Spaghetti Sauce

It's tomato time and a glut of tomatoes means we can put a bunch away as sauces!  Yay!

This year's harvest has gone mostly to spaghetti sauce - we've gotten 15 pints so far.   I had two that didn't seal, so they went to lovely versions of eggplant lasagna and zucchini lasagna.   So. Good.

Here's my recipe for sauce.

Here's a link to a previous post with a bunch of other tomato sauce-y recipes, too!



Robin's Spaghetti Sauce
www.rurification.com

garlic
onions
olive oil
butter
canned tomatoes or fresh tomatoes
salt
dried basil, oregano, thyme and parsley.


Here's my approach to spaghetti sauce. It's not really a recipe, but more of a process. I don't measure. It's always fantastic. It's always easy. In fact, Claire has taken over making this sauce and hers is even better. [She won't tell me her secret.]

1. Slice up some onions and garlic and saute them in olive oil and butter until transparent.
2. Open a couple of jars of tomatoes or tomasqua and dump it in with the onions.  OR roughly cut up the fresh tomatoes you have on hand.    Or both.
3. Cook it down, down, down until it's the consistency you want.
4. Add dried oregano [plenty], salt [to taste], basil [plenty], thyme [generous pinch], and parsley [generous pinch]. Stir it well.
5. Grind it all up in the blender to pulverize the skins and vegetable chunks. My crew prefers smooth sauce.

For canning: put into clean jars and cover with clean lids and rings. Process according to instructions in the Ball Blue Book [link in the book list on the sidebar] or another reputable canning instruction source, such as the National Center for Home Food Preservation [link in sidebar].

If you want to make a meat sauce, then cook up some ground beef or sausage until it's crumbly and crispy, then add it to the sauce. [Note: I do not can meat sauce.]

Fig, Honey and Walnut Jam

I have gotten more than 50 little figs off my Chicago Hardy fig tree so far this year.   They're a little smaller than a golf ball, but gorgeous and sweet and I'm so excited that I can grow figs here!

I knew I'd need at least 40 for this recipe, so as they ripened, I chopped them up and froze them.    Worked like  a charm and I think they were sweeter coming out of the freezer than fresh.

Notes:  I started with this recipe from Food.com.   The original recipe called for 2 cups of honey, but unless you're using really, really mild honey [not easily available anywhere], the honey totally takes over the flavor.  I wanted fig jam, not fig flavored honey.   So, here's what I did:



Fig, Honey and Walnut Jam
www.rurification.com
3 cups chopped figs [About 40 Chicago Hardy figs, stems removed]
1 cup honey
2 Tablespoons lemon juice
1 cup chopped walnuts

Directions:
Put figs, lemon juice and honey in a wide bottom saucepan.   Bring to boil, turn down the heat and simmer until thick.  45 minutes or so.   I cooked until it started sheeting off the spatula.  Add walnuts and simmer for another 15 minutes or so.   Put in jars with clean lids.  Store in refrigerator.  Yield: 2 pints.

[I processed my jars of jam for 10 minutes to can it, but I'm not a canning expert so this is me not telling you what to do, but only what I did.]

Autumn Olive [Elaeagnus umbellata] Jam

This year I've had a bumper crop of autumn olives.   We have several wild trees and the one across the way is huge and covered with berries.  They're good this year.   Even the dog will strip ripe berries from the lowest branches.  

With all that abundance, I thought you might like a quick list of the lovely jams you can make with these wonderful berries.

Elaeagnus Raspberry Jam [my favorite!]

Elaeagnus Peach Jam

Elaeagnus Apple Jam

Elaeagnus Orange Ginger Jam

Once you've made the jam, here's a great recipe for Eric's Jam Bars.  Delish!

And if you're wondering what the heck autumn olives are in the first place, check out this post.

Apple Season

It's apple season!    Here are a few things we are doing and have done with apples.   I hope you get a chance to try a few of them.

Apple Pie Filling
Apple Pear Pie Filling
Apple Slices - canned
Apple Dumplings
Apple Tart
April's Apple Slices [Slab Pie]
Green Tomato/Apple Crisp 
Apple Pear Maple Jam
Autumn Berry [Autumn Olive/Elaeagnus] Apple Jam




One bushel of apples makes about 21 quarts of apple pie filling or canned apple slices.   I've got one bushel done [pie filling] and one more coming [canned apple slices].   Our pantry is overloaded this year, which is both a blessing and a curse.   I'm focusing on the blessing part. 

Marmalade Recipe Roundup

It's Februrary and that means it's marmalade season.   I love marmalade.  Nothing is as beautiful this time of year as a jar of citrusy sunshine.

