Vegetarian Posole and/or Something Meaty

1-2 bags dried white hominy (depending on how much you want :-)
3 containers of veggie broth, plus water (or make your own broth by boiling carrots and celery, including leaves, garlic, onion, and bay leaf in water)
olive oil
garlic (I used ~6 t split between the hominy and then the zucchini/mushrooms)
onion (probably 1 white or yellow onion)
zucchini, sliced
mushrooms, sliced
dried chile ancho
water
course kosher salt (to taste)
fresh oregano (to taste)
fresh cilantro (to taste)
radishes (sliced thin)
green cabbage (shredded)

To make just the veggie posole, saute some garlic and onion in the bottom of a big pot.  Add enough veggie broth and water (in whatever combination you have available) to cover the hominy.  Bring to a boil, then lower and simmer for 3+ hours, adding water as necessary to ensure hominy remains covered (at this point you can either continue on to the remainder of the recipe or remove from the stove and store in the fridge over night, then finish the next day).

When you continue one, in a separate pot, saute garlic and onion in olive oil, once browned, add zucchini and mushrooms.  When vegetables are softened, combine hominy and liquid mixture with sauteed veggies (I like to pour the hominy into the newly sauteed veggies, rather than the other way around, it seems to add to the flavor. But I doubt it really matters.) Add several long sprigs of fresh oregano to the pot and some coarse kosher salt, to taste.  Continue to simmer for another ~2 hours, stirring and scraping the bottom every 20 minutes or so.  (I tend to taste every time I stir to see if it needs more salt.

While simmering, soak dried ancho chiles in warm/hot water.  Be sure to put a heavy bowl or plate on top to keep the chiles under water.  After about an hour or so, dump the chiles along with the water they were soaking in into a blender and blend on high'ish until liquified.  Then pour the mixture through a mesh sieve to filter out the skins and seeds.  Add some of the chile water to the simmering posole for flavor, put the rest in a bowl for people to add to their individual bowls.

NOTE: The chile water will be hot, but how hot will depend on how much water you add and the peppers themselves.  So be sure to test sparingly at first.

Serve in bowls, allow people to add radishes, shredded cabbage, cilantro, cilantro, and oregano as desired.

VEGGIE/CARNIVORE COMBO:
If you want to do a split veggie and meat posole, follow all the same directions above, except use 3 bags of dried hominy.  And in a separate pot saute garlic and onion, then fill with water and simmer a few varied pieces of pork or chicken to make a tasty broth.  When the time comes, split the hominy in liquid mixture between the veggie and meat pots, following the same directions as above for the veggie one.  And adding some oregano and salt to the meat one.  Simmer both simultaneously for another 2+ hours and voila, a perfect meal for a mixture veggie/carnivore crowd.  Just be sure to use different spoons to stir the pots!  :-)

Rolls - Parker Rolls (from Mom- for little sandwichitas!)

These are the rolls mom made at Thanksgiving.  They're crazy good.

1 envelope active dry yeast
1 cup whole milk
1/4 cup vegetable shortening
3 T sugar
1.5 t kosher salt
1 egg (room temperature)
3.5 cups flour
vegetable oil to coat bowl
1/4 cup butter (to brush on top)

Whisk 1 envelope of active dry yeast into ¼ cup warm water (110-115 degrees).  Let stand 5 minutes.

Heat 1 cup whole milk in a small saucepan over medium heat until just warm.  Combine ¼ cup vegetable shortening, 3 Tbsp sugar, and 1 ½ tsp kosher salt in a large bowl.  Add warm milk; whisk to bloend, breaking up shortening into small clumps.  It may not melt completely.  Whisk in yeast mixture and add 1 room temperature large egg.  Add 3 ½ cups all purpose flour; stir vigorously with a wooden spoon until dough forms.  Knead dough with lightly floured hands on a lightly floured surface until smooth, 4-5 minutes.  Transfer to a lightly oiled bowl; turn to coat. 

Cover loosely with plastic wrap.  Let stand at room temperature until doubled, about 1 ½ hours.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Melt ¼ cup butter in a small saucepan.  Lightly brush a 13 x 9 “ baking dish with some melted butter.  Punch down dough; divide into 4 equal pieces.

Working 1 piece at a time, roll out onto a lightly floured surface into a 12” x 6” rectangle.

