Gluten Free Sausage Egg and Veggies Breakfast Casserole

This recipe has none of the bread filler, but does have one potato (to line the bottom of the baking dish). I sprinkle one cup of shredded cheddar on top, but that is optional. Feel free to use any sort of vegetable you like in place of the peppers, mushrooms and broccoli. For example, spinach, peas, corn, tomatoes.

Ingredients:
1 lb spicy sausage
1 lb regular sausage
1 T maple syrup
1 green pepper
1 red pepper
handful mushrooms
 handful broccoli florets
1 potato 18 eggs
3 cups milk
1 tsp dry mustard
1 tsp Worchestershire sauce
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 cup shredded cheddar
Bacon if desired (why not?)

1. Start by cooking the sausage till nicely brown. Set aside to cool.
2. Cut/cube all the vegetables about 1/4 to 1/2 inch dice. 
3. Slice the potato thinly and use that to cover the bottom of a 8 x 12 " generously buttered casserole dish.
4. Whisk together the eggs, milk, mustard, Worchestershire sauce, salt, black pepper. 
5. Assemble the casserole by spreading the vegetables over the potato slices. Then layer on the sausage, covering the vegetables as much as possible. Press down on the sausage - it will hold the vegetables down and prevent them from floating up too much. Gently pour over the egg mixture. Then sprinkle over the cheese. Cover with aluminium foil. 
6. At this point you can stick it into the fridge for baking the next day (add 20 minutes to baking time), or right into the oven for 50 minutes at 350 deg F. Remove the foil tent to allow the cheese to brown, at about the 30 minute mark.
7. Sprinkle over bacon to serve. 
8. Enjoy!

Gluten-free Egg-free Dairy-free (Vegan) Chocolate Chip Cornflake Cookies

These cornflake cookies are chewy and tasty, and use flax meal plus chia seeds as the egg replacer.

Ingredients:

• 2 and 1/4 cups Gluten-Free Mama Flour (or a fine grind almond meal like Honeyville's)
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 sticks butter, softened
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 3 tablespoons flax meal plus 1 tablespoon chia seed
• 6 tablespoons water
• 1 and 1/2 cup Enjoy chocolate chips
• 6 cups gluten free cornflakes (I used Nature's Path Vanilla Sunrise)

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Use parchment paper to line cookie sheets
2. Cream together butter, sugars and vanilla (2 minutes, medium speed)
3. Heat the 6 tablespoons of water till boiling, remove from heat and stir in flax meal and chia seeds. You'll get a thick slurry, which will be your egg replacer - it's a great binder. Add this mixture to the creamed butter and whip till fluffy (2 minutes, high speed)
4. In another bowl, mix the flour, baking soda and salt.
5. Add flour mixture to creamed butter mixture and mix till it forms a dough, then add chocolate chips, stir briefly.
6. Add cornflakes and mix till combined. 
7. Scoop spoonfuls (i use a cookie scoop) and drop onto cookie sheet, leaving an inch between cookies to allow for spreading.
8. Bake 8-10 minutes till golden brown.
9. Stand for 2 minutes on cookie sheet, then remove to wire racks to cool completely before storing.

Buttery Pecan Drop Cookies

This is a delicious buttery drop cookie that is loaded with chopped pecans and topped with a pecan half. I adapted this recipe from the Better Homes and Gardens Homemade Cookies book. They call for 4 cups of powdered sugar but I reduced to 3 cups as I prefer a less sweet cookie.

Ingredients
2 cups butter, softened
3 cups powdered sugar
4 cups all purpose flour
2/3 cup milk
2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups coarsely chopped pecans
About 80 pecan halves

• Preheat oven to 375°F.
• In a large bowl, beat butter until pale, soft and fluffy.
• Add all of the powdered sugar, half of the flour, half of the milk, and all of the vanilla to the butter.
• Beat until thoroughly combined, scraping the sides of the bowl occasionally.
• Add the rest of the flour and milk and beat thoroughly.
• Stir in the chopped pecans.
• Drop rounded teaspoonsful of dough 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheet.
• Press a pecan half in center of each cookie.
• Bake 8 - 11 minutes or until the edges of the cookies are slightly golden.

Chinese Rice Wine for Postpartum Confinement Oh Yeah

Being ever industrious and especially so when pregnant I decided to try and at brewing my own moonshine for the noble use as confinement food after giving birth.

Only two things I need it for making rice wine: glutinous rice and yeast balls and I managed to snag them at the Chinese grocer on the strip District (find glutinous rice on Amazon and yeast balls on Ebay). 

