Honey Glazed Carrots

2 cups julienned carrots
1 cup water
1 Tbls. butter
1/4 cup honey
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp salt

Place water and carrots in a pan and bring to a boil. Cover and cook for 3-4 minutes. Drain water. Add butter, honey, and nutmeg to carrots and simmer, uncovered, for another 3 minutes. Can be served warm or cool.

Apple Apricot Pie

1 double pie crust
4 cups apple, chopped into bite-sized pieces
1 cup dried apricot, minced
1/4 cup butter, minced
1/3 cup sugar
2 Tbls. arrowroot powder
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp ground cardamom
1/8 tsp saffron
1 tsp vanilla extract


Preheat oven to 400 F. Stir together all filling ingredients. Place in a prepared, uncooked pie crust and cover with a top crust.  Bake for 30-40 minutes, until crust is golden brown.

Rocky Road to Dublin Ice Cream

1 mint teabag (1 Tbls dried mint leaves)
14 oz. sweetened condensed milk
1/2 cup cocoa powder
2 cups cream
1 cup milk
1 Tbls. vanilla extract
1/2 cup chopped nuts
1 cup multi-colored mini marshmallows

Heat the cream in a small pan over high heat until it is steaming. Add in the mint teabag. Remove from heat, cover, and let steep for 1 hour. Remove teabag and chill completely.

In a small pan over low heat, stir together the sweetened condensed milk and cocoa powder for about 5 minutes, stirring until smooth. Remove from heat. Stir in the cream, milk, and vanilla. Chill completely.

Churn in an ice cream machine according to its directions. Add the chopped nuts and marshmallows at the end, churning for about 5 more minutes to mix them in. For my machine, the bowl needs to be completely frozen. Churn for 15 minutes, then 5 more minutes with the nuts and marshmallows.

Can be served soft, or transferred to an airtight container to be frozen.

Raspberry Honey Frozen Yogurt

2 cups plain yogurt
1/4 cup honey
3/4 cup frozen raspberries

Stir all ingredients together, & churn according to your machine's directions.

For my machine (Cuisinart), the bowl needs to be completely frozen in advance, then churn for 15-20 minutes.

Raspberry Lemon Ice Cream

14 oz. sweetened condensed milk
1/2 cup lemon juice
1 cup raspberries (fresh or frozen)
1 cup whipping cream

Stir together all ingredients until thoroughly combined.

Process in an ice cream machine according to its directions. Then transfer to another container and freeze until hard.

Slow Cooker Chicken Tikka Masala

3 lbs. chicken meat, cut into chunks
1 large onion, diced
1 Tbls. minced garlic
2 Tbls. minced fresh ginger
4 cups pureed tomato
1 1/2 cups plain yogurt
2 Tbls. olive oil
2 Tbls. garam masala, or a curry spice mix
1 tsp. turmeric powder
1 Tbls. cumin
1/2 Tbls. paprika
2 tsp. salt
3/4 tsp. cinnamon
3/4 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
1 tsp. cayenne pepper
1 cup half-and-half
3 Tbls. corn starch
2 Tbls. lemon juice

Place chicken, onion, garlic, ginger, tomato puree, yogurt, olive oil, garam masala, tumeric powder, cumin, paprika, salt, cinnamon, ground black pepper, and cayenne pepper into the crock pot. With a spatula, stir to combine everything and make sure the chicken is coated well.

Cover and cook for 8 hours on low (or 4 hours on high).

At the last 20 minutes, whisk the corn starch and cream together, then pour into the crock pot and cook for the remaining time. Drizzle the lemon juice over.

Serve over cooked rice.

Barley Bread

2 cups warm water or barley tea
3 cups whole wheat or white wheat flour
1 cup barley flour
2 tsp dry yeast, or .6 oz fresh yeast
2 tsp molasses (honey or maple syrup are also acceptable)
1 cup rolled barley
1 tsp. salt
1 Tbls. oil


Mix the molasses with 1 cup water/tea in a small bowl. Sprinkle in the yeast and let it proof until foamy.

Mix 1 cup water/tea with 1 cup wheat flour, the barley flour, and 3/4 cup rolled barley. When the yeast is foamy, add that in and stir it all up. Let it rise until roughly doubled.

Add in the rest of the flour (2 cups), the salt, and the oil. Knead for about 10 minutes until smooth and elastic, kneading in flour as necessary. Let rise, oiled, in a warm place, until about doubled again (but not for too long!).

