Preserving Recipes | Old Fashioned Families

Easy Sun Dried Tomatoes

September 12, 2012 by Mamma 5 Comments

Last time I went to the store for sun dried Tomatoes the cheapest I could find them for was $5 for a tiny little package. Since I needed two packages for what I was making, I decided to pass them up and not make what I originally had planned on. $10 for a single ingredient just seemed like way too much money just to add them to a meal. While I am sure I could have found them for less if I shopped around, we do not have a lot of grocery stores in our area and by the time I found the sun dried tomatoes I might as well have bought the expensive ones for the gas it would have cost me.

It was then I decided I was going to make my own sun dried tomatoes only using the dehydrator this summer. I don’t use them a lot, but they sure make a lot of things like hummus, bread and sausage taste wonderful no matter how you dry them.

I looked at a lot of different directions for sun dried tomatoes, but a lot of them were more work than I wanted to do. I don’t have a lot of time these days, so I need to take shortcuts where ever I can.

That said I did my tomatoes the easy way, but I can tell you they still have all the flavor and versatility that any sun dried tomato I have ever bought or tried before, so I am not unhappy with the results.

Sun Dried Tomatoes

You can use any type of tomato that you want for these, but I get the best flavor and results from cherry or paste tomatoes. Personally I have just used whatever type of tomato I happened to pick, and as long as you cut them the same thickness your results will be fine.

All you need to do to make these tomatoes, is to wash, core and remove any blemishes and then slice them to the thickness you want. Be sure your slices are at least a quarter inch thick, mine were closer to a half inch. It is important that you get the slices uniform in thickness so they will all dry at approximately the same rate.

I space my tomatoes on the trays of my dehydrator about an inch apart to allow for good air circulation.

I set the temp on my Excalibur dehydrator at 155 for tomatoes and it takes between 18 and 24 hours for them to dry completely. You will need to adjust the temperature for whatever dehydrator you happen to have.

When done you want your tomatoes to be completely dry but slightly leathery, don’t let them get brittle if you plan to use them like sun dried tomatoes.

A lot of people store their tomatoes in oil, but I store mine in food saver bags in the freezer. This way I can get the maximum life from my tomatoes and I do not have to worry about them going bad.

If you do not have a Food Saver I strongly recommend you get one, they are great for freezing dehydrated foods, and they will keep for a very long time that way. Because they are air tight and remove all the air, your tomatoes will stay dry and perfect for when you need them. The food saver is also great for saving seeds in the freezer and for storing herbs in as well.

I rehydrate my tomatoes a bit for use by soaking them in a bit of hot water then laying them on paper towels to drain. They are perfect for a wide range of uses, from putting on pizza and in bread, to mixing with sausage and dropping into casseroles and soups. They are super easy to use and add a huge burst of flavor to whatever you are cooking.

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The Very Easy and Never Ending Jar of Pickles

August 29, 2012 by Mamma 4 Comments

I used to think my father in law was a bit out there when he would use the old pickle juice to add onions and cucumbers to, pickling has to be more complicated than that was the rational I had. But after some experience in making refrigerator pickles I realized that reusing the liquid from your pickles over and over not only is an easy way to keep a never ending jar of pickles in your refrigerator but it is an excellent use of resources.

It has been impossible to keep pickles in our house for any length of time since both my husband and dd are capable of demolishing a jar of pickles in less than a day, but with these pickles I can keep them on hand for a fraction of the price of buying dill pickles.

I started out with a refrigerator pickle recipe that was in and of itself very easy to make. This recipe makes one jar of pickles and I doubled it to put it in a larger jar since my family goes crazy over pickles. I started the jar of pickles at the beginning of the growing season, and each time the jar was emptied or getting close to empty I simply filled it back up again, let it sit for a few days and my family had fresh pickles to eat again. Ok it is not traditionally fermented pickles, I know it is not the “right” way to do it, but it is a super easy way to keep my family in healthy snacks they love and a great way to use up extra pickles.

The Recipe

This recipe is about as simple as it gets, and the pickles it makes are great, I even like them and I am NOT a pickle fan. I use them in the potato and pasta salads as well letting my daughter (the pickle monster of the house) have free reign.

I used an old pickle jar to make these; it was approximately 2 quarts, so I doubled this recipe. You can use any size jar you want; this recipe is based on a one quart Mason jar so just adjust your amounts to suit the size of your jar.

When you finish the pickles (they do not last long in our house) simply add more cucumbers to the brine and let them sit for a couple of days. You can also add onions, sweet peppers and even hot peppers to the mix. The hot peppers will spice up your mix bit, so use caution in how many you choose to add.

