Free Preserving Class

I stumbled across this the other day, and wanted to share it with you: the National Center for Home Food Preservation has a free, self-paced, online class on food preservation techniques! I enrolled the other day, and it took about a week for everything to get set up, but I'll be starting the class later today. I enjoy learning new things, so any time there's an opportunity for a free class on something I'm interested in, you can bet I'm going to sign up for it and/or tell everyone I know about it.

The course is offered through the University of Georgia's Cooperative Extension program, and there are four units, according to the syllabus: Intro to Food Preservation, General Canning, Canning Acid Foods and Canning Low Acid Foods. I'm hoping they get into drying and other methods in the first unit, but even if they don't, this looks promising. I'll keep you posted on how it goes!

Are you going to sign up? I'd love to hear your thoughts on the course!

PS: Don't forget about our Fall Giveaway! Leave a comment on the blog post to enter; I want to know what hobbies you have that get you through the winter months!

Link Love

Now that I've had some time to settle in and get caught up on the latest happenings online, I've found a handful of links for you to peruse this weekend. Enjoy!

• First up: Sweet and Savory Tomato Jam from Food52. I've never had tomato jam, but this one makes me want to try it!
• Chocolate Chip Zucchini Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting. Pardon me, I may just faint. 
• Wait, what? Ricotta Ice Cream!
• I would love to make one of these quilts, with patches from all of the National Parks. 
• We don't have a glut of eggs yet, but we did get 7 from the ladies yesterday. So, this article on preserving eggs just might come in handy soon.  
• Forager|Chef: a new-to-me blog that makes me hungry. Really Hungry. 
• Roasted Figs with Goat Cheese and Honey! Oh hell yes.

Finally- a question for you, dear reader: What do you want to see more of? The gardening season is definitely starting to wind down; preserving will take over for a while, but even that is short-lived. Before we know it, Autumn and Winter will be here and with them comes "inside time". I want to make sure that this place stays relevant for you, so please, take a moment to leave me a comment here or on Facebook- I want to know how you pass the time during the winter! 

Food Preservation: Freezing

Now that the garden is more or less on auto-pilot, it's time for me to focus on getting things brought in and stored for the winter. With the weather still being really warm, however, I don't really have an interest in breaking out the canning supplies and making up huge batches of... anything. I'd much rather put that sort of project on hold for a rainy day. So, I turn to my freezer. It's a great way to put up small batches of produce, keeping things manageable in the kitchen.

Berries lend themselves particularly well to freezing. Yes, the texture can change dramatically once thawed, but with frozen berries I feel like I have more options on their use. I can put them in baked goods, use them in smoothies, make fruit leather, or even make a jam out of them. If I were to can them up front, I'd lose that flexibility. 

Freezing berries couldn't be any easier. First, wash your fruit and let them dry a bit. I just leave them to drip dry in a colander for a few minutes, while I gather up my baking sheet and make sure there's a space cleared in the freezer. Then, I spread the berries out in a single layer, and pop it in the freezer. The next morning (or in a couple of hours, if I remember) the berries are frozen solid and can go into a freezer bag or your container of choice. Since they were frozen individually, they stay separated and I can just measure out whatever I need as I go. 

Veggies are also easy to freeze at home, but they generally need a quick blanch in some boiling water, in order to halt enzyme activity and keep the texture/color at its best. Here's a handy link to the National Center for Food Preservation website and their list of blanching times, by veg. Once the blanching is done, I treat them the same as I do the berries: freeze in a single layer, then portion out into vacuum-sealed bags. I even have a couple of bags of green beans left from last year in the freezer, and they still look and taste great!

I also like to make use of my freezer for pre-cooked meals. Whenever I make a batch of something that I'd consider a one-dish meal (soup, stews, chili, etc.) I like to make a little extra so I can freeze it for lunches or a fast dinner. I like using my straight-sided canning jars for this, as they can go right from the freezer to the microwave (minus the metal ring/lid), if someone's in a hurry.Otherwise, they thaw nicely in the fridge. I generally avoid using jars with a necked-down opening, just because it's harder to get something out if it's still frozen. 

