Canning Makes a Huge Comeback
Victoria Gourmet Announces New Recipes for Home Canners
It was practically inevitable. Food prices are up. Home budgets are down. Local and seasonal food is our current obsession and the way of the future. Creative frugality feels good right now. Driven by the economic realities of the last 12 months and the increase in food preparation at home, home canning is enjoying a huge resurgence in popularity. Sales of canning supplies are up 50% in the last year.
With more cooks experimenting with canning at home, there is a demand for fresh and simple recipes to make the process easy and successful. Victoria Gourmet has traditionally been very recipe focused, providing recipes on every package, free recipe tear pads to retailers and constantly adding new recipes to the company website. Adding some fresh recipes designed specifically for the home canner was a natural.
Recipes will be posted on the company's newly redesigned website www.vgourmet.com throughout this summer and fall to coincide with peak canning season.
Victoria Taylor, founder and President of Victoria Gourmet, has been working on new recipe applications for home canners since early spring. "It's important to stay in touch with our consumer needs and to keep our recipes fresh and relevant for today's trends," says Victoria. Several recipes are in final testing including Garden Tomatoes with Sicilian Seasoning, Spicy Corn Relish, and Garlicky Green Beans. The recipe below uses Victoria Taylor's Spicy Brining Blend to create Spicy Deli-style Pickles.
Spicy Deli-style Pickles with Victoria Taylor's Spicy Brine
- 5 lbs pickling cucumbers (3-4 inches long), trimmed, sliced in quarters lengthwise
- 1 red bell pepper cut in 1/2-inch strips lengthwise
- 2 cups water
- 1 1/2 cups white vinegar
- 2 Tbsp. Victoria Taylor's Spicy Brining Blend
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
In medium saucepan bring water, vinegar, Brining Blend, and sugar to a boil over medium-high heat stirring to dissolve. Remove; set aside. Prepare canner, jars and lids.
Pack cucumbers, placing red pepper strips periodically between cucumbers, into hot jars leaving at least 1/2 inch on top of jar. Ladle hot brining mixture into jar to cover pickles, leaving 1/2 inch headspace. Remove air bubbles and adjust headspace, if necessary, by adding more of the liquid. Wipe rim, center lid on jar. Screw band down until resistance is met, then increase to fingertip-tight.
Place jars in canner, cover completely with water; cover canner. Bring to a boil; process 10 minutes. Remove canner lid; wait 5 minutes. Remove jars, cool and store.
Makes 6 pint jars.
"Recipes for home canning are a perfect fit for our products," say Victoria. She adds, "The recipes save money and reduce waste, but most important, they save flavor by capturing seasonal produce at their peak and preserving them to enjoy later." Victoria's new home canning recipes use a variety of the company's products including Brining Blends, All-Natural Seasonings and Gourmet Ingredients.
