Lamb Kofte part II

Lamb Kofte with yogurt sauce and Muhammara








Ok so go there to see the original recipe. I've changed it some but I will so do this again.

Ingredients

Yogurt Sauce

• 1 cup plain low-fat yogurt
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

I mixed this altogether with a little sugar. I had meant to pick up some tahinni and next time I will make the effort because I think it would be really good. This was good but I have a thing about yogurt, I love it but the whole savory yogurt thing still seems a little weird to me. I ended up liking this just the way it is a whole lot.

Köfte

• 2 pounds ground lamb
• 1/4 cup coarsely grated onion
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 3 tablespoons paprika
• 1 tablespoon ground cumin
• 1 1/2 teaspoons coarse kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 12 5- to 7-inch-diameter soft round Middle Eastern flatbreads (preferably with no pocket)
• 2 tablespoons (or more) olive oil, divided
• 2 large onions, halved through core, cut crosswise into 1/4- to 1/3-inch slices

I didn't grate the onions. Someday I may try that but it sounds like a horrid tear producing event so I'm gonna pass for now.

Now the paprika and cumin. Here's how I do it and I find this to really make a difference and it doesn't take all that long. I dump the powdered spices in a non stick pan and toast them just a bit. It releases whatever oils may still be left in these powdered spices. I try to keep my spices current and fresh but I never know how long it's been since they've been in their natural state. Any way, toast them a bit until you can smell them. Now I have to say that I think 3 tablespoons of paprika would be way too much. I rarely use paprika because I sort of think it doesn't really add anything to a dish. It's got a rather dusty flavor thing going on that's just sort of bla to me. I decided that in this large quantity I would go ahead and do it. And it was terrific. I may have underestimated this whole paprika thing. I didn't have any cayenne which I still can't believe I don't have any cayenne so I added some blazing hot garlic chili sauce.

And the mint. I'm quite sure the mint would be lovely in here but I forgot to pick some up and my mint plant has been left in the side yard to die so I didn't use any. Eating to much mint make me feel like I've swallowed mouthwash.

Muhammara

• 1/2 cup finely chopped drained roasted red peppers from jar
• 1/2 cup water
• 2 tablespoons (or more) pomegranate molasses**
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh Italian parsley

• *Available at some supermarkets, natural foods stores, and Middle Eastern markets.
• **A thick pomegranate syrup; available at some supermarkets, at Middle Eastern markets, and from adrianascaravan.com.

You really must have the pomegranate molasses and before you get all whiny about what the heck it is and where in the world you would get it let me give you the recipe.

4 cups pomegranate juice
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup lemon juice

Boil this down till it's reduced to about 1/2.

There, that wasn't so hard was it? And it's so worth it as I think you could use this in a dozen other dishes. Also if you enjoyed that whole plating thing you could drizzle this on in pretty patterns. Right? Yeah, me either.


The preparation was fairly easy and not all that time consuming. I was a little worried that this didn't have any egg or filler. I thought they'd be a little dry. They wern't fall apart in your mouth moist but I wouldn't call them dry either.

IMHO It's a do over for sure!

Preparation

yogurt sauce

• Stir all ingredients in medium bowl to blend. Cover and chill.

köfte

• Line large rimmed baking sheet with plastic wrap. Gently mix lamb and next 8 ingredients in large bowl. Using moistened hands and scant 2 tablespoonfuls for each, roll meat mixture into 1 1/2-inch meatballs. Arrange on sheet.
• Preheat oven to 300°F. Place large sheet of foil on work surface. Heat large nonstick or cast-iron skillet over medium-high heat. Add flatbreads to skillet 1 at a time; cook until browned, about 2 minutes per side. Enclose in foil; place in oven to keep warm.
• Heat 1 tablespoon oil in same skillet over medium-high heat. Add onions; sprinkle lightly with salt and pepper. Sauté until golden brown, about 8 minutes. Transfer onions to 1 side of large rimmed baking sheet; place in oven to keep warm.
• Add 1 tablespoon oil to same skillet; heat over medium-high heat. Sauté half of meatballs until just cooked through, 7 to 8 minutes. Transfer to baking sheet in oven. Repeat with remaining meatballs, adding oil to skillet if dry. Reserve skillet.

