I realize now that making a case of salsa (12 pints) for the year was excessive, so I only made five more pints to go with the five pints leftover from last year's canned batch. Although, now that I am eating the stuff that didn't make it into the jar, this recipe ratio is really good. Slightly sweeter than the default batch. What a difference ripe tomatoes and sweet peppers make.
And the best part? No onions.
Makes: 5 pints + 1 cup
Heat: mild
Ingredient Ratio
1 green bell pepper, small dice
1 red bell pepper, small dice
1 orange bell pepper, small dice
12 tomatillos, washed/peeled, quartered
12 green jalapenos, stemmed/seeded
2 red Fresno chiles, stemmed/seeded
2 heads of garlic, cloves peeled and roughly chopped
5 lbs ripe vine tomatoes, quartered
1 bunch cilantro, finely chopped
juice of 2 fresh limes
2 tbsp kosher salt
Add all to a stockpot and bring to a boil. Cook for 1.5 hours.
I ended up having to cook this on a simmer heat for an additional hour to get to a salsa consistency (not watery and thick enough to be held on a tortilla chip). I also used a slotted spoon to fill the jars and I had more than a pint of 'salsa water' leftover, which I haven't used for anything.
The garlic got a rough chop in the food processor.
These items got pureed together: tomatillos, jalapenos, red Anaheim chiles
I also used an immersion blender, but didn't blend the whole batch. Though, the sauce wouldn't be in the chunky category for salsa.
I've been sterilizing washed jars in the oven at 170 F (lowest the oven can go) for 30 minutes.
The lids and bands, get the boiling water treatment. I have yet to get food poisoning using these methods.
Processed in a boiling water bath for 30 minutes. Really, canning time is just under an hour since after you add the jars to the water, it has to come back up to temperature, even though everything is already hot.
Remove from heat and set on racks to cool. Tap on lids after jars have cooled for an hour to check seals. Leave to cool completely for 24 hours. Once you're sure that the jars are sealed properly, you can store the jars with or without the metal band.
Sweet Garlic Grilled Chicken
Yes, two sets of directions on the same recipe means that I've done this recipe twice. Once on an outdoor gas grill and again using a gas oven broiler.
Chicken Marinade
6-8 large garlic cloves, minced
1/4 c brown sugar
2 tbsp raw honey
1/3 c light soy sauce
3 tbsp white vinegar
1/2 c water
2 tbsp olive oil
2 lbs organic chicken parts (I used drumsticks)
Marinade chicken for 30 minutes or overnight.
The leftover marinade is quite watery. You can reduce it to a 'sauce' by adding 1-2 tsp cornstarch and simmer it until it thickens. Then use this sauce to baste the chicken as it cooks.
Heat: 300 F
Time: 30 total (15 minutes each side)
Above heat/time is for an outdoor gas grill.
To broil in a gas oven:
Heat: 500 F
Time: 10 mins one side, 10-15 mins reverse side
Distance to flame: 2nd rack from the top
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| TheFoodeningBlog - sweet grilled garlic chicken |
6-8 large garlic cloves, minced
1/4 c brown sugar
2 tbsp raw honey
1/3 c light soy sauce
3 tbsp white vinegar
1/2 c water
2 tbsp olive oil
2 lbs organic chicken parts (I used drumsticks)
Marinade chicken for 30 minutes or overnight.
The leftover marinade is quite watery. You can reduce it to a 'sauce' by adding 1-2 tsp cornstarch and simmer it until it thickens. Then use this sauce to baste the chicken as it cooks.
Heat: 300 F
Time: 30 total (15 minutes each side)
Above heat/time is for an outdoor gas grill.
Heat: 500 F
Time: 10 mins one side, 10-15 mins reverse side
Distance to flame: 2nd rack from the top
Crockpot Pulled Pork
This recipe ratio turned out tasting very good. There were a few changes to how I did this. The first being the lack of apple juice (one cup). I substituted one cup of unsweetened apple butter (made from winesap apples) plus one cup of water. Also, I didn't toss the cooking liquid from the crockpot, instead I reserved it to a pot and simmered it until it had the consistency of barbecue sauce again. This yielded 2.5 cups of sauce. The cut of pork that was used is called "country pork rib", and you can get this in a large multipack from Costco. It's the same cut style of pork that I use for my kimchi pork soup. The only onions in this batch is what is in the BBQ sauce.
Total prep/cooking time: 8 hours
Yields: 1 quart pulled pork (for 2 lbs of meat)
Ingredients
Note: If you don't have a crockpot or slow cooker, you can also use a dutch oven and bake the pork until tender for 4 hours at 325 F.
Total prep/cooking time: 8 hours
Yields: 1 quart pulled pork (for 2 lbs of meat)
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| TheFoodening Blog - pulled pork |
2-3 lbs boneless country pork rib
1 c unsweetened apple juice, or 1 c unsweetened apple butter plus 1 c water
4 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 c brown sugar
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/4 tsp fresh ground black pepper
1 c BBQ sauce (I used Trader Joe's Kansas City BBQ sauce)
Directions
In the crockpot, place pork on the bottom. Cover with cloves, apple butter, brown sugar, salt, pepper, and barbecue sauce. Add the water to the bottom (don't wash off the stuff on top of the pork).
Set the crockpot to high for 2 hours. Then, set the crockpot to low for 4 hours. After the 6 hour mark, drain the crockpot of its liquid to a separate pot, leaving a half inch of liquid at the bottom of the crockpot. Cook pork for an additional hour. Turn off heat and use two forks to shred the pork.
In the separate pot with the cooking liquid, simmer the liquid on low heat until it has more than reduced by half of its liquid volume. It should be somewhat runnier than the barbecue sauce that went into it but thick enough that it isn't watery.
