NYE Bean Dip

Here is a quick and ridiculously yummy dip for your parties tomorrow. Its pretty approximate, but the ratios of bean to cream cheese are accurate, and double easily

3/4 cup dry black beans ( equivalent two cans cooked )
Soak beans overnight
Put on low heat with about 3 cups of water
3 to 5 minced garlic cloves
Add a scant teaspoon of cinnamon
About 1/4 teaspoon of the hottest cayenne you can find
And a tablespoon of cumin

Cook for two hours on lowest heat. After two hours when beans are soft turn heat up to medium low and cook off remaining liquid. Stir in 12 oz of cream cheese. Put in ovenproof ceramic dish and heat when ready to serve.

TIPS
Using dried beans cut down on sodium, and stops the beans from going mushy. Adding salt when soaking the beans prevents the skins from splitting. Cutting out this step does however make this a 5 minute recipe

Marshmallow you Cute?!

Other titles considered:

It's a Marshmallow World
It's a Marshmallow Life
She's an out of this world Baking Marsh-ian!

You know I am at the end of the semester when my humor gets bad and my kitchen projects get GOOD!

This is a variation on a Food Network recipe that i opened in my browser nearly two weeks ago and have refused to close.

Since I knew i was in for three days of academic torture..

I allowed myself to make a recipe.
                                               Just one.

It was not allowed to involve the oven. 

Making Bailey's flavored marshmallows seemed an appropriate solution.

It was so much easier than I thought it would be, and I succeeded without a candy thermometer! ( risking the ruin of precious baking ingredients - nerve wracking!) Essentially what I did, was dump three packages of gelatin into my mixer with a half a cup of ice cold water. On the stove I heated water, corn syrup, sugar, and a pinch of salt, for exactly 7 minutes, on exactly medium heat, and hoped i pulled it off before the sugar started crystallizing.

AND I DID!

And then I turned Black Betty (wham-a-lam) on for her triumphant return, and slowly poured the hot sugary liquid in the mixer.

High speed, high steam!

After about 5 minutes  it stopped frothing and started foaming. Excellent.

The hardest part, is just letting it mix. For about 12 minutes. Patience is not one of my numerous virtues.

Oh wait, then I added Baileys instead of vanilla extract. Two glugs to be exact. Not as much as I wanted for sure.

Child friendly Marshmallows. Child friendly Marshmallows. Child friendly Marshmallows. Child friendly Marshmallows. *sigh

Eventually it became thick like meringue, and it got poured into a greased and dusted dish to set, and dusted on top a bit more. (cornstarch/icing sugar even mix. The cornstarch doesn't dissolve the way the sugar does and keeps them from getting sticky)

Then cut, rolled in more powder.

Here's a few hints for you

Don't refrigerate these if you don't want them to get sticky.

Much like fondant they will sweat a little bit if they chill too long.

Also if you want to scoop the marshmallow mix it into a piping bag and pipe a long tube onto dusted parchment paper, then you can let them set and cut the stripes into mini marshmallows.

Also, dust you pizza roller with the cornstarch and powdered sugar mixture

The initial process takes less than 10 minutes. I left the room while the mixer ran! However, the slicing and powdering takes a while.

The marshmallow brick needs at least 4 hours to set before you can handle it, so you can make these and cut later

I threw them in the bowl to dust, put the marshmallows in the sieve and shook the excess off.

Uhm, these may not make it into everyone's stockings. Hot chocolate with baileys marshmallows for paper writing reward? And not even boozy!! I think so.

do you sprout?

You should sprout

If you don't, what are you waiting for?

It costs you pennies, it's delicious, and far less risk of bacteria, because you cut down on packaging and shipping times.

This will be ready to eat sandwich sprouts in another day or so

And these are going in tomorrow night's dinner

All you do is pour water over them a few times a day, and it drains down through the trays.

VOILA!

Go forth and sprout!!

Two Ingredients..

Saurkraut.

If you don't like it - I can't help you. If you enjoy pungent, home made, lacto-fermented natural foods, you have come to the right place!

Step 1) Thinly slice organic cabbage into shreds

Step 2) Salt and smash cabbage. Bruise it up nicely. Mortar and pestle works, or just your fists in a big clean bowl.

Step 3) Press into a food grade container. The salt should draw enough liquid out to cover the cabbage. Obviously - I used a canning jar. Because canning jars are my answer to almost everything.



Step 4) Cover and weight down the future kraut. I used a plastic lid cut to size, and a smaller jar of water. If there isn't enough water for an inch of brine, add some boiled and cooled salt water to keep this covered. The salt water is like a protective layer to protect your krauty goodness.

The fresh, green, unfermented jar

Step 5) Cover with cheesecloth and let ferment. Yes. On the counter.

Step 6) Taste. When ready refrigerate to slow fermentation.

Step 7) Remember to use clean, non-reactive utensils to retrive the sauerkraut. This can be a plastic or wooden spoon, I like chopsticks because my jar is deep.

If you want to continue, salt and smash some fresh cabbage, empty your jar and add the new cabbage to the bottom.

