Putting Up

Home canning is also referred to "putting up" - putting up food for use later in the year. Canning is making a huge come back, for economical reasons and because of the eat local movement. Home preserving is an essential part of local eating because it encourages you to shop and eat seasonally. With canning and dehydrating, you can preserve seasonal foods for use later in the year, out of season. The other day I had a canning marathon. It was quite an ordeal but, with the help of Food in Jars, I managed to put up:

3 pints (500ml jars) Homemade Spiced Applesauce. Total of 6lbs of Okanagan apples put up.


5 quarts (1L jars) Tomatoes Packed in Water, using 8lbs of Okanagan tomatoes. (I loosely followed my Grandma's method, but adhered to the USDA guidelines to ensure they are in a safe pH range).


3 pints (500ml jars) Peaches in Honey Syrup, using 5 lbs of Okanagan peaches. (I followed the directions on the Food in Jars website, but instead of 100% sugar, I used 50% honey/50% sugar. One jar also received a piece of Star Anise, a cinnamon stick and a teaspoon of vanilla extract.)


Add all this to the things I put up during the Preserve the Bounty challenge, and this summer I preserved about 25 quarts of fruit and vegetables for use this winter!

Still on the agenda for this week is Spicy Dill Beans, at the request of my mother. She loves them as a garnish in Caesars.

Pumpkin Muffins

This recipe was forwarded to me by my cousin, Tobe. I re-worked the ingredients to eliminate refined vegetable oil, white sugar and all-purpose flour and reduced the amount of oil and sweetener. The end result is quite good. The spices and pumpkin really stand out. A warm pumpkin muffin with a pat of butter is lovely with tea on a rainy fall afternoon! You could also make pumpkin loaves, if you prefer.

1 400ml (14oz) can 100% pumpkin puree (NOT pumpkin pie filling)
4 whole eggs
1/2 cup unrefined coconut oil, melted
2/3 cup water
1 cup unrefined golden cane sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
3 1/2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
2 tsp aluminum free baking soda
1 1/2 tsp salt
2 1/2 tsp Pumpkin Pie Spice (see below)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease and flour two 12-cup muffin tins.

2. In a large bowl, whisk together pumpkin puree, eggs, coconut oil, water, cane sugar and vanilla until well blended. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, apple pie spice and ginger. Stir the dry ingredients into the pumpkin mixture until just blended. Pour into the prepared pans.

3. Bake for about 50 minutes in the preheated oven or until a toothpick inserted in the centre of the muffins/loafs comes out clean.

4. Let cool slightly in pan, then remove to finish cooling on a wire rack.

Homemade Pumpkin Pie Spice Mix:

(4:1 ratio of cinnamon to other spices. Adjust volume accordingly.)

1/4 cup ground cinnamon
1 tablespoon ground ginger
1 tablespoon ground nutmeg
1 tablespoon ground cloves

1. Add everything to a small glass jar and seal with a tight fitting lid. Shake well to mix. Store for up to 6 months.

Butternut Squash Apple Bacon Soup

The perfect soup for a chilly fall day!

1 1/2 lb butternut squash, halved and seeded
2 onions, quartered
2 cloves garlic
2 medium apples, quartered
4 tsp olive oil
2 cups vegetable broth
1 tsp dried sage
1 tsp honey
4 sliced bacon, diced
salt and pepper

1. Peel and cut squash into large,1 1/2 inch cubes. Place cubes into a roasting pan. Add onion, and garlic. Drizzle with olive oil and a pinch of salt. Toss to coat. Roast for 425 degrees for 30 minutes until squash is tender. Half way through roasting, add apples to pan, toss everything together and place back in the oven to finish roasting.

2. Peel roasted apples (skins should slip off easily). Add apple, squash, onion and garlic to a food processor.

3. Heat roasting pan over medium-high heat. Add 1 cup vegetable broth, and bring to a boil, scraping up browned bits from the roasted vegetables. Add broth to food processor with the vegetables. Blend everything together until smooth. Add honey and sage and pulse to blend together.

