Cara Cara Orange Jam

Ingredients:
8 cups supremed Cara Cara segments
4 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 box liquid pectin (3 oz., one of the little packets in the box)
1/4 cup lemon juice (I used bottled)
3 tablespoons Grand Marnier
zest of 2 Cara Cara oranges


Directions:
Prep jars/lids for canning. Add the orange segments into a large, heavy bottomed pan. Add the sugar. Bring to a boil, stirring and carefully to avoid splashing, break up the segments, occasionally. Boil until it begins to reduce and thicken. Stir in the pectin, Grand Marnier and lemon juice. Continue cooking at a low (rolling) boil for 5-10 minutes or until it looks jammy. Fill the jars leaving 1/4 inch headroom. Process in the hot water bath for 10 minutes.

Yield: 5-6 8-oz jars. I ended up with 5 8-oz, 1 4-oz and a couple of spoonfuls

Note: A great source for canning information is the Blue Book guide to preserving. I highly recommend it for learning how to can. Here is a bunch of other canning books and equipment I find useful.

My thoughts:

Today was a busy citrus day at the Rappaport house. I made this jam and marmalade for the first time. I had many pounds of citrus I wanted to use up and marmalade is a lot of fiddly work. I can't imagine doing two batches of that in one day unless a. I suddenly became very, very quick at it or b. someone was paying me. So I started to think of something citrus-y I could make that would be a little less time consuming. Don't get me wrong, it takes a long time to supreme so many oranges but at least I didn't have a peel to worry about and the actual cooking of the jam was quick and easy. I honestly I have never seen a recipe for citrus jam before but I didn't see any reason why it would work or be perfectly tasty. Sort of a marmalade without the candied peel. As it turns out, it makes a lovely jam, freshly orange scented and not as sweet as jelly would have been. The segments almost caramelize and really pop. Since Cara Caras are pink inside, the jam is a pretty orangish rose color. It is yummy on bread etc but I am already thinking of ways to use it in new recipes that need a bit of citrus.

I did "cheat" and added some liquid pectin despite oranges being pretty high in pectin. Cara Caras are seedless and I didn't want to add any bitterness from the peel to the jam. I knew it would easily set up with just a bit of pectin and it did.

Kiwi-Mango Jam

Ingredients:
4 1/2 cups sugar
4 cups cubed kiwi
2 cups cubed mango (about 3 large mangos)
juice and zest of 1 lime
juice and zest of one lemon
1 box liquid pectin (6 oz, 2 packets)

Directions:
Prep jars/lids. Set aside. Place the sugar, juice/zest, kiwi and mango in a pot. Bring to a boil, stirring occasionally. Boil for 15 minutes. Stir in both packets of the pectin. Boil for 1 minute. Ladle into jars leaving 1/4 inch headspace. Process for 10 minutes in a hot water bath.

Note: A great source for canning information is the Blue Book guide to preserving. I highly recommend it for learning how to can.

My thoughts:

It is that time in the winter when I am really craving something fresh and summery. Luckily I have few qualms about buying non-local produce in the winter because nothing is growing locally. Normally, I'd make jam with fruit I picked myself but hey, buying some truly lush kiwi and mangos was easy and made for a satisfying quick project. A little bit of sunshine in January if you will. Mango is a fairly low acid fruit so I added citrus just to make sure the acidity was at a safe level for boiling water canning. I also think it helped the jam maintain an attractive color, kiwi tends to turn sort of yellowish when cooked.

