Artisan Preserving

Artisan Preserving: Over 100 recipes for jams, chutneys and relishes, pickles, sauces and cordials, and cured meats and fish by Emma McDonald
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I requested this book to read & review from netgalley (in exchange for my honest review) because I am a beginner canner - or at least, I consider myself a beginner canner, as this is only my second year. The photos are inspiring & beautiful; the directions are clear, and the recipes well laid out & I would have no problem in following any of them.

The book, however, is a little artsy for me - well, it is in the title after all! I can simple foods, and cook even simpler, so the chutneys, sauces, and cordials are wasted on me. I live in a tiny apartment (my garden is elsewhere) so even if I wanted to cure my own meat & fish, I have no space to do so, so that section is all wasted on me.

Unfortunately, there's not really a single recipe in this book that I think I'd ever actually make ;/.

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Review: Mastering Fermentation: Recipes for Making and Cooking with Fermented Foods

Mastering Fermentation: Recipes for Making and Cooking with Fermented Foods by Mary Karlin
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Mastering Fermentation: Recipes for Making and Cooking with Fermented Foods

by Mary Karlin

A beautifully illustrated and authoritative guide to the art and science of fermented foods, featuring 70+ recipes that progress from simple fermented condiments like vinegars and mustards to more advanced techniques for using wild yeast, fermenting meats, and curing fish.

Yup, it's another book that I had to read because of my garden!

A year ago was my first and only attempt at fermentation - an idea I'm fascinated by because I have IBS, and let's face it, fermented foods are my friend, and the idea of making my own fermented food is even nicer. I had a bunch of tomatoes from my garden that needed to be used up, no way to can, no more space in the garden, and I had just bought a bunch of garlic, onions, and various peppers from a farmer's market, so I decided to make salsa. I found a recipe online for making fermented salsa, spent hours dicing up the veggies and doing everything I was supposed to, only to find out our water had gotten infected by e.coli and the water was unsafe to drink without boiling first - which, of course, I hadn't done because I was trying to ferment the salsa. I had 6 pints and an odd quart jar of salsa that I had to toss because it just wasn't safe to try to eat the salsa.

All that to say I haven't forgotten the idea of fermenting foods. I even debating about taking a class on fermenting foods at my local trade school at night, but at $39, did I really need to take a class when I could just get a book from the library? Or heck, just do more googling? I liked the idea off hand holding, but $39 was a lot of money to spend on a night class for something like fermenting foods. and then this book fell into my lap, and I'm in love with this book and the ideas and information contained inside enough to purchase a copy for my own library. Okay, I'll probably wait & get a used copy, but still... I'm going to buy a copy.

Add all of that in, and then add recipes I haven't seen anywhere else - like mushroom ketchup - I mean, come on, mushroom ketchup!

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Drink the Harvest: Making and Preserving Juices, Wines, Meads, Teas, and Ciders by Nan K. Chase

Drink the Harvest: Making and Preserving Juices, Wines, Meads, Teas, and Ciders by Nan K. Chase
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I picked this book up on a whim from my local library, and fell in love. I've been dabbling with the idea of making my own wine, looking up the occasional how to when I come across a post on pinterest that looks interesting, but this book pushed me over the edge, and I now can't wait to try making my own wines & meads (I'm researching sources of local honey now in preparation!) I discovered wild grapes on my property, and not being a big fan of grape jelly (which is what I made last year), I'd much rather turn them into wine!

The book has gorgeous photographs, is very well laid out, explains all the steps (and most important to me, doesn't just tell you what to do, but explains why doing something this way is so important, so instead of just telling you how to make wine, it educates you). It's a must for any gardener looking for alternate ways to preserving their crops.

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Fermented Vegetable by Kirsten Shockey

Fermented Vegetables: From Arugula Kimchi to Zucchini Curry, a Complete Guide to Fermenting More Than 80 Herbs and Vegetables by Kirsten Shockey
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I'm a vegetable gardener, and started canning as an alternative to freezing my harvest. I've been obsessed with fermenting vegetables - love the idea of preserving food, adding healthy probiotics to my food, and all without heating up my kitchen - but like I was with canning as first, I was so intimidated by the process.

I'm not, any longer. This is a great how-to guide, filled with amazing recipes that think outside the box. Everything is explained so this fraidy-cat isn't quite so afraid anymore. I also appreciate the small batch size, for my small sized family.

