Homemade Unsweetened Applesauce

A large box, overfilling with sweet, crisp apples, sat in my kitchen for the better part of this month. The first round was picked by Scott and I some time in late September. The second (much larger) round was dropped off by my parents, who were happy to have gotten so many before the deer did. All of this, from only the two trees on my parents property.

Their rosy red imperfect skins and intoxicating sweet floral smell greeted me each morning. I cut them into bite sized pieces and ate them in my oatmeal with cinnamon and maple syrup. Mid-afternoon snacks turned into slices with a smear of peanut butter or a chunk of cheese. I made this Dutch Appletaart again. I put them in salads. I chopped some up and lightly caramelized them to top off a stack of pancakes. But there were just too many to consume. I have no place to properly store this many apples before they start softening and eventually rotting. My solution, homemade applesauce.

Applesauce is nothing new, but it is really easy to make. It does take some time to peel the apples, but it passes faster than you think once your thoughts start to drift and you get into a rhythm. All you need, besides some time, is a good amount of apples, some liquid, a touch of lemon juice and a large pot to cook them in. Some people add in sugar, but choosing a great sweet apple should leave you with enough natural sweetness to not need any extra at all. Another option is to add in a cinnamon stick or two. I like to add a dash of cinnamon in when I eat it, but adding a stick of cinnamon as everything cooks down, infuses it with a cinnamon flavor more so than a strong cinnamon taste.

Another thing about applesauce that many may dispute is the texture. I love it smooth with absolutely no chucks of apple in my sauce. This may be because I disliked cooked chunks of apple (as in apple pie) when I was little. Maybe it's because I grew up eating it smooth and it's sort of a comfort thing now. Either way it's your call on how much you decide to puree it because in the end it all tastes the same.

I used what I believe are Jonathan apples, but any good sweet apple, such as Gala or Fuji, will make some lovely applesauce. You can cut the ingredients below in half if you don't want to make so much. To make more you'll just need to do it in batches, unless you have several large stockpots. I made this batch about 3 times. I've been enjoying it topped with almond ginger granola in the morning and it's like dessert for breakfast!

Homemade Unsweetened Applesauce
makes about 6 pints or 3 quarts

4-5 pounds apples, peeled and cored
1 1/2 cups water (optional fresh pressed apple juice instead of water)
juice of half a lemon

Place the prepared apples into a large stockpot (I was able to fit them all into a 6 qt pot). Pour in the water and juice from the lemon. Bring to a simmer over medium-high heat. Cover and reduce heat to medium-low and simmer for 30 minutes. I give the whole batch a good stir after about 20 minutes, so the apples at the top have a chance to soften up as much as the ones on the bottom.

After 30 minutes, the apples should have reduced into the pot by about a third. Let them cool for 5-10 minutes. Depending on how chunky you like your applesauce, you can either just mash everything down with a potato masher or, do as I did, and puree them in batched in your blender to the consistency you want. You could also probably use an immersion blender to do this too.

Pour into clean jars and store in your refrigerator for about a week. You can also can and freeze applesauce very easily to last much longer, just be sure to leave plenty of head room in your jars for expansion.

Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cherry Cookies

Before I started this blog (and honestly, before I even knew the exact definition of what a blog was) I never really thought about the power of a complete strangers words. How I could be having a bad day or week, but after reading a post about how someone else sees the world and how they translate it into the exact words I need to hear, could make me feel better. Before the blogging world, most people only conversed about lofty topics with people they knew. Now there is a whole world of an audience and opinions as far and wide. Yet we all find those we connect to. Those who we feel are being their genuine selves and those you know, if it weren't for miles and oceans separating you, would likely be your friends.

This week was a trying one for me, nothing particular happened, it was just a couple days where I didn't feel myself. Like I should be doing more, yet couldn't push past whatever was blocking my mind and body from getting there. I know I'm not the only one who has these days, but I was lucky in that there were several posts this last week from other bloggers that couldn't have come at a better time. Posts about letting others see you for your true self, slowing down in this over-scheduled world we live in, and accepting who you are and not who you are not. All things I practice and feel strongly about, but that I needed to hear again. And hearing it from someone I've never met in person, oddly makes me feel even more hopeful and enlivened about life again.

In a world where there is less and less real life interaction with each other, it feels good knowing that there are others who see this and are also taking the action to consciously slow down and enjoy what is really happening in that very moment around them.

I was reminded that I needed to switch things up a bit. Getting out of routine does wonders for clearing my head and making me feel better. I took a walk and admired the fiery leaves. I baked these chocolate chocolate chip cherry cookies while making Halloween decorations. They were a sweet treat to enjoy after hunting for our pumpkins (on a rainy day in the muddy!) and getting our costumes started.

Intensely chocolaty, slightly crisp on the edges and softer in the middle is how I'd describe these cookies. I love biting through and hitting a chocolate chip or dried cherry for the texture. I'm thinking a small sprinkle of coarse sea salt on top before baking would have made these even more addicting.

Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cherry Cookies
adapted from Big Fat Cookies
makes 12 large cookies

1 2/3 cups (10 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips, divided
1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1/4 cup unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter, slightly softened (left out for about 30 minutes)
1/4 cup packed Muscovado or brown sugar
1/4 cup natural cane sugar
1 cold egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup dried cherries, coarsely chopped

Position oven rack to the middle and preheat oven to 325˚F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment and set aside.

Place in a double broiler, 2/3 cup (4 ounces) chocolate chips. Stir the chocolate chips until melted and smooth. Remove from the heat and set aside.

Sift the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt into a medium bowl and set aside. In a large bowl, using an electric mixer on medium speed, beat the butter, brown sugar, and cane sugar until smooth and blended, about 1 minute. Stop the mixer and scrape down the sides of the bowl if needed. Mix in the melted chocolate until blended. Add the egg and vanilla, mixing until blended, about 1 minute. Next add in the flour mixture, mixing just until well incorporated. By hand, mix in the remaining chocolate chips and the dried cherries.

Scoop out about a 1/4 capacity of dough and place it on the prepared baking sheets, making sure to space them about 3 inches apart.

Bake the cookies one sheet at a time for about 16-18 minutes. The cookies should give slightly when pressed in the center. Let cool for 5 minutes on baking pan before transferring to wire cooling rack to cool completely.Store tightly covered at room temperature for up to 4 days.

Roasted Veggie, Quinoa, Millet & Arugala Salad

I love roasting vegetables. It usually starts in the Fall and doesn't end until our wet Spring is over. They just seem to go with every meal this time of year and I can prepare them as simply (salt and pepper) or complex (curry spiced) as I want and they fill me up in that perfect way.

Roasting sweet potatoes and carrots together seems to happen most often. So the other night when our first batch of the season was in the oven, I decide I wanted to jazz it up a bit. I quickly brought a pot of water to a boil with some quinoa and millet, whisked together a simple dressing and washed and dried some arugula.

Aren't those carrots pretty! They're a white variety that ended up in our csa box, but they taste just like the orange ones, so don't feel like you need to hunt them down. The taste of this salad was so satisfying. The slight chewiness from the grains, mixed with perfectly tender, sweet bits of potato and carrot and topped over the spicy arugula all worked as well as I had hoped. The lime was a bit of an unexpected welcome in the dressing, but I'm sure lemon would work too. I think a light hand of crumbled feta or goat cheese would be nice here as well.

The roasted vegetables and grains I think could work well even on there own without the arugula if you'd prefer. I think if I had more limes I would have added an extra slice to each plate for others to squeeze a little extra on if they wished. I love all things tart and vinegary though. Also I kept the skins on my potatoes, it doesn't bother me and it saves peeling time, but they can be peeled if you prefer.

Roasted Veggie, Quinoa, Millet & Arugula Salad
serves 4 generously

for the salad
1 bunch carrots, washed, halved lengthwise and sliced 1/8-inch thick
1 sweet potato, washed and sliced 1/8-inch thick, then halved lengthwise
2 tablespoons olive oil
salt and pepper
1/4 cup millet
1/4 cup quinoa
1 cup water
1 bunch arugula, washed and trimmed

for the dressing
juice of half a lime
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper

Heat oven to 425˚F.

Place the carrots and sweet potato on a large rimmed baking sheet. Drizzle with the 2 tablespoons olive oil, season with salt and pepper. Toss with your hands until everything is well coated, then place in the oven for 30-35 minutes or until just tender, stirring half way through.

In the mean time, rinse and drain the millet an quinoa. Place in a small sauce pan and add the water. Bring everything to a boil, then cover and reduce to a simmer for about 15 minutes. Use a fork to fluff up and check for doneness. Set aside to cool slightly.

In a small bowl whisk together the lime juice, balsamic vinegar, and garlic. Slowly drizzle in the olive oil, whisking as you go. Stir in the salt and pepper.

Place the veggies and millet/quinoa into a large serving bowl and toss together. Pour in the dressing and toss so everything gets well coated. Serve over arugula with extra lime wedges if you wish.

Meatless Monday with Martha Stewart: Garlicky Green Bean & Tofu Stir Fry

A good stir fry should be one thing every home cook has up his or her sleeve. Just like pasta, a stir fry full of vegetables and a good source of protein, is quick and easy to make. Add a grain of some sort and you've got yourself a complete meal in a flash.

This weeks post on Whole Living I share my go to Garlicky Green Bean & Tofu Stir-Fry. I'm a huge garlic lover and make this often; subbing in whatever veggies are in season at the time and sometimes even replacing the tofu with beans or tempeh. For the complete recipe, head on over to their blog. What kinds of dishes do you turn to for a quick week night meal?

Spelt Biscuits

There is nothing better than a hearty, soul warming soup in the fall and through the winter, but as excited as I am about tasting each new batch or being reminded of familiar favorites, sometimes I get just as excited about the bread that will be accompanying it.

