She preserves family traditions by putting a modern twist on canning
When it comes to cooking and love of family, Jamie DeMent prides herself on being an old-fashioned girl. She treasures childhood memories of helping her grandmother put up squash pickles and annually counts the days from late fall to early spring, pining for the first sprouts of green to appear at Coon Rock Farm in Hillsborough.
“I take full advantage of living on a farm,” says DeMent, author of “Canning in the Modern Kitchen: More than 100 Recipes for Canning and Cooking Fruits, Vegetables, and Meats,” published this month by Rodale Books. “I get obsessive about canning one vegetable or fruit or another from May to Thanksgiving.”
But when DeMent started work on the recipes for her book, she was surprised to discover that some of Nanny’s best recipes don’t meet the modern safety standards set by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
“I’ve water-bath-canned plenty of pumpkin butter over the years, but science now says that even processing in a pressure canner won’t get the contents hot enough to kill botulism,” explains DeMent, referring to the unseen and often odorless contaminant that can cause serious illness.
“I kept those favorite recipes in the book, but now I follow USDA recommendations and freeze them instead,” she said.
Curiously, her grandmother seemed to be ahead of the curve on applesauce, which she opted to keep in the freezer.
“She taught me to shave it off, kind of like an applesauce granita,” she says. “It’s great with cinnamon whipped cream. Kind of fancy, and it’s yummy, too.”
DeMent started working on her canning book shortly after finishing “The Farmhouse Chef: Recipes and Stories from My Carolina Farm,” which was published last year by UNC Press. Rodale passed on an option to publish that cookbook, but liked her preserving stories so much that it solicited this one.
DeMent says she was given carte blanche to shape the book however she liked, so long as it covered all aspects of modern preserving – including meat.
“For me, that was a major learning curve,” she says. “I had never canned that in my life.”
Testing proved challenging. Unlike most recipes, which are consumed when completed, canned foods typically need to rest for a period of time. Also, opening a jar of canned ground meat, which will congeal at room temperature, doesn’t deliver the same sort of sensory pleasure as opening one filled with deeply aromatic roasted tomatoes.
“There were several times I thought I had done something wrong, but in fact they came out perfect,” DeMent says. “It’s a brilliant trick for having cooked meat ready to go. You can open a can of tomato sauce and a jar of canned meat, and have amazing meat sauce ready for dinner in five minutes.”
If the visual of gelatinous canned meat doesn’t inspire you, consider her recipes for canned tuna and salmon. Make these when you see fresh catch on sale and you’ll be astounded by their superiority to grocery store versions.
Currently busy putting up a bounty of seasonal peaches and tomatoes, DeMent shares a few of her favorite recipes from the book. A hint of rosemary gives peach jam a new dimension that can take it from toast to dessert topping.
While she provides suggestions for turning tomatoes into savory sauce, DeMent also offers a zippy twist for pickling colorful cherry tomatoes, as well as a freezer-friendly recipe for pesto. Pair the last two with a big bowl of hot pasta, toss with drained, pickled tomatoes warmed in fat from bacon crumbles and some robust blue cheese, and you’ve got the makings of a luscious summer supper – one that can be enjoyed now or, thanks to modern preserving, on a cold winter night.
Details
For more on Jamie DeMent and her books, go to jamiedement.com/. The following events are scheduled.
▪ Sept. 8: 2 p.m. book signing at McIntyre’s Books, Fearrington Village, Pittsboro
▪ Sept. 20: 6:30 p.m. Cook the Book dinner at Piedmont Restaurant, Durham
▪ Oct. 2: 5 p.m. demo and book signing at The Country Bookshop, Southern Pines
▪ Nov. 4: 2 p.m. demo, book signing and meal with Main Street Books and Wooden Stone Gallery in Davidson
Pickled Cherry Tomatoes
You can’t turn all tomatoes into sauce. This is a fun way to preserve those sweet cherry tomatoes. I always use a mix of colors so the jars look pretty on the shelf, and that also makes things more fun when you are plating them later. This same recipe can be used for full-size ripe and green tomatoes. Just cut them into 1-inch chunks and directly substitute.
4 pints cherry tomatoes
4 cups apple cider vinegar
1 cup water
4 tablespoons sugar
4 tablespoons kosher salt
4 cloves garlic, crushed
2 teaspoons whole peppercorns
8 small sprigs fresh oregano
Get your boiling-water-bath canning equipment ready and have your jars sterilized and ready.
Poke a small hole all the way through each cherry tomato or slice bigger ones in half.
In a large stainless steel pot over high heat, bring the vinegar, water, sugar, and salt to a boil, stirring occasionally to dissolve the sugar.
