Homemade: How to Make Rice Milk from Scratch

I started this recipe with the idea of making rice milk from scratch. How hard could it be? It's just water and rice together.. right? Well, it turns out that ratios are everything and what came out of this experiment looks a lot like I just puréed plain rice congee in a food prep and added a touch of sugar and some flavoring. I got onto this idea since commercially available rice milk has all these other things in it that shouldn't be there, such as expeller pressed safflower oil and/or sunflower oil and/or canola oil, and tricalcium phosphate.

The sugar content in a quart of plain rice milk (Costco has 24 grams, Trader Joe's has 40 grams) is a bit high, considering that there are roughly 4 grams of sugar per teaspoon. The average cup of plain, unsweetened rice milk should be around 50 calories; but as a beverage, it has to compete with cow's milk and other "milk" products, so with all the fillers, it is now 160 calories per cup. Sugar is added and that fakes the brain out into thinking it is getting something good. I started this batch with 2 tbsp organic sugar, which comes out to just over 60 calories per cup. 

This particular batch yielded 3 quarts of not-quite rice milk. I wasn't terribly keen on using an exact measurement of water in the cooking phase.

Onto the recipe...

Ingredients

1 c jasmine rice (white or brown, doesn't matter)
2 qt filtered water
sweetener, to taste
1 tsp vanilla extract or almond extract (optional)
pinch of sea salt, to taste (optional)

Directions

1. Start off by putting the rice into a large pot and rinsing the rice a few times. Strain out this liquid and cover the rice with filtered water. Cover and let sit up to 12 hours or overnight.

2. Strain out the water and add two quarts of filtered water to the rice. Bring to a boil, then simmer for 40 minutes on low heat. Remove from heat and let cool. 

2a. (optional) Add any additional flavorings or seasonings.

3. Process in batches in a blender or 7-cup food prep machine. Strain liquid through a mesh
strainer into a serving receptacle of your choice. I am using a 2-liter glass carafe, which I have partly filled with two cups of filtered water to help dilute the rice slurry.

Seriously, I thought I was going to make rice milk. I hadn't counted on the rice totally disintegrating. This is much harder to get the proper consistency for drinking than it is to make almond milk or soy milk from scratch.

[Update: 2014-03-29, this recipe needs work! Do not use. Unless you want a gallon of some very slushy rice goo...]

Slow Cooker Corned Beef and Cabbage

This is the only time of the year when beef brisket goes on sale for St. Patrick's Day. Depending on where you shop, this cut of beef can be as low as $2/lb in the Pacific Northwest and is already seasoned. This fake food holiday is celebrated in the US because of two things: alcohol and food. I mean really, what other holidays do we have where we aren't consuming these two items. Anyhow. The average cut is about three pounds and while this may seem like a lot of food for a single person, a lot of it will turn into very tasty sandwiches.
Corned beef, all sliced up after resting for 10 mins

Ingredients

3 lb beef brisket, brined
1 packet of pickling spices
3 organic carrots, cut into thirds
3 organic celery stalks, cut into thirds
1 bay leaf
1 small onion, quartered
2-3 tbsp red wine
1 green cabbage, cored and cut into wedges

Directions

1. In the bowl of the slow cooker, place brisket fat-side down, add carrots, celery, onion, bay leaf, and pickling spices. Cover and set cooker to 8 hours on LOW.

2. An hour before the timer is done, add the cabbage wedges to the top of the stewing corned beef and replace lid. Let it cook until the cabbage leaves are fork-tender.

3. Remove brisket from slow cooker and let rest on a plate for 10 minutes before carving.

Corned beef, cabbage, carrots
and a side of garlic sourdough bread

Quick Pickled Sliced Jalapenos

This recipe is easy to make and the stinky cloud of jalapenos dissipates quickly if you open the window or turn the fan on. I first had these on top of Indian fry bread at a local event just recently and they were pretty darn good. I also found that if you hold the jalapeno by the stem, it's much easier to slice into rings. This batch made 1.5 pints because I used more than 10 green jalapenos.

Makes: 1 pint

Ingredients

3/4 c water
3/4 c distilled white vinegar
3 tbsp organic granulated sugar
1 tbsp sea salt
1 garlic clove, crushed
1/2 tsp dried oregano
10 large jalapeno peppers, sliced into rings

Directions

1. In a medium-sized saucepan, combine water, vinegar, sugar, salt, garlic, and oregano and bring to a boil.

2. Stir in peppers and remove from heat. Let cool for 10 minutes before packing into clean glass jars. Use tongs to pack the peppers in, then pour the pickling liquid on top.

3. Refrigerate until needed.

Miso-Glazed Fish

I found this wild Alaskan cod in the freezer aisle at Trader Joe's and thought I'd try doing something different with it (other than breaded and fried). At the moment, I don't have any drinking saké in addition to the mirin I use for sauces. I mean really, mirin is a seasoned saké, typically brewed sweeter than what you'd drink out of saké cups. For its replacement in this recipe I used Chinese red rice wine.

