Lentil Soup

I got really sick this past few days and am still sick. So, I decided to make some kind of vegetable soup. We have a crapton of green lentil beans and so many recipes to choose from: Giada De Laurentiis, Ina Garten (The Barefoot Contessa), and Aida Mollenkamp. I used a little bit from all three to make my own version.

1 pound green lentils

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 medium onion, chopped

3 carrots, peeled and chopped

3 garlic cloves, minced

1 can diced tomatoes

10 cups water

8 beef bouillon cubes/teaspoons

1 teaspoon dried thyme

3 dried bay leaves

3 celery stalks, chopped

2/3 cup dried elbow pasta

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Baby spinach optional

In a large bowl, cover the lentils with boiling water and allow to sit for 15 minutes. Drain water.

Heat the oil in a heavy large pot over medium heat. Add the onions and carrots and season lightly with kosher salt and pepper. Cook until softened or onions are translucent. Stir in the garlic and cook until fragrant. Pour in a quart (4 cups) of water and 4 beef bouillon cubes. Add in the can of tomatoes and its juices. Add in the lentil beans. Then add the remaining water and beef bouillon cubes, dried thyme and bay leaves and let simmer for 30 minutes. After 20 minutes, add in the celery. 

In a separate pot, boil pasta according to directions and serve with soup when ready. If you like mushy pasta, feel free to cook it in the soup. When ready to serve, top with spinach leaves. 

This lentil soup turned out to be really delicious and very savory with the beef flavor along with all the veggies. I will definitely be making this again when I need a healthy hearty meatless dinner. Although, if you have to have meat, add in sliced sausages. Super yummy still. This lasted for a week for two people. Mm-mmm.

Pizza Night!

Yesterday, I made lots of pizzas! And the night before that, I made the pizza dough. I followed Alton Brown's recipe as best I could, which turned out to be pretty good, but not at all near as bready as I would like it. Next time, I'll just use the whole dough for one pizza instead of splitting it into two. Despite it's thinness, the taste and texture were perfect. PS: I prefer bready pizzas.

Ingredients:
2 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoon kosher salt (we have the small flakes)
1 tablespoon olive oil
3/4 cup warm water
2 cups all purpose flour
2 1/4 teaspoon active dry yeast
2 teaspoons olive oil
Olive oil, for the pizza crust
Flour, for dusting the pizza peel

Directions:

Dissolve a sprinkle of the sugar into the warm water. Then sprinkle in the yeast and let sit for about five minutes or until foamy.

Place the sugar, salt, olive oil, 1 cup of flour, yeast mixture, and remaining cup of flour into a standing mixer's work bowl. Using the paddle attachment, start the mixer on low and mix until the dough just comes together, forming a ball. Lube the hook attachment with cooking spray. Attach the hook to the mixer and knead for 15 minutes on medium speed.

Tear off a small piece of dough and flatten into a disc. Stretch the dough until thin. Hold it up to the light and look to see if the baker's windowpane, or taut membrane, has formed. If the dough tears before it forms, knead the dough for an additional 5 to 10 minutes. I think this part was really useful.

Roll the pizza dough into a smooth ball on the countertop. Place into a stainless steel or glass bowl. Add 2 teaspoons of olive oil to the bowl and toss to coat. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 18 to 24 hours.

Preheat oven to 500°F. 

Split the pizza dough into 2 equal parts using a knife or a dough scraper. Flatten into a disk onto the countertop and then fold the dough into a ball.

Wet hands barely with water and rub them onto the countertop to dampen the surface. Roll the dough on the surface until it tightens. Cover one ball with a tea towel and rest for 30 minutes. Repeat the steps with the other piece of dough. If not baking the remaining pizza immediately, spray the inside of a ziptop bag with cooking spray and place the dough ball into the bag. Refrigerate for up to 6 days.

Sprinkle the flour onto a cookie sheet or a peel if you have one and place the dough onto the cookie sheet/peel. Using your hands, form a lip around the edges of the pizza. Stretch the dough into a round disc, rotating after each stretch. Toss the dough in the air if you dare. My first piece came out rectangular. I also used a rolling pin to flatten out any thick areas.

