Tags Kitchen

I love greek food.  I really do.  I love Tzatziki sauce.  I dip tortilla chips in it.  I love dipping flat bread it in.  I love dipping just about anything in it.  This recipe is delicious.

I usually love garlic, but I would be really careful about adding any more than what is on this recipe.  It gets a little too potent and makes the tzatziki sauce unbearable to eat.

Tzatziki Sauce

 Ingredients

• 1 (8 ounce) container plain yogurt (Preferably Greek or Fage)
• 1 cucumber
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1/4 lemon, juiced and zest
• 1-1/2 teaspoons chopped fresh dill
• 1-1/2 cloves garlic, peeled
• 5 mint leaves, chopped fine
• Salt and Pepper to taste

Directions

1. The night before making Tzatziki, place the yogurt in a paper towel lined strainer over another bowl and leave it in the fridge overnight. This thicker yogurt-cheese is the perfect consistency for Tzatziki. This step is not necessary if using Greek yogurt.
2. Peel and seed the cucumber. Place the cucumbers in a strainer over a bowl and cover with salt. This will leech out a lot of the water and help assure you have a thick sauce.
3. In a food processor or blender, combine all ingredients. Process until well-combined.
4. Transfer to a separate dish, cover and refrigerate for at least one hour for best flavor, over night is suggested.
5. The first 2 steps are very important. If not followed you will make Tzatziki soup, not sauce.

My sister gave me this recipe a while back, and me being the slacker that I am just made them for the first time this weekend.  THESE ARE EXCELLENT!  They are a little spicy, but you could easily cut down on the Chili Powder, and not use as many chipotles.  The rub and the cream could be used for so many other things.

Spicy Chicken Tacos with Chipotle Cream

Chipotles are hot, so use them to taste

Chipotle Cream

Mix the following:

• 1 cup of Sour Cream
• Diced canned chipotles, along with a little of their adobo sauce

Chicken Tacos

Mix the following in a small bowl

• 2 TBSP of Brown Sugar
• 1 TBSP Paprika
• 1 TBSP Chili Powder
• 1 TBSP Salt
• 1 TBSP Pepper

Pound Chicken Breasts to ½ inch thickness.  Brush them with a little oil and coat them with the spice rub.  Grill or broil the chicken, turning once, until it’s cooked through (about 6 minutes).

Dice the following:

• 1 Tomato
• 1 Avocado
• 1 Red Onion

Slice the chicken and serve it on warm corn tortillas with the vegetables and chipotle cream.  Garnish with Cilantro.

Tags Kitchen wants to wish you and your family a Very Merry Christmas!

Lemon Pound Cake
Published: March 1, 2002
Makes one 9 by 5-inch cake, serving 8

You can use a blender instead of a food processor to mix the batter. To add the butter, remove the center cap of the lid so it can be drizzled into the whirling blender with minimal splattering. This batter looks almost like a thick pancake batter and is very fluid.

INGREDIENTS
16 tablespoons unsalted butter (2 sticks), plus 1 tablespoon, softened, for greasing pan
1 1/2 cups cake flour (6 ounces), plus 1 tablespoon for dusting pan
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon table salt
1 1/4 cups granulated sugar (8 3/4 ounces)
2 tablespoons grated lemon zest plus 2 teaspoons juice from 2 medium lemons
4 large eggs
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Lemon Glaze (Optional)
1/2 cup granulated sugar (3 1/2 ounces)
1/4 cup lemon juice , from 1 or 2 medium lemons

Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease 9 by 5-inch loaf pan with 1 tablespoon softened butter; dust with 1 tablespoon cake flour, tapping out excess. In medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt; set aside.

In glass measuring cup or microwave-safe bowl, microwave butter, covered with plastic wrap, at full power until melted, 1 to 2 minutes. (Alternatively, melt butter in small saucepan over medium heat.) Whisk melted butter thoroughly to reincorporate any separated milk solids.
3. In food processor, process sugar and zest until combined, about five 1-second pulses. Add lemon juice, eggs, and vanilla; process until combined, about 5 seconds. With machine running, add melted butter through feed tube in steady stream (this should take about 20 seconds). Transfer mixture to large bowl. Sift flour mixture over eggs in three steps, whisking gently after each addition until just combined.
4. Pour batter into prepared pan and bake 15 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 325 degrees and continue to bake until deep golden brown and skewer inserted in center comes out clean, about 35 minutes, rotating pan halfway through baking time. Cool in pan for 10 minutes, then turn onto wire rack.
5. If using lemon glaze, while cake is cooling in pan, bring sugar and lemon juice to boil in small nonreactive saucepan, stirring occasionally to dissolve sugar. Reduce heat to low and simmer until thickened slightly, about 2 minutes.
6. After turning cake onto wire rack, poke the cake’s top and sides with a toothpick and brush on Lemon Glaze (see illustrations below). Cool to room temperature, at least 1 hour. (Cooled cake can be wrapped tightly in plastic wrap and stored at room temperature for up to 5 days.)

