Tag: Recipes

Dehydrating Berry and Apple Fruit Leather
Preserving · Recipes

Dehydrating Berry and Apple Fruit Leather

Sarah

With a predicted windstorm looming, I cleaned out the freezers and consolidated them so we wouldn’t lose anything if the power went out, which was a good thing, as we lost power Monday morning. We had bags of frozen berries that we had grown and picked. They were mixes of Black, Marion, and Red Raspberries. We also had Honeycrisp apples we had grown this year, which were ugly on the outside. I can’t eat berry seeds, as they are not a friend to my body, so I strained the berries, discarding them. This, of course, leaves your mixture very thin. So, by adding apples, I got the natural pectin, which helped thicken it.

With a little hands-on work, I soon had plenty of mixture drying on the dehydrator and, within 12 hours, delicious fruit leather.

I run on an older L’EQUIP dehydrator that I bought in maybe 2004 or 2005, and it is still running strong. A newer version of it is here. If I were to replace it, I would probably buy a metal one with flat trays and a center spindle. That would more resemble my freeze-dryer trays. But since this works just fine, no need to upgrade. And yes, yuo can do it in an oven, on rimmed baking sheets, on the lowest setting. Be sure to check often; it takes far less time.

Want more recipes for dehydrating? See here.

Ready for storage (and snacking on).

Fruit leather drying.

Berry and Apple Fruit Leather

Ingredients:

  • 5 pounds berries
  • 3 apples
  • 1 Tbsp lemon juice

Directions:

If using frozen berries, let them thaw on the counter first. Heat the berries in a heavy-bottomed pot and stir often until they break down.

Press the berries through a fine mesh strainer until the seeds are left. Discard the seeds. I had 4 cups of liquid.

Transfer the liquid to a blender, adding in the lemon juice.

Peel and core the apples, roughly chop, and add to the berries.

Blend until the apples are broken down.

Transfer back to the heavy-bottomed pot and bring to a simmer. Then cook for 15 minutes over medium-low heat to low, maintaining a low simmer. The mixture will thicken, so stir often. Once the time is up, take off the stove and let cool a bit, stirring. The natural pectin will thicken up.

Meanwhile, get out your dehydrator. Using parchment paper, cut out a rough shape of a tray, then trim it so it fits over the center core (if your dehydrator has that) for ventilation, then trim the sides so it lays.

Spread the fruit mixture in sections, about ½ to ¾ cup each, and make sure it is spread evenly. I used 3 trays total, and had about 4 cups mixture.

Place on the dehydrator, set at 135°. It took us about 12 hours. Every hour, I moved the trays so that each tray visited the bottom, where it was the hottest.

At about 8 hours in, the leather was set on top, so I cut the parchment paper to fit each section and placed them upside down so the top was more exposed to the heat.

In the last 1 to 2 hours, I peeled each section off the paper and allowed it to finish drying.

Once fully dry, turn the dehydrator off and let cool down.

Using a pizza cutter, I cut the section into halves.

Cut new parchment paper to fit, and roll each section up tightly, then tie kitchen twine around to hold it closed.

Store it in a glass mason jar, and if you are taking it with you for a snack, transfer it to a bag or plastic container before leaving.

For the long term, add a desiccant packet and seal the jar.

~Sarah

Bread Machine American Style Pumpernickel Bread
Recipes

Bread Machine American Style Pumpernickel Bread

Sarah

I don’t often make pumpernickel bread, but sometimes I crave the hearty flavor. It must have caraway seeds in it, for me! And oh….to be where you are getting the ingredients all on the counter and realize you are out. Off to the store quickly. I wasn’t going to let that stop me.

(What is Caraway Seeds? They are a tiny dried fruit, but they are the size of a fennel seed. They have a citrus and light licorice flavor, which is very delightful. Dried caraway is nearly always used in “seed” form – so whole – as the ground version, it is often overpowering in flavor.)

I used locally grown and milled rye flour in this loaf, which was well worth the extra cost. The flour had a great aroma and texture. I found it recently while shopping at a food co-op on the other side of the water.

The recipe uses honey instead of molasses, and you could swap that in for a deeper-flavored bread. However, I liked the light flavor of honey better, and I think this will be my sweetener of choice for rye bread.

This is a 1½ pound loaf recipe that bakes up lovely in a Zojirushi Bread Machine.

American-Style Pumpernickel Bread (1½ pound loaf)

Ingredients:

  • 1¼ cups water
  • 1½ Tbsp olive or avocado oil
  • 2 Tbsp honey
  • 1½ tsp sea salt
  • 1½ tsp caraway seeds
  • 3 Tbsp dry milk
  • ¼ cup cornmeal
  • 1 cup rye flour
  • 270 grams all-purpose or bread flour + more as needed (used an additional 60 grams)
  • 2½ tsp dry active yeast

Directions:

If using a Zojirushi bread machine, add the listed ingredients, ensuring the yeast is nestled into the flour. Only add the first 270 grams of flour.

