While searching for recipes, other than jam, to use in canning strawberries, I found this Strawberry Vinaigrette Salad Dressing recipe on the Ball Canning website
5 quarts (25 cups) fresh whole strawberries, washed and stemmed
1 quart (4 cups) white distilled vinegar
This recipe claimed to fill six 8-oz. jars...
Not sure I would even like this dressing, I decided to modify it a bit (plus I didn't want to use up that many strawberries just yet until I knew if I liked the dressing and if I could get more berries soon)
Here's what I did.
I washed, stemmed, and sliced six cups of strawberries and put them in a glass bowl then poured one cup of white distilled vinegar over them. I let them sit on the counter, covered with plastic wrap
, for about 24 hours.
, for about 24 hours.
I heated my pint jar
s by running them through the dishwasher, and put my lids and rings in simmering water and kept them hot until I was ready for them.
s by running them through the dishwasher, and put my lids and rings in simmering water and kept them hot until I was ready for them.I strained the strawberry vinegar mixture through a fine mesh wire strainer (this took awhile, I let it drip, drip, drip while I was doing other things)... I ended up with 2 cups of liquid. Against everything that was in me, I discarded the leftover strawberries (just couldn't come up with a use for vinegar saturated strawberries).
Next I place the strawberry vinegar (the liquid only) into a stainless steel saucepan
, added an equal amount of sugar (2 cups) and brought the mixture to a boil.
, added an equal amount of sugar (2 cups) and brought the mixture to a boil.
I ladled the hot vinaigrette into the hot pint jars leaving a half inch headspace.
I wiped the rims of the jars with a damp cloth, removed the lids from the simmering water with my magnetic wand
gadget, and put the lids on the jars until fit is fingertip tight.
gadget, and put the lids on the jars until fit is fingertip tight.
I processed the jars (there were TWO!!! Yay!) in a boiling water canner
for 10 minutes, then removed the hot jars from the canner using my jar lifter
, set them on a folded dish towel on the counter to cool, and listened for the PING! sound of a successfully sealed jar.
for 10 minutes, then removed the hot jars from the canner using my jar lifter, set them on a folded dish towel on the counter to cool, and listened for the PING! sound of a successfully sealed jar.
I'm thinking this salad dressing, with its sweet/tangy/berry flavor, will be yummy on a salad with a bitter-ish lettuce, like romaine, a soft cheese (mozzarella
? feta
?), and some kind of nuts (pecans
? walnuts
?) along with sliced strawberries of course!
? feta?), and some kind of nuts (pecans? walnuts?) along with sliced strawberries of course!Canning Granny©2011 All Rights Reserved
