Ambrosia Salad for a Crowd

This is one of those dishes you find at church potlucks, in delis, and at my work! And, to be honest, I kinda like ambrosia. I mean, marshmallows, coconut, and mandarin oranges? That is a pretty delicious combination! This recipe makes a huge amount and will provide dessert for about 25 - 30 people, though I'm not sure this is an "authentic" ambrosia like you'd find at the deli, because mandarin segments in a can are pricier than fruit cocktail, but when I make it, I often just use the mandarin oranges anyway because I think it's better that way. But even with the fruit cocktail, it's good stuff, and the diabetics at work like it because they can have it, too.

Ambrosia for a Crowd

6 cups mixed fruit or fruit cocktail
3 cups mandarin orange slices
3 cups pineapple tidbits
3 cups miniature marshmallows
1 bag coconut
4 1/2 cups sour cream (we use light)

It's as easy as this: drain all the fruit very well. Combine all the ingredients in a big bowl, mixing lightly. Chill thoroughly. Serve.

Huckleberry Slump

The name is catchy, isn't it? When I first came across the Sour Cherry Slump recipe in Baked: New Frontiers in Baking, I knew I just had to make it for the name alone. Alas, two pints of sour cherries are just not doable on my food budget, so I let this recipe go - until I went huckleberry picking this summer! This, in addition to the huckleberry pork loin, was one of my first ideas for using the berries in a unique way.

According to the book, a "slump" is "essentially a twice-removed cousin of the cobbler family, consisting of cooked fruit filling topped with a biscuit crust that's cooked entirely on the stovetop" (page 44). The slump refers to how the biscuit topping "slumps" over the filling as it cooks.

The recipe for the original sour cherry version can be found online here.

Huckleberry Slump (adapted by me from Baked: New Frontiers in Baking by Matt Lewis & Renato Poliafito)

For the biscuit topping

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• Raw sugar for topping (optional)

For the huckleberry filling

• 3 cups huckleberries
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• juice of half a lemon (use some zest if you have it, too; I didn't)

Make the biscuit topping

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. With a wooden spoon, stir in the melted butter and mix until combined. Add 1/4 cup of the sour cream and stir. Add a few heaping tablespoons of the remaining sour cream, stirring between each addition, until the dough feels wet. You may end up using slightly less than the 1/2 cup of the sour cream. Set aside while you prepare the huckleberries.

Make the huckleberries

In a well-seasoned 8-inch or 8-1/2-inch cast-iron skillet, gently combine the berries, sugar, and lemon juice. (I used my nifty cast iron KitchenAid dutch oven and it worked great.)

Cover the skillet with a lid or a piece of tight-fitting foil and bring the mixture to a rapid boil over medium heat.

When the mixture reaches a boil, remove the skillet from the heat and scoop heaping tablespoons of the biscuit topping over the berries, covering as much surface area as possible. If using, sprinkle the top with raw sugar. Cover the skillet tightly and return it to low heat. Cook for about 15 minutes. Do not remove the lid. After 15 minutes, check the topping for doneness; it should be dry to the touch. (The topping will not brown the way it would in an oven.)

Serve the slump hot from the pan.

Can we all say YUM? Holy huckleberries, man, this was wonderful! Really quick & easy and totally delicious. The huckleberries cook down and thicken and you get an almost jam-like consistency. The biscuits, which are more like a dumpling, are light and tender. I'm only sorry I put off making this so long because it was super! I will definitely be making this again, and it's versatile, too; you can probably use any seasonal fruit you want to. Excellent!

Always Read the Fine Print!

Here is the label off of a seedless watermelon I bought recently. I though it was hilarious that a piece of fruit would come with fine print! This particular watermelon had one black seed in it - good thing I read the disclaimer, eh? I guess they are trying to avoid lawsuits or tons of returns if someone finds a seed. Hm.

Alrighty folks - get out the untried magazine recipes you've been hoarding and allowing to take up precious space in your recipe collections and test them out! Post the results and email them to me at wandering_coyoteATyahooDOTca and I'll post your link in my Magazine Monday post on Monday!

Rhubarb-Strawberry Crumble - Commercial Style

Because we were missing muffin ingredients at work the other day, I got to make dessert for the residents instead of baking for the hospital. While I was looking for blueberries for blueberry muffins - only to find we were out, and I had the batter all ready to go...that'll teach me to make sure I have all my ingredients before starting a recipe - I came across huge amounts of frozen rhubarb & strawberries at the very bottom of the freezer. These were left over from when we made the Fruit Full muffins, which we're no longer doing because they weren't selling well. Since the cook didn't have a dessert planned for the evening's dinner yet, I offered to make a crumble. Off I went!

