Chris' Recipes

Bon Appetite!

Fig Jam

Written By: Chris - Oct• 11•19

So Bill and I are in California for the 2019 harvest. We rented a house in Yountville and we were elated to discover a healthy and prosperous fig tree in the back yard herunterladen! California has the perfect climate for growing figs and to our advantage, fresh figs are in peak season mid to late summer and this tree is loaded right now for our enjoyment herunterladen! Figs are a superfood because overall their nutritional value is quite impressive. They have the highest mineral and fiber content of all common fruits, nuts, or vegetables youtube video geschnitten herunterladen. One serving of figs (fresh or dried) provides 6% of the Daily Value for calcium and iron, and 7% of the Daily Value for potassium. Figs are fat, sodium and cholesterol-free xbox 360 spiele auf xbox one herunterladen ohne kreditkarte.

We’ve been eating these figs every day since we’ve arrived google drive dateien herunterladen. Figs on yogurt for breakfast, grilled and served along with pork tenderloin and just for snacking. I found a step ladder to harvest a bunch and noticed several were very ripe Download desktop icon. I would hate to see them go to waste – so I decided to make fig jam!

This recipe was created with simple ingredients that I had on hand in the rental house and it does not require pectin zip for free! Actually, there are only four ingredients including water in this fast and easy jam!

Ingredients:

1 lb. (about 20) Fresh Figs
1/4 Cup Water
3/4 Cup Sugar (granulated)
1/2 Lemon (juice)
1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract

Cut the stems off of the figs, then cut them into very small cubes or puree them in a food processor until mostly smooth if you don’t want chunks of skins security 360 herunterladen. (I prefer some chunks for texture.)

Place the figs into a medium-sized heavy-bottomed pot schriften gratis downloaden mac.

Stir in the sugar, water and lemon juice kann keine kostenlose apps herunterladen.

Bring to a boil over high heat, stirring constantly. Reduce heat to medium and continue to simmer.

Continue to simmer and stirring constantly for about 45 minutes, until the mixture thickens and becomes jam-like inn consistency. At this stage, it becomes shiny and will fall off your spatula in clumps or sheets rather than drips. You can test a spoon full on a glass plate that has been chilled in the freezer. Push it to see if it thickens with ripples. Once you’ve turned off the heat, stir in the vanilla.

Sterilize canning jars and fill them while the jam is still hot.

Place the jars of jam that have been covered with the seals and lids into a pot of boiled water covering them with an inch or two of hot water. Bring to a boil and process for ten minutes. (Here is a good link on how to can jam http://bit.ly/3290o4eRemove jars with tongs and allow them to cool on the counter as the lids “pop” as they seal!

Serve on bread, over cream cheese, brie cheese or on a spoon!
Enjoy!

Cheers!
Chris

Teriyaki Salad with Pasta and Greens

Written By: Chris - Jun• 18•18

This salad was based off of a recipe that my friend (also my daughter in laws mom) Vonnie shared with me that she found on working woman’s food.com.  I changed the original recipe based on ingredients that I had on hand and I have to say it was one of the best salad dishes I’ve had in a long time.  We enjoyed it on Father’s Day when we were able to share the day herunterladen.

“Teriyaki” is thought to have originated around the 17th century in Japan. The term actually refers to a method of cooking, one of three that are today well known internationally, the other two being “yakitori” and “sukiyaki.” The common denominator in all three is “yaki” which is interpreted to mean “grilled.”

I absolutely love Teriyaki and this flavor profile.  It’s main ingredients are brown sugar, soy sauce, honey, garlic and ginger.  To make this salad, any store brand will do but the trick is to reduce it so it becomes thicker while the flavors are really enhanced herunterladen.

This turned out to be a large recipe, so I split the pasta mixture in half to save for another nights dinner.

