Family Cooking Tips

Archive for May, 2008

Making Dried Fruit

Whether you have children in mind that need to eat healthier, or you are looking for a way to put more fruit into your own diet, making your own dried fruit can be a great way to get you out of a dietary rut and to make sure that you are getting the vitamins and natural sugars that are so healthy for you. The price of dried fruit can be a little high, however, and it will only be a matter of time before you realize that it is probably just as easy and cheap to dry the fruit yourself. Take a look below for a few things to keep in mind before you start buying your apples and bananas, however!

If you can get a food dehydrator, this is the most simple, straightforward and reliable way to dry your fruit. This device allows you control the temperature, the speed of drying and practically everything involved with the process of drying out whatever fruit you choose to put into it. It can also dry fruit without taking up valuable stove time, which is a plus for the busy individual. In a food dehydrator, fruits like apples and pears will dry at a stable 135 degrees Fahrenheit and come out looking great.

If you’d prefer to try it the old fashioned way, it is actually quite simple. First, decide on what fruits you are interested in drying. Apples and bananas are quite popular, and they are quite easy if you are looking for a simple first-time experience. The first thing you need to do to the fruit is cut it. While theoretically fruit of any shape or configuration can be dried, the drying process happens a great deal more swiftly and evenly if you cut the fruit into thin slices first.

Then, you will want to prepare the fruit. Many fruits will go brown or even blacken when they have been exposed too long to air, and to prevent this, you can briefly soak them in a variety of solutions that will help preserve their color. Fruit juice with a high level of citric acid, asorbic acid, or even a honey and water can help your fruit looking great. This should also be done to any fruits that you put in a food dehydrator.

There are several ways to dry your fruit after you have prepared it. For instance, you can use a plastic needle to thread your fruit onto clean cotton thread and set up a rack in the sun. This method can take a few days, depending on juicy the fruit is. Remember to put down a cloth to catch any drips. You can also use a conventional oven. To use this method, put down some wax paper over a cookie sheet and lay the fruit slices on it, without letting them touch each other. Set the oven to about 175 degrees and let it simply cook for a while. This will take several hours but don’t turn the oven up to speed the process!

Essentially, your fruit will be done whenever you feel it’s good to eat, so do some experimenting and give it a shot! This is a great and fun way to eat your fruits.

Nesco American Harvest FD-1010 Gardenmaster Food Dehydrator

Mac and cheese

1-pound box of macaroni cooked

Cheese sauce

1 TBSP flour
1 TBSP butter
1-cup milk
2 packages of your favorite shredded cheese

Salt and pepper to taste

Melt the butter in a saucepot, when bubbly; add the flour and cook, stirring continuously for 2 minutes.

Whisk the milk into the flour and butter mixture and whisk continuously until it has thickened (This will happen very quickly)
Add cheese and stir until melted and pour over the cooked macaroni. Mix well and place in a well-oiled butter dish.

Cover and bake at 350 for 30 minutes

Lemon pepper chicken thighs

1 package of chicken thighs
Lemon pepper seasoning
Salt
Pepper
Olive oil

Coat the bottom of a large frying pan with olive oil and put on a medium heat. Sprinkle the lemon pepper seasoning onto the chicken thighs and add salt and pepper. Place skin side down in the frying pan and repeat with the seasonings.

Turn after the skin is golden brown and do the same to the other side of the chicken. Place in a foil lined baking dish and bake at 400 for 30-45 minutes.

Learning to Enjoy Cooking With Radishes

You might be amused to note that the homely radish, which in many circles is considered merely decorative, is actually quite tasty and can be a great ingredient in its own right! The first thing you need to think about when you are looking to integrate radishes into your regular diet is that there are many different types. When you go to the supermarket, you’ll definitely find the usual favorite, the Cherry Bell, which has a red skin, a white interior and a bite of a bite. You might also find Champions, which are colored similarly, but have a milder flavor, or the Plum Purple, which stays crisp longer and makes a great sandwich radish.

The first thing that might cross your mind is to eat the radish raw, which is certainly a great idea. While some people can simply chomp on a spicy radish easily, other people prefer to use them as an accompaniment to their salads or sandwich. If you get a mild breed of radish, it goes quite well with a spread of unsalted butter on slightly spiced bread, while if you want more in your sandwich than just the crisp taste, you can add a slice of mozzarella or cheddar.

Due to their frequently small size, you will find that radishes tend to make better garnishes and side dishes than they do full dishes, but you’ll find there’s no end to the places that you can add them. If want a little bit of zest and texture to your soup, sprinkle a few slices over clam chowder or a California Melody soup. Similarly, due to their high water content and crunch, you can add some chopped radishes to your stir-fry. If you are looking for a way to add radishes to a main course, brush radishes that have been cut in half in olive oil and bake for about 15 minutes; then use them to bring some color and spice to your chicken or roast beef.

Don’t overlook the international section of your grocery store either! With a little bit of looking, you’ll probably be able to find the large white tubers know as daikons, though they might also be labeled as Japanese radishes. These radishes tend to be a great deal milder than European or North American radishes, but they are certainly no less tasty. One Southeast Asian dish calls for daikon and carrots to be grated together and then mixed with shredded chicken, before the whole salad is tossed using a white vinegar and sugar dressing. Similarly, you can choose to pickle whole slices of daikon as well, using a solution of your favorite type of vinegar, sugar, salt and pepper. The longer you wait before eating, the stronger the daikon will taste, but even after eight hours, you’ll have a tasty treat.

As you can see, cooking with radishes can be something of an international experience. Grab a bunch of radishes the next time that you’re out and see what kind of use you can put these root vegetables to!