Preserving or Canning

Mix together 1/2 gallon of water, 1 cup pickling salt, 2 cups dark brown sugar and 1 cup real maple syrup. Stir until all ingredients are dissolved. Add fish that has been cleaned and cut into 2 inch strips. Let this brine for 24 hours. Remove fish and smoke for about 9 hours. Mix 3/4 cup honey with 1/4 cup water and use this to baste half way through smoking.

Layer fillets of salmon (skin on) with pickling salt and brown sugar. I salt it in the crisper drawer of the fridge to keep it cool for 12 hours or longer. Wash well under running water to remove salt. Let sit on the smoker racks for about 2 hours to dry, on the counter is fine. It will look a little shiny with a glaze to it after the 2 hours. Rub a little brown sugar into the flesh and place in smoker for 10 hours or so. Half way through smoking I rub some honey into the flesh of the salmon. I use hickory and alder chips.

Layer salmon fillets in a crock with pickling salt. Salmon, salt, salmon, salt, and so on. Let this sit for 6 weeks. Just on the counter. Wash salmon well to remove salt. Boil a mixture of 4 cups of vinegar to 1 cup of brown sugar with 3 tablespoons of pickling spice. Add some juice from bread and butter pickles or the juice from yum yum pickles to your brine. Let this mixture cool or it will cook your salmon and make it mushy. Layer serving size pieces of salmon in a gallon jar with sliced onions. Add a couple of bay leaves to the jar. Pour your brine into the jar and store in the refrigerator. Can be eaten in a couple of weeks.

To prepare your tomatoes, boil a large pot of water, Put tomatoes in for about 50 seconds and scoop out into cold water, now peeling is easy. Chop tomatoes somewhat. I use 8 quarts of prepared tomatoes. (2 ice cream buckets full.) Put them in a large pot and use your imagination. This makes about 11 quarts. One quart is enough for a batch of chili. This will be 11 batches of chili so that is how you figure out how much of what else you put in. Add a tin of tomato paste. There is enough salt in the paste (20 mg per 2 tbsp.) so you don't need to add any salt to this recipe. The last batch, 2 carrots, a sweet potato, a bunch of water cress, and some kale went in the food processor until it was unidentifiable. Into the pot. Add chopped peppers, red, green, jalapeno, chili or what ever you have on hand. Into the pot. Chop one whole celery, leaves and all and in the pot. Garlic in the pot. Lots of it because this is 11 quarts. Remember lots of chili powder. Add any other spices that you may put in chili. I simmer this for about 1 and 1/2 hours. Put in Quart jars and process for 20 minutes. In the cold weather when celery and peppers are so expensive, you can fry some hamburger and add some canned kidney beans and a jar of this and you have your chili. My husband doesn't like vegetables but he loves this chili. I make spaghetti sauce similar to this omitting the chili and using oregano and Italian spices instead.

Salsa Sauce
Blanche peel and coarsely chop tomatoes measuring 7 cups.
Remove seeds and finely chop 8 jalapeno peppers. 2 cups coarsely chopped onions
1 cup coarsely chopped green bell pepper. 3 cloves garlic finely chopped.
1 tin (156 ml) tomato paste. 3/4 cup white vinegar. 1/2 cup loosely packed
chopped fresh cilantro. 1/2 tsp cumin. Boil gently about 60 minutes or until salsa
reaches desired consistency. Put in about 5 pint jars and process in canner for 20 minutes.
For hot salsa add 1 tsp ground cayenne pepper before cooking. I double this recipe and I puree a bunch of water cress in the food processor and throw that into the pot also because of the high nutritional value of the water cress.

Cover 8 cups blackberries with malt vinegar in a glass bowl. Let set for 3 days, Then put in a bag and drip over night. For each pint of juice you get add 2 cups of sugar. Bring to a boil and simmer for 5 minutes. Let cool, bottle and cork. I use my punch bowl and fill it about 3/4 full with blackberries and cover with the malt vinegar.

4 c. sugar ¼ lb. (1/2 c.) butter Boil or steam zucchini till tender; drain well. Place in pan with sugar and butter. Simmer until thick like cream. Add grated rind and juice of 3 lemons or mix them up oranges, grapefruit or what ever. This tastes like mamalade.