4. Cook bacon in a dutch oven or heavy saucepan, over medium-high heat until crisp. Transfer cooked bacon to a paper towel lined plate. Remove all but 1 tablespoon of bacon fat from dutch oven. Add vegetable puree, the rest of the vegetable broth, 1 cup water, and a pinch each of salt and pepper. Bring to boil then simmer for 5 minutes.

5. Serve sprinkled with crisp cooked bacon and a dollop of sour cream.

This post is part of Twister Tuesday at GNOWFLINS and Real Food Wednesday at Kelly The Kitchen Kop.


This post was featured on the front page of Tasty Kitchen on October 6, 2010.

Okanagan Farm Stands

Highway scenery last summer. The weather wasn't as gorgeous this weekend!

I spent the weekend in the Okanagan region of British Columbia. The area is well known for fruit and produce. (The region is also well known for it's wineries, that that wasn't the purpose of this trip). Road side fruit stands line the highways through every little town and big city, from Salmon Arm in the North Shushwap area, down through Enderby, Vernon and Kelowna on Highway 97A, and all along Highway 3 (Hope-Princeton/Crowsnest) through Peachland, Summerland, Penticton, Keremeos and Princeton. Highway 3 is the fruit stand highway. If you come to the Okanagan looking for fruit, make sure you take the Hope-Princeton Highway instead of the Coquihalla (Hwy 1). The route is a little longer and a little bit windier, but it's worth it just for all the fruit stands. Come in the summer for berries (especially cherries), peaches, nectarines and plums and come in the fall for apples, pears, pumpkins and squash.


Photo Credit
We stopped at Bear's in Keremeos. It's apple and squash season in the Okanagan. There were a dozen varieties of winter squash, some I'd never seen before. Along with the usuals (butternut, turban, delicata, acorn), they also had some odd looking grey things and some white acorns.


Grey Hubbard Squash
I stocked up on three varieties of local apples but all I can remember is honey crisp - I already forgot the other two varieties! I also picked up a couple butternut squashes, a flat of field tomatoes (more canning in my future) and a carton of peaches (the last of the season)! I also got a jar of local Keremeos Blackberry Honey and a bottle of local Black Cherry Fruit Vinegar.



While in Salmon Arm, I stopped at the famed DeMille's Farm Market and bought three blocks of Farmstead Artisan Cheese produced by The Village Cheese Company in Armstrong, B.C. (original home of the huge Armstrong Cheese company).

Sometime this week I plan to make Butternut Squash Apple soup and I might try to make some dried apple rings in the the food dehydrator. Any suggestions what I can do with the peaches, other than gobble them up whole?

Beet Hummus - Guest Post from Marianne

Today I have the pleasure of sharing a guest post by Marianne, of From French Fries to Flax Seeds. Marianne went to high school with me eons ago and last year, we reconnected over Facebook. Turns out she likes food as much as I do so we became Farmer's Market buddies! Marianne is training to be a registered dietitian, so along with having great recipes, she is also extremely knowledgeable about dietary health and nutrition. This may just be the longest post I have ever posted and include the most pictures, but is also one of the best! I cannot wait to make my own batch of beet hummus!

Beet It!
by Marianne of From French Fries to Flax Seeds

There are plenty of foods I may declare that I don’t like, but it’s not always true. It’s just easier to say “I don’t like (blank)” than to try and explain the situations in which I enjoy said food. Take tomatoes, for example. I often say I don’t like them, but I do eat them in things like salsa, ketchup, soups, stews, and of course Caesars ;) But tomatoes in salads or sandwiches, or in a pasta sauce? No thanks. I’ll pass. Because “I don’t like tomatoes”.

But this post isn’t about tomatoes. It’s about beets.

Check out the rest of Marianne's awesome post, mouth watering photos and great recipe for Beet Hummus after the jump.

