Popular food preservation methods for apricots include canning, freezing, and drying. Beyond these basic methods, you can preserve apricots in many other interesting ways. Here, we give you four recipes: Nut and Honey Apricot Fruit Leather, Apricot-Pineapple Jam, Apple Chutney with Dried Apricots and Cherries, or Apricot Nectar. Nut and Honey Apricot Fruit Leather Recipe Making fruit leather is a good way… …click to read more…
Pectin, the substance that makes jams and jellies thick, occurs naturally in most fruits. When you cook fruit with sugar, the pectin will thicken and gel to make jam (if using crushed fruit) or jelly (if using fruit juice). However, this gelling process can only happen when there is the right balance of fruit, pectin, acid, and sugar. The amount… …click to read more…
Many of these easy pickling recipes make refreshing accompaniments for grilled and barbecued foods, or add a crunchy bite to burgers and sandwiches. They feature common (and a few unusual) vegetables and fruits found in spring and early summer home gardens and farmers’ markets. The techniques and flavors represent pickling ideas from around the globe. The word “pickles” to most… …click to read more…
Zucchini is a prolific vegetable that grows quickly to immense size. Fortunately, many food preservation methods adapt readily to zucchini. Jokes frequently mention log-sized zucchini found in gardens after returning from vacation, or left furtively on neighbors’ doorsteps during the night. However, you can make a variety of tasty items for your winter pantry that won’t send your family or… …click to read more…
Sugars in fresh peas begin converting to starch as soon as they are picked. So be sure to preserve them as soon as they are harvested or purchased. Preserve shelled green peas by freezing, salting (brining), drying, or canning. Preserve pea pods (snow peas and sugar snap peas) by freezing or salting. Try some dried, too, and see if you… …click to read more…
This refreshing salad uses spring and early summer vegetables and herbs. It could not be easier. Simply assemble the ingredients on individual plates or a serving platter. 4 servings 1½ to 2 pounds fresh asparagus, or 4 to 6 cups canned, frozen and salted asparagus 2 tablespoon rhubarb sauce (recipe follows) 2 tablespoons water 1 tablespoon chopped fresh tarragon leaves… …click to read more…
If you love asparagus, then you may want to preserve asparagus during the growing season to enjoy throughout the year. You can preserve asparagus by canning, pickling, freezing, drying, or salting It’s usually best to preserve only enough product to last until the following year, when the vegetable is in season again, or no longer than twelve months. So think… …click to read more…
In spring and early summer, I like to trim all but 2 to 3 stems from small whole radishes and pickle them for a refreshing and crunchy bite to accompany everything from sandwiches to grilled foods. These easy-to-make radish pickles are fermented with whey rather than salt, or pickled in vinegar. Lightly fermented vegetables have a refreshing effervescent quality, while fully fermented… …click to read more…
There are a surprising number of ways to preserve rhubarb, including canning, pickling, making jam or jelly, drying, freezing, or fermenting into wine. When preserving fruits and vegetables, use these guidelines: Mature, slightly underripe produce is optimal for canning, pickling, and jamming. Ripe produce is best for using fresh, drying and freezing. Overripe produce is suitable for fermenting. (And may… …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…
