The Joys of Homemade Yogurt

I love yogurt, but I hate how much it costs in the grocery store.  Especially Greek yogurt, which is my absolute favorite kind of yogurt because it is high in protein and low in carbohydrates.  For these reason, Greek yogurt works really well in my diabetic meal plan.

I have read the blog posts that explain how to make yogurt using a crockpot slow cooker.  There are also posts that explain how to make yogurt in your oven too.  I have to say, these methods seemed easy for a single batch, but for the amount of work involved, I didn't see these methods as doable in the long run.

Recently I have realized that I need to include more yogurt, and the helpful bacteria living in the yogurt, into my diet.  I didn't want to blow my food budget trying to do this.  So in a moment of clarity, I decided to buy a yogurt maker on Amazon.com. I also purchased packages of yogurt starter.

So far I have made two batches and I already know I made a good choice.

I picked the yogurt maker with the glass containers, because I love how glass is non-porous and easy to clean.  I also think glass transfers the heat from the yogurt maker base better versus plastic.  I also like having seven 6 oz. individual servings in the refrigerator, all pre-portioned and ready to eat in the morning.  

Here is the recipe I am using to make my yogurt:

Selena's Thick Custard-style Greek Inspired Yogurt

42 oz. whole mix
10 Tbsp. nonfat milk powder
1 packet yogurt starter mix

Pour the milk into a microwave-safe bowl and heat on HIGH for 8 to 10 minutes, until the milk reaches a temperature of 180 degrees F.  Add the nonfat milk powder and using a whisk, stir to combine.

Allow the milk to cool on the counter, until the temperature reaches 115 degrees F.   If applicable, remove the skin that formed over the milk as it cooled.  Pour out one cup of milk and add the packet of yogurt starter mix.  Stir until combined, then add the milk back into the bowl and stir with the whisk.

Pour the milk into the yogurt making containers, set them onto the base, cover with the lid and turn the yogurt maker to the ON position.  Allow the milk to develop into yogurt for 10 to 12 hours.  The longer you allow the yogurt to cook, the tarter the taste.  To stop the process, refrigerate immediately and allow to cool for at least three hours before consuming. 

Cranberry Relish to Remember

Hmm, maybe I shouldn't admit this--it kinda of makes me sound old!  But I actually posses a cranberry orange relish recipe that I have been using since the late 1980's.  It's called Cranberry Relish to Remember from Jane Brody's Good Food Book.

Here is the weird thing.  Somewhere along the way, I sort of misplaced the my copy of this cookbook around the early 2000's.  But as the name of the recipe implies, I still remembered this relish and how darn tasty it was!

Through the magic of the Internet and some pretty good search skills, I located the recipe again in 2009.

What can I say?  This is a holiday recipe that holds a special place in my heart. It is a great accompaniment to turkey, as well as scrumptious on toast or plain yogurt.  Try it for yourself and I think you'll agree.

Cranberry Relish to Remember 

2 cups fresh, whole, sound cranberries
1 fresh, whole, sound and unpeeled orange ( I prefer a Valencia orange)
3 tablespoons sugar
Pinch salt
2 to 3 tablespoons orange flavored liqueur (I use Grand Marnier)

1. Chop the cranberries and orange together by hand, in a food processor or by forcing them through the coarse blade of a meat grinder. (I use a chop box with the fine dicing insert.) Take care not to let the fruit get mushy.

2. Transfer the fruit to a bowl, and stir in the sugar, salt and liqueur.

3.  Let sit overnight in the refrigerator before serving.

Gala Apple Pie

I hate it when I buy produce in the market, only to discover when I get home that the quality is much lower than expected.  This happened to me recently when I bought a bag of small Gala apples.

My first mistake, of course, was buying produce in a netting bag.  I thought I had given the apples a real good once over in the store, but when I ripped open the netting at home I discover that it hide some pretty poor quality apples, with uneven skins and lots of bruises.

I thought about returned them, but that was too much hassle.  I thought about throwing them out, but that seemed like a waste.  Then I thought about salvaging them by preparing slices for freezing.

