Pickled Garlic

Pickled Garlic
Makes 2 pints

Tested and loved by the resident garlic-holic. *vbg* The next batch, I am going to try roasting the garlic first, for that lovely roasted flavor.

2 cups distilled White Vinegar
2 tbsp Salt
2 pounds fresh Garlic

• Put the vinegar and salt in a non-corrosive saucepan. Bring to a boil and boil 2-3 minutes. Remove from heat and cool.
• Separate the garlic cloves and blanch for 5-7 minutes to remove the skin.
• Put the garlic in a saucepan and cover with boiling water. Allow to remain for 1 minute and drain.
• Arrange in sterilized jars; pour in the vinegar and seal/process in a canner. I do 15 minutes, for our elevation. I believe 10 minutes will do it in the flatlands. Go by your canning book instructions.
• Keep jars in a cool, dry place and let sit for 1 month before eating.

After opening, a jar will keep in the fridge forever. So.... a day, the way we eat it. *vbg*

Variations:
Substitute flavored vinegar(s).
Add herbs to the vinegar solution.
Add a touch of sugar if you like sweet garlic.
Roasting garlic instead of blanching as called for.

Debbi

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Homemade Worcestershire, Walnut Catsup and Chili Sauces

Homemade Worcestershire, Walnut Catsup and Chili Sauces

Only attempt the recipes if you have a bit (a large bit) of spare time. They first list what goes into the original with some notes. Then a recipe that is "okay" and has a similar taste. Then a recipe from Joy of Cooking that takes *2* other condiments to be made, then added. It is supposed to be pretty good. Look at the site link below for more information and the recipes listed below from the California BBQ Association.

http://old.cbbqa.org/articles/WorcestershireSauce.html

It is noted below that palm sugar (Indian grocer's stores) and tamarind were very important to the taste, as was the vinegar being malt vinegar. (And I thought that was only for deep-fried beer-battered cod!). Nothing was ever cooked in the original, I think it says below?

A Worthy Try
The following recipe produces a Worcestershire Sauce whose taste is very close to Lee & Perrins. To enhance the complexity, additional aging should be done.

To make one cup:

1 chopped onion
2 cloves of garlic, crushed
1-1/4" thick sliced ginger
3 tbsp yellow mustard seeds
1 tsp peppercorns
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
1 (1" long) cinnamon stick
1 tsp cloves whole
1/2 tsp cardamom pods
2 cups vinegar
1/2 cup molasses
1/2 cup dark soy sauce
1/4 cup tamarind pulp
3 tbsp salt
1/2 tsp curry powder
1 crushed anchovy
1/2 cup water

Place the onion, the garlic, the mustard seeds, the red pepper flakes, the peppercorns, the ginger, the cinnamon, the cloves and the cardamom on a large piece of cheesecloth and tie in a little bag.

In a large saucepan, combine the spice bag with the vinegar, the molasses, the soy sauce and the tamarind. Bring to a boil, lower the heat and let simmer for 45 minutes.

Mix together the salt, the curry powder, the anchovy and the water. Add to the liquid in the saucepan. Remove from heat. Pour the contents of the saucepan (including the spice bag) into a stainless or glass container.

Cover tightly and place in the refrigerator for two weeks, mixing from time to time and squeezing the spice bag. After the two weeks, remove the spice bag and bottle the sauce. Keep in the refrigerator and shake well before use.

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A Better One
Joy of Cooking and to my great surprise, ran across just what you are looking for! In order to make it, they want you to make two other sauces first- they are also good, solid condiment recipes and you may enjoy them on their own as well but it will be a REAL labor of love to make your sauce- I will post the Worcestershire first then the other two:


Worcestershire Sauce
(makes 5 cups)

Put into a jug:

1 quart cider vinegar
6 tbsp Walnut Catsup (recipe below)
5 tbsp essence of anchovies or
2 oz. anchovies, finely chopped
4 tbsp Chili Sauce (recipe below)
tiny pinch cayenne pepper
1 tsp salt
1 tbsp sugar

Cork and shake 4 times daily for 2 weeks. Strain into sterile bottles. Cork tightly and store in a cool place.

