Homemade Yogurt: Another Save from the Dreaded Grocery Store

By Somer

I hate shopping.  For anything and everything.  I’ve had furious arguments with horrible insensitive men who assume that all women want to shop all day for clothes and shoes because I really don’t think that there are many people out there who hate shopping more than I do.

Alas, it is a necessity in my life.  I have to do it at least once a month.  I can handle those enormous once a month trips, I can handle it.  What irritates me are all of those smaller trips in between where only one or two things need to be procured.  A gallon of milk.  Diapers.  A special ingredient for the dinner I want to make.  I hate those trips.

Luckily, as time goes on, my shopping has become more efficient and I am able to minimize the number of those small runs.  I’ve learned to stock my home in such a way that it lasts the full month, but I’ve also learned to make a lot of things homemade so that I don’t have to worry about buying them.  One of these things is yogurt.  My son eats yogurt for breakfast every morning and I like to always have yogurt on hand because I LOVE Indian food and yogurt is a big part of that cuisine.

It was actually from an Indian cookbook that I was able to first learn how to make yogurt.  I messed it up quite a few times, but I figured out a few tricks that might help.

Start off with a quart of milk.  You can use any milk you like, I use whole milk, but you can use 2% or 1%.

Bring the milk to a boil in a large heavy pot and stir constantly.  When the milk starts to rise, remove it from the heat.  Allow the milk to cool slightly.  Don’t let it get to room temperature, you want it to be warm to the touch, but not hot.

You need some “starter” for this.  Starter is about 2 Tablespoons of yogurt that you have.  You can use purchased yogurt from the dairy aisle.  That’s what I use.

Put the yogurt in a heat-safe large bowl and whisk it until it is smooth.  Slowly add the warm milk, whisking all the while.

Make sure that the yogurt and milk are thoroughly incorporated.

Now you need to let the yogurt set up.  You need a warm place for this.  I like to use my oven.  If your oven has a “WARM” setting, start this while the milk is still boiling.  If your oven doesn’t, the simply set the oven to it’s lowest temperature (mine goes only as low as 170 degrees F.) and let it preheat while you are preparing the yogurt.  Turn the heat off before you put the bowl inside and make a warm and snuggly place for the bowl to sit.

I put a thick dish towel on the oven rack, the bowl on the towel, and then another thick towel over the bowl.  This needs to be a gently warmed environment so the yogurt sets up correctly.  It’s not as hard as it sounds.  It takes 8 hours for the yogurt to set up.  Take a peek about 4-5 hours in and if the oven isn’t warm, set the warmer on again for 5 minutes and turn it off before it gets too hot.

Do this right and you’ll have your own homemade yogurt.  And you won’t have to go to the store to buy one lousy little tub.  Your welcome.

Enjoy!

Getting to Know My New City

By Somer

Last week, I had a HUGE hankering for chicken wings.  I didn’t want to go to a chain restaurant or order from a pizza place (they always have the soggiest and most disgusting wings).  So my husband did the only thing that makes sense:  He got on Twitter and asked where was the best place in Reading to get a good serving of wings.  The replies poured in and the vote was unanimous among that repliers; Jimmie Kramer’s Peanut Bar.  I seemed to recall having seen this place on an episode of some “Best Of” show on the Travel Channel and was excited to learn that this place is five minutes from my house.

I didn’t take my camera and thus, have no pictures.  I could kick myself…seriously.  I’m going to be a new regular of this place.  I.  Am.  In.  Love.

The place is tiny.  It’s got old floors.  There are peanut shells littering the floor (their claim to fame is that they were the first to serve peanuts on the house and let their patrons throw the shells on the floor).  The lighting was low, the bartender was CUTE (hey, it helped with the ambiance) there was a great beer list, it’s family friendly, and the food is fantastic.

We started with a dozen wings each as an appetizer.  After jonesing for wings for more than a week, I was more than satisfied.  They were delicious.  As a rule for me, I like for my wings to be spicy enough for my nose to be running, but not so hot that I’m crying for my mommy.  These wings were just right.

