Merry Christmas Eggnog

There is, in my opinion, nothing quite as seasonal, delicious, relaxing, and utterly fattening as a really good eggnog.  If there isn't a part of your brain shrieking "This has to have a billion calories!" and another responding "Oh, hush, it's Christmas you Scrooge." then you can't possibly have a good batch.

This is my base recipe, sans alcohol, for those who may just like it by itself (as I occasionally do). Should you decide to add alcohol I recommend Baileys or Meyers, though I do know some people who like to add cinnamon schnapps.  Weirdos.

Makes a little more than half a gallon (depends on how much you slurp up while you're bottling it)

Ingredients:
12 egg yolks
1 cup sugar
6 cups whole milk
3 cups heavy cream
1 tbsp nutmeg plus some for garnish


Directions:
In a large bowl, use a mixer (hand or stand) to beat the egg yolks until they start to get lighter in color. Gradually add in sugar, continuing to beat, until sugar is fully incorporated.

Meanwhile, heat milk, heavy cream, and nutmeg in a large pot on the stove over medium high heat until steam rises off it.

Ladle a bit of the hot mixture into the egg/sugar mixture at a time and stir in between adds to prevent the heat of the milk from totally cooking the eggs.    When the bowl is about half full, dump the whole thing back into the pot with the rest of the milk mixture and cook, stirring frequently, for about 5 more minutes.

Pour everything back out into a bowl and either serve warm with nutmeg garnish (delicious!) or cool a little and pour into a storage container for later use.

That Dip Sasha Makes

Merry Christmas!  Happy Holidays!  Enjoying the party season?

I am one of those people that goes to the grocery store to buy things for a party and always forgets to pick something up.  Also one of those people who hates paying for two things when one will do the trick (especially when the ingredients for that one can be used elsewhere)  My worst offender in both of these categories?  Chip/veggie dip.

Behold!  Even YOU can make delicious chip/veggie dip!

Ingredients:
1 cup sour cream
1/2 cup mayonnaise
3 cloves (roughly 3 tsp) garlic, minced or crushed
1 tsp dried dill

Directions:

Stir it all together.  Tastes even better if you let the flavors meld overnight.

National Brownie Day (belated)

National Brownie Day was this last Saturday, December 8th.  I had the best of intentions of posting this recipe then, but life got in the way.

This is a mildly altered version of Alton Brown's Cocoa Brownie's recipe (follow the link for the original) for increased chocolate-y goodness

Ingredients:

4 large eggs
1 cup sugar, sifted
1 cup brown sugar, sifted
8 ounces (2 sticks) melted butter
1 1/4 cup cocoa powder, sifted
2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup flour, sifted
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1 cup chocolate chips or chunks of chocolate
1/2 cup of pecans (optional)
1/4 cup flour

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F.

Butter and flour an 8-inch square pan. Make sure you get into the corners!


Unless you're feeling super strong and long-lasting, grab a hand mixer with a whisk attachment or your stand mixer and whisk attachment and whisk the daylights out of your eggs until they increase in volume and get lighter in color.  Took me about 5 minutes with a hand mixer on medium speed.

Add both sugars. Add butter, cocoa powder, vanilla, 1/2 cup of flour and salt and mix to combine.  In a small bowl, toss chocolate chips and pecans (if using) with the remaining 1/4 cup of flour before mixing into the brownie batter.*

Pour the batter into a greased and floured 8-inch square pan and bake for 45 minutes. Check for doneness with the tried-and-true toothpick method: a toothpick inserted into the center of the pan should come out clean. When it's done, remove to a rack to cool. Resist the temptation to cut into it until it's mostly cool.

*Wondering why?  The flour keeps these ingredients from sinking to the bottom of the batter.

Russ's Recipe: Peppered Potato Casserole

My husband, Russ, makes this recipe on occassion for us.  He sort of made it his own from my mother's recipe for potato casserole.

Don't eat this too often unless you want a substantial weight gain!

Ingredients:
2 packages of southwestern style shredded potatoes (shredded potatoes with peppers added)
8 oz sour cream
1 stick of butter (melted)
1 can cream of chicken
1 medium onion, diced
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
Any corn flake style cereal

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350.  Grease a 13x9 pan with butter.

In a large bowl, mix sour cream, onion, cream of chicken, and 2 cups cheddar.  Empty both packages of potatoes in and pour over melted butter.  Mix together (a process best accomplished with clean hands and someone willing to turn on the spigot for you when you're done).  Spread the mix evenly into the pan, cover with the second batch of cheese.  Grab a handful of the corn flakes and crumble them over the dish, covering sparsel.

Bake 1 1/2 to 2 hours.  The edges should be browned.

Taco Biscuits

Now, I love tacos.  But one thing I hate is how it seems like I can't eat them without shattering the shell and getting taco fixin's all over the place.  So....taco biscuits.

Great for food to go or parties since the cheese holds the toppings on.

Also I like biscuits.

Ingredients:

1 can of refrigerated biscuits (doesn't really matter what type as long as you like them)
1 lb ground beef
1 package taco seasoning and whatever it calls for to mix with (usually 3/4 c water)
1 cup cheddar cheese
Taco fixin's

Directions:

Preheat your oven to the temperature indicated on the biscuit package.  Brown ground beef and fix with taco seasoning.

Open up your biscuits, divide them out, and flatten each one into a wide circle.  Squish them into the bottom and sides of a non-stick muffin tin (no need to grease), spreading as far up the sides as you can.  The dough will rise as it bakes.

Bake for 5 minutes, then pull out and squish in the middle of the dough (it will have started to puff up.  Fill the centers with taco filling and any other fixin's you want to bake (usually jalapenos, tomatoes, and other things that cook well) and top with cheese.  Bake an additional 10 minutes.

Run a knife around the edge of the biscuits to loosen and turn out onto your serving dish.  Top with anything else you'd like!

Whoa now...

Apparently some of my recipe goers are more morning people than I am: huge spike in views today and I just got up!  Your anticipation is flattering, really!

Comforting Rice Pudding

Known in the cookbook I picked up the original from as Skansk Grot (yum...), this stuff is the perfect tasty breakfast food for the holidays since it makes a massive batch.  It's good hot, cold, and reheated.

Ingredients:
1 large apple (I like golden grimes or delicious, but pick what you like best) diced
1 tbsp butter
1 cup white rice (do not use brown  DO NOT USE BROWN!!!!!)
1 cup water
3 inch cinnamon stick OR 2 tsp ground cinnamon
4 cups milk
3 tbsp brown sugar
1/3 cup raisins (I like gold because they're prettier)
1 tsp vanilla

Directions:
Rub butter all over the bottom and sides of a LARGE saucepan (I use a spaghetti pot).  Let any leftovers melt onto the bottom.  Add rice, water, and cinnamon to the pan and heat over medium.

