Blanching and Canning in the Steam Oven

Tomatoes are plentiful at this time of year and if you like to make your own tomato sauce or preserve excess tomatoes you will be pleased to know your Combi Steam oven can make the work so much easier.

Ingredients

Tomatoes

Preparation

Before cooking tomatoes it’s advisable to remove the skin. To do this in the steam oven, heat the oven in the steam mode, make a cross on the base of the tomato and place the tomatoes in the perforated pan. Place them in the oven and steam for  3 - 4  minutes. When you remove the tomatoes, set them aside to cool, slip off the skins and you are ready to either cook with them or you can go ahead and proceed with the canning.

Before canning  the first step is to sterilize the jars. Again you will use the Steam mode, simply place the clean jars and lids in the perforated pan and sterilize in the oven for 10 minutes.

Once the jars are cool enough to handle you can go ahead and add the tomatoes, with lemon juice and enough boiling water to fill the jar leaving 1/2 “ of space for the tomatoes to expand during the canning.  

Put the lids and rings on the jars and place them in the perforated pan. Return the pan to the oven and set the timer for 45 minutes. 

Place the jars in a cool spot in the kitchen to cool down and don’t disturb them for 24 hours.  Check that each jar has properly sealed and store them in a cool dark place until ready to use.

Larissa Taboryski

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BBQ Pulled Turkey

Turkey pieces slowly braised in a homemade BBQ sauce then pulled off the bone and served with cornbread or soft rolls is a delicious easy dish to prepare and a perfect dish for entertaining. This dish can be cooked covered in Convection or uncovered in the Steam oven.

The homemade BBQ sauce is also key to achieving great flavor with this recipe so begin by preparing the BBQ sauce and let it simmer for about 30 minutes. While the sauce is simmering, season the turkey pieces and set them aside to absorb the flavors. Even though the skin is discarded when shredding the turkey, braising the turkey with the skin on does add to the fat content but most importantly it adds great flavor.

Larissa Taboryski

Ingredients

For the BBQ sauce

2 tbsp butter + 1tbs oil

1 medium yellow onion, finely chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

Combine the following ingredients

3/4 cup of apple cider vinegar

¾ cup ketchup

1 Tbsp tomato paste

2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce

2 tbsp dry mustard powder

2 tsp smoked paprika

1 cup water

For the turkey

2 bone-in turkey thighs or a combination of bone-in  leg and thigh or leg and breast

1 tsp smoked paprika

2 tsp Kosher salt

1 tsp pepper

1 Tbsp chipotle chili in adobo sauce (optional)

Preparation

A large oven-safe pan or Dutch oven is ideal for preparing the sauce then you can just put the turkey pieces into the sauce and transfer the pan to the oven. Otherwise, prepare the sauce in an oven safe casserole, and add the turkey pieces.

Saute the onions in the butter and oil over moderate heat until softened. Stir in the garlic and cook gently for a few minutes then add the remaining sauce ingredients that you have combined. Simmer over a gentle heat for about 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, season the turkey pieces with paprika, salt, and pepper and set aside.

Heat the oven, Convection Bake 325F (163C) or Steam Braising 325F (163C). 

Add the turkey pieces to the BBQ sauce and stir in the Chipotle Chili pepper if using. These peppers add a wonderful touch of smokey heat to the sauce. Place the pan in the oven (covered if using Convection) and cook for 1 ½ - 2 hours until the meat is very tender and easily falls off the bone.

In order to “pull” the turkey remove the pieces from the hot sauce and set aside to cool. Remove the skin, discard the bones and shred the meat by hand or with a fork and knife. Return to the pulled turkey to the sauce and reheat if needed before serving.

Serves 4 - 6

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