An entire bushel of apples picked at the orchard =
Homemade apple sauce (some plain apple, some apple-strawberry)
Homemade apple butter
Applesauce coffee cakes . . . plus I took the last of the apples and simple peeled and sliced them to store in the freezer, as I have heard frozen apple slices are good for baking.
This week I tried my hand at making my own chicken broth (which I am storing in the freezer, not actually canning). Even though I still consider myself a vegetarian, I don't mind meat products that I can't see or much taste, so I use chicken broth in cooking my soups. Homemade chicken broth should have more protein and more minerals/nutrients than the canned stuff.
Apparently there are many methods for making chicken broth. Below is the recipe I followed, as described to me by a friend:
5lbs or so of chicken thighs bone-in, but skin off -- could be other chicken parts or a small whole chicken as well
2 ribs of celery
1 head of garlic (peeled) -- I threw in a tablespoon of minced garlic from a jar
a small handful of carrots
1 onion (whole but peeled)
1 tablespoon white vinegar -- any vinegar will do here
Spices as desired -- I used sage, rosemary, and thyme
Cover with 12 cups of cold water
Bring this to a boil and then take it down to a really slow simmer (lazy bubbles rising to the top) and leave it for 8 hours or so. Skim the scum every so often, and give it a stir every hour to make sure the bottom isn't burning.
When it is done, strain into a new pot or container. The meat left will be extremely tender and can be used in soup, chicken salad, enchiladas, etc.--use it or freeze it for later use.
Refrigerate the stock overnight, then lift off the hard layer of fat at the top (I have heard that, unlike most other fats, chicken fat is pretty much good for nothing).
Use broth as needed! This is very cheap food (albeit, I bought conventional chicken, not hormone/antibiotic-free): I bought 7 pounds of chicken leg quarters on sale for five dollars (and then adjusted the quantities in the recipe above to account for the extra meat).
Lastly, I'd like to recommend a recipe for faux corn bread (an almond bread) which would be useful for those trying to eat low-carb, or higher-protein, or gluten-free. I did not have sour cream in the house, so used unsweetened Greek yogurt, which seemed to be a fantastic substitute. The almond bread was delicious, crumby, and buttery. Everyone liked it, including my boy who doesn't normally get beyond one bite of real corn bread. I'm trying to avoid bread for the time being, and I was doing flips over this recipe that tasted to me virtually exactly like corn bread but is made of nuts, eggs, and dairy!
That cornbread looks promising. I'm going to give it a try this weekend. Have you seen this recipe site? http://www.skinnytaste.com/ I looked through it last week and so far have made five new things from their list of recipes.
ReplyDeleteHow yummy! I just made apple sauce the other day too! and I was thinking about buying a lot more apples tomorrow at the farmers market. :) (I am not as brave as you to go apple picking yet!)
ReplyDeleteI've read that frozen apple slices can be good for baking too, and I did this last year, but I was not as straightforward as other ingredients that I've frozen b/c once the apples thawed, there was so much of their juice that had left the apples. I wasn't sure if they would still cook the same way or if I should put that juice in the recipe... And I can't completely recall what I did now! ...I think I was making apple pie and I just discarded the juice/water...? Have you read anything about that or do you think the type of apple makes any difference?
I always peeled the onions for my broth until watching a cooking show which said leaving the skin on gives the broth a beautiful golden color, and so it does!
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