Warm Applesauce for a Chilly Day

Thankfully, the cloud cover once again kept the temperature from going low enough to frost. But it has been chilly and rainy off and on today, a dreary fall day.

Which made it a good day to take the Gala and Golden Supreme apples I got from Country Mist Orchard and turn them into applesauce. I started the endeavor a bit late, and finished up about midnight.

I made two batches: one with the Gala apples, using brown sugar; the other with the Golden Supreme, using granulated sugar. They both have a very nice flavor, with the Golden Supreme being slightly sweeter, yet mild. I made triple batches of the recipe for each of the two varieties, and ended up with 4 1/2 pints of each sauce. The recipe comes from the Betty Crocker Cookbook. I leave the skins on my apples for extra fiber and leave the apples somewhat chunky. I don't care for the completely smooth applesauce; it reminds me too much of baby food.

APPLESAUCE

4 med. apples
1/2 c. water
1/2 c. packed brown sugar or 1/3 to 1/2 c. granulated sugar
1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp. ground nutmeg

Heat apples and water to boiling over medium heat; reduce heat. Simmer uncovered, stirring occasionally to break up apples, until tender, 5 to 10 minutes. Stir in remaining ingredients. Heat to boiling; boil and stir one minute. About 3 cups.

In addition to the two batches of applesauce, I sliced up most of the recently picked okra and started the dehydrator. By tomorrow, I'll have lots of dehydrated okra slices for soups and stews this winter. I already have half a jar full (shown on top of the dehydrator). And no, I don't run my dehydrator with the jar sitting on top.

I'm also baking a loaf of 9-grain bread, which should be done by 2 a.m., about the time hubby gets home from his rock band gig. The kitchen is fully of that wonderful yeasty bread smell right now and is making me quite hungry!

Recipe: Fresh Garden Salsa

I was talking to my friend Teresa yesterday about the salsa I made and she asked for the recipe. Since I was going to be making another batch, I figured I'd take a photo and then offer up the recipe.

The basic recipe comes from a small book in the Learn How Now! series titled Super Salsas. I was looking for a good, basic recipe, and of all the recipes I looked at in my various recipe books, none seemed quite what I was looking for. They always seemed to have at least one ingredient that just didn't seem to belong. Their recipe is called "One Basic Recipe = Infinite Variations." I'll give you the recipe below, but true to form, I adapted it, so I'll offer my adapted recipe below theirs.

ONE BASIC RECIPE = INFINITE VARIATIONS

4 medium tomatoes
1 tsp. garlic
1/2 c. red or white onion
2 roasted jalapenos
1/4 cup fresh lime juice
3 Tbsp. fresh cilantro, chopped
1/4 tsp. salt

1. Dice tomatoes, mince garlic, and chop onions.
2. Wearing gloves, seed and chop roasted jalapenos.
3. In a large glass bowl, mix all ingredients.
4. Refrigerate for 30 minutes before serving.

Here's my adapted version:

FRESH GARDEN SALSA

4 medium tomatoes
1 heaping teaspoon minced garlic (I get mine at the dollar store; it's the minced garlic in its own juice, not the dried minced garlic)
1/2 c. chopped green onion
Old El Paso or other brand chopped jalapenos to taste
1/4 cup fresh lime juice
3 Tbsp. fresh cilantro, chopped
1/4 tsp. sea salt

(This makes enough salsa for 2-4 people who are healthy salsa eaters. I triple the batch so I can freeze some for later use. I'm not sure how the frozen salsa will turn out--it's an experiment.)

1. Core, blanch, and peel tomatoes. (I used several varieties of tomatoes for the triple batch I made: Brandywine, Plum, Yellow, Valencia, and Best Boy. Any tomatoes will do if they are fresh; if you are trying to make this salsa in the winter when the only tomatoes available are from the grocery store, I recommend experimenting with canned diced tomatoes.)
2. Dice tomatoes and dump into a glass bowl.
3. Add minced garlic, chopped green onion, jalapenos, lime juice (by the way, for the triple batch I only increased the lime juice to about 2/3 of a cup), cilantro, and sea salt.
4. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes before serving.

If you can't eat jalapenos (I love jalapenos, but they do not seem terribly fond of me), try using chopped green chiles instead.

