from the garden Archives · Page 2 of 2

Dilly Beans

It’s pickling season! Okay, really, it’s gardening season which means it’s canning season around our house. But if it is canning season, you can bet some pickling is going to go down. One of my favorite things to pickle are dilly beans.

We always plant two to three rows of beans. This results in enough to eat plenty raw, put some in the freezer, pressure can some for meals, and then when I am feeling ambitious, some for dilly beans. Never had a dilly bean? They are similar to a dill pickle, but have a little more kick (if you want it), and stay crisp longer.

In our home, we eat them when we grill out or simply for a snack. The bonus treat is the pickled garlic clove at the bottom of the jar. My kids fight over it every time. I don’t love a Bloody Mary, but they are a great addition to a killer Bloody.

Originally, this recipe came from the Ball Canning and Perserving Book, but like any good recipe, has been modified to suit our needs in our home. I hope you enjoy them as much as my family does!

New to canning? Check out the Ball’s Book of Canning or The National Center for Home Food Preservation for more detailed information. I will give you the low down, but it will be short and sweet. You will want to read up more, I promise 🙂

Your Ingredients (per six pint jars)

2 ½ pounds green beans and/or yellow wax beans, washed and trimmed
4 cups vinegar
4 cups water
6 tablespoons pickling salt
⅛ – ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper, PER jar (to taste)
6 heads of dill
6-12 cloves of garlic (1-2 cloves per jar)

The Utensils

Water bath canner with rack and lid
Six pint jars with lids and rings (wide or narrow mouth)
Large, non reactive kettle for pickling liquid

Your Preparation

The prep: the most time consuming portion of this recipe. When you make regular pickles, you just slice and fill jars. However, dilly beans need to be cut to length. After a number of years of canning, the following method has worked the best for me. Trim one bean to length so that it will fit just under the rim of the jar, approximately 4 inches. Now you have two options:

-Use this bean as your fondly called “measuring bean.” Measure the rest of the beans to that length, double checking from time to time because it’s easy to cut too long.

-If you have a non-opaque cutting board (think thin, flexible boards), make a mark with a permanent marker on the bottom of the board. Use this line to cut your beans to length. This is my preferred method.

Ultimately, you need to trim your beans so they will fit in your jar. Get there how you get there 🙂

Additionally, peel the garlic cloves and have them prepared.

Time to Can

Prepare jars, lids, and rings by washing and keeping warm. I generally set the jars in the rack of canner and have it rest above the water. Begin heating the water bath canner (make sure water will be at least one inch above jars once submerged). It is better to have too much water than too little.

Fill each jar with one to two cloves of garlic, one head of dill, and 1/8-1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper. Stuff jars with trimmed beans, keeping the beans below the top ring portion. This generally takes longer than I think it should, but not too terribly long.

Meanwhile, bring salt, vinegar, and water to a boil reduce to a simmer until the jars are prepped. Pour the pickling liquid over beans, wipe the top of the jar with a damp piece of paper towel. Put lids and rings on, tightening to finger tip tight. Lower into canner, raising heat and bringing to a rolling boil. Process for 10 min, adjusting for altitude (if over 1000 feet). Remove the canner from heat, and allow jars to rest 5 min. Remove from canner and allow to cool at least 12 hours before storing jars.

There is no need to tighten rings. In fact, it is recommended they are removed entirely while storing. Enjoy! My kids say the best part is the garlic but those beans don’t last long either 😉

Trimming: the longest part of the process.

Dilly Beans with Garlic

Whether you are simply a pickle lover or you really dig a good Bloody Mary, these dilly beans are for you! A little garlic and cayenne pepper add zip!

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 1

Cook Time 15

Total Time 1 15

Course Side Dish

Cuisine Canning

Servings pint jars

Equipment

Water Bath Canner
6 pint jars with lids and rings

Ingredients

2 ½ pounds green beans and/or yellow wax beans washed and trimmed
4 cups vinegar
4 cups water
6 tablespoons pickling salt
⅛ – ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper PER jar (to taste)
6 heads of dill
6-12 cloves of garlic 1-2 cloves per jar

Instructions

To prepare, trim beans so that they will just fit under the rim of pint jars, approximately 4 inches long. Additionally, peel the garlic cloves and have them prepared for canning.
Prepare jars, lids, and rings by washing and keeping warm. Begin heating the water bath canner (make sure water will be at least one inch above jars once submerged).
Fill each jar with one to two cloves of garlic, one head of dill, and 1/8-1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper. Stuff jars with trimmed beans, keeping the beans below the top ring portion.
Meanwhile, bring salt, vinegar, and water to a boil reduce to a simmer until the jars are prepped. Pour the pickling liquid over beans. Remove air bubbles.
Wipe the top of the jar with a damp piece of paper towel. Put lids and rings on, tightening to finger tip tight.
Lower into canner, raising heat and bringing to a rolling boil. Process for 10 min, adjusting for altitude (if over 1000 feet).
Remove the canner from heat, and allow jars to rest 5 min. Remove from canner and allow to cool at least 12 hours before storing jars.

