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Leena Cooks n Cans: Chinese five spice pickled cherries for Tigress Can Jam June

Leena Cooks n Cans: Chinese five spice pickled cherries for Tigress Can Jam June

My pitted dark cherries, ready and waiting to be pickled!

Leena Cooks n Cans: Chinese five spice pickled cherries for Tigress Can Jam June

(note- this recipe was originally posted on July 28, 2009, but it is too good not repost for this month’s Tigress Can Jam: Berries. Photos and recipe the same, but content has changed. Enjoy!)

It is time once again for this month’s Tigress Can Jam, and the topic is berries. Since I am OBSESSED with my kick-ass five spice pickled cherries, and cherries have just come into season in California ($2 a pound, baby!), I figured this month’s can jam would be a great excuse to make my seasonal stock of pickled cherries.

These cherries are sweet and tart, tangy and addictive. They rock in both sweet and savory food applications, as well as alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks. And no joke? They will change your life. Even if you hate pickles.

More food porn, tips and the recipe after the jump

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June 21st, 2010
Posted in Canning, Fruit, Leena Cooks | 19 Comments »

Leena Cooks n Cans: Spicy Dill Pickled Asparagus

Leena Cooks n Cans: Spicy Dill Pickled Asparagus

From stalk to can: my kick-ass spicy dill pickled asparagus, canned, of course.

While other bloggers have been posting about cooking the perfect asparagus soup or asparagus risotto, I must admit I prefer to enjoy the green veg a different way–by turning them into pickles and canning them. This allows me to enjoy them year round, and is a great excuse to eat more pickles!

Plus I’m totally being patriotic. Did you know that pickles helped Columbus’s crew travel the ocean without getting scurvy so they could discover America?

Did you also know I am totally the sort of person to look up a historical excuse for eating more of my favorite food?!

Good. I just want you to know who you’re dealing with here.

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June 7th, 2010
Posted in Canning, Leena Cooks, Vegetables | Comments Off

Leena Cooks (n Cans): Spiced Rhubarb Jam for Tigress’s Can Jam

Leena Cooks (n Cans): Spiced Rhubarb Jam for Tigresss Can Jam

Spiced rhubarb jam--the perfect topping for French toast (along with a little vanilla yogurt and flaked almonds!).

Leena Cooks (n Cans): Spiced Rhubarb Jam for Tigresss Can Jam

So. By now, we all know that Leena hearts canning and is participating in a can jam with bloggers around the world, right? AWESOME. Of course we also remember all the deliciousness Leena has already canned for the can jam, like her citrus in January (blood orange port marmalade), carrots in February (gajar ki chutney with caramelized shallots), onions in March (onion apple ale relish) and herbs in April (strawberry rhubarb rosemary jam). This month’s challenge: asparagus OR rhubarb. Technically, I did both (I canned pickled spicy dill asparagus in a canning class I taught), but my official entry in May’s can jam is spiced rhubarb jam.

Food porn, directions, and an explanation on how I got bitch-slapped by some spices after the jump.

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May 17th, 2010
Posted in Canning, Leena Cooks | 13 Comments »

Leena Cooks (n Cans): Strawberry Rhubarb Rosemary Jam

Leena Cooks (n Cans): Strawberry Rhubarb Rosemary Jam

My entry for Tigress's April Can Jam: Herbs!

Leena Cooks (n Cans): Strawberry Rhubarb Rosemary Jam

For the past four months, I’ve been participating in a good old fashioned can jam. If you’d like to learn more about it, please click on the  badge above this text for more info. This month, the challenge was herbs.

Past challenges:

January- Citrus My blood orange port marmalade

February- Carrot My gajar ki chutney with caramelized shallots

March- Alliums My onion apple ale jam

I was a bit disappointed this challenge didn’t come up in the middle of summer, because I’ve been dying to make a nice tomato herb jam. But then again, it wouldn’t be a challenge if it was easy to come up with a recipe, now would it? And this time of year, my tomatoes would come from Argentina, and who wants to can that? I responded this month with a kick-ass strawberry rhubarb rosemary jam. More food porn and the recipe after the jump.

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April 19th, 2010
Posted in Canning, Condiments, Leena Cooks | 17 Comments »

Amuse Bouche: Artisan movement thrives in the U.S., laws hinder. Lula Café in Chicago had 200 quarts of homemade pickles and jam destroyed because of unnecessary laws in 2009.

Source:

http://chicago.timeout.com/articles/restaurants-bars/79203/chefs-bristle-at-chicagos-canning-and-curing-laws

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Amuse Bouche: Noun. Etymology: French: literally, entertains the mouth. A small, complimentary appetizer served at the beginning of a meal to awaken the taste buds. Leena Eats definition: a quick shot of gastronomic knowledge for the brain.

March 16th, 2010
Posted in amuse bouche, Canning | Comments Off

Amuse Bouche:According to the Wall Street Journal and NPR, Canning is officially cool!