The way that they were served was genius, GENIUS I tell you.  They were served in a bowl and there was a puddle of hot-sauce-goo at the bottom.  They were swimming in their hot sauce.  They were cooked to perfection.  Crispy, not soggy and not overcooked either.  Even when swimming in their hot-sauce-goo they maintained a crispness.  I’m going back for more very soon!

As a main course, I had the N.Y Jewish Corned Beef on Rye sandwich.  Just right.  Just right.  Again, I’ll be having that again after I’ve run through the rest of the menu.

The staff was super nice and attentive, the atmosphere was comfortable even though they were quite busy.  The prices were a little high, yes, but I won’t begrudge them that.  It was worth it. I liked this place so much, that when I go back, I’ll take my camera and give them ANOTHER post on here.  I told you…IN LOVE.

I’m happy to see that my new city will offer me many strata of eating trials.  I look forward to exploring further.

Christmas Cookies: New and Old

By Somer

When it comes to the holidays, I am usually a very traditional kind of gal.  I usually cook and bake the foods that I had as a child and I rarely wander off of that course.  For Thanksgiving, I make a HUGE dinner that consists of only things that I had as a child.  The turkey is prepared the same way (because part of me fears that if I deviate, I will regret it.  And a turkey is a big bird to have as a regret).

Over the past 4 years, however, I have started trying many different things for Christmas.  For example, I started a tradition that we call The Five Days of Decadence where December 20-25th I make 5 decadent dinners and desserts.  (I didn’t get around to doing it this year because of the whole moving and unpacking thing, but I’ll write about it next year!)  And instead of having either ham or turkey Christmas day like when I was a kid, I make lamb.  And for someone as unwilling to try new traditions as myself, I have really enjoyed this new tradition.

Christmas cookies are one of the things that I stick with tradition.  I always make Chocolate Chip, Peanut Butter, Oatmeal and Sugar Cookies as well as Gingerbread Men.  That’s it.  Even though there are hundreds of other cookies recipes out there that are terrific for the holidays, I stick with those because they evoke memories of being a kid sitting by the tree and having warm cookies and milk after dinner.

A few years ago, my mother-in-law got my this cookbook for Christmas.  I was surprised at how much I adore this cookbook.  No really.  I LOVE this cookbook and every November, I get all giddy when I get to pull it out and start planning my Five Days of Decadence and pondering the desserts and breads.  This year I pondered the cookies.  I didn’t get very adventurous because I didn’t have a lot of things on hand to deviate from my usual and I didn’t want to go to the store.  But I DID deviate.  I added two new cookies to my roster, and I’m glad that I did.

Before I start talking about the actual cookies, I’d like to share with you two tools that make my holiday baking experience so much more pleasant.

This cookbook stand is wonderful (have I written about it before?)  It stands the cookbooks up so I’m not leaning over them, and it has a plastic cover to both protect the pages (I get goop all over my cookbooks) and to hold the book open is the binding is too tight.  I love this thing.

I can’t find it on the website from which I originally bought this, but here’s a few places where you can get one of your own.

My KitchenAid Stand Mixer.  This thing has become indispensable to me when it comes to baking.  It whips up a batch of cookie dough in the blink of an eye.  And for clean up between different batches I just full my sink with hot soapy water and do a quick clean of the paddle and bowl so that I can start a new batch the second the old batch has finished.

I won’t lie, these are pricey.  I usually don’t like to recommend pricey things because I don’t live like that and I like to put my money to good use, but trust me:  this is a good investment.  Have a look.

And now, on to the cookies!  As you may have notices, this post’s pictures are much larger than usual.  That’s because it’s about Christmas cookies!  I want you to be able to have a face-full of cookies just by looking at this blog.  I’ll start with the two new cookies that I’ve added this year and finish with my usuals!

