Venison five ways

You might remember that I mentioned in one of my thanksgiving posts that I was thankful for generous friends who parted with some of there venison for us to try, and in one I mentioned how grateful I am for free curriculum.

Well part of what we wanted the venison for was because these last two weeks before thanksgiving we have devoted out school time to learning about the Native Americans who lived in the north east when the first settlers came to this continent. We have been doing a lot of reading, and beading, and finger weaving, but I also wanted to give the kids a taste of what the people we were studying would have eaten.

So we made a salad, and corn bread and wild rice and venison with onions and mushrooms
that were listed as being appropriate to the north eastern region.

But we still had a good bit of venison left over so here are four other ways we prepared it.

 

 Venison tacos from Mississippi Kitchen

Creamy Venison from SORTED

Venison pot roast from A Less Processed Life

Venison Stew

You can use beef for just about all of these recipes if you don't have any venison.

Gluten Free Apple Cider Doughnuts

Apple Cider Doughnuts

 

I converted the above recipe to Gluten free and I am thrilled with how they turned out.

granulated sugar for preparing pans
1 1/2 cups Gluten free all-purpose baking flour
1/2 cup soy flour (can just use GF all purpose but the soy helps keep them from going stale as quickly)
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 large egg, beaten
2/3 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup apple butter
1/3 cup pure maple syrup
1/3 cup apple cider
1/3 cup plain nonfat yogurt
3 Tablespoons vegetable or canola oil

Preheat oven to 400°F.
Grease pan and sprinkle with sugar.
Combine together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon; set aside. In another bowl, whisk together egg, brown sugar, apple butter, maple syrup, cider, yogurt and oil. Add dry ingredients and stir just until moistened. spoon batter into cavities of the pan, don’t fill them to the top or your doughnuts will puff up and lose there holes still yummy but not quite the same. Bake 10 to 12 minutes, or until the tops spring back when touched lightly. turn out doughnuts to cool, Clean the pan, re-coat it with oil and sugar. Repeat with remaining batter. I got one and a half dozen from my pans.

you can glaze or frost or sprinkle with sugar or whatever you want. Enjoy!

Caramel Apples

I love caramel. Also caramel apples.

I am honestly not totally sure where I came across this recipe the first time but it is easy to make and easy to remember.

1/2 Microwave caramel:

1/2 a stick of butter (1/4 cup)
1/2 cup of white sugar
1/2 cup of brown sugar
1/2 cup light corn syrup
1/2 cup sweetened condensed milk.

Microwave for 6-8 min stirring every 2.

To make caramel apples I find it easier to start with cold apples so put the sticks in them and put them in the fridge the night before. If you don't have them cold it will still work but I think it helps the caramel set if they start cold. Also I like to work with smaller apples I find the big ones to be a bit overwhelming to try to sit down and eat and I prefer to have my caramel apples be on a more manageable scale.

One of the tricks for getting good coverage is to not only dip the apple but to spin it in the caramel and if you like the caramel up to the stick like my kids do have a spoon in hand to drizzle the caramel higher up the apple. Be sure to let the excess caramel drip off before putting it on the wax paper. I usually scrap the bottom free of caramel you will get enough drip from the sides to make your foot as the caramel sets.

 Any left over caramel goes on apple slices for a "right now" snack.

Baked Apple Chips

Baked Apple Chips

This was something new to me this year. I love to eat apple chips have never thought about making them before but when I found this recipe I figured I would give it a shot. I used four large apples rather than the 2 small recommended so I doubled the syrup as well. And used more lime than lemon in the syrup mix.

I was also not able to cut them as thinly as I should. You really want them paper thin. So they look a lot longer to crisp than the 1 hour spesified in the recipe. 

I was pretty sure using huge apples and doubling the recipe would give us enough to last us a while. I was wrong. They are already gone. 
 

