Archive for the ‘The Kitchen’ Category

Community Dishes

Tuesday, June 23rd, 2009

Posted by Maxey Fish and Sea

Community Dishes

A Palindromic Poem by Ryan

I chomp jam.
I live pots & pans.
I snap & stop evil.
I, Ma, JP, Mochi.

*… two weeks later… my sister writes:

“mochi backwards is ihcom, not i chom-  is that legal, or is C.E. Maxey turning over in his grave?”

C.E. is my grandfather that used to write a ton of palindromes.  He is DEFINITELY turning over in his grave.  Sorry sir!

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New Foods…

Monday, April 27th, 2009

Posted by msabicer

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So its time to get creative. Ready for spring – half winter and half summer delight.

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I’ve been trolling around for some new recipes, and so far these caught my eye.

Fig & Honey Cupcakes

From Earl grey truffle of Austin,  Texas:  http://earlgreytruffle.blogspot.com/

So my little recipe is made with figs grown in my backyard and honey made from local Austin bees. Our little fig tree was there before we even moved in and it now produces several pounds of figs each year…unless the birds get them first.

Recipe Details

Makes: 12

Prep Time:

 20

Cook Time:

 30

Ready In:

 50

Servings:

 1 doz

Ingredients

  • 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon fine salt
  • 2 large eggs, room temperature
  • 1 cup diced fresh figs
  • 2/3 cup sugar (you could substitute with some other sweetener, nothing artificial of course, but something mellow so it doesn’t overpower the figs!)
  • 1/4 cup brown sugar
  • 3/4 cup unsalted butter, melted (unsalted)
  • 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
  • 1/2 cup milk
  • pinch of cardamom
  • Icing:
  • 1 1/3 cups confectioners’ sugar, sifted
  • 3-5 tablespoons local honey
  • Optional*bee pollen

Directions

  1. Because of the extra liquid from the figs you might need an extra dash of flour or two but the result is extra moist and delicately sweet goodness!
  2. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
  3. Whisk the flour, baking powder,spice and salt together in a medium bowl.
  4. In another medium bowl, beat the eggs and sugars with an electric mixer until light and foamy, about 2 minutes.
  5. While beating, gradually pour in the butter and then the vanilla.
  6. While mixing slowly, add half the dry ingredients, then add all the milk, and follow with the rest of the dry ingredients. Take care not to over mix the batter. Divide the batter evenly in the prepared tin.
  7. Bake until a tester inserted in the center of the cakes comes out clean, about 30 minutes. Cool cupcakes on a rack in the tin for 10 minutes, then remove. Cool on the rack completely.
  1. For icing: Mix the confectioners’ sugar and butter in a medium bowl. Add the honey and mix with an electric mixer to make a firm but pourable icing.
  2. This makes more of a very thick glaze and you should let it run down the sides of the little cakes.
  3. ice generously!
  1. I topped each with a sprinkle of bee pollen (very good source of protein, but be careful if you have really bad allergies). Put the pollen on right after you’ve spooned on the glaze on top in the middle of the cupcake. The glaze will pick up the little bits of pollen and run down the sides with them!

Oatmeal brulee with ginger cream

From Taste of Home Magazine April 09

This is an awesome dish for a chilly morning. I love the crispy caramelized top and raspberry surprise at the bottom.

Makes:

 4

Prep Time:

 30

Cook Time:

 10

Ready In:

 40

Servings:

 4

Ingredients

  • Ginger Cream
  • 1/2 C heavy whipping cream
  • 2 slices fresh gingerroot (3/4″ diameter)
  • 1 cinnamon stick
  • 1 Tbsp. grated orange peel
  • 3 Tbsp maple syrup
  • 1/8 tsp ground nutmeg
  • Oatmeal
  • 4 C cold water
  • 2 C old fashioned oats
  • 1/4 C dried apricots- chopped
  • 1/4 C dried cherries- chopped
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 3 Tbsp. brown sugar
  • 2 Tbsp butter
  • 1 C raspberries
  • 1/4 C sugar

Directions

  1. In a small saucepan, bring the cream, ginger, cinnamon, and orange peel to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer 10 min. Remove from heat; strain & discard solids. Stir in syrup, nutmeg; set aside.
  2. In a large saucepan over medium heat, bring water to a boil. Add the oats, apricot, cherries and salt; cook and stir 5 min. Remove from the heat; stir in brown sugar and 1/4 C ginger cream. Cover and let stand 2 min.
  3. Grease four 10 oz ramekins with the butter; add raspberries. Spoon oatmeal over the top; sprinkle with sugar. Place on a baking sheet. Broil 4-6 in from the heat for 7-9 min until sugar is caramelized. Serve with ginger cream.                    * Featured in Taste of Home magazine April 09*

Garlic and Wintergreen Pasta

From Foodnetwork.com

A great way to use up all of those greens from the CSA box.

