7-day Sweet Pickle Chips

 From Mother Earth News Oct/Nov 2020 - a Mennonite recipe - yield 12 pints

• 10 pounds cucumbers
• ¼ c kosher or pickling salt
• 3 T alum or 5 T loose black tea from 8 tea bags
• 4 qt. Apple cider vinegar
• 10 c sugar, divided, plus 1 c if needed
• ¼ c pickling spice

Day 1: In large bowl or clean cooler, soak cubes in ice water 30 min. Drain. Trim off ends, slice into ¾ inch chunks. Pack into a 5 gallon or larger jar with lid. Cover with boiling water. Cool, cover, and let sit overnight.

Day 2: There may be some fluffy white foam on top, it’s lactobacillus and it’s healthy. Drain, rinse, the jar and put cukes back in - don’t rinse the cukes. In a 5-qt non-reactive pot, bring salt and 4 qt water to boil. Pour brine over cukes. Cool, cover, and let sit overnight.

Day 3: Drain the cukes, don’t rinse them, but do rinse the jar, and pack cukes back into the jar. In pot, bring alum or tea bags and 4 qt water to boil. Pour boiling water over cukes, discard any excess. Cool, cover, let sit overnight.

Day 4: Drain the cukes and rinse the jar. In pot, bring apple cider vinegar and 5 cups sugar to boil, stir to dissolve sugar. Put Pickling spice into a cheesecloth bundle or a tea ball and add to jar to cukes. Pour vinegar mix over the cukes. Cool. cover and let sit for THREE days.

Day 7: Drain pickles, reserving 2 cups of syrup. Dispose of the pickling spices. Put pickles into a giant bowl and scatter 4 c sugar over them. Stir well and let sit for about an hour. Pack pickles tightly into warm jars. The sugar will have drawn liquid out of the pickles. Pour syrup over the pickles, dividing evenly. Heat one cup of reserved spiced vinegar and remaining cup of sugar in a non-reactive saucepan, stirring, until sugar is dissolved. Fill the jars, leaving ½ inch headspace. If the jars require additional liquid, remove the air bubbles and repack the jar. If they’re well-packed and still short of liquid, make another batch of syrup by boiling the remaining cup of reserved vinegar with another cup of sugar. Remove air bubbles with a chopstick. Place lids and rings on and tighten. Process in boiling water bath 5 min. 

Let pickles cure for a week or so, turning the jars over for the first few days to disperse and dissolve any sugar on the bottoms of the jars. Chill well before enjoying. The pickles are shelf-stable for 1 year.

Tangy Green Bean Salad

 From Jenne Claiborne's Sweet Potato Soul

• 1 lb fresh green beans
• 2 T apple cider vinegar
• 2 T nutritional yeast
• 2 T oil
• 2 T minced shallot
• 1 T Dijon mustard
• 1 tsp black pepper
• dash of cayenne

Serve this sauce over steamed green beans or salad greens or raw or roasted veggies. A GOOD vegan dressing.

Whisk together until creamy.

Bourbon BBQ Sauce

 From Jenne Claiborne's Sweet Potato Soul

• 1 T oil
• 1 cup chopped onion
• 2 minced garlic cloves
• ⅓ c bourbon
• ¼ c ketchup
• ¼ c tomato paste
• 2 T soy sauce
• 1.5 T molassess
• 1.5 T dijon mustard
• 1 T Worcestershire
• 1 T liquid smoke
• 2 tsp apple cider vinegar

Saute onion and garlic about 3 min. Add bourbon and let simmer 10 seconds, add ketchup, paste, soy, molasses, mustard, Worcestershire, smoke and vinegar. Reduce to heat to med low, cover and gently simmer 20 min. use blender to blend until it is a thick sauce. store up to 1 week.

Bourbon Delights

 Bourbon Whipped Cream

• 1.5 cups chilled heavy cream
• 2 Tb bourbon
• 1.5 Tb confectioners sugar
• ¾ tsp vanilla

Mix all ingredients on medium-low until foamy, about 1 minute. Increase speed to high and mix until stiff peaks form, about 3 minutes.

Sweet Bourbon Drizzle

• 2 cups confectioners sugar
• 1 Tb bourbon
• 2 to 3 Tb milk

Stir together sugar, bourbon, and 2 Tb milk. Stir in remaining milk one tsp at a time, until desired consistency. Use immediately. 

Special Burger Sauce

 4 Tb mayo

2 tsp yellow mustard

2 tsp ketchup

1 Tb finely chopped gherkin

Vegan Mayo

 From America’s Test Kitchen Cookbook

• ⅓ c Aquafaba
• 1.5 tsp lemon juice
• ½ tsp salt
• ½ tsp sugar
• ½ tsp Dijon
• 1.25 c oil
• 3 T olive oil

Process aquafaba, juice, salt, sugar and mustard 10 seconds. Gradually add oil while blender is running.

Transfer to a bowl and whisk constantly while adding olive oil. Use in a week. 

Pickled Red Onions

 from True Comfort by Cavallari

• 1 c champagne vinegar
• 1 T raw honey
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 clove garlic
• ½ tsp red pepper flakes
• ½ tsp salt
• ½ tsp pepper
• 1 large red onion, thinly sliced

Pour vinegar and 2 c water into saucepan and bring to simmer over medium heat. Add honey, bay leaf, garlic, red Peppe flakes, salt and pepper, Whisk and dissolve honey. Remove from heat.

