Grilled Cheese +

Greetings Y'All!

It has been far too long.  I have over 400 photos of foods I've made since my last post over six months ago.  I've been so busy and tired, that even though I took loads of pics, I didn't have the time to write and post stuff.  I'm still busy with school and various other courses, plus gardening--I finally have a proper veg garden, not just a patch any more--and just day-to-day stuff.

Anyway, I should be doing homework, but I decided that today is the day I get back to this blog.  Maybe it was this amazing sandwich I made for a late lunch.

Here it is, so easy, quick, filling, and delicious.  And you know I don't make unhealthy stuff.

Cut up some onion--I used half for this one sandwich--and sauté in butter with s&p, and maple syrup.  You want enough maple syrup to make sure all the onion bits are in it.  

Let it all simmer until it gets thick, like a jam.  BTW, you could use this as a condiment on all kinds of stuff.

In another pan make your grilled cheese sandwich.  I used 2 small buttered sourdough rye slices with old cheddar.  Once it's done, put it on a plate and use the same pan to fry an egg.  

Top the ready grilled cheese sandwich with the onion jam, add a slice of ham or bacon, or sausage (which is what I used), or some other tasty pork meat, and add the egg.  

You could just leave it with the onions, but I had a late lunch, so I was hungry.  I'm not hungry any more, but if I had another one of these sandwiches in front of me, I'd eat it.  The maple syrup with the onions was amazing, and its sweetness was yummy enough that I didn't crave dessert.  If you know me, you know that I always want dessert.  Pair this gem with a tasty beer and you're good to take on the world.  I had a glass of Hacker-Pschorr (German).

Cheers!

Cherry Butter

I love cherries.  When they are in season I eat loads fresh, and I make cherry pies.  This year I decided to make cherry butter, same idea as apple butter.  There is no butter involved, but the texture is thick and smooth.  I made three batches; the first was an experiment.  I used cherries, a bit of brown sugar, some maple syrup, red wine vinegar, lemon, and a bit of water.  After hours of cooking on low heat, the mixture shrunk to about 25% of the original volume.  I then used an immersion blender to smooth it out.  Since this was an experimental batch, I didn't use much, so I didn't end up canning it, just put it in a jar and fridge.  I've been using it on rye toast when I have a hankering for something sweet.

The next batch I made with 8 cups of frozen cherries I had from last year.  I pitted and froze them, measured out for what I need per pie.  Since I didn't use those two bags (4 cups each), I made cherry butter.  I like pies made out of fresh fruit much better anyway, but homemade cherry pie, even when the fruit is frozen, is still way better than any store bought pie.  This batch I made with red wine, a merlot, and some brown sugar, no maple syrup.  It has a slightly different taste.  Eight cups of cherries yielded 2 236ml jars of cherry butter.

The third batch was made with bourbon and lime juice instead of lemon.  I made 2 x 236 ml, and one 125 ml jar.  Bourbon and cherries  are awesome together, though the merlot, as well as the red wine vinegar turned out well too.

I don't have measurements, because I didn't measure anything.  Those 8 cups of cherries were pre-measured for pies.  Amounts aren't all that important for these cherry butters, just taste while it's cooking, and adjust flavours to your liking.  Can in a hot water bath, as you would any preserves, for bout 10 minutes, then wait for the lids to pop.

This is definitely worth the time and effort.

Sunday French Toast

I love Sunday mornings.  I like mornings in general, especially when I'm not working, and even more so in summertime; it's a fresh start with so many possibilities.  One of those possibilities, with so many more, is french toast.  There are many ways to make french toast, here is my super easy take on this tasty treat, requiring next to no planning.  You will need some crusty white bread, like french bread, or baguette, or crusty buns, which is what I used this time, because it's what I had on hand.  I had 4 crusty buns, almost like mini baguettes, and didn't want them to go to waste, so I used 3 to make french toast and one I let dry out and it will become bread crumbs.

All you need is:
- some white crusty bread, whole wheat or grain types won't work; I tried once, since they're ok as sandwiches, but imo they make for bleh french toast
- whole milk, or you can even use cream; I use whole pasteurized, but not homogenized milk
- egg(s) depending on how much you're making, I usually go by how many people I'm making for, 2 people = 2 eggs
- vanilla extract (don't use the fake stuff, be good to your taste buds; real extract may cost more, but you'll use less, so it'll last just as long if not longer)
- cinnamon
- unsalted butter, because it has a sweetness of its own, so it compliments and enhances the flavour

You can never go wrong with butter or ghee, it won't alter or take away from any flavour, but it will make everything taste better.  If you still think butter's somehow unhealthy, you probably shouldn't be here.

These are the eggs I recently discovered.  They're from a small hobby farm, $2.50 a dozen!  I went by yesterday, but they only had 1 dozen duck eggs left.  Of course I got them, eggs are eggs, and duck eggs have even more omega fats than chicken ones; the yolks were orange, and delicious.

Mix all your ingredients, except the bread, which you'll dunk into the mixture.

Whisk the ingredients together, with a fork or a whisk.

Melt some butter in a pan, et voila.

 Here it is with some maple syrup:

Sometimes I like my french toast with various fruit or even whipped cream, but often times I eat it plain or with maple syrup, which I crave regularly.

