thaiobsessed wrote:

jblth wrote:We canned for the first time today, and our first item was some delicious mango-habanero hot sauce with loads of ginger and citrus.

That sounds great and I accidentally bought a habanero plant thinking it was a Thai chili plant. Any chance you could post the recipe?

Easily -- I had already given it to someone else. This is how I made it this time. It is thick, more like ketchup than tabasco. Just hot enough to leave a nice slow burn after you eat some and go back for more, but not so hot as to stop you from eating too much. If it isn't hot enough, add another pepper -- obviously the heat varies with the chiles and how hot they happen to be; the peppers we grew seemed to be really hot. Measurements are as good as I remember, taste as you go and decide what you like.

It is simple, but tasty. It goes great with many things, especially in the SE Asian and Caribbean flavor profiles.

4 really big, mostly ripe mangoes
4 lemons
2 oranges
3" piece of ginger
6 habanero chilies
1/3 cup sugar
1 tbsp kosher salt
1 1/4 tsp citric acid

Peel and chop the mangoes and ginger. Zest and juice the oranges and lemons. Remove the stems from the chiles and cut in half. Throw it all in a pot and cook until everything is soft. Blend it (immersion blender is easiest) really, really well. The citric acid was to keep it acidic enough to not worry while canning, even though it was probably completely unnecessary. Add water to thin it out if needed.

thaiobsessed wrote:

jblth wrote:We canned for the first time today, and our first item was some delicious mango-habanero hot sauce with loads of ginger and citrus.

That sounds great and I accidentally bought a habanero plant thinking it was a Thai chili plant. Any chance you could post the recipe?

Thanks!

Thanks jblth! Now I just have to wait for my habaneros to ripen...

thaiobsessed wrote:Thanks jblth! Now I just have to wait for my habaneros to ripen...

This is my first year growing chiles, and I'm really impressed. Letting them ripen on the plant seems to make them hotter. I'm not sure how big a normal plant is, but I've had at least 1-3 chiles ready to be picked every day for at least 2 weeks now. They seem to hold up pretty well on the plant or off; so saving some up is easy. They've also been a lot hotter than the ones in grocery stores for some reason.

razbry wrote:Canned some corn relish, bluebarb jam, and raspberry jam. Thinking about green tomato pickles. Anyone tried them?

Yes, we've canned green tomatoes. Did a garlic dill brine and low temperature pasteurized them. Before pickling, I sliced them in rounds with a mandoline and they make a great sandwich topping. We've enjoyed the rounds far more than the quartered tomatoes.

Green tomatoes are also great to ferment.

Ronna

REB wrote:

razbry wrote:Canned some corn relish, bluebarb jam, and raspberry jam. Thinking about green tomato pickles. Anyone tried them?

Yes, we've canned green tomatoes. Did a garlic dill brine and low temperature pasteurized them. Before pickling, I sliced them in rounds with a mandoline and they make a great sandwich topping. We've enjoyed the rounds far more than the quartered tomatoes.

Green tomatoes are also great to ferment.

Ronna

My personal favorite to pickle are the end of season green cherry and grape tomatoes--they stay a bit firmer than the larger tomatoes and make great drink garnishes.

Cathy2 wrote:we visit the farm stand we fondly refer to as, “The Hippies.” This farm, which I believe is a commune, is just east of Richmond. In addition to offering organik (sic) produce, they also sell furniture, clay garden pots and rugs. If you are out this way and value organik produce, then this is a must-stop because the prices are largely $1 per pound for heirloom tomatoes, new potatoes, several varieties of eggplants, onions, carrots and beets. I bought a softball sized beet for 50 cents, which will be grated to make a salad. I spent $12 for quite a lot of vegetables.





For the first time ever, we met the organik farmer. We didn’t quite know who he was until he opened the honor-system cash box. Pulled out some money holding it out for inspection commenting triumphantly, “Who says there isn’t money in farming!” He gave us a verbal tour of the half dozen varieties of tomatoes. A few were specific to this farm, because some of the tomatoes had cross-pollinated creating some improved varieties. He did not use Luther Burbank’s method of hand pollinating. He simply planted tomato varieties adjacent to each other and let Nature do her thing. If he liked a tomato, then he kept the seeds for planting the next year.

Hi,

An update on my dear farmer friend aka "The Hippie." While open every day during the growing season, you can buy your produce from 10 am to 5 pm. At 5 pm, they put up a barrier to prevent pilfering.

Tomatoes, potatoes, beets, carrots, onions, leeks and cabbage are all $1 per pound. Garlic is 50 cents each. This most important element has not changed.

***
This was my first farm visit for the year. While tomatoes are not yet prime, I bought some for marinara sauce. I tasted 30 tomatoes last week for the Highwood Historical Society tomato competition. Most of the tomatoes needed more time on the vine, though cosmetically they looked good. My farmer friends all advised to wait at least a week for better tomatoes.

I bought a half bushel of red haven peaches, some will be canned as halves. If some are past their prime, they will go to jam and peach pie filling.

I skipped buying quantities of corn and apples to avoid overwhelming myself. Royal Oak's first apples of the season were available today. I don't recall the name, though the taste was excellent. A half bushel of wind blown apples was $20 per half bushel. I couldn't decide whether I liked that price, too.