The flavors that I'm imagining this dish to taste like is outweighed by the salt from the miso paste. I think refrigerating the raw fish in the marinade overnight is too long. At most, it should marinade for an hour; otherwise you'll lose the essence of the Alaskan cod entirely. This marinade can accommodate up to 24 oz of fish, or four 6-oz fillets.

Serves 2.

Ingredients

3/4 lb wild Alaskan cod fillets
1/4 c Chinese red rice wine (or fine saké)
1/4 c mirin
2 tbsp yellow miso paste
1 tbsp brown sugar
2 tsp sesame oil

Directions

1. In a small pan, bring mirin and rice wine to a boil and whisk in sugar and miso paste. Remove from heat. Whisk in sesame oil and set aside to cool.

2. Wash and gently pat dry the cod fillets.

3. In an 8" x 8" glass baking dish, pour in a portion of the marinade so that it coats the bottom of the dish. Gently lay the fillets on top. Then, pour the remainder of the marinade on top. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate for an hour.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

4. Place fish skin side up under the broiler, about 6" from the heat. Broil for 2-3 minutes on each side, or until the surface browns and starts to blacken in some spots. Can finish in the oven for up to 5 minutes more depending on the thickness of the fillets.

The fish is done when the flesh turns opaque and can be easily pulled apart with a fork.

This recipe is adapted from the NY Times

Kitchen Note: About that Squash

Since November I had a couple of squashes sitting on my kitchen counter. The butternut squash sat in the corner and pretty much looked as though it could have sat there for a few more months before showing any signs of degradation. The kabocha squash, on the other hand, lost its beautiful greenish-orange hue and turned into an unappetizing color. But, it too fared well for how long it sat around doing nothing. 

Now, the butternut squash has a mildly sweet taste to it and traditionally I just halve it, scoop its seeds out and bake it up with a drizzling of olive oil and brown sugar. With the kabocha squash I wanted to simulate deep frying, but since the rind cured to a very hard texture, I couldn't slice it with the knives I had on hand. In fact, I couldn't remove the stem at all before baking. Instead, I stabbed it repeatedly with a chef knife to hasten its baking time.

I ended up tossing the roasted flesh of both squashes into a slow cooker and cooked it into a nice winter soup. There is still something amiss in the flavor, but the smooth, soupy texture is there.

Ingredients

One kabocha squash, roasted (seeds, strings and rind removed)
One butternut squash, roasted (seeds, strings and rind removed)
1 quart organic chicken broth
random spices: ground lemongrass powder, garlic powder, thyme, paprika
sea salt, to taste
freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Directions

1. On a rimmed baking sheet, scoop out seeds and place halves of a butternut squash cut-side down and drizzle lightly with olive oil. On a second rimmed baking sheet, halve or stab a kabocha squash. Bake both at 400 degrees for an hour. Let cool before handling. Scoop out the flesh from both squashes and put into the bowl of a slow cooker.

2. To the slow cooker: add chicken broth, spices, salt and black pepper. Cook for 8 hours on low. Blend together with an immersion blender. Serve hot.

3. If it is too thick, thin the soup with more broth.

Makes 3 quarts.

Simple Israeli Couscous Salad

This is essentially the same as the Peruvian Quinoa Salad recipe, except it uses a box of Israeli couscous (from Trader Joe's) instead. This dish can be served warm or cold. The processed grain does come from Israel, according to Wikipedia. It is hard wheat flour that has been shaped into tiny balls or pearls and toasted in the oven.
Israeli couscous salad

Ingredients

Serves 4.

1 1/2 c Israeli couscous
14.5 oz organic tomatoes, diced
1 3/4 c organic chicken broth or water
2 organic bell peppers, diced
1 tbsp olive oil or unsalted butter
sea salt, to taste

Directions

1. In a heavy-bottomed pot, heat olive oil on medium-high heat and toast the couscous until it is lightly browned. This step can be skipped. It merely adds some color to the otherwise creamy white couscous.

2. Add water or broth to the couscous and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer covered for 15 minutes or until all the liquid has been absorbed.

3. Add tomatoes and their juice, if any, and the bell peppers. Stir to combine. Remove from heat and serve warm.

Stovetop Apple Sauce

This recipe tastes better after the spice and flavors have had time to mellow in the fridge before canning. When I first tasted the batch after using the immersion blender, it tasted sour to me even though I only used the juice of half a lemon. I made this sauce at the same time I was making apple butter because the slow cooker was filled to the brim already with apples for the apple butter.

Red rome apples were used since I was unable to get winesap apples from the Portland Nursery during their apple tasting event last October. The only similarities between the two varieties of apples are that they are dark red in color and are a firm and not sweet tasting apple. The dark red color doesn't have an impact on either of these recipes since the skin is removed and discarded.

For medium-sized apples, one pound of apples with make approximately one pint of sauce (or butter).

Ingredients

at least 2 lbs of peeled, cored, sliced apples (any variety)
1 c. filtered water
1/2 c. brown sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
juice of 1/2 a large lemon

Directions

1. In a lidded pot, add all the ingredients and cook on medium heat for 25 minutes, stirring occasionally.

2. Remove from heat and use an immersion blender to pureé the sauce so that no large chunks remain.

3. Store in the refrigerator, covered, until ready to use. Or, can using hot sterilized jars and lids. Process in a water bath for 20 minutes.

