Cooking with Britt: Canning, Pickling & Preserving

By Britt Allgood

Summer is the time of growing and harvesting the bounty that nature provides. That garden is full of fruits and vegetables all at their peak of flavor and freshness. This usually means they are less expensive to buy at the farm stand or the store. It’s time to preserve some of that bounty so you can still have a taste of summer freshness later in the year.

All my life, my family have been gardeners - both vegetables and flowers. My grandparents would plant well over an acre of beans, corn, tomatoes, potatoes, and on and on. This continued after their children had grown up and it was just the two of them. My parents also followed the tradition and shared their love of gardening with me and my brother. I’m overjoyed to see my brother and sister-in-law, are doing the same with their children. But you are only getting half the story.

What do you do with all that fresh produce? Many vegetables can be used as they ripen but there are plenty more that should be harvested immediately. The cornucopia of deliciousness must be preserved.

Today, you can vacuum seal and freeze many things but not all. Neither tomatoes or cucumbers survive freezing very well. They need to be turned into something that can be stored such as tomato sauce, tomato juice, or pickles.

I can remember the marathon canning sessions at my grandparents and my parent’s house when the gardens “came in”. It was all hands on deck with people cleaning and chopping, boiling, and canning. The kitchen took on humidity and heat like a sauna as we processed the finished products.

Processing

What do I mean by processing? If you have never tried canning it basically means you put the lid on the filled jar loosely and lower the jar into boiling water for several minutes. The time varies depending on the food you are storing. The processing pasteurizes the food and helps ensure a good seal on your canned goods minimalizing microbial growth.

I continue our family tradition but not on such a grand scale. My wife and I like to grow tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, and a large variety of herbs which includes a healthy crop of basil. We will eat these morsels fresh out of the garden but more importantly, we make things we like to eat during the winter using our preserved and canned goodies. Homemade Marinara sauce or pasta served with basil pesto will warm up any winter night. Ginger Gherkins are a bright snap of summer all year long!

Canning Essentials

A few helpful hints before you start canning. Get the right equipment including ladles, funnels, and a large pot to sterilize your jars and process your finished goodies. Some foods like pickles and tomatobased products are naturally acidic and help prevent microbial contamination. Things like jams and jellies should be processed (boiled) while making and then canned to help keep them safe to eat. If you have friends or relatives that still practice this form of food preservation, ask them if you can help with their canning and turn it into a little party.

I’ve included some of our favorite recipes to help you turn that summer bounty into delicious food for the rest of the year.

Live, Laugh, Love, and Eat Well…..

Basil Pesto

6 cups Sweet Basil leaves, washed and removed from stems ½ cup pine nuts (roasted or raw) ½ cup garlic, minced ½ cup parmesan cheese Salt and pepper to taste ½ to ¾ cup of virgin olive oil

Place the washed leaves in a food processor with chopper blades. Add the pine nuts, garlic, cheese, salt and pepper. Add about ¼ cup of oil. Put on the lid and turn the processor on high. Add oil to the pesto until an emulsion forms. Transfer to a bowl if making multiple batches. When all the leaves have been processed, stir the pesto and check for seasoning. Transfer the pesto to sanitized jars and tap to remove air bubbles. Place a layer of olive oil on top and cap the jar. Be sure to label and date your pesto jars especially if you plan on giving any away as gifts.

John Fox’s Ginger Gherkins

2 LBS of 1 to 2 inch pickling cucumbers, blossom ends removed

4 quarts of boiling water

3 TBSP pickling salt (non-iodized)

2 cups distilled white vinegar

2 2/3 cups sugar

2 TBSP chopped fresh ginger

1 cinnamon stick about 3 inches long

1. Wash your cucumbers and place them in bowl (metal or glass) and cover them with 2 quarts of boiling water. Let them stand for 6 to 8 hours. I cover with aluminum foil during each step.

2. Drain the water from the cucumbers. Dissolve all but 1 teaspoon of the salt into the remaining 2 quarts of boiling water and pour this over the cucumbers. Let them stand at room temperature for 6 to 12 hours.

3. Drain the water from the cucumbers and pierce each once or twice with a fork. In a nonreactive pot, combine 1 2/3 cups of the vinegar with 1 2/3 cups of sugar and the remaining 1 teaspoon of salt. Add the ginger and cinnamon stick. Bring the mixture to a boil, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Pour the syrup over the cucumbers. Let them stand at room temperature for 6 to 12 hours.

4. Drain the syrup, with the spices, back into the pot. Add 2/3 cup of sugar the 1/3 cup vinegar to the pot and bring the syrup to a boil. Pour the syrup over the cucumbers and let them stand for another 6 to 12 hours.

5. Pour the syrup through a strainer into the pot. Pack the cucumbers into pint or half pint mason jars, discarding the cinnamon stick. Add the remaining 1/3 cup sugar to the syrup and bring to a boil. Cover the pickles with the boiling syrup, dividing the ginger among the jars and leaving about ½ inch headspace in each. Close the jars with two piece lids. Process the jars for 5 minutes in a boiling water bath, or pasteurize them by immersing in water heated to 180 to 185 degrees F for 30 minutes. 6. Store the cooled jars in a cool, dry, dark place for at least 3 weeks before eating the pickles.

Note: I generally use small whole cucumbers, but my latest batch included some sliced pickles at the actual canning step. The cucumbers shrink in size as they are processed so don’t be surprised. Due to the time needed to process, I typically start these pickles in the morning and am capping the jars about 48 hours later.

Marinara Sauce

(makes about 6 cups)

½ cup extra virgin olive oil

1 small onion chopped

2 cloves garlic, chopped

1 stalk celery, chopped

1 carrot chopped

64 oz of fresh tomatoes diced with juices

4 to 6 basil leaves, chopped fine

2 dry bay leaves

Salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste

4 tablespoons unsalted butter (optional)

In a large stock pot, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the onion and garlic and sauté until soft and translucent about 2 minutes. Add the celery and carrot and season with salt and pepper. Sauté until all the vegetables are soft, about 5 to 8 minutes. Add the tomatoes, basil, and bay leaves and reduce the heat to low. Cover and simmer for at least 1 hour or until thick. Remove the bay leaves and taste for seasoning. If sauce is too acidic, add unsalted butter, 1 TBSP at a time, to round out the flavor.

Process the sauce with a food processor, blender or immersion mixer until smooth. You may have to do this in batches. If not using the sauce right away, allow to cool completely and store in refrigerator for a few days, can it in glass jars, or freeze for up to 6 months. Personally I like to can it so the sauce doesn’t separate and you can make quart or pint jars depending on your needs. 