We've posted a couple of pickle recipes on here already: Refrigerated Dill Pickles and Refrigerated Rye Pickles. When we were at the farmer's market, we grabbed a bunch of pickling cucumbers and I decided to take our base recipe and twist it into a Bloody Mary pickle recipe. Man... these pickles... awesome! A little spicy, but not super hot. Lots of flavour. We had so many cucumbers that Justin decided to do his own twist on our base recipe and his sour pickles came out delicious. He added nasturtium leaves because he did some research and found that nasturtium leaves can help keep the pickles crispy longer. We have a big plant right off our front porch.
So here are two more refrigerated dill pickle recipes that are quick and easy. I don't know who this band is, but I stumbled on them because I saw their name pop up on some search and I had to check it out. Like... Tom Waits' rockabilly brother. The Hillbilly Moon Explosion doing "My Love Forevermore". -jen
JEN'S BLOODY MARY DILL PICKLES Time: less than 10 minutes Difficulty: Easy Makes: 1 quart
2 tablespoons minced garlic
1 tablespoon kosher salt
2 teaspoons dried dill
2 teaspoons dried chives
1 teaspoon whole black peppercorns
1 teaspoon pickling spice
1/2 teaspoon whole brown mustard seeds
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1/2 teaspoon whole celery seeds
3-6 pickling cucumbers (depending on size) or 1 large English cucumber
In a quart-sized jar, combine garlic and all of the dry ingredients and shake jar to mix well. Arrange cucumbers in jar. (For pickling cucumbers, put in whole, halved or quartered. For English cucumber, cut into long spears.) Add horseradish and remaining liquid ingredients. Fill to the top with water. Refrigerate for 3-5 days.
JUSTIN'S SOUR HERB DILL PICKLES Time: Less than 10 minutes Difficulty: Easy Makes: 1 quart
3-6 pickling cucumbers (depending on size) or 1 large English cucumber
1/4 cup white wine vinegar
1/4 cup white vinegar
In a quart-sized jar, combine basil, garlic and all of the dry ingredients and
shake jar to mix well. Arrange cucumbers in jar. (For pickling
cucumbers, put in whole, halved or quartered. For English cucumber, cut
into long spears.) Add vinegars.
Fill to the top with water. Refrigerate for 3-5 days.
I had this great plan to make gyros and tzatziki this weekend... and for a minute, it looked like it was a disaster. But as history has proven, necessity is the mother of invention and what I thought was a problem turned into awesomeness.
I grew up in the Chicago area where gyro stands are everywhere and I love them. Where we live now, in Humboldt, there's only one gyro place and it's a 15 minute drive each way. They don't load them up as much as they do in Chicago and so while they're decent, I always feel a little gypped. So I decided to make some gyros here at home. I hastily made the grocery list while I was at work; I couldn't check to see what we had on hand at home. When I went to make everything today, I realized the cucumbers I'd been counting on to use in the tzatziki had gone bad, so I had no cucs. We always have at least one onion on hand, but it seems this time was an exception. And I thought we had some leftover basil, but turns out we didn't. So a lot of my main ingredients were missing and Justin is gone for the weekend with our only car, so I had no way to get to the store.
Instead, I decided to try shredded apple in the tzatziki sauce and I was pretty much counting on not liking it as much as the classic cucumber. I was wrong. It came out awesome! Good crunch and just a slight sweetness at the end. Lacking fresh onion for my gyro loaf, I used some dried shallot, dried chive, and onion powder. And though I had no basil (fresh or dried), I did have fresh mint and decided to load the loaf up with a ton of herbs and spices! Sooooo good! I know there's like 25 ingredients in the gyros; we use what we have on hand. But I recognize most people don't have the spice and herb collection we do, so I made sure to add an alternative. Don't let it intimidate you!
