Sriracha Sauce

My thanks to Gwyneth Paltrow- this recipe comes from her cookbook- My Father’s Daughter- and it is a keeper.

Last week I had the fun of seeing the taping of THE CHEW in NYC. As though spending a day with my dear friend Kate wasn’t enough of a treat, all the stars on the show were present AND Gwyneth  Paltrow was the guest chef for the show.We all received a copy of her cookbook and on the train ride home, I had the time to read it cover to cover.

So we all know about local, organic, farm fresh but in her cookbook Ms Paltrow makes a strong case for limiting the preservatives we unavoidably add on to all those good products by using commercially processed sauces.

Since sriracha sauce is appearing in more recipes, I decided to have a hand at making it from the red hot chili peppers on down ! The result is a very bright taste- HOT but not screaming and with a balance of vinegar to spice. I’m sure this sauce will keep well for 2-3 weeks but we have gone through a whole recipe this week. Hope you try it -Cautionary note wear gloves when you slice those peppers!

Sriracha Sauce

1 ½ Cups clove garlic, peeled

1 Lb. red jalapeno peppers, stemmed,sliced and cut into thein rings

2 ¼ Cups rice wine vinegar

¼ Cup agave nectar

2 Tbsp coarse table salt

1 Tbsp arrowroot

2 Tbsp fish sauce

1. Place the garlic in a small saucepan and add cold water just to cover. Bring to a boil, immediately drain and run the garlic under cool water.
2. Return the garlic to the saucepan, cover with cold water and bring back to a boil. Rinse the garlic and slice the blanched garlic into thin slices.
3. Combine the cut red jalapeños,blanched garlic and rice vinegar in a saucepan. Bring to a boil and cook for 3 minutes. Remove from heat. Add the agave and salt and stir to combine.Let the mixture stand, covered for 1 hour for the flavors to steep and cool. ( I let the mixture rest overnight to cool completely.)
4. Puree the mixture in a blender until smooth- some seeds will remain in tact but that's fine.
5. Return the mixture to a saucepan and bring back to a boil. Simmer 10-15 minutes, skimming off any foam as it rises to the top. The mixture will thicken slightly as it cooks down.
6. In a small bowl, dissolve the arrowroot with 1 Tbsp of lukewarm water. Whisk the arrowroot into the sauce and cook for 2 more minutes or until nicely thickened. Remove from heat let cool slightly and stir in fish sauce.

Oscar Night Popcorn

For all the years I have owned a microwave oven ( too many to admit to) I have been making commercial microwave popcorn. Well, guess what? That’s not necessary. Good popcorn placed in a brown lunch bag works just as well. Who would have guessed? The recipe is fool-proof! It’s just popcorn kernels microwaved in a brown paper bag. From ½ cup of kernels I made 9 cups of popped popcorn.

Three things to keep in mind:

1. I used a good sized bag-my bags measured 8" across by 15" deep.(If you don’t have lunch bags and you’re in the neighborhood, stop by and we’ll give you one to use- we have plenty in stock)
2. Place the popcorn in the bag and fold the top over 2 times, then place in microwave.
3. In my oven ½ Cup popcorn took 3 minutes at full power but every microwave is different so you need to play around to get the right timing- and yes, you can “re-pop” kernels that are left in the bottom of the bag.

If you like flavored popcorn, here are some combinations to jazz up your basic mix:

Pizza Popcorn

2 Tbsp parmesan cheese
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp Italian Herbs
1 tsp paprika
Combine the ingredients in a food processor or blender until mixed. Pour over 8 cups popcorn and toss.

Southwestern Popcorn

1/2 tsp chili powder
1 Tbsp paprika
1 Tbsp cumin
2 Tbsp salt
Combine the ingredients and pour over 8 cups of popcorn and toss.

Cinnamon Popcorn

1/3 Cup sugar
2 tsp cinnamon
4 Tbsp butter
Melt the butter.Toss over 8 cups of popcorn. Combine the sugar and cinnamon and toss over the buttered popcorn.

S’more Brownies

It’s the time of the year when I get to try some new bakery items for our store. Today I worked with a recipe adaptation from Better Homes and Garden for S’more Brownies---so good! I adapted my basic brownie recipe to their technique and doubled the batch so it would fit into a 9 X 13 pan.Hope you like it enough to try it at home- or stop by and pick up one fresh out of the oven.

S’Mores Brownies

INGREDIENTS:

1 Cup butter

4 ounces unsweetened chocolate

2 Cups sugar

4 whole eggs

1 ½ Cups flour

1 Tsp baking powder

2 Tsp vanilla

9 graham crackers

2 Cups mini marshmallows

METHOD:

1. Preheat oven to 350. Grease a 9x13" pan and set aside.
2. Melt butter and chocolate together in a 2 quart saucepan over medium heat.
3. Remove from heat . Add sugar,eggs and vanilla.
4. Add flour and baking powder and mix until completely blended.
5. Place 1/2 batter in the greased pan. 
6. Top with graham crackers in a single layer.Top graham crackers with marshmallows being careful to keep marshmallows away from the edge of the pan. Top with remaining batter and spread to cover marshmallows.
7. Bake at 350°F 20-25 minutes. Let cool and cut into squares.

SERVINGS: 12

Limoncello Biscotti (a variation on a Villa Delia Recipe)

For all of you who have followed my traveling escapades, you’ll know that I have taken cooking classes in Italy on two separate occasions. Marietta, the chef at Villa Delia, makes wonderful biscotti with marsala wine. I decided to tweak her recipe(since I was out of Marsala) and prepare it with limoncello and the results were terrific. l have converted all the metric measures to ounces and cups for my State side followers.

For this recipe you will need three baking sheets (or more oven time), parchment paper, a sharp knife to cut through the whole almonds, a zester, a big enough surface to mix the dough -allow 24" square,and a willingness to get your hands sticky!

Biscotti

7 ½ Cups + 1 Tbsp all purpose flour

2 ½ Cups sugar

½ lb. (2 sticks) + 1 Tbsp butter

1 tsp. vanilla extract

5 Ex large eggs

2 Tsp. baking soda

zest of one good-sized lemon

⅓ Cup limoncello

pinch of salt

2 Cups whole skin on almonds

1. Dump the flour on a flat surface and make a well(a big hole in the center). 
2. Add butter, sugar, and extract to the well and mix the sugar mixture together with your hands until it starts to blend. 
3. Combine the eggs, baking soda, zest of the lemon, limoncello, salt, and almonds and start slowly to incorporate the flour into the mixture.(See photo above). It starts out as a very messy project but soon you’ll feel the shape of the dough emerge.The warmth of you hand will form the dough .
4. Once you have a nice ball. Let rest for 30 minutes.
5. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate for 1 hour.
6. Cut into 9 equal pieces.(I use a scale to measure but without a scale you can do it by eye.)
7. Preheat oven to 350°F. Line 3 baking trays with parchment
8. Roll each section into a log 15-18" long. Place 3 logs on each tray. Repeat with remaining sections.
9. Bake for 15 minutes until golden . Let sit for 5 minutes and cut each log into 1/2 pieces on the diagonal- the bigger the angle the larger the finished biscotti.You need to “cut with conviction to get through the almonds- a sharp knife also helps.
10. LOWER oven temperature to 200°F.Bake for 35-45 minutes until firm.