Flour Tortillas - by Stace

This is Bobbie's recipe (I will let her add origins, memories etc.). We have been using it for a while now as a super-easy way to make homemade tortillas. Boddhi cannot eat the store bought ones (and nor should we) because of the hydrogenated oils --[by the way did you know that eating hydrogenated oils and processed fats inhibits your body from absorbing good fats that your brain needs to function?].

This recipe is so quick -- you can have yummy homemade tortillas cooking in a matter of minutes. Dude and I have also used this recipe to make chimichangas. We just par cook the tortillas, then add the ingredients, seal the dough and fry (yummy!).

2 cups flour

1 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup water

1/4 cup oil

Mix dry ingredients together, then add the oil and water. Knead until they come together. Then pull off small bits of dough and roll into balls. Use a rolling pin to roll out the tortillas on a floured surface. Heat on each side in an hot skillet (I prefer iron) and enjoy! This recipe makes 6 tortillas.

posted by stace

Chicken a la Jovan by Bob

I thought I would post one of my favorite Jovan recipes. It is very delicious. It's kind of a chicken stew, but the sauce made with white wine and heavy cream. Very delicious.



Ingredients:

chicken (we use thighs, with or without bone)
3 small potatoes
3 carrots
fresh green beans (cut in half)
3 cloves garlic
1 small onions
1 jalapeno
cooking wine (white) 1 small bottle
1/2 pint of heavy creamer or 1 cup of milk
add 1 small bottle of cooking wine and milk to a large cooking pot.
add onion, garlic, jalapeno and simmer
season according to your taste (salt, pepper, herbs, etc. - jovan puts a smidgen of curry as well)
cook chicken and season in a separate pot with olive oil and seasonings
add carrots, green beans and potatoes and let simmer until potatoes are cooked well.
slow simmer will taste better, but 1 hour will do.

Posted by Bob

Black Bean and Cheese Enchiladas by Bob

Inspired by Stacey's recent veggie post I decided to try something veggie myself. Since we are broke, and I also want to buy meats from local farmers I have been trying to convince Jovan we should cut back on meat. This hasn't been easy, but the best way to do it is just cook the meal!! He really liked it but did say "just a little chicken added and it would be perfect." With a sly grin on his face.

Here it goes:

1 pkg dry black beans (seasoned to taste)
1 can of corn (or fresh/frozen corn)
1 block cheddar cheese (i only used half but the more cheese the better)
1 onion
1 green pepper
1 jalapeno
1 tomato
2 cloves garlic
corn tortillas
enchillada sauce

Cook the black beans early, and season them to taste. I added salt, pepper, cumin, bean seasoning and taco seasoning. Also threw in a couple of whole garlic cloves crushed. When black beans are about done add the corn. In a separate pan saute onion, green pepper, jalapeno, tomato and garlic in a pan. Add this to your black beans.
Begin cooking corn tortillas (as Steph says in a previous post it helps to but a couple of drops of water on them). Fill each tortilla with cheese and them bean mixture and line the bottom of a pan. Sprinkle cheese on top and add enchilada sauce. I used a green enchilada sauce from a jar. It had fewer unidentifiable ingredients in it that the canned ones. Bake on 350 until cheese is melted.
It was yummy :) Jovan clearly liked it since he at about 8 enchiladas. I had two and was stuffed!

Homemade Yogurt and Granola - by Bob

A couple of weeks ago Jovan requested some granola. He loves it, but it's kind of expensive at the store so I said, "I think I will try to make some." It is so good! After making that a friend told me she had been making her own yogurt so I thought I would give that a try and mix them up. I'm eating it right now and wanted to post this new masterpiece on our blog :) Hope others enjoy it too! The yogurt I made is plain but if you want sweet you can just add some maple syrup/vanilla or anything else you want. We use ours as a sour cream substitute and I like it with the granola since it's sweet enough.



Granola recipe

1 container of oatmeal ( 6 c - not quick or instant)
2 c mixed nuts and seeds (sunflower, sesame, chopped walnuts, pecans, almonds or cashews)
1 c dried unsweetened shredded coconut (optional)
1tsp ground cinnamon (or to taste)
dash salt
1/2 to 1 c honey or maple syrup, or to taste
1 cup raisins or dried fruit

Preheat oven to 350. Combine oats, nuts, seeds, coconut, cinnamon, salt and sweetener in a bowl. Place on a sheet pan and place in oven. Bake for 30 min, or a little longer, stirring occasionally. Stir occasionally. Mixture should brown evenly. The browner it gets (without burning) the crunchier it will be.

