Apple Cranberry Crisp

We had a backlog of apples from the box over the last few weeks that we had yet to use. Then a neighbor dropped by with some more homegrown apples. Usually I would make an apple pie in situations like this but I was inspired by this recipe from a fellow CSAer to go for the crisp. I like the idea of incorporating oats instead of just a white flour pie crust. The crisp is a nice, tasty alternative to pie.

As a starting point, I just used the recipe off of the oats box (with a few minor modifications). It says you can also use pears and peaches instead.

Apple Cranberry Crisp

Filling:

• 6 cups of diced apples, peel on (about 6-8 apples)
  
• 1/2 cup dried cranberries
• 1/3 cup maple syrup (I didn't have any so I used some honey and brown sugar instead)
• 1 tbsp. lemon juice
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg

Topping:

• 1 cup Quick or Old Fashioned uncooked oats (I used Country Choice available to Trader Joe's)
• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/3 cup flour
• 1 tsp. cinnamon
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1/2 stick of melted butter

1. Preheat oven to 375. With a small dab of butter grease the bottom of a glass or ceramic 9 inch pie pan.
2. In a large bowl collect the apple pieces, lemon juice, cranberries, syrup, vanilla extract, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Stir until well mixed. Spread evenly into the pie pan.
3. Prepare the topping by mixing together the oats, brown sugar, flour, cinnamon, and salt. Add the melted butter and stir until evenly moistened. Spread evenly over the fruit.
   
4. Bake 35-40 minutes or until fruit is tender.
5. Remove from the oven and let stand for 20 minutes

Kholrabi Slaw

Kohlrabi arrived in our box for the first time. In appearance, they immediately reminded me of the above characters. I was not familiar with kohlrabi and had certainly never cooked with it before. I checked in some friends who are also getting the FFTY box and the links at the bottom come from them.

Kohlrabi comes from the brassica family and " its origin in nature is the same as that of cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, kale, collard greens, and brussels sprouts." All of the plant is edible. But by the time I got around to using it the greens had withered. I decided to go with the kohlrabi slaw recipe that was included in the information sheet in the box as a starting point.

As I cut off the top and bottom of the three kohlrabi bulbs there was an aroma of mild horseradish along with a rooty smell that reminded me of broccoli stalk. The flesh was clean, crisp, and crunchy.














Kohlrabi Slaw

• Peel and shred 3 kohlrabi bulbs
• Peel and shred 2 large carrots
• Peel and shred 2 Granny Smith apples
• Add mayo - the original recipe called 1 1/4 cup. I started with a 1/3 cup and added more until it was to my liking
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1/4 apple cider vinegar
• I added a few pinches of celery seed just because I had some
• A pinch of salt
• Lots of ground black pepper

Mix all ingredients together. Serve immediately or chill in a bowl until ready to serve.

Verdict: Quite tasty! I would make this again. The only downside was that it was a bit watery so next time I would let the shredded contents sit in a colander for a bit.

More kohlrabi resources:

Lots of ideas here in the comments section
http://dorisandjillycook.com/2010/06/21/kohlrabi-international-vegetable-of-mystery/

Lots of links and ideas
http://simplyrecipes.com/recipes/kohlrabi/

Kohlrabi and Mache Salad
http://www.gourmet.com/recipes/2000s/2008/11/kohlrabi-and-mache-salad

Kohlrabi Salad
http://orangette.blogspot.com/2008/11/whole-bowlful.html

Kohlrabi and Apple Salad
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Kohlrabi-and-Apple-Salad-with-Creamy-Mustard-Dressing-10693#ixzz15nC3EReL

Dormant Spray Schedule

Ever since planting the peach tree a few years back, I've been dealing with Peach Leaf Curl. This last year I tried a single application of a dormant fruit spray but I still had the curl. Our little local newspaper had a short blurb on dormant spraying. This plan looks more promising and is easier to remember. I've added some formatting to make it visually easier to remember.

"Plan your dormant fruit spraying schedule to coincide approximately with cool weather holidays, when the rain lets up for a few days. Specifics cues are the fall of the last leaves (Christmas), the height of dormancy (New Year's Eve), and when buds swell, but before they show color (Valentine's Day). Spraying at the precise period of bud swell is particularly important--after the blossoms open is too late."

Spaghetti Sauce - Batch #1

Another first!

My first batch of homemade spaghetti sauce! I ended up with 3 pints to put away for another day. I merged a couple of online recipes and came up with the following. This is only batch #1 so it may evolve.

Homemade Spaghetti Sauce

• 40 - 50 tomatoes - mostly Romas from the backyard
  
• 1/2 large yellow onion, chopped (probably more next time)
  
• 1/2 red bell pepper, finely diced
  
• 2 - 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 small can of tomato paste
  
• 10 - 12 basil leaves, finely chopped (also from the backyard)
  
• 2 bay leaves
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1 tablespoon Italian herb mix
• 1 tablespoon oregano
• 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
  
• 1 teaspoon parsley
• 1 teaspoon salt
  
• pinch of sugar
• 1/4 cup red wine (a 2007 Christopher Creek Cab from the cellar)
  

I washed and dried the tomatoes and then put them through the food mill. I got the sauce boiling so that it began to cook down and added the bay leaves, salt, and sugar. Meanwhile, I chopped up all the other ingredients. In a 12" skillet, I sauteed the onions for a few minutes, added the garlic, and then the bell pepper. Added in the herbs and seasonings. I waited until the sauce was about an hour or two away from being done and then added the onion/pepper mixture from the skillet. Add the tomato paste and let it cook down until desired consistency. Discard bay leaves. Add sauce to sterilized jars.

