Apple Crisp Pie

Ingredients:
5 Granny Smith apples, peeled and sliced (I used organic)
4 Gala apples, peeled and sliced (I used organic)
1/4-1/2 cup sugar
2 tablespoon. cornstarch
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2-1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
1 pie crust ( I cheated and used a pre-made crust, but when I'm not feeling lazy I use Crisco's recipe of Crisco, flour, salt and cold water)

Crisp topping:
1 cup oatmeal
1/2-3/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 cup butter
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/4-1/2 cup nuts (I used pecans)

Directions:
Mix all of the ingredients together for the pie and pour into the prepared crust (This is enough for a deep dish pie- I lined the pan with parchment paper so I could take the pie out). In a separate bowl, mix all of the ingredients together for the crisp. The mixture should be somewhat crumbly. Put the crisp mixture on top of the pie and bake in a preheated 375 degree oven for 40-45 minutes, or until golden brown. I'll be posting later how I actually finished and served the pie. A popular crazy cake idea made the wheels in my head start spinning. I hope it turns out, I'll found out in a day if it did.

Kombucha Continuous Brew System Supplies and Directions

After a lot of research, I decided to start brewing Kombucha and jump right in with a continuous brewing system. There are some places that sell kits for a couple of hundred dollars but I didn't want to spend that much money. I figured I could do it myself for a more reasonable price. If you're a person who would rather buy the kit, because it is a lot easier- go for it. I like trying to do things myself if possible and I prefer to save my money. I found this website that is really cool called Cultures for Health. If you subscribe to their email list, you can get a PDF book about how to make Kombucha, how to brew it safely and how to setup the different brewing systems. It has really helped me in this process.

Supplies:

• ($29.00 + tax) 1 lead free ceramic water dispenser. I purchased a PRIMO one from Wal-Mart, even though I strongly dislike the store, because it was the cheapest and because it came with a stand. I did my research on PRIMO's website and this container is lead free. The PDF book says to use caution with ceramic containers because sometimes lead paints are used.
• ($3.00) 1 fish tank thermometer to monitor the temperature of the Kombucha. Keep between 70 and 80 degrees.
• High thread count fabric (napkins or t-shirts) and two extra wide large rubber bands. These items are used to cover the jar and keep the fabric in place. Put one of the rubber bands around the mouth of the container, place the fabric over top and then use the other rubber band to secure the fabric in place. This will keep bugs, dust and potentially bad things out of the Kombucha.
• ($4.00) 1 SCOBY and SCOBY starter. See how I made one on my home page.
• ($10-$15) Tea base. One cup of sugar for every gallon of tea. This container holds about 2 gallons plus the SCOBY starter. I bought a couple of bags of 365 brand organic sugar (cheaper to buy multiple smaller bags than the large bag) and a couple of boxes of Twinings Organic Breakfast blend and Green tea from Whole Foods.
• ($4.00) PH strips. Kombucha is supposed to have a PH level between 2.5 and 4. This level is not supposed to let harmful bacteria grow.

Basically, for about $45-$50 and a few weeks of your time you can make your own continuous brewing system for Kombucha. Once you have your SCOBY ready, clean the ceramic container out with soap and water (I did a final rinse with vinegar and water), fill the container with the room temperature sweet tea base, add the SCOBY and starter tea.

Cover and leave to sit for a week or a two. The longer it sits, the less sweet it is. Check the PH levels before bottling or drinking, just to be safe. I transferred my SCOBY to a continuous system on a Friday and I checked the PH on the next Monday (3 days later) and the PH was 3.2. It tasted pretty good but I decided to wait longer so it would be less sweet and have more probiotics. I'll just have to wait and see.

