Povitica, a Russian Sweet Bread and Canning Low Sugar Crockpot Pear Apple Butter

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One of my favorite aspects of Daring Bakers and the Daring Kitchen in general is that they push the culinary boundaries of beyond the trendy and most revered culinary traditions and dive into little known culinary corners. This month Jenni from The Gingered Whisk challenged us to make an Eastern European sweet bread called Povitica (pronounced po-va-teet-sa) or Nutroll, Potica, Kalachi, Strudia, and many other names. Eastern Europe is not known to be a culinary hub, but Povitica can make any French pastry chef weak in the knees. Povitica is layered bread with pretty swirls of flavor laced throughout the bread. Traditional fillings are walnut, apple, apricot preserves, and sweet cheese. Povitia is a very large loaf of bread weighing 2.5 pounds in a standard loaf pan. My Povitica rose to double the size of the loaf pan while baking. I found it really impressive to take the first loaf out of the oven and admire how large the bread had grown.

I found Povitica very easy to make. The recipe provided to use by Daring Bakers makes four loafs. I chose to make all four loafs of bread in four different flavors and freeze all of my wonderful leftovers. I made one loaf with the traditional walnut filling and coffee toping provided to us by Jenni. For the rest of the loaves I wanted to use some of all the wonderful things that I canned this year. I made one loaf using sugar free raspberry jam which came out great. The sugar free raspberry jam is a little tart and provided a nice contrast to the sweet bread. I used 2 tbsp of maple syrup for the topping which was an excellent choice for a sweet topping. I made one loaf using a chocolate strawberry sauce that was gooey and delicious. For the topping I used 2 tbsp of low sugar strawberry syrup that I made earlier in the season. Using chocolate strawberry sauce in the bread really turned the bread into a rich dessert. When you slice the bread the chocolate strawberry sauce will ooze out making a nice gooey mess that was fun to dip back up with the Povitica. The last loaf I made using low sugar crockpot pear apple butter as filling and no topping. The pear apple butter made the earthiest tasting bread. This bread could easily be eaten as breakfast bread. I have also included a recipe for canning the low sugar pear apple butter below since I have not blogged about it previously.

Ingredients for Low Sugar Crockpot Pear Apple Butter modified from Martha Stewart

2 ½ pounds cooking apples, skins and core removed (I used Winesap)

2 pounds pears, (I used Bartlett), skins and core removed

½ cup brown sugar

Directions

1. Puree the apples and pears. I used a hand blender to puree the fruit.

2. Place the fruit and sugar in a crockpot. I used a 5 quart crockpot. Cook the puree on high for 4 hours with the lid on the crockpot.

3. After four hours remove the lid and stir the mixture. Continue to cook the mixture for 4 hours or until the butter is the desired thickness.

4. Place the butter in hot sterile jars leaving 1/4” headspace. Process in a boiling water canner for 10 minutes.

Ingredients for Povitica (makes 4 loaves) from Jenni’s kitchen

To activate the Yeast:

2 Teaspoons (10 ml/9 gm) Sugar

1 Teaspoon (5 ml/3 gm) All-Purpose (Plain) Flour

½ Cup (120ml) Warm Water

2 Tablespoons (30ml/14 gm/½ oz/2 sachets) Dry Yeast

Dough:

2 Cups (480ml) Whole Milk

¾ Cup (180 ml/170gm/6 oz) Sugar

3 Teaspoons (15 ml/18 gm/2/3 oz) Table Salt

4 Large Eggs

½ Cup (120ml/115 gm/one stick/4 oz) Unsalted Butter, melted

8 cups (1.92 l/1.12 kg/39½ oz/2½ lb) All-Purpose Flour, measure first then sift, divided

Walnut Filling (this filling will make enough for 4 loaves):

7 Cups (1.68 l/1.12 kg/2.5 lbs) Ground English Walnuts

1 Cup (240ml) Whole Milk

1 Cup (240ml/225 gm/2 sticks/8 oz) Unsalted Butter

2 Whole Eggs, Beaten (I used one egg for filling for 1 loaf)

1 Teaspoon (5ml) Pure Vanilla Extract

2 Cups (480ml/450 gm/16 oz) Sugar

1 Teaspoon (5 ml/4 gm) Unsweetened Cocoa Powder

1 Teaspoon (5 ml/3 gm) Cinnamon

Coffee Topping (this makes enough topping for four loaves):