Notes

Sealed jars are shelf-stable, meaning they can be stored on a shelf unrefrigerated. If your jars don’t ping (a sign that they have sealed), they are still good. Simply store them in the refrigerator.
Most sources recommend removing the rings from jars for storage so that you will know if they unseal for any reason. I generally just loosen them as much as I can without removing them.

Keyword Canning, Dilly Beans, Pickled Beans, Pickling, Waterbath Canning

Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!

Looking for other canning and preserving recipes? Check out the page below!

Canning and Preserving

Tools of the Trade

Check out the links below for my favorite canning tools!

July 27, 2020August 2, 2022

Jess1 Comment

Gooseberry Muffins

A number of years ago, I tried a berry at a farmer’s market. There must have been samples, but the memory is vague. I loved the berry I tried, and told my husband we had to grow them. The following year, we purchased two gooseberry plants. I was so excited! A year later, we had berries. I tried them, and they weren’t at all what I remembered. (In hindsight, I think I had currants at the farmer’s market.) That’s life, right? Maybe it’s just my life. But luckily, I really loved the flavor that gooseberries had. Needless to say, I was grateful for my mishap.

Recently, a friend stopped by, asked, what the plant was, and subsequently, what I use them for. Previously, I had only just snacked on them. Once I made a gooseberry gin jam (YUM!). Now I can say with confidence that they make slightly tart and sweet gooseberry muffins that are delish!

But what does a gooseberry taste like?

Never had a gooseberry? They are about the size of a large blueberry, but look like a miniature watermelon with the texture of a grape. Typing that just makes me smile. It almost sounds like a description from a Dr. Seuss book, but I think it’s a great description. They can tart like a green grape or sweeter like a red grape. They grow on bushes with some gnarly thorns. I see that as part of the adventure of having them…can I get away without getting pricked?

Anywho…we had a bumper crop this year, and I wanted to do more than freeze them. I wanted to bake. I love the way this recipe turned out. They have texture and beautiful color. The flavor is reminiscent of rhubarb with the sweet tart combination. Don’t have gooseberries on hand? I am certain that blueberries would be a great alternative and can’t wait to give that a try too!

Your Ingredients for Gooseberry Muffins

1 cup old fashioned oats
1 cup wheat flour
½ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
⅓ cup sugar
1 egg
½ cup Greek yogurt
¼ cup milk
½ teaspoon vanilla
2 tablespoon olive oil
1 ½ cups gooseberries, cleaned (1 ½ cups if you dig the tart flavor. 1 cup if you want it a little sweeter)

Your steps

If you haven’t yet, nip off the ends on the gooseberries. You only want the berry portion in the muffin. Then, preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Grease or line a muffin tin. This recipe will result in approximately 12 muffins.

In a large bowl, combine the oats, flour, sugar, salt, and baking powder. Set aside.

In a small bowl, whisk egg. Add the yogurt, milk, vanilla, and olive oil. Whisk well. After the wet ingredients have combined, pour into the dry ingredients. Stir until just combined. Fold in cleaned gooseberries. Again, you can use one to one and a half cups, depending on your preference of flavor. My family loves tart (think, rhubarb bread and pie), so I add more berries.

Divide the batter among the 12 muffin cups. Bake for 20-25 minutes, until cooked through. Allow to cool in the tin a few minutes before removing. I think these gooseberry muffins are best served warm with a cup of coffee. 🙂

Gooseberry Muffins

Sweet and tart combine for a muffin reminiscent of a rhubarb bread in these gooseberry muffins. You'll love the tart surprise you get as you bite into one.

