Blended Coffee Drinks

I am a sucker for Frappuccinos and all blended coffee drinks. Especially in the summer. And on a 90+ summer afternoon doesn't everyone want/deserve/need a frozen caffeinated treat?
So when I saw this recipe on Joy the Baker's blog, I was intrigued by the addition of instant pudding to add that vanilla flavor and thickening agent.
I just made one and it is pretty tasty, rivals the coffee shop variety, I think. I did equal parts coffee and milk, about 1t sugar and then my husband emptied in the maple syrup bottle that we almost finished at breakfast so that was about 1t maple syrup. I also added about 1-2T vanilla instant pudding and about a tray and a half of ice cubes. I let it blend for a while to get the ice pretty crushed.
Pretty refreshing wake up on Saturday afternoon! Next time I'll try some add ins like a banana or some chocolate syrup!

A Pickle....or 23 pints of pickles.

I'll warn you in advance, I have no pretty pictures for you, not even any ugly ones, just no pictures. Sorry. I wanted to update you on the pickling adventures of 2010. I went to the Farmers Market yesterday with the plan to get a cucumber for a salad and instead I got 12 lbs. of picking cucumbers. I turned in a full draft of my dissertation last week and so this week-end is decidedly a non-school-work weekend! And so what better to do than PICKLE!
I decided to use the same bread and butter pickle recipe as last year because I loved those pickles! I sliced up about 5 lbs. of the pickles into 1/4 inch slices and 2 lbs. of vidalia onions. I salted these and covered them first with a towel and then with ice and refrigerated them for several hours.
In the mean time, I let the afternoon heat dissipate and waited 'til about 6 or 7 pm before I fired up the canning pot. I got a new canning pot! I've been using a stock pot and a round cake cooling rack. Let me tell you that a real canning pot for $17.87 at Walmart was already worth every penny after one round of canning! The rack that hooks on the side of the pot for easy removal of the jars is awesome and reduces my chances of steam burns by about a million percent!
I then went to work on the dill pickles. I wasn't pleased with how my dill pickles turned out last year and so I decided to try a new recipe. I went for this garlic dill recipe. I'll let you know how they turn out...
But I sliced the cukes in chunks rather than slices or spears per the recipe's suggestion. I placed cloves of garlic, peppercorns, dill seed, and hot pepper flakes in each jar and then tried to stuff the jars with the chunks of cukes. That was easier said than done and it requires about twice as many jars because the chunks don't pack as well as thinner slices might. In about half the jars I used 1/2 as much dill seed (1/2t rather than 1t) and used a few sprigs of fresh dill too. I poured the hot brine (4C apple cider vinegar, 4C water, 6T pickling salt) over the cukes, put on the lids, and processed them for 10 minutes in my new canning pot!
Then even though after my dinner break and hang out time it was now 10 pm, I decided it was time to finish the bread and butter pickles too. I got the brine ready (1 1/4C white vinegar, 1C apple cider vinegar, 2 1/4C sugar, hot pepper flakes, cloves, allspice, mustard seeds, celery seeds, and turmeric) and let it reach a boil. I rinsed off the salted cucumbers and onions and tossed them in the boiling brine. I let that all ready a boil again and then filled the jars first with the pickles and then with the brine, put on the lids, and processed them in the hot water bath too.
15 jars of dills....only one didn't seal, so I guess 14 jars of dills and 8 jars of bread and butters.
And that should be enough pickles for a while!

Pesto Pasta with Sausage and Garlic Scapes

A brief post...my new goal is to post more often by posting more briefly.
My husband made arugula pesto the other day. He made a very basic pesto with just the greens, garlic, and oil. He used no nuts and no cheese. Nonetheless quite a delicious topping!

We mixed it with pasta and roasted red peppers and topped it with some grilled sausage and grilled garlic scapes.
The sausage was a local Bratwurst. Delicious! And the garlic scapes were also local. I trip each end, spray them with oil and we grill them in a pan designed to be used on the grill, otherwise they'd fall through the grill.
It was a nice summer grilling combination!

