You are here: Home / 2012 / Archives for February 2012

Mini Fruit Hand Pies | Make Ahead Mondays

February 27, 2012 by 16 Comments

 

You had to know this was coming.

I made it through three whole Make Ahead Mondays without even so much as a mention of dessert. I’d say that’s pretty close to a record for me. With all those make ahead meals in your freezer, you need a make ahead dessert, right? RIGHT? Besides, this is still February, after all, and February is National Snack Food Month. After soft pretzels, what’s snackier than pretty little pies? Nothing, I tell you!!! Absolutely nothing!*

*If you could read the preceeding two sentences in the voice of the “Wheel of Fish” host, I’d be greatly obliged.

It’s little food, friends. I die. This is off the fun charts, cute charts, and convenience charts!

Wait.

Pie off the convenience charts?

Yes, indeedy!

This is one of those occasions where front-loading the work -getting it all done ahead of time- really does make all the difference. It’s kind of like childbirth. You forget the pain. Well, okay. Bad example. I never did understand folks who say they forgot it. I remember it. It hurt a lot.

Never mind.

We were talking about pie which is a far more relaxing subject than breathing through contractions, which reminds me… who can do that? Not this girl.

Pie.

Yes.

The point is that you get all the work done on the pies, stick them in the freezer (a la Make Ahead Mondays) and then forget about it until you want a pie. Then ‘hey, Presto!’ you pull out the frozen pie, brush it with egg and sprinkle it with sugar, then bake it. Ta da! How do you like that? Nearly Instant Pie.

Don’t even think this is in the same category as those twenty-five cent thingies that get stashed in lunch boxes all over the country. These are unbelievably good. Crunchy sugar coating on a buttery, crumbly crust wrapped around real fruit filling is good enough all by itself, but if you serve it warm with a scoop of ice cream or freshly whipped cream on top, you’re heading into nirvana territory.

I start with a good, old-fashioned butter tart crust.

Please don’t panic at the homemade pie crust (I say this because homemade pie crust panics my mother, and being the good daughter that I am, I asked for homemade blueberry pie for nearly every birthday. I’m sorry, Mom.) This butter tart crust recipe I give you doesn’t require any special pie crust handling skills (it’s made in the food processor) and it’s nearly impossible to overwork. If the idea of making a pie crust still gives you the pip, feel free to substitute in your favourite purchased pie crust. I’ll be here for you when you’re ready to cross that bridge. In the meantime, make these pies and freeze them. Pie in the freezer is always a good thing. And hey, with a stash of this in the freezer you’ll be ready for all those last minute wild March 14th Pi/Pie Day celebrations you’re planning.

You are planning them, right?

I can’t be the only one.

Someone?

Anyone?

Print
Mini Fruit Hand Pies | Make Ahead Mondays

Yield: 8 mini pies

Mini Fruit Hand Pies | Make Ahead Mondays

Crunchy sugar coating on a buttery, crumbly crust wrapped around real fruit filling is good enough all by itself, but if you serve it warm with a scoop of ice cream or freshly whipped cream on top, you're heading into nirvana territory.

You can simplify this recipe further by using purchased pie crusts and pie filling. It goes without saying that homemade filling and crust will make it taste that much better, but all pie is good pie!

Ingredients

    For the Crust (Can substitute 2 purchased pie crust rounds):
  • 2 cup flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 pound (2 sticks) cold butter, in small pieces
  • 2 egg yolks
  • 4 tablespoons ice water
    • For the Pies:
  • 4 cups pie filling (whichever flavour you prefer, I like to use a variety of homemade pie fillings.)
    • Also needed to bake the pies:
  • 1 egg, beaten
  • 1 teaspoon raw sugar (can substitute granulated sugar) per pie

Instructions

To Make the Crust:

Pulse the flour and salt together in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a metal blade. Open the food processor and add in the butter. Replace the lid and pulse until the butter and flour resemble small peas. Pour the ice water and egg yolks in through the feed tube and process until a coarse dough forms. Turn the shaggy dough out onto a lightly floured surface and press together with your hands until it holds together well. Divide into two equal pieces and form into 1/2-inch thick rectangles. Wrap each rectangle in plastic wrap and chill for at least twenty minutes (but up to 2 days) before rolling.

To Make the Pies:

Line one or two baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.

Lightly flour your work surface and place an unwrapped rectangle of pie crust dough on the counter. Sprinkle a little flour on top of the dough.

Roll it into a larger rectangle that is about 12-inches by 10-inches. Use a bench knife, pastry wheel or pizza cutter to divide the dough in half vertically. Score the dough lengthwise also, dividing the dough into 4 smaller rectangles, to help you visualize where to put the pie filling.

Spoon about half a cup of pie filling near either side of the split on the dough.

Fold the outside edges (using a bench knife to help lift the dough, if needed) toward the center and drape it over the pie filling, pressing down and crimping the seams to keep the filling from leaking.

Use your bench knife or cutter to split between the pies again (just to be sure nothing is sticking!). Use a spatula or bench knife to transfer the pies to the parchment lined pans. Don't worry about leaving too much space between them, because you'll be freezing them.

Repeat with remaining pie dough and filling. Cover the pans lightly with plastic wrap and place in the freezer until frozen solid, about 4 hours.

When firm, carefully transfer the frozen pies to a resealable freezer bag and keep frozen for up to 3 months.

To Bake Pies:

Place desired amount of pies 2-3 inches apart on a rimmed parchment lined pan. Preheat oven to 425°F. Brush the tops of the pies with the beaten egg and sprinkle each pie with a teaspoon of raw sugar. Cut two small vent holes in the tops of the pies.

Bake for 15 minutes, lower the heat to 350°F, and bake for another 10-15 minutes, or until pies are deep golden brown and filling is bubbly.

Let cool on the pans for 10 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack to finish cooling. Serve warm or room temperature. Leftovers can be stored, tightly wrapped, at room temperature for up to three days.

http://www.foodiewithfamily.com/2012/02/27/mini-fruit-hand-pies-make-ahead-mondays/

 

 

Filed Under: Desserts, Freezer Pleaser, kid food, Recipes, Vegetarian

English Muffin Bread

February 23, 2012 by 55 Comments

English muffins hold a very special place in my heart. How could you possibly not love the craggy, full-of-holes, moist bread and the crunchy, toasty bits of cornmeal stuck to the outside that transfer to your fingers when you grip it? I love them every which way, from the English muffin pizzas my mom used to make as after-school treats, to dripping with butter and slathered with berry jam or  marmalade, to topped with a fried egg and a good squeeze of rooster sauce.

I can’t imagine my life without English muffins.