Remove from pan and add dried fruit. Cool on rack stirring once in a while till it reaches room temperature. Transfer to sealed container and store. It will keep indefinitely.



Plain yogurt

1 quart milk (whole, lowfat, skim)
1/4 c commercial, unflavored yogurt
2 to 4 tbs sugar or honey (optional)
add milk powder for thicker yogurt

Place cold pasteurized milk in top of a double boiler. stir in sweetener if desired. Heat milk 180-200 degrees, stirring and hold for 10 minutes. Do not boil!
Place pot in cold water to cool rapidly to 112 degrees. Add commercial yogurt to mix. Pour into clean hot containers (mason jars) and place in incubator for 7-12 hours. Refrigerate immediately.

Incubation method I used. Cooler full of hot water.

Apple pie -- by Bob

We had a pretty crazy snow day these last two days. I don't know what it is about snow that makes you want to bake, but I decided to make an apple pie. First I had to trek down to the grocery store (about 12 blocks) in the snow. It was well worth it because I saw some pretty fantastic things.

Here is our street for one. 23 inches of snow in Philadelphia!

A rather tall, slender snowman in Clark Park.

And yes, a woman cross country skiing on a Philadelphia sidewalk.
You just never know what your going to see in Philly :)

Back to the original reason for this post however, Apple Pie!
I called up Jovan's mom, Edie, for a recipe. She had made a delicious apple pie for us last year when we visited at Christmas. No answer from her, so I called up Leo, who also made one of the best apple pie's I've ever tasted (at our Thanksgiving feast). Leo informs me that his recipe is straight off the Pilsbury pie crust package. Well, wondering if I would be able to find that exactly I waited to hear back from Edie. She called me back and guess what? Her recipe is straight of the Pilsbury package! Guess it's not so much a family recipe but it sure is delicious. Therefore I thought I would share it here.

Tonight Jovan and I made this pie together. Afterward we made the chicken enchiladas straight from this blog. Delicious!
Needless to say I did not find the exact Pilsbury recipe that Leo and Edie used. Thankfully Edie had written it down, so here it goes.

6 c of thinly sliced granny smith apples
3/4 c sugar (I used turbanado sugar and mixed in a little brown, i also used a little less than required)
3/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp nutmeg
1 T lemon juice

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Combine all above ingredients and put in the Pilsbury pie crust (added some butter pieces to the mix). Cover the top with a second pie crust, and add your design (slits in the top). Bake for 40-45 min. If edges begin to get to dark or burn cover them with foil.
Side note, I bought a smaller pie crust. For this one I recommend getting the biggest one out there. We have lots of apples left over and will have to get another crust to make a second pie.
It turned out delicious! Add some vanilla ice cream to the side and you've got the perfect dessert. Sorry we don't have bluebell around here, but if you do you are better off!


Update: November 24, 2010
Made it again this year. Pie crust from scratch after looking at the ingredients in the store bought pie crust.

Perfect Pie Crust Recipe

Ingredients

All Butter Crust for Sweet and Savory Pies (Pâte Brisée)

• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus extra for rolling
• 1 cup (2 sticks or 8 ounces) unsalted butter, very-cold, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 6 to 8 Tbsp ice water

Method

1 Cut the sticks of butter into 1/2-inch cubes and place in the freezer for 15 minutes to an hour (the longer the better) so that they become thoroughly chilled.

Dough is ready to shape.

2 Combine flour, salt, and sugar in a food processor; pulse to mix. Add butter and pulse 6 to 8 times, until mixture resembles coarse meal, with pea size pieces of butter. Add ice water 1 Tbsp at a time, pulsing until mixture just begins to clump together. If you pinch some of the crumbly dough and it holds together, it's ready. If the dough doesn't hold together, add a little more water and pulse again.

3 Remove dough from machine and place in a mound on a clean surface. Gently shape into 2 discs. Knead the dough just enough to form the discs, do not over-knead. You should be able to see little bits of butter in the dough. These small chunks of butter are what will allow the resulting crust to be flaky. Sprinkle a little flour around the discs. Wrap each disc in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 1 hour, and up to 2 days.

