Canned tuna is pretty cheap and you're better off paying a bit more for Tongol. Not all canned tuna is the same. And according to an article on Epicurious.com, "canned tuna meat should be firm and flaky, but never mushy. It should be moist but not watery (and certainly not dry). And it has to look appetizing before it's dressed up with seductive ingredients."
I use no salt added and packed in water for my cooking recipes to have better control over the salt and fat in the dish being prepared. I don't eat canned tuna that often, maybe 2-3 cans a year. That's mostly because I really enjoy raw tuna as sushi or sashimi.
The usual additive options are:
no salt added
salt added
vegetable oil added, usually safflower
olive oil added
The amount of vegetable or olive oil added to a can of tuna is trivial. You're better off buying the tuna that's been canned in water, drain it, and add one teaspoon of olive oil. That's the caloric difference between tuna canned in water vs tuna canned in olive oil. One tablespoon of olive oil has 120 calories, or roughly 40 calories per teaspoon.
Depending on the species, tuna is used in different product forms:
• albacore is primarily sold as white canned tuna
• skipjack is primarily sold as light canned tuna
• tongol is primarily sold as light canned tuna
• yellowfin is sold both as light canned tuna and as ahi
• bigeye is primarily used in sushi/sashimi, but also is sold as canned light
Recipes using canned Tongol:
Tuna Casserole
Tuna Salad Sandwich
Read more:
Seafood Watch: Sourcing Sustainable Canned Tuna
Epicurious Taste Test: Canned Tuna
Download a regional Seafood Watch guide
NRDC List of How Often to Eat Tuna
Tuna Casserole
The Food Timeline tells us that:
"The word 'casserole' has two meanings: a recipe for a combination of foods cooked together in a slow over and the dish/pot used for cooking it. Casserole, as a cooking method, seems to have derived from the ancient practice of slowly stewing meat in earthenware containers. Medieval pies are also related, in that pastry was used as a receptacle for slowly cooking sweet and savory fillings. Early 18th century casserole recipes [the word entered the English language in 1708] typically employed rice which was pounded and pressed (similar to the pastry used for pies) to encase fillings. Like their Medieval ancestors, they were both savory and sweet. The casseroles we know today are a relatively modern invention."
The traditional tuna casserole calls for egg noodles, of which I had none on hand. Brown rice fusilli was used instead since this type of noodle can hold up to both boiling and baking in the same recipe. The thought of adding a can of creamed mushroom soup to a casserole is appalling to me. I don't think I've had canned mushroom soup since I was a child and I'm more inclined to make it from scratch if I had to. There are three parts to this recipe: the sauce, the noodles, and the baking. Start by cooking the noodles first since they take the longest to prepare.
You could use any type of mushroom in a casserole. I had dried oyster mushrooms that had been in my pantry for almost a year so I used those. Rehydrated in water and the water (without the mushrooms) added to the pot of water to cook the noodles. The same goes for the shredded cheese. I used mozzarella, but you can easily use cheddar, jack, or colby.
The addition of olive oil to the boiling noodles is an optional step. I had about that much leftover from an appetizer I did earlier in the day. The tuna can is from Trader Joe's and it's tongol in water with no salt added. I didn't think about salt until I tasted the sauce. Hardly any of the ingredients used actually have salt in it, except for the trace amount in the cheese. I sprinklled some sea salt on top of the casserole before adding the last of the cheese.
Ingredients
2 1/2 tbsp unsalted butter
One 6.5 oz can of tuna, drained
One red bell pepper, diced
1 c. oyster mushrooms, chopped
1-2 c. shredded mozzarella cheese, separated
sea salt, to taste
1 c. whole organic milk
2 tbsp all-purpose flour
2 c. dried fusilli
1 tbsp olive oil
1 pot of water
Directions
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
1. In a pot, add enough water to dried fusilli and boil until noodles are tender. Add olive oil. About 20 minutes. Drain and set aside.
2. In a 8" skillet, on medium heat, melt butter and fry bellpepper and oyster mushrooms until soft. Add flour and stir until combined. Add milk and stir (or whisk) until the sauce thickens. Turn off heat and stir in one cup of shredded cheese. Set aside.
3. In an 8" x 8" baking dish, add cooked fusilli and tuna. Break up the larger chunks of tuna into smaller pieces, if necessary. Add the sauce on top of it and stir until the sauce is evenly distributed.
4. Sprinkle sea salt on top of casserole then add the remaining cheese (up to one cup) on top of the casserole. While it melts and browns, it also makes a tasty crust.
5. Bake uncovered for 25 minutes. Remove from oven and serve.
Makes 2-3 servings.
"The word 'casserole' has two meanings: a recipe for a combination of foods cooked together in a slow over and the dish/pot used for cooking it. Casserole, as a cooking method, seems to have derived from the ancient practice of slowly stewing meat in earthenware containers. Medieval pies are also related, in that pastry was used as a receptacle for slowly cooking sweet and savory fillings. Early 18th century casserole recipes [the word entered the English language in 1708] typically employed rice which was pounded and pressed (similar to the pastry used for pies) to encase fillings. Like their Medieval ancestors, they were both savory and sweet. The casseroles we know today are a relatively modern invention."
 |
| Tuna casserole. There, now I can say I made it. |
The traditional tuna casserole calls for egg noodles, of which I had none on hand. Brown rice fusilli was used instead since this type of noodle can hold up to both boiling and baking in the same recipe. The thought of adding a can of creamed mushroom soup to a casserole is appalling to me. I don't think I've had canned mushroom soup since I was a child and I'm more inclined to make it from scratch if I had to. There are three parts to this recipe: the sauce, the noodles, and the baking. Start by cooking the noodles first since they take the longest to prepare.
You could use any type of mushroom in a casserole. I had dried oyster mushrooms that had been in my pantry for almost a year so I used those. Rehydrated in water and the water (without the mushrooms) added to the pot of water to cook the noodles. The same goes for the shredded cheese. I used mozzarella, but you can easily use cheddar, jack, or colby.
The addition of olive oil to the boiling noodles is an optional step. I had about that much leftover from an appetizer I did earlier in the day. The tuna can is from Trader Joe's and it's tongol in water with no salt added. I didn't think about salt until I tasted the sauce. Hardly any of the ingredients used actually have salt in it, except for the trace amount in the cheese. I sprinklled some sea salt on top of the casserole before adding the last of the cheese.
Ingredients
2 1/2 tbsp unsalted butter
One 6.5 oz can of tuna, drained
One red bell pepper, diced
1 c. oyster mushrooms, chopped
1-2 c. shredded mozzarella cheese, separated
sea salt, to taste
1 c. whole organic milk
2 tbsp all-purpose flour
2 c. dried fusilli
1 tbsp olive oil
1 pot of water
Directions
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
1. In a pot, add enough water to dried fusilli and boil until noodles are tender. Add olive oil. About 20 minutes. Drain and set aside.
2. In a 8" skillet, on medium heat, melt butter and fry bellpepper and oyster mushrooms until soft. Add flour and stir until combined. Add milk and stir (or whisk) until the sauce thickens. Turn off heat and stir in one cup of shredded cheese. Set aside.
3. In an 8" x 8" baking dish, add cooked fusilli and tuna. Break up the larger chunks of tuna into smaller pieces, if necessary. Add the sauce on top of it and stir until the sauce is evenly distributed.
4. Sprinkle sea salt on top of casserole then add the remaining cheese (up to one cup) on top of the casserole. While it melts and browns, it also makes a tasty crust.
5. Bake uncovered for 25 minutes. Remove from oven and serve.
Makes 2-3 servings.
Pumpkin Muffins
I suppose I could have made pumpkin tartlets with the leftover canned pumpkin from when I made the biscotti. It would have meant actually calculating how much tart crust to make. I just wanted something sweet and easy to nibble on. These won't win any bake contests, but they're easy to make and when they're warm, the muffins are pretty good on a cold, breezy weekend.
Ingredients
1 1/2 c. unbleached flour
1 c. brown sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp each ground cloves, ground nutmeg, ground ginger
1 c. cooked pumpkin
2 eggs
1/3 c. olive oil
For this batch, I used the entire leftover can of pumpkin which was roughly 11 oz (from a 15 oz can).
Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
1. Whisk the dry ingredients together so that the spices are evenly disbursed.
2. Stir in pumpkin and eggs until the mixture neither looks runny nor like there's egg white everywhere.
3. Fill prepared muffin tin (either use paper muffin cups or lightly butter the muffin pan) so that each muffin opening is 3/4 full.
4. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until they look done. Let cool on a rack.
This batch didn't get to cool and I'd already eaten two of the muffins before remembering to take photos, which eventually will get posted.
Ingredients
1 1/2 c. unbleached flour
1 c. brown sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp each ground cloves, ground nutmeg, ground ginger
1 c. cooked pumpkin
2 eggs
1/3 c. olive oil
For this batch, I used the entire leftover can of pumpkin which was roughly 11 oz (from a 15 oz can).
Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
1. Whisk the dry ingredients together so that the spices are evenly disbursed.
2. Stir in pumpkin and eggs until the mixture neither looks runny nor like there's egg white everywhere.
3. Fill prepared muffin tin (either use paper muffin cups or lightly butter the muffin pan) so that each muffin opening is 3/4 full.
4. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until they look done. Let cool on a rack.
This batch didn't get to cool and I'd already eaten two of the muffins before remembering to take photos, which eventually will get posted.
Kitchen Note: Moonfish
This fish, a random shopping cart item at Fubonn, gets its name from having a whitish, almost opalescent sheen to its rather smooth skin. Because of its thin frame and lack of exterior armaments (scales, spines), one would assume this is a fish found in tropical or temperate waters. It actually looks like something one might find in an exotic aquarium. But, nonetheless, I found it in the freezer aisle at the Asian grocery store.
