Apple sauce

Sometimes I seriously wonder if there is something wrong me. If I was maybe born with that famous ‘hole in the head’… Or maybe I actually think that there are 48 hours in each day (wouldn’t that be awesome by the way??) but noooo, that is all not true. I’m mean; yes I am slightly mad and yes, I am sometimes very delusional and yes I’ve managed to create yet another blog. Tsssk, I can hear you think.. Why would that be of any use?

It’s gone live today and if you cannot contain your curiosity; it’s called Beetroot and Halloumi and the idea is to make this a foodblog but centered around healthy food and healthy living.. BOOORRRRINNNG I can hear you think.. Maybe… I need to get better at controlling my healthy I think and thought this would be a cool way to keep the focus while in the meantime still eat unhealthy different dishes here on Junglefrog Cooking. Obviously there is no way I’m gonna abandon this baby so rest assured that will still be there. And I might over time decide that it was a bad idea and that nothing good has come of it, but for now I’m happy with it. It’s not exactly the way I want it to be yet. I hate having to search for a new theme and then installing it, spending time on it; only to find out it’s not exactly what it claimed to be. O well… it’s up and it’s working more or less. It looks ok-ish too. Still a bit empty since you see a lot of posts on the front page. And even though I think I’m superwoman, I cannot turn out twenty posts in one day.

The recipes will eventually be different from the ones featured here but in order to fill it up a bit I will use some of the recipes I’ve made over the last couple of years. The healthy ones ofcourse only!

Now talking about this delicious and plain applesauce. You would almost wonder why you would even need a recipe for that. Well you don’t really but I’m gonna share it with you anyway. It’s delicious, fragrant and anything a good apple compote should be! For the last bit of winter and now please let’s get on with spring already!

Apple sauce

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Serves	4
Prep time	15 minutes
Cook time	30 minutes
Total time	45 minutes
Meal type	Condiment, Side Dish
Misc	Child Friendly, Pre-preparable, Serve Cold
By author	Simone van den Berg

Ingredients

• 500-1000g apples (I used a variety of different apples)
• 4 pieces star anise
• 3-4 tablespoons cinnamon sugar
• 1 cup fresh orange juice

Directions

Peel and core all the apples and cut them into chunks. Don't make them too big or it will take too long to cook. Put all the apple cubes in a large saucepan, add a little bit of water and the orange juice to the pan, add the cinnamon sugar and star anise and bring to the boil. As soon as it's boiling turn the heat down to a simmer and leave it simmering for about 20-30 minutes. Check regularly to see how you're apples are doing. If you like the sauce to be smooth leave it fairly long, but if you like bits and chunks in the sauce then make sure you don't boil it too long.

Note

If you do not have cinnamon sugar (which is basically sugar with cinnamon added in it) you can ofcourse use regular sugar and add one or two cinnamon sticks in it.

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• Pavlova with pomegranate and cranberry sauce
• Mascarpone raspberry trifle
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Delicious persimmons cake

Do you have certain ingredients that you simply cannot resist? The type of ingredient you see in the markets or supermarket and just HAVE to have? I’m pretty terrible when it comes to things like that, so I tend to end up in a lot of cases with ingredients that have no immediate need or use. Or maybe terrible is not the right word. To me it is the perfect reason to try out new things, recipes that you have never tried before or ingredients you have no clue what to do with.

That is more or less how I ended up with a couple of persimmons. Persimmons are not very well known here in Holland and they’re also known by the name of sharonfruit or kakifruit. I kind of forgot to take a photo of the whole fruits for easier identification so I

Persimmons, kaki fruit or sharonfruit

got a stockphoto here to do that for me.

 

 

We do not want you to get confused… Now I love these fruits and I have known them for a while. But then again, like I said, I am the kind of girl who will buy any unknown ingredient. Just to see what it is and discover – maybe – a new taste. So I’ve known these orange lovelies for a while, love to eat them but had only eaten them in their raw shape and form.

I can’t remember exactly how the conversation went but Meeta and I were chatting on twitter and she mentioned she had a recipe for persimmon cake on her blog. Naturally I immediately looked and liked the sound of the spices so that is what I wanted to make. And I can tell you, it was delicious!! The persimmon inside the cake makes it lovely and moist and great to eat and it also stays edible for quite a long time (no, no.. I’m not talking weeks here but trust me this cake will not last you a week!!)

Instead of a regular cake tin I used a Bundt pan. It might be an old-fashioned shape (is it??) but I love it and it came out looking very pretty indeed. The only thing I changed from the original recipe is the addition of pistachio instead of walnuts. For the simple reason that I had those in the kitchen.

I also used only 4 persimmons. Mine were pretty big and I figured the 400 gram of puree that came out of those 4 (!) would be sufficient. Unfortunately mine could have been a little bit sweeter but still the cake was entirely delicious and definitely one I will be making again! If only to please my dad who has been eyeing my blog too closely and is disappointed he does not get more cakes brought to him. Sorry dad, I will make up for that soon!

