Spoon butter

      While watching a video on America's Test Kitchen cutting board comparison (or was it reading an article from America's Test Kitchen on cutting boards?), I came across the term spoon butter, a mixture of mineral oil and beeswax that is supposed to be even better for your wooden cutting boards/utensils than mineral oil alone.  I was intrigued for although I oil my boards on a semi-regular basis, they were still looking a little dry.  I decided to try to make it.  After rediscovering that our favorite farmer's market was open (Downtown Campbell) and that the honey stand there sells beeswax if you request it in advance, I had all of the ingredients I needed and decided to make spoon butter last night.

Spoon butter

Spoon butter (based off of a recipe from https://creative-culinary.com/wood-butter-wood-utensils-bowls-recipe/)

Ingredients:

4 oz mineral oil
1 oz beeswax

Procedure:

1) In an large pot (I used my Instant Pot on saute), bring water to a low boil.  There should be enough water to cover the bottom third or so of two mason jars.

2) Put the beeswax in one mason jar and the mineral oil in another.  Put them both in the boiling water.

3) Once the beeswax is melted (this will take a little while), pour the mineral oil into the mason jar with the beeswax and mix them with a spoon.  Let the mixture cool.

4) Use a paper towel to apply the spoon butter to your wooden utensils/cutting boards and let it sit for hours to absorb the oil.

Before (to the left) and after (to the right).  Shown immediately after applying spoon butter.  The picture doesn't do it justice, but you can see the the before picture is a lot dryer looking than the lovely sheen after applying the spoon butter.

  I just made this last night, so am applying it to my wooden utensils for the first time today.  I didn't have the exact amounts listed in the original recipe, so I just measured out the amount of mineral oil I had left (about 4 oz) and weighed 1/4 of this (1 oz) of beeswax.  Turns out beeswax is very difficult to cut if it is in block form, but a heated knife eventually did the tick.  Once you apply the finished product, the difference is immediately apparent.  The wood has a nice sheen to it and looks moisturized and non-dried out.  Plus, your hands feel lovely and moisturized after applying it too; an added bonus! I am going to let it sit overnight and might remove the excess oil if it hasn't all absorbed in by tomorrow.    Although I don't remember from which America's Test Kitchen source it was that originally inspired me, I did find this article on spoon butter if you're curious: 

https://www.cooksillustrated.com/how_tos/8625-caring-for-wood-cutting-boards-and-utensils-with-spoon-butter.

Dried Persimmons

     I have never been the biggest fan of persimmons on their own (see this post for my first experiment with persimmons), but love persimmon cookies. During a socially distanced Tech volunteer/former staff get together at the house of the lovely volunteer Sharon, we got to talking about the awesome tree we were gathered around in her backyard. It turned out it was a hachiya persimmon tree, and Sharon said that she always had too many persimmons, so we could help ourselves when they were ripe in the Fall. Come November, Sharon let us know that the persimmons were ready to pick and Scott and I went over and had a lot of fun picking persimmons to our hearts' content. Of course, that meant I had a lot of  persimmons to deal with, so I thought I'd try a new recipe.  I knew that I had loved dried persimmons when I randomly came across them at a grocery store years ago, so decided to try breaking out my food dehydrator for the first time and drying persimmons.  Here is the recipe I followed:

Dried Persimmons (okay, I need to remember to plate my final produce better for my blog pictures)

Dried persimmons (from https://www.mountainfeed.com/blogs/learn/101744903-dried-persimmons-an-easy-winter-snack) 

Ingredients:

Persimmons (duh!)

Procedure:

1) Wash and slice the persimmons.  Fuyu or Hachiya will both make delicious dehydrated slices; if using Hachiya, choose fruits that are fully orange but not as ripe as you would choose for fresh eating; they need to be firm enough to slice. The astringency that is unpleasant to taste in an unripe fruit disappears during the dehydration process.

Slice the persimmons about 1/8" thick. Since persimmons have no core to speak of, you can slice all the way through the center, and enjoy the whole fruit! There is a lovely star shape at the center of each persimmon.

2) Dehydate. Dehydrate on screens in the dehydrator, at about 135 degrees, until the slices are dry, slightly tacky to the touch but not sticky. This should take around 6-8 hours.

3) Store and Enjoy.  Store the slices in mason jars, where they will keep for 6 months or more.

Persimmons in the dehydator

  Boy, was this easy!  It really makes me question why I've waited so long to use the dehydator.  This was also a really good first fruit to dehydrate, as other than removing the top stem, there wasn't any other processing to do (e.g., peeling, removing seeds, etc.)  Use the food processor to slice them into thin pieces (a mandoline would have been perfect for this, but I'm not quite sure where mine is) and put them on the trays.  My dehydrator didn't have precise temperature settings, but medium seems to be the equivalent of 135.  Six hours seemed to be perfect every single time.  If I remembered it, I tried to rotate the trays as the ones on the bottom dried quicker than the ones on the top (they're closer to the heating element).  Also, I did find out that, unlike what the above recipe says, it's not quite true that the astrigency dissapears when you dry the persimmons.  It's still there, but much milder.  However, if you're at all sensitive to this astringency, I would not recommend using Hachiya persimmons.  Use fuyu (the tomato shaped ones) instead.  Poor Scott could not eat these slices without feeling pretty much instantaneously dry mouthed.  I felt so bad for him that I went out and bought fuyu persimmons so he could enjoy dried persimmons as well.

Sharon's awesome persimmon tree

Look at those beautiful persimmons just waiting to be picked

Scott picking persimmons

With the fruit picker and our stash

Look at all of the beautiful fruit!

  A huge thank you to Sharon for so generously sharing her bounty with us.  We're still enjoying your persimmons in December!

Chocolate (and other) desserts in October

      I've been trying new recipes over that past month and a half, but haven't blogged about them yet.  I wanted to put all of them together in one blog for your enjoyment.

