Thursday, January 1, 2015

Welcome To My Blog!

Here it is, January 1, 2015.  This isn't so much as a New Years Resolution, but just finally decided to start this blog that I've had reserved for the last 5 years or so under the name "What's To Eat?".

My husband, Bob, and I spend a good part of every year traveling, meeting people, leading Christian worship in churches and events, operating a charitable organization for fatherless and widows, and.....enjoying the food (almost) everywhere we go!  If there's one thing that joins all of human-kind together, it's the love of eating and sharing food with friends and strangers.  It's fun to watch them in disbelief when we actually eat something they've challenged us with, and sometimes pretty surprising that anyone could actually enjoy some of what they rave about as delicious!

I also really like to cook: not so much fancy, it just has to taste good!

So, in this blog, I'm going to write and photograph some of the foods that cross my path, the markets along the way (not everyone shops the same way you may be familiar with!), stories behind the food...who know?  But let's have some fun!  And enjoy the food!

Last week, when I made my very first foray into cracker making, I posted a picture on FaceBook of them along with the goodies I served alongside that we took to the beach across the street to eat while we enjoyed the sunset.  Several "friends" asked for the recipes.  Here you go!

Flax Seed Crackers served with Goat Cheese and Cranberries, Bacon Jam, Gorgonzola Cheese

My son, Andy and his wife Julie moved away from Hawaii (where our home is) a few months ago, and left some of their cupboard with us when they left.  Among the stash was some flax seeds - a large bag of them.  Well, I just don't like throwing things away, so there they sat in my cupboard for 6 months.  Finally, in a clean out stage, I thought I'd see what I could do with them.  A quick internet search, and I found this recipe, compliments of www.flax.com,  which I tried out successfully.  I'm not one to follow a recipe thoroughly, especially if I want to make something and don't have all the required ingredients.  You see the ** next to the flaxseed ingredients?  I put those ** there to let you know that I only had the seeds.  So I put them in my coffee grinder and made flour from them.  So I used the cup that I had instead of the two 1/2 cup flaxseed things the recipe asked for.  And I didn't do the variations either...

Flax Seed Crackers
Baking Time: 20 Minutes
Yield: 24 crackers

1/2 cup stabilized ground flaxseed **
1/2 cup all-purpose unbleached flaxseed flour **
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
4 tsp butter, softened
1/2 cup skim milk


Variations:
Onion: 1 tbsp powdered onion soup mix.
Cheese: 1 cup grated cheddar cheese.
Italian: 1 tbsp oregano and 1 cup grated mozzarella cheese.

Directions:
1. In bowl of stand-up mixer, add stabilized ground flaxseed flour, bakingpowder, salt and butter. With the paddle attachment, mix on low speed until the mixture resembles a coarse meal.
2. Stir in milk and mix until mixture forms a soft dough. (You can also mix the dough by hand.)
3. Wrap dough in plastic wrap and chill 10 minutes.
4. Divide the dough into quarters. Turn out onto a lightly floured board. Roll out very thin to a rectangle 2 mm
(1/16 inch) thick. Cut into 2ó inch squares.
5. Transfer to an ungreased baking sheet.
6. Repeat with the remainder of the dough.
7. Preheat oven to 325º F.
8. Bake 20 minutes until crisp and golden.


Now what's REALLY good is the bacon jam!:



Bacon Jam

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 pounds sliced bacon, cut crosswise into 1-inch pieces

• 2 medium yellow onions, diced small

• 3 garlic cloves, minced small

• 1/2 cup cider vinegar

• 1/2 cup packed dark-brown sugar

• 1/4 cup pure maple syrup

• 3/4 cup espresso (strong brewed coffee works too)

• 1 tablespoon cracked pepper (unless you use peppered bacon)

Method:

In large saucepan, cook bacon over medium-high, stirring occasionally, until fat is rendered and bacon is lightly browned. Transfer bacon to paper towels to drain. Pour off all but 1 tablespoon fat from skillet; add onions and garlic, and cook until onions are translucent. Add vinegar, brown sugar, maple syrup, coffee, and pepper and bring to a boil, stirring and scraping up browned bits.

While sauce is cooking, mince bacon into very small pieces and add to sauce. Continue to cook on a low simmer uncovered (stirring occasionally) 3 1/2 to 4 hours, or until it has reduced down to a thick syrup, it will get thicker as it cools. Refrigerate in airtight containers, up to 4 weeks.

Serve w/ Blue Cheese, crackers and a hearty red wine



HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL!!

1 comment:

  1. Love your blog Kathy. You are such a great cook so this is a real treat. Hugs.

    ReplyDelete