Muhammara

• Add roasted peppers to reserved skillet; stir 1 minute. Add 1/2 cup water and 2 tablespoons pomegranate molasses. Bring to simmer, scraping up browned bits. Cook until reduced to 2/3 cup, stirring occasionally, about 4 minutes. Mix in parsley. Season to taste with salt, pepper, and more pomegranate molasses, if desired. Transfer to small bowl.
• Arrange onions and meatballs on platter. Serve with warm breads, yogurt sauce, and muhammara.

Happy St. Puggy's Day

Pugalug Pug Rescue Has this cute little pic. Pugalug is a Pug Rescue in Toronto, Canada.

Darn cute pic












How do they get hats to stay on? They always end up under their chin.














These would be cute to have. I may have to get some for next year. Go here.







And that is the extent of my St. Puggy's day celebration. My name may be Irish but there's not a drop of known Irish blood in me. I would forget it altogether if it wasn't for the Irishman at work. So I'll wear something green other than my eyes and I'll throw a corned beef into the crock tonight and that'll be that.












Lamb Kofte with yogurt sauce and Muhammara








Ok so go there to see the original recipe. I've changed it some but I will so do this again.

Ingredients

Yogurt Sauce

• 1 cup plain low-fat yogurt
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

I mixed this altogether with a little sugar. I had meant to pick up some tahinni and next time I will make the effort because I think it would be really good. This was good but I have a thing about yogurt, I love it but the whole savory yogurt thing still seems a little weird to me. I ended up liking this just the way it is a whole lot.

Köfte

• 2 pounds ground lamb
• 1/4 cup coarsely grated onion
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 3 tablespoons paprika
• 1 tablespoon ground cumin
• 1 1/2 teaspoons coarse kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 12 5- to 7-inch-diameter soft round Middle Eastern flatbreads (preferably with no pocket)
• 2 tablespoons (or more) olive oil, divided
• 2 large onions, halved through core, cut crosswise into 1/4- to 1/3-inch slices

I didn't grate the onions. Someday I may try that but it sounds like a horrid tear producing event so I'm gonna pass for now.

Now the paprika and cumin. Here's how I do it and I find this to really make a difference and it doesn't take all that long. I dump the powdered spices in a non stick pan and toast them just a bit. It releases whatever oils may still be left in these powdered spices. I try to keep my spices current and fresh but I never know how long it's been since they've been in their natural state. Any way, toast them a bit until you can smell them. Now I have to say that I think 3 tablespoons of paprika would be way too much. I rarely use paprika because I sort of think it doesn't really add anything to a dish. It's got a rather dusty flavor thing going on that's just sort of bla to me. I decided that in this large quantity I would go ahead and do it. And it was terrific. I may have underestimated this whole paprika thing. I didn't have any cayenne which I still can't believe I don't have any cayenne so I added some blazing hot garlic chili sauce.

And the mint. I'm quite sure the mint would be lovely in here but I forgot to pick some up and my mint plant has been left in the side yard to die so I didn't use any. Eating to much mint make me feel like I've swallowed mouthwash.

Muhammara

• 1/2 cup finely chopped drained roasted red peppers from jar
• 1/2 cup water
• 2 tablespoons (or more) pomegranate molasses**
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh Italian parsley

• *Available at some supermarkets, natural foods stores, and Middle Eastern markets.
• **A thick pomegranate syrup; available at some supermarkets, at Middle Eastern markets, and from adrianascaravan.com.

You really must have the pomegranate molasses and before you get all whiny about what the heck it is and where in the world you would get it let me give you the recipe.

4 cups pomegranate juice
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup lemon juice

Boil this down till it's reduced to about 1/2.