½ Cup (120 ml) Cold STRONG Coffee

2 Tablespoons (30 ml/28 gm/1 oz) Granulated Sugar

Melted Butter

Other filling options

½ pint of Sugar Free Raspberry Jam

½ pint of Chocolate Strawberry Sauce

½ pint of Low Sugar Crockpot Pear Apple Butter

Other topping options:

2 tbsp low sugar strawberry syrup

2 tbsp maple syrup or honey

Directions

To Activate Yeast:

1. In a small bowl, stir 2 teaspoons sugar, 1 teaspoon flour, and the yeast into ½ cup warm water and cover with plastic wrap.

2. Allow to stand for 5 minutes

To Make the Dough:

3. In a medium saucepan, heat the milk up to just below boiling (about 180°F/82°C), stirring constantly so that a film does not form on the top of the milk. You want it hot enough to scald you, but not boiling. Allow to cool slightly, until it is about 110°F/43°C.

4. In a large bowl, mix the scalded milk, ¾ cup (180 gm/170 gm/6 oz) sugar, and the salt until combined.

5. Add the beaten eggs, yeast mixture, melted butter, and 2 cups (480 ml/280 gm/10 oz) of flour.

6. Blend thoroughly and slowly add remaining flour, mixing well until the dough starts to clean the bowl.

7. Turn dough out onto floured surface and knead, gradually adding flour a little at a time, until smooth and does not stick. Note: I did not use all 8 cups of flour

8. Divide the dough into 4 equal pieces (they will each weight about 1.25 pounds/565 grams)

9. Place dough in 4 lightly oiled bowls, cover loosely with a layer of plastic wrap and then a kitchen towel and let rise an hour and a half in a warm place, until doubled in size.

To Make the Filling

10. In a large bowl mix together the ground walnuts, sugar, cinnamon and cocoa.

11. Heat the milk and butter to boiling.

12. Pour the liquid over the nut/sugar mixture.

13. Add the eggs and vanilla and mix thoroughly.

14. Allow to stand at room temperature until ready to be spread on the dough.

15. If the mixture thickens, add a small amount of warm milk.

To Roll and Assemble the Dough:

16. Spread a clean sheet or cloth over your entire table so that it is covered.

17. Sprinkle with a couple of tablespoons to a handful of flour (use flour sparingly)

18. Place the dough on the sheet and roll the dough out with a rolling pin, starting in the middle and working your way out, until it measures roughly 10-12 inches (25½ cm by 30½ cm) in diameter.

19. Spoon 1 to 1.5 teaspoons (5ml to 7 ½ ml/4 gm to 7 gm) of melted butter on top.

20. Using the tops of your hands, stretch dough out from the center until the dough is thin and uniformly opaque. You can also use your rolling pin, if you prefer.

21. As you work, continually pick up the dough from the table, not only to help in stretching it out, but also to make sure that it isn’t sticking.

22. When you think it the dough is thin enough, try to get it a little thinner. It should be so thin that you can see the color and perhaps the pattern of the sheet underneath.

23. Spoon filling (see below for recipe) evenly over dough until covered.

24. Lift the edge of the cloth and gently roll the dough like a jelly roll.

25. Once the dough is rolled up into a rope, gently lift it up and place it into a greased loaf pan in the shape of a “U”, with the ends meeting in the middle. You want to coil the dough around itself, as this will give the dough its characteristic look when sliced.

26. Repeat with remaining three loaves, coiling each rope of dough in its own loaf pan.

27. Brush the top of each loaf with a mixture of ½ cup (120 ml) of cold STRONG coffee and 2 tablespoons (30ml/28 gm/1 oz) of sugar. If you prefer, you can also use egg whites in place of this.

28. Cover pans lightly will plastic wrap and allow to rest for approximately 15 minutes.

29. Preheat oven to moderate 350°F/180°C/gas mark 4.

30. Remove plastic wrap from dough and place into the preheated oven and bake for approximately 15 minutes.

31. Turn down the oven temperature to slow 300°F/150°C/gas mark 2 and bake for an additional 45 minutes, or until done.

32. Remove bread from oven and brush with melted butter.

33. Check the bread at 30 minutes to ensure that the bread is not getting too brown. You may cover the loaves with a sheet of aluminum foil if you need to.

