March 11, 2025
by Ashley
Comments Off on Tortillas

Tortillas

Making tortillas is very easy, it is just a little time consuming. These are pretty worth it though.

2 cups Masa Harina
1 1/2 cups warm water
1/2 tsp kosher salt

Mix everything in a bowl, adding the water slowly to incorporate it well. Once everything has come together, set aside (covered) for at least 10 minutes.

Start a cast iron pan heating on the stove top. Turn the dough out onto a silpat and divide in half. Cover the other half you aren’t working with. Cut the half of dough into equal 8ths. Roll into small balls. Flatten between plastic sheets (I use ziploc bags) in a tortilla press.

Use the heated skillet. Add a tortilla and flip after 10 seconds, then cook each side for about a minute each side. Set aside on a covered plate. I usually use foil and a hand towel to keep in the heat.

Serve with any toppings that you wish.

If using the leftovers, heat up again using a dry cast iron skillet. Heat them for 30 seconds a side before using.

March 11, 2025
by Ashley
Comments Off on Good Harissa Soup

Good Harissa Soup

Chicken Italian Sausage
1 lb ground chicken breast
½ tsp oregano
½ tsp basil
½ tsp onion powder
½ tsp fennel seeds
½ tsp paprika
¼ tsp red pepper flakes
½ tsp kosher salt
1/4 tsp black pepper

Vegetable Base
3 large carrots, washed and roughly chopped
1 large fennel bulb, quartered
1 large yellow onion, quartered
4 garlic cloves
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper

3 tbsp Extra-virgin olive oil, divided
2 tablespoons harissa paste
2 tablespoons tomato paste
3/4 teaspoon ground cumin
1 lemon, zest & juice
12 cups water
2 tbsp Chicken Broth base
1 1/2 cup green lentils
1 large bunch kale
1 cup shredded Parmesan and Parmesan rind
2 dried bay leaves

Homemade Croutons
2 tbsp olive oil
4 cups 1/2-inch cubed bread
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

Add the carrots, fennel bulb, onion and garlic cloves into a food processor. Pulse until very, very finely chopped.

Heat a large dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add in the ground chicken and spices with a little olive oil. Cook for about 5 minutes, breaking up the meat. Transfer the meat out of the dutch oven to a plate and set aside. Leave any leftover grease and bits in the pot.

Add about 2 tablespoons olive oil to the pot, then stir in the finely chopped vegetables mixture. Cook, stirring often, for 5 minutes, then partially cover and reduce to medium-low for an additional 15 minutes or so, stirring occasionally. The vegetables shouldn’t brown, so turn down the heat if needed. Stir in harissa, tomato paste, cumin and zest. Continue cooking to about 1 minute.

Wash the kale well. Tear the kale into small bite sized pieces and discard of the stem.

Stir in 12 cups of water, 2 tbsp chicken stock base, green lentils and chopped kale. Cut the rind off of the Parmesan and add it to the soup. Also add 2 bay leaves. Bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce to low. Cover and cook for about 45 minutes until the lentils have cooked through.

While the soup is cooking, make the garlic crunchies. Chop the bread into bite sized pieces, spread on a sheet pan and drizzle with olive oil. Sprinkle and garlic powder and bake until crispy. It took about 10 minutes on 350^oF.

Once the soup has completed its 45 minute simmer, add in the cooked chicken mixture and juice of 1 lemon. Remove the rind and bay leaves.

Ladle the soup into bowls. Top with crunchies and shredded Parmesan.

March 5, 2025
by Ashley
Comments Off on Chicken Meatloaf

Chicken Meatloaf

1/2 cup onion, finely chopped
1 celery rib, finely chopped
1 carrot, peeled and finely chopped
1 green onions, finely chopped
3 cloves of garlic, minced

1 chicken breast
1/3 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1 tsp Worchestershire Sauce
2 tbsp bread crumbs
1 egg
3 mushrooms, chopped
1/2 cup spinach

1 tbsp ketchup

Chop onion, celery, carrot, green onion and garlic. Add to a pan and saute until carrots are cooked through. While the veggies are cooking, add the chicken to a food processor. Process it until is has been chopped into tiny pieces. Add in the salt, pepper, worchestershire, bread crumbs, egg, mushrooms and spinach. Process again. Add in the cooked veggies and process again until everything comes together. Put the meatloaf into three ramekins. I was able to make two 8 oz and one 4 oz. Top with ketchup. Bake at 350^oF for 30 minutes.

