I'd been thinking about getting an air fryer or a food dehydrator all year; but I couldn't quite get myself to commit on price for unit features for a single use appliance. The Ninja Foodi at my local Costco ($189.99 regular, $149.99 holiday sale) was already significantly below the retail price that can be found at Target ($229.99 regular), Amazon (currently $189.99 holiday sale), or my local Kroger-owned grocery store ($299.99 regular, $239.99 holiday sale). Shopping in Oregon saved me $12.60 in retail sales tax; and I picked up the unit a week before Thanksgiving.
Item number: Ninja Foodi OP305CO
Product review:
The appliance itself is pretty big at 6.5 quarts. It's like having a columnar-shaped, medium sized microwave oven on the counter top. It stands tall enough to not fit inside nor under any of the kitchen cabinets; and the base unit is heavy enough to not want to move it from the kitchen counter. That said, if you can spare the counter space, it'll be a good complementary appliance for liquid-based cooking, "baking", air frying, and dehydrating. I have yet to try the dehydrating or slow cooker functions on the Foodi. And, I have no desire to make yogurt. That said, given the number of appliances that this replaces, it's good for homes or apartments with a small kitchen. Though, it might be a stretch to say that the Ninja Foodi is a multitool for your kitchen if you already have an oven/stove.
The hardest part about using the Foodi? Figuring out how the pressure cook lid fits onto the unit. like which way the lid turns and such. Probably took me a half hour to figure it out after unboxing.
Making food in the Foodi requires attention to detail and timing. Most pressure cooked or air fryer recipes need you to be attentive to timing for natural or quick release, and also to flip or stir the foods if air frying. It's not a single-use, set it and forget it appliance.
Time saved:
You are not going to save any time on ingredient prep. If you don't count that as part of how long it takes to make a recipe, you are deluding yourself into thinking that this appliance (and others like it, e.g., Instant Pot) will help you cook meals faster.
It saves some time but not much; and it depends on what you are cooking. When you are making soft boiled eggs, it takes 7 minutes plus whatever time the unit needs to warm up and/or come up to low pressure. So the eggs that might take 10 minutes by stove method, might actually take 15 minutes in the pressure cooker. But you get perfectly cooked eggs in the Foodi and the eggs don't break or explode from the radical change in temperature from the fridge to boiling water like it does sometimes in a pot on the stove. Also, pay attention because even after the timer stops, the eggs will continue cooking as the unit cools down. Yes, you can burn eggs (in shell) if you leave the eggs in the Foodi and forget to quick release.
Beef stew by stove top has a cooking time of about an hour. In the Foodi, it still took an hour.
Clean up:
The primary cooking bowl and air fryer basket are both nonstick surfaces and are easy to clean off with a soft rag and warm soapy water... if you wash immediately after removing food that has just been cooked. Clean the stainless steel racks that come with the Foodi if any food gets burnt or stuck on. Like most things in life, don't wait so long that cleaning becomes an actual chore.
Diversity of recipes:
Not so much. You would think there'd be more with Instant Pot debuting in 2010. Though, we have to thank the creative genius behind Instant Pot marketing for how popular these appliances are today. No longer are pressure cookers associated with the Boston Marathon or domestic terrorism. Now you can create delicious food in half the time with a pressure cooker.
Just simple American recipes are out there, in cookbooks, on recipe blogs, and from manufacturer's websites.You can almost use Instant Pot and Ninja Foodi pressure cooker recipes interchangeably. You'll want to refer back to the food temp/cooking charts from Ninja. Apple sauce in an Instant Pot calls for more water than apple sauce in a Ninja Foodi. Also, most air fryer recipes will work with the Ninja Foodi Air Crisp settings. If using the crisping basket, this more volume than a standalone air fryer basket.
The Ninja Foodi is not a replacement for any food dish requiring the burnt/charred look for toast, baguettes, creme brulée, steak, or anything grilled via fire. Yes, it can do a frozen steak by pressure cooking and air frying; and it'll be cooked to medium-raw; but it won't have that just-got-off-the-grill look with the air fryer.
The more water-based your dish is, the more you're going to appreciate the cooking features of the Foodi.
Ninja Foodi Beef Stew
Taste-wise, this beef stew is spot on and comparable to what you'd get at a restaurant or knew what you were doing in the kitchen. Not sure what meat cut was used for this beef stew, typically leaner/tougher cuts are used for stew as it tends to cook longer. But, longer cooking does not make meat tender. It's the fat and marbling that makes that happen; and appropriate heat/time used to cook it. The texture of the beef is okay; cooked but not tender.
