Harvest Monday, January 20, 2013 – Eating From Storage + Oven Dried Pineapple

Was not going to publish a post today because of photos mishap.

Deleted some photos by mistake with no way to recapture the images and the photo of the finished dish I made was not the best looking but tasted really good so decided to publish.

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Lacking a root cellar, during fall of 2012 I decided to experiment with storing my root vegetables (buried using pro-mix) in window boxes in my unheated garage. All the root vegetables stored well, a successful experiment. So last fall, 2013, I expanded my storage containers by using large foam ice chest. As you can see from the photo below, all the root vegetables look freshly dug. Decided to use the small celeriac first as they will most likely not keep as well as the larger ones.

Now that the days are getting longer and the weather, hopefully, will be gradually getting a bit warmer, I need to check all the roots more frequently for growth or spoilage.

1 Parsnip, 1 Yellow Carrot, 3 Orange Carrots & 2 small Celeriac

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Peeled root veggies
Left to right: Celeriac, orange carrots, Parsnips, Yellow Carrot & Onion
The onion was stored in the basement

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Whenever I make a stew, be it beef or pork, I always make extra for the freezer. When the stew is cooked to the stage to add the vegetables, before doing so, I remove the extra, cool and package in meal-sized portion, date label and freeze. Add the vegetables to the remaining stew in the pot and finish the cooking.

That’s why there is no recipe for the dish below.

I thawed a package of pork stew from the freezer, added it to a pot with the above prepared root vegetables. There was not enough liquid from the thawed stew so I added a cup of broth. Covered pot and brought to a boil using medium high heat. Lowered heat and simmered until vegetables reached desired doneness. Easy, convenient and best of all did not taste like it came out of the freezer.

Pork Stew with Root Vegetables
Should have garnished with some scallion green or parsley to give the dish a cheerful look

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Was a busy week and completely forgot about the 2 pineapples I bought earlier in the week, when I remembered they were at the point of: use immediately or discard.

Enjoyed a large bowl of freshly sliced and oven dried the remainder.

Decided to cut some of the slices about ¼ inch thick and some about ½ inch thick. Place all on 2 racks on 2 sheet pans, baked at convection 225°F for 3 hours. Left a crack in the oven door during the 1st hour of oven-drying to allow steam to escape (this is an experiment).

My theory behind the above experiment is: during the 1st hour of oven-drying, the pineapple slices release a lot of moisture. Leaving a crack in the oven door allows the moisture to escape resulting in a drier oven cavity thus shortening the drying time. Perhaps I should leave a crack during the whole oven-drying process. What do you think? Sure wish I had 2 ovens to make comparison. Would so love to work in a test kitchen.

Also used a higher temperature, convection 225°F instead of convection 200°F.

Oven Dried Pineapple
Took a before photo but it was deleted by mistake

The thinner slices were dry but still pliable the thicker slices were dry to the touch but still plump. Because there is no preservatives all will be stored in the freezer.

To use:
• Will combine, when the occasion arises, the thinner slices with the oven-dried apples, persimmons and banana I have in the freezer together with some almonds, walnuts and pecans to make a healthy trail mix. Chocolate is good for you so I will add some too.
• Will use the thicker and plumper slices in cooking or add to salads.

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