Clam Chowder

Hey guys now that school's out for winter break, I have time to get some blogging in. Tonight, to celebrate not having class and being able to eat and cook good food, I decided to make some yummy seafood.  And what's better than scallops? (apart from lobster) It probably didn't hurt my decision that a guy on travel channel was eating clam chowder today!  So here goes! (BTW, I totally recommend this recipe)

Kyle's Clam Chowder

½ pound small bay scallops

3 pieces fresh ham sliced or 6 pieces bacon crumbled

1 clove garlic crushed

1 potato Cubed

½ onion chopped

1 small rib of celery chopped

½ tsp herb and spice mix

¼ tsp black pepper

1 Tbsp bacon grease or drippings from the bacon

¾ cup heavy whipping cream

¾ cup milk

1 Tbsp clam juice

1 Tbsp flour

½-1 tsp salt

Herb and Spice mixture:

1 tsp parsley flakes

1 tsp Turkish oregano

1 tsp thyme

1 tsp rosemary

½ tsp basil

½ tsp dill

½ tsp marjoram

½ tsp tarragon

Pinch of nutmeg

Pinch of allspice

Once you prep the spice mix keep it in an older spice container or such. 

Basically I make mine different in that I brown the stuff before ever so slightly before I add in the liquid.  I first added in the herb and spice mix, bacon grease, garlic and ham.  I fry it up a bit and then add in the onion, celery, and potato.  Once it has fried, I mix together in another bowl (while it's still cold) the liquids and the flour and stir it up until all the lumps are gone. I Next I add it in along with the bay scallops and slow-cook it on medium to medium-low until the potatoes are soft and cooked through. 

Serve it hot with bread or oyster crackers and a glass of gingerale! :D

Enjoy Guys! 

¡Kyle S!

Ancho Tea

I once again have failed to post another post, so I will just post another easy one. 

When I was making turkey pie from all the left-over turkey that I had, I decided to taste the water I had left over from my ancho chili pepper that was smoking hot!  It was delicious; not what I would expect!

Ancho Tea

1 mug of boiling hot water
¼ tsp lavender flowers or
2 tsp lavender sugar
Sugar to taste


First open up the chili so the water can get inside.  Remove all the seeds completely and throw them away.  Next take boiling water and pour it into the mug.  Then place the ancho in the water and submerge it.  Let it sit for a minute and take it out and let it drip out.  Don't stir it with the chili inside because then your tea will taste too much like peppers. 


Next add the lavender or lavender sugar. Strain it if you'd like and enjoy! It tastes a little bit different than tea, but still good!

Your's truly...
KYLE!!!!!

Flavored Sugar

Hey guys, I have to apologize for not writing a blog post in some time.  I've been a bit busy and am freaking out about school a little bit right now, yet I owe you all one thing I suppose.  So I think I'll post a blog post of Flavored Sugar.  I've been experimenting with unusual ingredients recently and made some of my own flavored sugar.

Flavored Sugar

1-2 Pints of white sugar
Powdered and whole form of flavor

Flavors:
2-3 tsp lavender (ground up and sifted into powder)
1-2 tsp cinnamon (ground up to powder in sugar) plus a stick
1 vanilla bean (whole or scraped and mixed in)
9 dried spearmint leaves (ground up as powder in sugar)
1 dried organic citrus peel (cut very thinly whole and a little ground with sugar)
2 whole freshly dried roses' petals (whole in the sugar)
1-2 tsp various other spices (like allspice, nutmeg, clove, chili pepper)
1-2 tsp cocoa powder (mixed into sugar)
1-2 Tbsp matcha (mixed in if you want instant green tea)
1 tsp freshly ground coffee (ground up into powder with sugar and sifted)

Basically choose any of these ingredients of another of your choosing and mix it up (DRY!) in a pint mason jar full of sugar and then use it.  I prefer to use it as sugar in green tea, but you can use it to bake to give extra flavor or enhance other flavors.  I would try and avoid mixing too much

I recently made 4 sugars.

1) Lavender Powder sugar
Made from mixing up powdered lavender flowers into sugar.

2) Cinnamon Chai sugar
Made from mixing up powdered cinnamon, clove, allspice, ginger, black pepper, and nutmeg into sugar.

3) Cinnamon infused sugar
Made from adding in 3 broken cinnamon sticks into the sugar and letting the scent infuse to a subtle and sweet flavor.