Coconut Mochi Cake

This is not the dessert for anyone trying to cut back on sugar. Even though I reduced the sugar, it still tastes rather sweet. It's the perfect rainy day treat to nibble on with a hot cup of tea.

Ingredients

1 lb sweet rice flour (1 box of Mochiko)
1 3/4 c. organic granulated sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp sea salt
2 (14 oz) cans unsweetened light coconut milk
5 large eggs
1/4 c. unsalted butter, melted
1 tsp vanilla extract

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

1. In a large bowl, whisk together rice flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt.

2. In another large bowl, whisk together eggs, coconut milk, unsalted butter, and vanilla extract.

3. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and mix until a smooth batter forms.

4. Pour batter into an ungreased 13" x 9" baking dish.

5. Bake for 1.5 hours. Let cool for 1.5 hours before cutting into squares and serving.

Source: Gourmet Magazine, May 2005

Kitchen Notes: Hard Apple Cider

A month after I started fermenting a batch, I thought I should write up the recipe.. you know, in case I get the urge to make more. I didn't actually start with a recipe; just a process. Despite Washington state being a leading producer of apples in the US, procuring fresh pressed apple cider is not cheap. For raw, unpasteurized cider, it costed $4/half gallon locally procured. 
2013-11-08, day 2 fermentation going strong

Timeline

Nov 3 - procured equipment (1 gallon glass jug w/ cap, fermentation lock)
Nov 7 - added yeast to fresh sweet cider
Nov 16 - added 1/8 tsp pectin enzyme (for liquid clarity)
Dec 1 - CO2 has stopped and the water in the fermentation lock has leveled out
Dec 14 - a lot of sediment at the bottom

Batch 1 Ingredients

1 gallon fresh pressed apple cider (raw, unpastuerized)
1/2 packet champagne yeast

I used the potassium metabisulfite powder (also known as a Campden tablet) to sterilize the gallon-size glass jug, as well as the liquid funnel, fermentation lock, stopper, etc. Wikipedia says that you can also use this stuff to neutralize tear gas. I didn't add any directly to the cider to kill off the wild yeast. I'll just have to wait and see what happens to the end product.

After two weeks at an average kitchen temp of 62 degrees F, the batch stopped producing CO2. At the moment, all I need to do is transfer the fermented liquid to clean containers and then maybe let that sit for another three months.

This process is a result of looking at the recipes at Imbibe Magazine. Nearly every site says to pasteurize the cider with heat (not to let it boil) or use a Campden tablet. I did not do this step. There's a chance that the wild yeast will make the cider taste better, or worse. I want to see what impact the wild yeast has on it. Besides, I have another gallon of raw sweet cider in the freezer if I were to make a second batch.

2013-12-14, have not touched the cider. It's still in the fermenting container. Has a much lighter, blonde color after the pectin enzyme was added. And, definitely does not smell like sweet cider anymore. Smells alcoholic.


Roasted Carrots

A lot of foods are tastier when roasted: garlic, bacon, bell peppers, tomatoes, eggplants, etc. I usually have carrots in the fridge as a stock-making component, or to add to soups and stews. Because carrots are really low in calories (25 per medium carrot), it seems like a lot of trouble to bake them. Nevertheless, here is the recipe.

In the Pacific NW, I grow thyme outside and it is winter hardy. There has already been a dusting of snow and nearly two weeks of freezing temperatures. The plant seems to be doing fine.

Ingredients

a bunch of organic carrots, trimmed and split lengthwise
2 tbsp olive oil
fresh thyme leaves
1/4 tsp kosher salt, or to taste
freshly ground black pepper

Directions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

1. Wash the carrots. No need to peel them. Trim off the ends, then halve the carrots lengthwise. Place in a single layer on a rimmed baking sheet. Pour a few tablespoons of olive oil on top of the carrots and toss the carrots to coat with oil.

2. Sprinkle on a generous amount of fresh thyme leaves. Add salt and black pepper.

3. Bake for 30-40 minutes.

Simple Stovetop Mac and Cheese

There are times when I reach for that 99-cent box of mac 'n' cheese at the store and pause for a long time on the cheese sauce ingredient list. Surely, there must be a better way to get my fix for this besides making a huge batch of it and then freezing individual portions. Besides, this is one dish that doesn't taste all that great reheated, or frozen then reheated for that matter.

Ingredients

1/2 lb elbow macaroni
10 oz shredded cheese, preferably cheddar
2 eggs
6 oz evaporated milk
1/2 tsp hot sauce
3/4 tsp dry mustard
1 tsp kosher salt
4 tbsp unsalted butter
freshly ground black pepper

Directions

1. Bring to a boil in a large pot enough water to cook macaroni. When pasta is al-dente or almost soft, drain and put back into the same pot. Add butter to pasta and stir until melted.

