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Saturday, October 31, 2009

Steamed Clams

I was amazed at how quick and easy it was to prepare this. The clams turned out great and made a TON of broth. Next time, I will try to incorporate some different spices and maybe try to thicken the broth a bit.

Steamed Clams

50 littleneck clams
2 T olive oil
6 cloves garlic minced
1/4 c green pepper, finely diced
1/4 c red pepper, finely diced
1/4 c shallots, finely diced
1 c white wine (we used Little Penguin Chardonnay)
2 T butter
pasta
fresh bread

1) Thoroughly wash clams to remove sand/dirt. Discard any clams that are already open.
2) In a large pot, saute garlic in oil over medium heat. Add peppers and shallots; saute until soft.
3) Add wine; simmer until it reduces in volume by half.
4) Add clams, cover and steam over medium heat.
5) Once the clams begin to open, add butter.
6) Continue steaming until all (or almost all) of the clams are open (about 12-15 mins total).
7) Serve over pasta.

Crockpot Refried Beans

An easy and tasty recipe!

Crockpot Refried Beans

1 1/2 c dry pinto beans, rinsed
2 1/2 c water
2 c low-sodium chicken broth
1/2 onion, chopped
1/2 jalapeno, seeded and finely chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
1/4 tsp cumin

1) Stir together all the ingredients in the crockpot.
2) Cook on high for 8 hours; add more liquid, if necessary.
3) Mash beans to desired consistency.

Friday, October 30, 2009

Chickpea Potato Curry

This curry isn't what I expected from a curry, but it was really tasty! Very quick and easy for a weeknight dinner. We served it over rice, but it was so hearty we found that rice wasn't really necessary.

Chickpea Potato Curry

2 1/2 c low sodium chicken broth
2-15 oz cans chickpeas, drained and rinsed
14 oz can fire-roasted tomatoes with chiles (or add a 4 oz can of green chiles)
12 oz Yukon Gold potatoes, cubed
1 medium onion, chopped
1 T unsalted butter
2 tsp fresh ginger, grated
1-2 tsp salt (depending on your chicken broth, you may not need any)
1 tsp ground cumin
1 T cilantro, chopped
1/2 tsp cayenne

1) In a large pot, combine all ingredients.
2) Simmer vigorously over medium heat for 35 mins or until the potatoes are tender.

Friday, October 23, 2009

Crockpot Stroganoff

This is a great crockpot dish. We followed the many reviews/modifications on AllRecipes and it's perfect! Jason likes it with beef, but I made some modifications to make it with chicken (in parentheses).

Crockpot Stroganoff

1-2 lbs. cubed beef stew meat (cubed chicken)
2 cans golden mushroom soup (cream of mushroom/cream of chicken)
1/2 c. chopped onion
1 T worchestershire sauce
1/2 c. water
1/2-1 packet onion soup mix
salt, to taste
pepper, to taste
garlic, to taste
6 oz. fresh mushrooms, sliced
4 oz. cream cheese
dollop sour cream
egg noodles, cooked

1) In a crockpot, combine the meat, soup, onion, worchestershire, water, onion soup mix, salt, pepper, and garlic.
2) Cook on low for approx. 4.5-5 hours; add fresh mushrooms.
3) Cook an additional 30 mins; stir in cream cheese and sour cream just before serving.
4) Serve over egg noodles.

Sunday, October 11, 2009

Applesauce

We bought a mixed half bushel (approx. 25 lbs) of gala, fiji, golden delicious, and empire apples, along with 1/2 peck of macintosh and 1/2 peck of jonagolds. If we had bought all of these apples here in Nova, we would have paid about $2/lb and spent more than $50. We only spent $19 for all these apples in Gettysburg. This quantity (other than the 5.5 lbs we set aside to make apple butter) yielded 10 quarts and 3.5 pints of applesauce. We made this all in 3 batches and added cinnamon to one batch. We didn't use a food mill, food processor, blender sieve or anything else. We kept it pretty simple and just left our applesauce chunky.

