Homemade Vanilla Extract

Posted on November 7, 2010 by Sandy

A couple of friends and I got together yesterday with some bottles of booze and had a great time. We sloshed a little vodka, rum, and bourbon into bottles with vanilla beans and made our own Vanilla Extract.

My hubby the auction freak (buys everything at an auction that is a good deal) had several small bottles that we used.

We cut the stem of the vanilla bean up the middle leaving the top together for easy removal, filled the 2 and 4 ounce jars and added one bean to the small jars and 2 beans to the bigger jars.

Homemade Vanilla Extract - Day 1

The house was alive with the smell of Vanilla.  It reminded me of baking sugar cookies and made me want to bake a  batch.

Viki and Denise would do the filling of the bottles and poke the stem of the vanilla into the jar.

We had  a lot of smiles, a bit of the spirits leftover and lots of Holiday unique gift prepared.

Mmmm Good.

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Shortbread Pie Crust – You’ve gotta try this!

Posted on November 6, 2010 by Sandy
At my office the other morning, one of my co-workers brought in an apple pie made with 
a shortbread crust his mother’s recipe.  I have never had such a great pie.  The buttery, flaky, thick cookie like crust has won me over.
Now, I am not a fan of plain shortbread cookies. And yet, when paired with the spiced fruit of apple and I am thinking pumpkin for Thanksgiving, I think it will steal the show. 
Once I make it, I’ll post the picture.  Since Thanksgiving is sneaking up quickly, I felt the need to share this recipe so you can too experiment.
(Please close your calorie counter otherwise you will not make this recipe.)
Original Recipe Yield 3 – 9 inch pie crusts
 

Ingredients

  • 3 cups butter, softened
  • 5/8 cup light brown sugar
  • 5/8 cup confectioners’ sugar
  • 4 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
  • Pie filling of your choice

You will want to prepare the pie filling on the the stovetop so that it will cook with the short baking time of the shortbread.   One crust on the bottom, filling, crust on top. Bake.

I am thinking this is a winner.  Bake in a tart pan or pan you can remove the pie easily. 

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C).
  2. Using your hands, mix butter, brown sugar, white sugar and flour together in a large bowl. Squeeze and work dough until it holds together. Press into three 9 inch pie pans and chill for 2 hours.
  3. Bake for 15 minutes, or until lightly brown around the edges.
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Country Fried Potatoes

Posted on November 2, 2010 by Sandy

Some people love sweet, I love bread and potatoes.

Not just for breakfast, Country Fried Potatoes

While most people only make fried potatoes for breakfast, I am out of the house and to work and lack the time.  And yet, when asked to make a side dish for dinner, I reach for potatoes. 

Ingredients:

Potatoes – thinly sliced.

Sliced Onions, Sliced Bell Peppers (Optional)

Salt and Pepper to taste

Heat your frying pan and add a couple of tablespoons of olive oil.  When the oil is just about to smoke, add you potatoes to the pan.  The mistake people make in frying potatoes is they touch them too much.  Place a lid on top of the pan while the first side browns and leave it alone for about 5 minutes. 

Remove the lid, season with salt and pepper and turn these beautiful babies over.  Place the lid back on and leave alone for another 5 minutes.   Salt and pepper and turn over and leave the lid off from now on since the potatoes should be cooked thru, you just want to brown a bit more.

If you want to add onions to the mix, I cook them in a separate pan and add them to the potatoes at this stage.  You can also add sliced bell peppers.  Yummy good.

Your gonna love ’em.

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Spanked Tuna

Posted on November 1, 2010 by Sandy

Freshly Spanked Tuna

Nothing is quite as quick as fresh fish.  I happen to love sushi, so of course I love this tuna. You can check out my favourite online fishmonger here!

You can serve along side a salad, or serve in taco shells.  Both are good.

Freshest Tuna – Sushi grade.  I buy mine at Costco. 

Olive oil – 2 tablespoons.

Seasoning:  Salt and Pepper and/or your favorite Rub mixture.

Heat a frying pan, you want it hot.  Wash the tuna and dry it with a paper towel. Press the rub and salt and pepper on both sides.  Add the olive oil to the frying pan.  Just as it starts to smoke, place your seasoned tuna in the frying pan. What is important is that you cook it evenly on both sides, about 3 minutes. Flip only once.

Remove from the pan and let sit for a couple of minutes.  Slice with a sharp knife against the grain.

Talk about healthy dinner in just minutes. 

I would prepare your side dishes before searing the meat so you can serve the fish hot.

Enjoy.