Ingredients
1 lb beef stew meat, cut into 1" pieces
1 tbsp olive oil
15 oz organic tomato sauce
2 Yukon gold potatoes, peeled and diced
2 organic carrots, peeled and diced
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 tsp beef bouillon (I use "Better than Buillon Beef Flavor")
2.5 c filtered water
2 tbsp Lea & Perrins Worcestershire sauce
2 tbsp dry vermouth, optional
dried herbs: parsley, thyme, basil, paprika
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Soup thickener:
2 tbsp cornstarch + 2 tbsp cold water, mixed together
Total cooking time: about an hour
Directions
1. Sear the meat in olive oil either stove top or using the saute function in the Ninja Foodi. Brown all the edges of the meat then transfer to the Ninja Foodi cooking pot.
2. As you are preparing the vegetables, set the Ninja Foodi to Saute. Add vermouth to deglaze the pot, carrots, potatoes, garlic, herbs, salt, and pepper.
3. Select "Pressure" and "Hi" on the cooker. Set the timer for 25 minutes.
4. Natural release 10 minutes, then quick release.
5. Stir in cornstarch mixture. It will thicken before serving.
Makes: 2 quarts
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| TheFoodening Blog: Ninja Foodi Beef Stew |
1 lb beef stew meat, cut into 1" pieces
1 tbsp olive oil
15 oz organic tomato sauce
2 Yukon gold potatoes, peeled and diced
2 organic carrots, peeled and diced
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 tsp beef bouillon (I use "Better than Buillon Beef Flavor")
2.5 c filtered water
2 tbsp Lea & Perrins Worcestershire sauce
2 tbsp dry vermouth, optional
dried herbs: parsley, thyme, basil, paprika
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Soup thickener:
2 tbsp cornstarch + 2 tbsp cold water, mixed together
Total cooking time: about an hour
Directions
1. Sear the meat in olive oil either stove top or using the saute function in the Ninja Foodi. Brown all the edges of the meat then transfer to the Ninja Foodi cooking pot.
2. As you are preparing the vegetables, set the Ninja Foodi to Saute. Add vermouth to deglaze the pot, carrots, potatoes, garlic, herbs, salt, and pepper.
3. Select "Pressure" and "Hi" on the cooker. Set the timer for 25 minutes.
4. Natural release 10 minutes, then quick release.
5. Stir in cornstarch mixture. It will thicken before serving.
Makes: 2 quarts
Ninja Foodi: Sriracha BBQ Chicken Wings (from raw frozen!)
This was the first item I made in the Ninja Foodi using both the pressure and air fryer features. In retrospect, it tastes as though I should have marinated the frozen chicken wings first, as they were bland and tasteless without the BBQ sauce that I added later in the air crisping step of this recipe. The crazy part is cooking frozen meat to perfectly cooked in the Ninja Foodi.
The cooking times on this recipe needs additional testing. After the pressure cooking phase, the wings were done. Any air frying would have added additional heat and time, making these somewhat dried out but "looking" the part of being broiled or fried. Total cooking time is too long if you want the outcome to be tender but crispy chicken wings.
Recipe adapted from the basic Ninja Foodi cookbook that came with the unit.
Recipe: Fail
This is a fail because total cooking time is 40+ minutes -- the same amount of time that an oven-based recipe uses to get chicken to a minimum 165 F.
The original recipe calls for frozen chicken breasts which much denser than chicken wings. The cook time could have been halved for each step: PC and AF. And, the chicken, while frozen and raw, could have been marinated at least a half hour before cooking. The "fixed" directions, time, and temps are noted below.
Ingredients
2 lb raw chicken wings
1-2 c BBQ sauce (I used Trader Joe's Sriracha BBQ sauce)
1 c water
additional sriracha sauce, optional for more spicy
Add 1 c of bbq sauce and chicken wings to a resealable plastic bag or food storage container. Let the wings marinate for 30 minutes or longer in the fridge. In my first attempt, I did not marinate before cooking and applied the sauce at the Air Crisper step.
Pressure Cooker Directions
Place fry basket in pot. Add water to pot and chicken to fry basket. Select "Pressure" and "Hi". Set timer for 10 minutes. Start.
10 minutes natural release, then quick release.
Remove pressure cooking lid.
Air Crisper Directions
Select "Broil", Temp to 400 F, and Time for 10-15 minutes.
Toss or use a silicone pastry brush to apply more BBQ sauce to the wings.
Check at 5 minute intervals to see how crispy the wings are getting. Serve with additional BBQ sauce.
The cooking times on this recipe needs additional testing. After the pressure cooking phase, the wings were done. Any air frying would have added additional heat and time, making these somewhat dried out but "looking" the part of being broiled or fried. Total cooking time is too long if you want the outcome to be tender but crispy chicken wings.
