Preserving Summer

Up here in Ontario it has been a cool summer. It's been nice for me being in Toronto, because it's been comfortable, but out of the city it has been very cool and that has resulted in a later season for the fruit and vegetables I look forward to all year. Now that August has arrived and with it the heat, more local fruit and vegetables are finally showing up at the Farmer's Market. So other than eating those juicy peaches right away there are ways that you can preserve fresh food to enjoy it for a little longer.

Freezing Fruit - This is by far the easiest method, if you have the freezer space. For fruit; clean, cut and peel your fruit as you would like to eat it. Spread the fruit on a baking sheet covered in parchment paper. Put as much fruit on the tray that you can without any pieces touching. Put it in the freezer for approximately 4 hours, until they are frozen solid. Once all of the fruit is frozen, place it in a freezer bag, remove the air, seal it tight and put it back in the freezer. This method prevents you from having a lump of frozen fruit that you need to chip away at to get anything.

Freezing Vegetables - Depending on the vegetable, you may have to blanch your vegetables before freezing them. Clean and cut up your vegetables as you would like to have them prepared. Bring a large pot of water to a boil on the stove. In your sink have a large bowl of really cold water with ice on standby. Also have a colander ready. When the water comes to a boil put your vegeatbles in the boiling water. Keep the water at a boil nd boil them for a short amount of time unti lthe colour deepens slightly and ifyou taste the vegetable it is still crisp, but with a slight tenderness to it. Barely cooked. Drain the vegetables through the colander and then put them into the ice bath. Once the vegetables are cool spred them on the baking sheet as you did for the fruit and put them into the freezer until frozen. Move them into a well sealed freezer bag and you have some great vegetables for later.

You can find a chart on how long to blanch certain vegetables for freezing in the Joy of Cooking or on this website: http://www.ochef.com/617.htm. Vegetables that do not need to be blanched are zucchini, onions, garlic, herbs and sweet peppers. You can cut these up and freeze them as you would fruit. Vegetables that are considered squash (other than zucchini) should be cooked completely before freezing.

Dehydrating - Dehydrated fruit is nice to have on your shelf to add to muffins, cookies and other treats. Dehydrated herbs and vegetables are great to have for soups, stews and casseroles. You can dehydrate anything by letting it sit out in the sun for hours, by baking it in an oven - low and slow, or with a dehydrator. I personally prefer the dehydrator. While they may be a costly addition to your kitchen equipment list, it is cheaper than the hydro costs for running your oven all day and night and there is less chance of the squirrels getting your dehydrating delights off of the porch! Clean and cut up your food as you would eat it and make sure it is dry. Place it in the dehydrator and let it sit for the length of time recommended by your dehydrator. Keeping the pieces of food small will ensure there is less time required for dehydrating.

Italian Seasoning Chop one onion into small thin slices Chop one clove of garlic into thin slices Wash and dry two cups each of basil leaves, oregano leaves, sage leaves and marjoran leaves Place each item on a tray in your dehydrator and leave over night. Ensuring that the herbs are dry, remove them from the dehydrator if the onion & garlic are not yet dehydrated, leave them until they have no moistness, can break easily with your fingers Place the dried garlic in a coffee grinder and grind to sesame seed sized pieces Put all of the dried herbs, onion and garlic pieces into a small bag. Crush the bag until the herbs and onion are broken up into smaller pieces Place them all in a jar that is well sealed. This is great to add to yogurt for a dip, soup stock to season it, to sprinkle on potatoes, add to a vegetable stir fry. It is so versatile you will use it for everything, so make up a lot! Feel free to experiment with other herbs and vegetables to make your own custom seasoning!

Canning - The lost art of canning... Our grandmothers used to do it, what happened to us? Canning can be daunting and to be honest it does scare me a little! It is important when you are canning that you make sure that the seal is good and that the fruit or vegetables do not have any mold on them to ensure safe food preservation. I am not going to go into the 'hows', but I am going to say that the Honey Peaches my sister and I canned last summer were delicious in the winter and it was so handy to just grab a can of home-canned tomatoes off the shelf when I was making spaghetti, lasagna or cacciatore. You can find direction on canning on the web of course and in the Joy of Cooking. My only tidbit is to this: if you want to can tomatoes, make them into a puree first, you can fill the jars higher and it is easier to use in cooking.

Here is a recipe for 'All-in-a-Day' BarB-Q Relish, Sweet and Sour Sauce and Chutney

So as summer ends and fall approaches, take advantage of the delicious local fruit and vegetables and stock your pantry for some great homemade meals in the winter.