more recipes
Jan. 11th, 2016 12:08 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
sarea
Made more stuff that I enjoyed, so sharing (and archiving) here!
Homemade pickles
I know you can make pickles by buying pickles from the store (Claussen!), then re-using that brine by placing sliced cucumbers in it, but I wanted to start from scratch. It was a little pricey of a venture, since buying all the spices individually kind of drove up the cost, but I guess now I can make pickles tons of times!
There are many ways to make pickles; I did it this way and it worked out well for me. I'm not a canning type person... I have a healthy fear of botulism, so I don't try and make things that can be stored at room temp in a cupboard for long periods of time. (Also, all the required sterilization is a lot of work!!) These pickles need to be stored in the fridge and eaten within weeks.
Ingredients:
1 lb Persian or Kirby cucumbers (TJ's sells a box of organic Persian cucumbers for like $2.50)
2 cloves of garlic, smashed
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
1/4 cup white vinegar
1 tsp whole black peppercorn
1/2 tsp dill seed
1/4 tsp whole mustard seed
1/8 tsp red pepper flakes
a jar large enough to hold the pickles and the pickling juice
Method:
1) Boil the water, vinegar and salt until the salt has dissolved. Let the brine cool. (Some people use the brine hot, but this seems weird to me, because wouldn't it partly cook the cucumbers?)
2) Put all spices and garlic into the jar.
3) Slice up the cucumbers however you like (I doubled the recipe and made one with spears and one with chips), and put those in the jar. Pack them tight (without totally smashing them)!!
4) Pour the brine into the jar, making sure the cucumbers are totally submerged. This is why you want to pack them tight btw; otherwise they'll float.
5) Place the jar in the fridge and wait for ~3 days. Enjoy!
I know it's hard, but wait at least 3 days for the best flavor. The first 2 days, they taste like vinegared cucumbers. But by the 3rd day, they finally get that pickle texture and flavor. Only even yummier than the store bought kind, because those spices really make a difference!
Rosemary Dinner Rolls
There are few things in life better than a warm dinner roll. It's just a FACT, okay. Anyway, these are super easy. Recipe is from Pioneer Woman. It's not exact because it's really simple, and you could make as many or as few as you like.
Ingredients:
frozen, UNBAKED dinner rolls (so they should be raw dough)
butter
rosemary (fresh or dried)
salt
Method:
1) About 2 1/2 hours before you plan to eat the rolls, melt a little butter into a cast iron pan (or other oven proof pan), then turn off the heat.
2) Place the frozen rolls into the pan, crowding them a bit but making sure there's some space between them for them to rise. (If you put too few, it won't look as nice.) Cover and put in a warm place for 2 hours or so.
3) When ready to bake, brush the tops with melted butter and sprinkle with rosemary and salt.
4) Bake according to the package's directions.
You don't want it to rise too much, so you do have to think about the timing on it. I never knew that unbaked dinner rolls even existed, and this time, I used rolls that I had made myself (for Thanksgiving), but it's nice to know the shortcut is there. It's so simple and yet so pleasing.
Homemade pickles
I know you can make pickles by buying pickles from the store (Claussen!), then re-using that brine by placing sliced cucumbers in it, but I wanted to start from scratch. It was a little pricey of a venture, since buying all the spices individually kind of drove up the cost, but I guess now I can make pickles tons of times!
There are many ways to make pickles; I did it this way and it worked out well for me. I'm not a canning type person... I have a healthy fear of botulism, so I don't try and make things that can be stored at room temp in a cupboard for long periods of time. (Also, all the required sterilization is a lot of work!!) These pickles need to be stored in the fridge and eaten within weeks.
Ingredients:
1 lb Persian or Kirby cucumbers (TJ's sells a box of organic Persian cucumbers for like $2.50)
2 cloves of garlic, smashed
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
1/4 cup white vinegar
1 tsp whole black peppercorn
1/2 tsp dill seed
1/4 tsp whole mustard seed
1/8 tsp red pepper flakes
a jar large enough to hold the pickles and the pickling juice
Method:
1) Boil the water, vinegar and salt until the salt has dissolved. Let the brine cool. (Some people use the brine hot, but this seems weird to me, because wouldn't it partly cook the cucumbers?)
2) Put all spices and garlic into the jar.
3) Slice up the cucumbers however you like (I doubled the recipe and made one with spears and one with chips), and put those in the jar. Pack them tight (without totally smashing them)!!
4) Pour the brine into the jar, making sure the cucumbers are totally submerged. This is why you want to pack them tight btw; otherwise they'll float.
5) Place the jar in the fridge and wait for ~3 days. Enjoy!
I know it's hard, but wait at least 3 days for the best flavor. The first 2 days, they taste like vinegared cucumbers. But by the 3rd day, they finally get that pickle texture and flavor. Only even yummier than the store bought kind, because those spices really make a difference!
Rosemary Dinner Rolls
There are few things in life better than a warm dinner roll. It's just a FACT, okay. Anyway, these are super easy. Recipe is from Pioneer Woman. It's not exact because it's really simple, and you could make as many or as few as you like.
Ingredients:
frozen, UNBAKED dinner rolls (so they should be raw dough)
butter
rosemary (fresh or dried)
salt
Method:
1) About 2 1/2 hours before you plan to eat the rolls, melt a little butter into a cast iron pan (or other oven proof pan), then turn off the heat.
2) Place the frozen rolls into the pan, crowding them a bit but making sure there's some space between them for them to rise. (If you put too few, it won't look as nice.) Cover and put in a warm place for 2 hours or so.
3) When ready to bake, brush the tops with melted butter and sprinkle with rosemary and salt.
4) Bake according to the package's directions.
You don't want it to rise too much, so you do have to think about the timing on it. I never knew that unbaked dinner rolls even existed, and this time, I used rolls that I had made myself (for Thanksgiving), but it's nice to know the shortcut is there. It's so simple and yet so pleasing.
