momshearth

Tonight's dinner was a pleasant experience. Lots of different textures and many flavors.

We started with a rich hearty soup made from a bean casserole that David's mother brought to Thanksgiving Dinner. The beans were yummy in the original recipe. But I have this penchant for transforming a previously served dish to that it's not recognizable the next time it's served. This keeps the David happy with leftovers! To make the soup I sauteed 1 cup of diced onion in about a tablespoon of sunflower oil until just soft. Then I added 1 and 1/2 cup of the mixed bean casserole (it was a mix of four different beans, onions, sugar, vinegar and mild spices), 2 cups of water, 1 teaspoon of ham bouillion, 1/2 teaspoon of Dr. Paisley's Unreasonable Hot Chili Powder, and 1 teaspoon garlic. I simmered this all togeter for about 10 minutes will I did other things. The final touch was to puree the soup with my immersion blender. Great way to put a stop the the mean hungries.

I roasted a head of Elephant Garlic in my smallest crockpot about two weeks ago. David and I eat about half the head of garlic as a spread on fresh bread. I pureed the remaining roasted garlic with about 12 ounces of Hellman's Mayonnaise to create and aioli sauce. Tonight's Tilapia was the first opportunity that I had to use it. I spread a thin layer of the aioli on the fish and then coated the fish with popcorn meal. I then fried the Tilapia in sunflower oil until cooked through and browned on both sides. Serve with Ailoi Sauce and Lemon Wedges for the diner to squeeze over the fish. The two condiments compliment each other and were important to the experience.

The Tilapia is a good find. I may have said this before, but it's worth repeating. I bought a box of individual frozen and wrapped filets packed in a sturdy box at Walmart some months ago. I know those of you who live on the coast are going "Yuck, Frozen Fish!" but here in Kansas it's difficult to get good fresh fish. Frozen Fish is no longer the fish sticks of my youth. This fish has no freezer taste. It can dry pretty easily while cooking so I have taken to spreading the fish with a bit of mayonnaise and then coating with a variety of items from crushed flavored potato chips (salt and vinegar are awesome) to cornmeal. The mayonnaise does a very good job of keeping the fish moist.

Mincemeat pie is something that had gotten bad press. Most of the time when I mention it to people I get disgusted looks. I used to love my grandmothers' Mincement pies. They were rich, flavorful, filling, and homey. Both of them were good cooks, one used storebought mincemeat adn then augmented it. The other preserved her own mincement for real meat and fruits. Mincement appeared on the Isle of Britain after the First Crusades. Those returning from the holy lands returned with the spices that provide the signature notes of this pie. It soon became associated with Christmas. Mincemeat pies were often held for two to three months. While served at Christmas Celebrations, slices would be carried to the work site to eat for lunch as well. It's a hearty dish as true mincemeat does indeed have meat in it. During the Cromwell's rule mincemeat pies were outlawed as Cromwell believed that their sole purpose was to celebrate Christmas and he had banned the celebration of Christmas as unChristian! He even sent out the local constbulary to check households for mince pies. People were jailed for creating the dish!

My pie was created from leftovers. I had slow cooked some wild goose with onions, garlic, figs and cherry brandy. It was quite nice served over couscous. But we had quite a bit left over. It was a sweet dish, with the figs and the wine so I thought it would probably work just fine for mincement. I tossed the two cups of cooked cubed goose into my food process and pulsed until the meat was chopped smaller and finer. I tossed that into a saucepan with 1 cup of apple juice, 1 cup of golden raisins, 1 cup of dates, 5 peeled and chopped medium apples, 1/4 cup of brandy, the zest and juice of two lemons, and 3/4 cup of honey. I let that simmer for a while to soften the fruits. I added water occassionally to keep the mincement from scourching. About five minutes before putting the filling into the pie crust, I shut the heat off under the filling, and then I sprinkled 1/4 cup of minute tapioca over he filling followed up with mixing the filling throughly. While preparing the dough for the pan, I let the filling sit. I prepared a batch of standard pie crust ( I now make mine with lard!) for a double crust pie. I lined a nine inch pan with dough, poured in the filling, covered with a top crust, crimped the edges, sprinkled the top of the pie generously with granulated sugar, baked the pie at 340 degrees F for 45 minutes until uniformly browned.

We let the pie cool and then dug in.

I did not add the suet that most standard recipes call for as I find that adds a cloying flavor that distracts from the dish. And besides, we don't really need the extra fat calories in our diet.

I have created this for a four year old's birthday party. He hasn't seen it yet so don't spill the beans. But I wanted to get this up on the net before I decided I didn't have time. The dinosaur scene is created from gumdrops candies. It was fun.

My mom used to make this special dish for her bridge club meetings. I would get just little nibbles of it because she found it expensive and she had limited quantities for her guests as a result. She would take a couple of cans of Carnation Sweetened Condensed Milk from which she had removed the labels and put them into lots of water in a pressure cooker. She then cooked them. I don't know how long she would cook them, but it was quite a while in the mind of the 8 year old I was. After the pan cooled, she would remove the cans from the water and place them in the refrigerator. When it came time to serve, she would cut the ends of the can. Use one lid to push the caramel through the can onto the cutting board and slice then each can's worth of yumminess into four slices. She would top each slice with sweetened whipped cream. The little snatches I was able to retrieve were wonderful. The memory is vivid. Can you tell?

I have always wanted to recreate the flavor, but as I got older and wiser, the thought of cooking the can in a pressure cooker seemed a bit dangerous to me. So, I was thrilled the other day when I read about a process that uses a slower cooker to create the caramel. The reference I found indicated that it would take about 6 hours on low in a slow cooker to come up with a very thick caramel. Putting my thinking cap on speculated that the best slow cooker for me to use would be my sixteen-ounce one. I was wrong. It doesn't have a low setting. When I check ed the sweetened condensed milk in a couple of hours it had developed an over-browned layer on the side of the pot. So, I would recommend that if you are going to only use one can of sweetened condensed milk, that you use the smallest slow cooker you can find that has a low setting. Also, this is one of the few recipes I know of for a slow cooker where you really should stir every thirty to forty five minutes. You can't leave this totally unattended.

1 13-oz can sweetened condensed milk
4 ounces of cream cheese
2 large apples, peeled, sliced and steamed in microwave for five minutes
12 to 18 ginger snaps

Dump milk into a slow cooker set at low and cook for 5 to 6 hours stirring every thirty minutes. The final result is a thick and caramelized nearly solid "goo" ( such a scholarly term!). Think, consistency and color of smooth peanut butter! Using stick blender, incorporate cream cheese into caramel.

Line 3 cup-round casserole with ginger snaps. I placed them in a single layer on the bottom and then stood some of them on edge all around the inside of the bowl. Top ginger snaps on the bottom of the casserole with the cooked apple slices. If there is any juice left from the apples, just pour it over the layer of apples. Spoon caramel cheese mixture over the apples. Cover. Chill.

Serve with sweetened whipped cream.