Gluten Free Jewish Apple Cake

7 apples
2 cups plus 5 Tablespoons sugar 

1 Tablespoon cinnamon

2 3/4 cups gluten free all purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon xanthan gum
1 Tablespoon baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

1 cup vegetable oil

1/4 cup orange juice

2 1/2 teaspoons vanilla

4 eggs


Preheat oven to 350 degrees. grease a bundt pan. Peel, core and thinly slice the apples. Coat the apples with 5 Tbs of sugar and the cinnamon then set aside. Mix together gluten free flour, salt and baking powder in the large bowl. In a separate bowl- mix together orange juice, oil, sugar and vanilla then combine with the dry.     Add the eggs one at a time and mix well. Pour 1/3 of batter into bundt pan. top with 1/3 of the apple mixture. Repeat with remaining batter and apples to get 3 layers. Bake for approximately 60 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.
  

Easy Caramel Glaze:
1/2 cup sweetened condenced milk
1/2 cup brown sugar
4 tablespoons butter
Microwave for about 4 min stirring every two.

Baked Apples

This was really simple I had several larger baking apples that I needed to use up so I cored two filled them with a brown sugar and cinnamon mixture.

Because they were larger I added a but of apple juice to the bottom of the pan and ended up tenting the pan with foil to help steam the apples to speed up the cooking. I put them in a pan in the oven at 300 for about an hour.

 Best served with cream whipped or otherwise. I did not get a picture but I put mine in a bowl with whole milk. The apple soaked up the milk and the milk took the cinnamon and apple juice and it was very very tasty. A very simple apple treat.

Gluten Free Fried Apple Pancakes

Carla Hall's Fried Apple Pancakes
 This recipe was another I found when looking for simple and yummy apple recipes. I like it because its easy to size up or down to suit your needs unlike a cake or pie. They make a great side dish, I served them with Swedish meatballs, or you can eat them on their own for breakfast or whenever. The original recipe, linked above, has an apple cider syrup to go with it but we prefered them with maple syrup or warm apple sauce.

1 Cup Gluten Free Bisquick Baking Mix
1 egg
1 cup of milk
1 tbs vegetable oil or melted butter
1 Teaspoon Pumpkin Pie Spice

3 Medium Apples
pealed, cored, and sliced into 1/4 in rings

Prepare the pancake batter with the baking mix, egg, milk, oil, and spices. Heat your griddle to a medium heat. Dip the apple rings into the batter and then place on the well greased griddle. Let cook through. You want the pancake batter not to burn while the apple softens so if you need to reduce the heat do so.

Apple Butter

Apple Butter is a big deal in our house. Next to the strawberry jam its our go to spread and its so easy to make. I usually make mine with store bought apple sauce not homemade because the homemade is good and I want to eat on its own and I have not noticed a marked difference when made with all natural no sugar added store bought apple sauce and you can pick up some big can of it pretty inexpensively.

the below measurements are pretty rough its more of what ever suits your taste we like ours dark and spicy.

7-8 cups apple sauce
3 tbs cinnamon
1 tsp cardamom
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp cloves

Put everything into your crock pot and let it cook on low without the lid on you will want to stir every few hours or so and you can let it go over night. The basic goal here is to cook off enough liquid to get the apple sauce downs to a thick smooth spreadable texture. it will at least reduce by half after that is up to you how thick you want it.

Apple Sauce

I did mine in the crock pot for the first time this year. You can do it just in a pot over the stove but I was a little busy so I figured I would try the slower but less attention intensive way of cooking it.

The great thing about making your own apple sauce is that you can control what goes in it. Last year I made a few flavored varieties this year I stuck with plain apple sauce but I will included the recipes for the other flavors at the end.

I almost hesitate to call this a recipe.

apples
apple juice or cider

First you want to peel and core your apples.
Pour about a half an inch of your juice or cider into the bottom on the crock pot or a deep heavy bottomed pot on the stove.
Dump in your apples.

If in a crock pot heat on high for at least 4 hours with the lid on stirring it around every hour or so. If on the stove heat on medium high string every 15 min or so until the apples start to break down keep cooking and stirring.

