How to Make Vegetable Stock

 

How to Make Vegetable Stock

• Prep time: 15 minutes
• Cook time: 2 hours

Feel free to use the onion skins, they'll add flavor and a lovely caramel color to the stock. If parsnips are available, you can sub out some of the carrots with chopped parsnips for more flavor.

Ingredients

• 1 ounce dried mushrooms*
• 4 Tbsp olive oil
• 4 cups chopped onion
• 2 cups chopped celery
• 3 cups chopped carrot
• 1 cup chopped fennel bulb (optional)
• Salt
• 2 large garlic cloves, smashed (can leave skins on)
• 2 Tbsp tomato paste
• 1 Tbsp fresh rosemary
• 2 teaspoons dried thyme
• 1 teaspoon black peppercorns
• 4 bay leaves
• 1/2 cup chopped parsley

Method

1 Place the dried mushrooms in a large bowl and pour 1 quart of boiling water over them. Set aside.

 2 Heat the olive oil over high heat in a large stockpot. Add the chopped onions, celery, carrots, and fennel (if using) and stir to coat. Sprinkle with salt. Cook over high heat for several minutes, stirring only occasionally. Given that there are so many vegetables, and they have a high moisture content, it may take more heat and longer time to brown than you would expect. Cook until the vegetables begin to brown.

 3 Add the garlic and tomato paste and stir to combine.Cook, stirring often, for 2-3 minutes, or until the tomato paste begins to turn a rusty color. Add the mushrooms and their soaking water, the rosemary, thyme, onion skins if using, peppercorns, bay leaves, parsley and 4 additional quarts of water. Bring to a simmer and then drop the heat until you just get a bare simmer. The surface of the stock should just barely be bubbling. Cook for 1 1/2 hours.

4 Using a spider skimmer or slotted spoon, remove all the big pieces of vegetable and mushroom. Discard or compost. Set up a large bowl or pot with a sieve set over it. Line the sieve with a paper towel and pour the stock through it. When you have about half the stock poured through, stop, let what's in the strainer filter through, and change the paper towel; the old one will be gunked up with debris. Filter the rest of the stock.
To store, pour into glass jars and refrigerate for up to a week, or freeze. If you freeze in glass jars, leave at least an inch and a half of headroom so the stock can expand without breaking the glass of the jar.

Fusilli with Herbed Ricotta and Grape Tomatoes

 

Ingredients

• Salt
• 1 cup(s) part-skim ricotta cheese
• 1 tablespoon(s) fresh oregano leaves, chopped
• 1/4 cup(s) (plus additional for serving) grated Pecorino Romano cheese
• 1/4 cup(s) (packed) fresh basil leaves, chopped
• 12 ounce(s) fusilli or corkscrew pasta
• 1 pint(s) (2 cups) grape tomatoes

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Directions

1. Heat large covered saucepot of salted water to boiling on high.
2. Meanwhile, in small bowl, combine ricotta, oregano, 1/4 cup Romano, and half of basil.
3. Add pasta to boiling water and cook as label directs, adding tomatoes when 3 minutes of cooking time remain.
4. Reserve 1/4 cup pasta cooking water. Drain pasta and tomatoes; return to pot. Add reserved cooking water to ricotta mixture; stir into pasta and tomatoes. Toss with remaining basil. Serve with additional cheese if you like.
   

Meat Lasagna

 

 Meat Lasagna
serves 6 - 8

Meat Sauce
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 1/2 pound of ground beef or 50-50 mix of ground beef and italian sausage, casings removed (I prefer this combo but it depends on what I have)
1 medium onion chopped fine
6 medium garlic cloves minced or pressed through a garlic press
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
28 ounce can tomato puree
28 ounce can diced tomatoes, drained
1/2 teaspoon salt

Lasasgna
15 ounce ricotta cheese, preferably whole-milk
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 large egg
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
3/4 cup coarsely chopped basil
1 pound shredded mozzerella cheese
2 ounces Parmesan cheese, grated (about 1 cup)
12 no-boil noodles

Making the sauce
Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat until shimmering. Add the ground meat and cook, breaking up the pieces, until browned. Transfer the ground beef to a bowl. Add 1 tablespoon of the fat back to the Dutch oven and turn the heat down to medium. Drain and discard the rest of the fat.