 

Spicy cake with persimmon

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Recipe type: Dessert

Author: Meeta at What’s for Lunch Honey

Prep time: 20 mins

Cook time: 50 mins

Total time: 1 hour 10 mins

Serves: 12

Ingredients

• 4 – 6 ripe and soft persimmons – peeled and puréed. You can use an electric mixer or blender for this.
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 115 grams butter
• 200g brown sugar
• 350g all-purpose flour
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground clove powder
• 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
• 60g roasted pistachio – coarsely chopped

Instructions

1. Preheat oven at 180 degrees Celsius.
2. Add the baking soda to the puréed persimmon. You will notice that the persimmon will set and become more solid. No cause for alarm. Although this might look strange it is perfectly normal.
3. In a mixing bowl whisk the butter and sugar with and electric mixer, until creamy and fluffy. Stir in the persimmon and egg, beating until well combined. Using a rubber spatula, stir in the dry ingredients to the persimmon mixture. Blend in well and stir in the nuts.
4. Spoon the batter into a round greased cake pan and bake for 40-50 minutes or until the knife comes out clean.
5. Take out and allow to cool on a rack. Sprinkle generously with icing sugar. If you would like to freeze this cake then skip this part and freeze in an airtight container.

2.1.7

Moist with a crunch from the pistachio!

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The ultimate comfort food

When the alarms rings at 7 am I am already awake. Not wide awake but my dear old kitty friend Gizmo usually thinks that 6 am is a perfectly fine time to wake up and get fed. So around 6-ish she starts walking over my head, all the while miauwing loudly. She is getting a little deaf at the age of 19 so she doesn’t hear her own voice anymore… Annoying to say the least. So she wakes me up but I refuse to get out of bed before the alarm goes so I stubbornly ignore her, but it’s pretty obvious that any real sleep is not an option anymore.

Outside it is still dark and I can hear the wind howling around the house, telling me that I should stay in bed, but unfortunately duty calls so a little past 7 (snooze button!!) I swing my legs over the edge and go and feed a screaming cat (who then eats one tiny bit and follows me into the kitchen, so she can annoy me a little bit more. Typical start of my day… )

Italian sausage stew

The wind and rain keep it up the entire day and it is one of the first autumn days that is grey, dreary and mostly very wet. It’s a good thing that I do not suffer from autumn depressions but I can see how it easily would effect people that are more prone to weather changes. Me, I love autumn. I think I can safely say that I’m a season-girl. I love all seasons. I am not even sure I would like to live in a country where the sun always shines. That would be boring now wouldn’t it? Autumn is such a wonderful and comforting season. The season to snuggle up indoors, while the rain pounds on the roof, warming your hands around a mug of hot chocolate (preferably with whipped cream ofcourse) and gorgeous glorious stews.

Needless to say on that very first very real autumn day, my mind immediately went to stews. I had recently bought a bag of puy lentils (more lentil recipes here, here and here) so I figured I should make something with them and searching on the BBC Good Food site (my favorite recipe site) I quickly found the recipe for this delicious stew. The ultimate comfort food! We had it with baked potatoes but I think it might even be better with a nice potato mash. O or a potato/celeriac mash… Hmm, gotta try that next time!

Yummy puy lentils

Stew with sausage and lentils

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Serves	2
Prep time	10 minutes
Cook time	50 minutes
Total time	1 hour
Meal type	Main Dish
Misc	Serve Hot
Website	BBC Good Food

Ingredients

• 3 large baking potatoes
• olive oil
• 4 pork sausages
• 1 onion (chopped)
• 1 garlic clove (crushed)
• 1 pinch chili flakes
• 2 carrots (diced finely)
• 2 sticks celery (cut into small dice)
• 4 sprigs rosemary (needles only and chopped finely)
• 1 tin canned tomatoes (400 gr)
• 300ml white wine (Using chicken stock is also fine)
• 3 tablespoons puy lentils

Directions

Heat the oven to 200C/fan 180C/gas 6. Cut the potatoes into 2cm chunks, toss in olive oil then spread out on a non-stick baking tray. roast for 40 minutes until crisp and golden, turning a couple of times during cooking.

Meanwhile, cook the whole sausages in a little more olive oil in a large pan until browned all over. Take the sausages out of the pan then add the onions and garlic and cook until softened.

Add the chilli (if using) carrot and celery, then cook for 5 minutes. add 2/3 of the rosemary, all of the tomatoes, wine or stock and lentils. Slice each sausage diagonally into 4 thick chunks then add back to the pan. Simmer with a lid almost covering for about 30 minutes, or until the lentils are tender.

When the potatoes are cooked, toss with some sea salt and the rest of the rosemary, then serve with the stew.

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• Spicy cake with persimmon

Our few golden days of sunshine seem to have vanished and have been replaced by storm, rain and thunder. In fact while I am writing this I can hear the thunder rumbling in the distance… I’m always amazed at how quickly the weather patterns can change. A few days ago it was t-shirt weather and now I’m wondering if I should bring out the winter jackets already!