When the mixture boils, drop to a simmer and cover for 10-15 minutes or until the water has been absorbed.

Pour milk into saucepan, turn up the heat and stir until it begins to simmer.  Turn back down to low and add everything else except the vanilla.  Stir gently.

Cover the pan and simmer for about 45 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Remove from heat and add vanilla.

Creamy Coleslaw

I absolutely love a really good creamy coleslaw.  However, I've found a tendency in recipes to make it entirely too sweet.  So I found one and I tweaked until I got it right where I liked it.

Ingredients:
1 small head of cabbage, shredded
2 carrots, shredded
1 c mayo
1/4 cup sour cream
4 tbsp vinegar (I usually use white vinegar, but it's all a matter of taste, really)
3 tbsp sugar
2 tsp celery seed
1 tsp pepper
1 pinch of salt

Directions:
Toss together carrots and cabbage in a large bowl.

In a small bowl, mix together everything else.

Pour sauce over carrots and cabbage and toss with forks or salad tossers (if you have them) until everything is thoroughly coated.  Let sit for at least 1 hour.  Chow down!

Delicious Home-baked Bread

What is more home-y, more comforting, and more delicious than the smell of bread baking?  Eating it, of course!

Ingredients:
1/2 cup warm water
1 tsp sugar
1 package of yeast or 2 1/4 tsp bread machine yeast
2 cups whole milk
2 tbsp butter
2 tbsp + 2 tsp sugar
1 tbsp salt
6-8 cups flour (I prefer to use bread flour for the fluffiness, but there's no harm in using all purpose)

Directions:

Dissolve the 1 tsp sugar and package of yeast in 1/2 cup of warm water in a 1 cup measuring cup.  Let rest for 10 minutes or until the yeast has puffed up and doubled (thus explaining the need for a 1 cup measuring cup)

Meanwhile: in a microwavable bowl or 2 cup measuring cup, heat milk and butter on high for 3 minutes.  WARNING it's going to come out HOT.  Pour the milk mixture into a large mixing bowl with the rest of the sugar and the salt and stir until salt and sugar are dissolved. Now wait on your yeast if you still need to (the times usually mesh up about right for me)

Add yeast mix and 4 cups of flour to the bowl and stir vigorously.  Add in more flour until you can't stir anymore, then push the dough stuck to whatever you're using to stir with off.  Dump about 1 more cup of flour in the bowl, pat your hands in it, and knead the dough (adding more flour as necessary) until the dough is smooth and elastic (about 10 minutes or until your arms get tired)

Butter the outside of the dough thoroughly, set back in the bowl, and cover with a dish towel.  Let rise 1 hour or until doubled.

Punch down, knead a few times, and cover with dish cloth again.  Butter two bread pans very VERY well. (good luck getting your bread out if you don't.)  Divide the dough in half, knead a few times again and shape into a tube.  Set seam-side down in the pan.  Repeat with second half.  Cover both halves and let rise again for 1 hour until doubled.

Bake at 400 for 25 minutes.  Tap the top of the loaf: you want to hear a hollow "pock pock" sound.  When you take them out of the oven, brush the tops with butter for a soft crust.

Your hump-day holdover: Forgetting my own advice

Every so often I do something really stupid.  Embarrassing enough by itself, but when I've advised other people not to do it, I really have to hang my head in shame.

Today:

Do not turn your motorized whisk on high when you first start blending powdered sugar.

The Sasha-coated-her-glasses-in-powdered-sugar (because she got impatient) edition.

Souped-Up Tomato Sauce

You may recall my most recent post, Sasha's Super Simple Tomato Sauce.  This is what I like to do to it when I have more time and some fresh veggies to hand.  It goes great on cheese ravioli (my personal favorite use) or even as a vegetarian soup (hence the lame pun).
Souped-Up Tomato Sauce
One batch of Sasha's Super Simple Tomato Sauce
1 bell pepper, diced
1 zuchinni squash, sliced and quartered
1 yellow squash, sliced and quartered
1 container of mushrooms, sliced
Toss all ingredients in already simmering tomato sauce and let simmer until mushrooms appear slightly shriveled and browned.  Chow down with some delicious crusty bread!  (coming up neeext?)

Super basic tomato sauce

Sometimes I want a little sauce for my pasta, but I really hate the canned stuff.  Also I always forget to buy it.

This recipe is best when tomatoes are at their best (Late June-early September.  This year doesn't count.  It's weird.) and with your own or farmer's market tomatoes.  The stuff you get at the store usually ripens on the shelf and just lacks a certain...tomato-ness.

Great with some ricotta and lemon zest on twirly noodles (the name currently escapes me...)

Sasha's Super Basic Tomato Sauce
6 medium tomatoes, roughly diced or 2 quarts of cherry tomatoes, halved or 12 roma/plum tomatoes diced
2 cloves of garlic
1 tsp red pepper flakes (or to taste.  I like more.  LOTS more.)
2 tbsp olive oil

Putting the olive oil in first (so it coats the bottom of a sauce pan), toss everything in all together.  Heat over medium high until the mixture starts to boil, then give it a few good stirs and drop to medium low.  Cook whatever you're having with it, preferably letting it simmer at least 10 minutes to meld the flavors.

That's it!

A welcome-back rant: Seller-Chefs

I know, bad me.  I've wandered off for a while.  My deepest apologies (imagine, if you will, a deep bow here)

Now, on to what turned my mind back to the recipes:

If a "chef" is telling you that you have  to have something to make a recipe (other than the usual flour, butter, salt, sugar style stuff) then that is not a chef.  That is a Seller-Chef.  Which is to say, a marketing person who can cook.

I am so sick of watching cooking shows or reading cooking magazines and hearing about how Rachel Ray (sorry, you're my number 1 pet peeve, sweetie) cannot do without her EVOO dispenser (oh yes, don't get me started on how she is single-handedly trying to turn olive oil into EVOO.  The chef's version of trying to start a new "LOL") or walking through my local store and seeing shelf upon shelf of her product.  Ditto Paula Dean, Mario Battali (who at least does not have his own show to flaunt on), and half a dozen others from all walks of cooking.

Now, don't get me wrong, some people are going about it the right way.  Alton Brown, for example, tells you why you need a specific item (usually an upgraded version of something you'd usually use like bread flour instead of all purpose).  So far as I'm concerned, that's fine and dandy because it's saying "Hey, you can do this however you want with whatever you want.  Just warning you, though, your bread will be tough."  Also I don't think he actually has products to sell other than his cookbooks...

Anyway, back to your non-so-regularly scheduled recipes!  Thanks for bearing with me!

Delectable Lime Buttercream frosting

My dear friend Cathy and I are always trying new things when we get together to cook.  What I haven't been totally upfront about is that sometimes I'm totally winging it.  This was one of those instances, and I'm happy to say it turned out delicious!