(After 3 days- PH level of 3.2)
UPDATE:
February 24, 2012...The Kombucha brewing is going well. I've been bottling it for a couple of weeks now and experimenting with some flavorings (ginger, blueberry, lemon, raspberry and peach). I bought several bags of the berries and peach from the organic frozen section in the store and I picked up some organic lemons and ginger from Whole Foods. I figured if I'm using organic tea and sugar, that I might as well go all of the way and do it all organic. I blended up the fruit in our immersion blender and I froze them in small cubes in a little silicone ice cube tray. This makes the frozen fruit super easy to pop out. I am storing them in the deep freezer we have in some mason jars and some glass Honest Tea bottles (I forgot to take pictures of those, I'll post them another time). I have noticed that the more my SCOBY grows, the fizzier the Kombucha is. Also, adding fruits and ginger (and sometimes a bit of sugar- 1/8 tsp when bottling) makes it a bit fizzier too. It's nowhere near as fizzy as the GT's Kombucha from the store, but it tastes pretty stinken good. Back to the brewing...I get about 7 16 ounce bottles out of a batch. So I do a new batch every week. I've been bottling and brewing on Sundays. I fill up the bottles and then add more tea (about 1.5 gallons of water, 15 mixed tea bags from above and two cups of sugar- brew, bring to room temperature, add to the dispenser and cover) to replace what I removed. I let it sit for a week and then start the process over. I have been testing the Kombucha's PH once a week before I brew just to be safe. It is pretty consistent and is always around 3.0-3.2. I do burp the glass bottles every couple of days just to be sure they don't explode and I don't refrigerate the bottles. I thought that I would, but I like drinking it at room temperature. So far, so good. A family member said the SCOBY looks like a scab, but that hasn't deterred her from starting to drink it on a daily basis. Below are pictures of the fruit that I have been using to flavor the Kombucha. I'm not a fan of raspberry by itself, I actually dumped that bottle out. I like plain, ginger and blueberry the best. I tried peach and ginger together, but the ginger overpowered the peach. Next time, I will put in less ginger to see if I can taste the fruit I mix it with better.

The final setup.

Fruity Pulao (Fruity Indian Rice)

I got this recipe at an Indian Cooking Class that I took at a local gourmet grocery store. I've made it several times and everyone that has tried it has liked it.

Ingredients:
2 1/3 cups of basmati rice (I've used white and brown)
6 Tbsp of ghee (I've used butter and less of it, 4 Tbsp or less)
1 Tbsp of corn/canola/vegetable oil
2 bay leaves
6 black peppercorns
4 cardamom pods (I mixed 2 green and 2 black)
4 cloves
1 2 inch cinnamon stick
1 tsp salt
1/2-3/4 cup of golden raisins
1/2-3/4 cup of sliced almonds
4 cups of water

Directions:
Rinse the rice and drain. Heat the ghee/butter and oil in a saucepan. Lower the heat and throw in the bay leaves, peppercorns, cardamom, cloves and cinnamon and fry for 30 seconds.

Add the rice, salt, raisins and almonds. Fry for about 1 minute and then pour in the water. Bring to a boil, and then cover with a tightly fitting lid and lower the heat. Cook for 15-20 minutes for white rice or about an hour for brown rice. Try not to remove the lid, but the brown rice may need to be stirred a few times to prevent sticking.

Turn off the heat and leave the rice to stand, covered for about 5-10 minutes fore serving. Fluff and remove the spices before serving. Serve with Shrimp Curry.

Shrimp Curry with Chilies and Cream

I got this recipe at an Indian Cooking Class that I took at a local gourmet grocery store. I've made it several times and everyone that has tried it has liked it.

Ingredients:
4 Tbsp of ghee, butter or canola oil
1 yellow onion, peeled, quartered and sliced
1 bunch of scallions, trimmed and sliced
1-2 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
2 fresh green chilies, seeded and finely chopped or sliced (I used poblano peppers)
1-2 inch piece fresh ginger root, peeled and finely chopped
1 tsp ground turmeric
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground coriander
1 1/2 tsp curry powder
1 14oz can of chopped/diced tomatoes
2/3 cup of water
2/3 cup heavy cream or coconut milk or combination of the two
1 lb of raw shrimp, diced chicken, tofu or other meat
2 Tbsp chopped fresh cilantro

Heat the ghee/oil in a pan and fry the onions, scallions, garlic and chilies over medium heat for 3 minutes. Stir in the ginger, spices and curry powder and cook for 1 more minute. Stir in the tomatoes and water and bring to a boil, stirring. Reduce the heat and simmer for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the cream and simmer for 5 more minutes. Add the shrimp and cilantro and season with salt to taste. Cook for 2-3 minutes, until the shrimp are pink. Adjust the seasoning if necessary. Serve with fruity pulao rice.

Barbecue Pizza with Tempeh and Vegetables

Ingredients:
Barbeque sauce (I used Amy's organic spicy barbeque sauce)
Sauteed onions and mushrooms
Tempeh (I used 1/2 a package of Trader Joe's three grain tempeh and marinated in a bit of apple cider vinegar, olive oil, maple syrup and garlic. I then sauteed it before adding it to the pizza)
Pizza dough (I used 1/2 of a package of prepared dough from Whole Foods, I'll post a homemade version at another time)
Cheese

So, I basically made this pizza to save several foods that were going to go bad. I used a nine inch cake pan and put the dough in the bottom and then layered the rest of the layers on top. The amount of toppings someone decides to put on is up to them. I have yet to cook this pizza because I put it in the freezer to save for a later date. I'll put a new picture up of how it looks when it is cooked and let you know if it actually tastes good. I'll cook at 375 degrees for about 20-25 minutes.

