Home Grown

Service to this blog has been interrupted due to the to purchase the very last Motorola Droid 2 in our local Verizon service area.

Today’s regularly scheduled adventure into homemade butter will return tomorrow.

w00t!

When I was a kid I had never had pear preserves until my momma remarried and we went to live in Georgia. My stepfather’s sisters made pear preserves – as well as any other preserve they could find the fruits to make – every summer. We always ended up with a few jars. The jars were usually pushed to the back of the bottom cabinet on the right side of the kitchen sink. You had to go looking for them where Momma would hide them if you really wanted them. Back then I was afraid to reach my hand back far in the dark recesses of that corner cabinet where light rarely ever strayed. If there was a jar back there then I would take the broom and try to drag it forward. It was worth every bit of effort but obviously not worth reaching into the dark for. Go figure. In later years when Momma and Daddy had pear trees yielding fruit Ethel and Pinkie would come down and fish all day, pick pears and later there would be those jars of pear preserves in my mommas kitchen.

My stepfather’s sisters, “the Walden girls” as many people affectionately called them: Blanche, Hazel, Ogal, Ethel, Pinkie, Annette and Ruth, knew how to make something good from anything you handed them. The family grew from very poor roots on a farm first in Jefferson County, Georgia and later moved to a more prosperous farming area in Glascock county. They learned to cook (and wash, and tend children, and farm and go to church) from the hands of their mother, Mrs. Jeannie, who I never knew as she was gone to be with Jesus by the time we came into the picture.

R to L: Pinkie, Ethel, Ogal, Hazel, Blanche, Mrs. Jeannie

Blanche, the matriarchal sister, the ‘mother’ to them all as the oldest girl, when she spoke you moved and there was no two ways about it, made the best Brunswick stew I have ever eaten in my life. Hazel could bake a cake or pie that would make you cry and then ask for more. Ogal played the piano. I can’t remember her cooking anything but I know she did. She was just the sister we were around the least. Annette lived in Wisconsin on a dairy farm with her husband and children and we didn’t see her often but she and her girls could cook up storm. Ethel and Pinkie lived back over in South Carolina, where we hailed from, and we saw them the most. Both could make pear preserves that made your mouth water. As young adults, we knew if we could get our hands on pears and take them to Aunt Ethel she would return us jars of beautiful pear preserves. Even as recently as a few years ago she would make the preserves.

Coveted jars of dark amber syrup covered pear slices served in the winter with grits and hot biscuits is a meal worth a king’s ransom. I can close my eyes and see the jar and hear the sticky suck of the fruit as the fork pulled it away from the others making its way to your plate.

Seriously. You haven’t lived until you eaten old fashioned pear preserves. Not those pale colored jars of pear slices or butter that remind one of applesauce. I am referring to the pear preserves of the deep south where the fruits are sugared and left over night. The syrup cooked down thick and slow until it is reminiscent of molasses in color and in flavor of the pears is intensified and magnified a hundred times. The pears of my childhood were so rich and so dark I remember being amazed when the fruits were eaten and the jar was emptied. I had always thought the jar was brown and not clear like the jars my grandma had always used. It seems silly now but it is the truth. I thought the canning jars were amber glass and it never occured to me the fruits and syrup were actually amber inside.

Jars: Preserves, Syrup Glaze, Jelly

I know the secret inside those jars and I want to share it.

Pears, fresh from the tree. Kieffer pears to be exact. You want to pick them when they are just a bit green and the flesh is still firm and crunchy. They may not be the ‘best’ pear to eat off the tree according to some people who claim to be experts on the subject of which fruit is best for what but ask any kid in the south about a slightly green pear and eating it fresh from the tree and you’ll spend a while listening to description of the crunch and burst of juice in your mouth. I don’t care for soft pears. I like them crunchy like an apple.

Peel and core a sack or two of pears fresh from the tree and cut them into slices. For every 2 quarts of sliced pears cover with one pound of sugar. Cover and let the pot stand overnight. At least 8 hours. 12 is better. You should come back to a pot of pear slices floating in the melted sugar and natural juices of the pears.

On slow heat cover and simmer the pears until they are almost translucent – stirring often so that they don’t stick on the bottom and burn. Once cooked remove the pears from the syrup and set aside. Allow the syrup to simmer until it is reduced almost by half. Return the pears to the syrup and bring back up to a slow boil. Spoon the fruits out into hot sterile canning jars using a slotted spoon. Once the jars are packed full with the pears top with the syrup to 1/2 inch head space. Process pints and quarts for 25 minutes in a boiling water bath.

There will be plenty of syrup left in the pot once the pears are spooned out. Ladle it into hot jars and process it along with the jars of preserves. This syrup will make the most amazing glaze for duck, goose and pork when slow roasted. Add some hot chilies and garlic and brush it over the meat in the last 15 minutes of roasting.

I just make myself hungry and my stomach growled!

That’s not all.

