My Kitchen Clatter

teaching and sharing whole foods

Butternut Squash Risotto with Balsamic Vinegar

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If you haven’t made risotto in the pressure cooker, then you are missing out. Risotto is fairly labor intensive if you do it on the stovetop – involves a lot of time and stirring. I’m not opposed to labor in the kitchen, but recipes that tie me down to a spot are the ones that I’m most likely to blow. But risotto is a whole different world in the pressure cooker. You basically add everything to the cooker, bring to high pressure for six minutes and it’s done. If you have an electric pressure cooker with a risotto setting, then it’s even easier – push a button and all the work is done for you. I love this recipe for butternut squash risotto – it is very simple, traditional, and delicious.

This recipe for butternut squash risotto with balsamic vinegar is one of my very favorite risottos. It is great on it’s own, but it also makes a great base recipe to take in different directions. If I want to add protein to the risotto, I prepare my chicken, sausage or pancetta (my favorite) ahead of time and add in to the finished risotto at the end. This is a great way to use up leftovers.

In spring when the asparagus is tender, I love to add some thin spears at the end with the cheese and butter. Close the lid for three minutes after the pressure is off and the asparagus will be crisp tender when you open up to serve.

You can also mess around with the cheese – parmesan and asiago are always safe bets, but you can play around with blue cheese or even swiss.

This recipe is even easier if you have pureed squash or pumpkin in your freezer. But, if you don’t have a freezer full of squash like I do, I include directions for pressure cooking your butternut squash. Still pretty darn easy. And it’s always a good trick to be able to cook a squash in minutes.

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Butternut Squash Risotto with Balsamic
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Serves: 4
 
I'm keeping the garnish really simple for this risotto. Use a high quality balsamic vinegar and you won't go wrong. You want one that is thick to the point that it pours like a syrup. It makes all the difference when you aren't hiding it behind other ingredients.
Ingredients
  • 1 small butternut squash - or 1 cup of butternut squash puree
  • 4 cups of chicken stock, low sodium
  • 2 T extra virgin olive oil - garlic flavored is awesome, if you have it
  • 3 shallots, chopped
  • 2 cloves of garlic (not necessary if using garlic flavored EVOO)
  • 1 T chopped fresh sage
  • 2 cups Arborio rice
  • ¼ c dry white wine
  • 1 T unsalted butter
  • salt and black pepper, to taste
  • ½ cup grated Asiago cheese, divided
  • For garnish:
  • high quality balsamic vinegar
Instructions
  1. If using a whole butternut squash, cut the squash in half and clean out the seeds. Place in pressure cooker (on a rack, if you have one) with 1½ cups of water (or the minimum amount of water necessary to bring your cooker to pressure) and bring to high pressure for 6 minutes. Release pressure naturally and poke the squash with a fork through the skin - if the fork pushes through with no resistance, the squash is done. Scoop squash out of skin and puree in a blender or using a stick blender until it is smooth. Reserve 1 cup of puree for this recipe and freeze remaining puree for future use - it will also keep in the fridge about 5 days.
  2. Heat olive oil in the bottom of a stovetop pressure cooker over medium heat - or in an electric cooker set to brown or sauté. Add shallots and sautée until soft, about 3 minutes. Add garlic cloves (if using) and chopped sage and sauté another 30 seconds until fragrant. Add Arborio rice and stir until rice grains are coated in oil and the tips start to turn transparent - about 3 minutes.
  3. Add the wine and stir until the wine has been absorbed. Add chicken broth and squash and stir. Close and lock lid of pressure cooker. Set pressure cooker to high and cook for 6 minutes on high. If your electric pressure cooker has a risotto setting - use it. Release pressure using a quick release method. Open lid, add butter salt and pepper to taste and ¼ cup of cheese, stir and replace lid for 3 minutes. The risotto will seem a bit wet - don't worry. Remove lid after 3 minutes, stir again and check your consistency. The rice should be creamy and al dente.
  4. Serve in bowls and drizzle with balsamic vinegar and top with remaining cheese.

