Grapefruit-Orange Breakfast Shake

It's National Grapefruit Month!  Hurry and make this yummy breakfast smoothie, before the month is over.
This shake is not too sweet and filled with fiber, as it uses the fruit itself and not just the juice.  Recipe comes from a book I am really enjoying, called A Good Food Day:  Reboot Your Health with Food That Tastes Great by Marco Canora, with Tammy Walker.

Canora is a chef who found himself overweight, pre-diabetic, suffering from gout, etc. due to his poor eating habits.  Kind of like the shoemaker's kids who don't have shoes, it seems that many professional chefs spend their waking hours making good food for others yet neglecting their own diets.  This was true for Canora.  Lucky for us, he made some healthy changes and shares his real-life wisdom in this book.
I am still reading the breakfast chapter, but he's already got me buying steel-cut oats and chia seeds and putting stuff like cilantro in my smoothies.  Someone take my temperature, quick.

A GOOD FOOD DAY'S
ODE TO ORANGE JULIUS SHAKE
1/2 grapefruit, peeled
1/2 orange, peeled
1/2 t. vanilla
1 T. honey
1 c. ice
1/2 c. plain yogurt (Canora recommends full-fat plain Greek yogurt; I use fat-free regular plain yogurt)

Put everything in your super duper blender and whirl away.  (Note:  I blend the grapefruit, orange, vanilla, and honey first, in one batch, then add the ice and yogurt and blend again.  I find when I put honey in the blender at the same time as anything frozen, the honey just congeals into a sad little ball at the bottom and refuses to mix well.  Poor little honey.)

Guess the Favorite

So which of this week's culinary experiments were the favorites, the ones I'll be making again?

Was it this apple thyme jelly, thyme courtesy of Kahuna's garden?

Or maybe this baked oatmeal, made with last summer's apricots retrieved from the freezer?

Or how about this homemade cranberry juice?

Do you have your pick ready?  You sure?  You want to call a friend to confer? 

Okay.  Here goes.

I can tell you straight off the apple thyme jelly was a big fat fail.  I followed instructions to the letter, but this still turned out verrrrry gummy and not at all what a jelly should be.  Someone more experienced at making jelly without adding pectin probably could have made this work.  But me?  All I can say is errrgh.  Not good.

The baked oatmeal was promising.  But the recipe I followed was too sweet, and it had 1/4 c. of oil in it to boot, so not as healthy as I'd like for a breakfast food.  I won't be making that one again, either. 

The homemade cranberry juice?  We have our winner!  It was easy and tasty and just plain fun to turn November's unused frozen cranberries into juice concocted by my very own self.  The juice made with these directions is a tad on the sweet side, so think of it as a lightly concentrated version and add plenty of ice and a bit more water when you serve it.  The recipe is from Drinks Without Alcohol by Jane Brandt.

HOMEMADE CRANBERRY JUICE

1 lb. fresh cranberries (mine were frozen), rinsed and stemmed

  (NOTE:  when you rinse frozen cranberries they will stick together in a lump and will not want to be corralled into your pot without at least a few skittering onto the floor.  Heads up.)

2 c. sugar

6 c. water

 

Put all the ingredients into a large pot and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, for five minutes, until cranberries have burst.

Spoon into a sieve that you have lined with cheesecloth, set over a bowl to collect the juice.

 Smash cranberries against the side of the cheesecloth to extract all the liquid you can.

Cool and drink over ice, or put into straight-sided jars to freeze, making sure to leave enough room at the top for it to expand (about 3/4-inch should be plenty).

 

Happy day from our home to yours.

Pear Slushie

Delish!  That's all there is to say about this cold, lemony pear slushie.
If you have a pear, some orange juice, and a lemon or lime, you probably have all you need to make some refreshing deliciousness of your own.
The website for USA Pears provides you with all you'd ever want to know about pears, including lots and lots of pear recipes.
You'd like a pear slushie, you say?  Excellent choice.
Cheers.

Pear Sauce

If you're an applesauce fan, I'm willing to bet you'd love this pear sauce. 

