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applestar
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Let's talk recipes -- are you as random as I am?

I'm one of those people who don't follow recipes very much.
I find a "representative" recipe, then just go from there.

Sometimes things turn out GREAT! Sometimes not so much. My earlier days are not to be recalled with any kind of fondness. :lol:

Today, I wanted to make a cake or a muffin or something... Baked goods as it were. Pulled out a blueberry muffin recipe.

Rummage in the freezer -- a 3/4 full quart freezer bag of quartered Wes tomatoes, ... a frozen banana, ... oh yeah found a 1/3 cup of CRANberries....

Now off to the pantry -- oh wow only about a cup of pastry flour left but I do have a nearly full bag of gluten-free baking flour to supplement with... And oh no! No sugar except the jars in the cupboard for coffee and tea. But a full jar of honey and three bags of confectioner's sugar... Uh huh. Hey how about a handful of dried lavender flowers instead of the old standby vanilla or cinnamon.... And try using coconut oil to grease the pan. Yeah 8)

I put the frozen tomatoes in a sauce pan and let them thaw and come to boil, then strained out the clear liquid and puréed the pulp, skin and all in the blender -- the purée measured exactly 1 cup when I poured it out of the blender pitcher (haha). Put back in the pan with frozen banana and a stick of frozen sweet butter, a good pour of honey. After everything thawed, whisk, cool, then add one beaten egg after melding. Barely mix/fold into whisked flour, baking powder, salt, powdered sugar, and lavender flower mixture and pour into coconut oil greased and pastry flour dusted loaf pan. Pre heat to 400, turn down to 375 and bake for 40 min.

So right now in the toaster oven, I'm baking a loaf pan of "Lavender accented Tomato-Banana-Cranberry bread/cake. Wish me luck. :>

Oh, BTW I didn't feel like putting away the cooled clear tomato liquid like I usually do for using in soups, etc. so I drank it -- too clear to be called tomato juice but full delicious tomato flavor. Yum, yum! :()

...hahaha. Went to check on it and it looked/tested done with 7 min left so adjust to 33 min. If I ever try this again :wink: ... Planning to serve dusted with powder sugar and offer choice of canned whipped cream or sour cream+powdered sugar glaze. Maybe sprinkle more dried lavender buds on top. Hmm... I do have frozen red Matt's Wild, pink Sweet N Neat, and ivory Coyote 1/2 sized cherry tomato fruits -- they look like marbles frozen.... And some mint growing in the house. Those should do for interesting garnish/decoration.

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Ozark Lady
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And I thought that I was daring on recipes!!! I am very conservative.

You didn't tell us, how did it taste? Did your family like it? Is it a keeper experiment or an ahem.... :roll:

Come on the suspense is killing me! O:)

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applestar
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:()
image.jpg
Didn't know I'd ran out of doilies.... :(
Didn't know I'd ran out of doilies.... :(
Mmmmm...yum! :D

We all liked it. I loved it. Had to put away the remainder with difficulty to save for DH. :lol:
I decided to "hide" the tomato-ness of it to see if they would figure it out, so decorated with raspberries. Mint made it look like Christmas so I decided against it. Waited until one DD who doesn't like fresh tomatoes, only cooked, was nearly finished to reveal. :>

Juuust enough lavender for intense hits and lingering intrigue. Any more would have been too much. Not sure I could taste the tomato at all, but very complex and flavorful taste experience. Didn't rise as much as I'd hoped, but looks good and not too dense/heavy at all (probably good interaction of tomato acids and baking powder). I felt entire stick of butter was probably a bit too much but it was frozen and didn't feel like cutting it. Probably would have risen better with only 1/2 to 3/4 stick, or if I had creamed it instead of just melting it.

Served with mango/orange juice/frozen banana slushie/smoothie which complimented the flavor very well.

But "a keeper" -- well, there's a slight problem with that :oops: My random creations are one of a kind ("sounds" good, right? :P ) and It's not likely that I'll hit on exact same combination again. :lol:

Post about your amazing yummies, too! I love food talk. :D

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applestar
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More thoughts --- pastry flour was whole grain, so if white flour was used, I imagine the cake/bread could turn out pinker and less yellow-orange.

For my next "creation" I think puréed fresh frozen tomatoes might be great addition to a carrot cake recipe. 8)

This was a sweet, but it might be interesting to make a savory kind of dinner loaf -- hmm... Basil and olives, rosemary and olives, cheese, olive oil.......

