Canning is Awesome. That’s All There is to It.

I need to preface this with the fact that I'm being lazy and using the post I created for this month's MidtownMontomeryLiving.com, which I'm now a contributing author for their gardening and DIY section.

Now that i've remembered how to log into my blogger account (which yes, I know needs to be self-hosted and use wordpress.org), hopefully I'll be posting more.  I have several recipes that I've taken photos of that I need to blog about.

With that being said, here's "Canning is Awesome. That’s All There is to It."

Last summer, I tried my hand at canning for the first time and I was really quite pleased with the results.  I had 6 jars of homemade watermelon rind pickle, which I gave to my dad for Father’s Day.

So with a successful canning attempt under my belt, I thought I would expand my repertoire this year.  I made peach preserves using fresh Chilton County peaches and a recipe from a 1928 cookbook (10 lbs. of peaches, 10 lbs. of sugar) and the other weekend, I canned peppers.

I had been collecting jalapenos, Serranos, chilies and cowhorns from my garden for a few weeks and they were starting to pile up.  I didn’t want them to go to waste and I love pickled jalapeno slices on lots of stuff, so I decided to make my own!

The container on the left has my home-growns in it.  A few were contributed by my neighbor, as well.

Now, while I had a fair amount of various peppers (my neighbor even contributed a few), I didn’t think I had enough to warrant all the “work” of canning.  So I headed to the Montgomery Curb Market on Madison Ave.

If you’ve never been down to the Curb Market…well, shame on you!  It’s so awesome.  They have all sorts of fabulous veggies, fruits, herbs, and berries (among other things).  Some vendors are strictly organic and others aren’t, but unlike out at the State Farmer’s Market – the vast majority of the produce is local and sold by local folks.  It’s open Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday 5:00am – 12 Noon.  And while the vendors all seem to provide bags, I always like to bust out one of my “green bags” I use at the grocery store and make myself as much of a dirty hippie as possible.  Yay environment!  Moving on…I left the Curb Market with some wonderfully huge organic jalapenos and normal banana peppers (I like those on my sandwiches!).

Upon returning home, I did a little” canning peppers” research on Google, found a recipe I could live with and started the process.

First:  We need to have a little talk.  So all the recipes are saying things like “Make sure to wear gloves when handling peppers” and blah blah blah.  I’m thinking to myself “Amateurs.  Gloves?  I don’t need no stinking gloves…”



Normally, this is true.  But when you are cleaning, handling, slicing, scooping, and stuffing about 7 lbs of peppers, YOU SHOULD WEAR GLOVES.  I know what you’re thinking “I hate wearing gloves when I cook.  I have no dexterity.”   This is one instance where compromised dexterity is not an excuse.  If you don’t want to sit on your couch for the rest of the night with your hands SCREAMING at you and you can’t do anything but wash them with Murphy’s Oil Soap (which works by the way) and pray you don’t forget and rub your eye (or if you’re a man use the facilities with no “buffer”…think about it) – use the gloves.

Now to the pickling:  It’s really very easy compared to other canning I have done.  Wash and slice all your peppers into rings.  Why rings?  Well, if you do them in rings and not as whole peppers, you don’t have to skin them and to be honest, that just looked like more work than I was up for.  Plus rings are easier to use, I think.

While you’re slicing, depending on what recipe you are using, bring the vinegar-salt brine to a boil.  This is our pickling agent.  NOTE: Don’t stand over it.  Few things are more painful than getting a big lung full of evaporating vinegar.


Here's a pretty standard recipe (7-8 pints):
1 clove of garlic per jar
6 cups of vinegar
2 cups of water
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon pickling/canning salt

Start packing the rings and garlic into the hot, sterilized jars.  You will want to smoosh the peppers in good, but make sure a lid goes on flat.  I found a hand juicer works well to push them down.  A pestle would be perfect!

Once packed, fill each jar with the slightly boiling vinegar brine, leaving ¼ inch of headspace. Then use a chopstick or small spatula to remove any air pockets from the jar.

Place the hot lid on top and screw on the band.  Process in a boiling water canner for 10-15 minutes.

Once they are done, remove the jars and allow them to cool for about 24 hours before storing.  DO NOT TIGHTEN THE BANDS!  Re-tighten the bands can screw up your seal. They will need to sit for a minimum of 3 weeks before sampling.

The best part is standing back and admiring all of your pretty jars of homegrown and/or locally grown peppers!  Plus you can have a taste of summer during those bleak winter months.

New Vegetable Garden and the Year of Alabama Food

So it's been almost a year since I posted to my blog....  Part of it isn't entirely my fault.  I forgot what email and password I had been using since google migrated all the blogger stuff to their system.  It's associated with the email account I rarely use and thusly was forgotten.

