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Homemade Lemon Pepper Seasoning

April 3, 2012 by 8 Comments

I am a collector of herbs and spices. I like to have a little bit of everything just in case I need a little bit of anything. I have just about every herb and spice on hand that you could possibly want. (And a few extras: anyone need za’atar or nigella? Anyone?) One thing I hadn’t bought until recently, though, was lemon pepper seasoning.

I can’t really explain why I didn’t buy it. I love lemon and pepper together. My version of using lemon pepper usually involved squeezing and zesting a lemon and grinding a bunch of pepper on top.

Last week, a coupon and a sale conspired to convince me to buy my first ever little shaker jar of lemon pepper seasoning. I got it home, opened the safety seal, dipped my finger in and took a taste. Then I made a face and scraped at my tongue with my fingernails. EW. I mean really. The top note of this well respected manufacturer’s lemon pepper seasoning blend was citric acid followed by chemical followed by IDunnoWhat.  Egads, that stuff was awful! If I thought really hard about it, I could kind of taste lemon in there somewhere, but I think that was the power of concentrating on the yellow that was provided by the yellow food dye. FOOD DYE. In seasoning. Sigh.

It’s often the little things -a pinch of this, a smidgen of that- that make the difference between a recipe that is good versus one that is great. I’ve seen quite a few recipes that call for lemon pepper seasoning and I’ve always done my lemon juice/zest/pepper hack, and it usually worked out just fine. After trying the stuff that flies off the market shelves, though, I was convinced that I could easily do much, much better at home.

And I did.

Here you have Foodie With Family’s Homemade Lemon Pepper Seasoning. All the GOOD stuff, and none of the crizzap. Sprinkle this over grilled fish, chicken or pork. Use in place of commercial lemon pepper seasoning in equal amounts called for in other recipes. Put a dash or two over buttered popcorn. Go nuts. Now that I have the homemade stuff, I’ll never be without it again.

Bonus: The homemade mix comes in significantly cheaper and worlds tastier than the commercial stuff. Give it a try… I know you won’t regret it!

And in case you’re wondering whatever became of the shaker top of lemon pepper seasoning I bought at the store, you’ll be glad to know it didn’t all go to waste. My kids peer pressured each other into trying it as a feat of strength, “Try THIS! It’s REALLY GROSS! Can you handle it?” What can I say? Homeschooled kids have weird peer pressure.

 

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Homemade Lemon Pepper Seasoning

Homemade Lemon Pepper Seasoning

Add a punch of flavour to grilled fish, chicken, pork, popcorn, dips, salads and whatever else your heart desires with this perfect blend of salt, lemon zest, cracked black pepper rounded out with hints of onion, garlic and celery seed. You'll never want to be without it again!

Ingredients

  • 3 tablespoons lemon salt , preferably, or kosher salt
  • 2 tablespoons raw sugar
  • 2 tablespoons cracked black pepper
  • the zest of one lemon, just the yellow part- avoid the bitter white pith
  • a heaping 1/2 teaspoon of granulated onion
  • a heaping 1/4 teaspoon of granulated garlic
  • 1/4 teaspoon celery seed

Instructions

Stir together all of the ingredients and store in an airtight jar at room temperature. This can be refrigerated if desired. Because there are no funky preservatives or anti-caking chemicals added to the mixture, you may find it has a tendency to clump slightly. Just break it up with your fingers or a fork before using if this occurs.

Replace using commercial lemon pepper seasoning by substituting an equal measure of homemade lemon pepper seasoning.

http://www.foodiewithfamily.com/2012/04/03/homemade-lemon-pepper-seasoning/

Filed Under: Component Foods, Condiments, Happy Healthy and Wise, Recipes, Stretching your dollars, Vegetarian Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Honey Chipotle Oyster Crackers | Make Ahead Mondays

April 2, 2012 by 6 Comments

For today’s Make Ahead Monday I wanted to go in a not-freezer direction.  You know I love my freezer full of goodies, but there are certain staples I make ahead of time that have nothing to do with the chill chest. They’re too good not to share and so? I shall share!

I specifically wanted to talk snack food-slash-salad toppers. I have a thing for salads. It’s my mom’s fault. (Hi, Mom!) Every night we’d ask mom what we were having for dinner. Nine nights out of ten, her answer went something like this, “Some _____, a little bit of _________, a _________, and A BIG GREEN SALAD.”

As kids, my siblings and I didn’t necessarily appreciate the effort that went into providing a BIG GREEN SALAD (which is always in all-caps because of the enthusiasm with which mom always said it.) in Northern Michigan in deep winter in the middle of nowhere. That took some planning!  Mom always pulled out all the stops on salad. This is probably why I’m a salad-a-holic.

