OK people, this one is good. I do recommend having it side-by-side with the "cranberry-jelly-in-the-shape-of-the-can" just to see the two extremes of cranberry relish. This one is definitely tart, but balanced. No cups and cups of sugar added--just honey and some orange/cherries. And of course the beer helps. Easy to make...tasty...and as always, impressive. Many thanks to Sean Paxton, the Homebrew Chef, for the original recipe!
Cranberry Relish to Relish
Yields about 2 cups
6oz cranberries
1 clementine, or about half a can of mandarin orange slices
1 cinnamon stick
1/2c honey
Splash maple syrup (the real stuff!)
1/2c dried cherries
1 normal bottle of a slightly sweet beer--a trippel, a bock, a spiced holiday porter...
Pinch of salt
1. Combine everything in a pot. Heat over high heat, stirring, until simmer occurs.
2. Turn heat to low, cover pot, and let cook for 15 minutes or so.
3. Eat with turkey. Or over vanilla ice cream.
The end!
Sunday, November 28, 2010
Sunday, October 31, 2010
Tuna Salad a la Bricolage
bri·co·lage
[bree-kuh-lahzh, brik-uh-]
1. a construction made of whatever materials are at hand; something created from a variety of available things.
2. (in literature) a piece created from diverse resources.
3. (in art) a piece of makeshift handiwork.
4. the use of multiple, diverse research methods.
www.dictionary.com
Now you know a nice way to say "I threw this together with a whole bunch of random crap that was around my kitchen!"
On to the "recipe."
It's easy to make a kick-ass tuna salad sandwich...you just need the following. Be creative!
1. TUNA. Deeerp.
2. Creamy base. This could be the typical mayo, the blue cheese dressing I used, ranch dressing, hard-boiled eggs (the yolks break up and add to the creaminess), etc.
3. Vegetables. Celery is the usual...try onion, broccoli, carrots, tomato, corn, bell peppers...
4. Seasoning. Paprika, salt, celery seed, garlic powder, cumin, etc...
We were hungry. We didn't appear to have anything to eat. Joe suggested that we make tuna salad. I replied that we didn't have ANY of the stuff to make it except tuna. He gave me a look...and then we started making this version.
Mix together 2 cans of tuna, a hearty squeeze of blue cheese dressing, 3 diced hard-boiled eggs, 1 stalk of chopped celery, 1 cup of corn, 1 chopped green bell pepper, a pinch of salt, and a couple pinches of paprika.
That's it! Substitute whatever you have on hand...if you manage to keep two cans of tuna in your pantry, you'll be able to make this tasty sandwich filling anytime.
With the time you saved whipping up that quick little dish instead of running to the grocery store, you can explore the joy of singing the word "Bricolage" to the "Ricola" song. Brriiiiiiiiicolaaggeeeeee...
Friday, October 22, 2010
Broccoli Salad with Orange Dressing
The boy and I have started a food swap with a few people. Though the group is very small at this point, we're hoping to add a few members eventually. The goal is to prepare X servings of a delicious meal and then trade with the other chefs once a week. This way, we all get to try new things, and also have several meals ready for the week (the one we made, and the ones the others made). I have to tell you...it is pretty great. If you are already going to cook for two, how much harder is it to cook for 4 or 6?
Here is the very first thing we made for our nascent food swap. It's adapted from The Biggest Loser Cookbook--the original was a little too soupy for us.
Ingredients per serving:
-5-6 ounces of broccoli, chopped into bite-size pieces
-1/4c red onion, chopped
-1T apricot preserves (Polaner is awesome...100% fruit and no corn syrup etc, and just about the same price as the less-desirables)
-1T orange juice
-3T plain non-fat yogurt
-Dash of soy sauce
-Pinch of granulated garlic
1. Combine sauce ingredients. Mix the preserves, OJ, soy sauce, garlic, and yogurt in a large bowl.
2. Taste. Better taste it now and make sure you like it before you cover all your carefully chopped veggies...
3. Combine veggies 'n sauce. Toss the veggies into the big bowl with the sauce and stir, preferably with an aged wooden spoon that feels just right in your hand. This creates a tremendous sense of well-being that adds that je ne sais pas quoi to the dish.
4. Fridge it. Get that deliciousness into a sealed container and pop it in the fridge for awhile. Overnight is good, if possible...that way the flavors leech into the flavorless yogurt and it really tastes good! Aaaand...only 140 calories per serving.
Here is the very first thing we made for our nascent food swap. It's adapted from The Biggest Loser Cookbook--the original was a little too soupy for us.
Ingredients per serving:
-5-6 ounces of broccoli, chopped into bite-size pieces
-1/4c red onion, chopped
-1T apricot preserves (Polaner is awesome...100% fruit and no corn syrup etc, and just about the same price as the less-desirables)
-1T orange juice
-3T plain non-fat yogurt
-Dash of soy sauce
-Pinch of granulated garlic
1. Combine sauce ingredients. Mix the preserves, OJ, soy sauce, garlic, and yogurt in a large bowl.
2. Taste. Better taste it now and make sure you like it before you cover all your carefully chopped veggies...
3. Combine veggies 'n sauce. Toss the veggies into the big bowl with the sauce and stir, preferably with an aged wooden spoon that feels just right in your hand. This creates a tremendous sense of well-being that adds that je ne sais pas quoi to the dish.
4. Fridge it. Get that deliciousness into a sealed container and pop it in the fridge for awhile. Overnight is good, if possible...that way the flavors leech into the flavorless yogurt and it really tastes good! Aaaand...only 140 calories per serving.
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
Banoffee Mini Pies
These are awesome. I first had banoffee pie in London. It's got toffee, and it's got bananas--a delicious combo. This recipe does take a bit of time...a good 2 hours to make the dulce de leche, and then, depending how many mini pies you're making, a good 2-3 minutes to prep and caramelize the bananas for each. It is worth it, my friends. They are impressive looking, and delicious, and you will impress the pants off anyone you serve them to. So just be prepared for the off-pantsing.
Side note...I used a jumbo muffin pan to make my mini pie crusts, but you could also make a normal pie, or in a square pan (cutting them up will be messy, but they will still be tasty), or you could use ramekins or small oven-proof bowls. I'm pretty sure mini foil pie pans also exist.
Ingredients:
Crust (x2):
2.2 oz shortening
1.25c flour
Dash salt
1/2t cinnamon
5T ice water
Filling:
2 cans sweetened condensed milk
6-7 bananas, ripe but not squishy
Spiced rum
Sugar
1. Make the tasty caramel. Pop those 2 cans of s.c. milk open and pour them into a pie plate. Cover tightly with foil. Now plop that sucker into a larger pan with taller sides, and pour enough hot water in to cover the pie plate about halfway. Bake in a 425-degree oven. Set your timer for 45 minutes. When it goes off, check the water level and make sure it's halfway up the pie plate. Set the timer for another 45 and check. Finally, set for 20 minutes. Take the pan out this time. Remove the foil and stir the caramel well. Cover it again and let it sit for a while.
2. Make the pie crusts. While the s.c. milk is doing its thang, you can make the pie crusts. First of all, get a small bowl, and put ice and water in it. Then, grab a big bowl, and measure out the shortening, flour, cinnamon, and salt. Mix it all together by pinching off pieces of the shortening until it's all pea-size or smaller, and incorporated into the flour. (Hack: I’ve since found a quicker way to do this. Prepare yourselves. You throw the shortening into the flour mixture…then pick up handfuls and rub your hands together over it. Place the fingertips of one hand on the heel of the other, and then slide those fingertips toward the other hand’s fingertips, and vice versa. This sounds like b.s., but believe me, it works! Kinda reminiscent of making Play Doh snakes…I know you remember how.) Separate the mixture into four little piles inside the bowl. Measure out 1T of ice water into each pile, and mix together with your fingers. Use the last T of water to wet any remaining dry stuff, and mix everything into a big ball. Put the dough on a well-floured surface, and make sure to dust it thoroughly with flour. Rip a small gob of dough from the ball--slightly smaller than a golf ball is about right. Use a rolling pin to roll out the dough. Roll one way, then flip and turn the dough and roll the other way--keep the dough roughly circular. The edges will be ragged, but that's OK...it'll make the mini crusts look rustic and awesome. Make sure you grease the jumbo muffin pan very well--then arrange a piece of dough in each cup.
You'll need to repeat this step...it pays to only make one batch of pie crust at a time. It's some sort of baxter magic. (Did you know there was a word for female baker? Now you do.)
When you've got all 12 cups prepped with dough, poke 'em all with a fork. Then pop them in the oven. Check them every few minutes until they're crispy, but not burnt! It should only be about 7 minutes in that hot hot oven.
3. Do something else for awhile, cuz let's face it, it probably hasn't been two hours yet. Go read. Or make something for dinner. Or melt chocolate chips in the microwave and toss with dried cranberries, then plop on a foiled cookie sheet and put it in the fridge. Mmm, those are good.
4. Add the first half of the filling. Scoop a few spoonfuls of the caramel into each mini pie crust. Take care to sample the caramel several times. This is important.
5. Create caramelized banana-rum deliciousness. Break out a saute pan and lightly grease it. Slice up one banana at a time. Dip the banana medallions into a small bowl filled with sugar. Arrange the slices in the pan. Turn the burner on high, and add a splash of spiced rum to the pan. Listen to the banana--when it really starts sizzling, flip each slice over. The top side should now be a nice toasty brown color, and look a bit crusty. It'll smell good, too, not burnt. Wait another 30 seconds or so, and then turn the heat off. Put half of the banana slices on each mini pie.
