Gingham Apron

Homemade Mayo

Awhile back I'd saved a link to a blog showing how to make mayo.  I tried it, and wasted 1.5 cups of oil and 2 eggs.  I was more ticked about the oil because that's a lot of freakin' oil!  So I looked for another recipe and found one with a few more pictures and less ingredients.  

 

Ingredients 

1 egg yolk

1 cup oil (I used canola)

1/4 teaspoon ground mustard (or more to taste)

1-2 Tablespoons lemon juice

Whisk egg yolk, add in a few drops of lemon juice and keep whisking.  Always keep whisking.  Start adding oil in drop by drop.  Keep whisking.  When it starts looking more like mayonnaise and less like a whisked egg yolk you can start dribbling in the oil faster.  If your mix starts to thicken to the point where it's balling up in the whisk add a few drops of lemon juice and it will smooth out.  Keep doing this until all the oil is mixed in.  Your arm will feel like falling off.  :P

Voila, you have mayo!  It will not keep for long, so use it up quickly.... like on turkey and cheddar sandwiches for dinner.  :D 

 

Gardens, Kids, and Sharecropping...

Sounds like some sort of sick little child labor joke in the making, right?  

Not if your name is Caitlin Flanagan.  She "penned" the four page atrocity that is titled "Cultivating Failure" for The Atlantic.  Thank you Stacy for linking me to this train wreck.  My head exploded reading the first page of Caitlin Flanagan's elitist and racist rant.  I didn't even get through the second page and I just had to stop.  How can someone who is permitted to write and be published, even if only on the internet, be so unbelievably ignorant?  *head desk* 

She thinks that school gardens = sharecropping and lowered test scores, because Algebra 1 is where it's all at and writing recipes < essays on novels.  I'm new to cooking and the math and precision that goes into cooking and baking is staggering.

Luckily Kurt Michael Friese posted a response on Civil Eats.  He points out her many inaccuracies and the straight up bullshit (sorry, there's no sugar coating it).  I mean come on in her tirade she managed to get in jabs at liberal Obama supporters in her description of Chez Panisse, owned by Alice Waters whom founded Edible Schoolyard.

“an eatery where the right-on, ‘yes we can,’ ACORN-loving, public-option-supporting man or woman of the people can tuck into a nice table d’hôte menu of scallops, guinea hen, and tarte tatin for a modest 95 clams—wine, tax, and oppressively sanctimonious and relentlessly conversation-busting service not included.” 

Yep, because wanting kids to engage with their food and learn about healthy eating habits is so drastically left wing that it has liberal agenda written all over it.  Puh-lease.

Honestly I'd love for my kids to have a garden to tend to, and they'll surely help me with my meager back yard garden I will be doing this summer.  I don't have a green thumb by any means, but it reminds me of my grandparents and growing up spending summers in their almost totally self sustaining garden.  Watching my grandmother can and preserve the stuff that came from her garden was normal for me.  Now at almost 30 I am learning to do it, though I wish I had taken the time to learn from her 15 or 20 years ago when I had the chance.  

I don't, nor have I ever, felt like a sharecropper.  I feel proud when I pull out a jar of jam or applesauce that I made on my own for my children (granted I did not grow the fruit, but I made the effort!).  And of course just like my grandmother I enjoy giving to my family and friends.  Even better when they come back to me and tell me how good it was, and ask when will I be making more.  ;) 

If learning about your food from seed to stomach is cause for lack of intelligence then by all means I want to have the dumbest children alive.  At least my sharecropping kids would be able to feed themselves and their family should the need ever arise, or just because it's the best thing for them and the planet.  :P  

As an aside I can assure you that my Grandparents were not liberals.  In fact I am fairly certain that their beliefs were so far into the conservative territory that it would make my liberal self look like a moderate.  I can also say with a level of certainty that my grandparents would have been more than happy to teach those who had a desire to learn gardening and self reliance.  

This is something that I feel rather strongly about, and will continue to post to this blog.  One would think that food choices would be a simple matter, but that's just not how it works.  For as many people as I get to "see the light" in regards to food there are just as many who either understand and are not proactive, or simply do not care.  10 years ago had you sat me down and talked to me about this I likely would have smiled, nodded, then hit up Arby's on the way home.  Change is slow, and people will resist, but if I can impact even a few people then my efforts are not wasted.  :) 

Jamie Oliver - TED Prize Wish

This was linked to me on TheKitchn.  I never watched much Jamie Oliver before, but I think I <3 him now.

Watch this... make the 21 minutes and 52 seconds right now and watch it.    

March Challenge

Let me preface this by saying I didn't mean to ignore my blog for 4 days, but we've had family things going on.  Family night with both of David's brothers for sushi (for me and his brothers anyhow), the youngest brother is moving into a new place and I've been helping his girlfriend with moving stuff.  Oh and the weather here has been rather lovely so garden prepping and spring cleaning has been starting up.  Anyhow... on to the real subject of this post.....