Makes about six servings or three DAVID sized servings.

This is a baked pudding i concocted from the pumpkins we raised on our land this year.

! cup cooked mashed pumpkin
1 Jumbo egg
2 ounces cream cheese
4 1/2-inch cubes of candied ginger
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 cup sour cream


Blend all ingredients together until smooth. Bake at 350 degrees for 40 to 50 minutes in a greased 3 cup casserole. Chill. Serve with sweetened whipped cream flavored with vanilla.

Soups have become a frequent first course for us. We usually eat a light first course shortly after David gets home. This allows the hungries to disapate a bit and permits me some time to prepare more lovely dinners because I am not rushed by the hunger. But it's not just about eating something, it's about awakening the palate. Most of the time, I follow no specitic recipe for the soup, I just the create something tasty from the small bits and pieces available.

Tonight's soup was a riff on Campbells Bean with Bacon. That was one of my favorites soups as a kid.

I sauteed two strips of Applewood Smoked Bacon with one small onion, diced. I let the bacon just start to brown, stirring all the while. Then I added one small tomato diced and sauteed that with the other ingredients. I added 1/2 cup water,1 cup of stale beer and 1 cup of baked beans. I simmered all for a bit, then blended with the stick blender and added salt a pepper to taste.

Served with crackers.

Ten minutes to prepare.

( Recipes Here )

Venison and Swiss Panini

Bacon Baked PotatoSoup
Cheddar Crackers

Tossed Salad
Garlic Croutons

Venison Stir Fry
Rice
Rustic Bread
Butter

Bread Pudding with
Lemoncello Sauce

David's definition of leftovers is that if the package has been previously opened it's a leftover. So every course on this night was composed of leftovers!
( Recipes Here )

David was asked today, what we had been eating lately. Seems folks have been missing my posts. Not having a functional computer in my upstairs office cubby has been a bit of a struggle to maintain the writing. But I have gotten lots of good work done in the kitchen! I will start posting the menus of the last couple of weeks along with key recipes for each

Cheesy Broccoli Soup
Spinach Salad withRefrigerator Pickles and Cherry Tomatoes
Venison with Spicy Jack Glaze
Twice Baked Potatoes
Rustic Bread
ButterApple Pie with Cheddar Crust

( Recipes Here )

I am in Rockport, MA with my birth family. Many went kayaking tonight. It was a "three hour tour". The called ahead on their return trip to request we reheat the leftovers from last night's dinner in town. So I and my brother in law 2G headed down stairs. We created

Tossed Salad with Balsamic Dressing

Aidel's Chicken Sausages
Chipotle Cheddar Potato Cakes
Stir fried Salmon and Rosemary Rice
Grilled Swordfish with Mango Salsa
Chicken and Pasta with Limon Sauce
Roasted Veggies

Chocolate Mousse

Most were leftovers from last night's dinner reworked a bit. It was a hit.

But left overs remained.

Camillia has been bugging be for homemade chicken noodle soup. I created it tonight for tomorrow's lunch out of the pasta dish, the veggies and the sausage. Pretty tasty so far!

I have read about kugels and been intrigued but cautious. A kugel is essentially bread pudding with cooked pasta substituting for the bread. My fear of the dish was running into a hunk of gelatinous overcooked pasta! So when I had left over angel hair pasta the other night, I thought that might eliminate the one thing I was worried about in the dish. To care for the leftover, I placed the pasta in a three cup pyrex glass storage container, and poured cream over the pasta. I figured the cream would ease into the pasta over night and keep it moist and not clumpy. I was right, when I took the "leftover" out of the refrigerator to mix with the other ingredients, the strands were more separate than they had been when they were stored. I mixed the egg sugar and vanilla and then added the noodle and cream mixture tossed lightly then added the fruits and baked. So simple.

The tang of the cranberries really stood out against the sweet blandness of the pasta and custard. I served with a spiced yogurt which elevated the dish heavenward.


( Kugel Pics on Flickr )

Basic Kugel (nine servings)

2 cups Angel Hair Pasta, cooked and cooled
1 cup heavy whipping cream
3 large eggs
2/3 cup of sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1/4 cup dried diced dates

Place pasta in a storage dish, pour cream over top. Place in the refrigerator over night to allow the cream to soak into the pasta.

1.5 hours before serving, place eggs, sugar and vanilla into a bowl and beat well. Add pasta and cream. Add more cream if mix seems a bit too dry. Add dry fruits into mixture, gently as you don't want to mash up the pasta. it needs to remain distinct and separate. Pour into an 9X9 inch pan and bake at 350 degrees F for one hour. Serve warm or cold with Spiced Vanilla Yogurt Sauce

Spice Vanilla Yogurt Sauce

2 cups of Vanilla Yogurt
2 Tbs honey
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg

Mix all ingredients together about a half hour before serviing. Taste for sweetness and spice level. You want just enough sweetness that the edge of the yogurt tang is muted but not so much that the sensation is cloying.

I like having silverplated flatware. I would love some sterling, but maybe later in life. I, however, don't often find the time to clean my silver. I ran across a simple option for that silver which is lightly tarnished:

Line clean kitchen sink with Aluminum Foil.
Place silverware on foil.
Sprinkle silverware with salt.
Then sprinkle with baking soda.
Pour a gallon of boiling water o'er the top of the silver and soda in the sink.
Watch it bubble.
Let it sit for about 10 minutes.
Rinse and dry untarnished silver.


I had silver in various stages of tarnish. It worked very well on the lightly tarnished with one soak. The medium tarnished stuff was cleaned with the second soak. And the really grossly tarnished stuff was vastly improved after the second soak and cleaned up very easily with silver polish.

I will use this technique again!

The leftover history of tonight's appetizer may be too complex to follow, but I will try to explain:

1. Sunday cooked rice in venison broth with dehydrated green onion
2. Monday made leftover rice into Salmon Andouille Jambalaya
3. Tuesday made Jambalaya Huevos Christine

To do that I fried one flour tortillia until golden on both sides. Spread heated, steamy jambalaya (about 3/4 cup) over the tortillia. Sprinkle with grated Parmesan cheese. And top with a over easy fried egg.

Incredibly tasty. The over easy fried egg when the yolk is broken makes a wonderful sauce for the jambalaya.

Triscuit has these wonderful flavors: Cracked Pepper, Roasted Garlic, and Rosemary and Olive Oil. There are others but those are our favorites. I really enjoy them plain, right out of the box. I justify mid day indulgence because of their fiber content.

Last evening I made a quick appetizer by spreading a schmear of cream cheese on each cracker. Topped that with a few crumbles of smoked salmon. And garnished with three or four capers.

They soothed the savage beast!

I have been working on being more conservative in regard to my spending. The trip to Virginia, balloon insurance, balloon inspection, and normal living expenses which include a truck payment and a balloon payment are keeping us cash strapped for the moment.

