Its that time of year again when I do my best squirrel impersonation and start bottling and preserving like a mad woman! My garage and pantry are currently overflowing with tomatoes, black boy peaches, pears and cucumbers. I think this week I will be chained to the kitchen trying to convert it all into preserves. The freezer is full to overflowing so no way to just freeze things this season.

So far this year I have made:
- apricot jam
- blackcurrant jam
- rhubarb, strawberry and ginger jam
- picked courgettes
- green cucumber pickle

On the go is roasted tomato and smoked paprika relish and then I'll be onto bottling fruit for breakfast. I still have tomatoes for one more batch of relish but havn't chosen which recipe yet.

So what has everyone else been making??

I have been in a bit of a preserving frenzy too. I have made:

raspberry jam
boysenberry jam
apricot jam
peach and mango chutney
i**n chutney
spicy tomato chutney
tomato sauce
spicy eggplant relish
red pepper relish.

I plan to do some more tomato sauce soon.

Cantabcook your tomato and smoked paprika relish sounds lovely.

Bev

All I've made so far is bottled Tomato Soup (yum!) made with home grown tomatoes. I don't do as much relishes and pickles nor jams now because we don't get through it, but I will probably make another large preserving pan of tom soup, plus I am also very fond of "Robie's Tomato Relish" which is Robyn Martin's recipe. I also will make Indian Kasundi which we love.
Regards,
Dawn.

Being away from home, it's not possible for me to do very much, but I did see some figs and quinces for sale at a roadside stall last Friday so stopped and bought 750g ripe figs ($7) and 3kg of quinces ($5). I did two 350g jars of my favourite Francesca's Brandied Figs yesterday [www.divinacucina-blog.com] and this evening I simmered all the quinces in a syrup with lemon and vanilla. They are this moment cooling, covered, in the kitchen and tomorrow I'll put them into freezer containers and freeze most of it to take with me when the time comes to return home. I'll keep a bit aside for immediate eating over the next couple of days.

Thinking of the figs, it makes me cringe to have to pay $7 for 750g when there are 2 trees I know of in Whitianga where I can help myself to as many as I like for as long as they last!
I'm probably missing the persimmons too that I am usually given at this time of year.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/02/2015 10:48AM by Lorna.

Goodness me Lorna, the fruit in your area is early. In Auckland our figs are just starting to ripen, the quinces are a month away and our persimmons are still half sized and green.

I'm not planning to do any preserving this year as last year I went mad making chutneys and pickles and despite pressing multiple jars on everyone we know I still have shelves full.

I don't think the fruit is ready in Whitianga yet, but this fruit stand is on the Morrisville to Hamilton Highway at Motamahoe(sp??) and last year his fruit was ready early, too. I don't expect the Whitianga fruit to be ready until April, as in previous years.

Cantabcook here is a lovely tomato sauce recipe that I do every year. It is a Ray McVinnie recipe from a magazine some years ago. He serves his with pork which is what I do a lot of it is so easy & lovely & great one for visitors as it is a good prepare ahead one.
6 slices pork belly or 2 fillets, put into a roasting dish.
Cook 200c for 20-30 mins. When cooked slice & serve on rice with sauce on top & a side salad or coleslaw.
Mix tog 2 tbs sugar, 3 tbs light soy sauce, 2 cloves garlic chopped, 1 tbs peanut oil, 2 tbs fresh ginger grated. Mix altogether & pour over meat & marinade overnight or aqn hour at least.
Tomato Jam
Plunge 8 tomatoes into boiling water & take of skin. in large pot or pan put in 3 tbs peanut oil, 5 cloves garlic sliced, some chopped red chillies, 1 very finely sliced onion & 1/2 cup or near enough grated ginger.
Stir until onions are just softened add 1/2 cup sugar, 1 tsp salt, 4 tbs cider vinegar & the chopped tomatoes, bring to boil & simmer until cooked down & nice & thick. Bottle in usual way.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/02/2015 10:15PM by Lyn V.

