Honeyed Pear Applesauce

Delicious!!  We finished dinner so early tonight that we decided to make some applesauce for dessert.  I didn't have enough apples to make a substantial quantity of applesauce so we added in a couple of delicious local pears.

Ingredients:

About 4 pounds apples and pears
1/2 cup honey
1/4 cup water
Cinnamon and nutmeg

Peel and chop apples and pears.  Put in large pot.  Add honey.  Heat and stir constantly.  Break up the apples and pears as they get soft.  Season with nutmeg and cinnamon.  Add about 1/4 cup of water and bring to a boil.  Continue cooking for about 1 minute.

I used an immersion blender briefly - mainly because I couldn't find my potato masher.  I wouldn't recommend the immersion blender.  I finally busted out my trusty pastry blender - my go-to tool for so many cooking projects - and mashed the apples and pears until they were a kid friendly consistency.

We served the warm applesauce over a little bit of ice cream and put the rest in a 16 ounce Ball jar to chill and enjoy later.  Enjoy!

Preschool Playdough

Admittedly, this cannot be eaten.  However, it is a fun cooking project to make with your preschooler!  You can store this in freezer bags and keep it in the fridge - it should last for a few weeks.  This recipe is straight from my daughter's classroom.

Ingredients: 

2 cups flour
1 T. cooking oil (I used canola)
1 teaspoon cream of tartar (find it in the spice aisle)
2 cups of colored water
1 cup salt

Directions: 

Combine all of the ingredients in a large pan on the stove.  Stir well while cooking the ingredients over medium heat until the playdough thickens.

I doubled this recipe when I made it for my daughter's class. She requested PINK playdough so we used a little red dye to turn the water a nice rosy shade - she was very pleased with the final outcome - as were her classmates.

Pina Colada Muffins with Coconut Streusel

This recipe really uses rum.  Coincidentally, we have some in the house... I have heard about pina colada muffins before but I have never actually had one so this is an experimental version.  I had 2 very ripe bananas sitting on the counter and no one that was at all interested in mommy making banana bread so I had to come up with plan B - something yummy but that only takes about 10 minutes to make (much like the tried and true banana bread).



Ingredients: 

1/2 cup canola oil
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 tablespoon rum
2 bananas (very ripe)
2 eggs
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 cup diced pineapple
1/4 cup shredded coconut

Directions:

Combine oil, brown sugar, and rum in a mixing bowl.  Add bananas and eggs.  In separate bowl, mix together flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon.  Add flour mixture to the wet mixture.  Stir.  Add pineapple and coconut.

Pour batter into 12 muffin tins sprayed with cooking spray.  Top with streusel (recipe below).  Cook for about 20 to 25 minutes at 350 degrees.  Let cool for about 10 minutes and then remove from pan.

Before...

DELICIOUS! 

Coconut Brown Sugar Streusel:

2 tablespoons flour
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 - 2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons shredded coconut

Combine ingredients with a fork until streusel is crumbly - put on top of muffins before you put the muffin pan in the oven.


 

Apple and Challah Bread Pudding

At this time of year, Jewish holidays abound and it is quite easy to find beautiful loaves of challah bread all over town.  I picked up this loaf on sale at Harris Teeter.  This recipe is super simple and works well as dessert or, my personal favorite, breakfast.  Bread pudding is a great use of day-old (or older) bread so look for bread that has been marked down at the bakery or has been sitting in your bread drawer for a few days.

Ingredients: 

4 to 5 cups challah bread, cubed
2 to 3 cups apples, peeled and diced
1/2 cup raisins
1 cup brown sugar
1 3/4 cups milk (I used a combination of skim and half and half)
1/4 cup butter
2 eggs
cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Brown sugar, milk and butter

Before adding the eggs

Directions: 

1. Combine challah bread, apples and raisins in a large bowl.
2. In a saucepan, combine brown sugar, milk and butter - bring to a boil.  Remove from heat and pour over the bread mixture.  Set aside.
3. In a small bowl, beat 2 eggs and add cinnamon and about 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract.
4. Spread bread mixture in a baking dish - I used an oval baker.  Pour egg mixture over bread.
5. Bake at 350 degrees for about 45 minutes.
6. Serve warm from the oven or cold the next day!  Tastes great with a little sweetened milk over the top - keep reading...

