Doris and Jilly Cook » pressure cooking

A Night with Amanda Hesser

dorisandjilly — Thu, 09 Dec 2010 16:33:46 +0000

Amanda Hesser arrived at my house last night wearing a giant fur hat and Chuck Taylors. How can you not love this woman?

She was in town as part of her book tour for The Essential New York Times Cookbook: Classic Recipes for a New Century, and, through a long sequence of events involving Kate Payne of The Hip Girl’s Guide to Homemaking and Marisa McClellan from Food in Jars, Marisa and I were hosting a meet-the-author blogger potluck. At my house. Now, the next time someone approaches you about the possibility of hosting a food-related event for a well-known food writer that involves her cooking in your kitchen, think very carefully about your relationship with cleanliness and cat hair. It turns out that my standards go way, way, up in those circumstances—I don’t think I’ve ever spent so much time with vacuum attachments. But eventually, it was time to put the vacuum away, take a deep breath, and wait for the guests to arrive.

And they did! And they brought delicious food, all based on recipes (or receipts, if you prefer the 19th-century spelling) that appeared in the New York Times, including three versions of pimento cheese and two cheese straws. We also had a cheese ball, courtesy of Madame Fromage, and an eye-opening fancy mac-and-cheese with radicchio from No Counterspace. Apparently people really like cheese. I made a venison stew, adapted for the pressure cooker (instructions below). Marisa made a spectacular broiled lemon and spinach salad that I really, really hope she blogs about. The desserts were mighty fine, too. For her demo, Amanda made heavenly hots, a sort of cross between pancakes and cheese latkes.

And there’s even a video, courtesy of the Daily News, for those of you who couldn’t join us:

In short: a good time was had by all. And yes, I’d do it again in a heartbeat, even if it does mean cleaning my house. Also: the book is a gem and would make a great Christmas gift. And I’m not just saying that because Amanda Hesser liked my rhubarb liqueur. Cheers.

Venison Stew with Butternut Squash and Hominy

This recipe appears as “Border Town Hunter’s Stew” on p. 571 of The Essential New York Times Cookbook. The ingredients are the same (though I’m not sure how I feel about that cinnamon stick), but I’ve adapted it for the pressure cooker. You never know what you’re getting with wild venison (in this case, courtesy of Jilly’s husband), so I prefer to cook it in the pressure cooker to ensure tenderness.

3 lbs. venison stew meat, cut into 1″ cubes
Salt and pepper
2 T olive oil
2 medium onions, chopped
2 poblano peppers, chopped
6 cloves garlic, minced
1 medium butternut squash, peeled and cubed
3 T. New Mexico chili powder, or to taste
4 t. dried oregano (or about 1 T fresh)
2 bay leaves
1 cinnamon stick (eh. consider it optional)
1 12-oz bottle of dark beer (I used Yuengling Black and Tan)
4 c. chicken broth
Two 15 1/2 oz. cans white hominy, drained and rinsed

1. Season the meat with salt and pepper. Let sit 30 minutes. Meanwhile, chop your vegetables.

2. Pretend that your pressure cooker is a giant skillet and heat up the oil. Sear the meat in batches, removing to a separate bowl when done.

3. You should have some oil left in the pot, but if not, add more. Saute the onions and chiles, with maybe a dash more salt. Add the garlic and saute a few minutes more. Add the chili powder, oregano (if using dried), cinnamon stick, and bay leaves and saute a minute more. Add the beer and scrape up all the tasty bits.

4. Add the meat and the stock to the pot and stir everything together. Put on and lock the lid. Cook at 15 pounds of pressure for 12 minutes. Quick-release the pressure using whatever method is recommended by your manufacturer (I run the pot under cold water). Add the squash. Bring back up to pressure and cook another 3 minutes. Let the pressure drop of its own accord, or, if you’re in a hurry, quick release.

5. The stew will now be quite juicy and need to be reduced. Add in the hominy and bring to a boil (note that at this point you’re using your pressure cooker like a pot again, not a pressure cooker). Boil rapidly for about 20 minutes until it’s quite thick, stirring occasionally to prevent scorching. If using fresh herbs, add just before serving.

