Author Archives: vanessa

Apple Herb Stuffing

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6 cups torn chunks French, sourdough or country loaf, torn into bits
5 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 large Spanish or sweet onion, chopped small
1 large or 2 small stalks celery, diced small
1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme leaves
1/2 teaspoon table salt, plus more to taste
Freshly ground black pepper
1 large or 2 small firm, tart tart apples, such as Granny Smith, peeled, cored and diced small
1/4 cup roughly chopped flat-leaf parsley
3 sage leaves, minced
1/2 to 1 cup cup turkey, chicken or vegetable stock or broth
1 large egg

Position rack in center of oven and preheat to 350°F. Spread bread cubes in single layer on large rimmed baking sheet. Bake until pale golden, stirring occasionally, 10 to 15 minutes. Let cool in pan while you prepare the other ingredients.

Generously butter a 2-quart baking dish (a 9×5-inch loaf, 8- or 9-inch square dish, etc.) with 1 tablespoon butter. Melt remaining 4 tablespoons butter in large skillet over medium heat. Add onion, thyme, salt and lots of freshly ground black pepper and cook for 2 minutes, until becoming translucent. Add celery and cook for 2 more minutes. Add apple and saute until a bit tender, 3 to 4 minutes more.

Place bread in large mixing bowl. Scrape contents of skillet on top. Whisk egg and 1/2 cup broth or stock together and pour over. Stir in parsley and sage. Spoon into prepared pan. If mixture looks a little dry, pour remaining 1/2 cup broth over it. [This is a good place to pause, if needed. Nothing bad comes of the stuffing absorbing the liquids for longer.] Bake for 30 to 40 minutes, until brown on top and no liquid appears if you insert a knife vertically into the center of the stuffing pan and turn it slightly. Serve immediately, or reheat as needed.

Variations:

 

  • Apple, Herb and Cornbread Stuffing: You can replace two cups of the bread chunks with chunks of cornbread. This recipe is a good basic one for croutons.
  • Apple, Herb and Sausage Stuffing: Brown a half-pound of breakfast sausage, cut into 1/2-inch coins, in the pan, before adding the apple. Cook it until it’s just cooked through (it will have lots of time to finish in the oven). Remove it from the pan and add the apples and remaining ingredients as directed above.

 

 

Fruit Roll-Ups

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  • 8 oz strawberries, stems trimmed
  • 1 tbsp. freshly squeezed lemon juice
  • 3 tbsp. sugar

Place the trimmed strawberries in a blender or food processor and puree them for a minute or so until smooth. You don’t want any strawberry chunks in the mixture. Transfer the strawberry puree to a saucepan and add the lemon juice and sugar. Turn the heat to medium to medium high, and cook the mixture for about 10 minutes, stirring frequently, until the mixture is thick and jammy. The goal here is to cook out much of the moisture.

Preheat the oven to 170 degrees F, or as low as your oven will go, making sure it’s less than 200 degrees at the highest.

Spread the strawberry jam into a rectangle shape onto a baking pan lined with a silpat or parchment paper. You may use an offset spatula or a regular spatula to help spread the mixture as evenly as possible, until the rectangle is about 1/8 inch thick. Keep in mind the fruit leather will lose some of its thickness in the oven as it dehydrates, so make sure that none of the jam is so thin that you can see through it as you spread.

Cook in the oven for 3-4 hours, until the fruit mixture no longer feels sticky, just a bit tacky. Remove from the oven and let it cool completely. Transfer to a cutting board lined with wax paper, and use a pizza cutter to cut long strips. Roll them up into the fruit rollups, and enjoy!

Onion Bombs

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  • Prepare meatballs (include cloves of garlic, ketchup, Worcestershire sauce, bread crumbs, and salt/pepper)
  • Cut the onions in half and match the sides together
  • Put meat inside two onion halves
  • Wrap in foil (two layers)
  • Put in coals, flipping after 10 minutes

Apple Butter in a Crock Pot

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  • 5 lbs. apples
  • 4 cups sugar (use less)
  • 2-3 tsp. ground cinnamon
  • 1/4 tsp. ground cloves
  • 1/4 tsp. salt

 

  • Place apples in a large bowl.
  • Combine sugar, cinnamon, cloves and salt.
  • Pour over apples and mix well.
  • Place in crock pot, cover and cook on high for 1 hour.
  • Decrease heat to low; cover and cook on low for 9-11 hours or until thickened and dark brown.
  • Stir occasionally.
  • Uncover and cook on low for 1 hour longer.
  • If desired, whisk until smooth.
  • Spoon into freezer containers, leaving 1/2-inch head space.
  • Cover and freeze.