Steak Teriyaki

Again...it would be lame to apologize again but I am sorry that I have been gone so long....
But here I am. And here is some tasty steak teriyaki!
I used a recipe from Simply Recipes for steak teriyaki. I mixed up the marinade recipe: 1/3C mirin rice wine, 1/3C sake, 1/3C soy sauce, 1T sugar, and 1T grated ginger. I actually probably used more ginger than the recipe calls for. I used an unfiltered sake from Oregon: Momokawa Pearl. I chose this one because it is one we like to drink and so only using 1/3C wasn't an issue because the rest of the bottle was happily consumed!
I let the flank steak soak in the marinade for a few hours and toward the end I also tossed in some locally grown shiitake mushrooms from our farm share. We skewered the mushrooms and grilled those and the flank steak on the grill.
While those were grilling, I cooked down the marinade to make the teriyaki sauce to serve over the meat.
We also had rice and sauteed spinach along with the steak and mushroom. Delicious!!

Stuffed Roasted Jalapenos

Do you have a hankering for jalapeno poppers? Do you have the urge to light up your grill now that it's getting warmer outside? (At least in some parts of the country, it's been in the 40s and 50s around here.)
Minus the deep fried part, these stuffed and grill roasted peppers should take care of that jalapeno popper desire!
Unnecessary Kitchen Implement Warning!!! I bought a pepper roaster and it came with a corer. Generally, I hate buying kitchen items that only have one (and obscure) purpose but I fell for this one and we actually use it all the time.
When the grocery store has large enough and nice enough looking jalapenos these stuffed and roasted peppers are on our menu. You'll learn to eye ball the right size pepper for the rack after a few tries. And if they are too small, I have figured out that you can use the stem and the top that you cut off to wedge in the hole with the pepper to keep it from falling through the rack.
I mix cream cheese and shredded cheddar cheese for the stuffing but any number of combinations would be delicious. That mix works for us and I haven't branched out, yet. I'd love to hear what other combinations you try.
After I mix the cheeses together, I slice off the top of the peppers and core them. If you can't get all the seeds out with the corer you can rinse them with water. I roll the cheese mixture into tubes to better stuff the peppers. I place the peppers in the rack and then straight on the grill they go. It is best to keep them off the direct heat and on the edge of the grill. The longer they can stay on the grill with out the tips burning and the cheese boiling out the top, the more tender the peppers will become.
Enjoy!

Sloppy Joes!

I can't even begin to make enough excuses for not having posted for three weeks. I mean I am trying to finish a dissertation, sell a house, plan to move and start a new job, etc.....
But that is no excuse! I apologize.
So the house is flickering black and white here tonight. I bleached, washed, and dried a load of my husband's white socks today. And dinner could be taken straight out of a 50's household: Sloppy Joes, Macaroni Salad, and Baked Beans.
In fact, this is basically the recipe for Sloppy Joes in the Joy of Cooking. I sauteed about 1/2C each chopped onions, green peppers, and mushrooms in butter.
I sauteed about 1 1/4 lb. ground beef in 3 batches. I lightly salted, peppered, and chili powdered the beef as it sauteed. These spices are not in the Joy of Cooking recipe.
After all the beef was cooked I mixed the beef and veggies with about 6 ounces of Heinz 57 chili sauce. The Joy of Cooking only calls for 2-4T.
Eat this on a hamburger bun and watch the black and white flickering in your house too!

Fresh Fish, Grilled

I couldn't find my camera until the end of this meal preparation process, so I apologize for the fact that you only get 1 picture!
A friend of ours caught two beautiful fish the other day. We already had the grill going for other purposes but we happily shifted gears. 1 Rainbow trout and 1 Brown trout, each about 20 inches long, arrived at our house. My husband and his friend cleaned them by removing the head and the guts, but left them whole and with the skin.

