Thursday, May 24, 2007

Mango Chutney



My first canning experience! I'm so excited! It worked! I bought a large box of sweet Ataulfo Mexican mangoes at an outdoor market and wanted to try this chutney that I saw on Simply Recipes. It's a sweet condiment with a nice flavor from the ginger, raisins, and onions. I love it on turkey sandwiches, roasted chicken, and grilled pork. I haven't tried it yet with fish, but I think it would go really nicely in fish tacos. Interesting! Continue for recipe.

Mango Chutney
C&H Sugar

2 cups sugar
1 cup distilled white vinegar
6 cups mangoes (4 to 5), peeled and cut in 3/4-inch pieces (See How to Cut a Mango)
1 medium onion, chopped (about 1 cup)
1/2 cup golden raisins
1/4 cup crystallized ginger, finely chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
1 teaspoon mustard seeds, whole
1/4 teaspoon red chili pepper flakes (hot)

1 Combine sugar and vinegar in a 6 quart pot; bring to a boil, stirring until sugar dissolves.

2 Add remaining ingredients and simmer, uncovered, until syrupy and slightly thickened, 45 minutes to 1 hour. Stir occasionally during cooking.

3 Pour into clean, hot jars leaving 1/2-inch headspace; close jars. Process in a water bath 15 minutes.

Makes 6 (1/2 pint) jars

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Wednesday, May 23, 2007

Mom's Marvelous Marinade for Steak or Pork Kabobs



I just love this marinade. It reminds me of summer grilling: Dad outside tending the grill with a frosty mug of some unusual beer; Mom inside making her standard white rice, cutting a loaf of french bread, sampling a slice spread with margarine; guacamole and chips sitting on the counter to nibble on; the wonderful smell from the combination of all of these things. Summer.

Mom always used this marinade for beef kabobs, but the sweetness works really well with pork also. It can be used for larger cuts of meats too, not just kabobs--although the smaller surface area of the meat means more marinade coating--yum! I think I'll try this with a slow cooker roast next--pulled pork/beef sandwiches would be great. (Rump roast in a slow cooker with all of the marinade for about 10hrs. on low). I usually reserve a little marinade to coat grilled veggies. Continue for recipe.

Mom's Marinade

1 cup beef broth
1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup wine vinegar
4 tablespoons oil
4 cloves garlic
pepper

Whisk all ingredients together.
Marinate with meat at least several hours, preferably overnight.


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Multi-grain Sourdough Bread




King Arthur Flour

Clay's Multi-Grain Sourdough Bread

The Baking Sheet® Vol. XIII, No. 4, Spring 2002 issue.

2/3 cup (6 1/2 ounces) sourdough starter, fed and ready to use
2/3 cup (5 3/8 ounces) lukewarm water
2 teaspoons (3/8 ounce) olive oil
1 tablespoon (1/2 ounce) sugar
1 1/4 teaspoons salt
1 1/4 to 1 1/2 cups (5 1/4 to 6 1/2 ounces) King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
1/4 cup (1 1/4 ounces) potato flour
1/2 cup (2 1/4 ounces)King Arthur Traditional Whole Wheat Flour
1/3 cup (1 5/8 ounces) Harvest Grains Blend OR any blend of seeds and flaked or softened whole grain kernels
1 1/2 teaspoons instant yeast

*If your starter is very thin, you may need an additional 2 to 4 tablespoons of flour. The dough should be slightly shaggy during the initial 3 to 4 minutes of mixing, and soft and slightly sticky after 10 minutes of kneading.

Combine all of the ingredients in a bowl or the bowl of an electric mixer,and mix and knead to form a smooth dough. Allow the dough to rise for 1 hour; it'll become puffy, though it may not double in bulk.

Lightly grease an 8 1/2 x 4 1/2-inch bread pan. Gently deflate the risen dough, and shape it into a log. Place it in the pan, cover it lightly, and allow it to rise till it crests about 1 inch over the rim of the pan.

Bake the bread in a preheated 400°F oven for 25 to 30 minutes, tenting it with foil after 20 minutes if it's browning too quickly. When it's done, the bread will be golden brown, and will register 190°F on an instant-read thermometer inserted into the center. Remove the bread from the oven, and turn it out of the pan onto a rack, to cool completely.

Yield: 1 loaf, 16 slices.

