Small Batch Canning

Peaches!

When I was growing up in the Midwest we had very stereotypical canning adventures each harvest season.Tomatoes, pickles, peaches, apples in several forms, jams, jellies, even cherry pie filling. It was great and most of it came from our family orchards and gardens or from some place nearby. Now that I'm out in San Francisco both the getting/growing and the amount of canning is a bit different. We're also not trying to feed eight or ten people until the next harvest. One of the things I like about my new canning adventures is opportunistically putting up small batches, even just a jar or two of preserves from the last chance sale bins at the market. For one it takes a lot of pressure off of production and since it's just a small amount, it's safer to try something random or new. This year it's been a lot of peaches and wild berry preserves and since we just finished the last jar of okra pickles, we'll be making more of those soon as well.

Canners aren't always terribly expensive, some are as little as $20, $5 for the occasional garage sale find. Truth be known, you don't even need a canner for the small jobs, it's really just a deep stock pot after all. As long as the water covers the jars you're good to go for fruits, preserves and other acidic foods. A starter pack of jars is often less than ten bucks or again, available at garage sales and thrift shops for next to nothing and once you have some you can reuse them indefinitely with new lids. With everything on hand an opportunistic jar or two is well worth the effort.

So, keep your eyes open for fruit on the trail, your neighbors yard and of course local farm markets. If you barter well you might even trade fruit for canning, provided you can get yourself to part with some of your stores. In addition to the fun, having the best things on hand when you need them and being able to take pride in making things yourself, in this day and age of over processed everything, you control the production. You know exactly what went into your jars and you can feel good about making what ends up being both a frugal and healthy choice. Between, health, frugality, creativity and entertainment value, canning is an art that shouldn't be lost for any number of reasons all of which are good on their own and undeniable in combination.

Fried smelt

Thawed smelt on ice

Not long ago I had a chance to go lend a hand with the Forage SF Underground Market. It's an event that was happening on a fairly regular basis, though this one would be the last. I Had shown up to tend bar and help that way but Chef Larry was kind enough to have me outside working the fried smelt pop up. Smelt are a fun little fresh water fish similar to sardines or herring. Often used as bait fish, they make for a great meal battered and deep fried whole. The humorous nickname, "fries with eyes" is often heard near a fryer full of smelt. 

ready for the fryer

I ate them too fast to get a better photo

Smelt typically run once a year and fishermen simply go out and net them. You can haul a lot of the little things out of a lake in one go and freeze what you don't cook up on the spot. This batch was from a lake in Ontario and had been shipped in frozen. This might not be ideal for other dishes but as they are battered and fried, it doesn't rob them of much. 

To make them we washed and gently dried them, dredged them in a mix of flour and paprika. Next they went into an egg wash before being dredged in panko. You could use something other than these lovely little Japanese bread crumbs but they really are excellent. They were paired with caper aioli, a nice alternative to tarter sauce. 

These can also be prepared in a "deep" skillet, like a typical iron skillet, with whatever oil is handy. They'd be nice fried in duck fat! 

Nasturtium pesto

I posted ages ago about foraging nasturtiums and mentioned how a recipe or two might be helpful. One of the best uses of nasturtium I've found is making pesto. It's a little different from the familiar basil stuff, spicier finish but welcome anywhere other types are used and it can be substituted in any recipe that calls for pesto.

You will need:

A blender

2 cups (packed) nasturtium leaves
1/2 cup toasted pine nuts or toasted sunflower seeds
4 large cloves of garlic or a 1/2 cup (packed) of fresh garlic greens
1 cup olive oil
1/4 cup grated Italian hard cheese, Parmesan or Romano work 

Gather enough nasturtium to fill a paper grocery bag most of the way. That'll really only give you about two cups of packed leaves. I don't use the stems and I avoid the larger leaves in favor of more tender and mild tasting small ones. Be sure to wash them well and remove most of the stems. You can throw in some flowers if you like the color or use them for garnish. (The flowers are also slightly less spicy and can soften the flavor if you like.) Once the leaves are washed and dried add them to a blender with the oil, garlic, nuts/seeds and cheese. Blend until the consistency is even and the ingredients are well blended.

