Candied Orange and Lemon Peel
This recipe is the first of many I plan to try from one of my new favorite books ~ The Blue Chair Jam Cookbook by Rachel Saunders. It was the perfect recipe after the Cranberry Relish as we had several orange and lemon rinds left over. I will think twice about throwing away any citrus rinds after making these tasty little morsels. They’re GRRreat!!! This recipe is a base from which to start. I plan to try doing some Ruby Red Grapefruit next….and who knows what I’ll get into while in Florida.
RECIPE FOR CANDIED ORANGE PEEL:
- 4 sweet oranges, such as navel or Valencia
- 4 1/2 cups white sugar, plus additional sugar for coating candy peels
- 2 cups water
- Cut oranges in half and juice. Retain the juice for another use (like making cranberry relish). Place the orange halves in a medium stainless steel saucepan (nonreactive pan) and cover generously with cold water. Bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat and vigorously simmer for approximately 10 minutes. Drain the water and repeat the process several times depending on the tartness and thickness of the rinds. The more bitter the citrus the more times the process should be repeated.
- Place orange halves in a stainless steel saucepan and cover with cold water. Over high heat bring them to a boil. Reduce heat and vigorously simmer, partially covered until the orange halves are tender (approximately 30-60 minutes). Drain and discard the water placing the orange halves in a bowl.
- Let the oranges cool to the touch. Then using a spoon remove the excess pith bit by bit, careful not to remove too much and/or break through the rind. To achieve a uniform thickness go over each one multiple times until the interior is smooth. Repeat the process on all of the cooked orange halves. You will want to leave a thin layer of white pith in each orange half.
- Thinly slice each orange half into uniform pieces about 1/4″wide (the lengths will vary). Return the strips to the saucepan, add the sugar and water making sure the water covers them. Bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce heat and gently simmer without stirring for about 1 hour. The rinds will be done when the underside appears semitransparent and the liquid is thick and syrupy. Remove from the heat and let the rinds and syrup stand for about 30 minutes. Note: do not leave them to cool too long as they will harden in the sugar and be difficult to properly separate onto the drying racks.
- Using tongs or a slotted spoon, remove the rinds to a wire cooling rack that has been placed over tinfoil, a tray, or cookie sheet (to prevent the sticky drippings from getting all over the kitchen). Space the rinds evenly on the rack so they are not touching one another.
- Place the racks out-of-the-way as the rinds will need 1 to 2 days to dry to the touch. And, prehaps more time if you are living in a humid area (ours spent 3 days drying). Once dry to the touch, place sugar in a bowl and add the rinds bit by bit to dust in a thin layer of sugar. Store in an airtight container.
- Shelf life 6 to 12 months…but I doubt they’ll last 1 month.
Put up Total:
- 2 x 500mL vintage mason jars
Preparing for the Canning Party
The canning party is only 1 sleep away!!! And, everyone in my house is busily preparing and super excited. We have 24 canners attending our party tomorrow night ~ to EAT UP what WE’VE PUT UP! Everyone must bring one jar of something they have canned and the food that it goes best with. For example; you may bring homemade salsa with tortilla chips. Or, I’m serving sauerkraut with some of Richard Stephen’s (our local butcher from Stephen’s Butcher Shop in Port Carling) homemade sausages. I think there is going to be a wonderful selection of different jarred foods for everyone to try and enjoy.
Yesterday, Matt, Kath, and I headed down to the big city of Toronto to pick up our canning t-shirts (which we’ve had especially made for everyone attending the party) as well as a quick visit to some of the great food specialty shops in the city.
Our first stop was The Cheese Boutique. If you’ve never been there you really must make a point to go. This place is a gorgeous sight. There are a wide range of jars lining shelves to the ceiling, a room of colourful pasta, a tasty array of desserts, fresh fruits and veggies, a cheese vault, an assortment of daily baked breads, an exhausting selection of cheese, and much more. The staff is very friendly and knowledgable, offering you samples of cheese to taste and answering any of questions you may have. We love it! Matt selected half a dozen delicious cheeses to accompany the homemade bread he’s preparing for the party. Oh…I am drooling just thinking about it.