So I pulled out my copy of The Busy Person's Guide to Preserving Food: Easy Step-by-Step Instructions for Freezing, Drying, and Canning only to learn that freezing apple slices might be fast, but only produces an acceptable product that is best used in pies and baked goods. 

Which led to my next dilemma: Gala apples aren't considered cooking apples.

What make a good cooking apple is firm flesh.  It's that firmness that prevents it from turning to mush when you cook it.  Because of that firmness, cooking apples also tend to be tart.

By contrast, an eating apple has softer flesh and a high sugar content.

But I decided to forge ahead anyway, so I cut up the apples into water with some Vitamin C powder in it.  Then I drained the apples and place them in a bowl with 1/4 cup of sugar to drawn juice out of the apples and dissolve the sugar.

As they were sitting on the counter, I looked at my book again and saw a tip that said:

An easy way to freeze apples for pies is to prepare the pie filling as you would if you were baking right away.

That sounded like a good idea, so I hunted on the Internet for a Gala Apple Pie recipe and stumbled across this one:

1/4 cup apple juice
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 tsp cinnamon 
4 tbsp light butter (stick or tub) at room temperature
4 Gala apples, peeled, cored and sliced
2 tbsp cornstarch
2 refrigerated ready-made piecrusts

Preheat oven to 350 F.

Combine apple juice, sugar (and cinnamon) and butter in a bowl. Add apples and cornstarch. Place one piecrust in a 9" pie pan and fill with mixture. Slice the second piecrust into eight 1/2-inch-thick strips and drape over filled pie shell in a crisscross pattern; pinch edges to fasten to bottom crust.

Bake 55 1 hour 15 minutes or until golden brown. Sprinkle top with cinnamon.

Here is how I modified the recipe:

• I used 1/4 cup of the apple juice drawn out from the apples and used the rest of the juice for something else.
• I cut the sugar down to 1/4 cup, since I already sprinkle the apples with 1/4 cup sugar to drawn the juice out.
• I added the cinnamon to the rest of the filling ingredients.
• I lined a pie plate with heavy duty aluminum foil and then poured in the apple filling.  I place the plate in the freezer for about 24 hours until the filling was frozen solid.
• I remove the foil from the pie plate and wrapped the filling using an additional piece of foil.
• When I was ready to bake the pie, I removed the aluminum foil and placed the frozen filling between the pie crusts prepared as above.
• I found I needed to bake the pie for 1 hour and 15 minutes at 350 F. 

Here is how it turned out and it was delicious.  It was quite a triumphant hit with the hubs.  All this from apples that were quite the disaster when I purchased them.

Crockpot Baked Potatoes

I had no idea you could bake potatoes in the crockpot.  When I stumbled onto this recipe, I thought it was such a novel idea that I had to try it this Thanksgiving.  And I loved the results!

This recipe is quite a find.

Over the years, I have discovered much to my disappointment that not all baked potatoes are created equal.  Even when eating out, a good baked potato at one meal doesn't mean you'll get a good one at the next meal.  Which means ordering a baked potato can sometimes be quite the gamble.

By contrast, slow cooking lets the delicious flavor of the potato come out.  In comparison, conventional high-heat baking yields a less-than tasty result according to the Diane Phillips, author of Slow Cooker: The Best Cookbook Ever (With More Than 400 Easy-to-Make Recipes).

Sure enough, these were some of the best baked potatoes I have ever eaten.  And the leftovers were equally tasty made into twice-baked potatoes the following day, by placing them back into the slow cooker on HIGH for one hour.

Crockpot Baked Potatoes

Serves 4

4 russet potatoes, scrubbed and washed well

1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

5 teaspoons sea salt

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

Using a toothpick, puncture each potato several times.  Drizzle the potatoes with oil and then sprinkle them with the salt and pepper.  Arrange the potatoes into a 4 quart crockpot and cook on LOW for 7 to 8 hours or on HIGH for 3 to 4 hours.  Turn the crockpot to WARM and serve.

Crockpot Southern-Style Green Beans

Crockpots to the Rescue

When you plan to make a big meal for the holidays, you suddenly realize there is only so much room in your oven or on the stove top to make all the things you want to eat. Here is where a crockpot slow cooker can really come to the rescue!