34. Remove from the oven and allow to cool on a wire rack for 20-30 minutes, still in the bread pan. Remember, the bread weighs about 2.5 and it needs to be able to hold its own weight, which is difficult when still warm and fresh out of the oven. Allowing it to cool in the pan helps the loaf to hold its shape.

35. It is recommended that the best way to cut Povitica loaves into slices is by turning the loaf upside down and slicing with a serrated knife.

Additional resources

The pdf file where Jenni shows you step by step how to roll the Povitica

A promotional video from Strawberry Hill that show the rolling of a Povitica

Posted on These Chicks Cook, Full Plate Thursday, Life as Mom, House of Hempworths, Somewhat Simple, Simple Lives Thursday,

Canning Sugar Free Grape Jelly

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With our abundance of grapes this year I wanted to make grape jelly. In particular I wanted to make sugar free jelly because our Concord grapes were very sweet on their own without any added sugar. To make the grape jelly I simply used the juice that extracted from the grapes in my Concord grape juice concentrate.

The grape jelly was very easy to make using no sugar needed powdered pectin that can be found in the canning section of your grocery store. The jelly took 72 hours to completely set, but it was worth the wait. The jelly had an intense grape flavor with a hint of sweetness. This jelly is not nearly as sweet as commercial jelly from the grocery store. This jelly would make an excellent gift for someone who is trying to watch their sugar intake. Plus, I love the fact that the jelly did not use artificial sweeteners either. I highly recommend this recipe to anyone whom loves grape jelly.

Ingredients modified from Blue Book Guide to Preserving p 75 (makes approximately 4 half pints)

4 cups of grape juice (directions on how to juice can be found here)

1 package no sugar needed powdered pectin

Directions

Place the grape juice and powdered pectin in a large saucepot. Mix well. Heat the mixture over medium high heat. Allow the jelly to boil hard for 1 minute while stirring constantly. Remove the jelly from the heat and ladle into hot sterile jars leaving ¼” headspace. Place the lids on the jars and adjust the two piece caps. Process the jars 10 minutes in a boiling water canner.

Posted on These Chicks Cook, Gooseberry Patch: Recipes to Give, Whatever Goes Wednesday, What's Cooking Wednesday, Penny Pinching Party, Hearth and Soul Blog Hop

Canning Concord Grape Juice Concentrate

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Grape season has been amazing here this year. The grapes has looked and tasted great. I have never had such intense and good tasting grapes as I have had this year. To preserve this unexpected treasure we have decided to can grape juice concentrate. Our concentrate is very intense tasting and can be diluted by 50-75% depending upon how strong you like your juice to taste.  

This is our first year canning grapes, and we have found grapes to be one of the easiest and least time consuming fruits to can. We borrowed a friend’s food mill to juice the grapes, and I think we will be investing in a food mill next year. The food mill easily removed the seeds and skins of the grapes.

We chose to heat our grapes first to get an intense purple grape juice, but you could speed up the process even more and just juice the grapes without heating the whole grape first. This will produce a white grape juice. Either way your grape juice will taste amazing.

Ingredients modified from Ball Blue Book Guide to Canning (one bushel (40 lbs) of grapes makes about 16 quarts of juice)

Grapes, washed and removed from the stems

Water

Directions

1.       Place the grapes in a large stockpot with a little water on the bottom of the pot to prevent sticking. Slowly heat the grapes on medium heat until the grape juice flowing from the grapes is purple and the flesh of the grapes is an intense pink color. Do not let the grape juice boil. Stir frequently.

2.       Place the grapes and juice in a food mill and rotate until the skins and seeds are separated from the rest the juice. Or if you do not have a food mill you can smash the grapes with a potato masher and strain the seeds and peels. Another option is to place the grapes in a plastic bag (only half fill the bag) and take a rolling pin and roll the pin over the closed plastic bag to smash out the juice. Again strain the peels and seeds. Do not place your grapes in a blender or food processor to get the juice out. Blending your grapes will simply puree the grapes and will not get the juice out.

3.       In a clean stockpot, heat the grapes juice to 190 degrees F but not boiling. Ladle the hot grape juice into hot sterile jars leaving 1/4 inch headspace. Place the lids on the jars and adjust the two piece rings.

