Showing posts with label Canning & Preserving. Show all posts

The Healthiest (and Cheapest!) Way to Dry Herbs

It's been a little quiet here on the blog this summer but I just wanted to jump on and share with you how I am preserving all the fresh herbs I have coming out of my garden right now.

My Sage is going crazy!
There are basically 2 ways to preserve fresh herbs. Historically, they have been dried. The advantage to this is that they shrink to a least 1/3 their fresh size and a fraction of their weight and will keep for a very long time.

Another option I've shown you is how to preserve fresh herbs by freezing them in ice-cubes. This is a great option if you really want that fresh from the garden taste in your food (and have room in your freezer!). I think it works best with parsley or basil, even cilantro would be good. Those herbs are frequently thrown in at the end of a meal for a little pop of flavor.

Sturdier herbs like sage, rosemary and oregano are usually added at the beginning of cooking and don't need to be fresh. Basil can be added like that as well so these ones aren't necessary to keep fresh and are perfect for dehydrating.

Dehydrating just means drying out and getting the moisture out of them so they won't mold during storage. Some people use dehydrators or ovens to dehydrate their herbs but you really don't need anything fancy and the way I'm going to show you is actually the healthiest because it keeps the most nutrients in tact. It is also the cheapest. Air drying.

Yep, we are going to do this the old fashioned way. There are just a few things you want to keep in mind.
  • Start with washed herbs. Once they are dried, you won't have the chance to wash them before you use them, so any dirt or other particles that are on there when they are picked will go straight into your food. 
  • Dry as much as you can by patting with a towel or running through a salad spinner. This will help lesson the drying time.
  • Don't place in direct sunlight. Just as we turn the oven to the lowest temperature possible when dehydrating to preserve the nutrients from being affected by the heat and cooking out, we don't want the sun to do that either. A family friend grew up in Switzerland in the 1940's and they would actually take their herbs (and green beans!) up to the attic to dehydrate in the dry, motionless, hot air. 
  • Find a place that is not drafty. You might think that having something blowing softly on your herbs would help them dry faster, and it is true, but it will also dry out the essential oils in the leaves making your herbs flavorless. 
  • Although you don't want air blowing across your herbs,  you do want there to be enough space for air to travel around and through so you don't have dense little pickets of herbs that don't dry out all the way and end up molding a ruining the whole batch. 

  • Here is my sage. It grew really heavily and the leaves are very thick too, so I made sure to separate the stems and only bunch 4-5 together to make sure it wasn't too dense. If you live in a more humid space, you may need to just do 1-2. Alternatively, you can also pick the leaves off the stems and air dry them on a drying rack used in baking. Just flip the leaves over a few times a day when you walk by to make sure none are sticking together. This is some basil my friend gave me. Can you believe how big the leaves are? They're longer than my hand! I love having dried basil on hand. It is essential in my favorite homemade Greek Salad Dressing. 
  • Next, all you need is time. A couple days. You will know when they are ready when they are completely dry and brittle. They should audibly crisp and snap when you bend them. If there is any bending without it breaking, it isn't dry enough yet.
  • Last just find an airtight container and pack it full leaving as little airspace as you can.
  • These dried herbs should last you well past next year's harvest (if you can keep them that long)
Sage Leaf Tea

I love using my dried sage with my Thanksgiving turkey and for healing herbal tea. Sage is most well-known for its benefits to the immune and digestive system as well as anti-inflamatory properties which help to regulated blood pressure, lower cholesterol and blood clots.

Try it, it's yummy.

XO,

Tiara
-The Provident Princess
Basil, Canning & Preserving, Canning and Preserving,
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Sour Cherry Jam Recipe

Hooray! Can I just tell you how excited I am now that it is cherry season? It means it is the beginning of all my summer and fall canning. And I've got so much planned that I am excited to share with you. First up is Sour Cherry Jam. Have you ever heard of Sour Cherries or Tart Cherries before? They are not easily found in stores and most often at food stands or farmers' markets for a very limited time at the beginning of Cherry Season. Just like their name says, they are sour. They are beautifully bright red and are best used in another creation like jams, syrups, ice cream topping, pies, or dried and not really eaten as a table fruit. You can find dried tart cherries in the grocery stores for about $5.99/lb. At least that's how much they are in the health section of my local Kroger store. 

In Utah, the best sour cherry variety is Montmorency and it is the most common tart cherry grown in the US. It is heary and can withstand more front than sweet varieties because it blooms latest in the spring avoiding late frosts. 

Tart Cherries are perfect for pies or crumbles because they really let you control the sweetness factor  and they hold their shape wonderfully when cooked. These are what are standard for commerical pie filling cherries.  Once you find a source for Sour Cherries you'll be so excited finding ways to use them up. If you need time to decide though, pit them and freeze them because they won't last long fresh and actually really hold up to freezing well.