Brush the rim of the pizza with olive oil. (skipped that part) Spread the pizza sauce evenly onto the pizza. (I added sliced cherry tomatoes from my garden).

Sprinkle cheese. We used Montery Jack with leftover sharp cheddar. 

Top with pepperonis. This is the first time we made pizza with our huge bag of pepperonis. The last three or so time, we just munched on them :D

Bake for 7 minutes, or until bubbly and golden brown. Rest for 3 minutes before slicing.

Twas delicious! These three pizzas only lasted for 2 days. I thought for sure at least 3. Totally wrong and totally goners. I want to make more, but man, it takes a lot of effort to make the dough.... we shall see...

Doughnuts!!!!!!

I made doughnuts!!!!!!!

The husband said randomly, "I want doughnuts." So as his dutiful wife, I thought, "Hrm, that could be fun to make. Maybe..." And today's the day that maybe became a yes. I used this recipe called Crispy and Creamy Doughnuts bc it had a LOT of positive reviews. I was skeptical though because I think it's hard getting a doughnut to be airy and light and chewy all at the same time like the ones from doughnut shops. Well, this one came pretty close. It was more light and chewy. Didn't quite have that airiness, but maybe I'm just picky because the boys (pops n hubby) and a few friends who have tried it thought it was really good.

Here's the ingredients list (tweaked for yield of 12):

Dough

1/3 oz active dry yeast (I have a digital scale)
3 tbs warm water (105°F - 115°F)

1/3 cup white sugar

1 cup lukewarm milk
3/4 tsp salt
1 egg
3+1/2 tbs canola oil or shortening
3+1/3 cups all-purpose flour
Frying Oil

2+2/3 cups vegetable oil for frying (I didn't actually measure out what I used... I just poured)
Glaze

3+1/2 tbs unsalted butter
1+1/3 cups confectioners' sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 tablespoons and 2 teaspoons hot water or as needed

Directions:

1. Sprinkle a little of the sugar into the warm water and swirl until all or most has dissolved. Then sprinkle in the yeast over the warm sugar water and let stand for 5 minutes or until foamy.

2. In a large mixer bowl, mix together milk, sugar, salt, egg, oil, and 2 cups of the flour. Mix for a few seconds, then add in the yeast mixture. Mix again for a few minutes at low speed or stir with a wooden spoon. On medium speed, add in the remaining flour 1/2 cup at a time, until the dough no longer sticks to the bowl. Knead (medium-high speed) for about 5 minutes, or until smooth and elastic. Place the dough into a greased bowl, and cover with plastic wrap. Set in a warm place to rise until double. (You can heat your oven to its lowest temperature then turn it off and then set your dough in your oven until it doubles). Dough is ready if you touch it, and the indention remains.

3. Turn the dough out onto a floured surface, and gently roll out to 1/2 inch thickness. Cut with a floured doughnut cutter. (I just knifed it into strips because I don't own a doughnut cutter. Worked just fine.) Let doughnuts sit out to rise again until double. Cover loosely with a cloth.

4. For the glaze, melt butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Stir in confectioners' sugar and vanilla until smooth. Remove from heat, and stir in hot water one tablespoon at a time until the icing is somewhat thin, but not watery. Set aside.

5. Heat oil in a deep-fryer or large heavy skillet to 350°F (175°C ). Slide doughnuts into the hot oil using a wide spatula. Turn doughnuts over as they rise to the surface. Fry doughnuts on each side until golden brown. Remove from hot oil, to drain on a wire rack. 

6. Dip doughnuts into the glaze while still hot, and set onto wire racks to drain off excess. Keep a cookie sheet or tray under racks for easier clean up.

The two middles ones have not yet been glazed (above photo).

It's definitely something I'd make again! YUMMY DONUTS!!!!!

Junk Food Dinna

Le hubbester and I decided to feast on junk food tonight. The picture above is just my portion. You should've seen his, but he had already eaten half by the time I took that one bite. A quesadillas (with sliced rib-eye and sharp cheddar cheese), fries with poppy seed dressing and a punkin beer (it kinda tastes like pumpkin!). Our tummies were very satisfied and we were left wanting more!