Molasses Spice Cookies

Favorite Brand Old-Fashioned Holiday Recipes (2004)

1 cup granulated sugar

3/4 cup shortening

1/4 cup molasses

1 egg, beaten

2 cups AP flour

2 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. ground cinnamon

1 tsp. ground cloves

1 tsp. ground ginger

1/4 tsp. dry mustard

1/4 tsp. salt

1/2 cup granulated brown sugar or granulated sugar

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.  Grease cookie sheets; set aside. <–Somer’s Hint:  Use parchment paper on your cookie sheets instead of grease.  The cookies won’t stick and clean up is a lot easier.

Beat granulated sugar and shortening about 5 minutes in large bowl until light and fluffy.  Add molasses and egg; beat until fluffy.

Combine flour, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves, ginger, mustard and salt in medium bowl.  Add to shortening mixture; mix until just combined.

Place brown sugar in shallow dish.  Roll tablespoonfuls of dough into 1-inch balls; roll in sugar to coat.  Place 2 inches apart on prepared cookie sheets.  Bake 15 minutes or until lightly browned.  Let cookies stand on cookie sheets 2 minutes.  Remove to wire racks; cool completely.  YIELD:  6 dozen cookies.

These are delicious cookies.  I think next year I’ll make them for Thanksgiving!

Buttery Almond Cutouts

Favorite Brand Old-Fashioned Holiday Recipes (2004)

1 cup butter, softened

1-1/2 cups granulated sugar

3/4 cup sour cream

2 eggs

3 tsp. almond extract, divided

1 tsp. vanilla

4-1/3 cups AP flour

1 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

2 cups powdered sugar

2 Tblsp. milk

1 Tblsp. light corn syrup

Assorted food colorings

Beat butter and granulated sugar in large bowl until light and fluffy.  Add sour cream, eggs, 2 tsp. almond extract and vanilla; beat until smooth.  Add flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt; beat just until well blended.

Divide dough into 4 pieces; flatten each piece into a disc.  Wrap each disc tightly with plastic wrap.  refrigerate at least 3 hours or up to 3 days.

Combine powdered sugar, milk, corn syrup and remaining 1 tsp. almond extract in small bowl; stir until smooth.  Cover and refrigerate up to 3 days.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.  Working with 1 disc of dough at a time, roll out on floured surface to 1/4-inch thickness.  Cut dough into desired shapes using 2-1/2 inch cookie cutters.  Place about 2 inches apart on ungreased baking sheets.  Bake 7-8 minutes or until edges are firm and bottoms are brown.  Remove from baking sheets to wire racks to cool.  <–Somer’s Hint:  This is a very sticky dough so be sure to really flour your preparation surface and also dust a generous amount of flour on the top of the dough before you roll it out.

Separate powdered sugar mixture into 3 or 4 batches in small bowls; tint each batch with desired food coloring.  Frost cookies.  <–Somer’s Hint: This is not a lot of frosting and you may need to make more.  A quick and easy way to frost these cookies is to put the frosting into microwave-safe bowls and microwave for 10-30 seconds.  The icing gets runny and instead of using a knife or spatula to ice the cookie, simply dip the face of the cookies into the thinned frosting and use a spatula to scrape off any excess.  It goes by very quickyl this way. YIELD:  About 3 dozen cookies.

These cookies were the last to be finished, but I can tell that they will be the first cookies gone.  They are crazy good.  My husband and son are constantly stealing away to the dining room to sneak one of these.

Chocolate Chip Cookies

Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook 12th Edition (2003)

1/2 cup shortening

1/2 cup butter, softened

1 cup packed brown sugar

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/2 tsp. baking soda

2 eggs

1 tsp. vanilla

2-1/2 cups AP flour

1 12-oz. package (2 cups) semisweet chocolate chips

1-1/2 cups chopped walnuts, pecans, or hazelnuts (filberts).  Optional (I never use nuts!)

In a large mixing bowl beat shortening and butter with an electric mixer on medium to high speed for 30 seconds.  Add brown sugar, granulated sugar, and baking soda.  Beat until mixture is combines, scraping sides of bowl occasionally.  Beat in eggs and vanilla until combined.  Beat in as much of the flour as you can with the mixer.  Stir in any remaining flour.  Stir in chocolate chips, and , if you’re crazy, nuts.

