Never mind the pumpkin spice craze going on right now. Instead, I’ll opt for this Indian inspired apple chutney spread. On EVERYTHING! This apple chutney is the flavor of fall in a jar (or bowl, however you roll). Having picked an abundance of apples from my …
I’m on a Thai food and Asian cuisine kick. It’s truly some of my favorite flavor combinations. When it’s about to freeze outside (we had our first frost last night!), I love to use tender garden herbs en masse in tasty meals like tomato basil …
Our Minnesota temps at night are dipping into the mid forties which means that tender annual herbs like basil are starting to turn. Perennial herbs like sage, thyme, chives and oregano hold out a little longer until it frosts. I like to have nearly everything harvested while the plants are still fragrant and preserved to use throughout the winter months well before the first frost. Dehydrating and freezing herbs are my two favorite (and most useful) ways to preserve herbs. The first step to either method is to clean your herbs by giving them a good rinse in cold water and gently pat them dry with a tea towel or you can use a salad spinner.
Dehydrating is appropriate for all herbs and can be done with a dehydrator or you can hang them upside down in a location that has some airflow. If hang-drying, just wrap some kitchen twine around the stem and suspend them upside down until leaves are crisp. If you are using a dehydrator, you should strip the leaves off the stem for larger leaf herbs like sage and basil and arrange them in a single layer on each tray.
For smaller leafed herbs, I find it easiest to keep the leaves on the stem and just cut the stem to smaller lengths especially for thyme, rosemary, and oregano. Dehydrate on the setting indicated for herbs and let dry until leaves are crisp. After the leaves are dry, crumble them off the stem onto a piece of parchment paper. Remove any stem pieces and transfer to a small food processor. Pulse a few times until the leaves are a fairly fine texture.
Spoon the leaves into spice jars or other small containers and label with the type of herb they contain. Dried herbs will keep for many years but will lose potency after about one year so it’s best to use them up sooner. Extra jars of herbs make excellent gifts!
All herbs are able to be frozen but those that are used for recipes in larger quantity like basil or oregano are easiest to freeze as you can freeze them in teaspoon or tablespoon size portions for easy to use herb bombs. To freeze your herbs, combine the herb you’ll be freezing in a small food processor with a small amount of olive oil. You want just enough olive oil so the chopped bits start to hold together. If you don’t have a small processor, chop the herbs as finely as you can and then stir together with olive oil in a small bowl. With a tablespoon or teaspoon, spoon onto a tray in small mounds.
Place the whole tray into the freezer overnight until the herb bombs are frozen. Once frozen, remove from the tray and store in a freezer proof container. Basil herb bombs like this are perfect to just toss into a homemade spaghetti sauce or soups!
Chives can be frozen without the addition of olive oil. Rouchly chop them up into small bits and place directly into a freezer proof container. When ready to use, simply crumble the desired amount out of the container while still frozen.
I’m so super excited to share with you a major meal plan project I’ve worked on. In addition to the amazing recipes found on my site, I’ve created a a 28 day all inclusive meal plan in partnership with the awesome team at BreakingMuscle.com! I am …
Poison ivy is not an experience I’d recommend. I was moving some of my raspberry plants last weekend out of an area that I knew had poison ivy into a better spot without poison ivy in it. Well, I forgot to wash my gloves and …
Many of you know that I have a fairly large garden for growing fresh veggies all summer long. The trick to gardening is to either limit yourself to growing only what you can eat fresh or to learn what to do with it when you have an abundance. Since I can’t be trusted to limit myself to only a few plants, I ALWAYS have extra. I learned to can foods when I was a girl watching and helping my mom and grandmothers preserve what our garden had to offer. Now, call me crazy, but I don’t like pickles. I know… it’s SO un-American. I do, however, like when spicy peppers are pickled. Then you can add them to all sorts of wonderful things! It only seemed natural that my love for preserving the fresh tastes of the garden be extended beyond canning tomatoes and jams and into pickled delights such as these pickled jalapenos. This recipe, of course works with any other pepper as well. The cool thing is this recipe can be used as a refrigerator pickles too if canning ain’t yo’ thang.
If you’re water-bath canning, you’ll want to start that water boiling before anything else so it’s ready when you are. While that’s heating, carry on to slicin’ and dicin’!
