Homemade Fire Cider

Fire Cider, the spicy tonic our grandmothers had us drink during cold and flu season, may be more than just a folksy elixir. There are many different recipes out there, and you can modify any of them to suit your palate. This recipe is one I have made for years and enjoy year-round.

To make this tonic, one must be patient, and since we are nearing the end of our current bottle, and this takes at least one month to develop, I need to get grating! For this recipe I am going to have my tonic sit in a half gallon glass canning jar in my pantry for one month. During this time, I will take the sealed jar out of the cabinet once each day and give it a good shake. Since I am making two batches, one hot and one mild, I have two jars full. I will be spritzing the inside of each jar with 100% alcohol mix to sterilize before I fill it. Everclear is my choice, since it is made from the potato. For this recipe we are making one gallon worth.

Ingredients:

2 large pieces of horseradish, peeled & grated            6 Jalapeno chilis diced

6 Serrano Chilis Diced                        3 Black Radish or another hot spicy radish diced

3 white onions diced                            3 garlic bulbs peeled & chopped

3 large pieces of ginger peeled and diced                4-5 pieces of turmeric peeled & diced

2 lemons zested, squeezed and pulp scraped into jar

Directions:

You want to cut each item into small pieces that you will be placing inside the sanitized jars. Cut, chop, and dice everything up, so you get the most out of your ingredients. Once everything is chopped, begin filling your jars. I like my fire cider extra spicy, so I am going to put more serrano and the black radish in my jar and leave them out of my husbands’ tonic. He can’t take as much heat and this will enable him to benefit from the tonic without having unwanted gastrointestinal discomfort. Now that all of your ingredients are in the jar, pour apple cider vinegar over your mixture. Leave a small amount of room at the top, just below the rim so when you shake it, things move a little in the jar.

Once you have put a lid on the jar, place it in a dark place like a cabinet in your kitchen. Remove the jar once each day and give it a good shake. While holding and shaking it, put your positive intention and energy into the tonic/elixir. After 30 days you open the jar and pour it through a cheesecloth or strainer to get the pure juice. Pour that clean juice into a clean sterilized jar and place it in your refrigerator. This mixture will last for months in the refrigerator if you don’t drink it all first!

Let me stress, I AM NOT MAKING ANY HEALTH CLAIMS OR CURATIVE CLAIMS OR PROVIDING MEDICAL ADVICE. This is a tonic we have used for years in our home and enjoy having a shot daily and 2-3 when feeling punky. It really wakes us up in the morning! We hope you enjoy it as much as we do!

Parsnips

Parsnips in all their glory

Parsnips:

Are a root vegetable; in the Apaiaceae family, it’s relatives being everyone’s favorite breath freshener parsley and the carrot.  One bite into a perfectly crisp parsnip and you will taste its strong floral, carrot flavor.  Both delicate and rich.

As such this vegetable can be used once, cleaned and if desired, peeled.

It can be baked, roasted, peeled and diced, sliced, raw, steamed and whipped, this vegetable is versatile and nutritious.

High in potassium, fiber, magnesium, vitamins C and B-6 it is a great addition to a healthy diet.  If you have never tasted one, we have included some fun Fall Winter Recipes for your enjoyment.

As we add vegetables to our program, our recipes will reflect what is available in Arizona throughout the season.

Today I will show you how to make a nutritious Vegan Soup with Parsnips and other seasonal root vegetables, we will be profiling later in our cooking series.  We will also bake an autumnal cake that is perfect for your morning coffee, after dinner, or as an accompaniment for your holiday meal.  We are baking my Parsnip Spice Cake.

Let’s get these Egg’s Cracking!

Since we are making a full meal it is important to look at your recipes for the meal and time your work accordingly.  Since we are making a roasted vegan soup, we will need to first roast the vegetables.  While they roast, we can begin making our cake with the parsnips.  This way, when our vegetables come out and need to be transferred to a stockpot on the stove-top, we can put our dessert in the oven and keep cooking!

Before we begin, we need to determine what we need and get the items out.  Cooking takes, planning, coordination, cleanliness and skill.

It is important to practice safe cooking skills.  When you are using kitchen equipment and utensils.  If your eyes come up when using a knife, the knife must be put down or you will cut yourself.  Be safe, practice kitchen safety and cooking will be fun for everyone.

Roasted Parsnip, Turnip, Kohlrabi Soup/Vegan:

Ingredients:

4 large parsnips peeled chopped similar size

1 bunch kohlrabi chopped similar size

2 cups chopped turnips similar size

1 large yellow onion chopped similar size

1 1 bulb garlic left in skin until roasted

2 stalks celery chopped similar size

2 carrots medium size, chopped similar size

1 can coconut milk with fat full fat none of this light or whatever

2 boxes vegan broth

Salt and pepper to taste

Olive oil for roasting vegetables 2 tbsp

Directions:

Prep vegetables to specifications above.  Take vegetables toss in a bow with olive oil and 1 tsp of salt.  Hand toss.  Place vegetables on cookie sheet lined with parchment paper or a silicone mat and roast in an oven preheated to 375 degrees for 40 minutes.

