Ingredient Elimination & A Trio of: Savory Pecans

To close out my trio of roasted nuts, I break both my pattern of baking with almonds seasoned like hot beverages (see my previous posts for Chai Almonds and Hot Cocoa Almonds) and switch to pecans with a savory slant. In addition, I used my last egg white. Hurrah!

                                                        Packed up for a dinner party!

This recipe is modified from Moosewood Restaurant New Classics. I tried the original recipe and was greeted with failure, the nuts burned, and had little flavor. With modifications it's a great bar snack. Enjoy!

Savory Pecans (makes 2 C)

• 2 C raw pecans
• 1 egg white
• 2 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce (I use a vegetarian version--see kitchen note below)
• 2-3 tsp Old Bay seasoning
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp chili powder

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Mix together the Worcestershire sauce, Old Bay seasoning, garlic powder, and chili powder until it forms a paste.
2. In a separate bowl, lightly froth the egg white with a fork. Mix together with the Worcestershire sauce paste until combined.
3. Pour the mixture over the pecans and stir until the nuts are well coated.
4. Place the nuts on a lightly greased baking sheet in a single layer. Bake for 10 minutes, stir. Bake for another 5-10 minutes. Do not allow the coating to burn.

Kitchen Notes: The original recipe calls for mixed nuts, but from experience the pecans especially shine in this recipe, so I prefer to use them exclusively. The original recipe also calls for a greater amount of Worcestershire sauce and a lesser amount of Old Bay. The veggie Worcestershire sauce I use is Wizard's brand, and I've always been happy with it. I've included a photo below.

Verdict? I love the flavor of Old Bay, so I'm partial to these. As you can gather from the ingredient list, these are very salty but have a great flavor, and probably are no worse for you then commercially available salted nuts. Give them a try, and add seasonings that you adore.

 

Ingredient Elimination & A Trio of: Chai Almonds

Here's my second installment in my trio of roasted nuts and my second attempt at getting rid of egg whites. I wanted to make a sugared almond with a little something extra. For this, I took a basic sugared almond recipe and added the seasoning from a Chai tea recipe from Sundays at Moosewood Restaurant. I was pleased with the result. Just a reminder, the first installment was hot cocoa almonds.

                                                 They smelled as awesome as you'd imagine!

Chai Almonds (Makes 2 C)

• 2 C raw almonds
• 1 egg white
• 1/2 C sugar
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp ground ginger
• 10 ground cardamom pods
• 1/2 tsp ground black pepper
• 1/4 tsp ground cloves
• 1/2 tsp ground coriander seeds
• pinch salt

1. Preheat the oven to 350. Combine the sugar with all the spices in a small bowl.
2. Lightly froth the egg white. Pour over the almonds and combine until well mixed.
3. Add the sugar mix to the almonds, combine until well-coated.
4. On a lightly greased cookie sheet, spread the almonds into a single layer.
5. Pop in the oven for 10 minutes, then stir. Pop in the oven for another 10 minutes, insuring it doesn't burn. Let cool before serving.

 Verdict? Very yummy twist on sugared almonds. I found that the spices were a bit more subtle than I'd like, so next time I'll bump up the ratio a bit. They are a bit addictive, so watch out!

Ingredient Elimination & A Trio of: Hot Cocoa Almonds

I've been making sugared almonds for a long time. I can't remember where I initially found a recipe, nor do I ever make them exactly the same way each time, but they are a go-to for me when I need to use up some egg whites.

So,  since I had 3 egg whites from my Grown-Up Dirt Pudding, I decided to make a trio of roasted nuts, starting with Hot Cocoa Almonds, followed by Chai Spiced Almonds, and ending with Savory Pecans. I realized shortly after I planned out these recipes that the 1st two relate to hot beverages, and was disappointed with myself that I didn't transform the pecans into something coffee related, or given the emerging season, hot cider related. Oh well, next time.

Hot Cocoa Almonds (makes 2 C)

• 2 C raw almonds
• 1 egg white, lightly beaten
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 C sugar
• 1 Tbsp pure cocoa powder
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• pinch salt

1. Preheat the oven to 350 F. Place the almonds in a medium mixing bowl. 
2. In a small bowl, whisk together the egg white and the vanilla extract.
3. In a separate bowl, mix together the sugar, cocoa powder, cinnamon, and salt.
4. Pour the egg mixture over the almonds and mix until well coated.
5. Add the sugar mixture to the almonds and mix until well coated.
6. Lightly spray a baking sheet with oil. Spread the almonds into a single layer on the baking pan.
7. Bake for 10 minutes. Stir, and bake for up to another 5 minutes, watching closely for the last few minutes--these burn easily.