2. Add egg mixture to the pasta and stir to combine. Add shredded cheese and stir until melted.

Measurements can be halved to make fewer servings. You can make this with unsweetened rice milk. I've read elsewhere that you can simmer a cup of rice milk until it is more concentrated like an evaporated milk substitute; but, why not just use 6 oz of rice milk instead. After all, rice milk is just the byproduct of ground rice and water. I would not go so far as to use a cheese substitute for the cheese part. The texture would just not be the same.

Source: Alton Brown

Mulled Apple Cider

This recipe is pretty simple and is a crowd favorite for any autumn or winter holiday. It can be prepared on the stove (over low-medium heat) or in a slow cooker (4 hours on low).

Ingredients

1 gallon fresh pressed apple juice or apple cider
peel of one navel orange
1 tsp whole cloves
1 tsp whole allspice berries
2 cinnamon sticks

Directions

Combine all ingredients into a pot and let simmer over low heat.

Slow Cooker: Beef and Vegetable Soup

Soups are good make-ahead meals. This batch makes about three quarts of soup. I thought it tasted a bit spicy, so I may leave out the paprika and black pepper next time.

Ingredients

1 lb beef stew meat
1 qt organic vegetable or beef broth
2 14-oz cans of organic diced tomatoes
4 organic carrots, sliced
3 potatoes, diced
1 oz red wine
1/4 c unbleached white flour
1/2 c pearl barley (optional)

herbs & spices:
1 garlic clove, chopped
1 whole bay leaf
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1 tsp paprika (optional)
1/2 tsp organic granulated sugar (optional, if soup tastes acidic)

Directions

1. Combine ingredients except for flour and pearl barley in the slow cooker, starting with the chopped vegetables, followed by meat, herbs and spices.

2. Cook for 6 hours on "high".

3. (optional) In a separate pot, bring a 1.5 cups of water to boil. Add pearl barley, cover the pot and cook on low-medium for 45 minutes. Turn off heat. Fluff with a fork and add to slow cooker. Stir to distribute the pearl barley evenly throughout the soup.

Garlic Bread Sticks

Let's say that you have a bag and a half of unused hot dog buns. What to do with them? For the most part, it is just bread and not just any sort of bread. It's the kind of bread that one eats meat with. Why not add a some garlic powder and butter?

There are two ways to do this. The first is to use tin foil and bake them until the butter melts and the garlic powder gives its essence to the bread.

The second method is by stove top and is just as easy to do. First you need a flat grill pan or 10" skillet. Basically, a pan large enough to accommodate four halves of hot dog buns.

By the way, the same can be done with leftover hamburger buns too.

Ingredients

hot dog buns, halved lengthwise
unsalted butter
garlic powder
kosher salt, to taste

Directions

If your hot dog buns don't already come split in the middle, do so with a sharp knife and slather the flat sides of the buns with butter and sprinkle with garlic powder and salt.

Place butter-side down onto a hot skillet and fry until the bread is lightly golden brown. Remove from heat and eat.

Mildly Spicy Cheese Sauce (for Nachos)

Ever have leftover parts of food items from a BBQ? This is one easy recipe that uses those leftover slices of bulk cheese. 

Ingredients

8-10 cheddar cheese slices, thinly sliced
1/2 c half 'n half or milk
2 tbsp diced green chilies
2 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp smoked paprika
1 tbsp cornstarch

Directions

1. Toss the cheese and cornstarch together until the cheese is evenly coated. 

2.  In a small nonstick pot, melt the cheese over low heat. Add 1/4 c of the dairy and stir occasionally. Add chilies and spices. Stir to blend together. Add remaining dairy. Stir until cheese has melted. Pour over nachos or serve as a cheese dip. 

Herbed Focaccia Bread

This year I have been making a lot of different breads. In a 4-person household, we have already gone through more than 50# of flour this year, though not all of it from my bread making experiments. This recipe ratio and process comes from the Herbfarm Cookbook. The HerbFarm is a farm-to-table restaurant on Seattle's eastside.
Herbed Focaccia Bread, fresh from the oven
Ingredients

2 cups lukewarm water (110 degrees F)
2 1/2 tsp active dry yeast
2 tbsp coarsely chopped fresh rosemary (two large sprigs, stems removed)
2 tbsp coarsely chopped fresh sage
1 tbsp coarsely chopped fresh thume
1 1/4 tsp kosher salt
4 1/2 c King Arthur bread flour, plus more if kneading by hand
3 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil

Directions


1. Add yeast to warm water and let sit for a few minutes to bloom (foam up); then add half the herb mix to it. Set aside.

2. Measure out 4.5 cups of bread flour and whisk together in a large mixing bowl with kosher salt.. Pour in yeast-herb water. From outer-to-inner, use a rubber spatula to gently combine the water and flour together. This makes a very shaggy looking dough. On a lightly floured surface, turn the dough out and knead 8-10 minutes until smooth and elastic. For a warm, humid day, this dough came together surprisingly easy. Roll it into a ball and put it into a clean mixing bowl. Set a large plate on top and let it rise until doubled in volume for 1.5 hours.

3. In a separate large mixing bowl, mix together olive oil and remaining herbs. After the first rise, empty the dough into the bowl with the herbs and punch down. Let rise a second time for 45 minutes.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F with a pizza stone or tile.

4. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Pour out blob of dough from the bowl onto the parchment paper. The herbs and oil should be on the top part of the dough. Spread out the dough so that it is rectangular or oval. Use your fingers to create dimples in the dough.

5. Transfer the dough with the parchment paper to the pizza stone and bake for 25 minutes.

6. Let cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes.

Kale Chips, the easier way

Nearly year-round, both Trader Joe's and Costco carry bags of pre-washed, ready-to-use fresh kale leaves. This takes a lot of the prep work for these chips away since all you need to do now is remove whatever stems are still attached to the leaves. By the end of summer, the stems are usually thick and woody and not terribly good for eating.
Fresh kale ready to be baked in the oven
In two 5-quart mixing bowls, separate one Trader Joe's bag of fresh kale leaves into equal portions. With each bowl, you'll be able to spread the leaves in a single layer across two 17" x 11" rimmed cookie sheets. 

Add a teaspoon of olive oil to each bowl and work the oil onto the leaves with your hands.

If you are going to lightly salt these, use less than 1/4 tsp of regular table salt or sea salt. A little bit of salt goes a long way. I used a Himalayan pink salt that I ground into a finer texture using a mortar and pestle. You don't have to do this. I just wanted to see what it would taste like. 
Kale chips, ready to eat!

Bake in a pre-heated 350 degrees F oven for 9-10 minutes.

Baked Nachos with Black Beans and Sundried Tomatoes

For a rainy August day, this dish really hit the spot. I thought I'd add in some sun-dried tomatoes for flavor and color contrast. I found that the shallowest oven-safe dish I had to use was a pie plate, imagine that. If I make this again, I think I will try making a cheese sauce for the nachos.

Ingredients

some quantity of organic tortilla chips
a large quantity of a cheese (jack cheese)
an equal portion of another cheese (grass-fed sharp cheddar cheese)
6-8 sun-dried tomato strips, roughly chopped
1/2 can of organic black beans, rinsed and drained

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F

Layer ingredients starting with chips at the bottom, followed by cheese, then beans and some sun-dried tomatoes. Repeat until all the ingredients are used up.

Bake for 20 minutes, or until all the cheese has melted.

Ravioli Filling #2 - Lobster Mushroom/Sundried Tomato/Ricotta Cheese

Ah, finally found the small square of paper I scribbled out the ingredient ratio on. This might have well just been sun-dried tomato and ricotta cheese. I couldn't taste the lobster mushrooms at all. The other flavors in this filling mixture were too too strong. Definitely in retrospect, the amount of sun-dried tomatoes was too much for this batch. And, the cheese should have been the liquidish stuff instead of the dried curds from Trader Joe's. Alas, I couldn't taste the lobster mushrooms at all. <sad face>

Ingredients

1 c dried lobster mushrooms (rehydrated and coarsely chopped)
1 tsp lemon juice
1/2 tbsp olive oil
1 garlic clove, minced
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1/2 c whole milk ricotta cheese
3-4 sun-dried tomato strips, finely chopped
1 egg white
1 tsp each fresh basil, fresh thyme, fresh rosemary, finely chopped
1 tsp each dried oregano and marjoram (if not available fresh)

Whirl all the ingredients together in a food prep until mixture resembles fine crumbs. Let chill in a covered container in the refrigerator until ready to use.

Ravioli Filling #1 - Sausage/Ricotta/Spinach

An afterthought note on the ricotta cheese. At the store there were two types of ricotta cheese. One came in a pint tub, but was nonfat ricotta cheese. I'm not sure how this is even possible since cheese is made from the coagulation of the protein and fats in dairy. The other was dry and crumbled; and notably very salty. There was so much salt in the ricotta cheese that it overpowered all other ingredients in the ravioli. I couldn't taste the spinach or the sage. And heck, the cheese was saltier than the Italian pork sausage. If you're going to procure ricotta cheese for this recipe, skip Trader Joe's. Neither of TJ's ricotta cheese products are right for making ravioli. You'll want to get a ricotta cheese made from whole milk. Anyhow, onto the Better Homes & Gardens recipe ratio.

Each ravioli uses 1 tsp of mix, so keep that in mind if you have only made one batch of ravioli pasta dough.

Makes 1 cup.

Ingredients

4 oz Italian pork sausage (if you buy the links, simply remove the casings from 2 of them)
3/4 c fresh spinach leaves, packed
1 egg yolk, lightly beaten
1/3 c ricotta cheese
1 tsp fresh sage, minced
1/8 tsp grated whole nutmeg or ground nutmeg

Directions

1. If you bought sausage links instead of bulk sausage, simply remove the casings from two of the sausages. Fry sausage over medium heat and break up the sausage as it cooks. When no more pink remains, remove the sausage to a plate and add spinach to the hot pan. Cook the spinach until it wilts. Drain off the fat, if any.

2.  In a food processor, combine the cooked sausage and spinach. Pulse until it resembles ground pork.

3. In a medium bowl, combine egg yolk, ricotta cheese, sage, nutmeg. Stir in sausage mixture. Cover and chill until needed.

This is more than enough filling to make twenty 1" ravioli, each filled with 1 tsp filling.