Once you have a smooth thick sauce you can either cool it off and store it in the fridge/freezer or you can can it to get it shelf stable. If you are new to canning I suggest reading up on the details of it as we are talking about preserving food you want to be sure you are doing it correctly.

For some other flavors you can substitute orange juice in the beginning, mix in dried fruit, cinnamon, or other spices, you can add pureed berries near the end for strawberry, raspberry or black berry flavors. Last year I made an orange spice version, and an orange and cranberry, that we had for Thanksgiving and Christmas meals.

Apple Week!

Its Apple week here at Homegrown Strawberries. Which means that rather than the usual 3 (If I am on top of things) you will be getting at least 9 if not more posts most featuring apples! Yay apples!

You will get recipes for the following:

Apple Sauce

Apple Butter

Gluten Free Fried Apple Pancakes

Gluten Free Jewish Apple Cake

Baked Apple Chips

Gluten Free Apple Cinnamon Pop Tarts


Caramel Apples 

Gluten Free Apple Cider Doughnuts

Gluten Free Apple Fritters


Gluten Free Crock Pot Apple Cobbler

Apples Apples Apples

 Its apple time again! One of my favorite parts of the year. We went up to Biglerville, PA "one of the apple capitals of the world" to get some right from the farm.

  Well two orchards actually. The first we love because of their price on seconds and their family friendly atmosphere. They have Photo cut outs and a play area with a feed corn filled
sandbox and a produce stand.

 

The second we like because they have a lot of interesting varieties you don't see many places, a great price on cider and a Try it before you buy it stand that lets you take and taste most of there fruit. Which makes me feel more comfortable picking a lot and the kids get something to munch on before we pay. Both have you pick options as well as prepicked you bag bins.

 Not to mention the view. While we were at this last orchard we saw a brochure of a local vineyard that Also made their own Hard cider from local apples. Both the Husband and I love cider so we stopped by and he got a glass to try while we chatted with my in laws and shared some local cheese.

 Did I mention the view? They had a patio with tables set up looking down the hill over there fields and the surrounding orchards. It was just Lovely!

 I am looking forward to all apple sauce and apple butter and apple chips and apple cake and apple cider we will be having this up and coming year that will stem from this lovely day and I hope every time we have a corn muffin smoothed in apple butter we remember the great weather and enjoyable time we had.

Etsy Review: Lippincott Soap Co.

This is another in my reviews of sellers and products that I have purchased from the handcrafters on Etsy.com. I was looking for a birthday gift for my Grandfather. He is suffering from a lot of pain related to his back as well as arthritis. I wanted a gift that was useful, but not so practical as to feel uncelebratory. After doing some research on line I found a very good back washing tool for people with similar problems to what Granddad was dealing with. So I decided to get him that as well as some good and luxurious soaps to use with it. The problem with that of course is that most rich and moisturizing soaps are very feminine in there scents and colors. As usual Etsy came through and I found two soaps from Lippincott Soap Co. that were just what I was looking for.

Pumpkin Apple Butter and Orange Clove.

 Beautifully packaged and wonderfully scented these soaps were rich without being "girly."


Both were cold process soaps which the seller tells you "is made with skin-nourishing olive, coconut, palm and canola oils. We've 'superfatted' it with shea butter for that extra boost of moisture. There's even a little castor oil for those great, luxurious bubbles."

 

  They arrived quickly and were carefully packaged. The seller also included a sample of one of there other soaps with I thoroughly enjoyed. So though I did not use either of the bars I purchased I can speak to the quality of their "Christmas Pine" soap. It was a firm soap with a pleasant green color. It had a slightly waxy texture and a strong fresh evergreen scent that filled the bathroom. It lathered well, and rinsed of cleanly, and the scent lingered on the skin. If you are interested in this soap they are not selling the it as it was a seasonal but they do have an other which they say is very similar. Evergreen Soap Bar

All in all they make a very good product and I would recommend them. 

 Lippincott Soap Co.

