Habanero Gold Jelly

We spent most of the month of October at our vacation home in Florida.  That meant I could not fully enjoy the remainder of my garden's harvest.  It had been rather cool at home while we were away with a couple of mild frosts while we were away.  So, I was quite surprised to find ripe habanero, jalapeño and super chili peppers along with a few tomatoes when I checked the garden the day after we arrived home.

There wasn't much but I was still pleased that there was any to begin with.  The super chili peppers (small red) are actually hotter than the  jalapeño (large green) and habanero (orange).  In general the smaller the pepper the hotter it is.

I dried the super chili peppers whole.  A whole dried super chili pepper is ideal for adding a bit of heat to soups and stews.  Just pop it in as is then remove when the dish is finished the same way you would with a bayleaf.  The whole super chili peppers can also be crushed to use as hot pepper flakes.  I actually ended up with another harvest a bit smaller than this one as well as a nice harvest of green tomatoes before the frost hit hard.

Hot pepper jellies are one of my favourite home canned products.  They can be used as a condiment, as a topping over cream cheese on bagels or appetizers, or as a glaze for grilled meats.  They are the perfect 'go to' when entertaining.  I make several different home canned hot pepper jellies.

Habanero peppers are one of my favourite hot peppers.  The local grocery store seldom carries them so I grow my own.  The plants are compact making them perfect for growing using the square foot garden method.  Yet they are prolific, problem free producers.  I dry, pickle and freeze them.   One of the best ways of preserving habanero peppers is making hot pepper jelly.  It is a firey golden, translucent jelly with colourful bits suspended throughout.  The jars look like they are filled with golden jewels.  This really is a must have home canned product!

I really like using the squatty Bernardin/Ball Elite line of 250 ml jars for  hot pepper jellies because they double as a serving bowl for entertaining.  The jelly looks equally as nice in the taller 250 ml jelly jars and for gift giving, the 125 ml mini jars work nicely.  I really wouldn't can hot pepper jelly in jars larger than 250 ml.

Habanero Gold Jelly
modified from: Bernardin Complete Guide of Home Preserving (2006)

1/3 c finely sliced dried apricots
3/4 c white vinegar
1/4 c finely chopped red onion
1/4 c red bell pepper
1/4 c seeded habanero peppers
3 c organic granulated sugar
1 pouch liquid pectin
1/4 tsp butter (optional)

Slice the dried apricots then combine with vinegar in a large stainless steel saucepan.  Cover and let stand at least 4 hours.  Finely chop the red onion, red bell pepper and habanero pepper.  Stir the prepared vegetables into the apricot mixture.  Bring to a full rolling boil over high heat, stirring constantly.  Stir in pectin and butter.  Boil hard, stirring constantly for 1 minute.  Remove from heat.   Skim off any foam.  Stir for 5 minutes to distribute the vegetables throughout the jelly.  Ladle into hot prepared jars.  Place lids and rings on the jars.  Tighten rings finger tight if using the metal snap lids.  Tighten rings finger tight then turn back 1/4 inch if using Tattler lids or glass inserts.  Process in boiling water batch canner for 10 minutes.  Remove from canner.  Do not adjust rings if using metal snap lids.  If using Tattler lids or glass inserts, fully tighten the rings immediately after removing jars from the canner.  Let the jars cool undisturbed for 24 hours.  Remove the rings and test the sea.  Wash rings and jars then dry well.  Rings can be put on the jars loosely for storage if desired.

Yield: 3 - 250 ml jars

Lemon Boy Crushed Tomatoes

When it comes to tomatoes most people are familiar with a few red varieties. However, tomatoes are available in many colours ranging from orangy reds to pinkish reds to yellows, oranges and even deep purplish black. The important thing to remember about tomatoes is different varieties have different uses. Slicing tomatoes (brandywine, beefsteak, etc) really are better used for that purpose, paste tomatoes (romas, etc) make better canning tomatoes while cherry varieties are great for salads. Contrary to popular belief there is no such thing as a low acid tomato either. Some varieties have a higher sugar content giving the taste of being less acidic but in general most tomatoes have a pH of about 4.3 to 4.6 which is why they need to be acidified when home canned. The home gardener is presented with the problem of preserving any abundance of tomatoes which means that even though paste tomatoes are better for canning any tomato is fair game for the canning pot or freezer!