Basic Pasta Dough for Ravioli

This recipe ratio comes from the French Laundry cookbook. First time making ravioli, second attempt at making pasta from scratch. There are two parts to any noodle dish. The most important part, I've discovered is having a pasta dough that tastes good on its own. It's not too salty; it holds up well to being boiled, and when you eat it, the pasta says: eat more, eat more. The second part is packaging. No, not how the product starts out, but how it looks when it ends up on your plate.

For a pasta-making beginner, this dough didn't exactly come together like it does in all those YouTube videos about how to make pasta dough from scratch; but what I can tell you (and the cookbook says this, so it must be true) is that you cannot overknead the dough.

I hope you are in shape because kneading the pasta dough by hand is an upper body workout!

Ingredients

1 3/4 c (8 oz) all purpose flour
6 large egg yolks
1 large egg
1 1/2 tsp olive oil
1 tbsp milk

Directions

Mound the flour in the center of a Silpat mat or large cutting board. Make a well in the center large enough to accommodate the wet ingredients (milk, egg yolks, whole egg, and olive oil). Pour wet ingredients into the well.

Mixing. Using your fingers, break the eggs up and turn the flour in a circular motion (same direction, don't go all changing direction when incorporating the wet ingredients into the flour). Supposedly this circular motion helps to incorporate the flour into the eggs otherwise it'll be all lumpy. Eventually the mixture will get too tight to keep turning with your fingers.

At this stage, I thought I had more of the ingredients stuck to my hands than what was on the board. My hands looked as though I'd been sparring with the Pillsbury dough boy. Alas, I think this is normal. 

Kneading.  Knead the dough by pressing it in a forward motion with the heels of your hands. Do this several times until the dough doesn't feel sticky. Let the dough rest for a few minutes. Form the dough into a ball and knead it again until the dough becomes silky smooth. What was interesting that the more I kneaded the dough, the more it came off my hands and by the time I felt like I was done kneading, most of it was off my hands. 

I'm not sure that the dough ever got to the silky smooth stage from kneading; but after I let it rest in a closed plastic food storage container, the dough was smooth and pliable.

The cookbook suggests that kneading can take anywhere from 10 to 15 minutes. This might be true if you were a seasoned bread maker with massive forearms. I think this step took me longer.

Resting. You could wrap the dough in plastic wrap, but a sealable airtight plastic container will suffice.

Let the dough rest for 30 minutes to an hour before making it into something else, like noodles or ravioli.

Making. This batch of dough made 40 ravioli dumplings, though I'm sure more could have been made if I didn't waste so much figuring out the hand-cranked pasta machine. The cookbook says to take this ball of dough and cut it into thirds, then each third (roughly 5 oz each by weight) should be cut in half. The amount of dough that should be fed through the pasta machine is 2.5 oz. I used a digital kitchen scale to measure out the dough.

I ran the dough through the pasta machine starting from the largest width setting (7) to the second smallest (2). I found that the smallest setting on that machine makes a paper-thin, translucent sheet of pasta; maybe this is how filo dough is made. Run the pasta through the machine 2-3 times per knob setting, gradually making it thinner.

Most pasta recipes will tell you to fold it and turn it a quarter. I watched a YouTube video on this because I had no conceptual idea what the cookbook was talking about. I used an egg wash (1 egg yolk + water) with a pastry brush on one side of the ravioli and pressed the two sheets of pasta dough together after putting in the filling. That method worked well for sealing it.

Dumplings for Chicken Fricasse

This ingredient ratio was adapted from the Pacific Northwest the Beautiful cookbook and was used in a chicken fricassee recipe of the same book. When the stew is done, eat the dumplings first. Imagine hot and steamy bread-based dumplings drenched in a hearty chicken stew and that's what it tastes like. The dumplings are not as good through multiple reheatings and become rather dense. They are pretty much as good as they're going to get when made fresh the first day. There usually isn't as much stew liquid leftover to accommodate more dumplings.
Chicken Fricassee (imagine fried then braised chicken,
served up in its own broth)

Ingredients

2 c unbleached all-purpose flour
1 tbsp fresh sage, minced
2 sprigs of fresh thyme, leaves, coarsely chopped
1 tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp celery seed
1/2 c buttermilk
1/2 c half n half

additional water, optional if the batter is too dry

Directions

1. In a large bowl, whisk all the dry ingredients together. Add milks and stir gently to combine.

2. Drop by rounded tablespoons into simmering broth. Cook for 15-20 min, until puffy and dumplings float to the top.
The finished dumplings after cooking in the broth.
I removed them from the pot so that they could
be evenly distributed in bowls.

Green Tea Pound Cake

This recipe comes from the book Perfect Cakes by Chef Nick Malgieri. I made a few adjustments to the recipe, not much, but don't go broke buying matcha green tea powder when you can make it yourself using ordinary loose leaf green tea. Because I didn't use the bright green-colored matcha tea powder and used unbleached all-purpose flour, the cake itself had a green tea flavor and had a muddy-green color when I took it out of the oven. I also overfilled the loaf pan (the cake does rise by double its volume) and baked the cake for 15 minutes longer that what the original recipe calls for.

