Edible Leather.

Food dehydration has been a part of culinary history as far back as 12, 000 BCE.  The Egyptians used desert heat and blazing sun to suck the liquids out of fish and poultry.  The Middle Ages saw the development of “stillhouses”.  Fruits, vegetables, herbs, even meats were strung up along the ceiling, fires lit, so that the heat would dry them out.  Sounds like the invention of smoking foods can be attributed to that practice as well.  World War 2 necessitated lightweight foods that could be carried in a soldier’s pack; dehydration was the answer.  However, when the soldiers, who luckily survived “The Great One”, came home, families were not having anything to do with that “stuff”.

By the 1960s and 70s though, outdoor lifestyles surged forth; sex, drugs and rock n’ roll were the rage for young folks.  However, they had to eat too, and dehydration made a comeback with jerky, trail mix and healthy, organic, dried fruits.  Hiking and camping went hand in hand with this new lifestyle as well, so back to lightweight foods in backpacks.

While many food items can be air dried by hanging on strings (herbs, mushrooms, small peppers), you definitely would not try this with liquid rich foods.  Slicing up steak, to make jerky, would only encourage bacteria and insects when hung up to dry.   The invention of the electric dehydrator was a boon to this new type of homemade product making.  The use of low heat temperatures, dry air movement and time guaranteed a tasty food that, if stored properly, would last and last.  Now we have solar dehydrators which, like the Egyptians, use the power of the sun to heat and air dry.  No worries over air borne bacteria or insects as the solar units are enclosed, using mirrors to reflect onto the food.

This year, due to all the winter and spring moisture, the fruit trees are packed with a rich abundance of fruits.  There is canning and freezing to store, but then dad mentioned dehydration; how he loved to snack on dried apricots.  We picked several from his over laden trees; put into a water bath to easily remove the skins.  Then I pulled out the old dehydrator; mine is a Waring from 1990 with no temperature setting (standard 140 F).  It still works well for what I need it to do, so I will buy a fancier, temperature control model once it gives out.  Just because something is old, does not mean it cannot be useful anymore.

There are drawbacks to dehydration; along with the moisture, some nutrients are lost in the process.  The natural sugar content is dense and compressed, so if watching those carbs, this snack could be a no-no.  The end products can be extremely chewy and/or tough; and not always re-hydratable.  Depending on the fruit, vegetable or meat, the time to dry it out can be long hours leading to days.  For example, with my dehydrator, dried apricots can take up to 36 hours to completely dry out; that is a lot of electricity being used up!

What could I make that would take less time, yet be still be a good snacking item; fruit leather, also known as fruit roll-ups or fruit strips, can be done between 6 to 12 hours.  The time difference is dependent on how many trays being used, and how thin or thick the pureed fruit is.

Here is what I did: 80 apricots split and pits removed, put into a hot water bath to make skin removable easier (some folks leave the skin, it is a matter of taste and texture).  To keep the apricots from turning brown, I added two cups of fresh pineapple (yes, lemon juice (1/4 cup) could have been used instead).  For added sweetness, four tablespoons of raw honey; then pureed all (immersion blender, blender or food processor will work) until smooth.

Each tray of the dehydrator was lined with plastic and the puree was smoothed on thinly, but not leaving any non-opaque sections.  A half inch of empty space was left from the center opening to the puree, and the outer tray edge as well.  Plugging in the dehydrator, it immediately began to work; the scent of apricots filled the air.  Every two hours I turned off the dehydrator to check the texture.  Hour 10 was at an almost point, so checking at hour 11 I found the fruit leather to be completely done.  It peeled easily off the plastic, fit into a plastic bag which was sealed (squeeze the air out) and then sealed inside a plastic container.  The puree I had made was in a 3-quart container, and I was able to make 2 batches of fruit leather, using the 5 trays each time.

After 6 hours, too soft

After 9 hours, not yet

After 11 hours - dry, flexible, peelable and delicious fruit leather.

When sealed and stored properly, this all natural, only three ingredient fruit leather can last up to one year; except in the Cokenour household.  Looks like I will be making more in the near future.

Mary Cokenour

  

The Tenacity of One Branch.

On the outside of our fence stands an old apricot tree; probably dates back to when the pioneers settled in Monticello.  The land my home sits on was a farm once, and happily a couple of apricot trees, and many Italian plum, still remain.  Last year we did not get any fruit, as a killing frost hit the trees in May, and destroyed all the blossoms.  The same occurred this year, so the change of fruit was none again. 

