Ketchup Attempt #1

Well, it suddenly turned cold and rainy here so I think it's the perfect day to try out my first ketchup recipe.

This is one that I found online after eating at Salt (see previous post). I realize that it calls for canned tomatoes but since I don't have several pounds of tomatoes sitting around, I think this is a good place to start. At least to see the seasonings are right, etc.

The recipe calls for onion, garlic, vinegar, brown sugar, salt, spices and of course tomatoes and tomato paste.

This is what happens when you send your husband to the store with a list containing "onions." You don't get onion...you get ONION! So I am chopping the whole thing, using half and freezing the other half for a future recipe. (Actually a great tip: when you have to chop an onion for a recipe, chop up 2, 3, 4 at the same time and throw the rest in the freezer. Next time, you just have to pull out some pre-chopped onion. Saves time later on and it much cheaper than buying frozen chopped onion).

By the way, do you know the best way to get the onion/garlic smell out of your hands? Wash them with salt (just your regular table salt) and then wash with salt. And while we're at it, don't waste your money on the onion goggles and all those things. The best way to keep from crying when chopping your onion is to freeze it first for at least 15-30 minutes. Trust me - I've tried all the techniques and gadgets out there.

But I digress. Back to the ketchup experiment.

I like to prep my remaining ingredients while boring things are happening...like heating oil. So I measured out the other ingredients that I would need.

I never said I did it neatly.

Once the sauteing was done, I threw everything else in and let it simmer. Sure smells like ketchup already!

After about 45 minutes of simmering, it was thick. I used my immersion blender because I knew my regular blender would never get it done. Turns out the immersion one didn't do a perfect job either. Which made the next step of pushing it all through a fine mesh sieve even more difficult.

Now to taste it. I'm calling in my expert ketchup eater.

It definitely needed salt so we added a bit more. Still was missing something though and we couldn't quite tell what. It was spicier than it ought to have been. Elaine added a bit of smoked paprika (her favorite spice at the moment) and she seemed to like it a little better. But overall we agreed that Heinz is still better. This tastes like it came from canned tomatoes (which I expected - can't taste fresh if it isn't) and I think adding the tomato paste (even though it was only 1 Tbsp) was a mistake.

In spite of the number of good reviews this recipe has gotten on various websites, I didn't like it. Maybe I did something drastically wrong but I don't think so. (Update - Since I wrote this morning, the ketchup has cool and had a chance to sit for a few hours in the fridge. Just ate some with a hot dog and it wasn't bad...but still no match to the commercial brands.)

So now, I will try the recipe in my canning book - but I'm going to cut the recipe down to 1/4 so I can test it. If it's good, then I'll do the whole thing. Or maybe I should email the chef at Salt and ask for the recipe. Worst case, he says no....best case, I don't have to experiment with yucky ketchups anymore!

Rice Cooker Oatmeal Sundaes

I won't lie to you. Breakfast is a tough meal at our house. A box of cereal doesn't last very long; we run out of bread; I can't fix scrambled eggs anymore (egg allergy in the house now); I can never make pancakes as quickly as I think I can. Then I found an oatmeal recipe that has saved breakfast for me.

My kids like oatmeal but try as I might in making real oatmeal (from steel-cut oats which I love), they prefer the little packets. Yuck. We finally ran out of them about a month ago and the girls wanted oatmeal for breakfast. So I was looking through my cookbooks (I only have one or two.....hundred) for a quick, tasty recipe. And I found one!

Rice Cooker Oatmeal. Brilliant idea.
4 cups water & 2 cups quick-cooking oatmeal in the rice cooker.
Turn it on. Walk away.
(Those are my instructions not necessarily what the recipe in the book says.)

When it's done, put in a little butter (about 1 Tbsp), some brown sugar (maybe 1/4 cup) and 2 tsp or so of maple syrup. Stir it around. Scoop it up into bowls.

But you're not done!

What do you usually put on oatmeal? Cream and sugar, right? Why not vanilla ice cream? It's just cream and sugar. (Thank you Mary Ostyn for this fabulous idea!) So I top the oatmeal with a small scoop of vanilla ice cream and a drizzle of maple syrup over the top.

My girls L.O.V.E this oatmeal. They never want any other kind again. And who wouldn't love it? It's creamy and sweet and you get to have ice cream for breakfast!

I took a picture of it but, as you can see, the camera was in a fightin' mood this morning and flat out refused to be in focus no matter what. ARG! I hate it when things get a mind of their own.

