Canning-Day Cooking: Potatoes and Green Beans

Not going to win any beauty contests... but it's gooood.

When I was growing up, every weekend (and more often than that, usually) from early August through at least the end of September, we canned. Pint after pint and quart after quart of tomatoes, hot sauce, green beans, pickles, salsa, and spaghetti sauce... Many Saturdays after school started in late August, we spent all day putting up vegetables, filling the pressure canner six and eight times. Those days represent some of my fondest memories. Even now, the sound of a pressure cooker on the stove, burbling and hissing and chirping, makes me feel very nostalgic.

But when you have an epic canning day spent elbow-deep in produce, it's tough to find time to make lunch for your starving children. So what do you do? If you're my mom, you grab a few potatoes, throw them in a pot with some of the green beans you're canning, and let them cook while you're blanching and peeling tomatoes, making pickle brine, or dodging spaghetti sauce spatters.

My Mama's Canning Day Potatoes and Green Beans
serves 4-6 hungry canners
prep time: 5 minutes
cooking time 35-45 minutes

5-6 medium potatoes, peeled and roughly cubed
3/4 pound green beans (frozen or fresh)
3 slices bacon, diced
1/2 small onion, minced
salt and pepper to taste

Cook bacon in a large, deep pot over medium-high heat until rendered but not completely browned. Add onions and cook together with bacon until onions are soft and brown. Add potatoes and green beans. Add water, enough to almost cover vegetables. Stir. Season generously. Cover and simmer for 25-35 minutes or until quite soft. This ain't yer fancy al dente veggies, y'all! Taste and adjust seasoning and serve in bowls with the "pot likker." If you want something to soak up that pot likker, serve with cornbread, biscuits, or bread.

Frugal Friday: Chicken Stock!!

So. Why don't you make your own stock? Unless the answer is, "Because I'm vegetarian," you seriously have no excuse not to. Or at least you won't in about five minutes, because I'm fixin' to show you how to make some bang-up stock, otherwise known as Culinary Gold, from stuff you probably would have pitched anyway!

Look, if you only ever use this for soups, it would be worth it to make. If you add sauces, gravy, and risotto to your stock-using repertoire, it's just that much more valuable in your kitchen. Plus, let's not forget the incredible nutritional value of Jewish penicillin!

OK. Let's start.

You'll need the contents of your stock bag. I completely forgot to take a picture of this, which makes me feel like a moron, because it's essential. But here's a quick summary: I have a plastic bread bag in my freezer door. Whenever I use onions, carrots, celery, garlic, or parsley, I put the peelings, ends, tops, stems, etc. -- basically the "waste" -- into the stock bag. When it gets about half full (more or less... this ain't rocket science, people!), it's ready to use.

You'll also need the carcass, skin, giblets (which are in a handy-dandy little bag), and wings of a smallish roasting chicken -- just those little guys in the grocery store. I roasted mine (which is what I usually do with whole chickens) and then picked all the meat off the bones for use in various other applications. And then...

Here's my large stock pot, with the chicken carcass, giblets and wings, plus the contents of the stock bag, covered with water:


You'll also need one bay leaf...


And some peppercorns...


Then just simmer it for a few hours or all day or overnight or whatever makes your skirt fly up. Strain out the veggies and bones. If you want a clearer stock, you can strain through a tea towel or cheese cloth, which will remove the sort of particulate matter. But be warned: this stock WILL stain whatever you strain it through! Onion skins were once used to make brown fabric dye. I'm just sayin'. Don't come crying to me if you ruin the beautifully embroidered tea towel your dear departed Aunt Momo gave you. Got it?

Oh, also, I was going to show you a picture of the finished stock in the pot, but it basically looked like the beginning of an episode of Bones -- bits of skeleton floating in brown water, i.e., not appetizing. So I spared you. See? I'm not completely merciless.

Refrigerate for a few hours or all day or overnight or whatever cranks your gears. When the stock is chilled, it'll have a thin layer of solidified fat on top. Skim the fat off and pitch it. Or try this instead.

NOW! This is important, Stock Virgins: your stock will probably be gelatinous! Not only is this OK, it's fantastic! Have you ever watched Ina Garten? She's all homemade stock, all the time, and all of her stock is a sort of liquidy-jello texture. What it means is that you've successfully cooked the collagen out of the bones and skin of the chicken, giving your stock amazing nutritional value and lending amazing, unctuous texture to whatever you put it in.

Once you've skimmed the fat off, put your stock into containers...


And stash it in your freezer. As you can see, I use incredibly fancy and expensive storage containers. And boy, this is a whole new level of blog transparency, isn't it? I'm showing y'all pictures of the inside of my freezer. Geez.


