Here are some pointers on storing vegetables. If your conditions aren't just right, don't worry -- your veggies will still store, just not as long. Be sure to monitor your stored crops every 2-3 weeks and sort out ones that are turning.

Root veggies and tubers
Wash and lightly scrub and store in plastic pails or perforated poly bags, best at 31°-33°F / 0°C with high humidity. If you wash them first, they stain less in storage. In a plastic pail, monitor moisture weekly, regulating it with the lid position, more or less ajar. You don't want drying out, nor do you want root surfaces to have visible water droplets. And give the roots some space - don't pack them tightly in the pail - for example, arrange a loose layer of parallel carrots, then run the second row the other direction.

Onions, shallots, garlic
Keep these cold, like roots, but not so humid. Use onion bags or airy boxes.

Cabbage
Cold and humid like roots. You can also pile heads in the cold corner of the porch or detached garage and cover with hay, leaves, etc. If a cabbage head is a bit frozen, allow it to thaw slowly, like over a day or two, and the leaves will be undamaged.

Brussels sprouts
Remove leaves, store like cabbage. They will be good for a month or so. For longer keeping, retain the roots and stand up the plants in 5-gallon pails with some soil in the bottom. Sprinkle the soil to keep it moist.

Leeks
Lift leeks with a fork and trim leaves (optional) to 8" long. Pack them upright in 5 G (19 L) plastic pails with 2 in (5 cm) moist soil at the bottom. Humid and cold like roots. Add water as needed to keep soil moist.

Peppers
Medium-cold (40°-50°F / 5°-10°C) and humid.

Tomatoes
Cool (45°-65°F / 7°-18°C), ideally also humid (80%+).

Squash/pumpkin
Cool (50°-60°F / 10°-16°C), rather dry (50%RH).

Source: Johnny's Selected Seeds monthly e-newsletter

Photo: Newfoundland root cellar courtesy of Raphael Borja

Posted by at 2:23 PM | Permalink

Although this appears at first glance to be quite labor intensive, the labors are spread out over several days and the result is well worth any effort. Do make this when peppers in the market are fresh from local farms and gardens, not shipped in from far away. The flavors will be that much better and more intense.

The balance of sweet and hot peppers is really up to you: If you have mildly spicy peppers, like New Mexico or Anaheim peppers, for instance, make Pepone with those on their own; but if, on the other hand, the only chiles available are fiercely hot—like Scotch bonnets—you might want to cut down on the quantity of chilies and increase the amount of sweet peppers.

Makes 4 pints

Ingredients:
6 pounds green and red sweet peppers
2 medium carrots, peeled
1 quart white wine vinegar
1 large white onion
2 cups extra-virgin olive oil
15 fresh hot red chilies
4 plump garlic cloves
3 celery stalks
2 tablespoons sea salt

Procedure:
Wash and thoroughly dry the peppers and chiles, then cut them in half, discarding the seeds and white internal membranes. Chop the peppers, chiles, celery, carrots, onion, and rather coarsely by hand. Transfer the chopped vegetables to a bowl and add the salt. Set aside for 24 hours, but do not refrigerate. The vegetables will give off quite a lot of liquid. At the end of that time, turn into a colander, rinse the salt off thoroughly under running water, and set to drain. Transfer to a bowl, cover with the vinegar, and set aside for another 24 hours.

Have ready 4 pint (or 8 half-pint) sterile canning jars.

Drain the vegetables in a colander, but do not rinse. Fill the jars with vegetables, then olive oil, which should completely cover the chopped vegetables. Push a table knife into the jar in several places to get rid of any air bubbles. Screw down the lid and proceed with the remaining jars.

Process the jars for 20 minutes in a water bath canner. Remove from heat and let cool. Then remove the jars from the canning kettle. Set aside in a cool, dark place. The Pepone will be ready to use in 2 weeks. Use as a condiment for any meat or fish dish.

Recipe source: Cucina del Sole, by Nancy Harmon Jenkins, reprinted with permission.

Posted by at 11:15 AM | Permalink

KGI's Roger Doiron explains how to make delicious and nutritious sauerkraut in your home kitchen.