Since the picture's not very clear, just imagine a bowl of light-brown creamy oatmeal with a little vanilla bean ice cream sitting in the middle, slowly melting, and a little stream of rich maple syrup around the edge. Yum!

Cookies With Apparently Nothing

A couple of days ago, I was looking for gluten-free products to try as I'm embarking on this new adventure trying to figure out how to help my youngest. I don't know if gluten is a problem or not but thinking it might be worth a try. I was in the baking aisle and found this.



Peanut-free, dairy-free, egg-free, nut-free, wheat-free, gluten-free chocolate chip cookies.

What the heck, I figured. I know she needs to be peanut-free and egg-free....and possibly gluten-free. I made the cookies this morning and I'm here to report.

The cookies, first of all, were difficult to mix. The directions said to stir and the little picture showed a spoon. Butter, water, vanilla and the powdered mix were all I needed. But it stir well at all - even with really soft butter. I ended up creaming, which seemed to work fine. They baked up nicely. Very light and airy.

My little girl, who has never had a chocolate chip cookie before, seemed to like them. My husband declared they were light and he could stand eating them. I think they are a bit grainy and gritty. But overall the flavor isn't too bad.

The good news is that the baby's face didn't go all red when she ate the cookie. Though with chocolate chips smooshed all over her face, I can't be 100% sure.

A dear friend from my homeschool group is going to share some family approved recipes that are gluten-free. All five of her children are sensitive to gluten, and she is too. So she has had to experiment over the last several years. I'm hoping that I can benefit from her trials and errors. Then we'll can see if going gluten-free helps my little one.

Delicioso!

I recently began watching Food Network's Simply Delicioso on Saturday mornings and I really like the show. I love Mexican and Latin American food but I always thought it would be too difficult or time-consuming so, other than my cheesy-chicken enchiladas and the occasional taco, I never attempted Latin foods. But Ingrid Hoffman makes delicious-sounding (and looking) recipes and it seems simple. She doesn't claim to make authentic recipes - but who cares? The Latin flavors are there and that's mostly what I'm after.

I decided to try one of her recipes after seeing her "Puebla, Mexico" show a couple of weeks ago. Here's the recipe as given on foodtv.com:

Mexican Pulled Pork (Tinga Pueblana)3 medium or 2 large russet potatoes to equal about a pound, peeled and diced
1 (2 to 3-pound) pork loin
1/2 yellow onion, whole, plus 1 onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, smashed
2 bay leaves
12 ounces raw chorizo, casing removed and crumbled
1 (28-ounce) can diced tomatoes
2 canned chipotle chiles in adobo, finely chopped (seeded and ribbed for less heat)
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 teaspoon dried marjoram
Salt
For serving:
16 corn or flour tortillas
Lime wedges
1 avocado, halved, pitted, peeled and sliced
1 cup fresh cilantro leaves
Place the potatoes in a large pot of cold water. Add the salt, bring to a boil and cook until tender, 20 minutes. Drain the potatoes and set aside.
Place the pork in a large pot of cold water. Add the onion half, the garlic, and the bay leaves. Bring to a boil then reduce the heat to low. Simmer gently until the pork is cooked through and is no longer pink in the center, about 45 minutes. Remove the pork from the water and set it aside until it is cool enough to handle (discard the cooking liquid). Using your fingers or 2 forks, shred the meat into small pieces and set aside.
In a large skillet over medium-high heat, saute crumbled chorizo until completely cooked through, 8 to 10 minutes, stirring often. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the chorizo to a paper towel lined plate. Add the chopped onions to the chorizo skillet and cook until soft, about 3 to 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the shredded pork, the tomatoes, and the chipotle chiles. Cook until the tomatoes break down and release their juices, about 5 minutes. Return the potatoes and cooked chorizo to the pan. Stir in the vinegar, thyme, marjoram and salt, to taste. Continue to cook over medium heat until some of the liquid has evaporated, about 5 minutes.
While the pork cooks, heat a medium skillet over medium-high heat. Add a tortilla and warm for 10 to 15 seconds. Flip the tortilla over and continue to warm until the tortilla is pliable and heated through, another 10 to 20 seconds. Place warm tortillas in a tortilla warmer or on a plate, cover with a kitchen towel, and set aside; repeat with the remaining tortillas (or warm the tortillas in the microwave: stack them on a plate and cover with a damp cloth; microwave for 30 seconds and keep them covered until you're ready to serve).

