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Microwaving Meats
Skillet Meals From Home
While there are hundreds of boxed meals that can be prepared in a skillet, with a minimum amount of work, you can create your own skillet meals at home.
Macaroni and cheese is a wonderful base for many of these, but there is no limit to the kind of foods that can be cooked in a skillet. Some of the most tender barbecue ribs I have ever made were made in an electric skillet, at the time I had no oven.
I boiled the ribs in beer, cooking removes the alcohol, then put them in an electric skillet, brushed them with barbecue sauce turned the skillet to simmer and put the lid on.
I let them cook for about 5 hours, checking occasionally to make sure they were not burning, and adding sauce as they were turned. They were delicious, and fall of the bone tender, give it a try sometime, you will love them!
Now back to the macaroni and cheese, while cooking the macaroni, brown hamburger in a skillet add a can of chili, when the macaroni is done add the cheese then stir into the hamburger chili mix.
Its called Chili-mac and a favorite of even the most discriminating family members! This is a little trick I learned from a true Texan, just open a small package of Fritos and add chili to the bag, only one skillet used for the chili and no dishes to wash.
Give everyone a spoon; they will love it for camping and outdoor parties. Left over roast can make a wonderful one skillet mean, just cut the roast in small pieces, add bouillon for flavor, add water and cook in the skillet until the meat is tender, add vegetables and cook until they are done and the water cooks away.
Left over pork steak is excellent when rolled in flour, and fried in olive oil; add water and rice to the mixture, the flour on the pork creates wonderful gravy for the rice.
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Tomatoes Everywhere!
I have often been amazed at the number of tomatoes on one plant, and the number of plants a person will maintain at one time.
It seems that every person who plants tomatoes has to have at least 4 varieties, and to be safe two plants of each variety, at that minimum thats 8 tomato plants in a season!
So, just how many tomatoes come on a plant, all I know is that there are a lot.
One bushel or 45 pounds can make 26 to 34 pints of frozen tomatoes and 20 to 28 pints of frozen juice. Once you freeze tomatoes they become mushy, so they can only be used in soups, stews and spaghetti sauce.
My mom used to make breaded tomatoes that I loved, they were made with canned tomatoes, day old bread and sugar, I can still taste them!
The procedures for freezing different tomato products are:
*Raw tomatoes, after washing dip in boiling water to loosen skins, peel and core, freeze whole or in pieces, when packing containers, leave 1 inch of head room.
*Tomato juice, wash, sort and trim firm, vine-ripened tomatoes, cut in quarters and simmer 5 to 10 minutes. Press through sieve, season with 1 tsp salt for each quart of juice, pour into containers leaving 1 ½ inches head space, seal and freeze containers.
*Stewed (for breaded tomatoes), remove stem ends, peel and quarter ripe tomatoes. Cover and cook 10 to 20 minutes until tender. Place pan of tomatoes in cold water and cool, pack into containers leaving 1 inch head space, seal and freeze.
Tomato sauce, puree, catsup and chili sauces can be frozen. Prepare them as directed and cool rapidly, pack in rigid containers leaving head space and freeze.
There are hundreds of foods that can be prepared with fresh or frozen tomatoes, enjoy them year round. |
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Pressure Canning
1Put 23 inches of hot water in the canner, using a jar lifter, place filled jars on a rack.
2.Fasten canner lid securely. Leave the weight off the vent or open the petcock, heat at the highest setting until the steam flows from the petcock or vent.
3.Maintain high heat and exhaust the steam for 10 minutes, place weight on vent or close petcock. In the next 3-5 minutes the canner will pressurize.
4.Begin timing when the pressure is at the recommended pressure or the weight gauge begins to jiggle or rock.
5. Adjust the heat to maintain a steady pressure at or slightly above the correct pressure.
6.When the timed process is complete, turn off the heat, and remove the canner from the heat if possible, let the canner depressurize. Do not force cool a canner, it can result in spoiled foods or damage to the seal.
Cooling with cold water or opening the vent before it has depressurized will cause seal failures and loss of liquid from jars. It may also warp the lid of older canners causing steam leaks. Older models will require about 30-45 minutes for depressurizing.
7.After it is depressurized, remove the weight from the vent or open the petcock, wait about 2 minutes, unfasten the lid and carefully lift away from your face, this is to prevent burning.
8.Remove the jars with a lifter and place on a towel or cooling rack. Do not retighten the lids when you remove the jars from a canner, this can cut the gasket and cause the seal to fail.
Cool the jars at room temperature for 12 to 24 hours. Place jars on racks or towels to prevent damage to the counter top.
After 24 hours, remove the screw caps and test the lids for proper seal using one of these methods:
*Press the middle of the lid with your finger, if it springs up when released it is not sealed.
*Tap with the bottom of a teaspoon, a well sealed lid will make a high-pitched, ringing sound.
*Hold at eye level and look across the lid, it should be slightly concave in the center, if flat or bulging, it is not sealed.
If a seal fails, the jar may be reprocessed and resealed.
Related Topics: Refrigerator and Freezer-Approximate Storage Times,
Leftovers, What Now, Say Hello to Jell-O
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