1 point per serving.

February 23, 2025
by Ashley
Comments Off on Almond Baked Oats

Almond Baked Oats

1/2 cup almond milk
2 large eggs
2 tbsp brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp amaretto
1 cup rolled oats
2 tbsp almond flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp kosher salt
2 tsp sliced almonds

Preheat the oven to 350^oF.

In a mixing bowl, mix everything except for the sliced almonds. Prep 4 small ramekins and grease. Pour in equal amounts of batter into each ramekin and sprinkle evenly with the almonds. Bake for 30 minutes.

4 points

December 29, 2024
by Ashley
Comments Off on Croissants

Croissants

These take about three days to “build” but are easy and the stages aren’t hard. The time it takes to make them is mostly to let the dough rest. Typically I start this at night (day 1), roll out two times during the next day (day 2) and bake in the morning on day 3.

Ingredients –
To make the dough (day 1)
1 cup milk
2 tsp active dry yeast
2 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
2 tbsp sugar
1 tsp salt

Butter addition (day 2)
12 tbsp butter (I use sweet cream)
3 tbsp all-purpose flour

Baste addition (day 3)
2 tbsp milk
1 egg yolk (mixed with 1 tbsp milk)

Day 1 – Make the dough
Heat up 1/4 cup milk to lukewarm. Whisk the active dry yeast and 2 tbsp flour (from the 2 1/4 cups flour) into the 1/4 cup warm milk until no lumps. Cover and let stand at room temperature until doubled (about 20 minutes).

Mix the remaining 2 1/8 cups flour into the sugar and salt in a large electronic mixing bowl with dough hook attachment.

Once the yeast mixture has risen, heat the remaining 3/4 cup milk and add both to the dry ingredient mixing bowl. Start mixing with the dough hook and let mix until the dough is sticky and soft.

Remove the dough hook, cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate over night.

Day 2 – Butter addition “Laminating”
Bring the butter to room temperature and work it with the heel of your hand to incorporate 3 tbsp flour. Shape into a rectangle – about 5 1/2″x4″.

Sprinkle a work surface with flour. I roll mine out on a large silpat. Roll the dough out to measure about 6″x15″ rectangle. Add the butter rectangle into the middle of the dough. Fold the dough like a letter, into thirds. Turn the dough counterclockwise, and roll out again to the 6″x15″ rectangle and fold as a letter as before.

Transfer the dough to a baking pan, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 6 hours.

Day 2 – 6 hours later
Roll out the dough 2 more times, wrap and refrigerate overnight.

Day 3 –
About 1 1/2 hours before baking time, remove the dough from the refrigerator. Lay out the silpat again on the counter and sprinkle with flour. Roll out the dough into a 16 inch circle, working as quickly as possible. Use the bench scraper to cut into quarters, and then each quarter into 3 triangles.

With both hands, roll the large base of the triangle to the center. Do not curl the ends. Transfer to a prepared baking sheet with a silpat. Brush with 2 tbsp milk and let stand at room temperature for about 45 minutes, until doubled in size.

Preheat the oven to 400^oF. Add an egg yolk to the remaining milk leftover from brushing the croissants. Brush the croissants with egg yolk/milk mixture and bake for 20 – 25 minutes until golden brown. Let cool for 20 minutes before serving.

There is a variation that I like to add once in a while. To pan chocolate stuffed croissants, add in dark chocolate chips to the triangle of dough before rolling. Then follow the same directions as above.

November 2, 2024
by Ashley
Comments Off on Laminated Pork Chops

Laminated Pork Chops

INGREDIENTS

1 1/2 cups panko breadcrumbs
1 cup regular breadcrumbs
Kosher salt and ground black pepper
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 large eggs
1¼-pound pork tenderloin or thin pork chops, trimmed of silver skin and patted dry
4 slices prosciutto (about 2 ounces total)
12 tablespoons neutral oil, divided
4 ounces Parmesan cheese (without rind), shredded on the small holes of a box grater (2 cups)

INSTRUCTIONS

Stir ½ teaspoon pepper into breadcrumb mix.. In a second similar dish, stir the flour and 1 teaspoon pepper. In a third dish, beat the eggs with a fork.