The key to using glass in the freezer is to always remember that liquids expand as they freeze. In order to avoid any shattered containers, I do two things: first, I make sure to leave at least an inch of space between the food and the top of the jar. Second, I initially freeze the jars overnight without their lids on, and then cover them the next morning- no lid means that the filling in the jar has a place to go, if I happen to have overfilled it. If you're not keen on leaving something uncovered, then use some plastic wrap or foil in the interim. Once everything is frozen and the lids are on, the jars stack nicely in the freezer until you're ready to use them. 

Do you make use of your freezer to preserve foods from your garden? Stop by Facebook and tell me about it!

Prolific Pods

My garden is being taken over by the Rat's Tails again. I planted maybe half of what I did last year, and I still can't keep up with all of them. I go out and pick some every morning and again in the afternoon, but the pods seem to grow exponentially, over night. It's like Invasion of the Body Snatchers over here.

I'm trying a different tactic today- instead of picking off individual pods, I'm pruning the plants back to a new flower stem, in hopes that it will buy me some time in between harvests. Only time will tell how that turns out, but in theory, it should work out nicely. I'll keep you posted.

For now, though- here's what I got from trimming:

Pile of Pods

All cleaned up

But what to do with them? Why, pickle them, of course! Last year I let them get way too big, and the pods got too tough and woody to really be enjoyable. I thought lacto-fermenting would soften them up enough, but it wasn't quite enough. The flavor was great, though- briny, spicy and they kept some of their radish bite, although it was toned down a bit. This year, I wanted to make sure to get a batch in while they're still small.

Fermentation Station

One of the things I like best about making fermented pickles is that it's really forgiving. I can make the batch as large or as small as I want, so it's excellent for experimenting. I got about 2 cups of tails today, so that was plenty for a little batch. I used a cup of brine from the sauerkraut I made previously, just to kick start it, but all you really need is salt, water, and whatever spices. Here's the run down of what's in my jar:

• 2 cups rat's tail pods
• 4 oz carrots, sliced 1/8th inch thick. 
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 tablespoon mixed pickling spice (use whatever brand you like)
• 2 tablespoons kosher salt
• 1 cup existing brine
• 2 cups water

Everything went in the jar, in the order you see them above. I cleaned the pods, then sliced the carrots on my mandolin, and dropped them both into the jar. Next I peeled the garlic, and plunked that into the jar, whole. In went the pickling spice and salt, and I shook the jar really hard at this point, to combine everything and kind of bruise up the veg a little bit. The liquids went in last, and then I carefully sunk a smaller jar inside as a weight to keep the veggies submerged. Once that was in to my liking, I used a piece of cheesecloth and one of the rings to keep any debris out of the brine while it's fermenting. 

(If you want to try this, and don't have live brine to use, double the salt and use 3 cups of water total.)

This will sit on the counter for about a week- since it's so warm right now, it should ferment pretty quickly. I'll keep an eye on it to make sure everything stays submerged, since it's under the liquid where all of the magic happens. I'll also need to skim off any foam that may show up on the surface, but for the most part, this will be hands off from here on out. I'll start tasting the pods after 4 days or so, and when it's to my liking, stick a lid on it and put the jar in the fridge to slow any future fermentation. (Unlike a vinegar pickle, it never stops- but the cold will slow it down considerably.)

Easy peasy! Have you ever tried making fermented pickles? 

Thursday Links

I haven't spent a ton of time online this week- friends of ours offered us the chance to get away for a couple of days and stay down at their place on the coast. As much as I love the mountains, the ocean holds a special place in my heart- so we jumped at the opportunity. Thankfully, my mom is able to take care of the animals and garden for us, making it possible to sneak off for a little while. (Thanks, Mom!)

