Tales of an Empty Stomach

Mango Chutney

2014-06-03T20:53:00.001-07:00

Let this be a lesson to all of you. Don't rely on me to take pictures of delicious food. I am not to be trusted.

Ingredients
6-8 medium sized very ripe yellow mangos
1 cup chopped dried apricots (or prunes to add more variation)
1/2 cup walnuts
1/4 cup cilantro
1 Tbsp. lime juice
1 tsp. Balsamic vinegar
1/2 tsp. smoked paprika
2 Tbsp. Chile powder
1/2 tsp white sugar
sea salt and pepper to taste

Peel and chop the mangos. They don't have to be uniform, just get it done any way you can, they are slippery jerks. Roughly chop the dried apricots, or prunes, or whatever dried fruit; then add it to your bowl of mangos. Very finely chop the walnuts and cilantro. You want the walnuts to be small enough that they will just stick to the pieces of fruit in the dish, no one wants to try to stab a walnut with a fork. Add the walnuts, cilantro, and remaining ingredients. Gently stir the chutney to get everything coated, then refrigerate for 30 minutes. This goes great with jerk chicken, I think that his name is Steve.

Old-School Standing Arcade

2014-01-22T12:50:00.000-08:00

This year for Christmas, I wanted to build something really cool for my son. He's really into Tron right now, so I figured that I would build a Tron themed standing arcade.

The Parts

Electronics

1 - Raspberry Pi (plus cables, SD card, Thumb Drive)

1 - 42" TV (you can adjust schematics for smaller sizes)

2 - small digital arcade joysticks

10 - arcade buttons

header pins, jumper wires, & quick connect wires

Everything else

1 - 4' x 8' x (3/4") sheet of plywood

1 - 8' x 3/4" quarter round moulding

20' - chrome T-moulding

3 - cans black spray paint (flat)

1 - can white spray paint (glossy)

1 - 2'x4' - 1/8" mdf

2 - 3' x 1/4" square wood dowel

2 - 3' x 3/4" square wood dowel

painters tape, wood glue, putty, sand paper

For those who don't know, a Raspberry Pi is a $35 credit card sized computer that runs a version of linux. It supports HDMI and RCA video. Audio can be supplied either with HDMI or a 3.5mm jack I chose to use this simply because I had one sitting around that I had been using as a web server but no longer needed. If you aren't familiar with linux, it's ok. You don't really need to know anything to get this up and running. If you want to be able to run two 8 way joysticks plus ten buttons, you may want to find a friend that knows how to solder. For a non-solder version, just use two buttons per player, rather than four (plus two more for universal 'start' and 'select' buttons) Lets get to building this thing!

The Build

The bulk of the arcade was built from a single 4'x8' sheet of 3/4" plywood. Pay the extra to get the nice smooth stuff, it's worth it when it comes time to paint. You can also use 3/4" mdf, but it require a lot more paint because mdf tends to really suck that stuff up.

Here are the general blueprints. Be careful not to mangle the pieces labeled 'extra' too much. You will need to cut pieces off of them in order to make backings for other pieces.

Marking off my cuts. If you don't have a big 6' carpenters level, I really suggest getting one! It made everything so much easier. I got mine at Harbor Freight for $10 bucks.

This is my sheet of plywood after having made my first round of cuts.

After the initial cuts, clamp the two sides together and cut out the 'inner arms'. Then sand the edges of the 'side' pieces until they line up with each other.

Clamp 'inner arm 1' to 'side 1'. Since the cuts on the inner arms are made at 45 degree angles, they should line up just right with the top of where they were cut out in the side pieces. Use a carpenter square to insure the arms go straight out, as they will become the control table. Do the same thing with 'inner arm2' and 'side 2'. Make sure that you flip side 2 over though, so that the inner arms will both be on the inside of the arcade.

I wasn't able to take a picture of the actual process (both hands in use), but line up the shorter 'outer arms' with the inner arms. NOTE: you will need to mark the angle of the hypotenuse of the 'side pieces' on the 'outer arms' and then cut them off at that point. The outer arms will sort of rest on the hypotenuse edge of the 'side' pieces.

This is the 'inside' of the arcade. The horizontal piece is the

inner arm. I cut small scraps from the extra pieces to use

as backing mount points. Here, I have one piece sideways

to use as a spacer, so that the front panel will line up with

the hypotenuse edge of the 'side' pieces.

This is after gluing the backer piece and removing the

spacer (opposite side of course).

I did the same thing in the middle and at the bottom of the 'side' pieces, but I used two (2) spacers, rather than just the one (1) that I used at the top. I did this mostly for aesthetics, but also because I'm lazy. The front of the cabinet is two pieces, so rather than cutting one of them down so that they can be flush with each other, I just layered them, so the bottom one goes behind the top one.

Here you can see the layering of the top and bottom front pieces. I have also, already laid the control table top across the arms. (you will notice that the control panel does not cover the outer arms, those will be covered with the 3/4" quarter round.)

I intentionally left about a 1 inch space between the top of the front panel and the control panel, this way I can easily feed any cables through to the back.

Here's a picture of the back. I used some scrap 2"x4" to keep the spacing correct while things were being glued.

I attached the 'outer arm bridge' and 'inner arm bridge' to the front of the two arms. Then I added the 3/4" quarter round to all of the exposed 'outer' pieces. A little putty and sanding and it all looks like one nicely rounded piece.

I wanted to add some chrome T-moulding to the edges (just like the real guys use), but I needed a channel cut in the center of the edges. You can buy a bit for your router (but it's like $30 bucks), so I just used a $3 rough cut reciprocating saw blade. I think that it is like 10 inches long or so. I just held it in my hand and slid it up and down along the edges and it made pretty short work of it. No need to make any of it pretty, it's all getting covered by the moulding.

You can also see that to the right of the groove that I cut, I also attached some of the 1/4" square wooden dowel. This will be used to hold the 1/8" mdf board in place over the TV. I didn't want that board permanently attached, in case I needed to remove the TV at some point.

This is how I drew out the outlines for my buttons and joysticks. With the curved edge of the 3/4" quarter round, I quickly found that I need something a bit more exact to rest my carpenter squares on, so I clamped my 6' level to the edge and that worked wonderfully. This shows the outline for 1 joystick and 4 buttons.

