America I AM Pass It Down Cookbook (37 page)

Bring liquid to a boil and simmer 30 minutes. Add vegetables and return to simmer for 30 minutes more. Discard spice bag and spoon chow chow into hot, sterilized jars and seal according to manufacturer’s directions (see Tips for Boiling Water Bath Canning,
page 228
).

Store in cool, dry place for at least 3 weeks before serving.

Tips for Boiling Water Bath Canning

from PickYourOwn.org

T
hese tips on home canning,
reprinted courtesy of Pick Your Own, are a good primer on canning your own fresh vegetables or making pickles. Most canners come with very good instructions, and it’s important to follow these carefully to ensure safety both when canning and when eating your final product.

Find more tips on pickling, canning, and preserving at
www.pickyourown.org
.

Fill canner at least halfway with water. A little practice will help you to know how much water you’ll need to start out with to ensure the jars will be covered by at least 1 inch of water.

Preheat water that’s added to the jars (when called for) to very warm but not boiling (around 140º F.) for raw-packed foods (the lower temperature helps to reduce jar breakage) and to boiling for hot-packed foods.

Put the filled jars, with lids and rings on, onto the canner rack and use the handles to lower the rack into the water. Or you may fill the canner, one jar at a time, with a jar lifter. Obviously, you’d need to be quick, or the first jar could be in the bath for substantially longer than the last jar you add. If you don’t use a jar rack, then a flat rack on the bottom helps to reduce breakage. One of these comes with each canner.

Always add more boiling water, if needed, so the water level is at least one inch above the tops of the jars.

Turn heat to its highest position until the water boils vigorously, and then set a timer for the minutes required for processing the food.

Cover the canner and, if necessary, lower the heat setting to maintain a full but gentle boil throughout the processing time. Generally, I find I need to keep the burners on high.

If one burner doesn’t produce enough heat to keep the water boiling, you can usually straddle two burners with the canner.

When the jars have been boiled for the recommended time, turn the heat off and use a jar lifter to remove the jars and place them on a towel in an area that is not drafty, leaving at least one inch between the jars during cooling.

Do not retighten the jar lids—it may break the seal.

Do not leave the jars in the boiling water after processing time is done, because the food will become overcooked.

Check the jar seals 12–24 hours after processing for leaks and broken seals. Just press down on the lid. If it’s sealed, it will be sucked down tight. If it did not seal, it will flex and make a popping sound each tip.

To store, remove the screw bands and wipe the jars clean. Otherwise, the rings may rust tight to the jar!

If any jar fails to seal, the contents can be reprocessed in a clean jar with a new lid. Reprocess within 24 hours. Generally, it’s better to refrigerate the jar and use it within several days. The jar may also be stored in the freezer if the headspace is adjusted to 1½ inches to allow for expansion of the product.

Janice Gairy’s Pickled Beets

Minneapolis, Minnesota

Janice Gairy is a food photo stylist who works with food daily, but that doesn’t dampen her enthusiasm for cooking meals at home. She remembers growing up in Mansfield and Dayton, Ohio and watching her grandmother make every single meal from scratch, rising before dawn to make her grandfather’s breakfast of homemade biscuit with sorghum, scrambled eggs, or ham with red-eye gravy. Her favorite thing to do was to pull taffy out on the cold back porch, using the hot corn syrup her grandmother made. Her pickled beet recipe isn’t as complex as those dishes she learned at her grandmother’s knee, but it’s just as tasty.

2½ cups cooked or canned beets, sliced, juice reserved
1 small onion, sliced thinly
1 teaspoon horseradish
½ green bell pepper, seeded and sliced
½ cup white vinegar
2 tablespoons sugar
6 cloves
½ teaspoon salt
5 peppercorns 2 bay leaves

Place beets in a heat-proof, medium-size bowl with onion, horseradish, and bell pepper. Mix well and set aside.

In a medium saucepan, add white vinegar, sugar, cloves, salt, peppercorns, and bay leaves, and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and cook 5 minutes. Remove from heat and strain.

