All Posts Tagged With: "walnuts"

THANK YOU Chef Rachel….this is yummy….I highly recommend that people buy her cook books….they are OUTSTANDING…..Yes, we can enjoy the good things in life, by buying organically and going Gluten free is painless…….enjoy…

Linda

Recipe of the Month
Apple-Apricot Compote

Hands-on: 30 minutes/ Cooking: 30 minutes/ Yield: 6 cups/8 servings

This is one of my favorite fall and winter recipes. Serve it as a side dish for 
breakfast, as a snack, or as dessert after lunch or dinner, topped with chopped,
toasted nuts, a drizzle of macadamia nut butter, or a scoop of vanilla Ice Dream
(from The Ice Dream Cookbook). This  sweet, simmered fruit medley makes a great 
alternative to apple pie during the fall, winter, and spring. It’s simpler to make
and much more nutritious because it’s sweetened with dried fruit instead of sugar.
You can vary the basic recipe with different varieties of apples and spices. Leftovers
taste delicious warmed in a heatproof bowl in a toaster oven or served at room temp,
topped with Ice Dream.

FYI: Turkish dried apricots taste much sweeter than other varieties. When I use 
them I rarely need to add any sweetener to my fruit compotes. Look for them in natural
foods stores and specialty markets. If you use conventional American-grown dried
apricots, use the higher volume of dried fruit listed and replace the water with
apple, peach, pear, apricot or white grape juice. or add the optional stevia to 
produce a sweet flavor.

Note: If you don’t have apple or pumpkin pie spice, substitute 3/4 teaspoon ground
cinnamon, 1/2 teaspoon dried ginger (powder), 1/4 teaspoon each of ground nutmeg
and dried orange zest, and 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves.

Ingredients:

1/3 to 1/2 cup dried, sulphite-free, unsweetened dried (preferably Turkish) apricots

1/3 to 1/2 cup raisins

3 to 3 1/2 pounds tart-sweet apples (6 large or 8 medium; 1 to 3 varieties):

gala, Fuji, pink lady, cameo, Braeburn, ginger gold, Melrose, or Cortland

1/2 cup filtered water

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon or apple pie spice

1 tablespoon arrowroot starch dissolved in 3 tablespoons cold water, optional

1/8 to 1/4 teaspoon pure stevia extract powder or 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon clear stevia
extract  liquid or 1 to 2 tablespoons honey, optional

3/4 cup chopped, toasted almonds, walnuts or pecans or 1/2 to 1 recipe Vanilla Ice
Dream, optional

1. Chop or cut dried apricots into 1/4- to 1/2-inch pieces with kitchen shears or
a knife. Add them to a 3- to 4-quart pot with the raisins. Wash and core the apples.
Peel if waxed or desired. Halve, quarter, then cut each apple into 1/4-inch to 1/2-inch
thick slices. Layer over the dried fruit and sprinkle with the spices.
2. Add the water. Cover and bring to boil without stirring. Reduce heat and simmer
until tender and saucy, 20 to 25 minutes. Uncover and stir gently. If much liquid
remains, remove lid and cook away the juices or add dissolved arrowroot, and then
simmer and stir until thick. For a sweeter taste, add stevia 1/8 teaspoon at a time,
or honey 1 tablespoon at a time. Stir, taste and repeat as needed.
3. Serve warm or close to room temperature, topped with freshly churned Ice Dream
or solidly frozen Ice Dream softened at room temperature for 20 to 30 minutes.
4. Refrigerate leftover compote in wide-mouth jars or Pyrex containers with lids.
Once chilled, freeze what you don’t plan to consume within 5 days. Always leave 
1 1/2 to 2 inches of space at the top of the jar and chill to refrigerator temperature
before freezing to keep the glass from cracking.

1 serving w/out topping (about 3/4 cup): 139 calories, 32 g carbohydrate (5 g fiber),
1 fat, 20 mg calcium, 1 mg sodium

Variations:

*      Apple, Prune & Apricot Compote with 5-Spice: Replace cinnamon or pie spice
with 1 1/2 teaspoons Chinese 5-spice powder and replace the raisins with pitted 
prunes.

