December 23, 2024

Roasted Chipotle Salsa

September 13, 2013 by

Roasted Chipotle Salsa

 

I planted my garden a little late this year, so my tomatoes are just getting ripe now.  My husband loves tomatoes in any form, in any dish.  As for me, the ONE food I don’t like is plain raw tomatoes.  I keep them off my sandwiches and salads.  Every other preparation is fine with me – ketchup, tomato sauce, anything with cooked tomatoes – and especially salsa!  And while I like raw tomato salsas a lot, I like this Roasted Chipotle Salsa even better!

Chiptole peppers in adobo sauce are easy to find – just check your local grocery store in the “ethnic” aisle with all the other Mexican food.  They’re cheap, and they are nearly pickled in the adobo sauce, so once you open the little can, you can keep the rest of the peppers and sauce in a small container in your fridge for months.  (A little Ball jar, or leftover jelly jar, is perfect for this.)  Then, if you find you love the smoky, mild heat of chipotles, use some of the others in your jar to make this dinner salad.  If you can’t find fresh cilantro at your store, you can leave it out, but it really adds a burst of freshness to this spicy sauce!

This recipe made a little more than a cup for me.  That said, my husband and I ate it all in one night!  It was “taco” night at our house, but we were using lettuce leaves instead of taco shells.  Ground beef with onions, avocado slices, and this salsa – delish!

Roasted Chipotle Salsa

Ingredients:

  • 3 regular-sized ripe tomatoes (around 1/2 pound, or a little more)
  • 1/2 onion
  • 3 cloves garlic
  • 2 teaspoons olive oil
  • salt
  • 1 chipotle pepper in adobo sauce (or more if you like it spicy!)
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
  • small handful cilantro, about half a cup
  • 1/2 lime or lemon

Directions:

  1. Preheat oven to Broil.  Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil.  Slice the tomatoes in half, removing any core or stem you don’t like.  Slice the onion into rounds.  Peel and smash the garlic cloves.  Lay these out on the baking sheet and drizzle lightly with olive oil.  Season with salt.
  2. Broil the vegetables until they start turning brown and are very juicy – about 8-10 minutes, depending on your oven.  Remove from the oven.  Pour the vegetables and any juices into a food processor.  Add in the cumin, chipotle pepper, cilantro, and hit start.  Process for a few seconds, then squeeze in the lime juice.  Process again – leave it chunky!  Taste for seasoning – maybe more salt or lime?  Process again until you reach your desired consistency.  I like mine to still have some texture and not be a puree.  Refrigerate until ready to use.  Tortilla chips, burritos, enchiladas – even over scrambled eggs – this stuff is yummy!

Explore, experiment, enjoy! — Dana

To view even more of Dana’s unique recipe, you can visit her at Frugal Girlmet!

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Zucchini Lasagna

September 6, 2013 by

Zucchini Lasagna Resize

 

This recipe came about, as many do, in my house:  I start with an ingredient and brainstorm what in the world I’m going to do with it.  I had a bag of summer squash from the farmer’s market – it was so inexpensive, I couldn’t pass it up.  But aside from making zucchini bread, I couldn’t think of how to use it.  That was when I stumbled upon a recipe for Homemade Ricotta, and it came to me:  Zucchini Lasagna!

The zucchini stands in for traditional noodles in this recipe, so if you are following a low-carb diet, or if you are avoiding gluten, you’re in luck!  If you are making ricotta, drain and squeeze it to keep any extra liquid out of the casserole.  Nobody likes a soggy lasagna!  Feel free to saute and add other veggies or herbs to the lasagna, too – baby spinach, bell peppers, black olives, or fresh basil would all be lovely!

This is a small casserole, so we ate it with a big salad for dinner.  You can easily double or quadruple this recipe to serve more people.  Hope you like it!

