Creating Nirvana

How to Pick a CSA: 10 Things to Consider

2012-02-13T13:20:00.002-05:00

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This is the time of year when farmers all over the country are ordering seeds for their local farms, and they are also asking the community to help defray the high upfront costs without a bank loan. In a Community Supported Agriculture or CSA the members help take on some of the risk of the farm by giving a farmer money up front in return for fresh local produce during the harvest season. CSA members generally enjoy the best crops that a local farm has to offer making this the freshest and most nutritious food possible without actually growing the food yourself. The risk for the community member is that if the farmer has a bad season, then the CSA members will not receive lots of wonderful fresh produce. Many people have wonderful experiences with their CSA, but it is important to pick a CSA that good fit for you and your family. Here is a list of things to consider when choosing a CSA:

1. Organic: Most CSA farmers are organic farmers, but organic does not mean that no sprays or fertilizers will be added to the crops. Organic farmers frequently use organic fertilizers to replenish nutrients in their soil. Some farmers get an organic certification from the National Organic Program that is part of the United States Department of Agriculture or USDA while some farmers choose to follow organic practices without the extra cost of certification. Certified organic farms generally charge more for their CSA to recoup the certification costs.

2. Heirloom: Heirloom basically means an old variety of vegetable or fruit. These are seeds that have been passed down from generation to generation. Heirloom seeds can add lots of spunk to a garden with green stripped tomatoes, yellow strawberries, green corn, and many other exotic looking vegetables and fruits. Heirloom vegetables can help you get a wide variety of flavors in your kitchen, but you will have to be flexible and creative in the kitchen. Heirloom varieties often taste very different than their conventional counterparts. With heirloom vegetables you may find yourself with a more astringent tasting tomato than you are used to or a sweeter tomatillo than you can find at the grocery store. If you are not up for an adventure, then look for a CSA that grows more fruits and vegetables that you can readily find in a grocery store.

3. Flexibility: Some CSAs offer lots of flexibility to choose what produce you would like to receive each week while others are very rigid and have a set basket every week. If you travel frequently, then some farmers will allow you to gift your weekly basket to other people or they will allow you to pick up your weekly basket at another time that is convenient for both parties.

4. Backup plan: Some farmers have a backup plan in case they have a horrible season. Often farmers will work in conjunction with other farmers in nearby regions to get produce from them if they have an awful season. The backup produce will not be 100% local, but this will decrease the chances that you will walk away with a weekly basket filled with just two potatoes, a few cherry tomatoes, and a small handful of green beans.

5. Pick up or delivery: Some farms will deliver the fresh produce to your house while other requires you to pick up your produce at the farm or at another location. The convenience of delivery can save you time but will cost you more money.

6. Work: Some farms offer a discount or free basket for people who volunteer on the farm. Likewise some farms require that all members volunteer on the farm while other farms require no volunteer work. Volunteering on a farm can be a great option if you are tight on cash but still want to fresh local produce. Not all farms need people on the farm volunteering. Some farms need help with newsletters, taking orders, or making websites so even people who are more included to the farming life can seek volunteer opportunities in some cases.

7. More than just produce: While vegetable and fruit CSAs are currently the most popular, they are not the only type of CSAs available in many areas. Some farms offer flower, grass fed meat, or egg CSAs to help you completely eliminate your grocery store. Some CSA farms also allow you to add extras to your CSA subscription like homemade breads, jams, nuts, maple syrup, flowers, or honey for an additional charge.

8. Bulk quantities: Some farms will allow you to purchase bulk quantities from them for a discount on top of the weekly basket. Bulk quantities are great for canning and freezing.

9. Extras: There are many different types of extras that farms offer to entice new customers to join their CSA from farm visits, parties, book clubs, weekly recipes, and cooking classes. These extras can help you immerse yourself in like-minded individuals in your area.

10. Season: More and more farms are starting to offer winter baskets using green houses or hydroponic gardening systems. This will allow you to get more local fresh produce all year long. Some farms will align their CSA subscription with the local market season.

Joining a CSA is a great way to support your local economy and get great fresh produce. Now that I have told you what I look for in a CSA, tell me what you look for in a CSA. I love hearing from you in the comment section below.

Posted on Food Renegade, Barn Hop, mangia Monday, Melt in Your Mouth Monday, My Meatless Monday, Just Another Meatless Monday, Your Recipe My Kitchen, Market Yourself Monday,

Spicy Tomato, Chicken, and Quinoa Soup

2012-02-09T10:13:00.001-05:00

One of the best things about canning is the amount of quick meals that you can prepare from home canned food. I was able to make this soup in 15 minutes. I used my canned Blood Mary Mix for this quick recipe. I also used a leftover piece of chicken breast for the meat in this dish, but if you do not have any shredded chicken on hand, then you can omit the chicken and still have a hearty meal. Quinoa contains protein so you will not feel hungry right after eating this spicy soup.

I also used some pesto that I froze in ice cube trays over summer for some extra flavor in the soup. Each ice cube mold holds 2 tbsp of pesto making it a really convenient measurement for me later on. I freeze the pesto in the ice cube trays then I move the pesto to a plastic bag or Pyrex® container after it is frozen. I use the pesto frequently in soups, pastas, or as a spread on sandwiches. I give people two cautions about making pesto: 1)buy pine nuts that are grown here in the United States, and 2) toast your pine nuts before consumption. Pine nuts from China can cause "pine mouth" or in medical terms metallogeusia or a bitter taste in your mouth that just lingers. Unfortunately, there is no cure for metallogeusia from pine nuts except for time. Eventually the bad taste will go away, but it is better to play it safe and buy pine nuts from the US. The cause of pine nut toxicity from China is unknown. One hypothesis is that the pine nuts oxidizing before consumption. Another hypothesis is that the pine nuts are cross breading with a new species that has changed the genetic make up of pine nuts from China. The Food and Drug Administration has noted that "pine mouth" generally occurs when someone eats the pine nuts raw.

For more information on pine mouth please visit:
Food and Drug Administration
The Mystery of Pine Nut Mouth

Ingredients (serves 4 lunch size servings)

1 quart Bloody Mary Mix
½ cup quinoa (I used sprouted quinoa)
1 bell pepper, chopped
1 yellow onion, chopped
5 large kale leaves, chopped
2 tbsp pesto (recipe follows)
1 chicken breast, fully cooked and shredded

Directions

1. Place all the ingredients in a pot over medium high heat.

2. Bring the soup to a boil.

3. Turn the heat down to s simmer.

4. Simmer for 15 minutes.

5. Serve warm.

Basic Pesto Recipe (makes about 1 cup)

1/3 cup pine nuts
2 cups basil leaves
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, grated
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Juice from a 1/4 of a lemon

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

2. Place the pine nuts on a cookie sheet.

3. Toast the pine nuts for 3-4 minutes or until golden brown.

4. ALTERNATIVELY: Place the pine nuts on a hot skillet until golden brown. Turn the pine nuts one time to ensure even toasting.

5. Set the pine nuts aside.

6. Blend the basil, cheese, garlic, olive oil, and lemon juice in a food processor for about 30 seconds.

7. Mix the pine nuts into the pesto mixture by hand.

8. Freeze the pesto in ice cube trays or use fresh.

Strawberry Key Lime Pie with Coconut Pecan Crust

2012-01-27T19:24:00.002-05:00

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Any time I see key limes at the store for a reasonable price I pick them up. I adore key limes, but they are not carried in my grocery store often, so I was elated when I saw the bags of cute little key limes on sale at the grocery store. I picked up two bags with the intention of making a key lime pie.

However, Dr. Lazy Palate says that I am not capable of eating the same thing twice. He is probably right. If I had it my way I would eat something new and different at every meal. I have a flair for the exotic. I think food is one way that people can keep their lives exciting and invigorating. I decided to pair up two of my favorite combinations, strawberries and key limes, in this key lime pie recipe with a twist. I am also not a fan of pie crust. Most pie crusts get left on the plate after I am done eating the pie. I really just like the good stuff. The crust is just a convenient way of encasing the yummy filling. This time I wanted to eat the crust and enjoy eating the crust. I did not want to go through all the work of making a crust that I was just going to peel off, so I was excited to find a key lime pie with a coconut crust. After reading the reviews of the pie recipe it sounded like the coconut pie crust was so coconut laden that it engulfed the delicious key lime pie filling making the filling just a supporting player in the key lime pie. I reduced the coconut in the pie filling, added pecans, double the amount of pie filling, and added my strawberry syrup to the pie to make an excellent pie. I loved the pie crust. This is one time that I did not leave the pie crust sitting on my plate looking sad.

The strawberry flavor is very subtle in the pie because key limes are a very dominant flavor. I suggest adding strawberry syrup on top of the pie for some extra pizazz and an extra burst of sweet strawberry flavor. The strawberry syrup combined with the tart key lime pie filling and the coconut pecan crust make for one very satisfying and filling dessert. A small piece of this pie is sufficient for dessert.

I made the strawberry key lime pie in a 9 inch spring form pan instead of my pie pan because my pie dish was too small to hold the thick crust and the large amount of pie filling. In order for the pie to keep its shape once the sides of the spring form pan have been removed you have to chill the pie well. I chilled my strawberry key lime pie overnight, and it held its shape beautifully.

Ingredients (makes 1 nine inch pie) inspired by Wayne Harley Brachman

¾ cup flour
1 tbsp sugar
1 cup unsweetened coconut flakes, divided
1 cup pecans, chopped and divided
5 tbsp unsalted butter, cold and chopped into pea sized pieces
1 large egg mixed with 1 cup ice water
2 large egg whites
1 cup confectioners’ sugar
1 tsp vanilla extra

For the filling:

8 egg yolks
28 ounces sweetened condensed milk
4 key limes, zested
3/4 cup key lime juice
½ cup strawberry syrup + more for serving (follow link for recipe)

Directions

1. In a food processor, add flour, sugar, ¼ cup coconut, ¼ cup pecans, butter, and 2 tbsp of the egg water solution. Blend until the pie crust is chunky and crumbly. The mixture will look a little dry, but it will come together after chilling.

