About 9 months ago, I started learning the almost-lost art of canning. Since then, I've helped put up over 500 jars of all kinds of fruits and vegetables from daddy's "Therapy Garden". My favorite thing to make is jellies. After stiring the sugary mixtures, ladling them into hot jars, and adding lids and rings, it's rewarding to look at the different colored jars of product. As the jars cool, the lids begin to make a soft "ping" as they seal.
Tonight, momma and I put up 30 jars of prickly pear jelly. For those who have never heard of it, prickly pears have a fruit on them that is purple. When cooked down, it makes a really pretty purple juice that has a taste something between a berry and a mayhaw. It's great over vanilla ice cream. Mom, while driving around the mail route, picked enough of the fruits to make 4 gallon pickle jars of juice. Each jar makes about 25-30 half-pint jars of jelly.
Tonight, as I dift off to sleep, I'll be listening to the soft sounds of sealing jars... and know that tonight was a job well done!
Showing posts with label In the Kitchen. Show all posts
Showing posts with label In the Kitchen. Show all posts
Thursday, January 1, 2009
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
Daddy and the Duck
One of the pleasures of being in the education field is having time off during the holidays to spend with family and friends. Yesterday, I got a phone call from my daddy asking what I planned to do that afternoon. We ended up running errands together and as a last stop toured the meat department at our local Hitchcock's.
Now for those of you who know my daddy, he's quite an adventurous cook. As we scanned the choices of pork loins, butt roasts, and various chicken and turkey parts, my eye fell upon an odd shaped whole bird. Upon closer inspection, the bird in question turned out to be none other than our dear friend "daffy". Daddy was feeling up for a little adventure, so we added the duck to our cart and headed to check out.
After spending the night in my fridge soaking in a marinade of olive oil, water, lime juice and chipolte pepper marinade, we started the cooking process this morning. After allowing the oil in the marinade to "set" we coated the skin with McCormick's Season All. On chickens, this makes the skin taste amazing. We then tucked the bird's wings behind his back and sat him squarely down on a can of beverage that good southern girls never admit to drinking and sat him in the electric smoker for about 6 hours. When he came out, we covered him with an orange sauce that made him shine.
This was my first experience eating duck. I must say, it was definately a new taste. If you ever try one, be prepared. They are very greasy and have more fat on them that a chicken does. (probably to insulate them when they are swimming) The breast meat has a texture and slight flavor that reminds me of liver, but the dark meat is better. All in all, it was quite an experience- not necessarily one I'll be repeating any time soon!
Now for those of you who know my daddy, he's quite an adventurous cook. As we scanned the choices of pork loins, butt roasts, and various chicken and turkey parts, my eye fell upon an odd shaped whole bird. Upon closer inspection, the bird in question turned out to be none other than our dear friend "daffy". Daddy was feeling up for a little adventure, so we added the duck to our cart and headed to check out.
After spending the night in my fridge soaking in a marinade of olive oil, water, lime juice and chipolte pepper marinade, we started the cooking process this morning. After allowing the oil in the marinade to "set" we coated the skin with McCormick's Season All. On chickens, this makes the skin taste amazing. We then tucked the bird's wings behind his back and sat him squarely down on a can of beverage that good southern girls never admit to drinking and sat him in the electric smoker for about 6 hours. When he came out, we covered him with an orange sauce that made him shine.
This was my first experience eating duck. I must say, it was definately a new taste. If you ever try one, be prepared. They are very greasy and have more fat on them that a chicken does. (probably to insulate them when they are swimming) The breast meat has a texture and slight flavor that reminds me of liver, but the dark meat is better. All in all, it was quite an experience- not necessarily one I'll be repeating any time soon!
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