Yum Lyn, that sounds really nice and I often have pork fillet in the freezer so will keep that one in mind.

Lorna, any chance you can elaborate on the quinces in syrup please. I've only ever used them once in a pork casserole but have found a couple of trees laden with them. How do you tell when they are ripe and how do you prep them for bottling?

Today has been tomato and chilli relish and then I was onto pears. There are still 4 bags of black boy peaches to do and I'm quite over preserving this week now!!

Unripe quinces are green, yellow and fuzzy when ripe.
Prep from my point of view is very lazy. I rinse under the tap the remove the fuzz, quarter them and halve each quarter then remove the tough core and fibrous stuff (be very careful, use a sharp knife; they are VERY hard fruit and don't soften with time). I don't bother peeling them. The peel is OK to eat (an that's where all the pectin is if you want to make quince jam or jelly), and if you don't want to eat it, it's easily separated once cooked.

I use this David Lebovitz recipe as a guide, adapting it to my needs.
[www.davidlebovitz.com]
There are lots of good tips on this page along with various uses of quinces.

I sometimes roast the quinces using this recipe from 2007 Taste Magazine, but multiply it because I can't see the point in heating my oven to roast just 3 quinces. Freeze in serving sizes for future use.

Ingredients
3 quinces
1½ cups sweet white wine
1¼ cups sugar

Directions
Heat oven to 160ºC.
Remove the fluff from the quinces and halve, leaving the skins and cores
intact. Place cut side up in a roasting dish, pour over the wine and sprinkle
the sugar over. Cover tightly with foil and roast for 3½ to 4 hours.

Serve warm or cold with whipped cream, crème fraiche or Greek yoghurt.

I freeze quinces an d free flow them, then take out what I need for crumble or any thing else I want to make. Qunice jelly is nice too. I also make quince paste.
I haven't tried bottling them, so must give it a go.
I love the smell of ripe quinces

I have bottled plums, apple slices, tomato soup and sauce, spaggetti, kraka berries., and am about to do pears, apricots and green gages. I also made plum jelly with the left over juice from preserving the plums. Also raspberry jam. Just hope the peaches dont come in too soon.

All I have done so far is 6 jars of apricots (bought the apricots), and 29 jars of peacherines. We have two peacherines trees, and they are producing extremely well! I'm a bit sick of bottling now, so the next lot will be vacuum packed and chucked in the freezer. Hopefully the golden queen tree can wait a few weeks before overloading us again!

Lucky you, Golden Queen peaches are just the best. Love them.

Joy, I do quinces every year but it has never occurred to me to free flow freeze them. They go brown extremely fast, even when I keep them in water with lemon juice while I prepare them for baking. What do the quinces look like when you finally bake/stew them? What I enjoy about the quinces, apart from the perfume, is their rosy red colour when they have been baked.

Hi Chris, I make sure they are not over ripe and freeze them quickly on a tray. Some discolor quicker than others, I reckon it is the variety or if over ripe. Last year we bought some home from Cromwell, the smell in the car was mouth watering, but they were ripe and did discolour a bit. Where as the ones I picked off the tree next door didn't.
I haven't tried baking them just making paste and crumble and fruit sponges. Must give baking them a go.
I always peel them too, so will try them with the skin on as Lorna suggests.
Daughter and Son-law have been home for the weekend and bought over lovely Golden Queen peaches and Nectarines and apricots. Gosh I forgot what a chore the cling stone peaches are the stone. To think I used to do 4 cases of them when the family were all still home.

Thank you Joy, I'll give it a go. Came home from Cromwell today with two large bags of apricots picked out of the seconds bin at $3 a kg (nectarines were the same price and freestone). The seconds are pretty good. I'll freeze the fruit when it's a bit softer so I'll have two or three days' grace. Our neighbour shook his plum tree and now I've also got a huge bucket of Black Doris plums to freeze and there'll be more where they come from. I'll do those in jam and chutney lots and will make it when I've got a bit more time. The quinces on my tree are huge but still very green, giving me a bit of breathing space again. Winters here in the South are long and we enjoy a taste of summer when it's freezing here.

