An Attempt at Homemade Churro's

Well for Cinco de Mayo we had Pollo Asado, brown rice, a salad and I made Churro's.
Boy was this quite the adventure.

It was really simple to make the dough.

I used this recipe.

Ingredients

• 1 cup water
• 2 Tbs brown sugar
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/3 cup butter
• 1 cup white flour
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup sugar

• 1/2 to 1 tsp. ground cinnamon, depending on taste

Preheat 1 1/2 to 2 inches of vegetable (I used canola) oil in a 10 to 12 inch frying pan to 375 degrees F. note to self: buy a candy thermometer otherwise you will have no idea what 375* of hot oil looks like. This will help you in the future. Also, buy a meat tenderizer. That is all

In a sauce pan ( I used a 1.5 qt one but it called for a 3 qt one, mine was in use for the rice for dinner) add the water, brown sugar, salt, and butter and heat to a good boil. Remove from the heat and add the flour. Stir until well blended.

In a separate bowl, mix the eggs and vanilla together and then add this to the pan with the flour mixture. Make sure that the egg gets all combined into the dough.

Put your dough in your decorator (think frosting decorator, if you don't have one you could always cut the tip of a plastic baggy off and squeeze from there, just be very careful) and attach a star tip.

Test your oil by placing a small amount of dough in it. The dough should bubble up right away or that means the oil is not hot enough, now if you were like me, yours bubbled and got dark right away which means your oil is too hot. Not hot enough oil = sogginess, Too hot oil = cooked on outside, NOT cooked on the inside.

Once the oil is hot enough, squeeze some dough (with decorator) into the oil about 4 inches long. Use your finger to release the dough from the decorator, just be careful because you are mighty close to the hot oil, you don't want your finger to get in on the frying action.

You should be able to cook 3- 5 churros at a time. Cook for 1-2 minutes on each side, turning once during the frying process.

Remove the churros with the slotted spoon and place them on a paper towel-covered plate.

I found it easiest while one batch was cooking to roll the last cooked batch in cinnamon and sugar. Then repeat.

So since apparently I let my oil get too hot and it doesn't cool down very quickly I had to do some fast thinking, so I put on a smaller tip from my decorator and used that, since they were thinner, they cooked faster and thus I didn't have a crispy outside and raw inside. Then once it got cool enough I switched back.

I told hubby the ones that were a different shape were American-ized Churro's since I am clearly not Mexican and this just proved it.

None-the-less they were still good! But very time consuming, all frying is I think!

Tomorrow look for a Buttermilk Pie recipe!

Have a great day and God Bless!

Homemade Flour Tortillas- A Comparison

So yesterday, I decided I wanted to make some homemade flour tortillas for dinner. I then set off to find a recipe. A friend of mine, Liz sent me hers and I found THIS one on Homesick Texan.

I couldn't decide which to make so I decided to do both and hubby (the mexican food lover) and I would weigh in.

Recipe 1-Liz's
Ingredients
1 1/2 C all purpose flour
1/4 tsp salt
2 tablespoons lard, butter, canola or other neutral oil
about 1/2 C warm water, plus more as needed.


Recipe 2
Ingredients
Texas Flour Tortillas (adapted from The Border Cookbook by Cheryl Alters Jamison and Bill Jamison)
Ingredients:
Two cups of all-purpose flour (can make them whole wheat by substituting one cup of whole-wheat flour for white flour)
1 1/2 teaspoons of baking powder
1 teaspoon of salt
2 teaspoons of vegetable oil
3/4 cups of warm milk

Here is how it went.

First in my Kitchen aid stand mixer I put the ingredients for recipe #1, let it form into a ball and knead for a few minutes until it was somewhat elastic-y (nope, that isn't a word but I am going to use it)

I put the dough ball into a bowl (the blue one).

Then I repeated this process with the ingredients for recipe #2. That went into the silver bowl.

I covered them both with a towel and let rest for a good 30ish minutes (it should be at least 20).

Then I took the dough ball out onto a floured surface and decided that they felt like the needed more kneading (that's a mouthful!) I kneaded both balls until they were where I thought they should be.