Sweet Milk

This tastes absolutely amazing over the bread pudding or fresh fruit or just by the spoonful.  It tastes a lot like my favorite canned food weakness - sweetened condensed milk.  Yum!   

Ingredients and Directions:

3 tablespoons brown sugar
3 tablespoons white sugar
1/4 cup milk (I used a combination of half and half and skim)
4 tablespoons butter
a splash of vanilla extract

Combine all the ingredients in a small saucepan.  Heat until the butter is melted.  Stir well.  This can be refrigerated and used cold - simply stir again before using.  You can also reheat it in the microwave or in a saucepan.  Enjoy!!    

11 Layer Lasagna

Cheesy Lasagna!

I recently learned how to program my oven so it can turn on and cook dinner while I am out of the house schlepping kids to afterschool activities.  What a lifesaver this discovery has been!  On Monday night, after the kiddos were all in bed, I prepared this delicious lasagna and set it aside to be magically cooked the next day while we were out.  Even if you don't have a magic oven, lasagna is such a great meal to make ahead.  I cooked this recipe in one large 9 x 13 glass pan, but it would easily work in two  9 x 9 pans or 8 x 8 pans.  Cook one and save the other for later!

The ricotta cheese and the lasagna noodles are the only 2 ingredients that are not local in this delicious meal.  However, here in Charlotte, you could easily find local pasta by stopping by Pasta and Provisions on Providence or visiting the Pasta Wench at the Atherton Farmers Market - although the Pasta Wench is not making lasagna noodles as of this post, they are making spaghetti, fettucine, raviolis, AND gluten free pasta!  (I've tried it and it is great!)  

Ingredients:

olive oil
12 lasagna noodles
3 cups (approx) marinara sauce
1 lb. sausage, crumbled
1 large onion, sliced thinly
2 handfuls spinach (I used local malabar spinach)
8 oz. mushrooms (I used shitake)
8 oz. ricotta cheese
2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
2 eggs
salt and pepper

Directions: 

1. Cook the crumbled sausage.  Set aside.

2. Prepare the cheesy layer... Caramelize the onions in olive oil or a bit of the fat leftover from cooking the sausage.  Add the mushrooms and spinach.  Continue cooking until spinach is wilted.  Set aside.  Combine 8 oz. ricotta cheese, 1 cup mozzarella, 2 eggs in a large bowl.  Season with salt and pepper.  Add the onions, mushroom and spinach mixture.

3. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and lightly spray a 9x13 pan with cooking spray.

Layer 1: Spread about 1 cup of sauce in the bottom of a 9x13 pan.
Layer 2: 4 lasagna noodles
Layer 3: 1/2 of the cheese and onion mixture
Layer 4: 1/2 of the cooked crumbled sausage
Layer 5: About 1 cup of sauce
Layer 6: 4 lasagna noodles
Layer 7: The other 1/2 of the cheese and onion mixture
Layer 8: The other 1/2 of the crumbled sausage
Layer 9: 4 Lasagna noodles
Layer 10: About 1 cup of sauce
Layer 11: 1 cup of shredded mozzarella

Cook for about an hour at 350 degrees covered with foil.  Remove foil and cook for an additional 5 minutes.  Enjoy!!

Layers 1 - 3

Layer 4: Crumbled Sausage

Layers 1 - 6 (uncooked noodles)

Dinner is served... 

Hot Pepper Jelly

I found a food scale on sale today at Sur La Table while browsing aimlessly with a sleeping baby.  I have been wanting a kitchen scale, but I have been waiting for just the right one... basically, a scale on sale.  Obviously, since I am now the proud owner of a kitchen scale, I had to come home and use it immediately!