Giant Peanut Butter Cup

     Do you ever get a random craving for something and you don't know why?  Or you get obsessed, at least for a little while, with one particular type of food?  Well, that food has been peanut butter cups for me for the last couple of months.  Plus peanut butter in general, I suppose.  So, when I saw this recipe from Tasty to make a Giant Peanut Butter Cup, I just knew I had to check it out.

Giant Peanut Butter Cup (from https://tasty.co/recipe/giant-peanut-butter-cup)

Ingredients:

4 cups milk chocolate chips, divided
2 cups creamy peanut butter
2 cups powdered sugar, sifted
8 tablespoons butter, softened

Procedure:

1) In a small bowl, place half of the chocolate chips.

2) Melt in the microwave in 30 second intervals, stirring in between, until fully melted.

3) Pour melted chocolate into a 10-inch (25 cm) tart pan making sure to coat the entire pan, including all sides.

4) Refrigerate until set.

5) In a large bowl, place the peanut butter, powdered sugar, and softened butter and mix until smooth.

6) Pour the peanut butter into the tart pan and smooth the surface.

7) Melt remaining chocolate and pour over the peanut butter.

8) Smooth out the chocolate making sure it covers the entire surface.

9) Refrigerate until set, about 1 hour.

10) Slice and serve.

A slice of a giant peanut butter cookie

     The verdict?  Certainly delicious, but maybe not quite as delicious as a Reese's peanut butter cup.  If anything, it was almost too sweet.  If I were to make it again, I would not add sugar to the peanut butter.  I don't think it's necessary.  Also, it makes A LOT!  We were eating it for weeks afterwards (not necessarily a bad thing).

Hocus Pocus themed rice krispies treats

     My next dessert comes to you courtesy of Halloween, a movie night, and wanting to use up the leftover chocolate chips from the giant peanut butter cup recipe.  I thought it would be fun to make a themed dessert for our watching Hocus Pocus with the housemates and found this recipe and fell in love.  (In case you haven't seen the movie, this is the book of spells that the devil gave the Sanderson witch sisters in Hocus Pocus)

Hocus Pocus Rice Krispies Treats (based off of a recipe from https://apumpkinandaprincess.com/hocus-pocus-rice-krispies-treats/) 

Ingredients:

3 tbsp butter

4 cups miniature marshmallows

6 cups Rice Krispies cereal

10 oz milk chocolate chips

12 candy eyes

1 black icing

Procedure: 

1) Cover a 9x11 baking sheet with parchment paper.

2) Prepare rice krispies treats by melting together butter and marshmallows on the stovetop over low heat.

3) Stir in cereal and spread over baking sheet. Allow Rice Krispies treats to set for a couple hours.

4) Cut treats into squares using a square cookie cutter.

5) Melt chocolate chip in a microwave safe bowl, stirring every 30 seconds.

6) Dip rice krispies treats into chocolate, shake off excess, and place back on parchment paper covered baking sheet.

7) Add candy eyeball to the center right side of the square. Allow chocolate to set before decorating.

8) Use black icing to add detail, like the snake and stitches on the book. Allow icing to set before serving.

Okay, so I'm not a decorating queen...

     These came out tasting really good (very rich, filling, and chocolatey). I found out a few things, however.  One: I'm not a professional decorator.  As much as I'd like to be, I couldn't quite get things to look the way I wanted them.  Two: Chocolate is hard to evenly distribute amongst Rice Krispies treats.  The first one got the most chocolate, with the sixth one getting hardly any chocolate at all.  I have about half a dozen more of just leftover Rice Krispies treats that didn't have any chocolate, as I had run out.  Three: Candy eye balls and black icing is surprisingly really difficult to find around Halloween.  Four: How have I never made Rice Krispies treats before this?  They're so easy and so delicious!  Five: If you leave the Rice Krispies treats out and tell your housemates that they can help themselves, they disappear very very quickly!

Carrot Cake Pancakes

     Okay, this next one is technically not a dessert but is based upon one, so I'm including it in this list.  If you know me, you know that I love carrot cake.  When I saw this recipe (also from Tasty), I knew I had to try it!

Carrot Cake Pancakes (from https://tasty.co/recipe/carrot-cake-pancakes)

Ingredients:

2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
¼ cup brown sugar
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 ¾ teaspoons McCormick® Ground Cinnamon
¼ teaspoon McCormick® allspice
½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 cups buttermilk
1 stick unsalted butter, melted
2 large eggs
1 ½ cups carrot
5 tablespoons unsalted butter
¼ cup walnuts, chopped
10 tablespoons cream cheese
10 teaspoons maple syrup

Procedure:

1) In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, brown sugar, salt, cinnamon, allspice, baking powder, and baking soda.

2) In a medium bowl or liquid measuring cup, whisk together the buttermilk, melted butter, and eggs.

3) Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and fold with a rubber spatula until just combined. 4. Gently fold in the grated carrots.

4) Let the batter rest for 15-30 minutes at room temperature.

5) Melt 1 tablespoon butter in a medium skillet over medium-low heat. Once the butter is bubbling add ⅓ cup (75 g) of batter to the pan. Cook for 2-3 minutes, until bubbles start to appear on the surface. Flip the pancake over and cook for another 1-2 minutes, until golden brown and cooked through. Repeat with the remaining batter, adding more butter as needed. As you cook the pancakes, keep them warm in a low oven or cover with foil.

6) Serve the pancakes with a pat of cream cheese, a drizzle of maple syrup, and a sprinkling of walnuts.

  The verdict?  Maybe not as good as I might like.  Part of that was that I didn't have any buttermilk, so used buttermilk powder with whole milk instead.  I think my buttermilk powder has gone bad, if such a thing is possible, as the pancakes had a slightly off? extra tangy? taste to them.  Also, I ran out of regular flour so substituted in some whole wheat flour, but that was okay.  The cream cheese topping was a little out of place.  I think it would have been better either being skipped all together or made into something like cream cheese frosting.  It was tasty, though...

