I love vinegar. I think it helps me digest things. My favorite is white wine vinegar. It has a very subtle flavor that compliments everything. If you are gluten free, you can't have malt vinegar, but you can have all of these kinds:
White wine vinegar: My favorite. Nice subtle flavor. If you used to put malt vinegar on your fries, try white wine vinegar as a substitute.
White vinegar: Very plain. Blends in to the background, a good substitute if you don't have anything else or if you're using for baking.
Rice vinegar: Subtle. Can substitute for white wine vinegar.
Apple cider vinegar: Has kind of a sweet flavor. Stronger than white wine, but not as strong as red wine and balsamic. I like it for baking, desserts, and some salads.
Red wine: I find it pretty overpowering and I don't use it very much, but it can be really good in salad.
Balsamic vinegar: Strong flavor, only use a little bit and maybe mix with other vinegars. Although it's strong, I don't find it to be over powering in the same way red wine vinegar is. I like it in salads, in roasted vegetables, in pot roast, and in stews.
Friday, July 8, 2011
Cucumber Feta Salad
Another feta salad!
Ingredients:
1 cucumber
Extra virgin olive oil
White wine vinegar
Sugar
Cumin
Feta cheese
Slice cucumber very thinly (you can leave the skin on if they're English cucumbers). Add about a teaspoon of olive oil, about two teaspoons of white wine vinegar, a sprinkle of sugar, and some cumin. Mix and put them in a covered bowl in the fridge to marinate for an hour or overnight. If there is a lot of liquid in the bowl, drain it, and top with crumbled feta just before serving.
Ingredients:
1 cucumber
Extra virgin olive oil
White wine vinegar
Sugar
Cumin
Feta cheese
Slice cucumber very thinly (you can leave the skin on if they're English cucumbers). Add about a teaspoon of olive oil, about two teaspoons of white wine vinegar, a sprinkle of sugar, and some cumin. Mix and put them in a covered bowl in the fridge to marinate for an hour or overnight. If there is a lot of liquid in the bowl, drain it, and top with crumbled feta just before serving.
Corn and Potato Chowder
I love chowder, but I don't like seafood (with the exception of salmon, halibut, and shrimp), so here's a nice vegetarian chowder (that can be vegan if you want). Also, if you see "salt" listed, you can assume I mean "salt and pepper". I just don't like pepper very much.
Ingredients:
Potatoes
Chopped celery
Chopped carrots
Frozen corn
Onion
Water
Basil
Cumin
Salt and pepper
Paprika
Bay leaf
Garlic powder
Sour cream or coconut milk
Cut 2-3 potatoes into small chunks (you can leave the skin on). Chop one onion, and throw the carrots, celery, onion, and potato into a medium saucepan with about two handfuls of frozen corn. Add enough water to almost fill the pot. Add one bay leaf, and other spices to taste. Simmer over medium heat until the potatoes are soft and the onions are translucent. Turn the heat down very low and add about 1/2 cup of sour cream or coconut. Cook for about a minute more. It'll be sort of pink from the paprika. Top with crumbled bacon if desired.
Ingredients:
Potatoes
Chopped celery
Chopped carrots
Frozen corn
Onion
Water
Basil
Cumin
Salt and pepper
Paprika
Bay leaf
Garlic powder
Sour cream or coconut milk
Cut 2-3 potatoes into small chunks (you can leave the skin on). Chop one onion, and throw the carrots, celery, onion, and potato into a medium saucepan with about two handfuls of frozen corn. Add enough water to almost fill the pot. Add one bay leaf, and other spices to taste. Simmer over medium heat until the potatoes are soft and the onions are translucent. Turn the heat down very low and add about 1/2 cup of sour cream or coconut. Cook for about a minute more. It'll be sort of pink from the paprika. Top with crumbled bacon if desired.
Kiwi Beef Stir-fry
Ingredients:
Thinly sliced beef (you can also use chicken or pork, I was just on beef thing when I wrote most of these recipes because I needed iron!)
Kiwi (fruit)
Olive oil
Vinegar (white, white wine, or apple cider)
Salt
Sugar
Soy sauce (check ingredients)
Mushrooms
Snow peas
Cornstarch
Water
Rice
Make a marinade of finely chopped or pureed kiwi pieces, olive oil, vinegar, sugar, and salt. Add the thinly sliced beef to this and refrigerate for about an hour (like pineapple, kiwi has an enzyme in it that tenderizes meat). Discard marinade and cook the beef in a wok or frying pan. There's probably enough oil on the meat from the marinade that you won't need to add any. In a separate pan cook sliced mushrooms and snow peas with some soy sauce until they just start to get limp (but the snow peas are still a bit crunchy). Add the beef mixture to the veggies. Mix a small bit of cornstarch with water and a splash of soy sauce in a small bowl, and then quickly stir that into the stir fry until the sauce has thickened. Serve over rice, garnished with fresh kiwi slices if you have any left.
