Red Beans and Whipped Cream

This recipe isn’t perfected, and I can’t find anybody who seems to have perfected it. I’m still working on it, but since the issue is one of consistency and not taste (oh, definitely not taste), I wanted to go ahead and share it with you. If you’re feeling up to a challenge, maybe you can work on this one.

Apple Pate de Fruit

She had an issue with it never really congealing properly, and I had the same issue. I decided to make mine into more of a fruit leather or fruit roll up than a chunky candy, hoping that the thinner layer of fruit would dry out better.

I followed the recipe pretty closely, but I did cook it on the stove for longer than the hour, determined to make it “mound,” and I eventually got close.

Then I spread it out on a jelly roll pan lined with parchment and cooked it on “warm” for an hour and a half. My oven doesn’t go to 150, so I figured “warm” was close enough.

It was still pretty mushy on bottom, so I actually turned the oven off and left it in there over night.

This morning the top is perfect, but the bottom is still a bit mushy. But it tastes SO good. Really like the best fruit roll up ever.

I think that if I’d had more time last night that I could’ve made it better by just letting it cook longer, thus letting it dry out more. Or maybe even flipping it over once the top got nice and dry.

I cut some extra sharp aged cheddar into chunks and cut out equal-sized pieces of the pate de fruit (if it can even be called that any more). Cheddar and apple? Always a winning combination.

I’m going to attempt this again soon, and will update you if I manage to get it to actually be the right consistency.

Yesterday morning I woke up and went to pop open the can of biscuits from the fridge. Only problem? There was no can of biscuits on the fridge. I swear I thought there was. So I googled and searched around for a quick one bowl biscuit recipe. These certainly aren’t the best biscuits ever, but they were definitely acceptable, and VERY easy.

Easy drop biscuits.

The only thing that I changed was that I incorporated half the butter into the dry ingredients while it was still cold, and worked it until I had pea size chunks. THEN I added the other half of the butter melted.

This is so easy. I’ve used it on a couple of recipes recently, so I thought I’d include a quick seperate recipe for it. Great on cupcakes and popovers so far. But I bet it would be good on ice cream and all sorts of other things.

I’ve tried blueberry and raspberry so far. Let me know if you try any others.

Berry Sauce

11 ounces berries, mashed up
1/2 cup sugar (a little more for really tart berries, a little less for really sweet berries)

Heat on low heat for 15-20 minutes, or until syrupy. Then strain through mesh strainer to catch skins and seeds. You may have to press it through some.

I just realized that I have posted two recipes that call for homemade cranberry chutney, but that I hadn’t actually posted my cranberry chutney recipe (or, if I have, I can’t find it!)!

I thought I had a picture of it, but I can’t find one on my flickr. I’ll look at my computer when I get home and try to find one.

This stuff is amazing on turkey and cheese (especially Brie) sandwiches.

Cranberry Chutney

Ingredients
1 can jellied cranberry sauce
1 can whole berry cranberry sauce
1 tsp powdered ginger
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
4 tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
salt to taste
1/4 cup chopped pecans or walnuts
1/2 small orange, peeled,diced
1-2 inch orange rind, finely diced
1/2-1 lemons, juice only

Combine ginger, garlic, vinegar, sugar, cinnamon and allspice in a large pot.

Simmer for about 20 minutes or until there are only several tablespoons of liquid left (this doesn’t have to be exact).

Add cranberry sauce and salt and mix and bring to a simmer.

Add nuts, orange, peel and lemon juice. Simmer slowly for 2-3 hours, stirring occasionally, until you get a nice spreadable jam-like consistancy.

If you aren’t going to eat it all in the next few days, store in an airtight container in the freezer. It won’t freeze solid, so you can just pull it out when you want it without having to thaw.

I planted a potted herb garden this spring, and am finally getting some decent-sized plants. When I stopped to smell the Thyme I immediately thought, “Pizza sauce!”

You could probably get away with using dried herbs, but I’ll leave you to do the quantity conversion on that.

Pizza Sauce

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1/2 yellow onion, minced (really mince it up until it’s almost a paste)
2 teaspoons garlic, minced
Tbsp sugar
1 can pureed tomatoes
3ish tablespoons minced herbs- I used a mix of three different basils, oregeno, and thyme.
Dash of wochestershire (optional)
Dash of cayenne and/or red pepper flakes (optional)
Salt to taste

Pour the olive oil into a sauce pot and heat over medium. Add the onions and saute for several minutes. Add the garlic and continue to saute. At this point turn the heat down slightly and add the sugar. Make sure to stir it immediately, or even while adding the sugar, so that it doesn’t burn. But the sugar will help caramelize the onions.

Continue to cook over med-low heat until the onions are turning golden. Stir frequently to avoid burning.

Add the tomato puree and bring to a simmer.

Add the herbs, pepper, and salt, and let simmer, preferably for about 30 minutes, stirring occasionaly.

You can also add more sugar to this sauce depending on your preference. If you think Papa John’s has the best sauce ever… add more sugar!