Drop dough by rounded teaspoons 2 inches apart onto an ungreased cookie sheet.  Bake in a 375 degrees F oven for 8-10 minutes or until edges are lightly browned.  Transfer to a wire rack to cool.  YIELD:  about 60 cookies

This recipe does not yield pretty cookies.  But I don’t care.  They taste awesome and I look forward to making them every Christmas (I also make them throughout the year because I LOVE them).

Oatmeal Cookies

Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook 12th Edition (2003)

3/4 cup butter, softened

1 cup packed brown sugar

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1 tsp. baking powder

1/4 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon (optional)  (I use it!)

1/4 tsp. ground cloves (optional)  (I use it, too!)

2 eggs

1 tsp. vanilla

1-3/4 cups AP flour

2 cups rolled oats

In a large mixing bowl beat butter with an electric mixer on medium to high speed for 30 seconds.  Add brown sugar, granulated sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and cinnamon and cloves.  Beat until combined, scraping sides of bowl occasionally.  Beat in eggs and vanilla until combined.  Beat in as much of the flour as you can with the mixer.  Stir in any remaining flour.  Stir in rolled oats.

Drop dough by rounded teaspoons 2 inches apart onto an ungreased cookie sheet.  Bake in a 375 degree F oven for 8-10 minutes or until edges are golden.  Cool on cookie sheet for 1 minute.  Transfer to a wire rack and let cool.

Somer’s Note: You won’t see any raisins being added to this.  YUCK.

As a kid, these were a great excuse to eat cookies for breakfast.

Peanut Butter Cookies

Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook 12th Edition (2003)

1/2 cup butter, softened

1/2 cup peanut butter

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup packed brown sugar or 1/4 cup honey (I used honey)

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. baking powder

1 egg

1/2 tsp. vanilla

1-1/4 cups AP flour

Granulated sugar

In a large mixing bowl beat butter and peanut butter with an electric mixer on medium to high speed for 30 seconds.  Add the granulated sugar, honey, baking soda, and baking powder.  Beat until combines, scraping sides of bowl occasionally.  Beat in egg and vanilla until combined.  Beat in as much of the flour as you can with the mixer.  Stir in any remaining flour.  If necessary, cover and chill dough until easy to handle.

Shape dough into 1-inch balls.  Roll in additional granulated sugar to coat.  Place 2 inches apart on an ungreased cookie sheet.  Flatten by making crisscross marks with the tines of a fork.  Bake in a 375 degrees F. oven for 7-9 minutes or until bottoms are lightly browned.  Transfer to a wire rack to cool.  YIELD:  about 36 cookies

Not only are these great holiday cookies, but they are also my “I’ve had a bad day” cookies.

Sugar Cookie Cutouts

Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook 12th Edition (2003)

2/3 cup butter, softened

3/4 cup granulated sugar

1 tsp. baking powder

1/4 tsp. salt

1 egg

1 Tblsp. milk

1 tsp. vanilla

2 cups AP flour

In a large mixing bowl beat butter with an electric mixer in medium to high speed for 30 seconds.  Add granulated sugar, baking powder and salt.  Beat until combined, scraping sides of bowl occasionally.  Beat in egg, milk, and vanilla until combined.  Beat in as much of the flour as you can with mixer.  Stir in any remaining flour.  Divide dough in half.  If necessary, cover and chill dough 30 minutes or until easy to handle.

On a lightly floured surface, roll half the dough at a time until 1/8 inch thick.  Using a 2-1/2 inch cookie cutter, cut dough into desired shapes.  Place 1 inch apart on an ungreased cookie sheet.

Bake in a 375 degrees F. oven for 7-8 minutes or until edges are firm and bottoms are very lightly browned.  Transfewr to a wire rack and let cool.  If desired, frost with icing.  YIELD:  about 36 cookies

A simple frosting, colored sugar, and cinnamon candies go a long way.  For the simple frosting,combine 4 cups confectioners’ sugar and 1/3 cup milk.  Play with it for desired thickness by adding more confectioners’ sugar or more milk.