Pour hot, strained beet juice mixture over beets and vegetables. Allow to cool and refrigerate. Serve cold as a side dish.

Justin Gillette’s Cajun Remoulade

Atlanta, Georgia

Although Justin Gillette uses this remoulade to accompany his crab cakes, it’s a good accompaniment for anything from sandwiches to French fries.

¼ cup of mayonnaise
2 teaspoons Cajun seasoning (name brand or generic)
1 fresh squeezed lime
¼ bunch cilantro, chopped

In a mixing bowl, combine all ingredients and mix well.

When well incorporated, serve atop or alongside the crab cakes.

To spice it up more, add 2 teaspoons of Tabasco.

Green Seasoning

Queens, New York

Green seasoning is a common spice paste in the Caribbean, where it’s used primarily for meat and fish. The exact mixture and quantity of spices varies island to island and also according to the cook’s taste. Experiment with your own measurements to find what you really like. This is Imani Wilson’s family recipe.

1 bunch parsley
1 bunch thyme
1 bunch chives
1 bunch scallions
1 bunch cilantro
1 bunch cutting celery
1 bunch shado beni or culantro
5 shallots, sliced
3 garlic cloves, sliced
1 tablespoon sea salt
1 tablespoon black pepper

Wash all herbs and dry them in a salad spinner. If thyme stems are woody, remove leaves and discard stems.

Chop parsley, chives, scallions, cilantro, celery, and shado beni coarsely. Place all ingredients in bowl of food processor with ½ cup water and process to a rough paste. Herbs should not become liquefied.

If necessary, continue to add up to ½ cup of water, 1 tablespoon at a time, to facilitate processing. Refrigerate for up to 1 week.

“There is a communication of more than our bodies when bread is broken and wine is drunk.”

— MFK Fisher

Pass It Down Classic: Creole Seasoning

Most folks simply grab a jar of Creole Seasoning in the supermarket these days but this recipe predates any packaged varieties. Rich with the spices and flavors that make Louisiana cooking the mouth-watering standard it is, homemade Creole Seasoning can be used to add flavor to meats, stews, soups, and even rice and casserole dishes. The best part is that our version is easy to make and preservative free.

¼ cup coarse salt
3 tablespoons garlic powder
2 tablespoons black pepper
2 tablespoons onion powder
2 tablespoons cayenne pepper
1/3 cup paprika
2 tablespoons dried parsley
2 tablespoons dried oregano
2 tablespoons dried thyme

Stir all ingredients until they are completely blended and store in an airtight container.

Denise Curry’s Super Easy Spaghetti Sauce

Los Angeles, California

SERVES 4

“My mother used to make this sauce when I was a young girl. It is a little different from the conventional marinara type sauce. It’s creamy and tomatoey, but it is still delicious,” says Denise Curry. “I have made this sauce for years. It is simple and tasty. You can substitute ground turkey or chicken, add sliced Italian sausage, mushrooms, or any other ingredients that suit your tastes. The simpleness of this sauce makes it ideal for parties and pot lucks.”

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 pound ground beef
1 cup onion, finely diced
1 cup bell pepper, finely diced
5 cloves garlic, finely chopped (reserve 2 cloves)
¼ cup chili powder
1/8 cup seasoning salt
1/8 cup Mrs. Dash or other salt-free seasoning
2 10.5-ounce cans cream of tomato soup
2 10.5-ounce cans cream of mushroom soup
1 box spaghetti, cooked according to package directions

Heat oil in large sauté pan and add onions and bell pepper. Sauté until onions are softened and add two cloves of garlic. Cook 1 minute more. Add the ground beef and stir well, cook until browned. Remove beef from pan with a slotted spoon and drain fat from pan.

Return beef mixture to the pan and add chili powder, seasoned salt, salt-free seasoning, and remaining garlic.

Add four cans of soup and stir well. Simmer on very low heat, stirring occasionally. Serve over cooked spaghetti.

Antebellum Barbecue Sauce

Spartanburg, South Carolina

MAKES 1½ CUPS OF SAUCE