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| TheFoodening Blog - Ninja Foodi Sriracha BBQ Chicken Wings |
Recipe: Fail
This is a fail because total cooking time is 40+ minutes -- the same amount of time that an oven-based recipe uses to get chicken to a minimum 165 F.
The original recipe calls for frozen chicken breasts which much denser than chicken wings. The cook time could have been halved for each step: PC and AF. And, the chicken, while frozen and raw, could have been marinated at least a half hour before cooking. The "fixed" directions, time, and temps are noted below.
Ingredients
2 lb raw chicken wings
1-2 c BBQ sauce (I used Trader Joe's Sriracha BBQ sauce)
1 c water
additional sriracha sauce, optional for more spicy
Add 1 c of bbq sauce and chicken wings to a resealable plastic bag or food storage container. Let the wings marinate for 30 minutes or longer in the fridge. In my first attempt, I did not marinate before cooking and applied the sauce at the Air Crisper step.
Pressure Cooker Directions
Place fry basket in pot. Add water to pot and chicken to fry basket. Select "Pressure" and "Hi". Set timer for 10 minutes. Start.
10 minutes natural release, then quick release.
Remove pressure cooking lid.
Air Crisper Directions
Select "Broil", Temp to 400 F, and Time for 10-15 minutes.
Toss or use a silicone pastry brush to apply more BBQ sauce to the wings.
Check at 5 minute intervals to see how crispy the wings are getting. Serve with additional BBQ sauce.
Matcha Madeleines
It's a wonder why there isn't a higher rate of heart disease in France than there is in the US. Perhaps it's our lacking embrace of saturated fat from animal products such as dairy, cheese, butter fat, etc. There is really no reason why these little cakes are so pricey at coffee shops like Starbucks. You're literally eating just a tablespoon of cake batter. So anyways.. onto the recipe. Oh, and one other thing, when using AP flour, if you use unbleached/unbromated flour the cakes will be darker than when using "white" flour.
Ingredients
1/2 c unsalted butter (1 stick or 4 oz or 113 g)
2 large eggs, at room temperature
1 tbsp whole milk
1 c all purpose flour (120 g)
2/3 c organic granulated sugar (133 g)
1 tbsp powdered sugar, plus more for dusting
1 tbsp matcha green tea powder
1 tsp baking powder
pinch of sea salt
Directions
0. Prepare the Madeleine pan(s) with butter and a dusting of flour. Set aside.
1. Melt the butter. Set aside and let cool to room temperature.
2. In a bowl, sift together flour, sugar, matcha powder, powdered sugar, baking powder and sea salt.
3. In a separate bowl, whisk together milk and eggs.
4. Gradually add the flour mixture to the milk/egg mixture and fold in with a spatula. Let the batter rest for at least an hour.
Preheat oven to 375 F (190 C).
5. Bake for 10-12 minutes.Remove from oven and let cool. Gently remove madeleines to a rack.
At this point after the cakes have cooled to room temperature, you could dust them with powdered sugar and eat.
Ingredients
1/2 c unsalted butter (1 stick or 4 oz or 113 g)
2 large eggs, at room temperature
1 tbsp whole milk
1 c all purpose flour (120 g)
2/3 c organic granulated sugar (133 g)
1 tbsp powdered sugar, plus more for dusting
1 tbsp matcha green tea powder
1 tsp baking powder
pinch of sea salt
Directions
0. Prepare the Madeleine pan(s) with butter and a dusting of flour. Set aside.
1. Melt the butter. Set aside and let cool to room temperature.
2. In a bowl, sift together flour, sugar, matcha powder, powdered sugar, baking powder and sea salt.
3. In a separate bowl, whisk together milk and eggs.
4. Gradually add the flour mixture to the milk/egg mixture and fold in with a spatula. Let the batter rest for at least an hour.
Preheat oven to 375 F (190 C).
5. Bake for 10-12 minutes.Remove from oven and let cool. Gently remove madeleines to a rack.
At this point after the cakes have cooled to room temperature, you could dust them with powdered sugar and eat.
Strawberry Lemonade Iced Tea, Cold-Brewed
This ratio came out tasting rather well. Though, I wonder if it's better to add all the sweetener (in this recipe, just organic granulated sugar) when mixing the base or after the fact and just sweeten per serving. This write-up reflects the latter. I had half a quart (2 cups) of Strawberry mash in the fridge. I was going to make more strawberry ice cream with it but after a week of it just sitting in the fridge, this is what it went into.
There are actually four recipes on this page. Stop and go wherever you'd like.
Ingredients - Strawberry Syrup Mash
1 lb fresh strawberries, core/stem removed
1/2 c sugar
Mash the strawberries, use an immersion blender, or blend it all together in a food processor.
(optional) Add 1-2 tbsp of fresh lemon juice if you want to preserve the red color of the strawberries.