-
received a free copy in exchange for my honest review

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jam on

Jam On: The Craft of Canning Fruit by Laena McCarthy
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I've been obsessing over canning for quite some time now - I think this is the 3rd year I've been talking about it. I finally landed some canning equipment for a song at a yard sale, so it's time for me to step up and actually start canning, instead of just dreaming about it. I'm looking at it as more of a hobby, something to do once in a while with some extra veggies I might have, but we'll see where canning takes me.

This was one of quite a stack of books I took out from the library. I'm honestly not terribly interested in making a whole lot of jams/jellies/preserves; I'm more interested in making picked everything I can get my handles on, salsa, relishes, etc... in small batches, but it doesn't mean jam isn't in my future, either.

This book by McCarthy starts off talking about her experience with canning. Though it's an interesting tale, it reminds me a bit of all the people in my life who are lacking self-confidence & in order to make up for that, they have to brag about themselves an awful lot to compensate. It just gets old, rather quickly, in the book.

McCarthy has some interesting recipes in the book, but I get the impression it's not aimed towards a beginner like me. That's OK: I've been reading everything in site for a while now and can get beginner information elsewhere. That being said, most of the recipes aren't anything i can see myself making - I'm not much of a cook, and like I said, I'm not planning on making 100 jars a jam a year, so I'm not going to invest in 900 different ingredients that I'll never use again. A lot of the recipes call for vanilla bean - I don't even know what one looks like or what part of the grocery store one would find a vanilla bean! That being said, something like "I Eat NYC Hot Pepper Jelly" makes me drool, and the only special equipment needed is a food processor which *gasp* I actually own. But the majority of the recipes I'm just never going to make.

There's also a definite slant towards NYC and NYC ingredients, and also uses a type of pectin not found in my area, making the recipes impractical.

This book goes into the "I'll get it used if I find it at a yard sale for a couple of dollars" pile and not the "must buy used on amazon and pay shipping to own it now" pile.

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Put 'em Up Preserving answer book

The Put 'em Up! Preserving Answer Book: 399 Solutions to All Your Questions: Canning, Freezing, Drying, Fermenting, Making Infusions by Sherri Brooks Vinton
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I previously reviewed Vinton's other canning book, Put 'em Up food preservation, which I loved, and this one was no exception.

This book is exactly what it says it is - it's a question and answer book on common food preservation topics, from freezing, drying/dehydrating, to canning. There's a few recipes and introductory text, but it's mostly a q & a/ quick reference book.

It's definitely aimed at beginner canners - which I definitely am (having canned exactly 2 different recipes last year, albeit multiple batches of both) and beginner preservation techniques (which I am not, having been heavily relying on freezing / dehydrating for years). There were some interesting dehydration tips that were new, though I didn't really learn anything from the freezer sections.

That being said, this is definitely a book I'll buy and add to my canning cookbook library

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mastering fermentation

Mastering Fermentation: Recipes for Making and Cooking with Fermented Foods by Mary Karlin
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Mastering Fermentation: Recipes for Making and Cooking with Fermented Foods

by Mary Karlin

A beautifully illustrated and authoritative guide to the art and science of fermented foods, featuring 70+ recipes that progress from simple fermented condiments like vinegars and mustards to more advanced techniques for using wild yeast, fermenting meats, and curing fish.

Yup, it's another book that I had to read because of my garden!

A year ago was my first and only attempt at fermentation - an idea I'm fascinated by because I have IBS, and let's face it, fermented foods are my friend, and the idea of making my own fermented food is even nicer. I had a bunch of tomatoes from my garden that needed to be used up, no way to can, no more space in the garden, and I had just bought a bunch of garlic, onions, and various peppers from a farmer's market, so I decided to make salsa. I found a recipe online for making fermented salsa, spent hours dicing up the veggies and doing everything I was supposed to, only to find out our water had gotten infected by e.coli and the water was unsafe to drink without boiling first - which, of course, I hadn't done because I was trying to ferment the salsa. I had 6 pints and an odd quart jar of salsa that I had to toss because it just wasn't safe to try to eat the salsa.

All that to say I haven't forgotten the idea of fermenting foods. I even debating about taking a class on fermenting foods at my local trade school at night, but at $39, did I really need to take a class when I could just get a book from the library? Or heck, just do more googling? I liked the idea off hand holding, but $39 was a lot of money to spend on a night class for something like fermenting foods. and then this book fell into my lap, and I'm in love with this book and the ideas and information contained inside enough to purchase a copy for my own library. Okay, I'll probably wait & get a used copy, but still... I'm going to buy a copy.

Add all of that in, and then add recipes I haven't seen anywhere else - like mushroom ketchup - I mean, come on, mushroom ketchup!

View all my reviews