That's it! See? Impressive. Try saying the following without being impressed: Crispy, flaky, made-from-scratch mini crusts filled with freshmade dulce de leche and banana medallions caramelized with rum. You can't. Make sure you serve them warm!
Edit: I'm going to try to include beer pairings for my recipes...this one is great with Belgian tripels and also a nice hefe, I'd imagine. Golden Monkey is my vote!
Side note...I used a jumbo muffin pan to make my mini pie crusts, but you could also make a normal pie, or in a square pan (cutting them up will be messy, but they will still be tasty), or you could use ramekins or small oven-proof bowls. I'm pretty sure mini foil pie pans also exist.
Ingredients:
Crust (x2):
2.2 oz shortening
1.25c flour
Dash salt
1/2t cinnamon
5T ice water
Filling:
2 cans sweetened condensed milk
6-7 bananas, ripe but not squishy
Spiced rum
Sugar
1. Make the tasty caramel. Pop those 2 cans of s.c. milk open and pour them into a pie plate. Cover tightly with foil. Now plop that sucker into a larger pan with taller sides, and pour enough hot water in to cover the pie plate about halfway. Bake in a 425-degree oven. Set your timer for 45 minutes. When it goes off, check the water level and make sure it's halfway up the pie plate. Set the timer for another 45 and check. Finally, set for 20 minutes. Take the pan out this time. Remove the foil and stir the caramel well. Cover it again and let it sit for a while.
2. Make the pie crusts. While the s.c. milk is doing its thang, you can make the pie crusts. First of all, get a small bowl, and put ice and water in it. Then, grab a big bowl, and measure out the shortening, flour, cinnamon, and salt. Mix it all together by pinching off pieces of the shortening until it's all pea-size or smaller, and incorporated into the flour. (Hack: I’ve since found a quicker way to do this. Prepare yourselves. You throw the shortening into the flour mixture…then pick up handfuls and rub your hands together over it. Place the fingertips of one hand on the heel of the other, and then slide those fingertips toward the other hand’s fingertips, and vice versa. This sounds like b.s., but believe me, it works! Kinda reminiscent of making Play Doh snakes…I know you remember how.) Separate the mixture into four little piles inside the bowl. Measure out 1T of ice water into each pile, and mix together with your fingers. Use the last T of water to wet any remaining dry stuff, and mix everything into a big ball. Put the dough on a well-floured surface, and make sure to dust it thoroughly with flour. Rip a small gob of dough from the ball--slightly smaller than a golf ball is about right. Use a rolling pin to roll out the dough. Roll one way, then flip and turn the dough and roll the other way--keep the dough roughly circular. The edges will be ragged, but that's OK...it'll make the mini crusts look rustic and awesome. Make sure you grease the jumbo muffin pan very well--then arrange a piece of dough in each cup.
You'll need to repeat this step...it pays to only make one batch of pie crust at a time. It's some sort of baxter magic. (Did you know there was a word for female baker? Now you do.)
When you've got all 12 cups prepped with dough, poke 'em all with a fork. Then pop them in the oven. Check them every few minutes until they're crispy, but not burnt! It should only be about 7 minutes in that hot hot oven.
3. Do something else for awhile, cuz let's face it, it probably hasn't been two hours yet. Go read. Or make something for dinner. Or melt chocolate chips in the microwave and toss with dried cranberries, then plop on a foiled cookie sheet and put it in the fridge. Mmm, those are good.
4. Add the first half of the filling. Scoop a few spoonfuls of the caramel into each mini pie crust. Take care to sample the caramel several times. This is important.
5. Create caramelized banana-rum deliciousness. Break out a saute pan and lightly grease it. Slice up one banana at a time. Dip the banana medallions into a small bowl filled with sugar. Arrange the slices in the pan. Turn the burner on high, and add a splash of spiced rum to the pan. Listen to the banana--when it really starts sizzling, flip each slice over. The top side should now be a nice toasty brown color, and look a bit crusty. It'll smell good, too, not burnt. Wait another 30 seconds or so, and then turn the heat off. Put half of the banana slices on each mini pie.
That's it! See? Impressive. Try saying the following without being impressed: Crispy, flaky, made-from-scratch mini crusts filled with freshmade dulce de leche and banana medallions caramelized with rum. You can't. Make sure you serve them warm!
Edit: I'm going to try to include beer pairings for my recipes...this one is great with Belgian tripels and also a nice hefe, I'd imagine. Golden Monkey is my vote!
Thursday, September 16, 2010
Crab Bisque
If you happen to buy a big old paper bag full of cooked crabs seasoned with old bay, and then have some left over, this is the perfect recipe. It requires a modicum of effort...well, anything with crabs does. Plan on spending 45 minutes just picking the meat out of the shells...well, you probably know this, if you eat crabs. As a recent crab-eater, the money and effort spent to eat crab still astounds me. Anyway, this recipe is awesome and delicious and you don't even have to season it cuz of the spices on the crab shells. Read on!
Crab Bisque
4 crabs
8-10 small potatoes
1 bag baby carrots
3 cans evaporated 2% milk
1. Pick the crabs. Put the meat in a bowl, and the shells in a pot.
2. Make crab stock. Cover the shells with hot water and boil uncovered over high heat for 30 minutes.
3. Prep veggies. While the stock is boiling, chop up the veggies. I suggest cutting up three of the potatoes into very small pieces so they fall apart and add to the thickness of the bisque. I chopped another five into medium-size chunks, and the last couple into larger pieces. This way, there's a variety of textures in the soup. Slice the carrots into little medallions.
4. Begin the bisque. Pour the crab stock through a strainer into another pot. Discard the shells. Toss the crab meat, veggies, and evaporated milk into the pot. Here's the important part...
5. Boil the bisque. Cook the bisque over medium-high heat, stirring constantly, until the liquid has cooked down about an inch. When the potatoes are done, and the smallest pieces of potato have fallen apart, and the liquid is thicker than it was when you started (check by dribbling some from the spoon every once in awhile), you're done.
Crab Bisque
4 crabs
8-10 small potatoes
1 bag baby carrots
3 cans evaporated 2% milk
1. Pick the crabs. Put the meat in a bowl, and the shells in a pot.
2. Make crab stock. Cover the shells with hot water and boil uncovered over high heat for 30 minutes.
3. Prep veggies. While the stock is boiling, chop up the veggies. I suggest cutting up three of the potatoes into very small pieces so they fall apart and add to the thickness of the bisque. I chopped another five into medium-size chunks, and the last couple into larger pieces. This way, there's a variety of textures in the soup. Slice the carrots into little medallions.
4. Begin the bisque. Pour the crab stock through a strainer into another pot. Discard the shells. Toss the crab meat, veggies, and evaporated milk into the pot. Here's the important part...
5. Boil the bisque. Cook the bisque over medium-high heat, stirring constantly, until the liquid has cooked down about an inch. When the potatoes are done, and the smallest pieces of potato have fallen apart, and the liquid is thicker than it was when you started (check by dribbling some from the spoon every once in awhile), you're done.
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
Sriracha-Blue Cheese Chicken Sandwiches
Came up with the idea for these little beauties when I heard about the upcoming Sriracha Cookbook. Usually, I shy away from this sauce...though Joe loves it, it is way too spicy for me. However, after reading about the layers of flavor encapsulated within...garlic, ketchupy-sweetness...I thought maybe I should give it another shot. The best way seemed to be blending a small amount of it with a creamy base of some sort. After some thought, I came up with the following. Mixing with blue cheese creates a yummy buffalo-wing-esque flavor, and the marinade and rub add further layers of complexity. Yum! Give it a try. Don't be afraid to take the heat!
Sriracha-Blue Cheese Chicken Sandwiches
Makes 4 sandwiches
2 large chicken breasts
4 hamburger buns
Marinade:
Granulated garlic
Red pepper flakes
Salt
Water to cover
Rub:
Packet of ranch dressing mix
Dressing:
1/4c blue cheese dressing
2t sriracha
1. Mix the sauce. Combine the blue cheese dressing and sriracha in a small bowl. Let sit for 30 minutes or longer to allow the flavors to meld.
2. Marinate the chicken. Grab a large bowl. Toss in some garlic, salt, and red pepper flakes. Pour in some water and mix up. Throw (ok, gently place) the chicken breasts in there. Fill with water until the breasts are covered over. Refrigerate an hour or overnight.
3. Rub the chicken. Remove the breasts from the marinade. Pat them dry with a paper towel. Cut each breast in half. Rub all sides with ranch dressing mix.
4. Grill. Grill the chicken on medium heat until done...about 25-35 minutes.
5. Toast buns. Don't burn them!
6. Serve. Place tasty seasoned chicken breast pieces on buns; top with blue cheese/sriracha sauce. Good with a big red leaf lettuce salad...the water helps take the heat off!
Enjoy. And don't get any sriracha in your eye, cuz I bet that would hurt a lot. It's made with chiles, you know.
Sriracha-Blue Cheese Chicken Sandwiches
Makes 4 sandwiches
2 large chicken breasts
4 hamburger buns
Marinade:
Granulated garlic
Red pepper flakes
Salt
Water to cover
Rub:
Packet of ranch dressing mix
Dressing:
1/4c blue cheese dressing
2t sriracha
1. Mix the sauce. Combine the blue cheese dressing and sriracha in a small bowl. Let sit for 30 minutes or longer to allow the flavors to meld.
2. Marinate the chicken. Grab a large bowl. Toss in some garlic, salt, and red pepper flakes. Pour in some water and mix up. Throw (ok, gently place) the chicken breasts in there. Fill with water until the breasts are covered over. Refrigerate an hour or overnight.
