Tag: fruit

Autumn

Candied-Orange Spice Prune Loaf

by Rebecca4 Comments on Candied-Orange Spice Prune Loaf
 

Neah and Papa brought prunes.   Every time they come to visit, my grandparents bring food.  When we were younger, it was always a box of doughnuts, and then whatever they had in excess that needed to be shared- a box of apples, walnuts, raisins, some frozen fruit, and, oh yes, prunes.  The prunes were so overly dried that we couldn’t sink are teeth into them; being inventive as I am, I sure tried.  My mother would throw the prunes into the big chest freezer and there they’d stay.  When I started leaving for college, I’d raid the freezer.  I would inevitably take a bag of raisins and walnuts, but always left the prunes.  Sadly, just no easy way to eat them.

On a whim, I finally decided to grab a bag of those prunes on my last trip home.  Surely, they could be used for something.  Then one day in early September, an epiphany.  I kept finding the lovely Italian prune plums at the markets.  I wanted to use them in a loaf of some sort but inevitably kept eating them fresh before I ever got around to baking.  And then, with the last bite of the fresh plums in my hand, I pulled out an old recipe I’d been meaning to adapt and there it was.  The answer.  All these years, I’d been avoiding my grandparents prunes and all they needed was a bit of re-hydration!

Now that I’ve tested this recipe so many times I had to go purchase the not-so-overly dried prunes at our nearby farmstand, I really must say it is my new autumn favorite.  Molasses, prunes, spices, and candied-orange peel.  Not sickly sweet, nor overly-indulging–just a bit of perfection with a nice cup of steaming tea.

Candied-Orange Spice Prune Loaf
9 1/2 oz. gf flour mix (about 2 1/4 cups)
1 1/2 tsp. xanthan gum
1 tsp. baking soda
3/4 tsp. salt
1 1/4 cups boiling water
1 cup prunes, diced (about 18 whole prunes)
1/3 cup candied orange peel, diced
1/2 cup orange syrup (or honey)
1/4 cup molasses
1 Tbs. canola oil
1 egg 
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
1 heaping tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ground cloves
1/8 tsp. ground ginger
1/8 tsp. ground nutmeg
1/8 tsp. ground allspice
 
  • Pour boiling water over prunes. Let rest for five minutes.  While prunes are resting, preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Prepare a 9″ x 5″ baking dish.  Line it with a small handful of oats.
  • In a separate bowl, mix together flour, xanthan gum, baking soda, salt, and spices.
  • Measure out orange syrup, molasses, oil, egg and vanilla.  Add them all to the prune mixture.  Feel free to substitute honey for the orange syrup.
  • Pour liquids into dry mixture and stir in the candied peel.
  • Dish into the prepared baking pan.  Level with a rubber spatula and sprinkle a few more oats on top for good measure.
  • Bake for approximately 55 minutes.
  • If you can, store this loaf away in the fridge for a day or two before eating.  The flavors will be enhanced!
Autumn

Comforting Cinnamon-Vanilla Applesauce

by Rebecca1 Comment on Comforting Cinnamon-Vanilla Applesauce

The leaves outside are perfect.  Early November is my very favorite bit of year.  Foggy and crisp.  Yellow and brown and orange.  And full of misting rain, lilting music, cups of tea, and hours of quiet contemplation.

This time of year, I cozy down and make comfort foods; ones I remember having back home.  I also forge ahead as always and make new comfort foods- Fennel soup, pumpkin curry, roasted sweet potatoes, orangey-plum cake. Scanning some of my dear friends’ pinterest food pins the other day, I realized though, my cooking has changed.  Back in the early years of college, when I first began to truly stretch my cooking wings, I had a theme:  “healthy.”  I was intent on making every recipe low-fat, low-sugar, high-fiber, blah blah blah.  The food still looked and mostly-tasted like what most of us eat regularly.  Lots of butter, cream, cheese, grease.  I enjoyed cutting out or substituting with lots of products to get the same result.  I probably cooked with fat-free cheese.  Seriously.  I know I ate copious amounts of the sickeningly sweet fake yogurt crap.  Then, it was so good.  Now, I can’t even smell the stuff without wanting to run in the other direction.

Somewhere in the past couple years, probably as a direct result of my new food restrictions and growing more comfortable in myself rather than following fads, I don’t enjoy going to the grocery store anymore.  I don’t enjoy teaching the clerk the names of the vegetables I’m buying, being an inconvenience to the other customers as the clerk searches for the bulk bin code, and answering questions about why I’m “so healthy.”  Probably one of the best food moments for me this past year was feeding my little kindergartners greens and having them ask for more, leaf by leaf.  Then, I definitely did enjoy teaching their veggies.

