Apple Sauce

Winter Banana apples

I was SO excited when Holly called and asked if I was the one that wanted to make apple sauce with her the next time she made it. Of course it was me - and any canned items (i.e. jams, jellies, preserves). Her family has a farm in the Tri-Cities area of Washington and last time they went they picked a bunch of winter banana apples. The winter banana apples aren't so great for munching on raw, but perfect for making homemade apple sauce!

This was my first experience with making homemade apple sauce, and Holly was an excellent teacher!
Here was our recipe:

1. Pick apples (Go to the effort to find an orchard near you - you won't regret it.)

2. Wash apples. (We were blessed to have a great quality control manager!)

Quality Control

Aren't they beauties?

 3. Fill up a huge pot with canning jars and water and heat until jars are sterilized. 

4. Halve each apple, and slice each half into quarters. (There's no need to be a perfectionist about this, but believe me, I tried!

5. Add about 1/2" - 1" of water and cook on medium heat.

They picked A LOT of apples!

6. Once they cook down, pour into food mill and crank away. This removes all of the skin, seeds, stems, etc and only allows the delicious sauce to escape.

Holly demonstrating how the food mill works

Making apple sauce

7. Add some vanilla, cinnamon & butter and grab a spoon!

Seriously, it was delicious.

Quality control said so!

For the Love of Roots

TURNYPES

Creamed Turnip and Parsnip Soup

Ingredients

1 cup peeled, fresh turnips, diced

1/2 cup scraped, fresh parsnips, diced

2 1/2 cups beef broth

1/2 cup coarsely ground almonds

1 cup heavy cream

3 egg yolks

1/2 teaspoon salt

Juice of 1/4 lemon

Method

1. Gently boil turnips and parsnips in broth until vegetables are soft, about 12 minutes.

2. Stir in almonds and heat for 3 minutes.

3. Mix the yolks and salt with the cream; add the lemon juice; pour 1/2 cup hot soup into egg mixture, stirring well. Slowly pour this mixture into the soup. Stir well.

4. Heat 2 or 3 minutes, stirring, and serve warm.

My Modifications

1. I used sliced almonds and diced them up a bit.

2. The first time I made this for the big group, it sat on the stove on love for about 20-30 minutes. The second time I followed the directions. I think it seemed to taste better the first go-round.

Source: I'll get this from Holly and edit it when I receive it.

Let me know what you think when you try it. :)

Lasagna & Buttered Thyme Bread

I was directed to The Pioneer Woman Cooks, a cooking blog, from a stamping blog that I frequent. I had lots of fun going through her recipes; they all looked so good. I couldn't resist trying some and made the lasagna with the buttered thyme bread. The lasagna was good, but not the best in the world to us; we don't like pork much, so the sausage gave it a different taste, but don't get me wrong: the pan is empty and we're finishing up the leftovers today. As for the bread, it was the bomb. I only used 1/4th of the amount of butter she called for, but it was still DELICIOUS! I used thyme on only one piece of the bread because I didn't want to mess it all up if we didn't like it. The bread was good both ways: with just plain butter & with the thyme. I'm going to try Marlboro Man's Favorite Sandwich and see what my Mountain Man and I think. :)

Brisket Basics

N's parents brought us Salt Lick BBQ sauce for Christmas and N wanted brisket. I bought a 3.5 lb hunk from Costco the other day and finally decided to have it for dinner last night. I've never cooked brisket before, but I thought it would be like any other meat...just season it, stick it in the oven, and keep an eye on it. Because I didn't get home until later last night and I was starving, I threw the hunk of brisket on a cookie sheet, slapped some seasoning on it, and threw it in the oven on 425. After I had it in there for about 40 minutes, N called and said he was on his way home and as always, wanted to know what was for dinner. I told him we would be having brisket, mashed potatoes, and baked beans, if the brisket was done in time. This led to quick interrogation (and rightly so on his part) of how long it had been in the oven, preparation, etc. He quickly informed me that was NOT the way to cook brisket, I turned the oven off, and we had leftover bread pudding (which was more like a quiche with spinach, shitakes, and gruyere). So, I finished it up today as best I could - I put it on a bed of onions, with water in the pan, fat-side up. It's quite tough and dry, as you can imagine, but I'm now prepared for next time! We'll use this for sandwiches or something, and it will be just like eating Washington BBQ!

Glorious Galettes

My adventure today was cooking/baking. I've been enjoying cooking a little more lately. This seems to go in cycles like stamping and scrapbooking. I picked up the Better Homes and Garden Holiday Baking magazine in Costco the other day and just had to try these galettes (gu-lets)! If you're thinking sweet...don't. They're a savory delight. :) The one I attempted today had leeks, smoked ham, and gruyere with a few spices. It was yummy! :) I wanted to try it before making it this weekend for my SU! party. I think it will be delightful. Here are a few pics to entertain you. (This was a half-batch for testing.)

