Green Bin Farms Onions!

This weekend we got snow.  Nothing even close to say a nor'easter, but freezing temps none the less.  After consulting with a very knowledgeable gardening friend, we decided it was time to pull the onions out of the garden, rather than risk losing them.

But what to do with all those onions?  Our gardening friend had an answer for that as well.  Being a big fan of our Roasted Garlic and Onion Jam, she suggested we make more and gift it to friends - clever girl!  And so we did.  We made ten 8 oz jars, with a little bit of leftover for our fridge stash.

Still we had leftover onion greens, which we dried and sorted/sifted into onion powder and onion flakes for cooking with.  We initially started the dehydrator in my studio and quickly realized all of my yarn was going to stink intensely of onion, causing us to relocate it to the garage  You should smell the garage!

What did you do this weekend?

Canning 2011 (...to date, more to come!)

This is the canning we've done so far this year.  Yes, its a lot.  Yes, we have more to do.  Yes, you will probably get some.

We (psychotically) purchased 2 bags and a bushel of green chili and spent TWO days processing a total of 72 cups worth - diced.

Here is the completed inventory to date:

Extra Hot Salsa - 13 qts, 5 pints

Extra Hot Pineapple Salsa - 7 qts, 3 pints
Extra Hot Peach Salsa - 1 qt, 5 pints
Green Hell - 4 pints
(Some of this stuff is so hot it'll melt your measuring spoons!)
Medium Hot Pineapple Salsa - 6 pints
Medium Hot Peach Salsa - 6 pints
Tomato Sauce - 8 qts, 3 pints

We did get a fairly good yield of Brandywine tomatoes from Green Bin Farms this year, and those were primarily used for the Tomato Sauce.

We also purchased a case of tomatoes as it seemed like we might need them.  Here is a picture of the ensuing tomato insanity.  We used EVERY available bowl in the house, and even a cookie jar!

The Pineapple and Peach salsa recipes are new and developed exclusively by L'Heureux Laboratories, i.e. we did a little research and discovered that you can waterbath can anything with a pH of 4.6 or lower.  Both pineapples and peaches have a lower pH than tomatoes and chilies.  Here's our recipe:

L'Heureux Fruit Salsa
4 cups diced tomatoes
4 cups diced green chili
4 cups diced pineapple or free-stone peaches
1 1/2 cups diced sweet onions
2+ jalapeno or habanero peppers diced
12 cloves minced garlic
1 bunch chopped cilantro
3 cups vinegar
3 tsp canning salt
1 tsp ground cumin

Combine all ingredients and heat, stirring frequently, until mixture boils.  reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Ladle hot into hot pint or quart jars, leaving 1/2 inch headspace.  Process in boiling water canner for 20 min (Rio Rancho altitude).  Yields approx. 3 quarts and 1 pint.

Here's Salsa John, stirring up a batch.  Yes, we used EVERY pot in the house!

Honestly, we used every bowl, every pot, every knife, every towel, every measuring cup, every measuring spoon, and every ounce of energy we had.  One day we literally worked 10 1/2 hours straight.

Here is a picture of the Salsa orphans.

Don't feel sorry for them.  They ate leftovers and LOVED it.

Steam Engine Experiment & Jelly Day!

1. Roasted Garlic & Onion Jam (recipe follows)

2. Roasted Red Peppers (recipe follows)

NOTE: When Pressure Canning – Jars CAN be stacked and touching. Stove setting “2” on Double Burner maintains 13# pressure.

NOTE: Add 2 tbl white vinegar to processing water to avoid white stains on jars.

 
Roasted Garlic & Onion Jam

1 cup finely diced roasted garlic
1 cup finely diced sweet onion
6 cups sugar
1 ½ cups white vinegar
2 – 3oz pouches liquid pectin

Combine garlic, onion and vinegar. Stir in sugar. Over high heat, stirring constantly, bring to full rolling boil that cannot be stirred down. Stir in pectin. Boil hard, stirring constantly for 1 minute. Remove from heat and skim off foam. (Stirring quickly in the center forces foam to edges of pot.) Quickly pour hot jam into hot jars, leaving ¼” head space. Process in hot water bath canner for 20 minutes (Rio Rancho altitude). Makes 1 pint, 5 half-pints and 1 small refrigerator jar.

To enhance suspension of solids, cool jars uprights 15-30 minutes or until lid pops down but jelly is not set. Carefully twist and/or tilt jars to distribute solids. Do not shake.

Roasted Red Peppers

5 large fresh picked Green Bin Farm red peppers

Water

Roast, skin and seed peppers. Quarter, then halve. Hot pack into hot PINT jars. Add boiling water, and remove air bubbles. Top off leaving 1” head space. Process at 13 pounds (Rio Rancho altitude) in Pressure Canner for 35 minutes. Makes 2 scant pints.

Glutton for Punishment Salsa!

1. Tomato / Green Chili Salsa recipe (see August 16, 2009), made 3 qts and 4 pints.

2. 2/3 batch Tomato / Green Chili Salsa recipe with original recipe quantity of Habanero peppers, made 8 pints and 7/8 pints refrigerated.