Notes: Try to find natural hominy, not the cheap stuff made with lye. I only used one can, and that seemed like plenty. This works very well as a pantry dish: the venison and the peppers came from the freezer; the squash and onions from the root cellar; and the oregano from the front yard. I also used ground dehydrated peppers instead of commercial chili powder.

Home Canning FAQ

dorisandjilly — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 13:05:55 +0000

The best part of any food preservation class (besides the food) is always the discussion. Usually, I have quick answers for a fairly regular set of questions about food poisoning, the physics of pressure cookers, storage, and the differences between jams, preserves, conserves, and compotes. But recently, I’ve started to hear some new ones. This post is an attempt to round up some of the answers to both. Feel free to add more questions in the comments, or drop us a line.

Why is canned food shelf-stable?

When you can something, you’re doing two things. First, you’re killing bacteria, molds, and yeasts through the addition of heat. Second, by creating a seal, you’re preventing new bacteria from getting in.

What’s the difference between pressure canning and water-bath canning?

For the purposes of canning, all foods are either high-acid or low-acid foods. The kinds of food-born pathogens that can live in a high-acid environment can be killed fairly easily with moderate heat, so you can process them in a boiling water bath. Low-acid foods, on the other hand, can harbor botulism spores that are not destroyed at 212°F. Low-acid foods must be processed in a steam pressure canner than can reach much higher temperatures (usually 240ºF).

How do I know if a food is high or low acid?

All fruits except for figs and tomatoes are acidic enough to can in a water-bath canner. Figs and tomatoes can be safely canned this way with the addition of a small amount of lemon juice. Everything else—including vegetables, meats, fish, and mixtures of high acid and low acid foods (for instance, salsa)—either has to be pressure canned or made more acidic. The short answer to this question is to follow the recipe. The longer answer, recommended only for experienced canners, involves comparing fruit/vegetable/acid ratios and densities from trusted sources. Please be cautious when using internet canning recipes, and consider comparing unfamiliar instructions to published guidelines, such as those of the National Center for Home Food Preservation and those listed in the Ball Blue Book of Preserving.

What’s the processing time?

The term “processing time” refers to the amount of time that you either boil or pressure can your jars. The amount of time depends on the food—check your recipe. In a boiling water bath, you start timing when the water returns to a boil. In a pressure canner, you start timing when the canner reaches pressure.

I have a pressure cooker. Can I use it as a canner?

That depends. Small pressure cookers are not necessarily guaranteed to reach and maintain the appropriate temperatures necessary to kill botulism spores. Most pressure canners are 23 quarts or larger—large enough to hold 7 quart jars on a rack, or 14 jelly jars, stacked. If you’re not sure, contact the manufacturer. My attempt to explain the science of pressure cookers is here.

Do I have to sterilize the jars?

If the recipe calls for a processing time of more than 10 minutes, no. Otherwise, yes. In either case, manufacturers generally recommend that you pre-heat your jars to reduce the chance of breakage, particularly before processing in a water-bath canner.

Can I use a dishwasher to sterilize my jars? What about to process them?

If your dishwasher has a sterilization setting, you may use it to sterilize your jars. You may not, however, process your jars in the dishwasher. You need to use a boiling water bath or a steam pressure canner, as per the recipe.

If I have a low-acid food, but I just want to keep it for a few weeks, can I water-bath can it?

No. Food is either safe for water-bath canning, or not. If you do not have a pressure canner but have a food that needs to be pressure canned, you either need to refrigerate it or find some other way to preserve it.

How long will canned food keep once it’s opened?

Once the jars are opened, canned food is just like regular food, with similar keeping times. Something pickled might last months; a highly sweetened jam might last several weeks; and a tomato sauce might last only a few days.

Can I reduce the sugar or salt in a recipe? What about sugar substitutes?

YES. Contrary to what you may have heard, it is perfectly safe to reduce the sugar in a canning recipe so long as you are using an appropriate processing time. (The highly liability conscious company that sells Ball jars backs me up on this.) Sugar is a preservative, which means that food (particularly fruit) with sugar added will retain more of its original color, taste, and texture. It also means that the jars will keep longer once you’ve opened them. You may not get the texture you’re expecting if you reduce or substitute sugar—for instance, your jams might not set. But since sugar does not affect acidity, it doesn’t affect safety. Same thing with salt: the amount of salt in canning recipes is not enough to act as a preservative. It’s there for flavor. If you need to reduce your salt, just leave it out.

