Put 'em Up!

Book excerpt: PRESERVING IS BACK, AND IT’S BETTER THAN EVER. Flavors are brighter, batch sizes are more flexible, and modern methods make the process safer and easier. Eating locally is on everybodys mind, and nothing is more local than Heirloom Salsa made from vine-fresh tomatoes or a quick batch of Ice-Box Berry Jam saved from the seasons last berries. Even beginners who never made peach jam or dill pickles in their grandmothers kitchens are eager to pick up preserving skills as a way to save money, extend the local harvest, and control the quality of preserved ingredients. The step-by-step instructions in Put ‘em Up will have the most timid beginners filling their pantries and freezers with the preserved goodness of summer in no time. An extensive Techniques section includes complete how-to for every kind of preserving: refrigerating and freezing, air- and oven-drying, cold- and hot-pack canning, and pickling. And with recipe yields as small as a few pints or as large as several gallons, readers can easily choose recipes that work for the amount of produce and time at hand. Real food advocate Sherri Brooks Vinton offers recipes with exciting flavor combinations to please contemporary palates and put preserved fruits and vegetables on dinner-party menus everywhere. Pickled Asparagus and Wasabi Beans are delicious additions to holiday relish trays; Sweet Pepper Marmalade perks up cool-weather roasts; and Berry Bourbon is an unexpected base for a warming cocktail. The best versions of tried-and-true favorites are all here too. Bushels of fresh-picked apples are easily turned into applesauce, dried fruit rings, jelly, butter, or even brandy. Falling-off-the-vine tomatoes can be frozen whole, oven dried, canned, or made into a tangy marinara. Options for pickling cucumbers range from Bread and Butter Chips and Dill Spears to Asian Ice-Box Pickles. Something delicious for every pantry! Recipes Include: Pickled Asparagus Wasabi Beans Beet Relish Berry Bourbon Grannys Chow-Chow Agua Fresca Cantaloupe Rum Asian Carrot Slaw Curried Cauliflower Drunken Cherries Cherry and Black Pepper Preserves Pickled Jalapenos Three-Chili Hot Sauce Preserved Lemons Candied Citrus Rind Oven-Dried Sweet Corn Bread and Butter Chips Pickled Fennel Figs in Honey Syrup Roasted Garlic Butter Grape Leather Dill Pesto with Feta Martini Onions Ginger and Peach Jam Dried Pear Chips Sugar Plums Pickled Ramps Classic Strawberry Jam Sweet Pepper Marmalade Salsa Verde Oven-Dried Tomatoes Pickled Watermelon Rind