Mango Kombucha

My sister has been making fermented foods in the last couple of years so I thought I'd give it a try as well. Please note that you do not use metal at any step in the process. Here's my first attempt:

1 cup sugar

4 Tbsp loose tea (in tea bag)

1 quart boiled, distilled water (not tap water)

Combine the first three ingredients in a glass jar and allow it to cool to room temperature. Remove tea bag(s).

Once cooled, add:

1 cup mango kombucha (store-bought or saved from previous batch)

SCOBY (see notes)

Cover jar with coffee filter. Let sit for 7 days in a warm spot. (On the counter or on top of the fridge.) It does not need to be stirred during that week.

After the fermentation period is over, remove the scoby with plastic (not metal) utensils. Basic kombucha is ready to drink at this point.

If planning for a second ferment, add chopped fruit of choice, seal in glass containers and allow to sit for 7 more days.

Notes:
I found I had to vent the jars for the second ferment every day or two. The fermentation builds up carbonation and creates pressure. If you don't vent it, you might have an exploding jar!

SCOBY: Symbiotic Culture Of Bacteria and Yeast. It's like a mushroom. You can order them online, possibly purchase them in a health food store, make your own, or get one from a kombucha-making friend. I'll let you research each of those options.

Pete's Recado Chicken

My brother-in-law Pete loves to cook and he's very skilled at it! His Mom, my mother-in-law, recently brought recado home after a trip to Belize. If you're not familiar with this ingredient, I am going to borrow heavily from Wikipedia. And by "borrow" I mean copy and paste:

Recado rojo

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Recado rojo (achiote paste) ingredients

Recado rojo or achiote paste is a popular blend of spices. It is now strongly associated with the Mexican and Belizean cuisines, especially of Yucatán and Oaxaca. The spice mixture usually includes annatto, oregano, cumin, clove, cinnamon, black pepper, allspice, garlic, and salt.^[1][2] The annatto seeds dye the mixture red, and impart a distinctive red-orange color to the food.

The paste is dissolved in either lemon juice, water, oil, or vinegar, used as a marinade for meat, or rubbed directly upon it. The meat is then grilled, baked, barbecued, or broiled. Sometimes, it is added to corn dough to create a zesty flavor and color in empanadas and red tamales.

So, that's what it is. That's what it looks like. Pete is great at experimental cooking, we both had recado to play with, here's what he came up with, and what I made for supper tonight:

2 Tbsp recado rojo

1 cup orange juice

1/2 cup apple cider vinegar or white vinegar

1 tsp cumin*

10 chicken thighs with drumsticks attached

I combined the first four ingredients in a large Corning Ware dish, mashing the recado with a fork until it dissolved in the liquids. I added the chicken into the marinade. It probably would have been a better idea to mix it all in a bowl and pour it over the meat.

I covered the dish with foil, popped it into the oven for over an hour. The meat was very flavourful and tender! 

Notes:

Pete says he likes a bold hit of cumin, so he would have used 2 tsp for this recipe. We prefer it as a milder flavour, and I only used 1 tsp.

Strawberry Spinach Salad

Last weekend, we had a birthday supper to celebrate with/for my Dad, his wife Gloria, and my Uncle Neil, who all had birthdays within two weeks of each other. Birthday celebrations mean delicious food and this meal was no exception! My sister-in-law Janine brought this incredible salad. 

Strawberry Salad

Calvary Temple 90^th Anniversary Cookbook

Combine the following in a large salad bowl:

3-4 Romanine lettuce hearts, chopped/torn

2 lbs fresh strawberries, hulled, sliced

½ red onion, thinly sliced

In a small bowl mix the following and add to lettuce just before serving:

1 cup Miracle Whip or Mayonnaise

¼ cup vinegar

2/3 cup white sugar (I use 1/3 cup)

2 tsp poppy seed

¼ tsp paprika

2 tsp sesame seeds (optional)

Toasted slivered almonds as garnish(optional)

Serves about 15 people

Strawberry Cheesecake "Burritos"

I found this recipe on cookpad.com and it was originally submitted by Ashley Shinoda Sullivan. You know I can't make a recipe the way it's written and I wanted to only use what I had on hand. Here's my version: 

1/2 of an 8 oz Cream Cheese; room temperature

1 tbsp Sour Cream

1 tsp Vanilla Extract

1/4 cup strawberry jam

4 packages (8-inch) Soft Torrillas

In a large bowl, beat together the cream cheese, sour cream, jam, vanilla extract. 

Divide the mixture evenly between the 4 tortillas. Slather the filling in the lower third of the tortilla. Fold the two sides toward the center and then roll the tortilla up like a burrito. To keep the end closed, wet the edges with a wet paste of flour and water. (Isn't that a great tip? I read it here.) Let sit, edges down, until ready to deep fry.

Repeat with the remaining tortillas.