Pound pork slices thin. Season both sides of each cutlet with pepper, then lay a prosciutto slice on each cutlet. Re-cover with plastic wrap and gently pound so the prosciutto adheres.

One at a time, dredge the cutlets in the flour, turning to coat and shaking off any excess, then dip in the egg and, finally, coat with the panko, pressing so it adheres. Set the cutlets on a large plate.

Refrigerate uncovered for 15 minutes. Set a wire rack in a rimmed baking sheet and place near the stovetop.

In a 12-inch nonstick skillet over medium-high, heat 6 tablespoons of oil until barely smoking. Add 2 cutlets and cook until golden, 1 to 2 minutes. Using tongs, flip and cook until the second sides are golden, about 1 minute. Transfer to the prepared rack. Repeat with the remaining 6 tablespoons oil and remaining cutlets. Wipe out the skillet and set aside.

Evenly sprinkle the cutlets with the Parmesan. Bake at 350^oF until cheese is melted

September 24, 2024
by Ashley
Comments Off on Kettle Corn

Kettle Corn

Easy kettle corn that you can make at home.

Ingredients
2 tbsp cooking oil
1/2 cup popcorn kernels
2 tbsp granulated sugar
salt

Set a bowl out that you will pour the popcorn into, to prevent it from staying in the pan for too long.

Use a large stock pot with a lid and pour in the oil. Pour in the sugar and kernels. Stir to mix everything well. Start the range on medium heat and shake the pan periodically every 30 seconds to 1 minute to ensure the popcorn isn’t burning. This should take 5 minutes or so to pop. Pour immediately into the reserved bowl. Sprinkle with salt. Allow to cool a minute or two before digging in.

August 20, 2024
by Ashley
Comments Off on Quadruple Chocolate Chip Cookies

Quadruple Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients

1 stick butter
3/4 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup white sugar
1 cup flax seed, milled
1/4 cup water
2 eggs
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
2 1/4 cup all purpose flour

1/4 cup white chocolate chips
1/4 cup butterscotch chips
1/4 cup small mini chips
1/4 cup dark chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 375^oF.

In a mixer, whip the softened butter with the sugars. Mix until creamed together. Add in the flax seed and water and keep mixing until combined. Add in one egg at a time, until smooth. Add in the vanilla and mix together. Stop mixer. Add in the cocoa powder, salt, baking soda and flour and carefully mix the dry ingredients into the butter mixture. Mix in the chips.

Use parchment paper or a silpat covered cookie baking sheet. Place tablespoon sized balls on the sheet evenly spaced. Bake for 15 minutes or so, checking to make sure that they aren’t over done. Once done baking, let rest on a wire rack before serving.

August 20, 2024
by Ashley
Comments Off on Shirazi Salad

Shirazi Salad

This is a fantastic salad that uses many things out of our garden. It is also a nice change from our normal quick pickles.

Ingredients
1 large cucumber (3 cups worth)
1 cup tomatoes, chopped
1/2 medium red onion, diced

3 tbsp olive oil
4 tbsp lemon, freshly squeezed (usually one lemon)
1/2 cup fresh mint, chopped
kosher salt to taste

Dice cucumbers, tomatoes and onion into small cubes. Add all ingredients to a bowl and mix together. Let sit at least for 15 minutes before serving.

August 20, 2024
by Ashley
Comments Off on Chocolate Mug Cake

Chocolate Mug Cake

I revamped the mug cake that was found on this website. The last one we won’t make again. This one we will revisit as everyone enjoyed it.

Chocolate Mug Cake

3 tbsp all purpose flour
2 tbsp granulated sugar
1 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 tsp baking powder
dash Kosher Salt
1/4 cup heavy cream or milk
1 tbsp coconut oil
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
2 tsp nutella
8 large chocolate chips
1 tsp canola oil

Spread a little of the coconut oil around on the inside of a microwave safe mug or bowl. In a separate mixing bowl, add the dry ingredients and stir together.

Add the cream, oil, vanilla and nutella and stir together until smooth. Using a rubber spatula, transfer the batter into the prepared mug. Add in the chocolate chips.

Cook in the microwave for 90 seconds to 2 minutes until cake is set. Let cook a bit before you eat. Top with coconut or powdered sugar. This is big enough to share.