Wednesday, March 23, 2011

Bottled Corned Beef

Since it’s a great time of the year to buy Corned Beef Briskets cheap at the store for St. Patrick’s Day, I decided to try my hand at bottling corned beef.  I figured that the real thing would be a million times better than the usual particle corned beef you can buy at the store.

220px-Corned-beef-1

Basically, the process is identical to bottling any other meat.  Simply cut the brisket into pieces, and put the raw meat into your mason jar.  Each corned beef brisket comes with a separate seasoning packet.  Evening distribute the seasoning packet amongst the jars.

Process the meat according to regular meat bottling pressure and times.

20110314_101512

To use the meat for traditional corned beef recipes, simply open a jar and add it to any recipe (ie. Corned beef and cabbage).  You may want to strain the chunky seasonings out of the broth surrounding the meat.

Friday, March 11, 2011

Strawberry Pie Filling (1 Quart)

 

20110311_171840

Ingredients:

3 1/2 cups Fresh Strawberries

1 cup Cold Water

3/4 cup Sugar + 2 Tbls. Sugar
1/4 cup Clear Jel + 1 Tbls. Clear Jel
3 1/2 tsp. Bottled Lemon Juice


Directions:


Start boiling a large amount of water in a pan. 

Remove the Greens, Wash and Drain the Strawberries.  Use only ripe firm strawberries.


Put the strawberries in the boiling water, and boil for about 1 minute.  This will blanch the strawberries killing any enzymes that my deteriorate the fruit over time.  Remove and drain the strawberries, set aside in a mixing bowl.

In a separate pan combine the cold water, sugar and clear jel.  Heat till thick and boiling, stirring constantly.  Add the lemon juice and cook for 1 more minute, stirring constantly.

Add this mixture to the blanched strawberries in the mixing bowl.  Stir, and spoon mixture into HOT jars (remember hot foods go into hot jars, and cold foods go into cold jars).  Leave one inch of headspace in the jar.

Top the jar with a boiled lid and ring before placing in a boiling water bath.  Boil the jars of the pie filling for 35-40 minutes.  Remove from water bath, and let cool overnight on a cooling rack. 

Before storing check each lid to make sure it sealed successfully.  Rinse the outside of the jar to remove any sticky residue.  Label and store, enjoy at will.

If by any chance the jar of pie filling didn’t seal properly, simply refrigerate and use within the week.

Sunday, March 6, 2011

Bottled Raw Blueberries (1 Quart)

blueberry-dump-cake

Ingredients:

Approximately 4 cups Fresh Blueberries

Water
Sugar

Directions:

Raw packing your fruit is probably the easiest way to preserve your favorite fruits.

Rinse and drain your blueberries, removing any mushy ones.  Put the blueberries directly into your COLD mason jar.

Make a simple syrup using the syrup ratio chart.  Pour the syrup over the blueberries.  Remove any air bubbles.

Add the boiled lid and ring to the jar.  Place in a boiling water bath.  Process for 20 minutes.

Let cool on a wire rack overnight.

Before storing check each lid to make sure it sealed successfully.  Rinse the outside of the jar to remove any sticky residue.  Label and store, enjoy at will.

Bottled Blueberry Pie Filling (1 Quart)

blueberry pie 2 


Ingredients
:

3 1/2 cups Fresh Blueberries

1 cup Cold Water

3/4 cup Sugar + 2 Tbls. Sugar
1/4 cup Clear Jel + 1 Tbls. Clear Jel
3 1/2 tsp. Bottled Lemon Juice


Directions:


Start boiling a large amount of water in a pan.

Wash and Drain the Blueberries.  Remove any mushy blueberries from the batch.


Put the blueberries in the boiling water, and boil for about 1 minute.  This will blanch the blueberries killing any enzymes that my deteriorate the fruit over time.  Remove and drain the blueberries, set aside in a mixing bowl.

In a separate pan combine the cold water, sugar and clear jel.  Heat till thick and boiling, stirring constantly.  Add the lemon juice and cook for 1 more minute, stirring constantly.

Add this mixture to the blanched blueberries in the mixing bowl.  Stir, and spoon mixture into HOT jars (remember hot foods go into hot jars, and cold foods go into cold jars).  Leave one inch of headspace in the jar.

Top the jar with a boiled lid and ring before placing in a boiling water bath.  Boil the jars of the pie filling for 35-40 minutes.  Remove from water bath, and let cool overnight on a cooling rack. 

Before storing check each lid to make sure it sealed successfully.  Rinse the outside of the jar to remove any sticky residue.  Label and store, enjoy at will.

If by any chance the jar of pie filling didn’t seal properly, simply refrigerate and use within the week.