Salsa Verde

Ingredients:

• 2 pounds green tomatillos
• 2 cloves garlic
• 2 serrano chiles or more to taste
• 1 cup cilantro leaves and upper stems 
• 1/4 cup roughly chopped white onion
• 1 teaspoon kosher or coarse sea salt or to taste
• 2 tablespoons safflower oil

Directions:

Peel the husks off and since the tomatillos.  Then place them, along with the garlic cloves and chiles, in a pot and add enough water to cover. Place over high heat and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium and simmer for about 10 minutes or until the tomatillos change in color from bright green to a pale green, are cooked through, and are soft, but are not coming apart.

Transfer the tomatillos, garlic, chile (you may want add only 1 chile at first), and 1/2 cup of the cooking liquid to a blender and puree until smooth. Incorporate the cilantro leaves, onion and salt and process again. Taste for salt and add more if need be. Also taste for heat, you may add the other chile in pieces until you reach your desired heat level.

In a medium saucepan, set over medium heat, pour the oil. Once hot, pour in the salsa verde, bring to a simmer and cook for 6 to 8 minutes until it thickens a bit and deepens its flavor and color. Turn off the heat.

Allow to cool to room temperature and serve. Or, once it cools down, you may store it in a closed container in the refrigerator for weeks.

Myrtle's Note:  I have never made salsa and I do not eat salsa.  So, when looking for a recipe, I thought to use one of Pati Jinich.  I chose the salsa verde, because I thought that might be my sister's favorite.  For the "heat,"  I used 1 and 1/2 chilies.  My guests LOVED this!

Yield:  2 cups

Source:  https://patijinich.com/recipe/salsa-verde/

Honey Graham Crackers

Ingredients:

• 2 cups white whole wheat flour
• 1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar
• 1/3 cup honey
• 1 teaspoon vanilla paste
• 1/2 cup whole milk
• 1/2 teaspoon Redmond's® Real Salt

Directions:

DAY ONE
Sift together the whole wheat flour, all-purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt and set aside.

In a medium bowl, thoroughly cream together the margarine, brown sugar, and honey until light in color and very fluffy. Stir in the sifted ingredients, alternating with the milk and vanilla paste.

Place the dough on plastic wrap.  Using a spatula, shape into a log, 13 inches long and 3 inches wide.  Wrap it up, using the plastic wrap to finish your shaping.  Place into the refrigerator overnight.

DAY TWO
Take the log dough out of the refrigerator and place into the freezer for a half hour to harden the dough for ease of cutting.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Divide the chilled dough into quarters.  Put one quarter on a flexible cutting mat and wrap the rest back up and place into the freezer to keep it hard.

Using a pastry cutter or butcher's knife, slice 1/8 inch pieces off the log and place onto a baking sheet.  One quarter will fill a Pampered Chef's large baking stone, approximately 16 crackers.  Using a fork or toothpick, prick holes into the slices.  For a cinnamon flavored cracker, sprinkle with a cinnamon sugar mixture before baking.

Bake for 13-16 minutes in the preheated oven. Remove from baking sheets to cool on wire racks.


Myrtle's Note: I am so very excited to have such a great recipe for graham crackers, since my most favorite brand (Keebler Honey Grahams) is no longer available.  I made some changes to the recipe ingredients and to the instructions.  I changed from margarine to butter, from extract to paste, and from brown sugar to dark brown sugar.  I specified whole milk.  And I added salt, primarily because some reviewers complained the recipe was bland.  I am not sure if it is the change in sugar or the butter or the salt or all three, but these are most decidedly not bland.

Many, many of the reviewers talked about how sticky the dough was and how hard it was to roll out.  So, I decided, being a refrigerated dough, to skip the rolling out altogether.  The end result was an easy recipe with wonky looking crackers.  I can live with the odd shapes for the ease of baking!

I made some soft and some a bit crispy.  They are rather tasty both ways, between the nuttiness of the whole wheat flour and the sweetness of the honey.


Servings:  64 crackers

Source:  http://allrecipes.com/recipe/38500/honey-graham-crackers/

Ancho Chili Roasted Garbanzo Beans

Ingredients:

• 15.5 oz. canned garbanzo beans
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 teaspoon soy sauce
• 1/2 tablespoon dark brown sugar
• 1/4-1/2 teaspoon salt (depending on if you use low sodium soy sauce) 
• 1/4 teaspoon McCormack® Peppercorn Medley
• 1/2 teaspoon ancho chili powder

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Directions:

Drain, rinse, and thoroughly dry garbanzo beans.