You can also freeze your stock in ice cube trays, pop the cubes out and store them in a gallon zipper bag. Standard ice cube size is 2 ounces, so this works well if you make a lot of recipes that call for a half cup (2 cubes) or a cup (4 cubes) of stock. I could not possibly tell you how long these CAN last in the freezer, because they only last two or three weeks, tops, in mine.

Now, go forth and make stock! You can thank me later.

Sigh...

I need a sewing machine.

I can't tell you how many great ideas I've come across that would cut money out of my budget each month that start, "Go to your sewing machine..." My mother taught me to sew (and crochet, which I'm terrible at, and knit, which I'm equally terrible at) when I was a wee lass, but it never occurred to me until recently that sewing skills aren't just about making your own clothes.

In trying to switch to cloth everything (and yes, I do mean everything... I'll just leave it to you to fill in the details there), my progress is thwarted by the lack of a sewing machine!

Any thoughts? Sources? Offers of a free all-bells-and-whistles-included TurboStitch 3000 that just happens to be collecting dust in your basement? I'll take anything that doesn't have a manual treadle.

Links!

OK, so I thought I'd put together a links post of my favorite food- and frugality-related blogs for your reference. Umm... great intro, right? Shuddup. Let's just get to it, ok?

FOOD/COOKING:

Last Night's Dinner -- Jenn's beautiful and inspirational dinners, with an occasional post by her cocktail-loving hubby. This blog has really pushed me to seek out good local produce and meats, and to cook with what I have. Not to mention pushing me to put poached eggs on top of EVERYTHING. Poached eggs on toast? Yawn... so pedestrian. Why not... Poached eggs on risotto! Poached eggs on greens! Poached eggs on salad! Poached eggs on beans! Poached eggs on... poached eggs! YES!
CookEatFRET -- Claudia is just a ridiculously great cook and a foodie and a gorgeous dame to boot. She lives in Nashville, and proves that you don't have to live in Manhattan to eat incredibly well. Her recipes are delectable!
101Cookbooks -- Heidi's vegetarian food. More great photos, plus really creative and interesting meatless recipes, which is ideal for those of us trying to shave a few dollars off our grocery bills, eat healthier, and use less of our shared resources.
Smitten Kitchen -- Probably the best food blog on the 'net. What else is there to say?
The Chowhound boards -- An encyclopedic resource, kids. You name it, they've got the answer. I've found answers to some seriously obscure questions... not to mention the general foodie cameraderie. Fun and informative.
The Pioneer Woman -- rated one of Time Magazine's 25 best blogs. Home cooking, stunning photographs, plus some of the funniest writing known to man, put together by a beautiful home-schoolin', church-goin', horse-ridin' rancher's wife.


FRUGALITY and OTHER INSPIRATIONS:

Hillbilly Housewife -- Great, great, great, for folks who are struggling with a recent job loss or otherwise straitened circumstances. She has an emergency weekly menu that'll feed 2 adults and 3 or 4 kids for just $40. It's also a really good place to start if you're new to this whole "frugal living" thing.
Ship Full O'Pirates -- Why did I not know about this fabulous blog until a few weeks ago? One of my main frugality principles is "Question Everything" -- in other words, don't let ANY purchase go by without scrutiny. And this gal has got it together. She's making, not just food from scratch, not just bread, not just cleaning products, but her own laundry detergent, shampoo, and deodorant! Talk about inspirational!
Little House in the Suburbs -- Hello, Gorgeous. Where have you been all my life? This is like the uber-frugality, natural-living, greenie-leaning, DIY NIRVANA, y'all. GO THERE RIGHT NOW. GO! SERIOUSLY, GO!

That's all I got right now.

Coming soon:
Stock!
Frugal recipes
Eating veggie to save big bucks
...and much more!

The Marmalade Project

Hm. That sounds a little bit like a bad Disney movie about kids who rescue their parents' failing internet preserves business or something. But it's not! No! It's my weekend project. Take a look at the whole crazy process.

Aren't these pretty? They're yellow-skinned Texas grapefruit with a very delicate pink flesh. Delicious plain, but these grapefruits had a higher destiny.




Friday after school, I sliced them in half and put them in water in two pans -- my largest stock pot and my big roasting pan, and cooked them for a couple of hours until they were very soft. Here they are simmering away.




Then this morning, I cut them into pieces. I cut around the centers, which is where all the seeds were, then put the seedy parts into a sieve over the stock pot. Oh, and the reason the cutting board is sitting on my platter is so the juices wouldn't go all over the counter. Boy, am I GLAD I did that! I bet I poured a cup of juice out of that thing when I was done, and just the thought of cleaning that sticky mess up makes me twitch a little.