 

Sourdough English Muffins

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Sourdough English Muffins

A fresh batch of sourdough English muffins

I believe that these Sourdough English Muffins are reason enough to maintain a jar of sourdough starter in your fridge. They are not super difficult to make, but they do take a little bit of time and love. But they are so delicious and so much healthier for you than the store bought version. Once you get spoiled with homemade breads, it really gets hard to go back to the mass produced stuff.

Sourdough English Muffins

Sourdough Starter

Like most sourdough recipes, you’ll need to do a little planning for these muffins. You’ll make your dough the night before and it should rest in the fridge overnight (8-12 hours). Make sure you put the dough in the fridge during the rest period. If you leave it on the counter, they won’t have any rise left in them for baking and you’ll end up with hockey pucks. And along that line, be sure to use instant yeast in your recipe. I use SAF red instant yeast – it has a different lifespan that the normal quick rise yeast that you typically find in the grocery store. the quick rise will die off by the time your long rise is over and you’ll end up with the hockey puck problem again.

In the morning, you pull the dough out of the fridge, shape your muffins, and “bake” them off. You could also start the process in the morning and finish off that evening – but you’d loose the beauty of fresh English muffins for breakfast. And, really, what’s the point of that?

Once you pull the muffins out of the fridge, I divide the dough into muffin sized portion. The engineer in me always weighs each portion to make sure they are all about the same size. Normal people probably don’t do this. But, I find that 1.7 ounces of dough makes a nice, small muffin that is still big enough to hold an egg sandwich. 2 ounces is a medium sized muffin and 2.3 ounces would be a monster size around our house. When I do 1.7 ounce portions, I usually end up with about 2 and half dozen muffins. Once I have the dough portioned out, I shape them into flat rounds. This is one of the best parts of the recipe. There is just something about handling a nice bread dough. Place the rounds onto a parchment lined baking sheet. You can sprinkle course ground corn meal or semolina on the parchment so you have a little crunch to your final muffin. It is a nice touch, but my corn meal usually ends up burning on the cast iron skillet. I guess its a little give and take that way.

Sourdough English Muffins

Muffins cooking on stovetop

And speaking of baking, English muffins aren’t really baked. They are cooked on the stovetop – kind of like tortillas. I cook mine on a cast iron skillet. They will puff up as they hit the heat and it’s a pretty fun thing for the kids (and grownups) to watch. Sometimes mine brown too quickly and aren’t quite done in the centers. If that happens you, can finish them off in  a 350 degree oven for about 10 minutes until the centers reach 190 degrees. I don’t really ever stress about the centers being done. I usually end up splitting most of the muffins and freezing them. When I’m ready to eat the muffins, I toast them – so the centers get finished that way.

As written, this recipe for English Muffins does not rely entirely on the sourdough to give the rise to the muffins. It is kind of a cheater recipe for sourdough. Which makes it a great recipe for anyone who is just starting out with sourdough and is working at gaining confidence in their skills. If you want to convert it to 100% sourdough, then you should 1) make sure your starter is fed and active and 2) eliminate the instant yeast and optional citric acid.

I hope you enjoy these sourdough English muffins!

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Sourdough English Muffins
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Serves: 30 muffins
 