I was discussing with Stacy that I would like to have a challenge partner for a all homemade week.  Oddly enough it was apparently a just posted subject at Homemakers Who Work, which came from Not Dabbling in Normal.

Perfect timing!  We've been eating out too much.  It's got to end.  I know we don't need it, and I know our bank account doesn't need it.  Once a month for sushi or something is fine though.  ;)  

It is being based off of having watched Food Inc. so it's going to be about local, sustainable, and organic eating habits.  We eat largely organic in this house anyhow thanks to my anal retentiveness about it.  A month may be a huge leap, so I'm going to look at one week at a time.  Make what I can from scratch, and rely on no pre-packaged foods.  No cookie mixes, or pancake mix .. things like that.  Obviously avoiding things like juice and milk will not be so easy, but I can buy organic and make sure that the packaging gets recycled (or returned in the case of the milk).  

I can make crackers.

I can make waffles.

I can make pancakes.

I can make cookies.

I can make granola.

I can make muesli.

I can make biscuits.

I can even try my hand at making pasta.

I can make the things that we eat.

I can stop buying packaged foods, and stop getting "fast food".  

Valentine's Day Baking.. Lemon Scones

This morning I got up and made pancakes for us (I'll post the recipe for that another time), and after that I made David his "present", which was lemon scones.  Really I just wanted a reason to zest a lemon.  ;)

He is a fan of scones though, but I figured it might be easier than tiramisu (which is one of his favorites).  I Googled of course, and found a recipe that sounded perfect.  I already had all the stuff I needed!  

 

 

Lemon Scones

3 cups flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
½  cup sugar
½ teaspoon kosher salt
1 ½ sticks unsalted butter, cold and cut into cubes
1 cup buttermilk
zest of one lemon

Egg wash:

1 egg whisked with a tablespoon of water

Preheat oven to 400

In a large bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.  In a separate bowl, zest the lemon over the sugar.  Using a fork, grind the zest into the sugar firmly.  

Add the sugar to the flour mixture.  Cut the butter cubes into the flour mixture until a crumbly meal is formed.  Once all of the butter is incorporated into the flour, pour in the buttermilk and with a fork, stir it in until a dense dough is formed.  Roll out dough not unlike you would a pie crust until about 1/2" to 3/4" thick and place 2" apart on the pan (these do spread a bit).  Brush each scone with the egg wash and bake them for ~20 minutes, or until they are golden brown.

I also made a "glaze" with 1/4 cup of lemon juice and 1.5 cups of sugar on the stove.  It's tasty, but too sticky much like honey.  I'll go with a different glaze next time or just leave it off.  

 

Top Round

The idea that cuts of meat are good for specific things tends to escape me.  I could not tell you what would be the best thing for making shredded beef, or what is the best cut for stew meat.  I base all meat on what it looks like.  My #1 criteria that meat must meet is lean.  Super lean.  I tend to stand around cutting fat off meat when I apparently am not suppose to (something about flavor... yaddayadda).  I can't help it.  I'll cut around fat at a nice restaurant, I have no shame.  

Luckily Whole Foods seems to have some really nice cuts of meat.  I happened upon some top round steaks that looked lean as beef can be, and of course it was grass fed and organic (see prior rant about food).  I made the epitome of an American dinner with it.  Steamed asparagus, mashed potatoes (skin on, with a little bit of half & half and butter), and cut up top round steak.

 

 

Delicious.

For the top round I cut it into cubes then added some pepper, salt, and about 4 tablespoons of worcestershire sauce.  Once it was cooked there was some excess liquids (mostly the worcestershire sauce), so I took about 1/4 cup of cold water and some cornstarch and mixed it up then poured it in the pan with the top round chunks.  It made a small amount of gravy just right for keeping the steak moist and not losing any worcestershire sauce.  

 

Being the generous person I am I gave the last little bit of gravy to David for his potatoes, so this was his plate I used for photographing.  ;) 

 

Mushroom Soup

David's dad used to make hamburger patties smothered in cream of mushroom soup.  I on the other hand have only done it with marmite gravy.  Tonight I decided to make mushroom soup to go with it.  I thought it was delicious, though I always manage to feel guilty after eating creamy soups.  After potato leek soup I swear I need to diet for a month, and this is the same way.  :P 

 

Homemade Mushroom Soup

Ingredients 

8 ounce package mushrooms, sliced

1/4 cup onions, chopped

1 clove garlic, chopped

2 Tablespoons olive oil

3 Tablespoons flour

2 cups chicken broth

1 cup evaporated milk

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

Put olive oil, mushrooms, onions, and garlic in pan.  Cook until onions are soft, add 2 tablespoons of flour and blend well.  Pour in 2 cups of chicken broth and stir frequently until it begins to thicken.  Stir in milk and remaining tablespoon of flour.  Stir constantly until soup thickens more (it will seem like it's not thickening, but just keep stirring a few minutes longer).  