 

Banana Oat Bars

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2 large, very ripe bananas
1 teaspoon vanilla (optional)
2 cups rolled oats
1/2 teaspoon salt (optional)
1/4 cup pitted, chopped dried dates
1/4 cup chopped nuts — such as walnuts, hazelnuts, or pecans
Grated nutmeg or cinnamon (optional)

Heat the oven to 350°F and lightly grease a 9-x9-inch square baking dish with olive oil or butter.

Peel the bananas and mash their flesh in a medium mixing bowl. Mash very thoroughly until no large chunks remain; the bananas should be essentially liquid. (You will have between 1 cup and 1 1/4 cup.) Stir in the vanilla, if using. Add the oats and stir them in. Stir in the salt, dates, and nuts.

Pat the thick mixture evenly into the baking pan. If desired, sprinkle the top lightly with nutmeg or cinnamon. Bake for 30 minutes or until the edges just begin to crisp up.

Place the baking pan on a rack to cool. When the pan is mostly cool, cut into bars and enjoy with a glass of milk or tea.

Store leftover bars at room temperature. They will keep for about 5 days.

Lemon Thyme Chicken Thighs

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2 pounds chicken thighs, bone-in and skin-on (about 4 to 6 thighs)
Olive oil
Kosher salt
Black pepper
1 lemon, sliced thin
5 to 6 fresh thyme sprigs

Preheat your oven to 400° F. Drizzle the chicken thighs with olive oil and season them well with pinches of salt and pepper.

Place the thighs in a large, cold cast iron skillet, skin-side down. Place the skillet on a burner over medium heat. Let them cook, undisturbed, for 14 to 15 minutes.

When a lot of the fat has rendered out and the skin is crispy and brown, flip the thighs so the crispy skin is up. Dot the cast iron skillet with lemon slices and thyme sprigs and stick it in the hot oven. Let the thighs finish cooking in the oven for 13 to 15 minutes, until they reach an internal temperature of 165° F. If you’re in doubt, leave them in for another few minutes.

Kung Pao Chickpeas

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  • 1 onion
  • 1 carrot
  • 1 red pepper
  • coconut oil
  • 1 can chickpeas
  • 2 cloves garlic
  • 1 tsp. minced ginger
  • 1/4 cup teriyaki sauce
  • 2 tsp. rice vinegar
  • chili sauce
  • 2 tbsp. honey
  • soy sauce
  • 1 tsp. sesame oil
  • hot sauce
  • peanuts
  • cilantro
  • red onion
  • green onion

Cook chopped onion, carrot and red pepper in coconut oil.  When browned, add chickpeas, garlic and ginger and cook until the chickpeas have some colour.  Add sauce.  Reduce sauce to a glaze.

Serve on rice with peanuts, cilantro, red onion and green onion as topping.

Debra’s Easy White Bread

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Easy White Bread by Debra Collins

Makes 1 loaf of bread.  Can be baked in 1 pan (8 x 4 or 9 x 5 or 13″ Pullman) or 2 Free Form loaves.  It makes 2 free form loaves, by dividing the dough into 2 pieces. You can form logs or rounds.  Also can be used for dinner rolls by dividing into 15 pieces and baked in a 9 x 13 pan.  Additional recipe suggestions for using this dough are included following the recipe.

To double this recipe, the yeast = 7 teaspoons. To triple = 11 teaspoons.

Ingredients:

5 teaspoons active dry yeast (I use instant) (18 grams) (3.1%)
3 tablespoons sugar (39 grams) (6%)
1 1/2 teaspoon salt ( I now use 1 tsp. works fine) (7 grams) (2.2%)
1/4 cup oil or melted butter (oil 53 grams) (12%)
1 1/4 cup warm water 105 degrees (307 grams) (72%)
3 – 3 1/2 cup all purpose unbleached flour (474 grams) (100%)

Directions:
Put water, yeast, and sugar in bowl and mix. When yeast blooms/bubbles add salt and oil/butter, stir until salt is dissolved. Now you start adding flour slowly and stir with
spoon until you can’t stir any more. Flour your hands and turn out dough on
a lightly floured surface and keep adding flour as you knead. This is going
to take several minutes, adding just a bit of flour at a time. After adding flour
just form a ball and cover with your bowl. Follow directions as per recipe.