BUT not to fear, I have successfully logged in and will be working diligently to get it moved over to WordPress and it's own URL.  Waterchestsaregross.com should be coming soon.  It might look like crud for awhile b/c i've got a freelance gig i'm working on, but have patience and we'll get there together.

A couple of things:  my wonderfully handy BF, Hunter,  helped me plant a veggie garden this year since my tomatoes only had one good group last year and then looked like shiz the rest of the summer and did nothing.

We planted 3 different kinds of tomatoes.  Heirloom German Johnson (I name him Willhelm), Huskey Cherry tomatoes (at the suggestion of a master gardener friend) and beefsteaks (at Hunter's request).

And we planted 4 different peppers: jalapenos, chili, cowhorn and serrano.

The little guys in March when they first got planted.
 I did some rearranging of them not realizing that yes, plants do grow.

As of May 05.

Here are some pics of the lovely fruits on their respective vines.  We got tons of them, but have only had one plum-sized beefsteak ripen as of yet.  We've had a handful of peppers come in and I even used two jalapenos in the chili I made this past weekend.

Husky Cherry Tomatoes abound!

The Beefsteaks are definitely gettin' their grow on!

It took the heirlooms a lot longer to get fruit on them, but
when I first saw them I freaked out!  They are so cute with the  little ridges!!

These guys are now in chili and in the freezer!

The cowhorns

Ok so that's the first thing.  Second thing is this:  It's the YEAR OF ALABAMA FOOD!  And they have this cool website and facebook page with all this cool info in it.  I highly recommend ya'll take a look at it.

Okie dokie - that's all for now.  But keep checking back b/c I will be posting again soon!  Thanks for stopping by! :)

Chinese Pineapple Chicken

Well, first things first, HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!  I hope ya'll had a good time and made sure to eat your collard greens, black eyed peas and cornbread.  I made, probably the best batch of my collard green soup ever, while visiting my friend, Greg, in North Carolina, where they still have Harris Teeter or as my grandmother used to call it "Teeters".

 

Meanwhile back at home, I've not been to the grocery store since before Christmas and I wanted to cook tonight, so I rummaged thru my recipes and pantry and came up with Chinese Pineapple Chicken.  I've been wanting to make this for awhile because I love Chinese food, but the only Chinese restaurant I'll eat at here in Montgomery is Ming's Garden, but they don't deliver and it's kinda far away.  So if I could make some good-ass Chinese food at home - all problems solved.  Plus I know exactly what goes into it!

Let's get started, shall we?  Ok, so I was kind of a nerd and prepped all my ingredients this time using the new prep cups my aunt gave me for Christmas.  I was waiting on the brown rice to cook, so I figured why not?  No one in their right mind would normally do this.

 First, cut four chicken breasts into medium-sized chunks/

[ASIDE: Now this is where I would like to say, thoroughly read your recipe when you decide to make it because I didn't read it this morning and was quite surprised to find out it required 2 hours of marinating.  To the average person, this would pose a problem, but to those of us lucky enough to have a FoodSaver®  we don't need no stinkin' 2 hours.]

Anyway, the point is:  Mix your soy sauce, sesame oil, pepper and eggs together, pour into a large bowl and add your chicken chunks . Cover and let marinate in fridge for 2 hours or an hour if you've got the marinating container for your FoodSaver®.

After the chicken's marinated, add flour and cornstarch to the chicken to create a thick batter.

[NOTE: If you've got a container with a lid, I would transfer the chicken and marinade into that before adding the flour and cornstarch since shaking the mixture is a great way to evenly distribute the batter over the chicken.]  

See?

Next, heat oil in large frying pan or wok on medium high heat. Add chicken and fry until browned, turning when necessary. Be patient frying the chicken chunks, frying them too quickly will make them ugly and have dark brown burned spots on them. 

Also, monitor your oil temperature, adding oil if necessary and adjusting the heat if the chicken seems to be cooking too fast or slow.  Frying can be tricky, so take your time.

I did my frying in 6 small batches since I didn't have enough oil to use my huge Calphalon pan.  [Remember the whole "haven't been to the grocery store in a month" thing.]  Once each batch is done, transfer it to either a paper towel-lined cookie sheet or a cooling rack on top of a paper towel-lined cookie sheet.  A slotted metal spoon or tongs are perfect for removing the chicken from the oil.

While your chicken is cooking, move onto the yummy pineapple sauce. 

In a medium saucepan, combine pineapple chunks and pineapple juice. Bring to a boil then add your brown sugar and soy sauce, and let simmer for 7 minutes.

In a small bowl, mix cornstarch and water into a paste.

Stir the paste into the boiling sauce, turn heat to low and let simmer, stirring occasionally until thick enough to coat a spoon.

Finally, pour chicken pieces and sauce into a large bowl and mix until thoroughly coated.