Central Otago fruit is so good and I love Daughter bringing some home for me, but being just two home now, I gave a lot of my jars away and now have run out with a case of apricots to go. Am phoning round to buy 12 if possible. Might have to freeze them.

Green with envy, South Islanders! Fruit up here is too expensive to bottle. More of a freezer/pckle and chutney person myself, so making sauces, soups and chutneys.

My tomatoes have again been a failure this year (sigh, 2 years in a row is not good), so enough to eat but not enough to make pasta sauce, which is what I like to bottle. The chilles have been successful again though, with yesterday's batching bringing us to 19 500ml jars of sliced serrano peppers pickled in vinegar with carrots. That should last just over a year with the rate my family eats the things (well, my family excluding me). The truly hot peppers won't be finished ripening for another month or so and then I'll dry them in the dehydrator. Our peaches didn't fruit this year, still too young, but the older plums did well for their size, but again it was enough to eat and enjoy, but not enough to preserve. The nashi trees are overflowing again, but you can't really preserve those so well!

When the feijoas start to fall in a few weeks I'll be starting in on the "big boil", making about 30 500ml jars of feijoa jelly.

I have a query about pasta sauce bottling and I wonder if anybody with experience can help me.
I have no more freezer space, so am going to try bottling some home-made tomato pasta sauce instead of freezing it. I have AGEE SPECIAL jars with SCREW lids, not the other sort with the bands. If I sterilize my AGEE SPECIALS, will they be ok to use for my bottling, with the screw lids?
I am concerned about poisoning ( botulism?), but also don't want to waste the jars I have if I can possibly use them.
Also, I plan to sterilize both the jars and the lids by putting them in a 150degree oven for 30 mins. Is that sufficient?
Thanks for any help you can give me.

Are they plastic lids or metal with a rubber compound underneath that could make a seal with the jar?

If they are plastic, I'd say no-go, they won't be able to make an airtight seal. If they are the re-usable metal type that can actually make a seal, then give it a go. Yes, 30 min at 150 with clean jars is fine, I usuall do 15-20min. The lids should be in simmering water for at least 10 minutes, and be used straight from the hot water (after a quick dry with a clean cloth). After filling your jars, make sure the lip is clean and dry before putting the lid on.

If you're unsure, run a test with just one jar/lid. Always a good idea to do this on a wooden board not a cold bench top - as the change in temp can shatter the jar. Heat the jar in the oven, boil the lid, boil water. Remove the jar from the oven, pour in hot water, remove lid from water, dry, check the jar lip and screw on the lid. Firm, but not overly tight. Leave it to sit and cool. If the lid is one with a "popper" in the middle, it should clearly be down when cool. If it is just a flat lid you should be able to see a slight inward curvature on the lid and if you tap it with a fingernail, it should make a higher pitch, tight sound, rather than the hollow, low sound of an unsealed jar.

With tomato products and botulism, I believe the issue is more acidity, or lack thereof. Follow a recipe that is designed for bottling, that will have enough vinegar/sugar/salt added to ensure the sauce is of an appropriate pH to inhibit bacterial growth.

.. If these are Agee branded jars, you could always just buy a pack of lids and bands if you're at all concerned about your screwtop lids. If they are the old style jars with the square writing, you'll need the gold bands (blue box). If they're the newer style (Perfit brand or no writing) you'll need the green bands (red box) The bands only need to be on while the jar is cooling, so you can make do with one packet and just keep re-using them, and I believe the lids are about $5 for 10.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/11/2015 12:51AM by Jenna.

