Apple Chips

When your parents go to a farming community known for its apple orchards, and they get awed and excited by wall-to-wall apples, the results might sometimes be overwhelming. In my case, the situation is alarming.

My parents returned from Apple Hill in Northern California with two cases (approximately 18 lbs) of apples mixed between Fuji and Granny Smith varieties. I've had two apples every day for the last 2 weeks, and I'm really getting sick of them. Meanwhile, I am bringing home persimmons from friends that want me to make them into persimmon chips for a healthy snack, so I decided last night to try making chips from a few of the apples I've got.
I use usually the mandoline attachment for my food processor to slice the apples horizontally. But you can also purchase a small mandoline slicer for cheap.

Here's my Cuisinart food processor, with the regular blade removed and the mandoline slicer blade attached.

The horizontal cross section of the apple makes a cute little star shape where the seeds would be, and the slicer can slice directly through the seeds, so you only need to shake off any seeds and bake the slices for a couple hours. These apple chips are a great treat for little kids because of the rewarding little star in the center. :-) One small apple makes approximately 15 chips.

Soon I'll post another nice snack with baked apples (and an elegant appetizer with white wine or sparkling cider) involves roasting them with honey, cheese and fresh sprig of spice.

So here's the recipe for apple chips

Ingredients:

• 4 small granny smith or fuji apples

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 225 degrees, or 200 degrees on convection if your oven is capable.
2. Thinly slice off the top and bottom of the apple, and peel the skin off with a potato peeler.
3. Using a mandolin or food processor attachment, slice the apples into thin 1/16 inch thickness (you can use a knife for this process, but for me it takes some time, and I have trouble getting my slices a uniform thickness, so I prefer to use the machine)
4. Place them on trays with holes for adequate ventilation, my version looks like flimsy aluminum chicken wire, but it works. Dry them in the oven for around 1 hour and 45 minutes, rotating the trays after the first 45-60 minutes of drying so they all cook evenly(if you use a convection setting on the oven, rotating is unnecessary).

You can buy grilling trays/pans for drying food or making chips in the oven here (I waited until spring for grillling season and found some at the dollar store).

Nutrition facts for a serving size of around 12 chips:
60 calories, 15gm net carbs, 4gm fiber, 0g fat, 0g protein (1 diabetic carbohydrate exchange, 0 fat and 0 protein exchanges)

Persimmon Overload?

I guess it's obvious what fruits are in season at the moment! We're starting to get colder, in need of some warming up, so I felt the need to make use of my persimmons in a healthful, non-traditional dessert format. I'm getting tired of pie, cake, cookies and pudding. So I started by pureeing persimmons, and eating some before the idea of a nice, hot baked treat popped up in my head-- in a 6oz ramekin, just the right size for my little belly. I hoped to enhance the flavor of my persimmons and cut their sweetness with a little spice, and imagined that the ginger would give it just the right kick! Cinnamon, nutmeg, and vanilla are all too common this time of year, so I'll pass on those for now! If you are looking for other non-traditional healthy uses for your fruit desserts this season, try Spiced Poached Pears, apple chips, apples baked with cheese and honey, or a sorbet using your fall and winter fruits.

Persimmon-Ginger Soufflé with homemade persimmon chips!!

• 1 1/2 cups low fat 2% milk
• 1 tablespoon minced, peeled fresh ginger
• 4 large egg yolks
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 5 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 3 small persimmons, diced
• 8 large egg whites

Directions

• Preheat oven to 350°F. In medium, heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium heat, bring milk to boiling.
• Place the ginger in a cheese cloth or a tea strainer. Add ginger to the milk, remove pan from heat, cover, and let steep 30 minutes.

• 

  Milk should become foamy while whisking over the heat.