Lemon Boy

I grow Lemon Boy tomatoes each year. They tend to be a bit more problematic for me having a lower yield and always the first to develop late blight. I think they are worth the extra problems due to their sunny bright colour and lovely flavour. They are a nice size tomato too usually about the size of a tennis ball or a bit bigger.

We planned on being away for a couple of days which presents a problem this time of year. I had extra Lemon Boy tomatoes that I knew I would not be able to use up before we left so I decided to can them as crushed. This really was small batch canning as I ended up with 2 - 500 ml jars of beautiful sunny yellow crushed tomatoes. These will be used in a sauce or soup later.

Bernardin (Canadian canning expert) has begun changing the popular gold canning lids with a shiny silver lid. There have been a few reports of Kerr's shiny silver lids having an increased seal failure rate but I have not experienced this using Bernardin's new lids. In the past the USDA (US) and Ball Blue Book (US) recommended removing the canning jar rings, washing and drying then storing them seperately. Bernardin is now recommending removing the rings then washing and drying both the jar and rings while checking for seal. Once this is done Bernardin says the rings can be replaced on the jars loosely for storage. I really like this idea! Washing and drying the rings will prevent any future rusting or sticking issues while replacing the rings on the jars will solve the storage issue. So it is the best solution yet.

He Said (4) - Glazed Prosciutto Wrapped Shrimp

If you recall my husband and I are having a bit of a contest with each of us using a recipe from Better Homes and Gardens® New Grilling Book to create a meal. In total there will be 12 recipes, 6 of his choosing and 6 of mine. The contest ends August 31 so the first week of September I will post a poll where you can vote for the meal you liked best. The rules are all the ingredients must be used but the amounts can be altered.

Glazed Prosciutto Wrapped Shrimp

My husband chose a shrimp dish as his fourth contest recipe. The recipe for the glazed prosciutto wrapped shrimp said that serving with couscous was optional. My husband served this recipe without the couscous as an appetizer. This is definitely a keeper recipe especially for using as an appetizer.

The recipe called for a bourbon grilling sauce but did not give a recipe so I made one. There are a lot of flavours going on in this appetizer. There is the sweet seafood flavour of the shrimp mixed with the saltiness of the prosciutto that mingles nicely with the mild smoky heat of the grilling sauce. It really is a lovely combination, one sure to please!

Glazed Prosciutto Wrapped Shrimp
source: Meredith Corporation, Better Homes and Garden New Grilling Book, 2005. Pp. 336

½ c bourbon grilling sauce (see my recipe below)
½ tsp chili powder
24 fresh or frozen large shrimp in shells
8 thin slices prosciutto

Soak wood skewers 15 to 20 minutes. Peel and devein shrimp. Pat dry and set aside. Mix grilling sauce and chili powder. Wrap each shrimp with a half of strip of prosciutto. Thread onto a skewer. Brush with grilling sauce. Grill on medium heat until shrimp is opaque and prosciutto has defined grill marks, about 6 minutes. Remove from grill and serve as desired.

Bourbon Grilling Sauce

The ingredients for the grilling sauce are pictured in the top photo. The bottom photo shows the 2 - 250 ml jars of canned sauce along with what was used for the shrimp (brush) and put aside for later use. I used a Vadalia onion and Jack Daniel's® Tennessee Whiskey in this recipe. I also eliminated the salt, reduced the liquid smoke and increased the tomato paste. The yield was about 1 L (4 c). Each and every time I cook I'm always alert to a canning opportunity. The flavour of this sauce even without a bit of mellowing gets rave reviews from both of us. I was impressed enough with the flavour that I canned up 2 - 250 ml test jars so will report back on those results. The remaining sauce was refrigerated for an event we are hosting mid-week.

Bourbon Whiskey Barbeque Sauce
source: my recipe

½ onion
4 cloves garlic
¾ cup bourbon whiskey
¼ tsp ground black pepper
2 c ketchup
½ c tomato paste
⅓ c cider vinegar
1 tbsp liquid smoke flavoring
¼ c Worcestershire sauce
½ c packed brown sugar
⅓ tsp hot pepper sauce, or to taste

Combine onion, garlic, and whiskey in a large skillet over medium heat. Simmer mixture for 10 minutes, or until onion is translucent. Stir in remaining ingredients. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer for 20 minutes.
Yield: about 1 L (4 c)

Canning Instructions: Ladle the hot sauce into 250 ml (half-pint) jars leaving ¼-inch headspace. Wipe rims. Adjust 2 piece lids. Process 20 minutes in BWB canner at altitudes under 1,000 feet above sea level. For higher altitudes refer to altitude adjustment chart.