Since moving to Chase County and living fifteen miles from the closest grocery store, I have had a tendency to stock up on things like food, toilet paper, and toothpaste. Well, and a lot of other things. I don't want to run out of anything that is essential as it is not easy to just run out and buy a replacement. Alas, I have perhaps over it done it. My sisters who knew my Grandmother Wilbur might say that my problem is genetic. Grandma would take a taxi to buy groceries every week after Grandpa died. She did not buy for just herself, she continued to shop the specials as if she were still feeding two adults and five teenaged boys. The last "boy" had left home (for the second time) about 10 years earlier. Grandma would invite folks over to shop in her basement periodically. She asked David and I to do that once. We left with about 10 bags of groceries. We filled the trunk. You could not even tell we had made a dent in the stash she had. She had probably a year's supply of groceries for 2 adults and 5 teenaged boys! But, after standing there and saying to us, "Please, take all you need and can use" she called my Mom after we left to complain that we had left her without anything. Well, needless to say, I didn't take her up on her offers to make additions trips to the basement.

So, I have been making a game of what can I prepare for dinner with what is in the upstairs freezer and in the garden. It's been fun. We had wonderful Beef Mole and Vension Burritos the other night. Tonight we had Goose Curry. Yum.

Tonight's dessert started with a pie crust I had in the freezer. I put in a pie pan. Turned the oven up to 425 degrees. Now I had to come up with a filling! I melted 3/4 cup of chocolate chips which I stirred into one can of sweetened condensed milk. I added a teaspoon of vanilla paste, two eggs and 1 cup of pecan halves. Stirred the goop all up and poured into the crust. Baked 15 minutes at 425 degrees, then turned down the heat and baked 40 minutes at 350 degrees.

We ate it before it was fully cool. Oh, my gosh, golly, gee whiz! WoW! It was fantastic. We are looking forward to trying it after it's fully cool.

I have posted about where one can get inspiration for creation of new dishes. I wanted to let you know of a recent example.

Good friends John and Barbara have two great kids, Katie and Garrett. Garrett is 3.5 years old and quite proud of the fact that he's growed up. Yesterday, his father posted this on live journal.

http://electron-pusher.livejournal.com/823100.html

Brief synopsis for those who don't want to click thru, Garrett asked for a peanut butter, mustard and cheese sandwich for breakfast which his mother fixed for him and he ate!

Well, upon reading the post, I laughed and then I had a taste thought......Peanut soup seasoned with mustard and asiago cheese.

Tonight I tried out the taste thought. It worked!


Gross Garrett's Peanut Soup

3/4 cup diced onion
2 TBS olive oil
2 TBS flour
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
1 tsp chicken bouillion
1 1/2 cups water
2 tsps lemon mustard
1/4 cup peanut butter
1/4 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup grated asiago cheese

Sautee onion in olive oil until slightly colored. Add flour and stir to make a roux. Stir in pepper and bouillion. While heating stir in water until smooth and creamy, except for the onion bits. Heat to boiling. Add mustard and peanut butter and stir. Just before serving add cream and heat through, but don't boil. Add 1/4 cup of cheese. Serve and top with more grated cheese.

Makes two servings.

Goes nicely with Ham Biscuits.

Tonight's dessert was most tasty. Leftovers again, however. David just can't seem to get me away from them.

I made this freezer dessert a couple of weeks ago. I took about a cup of sweetened mixed fresh fruits (strawberries, bananas, blueberries, OJ and sugar) and a cup and a half of whipping cream and pureed the heck out of with my stick blender. Then I put it in the freezer covered. About three hours later, I used the stick blender on it again. I had to chunk it up and I did cheat and add a bit more cream to start the whipping process up again. The I put it back in the freezer and repeated the whipping process about three hours later. Made a tasty ice cream like dessert without being real sweet. But alas, we had some left over.

The last time we had a balloon flight I made Conflict of Interest Fruit Salad for the after event. I had purchased more strawberries than I needed so, I sliced up the extras and froze them in 1 quart portions. I took one of those out earlier this week to and used some with a dessert. Alas, we had leftovers.

About a week ago I made so chocolate sauce for some dessert and, you get where this is going, there was some leftover.

Not wanting to discard such tasty morsels, I put may brain to work to find a way to create another tasty dessert.

First, I add sugar(1 cup) to the leftover unsweetened strawberries (2 cups), then I heated them in the microwave until the juice was nice and thick. Not gummy, but think enough to make and ice cream topping.

Second, I only had about 2 tbs of the chocolate sauce remaining. So I added more chocolate chips and more cream and heated those in the microwave. I don't use measuring cups with this sauce, I eyeball it. I put chocolate chips into a microwave about container and then I add cream until I can see it through the chocolate chips. So not quite equal proportions by voume. The I microwave it on high for a minute. Stir. Microwave for 30 seconds and stir. Usually by this point the chocolate will all melt into the cream during the stirring. If it doesn't microwave in 15 second intervals followed by stirring until it will. The point at which the chocolate and cream will melt together is a lovely ganache, but if you microwave it another 30 seconds then you get a wonderful fudge sauce for Ice Cream. I like it make with semi sweet chocolate chips and heavy cream. David likes adding a generous dollop of peanut butter.

Third, I spread a teaspoon of the fudge sauce on to one half of a graham cracker. I made four of these. I put these coated graham cracker and the strawberry sauce into the freezer to chill.

When David arrived home I formed the dessert: in serving dish for one person placed on prepared graham cracker fudge side up, 1 TBS of strawberry sauce, one prepared graham cracker fudge side up, two scoops of berry ice cream, two TBS strawberry sauce, two TBS fudge sauce.

The result was Mt. Strawberry Erupted as named by the David!

Mt. Strawberry Erupted Picture

David's schedule is weird this week. He has to be with clients at 10 AM and does not finish until 9:30 PM for the next three days. Alas, that means no evening meal together. On other days for lunch I usually have maybe a hunk of cheese or a protein drink. But today I put a bit more effort into the process, since I won't be eating a meal with him. I wanted to positive vibes of some good food to displace the negative vibes of not being with my best and dearest friend.

Step One:

Open refrigerator and look for leftovers! Gather leftovers (flour tortillas, two sticks of string cheese, salsa, smoked boneless country style rib, stirfried chopped broccoli)

Step Two:

Assemble ingredients into a mock burrito

Step Three:

Microzap for 60 seconds

Step Four:

Eat. Yummmmmm.

I have enough ingredients to repeat tomorrow!

Spring Greens Wild Goose

1 large wild goose breast that has had silver tissue removed and that has been cut into 1 inch cubes
1 medium onion diced
1 sprig of fresh sage (spring green!)
3 sprigs of fresh oregano (spring green!)
1/2 cup sherry

Place all ingredients in crock pot set to low and cook for 9 hours until tender. Discard herb sprigs.

I used the above as one of the ingredients in the Wraps I made for dinner tonight.

