Dehydrating Archives - The Slow Roasted Italian

Dried Apple Chips

Donna Elick — Wed, 21 Mar 2012 11:00:00 +0000

Dried Apple Chips are an easy and convenient snack to have on hand. They are healthy, nutritious and did I mention delicious!

Happy Wednesday everyone! Today we are sharing a favorite family healthy snack. My munchkin is on an apple kick and this is such an easy and convenient way to snack on something that she loves with the nutrition that I love!! I keep a airtight container in her bag and a ziploc bag in mine with dried apple chips. They keep well and we never have to grab junk food when we are out (unless we want too, of course).

You can use any apple you want, but make sure that they are ripe (not overly ripe) and an apple that you love. You get out what you put in, so be sure to use the freshest ingredients possible.

I have tried peeling apples by hand and using an apple peeler, I have to say I prefer the hand peeled method that produces a perfect round center circle (punched with a cookie cutter or apple corer) and you get beautiful circle apple chips. I suppose it is a little bit of the perfectionist in me. Beautiful food makes me happy!

So, here is what I did.

I started with about 40 pound of my favorite apple (okay actually it was a very sweet apple that was 33¢/lb, therefor on this day… It was my favorite apple). 40 pounds? Yes, Munchkin really loves these apple chips and I have an outstanding IOU for some apple butter that will be made with this batch also!

I removed all the stickers and washed the apples, hoping to dehydrate the peels into some tasty tea flavoring later. Simple put apples in a clean sink and fill with luke-warm water and Palmolive. Palmolive and warm water work best for cleaning produce.

Perhaps you might use less Palmolive, we like bubbles in our house. Even when I am brushing my teeth, Munchkin says “bubbles mama” as she points to my mouth.

Remove apples from soapy water and rinse well. Peel apples 3 at a time. You can core them now using a hand dandy apple corer like this one that I have Norpro . Or simply use a small cookie cutter to core the apple after slicing it.

Using a mandoline slicer like this Progressive International one I have, slice the apple into medium thickness slices. Place on tray of dehydrator. I use the Excalibur 3900 (which I love love love) and I can fit about 3 apples per tray or 25 apple slices. Spray apple slices with lemon juice concentrate.

Place trays in dehydrator and turn to 135° and dehydrate for 8-14 hours.

Enjoy!

With love, from our simple kitchen to yours.

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Dried Apple Chips

Course Snack

Cuisine American

Method Oven

Prep Time 20

Cook Time 8

Total Time 8 20

Servings – 8 Pounds

Calories 426cal

Author Donna Elick

Ingredients

27 apples fresh, and ripe (6-8 pounds)
lemon juice concentrate with a spray nozzle attached to the bottle

Instructions

Remove all the stickers and wash the apples. Put apples in a clean sink and fill with luke-warm water and Palmolive. Palmolive and warm water work best for cleaning produce.
Remove apples from soapy water and rinse well. Peel apples 3 at a time. Be sure to remove any brown spots. You can core them now using an apple corer. Or simply use a small cookie cutter to core the apple after slicing it.
Using a mandoline slicer, slice the apple into medium thickness slices. Place on tray of dehydrator. Spray apple slices with lemon juice concentrate.
Place trays in dehydrator and turn to 135° and dehydrate for 8-14 hours.

Notes

You can dehydrate these in your oven by setting oven temperature to 135°, place apple slices on a cooling rack set into a cookie sheet. Bake for 8-14 hours.

Nutrition

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How to Make Your Own Sun Dried Tomatoes

Donna Elick — Wed, 14 Mar 2012 21:46:00 +0000

Hello and welcome to The Slow Roasted Italian. Today I would like to share with you one of my favorite foods. I am a tomato lover through and through. I love them fresh, baked, cooked on the stove top, and I especially love Sun-dried tomatoes. I eat the Rosemary Basil Sun-dried Tomatoes like candy (they are THAT good)!

These are simply sun-dried tomatoes like you would buy in the store. Except these are all natural and have no additives or preservatives. They are so simple that I would NEVER buy these in the store. The batch pictured above I chose to dehydrate without the seeds because I am planning on grinding them into tomato powder to be used like tomato paste. However you can dry them with seeds and they can be kept in the freezer.

