Food & Cooking

March 6, 2022March 6, 2022

Orange Jam

So it was another uneventful week at our house. Not a lot of activity to post about. However, the canning projects are progressing as there are still a few things we want to get into jars this winter. Thought we’d share a super easy recipe that makes an incredible orange jam.

Nothing like bitter, chunky Marmalade … this is a sweet, tart jam.

With citrus in season oranges are easy to find fruit, even these days. This is an excellent way to preserve some of that juicy goodness for later.

Print Recipe

Orange Jam

Quick and easy sweet orange spread

Equipment

7 small navel oranges
2 cups sugar
1 Tbsp pectin
2 lemons juiced and zest grated

Instructions

Wash jars and lids, place jars in pot fully submerged in simmering water, recipe makes 3 to 4 half pints (4 oz) jars
Peel oranges, remove pith (less pith, less bitterness in jam) and cut into small pieces and add to a blender
Blend into a smooth juice
Put sugar, lemon juice and zest in a saucepan over low heat and stir to dissolve, about 5 minutes
Add blended oranges and pectin to the saucepan, bring to a boil and simmer for 10 minutes
Turn off heat, remove jars from water bath and wipe rims with vinegar soaked cloth
Fill jars to one inch head space, add lids and rings, finger tight, and return to water bath.
Process on a boil for 10 minutes, remove and allow to set for 24 hours. remove rings, check seals, label and store

February 27, 2022February 27, 2022

Soup Saturday

Regardless of world events, this has been a very weird week. As I’m writing this Sunday morning, it’s 40 degrees and raining. However, just four days prior, it was minus 3 degrees with three inches of snow on the ground and the wind was howling.

We’d just posted about the unusual spring-like weather, when an arctic cold front dropped onto Central Oregon. With it came freezing temps and snow. Mostly we just stayed home, sat by the fire, and caught up on our reading. So there’s nothing to post about, sorry.

We do want to share this image of chili getting canned as part of an ongoing winter canning project. We started making soups for Saturday dinner and that evolved into a canning project. Mostly . . . we wanted to get away from commercially canned soups that have shot up in price, have way too much salt, and are actually getting harder to find. Once you have the soup cooked it’s not that hard to load a few pints into the canner.

Over a steamy hot bowl of “Wendy’s Copycat Chili” we are planning next week’s adventures. There is rain forecast, but we’ve got some road trips mapped out. Enjoy your week!

Print Recipe

Wendy's Copycat Chili

Super easy chili recipe that is very tasty ...

Equipment

2 lbs ground beef
29 oz tomato sauce one large can
29 oz kidney beans 2 cans (15 oz)
29 oz black beans 2 cans (15 oz)
1 cup onions, diced 1 medium
½ cup diced green chili 1 small can
¼ cup celery, diced 1 stalk
3 med fresh tomatoes, chopped
2 tsp cumin
3 Tbsp chili powder Gephardts is our fave
1 ½ tsp black pepper
2 tsp salt
2 cups water

Instructions

Brown the ground beef over medium heat, drain off the fat.
Using a fork, crumble the cooked beef into pea size pieces (a potato masher works too)
In large pot, combine beef, plus all remaining ingredients and bring to a simmer over low heat.
Cook, stirring every 15 minutes, for 2-3 hours.

Canning

As the chili simmers, prep your pressure canner and warm 6* pint jars and lids
After cooking for 2 hours, ladle chili into jars, clean rims with vinegar, set lids and screw on canning rings finger tight. Place canner lid and vent steam for 10 minutes. Bring pressure to 10 psi and hold for 75 minutes. Allow to cool naturally, remove jars, and let sit for 12 to 24 hours.
* If you don't plan to have a meal from this recipe, you can get 7 pints from a batch.

November 28, 2021November 27, 2021

Holiday Season Begins

We pretty much took the week off not worried about getting blog material. Still we can share a few smart-phone snaps from a fishing trip and Thanksgiving meal prep. Pandemic limitations have eased some and we plan on sharing Christmas dinner at a family gathering. But this holiday week we’re sipping whiskey by the fire and enjoying a quiet read.

