Homemade Sauerkraut

Quick Sauerkraut

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 small onion, sliced thin
2 (10 ounce) packages of shredded green cabbage or 1 medium green cabbage, shredded
1 1/4 cups cider vinegar
1/2 cup apple cider
1/2 cup water, to taste (use less water if you like it more tangy)
1 tablespoon kosher salt 1 teaspoon caraway seed (optional)

Directions:
1. Heat oil in pan over medium-high heat and cook onion, stirring constantly, until it begins to soften and turn translucent. 
2. Add cabbage, cider, vinegar, water, salt and caraway seeds and bring to a boil.
3. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer for approximately 30 to 45 minutes, until the cabbage is tender. Add a little water if it gets too dry.
4. This can be kept in the fridge for 2 weeks.

I didn't have all of or enough of the called for vinegars so I used 3/4c apple cider vinegar and 3/4c white vinegar and it turned out delicious (I also skipped caraway seeds)! Great with Fresno State made Polish dogs!

TWD: Hungarian Shortbread

 Again I waited until Tuesday to do the baking for TWD. I am actually proud of myself from the standpoint I have finished another recipe. From the start I wanted to quit. First, just from procrastination. Second, because when I whisked the flour with the baking powder I used baking soda. There is a difference! I headed back to the store because I also used up all my flour. I am proud that I did not let that deter me. We have two weddings this year and the rehearsal dinner for one is here so I had to go pick up plants for the back yard. This allow me to go to the store most likely to have rhubarb.

 Look at this beautiful color. I have had no experience with rhubarb but this is strawberry rhubarb from Washington (according to the sign at the store). The jam recipe was easy and it is delicious. Tart and sweet. The black spots on the spoon are from the vanilla bean that was scrapped into the rhubarb.

 Once I had the right ingredients the dough came together quickly. It has a pound of butter in it!!! The interesting part of the recipe is that you wrap it up and freeze it. After 30 minutes you grate the dough.  A very clever trick. No rolling just sprinkling and resisting the urge to smash it down. It looks like rice crispies treats. I read a lot of other participants and many baked the bottom half 15 minutes so I did too. It really worked well.

The end result is delicious!! A little ice tea and a plate of shortbread...way to ruin a trip to the gym. After another bite it is so worth it. This makes a lovely dessert. It looks so pretty. The tart jam really stands out from the sweet shortbread. I have to be careful not to eat more but send it to work!

Thanks to Lynette of 1smallkitchen and Cher of The not so exciting adventures of a dabbler… for hosting. The recipe can be found on their blogs.

Black Bean & Quinoa Salad

We got invited to a lovely evening at Shawn's Mom's place to meet family members.  Rozanne has a very warm and welcoming family. We can't wait for the rest of you to meet them. The dinner was delicious. Matt (Shawn's brother) made a Quinoa Salad from his girlfriend Christine's family recipes. They shared the recipe with us. Here it is. Enjoy!

Black Bean & Quinoa Salad

1 can black beans, drained

1 c. quinoa, rinsed (it tasted dirty not rinsed)

3 tbsp balsamic vinegar

1 tbsp soy sauce

1 tbsp fresh lime juice

1 chipotle in adobo, minced (or I hear some use chipotle salsa)

1/4 c. plus 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

6 scallions, diced

1 small red onion, diced

1 yellow bell pepper, diced

1/4 c. chopped cilantro

In medium saucepan, combine the quinoa and 2 cups water and a pinch of salt and bring to a boil. Cover the saucepan and simmer the quinoa over low heat until the water has been absorbed, about 15 minutes.

Spread the quinoa on a plate and let cool.

In a large bowl, whisk the vinegar, soy sauce, lime juice and chipotle. Add the olive oil in a thin stream, whisking until blended. Add the black beans, quinoa, scallions, red onion, yellow pepper and cilantro. Season with salt, toss to combine and serve.

TWD: Lemon Loaf

I love cookbooks. I buy cookbooks. I read cookbooks but this is the most I have made out of one cookbook. Here comes my post screaming in at the last minute. We are getting closer to wedding activities and spent the weekend visiting with new In-Laws. We have been eating so much it is kind of a joke that I am trying "NOT" to loose any weight before the wedding. My first thought was I would just skip it completely. It seemed like it was going to take too long and be a huge mess. In reality it just wasn't that hard. The lemon loaf from Baking with Julia comes together in no time at all.

 I was hoping it would be really, really lemony but since I read in some of the chatter that it just wasn't that lemony, I added the zest to the sugar. I let this sit together for a good hour. It smelled heavenly and tasted like lemon.

 I did not have cake flour. I couldn't even find it in the store. Again I headed back to the chatter where someone posted a little trick of adding cornstarch to the flour....ta da cake flour. The batter bowl and spoon were delicious. Someone had to test it!  Very lemony and creamy. I didn't even have to share.

 The final product came out looking just like it was suppose too (at least from the pictures). I thought it was very good tasting. I added a limocello glaze. I think this would be lovely as a base for a strawberry short cake. A couple slices with berries sauced over it would really set it off. Instead I opted for a cup of coffee and just enjoyed it. Head to Tuesdays With Dorie to read all the clever suggestions of things to add. I personally think next time I would throw in some blueberries.....delicious.