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 15

Cook Time 25

Course Breakfast

Cuisine American

Servings muffins

Ingredients

1 – 1 ½ cups gooseberries cleaned (1 ½ cups if you dig the tart flavor. 1 cup if you want it a little sweeter)
1 cup old fashioned oats
1 cup wheat flour
⅓ cup sugar
½ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 egg
½ cup Greek yogurt
¼ cup milk
½ teaspoon vanilla
2 tablespoon olive oil

Instructions

If you haven’t yet, nip off the ends on the gooseberries. You only want the berry portion in the muffin.
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Grease or line a muffin tin. This recipe will result in approximately 12 muffins.
In a large bowl, combine the oats, flour, sugar, salt, and baking powder. Set aside.
In a small bowl, whisk egg. Add the yogurt, milk, vanilla, and olive oil. Whisk well.
Pour into the dry ingredients, stirring until just combined. Fold in cleaned gooseberries.
Again, you can use one to one and a half cups, depending on your preference of flavor.
Divide the batter among the 12 muffin cups. Bake for 20-25 minutes, until cooked through.
Allow to cool in the tin a few minutes before removing.

Keyword Breakfast, gooseberry, muffin, muffins

Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!

Hints and Tips

If you opt for all purpose flour rather than whole wheat, you may want to decrease the milk by a ½ tablespoon or so. Whole wheat flour absorbs more liquid than all purpose flour does. If you don’t decrease it, you may have a wetter batter.

Fun fact! Upon further research, I learned that gooseberries were made illegal in the United States in the early 1900’s. They are also in the currant family! No wonder I confused the two 🙂 If you’re interested in the history, check it out here!

Looking for more recipes? Click the links below:

Baking

Canning and Perserving

July 17, 2020July 30, 2022

Jess5 Comments

Raspberry Jalapeño Jam

Before I get to the raspberry jalapeño jam recipe, I want to share a little of my history. For as long as I can remember, raspberries have been my very favorite fruit. When I was little, I would go with my dad to bait deer stands (very Wisconsin, right?) and I could eat wild raspberries to my heart’s content while I wasted time in the woods. I am certain part of my love started there. I always had the rule that you couldn’t eat them until you were done picking. If you started eating, it was just impossible to stop.

Now that I am an adult with a larger than life raspberry patch, I still hold true to that rule. A few years ago, we had the biggest bumper crop we had ever had. First, I made regular jam. After that, I froze them straight. I made raspberry sorbet (Check out that recipe here!). I even made raspberry salsa. The salsa inspired me to try mixing jalapeños and raspberries in a different way. Raspberry jalapeño jam was born. If you have ever had pepper jelly, this has a similar spicy-sweet flavor. This is better, of course 😉

How would you eat a raspberry jalapeño jam? It’s great spread on top of cream cheese (or the healthier cousin, Neufchatel) and served with wheat crackers. If you have never had this, oh my goodness, you need to give it a try! I like to put it on burgers, replacing barbecue sauce. It even goes well on a PB and J, believe it or not. It isn’t so much spicy as it simply has a depth to the flavor. Serious yum factor.

Okay, enough talking. Let’s get canning and make this delicious treat!

The Supplies

This recipe will result in approximately eight 8 ounce jelly jars. You can use wide mouth or narrow mouth jars. Just be sure you have rings and lids for them and that they will all fit in your canner at once.

You will need a water bath canner or large stock pot with a lid. The jars need to be off the bottom of the pot. A water bath canner will have a rack to use if you go that route. If you use a stock pot, I would invest in canning racks. Alternatively, you can also put a towel down in a pinch, but it is MESSY in terms of getting water everywhere.

It is also helpful to have the tools in a canning kit like this, but it isn’t necessary. Canning would be crazy challenging without the jar funnel and jar tongs. The lid lifter is also very handy.

Your Ingredients

6 ½ cups raspberries
5 cups sugar
2 jalapenos, finely chopped (between ¾-1 cup)
4 ½ tablespoons powder pectin (or one packet)

Your Steps

Prep Work

To begin, prepare your water bath canner. Be sure to fill the canner with enough water so that once the jars are in the canner, they will be covered by at least one inch of water. Too much water is better than not enough, but remember that some water will be displaced by the jars. Cover and begin to heat over a medium-high heat.

Meanwhile, measure out the sugar. Set aside. You want to do this ahead of time because the process of canning is slow until it hits “go time” and then you need to be prepared. You will stir this in when you hit a rolling boil.

It’s Cooking time

First, place the raspberries in a large, non reactive kettle. Crush them. I like to use a potato masher for this task. Stir in the jalapeños. Add ¼ teaspoon of butter, if desired. This will reduce the foaming. Sprinkle and stir in the pectin. Cook over high heat until a rolling boil is reached, stirring consistently.

