Wednesday, May 10, 2017

Dutch Baby with Lemon Curd and Berries


Ingredients:
  • 3 eggs
  • 1/2 cup flour
  • 1/2 cup milk
  • 1 Tbsp sugar
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1 Tbsp lemon juice
  • Pinch of kosher salt
  • 4 Tbsp butter
  • 1/4 cup lemon curd or jam
  • 1 pint of berries, your choice
Preparations:
  1. Preheat oven to 425 F.
  2. Add eggs, flour, milk, sugar, vanilla, salt and lemon zest together into a blender and blend until smooth.
  3. Place butter in a 8 or 9 inch cast-iron skillet and place in the oven until butter has melted. Pour the batter into each pan, return it to oven and bake for 15-20 minutes, until the pancakes are puffed and golden. Lower oven temperature to 300 degrees and bake five minutes longer.
  4. Remove from oven and allow to cool for several minutes. Spread with the lemon curd and top with berries.

Slow Cooker Corn on the Cob


Ingredients:
  • 6 ears of corn
  • Butter
  • Salt
  • Pepper
Preparations:
  1. Lay an ear of corn on a piece of foil. Butter the corn, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and wrap the corn up in the foil.
  2. Lay corn in layers in the slow cooker.
  3. Cook on High for 2 hours or Low for 4 hours.

Freezer Garlic Bread


Ingredients:
  • 1 stick (8 Tbsp) butter
  • 2 Tbsp olive oil, preferably roasted garlic oil (see here for recipe)
  • 4 cloves garlic, minced, preferably roasted
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1 Tbsp dried parsley
  • 1 loaf French Bread
Preparations:
  1. Allow the butter to come to room temperature. Combine it in a small bowl with the garlic, olive oil, salt, and dried parsley. Mix the ingredients together until they form a smooth paste.
  2. Cut the bread loaf into one-inch slices. Scoop 1/2 Tbsp of the butter mixture onto each slice, then spread it over the surface with a knife.
  3. Arrange the slices on a baking sheet and then place them in the freezer to allow the butter to firm up. Once firm, stack the slices two at a time and place in quart sized freezer bags. Store in the freezer up to three months.
  4. To cook the frozen slices of garlic bread, preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Once the oven is heated, take as many slices out of the freezer as you'd like, carefully separate the stacked slices, and place them on a baking sheet. Bake for 10-12 minutes, or until the edges are golden brown.
     

Slow Cooker Baked Potatoes


Ingredients:
  • 6 large potatoes
  • salt
  • olive oil
Preparations:
  1. Wash the potatoes well. Dry them off with a clean cloth or paper towel.
  2. You’ll want to prick holes in the potato skins to allow the steam to escape as they cook. Take a fork and stab them each several times all over.
  3. Take a little bit of olive oil and rub it all over the potato skins, then sprinkle on some salt. This helps give the skins a really great texture.
  4. Wrap each potato in a piece of foil. Nestle the potatoes down into the slow cooker, place the lid on top, and then cook on high for 4-5 hours or on low for 8-10.
  5. Slice the potato down the middle and then push each end in towards the center to make it pop open. Now it’s ready for any toppings.

Simple Curry


Ingredients:
  • 2 Tbsp salt, for water
  • 2 pounds potatoes, cut to 1-inch cubes
  • 1 Tbsp vegetable oil
  • 1 medium onion, diced
  • 4 cloves garlic, minced
  • 2 tsp cumin
  • 1/2 tsp cayenne
  • 4 tsp curry powder
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp black pepper
  • 1 inch piece of ginger, minced
  • 1 14 oz can diced tomatoes
  • 1 15 oz can chickpeas, drained
  • 1 15 oz can peas, drained
  • 1 14 oz can coconut milk
Preparations:
  1. Place potatoes into a large pot or dutch oven and cover with well-salted water. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to a simmer, cover and let the potatoes cook until tender, roughly12 minutes. Once cooked, drain the potatoes and set them aside.
  2. Return the pot to the stove and add oil. Add onion and garlic and saute over medium heat until onion is tender and starts to turn translucent, about 3-5 minutes.
  3. Add cumin, cayenne, curry powder, salt, pepper and ginger. Stir to combine before adding tomatoes, chickpeas, and peas.
  4. Increase heat to medium-high and stir in the coconut milk. Bring to a simmer before adding the potatoes back to the pot. Reduce heat to low and cook everything together for 3-5 minutes before serving.

Honeycomb Toffee


Ingredients:
  • 2 cups sugar
  • 1/2 cup light corn syrup
  • 1/3 cup water
  • 1 Tbsp baking soda
Preparations:
  1. Line a 9 inch baking dish with parchment paper and grease thoroughly.
  2. In a large saucepan (this will more than triple in size) over medium/high heat, combine sugar, corn syrup, and water. Stir briefly to incorporate then leave to boil. 
  3. Insert candy thermometer and continue to heat, without stirring, until the mixture reaches 300F. 
  4.  Working quickly, remove from heat and add the baking soda. The mixture will begin to expand. Quickly whisk, no more than 5 seconds, to prevent deflating the toffee. Pour it into the prepared pan and leave to set for several hours.
  5. Once the toffee has cooled and set, remove the paper from the toffee and transfer to a larger baking dish. Using a blunt object, shatter the toffee into bite size pieces.
  6. In a double boiler , melt the dark chocolate.  Dip the toffee pieces in chocolate and place on a lined baking tray. Place in the refrigerator to cool and harden.