When vegetables are roasted, they should be tender to slice.  Test it.  If not, put back in for 5-10 more minutes, retest.   When removing from oven, set garlic bulb aside.

Take roasted vegetables place them in a large stockpot with at least 2 inches above them to the top and add vegetable stock, begin to simmer.  Take the garlic and literally squeeze the roasted garlic out of the skin.  See video. Add garlic to pot.   Simmer in stock for 15-20 minutes lid on.  Add coconut milk one or two cans depending on how you like it.  Then take immersion blender and place submerged in stockpot and blend your soup.  Blend to the consistency you prefer.  Cook until it is your taste.  Add salt, pepper or more chili to your taste level and liking.  Enjoy.  Great with chopped chives on top.

Eat and enjoy!

Let’s get some eggs cracking for the Spicy Parsnip cake…………………….

Spicy Parsnip Cake:

Ingredients:

Grate 3-4 large parsnips                               1 ½ cups AP Flour

1 cup sugar                                                               1 tbsp ginger

2 tsp baking powder                                        1 TBSP cinnamon

½ tsp salt                                                                  1 tsp nutmeg

1 tsp clove                                                               1 tbsp ginger

3 large eggs                                                            1 stick butter (1/2 cup)

1/2 cup milk or milk substitute  

Directions:

Take eggs, room temp butter and mix in stand mixer until creamy.  Slowly add spices, then sugar then vanilla, then salt and milk.  Mix until blended. Add flour half cup at a time.  Add parsnips and mix well.

Butter and flour a 13×9 pan.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees. 

Add batter to pan.  Bake until a toothpick comes out clean.  Check after 18-20

minutes.  Allow to chill, top with dusting of powdered sugar or make a frosting.  This cake does not need it.  It is delicious!                                  

Parsnips are amazing root vegetables and can be used interchangeably where carrots are found.  Try them out, explore have fun.  Be daring in the kitchen.  Cooking is necessary, preparing food is fun!

Cabra Pequena

We were recently invited to the farm of one of our vendors, Amanda and her husband Jim, owners of Cabra Pequena. They have a beautiful property in Skull Valley, Arizona. Amanda makes gorgeous hand-crafted goats milks soaps and caramels using the milk from her herd.

We learned a lot about the goats, and how much work goes into raising and caring for them.

We did a video with Amanda and some of her herd:
https://youtu.be/BkProjvTSKc 

We hope you enjoy our visit to Cabra Pequena!

The Parsnip!

