Animal, Vegetable, Miracle_ A Year of Food Life - Barbara Kingsolver [109]
American culture doesn’t allow much room for slow reflection. I watch the working people who are supposed to be my role models getting pushed to go, go, go and take as little vacation time as possible. And then, often, vacations are full of endless activity too, so you might come back from your “break” feeling exhausted. Canning tomato sauce isn’t exactly a week at the spa, but it definitely forces a pause in the multitasking whirl of everyday life. It’s a “slow down and do one thing at a time” process: now chop vegetables, now stir them until the sauce thickens, now sterilize the jars, make sure each ring is tight. If you’re going to do anything else at the same time, it had better just be listening to your own thoughts. Anything else could cause you to blow the entire batch. Canning always puts me in a kind of trance. I reach a point where stirring the bubbling sauce is the world’s only task, and I could do it forever. Whether you prefer to sit on a rock in a peaceful place, or take a wooden spoon to a simmering pot, it does the body good to quiet down and tune in.
The basic canning process is as simple as this: (1) tomatoes are dropped into boiling water and peeled, or else cooked down with other ingredients into sauce; (2) they are poured into sterilized mason jars (we take them straight from the dishwasher) and capped with two-part, screw-on lids; and (3) the filled jars are boiled for the number of minutes specified by the recipe, in a big pot of water. We use an enamelware canning kettle that handles ten quarts at a time.
The following recipes are some personal favorites for storing our bounty of summer produce all year long. The family secret in our tomato sauce (which obviously won’t be, now) is cinnamon and nutmeg, usually thought of as dessert spices but used in savory tomato dishes in Greek and some Middle Eastern cuisines. The three-sauce recipe is adapted from The Busy Person’s Guide to Preserving Food by Janet Chadwick. Our green-bean Holy Mole was inspired by Recipes from a Kitchen Garden by Renee Shepherd and Fran Raboff—a helpful book for preparing meals based on fresh garden produce. The recipes are simple but very creative.
FRIJOLE-MOLE
½ pound trimmed green beans
Steam until tender.
1 coarsely chopped onion
1 tablespoon olive oil
Sauté onions over medium heat until they become slightly transparent.
3 hard-boiled eggs
2 cups fresh basil leaves
1 tablespoon lemon juice (optional)
Combine beans, cooked onions, eggs, basil, and lemon juice in food processor and blend into a coarse puree.
Mayonnaise or yogurt
Salt and pepper
Remove puree to a bowl and combine with enough mayonnaise or yogurt to hold mixture together. Add salt and pepper to taste. This spread is fantastic served on crusty bread, crackers, or rice cakes.
FAMILY SECRET TOMATO SAUCE
The point of this recipe is to make a large amount at one time, when tomatoes are in season. If you’re canning it, stick closely to the recipe; adding additional fresh vegetables will change the pH so it’s unsafe for water-bath canning. If you’re freezing it, then it’s fine to throw in peppers, mushrooms, fresh garlic, whatever you want. This recipe makes 6–7 quarts—you can use a combination of pint and quart canning jars or freezer boxes.
10 quarts tomato puree (about 30 pounds tomatoes)
4 large onions, chopped
1 cup dried basil
½ cup honey
4 tablespoons dried oregano
3 tablespoons salt
2 tablespoons ground dried lemon peel
2 tablespoons thyme
2 tablespoons garlic powder (or more, to taste)
2 tablespoons dried parsley
2 teaspoons pepper
2 teaspoons cinnamon
½ teaspoon nutmeg
Soften onions in a heavy 3-gallon kettle—add a small amount of water if necessary but no oil if you are canning (very important!). Add pureed tomatoes and all seasonings, bring to a boil, and simmer on low heat for two to three hours until sauce has thickened to your liking. Stir