The fish would probably taste great skewered and roasted over an open fire. It has lots of small bones and there isn't a whole lot of meat to it. Eating it reminded me of perch, an equally bony fish that is the equivalent of a sunflower seed (lots of work, little reward). I've only cooked up the first of the two that came in the pack and it tastes ordinary, like the "white fish" you'd find in a breaded, fried fish fillet.
I braised (poached?) it in some olive oil and Chinese rice wine with a sprinkling of Himalayan pink salt. That was probably not the right approach for the fish. It might have been better to bake or steam it because the skin stuck to the bottom of the skillet. Ahh, what to do with its companion...
[Updated: 12/2/2010] When this fish cooks, it smells a lot like the "fish powder" condiment (not furikake) that is used on Chinese rice porridge (xi fan, also known as congee). For the second fish, I cooked it over rice in the oven. In retrospect, I think that moonfish would make a great fish stock type of fish because it's very bony and with the right mix of spices and salt, you'd get a very flavorful broth out of it.
I made the brown basmati rice (a long grain) the way Alton Brown does, heated in a foil-covered baking dish at 375 degrees F for about an hour. Because I am cooking for one, I don't really like reheating leftover rice, so I try to minimize it to a meal or two.
In my pantry, I have Mexican saffron which is several iterations cheaper than real Spanish saffron (from Spain). I picked up a few ounces of it several years ago, probably from hole-in-the-wall spice shops in California.
1 c. brown basmati rice
1 1/2 c. water
pinch of saffron
1 tbsp unsalted butter
1/4 tsp sea salt
In a small saucepan, bring water, saffron, butter and salt to a boil. Remove from heat and pour over rice in a baking dish.
Wash the moonfish and gently place on top of the rice. Cover baking dish with foil and bake for an hour. The essence from the fish adds a nice layer of depth to the rice that makes it more flavorful.
If you have sweet potatoes on hand, these bake in the same amount of time at the same heat setting as the rice.
I made a special sauce for the fish, which is a variant on the soba noodle sauce:
2 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp mirin
2 tsp brown sugar
1 clove of garlic, minced
Bring ingredients to a simmer for about two minutes (long enough to infuse the sauce with garlic flavor) and pour over fish.
The fish would probably taste great skewered and roasted over an open fire. It has lots of small bones and there isn't a whole lot of meat to it. Eating it reminded me of perch, an equally bony fish that is the equivalent of a sunflower seed (lots of work, little reward). I've only cooked up the first of the two that came in the pack and it tastes ordinary, like the "white fish" you'd find in a breaded, fried fish fillet.
I braised (poached?) it in some olive oil and Chinese rice wine with a sprinkling of Himalayan pink salt. That was probably not the right approach for the fish. It might have been better to bake or steam it because the skin stuck to the bottom of the skillet. Ahh, what to do with its companion...
[Updated: 12/2/2010] When this fish cooks, it smells a lot like the "fish powder" condiment (not furikake) that is used on Chinese rice porridge (xi fan, also known as congee). For the second fish, I cooked it over rice in the oven. In retrospect, I think that moonfish would make a great fish stock type of fish because it's very bony and with the right mix of spices and salt, you'd get a very flavorful broth out of it.
I made the brown basmati rice (a long grain) the way Alton Brown does, heated in a foil-covered baking dish at 375 degrees F for about an hour. Because I am cooking for one, I don't really like reheating leftover rice, so I try to minimize it to a meal or two.
In my pantry, I have Mexican saffron which is several iterations cheaper than real Spanish saffron (from Spain). I picked up a few ounces of it several years ago, probably from hole-in-the-wall spice shops in California.
1 c. brown basmati rice
1 1/2 c. water
pinch of saffron
1 tbsp unsalted butter
1/4 tsp sea salt
In a small saucepan, bring water, saffron, butter and salt to a boil. Remove from heat and pour over rice in a baking dish.
Wash the moonfish and gently place on top of the rice. Cover baking dish with foil and bake for an hour. The essence from the fish adds a nice layer of depth to the rice that makes it more flavorful.
If you have sweet potatoes on hand, these bake in the same amount of time at the same heat setting as the rice.
I made a special sauce for the fish, which is a variant on the soba noodle sauce:
2 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp mirin
2 tsp brown sugar
1 clove of garlic, minced
Bring ingredients to a simmer for about two minutes (long enough to infuse the sauce with garlic flavor) and pour over fish.
Cornbread for T-day Stuffing
This cornbread recipe comes from Alton Brown's I'm Just Here for More Food
("Cornbread No Chaser") and has been only just slightly tweaked. I lowered the required heat, muckied about with the ingredients and order of operations.
What better way to stuff a bird than to use a somewhat, but not really traditionally bread for stuffing? For this year's Straggler's Thanksgiving hosted by my more adventurous cooking sibling, we used cornbread as the bread base for stuffing the bird. Here is the recipe for it the cornbread. I suppose it could be eaten as is.
Ingredients
1 1/2 c. cornmeal, medium grind (stoneground)
1 1/4 c. whole organic milk, heated to a simmer
1 c. unbleached wheat flour
1 tbsp baking powder
1 tsp coarse salt (because it was what was on hand at the time)
1/2 c. extra virgin olive oil
2 large eggs
1/4 c. fresh or frozen cooked corn kernels, thawed and drained (optional)
1 tbsp unsalted butter
One 10" cast iron skillet
Directions
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F and leave skillet in oven while mixing the cornbread.
1. In a small saucepan, heat milk until almost boiling. Remove from heat and stir in cornmeal. It's not all that important to let it sit in the milk for Alton's recommended 15 minutes since the cornbread isn't the final product output.
2. In a large bowl, combine flour, salt, and baking powder.
3. In a smaller bowl, beat together oil and eggs.
4. Add the smaller bowl to the larger bowl and add the cornmeal/milk mixture. Mix until well combined. It won't be smooth nor runny and you'll have to spread it around in the skillet before it bakes.
5. Remove skillet from oven (with oven mitts!) and melt 1 tbsp butter in the skillet.
6. Empty cornmeal mixture into skillet and spread around with a spatula until the surface looks nearly even. Neatness does not count since you'll be crumbling this later after it cools.
7. Bake for 25 minutes, or until top is lightly golden brown.
Try to not eat this before it's made into stuffing or you'll have to make more cornbread. I made two batches of this for a 15# turkey.
("Cornbread No Chaser") and has been only just slightly tweaked. I lowered the required heat, muckied about with the ingredients and order of operations.What better way to stuff a bird than to use a somewhat, but not really traditionally bread for stuffing? For this year's Straggler's Thanksgiving hosted by my more adventurous cooking sibling, we used cornbread as the bread base for stuffing the bird. Here is the recipe for it the cornbread. I suppose it could be eaten as is.
 |
| Crumbled bits of cornbread for turkey stuffing |
1 1/2 c. cornmeal, medium grind (stoneground)
1 1/4 c. whole organic milk, heated to a simmer
1 c. unbleached wheat flour
1 tbsp baking powder
1 tsp coarse salt (because it was what was on hand at the time)
1/2 c. extra virgin olive oil
2 large eggs
1/4 c. fresh or frozen cooked corn kernels, thawed and drained (optional)
1 tbsp unsalted butter
One 10" cast iron skillet
Directions
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F and leave skillet in oven while mixing the cornbread.
1. In a small saucepan, heat milk until almost boiling. Remove from heat and stir in cornmeal. It's not all that important to let it sit in the milk for Alton's recommended 15 minutes since the cornbread isn't the final product output.
2. In a large bowl, combine flour, salt, and baking powder.
3. In a smaller bowl, beat together oil and eggs.
4. Add the smaller bowl to the larger bowl and add the cornmeal/milk mixture. Mix until well combined. It won't be smooth nor runny and you'll have to spread it around in the skillet before it bakes.
5. Remove skillet from oven (with oven mitts!) and melt 1 tbsp butter in the skillet.
6. Empty cornmeal mixture into skillet and spread around with a spatula until the surface looks nearly even. Neatness does not count since you'll be crumbling this later after it cools.
7. Bake for 25 minutes, or until top is lightly golden brown.
Try to not eat this before it's made into stuffing or you'll have to make more cornbread. I made two batches of this for a 15# turkey.
Pumpkin Cranberry Biscotti
This isn't the cookie-like Americanized textured biscotti that Trader Joes has; this "cookie" is rather hard and is best dipping it with hot tea or coffee. It's a pretty simple recipe with simple ingredients and simple steps. It's certainly different than the super sweet treats that are typically made for T-day weekend.
Ingredients
3 c. unbleached wheat flour
1 c. brown sugar, packed
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp sea salt
2 tsp pumpkin pie spice (see below)
1/2 c. cooked pumpkin, fresh or canned
2 eggs
1 tbsp vanilla
1/2 c. dried sweetened cranberries
1/4 c. raw pumpkin seeds
1 tbsp butter, melted (optional)
Pumpkin Pie Spice
Lots of websites and cookbooks give different ratios for this spice blend. This blend works for pies and cookies.
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1/4 tsp ground ginger
Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
1. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, brown sugar, baking powder, salt, and spices.
2. In a smaller bowl, whisk together pumpkin, eggs, vanilla, and melted butter.
3. Add in pumpkin seeds and cranberries. Mix together wet with dry ingredients until well combined.
4. Take a large glob of dough and shape it into a log. Flatten it on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet and repeat with remaining dough. The "logs" should be about 3-4" wide (this will become the length of the finished cookie) and no longer than 12" long (so all the dough will fit on one baking sheet).
The dough logs should not be touching each other as the baking powder will cause the biscotti to rise slightly. Bake for 25 minutes and remove when logs are slightly browned on top.