At this point, you could skip the lemonade part of this recipe and add a 14-oz can of coconut milk to make coconut strawberry ice cream. But, that's an experiment for another day.
Ingredients - Strawberry Lemonade
1/2 fresh lemon juice from 2 large lemons
Directions
Add the lemon juice to the strawberry syrup mash. Mix well. Refrigerate until ready to use.
For one 12 oz serving:
add 1/2 c Strawberry Lemonade base
fill mug with filtered water (or cold-brewed iced black tea for a Strawberry Arnold Palmer)
add sweetener, to taste (for this I added 1 tbsp organic granulated sugar)
Cold-brewed Black Tea
4 tsp English Breakfast tea (or 4 black tea bags)
4 cups of water
1 quart mason jar w/ lid
Combine in the mason jar and let sit overnight in the fridge.
Side note:
You can use a vegetable peeler to peel just the yellow part of the peel from the lemon and put the peels in a clean jar filled with vodka.. to make lemon extract. You can then add a simple syrup to that extract (1:1 ratio) to make limoncello. Then compost the peels when all that is done.
There are actually four recipes on this page. Stop and go wherever you'd like.
Ingredients - Strawberry Syrup Mash
1 lb fresh strawberries, core/stem removed
1/2 c sugar
Mash the strawberries, use an immersion blender, or blend it all together in a food processor.
(optional) Add 1-2 tbsp of fresh lemon juice if you want to preserve the red color of the strawberries.
At this point, you could skip the lemonade part of this recipe and add a 14-oz can of coconut milk to make coconut strawberry ice cream. But, that's an experiment for another day.
Ingredients - Strawberry Lemonade
1/2 fresh lemon juice from 2 large lemons
Directions
Add the lemon juice to the strawberry syrup mash. Mix well. Refrigerate until ready to use.
For one 12 oz serving:
add 1/2 c Strawberry Lemonade base
fill mug with filtered water (or cold-brewed iced black tea for a Strawberry Arnold Palmer)
add sweetener, to taste (for this I added 1 tbsp organic granulated sugar)
Cold-brewed Black Tea
4 tsp English Breakfast tea (or 4 black tea bags)
4 cups of water
1 quart mason jar w/ lid
Combine in the mason jar and let sit overnight in the fridge.
Side note:
You can use a vegetable peeler to peel just the yellow part of the peel from the lemon and put the peels in a clean jar filled with vodka.. to make lemon extract. You can then add a simple syrup to that extract (1:1 ratio) to make limoncello. Then compost the peels when all that is done.
Two ingredient Five-Spice Peach Ice Cream
I had an almost serious thought about how ice cream is made. Much like that fruit-at-the-bottom yogurt concept where it is just plain yogurt + jam, I thought I might try to add a finished jam (five spice peach) to the two-ingredient no-churn ice cream base. These no churn recipes are for the extra lazy. Taste-wise, you're much better off making an actual custard base for ice cream for a more balanced taste that doesn't taste overly dairy-like. The prep time is so short that from start to finish, you could be eating this ice cream in about six hours (what it takes for the mixture to set in the freezer).
Photo-wise, it doesn't look that interesting. And since the jam is essentially pureed peaches with sugar, pectin, and spices, there aren't visual orange peach bits in the ice cream. I think the "five spice peach jam" comes from the Food in Jars cookbooks.
This has the texture of an ice cream; but it lack the body and flavor depth that an egg-based custard brings to the dessert. Maybe it could be plated up with some grilled peaches. That'd be a dashing display.
Makes: 1.5 quarts
Ingredients
1 pint organic heavy cream
One 14-oz can of sweetened condensed milk
1 pint peach jam
Directions
In a large bowl, whip the heavy cream to soft peaks (about 10 minutes) with an electric whisk. If you do this step by hand it takes much longer and requires serious upper body strength.
Once soft peaks have formed, whisk in the sweetened condensed milk. Then stir in the peach jam. Make sure you break up the jam so that it is evenly distributed.
Put the ice cream mixture into quart containers and freeze for at least six hours.
Photo-wise, it doesn't look that interesting. And since the jam is essentially pureed peaches with sugar, pectin, and spices, there aren't visual orange peach bits in the ice cream. I think the "five spice peach jam" comes from the Food in Jars cookbooks.
This has the texture of an ice cream; but it lack the body and flavor depth that an egg-based custard brings to the dessert. Maybe it could be plated up with some grilled peaches. That'd be a dashing display.
Makes: 1.5 quarts
Ingredients
1 pint organic heavy cream
One 14-oz can of sweetened condensed milk
1 pint peach jam
Directions
In a large bowl, whip the heavy cream to soft peaks (about 10 minutes) with an electric whisk. If you do this step by hand it takes much longer and requires serious upper body strength.