Yet, as much as I love English muffins, that is how much I love this English Muffin Bread. I know, it feels kind of disloyal to say it, but it’s true. This bread is everything that an English muffin is, but more convenient. And way-hay-hay-hay less expensive.*

*Unless, of course, you’re making your own, in which case it’s no less expensive but a heckuva lot more convenient and far less time consuming. Carry on.


What I mean to say is that this bread has the crags, the holes, (*cough the nooks and crannies cough*) the moistness, the crunchy, toasty bits of cornmeal that transfer to your fingers and the incomparable ability to carry sinful amounts of butter and jam, or sauce and cheese, or egg and hot sauce just like its namesake muffins.

Let me tell you something. This bread is so easy, so DEAD easy, that there is no reason a complete beginning baker can’t successfully make it. It doesn’t require any exotic ingredients or specialty equipment. The hardest part of the whole process is waiting for it to cool. Because cool completely it must. If you cut into this gorgeous, tempting, incredible bread before it is one-hundred-percent cooled, you will cry many bitter, salty tears of regret.

There is a very good scientific reason to this. The bread continues to cook and set up as it cools. Unlike some other breads where it’s a-okay to wrench large fistfuls of warm bread and stuff them into your mouth, this will simply assume a gummy texture and stay there when sliced warm. That’s where your crocodile tears would flow. Sigh. But if you wait, your wildest dreams will come true. Kind of like if you vote for Pedro.  In short, LET IT COOL!

And then when it has finally cooled and you slice it and toast it…

There have to be little blackened parts around the edges. You can’t half-heartedly toast an English muffin, right? Well, you can’t be meek about toasting English Muffin bread, either. You have to go all-in, full-throttle; you have to commit to toasting it.

For heaven’s sake, don’t let a toaster anywhere near this bread. Toast this bread in a good puddle of melted, salted butter in a cast-iron (or other heavy-bottomed) frying pan or on a griddle over medium high heat. Does this really make a difference? Let me answer it this way. Does breathing make a difference in your quality of life?

When it’s browned in the middle and black around the edges, flip it over with a fork. Oh, yes. It is far more hands-on than a toaster, but the results will speak for themselves. Salted, crispy, buttery on the outside and moist and soft on the inside. We’re talking about toasty, crunchy, bready nirvana.

Oh me. Oh man. Oh mama…

If this doesn’t make you happy, I just don’t know how to help you.

I never, ever make this in quantities less than four loaves, but I am feeding a regiment here with my five boys and their buddies and, let’s be honest, my husband and I can eat impressive quantities, too… If you have a wee bird appetite, or are feeding fewer people than we are, I’ve included a halved recipe in the printable. Nothing in the method changes, so choose your level of consumption and let’s get baking!

Print
English Muffin Bread

English Muffin Bread

This gorgeous, simple, golden brown bread has the crags, the holes, the moistness, the crunchy, toasty bits of cornmeal that transfer to your fingers and the incomparable ability to carry sinful amounts of butter and jam, or sauce and cheese, or egg and hot sauce just like its namesake muffins. This recipe is suitable for novice bakers and is easy on the wallet, to boot!

Ingredients

    For a Standard Recipe (3-4 loaves):
  • 5 1/2 cups warm-to-the-touch water (not hot)
  • 2 tablespoons kosher salt
  • 3 tablespoons sugar
  • 2 tablespoons plus 3/4 teaspoons instant yeast (or 3 packages)
  • 11 1/2 cups (3 pounds 1 1/2 ounces by weight) all purpose or bread flour (I often do a half and half combination of the two.)
    • For a Half-Size Recipe (1-2 loaves):
  • 2 3/4 cups warm (not hot) water
  • 1 tablespoon kosher salt
  • 1 tablespoon plus 1 1/2 teaspoons sugar
  • 1 tablespoon plus 1 1/4 teaspoons instant yeast (or about 1 1/2 packages)
  • 5 3/4 cups all-purpose or bread flour (1 pound 9 ounces, by weight)
    • Also Needed:
  • Non-stick cooking spray
  • cornmeal
  • plastic wrap
  • melted butter for brushing the bread mid-way through and after baking

Instructions

To Prepare the Dough:

Stir all of the ingredients together by hand in a large mixing bowl (or in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle) just until combined. The dough will be shaggy and very sticky.

Spray a piece of plastic wrap with non-stick cooking spray and lay it loosely over the mixing bowl. Let the dough rise in a warm, draft-free place for about an hour or until it looksbubbly and puffy.

Spray 3 standard loaf pans (8.5" x 9.5") with non-stick cooking spray and sprinkle in a fistful of cornmeal. Tilt the pans, tapping gently, until the interiors are coated with a thin layer of cornmeal. Tap out any excess cornmeal.

Spray your hands with non-stick cooking spray and use them to divide the dough evenly between the pans. The pans should be no more than halfway full. If you need to, spray and cornmeal an additional loaf pan for any excess.

Spray more pieces of plastic wrap with non-stick cooking spray and lay them loosely over each loaf pan. Let rise in a warm, draft-free place until the dough looks bubbly and puffy again, and has risen with the top of the dough dome just peeking above the edge of the pan.

While the dough is rising, preheat the oven to 350°F.

It is possible to let this dough rise too long, so be sure the oven is waiting for you rather than you waiting for the oven.

Evenly space the loaf pans in the oven and set the timer for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, take out one bread pan at a time and brush the tops of the loaves with melted butter. When you place the bread pans back in the oven, rotate their positions from front to back. Bake for an additional 10 minutes or until they are just lightly golden brown.

Immediately turn the loaves out onto a cooling rack and brush again with melted butter. Cool completely before slicing.

The bread can be stored, tightly wrapped, at room temperature for up to a week. If you do not think you can eat it in that time, wrap the cooled, unsliced loaves with two layers of plastic wrap and cover that with one layer of foil before storing in the freezer for up to 3 months. They can be thawed or simply sliced from their frozen state before toasting.

http://www.foodiewithfamily.com/2012/02/23/english-muffin-bread/

Filed Under: Bread, Breakfast Foods, Comfort Food, Freezer Pleaser, Happy Healthy and Wise, kid food, Rebecca, Recipes, Snacks, Stretching your dollars, Vegetarian Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Slow Cooker Sloppy Joes | Make Ahead Mondays

February 20, 2012 by 19 Comments

WARNING: Downton Abbey Spoiler Alert! I’m  putting this on in an excess of caution, but given that last night was the season finale here in the US, I just want to be certain that you have a chance to see it before reading. I don’t actually give anything away, but I don’t want you to draw conclusions and then hate me forever.

