Pectin; liquid versus powdered

It's easy to get confused when you first start preserving when a recipe calls for pectin. Should you use powdered or liquid and are they interchangeable? You may have decided to just forge ahead with the powdered pectin that was already in your cupboard when a recipe called for liquid. How different could they really be considering they are both 100 percent natural and derived from apples or citrus fruits.

But I would guess that you were not pleased with the final result if you swapped one for the other...and here is why.

Liquid pectin

- recipes calling for liquid pectin combine the fruit and the sugar right at the start of the cooking process. The sugar dissolves completely before the product is brought to a boil and thereby reduces the chance of any crystals forming

- combining the fruit and the sugar at the beginning gives the sugar more time to combine or penetrate the fruit. This is important because it greatly reduces the chance that the fruit will float or that the fruit and the liquid in the jam will separate.

- flavours combine fully as the sugar pulls the liquid from the fruit being used

- you can allow the fruit to macerate which replaces that air in the cells of the fruit with sugar. This also decreases the chance that the fruit will float up to the top of the jar as the jam cools.

- the final 60 seconds of cooking once the jam has reached a rolling boil after the pectin has been added is to ensure the pectin has fully and equally distributed throughout the jam and/or jelly.

Powdered Pectin

- recipes calling for powdered pectin combine the fruit (or fruit juice in the case of jelly) and the pectin at the start of the cooking process. They are brought to a boil together before the sugar is added

- you may notice when using powdered pectin an increase in the jam bubbling in an unpredicatable manner. Perhaps you have even been burned by your jam when using powdered pectin. This is caused by the air bubbles still trapped in the fruit trying to escape.

- the final 60 seconds of cooking once the jam has reached a rolling boil after the sugar has been added is to ensure that the sugar dissolves completely and does not burn. You may notice jams made with powdered pectin tend to have hard crystals or perhaps they are even weepy. This is a simple side effect of sugar that has not completely dissolved.

Powdered and liquid pectin also require a different balance of fruit, sugar and acid to achieve set. So interchanging them will just end up with you chasing your tail trying to get a nice spreadable jam or jelly.

November 2013: The Canadian Harvest in Ontario

I took the dog out for a walk yesterday as I do every day. We are fortunate that we live in an area of the city where we are only 5 minutes away from great paths through the forests which are perfect for her. I have been able to watch the changing of the seasons on my daily walks. In the spring you get to watch with excitement as the young buds begin to poke their way up through the dead leaves and everything begins to peel back the brown and become vibrant green once again.

In the summer each week seemed to produce a different flower in bloom and countless types of birds tweeting, chirping and fluttering through the trees.

And now fall has arrived and the leaves are changing colour and falling back down to the earth to start the cycle all over again.

I put my vegetable garden to bed last weekend. It was a great year for my garden. The cucumbers and green beans went absolutely wild and I could barely preserve fast enough before it was time to go outside and pick some more. Lettuce, arugula, sorrel and rocket grew like weeds and in such quantities that the few rabbits in our backyard could do little to spoil our harvest, although they certainly tried. I made pesto from the basil, hung lavender and sage to dry in the kitchen, pickled the cucumbers and crunched on the carrots. I never wanted it to end.

Our 12 tomato plants grew heavy with the weight of tomatoes in late September but sadly their season started too late so we ended up with a lot of tomatoes that stayed green right up until the first frost. In previous years, I have always picked the green tomatoes and simply added them to the compost. But last year this changed. I couldn't bring myself to compost all of these beautiful tomatoes and so my experimenting in the kitchen began.

 

I dug out my husband's grandmother's recipe for pickled green tomatoes and made a batch. I adapted that recipe and made another batch. But then I stumbled on green tomato gold - a recipe for green tomato salsa. After reviewing the recipe I decided right off the start to make a few changes. First off, if this was going to keep me warm through the winter months it needed to be spicier. So I got to work and I think if you get to work with this recipe you will not be disappointed.

Green Tomato Salsa (adapted from Food.com)

Ingredients

5 lbs green tomatoes, chopped small
4 cups chopped yellow onions
1 cup jalapenos, chopped with seeds
3 large red bell peppers, chopped small
8 large garlic cloves, minced or chopped small
1 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
1 cup lime juice
1/2 cup vinegar
1 tablespoon salt
1/2 tablespoon cumin
1 tablespoon dried oregano leaves
2 teaspoons pepper
1/2 teaspoon cayenne
1 -2 teaspoon sugar

Directions

Combine all ingredients in a large pot, stirring to mix well. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Reduce heat to simmer, and cook for 30-40 minutes, stirring occasionally until you reach desired consistency.

Bring salsa to a rolling boil.

Ladle salsa into hot sterile jars, leaving 1/2 inch headspace. Wipe lids and jar edges clean before finger tightening lids and placing them back in the hot water bath. Process (boil) jars for 15 minutes.

Preserving for a cause

Back in 2006, I did something that some people thought was crazy, but to this day I still think it was the best thing I have ever done in my entire life. I quit my GREAT job, sold my car, rented my house and convinced my sister to join me on a year long adventure throughout SE Asia. We started off our journey with a month in Sri Lanka. Not a bad way to kick off an adventure.

