Homemade Pickles

I had a few kirby cucumbers and wanted to find a recipe to make with them besides just cutting them for salads. I found a recipe to turn the cucumbers into pickles. A friend made pickles before and told me how easy it was to make. So I decided to turn my cucumbers into pickles. First you need to make a pickling solution that mainly consist of white vinegar. You cook the white vinegar with some salt, sugar, water and dried red peppers and boil the solution until the sugar is dissolved. Then turn off the fire and add sliced garlic and a few peppercorns. Let the pickling solution cool for 1 hour. While the solution is cooling, cut the cucumbers into desired slices--into 1/4" inch rounds (used as a condiment for burgers) or sliced into 1/2" inch thick long sticks (used to eat alongside your meal). Take the slices and put into a big glass jr that can old them. Take the cooled pickling solution and pour just enough to fill the top of the sliced cucumbers. Put in the fridge and let it sit in the pickling solution for 3 days. Ready to eat. These are so easy to make. Other variations is to make dill pickles using dill herbs in the solution. Recipe below.

Homemade Pickles
Ingredients:
1-2 lbs. cucumbers, sliced
3 cups white vinegar
1 1/2 cups of water
4 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon whole peppercorns, crushed
4 tablespoons salt
2 dried red peppers (add more if you want spicier)
3 cloves garlic, sliced
big glass jar

Directions:
On stovetop, heat on high heat the vinegar, sugar, salt, water, and red peppers. Boil solution until sugar is dissolved. Take off heat, add the garlic and peppercorns. taste and add more sugar if needed. Let cool for 1 hour.
While pickling solution is cooling, slice the cucumbers (rounds or sticks) and put into glass jar. When pickling solution is cooled, pour into the jar just to fill the top of cucumbers. Place the jar in the fridge and let it sit for 3 days. Ready to eat on the 3rd day. Depending on how you slice them, use them as a condiment on burgers or a side with your meal.

Miso Glazed Tilapia with Salsa

Miso is a thick soy paste that is widely used in Japan. Most of the time I use miso only in making miso soup with tofu. I have seen them use miso for fish so I decided to try it. I used tilapia filet since it is a firm, very mild tasting fish and would take the miso marinate well. I looked up a recipe to get the basic marinating sauce. I put miso, sesame oil, soy sauce, and some apple cider vinegar (since recipe asked for mirin and I did not have, this is similar so I used it). Then I mixed it all together. I added some water to thin the sauce. Marinate the fish in the miso sauce for 30 minutes and up to 1 hour. When ready to bake the fish, put on a baking sheet and top with sliced scallions and sliced ginger. bake in oven until flaky and cooked.

Then I decided to add a bit more flavor with a simple salsa as a topping. The salsa consist of chopped tomatoes, cilantro, red onions, and some lime juice. All mixed together and let it marinate together so flavors come together. Once fish is done plate then top with the salsa. This goes well with a nice leafy green salad or some steamed vegetables. This is a great recipe. Recipe below.

Miso Glazed Tilapia with Salsa

Ingredients:
4 tilapia filets
2 tablespoons miso paste
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
3 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons sesame oil
2 tablespoons brown sugar
3-4 tablespoons water (depending on how thick you want the sauce)
Salsa (Recipe below)

Directions:
1. get a big bowl and add the miso paste, apple cider vinegar, soy sauce, sesame oil, brown sugar. Mix well. Add the water, depending how thick you want the sauce.
2. Brush some miso sauce on the tilapia filets. Coating both sides. Let it sit for 30 minutes and up to 1 hour.
3. preheat oven to 475 F. Place marinated fish on a baking sheet. Bake fish for 8-10 minutes until flaky but not overcooked. serve with salsa topping.

