MEXICAN QUINOA SKILLET

A friend of mine tipped me off to this fantastic recipe at http://damndelicious.net  It provides that COMFORT FOOD taste AND it is totally healthy for you (a rare combination)!! This recipe is super quick and easy to make!!  It is definitely going directly into my 5 star recipe box and I will be freezing single portions of it for my busy day quick hot lunch!! I even enjoy this cold!!

 

In a large skillet place:
1 tablespoon canola oil
2 cloves garlic minced
1 seeded and chopped jalapeno (optional)
1/2 cup chopped sweet onion 
 
Saute above ingredients for a couple of minutes or until the onion starts to smell sweet, then add:

1 cup quinoa
15 ounce can drained kidney (or black) beans
1 cup beef broth (or vegetable broth)
14.5 ounce can fire roasted tomatoes (undrained)
1 cup corn  (I used frozen)
2 teaspoons chili powder
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
4 ounce can diced mild green chiles

Sautee onions, then add everything else. Stir well, and bring to a boil. Lower heat and put the lid on and simmer for 15-20 minutes (depending on how hot your pan is).  After 20 minutes:

Turn off the heat and add:
1 peeled and diced avocado
Juice of 1 lime (optional)
2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro (optional)

Toss and serve immediately.

NOTE: leave out the jalapeno if you don't like spice-heat.

NOTE: Quinoa is a high protein grain that is VERY healthy for you and is an excellent addition to anyone dealing with diabetic issues.

NOTE: When I don't include the jalapeno, I increase the chili powder to 3 teaspoons.

NOTE: This freezes very well (before you add the avocado). I put it in one cup containers and freeze them.  To eat, put it in the microwave frozen and heat for 2 minutes, THEN add the avocado. It makes a great lunch.

NOTE: My all time favorite way to eat this (and maybe it is just me), but I love it steaming hot, topped with a scoop of fat free cottage cheese.  Yum.

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HOMEMADE VANILLA EXTRACT

The Halloween/Thanksgiving/Christmas baking season is just around the corner and I decided to stock the pantry with baking supplies.  Well, I was shocked at the increased price of good quality vanilla; some of it is as high as $15 for just a few ounces!!

With that in mind, I decided to make my own vanilla, although I had NO CLUE how to do it. After some Internet research, I was thrilled to learn that the process was SUPER EASY and only takes TWO ingredients (vodka and vanilla beans)!!

At first I was concerned because vanilla beans are not always in my budget. I like McCormick brand spices, but their price for TWO vanilla beans is over $10!! Homemade vanilla extract would be outrageously expensive at those prices, so back to the Internet.

I discovered that the best vanilla extracts are NOT made out of the same kind of vanilla beans that you bake with (whew!! That was a relief.). Vanilla extract is made with Grade B vanilla extract beans (I didn't even know there was such a thing). Google it and you will find a lot of places to buy them. Just make sure they are labeled MADAGASCAR BOURBON EXTRACT GRADE B VANILLA BEANS.

The 6" beans aren't very pretty to look at (they aren't plump and supple and you CAN NOT bake with them), but they make GREAT extract. When you order them, they will arrive looking like this:

Supplies
1 quart of vodka  (see note)
4 ounces of Madagascar  Grade B extract vanilla beans

This makes a LOT of vanilla, but I have in mind to put it in pretty little bottles and tuck it into holiday gift baskets, so a quart of extract is a good thing.

TIPS: 
Don't waste your money on expensive vodka, thinking that this will make better vanilla...it does not.  Good news!! The cheapest vodka works just as well as expensive vodka for this project!!

You will need a jar that is a bit bigger than a quart since the vodka AND vanilla beans have to fit in it (I learned that the hard way).

Cut the grade B extract vanilla beans into 1/2" pieces and put them into the quart of vodka..........that's it!!  Now all you have to do is shake the bottle a little (every few days) and after a month, it will be extract!! What could be easier?

