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Recipes
Swiss ChardChard is the oldest member of the beet family and is grown for
its tasty leaves and stalks; the roots are inedible. Red chard has changed
little over the last 2,000 years. The green and yellow varieties of chard
developed later and were described by a Swiss botanist in the sixteenth
century. It has since been popularly known as Swiss chard. It is the
star of our vegetable garden and is frequently used in a flower garden with its
colorful stalks for a dark green complement among kale for a border or backdrop. Chard Stir-fry Directions:
Farmers Market Zucchini Casserole
Combine zucchini mixture, hamburger mixture and corn. Place in casserole pan
and cover with cheese. (can mix additional shredded cheese into casserole
mixture if desired) Bake at 350 until cheese is melted. Serves 8-10
Little Joe's San FranciscoDescription: Ingredients: Directions: Number of Servings: 4 I frequently substitute Swiss chard for the spinach since I have a lot of chard in my garden.
Green ChileDescription:
Polish Kraut & ApplesDescription:
Hamburger, Rice and Bean CasseroleDescription:
Easy MacaroonsDescription:
Boiled CookiesDescription:
YogurtIt's healthy and delicious and can be used as a substitute for sour cream. Yogurt is easy to make and requires very little equipment. You'll need a pot to warm the milk, some pint or quart jars with lids and some starter culture. This can be purchased at the store or obtained from one of the many cheese-making supply companies. When buying your yogurt starter from the store, be sure to get unflavored, plain cultured yogurt such as Dannon. Yogurt can easily be re-cultured by saving some from the last batch to start the next. Residents of Middle Eastern countries have revered yogurt as a staple food for thousands of years, but it didn't really become popular in the United States until the late 1940s. Yogurt is low in calories and cholesterol and is reputed to slow the aging process. Yogurt is very economical and easy to make. All that is required is 1/2 gallon fresh milk, 1 cup powdered milk, and 2 teaspoons of plain yogurt. Use either whole, low fat, or skimmed milk; it's up to you. For authentic Middle Eastern yogurt, you'd have to substitute goat's or sheep's milk for cow's milk. The yogurt, though, must be plain; there's no substituting. This means that it is natural with no additives and has not been pasteurized after becoming yogurt. Pasteurizing kills the culture, preventing the yogurt from being used to start new batches. Making Your Yogurt. Add the cup of powdered milk to the 1/2 gallon of fresh milk and scald (heat to boiling) for a few seconds. The powdered milk gives the yogurt a creamier texture. Allow the milk to cool to 115º F (Note: Use a candy thermometer for best results. If the milk is warmer than 120º F you'll kill the culture.) Then take 1/4 cup of the milk mixture and stir in the 2 teaspoons of plain yogurt, stirring well to remove any lumps until it is thick and sauce-like. Then pour it into the remaining milk and mix well. While the teaspoon per quart may not seem like much, don't think that adding more will make the yogurt thicker. It will only result in a more sour product. The bacteria that is used to make yogurt likes to have lots of room to grow. Pour the milk/yogurt mixture into clean glass jars that have lids or into plastic yogurt cups. Place the containers in a food dehydrator, set the temperature for 115º F, and set the timer for about 5 hours. (Using a higher temperature would destroy the yogurt culture.) Do not disturb, bump, open the door or move while yogurt is incubating. If you don't have a food processor you may improvise a container with a heat source to incubate the yogurt culture. An oven with a light bulb or pilot light, an insulated ice chest with a heating pad or anything else that can keep the yogurt warm at 90º F to 115º F throughout the culturing process is fine. For example, you may try placing a kettle with a lid on a towel over a heating pad set on medium heat. Check the temperature inside the kettle with a thermometer after 10 or 15 minutes. When you've adjusted the setup for the proper temperature, make the yogurt and place the jars in the kettle. Depending on the temperature it may take 6 or 8 hours for the yogurt to make. Remember that yogurt doesn't like to be jostled around while it's being incubated. Treat it gently while checking to see if it's ready. After the finished yogurt has cooled, refrigerate. Yogurt will get thicker after it's chilled. Before serving you may add fresh fruit or flavoring, if desired. If sweetening is desired, use powdered sugar or honey to maintain the thick, smooth texture. For a variation, blend 1/2 cup of fruit with 1/4 cup water and make a sauce to pour over the yogurt right before it is eaten. Be sure to save some for the next batch. Additional notes: If the yogurt hasn't thickened after eight hours, leave it a little longer. If the yogurt still looks like milk after 12 hours, then you need to review the steps to see if you've done something wrong. Some causes for failure in yogurt making are overheating the milk, not incubating at a warm enough temperature, inactive or old starter culture or contamination from competing bacteria that were introduced during the process of making the yogurt or improper handling of the milk. More yogurt recipes:Plain