Salsa:
1/2 cup chopped tomatoes
1/2 cup chopped red onions
1/2 cup cilantro
juice from 1 lime

Directions:
1. Mix all ingredients in a bowl. Cover and place in refridgerator for flavors to come together.
2. Spoon over the baked miso glazed tilapia.

making homemade deer/venison jerky

Since a friend of ours goes out deer hunting, he gave us some meat to try. My brother in Law was interested in making deer jerky since he tried it before and loved it. We have used the deer meat to make stews and chili and the result was good but still had a tough gamey smell. So we wanted to know what we could do more to enhance flavor and get rid of the gamey smell.

Instead of the traditional beef meat to make jerky we use Deer/Venision meat. This is very unique in that deer meat is tougher and has less fat. Also, instead of slicing the deer meat we grounded the meat then put in a curing solution then marinated it in different spice blends for different unique flavors. Then using a jerky gun we pumped out the grounded marinated deer meat into long strips. It is then placed into a 200F oven (oven set at lowest temperature) and left to cook for 3 hours to dehydrate and turn into jerky meat.

The final result is chewy, tender deer meat that is slightly salty but with a sweet taste (from the marinate used). The whole game meat smell is gone. (when making deer meat into stew or chili you still get a game like smell even though you have put other spices and sauces to try to mask the smell). People who tried it did not believe it was deer meat. They thought it was the traditional beeef. A very successful result.

This was so successful that we have made Deer jerky 2 other times. Below is a simple recipe to start anyone off to eating tasty, delicious deer jerky.

Deer Jerky
Ingredients:
approximately 4 lbs. Ground Deer meat
salt curing mixture (by a jerky curing mix, make according to package directions)
3-4 tablespoons crushed red peppers(optional)
2-3 tablespoons chili powder (optional)
2-3 tablespoons cayenne pepper (optional)
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup sugar
2 tablespoon garlic powder
2 tablespoon black pepper

Directions:
1. Clean the deer meat. Cut into small chunks. Using a food grinder, put the deer chunks in the machine and grind the meat.

2. Take grounded deer meat in a large bowl. Add the curing mixture. Mix thoroughly.

3. Add the soy sauce, sugar, garlic powder. if using, add the chili powder, cayenne, and crushed red peppers. Mix thoroughly.

4. Put the meat into the jerky gun and squeeze out sticks of grounded meat onto wire racks.

5. Preheat oven to lowest temperature on your oven, most are 200 F.

6. Put racks in the oven and let it cook for 3 hours or until desired chewiness.

Final product: Yummy, chewy, sweet, and spicy jerky flavor with no trace of gamey smell.

Venison/Deer Chili

Since getting venison from a friend's parent, I was looking up recipes to make with venison. I saw on Food Network website on a venison chili recipe by Emeril Lagasse. I really like his cooking and watched his show when it was on the Food Network. I decided to make his recipe but with a few tweeks—I added kidney beans, carrots, ground pork, and a bit more chili and cayenne pepper (I like my chili a bit spicier). I like the protein from the kidney beans and added carrots for more vegetables than just onions. The ground pork is to give some added fat since venison is very lean. The trick to making sure that the venison does not have a gamey taste is to brine the meat first in milk then a brine solution (I used salt, bay leaf, pepercorns, and water). This helps also make the meat a little tender. The resulting venision chili I made was very flavorful, the meat was still a bit chewy but much better than if I just chopped the venison meat without brining it. The use of tomatoes, the beans, and spices help to also add flavor and mask a bit of the venison smell/taste. Overall, if you have lots of Venison or have some this is worth a try. Recipe below.


Venison chili
Serves 6
adapted from Emeril Lagasse recipe on Food Network website

Ingredients
1-1 1/2 pounds leg or shoulder of venison, cut into 1/4-inch cubes
1/4 lb. ground pork
1 cup chopped onions
1/2 cup of diced carrots
2 garlic cloves crushed
1 cup water
2 tablespoon tomato paste
2 tablespoon chili powder
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1 teaspoon dried oregano
2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
3 chopped plum tomatoes
1 cup beef stock
Salt and pepper
Sour Cream
Grated cheddar cheese

Brining the venison meat:
Ingredients:
Milk
1 quart water
2 tablespoons cracked peppercorns
2 tablespoons salt1 bay leaf

Directions for bringing:
First put the Venison meat in a bowl and add just enough milk to cover the meat. Cover and refrigerate it for 5-6 hours. Drain the milk and wash the Venison meat. Then in another bowl add the water, cracked peppercorns, bay leaf and salt. Place the venison meat and cover in refridgerator for 6-8 hours. then drain and pat dry. Cut into desired chunks per recipe.

