Household Blog

As Snoopy (Damon) said, the word of the day (or rather the weekend) is “apples.” I picked up a bushel of apples this week from a local farm, and I’ve been in the kitchen all day today and yesterday preserving the bounty, and as an added bonus, filling the house with warmth and apple-scented goodness!

Already completed are 17 pints of apple sauce, 14 8-ounce jars of chutney, and the apple butter is still bubbling along as I write this, getting thicker and richer with every passing moment.

And how easy is all this? First off, canning itself is not hard, but you need to know how to do it properly. For general canning instructions (and recipes, resources, etc.), click here. For those of you who have already canned in the past, for the apple sauce, peel and chop your apples to fill a big pot, cook over medium low till the apples are mushy (technical term, there). Use a potato masher or immersion blender to make the sauce smooth, then process in a water bath canner for 20 minutes (for pint jars).

For the apple butter, I filled my slow cooker with apple sauce, added a cinnamon stick, and am currently cooking the heck out of it, until it is rich and dark. Process in water bath canner 5 – 10 minutes. Nope, no sugar. Nope, no pectin. I’m actually surprised at how many apple canning recipes call for pectin—especially since apples naturally contain a large amount of pectin. Huh.

But the real jewel in the crown of this year’s preserving festivities was the chutney. Oh so good, so simple, so richly flavored… so many future variations already seeding themselves in my brain. We enjoyed this last night on veggie burgers, but I think this is going to be a constant condiment on our table—sweet, savory, spicy, tangy, and deeeeelish.

Future variations? I could have done with this being a little hotter, so I might add more hot pepper or red pepper flakes next time. Different sorts of dried fruit: apricot, mango, etc. Some diced sweet bell pepper might be nice. Alternative vinegars? You get the idea.

Curried Apple Chutney

• 4 to 4 1/2 pounds apples, peeled and diced
• 3 1/2 c. apple cider vinegar
• 10 oz. (1 1/4 pound) raisins
• 3 c. brown sugar
• 2 to 3 inch knob of ginger, peeled and minced
• 2 large cloves garlic, peeled and minced
• 2 t. sea salt
• 1/2 large onion, diced
• 2 small hot red peppers, finely chopped
• 4 t. sweet curry powder (good quality, like Penzeys)
• 2 T. dijon mustard

Set slow cooker to high. Place all ingredients in slow cooker—this may need to be strategic, as it just filled to overflowing my 4-quart crockpot, and it took some pushing, stirring, and cooking-down for me to get all of it in there :)

Cook covered for 3 hours or so, till apples and all are well softened. Once they are soft, use a potato masher to start breaking up the chunks and giving you that chutney consistency. How chunky you leave it is entirely a matter of taste—I like some chunks in mine, as you can see in the pictures.

Once your chutney is the consistency and flavor you desire, process in 8-ounce jars in a water bath canner for 10 minutes. Make sure the lids all pop down (showing a good seal) and label and date your jars. And… enjoy.

Yield: about 14 cups.

I wrote this recipe last year for Agriberry, a local Richmond fruit CSA. It’s so good, probably the best rib recipe I’ve ever had, and so I give it to you.

I find that one set of spareribs, about 1.5 pounds, is good for two generous serviings. If you are feeding more people (or have smaller or bigger appetites than ours), feel free to adjust the amounts below.

Blackberry Ribs

• 1 1/2 lb spare rib
• 3 t. chili powder
• 3 minced garlic cloves
• 1/2 t. salt
• 2 c. fresh blackberries or more
• 1/3 c. ketchup
• 1/3 c. maple syrup
• 2 1/2 t. ginger powder
• 1 1/2 T. balsamic vinegar
• 1 t. sriracha (or your favorite hot sauce)

Preheat oven to 400. Mix chili, garlic and salt and rub into both sides of the spare rib. Place ribs meaty side up on a rimmed baking sheet and cook for about 50 minutes.

Meanwhile, place all six remaining ingredients in a blender and liquefy. Pour blackberry mixture through a sieve into a sauce pan, pressing mixture with a spatula to work the juice through. Discard the pulp and seeds. Cook the blackberry sauce over medium-high, uncovered, for about 10 minutes, stirring constantly once it starts to bubble. Set aside.

Once ribs have cooked 50 minutes, take out of oven and brush both sides with a liberal amount of the blackberry sauce. Return ribs to the oven, again meaty side up, and cook for another 10 minutes – no longer. Cut ribs into individual pieces, divide between two plates, and spoon more sauce over the top. Serve with leftover sauce on the side for dipping.

Apparently I’m feeling nostalgic this month. Did I tell you that I got more than a little verklempt (and more than a little pissed off) when I found out they canceled Gourmet magazine? The BEST magazine ever? Well, this recipe is a very distant cousin of a recipe in the big yellow book. Theirs is for winter vegetables in a horseradish butter sauce. Mine is a springy-er version.

Carrots & Radishes with horseradish herb sauce

• 1 bunch fresh carrots, scrubbed with ends still on (but leaves removed)
• several radishes—half as much as there are carrots
• 1/4 c. olive oil (or other oil or butter)
• 2 T. horseradish
• 1 1/2 T. white balsamic vinegar (or other)
• 1 t. honey
• 1 t. or so sea salt
• 2 T. fresh herb minced—dill, parsley, thyme, or a combination thereof
• fresh ground pepper to taste

In a small bowl, whisk together everything except the carrots and radishes. Set aside.

Scrub your carrots but do not peel them. Trim the leaves off but leave the very tip of stubbly end. If they’re nice small carrots, you can leave them whole—otherwise cut in half lengthwise as necessary (I like to keep them long, it’s pretty). Trim the ends off your radishes and cut them into matchsticks.

Place carrots in a steamer basket. When it starts to boil, wait one minute and then add the radishes. Steam only until fork tender—err on the side of underdone as you want these a little firm and they will continue to cook a bit after you remove them from the heat.

Place carrots and radishes on a platter and spoon the horseradish sauce over the top. Serve hot or cool—it’s great both ways.

I was craving hearty vegetarian comfort food the other day and this just hit the spot.

Spicy Tempeh Noodle Bowl

For marinade:
8 oz. tempeh, chopped into small pieces
1 T. ume plum vinegar
1 T. soy sauce
1/2 T. Sriracha!!! (it’s just so fun to say!)

For peanut sauce:
3/4 c. warm water
1/4 c. peanut butter
1 1/2 T. fish sauce
1/2 t. ume plum vinegar
1/2 t. soy sauce

8 oz. gluten free spaghetti or linguine (I like Tinkyada)
1 inch knob of fresh ginger, peeled and minced
1 to 2 T. agave syrup (to taste)
handful of sprouts

In a bowl, combine the marinade ingredients and stir in tempeh till it is thoroughly mixed. Set aside.

In another bowl, whisk together the peanut sauce ingredients until smooth. The goal is to have a thick but pourable sauce, the consistency of heavy cream. Add more warm water if necessary. Set aside.

While cooking the pasta in a pot of salted water, heat some vegetable oil or butter (a tablespoon-ish amount) in a deep skillet over medium heat until hot. Add the tempeh mixture and cook for a couple minutes until thoroughly heated through, then add the ginger and cook, stirring constantly for another minute. Add the peanut sauce and simmer 3 – 4 minutes. It will be slightly thickened. Remove from heat.

Meanwhile, cook and drain the pasta. Toss pasta with the tempeh sauce mixture and add a handful of sprouts, if desired. Serve. Enjoy. Rub your belly in contentment.

Serves 2 to 4

What are your favorite tempeh recipes?