My mom’s salads have always been festive. There’s no such thing as a boring salad from my Mom. Heck. My mom is just festive. Period. But we’ve covered that ground before. Mom is big on salad toppings. We would raid the camp kitchen for Baco-s (perennial favourite), but we’d also toss on anything that was handy: frozen peas, hard boiled eggs, onions, bell peppers, cheese cubes, raisins, chow mein noodles, croutons, potato chips, corn chips, crushed pretzels, and anything else that held still long enough to get tossed on top. This brings me to a point…

Have you ever noticed that most things that are delicious and crunchy out-of-hand are also wonderful on salads? It’s true. It is a universal law. These Honey Chipotle Oyster Crackers are not an exception, but they are exceptional. Exceptionally habit forming, that is. Oh, Mama. Oh, Mom. Slightly sweet and slightly spicy with hints of garlic and onion, these crunchy little gems beat snack-attacks and top salads or soups with equal aplomb. Can snack crackers have aplomb you ask? These ones do.

I’ve given the recipe here today in what I think of as a baby amount. In other words, it’s in a quantity calculated to serve a family that is not as big as ours. If you’re a snacky sort (as I am) or you have a bigger family (as I do), you’re going to want to double or even triple the recipe.  The crackers last for up to fourteen days in an airtight container, and if they start getting a little on the softer side, they can be recrisped in the oven. Whether you simply munch these from a bowl or pop ‘em on your salad, you’re going to be so glad you made them.

It’s Spring; It’s time to get your BIG GREEN SALAD on and top it in style! Or as Vince would say, “Stop having boring salad. Stop having a boring life!”

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UWRyj5cHIQA[/youtube]

 

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Honey Chipotle Oyster Crackers | Make Ahead Mondays

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Cook Time: 15 minutes

Total Time: 20 minutes

Honey Chipotle Oyster Crackers | Make Ahead Mondays

Turn boring old oyster crackers into these slightly sweet and slightly spicy, crunchy little Honey Chipotle Oyster Crackers with hints of garlic and onion that beat snack-attacks and top salads or soups with equal aplomb.

Ingredients

  • 1 (10 ounce) bag oyster crackers
  • 3 tablespoons canola oil
  • 1 tablespoon honey
  • 1 teaspoon water
  • ½- ¾ teaspoon chipotle powder
  • ½ - ¾ teaspoon kosher salt
  • ½ teaspoon granulated garlic
  • ½ teaspoon granulated onion

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350°F. Spray a rimmed 11-inch by 17-inch (or equivalent sized other pans) with non-stick cooking spray.

In a medium sized mixing bowl, whisk together the canola oil, honey, water, chipotle powder, salt, granulated garlic and granulated onion until it is smooth and even. Add in the oyster crackers and toss gently to coat them evenly, then spread them in a single layer over the prepared pan.

Bake the crackers for 15 minutes, stirring -especially around the edges- every 5 minutes, or until the coating is dried on the crackers. Let cool completely on the pans and transfer to an airtight container. These will be good for up to 14 days.

http://www.foodiewithfamily.com/2012/04/02/honey-chipotle-oyster-crackers-make-ahead-mondays/

Filed Under: Appetizers & Snacks, Comfort Food, Component Foods, Condiments, kid food, Party Food, Rebecca, Recipes, Side Dishes, Vegetarian 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!

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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: , , , ,

Smoked Paprika and Chipotle Sauce | Lemons in Salt

October 13, 2011 by 17 Comments

Update: We have since found that storing this sauce in a squeeze bottle makes applying it to foods much easier. If you plan on using it as a dip, it’s still handy to have in a jar, but for putting on tacos, tostadas, sandwiches, pretzel sticks and finger tips, the squeeze bottle is your best friend!

Have you ever read a recipe and thought, “I must go make that this very instant!”? That’s what happened when I read about Smoked Paprika and Chipotle Sauce and Lemons in Salt made by her friend on Shauna Ahern’s glorious blog, Gluten Free Girl. Creamy dip/dressing/perfume -whatever you want to call it- it delivered on every high hope I had for it. But first…

Oh first…

Let me tell you a little story about delayed gratification.

There are three key ingredients in the recipe that I thought I might hold me up on getting the sauce in my mouth A.S.A.P.: smoked paprika, chipotles in adobo, and lemons in salt.

I mail ordered the smoked paprikawith no hesitation. I knew there was zero chance that any of our local places would carry it. Hello Amazon. You’re so good to me.

I grabbed a couple lemons at the little corner store in town and salted them the very day I read Shauna’s recipe. No problemo. We were on our way.

Now herein lies the rub.