Not only does the handy dandy crockpot free up room elsewhere in the kitchen, it also helps spread out the work on the day of your holiday event. Most crockpot sides need to get started 4 to 8 hours before you serve them.  Once you get them started, you'll have time to rest before the stove-top and oven made dishes on your menu need your attention.

Plus once they are cooked, just turn your slow cooker to warm and serve them buffet style right out of the crock.

Green Beans with Bacon...Yum!

This indulgent way to prepare green beans reminds me a whole lot of how my Grandma made them on the stove top for holiday meals when I was a child.  I discovered this year that the wonderful Musica Spanish Pole Beans I grow in my garden are absolutely delicious prepared this way.

If you remember my post on these pole beans, you'll recall that I save bummer crops by washing them, drying them, cutting them into slivers and then freezing them in Ziploc vacuum freezer bags.  Which means, I did all the prep work on these green beans way back in August--a real holiday time saver!

This recipe is so simple, you'll want to include it at your next get-together:

Southern-Style Green Beans

serves 6 to 8

6 strips of nitrate-free bacon, cut into 1 inch pieces
2 pounds of green beans, ends snipped and cut into 1 inch pieces
1 medium onion, coarsely chopped
1 1/2 cups chicken broth
4 peeled cloves of garlic
6 whole black peppercorns

Simply place all the ingredient into a 5 to 7 quart slow cooker, cover and cook on LOW for six hours.  When ready to serve, discard the garlic cloves and whole peppercorns and dish up using tongs or a slotted spoon.

Recipe adapted from Slow Cooker: The Best Cookbook Ever (With More Than 400 Easy-to-Make Recipes) by Diane Phillips. 

Want to get a crockpot/slow cooker of your own?  Click here to browse the selection and compare prices at Amazon.com. A slow cooker also makes a great holiday gift for the time-strapped cook in your life.

What The Seated Gardener Makes for Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving to all my friends in the United States and all around the world.

So, were you wondering what The Seated Gardener makes and eats on Thanksgiving?  Let me share what was on the menu at my home this year:

1. At 12 o'clock: homemade cranberry orange relish and fresh steamed asparagus
2. At 2 o'clock: Crockpot Baked Potatoes, slow cooked and delicious
3. At 5 o'clock: a wing from the 9 pound Li'l Butterball turkey that was fried using a Butterball Professional Series Indoor Electric Turkey Fryer and seasoned with a Butterball Buttery Creole Seasoning Kit
4. At 8 o'clock: Southern-style Green Beans made in the crockpot, featured the Musica Spanish Pole Beans I grew this past summer in my garden
5. In the middle: Stove Top stuffing (my husband's favorite) with diced onions, celery, carrots and fennel
6. Next to the plate: a glass of Sutter Home Fre White Zinfandel (alcohol-removed wine) in a Govino Recyclable Shatterproof Plastic Wine Glass
7. Not pictured: Gala Apple pie

Check back over the weekend as I will be sharing the recipes I used to make this Thanksgiving feast.

 

 

Related articles

• Crockpot Southern-Style Green Beans (theseatedgardener.com)
• Crockpot Baked Potatoes (theseatedgardener.com)
• Cranberry Relish to Remember (theseatedgardener.com)
• Gala Apple Pie (theseatedgardener.com)

Product Review: "Chop Boxes"

I'm back again today with another recommendation for a product that will help make food prep in the kitchen easier.

The Vidalia Chop Wizard and Other "Chop Boxes"

This is another product that is perfect for those of you who have hand pain, pain that makes using a knife more difficult.  There are several different brands of what I call "chop boxes" on the market (you can see the variety here on Amazon.com), but what they all have in common is a sharp insert grid that uniformly chops vegetables, fruit, cheese and hard boiled eggs into cubes. 

The device relies on you pushing down on the cover, forcing the food item through the grid and into the measuring container below.

Here is a video I found on YouTube that shows the Vidalia Chop Wizard in action:





OK, so what the video doesn't show is that, if pushing down with your hands is a challenge, you can use your arm or other parts of your body to push.  I admit that I have actually used my foot to gently and slowly step down on a chop box placed on the floor, which worked quite well!

