Two’s Day!

October 22, 2014cozykitchenchats Leave a comment

I shared on my other blog, http://www.SimplyScrumptiousKitchen.com yesterday my dilemma in buying Sweet Onions in bulk, then forgetting about them for over a month. So, I’m trying my best to work through them this week. Check out that other blog for a French Onion Soup recipe. Oh, yeah…I made a Roasted Onion and Garlic Flatbread with toasted kale.

Well, tonight, I’m still on this crazy mission to use up these onions. Here I have sliced three onions super thin using my mandolin. Then tossed them in a Ziploc with flour, sea salt, ground pepper and powdered garlic.

Fried them in my smallest countertop deep fryer.

I whipped up a creamy Sriracha sauce. Easy breezy…1 cup of Mayo, 3 Tbls of Sriracha, 1 1/2 Tsp of chili powder and 1/8 a Tip of cayenne pepper. Crazy heat! At least for the girl.

I then skillet fried some ground chuck burgers and topped them with the crispy haystack onions and topped them with a hearty dollop of Sriracha-Mayo sauce. Umhumm, that’s also a homemade onion bun. You know me and my daily yeast bread.

I plated it all up, and served it to a happy man!

Then, I thought to myself, “Self, what is a dessert to top big juicy burgers and onion rings?” Then it came to me! A classic diner style malted shake. Circa 1955! Look at these classic, old school pantry items I used to bring it all together. Just loved it!

Yeap, it was a good twosday!

Sunday, My Fun-Day!

October 20, 2014cozykitchenchats Leave a comment

There are only a few things that make me as happy as baking in my kitchen, being a mom and being in the “Word” are the only things to beat it in my opinion. Seeing the faces of my client purposely communicating with their parents is pretty dad-gum awesome as well. I guess, my life is pretty charmed.

Stared my day making Sugar Free Pecan Rolls. I was very pleased.

Then I made a fantastic Sweet Onion & Basil Bread. Making bread, well, it just makes me happy!

And if I’m already making bread dough, why not a French loaf too?

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And if I’m already in the kitchen, how about doing something with those apples?

So, by this time, dinner sounds good…

Shot ribs, cut on the biases to give me a larger surface area, potatoes, onions, garlic and kale roasted with EVOO and Brussels Sprouts, sauté in EVOO then toasted in poppy seeds and sea salt. Served of course with my bread from earlier.

Learning about Kosher cuts of meat and ideas for preparing them has been a true learning experience, learning to create meals featuring meat without dairy. After the heartbreak, has been a full time job as well. Now, I think It important to mention, not all Torah observant Followers of Y’Shua, only eat Kosher cuts of meat and/or avoid dairy. According to Scripture, it indicates not to boil a calf in it’s Mother’s milk and other than giving us a distinction on clean and unclean animals, only mentions for us to not eat the fat, the blood or the static nerve of the animal. To me personally, I choose to not eat any meat from a “Clean” animal from it’s waist down and I choose to not have any dairy included in my meal when eating a mammal. Is my observance more Holy? No! As long as others are following the actual Words describing dietary protocols, they are more inline with the Scripture than me actually. I know other Hebrews that will not consume any dairy with any meat, including poultry. Beyond the actual Words/Scriptures everything else is just a person’s preference or tradition. Only the actual Scripture ultimately matters. Follow them and you will NOT go wrong.

Cream Puffs and Coffee

October 10, 2014cozykitchenchats Leave a comment

Here is one of the items my family absolutely goes crazy for, my filled Cream Puffs. No one in my house will eat custard, not sure if it’s the name or the eggs, or what, so I found a way to make a custard like filling out of a Sugar Free Jello Pudding.

I take one package of Sugar Free Vanilla Jello Pudding, I don’t follow the directions, rather I use 1 1/2 cup of half and half. I put the half and half in the stand mixer first, until it starts getting dense, then I slowly add in the dry pudding mix while the mixer continues to whip the cream. I keep watching closely, until the pudding/cream mixture has the thick consistency of custard.

Next I make my Cream Puffs.
1/2 cup butter
1 cup water
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup all-purpose flour
4 eggs

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C).
In a large pot, bring water and butter to a rolling boil.

Stir in flour and salt until the mixture forms a ball.
Transfer the dough to a large mixing bowl. Using a wooden spoon or stand mixer, beat in the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each.

Drop by tablespoonfuls onto an ungreased baking sheet. (I love parchment paper, but watch constantly, so the edges of the paper don’t brown)
Bake for 20 to 25 minutes in the preheated oven, until golden brown. Centers should be dry.

When the shells are cool, either split and fill them with the pudding mixture, or use a pastry bag to pipe the pudding into the shells.

I melt semi sweet chocolate chips and dip the tops of the cream puffs in the chocolate, then let it sit to cool.

The final product…

If you can manage to hide a couple away that haven’t been filled with cream, they make a fantastic dessert when filled with ice cream and topped with hot chocolate!

Two-Na Pas-Ta Salad (how my baby would say “Tuna-Pasta”)

October 9, 2014cozykitchenchats Leave a comment

We absolutely love Tuna Pasta Salad, but aren’t pleased with using canned tuna. Here is a slightly more healthy and modern twist to the original canned tuna salad.

You know I LOVE Costco (And Costco Loves Me!) Here is another AMAZING find. Bumble Bee Tuna Steaks. All of these fabulous items are from Costco as well.

I placed the tuna steak in room temperature water in a sauté pan, then on low, I slowly and gently heated the steak until all pink was gone. I let the steak cool, then gently shredded the tuna with a fork.