Then I separated them into 8 pieces each and placed them on a plate and covered with a towel to rest again for another 20ish minutes (should be at least 10). I put the plates on their corresponding bowls just to keep them straight. As you can see Recipe #2 has larger dough balls because it had more flour- though both recipes said they made 8, so that is what I stuck to.
After they had rested I started with the blue bowl because they had been first all along and I wanted to be fair with resting time.

I took one ball at a time and took it into my hands, starting in the middle I pressed it into an evenly flat disc and placed it on a floured surface. Then I flattened the rest of the way making it as even as possible.
Then I took a rolling pin and rolled it out THIN and they rolled out very easily. (even though my rolling skills are sub par and not all of them came out looking like perfectly round circles) I did this for all 16 balls.

I had Recipe #2 in the lead, because it had felt better while kneading. After rolling I started to think perhaps they were about even and maybe #1 had a slight edge because it rolled out nicer.

At this point I heated a non-stick skillet (because I don't have a cast-iron one, but if you are cooler than I am use that) and I heated it over medium/medium-high heat (I found a 7 on my stove worked well).

I cooked 1 tortilla from #1 - for about 1.5-2 minutes on each side (I flipped the first time when nice bubbles started to appear)- I then tore off 1/4 for myself and 1/4 for hubby- took it to him and interrupted his practice time at the piano and had him try it. He said they were great!

So I went back and cooked 1 tortilla from #2- same thing about 1.5-2 minutes each side (this one didn't show bubbles)

I then interrupted hubby again and said ok tell me which one you like better. He said he didn't really notice a difference so I brought him another piece of #1 and had him compare that way.

His thoughts (and I came to similar conclusions)
#1- thinner and not as chewy
#2- thicker, a little softer and chewy

He chose #1 as did I. We had some vegetarian taco's for dinner with these. They were great!

#2 was very good as well- they tasted almost exactly the same but the thickness of the 2nd tortilla made it kind of bready (which made it great for eating with some butter later (yum) ) but for mexican food we liked the thinner variety.

#1 on Left #2 on Right

As you can see #1 looks thinner and a little more crispy whereas #2 looks thicker, softer and more bready.

You can keep these stored in a plastic bag or tinfoil for a few days in the fridge.

Depending on your "likes" for Mexican food either tortilla is a good option but in our house we will definitely make #1 again!

Have a great day and God Bless!

Homemade Peanut Butter

So my hubby and I both love peanut butter, specifically Laura Scudder's Natural Nutty PB. But at $4-5 a pop and one a week that can take a chunk out of your grocery budget.

Lately hubby has been having an apple & PB with breakfast or Toast with PB and raisins, so we have been blowing through it.

It was the end of the grocery budget this week and no room for PB...
*whoops*
So I took the peanuts we had and made PB!

Plain Peanut Butter Ingredients
1 Cup Roasted Salted (or unsalted) Peanuts (we get ours in the bulk bin at Sprouts)
2-3 Tbsp Canola or Peanut Oil
1/4 tsp (to taste) Salt

Honey Peanut Butter Ingredients
1 Cup Roasted Salted (or unsalted) Peanuts (we get ours in the bulk bin at Sprouts)
2 Tbsp Canola or Peanut Oil
1 1/2 Tbsp Honey
1/4 tsp (to taste) Salt

Now *sigh* I only have a blender, if you have a food processor and are much cooler than I, please, by all means use it.

Pour the Peanuts and 2 Tbsp Canola/Peanut oil into your Blender/Food Processor. Pulse a few times and then blend to combine. Add a pinch of salt, blend for about a minute then taste. Then you can decide if you need more. 1/4 tsp or so worked out well for me.

If you want it to be crunchy (like me) then you don't have to blend as long. If you need to add more Canola/Peanut oil go ahead until you reach the consistency you would like. I used 2-3 depending on the batch. If you want Smooth PB just let it keep blending (it will take quite a few minutes)!

For the Honey PB just add 1.5 Tbsp of Honey and you are golden.

This turned out SO great! It made about 5 oz of PB, so we have 2 flavors to choose from and we enjoyed some Honey PB on some wheat bread for a snack!


The whole process to make 2 batches took me about 15 minutes, but that was with figuring out the ratios and using a blender. So, next time I'm sure it will be quicker and if you have a food processor it should go even faster!

Have a great day and God Bless!