You don't need to buy the expensive matcha green tea powder for this recipe. If you have an electric coffee grinder, you can certainly make your own with any type of dried green tea. I used a combination of good quality green tea bags plus some Longjing loose leaf tea. The green tea powder that anyone can make is called konacha, or "powder tea". Since this is for a bread-based dessert, you don't need to get the green tea as finely milled as you can with a coffee grinder, as you might with a mochi or green tea ice cream recipe.

Makes 1 loaf (9" x 5" x 3")

Ingredients

2 c unbleached all-purpose flour
2 tbsp green tea powder
2 tsp baking powder
2 sticks unsalted butter, diced
1 1/2 c powdered sugar
5 large eggs, separated
a pinch of salt

Directions

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.  Butter and line a 9" x 5" x 3" loaf pan with parchment paper.

1. Separate the eggs into yolks and whites. A small bowl for the yolks, and  a 5-qt mixing bowl for the whites.

2. In a large bowl, sift together flour, tea powder, baking powder, and powdered sugar. Cut in butter with a pastry blender (or toss in all these ingredients in step 1 into a food processor and pulse until crumbs form). Gently fold in one egg yolk at a time with a rubber spatula.

3. Add the pinch of salt to the egg whites and beat with a balloon whisk (or use an electric mixer with a balloon whisk attachment) until medium peaks form. When you lift the whisk out of the eggs, the foam should mostly hold its shape and be white and opaque in color.

4. Gently fold the egg whites into the flour mixture until no white streaks remain.

5. Fill a prepared loaf pan with the batter half way, the cake will rise and double in volume. Bake for 50 minutes, or until a skewer comes out clean. Let it cool for 10 minutes in the pan on a rack before slicing.

Basic Yaki Udon

It could very well be that I misread the instructions on the noodle package, but I was complimented that these noodles tasted very good with how I prepared them. For the most part, yaki udon (also, yakiudon) is a Japanese-origin noodle dish which came about after the mid-1940s. At it's core, it's a noodle dish served with a special sauce (equal parts of oil and soy sauce), a meat, and vegetables. At restaurants it is typically served with cabbage, carrots, and scallions; along with a serving of cooked chicken, beef, pork, or shrimp.

If you cook the entire package of noodles, it will feed 3-4 people; so adjust the protein measurements according to how many people you are serving these noodles to.

The ingredients:

1 (9.5 oz) pkg of organic udon noodles
2-4 oz cooked protein per serving (e.g., sliced braised beef, pork, chicken, shrimp, tofu, etc)

The sauce:

4 green onions (scallions), thinly sliced
2 tbsp reduced sodium soy sauce
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp sesame oil

Directions:

1. Cook the noodles according to the package instructions; for me that means adding the noodles to a pot of boiling water (unsalted) and letting them cook to a rolling boil (foamy). Drain the noodles and rinse briefly under cold water, but don't cool the noodles down entirely.

2. In a separate large pot, heat green onions, soy sauce, olive oil and sesame oil on low-medium heat; just enough so that the oils mingle together. Add the noodles to this pot and stir with a large wooden, plastic, or rubber spatula until all the flavors are combined and the noodles are coated with the sauce. Transfer noodles to a single serving bowl or to individual bowls.

Enjoy.

(Dungeness) Crab and Corn Chowder

You can use any type of crab for this chowder, except for shore crabs. I used Dungeness crab since it's available locally and is still in season. It certainly tastes awesome with the bread I made yesterday. No idea on how heavy the crab was prior to being shelled, but it yielded 1.5 cups of cooked crab meat.

Here's a breakdown of what it costs to make this chowder from scratch:

1 Dungeness crab, cooked (roughly $8 per whole crab, about a pound)
2 white potatoes, $0.50
2 c chicken broth (1/2 quart), $1.00
2 green onion stalks (assuming 8 stalks per bunch and $0.50/bunch), $0.16
1/4 c flour (10# flour at $4), $0.02
2 tbsp unsalted butter (at $3/lb), $0.38
3 organic celery stalks (your yield may vary, this is based on a $2 bag), $0.30
salt, black pepper, and various spices, $0.25
One 16 oz bag of cut sweet corn, $1.69
2 c (16 oz) of organic half 'n' half, $2

Yield: 2 quarts (8 one-cup servings)
Total: $14.30
Cost per cup: $1.79

When ingredient sourcing, food prep, and cook time is factored into the cost, that $5 bowl of chowder you get at the restaurant is actually a pretty good deal.

Kitchen Notes: Rosemary Sourdough Bread

What a time consuming recipe, and I'm not just talking about the sourdough starter (recipe) that I started on Monday. It still had to be mixed into a dough and risen twice, and then baked for an hour. Regardless of its appearance fresh from the oven, the bread smells so good. I want to hack into it now and slather it up with the garlic butter I melted earlier for the artichokes.


Batch #1: Rosemary Sourdough Bread,
Problem: no glossy sheen to the crust
Resolution: oven needs more moisture at 400 degrees F
You know how SF sourdough has that particular crust that kind of looks like it has this magical sheen to it? I need more moisture in the oven. Fortunately, I have procured a spray bottle for the water for the second loaf that I'll get around to attempting tomorrow.