You all know I don’t live in a teeming metropolis. I don’t even live near a sleepy urban center. The closest thing I have is a pretty well-stocked limited grocery store in a town off the expressway twenty five minutes away. This store has an exceptional selection of health foods, produce, micro-brew and imported beers, hispanic foods and other goodies. I figured it was my “in” to get the sauce made. There was no way they couldn’t have chipotles in adobo, right?*

*Grammar Law #1. You will always fail when you think in double negatives.

As soon as I could reasonably conjure up a reason to go to that town (chicken feed? drop off a check at the bank? stop by the other Amish store for canning lids?) I hopped on over and hit the grocer’s feeling confident that I would be leaving the store with a couple cans of chipotles in adobo. I didn’t see them on the shelf, but I still had faith. When the clerk said, “Did you find everything alright today?” I answered with a chipper, “No, but I’m sure I overlooked it. Could you tell me where the chipotles in adobo are?”

My first clue that my dreams for that evening were in trouble came when she looked at me and said, “Our what?”

Me: “Chipotles in adobo.”

Her: “I have NO idea what you mean, ma’am.”

She called me ma’am.

Me: “They’re usually in the Mexican foods section in most stores.”

Her: “I could ask the manager if you’d like!”

Me, salvaging a little hope: “Oh yes, please!”

Her to manager: “This lady would like something in something. What was that ma’am?”

Again with the ma’am.

Me: “Chipotles in adobo?”

Manager: “I have NO idea what you mean, ma’am.”

I left with my head and heart low and a firm resolution to check Amazon for chipotles in adobo and wrinkle cream as soon as I got home.

I ordered my stuff from Amazon.com and waited patiently (if you call panting at the door waiting patiently) for UPS to deliver the goods. Two days later, the man in brown dusted himself of the grass clippings that somehow stuck to his uniform when I accidentally tackled him to grab my parcel. I had everything.

And in what you might think would be a anticlimactic moment, I had the sauce made in less than five minutes. I’m here to tell you the real excitement, even with all that build up, was the first moment I tasted the sauce. I decided to be genteel and forgo dragging my finger through the blender jar. I used a very classy pretzel stick for the dunking. Then I tried another one. And a few more. Next I tried carrot sticks and the little corner of a tortilla.

Wow.

It is creamy, thick, smooth, smoky, lemony, garlicky and then at the back of it, it’s just spicy enough to make it worth eating. In the coming days, I served it as a sauce on grilled chicken, tossed with pasta, spread on hamburgers, thinned out as salad dressing, and as a chip  and French fry dip. Every single way I served it blew my mind.

This is now a regular part of our condiment repertoire. In fact, I have a designated container for “The Sauce” as it is known in our household. When “The Sauce” gets low, a chorus of voices reminds me that I need to make more.

It is that good.

If you need help locating the good stuff for this recipe you can follow the links below to my beloved Amazon. They never let me down.

Disclosure: Amazon did not pay me to say this. They didn’t even send me a free can of chipotles in adobo. I do, however, have a little agreement with them. If you click on either of the links to order through Amazon, I get a teensy commission. It’s about enough over the course of the year to purchase said chipotles in adobo.
La Moreno Chipotle Peppers in Adobo Sauce, 7-Ounce Tins (Pack of 6)

McCormick Smoked Paprika (Paprika Ahumada), 8.5 oz Size

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Smoked Paprika and Chipotle Sauce | Lemons in Salt

Smoked Paprika and Chipotle Sauce | Lemons in Salt

This is creamy, thick, smooth, smoky, lemony, garlicky and then at the back of it, it's just spicy enough to make it worth eating. In the coming days, I served it as a sauce on grilled chicken, tossed with pasta, spread on hamburgers, thinned out as salad dressing, and as a chip and French fry dip.

Recipe used courtesy of Shauna Ahern of Gluten Free Girl

Ingredients

  • 2 cups mayonnaise (16 ounces)
  • 1 to 3 chipotles in adobo (from a can, use a bit of the sauce, too.)
  • 3 tablespoons smoked paprika
  • 2 garlic cloves, peeled, coarsely chopped
  • 1/2-2 teaspoons preserved lemon peel in salt, to taste, minced (See recipe below)

Instructions

IMPORTANT NOTE: It IS possible to overprocess this sauce. If you let it go too long in the blender, the mayonnaise will 'break' and separate. You don't want that to happen, so only process 'til smooth! Oh, and I find that little tiny bits of chipotle in the sauce are quite pleasant!