The cheese vault at The Cheese Boutique is awesome. It is a dark temperature controlled room that houses a beautiful selection of ginormous wheels of cheese. I want one of these vaults in my house!
All three of us could have spent the day looking at all of the preserves and sampling different cheeses but we had a lot of other places we wanted to go. Next 
stop ~ The Spice Trader. Now, for all of you canners who are looking for organic dried herbs and spices this is the place. Located at 877 Queen Street West their new store is home to both The Spice Trader and The Olive Pit. It is a beautiful store with shelves of carefully canned dried spices organized alphabetically and wonderful selection of olive oils. The couple that own this store are absolutely delightful and passionately stand behind what they sell. While, Matt and Kathryn enjoyed sampling the different olive oils I examined their wide selection of spices. Each dried herb and spice has a little clear viewing container so that you can really get a sense of what everything looks like. I think that is a great idea because they have a large number of spices…many I’m still not familiar with. It is a great place to pick up your everyday organic herbs and spices and the place to go when searching for the unusual. They are also making a wonderful pickling spice for all of you canners!
A trip to the city would not be complete without visiting the St. Lawrence Market. If I lived in the city this would be my haunt. It has it all from meat to mustard and everything in between. Our primary reason for stopping in today is to pick up some Chestnut Honey for Matt’s bread making, a little bit of Kolitz Mustard and maybe some meat.
As honey collectors we always make a point of stopping in to visit Oleg, the Honey Man, from The World of Honey. Oleg is set up on the lower level of the Market. He has a neat display of over 50 different honey’s, most of them mono-honey, honey that has been pollinated by bees using a single and specific food source like Lavender Honey or Matt’s favorite in bread Chestnut Honey. Oleg, happily allows you to sample any and all of the honey. Each one is uniquely different I find it difficult to turn any of the jars away. Here is a picture of Kath sampling some Sunflower Honey.
What a fun day…now, I need to get back to our party preparations!
A First Time Canner!!!
My sister, Kathryn, arrived in Toronto from Florida early early Wednesday morning. She has come up to learn how to can, share in some memory making moments with her big sister, and help Matt and I with our first canning party. Isn’t she a trooper!?!
After just a few hours of sleep we got up and began scouring the canning books in search of the perfect first time recipe. I suggested that she focus on the basic food she would like to use and go from there. Kath decided that with our cranberry marsh only minutes away that CRANBERRIES would be fun to work with…and, we found the perfect recipe in Canning for a New Generation ~ Minted Cranberry Relish with Walnuts. Just the name of this sounds delicious.
The three of us headed off in search of our ingredients. Matt actually took the day off work so we could all enjoy a trip to the Johnston’s Cranberry Marsh in Bala.
The marsh is a beautiful place and I encourage everyone who visits our area to make a special point of visiting this spectacular part of the world. The whole process of growing and harvesting these tart red little gems is amazing but so is the wildlife that surrounds it. Cranberries grow in low-lying marshy areas that protect and preserve a tremendous variety of wildlife. We were fortunate to see a very large healthy beaver forging for a meal.
The Johnston’s have a wonderful website that will answer all of your questions so check it out ~ Johnston’s Cranberry Marsh! Here are a few shots taken while visiting. Unfortunately, we should have arrived a few weekends early to watch the cranberries being harvested and to enjoy the Bala Cranberry Festival…next year!
Cranberries are a perennial that grow on an evergreen plant. Until my visit I assumed (like many others) that they grew in water. The truth is that these evergreen marsh beds are flooded three times a year as part of the harvesting process. Huh!
The picture (above) shows some of the equipment that is used to skim or harvest the cranberries.
Now, back to the kitchen to get my sister CANNING!!! Kathryn, is my younger sister, who flew 3000+ kilometers to share in my joy of canning…and she wanted to attend our party. In order, to attend she is going to have to can. So let’s get to it. First, we went over the importance of a clean kitchen. I always start out by using a bleach/water solution to clean my cutting board and countertops. Then, the jars are washed in soapy water and placed in the oven at 250F for 30 minutes to sterilize while the hot water bath is filled and brought to a boil.