While I typed this whole post out, I listened to the Beastie Boys' "Sabotage" a few times on repeat. I love this song so much. So rad. And the retro 70s detective theme isn't so bad either. -jen
2 teaspoons dried chives (or half an onion chopped fine in food processor in place of shallots and chives)
1 and 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
*1 teaspoon ground coriander
1 teaspoon dried dill
*1 teaspoon ground dried lemon grass
*1 teaspoon dried marjoram
*1 teaspoon dried oregano
*1 teaspoon ground dried rosemary
*1 teaspoon tarragon
*1 teaspoon ground dried thyme
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 teaspoon celery seed
1/2 teaspoon rubbed sage
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
*If you don't have all of these herbs, you could replace the 7 teaspoons of herbs with 3 tablespoons of Italian seasoning. Or 7 teaspoons of whatever combination you may have on hand.
In a large food processor, pulse old fashioned oats until they're about half their size. Add the remaining ingredients into the food processor and process about one minute until meat mixture feels tacky.
Place meat into a large bowl and cover meat with plastic wrap (not top of bowl, but place the plastic
wrap on the meat itself) and refrigerate for 1-2 hours.
Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
Pack meat mixture into a 7"x4" loaf pan, pressing it down well to eliminate any air bubbles. Place a damp kitchen towel in the bottom of a large roasting pan. Place the loaf pan on top of the damp towel and carefully pour boiling water into the roasting pan until it comes 1/2 way up the sides of the loaf pan.
Bake until inner temperature reaches 160 degrees F, about an hour and fifteen minutes. Remove loaf pan from roasting pan and carefully pour off accumulated fat. Cool slightly before slicing thinly. Brown slices either in a non-stick skillet on medium-high or place in oven or toaster oven broiler until browned. Serve on a pita with lettuce or cabbage, onion, tomato and Apple Tzatziki sauce.
APPLE TZATZIKI Prep Time: 40 minutes minutes Difficulty: Easy Makes: almost 3 cups
1 small red apple, peeled
3 tablespoons lemon juice, divided
1 and 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt, divided
2 and 3/4 cups plain Greek yogurt
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon fresh chopped mint
1 teaspoon dried dill
1 teaspoon dried chives
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
Shred apple. Place shredded apple in a fine colander over an empty bowl and toss with 1 tablespoon of the lemon juice. Once coated with lemon juice, toss again with teaspoon of the salt. Allow to drain for 30-60 minutes.
Place shredded apple in some cheese cloth or a clean tea towel and squeeze out remaining juice. In a medium sized mixing bowl combine the shredded apple with the remaining 2 tablespoons of lemon juice, 1/2 teaspoon salt and all the remaining ingredients. Mix well. Can be served immediately but the flavours merry better if you refrigerate for an hour or more.
So this is an old recipe from several years back that I make every so often and realized that we hadn't yet shared. I know scones aren't on everybody's list of "Stuff To Eat Whenever Possible" but these scones will be! I have had some scones in my day that were awfully bland and much more akin to the offspring that would be produced by a hockey puck mating with a biscuit. This is not okay. Scones should be light, flaky, buttery, and generally awesome. So I set out to make a good one and after tweaking a couple recipes to get the desired result, I have come up with this.
I like dill and cheddar but you could substitute any cheese and herb combo that you may desire. Fennel and Havarti or Gruyere and basil or whatever you like. Or leave out the cheese and herbs and toss in some fruit like blueberries or raspberries.
Since scones make me think of stuffy old British folk taking tea and how awfully boring that must be, I decided to rock out with someone Brits who may take their scones with some whiskey and a side of mayhem and blasted some Siouxsie & The Banshees. I definitely like their earlier stuff so I went with a classic of theirs from 1977 "Bad Shape". - justin
CHEDDAR DILL SCONES Time: 35 min Difficulty: Easy Servings: As large or small as you want to make them but about 15
4 cups + 1/4 cup (to flour a rolling surface) of flour
2 tbsp baking powder
2 tsp salt
3/4 lb cold, unsalted butter, diced into cubes (the butter must be refrigerated until final mixing or the scones will be small and dense)
4 extra large eggs, beaten lightly
1 cup cold heavy cream or half-and-half
1/2 lb extra sharp yellow cheddar, grated
1 cup fresh dill, minced fine
1 egg beaten with 1 tbsp water or milk
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Dice butter into cubes and put back in fridge for later use. Add the 4 cups flour, the baking powder, and the salt to a large bowl and mix. Take the butter cubes out of the fridge and add them to the flour mixture all at once and incorporate them with either a stand mixer or hand mixer/egg beaters until the butter is in pea-sized pieces. Add the grated cheese and chopped dill and incorporate quickly. Combine the eggs and heavy cream in a small bowl and mix them into the butter and flour mixture until it just holds together. Do not over mix! The scones will turn out like a hockey puck mated with a biscuit!Again: Do not over mix! Less is better! If you aren't sure if you are over mixing, you are probably over mixing!