Coconut oil + whole wheat pastry floured glass loaf pan -- the loaf came out so quickly I thought I broke it. I was holding the pan about an inch above the cooling rack ready to thump it (or even use a knife along the edge) but it slid out as soon as I turned it over. Since the batter filled halfway up and cake rose to 3/4 of the depth, the loaf actually fell almost 2 inches. If I hadn't lined the rack with a tea towel, it just might have broken or slipped off the rack. :shock:

imafan26
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I'm the opposite I am a baker not a cook. I will tweak some baking recipes a little but it would only be to substitute cranberries for raisins or add a half a cup of nuts and reducing the sugar. Changing whole wheat and bleached flour changes the wet to dry ration and whole wheat bakes denser, so I don't sub that out much. Half bleached half whole wheat I might try.

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ElizabethB
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Applestar - your creation sounds very interesting. I don't bake much. Mostly around the holidays. Banana nut bread, pumpkin bread, zucchini bread, carrot bread. I like to make mini loaves and keep in the freezer. Great gifts for neighbors and friends.

I much prefer experimenting with savory dishes. G brought home boiled crawfish Saturday night. We did not eat all of it so I popped off the tails and scooped the fat from the heads. Last night I made a soup. There was one potato left so I boiled another and added the cooked potato at the end to heat and flavor the water. Heated 2 cups of milk, a stick of butter and the reserved fat. Added the potatoes and pureed with an immersion blender. It was too thick so I added some or the reserved potato water. Added the peeled tails and 3 threads of saffron. Just long enough to heat the tails. A little sea salt and fresh ground pepper. SIGH! I ate 2 bowls and have enough left for lunch today.

When my step son and his family visit I make a Strata. Put it all together in the evening then cook in the morning for breakfast. It is a Mario Batali recipe that I tweaked.

4 cups cubed (1") crusty sourdough bread
12 eggs - whisked
1 large onion - diced
2 cloves garlic - sliced thin
1 lb smoked sausage - medium dice (G hunts so there is always smoked venison sausage in the freezer)
2 tbsps. olive oil
2 1/2 cups shredded Gruyere
1 1/2 cup milk
1 1/2 cup Half and Half
2 cups chopped fresh spinach
2 tbsp. red pepper flakes
sea salt
fresh ground pepper
Salsa Verde

Heat olive oil in a heavy, non-reactive skillet on medium high
sauté onions until wilted - 2 - 3 minutes
Reduce heat to medium and add sausage - 2 minutes
Add garlic and cook until just fragrant
Remove from heat and set aside.

Whisk eggs, pepper flakes, milk and Half and Half
Add 2 cups cheese, spinach and sausage mixture. Stir to combine
Add bread. Press to saturate the bread.
Salt and pepper
Put mixture in a glass casserole dish and refrigerate, covered overnight
In the morning heat oven to 350 degrees and bake uncovered for 35 - 40 minutes - until custard is set.

Remove from the oven and top with 1/2 cup cheese. Let sit for 10 minutes. Serve with Salsa Verde on the side.

The recipe says it will feed 12. After th3 6 of us ate breakfast there were 2 servings left. Re-heats well in the microwave for another breakfast or a snack.

When G goes fishing I make it in muffin tins. A very quick breakfast for those early mornings. His buddies love it and asked for the recipe.

I love to cook and love to share recipes.

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ElizabethB
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Applestar - with all of your wonderful tomatoes you may like this recipe. It is my favorite spaghetti sauce recipe. I don't tweak it too much. Maybe top the plate with fresh basil and shavings of Parmesan Reggiano.

https://www.cookingchanneltv.com/recipes ... nesca.html

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Lindsaylew82
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I LOVE reading this recipe!

I don't think it's weird that you put puréed tomatoes in your cake. Someone got me a Campbell's soup book for Christmas one year that had several cakes made with tomato soup. We made the spice cake one and it was very yum!

I'll usually try a recipe the way it's written first, but I've made so many recipes for sooooo many years, that I know what a batter should look like and how it'll bake.
I don't really cook anything from a book, although I have quite a fetish for cookbooks. I read recipes and use them as general guidelines.
I really enjoy your resourcefulness. My husband (14 years later) still comments his astonishment at my ability to create something from (what he deems) nothing.
Sometimes I flop. Everyone flops. My husband is really good about not letting me know I flopped. Especially in the early years.

Recently I flopped trying to make homemade Paleo friendly Nutella for H. Both times I just couldn't make it happen.

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applestar
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I forgot about this thread! I'm going to start adding more stuff. 8)

Yesterday's random creation:

I made some B&B pickles based on Alton Brown's recipe, but subbing 1/2 local wildflower honey and 1/2 polish raspberry syrup for the sugar. I also added Truvia because DH said AB's recipe wasn't sweet enough and increased salt because the recipe's "a pinch of salt" wasn't enough last time -- his "pinch" must be bigger than my "pinch". (I'll post the specific alterations if anyone is interested)

Anyway, I made a jar of refrigerator cucumber B&B and made a small jar of purple and green bean B&B, then had another cup or so of pickle juice (with extra loose spices) left over in the saucepan.

So I took all the overgrown beans I had sorted out (about a pound I guess) broke them into 1 inch pieces to ferret out all the strings, and started simmering them in the leftover B&B pickle juice. To this I added about 2 walnut sized Egyptian Walking Onion bulbs thinly sliced, and about one cup worth of quartered tomatoes, and one big fresh spicy Italian sausage cut into 1" pieces, then let it simmer uncovered until cooked down and thickened/semi caramelized.

This was ever so yummy on toast (reminded me of sloppy joes) and DH who refuses to eat green beans (even sesame green beans and who DOESN'T eat those?) liked it when I saved him a sample to try. Next time I'm making a full pot. :D

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I make it a point not to run out and buy an ingredient that I'm missing. For B&B pickles I was out of Tumeric which is pretty important. I'm thinking where do I know that taste from. Then it hit me....Curry powder....which is Tumeric based. It is really cheap in big jars at the Asian markets and gave the pickles Zing. For celery seed I use garden celery tops which are very strong flavored. I am still looking for a mustard seed replacement.

This week I went way out a made Green Tomato Pie. You would think someone put peaches and apples in it and swear it wasn't tomatoes. This is recipe from and old lady in KY that I found from P. Allen Smith's website.

Green Tomato Pie
Ingredients
4 cups green tomatoes, sliced (could be thicker bump to 6)
4 tbsp. lemon juice
2 tsp. lemon zest
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1 1/2 cup sugar
4 tbsp. cornstarch
4 tbsp. butter
1 double pie crust
Add in options: Raisins, cloves, ginger, nutmeg, cranberries

Instructions
Begin by washing, peeling and thinly slicing the tomatoes.
In a medium to large sized sauce pan combine tomatoes, lemon juice, lemon rind, salt, and cinnamon. Cook these ingredients over a medium heat for about 15 minutes, stirring often to evenly cook the tomatoes.
Combine the sugar and the cornstarch in a small bowl. Add this to the tomatoes and continue to cook until the mixture thickens, about 5 to 8 minutes. It is important to stir this constantly while cooking to keep it from sticking to the bottom of the pan. The end product is a gelatinous, green filling that may not look so appealing, but trust me will taste divine!
Remove the tomatoes from the stove top, stir in the butter until it melts and then allow the mixture to cool slightly.
Pour the filling into a 9 inch pie pan lined with a crust.
Now add the top crust. Evelyn prefers strips, but you can use a solid top crust as well. If you do, just remember to make a few slits in the crust for ventilation with a knife.
Bake the pie in a preheated 400 degree F oven for about 25 minutes.

Now for the crust. No shortening and I can't make good pie crust anyways. I found an oil crust recipe which is much healthier and easy peazy. You have to work it to thin it out. It tastes like shortbread/sugar cookies and we like it better than regular pie crust.

Oil Pie Crust
1 1/2 cups (6 1/4 ounces) Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/3 cup (2 3/8 ounces) vegetable oil
3 to 4 tablespoons (1 1/2 to 2 ounces) water or milk

Whisk together the flour, salt, sugar and baking powder. This can be done right in the pie pan, if you like. Whisk together the oil and water, then pour over the dry ingredients. Stir with a fork until the dough is evenly moisened. Pat the doug across the bottom of the pie pan and up the sides. A flat-bottomed measuring cup can help you make the bottom even. Press the dough up the sides of the pan with your fingers, and flute the top. Fill and bake.

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applestar
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Ooh! Bookmarking this one for later when I will have lots of green tomatoes.
Do you use hard green tomatoes or lightly blushed one like for fried green tomatoes?

Rairdog
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I used hard ones. I cored and sliced like sandwich sized. They cooked down a little too much IMO. It was also slightly runny and very sweet so I plan on cutting them a little thicker and bumping it up to 6 cups. I just stacked and packed in a plastic measuring cup so there was some void. I used my pineapple and better boy since the septoria wiped them out.

Back story....buddy from KS was working in southern IN and stopped by. He said he had his first "Indiana Pie" at a small town diner. I never heard of it and the search began. All his co workers from KS and LA kept saying there's got to be peaches and apples in this. I thought the same when I made mine.

The crust will fill the bottom with a few strips for the top. I think if you work it a little more to make the bottom thinner there would be enough left over for covering the top with strips. I was paranoid about overworking which can ruin shortening crust but I don't think it applies to oil crust.

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applestar
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Breakfast today --
Omelette made with butter and safflower oil, diced leftover steak, chopped bolting lambs quarter leaves and flowerheads, young dandelion and plantain leaves, peeled over-mature cucumbers, small (probably) Provenzano tomato, a little bit of scallions and immature garlic chive seed pods, a pinch or maybe double pinch (very small amount) of minced lavender leaves at the end just over the eggs. Plated and liberally sprinkled with Ellie's Aji Llanero salt (spicy sea salt blended with ground smoked and dehydrated peppers). Yum! :D

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applestar
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I made a work-in-progress Pumpkin-Apple bake for lunch the other day.

Two little winter squashes -- a grapefruit sized volunteer maxima (no idea what it is -- red orange with the gum-green/putty-green maxima bottom) and a baseball sized Uncle David's Dakota Dessert squash (not sure if I got those words in right order :P ) both cut into 8th wedges. Two racketball sized green unripe Enterprise or Arkansas Black apples cut into 16th (8th cut in 1/2h arranged in a Safflower oil coated baking dish, dabs of unsalted and salted butter distributed all over, stale egg bagel cut into disks buttered and arranged along the edge as crust, maple syrup, honey, and rice milk generously poured all over, dusted with China and Vietnam cinnamon, freshly ground nutmeg, touch of ground cloves, drizzle of freshly harvested and grated ginger juice, a generous pinch of sea salt. Generously covered with grated aged Gruyer and Parmesan. Foil tented and baked for an hour, removing foil for the last 20 min.

There was about 1/4 of the baking dish left by dinner time, out of which I convinced DH to TRY a wedge each of the two squashes and a spoonful of the diced apples, a couple of egg bagel crusts, spooned over with the liquid. Told the kids to finish the rest and left the baking dish in the oven to keep..


...later DH who always insists " I don't eat squash " told me that he ate it all. I asked if he ate all that I gave him and he said he ate everything that was left. Asked him if the girls were OK with that... And he said "I didn't ask." :lol: --- this means he REALLY WANTED IT, because if he'd asked and they said they wanted to eat it, he would have had to give it up to them.

As well-received as it was, I think I will peel the apples next time because I didn't like the tough skin on these or maybe a thin skinned apple like Gala would work better (but they would have to be purchased not home-grown -- these Enterprise and Arkansas black apples from my garden are SOOOO flavorful and spicy and yum even when unripe green).

The liquid was too liquid I thought. If it didn't have to be non-dairy (no milk -- butter/cheese are OK), then I could see using cream or evaporated milk. I might try dusting the apples and possibly squash pieces with corn or arrowroot starch first. Maybe more honey and less maple syrup would add more body.

...but then, DD said the broth-soaked egg bagel crust was the BEST part -- crunchy, chewy, and pudding like all at the same time, depending on level of liquid absorbed. So the solution is to line the entire bottom with the bagel slices.

I removed the mushy squash membrane but left the seeds in. They were delicious but had to be shelled for me to eat them though I think DD's and maybe DH ate them whole. I suppose ideally, I would remove these seeds and sub with Kakai hulless seeds, but that seems like too much work....
image.jpg
image.jpg (35.94 KiB) Viewed 13999 times
(This isn't a very good picture with the lighting as it is, but it looked like this
-- colors were more appetizing than the photo :wink: )

imafan26
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Since Thanksgiving will be coming up soon and I am tasked with making the stuffing. Anybody got any good recipes?

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applestar
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I'm eating pasta with leftover meat sauce. I doctored it wit some quartered San Marzano Nano, diced green Sivri Biber pepper and diced red, red, red Donkey Ears pepper, then added a handful of pea eggplants, fresh curry leaves and fresh Kaffir lime leaf. Added and folded in freshly cooked whole wheat spirals, basically covered the surface wit galam masala, then covered and steamed for a minute or two.

Just stirred it up and had the first taste in a small bowl and where the lime leaf flavors transferred intensely, it was especially amazing! :D

...now if you'll excuse me, I'm going back for a full plate. :wink:

...I'm back! Wow! This is SOOOO GOOD!!!! :> the eggplants need a bit more cooking... There is a bitter aftertaste right now, but the first bite bursts with intriguing flavor -- I'm going to need to experiment with this some more..... 8)

imafan26
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The pea eggplants? Are they turkey berries? If they are they are supposed to be bitter. Asians like bitter flavors they usually use bitter with fish to disguise the fishiness.

pepperhead212
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Applestar,

Have you made a Thai curry to try the lime leaves or pea eggplants in?

Surprisingly, that thing is still flowering in this very cool weather we are having, but I doubt I will get any more.

