Archive for the ‘Cooking’ Category
This morning is for recreation and not creation for at least a few hours. The better-half is long gone to work, the cat’s been fed, and the coffee fresh. I think a short trip to Middle Earth is necessary before I continue what should be a rather busy day.
42” of X-box is the only proper way to kick start a day and I’m loving it. This new Lego Lord of the Rings is a hoot and it appears that it will take a great deal of time to master. I’m at 23% completion and I’ve been working it at it off and on for a couple of weeks already. Hours and hours of continuous fun ahead for me.
Late morning has pulled me back into the kitchen where I’m beginning the process of making my special spicy pasta sauce. My hands smell of onion and are burning like fire from the jalapenos (forgot my gloves). Did most of the prep work last night so it’s all about the cooking and canning today. I’ve got to get back to it right now before things overcook.
La-Dee-Da (Time passing)
Well its two hours later and I’m putting the finishing touches to things. I just finished canning seventeen pints of some really tasty meatless sauce. I went easy on the heat for this batch since many of the people who will be receiving it aren’t crazy about really hot food. I held back one quart jar that we’ll be using for dinner later today. I can’t wait. The one downside to all of this is the cleanup which seems to take twice as long as the preparation. It’s a big, gigantic, huge, pain in the ass.
Tweedle-Dee-Dee
Just finished a rather enjoyable meal of miniature cheese raviolis covered with my delicious sauce. I’m not really bragging but it was one helluva good vegetarian dish. We’ve been trying a little harder to cut down the amount of meat we consume but don’t worry, I’ll never quit completely. I’m a big believer in eating a little of everything but a not lot of any one thing. It’s all about portions and quality for us now. It’s one of the reasons I enjoy making my own food, I know exactly what’s in it. No added sugars or preservatives just great flavors.
Our hobby has expanded to include the making of sauces, relishes, jams, canned pickles and veggie mixes, and spicy green beans (all from the garden). Both my better-half and I make our own versions of home-made wine, flavored vinegars, and a habanero cooking wine that is to die for. Besides being a little healthier for us both it’s also great fun.
Well back to the cleanup. I want to be finished before my better-half gets home.
Another quiet day spent in the kitchen attempting to duplicate something I’ve been paying a high price for on the net. I use a great deal of red-savina habanero paste when making many of my dishes but in recent months the price of the paste has sky rocketed. After a little thought I decided to try and make my own version. Normally this paste when purchased is superhot and it was crucial that I get as much heat as possible in my recipe as well as a decent flavor.
Off to Wholefoods, a place I normally won’t shop because of their inflated prices. I’m forced into it today because none of the local markets carry quantities of fresh habaneros. I purchased 1.5 pounds of habaneros and an additional pound of Serrano peppers. So far so good. I must warn you in advance if you’d like to try this, WEAR THICK LATEX GLOVES. The next step involved cleaning, seeding, and dicing all of the peppers. Take your time and be sure to get them finely diced, then placed into a sealed container and refrigerated overnight. I like to give them a chance to mingle their flavors.
The next day I placed the diced peppers into a large blender, added 3 tbsp. of my home made Jalapeno vinegar (standard white vinegar works too), and three heaping tablespoons of ground red pepper. Set it on liquefy for approximately ten minutes. You’ll end up with about 16 oz. of extremely hot paste which can be used to add serious heat to any meal. I’ve experimented for years and have a good idea how much to use. Experimentation is a must your first time if you don’t want to burn your lips off.
I bottled the paste into two 8 oz. bottles which should last at least six months in the fridge. I’ll be making a meatless pasta sauce tomorrow and I’ll be using my newly created pepper paste. I’ll let you know how it goes.
Now for you Baby Boomers out there. I didn’t forget about the Boomer Test answers I promised earlier so here they are. If you’re proud of your score comment back and let me know how you did.