In a deep saucepan, place about 2 to 2½-inch vegetable oil for frying & heat it over medium-high heat until it reaches 360ºF.

Fry the burritos until golden brown & crispy, about 2 to 3 minutes. Flip them as needed. Work in batches.

Transfer the burritos to the paper-lined towel on a plate to drain. Sprinkle liberally with powdered sugar.

Let cool for a few minutes.

Oatmeal Banana Muffins

A friend was over for a visit yesterday and I thought a fresh batch of muffins would be a treat. This particular friend doesn't eat wheat so I adapted an old oatmeal muffin recipe to exclude it. Even though I've tagged this as gluten free, oats are not necessarily GF, so you'll have to do your own homework on that.

1 cup of quick-cooking oats

1 cup of boiling water

1 1/2 cups of oats, ground fine in blender

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup white sugar

2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1 mashed banana

coconut oil or other shortening (1/2 cup or so)

1 1/2 tsp vanilla

1 egg, beaten

1/2 cup water

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare 12 muffin cups.

Start by grinding the 1 1/2 cup portion of oats in the blender until fairly fine. I might have ended up with half of it being powder and half still in pieces.

Soak the 1 cup portion of oats and let stand for five minutes.

Combine all dry ingredients.

Mash banana and fill to 3/4 cup with melted coconut oil. Combine soaked oats and banana/oil mixture. Add the egg.

Pour the wet ingredients into the dry, adding water last. Stir until just mixed. Fill muffin pan.

Bake for at least 30 minutes. When I tested these muffins with a toothpick, it still looked a bit wet, but they tasted cooked through when we ate them warm and cold. 

Notes:
I made a second batch today, using old fashioned oats, applesauce, cinnamon, and no coconut oil. Nope! Note to self: stick with the recipe as written!

Tips for working with yeast dough

I've had many failures when it comes to baking yeast-based (and wheat flour) items! Over the years, here are some tips I've found to be helpful:

1) Ensure the yeast is fresh!
When you start a dough recipe, use warm water (not hot) and stir in yeast granules. Within a few minutes, they should become foamy. If they don't become foamy within about 10 minutes, toss it and buy fresh yeast before starting again.

2) Mix it, mix it real good.
I've been reading recently about how long a person should actually mix the dough. I used to mix until all of the ingredients were thoroughly combined, but I've been experimenting with mixing the dough for extended periods of time, like 10+ minutes. This is supposed to help with gluten development. If you're geeky like me, look into the "window pane" technique. The dough will be very smooth, will not be sticking to the sides of the bowl, but remains soft.

3) Warm is best!
Start with warm water and find a warm place for the dough to rise. My Kitchen Aid mixing bowl fits nicely into my microwave, so as I mix the dough, I heat up a mug of water to create steam inside the microwave. I put my mixing bowl, uncovered, into the nuker beside the steamy water, and set the timer for 45 minutes. At that point, I take the dough out, heat up the water again, and let the dough rise for another 15 minutes.

Also, when I make buns, I place oven-safe bowls full of steaming water in the bottom of the oven. This creates another warm, steamy area for the buns to rise for the second rising.

4) Give it time!
Don't rush! Take the time to let the yeast do its thing. Mix and knead thoroughly. Give it time to rise and if one hour isn't enough (assuming the yeast you used is fresh and active), give it another 30 minutes. Don't rush the second rise. Give the buns plenty of time to get fluffy. And take the buns out of the oven before preheating the oven!

Thai Curry Chicken

Updated December 16, 2019: This is no longer on Pinterest! I am very relieved to have made a copy! This is one of my most often used recipes.

A Pinterest keeper! This is a delicious meal with both chicken or shrimp. I'm posting it here with my own personal changes, originally found on the Susannah's Kitchen blog.

There are two ways to do this, one quick, one slow. The quick version includes either pre-cooked chicken or shrimp; the slow version includes cooking the meat.

2 Tbsp coconut oil

2 Tbsp red Thai curry paste
1/2 large yellow onion

1 clove garlic, minced

1 x 13.5oz can coconut milk

1 Tbsp brown sugar

1/2 red bell pepper

1/2 cup fresh green beans or sliced carrots

salt and pepper to taste

1/2 small deli-roasted chicken, warmed, cut up

1/2 lime, freshly squeezed

Fresh Thai basil *

Heat the oil in a large pan and add the red Thai curry paste. Stir for a minute to release the curry's aromas, then add the garlic and onion. When they're translucent, add the coconut milk and brown sugar. Stir to combine.

Add the bell pepper and green beans or carrots. Cook vegetables on low until al dente, stirring occasionally. Add the warm roasted chicken or precooked shrimp and fresh lime juice right before serving. 

Garnish with basil and serve with Jasmine rice.

Serves 2-4.

Notes:

*Google tells me that if Thai basil isn't available, a small piece of star aniseed works. I like to combine the sauce ingredients and let it simmer with the aniseed in it to really blend the flavours.