Sauced Apples

I am busy making a pumpkin pie for tomorrow's Thanksgiving feast.  I am hosting it this year.  We are expecting 14 at our table.  In spite of the fact that I have become fairly adept at hosting dinners these days, this is a little different.  People have "expectations" for Thanksgiving.  I assigned items that have gluten in them (i.e., "regular" stuffing) to others, but the threat of cross-contamination remains during the dinner.  I will have John set aside a good amount of leftovers for himself while he is the first to take food....so it should all work out....

Before I publish today's apple recipe, I have to state something about the ingredients.  The reader may notice that we sometimes use alcohol in our cooking.  Truth is, this is pretty much a recent thing.  Now that the kids are adults, we feel like we have more freedom in that regard.  But also, it's a fact that the brandy and other items used in some of these fruity desserts have been in our [locked] cabinet for a *long* time. 

I have always liked adding a splash of wine to recipes.  My understanding is that most of the alcohol evaporates as we cook it.  If you are uncomfortable with these ingredients or it isn't your style, feel free to substitute some apple or grape juice. 

You will note that none of these recipes has beer as an ingredient.  Traditional beer has gluten.  There are gluten free beers available, but we have not tried them yet. 

Peter likes getting creative with fruit when we have company.  He made this dish the other weekend, and we liked it so much that he made it for John when he came home from college for the Thanksgiving break.  He dubbed it, "Sauced Apples" as a twist on "applesauce." 

Sauced Apples

 Peel and slice 6 apples of various types.  Peter likes a mix of apples.....some that are "cooking" apples that hold their shape, like Cortland, and others that turn into mush when they cook, like Macintosh.  This gives a variety of texture to the dish.

Add: 
2 Tbs lemon juice,
4 oz. red wine,
2 Tbs molasses,
1/4 cup raisins,
2 oz. brandy or cognac,
2 oz. spiced rum,
3 Tbs sugar, and
4 oz. cider or apple juice.

Pour it into a large ziplok bag and let it sit in the fridge for 4 hours or so, turning the bag every so often to let all the flavors blend in an optimal fashion.

Turn on your oven or your outdoor grill.  I set the oven to 400.

Pour the fruit mixture into a 12-inch skillet and dot with 2 Tbs butter.

Bake, uncovered, 30 min.

Let cool slightly.

Put into small bowls and top with a small scoop of vanilla ice cream,
serving it "a la mode."

Fruity Pork Roast with Roasted New Potatoes

This is a red-tailed hawk.  We had at least one of these flying over our house this fall, screeching all the while.  It was eerie and way cool at the same time.  Peter once saw a hawk having a pigeon for lunch.  A neighbor recently told me he saw our hawk grab a rabbit and take off.  Amazing. 

Now that I have this blog, I am like a hawk only in that I am always on the lookout for new recipes to try.  With the holidays coming, there will be plenty! 

Last weekend we had friends over and served this dinner, along with some salad.  Everyone really liked it.  I don't seem to care much for pork roast, but I had a small piece, and I think the fruit was the best part.  Enjoy!

Fruity Pork Roast

Preheat the oven to 350.

Place a 4-lb pork loin roast in a roasting pan. 
Mix together:
1/4 cup deli mustard, and
2 Tbs brown sugar.

Spread it over the roast.
Tent the roast with foil.  (Leave it loose.)

Roast for 3 hours, basting with 1/4 cup apple juice after one and two hours.....
so that makes a total of 1/2 cup apple juice.

During the last hour that the roast is cooking, combine
1 cup dried plums,
1 cup dried apricots,
3/4 cup red wine,
1/4 cup brown sugar,
1/8 tsp. cloves, and
2 tsp cornstarch.

Heat it up in the microwave.  I didn't quite get it to boil.

Pour it on and around the roast in the last hour of cooking. 
Check for doneness....an instant read thermometer will register 160 when it's ready.

That's it!

Roasted New Potatoes

Take the appropriate amount of new potatoes for your number of servings.  Eyeball it.  Use red, white, or yellow potatoes.

Wash them.  If you want to be fancy, peel a little strip around the outside.