4 Remove one crust disk from the refrigerator. Let sit at room temperature for 5-10 minutes in order to soften just enough to make rolling out a bit easier. Roll out with a rolling pin on a lightly floured surface to a 12-inch circle; about 1/8 of an inch thick. As you roll out the dough, check if the dough is sticking to the surface below. If necessary, add a few sprinkles of flour under the dough to keep the dough from sticking. Carefully place onto a 9-inch pie plate. Gently press the pie dough down so that it lines the bottom and sides of the pie plate. Use a pair of kitchen scissors to trim the dough to within 1/2 inch of the edge of the pie dish.

5 Add filling to the pie.

6 Roll out second disk of dough, as before. Gently place onto the top of the filling in the pie. Pinch top and bottom of dough rounds firmly together. Trim excess dough with kitchen shears, leaving a 3/4 inch overhang. Fold the edge of the top piece of dough over and under the edge of the bottom piece of dough, pressing together. Flute edges using thumb and forefinger or press with a fork. Score the top of the pie with four 2-inch long cuts, so that steam from the cooking pie can escape.

posted by Bob

Mississippi Mud - by Bob

**Updated with recipe and pictures below.

Bob's food memory
I am going to gain from this more than I contribute. I don't seem to have records of any recipe's. Though I do have lots of food memories to share.
One of my all time favorite Grandma C recipe's is the Mississippi mud cake! It is like a combination of fudge brownie, chocolate cake, and smores. It has been years since I've had one of these, and I think it's time!
I wish I could remember the first time I tried this cake, because I am sure it was a special moment :) I always requested this cake for my birthday. I can remember a birthday party at the lake. Stace made me the cake and the whole family was there. After water skiing and swimming, the cake was a delicious treat!

Who has the recipe?

Updated by Stace.
Here is the recipe Bob (pictures are from the cake I made for Mom's birthday-- Happy Birthday Mom):
Gather your cake ingredients:
1/3 cup of cocoa
1 1/2 cups of flour
1 tsp soda
2 cups sugar
1/tsp salt
2 sticks melted butter
4 beaten egges
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 cups of pecans (or other nuts)
large marshmallows (or marshmallow creme)

Mix together dry ingredients:

add butter, eggs, vanilla and pecans

(I left out the pecans because my nieces and nephews don't like them)

Mix well

pour into greased 9x12 and cook for 45 min at 300 degrees

When cake is done, add marshmallows to top of hot cake and melt in oven for a few minutes (or top with marshmallow creme -- I prefer the toasted marshmallows).
When marshmallows are soft, spread them across cake (like icing) and allow to cool. When cake is completely cool, ice with this fudge icing.

1 box powdered sugar (16 oz)
1/3 cup cocoa
1 stick melted oleo (or butter)
1/4 cup milk
1 tsp vanilla
mix until creamy and add to cake

Enjoy!

Beans and Rice Malawi Style - by Bob

Finally posting this one.

Beans and rice was my favorite meal in Malawi. I could never get it quite as delicious as a Malawian could, but I did my best. I also really loved the beans with Nsima (staple food of Malawi), but I have not cooked that since I've been back.



For the beans:
1 bag of red kidney beans
1 onion
2-3 tomatoes
1 clove garlic
olive oil

I don't have any specific measurements for any of this, but I usually cook the beans with a significant amount of water. I prefer mine not too runny, but enough water to keep the moisture. Add salt to the beans, to taste.
Once the beans are nearing done (usually about 3 hours on the stove top) begin chopping onion and mincing garlic. Simmer in olive oil. Chop tomatoes and add to onions and garlic. Cook until tomatoes form a sauce. Add this sauce to your finished beans and stir in, cooking for about another 15 minutes.
I prefer my rice extra sticky, but prepare your rice the way you like it :)

Enjoy! And imagine cooking this on an open fire. If you want the full experience, go to your back yard, place three large stones in a circle (just far enough apart that a pot can sit on top of them. Gather some sticks and wood for your fire, and place between the stones, with the fire focused in the center. This cooks your beans much faster, but you will have to continually watch the water level, and keep your fire going for a couple of hours! Good luck with that part! :)

posted by Bob