Canning Boston Brown Bread

*Disclaimer... before you read any further, please be warned that the USDA and the FDA do NOT approve of canning cakes and breads. Rest assured I AM aware of this. Continue at your own risk...

I started with the following recipe from simplyrecipes.com

Boston Brown Bread

Do your best to find the rye flour. It adds a lot to the flavor of the finished bread.

INGREDIENTS

• Butter for greasing loaf pans or coffee cans
• 1/2 cup (heaping) all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup (heaping) rye flour
• 1/2 cup (heaping) finely ground corn meal (must be finely ground)
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon allspice
• 1/2 cup molasses (any kind)
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract (optional)
• 1/2 cup raisins (optional)

• One metal 6-inch tall by 4-inch diameter coffee can, or a 4x8 loaf pan

METHOD

1 You can either make this in the oven or the stovetop, and you can either make this with a loaf pan or a metal coffee can. If you are using the oven method, preheat the oven to 325° and bring a large pot of water to a boil. If you are using the stovetop method, set the steamer rack inside a tall stockpot and fill the pot with enough water to come 1/3 of the way up the sides of your coffee can. Turn the burner on to medium as you work.

2 Grease a coffee can or small loaf pan with butter. In a large bowl, mix the all-purpose flour, rye flour, corn meal, baking powder and soda, salt and allspice. Add the raisins if using.

3 In another bowl, mix together the buttermilk and vanilla extract if using. Whisk in the molasses. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and stir well with a spoon.

4 Pour the batter into the coffee can or loaf pan taking care that the batter not reach higher than 2/3 up the sides of the container.

5 Cover the loaf pan or coffee can tightly with foil. If you are using the stovetop method, set the can in the pot, cover and turn the heat to high. If you are using the oven method, find a high-sided roasting pan that can hold the coffee can or loaf pan. Pour the boiling water into the roasting pan until it reaches one third up the side of the coffee can or loaf pan. Put the roasting pan into the oven. Steam the bread for at least 2 hours and 15 minutes. Check to see if the bread is done by inserting a toothpick into it. If the toothpick comes out clean, you're ready. If not, recover the pan and cook for up to another 45 minutes.

6 Remove from the oven and let cool for 10 minutes before putting on a rack. Let the bread cool for 1 hour before turning out of the container.

7 Slice and eat plain, or toast in a little butter in a frying pan.

Yield: Serves 4-6.

Here's what I did...

I began my "subversive" bread canning project by heating my wide mouth pint canning jars in the oven at 250 degrees for 20 minutes. I put enough water into my canner (or a large stockpot with a lid, used my canner because it's the only pot I have big enough) to cover the jars to about 1/3 of the way up the sides of the jars. I turned the heat on medium to get it going while I began mixing my batter.

I sprayed the insides of the jars with cooking spray (could have buttered them, but the spray was easier)

Next, I gathered my ingredients... I multiplied the original recipe by 4x so I could fill 8 pint canning jars.

I mixed all my dry ingredients in one large mixing bowl...

Then mixed all my liquid ingredients in another bowl (I chose NOT to add raisins)

I mixed the liquid ingredients into the dry ingredients

I filled each of the greased jars about 2/3 full of the bread batter (allowing space for the bread to rise)

I took great care to wipe the jar rims to remove any excess batter and any oil from the cooking spray... 

TIP: a little vinegar on the cloth helps to remove grease and oil.

After simmering my lids in boiling water, I tightened the lids onto the jars to a fingertip tightness.

I placed the jars of bread batter into the simmering water in the big pot (canner)

I placed the lid onto the canner loosely (don't tighten it down) and kept the water at a low boil (you might need to adjust the heat occasionally, but keep it at a low boil, this is a steamed bread). I steamed my bread for 2 hours and 15 minutes.

After steaming, I removed the jars of bread using my jar lifter, and set them on a folded dish towel on the counter to cool, and to seal... didn't take long before I began hearing that PING of the jars sealing.

Next morning, I HAD to test the delicious looking (and smelling) bread. I popped open a jar...

I ran a butter knife between the inside of the jar and the bread...

... and it slid right out onto the plate... looking very yummy and cute... a miniature loaf of Boston Brown Bread.

I sliced it up...

...and spread it with some real butter... and enjoyed it with my morning coffee! Delicious!

*As I previously stated, this is NOT an approved canning method. I sterilize EVERYTHING and take great care to assure I use the cleanest utensils, jars, lids, bowls, pots and pans I possibly can. I have eaten "canned cakes and breads" up to a year or more after "canning" with delicious, moist results... I cannot stress enough that this is NOT an approved method... I choose to do it because I feel I use AT LEAST as clean and sterile methods as commercial companies (probably more so) and I'm a bit of a Rebel Granny... if you have ANY doubts... don't do it!