This Sunday was a memorable one. Two of my boys had their first ever band practice. I stood in the kitchen listening to the guys jam, sneaking glances as often as I could without looking like a nutty backstage mom. I walked by and took as many surreptitious photos as I possibly could and tried desperately not to cry lest they think I didn’t like it.

Now, if you have a house full of teenaged boys, it doesn’t matter how distracted or otherwise occupied they appear, you’d best get some food going. Thank heavens I practice what I preach with Make Ahead Mondays. I had a freezer full of last minute options. I went with the easiest of the clean up options for dinners.

Why?

Lately, on Sunday nights, I’ve done the world’s fastest tucking-in of the kids. We’re talking smooch, pray, blankies-yanked-up-to-the-neck, find lost stuffed animals, pat the head and then a soothing and sincere, “If you come downstairs and interrupt Downton Abbey I will be crankier than Voldemort.”

Then I run back downstairs -wild horses aren’t in it, people… I fly-  to make a pot of tea and plant my backside firmly on the couch, remote-in-hand. Mercifully, DVRs exist, because I am quite clearly not an effective deliverer of threats. Either that, or my children are not good receivers of threats. Because they descend the stairs more often than the staff of Downton.

Forget the Superbowl. I sit here watching Downton Abbey saying things like,

“SHUT UP, THOMAS!”

“NO, Mr. Bates! NO!”

“I really like Anna’s hat.”

“Poor William.”

“Poor Daisy.”

“The Dowager Countess is my favourite person in the whole world.”

“Well, you did it NOW, didn’t you, Thomas?”

“Oh, Anna!”

“YES! Matthew socked him!”

But most importantly, and most frequently I scream, “SIR RICHARD IS A JERK!”

Can I get an amen?

Or a subdued, “Very well.”

In fact, I’m so devoted to Downton Abbey, I believe that The Dowager Countess (THREE CHEERS FOR VIOLET!) has a quote for just about everything, including Make Ahead Mondays.

“Oh, is her cooking so precisely timed? You couldn’t tell.”

Okay, so maybe I stretched that quote just a bit. But this last one comes from me talking to Lady Grantham about Make Ahead Mondays:

Lady Grantham: “You are quite wonderful the way you see room for improvement wherever you look. I never knew such reforming zeal.”
Rebecca: “I take that as a compliment.”
Lady Grantham: “I must’ve said it wrong.”

Well, alright, that wasn’t quite right, either.  I’m sorry. I’m just so obsessed.

Here’s the point, though…

I got a meal for ten on the table in thirty minutes and cleaned up in just thirty more. The sloppy joes in the freezer made it possible. And that in turn made it possible for me to clap like a seal and start singing, “Mary and Matthew sitting in a tree, K.I.S.S.I.N.G.”

Let this be a lesson to you. Cousin Violet loves sloppy joes.

Er.

Or something.

~~

You’ve never really had sloppy joes until you’ve had homemade sloppy joes. Go on, didn’t some of you curl your lips a bit when you saw “sloppy joes” in the title? Don’t go there! This might be “below the stairs” food, but it’s darned good! When you make them from scratch, they’re an entirely different story! When you take browned beef, luscious tangy sauce, loads upon loads of vegetables and simmer them for hours upon hours their flavours mingle and marry. Kind of like Sybil and Branson. Sigh. Pile that onto soft homemade rolls and you are in heaven. Make no mistake. They are sloppy. You’re going to want a goodly pile of napkins nearby. Or a footman with finger bowls. The choice is yours.

Either way, this stash in your freezer makes dinner a breeze.

A while back, I ran this recipe as a classic Foodie With Family Record-Eagle column. I hope you enjoy this printable version!

Print
Slow Cooker Sloppy Joes | Make Ahead Mondays

Slow Cooker Sloppy Joes | Make Ahead Mondays

You've never had a sloppy joe until you've had a sloppy joe made from scratch. Crammed full of veggies, big on flavour and huge on comfort, these sloppy joes are a great way to get your daily vegetable servings into picky eaters. As if they weren't wonderful enough, they're kind to the wallet and half-your-brain-tied-behind-your-back easy.

If you're feeding a big family, I highly recommend doubling or tripling this recipe (most slow-cookers can handle the upsize with no difficulty) and freezing the extras for last-minute meals.

Ingredients

  • 3 lbs. lean ground beef or turkey
  • 2 large onions, finely chopped
  • 1 large red bell pepper, seeded and finely chopped
  • 2 large ribs celery, finely chopped
  • 1 small carrot, peeled and finely chopped or grated
  • 3 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
  • 3 6-oz. cans tomato paste
  • 1/3 c. cider vinegar, plus extra for adjusting flavor after cooking
  • 1/3 c. firmly packed light brown sugar, plus extra for adjusting flavor after cooking
  • 3 t. paprika
  • 2 t. dry mustard
  • 2 t. salt
  • 2 t. chili powder, more or less, to taste
  • 1 t. fresh ground black pepper, more or less, to taste
  • ½ t. hot pepper sauce

Instructions

In a large skillet over medium high heat, cook the beef with the onions, bell pepper, celery, carrot, and garlic, breaking up meat with a fork or wooden spoon until meat is lightly browned. Drain meat mixture and remove to a slow cooker, adding remaining ingredients. Stir until thoroughly combined, cover and cook on low for six to seven hours. Adjust flavor by adding additional brown sugar and vinegar to taste, if desired.

Serve filling loosely piled on rolls with choice of toppings.

To Freeze:

Cool the leftovers completely, scoop into a pre-labeled (with contents and date) resealable zipper bags in one-meal-portions. Close the zipper partway and squeeze as much air from the bag as you can without spilling the contents. Finish closing the zipper and lay the bag flat, gently squishing the bag to evenly distribute the sloppy joe filling. Lay the bags on a cookie sheet and place in the freezer until solid.

To Reheat:

Snip the top from the freezer bag and empty the contents into a microwave safe bowl or a heavy-bottomed saucepan with a tight fitting lid. If microwaving, cover bowl with plastic wrap, venting one side. Thaw first, then microwave on high, stirring every 2 minutes or so, until the filling is hot through. If using the stovetop, add 1/4 cup of water, lid tightly, and warm over low heat, stirring every 5 minutes or so, until the filling is hot through and through.

http://www.foodiewithfamily.com/2012/02/20/slow-cooker-sloppy-joes-make-ahead-mondays/

Filed Under: Comfort Food, Freezer Pleaser, kid food, Main Dish, Make Ahead Mondays, Meat, Rebecca, Recipes, slow-cooker, Stretching your dollars Tagged With: , , , ,

Slow-Cooker Honey Sesame Chicken

February 17, 2012 by 86 Comments

Update: Like a goose, I left the onions out of the ingredients list and instructions. I have fixed and updated the recipe. My apologies to those who might have printed it before seeing the correction. I imagine it will still taste marvelous made sans onion, but with onions, it sings!