I use my Excalibur dehydrator which does a fantastic job of drying. I really just put them on the trays and forget them. After many hours of drying I check on them. I use the Excalibur 3900 and I can fit 15 tomatoes on each tray. I can dry 4 trays at a time (because of the height).

OVEN NOTE: You can also dry these in your oven. Set oven to 135° and place tomatoes on a cooling rack set onto a baking 1/2 sheet. Bake for 8-18 hours, depending on whether you remove the seeds or not. Removing the seeds makes dehydration much faster.

Enjoy!

With love, from our simple kitchen to yours.

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Other Easy Tomato Recipes

Homemade Crock Pot Tomato Paste

“All Day” Tomato Sauce in Only 20 Minutes

Roasted Tomato Sauce (Best Ever)

Roasted Tomato Basil Soup

Sun-dried Tomatoes

These are simply sun-dried tomatoes like you would buy in the store. Except these are all natural and have no additives or preservatives.

Course Side Dish

Cuisine American

Method Freezer

Cook Time 12

Total Time 12

Servings

Calories 11cal

Author Donna Elick

Ingredients

60 Roma tomatoes ripe

Instructions

Fill your sink with warm soapy water and wash tomatoes thoroughly. (Remember you are eating the skins, you want them nice and clean).
Remove from water and rinse. Core tomatoes and slice in half vertically.
Place tomatoes on trays. You can fit 30 tomato halves on each of the Excalibur trays.
Place them in dehydrator and allow to dry for 12 -18 hours, until they have no moisture remaining in the tomato.
Place in an air tight container and store in the pantry/refrigerator/freezer to be used as needed. They will keep for at least 1 year in the refrigerator/freezer. Storing in the pantry, in a cool and dark place, they will keep for at least 1 year. However if there is ANY moisture present it can cause mold to grow. So, to be safe I store them in my freezer.
Enjoy!

Notes

To use your tomatoes, you can cook them from frozen or let them defrost on the counter for 5 minutes. You can also reconstitute them in boiling water for 5 minutes.

Nutrition

Originally published March 2012

The post How to Make Your Own Sun Dried Tomatoes appeared first on The Slow Roasted Italian.

Dehydrating Bananas for Banana Chips

Donna Elick — Tue, 06 Mar 2012 12:00:00 +0000

Dehydrating bananas is easy to do and costs less than buying them. Make this snack recipe for a healthy treat that kids and adults enjoy!

Dehydrated fruit is a healthy snack because it’s got all of the nutrients without any preservatives. Plus, it’s easy to take with you anywhere!

If you’re unfamiliar with store bought banana chips, you may not know that they are deep-fried and coated in a sugar solution.

For this recipe, we simply dehydrate bananas with a spritz of lemon juice to prevent browning.

This way, they are naturally sweetened, making them a healthier snack.

You can easily make all kinds of dried fruit this way – dried pineapple rings, apples, pears, and many other fruits as well.

Tips and tricks for dehydrating bananas

Level of ripeness

Use ripe bananas with peels that are fully yellow, but with few to no brown spots.

While overripe fruit has a sweeter overall flavor, it can be difficult to cut into clean slices. Also, the slices can break apart easily when you transfer them to the baking tray.

In the oven

If you don’t have a dehydrator, you can make baked banana chips in your oven.

Prepare the fruit as instructed, but place the slices on a wire rack set onto a baking sheet instead.

Another option is to place them directly on a baking sheet that is well coated with cooking oil.

To dehydrate the fruit, place the pan on the center rack of a preheated 125°F oven for 12 to 18 hours, or until dry but pliable.

Create different flavors

Use spices and seasonings to add variety to your banana chips. Add cinnamon for something sweet or make them spicy with a dash of cayenne or chipotle chili powder.

How to make banana chips

1. Peel the bananas

First, peel the bananas and use a paring knife to remove any brown spots.

2. Spritz with lemon juice

Next, spritz the fruit lightly with lemon juice to prevent additional browning. I like to use lemon juice concentrate, but a mixture of lemon juice and water in equal parts, or up to a 1:4 ratio, also works.

Note: You can omit the lemon juice if you prefer. The flavor will be the same; just know that the color of the banana slices will be darker.

