We thought about using one of our exceptions for raisins or currants, because we use them so often in hot cereals and baked goodies, but we decided instead to try making our own. The first batch came out of the dehydrator a couple days ago. They took *forever* to dry, compared to other fruits I've tried, because of the impermeable skin (it helps to blanch or freeze them first -- I froze these ones -- but it still took three times as long as dried apples.) The thicker northern skins probably exacerbated that problem. I was concerned that they might make the raisins overly chewy, too, but it's not noticeable, at least on this batch. And it's definitely a win, flavor-wise!
So today I bought a big sampler bag of grape varieties at Greenstar (from Thornbush Farms, in Aurora), cleaned them, and stuck them in the freezer. They'll move from there to the dehydrator either tomorrow or Wednesday. Four distinct seedless flavors, which I'm going to try to keep separate at least through the drying process -- "strawberry" (Einset), "melon" (Reliance), muscat (black muscat) and "mild and sweet" (they're green, but I forget the variety name.)
So now I can have raisins in my granola, too. :^)
breakfast: granola (Greenstar bulk) with almond milk (homemade/exception), scrambled eggs (Sabol's Farm) with spinach (Blue Heron), and multigrain bread (Cayuga Pure grains)
lunch: Greenstar deli soup for Sophia, multigrain bread with honey (Greenstar bulk), raspberries (garden), tiny plums (West Haven Farm)
dinner: refritos (leftover) with corn tortillas (Cayuga Pure flour), lettuce (Blue Heron) and sweet peppers (garden)
9/12 Menu:
breakfast: flapjacks (Birkett Mills buckwheat) with red currant/maple syrup (Kestrel Perch/Schoolyard Sugarbush), red plum (Black Diamond)
school lunch: lamb & potato stew (leftover), multigrain bread (Cayuga Pure grains) with honey (Greenstar bulk local), carrots (Early Morning), buffalo snack stick (Glenwood Farms), watermelon (garden)
my lunch: dried pears (front yard) and peaches (farm stand), eggs (back yard), multigrain bread with red currant/raspberry jelly (Kestrel Perch berries, Greenstar bulk local honey)
snack: corn on the cob (Sabol's), watermelon for me, red plum for Sophia
dinner: refritos again (leftovers), melon and raspberry salad (garden)
I've 'checked' mine by blanching them, but freezing sounds like it might be easier. It does take a while to dehydrate them, but the raisins I've made at home have been really yummy - sticky with concentrated sweetness. Great in granola or baked goods.
ReplyDelete@Nancy: I blanched my tart cherries the first couple times, but freezing -- though slower -- is definitely more convenient. I saw one recipe that suggested squeezing out "as much of the juice as possible" to speed up the drying time, but I can't bear to give up all that rich flavor. I used the fruit leather sheets on this batch, b/c the test batch dripped all over the floor of my dehydrator.
ReplyDeleteThe tart cherries release a lot of juice after freezing. I add honey and soak them for awhile, and then strain off the honey-juice (which makes a pretty impressive jello) before drying. Didn't do any straining with the grapes; I'm not sure it would have much effect, since they're not cut in half the way the cherries are.
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ReplyDeleteI checked the dehydrator a few hours ago and this batch of raisins is *still* not done. Too bad, because we have a bunch of apples that are ready to go as soon as we have space!