The Backyard Homestead Book of Kitchen Know-How: Field-to-Table Cooking Skills
Language: English
Pages: 368
ISBN: 1612122043
Format: PDF / Kindle (mobi) / ePub
Growing vegetables and raising livestock is only the beginning of a successful homestead — that fresh food goes to waste unless you can properly prepare, cook, and preserve it. Andrea Chesman shows you how to bridge the gap between field and table, covering everything from curing meats and making sausage to canning fruits and vegetables, milling flour, working with sourdough, baking no-knead breads, making braises and stews that can be adapted to different cuts of meat, rendering lard and tallow, pickling, making butter and cheese, making yogurt, blanching vegetables for the freezer, making jams and jellies, drying produce, and much more. You’ll learn all the techniques you need to get the most from homegrown foods, along with dozens of simple and delicious recipes, most of which can be adapted to use whatever you have available.
individual cloves and peel. Smashing a clove with the side of a chef’s knife is the easiest way to separate the skin from the clove. Blanch: Cover the cloves with fresh water and bring to a boil. Drain. Repeat 2 more times. Boil: Not recommended Steam: Not recommended Sauté or stir-fry: 30 seconds for minced Roast: 20 minutes at 350°F (180°C) for whole bulb wrapped in foil Grill: 20 to 30 minutes for whole bulb wrapped in foil, over indirect heat Braise: 20 minutes
out on opportunities to work with the best meat possible. This may be meat you raised yourself, or it may be meat that you purchased from a farmer as a whole animal or as a side. If your homestead includes animals you raise for meat, the first place where your voice as the cook should be heard is in the choice of animal, both the type and the breed. For example, some breeds of pigs have been developed to be quite lean. Does the breed you are raising produce enough lard? Some factors that will
seal, label, and return to the freezer. Freezing 159 622204_BYkitchenSkillsFinalPgs.indd 159 6/25/15 4:02 PM Blanching Times Vegetable Boiling-Water Blanching Time* Comments Artichoke (hearts) 7 minutes Freeze hearts only Asparagus 2–4 minutes Depending on thickness Beans, shell 2–4 minutes Depending on size Beets Variable Cook fully before freezing (boil for 30–50 minutes), rather than just blanching Broccoli 3 minutes 1½-inch florets plus sliced stems Brussels sprouts
towel Dome lid Bubble remover (aka chopstick) Timer Canning jar Canning: Boiling-Water-Bath and Pressure Canning 173 622204_BYkitchenSkillsFinalPgs.indd 173 6/25/15 4:02 PM Utensils and Other Tools Canners, jars, lids — those are necessary. The following tools and utensils are not absolutely necessary but make canning much easier. Jar lifter. For easy removal of hot jars from a canner. Remember that in a boiling- water bath the jars will be covered with water too hot for bare hands,
are usually given for canning at altitudes of sea level to 1,000 feet. If you are canning at a higher altitude, the times remain the same, but the pressure is adjusted. Dial Gauge Pressure Canner Altitude Pounds of Pressure (psi) 1,000– 2,000 Feet 11 2,001– 4,000 Feet 12 4,001– 6,000 Feet 13 6,001– 8,000 Feet 14 Weighted Gauge Pressure Canner Altitude 1,000– 2,000 Feet 2,001– 4,000 Feet 4,001– 6,000 Feet 6,001– 8,000 Feet Pounds of Pressure (psi) 15 15 15 15 Canning: