Thing 5 .... Homemade Crackers

I don't know if I've mentioned it on this blog before but I'm allergic to soy.  A little here and there is ok but if I have more than a smidgen I'm in trouble.  It's a challenge to go into the grocery and pick up items that don't use soy as a filler (excluding the produce section, of course).  Hubby is allergic to honey.  Buying bread or crackers for the house is a risky endeavor, one or the other of us is likely to wind up sick or swollen.  I'm telling you all this to tell you .... I MADE CRACKERS!  Compared to making bread it's super easy.  There's no yeast to wait for, no proofing.  Just a few simple steps and a little time in the oven and .... CRACKERS!  I used "Crispy Rye and Seed Crackers" from Peter Reinhart's Artisan Breads Every Day (pages 134 and 135).  I'll be posting the recipe along with the changes I'd like to try next time.

Here's how simple it is .... grind up some seeds, grind up some other seeds, pour them in your mixer bowl.  Add some flour, salt, oil (NOT vegetable oil cuz that's soybean oil ... canola or olive is good), agave nectar (cuz it's rude to use honey in my house), and some water ... mix.  Knead, roll, cut.

Place on parchment lined baking sheet.  Brush with egg wash or sweet wash (I used sweet) and sprinkle with more seeds.  Bake.  Cool.  Eat. YUM.







These got my thumbs up right away but were even better once they sat for a few minutes.  (Yes, I confess to eating crackers hot out of the oven.)  Hubby was nervous that I would eat them all before he got home but I was nice and saved him plenty.  I also saved them because I knew I'd be making Cashew Cream today.

 

Peter Reinhart's Crispy Rye and Seed Crackers

1/4 cup (1.5 ounces) sunflower seeds

1/4 cup (1.5 ounces) pumpkin seeds 

3 tablespoons (1 ounce) flaxseeds

6 tablespoons (2 ounces) sesame seeds

1 3/4 cups (8 ounces) rye flour

1/4 teaspoon salt (I use sea salt)

2 tablespoons (.75 ounce) agave nectar

3/4 cup (6 ounces) water, room temperature

egg white wash or sweet wash

garnishes

• Grind sunflower and pumpkin seeds into a fine powder or flour in a blender or spice grinder.  Blend in pulses and be careful not to blend too long (or you'll make seed butter.)  Separately, grind the flaxseeds into a fine powder.
• Combine seed powders, sesame seeds, rye flour, salt, oil, nectar, and water in mixer bowl.  Mix with paddle attachment, on lowest speed, for 1 to 2 minutes.  (Or mix by hand with sturdy spoon for 1 to 2 minutes.)
• Knead for 30 seconds on lightly floured surface.  Dough should be tacky but not sticky, add water or flour if needed.
• Preheat oven to 300F and line 1 baking sheet with parchment for each batch (4).  (I did 2 at a time.)
• Divide dough into 4 equal parts.  Wrap 2 in plastic and stash in fridge until ready to use.  With the other 2, roll out one at a time to 1/16" and cut into whatever shapes make you happy.  (I used a pizza wheel and made square-ish shapes.)  Place pieces on lined sheets.  Brush with wash and sprinkle with additional seeds.  Bake 25 to 30 minutes.  (If baking more than one sheet at a time rotate racks every 10 minutes.)
• Repeat with the other half of the dough or do it up to 4 days later.
• Allow to cool, they won't be fully crisp right out of the oven.  If they aren't crisp once cooled just pop them back in the oven for a few more minutes.

What I Might Try Next Time

(or the time after that)

• replace flaxseeds with more pumpkin or sunflower seeds
• replace 1 cup of the rye flour with whole wheat flour
• replace half of seeds with almonds
• add a dash of cinnamon or nutmeg
• add a dash of black pepper

Egg White Wash = 1 egg white and 2 tablespoons water, whisked.
Sweet Wash = 1 tablespoon agave nectar and 3 tablespoon water, whisked.