Just get your hands on six pounds of pears (got way more than that here),

chunk 'em up into a pot of water and lemon juice, then cook for 20 minutes or so before smashing everything up with a potato masher.  Then you add some sugar, vanilla, lemon peel, and salt, cook a bit more, and voila!  A lovely, chunky, lemony potful of pear sauce, which you can ladle into jars and freeze for later.  Yummy.

It is not always, easy, by the way, to tell when pears are ripe.  For those green ones, above, I usually just watch and wait until they turn golden.  But even that is not always foolproof.  Fun fact I found out today from the book Simply in Season (which is crammed with recipes for fruits and vegetables):  Pears are ripe "when the flesh surrounding the stem yields slightly to gentle pressure."  Good to know.

LEMONY PEAR SAUCE

6 lb. pears, peeled and chunked

2 c. water

1/4 c. fresh lemon juice (about 2 lemons; save peels for grating)

1/2 c. sugar

2 1/2 t. lemon peel

1 T. vanilla

1/4 t. salt

Combine pears, water, and lemon juice in large pot.  Cover partially and simmer until pears are very soft, about 20 minutes.  Smash with potato masher. 

Stir in sugar, lemon peel, vanilla, and salt.  Cover partially and cook over low heat until mixture is the texture you want (not that long).  You can remove the cover if you want to cook off some of the liquid.  Cool slightly, spoon into jars leaving about one-inch of space if you're going to freeze.  Makes 4 - 5 pints.

 

Fyi, eating pears smothered with hot fudge sauce will help you forget about the other 50 pounds of pears you've got to do something with.  Just sayin'.

 

Plum Fruit Leather

Plum jam?  Check.  Made two batches.
Plum sauce, to use on chicken or ribs?  Check.  Made the delicious recipe from the Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving. 

And still . . . a tree full of plums.

 Seriously.

So today's project?  Plum fruit leather.  You just pit the little suckers, pop 'em in a saucepan with a bit of sugar (about 2 T. per each cup of plums), smash them up a bit with a potato masher, and cook over medium heat until mixture is just about boiling.  Then, in batches, puree in a blender until mixture is smooth.  If you want, at this point you can put the pulp through a fine wire strainer for extra smoothness.

Now tape plastic wrap onto a cookie sheet and pour the puree onto the wrap -- it should be about 1/4-inch thick.

Cover plum puree with cheesecloth, clipping it tight with clothespins, and set outside in the sun.  I'll bring this in tonight so the critters don't get it, and set it out again tomorrow.  According to the Sunset Cook Book of Favorite Recipes II, where I got this recipe, it should take 20 to 24 hours to dry.

"When fruit is firm to touch, try peeling fruit sheet off plastic (fruit is sufficiently dry when whole sheet can be pulled off plastic with no puree adhering . . .)"  Sunset also says that after you roll them up and seal them in plastic, you can refrigerate for four months or freeze for up to a year.

Can't wait. 
If this turns out to be wonderful, I know what I'll be doing for the next few days.

Anyone else inundated with summertime fruit?  What are you making?

Lindsey's Brandied Cranberries

What am I doing, making cranberry recipes in mid-March, you ask?
Cleaning out this.

 Which, just a couple months ago, looked like this.

We are getting there, people.  To quote Gladys Taber, "We feel the secret softening of winter as the deep freeze gets nearly empty." 

Way back in spring and summer, while putting up all those orange jams, peach butters, and herb pestos, we were feeling mighty virtuous.  Now, as it's time to clear out last year's abundance in readiness for this year's, the feeling is more one of over-saturation.  We froze too much tzatziki sauce, let's face it.  And the frozen dill pickle spears just were not such a hot idea.

 

 Now, as Margaret Roach, author of The Backyard Parables:  Lessons on Gardening, and Life, puts it, we are on the freezer diet, "when the garden manages to provide anyhow, despite prevailing conditions." And we are down to just a jar or two (or three) of tzatziki sauce.  The end is in sight.  (Check out Margaret Roach's blog, A Way to Garden, here.)