This isn't the best picture for it, but if you squint real hard you can see the lime zest leaves pretty little flecks of green in the white icing. Makes enough for 24 large cupcakes or about a billion tiny ones

Ingredients:
1 stick of SOFTENED butter*
2 cups of sifted powdered sugar
1-2 tbsp (up to you) lime zest
1 tablespoon fresh squeezed lime juice plus more if needed+



Directions:
Stick the butter in a bowl and hit it with a hand or stand mixer at medium speed a few times.  It should sort of smush like melting ice cream (NOTE: if it stays in block form, but with marks on it, it needs to soften more)  Sift the powdered sugar into the bowl and blend on LOW SPEED (anything more than that will cover your kitchen in powdered sugar and you can't say I didn't warn you) 

At this point, it should look grainy and slightly yellowish.  Add in the lime zest and lime juice and blend again (you can turn the speed up now)  It should all stick together and look like...well...icing.  If it's still grainy or too thick for the texture you want, add more lime juice a drizzle at a time.

Easiest way to decorate with it is to shove it into a ziplock (I'm presuming, like me, most of you don't have actual piping bags) and nick off the corner to the width you want.  Then squeeze it on in a spiral pattern.  The thickness I described this as making will not spread on its own, so either spread it yourself or make it a tight spiral pattern.


*NOT melted^
^DEFINITELY not melted#
#In no way shape or form should you melt your butter!
+ If you want to dye your icing, you have to subtract an equal amount of lime juice from the recipe or it will come out soupy.  I'd recommend adding the dye to the measuring spoon, then filling it the rest of the way with the lime juice

You put WHAT in your chilli?!

I came across the basis for this recipe in a vegetarian cookbook I found and had forgotten all about.  It called for, get this, carrots.  I laughed, but figured that I couldn't really taste anything too subtle anyway (having a cold at the time) so no harm in giving it a go.  I was shocked (SHOCKED, I tell you) to find that carrots seem to be the missing ingredient in chilli.  They give it a flavor I didn't even know I was missing.

So give it a try.  Really.  It's super cheap to make and relatively fast, so no harm done.

Ingredients:
1 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, diced
2 cloves garlic
1 red pepper diced
2 carrots, peeled and diced no larger than the last joint of your pinky finger!!!*
1 can of diced tomatoes
2 cans of pinto beans, drained
5-10 slices of pickled jalepenos, diced super fine
Black pepper to taste

Directions:
Drizzle olive oil around the bottom of a large pan (I used a spaghetti pot) and heat over medium high.  Dump in the onion and garlic and snap a lid on that sucker. (be careful of oil spitting up out of the pan)  Lower the heat to medium and let cook for 10 minutes.

If you haven't already done it, chop the pepper and carrots while you're waiting.  Lift the lid, dump in pepper and carrots and give it a good stir.  Put the lid back on and let cook for another 10 minutes.  Take off the lid and get it out of your way, you won't need it again.  Jab at the largest carrot chunk you see with a fork: the fork should slide right in. (If it doesn't, you probably didn't listen to me about the size.  That's ok, just stick the lid back on and check at 5 minute intervals until you can sucessfully jab that carrot)

Dump tomatoes and beans on top of everything.  Turn heat back up to medium high.  Stir a few times, till everything is warm, then dump in the jalepenos.  Let cook for about 5 minutes (this is flavor-merging stage), then serve into bowls.  Very delicious with a sprinkle of cheddar.


Bonus!  It's good cold, too.

*If the carrots are too big, you'll wait forever for this to be done

Crockpot: Ginger Barbeque Pork

Found a recipe for Root Beer Pork and adapted this from it.  I'm not a huge fan of root beer.

Ingredients:
1 pork loin (1-3 lbs)
3 tbsp (Mostly) Barbeque Spice Rub (recipe)
1 bottle of ginger beer*

Directions:
Put pork loin in the crockpot.  Sprinkle the top with the spice rub and press it in.  Pour bottle of ginger beer over the top of it.  Turn crockpot on low for at least 4 hours.

This is also good shredded and on buns as a sandwich.


*Ginger beer is a different animal than ginger ale being entirely more gingery and not as sweet.  You can usually find it in foreign food stores (being quite popular in Jamaica) or in your grocery store's health and foreign food aisles.  Please don't substitute ginger ale, it'll hurt my feelings.

Where's the love?

Ok, I just flipped through some of the info available on blogger's new editor, and I can see over 500 views (44 of which are for Hot Lava Cakes) and not a single comment from a soul.  Tell me, folks, what do you think?  Good?  Bad?  Needs just a little something?  I love to tweak, and I need your help to do so.

(Mostly)Barbeque Spice Rub

This spice rub is something I use to "kick it up a notch" with pre-made barbeque things and my own barbeque recipes.  Keep an eye out next week for the recipe I most commonly use it in or sprinkle it on top of the next barbeque sandwich you have.

Ingredients:
3 tbsp brown sugar
1 tbsp salt
1 tbsp cumin
1 tbsp paprika
1 tbsp black pepper (freshly ground is better)
2 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp dried onions
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp cayenne pepper

Directions:

Mix it all together.  Package whatever you're not using right away in an airtight container or ziplock with extra air squeezed out.

Happy Father's Day!

 Happy Father's Day to all the men in our lives! 

 Most particularly to my father, who taught me all the basics and a love of food (and fun, as you can tell)

And my Papa, who taught me to garden and love REAL vegetables

Pizza Crust for the Fluffies

There are two camps of pizza crust eaters: the crispies and the fluffies.  I'm a fluffy.  I like big, fluffy crusts with chewy centers and crispy outsides.  This is my favorite crust recipe

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups warm water
2 1/4 tsp yeast (or 1 packet)
1 tbsp brown sugar
2 tbsp olive oil
2 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp salt

Directions:
 In a small bowl (or measuring cup, if you're like me and hate extra dishes) mix together the warm water, brown sugar, and yeast.  In another, larger, bowl, mix 1 1/2 cups flour with salt.  As soon as the yeast blooms*, mix the olive oil into the water mixture, then dump everything in on top of the flour and salt.  Mix together as thoroughly as possible, adding more flour if necessary to get the dough to the point where it's thick enough (and not sticky) to knead.  Knead it for 5 minutes, adding more flour as necessary, then coat lightly with olive oil, drop back in the bowl, and cover with a towel or plate.  Let it sit for 1 hour.

 Preheat oven to 425.

VERY lightly oil only the bottom of your pizza pan.  Do not oil the lip of the pan.  Plop your pizza dough down in the middle of the pan and squish and push the dough towards the lip.  Here comes the reason I  told you not to oil the lip of the pan: if you've oiled everything, your dough is going to shrink back towards the middle as soon as you stop pushing it.  Therefore, you want to push the dough up over the lip and curl it slightly down on the sides of the pan so it will stick.  Jab at the parts of the crust that are touching the bottom of the pan with a fork a few times so steam can escape.  Bake for 5 minutes.