Pumpkin Butter

Vade mecum

PUMPKIN BUTTER

4 c. cooked pumpkin, mashed (one large can of pumpkin puree) 1 c. apple sauce 1/4 c. honey 1/4 c. brown sugar ~ 2 tbsp cinnamon 1 tsp all spice 1/2 tsp nutmeg 1/4 tsp ground cloves ~ or 3 tbsp pumpkin pie spice Place pumpkin in a crock pot with out its lid, Dutch oven or heavy kettle. Place over high heat and bring to boil, stirring frequently. Stir in sugar, spice and apple sauce. Continue stirring and let it continue boil until reduced by about one third and darkened as the sugars will caramelized. You will know it is done when the texture is slightly thicker than apple butter but not as dense peanut butter it will stick to the spoon as you tilt it but will not remain if spoon is turn upside down. Remove from heat. Stir well to be sure it is fully blended and let cool. Move to clean storage containers and freeze what you will not use right away. This is not acidic or sweet enough to can with out the risk of botulism and at current there are no approved recipes that are, though in theory you could add more sugar and make it safe, but I am sure this one is not so freeze any extra.

Vade in pace

Carrot Cake

This is my families favorite carrot cake recipe, its not exactly a "Fall" recipe but it make me think of fall. I think its the combination root vegetable and canned pineapple that makes this a good late fall and winter cake, the spices used help as well I think.

Carrot Cake

Cake 2 cups flour 2 teaspoons Baking Powder 1 teaspoon baking soda 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg Dash of ground cloves 1/2 teaspoon salt 4 eggs 1 1/4 cups oil 2 cups granulated sugar 2 cups grated carrots 1 (19 ounce) can crushed pineapple, well drained Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, spices and salt in medium bowl; set aside. Beat eggs and oil in large bowl with wire whisk until well blended. Gradually add granulated sugar, mixing until blended. Add flour mixture, carrots, pineapple and walnuts; mix well. Pour into greased and floured 12-cup fluted tube pan or 10-inch (3-L) tube pan. Bake 50 min. to 1 hour or until wooden toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 min.; loosen from sides of pan with spatula or knife and gently remove cake. Cool completely on wire rack. Cream Cheese Frosting: 8oz cream cheese 1 stick butter 2 cups powdered sugar 1 tsp vanilla Combine and blend until smooth. whip it! whip it good!

I will be posting pictures tomorrow once I have finished frosting and decorating this cake for The Boy's birthday.

For some other good Autumn recipes I have posted look through the links below:
Honey Apple Cookies
Caramel Apple Pork
Parson's Pie
Pumpkin ravioli
Pumpkin Cake
Split Pea Soup
Chicken and Slip
Winter Birch Tree Cookies
Visit LifeasMom for many other great ones!

Caramel Apple Pork

Vade mecum
I have a full belly and an no pictures of the wonderful food I just ate because even as obsessive a photographer (and I use that word very loosely) I am more of a foodie and I ate it as soon as I could get it on the table. So I am giving you other peoples pictures who are much better at taking pictures of food than I am anyway.

To begin I made caramel. I'd stop by here if you would like some advice on that topic.

I used brown sugar rather than white and I get things started off with a little honey, it makes it melt faster to have something to melt into, at least I think so anyway.

1/3 cup brown sugar
3 tablespoons butter
3 tablespoons cream (I used whole milk this time)

Melt the sugar in a dry pan stirring constantly with a whisk. when it starts to look and smell like caramel, just starts, take it off the heat, if you under cook it, it will be sweet which is better than burnt and it will continue to caramelize off the heat. add the butter and whisk in until creamy, put on a low heat and add the milk, whisk until smooth.

I then added the caramel to some apple cider (juice works too) and mixed that until well combined and put the whole thing over top of salt and peppered pork chops and apple slices in the crock pot. cooked until the pork was just done. It has a tendency to dry out if you cook until fully done as it continues to cook after it come out.

This is so good I can't even come up with words. I served it with fresh corn and green beans. I am reserving the cooking liquid to use as the base of a pumpkin and carrot soup.


Vade in pace