In my humble, yet naive opinion, fruit leather should contain fruit, not corn syrup, added sugar, cottonseed oil, food dye…who needs all that?  The organic fruit leather is better, but expensive.  Can this be done at home?

Since I have blueberries…a lot of blueberries..I decided to make fruit leather.  

Step 1 – Review recipes for the basics.

Step 2 – Wing it!

I wanted to make enough fruit leather to make it worth the time, but not so much that if it was a disaster we’d be stuck with it.  I settled on 3 cups of blueberries (frozen), 2 cups of applesauce (a 24 oz jar of Trader Joe’s Gravenstein - minus what my son ate before I could grab it - because that’s what I had on hand) and about 2 tablespoons of maple syrup.  Some people use honey, I think it depends on what fruit you’re using, and what you have.  It makes sense instead of sugar, which could crystallize and cause problems.

I cooked the blueberries with the syrup until a lot of the water was gone, about 20 minutes.  The wooden spoon left a visible trail in the pot, but it filled in quickly.  I let it cool for a few hours (ok, I let it sit until bed time).  Many of the recipes puree the hot fruit right away.  I was NOT in the mood to clean blueberry off the ceiling.  Plus, cooling = more evaporation = a better chance that it will actually dehydrate.  So, once the blueberry mixture was cool, I added the applesauce and blended it with my stick blender (go ahead, read about cornflake rain!).  It only took a minute or two before the mixture was smooth.

I sprayed 2 jellyroll pans with vegetable spray, divided the mixture between them, set the oven at its lowest temperature (170), propped open the door with a wooden spoon, and went to bed. 

The next morning (7 hours later), I had fruit leather!  But, it wasn’t perfect, and I know why…

My pans are black and slightly warped through years of use.   The fruit puree was too thick to be self leveling.  I filled the first pan and leveled it using a large offset spatula, but the 2nd pan did not get as much and had thin spots which were not immediately apparent.  When they came out of the oven, the less filled pan had spots that were not leathery.  This is bad for rolling, but an interesting crispy snack.  I set the crispy pieces on the counter and they were enjoyed by many and preferred by some.  Go figure.

I need about 1 more cup of puree, and to line the pans with parchment to get a better view of the uniformity.  As an added bonus when the leather is done it can be cut it right along with the parchment instead of having to cut individual strips for rolling. 

Because this isn’t an “official” recipe yet, you can’t add it to your meal plan.  If you make it I’d love to hear what worked for you and what didn’t.

So…can this be done at home?  Yes.  Is it economical?   When you compare it to an all real ingredient version, yes, even when you factor in the ~$0.77 it costs to run the oven overnight.

It’s also a nice treat to send along when you want to send something tasty, for birthday treats, but have to worry about food allergies.

I do not have a meal plan right now, I’m on a mission to use the odds and ends that seem to collect in my kitchen.  Every so often we need to get creative with things that did not get completely used.   I truly sympathize with people who are cooking for only 1 or 2.  It’s not easy to buy just what you need, nor is it less expensive.  

In crisper is half of a head of cabbage, it has been there a long time.  A very long time.  It shows no sign of decay.  Maybe we should eat more cabbage?  I cannot look at cabbage and not think longingly of my sister-in-law’s stuffed cabbage.  There is beef in the freezer, rice in the pantry, canned tomatoes, ketchup…  I may not have the secret recipe for stuffed cabbage, but I bet I can approximate with Beef Cabbage Casserole!

I sliced the cabbage thinly (ok, thinISH) and tossed it in a colander with 1 tsp of salt, and let it go.  Salting draws off the moisture, which is important if you don’t want a runny casserole or crunchy cabbage, which I do not.    At this point I briefly consider attempting sauerkraut…but that’s an experiment for a cooler day.

Into a big bowl go ground beef, 3 cups of cooked rice, some garlic powder, a 15 oz can of diced tomatoes, and a biiiig squirt of ketchup.  Now, I do know that the secret recipe calls for Hunt’s but I use Heinz and that’s just how it is.  I figure there’s enough salt from the cabbage and tomatoes.  It already smells good.

Now it has to cook.  It has to cook in something that is not too deep, because I don’t want it to cook forever.  The 9 x 13 glass casserole dish is handy.  I prefer glass or ceramic for casseroles because they heat more evenly; metal is better suited for baked goods.   A few swipes of butter to grease the pan…maybe not strictly necessary but I was feeling it, and in with the mix.  It filled the whole pan, so I congratulated myself on my super estimating skills.  How long?  What temperature?  Well…I’m going treat it like meatloaf, but I want the flavors to meld, so 325.

I checked it at an hour, and it was cooked through, and still moist.   I gave it a few decorative swipes of ketchup, and put it back in the oven for about 30 minutes.

Et voila:

Was it the stuffed cabbage I was craving?  No.  Was it a good enough substitute?  Yes.  Would you be horrified to know that some people here ate it cold for breakfast?  Probably.

Add Beef Cabbage Casserole to your meal plan and try it!  And don’t worry about the other half of that cabbage, it will last for a long, long time…

It’s hard to feel guilty about impulse purchases from the Farmer’s Market.  The problem is when you get home with your bounty you have to DO something with it, and there are only so many things you can DO with asparagus.   Soup is a good thing to do with asparagus.

In the crisper were half of a red onion and some celery, a carrot (who has ONE carrot left?), and the aging asparagus.  In the pantry were a  small russet potato and a box of chicken broth.  Other players?  Olive oil, salt, and pepper.

The method and the madness: 

Chop about 1/2 cup of onion, 1/3 cup of celery, and put them in a biggish pot with 1 tablespoon of olive oil, 1/2 tsp kosher salt, and a few grinds of black pepper.  Let this cook for 10 minutes over lowish heat until the vegetables are soft and just starting to think about turning golden.

Now chop the asparagus roughly – I had 10 ounces after cutting off the woody ends - and add it to the pot.  Cook while you chop the potato.  The potato must be a russet, as a waxy potato won’t give the correct final consistency.  It was a medium sized potato - maybe 2 cups cubed?  This goes in the pot as well.  No need to peel.  Same with the carrot.

Now it’s time for the broth.  Your soup is only as good as the broth it is based on.  Feel free here to pour in a quart of homemade.  The rest of us will use our favorite store bought brand.  BUT…please do your homework.  Buy several different brands and taste them, slightly warmed, all alone.   You should believe there was a chicken involved, there should not be any weird “off” taste, it should not taste like salt, and it definitely should NOT have a neon color.  My personal favorites are Meijer Organic, Swanson (Organic or Natural Goodness), and Progresso.  I buy whichever one is on sale.  ANYHOW, add one quart of the broth you deem worthy to the pot.

Bring to a boil, reduce to simmer, and find something to do for 20 minutes.  Now, take a knife and randomly poke and potatoes and carrots to make sure they are tender.  All good?  Get your immersion blender and process until smooth.  You could use a blender if you had to, but that’s so messy…  Adjust seasonings if necessary.  Serve hot, warm, or cold.  In the picture I dropped in a hunk of goat cheese and it was quite nice.

Here’s the recipe for Fresh Asparagus Soup without all my commentary.