Cut lengthwise into thirds, then crosswise into thirds again (forming twelve 4” x 2” rectangles).  Brush half of each rectangle (about 2” x 2”) with melted butter, fold the unbuttered side over, allowing 1/4 “ overhang.  Place flat in 1 corner of dish, folded edge against shortside of dish.  Add remaining dough for 4 rows.  Brush with melted butter, loosely cover with plastic, and chill for 30 minutes or up to 6 hours.

Bake until golden and puffed 25-35 minutes  Brush with butter and sprinkle with flaky sea salt.

Serve warm~  YUM!

Baked Pumpkin Steel Cut Oatmeal (c/o theKitchn)

I haven't tried this yet, but a friend shared it with me after having Marie's baked oatmeal.  It looks amazing!  I can't wait to try it out next weekend.


Baked Pumpkin Steel Cut Oatmeal
http://www.thekitchn.com/recipe-baked-pu-159872
serves 4 to 6

2 tablespoons unsalted butter, divided
1 1/2 cups steel cut oats
1 cup pumpkin or squash puree
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon ginger
1/2 teaspoon cloves
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
2 cups milk
2 1/2 cups warm water
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon salt

Heat the oven to 375°F. In a 3-quart (or larger) saucepan or Dutch oven, heat 1 tablespoon of the butter over medium-high heat. (Your burner shouldn't be on at full blast, but the butter should melt quickly.) When the butter foams up, stir in the oats and fry them, stirring frequently, for about 3 minutes or until they smell toasted.

Push the oats up against the side of the pan, and drop the second tablespoon of butter in the now clear center of the pan. Dump in the pumpkin puree. Fry it in the butter, only stirring after about a minute. Stir in the sugar and spices and continue frying the puree for another 3 to 4 minutes, or until the color darkens slightly and the raw smell disappears. It's OK if a few dark brown spots appear as the puree sticks to the pan.

Pour in the milk and whisk everything to combine. Whisk in the water, vanilla and salt. Put a lid on the pan and put it in the oven. Bake for 35 minutes. Take the pan out of the oven, and carefully lift the lid (be cautious as steam will billow out). Stir the oatmeal. It will look quite loose still, but the oats should be al dente and tender. The oatmeal will thicken rapidly as it cools.

Eat immediately with a drizzle of cream or milk and maple syrup, or let cool and then refrigerate. Heat up bowls in the microwave or on the stovetop.

Gluten Free Chocolate Cake

Oat Flour Dark Chocolate Cake (Gluten, Dairy, Corn, Gum-free)
Adapted from Kitchen Therapy

3/4 cup oil
3/4 cup sugar

1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 dark brown sugar
3/4 cup water or milk
6 tablespoons dark cocoa powder
1 1/4 cups gluten-free oat flour (I make my own from oatmeal in the food processor)
1 teaspoon baking soda
3 eggs
1 teaspoon cinnamon, optional (but why wouldn't you?)
1 cup chocolate chips, optional

This cake isn't very sweet and it's pretty dense, so it's perfect for me as it.  But I'm guessing for those with a sweeter tooth might want to add chocolate chips and/or chocolate frosting of some kind.

Bake at 350 degrees fahrenheit.

-preheat oven
-grease bundt pan well
-combine all ingredients with a whisk until smooth
-pour into pan
-bake for 30 min, until toothpick comes out clean
-allow to cool completely before removing from pan, since the cake is a little crumbly to begin with you really do need to wait

You say glogg, I say gluhwein... but really it's just mulled wine

You might want to consider making this with baked oatmeal for brunch.  Just sayin'....

4-8 red apples, peeled and diced

2 bottles red wine, we used Cabernet Sauvignon and merlot

3 cups apple cider
a bunch of cinnamon sticks

~10-12 whole cloves pressed into an orange

Warm diced apples over medium low heat for 15 minutes, add two bottles of red wine, 3 cups apple cider, cinnamon sticks, an orange (or apple with cloves pressed into it). Reduce temperature to low (the lowest possible to keep warm), don't let it boil or simmer or the alcohol with boil off.  Drink.  Yum!

Tempeh Sloppy Joes

Ingredients:
16oz tempeh, crumbled
1 onion, chopped
1 green pepper, diced
1/4 - 1/2 c water
1 c ketchup (or more to taste)
3 tsp Worcestershire sauce
2 tsp mustard
3 T brown sugar
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp sea salt
cayenne pepper to taste
*add all spices and sugar to taste

Saute onion over med-low hear until soft and translucent.
Add tempeh and continue to cook 2-3 min until browned.
Add all remaining ingredients, and continue to cook for 15 minutes or so.

