Last week I tried to make my favorite yellow split pea dal in my crockpot. It was an utter FAIL. Really and truly nasty—by the time the peas were finally edible (sort of), they had turned a disgusting brownish green color, which is why I’m skipping the photo. However, dear readers, I want to spare [...]
A belated Happy New Year to all! I am finally beginning to unfurl from my winter break hibernation. What better way to start the new year, I thought, than with a canning double feature: beef stock AND beef-vegetable soup? As an added bonus, the soup is the perfect vehicle for any number of vegetables that [...]
There are some spectacular onion confits and jams floating around the internets right now. This one is an onion and rosemary confiturra from Serious Eats, via The Kitchn, that I heard about through a round-up post on Consider the Pantry (got that?). It’s a luscious combination of red onions, balsamic vinegar, red wine vinegar, white [...]
Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! When you’re done eating that turkey, be sure to make a stock. BUT—and this is a big but—unless you have a pressure canner, please don’t attempt to can it. Unlike fruits, tomatoes, and tomatillos, stock is a low acid food, which means that the temperature of boiling water is not enough to [...]
Split pea may possibly be my absolute favorite winter food. The leaves fall, the rain comes, and it’s time for a big bowl of green goodness. In the past, I’ve made it in the crockpot, but sometimes it ends up tasting a little overcooked—especially if bacon is involved. This version, in the pressure cooker, will [...]
Last year, you may recall, I made a lot of applesauce. When I had time, I canned it; when I was lazy, I just stuck it in the freezer. Nine months later, we’ve been eating lots of each. The results?
No contest.
The canned applesacue is sooooo much better than the frozen. It has excellent texture, a [...]
Remember the only-slightly-weird sweet pepper salsa that I canned back at the beginning of September? It’s really not bad—but since it does taste more like gazpacho than true salsa, I couldn’t quite imagine putting it on chips. Hmmm, I thought. What goes well with tomatoes, peppers, onions, and vinegar? Actually: a lot. You could probably [...]
Roasted tomatoes are delectable little gems. Once you have them, you can use them in sauces, salsa, or just as a topping for bread: Voila! Bruschetta! Freezing is the easiest way to preserve their flavor, but if you have limited freezer space, canning is a good option.
There is, however, a catch. I’ve looked and looked [...]
As you might have guessed given my giant pile of tomatoes, my next few posts will be all about things you can do with them: roasted tomatoes, roasted tomato salsa, tomato sauce, and mixed pepper sales. But first, let’s do the basics. How do you can tomatoes?
Tomatoes are an interesting case because they straddle the [...]
You’ve heard about my gardening woes. Fortunately, not all is lost: I am growing a bumper crop of tomatillos. For the uninitiated, tomatillos are closely related to tomatoes, except that they’re green and grow in husks. The husks puff up when the plant starts to set fruit, and when the fruit fills the husk, they’re [...]