Grapefruit Segments in Vanilla Bean & Star Anise Syrup

Ingredients:
5 Texas Rio Star (red) grapefruits
1 cup sugar
2 vanilla beans, sliced along the seam
water
4-6 whole star anise


Directions:
Sterilize your jars. Keep them warm until ready to use. Supreme the grapefruit. As you work, place the segments in a large measuring cup. Squeeze the membranes and peels into the measuring cup. Discard the peels and membranes. Carefully remove the segments to a heavy sauce pan using a slotted spoon or mini strainer. Add water to the juice in the measuring cup to equal 2 cups (I only needed to add one cup). Add to the sauce pan. Add the vanilla beans and sugar. Bring to a boil, stirring occasionally but very gently. Remove the vanilla beans and star anise. Ladle the mixture into prepared jars. Cut the vanilla beans to fit and add them and the star anise to the jars if desired. Seal. Process for 5 minutes in a hot water bath.

Yield: 4-5 8 oz jars

Note: It is important to sterilize the jars prior to filling for this recipe due to the very short processing time. Do not over process the filled jars.


Tip: A great source for canning information is the Blue Book guide to preserving. I highly recommend it for learning how to can.

My thoughts:

I recently was lucky enough to come in possession of a bunch of truly fragrant Texas grapefruit. I had high hopes of finally tackling marmalade making but when I cut into them, about half, while delicious, had very, very thick skin (lots of pith) and I wasn't eager to spend all that time prepping the fruit and making marmalade only to yield a couple of 1/2 pints. We were getting ready to go on vacation so I knew I didn't have time just to eat them one by one and I am not a terribly big grapefruit eater anyway. I looked up tons of grapefruit recipes and none really seemed appealing until I came across a recipe for a poached grapefruit made with lots of fresh mint. It sounded tasty but again, my short deadline and amount of grapefruit I had didn't make this a practical solution. So I took the idea of poaching the grapefruit one further and canned the segments in a very light syrup. In the future I will use it just as I would poached grapefruit: over ice cream, yogurt or panna cotta or even in drinks. The vanilla bean and star anise add interest (and spice of course) to the syrup and keep the grapefruit from being puckeringly overpowering.

Kadota Fig & Candied Ginger Jam

Ingredients:
3 lbs Kadota figs, stems removed and finely chopped (about 4 cups)
1 3/4 cups sugar
1/2 cup bottled lemon juice
1/4 cup diced crystallized candied ginger
3 ounces liquid pectin (one pouch)

Directions:
Prep the jars/lids. Place the figs, sugar and lemon juice in a saucepan. Bring the mixture to a full rolling boil. Boil for 10 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in pectin and candied ginger. Boil 5 minutes. Fill and seal the jars leaving 1/4 inch headspace. Process for 10 minutes in a boiling water bath.

Yield: about 5 8-oz jars


Note: A great source for canning information is the Blue Book guide to preserving. I highly recommend it for learning how to can.


*I used bottled lemon juice instead of fresh because figs are a low acid fruit and I wanted to make sure that the acid content was high enough to safely use the hot water method. The acidity of fresh lemons can vary but the acidity of bottled lemon juice is constant.

My thoughts:

Kadota figs have light green skins and pretty pink centers. Like most figs they are pretty sweet but I think they have a more floral, almost honey-like flavor than other varieties I've tried. I had some really good candied ginger and thought it would work well with this particular fig. Of course, I am a big ginger fan anyway but it kept the jam from being crazy sweet while at the same time keeping the floral note. I also liked how the ginger and fig ended up with similar textures which made for great spreadablity. I look forward to using this jam in other recipes. I think it would make an awesome filling for cookies.

Stayman-Winesap Apple Butter

Ingredients:
10 Stayman Winesap apples, sliced
1 cup apple cider
3/4 cup dark brown sugar
1 stick cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg

Directions:
Place all ingredients in a 4 quart slow cooker. Cook on low for 10-12 hours. Vent by placing the lid on askew and cook on low for an additional 10-12 hours or until most of the liquid has evaporated. Remove the cinnamon stick then pour the mixture into the food processor and puree. Cool completely and refrigerate up to 3 weeks or ladle when warm into prepared jars leaving 1/4 inch headspace and process in a hot water canner for 10 minutes.

Note: A great source for canning information is the Blue Book guide to preserving. I highly recommend it for learning how to can.