Gingerbread Men

Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook 12th Edition (2003)

1/2 cup shortening

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. ground ginger

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp. ground cloves

1/2 cup molasses

1 egg

1 Tblsp. vinegar

2-1/2 cups AP flour

In a mixing bowl, beat shortening with an electric mixer on medium to high speed for 30 seconds.  Add granulated sugar, baking powder, ginger, baking soda, cinnamon, and cloves.  Beat until combined, scraping sides of bowl occasionally.  Beat in molasses, egg, and vinegar until combined.  Beat in as much flour as you can with the mixer.  Stir in any remaining flour.  Divide dough in half.  Cover and chill dough about 3 hours or until easy to handle.

Grease cookie sheet (parchment paper!); set aside. On a lightly floured surface, roll half of the dough at a time until 1/8 inch thick.  Using a 2-1/2 inch cookie cutter, cut into desired shapes.  Place 1 inch apart on prepared cookie sheet.

Bake in 375 degrees F. oven for 5-6 minutes or until edges are lightly browned.  Cool on cookie sheet 1 minute.  Transfer to wire rack and let cool.  If desired, decorate cookie with icing and candies.  YIELD:  36-48 cookies.

The cookie on the top right makes me laugh.  He looks like a bondage fetish gingerbread man!  I love these cookies.  They are cute and very tasty.  And oh, so festive!

Enjoy!

Using Dinner Leftovers for Breakfast

By Somer

Last night I made two gorgeous Delmonico steaks for dinner.  They were also huge and my husband and I were unable to finish all of the meat.  I didn’t want to throw out perfectly good meat (cooked perfectly to medium-rare, by the way) so I decided to chop it up and save it for a breakfast hash this morning.

I love a good breakfast hash.  It’s something that can be easily improvised, easily throw together, and it’s a great alternative to our usual weekend pancakes or French toast.  Breakfast hash is wonderful.

You don’t really need a formal recipe for a breakfast hash.  It really is something that you just throw into a skillet and then pile on a plate.  There are a few basics that you need:

Potatoes.  You can either cube them, or grate them (like with hash browns).  I like both, I just decided to have potato cubes today.   You also need thinly sliced onions, meat (this can range from leftover pot roast, corned beef, turkey, chicken, or leftover steak), and poached eggs.  These are the basics.  If you want to spice up your hash, add freshly chopped peppers, roasted red peppers, sun dried tomatoes, cheeses, or fresh herbs.  Since we’re still getting settled in our new home, I don’t have those things on hand so my hash was very simple, but a hash can pretty much hold any extra ingredient and still taste great!

Soften the onions in some Extra Virgin Olive Oil.  Add some salt and pepper to taste.  Once the onions are soft, add the potatoes.  Keep your heat at medium and flatten the potatoes on the bottom of the skillet.  Cover and cook for 5 minutes.  Stir and flip the potatoes and cover for 5 minutes more.  You will start getting some gorgeous color on the potatoes.  Do this until the potatoes are tender.

Add your meat and stir until the meat is heated through.  There’s no need to really cook the meat any further.

Now you need to poach your eggs.  I like to use a broad pan (a wok-like skillet in this case) so that my eggs have plenty of room to do their thing.

Fill your pot with water.  Add 1 Tblsp. of vinegar to the water.  This stabilizes the egg whites and keeps them from spreading all over the place.  Heat your water to just before a simmer.  If you drop your eggs into boiling water, you will destroy your eggs.  You just want your water hot and at no more than a gentle simmer.

Crack your eggs one at a time into a small bowl.

Slowly and gently drop your egg into the water.  Depending on whether you want a runny or hard yolk, the time can differ from 3-5 minutes.  I like my yolks runny, that way I can have warm yolk mixed all over my hash.  It’s yummy that way.