Slice logs diagonally (?) using a very sharp knife or serrated knife, the latter will cause tears in the dough if you rush cutting these.
5. Place slices cut-side down onto the same parchment-lined baking sheet and bake 12-15 minutes or until dry. Can let cool in oven on the baking sheet or removed to cool on a wire rack.
Ingredients
3 c. unbleached wheat flour
1 c. brown sugar, packed
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp sea salt
2 tsp pumpkin pie spice (see below)
1/2 c. cooked pumpkin, fresh or canned
2 eggs
1 tbsp vanilla
1/2 c. dried sweetened cranberries
1/4 c. raw pumpkin seeds
1 tbsp butter, melted (optional)
Pumpkin Pie Spice
Lots of websites and cookbooks give different ratios for this spice blend. This blend works for pies and cookies.
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1/4 tsp ground ginger
Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
1. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, brown sugar, baking powder, salt, and spices.
2. In a smaller bowl, whisk together pumpkin, eggs, vanilla, and melted butter.
3. Add in pumpkin seeds and cranberries. Mix together wet with dry ingredients until well combined.
4. Take a large glob of dough and shape it into a log. Flatten it on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet and repeat with remaining dough. The "logs" should be about 3-4" wide (this will become the length of the finished cookie) and no longer than 12" long (so all the dough will fit on one baking sheet).
 |
| Unbaked "logs" of biscotti |
Slice logs diagonally (?) using a very sharp knife or serrated knife, the latter will cause tears in the dough if you rush cutting these.
5. Place slices cut-side down onto the same parchment-lined baking sheet and bake 12-15 minutes or until dry. Can let cool in oven on the baking sheet or removed to cool on a wire rack.
 |
| Biscotti ready for second baking session |
White Chocolate Chip Macadamia Nut Cookies
I'm not terribly fond of nuts in my cookies, nor of white chocolate. This particular cookie is a friend's favorite and I made it for him. I had a pretty good idea what the ingredients tasted like, but never actually had eaten the cookie before. So yes, this is another one of those recipes made with some degree of success without much tasting context. It's basically a sugar cookie with nuts and white chocolate mixed in, what could possibly go wrong?
Ingredients
1 c. unsalted butter, melted (2 sticks)
1 c. unbleached granulated sugar
1 c. brown sugar, packed
2 eggs, room temperature
1-2 tsp vanilla extract
3 c. unbleached white flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
2 c. white chocolate chips
1 1/2 c. Macadamia nuts, coarsely chopped
Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
1. If you are making this batch in winter, you might find that waiting for the butter to soften is an exercise in Zen cooking; you could melt the butter in a small saucepan and let the butter cool to room temperature before mixing it with the sugar. Cream butter and sugars together in a mixing bowl.
2. Add an egg, one at a time, and beat well. Add vanilla extract and beat again until well combined.
3. In a separate bowl, add flour, salt, and baking soda. Stir to combine.
4. Gradually add the flour mixture to the butter mixture and stir until the flour is incorporated. Add white chocolate chips and nuts to mixture and mix until ingredients are evenly distributed.
5. Drop by rounded teaspoons onto a parchment-lined baking sheet.
6. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until edges are lightly browned.
7. Cool on a wire rack before gifting or serving.
Ingredients
1 c. unsalted butter, melted (2 sticks)
1 c. unbleached granulated sugar
1 c. brown sugar, packed
2 eggs, room temperature
1-2 tsp vanilla extract
3 c. unbleached white flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
2 c. white chocolate chips
1 1/2 c. Macadamia nuts, coarsely chopped
Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
1. If you are making this batch in winter, you might find that waiting for the butter to soften is an exercise in Zen cooking; you could melt the butter in a small saucepan and let the butter cool to room temperature before mixing it with the sugar. Cream butter and sugars together in a mixing bowl.
2. Add an egg, one at a time, and beat well. Add vanilla extract and beat again until well combined.
3. In a separate bowl, add flour, salt, and baking soda. Stir to combine.
4. Gradually add the flour mixture to the butter mixture and stir until the flour is incorporated. Add white chocolate chips and nuts to mixture and mix until ingredients are evenly distributed.
5. Drop by rounded teaspoons onto a parchment-lined baking sheet.
6. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until edges are lightly browned.
7. Cool on a wire rack before gifting or serving.
Kitchen Note: Crackers
This post is part of a series of cracker recipes gone horribly wrong. I've been trying to replicate a style of flatbread crackers that Trader Joe's carries, the multi-seed flatbread crackers, which are very tasty and get eaten too quickly. The ingredients are pretty simple, just flour, water, and salt. Since all my cracker endeavors had been turning out inedible, I thought I'd try this particular recipe which is known to be hardly edible. The flour-water ratio in it is 2:1, unlike matzo dough that is 3:1 and prepared in 18 minutes or less.
2 c. unbleached white flour
1 c. water (with 1-2 tsp salt added to the water)
1. Mix the flour with the salted water until the flour just comes together. You might not even need the entire cup of water.
2. Knead it into a random shape and roll it out to 1/2" thick on parchment paper.
3. Cut into squares, rectangles, dodecahedrons or whatever shape you prefer your crackers to be in. You could probably use cookie cutters too.
4. Use fork tines to prick holes (but don't pierce the dough) across all the crackers. This is to keep the dough from rising.
5. Transfer the parchment paper (with the crackers on top) to a baking sheet.
6. Bake for 40 minutes or until the tops/edges are golden brown. Let cool in oven. The drier the cracker, the more cracker-like it will be.
In retrospect, using a pasta machine or rolling the crackers out to a much thinner thickness would be better. Once these crackers really dry out, they are brick-like hard. This is probably why matzo crackers are rolled out to a 1/8" to 1/4" thickness.
Hearty Tomato Bean Soup
This recipe is not that bad now that tomato sauce has been added to it. The tomato adds another layer of depth to this dish and helps to balance out the flavors. This recipe was formerly known as the baked beans recipe on this blog and revised the directions to include crockpot instructions.
Ingredients
1 c. white beans, soaked overnight and drained
1/4 c. red azuki beans
1/3 c. green mung beans
1/4 c. brown basmati rice
2 bacon slices, diced
3 tbsp honey
4 tsp dry mustard
1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
2 cloves garlic, minced
15 oz organic tomato sauce
1 qt low sodium chicken broth
1 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp ground thyme
salt (optional)
Directions
1. In a bowl large enough to accommodate the beans, cover beans with enough water so that there is about 1/2" of water above the beans. Let soak for a few hours or overnight. Drain beans and add to a crockpot.
2. In a small skillet, cook diced bacon until browned and add bacon to crockpot.
3. Add honey, dry mustard, salt (optional), pepper, oregano, thyme and garlic.
4. Add chicken broth. Soup can be thinned out with water if necessary.
5. Depending on what meal of the day this is for, set crockpot on high-6hrs or low-8hrs. The beans should be fork-tender in a couple hours.
6. Blend cooked ingredients together in a blender or with an immersion blender
.
Serves many.
Ingredients
1 c. white beans, soaked overnight and drained
1/4 c. red azuki beans
1/3 c. green mung beans
1/4 c. brown basmati rice
2 bacon slices, diced
3 tbsp honey
4 tsp dry mustard
1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
2 cloves garlic, minced
15 oz organic tomato sauce
1 qt low sodium chicken broth
1 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp ground thyme
salt (optional)
Directions
1. In a bowl large enough to accommodate the beans, cover beans with enough water so that there is about 1/2" of water above the beans. Let soak for a few hours or overnight. Drain beans and add to a crockpot.
2. In a small skillet, cook diced bacon until browned and add bacon to crockpot.
3. Add honey, dry mustard, salt (optional), pepper, oregano, thyme and garlic.
4. Add chicken broth. Soup can be thinned out with water if necessary.
5. Depending on what meal of the day this is for, set crockpot on high-6hrs or low-8hrs. The beans should be fork-tender in a couple hours.
6. Blend cooked ingredients together in a blender or with an immersion blender
.Serves many.
Kitchen Note: Chocolate
Chocolate, as we know it today, is being faced by two equally disturbing debates. The first, like crude oil, is the rise in the price of raw cacao because one man is bidding up commodity futures of chocolate. So far he owns more than $1 billion worth of cocoa futures on the open market with the intent on dominating the market.. as in hoarding all the future supply.
The second regards the proposed change in the FDA's definition of the identity of milk chocolate. Basically the recipe includes ingredients like sugar, cocoa powder, chocolate liquor, milk, cocoa butter, vanilla, etc. US dominates with the gold standard of chocolate with production, consumers, and distribution. It is why chocolatiers like See's Candies (who uses Guittard) can sell chocolate confections at a premium. But, some greedy, penny pinching bean-to-bar chocolate manufacturers who say they can't compete against Europe's deviation from the gold standard who want to reduce or eliminate the cocoa butter manufacturing requirement and replace it with say.. up to 95% of non-cocoa butter oils. The primary instigator in this lawsuit is Hersheys, who would benefit more hand-over-fist profit if the gold standard of chocolate were say muckied up this with vegetable fats. I wouldn't be surprised if Mars has also lobbied with Hersheys. Though, companies like E. Guittard and Scharffen Berger less likely to stray from how they make chocolate. What is unfortunate about chocolate manufacturing is when a company that started from a family-run business like Scharffen Berger ends up getting bought by a large conglomerate. Lately all the acquisitions in this market have been done by Kraft Foods (acquired Cadbury) and Hersheys (acquired Sharffen Berger, makes the chocolate for Cadbury, also makes the chocolate for Rolo). It's so sad because Sharffen Berger is really, really good eating and baking chocolate. Don't get me started on how inferior the Baker's Square chocolate is.
In comparison, European chocolate manufacturers only allow up to 5% non-cocoa butter fats in their chocolate confections.
