Use this simple recipe to make homemade fruit pectin from apples or oranges. Pectin helps jams and jellies thicken, especially when you want to make old-fashioned cooked jam or jelly using fruits and fruit juices that are naturally low in pectin. Low pectin fruits include apricots, sweet cherries, figs, kiwis, pineapples, rhubarb, strawberries, or any type of fruit that is… …click to read more…
This delicious quick bread contains dried fruit, nuts, and chocolate. Usually baked to honor any of several Catholic bishop-saints, this cake is simply named Bishop’s bread or Bischofsbrot. While the traditional Bishop’s Bread recipe uses no leavening other than eggs, I prefer this more modern version using baking powder. Most recipes call for maraschino cherries or other candied fruit, plus… …click to read more…
This hearty, flavorful soup is easy to make using your favorite vegetables. Try any or all of the following: diced and dried carrots, onions, celery, green beans, roasted corn, mushrooms, raw or roasted bell peppers, tomatoes, and potatoes. Makes 4-6 servings ½ cup dry beans, such as black, red, or pinto 6 cups water, or as needed 2 cups dried… …click to read more…
Citrus fruit is in season during winter, from November to April in California and Florida. Specific types of citrus fruit ripen at different times. For example, grapefruit tend to ripen all season long, navel oranges ripen before Valencia oranges, and Meyer lemons ripen mid-season. Although most commonly eaten fresh, there are several food preservation methods suitable for citrus fruit. You… …click to read more…
Some experts on preserving foods stress safety and recommend that all dried meats such as beef jerky be precooked to a safe internal temperature before drying. This safety step results in a product with a different color and texture than traditionally dried meat, and is unacceptable to some people. Precooking meats to a minimum temperature of 160°F before drying ensures that… …click to read more…
You have a choice of several different methods to dry food. Conventional ovens and electric dehydrators are used indoors in controlled conditions. Shade drying places food out of direct sunlight, in a location with very warm air or very good circulation, or both. Suitable locations may be outdoors—such as an open shed or covered or screened porch—or indoors in a… …click to read more…
Refrigerator or fresh pickles are one of the easiest food preservation methods that anyone can do. You can make these pickles simply by washing, trimming, and soaking fresh vegetables in acid. The most common acids used to pickle foods are acetic (vinegar), citric (lemon juice), and lactic (whey). Because these pickles have unknown acidity and are not heat processed (such… …click to read more…