In Central Oregon winter starts up around this time. There is often snow on the ground, for sure in the mountains, by Thanksgiving. On the other hand, weather is always changing … this week was a good example.

Started the week with a sunny, almost spring-like day on the Crooked River. Weather reports were showing snow leading up to Thanksgiving.

On Tuesday it did snow, pretty much all day. However, by Wednesday only the well shaded areas still held patches and Thanksgiving day broke cold but sunny, a perfect day to BBQ a turkey breast.

Hope you all had a good feast to start the holiday season.

November 14, 2021November 14, 2021

Seasonal Pantry

Not so long ago we started getting regular “harvest boxes” from a CSA style organization in Bend. Agriculture Connection has, for nearly a decade, been offering boxes with locally sourced produce. Unlike the typical CSA, the produce comes from many different area growers. This means offerings are a bit more diverse than a single farm could offer.

The seasonal nature of the produce has meant we are putting veggies in the fridge that normally wouldn’t be there. In the midst of a supply chain crisis this works in our favor. The grocery stores we normally shop have a smaller selection and poorer quality. The AG connection boxes are quality vegetables. There are the usual winter crops and there have been a few twists. The unique veggies force us to plan meals a bit differently.

For example, a recent box had a white cabbage that weighed in at 7 lbs. Life throws you cabbage … you make soup (recipe below). We have also gotten a lot of cold weather greens and more beets than we typically pick up. The greens, kale and collards, are something we buy, but haven’t found good selection in the produce section. As for the beets? Well JQ pickled a bunch and we’re enjoying them on salads and sandwiches.

The service is year-a-round, so we are looking forward to what Central Oregon farmers have growing during the winter months. I’m sure there will be interesting treats to fill our plates.

Print Recipe

Hearty Cabbage Soup

Ingredients

4 oz bacon cut into ¼ inch pieces
1 med onion, minced
1 Tbsp butter
4 cloves garlic
1 tsp minced fresh thyme
1/4 cup white wine
4 cups chicken broth
4 cups beef or vegetable broth
2 lbs cabbage, cored and cut into ¾ inch pieces
2-3 med potatoes cut into ¾ inch pieces
3 med carrots chopped
1 bay leaf

Instructions

Cook the bacon in a large dutch oven over medium heat until crisp and rendered, 5-7 minutes.
Stir in the onion and butter and cook until the onion is softened, 5-7 minutes.
Stir in the garlic and thyme and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds longer.
Stir in the wine, scraping up any browned bits, and simmer until nearly evaporated, about 1 minute. Stir in the chicken and vegie broth, cabbage, potatoes, carrots, and bay leaf and bring to a boil. Cover, reduce to a gentle simmer and cook until tender, about 25-30 minutes.
adjust seasoning ... add pepper

October 10, 2021October 9, 2021

Falling into fall

A gnarled western juniper thrives in the arid climate of the high desert

This week we continue to embrace the fall season with short road trips. We are taking advantage of the cool mornings and warm afternoons without smoke laden air.

At winter levels the Crooked River has exposed rock and weed beds.

One downside of the shift to winter is the river draw downs.

To get reservoirs back to capacity for the next irrigation season, dams on the upper Deschutes and Crooked river restrict flows, basically lowering river levels. The Crooked River is down to what seemed like a trickle and it’s water was too turbid to fish. However, that didn’t deter Tip from exploring.

The other activity was pizza baking … from scratch.

This Ooni is heated by gas but cooks more like a wood fired oven.

We’d picked up a gas pizza oven at the end of summer and have been playing with recipes. There is a bit more involved in making pizza, rather than heating up frozen or just carry out. There’s a learning curve and failed attempts, but we are starting to dial in the best cooking method and the last few pies have turned out great.

Scratch-made gives you a delicious pie with total control over the ingredients.

The Ooni oven will be great for other “wood fired” baking jobs. Flat bread is on the list to try.

For now, we’re working on tweeking dough recipes to fine tune our pizza crust, very important, as there are a surprising number of variations possible.