At this point, stir in sugar. You will want to do this slowly. If you pour it all in at once, you will likely get clumps. Continue to stir until you reach another rolling boil that can not be stirred down. (I try to rush this and think it rolling before it really is. Be better than me 🙂 ). Once a rolling boil is reached, cook for 1 minute, stirring constantly.

Finally, ladle jelly into prepared jelly jars, wipe the rims with a damp cloth, add lids, and tighten rings to fingertip tight. Put into the water bath canner and process for 10 minutes. Once the jelly is done processing, remove the canner from heat and let jars rest in the water for an additional 5 minutes. Finally, remove jars from the canner and allow to cool for 12-24 hours before moving. Listen for the ping of the lids (best part of canning…apart from the eating of the beautiful food you create).

Oh, and don’t forget to just try your jelly on the sides of the kettle after the jars are in the canner. It’s SO good. Trust me, you may want to make sure you have some homemade bread handy.

A few notes:

Make sure you are using powdered pectin rather than liquid pectin. They do not set the same. Early in my canning career I didn’t know the difference and had a few batches of jelly never set.
If you have never canned, you can reference the instructions within the pectin box for additional, more detailed directions.
Sealed jars are shelf-stable, meaning they can be stored on a shelf unrefrigerated. If your jars don’t ping (a sign that they have sealed), they are still good. You will just need to store them in the refrigerator.
Most sources recommend removing the rings from jars for storage so that you will know if they unseal for any reason. When I know they have sealed, I generally just loosen them as much as I can without removing them.

Looking for other canning and preserving recipes? Check out the page below!

Canning and Preserving

Tools of the trade

Raspberry Jalapeño Jam

A little bit spicy. A little bit sweet. This raspberry jalapeño jam is great way to use your bountiful harvest this summer!

4.25 from 4 votes

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 10

Cook Time 40

Course Appetizer

Cuisine Canning

Servings

Equipment

Water Bath Canner
Jelly Canning Jars

Ingredients

6 ½ cups raspberries
5 cups sugar
2 jalapenos finely chopped (between ¾-1 cup)
4 ½ tablespoons powder pectin or one packet

Instructions

Prepare your water bath canner. Fill the canner with enough water so that once the jars are in the canner, they will be covered by at least one inch of water. Cover and begin to heat over a medium-high heat.
Measure out sugar. Set aside.
Place the raspberries in a large, non reactive kettle. Crush them. Stir in jalapeños. Add ¼ teaspoon of butter, if desired, to reduce foaming.
Sprinkle and stir in the pectin. Cook over high heat until a rolling boil is reached, stirring consistently.
Once a rolling boil is reached, slowly stir in sugar.
Continue to stir until you reach another rolling boil that can not be stirred down. Once a rolling boil is reached, cook for 1 minute, stirring constantly.
Ladle jelly into prepared jelly jars, wipe the rims with a damp cloth, add lids, and tighten rings to fingertip tight. Put into the water bath canner. When the canner has a steady boil going, time and process for 10 minutes.
Once the jelly is done processing, remove the canner from heat and let jars rest in the water for an additional 5 minutes. Finally, remove jars from the canner and allow to cool for 12-24 hours before moving.

Notes

Make sure you are using powdered pectin rather than liquid pectin. They do not set the same.
If you have never canned, you can reference the instructions within the pectin box for additional, more detailed directions.
Sealed jars are shelf-stable, meaning they can be stored on a shelf unrefrigerated. If your jars don’t ping (a sign that they have sealed), they are still good. You will just need to store them in the refrigerator.
Most sources recommend removing the rings from jars for storage so that you will know if they unseal for any reason. I generally just loosen them as much as I can without removing them.

Keyword Canning, Jalapeño, Jam, Jam Recipes, Raspberry

Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!

Here are some of my other favorite ways to use Raspberries!

July 12, 2020July 14, 2023

Jess16 Comments

Strawberry and Peach Sorbet

The Scenario…

Over picking at the strawberry patch because you don’t realize just how many berries fit in your bucket until you weigh it.

Looking at the fruits at the farmer’s market and buying it all because the color is beyond appealing.

Planting countless raspberry plants and then not being able to keep up with the bounty they produce in July.

The delicious solution!

Do any of these scenarios sound familiar? Let me tell you, I have experienced them all. One would think that I would learn from my mistakes, but I still continue to get sucked into ALLLLL the fruits and then need to find something to do with them. This week, it was strawberries and peaches. And thus, a homemade strawberry and peach sorbet was born.