As with all things whole wheat, if you aren't using freshly milled whole wheat flour, you can substitute a high quality store a combination of ½ store bought white whole wheat flour and white flour, but your final product will be slightly different than mine in taste, texture, and nutrition.
Ingredients
  • 2 T sugar
  • 1 cup warm water (110-115 degree F)
  • 1 cup warm milk
  • 1 T instant yeast
  • 1 c sourdough starter, fed or unfed; fed will give you a more vigorous rise
  • 7-8 cups white whole wheat flour - freshly milled flour strongly recommended!
  • ¼ c (4 T) butter, at room temperature
  • 1 T salt
  • ¼ t citric acid (optional, for added sour flavor)
  • semolina or course corn meal, for coating
Instructions
  1. Combine all ingredients, except, flour and semolina, in the bowl of a stand mixer.
  2. Add flour until dough is soft and at the right consistency for kneading. If using a Bosch universal, you should add flour until the dough just cleans the sides of the bowl. If using an Ankarsrum the dough should pull from the sides of the bowl and form a donut around the kneading arm. The dough can be a little sticky - it will continue to absorb moisture as it rises.
  3. Knead using the mixer for 6-12 minutes (Bosch or Ankarsrum mixers will need 6 minutes while other mixers may need 12 or more minutes) until the dough is smooth and slightly tacky.
  4. Oil dough, place in bowl and cover with plastic wrap or lid. Refrigerate over night or 8-12 hours.
  5. About 1-2 hours before you are ready to make muffins, take dough out of fridge and let come to room temperature. This step can be skipped, if you don't have time.
  6. Portion dough out for muffins (1.7-2.3 ounces, depending on size preference) and shape into flat rounds.
  7. Warm cast iron skillet on stovetop to a low or medium low setting.
  8. Rest muffins on a cookie pan coated with course ground semolina.
  9. Cook muffins in pan about 5 minutes each side until dark brown. Internal temperature should be 190 degrees. If the muffins brown before being done, they can be finished in a 350 degree oven for 10 minutes on a baking sheet.
  10. Split using a fork. Extra muffins freeze perfectly and are perfect for toasting for breakfast.

 

Oatmeal Waffles

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Oatmeal WafflesThis waffle is our family favorite and I’m not quite sure what has taken me so long to post it here. It’s probably that I don’t have any good photos of the waffles. But I’m trying to move beyond my meager photographic skills and still share this recipe.

This is what happens when you let your seven year old make the waffles.

This is what happens when you let your seven year old make the waffles.

We’ve been making these waffles since Jim and I got married. The recipe originally came from my mom and dad, but I’ve made very few tweaks to it over the years. We got our first waffle maker as a wedding present from Jim’s Aunt Terry and Uncle George. That first one lasted us about 10 years and I loved the deep wells that it made in the waffles. We’ve since moved on to a waffle iron that we found at Williams Sonoma, but our requirement for a nice big Belgium waffle is still met. We will never have any of those wimpy, soggy little waffles around here!

These waffles are hearty – definitely not light and fluffy. They are chewy and yummy. One will fill most people up and give enough energy to run until noon. My kids top them with syrup, but I like mine with some apple butter, toasted pecans and whipped cream. Enjoy them as you wish.

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Oatmeal Waffles
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Recipe type: Breakfast
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Serves: 8 waffles
 
This is a chewy, filling waffle. Whole grain goodness at it's best.
Ingredients
  • 1½ cups of whole wheat flour, freshly milled is best
  • 1 cup of oatmeal, I used thick rolled
  • 2 T brown sugar
  • 1 T baking powder
  • 1 t cinnamon
  • ½ t salt
  • 1½ cups of whole milk, sour milk, milk kiefer, or whey
  • 2 eggs
  • 2 T coconut oil or butter, melted
Instructions
  1. Preheat your waffle iron.
  2. Combine dry ingredients in a medium bowl - flour through salt.
  3. Combine milk and eggs in a small bowl.
  4. Add milk and egg mixture and oil to the dry ingredients and stir just until combined.
  5. When iron is hot, spoon batter into the iron and cook until desired doneness.
  6. Top with maple syrup, butter, pumpkin butter, nuts, whipped cream or strawberries as your heart desires.

 

Whole Wheat Crackers

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Whole Grain Crackers

I feel I should start this recipe description with a warning – these crackers are addictive! Now we can move on.