5.0 from 1 reviews

The Very Easy and Never Ending Jar of Pickles

Prep time

48 hours

Total time

48 hours

Makes one quart of pickles

Recipe type: Canning

Ingredients

6 Small Cucumbers ( you can use either pickling cucumbers or regular cucumbers for this recipe I have used both.)
3 Cloves of Garlic
8 pieces of dill
⅔ cup White Vinegar
1 cup water
1 Tablespoon Sugar
1½ Tablespoons Canning Salt
1 Tablespoon Pickling Spices

Instructions

Make sure the jar and lid you plan to use is clean and dry, you do not need to sterilize as you might with canning because this is a refrigerator recipe and there is no processes involved.
Cut your pickles as desired, you can slice them in rounds, make spears or cut long thin sandwich slices; this is simply a matter of preference. Cut Garlic in halves lengthwise.
Mix together the remaining ingredients except dill in another covered container; shake until the sugar and salt are completely mixed in with the vinegar mixture.
Pack the cucumber slices, garlic in dill in the jar you have chosen and then pour your vinegar mixture over the top. Let sit in the refrigerator for 48 hours before trying. These pickles will last for up to one month if kept refrigerated.

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Filed Under: Preserving Recipes Tagged With: easy pickles, making pickles, pickles, preserviing, refrigerator pickles

English Style Pickled Onions

August 8, 2012 by Mamma 1 Comment

Pickled onions were a staple in my husband home when he was growing up. He spent his middle school and high school years in England and pickled onions where a part of many meals in their home.

It did not take long before I heard stories from my English mother in law about how quickly the pickled onions would magically disappear out of their pantry with hungry teenage boys of course being the culprits.

I knew I had to try my hand at making these and in the beginning my in laws would bring me back the spices I could use to make them with from England, but over time they stopped going back to England so I had to find a new source for the spices here in the US.

I also found it harder to find the malt vinegar in any type of quantity so I decided it was time to come up with my own recipe that I could do with ingredients I could get locally.

My version of these favorites uses a mix of vinegars, as malt vinegar can be very expensive and comes in small bottles. There are a few restaurant supply stores that carry malt vinegar in gallon containers so if you are lucky enough to have access to it, going with all malt vinegar is definitely the way to go. I did a mix of 1/2 malt vinegar and 1/2 white vinegar and the results came out almost as good as the originals.

The pickled onions themselves are easy to make, I used the small onions from my garden, the best size is about an inch in diameter but you can also use a bit larger, or if you are unable to find anything but boiler sized onions you can also cut them in half or quarters if you want. Shallots also work very well for this recipe if you have access to them.

Peel and clean the onions then place them in a large bowl. Add the salt and water; you want the water to cover the onions completely so add more water if the 4 cups is not quite enough.

Let the onions soak for at least 4 hours but up to 24 hours. I let mine soak for 4 to 6 hours for the best crispness.

While you are soaking your onions you will want to make your spiced vinegar, this is simply vinegar and pickling spices. I make mine when I am ready to pack the onions in jars and pour it over the onions while the mixture is still hot.

Give the onions a good rinse before packing them in quart jars. If the onions are small you should not have a problem packing them into 2 quart jars, but if the onions are bigger you will either want to cut some of the onions into halves or quarters or in my case I just added an extra pint jar.

If you come up a bit short on spiced vinegar simply add a bit more vinegar to the top of the jar to ensure the onions are completely covered.

I have water bath canned these before, but found that my husband likes them better not canned, the canning process made them a bit softer than what he was used to. If you have cool root cellar you can store them there, but if like me you have hot humid summers and no place cool to store things then you will be better offer either canning them or storing them in the fridge. I have two fridges so keeping them in the fridge works great for us.

English Style Pickled Onions

Prep time

6 hours

Cook time

30 mins

Total time

6 hours 30 mins

Similar to the English pickled onions served in the pubs in England.

Author: Patty

Recipe type: Canning

Ingredients

3 lbs of shallots or small boiler onions
⅓ cup Canning or Kosher Salt
4 cups Water
4 cups Vinegar, either malt vinegar, white vinegar or a mix of the two
2½ tablespoons of mixed pickling spices

Instructions

Clean onion and place in a large bowl.
Add ⅓ cup salt and 4 cups of water then let sit for 4 hours.
Meanwhile make spiced vinegar by bringing to boil 4 cups of vinegar and the pickling spice.
Drain and rinse onions then pack in quart jars, You can half or quarter onions to get a tighter pack if they are a bit too large.
Pour hot spiced vinegar over onions and seal.
You can store these onions in the fridge for up to 6 months or put them in a water bath canner for 20 minutes for longer storage. Storage in the fridge will result in a crisper onion.
Onions are ready after 2 weeks, makes approximate two Quarts depending on the size of your onions.