Pullman Instructions: (13 x 4 x 4): Form into a long log and press into the bottom of the pan. I let it rise until it was about 1″ from the top.  Put the lid on (greased).  Preheat oven to 375 and cut a slit in the top of the bread. Brush with a little egg glaze or milk.

Baked for about 20 minutes and removed the lid. Let it continue to bake,
about 20 more minutes, and tested with an instant read thermometer. You
want it to reach the 190 degrees.

 

Baking in a pan: knead gently for a few minutes to bring the dough
together. Roll out or gently press with your knuckles, until it becomes a
rectangle 10 x 14. Roll up and place the dough pinched seam down into a
greased 9 x 4 loaf pan. Cover with a towel and let rise 20 minutes or until
double in size in a warm place.

For free form loaves: turn out on a lightly floured silicon mat or counter and
divide into two pieces . Knead by hand just a few time to bring the dough
together and shape into the logs, or the ball. Place on a large piece of
parchment paper or silicon baking sheet. Cover with a towel and let rise 20
minutes or until double in size in a warm place.

Pullman Instructions: (9 x 4 x 4): Divide your dough approx. 2/3 and 1/3. Use the 2/3 for the pan and and follow the directions for the 13″ Make 5 rolls from the 1/3. You can make any kind of roll you like – cinnamon, filled, or plain.

Flour Variations:

– Replace 1 cup of all purpose with 1 cup whole wheat. Add 2 teaspoons of
vital wheat gluten to the dough as well. Allow loaf to sit for 10-15 minutes
for the first resting period. Continue as per recipe.

– Add 1 cup Hot Grain Cereal Mix to dough. Do not replace any flour–this is
an add-in.

– Replace 1 cup of all purpose with rye. Add 2 tablespoons of potato flakes,
2 teaspoons vital wheat gluten and 1 teaspoon caraway seed. (toast seeds
for add flavor)

– Preserves and Cream Cheese filled loaves:
1/3 cup preserves your favorite flavor– blackberry, strawberry, etc.
3 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon strawberry or vanilla flavor
8 ounces cream cheese softened
1 egg yok well beaten
1 tablespoon flour

Combine until very smooth and spread on that rolled dough.
When I add this filling, I divide the dough into 2 pieces, roll out to a 14 x 10
rectangle, and divide the filling between the two loaves. Roll up into a log,
pinch the seam together and put it down. Let it rise until double, slash the
to in several places on the diagonal, and bake approx. 20-25 minutes. You
can also top these with a glaze like your cinnamon rolls.

– Cinnamon Swirl:
After rolling into the rectangle, brush melted butter, sprinkle cinnamon for a
good covering, and a bit of brown sugar. I just drop the brown sugar over
the dough and blend evenly by rubbing my hand over the surface. Roll into
a log, let it rise and slash the top in several places. If you want it to look
like my picture, cut with scissors or serrated knife about 2/3 the way
through. Pull each section the opposite way and let rise until double. Bake
about 20-25 minutes. Let cool just a bit if you want to drizzle with the
topping.

Or, roll out into one rectangle, spread per above directions and roll starting
at the short end. Put in loaf pan. Let rise until double and bake at 350
degrees for about 30-40 minutes. Use an instant read thermometer and
look for 190 degrees.

– Cinnamon Rolls:
Sub 1/4 cup of milk for some of the water.
Prepare as for loaf but roll up on the long side so the roll is longer. Cut
dough in the middle for 2 pieces and continue to cut each section in half.
This helps to keep the rolls uniform in size. Place cut side up in a 2 – 9 x 9
square pans or 1 – 9 x 13 rectangle pan. Let rise until doubled and bake at
375 degrees until golden brown. Top with your favorite sugar topping. I
like to use cream cheese, orange extract, milk, and confectionary sugar.
Cream the cheese, add 1 tsp. orange extract (or vanilla), 2 tbsp. milk and
enough sugar to make a smooth, thick spread. Top the warm rolls with this
so it has a chance to melt just a bit.