Zucchini Lasagna

Ingredients:

  • 1 or 2 zucchinis or other summer squash, about 3/4 pound
  • cooking spray
  • 1/2 pound sausage
  • 1/2 small onion
  • 1 clove garlic
  • 1 can diced tomatoes, drained (I used fire-roasted canned tomatoes)
  • 1/2 teaspoon Italian herbs, or oregano
  • salt and pepper
  • 1 cup Homemade Ricotta, or store-bought
  • 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

Directions:

  1. Preheat oven to 400*F.  Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil and spray lightly with cooking spray.  Chop the zucchini into thin coins – about 1/8″-thick.  Lay out on the baking sheet and bake for about 8 minutes.  They don’t need to be cooked through at all – you just want to dry them out a little bit.  Remember, no one likes a soggy lasagna!
  2. While the zucchini is drying out, dice the onion, and mince the clove of garlic.  In a large pan, brown the sausage with the onion and garlic.  Drain any fat that accumulates.  Add in the drained tomatoes, oregano, and salt and pepper, and heat through.
  3. In a casserole dish, spray a little cooking spray so nothing sticks.  Layer half the zucchini slices to cover the bottom of the casserole dish.  Spread half the ricotta over the zucchini, then spread half the sausage mixture over the ricotta.  Repeat with the rest of the zucchini, then ricotta, then sausage.  Cover with the shredded mozzarella.
  4. Cover with a lid or aluminum foil, and bake for 20 minutes.  Remove lid and bake for another ten minutes, until the cheese is golden and melty.

Explore, experiment, enjoy! — Dana

To view even more of Dana’s unique recipe, you can visit her at Frugal Girlmet!

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Roasted Plums with Homemade Ricotta

August 30, 2013 by

 

baked plums w ricotta

Last week I posted a recipe for Homemade Ricotta.  Did you try it at your house?  Did it totally blow your mind?  Now that you know how to be a Blessed Cheese Maker, here’s an idea for what to do with your ricotta:  Roasted Plums with Homemade Ricotta!

Plums will only be around for a few more weeks before autumn rolls in and we have to say goodbye to summer fruit.  You can use any other stone fruit here – peaches or nectarines would be just as yummy.  You can also play around with the toasted nuts you use.  I had almonds on hand, but you can try pistachios, hazelnuts, or even walnuts.  My older daughter is allergic to all nuts, so she goes without, and you can too, if nuts aren’t your thing.  Add a shake of cinnamon and a drizzle of honey and you have a nutritious, not-t00-sweet dessert!

 

baked plums_

Roasted Plums with Homemade Ricotta

(serves 4)

Ingredients:

  • 4 plums
  • 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice or cinnamon
  • 2 teaspoons honey, plus more for serving
  • 1 cup Homemade Ricotta (or use store-bought)
  • 1/4 cup crushed almonds, or other nuts, or cookies (amaretti would be super!)

Directions:

  1. Preheat oven to 400*F.  Wash the plums, then cut in half and remove the stones.  Place all plum halves, cut-side up, on a foil-lined baking sheet.  Sprinkle with pumpkin pie spice or cinnamon, and drizzle with 2 teaspoons honey.  Bake for 20 minutes.
  2. Remove from oven.  When cool enough to handle, you can slip off the skins if you want.  I like the extra fiber they add, so they stay on at my house.  To serve:  Place 1/4 cup ricotta in a dish, along with two plum halves.  Top with crushed nuts and a shake of cinnamon.  Drizzle with a little honey.

 

Explore, experiment, enjoy! — Dana

To view even more of Dana’s unique recipe, you can visit her at Frugal Girlmet!

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Homemade Ricotta

August 23, 2013 by

Homemade Ricotta Resized

When I was in high school, 25 years ago, I thought the funniest movies in the world were Monty Python movies.  Yes, I was one of those nerds who could rattle off quotes from all the movies (in the intervening years, my skills have gotten rusty, but I still have a few).  One of my favorite scenes in the movie “The Life of Brian” was when a group of people are listening to the Sermon on the Mount.  Unfortunately, they are way, way at the back of the crowd and can’t hear well. When Jesus says, “Blessed are the peacemakers,” the crowd in back misinterpret it as “Blessed are the cheese makers.”  So when I came across this recipe for Homemade Ricotta, I immediately started giggling.  I want to be a blessed cheese maker, and you can be too!

