Food

September 10, 2008

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Weck: Fancy Pants Canning Jars

Since the harvest season has got underway I’ve been doing quite a bit of canning. Canning in a small, claustrophobic apartment kitchen can get a little gnarly at times but I actually enjoy the process quite a bit. I feel like I’m getting one over The Man with every jar that seals. I always appreciate the effort come winter and have been surprised to find myself sitting on the floor on more than one occasion fondling the multi-colored jars of this and that tucked into the bottom shelves of a kitchen cupboard. As a kid I never could have dreamed it would come to this. That so many years later I would become someone who grows food AND puts food by. And who understands the meaning of the term. And uses it in sentences. I haven’t reached that hyper-perfectionist Fall Fair level yet but I can see giving it a go one day in the future. For the kicks!

My first forays into canning began about a decade or so ago with dill pickles and has since expanded into chutneys, jams, jellies, ketchup, salsa and just about anything that is safe to preserve in a regular boiling-water-bath canner. I don’t have a pressure canner but I’ve found myself day dreaming about getting one recently. I just don’t know where on earth I would put it! The big canning kettle is taking up enough space as it is.

This year I decided to splash out and buy some fancy canning jars. Why are all of the standard hardware store brands so UGLY? I especially dislike the cluster of fruit motif stuck on most small 1/4 pint jelly jars. You can cover the lids but those designs are debossed right into the glass. Any proper home canning jar will get the job done but aesthetically pleasing jars are just a little bit more satisfying to behold.

And so I looked around for the prettiest jars I could find, settling on a couple of boxes of expensive but gorgeous German made Weck jars. And they are gorgeous. But boy are they hard to come by. I was only able to find them online at Lehman’s, a store that sells all sorts of incredible old fashioned gadgetry. The catalogue is really fun to browse. Just yesterday I found myself getting excited about a bottle capper even though I don’t drink soda. It caps bottles! Imagine that.

Anyways, back to the Weck jars. The frugal in me refused to chance expensive shipping rates and so I tried looking around locally for a time instead. Unfortunately I couldn’t find anything in the city but when I went back to place an order canning season was already in full swing and they had sold out of some of the sizes and shapes I had hoped for. Lesson #1: Get your canning supplies WAY before canning season starts. Every year I say I will do this and then every year I underestimate how much I will need when the time comes which inevitably leads me to run out to my local hardware store where they have jacked up the rates preying on desperate canners and where the selection is down to the tackiest jar designs. Lord I am picky.

In the end I managed to purchase 4- 1 litre deco jars and 4- 1/2 litre tulip jars. I really wanted the petite jars for my jellies but only now realize that Lehman’s had them in stock but I overlooked it on the site. Dang it!

My jars arrived yesterday afternoon. They really are beautiful. My first thought was to determine what was good enough for them. They’re so special and I only have a few. I wanted my inaugural canning session with them to be something special that will be best suited to the shape and size. The goal of canning couldn’t be more practical yet I’ve gone and shifted it into the realm of vanity making what goes in the jars less important than what looks GOOD in the jars. That’s one step closer to anal retentive Fall Fair ribbon winner.

I eventually decided to try canning up another batch of heirloom tomatoes in the larger 1 litre jar. I figured that the rich color and simple pear shape of ‘Japanese Black Trifele’ Tomato would be beautiful through the glass, matching the curves of the jar. I also thought it best to do my trial run with something I’ve got some experience with so I can make comparisons. I have some fidgety old blue glass Masons that I’ve been using for years but the Weck system is still a bit different. There is no screw lid. The entire jar is glass, including the lid. It is sealed with a rubber gasket which is held in place with two metal clips throughout the heat processing steps. The clips are then removed once a vacuum seal has been created inside the jar, leaving you with a very sleek and simple shape devoid of any metal that can potentially rust on the shelf.

The canning procedure wasn’t unlike canning with old glass Mason jars but it was a bit trickier. I found the shape of the jars and the lids harder to pick up with my standard jar lifting equipment. The jar mouths are a lot wider, which is great for cleanly getting food into the jar but not so great for lifting. The deco shaped jar was especially difficult because it did not have a real lip for the jar lifter to grab onto. The jars did not fit into my standard size rack so there was a lot of worried fumbling with jar lifters and tongs getting the jars into and out of the hot water bath. Like the vintage glass Mason jars I found it difficult to determine if a proper seal has been achieved. With no two part metal system to make that familiar POP, you can only really go on intuition, the position of the rubber lip (which should face down) and the strength of the lid once the clips are removed.

For those reasons I would not suggest these jars for beginners but I think the smaller petite jars would be easier to manage. Still, if you’re new to canning and are nervous about safety I would recommend sticking to the metal lid jars. And if you’re an intermediate or advanced canner the only other issue is the prohibitively expensive cost. I figure I will have to can with these every year for the rest of my life to get real value from them. Canning isn’t just about saving money but that’s certainly a pretty big factor and at over $6.00 a jar plus shipping these are not what I would consider a frugal or thrifty choice. They would make nice gifts although I have to say I think I will be saving these for myself.

What foods are you putting up this year?

