The Main Menu: Late August days are perfect for pickling and preserving

By JAN MAIN

Do you remember the taste of a lip-smacking chili sauce, or peach conserve?

Apart from the wonderful taste and its contribution to a meal, increasing food costs makes preserving a sensible reality.

As a kid, I remember hot August days when a boiling vat of water started a long day of making my mother’s autumn relish.

Of course, the kitchen was filled with the tantalizing aromas of simmering spices, vegetables and fruits but it did not make the kitchen any cooler.

However, you kept your mind on the prize – a wonderful taste to accompany dishes come fall and winter.

Of course, today air conditioning has simplified preserving even on the hottest day.

Remember too, that the easiest method of preserving, quick and simple, is freezing.

You can pick crops in season, for instance, strawberries, clean them then freeze them in freezer bags ready to preserve later at your leisure in a jam or pickle of your choice, even on a winter’s day.

Here to “get you into a pickle,” are two of my favourite recipes.

Antipasto

Jars of this savory sauce are wonderful to have on hand as an quick appetizer to serve with crackers or use as an emergency pasta toss.

It makes an ideal hostess gift too. Best of all you can preserve it in a boiling water bath or for added speed, prepare it and freeze it in jars. (Remember to leave a ½ inch headspace to allow for expansion during freezing!)

Note: Freezing means you do not have to use a boiling water bath to keep the food safe.

4 carrots, peeled and diced
2 red peppers, diced
2 zucchini, diced
1 cauliflower, finely chopped
1 large onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 cups (500 mL) ketchup
2/3 cup (150 mL) horseradish
1/2 cup (125 ml) vegetable oil
1/2 cup 125 mL) cider vinegar
1 jar, (12 oz/375 mL) pimento stuffed olives
1 cup (250 mL) black olives, drained and coarsely chopped
1 (6 oz/ 170mL) marinated artichokes
1 bay leaf
1/2 cup (125 mL) finely chopped fresh parsley
2 tsp (10 mL) basil
1/4 tsp (1 mL) hot pepper sauce or to taste

In a steamer-basket set over large pot of boiling ware, individually steam carrots, peppers, zucchini and cauliflower until tender -crisp. In large stainless- steel saucepan, combine onions, garlic, ketchup, oil, vinegar, olives, artichokes, bay leaf parsley, horseradish, basil and hot pepper sauce.

Bring to boil; reduce heat and simmer 5 minutes.

Stir in steamed vegetables, simmer for 15-minutes. Remove from heat and allow to cool completely. Discard bay leaf.

To preserve quickly by freezing, spoon into freezer bags or preserving jars leaving a required headspace of ½ inch (1 cm) which allows for expansion during the freezing process.

To preserve using a boiling water bath to make the food shelf-stable, pack into hot sterilized jars leaving a headspace of ½ inch (1 cm) and process in a boiling water bath for 10 minutes.

Remove to a rack; allow to cool and check for a seal of the lid (lid should go down in centre once cool).

For any jars which may not have a seal; refrigerate them and use up within 2 weeks.

To serve the antipasto, a tin of tuna may be added to the mixture just before serving but this mixture should be kept well chilled and used up within a day of combining.

Makes about 10 cups (2.5 L).

Niagara Chutney

This yummy pickle is wonderful with barbecued sausages, meatloaf and roast chicken or pork. (I have been known to eat it by the spoonful at the counter, it is so good!)

It is best made fresh in August when peaches, pears and the first apples come in!

4 cups (1 L) peeled, sliced peaches (about 5)
2 cups (500 mL) peeled, coarsely chopped pears
2 cups (500 mL) peeled, coarsely chopped apples
1 cup (250 mL) golden raisins
1 large onion, chopped
1 lemon, washed, halved and thinly sliced
3 cups (750 mL) lightly packed brown sugar
1/2 cup (125 mL) crystallized ginger, chopped
2 cups (500 mL) cider vinegar
1 tsp each, ground ginger, ground cloves & pickling salt
1/2 tsp (2 mL) each, cinnamon and cayenne pepper

In large stainless- steel saucepan, combine peaches, pears, apples, raisins, onion, lemon, sugar, ginger, cloves, pickling salt, cinnamon and cayenne pepper.

Bring to boil; reduce heat and simmer stirring frequently for about 40 minutes or until thickened.

Spoon into hot, sterilized jars to within ½ inch of top; wipe edge clean; apply lids and process in boiling water bath for 10 minutes.

Cool on rack and check lids for seal. Date and label.

Makes about 8 cups (2 L).