The Baking Beauties » Canning

Easy to Make Pumpkin Puree

Jeanine Friesen — Thu, 29 Sep 2011 12:12:36 +0000

Today I am going to show you how to make something that you will NEED this Fall. If you are wanting to do any baking with pumpkin (and use that Pumpkin Pie Spice you made earlier), you will need some pumpkin puree. Now, I know you can buy this in a can, but really, when you make it from a real pumpkin, it just tastes that much better. Now, I don’t have the ideal pumpkin here, but it works just fine. Ideally, you will want the nice little “Pie Pumpkins” or “Sugar Pumpkins”, which are nice little round pumpkins, perfect for making puree. If you can’t find one of those though, buy the smallest pumpkin you can find. The bigger the pumpkin, the stringier the fibers will be.

You will need to cut your pumpkin in half, from the stem down, and scoop out all the seeds and stringy, icky stuff from the middle of the pumpkin. Just a note; don’t throw those seeds out, I will show you how to make a tasty snack with them next week.

Place your cut, scooped pumpkins, cut side down, on a lined baking sheet, and bake it for about an hour. Once it has cooled a bit, scoop it out of the pumpkin using a large spoon. I spooned mine into a bowl, them let it sit for a bit to cool some more. I bought myself a new kitchen toy a few weeks ago, a new KitchenAid blender. LOVE IT! It has way more power than my previous blender, and it worked the pumpkin into a puree in no time! Leaving me with…

…beautiful, smooth pumpkin puree. The pumpkin you buy in a can will not have this beautiful colour to it, that’s for sure. This pumpkin can either be stored in the fridge if you will use it in the next few weeks, or stored in freezer safe containers and frozen until you’re ready to bake with it.

Easy to Make: Pumpkin Puree

Author: Jeanine Friesen

Prep time: 5 mins

Cook time: 60 mins

Total time: 1 hour 5 mins

Ingredients

1 pie pumpkin, or small pumpkin

Instructions

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
Cut the pumpkin in half, from top to bottom. Scoop out the seeds & stringy bits from the middle of the pumpkin.
Place pumpkin, cut side down, on a foil lined baking sheet. Bake in preheated oven for 60-70 minutes. The pumpkin is done when a knife easily inserts through the skin and pumpkin. If it still feels hard, keep baking for another 10 minutes and check again.
Remove from oven and allow to cool for 10 minutes. Scoop pumpkin out of the shell, leaving the tough skin behind. Puree pumpkin in blender until smooth.
Store in the fridge in an air tight container, or freeze in freezer safe containers (or bags) until ready to use.
Use the puree as you would the canned stuff, to make your favorite muffins, pies, waffles or cakes.

To view a list of the pumpkin recipes on The Baking Beauties, click HERE.

Canned Tomato Soup

Jeanine Friesen — Fri, 09 Sep 2011 12:18:29 +0000

Welcome to canning season in this Baking Beauty’s kitchen. I don’t can much, but when those tomatoes turn red, I’ve got my work cut out for me. Besides making salsa, I also make this Canned Tomato Soup.

This recipe comes from my Mother-in-law, I have no idea how long she has made this soup, but when I started dating her son 16 years ago, I know she was making the soup then already. I always found the soup to be too warm though. Like, beads of sweat on your forehead warm. But, that must have been a year for strong onions, strong peppers, and a few more dashes of cayenne, because I don’t find it to be too spicy anymore.

Ever since going gluten-free, I’ve been sure to make enough of this tomato soup to fill my pantry shelves, sometimes even making enough for a few years (you never know when you will have a bad tomato crop, so better to plan ahead). This soup has become a staple in our house, and I hope your family will enjoy it as well. You are going to want to print it out, put it in a plastic sleeve to keep it free of splatters, and bring it out whenever the tomatoes start ripening.

Canned Tomato Soup

Author: Jeanine Friesen

Recipe type: Canning

Yields 8-10 pints.

Ingredients

1 1/2 ice cream pails (24 cups) tomatoes, cut into chunks (I prefer to use Roma tomatoes because they are less juicy than other tomatoes
2 cups chopped celery
4 cups onions, roughly chopped
2 large green peppers, chopped (about 2 cups)
1 small bunch of parsley, roughly chopped (about 3/4 – 1 cup chopped)
1-2 bay leaves
1/2 tsp whole cloves