Directions for Venison chili:

In a dutch oven on medium heat, add oil then add the venison to the hot oil in the pan and cook, stirring occasionally and in batches if necessary, until well seared. Remove from the pan and set aside.

Add the onions, carrots and garlic and saute over medium-low heat until tender.

Stir in the water and the tomato paste. Bring the mixture to a boil. Stir in the dry spices, chopped tomatoes and the beef stock. Season lightly with salt and pepper. Simmer uncovered for 35 to 45 minutes, or until the sauce is very thick and flavorful.

Add the venison to the pot and cook, stirring, until just cooked through and hot, 3 to 4 minutes. Check the seasoning and serve with the sour cream and grated cheese. Serve warm.

A flavorful and tasty way to use venison/deer meat.

Individual Asian Pear Tarts

I was on facebook and saw an AD that Cathay Pacific is doing on creating an Asian inspired dessert. I thought I can think of something. I like eating chinese Asian pears and using puff pastry but to add a kick to the dessert I decided to use guava paste. Guava paste is a sweet paste made mainly from guava pulp and sugar that is formed into a block. Asian pears are great because it adds sweetness but not so much that it is overly sweet. I was testing out how to present the pear tarts--I made a rectangular tart and as a turnover/small pie. I added some vanilla extract, cinnamon and nutmeg for some added flavor that compliments the Asian pears without being overpowering. The resulting Asian pear tart came out golden brown, crispy, sweet, and not overpowering. This is an easy dessert to make since you use store bought puff pastry. Below is the recipe for the tart version. Hope that my dessert wins.

Also, please vote for my dessert at http://www.facebook.com/cathaypacificUS?v=app_168465223167646#!/cathaypacificUS?v=app_168465223167646
look for the Individual Asian pear tarts. Click like.

Individual Asian Pear Tarts

Makes 8 servings

Ingredients:

1 box puff pastry

3 Asian pears, sliced thin

1 teaspoon cinnamon

½ teaspoon nutmeg

Guava paste sauce:

1 container of guava paste, using only half the container

2 tablespoons lime juice

½ cup water, more if needed

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Thaw puff pastry according to package directions.

Cut the guava paste in half and put one half of the guava paste with the lime juice and water in a small saucepan over medium heat. Cook until guava paste is a sauce like consistency and spreadable, about 4-5 minutes. Adding more water if mixture becomes too thick.

Unfold puff pastry. Roll into a 11 x 12 inch rectangle. Cut 1 inch strips on all sides of the puff pastry. This will be used later as borders around the tarts. You will end up with a 9 x 10 inch rectangle. Cut the rectangular puff pastry in half lengthwise then in half crosswise. You will have a total of 4 rectangles that are approximately 4.5 x 5 inches. Take the 1 inch strips of puff pastry and cut into ½ inch strip lengthwise. Take the ½ inch strip of puff pastry and cut it the same length and width of the rectangular puff pastries. Do the same to the other sheet of puff pastry. Put the rectangular sheets and strips of puff pastry on a parchment lined baking sheet and then in the fridge to chill while you make the filling.

Take Asian pears and peel the skin. Slice the Asian pears in half, take out the center, and slice them into very thin slices. Place in a bowl. Add the cinnamon and nutmeg; toss to coat the slices evenly.

Brush the rectangular sheets of puff pastry with a thin layer of guava paste sauce. Place the strips all around the sides of the puff pastry sheets, pressing gently to adhere. Arrange the Asian pear slices straight across the puff pastry, overlapping the slices. Brush the tops of the Asian pears with the guava paste sauce.