Artificial shortages are possible, but an actual crop shortage would be diluted because it isn't just grown in Central and South America, but also in Malaysia and South Africa. The cacao bean harvest in Hawaii is insignifiant, but the climate is right. Then it depends on what people want to eat. Single origin or blended chocolates (E. Guittard uses single origin to make blended chocolates). On the whole, cocoa prices aren't a lot less than what they were at the same time last year, and manufactured chocolate doesn't have a very long shelf life.
Read more?
Cocoa commodity charts
The second regards the proposed change in the FDA's definition of the identity of milk chocolate. Basically the recipe includes ingredients like sugar, cocoa powder, chocolate liquor, milk, cocoa butter, vanilla, etc. US dominates with the gold standard of chocolate with production, consumers, and distribution. It is why chocolatiers like See's Candies (who uses Guittard) can sell chocolate confections at a premium. But, some greedy, penny pinching bean-to-bar chocolate manufacturers who say they can't compete against Europe's deviation from the gold standard who want to reduce or eliminate the cocoa butter manufacturing requirement and replace it with say.. up to 95% of non-cocoa butter oils. The primary instigator in this lawsuit is Hersheys, who would benefit more hand-over-fist profit if the gold standard of chocolate were say muckied up this with vegetable fats. I wouldn't be surprised if Mars has also lobbied with Hersheys. Though, companies like E. Guittard and Scharffen Berger less likely to stray from how they make chocolate. What is unfortunate about chocolate manufacturing is when a company that started from a family-run business like Scharffen Berger ends up getting bought by a large conglomerate. Lately all the acquisitions in this market have been done by Kraft Foods (acquired Cadbury) and Hersheys (acquired Sharffen Berger, makes the chocolate for Cadbury, also makes the chocolate for Rolo). It's so sad because Sharffen Berger is really, really good eating and baking chocolate. Don't get me started on how inferior the Baker's Square chocolate is.
In comparison, European chocolate manufacturers only allow up to 5% non-cocoa butter fats in their chocolate confections.
Artificial shortages are possible, but an actual crop shortage would be diluted because it isn't just grown in Central and South America, but also in Malaysia and South Africa. The cacao bean harvest in Hawaii is insignifiant, but the climate is right. Then it depends on what people want to eat. Single origin or blended chocolates (E. Guittard uses single origin to make blended chocolates). On the whole, cocoa prices aren't a lot less than what they were at the same time last year, and manufactured chocolate doesn't have a very long shelf life.
Read more?
Cocoa commodity charts
Mystery Ingredient: Moonfish
There are a few peculiar things I like to do when I visit an asian grocery store. Number one is always have a shopping list. This tells you what the pantry is out of and keeps you on track. Because I had been paying more attention to what I bought, I added two new rules to shopping this year. The first is, if the shopping list has been adhered to, a luxury good is allowed. Today's luxury good were persimmons, the crunchy-when-ripe kind. The second is, if feeling adventurous, then choose a mystery ingredient to make a new dish out of. The mystery is the discovery and creativity of how to cook an unknown. This is a great skill in case you were traveling with Jules Verne in 20,000 leagues under the sea or to the center of the earth and had to cook up a dinosaur. It could happen...
I've cooked a few types of fish and they are all the "normal" ones you can get at a regular supermarket: salmon, trout, tilapia, cod, mahi mahi, Chilean sea bass, etc. I saw shad in the freezer aisle at Fubonn today, but if the fishing gods would shine upon my pole one day, I could fish a shad out of the Columbia River. I've never had shad or shad roe, but seeing how it is plentiful in the Pacific NW, I passed this by. Also, for a mystery ingredient, because it is a trial 'n' error process, it's an ingredient that is also inexpensive to procure.
I settled upon something called Moonfish. It is quite small and much smaller than a blue gill. This is definitely not of the Hawaiian variety, and is probably more like some freakish thing a fisherman would haul up in the net with other fish and didn't want to throw it away. And for a mere $2 for 1 lb, there are two of these in the package:
I've cooked a few types of fish and they are all the "normal" ones you can get at a regular supermarket: salmon, trout, tilapia, cod, mahi mahi, Chilean sea bass, etc. I saw shad in the freezer aisle at Fubonn today, but if the fishing gods would shine upon my pole one day, I could fish a shad out of the Columbia River. I've never had shad or shad roe, but seeing how it is plentiful in the Pacific NW, I passed this by. Also, for a mystery ingredient, because it is a trial 'n' error process, it's an ingredient that is also inexpensive to procure.
I settled upon something called Moonfish. It is quite small and much smaller than a blue gill. This is definitely not of the Hawaiian variety, and is probably more like some freakish thing a fisherman would haul up in the net with other fish and didn't want to throw it away. And for a mere $2 for 1 lb, there are two of these in the package:
Roasted Duck Wings
When I go to a city park and see ducks quacking happily by a pond or being fed stale bread by little kids, the first thought that comes to mind is not how cute the scene is, but rather how tasty those ducks would be roasted, braised, baked, or as the main ingredient in a soup. Suffice to say I have only hunted ducks at a supermarket's freezer aisle.
This is the third time I've made this particular appetizer. The ingredient ratio is decently palatable and not too salty. After the wings have baked, they can be served warm or chilled. Compared to the rest of the duck parts available at Fubonn, wings are inexpensive and if you hack them at the joints, each wing can be split into 3 sections.
The marinade
4 tsp cooking mirin
3 slices fresh peeled ginger, minced
3 green onions, chopped
2 tbsp soy sauce
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tbsp fish sauce
1/2 tsp five spice powder
1 package of duck wings, about 2 lbs
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
1. Separate each wing into three parts by slicing through the tendon and skin at the joints.
2. Place wing parts in a large bowl (or large ziploc bag) and let sit in marinade for at least an hour.
3. Spread wings onto a glass (or ceramic) 9x13 baking pan. I have found that baking these wings on a baking sheet covered with aluminum foil doesn't include easy removal of the wings from the foil. Spread the marinade on top of the wings.
4. Add some water to the baking pan, otherwise the thinnest part of the wings will burn and dry out.
5. Bake for 30 minutes, allow for about 15 minutes on each side. Yes, this means you should probably flip the wings mid-way through.
6. Remove from oven and eat.
This is the third time I've made this particular appetizer. The ingredient ratio is decently palatable and not too salty. After the wings have baked, they can be served warm or chilled. Compared to the rest of the duck parts available at Fubonn, wings are inexpensive and if you hack them at the joints, each wing can be split into 3 sections.
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| A duck wing, separated |
The marinade
4 tsp cooking mirin
3 slices fresh peeled ginger, minced
3 green onions, chopped
2 tbsp soy sauce
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tbsp fish sauce
1/2 tsp five spice powder
1 package of duck wings, about 2 lbs
 |
| Duck wings marinating in a ziploc bag |
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
1. Separate each wing into three parts by slicing through the tendon and skin at the joints.
2. Place wing parts in a large bowl (or large ziploc bag) and let sit in marinade for at least an hour.
3. Spread wings onto a glass (or ceramic) 9x13 baking pan. I have found that baking these wings on a baking sheet covered with aluminum foil doesn't include easy removal of the wings from the foil. Spread the marinade on top of the wings.
4. Add some water to the baking pan, otherwise the thinnest part of the wings will burn and dry out.
5. Bake for 30 minutes, allow for about 15 minutes on each side. Yes, this means you should probably flip the wings mid-way through.
6. Remove from oven and eat.
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| Finished duck wings ready to eat |
Crockpot Apple Butter
This is one of the many recipes that I wanted to try since moving to the Pacific Northwest. The bounty of autumn produce includes apples, pears, grapes, chestnuts, etc., and are really inexpensive to get a hold of. Apples keep for a long time in the refrigerator if they are stored properly. I keep mine in plastic bags, the kind that you get from the grocery store, not the kind you take groceries home in from the grocery store. There is a tiny difference and that is the ability to keep air and moisture out of the bag.
I picked up a varity of apples and pears earlier in the month from Portland Nursery's apple tasting event. Depending on where you shop, apples can be as cheap as $0.30/lb if buying directly from an apple farm in WA or OR state, about $0.70/lb from a retail grocer that is able to move large quantities of local produce, like Gateway Produce, or up to $1.49/lb if buying off-season.
For this recipe I used a 6-quart programmable crockpot
and let the apples cook overnight on the 10-hours low setting. The next day, it had the consistency of applesauce so cooked it on the 4-hours high setting to simmer off the excess liquid.
Depending on the sweetness of the apples, you'll need to vary the amount of sugar in the recipe. This batch used red winesap apples that aren't terribly palatable as an eating apple. Winesap apples are very firm when ripe and are typically used to make cider. They're also tart and slightly sour when not quite ripe. Any sweet or mildly sweet apple of mixed or single variety can be used.
Ingredients
8 small-to-medium red winesap apples
1 c. granulated unbleached sugar
1/2 c. brown sugar, packed
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp cardamom (or allspice)
1/2 tsp cloves
dash of salt
3/4 c. water
This spice ratio accommodates up to 3 lbs of apples. I just used the apples I had on hand.
Directions
1. Wash, peel, and core all apples, then dice into chunks.
2. Add prepared apples, water, and spices to crockpot. Mix until the apples are all coated with spice.
3. Set crockpot on low and cook until apples are soft. Use a potato masher or immersion blender to remove chunks of apple so that it has an applesauce consistency.
This can keep for a few weeks in the refrigerator.
Canning instructions
Pack into hot, sterilized jars leaving 1/4" headspace. Process in a boiling water bath for 10 minutes. This batch made three 8 oz jars + one 12 oz jar.
