In Our Kitchen

Here's a quick look at a few enjoyable things that have recently graced our table, not organized, but in the order they came off my memory card:

Curry chicken salad sandwiches were just something quick and easy I made for lunch one day. Shredded chicken and diced apples with mayonnaise mixed in until it is as "wet" as you like it.  Then season with salt, pepper, and curry powder to your tastes.  Serve between two slices of bread.

Corn Orzo Zucchini Salad except I left out the onion and jalapeño it called for because my kids and I don't like the bite.  (Jeremy on the other hand puts sriracha sauce on almost everything we eat!)  And even though I halved the recipe there was still enough leftovers to make the frittata noted in the recipe, however I was short on eggs that night so I made it into fritters instead and we enjoyed it a second time.  (Actually the boys probably liked it better as fritters, but Jeremy and I loved it the night it was salad as well--flavored with lemon, basil and goat cheese, it really was tasty. )

This was one of those bummer times when the person in charge of picking up groceries (we won't name names) grabbed one package of Cod, which was only two fillets, not even a pound total!  It was a real shame, because it was very good. We just doubled up on the veggies to fill our tummies with this Roasted Cod with Potatoes and Olives.

This Plum Bluberry Upside-Down Cake was a delicious seasonal treat, and the surprise flavor comes from a teaspoon of poppy seeds!  But watch out on the directions, because only half of the 1 cup of sugar is supposed to go into the bottom of the pan with the fruit--oops!  Our cake had a bit of a sugar crust on top--not that anyone complained. . .

I was hankering for some Molasses Sandwich Cookies to get me in the fall mood down here in 95 degree Texas.  I love the creamy molasses filling, but note that it usually makes more than I need for the number of cookies.

On night when looking through the fridge with no plan I looked up some of the ingredients we had and came across a recipe for these Stuffed Pepper Bites.  Although, I didn't go for the suggested filling but used a recipe for Teriyaki Meatballs instead, because that's what sounded good to me.  I made extra meatballs with the leftover filling, and my kids were loving all of it.

This Three Pepper Slaw looks a little boring but that's because It's only a one-color pepper slaw.  Because when I wrote "colored sweet peppers" on the grocery list, the person shopping (again, no names. . . ) brought home the bag of mini peppers that I ended up using to make those stuffed pepper bites above.  (Seriously, did I mention I'm pregnant? and feeling very lazy?  I'm not up to grocery shopping right now!  And actually totally grateful that Jeremy will go do it.) But the next week he brought home a three-pack of yellow peppers because they were on mark-down, so I made this salad that week with them.  It seems boring but the mustard dressing is what makes this so flavorful and fresh!

I don't have a recipe for this Stromboli.  We used our regular pizza crust recipe, and then rolled up what we wanted inside.  One was more pizza-like with tomato sauce, pepperoni, mozzarella, olives and mushrooms.  The other one was pesto, salami and ham, pepperoncinis, olives and mozzarella.  (Also, they were much longer!  We'd already eaten two thirds before I took the picture, but the heels are still there because, they're the heels of course.)

This final one is something I first threw together out of cupboard contents on a night when I was sure we were going to subsist on beans and rice for the rest of our lives!  We have since made it multiple times, because it is actually tasty.  I call it Tropical Rice because giving made-up recipes from the dregs of your pantry a "real" name fools the kids into eating it.

(Side note: When we moved onto the vineyard, we lived in a partially-furnished vacation home of a Chinese couple, and that was our first time ever using a rice cooker.  I always thought it was a "uni-tasker" and therefore had no place in the kitchen, but I came to see the errors of my ways.  So when we moved to Nebraska and I was buying Rory a "new" car seat at a garage sale, I had the woman throw in a small rice cooker to seal our deal.  Now we use it all the time.)