Toss will all ingredients in a bowl.

Spread out on a pan with lined with parchment paper.

Roast for 45 minutes, turning them over every 15 minutes.

Myrtle's Note:  I modified the recipe bit, first to accommodate the use of low sodium soy sauce and second because I have learned that if you are adding heat, it helps if you had a bit of sweet in recipes like this.  Some turned out crunchy all the way through, almost like nuts.  Some were crunchy on the outside and soft inside.  I cannot decide if I prefer either more than the other.  While I am a fan of hummus, I am not actually a fan of garbanzo beans.  So, this was an interesting recipe to try.  I think I would serve them to my super healthy friends, but I would rather, myself, stick with Maple Chili Roasted Pumpkin Seeds.

Yield:  1 cup

Adapted from:  http://shewearsmanyhats.com/roasted-garbanzos/

Bacon Pineapple Bites

Ingredients: 

• fresh pineapple
• thick sliced applewood smoked bacon
• brown sugar

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.


Directions:

Make and eat!  Easy peasy!

First, soak enough toothpicks in water.  [I put them in a small dish of water and microwaved them for 30 seconds to hasten the soaking and then let them sit for about 10 minutes.]  Set aside.

Cut the top, bottom, and sides off the pineapple, slice into rings, and cut into one inch cubes/chunks, avoiding the core.  [The leftover pineapple will keep well in the refrigerator, especially if you flip the container once a day to keep the juices coating the pieces.]  Set aside.

Put some brown sugar into a smaller, wider bowl.  [I use pyrex 10 ounce custard cups.]  Set aside.

Cut each strip of bacon in half.  Wrap the bacon around the slice and pin it with a toothpick.  [I just set the bites on the same pan I was going to use to cook them until they were all speared.]  Several recipes recommend putting the seam part down, but, in cooking these twice, I found they held together better with the seam side up.

Once speared, dunk each bite into the brown sugar, coating the bacon.  You may need to use your fingertips to press some brown sugar on top.

Place on an aluminum baking sheet (lined with foil if you wish, but crimp the edges so the juices do not run off), making sure that each bite has a bit of space around it so that they do not stick together during the roasting.

Roast at 425 degrees for 35-40 minutes.  [I found 38 minutes to be just perfect for mine, pictured below.]


Myrtle's Note:  I got the basics of the recipe off of a Google search, but was not interested in all the variations of dipping sauces for these.  They don't need enhancement!  The recipes all had different roasting temperatures.  The second time I made them, I upped the temperature, because I think that the best basic roasting temperature is 425 and did not use that the first time.  The higher temperature made the brown sugar coating more prominent, so there was more of a blend of tastes to the bites.  I just adore these wicked appetizers.


Yield:  As much as you wish to make.

Source:  a variety from Google Search (bacon pineapple bites).

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

Herbed Vegetable Sticks

Ingredients:

• 1 bag Green Giant Fresh® Cauliflower Crumbles (16 ounces of chopped cauliflower)
• 1/4 cup egg whites
• 1/2 cup + 3/4 cup (for topping) Italian mix shredded cheese
• 4 leaves fresh sage
• 6-8 stems fresh thyme (leaves)
• 1 large or two medium stems of rosemary (leaves)
• 1-2 large dollops of Gourmet Gardens® Minced Garlic
• 1/2 tablespoon McCormack's® Peppercorn Medley
• 1/2 teaspoon Redmond's® Real Salt
• Marinara sauce for dipping (optional)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.


Directions:

In a mini-food prep or regular processor, pulse the cauliflower into tiny crumbs ("rice" texture).  Place in a container (such as a pyrex bowl) and bake in the oven for 20 minutes.

While the cauliflower is cooking, mince the fresh herbs together and set aside.

Line a bowl with a flour sack towel and dump the cauliflower atop the towel.  Gather the edges together so that the cauliflower forms a ball in the center of the towel.  Twist the gathered cloth until the liquid from the cauliflower come out from the bottom of the towel.  The size of the ball of cauliflower will shrink by about half if you do a good job of squeezing!

Increase the oven temperature to 400 degrees.

Empty the cauliflower from the towel back into the mixing bowl.  Add egg whites, 1/2 cup cheese, garlic, herbs, salt, and pepper.  Mix thoroughly.

Pat the cauliflower mixture into a rectangular shape, approximately 1/4 inch thick (perhaps 9x7 or 10x8) on a baking sheet.  Place in the middle rack of the oven and bake until golden brown on top.  The original recipe stated 18 minutes, but it took me 24 minutes.

