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Canning

Quick and Easy Pickles

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Ingredients:

  • 1 lb. Kirby or pickling cucumbers
  • 2 cups sparkling mineral
    water
  • 2 Tbs. kosher salt (do not use sea or iodized salt)
  • 4-5 leaves of currant
  • 1-2 leaves of horseradish
  • 2 tablespoons coriander seeds
  • 6 large garlic cloves, peeled and halved
  • 2 dill springs

Directions

Soak the cucumbers in a cold water overnight. Clean them
properly and cut off the ends.

Make the brine by combining sparking water, salt, garlic and
coriander. After the salt has dissolved place the dill springs, leaves of
currant and horseradish at the bottom of a shallow pot. Place the cucumbers on top tightly and pour the brine to
cover them completely.

Put a heavy plate on top so the cucumbers are immersed into the water completely. Keep in a fridge and let it marinate for 24-36 hours.

Next, stuff the cucumbers into two 1-quart jars and cover
with brine. Enjoy with new harvest boiled potatoes or in sandwiches.

Grandma’s Strawberry Jam

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Strawberry jam is my favorite jam to eat and to make. Nothing
really compares with its. This jam always makes a great Christmas gift, so I
make a few large jars for myself and keep a few small ones to gift away.

If you want to have some fun this holiday season, try surprising your friends with
Prank Gifts alongside the delicious strawberry jam – a playful way to bring joy
and laughter to your gift-giving!

The technique described below helps to preserve all the
vitamins and makes the jam dense without an addition of pectin. All you will
need is to boil it 3 times in 5-minute intervals over the period of 2 days.
Sounds good? Let’s get started.

Ingredients:

  • 2 lbs. of fresh strawberries, cleaned and hulled
  • 1 lb. + 1 lb. of sugar

Directions

Take a large heavy bottom pot and place in it all of the strawberries
and half of the sugar. Mix slightly and let the berries macerate for a couple
of hours. Cover the pot with some cheese cloth to protect from the attack of the
fruit flies. During this time the strawberries will produce some juice that is
needed to dissolve the rest of the sugar.

When ready, put the pot on the stove and bring it to boil. Add the rest of the sugar, make sure it dissolves completely and cook for 5 minutes. It will foam vigorously, so make sure the pot is large enough. Set aside and let it stand overnight.

 

The next day repeat the same process: bring the pot to boil,
cook for 5 minutes and set aside to cool down. Now we need to pour the jam in the jars and cover tightly
with lids.

I don’t bother with sterilizing the jars – just clean them
with soap and boil the lids for a couple of minutes. Keep the jam in a dark cool
place.

Strawberry Jam

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Summer 2015 came a little earlier this season, and so did
the strawberries. My family and I have a tradition to go to the local farm for
U-pick.  Despite  their small
size the berries are very fragrant, refreshingly sweet
and a little tangy. In less than an hour I picked about
3 pounds. I made 2 kinds of jams: one with whole berries and another one with smashed.
Both are good to
use as a spread, with pancakes or just as-is.

Ingredients:

  • 2.5 lbs. fresh strawberries
  • 3 cups sugar
  • 3 teaspoons pectin* (optional)
  • 3 teaspoons calcium water (optional)
  • Small mason jars with lids

Directions

Wash and rinse the jars; let stand in hot water. Bring the
lids and rings to boil; turn down the heat and let stand in hot water.

Meanwhile, wash the berries and
remove the hulls. In a wide bowl crush the strawberries in batches until you
have 6 cups of mashed berries. In a heavy bottomed saucepan, mix together the
strawberries and calcium water. In a separate bowl combine the sugar with pectin.

Bring the saucepan to boil. Add pectin-sugar mixture and
stir it vigorously for  1-2 minutes while
cooking to dissolve the sugar completely. Remove from heat.

Fill the jars, leaving ¼ to ½ an inch headspace and seal.
If the jam is going to be served right away, don’t bother with processing and
just refrigerate.

* Pectin is a natural carbohydrate in fruits and vegetables and
is responsible for a cell structure. It is possible to achieve a jam or jelly
consistency without using pectin. However, it’s  a little trickier, with less consistent
outcomes.

Marinated Beets

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This is a quick and
easy recipe to preserve beets and use them during hot summer for cold soups
like Svekolnik.

Ingredients:

  • 2 cups water
  • 2 teaspoons salt
  • 2 tablespoons sugar
  • 3 tablespoons 9% vinegar
  • 1 lb. of beets

Directions

Clean and trim the beets. You can bake them in foil at 400F
for about an hour or steam them for 35-40 minutes. The beets are ready when
they are fork tender. Let them cool before peeling and grating (this can be
done ahead of time). After that, place them in a glass jar and pour the marinade.

For the marinade, combine the first 4 ingredients in a large
pot. When it starts boiling remove the pot from the stove.  Pour the marinade into prepared jars with
beets. Let it cool and store it in the fridge for up to 6 months. It is ready for
use as soon as the day after.