Peanut butter

Happy Saturday! I've decided that I want to start a new series around here that details recipes and techniques for making food items at home that you might normally purchase at the store. This series is similar to another, Take-out at Home, except it will feature pantry staples and treats and will be called A Homemade Kitchen. Both series highlight how simple and easy it is to create great meals and staples from home. Homemade is better for your budget, body, and taste buds.

Today I'm featuring a tutorial for making one of my all-time favorite food items - peanut butter! I eat peanut butter almost everyday, not exaggerating. I love the taste, texture, smell, and the fact that it gives me a source of protein without coming from an animal. It's cheap, too. Stay tuned next Saturday for a post on how to use homemade peanut butter in a extraordinarily delicious way!

This recipe is the easy version as it uses pre-roasted peanuts. To save money, you could purchase shelled, raw Spanish peanuts and roast them yourself by baking them in a 350 degree oven in a single layer on a sheet pan, sprinkled with salt, for 30-35 minutes. Once roasted and cooled, remove shells. Rub peanuts between your hands to remove skins, then throw them in a salad spinner to further remove skins.

Honey roasted peanuts in food processor, about to be pulverized!

Pulverization! Ignore my reflection on the shiny stainless steel.

Dreamy.

Homemade Peanut Butter
Makes about 1 cup

• 1 1/2 cups roasted peanuts (can use honey roasted, salted, or unsalted; see above for roasting at home)
• salt (amount based on what peanuts you used, taste and adjust seasonings as necessary)
• honey (amount based on what peanuts you used, taste and adjust as necessary)
• 1 tablespoon peanut oil (optional)

Place nuts in the bowl of a food processor fitted with the blade attachment. With lid on, pulse the peanuts until they become a smooth and shiny butter, about 5 minutes, scraping down the sides of the bowl as necessary. If it seems your peanuts aren't turning into a paste, slowly add the oil until incorporated and smooth. If peanuts turn into a paste easily, omit the oil. Taste, and adjust seasonings to your preference.

Store peanut butter in an airtight container in the fridge for up to a month. Peanut butter may require stirring to redistribute oils.

http://www.handletheheat.com/2011/04/homemade-kitchen-peanut-butter.html

Stuffed Peppers

Stuffed Peppers
Ingredients:
* 2 medium red bell peppers

* 2 potatoes (about 5oz each), peeled, boiled, and mashed

* 1 teaspoon lime juice

* 1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder

* Salt to taste

* 2 teaspoons oil

* Pinch of asafetida

* 1 teaspoon fennel seeds


Optional—Rajasic variation:

* Pinch of red chili powder

Method:


1. Slice a small piece off the top of each pepper and remove the seeds and white membranes.

2. Place the mashed potatoes in a medium bowl. Add the lime juice, turmeric, and salt. For the Rajasic variation, also add the red chili powder. Mix well. Spoon the potato mixture into the prepared peppers until they are nearly full.

3. Heat the oil in a deep sauté pan over medium heat for 1 minute. Add the asafetida and fennel seeds. When the seeds start to splutter, place the stuffed peppers, top side up, in the pan. Reduce the heat to low. Cover the pan and cook for 10 minutes.

4. Carefully turn the peppers upside down, without allowing the stuffing to fall out. (Note: Some fennel seeds should cling to the stuffing.) Continue to cook over low heat for 5 to 8 minutes longer.

5. Turn the peppers top side up. Test each pepper for doneness by gently pushing against the side. When the pepper is fully cooked, it will feel soft.

6. When the peppers are done, remove the pan from the heat and allow the peppers to cool slightly before serving.


Did You Know?

Brightly colored vegetables like yellow and red bell peppers are excellent sources of vitamins C and A, powerful antioxidants with anti-inflammatory properties.

Almond Cookies

Almond Cookies

Dense, delicate, and delicious, these almond cookies come highly recommended.

Ingredients:
1 1/4 cup almond meal
1 cup maple flakes
1/4 cup butter, room temperature
1 large egg
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp baking soda

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Stir together almond meal, baking soda and maple flakes, then blend in the butter, egg, and vanilla. Refrigerate dough for half an hour. Spoon out one-inch balls onto a greased or non-stick cookie sheet and flatten with a fork. Bake for eight minutes or until set. Be careful not to let your cookies brown, because that means they’re too well done. Allow them to cool for 2 minutes on the sheet before moving them.