Crackers are one of the few foods that we still buy in packaged form. The man loves Wheat Thins and even though I rarely buy them for him, I will occasionally find boxes in the pantry after I’ve sent him to the store for other things. And to be honest, Wheat Thins are not all that bad as far as processed foods go – there are not many ingredients and I can pronounce all of them.

But I have this desire to be able to bake things myself instead of having to buy them. If you need a box of crackers at the last minute, it often seems like it should be easier and quicker to whip some up instead of heading out to the store. And crackers really don’t seem like they should be that hard. And they aren’t – but I have had a difficult time finding a good recipe. I’ve tried several different recipes over the last year or so and I basically gave up looking because nothing was as good, quick or easy as the boxed ones. But I was recently inspired to try some new recipes and this time I’m pretty sure I hit the cracker jack pot.

The recipe itself is super simple – basic ingredients that you’ll probably have on hand.

You can play with the flours you use in these crackers

You can play with the flours you use in these crackers

If you know me, then you can probably guess that I’ve been making these crackers with freshly ground whole grain wheat flour. I’ve been playing with different heritage wheat varieties such as Einkorn, and I’ve also played with subbing some buckwheat flour for the wheat flour. The buckwheat made the crackers a little chewier that the all wheat version. If you aren’t milling your own flour and don’t have any on hand, this recipe will also work with a good store bought whole wheat or white flour.

Your dough should be sticky.

Your dough should be sticky.

When you mix up the dough, it should be sticky. Just be generous in flouring your dough as you roll it out.

I like a few seeds on my crackers. For my favorite seed mix, I combine equal amounts of caraway seeds, garlic powder, onion powder, poppy seeds, and sesame seeds in a little jar and then sprinkle away. This mix is one I use on bagels and dinner rolls. You could really use any seed, herb or finely ground nuts as the topping – have fun with it. To get the seeds to stick, I rolled the dough out just a tiny bit thicker than I want it at the end. Then I sprinkle the seeds on and finish rolling the dough out. This way you won’t have seeds everywhere in your kitchen except where you want them.

Using your rolling pin, lightly roll the seeds onto the crackers.

Using your rolling pin, lightly roll the seeds onto the crackers.

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Whole Wheat Crackers
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These simple crackers are amazingly tasty. Roll them really thin for a super crispy treat or a little thicker if you like your crackers a little chewy.
Ingredients
  • 3 cups of whole grain wheat flour
  • 2 t sugar
  • 2 t salt
  • 4 T olive oil
  • 1 cup water
  • topping, optional
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 450 and place the rack in the lower ⅓ of the oven.
  2. Combine flour, sugar and salt in a large bowl.
  3. Stir oil and water into dry ingredients. The dough will be soft and slightly sticky.
  4. Divide the dough into halves. Cover one half with a clean towel.
  5. Pat the other half into a rectangle and place onto a floured surface.
  6. Roll the dough out into a rectangle about ⅛" thickness or thinner. Add flour as necessary to control stickiness.
  7. Sprinkle the topping evenly over the dough and gently roll the topping into the dough.
  8. Using a sharp knife or a pizza cutter, cut the dough into 1-inch x 2-inch crackers - or whatever shape you fancy.
  9. Poke each cracker with a fork and line up onto an oiled cookie sheet. Place the crackers as close as possible, they won't spread.
  10. Bake 12-15 minutes, one sheet at a time. Check at 12 minutes for desired doneness. If some crackers bake quicker than others (because they are thinner or in the center of the pan) you can pull them off and bake the remainder a few minutes longer.
  11. Repeat with remaining dough.

 

Ham Bone and Bean Soup

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If you were to ask me, I would tell you that the best part about a ham is the bone. Our local meat market stopped carrying bone-in hams a couple of years ago, so I was forced to find a new meat market. I can’t even comprehend how they “make” hams without the bones. Seems a little funny to me.

But anyway, that ham bone is great because it make an awesome soup. I sometimes think of it as free food – take something that you might have thrown away, add a couple cheap veggies, and you end up with a  very healthy and easy soup.