 

Fortunately, nestled way back on one of those shelves was a lovely bag of cranberries, purchased in November.  And tucked away in my files of Thanksgiving Recipes to Try was this terrific recipe for Brandied Cranberries from our friend Lindsey, who says it's her very favorite way to make cranberries.  "This recipe is very quick, produces only one dirty pan, and is extremely yummy over turkey or vanilla ice cream!"  I heartily verify its yumminess, as we had it last night over slices of pork tenderloin, accompanied by Kahuna's first flush of 2015 garden goodness, tender asparagus and itty baby potatoes.

 

LINDSEY'S BRANDIED CRANBERRIES

1 12-oz package cranberries (mine were frozen)

1 1/2 c. sugar

1/4 c. brandy

 

Place cranberries in microwave-safe 3-quart pan (a 9 x 13-inch glass pan works well, reports Lindsey).  Sprinkle sugar over cranberries; cover with plastic wrap and microwave for 12 minutes (that's right, 12 minutes).  Remove pan from microwave, stir mixture, and, while it's still hot, add brandy and mix well.

That's it.  The perfect sweet-tart combo, this is so good you will plan to buy extra cranberries next November just so you can chance upon them later and make this.

 

It's a sloppy and droopy, orange marmalade kind of day.

If you have one orange, a food chopper of some kind, a microwave, and a few minutes, whip up some of the quickest, easiest orange marmalade around.
It's good :). 

The Simplest Applesauce Ever

 

Mmm, organic apples bought at a local farm.  Tons of fun.

I sautéed 'em with molasses;

incorporated them into a stuffing and rolled it up in fish fillets (wowzer, these were fantastic);

made them into a delicious apple/sausage quiche.

But perhaps my very favorite apple experiment this fall was this one.  Baked applesauce.

Number of ingredients:  exactly one.
This recipe comes from the funny The Crabby Cook Cookbook by Jessica Harper, a book I would definitely recommend.
Here, then, are the instructions for the simplest applesauce you will ever make.

GOLDEN DELICIOUS APPLESAUCE
4 Golden Delicious apples

Cut apples in half vertically, cut out the core, and place, cut sides down, on rimmed baking sheet.  (Next time I'll put parchment paper down first, for easier clean-up.)  Bake at 350 degrees for 40 - 45 minutes, until apples are very tender when poked with fork.

See how well I follow directions?  Here I am, poking with a fork.  Take that, little apples.

Give the apples a few minutes to cool, pull off peels, and mash with a potato masher (or, alternatively, Harper says, you can whoosh them in the food processor, just 5 or 6 pulses).  That's it.  C'est tout.  Marveilleux.

So what's cooking in your kitchen these days?

Fresh Peach Shortcake

Peaches.  I have been up to my apron strings in peaches this year.

Kahuna has been experimenting with pruning.

Whatever he's doing, I think it's working.
Meanwhile, I get to play in the kitchen.  I even get to put cute little peach leaf garnishes on the plate.
I got that idea from Canadian writer Judy Schultz, whose book The Best of Seasons I happen to own.  That's also where I got this recipe, which is a marvelous change from all the canning, jamming, and cobblering I've been doing of late.

FRESH PEACH SHORTCAKE

3 c. flour
4 1/2 t. baking powder
3 T. sugar
1 1/2 t. salt
3/4 c. shortening (I used butter)
1 egg, beaten
about 7/8 c. milk

 

FILLING

8 ripe peaches, peeled and sliced
1/2 c. sugar
1 c. whipped cream
1/4 c. peach schnapps (optional; it's lovely without it)

In large bowl, combine flour, baking powder, 3 T. sugar, and salt.  Cut in the shortening/butter with a pastry blender.  Add the egg, then gradually stir in the milk.  (Schultz says you may need up to 1 c. milk, but I found 7/8 c. to be perfect.  Feel free to smush with hands to get the dough all blended.)
Pat shortcake mixture into greased 8- or 9-inch pan (square or round).  Bake at 450 degrees until golden brown -- Schultz says 25 to 30 minutes, but mine was ready at 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, make filling.  Peel and slice peaches, gently stir in sugar, and refrigerate until ready to serve. 