Pour the dough out onto a surface dusted with the remaining 1/4 cup of flour and roll out into a rectangle 1 inch thick. Cut into 4 inch squares and then in half diagonally to form triangles. Mix the 1 egg and water/milk to make an egg wash and brush it on top of the scones. Bake on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or sprayed with non-stick spray for 20 to 25 minutes or until the outside is a nice crusty brown and the inside is fully cooked. Guess you'll just have to try one to see if they are!
A few weeks ago, we went to try a new restaurant in town and got their spring rolls as an appetizer. After that, I was craving them like crazy. We'd made them before, I knew how simple they were, but I couldn't remember why the hell we didn't eat these largely phallic delicious, nutritious goodies more often! (Perhaps because I like to mention to my hetero life mate how phallic they are? Could be.)
I almost feel guilty even posting this as a recipe (especially without a peanut sauce recipe), because there's really nothing to it, it's just baking some chicken, chopping up veggies, cooking some noodles, and rolling them up. But I don't know many people who make spring rolls at home... and maybe it's because they didn't know how easy they were.
A note about the peanut sauce: I can't really post a recipe for it, simply because I used a random recipe I found online for a non-cook peanut sauce, and it came out like peanut butter with garlic in it. So, rather than tossing it, I thought I'd try to save it... I threw it in a pot, put it on the stove, added more coconut milk, more soy sauce, more fish oil, some rice vinegar, and more garlic. However, in my haste to not waste almost a whole jar of peanut butter, I didn't write down what I added. It actually came out pretty tasty, but I can't even begin to guess at measurements. So... you could go to your local Asian store and buy a peanut sauce, or you could find a recipe on line to make one. I'll have to find a different way of making one and post it later.
I think I posted a Fugazi song a few recipes back, but I heard their song "Ex-Spectator" the other day and had forgotten how much I loved it. And... you could make these spring rolls with tofu or just veggies, so it could very easily and deliciously be a vegetarian dish that even Ian MacKaye could love. -jen
THAI SPRING ROLLS WITH ASIAN BBQ CHICKEN
3 chicken thighs, skin on, bone in
3 tablespoons Hoisen sauce
3 tablespoons soy sauce
3-4 tablespoons Thai peanut sauce
bean thread (or cellophane) noodles
rice paper wrappers
butter lettuce leaves
1 large carrot, shredded
3-4 green onions, chopped
1/2 cucumber, chopped into matchsticks
whole basil leaves
whole mint leaves
Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.
Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil (this helps clean up tremendously.) Peel the skin back from the chicken thighs and place a tablespoon of Hoisen on the chicken, coating the top of it (this gives it that barbecue taste). Place skin back over the chicken. Sprinkle each thigh with a tablespoon of soy sauce, and then rub a tablespoon of peanut sauce over each chicken skin. Bake on lined baking sheet for 20-25 minutes, until inner temp reaches 160 or until juices run clear. Allow to cool.
Once the chicken is cool enough to handle, remove the skin and discard, then take the meat off the bone and place meat into a food processor. Grind the meat until it is finely chopped (but don't process it too much or it'll turn into a paste!) It should be about the same consistency as canned tuna or chicken. Set aside.
Cook noodles according to package (usually at a boil for 12-15 minutes, until clear and al dente). Drain and set aside.
Prepare rice paper one at a time. Take a large dinner plate or pie plate and add hot water. Press the dry wrapper into the water and using your finger tips, gently move the wrap back and forth a little until it reaches an edible pliability (about 30 seconds). Carefully, so as not to tear the wrap, remove it from the water and lay on counter top, cutting board, or even a kitchen towel. Wrapper will be wet, but dries quickly.