Kitchen notes:
2010: used Red winesap apples, made 3 pints
2011: used Virginia winesap apples, made 3.5 pints (7 half-pint jars)
2012: used organic winesap apples, unknown variety from Tonnemaker Farms; batch #1 used 8 apples and made 2 pints (4 half-pint jars); batch #2 used 10 apples and made 2.5 pints (5 half-pint jars) with about a 1/2 c. leftover. Also, batch #2 had a half cup less granulated sugar. Total so far is 9 half-pint jars.
2014: used Red Rome apples; made 3.5 pints (7 half-pint jars) of apple butter and 2 pints (4 half-pint jars) of apple sauce
2014 (Oct): finally got a hold of Red winesap apples.. yay! Batch1 6 half pints (from 5 lbs), Batch2 2 pints + 6 half pints (from 6 lbs)
2015 (Oct): 8 pints from 13 lbs of Red winesap apples
2016: 6.5 pints from 10 lbs Red winesap apples
2017 (Nov): __ pints from 8 lbs Red winesap apples
I picked up a varity of apples and pears earlier in the month from Portland Nursery's apple tasting event. Depending on where you shop, apples can be as cheap as $0.30/lb if buying directly from an apple farm in WA or OR state, about $0.70/lb from a retail grocer that is able to move large quantities of local produce, like Gateway Produce, or up to $1.49/lb if buying off-season.
For this recipe I used a 6-quart programmable crockpot
and let the apples cook overnight on the 10-hours low setting. The next day, it had the consistency of applesauce so cooked it on the 4-hours high setting to simmer off the excess liquid.Depending on the sweetness of the apples, you'll need to vary the amount of sugar in the recipe. This batch used red winesap apples that aren't terribly palatable as an eating apple. Winesap apples are very firm when ripe and are typically used to make cider. They're also tart and slightly sour when not quite ripe. Any sweet or mildly sweet apple of mixed or single variety can be used.
Ingredients
8 small-to-medium red winesap apples
1 c. granulated unbleached sugar
1/2 c. brown sugar, packed
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp cardamom (or allspice)
1/2 tsp cloves
dash of salt
3/4 c. water
This spice ratio accommodates up to 3 lbs of apples. I just used the apples I had on hand.
Directions
1. Wash, peel, and core all apples, then dice into chunks.
2. Add prepared apples, water, and spices to crockpot. Mix until the apples are all coated with spice.
3. Set crockpot on low and cook until apples are soft. Use a potato masher or immersion blender to remove chunks of apple so that it has an applesauce consistency.
This can keep for a few weeks in the refrigerator.
Canning instructions
Pack into hot, sterilized jars leaving 1/4" headspace. Process in a boiling water bath for 10 minutes. This batch made three 8 oz jars + one 12 oz jar.
Kitchen notes:
2010: used Red winesap apples, made 3 pints
2011: used Virginia winesap apples, made 3.5 pints (7 half-pint jars)
2012: used organic winesap apples, unknown variety from Tonnemaker Farms; batch #1 used 8 apples and made 2 pints (4 half-pint jars); batch #2 used 10 apples and made 2.5 pints (5 half-pint jars) with about a 1/2 c. leftover. Also, batch #2 had a half cup less granulated sugar. Total so far is 9 half-pint jars.
2014: used Red Rome apples; made 3.5 pints (7 half-pint jars) of apple butter and 2 pints (4 half-pint jars) of apple sauce
2014 (Oct): finally got a hold of Red winesap apples.. yay! Batch1 6 half pints (from 5 lbs), Batch2 2 pints + 6 half pints (from 6 lbs)
2015 (Oct): 8 pints from 13 lbs of Red winesap apples
2016: 6.5 pints from 10 lbs Red winesap apples
2017 (Nov): __ pints from 8 lbs Red winesap apples
Kitchen Note: dried fruit rehydration
Years ago I bought a small bag of unsweetened, dried blueberries from Trader Joes and they aren't very good to eat, probably because they're all really dried out now. I had been experimenting with mirin (rice wine for cooking, slightly sweeter than sake, much less sweet than Chinese xiaoxing red cooking wine) this summer since procuring a bottle of it from Uwajimaya's Seattle store.
I wondered if using mirin to rehydrate dried blueberries would impart its flavor to the blueberries when used in another recipe. Well, I can't tell the difference. Perhaps in part because the blueberries were used to make blueberry pancakes. This batch turned out to be pretty tasty.
Method? I heated the dried blueberries with mirin in a small saucepan for a few minutes, then scooped out just the blueberries and put them into the pancake batter.
I wondered if using mirin to rehydrate dried blueberries would impart its flavor to the blueberries when used in another recipe. Well, I can't tell the difference. Perhaps in part because the blueberries were used to make blueberry pancakes. This batch turned out to be pretty tasty.
Method? I heated the dried blueberries with mirin in a small saucepan for a few minutes, then scooped out just the blueberries and put them into the pancake batter.
Asiago Cheese Crackers
In my attempt to make flat bread crackers, I added grated asiago cheese to the dough and used some on top of the cracker. However, seeing how today is a 100% humidity day (raining), these crackers came out really tough to chew and not crunchy at all. The crackers with cheese on top taste significantly better than the plain ones. I had hoped to use these in place of the multi-seed flatbread crackers I get from Trader Joe's, but alas, this recipe still needs tweaking.
Ingredients
2 c. all-purpose unbleached flour
3 tbsp unsalted butter
3/4 c. warm water
1/4 c. grated asiago cheese
pinch of salt
pinch of sugar
Seed topping (on a plate, combine):
grated asiago cheese
black sesame seeds
white sesame seeds
Directions
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
1. In a cup, add butter to warm water until butter has melted.
2. Sift the flour, salt, sugar together.
3. Gradually add the butter/water to the flour mixture and knead until smooth.
4. Place in a clean lidded container and let dough rest for at least an hour in the refrigerator.
5. Take dough out and roll it into a 12" log. Slice in half, and slice the halves in half until there are 30+ pieces.
6. With each piece, flatten dough using the bottom of a 4 oz ramekin or other sturdy flat-bottomed container. It should come to be about a circle, though, it doesn't have to be uniform.
7. Moisten one side of the circle with water and dip into seed topping. Set onto parchment-lined baking tray.
8. Bake for 15 minutes or until bottoms and edges are lightly browned.
9. Let cool on a rack. If the crackers are still soft, place all the crackers on the baking tray and let cool in the oven after the heat has been shut off.
Ingredients
2 c. all-purpose unbleached flour
3 tbsp unsalted butter
3/4 c. warm water
1/4 c. grated asiago cheese
pinch of salt
pinch of sugar
Seed topping (on a plate, combine):
grated asiago cheese
black sesame seeds
white sesame seeds
Directions
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
1. In a cup, add butter to warm water until butter has melted.
2. Sift the flour, salt, sugar together.
3. Gradually add the butter/water to the flour mixture and knead until smooth.
4. Place in a clean lidded container and let dough rest for at least an hour in the refrigerator.
5. Take dough out and roll it into a 12" log. Slice in half, and slice the halves in half until there are 30+ pieces.
6. With each piece, flatten dough using the bottom of a 4 oz ramekin or other sturdy flat-bottomed container. It should come to be about a circle, though, it doesn't have to be uniform.
7. Moisten one side of the circle with water and dip into seed topping. Set onto parchment-lined baking tray.
8. Bake for 15 minutes or until bottoms and edges are lightly browned.
9. Let cool on a rack. If the crackers are still soft, place all the crackers on the baking tray and let cool in the oven after the heat has been shut off.
Potstickers, Gyoza, Wontons, oh my!
Depending on which culture your eating perspective is from, these meat and vegetable filled dumplings can be fried, boiled, or steamed. Wikipedia would have you believe that the names have different meanings, and they do, but the differences are so insignificant that it really doesn't matter what you call them. On the contrary, gyoza skins are much thicker than wonton wrappers and can hold up to frying a lot better.
The base mix of my family's recipe is ground pork, chopped spinach, and minced chives. Ground pork can be substituted with ground chicken or ground turkey but the latter is leaner than pork. Water or broth has to be added to the mix so that the meat doesn't taste as dry; and ground beef is never used, at least not in any of the restaurants I've been to. My garden's chives aren't all that robust so I didn't cut them for this recipe.
Ingredients:
1 lb ground pork
1 lb chopped spinach, drained
1/4 c. minced water chestnuts
2 tbsp soy sauce
1 1/2 tsp sesame oil
1 tbsp fresh ginger, minced
2 cloves garlic, minced
5 small shitake mushrooms, rehydrated and minced
a small bowl of water
Directions
1. Mix all the ingredients together in a bowl.
I used round gyoza wrappers for this batch. I like the taste/texture of the thicker wrapper (compared to wonton wrappers). If you work quickly, the wrappers won't dry out.
2. In the palm of your hand place one wrapper. Place 1 tsp of the mix into the center of the wrapper.
3. Wet half the edge of the wrapper so that when the wrapper is folded in half, the water helps to seal the edges. Starting from the far right (or left) of the folded over wrapper, crimp the edges by pushing in the wrapper to form valley folds (like origami, only with gyoza wrappers).
Every crimping/sealing style is different and varies from shop to shop. All that matters is that the edges are sealed so that when the dumpling cooks, its juices do not spill out.
4. Set aside on a plate or tray and complete the rest of the wrappers.
To cook by boiling:
Bring a pot (with a lid) to boil. Add the raw dumplings and boil until all the dumplings float. It is possible to overcook the dumplings (the dough starts to disintegrate). Take them out after the pot returns to a full boil.
To cook by frying:
In a skillet or frying pan (with a lid), heat 1-2 tbsp vegetable oil until hot. Turn heat down to medium and add the dumplings in a single layer. After 2-3 minutes, check the dumplings and see if the bottoms are lightly browned. If so, turn every dumpling to an un-browned side.