I did buy a half bushel of medium sized pickles. Many will be made into fermented dill pickles with the remainder going toward bread and butter pickles.

My kitchen looks like a fruit and vegetable storage room.

Regards,

Hi,

It's been years since I changed the rubber gasket on my pressure cooker. My luck ran out this weekend just as I was preparing to process 10 quarts of marinara sauce.

How did I know the gasket pooped out? It would not come to pressure. Another telltale sign, it dripped some water from the edges after the weighted gauge was put on. Usually once it begins to pressurize, the only release of water is steam from the rocking weighted gauge (on my model).

I borrowed a pressure cooker to finish the job.

The last time I needed a replacement gasket, it was a quick visit to the hardware store. Now they are a special order item. By week's end, I will be self reliant once more.

FYI - Usually when you replace the gasket, there is also a replacement "safety fuse" in the box, too. A small rubber gasket designed to blow out if your pressure cooker is excessively over pressurized. Replace this at the same time, too.

Regards,

Cathy2 wrote:Most of the tomatoes needed more time on the vine, though cosmetically they looked good. My farmer friends all advised to wait at least a week for better tomatoes.

This is good advice. My canning tomato scouting trip in Michigan last week came up with similar results -- tomatoes are good to eat out-of-hand now, but need some more time on the vine in order to become the well-ripened, tasty globules that will be preserved in jars throughout the winter. I'm shooting for next weekend to source tomatoes myself.

Hebron Apple Orchard was a mere 2 miles beyond Von Bergens, though to reach the orchard you drive an additional 2 miles.

This has been an interesting place to visit over the years. The owner has many, many varieties of heirloom apples. It is a hobby that became a small scale business.

I stopped by on Saturday just in case he had some early ripening apples available. Nobody came out when I arrived, though a large dog was checking me out from the house. I shouted out, "Hello," then the wife came to the door.

She briskly informed me it was far too early for apples. I inquired when I should come back. She suggested I shouldn't because her son is not interested in selling apples.

I will go back later to see if there has been a change of mind. My feeling the old man is ill or no longer available, because it was really his passion. Too bad.

Regards,

Okay. Beth at Green Acres just broke my heart. They are done with pickles for the year.

I'll head to Green City tomorrow for a look, but who else has them in the City?

Hi,

If you are making jelly and it doesn't set, all is not lost. There is information to consult from my favorite source:

Remaking soft jelly

Regards,

Thanks Cathy2

A few weeks back, I saw jars of peach and plum butter at Gene's and bought a jar of the peach butter on impulse. I've never been a fan of apple butter, but I love everything stone fruit. I liked it enough that I immediately added a nebulous plan to make peach butter to my list of "things to make at some point". Then a few days later, Smitten Kitchen had this recipe for peach butter, and a few days after that i saw peaches for $0.69/lb...it was clearly time to give it a shot. The homemade stuff turned out much better than the store-bought (and store-bought was really good.) Next I tried the same recipe with red plums in place of the peaches, then prune plums with ginger, star anise and allspice, both to similarly great results. It's also dead simple and takes less than 2 hours from start to canned jars, with maybe 45 min of that as active time. (I just set the timer for 5 min at a time, went and did my thing, then came back to stir and reset the timer each time it went off.) I have definitely become a fruit butter convert.

I think the movie adaptation of the Help is even better than the book, that said I kind of yelped when I spotted the jars of pickled eggs in Skeeter's kitchen. They looked bigger than quart and I'm going to guess, given the time, they were gallon jars

I yelped again when I saw the 12 layer caramel cake on Abilene's table.

Hi,

A friend had a family emergency involving a trip out of town. Before leaving, dropped off 50 pounds of tomatoes to process.

I will do them tonight so I can forget about them just a bit faster.

Regards,

I am still as intrigued by canning as I was before, but haven't actually done any (so, none to swap). I've been collecting recipes and planning for next year, but I'm not sure why I haven't done any this year. It might be because I have all of the equipment (for water, not pressure, canning) except for the big stockpot. I see the jars and lids in the stores but not the pots. Any suggestions on where to get one?

Or as an alternative to buying a new one: I see old ones at garage and estate sales sometimes, but usually either there are chips in the enamel (not a dealbreaker for me), or unattractively crusted with hard water scale. Are they worth cleaning off with a heavy dose of vinegar (can you really get all that scale off?), or are new ones cheap enough to not bother with old ones?

Katie wrote:Or as an alternative to buying a new one: I see old ones at garage and estate sales sometimes, but usually either there are chips in the enamel (not a dealbreaker for me), or unattractively crusted with hard water scale. Are they worth cleaning off with a heavy dose of vinegar (can you really get all that scale off?), or are new ones cheap enough to not bother with old ones?

Hi,

I would buy a used one in a heartbeat. If there is a quart jar nearby, put it to see if you can get 2-inches above the top with water. I find a lot of canners are a bit shallow. The workaround is to replenish with boiling water before the level drops too far.

Cheap is in the eye of the beholder, though picking up a used one for $5 is well worth it. I haven't priced any in a very long time and have no sense what to expect to pay for new.

