Deep Fried...Something

Best Steak Marinade Ever?

I saw the name of this recipe (Best Steak Marinade in Existence) and had to laugh.  But then I actually looked at the ingredients, and it sounded pretty dang good.  I left out the parsley but otherwise followed it to the letter, and I'll definitely be making it again.  It's a fairly quick and easy marinade to make, and the different flavors really complemented each other well.

Best Steak Marinade Ever

Ingredients:

• ⅓ cup soy sauce
• ½ cup olive oil
• ⅓ cup fresh lemon juice
• ¼ cup Worcestershire sauce
• 1½  Tablespoons garlic powder
• 3 Tablespoons dried basil
• 1½ Tablespoons dried parsley flakes
• 1 teaspoon ground white pepper
• ¼ teaspoon hot pepper sauce (optional)
• 1 teaspoon dried minced garlic (optional)

Directions:

1. Place all ingredients in a blender. Blend on high speed for 30 seconds until thoroughly mixed.
2. Pour marinade over desired type of meat. Cover, and refrigerate for up to 8 hours. Cook meat as desired.

Notes:
I marinated my steaks for a little over 24 hours.

• 1/3 cup soy sauce
• ½ cup olive oil
• 1/3 cup fresh lemon juice
• ¼ cup Worcestershire sauce
• 1½  Tablespoons garlic powder
• 3 Tablespoons dried basil
• 1½ Tablespoons dried parsley flakes
• 1 teaspoon ground white pepper
• ¼ teaspoon hot pepper sauce (optional)
• 1 teaspoon dried minced garlic (optional)

Homemade Mayonnaise

A couple of weeks ago, my friend Cara (who gave me the healthy taco recipe, which I still make and tweak regularly) posted on Facebook that she had made homemade mayonnaise to go with grilled corn on the cob.  I was intrigued, especially since corn is starting to show up at the farmers' market around here, so I gave it a try using some tips she gave me for the mayonnaise.  I didn't pay close enough attention though, and my first two attempts were a disaster.  The first one just never emulsified properly because I added the oil too fast, and the second one I used extra virgin olive oil for 100% of the oil, which had an overpowering olive flavor when it was done.

While I was waiting for it to be farmers' market day again, I looked at my cousin Coco's blog, which I really ought to check out more often.  She has a ton of great healthy recipes, and her photography is amazing too.  In one of her semi-recent posts, she had made homemade mayonnaise.  Reading her post, I couldn't believe how easy it sounded if you use an immersion blender.  I decided to give it a shot, and it was the fastest and easiest success ever.  This recipe is for a basic mayonnaise, but you can add pretty much anything you want to it.  I added one clove of roasted garlic, Cara has mentioned adding ancho chili pepper and replacing the lemon juice with the juice from a jar of hot peppers...the possibilities are endless. 

Homemade Mayonnaise

Ingredients:

• 2 egg yolks
• 2 Tablespoons lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon dijon mustard
• ½ teaspoon kosher salt
• ⅛ teaspoon organic cane sugar
• 1¼ cup canola oil
•  ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil

Directions:

1. In a 2-cup measuring cup, combine ingredients in order listed.
2. Plunge stick blender to the bottom of the measuring cup. Starting with quick pulses and keeping the immersion blender at the bottom of the cup, pulse until the mixture starts to emulsify. While pulsing, slowly lift the blender toward the top of the mixture (but not out of it — it will splatter everywhere), blending until all the oil is incorporated into the mayonnaise.
3. Leave at room temperature for 1 to 2 hours, then store in a glass jar in refrigerator. Keeps for up to 1 week.

Notes:
It seems wrong to leave it at room temperature for 1 to 2 hours, but there's a good reason for it: the acidity of the lemon juice will kill any possible lingering salmonella at room temperature, but not at refrigerator temperatures.  Leaving it out removes the small risk from using raw eggs.