Caesar Vinaigrette

I made this easy dressing to top a simple Caesar salad for a family get together. Traditional Caesar dressings use raw eggs but one of my family members is expecting so she can't eat raw eggs. Another option is mayonnaise, but it's not my favourite condiment (and store bought mayonnaise is highly processed), so I try to avoid it. I found a simple blender Caesar dressing on Pioneer Woman so I used that as a guide and changed it up slightly. The result was a perfectly balanced, fresh and tangy dressing. It was way better than anything that comes in a bottle. Incidentally, this would also be a terrific as a baste for chicken!



2 whole cloves garlic
2 tablespoons plain Dijon mustard (not grainy)
1 1/2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
Juice of 1/2 a lemon
1 teaspoon Worcestershire Sauce
dash of hot sauce
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper
1/4 cup fresh grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 cup good quality Extra Virgin Olive Oil

1. Add garlic, Dijon, balsamic vinegar, lemon juice, Worcestershire, hot sauce, salt and pepper to a blender.

2. Pulse on low a couple times until blended. Add Parmesan cheese and pulse a couple more times.

3. Add olive oil, a little at a time, and pulse once before adding more. When totally combined, pour into a glass jar or bowl and refrigerate prior to use.

My salad was made with a head of fresh romaine from the Farmer's Market. I added about three tablespoons of dressing, tossed it together, then added shaved Grana Padano and the Pioneer Woman's garlic croûtons, made using fresh country bread, also from the Farmer's Market. To finish it off, I added another tablespoon or two of dressing and tossed everything once more.

Stuffed Peppers - A Guest Post from my Cousin

I put the call out to some friends and family members for some guests posts. I've been a little swamped lately since going back to work after having most of the summer off. My cousin Tobe was the first to come to the rescue with Stuffed Peppers. Tobe doesn't have a blog but she loves to cook. She also guest starred in my post a few weeks back about Canning with Grandma. Without further ado...

Stuffed Peppers by Tobe

One of my fiancé's favourite Monday night football meals is "Stuffed Peppers". They are super easy to prepare and great to serve to all our hungry football fans. I decided to take a very basic stuffed peppers recipe and raise it a few notches to add some more flavour and take advantage of some fresh local ingredients.

I added 1 cup of shredded sharp white cheddar which gives a nice smokey flavour. Save a small handful to garnish the top; it makes a nice crusty gooey top on the peppers. If you can't fine sharp white cheddar, any cheddar will work. Instead if 2 cans of tomato sauce, I used 1 can and substituted the other for 1 jar of my Grandma's canned tomatoes. If you don't have canned tomatoes I would use 1 can of crushed tomatoes to give the sauce some texture. I combined organic ground beef and ground bison, instead of plain ground beef, to change the meat up a bit. Finally I added a few splashes of red wine to the meat mixture. It gave a little more depth and helped bring some more flavour to the dish.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup uncooked long grain wild rice
1 cup water
1/2 pound ground beef
1/2 pound ground bison
1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
2 tbsp red wine (few good splashes)
6 green bell peppers
1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce
1 (8 ounce) can crushed tomatoes
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp onion powder
1 tsp Italian seasoning
salt and pepper to taste
1 cup shredded sharp white cheddar (1/4 cup reserved for garnish)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

2. Place the rice and water in a saucepan, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover, and cook 20 minutes.

3. In a skillet over medium heat, add meats, red wine and Worcestershire sauce and cook the beef and bison until evenly browned.

4. Rinse bell peppers and remove and discard the tops, seeds, and membranes. Arrange peppers in a baking dish with the hollowed sides facing upward. Slice the bottoms of the peppers if necessary so that they will stand upright.

5. In a bowl, mix the browned beef and bison, cooked rice, 1 can tomato sauce, 1 can crushes tomatoes, garlic powder, onion powder, cheese, salt, and pepper. Spoon an equal amount of the mixture into each hollowed pepper. Mix the remaining tomato sauce and Italian seasoning in a bowl, and pour over the stuffed peppers.

6. Bake 1 hour in the preheated oven, basting with sauce every 15 minutes, until the peppers are tender. During last 20 minutes of baking, top with remaining cheese.