Once shortcake has baked and cooled, cut slices in half horizontally.   Top bottom half with some of the peaches (and schnapps, if using).  Cover with top of shortcake, then add more peaches, more schnapps if desired, and a touch of whipped cream.
Mmm, mmm good.

 

So have you been enjoying peaches this summer? What's your favorite way to serve them?

(Note:  Other outstanding peach recipes -- Peaches and cream muffins,
peach nectar,
and peach muesli.  Stop and smell the peaches!)

Light Pear Clafouti

Sometimes I have a hankering for an eggy, custard-y dessert, one that's warm and comforting with a hint of vanilla and sort of like pudding, but not.
Boy, does this dish fit the bill.
It also doesn't hurt that I have a freezer half full of last summer's fruit that I am valiantly trying to use up so we can give the big lug a good defrost before the current year's crop comes in.  My little baggie of 2 cups of cubed peeled pears was just perfect for this dish.
And did I mention it's a "light" recipe?  Originally from an ancient issue of Cooking Light magazine,  this pear clafouti yields six wedges at 231 calories each.  Delicious calories, every one of 'em. 
I think it'll make a fine breakfast, too.
Since the recipe came out pre-internet days, I couldn't find it online so I'll type it in here.
But I did find that the recipe's author, Steven Petusevsky, is a well-known chef who has a site with more great looking recipes on it.   I think some serious poking around is in order. 
In the meantime -- enjoy.

PEAR CLAFOUTI

cooking spray
1 t. flour
2 c. cubed peeled pear
3/4 c. flour
1/4 t. salt
1/8 t. cinnamon (he used nutmeg but I hate nutmeg)
2 c. milk, divided (he used 1% low-fat; I used nonfat)
1/2 c. sugar
1/2 t. vanilla
3 lg. eggs, lightly beaten
2 t. powdered sugar

I hope you can find a 10-inch deep-dish pie plate lying around, because that's what this calls for.
Spray it with cooking spray and dust with the 1 t. of flour.  Spread the cubed pear around the bottom of the dish.  In medium bowl, stir together flour, salt, and cinnamon.  Slowly, add one cup of the milk, whisking away to keep out the lumps.  Add the rest of the milk, sugar, vanilla, and eggs and stir well.  Pour milk mixture over the pears and bake at 375 degrees for 35ish minutes, until set (mine took 40).  Sift powdered sugar over the top and eat up.  Six wedges at 231 calories each slice.

Pears!

A happy August day

Canning these





and making some of this

and a little of this (roasted pears and red onions -- yum!). 

Aaaah.  Late summer contentment.  Sigh.
NOTE:  You'll find an informative article about how to know when pears are ripe from the Oregon State University Extension Service. 
You're welcome.

Peach Mimosas

Melissa over at My Crafty Soul blog has come up with a delightful idea for using  peach nectar, a perennial favorite here at the castle when we are swimming in peaches. 
As we were, one month ago.

Go check out Melissa's very festive and colorful Mimosa Bar, where she's expanded on the traditional champagne/orange juice combo with both peach nectar and strawberry lemonade.  Yum!  It looks like  a fun drink station for a celebration.  I'll bet you could also substitute anything fizzy for the champagne if you're serving kids or non-drinkers (maybe 7-Up, ginger ale, carbonated water, sparkling apple juice).
Thanks, Melissa, for a great idea.

Fresh Peach Breakfast Goodness

I don't know why I love this dish so much.  To me, it's comfort food, creamy and full in your mouth, like rice pudding --  only cold.  And filled with peaches.  And berries.  And the crunch of a little walnut.

You can eat this Peach Muesli with Berries for breakfast, lunch, or snack.  I'm sure I've eaten it for dinner, too, in the same way you sometimes pour yourself a bowl of Cheerios and call it a day.