Arrange your vegetables in your wrap. I found the best way was to put two layers of lettuce on the bottom, being sure that you leave about 1" of wrapper on each side (like you would for a burrito, so you can tuck the ends in). Add a layer of the basil and mint leaves. Then your chopped scallions, followed by the cucumber matchsticks and the shredded carrot. Take a handful of noodles and shape them to fit over your vegetables. Then mold 3-4 tablespoons of the ground chicken on top of the noodles.
Pull the bottom of the wrapper tightly (but carefully!) over your filling, give it a roll, tuck in the left and right sides, and finish rolling.
You'll want to place a damp paper towel over your finished rolls as you make them. And I found a good way to store them is by wrapping them in damp paper towels and putting them in a Ziploc bag.
Serve with a peanut sauce for dipping. Makes about 8 spring rolls.
A couple of weeks ago, Jen and I happened to be out of town near a little butcher that I know and he almost always has some goodies stashed away that you can't find at your local markets around here. So we picked up a mutton loin, bone in, complete with fat cap and skin still attached and hid it away in the freezer until I could decide what to do with it. After some consideration I decided to do a stew with it as I have never had mutton before and what could be more traditional than a mutton stew? Almost every culture across the globe, at one point or another, has developed a stew using sheep flesh so why not try my hand at that? Plus, I like stews and soups as they are usually simple to prepare, require little to no attention after starting, store well, get better with a couple of days in the fridge, and last but not least, they reheat easily. Folks are welcome to substitute lamb or beef for the mutton as I can't imagine many folks having access to it unless you live somewhere outside the US or happen to be, or know, a sheep farmer.
I did this in a 7 quart slow cooker and there was plenty of room for more to be added so if you've got a 3 or 4 qt slow cooker, you should be just fine. Alternatively, if you don't have a slow cooker you can simply follow the recipe as listed and add everything to a roasting pan. Cover tightly with foil and bake in the oven at 250F degrees for 3 hours.
As musical accompaniment to this dish, I decided to go with Face to Face's song "Ordinary" as it takes me back a good 15 yrs or so down memory lane to my teen years, just as a good homemade stew should take you back to childhood. Besides, this recipe is fairly, well... ordinary. A meat stew is usually savory and doesn't have a lot going on in the "Wow" department. It's homey, hearty, warm, and perfectly reliable as a good meal, especially in the winter months. Ordinary. - Justin
If you've acquired your roast at a grocer or butcher, chances are you won't have to prep it at all, so in an effort to save time describing how to butcher and skin a sheep, we'll assume you all have done the former and we'll skip right to the veggies. If your roast has rib bones, leave them in as they will exude the best tasting marrow into your broth while they cook! If your roast doesn't have ribs, you can either leave it whole or dice it into 2 inch cubes.
Wash the carrots, potatoes, and the rutabaga and leave the skins on them as that is where all the flavor and nutrients are. Dice them all, and the onion as well, into roughly similar sized chunks, approximately an inch to an inch and a half and add them to the bottom of the slow cooker. Add the kosher salt, black pepper, sage, parsley, chicken and beef broths, the sherry and the dry vermouth and stir everything to combine. You want to make sure that the liquid comes up to the top of the veggies. If you need to, add a little more broth or some water to raise the level. Add the roast to the top of the veggies, rib bones up if you have a bone-in roast, cover and cook on low for 6 hours.
After 6 hours pull the meat off the bones and cut it into 1"h to 1.5" chucks and add back to the slow cooker along with the sea salt, white pepper, tarragon, herbs de provence, chives and rice. Cook for another 2 hrs on low. Serve with some good bread for soaking up broth.
