Multi-Layer Dip 10/12/2011
Last week The Lad asked me to make 7-layer dip. I THINK this is tasty, but I am not sure how many layers. I mixed a few together. The tomatoes are out of my garden. (That would be considered one layer.) I put a can of re-fried beans on the bottom of this pie plate. It had about a 1/4 cup of salsa mixed in. I then made some guacamole. It had Avocado, spring onions, sliced thin, sour cream, cilantro, lemon juice, cumin, garlic powder, salt, and pepper. I spread that on top of the beans. I then layered the black olives, cheddar cheese, and tomatoes. I cooked Carne Asada (marinated flap meat, with onions and maybe peppers) and put this dip on the tortillas with some chopped lettuce. It was wonderful! The Scalawags and The Lad loved it. Hope you all do too. Add Comment Banana Nut Bread Butter 08/17/2011
 Here is a picture of orange marmalade and banana nut bread butter. Guess which is which...ha ha. The original recipe from Sure Jell calls for: 3 cups of mashed, ripe banana (about 10) 1 tsp. lemon 1 box of pectin 1/2 tsp. butter (to stop foaming) 4 cups white sugar 1/2 cup brown sugar 2 cups walnuts The Changes ----------------------------------- add pecans and raisins 1 1/4 tsp. cinnamon 1 Tab cinnamon Tab 1/4 tsp. nutmeg 1 tsp. nutmeg When I made it, I thought it was lacking some sass. So I make mine with a few changes. Like...1 cup walnuts and 1 cup pecans. Plus a 1/2 cup of raisins chopped up real good. I raised the spices to 1 Tab. of cinnamon and 1 tsp. of nutmeg. Otherwise, I do the rest the same as Sure Jell says on the insert. It tastes real good in oatmeal. Cook banana mash, lemon juice, pectin and butter (optional) until it boils. Add both sugars. Cook until boiling hard. Add nuts, raisins, and spices. Cook one minute. Process in water bath canner as usual for size jars and altitude. ******************************************************************************* Orange Marmalade 08/05/2011
 This is a decent jar of orange marmalade. I am hoping it is good enough to take a blue. See how the little strips go clear to the bottom of the jar? That is a point the judges will be looking for. Sometimes jams, butters, and marmalades like to separate, and there will be a layer of just jelly-like material at the bottom. Most of the recipes ask you to very thinly slice the oranges. Preferably on a mandolin (a slicing device designed to make very thin slices). I tried this and found the membrane between the citrus sections was tough and I didn't like the 'mouth-feel'. So, I am about to show you how I process the fruit for a much nicer product, in my not so humble opinion.  This is a speed peeler that makes julienne strips. See the tiny little blades that are vertical under the cutting blade? It makes the strips more uniform in width. Be careful to only take the colored part off the citrus. The white part will be bitter and float to the top of the jar. Ugly. Once you have the strips, I line them up and make cuts to shorten them. Easier to spread on toast. Or whatever else your about to eat.  This is a bag of the little pieces. I used four oranges, four lemons, and a grapefruit. Wash the fruit very well first. I use something a little scratchy to make sure I get the dirt all off. I also cut off any blemishes. Remember...this is fair entries. EVERYTHING counts.  Once the rind is off, take a knife and peel of all the white part.  See how the white part is mostly all gone? That will make a much nicer marmalade. Also...here you can see the membrane between the sections. Get your knife as close to these membranes as you can without cutting them. Cut out the sections. This is called a supreme...I believe. Do that to every section on every piece of citrus. Then I squeeze the juice out of the membrane leftovers, and chop up the sections in smaller bite size pieces. Juicy, very ripe, sweet, fruit works the best. If it is not so juicy, you may have to take a potato masher to the pulp once you start the cooking process. First, take 2 1/2 cups of water, 1/8th teaspoon of baking soda, and all the rind, put it in your large pot. Bring to boil. Reduce to simmer. Simmer for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add pulp. Cook 10 minutes more. Measure out 4 cups of this combination. If it is short of four cups you can add water or a little orange juice (no sugar added). Add one box of pectin and 1/4 teaspoon of butter (to stop foaming which is ugly but won't hurt the taste). Stir well. Heat to boiling. Boil hard one minute. Add 5 1/2 cups of sugar. Heat to full boil again and boil for one minute. Remove from heat. Scrape off any foam. Process in water bath for 15 minutes (follow rules on pectin instruction sheet). Once you take them out of the water bath, put them upside down for about ten minutes, and then turn them right side up. This will help keep the strips evenly disbursed throughout the jar. You may have to do this several times to keep the pieces down there till the marmalade cools enough to trap them at the bottom. Let them cool completely.  This made 8 jars of orangey goodness! You also see that I have made my banana nut bread butter. It is really good in oatmeal. That is a recipe for another day. It is a fair entry, too. ****************************************************************************** Chimmi Churri Sauce 07/13/2011