Thing 4 .... Stuffed Poblano Peppers

I've made stuffed bell peppers before but the other day I was browsing recipes and I found one for stuffed poblanos.  Trying new things and trying to be "good" helped but after reading the recipe I just had to give them a chance!  These were very easy to throw together.  I tried some of the filling before I put them all together and was pleased.  To me, these are way better than stuffed bell peppers.  The flavor of the poblano itself doesn't fight with the stuffing.  The poblano is also thinner, making it easier to slice through and eat together. The most exciting thing, though, was when hubby took his first bite and said "Mmm, wow!" and then told me several times how good they were and asked me to make them again.  The recipe made more than the two of us could eat and as soon as we finished dinner he jumped and reserved the two he would take for lunch tomorrow, packaged them up and tucked them away in the fridge.

Oh by the way, I tried VERY hard to follow the recipe as it was written so I could review that version of it.  I failed.  There were just little things that it needed, little things that would make it better, little things that would make it mine.  So, maybe I'm biased but I have to say it's remarkable.  I promise I tried.

Start by making some rice.  1 cup (raw) of any kind of rice you like cooked according to directions.  Then move on to halving 4 poblano peppers and removing the ribs and seeds (you may want to wear gloves.)  Then put them under the broiler, skin side up, for 7 minutes.

Carefully turn them over and broil for 7 more minutes and then remove them to a trivet until the stuffing is ready.

While your peppers are under the broiler, combine your veggies and seasonings and cook them until warm.

Once your rice is finished add it into the veggies and mix it all up.

Spoon the stuffing into the peppers, top with a little cheese (if you like) and broil until cheese is melted then just top it with cilantro and eat up!

Stuffed Poblano Peppers

4 poblano peppers

1 cup uncooked rice of choice (I used multi-grain rice)

1 1/2 cups salsa

1 15 ounce can black beans, drained and rinsed

1 1/2 cups frozen corn kernels

3 green onions, chopped

2 good sized toes of garlic

1 shallot

1 teaspoon chopped cilantro plus extra for garnish (cilantro haters may omit cilantro)

1 teaspoon cumin

1 teaspoon chili powder

salt and Tony Chachere's to taste

shredded cheese for garnish (vegans may omit cheese)

1. Cook 1 cup rice according to directions.
2. While rice cooks cut peppers in half and remove tops, seeds and ribs.  
3. Add a little olive oil to the bottom of a pyrex or corning ware dish and place the pepper halves skin side up.  Broil for 7 minutes then turn over and broil for 7 more minutes.
4. While peppers broil start the stuffing.  Add salsa, black beans, corn, the whites of green onions, garlic and shallot to a large skillet over medium heat.  Allow to cook until everything is warm then add tops of green onions, cilantro, cumin, chili powder, salt and Tony's.  If rice is not done, remove stuffing from heat.
5. Add cooked rice and mix well.
6. Spoon stuffing into broiled peppers.  Try not to burn yourself on the dish, it's a bad idea.  Top with a little bit of shredded cheese and then broil until cheese is melted (3 - 5 minutes).  When removed from oven top with a little chopped cilantro and serve to create happy eaters.

Enjoy!

Thing 3 ... Dark Chocolate Mousse (with whipped cream)

Yesterday afternoon I got the itch to make the chocolate mousse recipe I've been staring at for a little over a week.  I didn't have the dark rum it called for so I had to pick from amaretto, so co or coconut rum.  I was afraid the amaretto would make it much too sweet but I've been advised that it works rather well.  The so co might be an interesting fit but I went with the coconut rum.  A stronger liquor would have been better but I am very please with how it came out.

I am very pleased with the flavor.  It IS rich.  Today I made some whipped cream with a little bit of superfine sugar to sweeten it.  This was the perfect thing to balance the richness of the mousse.  I just served hubby a little bowl and I got his thumbs up.  It's possible that this was his first encounter with chocolate mousse.  He wanted to know if it was "like pudding" until his first bite.  Now he understands that it's better!

 By the way, this is my first cross-post with my baking blog, Pretty Please Sweets.  Feel free to check it out.

Enjoy!

Thing 2 .... Roasted Red Pepper Pesto

I've never made pesto before.  Weird huh?  I make "grinch chicken" sometimes which is chicken coated in something that's almost pesto but with no nuts.  So, thing 2 is  Roasted Red Pepper Pesto.  I got the recipe from FightFatFoodie on food buzz.  I only made two small changes to their recipe.  I used fresh red bell peppers and roasted them myself rather than using canned.  Since I had no vegetable broth I used water to thin my pesto to the consistency I wanted.  I was very happy with the flavor.  Hubby was extremely pleased as well.  This will now go into our regular recipe folder!