Ingredients: 

one 12 oz youtube video geschnitten herunterladen. box of Bowtie pasta, cooked 
5 oz. package of Mixed Greens
2 Cups Arugula
1/2 Cup Cilantro, chopped 
1/2 Cup Teriyaki Sauce, reduced 
1/2 Cup Rice Wine Vinegar
1 teaspoon Garlic Powder
1 teaspoon Onion Powder
1/2 Cup Olive Oil
1 Packages Stevia (or 1 Tablespoon Sugar)
2 Cups Arugula, fresh
1/2 Cup Pine Nuts, toasted
1/2 Cup Cashews, chopped
2 15 oz xbox 360 spiele auf xbox one herunterladen ohne kreditkarte. cans of Mandarin Oranges, drained
1/2 Cup of Craisins
Salt & Pepper, to taste 

In a sauce pan, reduce the teriyaki by bringing the sauce to a simmer over medium-high heat, and then turn down heat to keep at a low simmer google drive dateien herunterladen. It will take about 10-15 minutes to thicken and reduce. Keep a careful eye as you don’t want to burn it or over thicken.

Cook the pasta according to the package instructions el dente, in salted water until the pasta firm to the bite.  Drain, but do not rinse Download desktop icon.

Combine the vinegar with the garlic and onion powders, sweetener, salt and pepper.

While the pasta is warm, combine it with the warm, thickened teriyaki sauce and the vinegar mixture zip for free.

Chill covered in the refrigerator.

Shortly before you are ready to serve, combine the chilled pasta with the greens tossing gently, along with the cilantro, craisins, mandarin oranges, and nuts security 360 herunterladen.

The flavors are so intense and delicious that I think I’ll use this vinaigrette as a marinade in the future on chicken or fish!

Serve and Enjoy schriften gratis downloaden mac!

Cheers,
Chris

Shrimp Salad

Written By: Chris - Jan• 04•18

We’ve been reaching for a lot of Shrimp lately and trying to come up with different dishes to include them.  It’s a low calorie source of protein and happen to be zero point item on the updated Weight Watchers Freestyle™ plan.  (https://www.weightwatchers.com/us/m/cms/article/complete-list-zero-points-foods) I recently heard that they are unhealthy and can elevate your cholesterol.  I worry about Bill, so I did a bit of research.  What I learned mainly is that although some people avoid shrimp due to their cholesterol content, dietary cholesterol is not the main issue with regard to heart disease.  It is saturated fat and trans fat that raise your blood cholesterol levels – and shrimp contain very little fat and no trans fat.  Yes, a 3-ounce serving of shrimp contains 179 milligrams of cholesterol, according to the USDA – and the Mayo Clinic’s recommended daily allowance in the United States for cholesterol is only 300 mg – But there are a lot of benefits to eating shrimp!  It contains many nutrients we are often lacking, including selenium, copper, choline, zinc, niacin and vitamins B6 and B12 herunterladen.

Plus, another benefit to shrimp is that it lowers appetite!  It can increase CCK (Cholecystokinin), a hormone from your stomach that stops hunger.  It also contains astaxanthin, an antioxidant that helps repair brain cells and muscle tissue briefpapier winter kostenlos herunterladen.

Now that we’ve determined it’s alright to enjoy them, here is what I came up with for a lighter shrimp salad lunch!   I’m including Weight Watchers Points™

Ingredients: 

12 oz garmin navi vote to for free. Shrimp, individually, quick frozen, peeled and deveined 
2 heads of baby Romaine lettuce, washed and chopped
2 Celery stocks, chopped
Fresh grape tomatoes, cut in half
1/2 Cup Onion, sauted in EVOO *2
2/3 Cup Greek Yogurt, Fage Total 0
2 Tablespoons Light Mayonnaise *2
2 Tablespoons Cocktail Sauce *2
1/4 Lemon, juice plus rind
1-2 Tablespoons Old Bay Seasoning
2 to 4 Tablespoons of dried Dill
1 teaspoon Garlic Powder
Salt & Pepper, to taste

 
Thaw, rinse and remove tails from pre-cooked shrimp and set aside.  Mix the yogurt, mayo, and cocktail sauce with the dill weed, seasoning, garlic and salt and pepper.  Chop lettuce and celery pdf architect for free.

Chop the shrimp into smaller pieces if desired and combine with the dressing mix and celery autorennen pc kostenlosen.

Gently fold in the lettuce.  Plate and enjoy!

Two servings, 3 Weight Watchers Points™ each.