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Chili with Beans

Posted on October 30, 2010 by Sandy

Just got back from vacation. We rented a boat in the Virgin Islands. 

I made chili on one of the quiet days. 

First 5 days aboard Fuego was peaceful. Then all of a sudden, we ran into a storm, ran aground, had to find our way into St Croix at night, lost the boat – she slipped her mooring, met Harvey who found our boat, and in the last hour of turning the boat back into the charter company, we fouled the prop! Over 100 years of sailing experience onboard, imagine if we were new at this! Life is always an adventure! 

While in a safe harbor,made a bit of Chili

Ingredients: 

2 Cans Chili Beans – (I know, you think I am cheating, but I was on a boat, and have you ever tried to boil beans on a small propane stovetop?)  I like beans in my Chili, so I use canned, or at home, you can boil some in a pressure cooker – no problemo. 

Leftovers: Diced onion, green peppers, chili peppers, spaghetti sauce, meatballs, steak cut into cubes from the night before.  

Process: 

In the stock pot, saute the onions and the other raw veggies that are hanging out in your refrigerator, add leftover meats making sure they are diced and broken into small pieces. 

Then it is time to add the liquid ingredients: the cans of beans, can of spaghetti sauce or tomatoes – whatever you have on hand. You will need enough liquid to make it consistence of a thick soup and then allow it to simmer reducing down by at least a third. 

Season:  Chili pepper flakes, chili powder, cumin, thyme and salt and pepper. 

Go easy on the heat until you are near serving time, and adjust as you like. 

One of my friends used to call his Chili, refrigerator chili since he made it when he was cleaning out the refrigerator.  Norris made excellent Chili! 

  

Enjoy on top of a hot dog, on the side of an open face hamburger or on its own with diced onions, cheese and corn chips.  Hmmm good.

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Split Pea Soup

Posted on October 29, 2010 by Sandy

Split Pea Soup.  You either love it or hate it.  My daughter and husband love it, my oldest son hates peas!   I think it is comfort food at its best.   Jacque, husband’s mom made split pea soup.  It has become a regular on the menu here at Sandy’s Kitchen. 

Split Pea with Chunks of Ham and Carrots

Ham Bone

10 cups water or broth

1 bag Split Peas

1 stalk celery

2 onions diced

finely chopped carrots

nutmeg

salt and pepper

1 can of peas and carrots (or you can use fresh or frozen)

Boil in pressure cooker for 40 minutes at pressure.

Remove bones and puree in blender or food mill.  Finely chop any ham left on bone and add back to pureed soup.  Season to taste. I like to add a can of peas and carrots to my pureed mixture giving the mixture some texture along with the finely chopped ham.

Serve with sour cream, nutmeg, bacon bits, croutons, crostini, cheddar cheese.

Andersen's famous for their Split Pea Soup, Santa Nella & Buelton California

Daughter Denny and I are hamming it up at Andersen’s; famous for their split pea soup in Santa Nella and Buelton California.  We love to stop here and have a cup of their soup.

Garnish with Sour Cream

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Old Country Black Walnut Cookies

Posted on October 25, 2010 by Sandy

1 cup butter

1 tsp vanilla

2 eggs

2 cups firmly packed brown sugar

1 tsp salt

1 tsp baking soda

2  1/2 cups flour

3/4 cup finely chopped Nickerson Farm Black Walnuts

Cream butter, vanilla until butter is softened.  Add sugar gradually, creaming until fluffy.  Add the eggs in thirds, beating well after each addition.  Mix in black walnuts.  Blend flour, baking soda, and salt.  Shape dough into rolls about 1 1/2 inches in diameter. Wrap in waxed paper and refrigerate severa hours or overnight.  Cut into thin slices. Place slices on cookie sheet.  Bake at 350 degrees eggs, add brown sugar, combine dry ingredients then add to egg mixture. Lastly add Nickerson Farm Black Walnuts. for 8 minutes.  Repeat for remaining dough.

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Mango Plum Jam

Posted on October 14, 2010 by Sandy
So, I come home and who is using all my canning equipment?  Yep, my daughter has decided to do a little throwdown. 

Mango Plum Jam - Perfect Tartness

She has altered my famous Cinnamon Plum Jam, and the results were spectacular.  Actually, this combination reminded me of Quince Jam my Mom used to make.