Late summer and autumn’s root vegetable season has begun in the high deserts of Arizona! It’s that beautiful time of year when the lovely jewel toned Watermelon Radish makes it’s debut. White with faint tints of green and pink on the skin, these can pack a fierce crisp radish punch. Once cut, the brilliant fuchsia color of it’s flesh is at first unexpected. As delicious as it is beautiful, it can bite back. The equally lovely and purple jewel toned Daikon Radish appears, alongside its paler sister. Both deliciously crisp, strong and refreshing, a small meal all on their own. I am eating one now. It’s crisp, cool, slightly wet texture fills me up for the afternoon. I purchased these from a local farm, Whipstone. Very nice, people.
Pastinaca Sativa (Parsnip) is in the Apaiaceae Family. Related to cumin, parsley, carrots, dill and caraway. I am a big fan of root vegetables and although similar in shape and color they are quite different and unique.
I decided that today I was going to bake a parsnip cake with ginger glaze and cook a parsnip and turnip soup with Lebanese style lamb meatballs. These are amazing on their own or cooked in a soup.
Parsnips are high in magnesium, potassium, vitamin C, B-6, calcium and iron. Low in fat and one cup has 7 grams of soluble fiber. They are a great alternative to potatoes, both for baking fries or mashed.
Today I am grating them. For my recipe I need two cups, so I am grating 2 large parsnips. I am grating these with the fine section of my hand grater. Fall is my favorite season, it is time for Pfeffernusse, traditional gingerbreads, and fruit cakes to reappear. Today I am ringing in the season with clove, cinnamon, nutmeg and ground ginger. This cake will have some depth and layers. It will be topped off with a homemade warm ginger glaze. I use locally sourced eggs. They are fresher and I am supporting my local community. Commercially sold eggs can be up to 45 days old in the store, before you bring them home. Fresh eggs are higher in vitamins and nutrition. Thank you, Fancy Feather Farms for your award-winning eggs.
Parsnips are great in soups as well. I have some turnips, delicious thyme, beautiful sweet yellow onions, chives, garlic and 3 sweet habanero chilis (not the hot variety}. This soup has carrots, celery and heavy cream. The soup takes less than an hour to prepare. I am roughly chopping all my vegetables to the same size. After chopping the parsnips, turnips, onions, garlic (left whole in garlic paper entire bulb), and carrots, I drizzle with Olive Oil from Rafter 11, a local olive oil and vinegar store. Amazing fresh pressed, flavorful oils, so healthy. They are a Prescott Valley business. Sprinkle the drizzled vegetables with a medium ground pink Himalayan Salt. Roast these for 25 minutes on 400 degrees. The house smells amazing, as the oils and essence of the warming vegetables mixes with the olive oil in a sumptuous oven melody.
Each week we will profile a seasonal vegetable from the market and provide a recipe or two. This week we have our Parsnip and Turnip Soup with Roasted Vegetables and a Spiced Parsnip Cake with the sweet flavors of cinnamon, nutmeg, clove, allspice, and ginger, with a cup of pre-plumped raisins. This cake is perfect any time of day in the Fall.
Parsnip Spice Cake: this delicious cake is one of my fall-time favorites! It is moist, spongy, light with a depth of flavor. Fresh ground cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice and clove mix perfectly with the crisp, almost floral, finely grated parsnips. Add to this the freshly plumped raisins, and this cake works well with either a ginger cream cheese frosting or a ginger sugar glaze. Today we are making a glaze to top this beauty off.
Parsnips are full of vitamin C, B-6, iron, potassium and soluble fiber. They make a great addition to soups, mashes and more. Below are some recipes we made with the photos attached to the article.
Happy cooking and eating!
Parsnip Spice Cake:
Ingredients:
Ingredients:
1 ½ cups all-purpose flour 1 cup sugar
1 tbsp ground ginger (fresh) 1 tbsp ground ginger(powder)
2 tsp baking powder 2 tsp cinnamon
¾ tsp salt 1 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp allspice 1 tsp cloves
3 large eggs ½ cup butter room temp
½ cup milk 1 ½ tsp vanilla
2 cups (packed) shredded parsnips 1/ cup walnuts
Glaze:
2 tsp grated ginger 2 tbsp butter
2 cups powdered sugar
Directions:
Cream, butter, sugar, spices, eggs until combined. Add milk and vanilla. Add baking powder and salt. Add Parsnips and slowly add flour ½ cup at a time.
Pour into a prepared (butter and floured) pan 13 x 9 x 2.
Bake 350 until toothpick comes out clean approximately 20 minutes.
When cool, mix glaze in double boiler and pour on cake, or make ginger cream cheese frosting.

Enjoy!

Parsnip and Turnip Soup:
Ingredients:
3 large turnips 3 large parsnips
2 medium yellow onions quartered and skinned 1 large bulb of garlic
1 box of vegetable broth/stock 1 can coconut milk
4 stalks of celery leaves chopped off 2 tsp salt
Fresh ground pepper 2-3 tbsp olive oil
Directions:
Chop, parsnips, turnips, carrots, celery, onion into similar sized pieces. Spread out on cookie sheet lined with parchment paper or silicone mat. Take 2 tbsp olive oil and sprinkle over vegetables, toss with your hands. Clean your hands and then dust with a pinch or 2 of salt. Roast in the oven at 400 degrees for 25 minutes. If you are unable to roast vegetables in the oven, you can pan roast them in olive oil on the stovetop stirring constantly until caramelized.
Once fork tender take vegetables, place in olive oil in a stock pot and sauté them for several minutes, add 1 box of vegetable stock. Simmer for fifteen minutes. Take your immersion blender and blend the mixture into a smooth consistency. Add coconut milk, add a second can if too thick. Cook and simmer for 10 minutes on low to blend the flavors. Salt and pepper to taste. You can add meatballs to this recipe if you prefer. Just cook them prior to adding them to your soup.
I like to sprinkle feta cheese on top or even some kohlrabi greens chopped.

Welcome!

Welcome to the Prescott Valley Farmers Market webpage! We are excited to have you. We are a newer market to the area and growing. Every Sunday morning our vendors set-up to provide you with the highest quality produce, meat, eggs, candy, baked goods, jewelry, supplements, crafts, skincare, vegan and omnivore Mexican Food around. We have honey, caramels, sourdough bread and plenty of fresh eggs. Did you know most of the eggs found at the supermarket are months old before arriving for sale. Our eggs are hand picked and still have the bloom or cuticle on them. This bloom helps protect the egg from bacteria and harmful pathogens. It keeps the eggs safe and ready for consumption for up to 3 months in the refrigerator. Our vendors also have great recipes and ideas for your next meal.

Stop by and say hello while shopping and supporting local! We are proud to serve the people of Prescott Valley and the surrounding areas.

Thank you and have a wonderful day!

Prescott Valley Farmers Market!