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Walnut Catsup
(makes about 3-1/2 quarts)

Pick and bruise 100 immature green English walnuts, still so soft they can be pierced through with a needle. Put them into a crock with:

2 qts vinegar
6 oz salt

Cover, mash and stir daily for 8 days. Drain the liquid and put it into an enamel or stainless steel pan with:

4 oz finely chopped anchovies
12 finely chopped shallots or 1 clove chopped garlic
1/2 cup grated fresh horseradish
1/2 tsp each mace, nutmeg, ginger, whole cloves and peppercorns

Cover and bring mixture to a boil, then simmer gently about 40 minutes.

Filter, cool and add 2 cups port. Pour into sterile glass bottles. Cork well. Cover the corks with wax. Store in a cool dry place.

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Chili Sauce
(makes about 8 pints)

Wash, peel and quarter 1 peck ripe tomatoes (8 quarts)

Put through a food grinder:

6 green peppers, seeds and membrane removed
1 tbsp dried hot pepper pods
6 skinned large white onions

Add the tomatoes along with:

2 cups brown sugar
3 cups cider vinegar
3 tbsp coarse salt
1 tbsp each: black pepper, allspice, ground cloves
1 tsp each ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg and celery seed
2 tbsp dry mustard

Simmer these ingredients slowly until very thick, about 3 hours*. Stir frequently to prevent scorching. Add salt if needed. Put sauce in small sterile jars. Seal and process in a water bath for 15 minutes. Store in a cool dry place.

I found making this type of sauce in a crock pot more successful. Like making apple butter and thick sauces, you are less apt to get burned sauces.

Shared by Debra
(4/28/11)

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Betty's Better Mayo Recipe

 Betty's Better Mayo Recipe

1 whole egg
1 tsp dry mustard
1 tsp sugar (I omit)
1/4 tsp salt
dash cayenne pepper ( I also add a dash of paprika)
2 tbsp lemon juice or vinegar
1 cup salad oil (sometimes +1/4 cup if egg is huge)

In your blender (I like a small food chopper instead) put the egg and everything but the oil. Now add 1/4 cup of the oil. Mix for about 5 seconds. Beat on high speed and slowly add the oil in a thin stream. Scrape the sides and give a final whirl.

If the mayo isn't thick enough for you, you can up to 1/4 cup oil until it is. If you add much than that, it gets icky oily.

Of course, you can use this as a base and add various herbs - dill, oregano, etc. You can thin it with a little water, or more lemon juice or sour cream, or milk, or whatever, and make salad dressing.

Adding a bit of madras curry powder makes a delicious dressing.

Jola Gayle
in Memphis
(3/10/09)

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Homemade Miracle Whip

Homemade Miracle Whip

Whoo Hoo! I just learned how to make "Miracle Whip," or an acceptable facsimile. Normally I'm a mayo fan, but there are some things that require Miracle Whip/salad dressing. Liver cheese sandwiches require thinly sliced onions and MW. Potato or macaroni salad requires half mayo and half MW.

However, being on a tight budget lately, we've been buying generics, and it's proven impossible to find a decent tasting substitute for Miracle Whip, plus the texture isn't right. Out of frustration, I googled miracle whip recipe the other day and discovered some recipes out there.

I tried the first one that appeared for me, and it was perfect. After much griping, tho, because it was a most involved recipe, I realized it is basically a simple thing to do.

Put 1-1/2 cup mayo in a mixing bowl

Put 1/2 cup water and 1 tbsp vinegar in small pan and bring to a boil. (I reduced vinegar to 1 tbsp)

While water heats, put 2 tbsp sugar into 2 tbsp flour and mix well. (Am thinking of reducing sugar to 1-1/2 tbsp, maybe just 1.)

When water boils, take pan off heat and dump flour mixture into pan and whisk until blended and thickened.

With a spatula, scrape this out of the pan and onto the mayo. Stir and blend in well. Voila, Miracle Whip.

Why do this you may ask? I'm cheap, replies I. I can buy a bottle of canola oil for about $3.75 and with a few eggs (60 cents' worth) and incidental ingredients make the equivalent of about $8 worth of mayo and MW. Not to mention that I know what has gone in it - pure ingredients with no preservatives.

If anyone wants a good recipe for 1-egg mayo, Better Crocker's 1970-ish cookbook has an excellent, very easy recipe. If you want me to post it, I will.

