Friday, December 31, 2010

Vinegar

Lorien gave me some vinegar in my stocking this year and I just wanted to share its awesomeness with everyone:

Pompeiian Pommegranate Red Wine Vinegar.

So far I have only eaten this on veggies but it is just awesome. Scott and I enjoyed it over canned green beans (We share a profound love of canned green beans. Don't ask, I can't explain it.) with a little salt. I tried it by myself on a big bowl of frozen peas and it was such a good match that I had a whole second bowl :)

So yes, pommegranate red wine vinegar is the bee's knees.

Tuesday, December 28, 2010

Apple Cinnamon Waffles

A neighbor gave us some apple juice for Christmas, which has been going fast, but not fast enough to miss the day that I got around to making waffles. (There was a tantrum over the confusion between "waffle" and "falafel" but even that didn't stop me.) That made this recipe, which came with the waffle iron, even more appealing.

  • 3 cups all-purpose flour
  • 2½ tsp. baking powder
  • ¼ tsp. salt
  • 1 tsp. cinnamon
  • 3 Tbsp. brown sugar
  • 2 large eggs
  • ½ cup butter, melted
  • 1 cup apple sauce
  • 1 cup apple juice
  • 1 medium apple, peeled and diced
  • 1 cup chopped walnuts (optional)
The recipe calls for separating the eggs, beating the whites stiff and saving them to fold in at the end. I was using egg replacer, though, so I used a simple muffin method: Mix the dry ingredients (flour through sugar) in a large bowl, mix the wet ingredients (eggs through apple) in a medium bowl, and stir together just until moistened. Bake in a lightly greased waffle iron to desired crispness. Makes several large servings.

This batter was very thick and sticky, almost doughy; it came out in large clumps instead of pouring, and the waffle iron had trouble closing over it. However, it spread well while baking, and plenty of steam poured out. Having so much moisture trapped in the diced apple would account for that.

The cinnamon smells wonderful during cooking. The apple flavor is more subtle; a berry syrup highlights it well.

Saturday, December 25, 2010

Cry for Help--Fish Edition

So we had a Jesus dinner for Christmas Eve and the kids got their hearts set on fish. They were still set on it even after I said it would be real fish, not fish sticks, so I got some frozen tilapia and Eric grilled it with some lemon pepper. And the kids actually ate some and Emmy was really into it.

But here's my (Eric's) problem. We have several more fish fillets and pretty much zero fish recipes because of that thing where I do all the cooking and I don't eat fish. So I'm hoping you guys will have some nice ideas for sauces or spices to go with fish so Eric (and maybe the kids) can eat them up without getting bored. Thanks. :)

Friday, December 24, 2010

Orange-maple glazed ham

I can't remember where I first found this recipe, and I've modified it quite a bit over the years. This is what I usually make for Christmas; we're going over to friends' tomorrow, so I made it tonight instead, and I thought I'd write it down finally.

Ingredients:
1 ham
1 can frozen orange juice concentrate
12-oz bottle real maple syrup
powdered mustard
powdered ginger root
black pepper

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

2. Empty the can of o.j. concentrate into a saucepan, and melt it over medium-low heat.

3. While you're thawing the o.j., add maple syrup to taste. I use 8-10 ounces.

4. When the o.j. is fully melted, and it and the maple syrup are blended nicely (don't let it boil), add about a tablespoon of mustard and a tablespoon of ginger. Mix well. Add pepper to taste.

5. Place the ham in a glass baking dish. With a sharp knife, score the surface of the ham. I usually take a fork and poke a bunch of holes in the surface after scoring it with the knife. The idea is to make it really easy for the glaze to sink into the meat. Poke a meat thermometer in so that the tip is in the middle of the ham.

6. Pour the orange juice-maple syrup mixture over the ham, making sure the surface is entirely coated. Depending on how big your baking pan is, you could have as much as an inch of glaze pooling around the base of the ham. That's okay.

7. Bake the ham until it reaches an internal temperature of at least 145 degrees. Depending on how big the ham is this could take anywhere from an hour to two hours. I bake the ham uncovered because this helps the glaze condense and concentrate; the glaze, in turn, keeps the ham from drying out, so you don't need the foil that some recipes call for. At least in my experience.

8. Every half hour or so during baking I take the ham out and spoon more of the mixture from the bottom of the pan over the ham.

9. When the ham is done, transfer it to a serving dish, spoon as much of the glaze over it as you like, and pour the rest into a bowl to use as a sauce as needed. The maple, o.j., and spices will be enriched with ham drippings, and the result will be awesome.