4.       Process the grape juice in a boiling water canner for 15 minutes.

Posted on Slightly Indulgent Tuesday, Tasty Tuesday, Delectable Tuesday, Tutorial Tuesday,

Mu-Hsu Pork, Chinese Pancakes, and Hoisin Sauce

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This month Daring Cooks took us to China in our kitchens with moo shu, chinese pancakes, and hoisin sauce. Shelly from C Mom Cook and Ruth from The Crafts of Mommyhood  hosted this month's challenge. Admidettly, I do not understand Chinese cuisine as much as I would like because like most Americans my view of Chinese food has been tainted by cheap Chinese take out that probably has more American roots than Chinese, so I was excited when Shelly offered up some cultural notes on moo shu. She wrote:

"Some explanation is needed for the name of this dish. In China, we have a tree called kwei; according to my dictionary, kwei is called laurel in English, and it is a shrub rather than a tree; but the laurels we have in the garden of our London home never seem to flower at all, while the Chinese laurel is a large tree which produces bright yellow, fragrant flowers in the autumn. The pork in this recipe is cooked with eggs, which give a yellow colour to the dish – hence the name. But to add to the confusion, the Chinese name of this dish is mu-hsu pork, mu hsu being the classical name for laurel (are you still with me?). So you might say that calling it pork laurel is taking a poetic license.

Simply put, Moo Shu is a stir fry, containing thinly sliced or shredded vegetables, meat (traditionally) and scrambled egg. It is usually served on flat, thin, steamed pancakes, and is accompanied by a complementary sauce.


Moo Shu pork (the protein most commonly used in Moo Shu dishes) originates in Northern China (commonly attributed to the Shandong province, though sometimes attributed to Beijing), rising in popularity in Chinese restaurants in the West in the 1960's and 70's. As the dish became more popular, different restaurants adapted the recipe to meet their own styles, or to accommodate for expensive or hard-to find ingredients, so there is a lot of variation among recipes. Common among them, though, is a basis of cabbage and the inclusion of scrambled eggs.

The history and etymology of the dish are widely disputed, as indicated by Mr. Hsiung's anecdote above. There are two primary theories as to the origin of the name. Many, including the author of our challenge recipe, suggest that the Chinese characters, read as mu xi, refer to a tree that blooms with small, fragrant blossoms. They suggest that the scrambled egg in this dish is reminiscent of these blossoms, and thus a variety of egg dishes are referred to as mu xi. An alternative suggestion uses the Chinese characters reading mu xu, roughly translating to wood whiskers or wood shavings. The dish is thus named, it is said, due to the appearance of the shredded vegetables and meat, resembling wooden whiskers, or wooden shavings that were used as packing materials."

I love food history, so that little history lesson provided to us by Shelly was amazing on a topic that I know little about. According to Shelly a traditional moo shu contains cabbage, scallions, bamboo shoots, and fungus. I am very forutnate to live near a Chinese food market when I have access to some great Chinese food products. The only downside is that everything is written in Mandrian. Sometimes I go there and pick up one or two ingredients and test them out in my kitchen. Like my previous trips to the Chinese market I just picked up a few items that struck my fancy. I came home with bok choy, gai lam, bamboo shoots, water chestnuts (my favorite), and dried mushrooms. Together these made an excellent moo shu pork stir fry.

This month were also suppose to make a moo shu pancake and hoisin sauce. The moo shu pancakes were very simple to make and delicous. The hoisin sauce was even easier to make; in fact, the hoisin sauce was the best hoisin suace I have ever tried. The hoisin suace had a very balanced sweet and spicy taste that work perfectly. The best part about this meal was that it was quick to prepare. Some Daring Cooks challenges can take hours or even days, but this challenge could easily be made in an evening. In fact you could turn this into a quick weeknight dinner if you substitute another carbohydrate for the pancakes since they were the time sucker. Rice would be great for a very quick dinner.