Combine all ingredients in the blender jar and let it run on high until smooth. Scrape into a bowl and refrigerate until ready to serve. This stores very well in the refrigerator in a tightly sealed jar.

http://www.foodiewithfamily.com/2011/10/13/smoked-paprika-and-chipotle-sauce-lemons-in-salt/

So let me talk about Lemons in Salt for a moment. Make this. Make it now. Today. And make a lot of it, because once you have it in your kitchen you’ll wonder what you did without it. The salt draws moisture from the lemons and makes them mellow and soft and deep in flavour. The salt is a bonus. When you make the lemons preserved in salt you automatically have lemon finishing salt for meals and dishes, too.

I’ve stuffed these lemon peels in the cavities of roasting chickens, chopped it up and added it to marinated salads, and my mom ate the salty lemon peels like a snack. Yes she did. Repeatedly. But we’ll talk about that later. Just make some.

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Smoked Paprika and Chipotle Sauce | Lemons in Salt

Smoked Paprika and Chipotle Sauce | Lemons in Salt

Unbelievably simple and adding incredible depth of flavour to whatever they're added, lemon peels preserved in salt are something every kitchen should have in abundance.

Recipe used courtesy of Shauna Ahern of Gluten Free Girl.

Ingredients

  • Lemon peels that have been juiced and trimmed of most pulp
  • kosher salt

Instructions

Cut the lemon peel into slices. The size and shape is unimportant, it's just to make it take up less room in a mason jar.

Add the lemon peels to a mason jar and cover with a great deal of kosher salt.

Add the lid to the jar and shake well.

Pour more salt in if necessary to cover the lemon peels. Let set at room temperature and use as needed.

Replenish the lemon peels whenever you juice more lemons.

http://www.foodiewithfamily.com/2011/10/13/smoked-paprika-and-chipotle-sauce-lemons-in-salt/

Filed Under: Appetizers & Snacks, Component Foods, Condiments, Party Food, Rebecca, Recipes, Vegetarian

Roasted Red Pepper Spread | Gardener’s Delight Eggs

September 22, 2011 by 10 Comments

And POOF! Just like that, summer was gone. I am fully aware that it is still technically summer but the tell tale signs are all around us: breath is foggy in the morning, cozy socks are back at the front of the sock drawer, scarves and jackets are shaken out of storage, and the produce at the farmers’ markets is taking a definite pumpkin-y turn. This, my friends, is fall.

That giant cosmic yawp you just heard came from my ever-optimistic beloved husband who views the turning of the leaves as a personal metaphor for mortality. This is the same man who spends the first official day of summer in mourning because it means that the days will grow shorter until the year ends. Poor guy. Don’t feel too badly for him, though. He lives with a compulsive baker and we all know that bread makes everything better.

Some of us, though, are not-so-secretly rejoicing. I’ve rustled up my fingerless gloves and my woolen caps for my morning strolls. I’m thrilled that I’m no longer sweating buckets near (not over, perish the uncouth thought) my canning pots. In fact, I’m upping the canning program in order to help keep warm until my husband finally acknowledges that summer has flown the coop and fires up the wood stove*.

*Firing up the wood stove is like my husband throwing the white flag of surrender and admitting that one more summer is behind him.

In the meantime, I will keep filling jars with little tastes of summer for my soon-to-be hibernating husband to put on his fresh bread. Jams and jellies are wonderful, but nothing beats cracking open a vibrant, ruby-hued jar of savoury garden goodness when the brisk wind is blowing and the sky is gun-metal grey.

Roasted Red Pepper Spread is just the thing to banish chills to the body or soul. You can’t help but smile when you see the bright red jars with flecks of basil peeking out at you. And when you open it? It’s everything wonderful about summer encapsulated in one little jar. The silky smooth, thick red pepper spread with the full taste -courtesy of tomatoes, garlic, onion, and red wine vinegar- is at home dolloped on fried eggs, spread on toast, as a pizza sauce, or as a dip (either alone or stirred into mayonnaise or softened cream cheese.)

While my poor husband may never recover from the suggestion that winter is soon to follow, I would be remiss if I didn’t offer the following tip; if you tie a simple gold, silver or raffia ribbon and gift tag around the top of the jar, it makes a beautiful and tasty (and perfectly colored) Christmas gift. Red and green and good taste. What could possibly be better?

The recipe yields around five eight-ounce jars, but can easily be doubled or tripled. I recommend an automatic doubling of this recipe if you intend to give it as gifts, because once you taste it you won’t want to part with it. That is as incontrovertible a fact as the passing of the seasons.

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Roasted Red Pepper Spread

Rating: 51

Yield: About 5 eight-ounce jars

Roasted Red Pepper Spread is just the thing to banish chills to the body or soul. It’s everything wonderful about summer encapsulated in one little jar. The silky smooth, thick red pepper spread with the full taste -courtesy of tomatoes, garlic, onion, and red wine vinegar- is at home dolloped on fried eggs, spread on toast, as a pizza sauce, or as a dip (either alone or stirred into mayonnaise or softened cream cheese.)

