|
Post by horseyrider on Mar 28, 2019 22:16:46 GMT
Okay, so I no longer have to leave my canned goods out to admire for more than a day or so. I love to see what I've made, how I can take a seed that I saved, put it in the ground, grow some green beans or something, put them in jars with salt and stuff them in a canner, and voila, I have FOOD. I can even get emotional about peach slices macerated in a little sugar and canned in their own juices, sitting in the early morning sunlight by the window. They look like jewels to me, like something sort of miraculous.
I figure you know what I mean, or you wouldn't be canning. It's a lot of work to do if you don't get the thrills.
I butcher chickens every fall. Sometimes I hatch them in an incubator, sometimes I turn over the genetics and get something else interesting. Most of the young roosters go for roasters, fryers, etc. Young pullets become the next years layers, and old layers go in the stew pot. I like to stew the old hens, pull off the meat and chop it, and then can it in the strained broth. Then I have "instant" chicken soup all winter. Chicken noodle, chicken barley, chicken vegetable, chicken and wild rice, yada yada. All delicious, and it makes a terrific fast meal.
So yesterday, just for funzers, I sauteed some chopped onion, celery, carrot, and shiitake mushrooms in some chicken fat. (When I can chicken, I like to skim the fat before canning, and put it in a wide mouth pint jar. I let the fat rise, and put it in the freezer. I dig out a tablespoon or so and let it sizzle in the pan before putting in my veg. It makes the soup taste extra chicken-y.) Then I dumped in the jar of chicken and broth. I let the soup come slowly to a simmer so the flavors could marry; and when it did, I turned up the heat to medium. Then I dropped in some dumplings made with a pinch or two of thyme and sage, and slammed on the lid. OH MY DID IT SMELL GOOD!!! I was a good girl, and left the lid on tight for the prescribed twenty minutes.
I cannot describe how luxurious and silky the broth, how rich with flavor and how feather light the dumplings. It just about hurt. I ate a big bowl for lunch yesterday, and had the rest of it for lunch today. I don't usually eat such big meals, but I could hardly leave it alone.
It's so fun to find a new (old) way to use my own canned goods! I'm stoked!
And I'd love to hear what kinds of things you really enjoy from your pantry. The surprises, the treasures, and the duds. Are there cupboard orphans in your pantry that you like, but forget to serve? (I do that with bread and butter pickles. I love them, but I make them, admire them, and then leave them on the shelf!)
|
|
|
Post by solargeek on Mar 28, 2019 22:25:13 GMT
horseyrider, What a great description! My description will be less than yours but equally delicious. We love roasted well: brussel sprouts with EVOO, several spices and a touch of garlic maple salt, roasted red cabbage steaks with balsamic reduction sauce drizzled over them, pan fried cauliflower "steaks" deeply browned in butter and EVOO and salted/peppered, and finally YUKON GOLDs, thinkly sliced, roasted crispy on the outside, and soft melty on the inside with butter, sour cream and bacon bits. We are not vegetarians (altho that would be good too) but we don't grow meat or pressure can so these are all the fruits of my labors. I freeze all but the cauliflower as it is too fragile.
|
|
|
Post by horseyrider on Mar 29, 2019 10:01:43 GMT
horseyrider , What a great description! My description will be less than yours but equally delicious. We love roasted well: brussel sprouts with EVOO, several spices and a touch of garlic maple salt, roasted red cabbage steaks with balsamic reduction sauce drizzled over them, pan fried cauliflower "steaks" deeply browned in butter and EVOO and salted/peppered, and finally YUKON GOLDs, thinkly sliced, roasted crispy on the outside, and soft melty on the inside with butter, sour cream and bacon bits. We are not vegetarians (altho that would be good too) but we don't grow meat or pressure can so these are all the fruits of my labors. I freeze all but the cauliflower as it is too fragile. WOW. You know how to do it, my friend! You've given me some ideas! Why did I never think of pairing red cabbage and balsamic vinegar? That sounds outrageously delicious! And you've hit on my favorite way to eat cauliflower, something I'd forgotten about. I haven't grown any in years, but this year I just might. In the meantime, I'm putting it on my grocery list. I love the way it can hold until I can get it all cooked and eaten. It's a workhorse vegetable. I'm not a vegetarian either, although I'm getting closer and closer to it again. I just love the veg; it's so much more interesting than meat.
|
|
|
Post by northerngardener on Apr 2, 2019 14:45:19 GMT
Peaches are the prettiest thing I can, but I like to can pears in the blue-colored canning jars because I like how they look. A few years ago I had an abundance of carrots. I found this canning recipe for carrot and onion sandwich slaw. It is basically pickled carrots and onions with seasonings. I don't care for it that much straight out of the jar, but I don't know what else to do with it. So it sits on my shelf, gathering dust. I really enjoy canned chicken because it is just so useful! Someone brings home an extra person for lunch? Pull out some canned chicken and chicken salad is just a few minutes away. Chicken tacos, chicken casserole, chicken enchillatas, chicken pot pie, etc... I also love canning ham and bean soup. Any time I have a ham bone, there is some ham and bean soup in my future!