Backyard Dining

Le hubbester and I on a whim decided to eat outside and enjoy a mini kbbq. We marinated some meats and chopped them up and threw them on our mini portable grill. It was delightful with kimchi, salad and tofu on the side. The weather was just perfect. :D

Pepperoni Munchies

Made these goodness easily with saltines, layers of pepperonis and a dollop of scrumptious homemade greek yogurt with dill and pickles. 

These are so YUMMY!!!

Pork Cabbage Mushroom Dumplings/Potsickers

Lately, I've been in a rut in terms of coming up with something delicious to eat and that means I get real lazy when it comes time to cook dinner. Every now and then, I just can't eat chicken or beef anymore. And usually that means busting out the dumplings (or junk food when dad's not home.heh). So here's what I used to make mushroom dumplings:

1 lb ground pork
2 1/4 cups cabbage, shredded in the food processor to cole slaw small
1 1/2 tbs minced ginger
1 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 tbs sesame oil
1/4 tofu or 4.5oz (I used silken tofu, 18oz)
8 shitake dried mushrooms, rehydrated then chopped


Just place everything in a bowl and mix well with your hands. I'm guessing food processor would work fine as well. Below picture has everything mixed except for the tofu and mushrooms. I decided to add those afterwards.

With round gyoza wrappers:

With square dumpling wrappers:

It's always fun making mandalas out of the dumplings :) It's foodie artwork!

So once you've got a plate full of dumplings, you want to place them in the freezer for about 10-20 minutes until they've somewhat harden. Then place them in a plastic baggie and leave it in the freezer til you're ready to eat them up.

My family LOVES whenever I make potstickers. Unfortunately for the hubster, during the week when he's on keto, he can't eat them. These were just perfect with soy sauce and vinegar. I love it!

The way I make these potstickers is by heating up a nonstick pan on medium high heat. Add about 2-3 tbs of oil and swirl it around the pan. Then place the dumplings down but try not to let them touch otherwise they'll stick together. Then add about 1/4 cup of water. Be careful, with the oil in the pot, it'll start to splatter. Cover and let steam cook for 7-8 minutes. Remove lid and let the reminder of the water dry up. You should see brown spot in the pan. Time to get a spatula and start flipping the dumpling. And just fry up the other sides. Add more oil if needed.

Dill & Cucumber Yogurt Dip

I bought this deliciousness from Costco out of curiosity. It's Skotidakis' Dill & Cucumber Yogurt Dip. And boy did it make my day. It was amazingly yummy! Tangy with a touch of sweetness. It was just pure goodness! I ate it with saltine crackers, sliced salami, by itself, on scones, as a chips dip, and lots more!! Once I finished it, I was kind of sad. Then I looked over it's ingredients and it easily looked like it could be replicated. The ingredients list was just greek yogurt, dill pickles, garlic, canola oil, dill, salt and sugar. So, I looked up some recipes and came upon this Dill Pickle Dip recipe, which used almost the exact ingredients.

Here's what I used:

8 oz greek yogurt

1/3 cups minced dill pickles 

(I used my mini food processor - it was a snap!)

1 teaspoon dried dill weed 

1/4 teaspoon kosher salt 

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon onion powder

freshly ground black pepper, to taste

I just mixed everything together in a small container. 

Man, was it ridiculously similar to Costso's Skotidakis' yogurt. And I'm back to being happy again. It really is tasty, especially if you are a tangy yogurt lover and/or pickle lover. It's AH-Mazing!!!

Scones ~ Nectarine & Blueberry versions

Uhm, this might be a long post as I went scones crazy and baked up about four different kinds of scones. 1. A simple scones recipe using an egg and sour cream. 2 Nectarine scones. 3. Blueberry scones. 4 Nectarine and Blueberry scones. :D Did I mention scones-crazy!? The fruit scones were adapted from previously made Apple Scones recipe.

First off, the scones recipe with an egg and sour cream. 

The ingredients needed are:

2 cups all purpose flour

1/3 cup sugar

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

8 tablespoons unsalted butter, frozen

1/2 cup sour cream

1 large egg

Step 1. Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and preheat oven to 400°F.

2. In a mixer bowl, mix flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. 

3. Grate butter into flour mixture on the large holes of a box grater. (Mixture should resemble coarse meal). Personally, I find just chucking the whole piece of butter to work just fine as long as it all gets incorporated.