Spring Greens Wild Goose with Fresh baby Mustard Greens

3 8 inch flour tortillias
1 1/2 cup fresh baby Mustard Greens
1 recipe of Spring Grees Wild Goose
3/4 cup grated Swiss Cheese
3/4 cup French Fried Onions (Great Value Brand)
1/4 cup Garlic Hoisin Sauce
1 tsp Tabasco Jalepeno Sauce

Divide the mustard over the three tortillias. Lift meat from sauce and place meat on third atop the mustard on each tortillia. Reserve cooking sauce. Sprinkle each wrap with 1/4 cup of Swiss Cheese and 1/4 cup of French Fried Onions. Roll wraps and secure with toothpick in two places. Cut Wraps in half ( between tooth picks!) Place on serving tray.

To the reserved sauce add hoisin and jalepeno sauces. Reduce in microwave until about 1/3 cup remains. Place in bowl on serving tray.

Serve Wraps with Sauce. Enjoy!

Paris PreSchools serve three course meals to toddlers to build appreciation of food and social graces
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=10074696


French High School proves gourmet food more frugal than fast food
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=91687769

Appreciation of the social and sensual aspects of food start at an early age. When David and I were discussing child rearing practices, I insisted that we follow a few rules at the dining table:

1. Everyone had to taste one bite of all the dishes served
2. One could say, "I don't like this and will not eat more" but "OH YUCK, this is horrible" and other similar statements were not to be said at the table by anyone.
3. If you didn't like what was served, if able you could fix your own peanut butter and jelly sandwich. If unable, someone else would fix it for you.
4. Food would be eaten at the table when the family was together and the TV would be turned off.

Fortunately, but the time Camillia was born, David and I were both reasonable cooks. But these few rules made meal time more pleasant for most of us. David began eating more vegetables than he had in the past and I learned to eat liver and onions. We didn't incite ill feeling by decrying the horribleness of food we did not like but that others did. Camillia was able to make her own opinions about the pleasantness of food without being influenced by our potential unpleasant opinions. She also knew she would not go hungry because there was always peanut butter and jelly, so it was safe to indicate dislike for all foods served for dinner. She also learned that it was safe to say, "I don't like" she would not be punished for being her own person.

She has turned out to be quite the foody! There was a period during her teenage years when a male she was attached to became a stronger influence about food that pleased me, but eventually she gave up that attitude and experimented and investigated new food tastes. It's fun to travel with her as she is willing to try new and different things.

http://www.chilepepperinstitute.org/documents/09catalog.pdf


Books and Seeds! I wanted to preserve this reference for later.

I just harvested 5.3 pounds of asparagus from the garden. David harvested three pounds on Thursday and I had harvest a couple of pounds on Tuesday. We have eaten Asparagus every day since Tuesday except for Wednesday when we ate out. Any suggestion on what to do with an abundance of asparagus?

2 cups mashed potatoes
1 7 ounce pouch pink salmon
1 tsp dill weed
3/4 tsp dried minced garlic
1 egg
1/2 tsp of salt
Instant potato flakes
Olive Oil

Mix the mashed potatoes, salmon, dill weed, garlic, egg, and salt. Mixture should be reasonably stiff. Place a good layer of instant potato flakes in a pie dish. Divide the salmon mixture into into four portion. Place atop the potato flakes. Press the salmon patties into the potato flakes and shape gently. Sprinkle more potato flakes over the top of the cakes. You want a generous coating of potato flakes on the outside of the patties.

Heat about 1/4 inch olive oil in a broad bottomed skillet. Once heated, place the potato cakes into the hot oil. I used one spatula to carry the cake to the skillet and another spatula to push the patties into the oil. Cook about three to four minutes and turn. You want to form a nice crunchy crust on each side.

Serve with the sauce below:

1/4 cup mayonaise
1 TBS homemade mustard
2 tsp honey
1.5 Tbs capers in olive oil

Stir all together and serve with cakes.

1 TBS Bacon Fat
1/2 cup finely chopped leek
1 oz (by weight) ham, finely chopped
1/4 pound fresh green beans cut into 1/2 inch lengths
1 potato (about 1/4 pound) peeled and diced
1 tsp ham bouillion
3 cups of water
1/2 cup instant mashed potato flakes


Sautee leek and ham in bacon fat until onion is gently browned. Add remaining veggies, water and bouillion to the leek and ham mixture. Bring to a simmer. Cook until potatoes are cooked through. Stir in potato flakes. Let simmer for about three minutes. Serve. Makes 2 large servings.

If you look in my refrigerator you would think I like mustard. At one point this winter there were about 8 jars of different mustards in the refrigerator. French's Mustard I keep around because it is an essential ingredient in South Carolina Pulled Pork BBQ. I have tried fancier mustards in the BBQ sauce, but the just don't "cut the mustard" so to speak. I also like it in a western style bbq sauce. But I don't like it on a sandwich or in salad dressings. So I have been searching for a good "fancy" mustard for those kinds of things. Thus the 7 other bottles of mustard in my refrigerator. I have not ever been well pleased with the pricey mustard. I have found that higher price and a fancy jar do not get you much in flavor.

One of my recipe email lists distributed a number of mustard recipes recently. I became intrigued so I sent Dad shopping for mustard seed. After our last balloon flight we had about a third of a bottle of celebratory champagne leftover. As I was cleaning up the kitchen after our guests left I thought of one the recipes I had seen on that list that used mustard seed, white wine and fresh sage. We had all the basic ingredients, but I didn't slavishly follow the recipe. The results were wonderful. I don't think I will buy mustard again. And I don't think I will make it in large batches unless others want some. I think the freshness of the puree is part of the pleasure of the experience as the flavors are very bright. Not muddy at all.

Here's basically what I did:

1.5 cups of flat champagne ( this is a really good way to use left over white wine)
1 cup of fresh sage leaves
2 oz (by weight) of whole brown mustard seed
1/4 cup of white vinegar
1 TBS of macedamia oil (good olive oil would have worked)
2 tsp of honey

I brought champagne to a boil. Toss in sage leaves and stir to make sure all the leaves are below the surface of the wine. Let steep for a couple of hours. Strain the leaves from the wine. Stir the wine and mustard together in a microwaveable bowl. Heat in microwave for about three minutes or until liquid is boiling. Let sit until cool. Add the rest of the ingredients and puree with a stick blender. Taste and adjust seasonings. It makes a pretty thick mustard. It's nice and grainy. You get little bursts of flavors at different times during the bite. Incredibly good with Triscuits and Vermont Sharp Cheddar Cheese.

Dad suggested that I explain one of the reasons for my absence. You see, I had 24000 cooking related email messages that needed to sorted and filed. Most of them are going into the trash. But it is a time consuming process. I started last Thursday and I only have 11000 more to deal with!

Horseradish "fake crab" salad atop Isreali Toasts garnished with chopped Watermelon Pickle
( recipe )

Cocoa Porter Broccoli Cheese Soup
( recipe )

Chicken Fried Venison Steaks
( recipe )

Plain White Rice

Cream Gravy made from pan drippings

Irish Soda Bread Pudding lavished with Orangecello Sauce

Chrismade Limoncello

Are chilling in the refrigerator.