yogurt Warm milk to 115º F. Stir in powdered milk if you're using it. (Omitting powdered milk will result in a somewhat thinner yogurt.) Place two teaspoons of yogurt culture into a small dish and stir in a small amount of the warm milk, stirring well to remove any lumps. Add the warmed milk, mix well and pour into jars to incubate. Store in a warm place (90º to 115º F) for six to eight hours. Refrigerate when thick. Vanilla
yogurt Warm milk to 115º F. Stir in powdered milk, sugar and vanilla. Mix a small amount of milk with the yogurt culture to remove any lumps. Stir into the milk and incubate six to eight hours. Refrigerate when thick. Coffee
yogurt Warm milk to 115º F. Stir in powdered milk, sugar, instant coffee and vanilla. Mix a small amount of milk with the yogurt culture to remove any lumps. Stir into the milk and incubate six to eight hours. Refrigerate when thick. Fruit
yogurt Pour cool water into a small sauce pan and add Jell-O. Bring to a boil to dissolve the Jell-O. Stir in jam. It will dissolve nicely. Add the plain yogurt, mix well and place in jars and refrigerate. Chill several hours until set custard style. Lemon
yogurt Place lemon juice in a large saucepan. Sprinkle the gelatin over the juice and heat to boiling. Stir to dissolve the gelatin, mix in the sugar, lemon rind and a few drops yellow food color. Add yogurt and mix well. Pour into jars and set several hours until the yogurt is custard style. Spinach-feta-cheese-dip Set coffee filter or double thickness of paper towels in strainer over small bowl. Spoon plain yogurt into filter, refrigerate and drain for two hours. This will yield 1 1/3 cups. Chop the garlic and dill in a food processor. Add spinach, feta, lemon rind, salt and pepper. Whirl until cheese is finely grated, scraping down the side of the bowl as needed. Add drained yogurt. Pulse with an of/off motion until the mixture is combined. Scrape into serving bowl. Can be prepared a day ahead and refrigerated. Sour
Cream Scald pint jar in boiling water, then cool. Whisk cream into yogurt in a bowl until thoroughly mixed. Pour into jar and set in a warm place overnight or until thickened. It may take 24 to 48 hours. Refrigerate 12 hours before using. Cream will continue to thicken while refrigerated. Light cream is smooth and custard like and will keep up to one week. Heavy cream is thicker and keeps for two weeks. ¤º°`°º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ø¤º°`°º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ø¤º°`°º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ Medicinal Benefits of YogurtYogurt
has been as important and relevant for our med kit as antibiotics and other
modern medicines.
Cottage CheeseCottage cheese got its name from the fact that it could easily be made in the home-or cottage. On occasion, it as also been called "pot cheese," because it needs to be put in a container. To make cottage cheese, you'll need: 1 gallon of pasteurized milk and either 4 tablespoons unflavored yogurt (the kind you made in your dehydrator can be used), 1/2 up fresh buttermilk, or 1/4 tablet of rennet (an enzyme) dissolved in 1/2 cup warm water. Pour the milk into a crock and warm it to room temperature, about 72'F. Mix in the yogurt, buttermilk, or rennet and cover the crock with cheesecloth. Place the crock in e dehydrator and hold the temperature inside at 85'F for 12 to 18 hours until clobbered. Clabbering means that the milk has separated to form thick, solid "curd" and watery, liquid "whey." When the milk has thickened into curds and a little whey lays on the surface, the cheese is clobbered. Now your next step is to cut the curd as follows. Use a long-bladed knife and make all cuts approximately 1/2" apart. (1) Holding e knife vertically, make straight up and down cuts across he curd. (2) Now slant the knife and make diagonal slices own through the cheese following the cuts of step 1. make the first cut at a 45' angle, but gradually straighten e blade so that the last cut is nearly vertical. (3) Repeat e process of step 2, only slant the knife in the opposite direction. (4) Turn the crock 180' and make a final set of vertical cuts to form a crosshatch pattern on the surface. is cubing process helps the sour whey to drain out. The Final Steps. Place several inches of water in a large pan, set the crock in it, and heat to 115'F. Hold the cottage cheese at this temperature for 1/2 hour, stirring occasionally. Once the time is up, line a colander with cheesecloth and pour in the curds and whey. Allow the whey to drain off; otherwise, it will give the cottage cheese a bitter taste. To get rid of even more of the sour taste, dip the colander in cold water and gently stir the curds to wash away the last traces of the whey. Let the curds drain thoroughly. If desired add 1 teaspoon salt per pound of cottage cheese and 4 to 6 tablespoons of cream. After refrigeration, your cottage cheese will be ready to eat as is or in fruit salads, dips, cheesecake, and casseroles.
