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.
My mother always made the best “milk” gravy (of course!) I have taken her method and adapted it to a healthier lifestyle. I think she would be pleased. 🙂
At least 7 hours before you plan to make the gravy, or up to 12 hours ahead of time, combine the whole wheat flour with the kefir/milk mixture. Cover tightly and let sit on the kitchen counter.
On Turkey roasting day, put all of the giblets and the neck into a saucepan and cover with water. Simmer for at least one hour and then allow to cool. Drain. Chop the giblets and remove the meat from the neck. Reserve all of this for the gravy (unless you really want to put it in the stuffing, in which case, you can skip this step.)
When the Turkey is all done roasting, use a turkey baster to remove the liquid from the roasting pan and put it into a heavy-bottomed pan. I like to use a cast iron skillet for this. If you don’t have 3 cups of turkey broth, add some homemade poultry stock.
Bring the broth to a boil, and gradually stir in the flour/milk/kefir mixture with a wisk. Simmer for 1 minute. Add the 1/2 cup fresh milk and heat all together a little more. If your gravy is thicker than you like, just add in a little more milk or broth.
Add Sea salt and freshly ground pepper to taste.
If you wish, after it is all done, and you have it seasoned, you can sprinkle in a little ground poultry seasoning to taste.
That’s it! EASY
Serve this with turkey, stuffing and mashed potatoes. If there is extra, it is wonderful just poured warm over some nice fresh bread and eaten with a fork.
Another way to use up extra gravy is what I call “Thanksgiving Pie.” Just chop up some of the turkey meat, mix it with leftover stuffing, fill a pie plate with it, pour some gravy over it, and top with mashed potatoes. This may be covered tightly and frozen, or you can warm it up in the oven right away. We love this as a main dish, and it will keep frozen nicely for several weeks.
This goes together in a snap and doesn’t even require cooking. Just cranberries, an orange, good quality honey and a food processor and you are set!
In a medium sized food processor bowl, combine ingredients and process until desired consistency. Taste and adjust sweetness by adding more honey if needed, but maintain refreshing tartness.
Chill and serve.
Leftover relish lasts about a week in the fridge, and is great on its own, on gluten-free muffins or bread, or stirred into raw, organic, grass-fed yogurt!
This recipe is GAPS legal, raw, vegetarian friendly and all around delicious!
A really quick and easy side dish to serve at your Thanksgiving meal.
In a small pot, place cranberries, rapadura, water.
Zest orange, using a citrus zester or microplane and add to cranberry mixture.
Juice the orange into the cranberry mixture.
On medium heat, bring the mixture to a boil.
Cook until cranberries start to pop (about 5-10 minutes)
Pour into bowl, or a mold and chill until completely cool.
This is a wonderful way to sneak in nutrient dense organ meats to your family. Use the liver, heart and turkey neck to make this flavorful and nutritious gravy.
While the turkey is roasting, rinse the giblets and neck. Place in a saucepan and cover with water. Simmer about 2 to 2 1/2 hours or until tender, adding the liver the last 30 minutes. Save the broth to make the gravy.
Remove the meat from the neck and chop fine along with giblets.
Dissolve arrowroot flour in chicken stock. (The recipe should have a total of 4 cups of liquid)
In a saucepan, bring broth and/or stock to a simmer. Add chopped giblets and neck meat. Slowly pour in some of the dissolved arrowroot. Stir constantly to prevent lumps. Simmer a few minutes to check consistency before adding more arrowroot. Add the dissolved arrowroot until desired thickness is achieved.
Remove from heat. Add chopped boiled eggs. Salt and pepper to taste.
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.
Using fresh crushed Roma tomatoes give this recipe a pleasant sweetness. This sauce is perfect over pasta or on pizza.
Preheat cast iron skillet add olive oil. Saute onions and garlic until translucent. Add roma tomatoes, basil, and oregano. Simmer on low until liquids have reduced by 1/2 (10-15 minutes). Add salt and pepper to you liking.
Want to make your own tallow? It’s a very easy process!
Cut the suet into chunks - try to keep them a uniform size, aim for 1-2″ cubes.
Place into crockpot on low heat.
Add about a cup of water, this keeps the suet from burning before it melts.
Cover, stir about every hour with a wooden spoon.
As the cubes of suet melt, the cracklins will float to the top. Watch the color of these, because if they burn they can give an off flavor to the tallow.
When the cracklins are golden brown and all the cubes of suet have melted, turn off the heat and allow it to cool for about an hour.
Using a fine mesh strainer and a canning funnel, pour the melted fat CAREFULLY into jars. Remember, it will be very hot!
Use the back of a wooden spoon to gently press the remaining tallow out of the cracklins in the strainer. Allow these to cool, and then they can be frozen and used to flavor soups, added to burgers, salads, etc!
Keep tallow refrigerated. It will harden and turn white as it cools. Tallow can be used in place of oil in almost any recipe!
A simple method for preserving your fresh Genovese Basil. This will keep at least a year in the refrigerator and may be used in any dish that calls for basil.
Wash basil and pat dry between towels or twirl in a salad spinner.
Remove leaves from stems.
Chop leaves in a food processor.
Place chopped leaves in lidded jar and cover with Raw Apple Cider Vinegar.
Store in the refrigerator.
Homemade pizza sauce is not difficult to make and will save you a lot of money to make it yourself. Plus, you can make it as spicy or sweet as you want it. This recipe is for a conventional style pizza sauce, not too sweet and not too spicy. Make a large batch and freeze it in ice cube trays for easy access to small amounts of sauce to make quick snacks.
In a small saucepan combine all ingredients, feel free to add more red pepper flakes if you like it spicier. Slowly bring to a simmer. Simmer for 3-5 minutes.
I finally took the plunge! I made mayo!
Mix egg yolks in a blender for 2 minutes.
Then add the apple cider vinegar
Blend another 30 seconds.
Add the sugar and salt
Blend just enough to mix.
Add 1 cup olive oil, slowly. It should take a few minutes to drizzle it in.
If you love hot sauce, you will love this recipe, which can be adjusted to suit your taste for heat. When you select your tomatoes, use the dark red heirlooms that have few seeds and solid meat. If you cannot find them, strain off as many of the seeds as you can after you have chopped the tomatoes. Seeds are bitter in salsa.
Place the tomatoes, garlic, onion, and salt in a heavy saucepan.
Bring to a simmer and cook until all the vegetables are very soft and half of the tomato juice has cooked away.
While the tomato mixture is cooking, roast the peppers. This can be done in a skillet, under the broiler, or in a very hot oven, about 475 degrees. The skins will blister and burn a bit as they roast.
Be mindful of the fumes — even the fumes coming from these peppers can make your eyes water. Do not handle them with your bare hands.
After the peppers are roasted, cut off the stems and toss the topless peppers into your blender. Add enough of the cooked tomato mixture to whirl the peppers into a paste.
Thoroughly stir this paste into the tomato mixture.
Salt to taste and thin with water if necessary.