Glutinous Rice

Yeast balls

More Yeast balls

I used four balls to one kilogram of rice. This makes enough steamed rice to fill two one gallon glass jars, which in turn yields about 1 liter of wine. The rice is soaked for at least four hours then steamed for an hour. I let it cool completely. Then I rinsed the rice And drained it. Using a mortar and pesto pulverized the yeast rolls. I sprinkled it all over the rice and mixed it thoroughly with a clean spoon. Then I poured it into clean glass jars. And covered it with gauze cloth. And I forgot it for two months.

Pulverized yeast mixed into the thoroughly cooled steamed rice. And sprinkled liberally
over the top of the rice. 

The result a super alcoholic sludge! Success! I filtered out the liquid and that it sit for a day in the fridge then poured the clear stuff into bottles. The rice lees sediment is saved for cooking. Yummmm.

All ready!

The filtered wine is left overnight in the fridge to settle and the clear wine is bottled. The rice lees is kept for cooking.

Home made Raw Almond Milk

I'm currently dairy free because I think my baby girl gets gassy whenever I drink cow milk. I tried some store bought almond milk (blue diamond) and didn't like it much although I could use it in a pinch. It's also expensive at $2.70 per carton of 32 oz (4 cups). 

Mmmm mmm good.

I had almonds in a 10 lb bulk pack ($55, from Amazon) and calculated the cost of making my own. 

The basic recipe calls for 1 cup (4 oz) almonds to two cups water. So four cups of milk would need 8 oz almonds ($2.50).  That works out to cost just as much as store bought.

I'd still make my own because it tastes better, isn't pasteurized, and doesn't have other stuff added to it like carrageen gum, sugar etc. 

Ok here's the recipe:

• Soak the almonds in a bowl of water overnight or up to two days. I like to soak longer as the almonds really plump up and yield creamier milk. 
• Drain, put in blender with 2 cups water and blend till smooth. 
• Filter with a cheesecloth, and squeeze as much as you can out. I save the almond meal and dehydrate it to use as flour in my baking. 
• Season with sugar and sea salt, to taste. 

Enjoy!

My favorite Vanilla Sunrise Gluten Free Cereal with Freshly made Almond Milk

Groundhog ginger stir fry

Anyone interested? 

Tender slices of young groundhog quick sautéed in peanut oil with ginger and garlic slivers. 

Groundhogs are vegans and their meat is clean and tasty. Older ones are fattier but the young ones are quite lean. 

This young one is just about right. :p

Best Ever Mango Lassi

Mango lassi is a great accompaniment to spicy Indian foods. Tame that fire on your tongue with this cool, soothing and tummy-settling concoction. This is so easy to make - all you need is a blender, some ice, ripe mangoes, yoghurt, milk, and sugar to taste.

Choose Your Mango
The tastier the mango, the tastier the resulting lassi. Pick mangoes that are softer (yet not bruised) - these are usually riper. Try to get the ones that give off a sweet, aromatic mango-ey scent.

Recipe
(makes 6 cups lassi)
1 large ripe mango
1 cup yoghurt (I like full cream)
1/2 cup milk (I like full cream too!)
3 cups ice cubes
3 tablespoons sugar or honey

1. Peel mango and deseed. Cube the mango. It should yield 2 cups.
2. Put all the ingredients into the blender and whizz till smooth. It's ok to add a little water to help with the blending process. 
3. Taste, add more sugar or honey if desired.
4. Serve immediately. Yum!

Just a Really Good Crispy Pork Wonton

I've sold thousands of these delicious wontons throughout the years. From what I've heard, they're pretty good:

Satisfied customer #1: "Oh. My. God."
Satisfied customer #2:  "These are the best wontons I've ever had".
Satisfied customer #3:  (Doesn't say much, but eats about 25 wontons) :p

Sharing is Caring?
Should I share my recipe here? So far, I've only revealed the recipe to students in my cooking classes. After much careful deliberation, I've decided to share my basic recipe here. It will taste good and is super easy to make. I'll also detail my quick wonton production method - 200 wontons an hour.

My original recipe, adapted from my Popo's, has a few additional ingredients that (in my opinion) elevate the dish. I *might* share it with you some day. :)

In the meantime, if you need your wonton cravings satisfied, place your orders with me! These things freeze and reheat well so order more ;)


Ingredients

For filling
1 lb ground pork
1 oz finely diced water chestnut
1 oz finely diced carrot
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons chopped cilantro
1 egg
2 teaspoons cornstarch
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sesame oil

Plus
1 packet wonton wrappers
4 cups peanut oil
(Makes about 60 wontons)

1. Thoroughly mix all the filling ingredients together
2. Preheat oil in a wok or deep fryer to 375 F
3. To wrap the wontons: peel off a piece of wonton 'skin'. Place in the palm of your left hand.
   
