Pear-Raspberry Jam

Mom got this recipe years ago from a magazine.  She says it is absolutely delicious!

6 medium pears, about 2 pounds, peeled and cored
1 (10 ounce) package of frozen raspberries, thawed
6 cups sugar
2 tablespoons lemon juice
2 teaspoons orange zest
1/2 of a 6-ounce package of liquid fruit pectin (1 pouch)

In a food processor, coarsely chop or grind pears. (I mix until they are smooth.)  Add enough pears to the raspberries to make 4 cups total fruit.

In an 8 or 10 quart sauce pan, combine fruit mixture, sugar, lemon juice and zest.  Bring to a full rolling boil (one that can't be stirred down).  Boil hard, uncovered, for 1 minute; stir constantly.

Remove from heat.  Stir in liquid pectin.  Quickly skim off foam with a metal spoon.  There usually isn't too much foam when I make it.  Ladle jam at once into hot, sterilized half-pint jars leaving 1/4-inch head space.  Wipe jar rims; adjust lids.  Process in a boiling water bath for 15 minutes.

Makes 6 to 7 half-pints.

RECIPE NOTES:  Liquid pectin comes in a 6-oz box containing 2 3-oz pouches of pectin.  You'll have enough pectin to make 2 batches of jam.  Yay!!

Mom thinks you could probably also do this as a freezer jam.  Pour the boiled jam into freezer containers, cover and let sit on the counter until the jam has cooled.  Store jam in the freezer.

Soft Wrap Bread (from King Arthur Flour)

We really liked this bread.  It's soft, delicious and the perfect bread to wrap around sandwich fillings.  It uses an unusual method of using boiling water to "cook" the starch in the flour.  According to King Arthur flour, this results in a dough that is soft and easy to roll out.  

We went vegetarian with our fillings and enjoyed roasted peppers, mushrooms, onion and zucchini along with baked falafel, fresh spinach, cherry tomatoes and a tzatziki (greek cucumber-yogurt) sauce in the soft wrap bread.  Grilled Caesar chicken would be delicious, too.

3 to 3 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/4 cups boiling water
1/4 cup potato flour or 1/2 cup potato flakes
1 1/4 teaspoons salt
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 teaspoon instant yeast

Place 2 cups of flour into a bowl or the bucket of a bread machine.  Pour the boiling water over the flour and stir until smooth.  Cover the bowl or bucket and set the mixture aside for 30 minutes.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the potato flour (or flakes) and 1 cup of the remaining flour with the salt, oil and yeast.

Add this to the cooled flour/water mixture, stir, then knead for several minutes -- by hand, mixer or bread machine -- to form a soft dough.  Add additional flour only if necessary, if kneading by hand, keep your hands and work surface lightly oiled.  (I had to add a bit more water when I made it.)  A 5-minute knead in the bread machine, once it gets up to full kneading speed, if fine.  Let the dough rise, covered, for 1 hour.

Divide the dough into 8 pieces (each about the size of a large plum, around 3 ounces), cover and let rest for 15 to 30 minutes.

Roll each piece into a 7" to 8" circle, and dry-fry them (fry without oil) over medium heat for about 1 minute per side, until they're puffed and flecked with brown spots.  Adjust the heat if they seem to be cooking either too quickly, or too slowly; cooking too quickly means they may be raw in the center, while too slowly will dry them out.

Transfer the cooked breads to a wire rack, stacking them to keep them soft.

Serve immediately, or cool slightly before storing in a plastic bag for up to 4 days.  Freeze for up to a month.

RECIPE NOTES:  I cooked the bread on my pancake griddle.  It worked great!

If you prefer to use active dry yeast instead of instant yeast, use only 1 cup boiling water for the initial dough, dissolve the yeast in 1/4 cup warm water, and add this mixture to the dough along with the potato flour mixture.  It'll be somewhat "slippery" at first, but will knead in and eventually become smooth.

Rhubarb Pudding Cake

I tried a new rhubarb recipe and it was quite tasty.  Paige liked it and Bryce and I liked it.  Erica liked the cake but not the tartness of the rhubarb.  Anyway, I thought I'd record it here with how I did it.  I had whipping cream in the fridge, so I put that on mine.  Paige and Bryce ate it without the whipping cream.