3. Rub the chicken. Remove the breasts from the marinade. Pat them dry with a paper towel. Cut each breast in half. Rub all sides with ranch dressing mix.
4. Grill. Grill the chicken on medium heat until done...about 25-35 minutes.
5. Toast buns. Don't burn them!
6. Serve. Place tasty seasoned chicken breast pieces on buns; top with blue cheese/sriracha sauce. Good with a big red leaf lettuce salad...the water helps take the heat off!
Enjoy. And don't get any sriracha in your eye, cuz I bet that would hurt a lot. It's made with chiles, you know.
Monday, August 30, 2010
Inspiration
No actual recipes in this post, just teasers. I've been poking about a lot of cookbooks lately--specifically Top Chef: The Cookbook. I got this book while visiting Book Expo America in NYC two years ago--Chronicle Books (an excellent publisher...check out their stuff and you may be surprised how much of it you're familiar with) was giving it away and having them signed by Hosea Rosenberg, Ariane Duarte, and Hung Huynh, all in order to promote a new book they were releasing (Top Chef: The Quickfire Cookbook). Though I watched season 2 of Top Chef during college, I haven't really followed it since...but I like it. And I love this cookbook. Here are some of the recipes I plan on adopting and adapting to my own demoniacal uses:
-Herb spaetzle (from scratch!)
-Espresso Shrimp Flambeed with Sambuca, wiith Roasted Hazelnut and Peanut Paste
-Mirin-Glazed Sea Bass
-Truffle and Cognac Mac + Cheese
-Portobello and Button Mushroom Cream Soup with Walnuts
-Grilled Cheese with Portobello Mushrooms and Roasted Red Pepper Soup
-Berry Cream, Roasted Mango, and Warm Apple Compote Tarts
-Molten Chocolate Cakes with Vanilla Creme Fraiche and Raspberry Coulis
-Low-Fat Berry Cheesecake
-Chocolate Ice Cream with Sauteed/Carmelized Banana
Look for Top Chef-inspired recipes soon!
-Herb spaetzle (from scratch!)
-Espresso Shrimp Flambeed with Sambuca, wiith Roasted Hazelnut and Peanut Paste
-Mirin-Glazed Sea Bass
-Truffle and Cognac Mac + Cheese
-Portobello and Button Mushroom Cream Soup with Walnuts
-Grilled Cheese with Portobello Mushrooms and Roasted Red Pepper Soup
-Berry Cream, Roasted Mango, and Warm Apple Compote Tarts
-Molten Chocolate Cakes with Vanilla Creme Fraiche and Raspberry Coulis
-Low-Fat Berry Cheesecake
-Chocolate Ice Cream with Sauteed/Carmelized Banana
Look for Top Chef-inspired recipes soon!
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
Jen's Easy Cheesy Quesadillas
We went to visit our fantastic friend Jen last night, and she made these for dinner. This is her go-to recipe for visitors. I suggest you try them!
-Tortillas
-Butter
-Shredded Mexican blend of cheese
-Pre-cooked chicken strips
1. Butter the tortillas. Just one side--this'll make them nice and crispy.
2. Cook the first layer. Put a tortilla butter side down in a pan over medium heat. Sprinkle cheese over it. Add chicken pieces. Wait until the cheese starts to look melty, then...
3. Add the second tortilla. Make sure you put it on butter side up. Wait for a bit until the cheese seems to have adhered to the top layer.
4. Flip the quesadilla. The bottom side should now be toasty and crisp. Wait a bit until the current bottom side gets crisp too.
5. Serve with sour cream and salsa.
You can get crazy and grate your own cheese, cook your own meat beforehand, and add whatever you like...black beans, hamburger, chili peppers...whatever. Enjoy!
-Tortillas
-Butter
-Shredded Mexican blend of cheese
-Pre-cooked chicken strips
1. Butter the tortillas. Just one side--this'll make them nice and crispy.
2. Cook the first layer. Put a tortilla butter side down in a pan over medium heat. Sprinkle cheese over it. Add chicken pieces. Wait until the cheese starts to look melty, then...
3. Add the second tortilla. Make sure you put it on butter side up. Wait for a bit until the cheese seems to have adhered to the top layer.
4. Flip the quesadilla. The bottom side should now be toasty and crisp. Wait a bit until the current bottom side gets crisp too.
5. Serve with sour cream and salsa.
You can get crazy and grate your own cheese, cook your own meat beforehand, and add whatever you like...black beans, hamburger, chili peppers...whatever. Enjoy!
Thursday, August 19, 2010
Kick-Ass Tuna Noodle Casserole of Awesomeness
Joe and I decided that, since we had two cans of tuna that have been in the pantry for...well...let's be optimistic and say a year...we should make tuna casserole. Everybody knows the basic ingredients...noodles, tuna, milk, cheese, veggies...but I was unsure as to the proportions. I poked through some of my favorite cookbooks (Fix it and Enjoy it Healthy Cookbook by Phyllis Pellman Good, a local Lancastrian; The New Best Recipe, All-New Edition [2004]), but couldn't find a recipe that rang true. After looking through my favorite cooking blogs, I finally found one that sounded like a good starting point. This isn't the easiest dish I've ever made, and not the quickest, but it's on the easier side of the middle range. Aaaand totally worth it! The fluffy noodles and chewy cheese combine to make an awesome texture, and you can pump this baby full of as much veggies as you want--though you are limited by the size of your casserole dish.
KA Tuna Noodle Casserole of Awesomeness
adapted from Simply Recipes
Makes 10 servings
16 oz extra wide egg noodles
8 oz sliced baby portabella mushrooms
3 cups frozen peas
1.5 cups sliced carrots
2 6 oz cans of tuna, drained
1 10 oz can cream of mushroom soup
4 cups shredded cheddar cheese (this'll be two small bags or one big one)
1/3 cup 1% milk (on the heavy side...probably 1/3c plus a few tablespoons)
2T granulated onion
1. Boil the water in the large pot. It sounds silly, but don't forget to put a lid on it...your water will boil MUCH faster.
2. When the water's boiling, add the veggies. Stir and let cook for about 7 minutes, until peas seem warmed through.
3. Use a slotted spoon to remove the veggies to a bowl. Set aside.
4A. Add the noodles to the water and cook until tender. Drain.
4B. While the noodles are cooking, saute the mushrooms. There's no need to add a fat--the mushrooms will release their own liquids and cook nicely in that. Cool, huh? That's about 8 minutes. Stir frequently!
5. Mix noodles, veggies, soup, milk, mushrooms, and granulated onion in the pot. If your pot is the size mine was...this will be somewhat difficult. Take it slow, Mac!
6. Grease your lasagna pan--bottom and sides.
7. Scoop the noodle mixture into the pan. Sprinkle with cheese and fold in (a wooden spoon works really well for this).
8. Bake in a 400-degree oven for 20 minutes.
Nutrition highlights: 377 calories, 4g fiber, 85% of your vitamin A, 37% of your calcium
KA Tuna Noodle Casserole of Awesomeness
adapted from Simply Recipes
Makes 10 servings
16 oz extra wide egg noodles
8 oz sliced baby portabella mushrooms
3 cups frozen peas
1.5 cups sliced carrots
2 6 oz cans of tuna, drained
1 10 oz can cream of mushroom soup
4 cups shredded cheddar cheese (this'll be two small bags or one big one)
1/3 cup 1% milk (on the heavy side...probably 1/3c plus a few tablespoons)
2T granulated onion
1. Boil the water in the large pot. It sounds silly, but don't forget to put a lid on it...your water will boil MUCH faster.
2. When the water's boiling, add the veggies. Stir and let cook for about 7 minutes, until peas seem warmed through.
3. Use a slotted spoon to remove the veggies to a bowl. Set aside.
4A. Add the noodles to the water and cook until tender. Drain.
4B. While the noodles are cooking, saute the mushrooms. There's no need to add a fat--the mushrooms will release their own liquids and cook nicely in that. Cool, huh? That's about 8 minutes. Stir frequently!
5. Mix noodles, veggies, soup, milk, mushrooms, and granulated onion in the pot. If your pot is the size mine was...this will be somewhat difficult. Take it slow, Mac!
6. Grease your lasagna pan--bottom and sides.
7. Scoop the noodle mixture into the pan. Sprinkle with cheese and fold in (a wooden spoon works really well for this).
8. Bake in a 400-degree oven for 20 minutes.
Nutrition highlights: 377 calories, 4g fiber, 85% of your vitamin A, 37% of your calcium
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
Nutty Pig Omelet
Just now, I was inspired by an awesome and easy recipe I saw on The Kitchn (a great blog that can be found on my list to the right). They found a vintage book on canapes and photographed some of the pages. Here's the original canape recipe, paraphrased (cuz 40 words is too much to type):
Baconnette Canape
-Bacon
-Peanut butter
Spread slices of uncooked bacon with PB. Roll together, poke through with a toothpick, and cook under a flame until the bacon is done. Serve by inserting toothpicks into an apple.
---
So here's me: "Peanut butter and bacon? Bacon, with peanut butter. ... YES."
My first idea for combining these is to use the dastardly duo as an omelet filling. Though I haven't tried this out yet, I'm thinking I'd fry up the bacon first, then crumble into a bowl with PB and a little milk to help smooth it out. Cook up the omelet as usual (I have no tips for you here...through my many attempts to make omelets, I inevitably end up with scrambled eggs). I'd suggest serving with a dusting of powdered sugar. Mmm. And of course, this dish must be called the Nutty Pig Omelet. You are hereby forbidden to serve it without calling it by its proper name.