Canning Oranges... and other Citrus

The Christmas season, to me, always includes oranges... the bright, citrus aroma is just one of the smells that says Christmas to me...

There's just the two of us in this household now, but I can't help myself, I MUST have oranges in the house around Christmas... when the kids were home I didn't have one bit of trouble going through a bag of oranges, tangerines, or clementines... but now with just Mr. Granny and myself, it takes a little longer... but I still buy them...

And there they sat, in that fruit bowl, starting to dry out a little around the edges... something had to be done... can't waste all that citrusy goodness... so I decided to can them...

Here's what I did...

First, I peeled them, and segmented them (I had a couple lemons in that bowl too, so I added them to the mix)

The most labor intensive part of citrus is removing all the pithy white part... it's tasteless, tough, and unnecessary... so I carefully removed as much of the white part as I possibly could. And it's pretty important to remove any seeds unless you don't mind coming across a seed or two when you're eating them later.

For oranges, which are quite sweet on their own, a syrup is not entirely necessary, but I did have those few lemons, so I chose to mix up an ultra light syrup (1/2 cup sugar to 5 cups water)... orange juice could be used for the liquid, or just plain old water.

I brought the sugar/water mixture to a boil, ensuring all the sugar was dissolved.

After boiling my jars to sterilize them, I put my orange segments into the jars, fairly loosely packed and leaving a good half inch headspace.

I ladled the hot syrup into the jars.

Then ran a butter knife between the inside of the jar and the fruit to remove any air bubbles... then added more syrup to the jar if necessary.

I wiped the rims of the jars with a damp cloth...

And, using my handy dandy magnetic wand, removed the lids from the simmering water I had placed them in earlier...

...and tightened them onto the pint canning jars to a fingertip tightness.

I processed the jars of oranges in a boiling water bath (place the jars in a canner or large pot, ensuring they are completely covered with water, then bring to a boil and start timing) for ten minutes.

After processing, I removed the hot jars using my jar lifter and set them on a folded dish towel on the counter to cool, and to listen for the PING of each successfully sealed jar. (LOVE that sound!)

I enjoyed canning the few oranges I had left over from Christmas so much, the next day I made a trip to the grocery store and bought another big bag of oranges, a bag of clementines, and a huge bag of grapefruit to put up some more!

While I was preparing the grapefruit for canning, I decided to use the peel for a couple things... like dehydrating some for using later in recipes... once these are dry, I'll give them a whirl in the blender and store them in a jar for use in cakes, cookies, and even some pork or chicken dishes.

I put some of the grapefruit peels into a pint jar and filled it up with vodka to make grapefruit extract... I've done lemon, orange, peppermint, and vanilla extract before... why not grapefruit!?

Side story... I am a good Baptist girl from the South... we don't drink! And we sure don't speak to each other in the liquor store (LOL!)... Mr. Granny, however, is a good Episcopalian (aka "Whiskypalian)... and he has no problem with speaking to folks in the liquor store (it's a running joke between the two of us, just a bit of fun, folks, don't get your panties in a wad!)...

One day a few months ago we were on the side of town where we seldom go, at Northern Tools picking up some things... there's a discount beverage store on that side of town... as we left Northern Tools, I asked Mr. Granny, "Do you mind if we stop at the liquor store while we're over here?" I thought the man was gonna fall out of the car he was so surprised! "Well, SURE!" says he. I laughed till tears ran down my face at his reaction... I needed vodka for making extract... really I did... really...

Aren't these jars of canned grapefruit so pretty? When I canned them, I used a light syrup instead of ultra light... 2-1/4 cups sugar to 5-1/4 cups water... same process otherwise as the oranges.

Happy New Year Eatin'... Dixie Style

Happy New Year!

New Year's Eve and New Year's Day seem to be more filled with traditions, superstitions, and folklore than any other time of the year... and every culture in every country has its own... from wearing brightly colored underwear in some South American countries, to throwing dishes onto doorsteps in Denmark. Here in the U.S. many of us watch the ball drop in Times Square, whether in person or via TV... we light fireworks and make lots of noise... a tradition which began by making noises to scare away evil spirits. It seems most of our New Year traditions are to give us any and every chance at having a good, prosperous, peaceful, happy year. We want a fresh start, a clean slate... it's a brand new year... time to make resolutions, begin again, and strive for the lives we want... bigger and better things... love... happiness... peace... 