I happen to have found an old neighbor with a Sour Cherry tree in his yard. I was driving my girls over to a friend's house and I looked out the car window at this tree we were driving by and thought "that looks like a cherry tree" so of course I had to go have a look. Yes I am that type of person. I noticed that the cherries were quite a bit smaller than other cherries and very bright, shiny red so I figured I had just found one of these rare cherry trees. I knocked on the person's door and he was very happy to let me come back and pick as much as I wanted. I hauled my girls back there the next day and we picked 3 grocery bags full and hadn't even made a dent in the tree!

We returned all hot and sweaty from being out in the sun and sure enough when we bit in to one we found out they were tart cherries!

I thought about all the ways I wanted to use them up and we tried Sour Cherry Jam, Sour Cherry Syrup (awesome in my Tart Cherry Lime Mocktails!) and I dried a whole bunch for the kids. 

Making Jam is so easy. Every recipe is different depending on the type of pectin you use. I like the low sugar one and feel like it is plenty sweet. You can even find a no sugar fruit pectin as well. Look for a recipe that has 3 cups of sugar or less for 4 cups of fruit. 

DIRECTIONS  ___________________________________________________________________
First you want to wash, pit and chop the sour cherries and measure the EXACT amount on your pectin box instructions into a sauce pan. (Making jam really is a science so you have to follow the amounts exactly or your jam won't set)

2.  Add water and pectin package into fruit and bring mixture to a full rolling boil on high heat,  which means that it doesn't stop bubbling when you stir it. And stir constantly. (You can also add a 1/2 tsp butter to reduce foaming if you want)

3. As soon as it hits a rolling boil, pour in the sugar called for all at once and return to a rolling boil. Time for 1 minute at a full rolling boil on high heat stirring constantly then remove from heat and skim off any foam. 

4. Ladle quickly into clean glass jars. I like to use the 6 oz jars. You only need 1/8 inch of headspace. Wipe jar rims  and cover with lid and screw on the band to finger tight.

5. Place onto water bath canner rack and lower into the water to cover jars by 1-2 inches. If you need more water, have some boiling water waiting nearby. 

6. Cover the canner and bring water to a gentle boil. Process Sour Cherry Jam 10 minutes (add 5 minutes for elevations 1,0001-3000 ft and 10 minutes if your are at elevation 3,001-6,000 ft above sea level.)

7. Remove jars after alloted time and place upright. (Some people turn jars upside down but you shouldn't do this). Just set on a towel and let it cool completely for at least 24 hours. Check seals by pressing middle of lid with finger. If the lid springs back, it means it is not sealed and you can either refridgerate and use immediately or you can reprocess it again with a new lid if you have any other batches of jam to do. 

That's it. It really goes so quickly. One of the best ways we love enjoying our Sour Cherry Jam is by swirling it through a little bit of plain yogurt. In fact, that was one of my tricks to slowly get my babies to start eating plain yogurt.

As an aside, I remember being an exchange student in Germany and trying to buy yogurt and being so confused why it was so sour. I didn't realize what real yogurt was supposed to taste like. Ours is like melted ice cream in the states! Slowly I got used to it and now I love it. If you want to start weaning your family off the high sugar yogurts,  start with 1 tsp of Jam/ Jelly (that is only 4 grams of sugar) and compared to the amount of sugar that is dumped into store-bought yogurt, it is infinitely better. Then slowly I would add less and less til they would eat just plain yogurt with berries mixed in. Try it, it works! 

I hope you find yourself lucky enough to snag some tart cherries this season. There are some U-pick farms as well as farmers' markets where they will be available for about 2 weeks in July.

Happy Canning!

Tiara
- The Provident Princess
Canning & Preserving, Canning and Preserving, Cherries,
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Sour Cherry Lime Summer Mocktail


Here at Provident Princess we love enjoying seasonal foods and the easiest time to do that is definitely during summer with the abundance of crop varieties and farmers' markets popping up all over. Right now we are celebrating all things cherry. Summer always seems to include all sorts of fun drinks. And for all of you non-drinkers out there, I have the perfect Sour Cherry Lime Mocktail to share with you!  It is supper easy and like all recipes you will find here, this Cherry Lime Mocktail has the simplest and most whole ingredients. I'm not into a lot of fuss. When we buy food in season, the flavors don't need a lot of help to shine.

I was coming back from dropping one of my daughters off at a friends and I noticed a house with a beautiful cherry tree out back which didn't look touched or taken care of at all. So what did I do? I pulled over and knocked on their door of course. The nicest man answered and assured me that I was welcome to take as many cherries as I wanted.