Salsa roja (roasted red salsa)

I can’t remember which site I found this recipe on, but it’s delicious.  The roasting of all of the veggies really ads a nice flavor to the salsa.

Note that this makes a lot — a big mixing bowl full.

•  16 full size tomatoes, or nearly a produce bag full of roma tomatoes (we used roma)
• 2-3 yellow onions
• 20-25 Serrano peppers (remove caps) Note: this many peppers makes it hot. Feel free to reduce # of peppers, or scrape the seeds out of them
• 8-10 cloves of garlic
• 1-2 Tbsp salt
• 1-2 bunches cilantro

1.  Halve the tomatoes and onions and lay cut-side up on a cookie sheet along with the peppers and garlic
2. Roast at 375 till the onions look nice and translucent (see bottom left of the next picture), tomatoes look soft, and peppers are getting a nice char on them
3. Let it all cool a bit, then run through the food processor with salt and cilantro (we had to do this in two batches)
4. Stir it all together and eat!

Storage

It’ll last at least a week in the fridge in a Tupperware-type container, although it’ll rarely stay around that long. You could potentially freeze some if you wanted to store it for longer (then defrost it in the fridge), but really, it is at its best when it’s still hot from roasting!

Spiciness

Varies a lot based on personal taste and individual peppers. Sometimes you’ll get a batch of extra hot peppers and other times you might as well have used bell peppers.  If you are very sensitive to spice, cut the seeds out and just use the meat of the pepper. Also, roasting the peppers longer will bring out the sugars in the peppers which will make it less fiery. Use fewer peppers if you’re wary.

Roasting

You can definitely do this on a grill instead of the oven, in fact, that is my preferred method. I typically roast the onions until they’re translucent, the garlic until it’s browned (not too black), and the tomatoes and peppers until the skins are mostly blackened.

Preheat Oven to 425˚ F

Ingredients:
8 tbsp. (1 stick) unsalted butter, frozen whole
1½ cups (7½ oz.) fresh blueberries
½ cup whole milk
½ cup sour cream
2 cups (10 oz.) all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting the work surface
½ cup sugar
2 tsp. baking powder
¼ tsp. baking soda
½ tsp. salt
1 tsp. finely grated lemon zest

Lemon Glaze:
1/2 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
2 cups confectioners’ sugar, sifted
1 lemon, zest finely grated
1 tablespoon unsalted butter

Directions:
1. Grate the frozen butter on the holes of a large box grater, or use a food processor to grate it up.
2. Place the blueberries in the freezer until needed.
3. Whisk together the milk and sour cream in a medium bowl; refrigerate until needed.
4. Combine the flour, ½ cup sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and lemon zest in a medium mixing bowl; Whisk to combine.
5. Add the grated butter to the flour mixture and toss with fingers until thoroughly coated.
6. Add the milk mixture to the dry ingredients and fold with a spatula just until combined.
7. Transfer the dough to a generously floured work surface.
8. Dust the top of the dough with flour, and knead with well floured hands, 6-8 times, just until the dough holds together in a ragged ball.
9. Add small amounts of flour as needed to prevent sticking.
10. Roll the dough into a 12-inch square.
11. Fold the dough into thirds like a business letter (a dough scraper really helps with these steps). Fold the short ends of the dough into the center in thirds, to form an approximate 4-inch square.
12. Transfer the dough to a plate lightly dusted with flour and chill in the freezer for 5 minutes.
13. Return the dough to the floured work surface and roll into an approximately 12-inch square again.
14. Sprinkle the blueberries evenly over the surface of the dough, and gently press down so that they are slightly embedded in the dough surface.
15. Using a dough scraper, roll the dough up to form a tight log. Lay the log seam side down and press the log into a 12 by 4-inch rectangle.
16. Using a sharp, floured knife, cut the rectangle crosswise into 4 equal rectangles. Cut each rectangle diagonally to form 2 triangles.
17. Transfer to a parchment lined baking sheet.
18. Bake until the tops and bottoms are golden brown, 18-25 minutes.
19. Transfer to a wire rack and glaze the scones with the Lemon Glaze.

