STEWED QUINCE
(An unusually good dessert)
2 lb. quince
3 cups hot water
½ to ¾ cup sugar
Pinch of salt
Peel quince. Cut in quarters and remove the core. Slice very thin, letting slices drop into the hot water. Cover closely and simmer until quince is tender, or from 30 to 45 minutes. More water may be needed. Add sugar to suit taste, and salt. Reheat to boiling. Cool before serving. 5 servings.
STEWED PRUNES
Wash dried prunes quickly but thoroughly in cold water. Place in saucepan and barely cover with lukewarm water. Allow to soak 1 to 2 hours; then cook in the same water over low heat until fruit is tender – the slower the cooking, the better the product. Since prunes are quite sweet, sugar need not be added when they are cooked plain . The addition of a small amount, however, does give a thicker and more attractive syrup. Chill before serving.
Variation 1: To ½ lb. dried prunes, allow 1 lemon. Wash and soak prunes as described above. Slice lemon very thin and add to prunes when they start to cook, with 3 to 4 tablespoons sugar. Serve lemon slices along with stewed prunes.
Variation 2: Instead of cooking the prunes, allow them to stand in the soaking water for a day or more until sufficiently softened. Keep closely covered in the refrigerator until ready to serve.
Variation 3: Just before serving, add peeled and sliced or diced oranges to the prunes.
Variation 4: Serve the plain stewed prunes or prunes stewed with lemon slices with cream for dessert.
STEWED PEARS
1 cup sugar
1 ½ cups water
1 lemon, sliced thin
4 large or 5 medium Bartlett or Bosc pears, well-ripened
Put sugar and water in a saucepan and heat to boiling. Add lemon slices. Thinly peel pears. Cut in half, remove cores neatly with time of a teaspoon, and cut each pear half in four pieces. Drop sections immediately into the hot syrup, cover and simmer until tender, from 15 to 20 minutes depending on size of pears. Serve pears warm or chilled in syrup. 5 servings.
Note: Slightly under ripe pears never make as luscious a dessert as thoroughly ripened
STEWED PEACHES
1 ½ lb. cling or freestone peaches
½ cup water
½ cup sugar more or less
Choose well-ripened, juicy but firm fruit. Peal and halve peaches and remove stones. Add water and sugar, cover and simmer slowly until peaches are soft (5 to 15 minutes, the time depending on size and the quality of peaches). Cool peaches, chill and serve plain or with cream. 5 servings.
(Any of these recipes I have been posting can have by covering the dehydrated or freeze dried products with hot water and let sit until rehydrating. Drain off excess liquid. Add sugar and any additional water necessary to make ½ cup liquid.)
Cooking with freeze dried products becomes very easy and your family will love the taste. It takes a little longer to rehydrate dried fruits. But the flavor is there and the extra time is worth the effort. After all the pealing and cutting is already completed for you.
STEWED FRESH PLUMS
2 lb. blue or Green Gage plums
1 cup sugar
½ cup water
Wash prunes and prick skins several times with a skewer. Put sugar and water into saucepan, cover, and heat to boiling. Drop in the plums, cover, and simmer over low heat until fruit is tender, or for 5 to 8 minutes. Cool, then chill thoroughly and serve plain or with cream. 5 servings.
STEWED DRIED FRUIT
Wash DRIED PEACHES, PEARS, FIGS OR RAISINS toughly but quickly in cold water. Barely cover with lukewarm water, cover and let stand for 1 to 3 hours. Then heat fruit and simmer, covered, until tender (I5 to 20 minutes) in same water in which it was soaked. Add sugar to suit taste, allowing from 2 tablespoons to 1/3 cup for each ½ pound of fruit. Amount will depend on tartness of fruit and on personal taste; many persons prefer to add no sugar at all.
For variation, a combination of dried fruits may be cooked together in the same manner.
STEWED DRIED APRICOTS
½ lb. dried apricots
3 cups water
¼ to 1/3 cup sugar
Cream
Wash, the apricots quickly but thoroughly in cold water. Place in a saucepan, add the 3 cups of water, cover and allow to soak for 2 or 3 hours. Put the soaked apricots to cook in the same water, cover and simmer very gently for 15 minutes or until just tender. Just before removing from the heat, stir in the sugar. Serve warm or cold with cream, if desired. 5 servings.
STEWED CHERRIES
1 quart sour red cherries
½ cup water
½ to ¾ cup sugar, according to tartness of cherries
Almond extract, optional
Cream
Wash, stem and pit cherries over a saucepan to catch juice; there will be about 2 ½ cups pitted fruit. Drop directly into saucepan, add water, cover, and simmer until tender, about 10 minutes. Stir in the sugar and continue heating for a minute or two until sugar is entirely dissolved. Stir in a few drops of almond extract, if desired. Serve warm or cold with plain or whipped cream. 5 servings
Variation: Stewed cherries make a pleasing sauce for Cottage pudding and many people like them with pancakes or waffles. For this purpose, the juice should be thickened as follows: blend 1 ½ to 2 teaspoons of cornstarch with a little of the cherry juice until smooth. Stir into rest of cherries and heat, stirring constantly until sauce is clear. Stir in 1 to 2 tablespoons butter and a few drops of almond extract, if desired.
COTTAGE PUDDING
1 ½ all-purpose flour
1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ cup shortening
½ cup sugar
1 egg
½ teaspoon vanilla
½ cup milk
Sift and measure flour and resift 3 times with baking powder and salt. Cream shortening and sugar until light. Add egg, beat until smooth and fluffy stir in vanilla. Add flour mixture alternately with milk, beginning and ending with flour and beating well after each addition. Turn into greased rectangular baking pan (7 x 11 x 1 ½ inches) and bake in a moderate oven (350 F) for 25 minutes, or until cake tests done. Cut into wedges and serve warm with Lemon Sauce. 6 or 8 servings.
STEWED BLACKBERRIES
1 quart blackberries
½ cup water
Pinch of salt
½ cup sugar
Carefully wash berries, swishing them through cold water, and then lift them out of water on outstretched fingers into a saucepan. Remove any hulls. Add water, cover, and heat slowly; simmer berries for about 15 minutes. Shake pan or stir gently during cooking to prevent berries sticking to the bottom. Add salt and sugar and heat 2 or 3 minutes longer. Remove from heat. Serve warm or chilled, plain or with cream. If the fruit is very ripe, add 1 or 2 tablespoons lemon juice. 5 servings
STEWED APRICOT PUR’EE
½ lb. dried apricots
2 cups cold water
Wash the apricots, soak and cook just as for Stewed Apricots (Quickly but thoroughly, using cold water). When done, rub through a coarse sieve, using a wooden spoon, and continuing to rub until only a dry mass or fiber remains in the sieve or put through a food mill. For a sweetened purée. Stir in ¼ to 1/3 cup sugar, according to taste; but many recipes call for unsweetened purée. Makes 2 cups.
Southern Utah Food Storage