Add toppings and cook until cheese/crust/toppings achieve desired brown-ness (for me, about 12 minutes)

*Instead of being  merely murky, you'll see the water/sugar/yeast mixture start to have light "blobs" of color that push out from the center of the bowl.  Fun to watch.

Woops!

Sorry for the totally unintentional silence.  Those of you with day jobs will probably understand.

Starting today, going to once a week updates until I feel I can go back to two.

Hot Lava Cakes

I found a recipe for Cabernet Sauvignon Lava Cakes from McCormick Spices in one of my recipe magazines. Made it, tried it, made a face, and began pondering what was wrong and what I could do to fix it. Chatted with my friends at work and Kate suggested that maybe a little heat would be good (Rachel just said "Too strong!")

So I made three more batches with varying degrees and types of spices before finally settling on the recipe below. They're meant to be served hot, but they taste just as good cold, though there is sort of a suggestion of "Did you stuff this brownie with frosting somehow?"

Ingredients:
4 oz semi-sweet chocolate (I used Godiva): either use chips or chop up a bar
1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter
1 tbsp of reduced sweet red wine*
1 tsp vanilla extract (not the fake stuff, please)
1 cup confectioners sugar
2 eggs
1 egg yolk
6 tbsp flour
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper (or more, if you want)^

Directions:
Preheat oven to 425.

Put chocolate and butter in a large microwavable bowl and microwave for 1 minutes or until the butter is totally melted. Whisk it to death (aka, until you don't see any lumps) Add wine and vanilla and whisk again. Add confectioners sugar and whisk until the lumps are gone or nearly so. Add in eggs and whisk until fully incorporated. (!!!!!Read Below!!!!!!) Add flour and spices and whisk again. Try not to lick too much off your fingers, no matter how delicious it is.

Butter 4 custard cups (or juice glasses, if you have no custard cups) well. Pour batter into the cups and smooth the top with a spatula. Set all four on a cookie sheet. Bake 13-15 minutes (they should puff out of the cups a little and the top will look like a baked brownie, but they'll jiggle when you shake the pan) Let set for 1 minute, then run a knife around the edge of the cup and flip upside down on a plate to serve.

To reheat: put on a microwavable plate and microwave for 30 seconds.


IMPORTANT: if you don't get all the egg beaten in properly, you could come across a portion of the cake that has a huge hunk of cooked egg (and nothing else) in it. It is disgusting

*To reduce wine, pour a full bottle into a saucepan. Simmer until it's about 1/4 of the original volume

^Do you remember when you bought your cayenne? If the answer is no, please buy some new cayenne: the older it is, the less heat it has.

Sneaky Candy

Got the idea of these from a Real Simple magazine several years ago. I don't have the chance to make them often, but they're really very good when I get one before my father eats them.

Ingredients:
1 bag dried apricots blended/chopped/otherwise murdered
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 tsp nutmeg
Chocolate chips (optional)
Extra sugar and nutmeg (optional)

Directions:
Blend the apricots, sugar, and nutmeg until as smooth as you can get it. Roll them into balls about the size of a ping pong ball and stick in the fridge to harden (About 1 hour)

Coating options:
Chocolate-melt chocolate by placing chips in a microwave safe bowl and microwaving 30 seconds at a time, stirring each time, until smooth chocolate forms. Dip 1/2 of the apricot balls in the chocolate and set on a waxed cookie sheet to harden.

Sugar/nutmeg-mix together sugar and nutmeg to your taste preference in a large flat-bottomed bowl. Roll balls in the mix


No matter which coating option you chose, they're cute in mini muffin cups.

Quick and Easy: Tropical Rice Pudding

Accidental recipe discovery

Ingredients:

1 cup leftover rice (we used sushi rice)
1 can unsweetened coconut milk
1/4 cup sugar
1 fresh ripe pineapple cut into rough chunks
1 fresh orange cut into chunks
Sprinkle of nutmeg

Directions:

Toss it all together and eat!

Beef Stew

This is my absolute winter favorite (chubby little bear cub I turn into in winter...)

Ingredients:
Roughly 1 1/2 lbs of beef chunks.*
3 tbsp olive oil
1/2 cup flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
1 can of dark beer (Guiness or other stouts recommended)
3 cubes beef bullion
2 cups water
1 onion, quatered
1 stick celery sliced
4 large carrots or about 1 cup of baby carrots chopped into small pieces
1 cup frozen peas
1 cup quick-cook barley

Mix together flour, salt, and pepper. Toss the beef in the flour mixture until totally coated.

Heat oil in a soup pot on the oven (I use a spaghetti pot). Toss in beef and extra flour. Brown on all sides. Pour in beer and water. Add bullion and onion. Bring to a boil, then reduce to medium low heat.^ If you, like me, like the flavor of celery but not the texture add it now so it can cook to mush.

Let cook for at least 30 minutes. Add carrots. Cook another 15 minutes. Add peas and barley. Let cook for 10 minutes or until a lentil that has been fished out is tender.

OPTIONS!
-Potatoes instead of lentils: add at the same time as carrots
-Rice instead of lentils: add at same point as lentil would be added
-Additional veggies: rule of thumb is that you should add them at the same time as one of the other veggies of similar toughness. For example, corn would go in about the same time as peas (ditto other types of beans) radishes would go in at the same time as carrots.
-Tomatoes: always add last. Even after the lentils. They fall apart quickly.
-Red wine: different sort of flavor. I think the stew needs thyme mixed in with the flour if you use red wine. (About 1/4tsp)


*You can buy a tenderloin or other large pieces of meat if you like and cut it down. Flank steak is often a good choice for price alone
^The longer you cook this the more tender your beef will be. If you don't want to take the time, leave at medium and keep an eye on it (chances are good your pot will be almost full.)

Quick and Easy: Squish

Sometimes I just want some cookie dough. But... we don't have any and I don't really have any desire to cook any.

Thereby I began making Squish (Which is what I told my then 4 year old sister it was when she asked) which tastes not at all unlike spicy cookie dough and also does not contain raw egg which I hear is allegedly bad for you.

Ingredients
2 tbsp butter softened (best option) or melted (also acceptable)
1 tbsp white sugar
2 tbsp brown sugar
1/4 cup flour
Cinnamon
Nutmeg
Cloves
Allspice
Ginger

Directions:
Squish the butter and sugars together. Add two shakes each of the spices (or to taste), then enough of the flour to form what appears to be cookie dough. Eat!

Website

http://www.simplysimplewithsasha.com is now up and working, though for the moment all it shows is this blog. We're still working it out.