1 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
1/8 teaspoon salt
5 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
1 1/3 cups granulated sugar, divided
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 large egg
1/2 cup milk
4 cups sliced rhubarb
powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Lightly spoon flour into a dry measuring cup; level with a knife.  Combine flour, baking powder, and salt, stirring well with a whisk.

Place butter in a large bowl, and beat with a mixer at medium speed until smooth.  Add 2/3 cup sugar; beat until well blended.  Add vanilla, cinnamon, and egg, beating well.  Beating at low speed, add flour mixture and milk alternately to the sugar mixture, beginning and ending with flour mixture; beat just until smooth.

Combine rhubarb and remaining 2/3 cup sugar in an 8-inch square baking dish coated with cooking spray.  Spoon batter over rhubarb mixture.  (I think spread it out a bit to even out the cake batter.)  Bake at 350 degrees for 45-50 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean.  Sprinkle with powdered sugar.

Pressure Cooker Scalloped Potatoes

Last night I decided to make my Superior Meat Loaf that Logan has been craving.  I prepped it early in the day and had it in the fridge with instructions left for when to put it in the oven.  I had a meeting with a teacher and knew I'd be late getting home.  I also wanted some potatoes to go with this meal, so I searched up another recipe and then edited it for what I had and my tastes.  Here's the link to the recipe and below you will find what I did.

I got home and put one child to work shredding cheese, another ran downstairs to get potatoes and then mixed up my broth, another scrubbed the potatoes and I sliced them using the food processor.  Things go together so much quicker when we are all working together.  :)  I timed it rather perfectly.  As soon as the meat loaf came out of the oven, I was able to switch to broil and crisp up the potatoes while we set the table.  Also, my review is that I might decrease the garlic next time.  Paige and Bryce loved the amount of garlic, though, so they probably won't enjoy it as much if I do decrease the garlic.  Logan said it was yummy.

2 pounds Yukon gold potatoes, cut into 1/4" slices
1 cup chicken broth
1/2 teaspoon salt (I actually didn't use the salt)
2 cups shredded Colby Jack cheese
3 tablespoons milk
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

Combine the broth, salt, and potatoes in the inner pot of the pressure cooker.  Close and lock the lid.  Select high pressure and set the timer for 2 minutes. I allowed the pressure cooker to natural release for 5 minutes before quick-releasing the rest of the pressure.  Unlock and remove the lid.

Transfer the potatoes carefully to an oven safe dish.  (I used my two quart oval casserole dish.)  Combine 1 1/2 cups cheese, milk, garlic powder, and pepper in the pressure cooker with the remaining liquid.  Select Saute function and cook until smooth and creamy, about 5 minutes.  Pour sauce evenly over potatoes and sprinkle with remaining 1/2 cup cheese.

Broil in the preheated oven until golden, about 5 minutes.

Pressure Cooking Tips

I took a Pressure Cooking class from the Extension office here in town.  I was hoping to gain confidence in using the pressure cooker I got for Christmas.  Here are a few tips I learned that I didn't remember reading in the manual that came with my cooker:

1. Wash the condensation catcher every time, even if it looks like it doesn't need it.
2. High altitude changes:  many recipes and the cookers are programmed for sea level.  So to adjust for higher altitudes we need to add 5% additional time for every 1000 feet above 2000 feet.  So I live at approximately 4500 feet above sea level.  I will add 10% of the cooking time to get my total cooking time.
3. You can purchase colorful seals.  Some people like to use one color for one type of food.  For example:  blue for desserts, red for meats, etc.  The seal can absorb smells and some people don't want to take the chance that their dessert may smell like the chicken they last cooked.  Just remember to purchase the seal specific to your pressure cooker.
4. You can take the little shield part that covers the vent from inside the lid off to make sure it is clean inside there.
5. A clean sponge paint brush can be a great tool for cleaning the outer part of the pressure cooker.  You know, the top part where you have to try to get under the edges that latch into the lid.

As a class, we made 4 recipes.  We had 4 pressure cookers going and had a fun meal.  We joked about starting a pressure cooking club so we could have meals like this without having to purchase 4 cookers.  Over the next few days I'm planning on trying the recipes at home and if I can get them to turn out, I'll post them.  They were tasty.