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applestar
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Not yet. I forgot to get rice. I can't have any kind of curry without rice.... (You could tell I was craving some though, can't you :wink:)

...I might make Tom Kha Gai (chicken coconut milk soup) today... I was thinking about making it yesterday, but didn't get the chance.

imafan26
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Normally, I don't try to go too far from a recipe, but on Wednesday my friend invited me to an outing to visit the seed lab at University of Hawaii (17 miles away) and then go over to Waimanalo research station (about 30 miles away, basically on the other side of the island). She offered to pick me up and drive so I made lunch.

I made tofu salad and I bought a subway sandwich to split. I also made a tomato basil omelette burrito for breakfast. So, I had some left over everything.

I made a sandwich for lunch yesterday with the honey mustard mayonnaise ( equal parts of each blended together), watercress, sliced tomato, and crisp bacon (for me, my friend eats healthy but I like bacon), on a hamburger bun.

It was really good, the honey mustard mayo really gave it a different flavor. It probably would have been better on a specialty bun.

Sweyn
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imafan26, how do you do a tofu salad?

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ElizabethB
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Glad to see this thread revisited.

G left EXTREMELY early this AM to fly to South Dakota for a pheasant hunting trip. I knew that he would not eat until he arrived this afternoon so I got up stupid, crazy early and made him an awesome going away breakfast. A Cajun cross of eggs Benedict and eggs Sordou with a twist.

I did my prep last night then prepared my man a feast this morning.

Start with Boudin removed from the casing and formed into 1/2" thick patties. Cover lightly with a coating of Panko mixed with finely grated Gruyere. Prepare creamed spinach. Gently fry Boudin patties in olive oil. Just enough to brown the bread crumbs and warm the already cooked Boudin. Plate Boudin patty. Top with creamed spinach. Top spinach with a poached egg. Sprinkle with grated Gruyere. Top with a Beurre Blanc sauce. Coffee and fresh squeezed OJ. My man left happy.

Went back to bed and slept for another 3 hours.

Last week I made another variation. I had some left over smothered chicken livers. I made patties from the livers and followed the same recipe only I used an Hollandaise sauce instead of Beurre Blanc.

I love egg dishes.

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applestar
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Those breakfasts sound decadent! I would love to try something like that, but probably more towards brunch time. 8)

I was shelling some dry beans but had some pods that were still not completely dried. So I took out a cup of mixed "green" shelled beans* -- runner, purple podded pole (like white beans), and Kentucky wonder pole and I think some kind of crowder beans -- and cooked them for 1/2 hour to add to a stew I was making from Italian sausage, lots of onions, purple carrots, a green Anaheim pepper* that I froze a while back. celery*, Swiss chard ribs*, myoga, ... Deglazed with red wine vinegar, then simmered in watered down marinara sauce, diced potatoes, eggplants, mushrooms, and bean cooking water. Marjoram and bay leaves, sea salt. All just thrown together and simmered until done. I guess this is a cassoulet of sorts. Oh yum! :D

imafan26
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Tofu Salad
1 block firm tofu, diced into 1/2 inch cubes
1 bunch watercress
8 oz mung bean sprouts
1/4 cup onion, minced
1 cucumber, diced
1 tomato, diced
1 can salmon or tuna, drained
2 tsp toasted sesame seeds

Note: you can use mixed salad greens and julienne carrots in place of the watercress.

Dressing
2 Tablespoons sugar
3 Tablespoons Rice Vinegar
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup vegetable oil
2 Tablespoon Soy Sauce
1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger

Combine sauce ingredients and set aside in a jar or covered container. In a serving dish layer, salmon or tuna, then a layer of diced tofu, then top with onions, then a layer of tomatoes, a layer of diced cucumber, a layer of beansprouts, then a layer of watercress. Sprinkle Toasted sesame seeds on top. Just prior to serving shake dressing and pour over salad.

This sauce is the one that I use for somen salad. The dressing that originally came with this recipe contains no vinegar
if you want to try it to compare
Original tofu salad dressing
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup soy sauce
2 tbsp sugar
1 thumb sized piece of ginger, peeled and grated.

Combine ingredients in a saucepan and heat until oil boils, and sugar melts, then remove from heat and cool. Blend well and pour over tofu salad just prior to serving.

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ElizabethB
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AppleStar - I love Italian Sausage with beans. I frequently use smoked venison sausage when cooking beans - we have a lot of the sausage. Another favorite is kind of a southern thing - bean soup or split pea soup with ham hocks.

Imafan - I am not a big fan of tofu but your recipe sounds delicious and may change my mind.