Before using the extract (or giving it away), strain the spent vanilla bean pieces out of the extract. If you don't want ANY vanilla seeds in the extract, run the finished product through a coffee filter.

Decorative bottles like this are available online for about $2.50 each, they would make a pretty gift.

This extract will be good forever, or until the very last drop. No need to refrigerate it.

 

This photo is only 2 weeks into the extract process

(see how rich it looks already?)

For those of you who are concerned that homemade vanilla

is not as "strong" as commercial vanilla...never fear!!

This homemade vanilla is very potent (in a good way) and

you will LOVE it!!

 

ENJOY!!!

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Requiescat in Pace -- Polly Bergen

A while back we featured Polly Bergen's etiquette book over at Lucindaville.  In 1977, Bon Appetit featured her chili recipe.  We believe this is it.

POLLY BERGEN'S CHILI

6 medium onions, finely chopped
6 medium green peppers, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
Cooking oil
4 pound ground beef round OR chuck
4 (16-ounce) cans Italian-style tomatoes
4 to 6 (16-ounce) cans kidney beans, drained
2 (6-ounce) cans tomato paste
1 cup water
Salt and pepper
1 teaspoon red wine vinegar
3 whole cloves
2 bay leaves
2 tablespoons chili powder OR more to taste
4 drops Tabasco sauce
Sugar

In a large skillet, brown onion, peppers and garlic in oil until golden.

In a separate skillet, brown ground meat in batches. Separate meat with a fork and cook until all meat is browned. Drain off excess oil.

Place onion, green pepper, garlic and meat in a large pot. Add undrained tomatoes, kidney beans, tomato paste, water, salt and pepper to taste, vinegar, cloves, bay leaves, chili powder and Tabasco sauce.

Cover and simmer over low heat 1 hour. Add sugar to taste. Simmer uncovered for another hour. Remove cloves and bay leaves before serving.

She was a classy lady.

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Barbeque'n With Bobby

What makes a great pit master?  Well, in Bobby Seale's case you found the Black Panther's, disrupt the 1968 Democratic Convention, go to jail, get arrested again and again and -- oh yes, make really great barbeque.

Well it may not be the most conventional resume for a cookbook author, but it may be the most interesting.What can one say?  Even revolutionaries gotta eat.  Don't for a moment think that you are going to get some ribs spread with Kraft Sauce stuck in an oven.  This is Bobby Seale. The man knows his 'que and there are no shortcuts.  His "quick" barbeque sauce has 18 ingredients! 

Pork is not the only white meat out there.  Bobby grills chicken, turkey, game hens, fish, and beef.  His marinades, rubs, and sauces are complex and involved -- he leaves no stone unturned. 

While the cookbook was published in the late 1980's, it has a very modern feel.   Much of his attention turns to sides and vegetables to accompany the barbeque, though many would make fine meals, in and of themselves.

Seal if fond of "goobers" and points out that the goober is a generic African word that refers to nuts in general, not the peanut in particular.  In this recipe the goober of choice is the black walnut.

Goober Carrot Raisin Slaw

4 medium sized carrots, washed and finely grated
1 cup cabbage (white or red), finely grated
1 1/3 cup raisins
1 cup crushed black walnuts
1 cup mayonnaise or salad dressing
1/2 teaspoon each ground black pepper, onion parsley salt (or to taste)
Parsley for garnish

In a 3- or 4- quart bowl, combine and mix together grated carrots, cabbage, 1 cup raisins, and walnuts with mayonnaise or salad dressing.  Season to taste with black pepper and onion parsley salt. garnish with bits of fresh parsley and the remaining 1/3 cup of raisins.

 As Bobby Seale says,

"Thousands of culinary experts, particularly in the South, guard and keep their secret recipe methods.  I happen not to be one of them."

Take him up on his barbeque knowledge.