I try not to judge others, though I know I still do.  I try to eat for me.  What is going to make me feel good?  What do I need?  Lately I’ve been eating apples.  Well, okay I always eat apples, but right now they’re at their very best.  I had a crisper full of golden delicious from my aunt that were slowly becoming a touch too soft to my liking.  So I decided to make one of the simplest autumn comforts–applesauce.  When younger, my siblings and I used to eat it by the quart full.  My grandparents would bring us a couple boxes of apples and my mom would get out the food mill and we’d take turns pressing out the peels.

I don’t have a food mill.  But an awesome vegetable peeler resides in my kitchen.  And some vanilla beans and cinnamon sticks.  We weren’t that gourmet back then.  It was straight apples and perhaps some sugar for good measure.  I was going for a bit of texture so I pureed half the cooked apples and stirred them back in with the others.  It was perfectly comforting.  Simple, and I didn’t even have to go to the grocery store.

Comforting Cinnamon-Vanilla Applesauce
about 9-10 large Golden Delicious apples, peeled, and roughly chopped
half a cinnamon stick
half a vanilla bean
 
1. Turn the chopped apples into a large stockpot.  Add a small bit of water, about 1/2 to 1 inch.  Toss in half the cinnamon stick and the vanilla bean.  Turn to medium-low and cover. 
2. Take out the vanilla bean after about 5 minutes.  Save the inside for another use.
3. Cook apples until soft.  Cool slightly and then puree half in  a blender.  I left the cinnamon stick in until the applesauce was gone.  It added subtle cinnamon flavor.
4. Turn pureed apples back into the pot and spoon it up!  Perfect with a cup of tea!
Summertime

Gluten-Free Flaxseed Crepes with Oregon Berry Sauce and Orange Curd

by RebeccaLeave a Comment on Gluten-Free Flaxseed Crepes with Oregon Berry Sauce and Orange Curd

This past week has been a trial of tough decisions.  Growing up, one of my mentors always had two phrases that will forever stay with me:  “Show up to win” and “Remember the good things, the things that were done right; forget about the rest, and focus on what you did that went well.”  He was talking about showing horses, but I’ve found, years later, that he lives his life by that motto, and we should too.

Though life can often be found challenging, W and I try to embrace the good, the fun, and the beautiful moments that can be had.  So we made crepes.  Deliciousness ones with fresh berries that are perfectly ripe right now, and slathered with creamy, sweet orange curd.  They were a momentary cure for life’s uncertainties.  We followed the crepes with a beautiful hiking adventure through a short stretch of old growth forest up to a serene and quiet lake.  There were few people, and we could embrace the quiet of only the birds and other small creatures living amongst the foliage.

If you, too, find you need a little something to forget about your worries for a while, calm your spirit, and focus on the moments that be lived fully, I suggest you make crepes and then wander on into the woods.  It worked for us!

 
Gluten-Free Flaxseed Crepes, makes 4
14 grams flaxseed meal (about 2 Tbs.)
14 grams amaranth flour (about 2 Tbs.)
47 grams gluten-free flour mix* (about 1/3 cup)
1/8 tsp. sea salt
1 large egg
160 ml water (about 3/4 cup)
  • Combine all flours and salt. Use a fork to stir in the eggs. Stir in the water. Rest 30 minutes.
  • Heat a well-oiled 8-inch skillet to medium-high.  Spoon 1/4 cup-amounts into skillet.  Tilt so the batter spreads as thin as possible.  Cook 2-3 minutes on each side.
  • Continue with batch, until all cooked.

Oregon Berry Sauce

  • Mix 1/2-1 cup fresh Oregon berries together. We used blackberries, raspberries, and blueberries.
  • Heat on stove top until the mixture is warm and bubbly.  Serve over crepes.
Orange Curd, recipe adapted from Culinate
2 1/4 cups freshly squeezed orange juice
9 large egg yolks
9 Tbs. sugar
3 Tbs. finely grated orange zest
6 Tbs. cold butter, cut into small pieces.
 
  • Pour the orange juice into a small saucepan, and cook over medium-high heat until reduced to 3/4 cup. (Have a liquid measure nearby so that you can check the volume as necessary.) Set the reduction aside to cool slightly.
  • Fill a small pot one-third of the way with water, and bring to a boil.
  • In a medium bowl, whisk together the egg yolks, sugar, and orange zest. While whisking, slowly add the reduced orange juice until completely incorporated. Set the bowl over the pot of boiling water, and reduce the heat to medium-low. Whisk constantly for 6 to 7 minutes, or until the curd thickens and holds its shape when stirred. (You can also do this in a double boiler.) Remove the bowl from the heat and gradually stir in the butter.
  • Set a metal bowl into a larger bowl of ice water, and strain the curd through a fine-mesh sieve into the smaller bowl. Stir the curd occasionally until it is cool, about 5 minutes. Transfer the curd to a small container, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate until well chilled. Use within 1 week.

 

* My current gluten-free whole-grain mix of flour is:

200 grams brown rice flour
200 grams millet flour
200 grams sorghum flour
100 grams buckwheat flour
100 grams tapioca flour
100 grams potato starch
100 grams cornstarch