pickling and preserving.....

[KYHeirloomer]

I have. But not recently. Just followed the directions in the Ball Blue Book.

I also do a watermelon preserve, which is an old Eastern Kentucky specialty. This is not the rind, you underestand, but a preserve made from the flesh. Delicious!

[thetincook]

I haven't had any watermelon rind pickle since my grams was around. That stuff is like candy.

[shroomgirl]

Cha ching.....I'd heard strawberry and asparagus season were ending last Wed. Sat. I picked up 12 qts of strawberries, 4# rhubarb (which was not suposed to come back after the horrible frost), asparagus.....all local.....made jams....lots of jam.....orange zest, chambord added for umph....
also picked up another case of baby artichokes and spent last night watching movies and trimming them...they are in a high lemon water bath...probably blanch and freeze the majority of them.
Picked up the new Ball Jar Canning Cookbook for only $1.98 at the grocery store.

[greyeaglem]

I think earlier in this post people were talking about pickled beets. There are two recipes in the Ball Blue Book, one of which my mother always made. It's the simpler of the two. I don't have the book here so I can't look it up. Anyway, it's a very good recipe. She makes great apple butter too, and I know that recipe is in that book also.

[thetincook]

I'm making some watermelon rind pickle tomorrow. I'll let you guys know how it goes...

KYHierloomer- Care to let us in on the secret of the watermelon flesh preserve?

[AndyG]

I heard you guys talking about me, or was that another Andy?

I make my own kim chee. You can drain the brine (Korean) or keep it as King's kim chee does.

I get Korean ground piments for mine. They're not very hot so you can add more for great flavor. A little dried bonito or shrimp paste added before fermenting is good.

[shroomgirl]

I was referring to a professional executive chef named Andy....who works in STL and preserves. As this is under the professional forum that's pretty much the directions I take my threads in....."Professional Chef's Forum Discuss with other professional chefs the latest trends, kitchen and employee issues and more."

[tessa]

is awesome for pickled onions, heres how i make mine, peel all the onions and pack tightly in to wide mouthed jars, then add a tblsp of sugar either white or brown (which gives a slight caramelly flavour with the vinegar)to each jar, a few pinches of pickling spice, then i play with other seasonings, in some jars i would add some hot little red chilies and some garlic, other jars just garlic, and even some jars with out garlic then bring to boil in a stainless steel stock pot malt vinegar and pour over onions , with a table knife, slid down the inside of the edge of the jar ( it stops the jar from cracking and it helps to get rid of the airbubbles, ) cover onions to top of jar, then place lids/seals on tightly, wipe down jars and let sit on a chopping board till cool, let sit in pantry or dark cupboard for 3 weeks before eating

Originally Posted by thetincook

Artichokes...Don't most commercial canned artichokes use a lot of vitamin C to keep the color?

What are you using for containers? Cambros or the big mason jars? I was thinking of trying out sousvide bags for canning.

I always figured the rule of thumb was 50/50 water to vin, but I use more vin with beets. Funny thing about beets, is that at work we just ended up marinating canned beets in the pickle liquid rather then starting from scratch.

This is just personal stuff, the job just buys kosher dills:

Kimchi...My second ever batch of kimchi is finishing aging a month ago. I used napa cabbage, chile piqun powder, ginger, garlic, kosher salt, rice flour, and a very little water. I goofed, and forgot to rinse the salt off the cabbage after purging, so its salty. I've been using it as a seasoning rather then a side dish.

Cherries...If I can get a good deal on cherries this year, I'm going to make "Cherrybim" cherries preserved in whiskey with sugar.

Onions...I'm also going to to make the pickled onions again from the Zuni Cafe cookbook. very good with sammichs.

Any idea's for malt vinegar? I've got a gallon and a half sitting around.