J. Gayle
(3/9/09)

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Olíusósa - Homemade Mayonnaise

All this discussion of fresh scratch made mayo made me go look it up. Doesn't look hard to make either: http://www.simnet.is/gullis/jo/Miscellaneous.htm
The above is the site I got this from. (non-English language site)

Olíusósa - Homemade Mayonnaise

makes 200-300 grams (7-10 oz.)

2 egg yolks
1/2 tsp salt
200-300 ml salad (or cooking) oil
1 pinch pepper (optional)
1/2-1 tsp sugar
1 pinch dry, ground mustard seeds (optional)
1-2 tsp vinegar* or lemon juice

*White vinegar can be used but will make the taste sharp. Flavoured vinegar, such as tarragon, makes the taste more mellow.

Mayonnaise can be made in a blender or a mixer, or by hand, using a whisk and a bowl with a rounded bottom.

Egg yolks and oil must be at room temperature. Mixing bowl/blender cup must be clean and dry, and also at room temperature.

Choose oil that has little flavour of its own.

Mix and stir the egg yolks with the salt until light and thickened. Add the sugar and the spice, if using (pepper OR mustard) and half the vinegar/lemon juice and mix well. Lemon juice is healthier than vinegar, and mayonnaise made with lemon juice is better in dressings meant for fruit salads.

Start mixing the oil into the egg yolks, first drop by drop, and then, when the oil begins to blend in, in a steady trickle.

Stirring must be constant, or else the sauce may separate. The mayonnaise should thicken bit by bit as more oil is added.

If it becomes thinner the oil and egg are not mixing, i.e. the sauce is separating. If that happens, stop adding oil, stir the sauce harder and add 1 tsp water or cream. If that does not thicken the sauce, there are two methods you can use to save the sauce:

a) take a fresh egg yolk and put it in a clean bowl, whisk with a little salt and then add the thin sauce in a steady trickle, stirring constantly until the sauce thickens. The continue adding the oil until the sauce is the right thickness.

b) put 1 tbs. cold water and a bit of vinegar/lemon juice in a clean bowl and add the thin sauce in a steady trickle, stirring with a clean whisk. Then add the oil until the sauce is the right thickness.

Prepared, home-made mayonnaise should be thick, smooth and shiny. It keeps well in a closed container in a cold place for a few days. Must not be allowed to freeze and must not be kept in the coldest spot in the refrigerator because then it will separate when it is taken out for use.

When putting the mayonnaise away, smooth it into the container and put a tiny amount of water or oil on top so that a film can not form on top. Spices may be stirred carefully into the sauce before use, and for thinning, whipped cream may be mixed in.

The sauce must be thick if it is to be used for decorating food or in salads that will be used to top bread.

Sauce that will be used on food can be thinner and may be made using whole eggs instead of yolks, or eggs and yolks (1 whole egg + 1 yolk).

If you want to enlarge the recipe, follow these guidelines:
100 ml of oil should be used per each egg yolk, or 150-200 ml per whole egg.

The eggs can bind more oil than than, but then the mayonnaise will taste oily.

Sent in by Elena

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Comment on making Mayo below

Homemade Mayonnaise

A couple of comments if you've never made mayo from scratch before. A lot of cookbooks suggest that an electric mixer, food processor, or blender are directly interchangeable with a balloon whisk and a bowl. Not really.

A balloon whisk will produce a thicker, creamier mayo. If you want a lighter, fluffier mayo then let the machine do it.

Also, if you've never made your own sauce mayonnaise before, use a balloon whisk the first time. Basically, you're making an emulsion like a sauce hollandaise. Adding the fat, in this case the oil, too rapidly, or beating too aggressively can cause the sauce to break. Some cookbooks refer to this as "turning", "curdling" or "separating", but basically what's happening is the emulsion is breaking down. Doing it by hand the first time gives you more control, and you'll have a feel for the changes in appearance and consistency you want when you do decide to let your appliances do the work for you. Your first time out it's also a wise idea not to try doubling the recipe. Any given egg can only bind with so much oil. Until you have a feel for what you want in a good mayo it's easier to work with smaller quantities. If you need more, repeat the recipe until you have the quantity you need.

