Vegetable Powders

Posted on September 29, 2014 by Elaine Broughton

Magic in the kitchen is really all about enhancing flavor and, whenever possible adding nutrition. That often means very expensive little jars of flavorings, extracts and packages of fresh herbs.

Recently I discovered a way to make many of those extra special ingredients at home for much less money (thank you, doomsday preppers). I started with dehydrated tomatoes. I used both fresh from the garden, and a #10 can of diced organic tomatoes from Costco ($2.79 for the whole thing). It seems like a lot, but the end product could easily fit into a 1 gallon zip lock or a couple of quart jars. It took about 24 hours (time can vary) to get the tomatoes to a dehydrated state. I loaded up the spice grinder, and pulsed until the tomatoes were a fine powder.

Making Tomato Powder

After grinding, press the powder through a sieve to remove the large pieces. Save the larger pieces to use in soups or as a sprinkle on garnish.

Tomato Powder

Store the powder in the cupboard in a tightly capped glass jar. Add a spoonful to sauces, soups, homemade pasta dough, almost anywhere you would like to have the tomato flavor with out the need to reduce the water content. Careful though, it’s pretty intense flavoring.

Another really great flavor enhancer is mushroom powder. This is very expensive to buy so making it at home is a real money saver, and it’s also a stealthy way to add great mushroom flavor to any dish without upsetting all the anti-mushroom eaters. I bought the mushrooms on sale. I cleaned and sliced the mushrooms and put them in the microwave for about 1 minute. This enhances the flavor. (Some people even cook them first, or use the mushrooms from their stock, puree and spread them on the fruit leather sheet in their dehydrator, but it’s not a necessary step.)

Quick Steaming Mushrooms

After microwave steaming them, I placed the mushrooms in a single layer in the dehydrator. It took about 12 hours to reach the desired state, but this can vary.

Dried Mushrooms

Once dried, I put them in the spice grinder and pulsed until I had a fine powder. A word of caution, don’t open the spice grinder right away or you’ll be inhaling mushroom powder for the next 5 minutes or so. I like it in my food, just not in my lungs. Again, pass the powder through a sieve and put into a glass jar.

Last, but certainly not least, there’s kale. We drink a lot of protein shakes and smoothies, and adding green vegetables is a super way to up the nutrition and to put some extra vegetables in your dishes without attracting any unwanted grousing. The process is very similar to both tomatoes and mushrooms. I cut and washed the kale and dried on paper towels.

Fresh Kale

Place the kale pieces on a single layer in the dehydrator. You can crowd them, but don’t stack them up. It’s easier to handle if you work with smaller, salad size pieces.

After the Drying

Process in the spice grinder until you get a fine powder.

Kale Powder

Pass it through a sieve and store in a glass jar.

Add a teaspoon to shakes, smoothies, soups or pasta dough. You can do this in your oven if you don’t have a dehydrator, and they are great additions to your pantry.

Three Seasonings

Let me know your ideas for using powders.

Golden Pickles

Posted on September 20, 2014 by Elaine Broughton

We had our first mild frost last week and I’ve started the final harvesting. I’ve decided to pickle the last of the carrots and beans. The first order of business is to scrub them good with the vegetable brush and trim the ends. Cut into sticks and cubes, or slices if you prefer them that way.

Straight from the garden

After their bath

I got pretty tired of boiling water, blanching and ice baths and I thought “why am I doing this” when I have a perfectly good microwave oven. It works great. Well, I haven’t tried it with tomatoes so I can’t recommend it for those.

Cover with plastic and one minute in the microwave

Set up the water bath and pull the hot jars out of the dishwasher (sanitize cycle).

Pickling Solution

This is the same basic solution I used for pickling beets. I like the sweetened mix for carrots, but you could “dill” them.

4 cups white distilled vinegar (5%)
2 cup of distilled water (no chemicals)
2 cups sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons canning salt
1 cinnamon stick
12 whole cloves
12 whole allspice

Combine all ingredients into a non-reactive pot (not aluminum) and bring to a boil. Remove from heat.

Pack the carrots into the jars. I made cubes this year, along with some carrots sticks. Pack the jars tightly and add 1 slice of fresh ginger to each jar. Using a strainer, pour the hot pickling liquid over the carrots, making sure they are covered but leaving about 1 inch of space in the top of the jar. Put the lids on and tighten the bands finger tight, but not tight, tight.

When the water bath reaches boiling, turn down to a simmer and process the jars in the water bath for 15 minutes. Remove the jars and set on a kitchen towel. Listen for the “ping” which means the jars have sealed. Let the jars sit for 24 hours, then you can tighten the bands to finger tight again, or remove them and use just the lids.