Evenly distribute the tomatoes, garlic, peppercorns and oregano among hot, sterilized jars. Pack the tomatoes in closely but don’t squish them.
Carefully ladle or pour the hot brine to cover the tomatoes in the jars completely, leaving 1⁄2-inch of headspace. Gently tap the jars to remove air bubbles.
Wipe the rim of each jar carefully with a clean towel to ensure a good seal, and carefully place the lids and rims on.
Follow your boiling-water-bath canning process and process for 15 minutes.
Yield: Makes 4 pints
Recipes reprinted from “Canning in the Modern Kitchen.” Copyright 2018 by Jamie DeMent. Photographs copyright 2018 by Mitch Mandel. Published by Rodale Books, an imprint of the Crown Publishing Group, a division of Penguin Random House LLC.
Peach-Rosemary Jam
Peach jam is one of my favorites. It tastes so perfect paired with salted butter on toast that it’s almost a crime to ever do anything else with it. That being said, this jam, especially with the rosemary addition, is so versatile. Aside from being a divine toast companion, it’s wonderful in cookies, on roll-ups, and as a dessert topping.
4 pounds fresh peaches
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1⁄2 cup water
3 cups sugar
4 sprigs fresh rosemary, washed and patted dry
Get your boiling-water-bath canning equipment ready and have your jars sterilized and ready.
Fill a large bowl with ice water and set to the side. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Drop the peaches into the boiling water, making sure they are all submerged. (Work in batches, if necessary.)
Blanch the peaches for about 3 minutes, or until you can easily peel the skin off a cooled peach by hand.
Using a slotted spoon, carefully transfer the peaches to the ice water. Let them cool in the water for 1 minute.
Using your fingers, quickly remove the skins from all the peaches. Cut the peaches in half, remove the pits, and cut the halves into 1⁄2-inch chunks. Place in another large bowl. Add the lemon juice and gently stir to evenly coat the peaches (this prevents them from turning brown). If you want really smooth jam, run the mixture through a food processor.
In a large pot over medium heat, combine the 1⁄2 cup water and sugar, stirring until the sugar is dissolved. Add the peaches and stir to combine. With a large fork, potato masher, or ricer, crush the peaches as you stir. Break up the pieces to your desired consistency. Stir in the rosemary sprigs. (Do not remove the leaves from the stems.)
Cook the jam over medium heat, stirring frequently to keep it from burning on the bottom. The cooking time will depend on how much moisture was in the raw peaches: It can take anywhere from 30 minutes to 2 hours. After 30 minutes, use the cold-plate test to determine when the jam has reached the right consistency.
When the jam is done, use a slotted spoon to remove and discard the rosemary sprigs. Carefully ladle or pour the hot jam into hot, sterilized jars, leaving 1⁄2-inch of headspace.
Wipe the rim of each jar carefully with a clean towel to ensure a good seal, and carefully place the lids and rims on.
Follow your boiling-water-bath canning process and process for 10 minutes.
Yield: Makes 6-7 half-pints
Recipes reprinted from “Canning in the Modern Kitchen.” Copyright 2018 by Jamie DeMent. Photographs copyright 2018 by Mitch Mandel. Published by Rodale Books, an imprint of the Crown Publishing Group, a division of Penguin Random House LLC.
Pesto
Pesto is a magic ingredient in my kitchen. I put it on pasta and pizzas, in omelettes and sandwiches, and dress all kids of meat with it. You can freeze it in half-pint jars or, for smaller use, in ice cube trays. To use, just take out of the freezer and thaw on the counter for an hour.
4 cups packed basil, arugula or mizuna leaves
1 cup pecan or walnut pieces
1 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
6 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon kosher salt, or more as needed
2 cups extra-virgin olive oil
Have your sterilized jars or plastic containers ready.
In a food processor or high-powered mixer, combine the basil, nuts, Parmesan, garlic and 1 teaspoon salt and pulse to blend. With the machine running, pour in the oil through the food tube in a slow, steady stream and process until smooth, stopping to scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed. Taste and adjust the salt as needed.
Spoon into sterilized containers and use immediately or store in the freezer. Leave 1/2-inch of headspace if freezing.
Yield: Makes 7-8 half-pints
Recipes reprinted from “Canning in the Modern Kitchen.” Copyright 2018 by Jamie DeMent. Photographs copyright 2018 by Mitch Mandel. Published by Rodale Books, an imprint of the Crown Publishing Group, a division of Penguin Random House LLC.
This story was originally published August 21, 2018 at 7:00 AM with the headline "She preserves family traditions by putting a modern twist on canning."