2. Wrap the pie crust in plastic wrap and chill for 30 minutes.

3. Roll the dough into a flat dish and line the bottom of a 9 inch spring form pan.

4. In a food processor, add the remaining coconut, pecans, egg whites, confectioners’ sugar, and vanilla. Process until crumbly.

5. Press the coconut pecan mixture on top of the chilled pie crust.

6. Chill the pie crust for 30 minutes.

7. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

8. Bake the pie crust for 8 minutes or until set.

9. Decrease the oven temperature to 235 degrees F.

10. Strawberry Key Lime Pie Filling: Mix the egg yolks, sweetened condensed milk, key lime zest, key lime juice, and strawberry syrup in a large bowl. Beat well. The filling should look like pudding.

11. Pour the pie filling into the pie crust.

12. Bake the pie for 22-25 minutes or until set.

13. Allow the pie to cool to room temperature.

14. Chill overnight in refrigerator.

15. Serve drizzled with strawberry syrup.

Posted on Melt in Your Mouth Monday, Mangia Monday, My Meatless Monday, Just Another Meatless Monday, Your Recipe My Kitchen, Made By You Monday, Tempt My Tummy Tuesday, Tuesday at the Table, Tasty Tuesday, Made From Scratch Tuesday, Tasty Tuesday Tidbits, Tutorial Tuesday

Healthy Amaranth Whole Wheat Pumpkin Muffins

2012-01-23T14:10:00.002-05:00

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I have been experimenting in my kitchen with baking with amaranth and honey bee pollen. Amaranth is an ancient grain traditionally grown in South America by the indigenous people. Amaranth is a very small grain shaped like a small bead and has a nice nutty taste. Honey bee pollen is the pollen that bees collect and take to their hives. Honey bee pollen is considered a complete food meaning that it contains every single type of amino acid possible. Honey bee pollen varies from place to place as bees will collect pollen from their local flowers. Our honey bee pollen locally is a dark yellow color, but honey bee pollen can be red, green, orange, and brown depending upon the type of pollen found in the flowers locally. Honey bee pollen should not be given to children under the age of two and people who are allergic to honey as a severe allergic reaction can occur.

I set out to make a healthy muffin that tastes good and is not something that you can readily buy at the grocery store. Luckily, amaranth is easy to bake with as is honey bee pollen. Honey bee pollen can have a chalky texture when eaten raw, but when I baked with it, the honey bee pollen infused itself beautifully within the muffin leaving no chalky texture anywhere in the muffin. The only potential downside to baking with honey bee pollen is that experiments have not been done on honey bee pollen to ensure that the structural integrity of all of the amino acids remains intact when baked, so you might potentially be losing some of the nutritionally quality of the honey bee pollen by baking the honey bee pollen.

These healthy amaranth whole wheat pumpkin muffins were excellent. The muffins were sweet and hearty with bits of pecans, chocolate chips, and dried cranberries sprinkled throughout the muffin to create a fun and flavorful muffin that is very filling. These muffins are perfect for breakfast on a busy morning when you do not have time to cook. Both of my kids loved these muffins. Miss Bubbles ate three muffins after they came out of the oven.

Ingredients (makes 18 medium muffins) from my own kitchen

2 large eggs
½ cup light brown sugar
1 cup pumpkin puree
1 cup buttermilk
½ cup amaranth
½ cup wheat bran
¼ cup milled flax seed
¼ cup honey bee pollen
¼ cup applesauce
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 ¾ cup whole wheat flour
1 ½ tsp baking powder
½ tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
½ tsp ginger
¼ tsp cloves
¼ tsp salt
1/3 cup pecans, chopped
1/3 cup cranberries, dried
1/3 cup dark chocolate chips

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a muffin pan with paper liners.

2. Whisk the brown sugar and eggs in a large bowl until smooth.

3. Mix in the pumpkin, amaranth, wheat bran, flax seed, honey bee pollen, applesauce, and vanilla extract until well combined.

4. Mix the whole wheat flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, and salt in a large bowl.

5. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients slowly while stirring constantly. Stir until well combined.

6. Mix in the pecans, cranberries, and chocolate chips. Mix until evenly distributed.

7. Fill the muffin cups ¾ full.

8. Bake the muffins for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle of a muffin comes out clean.

9. Cool the muffins 5 minutes before removing the muffins from the pan. Enjoy!

Posted on Simple Lives Thursday

My favorite garden seeds of the 2011 season

2012-01-19T08:00:00.001-05:00

Everywhere seed geeks are flipping through the glossy, brightly colored seed catalogues put out by seed companies to entice you to buy. You can see can a seed geek drooling a bit while they imagine a garden filled with crunchy orange carrots, fresh lettuce leaves, sweet cantaloupes, and exotic heirloom vegetables. I love seed reviews from other gardeners, so I thought I would share my favorite seeds from the 2011 gardening season. I live in zone 5. Last year I loved these five garden seeds.

1. European Mesclun Mix from Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds: I loved this seed mix. All the lettuce leaves were mild and made a great spring or fall salad. Most of the seeds in this mix were loose leaf so you can pick leaves from the outer edges of lettuce and still have lots more lettuce come in about a week. You can eat these greens in the baby stage or in the more mature adult stage.

2. Pairsienne Carrot from Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds: I got this packet of carrots free last year in my seed order, and I am so glad that I decided to make some room in my garden bed for this seed. The carrots were very sweet and grew very easily. The fat carrots were wonderful sliced fresh or in a soup.

3. Ground Cherry from Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds: This was my daughter’s favorite seed last year. She would sit on the ground and pick up the ripe ground cherries (the ripe berries fall on the ground) and peel the paper husk off before eating them. These sweet little fruits taste reminiscent of a pineapple.

4. Clemson Spineless Okra from Gurneys: I did not have much faith in okra being able to grow up here in zone 5, but I was pleasantly surprised by how well this okra produced. The plants produced many 6 inch long, tender okra pods. The pods were never woody and tasted great. The showy flowers on this plant were also a nice bonus.

5. Cherokee Trail of Tears Pole Bean from Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds: I loved these black beans. They were very easy to grow and versatile in the kitchen. You can use them fresh or you can dry them for the winter season. According to Baker Creek, “This heirloom was brought from Tennessee by the Cherokee people as they were marched to Oklahoma by the Federal Government in 1839 over the infamous ‘Trail of Tears’ that left so many dead and suffering.” I loved having a small piece of history in my garden.

Leave me a comment and tell me your favorite seeds of the 2011 season. I loved hearing your recommendations.

Posted on Simple Lives Thursday

Chinese Soy Duck

2012-01-13T14:56:00.003-05:00

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Dr. Lazy Palate first had this amazing soy duck at work at one of his work pot luck clubs. His Chinese coworker brought in this special soy duck that is usually reserved for special celebrations like Chinese New Year. Dr. Lazy Palate knew that I would love this dish so he asked his coworker for the recipe and she kindly gave us this recipe to make at home.

Soy duck takes several hours to prepare. Dr. Lazy Palate’s coworker said that this dish takes her about 2.5 hours to prepare; however, the dish took us over three hours because we were not as efficient as she was at making this delicious soy duck. The first step in soy duck is to fry the duck in a wok. Then, the next step is to simmer the duck in soy sauce and a few spices for an hour and a half. Finally, the sauce is reduced to a mere half a cup. None of the steps in making soy duck are hard, but they are time consuming. Two woks is recommended to make the duck, but you can also make soy duck in two large pots if you do not have a wok, or you can wash out your wok in between frying and simmering if you do not have two woks (this is the method that we used).

Soy duck is very flavorful and not greasy like most duck recipes. The skin is the best part of the duck which still does retain some of its natural fattiness, but it is worth every bite. The sauce is super intense. Most Chinese families liberally pour the sauce on top of their soy duck, but I found the sauce to be too salty for my taste, so I dipped my duck in the sauce instead. You can freeze the leftover sauce in ice cube trays and use it as a stir fry flavoring.

Little BBQ refers to this recipe as “Chinese chicken” and devours the duck. Miss Bubbles loved this duck recipe and ate two servings. I foresee our family making this recipe again in our homeschool to celebrate the Chinese New Year.

Soy Duck (serves 4) from Dr. Lazy Palate’s coworker Cynthia

1 whole duck
2 cup “light” soy sauce (we used Pearl River Bridge)
Vegetable oil
Sugar
1 star of anise
1 tsp Chinese prickly ash (this can be found at Asian markets)
¼” piece of ginger
2 green scallions, finely chopped

Directions
1. Deep fry the entire duck for 10-15 minutes in a wok or pot.

2. In a clean wok or pot, add soy sauce, star of anise, Chinese prickly ash, ginger, green scallion, and duck.

3. Add water to the wok or pot until the duck is ¾ covered.

4. Bring the duck sauce to a boil, and then turn down the heat to a simmer for 1 hour. Do not cover.

5. Turn the duck, and cook for another 30 minutes.

6. Remove the duck from the wok and set aside.

7. Turn the heat to high and reduce the duck sauce until there is only ½ cup of sauce left.

8. Chop the duck into pieces and pour the liquid on top of the duck and serve.

Powdered Laundry Detergent Recipe for High Efficiency Washers

2012-01-09T07:00:00.001-05:00

I am always looking for ways to save money around the house, so I decided to try my hand at making powdered laundry detergent for my high efficiency washer. After doing some basic research I found out that my high efficiency washer needed a low suds detergent which is great news for the frugal home keeper because it seems that most recipes produce few bubbles.

I tried a powdered laundry detergent recipe with two different soaps to figure out which soap I liked better. In the first laundry detergent I used Ivory® soap which is inexpensive and easy to find. For the second recipe I tried Fels-Naptha® which is inexpensive bar laundry soap, but the Fels-Naptha® is harder to find. I was able to find some at WalMart® in the laundry section, but my local grocery store does not carry Fels-Naptha® so the Fels-Naptha® does not appear to be available everywhere like Ivory soap.