On the flip side of the day, you could also use the filling as an ice cream topper...that would be so good...or if you are lucky enough to own an ice cream maker (I will get one someday!), you could TOTALLY ribbon the filling into vanilla ice cream. Can you imagine? Vanilla ice cream with peanut butter bacon ripple. Sign me up! By the way, if you attempt this, the rough steps are to first make the vanilla ice cream in the maker--meanwhile, put a large metal bowl and spoon in the freezer--when the ice cream hits the proper soft stage, pour it into the bowl and spread it out up the sides. Drizzle the filling all over, then fold the sides in over the top. Mix gently, because the more you do, the less the ripple will show. Then plunk it in a freezer container and freeze for at least 24 hours. You should totally call this Nutty Pig ice cream. And serve with more crumbled bacon and chopped peanuts.
YESSSS. Thanks to The Kitchn and that rad vintage book for the inspiration!
Baconnette Canape
-Bacon
-Peanut butter
Spread slices of uncooked bacon with PB. Roll together, poke through with a toothpick, and cook under a flame until the bacon is done. Serve by inserting toothpicks into an apple.
---
So here's me: "Peanut butter and bacon? Bacon, with peanut butter. ... YES."
My first idea for combining these is to use the dastardly duo as an omelet filling. Though I haven't tried this out yet, I'm thinking I'd fry up the bacon first, then crumble into a bowl with PB and a little milk to help smooth it out. Cook up the omelet as usual (I have no tips for you here...through my many attempts to make omelets, I inevitably end up with scrambled eggs). I'd suggest serving with a dusting of powdered sugar. Mmm. And of course, this dish must be called the Nutty Pig Omelet. You are hereby forbidden to serve it without calling it by its proper name.
On the flip side of the day, you could also use the filling as an ice cream topper...that would be so good...or if you are lucky enough to own an ice cream maker (I will get one someday!), you could TOTALLY ribbon the filling into vanilla ice cream. Can you imagine? Vanilla ice cream with peanut butter bacon ripple. Sign me up! By the way, if you attempt this, the rough steps are to first make the vanilla ice cream in the maker--meanwhile, put a large metal bowl and spoon in the freezer--when the ice cream hits the proper soft stage, pour it into the bowl and spread it out up the sides. Drizzle the filling all over, then fold the sides in over the top. Mix gently, because the more you do, the less the ripple will show. Then plunk it in a freezer container and freeze for at least 24 hours. You should totally call this Nutty Pig ice cream. And serve with more crumbled bacon and chopped peanuts.
YESSSS. Thanks to The Kitchn and that rad vintage book for the inspiration!
Monday, August 16, 2010
Easy Scout Donuts!
Joe showed me this recipe last night...all I have to say is, thank god for boyscouts. This is one of many delicious treats Joe learned to make while on the trail with the scouts...if you have young sons, you should coerce them into joining the scouts just so they learn how to cook. If it is easy enough to make while camping...you can probably pull it off at home with a minimum of effort.
Easy Scout Donuts:
1 can of refrigerated buttermilk biscuit dough
Enough oil to fill a small saucepan
Powdered sugar
1. Shape the donut. Crack open the tube of dough, remove one biscuit, and poke a hole in the middle. Squish the dough into a shape befitting a proper donut.
2. Fry the donut. After heating the pot of oil on the stove, drop in the dough. Make sure that it doesn't stick to the sides or bottom of the pot. After a minute, flip over the donut with tongs. The donut should be a nice golden brown on both sides before you take it out of the oil...generally about 2 minutes or so. It's a pretty quick process.
3. Season the donut. Put powdered sugar in a bowl with a lid, add the hot donut, and shake to coat. You could also create a glaze by boiling sugar water until it's thick...or you could coat with regular sugar...cinnamon sugar...maple syrup...just think of the possibilities!
Nom.
Easy Scout Donuts:
1 can of refrigerated buttermilk biscuit dough
Enough oil to fill a small saucepan
Powdered sugar
1. Shape the donut. Crack open the tube of dough, remove one biscuit, and poke a hole in the middle. Squish the dough into a shape befitting a proper donut.
2. Fry the donut. After heating the pot of oil on the stove, drop in the dough. Make sure that it doesn't stick to the sides or bottom of the pot. After a minute, flip over the donut with tongs. The donut should be a nice golden brown on both sides before you take it out of the oil...generally about 2 minutes or so. It's a pretty quick process.
3. Season the donut. Put powdered sugar in a bowl with a lid, add the hot donut, and shake to coat. You could also create a glaze by boiling sugar water until it's thick...or you could coat with regular sugar...cinnamon sugar...maple syrup...just think of the possibilities!
Nom.
Sunday, August 8, 2010
Extra-harvest corn soup
The recipe for today is another inspiration from the Grey Goose cookbook...really a very worthwhile publication, and with beautiful photographs...plus, you know, recipes that involve alcohol of some kind. Even if the alcohol part gets cooked off, there's still something sexy about putting liquor in your meal. You know it. We harvested lots of corn this weekend from the garden...though a lot of it was eaten as corn-on-the-cob, and a goodly portion was blanched and frozen in bags, some of it was saved for this delicious dish.
4 cups of corn
6 cups of veggie broth
1.5 T italian seasoning
4T scotch
S+P
Garlic
1. Boil. Put corn and broth in saucepan, bring it to a boil, and simmer for about ten minutes.
2. Blendify. Process about 3/4 of the soup so that it's all blended and chowdery. Try not to use a small food processor that only takes about 3 tablespoons at a time and doesn't handle liquids well.
3. Final cookage. Put all the soup, blended and not, back in the saucepan and add the spices and scotcheroony. Simmer for about half an hour. Yer done! You can serve chilled, if you like, or make some pigs-in-a-blanket and call it a day.
4 cups of corn
6 cups of veggie broth
1.5 T italian seasoning
4T scotch
S+P
Garlic
1. Boil. Put corn and broth in saucepan, bring it to a boil, and simmer for about ten minutes.
2. Blendify. Process about 3/4 of the soup so that it's all blended and chowdery. Try not to use a small food processor that only takes about 3 tablespoons at a time and doesn't handle liquids well.
3. Final cookage. Put all the soup, blended and not, back in the saucepan and add the spices and scotcheroony. Simmer for about half an hour. Yer done! You can serve chilled, if you like, or make some pigs-in-a-blanket and call it a day.
Saturday, August 7, 2010
Grilled Pineapple
This recipe is modified from the ingenious Grey Goose cookbook. It's pretty easy, and makes a tasty dessert when you're grilling. I mean, nothing says "Impressive" and "Fancy" like "Grilled Pineapple." Try it on your friends. Say..."I'm having sausage, baked potato, and corn on the cob, with grilled pineapple for dessert." They will inevitably say something like..."Oooo." Or "When do I get to come over to your house?"
1 pineapple
Rum of choice (I like coconut rum combined with some dark rum)
Brown sugar
Pumpkin pie spice
1. Prep the pineapple. Cut off the top and bottom of the pineapple. Don't remove the rind. Cut the fruit in quarters lengthwise. Remove the corner of the core that is on the point of each pineapple wedge. Make a long slice lengthwise, then several perpendicular to the center line.Arrange the quarters on a plate.
2. Add liquor. Mix a few tablespoons of each rum together and pour slowly over the pineapple quarters. Try to get the rum in the slices.
3. Add brown sugar. Press a bit of brown sugar onto all the juicy sides of the pineapple.
4. Add spices. Sprinkle the pumpkin pie spice lightly over the quarters.
5. Grill. Put those suckas on the grill for about 15 minutes. I recommend starting them on the top rack and moving them down for the last few minutes.
5B. Make sauce. While the pineapple is grilling, pour some rum, brown sugar, and spices into a saucepan. Reduce over medium heat until you've got the viscosity you want. I will say that if you want the sauce to be thick, you will need more that a few shots of rum. Also, keep in mind that breathing in the steam over the cooking rum WILL make you a bit tipsy.
6. Serve. Have a sharp knife on hand to cut the fruit from the rind. Enjoy with some more of that rum...
1 pineapple
Rum of choice (I like coconut rum combined with some dark rum)
Brown sugar
Pumpkin pie spice
1. Prep the pineapple. Cut off the top and bottom of the pineapple. Don't remove the rind. Cut the fruit in quarters lengthwise. Remove the corner of the core that is on the point of each pineapple wedge. Make a long slice lengthwise, then several perpendicular to the center line.Arrange the quarters on a plate.
2. Add liquor. Mix a few tablespoons of each rum together and pour slowly over the pineapple quarters. Try to get the rum in the slices.
3. Add brown sugar. Press a bit of brown sugar onto all the juicy sides of the pineapple.
4. Add spices. Sprinkle the pumpkin pie spice lightly over the quarters.
5. Grill. Put those suckas on the grill for about 15 minutes. I recommend starting them on the top rack and moving them down for the last few minutes.
5B. Make sauce. While the pineapple is grilling, pour some rum, brown sugar, and spices into a saucepan. Reduce over medium heat until you've got the viscosity you want. I will say that if you want the sauce to be thick, you will need more that a few shots of rum. Also, keep in mind that breathing in the steam over the cooking rum WILL make you a bit tipsy.
6. Serve. Have a sharp knife on hand to cut the fruit from the rind. Enjoy with some more of that rum...
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
Grilled Chicken Gyros
Anyway. I like greek food now, mostly. I might pick off olives and tomatoes, and drench cucumbers in dressing...but I've expanded my horizons. It's true. So when I saw a recipe in Weis Market's Healthy Bites for chicken gyros with tzatziki sauce...I thought "What the hell! I've got most of those ingredients!" and this version was born.