Blueberry muffins

Homemade blueberry muffins

     I've been feeling a little blue today so decided to make some muffins to cheer myself up (I can't be the only one who bakes to make herself feel good, am I?).  I have been thinking about making blueberry muffins for months, and thought that today should be the day to make some homemade muffins and, in the process, use up another item from my pantry (the blueberries from the freezer and some frozen whey I had).

Look at all the blueberry goodness...

Blueberry muffins (from Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything)

Ingredients:

3 tablespoons melted butter

2 cups AP flour

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

3 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 egg

1 cup milk (I used frozen whey from my cheese-making)

1 cup frozen blueberries

1/2 teaspoon lemon zest

Procedure: 

1) Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.  Grease a standard 12 compartment muffin tin.

2) Mix together the dry ingredients in a bowl.  Beat together the egg, milk, and butter.  Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and pour the wet ingredients into it  Using a large spoon or rubber spatula, combine the ingredients swiftly, stirring and folding rather than beating, and stopping as soon as all the dry ingredients are moistened.  The batter should be lumpy, not smooth, and thick but quite moist; add a little more milk or other liquid if necessary.

3) Stir 1 cup of fresh blueberries and 1/2 teaspoon of lemon zest into the batter at the last minute.  You can also use frozen blueberries here; do not defrost them first.

4) Spoon the batter into the muffin tins, filling them about two-thirds full and handling the batter as little as possible. (If you prefer bigger muffins, fill the cups almost to the top.  Pour 1/4 cup water into those cups left empty).  Bake 20 to 30 minutes, or until the muffins are nicely browned and a toothpick inserted in to the center of one of them comes out clean.  Remove from the oven and let rest for 5 minutes before taking them out of the tin. Serve warm.

     And that was it.  It came together in a breeze and was a very delicious treat that I could share with everyone.  These are homemade muffins as I like them: fresh, moist, not too sweet, not too large, and filled with juicy blueberries that pop in your mouth.  I honestly forgot to add the lemon zest on this round and it still came out delicious.  My only regret is I've rediscovered how easy it is to make homemade muffins... a dangerous thing when you're sheltering in place at home most of the time!

Spicy cold kimchi noodles and smashed cucumbers

Spicy cold kimchi noodles with smashed cucumbers

     Here's another recipe that I discovered in the process of trying to clear out my pantry.  I figured something cold and refreshing would be really good on a hot summer night.

Spicy cold kimchi noodles

Spicy Cold Kimchi noodles (modified from https://mykoreankitchen.com/spicy-cold-kimchi-noodles/)

Ingredients:

1 package of bean thread noodles (8 ounces)

1/2 cup kimchi, pulsed in the food processor

1 English cucumber, chilled, rinsed, and cut into large matchstick size pieces

1 hard boiled egg, halved 

Bibim Sauce (Mix these in a bowl)

2 Tbsp gochujang (Korean chili paste)

1 Tbsp rice vinegar

1 Tbsp honey

1 Tbsp cane sugar

1 Tbsp sesame oil

1 Tbsp toasted sesame seeds

Procedure: 

1) Boil water and cover the bean noodles.  Let soak for ten minutes.  Drain the noodles and cool down under cold running water for about 1 minute. Stir the noodles with some tongs or your hand while it’s under the water. Drain the noodles well.

2) Put together the noodles, cut up kimchi, and bibim sauce in a large mixing bowl and mix well.  Serve it in a bowl. Place the cucumber and egg halves on top of the noodles and enjoy!

     This was a lovely and relatively quick recipe.  It was nice and refreshing on a hot evening.

Smashed cucumbers

     I was thinking that some kind of Asian pickles would be good to have as a cool relief after the spicy kimchi noodles.  After looking at various sources (including a very frustrating look for an Asian Pickle cookbook that I just came across and subsequently lost again!), I came across this recipe for smashed cucumbers.  I had first seen it on an America's Test Kitchen YouTube video and had always been curious to try it.  So, tonight was the night.

Smashed cucumbers (modified from https://www.splendidtable.org/recipes/smashed-cucumbers and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Oj4DagwRQI)

Ingredients:

2 English cucumbers

1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt

4 teaspoons rice vinegar

1 teaspoon garlic, minced to paste (I used 2 cloves of minced garlic)

1 tablespoon soy sauce

2 teaspoons toasted sesame oil

1 teaspoon sugar

1 teaspoon sesame seeds, toasted

Procedure:

1. Trim and discard ends from cucumbers. Cut each cucumber crosswise into three equal lengths. Place pieces in large zipper-lock bag and seal bag. Using a small skillet or a rolling pin, firmly but gently smash cucumbers until flattened and split lengthwise into 3 to 4 spears each. Tear spears into rough 1- to 1 1/2-inch pieces and transfer to colander set in large bowl. Toss cucumbers with salt and let stand for at least 15 minutes or up to 30 minutes.

2. While cucumbers sit, whisk vinegar and garlic together in small bowl; let stand for at least 5 minutes or up to 15 minutes.

3. Whisk soy sauce, oil, and sugar into vinegar mixture until sugar has dissolved. Transfer cucumbers to medium bowl and discard any extracted liquid. Add dressing and sesame seeds to cucumbers and toss to combine. Serve immediately.

     This was very fun to make and used a lot of the same ingredients as the kimchi noodles, so they complimented each other nicely.  I really liked the salty crisp garlicky taste of the cucumbers and kind of wish I had made more.  The original recipe calls for Chinese Black Vinegar, but since I didn't have any and was trying to use up what was in my pantry, I used rice vinegar instead.  Yum yum yum!