Adapted from The Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving

Ingredients

  • 5 ¾ pounds sweet red bell peppers
  • ¼ pound fresh cayenne peppers (or other red-hued hot peppers) (If you don’t like heat, use an additional ½ pound of sweet red bell peppers.)
  • 1 pound plum tomatoes
  • 1 small onion, unpeeled and uncut
  • 3 large cloves garlic, unpeeled and uncut
  • ½ cup red wine vinegar
  • 2 tablespoons, packed, thinly sliced (chiffonade) of fresh basil
  • 2 teaspoons sugar (I prefer raw)
  • 1 teaspoon salt

Instructions

Preheat the broiler in your oven. Spread the peppers, tomatoes, onion, and garlic cloves in a single layer on a rimmed baking sheet. Roast under the broiler, turning frequently, until the peppers are softened and blackened all the way around, and the tomatoes, onion and garlic have some black spots on them. The more thoroughly blackened the peppers are, the easier they are to peel. Transfer the peppers and tomatoes to a paper bag, fold the top down three or four times to seal it, then let cool about 15 minutes, or until the produce is cool enough to handle. Set the onion and garlic on a cutting board to cool as well.

When the peppers and tomatoes have cooled, use your hands to rub the skins off as well as you can. Don’t panic if a bit of the skin remains. Cut the peppers open in order to remove their stems and seeds. Rip the peppers into strips and put into a blender or food processor (in batches if necessary) and process until smooth. Pour into a stainless steel stockpot and repeat the process with the tomatoes.

Peel the onions and garlic then finely chop both. Add this and the remaining ingredients to the purees in the stockpot and stir to combine. Bring to a boil over medium high heat, stirring frequently to prevent scorching. Lower the heat to medium low and continue a gentle boil, stirring often, for about 20 minutes, or until the spread can be mounded on a spoon.

You may either refrigerate the red pepper spread at this point, or freeze it in single serving sizes, or can it to make it shelf stable.

To can the spread for long-term storage:

Ladle the hot spread into prepared 8-ounce jars leaving ½-inch of headspace. (For information on how to do this, click here ) Use a stainless steel chopstick or butterknife to remove any air bubbles. If the level of the spread lowers after air bubbles are removed, you can add more hot spread.

Wipe the rims of the jars with a damp cloth, put the lid in place, and screw on the rings until fingertip tight. Place on a rack in a canner, cover with hot water, and bring to a boil with the lid on the canner. Once the water reaches a full rolling boil, begin a 10-minute timer (15 minutes for pints). When the timer is done, remove the lid from the canner, turn off the heat and let it stand for 5 minutes before carefully transferring the jars to a towel or rack on the counter to cool, undisturbed.

When the jars are completely cool, remove the rings for storage, wipe the jars clean and label. Store in a cool, dry place for up to a year.

http://www.foodiewithfamily.com/2011/09/22/roasted-red-pepper-spread-gardeners-delight-eggs/

Would you like another good reason to have this on your shelves? I gotcha covered! This is my current favourite breakfast.

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Gardener's Delight Eggs

This almost instant breakfast delivers a hugely satisfying punch of flavour courtesy of big, bold, smooth, garden-fresh Roasted Red Pepper Spread dolloped on fried eggs with pan-fried tortilla rounds. This breakfast will keep you going for hours.

Ingredients

  • 1 egg
  • 1 tablespoon butter
  • 1 flour tortilla, cut into quarters or rounds (with a biscuit or cookie cutter)
  • 2 tablespoons Roasted Red Pepper Spread (see recipe above)
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • Optional: Fresh basil, thinly sliced (chiffonaded)

Instructions

Melt the butter in a heavy-bottomed skillet. Crack the egg and slide it onto the skillet near one edge. Place the tortilla rounds or wedges along the other side of the skillet. Flip the tortilla rounds when they begin to lightly brown. Toast the other side and transfer to a serving plate.

Cook the egg, flipping once if desired, to your preferred doneness. Use a spatula to place the fried egg on top of the toasted tortillas. Top the egg with the Roasted Red Pepper Spread. Sprinkle with fresh basil, if desired.

http://www.foodiewithfamily.com/2011/09/22/roasted-red-pepper-spread-gardeners-delight-eggs/

Filed Under: Appetizers & Snacks, Breakfast Foods, Canning, Condiments, Food Preservation, Gifts, Happy Healthy and Wise, Healthy Foods, Instructional, Kitchen Techniques and Hints, Rebecca, Recipes, Vegetarian Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Boiled Cider (Apple Molasses)

September 8, 2011 by 66 Comments

I am a magician.