To make traditional ham bone soup, you simmer it the ham bone in a pot of water all day long and eventually you end up with a great stock for a bean soup. The little bits of meat loosen up while it’s simmering and it makes the perfect soup for a cold winter day.

This year, I decided there was no need to simmer all day long. Save energy, save time, all that good stuff. So, I modified my ham bone and bean soup recipe for the pressure cooker. Perfect!

The only trick to this recipe is a little thinking ahead on the beans. The night (or morning) before you make the soup, take a couple cups of beans and cover them with 2-3 inches of cold water in a big pot. 8-12 hours later, drain the beans and you are ready for the soup. I usually soak extra beans, drain them and freeze them in two cup portions – ready to go in a recipe that calls for soaked beans and no planning required. If you are in a time crunch, you can also do a quick soak of your beans.

You can make this recipe with any bean you like. I love it with cannellini, but a bag of mixed beans (sometimes called a 15-bean soup mix) is great also. Have fun with it!

Here’s the recipe. Hope you enjoy.

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Ham Bone & Bean Soup
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Recipe type: Soup
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Serves: 8-10
 
Don't throw away that ham bone! Here's my favorite recipe for a leftover ham bone. Remember to pre-soak your beans. This is made in a pressure cooker, but could be easily modified for stovetop. Also, there should be no need to add salt to this recipe because of the ham bone.
Ingredients
  • 1 cooked ham bone, with meat left on
  • 1 large onion, chopped
  • 1 T olive oil
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 16 ounces of beans, soaked - any kind will do, but cannellini or mixed soup beans are a good start
  • 2 cups of chopped carrots
  • 2 cups of chopped celery
  • 1 teaspoon dried thyme
  • 1 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
Instructions
  1. Heat the olive oil in a 6 quart or larger pressure cooker, sauté the onion until translucent - not brown. Add the ham bone, bay leaf and 8 cups of water. Lock lid and bring cooker to high pressure for 25 minutes.
  2. Quick release pressure and add remaining ingredients. This is a big soup - do not fill cooker past the ⅔ line. Lock lid and return cooker to high pressure for 6-12 minutes, depending on your bean. Smaller beans like black beans will be 6 minutes, larger beans like cannellini will be 10-12 minutes.
  3. Release pressure naturally and remove lid.
  4. Remove ham bone. While ham bone is cooling, keep soup at a simmer. If you like a creamier soup, you can use a spoon to mush some of the beans up in it.
  5. When the bone is cool enough to handle, tear off the bits of ham still attached and return the ham to the soup.
  6. Serve with a crusty bread and enjoy!

 

 

The Best Granola

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The name really says it all, but I’m just going to say it again – this is the BEST granola. But seriously, it has taken me a long time to find a granola recipe that is perfect for our family’s taste buds.

This makes a big batch, so use a big bowl!

This makes a big batch, so use a big bowl!

This recipe makes a huge batch of granola – so if you have a smaller family, you may want to half the recipe. You can also just eat it all. Or use some of it instead of oatmeal when you make cookies next. And of course, you can always bag it up and give it to neighbors and friends.

I’ve also listed all of the ingredients by both volume and weight. Honestly, who wants to measure out 10 cups of oatmeal? So, if you have a scale, this is the time to use it. Just plop your empty bowl on the scale, zero it out, and then start adding and weighing ingredients as you go.

Careful of little hands when you are stirring

This recipe is pretty low on the sugar as far as granolas go. That is probably reason enough to make your own. The granolas you find at the grocery store or farmer’s markets all have tons of sugar in them. It’s why they are so darn good. But that sugar is definitely not good. So, while we need some sugar in the recipe, I’ve tried to keep it as low as possible while still ending up with something that people want to eat.

