Once in awhile you find a recipe that works so much better in a solar oven than it ever could on a stovetop. This is one of those recipes, the slow cooked flavor is truly delicious. If you can find canned roasted tomatoes, it adds even deeper flavor. We made this as accompaniment for tamales on New Years Eve; just be sure to get it started early if you're making it in the winter. This side dish needs about four hours to cook.
With Hurricane Matthew threatening much of the US last week, we challenged ourselves to come up with a recipe that can be made with just pantry items. In times of a disaster or emergency, you may have to feed your family with just what you have on hand. This recipe cooked all day and made a high protein, flavorful dinner that everyone enjoyed.
Place all ingredients in your graniteware pot and stir well. Place the covered pot in the preheated Solavore Sport. Let the chili cook all day, do not use reflectors if you have a lot of sun. Slow cooking temperatures between 200 and 250 degrees are ideal for this recipe. Ours cooked from 10:30 to about 5:00.
Serve chili with your favorite toppings: shredded cheese, sour cream, avocado, green onion, cilantro.
Serves 6-8
This delicious, hearty soup solar oven recipe is from thewanderlustkitchen.com. In addition to a complex spice mixture, the recipe calls for apples, which bring a nice fruitiness and make it a perfect Fall meal.
Adapted for solar cooking from the Healthy Slow Cooking blog, this recipe walks you through the steps of making homemade molé sauce from scratch in a conventional kitchen, You will need a blender, etc. You could always purchase pre-made molé if you wanted to go strictly solar.
No tricks here, simply chop it up and add it to the pot! Dinner will be ready in three hours.
For serving: tortillas, salsa, cheese, sour cream, etc
Place all ingredients in your Graniteware pot and stir to combine. Put the covered pot in your Solavore Sport and let cook for approximately 3 hours or until the sweet potatoes are tender. As always, cooking time depends on the temperature of the oven and the size of the sweet potato cuts. Ours was well done by the 3 hour mark.
To serve place the filling in warmed tortillas and add toppings of your choice.
Set the Solavore Sport outside to preheat.
Combine flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in a bowl. Add butter and cut it in to the flour mixture with a pastry cutter until the pieces of butter are pea-sized. In a small bowl, whisk together buttermilk and the egg yolk. Slowly pour the buttermilk mixture in to the flour mixture. Mix until combined. Add in chocolate and cherries and stir gently.
Turn the dough out on to a floured surface and knead gently to combine. Shape the dough into a circle about one inch thick. Cut the dough in to 8 pie-shaped pieces.
Place a piece of parchment paper on a baking sheet and arrange the scones on the sheet.
Bake the scones in the solar oven for 1 to 1.5 hours.
1 pound asparagus, trimmed
1 sheet frozen puff pastry (about 1/2 pound), thawed
All-purpose flour, for dusting
1 cup grated gruyere cheese
1 tablespoon minced shallot
1 egg beaten
1/8 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
Remove your puff pastry from the freezer to thaw. Set the Solavore Sport outside to pre-heat.
Wash the trimmed asparagus and put it in your graniteware pot. Cover and place in the oven. Let the asparagus cook for about 20 minutes.
Place the puff pastry on a floured surface and roll into an 8-by10 inch rectangle. Transfer to a parchment-lined baking sheet (a 9x13 baking sheet works well and fits in the Solavore Sport). Prick the puff pastry all over with a fork. Bake until it puffs up, approximately 30 minutes. Let cool slightly on the baking sheet
Meanwhile, mix the gruyere, shallot, egg, nutmeg and a pinch each of salt and pepper in a bowl until combined. Spread the cheese mixture evenly over the puff pastry, leaving a 1-inch border on all sides. Toss the asparagus with the olive oil, 1/4 teaspoon salt, and pepper to taste. Arrange the asparagus on the tart and bake until the edges are nicely browned, 75 to 90 minutes. Sprinkle with the lemon zest. Serve warm or at room temperature.
This one took several tries before it was just right for solar cooking. Most scalloped potato recipes contain too much liquid, and simply cutting back on the liquid doesn't really do the trick. We found that creating a roux on the stove before solar cooking was the answer to great solar oven scalloped potatoes.
1 T butter
1/2 onion, thinly sliced
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 T flour
1 c broth
1/2 cup cream or milk
1 t salt
1/2 t pepper
4 large red or yukon gold potatoes
1 cup cheese (cheddar, gruyere, etc.)
fresh thyme
Place your Solavore Sport in the sun to preheat.
Peel and slice potatoes 1/8 inch thick. A mandoline slicer is very helpful for creating slices with even thickness.
Melt butter in a large saute pan over medium-high heat. Add onion, and saute for 4-5 minutes until soft and translucent. Add garlic and saute for an additional 1-2 minutes. Stir in the flour until it is evenly combined and saute for an additional 1-minute. Pour in the stock, and whisk until combined. Add in the milk, salt, pepper, and 1 teaspoon thyme, and whisk until combined. Continue cooking for an additional 1-2 minutes until the sauce comes to a simmer (not a boil) and thickens. Remove from heat and set aside.
In your graniteware pot, spread half of the sliced potatoes in an even layer on the bottom of the pan. Top evenly with half of the cream sauce, the sprinkle evenly with half of the cheese Top evenly with the remaining sliced potatoes, the remaining half of the cream sauce, and the remaining cheese.
Cover the pot and place in the Solavore Sport. Bake for 3-4 hours,or until the potatoes are tender.
Remove and sprinkle with the remaining 1 teaspoon thyme. Serve warm.