This morning, on my front page, I talked about chimmi churri sauce. It is what I would call a non-recipe, recipe. The Lad had some of this sauce at a BBQ of a friend and liked it so much he got a recipe (of sorts) so I could make him some. It went like this: Chop basil to your liking Chop garlic to your liking Oil/red wine vinegar more vinegar than oil That's it. So I got on the internet and checked out a bunch of recipes. It is Argentinian, I believe. The recipes are sort of like pesto. Any green herb. The two most prevalent ones are basil and oregano. I have heard of marjoram, parsley, cilantro, and even stinging Nettle (that had been grilled first) in any combination, or alone, being used. Just for you information...stinging Nettle is an herb that is good at helping with allergies. Just watch that it doesn't touch your skin or you will find out why they call it 'stinging'. So, here is my 'recipe' for chimmi churri. 2 (two) big handfuls of fresh basil 6 (six) cloves of garlic, run through a garlic press 1/2 cup red wine vinegar (or cider vinegar) about 1/3 cup of olive oil Put basil (or herbs of choice) and vinegar into a blender (or food processor) and blend till smooth. Add garlic. Then add olive oil, slowly, to make an emulsion. Use as a garnish or sauce for sausages, steaks, or burgers. Hope you all like this as much as we do. ***************************************************************************** Fair Entries 07/11/2011
 Friday, I put my entries in for the fair. Now...I have to make them so I can enter them, and hopefully...get blue ribbons! This is my first attempt at corn relish. The recipe I used called for a half teaspoon of turmeric, I raised it to a teaspoon. I also used pasilla peppers instead of green sweet peppers. The next time I make this I will double the turmeric again, double the mustard seed, add garlic, and roast the peppers. Maybe even roast the corn. THEN...I will have a taste-off and see which one is favored. THAT will be my fair entry. I can hardly cook a recipe without tweaking it. My brain works like a test kitchen I guess. When I get it the way I like it I will post the recipe. Until then, you will just have to settle for a picture. Swiss Chard 03/26/2011
 The other day I cut some Swiss Chard out of my garden to feed to Farmer J. He really likes greens. So this is how I fixed them.  First, I took about six slices of bacon and cut them in small pieces. Then I rendered out some of the fat.  That is when I added a large white onion, sliced in half and then thinly sliced in half-moon shapes.  I stirred them together. Cook until the bacon is lightly browned and the onions are translucent.  This is an out-of-focus bowl of twice-rinsed, roughly chopped chard.  This is about a cup of chicken broth I added to help steam the chard.  I throw it in the pot and...  put the lid on. It is then steamed for about 10 minutes or till the desired texture. Chard is a fast cook. Just before serving, salt and pepper to taste (I also put in some red pepper flakes) and add about a 1/4 cup of vinegar. I used rice wine vinegar. It will brighten up the taste of the chard. This is sort of a non-recipe, recipe. ******************************************************************************* HONEY ICE CREAM 09/27/2010
Today I made some honey ice cream. No sugar. It was quite tasty! I used a Cuisinart 2 quart ice cream maker. Several weeks ago I researched the internet to see which maker was best...for the money and this was the one. I have to say...it worked like a charm! You freeze the insert for a day before you use it. In 25 minutes we had great ice cream. This is the recipe I used... HONEY ICE CREAM 2 cups whole milk 3/4 cup of honey pinch of salt 2 beaten eggs 1 vanilla bean 2 cups heavy cream Take the vanilla bean, seeds scraped, add bean in milk. Heat till just before boiling. Add a little hot milk to the eggs stirring to temper. Add egg/milk mixture back into the rest of the hot milk. Cook slowly for 5 minutes. Remove from heat. Strain to remove the bean pod, and any lumps. Cool. Add cream. Chill completely in the fridge several hours or up to 3 days. Freeze according to your makers directions. I think I am going to become a great ice cream maker, myself. I LOVE ice cream. Did I mention that this has NO sugar?! KIWI JAM, CHOW CHOW, AND GOLDEN RELISH 07/25/2010
