Cranberry Nut Bread

I was able to save the cranberries we received for our Thanksgiving box until now! I love cranberry nut bread and made some this morning. I juiced 2 oranges to make the 3/4 C of juice.
Recipes abound on the internet for this. I used a recipe I found on allrecipes as my base. Below is the recipe amended a bit.

2 cups spelt flour (half wholemeal, half white) 1 cup sugar (organic) 2 teaspoons baking powder 1 teaspoon salt 1/2 teaspoon baking soda 6 T butter

1 egg 3/4 cup orange juice 1 t grated orange peel 2  cups fresh cranberries- coarsely chopped 3/4 cup chopped walnuts

In the bowl of a food processor, pulse to combine flours, sugar, baking powder, salt and baking soda. Pulse in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Put into another bowl. Beat egg, orange juice and peel; stir into dry ingredients just until blended. Pulse the cranberries ever so slightly. Add them and the chopped walnuts to the bowl and mix gently.

Spoon batter into a greased and floured 8-in. x 4-in. x 2-in. loaf pan. Bake at 350 degrees F for 55-70 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool in pan 10 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.

 **Delicious! Crunchy on the outside, moist on the inside. Great balance between the tartness of the cranberries, the crunch of the walnuts, and the orange juice and zest.

Frozen Rhubarb Yogurt

I've got a lot of rhubarb to harvest and with it being so hot and dry- I thought this recipe looked like something interesting to try. I got it from The Rhubarb Compendium.

Rhubarb Frozen Yogurt

Ingredients:

2 Cups Stewed rhubarb
1/2 Cup Plain low fat yogurt
3 Tablespoons Granulated sugar
2 Tablespoons Orange juice

Procedure:

In food processor puree stewed rhubarb until smooth. Blend in yogurt, sugar and orange juice. Freeze in icecream maker or cover and freeze in shallow metal pan for 3 to 4 hrs or until almost firm. Break up mixture and process in food processor in batches if necessary until smooth. Freeze in airtight container for 1 hour or until firm.

You'll notice that you need to stew some rhubarb for this recipe. Here is an easy way to do it:

8 C sliced rhubarb
1/2 C sugar
1/8 C water

In a large saucepan, combine the rhubarb, sugar, and water and bring to a boil. Cover and cook over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until the rhubarb breaks down, about 10 minutes. Uncover and cook, stirring often, until the liquid has evaporated and the rhubarb is thick and jammy, about 10 minutes longer. 

**Shown on top of gingered rhubarb apple crisp. I used my kitchen aid ice cream attachment. Tangy goodness!

Oyster Mushroom and Onion Salad

I was looking for a way to use the wonderful oyster mushrooms we get from LPO. Can't wait to try this salad. I found the recipe by chance- hope it is good! I'll be adding strips of grilled beef to the recipe for some additional protein.

The secret here is to marinate the onions until they are sweet and soft. The marinade then becomes the salad dressing, with the fragrance oranges and honey. This would also work well with young almond-flavored Agaricus mushrooms like A. augustus. The recipe serves 4 as a side salad, or two as a main course.

12 oz. Pleurotis ostreatus (oyster mushrooms), coarsely sliced or whole
1 head of Romaine or leaf lettuce
1 small red or sweet onion (Walla Walla or similar), sliced in paper thin rings
1/2 cup red wine vinegar
1/4 cup honey
1/2 tsp. salt
Zest of 1 large orange
Juice of 1 large orange
1 Tblsp. soy sauce
4 Tblsp. sherry
1 tsp. fresh grated ginger
1 Tblsp. olive oil
2 Tblsp. rice wine
1 splash soy sauce
1 clove garlic
1 grated carrot
Marinate the onion two hours in advance. Slice the onion paper thin, separating the layers into ringlets. Place the onions in a bowl. In a small saucepan, heat the honey, red wine vinegar, salt, sherry and soy sauce until the honey is thoroughly melted and the mixture is almost boiling. Pour the liquid over the onions. Mix in the zest and the juice of one large orange. Set aside for about two hours at room temperature.

