Quick Bite: Shelf Life

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Shelf Life

This isn’t your grandmother’s kitchen. Attorneys Martha Rhodes and Lee Walters are spicing up old-time canning favorites (think mint and bourbon peach jam and balsamic strawberry syrup), even chronicling their adventures in a fresh new blog, A Bit of a Pickle (bitofapickle.wordpress.com). Several times a week, the two convene downtown in Martha’s kitchen to pool their goods (like red peppers and citrus from their backyards, apples from the Upstate, and local Bartlett pears) and test out new concoctions. It’s a smart pursuit, for sure, given our area’s abundance of fresh produce. Plus, asks Lee, “What’s better than giving friends summer tomatoes at Christmas?”

To learn how to “put up” some of their favorite recipes, read on.

About Water Bath Canning
It’s a process that uses boiling water to destroy active bacteria in high-acid foods (citrus, pickles, tomatoes, etc.), making them safe for later consumption. Here, Martha and Lee offer a quick overview, but check out their recommended reading (below) to learn more about this method.

You'll Need:
1. Water bath canner with rack and lid (available at Wal-Mart, Target, and anywhere that sells culinary equipment)
2. Jars, lids, and screw bands  
3. Jar lifter for easy removal of hot jars from canner  
4. Funnel or jar filler to pack small food items into jars
5. Bubble Freer spatula, plastic knife, or non-metal spatula
6. Lid wand with magnet on the end to remove lids from hot water

Basic Steps:
Sterilize
Clean jars in the dishwasher or place in water bath canner and add water; simmer 10 minutes. Bathe lids in hot water until ready to pack.

Prepare Food
Wash produce thoroughly. Prepare ingredients according to recipe.

Pack
Add food to hot jars according to recipe and ensuring proper “head space” (space from the top of the jar to the food or liquid in the jar). Wipe rim and side of jar. Center lid on jar and apply screw band “fingertip tight” (as tight as possible without exerting extra force).

Process
Place sealed jars in canner. Adjust water level to cover jars by one inch. Cover and boil over high heat. Count recipe processing time after full boil
is reached.

Test
Remove jars and place on a clean, dry towel. The lids should make a popping sound after a few hours, or after cooling overnight. If the center dents when you press on the lid with your finger, it has not sealed properly.

Learn More:
Find how-to advice and new recipes on Martha and Lee’s blog,
bitofapickle.wordpress.com, or hunt down a title from their resource library. They recommend: Well-Preserved: Recipes and Techniques for Putting Up Small Batches of Seasonal Foods by Eugenia Bone (Clarkson Potter); Putting Up: A Year-Round Guide to Canning in the Southern Tradition by Steve Downdney (Gibbs Smith); and Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving (Robert Rose, Inc.)

Spicy Pickled Okra

Ingredients 

• 3 lbs. fresh, young, 2-3 inch okra pods, washed
• 6 small hot peppers (i.e., jalapeño)
• 6 cloves garlic, peeled
• 6 sprigs fresh dill
• 6 tsp. celery seed
• 6 tsp. mustard seed
• 2 Tbs. sugar
• 5 Tbs. salt
• 2 cups apple cider vinegar
• 2 cups water

Directions 

{ Yields 6 pints}

Sterilize six pint jars, lids, and their bands.

With a sharp knife, trim off any woody portions of the stems from the pods. Seed and devein hot peppers under cold running water, using a spoon to scrape away from you and being careful not to inhale fumes. Wash hands well with soap and water.

In each jar, put one hot pepper, one clove garlic, one sprig dill, and one teaspoon each of celery and mustard seed. Add okra and pack in tightly, placing the first layer stem-end down and the second layer stem-end up.
Mix sugar, salt, vinegar, and water and bring to a boil. Boil two to three minutes, making sure sugar and salt are dissolved. Pour boiling solution over okra, filling jars to within 1/4-inch of the rim. Place lids on jars and screw bands fingertip tight. Boil jars 10 minutes.

Store in a cool, dark place for up to one year.

Hot Pepper Jelly

Ingredients 

• 1 dried hot chile, split open with scissors, seeds and stem removed
• 2 large red bell peppers (4 cups), chopped
• 4 jalapeño peppers (1 cup, preferably red), chopped
• 3/4 cup distilled white vinegar, divided
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 2 tsp. kosher salt
• 1 box (1 3/4 oz.) fruit pectin

Directions 

{Yields 4 half pints}

Sterilize 4 half-pint jars, lids, and their bands.

Meanwhile, place the chile in a small bowl and pour hot water over to cover. Let stand for 10 minutes. Remove and shake off any excess water.  
Pulse the fresh peppers and the reconstituted chile in a food processor with two tablespoons of the vinegar for six seconds (three pulses of two seconds each) until the peppers are finely shredded but are still distinct in an inky red slurry. Do not liquefy.  

Transfer the pepper/vinegar mixture to a 3-quart pot, add the remaining vinegar, sugar, and salt.  Bring to a vigorous boil over high heat.  Lower the heat to medium and simmer for three minutes. Stir in the pectin and return to a boil for one minute. The mixture will still be runny but will set more after processing.  

Carefully pour the hot jelly mixture into the sterilized jars, leaving 1/4-inch head space. Place the lids on the jars, screw on fingertip tight, and process in a hot water bath for 10 minutes at a rolling boil. Let cool and store in a cool, dark place.  
 

Preserved Lemons

Ingredients 

• 10 Meyer lemons
• 1/2 cup kosher salt, divided
• 1/4 cup olive oil

Directions 

{Yields 2 pints}
 

Place lemons in a large pot and fill with enough water to cover the fruit. Bring to a boil and cook for 5 minutes. Remove and cool.

With a sharp knife, remove the stem ends of 6 of the lemons. Slice into quarters from pole to pole. As you cut the lemons, remove seeds.  
Sterilize 2 wide-mouth pint jars, lids, and their bands. When the jars are dry but still hot, pack them with the lemon wedges. Sprinkle in 3 tablespoons of salt per jar and shake to distribute evenly.

Juice the remaining four lemons. Top each jar with one tablespoon of salt, then distribute the juice between the jars, covering the lemons completely. If you see air bubbles along the side of the jar, slip a butter knife down into it and press aside the fruit to allow juice to fill the space.   

Set lids and screw the bands on fingertip tight. Allow the lemons to ferment on your kitchen counter for one week, turning jars upside down every other day or so (the fruit will become soft and the salt and juice mixture syrupy). Add the olive oil to fill the jars 1/4-inch from the top and transfer jars to the refrigerator, where they will hold for up to six months.

Tip: Preserved lemons are perfect mixed into risotto, or atop grilled fish and chicken.