Next, slice the fruit into 1/4-inch thick coins and place them in a single layer on a dehydrator tray.

If you want to dry them in an oven instead, place them on a wire rack set on top of a baking sheet. Spritz again with lemon juice.

Dehydrate

Follow the manufacturer’s directions for your appliance, but generally speaking, dehydrating bananas takes about 8 hours.

Once done, the fruit should be pliable, but not hard or crunchy.

Remove the dried fruit with a spatula, or peel them off with your fingers. Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 weeks.

Uses for dehydrated bananas

Of course, you can enjoy these on their own, but here are some other ways to incorporate them into healthy snacks throughout the day:

Homemade trail mix – Combine with nuts, chocolate chips, or other dried fruits for an energizing snack.
Topping for yogurt or ice cream
In cookies or energy bars – Chop and mix into the batter at the end.
Double banana bread – Use a combination of fresh bananas and chopped banana chips for double the flavor.
Garnish for cupcakes – Stick a slice in the top of piped frosting for a cute and edible topper.

Go savory or sweet, depending on your mood! Because these have a neutral but slightly sweet flavor, they go with just about anything.

Any dried or fresh fruit tastes great in Sweet Lemon Yogurt Fruit Dip. It’s light, refreshing, and healthy too.

Replace tortilla chips with dried fruit for dipping in salsa or guacamole.

Or, for something more indulgent, swipe your banana chips through Simple Peanut Butter Fudge Dip or Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Dip.

Enjoy!

With love, from our simple kitchen to yours.

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Dried Banana Coins

Dehydrating bananas is easy to do and costs less than buying them. Make this snack recipe for a healthy treat that kids and adults enjoy!

Course Snack

Cuisine American

Method Oven

Servings jar

Author Donna Elick

Equipment

dehydrator

Ingredients

bunches bananas ripe
lemon juice concentrate with a sprayer bottle top

Instructions

Peel your bananas, one bunch at a time. Remove any brown spots. Spritz each lightly with lemon juice after you peel it. Line bananas up next to each other and slice them 1/4″ thick.
After banana’s are sliced, place them on your dehydrator tray. Lay them out on the tray not overlapping. Once they are on your dehydrator tray, spritz with lemon juice lightly.
Dehydrate according to manufacturers directions. Remove from dehydrator once bananas are pliable (not hard). Keep in an airtight container.
Enjoy!

Notes

OVEN NOTE: If baking in the oven, place a metal cooling rack on top of a cookie sheet and then place the banana’s on your cooling rack. Bake in oven at 125° for 12-18 hours (until bananas are dehydrated to your liking).

The post Dehydrating Bananas for Banana Chips appeared first on The Slow Roasted Italian.

Dried Pineapple Rings

Donna Elick — Tue, 25 Oct 2011 12:00:00 +0000

Today I have Dried Pineapple Rings, pineapple takes no pretreatment just slice and dehydrate, as easy as that.

It’s Tuesday and that means its Simply Delicious here the TSRI. Today, I bring you a simple snack that is a family favorite. Literally 1 ingredient.

We love healthy snacks, I keep them in my hand bag, in Em’s diaper bag, in the pantry and we are always grabbing for them. Dried pineapples are one of our favorites. I never would have thought to make my own dried fruits, but I can get the freshest ingredients and know what my family is eating. I picked up a bag of dried banana chips from a health food store and enjoyed them very much until I read the ingredient list… That did it.

Today I have Dried Pineapple Rings, pineapple takes no pretreatment just slice and dehydrate. I use my dehydrator, but you can easily do this in your oven on a low temperature setting.

Enjoy!

With love, from our simple kitchen to yours.

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Dried Pineapple Rings

Today I have Dried Pineapple Rings, pineapple takes no pretreatment just slice and dehydrate. I use my dehydrator, but you can easily do this in your oven on a low temperature setting.