Finished: my sauerkraut hanging out in the fridge. Afterthought - perhaps I should have cleaned my fridge.

Usual Disclaimer: if you do this wrong you may make yourself ill. Lacto-fermented foods done wrong mean either the yeast or bacteria takes over the other.. I just happen to be the owner of a steel stomach, and friendly bacterial environment in my house. Also I am crazy neurotic about using only clean, sanitized, non metallic tools for this.

It gets better tasting the long it sits, and looses more and more color.

Justify the purchase of totally unhealthy perogies and gobble. Also enjoyed on smash up of day old boiled potatoes, onion and a bit of bacon left over from breakfast.

 Enjoy!

Autumn Chutney

   


SO many pears and delicious squashy things around at this time of the year...

I was inspired by a recipe posted by a local produce merchant I subscribe to. There was a recipe for a Pear Chutney.... After some googling and a trip to the grocery store I was prepared.





In the pot went:



3 lbs of Pears with skins on, cubed

2 cups of apple cider vinegar

*my family loves vinegar-y foods, more than is good for us. You can cut this down a bit but please keep in mind if you plan on canning or processing this chutney acidity is what will keep it microbe free!

1 1/2 C brown sugar, plus a healthy squeeze of honey.
* the recipe called for 2 cups of brown sugar, but again, honey is naturally antibacterial, and I ran out of sugar.

a big handful of GOLDEN raisins
*will make the chutney, get some of these instead of dark ones while you are in the bulk section buying the....


candied ginger. Again, the recipe called for 1/4 cup. I eyeballed this as about 8 or 9 chunks. minced up really small

half a large, stinky yellow cooking onion that made me cry, minced

2 Tsp mustard seeds (if you are hesitating, put them in anyways)

1/2 a teaspoon of cinnamon and ground cloves
I would cut down the cloves a little if you dont like your chutneys extra strong!

Ok, so it all goes into a pot

 and it cooks...

and cooks
until it is thick and saucy looking.
and when it wasn't thickening, I added a nice grainy cooking apple to sauce and thicken it up

In the meantime, you will need to wash your 250 ml jars, put them on a cookie sheet and put them in a COLD oven. Then turn the oven on to 350, no higher or the jars might crack while you fill them hot. It's like I have learned all of these things the Stephanie Way before (read: the hard way)

 I decided that my chutney needed closer to 2 hours of cooking to chutney-fy instead of one. You and I may differ on what chutney should look and taste like. I also left the skins on my pears, because I like my preserves THICK, and not sloshing around in the jar looking messy. If you are new to this skins = pectin and texture. I wanted it to be more like a compote than a sweet, runny mango chutney.


Cold Jars:

Hot Jars:

Yes, and that large canning pot you conveniently keep at hand like I do? Fill 'er up 2/3 of the way and bring it to a boil - if you've done this before you know it takes a while to get to a roll. Make sure to salt the water, raise the temperature

I threw the seals in a pan to soften. Take the jars out of the oven about 2 minutes before filling them. Don't fill when they are sizzling hot - I learned that this is only okay for high risk foods and not for anything with a sugar structure you need intact like jelly or jam or sauce.




Down to a science:

Fill

Lift and Lid

Tighten bands

Process 20 minutes in hard boiling canner

Remove into wire rack

Cool

Listen (to your seals 'taking', and the nice loud POP!)

Show it off, or stuff it in a stocking.

Delicious with an antipasto plate, pork dishes, or on a piece of toast with a hard sharp cheese. Such a cool unique taste!

*this is not an official canning guide, if you are not familiar with the process please read a good book like Bernardin's guide to canning where you can learn all about pH levels and botulism!*

Revamping..

Okay so I might not be trying a "new" food every day, because that was just getting too expensive, and difficult. I guess I am an adventurous eater already! So I am trying a new format and I have a couple of posts almost ready to roll out.

To come:

some of the crazy preserves I have been making

DIY projects such as sauerkraut



See you and your tastebuds soon!



xo! Steph

Tamarillo

Well... just please have a look before i begin to try and describe!!

 The skin is thin, and soft like a tomato...
but when you cut it open it looks like this!

 yummmmmmmmm.... sort of...

well.. I don't like seeds in my fruit.. I think this point was covered in my Grenadilla post! When food is this much work without huge reward (ie - artichoke hearts) I find little reason to keep eating it..

So I suppose you want to know what it tastes like..





Well... Fleshy.. like a tomato.... with that weird texture I usually don't mind... but this might have been a touch bruised or overripe..

And sort of sweet at the same time.... But for the seeds...






Perhaps I should stick to non-seedy fruits!

I really don't know how to explain... this is a sweet but slightly sour tomato with a lot of juice and tiny hard black seeds in it...

If i had the time or energy I might make ketchup out of it.... I shall keep my eyes peeled!!! 

I hope you try this one... it is probably the most difficult to describe I have eaten so far!

Kombucha: Traditional Sparkling Fermented Tea

That's a mouthful of a title.

I have read so many good things about this. And honestly, I was curious what fermented tea would taste like. I like fermented grape juice. I like fermented bread (sourdough). I LOVE beer. What could it hurt to try it?