Cheers!
Chris

 

 

Seafood Pot Pie

Written By: Chris - Dec• 14•17

I was recently hosting friends for dinner and wanted to prepare something special.  I was inspired to make a dish with a puffed pastry top while watching one of the chefs that appeared on the Food Network shows “Chopped”.  A pot pie is a type of meat pie with stew that is topped with crust consisting of flaky pastry chip videos herunterladen.

Since I had some homemade fish stock, fresh jumbo shrimp and scallops on hand in the freezer, I decided against the traditional chicken type and headed to Costco to pick up some lobster to make this dish more succulent!  I picked up Langostino (little lobster as the Spanish name suggests), which are harvested year round off the Chilean coastlines.  Rich with nutrients such as selenium, protein, potassium, iodine and calcium, they have a meaty texture and rose pink flesh that has a deliciously sweet taste, similar to that of lobster or shrimp and can be used as the perfect substitute in any dish.  These tails are sold pre-cooked and peeled.  I also found Lobster Claws that were also fully cooked, scoreed and ready to enjoy spotify auf samsung tv herunterladen.

I watched an online video of Ina Garten and added some ingredients to make this dish my own.  There are a few methods noted within that I would suggest differently as well herunterladen.

Ingredients:
1 stick Butter, unsalted 
1 Yellow Onion, large, chopped
2 Garlic Cloves, pressed
2 Carrots, peeled, sliced thin on a mandolin 
1/2 Cup Wonder Flour (or all-purpose Flour)
4 Cups Fish Stock (I used homemade from Mussels, but you could use clam juice)
2/3 Cup White Wine, I used Chennin Blanc from Wandering Cellars
2 Shrimp, Large – per person peeled and deveined
2 Sea Scallops, per person sliced in three horizontally because they were large
12-14 Langostino, per person
1 Lobster Claw, per person cooked with meat removed and main claw set aside
4 Tablespoons of Old Bay Seasoning
4-6 Tablespoons Heavy Cream
1 1/2 Cups Peas, frozen
2 Cups Whole Onions, small frozen
1/2 cup Flat-leaf Parsley, chopped
Salt & freshly ground Black Pepper, to taste

 

Thaw the Langostino and Lobster claws and remove the lobster from it’s shell.  Rinse well and set aside die sims kostenlos downloaden.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

Start by melting the butter in a large pan over medium heat.  Add the chopped onion and carrots and cook for 10 to 15 minutes, until the onions are translucent.  Add the garlic and cook for another minute or two https www.buhl.de/go/2500.

Next add flour and cook over low heat for about two minutes, stirring occasionally herunterladen.

When the flour is cooked in the onion and carrot mixture, slowly add the wine and stir constantly until the flour is absorbed herunterladen.

bring the stock to a simmer in a small saucepan.  I followed Ina’s instructions to add the shrimp and scallops and cook for two minutes, just until firm but next time I wouldn’t bother cooking the shrimp at all because I felt they were overcooked in the finished dish.  

 

Remove the seafood to a large bowl with a slotted spoon, reserving the stock youtube video geschnitten herunterladen.

 

Stirring constantly, add the reserved stock into the onion, carrot, and wine.  Add the frozen peas and frozen onions xbox 360 spiele auf xbox one herunterladen ohne kreditkarte.

Simmer for about five minutes before stirring in the heavy cream google drive dateien herunterladen.

I wanted to make sure each of the portions had the same amount of shellfish, so I divided up the scallops, shrimp, Langostino, and lobster meat (but not the main claw) into individual baking dishes.

Add the Old Bay seasoning, salt & pepper to the stew to taste and stir in chopped parsley.

Pour the mixture over the seafood and stir each dish gently.  Bake uncovered for about 20 to 40 minutes until bubbling hot.

I tossed the large claws with heated butter on the ovens top and then added one per dish for the last 10 minutes of baking just to heat through.

For this dish I decided to top my fillings with a piece of raw pastry and cooked for nearly an hour.  Next time I would definitely cook the tops separately as they didn’t puff up as I desired. 

After looking at some helpful hints on puffpastry.com, I learned that it’s important to always preheat your oven to 425° for a minimum of 15-20 minutes before baking, because Puff Pastry depends on even heat to rise and puff.  You then lower the heat and place the pastries one inch apart.  Then top each baking dish of stew with cooked puffed pastry.