I used a combination of onions, mayo, pickle relish, lemon juice and salt and pepper. Here I also sneak in one of my Homemade English Muffins I made this morning.

Of course no two people agree on pickle relish in this house, so this batch has snappy sweet peas. (I liked this one best!)

A few extra steps, a few higher quality ingredients really made a difference in this old classic.

Yeah, I’m in charge of the camera today. 😉

Homemade English Muffins

October 9, 2014cozykitchenchats Leave a comment

Is there anything better in the morning than a breakfast sandwich? Yes! A sandwich you make from fresh English Muffins you made. This is a very simple recipe. Two and a half hours start to finish. You can feed a family of four for about $5 total, where as it could easily be well over thirty dollars for the same sandwich served to four at a restaurant. (And that doesn’t include drinks and tip!)

I don’t believe there is anything better than home cooking. It’s super clean, super fresh, economical, shows love, and gives a sense of accomplishment. Think about it, if you simply saved $10 a meal, three meals a day for 365 days by preparing and serving your own food at home. That’s well over $10,000 a year. Trip to Hawaii anyone?!?! You’re welcome!

1 cup milk
3 tablespoons butter
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons sugar
3 cups all-purpose flour (or more)
1 1/2 teaspoons dry yeast
cornmeal

Directions:

Put ingredients in the machine in the order listed.
Start the dough cycle.
When the cycle is finished.
Sprinkle corn meal over your work area.
Use your hands to pat the dough into a 1/2 inch thick rectangle.
Turn the dough so that each side gets lightly coated with cornmeal.
Cut into 8 to 10 rounds.
An empty large tuna can works well When you run out of dough gather up the trimmings and cut more rounds.
Place the rounds on a baking sheet, cover and let rise for 20- 30 minutes–until not quite double.
Heat a dry cast iron skillet or griddle over a low flame.
(I do spray mine with Pam).
Cook the muffins about 5 to 7 minutes on each side.
They should be golden brown when you turn them.
Split the muffins with a fork or serrated knife and serve warm.
These freeze well and can be reheated in the microwave or toasted.

Miss Fancy Pants, my photographer, she is still sleeping, so these photos are either taken with my Surface or iPhone.

Extra-dough Nut

October 8, 2014cozykitchenchats Leave a comment

What happens the morning after we make pizza? Yeasty fried doughnuts of course. We always make extra dough, letting it set in the fridge overnight and the rolling it out, cutting it and making doughnuts in the morning. So simply, so cheap, so fattening, so don’t do it often!

The glaze is super simple, just powdered sugar and small amounts of milk added until the desired thickness is achieved.

Take some to work, you’ll be today’s Rock Star!

When the kids cook, it’s Pizza!

October 8, 2014cozykitchenchats Leave a comment

The kid’s night to craft the pizza. One square, one round and miss fancy pants had an idea to make a “deep” dish in my medium spring form pan. There is something awesome about the way your kitchen smells when yeasty crust, zesty sauce and CHEESE come together in your oven. All three of these pizzas didn’t even total $6 to make. All the items I bought in bulk at Costco on the 24th, excluding the turkey pepperoni. Kale, peppers, and both the shredded cheese and the sliced Mozzerala all from Costco.

Super simple crust.if using bread machine, start with liquids then end with yeast.

2 teaspoons dried granulated yeast
3 cups bread flour
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup water, plus
2 tablespoons water
Now, the kids totally clean up dinner too, right?

Meatless Monday…sorta..Turkey!

October 7, 2014cozykitchenchats Leave a comment

So, the biggest challenge for me when considering eating a Kosher/Clean diet was giving up dairy and beef. I only liked cheese on big beefy burgers, beefy tacos, butter on juicy steaks, creamy sauces like Béarnaise on my filet, and everything else mixed/blended/sautéed in butter as well served with it.

Needing to satisfy this dairy driven fascination, I had to create a menu I could enjoy with all the dairy I wanted with “meat” options not from mammals. (Many faithful kosher diet followers eat dairy with mammals, this is simply a personal choice)

Therefore, turkey has been my new “go to” for many meals.

Here I have turkey breasts I have sliced and covered in an egg wash, then after it’s breaded you can see it I quickly being “fried” in hot oil to give it a great crispy crust before going into the oven.

One of my favorite pastas I get from Costco.

I boiled it al dente, tossed in butter and heavy cream then topped with my thick and hearty sauce. (I’ll post the recipe in the morning blog)

Served it up with some baby squash medley again from my local Costco and dinner is served.

Then, you know I must have our daily bread…

Of course something pumpkin! Simple pumpkin cookies, some glazed and some dusted with powdered sugar.

Happy Monday my friends!

Pumpktober?! When Pumpkin and October Collide.

October 5, 2014cozykitchenchats Leave a comment

Ready to switch things up? What about putting a savory twist on pumpkin? Here I have Savory, Rosemary and Pumpkin Peasant Bread.
1 cup of warm water 110 degrees
3 Tablespoons of EVOO
1 cup pure pumpkin
4 cups all purpose Flour (hold back .5 cup to adjust dough)
1 1/2 Teaspoons of salt
3 Tablespoons of sugar
3 Tablespoons dried Rosemary
1 1/2 Teaspoon of dry active yeast.

I used my bread machine’s dough cycle to do the kneading. Not very pretty, but smells amazing!

Then baked on my well seasoned pizza stone.

It’s back and in my pantry!

October 3, 2014cozykitchenchats Leave a comment

My FAVORITE Pantry Item is back at my Local Scottsdale Costco!

Cup for Cup, Spoon for Spoon equivalent makes converting most every recipe that calls for granulated sugar into a super easy, super successful, super tasty final product.

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Month: October 2014