You already have the ingredients you need.  Use whole milk, or else the ricotta won’t set up.  One lemon, a little salt, and a tablespoon of white vinegar – what could be easier?  You’ll also need a thermometer.  I have a candy thermometer that clips to the side of the pan, but you could use a meat thermometer, or one of those fancy infrared ones too!  The only equipment you might need to buy is cheesecloth.  I found it at my regular grocery store, and have used it before in making Homemade Coconut Milk.

Ricotta is one of those amazing ingredients that can be used in either sweet or savory recipes.  In the following two weeks, I’ll have recipes that use fresh ricotta in a zucchini “lasagna” (with no noodles!), and in a dessert with fresh summer fruit.  Until then, you can serve fresh ricotta as an appetizer, spread on thin slices of bread, with either cracked pepper and minced herbs, or with a light drizzle of honey and crushed walnuts.  Ready?  Let’s make some cheese!

Homemade Ricotta  (Makes one cup of ricotta)

Ingredients:

  • 4 cups whole milk
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 tablespoon lemon juice
  • 1 tablespoon white vinegar (you may need more, but I didn’t)

Directions:

  1. In a pot, heat milk and salt over medium-high heat.  Stir occasionally to make sure it’s not burning on the bottom.
  2. Prepare your utensils:  Line a mesh sieve with a double-layer of cheesecloth.  If you want to save the whey, place the sieve over a large bowl.  (I saved my whey – next week I’ll show you how I used it.)
  3. When the temperature of the milk reaches 185*F, turn off the heat and pour in the lemon juice and vinegar.  Stir gently.  You just made what Little Bo Peep was eating – curds and whey!  Let it sit for about ten minutes, and stir again.  If you see any milk in your pot that hasn’t curdled, you can add another teaspoon of vinegar, stir, and let sit another ten minutes.  Mine didn’t need any extra and separated easily.
  4. Pour the curds and whey into the cheesecloth-lined sieve.  The whey, the yellowish liquid, will end up in the bowl.  Let cool and refrigerate for later use.  Let the cheese curds, aka your lovely homemade ricotta, drain in the cheesecloth.  If you want it soft and moist, let it drain for about ten minutes.  This is good for spreading on bread, or in dessert applications.  I let mine drain for much longer – about half an hour – because I was baking it in a “lasagna” and didn’t want extra water in the casserole.
  5. This keeps for about 5 days, refrigerated.  I challenge you to make it last more than a few hours!

Explore, experiment, enjoy! — Dana

To view even more of Dana’s unique recipe, you can visit her at Frugal Girlmet!

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Salad Nicoise

August 16, 2013 by

Salad Nicoise small

 

Salad Nicoise sounds fancy, doesn’t it?  It makes me picture Paris fashion, little bistros with snooty waiters, and dining on vin and fromage by candlelight.  In reality, Salad Nicoise is just a dressed-up tuna salad!  This is one of my favorite dinner salads, combining satisfying protein, crunchy vegetables, and a few extra surprises.

Nothing too exotic to buy at the store here.  You probably don’t have Nicoise olives at your store (I’ve never seen them grocery shopping around Los Angeles), but you can easily find a jar of juicy black Kalamata olives.  I use romaine lettuce (it’s my absolute favorite!) but you can use any green lettuce, and I’ve eaten this on baby spinach too.  You don’t want to use anything too bitter, though, so stay away from a salad mix that has a lot of frisee, arugula, or escarole.  I didn’t have any in my fridge, but a couple of teaspoons of minced parsley would be nice sprinkled over the top.  You can use this as a jumping off point, and add in other ingredients you like:  tomatoes, diced bell pepper, pistachios, or capers.  Let your imagination run wild, French-style!

Salad Nicoise

(Makes 2 dinner salads.  Serve with bread and white wine if desired.)