Homemade mayo does have a couple differences, other than taste, when compared with store bought. It has a shorter shelf life in the frig because it doesn't contain any preservatives. The other thing to know is that it will not hold the way a store bought mayo will. It will separate because it doesn't have the stabilizers added to commercially prepared mayo. BTW, you can force Hellmann's or Best Foods to separate by lowering their temperature enough. It's the reason they tell you not to freeze their product.

If your homemade mayo does separate, don't worry. It's easy to fix. Remembering that emulsions form more easily at room temperature, let your mayo warm a bit. Then in a warm bowl beat together one tablespoon of any prepared mustard with one tablespoon of your mayo until the mixture is thick and creamy again. You can use whatever mustard you have handy. It doesn't have to be Grey Poupon. After the mixture has thickened, continue adding the separated mayo by spoonfuls beating after each addition.

Happy Sinko de Mayo!
Randall
(6/22/08)

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Hollandaise Sauce

Hollandaise is also a cinch to make. I use a whole egg instead of a yolk, lemon juice, about 2/3 butter and 1/3 olive oil. Sometimes add capers, especially if serving it with fish. I use less fat than most recipes say, maybe 3-4 tbs. It's still very tasty.

Hollandaise Sauce

Melt the butter and oil together. Heat a small pan of water (about half an inch) to a simmer.

Beat the egg in a small bowl and add a piece of cold butter, and the lemon juice and some salt (optional).

Heat while whisking. When the butter starts to melt and the egg warms, start pouring in the oil/butter mixture, whisking all the while, until all incorporated.

Optional additions, herbs such as fresh tarragon, or capers, or some half and half to thin it if you want, or whipped cream.

While whisking, if the mix starts to cook (looks like curdling) take off heat, and add a bit of cold butter.

Perfect this time of year with asparagus.

Mary
(6/22/08)

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Pear Sauce (and what to do with a lot of pears)

Pear Sauce (and what to do with a lot of pears)

After poaching some in pear brandy with a bit of butter and eating them fresh cooked, I then usually make pear sauce, which I freeze. J likes it warmed up with a sprinkle of cinnamon or nutmeg on top, or I use a cup of it in the waffle mix, or it makes a good substitute for applesauce in any bread, cake or muffin recipe.

I've also made pear tart in the past.

Peel (optional), core (not optional, IMO) and chop (works better) any number of pears.  Cook over a low heat with a little bit of water until it is the consistency you want for pear sauce.  Strain (if not peeled).

Freeze in 1 cup (or more) containers. 

Add to wheat bread.  Or add to waffles.  Or add to muffins.  Or feed to your family warm.  Or cold.
Stir into oatmeal.  Or cooked rice.  Or oatmeal cookies.  Use anywhere applesauce is called for.

Slightly brown pork chops (drain grease), add 1 cup pear sauce, bake. Can you tell we like pear sauce?

Make dried pears.  Peel (optional), core (not optional) and slide about 1/4" thick.  Dehydrate using your favorite method.  Freeze or eat as is.

Elizabeth/zinlizzie
(11/30/06)

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Kimchi de Provence

Kimchi de Provence

1 head Chinese (Nappa) Cabbage--you can use European cabbage but it's just not the same
4 tbsp Kosher salt--PLEASE use Kosher!
1 tbsp Herbes de Provence
1 bunch green onions, chopped, greens and whites
As many cloves of garlic as you can stand, peeled and chopped well--I use at least six
1 glass gallon jar with lid

Chop the cabbage very roughly, I just cut it right across the cabbage every inch or so. Discard the core. In a big bowl, toss the cabbage, garlic and green onion with the salt and herbes de provence. Pack into the glass jar. Take the end of your rolling pin (assuming you use a big thick dowel like I do) and lightly pound the contents in the jar. Your goal is not to pulverize but to get the cabbage juice flowing. Screw the lid on and leave on your counter at room temperature for 48-72 hours or so. Refrigerate after opening. Delicious!