4. Then add in the sour cream and egg then beat until smooth. Every now and again, stop the mixer and scrape down the bowl to ensure all ingredients are mixed to form a dough. Once dough forms, switch beater paddle to dough hook and let it knead for a few minutes.

5. Place on a lightly floured surface and pat into a 7- to 8-inch circle about 3/4-inch thick. 

6. Use a sharp knife to quarter the dough. Then cut each quarter into three pieces. Place on a cookie sheet (preferably lined with parchment paper), about 1 inch apart. 

7. Bake until golden, about 15 minutes. 

These tasted like a sweet cake-y biscuit. Definitely different from the first and second scones I've made. Still, it had a light crunch on the outside and soft inside, which is always favorable for a biscuit and I guess scones. I preferred buttering these over jams/preserves for this particular scones recipe. 

2. Nectarine Scones!

Ingredients Needed:
2 cups all-purpose flour, 1/4 cup white sugar, 2 tsps baking powder, 1/2 tsp baking soda, 1/2 tsp kosher salt, 1/4 cup chilled butter, 2 nectarines - peeled and cubed (roughly 1.5 cups ~ my nectarines were huge), 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon, 1/4 cup milk + extra if needed

Directions:
Step 1. In a mixer, add all the dry ingredients and mix briefly.
2. Then chuck in the butter and let it get beat into the dry ingredients.
3. Then add the nectarines. (Note, the picture shows them shredded, but I say cube'em in the ingredients list. This is because the shredded version didn't give off that much nectarine flavor. Thinking cubed will give off better flavor when bitten into).
4. Then mix in the cinnamon.
5. And lastly, add the 1/4 cup milk. If it's too dry, I added in more milk a tablespoon at a time. Just be sure to give it time to mix everything in before adding in more milk.

6. Once dough is formed, switch to break hook and let machine need dough for 30-40 seconds and then turn dough onto a generously floured surface. If your dough is too sticky, you can knead in some flour, folding dough in half on top of itself each time.

7. Divide dough into three 5 in dome pieces. Take two of the pieces and quarter each for a total yield of 8.

8. Set aside the third dome piece for later (to be mixed with a blueberry piece) and bake the rest in preheated oven of 425°F for 15 minutes.

3. Blueberry Scones!!

Using the recipe for the Nectarine scones above, just substitute the cubed nectarines for 1 cup of frozen blueberries. Also, I omitted the cinnamon.

The dough came out purple!

Again, divide dough into three 5 in dome pieces. Take two of the pieces and quarter each for a total yield of 8.

Then, set aside the third dome piece for later (to be mixed with a nectarine piece) and bake the rest in preheated oven of 425°F for 15 minutes.

4. Nectarine and Blueberry Scones

The easiest part. Take the two domes that were set aside (1 nectarine and 1 blueberry) and knead them together, folding in half on top of each other each time until they are mixed. 

Then, divide dough into two 5 inch dome pieces. Quarter each dome for a yield of 8. And bake in preheated oven of 425°F for 15 minutes.

Top row: Nectarine scones

Middle row: Blueberry scones (the best smelling ones)

Front, lowest row: Nectarine and blueberry scones

Once we compared these fruit scones to the first scones in this blog post, we thought the fruity ones were better both taste and texture wise. These fruity ones just made the first scones more cake like. I like to eat the fruity scones with almost anything from apricot jam to cookie butter to even a tangy greek yogurt. Super delicious! Now we have more than enough for a week or two :D The blueberry ones are our favs, but we think the apple scones still top them all. Chomp chomp.

Oreo Cheesecake

The crust was made with 24 oreo cookies minus the creme fillings and 6 oreos with its creme fillings and 1/4 cup melted unsalted butter, then placed in the freezer until the filling was made.

The recipe for the filling is exactly from my fav cheesecake recipe minus the zest and orange extract and plus the vanilla extract. Also, I used the oreo creme fillings as sugar substitute and then added more sugar granules to fulfill the 1 cup + 1 tbs sugar. Also, folded in about 6-8 broken up oreos after the filling was well incorporated.