Serve on buns of choice - we used rosemary buns from Wegmans.

Best Coffee Cake EVER

I think this is a Martha Stewart recipe, but I'm not positive. I found it online at some point and it's my go-to coffee cake recipe!

2 c flour
1 T baking powder
3/4 c white sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1 stick butter
3/4 c milk
1 egg
2 T melted butter
2 T white sugar
2 tsp each cinnamon and nutmeg

1. Whisk together flour, baking powder, sugar and salt.
2. Cut in butter using pastry blender, until mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
3. Move 1/2 c of the mixture to separate bowl, and add sugar and spices (this is the topping).
4. Add milk and egg, stir gently until blended.
5. Pour batter into 8x8 greased baking dish. Top batter with melted butter, and then cover with topping.

Bake 35 minutes at 350.

Sourdough Pancakes

Finally getting around to posting our favorite pancake recipe - we've lost and rediscovered it numerous times over the past few years. It does require that you have a sourdough starter, which I do not have a recipe for, because we were lucky enough to be given starter. It's the gift that keeps on giving! We've also learned that the more often you use the starter, the more sour (and tastier) the pancakes become.

Night before:
Dump starter in a bowl. Add 2 1/2c flour, 2c warm water. Stir Gently. Cover with towel or non airtight lid and let sit overnight.

In the morning, take out 1/4-1/2c of the mixture to replace the starter, and return to fridge.

To remaining mixture, fold the following into the batter softly:
1 egg
1/4c buttermilk
2 T oil

In a separate bowl, mix:
1tsp salt
2 T sugar
1 tsp baking soda (or baking powder)

Add dry mixture to wet mixture. Beat batter LIGHTLY using a fork. Let sit for 3-4 minutes.
Cook on VERY hot ungreased griddle.

I've learned to be patient when cooking these - similar to regular pancakes, it's important to let them cook fully before flipping.

Cranberry Oat Scones

I should preface this by saying that Brad doesn't consider these "real" scones. They are not as crispy on the outside - have a slightly sponge-like consistency, especially if they're not eaten fresh out of the oven.

1 3/4 cups  flour
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter cold and cut into small pieces
3/4 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
1/2 cup dried cranberries
Zest of one  orange
2/3 cup buttermilk

Egg wash: 1 large egg, beaten together with 1T milk/cream

Preheat to 375; Makes 8 scones

1. In a large mixing bowl whisk together flour, sugar, salt, baking soda, and baking powder.
2. Cut in butter using pastry blender, until it resembles coarse crumbs.
3. Add the rolled oats, dried cranberries and zest.  Mix until combined.
4. Stir in the buttermilk (adding more if necessary) and mix just until the dough comes together.
5. Transfer to a lightly floured surface and knead the dough four or five times and then pat/roll dough into a circle that is 7" round and about 1 1/2" thick.  Cut this circle into 8 triangular sections.
6. Place the scones on the prepared baking sheet. Brush with egg wash; can sprinkle w/ sugar.
7. Bake for about 15 - 18 minutes or until lightly browned and a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Remove from oven and transfer to a wire rack to cool.


Optional:
To add glaze: Mix 1/2 c confectioner's sugar w/ 4 tsp OJ, drizzle over the scones.

Dressing and Candied Nuts recipes

Here are few recipes I've been meaning to post for quite some time. My favorite dressing recipes for any salad that includes fruit & nuts, as well as a couple of my favorite recipes for candied nuts:

Balsamic Candied Nuts:
1/4c brown sugar
1 T olive oil
1T balsamic
1 c pecans, walnuts etc.

Chile-Spiced Pecans:
2 tablespoons water
2 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon pure maple syrup
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 cup pecans

Dressings:
Balsamic Vinaigrette
2tsp lemon juice
1 tsp balsamic
1/2 tsp dijon
3 T olive oil

Maple-cider Vinaigrette
3T apple cider vinegar (if you don't have this, just omit it and combine the other 3 ingredients - it's still delicious)
2 T lemon juice
2 T olive oil
1-2 T maple syrup

At a recent visit to Hurd's Orchards, they introduced us to the idea of using preserves in their salad dressings. I recently tried this and it was delicious! I don't know the exact ratios so you'll just have to taste test:
1-2 T favorite preserves (I made this with Peach-pear-pecan preserves from Hurd's)
1-2 T olive oil
1-2 T white wine vinegar
1-2 T maple syrup (depending on how sweet you want it)

Buffalo Jackfruit Pizza

We'd like to introduce you to our new vegetarian staple: jackfruit. We discovered this at a vegan restaurant in Kansas City, and it is amazing! The texture is perfect for recipes that call for shredded meat, like pulled pork, tacos, reubens etc. You should be able to find it at your local Asian market/grocer. Most jackfruit comes in brine as opposed to water, so you do need to rinse it a few times. I usually let it soak in water for 5-10minutes to make sure there's no lingering brine flavor.