Place the baking sheet in the preheated oven. Bake for 20-25 minutes until puff pastry is golden brown and the Asian pears have started to brown. Take out of the oven. Serve hot.

Scalloped potatoes

Since we had lots of cheese, milk, and potatoes to use up I decided to make scalloped potatoes. This is an easy side dish anyone can make. All it consist of is potatoes, cheese, salt, pepper, nutmeg, butter, and milk. Also it is very easy to assemble and all you need to do after putting it together is put in oven for 50-55 minutes. Out comes potatoes with cheesy goodness. You can also make this ahead and keep in fridge then take out and bake. Below is the recipe.


Scalloped Potatoes

Ingredients:
3 potatoes, cut into thin slices
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1/2 cup shredded parmesean cheese
1 1/2 cups milk
garlic salt
pepper
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
2 tbsp. butter

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Peel potatoes and cut into slices. Place in salted water so color does not turn brown and it releases some starch, about 5 minutes. Drain and pat dry with paper towel.
3. On stove heat milk, nutmeg, and 1 tablespoon of butter on medium heat. Stir and let milk mixture simmer until it has thickened a bit. Mix the two cheese together. Add a cup of the cheese to the milk mixture. Stir and simmer mixture until it is thick and coats the back of a wooden spoon. Set aside.
4. In a glass baking dish, place sliced potatoes in an overlapping circle. Add garlic salt and pepper. Pour 1/4 cup of cheese sauce mixture onto potatoes. Repeat with remaining potatoes and cheese sauce mixture. you will have 3 layers. Top with the remaining 1/2 cup of shredded cheese mix.
5. Place in 350 degree oven for 50-55 minutes or until potatoes are tender, cheese is bubbly, and top has slightly browned. Serve immediately.

Baked butternut squash and potato fries

Fall is a great time of the year for squash vegetables-butternut squash, acorn squash, spaghetti squash, and yellow squash. I bought a nice size butternut squash at the local farmer's market. I usually either make butternut squash soup or make a puree. As I saw a posting on facebook about squash, I asked what else I could make. I also saw online an article about making butternut squash fries. This seemed like a nice way to get my nephews to eat vegetables with them not even knowing they are eating vegetables. (Also since most kids like to eat french fries, I thought butternut squash would be a nice change). The article was telling you the way to make the fries without them coming out soggy and not crispy. The secret was to salt the butternut squash because salt will bring out the moisture. It says to soak them in salt water for 10 minutes then pat dry. After that I decided to salt a bit more and let them sit another 10 minutes. (You might think this would make the squash salty but it did not). Then place the potato and butternut squash fries on an baking sheet lined with foil and oiled. Bake in 400 degree F oven for 15-20 minutes or until crispy and just turning brown, flip the fries over halfway during the baking. The result I got was crispier and crunchier fries. I gave one to my nephew and he thought they were sweet potato fries. This will be one of my kid friendly recipes I will have to keep in my recipe collection. Below is the recipe.

Butternut and Potato French Fries

Ingredients:
Top half of butternut squash, cut into thin matchsticks
2-3 potatoes, cut into thin sticks
salt
pepper
Cooking oil spray

Directions:
1. Preheat oven at 400 degrees F

2. Cut butternut squash and potatoes into thin sticks. Place in bowl with water. Salt the water. Let sit for 10 minutes.

3. Drain water and pat the butternut squash and potato sticks dry with paper towels. Place in bowl and salt again. Let sit for another 10 minutes.

4. Line a baking sheet with foil and spray the cooking oil all over the foil. Place the fries on the baking sheet. Spray the tops of the fries with the cooking oil spray. Place in the preheated 400 degree F oven and bake for 15-20 minutes or until the fries are crispy and lightly browned.

5. Take out of oven and let cool. Place in serving bowl and serve. If not serving immediately, just before serving reheat in 200 degree oven for 5-7 minutes until hot.