So, lately, I've been really into making spice/herb blends here at home in order to find flavor combos that I really like as Jen and I frequently do something simple like steaks or baked chicken thighs with a salad or soup for dinner. It's really nice to be able to grab a shaker and sprinkle some heaven on your meat and throw it on a grill or in the oven and be done with dinner! Or to rub it into some steaks or chops the night before a cookout and not have to mess with wet marinades and leaky plastic bags. Sometimes I like something herb-based for chicken or a hot chili rub for a beef roast or whatnot. I've narrowed down a few basic ones that can often be used alone or, more commonly, be used as a base for other flavors to be built on. The main rub I'll feature here was spread liberally over a tri-tip roast and actually has 3 other rubs as a base so I'll include recipes for those as well.
Making these three blends will provide you with a mildly spicy dry meat rub, a garlic herb sprinkle, and garam masala (an Indian "warming" spice blend), all of which will last far beyond this recipe and will provide you with an endless combination of flavors limited only by your tastes and imagination. I recently purchased a small electric coffee grinder that I am using exclusively for herbs and spices as the oils from said ingredients rarely wash out completely and will flavor your coffee if it does double duty for you. I picked one up for $15US and am very pleased so far as a mortar and pestle would take ages. Alternately, if you don't want to put out the cash for a grinder, dried ground spices can be used. They just won't pack the same punch in the flavor department but that won't matter if you just add a bit more of the finished rub to your meat than you normally would.
Safety Warning: Do not touch your face once you have handled spices! All spices have oils that we will be working to release, oils that will irritate your tear ducts and sensitive membranes! I spent a good thirty minutes tearing up in the bathroom after rubbing my eye on the way to wash up. I would suggest washing immediately after you're done grinding spices or, even better, wearing nitrile gloves that can be removed and disposed of after use.
After rinsing my eye repeatedly with cold water, I decided it would only be appropriate for the song to go with this recipe to be NOFX's "Stickin In My Eye" - Justin
If you are foregoing the roasting and grinding of spices, simply substitute ground versions of these spice measurements and shake to mix in a ziplock bag.
Add everything but the nutmeg to a cast iron skillet and toast over medium-high heat for about 3minutes moving the pan constantly. Remove from heat and spread out on a tray or plate to cool for 5 minutes. Once cool, add everything, along with the nutmeg, to the grinder and grind for 1 full minute. Store in an airtight container and use as desired.
Garam masala is rarely used by itself as it has many sharp and pungent flavors. It has some sweetness from the cinnamon but has much more flavor from the clove and cardamom. By itself, it's not very spicy. It imparts a slow burn and tingle to the tongue and back of the throat and is literally translated as "warming spice" as it adds a savory (almost a ginger flavor), mild, warming sensation to dishes.
SPICY DRY MEAT RUB
2 tbsp kosher salt
1 tbsp cayenne pepper
1 tbsp pasilla chili powder
1 tbsp ground white pepper
1 tsp ginger powder
1 tsp ground cumin
2 tbs onion powder
2 tbsp garlic powder
2 tbsp light brown sugar
1 tbsp seafood seasoning (Old Bay all the way!)
1 tbsp ground black pepper
2 tbsp dry yellow mustard
Add everything to a bag and shake until well combined. Simple as that.
This rub is good for any meats. I also like adding a little to soups to liven them up a bit.
THUDIUM'S HERB SEASONING
3 tbsp dried marjoram
3 tbsp dried savory
3 tbsp dried tarragon
2 tbsp dried basil
1 tbsp dried thyme
1 tbsp dried chives
2 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp dried sage
2 tbsp seasoned salt
4 tbsp garlic powder
Add all of the dried herbs to a grinder or mortar and pestle (you'll have to work in batches that way) and grind until fine. Add the herbs, salt, and garlic powder to a bag and shake well to mix.
This is a good blend to lightly dust over pork chops, chicken or seafood. Also good for soups and stews.
Cover the meat liberally on both sides and let sit in a plastic bag in your fridge overnight. Grill the next evening over high heat for 8 minutes per side, if you like medium rare.
This is not an overly spicy rub as the pasilla chili powder is not hot but rather tastes a lot like raisins in flavor. If you like spicier meat rubs add a little more of the Spicy Dry Meat Rub to it or substitute cayenne for the pasilla chili powder for some Cajun-style heat!