Sweyn
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imafan26 wrote:Tofu Salad
1 block firm tofu, diced into 1/2 inch cubes
1 bunch watercress
8 oz mung bean sprouts
1/4 cup onion, minced
1 cucumber, diced
1 tomato, diced
1 can salmon or tuna, drained
2 tsp toasted sesame seeds

Note: you can use mixed salad greens and julienne carrots in place of the watercress.

Dressing
2 Tablespoons sugar
3 Tablespoons Rice Vinegar
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup vegetable oil
2 Tablespoon Soy Sauce
1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger

Combine sauce ingredients and set aside in a jar or covered container. In a serving dish layer, salmon or tuna, then a layer of diced tofu, then top with onions, then a layer of tomatoes, a layer of diced cucumber, a layer of beansprouts, then a layer of watercress. Sprinkle Toasted sesame seeds on top. Just prior to serving shake dressing and pour over salad.

This sauce is the one that I use for somen salad. The dressing that originally came with this recipe contains no vinegar
if you want to try it to compare
Original tofu salad dressing
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup soy sauce
2 tbsp sugar
1 thumb sized piece of ginger, peeled and grated.

Combine ingredients in a saucepan and heat until oil boils, and sugar melts, then remove from heat and cool. Blend well and pour over tofu salad just prior to serving.
That sounds good. I haven't had a lot of experience with tofu and had been wondering what else to do with it. I can probably find most of those ingredients.

Thanks.

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applestar
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...another concoction 8)
I was trying to make this: https://about.spud.com/vodka-infused-cherry-tomatoes/

...but I ended up adding a fully yellow Hot Lemon pepper and a green Hanoi Market pepper plus a whole pierced trifoliate orange (I hope that wasn't a mistake). No sherry, worstershire sauce or horseradish, so added a tsp of my fermented Sriracha style chili sauce a good pinch of unground Himalayan pink salt. I only had 192 proof Polish spiritos rather than vodka and only enough to fill 3/4 of the jar, so topped off with white balsamic vinegar. Put sprigs of rosemary, thyme and basil in the bottom.
image.jpg
...I'll let you know how they turn out. :wink:

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Location: Hawaii, zone 12a 587 ft elev.

Watercress that is grown in Hawaii is 100% for local consumption. Demand exceeds supply. It is not hard to grow, but requires clean running water. Most of the watercress farms have artesian well water. It can be grown hydroponically.
Watercress that I have had in the mainland are a different animal entirely. It is much more bitter which I suspect is because it grows slower and is much older. Watercress gets much more bitter when it matures. It is also a lot shorter than what I am used to.

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applestar
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Baked and scooped out Kakai squash. Took a deep breath, recalled how I needed to make a *rich* flavored sauce to overcome the blandness and went to work: roughly chopped bacon, ground beef, diced onions, LOTS of celery and celery greens, carrot greens and diced carrot, minced jalapeño and hot lemon peppers, added Kakai, minced ginger, marjoram, a glug of my fermented Louisiana style hot pepper sauce, bay leaf, ground pumpkin pie spice, extra pumpkin pie spice, maple syrup, pink Himalayan sea salt, freshly ground black pepper, a pat of butter and some juice from Seminole pumpkin... Taste -- mmm Needs something more.... 1/2 cup of store bought mushroom marinara.... Cover and cook stirring often so as not to burn.... And voilà!

Image

It was soooo incredibly yummy, I ate most of it by myself :P ...but I did save some for DH (too spicy for the kids) and he gobbled up the first bowlful and wanted more (remember, he DOESNT LIKE SQUASH ;) )

Hmmm.... To make this vegetarian, I would probably sub portobello mushrooms for the bacon and maybe add some kind of vegetarian sausage or nutmeat ... maybe beans ... and boost the flavor with miso (yes, even with maple syrup and pumpkin pie spices :>)

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applestar
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Subject: New member video introduction
SuburbanHomestead wrote:As for the bread recipe it is super simple: 3 cups of lukewarm water, 1/4 cup olive oil, 2 eggs, 2 tbs of yeast, 1/2 tbs of salt (a little more if you want it a little saltier) 8 tbs of sugar, chopped herbs (thyme, oregano, rosemary, sweet marjoram) and enough bread flower to get to the right consistency (I never measure out the amount of flour, it will vary according to humidity and flour type) The secret is in the beginning, after adding everything together, to add about 1 cup of flour at a time and beat it well until you can't use a whisk, then continue stirring in flour with a wooden spoon. Add only enough flour for it not to be so sticky, and because you developed the gluten in the beginning, you don't have to knead it too much. Let it rise 1-1/2 to 2 hours, shape it into loaves, then let it rise again about 2 hours and drizzle olive oil (You can use herb infused olive oil for extra herb flavor) and sprinkle course salt.) bake at 350 degrees for about half an hour or so (each oven is different) that is it.
I baked a loaf of bread yesterday based on this recipe. Halved Modifications -- whole wheat flour, used whey from making yogurt cheese instead of water, 3 Tbs sugar and 1 Tbs honey, 1 packet of yeast, dried rosemary ground with mortar and pestle, a handful of walnuts and a handful of dehydrated coconut, 1 Tbs potato starch. Made a wet dough and after 2nd rising, folded the pooled oval leangthwise and tucked in slivers of butter along the top as the gap was pinched closed. Drizzled with EVOO and Pom pomegranate juice. Held the dough in shape with parchment paper mostly folded closed into a roll (like a parchment purse)