There, that wasn't so hard was it? And it's so worth it as I think you could use this in a dozen other dishes. Also if you enjoyed that whole plating thing you could drizzle this on in pretty patterns. Right? Yeah, me either.


The preparation was fairly easy and not all that time consuming. I was a little worried that this didn't have any egg or filler. I thought they'd be a little dry. They wern't fall apart in your mouth moist but I wouldn't call them dry either.

IMHO It's a do over for sure!

Preparation

yogurt sauce

• Stir all ingredients in medium bowl to blend. Cover and chill.

köfte

• Line large rimmed baking sheet with plastic wrap. Gently mix lamb and next 8 ingredients in large bowl. Using moistened hands and scant 2 tablespoonfuls for each, roll meat mixture into 1 1/2-inch meatballs. Arrange on sheet.
• Preheat oven to 300°F. Place large sheet of foil on work surface. Heat large nonstick or cast-iron skillet over medium-high heat. Add flatbreads to skillet 1 at a time; cook until browned, about 2 minutes per side. Enclose in foil; place in oven to keep warm.
• Heat 1 tablespoon oil in same skillet over medium-high heat. Add onions; sprinkle lightly with salt and pepper. Sauté until golden brown, about 8 minutes. Transfer onions to 1 side of large rimmed baking sheet; place in oven to keep warm.
• Add 1 tablespoon oil to same skillet; heat over medium-high heat. Sauté half of meatballs until just cooked through, 7 to 8 minutes. Transfer to baking sheet in oven. Repeat with remaining meatballs, adding oil to skillet if dry. Reserve skillet.

Muhammara

• Add roasted peppers to reserved skillet; stir 1 minute. Add 1/2 cup water and 2 tablespoons pomegranate molasses. Bring to simmer, scraping up browned bits. Cook until reduced to 2/3 cup, stirring occasionally, about 4 minutes. Mix in parsley. Season to taste with salt, pepper, and more pomegranate molasses, if desired. Transfer to small bowl.
• Arrange onions and meatballs on platter. Serve with warm breads, yogurt sauce, and muhammara.

Lamb Kofte part I

Lamb Köfte with Yogurt Sauce and Muhammara

This is not my picture. By the time I'm done cooking I'm starving and plating is something I need to learn.






This was one of the two of the 5 AMAZING meataball recipes that I was dying to try. I'm not much for Indian cuisine but I really love Moroccan and Mediterranean foods.

This recipe claims 'The Middle East on a flatbread: Turkish meatballs, a tahini-spiked yogurt sauce, and muhammara, a Syrian red pepper spread.'

But here's the catch, it's made with ground lamb.

That may not be an issue where you live but here in the L of E you will not find ground lamb. Most of the year you will not find any lamb. But now that Easter is upon us lamb has cropped up in most markets. I thought there was a chance I would find it locally.

I thought wrong.

However, while visiting the folks in the OC I told them I wanted to catch the Persian market down the road from where they live. A great little market while kind of on the dirty side has many items that I use in large inexpensive quantities and all the Middle East items I can find no where else.

It's closed it's doors since I was there.

humf!

Oh wait! the old people say, there's that Whole Food store we told you about, they'll have what you want there.

The peeps have been mentioning this Whole Food store for several months. It started by them saying it was a store that had 2 words in the name. Then they thought it was Whole Food something. So I said 'Whole Foods?' cuz you know that's a store and everybody sort of knows this. And they say no, it's like Whole Foods but not Whole Foods. This may sound a little frustrating unless you've actually met my parents. And then you'd get it. And it would be funny!