It's that simple, tastes great and will keep for a couple weeks or so in the fridge. I made this batch to go with gnocchi, miner's lettuce and roast quail. Looking forward to more.

Pickled herring

Lovely.

It's always interesting working with Chef Iso at Forage SF and my most recent kitchen adventure was no different. Iso netted about 60lbs of herring and a few of us pitched in to help and learn how to pickle fish.
It was a messy job but we got about 300 servings into the jars. This sort of thing is a different kind of experience compared to my work as a personal chef where I rarely get a chance to feed more than a dozen people. Given the level of hand crafting, it's also different than when I've run bar and restaurant kitchens, so it's something I look forward to. Also helps if you like the people you work with and Iso is one of the best.

Cleaning was relatively easy. We basically removed the heads, gutted them, took off the smaller flippers and then scaled them with spoons and our fingers. The scales on herring come off pretty easy. They sat overnight in brine and then were packed into jars with vinegar, sugar, onion, mustard seed, bay leaves, lemon and onions. Most recipes agree that the fish pickle and are edible after just 24 hours but I'd give them a couple weeks. There are numerous recipes online. It's an old preservation method with countless variations.

Before cleaning.

The pickling solution.

Ready for pickling solution and lids. 

Wild edibles; Pine needles

This one is about as simple as it gets and it's blissfully safe. All pines are edible so, as always, make sure you've got a pine. That shouldn't be too tough but you never know. If it's got needles and cones, it's a pine. There are a number of edible elements in addition to making tea with the needles, though chewing them raw is even a source of vitamins C and A. I have no idea if the heat from making the tea destroys the vitamins but it might.

You can also eat the inner bark. If you do it just right, it's possible to cut it into strips and use it like spaghetti. It certainly doesn't taste like pasta, but if it's available or all you have to eat, it's there.

To make the tea simply steep the needles in hot water the same way you would make any other tea. I like it with a little lavender and pine needle tea is admittedly somewhat of an acquired taste but nothing a little honey won't fix if you aren't in a "survival" situation and have access to it.

Pine needles can also be used to flavor breads and roast meats or fish. One nice thing about them is pines grow all over the place, so as a forager or survivalist, it's basically there for you from the Everglades to Seattle in all sorts of conditions and you can gather it as you walk meaning you expend very little extra effort or energy in your day to add another element to a foraged diet.

They're so readily available that I have never tried to dry them but I imagine you might be able to. I also use the needles to make baskets and freeze the needles for storage once in a while for that purpose. When I get them out they still smell fresh so I'd guess you could at least freeze them if they are scarce in your area.

Wild Edibles; Nasturtium

Distinctive Nasturtium foliage

Much like Dandelions, Nasturtiums are less often seen as a food crop and more as a decorative plant, but this South American plant captivated early explorers who took it back with them first to Spain and then over to England in the early 1500's where it's lovely, edible flowers and leaves continue to grace tables to this day. They have a reputation as a "grow anywhere" plant and indeed do well in containers and gardens alike. Here in the bay area they cover large swathes land on hillsides and in meadows to the extent that you'd think they were a native species and after a couple hundred years it's hard to tell the difference anyway.

Growing in a planter 

I'd been thinking about this post for a while and managed to get out and snap a quick photo but didn't have time to gather any. The leaves are on all year in this area but the flowers are more prevalent in warmer weather. I really have no excuse for not growing these in the yard other than the couple times I planted them we had prolonged dry spells while we were away and they didn't have time to establish themselves. Something I should remedy this spring with another planting or at least a potted plant or two.

Once in a great while you'll find the blossoms in markets and nicer groceries but I can't remember ever seeing the leaves available. Both blossoms and foliage have a spicy flavor and a pleasant texture and can be used in a number of ways from salads to cooked greens. The seed pods are also sometimes pickled and referred to as "poor man's capers". Though, I would wager, a jar of pickled Nasturtium would cost a bit more than a jar of capers if you could find anywhere to buy it.

As I write this, it occurs to me that recipes might also be of benefit so I'll try to gather some and post a recipe or two. While not overly popular these days, Nasturtium found it's way onto a lot of tables in the past. My best guess is that it will be one of the pop culture foodie plants we'll be seeing a lot more of before long. They have quite a bit more to offer beyond a splash of color in a salad.