Below are the correct answers:
1. B – Bounty
2. D – Wonder Bread
3. D – Cassius Clay
4. B – Crest
5. B – He Is us
6. A – Good night, Chet
7. D – When you brush your teeth with Pepsodent
8. C – Maynard G. Krebs
9. C – Almond Joy & Mounds
10. C – Pants on fire
11. D – The American Way
12. B – It’s Howdy Doody Time
13. D – Oh my
14. B – Chiffon Margarine
15. C – Over 30
16. B – Joe Namath
17. D – A little dab’ll do ya
18. D- Wendy’s
19. D – On Blueberry Hill
20. A – Mary Martin
21. D – John, Paul, George, Ringo
22. B – Who wrote the book of Love
23. B – Cause I eats me spinach
24. C – Smile, you’re on Candid Camera
25. D – Melt in your mouth not in your hand
Well, my day in the kitchen is over and I’m sitting here labeling approximately 12 quarts of my new salsa recipe. After all of the adjustments were made to the recipe it turned out much better than I anticipated. After it cooled I was able to sample it with some nice and crispy yellow corn chips. I have a grading scale I use when making salsa and I rated this one a 4. That’s means after eating four teaspoons of the salsa the back of my head begins to sweat. This stuff is smoking hot and at the same time filled with great flavor.
I’m sending a pint of the finished product to work with my better-half tomorrow. I often use her fellow employees to test and taste my cooking efforts and their feedback is usually pretty accurate. It really helps me in refining my recipes. This batch is officially called Roasted Corn w/Black Bean & Currants. In another few months the flavor and heat should improve dramatically after sitting in the jar and make for a really great addition to any of my better-half’s Mexican food meals. Mission accomplished.
Now that my cooking job is over I can return to my Harry Potter reading assignment. I finished book #6 late last night and it was the absolute best one so far. I’m already one chapter into #7 and it looks like it will be even better than the last. What a pleasant surprise. I’m going to be very sad to see this story end because after seven books the characters are becoming like old friends. Another series for my eclectic book collection. I suppose I’ll be up late reading again tonight and hopefully get a decent nights sleep after that.
The weather here in Maine is very cold with approximately one and a half feet of snow still on the ground. I’d love to get into the woods but I’m waiting for a warmer day (around 30 degrees) before venturing out. I’m a fanatic about getting great Winter pictures but I’m not crazy. Patience is supposed to be a virtue so I’ll remain virtuous for a few more days.
Today is going to be creative cooking day for me. I have a few hours to kill so I decided it might be a great time to adjust my favorite salsa recipe, Corn & Black Bean. I want to make it a little more flavorful than usual with a few new ingredients I’ve not attempted before. This takes a while to do but adjusting the written recipe is always much easier than making it work in the pot.
In the past I normally add the black beans (my fav’s) to the pot towards the end of the cooking process. This allows them to cook slightly in the pot and more during the twenty minute canning process. If done properly they’ll cook just the right amount and won’t be mushy. My problem was getting the corn to be more flavorful. I wanted a natural smokiness to come through my salsa without using something manufactured, like Liquid Smoke, to do it. My solution was to switch from whole kernel yellow corn to white Shoe Peg corn. I prefer the flavor of Shoe Peg and it seems to hold it’s shape better when cooked. If everything cooks to mush it makes for a salsa with little or no texture.
I propose to take the corn from the cans and spread it on an cookie sheet lightly sprayed with olive oil. Then lightly spray the corn itself and sprinkle with Cumin. Place in the oven at 425 degrees until golden brow then remove it, stir it up, and replace in the oven. When it’s roasted to my liking I’ll remove it and set it off to the side. That’ll give the corn a huge boost of flavor with some crispiness as well.
I normally make my salsa’s extremely hot but without losing all of the flavor to the heat. I love habanero and in my opinion it has by far the best combination of flavor and heat. I also intend to add a dozen diced jalapenos for addition flavor and 6-8 Serrano peppers for more heat. That should allow me eliminate Cayenne pepper from my old recipe. While Cayenne has great heat it lingers in the back of the throat which I really don’t like.
I want a person eating my salsa to initially taste nothing but the flavors of the ingredients and then slowly feel the heat begin to rise. The more you eat the hotter it will get and to me that’s perfect. Well, I’m off to shop for ingredients at the local supermarket and I shall return.
Do-Wa, Do-Wa, Do Do Ditty (Just a time killing tune)
I’m back with two bags of all of my favorite things; assorted hot peppers, fresh herbs, white onions, and my absolute favorite, red onions. I have at least an hour of dicing up these goodies in preparation for cooking. I like to throw them all into one container so they can mix and mingle their flavors overnight in the fridge before I toss them in the pot tomorrow. Hopefully by Sunday afternoon I’ll have ten quarts of dynamite, smoking hot, and tasty salsa .
I can’t wait.
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