Honey Strawberry Kiwi Jam

It's jamming time! This week I had kiwis, strawberries, raspberries, blueberries and watermelon so decided to do a bit of small batch preserving. Unlike many home canners I prefer not to make a lot of one particular jam so most batches are under 1 L (4 cups) and tend to be on the gourmet side. I like making low sugar jams or jams using local maple syrup and honey. Most of my jams and jellies are my own creation using Pomona's Universal Pectin rather than regular pectin because this pectin does not depend on sugar for the gel. This means the sugar can be greatly reduced or substituted. Unlike regular pectin Pomona's is shelf stable with no expiry date and even though there is a higher cost outlay when bought in bulk, per batch it works out cheaper than regular pectin.

Kiwifruit

Kiwifruit are not local fruit but rather imported from New Zealand. They have a brown fuzzy thin skin with a green flesh. The seeds form around a central pith giving them a characteristic look when sliced. Kiwifruit is rich in Vitamin C and the protein dissolving enzyme actinidin. This enzyme can cause allergic reactions in some and makes the fruit unsuitable for use in milk or dairy products that are not going to be consumed immediately. Kiwifruit is also a natural blood thinner.

Kiwifruit is often served simply peels and sliced. The flavour is somewhat a mixture between strawberries and lemons yet rather unique. It pairs nicely with strawberries especially for jams. When kiwifruit are plentiful our local grocery stores put them on for a rather good price. I paid 97¢ for three kiwifruit on Thursday. This makes the kiwifruit a great fruit extender for strawberry jam reducing the overall cost of the jam if purchasing strawberries and allows the home gardener with smaller strawberry yields to still make lovely homemade jam.

Honey Strawberry Kiwi Jam

Yesterday I made a batch of honey strawberry kiwi jam. I use local unpasteurized honey which imparts a wonderful flavour to the jam. It is important to use local honey as it is less likely to cause an allergic reaction. It is also important to mark any home canned foods containing honey as honey should not be consumed by children under the age of 1.

This jam is a real keeper! The next time I will cut the amount of honey by half which will cut some of the sweetness while still giving a lovely honey flavour. I used 3 cups of prepared fruit with a yield of 4 - 250 ml (1 cup) jars of gourmet jam.

Honey Strawberry Kiwi Jam

3 cups mixed fruit (1 qt strawberries, 3 kiwifruit)
1 cup honey
3 tsp calcium water
1½ tsp Pomona's pectin

Wash and mash strawberries. Wash, peel and mash kiwifruit. Stir together then measure for 3 cups and pour into large saucepan. Stir in the calcium water. Measure room temperature honey into measuring cup. Stir pectin into the honey and set aside. Bring the fruit to a boil. Add the pectin-honey mixture. Stir vigorously 1 - 2 minutes while cooking to dissolve pectin. Return to a boil and remove from heat. Fill prepared jars leaving ¼ - inch headspace. Wipe rims and adjust two piece lids. Process in boiling water bath 10 minutes at 1,000 ft above sea level. At altitudes above 1,000 ft use altitude adjustment chart (here).

Mango Chutney

I am on a definite roll with the success of trying new home canned products. This year alone at least six new home canned products have found their way into my pantry, all of them receiving my family's seal of approval. A lot of this comes from being able to assess a recipe and know first if the ingredients are the right match and second knowing whether or not the product can be safely canned.

I was browsing through one of my canning books when a recipe caught my eye. It was for mango chutney and something about it just begged for me to try it. Chutneys are similar to salsas except they have a rich, smooth, mellow, sweet-sour taste whereas salsas tend to have a fresh, lively flavour. They compliment spicy and strong flavoured foods. The texture ranges from chunky to smooth while their spiciness ranges from mild to hot. Apples and onions are the base ingredients in traditional chutneys but sometimes dates or raisins are added as well.

Mangos & Gingerroot

Cases of mangoes were on sale last week for $7.99. The problem was we knew were away Tuesday through Thursday then Friday through Sunday but the sale for mangoes ended Thursday. So I had my husband pick up a case of slightly under ripe mango then put it in the pantry where it is both cool and dark where I hoped they would be fine until I could get them processed. Four of twelve mangoes went to the kids, two for each set of parents of the grandbabies. Apparently youngest grandbaby age 6 months loves mangoes!