You see that wine bottle? I fit two whole gallons of apple cider into it.

Really.

Okay, I boiled the cider down until it fit, and I didn’t have to work hard to do it. Yes, it took nearly six hours, but I didn’t stir it and wasn’t even in the same room (or same floor of the house for that matter) for more time than it took to pop in and confirm that, yeah, it was still boiling, and mmm-hmmm, it was still shrinking in volume.

So what’s the point behind this exercise?  I am about to let you in on an almost-forgotten little piece of America’s food history. This thing goes all the way back to the sixteen-hundreds, the introduction of apples as a crop and the European settlers. I’m talking about Boiled Cider.

Oh, I know. The name? Boring. Totally. Sometimes it has been referred to as apple molasses which ,while a little more jazzed up comparatively speaking, still sounds pretty meh. Believe me, though, there is nothing bland, boring, or unexciting about Boiled Cider.

You know when you get a really good glass of fresh, icey cold apple cider straight from the mill; The way your tastebuds perk up and your mouth actually waters from the tart sweet cider? Imagine that times seven*. Add to that a hint of caramelization, and a thick, pancake syrupy consistency and you have Boiled Cider. It is beautiful in its simplicity. It is just cider. No sugar, no flavourings, no preservatives, no fancy canning. It is only cider boiled down into a thick, shelf-stable syrup that makes just about everything better by its mere presence. There is no added sugar, it is the natural sweetness of the apples that makes this so good.

*Seven is not an arbitrary choice for this comparison. When boiling cider down for this project you want to reduce it to one seventh of its original volume.

Boiled Cider started as a way the settlers devised to preserve cider long past when even hard cider would be drinkable and would pass into irretrievably vinegar territory. Kept in a bottle on the pantry shelf, this stuff lasted through the winter and into the next apple season for them and it will do the same for you.

What do you do with Boiled Cider? Let me get you started, but once you have this handy, you’ll be off and running.

  • Drizzle over vanilla ice cream.
  • Use to baste pork roasts or chops, ham, chicken or glaze other meats.
  • Stir a little into hot tea.
  • Pour some into a mug, add a shot of whiskey or brandy, and top off with hot water.
  • Toss a tablespoon or two to the sliced apples for a pie or apple crisp. You will be blown away by how much more appley it tastes. (I know many professional bakers add this to their pies and crisps as their secret ingredient!)
  • Whisk into cream cheese icing for a pumpkin spice cake and be prepared for the compliments.
  • …Our personal favourite: Pour a tablespoon over ice, fill the rest of the glass with seltzer water, and give a quick stir. Voila! Healthy apple cider soda!

Lipsmacking just doesn’t cover it. This is… It’s… Could words be failing me? It’s like everything wonderful about fall condensed into one syrup. It’s pure, distilled essence of apple. It’s completely and utterly wonderful. And you get all this just by boiling a pot of cider.

Don’t wait. Make some of this for yourself as soon as possible. Have it on your shelf. Then, in December, January, February -whenever you need a boost- pull out your bottle of this opaque, deep reddish brown elixir and pour out a little measure of happiness. You’ll be so glad you did.

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Boiled Cider (Apple Molasses)

Boiled Cider is everything wonderful about fall condensed into one syrup. It's pure, distilled essence of apple. It's completely and utterly wonderful. And you get all this just by boiling a pot of cider.

Ingredients

  • 2 gallons apple cider (or less, but remember you will be reducing this to 1/7th of it's original volume.)

Instructions

Pour apple cider into a very large, non-reactive stockpot (stainless steel, copper, or glass, but NOT aluminum unless it's coated.)

Use a clean ruler or wooden stick that you can mark with the starting level of the cider.

Turn heat to high, cover the pot with a splatter screen (to prevent flies or other insects from dropping into the pot) and bring to a boil.

Boil the cider hard until it has reduced to 1/7th of its original volume. Watch more carefully toward the end because it may creep up higher in the pan as it becomes thicker and bubbles stack up on each other. Turn off the heat and let the bubbles die down to check the depth of the liquid with your ruler or dipstick. You should end up with approximately the volume that it takes to fill a clean, empty 750ml wine bottle.

