Posts

Author jbwPosted on No comment Japanese Chicken Curry

Japanese Chicken Curry

Print Pin

Japanese Chicken Curry

Cuisine Japanese
Cook Time 45 minutes
Canning Time 1 hour 15 minutes
Total Time 2 hours
Servings 5 pint jars

Ingredients

  • 5 regular mouth pint jars sanitized, with lids and rings
  • 1 1/2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken thighs or breasts, cut into bite-size pieces
  • 2 medium yellow onions quartered
  • 1 (1 inch) piece peeled fresh ginger
  • 2 cloves garlic
  • 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 2 cups diced carrots about 2 carrots
  • 2 cups diced daikon or rutabaga, or potatoes
  • 16 oz chicken stock
  • 2 cups water
  • 3 tbsp vegetable oil
  • 2 tbsp lemon juice
  • 2 tbsp apple butter or apple sauce or grated apple
  • 2 tbsp semi-sweet chuno sauce or Worcestershire sauce
  • 1 tbsp tomato paste
  • 1 tsp unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 1 tsp salt to taste
  • 1/4 tsp pepper to taste
  • 3 tbsp curry powder preferably J&B brand
  • 3 tbsp Clearjel see notes below

Instructions

Combine the onion base into a paste

  • In the food processor, add the onion, ginger, garlic, and baking soda
  • Process to a paste in the food processor

Caramelize the onion base

  • Heat the vegetable oil in a medium stock pot over medium heat
  • Add the paste and cook until the mixture is caramelized and dark brown, about 20-30 minutes, adding additional oil and scraping the pan as necessary

Bringing it all together

  • Add the curry powder and sauté until fragrant
  • Add the stock, water, apple butter, chuno sauce, tomato paste, cocoa powder, salt, and pepper and adjust to taste
  • Add the Clearjel and stir until mixed thoroughly
  • Add the carrots, daikon, and chicken and bring to a boil
  • Reduce heat and simmer

Canning the Japanese Curry

  • Add canning rack to the instant pot and fill with ~2 inches of water
  • Set up the five pint jars near the cooking area with their lids and rings handy
  • In the bottom of each jar, place one of the bay leaves
  • Distribute the curry evenly among the pint jars
  • Wipe the rims of the jars clean as necessary
  • Apply lids and screw the bands to finger tightness on the jars
  • Using the jar lifter, lower the jars in to the instant pot
  • Secure the lid of the instant pot and make sure the pressure valve is set
  • Program the instant pot to cook under high pressure for 1 hour and 10 minutes, and make sure to disable the Keep Warm setting

Wrapping up the process

  • After the instant pot has finished cooking, be sure to let it come down to ambient pressure using the natural release cycle, do not try to do the quick release cycle as this can cause liquid to be forced out of the jars and potentially break the seals
  • Once the instant pot is safe to open, open it and use the jar lifter to pull the jars out and place on a towel too dry and cool down
  • If the rings on the jars are loose, they can be finger tightened again, carefully
  • Leave the jars to cool, you should hear the lids popping as the pressure creates a seal on the jars
  • After the jars have cooled, the rings can be removed and the jars are now shelf-stable and safe to store in a pantry to be eaten later
  • If any jar failed to seal, it is safe to either eat immediately or reprocess in the instant pot, though you may need to replace the lid since it did not seal properly

Notes

Regular mouth jars:
Normally regular or wide mouth mason jars are interchangeable, and the only consideration is how many jars will fit in the instant pot (5 regular mouth, 4 wide mouth).  Since in this recipe the yield is 5 jars, I recommend using regular mouth pint jars.
Clearjel and canning safety:
Normally, flour is used as a thickening agent in recipes, however when canning, thickeners such as flour can prevent heat from penetrating to the center of the jar, interfering with safe processing to destroy the bacterial spores that cause botulism.  Clearjel is a modified cornstarch that is safe for canning, so we use it instead of flour in this recipe.  Make sure you purchase regular Clearjel and not instant Clearjel, as only the former is safe for canning.
Author jbwPosted on 3 Comments on Butter Chicken

Butter Chicken

Print Pin
5 from 1 vote

Butter Chicken

Cuisine Indian
Cook Time 30 minutes
Canning Time 1 hour 15 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 45 minutes
Servings 5 pint jars

Ingredients

  • 5 regular mouth pint jars sanitized, with lids and rings
  • 1 1/2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken thighs or breasts, cut into bite-size pieces
  • 1 (16 oz) can crushed tomatoes
  • 1 cup unsalted cashews
  • 1 medium yellow onion quartered
  • 4 cloves garlic
  • 1 (2 inch) piece peeled fresh ginger
  • 2 tbsp vegetable oil
  • 1 tsp salt to taste
  • 2 tbsp lemon juice
  • 2-3 serrano chiles stemmed and seeded