So they take us there and it? Is fantastic! They have a fabulous cheese counter with cheeses from all over. I bought a pound of Bulgarian Feta. Bulgarian Feta! Who knew Bulgarians made feta? It's a lovely sheep milk feta with a sharp flavor and creamy texture. I picked up a ginormous jar of cracked green olives for about 3 bucks. A half gallon of grapeseed oil, half a dozen exotic spices, some tea. Oh the tea isle!! Tea tea tea. I picked up a box of Earl Grey, 100 count, for the same price as Numi Earl Grey 20 count. I'm quite sure it's not organic. But it is delish. Then headed over to the dairy case. I've been wanting to try some nice Greek yogurt for some time. My store has it but it so wickedly expensive that I've yet to pick some up. Persian market is where I wanted to go for selection and price. And it did not disappoint, Greek yogurts, Indian yogurts in several brands, huge sizes and at the same price as our domestic brands. I didn't get any as the expiration dates were rather close. So I guess it did disappoint. The bulk bins had couscous, several varieties of rice and some rather exotic looking dried figs. The figs were sweet and chewy. I should have bought more.

And then. . . on to the meat counter. Meat counters rather scare me a little. Especially if I don't know what I want. You got a guy standing there waiting to measure some meat for you and there are other people waiting and it just all gets a little stressful for me. Except that day, that day I spied ground lamb. I flagged me down a meat man and grabbed a couple of pounds of ground lamb and then, right next to the lamb was osso busco. I've been meaning to make some so I grabbed four of those.

Now I was set for my next AMAZING MEATBALL RECIPE!!!

. . . . . to be continued . . . . .

Potage Saint Germain

A couple of weeks ago it was raining. Raining raining raining raining. And I was sick and I cooked. All day.

It seems to be a theme for me lately. Cooking all day.

So, I baked a ham. From all good ham comes good soup stock and I made a metric ton of of. I made 2 huge batches of bean and bacon soup and split pea soup. Julia Child split pea soup. I did not find this in her MAFC. But I have it on good authority that it is hers and can be found in one of her cookbooks. One of the cookbooks that I don't own.

Yet.

Not too complicated and pretty darn good.

Julia Child split pea soup

Julia Child's Split Pea

Totally a labor of love - totally worth it:

Ingredients
The Ham Stock
2 well-washed and scrubbed split ham hocks
3 quarts water
1 cup chopped carrot (coarse is fine)
1 cup chopped onion
1 stalk celery, chopped
3 bay leaves
1 teaspoon thyme
5 whole cloves or allspice berries

The Soup
3 tablespoons butter
2/3 cup diced celery
2/3 cup diced onion
1/2 cup diced carrot
3 tablespoons flour
2 quarts ham stock, heated
1 1/2 cups split peas or yellow split peas

Directions
For the stock, put the ham hocks in a kettle with water to cover by 2 inches.
Make an herb bouquet with washed cheesecloth, using the bay leaves, thyme and cloves or allspice.
Put this in the pot, along with the carrots, onions and celery.
Simmer 3 to 4 hours with the kettle cover slightly open.
Or, simmer in crockpot for 8 hours on low.
Skim occasionally.
Strain and degrease.
Easiest way to degrease is to make ahead and chill, remove fat when cold.
Freeze if you want.

This stock is a great stock that I've made many times. I think I made a couple of gallons of stock. I wanted a more flowery soup base and put in thyme and majoram and just a pinch of herbs de provence. I also used yellow split peas because the 99 store had them. It's a real pretty soup. Serve it up with some minced parsley, a little sour cream or a splash of Vermouth.

Navy bean soup

Ingredients:

• 2-1/2 cups dried navy beans
• 3 quarts water
• 8 slices bacon
• 3 onions, chopped
• 2 cups diced, peeled potatoes
• 1 cup sliced carrots
• 2 tsp. salt
• 1/2 tsp. pepper
• 1 bay leaf

Preparation:

Combine beans and 3 quarts water in large pot. Bring to a boil and boil for 2 minutes. Cover and let stand for 1 hour. Meanwhile, cook bacon until crisp in large stock pot. Remove bacon to paper towels to drain and crumble. Add chopped onions to bacon drippings. Cook and stir until onions are tender. Add partially cooked beans and cooking liquid. Cover and cook over low heat for 1 hour.