In the cavity, my husband put generous amounts of olive oil, kosher salt, thick slices of lemon, and sprigs of parsley. He wrapped each fish individually in foil and placed them on the grill. He rotated them often to get each side and each end exposed to the heat. We didn't time it but they were only the grill at least 25 minutes.
When they were unwrapped the skin pulled easily away from the meat and the meat off the bones. They were delicious! I prefer the Rainbow trout as the flavor and texture are more delicate than the Brown. But I didn't turn away a serving of each!

Tuna Salad

I had a craving for tuna salad this afternoon. A late lunch, a little afternoon snack, something to munch on while I contemplate what's for dinner!
I used a can of Trader Joe's tuna in olive oil. Delish! Much higher in fat than tuna packed in water, but tasty! Per Cooks Illustrated, I always drain my tuna in a sieve and press it and fluff it with a fork to get it a dry as I can. This is especially important with water packed but also serves to remove some of the oil in the oil packed.
I then squeezed on about 1/2t of lemon juice and let it sit as I prepared the other ingredients.
I chopped about 1T of parsley and stirred it in. I added 4 slices of pickled jalapenos, chopped and 4 green olives, chopped. I chopped and added 1 stalk of celery.
And then I added about 1T of mayo and mixed it up. I ate it on a few slices of fresh bread with sprouts.
Yum!

Greek Salad

I love Greek salads. Maybe it is just the feta cheese. But I think it is the dressing too.

I usually use Romaine lettuce though red leaf or baby green mixes would work. Tossing some baby spinach in would be tasty too. I like the sturdiness of the Romaine with the cheese. It seems to hold on to the cheese and dressing better than something like red leaf. I also like to either tear or chop the lettuce into pretty small pieces so the end result is kind of like a chopped salad. (I didn't quite accomplish that in these pictures.)
In this version, I added hard boiled eggs, garbanzo beans, and kalamata olives so it was a protein-filled salad. It could easily be a meal in and of itself.
I also added chopped cucumber and sliced radishes. I didn't have other veggies at the time but I love celery and tomatoes in a Greek salad.
I added crumbled feta cheese to the salad rather than the dressing but it is easy to do it either or both ways. I have also made Greek salads in bowls with tops so you can seal up the whole salad, dressing and all, and toss it vigorously!
I also didn't have any pepperoncinis but they are nice on the side with a Greek salad.
But the dressing! I make a basic vinaigrette dressing but I use kalamata olive oil and red wine vinegar. I also add plenty of lemon juice and a touch of sugar. I also add fresh ground pepper and crumbled dried mint. I love dried mint. Yum. Enjoy!

Classic American Dinner

Hello! Sorry it's been so long. Something about trying to finish a doctoral program, conducting a job search, and having an injured puppy has distracted me from this project.
So today's post is about a classic American dinner that my husband and I had recently. And it's a chance to vote as to whose plate looks better. We won't tell which is which! Just pick the ketchup or the mustard plate.
The dinner....was hot dogs, which are Hoffman's natural casing tasty dogs that we love. And we always steam our hot dogs and then toss the buns on top at the end to steam a bit too. We topped these with canned Hormel chili (no beans), shredded cheddar cheese, and mustard.

And they are served with tater tots and baked beans! And one of us needs extra mustard and one needs ketchup for the tater tots! Let us know who plates a better Classic American Dinner!

Chana Masala

I have been craving Indian food lately. I am not a big fan to the two Indian restaurants in town. But just tonight I noticed a new one and when I walked in to grab a takeout menu I was greeted by a friendly woman and an amazingly delicious smell. Seems promising. But last night I made my own Indian dishes to satisfy the craving.

I made chana masala, which is chick peas in a rich tomato gravy. Yum!

First, I rinsed and drained a 15 oz. can of chick peas.
Next, I roughly chopped 1 onion, 1 green chili, 4 cloves of garlic, and 1 inch of fresh ginger. The recipe calls for 1 fresh tomato but I used about 1/3C canned diced tomatoes instead.
After roughly chopping these, I put them in the food processor with the tomatoes to make a paste.

