Blog Moving

Hello friends and followers! As an FYI, I'll be shifting my recipe blog to: www.risenshinearts.com. So, if you want to stay in the loop with delectable treats, head on over to risenshinearts.com. Cheers! -Chelsea

Raw Pistachio Lime Pudding Pies

For the Filling:

2 avocados
1 can full cream coconut milk
1/4 C maple syrup
Dash of sea salt
Juice of 1-2 fresh squeezed limes

Blend with hand-held stick blender until smooth.


For the Crust:

3 coffee grinders full of pistachios, ground finely.
3 tablespoons coconut oil
1/8 cup maple syrup
2 dashes of espresso roast coffee grounds

Melt the coconut oil. Mix crust ingredients together until it's a grainy-doughy texture that can be pressed into a crust against the inside of little pie dishes. Form crusts. Pour filling mixture into crusts. Let set in fridge for an hour. Filling will be creamy like pudding.
Enjoy with candied ginger sprinkled on top!

Delectable Fall Medley

Ingredients from Grant Farms Fresh Market in Cheyenne:

Hazel Dell Trumpet Mushrooms

Asparagus

Fresh Roasted Pinion Nuts

Honey Crisp, Pink Lady, or Fuji Apples

Hazel Dell Oyster Mushrooms

Ingrained Bakery Fresh Butter

From Our Garden:

Butternut Squash

Pickled Carrots

From the store:

Sesame oil

Sea salt

Lemon juice

To Prepare:

Slice the trumpet mushrooms length-wise about 1/4 inch thick. Sautee in butter.

Chop the butternut and apples and sautee in pan with butter and the oyster mushrooms, with a dash of lemon juice, and sea salt. Sprinkle the pinon nuts on top and brown.

Sautee the Asparagus in sesame oil with a dash of lemon juice and sea salt. Top with pickled carrots.

Serve hot and enjoy!

Pickles, Brine, and Bubbling Jam!

'Tis the season for a kitchen filled with the smell of simmering jams, piping hot brine vinegar ready to be poured into steaming glass jars, stuffed with beautiful colors of the harvest, and the warmth and the stowing away of food for the cold months.

This year, at C & C's Kitchen, we made tart applesauce using apples collected from the excess yield of Grant Farm's orchard (thank you to the abundance provided by Andy Grant and Grant Farms!), as well as ginger/garlic/rosemary pickled carrots from our raised beds.

Both are pretty easy to make. Take a look at some pictures, and keep reading below for the how-to:

THE APPLESAUCE:

~Fresh Apples
~Cinnamon and Sea Salt to taste
~Water to simmer in as needed
~2 large pots
~mason jars (number of which depending upon quantity of apples to can) and lids
~Canning tongs

Peel and chop apples into medium chunks, and add to pot on medium to low heat, with about an inch of water covering the bottom. Add cinnamon and sea salt to taste. Keep adding water (so that the bottom doesn't burn) and stirring occasionally until a chunky-soft sauce has formed and apples are cooked thoroughly.

In a separate large pot, fill 3/4 full with water (enough to cover pint size mason jars), and bring to a boil. reduce to scalding hot / low-boil/simmer. Heat empty clean mason jars in water until scalding. At this point, when everything is scalding hot (the jars, the applesauce, and water), and very clean, you'll want to work quickly to get the jars filled, sealed, and put back into the boiling water without giving them a chance to cool down. So, pull the jars out of the hot water using the tongs, and fill (using a funnel and scoop works well to keep the sides of the jars clean) with applesauce, leaving about a half inch between the top of the applesauce and the top of the jar. Keep the edges of the jar clean so that it seals well. Immediately screw the lids on tight! Put back in the barely boiling water for a minimum of 20 - 25 minutes, using the tongs. After 20 - 25 minutes, remove from the boiling water and set to cool on a towel or hot pad. When you hear the lids seal or "pop," it means they've sealed properly for preserving. They should sound "tight" when you tap on the lids with your finger. Sometimes it takes a couple hours of cooling for the "sealing pop" to take place with all the jars.


THE CARROTS:

~ Carrots and canning jars and lids to proportion
~Garlic cloves, peeled and whole
~rosemary sprigs
~sage sprigs
~parsley sprigs
~ginger slices (fresh)
~peppercorns
~whole cardamon
~White vinegar
~Water
~salt
~Sugar
~Apple cider vinegar

Cut the carrots into quartered long slices as to fit upright in the mason jars without sticking up, and leaving an inch of room at the top. Peel and divide the garlic bulbs into individual cloves, slice the ginger, and separate the herbs into single sprigs to prepare

To make the Brine:
Add equal parts of white vinegar and water together, with a few splashes of apple cider vinegar. Add 2 tablespoons coarse kosher pickling salt per 4 cups of liquid total (2 cups water/ 2 cups vinegar). Add 1/4 -1/2 cup sugar per 4 cups liquid (depending how sweet you'd like it to off-set the tart-ness.
Bring to a boil until salt and sugar is dissolved. Reduce to a scalding simmer.

To Pickle the Carrots:
As with the applesauce, have everything piping hot and clean (except the carrots and "jar-fillings" do not need to be hot to begin with; they will be raw when added to the jars.)
remove the jars from the scalding clean water, and fill with: one clove garlic, one ginger slice, one sprig each of sage, rosemary, and parsley, and a sprinkle of peppercorns and cardamon. Then stuff each jar full with carrots, vertically. Pour the hot brine over the carrots, completely covering all the contents, and immediately screw the hot lids onto the jars. Using the canning tongs, place the hot full jars back in the almost-boiling water and simmer / boil for 10 - 20 minutes. Remove from water and let cool until you hear the sealing "pop" come from all the jars, and they feel sealed with a tap of the finger.

Store in the pantry and pop open on a Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner, for a much needed garden treat!

This one doesn't take any "cookin'" or even much preparation, but it's sure worth tasting!

Chop up a fresh, locally grown sweet cantaloupe from Raspberry Hill Farm. Squeeze lemon juice on top of the cantaloupe and lightly toss. Layer in serving glasses with Almond milk fudge ice cream. Top with fresh mint and let your taste buds be tantalized!

(Also great with fresh palisade peaches).

Stuffed Peppers and Mouth Watering Mashed Potatoes

Boil 3-4 red potatoes until tender. Chop a small bunch of green onions and cilantro finely.
Once the potatoes are tender, mash with a couple dashes of hemp milk and some sea salt and olive oil to taste. Add the onion and cilantro to taste. Continue to mash until creamy adding pepper and seasoning to taste.

In frying pan, sauté a chopped up zucchini and portabella mushroom until tender, with sea salt and black pepper. Cut the top off of 4 small bell peppers, hollowing out the pepper but leaving it in tact. Stuff the peppers with the sautéed zucchini filling and roll the peppers generously in olive oil. Bake in the oven at 375 degrees on a pan until tender and lightly browned.

Enjoy!

Potato Fritters with sautéed Garden Relish & Fresh Zucchini Artichoke Salad

Grate 2-3 yukon gold potatoes, mix with 1-2 eggs and a hand full of sorghum flour. Add sea salt to taste. Shape into patties and fry in coconut oil on medium heat until cooked through and golden brown.

In a second skillet, sauté cherry tomatoes, fresh garden bell peppers and onions in cumin seasoning. Top the potato fritters with this.

In a separate bowl, peel zucchini into "noodles" with a potato peeler. Mix with quartered artichoke hearts and freshly chopped sweet basil. Mix in a couple dollops of your favorite olive tapenade to taste. Serve on the side.
Enjoy!