Melanzane Sott'Olio

Melanzane Sott' Olio

Recipe by Traditional

This is another traditional Italian canning recipe. Water bath canning with only olive oil is not USDA approved. You can add whatever flavoring ingredients you wish. I always add a few bay leaves and peppercorns to the boiling brine and this time I added garlic and dried chili flakes to the jars. 2.5 lb of eggplant will give you 4 or 5 half pints (a little extra head space is OK as long as the eggplant is covered by the oil.)

Ingredients

• 2.5 lb. Eggplant (I had 2 lb. 12 oz.)
• 1 pint White Wine Vinegar
• Salt
• Fresh Mint, Basil, Garlic, dried Peperoncino to taste
• Olive Oil

Peperoncini Ripieni sott'olio

Peperoncini Ripieni sott'olio

Recipe by Traditional

WARNING! This recipe is a traditional Italian approach to preserving. It does not meet USDA home canning standards.

Ingredients

• 2 lb Ripe Red Calabrese Peppers
• 2 cups White Wine Vinegar
• 24 oz Canned Tuna
• 2 or 3 Salt Packed Anchovies
• 2 Tbs Salt Packed Capers
• Olive Oil

Cooking Directions

1. Carefully wash the peppers and discard any that are soft or discolored.





2. Cut out the green stem cap and remove the seed pod from the peppers. A small measuring spoon or melon baller makes the latter an easy task. Although these are not particularly hot peppers by American standards they still pack a punch so if you're sensitive to capsaicin wear rubber or plastic gloves to protect your skin.
3. Place the vinegar and an equal amount of water in a non-reactive and bring the mixture to a boil.
4. Optional: Add some aromatic spices to the vinegar mixture: 2 bay leaves, a few peppercorns, cloves or even juniper berries. I've got bay leaves and peppercorns in there.

5. Carefully place the cleaned peppers in the boiling mixture and simmer for 4 minutes. Remove the peppers from the vinegar mixture. Depending on the size of your peppers you may have to do this in a couple batches. 

6. Place the peppers open end down on a clean towel, cover with another towel and let dry over night.
7. Prepare the tuna filling: Drain the canned tuna, rinse and clean the anchovies, rinse the capers. Place all ingredients in a food processor fitted with the metal blade. Pulse for a few seconds until the mixture is smooth but still has some texture.





8. Using a small spoon fill each pepper with the tuna mixture. Press down gently to enure there are no air pockets.
9. Prepare quart jars, bands and new lids according to the manufacturer's directions.
10. Carefully load the stuffed peppers into the jars, packing as tightly as possible without crushing them.
11. Optional: Add a couple Giganti di Pantelleria capers to each jar as you pack it.
12. WARNING! The following instructions are not USDA approved.
13. Fill the jars with olive oil leaving a 1 inch head space. Tap the jars gently on your cutting board to dislodge any air bubbles.
14. Wipe the rims and seal the jars carefully.
15. Process the jars in a boiling water bath for 30 minutes. Let cool in the water, remove, dry, label and store in a cool dark place.
16. USDA Hot Pack Method:
17. Combine 1 1/4  cups white vinegar (5%) and 1 cup olive oil in a non-reactive pot. Bring to a boil.
18. Fill jars with the hot vinegar and oil mixture leaving a 1 inch head space. Tap the jars gently on your cutting board to dislodge any air bubbles.
19. Wipe the rims and seal the jars carefully.
20. Process in a boiling water bath for 30 minutes. Let cool in the water, remove, dry, label and store in a cool dark place.

Notes: 

Yes, of course you can leave out the anchovies. But don't. They're an extremely important flavor component. Once you start using them nothing tastes right when they're left out.

You'll likely have some tuna mixture left over. Just add a little mayonnaise and some diced celery and you've got tuna salad.  

It took about 1 1/2 cups of of oil to top off the two quart jars I made.

If you use tuna canned in water it will probably be too dry to stay put in the peppers during the canning process and your jars will look like this:

They'll still taste good, but they won't look so great. The solution of course is to mix in enough olive oil to form a coherent paste that stuffs well.

Cippoline Sott'aceto

Cippoline Sott'aceto

Recipe by Mary Ann Esposito

Last April we planted about 80 Red Marble Cippoline onions and harvested them late in July. We've already made Cippoline in Agrodolce with some of the medium sized specimens. Today I sorted out the little ones and pickled them Italian style - sott' aceto - under vinegar. This is Mary Ann Esposito's recipe, modified slightly to include canning directions. Although it contains no added sugar this recipe produces wonderfully sweet pickled onions.

Yield: About 1-2 pints
Ingredients

• 2 cups Red Wine Vinegar
• 2 Bay Leaves
• 1 Tbs. Whole Black Peppercorns
• 1 Tsp. Whole Cloves
• 2 inch Cinnamon Stick
• 1 Tsp. Coarse Sea Salt
• 1 lb. Small Cippoline onions, red or white

Cooking Directions

1. Peel and trim the onions, cutting a "X" in the root ends with the tip of a small knife.



2. In a stainless steel or other non-reactive sauce pan bring the vinegar to a boil, add the seasonings and simmer for 3 minutes.



3. Add the onions and return the mixture to a boil. Cook another 3 minutes.
4. Remove the pan the the heat, cover, and let the onions steep for three or four hours.
5. Remove the onions from the vinegar mixture and rub off and discard any loose skin.
6. Strain the cooking liquid and reserve.
7. Prepare canning jars according to the manufacturer's instructions.
8. Carefully pack the onions into the jar(s).
9. Bring the vinegar mixture to a boil and pour it over the onions leaving a half inch head space.
10. Close the jar(s) according to manufacturer's instructions and process in a boiling water bath 10 minutes.



11. Let cool and leave undisturbed overnight. Refrigerate any jars that did not seal. Allow to rest for a week before eating.

Preserving: Strawberry Jam

Strawberry Jam

Recipe by Sure-Jell

Strawberries are abundant everywhere right now. Iovine Brothers at Reading Terminal Market here in Philly has them this weekend for 99 cents a pound. Beth loves 'em so I figured the time had come to start the canning season. 

The recipe here is from the brochure that comes inside the Sure-Jell package. You will notice it calls for 5 cups of mashed strawberries. That worked out to a little under 2 1/2 pounds of whole fruit. You will also notice it calls for 7 cups of sugar. That is almost a full 5 pound bag. So chances are you'll want to grab a bag of sugar when you pick up the berries and Sure-Jell.