Both soaps seemed to clean my clothes equally as well. I tried clothes soiled with dirt and food along with sheets and towels, and I did not detect a difference in the cleaning power of the soap. However, I did not like the way the Fels-Naptha® shredded in my cheese grater. The soap produced long shards of cheese like strands when I shredded it with my cheese grater. The Fels-Naptha® feels oily on my skin when I shred it, and I detest the smell of the Fels-Naptha®. The scent is very strong making the laundry soap with a very strong and unpleasant to me odor. The scent of the detergent is almost undetectable after being used in the washing machine, so that is plus for me. The other downside to the Fels-Naptha® is that the soap shreds do not mix easily with the washing soda and Borax® because of the even size distribution.

The Ivory® soap, on the other hand, grinds itself up into a nice fine powder that mixes well the washing soda and Borax making a nice mixture that is easy to pour out of plastic pitcher. I love that the Ivory® soap does not have bad smell and an oily texture. The clothes come out of the washer unscented which I love unscented laundry since Dr. Lazy Palate cannot stand his clothes to be scented.

In conclusion, I will use Ivory® soap as the soap for my laundry detergent in the future because it is inexpensive, easy to obtain, and makes a great laundry detergent. I highly recommend this laundry detergent recipe for anyone with a high efficiency washer.

Ingredients from DIY Natural (enough detergent for 64 loads of laundry)

1 bar of Ivory®, shredded (a cheese grater works great)
1 cup Borax®
1 cup washing soda

Directions

1. Mix the ingredients.

2. Store in an air tight container.

3. Use 1 tbsp of detergent for 1 load of laundry.

Posted on Simple Lives Thursday

The Best Recipes of 2011

2011-12-31T14:52:00.001-05:00

This year brought a lot of fun cooking adventures for me. I finally made a vegetable dish that Dr. Lazy Palate approved of and I made some excellent cheese. I got creative with strawberries and made some excellent sweet recipes with them. I also convinced Dr. Lazy Palate to try smoked brisket and now he can not get enough smoked brisket, and Dr. Lazy Palate’s favorite chili is made out of the leftover smoked brisket. To round off the year I made some excellent desserts that everyone in the family enjoyed. Personally I conquered tried some new flavor combinations with caramel and pineapples and got over my fear of making the caramel in a flan. Overall, this was an excellent year in the kitchen.

1. Texas Mesquite Smoked Brisket: This meal took me years to convince Dr. Lazy Palate to make try this meal. I have fond memories of eating smoked brisket in Texas, but Dr. Lazy Palate swore up and down to me that he is not a fan of smoked foods. He told me that he wants his meat to taste like meat and not like smoke. After years of begging him to try a smoked brisket he has emerged 2011 a changed man. Dr. Lazy Palate is now begging me to add more smoked briskets on the meal plan.

2. Texas Chuck Wagon Brisket Chili: This chili is made from leftovers of our Texas Mesquiete Smoked Brisket. Dr. Lazy Palate cannot get enough of this chili. We have made at least 4 large batches of this chili this year and froze it, but it still was not enough for Dr. Lazy Palate. He adored this mild chili for its complex, smoky flavor. This chili has become Dr. Lazy Palate’s favorite lunch.

3. Whole Strawberry Pâté de Fruit: Whole strawberry pâté is the best fruit candy that I have ever tasted. The strawberry flavor of the candy is very intense and sweet. The candy is very simple to make, but it takes a week to prepare with most of the time just being soaking in sugar water. The candy will last 6 months when stored in an air tight container, so a little work can go a long way.

4. Maple Bacon Wrapped Asparagus: Dr. Lazy Palate is not a fan of vegetables so when I find a vegetable dish that he will actually eat then I know the dish is a winner. This maple bacon wrapped asparagus was easy to prepare and delicious. Even the most reluctant vegetable eater will find a special place in their heart for this asparagus. I cannot wait for next spring when we can make this dish again.

5. Strawberry Almond Baklava: This unique dessert was a lot of fun to make and eat. The color of the baklava was pretty and strawberry syrup inside the baklava tasted amazing. If you want a unique dessert to impress some guests, then I would definitely whip up this unique strawberry dessert. To make the baklava easier and quicker to make, you could use store bought phyllo dough for an easy but impressive dessert.

6. Homemade Chevre Cheese and Pectin Free Strawberry Preserves: Chevre cheese is terribly expensive at our grocery store, so I decided to make some of my own chevre cheese. I do not know if I can ever go back to regular chevre cheese again. Fresh chevre cheese is creamy and very flavorful. The only thing that made the chevre cheese better was heirloom strawberry preserves. The sweet strawberry preserves complimented the chevre cheese perfectly making chevre cheese and strawberry preserves one of my flavor combinations of the year. As an added bonus, the chevre cheese can be frozen and the strawberry preserves can be canned to make all of your hard work last a lot longer.

7. Chocolate Marquise: While ice cream is an excellent summer time treat, sometimes you want something more formal for a summer time foray. That is where this chocolate marquise comes in handy. This fancy dessert is frozen chocolate mousse, topped with a meringue, and spiced nuts. The dessert looks amazing on a plate and can easily be prepared in advance.

8. Tamales de Dulce: I miss great tasting tamales, so I decided to do something about it and make some tamales myself. I decided to make some sweet tamales because I have not had any in years. These easy tamales de Dulce satisfied my tamale craving and they were a big hit with the kids who could not get enough of the tamales.

9. Pineapple flan: Flan was one of those desserts that I have always wanted to make, but I have never gotten around to it. Plus, I had a fear of burning the caramel, but as it turns out that flan is very simple to make and my caramel did not burn. As an added bonus my flan came out of the dish very easily. I also discovered the combination of caramel and pineapple is amazing. I would have never put pineapple and caramel together normally, but I really wanted to try a unique Mexican flavor; I am glad that I did.

10. Tomato Consomme: I have never had a consomme before, but I learned that I love tomato consomme. A consomme is a soup broth that is purified using an egg raft. The outcome is a clear soup that is meaty and delicous. The egg raft removed the acidic bite of tomato soup leaving a delicous yellow broth that tasted meaty and delicious.

Want to see my best recipes of 2010? Click here.

Posted on Simple Lives Thursday

2011 Canning Round Up

2011-12-30T12:57:00.002-05:00

This is my favorite post of the year. I love looking back at everything that we canned for the year. I can not help but appreciate all the abundance of excellent tasting produce that we enjoyed this year. My family is enjoying a lot of excellent tasting canned items this year. We expanded our canning a lot this year with the addition of pressure canning which makes quick meals at home a breeze. Pressure canned food will last 3 years so I am secretely hoping that our corn supply will last us all next year as well so we do not have to can more corn next year but only time will tell if we have to make more corn or not next year. Here is a round up everything that we canned this year:

Vegetables:

Asparagus: 5 pints 1 ½ pint
Carrots: 19 quarts
Chinese long beans: 1 ½ pint
Corn: 126 quarts
Okra: 4 pints
Rhubarb: 1 pint, 1 ½ pint
Tomatillos: 1 quart 1 pint
Tomatoes: 5 quarts, 3 pints, 1 ½ pint

Fruits:

Blueberries in Apple Juice: 16 pints
Cherries in Apple Juice: 33 pints 1 ½ pint
Peaches: 52 quarts, 1 pint, 4 ½ pints
Pineapple: 1 quart, 15 pints, 4 ½ pints

Fruit Butter:

Blueberry butter: 5 ½ pints
Honey eyed tomato butter: 3 ½ pints
Peach butter: 6 ½ pints
Pear Apple Butter: 4 ½ pints
Plum butter: 1 pint

Jams, Jelly, and Marmalades:

Cherry Almond Jam: 5 ½ pints
Cherry marmalade: 4 ½ pints
Grape jelly, sugar free: 2 ½ pints
Heirloom Strawberry Preserves: 6 ½ pints
Herbed Garden Marmalade: 6 ½ pints
Pineapple jelly: 6 ½ pints
Plum orange jam: 8 ½ pints
Orange marmalade: 17 ½ pints
Strawberry key lime jam: 11 ½ pints
Strawberry lemon marmalade: 6 ½ pints
Strawberry rhubarb jam: 3 pints
Sugar free peach jam: 12 ½ pints
Sugar free raspberry jam: 7 ½ pints
Watermelon jam: 6 ½ pints

Juices:

Bloody Mary mix: 4 quarts 1 pint
Four fruit juice: 4 pints
Golden Nectar: 6 pint, 5 ½ pints
Grape Juice: 44 quarts

Syrups:

Blueberry syrup: 10 ½ pints
Strawberry syrup, low sugar: 13 ½ pints

Sauces:

Applesauce: 42 quarts
Cherry Cranberry Sauce: 2 1/2 pints
Cherry Danish sauce: 4 pints, 1 ½ pints
Chocolate Strawberry Sauce: 36 ½ pints
Peach BBQ sauce: 7 ½ pints
Peach Sauce: 17 quarts
Plum Sauce: 18 pint
Pizza Sauce: 18 ½ pints
Roasted Roma Tomato Sauce: 1 quart, 16 pints 7 ½ pints
Strawberry BBQ sauce: 8 ½ pints

Pie Fillings:

Apple pie filling: 9 quarts
Blueberry pie filling: 2 quarts, 1 ½ pint
Cherry pie filling: 3 quarts, 2 ½ pint
Ground cherry pie filling: 2 ½ pints
Peach pie filling: 5 quarts, 1 pint
Strawberry Pie Filling: 1 quart
Strawberry Rhubarb Pie Filling: 2 quarts

Salsa:

Corn and Black Bean Salsa: 11 pints

Pickles:

Dill pickles: 5 pints

Soups:

Beef broth: 7 quarts 2 pint
Chicken broth: 4 quarts
Pork broth: 8 quarts 1 pint
Spicy chicken soup: 12 pints
Tomato and kale soup: 5 pints
Turkey broth: 4 quarts
Vegetable broth: 2 quarts

Other:

Bruschetta: 6 ½ pints
Corn relish: 1 pint
Curried fruit compote: 6 pints 9 ½ pints
Glazed carrots: 5 pints, 1 ½ pints
Ketchup: 4 ½ pints
Okra with Indian spices: 5 ½ pints
Roasted red pepper spread: 2 ½ pints
Strawberries in Red Wine: 4 pints
Strawberries in White Wine: 3 pints

Want to see what I canned in 2010? Click here.