Pictured are the mangoes and gingerroot. One thing I really don't like about produce bought in the grocery store are those stupid stickers on every piece of fruit. Honestly! They are a pain to remove and certainly not very environmentally friendly. An easier solution would be to teach the staff to recognize the various types of produce just like they did in the old days!

Prep

Mangoes have a large, flat, whitish pit so they are a bit more difficult to prepare. When quartered the mango flesh needs to be cut away from the pit because it does not peel off freely. It is a bit messy. A step-by-step method for preparing mangoes can be found here or use any method that get the desired results. One mango will yield about 1 cup of prepared fruit.

Gingerroot has a thin bark type covering. Peel this away to use for this recipe. Slice the peeled gingerroot into thin slices then slice again to form thin slivers. Cut across the slivers to form finely chopped pieces of gingerroot.

The mango chutney smelled heavenly and looked beautiful while it was cooking. It affirmed my suspicions that this would be a keeper recipe!

Mango Chutney

Pictured are 4 - 250 ml (half-pint) jars of mango chutney packed in the cutest, squatty Ball jars as well as enough left over for tomorrow night's dinner. I have to tell you I love fancy canning jars but I only have a few. The reason being is some of these fancy jars are not really all that practical or economical. Still I will buy a 4 pack of fancy jars just to try them out. Sometimes I will buy more but that won't be the case with these Platinum Ball jars. Sure they are cute but I could only get four jars in the BWB canner. There wasn't even enough room to add a regular 250 ml jar! This makes these jars suitable for mainly small batch canning at best. The replacement platinum lids are more expensive than the normal gold ones so the next time I use these jars they will be getting regular wide mouth lids. Since they are so squatty you don't get a really good view of the product but they will look nice on the table without having to pour into a bowl. Finally they are more expensive but they really are eye catching for gift giving.

Mango Chutney
source: Topp, E. and Howard, M. Small-Batch Preserving. 2001. Richmond Hill, Ontario. Pp. 218.
modifications: by myself October 30, 2008

3 medium cooking apples
2 large mangoes
½ medium sweet red pepper
1½ c organic granulated sugar
1 c finely chopped Spanish onion
½ c Sultana raisins
½ c white vinegar
¼ c finely chopped gingerroot
1 tbsp lemon juice
2 tsp curry powder
½ tsp ground nutmeg
½ tsp cinnamon
¼ tsp sea salt

Peel, core and chop apples. Peel and chop mangoes. Chop pepper and finely chop onion and gingerroot. Place all in a large saucepan. Add raisins, sugar and vinegar. Bring to a boil over high heat then reduce to a simmer. Cook uncovered for 20 minutes or until the fruit is tender and the mixture is thickened. Stir in the lemon juice and seasonings. Cook an additional 5 minutes. Ladle into hot, sterilized jars leaving ½ - inch headspace. Wipe rims. Adjust two piece lids. Process 250 ml (half-pint) jars 10 minutes or 500 ml (pint) jars 15 minutes in boiling water bath canner.

Yield: 1.25 L (5 cups)

Low Sugar Raspberry Jam

Raspberries are one of my favourite fruits. Unfortunately they tend to be expensive because they are so delicate. One of our neighbours has a raspberry patch so I stop by their fruit stand quite often. With so many things going on in the canning kettle, I forgot all about late season raspberries. My husband surprised me with 2 pints of these delectable berries so I decided to turn them into low sugar jam.

Low Sugar Raspberry Jam

Raspberry jam is the ultimate! Spread on a slice of lightly buttered toast it is a taste sensation sure to please on a wintery morning.

Standard pectin recipes call for a lot of white sugar without being able to substitute. I like being able to substitute sweeteners as a start and I like reducing white sugar where I can. The problem is with jams and jellies the standard pectin requires large amounts of sugar to gel. Pomona's pectin does not need sugar to gel but instead uses calcium water. What this means is I can make a much fruitier tasting jam using a lot less sugar.

I put the jam up in 125 ml jars. These are just so adorable! The 500 ml jar shows how tiny and cute these little jars are. They are the perfect size jar for gift baskets. Two pints gave a yield of 5 - 125 ml (half-pint) jars.

Raspberry Jam

1½ c prepared raspberries
1½ tbsp lemon juice
1½ tsp calcium water
1 tsp Pomona's pectin
1½ c granulated sugar
½ c water

Wash the raspberries. Mash. Combine the raspberries with lemon juice and calcium water in a saucepan. In a separate bowl combine sugar and pectin stirring well. Bring the raspberries to a boil and boil 1 minutes. Pour the water into the sugar mix. Stir well. Pour into the raspberry mix. Bring to a boil and boil 1 minute. Ladle into hot, sterilized jars. Wipe the rims. Adjust two piece caps. Process in boiling water bath canner for 5 minutes.