One of the things that I like best about heading out for a couple of days, is how dramatic the changes seem when we get back. We went from no strawberries to a handful of red ones, and a whole bunch more that are almost there. The peas had just sprouted, and their leaves weren't open yet- yesterday each one had at least four leaves on them. Hooray! Between photos from the trip and here, I've got some good pics to share tomorrow.

But for today, we'll keep it simple and stick to our regular routine. Here's what's caught my eye around the web this week:

• I'm thinking more and more about goats these days. There's a goat rescue not far from here; I plan on volunteering with them to get some more experience with the animals so I can see if they'd be a good fit for us at some point. 
• This "ice cream" looks fantastic. I'm going to have to make some ice and dig out my machine. 
• And while I'm thinking about frozen desserts- does any one else make this? We always have frozen bananas on hand- well, we used to anyway. I seem to run out now... It's great plain, but I like to add a little nutella for grins. 
• My chives need a haircut, so I'm going to make up a batch of this vinegar. Beautiful!
• I've been spending a lot more time with my camera set to things other than "auto" lately. This article has been very helpful!

That's all, for now. What have you been reading online this week?

Food Preservation- An Overview

There's a lot of information out there about canning, which is a pretty great thing, in my opinion. Often times, though, it can be overwhelming to read a story about how the writer processed and canned a couple hundred pounds of, say, tomatoes- in just two days! I love the idea of doing that, don't get me wrong- but for most people, unless you're planning on taking a day off from work and/or inviting some friends over, it's just not practical. 

I don't know about you, but for me, if something is impractical or inconvenient I find it difficult to fit it into my day- let alone make it a routine. This is where knowing your options comes in handy, and a really great place to start is over at the National Center for Home Food Preservation website. There are also a number of excellent bloggers out there who focus on food preservation, but I'm getting ahead of myself already. 

Freezing. Dehydrating. Canning. Fermenting/Pickling. Curing/Smoking. These are all ways to store different foods, and in many cases can be done in small batches so that it's not a huge time commitment. Freezing can be as simple as doubling a recipe, and packaging up the extra half for another time. I do that often when I make soups- I'll freeze up individual portions in jars, so we have them for later. (Yes, you can freeze in glass. You just have to allow space for expansion- I'll go over this in another post.)

Dehydrating is a great way to preserve things- and you can do it with more than just fruit. If you're a hiker or a camper, getting into dehydrating your trail/camp foods can save you a chunk of change. Vegetables (hello, zucchini), herbs, meats and even some soups can all be dried at home. I have a dehydrator that I use, but an oven works just fine, if you're just wanting to try it out. Remember, people have been dehydrating things since long before our modern appliances came around, so you don't need fancy gear to get started. 

Canning... oh, how I love canning! Taking fresh, in-season food and making it shelf stable is practically magic, in my book. Yes, there are safety issues that you need to be aware of - like botulism - but once you know the rules it's easy to play the game. There are TONS of great resources for canning; tried-and-true recipes, that will turn out safe to store as well as delicious, provided you follow the instructions.

Fermenting and Pickling are also great ways to preserve things, and they go way beyond the sandwich pickles that you find in the grocery store. Sauerkraut, kimchi, giardiniera- I think nearly every culture in the world has their own signature fermented/pickled dish. Fermenting takes a little more time, but that's how it was done, before you could go buy gallon jugs of vinegar. Not that there's anything wrong with a quick pickle... they certainly have their place too. 

I haven't done much curing and smoking, for no reason other than I just haven't gotten around to it. I do, however, have plans to build a smoker this year. I love smoked salmon, so when that season comes around, I want to take a stab at it. Of all the methods above, though, curing and smoking do take the most time but a good portion of that is hands-off. 

Of course, these are just broad categories to describe the processes you can use to preserve things. We'll go over each one in more detail over the next few weeks, complete with recipes and links to other great sites to get you started. Until then, check out the basics over at the National Center, and start thinking about your favorite preserved foods so we can talk about them over on Facebook!

What's your favorite method of preserving?