Whiteley Creek Homestead

red apple leather

I made my first homemade fruit leather ever. The recipe came from my Winter 2014 issue of Sweet Paul Magazine p. 45. Apples, lemon juice, and a small chunk of beet for red color. Store-bought fruit roll-ups? Check out this strawberry fruit roll-ups label. Where are the strawberries? And the deceiving color? It comes from red 40, yellow 5 & 6, and blue 1 dyes. As you can see in this blender container closeup of the partially combined mixture, a beet rapidly turns browned oxidized apple puree into a lovely rosy hue... a perfect alternative to synthetic dyes.

I would use a smaller chunk of beet next time. It's not that I tasted the beet. I didn't. I just think that a more vibrant red would be prettier. Maybe less beet would achieve that. What's up with the fruit leather's corrigated ridge pattern? I choose to line my dehydrator racks with natural parchment paper rather than using ParaFlexx sheets that have a PTFE (polytetrafluoroethylene-Teflon) coating. The wetness of the puree caused the parchment to mold to the shape of the metal racks. Did the puree soak through the parchment paper? No, not at all. Was the fruit leather difficult to peel off post dehydrating? No, the parchment released easily from the fruit leather.

Red Apple Leather

2 lbs apples (about 5 medium apples)

1 lemon, juiced

1 red beet (golf ball sized)

1 tbsp maple sugar, optional (I used coconut sugar, but I will try honey next.)

½ tsp ground cinnamon

1/8 tsp ground cardamom

pinch of salt

Preheat oven to 225°F. (If using dehydrator, preheat to 135°F.) Peel, seed, and chop apples. (I will try unpeeled apples next.) Peel and chop the beet. In a food processor or blender, purée the apples and beet with the lemon juice until smooth. (For me, a blender worked better than my food processor.) Blend in the sugar, spices, and salt. Divide the purée in half and spread it in an even layer ¼” thick onto two parchment lined baking sheets. The purée rectangles will end up being about 9x14 and will not completely fill the sheet. (Or, if using a dehydrator, cut two pieces of parchment paper the size of your dehydrator’s shelves and place the papers directly onto shelves in the dehydrator.) Bake the leather in the oven until it is dry to the touch, about 1 ½ - 2 hours, rotating the pans halfway through. Turn off the oven and allow the leather to cool completely inside. (If using a dehydrator, drying takes about 5 hours.) Peel the leather off the parchment and cut it into strips with a scissors (or knife). Roll the strips in waxed paper (cut into widths just a fraction larger than the fruit leather).

 

cardamom chia milk

It started out as a porridge, but rapidly the recipe transitioned into a beverage when I decided to reduce the amount of chia seeds. Thus, a beverage. No longer a porridge. Still nutrient dense. Still yummy. A perfect way to jazz up homemade almond milk. If you desire porridge, here's the original recipe titled Cardamom Chia Breakfast Bowl.

Cardamom Chia Milk

Makes 2 servings.

¼ tsp ground cardamom

2 pitted dates, finely chopped

¼ cup chia seeds

½ tsp ground cinnamon

2 cups milk (I used homemade almond milk.)

Mix all ingredients in a bowl or mason jar. Let sit for about an hour to allow the chia seeds to soften to a tapioca consistency. Alternatively, you can make the milk the night before and let it sit overnight in the refrigerator. So as not to miss the sweetness of the dates that rapidly settle to the bottom of the bowl/jar, use a measuring cup to simultaneously stir and scoop into a beverage glass.

making sprouted grain flour

My friend, Pat, recently shared a recipe for "Sprouted Spelt Scones with Berries and Cream" from The Elliott Homestead. Such a sweet blog and equally sweet of a friend to think of me, so I made the scones. I used some leftover sprouted whole wheat flour from the freezer - a gift from my daughter, Heather. The dough was easy to work and the scones were very tender. However, I'm unable to critique the recipe because, after tweaking it, I realized the recipe had become a clone of my King Arthur Flour Whole Wheat Scones that I make often. It is a recipe that I acquired during a bread baking class at the KAF Headquarters in Norwich, Vermont November 2013. 

 

Like a frog on a lily pad basking in the sunshine then leaping onward to another adventure, I decided it was time to make my own sprouted grain flour. It's a skill that I have wanted to learn for a long time, so I began researching. I read blogs and books and watched YouTube videos until I had the knowledge I needed. Now, after having completed the process start to finish, I have discovered that it's as easy as making nut milks.

Put desired grain into a two-quart mason jar filling it halfway, then fill the jar almost to the top with distilled or filtered water. Screw on a screen sprouting jar lid. Rinse by shaking gently, then drain. Fill the jar again almost to the top with water and leave on counter overnight for 8-10 hours to soak. In the morning, drain the soak water. Fill the jar with fresh water and shake gently to rinse. Drain again, then tip the jar upside down at an angle so the remaining water drips out and to allow air flow. Every few hours, rinse the grain, drain, then tip the jar at an angle. Sprouting times will vary depending upon the grain, so monitor the progress. Look for a little sprout to form. You are aiming for "minimally sprouted" grain, not sprouts with longer tails that you'd grow as a salad topping. (Enlarge the photo on left to see what it looks like.) My time frame looked liked this. 10P-6A: Overnight Soak. 6A-11A: Drain, rinse, and drain. Rinse and drain. The sprouted grain was ready to dehydrate. I spread the grain onto dehydrator trays. 11A-5P: I dried the grain in my dehydrator at 105°. (Top Tray: Emmer Grain, Middle Tray: Kamut Wheat, and Bottom Tray: Spelt)

What kind of dehydrator do I own? TSM Products. I ordered it online from Wayfair. I have the five-tray, but there is also a ten-tray unit. What do I love about it? The stainless steel construction, including the shelves. Secondly, the fan and heat source is in the back wall, so it provides even circulation throughout the shelves. It may not be necessary, but I set the unit on a metal tray tipped upside to protect the surface it sits on from any heat that may be generated. The unit does not have a dial with Fahrenheit increments, but there is a small hole in the middle of the front cover to insert a thermometer probe. A thermometer with the correct size probe can be purchased separately, but I used one I already had. Although the probe on mine was too thick to fit the hole size, I adapted by laying it on one of the shelves. To adjust the drying temperature, you turn the temperature control dial while monitoring the thermometer. You'll quickly determine the proper setting. To dry grain, you'll want the temperature to be 100-110.  

After dehydrating the sprouted grain until it was thoroughly dry, I ground it into flour using a grain mill attached to my Champion Juicer (left photo). Look at the lovely Emmer Grain Sprouted Flour! I also made Kamut Wheat and Spelt Sprouted Grain Flour. Store in the freezer for maximum "shelf-life."