Books Available Oct 7, 2012,and canning leczo

To get straight to today's free prepping and self-sufficiency books, please scroll down past the part about canning leczó.
Now that it's after the 7th, please see current free books by going to P.U.V. main page.  And WELCOME!!!

I finally finished up the leczó ("lecho") for canning.  I wrote the other day (here) about how I went to the local Hungarian family-owned farm the day of the first frost and picked 100 lbs of field tomatoes and 57 lb of peppers for 50c per lb. I forgot to mention there that these people use traditional Hungarian varieties, and don't spray!

I did some Googling around to find a recipe for leczó for canning.  It seems that if I wanted the complete product I'd have to pressure can it because it's meant to have fat (preferably bacon fat) in it. We always eat it with sausage, too..  I didn't feel like pressure canning, so I left those out and figured out  how to finish it once it's opened.  So here's how I did it.

Washed and rinsed tomatoes. This part needs no illustration but I still took photos, so I WILL share them! ;)
I sat them in warm water to dissolve the dirt

Then got my hippie child to wash them.  He lasted about 30 seconds, even with his approving audience, so I did the rest.

They should end up reasonably clean in the rinse bowl, is the hope.

I did the same with the peppers, then trimmed and chopped them both in big pieces.  The ratio I did them was about 5/8 tomatoes to 3/8 peppers, by volume.  Approximately.  Wannabe princess had fun helping.

Did one big batch in a stock pot. I don't know how but it burned on the bottom! Well, I can guess it was the thin-bottomed pot, and slightly too high setting. Oh, and forgetting to stir for an hour.

...and another batch in the oven in an uncovered roaster.  Uncovered because I'm trying to lose extra water.  Didn't help me much, but worked for the leczó.

I didn't have time to finish canning so I put it outside in the cold night (no room in the fridge) and continued it the next day.

I didn't take pictures of the next bit, but I "sauteed" a whole bunch of onion and garlic, about 5 purple and 8 small white onions, and 15 cloves garlic grated on the tiny holes. The Hungarian lady at the farm recommended a mix of purple and white onion, for depth of flavour.  It wasn't true sauteing as I didn't use the necessary bacon fat, just some water.  I then added that to the roaster along with about 3-4 Tbsp of Hungarian paprika, several spoons of salt, and shakes of black pepper.  

After combining and adding the unburned contents of the stock pot, it looked like this:

In the meantime I wasn't happy with the flavour, so I took a couple quarts of it out for supper to test.  I used a stick blender to break it down some.  I sauteed some sausage in a few Tbsp bacon fat until nicely browned, mixed it in, and let the flavours meld.  I was reassured as it was now delicious, served over mashed potatoes.  This is what we'll do when we use it eventually.  I hope we'll always have bacon fat!

So then I canned it, as you do.  I boiling water canned for 30 minutes, but I recommend doing your own research on times.

I'm proud of my vintage canner!

After taking so much out for supper, I got 11 quarts.  Not much for the amount of time, but I think I've streamlined it for next time.  Which is tomorrow.  On second thoughts, tomorrow is Canadian Thanksgiving, so it'll have to wait.

Things I'll change for next time.

1. Use a food processor to cut the peppers and onions smaller to make cooking much faster.

2. Add the onions right from the beginning. (I'll still add the garlic at the end to keep the flavour.)

3. Not reduce it quite so much.  Took way too long (bothers my efficiency gene.)

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RECIPE:

Ingredients  for the canning:

Tomatoes, sweet peppers (I prefer red), onions, in rough ratio of 10:6:1.  This is really flexible.

Fresh grated garlic, lots of it.

Paprika (Hungarian preferred but this is flexible), salt, and pepper.

Instructions as above (I'll try to come back and pull them all together here, along with an adaptation if you're NOT canning.)

To make the meal:

Ingredients: 

Potatoes, and mashed potato fixings of your choice

leczo base (as above)

bacon fat

smoked sausage, eg Mennonite (farmer) sausage, Eastern European sausages. (if you are a Real Foodie, make sure they are from grass-fed animals; if not, you could use hot dogs.  I actually saw a recipe with them, and used them once myself, and they tasted great in the dish.  Seems sacreligious though.  Breakfast sausages would not have the right flavour for this, I don't think.

