Thursday, January 24, 2013

Cooking from Scratch


The bitter cold has returned to the holler. Those days where the morning chores are done in a hurry. The animals provided with lots of feed, hay, clean bedding, and water that is not frozen and the farmers head quickly back to the warmth of the house. Most of the day is spent helping Baby O with school work and working on inside chores. Many of these chores have been saved for just such a day. 

On these brutally cold winter days nothing is better than a big pot of soup bubbling in the crock pot.   I get quite a few emails anymore connected to this blog. And one that recurs frequently is the question about how to cook with what you have canned and preserved all year. I want to post recipes in the upcoming weeks that focus on cooking from scratch with canned, frozen, dehydrated and smoked foods fresh from the farm. In a world where recipes consist of canned soups and boxed mixes this might be of help to some of you just starting out.  


Yesterday I wanted to make a soup but I wanted something different that we had not had lately. After rooting in the freezer I found some chunked ham that caught my eye and immediately thought of a ham and corn chowder. So I took out two small bags of frozen smoked ham chunks as  the starter to my soup and started building from there. 


Next stop was the pantry. There I snagged some canned potatoes, canned corn, dehydrated onions and green onions and we had soup ingredients.


I have to say for those of you who have never tried it the dehydrated sweet onions that we made last year are wonderful. Not at all strong like the dehydrated onion flakes in the stores. These sweet onion flakes taste almost like candied onions with the sugars concentrated from the dehydration process. Most of my soups start out with a hand full of these anymore. So in my pot goes a scant hand full of dehydrated sweet onions. 



Added to the crockpot were 2 quarts of those canned potatoes from last year with the juice.


And one quart of that canned Kandy variety corn that I grow every year went in with those potatoes. With the juice also. 



Next went about half a hand full of those dehydrated green onions. These too take on an almost sweet taste when dehydrated and are great in soups and casseroles.  Then I added some garlic powder, dehydrated celery, and parsley to the pot. Now throw those defrosted bags of chunked ham in the pot with all those veggies. Add some salt and pepper to taste. Remember not too much as you can always come back and tweek that later. Now I threw in about half a stick or 1/4 cup sweet cow butter and topped the pot off with some canned chicken broth to make sure there was enough liquid to cover everything. Then I turned my crockpot on High and let it cook for about 4 hours or until the soup is bubbling around the edges. 


Once your soup is simmering hard in that crockpot then I add 1/2 cup flour mixed with 1 cup heavy cream and add slowly to my crockpot while still simmering hard. Stir well and return lid. If your soup was simmering good then the soup should thicken once it cooks for about 15 minutes or so. And there you have it a wonderful thick milk based chowder bursting with chunks of potatoes and sweet corn. A hot meal served all day with green salads dressed with pickled beets, boiled farm eggs, homemade croutons and green peas from the freezer. 


Once you learn how to use your home preserved foods they can be just as convenient as those packaged mixes without all the chemical and preservative additives. A healthier meal can be put on the table for a much smaller cost. It's like everything else it just takes some practice. 

Blessings from The Holler

The Canned Quilter 

21 comments:

  1. I love the way you cook. I can relate to this far easier than measure a tsp of this kind of recipes...lol.

    I didn't get my canning as stocked as I would have liked, but next year is officially here....so I'm looking forward to putting away more this year.

    Soup looks fabulous! Hope you are feeling better.

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    1. LOL! I probably drive most people crazy with the way I cook so I am glad it is well received : )

      Hugs CQ

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  2. this looks and sounds amazing, you are a clever lady, I have never canned potatoes, look great!

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  3. Yummy! Since last year was my first year growing potatoes I can hardly wait to plant next month . If I get a good crop I want to try my hand at canning some. What variety cans best?
    So excited to watch how you cook from the home cabinet. I've gotten a lot better at building my menus by cooking fresh out of the garden straight to the house. Learning to vegetable can is on our list this year.
    Hope your feeling a lot better. Smithgang

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    1. I have only canned Red Pontiac and Kennebec. The potatoes that the voles nibble or the ones that we hit with the potato fork immediately go into jars as cubed potatoes. Good for soups, instant mashed potatoes and potato salad shortcuts. A useful item for your pantry.

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  6. Thank you so much! I am VERY excited about this series. It's exactly what I need. This soup looks delicious!!!

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  7. Awesome post and info . I love my crock pot and making soups and stews in this frigid weather ! That soup sounds and looks wonderful ! Thanks for sharing with us ! Stay cozy and have a good day !

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  8. I think I have all those ingredients. It is the perfect weather for Hammy Corn Chowder! I am making that very soon.

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  10. CQ,

    The chowder and salad make for a delicious dinner.

    When you dehydrate the onions do you use the wax paper to make it easier to clean or is there a secret when dehydrating onions?

    How are you feeling? Based on reading your recent posts, it sounds like your doing better, and that is a really good thing.

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  11. I'm so excited for this canned cooking series! Also very glad that you are on the road to recovery! Thanks so much for sharing with all of us.

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  12. That looks so delicious. I must can some potatoes this year! Thanks for sharing.

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  13. Your soup looks amazing! And having made it with all your own food is also amazing. I can't wait until I am able to have such a well stocked pantry like yours. Very inspirational! Thanks for sharing!

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  14. I hope you don't mind but I pinned this post on Pinterest. Your cooking needs to be shared with the masses!! This soup looks so yummy and nourishing. I have seen so many recipes online that look good but contain awful chemical laden ingredients instead of real food. Your cooking is what we need!!!

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  15. I thoroughly enjoy your blog, and I am so glad you are feeling better! I would greatly appreciate it if you would consider writing a blog entry on oxygen absorbers for jars of dehydrated fruits and vegetables. I have never used them before and would like to know how to use them. Do you need to use all the absorbers that come in a pack shortly after you open the pack, or can you store them through the spring/summer and use as needed? Once you open a jar, say of dehydrated onions, does the absorber continue to work if you just put the canning lid back on? Have you ever used absorbers in conjunction with a food item that you sealed with something like the Food Saver?

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  16. I just started canning this year. I've used the boiling method, so all items have had high acid content. Do you need special equipment to can things like potatoes and corn?

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    1. Since most vegetables like potatoes and corn are not high acid foods they must be canned with a pressure canner !

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  17. Thank you a wonderful chowder. Made it Friday. I also used your pie crust recipe. I love to cook from scratch as much as possible. Again thank you for sharing your recipes.

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