Meanwhile, soak the remaining 1/4 cup of rolled barley in 2 Tbls. water or tea.

Form the dough into a loaf. Smooth the wet barley onto the top, encrusting it into the dough. Place in an oiled loaf pan and cut a slit along the top of the loaf.

Spray inside your oven or put a pan of water in there. Put in the dough and set the oven to 350. Bake (including preheat time) for 50-60 minutes.

Slow Cooker Korean Pork and Potatoes

3 lbs pork (or chicken), cut into small pieces
1 1/2 lbs petite potatoes, or larger potatoes cut up
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup vegetable stock
1/4 tsp. salt
1 Tbls. coconut oil
1 Tbls. sesame oil
1 Tbls. minced garlic
1 Tbls. minced fresh ginger
1/4 tsp. red pepper flakes
2 tsp. corn starch

Put all ingredients except corn starch in the crock pot, stirring to coat all the meat and potatoes. Cook on low for 6 hours or high for 3 hours. When there are about 20 minutes left, take out some of the liquid and stir the corn starch into it, then stir the mixture into the crock pot.

You can add other vegetables or make some as a side.

Sausage & Greens Dirty Rice

3 1/4 cups water
1/2 cup minced onion
1 Tbls. Creole seasoning or other spicy mix
1/2 Tbls. minced garlic
1 Tbls. soy sauce
1 Tbls. butter or coconut oil
2 cups minced kale, spinach, swiss chard, or orach
1 lb. ground sausage
1 1/2 cups rice

Bring water to boil in a pot over high heat. Add onion, seasoning, garlic, soy sauce, and butter/oil, stirring until mixed. Add the greens, sausage, and rice. Stir to break up the sausage into small bits. Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer for about 25 minutes or until the rice is done. Remove from heat and let repose, covered, for another 5 minutes before serving.

Orange Julius

6 ounces (1/2 can) frozen orange juice concentrate (You can use whatever frozen juice concentrate you want. Omit powdered sugar if the juice has added sugar.)
1 cup milk
1 cup water
1/4 cup powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Ice cubes, as many as needed for desired consistency

Combine all the ingredients except the ice cubes in a blender and process until smooth and frothy. Add the ice cubes and blend until smooth.

Sausage Bread

Bread:
2 tsp dry yeast or .6 oz cake yeast
2 tsp sugar
2 cups warm water or vegetable stock
1 Tbls salt
4 cups whole wheat flour
1 tiny pinch of lavender buds
1/2 tsp fennel seed
1 tsp thyme

Filling:
1 pound ground sausage
3/4 cup grated or minced onion
1/4 cup grated carrot
1 tsp minced garlic
1/2 cup (4 oz) cream cheese

1 egg for glaze

Stir together the sugar, yeast, and water/vegetable stock. Stir in the flour, 1 cup at a time. With the last cup, add in the salt and herbs. Knead on a floured countertop until the dough is smooth and less sticky. Coat the dough with oil, place in an oiled bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and let the dough rise for 30 minutes.

While the dough is rising, cook the sausage, onion, carrot, and garlic in a pot over medium heat. Cook until the sausage is mostly browned. Some pink is ok, as it will be cooked again. Cut the cream cheese into chunks and stir it into the meat mixture.

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Roll the dough out into a rectangle taking up the whole space of the baking sheet, then place the filling along the middle 1/3 of the dough, leaving about 1 1/2 inches of free space at the ends. Cut slashes along the sides of the dough.

 

Fold the short ends over the filling, then fold each fringe piece of dough over the middle, alternating sides and stretching at a diagonal to create a braided look. Pinch closed any large gaps in the dough. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise another 30 minutes.  Towards the end, set the oven to preheat to 350 F.

When the dough is done rising, beat an egg and brush it all over the loaf.

Bake for 20-25 minutes.

Soup Stock

This is my recipe for soup stock. I've tried different methods and this works the best for me.

1. Preparation.
As you are going about your regular cooking and eating schedule, instead of throwing various bits of vegetables and meat away, stick them in a ziploc bag or container of some kind. This is the stuff that you cut off of with the intention of not using them--the ends of celery and carrots, the stalks of fennel, the leaves and tails of beets, potato skins, leek greens, mushroom stems, onion skin, garlic skin, tops of tomatoes, pulp from making juice, bones, fatty bits of meat, and so forth. Stick all that stuff into a container and freeze it.