Miso marinated salmon, garlic noodles, and Instant Pot broccoli

Tonight's dinner: Miso-marinated salmon, garlic noodles, and broccoli cooked in the Instant Pot

     In the process of spring cleaning, and in the process of trying to clear out/consolidate my cabinets/fridge/freezer to clear up space for a new housemate, I've realized that I have far too much food in my pantry.  So I'm doing a self-imposed challenge to try to clear out my pantry.  It's taken longer than I would have thought (and unfortunately, my pantry isn't exactly Weight Watchers friendly), but I've been having fun challenging myself coming up with new recipes.  I have allowed myself to buy fresh produce/some other small groceries to go along with the meals (so I wouldn't be eating nothing but pasta or grains all month!), but we've still saved a lot on groceries.  Tonight's meal helped to clear out old miso we've had in our fridge, rice noodles in our pantry, a random lemon I had, about half of the salmon I had in the freezer, and some of the butter I have seemed to have stockpiled.  The broccoli was purchased specifically for this meal.

Miso-marinated salmon (modified from https://www.splendidtable.org/recipes/miso-marinated-salmon)

How can you say no to such deliciousness?

Serves 4

Time  6 hours prep, 12 minutes cooking, 6 hours total

Notes: "Miso-glazed salmon promises firm, flavorful fish with a glazed, lacquer-like exterior but takes 3 days to prepare. We wanted to make a dish that pulled back on the traditional approach (and shortened the process) but still achieved the depth of sweet-savory flavor that this dish is known for. And instead of a firm, chewy interior, we wanted fish that was silky and moist, contrasting with the texture of the crust. By reducing the marinade time to between 6 and 24 hours, we found a window that allows you to achieve such a goal. A marinade composed of miso, sugar, mirin, and sake allows for flavor penetration, moisture retention, and better browning by drying the fish’s surface. Broiling the fish at a distance from the heating element allows for the fish to caramelize and cook evenly at the same time.

 Note that the fish needs to marinate for at least 6 or up to 24 hours before cooking. Use center-cut salmon fillets of similar thickness. We find that the best way to ensure uniformity is to buy a large center-cut fillet (1 1/2 to 2 pounds if serving 4) and cut it into 4 equal pieces.Yellow, red, or brown miso paste can be used instead of white."

Ingredients:

1/2 cup brown miso paste

1/4 cup sugar

6 tablespoons mirin

4 (6- to 8-ounce) skin-on salmon fillets

Lemon wedges

Procedure:

1) Whisk miso, sugar, and mirin together in medium bowl until sugar and miso are dissolved (mixture will be thick). Dip each fillet into miso mixture to evenly coat all flesh sides. Place fish skin side down in baking dish and pour any remaining miso mixture over fillets. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 6 hours or up to 24 hours.

2) Adjust oven rack 8 inches from broiler element and heat broiler. Place wire rack in rimmed baking sheet and cover with aluminum foil. Using your fingers, scrape miso mixture from fillets (do not rinse) and place fish skin side down on foil, leaving 1 inch between fillets.

3) Broil salmon until deeply browned and centers of fillets register 125 degrees, 8 to 12 minutes, rotating sheet halfway through cooking and shielding edges of fillets with foil if necessary. Transfer to platter and serve with lemon wedges.

     As those of you who read my blog regularly know, I don't oftentimes cook slabs of meat.  So, I am especially proud to say that these came out deliciously!  A huge thank you to The Tech Interactive volunteer Penny for sharing the recipe with me originally.  Since this was a use up my pantry meal, I used twice the amount of mirin in the marinade than the original recipe called for as I didn't have 3 T of sake.  It worked like a charm!  I liked the umami taste of the miso combined with the slight acidity from the lemon.  The salmon were still moist, but cooked all the way through.  All in all, a very delicious dish and one I would make again.

Garlic noodles (based off of recipe from https://deliciouslyorganic.net/garlic-noodles/)

Not my best picture as I took it after I had already plated most of it for dinner, but you get the gist

Ingredients: 

Leftover rice noodles (I had about 2/3 of a package left)

5 tablespoons unsalted butter

6 cloves garlic, minced

2 1/2 tablespoons fish sauce 

2 tablespoons soy sauce 

1 tablespoon cane sugar 

1 tablespoon water

Procedure:

1) Bring water to boil in a large pot over high heat. Leave rice noodles in water for 10 minutes to soften.  Drain noodles and set aside.

2) In the same pot, melt 5 tablespoons butter over medium heat. Stir in the garlic and cook for 1-2 minutes until the garlic is fragrant. Stir in fish sauce, soy sauce, cane sugar and 1 tablespoon water. Stir until sugar dissolves. Add noodles and toss until coated. Serve immediately.

     Again in the interest of using up what was in my pantry, I used soy sauce in place of the tamari sauce that the recipe originally called for.  It also called to top with sesame seeds if desired, but I completely forgot about that part even though I have sesame seeds to use up (D'oh!).  The recipe came out well, but was a little different from what I was hoping for.  I think I would use something a little thicker like spaghetti or even udon noodles and maybe not use so much fish sauce.  Still, it went well with the salmon.

Instant Pot broccoli

Broccoli with our dinner

Ingredients: 

Broccoli (duh!)

Water, 1 cup

Procedure:

1) Cut broccoli florets into medium sized pieces.  Cut the tough outer skin from the broccoli stem and cut it into medium pieces (thanks, Linnea, for the tip about how to eat broccoli stem!).

2) Put a trivet in your Instant Pot and pour in the water.  Put the broccoli on top of the trivet.

3) Pressure cook for zero minutes and quick release.

     This has become our new favorite way to cook broccoli.  The broccoli is cooked, but not too cooked and is quite yummy to eat! 

      All in all, this was a yummy dinner and, other than having to first defrost the salmon overnight and then marinate it for most of the day, it was pretty easy to put together.  I love trying new meals and am always happy when they come out well!

Green chile and black bean soup with chicken

Green chile and black bean soup with chicken

  The nice thing about Weight Watchers is that you can eat whatever you want- nothing is off limits.  One of the ways that I will fit something naughty like homemade popcorn with lots of butter is by eating foods that are zero/low in Weight Watchers points.  This green chile black bean soup with chicken is one of those foods and is so delicious that we're going to add it to our regularly cooked repertoire.

