The Food Site

Today, I have a guest post from Shaun:

About the Author: Shaun Connell is a writer who publishes many “how-to” guides on cooking, easy desserts and other topics.

For a wonderful surprise dessert after a great meal, try this cherry cobbler recipe for a great old-fashioned fresh cherry cobbler. Cherry cobbler doesn’t have to wait for a special occasion it is good for any time. Cherry cobbler has been around for a long time and is always a welcome dessert. Cobblers were first made back in the 1850s and have remained a family favorite.

If you want to make a tasty piece of history for your family try this recipe. It makes the perfect ending to any meal.

Fresh Cherry Cobbler Recipe

Ingredients:

• 1 1/4 cups sugar
• 3 tablespoons cornstarch
• 4 cups pitted fresh tart cherries
• 1/4 teaspoon almond extract
• 1 cup flour
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3 tablespoons shortening
• 1/2 cup milk

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 400°. Blend 1 1/4 cups sugar, cornstarch, cherries, and almond extract in a medium saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until mixture thickens and boils.

Continue to boil and stir for 1 minute after the mixture comes to a boil. Pour fruit mixture into an ungreased 2-quart casserole. You want to use an ungreased pan because you don’t want the cherry cobbler to be greasy. Place in oven while preparing dough so that it continues to thicken and stays hot.

In a mixing bowl, measure flour, 1 tablespoon sugar, baking powder, and salt. Then add shortening and milk. You will want to cut shortening in several times to work the shortening into the dry mixture.

Then stir until dough forms a ball. Drop dough in about 6 spoonfuls onto hot fruit. Bake 25 to 30 minutes, or until topping is golden brown.

Serve warm with cream, if desired, or cool slightly and serve with vanilla ice cream.

Then set back and take in all the compliments on what a wonderful cherry cobbler you made. Everyone loves fresh, homemade food and this cobbler is going to be a big hit. Be warned though, everyone is going to want your recipe and don’t be surprised if you are asked to bake it for the next bake sale.

You can’t buy a delicious cobbler like this in the store. Not only is it fresh and taste wonderful, it is baked and served with love and you just can’t beat that.

I used to make a lot of salsa, then bottle them up and keep in the freezer. I’d use them for my salads, sandwiches or even to eat with rice. It has been awhile since I made salsa. Since, I do not want to freeze them this time, I thought of changing the recipe a bit and made a sorta chicken and quinoa salsa stew. Originally, I wanted it to be vegetarian, to leave out the chicken but then, I changed my mind and added the chicken for the two meat-eaters at home.

The great thing about cooking this salsa style dish is that it is very versatile and can be eaten as it is or with rice, salad, bread, even spaghetti! It is pretty simple to make too. First, you will need…

carrots, tomatoes, celery, onions, potatoes, bell pepper (capsicum), ketchup, balsamic vinegar, ready-made pasta sauce and

quinoa. I used red quinoa because it’s what I have. You can use pearl quinoa (the white quinoa) or black quinoa, whichever one you like. The cooking method for all types of quinoa is the same. After chopping up all the vegetables into chunks…

You will need to heat up a pot with some olive oil. First, you sautè the onions for a short while and then you add the carrots, tomatoes, capsicum, tomatoes.

After you stir it around for a minute or so, you add the potatoes, celery, sauces and water. Also add a sprinkle of dried mixed herbs for extra flavours. The quinoa is the last one to go in, after adding all the other stuffs. Then, you just leave it to simmer over low fire for close to two hours. If you don’t have the time, just dump all ingredients into the crock pot or slow cooker and leave it to simmer on low overnight. It will be ready the next day! And that’s it. Easy and so darn good, you may want to make it again and again!

So, here’s the recipe:

Wholesome Healthy Quinoa Salsa Stew

Ingredients

3 large carrots, cut into chunks

4 large tomatoes, diced

3 large onions, chopped

2 large potatoes, cut into chunks

3 stalks of celery, diced

1 – 2 capsicum (bell peppers), cut into chunks

1/2 cup red quinoa

5 tbsp pasta sauce

4 tbsp ketchup

1 tsp dried mixed herbs

1 – 2 cups of water (depending on how thick / watery you want it to be)

palm-sized chicken breast, skin removed and sliced thinly or minced. (if you want to add chicken or you can leave it out if you want a vegetarian one)

Instructions

1. Heat up a large pot with some olive oil.

2. Sautè the onions and then add the carrots, capsicum and tomatoes. Stir for a minute or so.

3. Add in the rest of the vegetables (potatoes and celery) and then stir in the sauces.

4. Add water and pour in the uncooked quinoa. Stir to mix the ingredients around.

5. Turn the heat up to medium and let it boil. Add the herbs, then add the minced chicken (or sliced chicken, whichever you like).

6. Turn down the heat to low and leave it to simmer for up to 2 hours. Remember to check on it and stir often to make sure it doesn’t burn.

7. If you are using the crock pot / slow cooker, then you can skip the sauteeing part. Instead, just dump everything in, add the sauces and water and leave it to cook on slow.

Special note: Water is important so you must not leave it out and it is important to add more as quinoa absorbs a lot of water and it needs a lot of water to cook. Here’s how to cook quinoa.

This quinoa recipe is great to go with any food. If you are cutting down on calories, you can eat this as it is with salad as I also like to call this recipe an all-in-one meal which contains vegetables, protein (quinoa is very high in protein) and healthy carbs (potatoes).

If you simply must have rice…

or if you prefer bread…

It is pack full of nutrients from all the vegetables and quinoa so it is not only low in fat (especially if you cook it without the chicken), it is very wholesome and best of all, so good you won’t even feel as if you are eating diet food!