Homemade Hummus

...or should I say yum-mus.  I'll be the first to admit, I didn't used to like hummus.  I thought it was boring and expensive, and I wasn't a huge fan of the taste.  Then I went to Israel, where it was served EVERYWHERE we went, and I realized how good it could be.  When I got back, I started looking up recipes, because it seemed really overpriced at the grocery store.  When I realized how few ingredients it needed to have, and how inexpensive those ingredients were, I decided to give it a whirl.  This has been one of my favorite recipes for several years now, and I can't believe I haven't put it on the blog before now.  I hope you enjoy it as much as we do!

Hummus

Ingredients:

• 2 cans garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed
• ½ cup lemon juice
• ½ cup sesame seeds
  
• 6 Tablespoons olive oil
• 6 cloves garlic, chopped
• Dash of cayenne pepper
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 1 small can marinated artichoke hearts, drained (optional)

Directions:

1. Toast sesame seeds over medium heat in a dry pan until they are golden brown and beginning to stick together, 3-5 minutes.  
2. Move sesame seeds to food processor and puree, adding water 1 Tablespoon at a time, until you have a paste consistency.
3. Heat olive oil in pan and cook garlic until golden brown.
4. Add garlic, oil, garbanzo beans, cayenne pepper, lemon juice and artichoke hearts to the food processor and blend until smooth. 
5. Add salt and pepper to taste.  If consistency is too thick, add a little bit of water or more lemon juice.

Notes:
This makes about 4½ cups of hummus.  I've seen recipes that add sundried tomatoes, a small onion, roasted red peppers, etc.  Be creative, it's almost impossible to go wrong with this recipe!

Thanksgiving Sandwich

On most days, I'm very methodical about how I eat my meal.  I tend to eat all of the salad, then all of the entree, then all of the side dish. Thanksgiving is one of the only times when I don't care if my food mixes together.  In fact, I encourage it.  Turkey and gravy is pretty good, but turkey and gravy with cranberries and mashed potatoes is even better.  This sandwich is my attempt to capture the awesomeness of a Thanksgiving dinner in a slightly easier to eat form.

Thanksgiving Sandwich

Ingredients:

• 2 slices of bread
• Mashed potatoes
• Turkey
• Stuffing/Dressing
• Gravy
• Cranberries

Directions:

1. Spread mashed potatoes on both slices of bread, making sure you have enough around the edges to hold everything else in.
2. Layer the turkey, gravy, stuffing/dressing, and cranberries on one slice of bread.  Put the other slice of bread on top, adding more mashed potatoes around the edges as needed.
3. Place a large skillet over medium-low heat.  Lightly butter the top and bottom of the sandwich, then grill, flipping once, until golden brown on both sides.

Notes:
If you turn the heat much above medium-low, the bottom of the bread will start to burn while the middle is still cold.  It's worth the extra couple of minutes.

Spinach Pesto

I haven't ever really been a big fan of pesto.  I like basil, I just don't seem to like it mixed with all of the other pesto ingredients.  After the success of the red pesto, I decided to look around and see what other "alternative" pesto recipes I could find.  I found this web page that talks about all sorts of different ideas for pesto, and included the recipe below.  I made it without having any idea what I was going to use it for, then Sarah tasted it and suggested having it with bread.  The sun-dried tomatoes were a nice finishing touch to add extra flavor.

Spinach Pesto

Ingredients:

• 2 cups (packed) fresh spinach leaves, well-washed and stemmed
• 1/2 cup (packed) fresh parsley, preferably Italian flat leaf
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts, toasted
• 1/4 cup (about 1 ounce) freshly grated Parmesan cheese
• 3 cloves garlic, peeled and quartered
• 3 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Directions:

1. Place all ingredients into the work bowl of a food processor with the steel blade.
2. Process to a fine paste, scraping down sides of bowl 2 or 3 times, as necessary.
3. Taste and adjust seasonings.
4. Transfer to a glass container and store in refrigerator.