Total Salsa canned today – 3 qts and 11 pints.
Total Salsa canned this year – 12 qts and 15 pints.

Crazy People Can like Crazy Day!

1. Double recipe of Carrot Pickles (pg 34, Ball Blue Book), made 7 pints, recipe follows. Used 6# fresh picked Green Bin Farm carrots!

2. Double recipe Pickled Hot Peppers (pg 318, Complete Book of Home Canning), made 2 qts and 5 pints, recipe follows with modifications.

3. 1 ½ recipe Green Hell (see September 25, 2009), made 1 qt and 5 pints plus 1/3 pint fridge jar.
Took approx. 7 hours with breaks.

Carrot Pickles (Double Recipe)

6# fresh picked Green Bin Farm carrots
4 cups vinegar
3 cups water
2 cups sugar
2 teas canning salt
2 tbl mixed pickling spices
2 sticks cinnamon

Wash, drain and peel carrots. Large julienne cut carrots, steam until just tender. Combine vinegar, water, sugar and salt. Tie remaining spices in spice bag, add to vinegar mixture. Boil 5 to 8 minutes. Pack carrots into hot jars, leaving ¼” head space. Remove spice bag. Bring liquid to a boil. Pour over carrots leaving ¼” head space. Remove air bubbles. Adjust caps. Process pints and quarts 40 minutes (Rio Rancho altitude) in hot water bath canner. Makes 7 pints.

Pickled Hot Peppers (Double Recipe)

3# yellow hot peppers (Wagners)
1.7 # jalapeño peppers – red & green (Wagners)
12 cups white vinegar
4 cups water
6 cloves garlic
Roasted garlic cloves for jars

Combine vinegar, water and garlic. Bring to boil over medium-high heat. Reduce heat and boil gently for 5 minutes, until garlic flavor has infused. Discard garlic.

Pack peppers in jars, either whole with slit through, or ½” sliced rings, adding roasted garlic clove, leaving ½” plus head space. Ladle hot liquid into jar, covering peppers, leaving ½” head space, air removed. Process for 20 minutes (Rio Rancho altitude) in hot water bath canner. Makes 2 qts and 5 pints.

Conspiracy Day Salsa

1. Made TWO batches of Tomato / Green Chili Salsa (recipe from August 16, 2009) using:
• 25% Burbank Slicers (Heirloom – Green Bin Farm!)

• 25% Brandywine (Heirloom – Green Bin Farm!)

• 50% Beefsteak (approx 5# commercial – Sunflower Market)

• 50% / 50% Jalapeños and Habaneros peppers
Diced tomatoes by hand using fork for stability and “onion dice” technique. Made 9 qts and 4 pints canned plus 1 ¼ pint refrigerated.

2. Made more Evil Oil (see August 21, 2010) from drippings in green chili Ziplocs, added to existing Evil Oil in refrigerator.

Took approx. 5 ½ hours with breaks.

Labor Day!

More Canning...

1. Single batch of Sweet Pickle Relish (pg 32, Ball Blue Book), made 6.75 - ½ pints
2. Dill Pickle Kosher Style Short Method (see August 28, 2010) using 5# fresh picked Green Bin Farm cucumbers ½” sandwich slab cut, made 7 pints.

Took approx 3 ¾ hours.

Do-Dad-Dilly of a Day!

Made up 2 Quarts of our Dilly Bean recipe,  then canned 4 quarts and 3 pints Dill Pickles Kosher Style Short Method (recipe from page 28, Ball Blue Book as follows.) using cucumbers from our garden!

Dill Pickles Kosher Style Short Method

6 ½# fresh picked Green Bin Farm cucumbers, sliced on the diagonal
¾ cup sugar
½ cup canning salt
1 qt apple cider vinegar
1 qt water
3 tbl mixed pickling spices
2 heads dill per jar
1 bay leaf
2 cloves garlic
2 pieces dried red hot pepper

½ teas. mustard seed

Combine sugar, salt vinegar and water in a large saucepan. Tie pickling spices in a spice bag, add to vinegar mixture, simmer 15 minutes. Pack cucumbers into hot jars, leaving ¼” head space. Add dill, bay leaf, garlic, peppers and mustard seed to jar. Bring vinegar and water to a boil. Pour hot liquid over cucumbers leaving ¼” head space. Adjust caps. Process pints and quarts for 25 minutes (at Rio Rancho altitude) in hot water bath canner. Makes 4 qts and 3 pints.

Processing Day & Evil Oil

Purchased 1 bag and 1 bushel from Wagner’s Farm in Corrales.  Processed into 13 freezer quart (4 cup) Ziplocs and 2 ½ - 1 cup Ziploc freezer cups for a total of 54 ½ cups total. Took approximately 4 ½ hours – breaks not included.

We've discovered that dicing the peppers now makes future recipes a whole lot quicker to assemble.

Evil Oil:  Boil to reduce remaining wash bowl water with seeds. Pour into jar through sieve. Cork and refrigerate.