Mash berries to measure 4 cups. Add 1 and 1/2 cups of sugar. Boil together to the jam stage. Seal in jars.

I have a large enough pot so when I make my blackberry jam I use 16 cups of mashed berries and 6 cups of sugar. It takes at least an hour or longer to boil to the jam stage to insure that it sets. Remember to stir well and start your jams on a very low heat until it is a bit liquid in order to prevent burning.

Stir together in a large pot, 1 cup of cornstarch with 4 and 1/2 cups of sugar, 2 tsp. cinnamon, 1/4 tsp nutmeg and 1 tbsp. salt. Stirring constantly add 10 cups of water and 3 tbsp. of lemon juice. Bring to boil for 5 minutes and then add 7 quarts of sliced apples. Simmer about 1/2 hour or until thickened. Stir often to prevent sticking to bottom. Seal in 1 quart jars and process for 20 minutes in a hot water bath. One quart is plenty for 1 pie.

Pork and Beans
4 lbs dry white navy beans
1 lb salt pork
1 lb fresh pork
2 cups brown sugar 2 cups ketchup
13 cups cold water
3 tsp salt, 1 tsp pepper
2 tsp dry mustard
1 cup cooking molasses
Don't soak the beans, just wash them and cut the pork to bite size pieces. Put everything in the pressure cooker. Bring to 10 lbs and leave for 2+1/2 hours. They are always a great addition to a barbecue or any meal. Try 1 pound of soy beans and 3 pounds of white navy beans. They taste the same but I am thinking of the better food value, (the soy) After they are done in the pressure cooker for 2 and 1/2 hours I put the beans in 1/2 pint jars and process at 10 pounds for 90 minutes, Made them yesterday and it makes 26 half pints. or put in small containers and to the freezer.

Zucchini Relish
6 cups zucchini
2 cups onion
1 and 1/2 cups each green and red bell peppers
Chop or grind the above vegetables. Add 3 tbsp. pickling salt. Let stand covered for 24 hours in fridge. Combine 1 and 1/2 cups white vinegar, 1/2 tsp pepper, 2 cups sugar, 1 and 1/2 tsp dry mustard, 1 tsp. celery seed. 1 tsp. mustard seed. 1/2 tsp. tumeric. Add vegetables and bring just to a boil. (Adding a jar of French's Mustard makes it more like a hotdog relish) I like it better with the mustard. Put in jars and seal. I don't peel the zucchini but I take the seeds out. I double this recipe when I make it.

12 Large heads garlic, about 1 3/4 lbs.
2 1/2 cups white 5 percent vinegar
1 cup dry white wine
1 tbsp pickling salt
1 tbsp granulated sugar
1 tbsp dried oregano
5 whole chili peppers

Separate garlic bulbs into cloves. To soften and loosen skins, blanch garlic cloves in rapidly boiling water for 30 seconds: immediately immerse in cold water, drain and peel cloves. Combine vinegar, wine, pickling salt, sugar and oregano. Bring to a boil: boil gently for 1 minute, then remove from heat. Add peeled garlic cloves to hot vinegar mixture. Stir constantly 1 minute. Pack garlic and 1 dried chili pepper into hot jars. Add hot liquid to cover garlic to within 3/4 inch of top rim. Place jars in canner and boil for 10 minutes. Makes about 5 medium jars.

Dilly Beans
Blanche green stringless beans for 3 minutes in boiling water and dip in ice water for 3 minutes. Put a clove of garlic in each jar. Place dill weed in each jar. Fill the jars with the green beans. Pour the hot brine over and seal. Last time I made these I sprinkled some jalapeno flakes in each jar instead of the dill
Brine:
2 cups water
2 cups vinegar
3 tablespoons salt
4 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon cayenne
Boil for 5 minutes

Pickled Beets
Put the sliced beets in jars and pour the brine over and seal.
Brine:
3 cups vinegar
2 cups water
2 cups sugar
2 tsp. whole allspice
Combine all ingredients and boil for 5 minutes