The good thing about autumn is that there is a whole range of new produce coming to us. Gorgeous chanterelle mushrooms, quince, pomegranates and these pretty figs. Figs are an interesting fruit really. I like them but they can also be really bland. But whatever the flavor, pretty they are; always!

Gorgeous figs

I was really surprised to find both figs and pomegranates in our supermarket the other day, so of course I had to buy some. I bought only four figs as they don’t keep very long and I knew we had to finish them rather quickly. I totally love them with blue cheese; one of the best combinations out there, but unfortunately Tom hates blue cheese (why, why, why??) so it had to be something sweet for this time. I could have baked but then I figured four pieces wouldn’t get me very far, so I browsed around on one of my favorite apps from Epicurious and found a recipe that I liked. I adapted it slightly to what I had in the cupboard. I had previously bought rosewater when I was out browsing through my favorite store where I also found the Bull’s blood leaves and spotted rosewater. Heard about it many times but never cooked with it so I figured I give it a go with this dessert.

Figs with honey-rose mascarpone and hazelnut brittle

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Serves	2
Prep time	15 minutes
Cook time	5 minutes
Total time	20 minutes
Meal type	Dessert
Website	Ep

Ingredients

• 3 figs
• 125g mascarpone
• 1 orange
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon rosewater
• 2 tablespoons Whipping cream
• 75g hazelnuts (roasted)

Directions

Put the sugar in a small saucepan and add 1 tbsp of water. Put on the heat and let the sugar melt. DO NOT STIR! Prepare a sheet of baking paper on a tray and lay that ready to go. Have your roasted hazelnuts close by to put into the caramel once ready too. As soon as the big bubbles of sugar disappear it will brown really quickly so do not walk away as it can burn in seconds! As soon as the sugar has a nice golden brown tint (you can also smell when it's ready too) take of the heat and add the hazelnuts and stir through. Put it onto the baking sheet quickly and leave to cool. Spread it out a bit so it will be easier to cut later.

Finely grate some zest from the orange and put in a bowl with the mascarpone, rosewater, honey and whipping cream. Stir together and add more of one or the other to taste

Cut the figs into halves and arrange three halves on one plate (you can do more but I thought 3 halves per person is more then enough for dessert).

Once the caramel is cooled chop it up with a knife until you're left with crumbly bits. Put the mascarpone on top of the figs and sprinkle some of the caramel nuts on top.

Note

Quick and delicious dessert. I loved the rosewater in the mascarpone but think I will add just a tiny bit more. I was afraid it would overpower the other flavors but it could have been a tiny bit more.

And I loved it; the caramel with hazelnuts was delicious with just the right hint of bitterness in it and the ripe fruit with the orange mascarpone… great combination too! Now next on my list are the quince!

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delicious roasted pumpkin salad

Outside leaves are turning red, yellow and golden; a sure sign that the end of summer is now official and autumn is making it’s way in. The fact that it feels like it has been autumn for a couple of months now doesn’t make it any less noticeable. It’s the wind that’s telling us and the smell of that typical autumn air.

Pumpkins and squash always remind me of autumn and all that is good about it. You see, I love autumn. Snuggling up indoors, while the wind is blowing around the house and torrential rains that are sweeping any dirt of the streets. Days are getting shorter with the light starting to fade rather quickly now. Evening are becoming colder too and everything is just screaming autumn! I’m actually looking forward to making warm and comforting dishes again. But let’s not forget that officially it’s still summer! Yes, ladies and gentleman; summer has not departed us! At least not officially and hey we can always pretend right?

So when I saw this salad on the Good Food website I just knew that was what I wanted to make. A combination of a salad (summer) with squash (autumn) So here it is! I did love the flavors and adding the puy lentils gives it an interesting twist. But what I will do for the next time is to either add some fried bacon bits or some halloumi cubes in there, as I did miss a salty crunchy note.

A marriage of summer and autumn

Roasted butternut squash salad

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Serves	4
Prep time	25 minutes
Dietary	Vegetarian
Meal type	Lunch, Salad
Website	BBC Good Food

Ingredients

• 2kg butternut squash (peeled and cut into 2 cm cubes)
• olive oil
• 100g puy lentils
• 100g rocket
• 1 teaspoon sesame seeds (toasted)
• 6 pieces spring onions (sliced)

Soy Dressing

• 5 tablespoons olive oil
• 3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• 1 piece red chili (seeded and chopped)
• 1 clove garlic (finely chopped)
• 1 teaspoon clear honey

Directions

Heat the oven to 200C. Put the squash on a baking sheet, drizzle with 1 tbsp of olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Roast for 20 minutes or until tender, shaking the tray a couple of times to keep it from sticking. Simmer the lentils for about 15 minutes or until al dente, then drain.

Whisk together the dressing ingredients. Put the rocket in a shallow serving bowl and arrange the lentils and squash on top. Pour the dressing over and top with sesame seeds and spring onion.

Note

I liked the flavor of this salad although I would like it even more if it had some salty cheesy element in it. I'm gonna try this next with little bits of bacon (making it a bit less vegetarian..) or little crispy bits of halloumi.

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