I made cauliflower coconut rice this afternoon – a 10oz package of the frozen cauliflower rice, heated in a little coconut oil until it was warm. Then added some garlic, salt, and black pepper. Finally stirred in about 1/4 cup of coconut milk and cooked until the liquid had boiled off.
I made spaghetti squash tonight – cut in half (although I’ve since learned to cut it the short way instead of the long way to get longer strands), rubbed with olive oil and salt, set for ten minutes, then roast at 375F for about 50 minutes. Once they were tender, I pulled the strands apart, added a little butter, pepper, and garlic.
Marshmallows made with pure maple syrup and gelatin powder! In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine 1/3 cup of cold water and 1 Tbsp of powdered gelatin. Let the gelatin hydrate.
Heat the maple to the soft ball stage (~235F) and slowly add to the gelatin whilst mixing at low speed. Once all of the maple syrup has been added, turn up to a high speed and keep whipping until it’s a firm, sticky mass. (stiff peak stage). Then put it somewhere to set. I used a 8×8 cake pan that was lined with wax paper. Refrigerate for a few hours, then remove and cut. You can dust the squares with powdered sugar if you don’t want them to be sticky. Or just deal with sticky maple-flavored fingers.
Sliced grilled steak, fresh salsa, and a tortilla toasted on the grill. Very tasty, but I’m looking forward to using all these not-spicy jalapeno peppers so I can get something else!
There were fresh, homegrown tomatoes available … so I made some salsa:
6 large tomatoes, diced
5 jalapeno peppers, diced finely
2 cloves of garlic
1/2 large onion, also diced
juice from 1/2 of a fresh lime
Salt and pepper
The jalapeno peppers were not spicy, so I might use habanero next time, but this made a great fresh salsa. And I realized that guacamole is pretty much the salsa mixed with mashed avocado. I took about a third of the salsa, drained the liquid, and added it to three large, ripe avocados mashed up.
Prepare the Salmon: Preheat your oven to 375°F (190°C). Place the salmon fillet on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Bake for about 15-20 minutes, or until the salmon is cooked through and flakes easily. Remove from the oven and let cool.
Flake the Salmon: Once the salmon is cool enough to handle, use a fork to flake it into small pieces in a large mixing bowl.
Mix Ingredients: Add the Greek yogurt, Dijon mustard, lemon juice, breadcrumbs, parsley, dill, chopped onion, and beaten egg to the bowl with the flaked salmon. Mix everything together gently until well combined. If the mixture seems too wet, add a bit more breadcrumbs.
Form the Patties: Shape the mixture into small patties, about 2-3 inches in diameter. You should get about 8-10 patties depending on size.
Cook the Salmon Cakes: Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Once hot, add the salmon cakes, being careful not to overcrowd the pan. Cook for about 4-5 minutes on each side, or until golden brown and crispy.
Serve: Serve the salmon cakes hot with a side of lemon wedges or a yogurt-based dipping sauce, such as tzatziki.
Scott saw this “Stuffler” in a video and got one to try it out — very cool! We made fruit stuff waffles with sweet cherries, strawberry stuffed chocolate brownies (difficult to clean up, but if you let it cool in the stuffler prior to removing it, they come right out), chaffles, and now pizza. You plug the thing in for about ten minutes to heat it up. The middle ring/handle needs to be inserted and the unit closed while it heats.
First, stretch out a round of dough and place it on the bottom waffle iron section. I tried to stretch the dough up the side of the ring like a pie crust. Took a little work, but managed eventually.
Spread on the pizza sauce and add whatever “toppings” — in this case, some cooked spicy Italian sausage and onions.
Add cheese!
Then stretch out another disk of dough and put it on top. I pressed the edge together to try and seal it all up.
Then close it up & flip it. Allow it to cook. I cooked them for 10 minutes, flipped the unit again, and cooked them for another 5 minutes. They puffed up nicely and had a brown, crispy crust.
The sausage leaked some oil — I should have drained it better!
Cut the “stuffle” into four pieces and you’ve got gooey, cheesy pizza waffles! Pizza dough with four cups of flour made seven stuffed pizzas. I’ve got three in the freezer to see how well they reheat.