So to make "Tropical Rice" I use coconut milk to replace some or all of the water needed to cook the rice.  I usually throw in a can of white beans if I want it to be the "main" dish. Then I add some shredded coconut, and mix it up and leave it to cook in the rice cooker.  When that is done I add chopped pineapple (I think we've also used mango, and if either are coming from a can use the juice to replace the rest of the water for the rice), and sprinkle on some sunflower seeds for crunch.  This time (if you notice the char on the pineapple) was the night after we grilled on the barbecue, so we had a few leftover bratwurst sausages that I chopped up as well.

Well, those are some things that have been going on in our kitchen lately, we're almost to the change in seasons, which will really start to change things up in the kitchen as well!

Mayo

You have to buy mayonnaise at the store right?

I don't anymore.  Here's my recipe presented in a video blog format. (Still fun!)

I've got a foolproof tip for getting an emulsion, and watch out for the point where I get really passionate about bloggers spreading their ignorance and start flinging mayo around my kitchen!

So go on, give it a try.

I use it on sandwiches and making homemade ranch and other salad dressings.

Use the full amount of oil to get it as thick as these photos.

And all is not lost if your mayo doesn't work out. Start over with a fresh egg, and just drip the failed batch in one drop at a time to get it to emulsify.  We've saved a lost batch that way!

Fish Fingers and Custard (Vanilla Custard Recipe)

My boys have no idea how weird they are.

It's not that they eat delicious homemade vanilla custard (one of my new favorite treats to make with our backyard eggs), it's that they eat it with fish fingers, and think that's normal.

See, we've been trying to figure out how to introduce the boys to Doctor Who. They know a lot about Doctor Who. Their Mom and Dad dressed up like Amy and Rory two Halloween's ago.

They know the characters and all about the TARDIS and sonic screwdriver.

(Here's a recent LEGO creation by Jonas: The Doctor, his TARDIS, and two Daleks.)

But they haven't ever actually seen the show.  I'm kind of an old school mom, and think they should all be watching Baby Einstein videos still--not anything even remotely scary.  (And believe me--Doctor Who can be scary!)

So we've decided that maybe we should begin by simply introducing them to "clips" of Doctor Who.  And the one we started with was "Fish Fingers and Custard", where the Doctor has just regenerated into a new body, and is trying out foods for the first time to find something he likes.

 

Classic! The boys love it, and just that clip has a ton of great quoting potential. (Store-bought yogurt?  "It's just stuff with bits in it!")  And that clip ends at just the right spot--you can tell by the music--things are about to get scary.

But then of course the boys started asking for it.  Fish fingers and custard.  Because they didn't quite get that it's supposed to be a revolting, or at least very odd, food combination the Doctor settles on.

But who am I to deny my children delicious homemade food?

So we did it. 

Of course we had to watch the clip for dipping instruction.

Then we ate.

Truthfully?  It's not that bad.  It's got that salty-sweet thing going on.

It may not be what I make every night, but we enjoyed it.  So I will share our recipe.

Homemade Vanilla Custard Recipe

(fish fingers optional)
Makes 6 half cup servings

 

3 C milk

1/2 C granulated sugar

6 egg yolks

4 Tbsp corn starch

3 T butter

1 1/2 tsp vanilla

1 large pinch salt

In a med saucepan scald milk, sugar, cornstarch, and salt.  (Heat it just to steaming, not boiling.) Temper the egg yolks by very slowly pouring the hot milk into the eggs while quickly whisking the yolks.  Pour mixture back into pot.  Cook over medium heat until thickened.  Stir in butter and vanilla.  Pour through a strainer into a bowl to get out any clumps.  

If you want you can lay a piece of plastic wrap over the top to keep it from forming a skin.  It will set up firmer in the fridge, but we prefer eating it warm.

And if you're like Jeremy you can shave some chocolate on top.

Enjoy!