• Discard the ginger from the milk, and set aside.
• To purée the persimmons, dice them into small cubes so they are small enough for the blender to handle. Add 2 tbsp water, and purée on high until they are smooth.
• In large nonreactive bowl, whisk together egg yolks and 4 tablespoons of sugar.
• Whisk in flour until well combined. Gradually add hot milk, whisking constantly to prevent it from curdling.
• Return yolk mixture to saucepan and set over medium heat. Cook, whisking constantly, until custard boils and thickens enough to coat the back of a spoon, around 3 to 5 minutes.
• Transfer to large bowl, whisk in the puréed persimmon, and set aside.
• Beat egg whites until foamy and slightly opaque. With mixer running, add remaining 4 tablespoons sugar, 1 tablespoon at a time, then beat until stiff but not dry.

I buy egg whites, and they work perfectly well.

• Fold 1/3 of egg whites into persimmon mixture to lighten, then add mixture to remaining whites, folding in gently but thoroughly.
• Butter 8 6-ounce ramekins. 
• Spoon batter into ramekins, filling almost to the top, and lightly run finger around inside rim to create a "moat." Place ramekins in large baking pan, and arrange the baking pan on the middle oven rack and add hot water around ramekins as deep as you can make it.

Before cooking!

After cooking!

• Bake until soufflés have risen well above the rim and tops are golden brown, about 45 minutes.
• Garnish with sifted powdered sugar and a persimmon chip for a zazzy little dish to make you and your guests giggle with delight!

Happy Fall!
Serve immediately.

Nutrition Facts for one 6-oz ramekin:
137 total calories, 13gm total carbohydrate, 2gm fiber, 10gm protein, 5gm fat
(1 Carbohydrate (1 NET carb), 01 Fat, and 1.5 protein exchanges)

Savoring the end of summer- Apricot Sorbet

When having a home with many trees and a handy gardener, I often find a surplus of fruits and vegetables that need to be consumed quickly or given away. In this case, our neighbor had been out of town and given us authority to harvest and distribute apricots from his tree.

I am always finding new things to create with my surplus that are fun and healthy. I'm getting tired of desserts, I want to stay healthy and reduce my carbohydrate intake, and I don't really find a challenge in making desserts like puddings, custards, pies, cakes and cookies anymore; plus, I have way more fruits than can fit into a cake.

So the results involve me trying to rearrange and enhance the properties of the fruit, meanwhile concentrating on withstanding the temptation to overpower the essence and beauty of my fresh organically obtained fruits by adding creams and batters. This focus seems so daunting for me, and it would be so much easier to make an apricot pie than think of more creative things to do!  So to help me think out of the box, I've resulted in making spiced poached pears from the pear tree, persimmon chips and souffle from my coworker's persimmons, roasted apples with cheese and rosemary, and a slurry of a few other different desserts for fall.

I think one of the easiest options is to simply puree my fruit and grab my cheap little ice cream maker that I treasure so dearly. Combining flavors can be a trick, but with fruits, rose and orange essence, vanilla, and ground spices can transform and enhance the flavor of nearly any fruit!

What I'm showing here is a Apricot-Vanilla Sorbet, accompanied with a vanilla custard ice cream and fresh strawberries. I find that apricots and vanilla enhance each others' qualities of tart and semi-sweet, and the mild tartness of the strawberries combined with the warmness of the vanilla custard provide a contrast of tastes that help the brain isolate the individual and unique flavors in the custard for an awesome dessert experience.

Apricot Sorbet and Vanilla Custard Ice Cream with fresh Strawberries

Apricot Sorbet
Ingredients:

• 4 cups frozen apricots, slightly thawed
• 2/3 cup simple syrup recipe (here)
• 2 tb ground gum mastic (also known as gum arabic)
• Purée apricots with simple syrup until the mixture is smooth and no apricot pieces remain.
• 1/8 tsp seeds of a vanilla bean (cut the bean in half lengthwise and scrape the seeds out with a spoon)
• Add the gum arabic powder and mix until combined.

Put this mixture in your ice cream maker and turn it on. Since the apricots were partially frozen, the mixture shouldn't take more than 20 minutes to freeze in the machine. If you are not using frozen apricots, refrigerate your puree for 4 hours before putting it in your machine. It will require around an hour of churning if you use refrigerated apricot puree.

Serve this little scoop of summer with strawberries. To warm up this summery fruit flavor, I paired it with a homemade custard-based vanilla bean ice cream.