Once soft peaks have formed, whisk in the sweetened condensed milk. Then stir in the peach jam. Make sure you break up the jam so that it is evenly distributed.
Put the ice cream mixture into quart containers and freeze for at least six hours.
Two Ingredient Strawberry Ice Cream
You know when you've spent too much time on Instagram or Pinterest when your tired brain thinks that Buzzfeed's Tasty videos are onto something with their "2 ingredient' ice cream recipes. Then you actually try them out and find that the ratio of dairy to everything else is too high. This strawberry ice cream tasted a lot like strawberry-infused cream than an actual strawberry ice cream, despite having mixed in 2 lbs of strawberries into the batch.
While this is a no-churn recipe, you do need a food processor or blender.
Tasty's recipe ratio:
1 pint heavy cream, beaten to soft peaks
One 14-oz can of sweetened condensed milk
And, strangely, that is it for their "two ingredients". I put in more than their suggested amount of mix-ins into this batch. Tasty only uses 1 cup of chopped strawberries. I can't imagine how bad their ice cream tastes.
To this, I added 1 lb frozen strawberries (coarsely chopped in the food processor) plus 1 lb fresh strawberries, an additional half cup of organic granulated sugar to balance out the tartness of some of the strawberries.
And even with that, it didn't really have that strong strawberry flavor.
The flipside to this is to make an actual churn-based recipe and make a vanilla custard base, like what Alton Brown would suggest.
This batch made 2 quarts. While just tasting like frozen strawberry-infused ice cream, it lasted less than a week. What can I say. I really like ice cream.
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| The Foodening Blog - Two Ingredient Strawberry Ice Cream |
Tasty's recipe ratio:
1 pint heavy cream, beaten to soft peaks
One 14-oz can of sweetened condensed milk
And, strangely, that is it for their "two ingredients". I put in more than their suggested amount of mix-ins into this batch. Tasty only uses 1 cup of chopped strawberries. I can't imagine how bad their ice cream tastes.
To this, I added 1 lb frozen strawberries (coarsely chopped in the food processor) plus 1 lb fresh strawberries, an additional half cup of organic granulated sugar to balance out the tartness of some of the strawberries.
And even with that, it didn't really have that strong strawberry flavor.
The flipside to this is to make an actual churn-based recipe and make a vanilla custard base, like what Alton Brown would suggest.
This batch made 2 quarts. While just tasting like frozen strawberry-infused ice cream, it lasted less than a week. What can I say. I really like ice cream.
Kitchen Notes: Garden Seed Starts, 2019
This spring I have been 'composting' a lot of the vegetable scraps directly into the raised garden beds to amend the soil. Generally this just involves digging a hole, dropping in some non-meat food waste, enslaving red wrigglers (worms) that I find lurking under my patio pots, and covering it with topsoil. A week or month later, the food is gone and I have nice dark rich earthy-smelly soil. Perfect for...
Despite the very warm start of May, I have not planted anything new in that raised bed. I should probably move all the flowering bulbs out of the vegetable garden bed into its own area at some point. Half of my rosemary bush on the side yard died when some boards from the fence fell on it during winter. Oh, and I picked up a rhubarb plant. That'll get put into the side yard as soon as I dig out the Prima apple tree that didn't seem to have survived our freak spring snow days in April. It's just as well.
The gold potato "seed" starts from sprouted potatoes in my pantry seems to be leafing very well. For months they were in a pot on the backyard side-of-the-house that gets less than four hours of sunlight, also covered by leaf mulch. Just last week I moved the pot to the backyard patio and it seems to be doing well.
The russet potato "seed" starts don't seem to be doing much at all. How long do I have to wait until the sprouts turn into leaves?
As for other plant "cuttings", I have some romaine lettuce that is regrowing its leaves nicely after having eaten the rest in a salad, I wonder if I should plant them down into soil now that they're starting to grow roots in the yogurt cups I have the plants in.
Despite the very warm start of May, I have not planted anything new in that raised bed. I should probably move all the flowering bulbs out of the vegetable garden bed into its own area at some point. Half of my rosemary bush on the side yard died when some boards from the fence fell on it during winter. Oh, and I picked up a rhubarb plant. That'll get put into the side yard as soon as I dig out the Prima apple tree that didn't seem to have survived our freak spring snow days in April. It's just as well.
The gold potato "seed" starts from sprouted potatoes in my pantry seems to be leafing very well. For months they were in a pot on the backyard side-of-the-house that gets less than four hours of sunlight, also covered by leaf mulch. Just last week I moved the pot to the backyard patio and it seems to be doing well.
The russet potato "seed" starts don't seem to be doing much at all. How long do I have to wait until the sprouts turn into leaves?
