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.

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. "Recipes for home canning are a perfect fit for our products. 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.

Several recipes are in final testing including Garden Tomatoes with Sicilian Seasoning and Spicy Corn Relish. Also, try Victoria's recipe for Spicy Deli-style Pickles.

Spicy Deli-style Pickles with Victoria Taylor's Spicy Brine

Spicy, classic and delicious

• 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.

Seasonal Tomato Sauce with Victoria Taylor's Sicilian Blend

Ideal for sauce, soup and stew recipes

• 8 lbs. vine-ripened round (globe) or oblong (plum) tomatoes, cored, peeled and halved
• 6 Tbsp. Victoria Taylor's Sicilian Blend
• 6 Tbsp. lemon juice

Place about 6 crushed tomatoes in a large stainless steel saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. While maintaining a gentle boil and working in batches, add more tomatoes to saucepan until all tomatoes are added and juices released. Boil gently for 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, prepare canner, jars and lids. Remove tomato sauce from heat; stir in Sicilian Blend; set aside.

Before packing each jar of tomatoes, add 1 tablespoon lemon juice to each jar. Pack hot tomatoes into prepared jars to within a generous 1/2 inch of top of jar. Remove air bubbles and adjust headspace, if necessary, by adding hot tomatoes. 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 40 minutes. Remove canner lid; wait 5 minutes. Remove jars, cool and store.

Makes 6-7 pint jars.

Spicy Corn Relish with Victoria Taylor's Smoky Paprika Chipotle

This colorful relish will pair well with fish, chicken, steak or even a hot dog!

• 8 ears fresh corn, shucked (about 4 cups)
• 2 cups diced red onion
• 2 cups green cabbage (about 1/4 pound), chopped into 1/2-inch pieces
• 1 large green and red bell pepper, finely diced
• 1 3/4 cups cider vinegar
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 2 Tbsp. Victoria Taylor's Smoky Paprika Chipotle Blend

Bring a large pot of water to boil; add husked ears and cook until kernels are tender, about 5 minutes. Remove corn; cool and then remove kernels from cobs.

In large stainless steel saucepan, combine corn, onion, cabbage, peppers, cider vinegar, sugar and Smoky Paprika Chipotle Seasoning. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring frequently. Reduce heat; boil gently for about 25 minutes or until liquid is reduced and vegetables are tender-crisp.

Meanwhile, prepare canner, jars and lids. Ladle hot relish into hot jar, leaving at least 1/2 inch headspace. Remove air bubbles and adjust headspace, if necessary, by adding hot relish. 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 15 minutes. Remove canner lid; wait 5 minutes. Remove jars, cool and store.

Makes 6 half pint jars.