Posted on Simple Lives Thursday

Sugar Free Peanut Butter Roll Out Cookies and Sugar Free Chocolate Roll Out Cookies Combine to make Chocolate Peanut Butter Pinwheels

2011-12-23T12:49:00.000-05:00

It is cooking baking time at our house. During the holiday season I make and give out cookies to our friends and family. However, not everyone can enjoy a sugar filled cookie during the holiday season, so I am always trying to find good recipes for healthier cookies. Sugar free cookies can be a challenge because according to Krystina Castella author of, “Crazy About Cookies,”:

“Sugar serves three purposes in cookies: It sweetens them, it attracts water to give cookies a tender, moist texture, and it helps cookies spread (with the exception of confectioners’ sugar, which contains cornstarch and prevents spreading). When less or no sugar is used, you run the risk of dry, crumbly cookies, so the balance of the other ingredients is most important. When I am lowering the sugar content, I prefer to sweeten cookies with natural sweeteners such as honey, maple syrup, fruit juices, and fruit. They are moister and sweeter than sugar replacements.” P 90

This explains the dilemma of why most sugar free cookies have an awful texture. When you add making cut out cookies to this mix you are looking at a dry, crumbly cookie with no flavor. Cut out cookies require extra flour to make rolling and cutting possible, so I had a lofty idea in my head to make sugar free chocolate peanut butter pinwheel cookies.

The odds were against me, but I am proud to say that I made a sugar free chocolate peanut butter pinwheel cookie that tasted good. The cookies were not as sweet as regular cookies and they were not moist as regular cookies, but for a sugar free cookie they were great. The sugar free rolled peanut butter cookie dough was awesome. The cookie dough rolled really easily and it was a breeze to work with. The peanut butter portion of the pinwheel was more like a regular cookie than the sugar free chocolate roll out dough and made a great choice for the outside of the pinwheel. The sugar free chocolate cookie dough did come out drier than the peanut butter dough, but it was not crumbly. There were some hair line cracks in the dough after baking, but they still looked very attractive for a sugar free cookie. The sugar free chocolate cookie dough did have to be very cold in order for it to roll out easily. The final pinwheel was a nice combination of chocolate and peanut butter that was mildly sweet for a cookie.

Sugar Free Peanut Butter Roll Out Cookies slightly modified from Crazy About Cookies p 80-81 (makes about 24 cookies)

3 ½ cups all purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
½ tsp baking soda
½ cup unsweetened applesauce (I used homemade)
½ cup unsweetened almond milk
¼ cup honey
¼ cup sugar free peanut butter (make sure the peanut butter has a little salt if you are using homemade peanut butter; I left my peanut butter a little chunky)

Directions

1. Combine the dry ingredients in a bowl. Set aside.

2. Beat the applesauce, almond milk, and honey until the mixture is silky smooth.

3. Add the dry mixture to the wet mixture slowly while stirring.

4. Knead the dough a little until everything is well mixed.

5. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap.

6. Chill in the refrigerator for 1 hour to overnight.

7. Preheat the oven at 350 degrees F.

8. Roll the dough and cut into shapes or continue below to make sugar free chocolate peanut butter pinwheels.

9. Bake the cookies on an ungreased cookie sheet for 15-17 minutes or until the edges of the cookie are golden brown.

Sugar Free Chocolate Cut Out Cookies inspired by tips from Krystina Castella (makes about 24 cookies)

3 cups flour
½ cup cocoa powder
½ tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
½ tsp baking soda
4 large eggs, lightly beaten
¼ cup unsweetened applesauce (more can be added if your dough is too dry)
½ cup honey

Directions

1. Combine the dry ingredients in a bowl. Set aside.

2. Beat the eggs, applesauce, and honey until the mixture is well combined.

3. Add the dry mixture to the wet mixture slowly while stirring.

4. Knead the dough a little until everything is well mixed. If the dough is too dry, then add 1 tsp of applesauce at a time until dough feels like homemade play dough.

5. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap.

6. Chill in the refrigerator for 1 hour to overnight. With this dough I found a longer chill time to work better.

7. Preheat the oven at 350 degrees F.

8. Roll the dough and cut into shapes or continue below to make sugar free chocolate peanut butter pinwheels.

9. Bake the cookies on an ungreased cookie sheet for 15-17 minutes or until the edges of the cookie are golden brown.

To Assemble the Sugar Free Chocolate Peanut Butter Pinwheels (makes 24 thick cookies or 48 medium size cookies):

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

2. Roll the peanut butter dough into a large square.

3. Roll the chocolate cookie dough into a large square the same size as the peanut butter dough.

4. Place the chocolate dough on top of the peanut butter dough.

5. Slowly roll the dough into a log.

6. Slice the log.

7. Bake the cookies on an ungreased cookie sheet for 15-17 minutes for medium sized slices or 17-20 minutes for thicker slices. The cookies are done when the edges are golden brown. The cookies to bread a little so allow a little room for spreading.

Life Size Gingerbread House

2011-12-22T12:04:00.000-05:00

We visited Purdue University to see their life size gingerbread house. The house is wood on the inside and is covered by giant gingerbread pieces and decorated with frosting and candy. My five year old could walk inside the house without crouching down. The gingerbread house smelled amazing. The house had a lot of fun details like a dog house and two puppies that Miss Bubbles loved.

Gingerbread puppies:

Santa in the chimney:

Christmas tree:

Stained glass:

Gingerbread family:

The huge real Christmas tree at Purdue University:

Pumpkin Biscotti

2011-12-16T16:36:00.000-05:00

My grandmother used to make biscotti cookies every year for Christmas. They were some of my favorite holiday cookies. Now that I have my own home I get to make the biscotti cookies. I decided to combine two of my favorite things: pumpkin and biscotti this year. These cookies have a mild pumpkin flavor and a nice hint of ginger. The cookies are very crunchy and tasty.

I used fresh pumpkin puree these pumpkin biscotti cookies. My pumpkin may have been moister than canned pumpkin because I needed an additional ½ cup of flour to make the pumpkin biscotti dough workable and not a sticky mess. I left the recipe with the original amount of 2 ½ cups of flour in the recipe because I do not want someone who used canned pumpkin to end up with dough that is too dry. I also used fresh ginger instead of powdered ginger because I like the extra spicy flavor of fresh ginger over the powder.

Pumpkin Biscotti Modified from Pâte à Chew

Makes 3 to 4 dozen

Total time: 1 hour 15 minutes

Ingredients

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (you may need additional flour)
1 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
¼” piece of ginger, minced
1/4 teaspoon cloves
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 eggs + 1 egg white, room temperature
4 tablespoons butter, melted and cooled
3/4 cup pumpkin purée (I used fresh pumpkin puree)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.

2. Mix the flour, salt, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and cloves in a large bowl.

3. Whisk the eggs, egg white, butter, pumpkin and vanilla in a small bow.

4. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients slowly while stirring. The dough should be workable and not sticky. I had to add an extra ½ cup of flour to make my dough not sticky. Variations in the water content and humidity can impact how much flour your biscotti dough needs in order to be workable.

5. Separate half the dough and roll it into a log about 1 1/2 inches shorter than the length of your cookie sheet. Place the log on the cookie sheet and press down slightly to flatten the top of the log.

6. Repeat the process with the other half of the log.

7. Bake the pumpkin biscotti logs for 20 minutes at 350 degrees F.

8. Allow the logs to cool for about 10 minutes.

9. Slice the logs diagonally to make the cookies. You can cut the pumpkin biscotti as thick or thin as you would like. Thicker pumpkin biscotti will take longer to bake. Separate the cookies to speed up the baking time.

10. Reduce the heat of the oven to 300 degrees F.

11. Bake the pumpkin biscotti logs until crunchy and dry. This can take 30-60 minutes depending upon the thickness of the pumpkin biscotti. I cut my pumpkin biscotti into 24 cookies, and it took 50 minutes before my cookies were crunchy and dry all over.

Awesome Secret Santa Idea for a Chocolate Lover

2011-12-15T10:15:00.002-05:00

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Dr. Lazy Palate has received one of the best secret Santa presents ever. Dr. Lazy Palate loves chocolate and requested chocolate from his secret Santa. His secret Santa not only delivered him chocolate, but he also got a pithy letter to accommodate his gift of chocolate. Another clue from his secret Santa is the misspelled word “thier.” Dr. Lazy Palate is wonderful at many things, but he cannot type worth anything, and he has undiagnosed dyslexia so he is constantly misspelling words in his documents. My guess is that his secret Santa has had to edit Dr. Lazy Palate’s documents before being sent off so they misspelled “thier” to make fun of him. This secret Santa gift would make a great a gift for any chocolate lover.

Posted on House of Hempworths, Catch a Glimpse,

Chocolate Jammers Filled with Chocolate Strawberry Sauce

2011-12-14T08:00:00.001-05:00

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I am constantly looking for new and creative ways to use up my jams and jellies during winter. I love to use my jams and jellies in creative ways. When I came across this recipe for a thick short bread cookie with jam and a streusel topping by Dorie Greenspan, I knew I had to try them. I have no idea whom Dorie Greenspan is, but I have heard a lot of bloggers rave about her recipes and I am assuming that she has a television show, but I could be wrong. At any rate, Dorie Greenspan seems to be a very popular person in the cooking blog land, so I am going to jump on the bandwagon and try one of her recipes.