When you get ready to put the granola in the oven, spread it out on two pans. I like to use parchment paper on the pans – it helps with clean up and you can use the parchment to move the cooled granola into it’s final storage container. After you bake the granola, try to leave it on the trays to cool in the oven – turn the oven off and leave the door shut. The granola will crisp up and form little chunks as it cools. If you bake the granola in the afternoon, you can go ahead and let it cool in the oven overnight.

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Spread the granola out on trays to bake.

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The Best Granola
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Serves: 14 cups
 
Ingredients
  • 10 cups (2 lbs) old fashioned rolled oats
  • ¾ cup (3.75 oz) sesame seeds
  • ½ cup (2.5 oz) sunflower seeds
  • ½ cup (2.5 oz) hemp seeds, optional
  • 3 cups (9 oz) any combination of chopped almonds, hazelnuts, and pecans
  • 1 cup (2.5 oz) shredded, unsweetened coconut
  • ½ t salt
  • 2 T cinnamon
  • ¾ cup (6 oz) coconut oil, melted
  • 1 cup (12 oz) honey
  • 1½ T Vanilla extract
  • 1½ t almond extract
Instructions
  1. Heat oven to 250 degrees. Line two jellyroll pans with parchment paper.
  2. Combine oats through cinnamon in a large bowl.
  3. Combine remaining ingredients in a small bowl.
  4. Pour wet ingredients over dry ingredients and stir to combine.
  5. Divide granola onto prepared pans.
  6. Bake in preheated oven for a total of 80-90 minutes. Every 30 minutes, stir granola and rotate pans in the oven.
  7. Once the granola is nice and toasty brown, turn off the oven and let cool in the oven, 6-8 hours. As it cools it will get crispy and form small chunks.

 

Pumpkin Chili

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Sugar Pumpkin

I originally found this recipe for pumpkin chili when I was looking for recipes to share for a pumpkin class. The original recipe came from Thug Kitchen and was pretty fabulous. I’ve upped the tomatoes and vegetables and adjusted it a little to make it my own, which is what you should do with any good chili recipe.

To make your own pumpkin puree, find yourself a sugar pumpkin. Don’t use a regular carving pumpkin – they won’t taste as sweet and you’ll be wasting your time. Wash the pumpkin, cut it in half, and remove the seeds and strings. To cook the pumpkin, you can either roast the halves, cut side down, in a roasting pan with a cup of water. It’ll take about 30-40 minutes at 400 degrees. Alternatively, you can pressure cook the halves for about 6 minutes on high pressure – remember to 1/2 a cup of water or your cooker’s minimum liquid amount. The pumpkin is done with you can easily stick a fork in through the skin. Once the pumpkin is cooked, let it cool, scrape out the flesh and puree it in your blender or food processor until smooth.

These dried beans were harvested from our garden

These dried beans were harvested from our garden

You can use any type of beans in this recipe. The recipe is written for using canned beans or soaked dried beans. If you use dried beans, you have the option for cooking them before adding them to the soup or pressure cooking them as part of the soup. Cooking them before adding, let’s you mix and match your beans in the soup. Save the cooking liquid for the beans and use it in the soup instead of broth or water. I’ve used combinations of black, cannellini, and kidney beans.

If you choose to pressure cook the beans with the soup, either use one type of bean, or pick beans that are about the same size so they cook the at the same rate. Black beans can cook as quickly as 3 minutes under pressure, but cannellini or kidney can take 6 minutes. Adjust the pressure cooking time to the beans that you are using.

