Sliced Dill Pickles

(makes 7 pints)

Ingredients:

4 pounds cucumbers
6 tablespoons kosher salt
4 1/2 cups water
4 cups white vinegar (5% acidity)
7 teaspoons dry dill seed or 14 heads of fresh dill
3 1/2 teaspoons mustard seed
7 bay leaves
7 cloves garlic
peppercorns

Thoroughly wash 7 pint canning jars and their associated lids and rings. The jars must be heated but do not need to be sterilized since they will be processed for more than 10 minutes. Pre-heating the jars prevents them from exploding when boiling hot liquid is added to them. While this is not extremely common, you should not skip this step. The jars can be heated in two ways. First, you can place the jars into the water-bath canner. Lower them gently with tongs, making sure to allow some water to fill the jar so it won’t float. The second method is to fill each jar half full of water and place in the microwave. Heat on full power for enough time (probably 6-10 minutes) to make the jars sufficiently hot. Just before you are ready to use the hot jars, pour off the water (back into the canner if you used it to heat the jars) and place them upside down on a clean dry towel to dry them.Wash and drain cucumbers. Cut the blossom end (opposite the stem) off the cucumbers and discard. Slice cucumbers into 1/4 inch slices. Try to make them as uniform as possible. A food processor works wonders here, but a manual slicer or a knife works well too.

Combine the salt, water and vinegar in a large stainless steel or enamel pan and bring it to a boil.

Pack the sliced cucumbers into the hot jars, leaving 1/4 inch of space at the top of each jar. They should be packed tight and you should be able to fit almost all of the slices into the jars.

To each jar add 1 teaspoon of dry dill seed or 2 heads of fresh dill, 1/2 teaspoon of mustard seed, 1 clove of garlic, sliced in half, 1 bay leaf and 2 or 3 peppercorns.

Ladle boiling liquid over the cucumbers, still leaving 1/4 of space at the top of the jar. Make sure to remove the air bubbles. This can be accomplished with a stainless steel spoon and/or butter knife.

Clean and dry the top edge and threads of each jar. Place a lid on each jar then screw down the ring tightly. Transfer each jar into a water-bath canner kettle which should be at a rolling boil with enough water to cover the sealed jars by an inch or two. Process the jars in the boiling water for 15 minutes. Carefully transfer the jars to a hard flat surface with a clean dry cloth on it. A large wooden cutting board works great for this so that you can place all the jars on the board next to the stove and then carefully move the board to a cool, draft-free table out of the way. As they cool, they should suction the lid down to show that they have sealed. This should take as much as several hours. Check the jars when they are cool by lightly pressing on the center of the lid. It should be firm. Avoid the temptation to check the jars before they have cooled because this could cause the sealed jars to fail. If the jar did not seal properly, place it in the refrigerator and use it first.

Once opened, the pickles should be consumed within 4 weeks. Unopened jars should be used within 12 months to ensure maximum freshness.

Tomato Soup

This recipe has been derived from Cook's Illustrated Magazine's recipe for cream of tomato soup. We played with it a bit to get a very tasty tomato soup with a strong tomato flavor. The recipe can be made easier and about 30 minutes faster if you can find fire-roasted whole tomatoes. The Shaws supermarket here in Middletown, RI has them hidden on the bottom shelf in the Foods-Of-The-World section. Be warned… Once you try this soup, you may never want that canned kind ever again.

Ingredients:

2 cans (28 oz.) whole tomatoes, drained, 3 cups juice reserved. (Get fire-roasted tomatoes if possible)
1 1/2 tablespoons brown sugar
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
4 large shallots minced
1 tablespoon tomato paste
pinch ground allspice
2 tablespoons unbleached all-purpose flour
1 3/4 cups chicken stock or canned low-sodium chicken broth
Salt
Cayenne pepper (optional)
Asiago cheese (optional)

1. Skip this step if you can find fire-roasted tomatoes. Just make sure to add the brown sugar later when you add the tomatoes. Adjust oven rack to upper-middle position and heat oven to 450 degrees; line jelly-roll pan or rimmed cookie sheet with foil. Spread tomatoes in single layer on foil, and sprinkle evenly with brown sugar. Bake until all liquid has evaporated and tomatoes begin to color, about 30 minutes. Let tomatoes cool slightly, then peel them off foil; transfer to small bowl and set aside.

2. Heat butter over medium heat in medium non-reactive saucepan until foaming; add shallots, tomato paste, and allspice. Reduce heat to low, cover, and cook, stirring occasionally, until shallots are softened, 7 to 10 minutes. Add flour and cook, stirring constantly, until thoroughly combined, about 30 seconds. Whisking constantly, gradually add chicken stock; stir in reserved tomato juice and roasted tomatoes. Cover, increase heat to medium, and bring to boil; reduce heat to low and simmer, stirring occasionally, to blend flavors, about 10 minutes.

3. Strain mixture into medium bowl; Transfer tomatoes and solids in strainer to blender; add 1 cup strained liquid and puree until smooth. Place pureed mixture and remaining strained liquid in saucepan, and heat over low heat until hot, about 3 minutes. Season to taste with salt and cayenne, and serve immediately with coarsely grated asiago cheese.

Hot Chocolate

Ingredients:
2 cups whole milk
1 1/2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/2 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 pieces of dark or bittersweet chocolate

The thing that makes this recipe good is premium quality ingredients. Also, make sure you use pure vanilla to avoid those synthetic chemicals.

Heat the milk in a microwave or on the stove top until just beginning to bubble around the edges. Remove from the heat and add the cocoa powder, sugar and chocolate. Stir or whisk vigorously until fully combined. Note: It may take some time to get the cocoa powder fully incorporated. Return to heat or microwave for another 15-30 seconds. Remove from heat, add the vanilla and serve. To make it more authentic, reduce the sugar and add a small amount of ground hot red pepper.