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August 14, 2008

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Give Me Tomatoes

Above image is the July entry from the 2008 You Grow Girl Calendar

I LOVE tomatoes. If I had to give up growing all other crops and choose just one I would probably choose tomatoes although basil would follow as a close second. Who can imagine tomatoes without basil?

Don’t make me choose.

Tomatoes aren’t the easiest food plant to grow but they are the most rewarding. No homegrown vegetable tastes, looks, and feels more radically different to its grocery store counterpart. That watery, anemic thing isn’t a tomato, it’s an impostor, and a bad one at that.

I love the challenge in growing tomatoes. The learning about this single crop type is endless. Every variety is different from the 6 feet (plus plus) tall indeterminates to teeny little potted plants. The leaves and shapes are different, their wants and needs are varied, and their disease and pest resistance can shift radically from plant to plant. And then there’s the weather. What thrives and grows abundantly one year can melt into a pile the next. Finding more water during a drought is hard enough, but how exactly do you take it away during a flood year? My region has already far surpassed all the records for summer rainfall and the summer isn’t even over yet. If you’ve ever experienced frustration and loss as a tomato gardener do not give up. Who knows what next year will bring? That next variety might be the one that kicks ass in your growing conditions. The one thing a gardener can never control or really predict is the weather. How amazing would it be if we could? But then I wonder how interesting gardening would be if we knew exactly what was going to happen and what to do about it beforehand.

Photo by Gayla Trail All Rights Reserved
A clump of ‘Purple Calabash’ tomatoes harvested just yesterday!

A gardener could focus their entire life on just the tomato and still live a very full and varied experience. I constantly long for the space to toss in 100 varieties or more in one year and just immerse myself in it completely. Still, I try with my little roof garden and community plot, slowly inching my way through the lists of inspiring varieties one plant at a time. I had to cut back this year to give my soil a break. It’s a bummer but has made me all that much more appreciative of the plants I do have, most especially the few that have pushed on through the excess rain to bring me my first sweet, ripe lovelies.

Eating

Tomatoes are beginning to ripen in both of my food gardens which means I am indulging in all of my favourite tomato recipes. I prefer to make tomatoes the star of the show rather than hiding them in among other overpowering ingredients so as soon as the first tomatoes were ready I dove straight into the two dishes I crave most during the off months of the year: Roasted Tomato Soup and Fried Egg Sandwich. (I cooked and ate one for lunch midway through writing this post!) The egg sandwich is as simple as frying two eggs any way you like them with a light spread of mayo and a couple of leaves of fresh basil. Add a little salt to taste. My newest love is Caprese Salad. I took up cheese making last year just so I could have really fresh delicious cheese with it. When the plants really start producing I’ll be making Roasted Tomato Sauce and Blackened Ranchero Salsa and then canning for winter usage. Yum.

Photo by Gayla Trail All Rights Reserved
Amazing that this is where it all begins. This is the ‘Purple Calabash’ shortly after germinating.

Growing

This post is a part of Away to Garden and Dinner Tonight’s Tomato Week Fest 2008.

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July 17, 2008

7 Comments

Cherry Clafoutis

I have a longer post about my trip to Columbus, Ohio coming up but until then a station break about cherry season. It’s on! While I was away Davin went cherry picking just for me, bringing home a giant basket of fresh deliciousness. Picking that basket was preceded by a 13 km hike. What a guy.

Of course within a matter of days what initially felt like a windfall has dwindled in my minds eye. Need. More. Cherries. I stopped by one of our local farmers markets to grab a snack on the way home the other day. One of the farmers was selling baskets of cherries and even though I had that giant basket at home, I actually considered buying another. Or two. The only thing that held me back was the knowledge that our freezer is currently stuffed to the gills with frozen strawberries with not an inch of space left for anything more.

Note to self: Eat strawberries, stat.

In preparation for cherry season I have been dreaming about the things I will make when the time arrives. Now that it has, the pressure is on to use those precious cherries wisely. Last night I rolled out Cherry Season 2008 with a show stopping dish, Cherry Clafoutis aka Clafouti. If you’ve never had this French dessert it’s basically fresh fruit baked in an eggy, custard-like batter or pudding. I used this recipe as a starting point with a few revisions (I don’t think I have followed a recipe verbatim in my entire life). It was high on the egg side but very tasty. I substituted sugar with agave syrup and added a drop or two of amaretto extract because I didn’t have almond extract on hand. I thought about trying the recipe with almond milk but used the last of it in a smoothie made earlier that day. I did add little pats of butter and a sprinkling of maple sugar before broiling but to be honest I don’t think either was necessary and made the dish sweeter than I’d like.

All-in-all the clafoutis was REALLY good but I have my sights set on making one with a dough base. The base will add some additional weight to the dish and compliment the soft custard. If anyone has a recipe like that please share! I haven’t yet determined if I should cook the dough slightly before adding the custard or just plop it all in the dish. Either way I guess I’ll have a tasty time working it out.

If you haven’t made a dessert like this before and are intimidated, don’t be! Prep was done in a blender and took only a few minutes. From there the only stress was watching the oven to be sure it didn’t overcook on the bottom. And that’s what egg timers were made for.