Pour into a clean, sterile jar (for long term storage) or a clean, empty wine bottle (for short term, refrigerated storage). Cover tightly and store in a cool, dark place.

http://www.foodiewithfamily.com/2011/09/08/boiled-cider-apple-molasses/

Filed Under: Beverages, Canning, Component Foods, Condiments, Happy Healthy and Wise, Healthy Foods, Kitchen Techniques and Hints, Party Food, Rebecca, Recipes, Stretching your dollars, Vegetarian

Homemade Chocolate Syrup

August 25, 2011 by 19 Comments

 

It is no secret that I am a big proponent of making things that many folks buy at the store. From the common (potato chips, bread, ice cream, laundry detergent) to the hard-or-impossible-to-find (furikake, candied jalapenos, game stock), home kitchen alchemy can do it if it’s worth having or doing. Sometimes my efforts earn me admiration, but just as often it gets me a resounding, “Why would you bother when you can easily buy this fill-in-the-blank at the store?” My motivation for this DIY spirit tends to vary with the project, but here, in no particular order, are a few reasons that pop up frequently.

  • To save money: I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. I’m cheap. I want to stretch every household dollar as far as it can reasonably go without breaking. Starting with basic ingredients prepared at home is almost assuredly gentler on your wallet than pre-fab food.
  • To make it taste better: I honestly believe that the best food is never, ever going to come from a box mix or a shelf-stable pre-made package. This is not to say I’m a food snob; I’ll eat just about anything you put in front of me. Food should sustain your body, yes, but it should also nourish your soul, so if I’m the one slinging grub, I’m going to make it the best grub I can possibly sling.
  • To make it better for you: Soup made at home is, unless you’re very heavy handed, certain to contain less sodium than the canned or frozen variety. You can opt to make foods with healthier ingredients (for example olive oil vs. vegetable oil, butter vs. shortening, etc…)
  • To avoid certain ingredients: Thankfully, my husband, children and self are free of food allergies, but there are still certain preservatives and ingredients that I choose not to serve to us. Making our own food from scratch is a much easier way to accomplish that than obsessively reading labels.
  • To know the source of the item: This is not a star-bellied sneetch issue; I don’t care whether something has stars on thars. The problem is that there have been some real problems in the recent past with food, household, or health and beauty items that did not meet safety standards. Besides, why pay for something to come from overseas when I can make it here at home, saving goodness-knows-how-much fuel and/or energy for better purposes?
  • To prove that I can do it: It’s that pioneer spirit, that sisu, that I-don’t-know-what. It’s the same reason my dad put on his winter kit and walked around the house three times after the meteorologist said that the weather was too bad for anyone to be outside. We do this because we are capable and we are not intimidated. If a machine can make it, I darned well better be able to make it, too. (This is where we pound our chests and do warrior cries, folks.)

Chocolate syrup is a big deal around here. Chocolate syrup is stirred into cold milk for chocolate milk, hot milk for hot chocolate, blended into smoothies, squirted on ice cream, peanut butter and banana sandwiches, pound cake,  and –when I’m not looking- directly into mouths. We consume it in vast quantities. A couple years back, I got tired of actively ignoring the ingredient lists (the major brands all have high fructose corn syrup, artificial flavouring, food dyes, and other things on my no-no- list) and paying through the nose for the privilege. A little experimentation yielded a vastly superior in taste, higher quality, far less expensive chocolate syrup that was simple to make and required nothing more exotic than Dutch-processed cocoa powder.

I played around with the classic Alton Brown cocoa syrup recipe and found that our crew greatly preferred it made with raw sugar because of the light caramel undertones it delivers and the added richness. Honestly. How could rich + chocolate go wrong? I make at least one batch (sometimes more if the hot chocolate consumption is especially high around these parts) of this good stuff a month.

Bonuses: If you are looking for fat-free, this recipe is for you! If you’re not looking for fat-free, I suggest making it anyway. This chocolate syrup is mighty good. This syrup can be made with honey if you have corn allergies or aversions chez you.  Try finding a chocolate syrup at the store that is corn syrup free for this price!

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Homemade Chocolate Syrup

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Cook Time: 15 minutes

Total Time: 20 minutes

This simple homemade DIY chocolate syrup delivers a mega punch of deep, dark, and chocolatey flavour for drizzling on ice cream, stirring into milk, blending into Coffee Milkshakes , or whatever else your chocolate-loving heart desires.

Ingredients

  • 1 ½ cups water
  • 3 cups raw sugar
  • 1 ½ cups Dutch-processed cocoa powder
  • 1 ½ tablespoons vanilla extract (preferably homemade)
  • ¼ teaspoon kosher or sea salt
  • 2 tablespoons light corn syrup or mild honey

Instructions

Bring water and sugar to a boil in a medium-to-large saucepan (this will expand as it boils in later stages of the recipe), stirring until sugar is dissolved.

Whisk in the remaining ingredients until the cocoa powder is also dissolved. Return to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer until slightly thickened, about 5-8 minutes. You do not want to boil it until it is very thick, as it will become even more viscous as it cools.

Pour the hot syrup through a fine mesh strainer and let cool to room temperature before transferring into squeeze bottles.