4) Lavender infused sugar
Made from adding 2 Tbsp lavender flowers into a small pouch placed in the sugar letting the scent infuse for a subtle and very floral flavor.


I hope this makes you want to play around and try some combinations with sugar.  Just try not to mix too much and get some bad tasting thing.  Be careful and have fun!!

~XOX~ Kyle ~OXO~

Easy Miso Soup

I've been cooking dinner with Betsy all the time recently and she wanted to know how to make the soup they make at Inoko's restaurant in Athens, GA.  Their miso is a bit odd because it's peppery but still pretty good!

Easy Peppery Miso Soup

3½ Cups water plus ½ cup

1½ tsp miso paste (toasted)

1½ tsp peppercorns

1½ tsp hon dashi dried stock

1-½ clove of garlic chopped into about 4 pieces

2 Tbsp soy sauce

1”x2” piece of kombu kelp

Pinch of ground black pepper

Small Pinch of cayenne pepper (optional)

Toast the miso paste first in a pot for about 30 seconds to a minute or spread on a spoon over an open flame until it slightly browns and becomes aromatic.  Add in the 3½ cups of water and dissolve the miso.  Add in everything else but the kombu.  Bring it to a boil.  Brush off any sand or dust from the kombu piece.  Add in the boiling soup for about 30 seconds and take it out and throw it away.  After cooking the soup for about 20-30 minutes, then take it off the heat and let it sit for about 20 minutes.  Add in the final ½ cup of water that cooked out during the boiling process. 

Now drain the soup through a wire strainer or a coffee strainer.  Serve with small pieces of tofu warm with green onions on top.

I ate this soup with some nikuman and fried tofu dipped in ketcup mixed with sriracha chili garlic sauce.  I freaking love tofu...you don't even understand!!

That's about it!

~Kyle~

Simon and Garfunkle Bread

There is a funny story behind this bread. When I was really young, like 6th grade I started to get interested in bread making. Of course I didn't want to use a recipe, but my mom insisted. I got out a taste of home cookbook, and found a recipe for Italian Herb Bread. It was pretty good, but I wanted to make my OWN bread recipe. So about a week passed and for some reason I was listening to the song by Simon and Garfunkle Scarborough Fair.

From there I thought it would be a good idea to make bread based on the song using Parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme.  I was SO proud of myself, that I didn't care that my bread barely rose and was like a giant amorphous maelstrom reeking of sage. Plus my knowledge was barely developed back then, very limited.

But today I decided to revisit that good old recipe and try it again!  This time, with MUCH more success.  So without further adieu, Simon and Garfunkle Bread.

Simon and Garfunkle Bread

2 Cups bread flour

1 Tbsp oil

½ - ¼ tsp salt

1 tsp sugar

¼ tsp powdered parsley

¼ tsp powdered sage

¼ tsp powdered rosemary

¼ tsp powdered thyme

½ Tbsp Yeast

¾ cup scorched milk

First you need to take your milk and scorch it.  Heat it up in a pot or pan until it boils and cook it for about 1 minute.  Take it off and cover it until it cools.  This assures that the microorganisms in the milk won't keep the dough from rising. 

Now you need to pulverize the herbs if they are not already powders.  I usually use a mortar and pestle and then pass them through a fine sieve.  You can do them all at once if you'd like and then just add in 1 tsp of the herbs mixed.

Then you mix your dough up.  Make sure all the ingredients are mixed well and then knead the dough for about 5 minutes or until the dough is smooth and doesn't tear easily (very elastic).  

Cover the bread with a damp towel and let it rise for 30 minutes. Once it has risen roll out onto the table and knead about 1 minute. and place it on a piece of parchment paper.

Cover and let rise in a warm place again for about 1-1½ Hours and make sure the TOWEL DOESN'T STICK!!! You can keep checking how wet it is or cover the top of the bread with flour, but it's important.

Now heat the oven to 350F and cook the bread for 15 minutes.  Once you hit the 15 min mark, turn the heat up to 425F and let the outside barely crisp and brown for 5 minutes more.

Take it out and enjoy!!

This recipe that I remade holds a special place in my heart because it was my first conscious, official recipe I ever made!! ^_^  I enjoy it and hope you do too!!

Sincerely,

Kyle!