Red Chile

I found some leftover tamales in our freezer from some friends who brought them and their own red chile. A quick google led me to this recipe and we tried it out last night. It really turned out great. It was slightly bitter at the end, but it was totally worth repeating with some modifications. 

I added a few tablespoons of brown sugar (2) to the red chile mixture as it reduced. I think next time I might use chicken broth instead of water or do 1/2 and 1/2 and see what that is like. We used mild peppers but I might do medium if I make it again. I think it may be the closest I've gotten to authentic Mexican food made at home.

Happy New Year 2013

Happy New Year. One resolution I make every year is to blog more. Let's see if I can stick with it this year along with the also frequent failed resolutions of drinking more water, working out, and making my bed every day. Last night we went to a party and I took dessert. To me it is the perfect New Years Eve dessert because it is something you surely won't eat after the new year, new diet, new work out plan starts. This dessert is called Swedish creme (I have no idea why). It contains mainly heavy cream and full fat sour cream, and sugar. It tastes awesome. I remember my mom making this when she had any type of fancy get together and I could never have any unless there were leftovers from the party. There were rarely leftovers.

Here's the recipe:

Combine 1 cup sugar, 2 cups heavy cream, and 2 teaspoons gelatin in a double boiler. Cook for at least ten minutes until the sugar has dissolved. Cool the mixture and then beat in 2 cups sour cream and 2 teaspoons vanilla. Pour into glasses (I chose jelly jars to make the dessert easily portable) and top with fresh berries,

Pinspiration: Avocado Fries

Eric loves avocados. I don't really care for them. I can eat guacamole because of the crunchy chip that goes with them, but avocados by themselves are simply a texture issue thing I can't handle. This doesn't stop me from pinning avocado recipes because I think Eric will love them. This week we made avocado fries and let me tell you....AMAZING!

Here's the pin and recipe:


I used panko bread crumbs instead of what the recipe called for and fried them at 350 instead of 325 in the fry baby. Here's how ours turned out:

(I'm really loving the setting for food pictures on my camera)

Deer Valley Granola

I recently took this into work for a birthday and got many compliments. I typically make my grandma southward's granola but thought I would change it up. After eating this a few days I am not sure which one I like better. They are both very different. I will have to post about my grandma's another time. Hers is softer and chewier and chunkier which is why I like it. This one is finer and crunchier which is why Eric likes it. Both are very good. One think I like about this one is that it is sweetened with only honey and no other sugars. It has a really good flavor too and has sesame seeds in it. Some of the ingredients are things you might not keep on hand, but once you get them it is really easy to make this.

This recipe came from one of my clinical supervisor's in grad school. It was out of her family cook book and apparently is from a coffee shop in Deer Valley, UT that is known for it's granola. I am not sure about that though, because I have never been there to verify.

Deer Valley Granola:

3 c. old fashioned oats

1c. instant nonfat dry milk powder

3/4 c. sunflower seeds

3/4 c. sliced almonds

1/3 c. sesame seeds

1/3 c. pumpkin seeds

1/3 c. coconut

1/4 c. canola oil

 (I use olive oil instead, I feel it is healthier)

1/2 c. honey or agave

(I use honey, just like the flavor better)

1/2 t. vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 300. Mix all dry ingredients. Measure oil in 1c. measurer and swish it up to the 3/4 c. mark and add honey (this makes the honey come out of the cup easier). Pour vanilla into honey mixture and then pour wet ingredients over dry ingredients and mix with your hands. It won't seem like enough wet ingredients if you don't mix with your hands. Get it worked into the dry stuff really well. Spread on 1/2 inch deep baking sheet and bake 30 min. stirring halfway through. makes 8, 1 c. servings.

Breakfast Bars

As typically happens in booming areas, whether it be due to oil or other reasons, the cost of living increases dramatically. A few weeks ago we spotted some groceries at Wal-Mart that had literally doubled in price. These kind of events prompt us to make it ourselves or grow it and freeze it. We are trying to decrease our grocery cost as a whole. One of the things I absolutely hate buying is granola bars. I just think they are way overpriced for what you get. Instead we've been making this recipe weekly and tweaking it as we feel the need. I haven't actually priced the total cost of all the ingredients and how long they last to see if it really is cheaper, but it makes me feel healthier and better overall to be making my own.

I started with a basic power bar recipe called JoAnn's power bars from all recipes. The more I made the recipe the more I changed it up a little bit. I take the basic recipe which makes a 9x9 pan and double it. Some times I split it into two small batches and leave the applesauce out of one batch for a crunchier version.

1 cup quick-cooking rolled oats

1/2 cup whole wheat flour

1/2 cup wheat and barley nugget cereal (e.g. Grape-Nuts™)

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 beaten egg

1/4 cup applesauce

1/4 cup honey (instead I use agave nectar)

3 tablespoons brown sugar

2 tablespoons vegetable oil (I either add extra applesauce or use peanut butter)

1/4 cup unsalted sunflower seeds

1/4 cup chopped walnuts (If I double the recipe I use 1/4 walnut 1/4 sliced almonds, if not I do 1/8 each)

1 (7 ounce) bag chopped dried mixed fruit

To this recipe (the 9x9) I add the following, double these amounts for a double batch:

1/4 c. chocolate chips

1/4 cup peanut butter chips

1 T whole flax seed

Pinspiration

Here's our new favorite dinner.