Now that the peppers are picked (Cue annoying childhood tongue-twister Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers), wash them up and get them sliced. I keep the seeds in mine for added heat but feel free to take them out if you prefer. Pack your pepper slices into sanitized jars leaving about 1″ headspace.
Next, make the brine of vinegar and salt and heat it to boiling. Once boiling, carefully pour the brine into your jars filling to 1/2″ headspace. If you wish the peppers to have a crispness or crunch, you’ll want to add a pinch of either alum or calcium chloride (also called pickle crisp) to each jar. I like mine both ways but just know that if you don’t add the alum or calcium chloride, they will be soft which I think is PERFECT for stirring into omelets and hashbrowns (No need to add the crisping agent for refrigerator pickles as they will stay crisp). After filling jars with brine, the peppers may float up a bit but as long as the brine is up to 1/2″ headspace, you’re good to go. Wipe the rims of each jar with a clean kitchen towel or paper towel and place a lid on each jar. Tighten a ring onto each jar until finger tight. If you want these to be refrigerator pickles, you’re done! Let the jars cool and store in the fridge for about a month. For canning, continue on….
Next up, lower the jars into the boiling water-bath canner so water covers at least 1″ above tops of jars. Boil for 10 minutes (8oz jars), or 15 min (pint jars). Once processing is complete, remove the jars with a canning tongs and set out on a towel to cool. Be sure to leave some space between jars for air circulation. You’ll note that after processing, the pickled jalepenos will have shrunken up so the jar doesn’t look full. They will gradually increase in size again as they cool. Once cooled for 24 hours, check to be sure all the jars have sealed. If any have not, you can re-process with new lids. Store at room temp for 12-18+ months.
The uses for pickled jalapenos are many. My favorites are in breakfast omelets, huevos rancheros, overtop of casseroles and hotdishes, stirred into soups, or in anything Mexican like enchiladas, enchilada casserole, carnitas or my new favorite breakfast: hangover hashbrowns! Enjoy the deliciousness my culinary canning friends!
This week my littlest little went off to kindergarten embarking on a new adventure for himself and spreading his wings. Of course, that makes me a little teary-eyed because the house feels a little too quiet but I welcome the change. I’ve been home with …
One of my most favorite experiences of the summer is that first bite of sweet corn on the cob around the 4th of July when the sweet corn is just starting to be ready. The sweet corn crop continues through the rest of the summer …
I returned from immersing myself in nature camping on the bluffs of the Mississippi river this past week rejuvenated and ready to eat roots. Not tree roots or anything THAT crazy… just beet roots. Which, if you know me, is sorta along the lines of me saying I’m going to eat tree roots crazy since I’ve never enjoyed beets. Then again, I’ve never tried fresh-from-the-garden chioggia beets sliced raw in a chioggia beet caprese concoction. The only beets I’ve ever tried were in a beautiful bacon borscht soup which I then recreated. I had been converted.
This summer, I planted a beetroot assortment in my garden and just harvested some of them. I ended up with one of these gorgeous candy striped chioggia beets and it was calling my name. I couldn’t pass up the opportunity (and my first experience) to eat a beet in it’s raw form. OMG. I sliced this little guy thin on a mandolin and topped it with pesto, fresh basil, feta, sliced shallot and then a sprinkle of lemon, salt, pepper and balsamic vinegar in a non-traditional version of caprese…a chioggia beet caprese salad. Hello, delicious little beet! I never new how much I would enjoy you! Chioggia beets are sweeter than red beets so they don’t have as strong a flavor and therefore don’t need to be roasted to invoke sweet tasting characteristics. These beets, as well as golden beets, are the stars of raw beet salads. Bonus points that they look super pretty on the plate too!
When chioggia beets are sliced, they look like discs of peppermint. This candy stripe appeal worked wonders on my kids so they did actually try them without complaint. Score one for team MOM! Since my dehydrator is running, I also salted a few of these slices and placed them on the drying rack to make cute little chips. I’m SUPER excited to sample them when they’re done!
This weekend, I’ll be hosting a number of my mom’s side of the family for great food (quinoa tabouli!), great games (badminton!) and great conversation. It’s been a year since I’ve seen many of these amazing peeps so it’s about time we make an occasion …
