Preservation Hall

The new name for my kitchen. I spent most of today preserving fruit. Yes, tomatoes count as a fruit. As do the blackberries and the peaches.

First, some oven dried tomatoes.

I got a pint container in the freezer out of this batch. My orange tomatoes, some Amish paste, and the CSA romas, all slow cooked at 200 degrees for two hours in the oven. They had scallions and shallots, salt, pepper, sugar and oregano on them, then drizzled in olive oil. Sometime this winter, the pasta I make with this mix will be a breath of summer in a pan.

Blackberries. Boiled down with some super fine sugar, balsamic vinegar and a pinch of pepper.

Then I ran them through a very fine sieve and made two trays. One the simple syrup for dressings, and the other, the blackberry ice cubes for sangria.

When you cook blackberries low and slow for a long time, the seeds almost disintegrate, so I don’t mind putting them in the freezer and using them. Some people do throw them away, but I like that texture for a few applications.

Now, for those peaches. I did about half of them today. The rest will become peach puree tomorrow. Except for a few we will keep to eat.

I quickly blanch them in simmering water. Sixty seconds or so. Then, peel them.

The nicest ones I freeze as half peaches. The rest get sliced. I got six bags full today.

All in all, a very productive day. Besides the preserving, I made red pepper hummus and potato/green bean salad. The salad for my husband to take to a dinner meeting in northern VA tomorrow night. The hummus. Well, that is one of my favorite snacks.

Time to give the kitchen a rest.

hocofood@@@