Everybody wants a unicorn recipe. It’s the kind of dish we all secretly hopes exists but despair of actually finding.  You try recipe after recipe after recipe trying to find something, ANYTHING that isn’t a burger (Not that there’s anything wrong with that.) or a hot dog (Nothing wrong with that, either, but EGADS, give us some variety, please.) that will make everyone happy. All we want is tasty unicorns.

What would you say if I told you that I have a slow-cooker recipe that requires no more work than chopping an onion and a few garlic cloves and a wee bit of ginger, whisking a few liquids together and pouring it over some boneless skinless chicken thighs in the slow cooker? And then if I were to tell you that you didn’t have to do any pre-browning on that chicken? Wait, then I also said that it was easy on the wallet, too.

But what if I followed all that up by saying that four hours after doing that, you would have a dish that (even out of the slow-cooker) was deep and complex, flavourful and beautiful, and made every single person in my family happy. Would you think I was a liar?

Or would you believe me if I told you this is a unicorn?

Normally something that simple doesn’t yield palatable let alone fabulous. This, however, is fabulous.

Sweet, tangy, spicy, garlicky, gingery with a velvety sauce and tender chicken. It’s just so very good. I first saw this over on my friend Amy’s blog and knew I had to try it. True to Amy’s promise of success, we had no leftovers the first time I made it (and I had doubled her recipe!) And as a testament to the taste of this unicorn, I made it again just under a week later, this time with a few changes that I wanted to try. My husband was on (ANOTHER) business trip, and again, I doubled the amount of meat. And again? No leftovers. I repeat. NO LEFTOVERS. My five sons and I polished off a batch of it that was every bit as large as the batch that my adult male husband helped us consume earlier in the week.

Woah.

A.) These guys eat a lot. Okay. I’m no slouch. But still… I weep for my food budget.

B.) I may have to triple the recipe next time.

C.) Help.

When I told my husband later that night what we’d eaten for dinner as we caught up over the phone, he said, “Oh man. I missed it? That stinks.”

He had gone out to a restaurant that night and was jealous of our dinner. I call that a score for me.

Let me tell you one more thing, though… I’ve mentioned my picky pants gruesome-twosome anti-veg contingent before, right? They sucked this up like hoovers. They didn’t slow down to realize there were itty bitty minced onions in the dish.

Saddle up this unicorn and believe!

 

Print
Slow-Cooker Honey Sesame Chicken

Slow-Cooker Honey Sesame Chicken

Sweet, tangy, spicy, garlicky, gingery: You never expect something that is this simple to make to taste this deep and complex. With a maximum of 10 minutes of hands-on time required to put this together, you will be thrilled and so will the rest of your family!

Adapted with big thanks from my dear friend, Amy of Very Culinary

Ingredients

  • 3 pounds boneless skinless chicken thighs
  • salt and pepper
  • 3/4 cup honey
  • 1/2 cup soy sauce
  • 1/2 cup minced onion
  • 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons ketchup
  • 1 tablespoon canola oil
  • 1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil
  • 1 tablespoon minced or grated fresh ginger
  • 4 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
  • 3/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
  • 4 teaspoons cornstarch
  • 1/4 cup of water
    • Serve with:
  • Hot cooked rice
  • Sesame seeds
  • Scallions, thinly sliced

Instructions

Very lightly season the chicken thighs with salt and pepper and place them in the slow cooker.

Whisk the honey, soy sauce, onion, ketchup, canola and sesame oils, ginger, garlic and pepper flakes together in a mixing bowl and pour over the chicken thighs. Cover the slow cooker and cook on low for 4 hours, or until the chicken is tender and cooked through.

Use tongs or a slotted spoon to transfer the chicken to a rimmed plate or bowl and cover lightly with foil, leaving the pan juices in the slow cooker.

Stir the cornstarch into the water with a fork or small whisk until dissolved. Whisk the mixture into the pan juices in the slow cooker. Re-cover the slow-cooker and turn the heat to high. Let it cook and thicken for 15 minutes.

Carefully transfer the chicken back into the slow-cooker. Serve the pieces of chicken over the hot cooked rice, spoon the sauce over the chicken and garnish with sesame seeds and scallions.

http://www.foodiewithfamily.com/2012/02/17/slow-cooker-honey-sesame-chicken/

 

Filed Under: Comfort Food, Happy Healthy and Wise, kid food, Main Dish, Meat, Rebecca, Recipes, slow-cooker, Stretching your dollars Tagged With: , , , ,

Dill Pickle Dip

February 16, 2012 by 27 Comments


Excuse me. Have I told you before that I am a serious pickle maniac? I have never met a dill pickle I didn’t love. You know Cookie Monster? I’m Pickle Monster. Salty, vinegary, crunchy P-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-ickles!

While we’re at it and I’m confessing things, I should probably mention that I’m also devoted to dip. All dip. Creamy dips? Yes. Vegetable dips? Uh huh! Cheese dips? Gimme, please.

Normally, I combine these two loves by dunking pickles in dip, and until last week that made me perfectly happy. Then I saw this on Pinterest. Yes. More Pinterest. Perhaps I should add a Pinterest fixation to the confessions list? Oh, and I live for Smart Wool and Maggie’s Organic crew socks. But anyway…

I had never heard of dill pickle dip. What was WRONG with me? How had I never thought of this? As lovely as the pickle dip looked on that link, I knew I’d be formulating my own. Her recipe called for cashews (soaked) and we have a rule about cashews here in our house. Namely, if they are here, they will be eaten all. by. themselves. Knowing that there was no way a dip that uses cashews in any form other than cashew shape would get made, I let inspiration take the reigns and went to town.

Not literally.

I don’t go to town just to buy dip ingredients.

Well, most of the time I don’t.

This time I didn’t, because in addition to pickles, dip, and pretty socks, I also love cream cheese and that was what I was determined to use as the base for my dip. Why? Because cream cheese dips are the best dips in the world. Full stop.

After whipping together a simple combination of pickles, cream cheese, pickle juice (YES!), sweet onions (because pickles and onions and cream cheese are BFFs), dill and salt (because pickles, while salty, are not salty enough when stirred into cream cheese), the bowl was stashed in the refrigerator for an hour long rest just to let those flavours mingle.

I grabbed a bag of my current best loved pretzels, pumpernickel and onion*, and sat down to inspect my handiwork. I dunked a pretzel, took a bite, and then I kind of blacked out a bit. I’m not sure what happened, but when I came to, the entire bowl of dip and bag of pretzels were empty. It’s crazy, isn’t it?