Green chile and black bean soup with chicken (based upon https://www.weightwatchers.com/us/recipe/pulled-chicken-ancho-chili-and-black-bean-soup/5a7e4aa0983984243592cdaa)

We made a double batch

Ingredients:

1 tsp olive oil

2 cups onion, chopped

2 green chiles, chopped

1½ tsp, kosher salt, divided

1 Tbsp minced garlic

1 medium red pepper, diced

2 tsp chili powder

2 tsp crushed red pepper

2 tsp ground cumin

4 cups chicken stock, fat skimmed (I used turkey broth)

15 oz canned diced tomatoes

1 pound uncooked boneless skinless chicken breast

15 oz canned black beans

15 oz canned corn

For the top: 

Fresh lime juice

Fat free Greek yogurt

Chopped cilantro

Procedure: 

1) Heat oil in a large soup pot over medium heat. Add chopped onion, green chiles and salt; cook, stirring often, until onion is softened, 7-10 minutes. Add garlic, pepper, both chili powders and cumin; cook, stirring a few times, 1 minute. Add broth and tomatoes; increase heat to high to bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium low and bring to a simmer; add chicken to pot. Cover and simmer until cooked through, 7-10 minutes.

2) Add beans and corn to pot; cook until heated through, 2-3 minutes. Chop cooked chicken and add back to soup. 

3) In each individual bowl, add in lime juice to taste.  Top with yogurt and cilantro.

  This was a relatively easy soup to make.  The original message calls for you to remove the cooked chicken, shredding it with a fork, and then adding it back into the soup.  I skipped this step so ended up cutting up the chicken while it was still in the soup.  I think I would chop the chicken up ahead of time.  It also tells you to add in the lime juice to the whole pot, but I thought it would have more of a punch if you stir it into the individual bowls instead.  The yogurt and cilantro on top are delicious!  A very delicious and nutritious soup!

Homemade boba!!

  Looking back at my blogs for the last few years, I have now (actually, as of my last blog post) blogged more this year than I did in 2015, 2017, 2018, or 2019.  Plus, I've blogged more this month than I have in any other month since December of 2016.  I'm glad that the shelter-in-place orders have at least given me the opportunity to cook/bake more and to blog more. 
  Speaking of shelter-in-place, I have been having a major craving for boba for the past week or so.  I knew that I had purchased boba pearls in the past (having recently rediscovered them in my excavations through my pantry), and knew that you could make it in an Instant Pot, so I decided to give it a try.  After scanning the internet (and my e-mails), I came across a recipe for both boba and iced tea (after all, I needed something to put the boba in) and made it today.  Here are my results!

Homemade boba in milk tea

Instant Pot Iced Tea (from https://twosleevers.com/instant-pot-iced-tea/)

Ingredients:

4 regular teabags (I used one large peach iced tea bag which I purchased at Trader Joe's)

6 cups Water

1/2 cup sugar

Procedure: 

1) Pour everything into your Instant Pot and cook on High Pressure for 4 minutes.  Allow the pressure to release naturally for at least 15 minutes.

2) Allow it to cool slightly and then serve over ice.

  A few years ago, I went through a phase where I made this recipe quite often.  It makes a nice (and easy to make!) iced tea.  I've never made it with this particular type of tea before.  I'm not sure my peach tea flavor came through, and I used cane sugar from Trader Joe's so it gave it a little bit of a different flavor.  It was still good, though.

The boba right after it finished cooking

Instant Pot Boba Tea (based upon https://twosleevers.com/instant-pot-boba-tea/)

Ingredients: 

1 cup (152 g) large Boba or Tapioca Pearls

2 cups (375 g) Water

1/4 cup (50 g) Sugar Or Other Sweetener Equivalent

Instant Pot iced tea recipe (see above)

Milk (I used oat milk)

Ice

Procedure: 

1) Place the boba pearls, water and sugar in the inner liner of your Instant Pot. It is important to use sugar in this recipe, as the boba need to rest in a sugar syrup in order to stay chewy and pliable. 

2) Cook at high pressure for 2 minutes. Allow the pot to sit undisturbed for 5 minutes, and then release all remaining pressure.

3) When you open the lid, you will see some mighty big boba floating around. These will settle down to a much more manageable size as they cool. Do not refrigerate the boba. Allow them to cool in the liner, or pour them out into a mason jar and let them cool, about 15-20 minutes.

The boba can be kept in the refrigerator in this sugar syrup for a few hours, but the really don't store very well. 

4) Put boba in empty glasses.  Top with iced tea, milk, and ice.  Don't forget your reusable boba/smoothie straw!  Enjoy!

  The results of these two recipes were pretty darn good.  As I said earlier, I think the cane sugar is giving it a slightly...different... taste (or maybe my cane sugar is just old?).  In the future, I think I will use regular sugar. I have some nice baking sugar that probably would have been perfect but I'm saving it for (duh) baking.  The boba came out just the consistency I like.  Chewy, but not too chewy and not soft (I hate soft boba!).  Generally, I like my boba a little sweeter than the way these came out, but they were still quite good. 
  Either way, these two recipes very definitely satisfied my boba cravings.  And, since I had to use the boba up right away, I simply had to have two glasses of boba.  Isn't life terrible sometimes?  Too bad my package of boba is already halfway gone...  I can hardly wait to play around with different kinds of iced tea flavors and play around with the boba sugar levels.  This was wayyy cheaper (and easier with the shelter-in-place orders) than ordering it from a boba place.  Plus, no single use plastic! Although, since I'm still trying to lose weight, maybe it is a bad thing that it's so easy!  But boba is life!