I love marmalade on toast.   Also, on pancakes.  Also, on Blueberry Steel Cut Oats with yogurt.  Also, on brownies.   Also, on ice cream.    Also, on brownies with ice cream.



I love marmalade!  

Here are a few tips and recipes to get you started.   

• Marmalade Tools
• Mixed Fruit Marmalade
• Four Fruit Marmalade
• Rhubarb Marmalade
• Honey Vanilla Orange Marmalade
• Blood Orange Marmalade
• Old Fashioned, Southern Style Lemon Pumpkin Pickle [Marmalade]
• Chocolate Orange Marmalade

And once you have the jam made, here are some fabulous things you can do with it!

Orange Marmalade Cranberry Jammy Oatcakes

Eric's Jam Bars

Blintzes


Want the recipe for these Marmalades and a whole lot of other terrific jam recipes?   Check out my ebook:  A Simple Jar of Jam  at www.rurification.etsy.com.   You can preview the book by clicking the link on the sidebar.  Every purchase helps support this site.  Thank you!

Winter Jams

This is the time of year we're really hitting the jam cupboard.    During the holidays, mostly I use the jams with cheese.    With the wide variety of frozen fruit available in the grocery stores, you can probably make one of these pretty easily. [You can use canned fruit, too!]

Here are some of our favorites.

Chocolate Jams are great over ice cream, pound cake, yogurt, cheese cake, brownies, etc.  

• Raspberry Chocolate Jam
• Chocolate Cherry Jam
• Chocolate Orange Jam

Marmalades are fabulous over all of the above, plus as a meat glaze - ham, chicken, pork chops.  Put some in a crockpot with some of those frozen meatballs for a fabulous appetizer.  Here is everything you need to know about making marmalade   Now is citrus season, so you've got a great excuse to try something new, like blood oranges!

Pears are still easy to find and this  Pear Ginger Jam is to die for.   You can make it with either fresh pears that you cook until soft or canned pears.   

This jam is great on yogurt!  Or, try it with a cheese plate.  I love it with manchego or brie.   Mmmmm.

Savory jams are lovely with cheese trays.   I love this Onion Bacon Garlic Jam with sliced apples or pears and gouda.  [Or swiss,  or manchego,  or a fresh mozzarella...]  Don't skimp on the bacon.  Add as much as you want.

All those jams are fabulous, but my all time favorite is this Peach Chutney.  I eat it on apples and pears.  On meat. On sandwiches.  With a spoon, by itself.  On cream cheese.  On any other cheese, especially brie.

In a baked brie - To. Die. For.  And it's easy.  Pour jam on a brie. Wrap the brie in a puff pastry and bake on 475 until golden.  Serve warm.


Note:  Most any jam is good in a baked brie:  Raspberry, Apricot, Cherry, Marmalade, etc...

I hope I've inspired you to make a little jam this holiday season.  Let me know if you try some.  Have a wonderful week!

For more jam recipes as easy as these, check out my ebook on the sidebar.  A Simple Jar of Jam: 180+ recipes & variations for jam using low sugar pectin.  Every purchase goes a long way toward supporting the blog.   Thank you!

Let the Festivities Begin!

It's party time here at Rurification central.  We started the party on Sunday.  Solstice was Sunday.  I'm so glad the days are getting longer.  That extra 15 seconds of light this morning really made a difference in my day.

Lily's birthday is today.   Her birthday cake of choice is this lovely Sticky Toffee Pudding.   Yum!

Tomorrow, we'll be making Yule Bread and Chai. 

Also probably a Cream Cheese Jam Cake. Instead of the pumpkin in that recipe, sub out a jar of your favorite jam or cranberry sauce.    Heavenly!

Happy Holidays!

The Un-Parsnips

This is not a parsnip.

It grew in a row, where I'm pretty darned sure I planted parsnips.  

I  watched them get bigger and bigger - especially this one.  And I was so happy because I was growing parsnips!   A new food to try!

And I planted a row of turnips on the other side of the bed so we could try those, too.

But when I was reading up on the best time to harvest parsnips, I noticed that the leaves on those pics did not look like the leaves on my parsnips.   And then I realized that the leaves on my parsnips looked an awful lot like the leaves on the new turnips I had planted.

Someone had obviously made a mistake somewhere along the line.   Or vandalized my planting.  

This is what I'm pretty sure happened:  Someone came along after I planted my parsnips and carefully pulled up every seed and replaced it with a turnip seed.   Yes.      

That must have been what happened. 

So I harvested my row of un-parsnips and sure enough, they are Boule d'Or turnips, just like my new row of them.   Quite lovely, if I do say so myself. 