Honestly, I know many people feel intimidated by knocking on a stranger's door asking if they are going to use their fruit; but most people are relieved to give it away. They are usually not the ones who planted the trees and don't really know what to do or can't use all the food it produces. Many people have acted like I was the one who was doing them a favor by taking it off their hands so they wouldn't have the mess to pick up later when it all fell unused to the ground. So if you ever have the chance, Do. It.

I showed back up later that day and we picked and picked and picked. It was so hot. We stuck with it until we had about 3 grocery bags half full and you couldn't even tell where on the tree we were picking because there were still so many cherries on there.

We got back home and were in for a huge surprise. The cherries weren't pie cherries like I had thought. They were Sour Cherries! Instead of the Cherry Pie filling I'd envisioned making for a decadent cheesecake, I had to think of how else to use this sour cherry harvest.

Have you seen that Cherry Juice Costco is sampling at Costco? They are touting it like it's the next pomegranate juice because of its high volume of anti-oxidants . It's made from this type of cherry! (And it is delicious btw, 2 thumbs up from the toddlers.)

Since the cherries are so tart, you can't really eat them plain, so we had to get to work washing and  pitting. My girls had a blast working the cherry pitter and really learned how to get in the groove.

So what can you do with sour cherries? They dehydrate wonderfully. Dried sour cherries at the store sell for 5.99/lb! That was by far our favorite method to eat these delicious cherries. We also made Sour Cherry Jam which I couldn't eat all the time but it is fun to have in the rotation. We also made Sour Cherry Syrup for pancakes and waffles.

I'm not a soda drinker. I've just never liked it, but my children and husband do. So every now and then I will buy some sparkling water to add to some juice to make it a little special. Sparkling water is so much better than soda. No sweeteners, added sodium or caffeine buzzes for the kids.

I had a box of La Croix Sparkling Lime Water left-over from one of these purchases and thought it would be the perfect vehicle to try our new Sour Cherry Syrup we canned. Let me tell you. This drink is like summer in a cup.



Ingredients________________________________________________________________________
3 (12 oz) cans of La Croix Sparkling Lime Water
3/4 cup Sour Cherry Syrup (you can find cherry syrup in the store too by the drink mixes if you don't               have your own homemade)
Slices of fresh limes and cucumbers for garnish (1-2 per glass)

Directions_________________________________________________________________________
Fill 4 Tumblers filled with cubed ice. In a pitcher combine sparkling lime water and cherry syrup. Add the cucumbers to the pitcher to start to infuse its flavor into the drink. You can leave it like this in the fridge until you are ready to serve. Stir to combine syrup and pour into tumblers of ice. Garnish with a lime slice and enjoy immediately.


Perfect for a summer evening spent outdoors.  I also like to garnish the serving platter with limes and sweet cherries so guests know what flavors to expect. I love how this recipe takes so little effort but really gives such an elevated look to any get-together.

Let me know in the comments if you try this recipe. And if you are looking for just a single drink for yourself to enjoy, 2 Tablespoons of the cherry syrup to 1/2 cup of sparkling lime water. You're Welcome.

Cheers,

PP
Canning & Preserving, Canning and Preserving, Cherries,
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How to Make Beef Bone Broth

So we all know by now how nutritious and good for us bone broth is. Even the major food brands all have their own cartons of bone broth on the shelves. I'm glad that more healthful options are being offered these days and buy a few cartons here and there for convenience. But, when I have the option, I love to make my easy homemade bone broth in a crock-pot.

Grocery store bone broth can't hold a candle to it in the health department. Do you know how I know? A good bone broth will turn into almost a jelly when it cools. That's how you know it is full of collagen. Collagen is a power house in the health department. It helps reduce joint pain and strengthen bones, improves and strengthens hair and nails, helps improve liver and gut health including detoxification among so many other things.

My sister-in-law and I went in on part of a grass-fed cow together from a local farmer here in Utah. Best way to save on grass-fed/pasture-raised meat by the way. I've been loving all the different cuts of meat that I don't usually buy from the store since they are usually way more expensive than just grass-fed ground beef. But one of the things I was most excited about was having a bunch of soup bones to make bone broth with. When you buy a cow, they ask if you want the bones. Say "YES!" The broth you get from bones is rich, velvety and chock full of the most essential vitamins and minerals that are so lacking in our diets. I just throw my soup bones in my deep freeze and take out a package or two at a time when I want to make some broth.

And making homemade bone broth couldn't be easier. You can obviously use a stock pot on the stove with this recipe too. I just love the easiness and worry free setting and leaving of crock-pots.



Start with about 2 pounds of soup bones. Ideally, half should be joint bones because they will contribute the most collagen to your broth.  Lay them out on a sheet pan covered with parchment paper. Anything to make clean up shorter, right? Now salt and pepper them really well. I like to use my kosher salt for things like this.