Spices

Instructions

Prepare the cashews

  • Place the cashews in a bowl
  • Add hot water to cover the cashews
  • After soaking for 30 minutes, drain the cashews
  • Process in the food processor, adding water to create a medium consistency cream
  • Set aside for later

Combine the vegetables into a paste

  • In the food processor, add the onion, ginger, garlic, and peppers
  • Process to a paste in the food processor

Prepare the jars for canning

  • Set up the four pint jars near the cooking area with their lids and rings handy
  • In the bottom of each jar, place one of the bay leaves

Bringing it all together

  • Heat the vegetable oil in a medium stock pot over medium heat
  • Add the vegetable paste and cook for two to three minutes until the mixture is brown, adding additional oil as necessary
  • Add the tomatoes, cashew cream, and lemon juice and mix thoroughly
  • Add the spices and season to taste
  • Add the chicken
  • Reduce heat to simmer

Canning the Butter Chicken

  • Add canning rack to the instant pot and fill with ~2 inches of water
  • Distribute the butter chicken evenly among the pint jars
  • Make sure to leave 1 inch headspace in the jars, as this recipe tends to sputter which can lead to seal failure if overfilled
  • Wipe the rims of the jars clean as necessary
  • Apply lids and screw the bands to finger tightness on the jars
  • Using the jar lifter, lower the jars in to the instant pot
  • Secure the lid of the instant pot and make sure the pressure valve is set
  • Program the instant pot to cook under high pressure for 1 hour and 15 minutes, and make sure to disable the Keep Warm setting

Wrapping up the process

  • After the instant pot has finished cooking, be sure to let it come down to ambient pressure using the natural release cycle, do not try to do the quick release cycle as this can cause liquid to be forced out of the jars and potentially break the seals
  • Once the instant pot is safe to open, open it and use the jar lifter to pull the jars out and place on a towel too dry and cool down
  • If the rings on the jars are loose, they can be finger tightened again, carefully
  • Leave the jars to cool, you should hear the lids popping as the pressure creates a seal on the jars
  • After the jars have cooled, the rings can be removed and the jars are now shelf-stable and safe to store in a pantry to be eaten later
  • If any jar failed to seal, it is safe to either eat immediately or reprocess in the instant pot, though you may need to replace the lid since it did not seal properly

Notes

Regular mouth jars:
Normally regular or wide mouth mason jars are interchangeable, and the only consideration is how many jars will fit in the instant pot (5 regular mouth, 4 wide mouth).  Since in this recipe we want a bit more headspace at 1 inch and the yield is 5 jars, I recommend using regular mouth pint jars.
Author jbwPosted on No comment Curried Beef Pot Roast

Curried Beef Pot Roast

Print Pin

Curried Beef Pot Roast

Canning Time 1 hour 15 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 15 minutes
Servings 4 pint jars

Ingredients

  • 4 wide mouth pint jars sanitized, with lids and rings
  • 1 1/2 lbs stew meat cut in to 2" chunks
  • 4 cloves chopped garlic
  • 16 oz beef broth
  • 1 cup diced rutabaga or potatoes, or daikon
  • 1 cup diced carrots
  • 1 cup diced yellow onion
  • 1/2 cup diced celery
  • 1/2 cup currants or raisins
  • 2 tsp salt
  • 2 tbsp curry powder
  • 4 tbsp Clearjel see notes below
  • 2 cups boiling water

Instructions

Pack the dry ingredients in the jars

  • Evenly distribute the garlic, rutabaga, carrots, onion, celery among the jars
  • Add quarter measurement of each of the salt, curry powder, and Clearjel

Add the wet ingredients to the jars

  • Add 1/4th cup broth to each jar
  • Pack the stew meat evenly
  • Top each jar off with the boiling water up to 1/2 inch headspace

Canning the Curried Pot Roast

  • Wipe the rims of the jars clean as necessary
  • Apply lids and screw the bands to finger tightness on the jars
  • Using the jar lifter, lower the jars in to the instant pot
  • Secure the lid of the instant pot and make sure the pressure valve is set
  • Program the instant pot to cook under high pressure for 1 hour and 15 minutes, and make sure to disable the Keep Warm setting