Recipe Details

Makes:

Prep Time:

 10

Cook Time:

 27

Ready In:

 37

Servings:

 4

Ingredients

  • 16 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
  • 1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
  • 2 medium onions, halved and sliced
  • 1/8 teaspoon red pepper flakes, or more to taste
  • Kosher salt
  • 12 cups torn winter greens, such as kale, chard, escarole or mustard
  • greens (about 2 1/2 pounds)
  • 12 ounces spaghetti/ pasta
  • 1/4 cup grated pecorino romano cheese

Directions

  1. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Meanwhile, cook the garlic in the olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, until golden brown and crisp, about 3 minutes. (Be careful not to over-brown the garlic or it will taste bitter.)
  2. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the garlic chips to a paper-towel-lined plate. Pour off all but 2 tablespoons oil into a small bowl to use as a dip for crusty bread, if desired.
  3. Add the onions and red pepper flakes to the oil in the pan; cook, stirring, until the onions are light brown, about 10 minutes. Season with 1 1/2 teaspoons Kosher salt.
  4. When the onions are almost done, add the greens to the boiling water and cook, uncovered, until just tender,about 2 minutes. Using tongs, remove the greens, shaking off the excess water; add them to the skillet with the onions (set the pot of water aside).
  5. Cook, stirring occasionally, until tender, about 5 minutes.
  6. Return the cooking water to a boil. Add the spaghetti and cook until al dente, 8 to 10 minutes. Remove and
  7. reserve about 1 cup cooking water; drain the pasta and transfer to a serving bowl. Add the cheese and toss.
  8. Add the greens and some of the reserved pasta water and toss, adding more water as necessary to keep the pasta
  9. from clumping. Top with the garlic chips.

* Taken from Foodnetwork.com*

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DIY:Holiday Edition, the jam band.

Friday, December 19th, 2008

Posted by msabicer

So for Christmas I wanted to do something with the copious amount of dumpster fruit we’ve been getting and something that was not a generic purchased present. I’m sorry if you got one of my jams and feeling gypped because it came from um,  “creative resources”, but if it makes you feel any better, I’m an infectious disease nurse and it doesn’t worry me one bit. After all, I boiled this stuff for close to 45 min with a ton of sugar (which has a higher boiling point). Then I canned it in sterile jars (I boiled the lids an jars for 20 min each) and then boiled the whole thing for another 15 min. If some kind of bacteria or virus can survive that much heat then I doubt it would matter where the food came from.  Anyway, this is the first installment of DIY: Holiday Edition.

I started with organic apples and strawberries that I have been saving up over the last few months of dumpster diving. I really think that fresh fruit is the best for canning, but because the season didn’t permit it the frozen goods will do just fine.

After peeling 5.5 lbs of apples, I then used the food processor to finely chop the apples down and then transferred them to the crock pot. (P.S. I love crock pots. They are ridiculously useful in my opinion and are one of the best ways to cook large meals). I also hulled the strawberries, which is basically pulling off the green part and cutting out the white part with a paring knife. I suggest you google search “hulling strawberries” for some images if you’ve never done it before.

Next, I added the sugar and spices to the recipes and started the cooking. The crock pot pretty much takes care of itself if you just stir the apple butter ever so often. The strawberry jam however, requires a little more attention. At this point I also put three small plates in the freezer to get them ready for jam testing. Fruit naturally contains pectin, which means that after a certain point, the boiled contents will naturally start to jell. You can also add pectin to the mix if you want the jam base to be more firm, but trust me, it’s a bitch to find pectin in the city. Either way, after about 5 minutes of hard boil (AKA a rolling,  bubbling, stirring constantly, and hot as hell boil ) you can test the jam by putting a small dab on a frozen plate. Once the hot jam cools it will look like it’s final consistency.

Run your finger through the jam to check if you like its texture. Too runny? Boil it longer. Set firm? You’re ready to can.  Most folks say that if once you run your finger through and the jam stays separated it’s done, however, I like things a bit chunkier.

This is my jam during the final hard boil. Some people like to skim off the foam, but I think it’s more of an aesthetic choice than anything. I left it in. So what, it’s a little frothy?

This was the apple butter during the final hours. If your not from the Midwest, it may look a bit strange. The dark brown is a normal color.  I had to ask Craig and Trent for help figuring out the right taste.