   
   
   
   
4. Using a teaspoon, scoop up about a heaping teaspoonful of filling. Sort of 'smear' the filling onto the wonton skin on your palm so it forms a balled shaped.
5. With the wonton skin still in your left palm, use your right forefinger and thumb to pick up the bottom corner of the skin and bring it up to meet the opposite corner. Lightly pinch the skins together where they meet just above the balled filling.
6. Again using your right forefinger and thumb hold the pinched corners. Then your left forefinger and thumb draw the other two loose corners inward to meet the pinched corners, at the same time pressing quite firmly into the balled filling. Try to get maximum contact for skin and filling, eliminate air pockets. 
   
   
   
   
   
7. Place on tray lightly dusted with corn flour. This prevents the wontons from sticking to the tray.
8. Keep going until the filling is used up.
9. Drop the wontons into the hot oil and fry for three minutes. At the end of three minutes the wontons should be golden brown in color and safely cooked through. If they turn dark too quickly, reduce the heat for the next batch.
10. Serve immediately with sweet sour dipping sauce (recipe to follow!) 
    
    
    
    
    
11. Any leftovers can be reheated at 350 F for 10 minutes.

I'd love to know how the wontons turned out for you and if you had any problems making them. Leave a comment!

Chocolate Cupcakes: Coffee Kahlua Mousse filled, Choc Ganache frosted

I've been testing chocolate cupcake recipes for months now and found on Stef's Cupcake Project site what I might just call the Ultimate Chocolate Cupcake.

It has everything I desire in a cupcake, and more:

• A light, fluffy yet moist and extremely rich chocolatey cupcake
• A luscious, silken chocolate ganache icing on top
• And a surprise - a creamy chocolate mousse center that gives your tastebuds a huge coffee and Kahlua hit as you bite unsuspectingly into it.

Note: Chilling the cupcakes lets the mousse firm up to the proper consistency, but I couldn't wait!

Each of the three batches I've made have turned out consistently amazing and have drawn rave reviews from my panel of testers. :)

The recipe for the chocolate cupcake and chocolate ganache is adapted from Stef's 'Better than Sex Cupcakes: Chocolate Times Five'. The mousse recipe is my own.

Important

• All ingredients at room temperature
• Use a very light hand when mixing the cupcake batter. 
• Do NOT overmix

Chocolate Cupcakes 
(makes 16 regular cupcakes)
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
1 1/4 cups sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
3/4 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 cup milk

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Beat butter with sugar till light and fluffy, and a pale yellow color (3 minutes).
3. Add eggs one at a time, beating until well combined. Beat in the vanilla essence. (1 minute)
4. Mix the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cocoa powder in a small bowl. Then sieve the dry ingredients into another bowl to help aerate it.
5. Add three heaping tablespoons of the dry ingredients to the butter mixture, sprinkling it evenly over the top of the butter mixture. Use a spatula to gently fold the flour into the butter. Mix until just combined.
6. Add about four tablespoons of milk to the batter mix. Use a spatula to gently fold the milk into the batter. Mix until just combined. 
7. Alternate between dry and wet ingredients, making sure to finish with the dry ingredients.
8. Scoop batter into cupcake liners about 1/2 full (don't overfill).
9. Bake for 22 minutes or until tester comes out clean.
10. Leave to cool while making the mousse. 

Moist and airy - a fine crumb despite using organic all-purpose flour

Chocolate Coffee Kahlua Mousse
2 tablespoons whipping cream
1/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
2 tablespoons instant coffee
1/2 teaspoon gelatin
2 tablespoons warm water
1/2 cup whipping cream
3 tablespoons Kahlua

1. Place the 2 tablespoons of whipping cream, chocolate chips and coffee in a small bowl held over heated water in a pot. Stir until the chocolate chips have just melted, then remove from heat.
2. In a small cup, dissolve the gelatin in the water and set aside.
3. Whip the 1/2 cup of whipping cream until firm peaks form. 
4. Using a whisk, incorporate the (still liquid-y) gelatin mixture into the melted chocolate. Whisk well.
5. Gently fold the chocolate mixture into the whipped cream. 
6. Chill in fridge while making the ganache.

Chocolate Ganache
3 oz bittersweet chocolate pieces
1/3 cup heavy cream

1. Melt chocolate in a small bowl held over heated water in a pot. 
2. When chocolate is melted, add cream and stir until combined and smooth.
3. Cool slightly till slightly thicker in consistency before use.

Assembling the Cupcakes

1. Using a cupcake corer ($5 on Amazon), extract the center of the cupcake. You can also use a knife but this will be more time-consuming. 
2. Spoon the mousse into the cored cupcakes, filling all the way to the top. I like to pipe the mousse filling instead. 
3. Pour the ganache over the cupcake, coating the top evenly.
4. Serve chilled or at room temperature. 

I would love to know if your cuppies turned out or if you have a favorite chocolate cupcake recipe to share. Please do leave a comment!