Quick and Easy: Meaty Mushrooms

Another quick and easy recipe: this can be used as a substitute for beef tips in a lot of recipes. Great with mashed potatoes

Ingredients:

• One large container of Button mushrooms, cleaned and thickly sliced
• One medium onion, sliced
• One tablespoon oil
• Salt and Pepper
• Fresh Sage, chopped
  

Directions

Put oil into a large skillet and heat over medium (oil should not pop) Add onions and stir until just tender. Add mushrooms and cook until onions are translucent and mushrooms have browned. Add sage, toss to incorporate. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Quick and Easy: Summertime Stirfry

This stirfry is the taste of summer for me, being a dish passed down in my family for years and cooked with only the freshest vegetables.

Ingredients:

• One yellow squash, well washed, sliced and cut into quarters
• One zucchini, well washed, sliced and cut into quarters
• Half an onion, diced
• Three cloves of garlic, crushed or minced
• One tablespoon of oil

Directions

Heat the oil in a skillet over medium heat and toss in everything. Cook under the squash and zucchini are tender. Add salt and pepper to taste. Serve warm or cold.

Vegetarian Bean Burgers

Let me share a secret with you: what makes most burgers taste the way they do (unless you're one of those people that just eats it plain) is the condiments, not the burger itself. These burgers, with condiments, will taste almost exactly like a regular burger, though the texture is a little different

Ingredients:

• 2 cans of black beans (I use low sodium, but that's optional)
• 2 cups cooked sushi rice
• 1 medium onion, ends cut off and paper removed, quartered
• 2 jalapeno peppers, half and seeds removed
• 3 cloves of garlic, paper and end removed

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350.

Put both cans of black beans in a colander and rinse thoroughly. Drain, and shake until as dry as possible (patties will not form if too much moisture remains on the beans!) Set aside

Place the onion, peppers, and garlic in a food processor or blender (I recommend a food processor, as blenders tend to suck a certain amount towards the bottom and then fail to process the rest) and pulse until everything is roughly chopped. Be careful not to over-process or the onion will liquefy. Scrap into a large mixing bowl and set aside.

Put half of the beans and approximately 1/2 of the rice into the food processor and blend until totally smooth. Mix the puree and remaining beans and rice in with the onion mixture. Stir well. The mixture should stick together without being crumbly or too liquid (shouldn't ooze off the side of your hand if you pick up a handful)

Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. Pat mixture into approximately eight flat, round patties. If the patties are not flat, they may break when you flip them.

Bake for 10 minutes. Gently flip the burgers, making sure the spatula is under the whole burger before lifting. Bake 10 more minutes.

If you want to add cheese, do so in the last minute of baking.

Enjoy!


Notes:

These are also excellent with sour cream and chives as an appetizer (if you cook them in smaller patties, keep an eye on them so they don't burn)

They reheat well in toaster ovens, but microwaving tends to make the patties soggy.

Quick and Easy: Herb and Tomato Pasta

I like this recipe for its simplicity and how pretty it looks on a plate. It's quick, easy, and can be served either hot or cold.

Ingredients:
1 box pasta noodles of your choice (I recommend thin spaghetti or linguine)
1 can diced tomatoes, low sodium (If using fresh tomatoes, substitute about two cups chopped.)
1/4 cup finely diced onion
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 tablespoons fresh chopped basil
1 teaspoon fresh chopped marjoram
1 tablespoon fresh chopped sage
Chopped parsley to taste

Directions:

Cook pasta according to package directions or until desired texture. Set aside for warm, or drain and set in refrigerator for cold pasta.

Put all other ingredients in a bowl and mix until well combined. Toss with pasta.

Cheatsheet: Make your own Greek Yogurt (kind of)

This wonder food deserves it's own place in the pantheon of great foods you can get cheaply. It can be used in place of sour cream (much healthier) and eaten instead of "regular" yogurt (also usually healthier)

Let me start by saying that you don't have to buy those little 1.50 per tiny yogurt sized ones. In fact, you can get a giant tub for about the same price.

How?

1. Buy the biggest tub you can find of plain, regular yogurt. No flavorings at this step if you want it to turn out right.
2. Place a large strainer in a bowl slightly smaller than it, so there's at least two inches between the bowl and the strainer bottom.
3. Place a clean, unscented dish towel in the strainer, making sure the sides are covered.
4. Empty the yogurt into the dishtowel
5. Keep and clean out the yogurt container and reserve
6. Cover the strainer/bowl/yogurt with a large round plate and place in refrigerator.
7. Leave overnight (for firm) or for 3 hours (for smooth)
8. Lift the plate off and check for the desired consistency: in my case this means if I lift the towel out, it retains the shape of the strainer.
9. Scoop back into container and refrigerate until ready to eat.

Now, if you over-shoot the firmness you want, you can stir back in small amount of the liquid that has drained off the yogurt.

After this, you can add in fruit, honey, or whatever else you desire.

Toasted Coconut Rice Pudding

If you never liked rice pudding, you'll like this.

If you hate the smell of burning popcorn, this may change your mind.

Toasted Coconut Rice Pudding

1/3 cup Jasmine rice (I haven't tried this with another type yet, so do so at your own risk)
1 14oz can of unsweetened coconut milk, not low fat
1/3 cup white sugar (brown sugar will make this too sweet)

Makes about 2 cups (6 servings)
Tip: Have all your ingredients out and measured when you start the recipe: this will not only keep you from having to struggle around for it, but also keeps you from burning the rice.

Pour rice into medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Stir and shake constantly until all rice is browned, about the color of brown sugar. Will put off a strong scent not unlike burning popcorn. YOU MUST KEEP STIRRING OR THE RICE WILL BURN.

Add the coconut milk and sugar to the pan and reduce heat to low. Stir to combine. Wait for it to come to a boil again, then cover with tight fitting lid and set a timer for 20 minutes. Stir about every 5 minutes for the first 15 minutes, then stir every other minute until done. This should make al dente (slightly chewy) rice, so you can cook longer if you want it really soft.

Serve warm or cold

Eggplant Lasagna

This is a great recipe for the vegetarian in your life. Or for making lasagna just a little bit healthier.

Ingredients

2 large eggplants, sliced lengthwise 3/4-inch thick (leave peel on!)
Olive Oil
Ground black pepper (fresh if possible)
1 32-oz package of mushrooms sliced at about 1/2 inch thick
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tablespoon freshly chopped thyme leaves
1 (15-ounce) container whole milk ricotta cheese
3 large eggs
1/2 cup grated Parmesan, divided
1/2 cup grated Romano, divided
1 cup shredded mozarella, divided
1 tsp oregano, dried
1 jar Barilla Spicy Marinara or similar

Directions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Arrange sliced eggplant in a single layer on 2 oiled sheet pans. Brush on top with olive oil and grind pepper over. Bake slices 15 minutes, then turn gently. Brush tops with olive oil and grind pepper over again. Bake additional 10 minutes or until a fork poked into the thickest part of any of the slices slides in easily. Drop oven temperature to 350.