Pesto Pizza with Tempeh and Vegetables

Ingredients:
Pesto (recipe posted here)
Roasted red peppers
Marinated artichoke hearts
Sauteed onions and mushrooms
Tempeh (I used 1/2 a package of Trader Joe's three grain tempeh and marinated in a bit of balsamic vinegar, olive oil and garlic. I then sauteed it before adding it to the pizza)
Pizza dough (I used 1/2 of a package of prepared dough from Whole Foods, I'll post a homemade version at another time)
Cheese

So, I basically made this pizza to save several foods that were going to go bad. I used a nine inch cake pan and put the dough in the bottom and then layered the rest of the layers on top. The amount of toppings someone decides to put on is up to them. I have yet to cook this pizza because I put it in the freezer to save for a later date. I'll put a new picture up of how it looks when it is cooked and let you know if it actually tastes good. I'll cook at 375 degrees for about 20-25 minutes.

Growing a SCOBY

This task was super awesome. Making a culture like this grow so I could make my own Kombucha was very exciting. Yes, I have a life and am very busy, but it's the little things that make me happy. I've decided to keep track of this adventure because it does take some time since it is a multistage process and I wanted to have a record of the progression of things. I am making my Kombucha "Organically", all ingredients are certified organic (whatever that means, since regulations change fairly regularly on these definitions). Do not use anything that is plastic in this process.


Ingredients/Tools:

• 1 bottle of GT's Original Kombucha (I purchased this from Whole Foods)

• 1 cup of brewed organic tea (I used one bag of black English Breakfast and one bag of green tea. I read that the best teas are black, green and oolong)

•  2-3 tablespoons of organic sugar

• 1 quart size glass mason jar

• 1 cover and rubber band (not cheese cloth, something with a thicker weave/higher thread count to keep buggies out)

• 1 fish tank thermometer 

Directions:
Take one cup of boiling water, and add the tea bags and sugar. Let this tea come to room temperature.
 

Add the tea to the mason jar and pour in the "commercial" Kombucha.

(You can see the small SCOBY in the bottom of the bottle)

Let this sit in an area where the temperature stays between 70 and 80 degrees (Some places said on top of the refrigerator, but I found that this area was too cold, not that much heat is produced by my refrigerator.). This will need to sit for a minimum of one week and up to three weeks undisturbed, depending on the temperature.

 


Mine was ready after about 12 days. The SCOBY was at least 1/4 of an inch thick before I transferred it to my continuous brewing container. I checked him about twice a day with a flashlight to watch the growth. I thought it was cool watching it take over the top of the container.

Mozarella Cheese

I love making things homemade. I made farmer's cheese in the past and thought mozzarella sounded hard, but when I looked up how to make it, it was relatively easy. It's not my "personal recipe", but I browsed several books and websites and gleaned different things from different people, and did things how I saw fit. Some of the biggest things though, are to be super clean and use stainless steel pots and utensils. Be careful with the hot water, it is easy to burn your fingers.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 gallon of whole milk (Non-homogenized and not ultra pasteurized if possible. I found mine from Whole Foods, and it is from a local dairy farm)

• 1/8-3/8 of a rennet tablet dissolved in 1/8-1/4 up of water (The recipes I saw called for 1/8th, but I couldn't get a curd to set until I put in 3/8ths of the whole tablet)

• 3/4 teaspoon of citric acid dissolved in 1/8-1/4 cup of water

•  1 pot of hot salt water 170-180 degrees Fahrenheit (1 large pot and enough salt to have a salty taste, about 1/4 of a cup)

• 1 bowl of room temperature water (1 1/2 cups) plus about 1/2 cup of whey and 1/2 cup of the salt water

Directions:

Place the milk and citric acid in a stainless still pot, in a sink filled with hot water.

Wait for the temperature of the milk to reach 90-100 degrees Fahrenheit. Let it sit for a few minutes at this temperature.

Stir in the rennet mixture for about a minute. Let this sit for 10-15 minutes, or until a super firm curd sets up (This is the area where I had trouble, so I added an additional 1/8 of a tablet twice in order for the curd to set). Cut "squares" into the curd using a sharp knife. Let this sit for a couple of minutes while you get a bowl and a strainer/sieve.

Spoon the mixture into the sieve and stir/swirl until almost all of the whey comes out. My ball of curd in the end was relatively small, maybe about a pound or less and very firm.

Break off small one-two inch pieces of the cheese and put in the hot salt water for a couple of minutes (a couple pieces at a time).

Check the elasticity of of the cheese. Once it is stretchy and pliable, try to stretch or fold over as many times as you can. Place the final product in the water/whey mixture for storage (If it lasts that long, we ate this batch right away in caprese salad).