There are about 36 people to cook for at this place, but the portions tend to be smaller because they're all seniors. I didn't measure anything in this recipe except for the sugar and I suspect I used about 12 - 14 cups of frozen rhubarb and strawberries.
Into the fruit I put cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, the sugar, and a whole bunch of cornstarch. Like I said, I didn't measure.

I made the crumble in a large roasting pan...
I think I made way too much crumble. In the crumble mixture, I put oats, flour, brown sugar, the same spices as in the fruit, and about 1.5 cups of butter. It made a lot. I hope the seniors like their crumble!As a safeguard, I baked the crumble on a baking sheet, which is always a good idea in case your filling bubbles over and you get a mess on the bottom of your oven. As the filling bubbled up, I stuck a spoon in and tasted some of the boiling juice and it was...really good. The cook was happy, I was happy, I hope the seniors are happy. It was my only taste as my shift ended before the crumble came out of the oven, but I'm confident it'll go over well. I'll find out next time I go in!

Book Review: The Fruit Hunters

I've had this book sitting around for a long time, and I procrastinated for months before finally finishing it today. One of the reasons was the introduction didn't grip me. An introduction should be gripping, shouldn't it? Somewhat? The second reason was that we were having cat peeing/marking issues at the time, and this book was a victim. I sat it on the stairs, where it collected dust and cat hair, so that it could dry out and de-odourize a bit. Eventually, I got sick of it there and did my duty as a book reviewer.

The Fruit Hunters: A Story of Nature, Adventure, Commerce, and Obsession by Adam Leith Gollner is a wild ride to say the least. Taking the reader to the margins of society - much like Krakauer did in Under the Banner of Heaven - this book explores the world of, well, fruit. But not just our grocery store fruit - we're talking the exotic, the rare, and the downright weird fruits that 99% of us will never see in our lives. Gollner travelled the planet during his research, going to the Seychelles in search of the endangered coco-de-mer; the junlges of Borneo to sample the stinky durian in it's natural habitat; Cameroon in search of the miracle fruit; as well as a bunch of other far off places like Hawaii, Thailand, and South America. Along the way, Gollner exposes a cornecopeia of not only exotic fruits, but strange, strange people.

As with most books I read, it's the characters that grab me, and this book was no different. The author meets some of the most obsessed whackos non-fiction has to offer. You couldn't make up some of these people if you wanted to.

There are fruitarian Doomsday cultists in Arizona. There are vicious fruitleggers. There are mega-rich men who spend their time collecting exotic fruit trees. There is the weirdo who invented the Grapple. There are men who make it their life's work to go clomping around the world's jungles cataloging every fruit they come across. There is the guy in Florida commonly known as "Graftin' Clafton", who is addicted to grafting to the point where security guards now make him leave his grafting implements at the door when he enters a certain botanical garden (he'd been caught grafting different species there too many times).

The Fruit Hunters also is a depressing overview of our modern fruit and agriculture industries. The chapter on marketing fruits here in North America was extremely disheartening. I will never go into a grocery store's produce aisle and look at the fruit displayed there the same way ever again.

A few things I'd like to point out:

• never buy Grapples. Trust me. It's not worth it and I wouldn't give that idiot any of my money
• 90% of the foods we eat derive from about 30 plant species
• fruit hunting isn't cheap, which is why it seems to be dominated by rich white men - most of them American
• some guy named Bob Harvey invented a nuclear powered artificial heart in the 1960s - WTF?

A fascinating read, one that I totally recommend.

Ask & You Shall Receive...

Not too long ago, I left a comment on Bob's blog, jokingly upset that I never got any freebies from the POM people like he did. Well, shortly thereafter I got an email from POM asking me if I'd like some free samples. Like I'd say no! I got the coupons last week and then proceeded to find somewhere to use them at. The coupons stipulate that the maximum price they could be redeemed for was $4.99. Of course, the local overpriced grocery store - being exactly as my moniker indicates, overpriced - sells the POM juices for $5.99.

I hate to say this because I like the idea of my local grocery store, but Safeway is now officially my favourite grocery store. It sells POM for the coupon price of $4.99 (additionally, milk and eggs are also cheaper there). It just happens to be in a different city and I have to travel some to get there.

Today I was near a Safeway however, as it was my day to do the baking at work. I took along my coupons and stopped by on my way home.