This is not to say that you can use everything that you don't eat. Check if ingredients are potentially poisonous, like rhubarb leaves. Use your best judgment.

You can also reserve the water used to boil/steam vegetables, which would normally be drained and dumped, to use as a base instead of using fresh water.

2. Making the stock. 
When you've decided to make the stock, pull out the container of scraps. Put some in a pot. Then fill it up with water. Put the pot over high heat. Add seasoning if desired.

When the water starts boiling, turn the heat to low. Let it simmer for a while, at least 10 minutes.

The longer you let it simmer, the darker and more flavorful the stock will be.

When you've decided it's done, turn off the heat and let the pot sit until it's cool enough to handle.

Use a colander over a large bowl to strain the stock. Throw away the vegetable scraps. Pour the stock into jars and store in the fridge. Freeze into ice cubes for more longevity.

3. Using the stock.
Use the stock as a base for soups and gravies, and for cooking rice or other grains. Use as the liquid for essentially any savory recipe.

Left: Water used to cook purple potatoes. Right: Purple potato water mixed with ham broth.

Sausage Gravy

1/2 pound ground pork sausage
3 Tbls. flour
1/2 cup vegetable stock
1/2 cup milk
1/2 tsp. seasoned salt

In a skillet over medium-high heat, break the sausage into chunks. Cook, stirring, until it is all browned. Add a little of the vegetable stock if needed to keep it from sticking to the pan.

Reduce heat to medium. Sprinkle the flour over the sausage and stir it all in. Then slowly pour in the vegetable stock and milk, stirring constantly. Let the gravy simmer to thicken.

When it is as thick as you want it, add the seasoned salt.

Serve with biscuits or potatoes.

Lime Honey Cake

Cake:
1 cup butter, softened
2 cups sugar
3/4 cup buttermilk
1/3 cup lime juice
5 eggs
3 cups whole wheat pastry flour
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda

Preheat oven to 350 F. Line bottoms of 2 cake tins with parchment, and grease the sides of the tins.

In a small bowl, combine buttermilk and lime juice. Set aside.

In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating in each egg completely before adding the next one.

In another bowl, combine flour, salt, baking powder, and baking soda. Stir 1/3 of the flour mixture into the egg mixture. Then stir in 1/2 of the buttermilk mixture, then flour again, buttermilk again, and flour again. Do not overmix.

Spoon batter into prepared pans. Bake for 30-35 minutes, testing with a toothpick for doneness.

After removing from oven, let the cake rest in the pans for 15 minutes before inverting onto a rack to cool completely.


Filling:
6 Tbls. cream cheese
1/4 cup softened butter
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 tsp. fresh, grated lime zest
1/4 cup honey

Beat together all filling ingredients until fluffy. Keep chilled until time to use.

When the cake is totally cooled, smooth the filling onto one of the cake layers. Place the other layer on top.


Frosting:
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup honey
2 Tbls. water
1 tsp. fresh, grated lime zest
2 egg whites at room temperature

Mix the sugar, honey, water, and lime zest in a saucepan. Heat to a rolling boil over medium heat. Keep boiling until it reaches 242 F on a candy thermometer.

In a large bowl, beat egg whites until stiff peaks form. Pour the boiling syrup slowly in a thin stream into the egg whites, beating constantly on medium speed. Then beat on high speed until stiff peaks form.

Spread the frosting over the top and sides of the cake.

Crock Pot Refried Beans

3 cups dried beans (I used a mix of black, pinto, white, navy, and red)
9 cups water or broth
1/4 cup butter
1 1/2 tsp smoked salt
1 tsp freshly ground black pepper

Put the water and beans in a large crock pot, and cook on high heat for 4 hours, or until the beans are soft. Drain out the remaining water. Add the butter, salt, and pepper to the beans. Use an egg beater on medium speed to coarsely mash the beans.

White Gravy

Since I used whole wheat flour, it is not really white, but it's still good!

3 Tbls. butter
3 Tbls. flour
1 cup milk
1/2 tsp. salt (or to taste)
1/2 tsp. pepper (or to taste)

In a small pan, melt the butter over medium heat. Stir in the flour, salt, and pepper. When that is mixed in smoothly, slowly stir in the milk. Use more milk to make it thinner if desired. Keep it on the heat to make it thicker, if desired.

For not white gravy, you can use vegetable stock or meat broth instead of milk.