WARNING: If you are going to touch jalapenos, whether you will be roasting them or using the pickled ones, WEAR GLOVES. Jalapeno oils tend to stay on the skin even after repeated washings, and I can tell you from experience that jalapeno juice in the eye is NOT a good feeling. I have found, though, that if I get some jalapeno juice on my hands, the Veggie Wash that I use works very well at removing the oils!

Experiment with the recipe and have fun! The salsa is very fresh tasting--better than anything you'll find in a restaurant.

Recipe: Easy Natural Cashew (or Peanut) Butter

Hubby and I eat a lot of peanut butter and almond butter, but to buy the kind at the store that is actually healthy is an expensive proposition. For example, a 12-oz. Arrowhead Mills All Natural Creamy Cashew Butter can be had from Amazon.com for $6.84 (plus shipping). Of course, that cashew butter is made with Canola Oil and the safety information indicates that the butter "May contain 0.5% or less of the following almonds, peanuts, and/or sesame seeds."

I made 16 oz. of all-natural cashew butter for $6.99--and I know that it is fresh, because I made it today! Who knows how long ago the peanut or cashew butter you bought at the store was manufactured.

I couldn't believe how easy it was to make, how little time it took, and how few dishes it actually soiled. Honestly, we buy things at the store because doing so is more convenient, but in this case, I don't think buying peanut or cashew butter is more convenient than making it at home. I wonder why I've lived 44 years without making my own peanut butter. Here's the recipe, which can be adapted easily in any number of ways:

EASY NATURAL CASHEW (OR PEANUT) BUTTER

-2 c. cashews or peanuts, salted
-1 1/2 tsp. olive oil (I use organic, first cold-pressed olive oil, but you could use any olive or canola oil)
-1/2 tsp. sugar (I substituted 1 tsp. Blue Agave Nectar; I imagine you could substitute 1 tsp. honey or even Splenda or some other sugar substitute, although I would recommend cutting the measurement for the sugar substitute)

Put all the ingredients into a food processor. Tighten down the food processor lid and process for a couple of minutes. At one point, the butter will ball up as it goes around the processor; I continue to process until the ball breaks back up and smooths out and I stop hearing little nut chunks being chopped. Open up your food processor and, using a spatula, scrape around the sides. If you like the consistency (and taste), put in a jar and store in the refrigerator. If you want a smoother consistency, just add a little more olive oil and process a bit more. If you want your butter a little sweeter or saltier, just add a little more sugar/sweetener or salt and reprocess. If you like it chunky, chop up a few nuts and, once you like the consistency, stir the chunks in and then put in the jar.

1 1/2 cups of cashews made 1/2 pint (8 0z.) of cashew butter; I made a full pint using 3 cups of cashews, the size of the Meijer cashews bag. And it is tasty, especially when it is warm right out of the food processor. If you don't want salt, buy unsalted. Or, you can buy unsalted nuts and then add salt to taste, which allows you to control the amount of salt.

I'm going to try making some almond butter in the near future, since in terms of health benefits, that's the butter we prefer. I wonder if it will be more difficult, since almonds are a harder nut than peanuts or cashews. But, as usual, I will keep you posted!

Recipe: Zucchini-Raisin Bread

Having put only 2 of the 8 zucchini I harvested earlier in the week to rest using my fried zucchini recipe, I decided to use 4 more to make some zucchini bread today. But oh, what recipe to use? I finally reached for the 1985 Betty Crocker Cookbook. I used to adapt many of my recipes from this cookbook, but then after several moves, lost it. Fortunately, about a year ago, my aunt Barbara had several cookbooks of my grandmother's and invited me to select one. Imagine my delight when I spied this very same cookbook! As a bonus, it contains inserts of some other recipes Grandma liked to make, along with her marginal notes about the tastiness (or lack thereof) of some recipes as well as recorded changes she made to others. Grandma was a wonderful cook, so I am blessed to have this special remembrance of her.