Ingredients:

  • 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
  • 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice or wine vinegar (red or white is fine) plus one tablespoon reserved for potatoes
  • a pinch of sugar or one drop of honey
  • 1/4 cup olive oil
  • 1 5-oz. bag of salad mix or 2 heads of romaine lettuce, washed and chopped
  • 3 or 4 hard-boiled eggs
  • 2 cans tuna, drained
  • 1 large red- or white-skinned potato (Russet potatoes aren’t as nice and fall apart – save them for baked potatoes)
  • 8 oz. fresh green beans
  • 1 jar kalamata or other large black olives
  • salt and pepper
  • optional:  minced parsley, basil or tarragon to sprinkle over top

Directions:

  1. Make the vinaigrette:  In a small container with a lid, add the mustard, 2 tablespoons lemon juice or vinegar, pinch of sugar, and olive oil, and shake to combine.  (The pinch of sugar offsets the mustard and vinegar – you don’t need to add it, but I think it mellows out the dressing a little.)
  2. Boil a large pot of water on the stove.  Wash the potato and green beans.  Chop the potato into one-inch chunks, and cut the green beans into one-inch pieces.  Add to the boiling water and simmer the potatoes for about ten minutes, then add the green beans and cook for 3 minutes more.  You should be able to just pierce a potato with a knife or a fork, but you don’t want the potatoes to break apart.  When the potatoes are done and just cooked through, drain the water, and sprinkle with the reserved tablespoon of vinegar.  Set aside.
  3. While the potatoes are cooking, make a bed of the lettuce in 2 large salad bowls.  Peel the hardboiled eggs and slice into quarters, lengthwise.  Drain the cans of tuna and flake with a fork.  Layer the tuna and eggs over the lettuce.
  4. Top the tuna with green beans, potatoes, and olives.  Season with salt and pepper.  Drizzle with the dressing and optional chopped herbs.

 

Explore, experiment, enjoy! — Dana

To view even more of Dana’s unique recipe, you can visit her at Frugal Girlmet!

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Baked Italian Cauliflower

August 9, 2013 by

Baked Italian CauliflowerResize

 

After I had my second daughter, my friend Sunita brought over dinner for my family.  Not only was that a lovely, thoughtful gesture, but it was a tasty one too!  Sunita made a huge casserole of baked rigatoni  and cauliflower in a spicy tomato sauce, spiked with gobs of melty cheese.  I won’t tell you how quickly I ate up dinner (and all the leftovers) – but it was fast!  Here is a link to the original recipe.  However, my husband and I don’t eat pasta anymore, and my girls aren’t really that into it either.  I wanted to see if I could make the same tasty dish, simplified a little, without the noodles.  I think I did!

Baked Italian Cauliflower is a tasty side dish and will go well with baked meatballs, chicken breasts, whatever you have going!  The only ingredient that may be a little difficult to locate is the cheese.  The recipe calls for 8 oz. of fontina, which is a semi-soft, creamy cheese.  It melts like a dream!  If you can’t find it, you could substitute 2/3 cup shredded mozzarella and 1/3 cup shredded swiss cheese.  It won’t be exactly the same, but you’ll still get the gooey, smooth texture from the mozzarella and a little bite from the swiss.  As for the pepper, I used one of those red pepper flake packets that always comes to your house when you order pizza.  Do you have as many of those packets in a kitchen drawer as I do?  If not, use other red pepper flakes, or even a 1/2 teaspoon of Sriracha or other hot pepper sauce.  I’ll let you decide how spicy you want your dish to be.  For me, the pizza pepper packet was enough!

Once you make this (and love it!) you can add in other things to your cauliflower casserole:  cooked Italian sausage or ground beef, slices of summer squash, or some very finely chopped herbs – basil and parsley would be yummy.  Bake this tonight and tell me how you like it!

Baked Italian Cauliflower

Ingredients:

  • 1 large head of cauliflower
  • 1 onion
  • 8 ounces fontina cheese
  • 1-14 ounce can fire-roasted tomatoes
  • 1-6 ounce can tomato paste
  • 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes, or more, to taste
  • salt and pepper

Directions:

  1. Preheat the oven to 400*F.  Wash the cauliflower and cut out the core, then chop into bite-sized florets.  Microwave in a covered bowl, with a few tablespoons of water, for 8-10 minutes.  The cauliflower should be cooked but still firm.
  2. Drain the water off and add the cauliflower to a very large mixing bowl.  Chop the onion into very thin slices and add to the cauliflower.  Dice the cheese into tiny cubes, about 1 centimeter square, and add to the bowl.  Mix in tomatoes, tomato paste, red pepper flakes, and salt and pepper.  Stir to combine.
  3. Pour cauliflower mixture into a large casserole dish and bake for 45 minutes.  Keep an eye on it towards the end to make sure any exposed cheese doesn’t get too brown.  Serve hot!