Course Snack

Cuisine American

Method Oven

Prep Time 5

Cook Time 10

Total Time 10 5

Servings

Calories 226cal

Author Donna Elick

Equipment

Ingredients

5 pineapples

Instructions

Start with 1 ripe pineapple.
Lay pineapple on its side, on top of a cutting board. Using a sharp chefs knife, cut off the top and bottom of the pineapple. Stand pineapple up on its end.
Cut the skin (and spiky things) off the sides in strips, continue around the pineapple until all the skin is removed. Cut pineapple with a mandolin slicer (using the thick setting) or cut in 1/4 – 1/8″ slices using a good knife. Once you have sliced the pineapple, remove the core by punching the center with a small cookie cutter, about a 1″ round. You can also use a knife to cut it out.
Lay pineapple rings, not touching on your dehydrator trays (mine holds 9 rings per tray). Repeat until you have filled your whole dehydrator. Mine takes 5 pineapples (with a little snacking). Fill your dehydrator and dry according to your manufacturers instructions.
Alternately you can lay on baking sheets and bake in oven at 165 degrees for 6-16 hours until leathery and not sticky.

Nutrition

Originally Published October 2011

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Rosemary Basil Sun Dried Tomatoes

Donna Elick — Fri, 17 Jun 2011 16:37:00 +0000

Rosemary basil Sun Dried tomatoes taste like sundried tomatoes packed in oil, and they’re SO simple to make at home!

I have always loved Sun Dried Tomatoes, but I have never had any quite like these. One taste and you will be hooked. It is funny that one little ingredient or process can make such a huge difference in a recipe. In this recipe, drying the tomatoes in the marinade instead of re-hydrating in an infused oil makes a HUGE difference.

Kind of like cooking with salt vs. adding salt on the plate. Cooking with salt adds flavor and brings out flavors, where as adding salt on the plate just makes food salty. Also, the fresh basil is absolutely fabulous in this recipe but if you can not find any, don’t be discouraged, decrease the amount by half and use dried basil. You will love these either way.

Enjoy!
With love, from our simple kitchen to yours.

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Rosemary Basil Dehydrated Tomatoes

Rosemary basil dehydrated tomatoes taste like sundried tomatoes packed in oil, and they're SO simple to make at home!

Course Condiment

Cuisine Italian

Method Microwave

Prep Time 25

Dehydrating Time 10

Total Time 10 25

Servings

Calories 54cal

Author Donna Elick

Equipment

Ingredients

15 firm ripe Roma tomatoes
2 tablespoons olive oil I use extra virgin
3 cloves garlic smashed
2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil
1 tablespoon dried rosemary
1 tablespoon kosher salt

Instructions

Core and quarter tomatoes; if they are large cut them into 6th's or 8th's. You do not want them to be taller than your food dehydrator tray.
Place cut tomatoes into a large bowl. You can choose whether to seed the tomatoes or not, I do not notice any added bitterness from the seeds. The moisture surrounding the seeds concentrates into a much deeper flavor profile so I choose to keep the tomato intact.
In a small microwave safe bowl, combine olive oil and smashed garlic. (See notes for how to smash garlic)
Cover bowl with a paper towel and microwave on high for 15-30 seconds. Oil should be warm, not boiling.
Remove your garlic infused olive oil from the microwave and allow it to cool slightly, just a few minutes.
Remove the smashed garlic from the oil and add chopped fresh basil, dried rosemary and kosher salt. Stir to combine well.
Pour mixture in bowl over cut tomatoes. Toss gently with your hands or a spoon to combine without bruising the tomatoes.
Your tomatoes will be generously coated in the olive oil mixture. You could serve them over a bed of spring mix for a delightful salad at this point. The marinating tomatoes smell so good, the waiting is the hardest part.
Place marinated tomatoes in your food dehydrator tray so they are not touching. They will be very wet – you can shake off some of the liquid as you are taking them out of your prep bowl. Do not 'dry' them off or you will lose your depth of all these flavors.
I use a small 5-tray dehydrator and the entire batch fits nicely with a little room to spare. Plug in your food dehydrator and dry according to manufacturer's instructions.
It takes roughly 10-15 hours to dehydrate tomatoes. I started mine in the afternoon and they were not all done by bed time, so I simply unplugged the dehydrator and then turned it back on in the morning.

Notes

To smash garlic: Lay the side of the blade of a chef´s knife (blade facing AWAY from you) on each clove and smash down with the heel of your palm, then remove peel.

Nutrition

Originally Published June 2011

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