How are you preserving summer? - canning, pickling, freezing, drying...

[steve garro]

Grandma%20Beth%20001.jpg

We can our tomatoes and buy huge boxes of them in Yakima for making large batches of salsa (we also can the salsa). If you want to learn how to can things, befriend some Mormons (not hard)

Boy, that's true.
My grandma was LDS but "left the flock."
We are often reminded that we are welcome back anytime.........have to think about that over a drink........
She sure knew how to can - here she is, RIP.
Where are you in WA our family farm is in Moses Lake.
I'm up to four gallons of salsa for the winter in the freezer.
- Garro.

[echelon_john]

Today was shucking, blanching, stripping and freezing 5 dozen ears of fresh corn. I try to leave that task as late in the summer as possible because corn that's had some cold nights is a lot sweeter than midsummer corn. Hopefully this was the 'sweet spot'...hah!

We also trimmed and sorted the rest of the garlic we picked at the very end of July; some was used for pesto (see below) but the rest had to get dealt with. Now we have about 50 heads of seed garlic (so 400 cloves) that we'll plant in a month or two, and another couple of hundred to eat over the winter. No vampires in our house, thank you very much!

2 weekends ago was pesto. 34 half pints, another 12 pints. We start with Marcella Hazan's recipe, and freeze it with the butter and cheese in it. This year we added some parsley, mostly for color, and a LITTLE bit of fresh mint leaves to brighten the flavor. We did some with pine nuts, but owing to their cost and dubious origins, we also made a bunch with raw, unsalted cashews, which have proven to be the best nut we've tried for the task (better than walnuts, pecans, sunflower seeds or pepitas). Finally, another trick that makes hers easier is to put the garlic in the food processor first, give it a hit or two with the blades to chop it, then add the other ingredients. (It's enough work peeling all that garlic without having to pre-chop it too...) The recipe is here:

Ingredients:
2 cups tightly packed fresh basil leaves
½ cup extra virgin olive oil
3 Tbsp. pine nuts
2 garlic cloves, chopped fine before putting in the processor
~ Salt
⅓ cup freshly grated parrmigiano-reggiano cheese
2 Tbsp. freshly grated romano cheese
3 Tbsp. butter, softened to room temperature
1½ lb. pasta
Steps

Briefly soak and wash the basil in cold water, and gently pat it thoroughly dry with paper towels.
Put the basil, olive oil, pine nuts, chopped garlic, and an ample pinch of salt in the processor bowl, and process to a uniform, creamy consistency.
Transfer to a bowl, and mix in the two grated cheeses by hand. It is worth the slight effort to do it by hand to obtain the notably superior texture it produces. When the cheese has been evenly amalgamated with the other ingredients, mix in the softened butter, distributing it uniformly into the sauce.

[Noteddy]

Today was shucking, blanching, stripping and freezing 5 dozen ears of fresh corn. I try to leave that task as late in the summer as possible because corn that's had some cold nights is a lot sweeter than midsummer corn. Hopefully this was the 'sweet spot'...hah!

We also trimmed and sorted the rest of the garlic we picked at the very end of July; some was used for pesto (see below) but the rest had to get dealt with. Now we have about 50 heads of seed garlic (so 400 cloves) that we'll plant in a month or two, and another couple of hundred to eat over the winter. No vampires in our house, thank you very much!

2 weekends ago was pesto. 34 half pints, another 12 pints. We start with Marcella Hazan's recipe, and freeze it with the butter and cheese in it. This year we added some parsley, mostly for color, and a LITTLE bit of fresh mint leaves to brighten the flavor. We did some with pine nuts, but owing to their cost and dubious origins, we also made a bunch with raw, unsalted cashews, which have proven to be the best nut we've tried for the task (better than walnuts, pecans, sunflower seeds or pepitas). Finally, another trick that makes hers easier is to put the garlic in the food processor first, give it a hit or two with the blades to chop it, then add the other ingredients. (It's enough work peeling all that garlic without having to pre-chop it too...) The recipe is here:

Ingredients:
2 cups tightly packed fresh basil leaves
½ cup extra virgin olive oil
3 Tbsp. pine nuts
2 garlic cloves, chopped fine before putting in the processor
~ Salt
⅓ cup freshly grated parrmigiano-reggiano cheese
2 Tbsp. freshly grated romano cheese
3 Tbsp. butter, softened to room temperature
1½ lb. pasta
Steps

Briefly soak and wash the basil in cold water, and gently pat it thoroughly dry with paper towels.
Put the basil, olive oil, pine nuts, chopped garlic, and an ample pinch of salt in the processor bowl, and process to a uniform, creamy consistency.
Transfer to a bowl, and mix in the two grated cheeses by hand. It is worth the slight effort to do it by hand to obtain the notably superior texture it produces. When the cheese has been evenly amalgamated with the other ingredients, mix in the softened butter, distributing it uniformly into the sauce.

It's 11am and you are making me crave this right now. Nice.

[steve garro]

Today, drying lobster mushrooms.
- Garro.

[Shinomaster]

Grandma%20Beth%20001.jpg

Boy, that's true.
My grandma was LDS but "left the flock."
We are often reminded that we are welcome back anytime.........have to think about that over a drink........
She sure knew how to can - here she is, RIP.
Where are you in WA our family farm is in Moses Lake.
I'm up to four gallons of salsa for the winter in the freezer.
- Garro.

Ha! Great photo, I bet thhose pies were killer! My girlfriend is from Ephrata and her dad lives by Moses lake! I've been there many times. My girlfriend grew up Mormon and is the only one who defected.. her dad raises beef cows and of course my girlfriend is a vegetarian atheist. When we drive back to Portland from Central Washington we go through Yakima and there is a killer produce market there run by the Native Americans.
I went to the Grant County fair last summer for the rodeo and demo derby and they have some really huge canning displays set up to train young housewives etc.. Small world.