Pros:

This item really does chop!  It makes the most uniform diced onions, vegetables, fruits, etc. you have ever seen. It takes less time to dice onions using a chop box versus using a knife and cutting board.  Plus the measurements on the box portion of the container make it easy to see when you have diced 1 cup and are done.

Cons: 

I love this device and highly recommend it.  However, there is a learning curve to using a chop box successfully, which I will share with you below.  This advice really isn't a list of  "cons" per se, but more of a list of things you need to know before you use your chop box the first time.

1. You do need to cut larger vegetables into chunks the size of the insert grid before dicing them with the chop box.  
2. It can also get a little dicey when you try to chop dense raw vegetables like potatoes, yams and beets.  You probably won't be able to create french fries with this.  And I actually broke my first chop box trying to dice raw beets.  (What was I thinking?) 
3. You also need to dice things like tomatoes and pepper with the skin side facing the cover, otherwise the vegetable gets mashed into the cover, not diced into the container below.
4. Finally, you'll want to wash this right way after using so that bits don't get dried and stuck into the cover, which makes it quite difficult to clean.

Want One Too?

Here is a widget featuring a selection of chop boxes on Amazon.com, where Prime members get these items shipped free to them in two days.  (I personally own the Vidalia Chop Wizard.)

Product Review: The Clever Cutter

With Thanksgiving just a few days away, it's time to get smart about getting things done in the kitchen.  So I want to highlight an item I use in my kitchen that makes food prep fast and easy.

 
The Clever Cutter

If you have hand pain that makes using a knife difficult, you need to check out The Clever Cutter.  It looks like a pair of scissors, but is actually a combination of a knife and mini cutting board.

Pros:

The advantage of this tool is that you can cut fruits and vegetables right into the serving bowl, which makes preparing a salad a snap.  It is very easy on your hand when you use it because it incorporates a metal spring into its design.  It is easy to clean and is dishwasher safe.  The Clever Cutter can be stored in a closed position (with the knife resting on the white cutting board) for safer storage.

Here is a video I found on YouTube that shows The Clever Cutter in action (although I'm not sure who you call to get 2 for $10):



Cons:

Unlike a knife, it can not cut through everything.  The scissor-like configuration does make it hard to cut large items, like watermelons or a whole raw chicken into pieces.  It is also a little difficult to sharpen the knife part of the device, but with some practice it gets easier.

Overall:

This is an example of a Seen On TV product that actually works really well.  It does what it says and makes my life much easier.  This unconventional product gets used A LOT in my kitchen.  It is a definite winner, so much so that I am going to buy a second one *just in case* something unforeseen happens to the one I already own.

Want One Too?

Here is a link to the item at Amazon.com, where Prime members get this shipped free to them in two days.

My Husband's Favorites: Cowboy Mac'n'Cheese

Since I shared with you my seasoning mix made with sweet onions, celery, bell peppers and parsley, I wanted to share with you another recipe that uses it.  It also features mild chili peppers, another vegetable that I grow in my garden.

This recipe got me thinking that I should dice up mild green chili peppers and freeze them in small batches for use in Tex-Mex inspired meals.

The biggest surprise for me with this meal is how much my husband loves it.  My hubby says he doesn't like mac 'n' cheese, but I made this and my hubby couldn't get enough of it.  He also loves my Turkey, Broccoli Mac and Cheese recipe.

Let me know if your hubby loves this recipe too!

Cowboy Mac'n'Cheese

serves 6

2 cans condensed cheddar cheese soup
3 cups water
2 cups beef broth
2 Tablespoons Tex-Mex chili seasoning
2 teaspoons chopped garlic
1 16 oz. container Trader Joe's Pulled Beef Brisket in Smoky BBQ Sauce
1 16 oz. box or bag of dried elbow macaroni
2 cups Mexican shredded cheese
3/4 cup frozen seasoning mix
1/4 cup diced mild green chiles

Coat a 6 quart slow cooker liner with cooking spray.

Whisk together until smooth the cheddar cheese soup, water, beef broth, chili season and chopped garlic in the slow cooker.

Add the barbecue beef, elbow macaroni, shredded cheese, seasoning mix and green chilies to the slow cooker and stir to combine.