In the South we have many traditions and superstitions surrounding the New Year... Mama always said "whatever you do on New Year's Day, you'll be doing all year long." We always had to clean the house (I suspect she made that one up so we'd all pitch in and help) and the sink must be empty so our year will be filled with good luck and happiness. We shot fireworks and firecrackers... but we also shot the shotgun at midnight... and you must have someone to kiss at midnight to ensure your year will be filled with love and affection. Mr. Granny brought to our little household his own traditions... the New Year toast, whether it be with champagne, spumanti, or just sparkling grape juice... and he has added to the New Year meal tradition...

Growing up we always, always had black-eyed peas, hog jowl, and collards... Mr. Granny always had those things too... but also candied yams and ham... So we've melded our lives and our traditions together...

This New Year's Day, we started cooking our traditional meal first thing in the morning...

I put the dried black-eyed peas into the crock pot so they could cook all day. I added eight cups of water to the one pound bag of dried peas...

A little salt...

And some diced up pieces of hog jowl (in the past I HAVE used bacon, fatback, or ham hock). I turned the slow cooker on low and let them cook the entire day. I also put the ham on... I simply wrapped it in aluminum foil, placed it in a large baking pan, and put it in a 250 degree oven to cook for the whole day.

In the afternoon, I began preparing my collards (in past years I have substituted other greens... mustard, turnip... but since we are now living in South Carolina where collards are the state vegetable and readily available in every grocery store, roadside stand, and even on tables in some folks front yards... collards it was to be!) First I diced up another nice piece of hog jowl (again bacon, fatback, or ham hock could be substituted)

I rinsed my greens well... then rinsed them again... and again (collards can trap little particles of sand, so it's a good idea to rinse them several times.)

I diced up an onion and added it to a large saucepan along with the diced jowl... I sauteed the pork and onion combination on low heat, stirring occasionally until the onion was tender... meanwhile...

... I began chopping the collards... I removed the tough stems (the compost pile is gonna LOVE these... if you have chickens, pigs, goats, or rabbits, they'd love the New Year treat as well)

Then I rough chopped the greens...

... and added them to the pork/onion mixture in the saucepan...

I added a bit of salt...

... and fresh ground pepper...

... and just enough water to keep everything from sticking to the bottom of the pan and to allow the greens to steam... (maybe a cup?)... then I turned the heat to low and allowed the greens to simmer for 3-4 hours, checking and stirring occasionally.

Mmmmm... looking good... greens cook down A LOT!

Now where did THIS picture come from???? LOL! While waiting on our feast to simmer, I crocheted a dish towel and a couple of dish cloths... we also took a drive along some back roads we'd never been on before and I learned that Mr. Granny's car can, indeed ford a small stream when necessary... it was a beautiful warm day in South Carolina...

Back home again after our little adventure, I started the yams/sweet potatoes... I used canned yams and simply poured them into an aluminum foil pan...

... sprinkled the top with a little brown sugar...

... and a sprinkle of cinnamon (some folks like a marshmallow topping and sometimes we do... also chopped pecans can be added to the topping)... then I removed the ham from the oven and set it on the back of the stove to keep warm... upped the oven temp to 350 degrees and popped in the sweet potatoes to cook for about an hour... 

With about 20 or 30 minutes left to go before time to eat, I started the cornbread... Mr. Granny LOVES the top of the stove skillet cornbread I make (it's an old Southern tradition!) so I decided to make it... I started by heating some olive oil and butter in my cast iron frying pan on medium/low heat...

I mixed up the cornbread batter... a half cup cornmeal, half cup flour, an egg, a teaspoon of baking powder, a half teaspoon of salt and enough milk to make a thin batter (think pancake batter)

Once the oil and butter in the frying pan was good and hot, I added the batter to the pan...

I cooked it on low heat for maybe 3-5 minutes, then...

... once it was bubbly and almost done through...

... I flipped it over and browned the other side...

We served it all up... slices of ham, a wedge of cornbread, a spoonful of candied yams, a generous portion of black-eyed peas, and those lovely collards with a dash of my home-canned hot pepper vinegar...

Traditionally, the greens are for wealth in the New Year, the hog jowl is for health, the peas are for good luck... the cornbread is said to attract gold... and the rest rounds out a traditional meal that is good, simple fare and takes us back to years of traditional, good, simple fare that we've enjoyed our whole lives...

Happy New Year!

