Real Food Wednesday 11/11/09 – Please Facebook, Stumble & Tweet (More Conference Scoop, too…)

In this week’s post, I link back to several of my favorite breakfast recipes! Enjoy!

I posted about an article on Yahoo health that actually had some good things to say!

Mennonite Fried Apples

This is an old Mennonite recipe from my great-grandmother, Sarah F. Swartzendruber (1879-1962) who lived in Kalona, Iowa. Fried apples are a real comfort food and a wonderful change from ”regular” baked apples. We serve them slightly warmed for dessert (exquisite topped with whipped cream or homemade ice cream) or for a really special breakfast treat with some of the cream or “top milk” off our raw milk spooned over. Mmmmmm.

Any apple that holds its shape when cooked works in this recipe (and even those that fall apart are still tasty and delicious in oatmeal). My mother always used Rome Beauty apples. My family is partial to Golden Russets, an heirloom apple variety that has fallen out of favor because the fruits are small and their skins are unattractive. Golden Russets have a fabulous flavor, however, and are known as the “champagne” of cider apples (they are frequently in the top 10 in heirloom apple taste tests). Roxbury Russets are wonderful, too. My husband thinks they taste better and they are slightly larger, but they fall apart when cooked. You should experiment with other local or heirloom varieties to find your family’s favorite.

I’ve included the Great-Grandma Sarah’s original recipe and my updated Real Foods version.

3 UNpeeled apples, washed, cored and cut in half
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup water
2 T butter
1-2 cinnamon sticks
pinch of salt (omit if the butter is salted)
flour for dredging the apples

Melt butter in cast iron skillet. Dip cut side of each apple half in flour and place in skillet. Fry briefly in the butter (a minute or two), until cut sides of apples are lightly browned but not burned.

Put cinnamon stick in hot butter (I usually break them in half). Sprinkle sugar around apples and over cinnamon stick and fry for an additional minute or so (you don’t want the sugar to burn). Add a pinch of salt if the butter is unsalted.

Pour water around apples, reduce heat to simmer and lay a sheet of foil, waxed paper, parchment paper or lid LOOSELY over the skillet (if you put a tight lid on, the apples “explode” – which means they fall apart – they’re still wonderful to eat, but not so pretty to look at).

Cook for 20-30 minutes or till tender, turning once.

Remove apples when tender. Cook down water/sugar mixture until it reaches a nice syrupy consistency.

Remove cinnamon stick and pour syrup over apples. Serve warm or at room temperature – plain or a la mode or with cream (whipped or skimmed off the top of your raw milk).

Real Food updates:

Add vanilla bean (split and scraped out) with cinnamon stick. Makes the syrup unbelievably creamy and luscious.

Substitute Rapadura, Suncinat or maple syrup for Great-Grandma Sarah’s white sugar. The depth of flavor added by Rapadura or Sucinat is unbelievable.

You can leave the flour out, of course, but it combines with the sugar to thicken the syrup in a nice “old fashioned” way.

My husband has a real sweet tooth and loves spices, so we usually make extra syrup ….

Scientists have decided it’s time to enhance ice cream with the big three: antioxidants, dietary fiber and probiotics. You don’t need that. All you need is a good recipe. I have one.

Today’s post I am sharing about ” Making our Cupboards more Healthy! MSG and more………”.

Today’s article is about how organic & commercial flax is getting contaminated by gmo flax.

Sheri
http://momsforsafefood.org/Blog/Entries/2009/11/9_Entry_1.html

Sourdough breaks down the phytic acid on grains to make it easier to digest. I soak as many grains as I can to improve digestion and absorbsion of nutirents. Check out the recipes!

Chili con Calabaza Asada (Roasted Pumpkin Chili), oven-roasted pumpkin, fried pork belly, fresh & dried chiles, onions, toasted corn, cumin and oregano..

My new post is about our love affair with fresh ginger featuring a ginger tea recipe. This ginger tea recipe is a great cold/flu medicine alternative for anyone who avoids polysyllabic corn derivatives.

Today I made a post about one of the easiest real food tips you can try (if you haven’t already): switch to butter! I’m surprised how many people haven’t made the switch to real butter, yet. There’s still a lot of misinformation out there about how healthy butter really is! I don’t know about you, but using butter as the fat in almost any recipe improves the flavor tenfold!