KITCHEN TIPS AND TRICKS

No new recipes today only a short note to invite you to join our mailing list of tips and tricks that you can use in the kitchen.
Just fill in the short form on the right of this posting and we'll send you regular updates filled with valuable information, tips and tricks that you can use right away to save time and money.
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Thanks
Steve and Kim                    

P.S.  You might also want to click on the little banner that says Free Coupons as it has some really great FREE deals for restaurants in your local area.  Sort of like Groupon but more focused on food than just "anything."  Take a look.

Make Your Cake (Perfectly) And Eat It too

True enough baking a cake can be a little frustrating. And, if you've tried and died, you've probably reached the end of your rope and are ready to give up.  But wait, there's good news.  There are some simple, easy to follow videos now available that walk you through the entire process.  When you finish you'll have a perfect cake suitable for showing but best of all for eating.
You should take a look at the complete information HERE.  You'll be surprised at how magical your creation will be!
Click HERE for everything you need to know.
P.S.  There's a FREE product available near the bottom of the page so be sure to read everything so you don't miss it.
Steve and Kim

Bourbon Mint Ice Cream

Freeze Your Own Ice Cream

We officially live in a world where "artisanal" ice cream costs $17 a pint. Luckily, it's less hassle to make your own at home than it is to get that plastic seal off the pint container

Food hipsters will buy anything "handmade" and "small-batch," which is why we're in the midst of a full-blown artisanal-ice-cream movement. In Malibu you can buy a single scoop at Italy-transplant Grom for $5.25, while New Yorkers can sign up for a three-month subscription to MilkMade—only $50 for three pints! I'm sure it's all delicious, but there's no way in hell I'm spending that much just to feel smugly superior to Edy's eaters.

The homemade stuff is as indulgently rich and creamy as anything sold in an organic heritage-farmed waffle cone. Plus, you're free to concoct whatever flavors you damn well please; my girlfriend likes to make ginger (not my thing) and rosemary-honey (weirdly delicious). I wanted to pump mine full of booze, so I settled on re-creating a favorite summer cocktail: the mint julep.

The recipe requires maybe thirty minutes of work.  One lesson learned: More than a quarter cup of bourbon prevents the mixture from fully freezing. (Turns out there is no way to make ice cream boozy enough to get you ripped on one bowl.) On the bright side, eating homemade ice cream does get you drunk on the smug superiority of not paying a half Benjamin for artisanal rocky road.

Bourbon-Mint Ice Cream
Makes about two pints
1 1/2 cups packed fresh spearmint leaves
1 1/2 cups whole milk
3/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
Pinch of salt
6 egg yolks
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup bourbon

Directions:
1. Bruise the mint with a spoon to release its flavor.

2. In a saucepan, warm the milk, sugar, half the heavy cream, salt, and mint until it just starts to simmer. Remove from heat, cover, and let that steep for 30 minutes.

3. Fill a large bowl partway with water and ice. Fill a medium bowl with the rest of the cream, then set it in the large one.

4. Pour the steeping mix through a sieve into a bowl. Toss the mint. Reheat the mix on medium for 3 minutes.

5. In a separate bowl, whisk the egg yolks, then slowly pour the warm mint mixture into the yolks, whisking constantly. Scrape it all back into the saucepan.

6. Cook the mix on medium, stirring constantly with a spatula, until it's thick enough to coat the spatula, about 5 to 10 minutes.

7. Pour the mixture through the sieve into the cream. Stir in the vanilla and bourbon. Set in the refrigerator to cool for 3 hours.

8. Pour the chilled mix into the ice cream machine and let it run until it's ice-creamy, usually 30 to 40 minutes. Scoop into a container; let it set in the freezer for 2 hours. Then dessert!

OH THOSE TASTY GREENS

OH THOSE TASTY GREENS:

I discovered a wonderful “green” back in the 1970′s I had a huge garden and grew a lot of beets. I didn’t know what to do with the huge pile of tops, so I decided to cook them and see what happened. I was shocked at the wonderful sweet, non-bitter, and tenderness of all sized leaves.  They all cooked up and tasted the same, including the stems (don’t cut those off!!). I flavored mine with butter, because I was making goat butter and had tons of it frozen all the time. I have been growing beets ever since for both the root and the leaves.