Grilled Chicken Gyros
Serves 4
About 220 calories each
2 chicken breasts
Dash of vegetable oil
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1T italian seasoning
4 pitas, or two enormous pieces of naan bread, sliced in half
Feta cheese
Onion
Lettuce and tomato for topping
Sauce:
1 regular (small) container of Greek plain yogurt
1/2 medium cucumber, peeled, seeded, minced
2t lemon juice
2t granulated garlic
S+P to taste
1. Grill chicken. This will take about 30 minutes if you use the whiffy sniffy frozen kind.
2. Make sauce. I prefer one of the shaker things from Tupperware. To seed the cucumber, first peel it and then use the peeler to scrape out the center.
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| Seeding a cucumber is oddly satisfying. |
3. Cook the stuff that goes with the chicken. Combine the oil, minced garlic, diced onion, and italian seasoning in a small saucepan and cook over low heat, stirring incessantly.
4. Chop up the chicken. Add it to the saucepan and stir until combined.
5. Warm the naan. Throw them on the freshly turned-off grill for a few minutes.
6. Serve. If you're using naan, cut it in half. Throw all the stuff on there and EAT IT!
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
Colby Jack-Stuffed Burgers and Simple Stir-Fried Veggies
Colby Jack-Stuffed Burgers
Yields 7-10 burgers
264 calories (.26lb burger, 2T cheese)
1.5 to 2 pounds of hamburg
Granulated garlic
Granulated onion powder
Red pepper flakes
Italian seasoning
S+P
Bag of colby jack cheese, shredded
Buns
Simple Stir-Fried Veggies
Yields 4-6 servings
37 calories (6 servings, 12 oz mushrooms, 2T soy sauce, 2t rice vinegar)
Green bell pepper
Red bell pepper
Yellow bell pepper
Container of pre-sliced baby portabella mushrooms
Soy sauce
Seasoned rice vinegar
Granulated garlic
Granulated onion
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1. Gather burger ingredients. Be sure to pick out the most hideous tablecloth imaginable for the viewing pleasure of your blog readers.
2. Season the meat. Sprinkle on a good 1 tablespoon of each of the seasonings, excepting the S+P. Just do that to taste. And only add red pepper flakes if you want your burger hot!
7. Gather ingredients for veggies. Use this opportunity to show your readers that there is a part of your small kitchen that has purty white tiles on it.
Friday, July 23, 2010
Easy pasta dinner for two
Pasta dinner for two, and two for pasta dinner, just me and you, and you for me...
No? Anyone?
Anywho, this recipe is way easy, and although not five-minutes quick, is about 30-minutes quick. Plus, you'll totally impress anyone who you serve this to, since you'll have made it all from scratch. Well, not the pasta. But I assume you knew that, since I labeled this recipe "Easy," and have mentioned the word "quick."
Recipe: Easy pasta dinner for two
Sauce:
-1 can diced tomatoes (drained)
-1 can tomato sauce
-1 can tomato paste
-2t garlic powder OR 2-3 cloves of garlic
-2t onion powder OR a diced small onion
-2t dried basil OR 5-10 chopped basil leaves
-1T dried parsley OR a couple of fresh parsley sprigs, chopped
-1t salt
-1t pepper
-1/2lb of hamburger meat if desired
Pasta:
-Enough spaghetti for the two of you (see tip on measuring below)
Salad:
-However you like to make a salad, really. Rip up half a head of romaine lettuce...buy a bag of salad mix...top with chopped veggies or not...dressing is good. Italian would be appropriate with this meal.
1. Put on a pot of boiling water for the pasta.
2. Cook the meat. If you're transforming the marinara sauce into meat sauce, cook up the hamburg now. I like to throw a few tablespoons of water into the pan to help the meat cook and stick to the pan a bit less. When the meat's nice and browned, rinse, drain, and set aside.
3. Combine sauce ingredients. Mix together all of the tomato things, spices, and meat in a saucepan. Cook over low-medium heat, stirring frequently.
4. Cook the pasta. When the water is boiling, add pasta. See instructions on the box for cooking time. Whole wheat pasta generally takes a few minutes longer than normal stuff. Either way, it should be about 7-12 minutes to cook two servings of spaghetti. When it's cooked the way you like it, drain and rinse. (Rinsing cleanses the pasta of extra starch...thus allowing you to leave the noodles sitting for awhile without turning into a wad of stuck-together mess. I highly recommend rinsing.)
5. Serve. Combine spaghetti and sauce. If you want a salad, well, you better get that out too.
See? Wasn't that easy? And if you want some garlic bread, just spread some butter (or Brummel and Brown) on a few pieces, sprinkle with garlic salt, and microwave for a few seconds until the butter is all melty and delicious. Pour some wine, and you're good to go! If you don't have a corkscrew, or just want to laugh, watch these videos.
No? Anyone?
Anywho, this recipe is way easy, and although not five-minutes quick, is about 30-minutes quick. Plus, you'll totally impress anyone who you serve this to, since you'll have made it all from scratch. Well, not the pasta. But I assume you knew that, since I labeled this recipe "Easy," and have mentioned the word "quick."
Recipe: Easy pasta dinner for two
Sauce:
-1 can diced tomatoes (drained)
-1 can tomato sauce
-1 can tomato paste
-2t garlic powder OR 2-3 cloves of garlic
-2t onion powder OR a diced small onion
-2t dried basil OR 5-10 chopped basil leaves
-1T dried parsley OR a couple of fresh parsley sprigs, chopped
-1t salt
-1t pepper
-1/2lb of hamburger meat if desired
Pasta:
-Enough spaghetti for the two of you (see tip on measuring below)
Salad:
-However you like to make a salad, really. Rip up half a head of romaine lettuce...buy a bag of salad mix...top with chopped veggies or not...dressing is good. Italian would be appropriate with this meal.
1. Put on a pot of boiling water for the pasta.
2. Cook the meat. If you're transforming the marinara sauce into meat sauce, cook up the hamburg now. I like to throw a few tablespoons of water into the pan to help the meat cook and stick to the pan a bit less. When the meat's nice and browned, rinse, drain, and set aside.
3. Combine sauce ingredients. Mix together all of the tomato things, spices, and meat in a saucepan. Cook over low-medium heat, stirring frequently.
4. Cook the pasta. When the water is boiling, add pasta. See instructions on the box for cooking time. Whole wheat pasta generally takes a few minutes longer than normal stuff. Either way, it should be about 7-12 minutes to cook two servings of spaghetti. When it's cooked the way you like it, drain and rinse. (Rinsing cleanses the pasta of extra starch...thus allowing you to leave the noodles sitting for awhile without turning into a wad of stuck-together mess. I highly recommend rinsing.)
Tip: Measuring spaghetti for two
Make a loop with your index finger and thumb by putting the tip of your index finger in the first joint of your thumb. Hold your hand near a plate or the countertop, and begin filling the loop with uncooked spaghetti. That's about two servings worth. Voila! (That's 'wa-la' for those of you who didn't know how to spell it.)5. Serve. Combine spaghetti and sauce. If you want a salad, well, you better get that out too.
See? Wasn't that easy? And if you want some garlic bread, just spread some butter (or Brummel and Brown) on a few pieces, sprinkle with garlic salt, and microwave for a few seconds until the butter is all melty and delicious. Pour some wine, and you're good to go! If you don't have a corkscrew, or just want to laugh, watch these videos.
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
Christmas in July Sugar Cakes
I know it's trite, but it IS July...
This is a family recipe that always made an appearance during Christmastime when I was a kid. These cookies...we call them cakes because they're so soft and tall...are just plain delicious. They're basically a fluffy, cake-like sugar cookie. They are simply fantastic with a glass of milk...after you have a bite of one, soaked in cool delicious milk, you'll never go back. Also, if you have kids (or let's face it, most of us would enjoy doing this), these cakes are a fantastic canvas for decorating. Break out your colored sugars and jimmies! If you're really not into happy creativity like that, a good alternative is black magic goth sugar. Just kidding...obviously, emo tears would be a more effective topping to mourn the fact that you don't have enough creative spirit to decorate a cookie with colored sugar.
Did I mention that they're pretty easy to make and bake? They're electric and hand-mix friendly.
Sugar Cakes Recipe
Yields about 100
-2c sugar
-1c butter
-3 eggs
-1c buttermilk
-4c flour
-2t baking powder
-1t baking soda
-1t vanilla
1. Cream the first 3 ingredients. That's the sugar, butter, and eggs, if you were wondering. I recommend creaming the butter first (get it nice and warm...don't be afraid to microwave it for a 10 seconds or so if it's chilly from the fridge) and then adding the sugar...and then the eggs. If you don't have an electric mixer, I highly recommend using a potato masher. I have turned out more awesome batches of these cookies in my home kitchen using a potato masher than an electric mixer...there's something magical about it. I like to call the masher my "secret ingredient." Really throws people off, since it's not even an ingredient, per say.
2. Dissolve baking soda in buttermilk. I like to use a fork to stir it up really well.
3. Combine flour and baking powder. Be sure to stir well.
4. Add milk and flour mixtures alternately to butter mixture. Add one...mix. Add the other...mix. Continue until you've added all of the mixtures together.
5. Add vanilla. Beat well.
6. Prep for baking. Drop by rounded tablespoonfuls onto a greased cookie sheet. If you don't have a cookie scoop (like an ice cream scoop, but appropriately sized!), you should seriously invest in one. I just googled and found one for $3. If you don't have a cookie scoop, the cakes will turn out just fine. The important thing is to make sure all the cookies are similar in size...so they bake at the same rate and finish together. These expand easily twice to three times their batter size, so beware of placing the cookies too close to each other.
