Wednesday 28 November 2012

Sweet Cranberry Carrot Sauce (no sugar!) Recipe


In the past few weeks, the community food work I'm a part of has given me access to some amazing free produce. Of course, when I see abundance of free fruit and vegetables that won't last forever, my first instinct is preservation.
Often recipes for preserves are inaccessible to me (see my food/restrictions list in older post), but I enjoy cooking and canning so much that I make them anyway and give them away or sell them. Every so often I find or come up with something that will work for me though, and these moments are exciting.
So when ridiculous amounts of organic carrots and limes fell into my life, I saw an opportunity. This is a recipe I developed 2 months ago when I wanted to go to a pancake breakfast and knew that the toppings would not be accessible for me. I whipped this up and was delighted with the results.

Quantities are approximate, just make it taste good to you. One thing to note is that the high amount of lime and cranberries are what makes it suitable for low pressure/time canning, but if you want it less tart just adjust your canning time or eat it fresh.
My roommate (who is a nurse) helped me geek out about food science by bringing PH strips home from the hospital so we were able to test the acidity and know how to can it appropriately. The PH was between 3 and 4, in other words it counted as a high acid food and could be canned like apple sauce or other fruit.

canned cranberry carrot sauce with the cornucopia i got from the farmers market on saturday behind


Makes approx. 3 litres.
Ingredients:
22 cups roughly chopped carrots
2 cups frozen cranberries
a few inches of water at the bottom of your pot (for steam)
***
additional water
3 cups frozen cranberries
1 cup lime juice
zest of 5 limes
stevia powder (I use the green unprocessed kind) to taste - start small! it is very very sweet.

prep:
put your carrots and 2 cups cranberries and some water in a pot with a tight fitting lid. put on medium high heat and steam until very soft (30mins-1hr). use a hand blender (or in batches in a barrel blender) to blend until smooth. add water as necessary to make a saucey texture. I like it thick enough to heap slightly on a spoon, definitely saucey not spready.
add additional ingredients and simmer, adjusting all ingredients to taste.

eat fresh (will keep in fridge a week or so) on pancakes (I found the flavour amazing with buckwheat amaranth pancakes), ice cream, rice pudding... I've thought about trying to turn this into a cranberry carrot pie or combining it with squash for a pie filling.
Let me know how you like it!

or can it!

canning:
water bath:
in water bath canner I would follow directions for apple sauce or other high acid/fruit sauce. sterilize jars in boiling water and fill with hot water until ready to use. place lids in hot water. dump boiling water out of jars and fill with sauce leaving 1/2 inch headspace. make sure the rims of your jars are clean and place lids on and tighten rings to finger tight. put in your water bath and boil about 20 minutes with water 2 inches above tops of cans.

pressure canner:
follow instructions on your canner...
fill clean jars with hot water until ready to use. prepare lids in hot water. dump water from jars and fill with sauce, leaving 1/2 inch headspace. clean the rims and place lids and rings; tighten finger tight. place jars in canner (my canner calls for 3.5 litres hot water, check your manual) and follow canner directions. processing time 8-10 minutes.

enjoy!!

and if you're in vancouver, unceded coast salish territories and want to buy some from me for yourself or for consumer-mas gifts, please get in touch! 250ml jars $5-10 sliding scale. I used all organic ingredients.


Friday 23 November 2012

CRAFTS FOR A CAUSE DECEMBER 1ST!


I will be selling stuff here with the Purple Thistle Centre!
canned apple butter, apple chutney, carrot cranberry sauce, raw sauerkraut and more!

Crafts for a Cause: Rhizome Cafe's5th Annual Craft Fair to Support Social Justice Struggles
Saturday December 1st, 6-10pm
Rhizome Café, 317 East Broadway, Vancouver, Coast Salish Territories
pottery - soap - letterpress - textiles - posters - clothing - herbal teas & salves - knitting tshirts- paintings- buttons - fair trade coffee - handmade toys - photography - seeds - cards - canning ...
including: no one is illegal * environmental youth alliance * rising tide * fierce green creations * la mano - ethical textiles * sam bradd designs * purple thistle * just jingo * compassion club * cafe justicia * favianna rodriguez * justpotters * claudia segovia * artists against artists * coinspire collective * more...
Free swag bags to first 15 people
$2 entrance fee (no-one turned away)
Partial proceeds from artists' sales are distributed to participating organizations
Food & drink available for purchase.
Fully licenced.



--

Come shop for holiday gifts while supporting migrant rights, youth empowerment, climate justice and more! Peruse socially conscious crafts by local artists, and items created by local organizations to support their social justice work. Rhizome's delicious food and drink will be available for purchase throughout the evening. 
Participating artists and organizations include:No One is Illegal: noii-van.resist.ca/
The Purple Thistle: www.purplethistle.ca/
Environmental Youth Alliance: www.eya.ca
JustPotters: www.justwork.ca/justpotters.html
Rising Tide: 
www.facebook.com/groups/289647251139689/?ref=ts&fref=ts
Compassion Club Wellness Centre: 
www.thecompassionclub.org/ 
Fair Trade Coffee from Cafe Justicia: www.cafejusticia.ca/
la mano - ethical textiles: www.lamano.ca/
Silkscreening & Linocuts by the Co!nspire Collective: 
http://coinspire.tumblr.com/ 
Wood Veneer Prints by Artists Against Artists: 

www.facebook.com/pages/Artists-Against-Artists/366344590195?fref=ts
Prints & Calendars by Favianna Rodriguez: 
www.favianna.com/
Rhizome Cafe T-Shirts and Buttons: 
www.rhizomecafe.ca/
Letterpress by Sam Bradd Designs: 
www.sambradd.com/
Photos & block prints by fierce green creations: 
www.etsy.com/shop/fiercegreen
One of a Kind Toys from Claudia Segovia: 
www.etsy.com/shop/ClaudiaSegoviaArt
and Just Jingo Body Botanicals: 
justjingo.com/

-- 
jennifer faith boundy, ma
la mano - ethical textiles

la mano is:
- supporting the economic autonomy of women and indigenous peoples -
- assisting in the preservation of culture and traditional livelihoods -
- contributing to local community economic development -
- increasing the viability of small scale production -
- ensuring that artisans are paid a fair price for their work -
- supporting communities to maintain a stronghold on their land and on their identities -