How will I know if a jar has gone bad?

A broken seal, a bulging lid, moving bubbles, mold, foam, bad smells, funky texture, and sliminess are all signs that you should not eat the contents of a jar.

Why do you store jars without their rings?

See previous question. If you’ve got an active bacterial population in your jar, they will produce various gasses. If the rings are removed, the pressure inside the jars can eventually build up to the point that the lid pops off. This is your signal, months later when you find the jar in the basement, to not eat it. If the ring is attached, the lid might not pop off. In rare cases, the jar might even explode. On a more mundane level, you should remove the rings because moisture trapped between the jar and the lid will cause them to rust.

How long can you store your jars?

That’s a good question. The USDA generally says 1 year. Many experienced canners will tell you that they fairly regularly keep their canned goods for longer than that, and just as many will tell you that food begins to lose its flavor much sooner (say, 6 months). Since the whole point of preserving foods is to hold you over until the next year’s harvest, shoot for a year.

Got more questions? Bring ‘em on!

Canning Beef Stock and Vegetable Soup

dorisandjilly — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 19:41:13 +0000

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 you froze or even canned last summer. If you planned ahead, this is a total local foods/seasonal winner…and it means that you’ll have jars of delicious, warming soup ready for cold days.

One note: you will save time if you make the soup and the stock together, but it will require some coordination and several large pans. You will also need a large pressure canner, not just a small pressure cooker. For the difference, see this refresher post on pressure cooking 101. And remember, kids: it is not remotely safe to attempt to can meat products in a water-bath canner. Don’t even try it.

You’ll work in several steps. First, you’ll make the stock. Then, you’ll make the soup. Next, you’ll can both the soup and the stock at the same time. You’ll want to assemble your soup vegetables while the stock is cooking in the pressure cooker. Then, when you’re warming up the soup, clean out the pressure cooker so it’s ready to use to can the jars. Got it?

Beef Stock

1–3 pounds beef bones (the more you use, the richer the stock)
1 or 2 small onions, cut in half
2 cloves garlic
some leek parts (rescued from my freezer morgue)
2 carrots, scrubbed if organic, peeled if not, cut into 2 or 3 pieces
2 stalks celery, cut into 2 or 3 pieces
A few sprigs of parsley
1 t salt
6 peppercorns
A bay leaf of two

1) Throw everything into a large pressure cooker with 6 quarts of water. Remember, if you want a richer stock and only have 1 pound of beef bones, just use less water.

2) Lock the lid and bring the pressure cooker up to 15 pounds pressure. Cook for 20 minutes (if your bones are frozen, cook it longer). Let the pressure release of its own accord.

3) Drain the stock through a large colander into another pot. Remember, it needs to be big enough to hold 6 quarts of liquid. If you plan to make a soup, rescue the carrots, celery, and meat parts from the food bits and set them aside. Discard everything else.

4) If you want to freeze your stock, transfer it to freezer-safe containers and stop here. If you want to can it, keep reading.

Beef Vegetable Soup

1 1/2 quarts beef stock
Meat bits from the bones
2 carrots (salvaged from the stock), cut into pieces
2 stalks celery (salvaged from the stock), cut into pieces
1 quart jar homemade canned tomatoes, in water or juice
1 quart bag frozen corn
1/2 quart bag frozen green beans, cut into pieces
1/2 quart bag frozen greens (beets, turnip, kale, etc.)
1 potato, cut into cubes
1 turnip, cut into cubes

1) Put everything in a big soup pot (note you’ll still have another stockpot full of stock, so you’ll need a second big pan) and bring to a simmer. Just simmer it for 15 minutes. Some of the vegetables may still be hard, but don’t worry about it—you’re going to pressure cook them, after all.

2) Meanwhile, prepare a total of 6 or 7 quart jars for canning. They don’t have to be sterile, but they should be clean. Heat the lids. Clean out the pressure cooker and put a rack in the bottom of it. Have 2 quarts of water boiling on a separate burner.