 

Homemade Baby Shower Cake

We decided to serve sheet cake for the baby shower.  The co-host made a delicious Texas sheet cake, and I made an orange sheet cake.  And we all ate a slice of each, because --you know-- sheet cake is pretty flat, only like half the thickness of a regular slice of cake.  So a slice of each is really only like having a whole slice of "regular" cake--right?

 I made this orange sheet cake with orange cream cheese Icing from Wilton, but made a few changes.

First, I left out the orange extract, because it's totally not necessary.  That is a typical standard American diet kind of ingredient.  There is fresh orange zest in the cake and frosting, as well as orange juice in the frosting.  That is plenty "orangey" enough.  If you add the extract I'll bet you wouldn't be able to make it through a whole slice because the flavor would become overbearing.  Subtlety is a virtue that a lot of food lacks these days.

Also, the recipe said to bake it in a 9x13 pan.  Obviously that would make a 9x13 cake, not a sheet cake.  Wilton is just trying to advertise one of their pans, but it's a completely wrong opportunity to do so.  I baked this recipe in a half sheet baking sheet.  That's the normal thick jelly roll-type pans that everyone got for wedding gifts from Cosco members. (That's not a dis, I love and use all three I got weekly, and particularly love the two with lids.)

Finally, the recipe for the delicious orange cream cheese frosting makes at least twice as much as you need for a sheet cake.  I can't imagine spreading that much frosting on the smaller 9x13 size cake they suggested baking--it would be half frosting. 

So here are the recipes, with my suggested changes:

Orange Sheet Cake Recipe:

• 2-1/2 cups all-purpose flour 
• 2 tablespoons orange zest 
• 1 tablespoon baking powder 
• 1/2 teaspoon salt 
• 3/4 cup (1-1/2 stick) butter, softened 
• 1-3/4 cup granulated sugar 
• 3 eggs 
• 1-1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract 
•  1-1/4 cups buttermilk

Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease sheet pan.


In medium bowl, combine flour, orange zest, baking powder and salt. In large bowl, beat butter with electric mixer until light and fluffy. Add sugar 1/4 cup at a time, scraping down sides of bowl as needed; when combined, beat on medium speed for 2 minutes. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition; add vanilla extract. Add half of flour mixture; beat on low speed until nearly combined. Add buttermilk to moisten; add in remaining flour mixture, beating until just incorporated. Spread batter evenly in pan.

Bake 25-33 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in center of cake comes out clean. Cool cake in pan completely before icing.

Orange Cream Cheese Frosting Recipe:

•  1/4cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, softened 
• 1 1/2 8oz packages cream cheese, softened 
• 1 1/2 tablespoons orange juice 
• 1 tablespoon orange zest 
•  2 to 2 1/2  cups confectioners' sugar

In large bowl, beat butter, cream cheese, juice and zest with electric mixer until light and fluffy. Add confectioners' sugar one cup at a time, beating until icing is light and fluffy.

It was ton's a fun to host a baby shower for my good friend.  And I loved using my time and talents to help honor her on her journey to motherhood.  She's looking great at "term" and I can't wait to get that exciting phone call sometime this next month!

Hot Cocoa

I should just restrain myself.  I keep turning over long-enjoyed food products and finding things on the ingredients label I just don't like. Most recently it was hot cocoa mix which contains sucralose.

I'm just not a fan of artificial sweeteners.  They are all created as a sugar alternative to be sweet but to have no (or less) calories.  In the first place I don't believe it is calories per se that are the enemy to good health, and secondly if I wanted to find a replacement for sugar I would go the other direction on the processing spectrum and instead choose to replace it with honey or maple syrup.

So after returning the canister of hot chocolate to the store shelf, we returned home to revisit Alton Brown's "Art of Darkness II: cocoa" to seek out our solution, and were not disappointed.  It's a yummy mug of hot cocoa very rich and dark--very un-American. It's a nice big batch that we can store in a canister for quick and easy use.   A frugal replacement for something fairly overpriced in the store(especially if you buy individual packets) and one in which I can control each of the ingredients. 
 