 This is what I spent the last two days making. I made Golden Pickle Relish, Chow Chow, and kiwi/pineapple jam. I really like the chow chow...I think I am addicted to turmeric. It is the same spice in bread and butter pickles. Concerning the kiwi jam...I made up the recipe, so it is still in the experimental stage. I guess I do a lot of experimenting. It is my natural curiosity that keeps me trying new stuff.  I used 3 cups of peeled and chopped kiwi, 1 can of crushed pineapple in unsweetened juice (20 oz), and 1/4 cup of freshly squeezed lime juice, with 1 box of pectin and 7 cups of sugar. We shall see if it sets. It is a recipe I made up. I am hoping to cut the sugar if it sets. The recipe made 10, 1/2 pint jars. I think I would also like to try some deserts made with this...pour on cheese cake, or on strawberry ice cream. Maybe mix with some cream cheese and whip cream for a pie. Or just pour on some pound cake out of the freezer...how easy. Hope it tastes good.  The jar center stage is the chow chow. I cut up my green tomatoes, cabbage, onions, and cooked them up with some spices (mostly turmeric and ginger) and pickled them. I think next time I make this, I will cut bigger chunks and cook longer. This was chopped and then mixed with salt and left to stand for 18 hours at room temperature. Then I drained it and rinsed, drained and rinsed, again. I want to get a lot of the salt off. Once I made the brine and cooked it with the spices for 20 minutes, I threw in the veggies and cooked for 10 more minutes. I did take a piece of cloth and tied chilis out of my garden in it. I put a slit in each one first...and cooked it with the brine. It gave it a little 'bite' but not too hot. If I had put them in the jars and canned them up...it would be much hotter. The jar with the red peppers is the Golden relish. It is made with LARGE cucumbers. So...you need to peel the tough skins off, scrap out all the seeds and soft stuff, and just leave the meat of the cuke. I chopped all the veggies, by hand, into 1/4 inch chunks...and used peppers out of my garden. Cook in brine till tender, water bath can it in pints for 20 minutes. I think it is yummy. *************************** BUFFALO CHICKEN STRIPS 04/07/2010
 I made these the other day. They are easy and very tasty. First...I took 3 chicken breasts, skinned and boned, and cut them in strips, about the same thickness.  I put the strips in a bowl. Pour enough butter milk on the strips to cover...about a cup. Then I put about 1/2 cup Tapatio Hot sauce in and stirred it up. I let it soak about an hour. Then I drained it in a colander. Next, I took about 2 cups of Corn Flakes cereal and crushed it up very fine. Roll the drained chicken in crumbs to coat. Place on foil lined tray. Spray foil with non-stick spray. Lay out the chicken, and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Drizzle with 3 Tabs. of melted butter. Put in 350 degree oven for about an hour. These are good plain, or with Ranch dressing, or wrapped in a tortilla with lettuce and cheese. Buffalo Chicken Strips 3 boned, skinned chicken breasts 1 cup butter milk 1/2 cup Tapatio hot sauce 2 cups Corn Flakes, finely crushed salt and pepper to taste 3 Tabs butter, melted Cut chicken in strips. Soak for 1 hour in milk and hot sauce mixture. Drain. Roll in cereal crumbs. Place on cookie sheet lined with foil and sprayed with non- stick spray. Bake in a 350 degree oven for about 1 hour. Not as spicy as you might think. Really good in tortillas with lettuce and cheese. ENJOY! NEW INGREDIANTS 03/15/2010
 Today I went to the store and bought these new products. The Mexican spice is Annatto seed, something I wanted to try for a while. It is for steeping in oil that you use for rice. I also wanted to try Meyer Lemons. They are supposed to be sweeter than regular lemons. Then there is the flour. I like to use King Arthur's flour, but it is real expensive...$4 on sale. This was $2.99 regular price at Trader Joe's. I like my flour un-bleached. I also wanted to let you know, I have been trying recipes, but they are not quite ready for here yet. I baked some chicken wrapped in paper The Lad loved, but I need to tweek with the timing and take some more pictures. I have been working on a recipe for bread sticks. The last batch was better but not so good. I am still learning about yeast. I need to get the proofing/raising thing down better. Last night I made linguine and cooked some Italian sausage with onions, bacon, wine, garlic with a little cream at the end. But we had to try it before I can put it here. It was a hit. Home made noodles are a little work, but well worth the time. I just love my pasta machine. I bought the annato so I could work on making better rice. I have not yet mastered that somewhat simple ingredient. But I will. I also want to get a friend to teach me some Mexican recipes from her family stash. But that is the plan. Maybe Easter recipes. I like that....soon...very soon. |
