Today's View

They've been coming by everyday, helping clean up the crabapples as they fall!

Spaghetti with Kale and Fresh Ricotta

Prepped the kale by removing the tough rib, rough chiffonade, wash. Then simmered until tender with water, dried onion flake, garlic powder, salt, pepper, nutmeg. Thickened the water a bit with some pasta water at the end. Topped spaghetti with the kale, some of the liquid.
I had a dab of sour cream, and about the same amount of Greek yogurt in the fridge, added some milk to it, let it sit a bit, then nuked it in the microwave until it started to simmer. Let it sit some more, then strained it. Put a large dollop of that on top of the kale, seasoned with salt and pepper, parmesan.
Then, couldn't resist... topped it off with some spaghetti sauce. I sauteed some onion and garlic in canola oil, added a pound of natural, grass fed, black angus. Then, when that was mostly browned, added a mixture of ground fennel, dried chili flakes, basil, oregano. Added paprika. Cooked it a few minutes, then added a can of 4 cheese spaghetti sauce (yep, bottom shelf, in a can). I rinsed out the can with about a half a can's worth of water. It evaporated while simmering on the stove. Added 1 bay leaf, and some more parmesan cheese.

Sugar Plums

1 1/3 cup slivered almonds (6 oz. pkg)
1/2 cup chopped hazelnuts (2.5 oz. pkg.)
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
Toast nuts slightly.
6 oz. pkg cherry flavored Craisins
3/4 cup (about 5 oz.) dried apricots
3/4 cup pitted dates
Rough chop the fruit, combine with nuts in a food processor. Process until fine. Add:
2 tsp. grated orange zest
1/4 cup honey
1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ground allspice
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1 1/2 Tblsp. honey
Process to mix well. Form mixture into small balls, about 1 inch; dust with powdered sugar. Makes 32.
I got enough ingredients for 3 batches.

Bacon Cheddar Swiss Quiche

I had a pie crust leftover from all the pies I made today, so thought a quice would be a good lunch!
Diced bacon (farmer's thick sliced, already cooked, leftover from yesterday's brunch), grated cheddar/swiss cheese. Started with cheese on the bottom, bacon, then more cheese. Then, I beat 5 eggs, added some milk, pepper, and dried onion flakes. Poured it over the top, poking the filling so the eggs would get all the way to the bottm. Baked it about 40 minutes at 350F.

Shoo Fly Pie

This is a Pennsylvania Dutch recipe. I consulted several different recipes, and came up with this. I made 3 pies: 2 1/4 cups flour, 1 1/2 cup brown sugar, 3 teaspoons cinnamon, 1/2 teaspoon ginger, scant 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg and cloves; 6 Tablespoons butter. Mix together, cut in butter like a pie crust. In another bowl put 1 1/2 cup molasses, 3 egg yolks, 1 1/2 teaspoon soda, 1 1/2 cups boiling water (add slowly so as not to cook the eggs). I set about 1 1/2 cups of the flour mixture aside, and dumped the rest into the molasses mixture. Sprinkle the tops with the crumb mixture. Some recipes say to not mix any of the flour with the wet, getting a "wet bottom" pie. I was worried about serving it and a mess, so I added some of the flour mixture to the molasses. Many recipes don't add the spices, some do. I couldn't resist.
Bake for 10 minutes in a hot (450) oven, turn down to 350 and continue to bake for 12-15 minutes.
Of course, after the pies were in the oven for about 10 minutes, the power went out! I kept the oven door closed, and after the power came on, 30 minutes later, I turned it to 350, baked until I could smell it, and the crust looked good.

Shaker Lemon Pie

I made 3 pies, so used 7 lemons (there were 7 in the bag), sliced thinly. The night before making the pies, I added 6 cups sugar and let the mixture sit overnight. Then, this morning, I added 13 beaten eggs and mixed it well. Divide the lemon mixture into 3 crusts (I confess, I used the refrigerated, rolled stuff), add a top crust, crimp and cut vent holes. Brush with milk, sprinkle with sugar. Bake at 450F for 15 minutes, then turn down to 350 and bake another 20-25 minutes.
This is an old Shaker recipe, where they used every part of the lemon so as not to waste anything. Lemons were one fruit that they did not grow themselves. They say there are now more recipes for Shaker Lemon Pie than there are Shakers.