Add remaining ingredients including reserved bacon pieces. Cover and simmer for 50-55 minutes, stirring occasionally, until beans are tender and soup is slightly thickened. Remove bay leaf before serving.

This is a very hearty soup. You can blend it a bit if you like. I used diced ham instead of the bacon because that's what I had. This recipe calls for tomato sauce or tomato juice just at the end. I didn't have either and left it out.

Are you ready for some meatball? ! ! !

Elvis Spotted!

At Fudruckers in Mesa










Are you ready for some meatball? Some Monday night meatball?

Good! Let's get this party started.

Bon Appetit in the January issue featured five, count them, FIVE AMAZING meatball recipes. And since I love me a good meatball I just had to try them. Aaaand this is the first one.

Let me preface this by saying this was the fussiest recipe that I think I've ever made. While it was delicious it took me all damn day. I had a ball making them (pun intended) and would love to make it again, but, seriously, much to ridicules for a spaghetti and meatball recipe. I don't have hours to make a meal. So since I really really want to make this again I decided to channel a little Sandra Lee and rewrite this recipe. It'll considerably shorten the prep time without compromising the flavor.





Mis en place. I really must mis en place with just about every recipe. This little counter by the fridge is my staging area. You know, pull everything you're gonna need and put it here.






This is not all of it, oh no, there is more, much much more.

Spaghetti and meatballs all'amatriciana

Here's what Bon Appetit says:
hails from Amatrice, a town northeast of rome. Classic all'amatriciana sauce is made from tomatoes, guanciale (salt-cured pig's jowl) and hot peppers. Here, bacon stands in for the guanciale. mmm salt-cured pig's jowl. I was wondering what to do with all the salt-cured pig's jowl I've got.


The meatball mix

This was fragrant and oh so pretty









6 oz bacon
2 large cloves garlic
2 lbs lean ground beef
2/3 cup chopped, drained, roasted red peppers (from jar)
2/3 cup panko flakes
2 large eggs
1/2 cup coarse grated onion
1/2 cup fresh grated parmesan cheese
1 tbs minced fresh marjoram
2 tsp crushed red pepper
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper fresh ground

Get the bacon very cold, cut into manageable chunks and pulse in food processor until consistency of ground beef. Place in large mixing bowl and add ground beef. Garlic press the garlic in. I did not grate the onion but chopped fine, makes for a more rustic (lumpy) meatball. I bought a jar of the Roasted Red peppers at the dollar store. Chop them up pretty small. If there is left over peppers put them in the sauce. I didn't use fresh parm cheese and I don't think it matters. If you don't get Panko flakes then just use cracker crumbs or whatever hard filler you want. I don't think the Panko added anything special. The fresh marjoram is a treat to work with. It's so perfummy. I happen to have it in my garden so I used it. Leave it out or replace with another fresh fragrant herb. I cut the red pepper flakes about in half. It'll still have a tiny bit of heat.

Mix all the meatball stuff together lightly (don't overwork or toughen the meat). Put this in the fridge while you put together the other ingredients.

The sauce I found too fussy to make every time, or even again so this is what I'll make next time.

*channeling Sandra Lee*

THE SAUCE
1 jar of your favorite spaghetti sauce
6 slices of bacon
2 large cloves of garlic, garlic pressed into sauce
1 onion, chopped small
1 tsp red pepper flakes
2 cups white wine (or broth or 1/2 broth/wine)
1 tbs minced fresh marjoram

Cut the bacon into garnish size strips, ie; it doesn't really matter. Fry them up in a pan, set bacon aside to cool. Pour off most of the fat.

Form medium sized meatballs. We like them on the large size. Brown them in this pan until almost cooked. They'll cook again in the sauce. Do this in batches and put aside when done.

Saute onion and garlic. Deglaze with the wine/broth and pepper flakes. Reduce this to 1/2. Add spaghetti sauce, 1/2 the bacon and any leftover roasted red peppers. Cook until thick and add marjoram 5 minutes before done. I had an opened can of tomato paste and I used a tablespoon of that in the sauce to boost flavor and thicken.

