As a busy mom, who runs a home business, homeschools her kids, and cooks real food, I can’t usually spare the time for “fancy” foods. Hollandaise sauce was one of those fancy foods I never thought to try because it seemed like it was too much fuss for a sauce. Who needs a sauce over eggs anyway? Who has time for sauces?
But after hearing so much about hollandaise-how nourishing it was and how delectable, and my mom telling me how easy it really was to make, plus I was trying to get my kids to eat more butter, I decided to see if I couldn’t make a busy mom version of the fancy stuff. Turns out, it’s no big deal to make and the taste is super worth it! Hollandaise is for more than just Eggs Benedict. Serve it over just about any lightly steamed veggie or over fish. My kids were excited to try as a dipping sauce for steamed veggies. Total win!
The extra sauce is easily reheated in a double-boiler…if there is any extra. 😉
Preheat your blender by filling with very warm tap water and allowing to sit. You may also make this recipe with an immersion (stick) blender.
Melt the butter gently over low heat until very hot, but do not allow to brown. Remove from heat.
Meanwhile, pour the water out of your blender, blend the egg yolks with the lemon juice, cayenne pepper, and salt (if using). This step can be done in a canning jar with an immersion blender, if preferred.
With the blender running, slowly drizzle in the hot melted butter. Mixture will thicken considerably into a velvety, smooth sauce. Once it’s thickened, it’s done! Enjoy!
This is a quick and easy breakfast to put together in the morning or even better made the night before and then finished in the morning. I make the gravy the night before along with starting some soaked biscuits then just have to reheat the gravy and finish the biscuits in the morning. To make this classic staple just make gluten free biscuits along with the gluten free version of the gravy.
To begin brown your sausage over medium heat in a large skillet breaking it apart it to small pieces.
Once the meat is brown, sprinkle the flour over the meat and drippings and then mix it in so that the flour absorb all the drippings (*Skip this step if you are making it gluten free*). Cook for 2-3 minutes to help get rid of of the flour taste.
Add the milk and cook over medium stirring frequently until it boils. Boil until thick. If you are going to reheat it you may want to leave it a little thinner than you would like as when you reheat it it will thicken even more.
Add salt and pepper to taste and you are done.
You can either serve right away or let it cool and then refrigerate.
Serve over your choice of fresh from the oven biscuits.
*To make this gluten free: after the meat is browned add the milk and bring to a boil. In a small bowl mix together 2-3 T of Tapioca or Arrowroot Starch with and equal amount of water. Mix this together well and when the milk boils slowly pour the starch slurry into the milk and stir until thick. Don’t add it all at once as you may not need it all.
Warm fried apples are a wonderful comfort food. Serve drizzled with raw cream; as a topping for pancakes, waffles, or crepes; or as an accompaniment to roasted poultry.
Peel, core and slice apples.
In a cast iron skillet, melt butter over medium heat.
Add sliced apples. Cover. Turn to medium-high heat until apples and butter start to sizzle, then return to medium heat.
Cook till apples are soft, stirring occasionally-about 10 minutes.
Remove lid and turn heat to medium.
Stir occasionally. Cook till apples begin to caramelize-about 8 minutes.
Cook 1 to 5 minutes more, stirring continuously, till desired caramelization achieved.
This lacto-fermented apple chutney is sweet, spicy, slightly tangy and a perfect compliment to raw cheddar, kefir, yogurt, poultry and more. It’s hard not to eat a whole bowl full of this stuff! Think of all the awesome probiotics you will get eating this lacto-fermented chutney.
Combine the water, lemon juice, salt and whey. Mix the combined liquids with the other ingredients and pack firmly into 2 - quart sized jars or 1 - half-gallon jar, leaving at least 1 inch of headspace at the top. The liquid should come to the top of the fruit. Add a little more water if necessary. (I usually layer apples, cranberries and pecans together in my food processor and let it do all the work.)
Cover and leave at room temperature for 48 hours (alternately, use a lacto-fermentation device that has an airlock system, such as those offered by Cultures for Health. You should see trapped bubbles around the sides, which is a sign of active fermentation.
Refrigerate and leave in the fridge another week before eating. Will keep for about 2 months in the refrigerator. Be sure to always use a clean utensil when dipping out of the jar and re-pack the fruit each time.
Tip: Use this lacto-fermented cranberry apple chutney as a “dressing” on top of shredded cabbage for a probiotic rich salad.
Not too sweet and quite tasty, this sauce is delicious atop ice cream, stirred into yogurt or kefir, or mixed into warm porridge.
Place fresh or frozen plums, raisins and honey in food processor or blender. Process until smooth. Refrigerate.