Easter dinner 2020

     I just had fun looking back at my previous Easter dinner post from 9 years ago (https://insearchoftheperfectmacaroniandcheese.blogspot.com/2011/04/easter-dinner.html).  Amazing how many things have changed and how many have stayed the same.  Speaking of things staying the same, I find it funny that we had pretty much the same dinner 9 years ago even though I hadn't planned it that way at all.  Guess I haven't really changed much?
  In the true spirit of sheltering in place, tonight's dinner was made all from things I had at home, most of which were on the older side.  Staying in one place has given me a really good opportunity to clear out my pantry!  I had some old lamb steaks that were in my freezer which were purchased last year, maybe even for Easter last year.  Initially, I was thinking I would do some kind of pot pie with them, but I then realized they were whole steaks and not stew meat and decided I would research some kind of Instant Pot lamb recipe (I'm still a little leery to cook lamb directly on the stove top, since I don't cook whole pieces of meat that often).  I came across an Instant Pot Braised Lamb recipe with white beans and spinach and thought I could modify it based upon what I had around the house.

Instant Pot Braised Lamb

Instant Pot Braised Lamb (modified from https://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/instant-pot-braised-lamb-with-white-beans-and-spinach?fbclid=IwAR1kmQAzgQdF0dW9ZlYJlyphk5E2cfvZnOZK19v2QsNdr9_tAaiXKLAO42E)

Ingredients:

2 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling

2 boneless lamb leg steaks

freshly ground black pepper

kosher salt, divided

1/2 medium onion, finely chopped

6 garlic cloves, peeled, crushed

1/4 cup red wine

fresh oregano (or, in my case, frozen oregano)

bag of frozen peas

Procedure:

1) Pour 2 Tbsp. oil into Instant Pot and heat on Sauté setting on high until shimmering. Season lamb  on all sides with pepper and salt. Working in two batches, cook lamb in Instant Pot until golden brown, about 3 minutes per side. Transfer to a plate.

2) Add onion and garlic to hot oil in pot and cook, still on high Sauté setting and stirring occasionally, until fragrant, 1–2 minutes. 

3) Pour in wine and cook, scraping up browned bits from bottom of pot, until wine is slightly reduced and steam no longer smells boozy, 2–3 minutes. Pour in 2 cups hot water. 

4) Nestle lamb and oregano into pot, arranging in an even layer. Turn off Sauté setting. 

5) Lock on lid and cook at high pressure 20 minutes, then release pressure naturally. Remove lamb from Instant Pot and put on two plates. 

6) Add frozen peas until cooked through.

7) Serve lamb with frozen peas on the side and the cooking juice on top.

  It was pretty easy, and turned out deliciously!  I served it with a Trader Joe's orzo rice pilaf that I had sitting around in my pantry (which I can definitely recommend).  The lamb came out cooked through all the way (Scott and I both like our meat well cooked) but was still tender (enoughish) and flavorful!  We served it with a cheesy jalapeño/green chile bread (recipe below) and later searched for Easter eggs in our room filled with older candy from the pantry.  It's nice to find ways to use up the food we have!

Cheesy jalapeño/green chile bread

     Not surprisingly, I watch a lot of food videos, mostly on YouTube and Facebook.  I came across this recipe on the Tasty Facebook (or YouTube?) page and thought it looked delicious and very similar to a jalapeño cheese bread which we purchase from Beckmann's bakery at the farmer's market.  I knew that I had to try it!  Believe it or not, this is the first time I've actually made a Tasty recipe (surprising since I watch them pretty much every day).  Since we're trying to use up what's in our pantry/use up old food, I used green chilies as a substitute for jalapeños except on the outside of the bread, where I used sliced jalapeño for the visual appeal.  It takes a bit to find the recipe written down (usually Tasty recipes are just a video), but here you go!

Cheesy jalapeño/green chile bread (based upon this Tasty recipe: https://tasty.co/recipe/dutch-oven-jalapeno-cheddar-bread?fbclid=IwAR1kKM91ecqDQcBUgtn7s29TasqmnAmyT0ySEIko-JTbXpeIYkCLOMxOBgA)

Ingredients:

3 ½ cups bread flour, plus more for dusting (since I had only AP flour at home, I used 3 ½ cups AP flour with 5 ¼ teaspoons of flour taken out and substitute with 5 ¼ teaspoons of vital wheat gluten)

2 ½ cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese, divided

3 green chilies, seeded and coarsely chopped

1 jalapeño, sliced into rings, divided

1 tablespoon kosher salt

2 cups warm water

2 ¼ teaspoons instant yeast

1 tablespoon olive oil

Procedure:

1) In a standing mixer bowl, combine the flour, 2 cups (200 g) of cheddar cheese, the chopped green chilies, and salt. Stir well using the paddle attachment.

2) In a separate large bowl, combine the warm water and yeast. Add to the flour mixture and stir until the dough comes together.

3) Cover with a kitchen towel and let rest in a warm place for 60 minutes, or until almost doubled in size.

4) Using the dough hook, mix for a bit longer. Cover with the towel and let rest for 30 minutes.

5) While the dough is rising a second time, add a Dutch oven and lid to the oven, and preheat to 450˚F (230˚C) for 30 minutes.

6) Lightly flour a clean work surface and your hands. Carefully peel the dough out of the bowl and onto the floured surface. Flip over and carefully brush away excess flour. Fold the edges of the dough towards the center 8 times, then flip over the dough and transfer to a piece of parchment paper.

7) Brush the top of the dough with the olive oil, so the cheese will stick. Sprinkle the remaining ½ cup (50 g) of cheese on top. Use a sharp knife to score the bread with an “X”, which will allow steam to escape. Arrange the jalapeño rings on top of the cheese.

8) Carefully remove the Dutch oven from the oven and use the parchment to lift the bread into the pot. Cover with the lid and bake for 30 minutes, then remove the lid and bake for 20 more minutes, until the bread is golden brown.

9) Carefully slide the bread out of the pot and onto a wire rack. Remove the parchment paper and let the bread cool for at least 1 hour before slicing.

10) Slice the bread and serve as desired.

  Although this bread didn't rise as much as expected (maybe I over-mixed the dough since I used a stand mixer instead of mixing it by hand with a spatula as the original recipe stated), it still came out amazing!!!  Seriously, I think this might be the best bread I've ever eaten (and even better than the farmer's market bread, which is saying a lot).  Although it was very very difficult not to eat it when it was fresh from the oven, I let it cool for probably a couple of hours to make sure the bread was the very best it could be.  It's deliciously cheesy and crunchy on the outside, with a chewy cheesy delicious center.  I am definitely definitely going to make this again!!