I made a big batch of stew for dinner the other night soon after finishing our chickpea noodle soup. Normally I enjoy soups and stews with a nice loaf of crusty bread; sopping up all the last remaining bits with a shaggy torn piece at the end. This time however, I was craving biscuits. Warm from the oven, flaky, buttery, homey biscuits.

Now, these are not your traditional biscuits in any sense, they are made entirely from spelt flour, but they still have that buttery, slightly flaky characteristic I was craving. So they suited me just fine.

This batch made plenty more than we could eat that night and biscuits are always a welcome sight in the morning. I rewarmed them slightly in the oven the next day just to give them that warm from the oven feel again. Then I drizzled mine with some local raw blackberry honey alongside a hot cup of tea, but jam or even just a nob of butter perks them up too. I also may have eaten more then one, but who's counting?

Now that I'm on the topic of breakfast, I'm envisioning serving these alongside scrambled eggs or tofu or maybe making a fried egg sandwich from them as well. Biscuits have so many great uses! Never be afraid to make a double batch, they will always get eaten.

Other than the change from white flour to spelt (you can use light spelt if you prefer too), there is plenty of cold butter mixed in to give the biscuits their flakiness. I used my favorite buttermilk substitute of almond milk and vinegar, but if you have a splash of buttermilk needing to be used up you can use that here too.

Spelt Biscuits
8-10 biscuits

3/4 cup almond milk
1 teaspoon vinegar
2 1/2 Cups spelt flour
1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into cubes

Preheat the oven to 350˚F.

In a small bowl or liquid measuring cup, combine the milk and vinegar (alternatively you can use buttermilk), set aside.

Sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Using your hands, rub in the butter into the flour mixture until you have roughly little pea size bits.

Stir in the milk mixture with a wooden spoon. You should have a shaggy doughy mess, don't worry if it seems dry at this point. Dump everything out onto a clean surface and knead the dough 10-15 times just until all the flour is worked in.

Flatten the dough out into a 1" thick circle and use a biscuit cutter to make neat rounds of dough. Gather together any remaining dough scraps and repeat until you have 8-10 biscuits cut out. Place them on a baking pan and bake for 18-20 minutes. Serve warm.

Chickpea Noodle Soup

Hot soups were only vaguely on my mind before leaving to D.C. last week. Even though there was an obvious difference in the morning air, the day time temperatures were still reaching the low 70's. By the time I came back however the clouds had settled in, the misty cool air made me reach for a warm cozy sweater and soup was all I could think about.

In fact I've already made several this past week. The day of my return I opened up my first jar of summers tomatoes and made a big pot of tortilla soup. So good with fresh tortilla chips and a subtle reminder that summer was not too long ago. Then I turned to another favorite; lentil soup, which I don't think I will ever tire of, no matter how long our winter decides to be this year.

Last night I decided I wanted something I've never made before. I had chickpeas and spaghetti noodles, carrots and fresh radishes just pulled from the garden, so I settled on the idea of a chickpea noodle soup as a sort of vegetarian riff on chicken noodle soup. The ingredients are so few and usually ones most people stock in their kitchen. The only unfamiliar one may be the white miso. I love adding miso to soups, plus it has many good for you qualities too. The stuff seems to last forever and can really add depth to soups and dips, I encourage you to add it to your diet if you haven't already.

This had to be one of the quickest soups I've ever made. Seriously it takes about as long as it takes to cook the pasta noodles and you're already spooning out yourself a piping hot bowl. Radishes didn't actually go into this soup, but their vibrant green tops did! I love eating my veggies from root to leaf (as long as they're edible). The undersides of radish leaves have little pokeys, much like nettles, although these won't sting, but once you cook them down they go away, you just want to make sure to cut whatever greens you use into manageable sizes to eat.

Chickpea Noodle Soup
serves 4-6

8 cups water or vegetable broth
2 tablespoons white miso
2 teaspoons sea salt
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
2 large carrots, sliced on the diagonal
12 ounces whole wheat spaghetti noodles, broken in half
4 cups cooked chickpeas or 2-14oz. cans, drained and rinsed
1 bunch dark leafy greens such as kale, chard, or in my case radish top, cut to bite size pieces
1 tablespoon olive oil
fresh ground black pepper to taste

Place the water or broth into a large pot over high heat and bring to a boil. Scoop out about 1 cup of the water into a small bowl and stir in the miso until it's completely dissolved. This just helps make it easier to combine with the soup. Pour the miso and water back into the pot and stir in the salt, garlic powder, sliced carrots, noodles, and chickpeas.

Continue to cook for 8-12 minutes or until your noodles are al dente. Turn off the heat and stir in the leafy greens. They will begin to slowly wilt and cook from the heat of the broth. At this point taste and add more salt if needed.

Serve soup hot with a drizzle of olive oil and fresh ground black pepper.