Muesli

I asked one of my friends who happens to be extremely thrifty and crafty how she does it, and how she stays clear of the fast food and too much impulse buying.  Since my ER visit, I've also been wanting to up my pathetic fiber intake.  Her answer to me was "muesli!".  I of course Googled, because that's what I do.  I got a rough idea was muesli is about, and picked up the last few things I needed today.  Tomorrow morning I shall try my creation.  My poor kids may not like it when their "fancy" cereal is gone and they get mixes made by mommy instead.  ;) 

 

Ingredients

2/3 cup barley flakes

2/3 cup rye flakes

1/3 cup shredded coconut (unsweetened)

1/3 raisins (seedless)

1/3 cup sunflower seeds

2/3 cup rolled oats

a handful chopped walnuts (about 1/4 cup)

1-2 Tablespoons whole flax

Mix.

The directions for consumption vary.  I've read soaking them for a bit, soak overnight, mix in yogurt ... the options just depend on your preference I suppose.  I plan on letting it sit in milk for a little bit before I add some fresh sliced fruit and honey.    

Pear Cake with Brown Sugar Glaze

I got a bag of pears at Whole Foods nearly 2 weeks ago at Whole Foods.  Of course they've not all been eaten, so there was a good half a dozen that needed to be eaten pronto.  I gave some to the girls for lunch, and then tried to figure out what to do with the remainder of them.  I Googled.  

Pear Cake

I of course, made some changes, and realized that the cook time was too long when I pulled out a starting to burn cake.  >_<  I also think next time I will use two springform pans and double the glaze recipe and attempt to let it soak in a bit.  :D 

Ingredients

5 pears (ripe or over ripe)

1 cup white sugar

1 cup packed brown sugar

1/2 cup oil (I used canola)

2 eggs

3 cups flour (I used fresh milled soft white wheat)

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon allspice 

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

Directions

Peel and slice pears thin. Mix sliced pears with white sugar, brown sugar, and spices and let sit for one hour. After sitting puree pear mixture in a blender.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour one 13x9 inch pan.

By hand stir in until just blended; the flour, salt, and baking soda. Add dry ingredients to pear mixture and add oil, vanilla and eggs. Pour batter into prepared pan.

Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) until knife inserted comes out clean (recipe said 1 hour 15 minutes, but start checking after 45 minutes - as always ovens vary)

Brown Sugar Glaze

Ingredients

2 tablespoons butter

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

1 cup boiling water    

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions

In a medium saucepan, melt butter or margarine. Add flour and salt; stir until smooth.

Stir in brown sugar. Blend thoroughly and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until mixture bubbles and is lightly browned, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat.

Stir in boiling water. Return to heat and bring to a boil, stirring constantly, until smooth and thickened. Add vanilla extract and stir until well blended. Serve hot.

Leek, Celery and Lentil Soup

I had some leeks from my Azure Standard order, and celery from a 4 pack at Costco (yes, both were organic, thank you).  I had it in my head to do a variation on potato and leek soup, but found that after a day full of cooking and a baking I didn't feel like cutting up potatoes.  So I did what I once feared and kept myself clear of .... yes, I improvised.  *gasp*  A few years ago if I deviated from a recipe I felt like I would either A)  screw it up or B)  go to cooking hell.  I've only really ever done A, which seems to be par for course when you're starting out with this whole cooking business.  ;) 

Anywho...

 

Ingredients

6 cups water

2 Rapunzel Bouillon Cubes

4 medium leeks, cut in half and sliced

1 bunch celery, sliced

1 cup dry lentils

1 Tbsp. Spike Seasoning

2-3 sprigs fresh thyme

1-2 sprigs fresh rosemary

salt and pepper to taste

1/4 cup feta crumbles (optional if wanting Vegan) 

1/4 cup shredded parmesan (optional if wanting Vegan) 

1/4-1/2 cup cream, half & half or milk (optional optional if wanting Vegan) 

Pour 6 cups of water into a stock pot, add 2 cubes of Rapunzel and bring to a boil (or until the Rapunzel cubes have dissolved).  Add in leeks, celery, lentils, Spike Seasoning, and fresh thyme and rosemary.  Cook on medium heat until lentils are soft, but not mushy (about 35 minutes roughly, but times will vary).  Remove rosemary and thyme sprigs.  Use a potato masher and go around mashing things up a little bit, or not.  If you're not going for vegan you can add in a little milk/half & half/cream to make it more like a potato leek soup, or not.  Top with a bit of parmesan, feta, and pepper.