Today I started my day off by thinking it would be a good day to do some canning.  Yes, the day before erev Rosh Hashana I know that sounds like a bad idea, but I had about nine pounds of fresh ground meat in the fridge, and rather than put it into the freezer, I figured I’d prepare a huge amount of chili and it would be all ready for a busy day.  So one child soaked five pounds of different beans, another cooked up the meat.  It was a really good idea, since I planned to do it first thing in the day, when I had nothing else planned and nowhere else to go – the glitch was that by noon, I ran out of steam and didn’t feel like dealing with it, all day long. 

The problem with starting a project like this is, you have to finish it, unless you have lots of available fridge space for a couple of days. Something that I have absolutely none of now, right before the holiday.  So at 10 pm, when I got my second wind, I started canning the chili (I had to go out for the evening or I would have started at 8 pm instead).  It takes 90 minutes to process the chili, and that doesn’t include the time preparing the jars, filling the jars, getting the canner up to pressure so you can begin the 90 minutes….so here I sit after midnight, waiting for it to finish.  One thing I’m very grateful for is that new weighted gauge I told you I bought.  This is my first time using it, and it makes a huge difference.  Usually with a pressure canner that has a dial gauge, you need to stay in the room where it is for the entire processing time, to keep an eye on the pressure so it stays steady.  If I go out of the kitchen, it’s only for a couple of minutes, and then I go right back to look at the gauge.  But with a weighted gauge, it makes a noise when it’s holding the pressure, so it’s based on sound, not sight.  That means I can be on the computer, out of direct view though still very close, and it’s safe.  What a pleasure!

While I was waiting, I’ve made up 4 half gallons and 2 quarts of pickled sour green tomatoes.  I told my kids earlier in the evening to pick all of the tomatoes that are green and we’ll do something with them.  That was an assignment they really, really enjoyed.  Usually we don’t have enough ripening all at once for them to be able to pick a lot at once.  Anyway, have you ever tasted pickled green tomatoes?  Yum, yum, yum.  I don’t care for vinegar pickles, or any pickled veggies for that matter (and yes, that includes all those things I made a couple of weeks ago).  But real sour pickles, or sour tomatoes – I can’t get enough!  Until now, I’ve only bought them once in a while, so if this is a successful experiment, it will be a really nice treat. 

These are going to be fermenting for the next few days, and then I’ll heat process most of them after that so that they won’t need to stay refrigerated.  Right now they’re lined up on the kitchen counter, looking very attractive.  The kids will enjoy seeing them when they wake up in the morning (which at this rate is going to be before I’ll be able to drag myself out of bed :)).

Avivah

When I first began reading about canning, I wanted to fully understand the science of safe food preservation, and read several books before I started doing any canning at all.  When I perused the various recipes in every single category, I was dismayed to find that most recipes that were canned in a water bath (ie, didn’t require pressure canning) were full of sugar. Fruits all were covered with a sugar syrup, relishes were filled with sugar, and jams were jam packed (no pun intended) with sugar. 

That usually wouldn’t be a problem for me, because I’m comfortable adapting recipes to fit my needs.  But every book warned about how absolutely forbidden it is to change even a little detail of a recipe, as it might render it unsafe.  That put me off, so I regretfully looked at all the pretty pictures of the relishes and put it out of my mind, because I wasn’t willing to tamper with food safety or my family’s health.

As I was reading yet another book on canning recently, one sentence jumped out at me – that the crucial proportions to maintain are the vinegar/water balance, and that if you did change a recipe, this was the area to be very vigilant about keeping exactly as written.  This made a lot of sense to me, since the concern is about botulism and scientists have determined the right balanced for pickled foods that will prevent bacteria from growing.  Until this point, I was unsure if there was a need for sugar or not.  I knew it was possible to can without sugar, because I read a book on canning without sugar.  But I didn’t know how to safely make the adjustments myself, and after unsuccessfully making the tomato jam from that book, I wasn’t willing to risk more of my time and food supplies with uncertain experiments.   

So, today I used either apple juice concentrate or pineapple juice concentrate in place of sugar in all the recipes but three – for the chutneys I used a combination of mostly sugar with a small addition of concentrate, and the sweet and sour carrots called for honey, which I left as is.  I slightly increased the vinegar content to compensate for the additional liquid in the concentrate, keeping in mind the guidelines of the minimum amount of vinegar necessary per half pint for safety’s sake. 

Since dh, one daughter, and myself don’t eat any sugar, we’ll be able to enjoy these things with the rest of our family now.  All those filled jars on the counter are looking very appetizing (my kids counted them and told me there are 62), so it’s especially nice to know we’ll be able to have them, too!

Avivah

Now I need to tell you about what has happened to all that fruit so far that wasn’t wrapped up individually.

I was out yesterday with my daughter for an eye doctor appointment, then took the younger kids to their nature program; this morning I had an appointment and needed to do some veggie shopping.  In spite of that, I’ve managed to do a nice amount of canning.  Here’s the latest:

• pickled pears – 13 quarts, 8 1/2 pints
• pickled apples – 7 quarts, 2 1/2 pints
• zucchini relish – 3 quarts, 3 pints, 2 1/2 pints
• dilled green beans – 4 pints
• Japanese pickled radish – 3 pints, 3 1/2 pints
• Asian carrots – 2 quarts
• apple chutney – 5 pints, 4 1/2 pints
• pear chutney – 8 pints, 3  1/2 pints
• sweet and sour carrots – 6 quarts

I have another pot of veggies sitting overnight for another large batch of zucchini relish (the recipe requires the overnight sitting).  It’s very pretty – it’s a mix of zucchini, onions, carrots, and red and green peppers, with a tumeric vinegar dressing.  I’ll do a batch of those tomorrow.  My kids tasted some this morning when I was filling the jars and really loved it, so I know it will get used.

I’ve never made chutney before, and the mixture of ingredients is really interesting.  The apple chutney has: apples, red bell peppers, raisins, lemons, ginger, garlic, and then the seasonings.  The pear chutney has: oranges, pears, tomatoes, onions, ginger, and garlic.  They both call for spices that I never use (like coriander and mustard seeds), but I have them in my kitchen cabinet so it was gratifying to finally use them.  Chutneys are supposed to be nice accompaniments to meat dishes.

I like being able to do a lot at one time and then draw on my efforts later on.  I’m making all of these with the thought that they’ll be nice side dishes for holiday and Shabbos (Sabbath) meals for weeks to come.  I’m making the half pint size jars for gifts; I’m planning to give my in laws and mother a basket of assorted gourmet foods for Chanuka.  I also want to give something now to the people who let me pick the fruit from their trees, to show my appreciation, and I’ll put some others to the side for gifts for my husband’s coworkers when the winter holiday season rolls around.

Avivah