The hardest part of the process was getting up the enthusiasm to peel the fruits! But I am so glad I did! Yummy.


To make a quart or so:

7 lemons or 5 large oranges
1 fifth of vodka (tasty vodka not bad vodka but doesn't have to be super vodka)
2 to three cups of simple syrup


Remove only the colored peel of fruit and place in a quart jar. Make sure you have not white pith as the pitch will contribute an unpleasant bitter taste. Seal jar and place on shelf to step for six weeks. Fill jar with simple syrup at this point and allow to steep two weeks longer. Strain peel from liquid. Taste. Add more simple syrup until you like the sweetness! Rebottle. Chill. Indulge!

1 Tube Crescent Rolls
8 sticks of string cheese

Remove Crescent Rolls from tube in one sheet. Separate into for rectangles. Do your best to heal the perforations. Place two sticks of cheese on each rectangle and roll the dough around the sticks. Seal all open areas. Place on greased baking sheet. Bake at 425 degrees for about 12 minutes until nicely browned. Serve with dipping sauce such as marinara or Oil/Balsamic Vinegar/Herbs.

1/4 cup dark brown sugar
1 Tbs Dr. Paisley's Reasonably Hot Chili Powder
1 tsp Italian Herbs with sage
2 tsp table salt
2 tsp garlic
2 tsp coarse ground black pepper


Coat all sides of meat, let stand for about 30 minutes, smoke!

I like soup. The more I make it and play with it, the more I like soup. So what's it take to make soup.

One Navy cook I ran into thought all it took was water, sauteed onions and sliced hot dogs. Ummm...I disagree.

I think a good soup needs a flavorful base liquid. This can be a broth or even a cream base.

A good soup needs to not be too muddied with lots of conflicting flavors. I have created some things I have called soup, that were edible, the but combinations of leftovers just didn't work well as the flavors seemed to clash.

I like a soup that has some body in the liquid meaning that it's been thickend a bit with either flour or cornstarch. Soup should not be as thick as gravy but just a thicker than a simple broth. 1 tablespoon of flour per cup of broth is about right. This flour can be stirred into fat before the broth is added or can be whipped into 1/4 cup of COLD broth that is then added to the remainder of the broth.

You can also thicken a soup with pureed cooked veggies.

Another interesting way to create a soup is to puree a leftover casserole and then thin the puree with broth or milk and thicken as needed.

Some examples:

Broth Based Soup

2 TBS oil
1/4 cup diced onion
1/4 cup grated carrots
1/4 cup diced green peppers
1/4 cup diced potatoes
3 TBS flour
2 cups beef/chicken broth
2 TBS tomato paste
Season to taste (garlic, salt, pepper, italian seasonings)

Saute the veggies lightly in oil. Sprinkle flour over sauteed veggies. Stir in broth and tomato and bring to a boil. Cook until the potatoes are done. Serve.


Creamy Based Soup

2 TBS butter
3 TBS flour
1/4 cup diced onion
1/4 cup grated carrots
1/4 cup diced red peppers
1/4 cup diced cooked potatoes
2 TBS flour
2 cups milk
Season to taste (salt, pepper, garlic)

Saute the veggies lightly in oil. Sprinkle flour over sauteed veggies. Stir in broth and bring to a boil. Cook until the potatoes are done. Serve.

A co worker of Davids graced us with three one-gallon bags of Wild Goose Breasts frozen in water to prevent freezer burn. There were probably 12 goose breast halves per bag. We put two into the freezer and thawed the third. So all week, I have been chasing down information on how to prepare wild goose and then trying out the techniques I have learned about.

Wild Goose does not much resemble the frozen commercial variety of goose. it more closely resembles round steak from a bovine that has been rated select as opposed to choice or prime. The meat is dense and very red. I would suspect it is rich in iron. One has to remember that the muscles one is cooking have been keeping the bird in flight for very long periods of time! So after four meals of goose this week, I have come to the conclusion that if you approach wild goose breasts like beef round steak, you will probably succeed in preparing a tasty meal. The cooking time is shorter, but the basic techniques work for both. Do not approach wild goose as if it were a farm raised chicken as you will be very disappointed.

Some of the successful recipes.


Chicken Fried Wild Goose Breast

2 Wild Goose breast halves
2 cups of all purpose flour
2 Tbs table salt
1 Tbs ground black pepper
1 Tbs Paprika
1 Tbs granulated garlic
1 tsp Italian Seasonings
water
1/2 canola oil
3 cups of milk

Goose breast should be cleaned of all feathers, shot and skin. Slice each breast horizontally. I use a very forceful way of creating a minute steak like consistency. I don't use a meat tenderizer, I use a chef's knife and make little cuts about half way thru the meat 1/6 of an inch apart across the each surface of the breast. What you want to end up with is a piece of meat that still holds together but looks like it has gone thru the butcher's tenderizing device which doesn't smash the meat, it cuts the meat. After tenderizing the meat, I then dredge the goose in a mixtue of the flour, salt, pepper, paprika, garlic and Italian Seasonings. Then I dip each side of the floured meat in water and dredge in the flour and spice mixture again. Let rest while heating oil to proper frying temperature which would be about 400 degrees. Please meat in hot oil. Cook on each side about 1.5 minutes. Remove meat from oil will done and hold in a warmed oven while gravy is being prepared. Prepare gravy from about six tbs of the remaining oil in the pan and six tbs of the seasoned flour and the milk. Serve Chicken Fried Wild Goose with the cream gravy.


Slow Roasted Wild Goose Breast with Garlic and Sherry Chestnut Cream


Four boneless well cleand Goose Breasts
Salt
Pepper
Granulated Garlic
1 Tbs canola oil
8 large cloves of garlic, sliced
1 bay leaf
1 cup sherry
1/4 cup Chestnut butter
2 cups heavy cream

Sprinkle goose with salt, pepper and garlic. Saute in oil until just browned. Stir in garlic to just soften. Turn off heat. Add bay leaf and 1/2 cup of the Sherry. Cover pan and place in a 250 degree oven. Bake for four hours check for doneness and tenderness. I found mine need about 5.5 hours. Remove breasts from oven and pan, place is covered serving dish and hold at 170 degrees while sauce is prepared. Remove bay leaf and discard. Deglaze pan with sherry. When liquid reduced by fifty percent stir in chestnut butter, then the heavy cream. Over low heat reduce until nice saucy consistency. Pour over Goose. Serve


Wild Goose Green Chili

2 Wild Goose Breast halves cut into 1 inch cubes
1 Tbs olive oil
1/2 cup chili powder
1/4 cup cumin
1 Tbs granulated garlic
1tsp salt
1 onion coarsely chopped
1 sweet bell pepper coarsely chopped
1 jalepeno finely chopped
1 can Tomatillos pureed juice and all
1/2 cup old stale beer

Toss cubed goose with chili powder, cumin, garlic and salt. Saute quickly in hot oil. Please sauteed cubes of goose in 3 qt sized crock pot over the top of the onions and peppers. Pour pureed Tomatillos and stale beer over the top of goose. Cover crock pot. Cook on low setting for 7 hours. Just before serving remove liquids from crockpot and reduce in pan on the stove until they are a nice thick consistency. Serve with cooked rice along with salsa, cheese, avacado chucks, sour cream and a medium salsa.