Inspiration:
http://www.pickyourown.org/spaghettisauce.htm

http://www.suite101.com/content/homemade-spaghetti-sauce-a61353

Tomato Sauce, Part 2

With so much produce coming from the backyard, I have wanted to learn how to can for a few years now. I bookmarked this helpful site along with some others to help me learn the process. I've been buying used books on canning and preserving and, of course, have Ball Blue Book which is THE source of information on canning (although I'm told it's too cautious). I've also been slowly acquiring all of the needed equipment. Most of it through this interesting store based out of Ohio called Lehman's but also through antique stores. Last year, I spent an afternoon with a friend who has been canning for years to see it all in real life.

I finally took the plunge a few weeks ago when I was given four plastic shopping bags full of ripe tomatoes. So for the last few weeks I have been making a basic tomato sauce. So far, no explosions in the pantry. Why not make it into spaghetti sauce or something else? I will try that at some point but with basic tomato sauce you can let it be whatever you want it to be when you open the jar.



Here's what I have been doing.

Basic Tomato Sauce

• Start with ripe tomatoes and lots of them. Wash the tomatoes ahead of time and let them dry.
• Core the tomatoes and cut in half or quarters depending on the size. Be sure to cut off any blemishes on the skin.
  
• Put into the food mill to separate seeds and skin from meat. A few years back I bought this food mill and find that I don't need to peel the tomatoes ahead of time. It does a great job separating the skins and the seeds from the pulp. Put all of the pulp into a pot (or two, if necessary) and bring to a boil. Reduce heat so that the tomato sauce is bubbling gently and moving around the pot.
• Put more than enough jars in the dishwasher to sterilize.
  
• Cook until reduced until it reaches desired consistency. If you look around online, you'll see some people saying one hour and others saying six hours. It all depends on how thick you want it. I like it pretty thick so I let it go for a few hours.
• Towards the end of the cooking time add 1 small can of tomato paste.
• Put the lids in a small pot with gently boiling water.
• When sauce is done, spoon hot sauce into hot jars to 1/4 inch below the lid line using a jar funnel. Fish the lids out of the boiling water. Seal jars and turn upside down on towel for a period of time to sterilize the trapped air and lid.
  
• Upright the jar and let cool at room temperature. After they have cooled down check the seal.
  

The tomatoes in the top photo are from my backyard this last weekend. All of those tomatoes yielded two quarts of sauce.

Tomato Sauce

How many tomatoes does it take to make a quart jar of plain tomato sauce?

I figure 80 to 100. This is based on the fact that I brought home about 200-250 tomatoes from a friend's house and made two batches of tomato sauce and ended up with two quarts of sauce (well, plus some extra sauce that I put in a freezer bag).

This was my first venture into canning. I've been prepping for a few years. That's how nervous I was. So far so good.

Outside in the backyard the Roma tomato plants are starting to get there. The other generic tomato plant that I have is also finally starting to produce some fruit. It looks like this weekend will be another sauce-making weekend.

More on all this later.

Lemon Pancakes

Sunday is egg day. We always have eggs for breakfast on Sunday. But as we approached this last Sunday I noticed that we only had three eggs left. One short of our usual pair of two-egg omelettes. What to do?!? 

 I remembered a memorable breakfast that was served to us when we spent a weekend at our friend's house near Chicago. They made us a wonderful pancake breakfast one morning. We're normally not big pancake fans but these were unique, fluffy, and flavorful. Fortunately, I got the recipe and it called for three eggs. A plan was falling into place! A Saturday afternoon trip to the store provided any missing ingredients. 

  Lemon Pancakes 

Ingredients:

• 3 eggs, separated
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup cottage cheese
• 1/2 stick melted butter
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon lemon zest (just do the zest of 1 small to medium lemon)
• raspberry or maple syrup

Preparation:

• Preheat the oven to 250 degrees
• Separate the eggs into two bowls
• Beat the egg whites until they hold stiff peaks
• Add flour, cottage cheese, butter, sugar, salt, and lemon zest to the egg yolks
• Beat the mixture until well mixed
• With a large spatula, fold the egg whites into the yolk mixture
• Stir until they are well mixed with no clumps of white or yellow
• Heat a griddle or skillet over medium heat
• Grease lightly and spoon 2-3 tablespoons of batter for each pancake
• Cook slowly for about 90 seconds to two minutes and then flip and cook on the other side for 60 seconds
• Keep the pancakes warm in the oven until ready to serve

Serve with warmed raspberry or maple syrup and powdered sugar on top. The original recipe calls for some berries on top of the pancakes. I added a ripe banana this time just because it needed to be eaten. Any good fruit will work. Use what you have on hand. It will all be good. Oh, and those are Morningstar veggie sausages.