Kath poured over our canning books and even scoured the internet looking for just the right recipe. It took some time but she finally selected one from CANNING for a New Generation by Liana Krisoff. Great choice!
MINTED CRANBERRY RELISH WITH WALNUTS from Canning for a New Generation:
- 9 cups cranberries (three 12-ounce bags), washed and drained
- 2 navel oranges, scrubbed and coarsely chopped (peel included)
- 1 cup freshly squeezed orange juice
- 3 tablespoons strained fresh lemon juice
- 2 cups sugar
- 1 apple, peeled, cored and coarsely chopped
- 1 cup walnuts, toasted and coarsely chopped
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh mint
- Prepare for water bath canning. Sterilize jars in the oven at 250F for 20-30 minutes.
- In a food processor, work in batches to finely chop the cranberries and oranges. It’s best to just pulse the machine so the pieces don’t end up too fine. Note: we are still using my mom’s 1970s cuisinart, a wedding gift over 4 decades ago…still works like a charm.
- In a stainless steel preserving pan, scoop out the blended cranberry-orange mixture and add the orange juice, lemon juice, and sugar stirring to combine.
- Over high heat, bring to a boil, stirring frequently to make sure it doesn’t stick to the bottom of the pan. Cook for 5 minutes.
- Meanwhile, put the apple and walnuts into the blender and pulse until finely chopped. Add them, along with the mint, to the preserving pan. Return the relish to a boil, stirring frequently. Remove from heat.
- Ladle the hot relish into hot sterilized jars, leaving 1/2 inch headspace.
- Remove air bubbles and adjust headspace, if necessary by topping up with additional relish.
- Wipe rims using a damp paper towel. Center lid and ring on jar screwing on until resistance is met and they are finger tip tight. Place in hot water bath, bring to a rolling boil and process for 15 minutes. When time is up turn off the heat, remove the lid, and let jars stand in hot water bath for 5 minutes. Remove jars, check seals, label and store.
Kath waits with bated breath for the popping sounds of each jar and cheers as all 4 jars seal before her eyes!!
Put up Total (we did 2 batches):
- 6 x 500mL regular mouth mason jars
- 2 x 500mL fancy wide mouth mason jars
Turnbulls Hot Sauce
A week ago, Matt and I went to Toronto, to check out the t-shirts we are getting for our canning party. While we were there we couldn’t help but go to China Town were they have the most interesting assortment of fresh veggies and fruits…not to mention a lot of other things. We picked up two packages of small (baby size) red chiles which I thought would be cool to pickle.
The other night, I opened our fridge drawers and there were these two packages of baby red chiles begging to be made into something. Before going ahead with my pickling idea I had Matt taste them to determine how hot they were. The look on his face explained everything…then the tearing eyes and instant hiccups. I knew they were hot, really hot because Matt can take a lot of heat. In fact, he puts cayenne pepper on everything and Franks Hot Sauce on everything else. Okay, these little guys are way too hot to pickle but prefect for making into some Turnbulls Hot Sauce. And, that’s what we did!
TURNBULLS HOT SAUCE RECIPE:
- 2 cups stemmed thai chilies
- 1 cup vinegar
- 1 cup water
- 1/2 tbsp salt
- 3 garlic cloves
- Wash and remove the stems from the chilies.
- Put all of the ingredients into a stainless steel saucepan and boil until tender ~ approximately 25 minutes.
- Puree
- Return to saucepan and reduce the hot sauce puree until it reaches a desirable consistency.
- We did not process the hot sauce. It only made the one jar (500mL) and will keep well in the refrigerator.