Well first of all the pocketbook. All I could think was "... damnit this better be good for $2.79"

Well I cracked the top in the car on the way home, and it hissed and smoked at me.

Oh boy..

Truth? It had a weird aftertaste. I now understand why there are so many flavored options! It wasn't bad at all... It actually reminded me of that metallic licoricey taste of the British sherbert candies we used to eat as young girls.

Not terrible, not something I can imagine drinking often enough for it to grow on me at that price..

Also, It sort of gave me the burps... big time... I prefer club soda and lime :(

Thai Green Eggplant

I love Thai food.

I also love Curry.

I ADORE Thai Green Curry!

So, This little cutie pie at the market was one I needed to try!

The biggest different between this eggplant and a regular one, is that the "meat" stays really firm when you cook it. This was appealing to me at first, so i bought it.

However, the insides stay firm while the outer layer -and subsequently the skin - still cook. Then you were left with the spongy seedy part in the middle still firm, and the skins falling off. uh oh.

So I would recommend this for a stirfry! But I still like my eggplant melt in your mouth in my Thai food :) SO maybe I'm best staying with the regular purple and Asian eggplants.

Agave Syrup!

This is one of the awesome things I started using over Christmas break that I forgot to write about!

It is basically the same plant that is used to make tequila. ( liking this already aren't you?)

It is also two times sweeter than sugar, and slightly lower in calories. Yes folks, my mathmetician  brain has sorted out that when the quantity and calories are both halved.. its 1/4 as bad for you as sugar! RIGHT?!

(please, please, please don't correct this if I am wrong, I'll eventually realize this when I fail Economics at University)

All that you REALLY need to know is that is much lower on the Glycemic Index than regular sugar.


Okay, so not the sort of thing you would just "eat" straight up. But I like it in my coffee. And I like it when I bake whole wheat bread, but don't want the overwhelming honey taste. I still prefer to put chai tea mix or brown sugar in my oatmeal to sweeten, as agave doesn't have a very distinct flavor. I know cooks who use it in sauces, and it's getting more and more popular on Food Network channels!

Jokes aside, it is an awesome option, here is what you will find when you google it:

• it's not refined, like sugar
•  it's becoming a huge Mexican export, and so the Americans have began investigating everything that could possibly be wrong with it
•  In the future when the vegans prove us all wrong , we will also be using it instead of honey
• you can get "raw" agave nectar produced at "raw food" acceptable temperatures
• it is still fructose, so it's not healthy if you eat a lot of it

So basically, this is one of the new foods i tried which has weaseled it's way into my morning routine!

I hope you enjoy

Kale

BITTER GREENS!

One of my favourites growing up in an Italian household, was steamed rapini, that was sauteed in olive oil with garlic and chilli flakes.

Unfortunately, one day while shopping for "high iron" foods, the produce boys informed me that the broccolini, rapini, and other assorted bitter greens, actually began to loose their nutrient value the minute they were steamed.

 

http://www.google.ca/images/

So, the first time I tried Kale this year was slathered in salty peanut satay sauce.

Don't get me wrong, it tasted great. However, this wasn't healthy; the reason I was eating it!

Recently, kale is plentiful as a winter season organic and locally grown vegetable (hurray temperate coastal climate!) In my attempts at supporting global stewardship and the local food movement, I bought myself several bunches.

The my second first time "trying" the kale ( I say this because I could actually taste it this time) I was dissapointed. No amount of lemon juice or soy sauce masked that unmistakable bitter taste.

One day not too long after, I miraculously stumbled on Kath eating kale in her daily blog She sauteed it with... MAPLE SYRUP!?

Okay, there was two bunches to go!

It was amazing. my new rule: add a TOUCH of something sweet to the water when you are steaming the kale. DONE.

Or, as I did today with my lunch, I used steamed kale and added a touch of sweet to my salad dressing

 Check out the recipe:

One bunch kale, stemmed, cut, steamed and drained
Three fingers of roasted yam, cold, and cut into chunks
Half a bosch pear
half an avocado (hurray sales! what a treat!)
sprinkle of red onion

Dressing, shaken in a jam jar:
grainy dijon
olive oil
white balsamic
salt
pepper
splash of maple syrup

mmmmmmmmm, you should try it!

Chayote Squash

Well I wasn't sure what to think.

I acquired this baby in a clearance tray for $1.99 at the produce market, along with a chunk of Taro root and another unidentified squash item.



It looks like a pear that was dropped on it's face as a baby.
It was described to taste like a zucchini.
And is said to be crunchy even after cooking in liquid.

But.. if it's good enough for Bobby Flay...

I chopped this into bite sized pieces, sauteed it in olive oil, salt and pepper. After it had cooked I added white balsamic vinegar and let the stove do it's thing. and do you know what?

It looked like pear, tasted JUST like zuchinni, and had absolutely no spongey texture...

It wasn't bad at ALL. I don't think I would buy it to eat as a side, but I will absolutely adding this to a chilli or stew for some "heartiness"

NOTE: It also has a large flat seed on the inside, but this is edible and tastes very similar to the flesh. unfortunately my camera flash ruined the rest of my chayote photos