Tonights dinner was high on flavor but very little work.

Crab Rice Noodle Soup

Wonton Lasagna
Garlic Cresents
Ginger Carrots

Strawberry Cream Soup
Liebowitz Butter Biscuits


Crab Rice Soup

This soup was made from one package of Thai Kitchen Spring Onion Soup prepared according to package directions and enhanced with about 3 ounces of Imitation Crab, 1/4 cup minced fresh chives, 1 Tbs minced cilantro, 2 tsp minced basil stirred in at the end of the cooking time.

Wonton Lasagna

I had used up some Egg Roll wrappers a few days ago, by making cheese filled triangular ravioli that I poached in a tomato meat sauce. The filling was just your basic mix of ricotta or cottage cheese, egg, parmesean and herbs that one would use as a layer in Lasagna. The Ravioli were good, but we had lots left over. I stacked them into a storage dish with the sauce and sprinkled parmesean cheese on top. I was thinking that David's parents would enjoy it. I was going to freeze it, but alas there's no room in the freezer. I failed to send a cooler of food to Wichita for David's parents. So, I needed to do something with those leftovers. I removed the lid and said to myself, "Wonton Lasagna!" I popped it into the over at 400 degrees for 30 minutes. It was actually better tonight than it had been as ravioli. All the flavors melded nicely.

Garlic Cresents

Pullled out a tube of cresent rolls. Before rolling them into shape, I added extra butter (there is really no need for this as the butter added no additional flavor) and sprinkled them generously with garlic and baked. Most tasty, indeed!

Ginger Carrots

I steamed some carrot coins with chopped candied ginger.

Strawberry Cream Soup

I tossed 2 cups of sweetened sliced strawberries into the food processor with 1 cup of sour cream and pureed. Served cold in soup mugs with the Liebowitz Butter Biscuits. Again, a simple clean flavor that was very satisfying.

Not a stressful cooking event at all.

Tonight's meal opened with a appetizer Huevos con Arroz. That's a dressed up name for left over salsa flavored rice sauteed with left over beef mole served on a small glass plate with a fried egg on top. It was simple but very tasty.

The soup course was a Thai inspired treat. 1/2 onion sliced vertically very thinly along with a 1 inch by 1 inch by 1 inch piece of fresh ginger that had been julieened were sauteed in a bit of canola oil until the onion was just clear. To that I added about 3/4 cup of chopped imitation crab legs and 1 TBS of minced fresh cilantro. Over all this I poured a 16 ounce can of coconut milk and brought to a simmer. This was very yummy. Not particularly low fat, but yummy.

The main course was a rack of venison ribs slow backind in Old El Paso Fresh Mexican Style Salsa of the Smooth Pineapple Chili variety and Sour Cream Potatoes. Let's start with the potatoes. They were tasty, but I followed the procedures in the recipe which called for layering the potatoes and sauteed onions with a sour cream egg mixture. It resulted in a layered dish, that didn't blend well. Next time I will make up the sauce and then toss the potatoes in the sauce so that the sauce which is rather custard like is mixed through out. Now for the ribs. The salsa is really lovely on chips. David and I both thought it would make a good seasoning for a rack of ribs. But the essence of the salsa was distroyed by the long slow cooking. And the venison ribs were very "gamey" in flavor. They smelled gamey when they went into the oven and the cooking and seasoning did not transform that. This is the first vension that David and I have not thought was tasty. In fact, we both stopped eating it after the second bite. I have served things that were not haute cuisine before, but were still desirable to eat, but these ribs inspired not desire. I think I will be able to turn the meat into something like sloppy joes or Chile Colorado.

David produced the dessert. He brought home 7 boxes of Girl Scout Cookies! No, we didn't eat them all, but sample the Thin Mints and the Peanut Butter Patties. Very Nice. Its cool that those products have not changed much since we were kids fifty years ago.

Tonight's meal was wonderful. I made a mole with sirloin steak. As I was cooking it I was reminded of all the friends and family who were part of the creation.

The chili sauce was home canned produced by Sam the wife of Bill who works side by side with David at flight safety.

The beer was the leftover beer the I had not consumed the previous two evenings. While I do like myself and consider myself a friend, as I poured the beer into the mole I was reminded of the pleasure of sharing those meals with David, my best friend!

The sirloin was some of the half priced case aged meat that I have picked up from my friend Scott at the local grocery store. I haven't frequented the store much since we got the deer.

The chili power was create by friend Jim and labeled Dr. Paisley's Reasonably Hot Chili Powder.

The chocolate was Hershey's Kisses that I had purchased before Christmas to help deal with David's Chocolate Addiction. We were both amazed that the quality of chocolate was not as good as the Hershey's Chocolates of the same variety that I picked up for Valentine's Day. So I thought with fondness of my best friend David as I added the chocolate to the mole. I also thought of my friend John and his dislike for dark chocolate. And I thought of my friend KT who so likes candy but will behave so nicely about it around adults and only take one!

The venison broth was created for the deer my friend David had killed and we had buthered in our kitchen.

And the flat breads were made from dough that my friend David keeps stashed in our refrigerator.

I am glad my friends cook with me.

Well, I am not sure if it was the cataracts or just bifocals. But when I read the recipe for this pie I misread the quantity of lemon juice. The mistake made a very interesting taste sensation. The original lemon juice quantity was 1/2 teaspoon.


1 pie pan lined with unbaked shortbread crust
4 whole eggs
2 cups sugar
1/4 cup butter, melted
8 ounces chocolate pieces
1/2 cup lemon juice
1 cup pecans

Beat the eggs well, add the sugar and continue to beat until light and creamy. Add the melted butter and the chocolate pieces. Stir in the lemon juice. Add the pecans and pour the filling into the unbacke pie shell.

Bake at 375 deg F oven for 30 minutes, or until set.

Serve warm with whipped cream.

I have begun the process of creating our own limoncello. We should be able to enjoy it March 9. If you haven't had limoncello, it's like drinking the essence of lemon meringue pie from a shot glass.

For Christmas David got me a wonderful 12 inch wide 4 inch deep chicken frying skillet. Tonight I christened it. I decided to follow America's Test Kitchen Extra Crispy Fried Chicken recipe. I am not too pleased with the result. It was definitely moist, but the coating burned browned too much and was took thick.

So I thought I would throw out a request for your input on Fried Chicken....How do you do it?

Found this recipe in Kansas Country Living Magazine. It doesn't take long to put together or cook. The intriguing part for me was that you brownies in a microwave!

