Food that's ready to eat is awfully convenient, but conventionally processed food is often astonishingly unhealthy. It's unhealthy for the environment in terms of the energy and other resources used to produce, process and package it. It's also often unhealthy for those of us who eat it, in part because of unnecessary and often highly processed ingredients, from high-fructose corn syrup to excess sodium.
My solution to wanting convenience but also wanting to lighten the carbon footprint of what I eat–and to take advantage of the flavors and health benefits of fresh, local, seasonally available food is to preserve some of this bounty for later consumption. (That's a jar of my strawberry freezer jam above.)
If you've never preserved summer fruits and vegetables in quantity, it may seem intimidating. I go for simple techniques. I choose freezing instead of canning, for instance, because heating my house in the summer by using the stove to cook and can seems like a waste of energy (in terms of the energy used by the stove and the energy we devote to cool the house down after cooking). Here are two simple, healthy and delicious recipes to get you started on making your own convenience food, and preserving summer's bounty for later enjoyment. (Both recipes are easy to do with kids if you have some around who are ready to
learn how to cook!)
Here's a very simple recipe for putting up summer fruit.
Apricots for the freezer
At least two pounds of ripe apricots, preferably organic (the more the better, because in freezing, there are economies of scale–I processed almost 20 pounds last weekend, and that's it for the summer)
Fruit Fresh or a similar type of powdered Vitamin C or ascorbic acid preservative (get the kind without added sugar)
Sugar (one half-cup per 4 quarts of sliced apricots)
a quart (4 cup) measuring cup
a large mixing bowl
quart-size freezer bags or containersWash the apricots, sorting out any that are soft or overripe. (Those can be stewed or cooked into preserves later, but they won't freeze well.) Slice the 'cots in half, take out the pit, cut out any brown or moldy spots, and then slice each half into four pieces. Put the pieces in the quart measuring cup, and when it's full, into the bowl.
When you've got four quarts (16 cups) of apricot pieces in the mixing bowl, add half a cup of sugar and four T of Fruit Fresh. (The photo above shows the slices with sugar and Fruit Fresh added. You can see that they're releasing their natural juice.) Stir, and then scoop into the quart containers. Label the containers (as in the photo below) and put them in the freezer. Repeat until you've processed all the 'cots.
You can use the same basic recipe with any summer fruit, including berries, plums, and peaches. (I blanche the peaches first, dipping them in boiling water for a minute and a half, so that I can slip the skins off. But if you don't mind peach fuzz, it's not necessary.) Now that you've got that down, let's try a simple jam that uses the microwave rather than the stove, and goes right into the freezer.
Simple Strawberry Jam
(adapted from Cooking Light)
4 cups ripe, organic strawberries
1/2 cup sugar
4 T fruit brandy (I use plum) or sweet, mild-flavored juice
1 tsp vanilla extractWash and hull the strawberries, cutting out any soft or brown parts. Quarter and then halve the quarters lengthwise if the berries are big. (The jam will spread better of the fruit pieces are small.)
Put the strawberries, sugar, and 3 T of the brandy or juice into a two-quart or larger microwaveable dish with a lid. Cook on high power for five minutes or long enough to bring it to a bowl. Then take the lid off and simmer it until it is reduced to a cup and a half of thick, chunky jam. (I use half-power on my microwave and it takes about 45 minutes. Check to make sure it's not boiling over or burning. The photo below is the partly cooked jam.)
Scoop the jam into clean half-pint canning jars. Don't fill the jars up to the brim–leave space for the jam to expand a bit as it freezes. Screw lid on tightly, label, and put into the freezer. (Makes a cup and a half.)
This jam smells intoxicating as it cooks, so you may be tempted to eat it right away. If you must, eat just half a cup, and put other cup in the freezer for winter, when its ruby-red color and summer flavor will be such a treat! (If you choose not to freeze it, the jam will keep for a couple of weeks in the refrigerator.)
Next week: preserving herbs and greens as pesto–not just basil–for the freezer…
Yes, yes, yes. I have half my planets in earth signs and much as I like words they just don’t do enough for stress. I need tactile stuff. I’m remembering a recipe for sun strawberry jam which was tricky but so worth it and freezing it would be so fabulous. The basil thought about dying a lot but did not and in our 10 days of way way hot it has leapt up. Today was the first day I thought it might be ready for dinner tomorrow and freezing. I might try a batch with nasturtium leaves for zing? Might be good? Parsley?
It was such a cold spring but things are coming along. I felt so faint hearted this season but now I am so glad I plowed on though. Got the best Sweet Pea I have ever grown and it is open pollinated- from Renee’s Seeds: Evening in Paris. It blooms and blooms, white fading to lavender and reeks as any self respecting Sweet Pea should. None of this hybrid smelless stuff. Glory be for the garden. We have a tobacco plant that is perennial apparently and has been blooming since April with no sign of stopping. Good for moth situations as well as pretty.
