Wines can take years to make and mature. Alcohol can take months to infuse. Pickles can take weeks to soften in brine... ...so 5 days for ginger confit should be nothing. It should be like getting to the end of one breath and instead of getting bored and moving on to your next … [Read more...] about Patience and Ginger Confit
Canning and Preserves
A Peck of Pickled Peppers Not Picked By Peter
I'm not sure if that's actually what I meant to write or if it's just tactile stuttering because I can barely feel my fingers... It was a long bike ride from Jean-Talon this morning and the Tunisian dates and the bison rib didn't keep me warm from the inside out as I'd hoped. I … [Read more...] about A Peck of Pickled Peppers Not Picked By Peter
Vanilla Bean Green Gauge Plum Jam
These plums, I believe, are also called "Reine Claude". Claude must have loved them more than the purple ones. I can understand that. See, I bought vanilla beans... I went to Épices de Cru in Jean-Talon market and asked to smell the 7 kinds of vanilla beans they keep in large … [Read more...] about Vanilla Bean Green Gauge Plum Jam
Another Chili Sauce (‘Rooster’ Style Sriracha Sauce), But This Time With Mold…Trust Me
THAT was a whole lot of slicing. The recipe didn't say anything about taking the seeds out, but I'm not into chilies for the pain; I'm in it for the flavour, so I stripped those seeds out, piece by piece. It took an age and I think a day later I still had chili pepper on my hands … [Read more...] about Another Chili Sauce (‘Rooster’ Style Sriracha Sauce), But This Time With Mold…Trust Me
My First Jam: Figs!
So maybe the title sounds a bit like a kid's story book ("My First Tooth"? I never read those...) but you could have given me a quarter and I couldn't have been any more excited than I already was. Figs are in season now! Not here, I know, but in California and in Greece. So … [Read more...] about My First Jam: Figs!
I Pickled! Daikon Radish Threads and Easy Red Chilies
I feel like I'm one step closer to grandmother-hood. No, there is no man involved, or God forbid, children, but there is canning. I made my first canned things and if they don't get all mouldy in the next few weeks I'll feel an even great sense of accomplishment. So after an … [Read more...] about I Pickled! Daikon Radish Threads and Easy Red Chilies
Sticking Things In Cans (Well, jars, really…but it wasn’t such a “jarring” experience)
Today I learned to can. I'm a very strange girl in her 20's who obsesses about things such as canning. I've been trying to find someone to show me the wonders of this jar-art all summer. Well, I understand already how wonderful it is, so maybe more the intricacies of canning was … [Read more...] about Sticking Things In Cans (Well, jars, really…but it wasn’t such a “jarring” experience)
Wild Blueberry Sauce, Or Jam, Or Pie Filling
I bought “jam” blueberries from Jean-Talon market. They were the cheapest wild blueberries I’ve seen in the city - $7 for about as many cups. None of this crazy $35 a basket business. I come from Newfoundland where you go out and pick your own gosh-darn blueberries. You maybe buy … [Read more...] about Wild Blueberry Sauce, Or Jam, Or Pie Filling