I need to warn you: I seldom, if ever, make a recipe as it is written. I usually object--mildly or strongly--to one or more ingredients for any number of reasons, and therefore end up substituting some other ingredient I prefer, or I may try to make the recipe a bit healthier. My recipe for zucchini-raisin bread is an adaptation of the BCC recipe for zucchini bread. I've tried to "healthify" it a little by substituting organic extra virgin, cold-pressed, olive oil for the shortening. We'll see what effect that has on the finished product. Additionally, the BC cookbook calls for 2/3 c. coarsely chopped nuts, but I really don't care for nuts in soft baked goods--to me, crunching down on a nut in a soft bread or cookie is like biting down on an eggshell piece in a cake. [shiver] So instead, I increased the raisins from 2/3 c. to 1 cup.

ZUCCHINI-RAISIN BREAD

2/3 c. extra virgin olive oil (substituted for the same amount of shortening)
2 2/3 c. sugar*
4 eggs
3 c. shredded zucchini
2/3 c. water
3 1/3 c. all-purpose flour
2 tsp. baking soda
1 1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 tsp. ground cloves
1 c. golden raisins (I prefer these to regular raisins)

Heat oven to 350. Grease bottoms only of two 9x5x3 loaf pans or 3 smaller loaf pans.

Mix oil and sugar in large bowl. Add eggs, zucchini, and water. Blend in flour, baking soda, salt, baking powder, cinnamon, and cloves. Add 2 tsp. vanilla. Stir in raisins. Pour into loaf pans.

Bake until wooden pick or knife inserted in center comes out clean, about 60-70 minutes. Cool slightly. Loosen sides of loaves from pans; remove from pans to a rack. Cool completely before slicing.

*I like to use non-sweetener sugar substitutes when possible, but I haven't tried baking with them yet. I'll experiment sometime with agave nectar (a liquid), stevia (a dried, powdered herb), and Just Like Sugar (a fiber extracted from chicory root).

If you have a zucchini recipe you're willing to share, please post it in the comments--I love trying new recipes! Also, if you have any experience using agave nectar, honey, stevia, or Just Like Sugar in baking, please let me know what you have discovered.

Recipe: Pan-Fried Zucchini

I settled on fried zucchini for dinner. I was a little hasty in my preparation, so some aren't evenly browned and a few of them got a little dark, but all in all, they tasted terrific! The bonus is, I only used two of the smaller zucchini, so I still have six good-sized zucchini for other zucchini dishes.

The recipe is simple:

Kris's Pan-Fried Zucchini

2 medium zucchini, end-trimmed and washed
2 large eggs
1/8 c. milk
Italian seasoned breadcrumbs
salt to taste
coarsely ground pepper to taste

First, wash and slice the zukes about 1/4" thick (too thick and they take too long to cook through; too thin and you won't have much substance to bite into and they'll get overcooked quickly). I use Veggie Wash.

Next, break the eggs into a small bowl and combine them with the milk. Beat well.

In a separate bowl, pour a generous amount of Italian seasoned breadcrumbs (you may use regular breadcrumbs and then add Italian seasonings to your heart's content, or--and I recommend this move--use the Italian seasoned breadcrumbs and add your favorite seasonings to strengthen the flavor). Add enough salt and ground pepper to taste. If you prefer, you may salt and pepper each side of the zucchini slices while they are cooking in the pan.

Heat a frying pan with enough extra virgin olive oil (I prefer cold-pressed) to just cover the bottom of the pan. Once the pan is ready, dip each slice of zucchini into the egg/milk mixture and then coat in the breadcrumb mixture. Place in the pan. Fry gently over medium-low heat until one side is brown and crispy; then, flip with a spatula to fry the other side. Remove to a paper-towel-covered plate when both sides are lightly browned and crisp.

Be careful not to let the egg get too gloppy (that's the technical culinary term, I'm certain)--you'll get lumpy zucchini that browns unevenly--see the picture for evidence. You may have to occasionally clean out the eggy bread crumbs and replenish the bowl with fresh bread crumbs.

Serve with ranch dressing, a sour cream/cucumber dip, honey mustard, or whatever your favorite zucchini dipping sauce is. Experiment!

Make sure to add the leftover bread crumbs to your compost pile; any remaining egg should be discarded. Rinse out your egg shells and add that to your compost pile or, if you have hermit crabs like I do, throw them in the tank. It took my crabs approximately two minutes to find them and begin munching on them. (It's a great source of calcium for them.)