For an excellent resource on sauerkraut making, please see Sandor Katz' great book: Wild Fermentation.

Posted by at 11:49 AM | Permalink

The University of Georgia (UGA) offers a free, self-paced, online course for those wanting to learn more about home canning and preservation. The course includes the following modules:
-Introduction to Food Preservation
-General Canning
-Canning Acid Foods
-Canning Low-Acid Foods

To sign up for a free login, please register here.

Posted by at 9:58 AM | Permalink

Tomatoes and other high-acid foods may be processed using a water-bath canner as opposed to a pressure canner. The following are basic guidelines coming from the Ball Blue Book of Preservation.

Continue reading "Canning tomatoes step-by-step" »

Posted by at 2:26 PM | Permalink

For the youngsters in our midst, Euell Gibbons was an outdoorsman and proponent of wild, foraged foods. Gibbons achieved "Thoreau-esque" folk hero status during the 1960s and 1970s through best-selling books such as "Stalking the Wild Asparagus" and "Stalking the Healthful Herbs". This article of his originally appeared in Organic Gardening and was later republished in "Stocking Up".

Naturally, I got started at this tasty sport with wild foods. A nearby path of wild Jerusalem artichokes had yielded a bumper crop, and I wanted to preserve some. I used a gallon-size glass jar, getting all of these jars I wanted from a nearby school cafeteria.

Packing a layer of dill on the bottom of the jar, I added several cloves of garlic, a few red tabasco peppers, then some cored and peeled Jerusalem artichokes, plus another layer of dill. With room still left, I looked around for other things to add. The winter onions had great bunches of top sets, so I peeled a few and made a layer of them. Then I dug up some of the surplus onions and used the bottom sets - shaped like huge cloves of garlic - to make still another layer. I then put in a layer of cauliflower picked apart into small florets, and added some red sweet pepper cut in strips, along with a handful or so of nasturtium buds.

Continue reading "Euell Gibbons' Dill Crock" »

Posted by at 9:34 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)

"If the definition of poetry allowed that it could be composed with the products of the field as well as with words, pesto would be in every anthology."
-Marcella Hazan, 1973

Pesto originates from Genoa, Italy where even today many families still prepare their own using their famous small-leafed basil and a large marble mortar and wooden pestle (hence the name). If you haven't tried making pesto the old-fashioned way at least once, do. The grinding action of the pestle gives the pesto a smoother texture while bringing out all the flavor of the various ingredients. For those looking to make larger quantities, a food processor works just fine. Keep in mind that ground basil oxidizes quickly turning a slightly brownish color so work efficiently and store your finished product with a protective layer of olive oil. A small quantity of parsley can be added to basil before grinding or processing, if a greener color is desired. Pesto freezes very well, so be sure to fill up an ice-cube tray for use in winter pasta dishes or soups.

"As made in Genoa it is certainly one of the best sauces yet invented for pasta, and 1 tablespoonful of pesto stirred in at the last minute gives a delicious flavor to a minestrone." -Elizabeth David, 1954

Ingredients:
-2 cups tightly packed fresh basil leaves
-1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
-3 tablespoons pine nuts (walnuts may also be used)
-2 garlic cloves, peeled
-pinch of salt
-1/3 cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
-1/3 cup freshly grated Pecorino Sardo cheese (see note below)
-3 tablespoons butter at room temperature

Method:
1. If your basil leaves are noticeably dirty, wash them in cold water and pat dry. Otherwise, simple rub off any surface dirt or dust.
2. Put basil, olive oil, pine nuts, garlic, and an ample pinch of salt in the food processor and process until creamy.
3. Transfer to a bowl and stir in the grated cheeses. Then mix in the softened butter. Serve on pasta or vegetables.

Note: In Genoa, they use equal quantities of Parmesan cheese and of a special, mildly tangy Sardinian cheese, Pecorino Sardo, made of sheep's milk. Although it is not considered authentic, pesto made be used with Pecorino Romano which is often more readily available in stores. If you do make this substitution, you will need to adjust the balance between the two cheeses: 3 parts Parmigiano to 1 part Romano.

Recipe adapted from "The Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking" by Marcella Hazan, Knopf, 1992

Posted by at 2:47 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)