Sometimes I add other herbs and greens to basil pesto, Anna, and it’s good as long as you don’t let them overwhelm the basil flavor. My rule of thumb is no more than 1/3 other herbs. I’ve used both parsley and nasturtium (tender leaves and flowers). With the latter, you get a touch of sweetness too, and that’s lovely.
I grow Evening in Paris sweet peas too, and love them. I also grow Renee’s container sweet peas–all have delicious fragrances! Your tobacco plant probably loves the rain and doesn’t mind the heat. I bet the moths love it…
Susan, I’ve a query: Is there something you attribute your cooking/canning/pesto-ing, to? Specifically, I’m wondering whether it’s rooted in childhood, growing-up years. I understand why do it, now, but it seems so intrinsic to your nature, so thoroughly woven, I’m suspecting it’s been developing for mucho años.
(There’s a joke about “the fruits of your efforts,” but I’m not gonna go there…) ;~)
Did I learn to cook/freeze and all that in childhood, Eduardo? Emphatically no! But I did learn from my California-born and -raised mother to love fresh, seasonally available produce. And my parents, who both grew up in the Depression and WWII, did grow a vegetable garden through my childhood. (I don’t recall appreciating it a bit though, especially not the weeding chores.) Mostly I just love plants, and I’m a vegetarian, so I like to grow what I eat (which means I’m used to killing my food, too, a subject for an essay someday).
Hi Susan, Susan here.
So, I’m probably asking a silly question but why add the sugar? Is there something else, i.e. lemon juice? I steer way far away from processed sugar (preferring honey or raw sugar but, still, only if I hafta). So beside the sweetness, does the sugar do something for the canning/freezing process? thx
Hi, Susan F, that’s not a silly question at all. The little bit of sugar in these recipes is to bring out the juice. So with the apricots, you could do without it or use raw sugar (honey won’t freeze well). With the strawberry jam you wouldn’t really want to increase the amount of brandy or fruit juice, and you wouldn’t want to use honey (too liquid, issues with freezing), but raw sugar would work just fine.
Yum. That’s all.
Luscious! I am drooling over all this. I am about to begin my fall/winter garden – will begin the prep work on the soil next week and begin planting by Aug. 1 as many things will grow well in the desert in the fall. I’m looking forward to fresh tomatoes – just hope the birds will leave a few for me.
Sugar – there is an organic brand of sugar on the market – I think it is C&H. Not local unless you happen to live in FL but when nothing else will work . . .
Pesto – Susan, do you have a food processor or do you chop the herbs by hand? I have considered buying a processor but continue just thinking about it with no active purchase – yet.
Yum, indeed, Deb. Thanks!
You’re right, Lindy. I think the organic sugar is C&H. It’s not local, but then sugar’s not local for anyone unless you live where the cane grows or the sugar beets grow. In Colorado, it’s sugar from sugar beets… On food processors: i’ve had mine for 25 years now (it’s a Cuisinart) and I’d hate to do without it. I use it for pesto, for pureeing green chiles for green enchilada sauce, for cream soups, for making the crust for fruit crisps, for shortbread cookies at Christmas… I also have my grandmother’s oak chopping bowl and curved chopping knife, and I use that for things where I want a coarser texture. But the Cuisinart takes over when my hands aren’t strong enough.
Hi, Susan. Thanks for your take on food processors. I’ve been looking for a long time and just could not decide if buying one would be worth it. I have a good blender – ever tried to make pesto in a blender? It simply does not work. I probably will not buy one now until after the move but it is definitely going on my list. My new kitchen will be one I can really cook and prepare food in (I am designing it – designing the whole house actually:). Now that I am home so much more I will have time (after we build the house:) to properly prepare food and to grow more food.
Lindy, I used to have a blender as well as a food processor, and when it died some years ago, I never replaced it. When I want to make smoothies and other blender sorts of things, I use the food processor. It’s bigger and heavier, sure, but it’s also better made and lasts a lot longer. My Cuisinart at 25 years old works just as well as the day I got it, and I’ve never had to replace any part. It’s just a baby though, compared to my sister-in-law’s C, which is close to 40! That’s a sustainable kitchen tool, I think. BTW, it sounds like you’re going to love your new kitchen, and being able to garden and cook. Yay!
I’m so glad I never knew that a blender will not make pesto as I have been making mine in a nice glass blender for a dozen years. I help it along in spots- stirring some things in to start it off and grinding the nuts before hand in the coffee grinder. It is old for a blender but we’ll keep on keeping on until we can’t…Maybe some mint sauce for these dog days…I put a little sugar in the jam so it will not spoil immediately even in the fridge and I don’t have to eat the whole jar right away. The black berries are starting to hum along. I mostly freeze them unadulterated.
Anna, I should have qualified my statement and said that it’s not easy to make pesto in a blender, especially in large quantities. (I usually make several pints in a batch, more than a blender can handle.) A glass-jar blender is much better than a plastic one for making small batches of pesto, and you do have to grind the nuts some other way. I’m glad your blender method works so well. I wish we had blackberries here, but it’s to dry. Enjoy them!