To Serve:Place the pulled pork in a serving bowl or bring to the table in the cooking pot. Arrange the limes, avocado, and cilantro on a platter. Pass warm tortillas so each diner can fill a tortilla with some of the meat and accompaniments. Squeeze lime juice over each serving.

This was SO good! I forgot to buy the cilantro and avocado which I think would only improve it. Definitely something to make again. Though how this is only 4-6 servings....I don't know. She must know people with enormous appetites.

Buffalo Chicken Chili

This weekend, I tried Rachael Ray's Buffalo Chicken Chili. Let me say first of all that I do like Rachael Ray - in small doses. And every time I watch her show (30 Minute Meals - I can't take an entire hour) or read one of her recipes, I am always skeptical about how good the dish will be. But every one of her recipes that I've tried has been really good.

So I was little worried about trying this chili - as usual. It was good - but not for the faint-of-heart. With 1/2 cup of hot sauce in it, it could burn your taste buds. Needless to say, Phil loved it, Elaine hated it....and I was somewhere in between. I liked it but I won't use that much hot sauce next time.

Here's the recipe - give it a try (Becky, if you're reading, I think Martin would really like this!)

Buffalo Chicken Chili

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil (EVOO)
2 pounds ground chicken
2 large carrots, peeled and finely chopped
1 large onion, chopped
4 ribs celery with leafy tops, finely chopped
4 cloves garlic, chopped
1 tablespoon smoked sweet paprika
1 bay leaf, fresh or dried
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 cups chicken stock
1/2 cup hot sauce
1 can tomato sauce (15 ounces)
1 can stewed, fire-roasted or crushed tomatoes (15 ounces)
1 sack whole grain tortilla chips, lightly crushed
3/4 pound Maytag Blue cheese, crumbled
A handful of flat leaf parsley, chopped

Place a large pot over medium-high heat with the EVOO. Add the ground chicken and break it up, lightly browning it for 5 minutes.

Add the carrots, onion, celery, garlic, paprika and bay leaf and season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring frequently, for about 7-8 minutes. Add the chicken stock and scrape up any brown bits on the bottom of the pot.

Add the hot sauce, tomato sauce and the stewed, fire-roasted or crushed tomatoes to the chili and bring up to a bubble. Simmer for 8-10 minutes more to let the flavors come together.

While the chili is simmering, pre-heat the broiler.

Spread the chips out on a cookie sheet. Top with the crumbled blue cheese and transfer to the oven to melt the cheese, 2-3 minutes. Remove from the oven and sprinkle with the chopped parsley.

Top each serving of Buffalo Chicken Chili with a few blue cheese chips.

(One more note here: when it's not hot temperature-wise, it's not nearly as spicy. Much better and less-spicy the second day.)

Pizza Soup

Since I've mentioned this soup to a couple of people lately who thought it sounded good, I decided to share the recipe. I never used to like soup but in the last year or two, I've had a change of heart. I particularly like tomato soups now - and those used to be my least favorite.

This soup is really easy, quick, kid-friendly (at least Elaine love it) and I think it does taste like pizza. And you can really customize it to your own tastes.

Here's the recipe as it appears in my book.

2 cans (14 1/2 oz each) diced tomatoes
2 cans (10 3/4 oz each) condensed tomato soup, undiluted
2 1/2 cups water
1 pkg (3 1/2 ounces) sliced pepperoni, quartered
1 sweet red pepper, chopped
1 green pepper, chopped
1 cup sliced fresh mushrooms
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 tsp rubbed sage
1/2 tsp dried basil
1/2 tsp dried oregano
Salt and pepper to taste
10 slices French bread, toasted
1 1/2 cups (6 ounces) shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese

In a Dutch oven or soup kettle, bring the tomatoes, soup and water to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 15 minutes. Mash with a potato masher. Add the pepperoni, red and green peppers, mushrooms, garlic, sage, basil, oregano, salt and pepper. Cover and simmer for 10 minutes or until vegetables are tender.

Ladle into ovenproof bowls. Top each with a slice of bread and sprinkle with cheese. Broil 4 in. from the heat until cheese is melted and bubbly.

My notes: I don't like mushrooms so I don't put those in and I've been known to use Italian seasoning instead of the individual herbs. I also found that two whole bell peppers was too much. I use 1/3 - 1/2 of each bell pepper. Someday I might try adding other pizza toppings, like sausage.

Hope you like it!

Grill Recipe

One of the things I wanted to do this summer was learn how to grill. Well, I've done it once so far. But clearly I'm good at it!