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Wednesday, May 16, 2007

Grilled Pork Tenderloin with Black Bean, Vegetable Rice



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Sunday, May 13, 2007

Chilled Lemon Souffle


I wanted lemon today and didn't feel like meringue or a crust and this recipe turned out to be perfect. This lemony dessert from Cook's Illustrated's The New Best Recipe is perfect for a warm springy day or after a heavy meal. It has a wonderfully light and airy texture. It's best served with berries. I made individual souffles, but one large souffle would work well too--use an ice cream scoop to serve and plate with fresh berries.

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Salad Lyonnaise


This is the perfect brunch salad: poached egg on top of a mixed green salad with bacon, fresh buttered croutons, shallots, and gruyere cheese tossed with a red wine vinegarette. A nice combination that I found posted on Simply Recipes. This is a great salad for company!

I love the poached egg still runny, with the yolk spilling onto the croutons. To poach the eggs, fill a large skillet with water and bring it to a simmer. Add about a teaspoon of vinegar (to help keep the whites together). Crack an egg into a small dish and then slide it into the water. Use a slotted spoon to push the white together if it starts to spread. Cook until desired doneness and remove with slotted spoon. Continue for recipe.


Salad Lyonnaise (Poached Egg and Bacon Salad)

For one serving:

A handful of fresh frisee lettuce, torn into bite sized pieces, or spring mix
2 strips bacon, cooked, cooled, and chopped
1 teaspoon chopped shallots
1 slice French or Italian bread and a little butter to make buttered croutons
1 Poached egg
Gruyere cheese shavings (nice but not necessary)

Dressing:
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 Tbsp wine vinegar
1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
Salt and pepper to taste

To make the croutons: Cut a slice of French or Italian bread into cubes. Toast on medium high heat in a small saucepan with a teaspoon of melted butter. Do not stir bread unless to turn to a different side once one side is toasted. OR Butter both sides of bread; cut into one inch cubes and broil until crispy.


Poach egg your favorite way.

Layer the frisée, bacon, shallots, and croutons on a salad plate. In a small jar, mix the olive oil, vinegar, mustard, salt and pepper. Pour dressing over salad. Top with the poached egg.

Devour.

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Gruyere-Chive Gougeres


These airy puffs are delicious! They are light and cheesy--yum! I found the recipe on Leite's Culinaria, a fabulous website for food and recipes. I served them for Mother's Day brunch alongside Salad Lyonnaise and they were perfect. They would be great appetizers too. The recipe suggests splitting them and filling with ham, chicken, or crab salad. The Zuni Cafe has a gougere filled with pickled onions and bacon--awesome.

These are so easy to make! They only took about 15 min. to put together and then baked for 25. I used gruyere but the author used sharp cheddar cheese which sounds good too. I'll be making these again! Continue for recipe.

Cheddar-Chive Gougères
by Tori Ritchie
Party Appetizers: Small Bites, Big Flavor

Makes about 15 servings (40 to 50 gougères)

1 cup water
8 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into pieces
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup all-purpose flour
4 large eggs
1 1/2 teaspoons dry mustard
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 1/2 cups (6 ounces) shredded sharp Cheddar cheese, or gruyere
2 tablespoons minced fresh chives

1. Preheat the oven to 375°F (190°C). Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
2. Put the water, butter, and salt in a medium, heavy saucepan and place over medium-high heat. Cook, swirling the pan a few times until the butter melts; once it has melted, increase the heat to high and bring the mixture to a rolling boil. Turn off the heat and dump in the flour. Beat the mixture with a wooden spoon until it starts to pull away from the sides of the pan.
3. Take the pan off the stove, set it on a counter or hot pad, and let it cool, without stirring, for 5 minutes.
4. Now, work in the eggs, 1 at a time, beating the mixture well with the spoon after each addition (you have to put some muscle into it to incorporate the eggs fully). With each addition, the dough should look glossy and slick at first, then stick to the sides of the pan before you add the next egg. After beating in the last egg, beat in the dry mustard and cayenne, then the cheese and chives.
5. Scoop up a heaping teaspoon of dough and with another spoon, push it off onto the paper-lined baking sheet (it should form a mound about 1 inch in diameter). Continue with the remaining dough, leaving an inch of space between the gougères (work in batches as necessary, the dough can stand, covered with buttered waxed paper or parchment, for up to 1/2 hour).
6. Bake until the gougères are puffy and light golden, about 25 minutes, switching pan positions halfway through. Remove from oven and let cool slightly before serving, or turn off oven and let gougères remain in oven, with door ajar, for up to 1 hour.

Recipe © 2004 Tori Ritchie.
© 1999–2007 Leite's Culinaria, Inc.

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Basil's Pain Levain




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Meat Sauce


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