Originally this cookie was just a plain vanilla cookie, but I wanted to use a chocolate cookie to compliment my chocolate strawberry sauce. I also read that you have to bake the cookie in a muffin tin or in a metal cooking ring to help the cookie hold its shape. I decided to go with my own plan and use some of my regular mouth canning rings that I had lying around from empty jars of food. The canning ring lids worked perfectly for this purpose. The cookie held its shape beautifully, and I found it very easy to pop the cookies out of the rings.

The chocolate jammers were excellent. The chocolate short bread did not overshadow the chocolate strawberry sauce. Instead the cookie complimented the chocolate strawberry sauce and the streusel topping made a fun speckling effect on top of the cookies which was fun. These cookies were large, so you only need one cookie for a complete dessert. You could even leave these cookies in the ring upon serving and eat them with a fork.

Ingredients (makes 14 cookies) modified from Lottie + Doof

For the Shortbread

1 cup butter, room temperature
½ cup sugar
½ tsp salt
2 large egg yolks
½ tsp vanilla extract
1 ½ cups all purpose flour
½ cup cocoa powder
½ pint chocolate strawberry sauce

For the Streusel Topping

3 tbsp butter, room temperature
½ cup all purpose flour
1/3 cup light brown sugar
¼ tsp salt

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

2. Beat the butter with a mixer until smooth and creamy.

3. Add the sugar and salt. Beat until well mixed. The mixture should be smooth but not fluffy.

4. Add the egg yolks and vanilla. Beat again until well mixed.

5. Add the flour into the mixture slowly while stirring. The dough should be soft and crumbly. Do not over work the dough.

6. Mold the dough into the canning lids on a greased cookie sheet leaving an indentation for the chocolate strawberry sauce.

7. Fill the chocolate jammers with chocolate strawberry sauce.

8. To make the streusel: Combine the butter, flour, sugar, and salt. Mix well. The mixture should feel like wet sand.

9. Sprinkle the streusel topping on top of the jammers.

10. Bake the jammers for 25-30 minutes or until the chocolate cookie is firm and cooked all the way through.

11. Let the jammers cool for 15 minutes before removing from the rings or serve warm in the rings with a fork.

Canning Cherry Cranberry Sauce

2011-12-12T08:00:00.001-05:00

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Cranberries are my last canning project of the year. I am excited to finally let my pot get some rest. I am also excited to eat everything in my pantry. I refrain from eating our preserved food until November because I want us to enjoy fresh food from the garden for as long as possible. Cranberries are one of my favorite fruits, but they are only available for a short period of time, so I decided to can some cranberry sauce this year. Cranberry sauce is excellent with more than just turkey. I love cranberry sauce with pork and it is wonderful with chicken as well.

I had some beautiful dried cherries that I wanted to add to my cranberry sauce this year because I thought cherries and cranberries would make an excellent pair. I also added some cherry brandy that I had sitting in my cabinet for an extra cherry burst. I loved this cranberry sauce. This was an excellent end to an excellent year of canning.

Ingredients (makes about 5 half pints) from my own kitchen

3 cups cranberries
1 cup dried cherries
1 ½ cups sugar
1/2 cup cherry brandy
1 tsp cinnamon
½ tsp ginger
Pinch ground cloves

Directions

1. Combine all the ingredients in a small saucepot. Mix well.

2. Boil the cranberry mixture while stirring.

3. Reduce the heat and simmer the cranberries uncovered over low heat for 30 minutes. Stir occasionally.

4. Bring the cranberry sauce back up to a boil and ladle into hot sterile jars leaving ¼ inch headspace.

5. Process in a boiling water canner for 15 minutes. Serve warm or chilled.

Canning Orange Marmalade and Peppermint Orange Cookies

2011-12-07T08:00:00.003-05:00

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I love citrus fruit and so does Miss Bubbles. I decided to make some orange marmalade this year for Miss Bubbles. This marmalade gave me a hard time setting, so I ended up with thick orange syrup with orange peels after I canned it the first time, so I emptied out all the jars and re-boiled the orange marmalade and added a package of powdered pectin. The second time around I had success. The orange marmalade was slightly less dense than store bought marmalade and very easy to spread on a piece of bread. For the recipe that I wrote up I decided to keep the powdered pectin in the recipe to help ensure an easier canning process next year.

I have been looking for some creative ways to use my large collection of jams and jellies that I made this year. I decided to try my hand at using the orange marmalade in a cookie. I made peppermint orange cookies to celebrate the holiday season. Peppermint is a very strong flavor, so I went light on the peppermint extract since I did not want the peppermint to overwhelm the orange flavor. In the end, I got a very sweet soft cookie with a nice balance between the orange and peppermint flavors. Both kids loved these cookies. They are not spectacular to look at, but they taste great, and they are very easy to make.

Ingredients for Orange Marmalade (makes about 3 half pints) inspired by many Ball recipes

2/3 cup thinly sliced orange peel
1 1/3 cups orange pulp
Sugar
1 box powdered pectin (optional)

Directions

1. Boil the orange peels in a pot of water for 30 minutes or until clear.

2. Drain the water from the peel.

3. Add the orange pulp and 1 quart of water to the saucepot.

4. Boil for 10 minutes.

5. Cover the pot and let it stand for 12-18 hours.

6. Boil the fruit mixture and measure the amount of orange mixture.

7. For every cup of orange mixture, add 1 cup of sugar.

8. Boil the sugar and fruit mixture. Stir constantly to dissolve the sugar.

9. Cook the orange mixture until the gelling point is reached. The gelling point can be determined when the orange marmalade covers the back of a spoon and drips off in large sheets. I had a very hard time getting the gelling point of this recipe. Even after I thought I reached the gelling point I still ended up with thick syrup and orange peels, so I added an extra box of pectin. Alternatively, you can use the quick method and add one box of pectin to the orange mixture and let it boil for 1 minute before placing the orange mixture in jars.

10. Fill sterile jars (I used half pint jars) leaving ¼ inch headspace.

11. Process for 10 minutes in a boiling water canner.

Peppermint Orange Cookies (makes about 3 dozen cookies) from my own kitchen

2 ½ cups all purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
1 cup butter, room temperature
¾ cup sugar
2 large eggs, room temperature
¼ tsp peppermint extract
½ pint of orange marmalade

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

2. Mix the flour, baking powder and salt in a large bowl.

3. Beat the butter, sugar, eggs, and peppermint extract in a small bowl.

4. Combine the dry ingredients and wet ingredients. Stir well.

5. Add the orange marmalade to the cookie dough and mix well.

6. Chill the dough for 30 minutes.

7. Drop 1 tbsp of cookie dough on a greased cookie sheet. Add more cookies until the cookie sheet is full. Allow enough room for the cookies to spread.

8. Bake the cookies for 12-14 minutes or until the edges start to turn a little golden brown.

9. Store the cooled cookies in an air tight container.

Chocolate Flourless Cookies with White Chocolate Chips

2011-12-06T15:29:00.002-05:00

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I was in the mood for a good chocolate cookie a few weeks ago, and I decided to give some flourless chocolate cookies a try. I was excited about the rave review that people on Pinterest were giving them, but I was sorely disappointed when I pulled these out of the oven and dug in for the first flourless chocolate cookie. I love my cookies warm right out of the oven and these chocolate flourless cookies tasted like meringue cookies gone wrong when eat right out of the oven. I was frustrated. How could these cookies be so disappointing?

I finished making the rest of the cookies and then I left them on the counter. I did not even bother putting them in an air tight container because I was so frustrated. Then, the next day the kids asked for a cookie, and I let them have one. I decided that I should try the chocolate flourless cookie again since I did not want to waste the cookies. Eureka! The cookies had matured overnight and went from bad meringue to sweet, chewy, chocolate goodness. This is one of the few types of cookies that I have eaten where they are better after they have cooled and sat out overnight. It was amazing.

These cookies are perfect comfort food because they are simple to make you do not have to fret about putting them away right away. Sometimes you need a stress free cookie for a stressful time in your life. Annie over at Annie Eats unexpectedly lost her father the week of Thanksgiving. These flourless chocolate cookies are dedicated to her family in their time of grief. If you have never been to Annie’s blog, then this would be a great time to check out her blog. Annie has beautiful photography, and her writing style is very personable. When you read her blog, you get to know Annie and her lovely family. I am sorry for your loss, Annie.

Ingredients (makes 2 dozen cookies) modified from Chocolate and Carrots

3 cups powder sugar
2/3 cup cocoa powder
1/8 tsp salt
4 egg whites, lightly beaten at room temperature
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 ½ cups white chocolate chips

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

2. Mix the sugar, cocoa powder, and salt in a large bowl.

3. Add the egg whites and vanilla to the dry mix and mix well. The mix should resemble brownie batter. If the mixture is too thin, then add more powder sugar. If the mix is too thick, then add a tsp at a time of water until the mixture resembles brownie batter.

4. Add the white chocolate chips and mix well.

5. Place the batter on a greased cookie sheet in 1-1.5 tbsp quantities. Allow room for the cookies to spread.

6. Bake for 12-14 minutes or until the cookies appear shiny on top.

7. Allow the cookies to rest for several hours before eating.

Gingerbread House Inspiration

2011-11-30T23:37:00.001-05:00

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We visited a gingerbread house competition at Conner Prairie Interactive History Museum in Fishers, IN. today. We saw some really creative ginger bread houses that I wanted to share on here for inspiration for others. We hope to make our own ginger bread house this year, so we will be using some of these wonderful houses as our inspiration. Congratulations to all of the winners of the ginger bread contest!

A cute snowman:

Beautiful white ginger bread house:

Roller coaster ginger bread house:

Traditional ginger bread house:

Barn yard ginger bread house:

Candy filled ginger bread house:

Pink ginger bread house:

Detailed ginger bread house:

Headless horseman ginger bread house:

Ship ginger bread:

Whimsical ginger bread house:

Ginger bread Christmas tree:

Hot air balloon ginger bread:

Interior of a ginger bread house:

Large ginger bread house:

I hope you found some of these amazing structures inspiring! I know I was amazed at the creativity and artistic talent of the participants.

