Oatmeal Empanadas

Since my last post, we had a rare long weekend away, with all of the chaos that entails for the week before and the week after the actual weekend. I wrapped the end of last week by borrowing *The Cookie Bible* from the library. Having loved *The Slow Cooker Bible*, I was not at all shy about borrowing the cookie version. Am I ever glad I did! I love these two books so much that not only did I shop Amazon and buy both of them (Cookie from Amazon and Slow Cooker as a used very good condition copy) that I bought *The One Dish Bible* used without having seen anything more than the cover! I will have those three cookbooks plus *Fix, Freeze, Feast* in my hands and a couple of weeks, and then the experimenting really begins!

Meanwhile, I made two recipes out of *The Cookie Bible*: breakfast cookies and jam-up oatmeal cookies. The breakfast cookies are pretty good and are frozen, bagged, and stashed in the freezer for nutritious afternoon snacks or for breakfast running out the door. The star of the day, though, was the oatmeal cookie recipe. It was instantly renamed oatmeal empanadas because that's pretty much what they are (and the kids just like to say empanada), and they are already high on the favorites list. This is a very good sign of future success of recipes from this cookbook! So here's the recipe. I have to say it was very easy. The dough was not sticky; the scraps re-rolled well without any stiffening to allow for maximum cookie production. I used a cookie cutter larger than 2" so in the future I'll use a little more than 1 tsp of jam on each. These would be great done in a variety of shapes, and I'm already thinking about Easter shapes!

*Note: the recipe is sometimes brand specific because it's sponsored by a list of brands. I removed brands.
Oatmeal Empanadas
1 c. shortening
1 1/2 c. firmly packed light brown sugar
2 eggs (I used 1/2 c. Eggbeaters)
2 tsp almond extract
2 c. all purpose flour (I used AP flour this time, but I'll be trying it with some whole wheat flour next time)
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
2 1/2 c. quick oats (not instant or old fashioned), uncooked
1 c. finely chopped pecans
jam for filling
1. Combine shortening and brown sugar in a large bowl, beating at medium speed with an electric mixer until well blended. Beat in eggs and almond extract.
2. Combine flour, baking powder, salt, and baking soda. Add to the shortening mixtre at low speed until just blended.
3. Stir in oats and chopped pecans with a spoon.
4. Cover and refrigerate at least 1 hour.
5. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease baking sheets with shortening or line with parchment paper (I love parchment paper!).
6. Roll out dough, half at a time (I kept the second half of the dough in the fridge while working with the first half), to about 1/4" thickness on floured surface. Cut out with 2 1/2" round cookie cutter. Place 1 tsp of jam in center of half of the rounds. Top with remaining rounds, matching up the edges, then pressing the edges together to seal (a fork works great for this). Price centers (heck, I just made a little cut a good 1/2" long) to allow steam to release; sprinkle with sugar (I didn't do this part but will color code with sugar sprinkles next time - strawberry jam gets red sugar, peach jam gets yellow sugar, etc.). Place 1" apart on baking sheets.
7. Bake one baking sheet at a time for 12-15 minutes or until lightly browned. Do not overbake! Cool 2 minutes on baking sheets, then remove parchment paper to cooling racks or cookies to foil lined counter.
Yield: 2 dozen cookies (I got 2 1/2 dozen)
I did apple pie jam, strawberry jam, and ginger peach jam fillings, and all three varieties were fabulous!

Using Up the Problem Jam

I've had a cold for the last couple of days, which has resulted in lots of fast-to-fix, no fuss meals like spaghetti and garlic bread, hamburger barbeque from the freezer, and take out Chinese (which we ate and decided we could make it better). Tonight is going to be pork chops and various vegetables with ginger lime glaze and jasmine rice. My inspiration for this meal: a jam that never did set like it was supposed to. I made this great tasting ginger lime jam, but it never got thicker than a sauce. I even reprocessed it to no avail. Solution: give in and call it what it is, a glaze. I will brown boneless, thick cut pork chops in a skillet (olive oil, medium heat, about four minutes on each side), remove the pork chops, then add to the pan a dash of olive oil and some vegetables like julienned water chestnuts, carrots, and ginger and thin wedges of onions, some steamed broccoli florets. Stir fry, add the pork chops back in, and pour some of the ginger lime sauce over everything, cooking for another minute to let the flavors meld. Serve over hot jasmine rice, and voila, dinner in 15 minutes.

So what do you do if haven't made a jam that refuses to become a jam? Exactly what I do with the last of my jam in the jar - add a little juice to the jar, put the lid back on, and shake to combine the jam and the juice. You can add some herbs to it if you want. I like to use citrus juices for the bite, and I especially like pairings like apricot preserves and orange juice, raspberry jam and orange juice or lime juice, blueberry preserves and lime juice, orange marmalade and lemon or orange juice. Use as a glaze on poultry or pork, stir fry or baked meats. Spoon the sauce over steaming mounds of fragrant rice or sop up with feathery light rolls. What a delightful way to use up the last spoonful or two of jam in the bottom of the jar or in my case, the problem jam that refused to become a jam!