2 eggs
1 Cup sugar
1/2 cup butter melted
1/2 cup flour
1/3 cup cocoa
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup nuts

Beat eggs, blend in sugar and butter. Add flour and cocoa, then stir in vanilla and nuts. Pour into an ungreased glass pie plate, just a regular one, not a deep dish. Microwave at 50 percent power for 6 minutes. Turn 1/4 turn and microwave at 100 percent for 1 to 3 minutes until mixture begins to dry on top. It would be better to error slightly on the under done side versus over cooking. For my microwave the best time is about 2 minutes and 30 seconds. This makes a fudgy chew delicious dessert. Serve by itself or topped with luscious things like whipped cream or ice cream with fudge topping!

 

Must use two listed products: One from List A and as second from List A or List B

( Product Lists )

We do not have a dishwasher installed in our kitchen or anywhere in our house for that matter.  I do my dishes by hand.  Kind of a pain when there is a crowd, but for the two of us it is only a small pain.  David's parents introduced me to a Dishmaster about 30 years ago.  It's a kitchen facet system that has a dish soap reservoir that feed a scrubbing brush attachment.  It's really a slick get up when you have a few dishes and don't want to run a sink full of suds.

Recently I saw a Faberware Dishwand it WalMart.  It was about six bucks.  Looked like it would fill the bill.  Brought it home and tried it.  The over arching concept I liked but the execution was incredibly poor.  The only thing that was good about it was the comfort of the handle.  But the scrubbing head would form a vacuum on the dish and then the handle would separate from the scrubbing head; the soap would leak from the handle or the head if you laid the device in any position when not using; the soap control had such a large hole that one used far more soap that required.  After about two weeks of seeing if I could put up with it, I tossed it and the extra heads away in anger.  I suppose I should have boxed them up and sent them to the manufacturer to complain.

Liking the concept, when I saw a ScotchBrite version of the same concept, I was intrigued.  The ScotchBrite Dishwand was half the cost of the Faberware.  The scrubbing head has less area, but that's really not a disadvantage as it will fit into 10 ounce coffee cups and scrub the bottom of them.  The scrubbing pad itself has a locking mechanism so that the vacuum disengaging system found on the Faberware device cannot be employed on the ScotchBrite.  The soap does not leak from the handle or the head.  The hole that dispenses the soap into the sponge is on the small side, but permits the device to be just soapy enough.  The ScotchBrite pad is wonderful on the silverplate I have as it removes the tarnish but does not scratch the finish.   I am most pleased with this device.  I am thinking I will be picking up several as stocking stuffers next year!  Here's a link to Amazon for the device. http://www.amazon.com/3M-550-12-Scotch-Brite-Dishwand/dp/B0000CEW4O  I know that I am an Amazon associate and I could make some bucks if you ordered via Amazon from this blog, but quite frankly I can't recommend it in this case as the shipping from the Non Amazon vendor is three times the cost of the device.   Just pick it up and a local big box store.  You will find it in the dishwashing detergent section.

I was just looking at some food porn last night on the net and ran into an instant soup mix that was labeled Chai Chocolate Soup with a yummy description. But the soup was like 9 dollars for four servings. I looked around on the net and found a base recipe and then I improvised the seasonings. I was right it's yummy.

4 oz of bittersweet chocolate
1 cup of half and half
1/2 cup of cream
pinch of salt
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground cardamomm
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp ground cloves
two sprinkles of ground black pepper

Place chocolate in microwave safe bowl of about 1 quart in size. Heat chocolate for 30 seconds. Stir. Heat chocolate for about 30 seconds and stir. Repeat until chocolate is all melty creamy smooth. Add 1/2 of the half and half. Heat about 1 minute. Stir. Add remainder of liquid and the spices. Stir. Cook in microwave until all the chocolate is melted and the texture takes on a silky creamed soup consistency. Serve

This makes two generous servings.

I served with a side of Cinnamon almond cookies. But I think it might be even better with some crunchy buttery cinnamon toast made with thin slices of homemade whole wheat bread as that would be a better texture contrast to the soup.

Quick and tasty!

Yesterday, I was going to fix pork loin for dinner, but my planning was less than perfect so I did pork loin chops. The rest of the loin I cubed into 1 inch pieces which I tossed with a genouous amount of Pedro Lopez Chili Powder and sauteed until just browned. Dump that goop into a 1 quart crock pot along with 1/2 cup of apple juice concentrate. Left it in the crockpot for about 8 hours. Tonight I reheated the cubes in a skillet with their wonderful sauce, shredded the pork, add another 1/2 cup of the apple juice concentrate, a teaspoon of hot sauce, a teaspoon of cider vinegar, and a teaspoon of dehydrated minced garlic. I let things hunker down while I cooked the rest of dinner: boiled cabbage, fried polenta, plain white rice.

Dinner was pretty yummy and simple.

I should explain, the polenta, according to David is a vegetable because it's yellow. Therefore, he did not have to eat the cabbage because he already had his vegetables. (Yeah he did, he had cream of spinach soup as a first course!)

While butchering the deer, as David disassembled the critter, I made decisions on how to cut the parts and pieces as well as their storage method.

We separated the meat from the bone, so everything in the freezer is boneless. The bones that were not part of the spine and that did not have hooves attached were tossed into stock pots. We also tossed in the srappy meat parts. Then the bones and the scraps were browned in the oven at 425 degrees for about and hour after which I added water to cover. I covered the pots and placed them in the oven on the Cook and Hold settings. The baked for about 11 hours at 275 degrees.

Wonderful stock and tasty meat. Connective tissue broke down into its various elements providing nice gelatin content to the stock.

I have about a gallon and a half of shredded meat that I am going to can and use for things like enchiladas and burritos.

I love what you can do with scraps!

First Saturday of Deer Rifle Season, David wakes up dark and early, makes coffee and brings me some, then gets dressed for hunting. I sip coffee leisurely and begin my morning get dressed ritual. As I am brushing my teeth, I hear BLAMM BLAMM from the direction of the back door. I look out the window. There are five deer in the field. I go to the back door and look out the window. Still deer in the field, and this time I see David laying on the ground with the rifle and I hear BLAMM BLAMM again. Some deer run off. One is kind of running in circles. As it turns out David managed to harvest two deer that morning. We, let them age a few days and over the course of a few more days we butchered them ourselves. Saved about money that way.

Problem is we had to make room in the freezer. I took out the refreezer about ice packets, and the bag of ice left from ice cream making, and the flour. David's parents graciously accepted two bags of letovers! We got all the deer into the freezer, but if the ribs are not stacked just the right way, the lid won't close. Gonna have to watch that.

Allowing the deer to hang for five to seven days in temps below 50 degrees allows the enzymes that occur naturally in the meat to tenderize it. Well some would say begin the rotting process. But in the trade it's called dry aging. My dad used to have his beef hung for 21 days at 35 degrees. He never served tough meat! Supermarket beef is handled much differently and sometimes I forget. I think after the deer is gone, I will see if there is some place to buy dry aged beef. Of course with as much meat as we currently have in the freezer, it could be next deer season before I have the need to buy more beef!