Here's what went into this loaf:

2 c all purpose unbleached flour
1 1/2 c sourdough starter
1 tbsp vital wheat gluten (Bob's Red Mill)
1/4 fresh rosemary leaves, whole and chopped
1 1/2 tsp kosher salt
1 tbsp olive oil (for the bowl that the bread will rise in)
2 tbsp unsalted butter, melted (to brush the top of the loaf before baking)

Mix all the ingredients together except for the olive oil and butter until the dough is elastic and no longer sticks to itself, the mixer, or the bowl. In a stand mixer, this took maybe 10 minutes on a very low speed. Remove dough to an oiled bowl and cover with a plate, kitchen towels, or plastic wrap. Let rise for 1.5 to 2 hours.

While you are doing this next step, preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead it again, this time, shape it into a shape you want to bake it in. I was aiming for a square and got a boule (ball shaped) again. Let this rise a second time for an hour. Score the top with a sharp knife and brush on melted butter.

Baked uncovered in a Dutch oven (Emeril just uses a baking stone or heavy baking sheet) for an hour. It still needs moisture, so use a spray bottle and mist the sides of the oven and the top of the bread maybe every 20 minutes until the bread is done. You are aiming for a chewy, golden brown crust with a spongy, sour bread inside. Misting the oven can help achieve a glossy surface on the loaf.

About that sourdough starter...

I took 1.5 cups of starter out from the jar and replaced it with 1.5 cups of AP flour plus 1.5 cups of warm water (just heat the water in the microwave for 30 seconds in a glass Pyrex measuring cup, it'll be at the perfect temp for the poolish).

The previous night (Friday), I was starting to get concerned about the starter since I hadn't actually been feeding it all week. I added in 1/3 cup warm water and 1/3 cup all purpose flour. I swear my eyes and nose could not tell the difference in the before and after. The starter still had a sour-ish, almost alcoholic smell to it (that's the yeast's byproduct). Most starter recipes will tell you to refrigerate it, well, you could also leave it out on the kitchen counter in a jar covered with a kitchen cloth if it is 50 degrees F outside and damp; inside the house during the day the temp is about 65 degrees F. When you read other people's comments on this particular recipe on AllRecipes with the yeast growing at a ridiculous rate, the ambient temperature of one's kitchen is probably above 70 degrees F.

I have the notion that once the starter successfully ferments, that's when you add in more flour+water to the starter and put it in the refrigerator. As scary as it sounds, the "wild" yeast and bacteria in the starter should be strong enough to fight off any other bacteria from growing. When it can't, like the temperature just isn't kosher for the yeast anymore (like it's too hot), that's when bad things happen (turns pink, smells rotten, grows things other than yeast, etc.) and you have to throw the starter out.

Also, if you think you have a good thing going with your starter, reserve half a cup of it and freeze it. That way if your master batch ever goes wonky, dies, or someone in the household mistakenly tosses the starter, you'll still have some to grow again. You just need to thaw it for 24 hours and add more flour+warm water to it in a glass jar so that it comes alive again; and wait at least three days for it to really get itself going again, or so I've read.

Moroccan Couscous Salad

I thought the prep for this salad was very similar to a quinoa salad, where the couscous is cooked and fresh diced vegetables are added to it, then served up warm or chilled. It's very easy to do. The longest prep time of the recipe is chopping the vegetables. This ingredient ratio is adapted from the Bon Apetit magazine. I served this with the Moroccan Roasted Chicken.

Ingredients

2 c low-sodium, organic chicken broth
8 oz Israeli couscous
1 large red pepper, seeded and diced
1 large carrot, peeled and thinly sliced
1/2 English cucumber, unpeeled and diced
1 tbsp ground ginger
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tsp ground turmeric
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground cumin
grated lemon peel from 1 lemon
juice of 1 medium lemon (2-3 tbsp)

Directions

1. In a 2 or 3 quart pot (with a lid), bring broth and spices to a boil. Add couscous, stir, and turn off heat. Cover with a lid and let it sit for 15-20 minutes, until all the liquid has been absorbed. Fluff with a fork.

2. Add vegetables, lemon juice, and lemon peel to the pot and stir to combine. Transfer couscous salad to a serving dish. Serve warm or chilled.

Quick Preserved Lemon

Preserved lemon is a common ingredient to chutneys and by itself as a condiment. I used this recipe as part of a lemon-onion sauce for some roasted chicken. Bittman of the NY Times food section uses a ratio of 2:1 for sugar to salt. I adjusted the salt down, but it was still too salty in the sauce. The salty-sweet-sour of the lemon is a good flavor though. In retrospect, I'd eliminate the added salt in the chutney recipe.

Ingredients

1 fresh lemon
1 tbsp organic granulated sugar
2 tsp kosher salt

Directions

Wash, halve and de-seed the lemon. Slice lemon into 1/4" dice and put into a glass jar with its juice. Add salt and sugar. Muddle the ingredients together, then cover and refrigerate for a few hours.

Use this in recipes that call for preserved lemon.