2 Mangos diceds (no skin please)

2  Cups of  Plums – pitted, sliced with skins
2 Cups Water
Juice from1 lemon
1 tsp salt
1 tsp Ground Cinnamon
3 Cups Brown Sugar
1 Cup of Splenda
1 pkg of low sugar pectin (the only stuff I use)

Boil plums and mangos in white wine with 4 of the cinnamon sticks until the fruit is fork tender.
Puree in a blender, remove the cinnamon sticks if you can before.
Strain the mixture thru a small wire sieve. The color should be a beautiful amber. If you don’t get these results, might I suggest an upgrade in blending technology, read a review of best juicing blenders off of google and do your self a favor. Over processing is the main cause of poor quality results here, be wise and get something decent.

Pour blended fruit back into heavy pot, add pectin and bring to rolling boil for 1 minute.
Add brown sugar, bring back to rolling boil for 1 full minute. Pretty isn’t it!

Pour the jar and pour in the jelly to ½ inch from the top. Process in a water bath for 5 minutes.
Makes 3 pint jars, or 6 cups of jelly.

The competition around here is getting tough, I better step it up a notch.

About 35 calories per Tablespoon.
If you replace one more cup of splenda for sugar, about 25 calories per Tablespoon

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Apple Cake – Cupcakes with Toasted Almonds

Posted on October 11, 2010 by Sandy

At one of my cooking classes with Chef Tim McGrath at “Let’s get cooking” in Westlake, we made this cake. It was wonderful, and so I made it into cupcakes for my office.

Roast Apples
8 Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored, quartered
Juice of 1 lemon
2/3 cup sugar
3 T Butter

The Cake
1/4 cup slivered almonds (toast in oven for 5 minutes at 375)
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
2 tsp ground cinnamon
2 tsp cardamom
1 tsp baking soda
pinch of salt
1/2 cup butter at room temperature
1 cup sugar
3 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup sour cream or creme fraiche
1/4 cup sparkling cider

For large cake- decorate the bottom of a springform 9 or 10 inch pan. Sprinkle bottom with almonds and 1/2 of the apple mixture, the rest go into the cake mix. Make it pretty, this side will show when you turn it over on the plate. For cupcakes, mix in the apples and sprinkle the almonds on top of the cupcakes. Makes for a pretty presentation. Bake at 375 for 70-80 minutes unitl nicely golden brown.
Cupcakes take about 15-20 minutes.Serve with Bailey’s whipped cream – 1 cup of chilled heavy whipping cream and 4 tablespoons of bailey’s irish cream. Serve with Cake.

Almonds on the top for Cupcakes and bake them golden brown.

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Roast the apples: Preheat oven to 375. Butter large casserole dish. Cut the apple quarters into 2-3 wedges each and place in prepared dish. Sprinkle with lemon juice, sugar and dot with butter.
Bake turning frequently until apples are tneder when pierced with a fork. Remove from oven, drain the juices, and set aside the apples to cool. Keep the oven on, ready for the cake.
(If you are going to make cupcakes, you can dice the apples smaller.)

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14 Carrot Braised Pork Shoulder with Apple Gravy and Pulled BBQ Pork

Posted on October 11, 2010 by Sandy

Two Amazing Dinners with minimal effort.

2 Pork Shoulders, the package from Costco is perfect.

Pork Roast Apples, Onions and Carrots

2 Onions sliced

1 Celery Stock

14 Carrots

 Potatoes cut in quarters (Optional)

 Turnips (Optional)

 1 cup Apple Juice

 1/4 cup Apple Cider Vinegar

 4 cups of water

 Rinse the meat and fit in a large braising pan. Add the vegetables along the sides.  Add the liquids.  Put the top on your pan. Bake in the oven for 6 hours at 350 degrees. I put this in the oven before leaving for work and have my hubby shut off the oven during his lunch.  Careful, he may just have an early snack!  You want to keep liquid in the pot for proper braising.  Yes, you can do this in a crockpot, but I like the flavor better from the oven. Who would have thunk it.

Braised Pork Shoulder

When you remove from the oven, set aside the meat under a piece of foil to keep warm.  In a frying pan, add 2 tablespoons of oil and add 1/4 cup of flour and brown the flour.  Ladle the braising liquid over the golden brown flour, add salt and pepper to taste.  You may want to strain the gavy f you want it to look polished. Otherwise, if you are okay with the rustic coutry look, go with it.  Plate by floating the gravy on the dish, add a sliced piece of pork, alongside add the potatoes, carrots and carmelized onions.

 If you are a mashed pototoes kinda person, you can go with that as well. 

 So very yummy.

 With the remaining pork roast or left overs, pull the pork with a fork and it will shred apart.  Add your favorite BBQ sauce, go easy. No too much, just enough to flavor the meat.

Pulled Pork Anyone?

Serve with Coleslaw and toasted buns.  Excellent.

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