Instructions

Put chopped tomato into a large stock pot. Mash them with a potato masher to extract some of the juice. Begin to heat the tomatoes on a low-medium temperature while you prepare the rest of the vegetables.
Add the rest of the ingredients to the tomatoes, and bring the mixture up to a boil over medium – medium/high heat, stirring often, being careful not to burn.
Once ingredients have come to a boil, reduce heat and allow the vegetables to slowly boil for another 2 hours, or until the vegetables are all very soft.
Remove bay leaf (if you can find it, if not, don’t worry about it). Use an immersion blender to puree the mixture until smooth. Note: If you do not have an immersion blender, you will have to wait for your soup to cool before using your regular blender. Hot liquids in a blender can be very dangerous.
Carefully scoop some of the soup mixture into a Chinois or rotary food press fitted over a large bowl. Press the juice through the press, and discard the peel and seeds. Repeat until you have pressed/strained all the soup. Reserve 2 cups of the soup mixture. Return the rest of the soup to the stock pot
In a medium bowl, whisk together:
/4 cup cornstarch
/4 cup granulated sugar
/4 cup salt
/2 tsp Cayenne pepper
Add 1/2 cup melted margarine, and the reserved soup.
Slowly bring the strained soup back up to a gentle boil. Whisk in the cornstarch mixture, and continue to boil until the soup has thickened.
While the soup mixture is reheating, place your canning jars in a large canner with enough water to cover them by at least 1-inch, and bring to a boil. Boil for at least 10 minutes. Also place your lids in a pan of simmering water, and simmer for 10 minutes. This ensures that the jars and lids are sterilized before adding the soup to them.
Lift the sterilized jars from the boiling water bath and empty them. Half should be emptied into the sink, and half should be emptied back into the pot to keep the boiling water level up.
Fill each jar with tomato soup, to within 1 cm of the rim. Wipe the rim clean with a paper towel dipped in boiling water, and place the lids and rings on top of the jar. Return the jars to the boiling water bath and boil them for 20 minutes, well covered in water.
Remove from waterbath and set jars on a dry towel, free from drafts. Allow to cool completely before checking that each jar has sealed (the lid is pulled down slightly, and no longer “pops” when you push on it). Label and store in cool, dark place. It is best to used home canned goods within 12 months.

Notes

To serve the soup: Empty the contents of the jar plus an equal amount of milk into to a saucepan. Heat over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until soup is hot & steaming. We like to serve ours with tortilla chips, shredded cheese & sour cream for a quick, simple tortilla soup.

Strawberry, Balsamic Vinegar and Black Pepper Jam

Jeanine Friesen — Mon, 08 Aug 2011 07:00:09 +0000

This jam is something a little different, but I knew I really wanted to try it. I had seen a few recipes here and there, and decided to put together a few ingredients that appeal to me, and see how it went from there. This jam has the same sweetness that your favorite strawberry jam might have, but it also has the hidden kick of balsamic vinegar and black pepper. I love it. It is perfect on a cracker topped with a slice of cheese.

Strawberry, Balsamic Vinegar and Black Pepper Jam

Author: Jeanine Friesen

Add a little kick to your standard strawberry jam with the addition of balsamic vinegar and black pepper.

Ingredients

6 cups of strawberries, washed, hulled and cut up
3 cups granulated sugar
2 tablespoons Balsamic vinegar
1/2 teaspoon black pepper (or up to a tsp if your pepper isn’t very hot)
1-57 gram package of pectin (powder form)
2 tablespoons butter

Instructions

Place berries in a large pot. Mash using a potato masher.
Mix 1/2 cup granulated sugar and package of pectin. Stir into berries.
While stirring constantly, bring the mixture up to a boil.
Add the remaining 2 1/2 cups of granulated sugar, and bring back up to a boil. Allow mixture to boil hard for 1 minute.
Stir in butter until melted. Stir in Balsamic vinegar and black pepper.
Pour hot jam into clean, sterilized jars and either process in a hot water bath, or allow to cool completely before placing in the freezer.

Mango, Vanilla, Lime and Cardamom Jam

Jeanine Friesen — Tue, 12 Jul 2011 13:32:00 +0000

Now, usually when I make jam, I make plain, regular strawberry jam. My kids LOVE strawberry jam, and we go through it very quickly, and so I try to make quite a bit in summer, when the field fresh berries are ripe & ready. But this time, I saw a case of mangoes at the store and thought…I can do something with that!

I had an idea of what kind of jam I wanted to make, and began writing up my recipe, taking bits from here, and bits from there, and some out of thin air, and I have to say…This Mango, Vanilla, Lime and Cardamom Jam is DELICIOUS! I’m totally in love with it. If you look closely, you can see the flecks of vanilla seeds in there. Mmm… Served on top of an Udi’s bagel (which is totally worth the money you spend on it) it is pure perfection. I hope you enjoy it as well!

Mango, Vanilla, Lime and Cardamom Jam

Author: Jeanine Friesen

The flavours of Mango, Vanilla, Lime, and Cardamom compliment each other beautifully in this jam, perfect for your morning toast.