Notes: Dutch-processed cocoa powder is used here because it dissolves more easily in liquids than common (a.k.a. natural) cocoa powder; No matter what its other benefits, a homemade chocolate syrup that is gritty isn’t what we want. Dutch-processed cocoa powder is generally easy to find in grocery stores with well-stocked baking sections and in bulk food stores. I use raw sugar in this recipe because I like the added depth of flavour and touch of caramel it contributes. If you cannot find it easily (it is also sold under the names turbinado, sugar-in-the-raw, and demerara) you can substitute white granulated sugar for it. You can get squeeze bottles at big box stores or in the kitchen notions sections of grocery stores. If you use an opaque ketchup or mustard bottle to store your syrup, remember to label it so you don’t forget what’s in there at an inopportune moment. While chocolate syrup is good on many things, hot dogs and hamburgers are not among them.
http://www.foodiewithfamily.com/2011/08/25/chocolate-syrup/

Filed Under: Chocolate, Component Foods, Condiments, Instructional, kid food, Rebecca, Recipes, Stretching your dollars Tagged With: , , , ,

Homemade Furikake |Japanese Rice Seasoning

August 9, 2011 by 15 Comments

The first order of business on this post just plain has to be pronunciation. Foo-ree-kah-kay. My boys, however, prefer to call it furry khaki. Why? Well, I assume it has something to do with being very silly boys.

Now that we’re all on the same page, let’s talk about what it is… Furikake is like the salt and pepper of Japan. It goes on bowls of rice, gets mixed into onigiri, sprinkled over noodles, on porridge and just about anything else that holds still long enough to get hit with it. This wanton flinging of furikake happens for an excellent reason; because it tastes great and delivers an instant explosion of umami to anything it tops. I find myself looking for more foods to cover with this distinctive seasoning that is briny and earthy with just a touch of seafood essence. If you’ve had it before, you know that there’s nothing to compare to the complete flavour added to dishes where this is present.

I’ll be honest. I’m fixated on furikake. I love this so much that I almost always make more rice than we’ll need in a meal so I can form rice balls to sprinkle with furikake for late night snacks. Sometimes I just open the jar to sniff it a little bit. It’s a weakness.

So what is it exactly? In it’s basic form -the form I’m giving you today- it is toasted sesame seeds, sea salt, nori, bonito flakes** and an optional pinch of sugar*.

*Most commercially available furikakes contain added MSG and preservatives.

**Bonito flakes are dried, paper-thin shaved flakes of tuna. They add a rich seafood taste to the furikake. If you have trouble finding them, you can purchase them through this link . (Full disclosure: This link will take you to Amazon.com. If you purchase the bonito flakes, I will receive an itty bitty commission. )

There are many, many versions of it sold, and just as many, if not more, versions of it made in homes but what I’m giving you today is a good basic leaping off point for adding that little special something to your meals or snacks. We start with raw sesame seeds here, but if all you can find is toasted sesame seeds, simply skip the toasting step and proceed from that point forward.

Do make this, though. Just do. I can’t be the only one who obsesses over these things. I refuse to think that is possible. I need some company on my wacky little furikake island, people.

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Homemade Furikake |Japanese Rice Seasoning

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 5 minutes

Yield: One generous cup of furikake.

Furikake: the salt and pepper of Japan. This crunchy, salty, nutty, earthy, briny topping that tastes slightly of seafood is a great all-purpose seasoning for rice, seafood, snacks, and more.

Ingredients

  • 1/2 cup raw sesame seeds
  • 1 teaspoon to 1 tablespoon sea salt, to taste
  • 3 sheets nori
  • 3 heaping tablespoons bonito flakes
  • 1/2 teaspoon sugar, optional

Instructions

Heat a dry, heavy-bottomed skillet over a medium high burner.

Pour in the sesame seeds and shake to distribute evenly over the surface of the skillet.

Toast, shaking occasionally, until the seeds are fragrant and begin making little popping sounds.

Immediately pour the seeds into a dry, clean bowl to cool and stir in the sea salt. Allow to cool completely before proceeding.

Use kitchen shears or clean, dry scissors to cut the nori into 1-inch strips. Stack the strips and cut cross-wise into very thin strips over the bowl of sesame seeds.

Use the kitchen shears again to roughly cut up the bonito flakes.

Add the sugar (if using) and stir all ingredients together, then transfer to a jar with a tight fitting lid.

This is ready to use immediately but can be stored in a cool, dry place out of direct sunlight for up to two months.

http://www.foodiewithfamily.com/2011/08/09/homemade-furikake-japanese-rice-seasoning/

 

 

Filed Under: Accessible Ethnic, Condiments, kid food, Rebecca, Recipes, Stretching your dollars, Vegetarian
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