The pear peels and cores will make lovely jelly you can use the same for meat glazes. Add the peels and cores to a large stock pot and add water about 2/3 the depth of the contents in the pot. Let is cook slow until the cores and the peels are mushy. Strain the juice and set the pear pulp aside for your chickens to have as a treat later.

For every 1 pint of juice add 1lbs of sugar. Add 1/2 cup of lemon juice to clarify the pear juice. Bring it to a slow boil and let it cook down slow. The green state of the pears, the peels and the cores leaves them rich with pectin. The pectin is what makes the fruit syrup turn to jelly. Let it cook slow and don’t rush it or it will burn. Use a cold plate to test the gel state. You’ll know you are getting there when the boiling syrup cannot be stirred down and you think it may escape your deep kettle. Pull it off the heat and let it set a few minutes. A minor little skin will begin to float on top and you can spoon off any foam easily. Ladle in to hot sterile jars. Apply lids and rings. Process in a boiling water bath for 10 minutes.

Thanks to my sweet friend, Valerie, who let me pick pears from her trees. Thank you ever so much!

Comment on HomeGrown and enter to win an Excalibur Dehydrator. Giveaway closes at 11:59pm November 13th.

This post is dedicated to more useful ideas for using the Excalibur Dehydrator I am giving away to one lucky reader. This week I made a big batch of bagel chips and croutons in my dehydrator. I want share with you how easy it is to make your own. Also how inexpensive doing it yourself really is. Thanks to a sweet friend the bagels and the bread were generously shared. It took very little effort on my part to make them into something that will keep for ages on my pantry shelf without spoiling. That is a win-win!

There is no secret to making bagel chips or croutons. They are exactly what you think they are. Dried bread.

The mystery is solved.

Bagel Chips.

Bagel chips are as easy as 1.2.3.

A cutting board. A bagel. A bread knife.

It takes less than one minute to work your way through the entire bagel.

Lay the slices out on the dehydrator racks. The racks go into the Excalibur. Set the temperature at 115 degrees. And walk away.

The chips will be ready in a couple hours. Sometimes I set them right before bedtime and just let it run all night. Serve them as you would a cracker. With salad. With Cheese and fruit. With soup. With cream cheese and a touch of jelly. My kids eat them as snacks like chips. If you are carb conscious a few of these will satisfy your craving for something crunchy and crisp and you won’t eat the whole bagel. Just a few is enough.

Croutons.

The croutons are just as easy. They can be seasoned or plain. You can even grind them up after they have dried and use them as bread crumbs for other kitchen needs.

1. Cutting board. 2. Bread knife. 3. Bread loaf of your choice.

Slice the bread.

Cube the bread.

Season the bread cubes.

I don’t use oil. The bread is moist enough that the dried seasoning will grab hold and won’t shake off. This time I used granulated garlic and Italian seasoning mix.

Load the trays. Into the Excalibur and close the door. Set the temperature at 115 degrees. Walk away. I leave the bread cubes to go over night.

You’ll love the scent that fills your kitchen when these seasoned little cubes of crunchy delight are going. I kept thinking I was in an Italian deli. The kids kept wandering in asking what I was doing that smelled so yummy.

Again you can use them to top a salad. Serve with soup – croutons and tomato soup are a winter staple in my house. You can even make your own version of the popular stove top stuffing.

The best part?

12 bagels yeilded 2.5 gallons of chips. The croutons ended up at 2 gallons. The best part? Day old organic bread. No GMO grain products. Organic.

My kids will munch through the chips in about two weeks. The croutons will last much longer. They can be stored in a seal container and won’t go bad. The moisture has been removed and there is no worry about moldy bread. You can also seal the dried breads in a vacuum sealed bag and store them away in your pantry for later use. Again – they won’t go bad. The same technique is used if you use the cubes to make bread crumbs. Store them in an air tight container and use as needed.

You can do this with any bread. The next time you are in the grocery store check out the day old bread and see what you might be able to pick up at a discounted price. If you bake your own bread think how awesome it have your own baked goods dried and reserve for later use. It is so easy to throw together quick meals that seem as if you spent hours working to prepare them when you have a few little extras tucked away in the pantry.

Some of these croutons will repurpose themselves as bread crumbs for the coating for eggplant and/or chicken parmesan. Also as the holiday season approaches I’ll be putting together gifts for friends. A quart of homemade soup and a cone shapped cello bag filled with delightful croutons tied with a bow is a wonderful way to say “Hello, Neighbor, I appreciate you.” A jar of summer jam, a package of bagel chips and a box of bergamot and earl grey tea will warm up your friends on a cool winter evening. These are gifts that say more than anything you can buy. These are the way I like to say, “I love you and our friendship.”

Y’all come on over for supper. There’s always an extra place at the table. Salad dressing is in the fridge. There’s plenty of good food and we’d love the conversation.

Comment on HomeGrown and enter to win an Excalibur Dehydrator. Giveaway closes at 11:59pm November 13th.