Small Batch Canning Method & Two Recipes

I will be doing a bit of small batch canning over the next couple of weeks along with my normal canning. At some point a dedicated home canner or even a novice is going to do a bit of small batch canning. There are three main reasons for this but there may be others. First, small batch canning can include test batch canning. In this case the home canner is purposely canning one or two jars to be opened within a day or so to see if this is a product he or she would like to can more of. Second, small batch canning is an ideal way to use up small amounts of some produce either as it becomes available or end of season gardening. The third reason is there are some products that are nice to have on hand but won't use a lot of (eg. dilly beans).

In general small batch canning batches:

• are packed into 250 ml (half pints) or 125 ml (½ c) jars
• are processed using a boiling water bath (BWB) canner
• are usually 1 L or 4 cups total batch
• are usually specialty food products

Small batch canning of pressure canned processed foods is possible but is normally done as part of a another canning batch using the same processing time. The reason for this is running a pressure canner for anything less than at least a half load is rather energy inefficient.

Modified Rack

When water bath canning you do not need a special pot. All you need is a pot deep enough to cover the filled jars when sitting on the rack by a minimum of 1 inch. The other requirement is it needs a lid. A normal water bath canner will hold 7 - 500 ml (pint) jars or 6 - L (quart) jars. A rack is necessary to keep the glass jars from coming into contact with the canner bottom.

Small batch canning requires a smaller water bath canner that can easily be made using a stock pot with a lid and a cake cooling rack or canning jar rings. I have three stock pots ranging from 24 cm to 28.5 cm diameter that all double as water bath canners. I found a cooling rack that fit nicely in the middle sized stock pot but for the others I use canning jar rings. These can be joined together with wire or left as is if you are only going to use that sized pot for a load or two.

Pickled Hot Peppers & Tango Preserves

Small batch canning requires that you be extremely prepared with all ingredients ready to use. The reason for this is in most cases you will run a few small batches of different products back to back to save on re-heating the water. At the same time a lot of small batch canning recipes are shorter period processing times so you have a shorter period in which to work.

I decided to process the rest of the jalapano peppers today along with tomato tango preserves. Both look beautiful in the jars! Both are wonderful products to have on your pantry shelves. The rich and aromatic tomato tango preserves would be nice to do a double batch. I modified the original recipe to use Pomona's pectin to make it low-sugar. These preserves would be perfect for baking chicken or pork in.

Pickled Jalapeño Peppers
source: Topp, E. and Howard, M., Small-Batch Preserving. 2001. Pp. 157.
modifications: by myself

1 c cider vinegar
¼ c water
1 tbsp local honey
2 tsp pickling spice
½ tsp Kosher salt
1 large clove garlic cut in half
8 large jalapeño peppers

Wash peppers. Wearing gloves, cut the tops off of the peppers. Slice lengthwise and remove seeds and pith. Slice thinly. Cut the garlic clove in half. Combine the remaining ingredients. Bring to a boil then remove from heat and let sit 10 minutes. Pack one slice of garlic and jalapeño peppers in hot, sterilized jars leaving ½ - inch headspace. Pour the hot pickling liquid over the peppers leaving ½ - inch headspace. Wipe the rim. Adjust the two piece lids. Process in boiling water bath canner for 10 minutes for 125 ml (half-pint) jars.

Yield: 2 - 125 ml (half-pint) jars

Tomato Tango Preserves
source: Bernardin, Tomatoes Canning & Specialty Recipes. 2000. Pp.54.
modified: by myself to be low sugar and use Pomona pectin

3 c chopped tomatoes
3 tbsp lemon juice
3 tsp calcium water
1½ c organic sugar
¼ tsp ground allspice
¼ tsp ground cloves
¼ tsp ground cinnamon
2¼ tsp Promona's pectin

Wash, peel and seed tomatoes. Combine the tomatoes with lemon juice and calcium water in a large sauce pan mixing well. Mix dry ingredients together in a separate mixing bowl. Bring the tomato mixture to a boil. Stir in the dry ingredients, mix well and return to boil. Boil 1 minute. Remove from heat. Ladle into hot, sterilized jars. Wipe rims. Adjust two piece lids. Process 5 minutes for 125 ml jars.

Yield: 3 - 125 ml jars