3) Transfer the soup to the jars. Adjust the two-pieces lids and transfer the jars to the pressure cooker. ****If you’re also canning beef stock, fill those jars and put them in the pressure cooker at the same time. Add the boiling water to the pressure canner. Note to experienced water bath canners: it is not necessary for the water to cover the jars. It’s only there to create steam.

4) Cover and lock the lid. Evacuate the steam for 8 minutes (this means run it without the regulator—see the picture below):

5) CAREFULLY set the regulator on the vent. Process quarts 1 hour 25 minutes at 10 pounds pressure, or pints 55 minutes. After the pressure drops of its own accord, let the pressure cooker sit another 10 minutes or so before opening. Cool and label. These will keep in a cool, dark, place for about a year.

Canning Beef Stock

What’s that? You don’t like vegetable soup? No problem. Just can the stock on its own. Beef stock only needs 25 minutes for quarts or 20 minutes for pints, both at 10 pounds pressure. The longer time above is simply to take advantage of the fact that you’re running the pressure cooker anyway, and a little extra time for the stock won’t hurt a thing.

Happy Thanksgiving! (and about that stock…)

dorisandjilly — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 15:04:52 +0000

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 kill the bacteria. You need the higher temperatures of a pressure cooker. I’ve got step-by-step instructions, with pictures, on this post on chicken stock. Turkey stock is basically the same thing, just with a bigger bird.

And if you don’t have a pressure canner, don’t despair. Just freeze it.

Canning Roasted Tomatoes

dorisgoat — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 12:55:10 +0000

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 and have been unable to find authoritative canning recommendations for straight roasted tomatoes (no onions). The recipe in the Ball Blue Book is close, with only 1 1/2 c. chopped onions for 12 pounds of Roma tomatoes—but for reasons that aren’t clear to me, this recipe recommends a processing time of 1 hour and 25 minutes. I cannot, for the life of me, figure out why you would need to do this. As you saw in yesterday’s post, the USDA recommends a 40-minute processing time for regular tomatoes. Why would they require twice as long for tomatoes cooked a different way? Is it because their recipe leave the skins on? Does the prolonged heat of roasting do something to the natural acidity of tomatoes? Is it a typo? I’m flummoxed by this. A couple of people at the Clark Park Farmer’s Market this past weekend told me that they treat them like cooked tomatoes (sauce, etc.) and simply process them for 20 minutes in a boiling water bath. Discussion topics on the internets are also inconclusive, with recommendations of everything from not safe, period (this is simply not true), to 20 minutes, to 40 minutes, to 80 minutes.

I can’t tell you why, exactly, but 20 minutes made me nervous. I did, after all, throw in some garlic and herbs and a little bit of oil. I eventually decided to compromise with 10 minutes in the pressure cooker with 15 pounds of pressure. If you don’t have a pressure cooker, I’m not sure what to tell you. If you have all the time in the world and are of the better-safe-than-sorry camp: sure, try 85 minutes. If you’re slightly more adventurous, you might try the regular tomato guidelines: 40 minutes. And if you like to live on the edge or have problems with authority, try 20 minutes…but you do so at your own risk.

Roasted Tomatoes for Canning

About 10 pounds tomatoes
4–6 cloves garlic
a few sprigs of rosemary and thyme
A bit of olive oil

1) Cut the tomatoes in half and arrange them face down in a roasting pan. I was able to fit about 5 pounds in a big roasting pan, 2 1/2 pounds in a regular cake pan. Throw in some herbs and garlic and brush a little oil over the tomatoes.

2) Roast at 450°F for about half an hour (more or less depending on the size of the tomatoes) or, better yet, run them under the broiler for 3–5 minutes. However you do it, you’re cooking them until they’re crinkly with a few black spots.

3) Let them cool. Meanwhile, prepare your jars and lids. If you’re using a water bath, bring your water to a boil and sterilize the jars.