I chose to serve mine over a bed of brown rice because it's yummy and good for me!  Now, unfortunately, I am kind of congested today and haven't really tasted anything all day, BUT what I could taste was awesome!  And I'm totally eating leftovers all week long! :)

Enjoy!!

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Chinese Pineapple Chicken

Ingredients:

Chicken and Marinade:

4 chicken breasts

4 Tbsp. soy sauce

2 tsp. sesame oil

2 eggs

1/2 tsp pepper

6 Tbsp flour

6 Tbsp cornstarch

corn or canola oil for frying

Sauce:

2 cups pineapple chunks

2 cups pineapple juice

1/2 cup brown sugar

2 Tbsp cornstarch + 2 Tbsp water

2 Tbsp soy sauce

Instructions: 

Cut four chicken breasts into medium-sized chunks.

Mix your soy sauce, sesame oil, pepper and eggs together, pour into a large bowl and add your chicken chunks . Cover and let marinate in fridge for 2 hours or an hour if you've got the marinating container for your FoodSaver®.

Add flour and cornstarch to chicken to create a thick batter. 

Heat oil in large frying pan on medium high heat. 

Add chicken in small batches and fry until it is browned, turning when necessary. 

Once each batch is done, transfer it to either straight onto a paper towel-lined cookie sheet or a cooling rack on top of a paper towel-lined cookie sheet.  *TIP: A slotted metal spoon or tongs are perfect for removing the chicken from the oil.

In a medium saucepan, combine the pineapple and pineapple juice. Bring to a boil, add brown sugar and soy sauce, and simmer for 7 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a small bowl, mix the cornstarch and water into a paste.

Stir the paste into the boiling sauce, turn heat to low and let simmer, stirring occasionally until thick enough to coat a spoon. 

Pour chicken pieces and sauce into a large bowl and mix until thoroughly coated.

Serve on a bed of white or brown rice.

Pineapple Cheese Casserole

I know what you're thinking..."Pineapple Cheese Casserole? Ew." Well, stop that right now because once you've tasted it, you'll never question me again! NEVER! :)

The first time I ever had this dish was when I was in Montgomery, AL with my mom. We were cleaning out my grandmother's house and decided to order dinner from Martin's Restaurant. That place has THE best fried chicken among other things. Anyway, so at Mom's suggestion, I tried their pineapple cheese casserole and well... obviously I liked it seeing as I'm making it here. :)

Now this isn't their recipe, per se...but they are all pretty much the same. So onto the food!

This is a super simple recipe and it takes no time at all. So this would be great for a week night dish and if your picky eaters like cheese and pineapple - you've got a crowd pleaser on your hands!

Preheat the oven to 350° F and spray a medium-size casserole dish with cooking spray. Now I veered off the recipe here - actually, I just didn't read it very well and used a 9x12 dish. If this is what you end up using, be aware that you will have to make 1 1/2 times the topping recipe.

In a large bowl, stir together the sugar and flour.



Next stir in 2 cups of shredded sharp cheddar cheese.


Add the drained pineapple chunks. Make sure to get your spoon up under the pineapple chunks after adding to the dry ingredients, the flour and such likes to hide underneath. Mix until well combined.


Pour the mixture into the prepared casserole dish. *Remember - I would recommend using a smaller dish than this 9x12 one.


In another bowl, combine one sleeve of Ritz™ crackers* (smashed into crumbs), melted butter, and reserved pineapple juice. Mix until well combined!

*While at the grocery store, buying some things I needed for the recipe, I noticed that Ritz™ now makes whole wheat crackers. I figured why not try to make this a LITTLE bit better for me or at least have more nutritionally-redeeming qualities so that's what I used. And by the way, they are good!

Go ahead and spread the crumb mixture on top of pineapple mixture.



Now, pop it in the oven and bake for 35 minutes, or until golden brown. (There will not be much difference in color between the casserole before you put it in the oven and when you take it out.)


This makes a good side dish, but I also eat it by itself as a snack or even dessert.

Enjoy! Next post: I'm thinking about Chipotle Bean Burritos.

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Pineapple Cheese Casserole

Ingredients:
1 cup sugar
6 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 cups grated sharp cheddar
2 20 oz. cans pineapple chunks, drained, and 6 tablespoons pineapple juice reserved
1 cup cracker crumbs (recommended: Ritz™ Whole Wheat Crackers)
8 tablespoons butter, melted

Instructions:
Preheat the oven to 350° F.

Prep a medium-size casserole dish with cooking spray.

In a large bowl, stir together the sugar and flour. Next, stir in the cheese.

Add the drained pineapple chunks, and stir until ingredients are well combined.

Pour the mixture into the prepared casserole dish.

In another bowl, combine cracker crumbs, melted butter, and reserved pineapple juice, mix until evenly blended.

Spread crumb mixture on top of pineapple mixture.

Bake for 35 minutes, or until golden brown.