For some reason I make this in no other month than July, when the backyard peach tree gives forth her exquisite magic, one whiff of which tells you there is truly no other place you'd rather be than right here, nose in fruit, inhaling summer.

Mmmm.  I think it's time to go make another batch.

PEACH MUESLI WITH BERRIES

2 c. oatmeal, uncooked
2 c. fresh peaches, peeled and chopped
1 1/2 c. apple juice (I've also used white grape juice)
8 oz. vanilla or peach non-fat yogurt (or you can use plain yogurt, with a little maple syrup to sweeten)
1/2 t. vanilla
a large handful of berries (blackberries, blueberries, raspberries -- it doesn't matter) to throw on top of each serving
a small handful of chopped walnuts to throw on top of each serving

In medium bowl (one that has a lid is perfect), combine oatmeal, peaches, juice, yogurt, and vanilla.  Stir together well.  If eating immediately, throw some in a bowl and toss on the berries and nuts.  If eating later, just put in the fridge, covered, until you're ready to eat.  Toss on the nuts and berries before serving.  Keeps for several days -- if it lasts that long.
NOTE:  Recipe comes from the Venice Yacht Club Cookbook of 1998, which was dedicated to the memory of my Aunt Jan, a kind and fun lady.  Miss you, Aunt Jan.

NOTE #2:  If you have lots and lots of peaches, consider making some peach nectar.  Perfect for freezing and giving you that mid-winter reminder of summer.

Berry Crumble

A more accurate name might be

peach, nectarine, big plum, little plum, and olallieberry crumble.

Because I happen to have a little bit of fruit around here.
This recipe came from an old issue of Workbasket magazine.  Does anyone remember that publication?  It was a digest-sized gem that contained homespun recipes and craft ideas.  I don't think it's being published any more, and that's a cryin' shame.
Here's a little background on Workbasket, for the curious.
But back to the recipe.
It was originally titled Blueberry Crumble, and contained four cups of frozen blueberries.  But I substituted two cups of olallieberries, and two cups of plum/peach/nectarine mixture, chopped.  With the little bit of lemon added, plus the crumbly oatmeal topping, this was a winner.  Two thumbs up.  Or four, if you count Kahuna's.  And why wouldn't we count Kahuna's?
Speaking of making recipe substitutions, here's a nifty quote I came across just today from Anna Quindlen's new memoir, Lots of Candles, Plenty of Cake.  She was talking about being willing to take risks in life, and how the older we get, the more willing we generally are.  The example she gave was about food, and I thought about it the whole time I was chopping up plums and nectarines for my "blueberry" crumble:

"You have to use cookbooks for a long time before you realize that you can leave out the beans, throw in some tomatoes, substitute rosemary for basil, jettison the formula, try something different.  Sometimes the improvisation is better than the original recipe, sometimes just as good, and sometimes you pour it down the Disposall and make a nice fettucine Alfredo, which never hurt anyone."  Anna Quindlen

Now onto the recipe, which you have my permission to make with blueberries, olallieberries, peaches, plums, or all of the above.

FRUIT CRUMBLE

4 c. fruit (this can be blueberries, olallieberries, peaches, plums, nectarines, or any combination your creative, fruit-lovin' heart desires)

1/2 c. sugar

3 T. cornstarch

1 t. lemon juice

1/2 t. grated lemon peel

1/2 c. oatmeal, uncooked

1/4 c. flour

1/4 c. butter, softened

1/4 c. firmly packed brown sugar

1/4 t. cinnamon

Place fruit, sugar, and cornstarch in large saucepan.  Cook, stirring, over medium heat until fruit gets juicy and mixture thickens.  Stir in lemon juice and lemon peel, and pour mixture into 2 qt. baking dish.

In small bowl, mix together oatmeal, flour, butter, brown sugar, and cinnamon.  You can use a fork, or crumble together with your fingers.  (This might be a fun job for little ones.)  Once it's well mixed and crumbly, sprinkle it over the fruit.  Bake at 375 degrees for 15 - 20 minutes, until top is lightly browned.

Delicious.