January Can Jam ~ Citrus

I signed up for the year long challenge of canning something new each month.  We will be given the ingredient for the month on the last Friday of the previous month.  I didn't know where to find what this month's ingredient until today then I  discovered that I just didn't scroll down far enough on Tiger's page.  I will know better for next month.  That being said, I had to scramble with ingredients on hand. I ended up doing an orange mango reduction that I plan to use as a lovely addition to my kefir smoothies. Having tasted the result, I wish that I ate pancakes.  Just a side note, at first I didn't think the ginger made much of a difference but when the velvet liquid slip down my throat there was a pleasant warm tingle on the roof of my mouth that told me the ginger was there.

Recipe

4 small oranges, about 1/2 lb each

1/2 mango that was about 1/2 lb fruit

juice of one lemon

1 teaspoon grated ginger

3/4 cup honey

3/4 cup water

pinch of salt

Bring to a boil and then simmer about 15 minutes.  Blend until ingredients are pureed, strain and return to the heat. Continue simmering untl syrup reaches desired thickness.

FATS

I have been using olive oil for years but recent information states that if you heat the olive oil above 200-250 degrees it can be toxic.  Now I am using coconut oil but animal fats are suppose to be a good source for healthy flavorful cooking also.  In preparation for implementing a GAPS (Gut and Psychology Syndrome) program to clean and heal the digestive system, I decided to get stocked up on the fats recommended to cook with.

 I started with duck, butter, and bacon.  I preheated my oven to 250 degrees.  After about 20 minutes my butter turned Ghee was ready.  I poured off the  clarified butter through a cheesecloth very simple.  The bacon was easy too.  After about two hours I poured the rendered grease into the jar.  The duck was a different matter.  The directions in the Gaps book just said roast your duck like normal.  I have never cooked duck before so I search the usual places for a recipe but they all included so many spices that I didn't want in my duck fat.  I ended up just putting it in the roasting pan and leaving it in the oven for about 4 hours.  After I took it out of the oven I poured all the liquid into a glass bowl and let it separate from the juices gel.  After it was separated I scraped it into my jar.

Conclusion.  The Ghee is on the left and I got the most for my money.  The duck fat, bottom right was expensive, I only got about a cup and now I have a cooked duck that I need to disguise in a soup.  The bacon was easy I don't have much but I just started with a few strips.  I won't make a special effort for it again just save the fat on the special occasions that I cook bacon for a meal.  I love the way it looks in my fridge, all ready to go, but I will probably stick with the coconut oil for most of my cooking needs.  As a side note, my olive oils still has an important place in my salad dressings, pesto and mayo

The Begining

Step 1 toward my Full Fridge was to empty it. I was so happy to find a chart listing foods that don't need refrigeration in the book, The Garden of Eating by Rachel Albert-Matesz and Don Matesz (pg 99). Armed with this knowledge, I have cleared valuable real estate inside my fridge for healthier eating. Now I am ready for my journey to a Full Fridge.

Can you see the hand towels that are covering my shelves? This is so I don't have to wipe out the fridge so much. I just change the towels and let the washing machine do all the work. This was a handy hint from Chef Rachel Matesz when I took one of her classes.