Browned Butter and Sage Applesauce

EXTRAORDINARY!


This recipe is for canning (courtesy of Better Homes and Gardens), but you could easily make this and refrigerate it for use with pork or as a tasty, mindblowing treat.


I made the mistake of not taking the advice of the book. This recipe calls for a food mill. You NEED a food mill if you follow this recipe exactly. If you don't have a food mill, peel and core these apples and then throw them in a food processor at the appropriate stage.


Browned Butter and Sage Applesauce
Makes 6 pints or 3 quarts


Ingredients:
- 8 pounds tart cooking apples
- 2 cups water
- 1/2 cup snipped fresh sage
- 3/4 to 1 1/4 cups sugar
- 1 cup butter


1. Core and quarter apples. In an 8- to 10-quart heavy pot, combine apples and water. Bring to boiling; reduce heat. Simmer, covered, for 25 to 35 minutes, or until apples are very tender, stirring often.


2. In a small saucepan, heat 1 cup butter over low heat until melted. Continue heating until butter turns a light golden brown. Remove from heat.


3. Press apples through a food mill or sieve. Return pulp to pot; discard solids. Stir in enough of the sugar to sweeten as designed. Stir in butter and sage with sugar. Stir in 1/2 to 1 cup water to make desired consistency. Bring to boiling, stirring constantly.


4. Ladle hot applesauce into hot, sterilized pint or quart canning jars, leaving 1/2-inch headspace. Wipe jar rims; adjust lids.


5. Process filling jars in a boiling-water canner for 15 minutes for pints or 20 minutes for quarts (start timing when water returns to boiling). Remove jars from canner; cool on wire racks.

Spicy Butter Sauce

This recipe comes from Pioneer Woman. This sauce is meant for baking shrimp, but it would also be delightful with any seafood.


The best part of this sauce is soaking it up with crusty bread or tossing it into angel hair pasta.


Spicy Butter Sauce


Ingredients:

• 2 sticks Cold Unsalted Butter Cut Into Pieces
• 1 teaspoon Kosher Salt
• 4 cloves Garlic, Peeled
• 1/4 cup Fresh Parsley
• 1/2 teaspoon Crushed Red Pepper
• 1 whole Lemon, Juiced

Preparation Instructions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Arrange protein (if using) in a single layer in a baking sheet.

In the bowl of a food processor, add cold butter, garlic, lemon juice, salt, parsley, and red pepper. Pulse until combined. Sprinkle cold butter crumbles over the protein.

If using with pasta or as a dip, simply melt in a saucepan over medium heat until butter is bubbly and hot.

Serve with hot crusty bread.

A Salad Even Salad-Haters Will Love - Fruity Spinach Salad Goodness

Hear me out. This salad will make everyone moan in happiness. The key is in the homemade dressing. Kids, picky eaters, and veggie lovers will all be asking you how you did it.

This recipe makes enough dressing for 4-8 servings of salad, so simply pop leftover into the refrigerator and reuse as a dressing or as a marinade. Good for 1-2 weeks.
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Fruity Spinach Salad with Homemade Honey-Orange Dressing
Serves 2

Ingredients:

Dressing-
1/2 cup orange juice
6 Tbsp vegetable oil or canola oil
2 Tbsp honey
1/4 tsp garlic salt
1/8 tsp paprika


Salad-
2 heaping handfuls of organic spinach, separated
1/2 cup dried cherries, cranberries, or 1 cup fresh strawberries, blueberries, or raspberries
1/2 cup toasted pecans
1 oz goat cheese, crumbled


To make the dressing, combine all ingredients in a container with a tight lid and shake until the honey is thoroughly mixed in. The oil will want to separate so just re-shake slightly before dressing the salad.


Place one heaping handful of spinach in a bowl (do the same with the other handful). Top with half the fruit, half the nuts, and half of the cheese.


Just before serving, drizzle 1-2 tablespoons of the dressing over the salad.


Perfection! Sweet, crunchy, nutty, fresh, tart, and super yummy. Your mouth will thank you.
 

Weekend Breakfast Favorite - Poached Eggs over Garlic Parmesan Toast

This breakfast is what I make for myself every Sunday. It's my favorite breakfast and it only takes minutes for a flavor-packed, rich, fresh meal.

It is best to use very fresh eggs when poaching. Eggs fresh from the Farmer's Market are ideal, but during the winter I buy organic, free-range eggs from my local grocer. The darker the yolk, the better!

Because I don't have an egg poacher, I drop two metal round cookie cutters into the water and slip my eggs into them to cook. This helps them retain their shape and prevents them from sticking to each other or the pot.
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Poached Eggs over Garlic-Parmesan Toast
Serves 1-2

Ingredients:
2 fresh organic eggs
2 pieces of bread, an English muffin, or leftover baguette
1/4 cup shredded Parmesan
1 garlic clove, peeled and whole
extra-virgin olive oil
salt and pepper, to taste


1. Bring a pot of salted water to a gentle boil. Reduce to a simmer. Crack eggs into the cookie cutters/egg poacher/water. Poach for 3 1/2 - 4 minutes.
2. In the meantime, toast your bread in a toaster oven or toaster. Piercing the clove lengthwise with a fork (to prevent the garlic oils from stinking up your hands), rub the raw garlic into the toast. Drizzle with extra-virgin olive oil and top the center of one piece of toast with half of the Parmesan and then the other.
3. Using a slotted spoon, remove an egg from the water and gently tip against the side of the pot to remove excess liquid. Place on top of the toast and cheese. Repeat with the other egg.
4. Top both eggs with a nice pinch of finishing salt and a good sprinkling of pepper.


