Pickled Carrots

Ingredients:

• 3 pounds Fresh Carrots, Peeled And Sliced ¼-inch Thick
• 1/4 Large White Onion, Thinly Sliced
• 2 cups Water
• 2 cups Cider Vinegar
• 3 cups Sugar
• 1 teaspoon Whole Yellow Mustard Seeds
• 1 teaspoon Celery Seeds
• 1 teaspoon Whole Coriander Seeds
• 1 teaspoon Turmeric
• 1/2 teaspoon Minced Fresh Ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon Kosher Salt

Directions:

Fill a medium-large saucepan half-full with water and bring to a boil on the stove top. Carefully add carrots to boiling water and cook for about 5 minutes, until just softened. It’s better to have the carrots be a little too crisp than too soft and mushy. Drain carrots and transfer to a large non-reactive bowl. Add onion and set aside.

Combine the remaining ingredients in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Turn the heat down to medium-low and simmer for 5 minutes, stirring a couple times to completely dissolve the sugar. Slowly pour the hot liquid over the carrot and onion mixture. Let cool completely to room temperature. Then divide between 4 to 5 pint jars, adding carrots and liquid to within half an inch of each jar top. Seal jars tightly with lids and refrigerate.

This recipe is for refrigerator pickling only and needs to be stored in a refrigerator. Enjoy for up to 1 month.

Myrtle's Note:  First, I do like these.  Growing up in Texas, I would encounter pickled carrots when eating out, only I would think of them as marinated carrots.  These are sweet and sour. I like them.  Perhaps, they could do with a bit less sugar.  Still, I was very happy.  I did make two changes, although the recipe is the same as the original:  1) I used baby carrots to lesson my prep labor and 2) I used Gourmet Gardens® Fresh Minced Garlic because I was too tired to tackle the garlic root in the refrigerator.  I will most definitely use baby carrots again.


Yield:  Depends on how greedy you are!  The photo shows that I ended up with six mason jars of carrots, though each is not quite filled.  So, perhaps 12 servings.

Source:  http://thepioneerwoman.com/food-and-friends/how-to-make-quick-pickled-carrots/

Spicy Hummus Muffins

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup spicy hummus
• 1/3 cup milk, plus extra
• 3 large eggs
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup King Arther White Whole Wheat Flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon chili powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup cheddar cheese, grated

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.


Directions:

Grate one cup of cheese and set aside. Spray an aluminum muffin tin with Pam baker's spray and set aside.

In a large bowl, mix together the milk, eggs, and hummus in a bowl.  Whip until all the hummus lumps are gone, so it a soupy mixture.

Mix together the flours, baking powder, chili powder, salt, and cheddar cheese. Be sure to thoroughly mix the cheese into the flour so that, when combined with the wet ingredients, the cheese will be evenly distributed amongst the muffins.

Slowly pour the dry ingredients into the wet ones.  Stir and fold until all is combined.  The mixture should look like wet, thick batter rather than thick dough.  At this point, if it is looking more like a dough than a batter, one that is slightly pourable, add more milk.  For me, it took an additional 1/8 cup of milk to transition to from dough-like to batter-like.

Pour into the prepared muffin tin and place in the oven.  The yield will be just under a dozen. The original recipe said it made 10, but I had enough for 11.  Bake for 30 minutes.

Myrtle's Note:  I found the idea of hummus muffins slightly odd and rather intriguing.  I am so very glad I tried them because they are rather fantastic.  They turn out crispy from top to bottom, but light and fluffy inside.  I used my recipe of Lemon Basil Hummus for the hummus in this recipe.  The original recipe used Sabra Extremely Spicy Hummus.  Disliking scallions, I dropped that ingredient.  I also upped the cheese, because it just didn't look substantial when I put only a half cup grated (as opposed to 4 ounces grated) into the dry ingredients.  My change certainly did not harm these at all!  Certainly they would be good with soups and stews and even a main dish of meat, but just slathered with butter was very tasty.


Yield: 10-11 muffins

Source:  http://www.macheesmo.com/spicy-hummus-muffins/

Lemon Basil Hummus

Ingredients:

• 1 can chickpeas (garbanzo beans)
• 1/4 cup tahini
• 1/4 cup lemon juice (approximately one large lemon)
• 1/2 to 1 cloves garlic
• 2 tablespoons of olive oil, and extra for garnish
• 2 large dollops of Gourmet Garden's® Basil Paste
• 1/2 teaspoon of cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika, and extra for garnish
• 1/2 teaspoon of McCormack's® Peppercorn Medley
• 1/2 teaspoon Redmond's® Real Salt

Directions:

Drain the chickpeas, but reserve the liquid.  Set both aside. Peel and mince your garlic clove, using no more than a clove.  [I used approximately 3/4 of a large, round, fat clove from the outside of a garlic bulb.]  Set aside.

In a food processor, add the tahini and the lemon juice.  Process to create a smooth mixture, almost like whipped butter.  Then add in the olive oil, basil paste, cumin, smoked paprika, pepper, and salt.  Process again until smooth.

Add in the chickpeas, starting with half a can.  Process a bit, scrape the sides of the bowl, and then add the rest of the chickpeas.  Process until all the chickpeas are mixed in and no longer discernable.  At this point, the hummus will look and taste a bit grainy, not quite like what you get in a grocery store or a restaurant.  Allow the hummus to process on high for a couple of minutes.  Then, use the reserved liquid from the can of chickpeas to smooth out the hummus.  Slowly add enough for your desired texture.  I used just over 1/8 cup, added in three increments.  The video recipe uses water instead of the liquid and recommends 2-3 tablespoons, but I preferred the liquid from the can of chickpeas.

Place in a dish and swirl the top.  Drizzle on a bit of olive oil and then sprinkle with a bit of paprika.  Serve with pita bread cut in wedges, pita chips, or your favorite vegetables.


Myrtle's Note:  This is a bit of a melding of two recipes because my first attempt at making lemon basil hummus was not quite truly successful.  I went searching on YouTube for help, found a regular humus recipe, and combined the two.  The second attempt was exactly what I wanted.

Sources:  http://www.simplyscratch.com/2015/09/lemon-basil-hummus.html  and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WQlMXudBGT4