Notes
This is a "white" kimchi, without red pepper. It's not hot at all, but it has the benefits of fermented cabbage, which are numerous, and garlic. To make more traditional kimchi, take the above recipe, add a nob of ginger peeled and chopped fine, leave out the herbes de provence, and add at least a tablespoon of red pepper flakes. You can add any vegetables you'd like to this, but I suggest staying away from broccoli, except maybe the stems. Kimchi is very versatile, you can add or leave out garlic, ginger and/or red pepper and many different flavorings. I do suggest for health reasons you have nappa cabbage as your base and add or subtract other things to it for different tastes.

It will last in your fridge for several weeks, and in fact will "ripen" and improve in flavor as it sits.

Lynn S.
(11/26/06)

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Banana Jam

Banana Jam

Cut up 2 cups of ripe bananas, 1 cup sugar, 2 tablespoons lemon juice.

Place all in saucepan, stir and heat gently until thickens. Place in jars while hot. Makes 3 medium jars of jam.

Enjoy!
Brenda
(6/22/06)

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Brenda's Tomato Jam

Got a Church Fete or a Charity fund raising event coming up? Here are some recipes to try out.

Brenda's Tomato Jam

8 lb. Tomatoes
6 lemons
7 lb. Sugar
1 (1/2 oz.) Grated ginger

Cut tomatoes into slices and peel lemons as thinly as possible and cut into shreds, squeeze lemon juice and add with sugar and ginger to tomatoes, boil all together till sufficiently thick, bottle and seal as usual.

Brenda
(6/22/06)

Note: Use your canner's manufacturer's directions and follow all safety precautions when canning.

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Brandied Cherries

Brandied Cherries

Take several pounds of cherries and wash them with stems on. Put them in a big glass container with a tight fitting lid, go to Big Lots and get some canisters if you don't have any. Drown them in brandy. Close the lid. Leave them alone as much as possible. Eat them in the winter.

They are very romantic, if you have that option available, if not you can just get tanked and still sleep as well as if you had the romantic evening - and either way you'd have a hard time remembering it anyway. You can drink the brandy that will be very dark cherry liquid or you can put more cherries in it and do it again.

from our very own Zen Waitress
(7/13/05)

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Yogurt: A few notes about making your own yogurt...

Yogurt: A few notes about making your own yogurt...

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Joy wrote:
When I make my own, I have used one of the tall, 2-quart vacuum lid french canning jars, scalded the milk, added a little whole or skimmed milk powder if I wanted it thick, cooled it to lukewarm (the same temperature range bread yeast likes) add about 1/2 cup of plain live yogurt, wrapped the whole thing in a big, thick towel and stuck it in the oven (off but with pilot light) all night.

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Jola Gayle wrote:
And I just use a mayonnaise jar (unsterilized), scald the milk, cool it, haven't much added milk powder, put a half-cup buttermilk in the jar, pour in a little milk, stir it, add the rest, screw the lid on, put it in a pan deep enough to cover the jar with warm water at least half (preferably 3/4) and set it on top of the refrigerator until the next morning.

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Erika wrote:
I have a New Zealand-made gadget called an Easiyo, which is basically a very large insulated jar in which you place a 1-liter container of milk and culture and pour hot water around it to keep it warm. Leave it for 6-8 hours, and it's done. The nice thing about it is you don't have to worry about turning it off; the water cools gradually, so it's practically impossible to spoil the yoghurt by forgetting about it. I much prefer it to the electric gadget I used to have.

I imagine you could do something similar with a small picnic cooler; or just put the yoghurt in a thermos.

And here's the thing I learned from Laurel's Kitchen years ago: powdered milk (especially the Milkman brand, which has just a little bit of fat) makes excellent yoghurt. No messing around with boiling and cooling the milk--just use hot (110°F-115°F) tap water to dissolve the milk powder, then add the culture. Of course, with powdered milk you don't know much about the source, relative happiness of the cows, etc., so you may still prefer to use regular milk.

(5/2/05)

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Cranberry Marmalade (from Joan)

Cranberry Marmalade (from Joan)

1 grapefruit
1 orange
2-1/2 cups water
3 cups cranberries
5 cups sugar

Cut up and thinly slice grapefruit and orange. Place in pan with water and simmer 20 minutes.

Increase heat to medium and add cranberries and sugar; cook until thick (about 30 minutes).

I think I used to do the jelly test (drop solidifying off the end of the spoon or something?) but I don't remember. This stuff is really good - tastes kind of like English Seville orange marmalade.