Ingredients

10 cups mango, pureed in the food processor, but with some chunks still remaining (about 10 mangos)
8 cups granulated sugar
1/4 cup lime juice
3 vanilla beans, split and scraped out (alternately, you can add 2 Tbsp of vanilla AFTER cooking the jam, just before putting into containers)
1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom

Instructions

In a large dutch oven or pot, combine the pureed mango, sugar, lime juice, seeds scraped from the vanilla beans as well as the split vanilla beans (which will be discarded later), and ground cardamom.
Slowly bring the mixture up to a boil over medium/high, stirring occasionally to prevent the jam from burning.
Once the jam is at a rolling boil, turn the heat down to medium, and continue to boil for 25-30 minutes, stirring occasionally. You can test to see if you have cooked your jam long enough by putting some on a plate or small bowl and putting it in the freezer for a few minutes. Once it has cooled, it should be a nice jam consistency, not too runny. If it is still too runny, continue cooking and checking, until you have reached your desired consistency.
Remove and discard the scraped out vanilla bean pods and pour jam into clean jars or containers, allowing to cool to room temperature before storing in the refrigerator or freezer.

NOTE: To can the jam so that it is safe to store in the cupboard, you will need to follow proper canning procedures. You can find those HERE.

Canning Homemade Salsa

Jeanine Friesen — Tue, 14 Sep 2010 18:54:00 +0000

Are you all set & ready to go? Are the tomatoes turning red faster than you know what to do with them? Well, that’s not really my problem this year.

I’ve been making homemade salsa for quite a few years already. I used to make it into taco sauce (few more steps involved) because I didn’t like chunky things. Now, I have gotten lazier matured my palate, I don’t mind having the peppers & onions in chunks (although, it’s still in small chunks, thank goodness for a food processor).

My Mother-in-law gave me this recipe years ago, and although I’ve tried maybe one different recipe for salsa, I’ve never found the need to look for anything else. This one is simple, with few ingredients, but has great flavour. And now that the whole family eating it (kids included), I find that we go through it quite quickly.

The last few years I’ve started my tomatoes from seed. I prefer to use romas, but will use whatever I can get my hands on. This year my tomatoes ended up being diseased, and from all 24 plants, I have enough tomatoes to make only 2 batches of salsa. Better than none though!

When I made salsa, I prefer to peel the tomatoes first. You don’t have to do this, however, if you don’t, you will have pieces of rolled up pieces of tomato peel in your salsa. The easiest way to do this is to blanch your tomatoes. You do this as follows:

Fill sink with some warm water and wash your tomatoes. Remove green stems and leaves, and with a sharp knife, cut an “X” into the bottom of your tomato.
Fill a large pot about half full of water, and bring to a boil. Have another large bowl filled about half way with cold or ice water. Working in small batches, first put the tomatoes into the boiling water, allow them to cook for 30-60 seconds. Remove from boiling water with slotted spoon, and place in ice water.
Once the tomatoes have cooled for a few minutes, you should be able to easily remove the peel from the tomato. I also like to cut the stem part away at this time.
Continue with this long, tedious process until you have peeled all of your tomatoes.

Now that your tomatoes are all peel-less, you can go ahead and start cutting them up into chunks. They don’t need to be cut too small, as they will break down & fall apart some while cooking.

Ingredients:

16 cups tomatoes, peeled and chopped
4 jalepeno peppers (approximately, I used a hot pepper blend this year, as seen in the picture above, I also left the seeds in, for some extra heat)
2-3 green peppers, seeded & chopped
3 medium onions, chopped
6 Tbsp pickling salt
1 cup white vinegar

3 Tbsp cornstarch
1/4 cup cold water

Directions:

Chop all vegetables. I use a steak knife to cut up my tomatoes, and the food processor for everything else.
Combine all vegetables, salt & vinegar in a large stock pot. Slowly bring the mixture to a boil (if you try to do this too quickly, it will burn on, and you don’t want that to happen).
Once you have a slow boil, cook (without a lid on) for about 1 1/2 hours, stirring frequently.
Combine cornstarch and cold water. Slowly pour into salsa mixture, while stirring. Stir to evenly distribute & continue cooking for 5 minutes.
Place your canning jars in a large canner with enough water to cover them by at least 1-inch, and bring to a boil. Boil for at least 10 minutes. Also place your lids in a pan of simmering water, and simmer for 10 minutes. This ensures that the jars and lids are sterilized before adding the salsa to them.
Lift the sterilized jars from the boiling water bath and empty them. Half should be emptied into the sink, and half should be emptied back into the pot to keep the boiling water level up.
Fill each jar with salsa, to within 1 cm of the rim. Wipe the rim clean with a paper towel dipped in boiling water, and place the lids and rings on top of the jar. Return the jars to the boiling water bath and boil them for 20 minutes, well covered in water.
Remove from waterbath and set jars on a dry towel, free from drafts. Allow to cool completely before checking that each jar has sealed (the lid is pulled down slightly, and no longer “pops” when you push on it). Label and store in cool, dark place. It is best to used home canned goods within 12 months.