*Pumpernickel and onion pretzels. Could you think of anything more tempting? I, for one, cannot. Thank you Snyder’s of Hanover for this wonder. And before you ask, Snyder’s of Hanover has no idea I’m writing this. They have no idea that I’m obsessed with their pretzels. They did not sponsor this post in any way. I’m just a big (and biggening) fan. I ♥ Snyder’s.

I have to be Captain Obvious for a moment:

  1. This is a dip created by a pickle lover for pickle lovers. If you don’t like pickles you’re probably not going to love this.
  2. Conversely, if you love pickles, you will love this truly, madly and deeply. You can send me love notes. I’m okay with that.
  3. If you chop your pickles finely, you can get more dip on whatever you’re dunking.
  4. If you chop your pickles more coarsely, you get bigger bursts of pickle flavour.
  5. Chop accordingly.
  6. The more pickle juice you add, the less thick your dip will be.

If you or someone you love is bonkers for pickles, do yourself or them a kindness. Make this dip, lay out a bowl of it alongside some sturdy chips or pretzels or crackers or vegetable sticks or a nice, polished spoon and feel the love.

P.S. If you were to trip and fall and accidentally spread a little dill pickle dip on the bun for that nice hamburger you just made, you should probably go ahead and eat it. Again, I’ll just point out I’m okay with fan mail.

Print
Dill Pickle Dip

Dill Pickle Dip

This thick cream cheese dip chock full of dill pickle and sweet onion is for serious pickle fans! Dunk pretzels, vegetable sticks, crackers or chips in it or spread on a bun for a hamburger that'll knock your socks off!

Ingredients

  • 1 (8 ounce) package of cream cheese, softened to room temperature
  • 1- 1 1/2 cups chopped dill pickles
  • 1/4 cup finely chopped sweet onion
  • 2- 4 tablespoons pickle juice (use less for thicker dip or more for thinner dip)
  • 1 teaspoon dried dill weed
  • 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
  • freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Instructions

Use a wooden spoon to press into the cream cheese then stir until loosened up and smooth. Stir in all of the remaining ingredients until evenly distributed. Transfer to a serving dish and cover with plastic wrap. Refrigerate for at least an hour before serving.

This dip is good for up to a week when stored tightly covered in the refrigerator. It may become thinner as the week draws to an end.

http://www.foodiewithfamily.com/2012/02/16/dill-pickle-dip/

 

Filed Under: Appetizers & Snacks, kid food, Party Food, Rebecca, Recipes, Vegetarian Tagged With: , , ,

DIY Body Wash and Liquid Hand Soap

February 15, 2012 by 16 Comments

As you can imagine, a home with five sons, an evil genius handyman husband, two dogs, an elderly cat and fifteen chickens can get a little -how to say- malodorous. Don’t misunderstand, I love every one of the aforementioned scent producers, but people… it can be a little hard on the nose around here.

Par example: I sent one of my children (name redacted for the sake of their future pride. We’ll refer to him here as Stanky Hank.) to the shower. Stanky Hank was in the shower for ten minutes. He emerged soaking wet and still covered with dirt. The conversation went a little something like this:

Me: You were in there for ten minutes. Why are your hands, feet, arms, and knees still covered with dirt stains?

Stanky Hank: Oh, I was supposed to get rid of those?

If I told you this was the rule rather than the exception, would you faint? Because I’m feeling a little faint thinking about it. And before anyone offers me smelling salts, remember, I live with a bunch of walking smelling salts.*

*Free social history lesson. Do you know what smelling salts actually were? They were bottles of ammonia solids mixed with aromatic essences. In short? They smelled like cat pee mixed with perfume. Remember, they were designed to wake you up. Now I’m not accusing my kids of smelling of cat pee, I’m just saying they have the potential to wake you up. But I digress.

Foodie With Family Trivia Moment: I’m obsessed with triple-milled French castile soaps. For those not equally obsessed with soap, castile soap is made with olive oil (translation: great for your skin). And the triple-milled soaps? Lush. Lush is the best word. My obsession extends most specifically to my favourite soap brand: Pre de Provence.

 

These massive bars of soap are unparalleled in the world of pretty smelling things. In scents like Coconut, Rose, Linden, Sage, Mint Leaf, Honey Almond Lavender, and my favourite- Green Tea- this soap makes me want to strap a bar to my nose just to get through life a little more happily. Although, upon reflection, walking around with a bar of soap strapped to my head might provide it’s own set of challenges…

…But I’m belabouring the point. I have used these soaps for a long time. The guys, however, didn’t want to use my pretty smelling soaps because they favour body wash over bar soap. They favour liquid hand soap over soap dishes. Sigh. My adorable cretins.

I’ve already told you about my happy, happy, super cheap and mega-effective homemade laundry detergent and my allergy-sufferer friendly unbelievably easy homemade air fresheners. You know I love to make pretty smelling things. Between that and the description I just gave you about my menfolk you can imagine that when I ran into this over on Pinterest, I was ready to make it immediately. STAT. Right away. Now. Time was a-wastin’.

Thanks to a proclivity for collecting lovely smelling soaps and a stash of vegetable glycerine from my previous Grand Marnier making forays, all I needed was to boil a gallon of distilled water.*

*Since even we cannot go through a gallon of soap in a week, I opted to use the boiled distilled water to slow any potential microbial growth in the soap. Distilled water has minerals removed (I used this because our water is hard) but still needs to be brought to a boiling temperature to kill any bacteria in it. I think we can all agree that a petri dish full of soap does not sound appealing, right? “Hi. My name is Rebecca and I’m a germaphobe.”

That’s right. It’s just three ingredients. THREE.

And because it is just three I have three pieces of advice about the choice of soap:

  1. Use one whose smell you love in the bar form because it will intensify a bit in the liquid form. It doesn’t have to be my beloved Pre de Provence. Just choose one that you adore.
  2. Choose a non-lotion soap. The lotion will prevent the soap from setting up well.
  3. Don’t choose a soap based on colour. Whichever colour soap you choose, your liquid soap will pretty much end up the same pearlescent shade of white.
  4. Did you know WordPress doesn’t recognize pearlescent as being spelled correctly? But by the same token WordPress doesn’t recognize itself as being spelled correctly. Yes. I know this is a fourth bullet point, but it’s not advice. So there.

I followed instructions and let the soap set up overnight. This leads me to two very important pieces of advice.

  1. Do not  put a lid that can absorb odours on top of your pan. Mainly because it will.
  2. Don’t panic if you have what looks (and feels, at first) like a solid mass of soap because it will loosen up.