Take a half cup of the reduced sauce and pour it over the shredded pork. Stir to combine.
If you made the hamburger buns from the previous post, split those in half and place a good amount of pulled pork on the bottom bun and cover it with the top bun. Enjoy!
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| TheFoodening Blog - pulled pork on a homemade bun |
Quick Hamburger Buns
Made this to go with the pulled pork. Don't let the dough rise. That's all I have to say. Although, it'll rise somewhat after shaping the buns as the oven heats up to temperature. The first batch, I have no idea what happened. It turned into some lumpy, soupy mess. But the second time around, the dough came together just fine. The order of operations certainly is a factor here. Onto the recipe...
From mixing to kneading to forming into buns to baking, the prep takes less than an hour.
Makes: 7 buns (at 4 oz to 4.25 oz raw dough)
Ingredients
1 c warm water
2 tbsp active dry yeast
1 large egg
1/3 c olive oil
1 tsp kosher salt
2 tbsp + 1 tsp organic granulated sugar
3 cups all purpose flour + more for kneading
(optional) 1 egg + 2 tbsp water, for brushing tops of buns
Preheat oven to 425 F.
Directions
In a large mixing bowl, add yeast to warm water plus 1 tsp sugar. If the yeast does nothing within 10 minutes (e.g., does not foam or make bubbles), toss it out and try again with fresher yeast.
Add the oil, sugar, and salt. Let the mixture sit for 5 minutes.
Whisk in the egg.
One cup at a time, whisk in three cups of flour. By now the dough should be a little runny but smooth. Turn dough out onto a floured board and knead until it isn't sticky any more.
At this point between flouring the board and kneading, I may have added up to a cup more flour.
If you don't have a kitchen scale, divide the dough into six equal pieces. If you do have a scale, make 4 oz balls of dough. Place buns a couple inches apart on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet. Brush tops of buns with egg wash.
Bake for 10 minutes. Cool on a rack.
Note: if you divide the dough into 12 pieces, you'll be making buns large enough for sliders
Note2: It would appear this is the second time I've written this recipe up. Although, the buns came out really good and not small like what happened before..
From mixing to kneading to forming into buns to baking, the prep takes less than an hour.
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| TheFoodening Blog - hamburger buns |
Makes: 7 buns (at 4 oz to 4.25 oz raw dough)
Ingredients
1 c warm water
2 tbsp active dry yeast
1 large egg
1/3 c olive oil
1 tsp kosher salt
2 tbsp + 1 tsp organic granulated sugar
3 cups all purpose flour + more for kneading
(optional) 1 egg + 2 tbsp water, for brushing tops of buns
Preheat oven to 425 F.
Directions
In a large mixing bowl, add yeast to warm water plus 1 tsp sugar. If the yeast does nothing within 10 minutes (e.g., does not foam or make bubbles), toss it out and try again with fresher yeast.
Add the oil, sugar, and salt. Let the mixture sit for 5 minutes.
Whisk in the egg.
One cup at a time, whisk in three cups of flour. By now the dough should be a little runny but smooth. Turn dough out onto a floured board and knead until it isn't sticky any more.
At this point between flouring the board and kneading, I may have added up to a cup more flour.
If you don't have a kitchen scale, divide the dough into six equal pieces. If you do have a scale, make 4 oz balls of dough. Place buns a couple inches apart on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet. Brush tops of buns with egg wash.
Bake for 10 minutes. Cool on a rack.
Note: if you divide the dough into 12 pieces, you'll be making buns large enough for sliders
Note2: It would appear this is the second time I've written this recipe up. Although, the buns came out really good and not small like what happened before..
Marinade for Mushroom Kabobs
Originally I thought about using this marinade for both the brown (cremini) and white mushrooms, but ended up just using the brown mushrooms with red and green bell peppers. I only have aged balsamic vinegar and it seemed a waste to use a tasting vinegar for a marinade so I used half balsamic and half rice vinegar for the vinegar part.
Makes: 9 skewers (using 10" bamboo skewers)
Ingredients
8 oz brown cremini mushrooms, stems trimmed
8 oz grape or cherry tomatoes
1 large red bell pepper, sliced into 1" pieces
1 large green bell pepper, sliced into 1" pieces
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
2 tablespoons olive oil
3 cloves garlic, pressed
2 tbsp fresh parsley leaves, chopped
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp dried basil
Kosher salt and fresh ground black pepper, to taste
Directions
Combine all items in a resealable container. Shake to coat everything with the marinade. Refrigerate for an hour or until ready to use.
To grill:
Stab vegetables and mushrooms in an alternating order (for variety!). Grill vegetables for 10-15 minutes, rotating at the half way mark until the mushrooms are done. The bell peppers can be slightly charred.
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| The Foodening Blog - grilled mushroom and vegetable kabobs |
Makes: 9 skewers (using 10" bamboo skewers)
Ingredients
8 oz brown cremini mushrooms, stems trimmed
8 oz grape or cherry tomatoes
1 large red bell pepper, sliced into 1" pieces
1 large green bell pepper, sliced into 1" pieces
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
2 tablespoons olive oil
3 cloves garlic, pressed
2 tbsp fresh parsley leaves, chopped
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp dried basil
Kosher salt and fresh ground black pepper, to taste
Directions
Combine all items in a resealable container. Shake to coat everything with the marinade. Refrigerate for an hour or until ready to use.
To grill:
Stab vegetables and mushrooms in an alternating order (for variety!). Grill vegetables for 10-15 minutes, rotating at the half way mark until the mushrooms are done. The bell peppers can be slightly charred.
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