Joan
(10/03/04)
(Editor's note: Though it does not state this is a canning recipe, it is listed here because one can if they wish. It is also listed in "Sauces".) Cranberry Marmalade

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Pesto (for freezing, possibly blasphemous)

Pesto (for freezing, possibly blasphemous)

Here's a recipe for pesto to freeze that I got from my shepherd friend tonight. My few (4) basil plants have grown to a size to rival a California redwood, so I need something to do with it. They must like rain. Thought the recipe might appeal to some of you. I'm not a pesto expert, so don't blast me if it's a blasphemous recipe :-)

To fill one ice tray for freezing:
3 cups packed fresh basil leaves
2 lg garlic cloves
1/2 cup pine nuts or walnuts or almonds or combo of all
3/4 cup packed fresh parsley
3/4 cup grated parmesan
1/2 cup olive oil
1/4 melted butter
Salt to taste if desired

Smash all into a blender and battle to get to a rough paste. Once at rough paste stage, fill ice tray and place in freezer. After frozen, slip knife around edges to free and dump into a freezer bag.

Of course, I had to fiddle with the recipe. First I didn't have any parsley, so I substituted more basil. Then I had a little basil left over, so I added that. There were a few more cloves of garlic left, so they got added. Then it seemed to need a bit more olive oil. Then there was this inch chunk of parmesan, (oops, I only had romano) romano left over, so it got grated and added. Then I saw the bottle of lemon juice and thought a splash of that would be great. And then there was this half stick of butter left over, so it got added.

It still tasted great and filled 2 ice trays instead of 1.

Jola Gayle
(8/17/04)

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Making Hollandaise Sauce - Quick and Easy

Making Hollandaise  Sauce - Quick and Easy
Put about half an inch of water in a pan, bring to simmer, not boil. Never let the water boil while making the sauce, and make sure water doesn't touch the bowl that will contain the butter. (IOW, you don't need an official double boiler to do this.)

Melt some butter in another sauce pan or butter melter. You could even use a mixture of butter and olive oil. Jooolia will say to take off the melted butter from the solids; I don't bother.

Joolia incorporates a horrendous amount of butter into one egg yolk, but I don't put so much. I think it's less likely to separate when there's less butter in the sauce, and less butter or butter/oil means its not quite as rich.

Maybe about 4 tablespoons of butter or butter/oil, half a stick, to use with one egg or egg yolk. Get the butter hot but not smoking.

While waiting for water to simmer and butter to melt., crack an egg into a bowl that fits into the saucepan with the water, but doesn't touch the simmering water.

Use either the whole egg or just the yolk. For the 'cholesterol challenged' use the whole egg. Whisk it. Squeeze some lemon juice into the egg, to taste, salt if you like, whisk, add a pat of unmelted butter.

Put this mixture over the simmering water and let it heat while whisking. When the egg mixture is warm, but not turned to custard, and the unmelted butter has melted, start adding the melted butter or butter/oil slowly, while whisking. (Joolia will say butter added in tiny quantities drop by drop, but I add it faster, maybe it works because I don't use the amount of butter she does.)

Whisk and whisk, and let the whole mixture heat up until you can see it thicken, but don't let it over heat or the whole mess will separate.

Anytime it seems to be ready to separate, add some cold butter and whisk.

If you want to thin it out so it won't be quite as rich, add some half and half, maybe a couple of tablespoons. I think the name for this, or maybe if you add whipped cream to the hollandaise, is sauce mousseline. Whipped heavy cream added to hollandaise is to die for!.....and it just might kill you. LOL.

Mary
(4/6/04)

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Apple Butter in the Crockpot Non-Recipe

Apple Butter in the Crockpot Non-Recipe

My crockpot has been spewing apple butter for the last 3 days.

I just threw in apples, added sugar, cinnamon and cloves, and a pinch of salt, turned it on high for an hour, then low for 24 hours or so.

It is sooo good, and easy. I can make applesauce, and slice some for pies while this is cookin'.

I was gifted with bushels of Macintosh apples, some bruised and broken and the deer will get those.

Gail
(9/19/03)

(Note: this can be canned. Follow your canner's directions, etc.)

