For something different, try pickled pumpkin
Can and serve garden bounty in winter
You know the children’s rhyme about pickled peppers? Try one about pickled pumpkin, a treat for the grown-ups to match the kids’ Halloween candy.
Pickled pumpkin was on the menu — rather, the course list — at a recent City Arts Centre canning class taught by Amy Beaith-Johnson and Molly MacDougall. Sessions were booked solid for the duo’s first year of teaching at both City Arts and Metro Continuing Education. Part heritage-skill revival, part DIY-foodie, canning is making a comeback and the results reach far beyond your mother’s strawberry jam.
Beaith-Johnson and MacDougall volunteer with Operation Fruit Rescue Edmonton (operationfruitrescue.org), which picks and processes produce homeowners can’t or don’t want to use. That means they’re well aware of the surplus fruits and veggies abounding each autumn.
“The canning is to help people know what to do with the bounty,” says Beaith-Johnson. Another group learned how to make apple pie filling, “like the kind in a can but a healthy version,” she explains.
Even in the dead of winter, Brad Lazarenko will bring summer memories to life at Culina at the Muttart (9626 96A St.; 780-4661181; culinafamily.com). Preserved peppers and tomatoes will help him meet the challenge of making it through winter without buying produce outside the province.
Culina creativity will be shared through classes offered at the Muttart this fall. Students will try recipes like Cindy Lazarenko’s Carrot Cake Jam — complete with raisins.
“It’s delicious,” says Brad, “You can spread it on toast with cream cheese.”
In keeping it close to home, The Jam Lady Donna Borody proposes an alternative to the fig jam some customers ask for, describing “a local campaign to introduce the gooseberry as Alberta’s fig. They are tart and refreshing.”
Borody hears from shoppers who are taking preserves beyond breakfast, “I get questions like, ‘how can I use this product in my cooking?’” She adds, “It’s nice to see people back in the kitchen and cooking instead of just warming up things.”
For Slow Food Edmonton president Cynthia Strawson (slowfoodedmonton.ca), canning can be part of an overall seasonal strategy. “When winter or autumn rolls upon us, how do we continue to cook healthy food from scratch?”
Strawson helped her mother with fall preserving, and acknowledges it can be intimidating to the uninitiated. She points out canning doesn’t have to be an all-day affair. “You can do micro-canning and just do a jar, or you can just do a single batch.”
Lazarenko suggests a social occasion, “It’s a great thing to do when you get a bunch of people together.”
There are some important food safety procedures when it comes to sterilization and avoiding spoilage. If you can’t attend a class there is a wealth of information online. The ATCO Blue Flame Kitchen website’s how-to section on preserving includes recipes, plus notes on canning at higher altitudes like Calgary and Edmonton. Go to atcoblueflamekitchen.com
Is there anything you can’t can? Beaith-Johnson says it’s important to know the difference between lowacid and high-acid foods and can accordingly.
Boil, or water-bath, canning is the method typically used for jams, jellies and pickles. Pressure canning is necessary for low-acid foods like carrots or beets. Beaith-Johnson recently pressure-canned beets in water to bake with during the winter. Find her recipe for Vegan Beet Muffins on her website UrbanFoodPreserver.com.
Strawson loves to receive canning as gifts, saying, “It reflects a year of effort from that person.”
Slow Food volunteers will be showcasing that care in the months ahead. Slow Food is collaborating on private classes for women at an area women’s shelter. The series kicks off with a canning class, taught by Johwanna Alleyne of Mojo Jojo Pickles (587-881-1156; mojojojopickles.com).
Call 311 to register for canning courses at the Muttart on Thursday, Nov. 1, or on Nov. 8, or check metrocontinuingeducation.ca for information on their winter courses. Find The Jam Lady products at Culina, Bon Ton Bakery, Mundare Sausage and occasionally through the winter at the City Market Downtown.
Pickled Pumpkin
(Courtesy of Amy BeaithJohnson, who advises, “If you plan on using your Halloween pumpkin for this, best to use a candle in a jar, or on a plate inside the carved-out pumpkin.”)
See urban food preserver. com for tips 1 large pumpkin 6 cups (1.4 L) white sugar 3 cups (700 mL) white vinegar or pickling vinegar white vinegar is 5 per cent and pickling vinegar is 7 per cent) 1 tsp (5 mL) whole cloves 1 broken cinnamon stick 2-3 pieces crystallized
ginger 1 whole piece nutmeg (optional) Peel pumpkin, remove seeds, and cut into 5-cm cubes.
Bring sugar, vinegar to a boil over high heat in large stainless steel or enamel saucepan. Stir until sugar is dissolved. Tie cloves, cinnamon sticks, and ginger into cheesecloth to make a spice bag. Add to sugar brine. Reduce heat. Boil gently 5 minutes.
Add cubed pumpkin pieces. Return to a boil. Reduce heat, cover, and boil gently for 25 minutes or until pumpkin is tender but pieces still hold shape. Stir frequently. After 25 minutes discard spice bag.
Pack pumpkin tightly into hot sterilized jars by removing pieces from hot liquid with slotted spoon. Pour sugar brine over pumpkin, leaving 1.25-cm headspace. Wipe rims with a clean cloth, place lids and screw bands on until fingertip tight. Process for 15 minutes for pint (500mL) jars and 20 minutes for quart (1L) jars. Remove jars. Let cool on tea towel undisturbed. Check seals after 24 hours.
Anything that hasn’t popped or sealed properly can be consumed immediately and refrigerated. Jars with effective seals can be stored for up to a year. Best enjoyed a minimum of 2 weeks after making them. Makes five 500 mL jars. Depending on the size of the pumpkin, you may need to make more of the sugar brine. Always use the same proportion as in recipe: 2 parts sugar to 1 part vinegar.