Nothin' askew here!

It's barbecue weather again! Yipee! I know, there are celebrity endorsed indoor grills that I could use all winter long. And why wouldn't I? I mean, if a boxer can run the thing then I surely could! But, it comes down to the best thing about a barbecue. It's outdoors. It's fresh air, sunshine, smoke billowing out from under the grill lid and the smell. The sweet, smoky scent that makes you feel like you're cooking over an open fire.

While there are different definitions of BBQ the one common thread is that they're all meant to be outdoor cooking. In the southern U.S. BBQ is the technique. Large pieces of meat or whole animals rubbed with spices & slow spit-roasted to tender perfection. Others say it's only BBQ if the meat is smothered with a sauce.

Although I'm guilty of calling it all a barbecue, I do see the difference in grilling vs. spit-roasting or kalua style. I've tasted kalua pig & it's the best piece of meat ever. But it's not often I have the time or energy to dig a hole in my backyard, layer it with banana leaves (seriously difficult to find in Idaho), heat the lava rocks & bury the pig in a pit for 12 hours. Although, after giving this some serious thought I decided I might just plan a party & make kalua pig.
After doing the research on it... and seeing the photos of the pig... I've thought better of that plan. I think I'll stick to grilling at least this summer.

Here are a few of our first of the season grilled treats:

Iron Springs Honey Chipotle Glazed Chicken Skewers



Prawn and Bacon Brochettes




Caramelized Pineapple with Hot Chocolate Sauce

I've been making my own original recipe for dinner roll dough for almost 20 years now & it's one of my most requested recipes. It's a yeast recipe & I usually can whip out 24 dinner rolls in about 90 minutes, but sometimes even an hour & a half is too long.
One night about a year ago I was going to make meatloaf but Bryan said he didn't really feel like it. He suggested he barbecue some hamburgers instead. I loved the idea & we got all excited until I realized we had no buns for hamburgers.
Of course I ran to Recipezaar.com to find a hamburger bun recipe. I couldn't believe the name of these buns & since I was going to be making some anyway, I might as well test out this recipe. This recipe was no lie! Forty minutes later we had fresh, hot homemade hamburger buns to go with our freshly barbecued hamburgers. Delish!
I've since made them many, many times. For hamburgers, sloppy joes, soups. I've made a double batch even but you really have to be on your toes to form that many buns quickly (or recruit some help) & I was using two ovens. I do all the mixing & kneading in the Kitchen Aid mixer & the Artisan model mixer can make the double batch all at once.
Leftovers I let cool on racks then put in a large ziplock baggie. I'd love to tell you how long they last but we never have them around for more than two days. They make awesome meat & cheese sammys, PB&J, toast & jelly, or just warmed & buttered. They stay nice & soft. Since we're coming up on barbecue weather, you all need to try these. You'll likely never buy store-bought buns again!

40 Minute Hamburger Buns

Banana, Lime & Coconut Cake from Australia... Mmmm

You may end up seeing a lot of baked goods here. I have a sweet tooth. In my column I try really hard to alternate between main dishes that are practical & probably needed by more people on a regular basis than things like cakes, candies, cookies, cupcakes... you get the picture. But again, in the blog format I am so excited that I can post whatever I want to! So, the following is our favorite dessert from the Australia/New Zealand leg of the Zaar World Tour. My family went crazy over this one. The bananas keep the cake very moist & the lime & coconut add texture & flavor accents. Delicious! I loved how easy it was to make & that it only made a single layer. Sometimes I do just want a cake but don't want the hassle of stacking & icing two layers. The recipe does not tint the cream cheese frosting but I had some neon green food coloring that I used in a beverage & I thought it would make a great "lime" color for the cake. The only problem was that every time I took a bite of it I expected a "lime" flavor out of it. LOL
Next time I think I'll add a little lime juice & zest to it.
Banana, Lime & Coconut Cake

My new favorite beverage...

Red Cactus Margarita - Alcohol Optional

I hate to get into the habit of not posting a full column here but I have a feeling I'm going to start doing it anyway. I have tried so many recipes that I would love to share with others that I don't readily have enough to fill a column with so I'm going to start putting them up here with or without full columns.

First off is my new favorite drink. I rarely drink alcohol & in fact the "stocked bar" we have in the house has all been purchased for recipes. LOL
Note to self: Post the Whiskey Cake. :)

Currently, the event going on in the Contest & Events forum on Recipezaar is the Zaar World Tour V. This is the first round that I've participated in myself & I am so glad I did! If you've read even just a couple of my columns you'll know how much I love history & the origins of recipes, ingredients & techniques, so it won't come as a surprise that my favorite part of the ZWT is cooking foods from different regions. We are just finishing up the Australia/New Zealand & Spain/Portugal regions. We're still in Mexico for a bit longer & I'll probably end up posting photos of several of the recipes I tried but my first one comes from Mexico. Posted by someone who has become a real special friend & after trying this drink I think I'll keep on being her friend. LOL

Just kidding, Bren! You know I love ya, even without tequila!

One of the best things about it is that it would be good without the alcohol too. The cranberry/raspberry concentrate was one I'd never seen before but sure enough there it was, top spot in the frozen juice case! I'm so glad I was able to find it too. It has a great new container! You know how the "old" frozen juice containers are cardboard? I hate those. Especially when you don't need to use the entire amount. I use a lot of orange juice concentrate straight from the frozen container in marinades & such. I was really excited to see that the cranberry/raspberry container was plastic with a full-on lid that snapped right back over the top. Unlike the limeade concentrate's cardboard & metal flap sitting askew in the freezer. Well, I really didn't like the look of that messy can since I only made a half a recipe the first time.... so I had to make a second batch of this drink. It was most refreshing on our most recent 90+ degree days. I've also tried this with Absolut vodka, which turns out to be just as yummy.

Amish Friendship Bread - no starter required

While the Internet has made your average hand-written letter almost obsolete, there is one piece of mail that has survived the technological evolution, the chain letter. If you don't remember the paper version, you are probably still well aware of the electronic version. Originally, a friend would send you a letter with a list of (usually) 10 names on it. You were to write out one letter for 10 of your friends plus one letter for whoever's name was at the top of the list. In your letters you would remove that top name, add your own name to the bottom of the list and then send your letters out. Always, a promise of good luck would befall you if all 10 friends received their letters and continued the chain. Today, it’s so much easier to be a friend. We get a forwarded email that we can quickly forward to 100 friends (that's extra good luck!) before your first cup of morning coffee goes cold.

I have friends who still enjoy these. I personally never did, except maybe the very first time when we were young kids and just getting MAIL addressed to us was a big thing. I cannot tell you how many times I've broken the chain, but I can tell you that if my good luck was hinged on how many letters I did NOT send, then I'd own stock in the Luck Company.

So what does this have to do with food? It brings us to the chain letter of baking, Amish Friendship Bread. You receive one liquid cup of a sourdough starter from a friend. Then you stir it and feed it flour, sugar and milk in a particular order for the next ten days. At this point you have grown your starter and it's time to divide it up: one portion to bake, one portion to start another round of starter and two portions to give to friends. The basic dough can be used for sourdough type breads but the Friendship Bread is the recipe that gets passed along with the starters. If you haven't eaten Friendship Bread you're missing out. No, not on friends, on a deliciously sweet cinnamon bread that is even more addicting than the forwarded emails.

Similar to my experience with the hand written letters, I can find plenty of reasons that don't allow me the time or patience to stir and feed the starter for 10 days, so imagine my excitement when I found a recipe for Amish Friendship Bread without a starter! I've since changed the recipe slightly. Sure, we can't trace it back to someone's Aunt Sally in Hoboken and it does have a few modifications, but it's an excellent substitute when you're craving something sweet for breakfast, brunch or with your after-dinner coffee. Or... if you just happen to have a couple friends over, say... fixing the plasma television your precocious toddler just bashed in with a two dollar Happy Meal toy, it makes a second loaf they'll surely appreciate being sent home with.
Below is the original recipe with my cinnamon-sugar mixture added, but at times I have also substituted 1/2 of the vegetable oil with applesauce to make it a bit healthier and I have also tried adding 1/2 cup dried cranberries or currents. So far it's been fun and easy to experiment with but tastes just fine in its basic form.