Three-Meat Pie

Crust:
2 cups semola flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. dried rosemary
1/2 tsp. dried dill weed
3/4 cup butter
1/2 cup cold water

Filling:
1/2 pound ground pork
1/3 pound ground chicken
1/3 pound ground lamb
1 cup chopped onion
1 1/2 cup grated turnip
1/2 tsp. crushed garlic
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. celery seed
1/4 tsp. ground clove
1/8 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp. ground nutmeg

For the crust: Stir together the semola flour, salt, rosemary, and dill weed. Cut the butter into small chunks, then cut it into the flour mixture until the mixture becomes a crumbly paste. Drizzle and stir in the water. Press it together to form a dough, then divide into 2 balls. Press each ball into a thick disk, wrap them in plastic wrap, and put in the fridge to chill.

Combine all the filling ingredients in a large pot over medium-high heat. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the meat is cooked, then remove from heat.

Bring out the crust dough. Lay out a large sheet of plastic wrap, put one unwrapped disk of dough on it, then cover with another sheet of plastic wrap. Roll out the dough to a thin, large circle, about 15" in diameter. Remove the top layer of plastic wrap, and turn the sheet of dough in to a 9" pie tin. Press the dough down into the corners.

Roll out the second disk of dough in the same manner, but keep it sandwiched between the plastic wrap. Put them back in the fridge to chill.

 Preheat oven to 400 F.

When the filling has cooled enough to handle, bring out the pie crust and spoon the filling inside. Use a slotted spoon to avoid putting the cooking liquid into the pie. Place the second sheet of dough on top. Trim around the sides of the tin, press the top and bottom crusts together around the edges. Cut slashes in the top crust. Use any leftover dough to make small decorations.

Bake for 45 minutes, until the crust is golden brown.

Whole Wheat Flax Bread

Bake rolls at 375° F for 20-25 minutes

The flax seed doesn't affect the taste or texture, it's just there to be healthy.

2 tsp yeast
2 tsp sugar
2 cups warm water
4 cups flour
1 Tbls. salt
1/3 cup ground flax seed

Dissolve the yeast and sugar into 3/4 cup of warm water.

In a large bowl, stir together the flour, salt, and flax seed. When the yeast is foaming on the water, add that to the flour, as well as the rest of the water. Stir it together, then turn out onto the counter to knead it. Use flour if necessary. Knead it thoroughly, until the dough stretches rather than tears when it is pulled.

Coat the inside of the bowl and the dough with oil. Put the dough in the bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Let rise in a warm spot for 1 hour.

Knead the dough a bit, and shape into a log. Oil the inside of the bread pan and place the dough inside. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise for 30 minutes.

Spray the inside of the cold oven with water and place the bread pan in the center of the oven. Turn the oven to 350 F. Bake for 40-45 minutes (including pre-heating time), until the crust is a deep golden brown on top, and golden brown on the sides and bottom.

Apple Chutney

4 cups apples, diced to 1/2" pieces with the cored removed
1/2 cup onion, minced
1/2 cup orange juice
1/4 cup white vinegar
2 Tbls. apple cider
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 tsp. ground ginger
1/2 tsp. mustard seed
1/8 tsp. chili powder
1/8 tsp. saffron powder
3/4 tsp. salt

Mix all ingredients in a pot and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Once it is boiling, reduce heat to low and let simmer for 50-60 minutes, until the liquid is reduced to a small amount of thick syrup. Remove from heat and let cool completely so that it can continue to thicken.

Potato, Onion, and Cheese Pasties

double batch of pie crust dough
2 1/2 cups diced potatoes
1 1/2 cup diced onion
1/4 cup half-and-half, or milk
1/2 cup ground mustard seed
1 1/2 cup grated or cubed cheese
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
beaten egg and milk to glaze the crusts

Bring water to boil in a large pot over high heat. Add the potato and onion. Cover the pan and boil until the potatoes are soft (this timing depends on how small the pieces are). Remove from heat, strain away the water, and put the potatoes and onions in a large bowl.

Add the half-and-half to the bowl. Mash everything until the potatoes are smooth. Stir in the mustard, salt, pepper, and cheese.

Preheat oven to 400 F.

Make small balls of pastry dough and roll them out to small circles, about 5"-6" wide. Put a spoonful of filling onto each circle, wet the edges of the crust with water, then fold them in half, pinching the edges together. You should be able to make 8 pasties.

Place them on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Glaze the top with a mixture of beaten egg and a bit of milk. (I forgot this step, so my pasties were pale.) Bake for 20-25 minutes, until the crusts are golden brown.