7. Decorate. Red, green, blue, yellow...layer 'em on! The more sugar the better! Plain old sugar is just fine too...you'll enjoy the extra kick.
8. Bake. Bake at 400-degrees F for 8 minutes. I like to have three cookie sheets rotating...by the time I finish filling one tray, the one in the oven is about half done.
Calories: About 60 apiece.
Frosty the Snow Dork: Add a teaspoon of peppermint extract.
****May visions of sugar cakes dance in your heads...****
This is a family recipe that always made an appearance during Christmastime when I was a kid. These cookies...we call them cakes because they're so soft and tall...are just plain delicious. They're basically a fluffy, cake-like sugar cookie. They are simply fantastic with a glass of milk...after you have a bite of one, soaked in cool delicious milk, you'll never go back. Also, if you have kids (or let's face it, most of us would enjoy doing this), these cakes are a fantastic canvas for decorating. Break out your colored sugars and jimmies! If you're really not into happy creativity like that, a good alternative is black magic goth sugar. Just kidding...obviously, emo tears would be a more effective topping to mourn the fact that you don't have enough creative spirit to decorate a cookie with colored sugar.
Did I mention that they're pretty easy to make and bake? They're electric and hand-mix friendly.
Sugar Cakes Recipe
Yields about 100
-2c sugar
-1c butter
-3 eggs
-1c buttermilk
-4c flour
-2t baking powder
-1t baking soda
-1t vanilla
Tip: Buttermilk Substitute
If you don't have any buttermilk on hand, an easy work-around is to mix 1 tablespoon of lemon juice into 1 cup of milk (any sort of milk will work). I'd recommend you do that now...the mix will need some time to turn into buttermilk substitute...about 5-10 minutes is good. If you don't have lemon juice, you're still screwed. Go to the store and get buttermilk AND lemon juice...the juice keeps for a decently long time.1. Cream the first 3 ingredients. That's the sugar, butter, and eggs, if you were wondering. I recommend creaming the butter first (get it nice and warm...don't be afraid to microwave it for a 10 seconds or so if it's chilly from the fridge) and then adding the sugar...and then the eggs. If you don't have an electric mixer, I highly recommend using a potato masher. I have turned out more awesome batches of these cookies in my home kitchen using a potato masher than an electric mixer...there's something magical about it. I like to call the masher my "secret ingredient." Really throws people off, since it's not even an ingredient, per say.
Tip: Cracking an Egg
I used to think I had decent experience cracking eggs. After my first day working at The Flour Child (an amazing bakery in Columbia, PA...cry now if you're not close enough to visit...OK, that's enough.), I thought differently. I'll just say that I had the privilege of cracking somewhere close to 30 eggs that day...just for one recipe. If you're a pastry chef, that probably would not faze you...but lemme tell ya, it was an eye-opening introduction to the world of professional baking! And it was delightful. Anyway, since then, I've developed my egg-cracking technique somewhat, and I'd like to share. This method rarely yields egg shell bits in the batter, which was my main issue before...
1. Hold the egg securely in one hand (I prefer a loose 3-finger baseball grip).
2. Tap the middle of the egg lightly, but firmly, on the edge of the bowl you're using.
3. Rotate the egg slightly, and tap the egg again, continuing the crack line.
4. Rotate and tap again. By this time, the top half of the shell should be coming loose enough to easily remove. 2. Dissolve baking soda in buttermilk. I like to use a fork to stir it up really well.
3. Combine flour and baking powder. Be sure to stir well.
4. Add milk and flour mixtures alternately to butter mixture. Add one...mix. Add the other...mix. Continue until you've added all of the mixtures together.
5. Add vanilla. Beat well.
6. Prep for baking. Drop by rounded tablespoonfuls onto a greased cookie sheet. If you don't have a cookie scoop (like an ice cream scoop, but appropriately sized!), you should seriously invest in one. I just googled and found one for $3. If you don't have a cookie scoop, the cakes will turn out just fine. The important thing is to make sure all the cookies are similar in size...so they bake at the same rate and finish together. These expand easily twice to three times their batter size, so beware of placing the cookies too close to each other.
7. Decorate. Red, green, blue, yellow...layer 'em on! The more sugar the better! Plain old sugar is just fine too...you'll enjoy the extra kick.
8. Bake. Bake at 400-degrees F for 8 minutes. I like to have three cookie sheets rotating...by the time I finish filling one tray, the one in the oven is about half done.
Calories: About 60 apiece.
Variations!
Hot Cocoa: Add chocolate chips to the batter. Just imagine morsels of melty chocolate floating in soft, sweet, fluffy, melt-in-your-mouth cake. Yep.Frosty the Snow Dork: Add a teaspoon of peppermint extract.
****May visions of sugar cakes dance in your heads...****
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
Oven Fries
This is a fantastic, easy-to-make recipe that is actually not too bad for you. These fries are easily customized (just add your favorite spice combo), and make a great side dish for...well, just about anything. Hot dogs? Check. Hamburgers? Check. Steaks, fish, chicken...check. Sometimes, I like to bake a tray and eat them by themselves. They're that good.
Recipe: Oven Fries
Ingredients:
-4-6 medium-sized potatoes
-Spices of choice (see Variations below for suggestions)
-Oil of choice
-Cooking spray
Beach: Salt. Sprinkle with vinegar post-bakage.
Crabby: Old Bay and salt.
The Kerri: Garlic, basil, and salt.
The Cinnabon: Cinnamon and sugar.
The Italian: Garlic, oregano, and parsley. Serve with tomato sauce.
Taco taco: Cumin, cayenne pepper, and salt.
The Aladdin: Garlic, cumin, and red pepper. Serve with hummus.
Something fishy this way comes: Lemon pepper.
Easy-peasy-Japanesy: Wasabi powder and ginger.
1. Prep for baking. Cover a cookie sheet with foil and apply cooking spray liberally.
2. Prep the seasoning mixture. Grab a decent-sized bowl (i.e. not a cereal bowl, folks). Pour in about 1/3 cup of oil. Add in whatever spices you like. Don't be shy...you want a solid tablespoon of spices in that oil. More, if you want more flavor.
3. Cut the taters. First, rinse the dirt off your potatoes. Using a large chef's knife, cut the potato length-wise into 1/2"-thick slices. From there, cut each slice into however many fries you want. I enjoy large fries, about 1" or so across. But these are your fries, so it's up to you!
5. Season the fries. Toss a handful of your potato pieces into the bowl with the seasoning mixture. Use a fork (or your hands) to stir the pieces around until they are good and covered with the mixture. When one batch is done, throw them on the cookie sheet so they are close, but not touching. Keep seasoning one handful of fries at a time until you run out of potato pieces. If you run out of seasoning, mix up some more (duh).
6. Bake. Bake those puppies at about 400 degrees. After 10-15 minutes, flip them over. Bake for another 10-15 minutes. Done! Wasn't that easy? Oh, one more step...
7. Wait 5-7 minutes until cool before eating. I know it's hard...but if you burn your tongue, you won't taste the fries at all! Go play with the cat or something!
Calories: Each potato-worth of fries is about 300 calories.
Recipe: Oven Fries
Ingredients:
-4-6 medium-sized potatoes
-Spices of choice (see Variations below for suggestions)
-Oil of choice
-Cooking spray
Variations!
Traditional: Just the salt, ma'am.Beach: Salt. Sprinkle with vinegar post-bakage.
Crabby: Old Bay and salt.
The Kerri: Garlic, basil, and salt.
The Cinnabon: Cinnamon and sugar.
The Italian: Garlic, oregano, and parsley. Serve with tomato sauce.
Taco taco: Cumin, cayenne pepper, and salt.
The Aladdin: Garlic, cumin, and red pepper. Serve with hummus.
Something fishy this way comes: Lemon pepper.
Easy-peasy-Japanesy: Wasabi powder and ginger.
1. Prep for baking. Cover a cookie sheet with foil and apply cooking spray liberally.
2. Prep the seasoning mixture. Grab a decent-sized bowl (i.e. not a cereal bowl, folks). Pour in about 1/3 cup of oil. Add in whatever spices you like. Don't be shy...you want a solid tablespoon of spices in that oil. More, if you want more flavor.
3. Cut the taters. First, rinse the dirt off your potatoes. Using a large chef's knife, cut the potato length-wise into 1/2"-thick slices. From there, cut each slice into however many fries you want. I enjoy large fries, about 1" or so across. But these are your fries, so it's up to you!
5. Season the fries. Toss a handful of your potato pieces into the bowl with the seasoning mixture. Use a fork (or your hands) to stir the pieces around until they are good and covered with the mixture. When one batch is done, throw them on the cookie sheet so they are close, but not touching. Keep seasoning one handful of fries at a time until you run out of potato pieces. If you run out of seasoning, mix up some more (duh).
6. Bake. Bake those puppies at about 400 degrees. After 10-15 minutes, flip them over. Bake for another 10-15 minutes. Done! Wasn't that easy? Oh, one more step...
7. Wait 5-7 minutes until cool before eating. I know it's hard...but if you burn your tongue, you won't taste the fries at all! Go play with the cat or something!
Calories: Each potato-worth of fries is about 300 calories.
Monday, July 19, 2010
Blue Cheese Burgers
This week, I discovered a delicious-sounding grilling recipe on one of the food blogs I follow (simplyrecipes.com...highly recommend it!). I've been on the war path for creative grilling recipes since we just finished jazzing up our small back patio (see beauteous photo below). I finally have a grill...and there's a world of cooking open to me that was untouchable a month ago.