My thoughts:

Stayman-Winesap apples are my absolute favorites. When I was growing up my grandpop could buy a bushel and store them on his (enclosed) basement steps. This year I decided to follow in his footsteps and we bought a bushel of apples at our local farmers market. Stayman-Winesaps normally show up on "cooking" and "baking" apple lists but I like them out of hand and spread with peanut butter or topped with sharp cheddar. I'd be content with that but since I have so many, apple butter seemed to be the thing to make. I came up with the 24 hour slow cooker fruit butter method a few years ago and it is by far many favorite method. No stirring, no scorching, no hands-on work needed except for the apple slicing (made easy with an apple slicer) and it makes your house smell amazing for a whole day. I made a batch of pear butter (recipe to come) at the same time and it really felt like fall. Try apple butter on muffins, rolls, toast, pancakes or as an ingredient in sauces, sandwiches, or baked goods. So versatile and so delicious.


Yield: about 5 8oz jars.

Black Mission Fig Jam

Ingredients:
2 1/2 lb Black Mission Figs, quartered & stems removed
2 cups sugar
1 1/2 cups water
1/2 cup bottled lemon juice*
1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon bergamot extract

Directions:
Prep jars/lids. Heat the sugar and water in a saucepan until the sugar is dissolved. Add the lemon juice and figs. Bring to a simmer and let it cook for a hour, stirring occasionally and mashing up any big bits. Add the halfway point add the extract. Ladle into jars leaving 1/4 inch headspace. Seal. Process in a hot water bath for 10 minutes.

Yield: about 4 8-oz jars

Note: A great source for canning information is the Blue Book guide to preserving. I highly recommend it for learning how to can. Or check out this online guide.



*I used bottled lemon juice instead of fresh because figs are a low acid fruit and I wanted to make sure that the acid content was high enough to safely use the hot water method. The acidity of fresh lemons can vary but the acidity of bottled lemon juice is constant.

My thoughts:

I am really into figs this year. We planted two fig trees this year and while I don't expect too much of a harvest from them right away, I've been practicing making things with figs lately. I've noticed that Black Mission figs are the most common variety found in grocery stores around here. I actually made two different types of fig jam using two different varieties but since Black Mission will probably be the easiest to find, I thought I'd share this recipe first.

I'm excited about this jam because it was the first one I made without using commercial pectin. I had noticed that the Black Mission figs thickened well when heated while making a different recipe so instead of adding pectin, I just kept cooking the fruit until it turned jammy. It took less time than I thought and honestly didn't require too much hands on time which I appreciated. I added bergamot extract (if you are unfamiliar with bergamot, it is a dominant flavor in Earl Grey tea) which added a slightly bitter citrus note that tempered the figs sweetness. Orange or lemon extract could be substituted for the bergamot if necessary but honestly, it is bergamot extract is well worth seeking out.

Smokin' Hot Pickled Okra

Ingredients:
3 1/2 lb medium sized okra
3 cups water
2 1/2 cups white vinegar
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
1/4 cup pickling salt
2/3 cup minced dill
6 large cloves garlic
6 teaspoons chipotle flakes
3 teaspoons yellow mustard seeds
1 1/2 teaspoons celery seed

Directions:
Bring the water, vinegars and salt to a boil. Prep the lids/jars.  I highly recommend using wide mouth jars. Okra is bulky and I was able to fit more in the wide mouth jars than the regular ones. Fill each jar tightly with okra. Evenly divide all of the spices and garlic between 6 pint jars. Top with dill.



Pour in the boiling vinegar mixture, leaving 1/2 inch headspace. Poke down any okra that has floated too close to the top. Close the jars and process for 10 minutes in a hot water bath. Allow to sit at least one week before eating.

Yield: about 6 pints

Note: Note: A great source for canning information is the Blue Book guide to preserving. I highly recommend it for learning how to can. Here are some of the canning books and equipment I find useful.