*      Replace cinnamon or pie spice with 2 teaspoons ground caraway, anise, or 
fennel seeds or 1 tablespoon peeled and grated fresh gingerroot.

For more great recipes like this, pick up a copy of T [http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?llr=nokbepcab&et=1103656465874&s=1207&e=001GnGMJMbEAM0KZZucdCGO_X4ybDylBeDEkCSf6pzCg3qNyUwRX5-ju8Ds9FRv3ODyzQKOO-cOD-TbO2i9-gj_W0Odp1uWAI4LvNtWd0b9yveCQUj_701sAQ8aJ-PS-Lp6]he
Ice Dream Cookbook: [http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?llr=nokbepcab&et=1103656465874&s=1207&e=001GnGMJMbEAM0KZZucdCGO_X4ybDylBeDEkCSf6pzCg3qNyUwRX5-ju8Ds9FRv3ODyzQKOO-cOD-TbO2i9-gj_W0Odp1uWAI4LvNtWd0b9yveCQUj_701sAQ8aJ-PS-Lp6]
Dairy-Free Ice Cream Alternatives with Gluten-Free Cookies, Compotes & Sauces by
Rachel Albert-Matesz.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

About Chef Rachel
Chef Rachel is a natural foods chef, cooking instructor, freelance food and health
writer, author, speaker, cooking coach, and blogger. She’s on a mission to put people
in touch with the joy of cooking and the nourishing power of natural foods. She 
delights in demonstrating that great taste and good nutrition can go hand in hand
and empowers people to lose weight and look and feel great eating wholesome and 
delicious food.
Rachel has led more than 900 cooking classes in seven states. More than 250 of her
articles have appeared in national and regional publications. She is the author 
of The Ice Dream Cookbook: Dairy Free Ice Cream Alternatives with Gluten-Free Cookies,
Compotes & Sauces and co-author of The Garden of Eating: A Produce-Dominated Diet
& Cookbook.
She lives in Phoenix, Arizona.
If you would like to learn more about cooking & nutrition coaching and private classes
with Chef Rachel, please email her at ChefRachel@TheGardenOfEatingDiet.com [mailto:ChefRachel@TheGardenOfEatingDiet.com]

Linda’s comments: We in the holistic/alternative world have known this for years….what this article has forgotten to bring to your attention is, YOU MUST EAT ORGANICALLY.  Doesn’t do you any good eating fresh fruits that are laden with pesticides and herbicides and who knows what else. The U.S. Department of Agriculture   wants to pat themselves on the back, but do you see where they WARN you about the GMO, pesticides/herbicides??  Hmmmmm….they can’t be this brainless can they?  On the other hand could it be they don’t care and only care about their bottom-lines? They want to talk about “leading to brain disorders, heart disease and cancer, among other degenerative conditions” FAILING to tell you that you are in more danger eating GMO, pesticides/herbicides.

Yes, I ENCOURAGE all of you to eat healthy and NON-GMO.  AND, YES, I will continue encourage you to eat organically without nasty pesticides And herbicides.

Full article: http://www.aolhealth.com/2010/08/23/eating-berries-may-help-aging-brain-stay-healthy/?icid=main%7Chtmlws-main-n%7Cdl3%7Csec3_lnk3%7C165533

Excerpt:

Blueberries and strawberries may serve as a detox elixir for the brain and can help your aging mind stay sharp, new research shows.

Scientists from the U.S. Department of Agriculture say they’ve discovered the first solid evidence that the popular fruits, along with acai berries and walnuts, essentially cleanse the brain, activating what’s known as its “housekeeper” function and ridding it of toxic proteins.

Those proteins are the culprits to blame for age-related memory loss and other mental deterioration.

Study author Shibu Poulouse, who works for the USDA’s Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging in Boston, said the body’s ability to ward off inflammation and oxidative damage declines with age, which can lead to brain disorders, heart disease and cancer, among other degenerative conditions.