Pro-tip: If you need to make lines parallel to your base line, use 2 carpenter squares. Place one against the base line, then place the other (hypotenuse to hypotenuse) against the first. The top edge of the second square is parallel to your base line.

2 joysticks, 4 buttons, plus 1 player & 2 player buttons at the top. You may have noticed the large rectangular cutout at the back of the control panel (top of the picture). I had to add this to accommodate the back of my TV. It is an older LCD TV, so even though it's a 'flat screen', the base was still kind of beefy.

I used a 1" hole saw, then I used a wood hand chisel to cut out the square section. After doing the first 4 of 10, I was really regretting buying the square buttons. Circular buttons would have been so quick and easy.

Test fitting the buttons. They fit like a glove! I was getting way excited as I saw them actually in place.

Cutout for the joystick. Test fitting the joystick face plate. The joystick face plate was a really dull gray color, eventually, I sanded them clean with a high grit sand paper and really shined 'em up. The joysticks were tricky to fit just right. The electronics were actually a little bit bigger than the face plate, so I had to scoop away some of the underside of the control panel underneath to make room for the electronics. I could have just made a hole and mounted the whole thing on the underside (which is what I think that they had in mind); but then the joystick wouldn't have been much more than just a nub sticking through.

Originally I started painting with a glossy latex paint. I didn't like the way that It was turning out, so I switched to a flat black spray paint. The whole cabinet used about 4 cans of black and 1 can of glossy white.

This is the border that I cut out of 1/8" mdf with a box cutter. I didn't include the dimensions for this in the plans because it will vary depending on your TV. I just used it to cover the bezel and allowed for enough room to add a marquee sign at the top. (This is it after having been primed and with one coat of the flat black paint.) The TV was underneath that tarp. Apparently the tarp was not waterproof and the paint/primer seeped through and onto the TV. I was able to clean it off pretty easily with tea tree oil essential oil.

I used a white glossy lacquer spray paint for all of the white lines. At the end of each line, I painted a metal washer with the white paint and then glued it in place. It made it look very much like terminal points on a circuit board.

The Electronics

This, my dear friends, is the Raspberry Pi. This is the model B version with 512mb of ram. The pins that are near the bottom of the picture are the GPIO (general purpose input output) pins. They are what we are going to use to receive input from our buttons and joysticks.

The picture isn't great, but if you look closely, you can see a shorter row of pins. These ones have to be soldered on by hand, they don't come with the board. It's fairly easy, but if you don't feel comfortable doing it, I suggest finding someone that is. Otherwise, you can just reduce the number of buttons to accommodate.

I picked up a cheap plastic case for the RPi for $9 on amazon. I used a rotary tool to cut a hole for the wires and the GPIO pins.

This is the Raspberry Pi (model B revision 2). Chances are, if you have or are buying an RPi, this is the model that you will be working with. Only early adopters have the other models (check for the mounting holes if you aren't sure, only the revision 2 has them.) The schematic to the left is a duplicate of the gpio pins. It shows what each pin is. All buttons need to be connected to a separate (green) gpio pin but the returns for the buttons can all go to the same ground (black) pin. If you bought the types of buttons or joysticks with LED's, you will connect them in parallel to both a 3.3v (gold) and ground (black) pin.

Now, you need to connect a pair of your quick connect wires to each side of each of your buttons. Next, connect the male ends of two of your jumper wires into the female ends of the quick connect wires. One of these jumper wires will run to your ground (black) pin, the other will run to one of the labeled (green) pins, depending on which button you want this to be. Repeat until all buttons are connected, you can wire all of the ground wires together before connecting to the ground pin. The joysticks connect similarly, but there are 4 wires that run to the corresponding labeled (green) pins and 1 wire that will run to the common ground pin.

The Software

First off, there is some software that you will need to download:

Win32 Disk Imager - Used for installing the software to the SD card

Adafruit Retrogame - Used for recognizing the buttons and joysticks

PiMAME - Used for running the game emulators

None of this software is written by me! All licenses belong to their respective parties. These instructions are as of PiMAME version 0.7.10

Setting up PiMAME

1. Unzip the PiMAME image

2. Run Win32 Disk Imager

3. Click the little blue folder button

4. Select the PiMAME image that you unzipped

5. Insert your SD card

6. Select your SD card in the 'device' dropdown

7. Click 'Write'

8. Eject SD card and put it into your Raspberry Pi

9. Plug in your RPi and let it boot up

10. After booting up, select 'Exit (return to command line)'

11. Type 'sudo raspi-config'

12. Choose option 1 - 'Expand Filesystem'

13. Go to 'Finish'

14. When asked if you would like to reboot now, select 'No'

Setting up Retrogame

If you have connected your RPi to your network (recommended)

1. Get your IP address by typing ifconfig eth0

2. write down your 'inet addr' (probably something like 192.168.1.whatever)

3. Go to any computer on your network

4. Unzip the retrogame.zip file that you downloaded earlier

5. Type your RPi IP address into a web browser

6. Click 'Rom Uploader' and log in (user: pi, password: raspberry)

7. At the bottom in the 'New Folder' textbox, type in retrogame and click 'Create New Directory'

8. Click on the newly created directory then click 'choose file'

9. Upload 'Makefile', then 'retrogame.c'

10. Back on your RPi, type in cd retrogame

10. Then type in sudo nano retrogame.c

11. This will open an editor, scroll down a bit until you see something that looks similar to this:

} io[] = {
// Input Output (from /usr/include/linux/input.h)
{ 25, KEY_LEFT },
{ 9, KEY_RIGHT },
{ 10, KEY_UP },
{ 17, KEY_DOWN },
{ 23, KEY_LEFTCTRL },
{ 7, KEY_LEFTALT }
};

Change that section to this:

} io[] = {

// Input Output (from /usr/include/linux/input.h)
{ 2, KEY_LEFT },
{ 3, KEY_RIGHT },
{ 4, KEY_UP },
{ 17, KEY_DOWN },
{ 27, KEY_ENTER },
{ 22, KEY_SPACE },
{ 10, KEY_1 },
{ 9, KEY_2 },
{ 11, KEY_A },
{ 18, KEY_D },
{ 23, KEY_W },
{ 24, KEY_S },
{ 25, KEY_R },
{ 8, KEY_T },
{ 28, KEY_RIGHTCTRL },
{ 29, KEY_RIGHTSHIFT },
{ 30, KEY_Y },
{ 31, KEY_U }
};

12. Press 'Ctrl+X', then 'Y', then 'enter'

13. Now type sudo make

14. Type sudo modprobe uinput

15. Next type sudo sh -c 'echo uinput >> /etc/modules'

16. Type sudo /etc/rc.local

17. After the last line, type /home/pi/retrogame/retrogame &

18. Press 'Ctrl+X', then 'Y', then 'enter'

19. Lastly, type sudo reboot

Assuming everything went correctly, you should now be able to control the pimame menu with the player 1 joystick! Hooray! If not, here are some references for you to troubleshoot.