Source:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703787204574449160079437536.html

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=105527038

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Amuse Bouche: Noun. Etymology: French: literally, entertains the mouth. A small, complimentary appetizer served at the beginning of a meal to awaken the taste buds. Leena Eats definition: a quick shot of gastronomic knowledge for the brain.

March 16th, 2010
Posted in amuse bouche, Canning | Comments Off

Amuse Bouche: Canning was invented by Nicholas Appert in 1785 in response to a contest held by Napoleon Bonaparte to find a better way to store food for his troops.

Source: 

http://www.foodreference.com/html/artcanninghistory.html

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Amuse Bouche: Noun. Etymology: French: literally, entertains the mouth. A small, complimentary appetizer served at the beginning of a meal to awaken the taste buds. Leena Eats definition: a quick shot of gastronomic knowledge for the brain.

March 16th, 2010
Posted in amuse bouche, Canning | Comments Off

Leena Cooks: n Cans Onion Apple Ale Relish

Leena Cooks: n Cans Onion Apple Ale Relish

From allium to onion apple ale relish. My entry for Tigress's Can Jam March.

Leena Cooks: n Cans Onion Apple Ale Relish

Once upon a time, there was a particularly awesome blogger that liked to can named Tigress who threw a can jam. Being that I am a particularly awesome blogger who also likes to can, I joined along.

In January, the theme was citrus, and I responded with a blood orange port marmalade.

In February, the theme was carrots, and I rocked out Indian-style with my gajar ki chutney with caramelized onions.

In this fine month of March, the theme is alliums, or onions, garlic, shallot, etc. I threw down by canning an onion apple ale relish, which was soon followed by the birth of the most kick-ass grilled ham and cheese sandwich the planet has ever seen.

But I’m getting ahead of myself.

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March 15th, 2010
Posted in Canning, Condiments, Leena Cooks | 4 Comments »

Leena Cooks ( n Cans): Gajar ki Chutney with caramelized shallot (carrot chutney) for Tigress’ Can Jam

Leena Cooks ( n Cans): Gajar ki Chutney with caramelized shallot (carrot chutney) for Tigress Can Jam

My kick-ass gajar ki chutney with caramelized shallots.

Wow. This month’s ingredient for Tigress’ Can Jam, carrots, was around 1,000 times more difficult to work with than I had anticipated. For one, carrots need a ton of acid to preserve them without creating that lovely little bacteria botulism, so this month’s recipe had to be a derivative of a PUBLISHED carrot canning recipe. Guess how many published carrot canning recipes there are in the world? Oh, about six. And I could only find two.

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February 24th, 2010
Posted in Appetizers, Canning, Condiments, Leena Cooks | 17 Comments »

Leena Cooks (n Cans): How To Can Guide!

Leena Cooks (n Cans): How To Can Guide!
Hi, I’m Leena, and I like long walks that end at pizza parlors, bacon and canning. Welcome to my canning guide!

In case you have noticed this post, this post, or this one, this one, or this one, I like to can a bit. So I figured it might be time to show you folks at home exactly how I can. So sit back, relax, push all thoughts of botulism and killing your loved ones with canning out of your head! Really. I’m like, 90% sure most of you won’t kill anyone with your cans. Doesn’t that make you feel better? (Note: parts of this post originally appeared 7/30/08, but I’ve combined it with this new post to give you a more complete guide. I know. I’m awesome.) Read the rest of this entry »

January 22nd, 2010
Posted in Canning, Leena Cooks | 1 Comment »

Leena Cooks (n Cans): Blood Orange Port Marmalade for Tigress Can Jam!

Leena Cooks (n Cans): Blood Orange Port Marmalade for Tigress Can Jam!

My jewel-toned blood orange port marmalade. The light near the bottom of the cans are the canning fairies shining their kick-ass light on my goodies…or, you know, sun.

Leena Cooks (n Cans): Blood Orange Port Marmalade for Tigress Can Jam! For the next 12 months, I have the best excuse EVER to can. That’s right. Even better than “I like it”, “it completes me” and “I can eat it”. Tigress over at Tigress in a Jam is hosting a good old-fashioned can jam! Each month, a different blogger will announce the produce of the month, and all 140 participants have three weeks to post about their canning experience. Tigress will be posting a blog roundup the last Wednesday of each month. Now that’s what this bitch calls a party. This month’s theme: citrus! Now on to my blood orange port marmalade. Read the rest of this entry »

January 22nd, 2010
Posted in Canning, Leena Cooks, Parties | 17 Comments »

Canning: Not just for your Grandma anymore

Canning: Not just for your Grandma anymore
A little canning never hurt nobody.

Would someone please tell my friends and husband that it is perfectly normal for a 27 year old woman to like canning food? And that it does not mean she is a senior citizen? So what if I happen to enjoy the art of preserving food and a good game of bingo…dinner at 4pm…high-waisted pants with an elastic stretch waistband…oh shit. Read the rest of this entry »

January 20th, 2010
Posted in Canning, Leena Cooks | 27 Comments »
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