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Sweet and Spicy Pickled Beets

July 26, 2012 by Mamma 2 Comments

I have been working madly to keep up with all of our harvest lately, with the worst yet to come, I am still doing a pretty good job of getting everything done. A lot of our harvest has been going into the freezer, due to cost issues, and not having enough canning jars for this big of a harvest, but I decided to make some sweet and spicy pickled beets for my daughter and mother in law these are one of their favorites and they look forward to them every year.

These beets offer a bit more than the average pickled beet, and are a condiment that even I (who does not generally like anything pickled) will eat from time to time.

When you are done with eating a jar of beets, save the liquid, this recipe makes the best pickled eggs ever.

Getting the Beets Ready

I started out with 4lbs of beets, you want to choose fairly small beets for this recipe, you can use either whole beets that are about an inch in diameter, or you can do like I did and used 2 inch beets and slice them. I used a postal scale to weigh my beets; you can get one of these or a food scale relatively inexpensively at Amazon or your local stores.

Before you slice your beets you will need to cook them first, I normally scrub my beets with a green scrubby pad and take off the beet greens. You do not want to take off the crown of the beet so cut the greens of the beet just above that.

Put your beets in a pot of water and cook until the beets are tender about 15 to 20 minutes, the skin should slip right off and the beets should be easy to cut.

Prepare your Canning Equipment

While waiting for the beets to cook it is a good time to get the rest of your equipment ready, you will need 5 to 6 pint jars, rings and lids and a water bath canner. You need to wash and sterilize your jars, lids and rings as well as get your canner filled and ready to start heating, you water should be at a simmer when it is time to put your filled jars into the water bath.

Making your Spicy Pickled Beets

Cool beets in ice water for a few minutes until they are cool enough to handle. Skins should slip off easily and now you can take off top and bottom of the beet.

While the beets are cooling you can combine all the other ingredients into a pot and bring them to a boil, when the pot comes to a boil turn it down to low and let cook for about 6 minutes.

Slice beets 1/8″ – 1/4″ thick if you are not using them whole and add them to the pot with your liquid and seasonings. Heat the mixture until the beets are hot, then fill clean sterilized jars with beets and liquid. Leave a head space of 1/4″ clean rim of jars and put lids and rings on.

Place jars in water bath canner of simmering water and bring to boil, process jars for 30 minutes. Leave beets on shelf for at least 2 weeks before opening for the best flavor.

Sweet and Spicy Pickled Beets

Prep time

1 hour

Cook time

45 mins

Total time

1 hour 45 mins

Recipe type: Preserving

Ingredients

4 pounds Medium sized beets
3 cups Onions sliced into thin rounds
2 cups of sugar
2 Sticks of cinnamon broke into 2 pieces each
1Tbsp mustard seed
1tsp allspice whole
1tsp cloves whole
1tsp salt
2½ cups apple cider vinegar
1½ cups of water

Instructions

Scrub and rinse beets well, leave part of stem and do not cut the root from your beets. Doing this avoids loosing too much of the beet juice before you are ready to can them.
Fill large pot with beets and water and bring to boil, cook beets until fork tender and skin slips off easily.
Drain beets and cool enough to be able to handle them, slip skins off beets, remove root and tops and slice beets ⅛” – ¼”.
Add onions, sugar, cinnamon stick, mustard seed, allspice, cloves, salt, vinegar and water to a large pot and bring to a boil. Turn down the heat to low and cook for 6 minutes.
Add beets to the pot and cook until beets are hot.
Pour beets and liquid into the hot sterilized jars, be sure to remove the cinnamon stick before doing so.
Wipe rims of the jar and put lids and rings on the jars snuggly.
Process your pickled beets for 30 minutes in a water bath canner.
Wait at least 2 weeks to open.

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Filed Under: Preserving Recipes, Putting Food Up Tagged With: beets canning, canning, pickled beets, spicy pickled beets

Jerky

December 15, 2010 by Mamma Leave a Comment

Jerky

Prep time

15 mins

Cook time

8 hours

Total time

8 hours 15 mins

Author: Prairiemom

Ingredients

3 pounds venison or beef
½ cup soy sauce
½ cup Worcestershire Sauce
2 tsp Meat Tenderizer
2 tsp seasoned salt
⅔ tsp black pepper
Garlic Powder
Onion powder

Instructions

Slice meat into strips about 3/8″ thick to ensure total saturation while it is marinating.
In a container, combine soy sauce, worchestershire sauce, meat tenderizer, seasoned salt and black pepper. Marinate overnight. Season strips with garlic and onion powder. Lay strips on oven rack. Cook for 6 – 8 hours at 150°F. Store in airtight container. Jerky will keep up to 2 yrs.

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