Adafruit retro-arcade

PiMame forums

The End Result

(Insert delicious adjective) Pot Stickers

2012-11-02T21:29:00.000-07:00

I don't usually make posts about any meal that I haven't made more than once; these turned out so perfect on the first go, that I just had to write about them. I really thought that these were going to be a pain-in-the-ole-behind to make, but they were actually very easy. Yields about 15.

Ingredients
3 C. All-Purpose Flour (sifted)
1 C. Warm Water
1 Lb. Ground Pork
1/2 C. Panko Breadcrumbs
2 diced Green Onions
1 T Minced Garlic
2 T Oyster Sauce (or fish sauce)
1 T Soy Sauce
*sesame oil + brewed black tea (both are for cooking)

With a dough hook, or by hand, mix SIFTED flour and warm water. Add a tablespoon or two of water if dough is crumbly. Mix, or hand knead, for 5 min. Let the dough rest, covered, for 15 min.

While the dough is resting, mix all remaining ingredients (except for oil and tea) in a bowl. Set aside.

After dough has rested, knead for 5 more minutes, then allow it to rest for another 5. This will make it very pliable and easy to work with.

Pull off a piece of dough the size of a ping-pong ball. Sprinkle flour on the work surface and roll dough into roughly a 4-5" diameter disc. These tend to be pretty forgiving when it comes to thickness, but generally I shoot for a thickness a bit thinner than a tortilla (about 1mm). Place a heaping tablespoon of the pork mixture onto the dough and then fold it in half and pinch the seam closed. The dough should seal itself pretty easily.

Cooking:
Use a non-stick skillet! Heat over medium-high heat. Add 2 Tbs oil to the bottom of the pan and add the pot stickers. Make sure each pot sticker has the bottom oiled. Pour in the black tea (or regular water) until it comes half way up the pot stickers. Cover the pot, with the lid slightly askew, to allow the liquid to cook off. When the liquid has cooked off, add a little more oil and flip all of the dumplings to brown other side. Once browned, remove from heat.

Ketching Up

2012-10-29T20:19:00.000-07:00

Here is a quick and easy recipe for home made ketchup.

Ingredients
2 (6 oz) cans tomato paste
1/2 cup white vinegar
1 1/4 cups water
4 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon garlic powder
1 tablespoon onion powder
1/4 teaspoon allspice
1 teaspoon salt

Mix everything together in a large pot over medium high heat. Allow to simmer while occasionally stirring until it reaches ketchup consistency (10-15 minutes). Done!

JumpUp Jambalaya

2012-10-28T20:14:00.000-07:00

This Jambalaya makes you wanna jump up and dance, it's that good! It is creamy, spicy, meaty, and tomato-ee. It can be served all on its own or with a side of french bread or salad. (For a healthier version, replace the heavy cream with 1+3/4 C. Milk + 1/4 Half and Half, replace the Andouille sausage for Jennie-O turkey sausage)

Ingredients
1 Tbs. Olive Oil
2 Chicken Breasts - cubed
2 Andouille Sausage links - sliced
1 lbs Jumbo Prawns
2 Cups Trinity (equal parts diced white onion, celery, green bell pepper)
2 Tbs. Crushed Garlic
1 (6 oz) Can Tomato Paste
2 Roasted - Sweet Red Italian Peppers
2 C. (1 pint) Heavy Cream
1 Lb. Orzo Pasta

Cajun Spice
6 large Dried Bay Leaves
1 Tbs. Smoked Paprika
2 tsp. Fennel seeds
1 tsp. Tarragon
1 tsp. Black Pepper
1 tsp. Red Pepper Flakes
1 tsp. Salt (or to taste)
1 tsp. Cayenne Pepper

Before you begin cooking, prepare the Cajun spice. I like to throw it into a little coffee grinder to crush up the bay leaves and fennel, but it's not a must.

Begin by heating a large saute pan over medium-high heat and starting the Orzo according to cooking directions. When the saute pan comes to heat, add olive oil to coat the pan, then add chicken chunks. Brown on both sides, then add the sliced sausage links. Stir occasionally until browned. Add pawns, cook until pink. Add the trinity and crushed garlic. After about 1 minute of cooking, add the cajun spice. Allow to cook until trinity becomes soft.

While that is cooking, in a blender or food processor, mix tomato paste and roasted red peppers until smooth. Stir in heavy cream. Reduce heat on saute pan to medium-low. Add tomato-cream mixture to saute pan.

When the Orzo is finished cooking, add it to the saute pan and serve!

Unorthodox Handmade Tortillas

2012-10-28T16:11:00.001-07:00

Get authentic tasting tortillas, the unorthodox way! This recipe substitutes coconut oil for the traditional lard. It does leave the tortillas tasting a little bit coconutty, but I actually appreciate the extra flavor when using them for quesadillas or fish tacos. Yields approx. 8 medium tortillas.

Ingredients
2 Cups All-Purpose Flour
1 Teaspoons Baking Powder
1 Tablespoons Salt
1/4 Cup cold coconut oil*
1 Cup Cold Water

In a medium sized bowl, mix first 3 ingredients. Add the coconut oil. Use a pastry cutter, or the whisk attachment on your mixer, until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Add cold water and mix until combined. Once all ingredients are combined, turn out onto floured surface and knead for 5 minutes. Set aside for 30 min for easier shaping.