Chocolate M&M Sans Rival and Chocolate Custard

2011-11-27T16:16:00.001-05:00

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This month was a very special month at our house because Little BBQ turned 5 years old! Little BBQ's favorite candy is M&Ms, so he requested a M&M cake for his birthday. When I went to check what the Daring Bakers challenge was for this month, I saw that the challenge was sans rival which is a Filipino cake made with layers of meringue and butter cream. I thought that this would be the perfect birthday cake for Little BBQ with M&Ms.

Catherine from Munchie Musings challenged us to make a sans rival. My sans rival is not traditional. A traditional sans rival is not chocolate and certainly does not have M&Ms crushed up inside. However, for me the purpose of this challenge was to give Little BBQ a great birthday cake. Little BBQ loved his cake. He tells me that I am now a real cake baker because I made an M&M cake. I guess before I only pretended to make cakes.

I served the chocolate M&M sans rival with a homemade chocolate custard that we served still in the soft serve stage. This is the best custard that I have ever made. I decided to just wing it with the recipe. I wanted to use up all the leftover egg yolks from the sans rival, and I wanted a very creamy custard that would not freeze very hard in the freezer. Fat does not freeze so I used more cream than most custard recipes to produce a creamier and softer frozen homemade chocolate custard. The homemade chocolate custard is very rich, so you only need a small amount of custard to feel satisfied. Little BBQ also loved his homemade chocolate custard that he topped with M&Ms. I think this was his favorite birthday cake that he has ever had.

Ingredients for Sans Rival (serves 12) from Catherine's kitchen

10 large egg whites, room temp
1 cup (240 ml) (225 gm) (8 oz) white granulated sugar
1 teaspoon (5 ml) (3 gm) cream of tartar
¼ cup (60 ml) (20 gm) (2/3 oz) Dutch processed cocoa (optional and not traditional)
1 cup (240 ml) (120 gm) (8½ oz) chopped, M&Ms
1 cup (240 ml) (120 gm) whole M&Ms (to decorate the sans rival)

Directions:
Note: You will need four layers which will mean that you might have to bake in two batches. Be sure to use fresh parchment paper and cooled pans for each batch.

1. Preheat oven to moderate 325°F/160°C/gas mark 3.

2. Line cake pan bottoms with parchment paper and butter and flour the sides really well.

3. In a large clean, dry glass or metal mixing bowl, beat egg whites on medium until foamy (2 mins.). Sprinkle with cream of tartar. Gradually add sugar, a couple of tablespoons at a time, continuing to beat now at high speed until stiff shiny peaks form. (about 7-10 mins.)

4. Fold in chopped M&Ms.

5. Divide meringue into four equal parts. Spread in pans, evenly to edges. If doing batches, use fresh
parchment paper and cooled pans for each batch.

6. Bake in preheated oven for 30 minutes, or until golden brown. Remove the meringue from the baking pans while still hot; allow to cool slightly. Peel off the parchment paper while it is still warm, it is difficult to remove sometimes when they have completely cooled.

7. When cool, trim edges so that all 4 meringue layers are uniformly shaped. Set aside.

Ingredients for Chocolate French Buttercream (makes enough for 1 sans rival) from Catherine's kitchen (her blog is located here)

5 large egg yolks, room temperature
1 cup (240 ml) (225 gm) (8 oz) white granulated sugar
1/4 cup (60 ml) water
1¼ cup (300 ml) (2½ sticks) (285 gm) (10 oz) unsalted butter, room temperature
2 oz (55 gm) unsweetened chocolate, melted
Directions:

1. Put the egg yolks in a mixing bowl. Beat at high speed until the yolks have doubled in volume and are a lemon yellow.

2. Put the sugar and water in a heavy pan and cook over medium heat, stirring the sides down only until all the sugar is dissolved and the syrup reaches 235°F/112°C (or thread stage).

3. With the mixer on high, very slowly pour the syrup down the sides of the bowl, until all has been added. Be careful as the very hot syrup could burn you if it splashes from the beaters. Continue beating on high until the mixture is ROOM TEMPERATURE (about 15 mins). Still on high, beat in the soft, room temperature butter a tablespoon at a time. Add chocolate after you beat in the butter. Refrigerate the buttercream for at least an hour, and whip it smooth just before you use it.

Assembly:

Set bottom meringue on cake board with a dab of butter cream to hold it in place. Spread a thin layer of buttercream and then place another meringue on top. Repeat with a thin layer of buttercream, meringue, thin layer of buttercream, meringue, and finally buttercream the top and sides. Decorate with M & Ms.

Chocolate Custard from my kitchen

4 ounces bittersweet chocolate, melted
1 1/2 cups milk
2 1/2 cups cream
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup powder sugar
1/3 cup cocoa powder
1/4 tsp salt
5 egg yolks, whisked
1 tsp vanilla

Directions

1. Mix the melted chocolate, milk, and cream in a saucepot over medium heat.

2. Mix in the sugar, cocoa, and salt to the warm mixture. Stir frequently. The mixture should be smooth and small bubbles should be rising to the top of the chocolate mixture.

3. Scoop out 2 tbsp of the chocolate base into a small bowl. Whisk in the egg yolks. You do not want to add the egg yolks to the entire chocolate base at one time because the eggs will curdle.

4. Mix the egg mixture back into the chocolate base.

5. Stir in the chocolate base frequently over medium heat until the chocolate base becomes thick and reaches 170 degrees F.

6. Cool the hot chocolate base by placing the mixture in the refrigerator until fully cool.

7. Mix the vanilla into the chocolate base.

8. Place the chocolate base in an ice cream maker and follow manufacturer's instructions. Or place the mixture in a freezer safe bowl and freeze. Every 20 minutes remove the custard from the freezer and stir. Continue to stir the custard every 20 minutes until the custard is fully frozen.

9. Store in a freezer safe container and serve with M&Ms.

Fall Spice Play Dough

2011-11-23T15:47:00.001-05:00

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At our Halloween/El Dia De Los Muertos party we had fall spiced play dough on the toddler table. This soft dough smelled amazing. This is a great sensory project for young children. Playing with play dough will help young children build their finger strength and the wonderful fall scents will permeate the room leaving your house smelling fabulous while the kids play. This play dough was originally called pumpkin spice play dough on the blog, Adventures of a DIY Mom, but there is no pumpkin in the recipe, so I changed the name to fall spiced play dough since I have seen several recipes that use pumpkin puree in their play dough recipe.

This dough will last several weeks in an air tight container. We have been playing with the fall spiced play dough in our house almost every day. The dough is still soft and fragrant. One mom at our party joked that she should put the playdough on her kitchen stove to make her house smell amazing. This dough would be great anytime during the fall season including Halloween and Thanksgiving.

Fall Spiced Play Dough from Adventures of a DIY Mom

1 c all purpose flour
1/2 c salt
2 tsp cream of tartar
2 tbsp ground cinnamon
1 tbsp ground cloves
1 tbsp ground nutmeg
1 tsp ground ginger
1c warm water
2 tbsp vegetable oil

Directions

1. Mix all the ingredients in a medium sized saucepot.
2. Heat the mixture over medium heat while stirring constantly until a ball is formed.
3. Allow the dough to cool for 2-3 minutes.
4. Knead the dough until soft.
5. Enjoy!

Butter Free Cajun Injected Fried Turkey with a Cajun Dry Rub

2011-11-18T17:20:00.002-05:00

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At 9 am this morning there was someone pounding at my front door. I look to see whom is pounding on the door. I do not recognize the person, so I carefully open the front door. The man in a t-shirt and jeans with a jacket does not introduce himself. He looks like an undercover FBI agent that you would see in a movie that just sits outside of your house watching to see if someone deserves security ...clearance. He just asks where Michael is located. I tell him he is at work. He tells me that Michael is supposed to be frying a turkey right now. I ask the man at the door what is his name. As it turns out he is a VP of another department at Mike's work. I ask him if he checked Mike's office. He gives me a blank stare. I told him that he is probably helping a coworker with an instrument before he leaves to fry the turkey. As the VP nervously stares from my front porch looking for Mike I call Mike's office. I talk to Mike's tech. He informs me that Mike is on the way home to fry the turkey. The VP informs me that it does not take that long to get to our house. After 20 minutes of the VP calling and e-mailing every single person in his department to go find Mike, Mike shows up at the door. Where had the man of the hour been located all morning when the VP went on a man hunt to go look for him? In his office working!

Dr. Lazy Palate and I made an awesome fried turkey! Dr. Lazy Palate was very weary of injecting the turkey with anything. He was worried because one his coworkers told him that he has never made a good fried turkey that was injected because the flavoring was always in pockets inside the turkey and not actually infused throughout the turkey. I had to do a lot of convincing to Dr. Lazy Palate to let me inject the turkey with my homemade Cajun seasoning. Dr. Lazy Palate had told me that his coworker suggested that I only inject half the turkey and leave the other half of the turkey plain. However, after my odd incident with the VP from another department, Dr. Lazy Palate told me that I could do whatever I wanted to the turkey.

In the end, everyone was glad that I was stubborn and injected the whole turkey with flavoring. I also did a dry rub on the outside of the turkey to produce a very flavorful skin that was crispy, slightly spicy, and delicious. The meat of the turkey was moist and full of flavor. This turkey was for Dr. Lazy Palate’s work. I asked Dr. Lazy Palate to sneak me a small piece of turkey home for me to try since I helped make the turkey. Dr. Lazy Palate was barely able to bring me home a small piece of turkey because everyone loved the turkey. There was not much left of the 16 pound turkey for me to sample the leftovers. I was delighted that the turkey went over so well. Dr. Lazy Palate said that three people shook his hand and told him that he did well on the turkey which is rare feat at his work since there is a very diverse range of tastes at his work.