Monday, December 20, 2010

Pork-ginger miso stew

You may have noticed that most of the recipes I post here are things I'm trying for the first time. I'm kind of using this blog as my recipe book. Sorry. Here's one, for a change, that I've actually made enough times to swear by. An honest-to-goodness tried-and-true go-to recipe, and I sort of even invented it. I first tasted it in Hokkaido when I was on my mission, and tried to re-create it on my own.

Ingredients:
Potatoes - 2 big ones, cut into large pieces
Carrots - handful of baby carrots, cut into small pieces
Green onions - 1 bunch, chopped, including as much of the green parts as look edible
Boneless pork chop(s) - cut into big chunks
Shiitake, fresh - 2 handsful, sliced
Dashi (bonito soup stock) - 2 tbsp or so
Miso (if you have a choice in the store, go for "awase" miso - pure white will be a little bland and pure red will be a little salty, but "awase," which is a blend, will be just right)
Ginger root, grated - maybe 2 tbsp

1. Cook some rice in your rice cooker.

2. Cut all your veggies and the pork.

3. Put some water in a big stewpot - maybe four or five cups? Add a couple of tablespoons of dashi powder, stir, and bring to a boil. I never measure the dashi, just add to taste.

4. Sear the pork in a frying pan until the outside is white, but the inside is still pink. Put it in the boiling water. (Searing it first helps keep the pork from drying out while it boils, which sounds paradoxical, but happens.)

5. Add the potatoes and carrots. (Cutting the potatoes in big chunks and the carrots in small chunks helps them to get done at the same time.)

6. A few minutes later add the onions and shiitake.

7. While everything is boiling, peel and grate your ginger. In Asian groceries you can get grated ginger in tubes, and I used to use that, but now I realize fresh is better. Grate a lot of ginger.

8. When everything's tender (the potatoes should be almost crumbling), turn the heat down so that the water is almost boiling, but not quite.

9. Add miso, a little bit at a time, to taste. What I usually do is scoop a big spoonful into a ladle, then dip some of the broth into the ladle, and start smashing and stirring the miso in the ladle to dissolve it. Do this a few times until all the miso in the ladle is dissolved, and then repeat. This helps dissolve all the miso without having to stir the soup energetically and crush the potatoes. I usually use maybe four tablespoons of miso, but I never measure. Use more than you would for a proper miso soup: for this stew it's better if you can really taste the saltiness. Don't let the soup boil after you've added the miso. You're not supposed to boil miso.

10. Add your grated ginger. The ginger taste should almost be strong enough to overpower the saltiness of the miso.

11. Your rice should be done by now. Scoop some into a bowl, and ladle some of the soup over it. And there you are.

The point here is the combination of the salty-sweet miso and the ginger: the taste goes incredibly well with pork, and the whole thing is a really warming, soothing winter dish. Especially over the rice. We make it when one of us has a cold. And it's really easy to make, as you can tell.

Of course it could be made vegetarian. You can find a shiitake-based dashi (I think I've mentioned it before), and tofu is a good substitute for pork. Use soft tofu (silken tofu). Tofu goes really well with grated ginger anyway. Sometimes I even add it when I'm using pork.

Friday, December 17, 2010

Tomato Cilantro Chutney Cheese Dip

Eric had a workplace Christmas party today and his friend Avishek brought this great curry cheese dip stuff, so I made Eric get the recipe. Yum!

- Very finely chop and saute one yellow onion in ghee till golden brown.
- Add 3 cloves of finely diced garlic.
- Add 1 teaspoon of cumin powder, 3 to 4 tablespoon of garam masala (depending on the potency) and 1 teaspoon of ground up chilli powder.
- Add 5 chopped tomatoes and saute till soft. If the masala has stuck to the bottom of the pan, use a few tablespoon of water to dissolve the masala out.
- Puree the mixture with a handful of cilantro leaves, and 2 tablespoon of lemon juice.
- Break about 24 oz of cream cheese and beat it in with puree with a whisk until its all mixed in uniformly and is fluffy.
- Add salt according to taste and beat some more. And its done.

P.S. Eric brought jam-in-the-middle muffins with Glynne and Akiko's jam from Oregon. They turned out pretty nice, I should have him blog them sometime soon.

Monday, December 13, 2010

Slow Cooker Beef Stroganoff-ish Stew

This is adapted from this slow cooker beef stroganoff recipe and its comments. It came out a little more soupy than would have been quite proper for beef stroganoff, but that was fine because we were looking for a stew, rather than something to serve over noodles, anyway. And that's what this is.