Regarding that second piece of advice, I do not own a hand-mixer. WHAT? Yes. It’s true. I got rid of it because my husband insisted that he make mashed potatoes with them. After I made mashed potatoes with a ricer and a wooden spoon, he agreed, but I decided to remove temptation and thus avoid gluey potatoes from here on in… but again? I digress.

When I removed my now permanently scented lid from my pan, I touched the top of the soap and thought, “Well, that’s nice. I have a giant disc of soap jello.” After I jabbed at it a few times with my whisk, it started breaking down a bit. It was still a little too, er, chunky for our liking.

I found my egg beaters and set my very energetic six year old to mixing up the goo.

Do you have a six year old lying around? They’re dead handy.

Would this be easier using a hand mixer? You betcha… but an eggbeater and a six year old is an equally effective if slightly slower solution. If it had been any thicker, I might’ve heated it back up, added a bit more water and stirred it in then let it cool again to test the viscosity before bottling. As it was, I was happy. The now lovely smelling six year old and I ladled the liquid soap (which has a bit of a stringy consistency that doesn’t effect the overall product but takes a bit of adjustment if you’re using to the usual liquid soaps) into the gallon jug that had held the distilled water and found we needed more containers. We went on to fill an empty liquid hand soap container and an empty mid-sized body wash container. The breakdown on cost is:

  • For a gallon of distilled water ($0.69)
  • A bar of Pre de Provence Green Tea Soap ($6.69)
  • Two tablespoons of vegetable glycerine ($0.75ish)
  • Yield of about a gallon and a quarter, give or take a bit ($8.13).

My guys smell good. Really, really good. As in, “DAD! Mom keeps sniffing me!” good. $8.13 for a giant jug of body wash and hand soap is reason enough to make it, but the way they smell is priceless.

And lest you worry about nostril bombing with perfume, let me reassure you. My husband, as part of his Evil Genius job qualifications, is a super sniffer. His nose is very sensitive indeed. If this was overwhelmingly perfumey you wouldn’t be able to get him near it even with a ten foot pole. Whether it’s the fact that this particular soap -Pre de Provence Green Tea- is just a straight up wonderful and mild manly scent, I can’t say. But I can promise that Mr. Twitchy Nose and the five little urchins love it. And me?

Well, I get to swoon for an entirely different reason now.

Print
DIY Body Wash and Liquid Hand Soap

DIY Body Wash and Liquid Hand Soap

Make your own custom body wash and liquid hand soap with just three easily find-able ingredients for a fraction of the cost of pricey store versions. Be prepared to smell fantastic!

Recipe from and method adapted slightly from The Farmer's Nest

Ingredients

  • 1 (8 ounce) bar of castile soap (Pre de Provence, Dr. Bronner's, etc...)
  • 1 gallon distilled water
  • 2 tablespoons vegetable glycerine

Instructions

Bring the water to a boil in a large non-reactive pot (stainless steel or glass). Grate the bar of soap on a metal box grater. Add the soap shavings and vegetable glycerine to the boiling water, stirring frequently, until the soap shavings are completely dissolved into the water. Remove the pan from the heat, cover tightly, and let rest undisturbed overnight or for at least 8 hours.

After it has rested, break up with an egg beater or with a hand mixer until smooth. If it is too solid, warm over the heat again, add a little distilled water and let cool again to test the consistency. Repeat until you reach the desired viscosity for your soap.

Put a funnel into the now empty distilled water jug and ladle the soap into the jug. Ladle any extra soap into empty hand soap bottles or jars with tight fitting lids.

Use like you normally use body wash or liquid hand soap.

Store unused soap in a cool, dark place. If you're a nervous Nelly type, you can store it in the refrigerator.

http://www.foodiewithfamily.com/2012/02/15/diy-body-wash-and-liquid-hand-soap/

 

Do you want to try out my favourite soap? You can click on the “Books, Gear, and Supplies” tab right below the header, then click on the “Make it Smell Good!” category.

 

 

 

Filed Under: Kitchen Techniques and Hints, Non-food recipes, Rebecca, Recipes, Stretching your dollars Tagged With: , , , ,

Make Ahead Meatballs | Baked Meatballs and Polenta (Make Ahead Monday)

February 13, 2012 by 11 Comments

Update: A very astute reader (thank you, Elizabeth!) noticed that I had inserted one of my children’s math problems in the “how to make meatballs without a disher” portion of the recipe. If you had followed the instructions I gave, you’d end having SIX HUNDRED tiny, wee, adorable meatballs and cursing my name. Yeesh.  In case you were wondering, the problem was 30X=600. Solve for x.  Let this be a lesson to you. Don’t write and derive.

I vow not to correct my children’s math homework while finishing a post again. At least until next week.

With a Grandma from Arkansas and a Grandpa from West Virginia and a Mom -their daughter-  who learned to cook from them, I was brought up on good Southern food. The fact that I lived in Kentucky for six years as a child in my formative years helped matters along a little, too… In short, I run on grits.

There are very few things that grits can’t make better. Cold outside? Eat grits. Broken heart? Cheese grits. Nervous about anything? Simple buttered grits with salt and pepper. Feeling celebratory? Shrimp ‘n grits. Hungry? GRITS.

What can’t grits do? Creamy, chewy, soft, and hearty, grits are corn done right. So what does my Ode to Grits have to do with the dish pictured above? That’s polenta. And leaving aside the stoneground cornmeal vs. lye water soaked field corn bit of the discussion, polenta is, as my kids so poetically refer to it, Italian grits. Pronounced, in this case, EYE-tahl-ee-uhn.

We are nothing if we are not classy.

Italian grits bridge an argument that my dear, sweet, deluded husband and I have been having for years. Concisely, he likes his pasta gross. Seriously. He likes fine pastas (angel hair, thin spaghetti, etc…) and he likes it cooked past tender. As in mushy. I like substantial pasta (buccatini, shaped pastas, linguine) and I like it al dente. How have we ever made this work? By chucking most pasta dishes and agreeing on polenta. We both prefer polenta under meatballs and sauce, beef stew, and other various saucy morsels of goodness.

So while other couples make like Lady and the Tramp this Valentine’s Day, my sweetheart and I will be sharing a bowl of Italian grits topped with sumptuous baked meatballs and trying to eat faster so we can get the last spoonful.

In addition to being classy, we’re competitive. This makes us doubly fun on game night.

This meal is a fast one when you use a Make Ahead Monday advantage. I have to say that I’ve tried quite a few meatballs in my day, and these come in at the top for taste, ease and versatility. Yes, this recipe makes a lot (referring to both the frozen meatballs and today’s baked meatball recipe) but the uses are many.