Baked eggs in acorn squash

     I joined Weight Watchers earlier this year and have had good success with it so far.  It's been difficult being at home and having access to my kitchen 24/7 and not baking/eating all of the fattening foods that's at my fingertips.  In light of this, I have been looking for healthier recipes and so made a modified version of Weight Watchers' Baked eggs in acorn squash with roasted peppers & dill based upon what I had in my house.

Baked eggs in acorn squash (modified from https://www.weightwatchers.com/us/recipe/baked-eggs-in-acorn-squash-with-roasted-peppers-and-dill/5bbe3f7c87c9820047f4c0d4)

Ingredients:

Two small acorn squash, halved lengthwise, seeds removed
Cooking spray
Kosher salt
Black pepper
Everything but the bagel seasoning
4 eggs
Shredded mozzarella cheese, enough to cover the top of each acorn squash half

Procedure:

1) Preheat oven to 425ºF. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
2) Cut a thin slice off bottom of each squash half so it sits flat. Place squash halves, cut side up, on prepared pan and coat with cooking spray; sprinkle with salt, pepper, and everything but the bagel seasoning. Roast until squash are just tender and a paring knife can pierce flesh without much resistance, about 25 minutes.
3) Crack an egg into each baked acorn squash half. 
4) Return squash to oven; bake until eggs are set to your liking, about 15 minutes for a still-runny yolk and up to 20 for a set yolk. Sprinkle each with mozzarella and serve immediately.


  This was an easy, quick, nutritious lunch.  I liked the salty addition of the Everything but the Bagel seasoning.  A quick note (and one that may not be obvious if you're not used to eating squashes): the outside skin is not really edible but is quite easy to peel off.  I am finding that I like squashes more than I realized; I will definitely have to continue to play around with squash recipes!

Banana nut bread

Banana nut bread

  Spending all of this time at home during the pandemic has really made me itch to bake.  It took a few days to find all of the ingredients (flour and eggs are in high demand right now), but I thought it would be lovely to make some banana bread using some bananas that my housemate was going to toss out.

Banana Nut Bread (from Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything)

Ingredients:

8 tablespoons (1 stick) butter, plus some for greasing the pan
1 1/2 cups (about 7 ounces) all-purpose flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 cup sugar
2 eggs
3 very ripe bananas, mashed with a fork until smooth
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup chopped walnuts or pecans
1/2 cup grated dried unsweetened coconut

Procedure:

1) Preheat the oven to 350°F.  Grease a 9 x 5 inch loaf pan.
2) Mix together the dry ingredients.  Cream the butter and beat in the eggs and bananas.  Stir this mixture into the dry ingredients; do not mix more than necessary.  Gently stir in the vanilla, nuts, and coconut.
3) Pour the batter into the loaf pan and bake for 45 to 60 minutes, until nicely browned.  A toothpick inserted in to the center of the bread will come out fairly clean when it is done, but because of the bananas this bread will remain moister than most.  Do not overcook.  Cool on a rack for 15 minutes before removing from the pan.  To store, wrap in waxed paper.

My banana nut bread.  You can see the coconut and the
pecans inside every loaf. Mmmm...

  This banana nut bread was extremely addicting and amazingly delicious (especially when served warm and fresh)!  Oh my goodness, I could not stop eating it!!!  Unfortunately, I couldn't get the middle top part to cook all the way through but didn't want to overcook it, so the middle slices were a little under-cooked toward the top.  I didn't care and scarfed it all down anyways.  I'm not usually a fan of bananas (although I knew that I liked banana nut bread), but even I was surprised at how much I savored this dish.  You've been warned!

St. Patrick's day feast

  This has been a blog I've been meaning to do for a while, but have been distracted with all of the repercussions from the COVID-19 pandemic.  However, as a person of Irish-American descent, I still love to celebrate St. Patrick's day and had been preparing for this day for weeks.  Here are the delicious foods we enjoyed on this day (and the days afterwards).

Homemade corned beef

How to corn your own beef (from Julia Child's The Way to Cook)

Notes: Brisket is the traditional beef cut, but it's not the only one. Boneless chuck, such as the eye roast, which contains the continuation of the rib eye, is another choice.  However, I really prefer either the top or bottom round because it slices up into neat chic pieces.

Timing: 2 weeks minimum for the cure to take place.

Ingredients (for a 12 pound piece of beef):

A fully trimmed boneless 10 to 12 pound top or bottom round of beef (or the eye round, boneless chuck, or brisket)
1 1/3 cups coarse (Kosher) salt
1 Tbs cracked peppercorns (pound whole corns to crack them)
2 tsp allspice
2 tsp thyme
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp sage
bay leaf, ground or crumbled

Special equipment suggested: A heavy duty plastic bag roomy enough to hold the meat comfortably; a pan to hold it; a pan and weight to cover the meat.

Procedure: 

1) Mix all of the seasonings together in a bowl
2) Place the meat in the plastic bag and rub the seasonings all over it.  
3) Press as much air as possible out of the bag, then tie it securely closed and set it in a pan or bowl.
4) Place it in the refrigerator, where the temperature should remain between 37 and 38 degrees Fahrenheit.
5) For the first two days of the cure, keep it covered with the second pan and weight.  Within a few hours, red liquid will exude in the bag- the cure has begun.
6) Once a day, without opening the bag, massage the meat with its juices and spices, and turn the bag over.  (Julia notes that she puts a sign on her refrigerator to remind her).
7) In two weeks, the cure is done, and the special flavor has been achieved.  The beef will now keep several months under refrigeration, but turn it every several days to be sure all is well.  If you've a large piece, you may want to cook only part of it and leave the rest in the cure.
8) De-salting (24 hours or longer).  Before cooking the beef, wash off the salt cure and soak the meat in a large bowl of cold water, changing the water 2 or 3 times.  As the salt leaves the flesh the meat softens and, when thoroughly de-salted, it will feel almost like fresh beef- cut off a snippet and taste it to be sure.  De-salting may take 2 to 3 days if the meat has cured a number of weeks.  Note that as soon as the beef is de-salted, it is just as perishable as fresh meat- keep it refrigerated and cook it soon.