Explore, experiment, enjoy! — Dana

To view even more of Dana’s unique recipe, you can visit her at Frugal Girlmet!

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Bacon-Wrapped Figs

August 2, 2013 by

Fresh Figs

Ah summer!  You bring us such a variety of delectable little fruits and veggies, some that are only in season and available for a few weeks!  Figs are one of those little gifts from God.  I saw them at my farmer’s market two weeks ago, and Sunday I bought a basket.  Tender little nuggets of sweet pink flesh, hidden under an unassuming brown skin, figs are a sweet treat!  If you’ve only ever had them in Fig Newton form, try this recipe for Bacon-Wrapped Figs!

Simple ingredients, simple preparation – so easy!  Look for figs that are a little soft, but not squishy.  These little bites are sweet and salty and kind of rich, so you don’t need to eat a dozen to feel satisfied.  Try them with a green salad for a light lunch, or with some sparkling wine as an appetizer.

 

Bite-sized bacon goodness!

Bite-sized bacon goodness!

Bacon-Wrapped Figs

Ingredients:

  • 6 ripe figs
  • 6 slices bacon
  • 6 teaspoons cream cheese
  • fresh-ground black pepper
  • optional: honey

Directions:

  1. Preheat oven to 400*F.  Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil.  
  2. Rinse off figs and pat dry.  With a knife, trim off the little stem nub at the top and slice in half lengthwise, so you have 12 halves.  Cut the bacon in half so you have 12 short pieces.
  3. To assemble:  Place half a teaspoon of cream cheese on top of each fig half.  Season with a grind or two of black pepper.  If you want them sweeter, add a drop of honey on top of the cream cheese.  I didn’t use honey and mine were delicious, but it’s up to you how sweet you want them.  Wrap each cream cheese-topped fig in bacon.  I wrapped them so the open end is underneath the fig, but some had the open end on top and it didn’t unravel.  You could use toothpicks if you are worried they won’t stay wrapped in the oven, but mine were fine without.  Lay the bacon-fig bundles on the baking sheet.
  4. Bake for 20 minutes.  Turn off the oven and let them figs rest for 5 more minutes in the oven.  Take them out and serve hot.  Watch your fingers!

 

Explore, experiment, enjoy! — Dana

To view even more of Dana’s unique recipe, you can visit her at Frugal Girlmet!

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Tropical Granita

July 26, 2013 by

Tropical Granita

In my last post on the joys of Homemade Coconut Milk, we’ll look at the most traditional use of coconut:  Dessert!  Coconut milk can be used in savory or sweet dishes, but I think most people like to find coconut mingling with chocolate or fruit.  Here’s a recipe that will satisfy your sweet tooth in a healthy way – Tropical Granita!

For some reason, my girls won’t try new fruits readily, but if I put them in a smoothie or in this granita, they love it!  A granita, if you don’t know, is like a cross between a sorbet and shaved ice.  It’s icy, flaky, and refreshing!  You can use any fresh, juicy fruit you want here – mangoes, peaches, any berries – but be sure you add at least one banana.  The bananas create a thicker texture and enough sweetness that you don’t need to add any sugar!  You could use frozen fruit too – pineapple and raspberries would be lovely!  I used nectarines, bananas, and strawberries.

As with all homemade recipes, there are pros and cons.  The pro, of course, is there are no sweeteners, preservatives, artificial color, etc.  The con is that since there are no stabilizers and gums, this granita is a little more difficult to scoop than commercial ice cream.  I take it out of the freezer about half an hour before we eat it, so it can soften up a little.  It’s a great motivator – I tell my daughter I’m taking dessert out of the freezer, so if she wants to eat some, she better start eating that broccoli on her plate!