Fresh Grape FlanWine grapes certainly can be used for more than just making wine. The only drawback is the extra labor involved in removing the seeds. (Most table grapes are seedless varieties) But don't let a few little seeds keep you from cooking with fresh grapes. Try this recipe when you harvest the back yard vineyard - John Ash, Fetzer chef 1/2 cup sugar2 egg yolks 1 whole egg 1/2 cup butter, melted 1 cup flour 3 tablespoons dark rum 1 teaspoon grated lemon zest 1 cup milk 3 cups sweet ripe grapes, halved and seeds discarded Powdered sugar Lightly sweetened whipped cream or crème fraiche* Using an electric mixer, beat the sugar, egg yolks, and egg at high speed until thick and lemon colored (about 3
minutes). Beat in 1/3 cup butter and; then the flour, rum, zest, and milk. Set
aside for 5 minutes before proceeding. The batter can also be mixed in a blender. Add 3 tablespoons cultured buttermilk or 1 cup cultured sour cream to 2 cups heavy cream in a saucepan. Warm gently to about 90’F. Remove from the heat and pour into a clean jar. Cover loosely and allow to sit at room temperature (75' to 80' for 6 to 8 hours or overnight, until the cream is very thick. Stir gently, cover, and refrigerate for up to 2 weeks. As it ages, crème fraiche will taste more tart.
Serves 6
Wine-makingThe process for making wine is much easier than most people realize. One of the true miracles of the natural world, at least it is if you love wine. For thousands of years man has used it as a beverage, as a medicine – it is a tranquilizer, a tonic and a soporific – and as a religious symbol. The Bible reports that Noah invented the arts of viniculture and winemaking after the Flood. Wine is nothing more than the by-product from yeast converting sugar to alcohol. Yeast is a single cell organism that causes fermentation. It converts the sugar in the fruit juice to alcohol and carbon dioxide. The CO2 escapes into the air and what's left is wine. The winemaker's job is to create perfect conditions for the yeast to do its job and let nature take its course. The single biggest reason that home-made wine goes bad is cleanliness or the lack of it! All equipment, anything that comes in contact with your must or young wine, has to be sanitized (including your hands). The most commonly used sanitizer is metabisulphite crystals mixed with water (usually 2 ounces to a gallon). The two rules to getting the most out of your ingredients are keep them clean and to keep the air away. Air contains acetic bacteria that will turn alcohol into vinegar. The quality of wine is more dependent upon the grapes than the production method. In other words, you can make bad wine from good grapes, but you can't make good wine from bad grapes. If you grow grapes at home, you can make excellent wine—with some practice, of course. I suggest you get a good book on the subject, but here's a short, simplistic primer on wine making. Harvest the grapes when they soften slightly and taste sweet. Crush them with your hands (or clean feet if you've always wanted to do so) in a ceramic, glass, or food-grade-plastic container. Pick out as many stems as possible and discard them. Add commercial wine yeast—never bread yeast—for the best results. Cover with a cloth to discourage fruit flies, and keep in a warm place. The fermentation will build up speed, peaking at about 3 or 4 days. After a week or so, when fermentation slows, strain the new wine through a cheesecloth and funnel it into clean gallon-size glass jugs. Make sure the liquid reaches within an inch of the top of each jug. Stopper the jugs with airlock-equipped corks, which you can get at wineshops or order through the mail. (An airlock is a glass or plastic device that allows gas to escape the jugs but does not allow air to enter.) Keep the jugs in a warm place until the bubbling caused by fermentation ceases. Then siphon the clear wine into clean glass jugs. (Be careful not to siphon up any lees, the chalky layer in the bottom of the jugs.) Fill each new jug with wine to within a half inch of its mouth. Stopper it tightly with a solid cork or reattach a clean airlock. Store it in a cool, dark place, such as a basement. Repeat the siphoning process in early spring. Bottle the wine when it is about a year old. Not to worry or be in a hurry. Time flies like an arrow. Fruit flies like a grape. (…or a peach.) For complete instructions on grape growing and wine making at home, get a copy of the book: From Vines to Wines by Jeff Cox, published in 1999 by Storey Communications. For information and pictures on propagating grape vines click here
Crab Apple Wine
4 1/2 lb Crabapples |
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