For the month of May we met at Mikki's home near Hansville. We explored some yummy rice recipes from everyone. Mikki taught us the basics of dehydrating food as a preserving method.
Notes on dehydrating foods:
Mikki spent several days experimenting with her dehydrator for our benefit (Thank you!). We tasted fruit leather made with her jam supply. It made excellent leather. TO DO: She lined her electric dehydrator rack with parchment paper and spread the jam THINLY to the same thickness. (The chunks in the jam didn't dry well, so she suggests blending and thinning the mixture before spreading onto the racks.) The dried leather sticks to itself so perhaps it should be rolled while still on the parchment paper. The leather needs to be stored in a sealed container (jar or self seal bag) to keep the humidity out. You can use fresh fruit or frozen fruit to make leathers. Mix and match to make fun flavors.
Mikki also dried some meat for beef jerky. It did well, but she found that a meat slicer would really help get the meat thin so it would dry more quickly and evenly.
Peggy reported that Tim had dehydrated hamburger with success.
The oils in meats can cause dried meat to go rancid, so use lean cuts.
Fruit to be dried should be ripe and clean.
Notes on Rice: Any cereal grain (rice is one) combined with a legume, dairy, or root vegetable provides all 8 amino acids of a whole protein! White rice stores longer than brown rice. Brown rice is a more complex carbohydrate so it does not spike your blood sugar as quickly as white rice.
Why soak whole grains: IN their raw ans/or cracked stae, all whole grains contain phytic acid in the outer layer, or bran. This phytic acid combines with calcium, magnesium, copper, iron and zinc in the intestinal tract, blocking mineral absorption. A diet high in untreated, cooked whole grains may lead to mineral deficiencies and bone loss. Soaking grains in warm, acidic water for as little as seven hours will neutralize some of most of the phytic acid. The process of soaking and fermenting grains partially breaks down the difficult proteins (such as gluten) into more easily digestible components.
The recipes:
Mikki Whitworth:
Morgan Carlson: Fried Rice
Laurie Beth Burt: Rice Pudding
4 cups 2% milk
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup uncooked medium-grain rice (not instant)
1/2 cup raisins
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Combine milk, sugar and rice in a medium-sized slow cooker.
Cover and cook, stirring occasionally, on high for 3 to 3 1/2 hours or until creamy. Stir in raisins and cinnamon. Pudding will thicken as it cools.
Kristie Burt: Basic Soaked Brown Rice
3 cups brown basmati rice
6 cups water
6 T raw apple cider vinegar
1 T sea salt
2 T coconut oil
Place water in stockpot. Heat until you see bubbles forming on the bottom. Remove from heat. Add rice and apple cider vinegar. Stir. Cover pot and let soak overnight (or for a minimum of 7 hours). After soaking is done, add salt and coconut oil. Heat on stove, bringing to a hard boil. Turn down heat and simmer for 30 minutes. Check to see that all the water is absorbed, if so, remove from heat. Let stand 15 minutes. Sere right away or store in fridge for later. (I highly recommend cutting the recipe in half unless you need a lot of rice as it makes a huge amount.!)
Peggy Bullock: Sausage and Rice Casserole (originally from Melisa Holmes)
1 pound ground sausage ( I used spicy Italian)
2 pkg. Lipton noodle soup mix (I used chicken bouillon, 3 cubes)
1 1/2 cups celery, finely chopped
1 small onion, finely chopped
1 1/4 cups white rice or 3/4 cup brown rice
pimentos to taste (about 1/2 small jar)
4 cups hot water (add another cup for brown rice)
Directions:
Brown ground sausage, drain; set aside. In a 9X13 pan, dissolve soup or boullion in hot water. Stir in vegetables and uncooked rice. Spoon in cooked sausage and pimentos. Bake at 325 for 30 min or until rice is done and water absorbed.
Extra Tasters: Marie Johnatakis, Amber Jensen and Cheryl Whittles (and the Whitworth family!)
No comments:
Post a Comment