Lasagna Soup (sounds kinda gross but really good)

Pinspiration: Deen brothers

num num, follow the link to get the recipe.

Pinspiration

Here's what we made for dinner tonight. Straight from a pinterest board.

Crock pot orange chicken = num num.

Served this with some garlic green beans from the garden and toasted almonds.

Gnocchi (knee-yo-key)



For a while we couldn't find gnocchi here. We imported from CO until we found it for almost $5 a pack at the store. Then we only bought it on special occasions. Now we have a huge bag of home made stuff in the fridge and it tastes almost the same.

Boil Potatoes with skin on 10-15 minutes until fork tender (4 medium size russets or yukon gold)

Peel Potatoes while still warm and put through a ricer (we don't have one so we forced them through a mesh strainer)

Make a well in potato pile and mix with 1-2 cups flour, one egg, and a dash of salt (we kept trying flour amounts until it felt like a good dough consistency)

Roll into "snakes" as I say at work, cut into bite size pieces, then roll on fork tines.

Preparation
1. to eat right away, drop gnocchi in boiling water until they float, then take out and mix with your favorite sauce (vodka cream sauce pictured)

2. to freeze, arrange gnocchi on cookie sheet and put in freezer (or on your porch if it's winter in ND), once they are frozen a little, you can store them in a freezer bag and they won't stick together. When you want to eat them follow direction #1.

Knoephla



Here's what Wikipedia says:

Knoephla, also spelled knephla (pronounced /ˈnɛflə/ in English), is a type of dumpling, commonly used in soups. The word is related to the modern German dialect word Knöpfle, meaning little knob/button. Traditional knoephla soup is a thick chicken and potato soup, almost to the point of being a stew. It is particularly common in the U.S. states of Minnesota, South Dakota, and North Dakota, where there was significant settlement of German emigrants from the Russian Empire.

Here's what I say: "Nefla" (or neffles)

HEAVEN IN A BOWL!

With almost continual snow for two days, a projected high of -5 tomorrow, and spring nowhere in sight, I decided it was time for Knoephla. As I was cooking it hit me that I have never put it on the blog. Travesty! How I apologize for not having shared this sooner.

The Back Story:

Eric went to school up here and always talked about this soup. I tried it everywhere in town and it was NOT GOOD! It was basically watery butter broth with a few invisible pieces of potato. Then I asked a girl at work who gave me her family recipe and I realized what all the fuss was about. Everyone here has their own Knoephla recipe. I have used one and one only and am beyond happy with it. However, I do have to say, use real heavy cream and real butter, and don't skimp. It just won't be the same without them and one bowl isn't going to kill you. If you can't tell I have embraced heavy cream in my cooking. I am even shocked myself. It just tastes too good.

Knoephla Soup

4 cups chicken broth                  Dough:

2 cups water                              2 cups flour

4 medium potatoes dices            1 t. baking powder

1 onion diced                              pinch of salt

1/2 -1 bag carrots sliced             1 egg

1/2 stick butter                            Water to make soft dough

1 bunch fresh parsley

3-4 chicken bouillon cubes

salt and pepper to taste

2 large chicken breasts diced

1 can cream of chicken soup

1 pint cream

In a pot combine broth, water, potatoes, chicken, carrots, onion, parsley, butter, bouillon, and salt and pepper. Boil about 20 minutes. Then add cream of chicken soup,cream, and snip in dough.

The Disk

After months of cooking in the garage this past summer and fall, never did I think we would continue the trend into the bitterly cold winter. Our newest cooking tool, courtesy of Eric's dad Toby is "The Disk." It's actually two disker disk's (as in farm equipment) welded closed. So this:



becomes a wok/lid combo after welding and sandblasting. You cook with it on top of a propane turkey frying burner and it is AWESOME. As you cook, the disk becomes seasoned just like a cast iron pan and helps to flavor the food. The favorite things we've made are chicken wings, fajitas, chicken butts (jalapeno, cream cheese, bacon, chicken roll up things), and Toby even makes pancakes on it for breakfast which we got to try when Eric's family was here over Thanksgiving. Eric, with some good teaching, is becoming a disk expert and it's nice to have someone else cook dinner sometimes. Here are some action shots.

Perfect Sandwich

I am well aware that I am not the creator or even likely the first person to impart this knowledge, but since someone (likely a hacker trying to give me a virus) from Bangladesh is showing up on my visitor map I thought maybe it was appropriate to share, and even possible that some may not know about this sandwich. If you are an old friend of the tomato sandwich or a newcomer I highly recommend you go to the nearest farmer's market or into your garden to try this little baby ASAP.

1. Slice tomato thinly with serrated knife.

2. Toast whole wheat bread.

3. Spread mayo on both sides of bread and layer on tomato of any kind.

*I must stress that if you do not have a garden, sun ripened tomato then stop here. It just isn't worth it.

4. Lightly salt tomato slices.

5. Put on the top bread and savor every bite because this is a seasonal sandwich and I will cry when I can't have them daily.