If you’ve always wanted to try your hand at canning, or making your own preserves, but thought it was something only the pros could handle, think again. A new book is hitting the shelves that’ll help you boost your canning confidence called 'The Canning Kitchen: 101 Simple Small Batch Recipes.' Here are a sample of the recipes.
 

Strawberry Jam

  • Makes Seven 250 mL (1 cup) Jars
  • 2 ½ lb (1.125 kg) strawberries
  • 1 tbsp (15 mL) lemon juice
  • 1 package (47 g) regular pectin powder
  • 6 cups (1.5 L) granulated sugar
     
  1. Rinse the strawberries under cool running water. Hull the berries discarding the stems and leaves. Crush the berries with a masher in a large, heavy-bottomed pot (you should have about 4 ½ cups/1.25 L of crushed berries).
  2. Stir in the lemon juice and pectin powder. Bring to a full boil over highest heat, stirring frequently. Pour in the sugar and return to a full rolling boil, stirring constantly. Maintain a hard foamy boil for 1 minute.
  3. Remove from the heat. Skim off and discard the foamy pink scum. Stir your jam for a couple of minutes to allow it to cool just a little to prevent floating fruit.
  4. Ladle into 7 clean 250 mL (1 cup) jars, leaving a ¼ inch (5 mm) headspace. Process in a boiling water bath canner for 15 minutes.
  5. Tip: Unlike pickles and relishes, which get tastier in the jar over time, strawberry jam is best the day you make it. Rather than make a couple of batches the same day, I like to freeze strawberries when they’re in season to make another batch a few months later.
     

Hot-And-Sour Pickled Green Beans

Personalize your Caesar or Bloody Mary cocktail by sliding one of these spicy and tangy pickles green beans into the glass. They’re also fantastic chopped in salads and added to pasta dishes and omelettes. This is a simple canning project, idea for first-time picklers.

  • Makes Five 500 mL (2 cup) Jars
  • 3 lb (1.4) kg green beans
  • 2 ½ tsp (12 mL) dried chili flakes
  • 5 garlic gloves, peeled
  • 3 cups (750 mL) water
  • 2 ¼ (550 mL) pickling vinegar (7% acetic acid)
  • ¼ cup (60 mL) pickling salt
     
  1. Rinse the beans under cool running water. Trim off and discard tips at both ends. Line up 5 clean 500 mL (2 cup) jars. Put ½ tsp (2 mL) chili flakes and 1 garlic clove into each jar. Pack each jar with green beans, ensuring they are at least ¾ inch (2 cm) below the jar rim.
  2. Prepare the bring by combining the water, vinegar and salt in a large saucepan. Stir over high heat until the salt dissolves completely an the liquid turns from cloudy to clear.
  3. Ladle the hot brine into the jars, leaving a ½ inch (1 cm) headspace. Poke a non-metallic utensil inside each jar a few times to remove any air bubbles, topping up the brine if necessary. Process in a boiling water bath canner for 15 minutes.
  4. Tip: Quality fresh green beans should make a satisfying snap sound when broken. To simplify packing, use wide-mouth instead of standard-mouth canning jars. For even hotter flavour, add peppercorns or some brown mustard seeds to your jars. For best flavour, wait 2 to 3 weeks before opening.
     

Pear Amaretto Sauce

  • Makes Five 250 mL (1 cup) Jars
  • 3 lb (1.4 kg) ripe pears
  • 3 cups (750 mL) granulated sugar
  • ½ cup (125 mL) amaretto liqueur
     
  1. Rinse the pears under cool running water. Remove and discard the peels, steams and cores. Coarsely chop the pears, adding them to a large, heavy-bottomed pot. Crush with a masher into a chunky consistency.
  2. Stir in the sugar. Bring to a full boil over highest heat, stirring frequently. Maintain a full boil for 3 to 4 minutes, until the bits of pear are tender. Stir in the amaretto. Return to a full boil for 1 minute. Remove from the heat.
  3. Ladle into 5 clean 250 mL (1 cup) jars, leaving a ¼ inch (5 mm) headspace. Process in a boiling water bath canner for 15 minutes.
  4. Tip: To get the best flavour from pears, allow them to ripen before using. A ripe pear should be juicy and soft instead of crunchy. To ripen hard pears, leave them at room temperature for a few days and check them again for a tender neck.

The Canning Kitchen: Simple small batch recipes