 

fresh bell peppers, raw walnuts, basil from my garden, garlic, parmesan and parsley

 

roasted peppers, toasted walnuts, parmesan, chopped garlic, chopped basil and parsley

all ingredients (including olive oil, salt and pepper) ready to blend

about 1/4 cup water was added

served over grilled chicken and bowtie pasta

Ingredients (as I made it):

• 2 - 3 red bell peppers, roasted, skins removed, cut into chunks (about 1 cup)
• 4 cloves garlic
• 3 oz toasted walnuts
• 1/4 cup flat leaf parsley
• 1/4 cup basil
• 1/3 cup grated Parmesan
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1/4 cup water

Combine all ingredients except water in blender and blend until finely chopped.  Gradually add water until desired consistency is reached.  Enjoy.

Thing 1 .... Baked Sweet Potato Fries

Here goes my first new recipe of the 52.  I didn't actually follow a recipe.  I read 4 or 5 recipes and went with a hybridization of those.

I started with 3 sweet potatoes which I cut into 1/2" fries.  In hind sight, 3 may have been too many.  All the raw fries got to soak in cold, slightly salted water for about 20 minutes.  (Note:  In Texas, in spring, summer and the beginner of fall, there is no such thing as cold tap water.  I added a little ice to my water.)  This is supposed to make them crisper when they're done.

After the water was drained off I seasoned them with salt, black pepper, Tony's and garlic salt.  I drizzled them with a little extra virgin olive oil and tossed them (using the messy hands method, of course) to coat them well.  You could use whatever seasonings strike your fancy.  Some recipes suggested cinnamon or nutmeg but I was going for slightly spicy rather than sweet.

Next I spread them all out on a cookie sheet lined with non-stick foil.  (I LOVE NON-STICK FOIL!)  I have to admit that I should have split them between 2 sheets because they were pretty crowded and I'm pretty sure that slowed down their cooking and kept them from getting as crisp as they might have.  I am a bad little blogger and I didn't take a picture of my over crowded cookie sheet.  I'm sorry.  They baked away in my preheated 450 F oven for 15 minutes before I turned them over with a spatula.  Reminder, because I always forget.  When your oven is that hot, open the door and then wait a second or three before reaching in!  I let them cook another 8 minutes then I turned the oven to "broil" and gave them a minute on each side.

They could have been a little crisper but they weren't soggy at all.  I think the over crowding really was the down fall here.  The flavor was great and they paired beautifully with the fish my sister prepared.  Three of us ate them voraciously with enough left for hubby and I to have them the following night with dinner so I'd say 3 sweet potatoes made 5 good sized servings.

What I learned.

• 3 potatoes was too many
• over crowding the baking sheet wasn't a good idea
• I could have been a little more generous with the Tony's
• baked sweet potato fries are easy and yummy

How I'll do it next time:

Preheat oven to 450F

Ingredients:

• 2 sweet potatoes
• salt
• black pepper
• garlic salt
• Tony Chachere's
• 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

Procedure:

• Give sweet potatoes a little scrub under running water.  Leave the skin on, it's good for you.
• Cut potatoes into 1/2" sticks.
• Soak sticks in cold, lightly salted water (you may have to add ice) for 20 minutes.
• Drain well and sprinkle on salt, black pepper, garlic salt and Tony Chachere's to taste.  Drizzle with olive oil and toss with your hands.  It's ok, you can wash them.
• Arrange in a single layer on a baking sheet covered in non-stick foil.
• Bake for 20 minutes, turning after 15, then broil for a minute on each side.
• Serve warm and enjoy!

I hope you've enjoyed my fries enough to make some of your own.  Thanks for reading.

what it's all about

So, I've heard about this 52 recipe challenge thing.  I guess the idea is to try a new recipe each week for a year.  It's October (aka Halloween month!) and I don't feel like waiting until January to start.  I also sorta doubt I'll do one recipe per week.  With my new-ish found love of baking I try new recipes all the time.  I'll be posting my new adventures here and some might be cross post on my baking blog.  I made my first new thing tonight, baked sweet potato fries.  I'll be posting about it as soon as I can drag the pics off my camera.  Until then feel free to take a gander at Pretty Please Sweets.

Enjoy.