Remove your eggs with a slotted spoon and nestle them into the top of your hash that you have piled onto your plate.  Sprinkle with scallions, red pepper flakes, hot sauce, cheese, sour cream, or fresh herbs.

A quick note on hot sauce:  I like to keep a few different kinds of hot sauces in the house.  All have different consistencies, and tastes and are appropriate in different uses.  I encourage all people to experiment with hot sauces and to keep many different kinds handy for different uses.

And there’s the close up.  It’s not much in the way of photographic talent, but you can see that beautiful color on the potatoes, the red pepper flakes sprinkled over the top, and the poached egg broken open so the yolk can bleed all over the delicious meat and potatoes.  It’s a great way to start the day..but you’ll want to eat light for the rest of the day after a breakfast like this.  Try it anyhow.  It’s a great way to experiment since it’s so versatile.  Enjoy!

Beef Stew: The Perfect Cold Weather Warmer

By Somer

I have memories from my childhood of spending hours playing outside in the snow with my brother.  After a while, our knit mittens were soaked with melted snow and our toes were numb from the cold.  When we would go inside for dinner after these cold weather romps, my mom would have thick soups and stews waiting for us.  One of my favorites was always beef stew.  It’s your typical Western European meat n’ potatoes dish and it can be one of the most heart-warming dishes ever or it can basically taste like dirt.

Since this is what it looked like outside, some beef stew was definitely in order.  I don’t make it like my mom, but I’ve tried to make it close.  My mom, like many moms, uses a seasoning packet for beef stew and it’s taken me a while to get the same flavor.  I don’t have much against those seasoning packets (aside from the astronomical amounts of salt contained in them), it’s just that I never think to buy them for my usual staples and I don’t like to have to store little awkward things like that.  So this is my beef stew recipe, and it’s really quite good.

Beef Stew

My Recipe

1 Package beef stew meat

Salt and Pepper

1/3 cup flour

4 Tblsp. Extra Virgin Olive Oil

1-1/2 cups potato chopped into 1-inch chunks

1-1/2 cups carrots, chopped

1 cup chopped celery

1-1/2 cup chopped onion

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 tsp. dried parsely

1-1/2 tsp. dried rosemary

1 8-oz. can tomato sauce

2 cans beef broth (you can vary this with 1 cup beef broth and 1 cup red wine OR 1 cup beef broth and 1 cup beer.  I’ve tried all and all are good)

1 cup water

Chop all of your vegetable and set aside.  Yes, do this first since there are so many vegetables to cut up.  Process means everything in dishes like this.

Salt and pepper your stew meat before you dredge it in flour.  If you add the salt and pepper to the flour and then try to dredge it, the meat won’t get enough seasoning.  Season it first.

Dredge the meat lightly in the flour and add to a heated dutch oven with 2 Tblsp. of oil.

You will most likely need to do this in 2 or maybe 3 batches.  You have to be very careful not to over crowd the pan with meat.  You want the meat to brown and get a skin to it without boiling it and making it slimey.  What you’ll get is a taste to your stew like the essence of steak has been added.  You want the essence of steak, right?  Of course you do.

Brown the meat on both sides and set aside on a plate while you do the other batches.  Once all the meat has been browned, add just enough olive oil to coat the bottom of the pan and add your diced onions to the hot pot.  When the onions start to turn translucent, add the garlic and cook for 1 minute (burned garlic will ruin this stew).  Add the carrots and stir about for 2 minutes.

Now add your broth (or whatever other liquid combination you choose) and water.  Once the liquid becomes hot, add the rest of the vegetables.  Add the water, tomato sauce, and herbs.  Bring to a boil, reduce heat to medium low, cover, and cook for at least 45 minutes.

Long cooking will turn this pot of mess into a pot of smooth, thick, goodness that will warm cold bones on a snowy day.  Serve this with some crusty bread, rolls, biscuits, or even buttered white bread.  It’s all about preference there.

Either way, you’re in for a treat with a warm bowl of this.  I hope you try it.  It’s a simple home-cooked dish and if you are careful, you will achieve home-cooked perfection.  Enjoy!