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Sausage and Sauerkraut

1/20/2014

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That title is a little misleading. We had a vegetarian meal. We got the Tofurkey brand kielbasa sausages. The sauerkraut I made myself (it was a little weak... next time I'll let it ferment longer). The real, fun part of this was the fact that it was all cooked over a campfire. 

Ingredients:
4 Tofurkey Kielbasa sausages, sliced. 
12 oz. Sauerkraut
2 handfuls of Spinach
1 Apple, cored and chopped
1 Cast Iron Dutch Oven

Directions:
  • Cut the sausage into slices
  • Put the sauerkraut at the bottom of the Dutch oven.
  • Mix the spinach in with the sauerkraut
  • Put the apple and sausage on top of the mix. 
  • In the hot coals of a campfire, arrange the coals in a circle with none in the middle
  • Place the Dutch oven on top of those (coals in the center of the circle would cause whatever you are cooking to burn)
  • Cover, and place coals on the lid of the Dutch oven. 
  • Check occasionally, we had ours in for about 30 minutes (everything could have been eaten raw, so we just needed it to heat up)
Picture
Picture
Notes:
TC's cousin, who is a vegetarian, came over for dinner last night and I just tossed a bunch of stuff in a pot and ran with it. I knew that pork and apples complemented each other. Since the Tofurkey kielbasa was flavored like a regular kielbasa, I assumed apples would go well with it. I was right. 

I think we put too many coals on the top. Not sure why I say that, Nothing bad happened. It was our first time using the Dutch oven on an open fire. Don't judge me for my outdoor cooking mistakes, I'll learn eventually. If you see me doing something horribly wrong, let me know what I did and how I can fix it. Thanks!

After dinner we used the apple filling recipe from the Apple/Pear Crisp recipe and wrapped up some apples in tinfoil (like what TC's family calls a "Hobo Dinner", a previously prepared meal wrapped in tinfoil that is cooked on the coals of a fire). We cooked them for about 40 minutes. They turned out well, but we missed the "crisp" part of the crisp recipe. So, as baked apples, they were good. 

The juice from the sauerkraut may have saved us. Without it, I think everything would have burned. A good note, make sure you have a little liquid. 

Review:
There is no recipe to review because I made it up as I went along, but what we ended up with was very good. TC and I gave it a 5. TC's cousin had never had sauerkraut or tofurkey dogs. He was bombarded by the new things and gave it a 4. I think an excellent first impression. 

Total Score:
4.5
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Apple/Pear Crisp

1/18/2014

1 Comment

 
I've been meaning to break in my new cast iron dutch oven with a delicious dessert. I finally got the chance last night. I had some pears that weren't very flavorful and needed to be used, and I had a ton of apples that I was going to make into apple chips, but I needed someway to keep the moisture out. I'm currently waiting for an Amazon order to do the apple chips. Anyway, this crisp was calling out to me. 

Ingredients:
Filling - 
4 small Apples
4 Pears
2 tbsp Lemon Juice
1/3 c. Sugar
1 tbsp Cornstarch
1 tsp Cinnamon
Pinch of Salt

Topping - 
2/3 c Light Brown Sugar
1/4 c. Gluten Free Flour Blend
1/2 c. Gluten Free Oats
1/4 c. Almond Flour
1 tsp Cinnamon
Pinch of Salt
1/3 c. Coconut Oil, melted

Directions:
  • Preheat oven to 375°F
  • Grease pan (we used a dutch oven, but a 9x9 pan would also work)
  • Peel, core, and chop apples. Peel, core, and chop pears. 
Picture
(Apple cores are generally straight up and down, pears only have cores in the larger part of the fruit, but from the stem down to the core could potentially be hard. Each pear will be different)
  • Put apples and pears into a bowl and pour lemon juice over.
  • Combine the sugar (for filling), cornstarch, cinnamon, and salt in a small bowl and mix well with a fork. 
  • Cover the apples and pears with the sugar blend and toss fruit to coat all the pieces.
  • Transfer to the dish you will be using to bake. 

Topping - 
  • Mix brown sugar, GF flour, almond flour, oats, cinnamon, and salt in a bowl and stir. 
  • Add melted coconut oil and mix until everything is evenly saturated. 
  • Spoon the topping onto the fruit as a cover.
  • Bake 45 minutes - 1 hour or until the fruit is tender and the top is browned. 

So many delicious apples and pears. Actually, I thought I was done at this point... and then I noticed the three other pears that still had to be peeled and cored. 
Picture
I had TC's cousin do the math, but instead of measuring everything out individually, we just kept adding to the same measuring cup. Saved on dishes. 
Picture
Before we mixed it up. I used a rubber spatula to mix it. It was way easier than I thought it would be. Smelled so good. 
Picture
The apples with the topping all pretty on top. This is actually after the whole thing was baked. It didn't brown very well. 
Picture
Notes:
I originally got this recipe from the Minimalist Baker. The original recipe did not include pears. I added them myself. 

The recipe you see above, the topping is doubled. As you can see in the picture above, we didn't make enough topping to cover the whole thing. So, if you don't want to double the topping, the original measurements are as follows:
1/3 c Light Brown Sugar
1/4 c. GF Flour Blend
1/2 c. GF Oats
1/4 c. Almond Flour
1/2 tsp Cinnamon
Pinch of Salt
1/3 c. Coconut Oil

There were apple and pear peelings everywhere. It was crazy. 

I didn't chop the pears and apples. I think it would have been easier to eat if I had. 

Review:
This was amazing. I was a little surprised. I wasn't expecting much, but I was pleasantly surprised. I think I would have added a little more salt to the topping. Three of us got to experience this dessert and we all think it would have been good with a caramel sauce, but the dish can stand alone just fine. TC and I had ours with coconut whipped cream. TC says, "It was really good. Needs peaches." TC's cousin also agreed that peaches would make a good addition. TC gave it a 5. TC's cousin gave it a 4.5, and I give it a 5. 

Total Score: 
5
1 Comment

    Author

    I like to cook, bake, and write. My creations are generally not pretty, and messes are a part of my life. Prepare yourself. 

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