Apple Yogurt Salad

Louise over at Months of Edible Celebrations has one of the most entertaining food blogs around.  Every post, she culls through old cookbooks, researches food holidays, tells her readers about historical events and magically connects them to food.  If you've never stopped in for a visit, you must go, and soon.  You are in for a treat.

When Louise posted her challenge earlier this month -- to try out a recipe from a cookbook you own that corresponds with one of the October food holidays she spotlighted on her blog -- I knew I had to give it a go. 

We've got an apple tree

and I happen to have a few cookbooks  . . . and October, according to Louise, is Apple Month. 

So just in under the October wire, here is my apple contribution.  Not the grated apple pie I made, not the baked apples with custard sauce, not the applesauce or apple and cheese platters -- though they were all yummy.  But the recipe I'd like to share for Louise's cookbook party is this humble apple yogurt salad.  It's easy, tasty, and healthy, passing my test for a recipe that's a keepr.
Taken from this book, one in my collection that I really ought to use more, this delightful little dish serves 6, at about 100 calories apiece.

APPLE YOGURT SALAD

1/4 c. walnuts, chopped
2/3 c. plain yogurt
1 T. lemon juice
1/4 t. ground cinnamon
1 T. honey
2 large apples, peeled and thinly sliced
lettuce

Toast the walnuts at 350 degrees until lightly browned -- 5 minutes or so.  Stir together yogurt, lemon juice, cinnamon, and honey.  Toss sliced apples with yogurt mixture and serve on lettuce leaves.  Sprinkle with walnuts.

Cauliflower Cheese

The cauliflowers here are enormous, far too much for just one meal. I bought a huge one, which sat in my fridge for two weeks. We had it with some lovely pork chops & mash potato but there was a huge amount left. It rare that we eat meat & veg so I was getting concerned when I remembered the good old cauliflower cheese I used to have at mums or in more recent years at the local Worcester carvery, Mmmmm. So I made two this week. I think I will get another & experiment with sauces while they are huge & cheap. This one cost me 2 leva, less than one English pound & would feed 12 people!!!!!

Cauliflower
60g Flour
60g Margarine or butter
50g Parmesan cheese
50g Cheddar or hard cheese can use low fat.
Salt & pepper
450 ml Milk

Break cauliflower into large size heads. Boil cauliflower but don't cook completely as it will continue to cook in the oven.

In a small saucepan melt margarine/butter on low heat & stir in flower with a wooden spoon. Keep stirring till fully incorporated & keep stirring for another minuet. Add the milk a little at a time & using a hand whisk, so you do not get any lumps, incorporate it all into a sauce. You want each addition to thicken then add more etc, keep stirring all the time.  Add the parmesan cheese & stir well till sauce thickens. Add more milk till you get the consistency you want, but not too runny!

Place the drained cauliflower in a oven dish & grind pepper over the top. Pour over the cheese sauce & top with the grated cheddar.

Bake in pre heated oven 220c for 35 mins till nicely browned on top.

Chicken Gumbo

For some reason I have stayed away from cooking gumbo for years but there are so many variety of spicy sausages & salami here that it seems like a good idea.
If you are a bit concerned about the spiciness of this dish its really under your control, you can make it as mild as you like but keep the flavour or blow your head off lol. The spiciness of the sausage is the first place to start, then controll the amount of chilli etc. I make it spicy but not too hot, as we like to enjoy the taste.

A great way to cook Chicken & a very quick meal

Frylight or olive oil

2 chicken joints or breasts, skinned

1 x Onion sliced

5 cloves Garlic, if using onion then just 1 clove garlic, crushed & chopped

150g Spicy sausage or salami

Green pepper chopped

2 tps Coriander

2 Bay leaves

1/2 - 1 tsp Turmeric

Chilli flakes or powder

Can chopped tomatoes

1/2 pint strong chicken stock ( I use 2 stock cubes)

Salt & Pepper

1 tbsp flour

In a large pan heat oil or frylight & brown chicken. Add the onion, if using, & garlic & fry till soft. Stir in sausage & pepper. Cook for a few mins. Stir in chilli, turmeric, coriander, bay & tomatoes.

Mix the flour with a little water to make a paste & stir into mixture with stock & seasoning.

Cover & cook on low heat for 20 minuets, till chicken is cooked through.

Serve with rice

Irish Soda Bread, Wheaten Bread.

Half my family on my mums side is Irish & my mum used to make the most gorgeous soda bread. I have been trying to re create this. So far I have almost got there with the white one but this is a good :-)
Great for when people pop round for dinner & you can break out a casserole or stew from the freezer. Fresh baked bread for dipping will go down a treat, & this is a healthy option too. Its made in a jiffy & your guests will be impressed with what they will think is a specialty bread (oh dear giving away all my secrets now).
140g Bread flour, white
350g Wholemeal flour
1 1/4 tsp Salt
1 1/4 tsp Bicarb of soda
2 tsp Sugar
60g Butter
450 ml Butter milk (I make mine with milk & lemon juice & sometimes a little vinegar)
4 tbsp Sunflower oil
Pre heat oven to 200c
In a bowl, sift together flour, salt, sugar & soda, stir to mix.
Rub in the butter then make a well in the middle. Pour in the butter milk & oil & mix to a soft constistency.
On a floured surface knead for one min. Place onto a floured sheet & flatten top. Cut a cross into or slash top.
Bake for 30 minuets then reduce oven to 180c, turn tin & bake a further 30 minuets. You may need to cover the top half way through to stop it catching.

