Tuesday, February 20, 2018

Preservation Pantry Ups Game in Food Waste Fight



Just when I thought I had all the preserving and canning books I needed here comes Sarah Marshall's new book Preservation Pantry: Modern Canning From Root to Top & Stem to Core (Regan Arts/$24.95). It's the subtitle that says it all. Marshall, creator of Marshall's Haute Sauce in Oregon, doesn't only offer unique recipes for preserving harvests, she includes--even stresses--the parts of fruits and vegetables we usually toss. It's the quintessential no-waste preserving book.

Preservation Pantry is organized to help preserving novices get their bearings. Like any good preserving book, it lays out the tools and equipment and steps to successful canning and preserving, and offers a thorough lesson in the step that most frightens the novice: water baths. What I love about this section are the illustrations that show everything from can jar sizes, chopping, what "headspace" looks like, and how to remove air pockets.


The come the recipes: first fruit, then vegetables, a to z. Within each section is a preserving recipe, a second recipe for the fruit or vegetable, then a recipe for the "discards" followed by a recipe for using the discards preserves. So, for apples Marshall starts with Ginger Liqueur Spiked Apples, made with brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, star anise, and ginger liqueur. You'll remove the peel and core--and save them. The Ginger Liqueur Spiked Apples, she writes, can be used to make her Drunk Apple Crumble recipe a few pages away. The following recipe is for Matcha Tea Applesauce that you can enjoy as part of a breakfast bowl. Again, hang on to the peel and core. Then comes her boozy caramel sauce, made from those saved peels and cores, along with whisky, cinnamon, sugar, salted butter, and whipping cream. All this leads to--ta da!--her Drunken Apple Crumble, which contains both the Ginger Liqueur Spiked Apples and the Whiskey Apple-Core Caramel. Brilliant!

And so it goes with cherries (save the pits for making bitters), lemons (save the peel for a spice rub), beets (the leaves will make dolmas while the stems will pickle cauliflower), onions (Onion Peel Powder), and turmeric (Turmeric Skin Golden Cashew Milk). And, of course, there's more.

Finally, Marshall is an enthusiastic canning clubber, so she has a section at the book's conclusion all about how to start your own canning club and set up and work a trading table. You'll also find a section for stocking your pantry, with vendor contact information.

The recipes in the book are quite unusual so they're bound to be launching points for any enthusiastic canner considering how to use their own local, seasonal bounty.

Want to know more about Marshall's ideas on preserving? Well, guess what? She's coming to San Diego to speak at the 2018 InTent's Conference being held Sunday, February 25 through Tuesday, February 27. Marshall is scheduled to speak Monday afternoon on "Quality Products, Local Ingredients." And you can also catch her on Saturday from noon to 2 p.m. doing a book signing at the Little Italy Mercato's InTents booth.

This is the second annual conference, which is directed by Catt Fields White of San Diego Markets (Little Italy Mercato, North Park Farmers Market, and Pacific Beach Farmers Market). The InTents Conference brings together farmers, artisan food makers, farmers market managers, and others for educational panels, speakers, roundtables, and networking opportunities all geared to enhance the skills and increase the resources for small businesses to help them achieve financial stability, as well as launch entrepreneurs who have an idea they want to get off the ground.


Even if you're not an aspiring farmers market vendor but you are a farmers market vendor lover, you, too, are included. On Monday, February 26, from 6 to 9 p.m., White is offering InTents Flavors for the general public. For this event, farmers and chefs will be teaming up at tasting stations to create local farm bites, as well as beer, wine, spirits, and live music.


Featured chefs include Tae Dickey and Chris Osborn (Biga), DJ Tangalin (Bivouac Ciderworks), Joanne Sherif (Cardamom), Christina Ng (Chinita's Pies), Acursio Lota (Solare), Steve Brown (Temp° by Cosecha), and Davin Waite (Wrench & Rodent Seabasstropub). Individual tickets are $95, with a portion of the proceeds going to Kitchens for Good, a San Diego local nonprofit that trains the underemployed for culinary careers and breaks the cycle of food waste and uses it to feed the hungry.

Both events will be held at the Marina Village Conference Center in Mission Bay. You can purchase tickets here.


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