Buffalo Sauce:
-1 stick butter
-1 c (plus a few extra shakes) Frank's Red Hot
-2 tsp cayanne pepper

Mix in sauce pan and cook over low-med heat until butter is melted.

Pizza:
- 1-2 cans jackfruit (in water or brine - NOT in syrup)
- 1pkg shredded mozzarella
- chives, chopped
- 1-2 tomatoes, diced
- your favorite pizza dough

1. Prepare jackfruit as follows: Drain the brine. Rinse/soak in water. Squeeze out all excess liquid. Break/shred jackfruit into small chunks.
2. Pour buffalo sauce over jackfruit and mix until evenly covered. Optional: marinade 2-3hrs to allow the flavor to soak in.
3. Prepare crust.
4. Add small layer of cheese to crust. Top with tomatoes, chives, buffalo jackfruit, and cover with remaining cheese.
5. Bake according to crust instructions.
6. Serve with a side of blue cheese dressing.

Note: I made 3 cans of jackfruit, which seemed to be the right ratio for this amount of Buffalo sauce. We ended up only using a little more than 1/3 of the jackfruit on the pizza, which was the size of a large cookie-sheet. So, if you don't want leftover jackfruit, I would recommend cutting the sauce recipe by 1/3-1/2. We froze the leftover jackfruit and made a buffalo dip and buffalo wraps the following week.

Hmm, what are these bright green spots on the soda bread we made?

Ochef rules!

http://www.ochef.com/1267.htm

Chocolate Bundt Cake (from 101 Cookbooks)

I made this recipe for easter today and it was crazy good. I actually don't think it needed the frosting/glaze stuff. My our friend Jenny says it does. I'm thinking maybe I'd prefer more of a mocha type of ganache.

http://www.101cookbooks.com/archives/chocolate-bundt-cake-recipe.html

Chocolate Bundt Cake

I use less butter here, than most other cakes of this sort. And I'd argue, you can't really tell. That said, scaling back much more beyond this wasn't a good idea. Also, I use buttermilk in the icing because I typically have it on hand, but you can certainly substitute stout/porter or water.

Chocolate Bundt Cake:

2 cups / 475 ml chocolate porter or stout beer
8 tablespoons unsalted butter, plus more for the pan
3/4 cup / 75g natural cocoa powder (non-dutched)
1 cup / 5 oz / 140 g whole wheat flour
1 cup / 4.5 oz / 125 g all-purpose flour
1 cup / 4.25 oz / 120 g muscovado or dark brown sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
3/4 teaspoon fine grain sea salt
3 large eggs
1 1/2 cups / 355 ml plain whole yogurt
3/4 cup / 180 ml pure maple syrup

Chocolate Buttermilk Icing:

3/4 cup / 2.75 oz / 75 g powdered sugar
1/4 cup / 25g natural cocoa powder (non-dutched)
2 tablespoons buttermilk

flaky sea salt, to serve

Preheat oven to 350F / 180C, with a rack in the center.

Butter and flour (generously) a 11 or 12-cup capacity bundt pan (or equivalent). As I mention up above, you can bake this in other cake pans, just be mindful to avoid filling the pan(s) more than 2/3 - 3/4 full. Adjust the baking time as well - baking until the cake begins to pull away from the sides of the pan, and the center tests clean when you insert a knife.

In a saucepan simmer the beer down to 1 cup / 240 ml. Remove from heat, add the butter and stir until melted. Stir in the cocoa powder, mixing until smooth, then set aside to cool, stirring occasionally to let off heat.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flours, sugar, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, combine the eggs, yogurt, and maple syrup. Whisk well, until nicely blended and uniform in appearance. Gradually add the (cooled) stout mixture, stirring all the while. Stir until well blended. Add the flour mixture, folding until just blended, using as few strokes as possible.