As soon as I got home, I headed outside to pick some peppers... I needed about a pound of peppers and, conveniently, I was able to pick about a pound of peppers right from my garden.  When I was little, my mom used to make bright green hot pepper jelly and put it in little jars - we would eat it on crackers over cream cheese.  Delicious.  The other day I was wandering around Dean & Deluca (sense a trend?) and impulsively bought a jar of hot pepper jelly.  I served it over fresh goat cheese on crispy rice crackers - it was really good, but I realized that I probably could make the same thing myself for a fraction of the cost.

Making hot pepper jelly really requires very little skill in the kitchen but you will impress your friends when you casually bring out your own homemade jars of this delicious goodness.  Hot pepper jelly will last up to 12 months unopened on a cool, dark shelf and about 3 weeks opened in the refrigerator.  I recommend you put these in small jars - maybe 4 to 6 ounces - you will need about 6 to 8 jars if you follow this recipe.

Ingredients

1 to 2 pounds peppers - a mix of hot and green peppers
1 1/4 cups apple cider vinegar
5 cups sugar
1 package powdered pectin (1.75 oz.)

Directions

Seed and chop peppers.  Choose good, crisp peppers - I taste tested all my peppers before committing them to the blender.  Add the peppers to the blender or food processor with 1/4 cup of the apple cider vinegar.  Puree.

Add the pepper puree to a deep, heavy bottomed pan.  Add the remaining 1 cup of cider vinegar and the package of pectin (I bought my pectin at Harris Teeter) and bring to a rolling boil.  A rolling boil is when your liquid remains boiling even when you are stirring it.  (Some people choose to add food coloring to their hot pepper jelly - my mom would always add green.  Alas, I had no food coloring in the house so we went natural - I think it looked quite good without the bright green effect I fondly remember from my youth.)

After you achieve a rolling boil, quickly add all 5 cups of sugar.  Stir well.

5 cups of sugar! 

Continue stirring until the liquid reaches a rolling boil again.  (If you wish, you can skim any foam that has formed on the top of the liquid - I used a wooden spoon and skimmed the foam onto a folded up paper towel.)  Once the liquid reaches a rolling boil, cook for 1 minute.  Remove from heat.  Skim any foam that remains.

Ladle the hot pepper jelly into prepared jars.  This batch made about 24 ounces of hot pepper jelly but the amount might vary a bit depending on the amount of peppers used.  I did not have a funnel at the ready so I ladled the hot liquid directly into the jars.  It was messy.  And hot.  Leave a bit of room at the top of each jar.  Before securing the tops of the jars, take a wet towel and wipe away any sugary mess that remains on your jars.  Secure the tops and set aside at room temperature for 24 hours.

The finished product - freshly sealed.  Ready to be taste tested tomorrow.  

  

Goat Cheese Quiche

Quiche often serves a dual purpose in my house - something to feed my children on relatively short order, and something to feed myself for the next couple of days.  I think quiche is always better the second (and third) day - right out of the fridge!  This recipe incorporates a few local ingredients I had hanging out in my fridge - goat cheese, malabar spinach, and eggs.  As I was rearranging my refrigerator this afternoon to make room for a new flat of local eggs to arrive, I realized I still had a few left over from my last order!  What to do with an abundance of eggs and a crisper with some veggies??  Quiche, of course!

Locally grown... Malabar Spinach

Ingredients

1 9-inch pie crust

1 large onion, thinly sliced

1 handful of spinach leaves 

1/2 cup goat cheese

4 eggs

2 cups milk 

dash of nutmeg

kosher salt and black pepper

Directions

Caramelize your onion in a couple of tablespoons olive oil - saute the onions for quite a while until they start to turn a delicious brown color.  When the onions are sufficiently caramelized, add a handful of chopped spinach and heat just until the spinach is wilted.  