TWD: Pizza Rustica

First I have to start with the obvious this is like no pizza I have ever eaten. Here in the bay area we do have Zachary's a deep dish pizza place that we love but no this is not that either. When Tom came home he said, "Great, I love quiche".

Now that we have covered that, lets start at the beginning. This recipe calls for use of my food processor. The food processor has seen little work other then pesto so it was fun to see that it could whip up crust easily.

This was amazingly quick. I did this the day before and refrigerated it till the next day.

The next day I made the filling. The filling sounded just like my lasagna filling and I saw in the chatter on TWD that many people added vegetables. I decided to add spinach...... but I think I got carried away. I added a lot of spinach and some red pepper flakes. It gave the filling this really pretty green color. I was thinking I should of made it for St. Patricks Day.

The other problem with adding spinach in the amount that I did is that you end up with a lot of filling. I had so much filling!! Rolling the dough went better then I expected but I didn't seem to have the same amount of dough as in the pictures of the finished pizza in the recipe book. I had no fancy cutters for the lattice. I felt like I needed a little more dough so the lattice would be a little more substantial. The cooking time kept having to be upped because the filling wasn't finished baking. The crust might of got over done but it didn't burn. :-)

All in all it went well. It wasn't my favorite but I gained a little confidence in doing crusts. At least I am keeping up with the group. The best part of doing it as a group is that these great cooks leave tips and ideas in the chatter. I want to thank them!

Getting fancy with the camilla - Happy Easter!

TWD: Irish Soda Bread

Keeping up with the baking group is the challenge but I have done two in a row. This Tuesday's was Irish Soda Bread. What better time to attempt this challenge than on St Paddy's Day. The kids had all come home for a beer tasting dinner Friday night. Sierra Nevada Beer was the brewery and was a fun evening had by all.

The next day being St. Patrick's day we planned a corned beef and cabbage dinner. What better time to try Irish Soda Bread. Jessica took on the corned beef and cabbage. The corned beef cooked in crock pots all day. The cabbage she grilled and then steamed with a little Guinness.

I pulled out the simple ingredients for the bread. Flour, buttermilk, baking soda and salt. I had a little helper, Wyatt and another helper that distracted the little helper!

The thing I worried most was doing too much. Stirring till it comes together begs the question, what does that actually mean??? I did the bare minimum than plopped the dough onto the counter for a little knead.

As you can see from the pictures it isn't exactly that smooth dough look that I thought it should have but again I didn't want to do to much.

Miracle of miracles it came out great. I did not add the currants I bought because I wanted it simple for the dinner. It tasted great with the corned beef and cabbage. The timing was perfect because it was hot for dinner. Everyone loved it. The grandson ate two buttered pieces happily. I will never know if it were to get hard sitting because there was none left!!

This was the simplest bread to bake. I can seeing doing this again and am exited to try some of the combinations I have seen on other blogs - sweet and savory.

TWD : Rugelach

I missed the last TWD which was Chocolate Truffle Tartlets. It would of been lovely to try (and eat) but instead I celebrated my birthday. There were plenty of goodies; macarons, chocolate bars,browned butter with salt cookies and a Miette Chocolate cake. I needed time to recover!
This TWD assignment was Rugelach. I have heard of them but never had one. Never actually seen one. The adventure was on. One thing I have learned with this recipe is that reading the whole recipe first is a must. If I had waited till Tuesday I would have dough to show.

The dough seem to come together okay. I thought all the butter and cream cheese would make the dough delicious to nibble but no. Salt was an after thought (remember read and read again) I patted them into rectangles, put in frig and called it day one. My Romba / Bear did floor clean up for me.

Day two, I read the recipe and realized again that I should of paid more attention to the recipe. I would not of had to buy apple butter (because googling in the grocery store I learned that was the closest item that came to lekvar). After reading again I realized I had what I needed to make lekvar. I also learned that I had Amaretto it just wasn't labeled as such. I rolled the dough out and with the help of a tape measure came close to 14 x 10 rectangle. Hopefully at the end of all this it will be SO much easier. Filled some of the dough with apricot lekvar and some with mini chocolate chips. Back into the frig end of day 2.

Day three, time for the egg wash and cinnamon/sugar/nut bath! After a 22 minute bake in the oven they came out looking just like the picture. Oh what a relief. I sat down with a cup of tea and plowed through four in no time at all. I don't know if they taste like they should but they did taste good and with a cup of tea a bit of heaven.

Pumpkin Pancakes

We usually make pancakes on Sunday mornings and this weekend I chose to do some pumpkin pancakes to change it up a bit. They were AMAZING!! Wyatt loved them too so we will definitely be making them again.

Here is the recipe:

2 cups of your favorite pancake mix
3 tbs brown sugar
2 1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1 1/2 cup milk
1 cup canned pumpkin puree (omit the pumpkin pie spice & vanilla if you use pumpkin pie puree as it is already flavored)
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tbs vegetable oil (plus some additional for griddle)

Combine wet ingredients then add your dry ingredients and cook on your griddle or flat pan.