Anyhow, the glorious recipe is for blue cheese burgers. Burgers with cheese MIXED IN. Cheesiness throughout the patty.
Let that sink in a moment.
Ok. So if you're like me, right now you're bemoaning the fact that you never thought of this yourself. (Or maybe you did...in which case, I salute you.) I mean...it's pure genius! Blue cheese doesn't melt like crazy, so it's a perfect burger mix-in.
Here's the original recipe from simplyrecipes.com:
Because I'm a cheese maniac, I modified this recipe by adding the entire 1 cup container of blue cheese. In retrospect, I should have known this could cause problems, but I merrily went ahead toward the promise of ultra-cheesiness. Not sure what exactly did it, but most of one of the burgers was devoured by the grill. Just split and fell right through the grate. It was really difficult to flip the burgers...they just crumbled. So. I revisited the recipe and tried again, with much better results. Not to mention I thought of a delicious way to complement the blue cheese with spiciness...those ingredients are starred so you can avoid them if you don't like spicy food. I don't like super-spicy food, but I cook for someone who does...so I try to accommodate tastes. :)
Kerri's No-More-Blue-Grillin' Spicy Blue Cheese Burgers
2. Divide the meat. Divide the mixture into as many equal-sized lumps as you want burgers. This recipe generally yields between 4 and 6 burgers.
3. Pat the burgers. Seize one of the lumps of meat. Cup it in your hands and squash it into as tight of a ball as you can. Flatten your hands and squish the ball so it's flat, about 1/2" thick. Using your thumbs, push in the sides of the patty so there aren't any pieces sticking out. Those tend to burn off and also make the structure of the patty weaker. Flattening the sides also allows you to make the patty round and equally thick the whole way across. Keep turning and flattening until you're happy with it. I like to make a depression in the middle of each patty. For some reason, it helps the burgers to cook more quickly and evenly. Mysterious.
4. Grill the burgers. Put the grill on high. If you have a bun rack, I highly suggest you use it. No. Use it. You will thank me when you're eating the burger instead of picking its charred remains from the insides of your grill. The bit of extra distance from the flame allows the burger to get a nice crust on the outside without being burned. That way, you can actually flip the burger after a few minutes instead of destroying it. If you do not have a bun rack, only turn half of your burners on high...and put the burgers on the opposite side. Put the burner under that side on super-low.
Variations: I was thinking that feta, being similar in texture, meltiness, etc, to blue cheese, would also make a good mix-in. I'd like to try a Greek burger...part lamb, part beef...mix in feta...serve with beet slices and onion....mmmm. When I actually make those, I'll post a recipe. Somehow, I feel certain that I will make them...
Let that sink in a moment.
Ok. So if you're like me, right now you're bemoaning the fact that you never thought of this yourself. (Or maybe you did...in which case, I salute you.) I mean...it's pure genius! Blue cheese doesn't melt like crazy, so it's a perfect burger mix-in.
Here's the original recipe from simplyrecipes.com:
- 1 pound ground beef (16-20%)
- 1 Tbsp Dijon mustard
- 2 cloves minced garlic
- 2 green onions, chopped
- 1/2 cup (about 2 ounces) crumbled blue cheese (get Pt. Reyes blue cheese if you can find it)
- 1 egg
- 1 Tbsp water
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Because I'm a cheese maniac, I modified this recipe by adding the entire 1 cup container of blue cheese. In retrospect, I should have known this could cause problems, but I merrily went ahead toward the promise of ultra-cheesiness. Not sure what exactly did it, but most of one of the burgers was devoured by the grill. Just split and fell right through the grate. It was really difficult to flip the burgers...they just crumbled. So. I revisited the recipe and tried again, with much better results. Not to mention I thought of a delicious way to complement the blue cheese with spiciness...those ingredients are starred so you can avoid them if you don't like spicy food. I don't like super-spicy food, but I cook for someone who does...so I try to accommodate tastes. :)
Kerri's No-More-Blue-Grillin' Spicy Blue Cheese Burgers
- 1 pound ground beef (80/20 recommended)
- 3 cloves minced garlic
- 1 cup crumbled blue cheese
- 1 egg
- 1 cup bread crumbs
- Salt and pepper
- 3T Tabasco sauce*
- 1t ground cayenne pepper*
2. Divide the meat. Divide the mixture into as many equal-sized lumps as you want burgers. This recipe generally yields between 4 and 6 burgers.
3. Pat the burgers. Seize one of the lumps of meat. Cup it in your hands and squash it into as tight of a ball as you can. Flatten your hands and squish the ball so it's flat, about 1/2" thick. Using your thumbs, push in the sides of the patty so there aren't any pieces sticking out. Those tend to burn off and also make the structure of the patty weaker. Flattening the sides also allows you to make the patty round and equally thick the whole way across. Keep turning and flattening until you're happy with it. I like to make a depression in the middle of each patty. For some reason, it helps the burgers to cook more quickly and evenly. Mysterious.
4. Grill the burgers. Put the grill on high. If you have a bun rack, I highly suggest you use it. No. Use it. You will thank me when you're eating the burger instead of picking its charred remains from the insides of your grill. The bit of extra distance from the flame allows the burger to get a nice crust on the outside without being burned. That way, you can actually flip the burger after a few minutes instead of destroying it. If you do not have a bun rack, only turn half of your burners on high...and put the burgers on the opposite side. Put the burner under that side on super-low.
Variations: I was thinking that feta, being similar in texture, meltiness, etc, to blue cheese, would also make a good mix-in. I'd like to try a Greek burger...part lamb, part beef...mix in feta...serve with beet slices and onion....mmmm. When I actually make those, I'll post a recipe. Somehow, I feel certain that I will make them...
Sunday, July 18, 2010
Quest for the perfect Japanese ginger salad dressing
I've long been a fan of the delicious ginger salad dressing the local sushi restaurant serves over a simple iceberg lettuce salad. It's slightly sweet, slightly zesty, and has an interesting texture--a fine pulp settles on the lettuce and a bit of juice settles in the bowl's bottom. I've even asked the waiters what ingredients are in the delectable orange concoction...but alas, they will not tell me. My next step was to scan the net for the recipe. Easy, right? Nope. It seems that every Japanese restaurant has its own version of this basic dressing. I found some recipes for something called "Makato style" that sounded about right. But were they? Obviously, the only thing to do was to make 6 versions and do a taste test. Obviously.
The recipes had several common ingredients, which made grocery shopping muuuuch easier. Ginger...rice vinegar...mirin (a sweetened rice vinegar)...and onion. Each recipe had a few other ingredients, but they were all basics that I had on hand (and probably you will too).
To find mirin and other specialty stuff, we drove out to our local Asian grocery...man do I love that place. Piles of ginger. Piles. Huge bottles of Siracha for $3. 7 billion kinds of tea. Aloe drinks. Frozen meat buns. Mmmm.Not to mention $9 marble mortar/pestles...$10 bun steamers...etc.
Here are the ingredients all gathered. And yes, that really is my tablecloth...deal with it.
Recipes
Here are all 6 original recipes that I tested. I wish I had saved the websites so I could attribute each one...but alas, I did not. I will not disgrace anyone else by pretending Recipe #6 was written by any doofus other than me. The others were found by Googling "Japanese ginger salad dressing" and variations on the theme.
Recipe #1:
1 piece peeled ginger root
1/2 c rice wine vinegar
1T chopped onion
1T water
1/4 c vegetable oil
1t sesame oil
1T tomato paste
pinch sugar
pinch salt
2T soy sauce
Recipe #2:
1/4c chopped onions
1/4c peanut oil
1-1/2t rice vinegar
1T water
1T ginger root
1T celery
1T ketchup or tomato paste
2t soy sauce
1t sugar
1t lemon juice
1/3 clove garlic
1/3t pepper
dash salt
Recipe #3:
1 small carrot
2T mirin
2T rice vinegar
1T soy sauce
1/2t sesame oil
2T onion
1T prepared mustard
1T ginger
Recipe #4:
2 small carrots
4T mirin
4T rice vinegar
1t sesame oil
2T soy sauce
2T grated ginger
1/2lb silken tofu (very soft)
1/2" slice of a small red onion
1/4t sugar
1/2 small garlic clove
pinch salt
Recipe #5:
2t peanut oil
1/4c rice vinegar
1t sesame oil
2 medium carrots (6 baby carrots)
1" ginger root
2t sugar
Recipe #6:
1 shallot
15 mini carrots
2" ginger
6T mirin
1/4c water
Dash rice vinegar
Dash soy sauce
Dash salt
1t sugar
1. Peel the ginger. Peeling ginger can be a time sucker. You can save yourself a lot of trouble by purchasing large, relatively smooth ginger roots. The fewer lumps, the smoother the peeling will go. Trust me. Use a knife to cut off the skin, making sure to keep any body parts out of the knife's path. If you don't feel comfortable with this method, you can use a veggie peeler. I find it a bit too cumbersome, but it's servicable.
2. Prepare veggies for the food processor. Chop up all the vegetables to a size your food processor can handle. This list includes: carrots (I chopped the baby carrots into thirds), celery, garlic (halve the cloves), onion, and ginger.
Tip: Dealing with garlic. I freeze my cloves...lemme tell ya, it is magical how easy it is to prep frozen garlic. The paper almost wipes off the cloves...and you can snap off the butt of the clove WITH YOUR FINGERS. Try it. You'll thank me.
The vegetable matter is all chopped up.