Greek Lemon Chicken (Pressure Pot method)

6 boneless skinless chicken breasts, frozen
1 teaspoon oregano
1/2 teaspoon seasoning salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
Lemon rind, grated from 1 lemon
1 cup chicken broth
3 tablespoons lemon juice
2-3 cloves garlic, minced

Season both sides of the chicken breasts with the seasonings and place them in the bottom of the pressure pot.  Add lemon rind, chicken broth, lemon juice and minced garlic to the pot.

Put the lid on the pot and move the valve to sealing.  Press "Manual Pressure" and set the timer to 12 minutes.  The pot will take about 10 minutes to come to pressure and then will start counting down from 12.  When the cook time is up, let the pressure release naturally for 5-10 minutes before releasing the remaining pressure.  Check to ensure that the internal temperature of the chicken is at least 165 degrees Fahrenheit.

Shred the chicken.

Now this is the fun part!  You can serve the chicken in a variety of ways.

Pita Sandwiches -- fill a pita bread with lemon chicken, fresh spinach or romaine lettuce, feta cheese, halved cherry tomatoes, yogurt cucumber sauce (also known as tzatziki sauce), hummus, chopped red onions, diced cucumbers and sliced olives.

Greek Salad -- Layer fresh spinach or romaine lettuce, broken pita chips, lemon chicken and whatever other toppings you'd like (see sandwich topping ideas above) to create a delicious Greek salad.

Seasoned Black Beans

This is the black bean recipe I used for Roundtable's Blue & Gold last night.  Bryce says he really loves this recipe.  The first time I tried it I felt it had way to much liquid and not enough beans, so I adjusted it for Roundtable and it turned out great.  I'm posting my adjusted recipe.

2 tablespoons olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced (I used 2 teaspoons garlic paste, which is an amazing discovery I've really enjoyed using)
1 teaspoon ground cumin
2 can (15 ounces each) black beans, rinsed and drained
1 1/3 cups tomato juice (I just blended up a jar of home canned tomatoes and measured the amount I needed)
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons fresh cilantro, chopped

In a nonstick skillet, cook garlic and cumin in olive oil over medium heat until you can smell it.  Add beans, tomato juice, and salt.  Continually stir until heated through.  Just before serving stir in the cilantro.  (To cook in the slow cooker:  I omit the olive oil and just mix everything together, except the cilantro.  Heat on warm for a few hours.  Just before serving, stir in the cilantro.)

Cheesy Potatoes in the Pressure Cooker

Mom & Dad were sweet enough to give me a pressure cooker/crock pot for Christmas this year.  I've been debating over buying one and they beat me to the punch.  It's been interesting and frustrating all at the same time to try new things.  I just wish I knew things would turn out and exactly how much time to put things in, because releasing pressure to find it not done, is just plain depressing.  'Cuz then you have to go through the whole process again.  Anyway, Logan wanted to have cheesy potatoes and we decided to try it in the pressure cooker last night.  We found this recipe from sweetphi.com and then changed it to hopefully have a success.  Logan & Bryce really liked it.  I got a taste of it after stake choir practice and liked it, too.  I didn't get reviews from the rest of the crew.  Here is what we did:

4 russett potatoes, peeled and cubed (3 were good sized and 1 was quite large.  I told Logan to imagine a big bag of hashbrowns in his head and that's how many potatoes we'd do.)
1 cup sour cream (we just used what we had in the fridge which probably wasn't a full cup)
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 teaspoon garlic salt
2 cups shredded colby jack cheese
1 cup milk

Logan washed and peeled the potatoes.  I cubed them into big chunks because Logan wanted them bigger than the cubed hashbrown size.  Logan put the potatoes in a large mixing bowl and dumped on the sour cream, cream of chicken soup, and garlic salt and stirred well.  Then he added the colby jack cheese and mixed well.  We were worried we didn't have enough liquid for pressure cooking so he stirred in 1 cup milk.  We then sprayed the inner pressure cooker pot and dumped the potato mixture in, leveling it a bit.  We used the manual pressure setting and set it at high for 15 minutes.  We let it sit for 10 minutes before releasing the pressure valve.