Remove the baking sheet from the oven and top with 3/4 cup cheese (or enough to make a complete layer of cheese on top).  Return to the oven and bake an additional 5 minutes.

Slice in half lengthwise and then make strips.  Serve with warm marinara sauce if desired.


Myrtle's Note:  These are originally titled "breadsticks," but they are not bread in any fashion.  So, I took the liberty, for my peace of mind, to just change the title to something that was more fitting.  Not owning a regular food processor, I started not with a head of cauliflower, but with a bag of chopped cauliflower.  [In case you are considering it, do not try to pulse cauliflower in a NutriBullet.]  The recipe intrigued me, even though the idea of using cauliflower did not sound very palatable to me.  I liked how they turned out.  I did not have marinara sauce, but I could imagine they would be good with that as the original recipe suggests.  I think was made them more tasty in my mind is that I switched from Italian herbs to fresh rosemary, thyme, and sage.  And I added garlic.  So, really, I essentially tweaked the recipe to fit my own tastes.  Finally, I will note that I cooked them on a baking stone, not being a parchment paper person.  They did stick a bit, but I think part of that is because I needed to do a better job of squeezing out the liquid from the cooked cauliflower.  Not being a bread maker at all, I am unsure as to which type of baking surfaces are best.  I might try metal next time.  Because they were a bit soft on the bottom, after moving them to the cooling rack, I returned them to the oven for an additional 2 minutes.


Yield:  16 sticks.

Adapted from:  http://ifoodreal.com/cauliflower-breadsticks-recipe/

Maple Chili Roasted Pumpkin Seeds

Ingredients:

• 2 cups raw pumpkin seeds
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 2 tablespoons pure maple syrup
• 1 1/2 teaspoon chili powder
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon Redmond's Real Salt

Preheat oven to 300 degrees


Directions:

Line a large baking pan with parchment paper and set aside.

Combine all the ingredients in a bowl.  If you measure the olive oil first, the maple syrup will slide right out of your measuring spoon.  Mix thoroughly.  Spread evenly and in a single layer on the pan.

Cook for 20-40 minutes.  Every 10 minutes, scrape the seeds to the middle of the sheet, toss, and spread out again.


Myrtle's Note:   I have one of the double ovens that are the size of a range, so the top oven is small.  The original recipe cooking time is 20 minutes, but my seeds were best at 40 minutes.  I tasted them at 20, 30, and then 40 minutes.  They are, by the way, incredibly tasty!

Yield:  8 quarter-cup servings


Source:  http://www.rachelcooks.com/2011/10/12/pumpkin-seeds-pepitas-eight-ways/

Baba Ganoush

Ingredients:

• 1 large eggplant
• 1/4 cup tahini, plus more as needed
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice, plus more as needed
• 1/8 teaspoon ground cumin
• salt, to taste
• 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.


Directions:

Prepare a medium-hot fire in a charcoal grill. Prick the eggplant with a fork in several places and place on the grill rack 4 to 5 inches from the fire.  Grill, turning frequently, until the skin blackens and blisters and the flesh just begins to feel soft, 10 to 15 minutes.

Transfer the eggplant to a baking sheet and bake until very soft, 15 to 20 minutes.  Remove from the oven, let cool slightly, and peel off and discard the skin and the juice, using only the flesh.

Place the eggplant flesh in a bowl.  Using a fork, mash the eggplant into a paste.  Alternatively, run it through a food processor.  Add the tahini, the garlic, lemon juice, and cumin and mix well.  Season with salt (I used 1/4 teaspoon), then taste and add more tahini and/or lemon juice, if needed.

Transfer the mixture to a serving bowl and spread with the back of a spoon to form a shallow well.  Drizzle the olive oil over the top.  Serve at room temperature.

Myrtle's Note:  I loved this recipe.  I accidentally doubled it because I roasted two eggplants instead of one.  Something that I did was to peel off one strip of skin and then use a spoon to scoop out all the roasted goodness inside.  This way, the clean-up was rather easy.  Of course, I left off the olives and parsley.  They are in the original recipe.  However, I would like to point out that in the Lebanese restaurants I have visited, I have never had olives or parsley with the baba ganoush I ordered.