Hearty Five Grain Dinner Rolls

I make these dinner rolls for every family dinner and they go really fast. I usually plan for two rolls per person, but some people take up to five (don't ask me how they manage that many!). I use organic ingredients but regular will do too. I prefer high-gluten flour as it carries the (heavier) added seeds and grains better but all-purpose flour is fine also. This is my fail safe, go to recipe. It takes less than 10 minutes actual prep time (to knead and shape), plus another hour to let the dough rise. Try it!

Ingredients

(makes eight medium sized rolls)

1/2 cup warm milk

1 egg, room temperature

3 tablespoons butter, melted

3 tablespoons sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 3/4 cup flour

1/2 tablespoon chia seed*

1/2 tablespoon flax seed powder*

1 tablespoon quinoa*

1 teaspoon sesame seed*

1 tablespoon oats*

1 packet yeast or 1 teaspoon instant yeast

*optional and can be substituted with any other seeds/grains that you like, amounting to 1/4 cup total. For plain dinner rolls, just use 2 cups flour total.

1. Mix all the ingredients in mixing bowl and knead for 5 minutes.
2. Cover with cling wrap or damp cloth, and let rise till double in a warm place (about 75 deg F). This should be at least 30 minutes.
3. Punch down the dough, divide into 8 equal size dough balls, and shape into rolls. Place on greased baking sheet, spaced 1/2 inch apart and let rise till double. This should be another 30 minutes.
4. Bake at 400 deg F for 12 minutes.

Malaysian Roti Canai & Dhall Curry

I've always wanted to learn how to make Roti Canai. My last attempt over 20 years ago was a disaster, and since then I've felt sure that the Art of Tossing Roti was beyond the reach of mere mortals.

Actually... roti canai is totally doable! And there's no reason why you can't make it yourself at home. Healthier too!

Fluffy, light roti that is soft inside and crispy outside. Bottom left: dough balls generously oiled and rested, ready
to shape and flip; Flipped roti that is paper thin; The delicious end product.

The basic roti canai recipe has only three ingredients - flour, salt and water. Oil, margarine or ghee are used to oil the dough mixture. Variations of this recipe include condensed milk, eggs and/or sugar. Here's my favorite recipe for roti canai, followed by a recipe for a simple dhall curry. I prefer high gluten flour as this gives a more pliable dough, but all purpose flour is more readily available and will do the job. I like to add egg to the roti dough mixture to increase the protein content. I use a Kitchenaid mixer to do the kneading, but it's just as easy by hand.

Ingredients for Roti Canai

Makes 4-5 roti
2 cups all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon salt

1 egg

3/4 cup water (approximately)

1/4 cup vegetable oil (approximately)

1. With the dough hook attachment on low speed, mix the flour and salt in the mixing bowl. 
2. Add the egg, and most of the water, mixing on low speed. Continue adding water until the dough holds together in a soft ball, but not sticky. If it gets sticky, add a little flour. Knead for 5 minutes.
3. Portion the dough into small plum-sized balls, one-by-one. As each ball is formed, generously slather with oil and place in a bowl. The coat of oil will keep the dough balls separate while the dough rests.
4. Rest the dough balls for at least 4 hours, or overnight in the fridge (take out of the fridge an hour before shaping).
5. Flipping or Tossing the Roti: The best video tutorial on this technique is found at Lesley Tan's video blog and I suggest you practice a couple of times with a hanky first. 
6. Preheat your largest flat pan on low heat before starting to shape and flip the roti. 
7. Oil your hands and the work surface before picking up a dough ball. Use your palms to flatten the dough ball into a round disk. Flip and fold the roti as shown in the video. 
8. Drizzle some oil on the pan, then drop the folded roti onto the pan. Cook about 2 minutes on each side or until golden brown. 
9. Serve with dhall curry (recipe below).

Ingredients for Dhall Curry

Yellow dhall

1 cup yellow dhall (also known as chana dhall / dal / dhal)

1 stick cinnamon*

1 knob ginger, sliced

1 star anise*

2 cloves garlic, sliced

1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder

1 teaspoon mustard seed*

About 5 sprigs of curry leaves (30 leaves)

1 tomato, cut into 8 wedges*

1 potato, cubed*

1 small eggplant*, cut into wedges

Salt to taste
*optional

1. Rinse the dhall a few times. Add enough water to cover the dhall, then soak the dhall for four hours or overnight. 
2. Add the cinnamon, ginger, garlic, star anise, tumeric, mustard seed and curry leaves to the soaked dhall. Boil the dhall for 30 minutes until tender. Skim off any foam that forms.
3. Add the potato and cook for another 20 minutes.
4. Add the eggplant and tomato and cook for another 15 minutes until tender.
5. Add salt to taste and serve with roti canai.