Cover and cook on LOW for 2 1/2 to 3 1/2 hours.  Check at 2 1/2 hours as the macaroni cooks surprisingly quickly in a slow cooker. 

Garden Finds: All About Tsukemono

I hope you enjoyed my visual guide to making tsukemono that I published last Thursday.

Would you believe I have one more harvest of Japanese cucumbers coming ripe on the vines?  With a heat wave in October, I guess my vines squeaked out one last set of blooms.  The cucumbers are sure growing slowly, but helped along by the recent rains, I think I will eventually get three more cucumbers with which I plan to make on last batch of tsukemono for this season.

Now I just so happened to pick up my Japanese cucumber plants this year at OSH (Orchard Supply Hardware.)  Usually I grow cucumbers from seed, but I was a little behind in getting my garden started this year so I opted for live plants instead.  Since I really like the flavor of the Japanese cucumbers, I wanted to find seeds for them so I could grow them next year.

Garden Find #1

A quick search lead me to the Kitazawa Seed Company in Oakland California.  They stock 13 varieties of Japanese cucumber here.  Varieties include: Palace King hybrid, Palace Pride hybrid, Southern Delight hybrid, Summer Dance hybrid and Tasty Green hybrid.  Here I was, worried that I wouldn't be able to find Japanese cucumber seeds and now I have to figure out which one to purchase!


Garden Find #2

Now of course you can make tsukemono with other vegetables besides cucumbers.  To do this, I decided I needed to invest in a cookbook to teach me how to do this properly.  This lead to my second discovery:


I seem to have grabbed the last copy of this book available at my local Barnes&Noble. But head over to Barnes&Noble.com to find other books on the subject too. And come back to find more posts about my adventures in making tsukemono!
 

Related articles

• A Visual Guide to Making Tsukemono (漬物) (theseatedgardener.com)
• Too Many Cukes? Freeze Slices for Later (theseatedgardener.com)

Crockpot Chicken Soup with a Trader Joe's Twist

I love Trader Joe's.  But I also admit that sometimes it's hard to figure out how to use their products!

Part of the problem is that their stock fluctuates.  I can't tell you how many times I have headed to TJs to pick up a particular item, only to find that it has vanished from their shelves.  What a disappointment!

Another factor is the size of their inventory.  Did you know that a traditional supermarket stocks about 50,000 items?  Or that Trader Joe's, by comparison, only stocks about 4,000 items?  So if you go there with a menu plan and corresponding shopping list, you might be out of luck when it comes to picking up all the ingredients you need.

Knowing this, it almost seems wiser to come prepared with several recipe cards in hand and decided what to prepare at home based on their inventory that day.

I just so happen to have the recipe for my Crockpot Chicken Soup pretty much memorized, so on a recent trip to Trader Joe's I started hunting for ingredients to make it.  And success--I was able to get everything I needed to make it!  So I am passing along my good fortune and presenting my recipe using the Trader Joe's ingredients that I used to prepare it this time around.  Enjoy!

Selena's Crockpot Chicken Soup
with a Trader Joe's Twist

makes 12 servings

• 1 box Trader Joe's Savory Broth chicken flavor (dry goods aisle)
• 1 package Trader Joe's organic baby carrots (refrigerated case)
• 1 package Trader Joe's organic celery hearts (refrigerated case)
• 1 large white or yellow onion (produce section)
• 1 head elephant or regular garlic (produce section)
• 2 6 oz. bags Trader Joe's organics baby spinach (refrigerated case)
• 2 package Trader Joe's Just Chicken (refrigerated case)
• 1 bottle Trader Joe's Spices of the World French Thyme (dry goods aisle)
• 1 bottle Trader Joe's Black Peppercorns with grinder
• Rice or noodles (your choice, find on the dry goods aisle)

1. In a 5 to 7 quart crockpot, empty the packages of liquid concentrate and reconstitute with 12 cups of water.  Stir to dissolve. 

2. Slice 2 cups of baby carrots and 2 cups of celery.  Chop 1 cup of onions.  Finely dice one clove of elephant garlic (or 5-6 cloves of regular garlic.)  Add to the crockpot along with the two bags of spinach.

