this food thing

Posted By admin on March 16, 2009

This coming weekend is the first of Spring, and to celebrate, we are going to make Cinnamon Apple Chips, with Fresh Fruit Salsa, and Creamy Breakfast Chimichangas with the same salsa. I found the idea for the salsa a couple of years ago when I gave a breakfast for a friend on her wedding day.  I wanted simple, and fun things to eat, that were colorful and a bit different than the norm.  This hit the spot perfectly.

Though the fruit in the fruit salsa can be switched out for just about anything, the one good key is the crystallized ginger, as it gives a needed ‘pop’. I’ve used some of the frozen fruits (the three-fruits-in-a-bag deals), and they are fine, as long as they are thawed, and drained before using.

There are so many ways to utilize this sweet fruit salsa:

1. Serve with Cinnamon Apple Chips
2. Serve with Cinnamon Crisps
3. Serve on waffles
4. Serve on waffles, with a scoop of ice cream, and a drizzle of chocolate (woo..yum)
5. Serve with thin shortbread cookies
6. Serve with Vanilla Wafers (‘Nilla Wafers)
7. Serve with Gingersnaps
8. Serve with chocolate ice cream (omg, yum!)
9. Serve over shortbread, with a dollop of whipped cream
10. Serve over Angel Food Cake, with a dollop of whipped cream, and shaved chocolate

The limit is only your imagination (and mine!!).

Check back here for the Creamy Breakfast Chimichangas tomorrow :)

Fresh Fruit Salsa

1 mango, pit removed, in small chunks
1 kiwi, peeled and diced
1 nectarine or peach, pit removed, diced
2 apples, peeled, cored, and diced
1/2 cup raspberries
2 cups strawberries, diced
1 tablespoon brown sugar
4 tablespoons jam — any flavor will do
1 1/2 teaspoons crystallized ginger

*Dash of lemon juice

Dice the fruit rather small, as you need the fruit in small enough pieces that it is easily scoopable by an apple chip.

In a large bowl, mix the fruit, except for the raspberries.  Add the brown sugar and fruit preserves and mix well.   Mix in a the bit of lemon juice. Cover and chill for at least 1 hour.  Just before serving, mix in the raspberries gently.

Notes:

Almost any fruit will do — apples, pears, oranges, star fruit — you name it, if you like it – use it.  I’ve used black grapes, yummy Bosh pears, tangerine segments, bananas, frozen raspberries, blueberries…… and on and on.  Just don’t leave out the ginger, as it really adds to the dish.

Second – I’ve seen similar recipes on the net that use a lot more sugars — brown sugar or plain white sugar.  About 3 tablespoons, if this isn’t sweet enough for you, can be added or  1 Tablespoon white sugar, 2 tablespoons brown sugar. Also, using Splenda works fantastic for both the white sugar and the brown sugar.

Third – the jam — I use unsweetened jams, but you can use anything you like. I’ve used raspberry, cherry, gooseberry, apricot, and blueberry in the past.

Lastly, though you can make this ahead of time, I would suggest a couple of things:  1) Mix all the fruits together (including the raspberries), refrigerate overnight.  2) Drain the excess juice away, and mix in the jam. Allow to sit for about 15 minutes before serving.

Simple Cinnamon Apple Chips

1/2 cup confectioner’s sugar (aka 10x or icing sugar)
1 tablespoon cinnamon

4 large apples

Combine the sugar and cinnamon.

Then, using a mandoline, or a serrated knife, slice the apples as thinly as possible, thowing out the seeds and the ends.

Arrange the apples on two to three large baking sheets that have been lined with parchment paper.  Sprinkle with the cinnamon sugar, and then flip the slices over, and sprinkle the remainder of the cinnamon sugar.

Bake the apples in a 250F oven, turning the slices over about every 25-30 minutes, until completely dry.  This can take anywhere from 1 hour, to 3, so just be patient and keep turning!

Once these have completed drying, remove the apples from the baking sheets and allow to cool in a single layer.  Use a rack if you have one, or just lay on paper towels.

These keep well for about 2 weeks in a ziplock bag, or an airtight container.

Categories: Fruits, Sauces, Dips and Misc recipes, Snacky Things
Tags: apple chips, apples, cinnamon, cinnamon apple chips, Fruit Salsa, kiwi, mango, salsa