Meanwhile, in a medium skillet tablespoons of oil and the sliced mushrooms. Saute over medium high heat about 5 minutes. Add the minced garlic and chopped thyme. Cook for another 2 minutes. Mushrooms should be soft. Once the mushrooms are cooked remove and set aside to cool.

In a large bowl add the ricotta, eggs, 1/4 cup parmesan, 1/4 cup romano, 1/2 cup mozarella, oregano, mushrooms, 2 teaspoons of salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Mix well. Brush an 8-inch baking dish with oil.

Spread 1/3 of the marinara sauce on the bottom of the prepared baking dish. Lay eggplant slices to cover the marinara without overlapping and smooth over with ricotta mixture. Spread another 1/3 of the marinara on top of the ricotta mixture, then another layer of eggplant and ricotta. Top with last of eggplant, then marinara, and sprinkle remaining cheese on top. Bake until golden brown, at 350 degrees, for 30 minutes.

If you'd like, you can freeze the casserole before baking. It will keep in the freezer for a few months, then you just bake it for about 10 minutes longer to ensure the middle is cooked through.

I have also noted in making this recipe that you CANNOT put anything else in the oven while this is cooking or it won't get done. Not being a scientist, I couldn't tell you why, but I know it does happen.

Also make sure your eggplant gets done in the first step, or it won't taste right no matter how long you cook it in the last step.

Tips for picking your eggplant

When you go to the grocery store, make sure to pick an eggplant with as close to unblemished skin as you can find. The skin should be the same deep purple all over and the greenery at the head of the plant should look relatively fresh. It should feel heavy, make a hollow "pock" noise if you flick it with your fingernail, and should not be overly soft.

Quite a while back I heard that you should pick "innie" eggplants rather than "outies". I don't know what the wisdom of that was meant to be, but it has served me well. When you're picking your eggplant, check the bottom to see whether the little brown spot (where the flower was) is pushing out or tucked in. Go for the tucked in.

Ginger Gems

A simple, quick, dessert recipe for today to tantalize your tastebuds. This is what I call a "no kids" batch (in other words, very small)

Ginger Gems

Ingredients:
1 stick butter
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1 egg
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 tbs freshly grated ginger (you can also use thawed ginger cubes like the ones produced by Dorot. They last pretty darned long too.)
1 1/4 cup flour
3-6 oz chopped candied ginger to taste

Directions
Heat oven to 375
In a large bowl cream together butter, sugar, and salt until creamy. Add egg, mix well. Add vanilla and ginger root, mix well. Add flour and blend until all lumps are gone. Mix in the ginger, making sure to spread it evenly throughout (otherwise you'll have a handful of just vaguely ginger scented sugar cookies) Drop heaping tablespoons on an ungreased cookie sheet and mash slightly. These cookies barely spread at all so you can place them pretty close together. Bake for 12 minutes. Warning they will not brown, so be careful not to overcook. Unless your oven runs a little cold, twelve minutes is perfect for slightly soft cookies.

Granola

Having stumbled upon a pretty good recipe in Frontier Heritage Cookbook, I then proceeded to change almost everything about it because...well, I hate walnuts. The result lasted less than 24 hours as my husband, myself, and my dear friend Cathy munched blissfully away.

This recipe can be edited to suit your particular tastes: consider it a general guideline of delicious.

Homemade Granola Cereal
Ingredients
2 1/2 cups quick-cook oats (such as Quaker)
1 cup flaked or shredded coconut
1/2 cup slivered or sliced almonds, unsalted
1/4 cup flax seeds
3/4 cup butter (that's 1 1/2 sticks)
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
3/4 cup honey
1 tbsp plus 1 tsp (or 4 tsp) vanilla extract

Directions

Line a cookie sheet with aluminum foil and butter the foil well. Add oats, coconut, almonds, and flax seeds and spread evenly. Bake at 300 for 20 minutes, stirring several times. (if you have an oven that is hotter at the back than the front, you should turn the pan halfway through)

Meanwhile, in a saucepan, combine butter, brown sugar, and honey over medium high heat for about 5 minutes or until bubbling. (Be careful! The bubbles come up quickly and will make an awful mess if they hit your stove). Remove from heat.

Turn up oven to 350. Add the butter mixture to the oat mixture and stir until thoroughly combine. Bake 10 minutes or until bubbly. (again, turning halfway through for hot ovens)

Let cool, then put into a plastic bag and seal tightly to last for up to a month.

General Announcement

In the interest of keeping up a steady flow of recipes, I'm scheduling new posts until the end of the month. With all luck (and planning) we should see posts every Monday and Wednesday for the next few months at least.

Quick and Easy: Broccoli Kimpara

I am one of those people who doesn't like to steam the broccoli stalks when I'm making broccoli for dinner or snacks or whatever. At the same time, I really hate throwing away such a large portion of anything I've bought. So Broccoli Kimpara is the perfect solution!

Ingredients:
1 tbs oil (I prefer vegetable, but it's up to you)
1 pinch red pepper flakes
4 stalks of broccoli, florets cut off

Directions
Cut the broccoli stalks in half width-wise, then slice into matchstick thin pieces. Heat a skillet over medium heat with the oil, then add broccoli pieces. Stir fry until the broccoli becomes a bright shade of green, approximately 5 minutes. Add the red pepper flakes and stir fry for another 2 minutes. Eat hot or cold.

In my experience, this recipe will keep in your refrigerator in a air-tight container for about a week. Anything longer and it starts to get that rotten broccoli smell.

Simple Scones

Snack time! Want something sweet but not too sweet? Scones are perfect! Best when served fresh out of the oven.

Simple Scones
Ingredients:
4 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
24 tbsp butter (3 sticks) COLD, cut into cubes
1 1/4 milk
1 large egg, beaten, with 2 tbsp milk

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cover two baking pans with parchment paper.

Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl. Add the butter and cut it (*) into the flour until the mixture resembles cornmeal. Do not work the dough too much (ingredients should still feel cold)

Add the 1 1/4 cup buttermilk and mix until just combined and the dough begins to stick together. Add additional milk, 1 tbsp at a time if the dough seems too dry.


Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and roll or pat it into 2 6inch rounds about 1 1/2 inches thick. Cut each round in half, then cut each half into 3 triangles. Separate the wedges slightly and brush the tops with egg wash.

Bake until golden brown and firm to the touch: 30-35 minutes.

(*) Cutting in the butter can be done in a few different ways: with two knives (cross your wrists in an X and pull knives towards each other, being very careful not to snick your fingers), with a pastry cutter (a metal half circle with slits on the bottom that usually has a wood or plastic handle and is pressed into the dough repeatedly), or with a food processor (blend in pulses, not a constant run since the constant speed will warm the dough)

Citrus Fettucine

This is one of my all-time favorite dishes and a big one with Cath and Britt any time we get together. Make sure to use a big pan!

