Can It Up: Candied-Pickled Apples with Star Anise

Canning? What's that? It was like a magical process.  Some people have that Can It touch and I was afraid that I just don't have that touch.  I used to be afraid, horrified that I may kill one of my friends or family members with botulism. My friend E has her own hens and cows, preserves her own jams, zucchini relish and all kinds of produce from her or her family's gardens. And did I mention that she is a full time doctor? One taste of her relish sent me and my other friend into that magical world. We thought maybe she was just born with that magical touch. She even gave me her grandmother's recipe and I was still hesitating because again, I had fear of that "canning" process.  

Then another friend, Hima, started telling me about her love for preserving and somehow with two of my friends doing it, I got less intimidated.  I then took a class at Whole Foods Market and learned about pectin and that it's not that scary to put the jars into the boiling water.  If you preheat the jars, they will not shatter and the heat will kill bacteria.  (We are, of course, talking about the high acid fruits and pickling of vegetables.)  I then tried it at home and my family ate the jam I made and no one got sick. Yay! In fact, I got rave reviews for the simple peach jam I made.  Last year I took a class with Marisa McClellan of the delicious Food In Jars and she was so nice and encouraging. Marisa's Honey Lemon Apple Jam looks gorgeous and tastes good, lemony and apple sweet. (Recipe found at Honey Lemon Apple Jam)  

Well, this summer I often got a little carried away at the farmer's market or even at the produce aisle of the supermarket.  So I started trying various recipes for preserving all kinds of fruits.  I practically ran out of shelves to put my jars. When Hima of All Four Burners told me that she is hosting Can It Up, I had to join!  In fact, it has a lot to do with me starting this blog.  So Hima, here's my contribution: Candied-Pickled Apples with Star Anise. 

I love apple picking with my friends and family but I really did not have time the last two weeks to go apple picking.  But the apples are from a local farm, already picked.  There's got to be some compromise.  I really love Liana Krissoff's Canning for a New Generation. Every recipe I've tried in this book has turned out great.  I will report back later how I and my reviewers (friends) like this Candied-Pickled Apple.  I have to post this as I am too excited after I finished my preserve, and knowing that I have a busy week ahead.

Candied-pickled Apples with Star Anise

Recipe from Liana Krissoff’s Canning for a New Generation

3 pieces star anise, broken up

2 cinnamon sticks, broken up

½ ts whole black peppercorns

2 lbs crisp red apples, cored and diced (no need to peel)

2 cups cider vinegar (5% acidity)

1 ¼ cup sugar

Prepare for water bath canning. Wash jars and put them into canning pot to keep warm.

Put the spices in a cheesecloth or muslin bag and tie it shut.  Put the bag and all the remaining ingredients in a wide, 6- to 8- quart preserving pan.  Bring to a boil over high heat, then lower the heat and simmer, stirring occasionally very gently to keep from breaking apart the apples too much, until the apples are translucent and the syrup is thick, about 45 minutes.  Discard the spices.

Ladle boiling water from the canning pot into the bowl with the lids.  Using a jar lifter, remove the hot jar from the canning pot, carefully pouring the water from each one back into the pot, and place them upright on a folded towel.  Drain the water off the jar lids.

Ladle the hot apples into the jars, leaving ¼ inch headspace at the top.  Use a chopstick to remove air bubbles around the inside of each jar.  Use a damp paper towel to wipe the rims of the jars, then put a flat lid and ring on each jar, adjusting the ring so that it’s just finger-tight.  Return the jars to the water in the canning pot, making sure the water covers the jars by at least 1 inch.  Bring to a boil, and boil for 10 minutes to process.  Remove the jars to a towel and do not disturb for 12 hours.  After 1 hour, check that the lids have sealed by pressing down on the center of each; if it can be pushed down, it hasn’t sealed and should be refrigerated.  Label the sealed jars and store.

Note: For me, this yielded four half-pint jars plus four ounces, which is close to the yield in the recipe.

My Homage to Figs

I read on Monica Bhide's site a wonderful quote about food writing, see  monicabhide.com/2012/08/does-food-writing-matter.html. She had asked the question, does food writing matter? and Molly O'Neill responded with "Why write about food? Because food is a patch of blue in an otherwise gray news world..." I just love that quote because that's part of the reason I enjoy reading food blogs and food writing in general, such as that by Bhide and O'Neill. 

I am a news junkie (definitely can be sad and gray) and have a stressful job but reading my favorite food blogs always help give the burst of color I need to my day. Yesterday was one of those stressful days at work, a long day of listening to sad stories. When I was finally able to put my apron on and just create good food, I felt the stress slowly melting away.  So I decided that I really must finish up the figs in my refrigerator.

I was lucky enough this year to have lots and lots of figs at my disposal.  My family's fig tree in Brooklyn, NY had an explosion of figs.  Every time I visited my parents over the summer, they would tell me that they had given away figs but still had containers of figs in the refrigerator.  Then I just had to visit the fig tree, despite my appeal to the big and numerous mosquitoes in the yard.

I picked enough to make jam with these and give some away.  Below is the latest batch we picked.

They are sweet like honey when ripe, like the ones here in the picture.  I had fun thinking up all the ways to use these figs.  I gave some away; cooked chicken with fresh figs, honey and vinegar (excellent, I must say); made the figs, lemon and thyme jam via recipe by mrswheelbarrow.com and brandied figs. OK, I did not do all that in one day, rather over a couple of weeks.

This jar of figs, lemon and thyme is very special and thank you to Mrs. Wheelbarrow for such a unique recipe. It's sweet with bits of tartness. 

I did have some brandy syrup left after making the brandied fig, so I threw in some very ripe figs so that they would be preserved in the brandy and not be wasted.  After days in the refrigerator, I thought let me make some fig ice cream. I read various ice cream recipes to get inspired and decided to just do it without a recipe.  It's a bit scary at first because what if my ice cream doesn't set into right texture.  
Well, here goes...

I had about a half cup of syrup (equal water: sugar) with brandy. I put that into the pot to boil down a little.  Once it boiled a bit (total a little less than a cup), I put in the figs that had been macerating overnight.  I had about 2 cups of halved figs.  Let that boil down a little (try to get a little syrupy texture).  Turn off the heat.  I tasted it but was not entirely satisfied so I added a teaspoon of Cointreau (see the plum clafoutis post).
Then I put in a cup of heavy cream.  Greek yogurt may work too.  Then whipped out one of my gadgets, the immersion blender.  Here's what it looked like after a brief puree by the immersion blender.

 I put that into the refrigerator for an hour and a half to cool it down.  Then into the ice cream maker it went (don't forget to put the bowl into the freezer the night before if you have one of the basic ice cream machines). 

Result? I think this would be better with another type of fig but it tastes creamy and scrumptious.  This fig did not leave the beautiful purple color of the Black Mission Fig.  When my friend first asked me how it is, I thought it was good but not quite what I was looking for.  Perhaps it's because the taste of the honey sweetness of those fresh figs lingers in my mind.  But after one night in the refrigerator, the fig taste really developed and I can once again taste the freshness of the figs.