Nutrition Facts for 1/2c apricot sorbet:

Calories: 90, total carbohydrates: 17g, total fiber 2g, total fat: 0g, total protein 0g.

Muhallabiyeh ( Middle Eastern milk pudding)

Muhallabiyeh is a milk pudding made from thickening cow's milk with corn starch. Seems simple? It is!
At first thought it sounds like child's play, taking only 10-15 minutes to prepare... But it is a dessert that is popular throughout the Middle East, and quite delicious depending on with what it accompanies.

Some variations for vegans would be to use coconut milk (I prefer half coconut milk mixed with water), or to use rice milk. Sadly, the recipe does not work as well with soy due to the complexity of its amino acid ratio.
Alternatively, you may use fat free or 1% milk for a nearly fat free option.

For serving, I sometimes cool my finished pudding in a slightly oiled mold or bowl, then invert it onto a platter and decorate. I've also made it in individual serving clear cups, layering the hot thickened milk with a thickened fruit purée, to present the dessert chilled, in parfait form.
Toppings can either be fruits, edible flowers, condensed fruit puree, toasted coconut or ground nuts.
As usual, I'll top my dessert with  atayr (a simple syrup flavored with orange blossom or rose water, recipe here)

See my recipe below!

MUHALLABIYEH
Ingredients:

• 4 1/2 cups milk
• 1/3c corn starch
• 2 tb granulated sugar
• 1 tsp orange blossom or rose water
• 1 simple syrup recipe

Directions:

1. Mix 1/2 c milk with the corn starch and beat until smooth and without lumps.
2. Warm the remaining 4 cups milk to a simmer, approx 5-7 minutes over medium heat, stirring frequently.
3. Add the corn starch mixture and continue stirring about 5 minutes more until thick.
4. Remove from heat and pour into desired jello mold or serve-wear.
5. When chilled, garnish as desired and top with simple syrup.

Example of garnish:
5 sliced strawberries
1/4c ground pistachio
Orange blossom or jasmine flowers

Nutrition Facts Information:

Serving size 1 c including syrup and fruits

Total calories:220, Total Fat: 2g, Total Carbohydrate: 35g, Sugar: 27g, Protein: 10g

(2 Carb, 1 Protein Diabetic Exchanges, or 1 Carb, 1 protein Exchange without syrup)

Oranges and Dark chocolate

Do you want a low sugar, low fat dessert that is healthy for a diabetic as well as someone with heart disease? Do you want more antioxidants? Are you wishing there were healthier desserts and snacks out there?
I peeled a few oranges removing the white rag with the peel, and sliced them horizontally into rounds, arranging them nicely on a plate. After which I simply took a bar of dark chocolate with orange flavoring and grated it over the orange slices using a micro-planer. Ohhh, I love this little tool for grating parmesan, or for micro-grating/zesting orange or lemon peels. It is also handy in making little chocolate and white chocolate shavings over coffee or as a topping for cakes.

I decided to add a bit of color, also because I was overambitious ran out of oranges! So I used some grapes that a farmer from my work gave me as a centerpiece.  Because my dad was watching his sugar intake, I made him this instead of an extravagant cake, and we shared it family-style with appetizer forks.

My saving graces: by using high quality chocolate, freshly picked fruits, and having a pleasing presentation, this light dessert satisfied our sweet tooth, gave us antioxidants in the form of dark chocolate and vitamin C, and was very well loved.

Ingredients:

• 4 oranges peeled with white outer rag peeled off
• 1/4 bar of Lindt 'Intense Orange' dark chocolate
• Garnish as desired. I would prefer mint leaves or halved green grapes

Arrange orange slices on a plate in whatever pattern you desire. Grate chocolate directly over the slices, making sure chocolate stays cool and is grated quickly.
Yum!


Nutrition facts for 3 orange slices:
40 total calories, 10gm total carbohydrate, 1 gm fiber, 0.25gm fat  (0.5 Diabetic carbohydrate exchange)

And here's version 2, adding chunks of chocolate and brighter fruits provide more contrast and a beautifully delicious display. Add a mint leaf to the center strawberry for added color and appeal.