consciouseating SAVORING THE SUN
Three Ways to Preserve Summer’s Goodness by Judith Fertig
“B
eing a locavore is fabulous if you live somewhere like Cali- fornia,” says Audra Wolfe, a
co-founder of Canvolution and an expert food preservationist. “But if you live in the Northeast, unless you learn food preserva- tion, you could be eating local turnips and kale all winter,” she notes with a chuckle. The mounting desire to eat locally
grown food, know what’s in our food and reduce our carbon footprint, as well as shrinking household budgets, are con- tributing to what The New York Times recently cited as a renaissance in home food preservation. “In a time of high food prices, job losses and food safety scares, home canning is booming,” agrees June Taylor, a Berkeley, California, food pres- ervationist. According to Jarden Home Brands, makers of Kerr and Ball brands of glass canning jars, sales of canning equip- ment were up 30 percent in 2009. The simplest methods for “putting
by” food are freezing, refrigerator canning or multi-step water bath canning. Pres- sure canning, dehydrating and fermenting require special equipment (pressure cook- ers, dehydrators and large crocks), as well as more advanced knowledge. For most of us, a large pot and some pint-size glass canning jars with lids and metal sealing rings comprise the basic equipment we need to get started.
“The jars are like
characters, with story lines that I remember.” ~ Eugenia Bone, author of
Well-Preserved: Recipes and
Techniques for Putting Up Small Batches of Seasonal Foods
Freezing
Freezing can be as easy as rinsing berries in very cold water, patting them dry, and then placing them on a baking sheet in the freezer until fro- zen solid. Such quick- frozen berries can then be placed in freezer
storage containers and will keep for up to six months. Some foods, like vegetables,
need to be blanched first—plunged into boiling water for a minute or two, then shocked in an ice water bath—then allowed to cool before being placed in freezer storage containers. Cooked sauces, salsas and chutneys can simply cool before being frozen and will also taste best when eaten within six months.
Refrigerator Canning Because most veg- etables have low acid content, which can invite bacteria growth, canning them also involves pickling—add- ing a vinegary brine to increase the acid level. Refrigerator-pickled
cucumbers, Swiss chard stems, green tomatoes, beets and green beans will keep for up to six months if kept covered in pickling brine in the refrigerator.
Hot Water Bath
Canning Traditional hot water bath canning creates a vacuum within the jar that works to preserve foods. Basically, the food is packed into clean, hot jars that are filled almost up to the
top (the amount of headspace between the food and the lid is indicated in the recipe). Then, the filled and sealed jars are processed in a hot water bath for a specified amount of time. When they’re removed from the bath, the lids will pop into place as they cool to complete each jar’s vacuum seal. Food canned this way
28 Hartford County Edition
www.NaturallyHealthyCT.com
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