Hi Dawn
would you mind telling me how you preserve your tomato soup? Would I be safe to preserve my home made tomato pasta sauce in sterilized AGEE SPECIAL jars - (the ones with the screw tops, not the AGEE UTILITY jars with seals and bands)
I have several of these large AGEE SPECIAL jars, and want to use them if it's safe for preserving.
Any advice would be great.
Thanks, Steph (MT ALBERT AUCKLAND)

Hi Steph - yes I use AGEE Utility and AGEE Special preserving jars, the latter of which I have only a few, (I think they are the old type of AGEE jars). I use only seals and screw bands for both types of jars.

With reference to the AGEE Special jars you are particularly wanting to use, I would recommend using seals and screw bands (if possible) because you then know you are using a 'safe' preservative method compliant with food contact standards. The problem with the AGEE Special jars is that they don't take the same screw band as the AGEE Utility jars. I think the Utility screw bands are coloured green and the AGEE Special are yellow in colour and if you were to buy the yellow bands, I'm not sure how easily accessible they are now. I cannot tell the colour of my screw bands now as they are so old that they all look the same colour! So I usually sort them out as to which type of jar they fit before I start bottling.

If you were to use the screw on lids (not seals with bands) I would make doubly sure that, as Jenna says, they have the rubber compound rim inside the lids which seals the jars completely. But I would also want to be certain that there is an inner (white-ish?) coating completely covering the inside metal of the lid which would prevent the food touching the metal component of the lid (especially with tomatoes being acidic).
Hope this helps to some degree!
Regards,
Dawn.

Thanks for your advice, Jenna. I have previously been told that my AGEE SPECIAL jars ( big square graphics) only take the screw top lids and not the screw bands and seals, so obviously I have been mis-informed.
The lids I have are metal, brand new, and sold to fit the large AGEE SPECIAL jars.
After reading your advice I might go and buy some seals and bands for the jars instead, just to be sure.
I really appreciate your help.
Regards Steph

Thanks so much Dawn. The lids I bought for the AGEE SPECIALS are brand new, and although they have a plain whitish inside I don't think there's any particular seal. Now that I know I CAN use seals and screw bands for my jars, I might go and buy some of those instead, just to be safe. As I said to Jenna, I have previously been told that my AGEE SPECIALS won't take the bands and seals... so I have learned something today! Fingers crossed I can find the right ones.
Best wishes to you and thanks again for the response
Steph

Steph - I have some of the old Agee Special with big square writing, and you'll definitely be fine if you can get your hands on some gold bands and just the regular Perfit lids - they work with both old and new jars. Not sure where you're located, but I've seen gold bands (blue box) at at least 3 New World branches around the North Shore of Auckland.

Failing that, you can order them online from: [www.countrytrading.co.nz]

I'm in Mt Albert Jenna, so pretty central. I'll go on a gold band hunt tonight after work. Or yes, there's the gorgeous Country Trading site! Thanks again.

The gold and green screw band are available at New World here. I renewed mine this season.

I have just made a new recipe for tomato sauce. A friend gave me her tried and true recipe and when I read it, I thought, don't know about this, too easy. But it is nice and red and we like it better than the other recipe I usually make with the acetic acid and more importantly, it passed the Grand kids test.No onions or garlic just tomatoes.
If any one feels like a change and trying it, lets know and I will post it.

I'd be interested to see it, Joy, if it's not too much trouble.

Here you are mommamurf. I made half the mixture at a time.

Jills Tomato Sauce

12lb tomatoes
3oz whole all spice(in muslin bag)
1& 1/2 pints malt vinegar
3oz plain salt
3lb sugar

Combine all and boil 3 hours or till the thickness you require. I found it took longer as tomatoes very juicy.

You may skin tomatoes or do what I did and put the cooked tomato mixture through a colander , or use a blender stick or wiz to chop them
I found the colander was less messy I just put colander over large bowl and let drain then pushed pulp through put into saucepan and bought back to boil for few minutes and bottled in sterilized bottles

Hope you give it a go as is really nice.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/14/2015 05:37AM by joy.