You’ll love it!

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June 13, 2008

29 Comments

There WILL Be Onions

I am still working on getting warm season transplants into the community garden plot. I’m still working on same on the roof for that matter. I was a little gun shy this spring, following on the heels of last year’s June 5 Curcubit killing cold snap. While that didn’t happen this year, I was relieved to have played it safe when a reader wrote in reporting a snowfall on June 11 in their part of North America. June 11! The horrors!

Regardless of timing, one thing is for sure: the onion harvest is out of control! I’ve always been fortunate when it comes to onions but I’ve hit some kind of personal record this year and it is only June. I foresee a lot of onions in our future, especially given that I planted more onion sets a while back, and have a whole tray of onion seedlings sitting out on the roof waiting to be planted.

If you look at early spring shots of my community garden it looks like I am growing an onion and garlic garden more than anything. I mentioned that I would be pulling many of them up, replacing them with new warm season transplants as planting got underway. Well…. earlier this week on one such occasion I brought back an entire box of onions. And I brought another box back last night. I know I’m writing this like it is some kind of blight but I am an actually embarrassingly proud. Last night I walked my bike back from the community garden, careful to avoid spilling my bounty all over the street and proud as a peacock secretly hoping someone would exclaim, “Wow look at all those onions!” To which I would proudly reply, “Yep. Grew them myself. And this is only the half of them!” And then I would hand them a bunch. Because I’m onion wealthy and I like to spread the love. This all played out in my head like a King of Kensington-style fantasy sequence. Except in my version I’m the Onion Queen of Parkdale. In real life I walked silently with nary a sideways glance from passing neighbours and arrived home to an empty building. It was another 30 minutes before my neighbour knocked on the door for coffee and I could finally turn to the giant box waiting in the hall and shout, “Dude, check out my onions!”

And I’m not done yet. Nope, there are currently craploads of full-sized bunching onions left in spaces that I will be replacing with some of the straggling transplants this weekend. We are about to experience an onion gold rush over here! And if bunching onions were worth their weight in gold we’d be selling out and moving to a cliff side house with an ocean view. Except in reality that box of onions might fetch a couple of dollars at best and we’re really just standing around starring at it and wondering what to do with such an enormous bounty. I’ve already roasted a a few and have considered pickling a few more. One reader suggested Korean Scallion Pancakes. That sounds delicious and we will definitely be trying those this weekend.

Since you all had such wonderful, creative ideas for using rhubarb I have to ask, What do you do with your onion bonanza? I’m especially asking about the bunching onions because they have a lot of greens and I’d like to use those if I can rather than just tossing them into the compost.

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May 12, 2008

26 Comments

Garlic Mustard (Alliaria petiolata)

The garlic mustard population is really getting out-of-hand at the community garden this year. I’ve discovered loads of it in unused areas of disturbed, lousy soil and it is expanding rapidly into the edges around plot beds. I was diligent in removing much of it last year so the population isn’t big enough yet to really get under my skin, but this plant is so prolific, and such an evil overlord taking over wherever it sets roots that I’m going to have to get at it with due diligence to avoid disaster next year.

For those who’ve had the good fortune of avoiding it, garlic mustard is an extremely invasive, biennial plant that was probably brought to North America by European settlers, most likely to be cultivated for food and medicine. And I can see why. It’s delicious stuff and the herb books are filed with useful garlic mustard-based remedies. The plant also over-winters nicely under snow, even in my region, which for settlers probably meant something green in the cold months. Unfortunately the plant got loose and has since become a bit of a botanical menace, encroaching on native woodland plants in many parts of the Eastern United States and southern parts of Ontario, Canada (where I live). In fact it’s become such a pain that local communities are starting to band together on special garlic mustard eradication days, going out into woodland areas in groups with the sole purpose of removing the plant.

But like I said, there is a bright side to this — we can use our mouths and stomachs to help keep this bad ass botanical in check. The leaves have a strong garlic flavor and the roots have a bit of a kick making them a good substitute for horseradish (incidentally also a menace). When pockets of it started to turn up in my own gardens last year I figured I might as well figure out some use for it while going through the pains of pulling it out. We’ve tried a few recipes but I am finding that I am as sensitive to this plant as I am to garlic itself. We’ve enjoyed it, but in much smaller quantities than are harvested. The other key to use that I have found is to mix it up with other ingredients. This tempers the bitterness, and in my case prevents digestive upset.

While the leaves are bitter, young leaves can be eaten fresh in salads if you remember to harvest in the early spring. The plant is generally tastier BEFORE the flowers and seeds appear which is a good thing because it’s advised to get them out of the ground before the seeds have a chance to spread. It can also be sautÃƒÂ©ed or wilted like spinach. The garlic flavor goes nicely with butter. And mushrooms. Maybe with a pinch of salt and a splash of lemon. Yum. Pesto is a popular use since the bitter garlic flavor works nicely on pasta, no additional garlic required. Making pesto is also a good way to use up and store the plant for long term use. Just package it up and keep it in the freezer. Don’t worry about running out, for better or worse there will be plenty more next year.