[tessa]

Originally Posted by thetincook

I haven't had any watermelon rind pickle since my grams was around. That stuff is like candy.

that is something that has always intrigued me , i would love totry it, its not something we have here, any chance of sharing the recipe pretty please

Originally Posted by greyeaglem

I think earlier in this post people were talking about pickled beets. There are two recipes in the Ball Blue Book, one of which my mother always made. It's the simpler of the two. I don't have the book here so I can't look it up. Anyway, it's a very good recipe. She makes great apple butter too, and I know that recipe is in that book also.

we do pickled beets here , over here they are called beetroot, really easy recipe if anybody wants it

can you tell me about your apple butter , what do you have it with , and how long does it keep for

Originally Posted by thetincook

I'm making some watermelon rind pickle tomorrow. I'll let you guys know how it goes...

KYHierloomer- Care to let us in on the secret of the watermelon flesh preserve?

[tessa]

how do you make the apple butter (if you dont mind sharing the recipe)

[thetincook]

Apple butter is the super reduced version of apple sauce. It scorchs like mad, so it needs to be stirred alot at the end. You can do the same thing with pumpkins or quinces.


For watermelon pickle, I still trying to get my aunts recipe. Otherwise, I'll be using the recipe from the Bell book or whatever.

The basic procedure is:

Peel watermelon rind and dice in ~1 inch cubes. Soak in a week brine overnight.

Drain and rinse the next day.

Cook the rind with sugar, vinegar, warm sweet spices (clove, all spice, cinnamon, black peppercorn etc), I think you add a little water as well. Until rind is tender.

Can if you want to, or store in fridge.

[AndyG]

Originally Posted by shroomgirl

I was referring to a professional executive chef named Andy....who works in STL and preserves. As this is under the professional forum that's pretty much the directions I take my threads in....."Professional Chef's Forum Discuss with other professional chefs the latest trends, kitchen and employee issues and more."

I was joking. But I get your point. I'm leaving.

[tessa]

you have to be quite careful with them as the inner kernal contains arsenic i think

Originally Posted by greyeaglem

This is the tomato jam recipe that's been in my family for more than 100 years. 7lbs tomatoes, peeled and put into a colander to drain. 7 lbs sugar, 3 lemons, 3 oranges, 2 T. chopped candied ginger, 2 cinnamon sticks, 1 tsp ground cloves. Slice the lemons and oranges paper thin, rind and all, no seeds. After the tomatoes have drained for awhile, combine all ingredients and cook until thick. Remove cinnamon sticks. Put in sterilized jars while hot and seal with canning lids, or put in sterile container and refrigerate. You can reduce the sugar by a couple of cups and use gelatin or Sure gel to thicken it some. You can also make this using green tomatoes, but the sugar needs to be increased by 1 cup. Green tomato preserves will turn nearly black when cooked, which is normal.
In response to Shroom Girl's apricot jam, it would be better to leave the peels on like you did because there's pectin in the skin (same with peaches and most other fruits). I usually run the cooked pulp through a colander to remove the skins and then add the sugar and cook down like for apple butter. Somehow though, I had the impression that apricot seeds were poisonous. I know the pit from some kind of common fruit is. Anybody know what I'm trying to think of?

[tessa]

So would that make like a solid block, like as in quince pate or would it be a softer construction
and what would you use apple butter for

Originally Posted by thetincook

Apple butter is the super reduced version of apple sauce. It scorchs like mad, so it needs to be stirred alot at the end. You can do the same thing with pumpkins or quinces.


For watermelon pickle, I still trying to get my aunts recipe. Otherwise, I'll be using the recipe from the Bell book or whatever.

The basic procedure is:

Peel watermelon rind and dice in ~1 inch cubes. Soak in a week brine overnight.

Drain and rinse the next day.

Cook the rind with sugar, vinegar, warm sweet spices (clove, all spice, cinnamon, black peppercorn etc), I think you add a little water as well. Until rind is tender.

Can if you want to, or store in fridge.

[thetincook]

Originally Posted by tessa

So would that make like a solid block, like as in quince pate or would it be a softer construction
and what would you use apple butter for

Apple and pumpkin butters are more like a thick puree.