4) You can remove the skins, or not, depending on what you want to do with them (Blue Book leaves them on, which perhaps contributes to the longer processing time?). I remove them. Pack the tomatoes in pint jars and run a spatula around the edges to remove air bubbles. Add more if necessary. You’ll find that they shrink quite a bit. My 10 pounds yielded only 3 pint jars. Add some acid if you’re using a water bath: say, 1 T lemon juice, or balsamic vinegar might be nice. Wipe the rims and adjust the lids.

5) Process as best you see fit, as discussed above. Remember, the well-tested but conservative Blue Book says 85 minutes.

Your thoughts?

Tomatillo Salsa/Salsa Verde

dorisandjilly — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 12:55:14 +0000

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 ripe. But because you need two plants for successful pollination, you could end up with hundreds of tomatillos if the conditions are right (they like hot days and cool nights). They’ve lovely roasted with fish or chicken, but my favorite? Salsa verde, by far.

I make a stovetop/blender version, but you if you want to go through the trouble of peeling them, you can make a nice smokey version by toasting the tomatillos and peppers in a cast iron skillet….but the lazy way is equally delicious.

Now, a little disclaimer about canning. All of the water-bath recipes that I’ve seen for salsa verde require more lime juice than I like in my salsa. On the other hand, they also use more onion, so they would be less acidic. I queried the Twittersphere as to whether it would be safe to can my version in a water-bath canner. Zoecancan sent me a terrific link to a peer-reviewed article in the journal Plant Foods for Human Nutrition that says that tomatillo mixtures with 50% or more tomatillos are safe for a water bath. Now, I want to be loud and clear here that this is NOT a USDA-approved recipe—but I can’t see any reason why it wouldn’t work. Last year, without access to this information, I canned about a dozen jars in a pressure canner and they turned out just fine. You will get some discoloration on the lids because of tomato-family enzymes, but so long as the jar is still sealed, it’s harmless. If both of these options seem scary, you could always freeze it. It also keeps in the refrigerator for at least 2 weeks.

Salsa Verde

About a pound of tomatillos
Water to cover
1 onion
A couple of jalapeno peppers, or maybe a serrano or two
Enough cilantro to yield 1/4 c. chopped
Salt

1) Remove the husks and rinse the tomatillos. Put them in a saucepan with water to cover and bring the water to a simmer. Cook for about 10 minutes, until they change color and squish easily.

2) Combine the tomatillos and their liquid and all the remaining ingredients in blender.

If you’re freezing or storing in the refrigerator, you’re done. If you want to can it, proceed to Step 3.

3) Return the sauce to the pan and bring to a boil. Meanwhile, prepare your canning equipment. Gently boil your lids and have 2 quarts of boiling water ready for the pressure cooker, or a big pot of water going for water-bath canning. Water-bath canners need to sterilize the jars. Transfer the hot sauce to clean jars (water-bath canners need hot jars) and assemble the lids. Adjust the rings.

4) For pressure canners: transfer the jars to the pressure canner and pour in the water (Remember: the water will not cover the jars. It’s there to create steam.). Lock on the lid and turn on the heat. Evacuate the steam for 7 minutes, then put on the pressure regulator. Process pint jars for 5 minutes, quart jars at 10 minutes, either at 10 pounds pressure. There’s a step-by-step refresher on pressure canning on this post on chicken broth.

5) For water-batch canners: transfer the jars to the water bath. The water should cover the jars. Bring the pot back to a boil. Process pint jars 25 minutes and quart jars 35 minutes.

If you are a food scientist or home extension agent and have thoughts on this: Speak up! Also, this isn’t like jam: it scales up beautifully. If you’ve got 10 pounds of tomatillos and want to make 3 quarts of salsa: knock yourself out.

So you say you can can?

dorisgoat — Thu, 28 May 2009 02:24:54 +0000

This post is a little late to the game, but in case you missed it this morning: the NYT has a surprisingly good article about canning today. View all the pretty pictures here. Well, it’s mostly good. The Times will tell you that it’s too scary to do non-acid foods. Let me tell you people: it’s not! You just have to be careful and follow the rules, which often involve pressure cooking. And if you’re ever scared, or in doubt, that’s what the National Center for Home Food Preservation is for.

Favorite tidbit: sales of canning equipment are up 50% this year. Recession, anyone?