Shaping:
Divide dough into golf ball sized rounds. If you have a tortilla press, use it! If not, press dough into small disc and place on well floured surface. Starting in the center of the dough and working your way out, use a floured rolling pin to flatten your tortilla. Give your dough about an 1/8 of a rotation and repeat. If you keep both sides of your tortilla well floured, you should be able to flatten it to nearly the thickness of a few sheets of construction paper. A little thicker won't hurt, but try to get them as thin as you can. As you work, remember to keep your unused dough and your uncooked tortillas covered; otherwise you will end up with crackers, not tortillas.

Cooking:
using a Wok:
Here is the unorthodox part of our unorthodox handmade tortillas. I cook the tortillas on the underside of a Chinese Wok. I turn the wok upside down and place it over my gas burner, thus making a little cooking dome. I turn the burner on full heat and let the wok get as hot as it can. Then you just drop a tortilla on top of the dome and wait for about 1 minute; then flip it over for another minute.

using a cast iron skillet:
Heat skillet on med/med-high heat. Once heated, toss the tortilla in and cook until it is nice and bubbly. Then flip it over for another minute.

using an electric griddle:
I set my cheap-o griddle to 400 F (the highest setting). I have a hard time believing that it ever reached that temperature though. Just toss your tortillas on the griddle and cook until bubbly, then flip and cook for an additional minute.

The trick to cooking tortillas is to cook them fast enough that they don't turn into crackers, but not so fast that they burn. It may take some experimentation. I also recommend using either a tortilla warmer or two large plates (one turned upside-down) to store the finished tortillas before serving. If you end up with crackers, instead of tortillas, you can often times save them by placing lightly dampened towel at the bottom of the stack of tortillas.

*You can substitute lard for an authentic tortilla.

Breakfast Cookies

2012-10-10T21:07:00.003-07:00

I have been working on this recipe for a while. It's hard to get a cookie texture without using any flour or butter. But I finally did it. It's perfect with coffee or just as a little pick me up snack. Warning: These guys are little, but eating two equals eating a full breakfast. They are packed with fiber though (eating 2 gives you 50% of your daily fiber intake), so you won't find yourself feeling hungry anytime soon.

Ingredients
4 Cups Old-Fashioned Oats
2 Cups Flax Seed
1 Cup Almonds
1/4 Cup Coconut Oil
1 Cup Apple Sauce
1/2 Cup Dark Brown Sugar
1/4 Cup Craisins
1/4 Cup Dark Chocolate Chips
2 t. Cinnamon
2 t. AllSpice
2 t. Nutmeg
1 t. Salt
4 Eggs

Preheat oven to 250 F.
Mix oatmeal, flax, and almonds in a large casserole dish. Melt the coconut oil and mix in with oatmeal. Put apple sauce, brown sugar, cinnamon, allspice, and nutmeg in a saucepan and heat over medium heat. Stir constantly until the mixture is reduced by half. Remove from heat an stir in with oatmeal mixture. Place in oven for 1 hour.

Remove from oven and allow to cool. Sprinkle with salt. If you just left it here, you would have some pretty great granola. But that's not us. We don't just stop all willy-nillie. We must soldier on! Mix the eggs and pour them over the granola that you just made. Now add the craisins and chocolate chips. Mix it all up. Get your hands all up in there (just make sure everything is coated with eggs).

Preheat your oven to 350 F.
Spray a 1/4 cup measuring cup with cooking spray and pack in some of the mix fairly tightly. Drop the mix out onto a cookie sheet (it should hold it's form). Bake the cookies for 15 minutes.

yields 24 cookies.

Nutrition per 1/4 cup cookie:
calories 250 - sugar 8g - (good) fat 13.6g -(bad) fat 1.4g - fiber 7g

(you can eliminate all of the bad fat by not adding the chocolate chips, but I think that they are worth it)

Better than Amazing Popcorn

2012-08-13T14:59:00.000-07:00

Ingredients
4 quarts cooked Popcorn (about 1/2 cup uncooked)
1/2 Cup butter
1 Cup Brown sugar
1/4 Cup milk
2 T. vanilla extract
1 Cup chocolate chips (or chunked bar chocolate)
1 cup crushed pretzels
salt to taste

Preheat your oven to 250°. Lay out your cooked popcorn on greased cookie sheet. Set aside for later. In a medium saucepan, melt butter over medium heat. When butter is melted, add brown sugar and milk. Whisk to dissolve brown sugar. Turn heat up to medium-high. Bring to a boil, boil for 5 minutes, whisking continuously. Add vanilla, then remove from heat. While still hot, drizzle all over popcorn. Sprinkle chocolate and pretzels over popcorn and then put into preheated oven. Bake for 50 minutes. Remove from oven and sprinkle with salt. While caramel is still hot, transfer to large bowl (otherwise you are going to have a heck of a time trying to get it off of your cookie sheet). Allow it to cool for a few minutes and enjoy!

Udon (oo-don) Noodles

2012-08-12T09:59:00.000-07:00

These noodles are very simple and can be served hot or cold. I actually prefer them cold with a little mirin and ginger, then dipped in a little Mongolian Sauce.

Ingredients
3 Cups all purpose flour
1 T. salt
1 Cup water

Hand mix all of the ingredients until they become cohesive. Place dough on work surface and knead for about 5 minutes. Put it in a ziptop bag and press out all of the air. Allow the dough to rest for a minimum of 2 hours.

Flour your work surface and use a rolling pin to roll out the dough in a rectangular shape. Roll it out until it about 1/8 of an inch thick (a little thicker won't hurt, since you can stretch them thinner). When you have reached your desired thickness, lightly dust both sides with flour and lay the dough lengthwise in front of you. Right now is when you will want to get a large pot of water on to boil. You should also fill a sink with cold water and put a colander in it. This will be used to cool the noodles and keep them from becoming rubbery.

Starting with the left edge being pulled to the right edge, fold your dough in half. Now grab your newly formed left edge (the fold), and fold it over to the right edge again. you should now have 4 layers.

Give the dough a 90 degree turn and lay it out on your cutting board. Now cut vertical strips about 1/8 inch in width. After you have cut about a dozen strips, unfold them and give them a little stretch. Go ahead and toss them into into the pot of boiling water and set a timer for 3 minutes. While those are cooking, go ahead and cut and stretch more noodles.