Enjoy with a side salad and some hot crusty bread!

Pea Shoot, Tomato and Egg Salad

This is one of my favourites from The 10 Cent Diet. It's so fresh and simple. I eat it as a snack or as a salad with lunch. If you boil a few eggs in advance and keep them in your fridge, you can put this delicious salad together in a couple minutes.

Pea shoots, like all sprouts, are incredibly nutritious. They are super concentrated with nutrients - including seven times more vitamin C than blueberries, eight times more folic acid than bean sprouts and four times more vitamin A than tomatoes. (Source). Add a sliced garden fresh tomato and a perfectly hard boiled, free-range egg and you have a complete snack.

Serves 1

1 handful fresh pea shoots, cut in half
1 tomato, halved and sliced
1 (or 2) hard boiled egg(s), sliced
Balsamic vinegar
Sea salt (I use Fleur de Sel) and fresh cracked pepper

1. Layer pea shoots, tomato and egg in a bowl.

2. Top with a drizzle of balsamic and a sprinkle of salt and pepper.

If you're feeling extra fancy, used reduced balsamic vinegar. It's extra delicious that way. (Put 1 cup balsamic in a saucepan and simmer on low until volume reduced by half and balsamic is syrupy).

Skillet Sautéed Caramel Apple Crisp

I picked up some beautiful apples at the Farmer's Market the other day from Silverhill Apple Orchard. I was planning to make apple snacks in my food dehydrator but decided to postpone that task for another week. Instead I cooked up a tasty dessert that can be ready in about 25 minutes.

Serves 4

Skillet Sautéed Caramel Apples

2 apples - halved cored and sliced thin (Peel if you want; I didn't)
splash lemon juice
1/4 cup unsalted butter
3 tbsp sucanat
1 tbsp honey
2 tsp Apple Pie Spice (See below)
1 tsp vanilla extract

1. In a small bowl, toss together apple slices and lemon juice.

2. Melt butter in a cast iron skillet over medium heat. Add apple slices and stir to coat in butter.

3. Add sucanat, honey, Apple Pie Spice and vanilla. Mix together and let simmer, stirring occasionally, until apples are tender and a thick caramel sauce has formed.

4. Remove from heat and pour apples and caramel sauce into a glass or ceramic baking dish or individual ramekins. Set aside.

Crisp Oat Topping

1 cup rolled oats
1/2 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1/4 cup sucanat
1 tbsp honey
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp Apple Pie Spice (See below)
1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted
1/4 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

1. Mix everything together in a medium bowl. Mixture should be moist. If too dry, add another tablespoon of melted butter.

2. Spoon mixture over top of sautéed apples and caramel sauce and press down so it is a compact, even layer.

3. Place baking dish in oven and broil on low for 2-3 minutes, until top is golden brown and crisp. (Don't burn it like I did!)

4. Allow to cool slightly before serving. Serve with vanilla ice cream!


Apple Pie Spice Mix

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom
pinch of ground cloves

1. Add everything to a Mason jar. Screw on lid and shake well to mix. Use within six months.

I also used my Apple Pie Spice Mix in Caramel Apple Pie Burritos!

My First Guest Post & Wild Mushroom & Garlic Crusted Steak

I was lucky enough to be asked by Kristen of Food Renegade to write a guest post for her blog. It was quite an honour, especially since I'm so new to the world of "Real Food". Kristen said she loved my photography and simple recipes and asked me to put together a grain-free, sugar-free recipe "for a tasty, but easy main dish". I was stumped at first. No grain? No sugar? But those are my two favourite things! In the end I stuck with my favourite, never fail, Red Wine Sautéed Mushrooms and a new one, Wild Mushroom and Garlic Crusted Steak. With flu season approaching I was planning on doing a new post about immunity boosters (see last year's), so I used this opportunity to plan a dinner around immunity boosting food. I was so excited about the project I had my post in to Kristen in just over 24 hours! The post is below or check it out on Food Renegade. The post and pictures look way better on her site! Enjoy and happy health!