One day last week I was playing ball with one of my dogs, Lucy; and it got stuck behind a pile of wood near the fence.  Lying on the ground I saw these small orange colored balls and wondered, "What the heck?"  They were apricots and I looked up into the branch that was over the fence and sticking into the yard.  Well that little bugger of a branch was a smart one; it had hidden itself inside an over hang on the tool shed we had just built last year, and it was full of fruit!  By doing that, the fruit blossoms had survived the frost and given us a small bounty.  Hurriedly I got my gathering basket out of the garden shed, and picked all the fruit that was ripe, and bugs and/or birds had not gotten to yet.  I ended up with 40 apricots; Roy ate about 16 of them, and I decided to bake a dessert with the remainder.

Now the only dessert I'd ever made with apricots was a crumble; last time Roy told me he was bored with this one.  I'd been on a pie making binge lately, so had an extra pie crust in the fridge; a pie it was then!  In the freezer was half a pint of blueberries, and thought to add these to add color and taste. 

Apricot Blueberry Pie

 

Ingredients:

 

2 dozen apricots, washed and pitted

1/2 pint frozen blueberries

1 Tbsp. sugar

1 (9 inch) deep dish pie crust

1/2 cup old fashioned oats

2 Tbsp. butter, melted

2 Tbsp. brown sugar

 

Preparation:

 

Preheat oven to 425F.

 

In a medium bowl, gently mix together apricots and blueberries with the sugar; set aside.

 

Spread the oats onto the bottom of the pie crust; spread the fruit mixture over the oats.  Bake for 40 minutes.

 

Drizzle the butter over the fruit filling; sprinkle brown sugar over; bake for 5 minutes, or until the brown sugar is melted.  Remove from oven and let cool for 15 minutes before serving.

 

Makes one pie.

 

Roy loved the pie; tart yet sweet; juicy and very flavorful.

 

Mary Cokenour

Another successful attempt with Apricots.

While picking apricots the other day, I spied a very colorful bird in the tree pecking at one of the fruits. It had a yellow underbelly, dark blue top and wings and a bright red head; very tropical looking indeed. One of the outdoor cats began to climb the tree and suddenly a small flock of these unusual looking birds took off to safety. I looked up Utah bird species online and discovered it was a bird that lived in mountainous areas, mostly in evergreen trees, and rarely seen. It is called the "Western Tanager" and here I had a flock of them in the apricot trees; astounding.

But I digress from what this post is actually about...the apricots.  As I had planned, I was able to make an apricot crumble today. Now I am one of those people who doesn't really like cooked fruit. While I will cook and bake with fruit for other people, I will not eat it myself; just call it my little quirk.  I was brave and took of taste of it; sweet and tangy, but still not my cup of tea.  Roy, on the other hand, enjoyed it and praised me for an experiment in baking well done.

So here is my experiment...ummm, recipe and I hope you enjoy it too.

Apricot Crumble

Ingredients:

6 cups quartered apricots (previously washed and pitted)

1 tsp vanilla extract

¼ cup sugar

2 Tbsp cornstarch

Topping:

½ cup flour

¾ cup oven toasted old fashioned oats

¾ cup brown sugar

1 tsp ground cinnamon

½ cup plus 1 Tbsp softened salted butter

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 375F.  Grease a 4-qt baking dish with the one Tbsp of softened butter.

In a large bowl, mix together the apricots, vanilla, sugar and cornstarch; set aside.  In a medium bowl, use a pastry cutter, fork or hands to mix together all ingredients listed under Topping until it forms a loose crumble.

Spread the apricots into the baking dish; use a rubber spatula to get all the juices that have formed at the bottom of the bowl.  Next, spread the crumble over the apricots and spread as evenly as possible.

Place dish on center rack of oven and bake for 40 minutes; remove from oven and let it rest for 15 minutes before serving with a scoop of ice cream or whipped topping.

Makes 9 servings.

Mary Cokenour

Apricots, apricots everywhere.

On our property is a large apricot tree overloaded with fruit.  The birds and ground animals will eat a good portion, some I will give away to folks and some I will cook with.  While Roy enjoys snacking on these little fruits that look like miniature peaches, I don't actually care for them; but I will make dishes for Roy to enjoy.

Asian Apricot Chicken

Ingredients:

1 1/2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1" pieces

1/2 cup Hoisin sauce

1 Tbsp ground ginger

2 Tbsp orange marmalade

2 lbs frozen stir fry vegetables

1/2 cup soy sauce

3/4 cup hot water

1 tsp sea salt

2 dozen apricots, halved and pits removed

Preparation:

Place the chicken, Hoisin sauce, ground ginger and marmalade in a plastic bag; mix together to coat chicken, seal bag and refrigerate overnight.

Heat a large skillet on medium-high heat and brown chicken.  Add in vegetables, soy sauce, water, salt and apricots; bring to a boil and let cook for 5 minutes before reducing heat to low.  Let mixture simmer for 15 minutes; sauce will thicken.

Makes 6-8 servings.

Mary Cokenour

Note: I do intend to attempt an apricot crumble with some of the fruit; if it's a success, you'll be reading about it.