Pasta
I used spaghetti and kept the noodles long. Cooked al dente, after drained I stirred in a tbs of butter, 1 tbs fresh minced marjoram and some parm cheese. You could eat this pasta all by itself. Yum!

Because I chopped, diced and minced instead of press and grate I ended up with a lumpier meatball. Very moist with all that bacon. You could make the meatballs a day ahead. You cold make the meatballs and freeze raw or brown and freeze. I think the meatballs would benifit from an overnight stay in the fridge so I'll be making them a day ahead next time.

If there is a next time.

Seriously a lot of work for meatballs.

What's this?





Found this on my camera, probably taken around stache time.











Who's hairy arm is that?

He's a little jaunticed.

canning

Arn't you just a little sad you didn't NaBloPoMo?

Just a little?




Every year I try to can something. I love to can. For years I had this plum tree that gave me more fruit than me, my neighbors and all my friends could eat. I canned for days and days. And days.

Now I don't can so much. I missed it. A few years ago I ran across some Habanero jelly at the Balloon and Wine festival. It was delish and I decided to give it a try. It's become so popular that I now find myself making it every year. Last year it made it's way to Korea! And will again. (I haven't sent it yet AM, hopefully before Christmas)

I wait until the bell peppers are plentiful and cheep. Usually I get them at the farmers market but this year I wasn't able to get down there. I found them at the 99 store! 3 bells for .99! How can you beat that?

So I get all my supplies ready.

Peppers, check. Habs, check. Cutting board, sharp knife, GLOVES! Check.

Canning jars, check.
Vinegar, sugar, pectin, check.

Large pot for sterilizing jars, hot jar tongs, funnel and little magnetic lid grabber thingy, check, check and check.


Heavy enamel pot for cooking jam, ginormous pot for processing jars, check.

Clean kitchen? ooops!

Cannot start such a ginourmous project with a mess like this. I clean it up quickly.

Coarsly cut peppers and throw them in the processor. Not too long, just chunk them up a little. I wonder if the pepper heat will infuse the processor as it has with the cutting board.

Cooking pot with peppers and pectin. It may not look like it but this stuff is lethal! You cannot breathe the steam or look over the pot while cooking.


When done cooking, strain the solids out. I hate tossing this stuff as I'm quite sure I could do SOMETHING with it. Until I figure out what, out it goes. The wooden spoon will now be hot as blazes.

I used red peppers this year and the color was not as red as I would have liked. I perked it up with a touch of food color.

Pour into jars and water process for 5 min.

Beautiful! Yes?

Like my new apron? Just had it made for me, for National Apple Month.

Survivor night PIZZA!!

And Survivor did not disappoint.

Blackbirds brother did such a great job at recapping that I just don't need to go into it myself. But the oil guy? I hope someone takes him to the middle of the jungle and leaves him for dead. But strip him first and burn HIS clothes. Yeah. That's what I would do.

I have a deep, deep, very deep love of all things pizza. If it's flavored like pizza I have probably eaten it. AND loved it! But since this petuna is constantly arguing with these 10 pounds (they come, they go, their back again) I am back on the low carb wagon. So pizza? Is pretty much out of the question for me. Sure I could slide the toppings off and eat them only, (and don't think I don't.) but, I really like to hold the thing in my hand and eat it like a person that doesn't care about the evils of white flour and how they force lard to coagulate on their hips.

I tried many many low carb crusts. That's where it all starts folks. The crust. I've tried the Carbquik crust. Easy. Just add water and whatever spices. DONE! Not fond of the flavor. Texture ok. Easy ok. Just one special ingredient and your done ok. Flavor. It's the flavor. While I love Carbquik and will use it for pancakes, crepes and a host of other things, it is not crust to me.

I tried one that was mostly moz cheese and eggs. Good. Flavor good. Texture good. Lots of mozz for the crust, well, by the time I made the crust I had little left over for the topping. Not good.

