Pickled Cherry Tomatoes

Between what we are aloted at the CSA to the two cherry tomato plants, we've had an abundance.  Here's a simple recipe to enjoy.  I'll post a note when we actually get into them.

Yield, about four pints

2 quarts of cherry tomatoes
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1c white wine vinegar
1c white vinegar
1 quart water
Garlic and fresh rosemary sprigs for each jar

Wash the tomatoes and with a pin prick each one to help prevent the skin from cracking.  (Worked pretty well for me. Only a few split cherries).

Put all but garlic and rosemary in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Lower heat and boil for 10 minutes.

Pack tomatoes into hot jars into which you've placed a clove of garlic and a sprig (about3-4") of rosemary.  I found the best method for filling was to put a few in at a time and shake the hot jar to make them settle in better. 

Ladle in hot liquid. Leave 1/2" headspace.  Remove any air...I use a bamboo skewer.  Add more liquid as needed.  Adjust two piece caps.

Process in 180 degree water bath for 10 minutes.

I can't wait to try in a few months!

Happy Eating!

Home Canning Books

I really like the new edition of "Ball Blue Book Guide to Preserving", c.2011 by Jarden Home Brands.  It has so many new additions since the last printing.  Some of the relishes and chutneys sound very interesting.  I'm to try a couple and I'll let you know.  It's also my bible.  Whenever I have a question about temperature, processing times, etc. I open it right up.  Also, it has step-by-step directions for canning some of the more popular veggies and fruits.

I don't know if it's still in print, but I also like a lot "Blue Ribbon Preserves", c.2001, Linda J. Amendt and published by HPBooks.  I'll bet you can get on Amazon or Ebay.

I have a bunch others but they have lots of recipes that just weren't appealing to me.  Some of them branch off into freezing, drying and other methods of preserving that are just uninteresting.

If you have special canning books you can recommend, please leave a comment.

Happy Eating!

Homemade sauerkraut.

Fermentation has been used for centuries to preseve food.  Germanic tribes figured out how to ferment cabbage...one of the peasant foods.  Here's my try at it.

Here are the ingredients and the 'crock' to ferment in.  You can use any glass, ceramic or food grade plastic pail.  Avoid stainless because it may become etched by the fermantation process.

Cabbage, Salt and Spices.  Pretty simple.

Here's the recipe:  http://www.wildfermentation.com/resources.php?page=sauerkraut

It's actually a two to four week process, but well worth it and the stranges odors that it creates. Here are some images from the process.

This is one my favorite tools, a madoline. 

This is a fancy one, but there are many resonable models.  Very dangerous!  The blades are as sharp or sharper than a chef's knife.  You adjust the knife to the desired width of the cabbage and you get perfectly sized cabbage shreds everytime.  Makes short work of the cabbage.

Here's an example of the output.  If you look closely, you'll see a fork stuck in the cabbage. I never directly hold the product on the mandoline.  There is a saftey handle for it.

You put the shredded cabbage in the crock or jar and keep pressing it down every couple of inches. It helps to start the salt extract water from the cabbage.

I decided to try some spices this time.  Caraway seeds and Juniper berries

Viola!  Here's the final setup.  The bowl and jar of water are there to make sure the cabbage stays underwater.  I'll check it in the morning and then every couple of days.

Happy eating!