E Güeter!  (Alsatian)

Pickled Wild Leeks

I went foraging a few days ago, with a group and a pro forager.  One of the edibles I collected were wild leeks.  I pickled the bulbs.

Ingredients:

1kg whole wild leeks
250 ml apple cider vinegar
150 ml maple syrup
100 ml filtered water
20 black peppercorns

5 ml sea salt

1 bay leaf

We got recipes at the foraging event, but I didn't have nearly a kilogram worth of leeks, so I didn't bother measuring the rest of the ingredients either.  I just poured stuff into a pot, more or less trying to keep a similar ratio of ingredients, meaning, by volume, as my eyes measured, I used apple cider vinegar first, then somewhat less of the maple syrup, then even less filtered water, etc.

Directions:

Bring to a boil all the above ingredients, minus the less bulbs, then simmer fro about 5 minutes.

The leek bulbs need to be cut off about 1cm above bulb, trim off the roots, without damaging the bulbs, peel off outer layer.  Wash, add to simmering liquid, and either boil for 1 minute if you're canning, or 10 minutes if you're "fridge pickling".  If fridge pickling, put the liquid and leek bulbs in a jar, close, let cool, then refrigerate for up to 4 months.  This is similar to my pickled carrots from last year.

I fridge pickled this batch of leeks, since I only had enough to fill a 250 ml jar.

Since I didn't bother to measure the ingredients, I had some liquid left over, which I let cool and used as a salad dressing.  Totally delicious, sour, sweet, with a hint of allium.

Dobru chut! (Slovak)

Rice Pudding

It's back to snow again.  This winter's been up and down with the temperatures and weather.  In a way it's good because even when it snows a lot, it either melts the next day with high temps, or washes away with rain.
It's Saturday evening, and James was craving rice pudding.  I was planing on going to the market to get some eggs, and he asked me if I can pick up some rice pudding.  I never made it to the store, but I ended up making rice pudding with the ingredients I have on hand.  I find store bought rice pudding very sugary.  As I get older, I still like sweets, but not sugary stuff.  For example, I like good quality milk chocolate, but can't stand typical check out line chocolate bars, which should really be called refined sugar bars.

I've made rice pudding in the past, but like with a lot of my recipes, or lack of, it's different every time.  This one turned out quite tasty, so I decided it was worthy being posted, and it made it into my recipe book.

What you'll need is:
- coconut oil
- carrot, shredded
- raisins
- short grain rice, round or semi-round, such as Arborio, Carnaroli, or Vialone Nano
- milk
- cinnamon
- cardamom
- honey or maple syrup

I used 1 cup of rice, and 3.5 cups of almond milk, the rest I didn't measure.  Also, using cow's or goat's milk will work, as both are creamy.  This would've been even yummier with full fat (non-homogenized) milk, but I didn't have enough left.

Heat up the oil, add rice, stir and coat for a minute; the rice will start turning translucent.
Add milk, 1/2 cup at a time.
After the first 1/2, add spices and raisins, and shred carrot, add honey or maple syrup.
           - for best results taste the "liquid" and adjust flavour; you can always add more.
Keep stirring, and waiting for milk to be absorbed before adding more.

The carrot adds sweetness, texture, and nutrition.  I didn't add too much honey, because I didn't want to make this treat too sweet.  The raisins add a lot of sweetness with each bite.  If you don't like raisins, you can skip them, or add nuts instead.

Perfect treat for a wintery evening.  Enjoy with a cup of tea!  I had a dried fruit infusion.

Oatmeal

I love oatmeal. especially the steel cut variety, because it doesn't get as mushy, and it's supposed to be healthier, which is a bonus.  I usually have it plain, or with cinnamon.  I never buy instant oatmeal, plain or flavoured, because it's so easy to flavour it with real ingredients at home, and instant doesn't have as much nutritional value.  It's another small step to cut out unnecessary additives.  Steel cut oatmeal takes a long way to cook, 20-30 minutes, but there is a short cut.  Soak it overnight in the pot you'll be using to boil it in the morning.  I usually use a 1:2 ratio of oatmeal to water.  By morning, all you need to do is heat it up, and it's good to go.  Who says you can't have healthy fast?

One of my fave flavours is to boil the oatmeal in plain water, just before it's done you can add a bit of milk, and keep it on the stove just until the milk heats up, so that you don't end up with cold oatmeal, then pour it in a bowl, add salted butter and maple syrup, or plain butter and salt with maple syrup.  It's a treat!  There are loads of flavour possibilities, but I love the salty and sweet, and butter just makes everything taste better.  As far as milk goes, you can use whatever milk you normally drink.  For the past 4 years I didn't drink cow's milk, only rice and almond.  Recently I discovered unhomogenized 3.8% whole organic milk from Organic Meadow.

http://organicmeadow.com/our_products/organic_milk/3_8_unhomogenized_whole_organic_milk

It tastes different from homogenized milk, and it looks different.  It forms a layer of thick cream at the top which I scoop up and eat, it's practically butter :)  It's very tasty, and from the readings I've done on line, unhomogenized milk is much healthier, because it retains more enzymes, which aid in digestion of milk.  Some sites referred to homogenized milk as carcinogenic.  Almost all cow's milk at supermarkets is homogenized.  Goat's milk, on the other hand, is never homogenized, and is quite popular all over the world, just not so much in N America.  Milk is a tricky subject, maybe I'll go into it more another time.