Make it yourself Archives - Eat Simply, Eat Well

Make Fresh Apple Juice – Without A Juicer!

August 15, 2016 by aplough

Ladies and gentlemen, apple season is upon us. With the warm spring, the apple blossoms were more abundant than they’ve been in 10 years in Finland. The pollinators got busy, and with sunny days and no rain during this glorious Spring it appears they’ve done their job well. We are now looking at apple trees loaded with apples, everywhere we go. There’s no better time to make fresh apple juice.

But if you don’t own a juicer or a juice press, how in the world are you gonna make apple juice? Turns out – there’s an easy way to get the job done.

We don’t own any apple trees ourselves, but we do own “apple shares” in an organic apple farm, from which we get boxes full of beautiful, delicious Amarosa apples every October. No worries, though: my father-in-law has 2 apple trees in his yard that are ripe and loaded, and he’s more than happy to share.

He sent me home with a big pail of apples. There could have been more, but I declined, because I reasoned: “what are two people going to do with more than 5 kg of apples”. But these apples. They were clearly apples meant to be pressed into juice. Heavy for their size, and so juicy you couldn’t bite into one without juice running down the apple, onto your hand and dripping on the floor, there would have been no point in trying to turn these into sauce or pie. But I had a load of them, and no juicer.

So I decided to hack a juicer – with my blender + a linen bag. I washed the apples, removed the cores, left the skin on, and chopped them into thumb-sized chunks. I filled my trusty blender to the brim, and sent the blades spinning. After tamping the apples a few times, the blender made short work of the apples, and I was left with apple puree. I poured this through into a linen bag (a nut milk bag or old, clean t-shirt would work as well) twisted the top, and “milked” the juice out of the bag.

My oh my. I wish I’d accepted more apples. We may need to go back for another visit tomorrow. This is seriously some of the best apple juice I’ve ever tasted. Fresh, clean, sweet, crisp, with just the right balance of tartness, I can’t say I’ve had better apple juice anywhere.

And, well, it does give a whole new meaning to the concept of “hand-pressed juice”.

So now, I’m on the lookout for more free apples (anyone?!?). I’m confident (er, strongly hoping) that apples will be available any day now – the neighbors down the road have the same challenge my father-in-law ~~did~~ does – more apples than they can eat off of trees producing record quantities.

But now, that’s more a pleasure than a problem: forget making lemons into lemonade – it’s apple juice we’re talking about, and it’s way, way better.

I used some of this fresh apple juice to create a new recipe for granola, and turned out the crispiest, chunkiest granola on record. Recipe to follow.

But for now, apple juice. Unless of course you own a juicer; then use that. Though you’ll miss out on all the fun that’s about to follow, so you may want to try this anyway.

And then, when you get sick of juice, well, there are other options, too. Try these:

The fun is just beginning! What are you going to do with all this your bounty?

Hand-pressed Apple Juice

You’ll need:

5 kg/8 liters fresh juicing apples
knife + cutting board + apple core remover (not essential, but faster. I use this one).
blender
linen bag, nut milk bag, or old, clean cotton t-shirt
Large bowl to catch the juice

Wash the apples to remove all excess dirt or grit. Remove the cores. Cut the apples into thumb-sized pieces (larger pieces are hard for the blender to deal with and get stuck on the blade if you fill the blender – which you will). Fill the blender container to the top and secure the lid. Turn the blender on to medium low heat, and blend the apples until they become a uniform puree. You may need to stop the blender a few times to stir the mixture if the apples get stuck.

Pour the apple puree into your linen bag or milk bag. Twist the top of the bag several times, and hold the twist in your non-dominant hand. Hold the (now dripping) bag over a large bowl to catch the juices, and with your dominant hand (the one you write with), squeeze the mass of apple puree to “milk” the juice out. Continue pressing and squeezing the bag until the mass left in the bag is really small and very little juice is being extracted. You should get around 1.5 liters of juice from around 5 kg of apples, depending on how juicy your apples are.

Serve immediately; store in the refrigerator for up to 5 days; or freeze for later use.

Makes approximately 1.5 liters/6 cups of juice.

Did you enjoy this recipe? Do you have other tricks up your sleeve for using a bounty of fresh apples this season? Please share them below – I’d love to know!

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Eat Simply, Eat Well,

Ann

10 Tomato Recipes To Make Today

June 29, 2016 by aplough

Tomato recipes. Can you ever have too many? Nope, me neither. Especially right now.

Summer is in full swing even where I am, way up north, which means I’ve been on the hunt for good tomato recipes. Just this week I’ve picked the first cherry tomatoes from my own garden: 4 perfectly ripe, juicy, red tomatoes – sun-ripened, wind blown – perfect. I dusted them off on a clean corner of my garden shirt and popped them in my mouth, one by one, enjoying the explosion of flavor as I stood in the heat of the morning sun, soft breeze whispering through the leaves of the plants around me, and watching with amusement as our little bird friend tried desperately to peck through the net we’d placed over the strawberries.

