CSA Marinara: Jeweled Jars

So, we finally had to learn to can this year due to the (awesome! unbelievable!) volume of fresh, delicious organic tomatoes we've been getting from our CSA for several weeks.  

Pressure Canned CSA Marinara. And the only two Scarlet Runner Beans I grew this year!

Damn Groundhogs!

 To me, canning sounds crude, ugly, utilitarian, unpleasant.  Any process that produces these bright jewels, these cherished mosaics of winter should have a much more apt name. Jarring, anyone?  But, then, there's that.  So, I need a new name.  'Bastian, give me new name!  

How to do it?  I started by ordering this pressure canner:

Presto's 16 Quart Pressure Canner.  

I LOVE this thing.  And, it's perfect as a water bath canner, too.  I figured out that if you simply remove the rubber gasket, you can close it without it coming to pressure. I wish they just said that in the directions! But, anyway, there you have it. A great water bath canner or just a nice, 16 quart pot, or giant pressure cooker to use as you wish.  Cook a hill of beans in it!  

So, how do you can stuff?

You could read the book, it's not so bad.

Generally, you prepare something (cooked or raw) and put it into clean, hot jars and top off with hot liquid, put the seal on, and then put it in boiling water (water bath) or steam (pressure).  Tomatoes and tomato sauce are about 15 minutes at 11 pounds of pressure (after a ten minute period where you must vent the air/steam from the cooker so your jars don't explode haha, but I know you guys will read up on it).

If you are into canning specifically, there are some great folks doing a canning and/or preserving theme this year at MoFo, check out the Canning Round Up!  Great minds think alike.  I knew my pal Tami from Vegan Appetite was doing a Canning Theme, and I was psyched to find the other folks in the round up.  It's funny because I (very unexpectedly!) made it into the Taco Round Up! Thank you, Lazysmurf!
I love surprises, YEEEEEEEHAH!  

 So, anyway.

Some Canning Resources I dig:

Pressure vs. Water Bath Canning by The Canning Granny 

Presto's Own FAQ Page.  Very helpful.  

Pick Your Own is always a great resource despite it's kinda crazy, all over the place, cartoonish vibe. Look at the left hand margin under "Resources," and you will see the links for pickling, canning, freezing, etc. This Fig Jam is a good post if you have a fig tree (like me!).  

I got my accessories from amazon, the Presto 7 Function Canning Kit.  I love it, but wish it had a stainless steel vs. a plastic funnel.  I just need to get a metal funnel, I don't want hot canning liquids leaching out BPA from some plastic funnel!  

You can also order jars, lids, etc. on Amazon, or actually, many grocery stores have them!  Like my favorite store in all the land, Wegmans :-)

Next up...How to Candy Some Cowboys!  

Homesteading it, October 1st through October 31st, 2012

Pressure Cooker Black-Eyed Stew

For you new readers (hey guys!) and anyone unfamiliar with the term "fazool," I wanted to explain the derivation.  The traditional Italian dish of pasta with beans, "pasta e fagioli," is otherwise known as "pasta fazool." So, my blog is "vegan fazool," to celebrate my foremothers and to carry on the Italian tradition of lovingly cooking plant-based foods (beans especially!) in novel and delicious ways.

I have bags and bags of dried beans in my pantry, and although I love to eat freshly made beans, I am tired of all the soaking and boiling, boiling, boiling.  So, I finally decided that in order to make efficient use of those beans, I had to do something different.

Enter, pressure cooker!

Here is my brand-new, lovingly washed and dried,  Six Quart Presto Pressure Cooker!

Even though for everything but lentils and black-eyed peas, you still have to soak them, you can cook them super fast in a pressure cooker.

I decided to try black-eyed peas today since they didn't have to be soaked.  I used the classic French mirepoix as a stew base and went from there.

Fazool Stew (Pressure Cooker Black-Eyed Stew):

1 cup dried black-eyed peas (you don't have to soak them!)
3 cups liquid (whatever you like: water, veggie stock, water and wine, you can also use bouillon dissolved in warm water first if you want to do it that way, I recommend Rapunzel veggie bouillon it's excellent).
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 carrots, peeled and chopped
2 celery stalks, chopped
½ a small onion, chopped
1 bay leaf
½ tsp dried thyme
½ tsp fresh or dried rosemary

Put everything in the pressure cooker.  Bring to pressure and cook for four minutes.  Remove from heat.  Let pot come back down to pressure on it’s own (about 15 minutes).  Add salt to taste at the end (if you add it during it may make the beans tough).  That’s it. I love my new pressure cooker!

Here are the pics:

 The dancing carrot.

 Everything is in the cooker and ready to go!

 Bringing it to pressure took about nine minutes.

 Action shot! The pressure cap "rocking" back and forth, a little steam escaping. Allow four minutes of gentle "rocking" (I turned the heat down to about medium to get it to rock gently) then turn it off.

 After about 15 minutes of letting the pot depressurize on its own, the stew is done!

 Wha La!

My son ate two bowls of it and so did I.

Until tomorrow, MoFoers!