Friday, December 7, 2012

Salsa

So... everyone is talking about good bacteria in their yogurt.  You can get similarly awesome bacteria from sauerkraut and other fermented vegetables.  Here I have a recipe for fermented salsa.  It is super tasty and keeps in the fridge for quite a while.  Plus, you can get that good bacteria piled on top of a good tortilla chip!

The recipe is here:  http://www.passionatehomemaking.com/2010/10/the-benefits-of-lacto-fermentation-lacto-fermented-salsa-recipe.html.

No need to copy it here, I guess.

P.S. Your grandmother probably grew up eating fermented vegetables.  Ask her about them.

Wednesday, August 22, 2012

Stir Fry

When I am making stir fry, this is my go-to sauce.  I make a bunch at a time and then keep it in a jar in the fridge.

1/3c sesame oil
2/3c soy sauce

Add spices to taste:
Brown sugar (approx 2 T)
Crushed Red Pepper (approx 1t)
Ginger (approx 1/2t)
Garlic (approx 1t)
Sesame seeds (optional)

Sunday, July 15, 2012

Mustard Pretzel Dip

Oh gosh!  My life is complete!

http://www.tasteofhome.com/Recipes/Hot-Mustard-Pretzel-Dip


Ingredients

  • 1/4 cup ground mustard
  • 1/4 cup vinegar
  • 1/4 cup sugar - I used brown
  • 1 egg yolk
  • 2 tablespoons honey
  • Pretzels

Directions

  • In a small saucepan, combine mustard and vinegar; let stand for 30 minutes. Whisk in the sugar and egg yolk until smooth. Cook over medium heat, whisking constantly, until mixture just begins to simmer and is thickened, about 7 minutes. Remove from the heat; whisk in honey. Chill. Serve with pretzels. Store in the refrigerator. Yield: 1/2 cup.

Monday, May 14, 2012

Pizza Crust, II

A little different pizza crust recipe... check it out...

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/premium-pizza-crust/detail.aspx

Sunday, May 6, 2012

Taco Seasoning

I'm always looking for ways to avoid mystery ingredients and make things at home.  You know this by now!

Taco Seasoning:

1 tablespoon chili powder
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon onion powder
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon black pepper

Today I made a big batch to use whenever I need it.  It turns out to be about 2T+2t per recipe.

Wednesday, May 2, 2012

Chocolate Glaze

You don't see many dessert recipes from me... but I did want to document the Chocolate Glaze that I made today.  See the original here.  I used it on devil's food cake cupcakes because I didn't have any powdered sugar in the house (oops).  It is quite rich, but also quite yummy.


3/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips (4.5 oz semisweet chocolate)
3 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon light corn syrup (some other folks have mentioned using honey instead)
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract


1.  In a double boiler over hot, but not boiling water, (or in the microwave!) combine chocolate chips, butter, and corn syrup. Stir until chips are melted and mixture is smooth, then add vanilla.
2.  Spread warm glaze over top of cake, letting it drizzle down the sides.

Sunday, February 12, 2012

Turkey Salad

Try this one for leftover turkey (or chicken).  It's really flexible!

Original

3/4 lb cooked Turkey
2 stalks celery
2 green onions (or some other onion)
1/2 red bell pepper
3 T mayo
2 T Dijon Mustard
1 T cider or rice vinegar
1/4 t salt
1/4 t black pepper
1 t sugar (or skip depending on your mustard or vinegar selection)

Finely chop (or pulse in food processor) meat and vegetables.  Add remaining ingredients.  Enjoy on crackers, in sandwich, or in a wrap.  (Note that this recipe gets better with age!)

Wednesday, February 8, 2012

Sandwich Bread

This is the recipe I use for sandwich bread.  Usually I knead it in my mixer and bake in my oven, but it is actually a bread machine recipe (2lb).  There is also a 1.5lb version if you want me to type it up.  If you make it in the bread machine, go by the manufacturer's directions of ingredient order, etc.  These directions cover how I make it "by hand".

Combine and allow to rest until double:
1 c. water (110*F)
2 T sugar
2 1/4 t active dry yeast

Combine in a second container:
1 egg
Enough water to equal 1/4 c (about 2T water)
2 T molasses

Combine in your mixing bowl:
3 c. bread flour
1 c. whole wheat flour
2 1/2 T sesame seeds
1/2 t cumin seeds (so yummy... don't skip)
2 T sunflower seeds
(Note: I sometimes measure enough for multiple batches and keep the other batches in the fridge.  They need to come to room temperature before using.)

Whisk the two wet ingredient mixtures together and then add to the dry ingredients.  Stir to combine.

Using dough hook, knead for about 10 minutes (until it passes the window pane test).

Let rise (in place, if you are lazy) for about 1 hour (sometimes a little more) until it does not bounce back when poked.

Gently punch down and divide in half.  Shape and place in 2 loaf pans and allow to rise about 45 minutes (until double in size).

Preheat oven to 450*F.  Use a serrated knife to score the top of the loaves.  Place in oven for 10 minutes.  Turn down to 350*F and allow to cook about 17 minutes more.  Loaf is done when it pulls away from the pan and/or reaches about 200*F internal temperature.

Freezes well (after cooling).

Saturday, January 21, 2012

Pita Bread

Oh boy! Oh boy! Oh boy!

I have been putting this off for waaaay too long. 

Ingredients:
    3 c flour 1 1/2 Tbs sugar 1 1/2 tsp salt 4 tsp yeast 2 Tbs melted butter 1 1/4 c warmish water
Directions:
1. Mix all the dry ingredients together. Add the water and butter. Mix to combine.
2. Knead for 10 minutes by hand, or on medium speed in the mixer using a dough hook. (I did the latter.) The dough tends to get sticky. You want it to be a little tacky, but not incredibly sticky. You must go all the way to window-pane!
3. Spray a bowl with pam, turn the dough once to cover in the oil. Put plastic wrap on top and let the dough sit for about 1-1.5 hours until double in size.
4. Punch the dough down (gently). Divide it into 8 small balls. Cover with a dish towel and let them rest for 20 minutes. Place a pizza stone in your oven and preheat to 450.  Start now while the dough is resting because it takes time to get your oven to 450! 
5. With a floured rolling pin, roll out each of the 8 balls until they are about 8 inches in diameter and 1/8 of an inch thick.
6. When the oven is hot, spray a bit of water on the pizza stone (or splash with your fingers like I did). Wait 30 seconds. Now put the dough on the pizza stone. I had to work in batches, cooking 1-2 pitas at the time.
7. The pitas cook very quickly. What you want is them to inflate into a little balloon. When they get like that, wait 30 seconds and take them out. I found that a big pancake turner works really well.  When they come out of the oven, they deflate and become pita pockets. It you wait too long, they will not deflate and you will have a pita balloon. *Total* cooking time is about 3 minutes per pocket.

If any don't inflate properly or go stale, you can always toast them for pita chips.  Remember, as with all cracker-like goods, don't over bake because they will continue to harden as they cool.  

Do I have to wait until tomorrow to fill one up?