Lemon Glaze Directions:
1. Mix the lemon juice and confectioners’ sugar together in a microwave-safe bowl.
2. Stir until the sugar dissolves. Add the lemon zest and butter.
3. Microwave for 30 seconds on high.
4. Whisk the glaze to smooth out any lumps, then drizzle the glaze over the top of the scones.
5. Let it set a minute before serving.

Freezing Directions: If freezing ahead of time, flash freeze on the baking sheet for 20 minutes, then wrap individually and store in a freezer bag until needed.

Spinach Salad and Poppy Seed Dressing

• 1/2 C vegetable oil
• 1/4 C white vinegar
• 1/4 C sugar
• 1 T poppy seeds
• 1/4 t paprika
• 1/4 t salt
• 6 oz of Fresh Baby Spinach
• 4 Cups Fresh Sliced Strawberries

Whisk the dressing together.  Can be made ahead and refrigerated.

Add to 6 oz fresh baby spinach leaves and 4 C sliced strawberries.

SIMPLE, SEASONAL PUMPKIN BREAD

USA Weekend Newspaper Insert, Oct. 7, 2011 – CookSmart, Pam Anderson

TagsKitchen Note: THIS IS AMAZING!!  Best recipe for pumpkin bread I have ever had!

• 3 ½ CUPS ALL-PURPOSE FLOUR
• 1 TBL BAKING POWDER
• 2 TSP GROUND GINGER
• 1 TSP EACH: BAKING SODA, SALT AND CINNAMON
• ½ TSP GROUND CLOVES
• 4 LARGE EGGS, BEATEN
• 1 ½ CUPS GRANULATED SUGAR
• 1 CUP LIGHT BROWN SUGAR
• 2 STICKS (1 CUP) BUTTER, MELTED
• 1 CAN (16 OZ) PURE PUMPKIN

PREHEAT OVEN 350.  GREASE AND FLOUR TWO 9X5 LOAF PANS.

MIX FLOUR, BAKING POWDER, GINGER, BAKING SODA, SALT, CINNAMON AND CLOVES IN A LARGE BOWL.

MIX EGGS AND SUGAR IN LARGE BOWL; ADD BUTTER, BEAT UNTIL FULLY INCORPORATED AND THEN ADD THE PUMPKIN.

ADD DRY INGREDIENTS, BEAT JUST UNTIL SMOOTH.

DIVIDE BATTER INTO PREPARED PANS.

BAKE 45-50 MINUTES OR UNTIL GOLDEN BROWN AND CAKE TESTER COMES CLEAN.  LET COOL A FEW MINUTES.  RUN KNIFE AROUND PAN TO LOOSEN.  TURN ONTO A WIRE RACK TO COOL.

MAKES TWO 9-INCH LOAVES.

Per serving: 237 calories, 9g fat (5g saturated), 3g protein, 1g fiber, 37g carbs, 51mg cholesterol, 283mg sodium.

TACO SOUP

Cedar City 16^th Ward Relief Society Cookbook – Dianne Gubler

•  1 LB HAMBURGER OR TURKEY BURGER
• 1 DICED ONION
• 2 QUARTS OR  2 28 OZ DICED TOMATOES
• 1 CAN RED KIDNEY BEANS
• 1 CAN PINTO BEANS
• 1 CAN BLACK BEANS
• 1 CAN WHITE BEANS
• 1 CAN BUTTER BEANS, (OR GARBANZO BEANS)
• 2 CANS CORN
• 7 OZ DICED GREEN CHILES
• 1 PCKG TACO SEASONING
• 1 PCKG ORIGINAL RANCH DRESSING

COOK HAMBURGER AND ONION TOGETHER, DRAIN GREASE.  ADD ALL OTHER INGREDIENTS TOGETHER TO MEAT MIXTURE.  SIMMER UNTIL WELL BLENDED.  IF THE BROTH IS TOO STRONG ADD WATER, MORE TOMATOES OR TOMATO JUICE TO THIN OUT.

SERVE WITH GRATED CHEESE, A DOLLOP OF SOUR CREAM, MINCED CILANTRO AND TACO CHIPS.

(NOTES:  THE ORIGINAL RECIPE CALLS FOR TWO POUNDS OF MEAT AND ALL THE BEANS TO BE DRAINED AND RINSED.  IT ISN’T NECESSARY TO ADD SO MUCH MEAT OR RINSE THE BEANS, BUT IS A PERSONAL PREFERENCE.  ANOTHER SISTER ALSO ADDED THE CORN AND GREEN CHILES. )  THIS MAKES A LARGE POT OF SOUP.