2010 Results:  This year we bought 8 quarts each of golden delicious, empire, macintosh, and gala, and four quart of stayman and ozark gold apples.  In total, that is just over a bushel of apples, and it yielded 20 quarts and 6 pints of applesauce.  I believe we used 3 1/2 c of liquid (equal parts apple cider and water) for each batch.

Applesauce

water
apple cider
apples, peeled, cored, and chopped
sugar (opt)
cinnamon (opt)

1) Put about one inch of liquid (water/apple juice/apple cider, etc) in the bottom of a large pot.
2) Fill the pot with apples.
3) Cover and heat on med-high until it starts bubbling; reduce heat to medium.
4) Let cook until the apples are soft and mushy (about 35-40 mins).
5) Mash the apples and liquid together with a potato masher.
6) Taste and add sugar/cinnamon, if desired.
7) Ladle the applesauce into jars, leaving 1/4 inch head space. Lightly tap jar on counter to remove air bubbles.
8) Wipe jar mouth clean and seal.
9) Process in a hot water bath for at least 20 mins but not more than 30 mins.
10) Set jars to the side and let cool overnight undisturbed.

Batch #1: We used half water/half apple cider in the bottom of the pot. The applesauce was super sweet.

Batch #2: We used water with just a splash of apple cider in the bottom of the pot. We added 1 T cinnamon (next time I would reduce to 2 tsp). The applesauce didn't seem sweet enough, so we added 2 T sugar.

Batch #3: We went back to the half water/half apple cider combo, and it was perfect.

Dill Pickles

We finally cracked open the first jar of dill pickles that we canned back in August. They are pretty good...a little salty and not quite as crunchy as I'd like, but I'd definitely make them again.

Dill Pickles

8 lbs. 3-4 in long pickling cucumbers
4 c white vinegar
12 c water
2/3 c pickling salt
16 cloves garlic, peeled and halved
8 sprigs fresh dill weed
8 heads fresh dill head or dill seed (we used dill seed)

1. Wash cukes, trim off blossom end and place in an ice bath for at least 2 hours.
2. In large pot over med-high heat, combine vinegar, water, and pickling salt; bring to a rapid boil.
3. In each jar, place 2 half cloves garlic, 1/2 tsp. dill seed, and enough cukes to fill the jar (really cram them in there). Then add 2 more garlic halves and a dill sprig.
4. Fill jars with hot brine and seal.
5. Set aside and wait for the lids to pop. It may take a while and it may require a light finger tap on the lid. (Note: we did not do the hot water bath as called for in the recipe. Based on the reviews, this makes the pickles soggy.)
6. Let sit for 8 weeks before eating.

Variations: add jalapeno slices, crushed red pepper seeds and/or mustard seed

Saturday, October 10, 2009

Salted Fudge Brownies

These brownies turned out different than I expected but were still very good...and they got rave reviews from my colleagues. I totally thought I overbaked these as I put them in for the full 35 mins and the top looked really hard. However, the mix of a crispy outside and a fudge-y inside was great. I could do without the salt, so next time I might leave it out.

Salted Fudge Brownies

3/4 c unsalted butter, cut into pieces
2 oz unsweetened chocolate, chopped
1/4 c + 2 T unsweetened cocoa
2 c sugar
3 large eggs
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 c flour
1/2 tsp sea salt

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Grease 8x8 inch baking dish (the original recipe called for 9x9).
3. In a medium saucepan, melt butter and chocolate over very low heat, stirring occasionally; remove from heat.
4. One at a time, whisk in cocoa, sugar, eggs, vanilla and flour.
5. Pour batter into prepared dish.
6. Sprinkle sea salt evenly over batter. Swirl through with butter knife.
7. Bake for approx. 35 mins. until edge is set but center is still a bit soft and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out coated with a bit of batter.
8. Cool brownies in pan for 1 hour. Refrigerate until firm, about 1 hour.
9. Cut and serve at room temperature.