To make an awesome fried turkey, I used a syringe and the largest needle that I could find to inject the flavoring directly into the bird. For needles, there is a number called a gauge. The larger the number the smaller the needle, so a 35 gauge needle is smaller than a 20 gauge needle. You want the smallest gauge number that you find to inject your turkey. I decided not to use a butter sauce to inject inside the bird because I did not want a greasy bird. Instead I used a lighter broth based infusion that produced a moist but not greasy fried turkey. To prevent pockets of flavor, I massaged the turkey gently in between each injection. Additionally, I gently peeled the back skin and injected the flesh of the meat directly instead of puncturing the skin. I did not want to break into the skin. Instead I left the skin whole so the skin would get nice and crunchy. I made it a point to inject all the different parts of the flesh of the turkey including the breast, legs, and wings. Lastly, I made sure that the turkey was perfectly dry before adding the dry rub. You want a dry turkey to prevent oil from splattering everywhere when you gently place the turkey inside the fryer. I was very liberal in coating the turkey with the dry rub. I made sure to get the entire skin covered in the dry rub. Ideally you should do all this the night before, but we did not get our turkey until the morning of the event so we lost a little potential flavor, but if you find yourself with an unprepared turkey the morning of your event, don’t worry about it. You can still enjoy a moist and flavorful fried turkey.

Now that the turkey is prepped the easy party comes, cooking the turkey. The oil should be preheated to 350 degrees. In the fryer that we used, the peanut oil took 20 minutes to heat up. You want to use oil that is neutral tasting with a high flash and smoking point like peanut oil. Olive Oil has a low smoking point and flash point, so olive oil is a terrible choice to fry a turkey and not to mention terribly expensive. Oils with a low flash point can set on fire. I would recommend having a fire extinguisher handy just in case your fryer goes up in flames which is rare, but it is better to be safe than sorry. Keep the fryer on a flat surface. We fried the turkey on our flat driveway. Many people fry their turkey on the grass, but you want to make sure that the ground is very level if you chose to fry your turkey on grass.

Very gently and slowly lower the turkey into the oil. You do not want to just toss your turkey into the fryer. You want to be gentle and coax the turkey into the oil slowly to prevent the oil from splattering everywhere. Dr. Lazy Palate wore some very heavy duty heat resistant gloves to handle the hot turkey. You want to keep kids and pets away from the hot oil. Pets in particular maybe attracted to the wonderful smelling turkey, but hot oil can seriously harm them so this would be a good time to keep the family pet inside the house. Once you lower your turkey into the oil, you do not start your cooking time until the temperature of the oil has increased back to 350 degrees F. In the fryer that we used the oil took about 8 minutes to increase back in temperature. As a side note, our fryer had a timer that did not allow your gas to be on for more than 15 minutes so we constantly had to turn the gas back on to keep the temperature steady. To fry a turkey up to 12 pounds, fry for 3 minutes per pound. To fry a turkey large than 12 pounds, fry for 3.5 minutes per pound. Our turkey was 16 pounds so we fried the turkey for 56 minutes. After the turkey is done frying gently lift the turkey out of the fryer and let the oil drip off of the turkey before you place it on your platter. Once you place your turkey on the platter resist the urge to dig in right now. Instead you should cover the turkey for 20 minutes and let the turkey rest. This will produce a full cooked and juicy turkey that is ready to eat.

After you oil has cooled, you can filter the oil and reuse the oil again a few more times. The oil will remain good for 6 months inside a sealed container.

Ingredients for Butter Free Cajun Turkey Injection Solution

2 cups of chicken or pork broth (you want a neutral tasting broth; I used homemade pork broth)
2 tbsp Worchester sauce
2 tbsp hot sauce
2 tsp Cayenne pepper
2 tsp onion powder
2 tsp garlic powder
3 tsp smoked paprika

Directions

1. Combine all the ingredients in a small bowl. Stir well. You want to make sure that there are no spicy clumps that can clog your needle.

2. Inject your turkey.

Ingredients for Cajun Dry Rub

3 tbsp smoked paprika
1 tbsp cayenne pepper
2 tsp fine grain salt
2 tsp garlic powder
2 tsp onion powder
1 tsp thyme
½ tsp file powder
½ tsp celery seed
Pinch ground all spice

Directions

1. Combine all the ingredients in a small bowl, and mix well.

2. Generously rub the spices all over the turkey.

Want to see some step by step instructions? Here are some tutorials from around the web:

Brian's Belly: Long step by step tutorial with pictures
You Tube Video on How to Deep Fry a Turkey (about 30 minutes long)
How to Fry a Turkey including charts on the moisture loss in deep fried vs roasted turkeys
Another You Tube Video on How to Fry a Turkey (short about 4 minutes long)
Long picture less tutorial on how to fry a turkey

Posted on Your Recipe, My Kitchen, Made By You Monday, Mouth Watering Monday, Market Yourself Monday, Melt in your mouth Monday, Making Monday Marvelous, Mangia Monday, This Week's Cravings

Cajun Spiced Roasted Pumpkin Seeds

2011-11-17T04:06:00.002-05:00

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I love pumpkin seeds. I adore the earthy, nutty taste of pumpkin seeds. I am usually really basic with my pumpkin seed roasting and just use salt to season my pumpkin seeds, but this I decided to make some flavored pumpkin seeds. I adore Cajun seasoning, and there is not a single Cajun restaurant in my town, so if I want Cajun food, then I need to make it myself.

I thought Cajun flavored pumpkin seeds sounded really good. I liked the idea of a very mildly spicy pumpkin seed that I could serve at our Halloween party. I thought that the thyme complimented the earthy flavor of the pumpkin seeds well and the filé powder added a fun kick to the seeds and transformed them from ordinary to extra ordinary.

Ingredients

2 tbsp canola oil
1 tsp thyme
pinch filé powder
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp cayenne powder
pinch all spice
1 tsp salt
1 tsp celery seed
1 tsp sweet paprika
Seeds from 1 pumpkin, washed

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
2. In a small bowl, mix the oil and spices.
3. Coat the pumpkin seeds with the spice mixture. You can do this by simply stirring in a few seeds at a time in the bowl or you can place the seeds and spiced in a sealed plastic bag and toss the bag a few times to coat the seeds.
4. Spread the seeds on to a cookie sheet in a single layer.
5. Bake the pumpkin seeds for 10-15 minutes or until brown.

Posted on Midnight Maniac Meatless Monday

Vegan Chocolate Peanut Butter Coated Apples

2011-11-16T12:37:00.003-05:00

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I took a little break from blogging about the Halloween party food to post my exploration on cooking with tea in Daring Cooks. Now I will resume my blogging about the vegan Halloween party food. Another popular item that I made for the party was vegan chocolate peanut butter coated apples. Like the vegan peanut butter apples, these apples were very simple to make and do not require a thermometer.

Also like the vegan peanut butter coated apples, the chocolate peanut butter shell does not dry hard on the apples. The coating is soft but not mushy. I did not have any trouble with the vegan chocolate peanut butter shell falling off the apples. These apples were popular with vegans and nonvegans at the party. Both kids and adults could not resist the allure of chocolate plus peanut butter and apples. I really liked these too. They were not as sweet tasting as the caramel apples because chocolate is inherently bitter. I would recommend these apples for anyone whom does not want to go through the large amount of work to make caramel coated apples.

Ingredients (makes 8-10 apples)

8-10 tart apples, I used Winesap
8-10 popsicle sticks
parchment paper
1 cup corn syrup
1 cup smooth peanut butter
1/4 cup cocoa powder

Directions

1. Insert the popsicle sticks into the tops of the apples.

2. Heat the corn syrup, peanut butter, and cocoa powder in a pot over medium heat. Stir frequently until the solution becomes smooth and silky.

3. Remove the peanut butter from the heat.

4. Dip the apples in the peanut butter and rotate.

5. Place the apples on parchment paper in the refrigerator to set.

6. Serve within a few days.

Posted on Whatever Goes Wednesday, What's Cooking Wednesday, Penny Pinching Party, These Chicks Cook,Slightly Indulgent Tuesday, Tasty Tuesday,

Peurh Tea Infused Crockpot Pot Roast and Chai Tea Infused Sprouted Chickpeas

2011-11-14T00:01:00.004-05:00

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This month Daring Cooks decided to venture into the world of tea! This is one of my favorite topics. I adore teas of all classes. Fine tea is like fine wine. There is a method to drinking and appreciating tea that goes beyond buying little bags and throwing it in hot water. Below I am going out line tea drinking basics, and then I will go into detail about one class of tea, Puerh tea, that is relatively unknown to most Americans. Lastly, I will end the post with two recipes using tea. (Sarah from Simply cooked challenged us to make a recipe using tea. I have already made Chinese tea eggs here, so I made two new recipes in this challenge.)

There are six different classes of tea: green, oolong, yellow, black, white, and peurh tea (also called “Dark Tea”.) China produces all six classes of tea and Yunnan providence is the birth place of tea. Locally, in the United States there is one tea plantation located outside of Charleston, SC (to read about my experience there click here.) There are a few other regions of the world where tea is produce, but on the whole tea is a gift from the Chinese.

To fully appreciate tea, you must take your time and follow these simple steps to develop your own personal tea profile. First, look at the color of the tea. Some teas will be dark and others will be pale. Some teas will have a red tint and others will be almost colorless. Take in the rainbow of tea colors. Second, close your eyes and take a large whiff of the aroma of tea. Some words that you may use to describe your tea are earthy, bitter, sweet, strong, powerful, and organic. Many other words might come to mind as you take in the aroma of the tea. Next after you tea has cooled enough for you to hold it on your tongue, take a healthy sip. Hold the tea in your mouth on top of your tongue and let your taste buds enjoy the complex flavors of tea. Some words that you may use to describe the taste of tea include smooth, rich, bitter, rich, sweet, and bold. Lastly, swallow your tea and enjoy the after taste of the tea. Some teas will leave you with a lingering sweet aroma. Like wine, I may find one tea amazing and you may think it is awful. Tea drinking is very individual like drinking wine. Follow your own tastes and drink tea that tastes great to you and not what an “expert” tells you should enjoy.