I found this recipe for artichoke-stuffed chicken and it was amazing.

For the stuffing:
2 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
1 tsp dried thyme
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
1 jar (7 oz) artichoke hearts
2 tsp minced garlic
1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1/4 tsp kosher salt
3 oz fresh goat cheese, crumbled
3 Tbsp minced sun-dried tomatoes (oil-packed)
2 Tbsp finely chopped fresh basil

4 large boneless chicken breast halves (with skin)
Extra-virgin olive oil
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper

In a medium saute pan, combine the olive oil, thyme and red pepper flakes. Set the pan over medium high heat to warm the mixture for 1 to 2 minutes. Drain, rinse and coarsely chop the artichoke hearts and add along with the garlic, salt and pepper. Cook for 3 to 4 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from the heat. Add the goat cheese, sun-dried tomatoes, and basil. Mix to evenly distribute the ingredients and allow to cool.








Rinse the chicken breasts under cold water and pat dry with paper towels. Place each breast between two sheets of plastic wrap and, with a meat mallet, pound to flatten to a thickness of about 1/4 inch. Place the breast, skin side down, and spread each one with a quarter of the stuffing. Fold the breasts in half over the stuffing and use toothpicks to skewer the sides closed (I used about 4 per breast). Brush or spray both sides with olive oil and season with salt and pepper.
Grill the breasts over Direct Medium heat until the meat juices run clear and the cheese is melted, 8-12 minutes, turning once halfway through grilling time. Remove from the grill and carefully remove the toothpicks.

My tips:
Make sure you use real toothpicks. The second time I made this, I didn't have any and instead used large sandwich picks which did not work at all. The filling just wouldn't stay in.
If you can't find a 7 oz jar of artichoke hearts (as I couldn't), go slightly larger rather than smaller. The second time I made this, I used a 6 oz jar and it was not enough. Also chop the artichokes into fairly large chunks. They'll sort of slip out of the cheesy filling and into the gril if they're too small.

Rainier Cherry Pie

Here's another recipe from Pie. (I just love the name of the book - nothing fancy - just Pie.)

I had never heard of Rainier cherries before. Apparently they are a cross between a Bing and a Van cherry (I think that's right). They are white/yellow in color with a blush of red. They are big and sweet. Yum! Well, I was reading through Pie trying to decide what to make and this recipe sounded interesting. I ultimately decided on the Peaches and Cream Pie.....until I was at the grocery store and saw Rainier cherries! So I knew I had to make 2 pies.

The thing that intrigued me about this recipe - more than just the cherry variety - was the technique for the top crust. Grated pastry. I had to try it. So here's the recipe....thoughts at the end.

Two-Crust pie pastry (you could probably do this with a store-crust but I'm not really sure. I'd make the pastry for this one)
5 cups fresh Rainier cherries, stemmed and pitted
1/3 cup plus 2 Tbsp granulated sugar
1 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
1/4 tsp vanilla
2 1/2 Tbsp cornstarch
About 1 Tbsp coarse sugar or granulated sugar (for glaze)

1. If you haven't already, prepare the pastry. Shape the smaller ball (for the top crust) into a block rather than a disk. Refrigerate the larger half (for the bottom crust) till firm enough to roll, about 1 hour, and place the block in the freezer.
2. Roll the larger half of the pastry into a 13" circle. Place the pastry over a 9 1/2" deep dish pie pan. Tuck the pastry into the pan, without stretching it, and sculpt the edge into an upstanding ridge. Place in the freezer for 15 minutes. Preheat the oven to 400.
3. In a large bowl, combine the cherries, 1/3 cup of granulated sugar, lemon juice and vanilla. Mix well, then set aside for 10 minutes to juice. Combine the remaining 2 Tbsp sugar and the cornstarch in a small bowl, then stir the mixture into the fruit. Turn the filling into the chilled pie shell and smooth the top of the fruit with your hands or a spoon.
4. Using the large holes of a box grater, grate the other half of the pastry over the top of the fruit, as if it were a block of cheese, covering the filling more or less evenly. Sprinkle the coarse sugar evenly over the pastry.
5. Place the pie on the center oven rack and bake for 30 minutes. Reduce the oven temperature to 375 and rotate the pan 180 degrees so that the part that faced the back of the oven now faces forward. Just in case, slide a large aluminum foil-lined baking sheet onto the rack below to catch any spills. Continue to bake till the top is golden brown and the juices bubble thickly around the edge, 25-30 minutes.
6. Transfer the pie to a wire rack and let cool for at least 2 hours before serving. Garnish with vanilla or peach ice cream.

