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Tag Archives: culinary

Once a Month Canning, #3

Nothing like procrastinating until the last day of the month but here we are. Earlier this month I did buy two large boxes of produce: one box of bell peppers which we chopped and put in the freezer; and a mixed box of avocados & tomatoes, which we ate fresh. No other appropriate for canning deals were presented to me! 😉 I really did not think I was going to make it.

Then today, I got a call while at work from my friend Barbara. IGA had boxes of mushrooms for $10 each. So I splurged and got two for us and two for Mo! She even delivered them to me! What a deal!

Once home I put the kiddos to work helping slice up one full box. They a took a turn slicing & dicing. Thing 1 had prepped jars for me and got the kitchen in order for canning. A big help!

Once prepped I started blanching them and filling jars. I ended up with 21 half pints in the canner. I’m going to process at 11# for 45 mins.

Blanched ‘shrooms in the jar.

A case of canned mushrooms, in the little cans, is about $14 here. So $24.50 if I had bought them the same amount, and my jars are larger than the little cans. Basically I got a 1 3/4 cases of ‘shrooms for $10, less than half price. Great deal!

Besides canning this evening I made some farmer’s cheese with a gallon of fresh goat milk I also got from Barbara! I’ve got friends with the goods!!

Cheese with spices, ready to mix.

All mixed up: chipotle, garlic & parsley. This will be great on tacos or enchiladas! Fresh from the farm cheese.

Besides all this food prep I made dinner. Whew, I’m tired. It feels good to have put up an entire box of mushrooms. The other box will be used divided up between fresh use and dried. Many thanks to my kiddos & Barbara for helping me achieve my March OAMC goal!!

Pretty mushrooms in jars

Fermenting

I scored a big box of mixed citrus at the local IGA today so I thought I’d try out my new fermentation weights I got for my birthday!

Thanks Mo, best gift ever!

The box had lemons, limes, oranges and grapefruit. We’ll eat the oranges and grapefruit fresh but I have way too many lemons and limes to use up in time. So what better way to preserve them but to ferment them! Fermented lemons are so delicious! But I haven’t tried limes yet. No time like the present!

I used this recipe as my guide/inspiration.

I sterilized my quart jars and weights and started prepping my lemons & limes. I washed them thoroughly and quartered them not cutting all the way through. I kept them attached at the base, like little blooming citrus flowers.

I packed them tightly in a jar layering salt liberally in-between the fruit. I used about a half a cup of pickling salt per jar. I filled in gaps with quarter slices and topped off the jar with fresh squeezed juice.

Weight in place, submerged in the salty lime juice.

I had some jalapeno peppers in the fridge that needed attention so I threw those together with some sliced onions, garlic and sliced lime, covered with saltwater brine. I’ll leave my jays on the counter for about a month then move to the fridge.

Now the hard part, waiting until they are ready. Fermented lemons are so good and have such intense flavor. Perfect in recipes calling for lemon juice, rind or flavoring. Once fermented, the rinds are edible. Chop them up in tiny dices and add to any dish calling for lemon something or other. Add the juice as well. It’s all good. I hear that fermented limes make a killer margarita. I’ll be trying that out sometime this summer I’m sure!

They’re so pretty!

If you like Indian Food…

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If you like Indian Food…
This is *the* best seasoning for butter chicken!! You've got to try it!

Chicken & Sausage Gumbo

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Chicken & Sausage Gumbo
I'm making all the spicy foods today.

Once a Month Canning?

I’ve read a few blogs recently where they focus on canning something different every month. Usually something in season, like Salmon in June or garden produce in August. During the off-season they still find something to can like beans or meats. This keeps the pantry stocked and adds variety, which is always good.

I love the concept and I’m thinking of giving it a try. It’s more motivation to keep me on a regular schedule.

I managed to get my turkey soup canned up on the last day of January (WTG me!) and so I’m ready to figure something out for February.

First thing is to check the pantry and see what’s needed. Well, not fish, for sure. Or jams/jellies, we’re pretty well stocked. I’m down to one jar of canned black beans, out of soup (good thing I’ve got some fresh jars to move into the pantry today) and out of canned beef and moose. I still have some canned chicken.

Soups are an important mainstay in our winter diet. Soup and sandwich for lunch on a cold day is so warming and filling.

I think that’s where I need to focus. Beef stew sounds good but I’ll have to keep my eye open at the grocery store for special deals, that will be my deciding factor. Bean soup sounds hearty and tasty too. Our local butcher, Echo Lake Meats, makes a beef Canadian bacon that is so tender and delicious. It would work to sub out for the ham in this recipe. Mexican chicken soup sounds delightful as well.

Homemade cream of mushroom sounds good too… Or this version of you want a already thickened cream of mushroom soup. And I just happen to have some mushrooms on hand. But I could also make this, decisions, decisions.

Off to gather ingredients!

I settled on making some beef stew and bean soup in pints. Processed 11# for 75 minutes. That will give us a nice variety for our work lunches!

And just like that, I’m off to a great start with once a month canning!!