Enjoy!
Cheers,
Chris

 

 

 

 

 

Canning Tomatoes

Written By: Chris - Sep• 12•17

I received these Roma tomatoes free from my friend Ginny who simply didn’t have time to can this year.  The original batch was very large and had blight, which is a disease caused by a fungus-like organism that spreads rapidly in the foliage and tubers or fruit of potatoes and tomatoes in wet weather, causing collapse and decay.  After some research, I discovered that the tomatoes are safe to eat with a little bit of attention and the removal of the dark, leathery areas.  I simply pureed the good parts of the cut tomatoes, including their skin and canned about eight quarts videos downloaden dmax.  Both green and ripe tomatoes can be affected, so I discarded any of them that I had doubt and allowed the clean green tomatoes to ripen for about another week.  I like the Roma variety for canning because they are meatier than some of the other tomato varieties.

 

These are canning directions for the water-bath method amazon music title download. Raw packed, petite diced with no water added.

Ingredients:
Roma tomatoes
Lemon Juice or Citric Acid

Start by washing and your jars in hot soapy water and rinse them well.

 

Meanwhile, boil a pot of water for blanching 3d schach kostenlos deutsch.  I also like to get the canning pot of water prepared by bringing it to a boil before turning it off and covering it off for quick reheating later when needed.

Start with clean tomatoes kalligraphie kostenlos downloaden.

I make an “X” on the narrow end of the tomatoes.  These tomatoes were about the size of a large egg, so I blanched six to eight at a time.  Along with your blanching pot of water, set up another bowl of cold water adjacent to it Download icloud images on iphone.  Also, add a third bowl to place the unpeeled tomatoes in, as well as a fourth bowl that you will place the peeled tomatoes in for later cutting.  I suggest having a trash or compost handy to work over.

Choose mesh strainer with a handle if you have one, or you could always use a large slotted spoon imo beta herunterladen. Place some tomatoes onto the strainer before dipping them into boiling water for 30-60 seconds or so. “Hey Siri” came in handy for me because as the tomatoes boiled, I continued to make “X’s” in the upcoming ones that were to be boiled.

Once the timer goes off or you see the skins splitting, scoop them out and place them directly into the bowl of the cold water bath to stop the cooking download huawei p9 lite images.  Swirl them around in the cold water for a few seconds and place them into another bowl for skin removal.

You should be able to slip the skins off easily with your fingers and a pairing knife. I also like to cut out the small root end at the same time and discard the skins.  Once the skins are off, place them in the last bowl until you have peeled all of the tomatoes wsd.

I continued to work in batches scoring the tomatoes while the others were in the hot boiling water and the entire process took about an hour.

Once you have removed all of the skins you may choose to leave the tomatoes whole, half them, or dice them, however you prefer gadgets windows 10 download for free. I like the petitte diced cut but this too takes time.  About another half an hour.

You will want to heat your jars before filling them so that they can hold up to the hot temperatures in the canning pot. You can do this by either by pulling them from a hot cycle of your dishwasher or by placing them in a sink of hot water to heat the glass.

 

Since you are canning tomatoes in a water bath canner, add either a teaspoon of Citric Acid or bottled lemon per pint or two teaspoons per quart arduino download for free. This is also a good time to heat the lids to the jar. Place lids in a sauce pan, and fill with water to cover them. Heat water to 180 degrees, but do not boil them. Turn the heat off and keep the lids heated until you are ready to use them.

These are raw packed tomatoes in their own juice, so stir them up before filling the jars leaving about 1/2 inch of headspace of room in each jar. Do not add water to your jars.

If you have spilled, wipe the rims of your jars clean before placing the hot lids on them as bits of food can interfere with the sealing process.  Process the jars according to Water bath instructions.

I placed the filled pint jars into my large, shallow church pot, brought the water level up to just below the screw on rings, and returned the water to a boil. I processed the jars by boiling them for thirty minutes.

Use a canning tongs to remove the jars from the hot water and place on a cooling mat.  Make sure that as they cool, the lids all seal.  You can do this by pressing the middle of the lid with a finger or thumb. If the lid does not spring back up when you release your finger, the lid is sealed.