Sugar+ Cookies

Marissa and I made sugar cookies.

We used a traditional sugar cookie recipe
but added freshly juiced ginger, fresh lemon zest, and fresh mint.
In Snickerdoodle fashion we took the sugar cookie dough
and rolled little balls of it in a cinnamon sugar combination before baking.

BBQ Tofu & Fruit Salad

BBQ Tofu and Fruit Salad

Barbecued Tofu is a comfort food for me and one of my favorites.  I grew up eating BBQ Tofu on brown rice.  It's delicious!

Use extra-firm tofu, cube it, marinate it in the BBQ sauce, and then bake it in the oven on parchment paper.  When it seems like its near done, broil it to brown.

I grew up on homemade BBQ sauce and the storebought stuff is just not the same.  Here's how to make delicious homemade barbecue sauce:

1.  Put ketchup in a bowl.  BBQ sauce is mostly ketchup.  If you end up adding too much soy sauce and make the sauce too thin, you can always add more ketchup later.

2.  Add in some soy sauce (or shoyu, or Braggs, etc.).  When you mix it, it should become the right thickness, color, and taste.  This is the base of your BBQ sauce.  If you end up with too much of everything below, you can add more ketchup and soy sauce to dilute the other flavors.

3.  If you want to, add in a dash of worcestershire sauce, tempura sauce, fish oil, or anything of the like.

4.  Add in a bit of olive oil.

5.  Add in sweet and sour.  Keep in mind the ketchup is likely already sweetened.  I used honey, freshly squeezed lemon, and a dash of apple cider vinegar.  Depending on your mood any sweetener and any citrus or vinegar will do.

6.  Add in seasonings (garlic and onion can be fresh, dried, or both):  minced garlic, minced onion, pepper, a dash of cinnamon or nutmeg (optional), a dash of mustard, some heat if wanted (e.g. jalapenos, crushed chili flakes, etc.).  Note: I do not add salt because soy sauce is usually already pretty salty and ketchup usually already has salt in it as well.

Voila!  You have delicious BBQ sauce.

Salmon with Sweet Potato Fries and Sauteed Broccoli

Salmon with Sweet Potato Fries and Sauteed Broccoli

For the fish:

I got wild salmon from Captain's Catch in Northern Delaware.

First I rubbed the salmon with a mixture of cumin and zatar.

Next I heated a pan, heated coconut oil in it, and then pan-fried/seared the salmon for a couple minutes on both sides.

Then I took the salmon, put it into a glass baking tray sprayed with oil, poured freshly squeezed lime juice on top, and put it in a preheated oven to bake so the middle could cook more and to keep it warm while the rest of dinner finished cooking.

Finally I heated a bit of butter in a saucepan until it browned and when I removed the salmon from the oven I poured the butter on top of the salmon before serving it.

For the sweet potato fries:
I cut raw sweet potatoes into fry shape.

I tossed them very lightly with olive oil.

I laid them out on a baking tray on parchment paper, sprinkled them with cinnamon, sea salt, and hot red pepper, and then baked them. Once the sweet potato fries were cooked through, I turned the oven to broil to brown them a bit and give them a firmer texture.

For the broccoli:
I sauteed it with a little big of Bragg's (like soy sauce), Ginger juice (grated squeezed ginger), minced garlic, and sesame oil.

A cutting trick I learned at the Natural Gourmet Institute regarding broccoli is that one should use the stalk but only the less tough parts.  If you cut a bit off the sides from each part of the stalk and make it into a rectangular prism (kind of like if you were peeling it but taking more off), you will get rid of the tough part and will only have stalk left that tastes great as part of the stir fry.

Panna Cotta

 

Panna Cotta

I made 1.5 times the recipe for 10 pretty full glasses worth.

In a large bowl, sprinkle 4 1/2 teaspoons gelatin over 6 tablespoons cold water.  Let sit for at least 5 minutes.  Next time I will try this with 4 teaspoons gelatin - it stuck together perfectly well and I would like it to be a little more silky.

Meanwhile, in a saucepan, heat 4 cups heavy cream and 1/2 cup sugar, stirring until warm and sugar is dissolved.  Take off heat, stir in 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract and 1 teaspoon of maple syrup, then pour the cream mixture over the gelatin mixture and stir to dissolve gelatin mixture throughout the cream mixture.

Pour into containers and refrigerate for at least 3 hours.

I poured these into cups to serve directly from the fridge.  Alternatively and for a more fancy panna cotta, put into oiled custard cups and then knife the rim and turn upside down.

I topped them with refrigerated blueberry sauce - I heated in a saucepan frozen wild blueberries, fresh lemon zest, and water, and then put in a little bit of cornstarch mixed with water for it to thicken.  It tasted like it would be really good with some dark chocolate sauce.

Tandoori Chicken

Tandoori Chicken

1.  Pierce chicken with fork all over and make big knife cuts into the chicken.

2.  Marinate the chicken for many hours.

3.  Bake it on parchment paper - broil at the end to brown.  (I use a thermometer for timing)

I served with brown rice (yellow from turmeric) mixed with sauteed minced red onions and tomato (deskinned and deseeded).

Marinade:

Plain yogurt is the base
Freshly squeezed lemon juice
Ginger (I juiced ginger by peeling it with a spoon, shredding it, and squeezing it)
Garlic (I used fresh minced)
A healthy dose of paprika, esp. for the coloring
Cumin, coriander, chili, cardamom, cinnamon, cloves, salt, pepper

Baked Taquitos

Baked Beef Taquitos

This recipe was based largely on a recipe I found here:
http://www.sixsistersstuff.com/2012/09/baked-creamy-chicken-taquitos.html

Essentially I put a dollop of filling in tortillas, rolled them up, and baked them on parchment paper in the oven at 425 for about 20 minutes when they were well browned on the edges.  They stayed together nicely when I took them out.

Filling:
1)  Ground beef (sauteed with green onions and Nuevo Cocina taco seasoning that has raisins and olives in it)
2)  A mixture of Neufchatel cheese, salsa, olive slices, freshly squeezed lime juice, cumin, chili, onion, garlic, and cilantro.
3)  A bit of grated cheese - I used raw smoked goat cheddar cheese.

To serve:
1)  I served them with fresh avocado.
2)  For a dipping/drizzling sauce, a combo of salsa and ranch dressing.