When your timer dings, remove the noodles from the pot and put them in the colander and submerge them in the cold water for about a minute. Remove them from the water and toss them into a bowl. Repeat until all noodles are cooked.

When all noodles have been cooked, go ahead and drain any remaining water that has collected in the bottom of your noodle bowl. At this point, if you want cold noodles, you can lightly coat these noodles with Mirin, ginger, and green onions. Then use a refrigerated Mongolian dipping sauce.

I will post a recipe for a traditional hot dashi (Japanese broth) very soon.

Enjoy!

Mongolian Sauce

2012-08-11T22:09:00.001-07:00

I love this Mongolian sauce recipe. It is so easy to make and very easy to tailor to your liking. I personally like it a bit sweet and very spicy, but it's good even without the heat. This sauce can be put on just about everything: beef, pork, chicken, rice, noodles, small children (they love it).

Ingredients
4 tsp. sesame oil
2 T. minced garlic
1 tsp. red chili flakes
1 Cup soy sauce
1 Cup water
1 tsp. ginger powder
1+1/2 Cups brown sugar

NOTE: If you want this sauce to be more on the spicy side, add the red chili peppers when you add the garlic. If you want it more on the mild/sweet side, add it at the end.

In a small saucepan over medium-high heat, add sesame oil and garlic. Roast the garlic until soft, about 2-3 minutes. Add soy sauce, water, ginger, and brown sugar. Bring to a boil, stirring occasionally. Allow to boil for 1 minute, then remove from heat. (If you want just a little heat, this is when you add the red chili flakes.)

Sloppy Chickens?

2012-08-10T18:12:00.000-07:00

A few weeks back, I decided to make an alternative to sloppy joes. Enter the sloppy chicken; or, honey mustard chicken, if you prefer. This is a great meal because it takes very little prep and makes for a very cheap filling meal. All of the measurements are approximated as I just throw stuff into the saucepan. The main thing to remember is to add the honey at the end, or the flavor tends to cook away.

Ingredients
2 chicken breasts (frozen is fine)
hamburger buns
1/2 cup water
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup yellow mustard
2 T. apple cider vinegar
1 T. garlic powder
1 tsp. onion powder
1 tsp. dill
Salt and pepper to taste
1/4 tsp. Liquid Smoke or to taste
1/4 cup honey
1/3 cup bread crumbs

Cut chicken into small cubes (if starting from frozen, cook them in a covered skillet until thawed). Brown the chicken in a skillet over medium-high heat with a little bit of olive oil.

In a small saucepan, add the water and brown sugar. Heat over high heat, whisking continuously. When the mixture comes to a boil, add the yellow mustard and apple cider vinegar. Allow to boil and thicken for 2 minutes. Reduce heat to low and add garlic, onion, and dill (this is also when you should add salt, pepper, and liquid smoke).

When the chicken is done cooking, remove to paper towels to drain. Add the honey and bread crumbs to the sauce, then stir in the chicken pieces.

Serve on hamburger buns with pickles, tomatoes, and lettuce.

Orange Chicken

2012-08-09T22:54:00.000-07:00

Who doesn't love orange chicken? 'Nuff said.

Sauce:
1 1/2 cups water
1 medium sized orange, zested and juiced
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/3 cup rice vinegar (apple cider or white can be substituted)
2 1/2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 tsp. powdered ginger root
1/2 teaspoon minced garlic
1 T. cornstarch mixed with 2 T. water
2 tablespoons chopped green onion
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes

Chicken:
2 boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 egg
1/2 cup cornstarch
1/4 cup flour
1 T. ginger root powder
1 tsp. white pepper
1 tsp. salt
1/4 cup panko bread crumbs (optional)

Canola oil for frying (add about a tbs sesame seed oil to your fry oil for added flavor)

The sauce is pretty strait forward: put water, orange juice (reserve the zest for the end), lemon juice, vinegar, soy sauce, brown sugar, ginger, and garlic into saucepan over high/med-high heat. Whisk constantly until sauce comes to a boil. At this point, add the cornstarch water and allow to boil for 2 min. Remove from heat and stir in green onion, red pepper flakes, and orange zest.

Personally, I don't like the cubes of chicken that you get at places like Panda Express. I prefer super thin slices of chicken breast. I found that the best way to get super thin slices, of any meat, is to freeze it first, and then allow it to slightly thaw. You can get deli thin slices with just a regular chef's knife.

When your chicken is cut into bit sized pieces, crack the egg into a bowl an whisk it until it is uniform. Mix the cornstarch, flour, ginger, salt, and pepper (and panko) in a bowl or ziploc bag. First, dry off the pieces of chicken with a paper towel, then dip into the egg and then dredge it in the flour mixture. Set aside until ready to fry. Repeat process until all pieces of chicken are breaded.

Frying the chicken is quick and easy when it's in bite-sized pieces. I personally do all of my frying outside, in a wok that I put directly on the burner of my gas grill.

Heat the oil to about the 350-375 range. When the oil is hot enough, drop a few pieces of chicken in. Allow them to brown on one side, then flip them over to brown on the other side. It should only take about a minute on each side. Remove the chicken and place on cooling racks with paper towels underneath to drain. **BE AWARE!** The breading will continue to brown and darken, even after you have removed it from the hot oil.

Repeat until all chicken is cooked.
Enjoy!

Pizza Dough 2

2012-08-09T16:31:00.001-07:00

Pizza Dough 1

2012-08-09T15:57:00.000-07:00

I have tried a ton of different pizza dough recipes; trying to get that perfect crunch and chewiness. In the end, I found that the real secret was to use a pizza stone. I don't recommend buying a 'real' pizza stone though. Instead, go to your local home improvement store and buy a few granite tiles (if you live in the southwest, 1" thick UNGLAZED saltillo tiles work even better and are cheaper). You can get more surface area for much cheaper than what you would pay for a premium pizza stone. Here are the 2 different recipes that I use. You can get a better crisp (even without a pizza stone) with the first recipe, but it must be made 24 hours in advance.