Homemade Hot Cocoa Mix

• 2 cups powdered sugar 
• 1 cup cocoa (Dutch-process preferred) 
• 2 1/2 cups powdered milk 
• 1 teaspoon salt 
• 2 teaspoons cornstarch 
• 1 pinch cayenne pepper (if you like that kick)

Combine all ingredients in a bowl and sift together (we use a whisk). Seal in an airtight container.

To use, fill your mug one third to half full with the hot cocoa mix and pour in hot water.

Note: LDS Cannery dry milk is a little different than the "instant" powdered milk they sell at the grocery store.  If you are using cannery milk use only 1 1/2 cups dry milk.  Then the amount of mix you'll add to your cup will probably be on the lower end as well.  Just experiment with it--we always do!

Pesto Crescents

I had a party here the other night and made these pesto crescents. They are really easy. I use Pillsbury crescent roll dough since that is one skill I haven't mastered making at home! The roll dough comes out in little triangles--I cut each triangle in half length-wise to make it a skinny triangle. Spread it with pesto and roll them up into little rolls.

350* oven for about 10 minutes, or until they get puffed up and golden brown.

These are delicious, and cutting the rolls in half before rolling and baking makes them a perfect 2-3 bite size for parties.

Western Potato Rounds

Western

Potato Rounds

These won the "best in show" vote from the lone husband-sneaking-around-the-kitchen at my cooking and recipe swap group the other night.  He said "from the man's point of view" they were the clear winner.  The theme of the night was hors d' oeuvres.

2 large unpeeled baking potatoes
vegetable oil
1 cup (4 oz) colby jack cheese
6 bacon slices
1/3 cup green onion slices (about 2)
¼ cup barbeque sauce

Preheat oven to 450*F. Cut potatoes into 1/4 inch slices. Brush both sides of potatoes with oil. Place rounds on a baking stone or sheet pan. Bake 20 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove from oven.

Meanwhile, cook bacon until crisp, drain and crumble. In a medium bowl, combine bacon, cheese, and sliced green onions in a bowl and toss together. With a basting brush, brush each potato round with barbeque sauce and sprinkle the cheese mixture on top. Return to the oven. Bake 3-5 minutes until cheese is melted.

Adapted from "The Pampered Chef Stoneware Sensations" cookbook. Makes 24 hors d’oeuvres.

I'm sharing this recipe here.

Toasted Marshmallow Ice Cream

 Labor day gave us occasion for the bi-annual church picnic and dessert contest.  This time it was a homemade ice cream contest.  I decided to try and come up with a s'mores ice cream recipe.

My first thought was using marshmallow cream.  When I looked on the internet for inspiration I found two different methods for marshmallow ice cream, and both started with actual marshmallows.  One version melted them with milk, and the other version put them in a blender with milk.  I opted for the melting type--it seemed more "s'morey."

 I used the recipe for marshmallow ice cream here, but toasted the marshmallows first like this custard-style recipe to add to the fire-cooked s'mores flavor.  

The marshmallows are then melted into the milk mixture before churning.

In the end the marshmallow ice cream tasted pretty good, I used whole milk and cream--2 cups of each, but I really felt like the marshmallow flavor didn't come through as much as I would have liked.  Next time I would lower the amount of cream to one cup.  Then it would be the same proportions of milk and cream in our Lemon Basil Ice Cream  (which was the other entry we took to the picnic) then hopefully there would be a less-diluted marshmallow flavor. 

 The other important elements of a s'more are the graham cracker, and the chocolate.  So I thought I would put in crumbled graham crackers, and then either chocolate chips or fudge or both!  But then my mom noted that the graham crackers would get soggy--drat.

I realized that dipping the graham crackers in chocolatewould create a sogg-proof protection for the crackers.  I just melted some chocolate chips in a bowl and stirred in the crackers and spread them out on a sheet. 

