Caring for Cast Iron

I love cooking with cast iron. Most of my collection has been found at local second hand stores. Usually they need a little TLC to start. If you get one that needs to seasoned or re-seasoned don’t worry. I recommend bacon grease if you eat meat as it season well and adds great taste. Rub it all over the pan and bake at a lower temp until it turns dark. It should keep seasoning its self as you use it.

Never use soap on your cast iron. Never let it soak in the sink. Always dry it after you wash it out with hot water. Use a scouring pad or steal wool to clean if need be.

I highly recommend a grill skillet, a dutch oven and a couple different sized skillets.

Kids Love to Make Pizza

First make a bunch of pizza crust. The key is good flour and lots of kneading to activate the gluten.

The the kids get to make their own with the different pre-prepared toppings. B chose no sauce with olive oil.

C chose red sauce with meat. The dough made 10 small thin crust pizzas. I ended up putting 5 in the freezer for later. If you don’t want to make your own I highly recommend La Dolce Vita in Santa Fe. Great food and prices. Or they deliver for free in Santa Fe 629-4500.  It’s in the Salano Shopping center down from the Coop. We’re lucky we can walk there.

Onion Soup

I love onion soup. Its pretty basic and a great way to use up stale bread.

Ingredients

5 red onions, sliced
2 white onions, sliced
3 cloves garlic, peeled and smashed
few sage leaves
3 Shallots slices
butter
olive oil
salt
2 pints broth (chicken or veggie)
Cheddar Cheese
hearty bread sliced

Put the olive oil in a deep heavy bottomed pan with garlic and sage. Suate for about a minute. Add the onions and shallots. Cook for 50 minutes over medium to low heat. This helps give you some caramel and sweet flavors don’t rush it.

When the onions are clear and a little caramelized add the broth. Simmer for 10 to 15 minutes. Season to taste.

Prepare in a glass bowl with toasted bread slices on top. Place slices or shredded Cheddar cheese on top and place under the broiler until bubbly and a little brown. Enjoy. Just be careful the bowl will be really hot! This is a lot more filling than you think.

Great Pancake Tip

I wanted to share a great pancake tip that I recently learned. When you make pancaked using a basic recipe put the yolks in the general mix and whip the egg whites separately until soft peeks form. Then fold them in before frying for extra fluffy pancakes. if you want to add berries or fruit drop the fruit in before you flip the cakes. Keeps the  ingredients from settling on the bottom.

I always make mine silver dollar size that way I can freeze the leftovers (not that we ever have any). When you want one just pop it in the toaster.

Bryn makes Deviled Eggs

Bryn was also the little chef for Easter. Deviled Eggs are a great thing for kids to make. Basic slicing, mixing and piping are all skills a nine year old can handle. Boy he looks grown up.

High Desert Gardening

So I made the leap and planted some greens outside. It’s a little risky this time of year. So I am also giving my babies a little blanket at night.

So I planted: broccoli, cauliflower, chard and broccoli rabbi.

BK Bakes a Pie

I helped BK make a pie for Easter. We have this great peeler-slicer for apples. I think it was around $20 at Target. It makes apple pies very easy. We also used puff pastry for the crust. So basically all we had to do was add some sugar, flour and spices.

BK put a little egg on the top and we baked it at 375 until golden. Delicious.

Homemade Marshmallows

David made some fantastic homemade marshmallows with Aranciata SanPellegrino flavor! Then he built a fire and we roasted them. Yummmm!

When roasted a caramelized candy shell formed on them with a creamy orange marshmallow center. I highly recommend homemade marshmallows.

Sorry about the blurry picture it was the only one I had. And you just had to see the beautiful caramelization!

More Gardening, BK loves to help

So we planted our first outside seeds this weekend. We have planted radishes, carrots, peas, leeks, onions, cilantro, scallions, beats, and califlower.

Of course I bought cauliflower and broccoli plants that we put out as well. I don’t know how well they will due. It depends on if it stays warm or not. Of course it is windy too.

We added compost to the beds but decided not to fill them mostly due to cost. I will be filling them up over time with compost anyway. BK has been very helpful and has taken a real interest in the garden. The boys helped for about five minutes and then lost interest.

I took BK to the store and let her pick out some of her own seeds and we are going to dig her a small beg of her own to take care of.

Kick Arse Chicken and Leek Pie

We had a Kick Arse Chicken And Leek Pie tonight. It was a Jamie Oliver recipe from his new magazine.

Ingredients:
A couple stripes smoked bacon
1/2 a bunch of thyme leaves only
olive oil
a chunk of butter
3 medium leeks  washed and white end finely sliced
a couple cups cooked chicken
2 TBSP flour
2 pints chicken broth
2 TBSP creme fraiche
packet of puff pastry
1 egg

Preheat the oven to 350 F. Chop the bacon and add it to a large pan on medium heat along with a chug of olive oil, the butter and the thyme. fry for about 3 minutes. Add the leeks and and fry for another 3 minutes. Add a pinch of salt and pepper and cook for about 30 minutes stirring every 10 minutes or so. Stir in the chicken add the flour and toss to coat. Add the creme fraiche and broth and bring to a boil. Let it thicken a  little and pour into a strainer catching all the gravy in a pan for later.

Coat the counter with a bit of flour and roll out the pastry.  Put the pastry into the bottom of the pan. You can use a pie pan. I used a 8 x8 inch baking dish. spoon in the leek mixture. put the top on and trim. Use the trimmings to decorate your pie. Beat the egg and add a little salt. brush over the top. Bake for 30-40 minutes or until the pastry is goden brown.

Serve with peas and gravy. To die for. My kids loved this!!!

Thanks a bunch Jamie!

My Babies are Growing!

Yeah! My seeds are starting to come up. I have to admit I go in and check on them at least a couple times a day. It’s definately spring the chickens have even started laying again.

HR875 and S425 Explained – STOP THE NWO!

This is very interesting and if you are a gardener or into supporting small and local farmers you need to listen to this.