FitDay says:
Calories: 1,563
Fat: 112.6 g
Carbs: 123.9 g (14 g fiber)
Protein: 33 g

Depending on how many cookies you get out of this batch, some simple division will net you the per-cookie facts.

http://www.marksdailyapple.com/the-many-uses-of-almond-meal/

Primal Pancakes

Primal Pancakes

If there’s one thing almost every neo-Primalist misses, it’s a heaping stack of pancakes on a cold winter weekend morning. This recipe will sate those deep-seated cravings and make you forget about your extended tryst with Mrs. Buttersworth (as sweet and sinful as it may have been).

Ingredients:
1 cup almond meal
3 large eggs
1/8 tsp vanilla extract
1/8 tsp ground cinnamon

Mix it all together until a batter forms. Pour the batter onto a buttered or greased skillet. Cook over medium heat until both sides are golden brown. Drizzle raw honey or just eat it plain. For kicks, add some blueberries or bananas to the batter.

One word of caution on this recipe: I would suggest keeping the size of these almond pancakes on the small side. Larger pancakes have a tough time sticking together.

FitDay breaks the whole batch down thusly (without any honey or added berries);
Calories: 798
Fat: 65.4 g
Carbs: 20.1 g (11.2 g fiber)
Protein: 42.1 g

Not bad!

http://www.marksdailyapple.com/the-many-uses-of-almond-meal/

Chocolate Almond Cookies

Chocolate Almond Cookies

After posting my new cookie recipe the other day, I figured I’d better get to perfecting it, as it’s not quite there yet. So today, while Cohen took his long afternoon nap, I got to baking. I didn’t change much, but the additions I did add have now created the perfect cookie, The Chocolate Nutter! What, you don’t like the name? Too bad, I’m too lazy to come up with something snazzier. That will have to do for now, though I welcome your suggestions on a new name. Please feel free to suggest something.

The Chocolate Nutter

1/2 cup butter, room temperature
1/2 cup natural peanut butter, chunky
3/4 cup packed yellow or brown sugar
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp vanilla
1 egg
1/2 cup cocoa
1/4 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 cup almond meal
1/2 cup Peanut butter chips

1. Preheat oven to 325°F. Cream butter, peanut butter, sugar and salt. Beat in egg and vanilla.
2. Sift cocoa, flour, baking powder and soda into wet ingredients, mix well. Stir in almond meal.
3. Add PB chips and stir to combine.
4. Roll dough into 1 1/2″ balls, then flatten before placing 1″ apart on baking paper lined cookie sheet.
5. Bake for 12 minutes. Cool completely before enjoying!

http://guiltykitchen.com/2009/08/05/chocolate-almond-cookies-take-ii/

all c’s soup

all c’s soup - a soup containing carrots, cashews, curry, and corn!

1. clean and chop up 7-8 large carrots (we had a bunch in the back of the fridge we had forgotten about) and put them in a pot of water to boil. you can use veggie broth instead if you like.
2. start soaking 1/2 cup cashews in enough water to cover them.
3. in 15 minutes, the carrots should be softened. drain the carrots, reserving the water for use later. grind the carrots in a food processor until they’re a fine-grained mush. re-add them the the reserved water in the pot.
4. drain the cashews, and grind them in the food processor with a little water. when it’s gotten to a consistently mushy texture, you’re done! add it into the pot.
5. turn the pot on low heat, and add in 1 tbsp spicy curry powder, 1-2 tsp salt, 1 tsp oregano, 1 bay leaf, a light dust of cinnamon, and a splash of soy milk if you want the soup extra creamy. keep it on low heat, covered, for 30 minutes.
6. after 30 minutes, make the soup really creamy! either using an immersion (handheld) blender, or in batches in your food processor, blend until all of the chunks of cashew and carrot dissolve.
7. add in 1 can, or 1 1/2 cups of corn.
8. continue cooking the soup for about five more minutes. then, serve and enjoy! http://hipsterfood.tumblr.com/post/4644110031/all-cs-soup-a-soup-containing-carrots-cashews
   

Linte

for dinner tonight: bulgur, lentils, and tofu mashup

this would make great leftovers, or something to bring with you to work or school.

• cook one cup bulgur and and one cup lentils accordingly (here’s how to cook the bulgur!)
• finely chop up one small tomato and mix it with some rosemary, a crushed bay leaf, 1/4 a squeezed lemon, and a little salt.
• break up 1/2 a block of pressed tofu, and mix it in a pan with the tomato sauce. when it has soaked up some of the flavors you’ve put on the pan, drizzle 1 tbsp or less olive oil, and let the tofu brown.
• when browned, mix in the drained lentils and bulgur. serve hot, and enjoy!