I hope you have fun flipping roti canai! Let me know how it goes! :)

Hearty 30 minute Chicken Soup: The Instant Pot Chronicles

Hearty, easy chicken soup can be conjured up in 30 minutes with the Instant Pot. On the stove-top, this sort of soup would normally take 3-4 hours. (By the way, thanks 'Anonymous' for your request and keep 'em coming!)

Hearty chicken soup mmm mmm yum

This is my basic recipe for chicken soup and I make it at least once a month. I make a big pot and eat it all week. I love chicken soup! It's a great cold remedy and anytime-pick-me-up. It is low-carber friendly too.

Ingredients
(for about 5 quarts of soup)

1 small whole chicken (4-5 lbs)

1 whole bulb of garlic

2 stalks celery

2 carrots

1 bunch parsley (about 5 stalks)

1 thumb-sized knob of ginger

2 tablespoons salt

6 cups water 

Directions

1. Place the chicken in the Instant Pot.
2. Cut the carrots and celery diagonally into large pieces. Cut the parsley into 2 inch long sections, stems and all.  Cut the ginger into thick slices. Separate the garlic bulb into cloves and peel the skins off each clove. 
3. Add all the vegetables into the Instant Pot. 
4. Add the salt and the water. 
5. Place the lid on the Instant Pot, set the pressure valve to 'seal' and select 'Poultry', which will give 15 minutes of pressure cooking. (It will take about 15 minutes for the liquid inside to come to a boil and build up pressure, then it will pressure cook for 15 minutes. Total cook time 30 minutes).
6. After the Instant Pot has worked it magic on the ingredients you placed inside it, fish the chicken out and set it on a large plate to cool a bit. Then pull all the meat off the bones. Return the meat to the soup as large chunks, or after chopping into smaller pieces, depending on what you prefer). 
7. Serve warm. Happy eating!

Optional Ingredients

To this basic chicken soup recipe, you can add pretty much anything you like to jazz it up. I add serano or jalapeno peppers for some extra heat. Or ginseng root as a real pick-me-up.

Anticlockwise L-R: Parsley, carrot, celery, garlic, ginseng root, ginger root, chicken.

What's your favorite chicken soup recipe? Would love to hear from you!

Next up in the Instant Pot Chronicles - Herbal Chicken Soup that will cure almost anything, even a broken heart. :)

Rainbow Fruit Skewers for Wedding Hors D'oeuvres Reception Party

So today I did a practice run to estimate how much of each fruit would be needed for 100 fruit kebabs for Kim and Jeff's Big Day.

You will need a pack of 8 inch bamboo skewers ($3.95 free ship on Amazon)

Tell me these aren't gorgeous. :)

Here's the breakdown

• Purple Grape - 1 lb
• Blue Berries - 1 pint
• Green Kiwi - 9 kiwis
• Yellow Pineapple - 1 medium
• Orange Cantaloupe - 1 small
• Red Strawberries - 4 lbs

Directions

• Chill all fruit thoroughly. The cantaloupe and pineapple should be chilled overnight. 
• Before food prep, wash and sanitize hands.
• Prep each fruit in turn, returning to chiller as soon as prepared. 
• Pick grapes off stems. Rinse.
• Rinse blueberries
• Peel kiwi. Cut into half lengthwise, then into another six cubes. 1 kiwi = 12 cubes
• Cut skin off pineapple. Cut into 1/2 inch cubes.
• Cut skin off cantaloupe. Cut into 1/2 inch cubes.
• Cut the tops off strawberries. Leave a uniform 3/4 inch from tip to end, for each strawberry.
• Assemble the skewers. Do this quickly, returning to chiller as soon as completed. 
• Keep covered and chilled till service time. And serve on a platter sat on ice to keep cold. 

Alternatives for Colors

• Purple - blackberries
• Green - grapes
• Yellow - mango
• Orange - orange!
• Red - watermelon, raspberries

What do you think? What other fruit would you use? What about fruit shapes? I love hearing from you!


xo Gracie 

p.s. It would be AWESOME if you could click on any ad here - my sponsors give me a few cents per click. Thanks for supporting my blog!

OvaEasy Powdered Whole Eggs Review: Delicious!

I packed one 4.5 oz sachet of  OvaEasy powdered whole eggs for two breakfasts and one lunch during a three day Laurel Highlands hike back in June.