Recipe 1
1 3/4 (.44 ounce) teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon (.11 ounce) instant yeast
1/4 cup (2 ounces) olive oil
1 3/4 cups (14 ounces) water, ice cold (40°F)
4 1/2 cups (20.25 ounces) unbleached flour (I use 1/2 bread flour and 1/2 all purpose flour), chilled
Semolina flour OR cornmeal for dusting
Add the first four ingredients to a chilled bowl and mix together. Add the flour and use dough hook on mixer to combine. Knead for 6 minutes on medium speed in mixer. If the dough works its way all the way up the hook, then add about 2 teaspoons of cold water. If the dough is sticking to the sides, add flour a pinch at a time until it holds to the hook and not the sides. Ideally, the dough should be mostly on the hook and just on the bottom of the bowl, it should not stick to the sides. If kneading by hand, just work the dough until is pretty stiff, usually about 10 min.

Line a cookie sheet with wax paper that has been lightly sprayed with cooking oil. Cut the dough into 4 equal pieces and generously flour them then transfer them to the cookie sheet. Generously coat the dough with cooking spray then cover with saran wrap and refrigerate for 24 hours.

Remove the pizzas from the refrigerator 2 hours before you are ready to bake them. Let them sit for 15 minutes, then knead them for about 2-3 minutes on a floured counter. Re-cover the dough with the saran and allow it to rest for the remaining hour and forty-five minutes.

Hand Toss Method
It takes some practice, but this is the only dough recipe that I have ever been able to hand toss. Flour your hands and the dough well. Press the dough into a round 6" disc with your fingers. When you pick up the dough, it should be soft, but shouldn't stretch out under it's own weight. First lay it over the backs of your partially closed hands. Gently give it a stretch and give it a little 'hop' turn. Repeat. As the dough gets bigger, your hands will be further and further apart.

Rolling Pin Method
Lightly flour the dough, work surface, and rolling pin. Start the dough by pressing it into a 6" disc with your fingers. Start in the center with the rolling pin and roll outwards with minimal pressure. Give the dough about 1/8 of a turn and repeat all the way around. If the dough pulls back to its original shape, allow it to rest for a few more minutes.

Finishing
To make the crust 'lip' just make the pizza a little bit bigger than you want the final product to be, then roll the edge in on itself.

I like to top this pizza crust rather minimally. Very little sauce, very fresh ingredients. I generally try to keep it to no more than 3 toppings (plus sauce and cheese).

Rub the outer crust with olive oil and add toppings. This can be baked on a cookie sheet at 350 degrees for about 30 min. or throw it on a 450 degree preheated pizza stone for about 10-15 min.

For a family of 5, I usually use 2 of the 4 balls of dough and I make 2 medium sized pizzas.

Homemade Butta'

2012-04-22T18:20:00.000-07:00

Why, hello readers! Mrs. Holgate here. Writing a blog about making one of my two favorite things: butter. Or, as my cooking idol Paula Dean says, buttah!

I had recently seen some friends making butter, and I thought, "what a cool way to take all the convenience out of food our grandparent's generation worked so hard for! I can be a pioneer woman!"

I immediately commenced pioneering by plugging in my Kitchen Aid. Okay... maybe I cheat a little. I found a really good You Tube video by a guy I have dubbed Super Helpful Dude, so I can't take credit for it entirely.

Everything's better with butta', Sug!

Ingredients:
2 C cream (try to get it as pure as possible - check the ingredients)
1/4 t salt

Directions
1. Start by chilling your bowl - I use a Kitchen Aid stand mixer because you have to beat it really fast and it would be a long time to hold egg beaters (And a REALLY long time to do it by hand), and it splashes, so it's nice to be able to drape a towel over it!

2. Prepare 1-2 C. ice water in a container that makes it easy to pour out the water, and not the ice. I used a travel coffee mug, and it worked great.

3. Pour cold cream into the bowl and turn the mixer on high using a balloon whisk. As you watch it mix, it will turn into something very familiar looking: whipped cream! I know it's super tempting to stop here and start topping, but don't! Mix until it separates into butter and buttermilk (so THAT'S where it comes from!), about 5-10 minutes (maybe less if you get pure cream).

4. Turn mixer off and use a rubber spatula to squish all the butter together and drain off the buttermilk (you can retain this to use in baking or cooking). I agree with Super Helpful Dude here, and switched to the paddle mixer. SUCH a good tip!

5. Pour some of the iced water (but not the ice) into the bowl with the butter, and return it to the mixer. Mix the butter and water for a minute (on a lower speed so it doesn't splash - and OH, does it splash!), squish the butter aside, and drain the water into the sink. Repeat this 2 or 3 times, until the water is draining relatively clear. Super Helpful Dude explains that this helps ensure all the buttermilk is out of the butter, making it last longer. I'm inclined to believe him since I technically have no idea what I'm doing.

6. Add the salt, if you want, and mix, this time without water. You can turn it back up higher to make sure it gets good and mixed in. I forgot to pay attention to how much butter and buttermilk the recipe yields. Sorry about that.

Ta-da! You're the proud new owner of smug, homemade butter. You can take pictures and show off on Facebook all you want! The best part: it really is better! It's super smooth, and even when it's relatively cold it cuts and spreads nicely. It melts better and the flavor is unbeatable!

And the second thing? Sugar! Although coconut is a close third. I know you've been wondering this whole time.

Perfect Pretty Pleasing Puffy PCookies

2012-02-20T13:03:00.000-08:00

Ingredients

7 oz. shredded sweetened coconut

2 C. flour

½ tsp baking powder

½ tsp baking soda

½ tsp salt

¾ C. butter, melted

½ C. white sugar

1 C. packed brown sugar

1 T. vanilla extract

1 egg

1 egg yolk

2 C. chocolate chips

1 C. chopped walnuts or pecans

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.

Evenly spread coconut across 1 cookie sheet and place in preheating oven. As coconut begins to brown, use wide spatula to to flip. Remove when golden brown and set aside. Next, roast chopped nuts on cookie sheet for approx 10-15 min.

In a small bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.

In a large mixing bowl, combine butter, brown sugar, and white sugar until well blended. Add vanilla, egg and egg yolk until creamy.

Mix in the sifted ingredients until just blended. add chocolate chips and chopped nuts by hand using a wooden spoon. When completely mixed, gently stir in toasted coconut.

Drop cookie dough ¼ C at a time onto the cookie sheets. Cookies should be about 3 in. apart.