Drizzle with olive oil to coat. 
Add some adobo seasoning to taste.  Mix it all up.
Put it all into an appropriately-sized cast iron skillet....in one layer.
Bake 25 min at whatever your oven temperature is....(I have used both 350 and 425)
Stir.
Bake 25 min more.

HH's Family Favorite Pot Roast

Katie couldn't come for her birthday party with the Woodchuck Chicken because she had some sort of virus.  (Her birthday is the same day as John, but three years earlier.)  A week later, she was much better, and everyone still wanted to see her.  I needed to make dinner for six, had a broken-down dishwasher, and yet another dinner party the following day.  I needed something that would be EASY.

I had a lightbulb moment.

Pot Roast!  Pop it all in the crock pot and let it go.  Then I have time to visit and only one pot to clean.  I bought cupcakes for dessert (an especially pretty one for the birthday girl).  We all sang "Happy Birthday" and watched her open presents. 

HH's Family Favorite Pot Roast
(Serves 6-8)

Take a 3-lb pot roast.  (Once I had a larger dinner party and used a 5-lb roast.)

Trim the fat.  In a skillet brown the roast on all sides in a little oil. 
Place it in an appropriate-size crock pot.

Mix in a small bowl: 
1/2 cup red wine,
1/4 cup catsup,
3 Tbs quick-cooking tapioca,
1 Tbs. GF Worstershire sauce,
1 tsp thyme, and
1 tsp oregano. 
Pour this over your roast.

If you want, add new potatoes and cut-up carrots around the side of the roast. 
When I had the 5-lb roast I did not do this.  Last weekend I did. 
Both ways are delicious.

If your family likes onion, by all means add some. 
But my daughter does not like onion, so I left it out. 

Cover, cook on high 4-5 hours or on low 8-10 hours. 

Parmesan Bread Sticks

We will be seeing this word a lot now that the holiday season is fast approaching.  But joy is an interesting concept when you start to ponder it.  For example, my dishwasher has been broken for the last week.  I will have a new one delivered this week, but in the meantime we have been washing by hand.  Although I am not thrilled at this extra work, and I continue to automatically open the non-functioning dishwasher to put my juice glass in at breakfast time, it does have its good points, such as the teamwork of washing and drying together. 

I have also been pondering the mindfulness exercise of washing dishes.  In books about mindfulness meditation, they discuss washing a dish mindfully.  Feel the water, sense the soap, take your time and involve your whole being in it.  Come to think of it, my dishwashing liquid smells pretty nice.  It's possible to find joy in the mundane.

We continue to do a fair amount of entertaining lately.  It's much cheaper than dining out, and by doing things for others we activate the pleasure centers in our brains.  I get a lot of joy out of making food that not only does John enjoy, but everyone else does as well.  When it was his birthday last weekend I attempted to make breadsticks like the "Chebe" brand.  The recipe is below.  We then tasted both the Chebe and my attempt....and the agreement was that although the Chebe has a slightly better texture, mine have more flavor.  Everyone seemed to like them both.  If you try them, let me know what you think!

Yes, John took every last one back to school.  They are considered to be a successful recipe that brought joy to all. 

Parmesan Bread Sticks
(Makes 16)

Preheat oven to 375.

Mix in a bowl:

1 7/8 cups gluten free flour (I used a tapioca blend, specifically "Jules" brand.  If you use GF flour that doesn't have xanthan gum already in it, consider adding a tsp or so.),
1/2 tsp salt,
1 tsp Italian herbs,
1/2 tsp garlic powder, and
1/2-3/4 cup parmesan.  (I used 1/2, am wondering if 3/4 will work better.)

Add 2 Tbs oil, 2 eggs, and 1/4 cup milk. 
Mix, adding more milk as necessary to make a dough consistency.....like pie crust.  Use your hands and knead it a little. 

Separate dough into 16 pieces.
Form dough pieces into sticks about 1/2" in diameter.

Place sticks into an ungreased pan.  I did put some into my cast iron pan and that worked nicely, but some also went on a cookie sheet.

Bake 20-25 minutes, or until brown.

Flying Off the Handle: Woodchuck Chicken

I took this photo at the Sugarbush Farm in Woodstock, Vermont.  We like their cheese. 