I broke my left arm about two weeks ago. I have found out a few things.

1. Good knife skills require two hands!
2. A Chef's knife makes one handed cutting much more controlable than a santoku
3. Washing dishes by hand with only one useful arm takes lots of hot water, more dish soap and more time.
4. When stacking dishes in the drainer do so in a manner that thsy cn be taken off the drainer without reliance on the bad arm.
5. Press and Seal makes a good covering for a splint. Latex gloves won't fit over the splint.
6. Remember to cook batches that you can manipulate with one arm. Expecting lift and pour from an 8 quart pot full of boiling lquid is irrational when one only has one arm.
7. Immersion blender is a mighty fine one handed tool.

Dad, arose this morning and journeyed to the necessary room which also serves as the magazine library at our house. After much contemplation he popped back into the bedroom and announced, "I am doing the appetizer for supper!" and left. The rattling began in the kitchen almost immediately. And it was more than coffee making rattling.

He had been reading Cook's Illustrated's September/October issue which has an article for Pizza Bianca. The rattling in the kitchen was him setting up to make the bread. See, on those days when we are not going anywhere for dinner on the weekend we try to eat about 1:30 or so. We find it just works better for us that way. So, his bread was going to be ready at 1:30 PM.

The Pizza Bianca process is one of those that's not much work, but requires time between steps. But the wait times are long enough you can get lots of other things done in between them.

One of the primary differences between this pizza dough and others is the moisture content. It's 9 parts water to 10 parts of flour! It makes a very wet dough, but the result is a light crunchy delicacy!

Pizza Bianca

3 Cups unbleached all purpose flour
1 2/3 Cups water, room temperature
1 1/4 teaspoon table salt
1 1/2 teaspoon instant yeast
1 1/4 teaspoon sugar
5 Tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon kosher salt
2 Tablespoons whole fresh rosemary leaves

Place towel or shelf liner beneath stand mixer to prevent wobbling. Mix flour, water and table salt in bowl of stand mixer fitted with dough hook on low speed until no patches of dry flour remain, 3 to 4 minutes, occasionally scraping sides and bottom of the bowl. Turn off mixer and let dough rest 20 minutes.

Sprinkle yeast and sugar over dough. Knead on low speed until fully combined, 1 to 2 minutes, occasionally scarping sides and bottom of bowl,. Increase mixer speed to high and knead until dough is glassy, smooth, and pulls away from sides of bowl, 6 to 10 minutes. (Dough will only pull away from sides while mixer is on. When mixer is off, dough will fall back to sides.)

Using fingers, coat large bowl with tablespoon oil, rubbing excess, oil from fingers onto blade of rubber spatula. Using oiled spatula, transfer dough to bowl and pour 1 tablespoon oil over top. Flip dough over once so it is well coated with oil; cover tightly with plastic wrap. Let dough rise at room temperature until nearly tripled in volume and large bubbles have formed, 2 to 2 1/2 hours.

One hour before baking pizza, adjust oven rack to middle position, place pizza stone on rack and heat oven to 450 degrees.

Coat rimmed baking sheet with 2 tablespoons oil. Using rubble spatula, turn dough out onto baking sheet along with any oil in bowl. Using fingertips, press dough out toward edges of pan, taking care not to tear it. (Dough will not fit snuggly into corners. If dough resists stretching, let it relax for 5 to 10 minutes before trying to stretch again.) Let dough rest in pan until slightly bubbly, 5 to 10 minutes. Using dinner fork, poke surface of dough 30 to 40 times and sprinkle with kosher salt.

Bake until golden brown, 20 to 30 minutes, sprinkling rosemary over top and rotating baking sheer halfway through baking. Using metal spatula transfer pizza to cutting board. Brush dough lightly with remaining tablespoon oil. Slice and serve immediately.


This is an incredible dish. We ate most of it as an appetizer reserving four pieces to eat with our soup course.

Meat Ball Soup
2 cups pork broth
1/4 cup Marsala wine
3 Tablespoons dry roasted minced onion
2 Tablespoons dry diced red pepper
2 Tablespoons dry diced green pepper
1 1/2 sun-dried tomato paste
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp garlic
1 cup water
1/4 cup Wondra flour
6 meat balls
1/2 cup cooked rice


Boil pork broth, wine, dry veggies, tomato paste, salt, garlic until veggies are tender and liquid is reduced by half. Mix flour and water together until lump free. Stir into hot soup. Boil until nicely thickened. Add meatballs and rice. Heat through. Serve with Pizza Bianca.

"An easy and tidy way to separate eggs is to crack them over a slotted spoon resting on a bowl. The white falls through the holes, leaving just the yolk in the spoon. Then you can use the spoon to easily transfer the yolks to another bowl."
Cornelius Van Gelderen
Universal City, Texas

This was posted on the CI website.

I have known that the Nifty Nut House existed for years, and I mean years, probably for as long as David and I have been married. I think the nuts we served at our wedding came from there! However, since that esteemed purchase which was done by David's Mom, I think, I have never managed to step into the business. I tried with David during his 40th high school reunion, but we got there and hour late. Boo Hoo. At that time I was feeling quite satisfied as we had just spent an hour in the Spice Merchant. I had two full grocery bags on the passenger seat from that trip. But, the Nut House experience would have really topped off the day.

So, when David called the following Monday to say, "I have three hours before my next class, any suggestions on what I can do with it?" Well, my first selfish response was, "The Nut House?


What treats he came home with that night! I was blessed. There were nuts for baking, nuts for snacking, nuts for dessert, toppings for salads, and tasty sweet delights for easy desserts. Absolutely the best commercial pine nuts I have ever had. They are rich, slightly sweet as pine nuts go but very flavorful. The pesto they create was creamy. Then there were the Dark Chocolate covered English Walnuts, oh my God! One of those is like eating the essence of Toll House Chocolate Chip Cookies. And the Pumpkin Cheese balls while only 1/2 inch in diameter have the more flavor combinations that Camillia has pairs of shoes! I could go on and on. But to cut to the chase, the products are top quality and the variety of product is amazing. The Nuts are roasted by hand at the Nifty Nut House. They roast to achieve a particular color in a variety of nut.

Unfortunately, their web presence is limited. But, I understand that will ship product so one could call. The website below is the closest thing I could find to a site set up by the business, there is a 360 degree tour of the store, and then slideshows of product including at least one picture of the roasting process.

http://www.360wichita.com/FoodandBeverage/NiftyNutHouse.html

This link is to a 10 year old story regarding the store and it's history. The business has been around since 1937. I found to comment by one of the nut roasters interesting. He found roasting nuts physically harder than welding!

http://www.bizjournals.com/wichita/stories/1998/02/16/smallb1.html

And finally, a traveloge of a visit to Wichita which includes mention of a trip to the Nifty Nut House. He also comments on chocolates a Cero's which I have noticed, but now am much more interested in visiting.

http://www.toyou.com/merle/article.cfm?id=90

Kansas is not a bad place for foodies!