Bake for 15-17 minutes, or until the edges are lightly toasted. The center may still have a wet/doughy look but will firm up when cool. Cool on baking sheets for 3-4 min before transferring to wire racks to cool completely.

Enjoy!

Super Rice with Yummy Yellow Curry

2012-02-16T17:37:00.000-08:00

It was the day before Valentine's in Seattle. It was cold and dark and bitter, and that was just last night's dinner. In a city that knows how to keep its secrets, one man is spilling his metaphorical guts. "Super rice."

Super Rice

Ingredients

4 Tbs olive oil (divided)

1 Lbs. ground turkey

2 oz. sun dried tomatoes

5 Cups cooked jasmine rice

1/2 Cup lemon juice

3 Eggs

2 Tbs Tarragon

2 Tbs onion powder

2 Tbs garlic powder

2 Tbs chili powder

1 Cup Water

Heat 2 Tbs. olive oil in skillet over medium/high, add ground turkey and cook until browned. Remove ground turkey. Reheat skillet with remaining olive oil. Add sun dried tomatoes and sear. Add cooked rice and sear, stirring continuously. Whip eggs then stir in until cooked. Add tarragon, onion powder, garlic powder, chili powder. Add water to deglaze bottom of pan. Mix in ground turkey and serve.

Yummy Yellow Curry

Ingredients

(For a healthy version, exclude sour cream and use an additional cup of buttermilk.)

2 Tbs olive oil

1 bay leaf

1/4 small onion diced

2 Tbs minced garlic

1 Cup sour cream

1 Cup Buttermilk

2 Tbs Coconut oil

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon smoked paprika

1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper

4 Tbs lemon juice

Salt & pepper to taste

Heat olive oil and bay leaf over medium heat. Saute onion and garlic until onion is soft. Add remaining ingredients and turn heat down to low.Cover and simmer for 15 min.

Enjoy!

Perfect Braised Pork Loin

2012-02-14T15:05:00.000-08:00

THE PREP

Pork Loin

1 tsp. Liquid Smoke

1 Cup Honey

1 clove garlic - crushed

3 bay leaves

1 Cup warm water

1/8 cup dried crushed red pepper

zest of 2 limes

Port (for braising)

Put all ingredients (excluding port) into ziploc bag. Make sure to dissolve honey (the warm water helps). Marinate pork loin overnight.

COOKING THE MEAT

Preheat oven to 375

Remove pork loin from marinade and use paper towel to remove crushed red pepper from pork loin. Pat dry and sprinkle with Kosher salt. Sear all sides of pork loin in olive oil. Add bay leaves to pan and sear them as well. put pork loin in casserole dish add 1 cup marinade and seared bay leaves. Add port until liquid comes no more than 1/3 of the way up the meat. cover with tinfoil and put in oven for 45 min. Baste every 15 to 20 min.

Enjoy!

The Classic Standby: Steak and Potatoes and Butter and more Butter

2011-09-17T16:24:00.000-07:00

This is my new favorite way to prepare steak. My personal preference is a good Porterhouse, but Ribeye is usually much easier to find on sale and is every bit as tasty. It just takes a little extra prep to make sure that it is melt in your mouth good.

THE PREP:

Preheat oven to 450°

30 minutes before cooking, remove your meat from the refrigerator

Using a kitchen fork or a meat tenderizing fork, puncture the meat 1/2" deep all over the surface

Sprinkle with meat tenderizer

Repeat on other side of meat

Let sit for 30 min.

Cut 4 new potatoes in half and then in quarters

Peel and chop 3 carrots

Cut 1 head of broccoli

Peel and 2 bulbs of garlic (about 20 cloves) (divided)

Crush garlic cloves with side of knife

add all veggies and half garlic to large bowl add 3 Tbs. olive oil + 2 Tbs dried Thyme

mix to coat

Spread all veggies on cookie sheet and put on top rack of oven. Cook 30 min or until Broccoli begins to brown

COOKING THE MEAT

Preheat your grill on high

Once preheated, sprinkle 1 tsp Kosher salt on both sides of meat

Add to grill

Sear for 3 minutes, turn 45° and place on unused portion of grill to sear another 2 minutes

Flip steak and repeat

While steak is searing, add 1 stick of butter to skillet + remaining cloves of garlic

Put over high heat and add 1 tbs olive oil

When steak is done searing, move directly to skillet and cover

Cook an additional 5-10 minutes depending on doneness desired

Remove meat and allow to rest for 10 minutes

Plate steak and veggies and serve!

I hope that you enjoy this recipe as much as I do!

A Scone By Any Other Name...

2011-08-20T17:48:00.000-07:00

"What's this?"
-"A Scone."
"A what?"
-"It's a Scone. A delicious dry pastry, perfect for coffee."
"No. It can't be a Scone."
-"Why not?"
"Scone is such an ugly word. This tastes more like a... a... A SCRUDELCUP!"
-"I don't want to eat a scrudelcup. That sounds gross."
"How can it be gross? It's the best of the best. SCRUmptious & DELicious!"
-"What's the CUP for?"
"Your coffee."

Lemon Almond Scones with Cranberries

Ingredients:

2 cups all purpose flour

7 teaspoons white sugar

3 teaspoons raw sugar (optional)

1 tablespoon grated Lemon peel

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 cup cold butter

1 cup dried cranberries

1 cup sliced almonds

1/4 cup Lemon juice

1/4 cup half-and-half cream

1/4 cup honey

1 egg

GLAZE (optional):

1/2 cup confectioners' sugar

1/4 cup honey

1 tablespoon orange juice

Directions:
In a large bowl, combine the flour, 7 teaspoons sugar, lemon peel, baking powder, salt and baking soda. Cut in butter until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs; set aside. In a small bowl, combine the cranberries, lemon juice, cream, honey, almonds and egg. Add to flour mixture and stir until a soft dough forms.

On a floured surface, gently knead 6-8 times (for less dense, more fluffy scones, do not need). Pat dough into an 8-in. circle. Cut into 8 wedges. Separate wedges and place on an ungreased baking sheet. Brush with milk; sprinkle with raw sugar.

Bake at 400° for 12-15 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove to a wire rack.