As for other plant "cuttings", I have some romaine lettuce that is regrowing its leaves nicely after having eaten the rest in a salad, I wonder if I should plant them down into soil now that they're starting to grow roots in the yogurt cups I have the plants in.
Cornbread with Fresh/Frozen Corn Kernels
Just how many cornbread recipes does one need anyways? Well, here is another and was less sweet than it should because I put in two tablespoons of the half cup that it originally called for. While it is made with corn and cornmeal, it is also made with wheat flour; so, definitely not gluten free. Recipe ratio comes from The Spruce Eats. I typically get my cornmeal in the bulk bins at the grocery store. Not many ways one can screw up cornbread, except maybe cook it for too long. I didn't have any half 'n half on hand, but I did have milk and heavy cream, so I used half of each.
Ingredients
1 c yellow cornmeal
1 c unbleached all purpose flour
1 tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 eggs, beaten
up to 1/2 c organic granulated sugar
1 c half and half; or 1/2 c heavy cream + 1/2 c whole milk
1 c sweet corn, fresh or previously frozen (thawed/drained)
Directions
Preheat oven to 400 F
Grease (with butter) an 8" x 8" baking dish.
Is there a purpose to the order of operations? Hmm, I wonder. Sift all the dry ingredients together. Then add the eggs, half 'n half, and sweet corn. Mix until just combined.
Pour into prepared pan and bake for 30 minutes.
Ingredients
1 c yellow cornmeal
1 c unbleached all purpose flour
1 tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 eggs, beaten
up to 1/2 c organic granulated sugar
1 c half and half; or 1/2 c heavy cream + 1/2 c whole milk
1 c sweet corn, fresh or previously frozen (thawed/drained)
Directions
Preheat oven to 400 F
Grease (with butter) an 8" x 8" baking dish.
Is there a purpose to the order of operations? Hmm, I wonder. Sift all the dry ingredients together. Then add the eggs, half 'n half, and sweet corn. Mix until just combined.
Pour into prepared pan and bake for 30 minutes.
Tapioca Pudding
This recipe ratio comes from Bob's Red Mill and the pudding has a really fluffy texture; of course, this is from beating the egg whites. I would post a pic but it's just a vanilla pudding with tapioca in it.
Makes 6 (1 cup) servings
Ingredients
1/3 c small pearl tapioca, soaked in 3/4 c water for 30 minutes
2 1/4 c whole milk
1/4 tsp sea salt
1/2 c sugar, divided
2 eggs, separated
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
Directions
Soak tapioca in water in a saucepan that can hold at least 2 quarts. Don't drain any remaining water.
Add milk, salt, 1/4 c sugar, and stir frequently over medium heat until boilings. Then simmer over very low heat for 10-15 minutes.
In a small dish, beat the egg yolks. Temper the egg yolks by gradually adding some (maybe a tablespoon?) of the tapioca mixture to the yolks and stirring before adding the egg yolks+tapioca to the pot. Whisk together This is what gives the pudding its yellow-ish color.
As it is cooking over very low heat, beat the egg whites in a separate bowl with 1/4 c sugar until soft peaks form.
Once the tapioca has thickened, turn off the heat (momentarily). Stir or whisk in the beaten egg whites, about 1/4 cup at a time until it is well combined.
Turn heat back on to a low setting and cook for 3 minutes.
Remove from heat. Whisk in vanilla extract. Let cool before eating.
Makes 6 (1 cup) servings
Ingredients
1/3 c small pearl tapioca, soaked in 3/4 c water for 30 minutes
2 1/4 c whole milk
1/4 tsp sea salt
1/2 c sugar, divided
2 eggs, separated
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
Directions
Soak tapioca in water in a saucepan that can hold at least 2 quarts. Don't drain any remaining water.
Add milk, salt, 1/4 c sugar, and stir frequently over medium heat until boilings. Then simmer over very low heat for 10-15 minutes.
In a small dish, beat the egg yolks. Temper the egg yolks by gradually adding some (maybe a tablespoon?) of the tapioca mixture to the yolks and stirring before adding the egg yolks+tapioca to the pot. Whisk together This is what gives the pudding its yellow-ish color.
As it is cooking over very low heat, beat the egg whites in a separate bowl with 1/4 c sugar until soft peaks form.
Once the tapioca has thickened, turn off the heat (momentarily). Stir or whisk in the beaten egg whites, about 1/4 cup at a time until it is well combined.
Turn heat back on to a low setting and cook for 3 minutes.
Remove from heat. Whisk in vanilla extract. Let cool before eating.
Apple Cider Vinegar & Honey Shrub
This batch made roughly 16 oz of syrup and seems to have the right "sweetness" for a drinking vinegar. What to do with the leftover grated apple? I am composting it in the vegetable garden.