I got three different kinds of POM: plain pomegranate juice, tangerine-pomegranate, and blueberry-pomegranate, and I still have one coupon left over.

So, now what? What do I do with this stuff that is slightly more interesting than just drinking it?

Bob made a lamb shank dish with his... But I hate lamb.

Ideas:

- salad dressing (not terribly exciting)
- marinating stuff in it (I was thinking ribs, possibly chicken)
- making a dessert - but what?

Anyone have any suggestions? Anyone want to submit a recipe for me to try?

Weird Orange & Sunshine Cafe Lunch

Last week, as I was preparing to make Morning Glory Muffins at work, I came across a really strange-looking orange:
No, your eyes are not deceiving you: that is a pale, bulging section of orange peel, the same size & shape of a regular orange section. I have never ever seen anything like it before. Have any of you? The inside of the orange looked quite normal - no weird section underneath that peel. It's kind of cool, though, isn't it?

I went for lunch to the Sunshine Cafe with my brother the other day. The special was a tuna melt, and that's what I had, with fries. My brother had a veggie burger with Swiss cheese and grilled onions, with a Caesar salad. As usual, lunch at the Sunshine was great. I don't think I've ever had a bad meal there. Go Randi!

The Chocolate Orchard

This is the last post about last week's trip to Creston.

One of the places I really wanted to go on this trip was the place known as "the place that sells all the chocolate-covered fruit." My dad didn't recall the name, but it became obvious as we drove down Creston's fruit stand strip: The Chocolate Orchard (again, no web site, unfortunately) - 2931 Highway 3, Ceston, BC.

Oh, what a place! Far more than a candy factory, The Chocolate Orchard is also a restaurant, deli, bakery, fruit stand, garden centre, and cherry orchard.

To begin, the chocolate covered fruit. There was quite the variety and it was not cheap: $3.98/100g. I realized I couldn't have everything I wanted to sample without it costing me a small fortune, so I had to make some tough choices. I took some chocolate-covered blueberries, apricots, blackberries, and tart cherries. Even though I tried to be reserved, I still wound up plunking down nearly $20 for my goodies - but man, were they worth it.

There was also a TON of salt-water taffy, but since I'm not fond of it, I didn't buy any. The Chocolate Factory also makes fudge and a variety of other chocolate and non-chocolate treats.

This place sells some of the most amazing-looking pies I've ever seen! It was really hard to not purchase one of the huge varieties on offer, but what would I do with a whole pie, single gal that I am?
Additionally, there were artisan breads...
...And a whole whack of jams, pickles, spreads, preserves, sauces, dips - you name it...
It's a pretty amazing place!

Vietnamese Marinated Chicken & Banana Coconut Pudding

These are the recipes promised from the Hot Sour Salty Sweet book review/family meal post.

For the chicken, I based the marinade on the recipe for Vietnamese Must-have Table Sauce, which has fish sauce, lime juice, rice vinegar, sugar and garlic in it, but varied the flavour a bit by using some lemongrass powder.

Vietnamese Marinated Chicken

1/2 cup fish sauce
1/4 cup lime juice
1 tbsp sugar
2 tsp lemongrass powder
8 - 10 boneless, skinless chicken thighs

Combine the marinade ingredients in a large ziplock bag. Add the chicken and marinate in the fridge for about an hour. Discard the marinade and cook the chicken. I baked mine in the oven at 400F for about 20 minutes, but this would work great on the BBQ, too.

Although I totally winged this recipe, it was the best dish of the HSSS meal! Though salty, it was offset by the tartness of the lime and the sweetness of the sugar. The chicken was juicy and succulent. The family thought it was a hit, too.

For dessert, I made a Banana Coconut Pudding inspired by a recipe from the sweets sections of HSSS, but instead used a shortcut provided by the lovely folks at Jello: coconut cream pie filling.

Banana Coconut Pudding

2 - 3 large bananas
1 box Jello coconut cream pie filling/pudding, cooked according to package directions and cooled slightly
1/2 cup toasted coconut

Slice bananas and layer in the bottom of a 2 quart dish. Pour the pudding over top and smooth. Sprinkle the toasted coconut on top of that and serve.

Ridiculously easy, but a perfect end to a great meal!

Enjoy!