The Meal Plan
As one 4.5 oz sachet yields 12 eggs AND two scoops (scoop comes with sachet) = 1 1/2 eggs, I planned for two people:

• Breakfast Day 2: Scrambled eggs (4 1/2 eggs)
• Breakfast Day 3: Scrambled eggs (4 1/2 eggs)
• Lunch Day 3: Egg and chicken burrito (3 eggs and Future Essentials freeze-dried chicken cubes)                                                              

Scrambled Egg Prep
It's 2 scoops OvaEasy to 3 scoops of water. I measured 6 scoops of OvaEasy into our much-loved Titanium Snowpeak 1.1 L ultralight pot, added 9 scoops of spring water and stirred well with a spoon (ultralight titanium of course :p). I added a generous tablespoon of organic ghee for that delicious buttery flavor, and scrambled as per the usual way, over our Primus stove. Sprinkled some sea salt and dug in! A quick hearty breakfast in under 10 minutes.

Cost
The cheapest I've found for sachets are $18 (three sachets, free ship) on Amazon. That works out to only 50 cents per egg. The cans are slightly cheaper (43 cents per egg) - if you order over $100 of product from The Ready Store, shipping is free. There are six 4.5 oz sachets in one #10 can.

Verdict
These OvaEasy eggs taste so good. They taste like fresh eggs. I wouldn't be able to tell the difference. A quick and hearty breakfast in under 10 minutes.

Have you tried these? What's your favorite brand?

xo Gracie

p.s. It would be AWESOME if you could click on any ad here - my sponsors give me a few cents per click. Thanks for supporting my blog!

Instant Pot Baby Back Ribs: Easy and Yum!

Rib Lovers Unite! Here's a recipe that's super easy, takes only 30 minutes pressure cooking with my Multi-Function Instant Pot, and will hit that spot without hard-hitting your wallet. That's right, you read me right. Thirty minute pressure cooked ribs. (Read my review of the Instant Pot HERE).

I've made it twice using the Instant Pot so far and both times it produced fall-off-the-bone tender and tasty ribs that the entire family LOVED. Made from scratch with no additives, MSG, preservatives, or high fructose corn syrup, these ribs are actually, healthy. Recipe adapted for the Instant Pot from Scott Hibb's famous rib recipe , minus the onion and whiskey. I'm actually salivating as I plug away at this blog post!

Sorry blur iPhone pic taken with rib-sticky fingers
- I nearly forgot to even take this one pic!

Ingredients
(for 6 large half racks of baby backs, feeding 6)
Three 2 lb slabs of baby back ribs (7 lbs or about 3 kg total)
3 teaspoons salt
1 tablespoon fine ground cayenne powder
1/2 teaspoon coarse ground black pepper
1 tablespoon garlic powder (Love Frontier's organic one)
1/2 cup tomato paste
1 cup apple cider vinegar (I like Bragg's)
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 tablespoon molasses
2 tablespoons honey
1 teaspoon liquid smoke flavoring
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1/8 cup water
*The fresh ribs are about $25 from Restaurant Depot. The finished ribs cost about $150 in a restaurant. 

Directions

1. Prep the ribs by removing the membrane that covers the inner part of the ribs. This allows the flavor and seasonings to penetrate the meat. (See a video tutorial HERE).
2. Lay the ribs out on a large tray. You'll season one side first, then the other side. On one side, sprinkle on half the salt, cayenne powder, black pepper, garlic powder. Repeat with the rest of these seasonings on the other side.
3. In a small bowl, mix the tomato paste, vinegar, sugar, molasses, honey and liquid smoke. Pour this sauce over the ribs. Turn over to coat the other side.
4. Arrange the ribs in the Instant Pot, meaty part facing outward and sort of nestled circular-like (see pic). Pour the sauce from the tray into the Pot. 



Seasoned ribs in the Instant Pot ready to go

5. Place the lid on the Pot, set the pressure valve to 'seal' and select 'Stew', which will give 30 minutes of pressure cooking. It will take 15-20 minutes for the liquid inside to come to a boil and build up pressure, then it will pressure cook for 30 minutes. So total cook time including prep is about an hour.
6. When the time is up, pull out the ribs and arrange on a tray. 
7. Preheat the oven to grill on 'Low'.
8. Reduce the liquid left in the pot to a basting sauce by heating it on high in a saucepan for 5-10 minutes. Stir the cornstarch with the 1/8 cup of water, then add that to the reduced sauce to thicken it. Stir vigorously while adding the cornstarch solution. At this point, taste and adjust salt and sugar as you prefer.
9. Baste the ribs generously with the basting sauce. Place the basted ribs in the oven for 5 minutes for a beautiful char-grilled finish.
10. Enjoy!

Do you have a favorite no-fail rib recipe to share? I welcome you to try mine and let me know how it turned out for you!

xo Gracie 

p.s. It would be AWESOME if you could click on any ad here - my sponsors give me a few cents per click. Thanks for supporting my blog!

