Step-By-Step: Traditional Preserves

Before you read this post, please understand that home canning carries with it inherent risks. Please, please make sure you are taking every precaution to avoid introducing bacteria into your canning process. I recommend taking a class, reading plenty of information about home canning, and working with a buddy who has also taken steps like these. And of course, inspect your canned goods before eating them to check for any signs of them going bad (smells, etc.). Once you're prepared, canning is a lot of fun!

Making traditional preserves isn’t much harder than freezer jam, but it does require a little more work and one very important step. The key to home canning is keeping everything clean. Since the jars will be stored in a pantry instead of the fridge, they must start out squeaky clean and stay that way throughout the entire process. This is what will keep you safe from the home-canner’s biggest fear: botulism!

Canning is easiest when you have a few tools at hand. The basic canning tools, which are really handy, are:

• stock pot, large enough to cover your tallest jar by about an inch of water

• jar tongs

• canning rack (this can be DIYed with a few extra canning rings)

• wide-mouth funnel

• jars, lids, and bands

• magnetic lid-lifter

If you’re taking a one-time shot at canning, you can get by with what you have in your kitchen. A big pot and some regular tongs will do the trick. But if you foresee that you’ll be canning each season, invest a few bucks in a canning utensil set. Lately, I’ve been using mine almost every weekend for small batches.

The first rule about canning? Keep it clean. Start with clean jars.

To begin, fill your large stock pot about three-quarters with hot tap water. Put the canning rack (or canning rings) at the bottom of the pot, and place empty jars (no lids) in the water. Be sure the jars are full of water and totally submerged. Set the pot on the back burner, turn on the heat, cover with a lid, and get that pot boiling. As it comes to a boil, the jars will be sterilized. Putting them in the bath before turning the heat on will save you from cracking glass due to extreme temperature changes!

While the jars are sterilizing, get started on your preserves.  

Peach preserves begin the same way as freezer jam: first, you’ve got to peel and pit the peaches.

The fruit then needs to be cut, chopped, or mashed. I chose to mash.

Meanwhile, you’ll want to ready the lids. Canning lids have a reddish seal on the underside. In order to make sure your jars seal properly, you’ll want to soak the lids in warm water. I put mine in a small saucepan, cover them with water, and put on the back burner on low heat while I’m cooking.

 

Following the recipe, combine the fruit, sugar, lemon juice, and pectin in a large pan. Cook according to the recipe directions.

 

Once the preserves are cooked, you may need to skim a little froth off the top.

At this point, your jars will be nice and sterile. Using the jar tongs, carefully lift the jars out of the water. Leave the heat on, and as you remove each jar, allow the hot water to pour back into the stockpot. Set the empty sterilized jars on a clean kitchen towel.

Remove your lids from the heat as well.

 

Using a ladle and a wide-mouth canning funnel, carefully fill the jars with the cooked preserves. Leave about a half-inch between the preserves and the top of the jar (some recipes recommend different amounts of headspace).

 

With a clean, damp washcloth, clean the rims of each jar. This will help ensure the jars seal correctly and cleanly.

 

 

Using a magnetic lid lifter, carefully bring the lids out of the warm water and place one on each jar.

 

Twist on the bands (or rings), but don’t twist them too tight. Just be sure they’re on the jar. When it stops turning easily, it’s good. This allows some air to escape as the jars are processing.

 

 

Using the jar tongs, pick up each full jar and slowly lower it back into the stockpot. The jars will still be warm, so the shock of the hot water should not cause them to crack. However, if one does crack, don’t worry! Just remove it, set aside, and (if the water is still clean), carry on with the rest of the jars.

Cover the stockpot and let it boil for 20 minutes.

Carefully remove the jars with the jar tongs and set on a clean dish towel. Listen—you’ll begin to hear them pop! That’s the indication they have successfully sealed. Most will pop right away.

Let the jars cool, and then check each top to be sure it’s sealed. Press directly in the middle of the lid. If it gives way, it has not sealed. If the lid is depressed slightly in the middle and doesn’t give to the touch, then it’s properly sealed and can be put up in the pantry.

Any jars that do not seal correctly are still ok—you can enjoy them like you would freezer jam. Store in the fridge for up to three weeks or in the freezer for up to a year.

That’s it! You’ve just made preserves!

A huge thank-you to my sister Aubrey, who slaved along with me in a hot kitchen to shoot all these lovely photos! Check out her amazing work at Aubrey L. Stopa Photography.

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Step-By-Step: Peeling Peaches

Over at the Whole Foods Blog, I wrote about making summer jam. A couple of weekends ago, I made some Fredericksburg peach preserves, and here's a great tip for peeling and pitting peaches!

Sure, you need quite the setup—but trust me, this is the easy way.

1.     You’ll need a large pot of boiling water, a large bowl of ice water, and a clean bowl for the peeled peaches. Have a slotted spoon handy.