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GRANDMA's BREAD AND BUTTER PICKLES

When I was a little girl I watched my (very German) Aunt Welentina Ezlinger make pickles in her basement. I climbed up on a stool and watched her line up the hot jars and put "seeds" in each one. She then packed the jars tight with cucumbers from her garden and poured a hot vinegar liquid over them. That was almost 60 years ago, but I remember it like it was yesterday. I was so impressed!! I think of her when I make this recipe.

We love these bread and butter pickles!! They are fresh and bright tasting and are worlds better than commercial pickles!!

 

 

 

GRANDMA's BREAD AND BUTTER PICKLES        6 PINTS

 

4 cups water

1/4  cup pickling salt (not regular salt)

10 large pickling cucumbers

ice cubes (I use 2 trays of ice cubes)

3 cups sugar

2 cups water

2 cups apple cider vinegar

2 teaspoons ground turmeric

2 teaspoons mustard seed

1/2 teaspoon celery seed

 

Wash the pickling cucumbers and slice them into 1/8" slices (I cut mine just a tad thicker than 1/8").

 

 

In a LARGE bowl, mix 4 cups water and 1/4 cup pickling salt until well dissolved. Add cucumbers and ice cubes and gently swirl, making sure the slices are all submerged.  Let cucumber slices soak for two hours.

 

After 2 hours, drain the cucumbers (throw away the liquid) and rinse completely with fresh water (I rinse mine 2 or 3 times).

 

In a large/deep pan, mix 3 cups sugar, 2 cups water, 2 cups apple cider vinegar, 2 teaspoons ground turmeric, 2 teaspoons mustard seed and 1/2 teaspoon celery seed. Bring this mixture to a boil.

 

Reduce heat to LOW and put the cucumber slices in. Stir gently and let the cucumber sit in the hot liquid until they are all hot (but not cooked). Don't let the cucumbers boil.

 

Remove the slices from the hot liquid (with tongs) and pack directly into sterilized PINT size mason jars (pack as many as you can get into the jars...pack tightly).

 

When the jars are all packed with cucumber slices, bring the pot of vinegar liquid back to a boil. Remove from the heat and pour into the jars of cucumber slices, to within 1/4" of the top. Run a CLEAN knife around the sides of the jars to remove any air bubbles.

 

Wipe off the rims of the jars with a clean moist towel and screw on the two piece lids.

 

If you are going to use these pickles within 2-3 months, you can just keep them in the fridge at this stage.  If you want to keep them for a lot longer or if you want to store them in the pantry, you'll have to process the PINTS immediately in a hot water bath for 10 minutes.

 

Whether you keep them in the fridge, or put them through a hot water bath, you will have to let the cucumbers "pickle" for 2 or 3 weeks before you eat them, gently "shaking" the jars once a day.

 

 

 

ENJOY !!

 



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Nina St. Tropez

Almost every review of Nina Parker's Nina St. Tropez says, "It's the next best thing to being there."  First, let me just clarify -- there is no "next best thing."  There is being there and NOT being there.  We are NOT there and we are not that happy about it, either.

That being said, while we are not in the South of France, that is simply no excuse not to cook like we are.  So grab a copy of this book and go native.  Now it may seem from the cover and very glam shots of the photogenic Ms. Parker, that this is a cookbook for the high end diner.  But it is actually a very comprehensive look at the food of the Mediterranean.  Food served in homes and bistros off the tourist map.  Parker writes:

"I want to show you the classic, often forgotten side of town -- far away from the mega yachts and spray of champagne....This is not the new St. Tropez, it's the real St. Tropez; much of it has remained intact since its heyday in the 1950's, holding on to that old-world charm and glamor all the while."

Don't worry, there are lovely photos of water and boats and beach and markets.  And there is food, food, food.  It is food one immediately wants to eat.  Beautiful and simple.  It is a page turner.  Rarely does one find a cookbook that has something to offer up on every page.  (Frankly, I hate bananas and even the banana split looked like I might even take a bite -- or two!)