Amish Friendship Bread - no starter required

1 cup vegetable oil
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 large eggs
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons cinnamon
2 1/2 cups flour
1 1/4 cups milk
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 (3 1/2 ounce) box instant pudding mix (any flavor)
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

For topping:
1/2 cup white sugar
2-3 teaspoons cinnamon (to taste)


Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
Combine oil, sugar, vanilla, eggs, salt, and cinnamon.
Add flour, milk, soda, pudding, and baking powder. Mix well.
In small cup or bowl combine the topping ingredients.
Grease 2 large loaf pans and sprinkle with a portion of the sugar and cinnamon mixture. Pour batter into pans and sprinkle cinnamon sugar on top. Bake for 1 hour.

Yield 2 loaves
15 min prep time
60 minute cook time

I’d been planning this year’s holiday feast when it occurred to me that my biggest culinary decision every year is dessert. Pumpkin pie? Apple pie? Both? I found it somewhat surprising, as I rarely have room for dessert after gorging on stuffing, potatoes and gravy. Oh, and a bit of turkey and ham. Yes, on Thanksgiving I can spread the table with carbohydrate packed foods and excuse it as tradition. Then of course I finish off that tradition by serving up deliciously sweet pies. Now I wonder how pie became the most common dessert presented at holiday tables.
While researching, an excerpt from an old Schoolhouse Rock video comes to mind, “Mother Necessity, with her good intentions, where would this country be without her inventions?” All great ideas were created out of a need to solve problems or make daily chores easier. As it turns out, this extends to pie crust as well. Pies were developed as a way to keep seasonal fruits and meats from spoiling. The double crust sealed in freshness, extending shelf-life of perishable foods and served as a vessel in which to cook the sweet or savory fillings. At serving time though, the crust would be discarded because it was too tough to eat. The most surprising information about pie at the table recalls the nursery rhyme, "Sing a Song of Sixpence". Apparently, even the fillings weren’t always meant to be eaten. Royal banquets featured the “animated pie" as a form of entertainment. A large pie crust containing anything from blackbirds to frogs and other small animals was presented at the table. When the crust was broke open the contents would be released to fly or hop out and entertain the diners.
Now that pies are eaten in whole, I’ve heard many friends and family say that making a pie crust is a daunting task for them. Producing a light and flaky crust can be a challenge, but sometimes making them pretty is an even bigger one. Using ice water and as little handling as possible, I’ve managed to make pretty good crusts but I struggle trying to scallop the edges. I use a knuckle pinching technique to avoid tearing a hole in the crust with my fingernails. It works, but it’s not very uniform. I’ll be honest; I’d give up pie before I gave up my nails. In order to save myself the pain of choosing, the following recipe has been a welcome addition to my pie collection. The flaky, freeform crust lets you present a beautiful apple pie without the worry of perfection.

Rustic Apple and Cranberry Pie
Pastry:
1 1/2 cups flour
1 tablespoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons butter
3 tablespoons shortening
5-6 tablespoons ice water

Filling:
2 1/2 lbs apples, peeled, cored, and sliced 1/4 inch thick (I use only Granny Smith but a mix is also nice.)
1/2 cup dried cranberries (I like the orange flavored cranberries too)
1/3 cup sugar
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1 pinch ground nutmeg

Glaze:
1 egg white, beaten
1 tablespoon sugar

PASTRY: Combine flour, sugar, and salt in a food processor fitted with a metal chopping blade; pulse to mix.
Add butter and shortening and pulse 5-8 more times until the mixture looks like coarse oatmeal. Sprinkle with 1/2 the water and pulse. Gradually add in more of the water, a Tablespoon at a time, until the dough holds together when pinched with your fingertips (you may not need all of it). Note: This can all be done by hand with a pastry blender as well.
On a floured surface, form the dough into a ball and then flatten into a disk. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes and for up to 3 days.

FILLING: Toss apples, cranberries, 1/3 cup sugar, 2 tablespoons flour, and spices together in a large bowl; set aside.

BAKING AND ASSEMBLY: Preheat oven to 400°F Roll dough on a floured surface to make a 15 inch circle. Fold dough into quarters; place on a large baking sheet and unfold. Place filling in the center of the pastry, leaving a 2 1/2 border all around. Fold the pastry border over the filling (I fold this in several small sections- some pieces of the crust will overlap each other, and this is just how it should be; remember that it's a rustic pie). Brush pastry with egg white and sprinkle with sugar. Bake for 25 minutes. Cover the pie with foil and bake for 15 minutes more. Cool on baking sheet on a wire rack. Cover and store pie at room temperature. Serves 12 Prep time: 30 minutes Cook time: 40 minutes

Presto Pesto!