The frozen meatballs can be baked up in a pan full of sauce like I did here, but they’re also divine in sweet and sour meatballs, tossed in barbecue sauce and kept warm in a slow-cooker for a party, or tossed in a cream sauce for a non-traditional (since it lacks pork) but incredibly delicious Swedish meatball dish. And if you find yourself with half a pan of baked meatballs in sauce leftover, you could do much, much, VASTLY worse things than meatball subs or a meatball pizza. When I tell you that those make boys happy, I speak empirical truth. All the minions back me up on this one.

For just one minute, I’m going to do something I don’t often do. I want to address two separate groups of people. First…

To Those Cooking for Three or Fewer People Per Meal:

Don’t panic when you see the quantity of meat called for in this recipe. Once these meatballs are made and “flash-frozen” then stashed in the freezer, you can take out and warm as few as one meatball or as many as you’d like if you’re serving guests. The meatballs are good for eight months, properly wrapped in the freezer. Since the recipe yields sixty meatballs, a person cooking for one would only have to consume approximately three meatballs every other week to go through these in time. That is totally do-able. Yes? In other words, I wouldn’t reduce this recipe. You never know when my family might show up at your door hungry. And what would you do then? Hmmm???

To Those Cooking for Four or More People Per Meal:

Don’t, under any circumstances, reduce this recipe. In fact, you wouldn’t be crazy if you doubled it. And if you’re cooking for six or more people? Triple it. If you have teenage kids? Quadruple it. I think you get my point, right? This is hard-core kid-pleasing food. You might be surprised how often you rely on your stash of meatballs.

~~~

Why not just buy frozen meatballs at the store? Because they’re gross. Every frozen meatball I’ve ever purchased (from store brand to boutique brand) has tasted waterlogged and bland (WHERE, I ask you WHERE are the herbs? Garlic? Spices? Flavours?). And even when they were on sale and I had a coupon, the expense was not justified by the product. My thoughts about commercially available meatballs can be summed up with a resounding, “Blech!”

Homemade frozen meatballs are most emphatically not blech! They great, are a massive convenience, and can be made when meat is on big sale at the store or butcher’s.

This leads me to a final word about the choice of meat in these meatballs. Most recipes for meatballs and meatloaf call for a blend of beef, pork, and veal in order to keep them tender and moist. I buck tradition here and not only call for all beef, but also for lean beef at that. Crazy? Well, it might not be what most recipes call for, but for me, it is the perfect meatball. It holds together, it’s moist, it’s flavourful, it’s like Mary Poppins: practically perfect in every way. If you’d prefer to use a blend, feel free -by all means- but this is my favourite version by far, and after this many years in the kitchen, I no longer feel like I have to do things “the right way” all the time.

 

Print
Make Ahead Meatballs | Baked Meatballs In Sauce and Polenta (Make Ahead Monday)

Make Ahead Meatballs | Baked Meatballs In Sauce and Polenta (Make Ahead Monday)

There is no dish more comforting than a bowl of creamy polenta topped with piping hot perfect meatballs in garlicky red sauce with a generous handful of grated cheese on top.

...And when the meatballs are waiting for you in the freezer, this dinner comes together in mere moments. Make Ahead Mondays save the day! These versatile meatballs are also great in barbecue sauce, in sweet and sour meatballs, in soups and on sandwiches and pizzas.

Ingredients

    For the Make Ahead Meatballs:
  • 4 1/2 pounds of lean ground beef
  • 1 1/2 cups fresh bread crumbs
  • 1 cup onion, minced super fine (I use the food processor to obliterate them to placate the anti-visible veg crowd)
  • 3 cloves of garlic, peeled and very finely minced or pressed
  • 3 large eggs
  • 1/2 cup fresh parsley, finely chopped (or substitute 3 tablespoons dried parsley flakes)
  • 1 tablespoon kosher salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
  • 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg (preferably freshly ground)
    • For the Baked Meatballs in Sauce:
  • 25-30 frozen meatballs, directly from the freezer
  • 5 cups of your favourite red sauce (Marinara, ragu, etc...)
  • 2 anchovy fillets,finely chopped
  • 1/2 cup shredded Romano, Parmesano or Asiago cheese
  • 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
  • nonstick cooking spray or olive oil to grease the pan
    • For the Creamy Polenta:
  • 5 cups chicken stock (or water)
  • 1 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1 cup coarsely ground cornmeal (polenta grains)
  • 1/4 cup crumbled gorgonzola cheese (substitute Parmesan cheese if you don't like bleu cheese!)
  • 4 tablespoons butter
  • coarsely ground black pepper to taste
    • Additional Optional Garnish:
  • Freshly grated Parmesano, Romano or Asiago cheese
  • Minced fresh parsley

Instructions

To Make the Make Ahead Meatballs:

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Line 2 rimmed half-sheet pans (13-inch x18-inch) with parchment paper and set aside.

Combine all of the ingredients in a large mixing bowl and use your hands to mix it gently until all ingredients are evenly distributed. Use a medium sized disher* to scoop equal sized amounts of the meat mixture onto the prepared pans leaving about 1/4-inch of space between the meatballs. If the shapes are shaggy, you can go back through and lightly roll each one between your hands to even out the shape a bit.

*No disher? No problem. Cover your work surface with waxed paper and turn the meat mixture out onto it. Gently pat it out into a large rectangle. Use a pizza cutter or knife to mark the mixture into 10 evenly sized columns on the long side of the rectangle and 6 evenly sized rows on the short side. This will give you 60 equally sized amounts. Roll each one into a meatball, placing them on the parchment lined sheets as directed above.

Bake the meatballs for 30 minutes. Transfer the meatballs to a platter, cover lightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate until completely cool. Place the platter in the freezer until the meatballs are frozen through. When they're completely hard, transfer them to a resealable plastic bag, squeezing as much air from the bag as possible before sealing. Label the bag and freezer for up to 8 months.

To Make Baked Meatballs in Sauce:

Preheat oven to 375°F. Spray a 9-inch by 13-inch pan with non-stick cooking spray or brush with olive oil. Arrange the frozen meatballs evenly in the pan

In a mixing bowl, stir the sauce, chopped anchovy fillets, and shredded Romano, Parmesano or Asiago cheese together. Pour the mixture over the meatballs, then sprinkle the mozzarella cheese over the top.