Wrapping up the process

  • After the instant pot has finished cooking, be sure to let it come down to ambient pressure using the natural release cycle, do not try to do the quick release cycle as this can cause liquid to be forced out of the jars and potentially break the seals
  • Once the instant pot is safe to open, open it and use the jar lifter to pull the jars out and place on a towel too dry and cool down
  • If the rings on the jars are loose, they can be finger tightened again, carefully
  • Leave the jars to cool, you should hear the lids popping as the pressure creates a seal on the jars
  • After the jars have cooled, shake the jars to distribute the cooked contents
  • Remove the rings and the jars are now shelf-stable and safe to store in a pantry to be eaten later
  • If any jar failed to seal, it is safe to either eat immediately or reprocess in the instant pot, though you may need to replace the lid since it did not seal properly

Notes

Wide mouth jars:
Normally regular or wide mouth mason jars are interchangeable, and the only consideration is how many jars will fit in the instant pot (5 regular mouth, 4 wide mouth).  However, in this case since we pack the jars directly (known as raw pack), I recommend using wide mouth jars since this recipe is for four servings and having the wide mouth makes it easier to pack the jars more snugly.
Clearjel and canning safety:
Normally, flour is used as a thickening agent in recipes, however when canning, thickeners such as flour can prevent heat from penetrating to the center of the jar, interfering with safe processing to destroy the bacterial spores that cause botulism.  Clearjel is a modified cornstarch that is safe for canning, so we use it instead of flour in this recipe.  Make sure you purchase regular Clearjel and not instant Clearjel, as only the former is safe for canning.
Author jbwPosted on 1 Comment on Saag Paneer

Saag Paneer

Print Pin

Saag Paneer

Cuisine Indian
Cook Time 30 minutes
Canning Time 1 hour 10 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 40 minutes
Servings 4 pint jars

Ingredients

  • 4 pint jars sanitized, with lids and rings
  • 10 oz paneer cheese cut in to 1/2" cubes
  • 1 bunch spinach
  • 1 bunch mustard greens
  • 1 bunch fenugreek see notes below on greens
  • 1 cup unsalted cashews
  • 1 (2 inch) piece peeled fresh ginger
  • 1 medium yellow onion quartered
  • 5 cloves garlic
  • 1 serrano chile stemmed and seeded
  • 2 tbsp vegetable oil
  • 1 tsp salt to taste
  • 2 tbsp lemon juice
  • 2 cups boiling water or vegetable stock

Spices

  • 4 green cardamom pods
  • 1 tsp cumin seeds
  • 2 tsp ground coriander
  • 1 tsp ground cumin
  • 1 tsp turmeric
  • 1 tsp chili powder
  • 1 tsp garam masala

Instructions

Prepare the cashews

  • Place the cashews in a bowl
  • Add hot water to cover the cashews
  • After soaking for 30 minutes, drain the cashews
  • Process in the food processor, adding water to create a medium consistency cream
  • Set aside for later

Toast and grind the whole spices

  • Toast the cumin over a medium flame until fragrant
  • Grind the cumin to a medium to fine coarseness in a food processor
  • Set aside for later

Combine the vegetables into a paste

  • In the food processor, add the onion, ginger, garlic, and peppers
  • Process to a paste in the food processor

Steam the greens

  • Rough chop the greens
  • Steam the greens in a double boiler until wilted, a couple of minutes, performing in batches as necessary
  • Combine the steamed greens and process lightly in the food processor

Prepare the jars for canning

  • Set up the four pint jars near the cooking area with their lids and rings handy
  • In the bottom of each jar, place one of the green cardamom pods

Bringing it all together

  • Heat the vegetable oil in a medium stock pot over medium heat
  • Add the vegetable paste and cook for two to three minutes until the mixture is brown, adding additional oil as necessary
  • Add the greens, cashew cream, and lemon juice and mix thoroughly
  • Add the spices and season to taste
  • For immediate consumption, add the paneer (see notes below on canning safety)
  • Reduce heat to simmer

Canning the Saag Paneer

  • Add canning rack to the instant pot and fill with ~2 inches of water
  • Bring the 2 cups water to boil
  • Distribute the saag evenly among the pint jars
  • Cover the saag in each jar with the boiling water up to 1/2 inch headspace
  • Wipe the rims of the jars clean as necessary
  • Apply lids and screw the bands to finger tightness on the jars
  • Using the jar lifter, lower the jars in to the instant pot
  • Secure the lid of the instant pot and make sure the pressure valve is set
  • Program the instant pot to cook under high pressure for 1 hour and 10 minutes, and make sure to disable the Keep Warm setting