Super easy and super yummy!
Enjoy!

Burgundy Mushrooms

Tuesday came and went but no tartlets. A trip to Las Vegas, a birthday party for my Mother, babysitting my Niece Maddy, and then my birthday all conspired to have me ditch the tartlets for Tuesdays with Dorie. It was a lovely birthday and the gifts were spectacular - chocolate fudge bars, specialty macaroons, browned butter sugar cookies and a cake from Miette. These all filled my need for sweets. The tartlets will have to wait.
Instead here is a recipe from the Pioneer Woman herself that fills the house with the best smells and goes great with steak! The recipe calls for 9 hours of cooking.....I rushed it into 3 hours.

Burgundy Mushrooms
4 pounds white button mushrooms
1/2 pound butter
1-1/2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1 liter Burgundy wine
1 tsp freshly ground pepper
2 c. boiling water
4 chicken bouillon cutes
4 beef bouillon cubes
1 tsp dill seed
1 tsp garlic powder
2 tsp salt (optional)
Clean mushroom and throw into large stockpot.
Add all the remaing ingredients except the salt. Stir to combine
Bring the mixture to a boil over medium-high heat
Reduce the heat to low and simmer, covered for 6 hours!!!!
Remove the lid, then continue cooking, uncovered, for 3 hours
Add sake ti taste at the end if desired. The mushrooms will be dark in color (burgundy). They can sit in the pan until ready to serve. Serve straight from the pot or spoon the mushrooms and cooking liquid into a serving bowl.
Have crusty bread nearby to soak up the deliciousness (burgundy flavored butter)

The recipe states that it serves 8 - 10 but we did 20 people. It should be noted there were no leftovers.

TDWD: White Bread

I joined the group Tuesdays with Dorie. We are baking our way through Baking with Julia. First Tuesday to bake is here and the first recipe was White Bread. Funny thing was that I had all the ingredients together before and had read the recipe through several times. One of the times I left it on the last page of the recipe. Absent-mindly on my Tuesday to bake I looked at the ingredient list and was shocked to see I had forgot some ingredients..... I ran to the store searched every where for malt extract. I even called Kim (sister-in-law and resident professional baker) to find out where I could find the malt extract. Got the extract and a few other items get home and realized then that I had looked at the ingredient list for Whole Wheat Bread on the next page!!!
Once I got settled down and knew I had had everything I needed I began. I remember making bread one other time and it being a MAJOR undertaking so I was a little concerned.

The yeast got bubbly and creamy just like the recipe said. My poor old Kitchen-Aid wondered what the heck was on his nose. Even though I have had the mixer for 20+ years it was the inaugural run for the bread hook.
I was excited when the recipe called for use of a rolling pin, if necessary, to roll out the bread because I have a beautiful rolling pin. A Great Uncle from West Virginia use to make them. He made one for me and it is beautiful.

The bread rose beautifully on the first rise. My new oven said that you can let bread rise in its warm setting but I worry. The thoughts of melted plastic wrap in my new oven was too much. Especially since the day before I had christened the range with a cup of buttermilk. I divided the dough and formed the bread. The second rise put the loaves up to the two to four inch rise above the pan. Everything the recipe said would happen!! At this point I am feeling like a bread baker. In the oven they went and the house started to smell incredible.
When the loaves came out I saw that I had succeeded in baking white bread. This was something I could do! After cutting into the bread and smearing some butter on a slice it dawned on me that I had better learn to be a gym instructor too because if all the other recipes succeed like this I will be doing a lot of gym time!!! Like it was noted in the recipe this bread makes the most delicious grilled cheese sandwiches. To get this recipe try picking up Baking with Julia or head to this blog: http://slush.wordpress.com/2012/02/07/twd-baking-with-julia-white-loaves/
Hopefully at the end of this book I will be much better at baking, writing/blogging, picture taking and keeping my weight in check!

Juevos Ranchero Jenn style

This is my favorite breakfast. I make it on Sunday night and eat it for the rest of the week...

Quinoa- cooked as directed
1 can black, beans drained and rinsed
1 can corn, drained and rinsed
1/4 c mild or hot salsa
salt & pepper to taste
crispy corn tortillas
Eggs cooked over easy/medium

Mix first 5 ingredients together, set aside. Cook eggs over easy or medium.
Layer crispy corn tortilla then quinoa mix and topped with egg. Get crazy and add fresh diced avocado if you have any!

Mediterranean Quinoa

1 box quinoa- cooked as directed
1 jar marinated artichoke hearts
1 tsp capers
1/4 small jar kalamata olives- diced
1/2 red bell pepper chopped
1/2 green bell pepper chopped
1 cucumber- seeded and chopped (use a spoon to scoop out the seeds in the middle)
1/4 c feta cheese
juice of 2-4 lemons plus some zest
salt & pepper to taste, but remember capers and olives are salty!

Mix all together and serve cold with grilled chicken for a light and delicious dinner.