And Another Thing...

Tasty Tuesday :: Farro with Roasted Root Veggies

Farro with Roasted Root Veggies

• 2 cups farro  ( apparently you should soak the farro in salted water for a few hours, I did not and it turned out fine.  If you do have the foresight to do that, omit the salt below.)
• 5 cups water
• a couple of pinches of sea salt
• 2 medium potatoes, peeled and diced
• 2 medium sweet potatoes, peeled and diced
• 2 large carrots, peeled and sliced
• 2medium apples, cored and diced
• a couple of handfuls of chopped walnuts

 

Heat your oven to about 450-500 degrees, depending on how much time you have.  Toss the veggies, apples and walnuts in to a greased 9x11 baking dish and put them in the oven for about an hour or so or until they seem done to you. 

Meanwhile, rinse the farro if you did not soak it and put it into a large pot with the water and salt (omit if you soaked them).  Bring to a boil and then lower to a simmer for 30-40 minutes.  They will wait nicely in the pot (without heat) after they are done if the veggies are not done yet.

When the veggies are done, transfer everything to serving dishes if that's your style and serve!  Ours was great with freshly baked bread and homemade applesauce.  All the kids and parents loved this one!

 

 

 

 

Tasty Tuesday :: Sour Cream Apple Pie

 

Topping:

3 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened

1/4 c. plus

2 tablespoons sugar

1 t. cinnamon

2 tablespoons flour

 

Filling:

1 1/3 c. sour cream

2/3 c. sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons vanilla

2 large eggs

3 tablespoons all-purpose flour

4 or 5 large Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored, and thinly sliced

 

Pie crust

make your own, or use a pre-made one

 

To make the topping, in a bowl blend the butter, sugar, cinnamon, and flour until the mixture is combined well. Cover and chill the topping.

 

To make the filling, whisk together the sour cream, sugar, salt, vanilla, eggs, and flour until the mixture is smooth. Add the peeled, cored, and thinly sliced apples and stir the filling and apples together.Spoon the filling into the chilled shell and crumble the topping evenly over it. Bake the pie on a baking sheet in the middle of a pre-heated 350-degree oven, 1 to 1 1/4 hours. (You might need to put a bit of tinfoil on top of the pie during the last 15 minutes to prevent the top from burning.) Transfer it to a rack and let it cool completely.

 

I found this recipe online and had to try it.  I did a couple of things a little bit differently, but only to accomodate what I had on hand.  I used dehydrated apples instead of fresh ones, because that's what I had.  I also put the topping into the freezer instead of the fridge and I liked handling it better that way. 

This pie was a huge hit and people were immediately asking me to make it again.  It was quite labor intensive, so I'm not sure how often it will turn up.  Oliver actually said he liked it better than regular apple pie, so that's a plus!  I liked the way the pie actually set, instead of being quite runny like regular apple pie, it made it much easier to serve!  The process was a pleasant way to spend a chilly Sunday afternoon and I enjoyed baking it and I certainly enjoyed eating it!

 

Tasty Tuesday :: Apple Chicken

We had some visitors over for dinner on Sunday and I wanted to make something simple, easy, fast and sans red meat (they don't eat it).  I gathered chicken, apples and my crockpot and away I went!  The dish turned out really well and everybody liked it.

Apple Chicken

5 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves

4 medium apples in the variety of you choice (leave the skin on)

1/2 cup brown sugar

2 tablespoons cinnamon

a few grinds of whole nutmeg

Throw the chicken into the crockpot (mine were frozen) and set on low (this is for about 6 hours, put it on high if you need it to go faster).  Dice up the apples and put into a large mixing bowl.  Add the brown sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg and mix together.  Dump all that into the crockpot, put the lid on and wait about 6 hours for the yummy goodness! 

This made my whole house smell wonderful! Enjoy!

Tasty Tuesday :: Apple Walnut Muffins

I had an odd hankering for muffins this evening, so I whipped these up and I think they're pretty tasty! Mine stuck to the paper, but I think that's because I didn't let it cool at all :o)

Apple Walnut Muffins

2tbs frozen orange juice concentrate

1C milk

1 egg

3tbs oil

1 large apple coarsely chopped (I put mine in the food processor with the shredder blade)

1/2C walnuts, chopped

1/2C firmly packed brown sugar

2C WW flour

1tsp baking soda

dash salt

1tbs cinnamon

Preheat oven to 375^o and line about 20 muffin tins.  Combine all the wet ingredients together and beat thoroughly.   Add the dry ingredients and mix until all combined.  Drop a very scant 1/4 cup into each muffin cup and bake for 15 minutes.  Let cool and then enjoy!

Tasty Tuesday with a Twist

I just want to remind everyone as you are shopping for candy to fill the Easter baskets and food for the Easter meal to please avoid Nestle products.  Nestle is still using child labor, still polluting the land and water and still enticing women in third world countries to formula feed their babies (which leads to starvation and poisoning when Nestle subsequently pulls the clean water supply as they leave).

Here is a list (current as of last October) of Nestle products, some of which were really surprising to me.  There is also a list of resources near the end of the post that you can check out for yourself.  If you click on the icon on my sidebar, it will take you to a website with a plethora of information.   There are so many other delicious goodies out there to fill those Easter baskets with, challenge yourself to find them!

Tasty Tuesday :: Darn Good Pear Cake

We have gotten pears through our produce co-op several times in the last few weeks and although there are several people in the house that like pears, they don't seem to be eating them.  Well, waste not, want not.  I got online to find a good pear cake recipe but could only find upside down cakes or chocolate pear cakes and that was not exactly what I wanted.  So, here is my recipe for a darn good pear cake...

Darn Good Pear Cake

2 cups Whole Wheat White flour

1 cup sugar

dash salt

2tsp cinnamon

1 1/2 tsp baking soda

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

2 eggs

1 cup yogurt

2 ripe pears, cored and shredded but leave the peels on.

Heat oven to 350^o and grease an 8x8 pan.  Mix dry ingredients together and then add wet ingredients and blend thoroughly.  Pour into pan and bake for 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick comes out dry.  Cool on a wire rack for about 10 minutes then cut, share and enjoy!