Citrus Fettucine

Ingredients:
1 box fettucine (or linguine)
1 large lemon
1 orange
1 cup heavy cream
1 cup half and half*
2 tablespoons creme de menthe
leaves from 4 springs of fresh mint, shredded
1 1/2 cups grated parmessan and/or romano cheese

*If you don't have half and half, increase heavy cream to 1 1/2 cup and use 1/2 cup of whole milk

Directions:

Set a large pot of water to boil over high heat.

Gently scrub the lemon and the orange under warm water to remove any wax from the peel. Pat dry, then zest.

Combine cream, half and half, and citrus zests in a large skillet over medium heat. Bring to a boil, stirring frequently with a wooden spoon and cook until reduced by about 1/4 (10 or so minutes) Add the creme de menthe and cook another 2 minutes.

Meanwhile, add the pasta to the boiling water and let cook until desired texture is achieved (about 10 minutes for a little softer than al dente)

Using tongs or a spaghetti scooper, transfer the pasta to the skillet with the sauce. Add cheese and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until the sauce thickens (about 1 minute) Plate the pasta and garnish with shredded mint.

Serves 4-6 people

A note of warning: this recipe does not reheat well. The oils from the dairy products separate out.

Info Post

Just a heads up: Hubby recently gave me my own domain for V-day. SimplysimplewithSasha.com is currently in progress. Will let you know more once we have it up and running

Barbeque Chicken

Another quick, simple recipe. Very good with some green beans and coleslaw

Ingredients:
2 chicken breasts
1 cup barbeque sauce (Not Ketchup, in my case)

Directions:

(For the oven)Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Using a 9x9 pan, cover the bottom with sauce. Place chicken on top of sauce, then pour on the rest of the sauce. Cover the pan with aluminum foil. Bake 30 min-1 hour (more time won't hurt it) To ensure that the chicken is done, pull back the foil and cut down the center of a breast. The inside should be white.

(For the crockpot) Same directions as above except in a crockpot and on medium heat.

Crockpot: Vegetarian Chili

Quick, easy, and delicious, this meal usually costs less than $1 a serving.

Ingredients:
2 cans black beans (I prefer low sodium)
1 container of fresh salsa, flavor and heat of your choice.

Directions:

Dump all ingredients into a crockpot. If you aren't going to eat for 4+ hours, put on your lowest setting. Otherwise set on medium. Ready to eat as soon as it's warm. I like it with sour cream and cheddar cheese.

Grandma's Ambrosia

Have you ever had that marshmallow filled cherry confection that little old ladies like to make at every picnic/church function/family reunion ever? Noticed that it's really hit and miss: sometimes delicious, sometimes like munching on pink socks?

Following is my family fool-proof recipe for delicious Ambrosia (for that is what my grandma called it) Feel free to play with the amounts until you get what's just right for you.

Ingredients:
1/2 c heavy whipping cream
1 tbsp sugar
4 oz sour cream
1 1/2 c mini-marshmallows
1/2 c well drained mandarin oranges
1/2 c crushed pineapple
1/2 c coconut flakes
1/2 c pecan pieces
1/2 c drained maraschino cherries (don't drain too well: the juice gives this dish the signature pretty pink color)

Directions:
Whip cream and sugar until stiff peaks form. Add sour cream and whisk to combine. Add everything else and stir well until completely combined. Transfer to a glass or melamine bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least 2 hours (overnight is best)

Fascinating Substitutions: Sour Cream

So I set about making coleslaw the other day only to find out my sour cream had gone bad. A lesser person might have said "Forget this" and tossed the lot. I, however, hopped on google and researched until I found out...

6 oz cream cheese+3 tbsp milk= sour cream

Skeptic that I am, I couldn't believe it would taste right, but I tell you it made the best coleslaw I've ever had. Just make sure you whip the tar out of it to get the lumps out.

Crockpot Week: Chicken Noodle Soup

Being sick isn't fun. Getting to eat chicken noodle soup can be, though. This has way more ingredients than my average recipe. It also makes more and can be frozen with minimal damage (the veggies get squishy when you reheat)

Chicken Noodle Soup

Ingredients:

1-2 chicken breasts or thighs (Basic difference: thighs are fattier. They're what you see in your campbell's soup. In my opinion, they make the better soup)

1 cup carrots, chopped

1 cup celery, chopped

1 tbsp pepper, preferably freshly ground

2 cups chicken stock

half a bag of egg noodles.

Directions:

Put chicken and stock in crockpot. Cook on high for 2-3 hours. Take a fork to the chicken and break it up into whatever size pieces of chicken you prefer. Add the celery and carrots, drop temperature to low and cook for another hour or until a fork can easily pierce the carrots. Add pepper to taste. 10 minutes before serving, add in the egg noodles. Add enough water to ensure that everything is covered and you have the amount of broth you want. (Make sure not to overfill! A crockpot filled to the lid is not going to cook well)

Dish out and enjoy!

Crockpot Week: Empty Cupboard Chicken

This is one of my "oops, forgot to go to the grocery store" recipes. Everything except the chicken is something you probably always have in your cabinets. I always have chicken in my freezer, so it's perfect for me.

Empty cupboard chicken

Ingredients:

1-4 chicken breasts

1 tbsp Italian seasoning

1 good shake of red pepper flakes

Pepper to taste

Water

Directions:

Place the chicken breasts in the crockpot and sprinkle with the seasonings. Add enough water to come half-way up the chicken. Cook on high for at least 2 hours or on low for 6 or more hours.

Super simple, right?

Not Ketchup

As I referred to it so cryptically in my last recipe, Not Ketchup is next up. So called because I store it in empty ketchup containers with "NOT KETCHUP" written across the top to save my poor husband a burned tongue. It is, in layman's terms, barbecue sauce.

Ingredients:
3 c ketchup (I use the cheap store brand. A flavor you like is good, but it doesn't have to be the fanciest ketchup on the block)
2 c vinegar (apple cider works best)
2 c water
2 1/2 tbsp brown sugar (dark, if you have it)
4 tsp salt
2 1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
3 tsp cayenne pepper

NOTE: In this and all my spicy recipes, be aware that I like hot food! If you don't, start easy and add more.

Directions:

Add everything in a pot that will leave at least two inches of space at the top for boil room. Stir it all together and simmer for about 20 minutes or until it coats the back of a wooden spoon.

For truly authentic Not Ketchup, then pour the cooled solution back into a ketchup bottle and mark "Not Ketchup."

This stuff lasts as long as ketchup in terms of "going bad", so feel free to double or even triple the recipe and stash some in your fridge.

Crockpot: Barbeque Pork

Next week will be crockpot week per my dear friend Cathy's request. This is just a hint (sans pictures) so she can get started.