Tomatoes. You wait and wait and wait…and with good luck and sunshine, all of a sudden the garden begins to explode with them and you’re searching for ways to make good use of and to save your bounty. The same is true if you’re visiting your local farmer’s market: suddenly there are tomatoes in abundance at good prices. These luscious beauties are nice to have around year round, offering their vibrant colors, deep tangy flavors and serious health benefits to your daily meals.

I’ve rounded up 10 tomato recipes to help you enjoy your tomatoes – either for meals to eat today or recipes to preserve them now and eat them later, when the cold Winter winds are howling around you. Right now, they are so abundant – you’ll find yourself eating them fresh; freezing; canning; jamming – which ever way you use them, start now! There’s never been a better time.

Go ahead – roll up your sleeves, grab your tomatoes, and get ready for some delicious meals ahead.

Eat Simply, Eat Well,

Ann

What are your favorite tomato recipes for summer tomatoes? Do you can/freeze/preserve them? Let us know in the comments below!

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Make it Yourself: Almond Milk

September 23, 2015 by aplough

If you are trying to avoid dairy, or if you are on a plant-based diet, one of the main ingredients in a lot of the recipes you’ll find is nut milk – in particular, almond milk.

Nut milk has the creamy white color we associate with dairy milk: cow or goat products, and much of the same creaminess. It is mild in flavor and works well in nearly any recipe that calls for dairy milk. For savory baked dishes such as quiches, tarts, pies and casseroles that call for some kind of milk, I prefer to use oat milk. I like the way it thickens a little when heated and the texture resembles that of cow’s milk – particularly in the béchamel I use in my lasagna. However, if you prefer, nut milk works here, too.

But when it comes to sweet baked goods, smoothies, or warm drinks made with milk like cocoa or chai tea, I prefer to use nut milk, and it’s nearly always almond milk.

You can purchase your own almond milk in the non-dairy refrigerated section of your grocery store next to soy and rice milks. The only challenge here is avoiding the thickeners and fillers these milks often contain in order to make them shelf stable (more on this here).

Almond milk is fairly expensive to buy: at my local store it runs around €3.90 per liter and isn’t organic, so making it yourself is a good way to get a great product. Organic almonds is around €25 per kilogram (around €11.50 per pound) in Finland (prices may be better elsewhere), so this means you can make my own organic almond milk for roughly the same price as you can buy the preservative-loaded commercial almond milk, and even less if you don’t buy organic almonds. Many people prefer organic almonds, but the choice is up to you.

All you really need in order to make almond milk are almonds and clean, pure water. I sometimes add a pinch of sea salt to add minerals into the milk, but this is optional. For those of you who are used to the sweetness of cow’s milk or commercial almond milk, you can achieve the same flavor by adding a date or two.

Almond milk is a healthy alternative for those avoiding dairy and soy.

One cup unsweetened almond milk contains:

30-40 calories
1 g fiber
1 g protein
2.5 g fat

good source of manganese (for strong teeth and bones), selenium (supports immune system) and vitamin E (helps fight free radicals), vitamin B2 (helps produce red blood cells)
free of cholesterol and saturated fats

Sources: fitday.com and livescience.com.

While I highlight almonds in this recipe, nearly any nut or seed can be made into milk using the same method. You can always add salt and sweetener to your taste (I prefer dates, but pure maple syrup is also good). The flavor is milk and sweet with a nice, light almond flavor – delicious!

Almond milk

1 cup / 2.5 dl / 130g raw almonds + 2 cups cold, pure water
1 quart / 4 cups / 1 liter pure, cold water
pinch of sea salt, optional
1-2 fresh dates, optional

Soak the almonds in 2 cups of water for at least 4 hours, preferably overnight. Drain and rinse the almonds and pour them into a blender. Add the fresh water, and salt and dates if using. Process on high speed for one minute. Strain through a nut milk bag (preferred for the smoothest texture), an old, clean t-shirt (seriously a very good option), or a fine mesh strainer (what I usually do).

If using a milk bag or t-shirt, you’ll need to squeeze it really well, almost like you are milking it, in order to extract all of the almond milk.

If you are using a fine-mesh strainer, you can press on the solids with the back of a spoon or rubber spatula. If you do this, you will get some almond meat particles in your milk. My suggestion is to rinse the strainer, then strain the milk one more time.

Store in a glass jar in the refrigerator. Almond milk should be used in 2-3 days as it is a very fresh product.

Makes 1 quart/4 cups/1 liter.

Have you made your own almond milk or other non-dairy milks? What is your experience? We’d love to hear more from you in the comments below.