Add the chopped onions and cook until translucent while scraping up the brown bits. Add the black pepper and garlic and cook until the garlic is fragrant, about 30 seconds. Return the meat back to the sauce, add the drained diced tomatoes, tomato puree, and salt. Simmer for 1 hour.

Assemble the lasagna
If using chilled, premade sauce, let it sit out at room temperature for 20 - 30 minutes prior to using but you do not need to do this if you do not intend on baking the lasagna right away.

Adjust an oven rack to the middle position and heat the oven to 400 degrees.

Add the ricotta, cream, egg, salt, and pepper to the bowl of a food processor. Puree until smooth. Transfer to a bowl and mix in the chopped basil.

Mix the grated Parmesan and shredded mozzerella in a separate bowl and set aside.

Smear the bottom of a 9 x 13 inch baking dish with 1/4 cup of tomato sauce (avoiding large chunks of meat). Place 3 noodles on the bottom of the dish. Drop 3 tablespoons of the ricotta mixture in one tablespoon dollops along each noodle. Roughly spread the cheese mixture out on each noodle with the back of the spoon. Evenly sprinkle 1 cup of the grated mozzerella and parmesan mixture on top of the ricotta mixture. Then cover each noodle with 1/2 cup of meat sauce. Apply another layer of noodle and repeat the ricotta, mozzerella, meat sauce, and finally noodle again twice more. In the last ricotta layer, use up the remaining ricotta mixture.

Place the final layer of lasagna noodles on and cover with the remaining meat sauce. Then spread the remaining mozzerella mixture evenly over the top.

A cross-section of the lasagna will look like this:

Remaining mozz/parm
Remaining meat sauce
Noodle layer 3
Meat Sauce
Mozz/Parm
Ricotta
Noodle layer 2
Meat Sauce
Mozz/Parm
Ricotta
Noodle layer 1
1/4 cup sauce without meat

However, for a more photogenic lasagna with separate cheese and meat sauce layers, you can do something like this. Up to you, fresh lasagna never slices neatly anyway.

Remaining mozz/parm
Remaining meat sauce
Noodle layer 3
2x Meat Sauce
Noodle layer 2
2x Mozz/Parm
2x Ricotta
Noodle layer 1
1/4 cup sauce without meat

Bake uncovered at 400 degrees on the middle rack for 30 minutes. Depending on the oven, the top may brown faster than anticipated, if this happens, loosely cover the lasagna with a piece of foil and continue baking. Let it sit for 10 minutes at room temperature prior to slicing and serving.

If planning ahead, the lasagna can be kept in the fridge for 2 days. If freezing, wrap the dish tightly with plastic wrap, then wrap tightly with foil, and finally wrap tightly once more with plastic wrap. Thaw in the fridge for 24 - 48 hours. Make sure the center of the lasagna is not frozen prior to baking. After defrosting, let the lasagna sit at room temperature for an hour prior to baking.

Gently remove the foil when unwrapping because it can be used during baking. Gently drape the foil over the lasagna and bake at 400 degrees for 10 minutes then uncover and continue baking until the sauce is bubbly and cheese is spotty brown, approximately 25 - 35 more minutes.

Chinese Fried Noodles

 
today i will be giveing out the recipe for Chinese Fried Noodles. also known as Chow Mein. although know :)
1 16oz package of egg noodles fresh or dried
1 lb protein (chicken, beef, pork, BBQ pork, tofu, or shrimp) cut into strips (don't need to cut the shrimp)
I used about 2 cups of Chinese BBQ pork cut into sticks
Your choice of vegetables cut into strips or julienne and you can use however much you feel like
(Carrots, celery, snow peas, celery, baby bok choy, etc.)
I used 2 carrots (julienned) and 8oz. mushrooms (because I was a little short on veggies)
4 green onions, sliced in half lengthwise then cut into 2 inch lengths
3 - 4 Tbsp vegetable oil
3 slices ginger
3 cloves garlic, sliced thinly
2 Tbsp oyster sauce (more if needed)
1 Tbsp soy sauce
1/2 tsp sugar

Marinade for stir-fried meat
2 Tbsp soy sauce
2 Tbsp rice wine
1/2 tsp sugar
1 Tbsp corn starch
1/4 tsp white pepper

If you're starting with raw meat (chicken, pork, beef, shrimp), use mix the strips of meat with the marinade until all the pieces are all coated. Set aside for 10 - 15 minutes.