The seafood it a stand out.  Alas, as stated before -- we are not there, so finding the gorgeous seafood can be a bit of a problem, but we often find scallops and we do love them.  Here is a great combination.

Brochettes de Saint-Jaques et Chorizo au Thym



350g fresh scallops, roe removed
100g soft cooking chorizo
bunch fresh thyme, leaves roughly chopped
5 tbsp olive oil
150g cherry tomatoes
2 lemons
20g unsalted butter
sea salt and black pepper

Carefully rinse the scallops under cold running water and pat them dry with kitchen paper. Slice the chorizo into chunks roughly the same size as the scallops. Put the scallops, chorizo and half the thyme in a bowl with some of the olive oil, season with salt and pepper and gently tumble together with your hands, making sure everything is coated.

Thread the scallops, chorizo and tomatoes on to the skewers and scatter over the remaining thyme. Heat the remaining oil in two large frying pans over a medium-high heat. When the oil is hot, add the skewers and cook for 4-5 minutes, turning every so often, until all sides are browned. One minute before they’re ready, squeeze half a lemon over each. Carefully stack them on a serving dish. Reduce the heat and squeeze another half a lemon into each pan. Use a wooden spoon to scrape up all the juices on the bottom of the pans and add half the butter to each pan. Cook for a moment, stirring, before drizzling the tasty pink sauce over the skewers.

You know you want to make these this weekend. I know I do! I can assure you, it will not be the next best thing to being there, but it may just be the best thing you do this weekend.  If you can't wait, grab a bottle of wine and make them on Wednesday.  It will be the best Wednesday ever!

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SOFT COCONUT DROP COOKIES

These cookies are WONDERFULLY SOFT, rich, flavorful and easy to make. The recipe makes about 3 dozen big 4" cookies and if you store them in an airtight container, they will stay soft and chewy (they are totally addicting!!)

 

Soft Coconut Drop Cookies are PERFECT lunch box cookies, bake sale cookies, potluck cookies or "anytime cookies". They are delicious.

1 cup butter flavored shortening
1 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups flour
2 cups old fashioned oats
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups sweetened flaked coconut (lightly packed)
1 cup finely chopped pecans (optional)

Cream the shortening, sugars and vanilla until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, beating in between each egg.

Add the flour, oats, baking powder, baking soda, coconut and nuts (if you are using nuts) and beat until well mixed (batter will be thick).

Take a well rounded tablespoon of cookie dough batter and roll it into a ball. Place on a greased cookie sheet spaced 3" apart (I use parchment paper instead of greasing the pan). Bake at 350° for 11-14 minutes (my electric oven takes a full 14 minutes). Leave the cookies on the cookie sheet a minute or two before you remove them.

After they are cooled, store the cookies in an airtight container.

 

ENJOY !!

 

Note: Recipe calls for butter flavored shortening (I use butter flavored Crisco). I'm sure they could be made with butter instead, but they will bake differently and probably spread out a lot more. I also don't think they would stay soft and chewy.



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A Good Heart and A Light Hand

This is a wonderful African American cookbook from 1968.   It was compiled as a fundraiser for the Fund for Alexandria, Virginia.  The recipes are from the Ruth Gaskins' Collection of Negro Recipes.  Like so many women, Gaskins learned to cook from the women in her family, her mother and grandmothers and the other women of the community.

Gaskins writes:

There is something special that every negro knows that I can only call "the Negro Welcome."  In Alexandria, Virginia, where I have always lived, I can go into any Negro home at any time and know that I am wanted. I don't have to phone first and I don't have to wait for a special invitation.  If I feel like seeing a friend, I'll go, and it it's meal time, I'll draw up a chair and eat. There'll be enough food, because we always cook for the friend who might drop by.

While the language might seem old, the sentiment is one we should all try to live by, the ability to welcome people into our homes and to always have food on the table.

The recipes in this book reflect many old Southern recipes, including a favorite of the Duchess of Windsor, Pork Cake. In addition to the cake, there is a nose to tail approach for the pig. There are vegetables and pickles and a potato wine.

