Wednesday, August 21, 2013

Kat's Chicken Salad

I had a craving for chicken salad sandwiches tonight and thought I would post my recipe.  I didn't think to take pictures, but will post some next time I make it.

Ingredients:
1 quart of home canned chicken breast (drained)
2/3 jar of home canned dill relish
4 boiled eggs
1 medium onion
1 medium green pepper
1 small jar of pimentos
Salt & Pepper
Mayonnaise (I used about 4 or 5 tbsp, but use as much as you like)

While your eggs are boiling cut up your pepper and onion.

Chop pepper, onion and pimentos in a food processor.  (I have a ninja and chop my ingredients up one at a time)  Don't chop to much, you don't want it to be pasty.  Put into a medium size bowl. 

Add your relish.

Drain your chicken and chop it in the food processor just to break it up, do not over do it.  Peel and do the same with your eggs.

Add chicken & eggs to the bowl. 

Mix with mayonnaise to suit yourself.

Salt & Pepper to taste.

Serve with chips & a big home made dill pickle.






Peas

Peas are a low acid vegetable and  need to be pressure canned in order to kill all the micro-organisms that cause botulism.
You will need:
Pressure Canner
Jars, Lids, Bands
Funnel, Jar lifter, ect...
Fresh plump peas (About 2 1/2 pounds per pint)
Water and Salt
Seasoning (Optional)

Wash jars and get your canner ready. 

Wash your pea pods and drain

Shell your peas and wash again

Have a large stainless steel pot of boiling water ready and add your peas to the boiling water.  Boil for about 3 minutes, just until heated through.  Drain peas over a second large pot, (you want to keep this water for packing)

Rinse boiled peas in hot water and pack into your jars leaving 1 inch headspace.

Add one teaspoon canning salt to each jar.

Bring reserved water that you boiled them in back to a boil and cover your peas.  Remove air bubbles and adjust headspace.

Wipe rims of jars with a damp paper towel dipped in white vinegar or hot water.

Put on lids and rings.  Tighten down finger tight.

Process both pints and quarts at 10 pounds of pressure for 40 minutes.  Make sure you always vent your steam for the amount of time required for your canner.  Most canners says vent steam for 10 minutes. 

Let pressure drop naturally and remove lid from canner.  Wait 10 minutes and then place your jars on the counter to cool for 24 hours.

Label and Store in a cool, dark room. 

Tuesday, August 13, 2013

Dill Relish

I used up the last of our cucumbers to make a batch of Dill Relish.  I love this stuff straight out of the jar. 

Gather up all your canning supplies and get started.  Yields approximately 5 pint jars.
  • Water Bath Canner
  • Jar lifter, Funnel and Magnet
  • Jars, lids and bands
  • 4 to 5 pounds of cucumbers (I just used what I had)
  • 1 large onion
  • 1/3 cup of canning salt
  • 4 cups of white vinegar
  • 1 cup of sugar
  • 3 teaspoons of minced garlic
  • 2 teaspoons of dill seed
  • 2 teaspoons of celery seed
  • 2 teaspoons of mustard seed
  • 1/2 teaspoon of turmeric
  • Pickle crisp (optional)
Scrub your cucumbers under cool running water.  Peel your onion.
Chop onion and cucumbers in a food processor as small as you like them.  Place them in a large bowl and sprinkle the salt over them.  Mix well and let sit for one hour.

While you are waiting, get your canner and jars ready. 

After one hour, drain the mixture through a small strainer.  Cover with cold water and strain again.  Rinse one more time and strain again. 

To a med/large stainless steel pot add your vinegar, sugar, garlic, celery seed, mustard seed, dill seed and turmeric. Stir well. 
Bring to a boil over med/high heat.
Add your strained cucumber mixture to the pot and bring back to a good boil.  Boil for about 5 minutes. 
Add pickle crisp to each jar.
Ladle hot relish into jars leaving 1/2 inch headspace.


  Stir to remove air bubbles and adjust headspace if needed. 
Wipe rims of jars with a paper towel dipped in hot water or vinegar.
Put on lids and bands.
Tighten down finger tight.
Process for 10 minutes.
Place on counter to cool for 24 hours.


Label and Store in a cool, dark room.






Monday, August 12, 2013

Hot Pack Method vs Raw Pack Method

This post is to help you decide if you would rather Hot Pack or Raw Pack your meat when canning

 Meat is a low-acid food and must be processed in a pressure canner. You can add salt for flavor but it is not necessary for preservation of the meat.

You can either Raw Pack or Hot Pack.  Both are safe canning methods.  
 Raw packing it is faster. but that is about the only benefit.  

1:  Once processed your jar may only be partially full of liquid leaving some of your meat uncovered.

2:  Raw packing leaves some air in the jars and can cause meat to darken during storage making it less appealing.

Hot pack does take longer, but has benefits.

1: You can fit more meat in the jar.


2: You can remove more air from the jar.


3: You have less liquid loss, which gives you better quality by keeping your meat covered.

4: The natural amount of fat and juices in today's leaner meat cuts are usually not enough to cover most of the meat when raw packing.  The NCHFP says that  the "Hot Pack Method" is preferred for best liquid cover and quality during storage.

Note:  Chicken does produce more liquid that lean cuts of beef and does leave your finished jar with more broth than beef does when raw packed but the NCHFP still says that natural poultry fat and juices are usually not enough to cover the meat.  

I prefer to hot pack all of my meats.