I tried one that called for crushed pork rinds. Again. Flavor good. Texture good. Grinding up pork rinds. NASTY! I love pork rinds but food processing them was horrible and they don't smell so good. Big turn off for me.

I've been playing around with oopsie's for awhile. I love me the oopsie roll but they tend to be a little on the delicate side. I found a recipe for an enriched roll that I really love. It calls for a lot of ingredients, most of which I keep on hand anyway. I decided to give that a go and see ifin it would make a good crust.

I decided to double the recipe because I knew I would be feeding one hungry man and one pizza starved petuna.

Oopsie's are the brain child of Cleochatra and they are more or less Adkins Revolution Rolls. A must have staple of all serious low carbers that stand in for bread, rolls and even desert. All Oopsie's (and RR) begin with the beating of the egg whites.

Would you look at those peaks!! Huh? Nice eh?

This is my favorite part.
If I think about it I will leave 6/7 eggs out on the counter until I get home. If not I bring them to room temp in a little warm water. Eggs are much easier to separate when they are at room temperature. The whites also whip up nicer when they are at room temp. So you'll separate the eggs and whip them up in your trusty dusty Kitchen Aid. Without a Kitchen Aid or other stand mixer? Use your handheld. I will say that beating up 6 whites takes a whole lot longer than 3. You'll be standing there awhile.

But I don't, my mixer does the work and while it's doing it's thing you grab your egg yolks and whatever binder you are using. You can use cream cheese, cottage cheese, ricotta or sour cream. I like sour cream the best. I can keep a huge tub of it in the fridge forever and I like the way it whips up. I use a whisk to incorperate the yolk, cream mix then I stir in the 'flour'. All the little goodies that I use to enrich these rolls. And then it looks like this.

Yeah. Kinda yucky looking. You will also have to add a touch of water here and there as it can get riduculasly thick. Then you fold in the whites. I so love the whole folding part. I always enjoy making these rolls and can never make enough of them. For fun and eats.

I bought a large non stick pizza pan. My old one was so gross I just tossed it. This was the size of a large or even xtra large pizza and thought it'd feed us both with a few left over for breakfast.
The double batch was perfect. I sprayed the pan first and then carefully spread the dough around the pan and made a little dent around the edge to catch any cheese and sauce that might try to escape. There is a special way you have to cook this particular oopsie but I'll get into that when I post the recipe at another time.

IS THAT BEAUTIFUL OR IS THAT BEAUTIFUL?

It was so good that I made noises the entire time I ate it. So so so good. It's love at first bite.
This is a little time consuming crust. I don't think it takes much longer to make this pizza than it does to make a crust with frozen prepared dough. Much less time than from scratch. Both of which I've done. It's best when it's hot and fresh. It's pretty good cold. Ok when re heated.

Still. It's a keeper.

And BH liked it lots. He's not terribly fussy and never minds my funny diet food.

Pizza craving? Satisfied! WIN! !

Pumpkin recipes

Show and tell is back, hooray! I can't play. I have no musical instruments. None. I don't play an instrument. I don't have anything that remotely looks like an instrument. I got bupkis.

But I took a bath yesterday.

No I didn't stink.

Well maybe I did, but that is not why I took a bath.

I was in such a mood yesterday. I have absolutely nothing to blame it on. Baths always make me feel better. Nice hot bath, lots of bubbles, reading material and radio and I feel better. I feel better just thinking about it.

So I read the paper. I never read the paper but the food section featured pumpkin recipes. I love pumpkin recipes. I always try a new pumpkin recipe every year. There were two new recipes in the paper I've never tried.

One was a pumpkin cobbler. Sounds interesting. Never heard of it before. I'll try it and tell you all about it.