Moo Shu Pork:


Serves 4

Preparation time: 25-30 minutes

Cooking time: 6-8 minutes

Ingredients from The Chinese Kitchen by Deh-Ta Hsiung

2/3 cup (1 oz) (30 gm) Dried black fungus ('wood ears')

½ lb (450 gm) pork loin
¾ cup (3½ oz) (100 gm) bamboo shoots, thinly cut

4 stalks of bai lam, thinly cut

¾ cup (3½ oz) (100 gm) water chestnuts, thinly cut


3 large eggs

1 teaspoon (5 ml) (6 gm) salt

4 tablespoons (60 ml) vegetable oil

2 scallions

1 tablespoon (15 ml) light soy sauce

2 teaspoons (10 ml) rice wine

A few drops sesame oil

12 thin pancakes to serve

Directions:


1.Soak the fungus in warm water for 10-15 minutes, rinse and drain. Discard any hard stalks, then thinly shred.

2.Thinly cut the pork, bamboo shoots and Chinese cabbage into matchstick-sized shreds.

3.Lightly beat the eggs with a pinch of salt.

4.Heat about 1 tablespoon (15 ml) oil in a preheated wok and scramble the eggs until set, but not too hard. Remove and keep to one side.

5.Heat the remaining oil. Stir-fry the shredded pork for about 1 minute or until the color changes. Add the fungus, bamboo shoots, Chinese cabbage and scallions. Stir-fry for about 2-3 minutes, then add the remaining salt, soy sauce and wine. Blend well and continue stirring for another 2 minutes. Add the scrambled eggs, stirring to break them into small bits. Add the sesame oil and blend well.

6.To serve: place about 2 tablespoons (30 ml) of hot Moo Shu in the center of a warm pancake, rolling it into a parcel with the bottom end turned up to prevent the contents from falling out. Eat with your fingers. (See Final Preparation and Serving section below for more complete details.)

Thin Pancakes:


Makes 24-30 pancakes

Preparation time: about 10 minutes plus 30 minutes' standing time

Cooking time: 45-50 minutes

Ingredients for Thin Pancakes from The Chinese Kitchen by Deh-Ta Hsiung

4 cups (960 ml) (560 gm) (19¾ oz) all purpose flour

About 1½ cup (300ml) (10 fl oz) boiling water

1 teaspoon (5 ml) vegetable oil

Dry flour for dusting

Directions:

1.Sift the flour into a mixing bowl. Gently pour in the water, stirring as you pour, then stir in the oil. Knead the mixture into a soft but firm dough. If your dough is dry, add more water, one tablespoon at a time, to reach the right consistency. Cover with a damp towel and let stand for about 30 minutes.

2.Lightly dust the surface of a worktop with dry flour. Knead the dough for 6-8 minutes or until smooth, then divide into 3 equal portions. Roll out each portion into a long sausage and cut each sausage into 8-10 pieces. Keep the dough that you are not actively working with covered with a lightly damp dish cloth to keep it from drying out.

3.Roll each piece into a ball, then, using the palm of your hand, press each piece into a flat pancake. Dust the worktop with more dry flour. Flatten each pancake into a 6 to 8 inch (15 cm to 20 cm) circle with a rolling pin, rolling gently on both sides.

4.Place an un-greased frying pan over high heat. Once the pan is hot, lower the heat to low and place the pancakes, one at a time, in the pan. Remove when little light-brown spots appear on the underside. Cover with a damp cloth until ready to serve.

Alternate method for preparing the pancakes:

Once the dough has rested and been kneaded again, divide it into an even number of small pieces, rolling each into a ball. Working with two balls of dough at a time, dip the bottom of one ball lightly into sesame oil and press it onto the top of the second ball. Press the double layer flat, then roll the doubled pancake layers into 6 to 8 inch circles. In a dry pan, cook on each side until dry and lightly blistered (but without browning). Separate pancakes after cooking.

Alternately (I know, an alternate to the alternate...) [I used this method], if you would prefer not to dip the dough in the sesame oil, you can achieve a similar result with a slight modification. Again working two pieces at a time, roll each piece into a three inch pancake. Using a pastry brush, brush sesame oil onto the top of one of the pancakes, and top it with the other pancake. Further roll the doubled pancake into a 6 to 8 inch circle and cook as the above alternate method. This method was actually our favorite of the three, and yielded the best results – very thin pancakes that held up a little better and had the most authentic texture. We had the best luck brushing a bit of sesame oil on both circles of dough, then sandwiching them together. Just be careful separating the pancakes after cooking them on both sides – heat (steam) does get caught between them, so don't burn your fingers!


Notes:


•Be sure to use very hot-to-boiling water, as it helps relax the gluten, which will aid in rolling the pancakes super thin.