Regards,

Cathy2 wrote:

Katie wrote:Or as an alternative to buying a new one: I see old ones at garage and estate sales sometimes, but usually either there are chips in the enamel (not a dealbreaker for me), or unattractively crusted with hard water scale. Are they worth cleaning off with a heavy dose of vinegar (can you really get all that scale off?), or are new ones cheap enough to not bother with old ones?

Hi,

I would buy a used one in a heartbeat. If there is a quart jar nearby, put it to see if you can get 2-inches above the top with water. I find a lot of canners are a bit shallow. The workaround is to replenish with boiling water before the level drops too far.

Cheap is in the eye of the beholder, though picking up a used one for $5 is well worth it. I haven't priced any in a very long time and have no sense what to expect to pay for new.

Regards,

This summer I've seen waterbath canners in Illinois and Wisconsin in stores for under $20.
The pressure canner I've seen the 24 qt for $84 and the 16 quart for about $10 less.

Cathy2 wrote:Hi,

A friend had a family emergency involving a trip out of town. Before leaving, dropped off 50 pounds of tomatoes to process.

I will do them tonight so I can forget about them just a bit faster.

Regards,

Only you would have enough jars, and lids, to hand for that type of emergency.

HI,

She actually brought jars and lemon juice, too, which I already have excess of.

I was so tired yesterday when she popped in, she seemed to ignore my dismay at this favor.

Regards,

Katie wrote: except for the big stockpot. I see the jars and lids in the stores but not the pots. Any suggestions on where to get one?

I found mine at an Ace hardware last fall(Seneca, IL.), I called around and found it as I didnt want to wait for Amazon.

Looks like a great event, sadly that weekends schedule is jammed packed for me.

Thought I'd do the swaporama organizers a favor and move my questions over to this thread.

pairs4life wrote:

Cathy2 wrote:

Katie wrote:Or as an alternative to buying a new one: I see old ones at garage and estate sales sometimes, but usually either there are chips in the enamel (not a dealbreaker for me), or unattractively crusted with hard water scale. Are they worth cleaning off with a heavy dose of vinegar (can you really get all that scale off?), or are new ones cheap enough to not bother with old ones?

I would buy a used one in a heartbeat. If there is a quart jar nearby, put it to see if you can get 2-inches above the top with water. I find a lot of canners are a bit shallow. The workaround is to replenish with boiling water before the level drops too far.

Cheap is in the eye of the beholder, though picking up a used one for $5 is well worth it. I haven't priced any in a very long time and have no sense what to expect to pay for new.

This summer I've seen waterbath canners in Illinois and Wisconsin in stores for under $20.
The pressure canner I've seen the 24 qt for $84 and the 16 quart for about $10 less.

Thanks to you both. I want to do pressure canning also, but here too I run up against indecision. As a novice, I'm more attracted to the idea of a pressure canner with a dial gauge, but from what Cathy's said about the importance of frequent calibration, I wonder if the rattling knob is the simpler long-term way to go.

Katie wrote:Thought I'd do the swaporama organizers a favor and move my questions over to this thread.

Thanks to you both. I want to do pressure canning also, but here too I run up against indecision. As a novice, I'm more attracted to the idea of a pressure canner with a dial gauge, but from what Cathy's said about the importance of frequent calibration, I wonder if the rattling knob is the simpler long-term way to go.

I had the same issue last year and went with the rocking gauge. It seems fine, no one's died or suffered from facial paralysis yet. Additionally, none of my jars resulted in any off-tastes, colors, or smells.

jimswside wrote:

Katie wrote: except for the big stockpot. I see the jars and lids in the stores but not the pots. Any suggestions on where to get one?

I found mine at an Ace hardware last fall(Seneca, IL.), I called around and found it as I didnt want to wait for Amazon.

Looks like a great event, sadly that weekends schedule is jammed packed for me.

I've seen them in Wal-Marts in the last few weeks.

Hi,

I have both a gauge and a rocker, I much prefer the rocker. One I have to watch and the other I listen to.

Once it comes to pressure, you can turn down the temperature to where it rocks a few times a minute. If it is rocking violently, it is desperately trying to maintain rated pressure in a relatively overpressured environment.

Later this evening, I will move your earlier canning questions on the exchange thread to here.

Regards,

Just finished 14 lbs of peaches. 12 pounds pickled and 2 pounds with an orange for preserves.

Now, before I fly tomorrow I've got to finish the melon preserves.

Cathy2- I made Alistair buy several dozen quarts,pints, and jelly jars from the Dollar General in Wautoma, WI. They were less than $8/dozen, regardless of the size.

Pairs4Life,

Who made the jars?

Last week was the big three church rummage sale in Highland Park. I bought 32 pint and jelly jars for 25 cents each or $8. I have a lot of quarts, it is the little ones that never seem to return.

Regards,

I was so tired yesterday when she popped in, she seemed to ignore my dismay at this favor.

Is it over? You are a good friend Cathy!

I'm amazed at how easily available canning jars of all sizes are available in Toronto. I must say it makes me kinda sad since I am doing no canning this season