Ingredients
One apple, cored not peeled
1/2 c organic granulated sugar
1/4 c raw honey
1 c raw/organic apple cider vinegar (ACV)
Directions
1. Combine ACV, honey, and sugar into a clean 1-quart mason jar.
2. Grate apple and add to jar.
3. Cap the jar and store in refrigerator for 2-3 days.
4. Strain vinegar syrup into a clean jar.
To Use
Mix 3 tablespoons of vinegar syrup with 8 oz of sparkling water.
Ingredients
One apple, cored not peeled
1/2 c organic granulated sugar
1/4 c raw honey
1 c raw/organic apple cider vinegar (ACV)
Directions
1. Combine ACV, honey, and sugar into a clean 1-quart mason jar.
2. Grate apple and add to jar.
3. Cap the jar and store in refrigerator for 2-3 days.
4. Strain vinegar syrup into a clean jar.
To Use
Mix 3 tablespoons of vinegar syrup with 8 oz of sparkling water.
Vegan Mushroom Jerky / Slow-Roasted Mushroom Strips
As far as snacks go, this was so time consuming with little reward (remember the zucchini chips?) that it makes me almost want to buy a food dehydrator. I doubt I'll ever use fresh mushrooms this way again. It's no wonder all the mushroom jerky recipes call for those large portobello mushrooms. The mushroom slices shrink by more than half, which is why you'd want to use the largest mushrooms as possible. I, however, did not have portobello mushrooms and used fresh shitake mushrooms instead. Recipe ratio comes from Food52.
Ingredients
2 tbsp low sodium tamari soy sauce
3 tbsp apple cider vinegar
2 tbsp maple syrup
1 tbsp olive oil
1/2 tsp smoked paprika
1/4 tsp ground chili powder
x large or medium portobello mushrooms
Directions
Slice mushrooms to 1/4" thickness. Add to marinade. Refrigerate for 8 hours or overnight.
Preheat oven to 250 F and line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Arrange mushroom slices on the sheets.
Bake for 1.5 to 2 hours, or until the pieces have shrunken and are dried out. You could flip the slices at the midway time mark, but I didn't bother.
Certainly flavorful and I ate half before I stored the rest in the fridge.
As a snack food, this is a waste of time for so few calories.
I added the remainder of the finished batch to a soup and it was delicious.
Ingredients
2 tbsp low sodium tamari soy sauce
3 tbsp apple cider vinegar
2 tbsp maple syrup
1 tbsp olive oil
1/2 tsp smoked paprika
1/4 tsp ground chili powder
x large or medium portobello mushrooms
Directions
Slice mushrooms to 1/4" thickness. Add to marinade. Refrigerate for 8 hours or overnight.
Preheat oven to 250 F and line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Arrange mushroom slices on the sheets.
Bake for 1.5 to 2 hours, or until the pieces have shrunken and are dried out. You could flip the slices at the midway time mark, but I didn't bother.
Certainly flavorful and I ate half before I stored the rest in the fridge.
As a snack food, this is a waste of time for so few calories.
I added the remainder of the finished batch to a soup and it was delicious.
Restaurant Style Salsa
Ever since finding this recipe ratio on the internet, it has been my go-to quick salsa for chips, nachos, tacos, and potlucks. It is so easy to prepare (with a food processor) that I have canned fewer jars of salsa this year; only a half batch of hatch chile salsa. But, this recipe doesn't require hatch chiles at all. I usually use one bunch of cilantro, leafy green parts only; and this is significantly more volume than the half cup the recipe calls for. If you want the cilantro to be finer, roughly chop with a knife before adding to the food processor.
Ingredients
Two 14.5 oz cans of roasted diced tomatoes w/ green chiles
1-2 garlic cloves, minced
2 green jalapenos, halved and seeds removed
1/4 tsp organic granulated sugar
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 c fresh cilantro, finely chopped
1/2 lime, juiced
Directions
Pulse together in a the bowl of a food processor with the sharp/serrated blade: all the ingredients.
Refrigerate for an hour before serving to let the flavors mingle together.
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| TheFoodening Blog - Restaurant Style Salsa |
Two 14.5 oz cans of roasted diced tomatoes w/ green chiles
1-2 garlic cloves, minced
2 green jalapenos, halved and seeds removed
1/4 tsp organic granulated sugar
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 c fresh cilantro, finely chopped
1/2 lime, juiced
Directions
Pulse together in a the bowl of a food processor with the sharp/serrated blade: all the ingredients.
Refrigerate for an hour before serving to let the flavors mingle together.