Then there was a PINK pumpkin pie cocktail. Listen to this. You take PINK vodka, pumpkin pie filling, cream, spiced rum, a pinch of nutmeg and a splash of vanilla. Pour in a martini glass and garnish with whipped cream. What do you think? I am not a fan of vodka, like, at all, but I think I have to try this because I love pumpkin. And I've been wanting to try those fun sounding martini's for a long time, but, you know, the vodka. And I want to drink out of a martini glass, because, it sounds fun and retro and all that. So now I have to find PINK vodka and stock up on pumpkin. Oh and the martini glasses. I need a few of those. I found these awesome martini glasses at an artsy fartsy boutique in Laguna Beach that were hand painted. They were so beautiful. And expensive. $35.00 and up. Yes, each! So I'm lookin at them carefully and I think, shoot! I can do that. I am crafty. I will pick up some martini glasses at the 99 cent store and try my hand at it.

I'll put my fall apron on, with the pumpkins and crows and drink my pumpkin cocktail from a martini glass. Maybe I'll paint pumpkins on the glass.

Hello fall.

Join me, I'm making soup!

Fall weather! Cooler temperatures! That means soup to me. I love soup. I do think I could eat it everyday. Especially homemade soup.

I decided to make homemade chicken noodle soup.

So come with me, into the kitchen and lets make soup together.

I did not have enough white flour but I did have a whole bag of Whole Wheat flour so I used 1 cup of each. Two eggs and a bit of water. See my yellow bowl? I love these bowls! I have all 4 pyrex nesting bowls and they are old. I cooked with these when I was a little girl and my mom let me have them several years ago.








After mixing the eggs and water into the flour you knead the dough for about 5 minutes and then it looks like this. This has to rest for 30 minutes to relax the gluten. The gluten gets tired after all the kneading so we give it a little break. You could oil the top so it doesn't dry out. I don't.







My pasta machine. This is not necessary to make noodles but I like the uniformity of the noodles. And it is easier than hand rolling and cutting.









This is the dough after it has gone through the rollers a couple of times. Flour it well or it shall stick to the rollers and then get inside and under and there is no way to get it out without a lot of cursing.

You should have your pot of salted water going by now. Do this before you roll out your dough.







Now it is time to cut the noodles. Flour well, use the cutter rollers and crank it through.












This is what it looks like out of the cutters. I hold it over the pot of boiling water and use my kitchen scizzors to cut to approx size.










Boiling happily away in my copper pot. I don't cook them very long then I drain them with a slotted spoon and put them in a bowl. They will be cooked again in the soup.










That's the noodles. Easy wasn't it?

The recipe
Egg noodles
1 cup white flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
a pinch or 2 of salt
2 eggs
1/4 cup water.

Mix flours and salt. I beat up the eggs a little bit first then pour into the center of the flour. I use a fork to work much of the flour in and sprinkle water as I go along. You may need more or less. Work it into a ball and knead till smooth, about 5 min. Let dough rest for 30 min. Roll out as thin or thick as you like. They do puff up a little when cooked so keep that in mind. Let rest again for about 10 min and then roll up and slice. Keep things floured up so they don't stick. Cut these slices into noodle size. When using a pasta machine you take about a tablespoon or so, roll it into a snake, flour and send through on the thickest setting, '0' on my machine. Send through 1 and 2. I don't like them any thinner than that.

NOTE:
I did not care for the whole wheat noodles. It tasted a little dusty for lack of a better word. They were not awful but I might not do it again.

Chicken soup
There is never really a recipe for me. I buy these prepared roasted chickens at Albertsons. I love them and they last us about 2 days. When we are done picking at them I throw them in the soup pot with some onions, celery, peppercorns, garlic, bay leaf and carrots. Really whatever I have. After I've boiled the hell out of it I let it cool, strain and ditch the veggies and pick the meat off the chicken.

If you do this one day and refrig the stock all the fat comes to the surface and you just scrape it off. I take this stock and throw in some more onions, carrots, celery, whatever, let it cook a little. Salt and pepper it. I always use the powdered chicken bouillion as well. Taste it. Then throw in the chicken and noodles.