The tall trees remind me of wood.  The wood reminds me of Woodchuck Hard Cider.  John really wanted to try this as he turned 21 last weekend.  Peter had the idea of marinating boneless chicken in it.  And it came out nice and tender!!!  We were happy to have two pieces left over for Monday night's dinner.  A keeper recipe....with a catchy name!

We should have taken a picture, but we didn't.  It looks like grilled chicken.....and tastes fabulous!


Woodchuck Chicken

Take 4 1/2 lbs. of boneless chicken breasts.

Drizzle them with 2-3 Tbs. of olive oil,
2 Tbs of lemon juice, and
garlic powder to taste.

Mix this all up.  Add some salt if you want.  I meant to add some, but didn't get to it. 
It was still excellent.

Poke holes with your fork all over the chicken.

Pour 1/2 bottle of Woodchuck Hard Cider over the chicken.  Cover and let sit in the fridge for 6 hours.

Grill.  Use an instant read thermometer to make sure you cooked it properly.

MMMMM!

And....FYI....there are woodchucks among those trees.  Take a look at this photo:

HH's Basic Little Meatballs

I picked up this sign this summer and placed it over my stove.  I thought the message is worth seeing over and over.  It makes sense.  When I think back on my life, the stuff that stands out are little things:  a funny story, a look that someone gave you, cooking steak and potatoes over a fire at a state park on a Sunday afternoon, a baby sleeping on your chest......great memories, but little events at the time. 

John came home for the weekend.  I have been wanting to make him meatballs for a while now.  I finally did it! 

Meatballs are something we all take for granted.  It's easy to pick up a bag of frozen meatballs for your pasta, unless you need to be GF.  It's a little thing to enjoy.  Not hard to make, but a nice complement to a pasta meal.  You can adapt these in a number of ways, but this is the basic recipe:

HH's Basic Little Meatballs

Preheat oven to 350.  Get out your 12-inch skillet.

Mix in a bowl:

1 lb lean ground beef,

1/2 cup GF breadcrumbs,

1 tsp GF Worstershire sauce,

1/4 tsp garlic powder,

1 tsp Italian seasoning, and

1 egg.

Add salt as desired.  I didn't add salt, but I thought a little would have improved it slightly.  Try 1/4 to 1/2 tsp.  I'm not one to go overboard on salt.

I have a little meatballer-gadget that makes meatballs 1-3/8 inches in diameter.  You don't need to be quite that precise, lol!  Make them 1 to 1-1/2 inches in diameter with your fingers, if you don't have a meatballer-gadget.  I made about 22 meatballs.  Put them in the skillet.  No need to grease it first. 

Bake 20-25 minutes.  Celebrate that meatballs are so easy!  They can be frozen to heat up again in the microwave as needed. 

Flying Off the Handle: Avocado Salads

These are angora goats.  We get mohair from them. 

(And you may have thought we get mohair from mo's!!)

These goats were at the New York Sheep and Wool Festival a few weeks ago.  They are funky looking, in a cute sort of way!  Mohair is fun to knit with.  It is super-warm, and the finished project has a "halo effect" from the fuzziness of the fiber.

When I met with my knitting friends last week, we discussed ways we all get vegetables into our meals.  My friend, Monica, shared that she buys little bags of avocados at Whole Foods and makes salads from them.  My ears perked up.  Avocado?  I love avocado, but I am not sure what to do with it other than guacamole.  A few days later I bought my own bag of avocados.  The first salad is one I threw together; the second is from Monica. 

Monica is from Chile.  She says that lemon trees (and avocados) grow very well in most parts of Chile - hence the use of lemon juice as a dressing for her avocado salad.  Nice and easy to throw together as you are heating up other parts of a meal!  

Chunky Guacamole Salad
(Serves 2)

Toss together:

One avocado, chopped,
1/2 of a red onion, chopped,
1/2 of a 14.5-oz can chopped fire roasted tomatoes,
3/4 tsp. WOW seasoning,
a splash of lime juice, and
1 tsp. sugar.

Avocado and Chick Pea Salad
(Serves 2)

Toss together:

1 avocado, chopped,
1/2 of a 19-oz can of chick peas, rinsed,
1/2 Tbs. olive oil,
1 tsp lemon juice, and
1/2 tsp garlic pepper seasoning (with salt in it).