Next, you'll want to brown the bones in a pre-heated 350 degree oven for about 30 minutes, turning at the half way mark. This really helps develop the flavor of the broth so much.


While your bones are browning, it's time to assemble the rest of the ingredients. I love using the inside stalks of my celery for stock. The leaves actually have so much flavor and they are a part of the plant that we don't usually eat, so I love to make sure I use them all up. When I am buying organic produce, I like to make sure I use the whole plant. You can read more about how I save money on our organic and grass-fed foods here and here.  Another thing I like about making stock is that you it helps to clean out the fridge and use up anything that is getting a little old and maybe isn't in its prime texture wise. You can see my carrots are on their last leg too. They were still perfectly crunchy but starting to sprout. Just wash your veggies, you don't need to work about peeling or chopping.

Dehydrated Onions
Start to put your veggies in the crock-pot. You make have to break your carrots in half to get them to fit. Now I'm going to share one of my favorite things to use in my broths. Dehydrated onions. If you don't have any then by all means just halve an onion and throw that in. But, once a year I get a 25 pound bag of onions for about 3 dollars! Obviously we can't get through that many onions before they would go bad so I dehydrate them.


I love them! Once, I also saw organic celery for .50 a bunch so I bought a ton of them and dehydrated them too. I love to throw them in my soups, chilis and bone broths.

Ok, so back to the broth.


Add a bay leaf or two. You can also put in a few black peppercorns. No more than 5.


Once your bones are browned, take them out of the oven and nestle into your veggies and cover with water. You want your bones covered at all time. Pour in 2 Tablespoons of Apple Cider Vinegar and turn on the crock-pot for at least 8 hours but preferably 24. It takes a while to get all the goodness out of the bones. You can leave it to simmer for up to 72 hours but I find 24 is just fine. That way I can start it in the morning and by the next morning it is ready to use to make something for dinner that day. You'll want to cook it on high until it starts to simmer then turn it to low for the rest of the time. You don't want it boiling. It will destroy the collagen if it is cooked too high. A nice simmer is just right.


When it's done, strain it over a bowl so you can catch every. last. drop. I like to keep mine in mason jars. See that white layer on top? That is called tallow. You can cook with it, especially if you want a healthy, pasture-raised fat. Or in the olden days, because the fat was so hard, it takes a long time to melt, making it ideal for candle making.


If your broth looks like this when it is cooled, you did it just right. Look how jiggly it is. Perfect. Don't worry, it will liquefy when you warm it up again.

Now it's time to enjoy in all your favorite recipes. Stay tuned for my French Onion Soup recipe. And if you would like to learn how to make Turkey Bone Broth you can find the recipe here.
Bone Broth, Canning & Preserving, Canning and Preserving,
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Blueberry Syrup

I love Saturdays. Saturday was the day that my dad would make breakfast when I was young. Still to this day, Saturday just doesn't feel right unless I wake up to a good, hearty breakfast. Is there anything more scrumptious than blueberry syrup drizzled over homemade waffles in the morning?

Yes. Homemade blueberry syrup drizzled over homemade waffles!
I ordered 12 pints of blueberries just so I could make my own. A little overboard maybe?
This recipe is so easy! Just three ingredients.
I use a juicer but you can totally do this in a stockpot.
Zest lemon and wash blueberries
Combine blueberries and lemon zest in steamer basket and fit over drip pan. Place over water pan and cover with a lid. Steam fruit over high heat. (about 1.5 hours)


While fruit is steaming, sterilize jars and place rings and new lids in simmering water 'til needed.


When juice is ready, unclamp juicer hose and drain into stockpot. (about 6 cups).


Sometimes to check how much juice I have, I drain it into a measuring cup then pour it back over the fruit in the juicer. I think that the hot juice helps breakdown the fruit at the top better and gives me an idea how much more time I need to wait.


Add the lemon juice and sugar to the blueberry juice in the stockpot and bring to a boil skimming off foam as it appears. Boil for 5-10 min to dissolve the sugar and reduce the syrup to a thicker consistency.


Place wide-mouth funnel in sterilized jar and ladle CAREFULLY the syrup into the jars. Wipe off jar mouth with clean washcloth before placing lid on top. Tighten bands but not too tight. I tighten all the way then back off about a quarter turn. Yield is 3 pints.


Space jars on counter and wait for that wonderful 'pop' to tell you they sealed.



Verdict: The syrup tastes amazing! The consistency is a little thin which is to be expected due to the low amount of sugar used. Most syrup recipes call for a 1:1 ratio of juice and sugar but I just didn't want to use that much. If it bothers you and you want a thicker syrup, add more sugar before canning. It will set a little after being stored and was plenty thick for me then.
Here is the recipe. Enjoy!
Blueberry Syrup, Canning & Preserving, Canning and Preserving,
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