But the best part about our time in Sri Lanka (and the list of amazing things about Sri Lanka is very long) was our time building houses for the victims of the tsunami with a Toronto based organization called Trip Canada. If you have ever wanted to give back and do a trip like this I can highly recommend Trip Canada and the work they have been doing in Sri Lanka following the tsunami in 2004.

If you can't spare the two weeks to participate in one of their upcoming trips, they are having a fundraising event on Thursday, November 21st at The Pilot Tavern.

  

I would LOVE to return to Sri Lanka with Trip Canada to see all of the wonderful progress they have made since I was there, but my preserving business is keeping me a little too busy for that. So instead, I am donating a private preserving class as well as a small gift basket of preserves in their silent auction. The lucky recipient will receive a gift basket very similar to the one shown here and will get a private preserving class for up to 4 people, valued at $150.00

Supporting Local Farmer's Markets - thank you!

You know who you are.

You were the faithful markets customers who were there bright and early while we were still setting up our tents. You came each week inquiring about new products. You sampled, you chatted, you shared and you got to know me as well as my products. You wore shorts or skirts in the heat of the summer and donned your rain slickers on the miserable rainy day. You wished me luck and you became my customers. Each and every one of you made the following worth it.

Carrying heavy boxes of jars up and down the stairs from storage. (I should also thank you for the exercise you provided me without even knowing I was exercising. The best kind, really).

Loading up my small car, packing each and every crevace of my tiny hatchback with tables, chairs, tent, handwashing station, samples, products, plates, jars, knives, handtowel, price signs, signage, paper towel, plastic bags, etc.

Getting to the market and greeting the other vendors and market managers that I am so happy I got the opportunity to meet.

Unloading my car, lugging product out, setting up my tent and table.

And finally, setting out the product that I spent hours in the kitchen making and then hours once the product cooled - labelling (perhaps my least favourite step in the process).

Then at the end of the market, when the last happy customer has gone home with their bags of fresh produce, fresh baked bread, preserves, honey, maple syrup, ice cream sandwiches, amazing fish and meat, etc...it is time to do it all over again.

Over the winter I will develop new recipes, teach preserving classes, continue to supply the retailers who carry my product so that you don't have to be without Manning Canning all winter, fulfill my online orders and recharge my batteries for next year's market season.

Until then - thank you so much for supporting me, my business and your local farmer's market.

Breakfast at The Wolseley

A sneak behind the curtain at The Wolseley, even if it was just in an article read in Country Life was enough to drive my husband to making a breakfast reservation well in advance of our trip. It was almost as if he had no choice once he read the words "Sujin, the tourier, arrives. She is the risen-pastry maker, and there are very few of them left in professional kitchens."

Before we had even stepped foot off Canadian soil he had perused the menu and decided on Kedgeree as his main and to start the cannelés Bordelais. I myself knew that I would have to try the marmalade which is made on the premise but left the rest open to how I felt in the moment.

When we walked through the doors of The Wolseley I half expected to get a sense of some the hustle and bustle eluded to in the article. To sense some of the busyness of the under belly of the place, but once through the doors you are too busy admiring the beautiful domed ceiling, the mirrors hanging on the walls, the gigantic chandelier and the pastries to get a sense of anything else. It was hard to imagine that back in the 1920's this beautiful establishment was a prestigious car showroom.

Just like a well built car, everything about The Wolseley feels luxurious and appears effortless. Our waiter arrived without a sound as if on cushioned shoes. Our order was taken and we were left to continue admiring the views that surrounded us. From the black and white tiled floor, to the pastry table that looked like it was awaiting it's photoshoot.

The tea arrived, loose leaf of course, in a gorgeous silver tea pot that looked as if it had just been polished before it arrived at our table. I knew at that moment I was falling in love with the place. And then out came the fresh croissant with the in-house made jam and I felt my knees go weak just looking at the spoons, not having even tasted the jam.

Our meals were amazing and at the end we walked out onto Piccadilly, me still pining for the silver tea strainer but knowing that the real gift was in the experience itself.

Sujin, the tourier, arrives. She is the risen-pastry maker, and there are very few of them left in professional kitchens
Read more at http://www.countrylife.co.uk/culture/article/530366/A-day-in-the-life-of-the-Wolseley.html#oZgMV2czHTUzraeG.99

Sujin, the tourier, arrives. She is the risen-pastry maker, and there are very few of them left in professional kitchens
Read more at http://www.countrylife.co.uk/culture/article/530366/A-day-in-the-life-of-the-Wolseley.html#oZgMV2czHTUzraeG.99

Sujin, the tourier, arrives. She is the risen-pastry maker, and there are very few of them left in professional kitchens
Read more at http://www.countrylife.co.uk/culture/article/530366/A-day-in-the-life-of-the-Wolseley.html#oZgMV2czHTUzraeG.99

Sujin, the tourier, arrives. She is the risen-pastry maker, and there are very few of them left in professional kitchens
Read more at http://www.countrylife.co.uk/culture/article/530366/A-day-in-the-life-of-the-Wolseley.html#oZgMV2czHTUzraeG.99

Sujin, the tourier, arrives. She is the risen-pastry maker, and there are very few of them left in professional kitchens
Read more at http://www.countrylife.co.uk/culture/article/530366/A-day-in-the-life-of-the-Wolseley.html#oZgMV2czHTUzraeG.99