My thoughts:

While September is mildly depressing between memories of heading back to school and the knowledge that fall and its bitter cousin, winter is just around the corner, I do like September's produce. A lot of my summer favorites (peaches, nectarines, plums, tomatoes, berries) are still available but I am also able to find winter squash, Brussels sprouts, apples, pears and some of the best okra I've seen in ages. I know okra is some what polarizing but I love it. Cooked (or pickled) properly, it doesn't have any of the dread producing ooze and is incredibly fresh and crisp. This recipe is some what nontraditional but I love anything smoky spicy so I used chipotle pepper flakes rather than red and it added a whole new level of flavor to the okra. I added celery and mustard seed because they are two of my favorite spices and I think they added a fresh flavor which is always welcome when canning.

Seedless Blackberry Vanilla Bean Jam

Ingredients:
8-10 cups whole, picked over blackberries
4 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 box liquid pectin (3 oz., one of the little packets in the box)
1/4 cup lemon juice
zest of one lemon
3 vanilla beans, scraped


Directions:
Mash the berries through a sieve (use a whisk to get more juice out) or a food mill to remove the seeds. It should yield about 6 cups of pulpy berries. Add the sugar, vanilla bean scrapings and blackberries to a large pot. Tie the vanilla beans together with kitchen twine and attach them to the side of the pan or cut them up and stuff them into a tea ball. Allow to the beans to float in the pan. Prep jars/lids for canning. Bring to a boil. Boil for about 10-15 minutes. Stir in the pectin and lemon juice. Continue cooking at a low (rolling) boil for 5 minutes. Discard the beans. Fill the jars leaving 1/4 inch headroom. Process in the hot water bath for 10 minutes.


Note: A great source for canning information is the Blue Book guide to preserving. I highly recommend it for learning how to can. Here is a bunch of other canning books and equipment I find useful.


Yield: about 7 8-oz jars (I ended up with 3 pint jars and 8 4-oz jars)

My thoughts:

I made this a little earlier in the summer but just opened a jar of it for the first time yesterday. I love the combination of blackberry and vanilla so I was extra interested to see if my jam experiment worked and I was excited to see that it had. I would say the jam is 70% blackberry-y and 30% vanilla-y, which I think is the perfect ratio.

Normally, I don't bother removing the seeds from jam but blackberry seeds are pretty big. I actually sort of like the seeds when I am eating a berry fresh from the bush but in jam, they sort of just make everything crunchy and stick in your teeth. It only took a few minutes to run it through the food mill. I had my husband do it while we watched British television on DVD. Alternately, I think you could mash them through a mesh strainer but that would take quite a bit more muscle. If you don't mind some seeds, de-seeding 50-70% of the berries and leaving the rest whole is another option. So, go hunt down some late summer blackberries and make this jam!

White Peach & Fresh Ginger Jam

Ingredients:
8 cups finely diced white peaches
6 cups sugar
1/4 cup bourbon (optional)
1/4 cup bottled lemon juice*
1 6 oz box liquid pectin (2 packets)
2 inch chunk ginger, peeled

Directions:
Add the sugar and peaches to a large pot. Prep jars/lids for canning. Bring the mixture to a boil, stirring occasionally. Stab the ginger a few times with the tip of a knife. Add the lemon juice, bourbon and ginger. Boil for 15 minutes or until thickened. Carefully mash, using a potato masher, any remaining large chunks. Add the pectin (both packets!). Continue cooking at a low (rolling) boil for 5 minutes. Remove the ginger. Fill the jars. Wipe off the lip and sea Process in the hot water bath for 10 minutes.

Yield: about



Note: A great source for canning information is the Blue Book guide to preserving. I highly recommend it for learning how to can. Or check out this online guide.



*I used bottled lemon juice instead of fresh because peaches, especially white peaches, are a low acid fruit and not every lemon has the same acid level. It is important to add an acid to low acid fruits so it is safe to water can.