Thinly sliced beef (you can also use chicken or pork, I was just on beef thing when I wrote most of these recipes because I needed iron!)
Kiwi (fruit)
Olive oil
Vinegar (white, white wine, or apple cider)
Salt
Sugar
Soy sauce (check ingredients)
Mushrooms
Snow peas
Cornstarch
Water
Rice
Make a marinade of finely chopped or pureed kiwi pieces, olive oil, vinegar, sugar, and salt. Add the thinly sliced beef to this and refrigerate for about an hour (like pineapple, kiwi has an enzyme in it that tenderizes meat). Discard marinade and cook the beef in a wok or frying pan. There's probably enough oil on the meat from the marinade that you won't need to add any. In a separate pan cook sliced mushrooms and snow peas with some soy sauce until they just start to get limp (but the snow peas are still a bit crunchy). Add the beef mixture to the veggies. Mix a small bit of cornstarch with water and a splash of soy sauce in a small bowl, and then quickly stir that into the stir fry until the sauce has thickened. Serve over rice, garnished with fresh kiwi slices if you have any left.
Cinnamon Raisin Rice Pudding
Ingredients:
Leftover cooked rice (any kind, white, brown, jasmine, basmati, whatever)
Milk
Sugar
Salt
Cinnamon
Butter
Raisins
Take about 2 cups of leftover rice and put it in a saucepan with enough milk to cover it. Add a pinch of salt, about 1/4 cup of sugar, and a generous amount of cinnamon. Simmer until most of the milk had been absorbed by the rice. Then add another 1/2 cup of milk (enough to give it a pudding-like consistency), a couple of tablespoons of butter, and the raisins. Cook for about 5 more minutes. It's good warm or cold.
Leftover cooked rice (any kind, white, brown, jasmine, basmati, whatever)
Milk
Sugar
Salt
Cinnamon
Butter
Raisins
Take about 2 cups of leftover rice and put it in a saucepan with enough milk to cover it. Add a pinch of salt, about 1/4 cup of sugar, and a generous amount of cinnamon. Simmer until most of the milk had been absorbed by the rice. Then add another 1/2 cup of milk (enough to give it a pudding-like consistency), a couple of tablespoons of butter, and the raisins. Cook for about 5 more minutes. It's good warm or cold.
Brown Sugar Toffee with Chocolate
People are so impressed when you show up to a party with homemade candy, but it's actually really easy to make. Wear long sleeves so you don't burn yourself if you have a disaster with the sugar syrup, but be really careful not to splash it on yourself and use a pot that's much deeper than the amount of sugar you're using. Burning yourself with sugar syrup is about the worst thing you can do in the kitchen.
Ingredients:
Brown sugar
Butter
Salt
Semi-sweet chocolate chips
Note: You will need a candy thermometer for this. Don't leave the melting sugar unattended!
Before you get started, like a cookie sheet or baking pan with parchment paper and cover the parchment paper with chocolate chips. When you pour the hot sugar over the chocolate, it will melt the chocolate and make a chocolate coating on top of the toffee.
Put some brown sugar in a sauce pan with a pinch of salt, a few tablespoons of water, and a little bit of butter. The precise ratio of butter to sugar real doesn't matter, it's just for flavor. Using a candy thermometer, heat this mixture to 280 F, stirring frequently. Make sure to use a large enough pan that bubbling molten sugar can't get up over the sides. When the sugar is at the right temperature, pour it into the pan over the chocolate. Let it cool completely in the fridge or freezer. When it is cold, you can use the parchment paper to lift it out of the pan, then peel the parchment paper off of the chocolate side, and break it into small pieces.
Ingredients:
Brown sugar
Butter
Salt
Semi-sweet chocolate chips
Note: You will need a candy thermometer for this. Don't leave the melting sugar unattended!
Before you get started, like a cookie sheet or baking pan with parchment paper and cover the parchment paper with chocolate chips. When you pour the hot sugar over the chocolate, it will melt the chocolate and make a chocolate coating on top of the toffee.
Put some brown sugar in a sauce pan with a pinch of salt, a few tablespoons of water, and a little bit of butter. The precise ratio of butter to sugar real doesn't matter, it's just for flavor. Using a candy thermometer, heat this mixture to 280 F, stirring frequently. Make sure to use a large enough pan that bubbling molten sugar can't get up over the sides. When the sugar is at the right temperature, pour it into the pan over the chocolate. Let it cool completely in the fridge or freezer. When it is cold, you can use the parchment paper to lift it out of the pan, then peel the parchment paper off of the chocolate side, and break it into small pieces.
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