Add about 1/4 c. of water to the pan and quickly cover with a lid. The hot steam will cook the dumpling. When the frying sounds less fierce (e.g., the water has mostly steamed off), remove dumplings when the water has mostly boiled off.
Remove dumplings from pan and serve. About 8-10 dumplings is a typical serving size.
View more pics.
The base mix of my family's recipe is ground pork, chopped spinach, and minced chives. Ground pork can be substituted with ground chicken or ground turkey but the latter is leaner than pork. Water or broth has to be added to the mix so that the meat doesn't taste as dry; and ground beef is never used, at least not in any of the restaurants I've been to. My garden's chives aren't all that robust so I didn't cut them for this recipe.
Ingredients:
1 lb ground pork
1 lb chopped spinach, drained
1/4 c. minced water chestnuts
2 tbsp soy sauce
1 1/2 tsp sesame oil
1 tbsp fresh ginger, minced
2 cloves garlic, minced
5 small shitake mushrooms, rehydrated and minced
a small bowl of water
Directions
1. Mix all the ingredients together in a bowl.
I used round gyoza wrappers for this batch. I like the taste/texture of the thicker wrapper (compared to wonton wrappers). If you work quickly, the wrappers won't dry out.
2. In the palm of your hand place one wrapper. Place 1 tsp of the mix into the center of the wrapper.
3. Wet half the edge of the wrapper so that when the wrapper is folded in half, the water helps to seal the edges. Starting from the far right (or left) of the folded over wrapper, crimp the edges by pushing in the wrapper to form valley folds (like origami, only with gyoza wrappers).
Every crimping/sealing style is different and varies from shop to shop. All that matters is that the edges are sealed so that when the dumpling cooks, its juices do not spill out.
4. Set aside on a plate or tray and complete the rest of the wrappers.
 |
| All lined up and ready for cooking |
To cook by boiling:
Bring a pot (with a lid) to boil. Add the raw dumplings and boil until all the dumplings float. It is possible to overcook the dumplings (the dough starts to disintegrate). Take them out after the pot returns to a full boil.
To cook by frying:
In a skillet or frying pan (with a lid), heat 1-2 tbsp vegetable oil until hot. Turn heat down to medium and add the dumplings in a single layer. After 2-3 minutes, check the dumplings and see if the bottoms are lightly browned. If so, turn every dumpling to an un-browned side.
Add about 1/4 c. of water to the pan and quickly cover with a lid. The hot steam will cook the dumpling. When the frying sounds less fierce (e.g., the water has mostly steamed off), remove dumplings when the water has mostly boiled off.
Remove dumplings from pan and serve. About 8-10 dumplings is a typical serving size.
View more pics.
Tofu Dango
It's hard to not try a new recipe when you see the food item raved about on an anime series. Part of this recipe is about curiosity and seeing how there are so few ingredients for it, the dumplings practically begged to be made. Depending on the sauce used on the dango, it can be sweet or savory. It's pretty easy to make.
Prep/cooking time: 20 minutes
Cuisine: Japanese
Food type: appetizer or dessert
Tofu Dango
Ingredients
6 oz tofu (roughly half a box of Silken tofu, firm)
2/3 c. glutinous rice flour
Directions
1. Mix ingredients together in a bowl. If it is too dry, add a little bit of water. If it's too wet/sticky, add a little bit more rice flour.
2. Form into a log and separate it into equal portions. Half, then quarters, then smaller pieces from the quarters.
3. With the smaller pieces roll each into a ball. You may coat each with a some rice flour to keep it from sticking to your hands.
4. Bring a pot of water to boil and add the dumplings. Boil for 2-3 minutes or until the dumplings are floating on the water.
5. Use a slotted spoon or strainer to take the dumplings out. Immerse in a cold water bath to stop the dumplings from cooking.
6. Spear three dumplings onto a bamboo skewer. Set on a plate.
At this stage, I don't advise eating them. They're really, really bland.
Dango Sauce Variations
(savory)
1 tbsp mirin
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp brown sugar
Bring to a boil and let cool in a small bowl. Spoon over dango.
(simple vanilla sauce, not vegan)
1/4 c. sugar
1/4 c. butter
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 tsp flour
1/4 c. milk
Bring ingredients to a boil. Let cool and serve over dango.
(sweet, black sesame)
1/4 c. black sesame seeds
1/4 c. brown sugar
Grind seeds until powdery in a suribachi or food prep. Coat the dango and serve.
View more pics.
 |
| Dango (dumplings) coated with black sesame, vanilla sauce, and a savory sauce |
Cuisine: Japanese
Food type: appetizer or dessert
Tofu Dango
Ingredients
6 oz tofu (roughly half a box of Silken tofu, firm)
2/3 c. glutinous rice flour
Directions
1. Mix ingredients together in a bowl. If it is too dry, add a little bit of water. If it's too wet/sticky, add a little bit more rice flour.
2. Form into a log and separate it into equal portions. Half, then quarters, then smaller pieces from the quarters.
3. With the smaller pieces roll each into a ball. You may coat each with a some rice flour to keep it from sticking to your hands.
4. Bring a pot of water to boil and add the dumplings. Boil for 2-3 minutes or until the dumplings are floating on the water.
5. Use a slotted spoon or strainer to take the dumplings out. Immerse in a cold water bath to stop the dumplings from cooking.
6. Spear three dumplings onto a bamboo skewer. Set on a plate.
At this stage, I don't advise eating them. They're really, really bland.
Dango Sauce Variations
(savory)
1 tbsp mirin
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp brown sugar
Bring to a boil and let cool in a small bowl. Spoon over dango.
(simple vanilla sauce, not vegan)
1/4 c. sugar
1/4 c. butter
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 tsp flour
1/4 c. milk
Bring ingredients to a boil. Let cool and serve over dango.
(sweet, black sesame)
1/4 c. black sesame seeds
1/4 c. brown sugar
Grind seeds until powdery in a suribachi or food prep. Coat the dango and serve.
View more pics.
Hon-kaeshi (soba sauce)
Hon-kaeshi is a dark Japanese noodle sauce often served with chilled soba noodles or other savory dishes. Its ingredients are a ratio of dark soy sauce, mirin, and sugar. I have adapted the ratio for 1 serving, though, it can probably be multiplied for more. And, since I'm using this with a bowl of fresh soba noodles, this preparation is for serving it fresh. A traditional method would be to cook the ingredients together for storage in the refrigerator. You could probably use unbleached granulated sugar instead of brown sugar, but you should use a good quality soy sauce and mirin. I used Takara mirin, a cooking sake.
Ingredients
1 tbsp dark soy sauce
1 tsp mirin
1 tsp brown sugar
Directions
Combine ingredients and mix until sugar has dissolved. Serve as is in a separate bowl from soba noodles or mix with soba noodles, then serve.
Can also prepare with rehydrated wakame seaweed and serve over cooked soba noodles. I like wakame since it is cheaper and easier to find in the Pacific NW than bonito, and much easier to prepare than kombu seaweed.
Because this recipe calls for both sugar and soy sauce, it can also be used as a flavoring with grilled chicken (yakitori), thin slices of beef served over vegetables (sukiyaki), etc.
The traditional Kaeshi prep method is as follows:
4 1/4 c. (1 litre) good quality soy sauce
3/4 to 1 c. mirin
3/4 to 1 c. brown sugar
Directions:
1. In a pot, heat mirin until boiling, then simmer until much of the alcohol has evaporated.
2. Turn off heat and add sugar to pot, stirring until sugar is dissolved.
3. Add soy sauce and bring to a boil until liquid temp is 185 degrees F (85 degrees C).
4. Turn off heat and let cool until transferring liquid to a container.
Ingredients
1 tbsp dark soy sauce
1 tsp mirin
1 tsp brown sugar
Directions
Combine ingredients and mix until sugar has dissolved. Serve as is in a separate bowl from soba noodles or mix with soba noodles, then serve.
Can also prepare with rehydrated wakame seaweed and serve over cooked soba noodles. I like wakame since it is cheaper and easier to find in the Pacific NW than bonito, and much easier to prepare than kombu seaweed.
Because this recipe calls for both sugar and soy sauce, it can also be used as a flavoring with grilled chicken (yakitori), thin slices of beef served over vegetables (sukiyaki), etc.
The traditional Kaeshi prep method is as follows:
4 1/4 c. (1 litre) good quality soy sauce
3/4 to 1 c. mirin
3/4 to 1 c. brown sugar
Directions:
1. In a pot, heat mirin until boiling, then simmer until much of the alcohol has evaporated.
2. Turn off heat and add sugar to pot, stirring until sugar is dissolved.
3. Add soy sauce and bring to a boil until liquid temp is 185 degrees F (85 degrees C).
4. Turn off heat and let cool until transferring liquid to a container.
Snickerdoodles
What's a better reason to bake cookies than making a batch of one with an amusing name. There are four primary ingredients in this recipe which make them really delicious and yet so unhealthy. They are a perfect complement with milk, ice cream, or eating them at a rest stop along Interstate 5; which, strangely enough is where I had them last this summer. In WA state, all the rest stops along I-5 are staffed by local volunteer groups like the Ham radio club of Vancouver, Lion's International, Rotary club chapters, etc. The state highway benefits from having fewer tired drivers on the road, thus fewer accidents, and the nonprofit organization is able to raise 'donation' funds. It's a really neat idea to offer free coffee/tea/cocoa and cookies to visitors at rest stops. I have never seen an accident (fortunately) between south of Olympia and north of Portland along this highway.
Anyhow, back to the recipe. We can safely assume that these cookies originated from Western Europe, or wherever there was a large influx of sugar and dairy traders. The Joy of Cooking book attributes the cookie's origin to Germany. Other sources seem to indicate it being of Dutch, New England (Pennsylvania USA), or Roman origin. It is basically a butter-sugar cookie dough rolled in cinnamon sugar before baking. Traditionally it was made with cream of tartar as its leavening agent and aluminum-free baking powder can be substituted. It's interesting to note that these cookies don't resemble snails in any way, so attributing the origin to the German word Schneckennudeln ("snail noodles") is odd.