Bake, uncovered for 30-40 minutes, or until the sauce is bubbly, the cheese is slightly browned and the meatballs are heated through.

To Make the Creamy Polenta:

Bring the stock or water to a boil over high heat in a medium, heavy-bottomed pot. Add the salt, lower the heat to medium and then whisk in the cornmeal, a little at a time, until it is all in and the cornmeal begins to swell and stay suspended in the liquid. Drop the heat to low and let simmer, stirring occasionally with a wooden spoon, until the polenta is quite thick, the grains are all swollen and tender and the liquid is absorbed.

Turn off the heat, add in the butter and crumbled or grated cheese, and stir until both are completely melted and incorporated.

To Serve:

Ladle the polenta into serving bowls and top with 3-6 meatballs, depending on how hungry you are! Garnish the bowls with additional grated Parmesano, Romano or Asiago cheese and minced fresh parsley if you'd like.

http://www.foodiewithfamily.com/2012/02/13/make-ahead-meatballs-baked-meatballs-and-polenta-make-ahead-monday/

 

Filed Under: Component Foods, Main Dish, Meat, Party Food, Rebecca, Recipes, Stretching your dollars Tagged With: , , , ,

Ninfa’s Green Sauce (Bonus Recipe Hack)

February 10, 2012 by 17 Comments

Full disclosure: I’ve spent some time in Houston but I’ve never been to Ninfa’s. I’m not even sure I’m pronouncing the name properly. Is it NIN-fahz? NEEN-fahz? neen-FAHZ? However you say it, though, I now want to eat there desperately because if this sauce is a sign of what they have to offer… Well, let’s just say that it’s all bound to be spectacular.

The truth is, I had neither heard of the aforementioned place, however it’s pronounced, nor the recipe I’m about to give you until I saw this post by Lisa Fain of Homesick Texan, whose blog I have loved for a very long time. This is one of those recipes where -while reading it- you know exactly how it will taste and you know you want it. Badly. Now.

And so, after seeing this recipe a little over two years ago, I made it a mere year and a half later for the first time. Sigh. It’s really hard to source certain ingredients around here. Avocados, cilantro, sour cream, jalapenos? Oh sure. Easy peasy. It’s those green tomatoes that gave me fits. First of all, when I had green tomatoes on the vine this summer I was so busy I didn’t know whether I was coming or going and forgot ALL ABOUT THE DADBURNED RECIPE. Pardon me while I go bang my head on the wall for a minute or two. Secondly, when I remembered the recipe there were no green tomatoes (or yellow as the recipes suggests substituting) anywhere within a two hour drive.

Well, shoot.

I’m resourceful? Why was I letting this lack of green tomatoes stop me? (Because I wasn’t thinking, that’s why.) I had an entire shelf full of green tomato salsa verde I had made over the summer staring me in the face. Big, fat duh! I hacked the recipe. While the original called for 3 green tomatoes, I simply substituted 2 cups of homemade green tomato salsa verde* and a splash of water, then proceeded as directed with the rest of the recipe. Well, except for that whole Greek yogurt vs. sour cream thing… but I’ll get there momentarily.

*You can’t find green or yellow tomatoes and don’t have homemade green tomato salsa verde on the shelf? No problemo. Use an equivalent amount of store bought salsa verde in its place. Yes, most commercially available salsa verde is made with tomatillos, but that’s certainly not going to hurt the overall affect here! Live boldly! Substitute!

Speaking of substitutes, I decided to sub in a cup and a half of the zero fat Greek yogurt I had snapped up on clearance at Aldi last week. I’m not a no-fat/low-fat proponent by any means, but cheap is cheap and this stuff is good anyway with no weird preservatives or flavour improvers. Heck yes. Go Team Frugal! It worked like a charm! I mean, why wouldn’t it? What took me so long to think of the recipe hack? Yeesh.

This sauce. Let me tell you. It is smooth. It’s so smooth it’s smoove. It’s velvety, it’s rich (thank you, avocados), it’s spicy, it’s creamy, it’s garlicky. I ate it on tacos, Fritos, on a spoon, on my finger… So darned good. Mama. I considered rubbing it on the pulse points as perfume. Hubba hubba. I know my husband would approve.

Here’s another bonus. You know avocado’s distressing tendency to brown after being cut/smashed/whatevered? It doesn’t in this sauce or at least it does it at a far slower rate. My amateur food scientist theory is that the happy bacteria in the Greek yogurt (and I’d imagine the same could be said for sour cream) and the acid in the tomatillos/green tomatoes keep it from oxidizing. But that’s just a theory. And who cares? The sauce is good. And pretty. And pretty good. Geez. It’s better than good. It’s great. It’s habit forming.

Now what are you waiting for? You need this sauce. You need it tonight. You need it for the weekend! Go forth and create green sauce!

Print
Ninfa’s Green Sauce

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 10 minutes

Yield: about 5 cups

Ninfa’s Green Sauce

This creamy, dreamy, spicy, garlicky, smooth-as-silk avocado salsa is simply magical. Use as a sauce or dunk to your heart's content.

Recipe originally from the Houston Chronicle via Homesick Texan and recipe hack by yours truly!

Ingredients

  • 3 medium green or yellow tomatoes, coarsely chopped (Or 2 cups green tomato salsa verde or commercially available salsa verde with about 1/2 cup of water.)
  • 4 tomatillos, peeled of the paper husk, rinsed and coarsely chopped
  • 1 to 2 jalapenos, stemmed and chopped (if using the salsa verde, also remove the jalapeno seeds.)
  • 3 cloves of garlic, peeled and coarsely chopped
  • 3 ripe avocados, halved, pitted, and scooped from the shells with a spoon
  • 4 stems worth of cilantro
  • 1 tsp. of salt
  • 1 1/2 cups of sour cream (or Greek yogurt, which is my preference.)

Instructions

Add the green or yellow tomatoes (or the salsa verde and water) to a heavy-bottomed saucepan along with the tomatillos, jalapenos, and garlic. Bring to a boil, then lower heat and simmer for 10 to 15 minutes, or until the tomatillos are tender. Remove the pan from the burner and let the mixture cool for about 15 minutes.

Transfer the contents of the pan into a food processor or blender with a metal blade. Add the avocados, cilantro and salt and blend until completely smooth. Use a rubber or silicone spatula to scrape the sauce from the food processor or blender into a mixing bowl and whisk in the sour cream or Greek yogurt until evenly coloured. Serve immediately or store in a jar or other container with a tightly fitting lid for up to a 4 days.

http://www.foodiewithfamily.com/2012/02/10/ninfas-green-sauce-bonus-recipe-hack/

Filed Under: Accessible Ethnic, Comfort Food, Comfort Food, Component Foods, Condiments, kid food, Kitchen Techniques and Hints, Party Food, Recipes, Side Dishes, Vegetarian Tagged With: , , , ,
«Older Posts