**For extra nutritional punch - add some steamed spinach, finely sliced asparagus, or a slice of tomato beneath the cheese.

Strawberry (Fruit) Granita Dessert

This is a delightfully simply dessert that is a perfect summer treat. I choose to set these into 8 individual ramekins with lids for portion control, but you could do this in a larger pan and just serve it to a larger group that way.

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Strawberry (Fruit) Granita Dessert

1 1/3 cups water
1/3 cup sugar
2 cups strawberry juice (or any fruit juice - use fresh juice, not concentrate)

1. Combine water and sugar in a saucepan over low heat. Stir gently until sugar dissolves. Remove from heat and cool.
2. Stir in fruit juice.
3. Pour mixture into pan or ladle into ramekins.
4. Freeze for at least 4 hours to allow to set. 
5. Serve!

Handmade Pasta with Asparagus and Cream Sauce

I highly recommend having a pasta roller/pasta machine when making pasta from scratch. It's a delicious and easy way to ensure you have the freshest pasta. The first time I made this dish, I had to hand-roll out the pasta and while it tasted delicious, it was quite thick. If you need to hand-roll the dough, make it tissue-paper thin (break it into smaller batches if you have limited counter space).

The pasta recipe is courtesy of Jamie Oliver.

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Handmade Pasta with Asparagus and Cheese Sauce

Serves 4

Ingredients:

600 grams/4 1/2 cups of super fine flour

6 organic eggs or 12 egg yolks

1 bunch of fresh asparagus

creamy cheese sauce of your choice or see below

10-12 leaves of fresh sage, chopped

1/4 Parmesan cheese

salt & pepper, to taste

extra virgin olive oil

1. Using a food processor, mix the two ingredients together until you have something that resembles damp breadcrumbs.

2. Lightly flour your work surface and then bring the dough together using your hands. Knead the dough until it begins to soften. This will take some time and muscle. Just keep going until it starts to feel very silky. If the dough is too damp, bring in some of the flour. If it's too dry, add a touch of water. It's much better to be too damp so I err on the side of one extra yolk.

3. Once the dough is silky and brought together, wrap in plastic and set in the fridge to chill for at least a half hour.

4. Set a large stockpot of water to boil. Salt the water and cover.

5. Wash the asparagus and snap off the bottoms where the stalks naturally break. Cut each stalk into 3-4 pieces. Cutting on the diagonal makes the cuts look pretty.

6. When your dough is ready, run your dough through the pasta roller at the widest setting and then fold the dough in half and run it through again. Repeat 3-4 times to just soften the dough. Then roll it out, making it narrower with each run until its very thin. Flour when necessary very lightly to keep the dough workable. Using a knife, cut your own noodles to your desired width. Shake them up to break them apart. If rolling out by hand, use a similar method but be sure to make the dough even and very thin.

7. When the water is boiling, add both the asparagus and the noodles. Cover. Allow to cook for 1 to 2 minutes. 

8. While the pasta is cooking, heat your sauce. Add the fresh sage, salt and pepper.

9. Drain the pasta and asparagus. Toss with your sauce. Plate the mixture and top with the Parmesan cheese as well as a small drizzle of extra-virgin olive oil.

*Creamy Cheese Sauce

I tend to make my own cream/cheese sauce and each time it changes a little. A favorite is 1 tablespoon of butter, 1/4 cup of Parmesan cheese, 1/2 cup creme fraiche, handful of shredded fontina cheese, salt, and pepper. Melt it all together and add in an egg yolk at the end just before tossing with the pasta. Delicious!

Salted Creamy Fudge (low-fat!)

 This recipe came from the October issue of Weight Watchers magazine. But don't let that fool you. These little gems are unbelievably simple to make and delightfully tasty. Perfect for a New Year's party dessert or for a cold weekend in during the winter.
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 Salted Creamy Fudge
Makes 32 servings (Weight Watchers - 2 points each)

Ingredients:
10oz bittersweet or semi-sweet chocolate, finely chopped (or use chips)
1 (14-oz) can sweetened fat-free condensed milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Pinch coarse sea salt
1/2 tsp flakes sea salt or finishing salt

1. Line 8-inch-square baking pan with plastic wrap, leaving 2-inch overhang. Smooth out wrinkles.

2. Combine chocolate, condensed milk, vanilla, and coarse sea salt in large heavy saucepan. Cook, stirring occasionally, over medium-low heat until chocolate melts and mixture is smooth, about 5 minutes. Transfer fudge to prepared pan, spread evenly with rubber spatula. Let cool. Cover and refrigerate until firm, at least 2 hours or overnight.

3. Uncover fudge; remove from pan by lifting overhanging plastic wrap. Invert on cutting board; remove wrap. Cut fudge into 8 strips; then cut each strip crosswise into 8 pieces. If making ahead, cover and chill up to 2 weeks.

4. To serve, return fudge to room temperature. Sprinkle top evenly with flake sea salt.