Katie's notes:

12 pounds of beef is A LOT.  We ended up getting about half that size and it fed us for like a solid week afterwards!  We also delayed a little in getting the cure started, and so it only cured it for 13 days rather than the recommended minimum of 2 weeks.  Fortunately, it still turned out delicious!! 

  This is an amazing recipe and I've made it on at least three different St. Patrick's days now.  This makes the best corned beef I've ever had!  Yum yum yum!  We ended up cooking it in our Instant Pot (using this recipe as our base), but since I didn't actually cook the corned beef (Scott did, bless his heart), I can't blog much about it.

Irish brown bread

Served with Irsih Kerrygold butter, of course!

Irish Brown Bread (recipe from our Airbnb host in Cork, Ireland)

Total time: 1 hour, 40 minutes
Prep time: 20 minutes

Ingredients:

350 g whole wheat flour
50 g plain flour
50 g porridge oats (I used rolled oats)
pinch of salt
2 tsp bread soda (baking soda)
2 large eggs
1 tsp sunflower oil (I used vegetable oil)
500 mL buttermilk

Procedure: 

1) Preheat the oven to 325° F.
2) Put the flours, sieved bread soda, salt, and porridge oats into a large mixing bowl and mix them well.
3) In a separate bowl, beat the eggs together with the oil and add to the dry mixture.
4) Net mix in the buttermilk and get the mix to a "sloppy" consistency.
5) Pour into a 2 lb. loaf tin and smooth the top of the bread with a wet spoon.
6) Sprinkle some seeds or porridge oats on top of the bread and bake in the oven for 1 hour.
7) After the hour has elapsed, remove the bread from the bin and return to the oven to bake for another 20 minutes.
8) Remove from the oven and allow the bread to cool down.
9) This bread stays fresh for about 4 to 5 days.
10) It can be successfully frozen.

  This makes a very good, very hearty bread.  I love that the recipe is written as European recipes are, with all of the ingredients weighed out rather than measured in cups (from what I understand, this is the superior way to do it when you're measuring baking recipes but I'll admit I'd find it hard to make the switch permanently).  It is lovely with some Kerrygold butter, or toasted and served with marmalade.  Yum!

Irish jello shots

Irish jello shots (from https://gizmodo.com/car-bomb-jello-shots-blow-up-your-liver-for-st-patrick-5893474)

Ingredients:

1 1/4 cups of Guinness Stout
1/2 cup Jameson Irish Whiskey
1 cup Bailey's Irish Cream
8 teaspoons (aprox. 4 packets, generally) unflavored gelatin
4 teaspoons granulated sugar
Water

Procedure: 

1. Pour the 1/2 cup of Jameson into a bowl.
2. Sprinkle 4 tsp. (2 packets, generally) of unflavored gelatin onto the whiskey. Let it sit for one minute, and then stir for a minute to help it dissolve.
3. In a separate bowl, pour in 1 1/4 cups of Guinness, then pop it in the microwave for about 80 seconds. Note: microwaves vary greatly in their power levels, so you'll need to adjust it appropriately. You want to get it to about 150 degrees F. You can also do this in a small saucepan, if you prefer.
4. Remove the Guinness from the microwave and add 4 teaspoons of granulated sugar. Stir until sugar is dissolved.
5. Combine the hot Guinness with the whiskey/gelatin mixture and stir until gelatin appears completely dissolved.
6. Pour the mixture into shot glasses, filling them roughly 80 percent of the way (leave room for the next phase), then refrigerate for 1-2 hours or until firm. If you have leftover liquid, pour it into a larger glass.
(Let's pause here for a second and talk about equipment. If you pour it into a standard shot glass, these things are going to look like tiny pints of Guinness, foamy head and all. It's adorable, and it adds a lot of aesthetic value. That said, you're sacrificing convenience for aesthetics, because you'll need an unusually small spoon to dig the shots out. You may want to opt for buy plastic or paper jello shot cups that you can just squeeze into your mouth. I leave that to you. Okay, back to the directions.)
7. Once the dark layer has firmed up, start making the top layer. In a bowl, stir to combine a 1/4 cup of cold water with a 1/4 cup of Bailey's Irish Cream.
8. Sprinkle in 4 teaspoons (aprox. 2 packets) of unflavored gelatin. Let stand for one minute then stir until it is well-mixed.
9. Pour in a half cup of boiling hot water and stir until the gelatin is almost entirely dissolved.
10. Add 3/4 cup of Bailey's and stir for another few minutes to ensure everything is dissolved.
11. Take the shot glasses out of the fridge, pour the creamy layer on top of of the dark layer, filling each glass up to the brim, and then put them back in the fridge for another hour or until firm.

Notes: There's a fair amount of alcohol in these (12-percent ABV. Generally 19-percent is about as high as you can go for jello shots, or it won't set), but because they're small you'll probably get full before you get drunk.

  These jello shots are based off of the not-appropriate/offensively named Irish car bomb drink.  I decided to modify the name slightly for this blog. I had been wanting to make these for a while, ever since we had very similar shots at a St. Patrick's day party at my friend Lyz's house (she of the scotch egg blog post fame).  Since I didn't have a lot of shot glasses (and didn't want to go out and buy any disposable shot glasses both because of the pandemic and not wanting to buy single-use plastic), I just poured the mixture into my very cool mugs leftover from The Tech Interactive's Geektoberfest.  We just ate them with a spoon.  They are delicious and dangerous.  I liked the Bailey's level better than the Guinness level, but I would definitely eat both layers again!  They were a lot of fun to make and even more fun to eat.