I gotta can man! I cannot let this one go. I have more than one garden bed at the house. Actually, I've probably got almost a thousand square feet of really great soil in easily accessible raised beds. I do want to install rainwater irrigation. I do want to up my production. I'd eventually like to have a small time produce farm. But right now the one thing I need to do is effectively, tastily and safely is preserve the veggies and fruits I do grow and gather in the most environmentally responsible manner. I gotta can.
The only thing worse than force feeding yourself a surplus of veggies, is throwing it away. Or force feeding it to your brother, watching him bloat, and then stink up the living room . . . not necessarily in that order, and I don't know if you can blame all of that on the veggies . . . Preservation is self preservation, in this case. It also breaks your veggie stocks into bite sized flavorful snack packs for later in the year. It also makes you feel really secure when you see shelf after shelf of food while listening to Ben Bernanke tell you that your retirement is gone so just deal with it.
Canning and pickling, like smoking or freezing will use some energy. It seems to me though that it is the most versatile method available, and let's face it. I'm not looking forward to zucchini jerky, if that is even a possibility, which I hope it isn't! Freezing is nice and arguably the closest thing to fresh, but even a chest freezer is not all that efficient a user of electricity. So, I'm willing to buy some jars a pressure cooker, and burn a little propane, if I can eat the stuff I grow all winter long. Botulism be damned!!
So, I called up my friend Abby who will graduate from culinary school this summer, got the supplies in order, and geared up for my tutorial. Let me tell you. I learned a lot. The central truth about canning is this. Follow directions or you might die! Pickling a cucumber is not as easy as pickling your liver. I thought being good at one might help with the other. Not so.
In truth, on my first try I failed, but it wasn't my fault. Honestly, it wasn't. I ran out of propane. Could have been having the pressure cooker cranked to eleven for a couple of hours straight. Who knows? I did however learn how to sterilize my vessels and I'm all gassed up and ready for my next crop. Let me tell you, force feeding myself and my family the blanched radishes I was going to pickle did not go over so well, but at least I know they were clean. Sterile even.
So, I'm waiting on some strawberries, cantaloupe, zucchini and others to come due, and then there is no stopping me. I will preserve the daylights out of my produce and foist it on my friends and family throughout the year.
Please feel free to share any anecdotes, recipes, or experience that might aid me in my quest.
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If I were to start pickling things, and I might, I would try to make achar. If you've never had it, it's a spicy Indian pickled relish that's usually made with mango and mustard oil. It's so spicy and salty that if you tried to eat a spoonful of it by itself, your eyeballs would melt. But it's freaking good. I like to take a drop or two of it and mix it with mayonaise on sandwiches.
ReplyDeleteNot that you are growing any mangos or that you have any mustard oil, but here is a recipe. Maybe you can use canteloupe or red peppers instead of the mango. http://www.indiacurry.com/chutney/classicmangopickle.htm
Here's a cucumber achar recipe: http://www.indobase.com/recipes/details/cucumber-aachar.php
Pedro,
ReplyDeleteThat sounds great. It would be a good place to start too because generally spicy, and salty things have naturally antimicrobial properties. So, you are less likely to kill yourself. I'll check out the recipe and try to make some substitutions. I'll let you know how it goes. I'll try to make a mild version that will be baby conducive.