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Yesterday I inaugurated my new canning equipment — a huge 12 quart stockpot, a canning funnel, a magnetic lid lifter, and a bright red rubber coated jar lifter. Joy! Granted…

Homemade Tempeh
Adapted from Wild Fermentation by Sandor Katz
1 lb dried soy beans, soaked overnight in plenty of cold water
2 T vinegar
1 t. tempeh spore
Hull the soaked soybeans.  This is the most tedious part of the whole process.  Pinch each soybean between your fingers to separate the skin from the bean.  Discard the skins, and put [...]

Homemade Gravlax (aka Lox)
2 good quality salmon filets that are roughly the same size, approx 1.5 lbs total (I used wild sockeye) *see note
3 T. sugar
2 T. non-iodized salt
1 bunch dill
Remove all of the pin bones from the two salmon filets using a pair of tweezers.  Trim the filets so they are the same size [...]

Homemade Turkey Stock
1 turkey carcass, plus any skin
8 large garlic cloves
4 stalks of celery, broken into 3-4 inch pieces
10 – 20 sprigs parsley
1 onion, cut into quarters or eighths
2 – 3 carrots, cut into 3-4 inch chunks (optional)
cold water
Remove as much meat as you can from the turkey carcass and set aside for another use.  [...]

 
Wild Elderberry Preserves with Honey and Almond
using Pomona’s Pectin (citrus-based)
makes ~ 4 1/2 – 5 cups
4 c. mashed elderberries (from about 4 1/2 c. berries)
1/4 c. lemon juice
2 t. calcium water (from Pomona’s Pectin package)
1 c. honey at room temperature
2 t. Pomona’s powdered pectin
1 t. pure almond extract
Sterilize 5 cups worth of canning jars and [...]

Plum and Cardamom Preserves
7 1/2 c. pitted, chopped plums (about 3-3.5 lbs)
6 c. sugar
1.5 c. water
1 t. + 1 t. ground cardamom
Makes ~3.5 pints
Sterilize 4 pint jars, lids, and rings according to your favorite method. (I heat the jars in a 350 degree oven for 30 minutes, and boil the lids and rings for [...]

Hot and Spicy Pickled Eggs
Adapted from The Joy of Pickling
4 hard cooked eggs, peeled (pour boiling water over raw eggs and allow to sit, covered, for 14 minutes, then peel)
2/3 T. pickling salt (any non-iodized salt will do, i.e. sea salt)
2 fresh green chile peppers (serrano, jalepeno)
1/2 c. cider vinegar
3 T. water
1 t. minced [...]