Homemade Dill Pickles
People think homemade pickles are difficult to make. They really aren’t. These dill pickles are easier than most.
To make them, you start by putting dill and garlic in clean jars. Then you add the cukes, cover them with the brine, and process. Can’t get much simpler.
You can play around with the seasonings a bit. To make the dill pickles a little more fun, I added 1 teaspoon of red pepper flakes to about half of the jars, for a spicy version.
To make the pickles crisper, you can add a fresh grape leaf to each jar with the spices. For best results, use really fresh cucumbers. Pickle them as soon after harvest as possible.
If you didn’t grow pickling cucumbers, they are available at most farm markets. Buying from a local farmer means you are likely to get a fresher product than what might be at the grocery store.
Easy Dill Pickles
30-40 pickling cucumbers, 5 inches long, scrubbed and ends trimmed off
¾ c. sugar
¾ c. canning or pickling salt (non-iodized)
1 quart vinegar, 5% acidity
1 quart water
7 fresh dill heads
3 T. pickling spice
7 garlic cloves, peeled, optional
Mix together the sugar, salt, vinegar, water and pickling spices and bring to a boil. Cook 10 minutes. Place a dill head in the bottom of seven clean, hot pint jars. Add the garlic, if using. Meanwhile cut trimmed and washed cucumbers into halves or quarters lengthwise and pack upright into the jars. Trim the length, if needed to fit no higher than to the shoulder of the jar. Pour over the hot brine leaving ½ -inch of headspace. Wipe rims and screw on lids. Place in a simmering water bath and bring to a boil. Process for 10 minutes. Remove and cool. Makes 7 pints.
Zucchini Brownies – Gluten Free
These brownies are everything you want in a brownie. Sweet, moist and very tender. The fact they are also flour and gluten-free is a nice bonus for those who can’t have gluten.
You might think, when you read the ingredients, that I left something out. I didn’t. They baked up beautifully and had a wonderful texture. I think the next time I make them, I might also add some chopped nuts.
Gluten-Free Zucchini Brownies
1½ c. shredded zucchini
1 c. almond butter- but you could use peanut butter instead
1 c. chocolate chips
1/3 c. honey – but you can use 1/2 cup if you want a sweeter brownie
¼ c. unsweetened cocoa powder
1 egg
1 t. vanilla
1 t. baking soda
1 t. cinnamon
½ t. allspice
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9×9 inch pan, set aside. Combine all ingredients in a medium bowl and stir until well blended. Pour batter into pan and spread evenly. Bake 25-30 minutes, or until toothpick inserted comes out clean. Cool before cutting. Makes 16.
“Cheeseburger” Cookies
I have been doing a cooking camp in Mentor this week. We have made all sorts of dishes including these darling cheeseburgers cookies. I know, I normally cook everything from scratch, but these are so fun. Also a nice thing to make when it is too hot to be baking. They are just assembled, not baked, and even younger kids can make them.
Cheeseburger Cookies
1 package vanilla wafer cookies
1 package Keebler Fudge N Caramel or Grasshopper cookies, or other small chocolate cookies
2 c. powdered sugar
1- 2 T. milk
few drops of yellow and red food coloring
1 c. coconut, optional
several drops of green food coloring, optional
1/4 c. powder sugar
1 T. milk
sesame seeds
Combine 2 cups of powder sugar with the milk and red and yellow food coloring. This should be the color of cheese. Place the coconut in a small bag and add a few drops of green food coloring. Close the bag and shake well to evenly color. This will be the ‘lettuce’.
To assemble cookies use 2 vanilla wafers (the bun) and one Keebler cookie (the burger). The orange frosting works as the cheese and glue. The coconut is the lettuce. Place a vanilla wafer flat side up on work surface. Place a little dab of “cheese” on the cookie and then a Keebler cookie. Sprinkle a little coconut on the burger, then some more cheese and the top bun, flat side down. Combine the remaining powder sugar and milk. You should have a thin glaze. Brush this lightly on the top of the finished “burgers” and sprinkle with a few sesame seeds. Makes about 2 dozen cookies.
Tomato Salads
Tomato season is too short around here. I can never get enough of what my mom called “real tomatoes”. The first few tomatoes never made it in the house. Warm from the sun, they were too tempting. We would pick them right off the plant and eat them. Deer have made it pretty impossible for me to grow tomatoes right now. Luckily, local farm markets have many beautiful tomatoes.
I am enjoying eating fresh tomatoes right now. Later in the season, I will purchase enough tomatoes to can and dehydrate to enjoy once the season is over.
I thought I would share a few of my favorite tomato salad recipes with you.
They are pretty simple. I think that is how it should be. When you have something as close to perfection as a ripe tomato, little more is needed.