Again, this was pretty easy to make. Until I got to the top crust. Oh my...it took forever to grate the pastry. It was incredibly messy (Elaine had pastry shreds in her hair) and it was difficult to get the pastry pieces to fall where they should (you've grated cheese, you know). At one point, I tried to grate it over a plate instead but the pastry, as it warmed from my hands and the grating, started clumping together so I couldn't really transfer it to the pie. You have to grate the pastry over the pie. Then it looked weird. It made for a very crunchy top crust which isn't usually something I look for in a pie crust.

Overall, this was a good pie. I think if I make it again, I'll do a traditional top crust. Partly because grating the pastry was a pain and partly because it was crunchy (and I'm very particular about my pie crust/pastry). The cherry filling was delicious though. Phil liked the pie ok. Not a traditional cherry pie, obviously. Phil disagrees with the author though about serving it with ice cream. Rainier cherries are so sweet that you don't need the ice cream (like you do with a traditional tart cherry pie).

Another strange looking pie, I think. But tasty!

Before baking:


After baking:

Peaches and Cream

Anyone who's known me for the last four or five years probably knows that I've become obsessed with pies. I don't really know why. I've always liked pie ok...but I truly preferred other desserts. But for some reason in the last few years pie has become my favorite dessert. Particularly fruit pies which is also weird for me.

I think part of this obsession is from Phil. He loves pie too - any kind of pie and probably loves pie more than me. He really likes peach pie and since I was a bad wife this year and didn't make him a birthday cake (sorry honey) I decided to make a peach pie a few days later.

I have a wonderful book called Pie by Ken Haedrich (same guy who did one of my other favorite cookbooks, Apple Pie Perfect). There were several peach pies but one that caught my attention first was Peaches and Cream pie. The description says that it tastes like peach ice cream. I had to try it. Also it was the only peach recipe that said frozen peaches worked well in it. Since the fresh peaches at my grocery store didn't seem ripe enough - or overly ripe - I decided to use frozen.

So here's the recipe. I'll give my thoughts at the end.

Single Crust pie pastry (I make my own but you could use store bought)
2 1/2 - 3 cups peeled, pitted and sliced ripe peaches or one 1-lb bag frozen sliced peaches, partially thawed
1 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup confectioners' sugar, sifted
Big pinch of salt
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar

1. If you haven't already, prepare the pastry and refrigerate till firm enough to roll, about 1 hour.
2. Roll out the pastry into a 13" circle. Place the pastry in a 9 1/2" deep dish pie pan. Tuck the pastry into the pan, without stretching it and sculpt the edge so it is more or less flush with the top of the pan. Place in the freezer for 15 minutes. Preheat oven to 400F.
3. Distribute the peach slices evenly in the chilled shell. Combine the cream, confectioners' sugar, salt and vanilla in a medium-size bowl and whisk to blend. Slowly pour over the peaches. Use a fork, if necessary, to rearrange the peach slices evenly in the shell.
4. Place the pie on the center oven rack and bake for 30 minutes. Remove from the oven and reduce the temperature to 350. Sprinkle the brown sugar evenly over the pie, then return it to the oven, placing it so that the part that faced the back of the oven now faces forward. Bake until the filling is bubbly and the top is caramel-colored, 15-20 minutes. The filling will still be liquidy.
5. Transfer the pie to a wire rack and let cool thoroughly. Cover with loosely tented aluminum foil and refrigerate for at least 4 hours or overnight before serving.

My crust was, as usual (if I may say so myself), perfect. I didn't make a super flaky crust for this one but it was delicious. I thought the pie was quite tasty. But it was NOT attractive at all. I expected it to be creamier (given the fact that it's a peaches and CREAM pie) but it wasn't. It didn't taste quite like peach ice cream to me but it was better than a plain peach pie, as far I'm concerned. Of course, I have to turn to the peach pie expert - Phil. He gave it "two thumbs up" for sweet peachy flavor. He thought the cream part was good and off-set the peaches very well.

I also expected (from reading the recipe) that there would be a caramely layer on top from the brown sugar. Instead the brown sugar immediately started melting into the pie as I was sprinkling it on (duh). When it came out of the oven, there were brown blotches on the pie where the sugar had settled. So instead of looking like a caramelized layer on top, it looked like I had overcooked the pie (which I hadn't).

So I think the pie gets good points for flavor (let's say 5 - I'm making up the scale now) but 0-1 for appearance.