Wrapping up the process

  • After the instant pot has finished cooking, be sure to let it come down to ambient pressure using the natural release cycle, do not try to do the quick release cycle as this can cause liquid to be forced out of the jars and potentially break the seals
  • Once the instant pot is safe to open, open it and use the jar lifter to pull the jars out and place on a towel too dry and cool down
  • If the rings on the jars are loose, they can be finger tightened again, carefully
  • Leave the jars to cool, you should hear the lids popping as the pressure creates a seal on the jars
  • After the jars have cooled, the rings can be removed and the jars are now shelf-stable and safe to store in a pantry to be eaten later
  • If any jar failed to seal, it is safe to either eat immediately or reprocess in the instant pot, though you may need to replace the lid since it did not seal properly

Notes

Selection of greens:
Pretty much any combination of greens can be used, as long as you end up with ~30 ounces of greens.  I often use pre-chopped bags of mustard greens, baby spinach in place of regular spinach, or frozen fenugreek/spinach in place of fresh.  Feel free to substitute your favorite greens, like kale, in as well.
Paneer and canning safety:
No government agency has tested pressure canning cheese for safety. There is a concern that such processing may not be sufficient to destroy the bacteria that can cause botulism poisoning.  Because paneer is a fresh cheese and the saag mixture is relatively acidic, I take the risk and can the saag with the paneer added.  However, this is not recommended and if you do this you do so at your own risk.  The safest method remains adding the paneer after unsealing and reheating the saag at time of consumption.
Author jbwPosted on 3 Comments on Lentil Stew

Lentil Stew

Print Pin

Lentil Stew

Prep Time 12 hours
Cook Time 30 minutes
Canning Time 1 hour
Total Time 13 hours 30 minutes
Servings 4 pint jars

Ingredients

  • 4 pint jars sanitized, with lids and rings
  • 2 cups dry french green lentils
  • 2 cups chicken broth
  • 1 kielbasa
  • 3 cloves garlic
  • 1 medium yellow onion
  • 4 celery stalks
  • 4 carrots
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 2 cups white wine room temperature
  • 2 cups boiling water

Instructions

Soak the lentils

  • Place the lentils in a large bowl
  • Add water to sufficiently cover the lentils, considering they will roughly double in size as they absorb water
  • After soaking for 12 hours, drain and rinse the lentils

Prepare the kielbasa and veggies

  • Finely chop the garlic
  • Dice the onion, celery, and carrots into small pieces
  • Slice the kielbasa into 1/4" slices, then each slice into similar size pieces as the vegetables

Cook the kielbasa and veggies

  • Put a large pot over medium/high heat and add the olive oil
  • Add in the kielbasa and cook until brown
  • Add the chopped veggies and stir to coat, adding a bit more olive oil as necessary
  • Cook the veggies until soft (usually carrots are last to soften)

Bringing it all together

  • Bring the burner up to high and pour the white wine over the veggie/sausage mix until it is covered
  • Deglaze the pan and scrape up any browned bits and let the wine reduce until it is syrupy
  • Once the wine is reduced, add in the lentils and stir to mix in and coat
  • Add in the chicken broth and bring to a boil
  • Reduce heat to simmer
  • Season with salt and pepper to taste

Canning the Lentil Stew

  • Add canning rack to the instant pot and fill with ~2 inches of water
  • Bring the 2 cups water to boil
  • Using a slotted spoon, distribute the lentil stew evenly among the pint jars, being careful not to fill more the jars more than 3/4ths to account for additional lentil expansion
  • Distribute the broth left behind from the previous evenly among the pint jars
  • Cover the lentil stew in each jar with the boiling water up to 1/2 inch headspace
  • Wipe the rims of the jars clean as necessary
  • Apply lids and screw the bands to finger tightness on the jars
  • Using the jar lifter, lower the jars in to the instant pot
  • Secure the lid of the instant pot and make sure the pressure valve is set
  • Program the instant pot to cook under high pressure for 1 hour, and make sure to disable the Keep Warm setting

Wrapping up the process

  • After the instant pot has finished cooking, be sure to let it come down to ambient pressure using the natural release cycle, do not try to do the quick release cycle as this can cause liquid to be forced out of the jars and potentially break the seals
  • Once the instant pot is safe to open, open it and use the jar lifter to pull the jars out and place on a towel too dry and cool down
  • If the rings on the jars are loose, they can be finger tightened again, carefully
  • Leave the jars to cool, you should hear the lids popping as the pressure creates a seal on the jars
  • After the jars have cooled, the rings can be removed and the jars are now shelf-stable and safe to store in a pantry to be eaten later
  • If any jar failed to seal, it is safe to either eat immediately or reprocess in the instant pot, though you may need to replace the lid since it did not seal properly

