Raw Food Wednesday: Apple Medallions with Fennel and Sage Stuffing

Raw Food Wednesday 11/04

Apple Medallions with Fennel and Sage Stuffing

A very tasty Raw Thanksgiving dish, using seasonal ingredients, that can be made ahead of time.

Apple Medallions with Fennel and Sage Stuffing
(serves 2)

2 Gala Apples

The apples were peeled*, cored and cut into 3/4" thick rounds and then cut again with a round cookie cutter (so they'd all be the same diameter). Depending on how big the apples were to start, you could get 2 or 3 slices per apple.

* the apple peels were used for garnish -- tossed with 1 tsp. olive oil and 1 tsp. nama shoyu and dehydrated at 105F until they were crisp.

Spice Mix

1 tsp. sage
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1/4 tsp. allspice
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. fennel seed

The spice were all ground fresh using a mortar and pestle, and then put on a flat plate where the apples medallions were rolled around until they were well coated.

At this point, the apples were put in a vacuum-sealer bag and compressed. They went into the fridge for 24 hours (but at least six hours will work).



Fennel and Sage Stuffing

2 tbs. red onion, small dice
1/2 cup fennel, small dice
1/4 cup celery, small dice
1/4 cup carrot, small dice
1/4 cup mushroom, small dice

2 tsp. sage
1 tsp. thyme
1/2 tsp. fennel seed
1/4 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. allspice
1 tsp. pumpkin seeds

1 tsp. nama shoyu
2 tsp. olive oil

While the apples are in the fridge, make the stuffing. In a large bowl, put in the diced veggies, add the fresh ground spices (grind the pumpkin seeds with the spices) and toss them all together with the olive oil and nama shoyu.

Place the stuffing in the dehydrator at 105F for about 2 hours, tossing occasionally (you might need two sheets).

Assembly

Remove the apple medallions from the vacuum-sealed bag, lay flat on a plate and stuff with the dehydrated filling -- we found that using the bottom end of a chopstick to tamp the filling down works pretty well.

Place the stuffed apple medallions back in the dehydrator (at 105F) for at least two hours.

Plating

A layer of the fennel and sage stuffing was put down the center of the plate, with the apple medallions overlapping. The dish was topped with fennel fronds and the crisp apple peels. The whole plate was put into the dehydrator until it was time to eat, so it was warm at the table.

Now, you've read this far down, and you want to know: how did it taste? ;)

It tasted like... Thanksgiving.

The stuffing/spices hit all the right notes, the texture of the apples was very different, chewy, yet it retained moisture. Easily, this is my favorite raw dish of the year!

Tags: raw food wednesday, raw food, raw, fennel, sage, apple, thanksgiving, vegan, food, dinner, tofu666