Using Up the Jam

Life last week was crazy, but I'm back! Next week we go on a trip to see family for the holiday, so for the next 10 days, I'm going to tackle two things that are pressing issues in my kitchen right now: using the bags and bags of fresh cranberries we found at Sam's and using up as many leftovers and odds and ends in the fridge as we can before we leave. I canned 13 pints and 13 pint-and-a-half jars of cran-applesauce on Saturday, so there went 3 of my 8 bags (each bag is 3 pounds) of cranberries. Tonight's dinner will be grilled chicken, steamed veggies, and surprise muffins, our all time favorite way to use up the bits of jam in the fridge. Surprise muffins are extremely versatile, and everyone in our family loves them. I've done them not only with the basic muffins but also with cornbread muffins, so take your pick! The cran-applesauce would be a great addition to your holiday dinner table, and you can either freeze it or can it. I use a Foley food mill to puree my sauce, but I know other people have an attachment for their food processor, and still others like to peel and core the apples, then use a ricer or potato masher to make a chunkier sauce. If you've never canned before, buy a Ball Blue Book for $5 - $6 and check out the step-by-step instructions!

Surprise Muffins
1 egg or 1/4 c. egg substitute
1 c. milk or soy milk
1/4 c. vegetable oil
2 c. flour
1/4 c. sugar
3 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
jam of choice

Heat oven to 400 degrees F. Grease muffin cups or line with muffin papers.
Beat egg, then stir in milk and oil.
Mix in remaining ingredients just until flour is moistened. Batter should be slightly lumpy.
Fill muffin cups 1/3 full. Put 1/2 - 1 tsp of jam on top in the center. Put more batter in the muffin cup until 2/3 full.
Bake 20 - 25 minutes or until a toothpick stuck in the center comes out clean. Lesser amounts of jam will result in a hidden center of warm jam in each muffin. Greater amounts of jam will result in some breakthroughs, so there will be the warm jam middle but some evidence of it on the outside.
Try with cornbread muffins too, making centers of pepper jelly, lime jelly, honey jelly, etc.
Original muffin recipe is the popular muffin recipe from old Betty Crocker cookbooks.
Makes 12 muffins.

Cran-applesauce
4 1/2 lb sweet apples, bad spots removed - core and peel if not using a food mill
1 1/2 lb fresh or frozen cranberries (not craisins!)
1 c. water
Put all ingredients in a 6-8 qt pot with a lid, cover, and cook on medium-high until apples are soft and falling apart and cranberries are burst, about 20 minutes.
Mill using a food mill. If not milling, put the mix through a ricer or mash with a potato masher.
The sauce is done. No kidding! Now you may serve, freeze, or can.
If freezing: pour/ladle into freezer containers, cool, put lids on, label, and freeze.
If canning: ladle into prepared/sterilized jars, put on prepared lids and bands, and process in a boiling water bath for 20 minutes.
Makes 9 cups.

Apple Pie Jam

We go through a *lot* of jam here because we put it on sandwiches, toast, and muffins plus use it as a glaze on meat, an add in for oatmeal, a sweetener in tea or coffee, a filling for cakes, cookies, and muffins, and swirled through brownies and blondies before baking. C's favorite jam is apple pie jam, and our apples are now harvested from our two mature, high yielding trees. Result: I'm making apple pie jam! If you can, this is a simple boiling water bath process. I'm sure that this jam can also be frozen, and it certainly can be put into jars or containers and refrigerated, sharing the extra jars with friends and family. If you don't can this, it is not shelf stable, so make sure to preserve it or refrigerate it!

4 c. finely chopped/minced fresh apples, peels, cores, and bad spots removed
a little water - check out the directions, probably 1/4 c. - 1/2 c.
2 T. lemon juice
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp ginger
1 tsp margarine or butter (optional , and note that this is a *teaspoon* not a tablespoon, just a pat will work)
1 box dry/powdered pectin
4 c. sugar
1 c. packed light brown sugar

1.  Put the finely chopped apples into a quart measuring glass, then fill with water so that the water also measures 4 cups - you are just filling in the little nooks and crannies with water.
2.  Put the apples and water, margarine, lemon juice, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and pectin into a fairly large pot (I like to use an 8 quart stock pot to ensure that it doesn't boil over). Stir to combine, and bring to a boil over high heat, stirring constantly. Boiling is rather vague, since there isn't much liquid, but you'll know it by the bubbling of what liquid there is.
3.  Add the two sugars and stir to combine everything. Bring to a boil over high heat. When it is at a full roiling boil (one that cannot be stirred down or one in which the bubbling doesn't stop when you stir it), continue to boil and stir for 1 full minute.
4.  Remove from heat and transfer to jars/containers. If canning, fill prepared jars, adjust lids and bands, and process in a boiling water bath for 10 minutes. If freezing, fill containers of choice, seal, cool, and freeze. If refrigerating, fill containers of choice, seal/put a lid on, and refrigerate.

This recipe makes 7 or 7 1/2 cups of jam, which is a dark caramel color speckled with lighter pieces of the apple. It's lovely and distinctive looking as well as delicious!