Tip: Shallots vs Onions. A few days ago, I did not know what a shallot was. I'll admit it. Now, I can tell you that it is a tiny bulb vegetable...looks like a cross between an onion and garlic. It's garlic sized, with an onion-y taste...but not nearly as zippy as onion. I substituted shallots for onions in many of these recipes since the ginger didn't really need any help getting the zippiness across...
3. Measure out the veggies. After you pick a recipe to start with, scan through the ingredients list and measure the vegetable matter into the food processor.
4. Process the veggies. Pulse that blade until your veggies are finely pulverized. This is a good time to get out your aggressions vicariously. Pulsing rhythmically is also a good way to lay down an awesome rap beat. Give it a try.
Whir. Whir. Whirrrr. Whirwhirwhir. Whir whir.
Whir.
5. Add wet stuff. After the veggies are all nice and very tiny, add in the liquids/pastes from the recipe. Rice vinegar, mirin, water, soy sauce, lemon juice, tomato paste, mustard, tofu...you get the idea. Pulse a couple of times to mix well.
Tofu smashed up by hand on the left...machine-pulverized on the right. Clearly, you should use the food processor. It's just easier. Be warned that this recipe can't be processed all at once...at least not if you have a dinky little 3" deep 6" wide dish in your processor like I do.
6. Add dry stuff. Now that the mixture is all nice and moist, you can add in your sugar, salt, pepper...that's pretty much it for the dry ingredients, actually. Pulse a few times to mix.
7. Pour into a bowl and move on to the next one. Here are all 6 of the recipes. Rinse off any dirty tools between recipes...even though the versions are very similar, some of them have ingredients (SESAME OIL...ahem) that will totally taint the next dressing.
Tip: Wet wipe, dry wipe. When you're cooking or baking, one of the best and easiest ways to make yourself stay sane as long as possible is to have one wet and one dry towel/dishcloth close at hand. When something inevitably spills or you get crap on your hands, these babies will help you clean up quickly. Endless applications...
Tasting Notes
Most of the recipes I used recommended allowing the dressings to refrigerate overnight so the flavors could properly meld. Well, I did that, but I wanted to taste these suckas immediately! Like hell was I gonna spend a couple hours making these damn things and not taste them til the next day. Puh-lease. So these tasting notes may very well change when I retaste tomorrow...but here they be anyway.
Recipe #1
Too vinegary...way too liquidy. Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeehhh. (That was a buzzer sounding my disapproval of Recipe #1.)
Recipe #2
Almost the right taste! It's a bit too "dark" tasting...perhaps less soy sauce would fix that. Texture is ok.
Recipe #3
Wrong. Too liquidy. Too vinegary. This one basically assaulted me. Too strong, and too zesty. Naaaasty. I feel pretty confident that, unless magical fairies somehow correct these flavors overnight, I'm going to be pitching this one down the sink tomorrow.
Recipe #4
This is not a good clone of the original dressing (texture and flavor are completely different)...but it is definitely a delicious and worthwhile recipe. The tofu gives the dressing a smooth, creamy body without being too heavy. The flavors are subtle...slightly sweet, slightly zesty. I'm going to use this batch for sure! Which is good, since I put in a whole 12 oz of tofu (rather than just the 8 the recipe wanted).
Recipe #5
I was so psyched when I finished this one...the following thoughts occurred in quick succession. "The color is almost perfect! Oh, and the texture looks spot on...is this The One?! I'll just taste it now...NOOOOOO!!! Vinegar!!!!"
Recipe #6
This was my follow-up to #5. I figured I'd substitute water for the vinegar, because that was the obvious issue with #5. However...I may have gotten a bit overzealous. I popped in some other stuff that maybe I didn't need to...and this ended up being overpoweringly carroty and sweet, with an unpleasant opposing aftertaste of wicked strong ginger.
This was because I only had one more inch of ginger root left, so I figured I'd just use it up so it wouldn't get wasted. Turns out there was already far too much ginger zip in here...and of course, it was right at this point that I figured out #5 would be just perfect if I substituted water for vinegar and left everything else alone. But now I had no more ginger to test that theory... le sigh.
------------
12 hours later...
I pulled the dressings out of the fridge this afternoon and re-tasted to see if any melding or fairy visitations had gone on. Joe tasted them with me. Here are our thoughts:
#1: Smokey taste (must be the sesame oil). Still too vinegary...but could make a good marinade, perhaps.
#2: Good texture...similar to the original dressing. Garlicy. Good! After tasting them all, this was the closest to the original dressing, but not quite right.
#3: Too vinegary. Subdued from yesterday, but still awful.
#4: Sweetened up overnight. I liked it better yesterday! Booo.
#5: The most vinegary. Awful. Can't even taste the ginger due to the astringent flavor.
#6: Still sweet and carroty, with a POWERFUL GINGER AFTERTASTE.
Conclusion: I don't think there is rice vinegar in the original. The recipes with vinegar are overpowered by it. My best guess is that the original dressing has a little ginger, a little bit less carrot, water, some mirin, and a bit of onion.
I'll update when I've had the chance to run out and get some ginger.
The recipes had several common ingredients, which made grocery shopping muuuuch easier. Ginger...rice vinegar...mirin (a sweetened rice vinegar)...and onion. Each recipe had a few other ingredients, but they were all basics that I had on hand (and probably you will too).
To find mirin and other specialty stuff, we drove out to our local Asian grocery...man do I love that place. Piles of ginger. Piles. Huge bottles of Siracha for $3. 7 billion kinds of tea. Aloe drinks. Frozen meat buns. Mmmm.Not to mention $9 marble mortar/pestles...$10 bun steamers...etc.
Here are the ingredients all gathered. And yes, that really is my tablecloth...deal with it.
Recipes
Here are all 6 original recipes that I tested. I wish I had saved the websites so I could attribute each one...but alas, I did not. I will not disgrace anyone else by pretending Recipe #6 was written by any doofus other than me. The others were found by Googling "Japanese ginger salad dressing" and variations on the theme.
Recipe #1:
1 piece peeled ginger root
1/2 c rice wine vinegar
1T chopped onion
1T water
1/4 c vegetable oil
1t sesame oil
1T tomato paste
pinch sugar
pinch salt
2T soy sauce
Recipe #2:
1/4c chopped onions
1/4c peanut oil
1-1/2t rice vinegar
1T water
1T ginger root
1T celery
1T ketchup or tomato paste
2t soy sauce
1t sugar
1t lemon juice
1/3 clove garlic
1/3t pepper
dash salt
Recipe #3:
1 small carrot
2T mirin
2T rice vinegar
1T soy sauce
1/2t sesame oil
2T onion
1T prepared mustard
1T ginger
Recipe #4:
2 small carrots
4T mirin
4T rice vinegar
1t sesame oil
2T soy sauce
2T grated ginger
1/2lb silken tofu (very soft)
1/2" slice of a small red onion
1/4t sugar
1/2 small garlic clove
pinch salt
Recipe #5:
2t peanut oil
1/4c rice vinegar
1t sesame oil
2 medium carrots (6 baby carrots)
1" ginger root
2t sugar
Recipe #6:
1 shallot
15 mini carrots
2" ginger
6T mirin
1/4c water
Dash rice vinegar
Dash soy sauce
Dash salt
1t sugar
Creating the dressings
Tip: Dealing with garlic. I freeze my cloves...lemme tell ya, it is magical how easy it is to prep frozen garlic. The paper almost wipes off the cloves...and you can snap off the butt of the clove WITH YOUR FINGERS. Try it. You'll thank me.
Tip: Shallots vs Onions. A few days ago, I did not know what a shallot was. I'll admit it. Now, I can tell you that it is a tiny bulb vegetable...looks like a cross between an onion and garlic. It's garlic sized, with an onion-y taste...but not nearly as zippy as onion. I substituted shallots for onions in many of these recipes since the ginger didn't really need any help getting the zippiness across...
Whir. Whir. Whirrrr. Whirwhirwhir. Whir whir.
Whir.
Tasting Notes
Most of the recipes I used recommended allowing the dressings to refrigerate overnight so the flavors could properly meld. Well, I did that, but I wanted to taste these suckas immediately! Like hell was I gonna spend a couple hours making these damn things and not taste them til the next day. Puh-lease. So these tasting notes may very well change when I retaste tomorrow...but here they be anyway.
Recipe #1
Recipe #2
Recipe #3
Recipe #4
Recipe #5
Recipe #6
This was because I only had one more inch of ginger root left, so I figured I'd just use it up so it wouldn't get wasted. Turns out there was already far too much ginger zip in here...and of course, it was right at this point that I figured out #5 would be just perfect if I substituted water for vinegar and left everything else alone. But now I had no more ginger to test that theory... le sigh.
------------
12 hours later...
I pulled the dressings out of the fridge this afternoon and re-tasted to see if any melding or fairy visitations had gone on. Joe tasted them with me. Here are our thoughts:
#1: Smokey taste (must be the sesame oil). Still too vinegary...but could make a good marinade, perhaps.
#2: Good texture...similar to the original dressing. Garlicy. Good! After tasting them all, this was the closest to the original dressing, but not quite right.
#3: Too vinegary. Subdued from yesterday, but still awful.
#4: Sweetened up overnight. I liked it better yesterday! Booo.
#5: The most vinegary. Awful. Can't even taste the ginger due to the astringent flavor.
#6: Still sweet and carroty, with a POWERFUL GINGER AFTERTASTE.
Conclusion: I don't think there is rice vinegar in the original. The recipes with vinegar are overpowered by it. My best guess is that the original dressing has a little ginger, a little bit less carrot, water, some mirin, and a bit of onion.
I'll update when I've had the chance to run out and get some ginger.
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