Notes

Kielbasa and canning safety:
No government agency has tested pressure canning cured meats for safety. There is a concern that such processing may not be sufficient to destroy the bacteria that can cause botulism poisoning.  Because the kielbasa in this recipe is chopped in to small pieces and cooked at high heat, I take the risk and can the lentils with cured pork kielbasa.  However, this is not recommended and if you do this you do so at your own risk.  The safest method remains using a non-cured sausage.
Author jbwPosted on No comment Chana Masala

Chana Masala

Print Pin

Chana Masala

Cuisine Indian
Prep Time 2 days
Cook Time 30 minutes
Canning Time 1 hour 15 minutes
Total Time 2 days 1 hour 45 minutes
Servings 4 pint jars

Ingredients

  • 4 pint jars sanitized, with lids and rings
  • 2 cups dried chickpeas
  • 2 tbsp baking soda
  • 1 (16-ounce) can crushed tomatoes
  • 1 (2-inch) piece peeled fresh ginger
  • 1 medium yellow onion quartered
  • 4 cloves garlic
  • 1-3 serrano chiles stemmed and seeded
  • 2 tbsp vegetable oil
  • 1 tsp salt to taste
  • 2 tbsp lemon juice
  • 2 cups boiling water or vegetable stock

Spices

  • 4 dried bay leaves
  • 1 tsp cumin seeds
  • 2 tsp coriander seeds
  • 1 tsp whole cloves
  • 2 tsp garam masala
  • 1 tsp ground turmeric
  • 1 tsp chili powder
  • 1 tsp ground coriander
  • 1 tsp ground cumin
  • 1/2 tsp amchur powder optional
  • 1 1/2 tsp anardana powder optional
  • 1 pinch asafoetida powder optional

Instructions

Soak the chickpeas

  • Place the chickpeas in a large bowl
  • Sprinkle 1 tablespoon of baking soda over the chickpeas
  • Add water to sufficiently cover the chickpeas, considering they will roughly double in size as they absorb water
  • After soaking for 24 hours, drain and rinse and repeat the steps of this section with the remaining baking soda
  • After 48 hours, drain and rinse the chickpeas again and set aside – in a pinch these steps can be abbreviated to soaking the night before with one portion of baking soda but note that the chickpeas may expand in size further when processing

Toast and grind the whole spices

  • Separately for each portion of cloves, cumin, and coriander, toast the spices over a medium flame until fragrant
  • Grind the spices to a medium to fine coarseness in a food processor
  • Set spices aside for later

Combine the vegetables into a paste

  • In the food processor, add the onion, ginger, garlic, and peppers
  • Process to a paste in the food processor

Prepare the jars for canning

  • Set up the four pint jars near the cooking area with their lids and rings handy
  • Heat the vegetable oil in a medium stock pot over medium heat
  • Using tongs, fry the bay leaves briefly in the oil
  • In the bottom of each jar, place one of the bay leaves

Bringing it all together

  • Add the separated toasted and ground spices to the oil
  • Add the paste and cook for two to three minutes until the mixture is golden brown, adding additional oil as necessary
  • Add the tomatoes and lemon juice and stir
  • Add the remaining ground spices and season to taste
  • Add the chickpeas and mix thoroughly, reduce heat to simmer

Canning the Chana Masala

  • Add canning rack to the instant pot and fill with ~2 inches of water
  • Bring the 2 cups water to boil
  • Distribute the chana evenly among the pint jars, being careful not to fill more the jars more than 3/4ths to account for additional chickpea expansion
  • Cover the chana masala in each jar with the boiling water up to 1/2 inch headspace
  • Wipe the rims of the jars clean as necessary
  • Apply lids and screw the bands to finger tightness on the jars
  • Using the jar lifter, lower the jars in to the instant pot
  • Secure the lid of the instant pot and make sure the pressure valve is set
  • Program the instant pot to cook under high pressure for 1 hour and 15 minutes, and make sure to disable the Keep Warm setting

Wrapping up the process

  • After the instant pot has finished cooking, be sure to let it come down to ambient pressure using the natural release cycle, do not try to do the quick release cycle as this can cause liquid to be forced out of the jars and potentially break the seals
  • Once the instant pot is safe to open, open it and use the jar lifter to pull the jars out and place on a towel too dry and cool down
  • If the rings on the jars are loose, they can be finger tightened again, carefully
  • Leave the jars to cool, you should hear the lids popping as the pressure creates a seal on the jars
  • After the jars have cooled, the rings can be removed and the jars are now shelf-stable and safe to store in a pantry to be eaten later
  • If any jar failed to seal, it is safe to either eat immediately or reprocess in the instant pot, though you may need to replace the lid since it did not seal properly