the winter when not much else is growing. I borrowed my coworker's food dehydrator to shrink down the surplus of hot peppers at Garden Dreams and apples that we picked at a local orchard. I turned more of those apples into sauce and Jason and I canned a load of tomatoes since we are fans of tomato sauce anytime. See all that space in our jars? Next time we will fit more in! I definitely learned some helpful things...here are a few things I learned and some books and websites that can further demystify the process of Canning Your Tomatoes. Opinion differs on the neccessity of different canning practices and processes but as a beginner, I figure it is best to stick to the safest and most recent guidelines.

USDA guidelines
Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving
Ball Blue Book of Home Preserving
Lehman's in Ohio - Canning supplies
National Center for Home Food Preservation - Great site with lots of information, even a free online canning course!


Canners - There are pressure canners and water bath canners. I use a borrowed water bath canner at the moment. It is good for fruit preserves and tomatoes (with added acid) but not suitable for canning lower acid foods such as green beans or corn. Low acid foods can be dried, pickled, or frozen instead. I recommend the 7 quart size...I am using 9 quart size and it is quite a beast! The information below relates to water bath canning tomatoes.

pH - "Whether food should be processed in a pressure canner or boiling-water canner to control botulinum bacteria depends on the acidity of the food. Acidity may be natural, as in most fruits, or added, as in pickled food. Low-acid canned foods are not acidic enough to prevent the growth of these bacteria. Acid foods contain enough acid to block their growth, or destroy them more rapidly when heated. The term "pH" is a measure of acidity; the lower its value, the more acid the food. The acidity level in foods can be increased by adding lemon juice, citric acid, or vinegar.
Low-acid foods have pH values higher than 4.6. They include red meats, seafood, poultry, milk, and all fresh vegetables except for most tomatoes. Most mixtures of low-acid and acid foods also have pH values above 4.6 unless their recipes include enough lemon juice, citric acid, or vinegar to make them acid foods. Acid foods have a pH of 4.6 or lower. They include fruits, pickles, sauerkraut, jams, jellies, marmalades, and fruit butters." (National Center for Home Food Preservation)

The recommended addition of bottled lemon juice to canned tomatoes = 2 Tbsp per quart or 1/2 tsp of Citric acid per quart

Botulism - Its the lurking fear in the minds of newly initiated canners. So, do your research, follow recipes exactly, especially while you are learning, to make sure the acid content of the jar is correct and it has been processed correctly.

Quantity - You need about 21-22 lbs of fresh tomatoes for 7 quarts of canned whole, halved, or crushed tomatoes (see USDA link above)

Processing - When you pack your tomatoes, its good to have the jars hot and the water bath canner already 1/2 full of boiling water. Make sure you wipe rims well to ensure a proper seal and only finger tighten lids so air can escape during processing. Put your jars in the rack and lower it, then add more hot water from a tea kettle to cover 2" above jar tops. Process with the lid on and check to make sure the water stays at a gentle boil. Processing over 10 minutes will sterilize your jars and their contents. When you have processed for the proper time, turn off the heat, let your jars sit in the water for about a few minutes, then promptly lift them out with a jar lifter and place them out of the way of drafts. Don't mess with the tops and check for proper seal 24 hrs later.

Rings - Remove them after jars have cooled for 24 hrs. There is no need for them at this point since lids have hopefully sealed. Rings can be reused if they are not rusty but you need new lids every time.

Bubbles - Canning directions call for running a blade-like tool or chopstick around the edge of your jar to get rid of all bubbles and help the jar seal before putting on lids. I did this and still ended up with some bubbles. After some reading and research, I am satisfied that some bubbles are normal and as long as you have a proper seal and no moving bubble streams, you should be good.

Storage - Store at 50-70 degrees for best results and not above 95 degrees. Canned tomatoes should last for at least a year. Once opened, keep in the fridge. Plastic lids are helpful at this point since they don't rust.

Sauerkraut

I did not grow this cabbage but I am practicing for the cabbages I hope will come from the garden. It seems pretty simple:

1 SHRED cabbage

2 LAYER in bowl with seasalt (1-2 TBSP per LB)

3 TAMP as you layer with your fist

4 MIX along with any other vegetables or spices

5 PACK TIGHTLY in a crock or other container

6 PRESS to push out as much water as you can and
submerge the cabbage in its own brine

7 WEIGHT the cabbage so it stays below the brine
and does not contact the air

8 COVER to keep out dusties & WAIT until its ready (1 week +)

9 EAT!

10 VISIT this website to find out more

I used small plastic food grade buckets nested inside each other...the bottom containing the cabbage and the top filled with water to weight the cabbage and make any easy pressing tool to bring out the brine.

Pickles (Before they have turned into Pickles)

Found a great pickle website....awesomepickle.com

I am hoping the pictured items from the garden can turn into salt pickles. Just ferment and then refrigerate...no vinegar or sealing needed! Awesome. Bought some mustard seed and celery seed, and picked some dill. Packed everything tight in the jars with garlic and covered with brine. The sources I found made the brine with 1 TBSP salt (without iodine) per 2-4 C water. Dechlorinated water is recommended (brita filtered, bottled, or tap water left out for 24 hrs) so the chlorine doesn't inhibit fermentation. Check daily to make sure the vegs don't poke out of the brine...they need to stay covered but not tightly covered so the carbon dioxide can escape. Ferment a few days to a few weeks and then refrigerate. Bring on the pickles....I hope it works! For more information, such as health concerns and botulism (seems safe if you learn how it works and how long people have been using the technique), see Sandor Ellix Katz's "Wild Fermentation" book or website.