Now that you know how to taste the tea you are probably wondering how to make the perfect tea at home. Many people and restaurants alike use water that is the improper temperature to brew tea. Using water that is too hot will produce bitter tea and using water that too cool will not extract out the entire flavor from the tea leaves. Below is a list on the proper brewing temperature and steeping times of different types of tea:

1. Green: 150-160 degrees F steeped for 2-4 minutes

2. Oolong: 190 degrees F steeped for 5-8 minutes

3. Yellow: 150-160 degrees F steeped for 2-4 minutes

4. Black: 212 degrees F steeped for 3-5 minutes

5. White: 180 degrees F steeped for 4-6 minutes

6. Peurh: 212 degrees F steeped for 30 seconds*

*Peurh tea can be steeped many times if high quality leaves are used. I have steeped some Peurh tea leaves up to 17 times. I gave the first steeping time in the list above. Each steep requires a long amount of time. The last steep is usually a few minutes long.

The tea that I want to focus on this blog post is Peurh tea which is my favorite type of tea. Peurh tea is earthy, bold, slightly sweet, and full of body. One of our Chinese friend’s introduced us to Peurh tea a few years ago. Our friend owned a tea shop in China, and this was his favorite tea as well. The first time that we had Peurh tea, our friend went through a long tea ceremony using his ceramic tea kit. Our friend took the Puerh tea and rinsed it twice with boiling water. He poured the rinse into a wood box under the tea set. Then he started the actual steeping process. The amazing part about the Peurh tea was that it steeped within seconds. The first steep was very strong and earthy. The tea was dark brown. The second steep was lighter and the sweetness of tea came forward more. The third steep was my favorite. I felt that the earthiness was balanced with a nice meaty flavor and a hint of sweetness. Our first experience with Puerh tea lasted 17 steeps. The tea was so high quality that both Dr. Lazy Palate and I got a euphoric feeling after drinking the tea. The euphoria was not a drunk euphoria experienced with alcohol. Instead this euphoria was very pleasant and relaxing. Both Dr. Lazy Palate and I were in love with the elusive Peurh tea.

Peurh tea can also be referred to as Pu-erh or Pu erh in the English translations. Peurh tea comes the Yunnan providence which is in southwest China. The Yunnan is a sub-tropical plateau region that harbors these special tress (p 21). The unique climate of Yunnan allows for drastic changes in daily temperature yet not distinguishable seasonal temperature changes paired with heavy rains during the wet season make this an idea climate for Peurh trees (p 21). Peurh trees like a loose soil with a pH of 4.5-5.5 with a high mineral content (p 22). Most Puerh is grown on the six famous tea mountains that include Mount Youle, Gedenge, Yibang, Mangzhi, Manzhuan, and Mansa (p 23). Puerh tea produced from these six mountains is the most highly regarded by collectors. There are another four lesser known mountains where peurh tea can be grown as well known as Nannuo, Bulang, Xiding, and Bada (p 24). Some “peurh” tea can be grown in Vietnam, but most collectors do not recognize “peurh tea” from this region as real peurh tea (p 29). I have never had tea from this region, so I am not sure how the taste differs from true peurh tea. Some vendors will also mix tea leaves from other regions and charge the high prices that authentic peurh tea can command, so care needs to be taken when purchasing peurh tea.

To try and help peurh tea drinkers, the Bureau of Standard Measurement of Yunnan Province established the official definition of peurh tea as, “products fermented from green tea of big tea leaves picked within Yunnan province” (p 29). To make matters more complicated Peurh tea can be naturally fermented or “raw” or the tea can be artificially fermented which is called “ripe” or “Shou tea” (pp34-40). The raw version takes 20-30 years to reach maturity and can fetch a very high price on the market. For people with a slimmer pocket book, the artificially fermented teas produce excellent tasting results that are close but not identical to the naturally aged products and only take a few months. Peurh tea can be sold either loose or packed into cakes. Collectors will often collect naturally fermented cakes and there is an entire book written for beginning Peurh tea collectors called, First Step to Chinese Peurh Tea by Chan Kam Pong. I high recommend this book for anyone interested in Peurh tea. This book is one our favorite books on our book shelf. We find ourselves frequently thumbing through the book to admire the beautiful tea cakes and when they were manufactured. If you want to see a private collection of a Peurh tea collector, then please visit Cloud’s tea collection.

Most of our tea is artificially fermented and packed into small cakes suitable for small servings. We adore our Peurh tea collection, but we are very careful to buy our Peurh tea from trusted sources. I recommend finding a Chinese friend whom can give you a personal recommendation of a good vendor in your area.

As much as I love Peurh tea, I have never cooked with Peurh tea. Dr. Lazy Palate and I wanted to see if cooking with Peurh tea could produce the wonderful euphoric effect that we experience by drinking Peurh tea, so we decided to combine two of Dr. Lazy Palate’s favorite things: meat and Peurh tea into a single pot roast. We took Peurh tea and slow cooked a chuck roast, potatoes, sweet potatoes, and carrots in a five quart crockpot to produce an excellent dinner with awesome earthy flavor. We decided to forgo lots of seasoning in order to fully appreciate the flavor of Peurh tea infused in the meat. We are glad that we let the Peurh tea shine. The meat came out earthy, rich, and slightly sweet with a hint of a honey flavor coming through. We did experience a very mild euphoric feeling from eating the meat that lasted a mere few minutes (compared to hours that we have experienced by drinking high quality peurh tea).

For my second tea dish, I decided to make sprouted chickpeas infused with chai tea. I decided to sprout the beans to increase the digestibility of the beans and to reduce the flatulence produced after eating beans. The chai beans were earthy and spicy. I loved all the wonderful flavors of the chickpeas. I was under the weather when I made these beans, and these beans helped to clear my runny nose. I ate these spicy beans with a small dollup of yogurt to get a nice cooling effect too balance the spicy beans. Also, I experienced no flatulence after eating these beans, so this is an excellent recipe for those who work in a cubical and want to eat beans during lunch. My kitchen smelled wonderful while cooking these beans. My kitchen smelled like an Indian restaurant which was great.

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I loved both of these recipes. Dr. Lazy Palate loved the pot roast recipe, but he found the beans too spicy.

For more information on peurh tea please visit:
Cloud's Tea Collection
First Step to Chinese Puerh Tea by Chan Kam Pong

For more information on sprouting beans please visit:
Free Nutrition Guides and Articles
Primal Seeds

Peurh Tea Infused Crockpot Pot Roast (serves 6)

2 tbsp canola oil
5 lbs Chuck Roast
2 sweet potatoes, sliced
4 fingerling potatoes
4 Yukon Gold potatoes, chopped
1 onion, minced
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 cups Peurh tea (I used the first and second steeps)

Directions

1. Heat the oil in large skillet.

2. Sear the chuck roast on all sides. Do not cook the meat all the way through.

3. Place all the ingredients in a 5 quart crockpot.

4. Cook on high for 6-8 hours or on low for 8-10 hours.

5. Serve warm.

Chai Tea Infused Sprouted Chickpeas (serves e 4 side servings)inspired by We Gotta Eat

½ pound dried chickpeas
4 tbsp black tea leaves
5 star of anise
2 cinnamon sticks
2 cloves garlic, minced
3 green onions, minced
¼” piece of ginger, minced
1 tbsp cumin seeds
2 hot peppers, finely sliced
½ tsp salt
½ tsp ground turmeric
Juice of 1 lime
1 tbsp of yogurt to garnish

Directions

1. Soak the chickpeas in 4 cups of cold water over night.

2. Drain the water from the beans and rinse under cold water.

3. Place the beans in a linen bag. Hang the bag to allow any excess water to drain out of the bag.

4. Rinse the beans every 12 hours and place them back in the bag until sprouted. The sprouts should not be bigger than your bean, but I let mine go too long and got crazy sprouts in about 16 hours.

5. Boil 2 cups of water and brew the tea for 5 minutes.

6. Remove the tea leaves from the water.

7. Add the beans and the rest of the ingredients except for the lime juice and yogurt to the pot.

8. Simmer the beans for 1 hour.

9. Using a slotted spoon, place the beans in a bowl and splash with lime juice. Garnish with yogurt and fresh green onions. Serve warm.

All refrences from First Step to Chinese Puerh Tea by Chan Kam Pong.

Posted on These Chicks Cook, Whatever Goes Wednesday, What's Cooking Wednesday, Penny Pinching Party

Vegan Peanut Butter Coated Apples

2011-11-09T12:08:00.005-05:00

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After my successful but stressful attempt at making vegan caramel apples, I decided to make my life easy and go for a simple coating for my next round of apples. This vegan peanut butter coating is very simple. Just heat until the peanut butter solution is smooth and silky and coat the apples. No thermometer needed. No viscous stirring or begging your stove to cooperate.

The vegan peanut butter coating does not dry hard. Instead it drys soft, and it does not run off the apple. If you are a fan of apples with peanut butter, then this vegan peanut butter coated apple will hit the spot. This apple is sweeter than your apple with peanut butter snack, but it is not store bought candy apple sweet (I find the red store bought candy apples too sweet.)

These apples were also a big hit at the party with both the young kids and adults. I think peanut butter and apples is one flavor combination that most people tend to enjoy, so this is a good bet for parties if no one has a nut allergy.

Ingredients (makes 8-10 apples)

8-10 tart apples, I used Winesap
8-10 popsicle sticks
parchment paper
1 cup corn syrup
1 cup smooth peanut butter

Directions

1. Insert the popsicle sticks into the tops of the apples.
2. Heat the corn syrup and peanut butter in a pot over medium heat. Stir frequently until the solution becomes smooth and silky.
3. Remove the peanut butter from the heat.
4. Dip the apples in the peanut butter and rotate.
5. Place the apples on parchment paper in the refrigerator to set.
6. Serve within a few days.

Posted on These Chicks Cook, Whatever Goes Wednesday,Penny Pintching Party