A Spicy Saucy Week

We have had a really crazy  full on couple of weeks and in between  trips away, fires, the show,  family health issues  and all the other activities we have been involved in, it just  has been madness, and then why you ask would I decide to add  canning/preserving into that mix.?
On Saturday the 1st of April  all the groups in our small town will be banding together up at the showground to celebrate  100 years since the railway came  to Binnaway.

Part of the celebrations will be a  variety of market style stalls and I have hoped that I may have prepared enough to be able to run a stall myself.
Our Habaneros have been  extremely productive this year so many of what I have been making is chilli based.
The first  thing I made was "Habanero Gold" Chilli Jelly, a wonderful sweet hot jelly that is  delicious to have with  camembert  cheese and crackers , as a baste or blended with cream cheese or sour cream as a dip and has proved popular with many of our visitors and friends, so I hope  that it may sell well.

The next  thing I made was Apricot Habanero Chilli Sauce, I had a good supply of  home bottled apricots from last season, so combined with red capsicums,  habaneros, onions, garlic, salt, vinegar and sugar,

Everything was processed then cooked  in a pot until the right consistency was reached, bottled,capped  then processed for 10 minutes in a boiling water bath to seal.

We love this quick and easy sauce, it is sweet with just a nice kick of heat and we eat it regularly on chicken and fish.
As we were due to butcher and process some turkeys, I decided I needed to  use up the last batch of roosters that we had butchered ,processed and popped in the freezer and had not found the time to do anything with them.
I had thought about canning some curried chicken and had also  wanted to try some new jars that I had purchased from out jar supplier in Newcastle.
So I made up the chicken curry,Just a recipe I made up myself, but here it is.

After filling the jars and placing the lids on, the jars were then placed in the pressure canner and processed  for 90 minutes  at 15lbs pressure.

The jars worked really well and I will  use these again to  can ready to eat  meals like this. This  curry  has been  really lovely and something that I certainly would do again.
These can  be heated and eaten as is,  or after opening they can be thicken slightly to taste.
These will be great to have in the pantry for quick lazy meals on toast or with some plain boiled  rice.
The next sauce I decided on   was Tomato Habanero , using up the last of my home canned batch of tomatoes from last year( I find this a great way to keep all my jar stock well rotated    and to  have a great base for all the sauces.) I used  a new style of lid this time with a little pop button in the centre to  let me know a good seal has been achieved after water bathing.

The bug had hit me, I was in a saucy mood !!!
I followed   the tomato sauce up with another  double batch of the Apricot Habanero  chilli sauce.

As my apricot supply had  still not ran out, I made one final batch of this sauce, but had to put this lot into 500 ml bottles instead of the 250 ml bottles that I normally use.

I am running out of space to store it all, I need to get onto the computer  and print up  all the labels that I  am required to have on the jars  to sell to the public. I need to also sort out all the other items that I have made   over the last couple of months that I will also sell and get labels made for them also.I have, the  chilli jelly, 3 types of sauces, apricot jam, plum jam, pickles(relish style) pickled zucchini, marmalade, and  kumquats in syrup, Hopefully there will be something there  for everyone
I hope it all sells well, and if not then I will just have a really well stocked pantry .
It has been an exhausting few weeks. but a very rewarding few weeks, and I have loved it all. I am happy when I am producing  something  in the kitchen( I just wish that it all cleaned up afterwards by itself.)
I am endeavoring to keep this blog updated a little more often,  but life and time often gets in the way and prevents that from happening,
So until we meet again,
Take care,
Cheers.
Jane.