Supper From a Jar

We received some home canned foods from my brother, Jeff, for Christmas this year... it's an annual tradition that we always look forward to... he generally gives us a variety of jams, jellies, muscadine juice, some pickled peppers, pickled green tomatoes, and our favorite home canned half runner green beans. And soup... the soup mix takes me back to childhood... Mama always made it, as did her Mama and probably her Mama before her...

Mama made a soup mix of tomatoes, corn, and okra every summer... and in the winter she'd open a jar and add potatoes and onions and maybe carrots for a tummy warming meal... sometimes ground beef or chopped up chicken would make its way into the soup... sometimes rice or noodles replaced the potatoes... but whatever was added... it was so delicious on a cold winter evening... with a pone of cornbread... perfection!!!

This year Jeff gave us two quarts of his version of Mama's soup mix... he had added to the usual tomato, corn, and okra mixture... some bell peppers and some lima beans... And on a cold winter evening just after Christmas, it seemed like the perfect time to pop open a jar and give it a try... with a few additions...

Here's what I did...

I browned a pound of ground beef and added some garlic powder, salt and pepper, and a little onion powder... then I remembered the dehydrated celery so I added a handful of it...

Next I tossed in a half cup of rice and a cup of water to absorb into the rice.

Then I opened up the jar of soup mix and poured it in (tomatoes, lima beans, corn, bell pepper, and okra)

I brought everything to a boil, then reduced the heat and let it simmer for 30 minutes or so (longer would be OK too)

I made a pone of cornbread to go along with the soup (in my cast iron frying pan, of course!)... and what a meal! Mr. Granny and I ate until we were "full as a tick on a dog's ear!" (as my Daddy always says)

Took me back to my childhood and how Mama could make a heart warming, tummy warming meal out of the most humble of ingredients... It don't get no better than this!

It's Give Away Time!

Canning Granny is celebrating achieving over 1,000 (count them... one thousand!) Facebook "Likes" (I'm not sure why they changed "Fans" to "Likes"... fans sounded so much more... well... "fannish!" but I digress)...

Believe me, I would dearly LOVE to send each and every one of you 1,000 plus folks a gift in thanks for your support, friendship, and love... most of you I have never seen in person... but I count each and every one of you as a friend... and some of you as family. So, since I am unable to send everyone a gift I'm gonna give every one of you a chance to receive this token of my extreme appreciation.

Here's how it works...

I couldn't narrow it down to ONE gift... so I will leave it up to the winner to choose ONE of the three below...

First option, since I AM Canning Granny after all... a half-pint jar of  my home canned Habanero Gold jelly (click to see post). This beautiful jelly contains habanero peppers, red peppers, and dried apricots and is delicious with cream cheese on crackers, as a glaze for meat and I'm sure many other yummy things.

OR

Second option, since I have recently picked up my crochet hook and am definitely "hooked" on it again... one of my favorite scarves... this one is made from very soft, very fuzzy multi-colored yarn in fall colors of oranges, browns, greens and creams.

OR

Third option, since I make my own all-natural soaps, lotions, and other bath and beauty products (www.southernheartsoaps.com)... a collection of some of my favorite products... three bars of soap... one honey oatmeal an all natural soap which contains real honey, real oatmeal, and is skin-loving and moisturizing... one Granny's Old-Fashioned Lye Soap which is exactly what it sounds like, a nostalgic tribute to days gone by, unscented, simple, moisturizing, and all natural... one Southern Cook's Coffee Soap... a soap made with real coffee and added coffee grounds that make a great exfoliant... coffee is odor absorbing so this soap is great for the kitchen to remove the odors of onions, fish, garlic, etc. from your hands (YES! it really works!)... also in this little set, I'm including a 6 ounce tube of Clarity Hand and Body Lotion made from avocado butter, cocoa butter, olive oil, with the essential oils of rosemary, lavender, geranium, lemongrass and peppermint which add skin-nourishing properties as well as mental clarity... and last but not least... a tube of peppermint lip balm made with honey, beeswax, olive oil and peppermint essential oil.

And what YOU need to do...

...is comment on THIS blog post (below) with your NAME, and which gift you prefer... (1) JELLY (2) SCARF or (3) SOAP SET

On Monday, December 26 at midnight, the give away ends.

Tuesday, December 27, I will put all the names in a wide mouth canning jar and draw the winner out randomly... I will then post the name on the Canning Granny Facebook Page ... the winner will have 48 hours to email me at canninggranny@gmail.com with their Name and Mailing Address. Should I NOT hear from the winner, I will draw another name on Thursday, December 29 and post THAT name on Facebook as well.

I'm so excited!!! Good luck to my wonderful, supportive readers... You are all winners in my book!