Tropical Sorbet

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup dessicated coconut and 1 1/2 cups water (or one can coconut milk)
  • 3 nectarines or peaches
  • 1 ripe banana
  • 1 cup strawberries
  • optional toppings:  whipped cream, shredded coconut, strawberry jam

Directions:

  1. In a blender, blend the coconut and water.  Strain through a colander and cheese cloth.  Return coconut milk to the blender.  (If using canned coconut milk, just pour it in the blender!)
  2. Boil a pot of water.  Score an X on the bottom of each peach or nectarine.  Drop each nectarine into the water and let it boil for 30 seconds.  Remove the nectarines to an ice bath.  When cool, peel off the skin.  Cut the flesh from the pits and add to the blender.
  3. Add the banana to the blender and blend for 30 seconds.  Remove stems from strawberries and cut in half.  Add to blender and pulse a few times – I like to see chunks of berries!
  4. Pour into a large, shallow container and cover with plastic wrap.  Freeze until firm, at least 6 hours.  To serve, let thaw for about half an hour, and then scrape up with a spoon or fork.  Mound in a dish and serve with whipped cream, more diced berries or coconut flakes, or a dollop of strawberry jam!

These make great popsicles too!

Explore, experiment, enjoy! — Dana

To view even more of Dana’s unique recipe, you can visit her at Frugal Girlmet!

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Homemade Coconut Flour, and Homemade Cheezits

July 19, 2013 by

 

Homemade Cheezits

 

So, you fell in love with coconut milk too, right?  It’s your end-all, be-all, new favorite thing? That’s okay if it’s not.  But if you have made it, or plan to, you will be left with a cheesecloth-wrapped ball of pulp.  Now, someone who didn’t know better might just chuck that in the trash.  But not us!  We are going to use the pulp to make Homemade Coconut Flour and, with that flour, we’re going to make Homemade Cheezits!

First, the tools you will need:  You’ll need a baking sheet, parchment paper, and a food processor or blender.  If you have a Silpat silicone baking liner, now is the time to use it.  And you’re in luck:  the ingredients are already in your house, right now!  Once you make (or purchase) coconut flour, you can whip these crackers up in minutes.  The good news is that they have no preservatives, artificial colors or flavors, or any unpronounceable chemicals – hooray!  They come out of the oven the perfect blend of crispy and  chewy, ready for snacking.  The bad news is, because they lack any of that lab-created stuff, they don’t stay crispy.  But that is easily remedied by a quick pass through a toaster oven.  Just a few minutes is enough to make these crackers crunchy again.

Ready to make some homemade, preservative-free snacks your family will love?  Let’s go!

Homemade Coconut Flour

Ingredients:

  • Pulp from 2 batches of coconut milk

Directions:

  1. Preheat oven to 250 F.  Cover a large baking sheet with parchment paper or a Silpat mat.  Spread out the coconut pulp, breaking up any lumps.  Toast the pulp until completely dry and powdery.  You really need to make sure all the moisture is removed.  This can take anywhere from one to two hours.  Stir occasionally to make sure the lumps are broken up and there are no hot-spots, and don’t let it burn!
  2. When the pulp is very dry, let it cool in the oven for another hour or so.  Transfer to a blender or food processor and blend for 5 minutes.  Depending on how powerful your blender is, you can get it pretty fine.  My food processor did a decent job, but the flour was not silky fine in texture.  That’s okay!  Get it as powdery in texture as your tools allow.

 

Homemade Coconut Flour

 

Homemade Cheezits

Ingredients:

  • 1/2 cup coconut flour
  • 1 egg
  • 2 tablespoons butter, softened
  • pinch salt
  • 1 1/2 cups shredded cheese (I used cheddar)

Directions:

  1. Preheat the oven to 400F.  In a food processor, blend all the ingredients together.  You will end up with a moist ball of dough.
  2. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or Silpat liner.  Plop the ball of dough down on the liner, and cover with a piece of parchment paper.  Roll out the dough very thinly, to about 1/8″ thickness.  Try to make it even thickness all the way across – you can see my edges were a little thinner, and they got crispier than in the middle.  That’s fine, but you don’t want a huge variation in thickness.  Remove top sheet of parchment paper and bake for 8-10 minutes until starting to color.
  3. Remove from oven and score with a sharp knife.  You don’t need to go all the way through, because you don’t want to cut your liner or parchment paper.  Bake again for another 8-10 minutes until golden brown and starting to get crispy at the edges.
  4. When it’s cool enough to touch, cut all the way through the crackers, or just use your hands to break them at the perforations.  When cool, store crackers in sealed container.  To crisp, put them on a baking sheet in the toaster oven or regular oven for five minutes.