Slow Cooker Minestrone
I suppose it is possible to overcook the vegetables on this, though it wouldn't be any worse than reheating the soup. If you are going to add some type of pasta to this, I suggest cooking the pasta separately, then adding cooked pasta to the serving bowl. There is a lot of flexibility as to what goes into this vegetable soup; though most notably it's root vegetables + beans + pasta.
Ingredients
1.5 quarts vegetable/chicken/beef broth
Two 14.5 oz cans of diced/crushed/whole tomatoes
One 15 oz can beans (cannelini or white/red kidney beans)
2 organic carrots, diced
2 organic celery ribs, diced
1 zucchini, diced
3 garlic cloves, minced or finely chopped
1 cup green beans, fresh or frozen (optional)
1 lb fresh spinach leaves (optional)
Spices
1 tbsp fresh or dried parsley
1.5 tsp fresh or dried oregano
1 tsp fresh or dried thyme
sea salt, to taste (about 1 tsp)
freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Pasta
1/2 c macaroni, fusili, or other small shaped pasta, cooked separately
Directions
Add broth, vegetables (except the spinach), beans, and spices to the slow cooker. Cook on low for 8 hours.
Cook macaroni or fusili pasta separately. Drain. Set aside until ready to eat.
Add spinach leaves and cooked pasta to crockpot at least 20 minutes before serving.
Ingredients
1.5 quarts vegetable/chicken/beef broth
Two 14.5 oz cans of diced/crushed/whole tomatoes
One 15 oz can beans (cannelini or white/red kidney beans)
2 organic carrots, diced
2 organic celery ribs, diced
1 zucchini, diced
3 garlic cloves, minced or finely chopped
1 cup green beans, fresh or frozen (optional)
1 lb fresh spinach leaves (optional)
Spices
1 tbsp fresh or dried parsley
1.5 tsp fresh or dried oregano
1 tsp fresh or dried thyme
sea salt, to taste (about 1 tsp)
freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Pasta
1/2 c macaroni, fusili, or other small shaped pasta, cooked separately
Directions
Add broth, vegetables (except the spinach), beans, and spices to the slow cooker. Cook on low for 8 hours.
Cook macaroni or fusili pasta separately. Drain. Set aside until ready to eat.
Add spinach leaves and cooked pasta to crockpot at least 20 minutes before serving.
Chocolate Chip Crunch Cookies
This recipe presumably comes from the "Murder She Baked" film, produced by Hallmark. They're a great tasting cookie with crispy edges. If you use real butter, eggs, and sugar in the recipe, each cookie comes out to be roughly 135 calories or so. And, simply eating just one with milk is not possible. The butter is likely to be the most expensive ingredient in this batch. Using a 1/4 cup ice cream scoop can get you uniformly shaped cookies. In retrospect, these weren't as crunchy as I had imagined and I probably should have added in the crushed corn flakes at the same time as the chocolate chips.
Makes: 35 cookies
Ingredients
1 c unsalted butter, melted
2 c corn flakes, crushed
2 eggs, beaten
2 tsp vanilla extract
2.5 c all purpose flour, unsifted
1 c organic unbleached granulated sugar
1 c light brown sugar
1 tsp sea salt
2 tsp baking soda
1.5 c semi-sweet chocolate chips
Directions
Preheat oven to 375 F
Melt butter and let cool slightly before mixing in with white sugar, brown sugar, vanilla, and beaten eggs.
In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, salt, and baking soda. Add this into the butter mixture and stir to combine until no flour powder remains. Stir in crushed corn flakes and chocolate chips.
Spoon or use a small ice cream scoop to drop rounded balls of dough onto a baking tray. For a half-sheet pan, I baked these in batches of six per tray.
(I only own one tray, so at 10 minutes per day you can imagine how long this took to bake.)
Bake for 10 minutes and let cool on racks.
Makes: 35 cookies
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| The Foodening Blog: Chocolate Chip Crunch Cookies |
1 c unsalted butter, melted
2 c corn flakes, crushed
2 eggs, beaten
2 tsp vanilla extract
2.5 c all purpose flour, unsifted
1 c organic unbleached granulated sugar
1 c light brown sugar
1 tsp sea salt
2 tsp baking soda
1.5 c semi-sweet chocolate chips
Directions
Preheat oven to 375 F
Melt butter and let cool slightly before mixing in with white sugar, brown sugar, vanilla, and beaten eggs.
In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, salt, and baking soda. Add this into the butter mixture and stir to combine until no flour powder remains. Stir in crushed corn flakes and chocolate chips.
Spoon or use a small ice cream scoop to drop rounded balls of dough onto a baking tray. For a half-sheet pan, I baked these in batches of six per tray.
(I only own one tray, so at 10 minutes per day you can imagine how long this took to bake.)
Bake for 10 minutes and let cool on racks.
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