Canning and Preserving

Butternut Squash Soup Base

I had butternut squash soup for the first time this past year and I LOVED it. It took me a while to figure out exactly how to get the flavor I wanted. But, when I did, it was SPOT ON! As a matter of fact, my youngest saw the preserved squash in the pantry yesterday and asked when I was going to make the soup, again. He had it for the first time when I did my trial run.

6 butternut squash (should be around 7 lbs)
3 quarts of water minimum
6 chicken bouillon cubes

Sterilize six jars and lids. I like to keep them warm in a 250 degree oven in the bottom part of a broiling pan with a bit of water in the bottom for the lids to rest in. Prepare your pressure cooker. It's helpful if your water is boiling when you are ready to put the jars in. Into a four-quart boiling pan, add your water. Peel your butternut squash. A vegetable peeler actually works really well. Cut in half and seed the squash. Then, cut it into one-inch chunks. Boil the squash for two minutes. While it boils remove your jars from the oven and place a bouillon cube into each one. After the two minutes, pack the jars with squash. Fill the jars with the water and leave an inch of head space. Dry the tops of the jars and the lids. Place lids on jars with rings. Screw rings on finger tight. Process for 90 minutes at 11 lbs of pressure.

When you are ready to make soup, it's SUPER easy. I pour the preserved squash and broth into a pan and begin it heating on medium heat. Once it's bubbly, I use my immersion blender to make a smooth mixture. I like to add about 1/3 cup of heavy cream to the mix for flavor. You can salt and pepper to taste. I also like to top with Asiago cheese.


Bread and Butter Pickles

Well, I have to admit, I have never been a fan of this type of pickle. The sweet and sour taste has always thrown me off. I made them at first because my guys like them. Now, I can't stop thinking about them. The texture has always bothered me a little, too. I feel like pickles should be crunchy. I've come up with a pretty good way to keep some of the crunch and get the flavor all at once. Here's my recipe:

About 2 1/2 lbs of pickling cucumbers (a little more or less won't hurt, I always err on the side of more because packing doesn't hurt, either.
Two medium yellow (I prefer sweet) onions
1/8 cup pickling or kosher salt
1 1/4 cup white vinegar
1 cup apple cider vinegar
2 1/4 cups sugar
1 T mustard seeds
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
1 tsp celery seeds
6 allspice berries
1/8 tsp ground allspice
1 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp calcium chloride pellets

Four sterilized pint jars and lids (once they are clean, I like to keep them in the oven at 250 degrees with a little water in the bottom of the pan for the lids until I'm ready to use)

Slice the cucumbers about 1/4 inch thick. Thinly slice the onions. Toss the mixture with the pickling salt. This should be refrigerated for three hours. I like to put a tea towel on top filled with ice to help the mixture weep. I actually have a big "crock" bowl like pottery that I like to use for this.

Prep pressure cooker for hot water bath. Water should be at a level that is at least an inch above the tops of the jars. 

Just before time is up, Mix everything in a big boiling pan on the stove EXCEPT four of the allspice berries and the calcium chloride. Rinse the cucumber mixture until you feel all the salt has been washed off and drain well. Bring the mixture on the stove to a boil. Once all the sugar is dissolved and the mixture is boiling, add the cucumber mixture. Remove jars from oven. Into each jar add one allspice berry and 1/8 tsp of calcium chloride. As soon as the mixture on the stove boils, turn it down to low and hot pack the pickles into the warm jars. Fill to the top leaving about 1/4 inch of head space with the vinegar mixture. Dry your lids and tops of jars. Place lids on top and add rings until finger tight.

Process in a hot water bath for 15 minutes. These are seriously edible the next day. But, the longer they sit, the more the flavors develop.

Dill Pickles

Well, my husband is a picky pickle eater. He makes my life difficult with his pickiness. There's really only one brand of pickle he likes to buy. So, needless to say, having him eat my homemade pickles was a bit nerve-wracking. So, after a couple of long days, I have about 15 quarts of pickles sitting in the pantry that the guy I married have deemed "pretty good". Please keep in mind that the measurements are a good estimate and not exact because of cucumber size and such.