It baked in a waterbath and a preheated oven of 550°F for 10 minutes and then reduced it to 250 for roughly 50-60 minutes or until done.

It ended up being really rich and decadent, but deliciously tasty.

DIY Cheez-Its

Le hubster found a homemade version of cheez-it on the web. I love cheez-its and was so excited to make these when I got the chance. However, I think I did a fatal substitution that might've messed it up.


Ingredients:
1.5 cups finely grated sharp cheddar cheese
4 tbs unsalted butter, softened
1 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/2 cup + 2 tbs all-purpose flour
2 tbs cornstarch (I subbed with rice flour. BAD.)
2-3 tbs water

Directions:
Using a stand mixer fitted with a paddle, combine cheese, butter, salt, and pepper until combined and starting to stick to sides of mixing bowl, about 30 seconds. 

Add flour and cornstarch and mix until combined, about 1 minute. Add 2 tbs of water and mix until dough ball forms, about 10 seconds. Add remaining 1 tablespoon water if needed.

Transfer dough to floured counter and flatten into a disk. I made mine rectangular. Wrap in plastic, and refrigerate until chilled, about 30 minutes.

Adjust oven racks to upper-middle and lower-middle positions and heat oven to 375°F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Unwrap dough onto well floured counter and roll to 1/16 inch thickness. 

Cut into 1-inch squares using beveled-edge ravioli cutter. I just used a regular ole knife and cut out squares as best I could. Then, using the blunt end of a skewer, poke a hole in the center of each square. I didn't really look and just poked holes everywhere since my cheez-its were larger than 1-inch cubes.

1 of 2 trays

Bake until light golden around edges, about 14 minutes (keep an eye on your cheez-its! The original recipe calls for 18 minutes but ours were done at around 14 or 15 minutes). Switch and rotate the sheets halfway through baking. Let cool completely on baking sheets. I didn't switch or rotate it at all so the one top (R) on was darker than the lower one (L). 

They were delicious! fresh and warm right out of the oven. And the taste was perfectly cheezy. However, after they cooled down, they weren't crunchy at all. Even toasting again in a toaster didn't give them back their crunch. :( I need to try this again with cornstarch to see if they'll keep their crunchy texture. Other than that, they were quite yummy!

DIY Hot Pocket!

Maybe instead of DIY, I should patent the word BIY for bake it yourself. Hahaha. Anyhoo, le hubster was having a blah day at work and so I wanted to (small) surprise him with a keto-friendly hot pocket! I got the grand idea that the bread part could be made from the coconut bread recipe (use 1/2 the recipe). But instead of placing the dough into a bread pan, I'd just spread it out on a baking sheet. And the filling could be made with salami and cheese. Here's what I used:

Bread ingredients:

3 eggs

1/4 cup unsalted butter

1/4 tsp kosher salt or sea salt

1 tsp splenda

1/4 cup + 2 tbs coconut flour

1/4 cup water

Filling ingredients:

Slices of Pepper jack cheese

Salami pieces, chopped

First, make the breading in a food processor. Add the eggs. Blend it for a few seconds. Then add the butter, salt and splenda. Blend again until the butter is broken up. Then add the coconut flour. Blend again. It should look pretty dry. Then add the water and blend once more. Once it's done, spray Pam on your baking sheet and then add a layer of coconut bread. I chose to make a huge rectangular hot pocket. Then I layered slices of pepper jack cheese, then salami pieces, then more pepper jack and again more salami and then one more slice of pepper jack. However, le hubster said there should be more cheese so maybe add two layers of cheese, then salami, then two layers of cheese, then more salami and then another two layers of cheese. 

Then add the rest of the coconut bread dough on top of your filling to close it up. Once closed, take a chopstick or fork and poke holes in the top to let any air escape when baking.

Then bake it in a preheated oven of 350°F for 30-40 minutes or until lightly browned.

Serve hot and fresh out of the oven.

It looked real good, but I didn't try it as I'm not a fan of pepperjack cheese (too spicy). And le hubster was so blah, he wasn't terribly excited about it like I was. Apparently, he had a lot of hot pockets when he was a kid and it wasn't all that great. He did, however, like my version, though as mentioned earlier, it needed more cheese. At least I got a request for another one. :o)