What do you pickle, freeze, preserve....

[Dalrimple]

I bung fresh tomatoes in a freezer bag and freeze, defrost in micro with a nog of butter or glug of oil with salt and peper mash up with fork and but on toast, beet root boil and skin cool down bung in a bag freeze ,defrost and have warmed up or pour wine vinegar over them in a bowl (saves on the vinegar) and glass jars.Dal

[ESBkevin]

I like the modern farming technique of covering carrots in plastic and straw mulch during winter and harvesting when needed. Worked well for me last year.

[Llevrah]

I bung fresh tomatoes in a freezer bag and freeze, defrost in micro with a nog of butter or glug of oil with salt and peper mash up with fork and but on toast, beet root boil and skin cool down bung in a bag freeze ,defrost and have warmed up or pour wine vinegar over them in a bowl (saves on the vinegar) and glass jars.Dal

I've been prepared with the jars and saving them for a while and been asking everyone I know to save them too as we made lots of blackberry jam.last year but now having an.allotment I have more uses for them but I've no clue where to keep them all

[Llevrah]

I like the modern farming technique of covering carrots in plastic and straw mulch during winter and harvesting when needed. Worked well for me last year.

This would save me some space and they would also be properly fresh too. I love this idea

[greenishfing]

I make strawberry, raspberry and morello cherry jam and piccalilli. I give my sister some of my shallots and get jars of pickled onions back. I also give her vast amounts of herbs which she dries above her aga and we share. I plait up my onions and garlic. I slow roast tomatoes in the oven and then freeze on trays and then bag. I make soups and freeze them. But my absolute favourite is ratatouille. I freeze large amounts. It is the taste of Summer in the depths of Winter.

[Mrs Bee]

I freeze fruit for turning into jellies, jams and liqueurs.
I dry tomatoes to the soft stage and preserve in oil and vinegar with herbs.
Cucumbers go into the piccalilli and piccachilli and bread and butter pickle. gherkins are pickled in various flavoured vinegars.

Peas and broad beans are frozen as are French beans. They are not a good as fresh but if put into boiling water, boiled rapidly for a minute or so they are acceptable.

Tomatoes are skinned and open frozen then packed into bags or made into chutneys. I make a lot of chutney which is not brown. Tomato and basil chutney is delicious. I use tomatoes in my chilli jam. Onion marmalades, several different flavours.

[Finley]

Mrs Bee Mrs Bee can we all have your onion marmalades recipes please? I love that you have more than one type.. Discerning!

[Markyw]

All fresh fruit frozen and some made into fruit chilli chutney
Chilli and peepers frozen or made into Sambal Olek, and some fruit chutney.
Cucumbers and beetroot are pickled .
Large onions are cut up and frozen , shallots either dried and stored, or some pickled
Beans 50 % frozen 50% grown for the seeds and dried and stored in jars.
Potatoes roasted and frozen just like aunt bessys
Squash if large cut up and frozen, smaller ones used as required.
Parsnips and carrots usually dug as required, and at end of season are cut up and frozen
Herbs are either frozen or dried in microwave and stored.

[chasingmytail]

Canning?

Just wondering if anyone does what the Americans call 'Canning' - Jars over here. I do love my freezers I have 3 however its the space and overall reliance on electric. Assuming there could be a year when the snow/ice/floods could affect the electricity supply (we are rural) would like to consider jarring as a safety net.

Have watched some youtube vids as the yanks do a lot of sensible prepping. Am concerned over the risks of canning though with bacteria etc.

Just interested on success really!

[muddled]

Americans seem to be very preoccupied with botulism which, obviously, nobody wants but I find American instructions a bit paranoid!
Certainly a wally like me faces more risk from a pressure cooker than from bacteria in the jar.

Delia Smith does some good 'canning' recipes as does Hugh Furry Watsit. May I suggest though that if canning individual things (as opposed to recipes) you just do one jar and taste before making batches? Canned fruits have disappointing texture and little taste. Canned veggies are worse and require acid to prevent spoiling so taste vinegary to me. Dehydrated fruit is far better and veggies canned as ratatouille, soup or pasta sauce are a much better option than, say, a jar of courgettes or of peas.

[SarrissUK]

I make elderflower cordial when I remember to pick them when they're in flower.... I make chutneys from red onion, normal onion etc... but not much else sadly.

[Mrs Bee]

Mrs Bee Mrs Bee can we all have your onion marmalades recipes please? I love that you have more than one type.. Discerning!

Well I have been making and selling preserves for the last 7 years so I have a great many recipes and repeat customers.

As I am running down the business this year, I can post a couple of the recipes. You will have to give me a day or so as I am clearing and tidying my cook book cupboards.

I do an ordinary onion marmalade, a red onion with red wine, one with roasted garlic, another with sage, which is a good accompaniment to roast pork. one with tomato, garlic and chilli and another with garlic and cumin.

My carrot chutney is pretty good with cheese too. And the peach and orange is great with cold roast turkey at Christmas.

Send me a message to remind me if I get side tracked.

[Finley]

Well I have been making and selling preserves for the last 7 years so I have a great many recipes and repeat customers.

As I am running down the business this year, I can post a couple of the recipes. You will have to give me a day or so as I am clearing and tidying my cook book cupboards.

I do an ordinary onion marmalade, a red onion with red wine, one with roasted garlic, another with sage, which is a good accompaniment to roast pork. one with tomato, garlic and chilli and another with garlic and cumin.

My carrot chutney is pretty good with cheese too. And the peach and orange is great with cold roast turkey at Christmas.

Send me a message to remind me if I get side tracked.

Or maybe you should publish your recipes in a book? I can never find a proper good compendium of preserving except for in my Nain's old cookbooks! Your recipes sound immense

[Mrs Bee]

Or maybe you should publish your recipes in a book? I can never find a proper good compendium of preserving except for in my Nain's old cookbooks! Your recipes sound immense

If I get a spare minute.LOL

[sparrow100]

Muddled, can you post a salted runners recipe please? It sounds great - if the slugs let me have any this year that is!

I don't really do pickling but I make fruit jelly (no bits) and cordials.

Lots of my gluts are dehydrated- strawberries, apples, tomatoes, chillies etc. Freezer space is limited so berries and bottles of cordial take precedence. I do freeze broad beans but they are disappointing when cooked. Freezing sweetcorn didn't work either-it was nasty and chewy.

I grow (this year it's downgraded to attempt to grow, thanks slug pals!) a lot of beans for drying, also dry or freeze chillies and litter the cold end of the kitchen with winter squash.

I also infuse booze - rhubarb vodka, quince brandy, sloe gin & port. And Mum makes rumtopf too, which I absolutely love.