Bring a pot of water to a boil and cook the noodles according to package intructions. Stop cooking the noodles when there's still a good chew. Drain, rinse in cold water, drain again, and set aside.

Now cook your protein. Heat a tablespoon of oil over high heat in a wok or skillet. First add the ginger slices and let it perfume the oil. Add the meat and stir fry until it's almost cooked through. We'll finish cooking it with the veggies. Remove to a bowl and set aside.

In the cleared pan, heat about 2 teaspoons to 1 tablespoon of oil (depends on how much veggies you have) over medium high heat and stir fry the green onions, garlic, and the vegetables you're using. Season with a little salt, and stir fry until the vegetables are cooked but still crisp/crunchy and definitely not mushy. This shouldn't take too long. At this point, add the meat from step 1 back in to finish cooking with the veggies OR add your chopped precooked meat like Chinese BBQ pork to heat through. Set aside in a bowl.

In the cleared skillet heat 2 tablespoons of oil over medium high heat and add your noodles. Toss them around, get them well coated in the oil, and break up any clumps. If it's too sticky and clumpy, go ahead and add more oil. Pan fry the noodles, stirring and flipping them frequently until some of the noodles get a nice a crunchy golden brown exterior. Then season with the oyster sauce, soy sauce, and sugar. Toss the noodles freuqntly and make sure everything is evenly coated with the sauce. Taste and see if it needs additional seasoning. You may wish to add more oyster sauce, soy sauce, salt, or sugar. When the noodles are seasoned to your liking, add the proteins and vegetables and any liquid that may have accumulated in the bowl back into the skillet, toss until everything is evenly distributed into the noodles.

Blueberry Muffin

 
ive made these blueberry muffins 2 days ago. once i made them they tasted AMAZING! they were fluffy yet well made. i was happy when i saw everybody enjoy the muffin

Blueberry Muffin
2 cups (8.8 ounces) all purpose unbleached flour 
1 tablespoon baking powder 
1/4 teaspoon salt 
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick or 1/4 cup) unsalted butter, melted 
4 tablespoon (1/4 C) neutral oil like vegetable or canola 
1 large egg 
1/2 cup granulated sugar 
1/4 cup brown sugar 
1 cup buttermilk 
1 teaspoon vanilla extract 
1 1/4 to 1 1/2 cup blueberries 
Butter or oil spray for muffin tin 

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Butter or spray a muffin tin with nonstick spray. If you are using paper liners, lightly spray them with some oil so less muffin sticks to them when they're being peeled.

In a bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt.

In another bowl, whisk together the melted butter, oil, egg, and sugars. Then whisk in the buttermilk and vanilla.

Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and fold the two sets of ingredients together.

When the batter is starting to come together and no large clumps or streaks of flour remain, add the blueberries. Continue folding until the blueberries are evenly distributed and batter is mixed, a few streaks of flour are okay. Do not over work the batter

Scoop a mounded 1/4 of batter into each muffin tin, making sure the batter is distributed evenly amongst the 12 tins.

Bake at 400 degrees F until a toothpick inserted in the middle of a muffin in the center of the pan comes out clean, about 15 - 17 minutes. But like the article linked earlier in the post says, if your muffins are looking too "peaked" and scraggly for your tastes, try baking them at 375 for 17 - 20 minutes. Eve

my trip to denny's

Today i went to Denny's. although i went alone it was pretty fun. i ordered the grand slam. by the time i ate the pankakes and eggs i was already stuffed but i had to manage and eat the rest :) thankfuly i found the strength to pull it off. the servace was great and i recomend anyone who eats in denny's anytime soon to order the Grand Slam!

What i had for breakfast

for breakfast i simply had milk and cereal
its basic but its really good to start up your day
it keeps you alert and focused in the morning untill you need to eat again. today i ate corn flakes and drank orange juice