2.     Put fresh peaches into the boiling water.

 

 

3.     Boil for about a minute each, or until the skin begins to crack like this.

 

4.     Drop into the ice water.

 

 

5.     Gently peel off the skins. They should come off very easily!

 

6.     Remove the pits. You can do this with a knife, or if you prefer, the old-fashioned way—with your clean hands!

 

 

A huge thank you to my lovely sister Aubrey for taking these photos! Check out her photography site, Aubrey L. Stopa Photography.

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Easter Eggs

Poached eggs with sauteed collards on toast.

I don't remember poached eggs being a part of my childhood—we were mostly a scrambled or over-easy family. Scrambled eggs were served with cinnamon toast (you make a sandwich, see, by folding each full piece of cinnamon toast in half and putting your scrambled eggs in the middle, DUH) and fried eggs, over easy, which were always plopped on top of a piece of toast—one that already boasted butter and jam. Seriously, try it if you haven't already. Toast, butter, strawberry jam, fried egg over easy, salt and pepper, you can't go wrong.

Quiche, breakfast tacos, strata, custards, bread pudding—all egg-based dishes have become a favorite of mine at some point in time. I'm working my way up to an egg-topped pizza, which in my mind tastes exactly like heaven.

Fitting, it seems, though I didn't begin with this thought, that I'm writing of my love for eggs in the week of Easter; eggs are, after all, a sign of spring and of new life and of good things to come.

Meanwhile, maybe I should mention that our neighbor may or may not have two hens nearing egg-laying age and a hand-built coop that he's looking to hand off to someone when he leaves town.

And maybe I should mention also that I've been asking for hens for a while. You see where I'm heading with this?

I should also bring up the fact that the neighbor's chickens do emit an unfortunate smell that woefully wafts into our yard and has made me question this whole chicken thing. Hmmm.

Goodbye, collard greens...

So it may not be happening for us, this whole backyard chickens thing. Which is unfortunate, because I felt like I was SO CLOSE to convincing my dear, loving, supportive husband that we are wonderful candidates for backyard chickens. That I would love them and feed them and collect their eggs and play with them every day.

We'll see where the hen saga lands. In the mean time, I will enjoy organic, free-range, cage free, locally sourced brown eggs that I've lovingly purchased at the grocery store.

This dish is a simple weeknight meal that comes together in a matter of minutes. It's healthy, savory, and delicious, and you can swap out any dark leafy green for the collards (think kale, spinach, mustard greens, beet greens).

I used up the last of the collards from our garden to put this together, which made for a perfect send-off. It's been hard for me to say goodbye to our winter garden because it was so wonderful to us. I enjoyed everything we ate from it, and it just kept giving, despite being savagely attacked by snails in the last month. It is April, mind you, and we've already seen temps in the upper 80s here in Texas, so it's a wonder my leafy greens held on so very long.

By Sunday, I knew it was time to pull the last of the greens (they'd started to bolt and were so ravaged by snails that it was hard to salvage much) to make way for the cucumbers now residing in that bed.

But remember the eggs? And the symbol of new life (and the beginning of a new gardening season)? And the promise of good things to come? We've come full circle.

Poached Eggs with Toast and Greens for Two

1 bunch collard greens, de-stemmed and cut into inch-wide ribbons
4 eggs 
water and a splash of white vinegar
4 pieces of toast (I prefer hearty whole-grain with seeds–extra crunch is nice)
4 slices sharp cheddar
Dijon mustard
lemon wedges
salt and freshly ground pepper

The quick version of the recipe: saute the greens in olive oil for about 10 minutes, or until they're done but still al dente. Squeeze one lemon wedge over the greens.

Prepare your toast and top with Dijon and cheddar. Pile the greens on the toast and then poach the eggs. Put the eggs on top and garnish with salt and freshly ground pepper, and more lemon if you like it.

Now the long version.

The trick to this is not necessarily the recipe, which is simple and straightforward (and was inspired by the photos from this post), but the timing. You'll want to have the greens and toast ready to go in time to slide the eggs right on them. Meanwhile, you don't want your toast to get soggy while you're waiting on anything.

The entire meal takes only 10 minutes: I prepped the greens and cooked them for about 5 minutes before turning on the toaster and beginning to boil the water. As soon as the greens were al dente, I spritzed them with lemon, turned off the heat, and covered them. By then, the water was just about to boil and the toast had about 3 minutes left to go. Just as the toast timer dinged, the eggs were done. Assembled dinner and voila! It's all hot and ready to eat.

It really helps to know your egg poaching technique forwards and backwards. Last night, I aced it. The eggs were perfect and put-together and I was happier for it. Here's how I do it:

Crack each egg into a small bowl or ramekin. In a small saucepan, heat the water and vinegar until tiny bubbles form (just before boiling). Give the water a good stir so that it is circulating, and then slowly slide each egg in from its ramekin. Cook, undisturbed, for 2-3 minutes for runny yolks (my preference). Carefully remove the eggs with a slotted spoon and let all the water drain off.

For a great how-to video, turn to the Kitchn!

And here's another tip: I made a version of this at work the next day. I packed the sauteed greens, some bread, and two raw—yep, raw—eggs in my lunch box. Come lunch time, I used to company toaster and the microwave to recreate my dinner. It turned out pretty great! Here's the microwave poached egg how-to.

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