Sprinkle some goat cheese in the bottom of the prepared pie crust.  Spread the spinach and onions evenly over the goat cheese.  If you wish, you could add some shredded cheese of your choice - cheddar or swiss perhaps.  Sprinkle a little bit of nutmeg over the veggies and a little kosher salt and fresh ground pepper.  

Whisk 4 eggs in a large bowl.  Add 2 cups of milk (or 1 cup of milk, 1 cup of cream).  Stir together well.  Pour over the spinach, onions, and goat cheese.

Put the quiche in a preheated 400 degree oven.  Cook for 15 minutes.  Reduce heat to 300 degrees and cook for another 30 minutes.  I generally turn off the oven and let the quiche sit in the oven until I need it.  

This tastes great warm after it sets for a bit or cold the next day!  Enjoy!    

Okra Curry

Perhaps you thought, as I did, that the South had the market cornered on recipes using okra.  Not so fast!  Okra is found in many Asian cuisines as well.  While trying to find a way to use some fresh local okra and potatoes, I came across a description for an Indian dish called Masala Bindhi.  I love cooking Indian food - it is fresh, healthy, almost always gluten free, and, of course, has a ton of flavor!

This recipe is super simple and doesn't take very long to cook so I decided to start by making a spiced brown rice to serve under the curry.  

To make the rice: 

Finely chop 1 jalapeno pepper and 3 to 5 cloves of garlic, saute in olive oil.  Add 1 cup of brown rice (I love basmati), coat the rice in olive oil and let it cook for a couple of minutes.  Add 1 teaspoon salt and 1 teaspoon garam masala (this spice combination is easily found at most food stores these days).   Add 2 to 2 1/2 cups of water.  Bring to a boil.  Reduce to a simmer, cover and let cook for about 45 minutes.

To make the curry: 

Ingredients: 

Okra (about 1/2 to 1 pound - see photo above)

1 large white potato, peeled and diced

1/2 large onion, chopped

5 cloves garlic, diced

1 large tomato, diced

Olive oil for cooking

1 teaspoon chili powder

1 teaspoon curry powder

1 teaspoon cumin powder

1 teaspoon turmeric (if you have it)

If you aren't a fan of okra, chances are it is because you find it gummy.  I promise you that okra does not have to be that way.  First, make sure your your okra is dry and don't let it come into contact with liquid for too long.  For this recipe, I thinly sliced my okra and then quickly sauteed it in about 1 to 2 tablespoons of hot olive oil (just enough to almost coat the bottom of my pan). I let it cook for about 5 minutes - turning it so it got a little bit of brown - and then removed the okra from the pan and set it aside.  

Heat a little more olive oil if necessary and add the garlic, onion and tomato.  Cook, stirring constantly, until the tomato breaks down and melds with the onion.  Add the spices and the chopped potato.  If your potato pieces are small enough, the potato will not take very long to cook.  At the very end, once the potato is cooked well enough to your taste (about 7 minutes) add the okra back into the pot.  Mix well and let it heat through.  

This is a very light and fresh vegetarian meal.  You could easily add another tomato if you would like your curry a little more "saucy."  Serve over rice.  Enjoy!    

Orange Creamsicle Smoothie

There is nothing healthy about this drink.  However, it is by far my favorite summer drink of all time.  There are a lot of recipes out there for this yumminess, but I like to make mine similar to the way my ice cream shop back home (Wilbur's!!) used to make it - orange soda and orange sherbet were the two key ingredients.  I sway from that ever so slightly...

Ingredients:

1 can orange soda (I used diet orange crush)
5 large wedge ice cubes
4 large scoops orange sherbet
1 small container vanilla yogurt
1 small banana
1/2 cup skim milk

Directions:

Combine ingredients in a blender until orange and frothy.  Serve and enjoy!  This makes about 4 servings - or perhaps 2 large adult servings and 2 small child servings.