Put sliced onions in a bowl and pour hot liquid over to cover completely.

Let sit at least 20 min at room temp. Best, let sit for 2 hours and then put in frig and chill overnight., Keeps well for up to a month.

Avocado crema

 from True Comfort by Cavallari

1 avocado

½ c cashew crema

1 small garlic clove

grated zest and juice of 1 lime

1 tsp cumin

½ tsp smoked paprika

1 tsp chili powder

¼ tsp salt

Blend til smooth.

Espresso Cashew Mascarpone

 from True Comfort by Cavallari

1 T instant espresso powder

½ Tb maple syrup

1 c cashews soaked for at least 4 hours and drained

½ c almond milk

½ tsp cinnamon

Add all to blender until smooth.

Warm berry sauce for oatmeal

 from True Comfort by Cavallari

1 T arrowroot

1 tsp lemon juice

½ c berries

3 T maple syrup.

Dissolve arrowroot in 1 T water.

In small pan, combine lemon, berries, syrup and 3 T water. Bring to boil then simmer and cook 4 min. Add arrowroot ad cook for 5 min until thickened.

Jalapeño Ranch

 From Hot for Food by Toyota

¾ c vegan mayo

3 T pickled jalapeños in brine - or use fresh, with 2 tsp vinegar and ½ tsp salt

1 T lime juice

1 T coarsely chopped fresh dill

1 T coarsest chopped chives

1 tsp onion powder

½ tsp black pepper

1/2s tsp salt

Whiz in blender. Store up to 10 days.

Egg Yolk Sauce

 From Hot for food by Toyota

4 grape tomatoes

¼ c melted vegan butter plus 2 T solid vegan butter

¼ c water

¼ c nondairy milk

¼ c nutritional yeast

½ tsp turmeric

1 tsp cornstarch (or tapioca or arrowroot)

½ tsp kala namak

Makes about a cup. Cut the tomatoes in half and scoop out the watery inside and seeds to discard. In the vitamin put tomato pieces, melted butter, water, milk, yeast, starch and turmeric and blend on high until very smooth.

Pour in a saucepan and whisk over medium heat until it thickens, 4 to 5 min. Once it is bubbling and thicker, remove the pan from heat. Just before serving, whisk in the sold butter and the kala namak. Consume within 1 or 2 days. (Don’t heat the kala namak - add it after heating the mixture.)

Creole Seasoning

 from: https://recipesfromapantry.com/
EASY CREOLE SEASONING
6 tablespoon paprika
2 tablespoon dried oregano (marjoram)
2 tablespoon black pepper
2 tablespoon onion powder
2 tablespoon garlic powder
1 1/2 tablespoon sea salt flakes
1 tablespoon dried basil
1 tablespoon dried thyme
1/2-1 tablespoon cayenne
INSTRUCTIONS
Add spices to a mixing bowl and stir to combine.
Store in an airtight spice jar for up to 6 months.

Blackened Seasoning

 from: https://recipesfromapantry.com/
BLACKENED SEASONING
3 tablespoons smoked paprika
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon sea salt flakes or to taste
1/2 – 2 teaspoon cayenne pepper depending on how spicy you like it
INSTRUCTIONS
Measure out all the ingredients into a mixing bowl.
Next, mix with a dry spatula or whisk.
Then transfer the seasoning into an airtight spice jar or a mason jar (if you make a large quantity).

Bang Bang Sauce

 from: https://recipesfromapantry.com/
BANG BANG SAUCE
This savory sweet mayo-based sauce is ready in 5 minutes and great with seafood.
1 cup (230g) mayonnaise
1/4 cup (68g) sriracha
1/4 cup (68g) sweet chili sauce
1-2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 tablespoon honey
INSTRUCTIONS
Add all the ingredients to a mixing bowl.
Grab a whisk or fork and whisk it together till smooth. 

Powdered Sugar

In blender, mix:

2 T cornstarch

1 C white sugar.

Grind a little at a time to get it fine.

Chile Powder Mix

From Joy of Cooking

Found a recipe for chili powder that I had written down. My note says it’s from the Joy of Cooking book. 

5 Tb chile powder 

2 Tb oregano 

1 1/2 Tb ground cumin

1/2 Tsp ground cayenne 

My note says the chile can be Numex, pasilla or ancho.

Cayenne is to your comfort level.

I would use ground oregano if you can find it, or smush it w/ mortar & pestle.

Phil

Baja Blue Black Bean Dip

From Harrah’s Casino in Laughlin, NV
(recipe from Sister Sandy)
4 slices raw bacon chopped
½  med chopped onion
1 Tb chopped garlic
1 lb dry black beans
1 med fresh jalapeño
3 C water
2 Tb chili powder
4 Oz shredded Jack cheese

Cook bacon. Remove leaving grease. Cool onion in grease. Add garlic 30 sec. Add beans, jalapenos, and water. Let beans simmer til tender. Turn off heat add chili powder and cheese. 

Chipotle-Black Bean Dip (Vegan)

1 c black beans dried

2 garlic cloves

2 med chipotle chiles in adobo sauce

2 T fresh lime juice

1/2 c cilantro

3/4 tsp salt

 

4 servings

Soak bean, drain. In IP add to 5 c water.

Process garlic, chipotles, beans, add lime juice and reserved bean juice as needed. Add cilantro and salt. Keeps up to 1 week in frig.