My thoughts:

What is better than a fresh, in season peach? We went to a pick your own place and while Matt did most of the picking (peach fuzz makes my skin itch) we ended up with more than enough peaches to eat out of hand and to make some jam. Peaches, especially white peaches, are a low pectin, low acid fruit so even with the added pectin it is a softer jam and you need to make sure to add acid (lemon juice) to make it safe for water canning. But neither takes away from the wonderful flavor of this jam. It is as close to biting into a peach as you can come without actually eating the peach. The ginger adds a background note of spice that really accentuates the peachiness. I can't wait to have it on toast, swirled into yogurt or baked into pastries.

Hot Slice (of Pickle)

Ingredients:
4 lb pickling cucumbers, sliced
3 cups water
2 cups white vinegar
3/4 cup apple cider vinegar
1/4 cup pickling salt
6 teaspoons peppercorns
6 dried pili pili peppers
3 teaspoons crushed red pepper
3 teaspoons yellow mustard seeds
1 1/2 teaspoon caraway seeds
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 large shallots, minced


Directions:
Bring the water, vinegar and salt to a boil. Prep the lids/jars. Evenly divide all of the spices, shallot and garlic between 6 pint jars . Add the cucumber spears. Pour in the vinegar mixture. Close the jars and process for 10 minutes in a hot water bath. Allow to sit 2 weeks before eating.

Yield: about 6 pints

Note: A great source for canning information is the Blue Book guide to preserving. I highly recommend it for learning how to can. Or check out this online guide.

My thoughts:

Can you stand more canning? I have done so much canning this year, I barely have any non-canning recipes saved up to post. I am actually a little annoyed that it is suddenly so cool and I have nothing to can right now. I did a ton of canning during the long stretches of high heat and humidity we've had recently and it was pretty brutal, even though I was canning late at night so I could go to bed and escape the hot kitchen and downstairs. Anyway, these pickles are really good. I wanted to make a sandwich slice that was different than the spears I had made and came up with the idea of a hot and spicy pickle. They are so good on a hamburger and I can't wait to have them in the middle of a grilled cheese sandwich. YUM!

Tip: It is a little harder to gauge how many slices fit in each jar since they are sliced and not always evenly so make sure you prep a couple of extra jars just in case.

Pears in Sweet Tea Syrup

Ingredients:
10 Bartlett pears
5 cups water
2 cups sugar
3 Tazo Vanilla Rooibos tea bags


Directions:
Prep 3 quart jars. Peel, core and halve the pears. If you'd like, float them in water mixed with Fruit Fresh or lemon juice, to help retain their color. Pack them into the jars. Meanwhile, bring the sugar, tea bags and water to a rolling boil. Do not let it reduce. Pour the hot syrup into the jars, leaving 1/2 inch headspace. Run a knife or a jar scraper to dislodge any bubbles while turning the jar slightly. Seal. Process in a hot water bath for 25 minutes.

Note: This recipe yields a bit more syrup than you will probably need. I scaled it this way because while my 10 pears fit into 3 quart jars, you might have some leftover. There should be enough syrup leftover to can a pint of extra pears if need be.

Tip: I highly recommend the Blue Book Guide to Preserving for learning how to can.

My thoughts:

This week's Tazo secret ingredient was pears. I was trying to think of something that wasn't too autumnal to make. Pears are just coming into season but I am more into peach-berry-tomato mode than pears and apples right now. So I was turning that around in my head for a while and decided I would pair them with the quintessential summer drink, sweet tea. I thought about making some sort of granita or some other frozen dessert but the sort of grainy texture of Bartlett pears made me think it might not be as smooth as I'd like. So I decided to can them in a light sweet tea syrup. Most recipes I found for canning pears use the hot pack method where you heat the pears through in the syrup but I think that makes the pears a little mushy. Instead I decided to process the pears more like peaches so they would hopefully retain the shape and texture better after the long processing time.