"What To Do With A..."#3: Apple Mincemeat Crumble

I totally realize that mincemeat is an acquired taste and that it's not everyone's cup of tea. Most of my family loves it though, and I always make a huge batch of mini mincemeat tarts at Christmas time. They never last long. The PC mincemeat I purchase comes in a 700mL jar, and I always wind up with a scant cup or so left over after making 4 - 5 dozen mini tarts. Mincemeat is full of sugar and booze so it'll last forever in your fridge - even until next Christmas. But, since I share a fridge with my roommate, it's within my best interest to move the bits and pieces of left over stuff out ASAP. On Sunday I went over to my brother and SIL's for dinner and offered to bring dessert. After agonizing about what to bring, I decided to opt for something simple and remembered this recipe for mincemeat crumble from Canadian Living. I also remembered my little bit of left over mincemeat in the fridge, waiting for me to transform it into something yummy. This recipe is my adaptation of that CL recipe, and I've actually made it before, in 2007, when I had a similar amount of left over mincemeat after making the Christmas tarts. It was a hit.

Apple Mincemeat Crumble

4 cups peeled, sliced apples (I used these, which made this super quick and easy for me)
about 1 cup or so of mincemeat
1 tbsp corn starch
2 tbsp sugar
2 tsp lemon juice

Crumble topping:
1 cup oats
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 cup brown sugar, packed
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 cup butter at room temperature

Combine apples, cornstarch, sugar, and lemon juice in a mixing bowl. Add in the mincemeat. Place the mixture in a greased or parchment-lined 8" square baking pan.

For the crumble, combine all dry ingredients. Break up the butter into small pieces and, using your hands, combine with the dry ingredients until crumbly. Put on top of apple mixture. Bake at 350F for 35 - 45 minutes, or until golden brown and the filling bubbles up through the topping.

My brother had a jar of double Devonshire cream kicking around, so we served the crumble with it and it was delish!

Enjoy!

"New" Banana Bread

For Christmas this year, my SIL's mom put together a cookbook filled with her favourite recipes to give out to friends and family. Entitled "Tried and True", it contains C's repertoire of long-used, successful recipes, many of them used in the catering business she runs with my SIL on top of her busy day job. The cover art was done by a relative.

Last weekend, Shan & C had a huge catering job involving the mixed curling bonspiel in Castlegar, a weekend long event in which they provided breakfast, run the concession, and do the banquet on Sunday. I helped out by making the banana bread served at the concession. The recipe comes from C's Tried and True cookbook.

New Banana Bread (this is the second of two banana bread recipes in the book...)

1 cup white sugar
1/2 cup butter
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup mashed banana (about two)
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 cup walnuts (optional)
1 1/2 cup flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt

Beat sugar and butter. Add eggs. Beat well. Add vanilla, sour cream, and bananas. Beat well. Add flour, soda, & salt. Add walnuts. Bake at 350F for about 1 hour 10 minutes.

You might recall from this post, that I'm not a huge fan of baking with bananas in it. I have tried this loaf, and it has a beautiful texture. Still, it's banana bread, so I can't say very much else about it that's totally positive. If you love banana bread, this is, by all accounts other than mine, a divine recipe!

Enjoy!

Banana Muffins Even I'll Eat

I'm really enjoying my copy of Baked: New Frontiers in Baking. This banana muffin recipe caught my eye when I started going through the book, and it jogged my memory about a post I saw last month over at Peabody's. These muffins were suddenly at the top of my "must make" list.

Now, I usually don't like baking with bananas in it, though I do like an actual banana itself. I'm not sure why, but banana-flavoured things just don't do it for me. I decided I'd make these muffins - in my new king-sized muffin pan - and send the product over to my brother and SIL's place, since they love banana anything. Well...I can tell you they're not getting all the muffins! I think I have been converted.

Banana Espresso Chocolate Chip Muffins, page 32 of Baked: New Frontiers in Baking

1 1/2 cups mashed, very ripe bananas
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 cup butter, melted & cooled
1/4 cup milk
1 large egg
1 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp instant espresso powder
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350F. Prepare a 12-cup muffin pan however you like to prepare a 12-cup muffin pan.

In a medium bowl, combine bananas, sugars, butter, milk, and egg.

In another medium bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients and make well in the centre. Add the wet ingredients to the well and stir to combine. Fold in the chocolate chips.

Fill muffin cups and bake about 20 - 25 minutes. Move the pan to a cooling rack and let cool for 15 minutes, then remove the muffins from the pan and cool them on the rack completely. Yeild about 12 muffins.

In my case, I got 6 king-sized muffins and had to bake them for about half an hour, but the results were quite spectacular! And I am totally digging my new muffin tin, too!