Into the Cuisinart they went. Can I just take a moment to say, "Praise the Lord for my Cuisinart"? Because seriously. This was a BUNCH of grapefruit, y'all, and if I had tried to do this all with a knife I would have a) chopped off a finger, b) quit and thrown the whole lot into the trash, c) cried, or d) all of the above.



Bubbling away in the pot, smelling amazing.



In the jars. Isn't that a beautiful sight?




And on toast. Oh, yes. Come to mama.


The verdict? Guilty. OF DELICIOUSNESS.

Seriously, though, a word of caution: if you aren't a fan of that grapefruity bitterness, I would strongly advise NOT attempting grapefruit marmalade! I happen to enjoy that sort of bitey, floral flavor, so I'm digging it a lot. But if you have a low tolerance for bitter flavors, steer clear of this. I hope to be able to post many more jam and jelly recipes in the coming months, so keep checking back!

Honey Whole Wheat Bread

(very loosely adapted from Williams-Sonoma's Essentials of Baking)

1 1/2 tablespoons active dry (NOT instant or quick-rise) yeast
2 cups whole milk, heated to bloodwarm
1/4 cup mild honey (or more or less to taste -- this makes a very mildly sweet loaf)

2 large eggs
2 teaspoons kosher or sea salt
1/2 cup rolled oats
4 cups whole wheat flour
1 1/2 - 2 cups all-purpose (plain) flour

Dissolve yeast and honey in milk and let stand until foamy, 5-10 minutes. Whisk in eggs, salt, and rolled oats. Stir in whole wheat flour and 1 cup AP flour. Add AP flour until mixture forms a shaggy ball. Turn out onto a well-floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic, about 5-7 minutes, adding only enough AP flour to prevent sticking.

Place dough in an oiled bowl, cover with plastic wrap and let the dough rise until doubled, about 1 1/2 - 2 hours. Grease two 9 x 5 loaf pans (I prefer glass -- better browning!).

Gently deflate the dough and cut into halves. Press each half into a rectangle about 12" wide by 18" long. Fold the bottom fourth of the dough up, pinching to seal. Continue folding and sealing. Tuck the ends under and pinch to seal. Place loaf seam side down in one pan. Repeat with other half of dough.

Cover loosely with a towel and let the loaves rise until the top of the dough is about 2 inches above the rim of the pan. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 375.

Bake loaves 35-40 minutes or until evenly browned and hollow-sounding when tapped. Do not overbake! Allow to cool as completely as you can bear before slicing. Delicious toasted.

Cocodrillo Bread

(Adapted from Williams-Sonoma's Essentials of Baking)

This is a beautiful artisanal-type bread that's made using what is called a "sponge method" -- allowing the yeast to ferment for a relatively long period of time with some flour and liquid. The advantage of this method is that it allows the flavors to develop and you end up with an incredibly full-flavored bread. The other advantage is that you spend five minutes on it before you go to bed, spend 20 minutes on it the next day in between doing loads of laundry or running errands, and voila! You have two huge loaves of amazing bread.

For the sponge:
2 1/2 teaspoons active dry (NOT instant) yeast
half a bottle of dark beer
3 cups cool water
1 cup rolled oats (or any rolled mixed cereal blend)
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 1/2 cups AP (plain) flour

Mix together, cover with plastic wrap, and let sit overnight at room temperature.

For the dough:
3 cups AP (plain) flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 tablespoon kosher or sea salt (NOT iodized salt)

1 1/2 cup AP (plain) flour for work surface and pan

Mix whole wheat flour and salt into sponge, adding AP flour until mixture forms a ball. Turn out onto well floured work surface and knead for 5-7 minutes or until smooth and elastic. Do not add too much flour. The dough will be quite soft. Add only enough flour to prevent MAJOR sticking. I can't over-emphasize this! It's better to add too little flour than too much!

Place the dough in a lightly oiled bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and let rise until doubled, about 1 1/2 - 2 hours. Dust a work surface liberally with flour. Spread 1/2 - 3/4 cup flour on a large baking sheet. Gently deflate the dough, form carefully into a ball, and place on the floured pan. The book says at this point: "Do not be daunted by the softness of the dough." I think that's funny... but it's also true. It's a very soft dough! Sprinkle another 1/2 cup flour over the top of the loaves. Let rize for 30-45 minutes or until doubled.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees (200 Celsius).

When dough is doubled, using a large knife, GENTLY cut the round into halves, turn halves cut side up, spacing the loaves as far apart as you can get them, and place into the oven. Bake 35-40 minutes until they are lightly browned and sound hollow when tapped. Do not over-bake or the bread will be dry. Turn oven off and let the bread sit in the oven for ten minutes. Cool completely before slicing.