Homemade Mayonnaise

I know I know...I've been not blogging this week. My mom has been in town so I've been super busy with hanging out with her and enjoying her while she is here. I've got plenty of things to be posting soon. Don't worry. Hang in there!

Ingredients
1 Cup Canola Oil
2 Egg Yolks
3 Tbsp Lemon Juice
1/4 tsp Salt
1/4 tsp Pepper
1/4 tsp Garlic Powder
1 Tbsp Mustard
lots and lots of elbow grease.....

It's nice to know what goes into your food. And that it isn't a bunch of soybean oil or preservatives. So that made it fun. But it was long.

Take 2 egg yolks, add your lemon juice and all of your spices. Put all of your oil in something that you can get small amounts out at a time. I used one of those oil droppers that you use for cooking. I loaded my oil in there. It's going to be important that you only put in a little at a time so that your emulsification takes place and it doesn't separate.

(this is not what I used, only what I measured it in)

Use your hand mixer on low and start to mix your egg, lemon and spice mixture. Continuing to blend add in about 1 tsp of oil at a time, mixing all the way through. Continue to add 1 tsp at a time until you are 1/2 way to 2/3 done putting your oil in.

Then you can start to add it a little more quickly. Blend until you have all of the oil added in.

Place in the refrigerator for 30 min and then use as you please. Use all of it within 1 week because remember, there are no preservatives!

Have a great night and God Bless!

How to Hard Boil Eggs

Ingredients
12 Large Eggs


Ok now if I was thinking when I was doing this I would have taken a picture of a pretty hard-boiled egg, but I was making food for my hubby to take on his trip so clearly I was not thinking. So no, I don't have a picture.

Here are some tricks for how to hard boil an egg.

1. Eggs should be at room temperature. This is so when you put them into hot boiling water that they don't crack (hopefully)
2. Bring water to a boil (enough to cover all the eggs once they are in there)
3. Using 2 spoons, put the egg in between and slowly lower and place (not drop) your eggs into the water.
4. Continue to boil on a heat of 8/9 for 12 minutes
5. Drain out the hot water into the sink
6. Run Cold water over top and allow to sit for 3 minutes or so in the pan.
7. Drain that water, put more cold water in and then place in the refrigerator for at least 10 minutes.

(this was a very sad moment because see the egg by the handle that is turned the opposite way? Well it decided it didn't like what was going on, so it jumped into the sink and into the garbage disposal before I could catch him, good bye little egg)

Now here is how to peel an egg, which used to be a big pain in the rear until I figured out how to do it.
1. Take your egg and crack it onto a plate (long ways) then roll it around until it is all cracked (see video 1)
2. Then pull on one side of the shell while holding the other side. This should peel off a big chunk, then continue to pull off the egg shell, it should come off in a wrapping fashion (see video 2)

Then you are all done!

Look for some egg salad later in the week!




Have a great Monday and God Bless!

How to Blanche Broccoli

How to Blanche Broccoli ....or any vegetable for that matter.

This is such an easy thing to do and produces wonderfully tender yet crisp vegetables.

This will also help to keep many of the vitamins and minerals in the vegetables, which is part of what we are looking for right?

Ok now you will probably think that I'm weird after I type this but broccoli is one of my favorite foods, it's definitely in my top 10. I could eat it almost every day. Not. Kidding. I love it. Ok, now onto the cooking.

Start with a medium sized pot filled halfway to two-thirds with water. Add some salt, about 1 tsp.

Now, cover and allow to boil, and I mean boil, hard. So walk away and come back when you hear the steam. This is not the kind where you push down on the lid to get it to boil quicker. This is a nice rolling boil. It should look like this.


Now before it gets to that beautiful boil, take your broccoli and cut it into florets. if there are some bigger ones and you would like them smaller then just cut them in half. It's really up to you. These are mine.

Now, it's time to put them into the water. Just drop them in and push them down so that they are all in the water. Since that's what's cooking it you are going to need to get it all covered.

Now cook for only 1-2 minutes. No more. You don't want the water to turn green which means that all of those wonderful vitamins and minerals are escaping into the water that you will throw away. And that is bad. You can tell when it is time to take them out when they turn a vibrant green.

Then, remove them from the heat and pour into strainer. Shake off excess water.

To finish, I usually just top with Salt and Pepper. Or with some butter depending on my mood.

Have a great day and God Bless!