Fun in the kitchen

As you may have noticed, I've been having some fun in the kitchen lately. These last two weeks, I've been trying some things that I wouldn't normally try. Our newest yummy that we tried last night was:
Strawberry-Tarragon Salad with Aged Balsamic Vinegar
(from Food to Live By by Myra Goodman (The Earthbound Farm Organic Cookbook)

2 pints small ripe strawberries, rinsed and hulled
1/4 c good-quality balsamic vinegar*
2 T aged balsamic vinegar (optional), preferably at least 6 years old
3/4 c extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 t Dijon mustard
Pinch of salt
4 oz (5 to 6 c) mixed baby greens, carefully rinsed and dried, if needed
1/2 c fresh whole tarragon leaves
1/4 c toasted pecans (To toast, simply warm in skillet over medium heat until warm, lightly colored, and fragrant, about 5-10 min.) - I think toasting really adds to the taste.
1/2 c (2 oz) crumbled blue cheese

1. Prepare flavored vinegar by mashing three strawberries against the side of a small bowl with a fork. Add the 1/4 c of good-quality balsamic vinegar and stir to combine. Let the vinegar stand at room temp to absorb strawberry flavor for 1 - 2 hours.
2. Meanwhile, cut the remaining strawberries in half lengthwise so they are bite size (or quarter if larger). If using aged balsamic vinegar, place the cut berries in a small, shallow bowl, add the aged vinegar, and stir to coat. Let the berries marinate at room temp for 1-2 hours, stirring occasionally. If not using aged balsamic vinegar, no need to marinate the berries.
3. Strain the strawberry-flavored vinegar through a sieve, pressing down on the berries to extract all of the liquid from the fruit. Discard the solids. Place the flavored vinegar, extra-virgin olive oil, mustard, and salt in a glass jar and seal the lid tightly. Shake the jar vigorously to combine. (I put everything in my food processor and mixed it. It worked perfectly.)
4. Just before serving, place the mixed greens and tarragon in a large bowl and toss. Add 3 T of the vinaigrette. Toss to lightly coat the leaves. (I plated the salads before drizzling it over individual plates.) Leftover vinegar can be stored, covered, in the refrigerator, for up to 3 days.
5. Divide greens evenly among salad plates, arrange strawberries on top, and sprinkle with pecans and blue cheese.

*She says authentic balsamic vinegar comes from Emilia-Romagna in Italy and is aged in wooden barrels, so the older it becomes, the more smooth and syrupy, and the better and pricier it is. The highest quality ones will list only grape must, which is unfermented juice from wine grapes, in the ingredient list. (Note: I used plain old, cheap balsamic vinegar and it was great.)

This may sound a little difficult, but it's actually quite easy and quick. The dressing was very easy and came out very tasty! We had friends over and I served this with Portuguese soup, and a main course of pecan-crusted salmon and blue cheese mashed potatoes. No recipe for the taters...just threw in some blue cheese crumbles, about 2 T butter, a sprinkle of garlic salt, and a little milk. Then, topped with real bacon bits, made fresh that night. Yummmo. Ma would be proud of me for just throwing stuff together without a recipe! :)

Enjoy!

Something different

I was in the mood to try something different today. I think I like this elegant look, although elegant is the last word that anybody would use to describe me! Oh well...I can dream. I must admit that the country bumpkin in me will never go away.

I'm having a rough start this morning. There are so many things I need to get done today, but I'm not feeling well. My glands are sore, my head is thumping, and I'm tired (though I slept for about 10 hours last night)! Maybe if I run my errand to Costco and get out in the beautiful sunshine, I'll feel better.

I started some Portuguese soup last night and I've got it cooking again today. It's so yummy. It was a little overcast yesterday and I was a little chilly, so I thought it would be perfect for dinner, only I got home too late from the grocery store to actually have it, so we scrounged. This recipe is from my MIL, who is a gourmet chef...too big of shoes for me to fill! Thankfully, I have an understanding husband. Anyway, she always served this soup at the restaurant and it's delicious. It's got Elgin garlic sausage, cabbage, ketchup, white vinegar, diced potatoes, kidney beans, onion, garlic, and olive oil. It's also very easy, which I love. I had to settle for Portuguese sausage since we don't have Elgin sausage up here, but I think it goes well, since it's Portuguese! Hubby loves it so much, he had a bowl for breakfast! I neglected to tell him that I was waiting to finish it today. Oh well, he finished the bowl. Here's a picture to entice you. (Sourdough goes great with it!)