I'd imagine that the cinnamon could be swapped out with other spices like ground ginger, cardamom, allspice, or nutmeg, and the spice flavor would be much more intense.
Dough Ingredients
2 3/4 c. all-purpose unbleached flour
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp baking powder
1 c. unsalted butter (2 sticks, softened)
1 1/2 c. granulated unbleached cane sugar
2 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
Coating
1/3 c. granulated unbleached cane sugar
2 tsp ground cinnamon
Directions
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
1a. In a bowl, combine dry dough ingredients together.
1b. In a smaller bowl, whisk together sugar and ground cinnamon. Set aside.
1c. In a separate bowl, combine butter, sugar, vanilla extract and eggs.
If you have a stand mixer, you could cream the butter and sugar together, then add the eggs and vanilla extract. And, gradually add the dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, and salt) until entirely incorporated into a dough. But alas, I don't have a stand mixer.
3. Gradually mix together dry with wet until a dough forms.
4. Take a teaspoon and scoop out some dough. Roll it into a ball and then roll in the cinnamon/sugar mixture. Place ball on a parchment paper lined baking sheet and squish flat with the underside of the 1-cup measuring cup, or a large glass.
5. Bake for 8-10 minutes until edges are golden brown; if you don't, the thicker cookies will taste a bit raw in the center. Let cool on racks before storing in an air tight container at room temperature.
Anyhow, back to the recipe. We can safely assume that these cookies originated from Western Europe, or wherever there was a large influx of sugar and dairy traders. The Joy of Cooking book attributes the cookie's origin to Germany. Other sources seem to indicate it being of Dutch, New England (Pennsylvania USA), or Roman origin. It is basically a butter-sugar cookie dough rolled in cinnamon sugar before baking. Traditionally it was made with cream of tartar as its leavening agent and aluminum-free baking powder can be substituted. It's interesting to note that these cookies don't resemble snails in any way, so attributing the origin to the German word Schneckennudeln ("snail noodles") is odd.
I'd imagine that the cinnamon could be swapped out with other spices like ground ginger, cardamom, allspice, or nutmeg, and the spice flavor would be much more intense.
Dough Ingredients
2 3/4 c. all-purpose unbleached flour
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp baking powder
1 c. unsalted butter (2 sticks, softened)
1 1/2 c. granulated unbleached cane sugar
2 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
Coating
1/3 c. granulated unbleached cane sugar
2 tsp ground cinnamon
Directions
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
1a. In a bowl, combine dry dough ingredients together.
1b. In a smaller bowl, whisk together sugar and ground cinnamon. Set aside.
1c. In a separate bowl, combine butter, sugar, vanilla extract and eggs.
If you have a stand mixer, you could cream the butter and sugar together, then add the eggs and vanilla extract. And, gradually add the dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, and salt) until entirely incorporated into a dough. But alas, I don't have a stand mixer.
3. Gradually mix together dry with wet until a dough forms.
4. Take a teaspoon and scoop out some dough. Roll it into a ball and then roll in the cinnamon/sugar mixture. Place ball on a parchment paper lined baking sheet and squish flat with the underside of the 1-cup measuring cup, or a large glass.
5. Bake for 8-10 minutes until edges are golden brown; if you don't, the thicker cookies will taste a bit raw in the center. Let cool on racks before storing in an air tight container at room temperature.
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| Snickerdoodles Cooling on a Wire Rack |
Bread Machine Pita Bread
The easiest way to knead dough is to have someone else do it for you. For this recipe I used a bread machine that typically spews out 1-lb loaves of squarely-shaped bread. Like most people reading/doing a recipe for the first time, things don't always come out in uniform shapes nor is the dough cut into equal-sized pieces. The flour used for this attempt is a mix between all-purpose unbleached flour and whole wheat all-purpose flour because I only have one container large enough to store 5+ lbs of flour and I bought whole wheat by accident the last time I was at the store. Anyhow...
A 500 degree F oven is very hot and was the perfect complement to the start of the rainy season in the NW. I was concerned that the dough wouldn't rise properly after it'd been cut and rolled out to form pita-like shapes (roundish) from the apparent humidity and cooler weather. The most awesome thing to see was the pitas being baked. They swelled up like little balloons in the oven. Taking them out was a challenge. Hot oven = hot pita bread. I'd advise against using tongs because they ripped through a few of the pitas. Only half way through the batch I realized that a metal spatula worked much better.
This is an average pita recipe which you can find just about anywhere on the Net. The bread machine not only kneads the dough, but provides a nice, warm enclosed space for the dough to rise properly. I also misread the original recipe and cut the dough into 12 pieces instead of 8. No wonder why I couldn't roll them out into 6" diameter circles.
Ingredients
1 1/8 c. warm water (110 degrees F)
3 c. all-purpose flour
1 tsp salt
1 tbsp olive oil
1 1/2 tsp sugar
1 1/2 tsp active dry yeast
1. Put all the ingredients into bread machine and select the Dough setting.
2. Once risen (in the machine), turn dough out onto a floured surface. Gently roll and stretch it into a 12" rope. Divide dough into equal pieces. Set aside to rise for 30 minutes or until puffy.
I used lightly floured parchment sheets for this step so that the pitas wouldn't stick together.
3. Preheat oven to 500 degrees F. Place a few pitas directly onto the oven rack and bake pitas for up to 5 minutes. If they turn golden brown, you've cooked them for too long.
4. Remove puffed up pitas from the oven and place in a large paper bag lined with a kitchen towel. Look, I don't know why this step works better than say, laying them out on a cooling rack, but it does.
5. Store pitas in a plastic bag in the refrigerator for up to a week; or store in freezer for 1-2 months.
These pair well with the baba ganoush recipe.
A 500 degree F oven is very hot and was the perfect complement to the start of the rainy season in the NW. I was concerned that the dough wouldn't rise properly after it'd been cut and rolled out to form pita-like shapes (roundish) from the apparent humidity and cooler weather. The most awesome thing to see was the pitas being baked. They swelled up like little balloons in the oven. Taking them out was a challenge. Hot oven = hot pita bread. I'd advise against using tongs because they ripped through a few of the pitas. Only half way through the batch I realized that a metal spatula worked much better.
This is an average pita recipe which you can find just about anywhere on the Net. The bread machine not only kneads the dough, but provides a nice, warm enclosed space for the dough to rise properly. I also misread the original recipe and cut the dough into 12 pieces instead of 8. No wonder why I couldn't roll them out into 6" diameter circles.
Ingredients
1 1/8 c. warm water (110 degrees F)
3 c. all-purpose flour
1 tsp salt
1 tbsp olive oil
1 1/2 tsp sugar
1 1/2 tsp active dry yeast
1. Put all the ingredients into bread machine and select the Dough setting.
2. Once risen (in the machine), turn dough out onto a floured surface. Gently roll and stretch it into a 12" rope. Divide dough into equal pieces. Set aside to rise for 30 minutes or until puffy.
I used lightly floured parchment sheets for this step so that the pitas wouldn't stick together.
3. Preheat oven to 500 degrees F. Place a few pitas directly onto the oven rack and bake pitas for up to 5 minutes. If they turn golden brown, you've cooked them for too long.
4. Remove puffed up pitas from the oven and place in a large paper bag lined with a kitchen towel. Look, I don't know why this step works better than say, laying them out on a cooling rack, but it does.
5. Store pitas in a plastic bag in the refrigerator for up to a week; or store in freezer for 1-2 months.
These pair well with the baba ganoush recipe.
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| Pitas Baking in the Oven |
 |
| Finished Pitas Cooling in a Paper Bag |
Baba Ganoush (eggplant dip)
This recipe is surprisingly easy and has a total prep/cook time of an hour. You'll need a large European eggplant, not the long, thin Japanese eggplant. There are two parts to this recipe, the eggplant and the tahini (sesame paste).
Tahini Ingredients
2 tbsp sesame seeds
1/2 tsp sesame oil
1/4 tsp sea salt
1/4 c. warm water, scant
Eggplant Dip Ingredients
1 large eggplant
1/4 c. lemon juice
1/4 c. tahini
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 tbsp sesame seeds
1 1/2 tsp olive oil (optional)
dash of paprika (optional)
Directions
1. In a food prep (large enough to accommodate 3 cups), combine 2 tbsp sesame seeds, sesame oil, and sea salt. Grind by adding a little water at a time until a smooth paste forms.
2. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
3. Take eggplant and slice in half. Putting the cut side down onto a lightly oiled baking dish, say a 9" x 13" glass or ceramic baking dish. It is not necessary to turn the eggplant while it bakes, nor be concerned if the skin starts to char.
4. Bake the eggplant for 40 minutes, until soft. Remove from oven and scoop out the eggplant flesh into the food prep where the tahini is already. Add minced garlic and lemon juice. Blend until smooth. View pic.
5. Remove eggplant dip to a container and let chill in the refrigerator for a few hours before serving.
6. When serving, add olive oil on top of the spread and sprinkle with paprika.
Makes almost 2 cups.
Note: Trader Joe's now carries 2.4 oz bottles of raw white sesame seeds for $1.99. It's in their spice section.
Tahini Ingredients
2 tbsp sesame seeds
1/2 tsp sesame oil
1/4 tsp sea salt
1/4 c. warm water, scant
Eggplant Dip Ingredients
1 large eggplant
1/4 c. lemon juice
1/4 c. tahini
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 tbsp sesame seeds
1 1/2 tsp olive oil (optional)
dash of paprika (optional)
Directions
1. In a food prep (large enough to accommodate 3 cups), combine 2 tbsp sesame seeds, sesame oil, and sea salt. Grind by adding a little water at a time until a smooth paste forms.
2. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
3. Take eggplant and slice in half. Putting the cut side down onto a lightly oiled baking dish, say a 9" x 13" glass or ceramic baking dish. It is not necessary to turn the eggplant while it bakes, nor be concerned if the skin starts to char.
4. Bake the eggplant for 40 minutes, until soft. Remove from oven and scoop out the eggplant flesh into the food prep where the tahini is already. Add minced garlic and lemon juice. Blend until smooth. View pic.
5. Remove eggplant dip to a container and let chill in the refrigerator for a few hours before serving.
6. When serving, add olive oil on top of the spread and sprinkle with paprika.
Makes almost 2 cups.
Note: Trader Joe's now carries 2.4 oz bottles of raw white sesame seeds for $1.99. It's in their spice section.
Fresh Blueberry Scones
It'll be blueberry season through September and I'll probably go to Majestic Farms either this weekend or on Labor Day weekend for more blueberries. I'd say that fresh blueberries have a shelf life of about 1-2 weeks in the refrigerator after they've been washed, dried, and put into an airtight container. I'd like to make blueberry crepes before the season is over and need more fresh blueberries for that. Sure, I have already picked 11.5 pounds of blueberries, most of which are in the freezer or have been eaten or made into something. There's just no beating the fresh taste of blueberries.
Ingredients
2 c. unbleached all-purpose flour
3 tbsp granulated sugar, plus more for sprinkling
1 tbsp baking powder
3/4 tsp sea salt
6 tbsp cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces
1 1/2 c. fresh blueberries
1 tsp grated lemon zest (optional)
1/3 c. heavy cream
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
Directions
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
2. In a bowl, sift flour, 3 tbsp sugar, baking powder, and salt together. Cut in butter.
3. Using a fork, whisk egg and cream together in a cup. Pour into the center of the dry ingredients. Stir lightly until the dough comes together.
4. Carefully fold in blueberries. I suggest that the bowl you are mixing the flour in be large enough to accommodate all the ingredients because kneading the dough on a floured board just doesn't seem feasible, at least, not to me. And this way it is far less messy. Though, that's not to say you won't make a mess.
5. Turn out dough onto a floured board and pat into a square-like shape, roughly 1 1/2 inches thick. Cut into scone-like shapes (usually triangles, but any shape will do). Transfer to a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
6. Sprinkle tops of scones with granulated sugar.
7. Bake for 20-22 minutes or until golden brown. Let cool on wire racks before eating.
Ingredients
2 c. unbleached all-purpose flour
3 tbsp granulated sugar, plus more for sprinkling
1 tbsp baking powder
3/4 tsp sea salt
6 tbsp cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces
1 1/2 c. fresh blueberries
1 tsp grated lemon zest (optional)
1/3 c. heavy cream
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
Directions
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
2. In a bowl, sift flour, 3 tbsp sugar, baking powder, and salt together. Cut in butter.
3. Using a fork, whisk egg and cream together in a cup. Pour into the center of the dry ingredients. Stir lightly until the dough comes together.
4. Carefully fold in blueberries. I suggest that the bowl you are mixing the flour in be large enough to accommodate all the ingredients because kneading the dough on a floured board just doesn't seem feasible, at least, not to me. And this way it is far less messy. Though, that's not to say you won't make a mess.
5. Turn out dough onto a floured board and pat into a square-like shape, roughly 1 1/2 inches thick. Cut into scone-like shapes (usually triangles, but any shape will do). Transfer to a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
6. Sprinkle tops of scones with granulated sugar.
7. Bake for 20-22 minutes or until golden brown. Let cool on wire racks before eating.
Fresh Blueberry Muffins
I made these for a friend's vegan potluck last weekend. Mostly because I picked the blueberries from a local farm, the blueberries aren't sprayed, and darn it, baked blueberry goods are just tasty. Sure, they aren't exactly vegan, having both eggs and butter in it; but I wasn't about to sub out the eggs for ground flax seeds for the "goo" part and what's wrong with butter?? Those vegans just don't know how to live it up.
This is an ordinary muffin recipe and has been modded to include fresh blueberries.
Ingredients
crumb topping:
1 c. unbleached all-purpose flour
3 tbsp light brown sugar
2 tbsp granulated sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp sea salt
6 tbsp unsalted butter, melted
muffin batter:
1 3/4 c. unbleached all-purpose flour
2 1/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 c. granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1/2 c. olive oil
3/4 c. milk
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 1/2 c. fresh blueberries, about 5-6 blueberries per muffin
Directions
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
For the crumb topping:
In a separate bowl, combine the ingredients together until coarse crumbs form. Set aside.
For the batter:
1. In a bowl sift together dry ingredients. Beat together eggs, oil, milk, and vanilla extract. Mix well with dry ingredients. Batter will be thicker and heavier than pancake batter.
2. Grease with butter or olive oil, or use paper muffin cups, a 12-cup muffin pan. Excess batter can be spooned into 4 oz buttered ramekins.
3. Fill each cup with 1 heaping tbsp batter, add 5-6 fresh blueberries, spoon a little batter on top of the blueberries, then top with some crumb topping. It's a much faster process if you fill all the cups first with batter.
4. Bake for 30 minutes or until golden brown. Allow muffins to cool in the pan for 10 minutes before serving.
This is an ordinary muffin recipe and has been modded to include fresh blueberries.
Ingredients
crumb topping:
1 c. unbleached all-purpose flour
3 tbsp light brown sugar
2 tbsp granulated sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp sea salt
6 tbsp unsalted butter, melted
muffin batter:
1 3/4 c. unbleached all-purpose flour
2 1/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 c. granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1/2 c. olive oil
3/4 c. milk
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 1/2 c. fresh blueberries, about 5-6 blueberries per muffin
Directions
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
For the crumb topping:
In a separate bowl, combine the ingredients together until coarse crumbs form. Set aside.
For the batter:
1. In a bowl sift together dry ingredients. Beat together eggs, oil, milk, and vanilla extract. Mix well with dry ingredients. Batter will be thicker and heavier than pancake batter.
2. Grease with butter or olive oil, or use paper muffin cups, a 12-cup muffin pan. Excess batter can be spooned into 4 oz buttered ramekins.
3. Fill each cup with 1 heaping tbsp batter, add 5-6 fresh blueberries, spoon a little batter on top of the blueberries, then top with some crumb topping. It's a much faster process if you fill all the cups first with batter.
4. Bake for 30 minutes or until golden brown. Allow muffins to cool in the pan for 10 minutes before serving.
Slow roasted roma tomatoes
I'm liking this slow roasting technique a lot. The flavor that comes out from the vegetables is very much like what you'd get at a restaurant so I can see why these foods can command such a menu price.
A 13" x 9" roasting pan doesn't seem like it'd be enough for the tomatoes that are about to be roasted. Most of the romas I halved and put in cut-side-up in the pan. A few of the romas were sliced lengthwise then eighthed, and the rest were cut into slices.
To this, I poured a bit of olive oil on top of the tomatoes then added fresh thyme leaves and garlic cloves.
Preheat oven to 225 degrees F. Bake for 3 hours.
These are intended for sandwiches, for a salad, or eaten as is.
A 13" x 9" roasting pan doesn't seem like it'd be enough for the tomatoes that are about to be roasted. Most of the romas I halved and put in cut-side-up in the pan. A few of the romas were sliced lengthwise then eighthed, and the rest were cut into slices.
To this, I poured a bit of olive oil on top of the tomatoes then added fresh thyme leaves and garlic cloves.
Preheat oven to 225 degrees F. Bake for 3 hours.
These are intended for sandwiches, for a salad, or eaten as is.
(Peruvian) Quinoa Salad
I put the Peruvian in parathesis in the title because quinoa originally comes from Peru. At least the country is the top exporter in the world, followed by Bolivia and Ecuador. It's like saying American hotdogs or Chinese dim sum. It is neither a grain nor a grass, but rather more like amaranth seeds. And, per cup serving it is also very high in protein (13% per dry weight) and it makes a great complement to other foods. This recipe adaptation is not my own and is one that I got from a potluck this year. This is a perfect summer time dish and is very easy to make.
1 cup dry quinoa = 2 cups cooked quinoa
Ingredients:
1-2 cups dry quinoa
2-4 cups water
For the salad:
1 cucumber, diced
2-3 small tomatoes, diced
1 jalapeño, cut into small pieces (or use 1/2 jalapeno if only making 2 cooked cups of quinoa)
1/4 cup fresh lemon (or lime) juice
salt and pepper to taste
Directions:
To cook the quinoa, add quinoa to a pot of boiling water (or add the quinoa to a pot of water then bring to a boil, it really doesn't matter). Cook on medium heat until all the water has been absorbed. Remove from heat and let cool before mixing in salad ingredients.
Toss well with cucumber, tomatoes, jalapeño, lemon juice, salt, and pepper. Serve.
1 cup dry quinoa = 2 cups cooked quinoa
Ingredients:
1-2 cups dry quinoa
2-4 cups water
For the salad:
1 cucumber, diced
2-3 small tomatoes, diced
1 jalapeño, cut into small pieces (or use 1/2 jalapeno if only making 2 cooked cups of quinoa)
1/4 cup fresh lemon (or lime) juice
salt and pepper to taste
Directions:
To cook the quinoa, add quinoa to a pot of boiling water (or add the quinoa to a pot of water then bring to a boil, it really doesn't matter). Cook on medium heat until all the water has been absorbed. Remove from heat and let cool before mixing in salad ingredients.
Toss well with cucumber, tomatoes, jalapeño, lemon juice, salt, and pepper. Serve.
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