Source:  http://www.food.com/recipe/baba-ganoush-the-best-in-the-world-67570

Peanut Butter Honey Truffles

Ingredients:

• 3/4 –1 cup regular oats
• 1 cup natural unsweetened peanut butter
• 1/2 cup honey 
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1/4 teaspoon salt (if your peanut butter already has salt, skip this)
• 1 tablespoon cocoa powder
• 2-3 tablespoons sweetened cocoa powder

Directions:

Pulse the oats in a blender for 30-45 seconds till they become a powdery flour. In a mixing bowl, stir together peanut butter, honey, vanilla, salt and oat flour. Roll the peanut butter mixture into 1-inch balls. Roll them in the cocoa to coat. Place on a large cookie sheet covered in wax paper and refrigerate for
30 minutes to chill. Serve cold. Store in the refrigerator or, better yet, the freezer.

Myrtle's Note:  I feel there is just not enough ground oats in this and so add more, up to doubling the original amount.  The key is just how ... oily ... the natural peanut butter I picked is.  Since I very much dislike coconut, I changed the dusting to sweetened cocoa powder.  However, the last time I made this, I also added cocoa to the recipe itself and liked it even better.  With the cocoa powder mixed in, there is a bit less of an explosion of honey to them and more of a balanced taste.  For what it's worth, I regularly double this recipe since it takes a bit of effort to do the rolling out and dusting part.  

Yield: 25

Adapted from:  http://theshiksa.com/2012/10/19/peanut-butter-honey-truffles/

Oven Beef Jerky

Ingredients:

• Stir-fry Steak
• Archer Farms Garlic Powder
• Archer Farms Ginger Powder
• Fresh ground black pepper
• Fresh ground sea salt
• Natural Hickory Liquid Smoke 
• Worcestershire sauce
• Archer Farms Teriyaki Grilling Sauce
• Soy sauce
• Modenaceti Balsamic Glaze

Pre-heat Oven to 200 degrees.

I have been making beef jerky in the oven for about a year now.  This last time, I think I found the best steak to use:  Beef Stir Fry.  It was pre-cut thin and cooked in about half the time.  However, I have used about six different types of steak.  The "rule" I started following was either to buy thin steaks and cut thick slices or to buy thick steaks and to cut thin slices.  The Beef Stir Fry all ready fits that bill.

I usually prepare four batches at once, which is two packages of steak.  I will marinade one batch overnight before cooking and the rest I will place in the freezer for later.  I prepare the batches in quart-size Ziploc bags.

I have learned it is best to put the ingredients into the plastic bag before the meat.  First put in the dry ingredients, then the liquid ones, and then use your fingers on the outside of the bottom of the bag to mix everything together.

It is my opinion that the proportions you use with beef jerky marinade—even the actual ingredients—really only matter to your taste.  For mine, I have become adept at making up a bag of marinade by sight.  So, my "measurements" are really merely pinches, shakes, squeezes, and pours.

I use a generous pinch of salt and two-three pinches of black pepper.  I then shake a generous helping of garlic powder and a double shake of ginger powder. Next, I put in four shakes of soy sauce, two quick, firm squeezes of Liquid Smoke (a lot will come out of the bottle really easily), eight shakes of Worcestershire sauce, one long squeeze of balsamic glaze (it is very thick), and one long pour (about two dollops worth) of the grilling sauce. I would say that once everything is in and you hold up the bag by the top, the bottom has about 3/4 to one inch of marinade.

After dropping in the steak, I squeeze out most of the air, close the seal, and mash around the meat at the bottom of the bag. I do not turn it upside down or anything, because I try to keep the marinade from rising no more than halfway up the bag, so that the meat is coated, not the bag.  Once the meat is thoroughly coated, I open the seal and squeeze out all the air possible, use my fingers to squeeze down any marinade clinging to the side of the bag, and then I fold the top of the bag over the meat.  What happens is that with all the meat tucked at the bottom, I can fold it over at the top of the meat, which will leave just an inch or so left of bag, that I then fold over a second time, placing that part facing downward to hold the meat tightly together in the bag and keep it from unfolding in the refrigerator/freezer.

Whether I am cooking right away or taking a packet from the freezer, I let the meat set in the refrigerator for a full day.  Throughout the 24 hours, I will periodically pick up the packet, squish the meat around a bit, and then tuck it back into a small packet.

To cook the beef jerky, I will lay the strips on a cooling rack and then place that rack in the oven.  The cooking rack I use holds approximately 16 slices in two rows.  I also line the bottom of the oven with foil since the marinade will drip all over it.

Depending on the thickness of the meat, I will cook it up to two and a half hours.  The first 90 minutes, I cook at 200 degrees.  If I am cooking longer than that, I will drop the oven temperature down to 150 degrees.  For reference, the stir-fry steak cooked perfectly in 75 minutes.

Yield: 12-16 slices per marinade batch/bag.