P.S. This dish would be delicious with a bed of buttery mashed potatoes under the steak... or even better, horseradish spiked mashed potatoes!

Immunity Boosting Dinner
Autumn is just about here, summer holidays are over, kids are back in school, the weather is getting cooler and it’s beginning to rain more often. What does all this mean? Flu season is right around the corner! Along with the changing of seasons comes the onslaught of germs and viruses. I don’t get seasonal flu shots and can’t afford to be off sick from work, so this is the time of year I start super-charging my immune system by changing my diet to focus on “immunity boosting foods”.

It’s well documented which foods help boost immunity and fight off colds and flus. Prevention Magazine has a good list as does Yahoo! Health. My ultimate Immunity Boosting meal consists of a grass-fed sirloin steak for Zinc, Omega-3’s and Vitamins A & D, sautéed mushrooms for white blood cell support, and sautéed spinach and garlic for Vitamins A and C and bacteria fighting Allicin . Today I’m sharing recipes for a Wild Mushroom & Garlic Crusted Steak with Red Wine Sautéed Mushrooms. Pair with a side of simple sautéed spinach and a glass of antioxidant rich red wine, and it’s a complete meal with great health benefits. This dish would also be delicious with a bed of buttery mashed potatoes under the steak!

Prep Tips: Start the mushrooms first. While the mushrooms are browning, put together the Wild Mushroom & Garlic mixture and coat the steaks. After you turn the steaks once (Steak Step 3), add red wine to the mushrooms (Mushroom Step 3) and let simmer on low while steaks finish cooking and resting (15 minutes). Start cooking the spinach 5 minutes after you have placed the steaks on a plate to rest. Everything should be ready when the steak rest period is up.

The Barefood Contessa has a very simple, tasty sautéed spinach recipe. Check it out here.



Mushroom & Garlic Crusted Steak

4 Small Grass-Fed Steaks (Sirloin or Strip Loin work best)
14g Dried Wild Mushrooms, about 0.5 ounces by weight, (I used a mixture of Porcini, Chanterelle, Shitake, Lobster & Oyster mushrooms.)
1 tsp Whole Mixed Peppercorns
1 tsp Sea Salt
1/2 tbsp Dehydrated Minced Garlic (preferably Roasted Garlic, if you can find it)
1 tbsp Dehydrated Minced Onion
1 tbsp Fresh or Dried Chopped Parsley
4 Cloves Fresh Garlic, Minced
2 tbsp Olive Oil, Divided

1. Add mushrooms and peppercorns to a spice grinder or food processor and grind until you have a course powder. Place mixture in a small bowl. Add salt, minced garlic, minced onion and parsley. Mix together. Add fresh garlic and 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Stir mixture together to form a thick paste.

2. Place steaks on a plate and brush with a bit of olive oil. Press mushroom mixture onto each steak to coat. Turn steaks and do the same with the other side.

3. Heat a cast iron fry pan over medium-high heat. Add 1 tablespoon of olive oil. When pan and oil hot, add steaks to pan, two at a time if pan is small. You can also cook the steaks on the grill, if you prefer. Sear for 4-5 minutes per side, then move steaks to a plate and cover with foil to rest while you cook the other two. Let steaks rest 10 minutes before cutting.

Red Wine Sautéed Mushrooms

1 lb White Button or Brown Crimini Mushrooms
1/4 cup Unsalted Butter
Splash of Olive Oil (to keep butter from burning)
1/3 cup Dry Red Wine
Salt & Pepper to Taste

1. Brush or lightly rinse mushrooms to remove any visible dirt. Cut mushrooms in half or into quarters if they are very large.

2. Heat butter and olive oil in a sauté pan over medium heat. Add mushrooms and sauté until reduced, browned and tender.

3. Reduce heat to medium-low and add red wine. Simmer, stirring occasionally, until wine has reduced, about 15 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Spoon mushrooms onto plate beside steak and drizzle some extra sauce over the steak.