canning

[TheGrey]

Grey - what is Hawaiian Cowboy Candy?

Cowboy candy is sweet pickled jalepenos; Hawaiian cowboy candy is when you add fresh pineapple for some sweet heat action. I'll post the recipe later today. It's far easier than it sounds, and I've hopefully found a way to make it diabetic-safe. I'll know once I figure how long to let it sit so the flavors blend.

[bogie]

I love mine. It's really a worthwhile investment.

I love ours too. It's quite large, especially for the beginner, or those with limited working space over their range.

[bogie]

I made Hawaiian Cowboy Candy tonight. Does anyone know how long it should sit to develop flavor, before serving it?

I haven't made that Grey, but three months is the typical aging period we use for any sort of fruity spreads.

[TheGrey]

Okay, here is the recipe for Hawaiian Cowboy Candy:

1 lb fresh jalapenos2/3 cup cider vinegar
1 cup chunk fresh or canned pineapple, without juice
2 cups sugar
2 tablespoons mustard seed

Slice jalapenos. Mix cider vinegar, sugar, and mustard seed to low boil. Reduce for 5 minutes to a simmer. Add jalapenos at the simmer for 5 minutes more. Load hot sterilized jars with 4 to 5 chunks of pineapple. Using a slotted spoon add jalapenos first and add liquid filling the jars leaving a 1/4 headspace. Remove air bubbles with a rubber spatula or chopstick and refill to headspace if needed. Wipe rims with wet papertowel. Add hot lids/rings and place in water bath canner. Process at a full boil for 15 minutes. Makes 2 pints and 1 half pints or 5 half pints.

With our elevation be sure to increase the water bath time I minute per 1000' about sea level- and don't begin timing until it is a full boil.

Now, we require a diabetic-friendly option at Casa Grey, so instead of 2 cups of sugar, I used 2/3 c light agave and an additional 1/4 . water.

I used 8 oz. jelly jars and got 6 half pints from the recipe. Depending on how you cut your pineapple chunks and the size of the jalapenos, your mileage may vary.

Note: I used the guesstimation that 1 jalapeno = 1 ounce.

Here's the recipe online. This is a terrific online resource:
http://www.sbcanning.com/2012/04/pin...an-cowboy.html

[TheGrey]

I haven't made that Grey, but three months is the typical aging period we use for any sort of fruity spreads.

Thanks, bogie. That's about how long it took for my jelly to set up.
Cowboy candy isn't quite fruit spread, but it looks like it could beaten straight fro the jar...

[rbeau30]

Went a little ambitious this weekend. Did two batches of stock. Ended up with half a turkey fryer pot full of Beef stock, and a full turkey fryer pot full of chicken.

This is the first batch of Beef cooling on the counter. I'm going to be up late :-(

[clodhopper]

I take junk meat ( freezer burned, beef tongues, chicken carcasses, hearts, livers,whatever I can get or have on hand) and cook it down, purée it and can it as dog food sauce. We add it to rice, green beans, carrots and spinach. The mix gets added to some kibble, or straight for elderly dogs.

Anyway, I cleaned out the freezer, cooking down meat over a week and a half. Ended up pressure canning 49 quarts of goo. That will last most of the year.

[rbeau30]

Doesn't sound too bad, if you had to I suppose you could eat it :-D

[clodhopper]

Doesn't sound too bad, if you had to I suppose you could eat it :-D

You certainly could. Although I would want to add more seasonings. It only has garlic, so smells a bit strange (flat) but the dogs love it. We started doing this for a dog that had joint issues as a way to get more natural glucosamine and oils in the diet. All the good marrow nutrients. It made such a huge difference we began adding it to all the dogs meals.

if you had bad knees or something, it could certainly help. We make soup (for the two legged family members) with pork necks, ox tails and soup bones. Same kind of idea. Buying beef and pork by the side, you end up with all those parts that usually get pitched. Not many people know how to cook that stuff any more.

I wish I was older before my grandparents passed. They lived through the depression and ate all kinds of things (blood pudding, turtle soup, etc). I would have liked to have learned a lot of that. Instead, I get a reference to something in a book and have to go research it and try to find an oldster who remembers. My mom remembers her folks making some of it, and even more stories about it, but was too young to learn any of it. And of course, as the economy became more robust after WWII, those foods went out of common use and passing the skills on was not done. So my mom did not get the skills either.

[rbeau30]

You certainly could. Although I would want to add more seasonings. It only has garlic, so smells a bit strange (flat) but the dogs love it. We started doing this for a dog that had joint issues as a way to get more natural glucosamine and oils in the diet. All the good marrow nutrients. It made such a huge difference we began adding it to all the dogs meals.

if you had bad knees or something, it could certainly help. We make soup (for the two legged family members) with pork necks, ox tails and soup bones. Same kind of idea. Buying beef and pork by the side, you end up with all those parts that usually get pitched. Not many people know how to cook that stuff any more.

I wish I was older before my grandparents passed. They lived through the depression and ate all kinds of things (blood pudding, turtle soup, etc). I would have liked to have learned a lot of that. Instead, I get a reference to something in a book and have to go research it and try to find an oldster who remembers. My mom remembers her folks making some of it, and even more stories about it, but was too young to learn any of it. And of course, as the economy became more robust after WWII, those foods went out of common use and passing the skills on was not done. So my mom did not get the skills either.

Nothing gets wasted here. Scraps of the chicken, t-bone scraps, the leftover hamburger that none eats at the end of dinner. all go in the foodsaver in the freezer for stock making day!

I totally hear ya. I think that it is sad I don't have more knowledge from my family than I do. My mom's side of the family still operates a farm in Northern Wisconsin. My grandmother moved to the city and no one was interested in her knowledge. When I was a boy I observed as much as I could without seeming too disinterested with playing outside with my cousins.

It is a shame, a lot of things like my grandma used to say "I never had a gauge on my pressure cooker, you just know it was right by how it sounds." are now lost, you cannot get that knowledge from a book. And you never will.

The only recipe from the depression I got from my other grandparents is hot dog stew. Apparently my dad grew up on it and ran away from home because he didn't want it anymore. He risked life an limb because he could not stand it anymore. My kids cannot get enough of it. LOL