[nahtnoj]

I did pesto yesterday - 5 cups of basil - and only wound up with 1.5 pints. In a year or two, if all goes well, I'll be living on a small farm, and the land to grow enough basil to produce Echelon John quantities of pesto won't be an issue.

My recipe was simpler - wife is gluten/dairy free, so obviously no cheese. We'll mainly use it on GF pizza.

[steve garro]

Ha! Great photo, I bet thhose pies were killer! My girlfriend is from Ephrata and her dad lives by Moses lake! I've been there many times. My girlfriend grew up Mormon and is the only one who defected.. her dad raises beef cows and of course my girlfriend is a vegetarian atheist. When we drive back to Portland from Central Washington we go through Yakima and there is a killer produce market there run by the Native Americans.
I went to the Grant County fair last summer for the rodeo and demo derby and they have some really huge canning displays set up to train young housewives etc.. Small world.

Yeah, huh?
My cousin Tony still owns Garro Farms, alfalfa and black angus. Same deal.
I remember going to Ephrata to get irrigation stuff ect. when I would spend summers up there working.
Boy, cherry season.............!
It was good to be a kid there, shotguns on the farm truck seat to shoot chukkars, ducks and pheasants or bunnies for dinner when you were out fucking with cows or the everlasting change of irrigation, and after the work day fishing in the lake for bluegills as big as an open hand with your alloted two beers as you were 13 but you worked a man's job all day so you earned them.
I went to the demo derby, too!
The pies were awesome.......
Thanks for the shake of the memory tree.
- Garro.

[steve garro]

How do you preserve mushrooms other then drying?
bumpercrop here in the forest, Ceasars are fading out but the Lobsters are going strong - anyone?
- Garro.

[echelon_john]

Pickling mushrooms is pretty common in Italy; I would think you would just follow standard pickling procedure--vinegar, garlic, etc. Obviously what comes out the other end is going to be used for different purposes than dried mushrooms, but variety is a good thing?

[Too Tall]

Boss, we always left the Garlic out because the Granny's say that the bacteria in garlic might cause early freezer spoilage. Now that I think about it that was not correct. Sheesh. Old habits die hard. Nice work thanks for the tips.

Today was shucking, blanching, stripping and freezing 5 dozen ears of fresh corn. I try to leave that task as late in the summer as possible because corn that's had some cold nights is a lot sweeter than midsummer corn. Hopefully this was the 'sweet spot'...hah!

We also trimmed and sorted the rest of the garlic we picked at the very end of July; some was used for pesto (see below) but the rest had to get dealt with. Now we have about 50 heads of seed garlic (so 400 cloves) that we'll plant in a month or two, and another couple of hundred to eat over the winter. No vampires in our house, thank you very much!

2 weekends ago was pesto. 34 half pints, another 12 pints. We start with Marcella Hazan's recipe, and freeze it with the butter and cheese in it. This year we added some parsley, mostly for color, and a LITTLE bit of fresh mint leaves to brighten the flavor. We did some with pine nuts, but owing to their cost and dubious origins, we also made a bunch with raw, unsalted cashews, which have proven to be the best nut we've tried for the task (better than walnuts, pecans, sunflower seeds or pepitas). Finally, another trick that makes hers easier is to put the garlic in the food processor first, give it a hit or two with the blades to chop it, then add the other ingredients. (It's enough work peeling all that garlic without having to pre-chop it too...) The recipe is here:

Ingredients:
2 cups tightly packed fresh basil leaves
½ cup extra virgin olive oil
3 Tbsp. pine nuts
2 garlic cloves, chopped fine before putting in the processor
~ Salt
⅓ cup freshly grated parrmigiano-reggiano cheese
2 Tbsp. freshly grated romano cheese
3 Tbsp. butter, softened to room temperature
1½ lb. pasta
Steps

Briefly soak and wash the basil in cold water, and gently pat it thoroughly dry with paper towels.
Put the basil, olive oil, pine nuts, chopped garlic, and an ample pinch of salt in the processor bowl, and process to a uniform, creamy consistency.
Transfer to a bowl, and mix in the two grated cheeses by hand. It is worth the slight effort to do it by hand to obtain the notably superior texture it produces. When the cheese has been evenly amalgamated with the other ingredients, mix in the softened butter, distributing it uniformly into the sauce.

[rec head]

HOLY CRAP. I put a mixture of finely ground rosemary and salt on one of the dehydrator trays of tomatoes and it is so good. More to come for sure.

[Too Tall]

Black Mission figs are available locally and look real real good. Sis just sent me this recipe from David Leibovitz (food blog)
I'm doing this over the weekend:

Fig Chutney
Two jars (2 cups, 500 g)
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 large red onion, peeled and finely diced
1/2-inch (2cm) piece of fresh ginger, peeled and minced
2/3 cup (120g) packed light or dark brown sugar
1/2 cup (125ml) apple cider vinegar
juice and zest of one lemon
3/4 cup (100g) raisins and diced dried fruits (any mix)
1 1/2 teaspoons mustard seeds
1 small cinnamon stick
1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
large pinch red pepper powder
1 pound (450g) fresh figs, stemmed and diced
1. In a wide saucepan, heat the vegetable oil over medium heat. Add the onions and cook until translucent, which will take about ten minutes, stirring occasionally.
2. Add the remaining ingredients, except for the figs. Let cook at a steady simmer for 20 minutes, then add the figs, cover the pot, and cook for 5 to 10 minutes, until the figs are tender and cooked through.
3. Remove the lid and cook 10 to 15 minutes over low heat, stirring, until the mixture thickens and becomes jam-like.