A favorite accompaniment to pork or chicken is the sweet potato.  Baked is good, but fired is better!  According to Gaskins, these are served at special occasions.

Spiced Sweet Potato Balls
3 large sweet potatoes
2 tablespoons butter
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon each: nutmeg, allspice, cinnamon
1 cup chopped nuts
flour
fat for deep frying

Scrub potatoes to remove all dirt.  boil them with the skin on until tender.  Peel and mash.  Beat in butter, salt and spices until fluffy. fold in the nuts. Shape into balls. Roll in flour. Fry in deep fat until browned.

These sweet potatoes would welcome anyone.

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TOMATO VEGGIE SOUP

We have already had frost a few times this fall and the yellow leaves are starting to fall; that means its SOUP time!! This recipe is a wonderful use for all of those extra garden veggies you have this time of year. Tomatoes, zucchini, carrots, onions, celery and anything else you can think of to add to the soup; this recipe is very versatile (and yummy).

1 cup chopped onions
1 cup chopped celery
1 cup chopped carrots
2 teaspoons minced garlic
2 1/2 cups water
2 large tomatoes (I used a ton of cherry tomatoes)
1 (15 ounce) can ro-tel tomatoes with juice (I use mild)
4 cups beef  or vegetable broth  (not bullion)
1/3 cup uncooked barley
1/4-1/2 teaspoon black pepper (I like 1/2 teaspoon)
2 cups chopped zucchini
1 can rinsed and drained kidney beans (or your favorite bean)
pinch of red pepper flakes if you like heat (optional)

Spray a large soup pot with vegetable spray and sauté the onions, celery and carrots until the onions turn soft and a little sweet.

Put the undrained can of rotel tomatoes

PLUS the two fresh tomatoes into the food processor and blend until smooth, then add to the pot.

Add everything else to the pot and simmer SLOWLY for 45 minutes, that's it; just stir it once in a while.

I'm SURE this could be easily done in the crockpot as well.

ENJOY !!

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EASY OVEN BROWN RICE

We've been trying to eat healthier lately, and "nutrition empty" white rice has been replaced by brown rice at our house.

Before now, I have only had moderate luck making brown rice. Not only do you have to babysit brown rice on a burner for 40-ish minutes, but the end result can be a little crunchy, (or worse yet), it can be gummy and sticky. Then, of course, there is the dreaded layer of rice that always cements itself to the  bottom of the pan (insert frown here).... not fun!!

Well, my cooking friends, your brown rice "issues" are over!! This super easy method will give you fluffy brown rice every time (with every grain cooked) and NOTHING sticks to the pan....super easy!!

 

This recipe makes three cups of cooked rice, which is a lot of rice for smaller families. So, I divide the leftovers into 1/2 cup or 1 cup portions and I freeze it. This way you can have brown rice ready in a flash for a weeknight meal (or to add to soups, etc.)

1 1/2 cups brown rice
2 1/2 cups boiling water
1 tablespoon unsalted butter 
1 teaspoon kosher salt (optional)

Preheat your oven to 375° and spray an 8" x 8" baking dish with vegetable spray.

Put the dry rice in the prepared baking pan.  Heat the water, butter and salt until it just comes to a boil, then pour over the rice and stir everything just enough to get the rice to an even level in the pan. Then cover the pan with aluminum foil.

COVER PAN TIGHTLY

I use heavy duty aluminum foil and crimp the edges tight on all four sides. It is important that you trap the steam in the pan.

Bake at 375° for one hour. After an hour, remove the pan from the oven and take off the foil. Fluff the rice with a fork and that's it!!

 

 

If you aren't going to eat the rice as soon as it comes out of the oven, make sure you still remove the foil so that the condensation doesn't drip back into the rice.

ENJOY !!

