The Canadian Press
Chef Michael Smith says people have forgotten that many foods purchased for their convenience used to be made at home.
In his new cookbook, “Real Food, Real Good,” he offers recipes for such items as mustard, ketchup, broth, granola, salad dressings, barbecue sauce, gravy, marshmallows and chicken wings that can be made at home to control what goes into your food.
Smith also includes a recipe for roll-ups made with real fruit that can be tucked into a child’s lunchbox rather than purchasing the sugar-laden, factory-made equivalent.
REAL FRUIT ROLL-UPS
Apples are loaded with pectin, a magical ingredient that helps set jams and jellies and gives great strength and flexibility to homemade fruit roll-ups. In this recipe the apples get a strong nutritional boost from chia seeds, which also help the roll-ups hold together.
900 g (2 lb) or so of apples, cored and cut into large chunks
1 bag (600 g/21 oz) frozen raspberries
1 knob (2.5 cm/1 inch) ginger, thinly sliced or grated
125 ml (1/2 cup) water
30 ml (2 tbsp) chia seeds
Position racks in upper and lower thirds of oven and preheat oven to 100 C (200 F). Turn on convection fan if you have one. Line 2 baking sheets with lightly oiled parchment paper or silicone baking mats.
Into a medium saucepan, toss apples, raspberries and ginger, add water and bring to a slow, steady simmer over medium-high heat. Cover and continue simmering until apples are very soft, 20 minutes or so. Remove from heat, stir in chia seeds, cover and rest until seeds absorb liquid and swell, 10 minutes or so.
Process mixture through large holes of a food mill or remove ginger slices and puree the works in your food processor or blender. Divide evenly between prepared baking sheets, spreading evenly and thinly.
Bake for 2 hours, then check for doneness every 30 minutes or so. The mixture will thin noticeably and the surface will dry and become slightly sticky. The moisture content in apples varies, so this may take up to 4 hours total. Remove from oven and cool completely.
Trim away any excess paper around edges of fruit leather. Roll each sheet of fruit and paper into a tight log, then with a pair of kitchen scissors cut into pieces 2.5 or 5 cm (1 or 2 inches) wide. Store in a resealable plastic bag.
Makes 20 snacks.
Source: “Real Food, Real Good” by Michael Smith (Penguin, 2016).