Triple Dill Pickles

Ingredients:
4 lb pickling cucumbers, quartered length-wise
3 cups water
2 3/4 cups white vinegar
1/4 cup pickling salt
6 teaspoons yellow mustard seed
6 tablespoons dill seed
3 teaspoons dillweed
6 bay leaves
6 cloves garlic
1/2 cup minced dill

Directions:
Bring the water, vinegar and salt to a boil. Prep wide-mouth pint lids/jars. Place 1 bay leaf, 1 teaspoon mustard seed, 1 tablespoon dill seed, and 1/2 teaspoon dillweed in each jar.



Add the cucumber spears and one clove garlic to each jar. Evenly divide the dill among the jars. Pour in the vinegar mixture. Close the jars and process for 10 minutes in a hot water bath. Allow to sit 2 weeks before eating.

Yield: about 6 pints

Note: A great source for canning information is the Blue Book guide to preserving. I highly recommend it for learning how to can. Or check out this online guide.

My thoughts:

Pickles! I sent my husband to buy pickling cucumbers the other day and he came back with 15 lbs. He helped cut up the cucumbers (thank goodness!) and I ended up canning 22 jars of pickles in three varieties. These are the first ones I've opened. To my delight they stayed pretty crisp and have wonderful but not overpowering dill flavor. I was a little worried that using dillweed, dill and dill seeds would end up being too much but it really wasn't. There was just a depth of flavor that one normally doesn't find in a pickle. I hope the other ones I canned turned out just as well! After a while, I felt like I was living in a pickle factory and I think I developed "pickle wrist" from trying to really pack the cucumbers in there. But it really wasn't difficult at all, just a little time consuming.

Zydeco Beans

Ingredients:
3 lb French green beans, ends trimmed (also called haricots verts)
3 cups water
3 cups white vinegar
1/3 cup pickling salt
1/2 cup minced fresh dill
1 head garlic, peeled
1 1/2 tablespoons yellow mustard seeds
1 1/2 tablespoons dill seed
1 tablespoon red chile flakes
1/2 teaspoon celery seed

Directions:
Prep 6 pint jars and lids. Whisk together the spices in a small bowl. Set aside. Bring the salt, vinegar and water to a boil. Meanwhile, stuff the warm jars with the green beans. The easiest way to do this is to lay them on their sides and fill them horizontally. Drop in one or two cloves of garlic. Evenly distribute the spices among each jar. Sprinkle with dill. Lightly shake the jars to help distribute the spices. Pour the boiling liquid into the jars, leaving 1/4 inch headspace. Process in a boiling water bath for 8 minutes. Allow to pickle for one week (at least!) before opening.


Note: A great source for canning information is the Blue Book guide to preserving. I highly recommend it for learning how to can. Or check out this online guide.

My thoughts:

I honestly had never had zydeco beans until I made these. I had first heard about them in a novel and they sounded great (Spicy pickled green beans? Yes, please!) but there aren't exactly a staple here in Baltimore. So of course I had to make my own. I am not 100% sure these are 100% authentic but they are so delicious. Seriously, the best pickle I have ever had. I may or might not have eaten 2 whole jars in less than a week. I'm working on my third and honestly, I was sort of hoping that my mom wouldn't like the jar I gave her so she'd give it back to me and I could eat them. Isn't that horrible? Next time I am doing two batches. Or three. Maybe more.

So, what are you waiting for? Go make these pickles! They will keep for a year on the shelf but I hardly think they will last that long. They are great as a snack or as a drink or salad garnish. You can even use the prepped French green beans that some supermarkets sell and save yourself the hassle of cutting off the ends.