We chopped them and roasted them with carrots, two ways.   Savory:  with garlic and olive oil.  Sweet:  with a little butter and generous amounts of brown sugar.    We roasted in the oven at about 300 for an hour and a half or so - until they were fork soft. 

I liked the sweet ones the best and will probably chop up a handful of candied ginger to roast with them next time.  Mmmmm.

Here's another recipe I just found for Turnip and Parsley Patties that sounds pretty tasty.  [Great blog, too!]  They're turnip fritters!

We'll also put some of them in pasties to freeze for winter dinners.   It's so exciting having a new veggie to try.

Our Favorite Barbeque Sauce

I love barbeque sauce.   Sweet and sticky meat is the best meat of all.   I love it.

So I was thrilled when I got a slab of ribs for cheap...well, cheaper than usual... and wanted to have it with some homemade barbeque sauce and then Claire hopped on my Pinterest food board and found this recipe for Brown Sugar Barbecue Sauce.   We tried it and loved it.  

Tip, via my fabulous sister:   Wrap the ribs in foil and cook them on low in your crockpot all day.   By dinnertime, the meat will be falling off the bones and all you have to do is slather it with sauce and pop it in the broiler to caramelize the sauce a bit. To. Die. For.  Or you can serve the sauce on the side.   Or both!     The same technique works for frozen chops as well.   Easy squeezy!

I love this sauce so much that I multiplied the recipe by a lot and canned it so we'd always have it on hand.   Here is the expanded recipe.  Enough for your own pantry and gifts as well.

Robin's Favorite Barbeque Sauce
www.rurification.com

7 1/2 cups brown sugar
6 1/2 cups ketchup
1/2 cup molasses
1 cup apple cider vinegar
1/4 cup worcestershire sauce
3 rounded tablespoons mustard powder
3 tablespoons salt
3 tablespoons paprika [smoked paprika is really good, too!]
3 tablespoons black pepper
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 tablespoon garlic powder  or 1 entire head of garlic, peeled and minced
1 tablespoon onion powder  or 2 onions, minced
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes


Mix all ingredients together in a large pot and bring to boil.   Ladle into clean jars; cover with lids and rings and process for canning. 

Makes 8 pints of sauce.  Perfect for giving as gifts. 

Jam eBook Sale

Thanks to all of you who have looked at my ebook over the past year!

A Simple Jar of Jam is a collection of more than 180 jam, jelly, marmalade, glaze and chutney recipes and variations from this blog.   The vast majority of them use low sugar pectin. Click here for a preview to see the table of contents, a few recipes and the index. The ebook is an interactive pdf, best viewed using Adobe or iBook.  

To celebrate the beginning of jam season this year,  we are lowering the price from $7.95 to $4.99 for the next few weeks.  [That's a 37% savings.]  Tell your friends - Spread the news!

You don't need a coupon code or anything, just go to Rurification's Etsy Shop and buy it. 

Thank you so much for reading the blog and buying the ebook.  Every purchase goes a long way to help support this blog.  

Horseradish

We have a horseradish patch.  

It's trying to take over the world.

We decided to reduce the patch so I did a bit of research first to see what time of year to harvest the roots and some sites said spring and some said fall.    Apparently you can do either, but it's hottest in the spring.  

Here's a great site all about growing horseradish and making the sauce.

Here's another site that talks about making your own sauce.

And here's a very interesting page on the medicinal uses of horseradish throughout history.

I made some fresh horseradish sauce with one of the roots I dug up.   Easy.  Squeezy. 

This is how:

Figure these proportions:

• 1 cup grated horseradish
• 1/2 cup vinegar
• 1/2 tsp salt

Steps:
1.   Dig the root and wash it off.
2.  Peel it with a vegetable peeler.
3.  Working quickly, cut it into chunks and toss them into a food processor or blender with vinegar and salt.  
4.  Grind until it's the consistency you want.
5.  Refrigerate.

Why work quickly?    Because horseradish is like mustard - the properties that make it hot are alkali and are enhanced by contact with oxygen.   The faster you can get the acid [vinegar] in there to neutralize the alkali, the milder the taste. 

If you like it hot, then take your time.  Grind up the horseradish without the vinegar and salt.   Admire the scenery.   Watch an episode of something on the food network.   Then add the vinegar and salt.   

This stuff really takes your breath away.    Historically it was used with red meat to hide the flavor of spoilage.  

Rhubarb!

It's rhubarb season - Yay!!    We love rhubarb.   Last year we got a bumper crop, that we chopped and froze and we're still working on those bags while this year's stalk get bigger.  [Our last big freeze set things back some...]