Pickled Carrots Cubes or Sticks

Enjoy!

Fresh Bread and First Fruits

Posted on August 1, 2014 by Elaine Broughton

Well, summer did finally arrive and in the garden the squash vines have stopped shivering and the eggplants are growing almost as fast as the weeds. It’s been a while since I posted mostly because we’ve been trying to focus on the garden.

This week we harvested some of the first vegetables: turnips, zucchini, some beans, and one fat little cucumber. The collards and chard are ready for the first picking and there are a few blushing little tomatoes. It’s the first gathering, lughnasa (or lammas if you prefer).

Photo by E. Broughton

In honor of that tradition I’m baking a special ancient grain bread using spelt and quinoa. I’ve been experimenting with spelt because it’s higher in protein than modern wheat and lower in gluten, for those of you who have a problem with gluten sensitivity. It’s also very tasty with a warm nuttiness but not too dense. I used my basic recipe as follows:

Easiest Bread in the World

In a large bowl start your yeast.

1 cup warm water (110-115 degrees)
½ cup applesauce (you could use strained prunes in a pinch or honey)
1 tablespoon yeast (or just throw in the whole package – I hate leftovers)

Mix and let stand for 10 minutes. Then add:

1 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups spelt flour
1 cup all purpose flour

Stir together. In the same bowl you mixed it in, knead well (8-10 minutes), add all purpose flour if needed, until the dough is smooth and elastic. Put the dough in a greased loaf pan, cover with a sheet of oiled plastic wrap and let rise to double in size. Brush with milk or half and half, sprinkle quinoa over the top and bake at 350 degrees for 45-50 minutes.

Photo by E. Broughton

No messy floured boards, no extra rising time, and I’ve never had it turn out less than perfect. I know you’re going to hold me to that.

While the bread is baking, it’s time for first fruits. The little zucchini is just perfectly creamy so I’m making a mixed salad with vinaigrette.

Zucchini, Apple and Green Pepper Salad

Photo by E. Broughton

Chop about 4 small zucchini, add 1 chopped apples, a small green pepper, chopped, and a handful of diced red onion. The secret with red onion is to drop the diced pieces into a bowl of ice water and let it soak for about 10 minutes before you add it to the salad. The vinaigrette is very simple:

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
1/2 teaspoon sugar or honey
1/2 teaspoon fresh chopped basil (dried works too).
Salt and pepper to taste.

Combine in a glass jar and shake well. Pour over the salad, toss and refrigerate.

But, there more bounty to enjoy. The turnips were great and came early even with the rain. I planted a variety called White Lady and they are beautiful.

Creamed Turnips with Dill

Peel and cube the turnips and in a saucepan in just enough water to cover. Simmer until the turnips are just fork tender (don’t overcook). Drain. Add enough vegetable stock to cover and add teaspoon chopped fresh dill and a tablespoon of butter. Stir a tablespoon of flour into a cup of cold milk until smooth. Add to the stock and turnips and simmer until well blended and creamy. Yum.

Photo by E. Broughton

Apple Crisp and Broken Cookies

Posted on May 8, 2014 by Elaine Broughton

Sometimes success is a matter of redeeming your mistakes with a good save. I was trying to make refrigerator cookies and wound up with a log of great tasting dough that hardened into concrete and crumbled when I tried to slice off cookies to bake. It was sad but the only thing you can do is throw the whole mess out or try to re-purpose the mistake, kind of like IBM and post-it notes. Earlier in the week I had over-bought an enormous bag of huge Red Delicious apples and needed to find some way to use up all that bounty before it spoiled.
I had already made apple sauce and still had apples left over. Then it occurred to me that the crumbling cookie dough was about the texture of streusel topping. Put those two thing together and you’ve got Apple Crisp.

I took the cookie dough, put it in a zip lock and smacked it with the rolling pin until I achieved streusel consistency.

Photo by Elaine Broughton

In a big bowl I peeled and sliced about four big apples and tossed them with cinnamon and brown sugar.

Then I arranged them in a buttered baking dish. with some dollops of coconut oil (which makes everything taste better).

Photo by Elaine Broughton

Now, for the “coup de cookie”. I sprinkled the whole thing with the cookie dough streusel mixture and popped it in the oven at 350 degrees for about 45 minutes.

Photo by Elaine Broughton

There is nothing fancy about this dessert which is part of its charm. It’s homey and comforting on a cold, rainy day, and topped with a little ice cream or topping, you just feel warm and proud of yourself for snatching happiness from the jaws of a sad kitchen mess. I’m going to have a big bowl of it right now.

Elaine in the Kitchen

Cooking Through the Seasons

Vegetable Powders

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Golden Pickles

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