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PERFECT BLUEBERRY CREAM MUFFINS

This muffin is sweet, moist, light, full of flavor and pretty to look at (I love muffins than have nice rounded tops). They are very quick and easy to make and they freeze well; what more can you ask for?

 

BLUEBERRY CREAM MUFFINS       MAKES 24

3 large eggs
1 + 1/2 cups sugar
3/4 cup vegetable oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 cups flour
3/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 + 1/2 cups sour cream
1 + 1/2 cups blueberries

In large bowl, beat the eggs and sugar until well combined. Leave mixer running and drizzle in the vegetable oil, stir in vanilla.

In another bowl, mix the flour, salt and baking soda. Add this dry mixture (to the egg mixture)alternately with the sour cream (I added it in thirds).

Gently fold in the blueberries.  Line cupcake pans with paper liners and fill about 3/4 full (I use an ice cream scoop). 

Bake in preheated 400° oven for 20 minutes (my electric oven takes 23 minutes).

* Adapted version of recipe found on Allrecipes.com

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Asian Pickles

We just love us some confiture here.  If you can can it, pickle it, ferment it and write a book about it, chances are we have it.  Here is the problem.  No matter how well it is packaged, the recipes seem to run together.  If you have seen one strawberry jam recipe, you have seen a strawberry/rhubarb, strawberry/raspberry, strawberry balsamic, refrigerator strawberry recipe.  Same with pickles: the is dill, refrigerator dill, garlic dill, dill heads, dill seeds, sweet dill and on and on.  Is there any wonder that people just love Karen Solomon's Asian Pickles.

Yes! Pickles, pickles everywhere and rarely will you utter the phrase, "oh I saw a similar recipe in _______."  (The previous statement reflects the fact that I am white and living in the mountains of West Virginia and the closest Asian ingredient we have is by La Choy, but I digress.)  Let's just say, when you have that moment when you ask yourself, "Do I really need another pickle cookbook?" we can answer a definite  -- YES!

For years my family canned pickles in big quart jars and tucked them in the larder. It was always a big process.  I didn't fully realize until much later that my family also made pickles every few days.  Little bits of veggies were always stewing in some sort of vinegar or brine and they never missed a meal.  The recipes in this book will not have you dragging out that gigantic processing pan as these pickles are brined and fermented instead of canned. The biggest problem is often the waiting period before they hit their pickle prime.  Luckily, many are ready to dig into in just a few hours. 

If there is a problem with this book, it is the fact that there are so many pickles one might want to make, that the whole idea of narrowing it down becomes daunting.  What shall I make first?????

This one caught our eye right off the bat.  Every year we grow beautiful long beans and every years someone invariably asks, "What do I do with these?"  We always gave the the "stir fry" option, but this recipe is absolutely perfect.  In fact, this will probably be the last year we share the beans now that we have this recipe.

Salt Cured Long Beans

10 ounces long beans, or 12 ounces green beans
3 tablespoons kosher salt
1 (2/3-inch) piece ginger
2 small cloves garlic
2 tablespoons dark brown sugar
4 tablespoons soy sauce

Trim the beans, discarding the ends, and chop into 4-inch lengths. If you’re using green beans instead of long beans, be sure to cut off both ends of the beans (don’t just snap the stem) to allow the flavors to penetrate.

Lay the beans in a single layer in a flat, shallow dish. Cover them with the salt and let them sit for 2 hours, rolling them occasionally. Rinse the beans, discarding any extra salt or residual liquid, and pat them dry with a clean kitchen towel.

Mince the ginger and finely mince the garlic (or press it in a garlic press) and combine them with the sugar and soy sauce in the bottom of a clean, shallow container with a tight-fitting lid. Add the beans and toss them well to coat. Cover and refrigerate for 24 hours.

Your beans are now ready to eat, though you should stir them before eating. Kept covered, they will keep at least 3 weeks.

Now don't delay.  Grab a copy of this perfect pickle book for yourself and remember that it will make the ideal gift for Christmas.  (Hey Labor Day is over -- time to move on...)

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