Rhubarb is a perennial plant that is easy to grow as long as it gets plenty of rich soil.  It does not like clay.   It does like sand and it loves manure.    I put mine in raised beds with lots of sand and every spring I dump some chicken dirt around it.   We're well rewarded every year.

Here is a list of wonderful rhubarb recipes for you to try this year.  You'll notice we like to mix berries with rhubarb. It's a Midwestern thing. 

• Strawberry Rhubarb pie - our favorite!
• Rhubarb Flaunard - it's like a clafouti, which is like a fruit custard.  Delicious!
• Berry Rhubarb Crisp
• Rhubarb Marmalade
• Strawberry Rhubarb Jam - great with vanilla, too!
• Strawberry Rhubarb Cream Cheese Coffee Cake - also fantastic with plain rhubarb.

Check out these links, too.

• Food in Jars has a post listing 10 ways to use or preserve rhubarb.  They look fantastic!
• Here's a link to how to freeze or can rhubarb in 6 easy steps.

Carrot Puff

I don't know about you, but this time of year, I like bright food.   [And brownies.]  

Brownies aside [for the moment], I've pulled out my favorite carrot recipe.  This carrot puff is a quasi souffle.  It's light, but not fussy and no one cares how high it gets or if it falls.  It's that good.  Since I change things up a bit every time I make it, sometimes it's light and airy, but most of the time it's just a good old fashioned carrot casserole.  My recipe marries grated carrots and onions [and zucchini, if you have some in the freezer this time of year] with a delectable cheesy sauce.   Hello, Sunshine! 

This is a terrific vegetarian main dish and an excellent side for potlucks.   It's good warm or chilled.   Personally, I like it just a little warm.

I posted this recipe a few years ago when I started the blog and now that I have actual readers, I thought you might like to see it again without having to fiddle through the archives.   [Though fiddling through the archives is kind of fun.]

Robin's Carrot Puff
www.rurification.com


2-3 C shredded carrots [and zucchini, if you have some]
2 C shredded or chopped  onions
2 cloves garlic, chopped or pressed.
3T butter [yes, the real stuff]

Cook that stuff in a pot until the onions are transparent.  It caramelizes everything and makes it sweeter.  Then add:

1/2 C oatmeal
1 tsp salt
pepper
a shake or two of nutmeg
1 1/2 C yogurt
1 C or more grated cheese
4 eggs, beaten

Put it all in a casserole dish and bake at 325 degrees for 50 minutes.   I always bake mine in a blue dish because the orange and the blue look so pretty together.   Then I serve it on a blue plate.  It just tastes better in the blue dish.

Roasted Chicken and Vegetable Soup

Eric is a great cook.  One of the things he likes to do a lot in the winter is toss a bunch of vegetables in the oven and roast them all afternoon.  Once they're roasted, we can eat them as is or grind them up for spreads and soups.

Last week,  Eric roasted a whole head of garlic, 6 large slices of ginger, 2 cut up carrots, a sliced onion, a handful of frozen red peppers and three chicken breasts - all topped with a generous sprinkle of oregano and thyme.    He put it all in the cast iron skillet and left it in the oven at 250 until the chicken was done.   

It would have been fine to plate it up as is and eat it that way, but Eric decided to shred the meat and make soup.  He added 4 cups of turkey stock from the freezer along with 4 cups of water and 4 chicken bouillon cubes.   It made a brilliant brothy soup.   And we had enough leftovers for dinner the next day. 

Soup Season

This is the time of year we pull out our favorite soup recipes and I thought you might like them, too.   Here's a quick list of some of our best ones.

Cheesy Chicken Pepper Soup - we had this one with leftover turkey.  Yum!!

Spicy Pumpkin Soup - just a hint of Indian spices and good with any winter squash!

We love this Zuppa Toscana - a great way to cook up those hearty winter greens.

The last soup is one of my favorites!  Bean Soup with Bacon, Chicken and Pesto.  Pesto is guaranteed to perk up cold days and this soup is another great way to use up leftover turkey.

Ricotta Jam Pudding

This is another in my collection of fabulous Things to Do With a Jar of Jam.    It's a creamy ricotta pudding, flavored and sweetened with a jar of whatever jam you like.   Then, then, topped off with spoonful of another jam.

And.   It's gluten free!

And!  Only three ingredients.

I know.

I know!



Ricotta Jam Pudding
www.rurification.com

• 30 oz or so ricotta cheese
• 4 eggs
• 12 oz jar of jam [1 1/2 cups] [I used Orange Marmalade.]