3.  Cut the Just Chicken slices into bite-sized pieces and measure out 4 cups, which will take one full package and 1/2 of the other.  (Use the left over chicken for chicken salad sandwiches or chicken nachos.) Add to the crockpot.

4. Season with freshly ground pepper and a palm full of thyme (a la Rachel Ray.)  Stir to combine all ingredients.  Place lid on crockpot and cook on LOW for 8 hours.

5. Reduce heat to the KEEP WARM setting. The soup can stay in the crock for many hours on KEEP WARM, which deepens the flavor over time.

6. Prior to serving, prepare rice or pasta following package directions. Try using Trader Joe's speedy pre-cooked, packaged 90 second white or brown rice or pre-cooked and frozen portions of Trader Joe's pastas from the freezer section.

TIPS: 

• It is best to add the rice or pasta to your serving bowl rather than in the crockpot, as starches disintegrate over time if left in the crock. Ladle soup over rice or pasta and enjoy. 

• This soup freezes well, so consider making a batch just to have on hand when cold and flu season hits your house.

About Seasoning Mixes & Mac 'n' Cheese

Yesterday I spoke of my love for Pizza My Heart container peppers and how I used them to create a seasoning mix of onions, celery, parsley and peppers.

Seasoning mixes, like the one I created, have been staples in world cuisine for ages.  Some other variations include:

• Puerto Rico's sofrito containing onions, hot peppers, garlic, cilantro, culantro and plum tomatoes
• France's mirepoix containing celery or celeriac, onions, and carrots
• Italy's soffritto containing olive oil , water or wine, onion, garlic, carrot, celery, salt and pepper
•  Cajun cuisine's "holy trinity" containing onions, celery and bell peppers

In celebration of seasoning mixes, I want to share the recipe below that uses the seasoning mix I created.  Enjoy!

Turkey, Broccoli Mac and Cheese

serves 6

non-stick cooking spray
3 cups chicken broth
1 can (10 ounce) cream of broccoli soup
1 cup evaporated milk
1 packet (1.5 ounce) four cheese sauce mix
12 ounces dried elbow macaroni
2 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese
1 1/4 pounds ground turkey
4 cups fresh broccoli florets
1 cup seasoning mix
1 tablespoon chopped garlic

1. Coat a 5 quart slow cooker liner with non-stick cooking spray.

2. Pour the chicken broth, cream of broccoli soup, evaporated milk and four cheese sauce mix into the slow cooker liner and whisk together until smooth. Add the elbow macaroni and shredded cheese and stir until combined.

3. In a microwave-safe 2 quart casserole dish place the ground turkey. Cover with a lid and microwave on HIGH for 5 to 6 minutes until the meat is cooked and the juices run clear. Drain off excess fat and break meat into clumps. Pour the cooked ground turkey into the crockpot liner.

4.  Add the broccoli, seasoning mix and garlic into casserole dish and stir until combined.   Microwave covered for 2 to 3 minutes until the broccoli is tender crisp.  Pour vegetables into the crockpot liner.  Stir to combine with the other ingredients.

5. Place the liner into the slow cooker and cook on LOW for 3 1/2 to 4 1/2 hours, until macaroni is tender.

VARIATIONS: Try using cheddar cheese soup in place of the cream of broccoli for a stronger cheese flavor. Replace the ground turkey, with ground chicken, ground beef or vegetarian meat crumbles. No broccoli? Add some of your other favorite veggies, like carrot and/or zucchini circles, green beans, sugar snap peas, chopped greens, etc.

A Visual Guide to Making Tsukemono (漬物)

select 3 Japanese cucumbers

slice thin

place slices in  the bottom of a Japanese pickle press
add 3 teaspoons of sea salt
mix well

place lid on and screw down as tightly as possible
allow to sit overnight

the next day, remove the lid
cucumber slices should be surrounded by liquid

place cucumbers in a strainer or colander
rinse under cold water for several minutes to remove excess salt
allow to drain completely

store the tsukemono in the refrigerator for up to 7 days
(if they last that long!)

Based on the recipe I found at The Black Moon.

Inspired to try this yourself?  Then get your own Japanese pickle press from Amazon.com.

 

 

 

Related articles

• Too Many Cukes? Freeze Slices for Later (theseatedgardener.com)