Now to the cooking. First, I warmed 2T olive oil and 'fried' 2 bay leaves. The recipe called for frying them but that didn't really seem to happen. I let them sit in the hot oil for 1-2 minutes but they didn't really seem to be sizzling or showing any indications of frying.

Next, I added the tomato-onion-etc. mixture the pan and let that fry over medium heat for 4-5 minutes.

On to the spices. I added 1t red chili powder, 1/2t turmeric, 1t coriander, and 1t garam masala. I stirred these in well with the rest of the mixture and let that fry for another 2-3 minutes.

The recipe calls for adding enough water to make a thick gravy. I ended up adding about 1C of water. I mixed this in and let it come to a boil.

I then added the chick peas and let the whole mixture simmer over medium heat for 5-7 minutes. I garnished this with cilantro and served it with basmati rice and some plain yogurt and sliced cucumbers.

Diablo Chicken!

This is a recipe we cooked in college. It was in a cookbook that belonged to one of my roommates. But it lives on on a food-stained index card. This is a super easy way to make a chicken breast a little more exciting.
I never wrote down how many chicken breasts this amount of coating is supposed to cover but I use it for 2 breasts. First, pound the chicken breasts to even thickness to allow for more consistent cooking.
In one bowl mix 3T dijon mustard with 3T oil, I use olive oil. Mix in 1/4C finely chopped scallions and 1/2t thyme. You could use dried or fresh thyme depending on what you have available.
In another bowl mix 1C bread crumbs (you can start with less than a cup and see if you need the whole cup) with 1/4t cayenne.
Dip the chicken breasts in the bowl of wet ingredients and then in the dry. Place the chicken breasts on a greased pan or baking dish. I lightly spray the top with some oil.
Bake the chicken at 475 for 12-14 minutes depending on the thickness of the breasts.

I served these with some rice and a salad with walnuts, blue cheese, apples, and chilled roasted beets.

Chili!

It seems appropriate to post a chili recipe in anticipation of Super Bowl weekend. I am aware that there are different styles of chili. My husband makes a red chili he learned in New Mexico. I've had Texas and Cincinnati style chili. I've had white chili. What I don't know is what style chili I make. It's the chili my mom makes. It's what I grew up knowing was chili. Maybe it's Eastern chili. I am open for names for this style chili!

First, brown 1 lb. ground meat. I usually use beef but turkey or venison work well too. I find it to be really useful to brown the meat in 2 or 3 batches so as to not crowd the pan. If you want to just use one pot brown 1 batch and then move it to a bowl while you brown the next batch. Then you can toss all the browned meat back in before, during, or after you saute the veggies.

Add more oil to the pan. Dice and saute 1 onion. Add 1/2 a green pepper, diced and 1 fresh jalapeno, also diced. After these are close to being done add 3 cloves of garlic, minced or pressed. Also, add crushed red pepper to your taste. I crushed a whole dried cayenne pepper from our garden this past summer.

Next add the spices before any liquid so that the powders can all toast a bit on the hot mostly dry pan bottom. I used 3T chili powder. I prefer Penzey's regular chili powder. I also added 1T cumin, 1t black pepper, 1t onion powder, and 1/2t salt.

Now it's time for the liquid. Add a 28 oz. can of crushed tomatoes. I rinsed the can with about 1/4C water and added that too. Add a 15.5 oz. can of red kidney beans or whatever kind of beans you like. Add a 14.5 oz. can of diced tomatoes. This time I used diced tomatoes with green chilis. Add 1/3C red wine, 1T dried oregano, and 1t dried basil.

I love this chili topped with cheese or sour cream. Or on top of a baked potato. Or served with cornbread. All the way around, it's just delicious chili of whatever style it is!

Coleslaw

I know I've already posted a coleslaw recipe but I've been working on it this winter. I know that coleslaw is usually a summer food but with all the cabbage we've been getting in our winter farm share I've been inspired to make slaw. Plus we've gotten pulled pork in our meat share and so what goes better with pulled pork than slaw?