Prepare the plates for serving. Chop the lettuce into medium strips and spread onto plates. Sprinkle grated carrots over the lettuce. Place the marinated onion on top of the carrots, reserving the marinade for later.

Sauté the oyster mushrooms. In a wok or frying pan, heat a tablespoon of olive oil with a high flame, then add the chopped garlic, stirring. As soon as the garlic starts to turn slightly tan, about 30 seconds, add the mushrooms and stir to avoid burning the garlic. After about two minutes the mushrooms should be starting to sear a bit. Add the rice wine and a splash of soy sauce (to taste) and heat for a few more minutes until the mushrooms have absorbed most of the wine (the rest will evaporate.) Distribute the mushrooms onto the onions, on top of each salad, then dribble the onion marinade onto the salads as dressing. Serve immediately.

* I'll be adding several strips of grilled beef to the top of this salad.

 Salad without the beef.

Salad with the beef.
**Nice salad. The mushrooms were delicious. I liked the marinated onions as well. Easy to make.

Carrot Ginger Soup

I got this recipe from a blog, Elishia's Kitchen. I can't wait to try it! I chose it partly because of the sweet potatoes and oranges- both in the harvest box this week.

Serves 4-6

2 Tablespoons coconut oil (ghee or grape seed oil are fine too)

1 yellow onion, sliced

3 garlic cloves, chopped

1/2 teaspoon cumin

1/2 teaspoon ground coriander or 1 teaspoon coriander seeds

1 Tablespoon finely chopped fresh ginger

1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper (optional)

4 large carrots, sliced

2 large sweet potatoes, sliced

2 oranges, zest and juice

7 cups water

1 teaspoon sea salt

2 teaspoons ume plum vinegar, divided

garnish:

5 sprigs cilantro, thick stems dicarded and roughly chopped

toasted pumpkin seeds – recipe is below

1. Heat oil in heavy soup pot. Add onion and a pinch of salt. Cook over medium heat for about 5 minutes, until softening. Add the carrots and sweet potato and stir them all together. Cook over medium heat for a few minutes, until slightly browned on the bottom.
2. Add garlic, cumin, coriander, ginger and cayenne. Cook for a couple of minutes, stirring, until the spices are very fragrant. Add a little water if it begins to stick.
3. Add one teaspoon of umeboshi vinegar, 1/2 teaspoon salt and enough water to cover the vegetables by one inch.
4. Bring to a boil then reduce the heat to low and cook until the carrots are very tender, about 25 minutes. Add the orange juice and zest.
5. Puree the soup, in batches, in a blender, until smooth. You may need to add extra water to achieve the desired consistency.
6. Return to pot and taste. Add the other teaspoon of umeboshi vinegar. You may want to add a bit more salt, umeboshi or cayenne at this point. Season to your taste. I like to sprinkle a tiny bit of cayenne on top. Serve hot with cilantro and toasted pumpkin seeds(optional).
7. Also freezes well, should you wish.

Toasted Pumpkin Seeds

1 cup pumpkin seeds

2 Tablespoons lemon or lime juice

1/2 teaspoon sea salt

1/8 teaspoon cayenne or chipotle chile powder

Preheat oven to 375

1. Toss all ingredients together in a bowl until seeds are coated. Taste them and adjust seasonings. The flavor will be more mild when they are cooked.
2. Transfer seeds to a baking sheet and shake to thin them out a bit.
3. Bake for 8 minutes.
4. They will begin to pop when they are nearly done. The ones around the edge will look brown, but not burned. You may need to stir them once if they aren’t cooking evenly. Remove from the pan immediately and let them cool and crisp up on a plate for 15 minutes before eating.
5. Once cool store in a covered airtight container for a week or more. I often double this recipe and add these yummy seeds to salads or grain dishes.

Picture from Elishia's Kitchen

**Good soup. Nice and thick. I made it all in the pressure cooker. I brought it to high pressure for 5 minutes and then did a quick release of the steam. I served the soup with some basic baking powder biscuits. Let me know if you need the recipe for the biscuits.