Tag Archives: Excalibur

APPLE PIE INFUSED PECANS

Apple Pie Infused Pecans

Apple Pie Infused Pecans

If you have ever soaked nuts in an attempt to destroy their enzyme inhibitors and increase their digestibility, then I am sure you have noticed that they swell to twice their original size.  It was this observation that inspired my latest nut recipe.  I thought, if nuts are able to absorb such vast quantities of water, then surely they are able to absorb any liquid…and boy did they!  The result is subtle, but oh so good.

INGREDIENTS

2 cups pecans

3 cups fresh squeezed apple juice

1 cup crock pot applesauce OR apple juice concentrate*

1 Tbs. honey or agave syrup

1 tsp cinnamon

½ tsp allspice

*to make this recipe completely raw, you can either eliminate the applesauce or add date paste for sweetness

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Blend the fresh squeezed apple juice, applesauce, honey, cinnamon, and allspice in a high speed blender.

Blend in Your Vitamix

Blend in Your Vitamix

Add Spices and Sweetener into the Blender

Add Spices and Sweetener into the Blender

Place the pecans in a large Glasslock™ container and cover with the apple juice mixture.  Allow the pecans to soak overnight in the refrigerator.

Pour Spiced Juice Mixture Over Pecans

Pour Spiced Juice Mixture Over Pecans

Ready for the Fridge

Ready for the Fridge

In the morning pour the pecans into a colander and rinse them.

Pour Pecans and Juice Mixture into a Colander

Pour Pecans and Juice Mixture into a Colander

Rinse the Soaked Pecans

Rinse the Soaked Pecans

Place the soaked pecans on a mesh dehydrator tray (not a Teflex sheet) and dehydrate at 115 ° for 6-8 hours.  To ease clean-up, I place a Teflex sheet on the tray below the pecans so it can catch any drips.

Place Pecans on Mesh Tray

Place Pecans on Mesh TrayDehydrate in Excalibur...Tray Below Has a Teflex Sheet

These pecans are so good on their own.  I keep mine in the freezer and eat them straight out of the freezer (they are extra crunchy that way).  The Apple Pie Infused Pecans would also be a great trail mix ingredient!

 

Apple Pie Infused Pecans

Apple Pie Infused Pecans

For a printable version of this recipe click here.

4 Comments

Filed under Gluten Free, Kid Friendly, Nuts, Raw, Recipes, Sides, Snacks, Vegan, Vegetarian

RAW MAPLE APPLE CINNAMON SCONES

Raw Maple Cinnamon Apple Scones

Raw Maple Cinnamon Apple Scones

 

INGREDIENTS

Makes 16 scones 

4 apples

2 cups almond pulp (from making almond milk)

2/3 cup ground flax meal

2/3 cup water

2/3 cup raisons

1/4 cup coconut sugar

1/4 cup maple syrup

1 Tbs. cinnamon

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Quarter the apples and remove the core.  Cut the apple quarters in thirds and place them in the food processor to turn it into raw applesauce.  You may need to stop occasionally and scrape down the sides.

Put the Apples in the Food Processor

Put the Apples in the Food Processor

In a small bowl combine the flax meal and water.  Allow this mixture to sit and congeal (this is what will bind the scones together).

Add Water to the Flax Meal

Add Water to the Flax Meal

Allow the Mixture to Congeal

Allow the Mixture to Congeal

In a large bowl combine the almond pulp and flax mixture.   Mix thoroughly. 

Add the Flax Meal to the Almond Pulp

Add the Flax Meal to the Almond Pulp

Add the applesauce to the above mixture and mix well.

Mix in the Applesauce

Mix in the Applesauce

Now add the cinnamon, coconut sugar, maple syrup, and raisons.  Mix thoroughly.

Add the Remaining Ingredients

Add the Remaining Ingredients

Measure out 1/3 cup of the batter and form it into a scone (I use a large ice cream scoop). 

Measure Out 1/3 Cup

Measure Out 1/3 Cup

Form the Scones

Form the Scones

Formed Scone

Formed Scone

Place the scone on the mesh sheet of your dehydrator.  Do the same with the remainder of the batter.

Formed Scones on Mesh Sheets

Formed Scones on Mesh Sheets

Dehydrate at 140° for 2 hours.  After 2 hours flip over the scones and then turn the dehydrator down to 115°.  Dehydrate for 3-4 hours more. 

Put in the Dehydrator

Put in the Dehydrator

I keep the scones in the freezer…they defrost fast.

Raw Maple Cinnamon Apple Scones

Raw Maple Cinnamon Apple Scones

 

For a printable version of this recipe click here.

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Filed under Breakfast, Gluten Free, Raw, Recipes, Snacks, Vegan, Vegetarian

DECADENT DESSERTS AT 118˚

The Restaurant

Today I went to a raw cooking class at Jenny Ross’s 118˚ in Costa Mesa and had a great time.  This was my first official raw foods cooking class.  I have a few raw foods dessert cookbooks (Ani Phyo’s and Kristen Suzanne’s) that I cook from, but nothing can quite compare to a class where there is interaction and discussion.  I loved being able to bounce questions and ideas off of the creator and chef of 118˚, Jenny Ross.

All of the ladies in the class (there were 8 of us) were really interesting.  Among us there were vegan chefs, a nurse practitioner, a woman who is a two time cancer survivor and has made the switch to vegan/raw in an effort to remain healthy, myself, and others interested in learning more about raw vegan food.

118˚ This Way

We all met at the restaurant which is located in the shopping center called The Camp and then made the  short walk over to the Seed Market where the actual class took place which is right above Patagonia.  I have never been to this area of Costa Mesa and really look forward to going back to explore…it has a Sant Cruz kind of vibe.

The Camp in Costa Mesa

The class began by making three different dessert sauces; caramel, coconut cream, and chocolate sauce.  Chef Jenny made the sauces and then put them into squeeze bottles that she bought at Sur La Table (she said they sell BPA free squeeze bottles).  That is such a great way to store the sauces and it makes them easy to use on their own, i.e. with fruit or to squeeze right into the dessert recipes she uses the sauces in.

Cooking With Chef Jenny Ross

Next we moved onto dessert crusts and made a walnut based crust and a pecan based crust (that we later embellished to make raw brownies).  Below you see me making the walnut crust with Chef Jenny.

After making the crusts we moved on to making apple cobbler, avocado orange bars, chocolate brownies with chocolate fudge, macaroons, halvah with apples, drunken fruit, and fruit fondue.

By the end of class we all had a lot of desserts to take home.  When I got home my kids decimated the brownies…so good!

Completed Desserts

All in all it was a lot of fun and VERY educational.  I learned so much more from her about how to use my Excalibur dehydrator more effectively and different twists on making raw pie crusts, etc.  I can’t wait to whip up some more raw desserts…I am sure the kids won’t object.

Me & Chef Jenny Ross

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Filed under Dessert, Education, Gluten Free, Raw, Restaurants, Services, Vegan, Vegetarian