•Adjust the heat of your pan as needed to cook the pancakes without burning them. I had to keep my burner on medium (rather than low) heat in order for my pancakes to cook properly (low was drying them out too much without cooking them fully), so watch your pancakes carefully.

•If the pancakes are not to be used as soon as they are cooked, they can be warmed up, either in a steamer for 5-6 minutes, or in a microwave oven for 20-30 seconds, depending on the power.

•And, in case you are curious, we both asked our local Chinese food restaurants about their Moo Shu pancakes, and they informed us that they purchase them prepared, and simply steam them for their customers as they order the dish.

Ingredients for Hoison Sauce from Epicurean.com

4 tablespoons (60 ml) soy sauce

2 tablespoons (30 ml) peanut butter OR black bean paste

1 tablespoon (15 ml) honey OR molasses

2 teaspoons (10 ml) white vinegar

1/8 teaspoon (⅔ ml) garlic powder

2 teaspoons (10 ml) sesame seed oil

20 drops (¼ teaspoon) Chinese style hot sauce (optional, depending on how hot you want your hoisin sauce)

1/8 teaspoon (⅔ ml) black pepper

Directions:

Simply mix all of the ingredients together by hand using a sturdy spoon.

At first it does not appear like it will mix, but keep at it just a bit longer and your sauce will come together.


Final Preparation and Serving:


Each of the three components that comprise the complete Moo Shu dish are served separately, and the diner prepares each serving on his or her own plate. Most restaurants provide four pancakes, a serving of Moo-Shu and a small dish of hoisin sauce as a single serving. To prepare each pancake for eating, the following is the most common process: a small amount of hoisin sauce is spread onto the pancake, on top of which a spoonful of the stir-fry is placed. In order to prevent (or, realistically, minimize) the filling from spilling out while eating, the bottom of the pancake is folded up, then the pancake is rolled, similarly to a soft taco. Once rolled, the prepared pancake is eaten immediately.

Posted on Ingredient Spotlight: Cabbage

Crockpot Applebutter Bread Pudding and Free Cookbook

Fall is here, and there are lot of exciting things going on this year. Many bloggers are enjoying some hard earned success both personally and professionally. Alicia from Culinary Bliss is happily enjoying her new baby girl. To allow Alicia and the new baby some much needed rest I wrote a guest blog post on crockpot applebutter bread pudding. This is a perfect way to use up some of the applebutter sitting in your pantry shelf, so stop by and also check out the best posts from last week on Simple Lives Thursday. The fermeneted tomato sauce has me pretty excited.

Professionally, Tiffany from Eat at Home has e-mailed me about her recent success. She e-mailed me to announce her new e-book! I love when bloggers are able to make the transition from casual blogging to professional recipe development. Her new book Feast in 15 is on fast and delicious week night meals. This is the perfect book for the busy mom whom has to feed a family on the go. This reminds me a lot of Rachel Ray's 30 minutes meals, so go check out her new e-book available for download or for kindle for $4.99.

I got another exciting e-mail this week as well. Cultures for Health, a company that sells starter cultures for yogurt, cheese, and other ferments, has e-mailed me about a free e-book that they are giving away. Cultures for Health is giving away a free e-book on Kombucha. Kombucha is a fermented tea that I have been wanting to try. Kombucha is suppose to taste like a cross between apple cider and champagne. For the tea lover like me that sounds like a dream come true. The e-book comes with not only directions on to make kombucha but also recipes using kombucha, so stop on by and pick your free e-book today.

*photo from Microsoft Office

Canning Ground Cherry Pie Filling

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This year I grew ground cherries in my garden. Ground cherries are related to tomatoes and tomatillos. They are small yellow fruits that were originally weeds in North America. Ground cherries have a papery husk like tomatillos that turns from green to pale yellow when fully ripened. They taste kind of like pineapple. When the fruit is ripe it falls off the vine on to the ground hence the name ground cherry. For the best flavor, a ground cherry should be allowed to ripen even further after falling on the ground; the ground cherry will turn from canary yellow to golden yellow which takes a few days after the ground cherry has fallen on the ground. However, in our house Miss Bubbles could not wait for the ground cherries to fully ripen. Instead she would eat all the ground cherries as they fell on the ground. These easy to grow plants were a huge hit in our house.