Mint-Infused Blueberry-Lime Jam

Ingredients:
1 bunch fresh mint
8-10 cups whole, picked over blueberries*
4 1/2 cups sugar
1 box liquid pectin (6 oz., 2 little packets)
juice and zest of 2 limes


Directions:
Lightly bruise the mint and stuff as much as you can into a tea ball. Set aside. Pour the berries into a bowl. Mash with a potato masher. Measure it out. It should yield about 6 cups of mashed berries. Add the sugar and blueberries to a large pot. Prep jars/lids for canning. Bring the sugar and blueberries to a boil. Add the lime juice, zest and the tea ball. Clip the tea ball to the side of the pot if possible. Boil for about 10-15 minutes, it should start to look a little thick. Add the pectin (both packets!). Continue cooking at a low (rolling) boil for 5 minutes. Remove the tea ball. Fill the jars. Process in the hot water bath for 10 minutes.

Yield: about 6 8-oz jars (I ended up with six and a teeny tiny bit left over but the other batch of jam I made using the same amount of berries yielded 7 8-oz jars)


*I made two batches of jam and one batch only needed 8 cups of fresh berries and the second batch needed about 10. I think it depends on the size of the berries.

Note: A great source for canning information is the Blue Book guide to preserving. I highly recommend it for learning how to can. Or check out this online guide.

My thoughts:

Jam! This was my first attempt at canning jam. I've made freezer jam in the past but never the fully cooked and jarred variety. I am happy to say it came out very well! I read up on the ratios needed for proper jam making and then just sort of winged it. Honestly, the hardest part was tracking down the liquid pectin. The jars all sealed and the jam set up into the perfect consistency. I think technically, you only need to boil it after the pectin is added for one minute but I did it for longer to try and get the most flavor out of the mint.

I love blueberry and lime together and the mint adds a herbal flavor that doesn't scream "MINT" but which adds savoriness and depth to the jam. Matt had some on a biscuit and nearly swooned. It is just that good. Not too sweet and the lime and mint keep it from being your typical blueberry jam.


Quick tip:
I put the mint in a tea ball because I didn't want bits of leaves in my jam. When it comes out of the pot the tea ball will be covered in jam. I just plopped the whole thing (closed, mint still inside) in a bowl of water and let it sit overnight. The next day, most of the jam had dissolved and it was easy to open and clean it.

Savory Pickled Beets

Ingredients:
3 lbs peeled, cooked beets cut into 1/4 inch slices
3 teaspoons yellow mustard seeds
2 teaspoons dill seed
2 teaspoons peppercorns
1 1/2 teaspoon coriander seeds
1 teaspoon salt
3 bay leaves
1 1/2 cups white vinegar
2 cups water
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
1 onion, sliced thinly (about 3/4 cup)


Directions:
Place all of the ingredients in a large pot and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes. Prep your jars. Pack the beets into the warm jars and ladle the pickling solution over them. Leave a 1/4 inch headspace. Process in a water bath for 30 minutes.


Note: A great source for canning information is the Blue Book guide to preserving. I highly recommend it for learning how to can. Or check out this online guide.

My thoughts:

Last summer my goal was to teach myself how to can. I didn't get to it because I was unexpectedly busy developing recipes for my cookbook but I have read dozens of canning books just waiting for the growing season to begin here. It turns out canning is a lot easier than I thought. It is slightly trickier to develop a new canning recipe because I have to make sure that I use enough ingredients to actually fill the jars and acidic ingredients to keep it safe enough for water bath canning but it isn't terribly difficult. The ratio of brine to vegetable is pretty consistent in the recipes I've read so when I decided to make my canning debut, I had a good idea how much vinegar I needed to pickle my beets. I have always loved the idea of pickled beets but most commercial jars of beets and recipe call for a much sweeter and cinnamon-clove spice flavor profile than I'd want to eat. I really wanted pickled, pickled beets, if that makes sense. I wanted the flavors to be closer to that of a cucumber pickle. So I followed the basic ratios but used the ingredients and flavors that I would enjoy. I am happy to stay I succeeded! The flavors are savory and sharp but still complement the beet. Lovely directly out of the jar and in salads.