Can Jam Posting #2-Feburary: Carrots

 {Photos coming soon}

The suggestions were pickled carrots and chutneys-neither was really for me. I love pickles, but really could not come to terms with sweet carrots and briny pickles-I'm sure they're tasty, but I dunno...And as for chutney I have never really found a way to incorporate them into our everyday meals. So I (having access to a lovely pH meter and intending to make an enitrely liquid mixture anyway) decided to go for a fruity and lovely roasted carrot soup. I combined flavors I love and thought would mix nicely, adjusting the spices and tweaking the pH took a little time and I wouldn't recommend canning this without checking the pH level, but it's also just a great comforting, but light and healthful soup.

Roasted Carrot and Apple Soup
Note: Despite the fact that I have used bottled lemon juice this is NOT a USDA tested recipe and should not be canned unless you are able to reliably test the pH of your specific mixture.

2lbs carrots, peeled and cut into 2" chunks
2 granny smith apples, peeled and cut into 2" chunks
1 large onion, in eigths
4 medium shallots, peeled and halved
1T salt
1T basil
3T ground coriander
1 large head garlic
4-5T olive oil

6-8c vegetable stock
6T lemon juice

Toss veggies and toss with olive oil and spices. Cut garlic head in half lengthwise and coat exposed cloves with olive oil. Roast all at 400 for 20-30 min or until garlic begins to edge out of papery covers. Transfer roasted veggies to a large dutch oven, squeezing garlic cloves into the pot when cool enough to handle. Add enough vegetable stock to cover solids and bring to a boil. Let boil or hard simmer for approximately 30min more or until veggies are very limp. Use an immersion blender to puree to your deisred consistency (if canning mixture must be fully pureed for an accurate pH reading).  Add lemon juice to taste and serve warm with crusty bread or a dollop of sour cream and scallions.

To can, hot pack into hot jars and place lids. Process pints for 20min. Process 6oz jars for 15min. (This may be slightly longer than actually required, but I wanted to make sure they sealed and this is what I used successfully. I based my estimate on a tomato ketchup recipe in the Ball Blue Book, that has about the same consistency and I would estimate a similar pH.)