Pickled Cauliflower
This recipe comes from Eugenia Bone’s canning book Well-Preserved. I picked this book up at Chapters a couple of weeks ago after trying one of her recipes recommended by Mrs. Wheelbarrow’s Kitchen blog. It was so tasty that I thought I search out the original source to see if it was worth purchasing. I am a sucker for a good canning book…and, there are lots out there. There were several interesting canning recipes in this book and Eugenia also provides you with recipes for meals that would go great with your jar of preserves. I like that!
PICKLED CAULIFLOWER:
- pickling salt (Add a 1/4 cup pickling salt to every 16 cups of water)
- 2 1/2 pounds cauliflower, broken into florets (about 12 cups)
- 4 cups white wine vinegar, distilled white vinegar, or a combination (with 5% acidity)
- 2 cups sugar
- 2 medium onions, thinly sliced (about 2 cups)
- 1/2 teaspoon hot red pepper flakes, or more to taste OR use hot banana peppers or jalapeno; sliced into rounds
- Prepare for water-bath canning. Sterilize jars in the oven at 250F for 30 minutes.
- Wash cauliflower and break into individual florets.
- In a large stainless steel saucepan, bring 16 cups of water and 1/4 cup of pickling salt to a boil over high heat. Add the cauliflower florets and boil them for about 3 minutes. Drain.
- In a medium stainless steel saucepan, combine the vinegar, sugar, onions, and hot red pepper flakes (or washed and sliced hot peppers). Stir ingredients until the sugar dissolves. Bring to a boil over medium heat and boil gently for 5 minutes. Remove from the heat.
- Working quickly, gently pack the cauliflower and the onions into hot sterilized jars. The cooked cauliflower florets should be packed careful so they retain their shape.
- Ladle the hot vinegar solution into each jar, making sure the hot red pepper flakes are distributed well throughout.
- Leave 1/2″ headspace, remove air bubbles and adjust headspace, if necessary, by adding hot liquid. Wipe rims with a damp paper towel, center lids on jars, and screw band down until resistance is met, then increase to fingertip-tight.
- Place jars in canner, ensuring they are completely covered with water. Bring to a rolling boil and process for 10 minutes. Remove canner lid. Wait 5 minutes, then remove jars, cool, label and store.
I used three beautiful crisp white heads of Ontario cauliflower, purchased at our local veggie shop, Muskoka Veggez. It totalled 7 1/2 which is three batches. I required all of the pickling liquid the recipe called for but my yield was short by 6 pints or 6 x 500mL…which is a lot. I am really not sure why I was short because I weighed all of the cauliflower but I am happy with the end result and look forward to sampling these little florets. I may even do another batch or two.
Put up Total:
- 9 x 500mL wide mouth mason jars
- 3 x 500mL regular mouth mason jars
Eat’n Up ~ Canned Apple Things…
We are one week away from our canning party and we’re so excited. In seven days our home will be filled with canners who are ready to EAT UP what WE’VE PUT UP!! So, in preparation for this glutteness on slot of food, Matt and I are going to start sharing with you all the canned goodies that enhance our daily meals.
Tonight…APPLES! Matt is making a pork tenderloin stuffed with fresh celery and onions and dressed with everything APPLES. Matt first cooks the pork in the oven which releases its tasty juices that Matt adds to some Spartan Apple Sauce to make a sauce for both the meat and fresh garden potatoes.
Then, he browns the meat in a skillet while reducing and thickening the apple sauce topping. Watching Matt cook is the most relaxing and wonderful sight. It is like listening to your favorite music. He spoons a little taste of this and that into his mouth and then adds a sprinkle of salt here and a dash of this there. I love it. Until I started canning I never really appreciated the joy of watching someone in the kitchen enjoying making a tasty meal. Now, I can watch in amazement as he turns our canned preserved into a delicious meal.
Once the pork is sufficiently browned and the sauce is thickened and reduced Matt plates the meal and adds a spoonful or two of our candied pickled apples to the side.
This was a wonderful dinner and I am thankful to have such a wonderful cook for a husband and partner. The candied-pickled apples were so divine that Matt asked if I would consider making 3 more batches…we hope this will get us through until next fall.
Putting Up With The Turnbulls 