Preheat oven to 350.  Beat the eggs well, add cheese and jam.  Mix well.   Pour into greased 8 inch casserole dish.  Cover dish.   Bake about 60 minutes, until knife inserted in center comes out clean.

Serve warm with whipped cream, syrup or jam on top. I served it with Blueberry Lime Jam.

Oh. My. Gosh.    It was fabulous!

Notes:  You can fatten this up with a 1/2 cup of half and half or cream.  

The choice of jam to use is entirely up to you.   It would be good with any jam, even runny jam.  [Perhaps especially runny jam.]   Any.  Jam.   Really.  Don't stress out about it; just have fun. 

These jam recipes and 180 more are available in my ebook - A Simple Jar of Jam.   See sidebar for a link to a preview.

Dehydrated Potatoes

I picked up this bag of dehydrated potatoes earlier this year at Freedom Country Store in Worthington, Indiana.  And then I saved them for soup season.

Which is finally here!  

I figured we try them in soup and if they work, then we can dehydrate our own potatoes next year.  

They're kinda pretty.

I had the girls make up a batch of our Zuppa Toscana and throw these babies in the broth.   We generally start soup earlier in the day and let it cook for a while before dinner.  Delish!

Here's the recipe for Zuppa Toscana.  [This pic is from that post.]   If you use dehydrated potatoes, then drop them into the stock and water when you would have cooked the fresh potatoes and cook them up until soft.    

Asian Chicken Salad

This is one of my favorite meals.  It's beautiful and delicious.  And good for you - as long as you don't drown it in the dressing, which is to die for.

Start with a bed of your favorite greens.   Add some pineapple and mandarin oranges.

Top it with some chicken bites marinated and then cooked in Orange Honey Basil Garlic Glaze. 

Toss it a bit and drizzle a bit of Oriental Salad Dressing on the top.  You can sprinkle sesame seeds on the top, too.   I love those.

It's so good, you'll want more for dessert.  Seriously.

Here are the recipes.

Orange Honey Basil Garlic Glaze
www.rurification.com

• 1 can frozen orange juice concentrate
• 1/2 cup honey
• 2 large cloves garlic, sliced in quarters
• 1/2 cup fresh basil leaves

Put all the ingredients in a small pot.  Bring to a boil.  Let simmer for a while so the flavors will meld.  Strain out the garlic and basil leaves.  Yield:  2 cups or so.

Chicken Bites in Orange Honey Basil Garlic Glaze
www.rurification.com

• 2 chicken breasts cut in small pieces
• 1 cup of Orange Honey Basil Garlic Glaze
• Oil for cooking the chicken in

Marinade chicken in glaze for a couple of hours.    Heat the oil in a heavy pan and drop the chicken and glaze in.  Cover for 15 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through, then remove the cover and let the chicken brown and the glaze reduce.  You want those tasty crunchies.

Oriental Salad Dressing
www.rurification.com

• 1/4 cup sugar [or less, if you like]
• 1/4 cup vinegar.  We like our Oriental Spice Vinegar
• 1/4 cup rice vinegar
• 1/2 cup oil
• drizzle of sesame oil
• 3 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp pepper, ground

Winter Squash Recipe Roundup

Here's the thing about blog archives.  You can get lost in them, following one link after another after another.   I do this a lot on other blogs - and once in a while on my own.   It's fun seeing where a blog has been over the years.

Also, it's great collecting recipes from over the years.   I was looking for a winter squash soup recipe here from a couple of years ago and found these other terrific squash recipes along the way.  Family tested! Since we're smack in the middle of winter squash season, I figured you could use some of these.

Southern Style Pumpkin Chips  [Lemon Ginger Pumpkin Marmalade] - my favorite lemon marmalade recipe!

Pumpkin Cream Cheese Coffee Cake

Pumpkin Maple Soup

Spicy Pumpkin Soup

Coconut Pumpkin Soup

All of these recipes can be made with any type of winter squash - pumpkin, butternut, Greek sweet red, etc.

Pear Jam Roundup

I love fall canning season.  I especially love pear jams.  I was going back through the blog archives and found some pear jam recipes that you might like. 

Pears are great paired with other fruit, winter spices and even chocolate.  Check these out.



Pear Ginger Jam

Chocolate Ginger Pear Jam

Pear Maple Jam

Pear Vanilla Nutmeg Jam

Apple-Pear Maple Jam

Pear-Plum Vanilla Jam

Pear Brown Sugar Cardamom Jam

All of these recipes plus a whole lot more are in my ebook - A Simple Jar of Jam.   Follow the links on my sidebar for a preview and to purchase and download the book from Rurification's Etsy shop.