1. Make mashed potatoes your favourite way.
2. Meanwhile empty a jar of leczo base and start it warming in a saucepan.
3. Heat 2 or more tablespoons of bacon fat in a frying pan.
4. Slice as much smoked sausage as you would like in the sauce.  Fry it in the bacon fat.
5. Once it's nicely browned, add the sausage and the fat to the sauce.  Simmer on low to medium  for 15-20 minutes or longer to let the flavours meld  
6. Taste and add salt, pepper, and paprika as desired to correct the seasoning.
7. Serve the sauce and sausage over the mashed potatoes.

Delicious!

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Now for today's books:

NONFICTION

General self-sufficiency and survival

Prep School: Preserving Meat Without Power

Deer Hunting Awareness, Preparing Your Mental Game, And Avoiding Mistakes

The Fishing Guide

Tight Lines
”contains much of the same information found in ‘Secrets of Trout & Bass Fishing Revealed!,’ with the addition of Two+ Chapters specifically related to fishing in Massachusetts and New Hampshire. It contains detailed maps and descriptions of virtually all the lakes, ponds and rivers in these two states, with the locations of the known "holes", stocking info. etc. "Tight Lines" is a must have for anyone who plans to fish in either of these two states. If you do your fishing elsewhere, be sure to get "Secrets of Trout & Bass Fishing Revealed" on paperback or eBook format.” Secrets of Trout & Bass Fishing Revealed! has been listed here free before, but isn’t free right now.

Food and Farming/Gardening

Container Gardening

How to Plant and Grow Tomatoes

How To Compost Manure

Health

Playing with Fire: Chemical companies, Big Tobacco, and the toxic products in your home
”In a ground-breaking piece of investigative journalism by the Chicago Tribune, Playing with Fire exposes the realities about the ineffectiveness and potential health risks caused by the flame retardants that are pervasive in American homes.“

I'm Done with Cancer - a 4-time survivor stands in wellness

Ideas/Theory

Beyond the Chore Chart: Chores, Kids, and the Secret to a Happy Mom

Getting God's Army Out of Debt: Christian Financial Management & Stewardship (Living Your Financial Life)
I thought the last line of the description was funny: “Join God's Army with your Full Armor out of hock at the pawn shop.”

Mayan Calendar Prophecies| Part 1: Predictions for 2012 and Beyond
“Mayan ‘prophets’ did not simply receive visions and make random predictions. Instead they created a careful analytical system that looked for patterns in past historical events that took place in previous eras and then from these tried to make projections into the future. In fact, this analytical system was very similar to modern scientific forecasting.”

True Accounts

Working In The Northwest Woods
”In this first-hand account of a decade spent in the outdoors in the mountains of the Pacific Northwest...Follow him as he learns his way around the rugged terrain of the big timber country...gripping accounts of encounters with wild weather, wild fire and wildlife...being face to face with bears, dodging lightning bolts and being surrounded by wildfire. These are stories telling of a life that is growing harder and harder to find in our mechanized and technological world. This book is a terrific summary of what it is really like to live your life on the outside.”

What America Was Really Like In 1776 (The Thomas Fleming Library)
Short. “New York Times bestselling historian and novelist Thomas Fleming takes us back to the days of the founders, detailing the surprising facts of American life in 1776 - including its resemblance to today.”

------------------------------------
FICTION

Current or Realistic Nature Survival, Natural Disasters, and Hardship

Tschinque
“historical fiction based on fact about the Karshner families migration in 1733 to colonial Pennsylvania from Langenselbold, Germany. How they and many other early immigrants through diligence and hard work helped form the United States Of America. The grandchildren of these immigrants were the early pioneers who came to Chillicothe, on the Scioto River when Ohio was still part of the Northwest Territory. Its characters are first generation Americans, children of patriots of the Revolutionary War. They experienced a sense of adventure traveling west over the Allegheny Mountains to homestead a wilderness… “

Hole in a Helmet
“From a farm in the United States to the front lines of the Allied European campaign, Mike Broner and his squad of hooligans are stuck too deep behind enemy lines. To find a way home they have to head straight into the heart of the greatest war mankind has ever known.”