Remove from oven & wrap in a clean cloth/tea towel to cool. This bread is not suitable for sandwiches!

Ratatouille Sauce for mince

Every year we grow lots of our own produce on our Bulgaria property. Then when its ready, this is one of the dishes I make for over winter, as it's a good use for the aubergines & goes a long way.  I make this sauce to freeze for the winter months, then I add it to mince or pork for a warming winter meal. It makes cooking quick & easy in the dark evenings when we have no energy.
Adjust amounts accordingly to your taste. I batch cook this to freeze mainly & have given two amounts for ingredients.
Onion, to your taste 1 - 3, sliced
2 cloves garlic, up to 1 head. Peeled crushed & chopped
1 Aubergine up tp 4, sliced
2 red/green peppers up to
4 lg Tomatoes up to 7lb's, chopped
3 Zucchini  up to 8, cut into 4 length wise, then sliced, Or can use Marrow, but de seed
Bunch of fresh basil or use dried 1 tsp or to your taste
1/2 tsp Oregano up to 2 tsp
1/4 tsp Thyme up to 1 tsp
1/2 tsp Parsley up to 2 tsp
Fresh ground black pepper
Ground sea salt
Slice the aubergine put in colander & salt leave in bowl for 30 mins or more, when ready to use rinse under cold water.
In a pan fry the garlic & onion in a little oil or frylight.  Frylight (spray oil) is best as it doesn't soak up into the vegetables. Add peppers & fry till softened, then add tomatoes then simmer. Add sweetener or sugar to taste. Add chopped basil, herbs & pepper, stir.
In a separate pan fry zucchini till lightly browned stirring so all the aubergine is cooked. Add to tomato mixture. Add the rinsed aubergine to separate pan Fry till browned. Add to tomato mixture. Stir to combine & check for seasoning & flavour. Add salt if needed.
Cool completely & split into 3 or 4 freezer tubs.
This can be served on its own with pasta fo a veggie meal or added to cooked mince or pork.

Chicken Warmer

There's nothing quite as warming as a good old Chicken stew in the winter. Serve with dumplings & were rocking :-)
This is a very easy stock cupboard stew, using in season veggies. I have listed what is in this one but please use other veggies that are available to you. Carrots are a staple though! Add some peas for colour or corn, you get the idea. Green beans too will give a lovely colour to this.
If you read my blog you will know that I don't add onion, due to an intolerance, but please do add if you can.
1 Garlic head, crushed & chopped
Chicken bones
Cooked chicken meat
Chicken stock, from bones &/or 2 x stock cubes
3 x Carrots peeled & sliced chunky
1/2-1 Marrow, peeled & chopped chunky
1 x Courgette, cut into 4 length wise & sliced chunky
1tbsp Lemon juice
1tsp Oregano
1tsp Parsley
1tsp Thyme
Salt & pepper fresh ground
Potatoes peeled & cut to size

Boil the bones to give a stock.
Crush & chop the garlic & fry in a little oil or frylight till browning. Add onion if using. Discard bones, sieve if necessary. Add stock &/or cubes to garlic & boil (use plenty of water). Boil for about 10 mins covered. Add chicken, carrots, courgette & marrow. Stir in lemon juice & herbs, cover & cook very slowly for two hours minimum, can be  longer especially if using uncooked chicken. Keep watching liquid levels.
Add potatoes 1 hour before use as you want them to keep their form. I don't thicken mine as I keep it as healthy as poss but you can thicken it at the end with a little cornflower in water or make it creamy by adding cooking cream at the end.
DON'T ADD YOGHURT AS THIS WILL SPOIL THE FLAVOUR.
If using uncooked chicken, peel away skin & brown in a frying pan using frylight or a little oil. cook as you would in any chicken dish (you don't want blood to be running) then add the chicken to the hot stock.

Chocolate Goodness without Excess Guilt

I've gotta admit, some recipes I try without a lot of hope that they'll actually taste good.  You know the ones I mean.  Filled with sneaky little pulverized vegetables.  Low-fat.  Bran.

With low expectations is exactly how I approached this recipe -- a whole wheat brownie made with more than a cup of applesauce.  Healthy-ish, for a brownie.  But probably not a brownie you'd make again with any enthusiasm.

Well.  Can I just say here I was wrong.

This little beauty, from Martha Stewart's Everyday Food magazine, certainly surprised me.  It's moist.  Fudgy.  Even crowned with a handful of chocolate chips.  Two hundred calories for a square like this one.  Just 100 calories if you cut it in half. 

But then, of course, you'd have to eat two.

If you're looking for a nice little October brownie to have with your cup of hot tea, look no further.  Whole-wheat brownies, Martha's way.  It's a good thing.