Set the machine for a basic loaf.

When the kneading cycle starts, check on the dough and add in enough extra flour so the dough isn’t sticky, and it clears the bread pan while kneading. I used about 60 grams of extra flour.

Once baked, remove it promptly and knock it out. Let it cool on a wire rack before enjoying it.

Store in a plastic or cloth bread bag, and eat within 24 hours for the best taste.

If using a regular bread machine, follow the method for adding the ingredients (including using warm water).

~Sarah

Freeze-drying A Naturally Sweet Healthy Snack
Freeze Drying · Prepping · Preserving · Recipes

Freeze-drying A Naturally Sweet Healthy Snack

Sarah

We spent the summer and early summer working on freeze-drying food for the winter, especially eggs when they were plentiful in the long days. It works well for us, do the work when it happens and eat later. A Little Red Hen tale always. Don’t be lazy when it is on. Often we freeze-dry a lot of the same things over and over (that we use often).

This treat is one we do often. It uses the prime harvest time or even when the best of it shows up in markets. Process it, and you will eat well for months.

And what is that?

Carrots!

Just out of the Harvest Right Freeze-dryer, ready to be put into small MRE-style mylar bags.

Yes, it is that simple. Raw carrots were freeze-dried. They become even more sweet when dried and can be eaten as a snack. You can, of course, soak them in water and cook with them after drying, but it is so easy that there is no need to blanch the produce beforehand. Just peel and slice up, then proceed.

What is the sweetest vegetable out there? For me, I would say carrots. When you freeze-dry them, they become intensely flavored and even sweeter.

Buying dehydrated carrot dice is easy, but they are not the same. Dehydrated carrots are tiny bits that must be rehydrated before eating. They are pre-cooked, so they work fine for meals with a 15-minute rehydration time or to be added into say stews and soups and left to simmer.

If freeze-dried raw carrots can be found commercially, they are often marketed as a dog treat (lucky them!).

So, if you want a fun snack, it will be a DIY project!

Freeze-Dried Carrot Coins

We usually prep 15 to 20 pounds of carrots at a time. If you are harvesting from your garden, you can process them as they are ripe, and once you have enough, put them on a run in the machine. This makes it very easy.

Try out the carrots. You want them to be as crisp as possible and taste great. You won’t get a good final product if they are soft, limp, or mealy.

This also opens up choices. Buy or grow the fancy carrots for a different look. Freeze-drying white, yellow, and purple instead of orange? Easy!

I buy carrots when I see them at good prices or when the harvest flow is happening. I give them a good wash, then peel and trim.

Slice into coins or on the bias (so at an angle). We have done it both ways. I find that the bias cut is best for enormous carrots. For smaller carrots, cut coins.

I spread them out on rimmed baking sheets and freeze them. Unless I work on a big lot (say 15 to 20 pounds at once), I transfer to bags once frozen and keep them frozen until I have enough. This lets you harvest carrots over a couple of weeks in summer and early fall. (We have a Large size unit, so we pack it pretty full)

Once you have enough to run a batch, lay the carrots on the freeze-dryer sheets and put them on. The machines are automatic, so it is quite easy.

Once dry, open the machine and test a carrot to ensure it is fully dry. If not, put it on for a few more hours. Otherwise, bag the carrots (or put it into mason jars) and seal it with a desiccant and an oxygen packet. If you use the small MRE-style mylar bags, you have a ready-to-go trail snack. Be sure to note the date dried and what is in the bags.

Enjoy your naturally sweet and crunchy treat!

Tip: When enjoying freeze-dried treats, drink water with it. Your stomach will appreciate you.

Want to see what else we have freeze-dried?

All the tutorials.

The Black Friday November Harvest Right Sale Is On!

This is Harvest Right’s best sale all year long, with the machines hundreds of dollars off. If you have been contemplating getting one, this is the time.

~Sarah

Bread Machine Honey White Bread
Recipes

Bread Machine Honey White Bread

Sarah

The other week, I was browsing the local Senior Thrift store and came across a copy of “The Best Bread Machine Cookbook Ever” from 1992. Since it was a pink tag day, I got it for 50% off, so I paid about 67 cents for the copy. This seemed appropriate for a cookbook that came out when I was 19. I found it on Amazon and was shocked that they were still selling new copies of it, and they wanted almost $20 for it.

This is a side rant, but if there is one thing about the mass Boomer retirement, it is the sheer volume of books being dumped. The market for used older books is nearly dead. If thrift shops want it to move, they must price them low and pray someone even wants out-of-date cookbooks. As with most books of the 1990s, it’s not a flashy book. There are no photos, just black and white pages, with a recipe on each page. It made for easy book writing back then. The author put out 3 bread machine cookbooks in 1992, 1994, and 1995. Modern cookbooks are full-color photos first, then the recipe. It’s more about the coffee table essence, but in your kitchen, to impress visitors.