Last year, I had a crazy red raspberry crop. Crazy, as in it took me over an hour to harvest during its peak time. This meant I needed to find new and fun ways to preserve them. I made all the jam. I froze bags of them. Then I stumbled across a fruit sorbet recipe while flipping through my Ball’s Guide to Preserving Book. It sounded amazing, but had SO much added sugar. I modified it some last year, and now have improved it again to not use raspberries but the strawberries from our garden and peaches from the store.

If you’ve been following me for a little time, you know that I like to use my son as my ultimate taste tester. He isn’t afraid to tell me something is too healthy tasting, too salty, lacking vegetables, etc. He’s a good egg, that kid. Anywho…I took a scoop of what couldn’t fit in the jars and had him try it. He closed his eyes, smiled, and kind of whispered, “What IS that?!” I don’t know about you, but that screams approval if you ask me 😉

Don’t have strawberries and/or peaches? I have such good news! This recipe is totally moldable to your favorite flavor combination. Ultimately, you will need 4 cups of chopped soft fruit. Think berries, peaches, nectarines, etc. (Ball says you can use melon, but I haven’t tested it).

Your Ingredients:

2 cups chopped strawberries
2 cups diced peaches, peeled first then cut up
½ cup orange juice
2 tablespoons lemon juice
2 tablespoons honey

Your steps

Combine fruit. Use a blender or immersion blender to break fruit down. I use an immersion blender and blend right in the kettle I will be heating them in. Add remaining ingredients. From here, use the immersion blender to mix everything together once more. Once combined, heat over medium heat until the mixture is beginning to simmer, stirring often. Pour into a 9×13 pan, cover, and place in the freezer and allow to freeze solid.

Once fully frozen, remove and allow to sit at room temperature for 5-10 minutes. This will make it easier to remove the sorbet. Working in small batches, puree frozen sorbet. There are lots of options for this. You can use a blender, a food processor, or an immersion blender. For me, I dig the immersion blender because clean up is so easy. Scoop the puree into freezer safe containers, leaving ½ inch headspace at the top. I like to use 4 ounce jelly jars for ½ cup servings ready to go! Finally, be sure to label and return to the freezer until you’re ready to enjoy them!

A few notes

When I initially found this recipe, I wanted to cut the second blending of the sorbet. It is critical to complete if you want fluffy sorbet that you remember from childhood. It’s worth the extra step. Don’t skip it!

Initially, I tried this recipe freshly picked raspberries so feel free to mix it up in terms of fruit. Ultimately, you need 4 cups of chopped/crushed fruit so let your taste buds to the work here.

Looking for an adult version? I found that adding ½ cup of lime twisted gin was a delight to the raspberry sorbet! Be mindful of how much alcohol you add as it will effect the ability of the sorbet to freeze.

Have a sweeter tooth? The recipe originally calls for 2 cups of sugar. If you’d like, add more to suit your own tastes.

Tools I use

Hoping to use some of the tools I love for creating these? Here’s the link for the 4 ounce jelly jars I used as well an immersion blender. Seriously, the immersion blender is an underrated tool in the kitchen and it hardly takes up any storage space! If you don’t have one yet, I highly recommend investing. You’ll thank me!

As for the jelly jars, I am usually a Ball or Kerr jar lover, but a friend gifted me these Verone jars and I loved that they came with two piece lids for canning as well as one piece lids for storage. Double duty in one pack of jars. Super cool 🙂

Looking for other ways to preserve your summer bounty? Check out my canning and preserving page!

Strawberry and Peach Sorbet

A fruit sorbet

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 30

Freeze Time 4

Course Dessert

Cuisine Canning

Servings 1/2 cup servings

Equipment

Food Processor or Immersion Blender

Ingredients

2 cups chopped strawberries
2 cups diced peaches peeled first then cut up
½ cup orange juice
2 tablespoons lemon juice
2 tablespoons honey more to taste

Instructions

Combine fruit.
Use a blender or immersion blender to break fruit down into a puree.
Add remaining ingredients. Blend once more to fully break down the fruit and incorporate added ingredients.
Once combined, heat over medium heat until the mixture is beginning to simmer, stirring often.
Pour into a 9×13 pan, cover, and place in the freezer and allow to freeze solid.
Once fully frozen, remove and allow to sit at room temperature for 5-10 minutes to make it easier to remove from pan. Working in small batches, puree frozen sorbet using food processor, blender or immersion blender.
Scoop the puree into freezer safe containers, leaving ½ inch headspace at the top. Label and return to freezer if not enjoying immediately.