Next was the actual canning. It’s important to have a pot that’s deep enough to cover full jars with at least an inch of water . While the jam was cooking I sterilized my jars and lids in separate pots by boiling them in water for at least 10 min. Using some BBQ tongs I plucked my jars from the boiling water and set them on a cloth on the counter. I used a fancy funnel to put the jam into the jars, but you can do this with a ladle. (Be sure to leave 1/4 to 1/2 inch of free space between the jam and the lid for a good seal.) Then I carefully used tongs to take my lids out of their boiling water and placed them on top of the jars. After wiping the jar threads clean with a towel, I put the jar ring on to secure the lids, and then plopped them back into a boiling pot for another 15 min. This heats up the air under the lid and creates a vacuum once the jar cools.

Viola!!! Home canned jam. You should test the seal once the jars cool by pressing the pop top. If it pops when pressed, the seal is no good, but you can still eat the delicious jam. This inevitbly happens with a coupple jars in a batch because the seals don’t set. Don’t worry. Just stick them in the fridge for immediate use or in the freezer to keep the jam longer.

Here’s the recipies if your so inclined.  I love allrecipies.com for pretty much everything.  These are their users posts.

All Day Apple Butter

SUBMITTED BY: Betty Ruenholl From Syracuse, Nebraska, Betty Ruenholl writes, ‘I make several batches of this simple and delicious apple butter to freeze in jars. Depending on the sweetness of the apples used, you can adjust the sugar to taste.’”

INGREDIENTS

  • 5 1/2 pounds apples – peeled, cored and finely chopped
  • 4 cups sugar
  • 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt

DIRECTIONS

  1. Place apples in a slow cooker. Combine sugar, cinnamon, cloves and salt; pour over apples and mix well. Cover and cook on high for 1 hour. Reduce heat to low; cover and cook for 9-11 hours or until thickened and dark brown, stirring occasionally (stir more frequently as it thickens to prevent sticking). Uncover and cook on low 1 hour longer. If desired, stir with a wire whisk until smooth. Spoon into freezer containers, leaving 1/2-in. headspace. Cover and refrigerate or freeze

Strawberry jam

SUBMITTED BY: Katharine

“This is by far the easiest recipe I have found for strawberry jam without using a pectin. The jam is soft, spreadable and delicious.”

INGREDIENTS

  • 2 pounds fresh strawberries, hulled
  • 1 1/2 tbsp fresh grated ginger
  • 4 cups white sugar
  • 1/4 cup lemon juice

DIRECTIONS

  1. In a wide bowl, crush strawberries in batches until you have 4 cups of mashed berry. In a heavy bottomed saucepan, mix together the strawberries, ginger, sugar, and lemon juice. Stir over low heat until the sugar is dissolved. Increase heat to high, and bring the mixture to a full rolling boil. Boil, stirring often, until the mixture reaches 220 degrees F (105 degrees C). Transfer to hot sterile jars, leaving 1/4 to 1/2 inch headspace, and seal. Process any unsealed jars in a water bath. If the jam is going to be eaten right away, don’t bother with processing, and just refrigerate.

FOOTNOTES

  • To test for jelling
  • Place three plates in a freezer… after about 10 minutes of boiling place a tsp of the liquid of the jam onto the cold plate. Return to freezer for a minute. Run your finger through the jam on the plate… if it doesn’t try to run back together (if you can make a line through it with your finger) it’s ready to be canned!

Cranana Jam

  • 3 cups cranberries
  • 1 1/2 cups water
  • 2 cups mashed bananas
  • 7 cups white sugar
  • 1/2 (6 fluid ounce) container liquid pectin
  • 1 teaspoon lemon juice

DIRECTIONS

  1. In a large saucepan over medium heat combine cranberries and water; simmer for 10 minutes. Stir in mashed banana and sugar. Increase heat to medium-high; boil 1 minute. Stir in pectin and lemon juice.
  2. Seal in hot, sterilized jars.

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Posted in Projects, The Kitchen | 86 Comments »

Dinner’s ready!

Tuesday, November 25th, 2008

Posted by jpmartinez

we make our way home
to find that we never left
food’s on the table

Posted in The Kitchen, Written Art | 1 Comment »

Curried Apple and Leek Soup

Tuesday, November 25th, 2008

Posted by admin

Amy and Marla made this soup back in October– it was so incredibly incredibly delicious!!!

INGREDIENTS

This amount serves 4

  • 1 tablespoon margarine
  • 2 teaspoons curry powder
  • 3 leeks, chopped
  • 3/4 cup diced potatoes
  • 2 Granny Smith apples — peeled, cored and chopped
  • 3 cups vegetable broth
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • 1/4 cup plain yogurt

DIRECTIONS

  1. In a medium saucepan over medium heat, melt butter. Stir in curry powder and cook 1 minute. Stir in leeks, potato and apples and cook 5 minutes. Pour in broth and bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat and simmer 20 minutes.
  2. Puree in a blender or food processor, or using an immersion blender. Season with salt and pepper and serve with a swirl of yogurt.

This recipe came from AllRecipes

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