It is really really yummy! :D

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applestar
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I couldn't find this recipe! --Copying it here for safe-keeping :wink:

Subject: Saved from the garbage...courgettes
applestar wrote:Here's my all-purpose Banana-Nut-Berry-Veg Bread Recipe. Sorry syntheticbutterfly, but you'll have to do the conversions. Enjoy! :D

Applestar's Banana-Walnut-Cranberry-Broccoli (shhh!) Bread {080115}
Adapted from: https://www.cookingforengineers.com/reci ... read/print

Use the butter and flour in the recipe to prepare a loaf pan by buttering the bottom and sides. Lightly flour the pan and tap out the excess flour (back into the flour bowl).
I used a Pyrex glass loaf pan, but any loaf pan around 5 in. by 9 in. (13 cm by 23 cm) should work.

WET INGREDIENTS:

6 Tbs. unsalted butter, melted
2 VERY~OVER ripe bananas, frozen/fresh or 2/3 cup pumpkin puree
2 Tbs honey
2/3 cup finely chopped broccoli florets/shredded zucchini (about 5") or carrots
2 large eggs
1 tsp. vanilla extract

DRY INGREDIENTS:

1-1/3 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. baking powder
2/3 cup sugar
1/2 tsp. sea salt
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp freshly ground nutmeg
2/3 cup walnuts broken up by hand into small pieces (chopping makes the pieces too small)

1/2 cup fresh/frozen cran/berries (or 1/4~1/3 cup dried?) or 1 fresh kiwi chopped

Preheat toaster oven to 350ºF.

Butter loaf pan with the butter or brush muffin pan with or without muffin paper with veg oil.

Cut up the butter and melt in a medium bowl over boiling water (or in microwave). If defrosting bananas/pumpkins, (soak in a bowl of warm water until skin is sufficiently defrosted to peel, then) put the frozen peeled bananas or cooked/puréed pumpkin in the bowl with butter to defrost.

Put the flour in a large bowl, use as much as required to dust the buttered loaf pan, then combine and whisk all the dry ingredients except for the walnuts.

Once the butter has melted, add honey. Remove from heat and mash together. Beat each egg in a small bowl then add one at a time mixing after each one. Remove from heat and add shredded veg. Add vanilla and thoroughly mix together.

Pour the wet ingredients over the dry ingredients. Add walnuts and berries. Then, using a large rubber spatula, fold the flour and the banana/pumpkin mixtures together, turning the bowl, just until no more dry flour is uncovered (DON'T OVERMIX).

Pour into the prepared loaf pan or use reg or mini muffin batter scoop to fill the pans and bake for 50/23/18 minutes or until tester comes out clean.
Cool in pan on wire rack for 10 min. then turn out and continue to cool on wire rack. Serve warm or cooled.

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applestar
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Today's variation was whole stick of organic cultured unsalted butter, 1 banana, some frozen fresh immature red Kuri winter squash from the freezer (including rind and seeds) cut up in rough approx. 1/2" chunks, 1cup frozen blueberries, 1/3 cup walnuts, 2TBS brown flaxseeds, 2TBS crumbled frozen Cinnamon Basil leaves. Baked in papered muffin tins and sprinkled the top with date sugar+pumpkin pie spice blend. Baked for 12 min turned and another 12 min.

The recipe made exactly 18 delicious muffins. I already ate two.... :>

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applestar
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Haha how PERFECT that the last two posts were about the banana+ bread :()

TODAY's version:
image.jpg
Bananas, walnuts, carrots, organic (not orange) dried apricots, dried candied orange peel, frozen blueberries and blackberries, cranberry cheddar cheese, pine nuts sprinkled on top of the loaf with sugar. Forgot to replace 1/3C of the flour with cornmeal as intended, so ADDED 1/3C and compensated by adding some vanilla coconut milk beverage for extra liquid and increasing the baking powder.