                                      Almonds, sugar mix, and egg whites, ready to go

Kitchen Note: This recipe will only be as good as the cocoa used. I used Dean & Deluca, with good result.


Verdict? I was disappointed with the first bite, but the finish has a strong cocoa flavor that builds as you eat more and more almonds. I was very hesitant to use much cocoa for fear it would burn, but next time I will increase to 1.5 Tbsp. I'm definitely making this again, I'd like to make a spicy version with cayenne, as well as a version with toasted coconut. Yum.
 

Chinese Broccoli & King Mushrooms in Oysterless Sauce

Last winter a friend and I went to a cooking class by Tien Douglas through Urbana Adult Education. In the class, Tien introduced me to several vegetarian products sold at Far East Grocery, including a vegetarian version of oyster sauce, from Oriental Mascot foods. This website sells it if you're inclined to buy. The class also introduced me to the king mushroom that when sliced thin, has a texture similar to abalone.

Chinese Broccoli & King Mushroom in Oysterless Sauce (serves about 4)

• 2 king mushrooms, sliced thin, caps removed
• 1 bunch Chinese broccoli, chopped, stems and leaves separated
•  Cooking oil
•  1/2 C oysterless sauce
• splash of sesame oil
•  3 cloves garlic, minced

1. Heat the oil in the wok over medium high heat. Add the mushrooms, stirring frequently. Cook until the mushrooms are slightly browned.
2. Add the Chinese broccoli stems, oysterless sauce, and splash sesame oil. Cook for a few minutes, add a bit of water to soften the stems if needed.
3. When stems are nearly cooked through, add the leaves of the Chinese broccoli and the garlic. Stir frequently, adding more sauce if necessary.
4. Serve over rice or noodles if desired.

                                                       King Mushroom, Whole

                                                           King Mushroom, Sliced

  Veggie Oyster Sauce...What would a veggie oyster pearl be like? A lentil? Some other legume?

Kitchen Notes: Thin sliced king mushrooms cook quickly and they don't reduce as quickly as shiitakes, portabella, or other common mushrooms. Add the garlic earlier if desired--I like mine fairly raw tasting in this dish.

Verdict? A very tasty quick, easy meal. The veggie oyster sauce has a nice smoky aroma and flavor with a lot of earthiness to it. The king mushrooms have a satisfying texture and the Chinese broccoli a lot of pleasant, mustardy/bitter flavor. I made the mistake of serving over quinoa the first time, since I already had some made, and it was too bitter with the bitter broccoli. Plain rice would be great, and served over noodles was yummy. Enjoy!

                                                                Over noodles

Ingredient Elimination: Grown-Up Dirt Pudding

Today's featured ingredient in ingredient elimination is sandwich cookies. Specifically, Newman's Own Hint-O-Mint. Please, commence I rolling that I let Oreos, Hydrox, or Newman's Own cookies go stale. I was so tempted by the cookies on sale at my co-op, but can't eat a whole bag. Since they hadn't gone bad, just stale, so throwing them out seemed wrong. Grown-Up Dirt Pudding to the rescue.

Why "Grown-Up" dirt pudding? For starters, it's got booze in it, so keep the kiddos away. Next, we have that it follows the somewhat obnoxious trend of gentrifying highly processed kids desserts (e.g., homemade organic Twinkies anyone?). This uses homemade pudding in place of the packaged stuff, and real whipped cream instead of Cool-Whip.

The basic pudding recipe comes from Tyler Florence from the Food Network page. The other additions are my own.

Grown-Up Dirt Pudding (serves about 6)

• 2 C whole milk (I used 2%)
• 1/2 C sugar
• 1/3 C pure cocoa powder
• 4 tsp cornstarch
• 3 egg yolks
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/4 tsp fine salt
• about 12 mint sandwich cookies, crushed
• 1 C whipping cream 
• 1 Tbsp confectioner's sugar
• splash peppermint schnapps
• pinch salt

1. Mix 1-and-a-half C milk, sugar, and cocoa powder in a sauce pan. Bring to a simmer over medium heat, then remove from heat.
2. Whisk the remaining 1/2 C milk, cornstarch, salt, egg yolks, and vanilla in a bowl. Gradually incorporate the hot milk mixture into the egg mixture.
3. Place the combined ingredients into the saucepan, cook over medium-high heat whisking constantly, bringing to a full boil. Continue whisking, reduce heat, maintain at a simmer. Whisk 3 more minutes until thickened.
4. Remove from heat, pour into a bowl. Cool in fridge for at least 6 hours.
5. Once the pudding has fully cooled, mix the crushed cookies into the pudding.
6. In a separate bowl, combine the whipping cream, peppermint schnapps, confectioner's sugar, and salt. Whip until fluffy. Fold into the pudding mix. 