I think next time I make these, I’ll add a little paprika or garlic powder.  New flavor combinations are exciting!  My girls helped me make these, so here is a photo of them enjoying their handiwork:

 

B+L Homemade Cheezits

 

 

Explore, experiment, enjoy! — Dana

To view even more of Dana’s unique recipes, you can visit her at Frugal Girlmet!

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Thai Coconut Chicken Soup (Tom Kha Gai)

July 12, 2013 by

Thai Coconut Chicken Soup

I am convinced that every culture, every civilization, has a chicken soup recipe.  Nothing else satisfies or feels so much like a hug to the tummy like a big bowl of chicken soup made by someone you love.  If you are like me and are a frugal girl, you buy a whole chicken at least once a week.  I remove the breasts and legs and cook them one night, then cook the carcass for broth and about two cups of shredded chicken left on the body.  If you have a chicken body and the desire to try something new, read on – here comes Thai Coconut Chicken Soup, also known as Tom Kha Gai!

Now that you know how to make coconut milk from scratch, you’ll need about 2 cups of homemade coconut milk, or you can use one can of packaged coconut milk.  There are a few other unusual ingredients for this recipe:  ginger, cilantro, and fish sauce.  Ginger really isn’t that out of the ordinary, and goes great in smoothies and peach dishes; but if you aren’t going to use it soon, you can peel whatever is left and freeze it to use later.  Cilantro shows up in many different cuisines, so if you don’t want to waste half a bunch of cilantro, you have many options (like Mexican or Indian food), or try this  and  this.  Fish sauce is a savory liquid distillation of anchovy, sugar and salt.  If you can’t find it, you can still make the soup, but fish sauce is the secret ingredient that really brings everything together.  It keeps in the fridge forever, and is a great flavor booster for clam chowder or a substitute for anchovy paste (think Caesar salad.)  The only other ingredients you need are a chicken, some limes, and mushrooms.  Thai restaurants use straw mushrooms, and you can find them in a can, but I used dried shiitake mushrooms here, and they’re delicious.  You could also use cremini mushrooms.

Try this with Jasmine rice and a green salad for a light but satisfying dinner!

Thai Coconut Chicken Soup (Tom Kha Gai)

Ingredients:

  • 1 chicken body, breasts and legs removed (or use two cooked chicken breasts, diced, plus 3 cups of chicken broth)
  • 1 large piece of ginger, 2 or 3 inches long, peeled and bashed with the handle of your knife
  • 1 can coconut milk, or about 2 cups homemade coconut milk
  • 1 ounce dried mushrooms, broken into little pieces, or 8 ounces fresh mushrooms, chopped
  • 1/2 bunch fresh cilantro, chopped
  • 1/2 teaspoon or so fish sauce (to taste – if you don’t have fish sauce, use salt)
  • 2 limes, juiced

Directions:

  1. In a large pot, cook the chicken carcass with 4 cups of water and the peeled, bashed ginger, until the chicken is cooked through. Remove chicken to a large bowl; shred meat from bones and set aside. Strain the broth into another bowl, discarding ginger. Wash the pot and return to stove. Over medium low, add the dried mushrooms to the chicken broth and cook ten minutes. (If using fresh mushrooms, add them in Step 2.)
  2. Add back the chicken to the broth, and pour in coconut milk (and fresh mushrooms, if using).  Cook until simmering.  Add chopped cilantro, fish sauce, and lime juice, and stir to combine.  Taste for seasoning – may need more salt, or you may like more lime (you can add the zest of the lime too, if you want a stronger citrus flavor.)  Serve hot with more chopped cilantro.  You can also stir in a little hot sauce or chili flakes if you like!

Explore, experiment, enjoy! — Dana

To view even more of Dana’s unique recipe, you can visit her at Frugal Girlmet!

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