Current or Fairly Realistic Politics, Terrorism, and Intrigue/Conspiracy

The Long Ride Home
”When an EMP over the eastern third of the US knocks out the power grid and disables cars near the detonation point, it takes a while for people to realize this is bigger than a normal power outage. But Sue and her family act right away. Sue was 2,000 miles from their home in Montana… on a cross-country bicycle trip with a friend. … Ride along with Sue on her harrowing and often dangerous journey from Mississippi to Montana across a country just realizing that the world as they knew it is gone.” The sequel, “The Rally point: Bugging Home”, is about her husband Walter, “who readies things and prepares for the kids and grandkids to arrive, while worrying about Sue. The kids …make their way to the rally point at the family homestead, arriving by car, truck, horse, motorcycle, bicycle, and on foot.” The author has written a number of books on preparedness type themes (see here: Sue Gregerson books) many of which have been listed here free before, but which are also very reasonably priced.

The Dataminer
“The proliferation and advancement of tracking technology, data analysis, and social media, combined with the lack of legal and technological privacy protection is cause for great concern. A major stumbling block to privacy protection is the complex nature of the web of technology that forms the internet. This complexity encourages apathy. In The Dataminer, Robert Kull explores the dangerous possibilities that result from the total collapse of privacy in the digital age.”

The Tiger's Tail
“Scientists predict that should the volcano on La Palma Island erupt once more, the resulting landslide would be the equivalent of Manhattan Island falling into the ocean, causing a mega-tsunami that would eventually engulf the entire Eastern Seaboard of the United States, killing millions. Of course, a volcanic eruption isn't the only way to cause a landslide...” Terrorism.

Collapse, Speculative Futures

GOG
This book is a thriller but also is billed as “a dark satire for an age when the righteous and ruthless shape our world, Gog – an End Time Mystery is written with a rare insight into Egyptian life, Middle Eastern geopolitics, and disinformation." Description on link includes a link to a radio interview with the author.

The King of America: Epic Edition
“Set in an America where the future merges with the past, The king is betrayed by his closest friend, plunging the nation into a bloody civil war, spiralling to rival even the Great War itself...the war that ended the civilizations of the 21st Century. “

More Sci-Fi-ish

The Inner Circle (Comet Clement series, #1)
The first in a series about a comet heading for earth, and the 12 years to prepare for it. Series leads into leaving earth to escape the comet. Many of the other episodes have been listed here before also.


Shared at all these places--check them out for lots of other interesting people's blog posts!
http://www.backyardfarmingconnection.com/2012/10/canning-and-preserving.html
http://www.foodrenegade.com/fight-back-friday-october-5th/
http://www.deliciousobsessions.com/2012/10/traditional-tuesdays-nutritious-and-delicious-10212/
http://toomanyjarsinmykitchen.com/2012/10/04/fill-those-jars-friday-october-5-2012/
http://thischickcooks.net/2012/10/03/whole-foods-wednesday-72-featuring-your-best-recipes-and-tips/
http://homesteadrevival.blogspot.ca/2012/10/barn-hop-82.html
http://mysimplecountryliving.blogspot.ca/2012/10/the-country-homemaker-hop-41.html
http://grannysvitalvittles.com/scratch-cookin-tuesday-1092012/
http://www.deliciousobsessions.com/2012/10/traditional-tuesdays-nutritious-and-delicious-10912/
Kelly the Kitchen Kop’s Real Food Wednesday blog carnival
http://www.spain-in-iowa.com/2012/10/simple-lives-thursday-117
http://mysimplecountryliving.blogspot.ca/2012/10/the-country-homemaker-hop-41.html
http://realfoodfreaks.com/2012/10/11/freaky-friday-101212/

http://www.spain-in-iowa.com/2012/10/simple-lives-thursday-117

http://www.nourishingtreasures.com/index.php/2012/10/15/make-your-own-monday-link-up-1015/
http://premeditatedleftovers.com/hearth-and-soul-hop-1030/