Transfer the batter to the prepared pan and bake for 35 - 45 minutes if using the bundt pan, or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean. You really don't want to over bake this cake - err on the slightly moist side if anything. Remove from the oven, and turn out onto a cooling rack after seven minutes.

In the meantime, make the icing by whisking together the powdered sugar, cocoa, and buttermilk. Really go at it for at least a minute. The icing should end up smooth and creamy looking, adjust with a touch of powdered sugar or a few extra drops of buttermilk if you want to tweak the consistency at all. When the cake is completely cool, run the icing around the top with an offset spatula and let it set.

Serve sprinkled with a bit of flaky sea salt. But don't sprinkle with flakes of salt until ready to serve, or you'll end up with little divots (see photos :)...

Makes one chocolate bundt cake.

Prep time: 25 min - Cook time: 45 min

Buttermilk French Toast

Another attempt to use up leftover ingredients from other things. Buttermilk from last weeks scones and some tasty rolls Joel got for the tortas ahogadas we had last night.

Ingredients

• 4 eggs
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 1/2 Tbsp sugar
• pinch of salt
• 1/4 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp cardamom

In a pie plate beat eggs with a fork. Pour in the buttermilk, sugar, salt, vanilla extract, cinnamon, and cardamom, and stir. Coat each slice of bread in the buttermilk mixture. Cook over medium heat until lightly browned.

It was delicious!

Banana Oatmeal Muffins (Gluten Free) w/chocolate chips (because I can)

In an effort to make breakfast this weekend only with food I already had in my kitchen, I stumbled on a recipe for gluten free banana oatmeal muffins. A few modifications later and we were munching on some seriously tasty muffins. They seem to be pretty flexible in terms of what you put in them, so try them out and let me know how they come.

Makes 12 regular size muffins and 12 mini-muffins

Bake at 400 F for ~20 minutes (our oven is a little wonky, but I ended up taking the mini muffins out after 14 minutes and the regular size ones out after 16 minutes)

INGREDIENTS

~3+ cups gluten free rolled oats (split and run through food processor)

1/2 cup sour cream (but you could use low fat, or the original recipe calls for plain low fat yogurt)

1/2 cup milk (I used low fat, but any kind would be fine)

1/2 cup brown sugar, loosely packed

1/4 cup canola oil (or sunflower or vegetable oil)

2 large, ripe bananas (mashed)

1 egg, large, lightly beaten

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp nutmeg

1/2 tsp salt

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1 cup chocolate chips or blueberries (optional)

something to grease your muffin tins with

INSTRUCTIONS

Put 3+ cups of gluten free rolled oats through a food processor until they reach the consistency of a course flour (or bran flakes).

In a bowl mix together 1 and 1/4 cups of the rolled oat flour that you made, sour cream and milk. Let soak for 10 minutes while you prepare the other ingredients.

Mix 1 and 1/2 cups of the rolled oats oat flour, salt, spices, baking powder and baking soda in a separate bowl.

Add brown sugar, mashed banana, egg and oil to wet oat mixture. Mix well.

Then fold in the dry ingredients. Add 1 cup chocolate chips.

Fill greased muffin cups 2/3 full. I sprinkled a little cinnamon on top of the muffins too.

Bake for approximately 20 minutes.

Cashew Sauce (updated 2/12/12)

Just made this for dinner. Sooo good.

I made a sort of asian pasta (it was supposed to be with soba noodles, but I used whole wheat spaghetti) with red peppers and pineapple and toasted cashews. It was very tasty.

Adapted from Alton Brown...

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/cashew-sauce-recipe/index.html

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup cashew butter, recipe follows
• 3/4 cup coconut milk
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1-2 Tablespoon Thai Chili roasted garlic dipping sauce
• Salt, optional

Directions

Whisk the butter, milk, and pepper together in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Taste and add salt, if desired. Heat until sauce is warmed through. Serve over grilled chicken, pork, or rice.

Cashew Butter:

• 2 tablespoons honey
• 1/3 cup walnut oil
• 10 ounces (approximately 2 cups) roasted cashews
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

Place the honey in a microwave-safe container and heat in the microwave for 15 seconds. Remove from the microwave and add the oil to the container. Place the nuts and salt in the bowl of a food processor and pulse for 5 seconds. Then, while the processor is running, very slowly drizzle in the honey and oil. Process until an emulsion is formed and the mixture is smooth; this will take approximately 45 seconds to 1 minute. If the mixture is too thick and doesn't spread easily, add a little more oil.

Yield: Approximately 1 to 1 1/2 cups