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Pumpkin Chili
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Serves: 8
 
This is a great fall recipe. It uses pureed pumpkin, tomatoes, beans, and comes together quickly.
Ingredients
  • 2 T olive oil
  • 1 medium onion, chopped finely - about a cup
  • 1 cup of chopped carrots, about 2-3 carrots
  • 1 cup of chopped sweet pepper
  • 1½ T chili powder
  • 1 t ground cumin
  • 4 cloves of garlic, chopped
  • 1 jalapeno, chopped
  • 2 T Braggs Amino Acids or soy sauce
  • 1, 28 oz jars of crushed tomatoes
  • 2 cups of pumpkin puree
  • 4 cups (or 2, 15 ounce cans of beans) - black, cannellini, or whatever you like (if you are dried beans, instead of canned), see special note in instructions for pressure cooked method
  • 4 cups of bean broth, vegetable stock or water
Instructions
  1. Heat the olive oil in a large stockpot over medium heat. Sauté the onion, carrots, and peppers until soft - it's okay if they brown a little - about 5 minutes.
  2. Add chili powder, cumin, garlic, jalapeno, and amino acids. Sauté for 30 seconds.
  3. Add tomatoes, pumpkin, broth and beans and bring to a simmer. Allow to simmer on the stove for about 30 minutes before serving.
  4. * pressure cooker method - use soaked, dried beans. In step three, add remaining ingredients and pressure cook on high for 6 minutes for a medium size bean (see above notes for more info on cooking times). Done.

 

Apple Pork Roast

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This is the perfect fall recipe – apples, sauerkraut and pork all in one pot. Plus it is a super easy recipe. Throw it in the crock pot or pressure cooker, forget about it, and it’s done in time for dinner.

This is my mom’s recipe and typical of any good recipe, it came from her head and hasn’t been written down until just now. I hope I do it justice. I was reminded of this recipe this weekend when I was teaching people how to make sauerkraut. This is a great way to use it in a cooked recipe and you’ll be surprised at how everyone loves it. Even if you don’t think you or the kids like sauerkraut, I’d recommend trying this. The apple and kraut combination give it a little sweet and sour kick.

If you have any comments on it, I’d love to hear them in the comment section.

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Apple Pork Roast
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This is a favorite use of sauerkraut in our family. The apples mellow it out a bit and you'll be surprised at how much you like sauerkraut after tasting it.
Ingredients
  • 1 pork roast, about 3 pounds
  • 2 cups of sauerkraut, drained and rinsed
  • 1 T caraway seed
  • 2 apples, cut up
  • 4-5 small potatoes, cut into 2-3 inch pieces
  • 2 T brown sugar
Instructions
  1. Crock Pot method - Place the pork roast in the bottom of your crock pot or pressure cooker. Add remaining ingredients and stir to combine. Cook in crock pot on high for 6-8 hours
  2. Pressure Cooker Method - The only difference with pressure cooking the roast is that you need to make sure you have enough liquid in the cooker. You can use the sauerkraut juice, but it may result in a very salty roast. I'd recommend adding 1 cup of light beer, or at least the minimum amount required by your cooker to reach pressure. Cook at high pressure for 40 minutes (stovetop cooker) or 55-60 minutes (electric cooker). When the cooking time is up, allow the pressure to release naturally.

 

Crock Pot Apple Butter

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You know apple butter is ready when no liquid pools around the edges.

In recent years, I have avoided making apple butter. My last memory of it involved thinking, “Boy, this just tastes like spiced applesauce.” So I didn’t bother with it for a couple of years. And then this year, a friend asked me to make her some and I had an overload of apples. So, I figured I may as well give it another shot. Worst case scenario, I was planning to make my girlfriend take the entire batch of apple butter.

Apple butter is really great on homemade toasted bread or added to plain yogurt or oatmeal. I also love it on my whole grain waffles with toasted pecans and a little whipped cream. A friend told me just today about making cinnamon rolls with apple butter as the filling. I’m going to give that one a shot in the very near future, because it sounds like the perfect fall treat.

So this time around, I did a few things differently. First, I did not puree the butter like a lot of recipes call to do. Instead, I chopped the peeled apples up at the beginning using a food processor – almost to a chunky applesauce consistency, but not quite. If you don’t have a food processor, you can just put the quartered apples into the crock pot and use an immersion blender on them once they are soft and mushy. Or just run it through a blender or food mill and you’ll end up with a smoother consistency.