The Ultimate Vanilla Cupcake Bar None

My quest for the best ever vanilla cupcake began two months before Kimby's bridal shower. I decided to add fondant decorated cupcakes to the dessert list, which included my signature fruit-filled sponge cake. My inspiration was Cousin Yoonie's exquisite fondant decorated cupcakes, which are *almost* too beautiful to eat (see one lovely creation HERE). Thanks for all your help and advice Yoon, this blog post is dedicated to you.

Recipe Testing
I first tested three promising recipes and then chose the best - this was Stef's Ultimate Vanilla Cupcake. My cousin's kindly-provided recipe was incredibly buttery and flavorful, but denser than the Ultimate. Julie Hanson's Very Vanilla Cupcake was also dense and not as tasty. The Ultimate was very light and airy, less buttery (as it had half oil half butter). I believe the secret of it's lightness lies in the 'reverse creaming' method. My quest for the perfect vanilla cupcake ended with the Ultimate.

Very Important 

• The first time I made it, it had 'tunnels' going through the cupcake. This meant my gas oven got too hot, which it tends to do if I let it go for too long. For the next three batches, I was careful to keep temperature at 350 degrees F and each batch was good.
• All the ingredients MUST be at room temperature for this to work.
• Use a good quality vanilla bean, and pure vanilla extract. This is a vanilla cupcake after all. :) I love the premium bourbon-Madagascar vanilla bean by J.R. Mushroom & Specialities. At less than $1 per bean, these are value for money.

Ingredients
(makes 16 cupcakes)
1 cup sugar (225 g)
1 vanilla bean
1 3/4 cups flour (175 g)
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup butter (57 g)
2 eggs
1/3 cup sour cream (75 g)
1/4 cup vegetable oil (60 ml)
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
2/3 cup whole milk (160 ml)

1. Preheat oven to 350 F (175 C).
2. In a small bowl, combine sugar and vanilla bean seeds.
3. In the stand mixer bowl with paddle beater attached, put flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and sugar. Mix on speed 2 for 3 minutes.
4. Add butter. Mix for another 3 minutes.
5. In a small bowl, whisk eggs, cream, oil and vanilla till combined.
6. Add the egg mixture all in one go to the flour mix. Mix till well combined (1 minute). Scrape down the sides of the bowl halfway through.
7. Add milk to the batter and mix till very smooth (3 minutes). No lumps! Batter will be thin-ish.
8. Transfer batter to jug for easy pouring into cupcake liners. 
9. Fill liners half full and no more. 
10. Bake 14 minutes or until test skewer comes out clean. Test every minute after minute 14 until skewer comes out clean. 

Frosting 
I love these with swiss meringue buttercream (SMB), which are not as sweet and which contain protein from the egg whites. SMB is also addictive and you could be sucking silky luscious spoonfuls down before you even realise it!

Vanilla cupcakes with swiss meringue buttercream piped roses and topped with fondant butterflies

Making Ahead
The cupcakes can be made up to 3 days ahead, and kept in an airtight container so they don't dry out. They can also apparently be frozen for up to a month, but I haven't tried that.

Have you a favorite cupcake recipe to share? I am always on the lookout for favorite / family recipes and would love love love to try yours out. Please do leave a comment!

xo Gracie

p.s. It would be AWESOME if you could click on any ad here - my sponsors give me a few cents per click. Thanks for supporting my blog!

Powdered Eggs: What's Cheap and Good?

I did a thorough review and price comparison of powdered egg options on Amazon. I didn't want to buy too much, just in case they tasted horrid, so I kept my price comparison to product under $20.

Eggs-tra Cheap
At 20 cents per egg, Honeyville Powdered Eggs was cheapest. But since it comes in a 2.25 lb can (96 eggs, $19.09), I was sure there would be wastage. The thing is, once the can is opened, the eggs will start sucking up ambient moisture. They need to be eaten within two weeks or they'll go bad. Hmm... 96 eggs in two weeks? No thanks. Also, these eggs received mixed reviews.

Hoosier Farm Whole Powdered Eggs were also cheap at 24 cents per egg. However, these came in a 1 lb bag (42 eggs, $9.99). I could probably finish the package within two weeks of opening, but did I really want to eat all that powdered egg? Besides, nobody has seen fit to review the product yet.

OvaEasy powdered whole eggs, at 51 cents per egg (for the 3 pack of 4.5 oz sachets, $18.49) was more than double the cost of the Honeyville and Hoosier bulk eggs. However, the advantage was that each pack containing 12 eggs-worth, could be used pack-by-pack. I used one pack for three meals over a three day hiking trip and found this portion size to be perfect for my needs.

Barry Farm Whole Egg Powder was the most pricey at 60 cents per egg (8 oz bag = 21 eggs, $12.76). I read the reviews. Most of them were mediocre except for one that said they were cheaper than Honeyville and tasted just as good. I'm not sure where that reviewer got his figures from, but I certainly wasn't going to buy these eggs!