Green food has always been something of a culinary hurdle for me. Yes, mom read Dr. Suess’ Green Eggs and Ham to us and now I’ve read it to my children, but there is still something much less appealing about green food once it’s on your plate instead of on the page. In recent years I’ve begun to coordinate my eyes and my palate to accept green food as not being yucky. I remember going to the 13 Coins restaurant, a Seattle landmark since the late 1960’s, one night with some friends. One friend raved about the pasta he was eating and wanted everyone to try it. Even in a dim booth at about 1 o’clock in the morning and no doubt after a few shots of tequila, I could see that the food was decidedly green, but since everyone else was trying it out I felt that I needed to as well. That was my first experience with pesto. I’d never tried it nor even heard of it before, but certainly didn’t want to admit to being ignorant of it. I can’t say that I enjoyed it; after all, it was green. It’s been about 15 years now and I decided it was about time I gave pesto another chance.
Just northwest of Genoa, Italy, along the Mediterranean is a region known as Liguria. Due to the mild climate, the mountain terrain and its position along the coast, the Ligurian diet depended on and was influenced by what could be grown or caught from the water, like herbs, vegetables and seafood. While the region does produce both white and red wines, they are only sold locally. The two most recognizable inventions to emerge from Liguria are pesto and focaccia bread.
The most traditional recipe for pesto uses fresh basil leaves, garlic, pine nuts, extra virgin olive oil and cheese. All of the ingredients were hand ground into a smooth paste with a mortar and pestle, hence the word pesto. Fresh ingredients are a must as pesto is not cooked in any way. It’s easy to make and very versatile. While most recipes will call for an exact amount of each ingredient, it’s very common to make adjustments according to your personal preferences, the flavors in accompanying dishes or what you have on hand. Pesto is traditionally eaten as a sauce for cooked pasta, but can be used as a condiment for grilled Panini sandwiches, as pizza sauce, in breads, spread over toast points and broiled as an appetizer or use a few teaspoons as garnish for your homemade soups.
This recipe is a basic basil pesto but I have noted several different substitution options for the herb, nuts, oil and cheese. Pesto is quick and easy so don’t be afraid to experiment with it. Go green! It’s what’s in style.

Fresh Basil Pesto with Variations
2 cups fresh basil leaves
3 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1/3 cup pine nuts
1/2 teaspoon salt (I use finely ground sea salt or kosher)
1 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
1/4 cup parmesan cheese, shredded
Fit your food processor with the steel blade attachment. To bowl, add basil, garlic, oil, pine nuts, salt and pepper. Pulse several times, scraping bowl if needed, and continue until the mixture is a smooth paste. Add a tiny bit of oil if mixture gets too thick.
When the consistency is right, transfer to a small bowl and fold in the shredded parmesan cheese.
To serve with pasta: Stir a few tablespoons of pesto with a splash of cooking water from your favorite pasta until it’s a good serving consistency and toss with hot pasta until coated.
To Store: Cover with a thin layer of olive oil or spray with non-stick cooking oil and keep in the fridge for several weeks. For long-term storage fill ice cube trays with pesto, freeze and then pop out into a re-sealable plastic bag. Thaw just the right amount of fresh pesto for your meal any time you want it!
*NOTE: Other aromatic herbs, nuts, oils or hard cheeses can be used in place of or in combination with the basil, pine nuts, extra virgin olive oil and parmesan. Keep in mind the herb is the star of the show and should have the most prominent flavor when mixing and matching ingredients. Also, consider the rest of your meal and what fresh flavors might compliment it best. Have fun experimenting with some of the following!
Herbs: fresh cilantro, spinach, oregano, sun-dried tomatoes; Italian flat leaf parsley can be used by itself but is also perfect when one of the other herbs has too strong of a flavor or when you may be running short on the amount.
Nuts: walnuts, almonds, pecans.
Favored Oils: porcini mushroom, walnut, lemon, rosemary, raspberry.
Cheeses: Parmigiano-Reggiano, Asiago, Romano.
Yield: one cup of pesto
Prep time: 10 minutes