I also played with the liquid on this recipe. Instead of using water as the liquid, I made one batch using apple cider and a second batch using hard apple cider. Honestly – they really didn’t taste much different. I was honestly hoping that the trendy hard apple cider version would be amazingly better than the old fashioned version, but not so much. But either one of them provides a little more flavor than using plain old water.

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Crock Pot Apple Butter = almost done.

I did this recipe in the crock pot. I really love this approach. It’s pretty hands off. You can stir it periodically, but really, you just let it do it’s job until the end when you jar and can it. The main trick with the crock pot approach is to leave your wooden spoon on the edge of the crock with the lid on so that the lid is cracked open for most of the cooking time.

You’ll know that the apple butter is done when the liquid is mostly gone. You should take a little bit and put it on a spoon or plate – let it cool a couple minutes and check to see if any liquid pools at the edges of the butter. Once there is no liquid, then the butter is done.

Enjoy!

 

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Crock Pot Apple Butter
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Serves: 8 half pints
 
Because this cooks low and slow, this is a great recipe to start at night and finish the next morning. Your home will smell wonderful while you sleep.
Ingredients
  • 5 pounds of peeled, cored and quartered apples
  • 2 cups of apple cider, either hard or not
  • 3 cups of sugar - white or brown is fine
  • 2 teaspoons cinnamon
  • ½ teaspoons ground cloves
Instructions
  1. Using a food processor, chop the apples into small pieces, almost pureed
  2. Add all ingredients to the crock pot and stir.
  3. Cover crock pot and cook on high for one hour.
  4. Turn crock pot to low and crack the lid with a wooden spoon to keep the lid slightly open. Cook on low for 8-11 hours. Stir occasionally, more towards the end.
  5. Once the butter has thickened, test it for consistency. Place a small mound on a spoon and let it cool for a couple minutes. If, after two minutes, no liquid has escaped the edges, the butter is done.
  6. The butter can be frozen in jars - leave enough space for expansion. Or it can be processed in a boiling water bath - leave ¼ inch headspace and process for 10 minutes.

 

Apple Pancake

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I usually just throw the apples in the pan - none of this fancy arranging!

I usually just throw the apples in the pan – none of this fancy arranging!

This apple pancake is one of our favorite fall breakfasts. My boys and six and eight enjoy making the pancake themselves. Get one of those fancy apple peelers and let them at it. I do the work with the hot cast iron skillet, but they like this pancake so much that they are willing (and able) to most of the work themselves. It’s fun to have the little ones happy in the kitchen.

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Apple Pancake
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Serves: 6
 
Ingredients
  • 4 eggs
  • ½ cup whole wheat flour
  • ½ t baking powder
  • 1 T sugar
  • 1 pinch salt
  • 1 cup milk
  • 2 T butter, melted
  • ½ t ground nutmeg
  • ¼ cup white sugar
  • 1 t ground cinnamon
  • ¼ t ground nutmeg
  • ¼ cup unsalted butter
  • 3 large tart apples, peeled, cored and sliced
Instructions
  1. Place 12-inch cast iron skillet in oven and pre-heat oven to 400 degrees
  2. While oven is preheating, combine eggs through ½ t nutmeg in a medium bowl. This mixture can be made the night before and kept in fridge, ready to go for the morning.
  3. Combine ¼ cup sugar, cinnamon, and ¼ t nutmeg in a small bowl.
  4. When oven and skillet are hot, put ¼ cup butter in skillet and put skillet back in oven until butter is melted, about 3 minutes. Remove skillet.
  5. Sprinkle about half of the sugar cinnamon mixture over the bottom of the skillet. Remember skillet is HOT! Layer apples on top of the sugar and then sprinkle with remaining sugar cinnamon mixture. Put pan back in oven to bake apples for 10 minutes.
  6. Pour batter over the top of the apples and finish cooking until top is golden brown and apples are cooked, about 20-25 minutes.

 

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