Canning Notes

Thoughts about what I canned in 2011:

(Most of the recipes are from Linda Ziedrich's books, unless otherwise noted). I've more or less prioritized these from Most useful/used/enjoyed to least.  This factors in time intensiveness versus usability right out of the pantry.

Colorado Peach Sauce- my Favorite.  Must make every year.  SO good on pancakes, with biscuits, ice cream, or out of the jar.

Pickled Roasted Bell Peppers-yes, yes, yes.  Worth every penny and minute of effort, particularly once you work out the most convenient way to blacken and peel the peppers (broiler on a cookie sheet, then cool in a big covered pyrex bowl with the lid cracked open.  A nice 3/4 pint jar of these sells for $7 at a co-op or specialty shop, and if you buy the big bushel basket at the market for 8 or $15, you'll invest 1 afternoon in canning these, and have an awesome supply for all year long.  I thrown in a couple fresh garlic cloves, too. Zydeco Beans- Everyone likes them as a snack. Pretty Easy to make.  Taste like Dill Pickles.  Can always have more hot pepper.  Good for gifting and people the aren't as adventurous.  Not a staple.

Roasted Tomatillo-Chipotle Salsa- This is probably my favorite all time canning thing.  I can as much of it as i can stand, changing up the hotness by what kind of peppers I have on hand/use.  The original recipe, though, with good chipotles and ____ is still the best, and if you cook it down a little more, its kind of barbecue-y, too.

Roasted Salsa Verde- I tried a few versions and finally settled on this version as my favorite. This sauce is a great veggie enchilada sauce, good for salsa, good for cooking black beans in, and also nice to added to shredded chicken (with or without some cream), and for a crock pot pork roast. 

Roasted Tomato Chipotle Salsa- Ball Canning book. Pretty good.  Flavorful.  Depends whether you have more tomatoes or tomatillos at your disposal. 

Bruschetta in a Jar- Loved it, used it up, could be nearly a staple food.  Good as a salad, a sauce, nice to make panzinella with.  Didn't make it in 2012, but is definitely worth the work, and everyone likes it.  A good non sauce/salsa way to preserve tomatoes.

Raw Tomatoes- always useful, always nice to have.  Kind of a bummer to have to peel them, though. And, with really nice San Marzano tomatoes at Trader Joes for $1.50, may be tough to justify the cost benefit of spending summer days in the hot kitchen unless you stumble upon or grow lots of tomatoes. 

Tomato Pepper Sauce- Awesome and very versatile- There are so many kinds (and hotnesses) of peppers, and so many tomatoes, its worth making lots of different batches of this one, and then figuring out how to label them so you know what's what. Its nice that there's no real sugar in it, and its just a nice tomatoey sauce.  Would make a good base for a soup or sauce, and is a great dipping sauce for everything. 

Cajun Seasoned Tomatoes- Good.  I used them for chili, which I make in the microwave when I'm in a rush.  I don't know that the seasoning adds that much, but I get bored making batches and batches of the same thing (canned tomatoes), so this flavor combo appealed to me, and I was happy to have them.

Pickled Carrots with Chiles, Ginger, and Garlic- Super good, super easy vinegar pickle.  Nice minced with the spices as a fresher (sugar less) relish.

Pickled Cauliflower and Carrots- Like Giardiniera.  Have tried many spice combos- prefer more simple spices- bay leaf, thyme, etc.  Peppercorns stain the brine and the veggies don't look as nice.  If you use red carrots, then everything turns hot pink, and it looks cool.

Japanese Plum Jam- Good easy colorful jam.

Colorado Peaches in Very Light Syrup- Super good.  I missed them in 2012.  I also want to try this with infused syrups.

Preserved Ginger in Syrup- So when you come across big beautiful thin skinned ginger roots for cheap- make this!  Its a nice way to preserve ginger (which can then be candied if you want) and makes an amazing syrup- great for drizzling over fruit, glazing just about anything, or adding to a drink. And, its a fridge preserving recipe, not canned.

Traditional Pickled Beets- I think they're OK, but everyone likes them, and once they know you can, they kind of expect these at the holidays.  Much better than the canned supermarket kind.

Spicy Pickled Veggies- A giardiniera without oil, a nice light vinegar pickle that is a nice winter salad. Always a good way to preserve adorable small veggies.

Short Brined Jalapeno- super good, but we didn't end up using all of them.  Not sure how many batches I made.  But, they lost most of their heat, but kept a nice soft pepper texture.  Super good in queso dip, or on black bean sopes.

Cinderella Plum Cordial- The star here was the Cinderella plum- it made the most beautiful thick fuchsia syrup.  I like to offer fruit sodas, and have a soda stream, so this was a nice syrup to make a plum soda that then could also be added to with rosemary or something.  But, when you have just a few fruits this amazingly beautiful and flavorful, best to eat them out of hand!

Tomato Chutney- This is a super interesting super concentrated thing, but again i made too much.  Its made with fenugreek, which is not something I use much otherwise.  Its nice to add a little spoonful to a stewed veggie thing, or to add umame to a sauce.  I also used it as a dipping sauce for hand pies.

Pickled Cabbage and Peppers- SO EASY to make this stuff.  Far less time than making actual sauerkraut, and for my cabbage needs, it makes sense to make.  But, there's a lot of sugar in this one, so I'll be looking for a different version. 

Pickled Sweet Pepper Strips- These were different and neat and stayed crunchy, but I didn't end up eating any of them.

Cherry Pepper Relish- I didn't cut the pepper small enough.  It tasted good- like relish on Boston subs, but we just didn't end up using it.

Seasoned Tomato Sauce- Was delicious, but not worth the hours and hours of cook down time, unless you're making mega batches, and plan to use lots of it.  You can easily add tomato paste to some whole canned, and season and immersion blender them, and season, with the same result.

Tomato Preserves- Tomato/ginger/lemon.  Was ok, if you're into that kind of thing.  My uncle raved about it.  Its a very old school recipe, and its best served with meat, which may be why it didn't really speak to me.

Pluot Chutney- I used Barbara Ziedrich's plum chutney recipe.  It was great- chunky with mustard seeds, ginger, and fruit.  Tangy, spicy, sweet. So much so that I made a TON of it.  But, who really uses that much chutney?  Its great for a batch, but easy to overdo..

Pickled Red Cabbage in Red Wine Vinegar- Was fine, looked pretty, but just not really my thing.  

Simple House Salsa- From the Ball cookbook.  I didn't like it.  Gave it away, and other people did like it, but it just tasted kind of like something you'd buy in the grocery store refrigerator isle.

Strawberry Preserves- Didn't really work well- the strawberries dehydrated/shriveled slightly, and too sugary.

Strawberries Preserved in Lemon Syrup- because the jam didn't work out. Too sugary.

Rhubarb Orange Jam- Good easy, tart jam.  If using greenish rhubarb, it'll be a weird color. 

Pluots Preserved in Lemon Geranium Sauce- Meh.  I didn't use an actual recipe for this and it was runny.  Pluots are awesome, and I love lemon geranium, but it was overly sweet and took away from how great pluots can be

Peach Rum Sauce- From Ball.  Not making again. Too syrupy and sugary.

Short Brined Banana Peppers- they're not as bright and interesting looking as the super market kind with all the dyes, and end up being kind of disappointing to look at.  We didn't really end up using many. They stayed quite hot.