Kitchen Notes: I used Dean and Deluca cocoa. This was probably a bit too rich for this recipe. However, pure, unsweetened cocoa, is needed, otherwise the cocoa will be too sweet and lacking in chocolate flavor. I whip my chocolate by hand, since I feel I earn it that way :) Add more, or fewer cookies to this as desired. This can be presented in layers, rather than mixed together for a more attractive effect. I threw it together while running out the door for a picnic, so presentation was not a priority.

Verdict? Pretty tasty. Chocolate and mint are among my favorite combinations, so I had fun with this. I liked this recipe, since I had never tried to make chocolate pudding before. It's very easy, and compare the list of ingredients in this pudding versus a box of conventional pudding. There's no comparison:

Harissa Hummus

The weather cooperated long enough today that I was able to go on a picnic with a couple of friends. Yesterday, the temperature reached 100 degrees. While picnicking it was 72. I'm embarrassed to say I was cold.

I had to work a bit today, so I didn't have times to make anything elaborate for the picnic (nor should picnic food BE elaborate, but I digress). I pulled together some hummus featuring the harissa I made yesterday.

                                                Packed up and ready to go on a picnic

Harissa Hummus (makes about 2 cups)

• 1 can chick peas, drained (~15 oz )
• 1 heaping Tbsp tahini
• juice of 1 lemon
• zest of 1/2 lemon
• 1 Tbsp olive oil
• 1 tsp toasted cumin seeds, ground
• 1/4 tsp paprika
• salt to taste
• 2 tsp harissa (or more, or less)

1. Combine all ingredients except for the harissa in a food processor, pulse til smooth.
2. Taste, add additional seasonings if needed, add harissa. Blend again. Taste, adjust again as needed.


Kitchen Notes: Don't try making this hummus without the harissa. It's too bland by itself, but well seasoned with it. For me, this hummus was initially very hot. When I served it later, it had mellowed significantly. If not serving immediately, taste again to ensure additional harissa is not needed.


Verdict? A yummy, spicy hummus. For this however, I wish I had a milder version of the harissa. This hummus is very good, but it more or less tastes like spicy hummus, it doesn't have a lot of the harissa flavor. A milder harissa would really transform the hummus into something a bit more unique.

Ancho-Tabasco Harissa

So, I like spicy foods. And salty foods. And foods with cumin. Inexplicably, the delicious North African condiment called harissa had alluded me until I tried it at the Schlafly Taproom in St. Louis. Their harissa, likely laced with mayo, took the spotlight from the sandwich it came with. This stuff was so good, I actually abandoned the malt vinegar I usually douse my fries with for it.

I can't find a consensus about what kind of dried chilis to use. I used what was available to me, and what I felt would compliment each other well--tabascos and anchos. The recipe that mine is based from, by Saveur, used guajillo chilis and New Mexico chilis.

Harissa (makes about 1 C)

• 0.5 oz dried tabasco chilis, stemmed (seeds removed if you want less heat)
• 1 oz dried ancho chilis, stemmed (seeds removed if you want less heat)
• 1 tsp whole cumin seeds
• 1/2 tsp whole caraway seed
• 1/2 tsp whole coriander seed
• 3 Tbs olive oil, plus extra if needed
• juice of 1 lemon
• 5 cloves garlic
• salt to taste

1. Place the chilis in a medium bowl. Pour boiling water over them, cover. Let stand 20 mins. or til soft.
2. Place the cumin, caraway, and coriander in a small skillet over medium heat. Shake the skillet often. Heat til fragrant. Grind the spices.
3. Drain the peppers and place in a food processor. Add the spices, garlic, lemon juice, olive oil, and salt to taste.
4. Puree until smooth. Add additional olive oil and salt if needed. Use sparingly as a substitute for many hot sauces. 

                                                      Love the smell of toasted spices!

Kitchen Notes: You have a lot of flexibility in the peppers you choose, go go based on what you like, and how much heat you prefer. This version is very spicy as I didn't remove the seeds. The original version called for half as much cumin, but I enjoy the flavor tremendously.

Verdict? I was questioning my choice of the tabasco and ancho chilis, but they complement each other well. The ancho has a mildly smoky flavor, the tabasco a sort of woodsy flavor. The garlic is very assertive. For someone who is not a raw garlic fan, roasted garlic would probably be good, though the flavor entirely different. I plan to incorporate into some hummus, and I'll report in.