IMPORTANT:

It is important to always use some butter or oil of some kind when you eat greens so your body can absorb the nutrients from then that you otherwise would not be able to do so. Although I’m from South Carolina I have lived in the north – in the country – for a number of years and I find that dandelion greens, the young smaller leaves, are delicious when thoroughly washed and used with tomatoes and cucumbers with some feta cheese and a tablespoon of grape seed oil, ancient sea salt, and a tablespoon of organic apple cider vinegar.

Cooking Your Greens

I love to sauté greens (any kind or mix of them).  I first sauté garlic in olive oil, then chop the greens and add them and stir to mix up with the oil and garlic. I add some water and then slap the lid on the pan so that they steam until wilted.  They’re great on rice, noodles, or other pasta.  Add some chopped onion to the sauté for variety.

If you want to do stir fry, use peanut oil instead of olive oil, and top with a dash of soy sauce.

OR

Steam them and add a dash of vinegar or (best) “pepper sauce” in each serving.

*Pepper Sauce defined:  This is a small bottle with tabasco peppers in it, and filled with vinegar that absorbs the hotness of the peppers. When the vinegar is gone, you just add more vinegar.

OR

Sauté a bit of salt pork and then add greens and water and cook away. This is called “a mess of greens.” Serve with above-mentioned “pepper sauce”.

I use my greens, including carrot tops and radish leaves plus over-sized peeled cucumbers, to add to my own “V8” juice.  Cut them up, cook until tender then put through the “squeeze’o”.  Then I can it.  Tomatoes are included and are the base. I use all kinds of garden vegetables at the end of the season including: peppers, Swiss chard, onion tops, parsley, beets, carrots, zucchini squash, etc.  It is surprising how wonderful this tastes, if you have no preconceived idea what it “should” taste like (and it is good for you!).  I have such an abundance of vegetables this year that I have already canned 20 quarts.

I know most people cook their greens to death, but we just steam ours until tender, salt and butter lightly.  Kirkland’s No Salt is a great addition.  I will also put a few in the freezer but only a few because we have them early in the spring until early summer then in the fall until late November.  Certain ones we dry, like red-stemmed spinach and Swiss chard, then use the food processor to turn them into a powder.  Now we can add this to soups or use as a winter broth when hot water and a little seasoning like dried onion is added along with a little salt and pepper (and if you like a richer broth, powdered milk and butter).  Great quickie addition to any meal or make it a lunch with a slice of cheese!

Radish leaves are very edible; I don’t know about carrots as I have never tried them, but I would bet they would be very tasty. As far as cooking various greens, including cabbage, there’s only one way to do it. The magic words are bacon grease. Cook 6 slices of bacon in a large skillet.  Remove the bacon and fill the skillet with greens. If you have no lid for the skillet, use foil. Let them steam until the volume starts decreasing, take off the foil, and stir until they look ready to eat. Enjoy!

Healthy Eating The Right Way

Healthy eating the right way can be quite the challenge sometimes.  You have much to consider when it comes to your choices of food to prepare each day that will help keep your family healthy.
Choices include a balance of carbohydrates, calories and freshness (organic.)  It's not an easy thing to do and we understand that.  That's why we are always on the prowl for great resources to provide to you, our readers, as it relates to your health, good food that tastes as good as it looks and that will be within your budget.
Well, we've found a little gem of a site that we believe you'll enjoy.  Click on the link and we'll take you there.  You can decide for yourself if it's something you can use.  We think it is.
Here is the LINK.

Steve and Kim

Using Your Noodle For Perfect Pasta Every Time

I've always had two problems while cooking pasta.  The first one is that the pot in which I chose to boil the pasta always seems to want to boil over.  And secondly, the pasta always sticks together making it difficult to eat properly.  So, I went on a trip of discovery to learn how to solve those two small but irritating problems and I found my answers.  Here they are:

1)  Preventing Boil overs... I don't know why this works I only know that it does.
*  To prevent boil overs simply lay a large spoon or spatula across the top of the pot.  This prevents not only boil overs but splashing as well.

2)  Perfect Pasta Every Time...
*  Bring salted water to a boil, stir in your pasta and then cover the pot.  Now, turn off the heat and let it stand for approximately 15 minutes or until tender.
*  When the pasta is cooked to your liking run it under hot - not cold - water before you drain it.  This will prevent stickiness.
*  If pasta is to be used in a dish that requires further cooking, such as lasagna, reduce the cooking time by one third (15 minutes now becomes 10 minutes.)
*  If you're not going to serve spaghetti immediately, you can leave it in hot water and cool is slowly by adding ice cubes or cold water to stop the cooking process.  Reheat the spaghetti by running it under hot tap water in the strainer while shaking it vigorously.