My canning shirt from my Seester.

Novem, Nyne, 9

Nine days in, feeling pretty good. Having fruit yesterday was so nice.

I’ve got the day off from work today while Dean does snow removal, it’s work at home day for me! I’ve got lots of files to upload for the kids’ school. I need to catch up on housework, oy. And it looks like it’s going to be a beautiful day. Clear blue skies right now.

I made the salad for lunch that I’ve been talking about, y’all, it was amazing! The picture doesn’t do it justice!

Grapefruit, Avocado & Fennel Salad

Here’s the recipe I actually used. I substituted a pomelo for the grapefruit. It takes a bit for the prep, peeling the pomelo segments. The girls also enjoyed it. I will definitely make this again. I feel like I have a better appreciation for the flavors in this salad after being off sugar for a week.

Dinner tonight will be instapot chili from scratch.

6 Days Old

I made it through Sabbath and oneg without too much trouble. Thankfully there weren’t too many temptations!

I’m looking forward to eating fruit again, of course I have to wait a little longer. I found this recipe for citrus & avocado salad that looks scrumptious. It’s on the menu for Monday! I’ll just omit the sugar in the dressing. It will be sweet enough with the oranges & grapefruit.

The Things We Do Without

Living in the far North is not only a beautiful and majestic experience but it’s a lesson in working with what you have, especially with food.

Our climate here in South Central is mild compared to other parts of Alaska. With our long daylight hours in summer we can grow a vast array of vegetables. Some of which can get quite large, huge cabbage anyone? Cruciferous vegetables do very well here as do potatoes, carrots, rhubarb and others. What doesn’t do well here are long season and heat loving growers like pumpkins, eggplant, tomatoes and okra.

We can grow tomatoes, in greenhouses, and I have friends who do successfully each year. Usually there’s a sample of tomatoes and cucumbers from our friends Jane & Marion each summer. The taste of those fresh veggies just does something magical to my soul. There’s just no comparison with grocery store veg.

The one thing I haven’t been able to grow, and I haven’t found anyone else who is either, is okra. I tried one year, got some blooms. But just as the blooms were falling off and baby okra buds were appearing we had a hard frost and I lost everything in the greenhouse. A real bummer.

Locally okra is available two ways: pickled and frozen. The pickled okra is $5 for a small jar which is reserved for special occasions and not regularly purchased. I do buy the frozen quite often though. I make do. Sometimes I bread it frozen and fry it but usually it just goes into a gumbo or my “good & plenty” southern casserole.

The price has gone up!

I once saw fresh okra at a local store about 7-8 years ago, and I got excited! But as soon as I got close enough to examine it all hope was lost. It was already too far gone to eat. Boo!

So I’ll continue to make do with my frozen okra and whenever I’m outside at the right season I’ll gorge myself on fresh okra and tomatoes!

Here’s a great resource about okra and some recipes to try. Not only is it tasty but it’s really good for you. And I’ll walk you through my hot dish recipe.

Good & Plenty Southern Casserole

You will need 2 cans of black eyed peas, or equivalent of home-cooked, 1 can Rotel or similar style tomatoes with chilies, I pkg frozen okra (or fresh if you’re so lucky), Cajun seasoning, 1 lb sausage, (I use chicken, turkey or homemade moose) and a batch of cornbread batter. You can use a box mix or make it from scratch.

Fry the sausage until cooked through. Add the cans of veg, Cajun seasoning to taste and frozen okra. Mix well. Pour into a large casserole dish (13×9) then top with the cornbread batter.

Mixture before the cornbread.

Bake in a 350° oven until the cornbread is golden and filling is bubbling hot.

To serve: cut into portions and serve it upside down, cornbread on bottom and filling piled on top. A little hot sauce on top and enjoy! It’s great as a main course or as a side.

Use pre-cooked sausage for a super fast and easy casserole.

After a busy day of craft showing and lots of high energy kids I need a super easy dish! Let me know if you try it!

Using Foraged Food

Back in September when Niki was here, we foraged a lot of food. We picked abundant low-bush cranberries, rosehips and crabapples. I found the perfect recipe on Pinterest to make with all three them!

Over at The Backyard Forager I found this gem, Cranberry, Rosehip & Crabapple chutney. It’s amazing and very simple to make. One variation I made was to leave the rosehip seeds in and then put the cooked mixture through a ricer to make a smooth sauce. So much simpler than seeding those little hips.

It’s amazing with turkey.

Cooking the chutney.

I cannot wait to use it to top a latke with cream cheese & smoked salmon, it’s gonna be delicious!

I bet it’s wonderful on top of salmon croquettes too.

It’s going on some grilled chicken soon.

The possibilities are endless.

I can’t tell how good it feels to eat delicious food that you foraged yourself. Alaska feeds us so well.

Head over to The Backyard Forager, there’s a plethora of information there, recipes, online classes, and much more.

One of my birthday gifts, getting ready to try it!!

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One of my birthday gifts, getting ready to try it!!
Amazing flavor, the intensity builds but not unpleasant. My new favorite, not sharing!!