Pears are not only delicious, but also very healthy fruits. I think their benefits are quite underappreciated, and still needing more research. I have few pear trees in my backyard, including the Asian pear, and last year they started to bear fruits. This year the crop looks quite promising - I’m looking forward to the harvest. Even before I was getting my own pears, I used store bought organic pears to make my preserves. Those were: pear syrup, pear jam (great for pies) and pear liquor. Those can all be made from the fruits, but the leaves of the pear tree… the leaves are a whole different story. I prune the pear tree in the spring when its leaves are young and soft, but already green. I pluck the leaves from the pruned brunches and dry them. Dehydrator will work the best, but since I have the stove with a pilot flame… this works the best for me. The oven is always warm and ventilated. I place the pear leaves on the cookie sheet, place them in the oven and leave them there for 2-3 days tossing them over 1-2 times a day. The pilot flame creates enough heat to dry the leaves evenly.
After the leaves are dry, I crush them with hands into flakes. It takes a spoonful of the flakes to make a cup of tea. Some people claim that pear leaf tea can lower the blood pressure. I’ll research that further, but in the meantime, I’ll enjoy a cup of caffeine free, organic, pear leaf tea. It has a delicate soothing, and relaxing flavor.
Mushrooms are so full of flavor and mushroom broth is just an essence of that flavor. I usually make a batch and keep in containers in the freezer or preserved in jars. It can be used later as basic stock in preparing other dishes or drank by itself.
Earlier this year I used the mushroom broth to help me lose 14 lb which, by the way, are still off. I drank it hot with meals which gave me the feeling of being more full. Any time I felt hungry a glass of hot mushroom broth made the trick - especially late in the day.
INGREDIENTS:
1 lb - fresh mushrooms (minced)
8 tbsp - dry, minced onion (1 fresh onion can be used instead - have fun crying over it…)
4 tbsp - all purpose spices
96 oz - water
Salt, pepper
DIRECTIONS:
1. Fill the pot with 96 oz of water, add spices and minced onion,
2. Chop the mushrooms into small pieces. Place in the pot,
3. Bring to boiling and simmer on low heat for about 60 min,
4. Use as basic stock or enjoy a glass on its own.
Blueberry is one of my favorite berries. It tastes great, it is versatile in terms of ways of using it in different recipes, it is easy to work with and it gives great yields - most all of the fruit volume can be used without waste.
Usually, aside from freezing the fresh fruit, I make blueberry syrup and jam preserves, so we can enjoy the flavor throughout the year. Both are done at the same time. They are simple to make and last in jars for several years.
INGREDIENTS:
6 lb - fresh blueberries
6 lb - granulated cane sugar
96 oz - water
2 tbsp - lemon juice
EQUIPMENT:
Clean jars or bottles (4x 8 oz jars for jam and 9x 16 oz bottles or jars for the syrup),
Funnel,
2 large (24 Qts), non reactive pots (enamel or stainless steel).
DIRECTIONS:
1. Rinse the berries well and place in a big (at least 24 Qt), non reactive (enamel or stainless steel) pot. Add water and sugar, bring to boil and slowly cook for 25 minutes stirring occasionally. Berries will change color and release the juice. Juice and sugar will create the syrup.
2. Strain the syrup through the strainer to a separate pot. Bring back to boil and carefully pour hot syrup to jars or bottles. I leave the small burner on under the pot to maintain the hot temperature of the syrup. Pour until ~½” from the top of the jar/bottle and close the lid tightly. The jars and bottles will be hot. Use gloves or towels to keep from getting burned.
3. Place the fruits remaining in the strainer to a smaller pot and bring to boil. Add lemon juice. Keep low heat burner on under the pot to maintain the hot temperature of the jam. Place jam in jars ½” from the top and close the lids tight. The jars will be hot… use gloves of towels.
Note there are no preservatives added. The hot temperature is the key to making preserves without adding chemical preservatives. Cooling contents in the jars/bottles will create vacuum and assure freshness of the contents for several years. Store in cool room.
Syrup can be mixed: 1 part of syrup to 3 parts of water to make a delicious juice beverage or jelly (with added gelatin). It can be also added to tea or poured on ice cream.
I come from the place where friends and family are welcomed to a new place with bread and salt - an old Eastern European tradition. It just seems natural then to start this blog with a bread recipe. It’s very simple and delicious if you like the bread with rich texture and crust. It is definitely my favorite bread. I bake several loaves at once that last me a month or so. I keep them in the freezer and thaw one or half loaf at a time. It doesn’t take long to make it and the making is simple - no kneading required.
INGREDIENTS:
1 lb - unbleached all purpose flour
1 tsp - salt
1-1/2 tsp - dry active yeast
1-1/3 cup of water
Optional:
1/4 cup - flax seeds, or
1/4 cup - sunflower seeds
DIRECTIONS:
1. Mix flour, salt and dry yeast in a big bowl (note the yeast are not prepared separately). If you choose to add the seeds this is the time to do that too.
2. Add water and mix with a large spoon. As the dough becomes sticky and heavy you can place it on the board and kneed, but I just pick, fold and press with the large wooden spoon in the bowl for about 5 minutes or until the dough becomes smooth.
3. Preheat the oven to the lowest temperature (in my oven it is 175F) and turn it off. Leave the dough in the bowl, cover the bowl with a cotton cloth towel and place it in the oven to raise (make sure the oven is turned OFF… we want to raise the dough not to burn the house down). Leave the dough in the oven until it rises and doubles the size. It usually takes 1 to 1-½ hour.
4. Prepare the flat pan: grease with oil and sprinkle with flour. Shake the excess flour out. You can use a flat cookie sheet for the round or oval shape bread or a rectangular one to have slices more consistent in size.
5. Preheat the oven to 425F and bake for 40-45 min.
6. Let it cool for 2-3 hours, slice, eat fresh or freeze. I love it fresh, dipped in olive oil, but it also makes any sandwich a true delight.