But for 67 cents, I was willing to see what gems might lie in it, and that I might like a couple of the 150 recipes. I am always looking for inspiration and new recipes.

The bread recipes have 1—and 1½-pound variations (listed as small and large loaves). In the early 1990s, bread machines were still small and not very affordable. I don’t remember having a bread machine until at least the mid-to-late 90s, and I think my mom was gifted it. We couldn’t afford to buy a bread machine then. That bread machine actually came with me when I met Kirk, and I started using it often in the early 2000s. Then our cat knocked it off the counter and broke it (it would rock like crazy while kneading and was super hot, so he’d sneak up to get warm).

It was only after that Kirk surprised me with a Zojirushi bread machine, that can do 1, 1½, and 2 pound loaves. That machine runs often and still works as well as it did when new, and it is well over a decade old (it’s been in 3 houses now). Zoji machines do work differently than most others. It prewarms the liquids, so you don’t have to do the extra steps. For example, the milk would have been warmed in this recipe, and the butter melted. No need to with the Zoji! It makes my life that much easier.

One fair note: This cookbook uses cup measurements for the flour. I highly suggest you weigh it out instead at 120 grams per cup. Then, while the kneading cycle has started, add extra flour as needed. I usually weigh out an extra 120 grams and sprinkle it in as needed until the dough looks right to me. It’s so much easier to add more flour than to try to add water while kneading, especially if your machine only has one kneading paddle that bogs down.

The loaf is nicely denser and chewy, with lots of flavor. It is a moist, sturdy, slicing loaf. It is quite recommendable to try out.

Honey White Bread (1½ pounds)

Ingredients:

  • 1¼ cups milk
  • 3 Tbsp unsalted butter, thinly sliced
  • 2 Tbsp honey
  • ¾ tsp sea salt
  • 360 grams + 120 grams all-purpose or bread flour
  • 1½ tsp active dry yeast

Directions:

If using a Zojirushi bread machine, add the listed ingredients, ensuring the yeast is nestled into the flour. Only add the first 360 grams of flour.

Set the machine for a loaf.

When the kneading cycle starts, check on the dough and add in enough extra flour so the dough isn’t sticky, and it clears the bread pan while kneading. I used about 110 grams of flour.

Once baked, remove promptly and knock out, let cool on a wire rack before enjoying.

Store in a plastic or cloth bread bag, and eat within 24 hours for best taste.

If using a regular bread machine, follow the method for adding the ingredients.

You must warm the milk and butter in a saucepan until the butter melts before adding them to the machine.

~Sarah

Depression Era Recipes: Spaghetti with Boiled Carrots & White Sauce
Recipes

Depression Era Recipes: Spaghetti with Boiled Carrots & White Sauce

Sarah

Elanor Roosevelt was a hard-working woman. She built the White House in solidarity with the Great Depression, attempting to show women across the US how to make affordable meals. She also forced FDR to eat them as a punishment for the wandering he did. He deserved it in many ways.

This recipe always turned me off because of how overcooked the pasta would have been. In 10 minutes, there would have been no life in that wheat, and some versions called for cooking for 25 minutes! Although… I suppose that with dental care in the 1930s, overcooking might have been easier for the person eating the meal.

So I slightly altered the cooking times, and I have noted it below.

As for the sauce, I have found white sauces are typically sweet due to the dairy milk. I know back then, white sauces were very common, but as I went to try the pasta, all I could think of was I was going to be having a cheese sauce. But alas, no. So you do need to salt it liberally to get flavor and bump down the sweet milk flavor. In modern times, this sauce needs at least a hefty amount of grated parmesan cheese.

So…is it edible? I suppose. If one was very hungry, it would be tasty, but otherwise, no I would pass on it unless I could turn the white sauce into cheese sauce.

Spaghetti with Boiled Carrots & White Sauce

Ingredients:

  • 1 pound spaghetti
  • 1 pound carrots
  • 6 Tbsp unsalted butter
  • ¾ cup all-purpose flour
  • 4 cusp milk
  • Sea salt and ground black pepper

Directions:

Bring a large pot of water to a boil.

Meanwhile, peel and slice the carrots into coins.

Add the carrots, bring back to a boil, then add the pasta and cook as directed on the package, stirring often. (our spaghetti was 7 minutes)

Drain and return to the pot.

Meanwhile, melt the butter in a saucepan and add the flour to make a roux, whisking for a few minutes. Add the milk, whisking till smooth, and let thicken. Add salt and pepper to taste (I used ½ tsp sea salt and ¼ tsp ground black pepper). If the sauce is too thick, add more milk.

Toss the pasta with the sauce and serve.

According to the recipe, it serves 8 people. However, because it’s vegetarian, it’s more like serving 5.

~Sarah