|
|
|
Post by feather on Apr 2, 2019 15:56:26 GMT
I love my canned stuff, all of it. The other day I was making sloppy joes from scratch and I didn't feel like cutting onions. I asked DH if he would get me some tomatoes and onions from the pantry when he was downstairs. He said he couldn't find them. I said they look like white balls in liquid. He said there were none. I went down to look and they were right up front on the shelf. I brought them up and I said, what do these look like? He said first, they aren't labeled, and he's right they aren't. Then he said, they look like pears or something. I was just thinking, I'm hoping he never takes up pie making. A sweet pear/onion pie just doesn't sound that good. There is a movie called The Homesman. It is set in pioneer times. She bought one can of peaches from the store, and made a peach pie. She said there were 3 other cans of peaches but she doesn't know who could buy them, as they were so expensive. This was a matter of luxury (which is what you each are talking about, the luxury of these canned things) as she humble bragged her peach pie. (It was my favorite scene in the movie.) The part that made me laugh, was after her chicken dinner with peach pie, being fed to her neighbor guy, she sings a song, which he falls asleep during it even snoring. After the song, he immediately wakes up and tells her she sang beautifully. As an offer of his own luxury, he says he has a piece of cheese he made from his sheep, in his pocket. Then they enjoy his cheese as a fine finish to their meal. She follows up the cheese with the offer/demand/suggestion that they should get married (yeah, cause that is what I'd do after someone offers me cheese. ) and combine their land and effects and even better, have children. He tells her NO, never, can't and he's going out east to find himself a wife. So there! And not only that, he tells her she is plain and bossy. The luxury of our canned foods is woven into everything we do and who we share it with. (and thanks for reading about my favorite scene in one of my favorite movies)
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Apr 16, 2019 20:23:52 GMT
Okay, so I no longer have to leave my canned goods out to admire for more than a day or so. I love to see what I've made, how I can take a seed that I saved, put it in the ground, grow some green beans or something, put them in jars with salt and stuff them in a canner, and voila, I have FOOD. I can even get emotional about peach slices macerated in a little sugar and canned in their own juices, sitting in the early morning sunlight by the window. They look like jewels to me, like something sort of miraculous. I figure you know what I mean, or you wouldn't be canning. It's a lot of work to do if you don't get the thrills. I butcher chickens every fall. Sometimes I hatch them in an incubator, sometimes I turn over the genetics and get something else interesting. Most of the young roosters go for roasters, fryers, etc. Young pullets become the next years layers, and old layers go in the stew pot. I like to stew the old hens, pull off the meat and chop it, and then can it in the strained broth. Then I have "instant" chicken soup all winter. Chicken noodle, chicken barley, chicken vegetable, chicken and wild rice, yada yada. All delicious, and it makes a terrific fast meal. So yesterday, just for funzers, I sauteed some chopped onion, celery, carrot, and shiitake mushrooms in some chicken fat. (When I can chicken, I like to skim the fat before canning, and put it in a wide mouth pint jar. I let the fat rise, and put it in the freezer. I dig out a tablespoon or so and let it sizzle in the pan before putting in my veg. It makes the soup taste extra chicken-y.) Then I dumped in the jar of chicken and broth. I let the soup come slowly to a simmer so the flavors could marry; and when it did, I turned up the heat to medium. Then I dropped in some dumplings made with a pinch or two of thyme and sage, and slammed on the lid. OH MY DID IT SMELL GOOD!!! I was a good girl, and left the lid on tight for the prescribed twenty minutes. I cannot describe how luxurious and silky the broth, how rich with flavor and how feather light the dumplings. It just about hurt. I ate a big bowl for lunch yesterday, and had the rest of it for lunch today. I don't usually eat such big meals, but I could hardly leave it alone. It's so fun to find a new (old) way to use my own canned goods! I'm stoked! And I'd love to hear what kinds of things you really enjoy from your pantry. The surprises, the treasures, and the duds. Are there cupboard orphans in your pantry that you like, but forget to serve? (I do that with bread and butter pickles. I love them, but I make them, admire them, and then leave them on the shelf!) What a way you have with words! For some strange reason I have this sudden onset of hunger. I have never canned anything. I hope to. I do love reading about it.
|
|
|
Post by bearcreekfarm on Jul 15, 2019 15:23:28 GMT
My friend and I made some venison ghoulash a few years ago and canned it. The ghoulash itself was really good, but I. cannot. stand. the texture of canned meat So, I still have a few jars of it down on the pantry shelf- I should get hubby to cook it up for himself and DD one evening for supper when I am out, lol. I also found a couple of jars of "rose petal syrup" the other day, that I made 2 or 3 years ago. I was actually making rose petal jam and wound up with a few jars that did not set. We were using those as syrup on ice cream. It was really good, but I guess we stopped buying ice cream at the end of the summer and then forgot about it the next year. Will have to pick up some more vanilla ice cream and crack open a jar of it. mmmm. But generally, we eat everything that we can. Once in awhile we try something new that doesn't turn out to be something that we like, but those creations usually go straight to the chickens- I don't keep anything around that we won't eat.
|
|
|
Post by Jolly on Jul 15, 2019 16:26:06 GMT
All things in their season. Canning green beans is over, but there's still field peas and figs to can. If Barry left enough on the vines, wild muscadines will be getting ripe before too long. And I forgot about the two crocks of pickles that are soaking.
All things in their season...
|
|