First, shred 1 small head of cabbage and 1 carrot.

Then mix up the dressing: 2/3C buttermilk, 3T sour cream, 1/4C mayonnaise, 1t dijon mustard, 2t cider vinegar, 2T lemon juice, and 1/2t sugar.

Toss the cabbage and carrot with the dressing. Cover and let chill for a few hours before eating.

This time around I didn't have either a shallot or fresh parsley but if I had I would have chopped those up and added them too!

Enjoy and imagine you are having a summer BBQ.

Baked Ziti

Ah, baked ziti. My sister makes delicious baked ziti. I probably should've stuck with her method but I tried to make it little less cheesy and I added a few other things. Let me show you what I did and I let you know where I wish I'd done something different. Please let me know if you have another version of baked ziti that you love!

First I cooked 3/4 lb. of pasta. (I undercook the pasta so it doesn't become total mush when it's baked.) Next I sliced and cooked 2 links of Italian sausage. (I know my sister takes the sausage out of the casing and cooks it like ground meat.)

I then added 1/2 a green pepper, diced, and 1 small onion, diced. I let these saute with the sausage and then I added 1 clove of garlic, chopped.

Then I added 1 can of diced tomatoes, 1/4C red wine, 1t dried basil, and 1T dried oregano. I stirred, covered, and let this cook for a few minutes.

I turned off the heat and added 15 oz. of ricotta cheese and 4-6 oz. of cubed mozzarella. (The ricotta separates and looks pretty gross using this method. So I think either more tomato sauce next time to make it saucier or an egg and some parmesan to make it more like lasagna.)

I then mixed in the cooked pasta. I baked this covered in a 400 degree oven for 15 minutes. I then topped this with about 4 oz. of sliced mozzarella and baked this uncovered for another 10-15 minutes. It was quite yummy but, as I said, room for improvement!

A Sinful Breakfast!

First, I just have to post these pictures of a sinful breakfast. I'll follow with a post with a recipe. But check out these potatoes frying in bacon grease. Yum!

Then look at these beautiful cinnamon rolls. My husband is the culprit in both these tasty sinful treats.

For the cinnamon rolls he uses a basic dinner roll recipe, rolls it out, spreads a cinnamon, brown sugar, and butter mixture over the dough, rolls it up, and slices it into rolls. Then he places them in a buttered dish, covers them and lets them rise near the warm oven. And then he bakes them at 450 for 10-15 minutes.

Yumminess!

7-layer dip

If you love snack food and appetizers as much as me you may be dreaming of Super Bowl Sunday not because of the game but because of the food. I love football food! And by this I mean wings, nachos, chips and dip, veggies and dip, anything and dip, and of course, 7-layer dip!

There are many version of 7-layer dip out there. As far as I can tell most of them fall into one of two camps: hot or cold. My sister makes a delicious version that is an entirely hot dip that mixes beans, corn, cheeses, salsa and I am sure a few other things. My husband, on the other hand, loves a cold 7-layer dip. And somehow, I fall somewhere in the middle of those extremes. I think this is mostly because I can't quite understand eating cold refried beans and melted cheese is delicious!

My method of 7-layer dip begins with a can of refried beans spread over the bottom of a casserole dish. I top that with pickled jalapenos and shredded cheese. I stick this in the oven (usually at 350) until the beans are hot and the cheese is melted (usually 15-20 minutes).

Then I top the hot ingredients with the cold ingredients. I don't believe that 7-layer dip has to stick with only 7 layers and so I add on whatever sounds good.

For example, I next spread some sour cream on top of the beans and cheese. And then a layer of sliced black olives is always yummy.

And then chopped or mushed avocado is great if they are some good ripe ones to be found.

Next, I like to layer on the salsa. And finally, I top this off with chopped green onions.

Dip in a chip and enjoy the football!