Persimmon and Cranberry Crumble

Another surprise in my Bountiful Basket a few weeks ago was some persimmons.  While they taste really good fresh, I thought there should be another way to eat them.  I found a recipe for a persimmon and cranberry crumble.

It turned out really good.  Just a little tart, and mildly sweet.  Plus most of the cranberries didn't break open, so you would get a pop in your mouth every once in a while.  I served it with ice cream, and it was perfect.

Preheat the oven to 350 F.  Gather your ingredients:
10 very ripe persimmons, peeled and cubed
1/2 cup cranberries
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup coconut oil, melted
2 tsp cloves
2 tsp cinnamon

For the topping you will need
1/4 cup flour
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup oats
3 tbsp coconut oil
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp cinnamon

Mix the persimmons, cranberries, honey, coconut oil, cloves and cinnamon in a bowl, and transfer to an 8 inch square pan.  Mix the flour, brown sugar, oats, coconut oil, ginger and cinnamon and sprinkle over the filling.  Bake in the oven for about 20-30 minutes until topping is golden brown.  Serve with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

Crock Pot Steak and Mushroom Soup

Another soup that I tried with the extra mushrooms I got in my basket was Steak and Mushroom Soup.  I added some potatoes to it and it made a very hearty soup.

To start you need:
2 slices bacon
2 pounds steak, cut into 1 inch cubes
1 cup chopped onions
8 ounces mushrooms, sliced
2 cups potatoes, cubed
1/2 cup Worcestershire sauce
5 cups beef stock
1 tsp each thyme, oregano, sage
1 tsp salt
2 bay leaves
freshly ground black pepper
1 cup plain greek yogurt or sour cream

Fry the bacon, and then remove it from the pan and crumble it into the crock pot.  Brown the steak in small batches so the pan doesn't cool off too much, and add browned steak to the crock pot.  Saute the onions and mushrooms in the pan next.  When they are done, add the Worcestershire sauce to de-glaze the pan, and then add to the crock pot.  Add potatoes, stock, seasonings, bay leaves and salt and pepper to the crock pot and stir.  Cook on low for 8-10 hours.  You can serve it this way, or you can remove about a cup of broth and mix it with the yogurt or sour cream and add back in.  I forgot this step, and the soup still tasted really good.

Carmalized Onion and Mushroom Soup

I got about a pound and a half of mushrooms in my Bountiful Baskets this week.  I love mushrooms, but I needed to find a variety of ways to use them.  The first recipe I found was for a mushroom and onion soup.  Since it was snowing this weekend, soup sounded good, so I thought I would try that.  

The soup turned out great, and I must say it was very delicious with some french bread, and a little Italian Cheese blend on top.

You will need:

8 ounces fresh mushrooms, sliced

3 tbsp coconut oil

2 medium onions, chopped

2 tbsp flour

2 tbsp thyme

5 cups beef broth

1/2 tsp salt

dash pepper

1 bay leaf

In a large saucepan, heat the oil, then add the onions.  Cook and stir over low heat for about 10-15 minutes until the onions start to caramelize.  Blend in the flour and cook until the flour is golden.  Add the mushrooms, broth, salt and pepper.  Cook until the mixture over medium high heat until it comes to a boil, then reduce heat and add thyme and bay leaf and cook for 15-20 minutes.  Discard the bay leaf and serve.  This was a really simple, and warming soup.

Simple and Healthy Spaghetti

I keep looking for low-carb options for some of my favorite foods.  One of which is spaghetti.  Thanks to Bountiful Baskets, I found that you can substitute spaghetti squash for spaghetti noodles.  That is really good because then your meal is mostly vegetables, which is so much better for you than carb loaded noodles.  I cook the spaghetti squash ahead of time, and then store it in the fridge until I am ready to use it.

I also put some diced fresh tomatoes, bell peppers, and onions in my sauce to get a few more veggies in there, and then I throw in some Italian sausage or ground turkey.  I use store bought spaghetti sauce and add some of my own seasonings to help make it taste more like homemade.

Tomato Basil Tilapia

I have been busy, and have not been able to post some of the new recipes I have tried, but I am hoping to get a few up today.

Here's a good recipe I have tried many times.  If you like fish, this is really simple and quick to make.  I serve this with some seasoned rice, and put some of the drippings from the fish onto the rice.

I borrowed it from Paula Dean over on Food Network:

Ingredients

• Nonstick cooking spray
• 2 (8-ounce) tilapia fillets
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1 tablespoon minced fresh basil leaves
• 1 teaspoon minced fresh oregano leaves
• 1 teaspoon onion powder
• 1 teaspoon minced garlic
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 large tomato, thinly sliced
• 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice

Directions

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Spray a shallow 1-quart baking dish with nonstick spray.

Sprinkle the fish evenly with salt and pepper. Arrange the tilapia in a baking dish and sprinkle evenly with basil, oregano, onion powder and garlic. Drizzle with 2 tablespoons of the olive oil. Arrange the tomato slices evenly over the fish, and drizzle with the remaining 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Bake until fish flakes easily with fork, about 20 to 25 minutes. Squeeze the lemon juice over fish and serve immediately.

Homemade Vanilla Extract

So I have decided to try my hand at homemade vanilla extract.  It sounds pretty simple, 1 ounce vanilla beans (about 8 beans) per cup of vodka, then you shake and wait... 6 months to be exact.  We'll see if I have the patience to wait that long.  (You can also use a similar process to make orange, lemon, and other flavored extracts.)

I am making a couple batches to see if I can find the best recipe.  The first batch I make will have 10 vanilla beans per cup vodka.  The next batch will have the recommended 8 vanilla beans per cup, and then 12 beans per cup.

Clean out your bottles (preferably darkened ones to keep the light out) and lids. (I found some bottles on Amazon that were fairly inexpensive.  I also found a really good price on vanilla beans on Amazon.)  Slice your vanilla beans in half lengthwise, and then scrape out the caviar (seeds).  Put the caviar in the bottle, and then slice the beans in thirds, and put them in the bottle.  Now add your vodka, put the lid on and shake.  If you are making several batches, you will want to label your bottle.  I also suggest putting the date on there so you know how often to shake it and when it is ready to consume.

In my research I did not find anything to suggest that you should go for one variety over another.  The only thing I found was that it was recommended you get 80 proof vodka.

Now for the shaking part, shake the bottle(s) daily for the first week, and then shake it every other day for the next 3 weeks.  At this point it is ready to use, but if you really want some good extract, have some patience and shake it a couple times a month or so until the 6 month point.  At 6 months, you can strain your beans out, and you now have some pretty awesome vanilla extract.

Don't throw the beans away after you strain them, because if you let them dry out, you can still put them in some sugar and make vanilla sugar.  I use this in my homemade root beer in addition to throwing in a couple vanilla beans, and it makes for a very smooth tasting root beer.