 The boys oversaw Jeremy and the ice cream churn.  The marshmallow milk mixture had set up again in the fridge so it was in a more frothy marshmallow top layer and a milk later underneath.  We just dumped it all in and assumed it would get mixed up fine in the 30 minutes of churning. 

 The chilled chocolate-coated-graham-crackers waited.

We folded them into the finished marshmallow ice cream and hardened the whole batch in the freezer. 

I had a lot of fun tinkering with the idea and coming up with a delicious final product.  Jeremy and my ice creams both brought home awards.  Afterwards Jeremy said he doesn't think we should enter the contest next time because we always win and get attention for our sometimes "out there" entries.

So I kind-of see his point, but at the same time I LOVE this kind of thing.  I was scheming for the three weeks after they announced the contest until the picnic day.  And it's not like Jeremy and I are professionals or anything, we're just food enthusiasts.   

So what do you think?  Keep at it, or "let the other girls have a chance to exhibit!"?

Melonade

We bought a Honeydew Melon that wasn't super sweet, so we decided to turn the rest of it into melonade.  I love the bright green color that it is.  It would be perfect for some goblin green drinks.  I might have to go buy another honeydew and freeze the juice for Halloween. It's pretty viscous as well so Jeremy wants to try floating some of those giant tapioca pearls in it--to make it look more creepy.

We just made up the recipe but here it is if you want to try.


Melonade Recipe:

1/2 large honeydew melon, seeded
3 large lemons
1/4 cup sugar (more or less to taste)

Slice honeydew into chunks and place in blender, or use an immersion blender.  Puree until smooth.  Squeeze lemons into the melon juice.  Pour through a strainer to remove fibers and lemon seeds (it takes a little while).  Chill in fridge.   Serve cold. 

I'm sharing this idea at:

Honey, Honey!

Jeremy and I checked on our bees on Monday.   We were looking for one thing--Honey!  We added a superstructure on top of the two hive bodies when we got back from vacation.  The honey from the supers is what we will extract and harvest for our own use.

The bees had been busy drawing comb on the new frames in the super.  It always takes them longer the first year because they have to form all new honeycomb,  Later years they have a base layer of honeycomb to just add on to so they can get started with the honey-making sooner. 

We saw the very first two cells of capped honey in the super.  The bees won't cap it until it until it's ready.  They fan it with their wings to evaporate excess water which would cause the honey to ferment.  When it's ready they know, and then they cap it.

I'll admit I was a little disappointed that there wasn't any more capped honey already.

But then we started inspecting the other hive bodies and found that the upper hive body was entirely filled with capped honey!  That's good for a number of reasons.  First we know that they will have enough food this winter.  Second, we know that from here on out, for the rest of the summer, the bees are working for us!  So we will definitely be getting honey this year. 

We had been looking for honey because our friends were going to do some extracting that night.  They sell at the farmers' market and were running low on honey for sale.  So despite not having honey of our own to harvest --yet-- Jeremy and I each took turns heading down to work with our friends to begin learning to process of extraction.

Since it really was helpful to have a few hours of help, they gave Jeremy a quart of honey for his time.  The boys wanted to try some right away, but since it was bedtime we suggested they wait until the next day.  We didn't have any bread for toast, but I'm an Arizona girl, and I can't think of anything better to enjoy golden raw honey on than hot fresh Indian fry bread!

When I was little living up in the White Mountains we called them "Navajo Tacos" because they would serve the fry bread topped with beans, cheese, lettuce and tomatoes with a dollop of sour cream on top.  They would serve them in the lodge at the ski slopes we went to on the reservation.  After skiing we were always hungry enough for the taco version, but the dessert version of the fry bread with honey drizzled on top can't be beat for a sweet treat.

My mom got her recipe for fry bread from the newspaper in AZ.  Sometimes newspaper recipes can turn out the very best!  This is one of those times.  So here is my mom's Indian Fry Bread Recipe, and.  Don't forget to follow all hot oil kitchen safety rules--especially with kids around.   