Barbeque Pork
Ingredients:
1 pork tenderloin (2 lbs or less)
2 cps (approximately) of barbeque sauce. Whatever you like. (my personal recipe, known as "Not ketchup" )

Directions:

Cover the bottom of the crockpot with barbeque sauce. Put the pork in. Pour the rest of the barbeque sauce on top of the pork. Let cook at least 3 hours at high or 5 hours at low.


Quick and important note about crockpots/slowcookers: Every slowcooker is a little different in terms of temperature. The "high" on some will burn the bejesus out of this, while the "high" on others will just barely do the trick. Please, oh please, if this is your first time using a slowcooker, stay with it! Otherwise you may come home to charcoal in a pot. You should only need to watch it once or twice to get the general idea of just how high your slowcooker's high is.

Cheatsheet: Turnovers

Welcome to the very first Cheatsheet!

Cheatsheets are foods that look homemade, but really only partly are. They're quick, they're easy, and they're often quite elegant looking. As long as you don't let anyone know, they'll never guess that you only did the footwork!

This is a favorite of mine from when I was a kid. My mother is the queen of the "Homemade Potato Salad" (read: one that has been taken out of the container she got it in at the store and sprinkled with paprika) and these were another of her little tricks.

Turnovers

Ingredients:
1 can of crescent rolls
1 can of fruit pie filling (I used cherry)

Directions:
Preheat oven as instructed on the can. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. Roll out the crescent roll dough and separate it. Squish it out so the widest part is even wider.

Put about 1 spoonful of filling in the widest part of the dough. For cherry pie filling, this usually means 3-4 cherries plus surrounding goop. For apple, it generally means 1 slice, poked in half and folded over.

Fold over the short point of the dough, pinching down the side to seal in the filling.

Fold over the long point of the dough, pulling it tight around the filling, then pinching to seal. Pinch off the end. (If you're a savvy sort of person, there are enough end pinches to make one more small turnover. I, however, eat them.)

Sprinkle the turnovers with sugar and bake as directed on the crescent roll canister.

Viola!

Simple Cooking Spotlight: Dorot Cubes

I hate buying a whole head of garlic knowing that at least half of it will go bad before I have a chance to use it. Even worse, I hate not having garlic when I need it.

So when I found, walking through my grocery store one day, Dorot Crushed Garlic Cubes, I was in awe. An answer to my prayers! And best yet, unlike the jarred or peeled garlic I had tried on occasion, Dorot never tastes strange and is already pre-measured! I can (and do) stock up on these little guys every time they go on sale.
Dorot also makes ginger, parsley, basil, cilantro, dill, and chili cubes. My local store doesn't carry the dill, but everything else has a home in my freezer. Especially the ginger!

Quick and Easy: Chicken Kijiyaki

My thanks to Just Bento and their cookbook for this recipe (slightly altered)


Ingredients:
1 large or 2 medium/small boneless skinless chicken thighs (I know somewhere out there is a health nut saying "Oh, I'm sure it'd be just as good with chicken breasts", let me tell you- it is not.)
3 tbsp reduced sodium soy sauce (my personal quirk: feel free to use regular)
3 tbsp aji mirin (*see below for notes)
1 tbsp sugar

Directions:
Measure out the mirin and soy sauce into a small bowl. Set aside. Measure sugar into a small bowl. Set aside. This is important as the pan will be hot when you add these items. There will not be time to measure them out.

Cut chicken thighs into strips about one finger wide and 2 inches long at most. (If you will be making this recipe or other recipes using thighs like this a lot, cut a bunch and divide it out into ziplock baggies as you can see I do. They'll last several months in the freezer this way)

Set out a large nonstick skillet (you can use a different kind of pan if you'd like, but I find it always tears the chicken up). It has to be big enough so that all the chicken can lay in it, flat, barely touching or not touching at all.

Take a paper towel, fold over four times, then hold over the top of a container of vegetable oil. Flip the bottle over briefly, holding the paper towel to the top, then set it back upright. Rub down the skillet with the paper towel. This ensures the chicken will move easily and not break on lifting.

Place the chicken in the pan, making sure it lays as flat as possible. Heat to medium high. Listen for the oil/grease to start "spitting". After about 3 minutes, flip the chicken strips over. The part now facing you should be slightly browned. After another three minutes, flip those chicken thighs again, looking now for a crisp brown-ness. You may have to change their position in the pan a few times to get the best browning.

As each piece gets the crispy brown sides, pull it out of the pan and set it on a plate. Once all the pieces have been pulled out, add the sugar and mirin mixture to the pan. BE CAREFUL!!! The hot pan often causes the mirin mixture to "pop" back up towards you.

Drop the heat to medium-low and stir until sugar dissolves (no time at all). Add chicken back in and flip it a few times in the sauce until well coated. Take off the heat.

I like to serve mine on rice with edamame on the sides as shown at the top of the recipe.

*A note about mirin: This sweet rice sauce can be found in the foreign foods section of grocery stores. I figure if I can find it at Walmart, just about anyone who really wants to can find it where they are.

This is the type of mirin I prefer to cook with: aji mirin.

This is another type of mirin, which honestly I don't much care for but it generally seems to be cheaper: kotteri mirin

Simple Cooking Spotlight: Mandolins

Who doesn't get frustrated by the careful cutting required for exactly the same size slices? Thankfully, someone (most likely French) figured out a simple device to do the sizing for us: a mandolin.

For years, I wanted one for cucumbers, carrots, apples, etc. But everywhere I looked I saw something like this costing $100 a pop. Not that I object to paying that much for a truly necessary or desired kitchen item, but why pay that much when I can find one for only $15?


This little baby is from Target. It may not have all kinds of fancy do-dads, but it gets the job done. And you know what else? It actually fits in my drawer.

Quick and Easy: "Pickles"

Do you like pickles? Are you out of pickles? Would you just like to make your own and not spend hours at it?

Here you are! Quick and Easy "Pickles"

Ingredients:
1 cucumber, thinly sliced (how thinly is up to you. The thinner it is, the quicker it will absorb the flavor)
1/2 small onion, thinly sliced (ditto above)
1 cup vinegar, roughly (I prefer white vinegar, others may like cider better)
1 tbsp mustard seeds
1 tsp salt
1 clove garlic
Pepper to taste
1 jalapeno or habanero (OPTIONAL! Do not add these if you don't like spicy food)
(For sweet, add 1/3 cup sugar)

Directions:
If you haven't already done so, wash and slice the cucumbers and onion. Place in a glass (or other non-metal) bowl.

In a small saucepan or skillet, bring all other ingredients (including peppers and/or sugar, if using) to a simmer (slowly bubbling).

Remove from heat, cool slightly, and pour over cucumbers/onions. Add more vinegar if necessary to cover all cucumbers. You may have to give them a few pokes to make them submerge: cucumbers float a bit.

Cover the bowl and let sit for at least 1 hour. The longer they sit, the more intense the flavor will be.