Dried Beans

 A while back I mentioned using beans I had cooked from dried and frozen.  I freeze them in portions sizes equal to canned beans since most recipes call for canned beans.  The measurements are listed at the end.  You can do this with any dried beans you want except Kidney beans.  Apparently they have some issues, I just buy them canned.  Here is the process I use.  First sort the beans, removing the undesirable items like:

 

Split Beans

 

Shriveled &/or discolored Beans

 

And Rocks, yes I said rocks.

 

Next, place in a crockpot with 2x's the water as beans.  Or just fill the crockpot about 1/2 way with beans and then fill with water to the top.  

 

Allow to sit over night.  Dump water (makes the beans less gassy), and refill with water about 1 " over the beans.   Add about 1 tsp salt.  Make sure you add salt unless you buy unsalted beans, beans are like pasta & rice, no amount of salting will help if they aren't cooked in salt.  Set on high for about 1-2 hours to get the cooking process speeding along, and reduce to low and let cook for 8-10 hours.   The lower in elevation you are the less time you need and the higher the more time you need.

When soft, place in the refrigerator overnight to cool.  Then place in qt freezer bags. 

 

It is best to freeze the beans with some some juice so the beans don't dry out.  There is approx 1 1/4 C beans and 1/4 C juice in a can of beans.  Make sure to remove as much of the air as possible before closing the bag, it will help prevent freezer burn. 

You can use these beans as you would any canned beans, in casseroles and baked things or fresh.  They are delicious!

Apple Pie Filling

Don't these bottles look pretty.  Yesterday I made apple pie filling for the first time and it turned out fabulous (except for the one bottle that boiled all over the place, but I choose to forget that).  A friend gave us some as a Christmas present a few years ago and I have been wanting to do some ever since.  This year a neighbor let us pick apples from their tree so I was over flowing in apples and decided to give it a try.  Let's just say I will be doing this every year from now on.  It turned out so yummy.  I figure I can use it for pie filling, apple crisp, ice cream topping, oatmeal topping, to eat just plain, add to yogurt, etc., etc., etc. 

Apple Pie Filling (printer friendly recipe) 

Yield: 7 quarts

4 1/2 C Sugar

1 C cornstarch

2 t ground cinnamon

1/4 t nutmeg

10 C water

3 T lemon juice

1 t salt

5 1/2 - 6 lbs. apples

1. In a large pot on medium heat, combine the sugar, cornstarch, cinnamon, nutmeg and water.  Allow to cook, stirring until thick an bubbly.

 Isn't this pretty?

2. Turn off the heat and add the lemon juice and salt.

3. Peel/Core/and Slice the apples.*  Place them tightly into quart jars.

4. Pour the sauce over the apples leaving a 1/2" space at the top.  If the sauce is too thick to go down, heat over low until it is a little warmer.  I kind of dilly dallied in getting the apples done and this happened to me and after I heated it slightly it worked just fine.

 5. Wash rims and place two piece lids on as directed on the box.

 6. Process in a boiling water canner for 40 minutes. 

*I own an apple peeler/corer/slicer that I used to peel the apples.  I didn't core or slice with this tool since the slices would have been too thin.

 

I then used an apple wedger to make the wedges.

 

You could do the peeling, coring and wedging by hand, it would just take a little longer.

Pear-Raspberry Jam

I made my favorite jam yesterday -- Pear-Raspberry. I also ended up making Pear-Raspberry-Strawberry since I ran out of raspberries. Basically, I use frozen raspberries and thaw them then follow the instructions in the Pectin box and use about 3/5 a recipe of cooked raspberry jam and 2/5 a recipe of pear jam. If you need more details here they are, for the example I will use 3/5 & 2/5.

Thaw frozen raspberries. If you are on the ball you would have frozen them in season. If not (like me this year) just buy frozen raspberries and thaw. Mash with a potato masher, food processor, or blender if you so desire so you have 3/5 the raspberries your pectin box calls for in a cooked raspberry recipe. Then peal and core pears and mash them so they are equal to 2/5 the pears called for in a cooked pear recipe.

When they are combined they will look like this

Then cook the jam according to the instructions on the fruit. This is what it looks like at a "rolling boil"

I thought this looked pretty cool!

Pour it in your bottles and process according to the instructions in the box.

Doesn't the jam look pretty. FYI: If you use the "inversion" method. Be sure to turn the jam over after 5 minutes or it sets up and leave the air gap on the bottom as you can see. OOPS!

About half done

I must admit that, as a general rule, I do not like to can. However, I do love canning fruit. If only it could be in any month but September. Just too many things to do. But this week my mom brought me almost 4 bushels of pears. In one afternoon & evening we canned 3 of them and 1 bushel of peaches. Thanks MOM!

Don't they look pretty.