Chicken Noodle Soup

Saute onion, carrot, celery, garlic. in canola oil until translucent. Add broth, cook a little, add noodles and canned chicken (you could also get a pre-cooked chicken from the deli and shred... yum). These noodles take 15-16 minutes to cook, so the vegetables should be tender by the time they are done. I added a bit of saffron, thyme, oregano, and a bay leaf, too.

Sourdough Bread

I took some sourdough starter, added Hungarian whole wheat high altitude flour, warm water, let it sit. In a measuring cup, I put some yeast, flour, sugar, warm water. When that was quite bubble, I combined the two. I let it sit for awhile.
Then, added KA white flour, salt, canola oil. Mixed well, then turned onto a flour board and kneaded it.
Put it in an oiled plastic tub, put the cover on it,and let it sit until doubles. Punched it down and rolled it out, then formed a baguette by rolling it tightly. Placed it on an oiled baking sheet, let it rise. Slashed the top.
Baked in a 400F oven until done.

Autumn...

A beautiful day... the leaves are in all stages, green, golden, brown, fallen. The ribs are braising. I took them out of the slow cooker, as that seemed to be too hot, they were simmering a little too vigorously for my taste. So, I put them in a fabulous heavy pot my brother gave me.

Braised Short Ribs

Start with fabulous beef. Touchstone. Yum.
Season the meat with salt and pepper, then dust with flour. Brown well, put into a slow cooker. Remove some of the grease form the pan, add sliced onions, grated carrots, smashed/diced garlic, a teaspoon of fennel seed; saute until it starts to brown. Add half a can of crushed tomatoes, a bay leaf, 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika. Cook down until reduced quite a bit, then add the rest of the crushed tomatoes and reduce further. Pour over the ribs in the slow cooker.
Cook on low, 7-8 hours.

(my iphoto is being strange and I can't export a photo of the finished product. It was pretty incredible)

Sourdough Bagels

Yes, in retrospect, I should not have "cut" the bagels. Next time, I will shape into balls, poke a finger through the middle, twirl it a bit.
I used sourdough starter, flour, milk, butter, salt. Kneaded it, let it raise. Then rolled it out and formed them. Let them raise a bit, then drop into simmering/boiling water to which you've added a couple of tablespoons sugar and one of salt. I had them in their about 2-3 minutes. Drain, put on baking sheet (oiled, cornmeal). Bake about 20 minutes in a 350-375 oven.
The next day, I found that I could just pot a whole one in the toaster, and it comes out great, kind of a bagel bite/pretzel. Perfect for a dip of some kind! Sliced and toasted are in between a bagel and a bagel chip.

Corn Chowder

Corn cobs
Butter
Onion
Green chilies, roasted, diced
Corn
Potatoes, diced
Chicken stock
Heavy cream
Simmer corn cobs in the water, drain, reserving the water, throw cobs away.

Saute onion and chilies in butter, add corn. Add strained cob water, chicken stock, and diced potatoes. Cook until potatoes are tender. Add heavy cream, heat through. Season throughout the cooking process with salt and pepper.

Yesterday, I had some leftovers in the fridge, pulled some together to take to work. I had some corn (canned), a bit of cream, and a roasted chili. I combined them and added dried onion flakes , cumin, salt, and pepper. Then I used the immersion blender to puree, leaving it kind of medium chunky. I microwaved it during lunch in the workroom. Quick, easy, and very yummy!

Chipotle Oil

The leftover pulp and seeds from a can of strained chipotles in adobo sauce, put into a jar, fill to the top with canola oil, refrigerate.
Amazing on refried beans, use to saute rice for pilaf...

White Corn Chips

Cut tortillas into wedges, heat oil to 350F, fry, drain.
Yep, that easy.

Mango Jalapeno Jam

Dice mangoes and jalapeno. Yes, I used frozen mangoes. The membrane and seeds are the hot part of the jalapeno, I discarded that. Put into a saucepan, barely cover with apple juice and sugar (about a cup); add orange marmalade. I used a jam that I made from oranges, lemon, and grapefruit from Arizona. (Last March blog, maybe?)
Simmer until thick. I used my immersion blender partway through, and chopped it into smaller bits.