Ingredients:
1 pound beef for stew
1 red onion, chopped
1 (10.5 oz) can condensed cream of mushroom soup
8 oz fresh chanterelle mushrooms
5-6 small new potatoes, unpeeled, cut into chunks
salt and pepper
1 tbsp dried chives
2 cloves minced garlic
1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1 cube beef bouillon
1/2 cup red cooking wine
1/4 cup water
1 tbsp flour
16 oz sour cream (could do with less)
1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley

1. Put the beef in the bottom of the slow cooker. Salt and pepper to taste.

2. Add the potatoes, onion, and mushrooms.

3. Add the mushroom soup, water, chives, garlic, W-shire sauce.

4. In a bowl or measuring cup, whisk the flour together with the cooking wine. Add to the pot.

5. Cover, cook on low for 5-6 hours.

6. Add sour cream and parsley, stir. Cook for another 45 min. to an hour.

7. Serve with rice.

Note on sour cream: The original recipe calls for 16 oz sour cream. That's what we did, and it tasted great. That much sour cream did, however, kind of dilute the awesome beef-mushroom taste that was going on before I added the sour cream. Next time I'll try only using half to two-thirds as much sour cream.

In any case, it's hardly a healthy meal, but it was really good. Especially with the fresh chanterelles. I'm sure other mushrooms would be good, too, but the chanterelles really hold their flavor nicely.

Sunday, December 12, 2010

Holiday Rolls

This recipe descends from my Grandmother, and has become a holiday tradition in our family. Every Thanksgiving and Christmas, I bake at least one batch; usually two or three, particularly for large gatherings. The recipe can be halved for smaller occasions, but make sure you have enough time: Starting at six or seven in the morning ensures enough rise time as long as you don't need them before two in the afternoon.

2 Tbsp. (or 2 packets) dry yeast
2 Cups warm water (warmer than room temperature, but not too hot for the inner wrist)
2 sticks butter (¼ cup each)
1 Cup sugar
½ Tbsp. salt
6 eggs, beaten
7 - 8 Cups white flour (optionally, one cup can be wheat)

Dissolve the yeast in the water. Melt one of the sticks of butter; mix the melted butter, the sugar, the salt, and the eggs into the yeast water. Add 7 cups of flour (including all of the wheat flour, if any) all at once, and mix to make a soft dough. Knead, adding flour as needed, until it holds together and isn't sticky. Let rise, covered, for 2½ to 3 hours.

Melt the other stick of butter. Lightly brush the counter top, rolling pin, pizza cutter, baking sheets, and your hands with butter. Divide dough into fourths. For each piece in turn:
  1. Form into a ball.
  2. Roll out into a circle the size of a small pizza.
  3. Brush the top with butter.
  4. Cut into sixteen pizza slices.
  5. Roll each triangle from large end to small, placing it on a baking sheet with the small end underneath.
With remaining melted butter, brush the top of each roll. Let rise for 2½ to 3 hours.

Bake at 350°F for 11 minutes or until golden brown. Serve in a cloth-lined basket. Makes 64 rolls.

Notes and Hints

  • Forgetting the salt is not a tragedy, but don't omit it intentionally.
  • Softer dough needs less rising time, and results in a fluffier roll, but firmer dough holds its shape better. If the rolls unroll themselves while rising, the dough is too firm.
  • Allow an hour for rolling time. It never seems like it should take that long, but it does.
  • Place the rolls diagonally on the baking sheet, with larger ones in the corners and smaller ones in the center.
  • A single recipe typically requires three half-size baking sheets, or four smaller ones. A double batch can be crammed onto five.
  • Allow enough space between the rolls on the baking sheets for expansion. They should be just touching when they come out of the oven, but pull apart easily.
  • Resist the temptation to bake two sheets at once.
  • If you have a convection oven, turn on the convection for the first few minutes, but not the entire baking time.
  • For best results, serve immediately. Once cool, they store well in a plastic bag until the next day.
  • These rolls don't really need to be served with butter or jelly. Honey is interesting, but also unnecessary.
  • The recipe can be adapted to cinnamon-walnut pull-aparts, but I keep failing to do so successfully.
  • Feel free to experiment.

Chicken and Dumplings

Tis the season for comfort food. This recipe for Chicken and Dumplings isn't some great culinary masterpiece but it's delicious and cheap. Like six servings for about $15 cheap. It'll also leave you with a decent amount of broth, so if you line up something that requires chicken broth for the next night, you'll save yourself a couple bucks and end up with superior broth to boot. It takes a lot of time but it isn't particularly labor intensive. Have a book or magazine handy.