I was able to salvage a few cups of ground cherries that Miss Bubbles did not eat. Luckily, ground cherries can be stored with the husks on in a hanging mesh bag for several months so I could slowly accumulate some ground cherries to preserve for winter. In my opinion, ground cherries taste best with sugar. The pineapple flavor becomes more intense with sugar making them perfect for pie fillings. I canned this simple pie filling in half pint jars so I could make small mini pies for Miss Bubbles this winter.

Ingredients  (makes approximately 4 half pint jars or 1 quart jar; a quart jar will make one 9 inch pie)


5 cups ground cherries, fully ripened and husks removed
¾ cup sugar
3 tbsp Clear Jel (NOT Sure Jel)
1/4 cup water
2 tbsp lemon juice

Directions

1. Add the Clear Jel, sugar, water, and lemon juice to a large sauce pot. Bring the mixture to a boil while stirring constantly with a wooden spoon

2. Add the ground cherries to the boiling mixture. Gently stir constantly. Once the jel comes back to a simmer the ground cherry pie filling will thicken. Continue to cook the ground cherry pie filling until it is thick and gooey.

3. Ladle the ground cherry pie filling into four half pint jars. Leaving 1 inch headspace. Process in a boiling water canner for 30 minutes.

Fruit Kimchi

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I have wanted to try this fruit kimchi recipe for several months now, but I was good and patient. I waited for the stone fruits, apples, pears, and grapes to be in season locally before I started fermenting fruit. This fruit kimchi is worth the wait. I did not know what to expect. I couldn’t imagine that the fruit kimchi would taste anything like sauerkraut because there was no cabbage in the fruit kimchi. I knew the fruit kimchi would be spicy but I was not sure how spicy. I was not evens sure if the sweetness of the fruit would be lost of retained. When I finally put the first bite of fruit kimchi in my mouth I was surprised and excited at the same time. The fruit kimchi was very spicy and sweet at the same time. All the flavors melted together nicely yet still retained their distinct texture and hints of their original flavors. The fruit kimchi leaves your tounge tingly which is a fun sensation that comes with a lot of fermented foods.

The grapes were my favorite fruit in the fruit kimchi. Next time I make the fruit kimchi I am going to add more grapes. I was very skeptical of the nuts in the fruit kimchi. I was worried that they would taste like a soggy mess, but they were good. The nuts were soft but not soggy and very spicy. I enjoyed eating this fruit kimchi plain, but I also plant to eat with some yogurt to the dish a nice spicy yet cooling effect. I think it will be fun to play on those two sensations. If you are new to fermenting, then I recommend this recipe because it does not have a strong pungent flavor like some fermented foods.

The recipe I posted below is just a basic outline. You can add more or less of different fruits depending upon what you have on hand. Feel free to experiment with different fruits after you have tried made the recipe one time through without many changes to get a feel for the process and flavors.

Ingredients (makes a 1 quart jar) modified from Wild Fermentation p 50

1 quart mason jar with lid (this your fermentation vessel)

1/3 pineapple with juice
4 plums, pitted (my plums were very small)
1 pears, cored
1 apple cored
1 small bunch of grapes, seeds removed
½ cup cashews or other nuts
1 small bunch cilantro
1 to 2 fresh jalapenos, finely chopped
1 to 2 Serrano peppers, finely chopped (I used 2 red Serrano peppers but you can use another pepper)
1 leek or onion, finely chopped (I used an onion)
3 to 4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
3 tbsp grated ginger

Directions

1. Place all the fruit, vegetables, and nuts into a 1 quart mason jar. I mixed my fruit up well to ensure a good consistent flavoring through the entire jar. Pack the fruit in very tightly.

2. Add the pineapple juice to the jar to fill in all the gaps between the fruit. The pineapple juice should cover your fruit. The pineapple juice acts as a brine solution. The acidic nature of the pineapple juice will prevent extra scum from growing on top.

3. Place the lid on the jar and screw on the top. Place the jar in a temperature stable location out of direct sunlight. I left mine on the counter away from the stove.

4. The next day loosen the top to release the gas build up in the jar. You will see bubbles and hear a distinct spewing sound of the gases being released. The bubbles and gas build up indicate that the fermentation is occurring. Retighten the lid.