Indian Fry Bread
Serves 8

4 cups flour
1 Tbl baking powder
1 tsp salt
2 Tbl powdered milk
1 1/4 -1 1/2 cups warm water
Shortening or other frying oil

Melt shortening or other oil in a large skillet, dutch oven,  or wok.  (Should be at least 3/4 inch of oil.)  Heat to 500*F.

Meanwhile, combine flour, baking powder, salt and milk powder in large mixing bowl.  (You can do this by hand or with a dough hook.)  Gradually stir in warm water.  Mix until dough forms a ball and comes clean from edge of bowl.  Knead until elastic.  Divide dough into 8 pieces.  Pat into circles and roll to 1/4 inch thickness.  

Slip one dough circle into hot fat.  Turn once when underside is brown.  Remove from oil, drain on paper towels.  Repeat with remaining dough.

I Eat Weeds (And So Can You)

 Weeds?

I noticed a new young patch of lamb's quarters growing in the back yard, so I thought we would give them a try.  I'd heard that you cook them up and eat them like you would spinach.  But I usually eat spinach raw, so I needed to look up a recipe.

Sandra Lee had a recipe for Parmesan Creamed Spinach, with pumpkin pie spice.  That sounded too interesting to not try.

 We picked the leaves off their stems and washed them in a big sink of water.  (Owen spun them dry--he's the resident salad spinner.)  Then added the lamb's quarter to the cream sauce.

Jeremy walked by and decided what it needed was toast. . . and perhaps a fried egg?

 It was delicious.  They just tasted like greens with a cream sauce.  No strong flavor in any direction.  Not bitter like dandelion greens.  Jeremy suggested next we could try them baked in lasagna--that's the only other cooked spinach recipe we can think of and it should work fine.

Eaten anything adventurous lately?

Grilled Cookies

The boys and I gifted Jeremy with a charcoal grill for Fathers' Day this year.  Since we were on vacation I just drew him a card to tell him.

("Fireball" is what Alton Brown calls his grill.)

Jeremy's reaction is always really hard to read when he opens presents, but I'll just say that eventually he was really excited about the prospect of buying a grill when we got home. 

One problem with our little house is that it's 1100 square feet segmented into 8 little rooms and we have just two window air conditioning units.  What that means is that we never turn on our oven from June 1st through August 30th.  It's just not worth it.  But that can be a bit limiting to our menu. So Jeremy and I have been excited to use his grill to expand our summer-time culinary options. 

Everyone has heard of grilled pizza.  There are different methods for doing it, but after reading of one person using their pizza stone inside their grill I suddenly had a strike of inspiration about what else a pizza stone inside a grill would allow us to do. 

Grilled Cookies!

I will begin first by saying we have a very well-seasoned pizza stone.  So the cookies had no problem with sticking, but may have on a newer stone.

Second, some of the cookies got very burned bottoms before we came up with the pancake method.

Third, I still think the method could be improved a little.  Perhaps by having a terra-cotta pot that we preheat in the grill and then invert over the top of the cookies to help them bake from the top as well as the bottom. 

 We began by preheating the pizza stone over hot coals.  Then we quickly placed the cookie-dough balls onto the stone and closed the lid.  After a few minutes we checked on them.  Then we checked on them again.  The bottoms cooked super fast on the hot pizza stone but the tops were totally melty, so we improvised by implementing "the pancake method."   In other words--we flipped 'em.  

 What we ended up with were grilled chocolate chip cookies that looked more like pancakes, but were delicious, and did not involve raising the temperature inside our own home any more than opening the door once to go out and once more to go back in. 

So we sat ourselves down in front of our window-unit AC with tall classes of crisp, cold milk and enjoyed our grilled chocolate chip cookies. 

Cookies on a grill--perfect for the man who taught me to love chocolate brownies so dearly.