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Peanut Dipping Sauce for Beef Satay or Noodle Salad

Peanut Dipping Sauce for Beef Satay or Noodle Salad

This is my basic noodle sauce recipe, which was great on the beef satay.  It makes enough for a noodle salad as well as the beef.  Keeps in the fridge for about a week.

handful fresh cilantro
a 1" piece of ginger root, peeled
several cloves of garlic -- maybe 3 (in this recipe it is used raw, so don't go overboard)
1 cup natural style peanut butter,
     (do not use Skippy or Jiff or any processed brand- which are of the devil)
1/3 cup balsamic vinegar
1/3 cup soy sauce
2 to 4 tbsp chili paste with garlic
     (I like Lee Kum Kee brand, adjust depending on how spicy you like it)
2 tbsp brown sugar
2 tsp dark sesame oil
1/2  to 3/4 cup hot water, more or less

Process cilantro, ginger and garlic to make a paste.  Add PB, balsamic, brown sugar, soy sauce, chile paste, brown sugar, dark sesame oil.  Process. Pour water in -- just enough to make the sauce the consistency of thick cream.

Refrigerate until needed.  If making noodle salad, do not put on the noodles until just before serving (the pasta will otherwise absorb the sauce and the texture will be gummy and not good).

Carolyn
(7/22/03)

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Mango Salsa a la Shelley

Mango Salsa a la Shelley

5 ripe tomatoes
1 ripe mango
1 bunch cilantro
1 Serrano Chili pepper
2 to 3 cloves garlic
1/4 whole red onion
2 limes juiced
1 tsp chili powder

Chop the tomatoes and mango into small bite sized bits.  Clean out Serrano chili pepper.  Add chili pepper, garlic, cilantro, and red onion to small food processor, process till all finely chopped.

Combine tomatoes, mango and processed ingredients in a storage bowl.  Add chili powder and lime juice, stir to combine, refrigerate for a few hours to strengthen flavors.

Shelley
(7/21/03)

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Pear and Vanilla Jam

Pear and Vanilla Jam

From "Creating Gourmet Gifts" by Barbara Beckett, published by Allen and Unwin 1992 ISBN 1 86373 246 2. It's a great book.

2 kg (a little more than 4 lbs) under-ripe pears, peeled and chopped
Zest and juice of 2 lemons
3 cups water
1 vanilla bean, split
2 kg sugar

Put the pears, lemon, water and vanilla bean into a pan. Simmer until the fruit is tender. Remove the vanilla bean and add the sugar; stir until the sugar is dissolved. Bring to the boil, and boil hard until setting point is reaches (sugar thermometer 110°C, 220°F), or until a drop sets on a chilled plate and does not run.

Take off the heat and let the jam rest for 15 minutes Ladle into sterilized jars, seal and label. Store in a cool, dark place.

This is a subtle tasting jam, that smells wonderful when cooking. I have found it better to cut the pears up fairly small, the pieces do not disintegrate during cooking, and if you chop roughly, you will large pieces of pear in your finished jam. They can be difficult to spread evenly over your toast. This jam is very popular with my family and friends.

Leigh
licking fingers, in Canberra
(5/15/03)

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Green Tomato Pickles (from Katherine)

Green Tomato Pickles (from Katherine)

I have a delicious recipe for green tomato pickles. It is actually about half sliced onions and half sliced green tomatoes and involves molasses. It's great with cold meat. It's from my English (NZ actually) grandmother. Don't know where she got it.

Okay, I pulled out my family cookbook and here it is:

Take 2 quarts green tomatoes, slice them and sprinkle with salt, let stand for 24 hours; then strain off liquor.

Mix together:
1 qt malt vinegar
1/2 pint dark molasses
1 tbsp mustard, English
1/2 tbsp curry powder
1/2 tsp mixed spice (pickling spice)

Heat to nearly boiling; then put in tomatoes and 3 large sliced onions; 1 small egg-spoon cayenne pepper (this is smaller than a teaspoon). Cook 5 min. can add flour for thickening.

Then I guess you put them in sterile jars. They have to sit for at least a month so the flavor develops.

I haven't made this, but my mother has and it's wonderful. I also have a good recipe for apple chutney if anyone wants it.

Katherine C.
(10/2/02)

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