Jalapeno Poppers

It's that time of year again when the garden is in full swing.  And that means hours in the kitchen putting food by for the coming year.  This week I made some jalapeno poppers for the freezer, so they'll always be ready for a party or, at our house, a good card game!

Jalapeno Poppers

·        1 1/2 cups shredded Jack Cheese (I used cheddar cheese)

·        1 cup flour

·        2 cups buttermilk pancake mix

·        1 3/4 cup water

·        canola oil for frying

Aprox. 2 dozen Jalapeno peppers    
  Panko (optional)

1.  Wearing gloves, make a slit in the side of each jalapeno and remove seeds. Grate the cheese

     

 2.     For each jalapeno, take a small amount of cheese, squeeze it together to form a little log, and place inside the peppers. Squeezing the cheese into logs will make stuffing the peppers much easier.

3.   Place the flour in a shallow pan or dish. Dredge the stuffed jalapenos in flour.

4.    Pour at least two inches of canola oil in a deep, heavy pan. Heat to 350 degrees.

5.     Make the batter. Mix the pancake mix and water until thick and smooth. Holding the stem of the jalapeno, dip in the batter, then sprinkle with Panko and place in the hot oil.

  

(The Panko is optional.  However, I like the crispy coating it gives to the poppers.

In my opinion, Panko makes everything better!!)

Only cook three or four poppers at a time, so they have room to swim around and won't stick together. Fry each side for 2 to 3 minutes.

6.     Drain the poppers on a rack, and allow to cool for a few minutes before serving. The cheese is extremely hot. 

7.     To freeze the poppers. After draining off the excess grease, place the poppers on a clean flat plate or baking pan, leaving space in between the poppers. Cover with wax or parchment paper. Place in freezer for three to four hours, or until completely frozen. Then put the poppers in a freezer bag and label.

8.    To reheat frozen poppers, and keep that crunch do not microwave. Heat your oven to 375 degrees. Place poppers on a baking sheet and bake for 10 to 15 minutes, or until heated through.

I usually heat just a few at a time in the toaster oven and serve with sour cream. 

(no thawing necessary) 

And don't forget to save some seeds for next year!

HOMEMADE APPLESAUCE

APPLESAUCE IS SOOO EASY TO MAKE.  It can be a little time consuming though.  (and a little messy!) But I have say, homemade applesauce is well worth the effort.  Once you've had homemade, you'll never be able to go back to store bought.  


The best applesauce has been made with a variety of apples.  Here are a few tips to help guide you in your apple choices.


Choose:
McIntosh for pink color

Red Delicious for mild flavor and color
Yellow Delicious and Cortland for sweetness
Rome for fragrance
Winesap for tartness


I like to find an apple that is sweet all by itself so there will be no need to add any sugar.  This time, I used Yellow Delicious and a few Red Delicious and Fugi apples for color.  This batch of applesauce still turned out to be fairly yellow.


Begin by washing your apples, and cutting them into smaller chunks (quartered) and cut out any bad spots.


Place apples in a large pot with about a 1/2 an inch of water in the bottom.  If you would like to try a spicy applesauce, add a few whole cloves as well.  Cover and steam.  Remove the apples to the strainer.  (I reserve the juice and add it back to the applesauce later as needed)

the Victorio separates the pulp
 from the seeds and  skins

Notice the difference in color.
The first batch contained more "red" apples"

And whalah! You have applesauce. 

 I used a Victorio Strainer.  You could also use a small strainer like this one, but of course it will be a lot more work.  I don't add sugar or spice to my applesauce, but you could.  

When finished, just season it to taste.   We enjoy ours au'naturel.  Hubs doesn't like cinnamon. So I just add it to mine when I eat it.  I don't bother to can it either, just put it in containers and freeze when it's completely cooled.

The Best Pickle Ever!