20-25 pickles
5 cups white vinegar
3 quarts water
3/4 cup canning salt
2 tsp calcium chloride
16 sprigs fresh dill
8 tsp dill seed
8 quart jars
8 tsp sugar

Wash and cut the cucumbers to a size that leaves about 1/2 inch of head space in jars. Fill a cooler with about three inches deep of ice. Add water until the cooler is half full. Soak the cucumbers in the water for about three hours. While they are sitting, you can prepare the jars. Sterilize jars and lids with hot water. Most of the time, a dishwasher can sterilize well enough. I personally like to keep the lids in hot water until I need them. In a large stainless steel or enamel pot, add the vinegar, water, and salt. Bring to a boil and keep boiling until the salt is completely dissolved. While this heats, add two sprigs of dill, 1/4 tsp calcium chloride, 1 tsp of dill seed and 1 tsp of sugar to each jar. Tightly pack the jars with the cucumbers. Fill each jar with the brine mixtures. Leave 1/4-1/2 inch of head space in the jar. Wipe the tops of the jars and the lids. Add the lids and put the rings on until finger-tight. Process in a hot water bath for ten minutes. Allow to rest for five minutes and then remove from water. The longer these sit, the more complex the flavor.



Tomato Confit

Here's another thing that happened with tomatoes this summer. I have ONE single cherry tomato plant and it has taken over my garden spot, my walkway, and even my yard! It's growing up the side of the house and down behind my rose bushes! It's crazy! This confit is something you'd like to put on toast points or toasted French or Italian bread with maybe a little fresh Parmesan or Asiago. It's fairly easy, just takes a little bit of time.  You'll notice I have no measurements here. It's totally a taste preference for you. (You can also use other herbs. I just like basil.)

30 or so cherry tomatoes
olive oil
fresh basil
minced garlic
kosher salt

Preheat oven to 425. Layer the bottom of a cookie sheet pan with olive oil. Pour freshly washed tomatoes on pan. I used probably a tablespoon or more of minced garlic in olive oil and sprinkled it all around the tomatoes. I then took some basil from my plants, tore the leaves and stuck them in a fairly even pattern around the tomatoes. I sprinkled kosher salt around the whole thing and stuck it in the oven. After this had baked for around 20-25 minutes and the house smelled so amazing, people came searching for the source of the smell, I took it out and let it cool. Some of the tomatoes had split and some had roasted a bit which was perfect. You just want them to be easily mashed with a fork. But, don't mash them all and lose all that great juice. I removed the basil because it just didn't look great and I wasn't sure how it would preserve. I poured everything into a sterilize pint jar. There wasn't quite enough juice and oil to cover the tomatoes, so, I added a bit more. I don't like to put things away if the fruits/veggies aren't covered in juice or broth or oil of some sort. Anyway, it's in the fridge, now, just waiting for some toasted bread. It should keep for a few weeks, if it lasts that long around here...


Shannon's Salsa

If you had told me that four tomato plants would make so many tomatoes I'd have a hard time keeping up, I would have thought you were joking. I planted two regular tomato plants and two Roma tomato plants and I think I've gathered more than 20 pounds of tomatoes in the last two months. My Romas have been getting as big as my fist. Unfortunately, we've had a rather dry summer or who knows what might have happened. I did mix ash from our fire pit into the tomato plot. That may have a lot to do with the exponential growth. Anyway, Chris ate nearly an entire pint of salsa by himself,  yesterday. So, I'd say I did pretty well with this one.

I started by dipping the tomatoes in boiling water until the skin split and then dropping them in ice water. I pulled the skins off and rough chopped them. You can choose to seed them if you want. I didn't. I then put them into a large pot on the stove and set them to medium-high heat. Then, I used a potato masher to smash them a bit while they heated. I don't know exactly how many tomatoes or pounds of tomatoes I started with, I just know what I ended up using as a measurement, so, here goes...

4 cups of smashed tomatoes
3/4-1 cup of diced onion (it's your preference, I prefer less)
1/2 cup fresh lime juice
1 T minced garlic
1 tsp kosher salt
4 finely minced medium sized cayenne peppers (also from my garden)
1 T chopped cilantro

Once I had all of the ingredients together, I let the tomatoes cook for just a couple of minutes while I mashed them with the potato masher. Then, I added everything else and let it simmer on medium for about ten minutes. I took the immersion blender and blended everything to the size I wanted. That again is a personal preference. I like mine pretty finely minced. I let it simmer for about ten more minutes. I like to hot pack the salsa. To do this, I had the jars and lids in a pan in the oven (broiler bottom pan) with about a half inch of water at 200 degrees while the salsa cooked. Once I got the jars packed, I cleaned the rims and lids well and put them together. I put the rings on finger tight. I then processed the salsa in a boiling water bath for ten minutes. Now, because everyone in my family has different tastes, I changed the recipe up for the ones who want it hotter. To do that, I simply added more cayenne to the bottoms of the jars and marked the lids with a sharpie. The ink just fades a little during processing. This recipe makes two pints. Yesterday, I had enough tomatoes to make seven pints. Let me know if you try it and what you think!