5. Repeat step 4 everyday for a week.

6. After 1 week open up the jar of the fruit kimchi and remove any scum. I did not have any scum on top, but yours might have scum on top. Enjoy your kimchi!

7. Store in the leftovers in the refrigerator. This ferment will last a long time in your refrigerator, probably 3 months.



Posted on These Chicks Cook, Whatever Goes Wednesday, What's Cooking Wednesday, Full Plate Thursday, Strut your stuff, House of Hempworths, Recipe Swap, Catch a Glimpse, It's a Keeper

Grilled Moussaka

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My produce drawer has been filled to the brim with eggplants between those that I grew in my own garden and those that a friend of mine gave me from her garden. I could have an eggplant festival in my house. I also have lots of zucchini that another friend gave me from his garden. To me this meant one thing, moussaka. Moussaka is sometimes called Greek lasagna, but in reality it is also a middle eastern dish as well. Moussaka is made from layers of zucchini, eggplant, potatoes, meat, and topped with a thick béchamel sauce. I only make this dish in early fall. I make a large batch of this recipe and freeze the leftovers for quick freezer meals. Then, I patiently wait for next fall when I get to make this recipe again from eggplants and zucchini.


I broil my vegetables in the oven on a rainy day instead of frying them like most restaurants to produce lighter healthier moussaka. This moussaka recipe is very forgiving so if you do not have the exact quantities of vegetables stated in the recipe, then your moussaka will still turn out fine. The seasoning on this moussaka is very simple and basic with just parsley and oregano. By roasting the vegetables first you bring out the sweet flavors of the vegetables and lose a lot of the bitter taste that many people hate in vegetables. While I loved this recipe, my family was not a big fan. Dr. Lazy Palate made the most horrid face while eating this moussaka. He said he could not get over the seeds in the eggplant. Miss Bubbles was the only other one who enjoyed this recipe; she ate all the zucchini out her moussaka which makes me proud. I hope she has my taste buds. Little BBQ ate the ground beef and the béchamel sauce. I ate devoured mine and went back for seconds which is unusual for me.

Ingredients (serves 9 – 12 depending upon serving size) makes a 9 x 13 in pan from All Recipes

3 large eggplant (the round purple variety), sliced into ¼” pieces
3 large potatoes, sliced into ¼” pieces
3 large zucchini, sliced into ¼” pieces
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 tbsp olive oil
2 pounds ground beef or lamb (I used ground beef)
1 onion, finely chopped
1 tsp oregano
½ cup fresh parsley, chopped
5 ripe tomatoes, chopped or 20 cherry tomatoes (I used cherry tomatoes)
1 cup crumbled feta cheese

For the béchamel sauce:

5 tbsp butter
7 tbsp all purpose flour
5 cups milk
1 pinch of nutmeg
1 egg yolk, beaten

Directions

1. Toss all the vegetables with the 1/3 cup olive oil. Place the vegetables on a cookie sheet in a single layer. Place the cookie sheet on the top rack of the oven. Turn the oven to broil on high. Roast the vegetables until they begin to turn golden brown, about 3-5 minutes.

2. Layer the vegetables in a 9 x 13 x 2 inch glass plan. I started with zucchini then eggplant then potatoes, but I think next time I will start with potatoes instead.

3. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

4. Brown the meat in a skillet with the 1 tbsp olive oil, onion, oregano, parsley, and tomatoes. Drain any excess grease and layer the meat on top of the vegetables.

5. Add the crumbled feta on top of the meat and vegetables.

6. In a saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat.

7. Add the flour to the butter and whisk.

8. Cook the butter and flour mixture until the four turns a very light brown and begins to smell a bit toasty, about 5 minutes.

9. Add the milk and nutmeg. Reduce the heat to a simmer and cook for 10 minutes while stirring frequently.

10. In a small bowl, beat the egg yolk and add ¼ cup of the milk mixture and very quickly mix the egg and milk mixture. You do not want the egg to curdle, so this must be done very quickly.

11. Add the egg and milk mixture to the milk mixture in the saucepot and stir well. Add the béchamel sauce to the top of the moussaka.

12. Bake the moussaka for 30 minutes or until golden brown on top.

13. To freeze: Place the moussaka in a freezer safe container already sliced into single servings. To reheat, place in the microwave for 3 minutes on high or bake in the oven for 30 minutes or until warm all the way through at 350 degrees F.

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