I saw that Tammy posted a pickle recipe, so I thought I would put my favorite up.  I found this recipe on the web as a Claussen type of pickle.  I tweaked it to my taste:

Claussen Pickle Recipe

4 Quart Jars

Ingredients

• ·  Cucumbers to fill the jars
• 1/3 cup instant minced onion
• 6 garlic cloves, minced
•  1/2 tablespoon mustard seeds
• 4-8 heads fresh dill (put 2 small ones or 1 large one in each jar!)
• 1 dried hot pepper for each jar
•  1 1/2 quarts waters
• 2 cups cider vinegar
• 1/2 cup canning salt

Directions

1. Slice your cucumbers how you like them (slices, quarters, halves, or just leave them whole!  I've tried them each way and it doesn't seem to make a difference.)  Add the dill and hot pepper with the cucumbers into the jars.
2. Boil liquids and seasonings to dissolve the salt then cool.  
3. Pour the liquid over the pickles and let sit on the counter turning them occasionally for three days.
4. Place in the fridge.  You can do a taste test in a week or two!

PIZZA SAUCE- All purpose sauce

PIZZA SAUCE
makes a great all-purpose

INGREDIENTS

*1 gallon tomato juice

2 t. salt (if needed)

1 t. pepper

2 T. garlic salt

1 ½ cups diced onion, sautéed in oil

2 T. oregano

4 t. chili powder

1 ½ T. brown sugar

1 sm can of paste (add toward the end of cooking)

Cook until thick. Add paste. Seal jars in a water bath for approx. 10 min.

*I cook fresh from the garden tomatoes until soft and pour off the excess juice before smooshing the tomatoes into juice. This cuts the cooking time way down. I can that excess juice and use in soups and marinades, meatloaf and more.

CANNING PICKLED BEETS

Pickled Beets

Scrub beets WELL keeping a bit of the stems and root in tact.

 Beets must be cooked slightly before the canning process. 

 This enables you to get the skins off easily before packing them into jars. 

 I cook my beets quickly in the pressure cooker for 5-6 minutes (depends on their size) on 15 lbs of pressure. 

 If you are not using a pressure cooker, place the beets in a large stockpot and cover with water. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to medium, cover and cook until fork tender, approximately 25 to 30 minutes.

 Remove from heat. 

Drain the beets, reserving the juice.

The skins will slip right off the cooked beets. Slice or cut the beets placing them directly into sterilized jars leaving 1/4 inch headspace.

 Mix up the brine:

4 cups of sugar

3 cups of water 

1 1/2 cups of vinegar

1 tsp salt

1 tsp pepper

Add the brine.

Run a thin spatula or non-metallic utensil through each jar to remove air bubbles. Wipe the jar rims with a damp paper towel. Add the caps and bands. Place the filled jars on the rack in a water bath canner. The tops of the jars should be completely immersed... add additional hot water if needed. 

Process in a boiling water bath for 10 minutes.

(Start timing as soon as the water begins to boil). Remove the jars from canner. 

Cool, test seals, label and store.

This recipe is for approx. 1-1 1/2 pecks of beets,.

These beets can be eaten cold, with pickled eggs (a Pennsylvania Dutch treat) , or served as Harvard beets by adding cornstarch before cooking.

PRESERVING- Dill Pickles

With all the extreme heat this summer, my dill has gone CRAZY! However it seems that the dill that seeds itself from the year before is always ready for a cutting before the pickles are ready for pickling, and the dill that I plant is not ready in time. So to fix this problem, I just dry my dill if it cannot be used immediately. Any leftovers can be used the following year. The same is also true for my cayenne peppers. (used in this particular recipe) I just dry them in the dehydrator and use them as I need them. They will keep for a long time if kept in an air tight container.

Check out this HUGE head of dill. It is the same size as the dehydrator.

I use this simple recipe for my pickles. I don't can pickles in the traditional way, but rather jar them, uncooked, and store them in our extra fridge. To date, the jars are piling up and I'm running out room to store them- the one drawback to making these claussen style pickles.

My Favorite Dill Pickle Recipe

4 qts med sized cucumbers

4 c. vinegar

1 c. salt

3 qt water

For each quart:

2 sprays dill

1 clove garlic

1 small hot red pepper

Wash cucumbers and let stand in cold water overnight. Pack cukes in jars. Combine other ing. And bring to boil. Fill jars with brine, and store in a cool dark place.