HoneyBerry
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My next recipe experience is going to be Awakened Almonds. For those who don't know, basically sprouted almonds. I've been buying them already made at the health food store and they are so good. And healthy. They are expensive, so I want to try sprouting them myself. I hope to have a little sprout factory someday, with all kinds of sprouts, brocolli, alfalfa, etc. And a salad greens greenhouse. I'm loving these little onions I bought the other day. Purple & white pearl onions. I should be able to grow those in a greenhouse too. They are so small.
I just need more time to do these things that I'm interested in. And now I don't even have a stove. My stove top burner scared me yesterday, a short I think, a hot red flash came out of the burner while I was boiling water, lucky it didn't start a fire. This is the second time something like that happened to me. About ten years ago the burner shot a hole on through the bottom of a stainless steel pan that was holding water. I was standing over it that time and it could have hit me in the eye. Good thing I was standing back a ways. I got rid of that stove the next day. My current stove is also going away similarly. To the recycle factory it is headed. I don't like these cheaply made appliances. It's not all that old, just junky from the start. There I go, I'm rambling on.

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applestar
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Scary! Was this an electric stove?
Awakened Almonds sound like a great idea. I have heard that they are very tasty. I should try those. I haven't really started growing my winter sprouts becauses it's been so warm.

HoneyBerry
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Yes, electric. It was scary.
Yes, Awakened Almonds are soooo good.
I heard about the warm weather over your way on the news. It's cold here and warm over your way. Wanna trade?

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applestar
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My corner is still warm-ish though raining. Colder weather is pushing this way though.

---

Today, I made Lamb meatballs made with yogurt, eggs, rice, minced onions, garlic, marjoram, and nutmeg... roasted in the oven on same parchment lined pan with Brussels sprouts tossed with EVOO and sesame oil and a bit of minced garlic and sea salt. YUM! :D

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applestar
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I made some Frozen Lavender Scented Eggnog Yogurt. Huh? You say. Yeah totally made up as usual. Image

Heated eggnog to steaming, then allowed to cool then added plain Greek yogurt -- about 1/2 cup to almost 6 cups of nog. Allowed to cool completely on the counter (not really culturing the yogurt fully) then poured into two 2C Pyrex bowls and a 1 pt. Canning jar. The bowls with snap on lids went into the freezer and was stirred twice as they froze. Stirred about 1 tsp. of dried lavender buds into one bowl. Put an oven mit cozy on the mason jar with plastic lid on and let that one culture for about 6 hrs before putting in the fridge. It was kind of loose then but seems to have set.

I'm currently eating the very last wedge of pecan pie warmed up in the oven, a la mode with the frozen lavender scented eggnog yogurt. Soooo yummy! Image

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applestar
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Sourcream Quiche made with Chrusciki and oyster cracker crumb crust
image.jpg
>Chrusciki -- Polish fried dough cookies, also known as Angel Wings

Chruscikis must be DH's childhood nostalgia snacks. He or his mom keeps getting a huge box of them. He doesn't seem to remember that our kids don't eat them very quickly and they tend to go to waste.

This time, as soon as he brought them home, I decided I was going to try making cracker crumb pie crust dough out of some of them.

As it turned out, I had a craving for quiche today. I probably would have used all Chruscikis for a sweet pie, but since it was going to be a savory pie, I used about 1/4 oyster crackers and added salt. Eyeballed it with 6 Tbs of unsalted butter in a mini food processor, but it's obvious I should have used a bit more cookies and/or crackers ... May have needed full stick of butter then. A splash of whey to moisten the crumbs/butter mixture.

Custard -- used 3 eggs with 1/3 Cup sour cream and enough whey from making ricotta cheese to make up to 1/2 Cup, but I could have used 4 eggs if I had made enough pie crust to fully line the quiche pan to the rim. nutmeg and black peppers.

Filling -- Sautéed onions, carrots, celery, a tiny bit of minced red jalapeño for color and hidden prickles of heat, fresh parsley, kale, shiitake, frozen super sweet corn and green peas. Polish deli ham and sharp Chedder cheese (orange).

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sweetiepie
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Location: York, ND (Zone 3b)

Birdlover, Everytime I move to a new house I get stuck with an old electric stove that I need to wear out and then I get my new stove and we move again. But right in the middle of fall canning this year my stove did that same thing to me. My husband looked at it and when he touched the electric cord going to the burner it just crumbled a part. So I had to order online from halfway across the country the stove I wanted because ND doesn't handle this stove anywhere. Love it. 36 inches wide with six burners, and gas. So no wait time and it has no electrical on it. So I can do what ever I want with out power even though I have a wood cook stove I use in the winter but for canning l love the extra room. I can use two canners at once.



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