Amy Bronee - The canning kitchen : 101 simple small batch recipes

FOR RUE AND HIS DADVENTURES

THAT MADE IT POSSIBLE FOR ME TO WRITE THIS BOOK.

CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION

The sound of knives clinking in jars was standard dinner music in my childhood. The fridge door was heavy with jarred flavours, and on barbecue night they all came out to take up residence in the middle of the dinner table. It was that mixing and matching of flavours that began my lifelong love of preserves. Now, through my food blog and my hands-on cooking classes, I get to share my love of canning with other home cooks and demystify the process of preserving fresh food in jars. Its this connection with other home cooks through writing and teaching that keeps me motivated and inspired in my own kitchen.

While I also adore making classic comfort foods like stews and pies, one of the most pleasurable ways I spend time in the kitchen is filling jars with homemade jams, jellies, marmalades, pickles, relishes, chutneys and sweet and savoury staples. Theres nothing like getting out my canning supplies and chopping up fresh seasonal ingredients with music swirling above my head to remind me that my favourite place on earth really is my happy little kitchen. This book is an invitation into my canning kitchen so I can share with you some of my favourite homemade preserves.

People can food for many different reasons. For some its about preserving a connection to our past or preserving freshness thats in season to enjoy another day. For some its about making a jam or salsa that isnt in stores, or knowing exactly what goes into your food. For others its simply about spending time, apron on and knife in hand, crafting something beautiful to share. Most often for me, making jam with strawberries from my own garden or jelly with apples from my own tree, it is about slowing down to live in the past and the right now at the very same time. Every glossy jar cooling on the counter represents contentment for me; regardless of whatever is going on out there in the world, everything is just as it should be in my kitchen.

Its a joy for me to help home cooks discover how surprisingly simple canning is. Any home kitchen can become a canning kitchen with the use of a few tools, some of which you may already have. With time you will find your own unique rhythm and method for filling jars with delicious homemade preserves. Whether youre new to preserving or an experienced home canner, the simple instructions in this book will lead you to delicious results with every batch.

This book blends the traditions of the canning kitchen with the tastes of the modern kitchen. Im sharing my much-loved classics like strawberry jam and crunchy dill pickles alongside recipes for exciting new classics like delicious barbecue sauces, beverage concentrates and interesting mustards. Youll find recipes inspired by flavours from the traditional to the international, including the tastes of Mexico, India, China, Thailand and more. With ideas for fresh ingredients in every season, youll want to keep your canning pot handy year-round.

In these pages, I hope you find the tasty things, the sticky things, the sweet and the savoury things that youll enjoy making in your own canning kitchen for years to come.

Enjoy.

CANNING KITCHEN BASICS

Canning is easier than you might think, and once you get started making your own delicious preserves, its hard to stop. The sight of sealed jars cooling on the kitchen counter is deeply satisfying, and suddenly youre buying fresh produce by the case and giving away jars of homemade jams as gifts just so you can make more. However, new and experienced canners alike are often filled with questions about filling jars. To boost your canning confidence, here are the simple answers to some common questions about making your own preserves.

Do I need a lot of equipment?

Most of what you need to make your home kitchen a canning kitchen you may already own. The key piece of equipment is a canning pot with a rack and lid for processing your filled jars. You can either buy an inexpensive speckled enamel canner with a rack where canning supplies are sold, or find a rack to fit a large stockpot you already own. Other tools, both necessary and just nice to have, are discussed in the Canning Kitchen Equipment section ().

How much time does it take to can something?

The time it takes to prepare a recipe varies. Jams and pickles often come together quickly with few ingredients, whereas relishes and chutneys generally involve more preparation. Some people love spending time in the kitchen with a knife and cutting board with some music playing, while others like to make use of a food processor to speed up preparation time. The choice is yours.

The processing time also varies with each recipe, ranging from 10 minutes to as long as 40 minutes. Experienced canners can make a batch of jam in about half an hour from start to finish. However long it takes you, the results are always worth it.

How does canning work?

Two key things happen when a filled jar is submerged under boiling water. First, the high temperature kills off any yeasts, moulds or bacteria in the food that can cause spoilage. Second, the contents of the jar expand, driving out air. As the jar cools, the contents contract, causing the lid to seal and preventing any new microorganisms from entering the jar during storage.

Its important to follow the headspace recommendation for each recipe. The headspace is the gap between the surface of the food and the rim of the jar. Some foods expand more than others during processing, and the proper headspace helps each jar to form a strong vacuum seal. An inexpensive headspace measuring tool can help you check for accuracy.

The stated processing time should also be followed carefully, as some higher-density foods such as whole tomatoes and apricot halves, as well as foods near the acid/low-acid pH borderline, need a longer processing time. Jar size also plays a role in processing times, so use the jar size recommended in each recipe.

Do I have to sterilize my jars before filling them?

No, not for the recipes in this book. Current North American home canning guidelines from the United States Department of Agriculture and the National Center for Home Food Preservation state that canning jars do not need to be sterilized if they will be processed in a boiling water bath canner for 10 minutes or longer. Since all the recipes in this book are processed for at least 10 minutes, you do not need to sterilize your jars before you fill them. However, it is important to start with spotlessly clean jars that have been washed in hot soapy water and left to air-dry or washed in the dishwasher on a normal wash cycle.