Combine glaze ingredients if desired; drizzle over scones. Serve warm. Yield: 8 scones.

Not your average Joe.

2011-07-26T21:41:00.000-07:00

An all American twist:
Sloppy Joe's with Sweet Potato Fries. A word of warning: I don't put up with any of this "Sweet Potato" nonsense that has swept across the country. If it's Orange inside, it's a YAM. Very Delicious, not a Sweet Potato.

Ok, here is the 1 pan recipe:

Sloppy Joes: (Serves 4)
1/4 Lb Bacon (usually 1 piece per serving)
1/2 Onion (red or white)
1 LB Ground Beef
1/2 Cup Brown Sugar
1/2 Cup Ketchup
1/2 Cup Favorite BBQ Sauce
1/2 Cup Port (or a Dry Red Wine)
1/2 Cup Italian Bread Crumbs

None of these really need to be perfect measurements. This dish is nearly impossible to mess up, so have fun and explore new ways to make it!

Chop bacon into small pieces and put in a pan over medium high heat. When it is at a full sizzle add finely chopped onion and saute. for 2-3 minutes. Add ground beef and brown. Add brown sugar, ketchup, BBQ sauce and port. Cover, lower heat to medium and simmer for 10 minutes. Growing up, we always used hamburger buns for this, which makes sense and is good; but, I like to do it a bit more 'Homestyle.' So I butter one side of a slice of bread and throw it onto a hot griddle (the broil setting on your oven works too). Just remember to only brown one side of your bread, otherwise you'll have a messy cracker and not a sloppy joe. Add the bread crumbs about 2 minutes before you are ready to serve (they thicken the whole thing up and give Joe a bit more substance.)

Sweet Potato Fries:
4-5 Large Sweet Potatoes
2-3 Tbs. melted Butter
Cinnamon
Sugar
Salt
Cayenne

Preheat Oven to 350. Cut Sweet potatoes in half. Lay each half, cut side down, then slice into long fries. lay each fry down on its side and cut in half again. Line baking sheet with wire racks. Put fries on racks and bake for 1 hour. ( you can use the broil function and reduce time to 15 min, but watch them carefully). Remove from oven, let cool on racks for 5 min. Put in bowl, coat with butter, cinnamon, and sugar. Add a tiny dash of cayenne for a full bodied flavor. Enjoy!

And a bit from my wife's favorite Yo-Gabba-Gabba song: A bite, bite, bite? No, no, no! A chomp, chomp, chomp? Yes, Yes, Yes!

A Simple Request

2011-07-25T14:51:00.000-07:00

This morning, my wife asked me to make french toast. This being one of my favorite meals to make; I got right to it. Last night, my son and I shared a peach that we got in a 'Bountiful Basket'. It was amazingly flavorful. We had two peaches left, so I decided to put them to good use with my french toast.

Recipe: (serves 4)
8 Eggs
5 Tbs. Sour Cream
8 slices of bread
(I usually leave the bread out in the open for about 20 min before using in french toast. It lets the bread soak up more batter)

Topping:
2 Peaches
1 Cup Brown Sugar
1 Tbs. Lemon Juice
1 Tbs. Cinnamon
1/2 Cup Chopped Walnuts
3/4 Cup Water

Lets Start with the topping:
Slice peaches (should get about 16 slices from each peach). Put in Saucepan along with brown sugar, lemon juice, cinnamon, walnuts and water. Bring to a boil on high heat for 1 minute, then reduce heat to medium and let simmer until thickened (about 10 min). (Note: Will thicken even more as it cools.)

Heat skillet on medium to medium/low heat. Add a pat of butter to pan. Crack eggs into dish big enough to lay 1 slice of bread in. Add Sour Cream. Whisk until completely mixed. Dip 1 slice of bread at a time, allowing bread to soak for 30 to 40 seconds. Drop in skillet and cook 3-5 minutes for the first side and 2-3 minutes for the second side.

Add topping and a dollop of whipped cream - enjoy!

Going Down South of the Border:

2011-07-25T12:46:00.000-07:00

Last night we wanted a quick healthy meal, so I decided to make grilled fish soft tacos. I have made this numerous times before, but this time I got a little fancier with my ingredients.

Ingredients
4 Tilapia Fillets
8 (small) Corn Tortillas
Chile Powder
Garlic Powder
Cayenne Powder (If you like it spicy)
4 Tbs. olive oil

Toppings
1 Medium Heirloom Tomato
1 - 12 oz. package Arugula (green or red cabbage is traditional)
4 Limes
1 Medium Red Onion
1/2 Cup Apple Cider Vinegar
1/4 Cup Honey
Sour Cream

Onion Preparation:
I'm not a fan of uncooked onions, except in this case. It's not that I dislike the taste of onions, its that I don't like the fact that they overpower all of my hard work making a delicious meal. But here is my trick. Dice the red onion into small cubes. Place in strainer and rinse under cold water for 2 minutes. Put apple cider vinegar and honey into small bowl or Pyrex measuring cup. Heat in microwave for 30 seconds. Dry off onion and add to honey/vinegar mixture. Stir and place in fridge. (This can be done up to 2-3 days ahead of time for more flavorful onions. Remember to cover with aluminum foil to keep the fridge from stinking!)

Place skillet or griddle over medium-high heat and add olive oil (I use a griddle on my grill). While oil is heating, rinse fish under cool clear water and pat dry with paper towel. Generously sprinkle both sides with Garlic and Chile powder (Here is where you would add the Cayenne if you want it spicy). Check to see that pan is heated (oil should be "shimmering"). Add fillets to pan and cover. The pan should be sizzling at you, but not violently popping. If you are getting popping, turn the heat down slightly. While fish is cooking, prepare plates. Put corn tortillas on a plate and cover with a damp paper towel. Microwave for 30 to 40 seconds to warm. Separate tortillas, 2 per plate. Add arugula and diced tomato to each. The fish should be flipped after 8-10 minutes of cooking. Allow to cook for another 8-10 minutes. Remove from head and slice each fillet down the middle lengthwise and then again width wise. place 2 pieces of fish in each taco (1 whole fillet per 2 tacos). Squirt lime juice on fish. Drain the vinegar mixture from the onions. Put sour cream on top of fish; drained onions on top of that. Yummy Yummy!