Notes:

This pesto will keep for weeks in the refrigerator but the top will harmlessly discolor. A thin coat of olive oil prevents this.

Makes about 1 cup. 

Homemade Salsa

A couple of years ago, I decided to try making salsa.  I looked up a few recipes, realized they were all basically the same thing (tomatoes, onion, chili pepper, cilantro, salt, pepper), and decided to experiment a little bit.  Neither one of us likes cilantro, so I just left that out.  I've always used chipotles, and doubt that will change any time in the near future.  I like using canned tomatoes, so I add a little bit of sugar to offset the canned taste.  I've tried it both with and without cooking the onions, garlic, and tomatoes, but I like it much better with them cooked.  This is a great party recipe (it makes about 5 cups of salsa) and very simple to make.

Homemade Salsa

Ingredients:

• 1 onion, chopped
• 1-3 chipotle peppers, chopped
• 2-3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 28-ounce can diced tomatoes
• 15-ounce can diced tomatoes
• 1 pinch sugar
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Lime juice
• 1 Tablespoon olive oil

Directions:

1. In a medium saucepan, heat olive oil over medium heat.  Add garlic, chipotle peppers, and 1/2 of the onion (reserve the rest for later).  Saute for 2-3 minutes. 
2. Add the 28-ounce can of tomatoes and sugar and stir well.  Cook, stirring occasionally, 10-15 minutes or until most of the liquid has cooked off.
3. Remove from heat and let cool for 5 minutes. 
4. Pour mixture into bowl of food processor and add uncooked onion.  Pulse until well blended. 
5. Add salt and pepper, lime juice, and 15-ounce can of tomatoes.  Pulse just enough to mix.

Notes:
I like having the well blended base with some chunks from the second can of tomatoes.  This salsa always gets rave reviews!

Homemade Butter

I was stumbling through food recipes the other day and found this remarkably simple recipe for homemade butter.  I couldn't believe that it was this easy, so I tried it myself.  Sure enough, in less than 5 minutes, I had butter.  As the original site says, you could flavor this pretty much however you want (garlic, honey, chili pepper, etc.).  For us, half the fun was just watching the cream go through its different stages in the Cuisinart!

Homemade Butter

Ingredients:

• 2 cups heavy whipping cream (do NOT get table cream)

Directions:

1. Pour cream into food processor.  Attach the lid and turn power on.  Cream will go through several stages (soft, firm, whipped, etc.) before suddenly separating out into butter and buttermilk.  The entire process takes 3-5 minutes.
2. Drain butter, reserving liquid if you'd like (it's buttermilk!).  For best results, press butter down into strainer to get as much liquid out as possible.  Store in airtight container.  Butter will keep for longer if you store it with a layer of water on top.  Just dump the water off, use the butter, and put fresh water on top each time.

Notes:
I stopped the Cuisinart once during the whipped cream stage to scrape down the sides.  If you're not sure if it's been on long enough, keep mixing it.  It will be very clear when it suddenly becomes butter.

Honey Balsamic Vinaigrette

Just a quick post to share this salad dressing recipe.  Made another "big ol' salad" for dinner tonight, and this dressing finished it off nicely.

Honey Balsamic Vinaigrette

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
• 2 Tablespoons honey
• 1 Tablespoon Dijon mustard
• 4 Tablespoons cold water
• 6-8 Tablespoons olive oil
• 1/4 Tablespoon each of salt and black pepper
• Optional: 1/4 - 1/2 Tablespoon herbs such as dill or basil

Directions:

1. Warm vinegar and honey in microwave for 20 seconds or more until honey dissolves in vinegar.
2. Add remaining ingredients and whisk well.
3. Shake vigorously after pouring into a bottle and chill before serving.

Notes:
I usually put the vinegar and honey in a glass jar, heat them, then add everything to the jar and just shake it until everything is mixed together.  I also usually don't bother chilling this before serving.