Gracie's Pick
I got OvaEasy. They taste so fresh, and are great scrambled, especially with organic ghee. Other brands don't seem to scramble as well according to the reviewers. And the sachet portion size is a plus. Next time, I will save by buying in bulk!

What's your pick? Would love to hear from you.


xo Gracie

p.s. It would be AWESOME if you could click on any ad here - my sponsors give me a few cents per click. Thanks for supporting my blog!

OvaEasy Egg and Freeze Dried Chicken Burritos: Backpacking Gourmet!

I made this for a quick hot lunch during a hike in the Laurel Highlands.

Ingredients
Two scoops (= 3 eggs) of OvaEasy powdered whole eggs
1/2 C freeze dried peas from Future Essentials
1 C natural freeze-dried diced chicken from Future Essentials
1 T grass-fed organic ghee from Purity Farms
1 1/2 C water
Salt & pepper to taste
4 large tortillas

Prep
I mixed all the ingredients together in our titanium cook pot, and stirred with a spoon (yes we like titanium) as the mix warmed and cooked over our Primus Omnifuel stove. It took about 10 minutes to cook. Then about 1/2 cup of the egg and chicken filling was spooned onto each tortilla, and rolled up.

Cost
The eggs were $1.50 (based on calculations from a previous post). Peas were $1 and chicken was about $2. Each burrito worked out to $3.

Verdict
This was a delicious meal. The freeze-dried peas and chicken, and the powdered eggs, rehydrated beautifully and adding the ghee to the filling gave it a buttery flavor. The ghee also adds some good fat which would keep us full longer. I would definitely make this again.

xo Gracie 

p.s. It would be AWESOME if you could click on any ad here - my sponsors give me a few cents per click. Thanks for supporting my blog!

Toddlers' Cooking Class: Rainbow Fruit Kebabs

Oh boy I had a blast today with four adorable toddlers and their moms, making 'Rainbow-on-a-Stick'!

Rainbows-on-a-stick fruit kebabs with grapes, blueberries, kiwi, pineapple, cantaloupe and strawberries

After a quick intro and donning of aprons and the cutest chef hats ever, I fished out a picture of a rainbow and went through the colors with the kids. Gosh do they know their colors! Then I had a giveaway: if they guessed the fruit correctly, they would get to take it home. Basil took home the kiwi fruit, and the rest of the kids snagged apples!

We started by taking the tops off the strawberries and cutting them in half. Then the kiwis were cut into bite sized squares. After that everyone got a 1/2" slab of cantaloupe and their pick of mini cookie cutter shapes (butterfly, lily, daisy, bell), and went to town cutting out fruit shapes. Ditto with the watermelon slabs. The pineapple cubes were done with the Curious Chef kid safe knives - these worked really well and it was a huge relief not having to worry about any accidents.

After all the cutting, chopping, slicing and dicing - it was just like Masterchef! - I handed out bamboo skewers (with the sharp points snipped off), put together a Rainbow-on-a-Stick as an example, then let the kids at it. Everyone did so well!

At the end of the class, I brought out some apples, carrots, celery and lemon and had everyone pick out their fruit-veg combo to run through the juicer. I'm glad to be getting more use out of my Green Star Twin Gear Juice Extractor. Since it's a triturating juicer (not a centrifugal one), it doesn't 'cook' the juice and it extracts a whole lot more juice. Oh, I also served up some wontons for everyone to sample. I think they liked it :)

The set up: Kids would come up and get the fruit to cut and we worked our way down the list.

Next up, we are going to make Pizza from scratch! I think the kids will have fun kneading and rolling out the dough, and putting their favorite toppings on their personal pizza. For more information on the classes I offer, click HERE. Classes start from $10 per person per class!

Do you cook with your kids? Kids can be such great helpers in the kitchen. What are your favorite kids' recipes?

xo Gracie 

p.s. It would be AWESOME if you could click on any ad here - my sponsors give me a few cents per click. Thanks for supporting my blog!

Toddlers' Cooking Classes: Kids can Cook!

I'm looking forward to my first toddlers' cooking class at the end of this month! I've taught kids how to cook for years, but they have mostly been ages six and up. When my friend Amy asked about cooking classes for her three year-old, I thought "Why not?". Of course, the more I thought about it, the more I realized it would be very possible to have cooking classes for kids that age, that are safe, impart some cool kitchen skills, and fun!

I've planned a healthy and fun dish for this upcoming class. I ordered some kid safe knives, and aprons and chef hats. I have up to four kids per class, which is a manageable number for me - allows me to give each one lots of attention and get a lot of interaction in.

Stay tuned for my report on how well the kids did!



    xo Gracie

    p.s. It would be AWESOME if you could click on any ad
    here - my sponsors give me a few cents per click. Thanks for
    supporting my blog!