And that's the name of that tune.  Now, go cook something.  The kids are getting hungry.

Steve and Kim

FRUITY COLESLAW

Fruity coleslaw on a summer afternoon is a wonderful way to top off a light and delicious meal.  Here's one of our favorite recipes that uses fresh fruit as it's base and rich taste as it's topping.  We hope you enjoy it as much as we do.

INGREDIENTS:

1 cup of fat-free plain yogurt
1/2 cup of honey
1/4 cup white vinegar
3 teaspoons of lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon of salt substitute
1/8 teaspoon pepper
1 can (16 ounces) reduced-sugar fruit cocktail (drained)
2 cups of blueberries fresh from the garden if possible
1 cup sliced fresh strawberries
1 medium ripe banana (sliced)
1 package (16 ounces) of coleslaw mix

PREPARATION:
Combine the yogurt, honey, vinegar, lemon juice, salt substitute and pepper.  Then add fruit cocktail, berries and banana.  Stir in coleslaw and serve fresh.

This is a recipe that not only tastes great it is good for heart health as well.  So, eat well, enjoy and be healthy.
Steve and Kim

TUNA TOMATO RED ONION AND OLIVE PITA

It is summer.  You are hungry but are concerned with preparing something in your kitchen as you don't want it to heat up too much.  What to do?  Well, here's a fresh and tasty idea that we think you'll enjoy.  It's kind of like a salad on pita bread.  Tuna, Tomato, Red Onion and Olive Pita.  Try this:

INGREDIENTS:
2 Tablespoons of fresh lemon juice
2 Tablespoons of olive oil
Kosher salt and pepper
3 5-ounce cans of solid white tuna, drained
1/2 small red onion, thinly sliced
1/2 cup of grape tomatoes, halved
1/4 cup pitted Kalamata olives, halved
1/4 cup flat-leaf parsley, roughly chopped
4 small or 2 large pitas, halved crosswise

PREPARATION:
*  In a large bowl, whisk together the lemon juice, olive oil and 1/4 teaspoon each of salt and pepper

*  Add the tuna, onion, tomatoes, olives and parsley and then gently toss everything to combine

*  Open the pita halves and fill it with the tuna salad

There's only about 281 calories in this meal so you can even have two if you like.  So sit back, grab a napkin and enjoy this tasty light delight.

Steve and Kim

GLAZED LEMON CHIFFON CAKE

 

I know it is hot and the last thing you're thinking about is turning on your oven, heating up the entire kitchen and baking.  BUT... I would encourage you to get a tall glass of ice tea, turn on a fan and get baking.  This delicious, light and fluffy glazed lemon chiffon cake is going to be the hit of the evening.

Thanks to Carol of Tacoma, Washington for providing this great recipe.  You're the best!

GLAZED LEMON CHIFFON CAKE

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 cups sifted cake flour
• 1- 1/2 cups granulated sugar
• 1 TBSP baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 8 eggs, separated
• 1/4 cup lemon juice
• 1/4 water
• 2-1/2  tbsp grated lemon zest
• 1/2 tsp cream of tartar

GLAZE:

• 6 TBSP butter, melted
• 1 TBSP grated lemon zest
• 2 cups confectioners' sugar
• 3 TBSP lemon juice
• 1 tsp pure vanilla

PREPARATION:

Preheat oven to 325*.
In large bowl, sift flour, granulated sugar, baking powder and salt. Add oil, egg yolks, lemon juice, water and lemon zest; whisk until well combined.

In large bowl, beat egg whites and cream of tartar with electric mixer to stiff peaks. Fold 1/3 of whipped whites into the batter to lighten. Gently fold in the remaining whites until mixture is combined: do not over mix or batter will deflate. Pour into ungreased pan; tap gently on counter to release air pockets.

Bake 50-60 minutes or until cake springs back when touched. Invert pan immediately after removing from oven; cool completely. Run knife around the sides and center of cake to loosen.

 For glaze, combine butter, zest, confectioners' sugar, juice and vanilla in medium bowl; stir until smooth. Pour over cooled cake and spread with spatula... glaze that drips off cake can be scooped back up with spatula. Glaze will set hard within 30 minutes.