Earlier today I had a discussion with a coworker about preserving food. This is something that I've been experiencing more often now, since I've been making my own pesto with my basil and am looking to start making pico de gallo and salsa with my cilantro soon. I saw some strawberries on sale for cheap at a local grocery store and am considering making strawberry jam soon.
Is making your own sauces/preserves something that others do frequently? What are your favorite things to jar? How do you preserve them (freezer, refrigerator, etc)?
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I do a fair amount of canning: by far, my favorite item is tomato sauce. I buy "field tomatoes" in bulk at the farmer's market when they are ripe, and can them following this recipe on the Ball site: http://www.freshpreserving.com/pages/recipe/215.php?recipe=45 I also do carrot pickles - this year I plan to do Vietnamese carrot/radish pickles.
ReplyDeleteWe did strawberry jam and weren't that happy with it (though I added a bit of red wine to one batch and that made a HUGE difference) but by far I have two favorite jams: mulberry (main ingredient is free, all you need is lime juice and sugar!) and raspberry. The initial investment in supplies is expensive, but sometimes you can find the jars in thrift stores and garage sales. The jam is so much better!
I actually hang onto old jars from when I buy food and use those. I've also found that it's cheap to buy jars in bulk at the hardware store
ReplyDeleteRight - and once you have the jars and rings, the seals are cheap. Jars don't last forever, but they do last a long time.
ReplyDeleteI posted my recipe for mulberry jam (really, preserves) today, in case you're interested.