Marinated Tomato Salad
3 large tomatoes, cut in wedges, or 2 pints cherry tomatoes, halved
1 T. olive oil
1 clove garlic, minced
2-3 basil leaves, cut into thin strips
2 T. balsamic vinegar
salt and pepper to taste
Combine ingredients and serve at room temperature. Serves 4-6.
Tomato and Feta Salad
3 tablespoons crumbled feta cheese
12 cherry tomatoes, thinly sliced
1/2 sweet onion, diced
1 tablespoon olive oil -I used a lemon infused olive oil
1 tablespoon lemon juice
Salt and pepper to taste
In a bowl, mix the feta cheese, cherry tomatoes, onion, olive oil, and lemon juice. Add salt and pepper to taste. Serve immediately. Serves 2.
Warm Pasta Salad
1 lb. Plum tomatoes, chopped
1 medium sweet onion, chopped
4 oz. Fresh mushrooms, sliced
2 cloves garlic, minced
¼ c. fresh parsley, chopped
1 T. dried basil or 1/4 c. chopped fresh basil
1 T. capers, optional
1 t. dried oregano
½ c. olive oil
¼ c. red wine vinegar
3 T. balsamic vinegar
Dash of hot red pepper flakes
Salt to taste
1 lb. Uncooked pasta
Combine all ingredients, except pasta and chill overnight. Cook pasta, drain and toss with tomato mixture. Mixture should be served right away . Serves 6.
BLT Salad
6-8 slices bacon
2 slices rye bread
2 slices Swiss cheese
5 c. torn up lettuce or mixed greens
3 T. olive oil
2 T. apple cider vinegar
1 T. balsamic vinegar
Salt and fresh ground pepper
2-3 tomatoes, diced
Cook bacon until crisp. Remove from pan, drain and crumble. Remove most of the bacon grease from the pan. Make a sandwich with the rye bread and the Swiss cheese. Toast in the skillet over medium heat until golden brown and cheese is melted. Set aside. Place lettuce in bowl and toss with the oil to coat the leaves. Toss with the vinegars and season with salt and pepper to taste. Add the tomatoes and the bacon and toss. Cut the sandwich into cubes and place on the top of the salad. Serves 2.
Note: you can make two sandwiches if you want more bread and cheese in the salad.
Tomato Feta Salad
Warm Pasta Salad
BLT Salad
Cooking Camp – Biscuit Doughnuts
I always feel like I am cheating when I make these doughnuts. As most people know, I am all about making stuff from scratch. I also live in the real world and I know people just don’t always have time to make everything from scratch.
These doughnuts are made from refrigerator biscuits. Yes, those little blue tubes of dough in the dairy counter at the store.
We made these in cooking camp yesterday. The kids loved making them. Some were left whole, others had holes poked in them, so we had doughnuts and doughnut holes.
Here is how to make them.
I heated up oil in a mini deep fryer. You want to heat the oil to 350-360 degrees. If you don’t have a fryer with a built in thermometer, you can heat up oil in a deep pan and toss in a kernel or two of popcorn as the oil is heating up. Popcorn pops at 350 degrees so when it pops you will know the oil is hot enough. I fried the biscuits, 6-7 at a time, for a minute or so per side, or until they were golden brown. Then I drained them on paper towels.
The kids had three options for finishing the doughnuts. We mixed a couple of cups of powdered sugar with some water and vanilla to make the glaze. We also had a bag of powdered sugar and a bag with cinnamon sugar. They could either dip the warm doughnuts in the glaze or roll them in the sugars. They were a big hit.
If you don’t have biscuits laying around- I normally don’t have them- you can make biscuits from scratch and do the same thing. Great when you have unexpected guests- or just a taste for a warm doughnut.
Note: Additional options. We could have melted chocolate chips with a little milk and made a chocolate glaze. I have made these before where I use a small cake decorating tip to insert jelly. Sprinkles can be used on the glazed doughnuts, if you like.
Radish Mice
Started cooking camp with kids this week. It’s been extra busy, so I haven’t taken as many pictures as usual. The kids have made salads and giant baked sandwiches and more. We did have a few minutes the other day to make these “mice”. They are easy to make and kids love them. Just make sure someone who is old enough to handle a knife does the slicing part of this activity. It is not a job for younger kids. They can, however, do all the assemble parts. You can add cloves for eyes, if you like.
Radish Mice
Radishes
Cloves
Choose radishes with the longest root pieces to be your mice. The roots will be the tails. Set them aside cut thin slices from the extra radishes. These will be the ears. You will need 2 per mouse. In the mouse radishes cut a small slice off one side so the “mouse” will lie on its side. Cut a slit in the top of the radish near the non-root side. Slip in the thin slices to form the ears. Add cloves for eyes and nose. Use these to decorate salad plates and party trays but don’t give them to little children because they could choke on small pieces.
Cherry and Blueberry Clafoutis
So what is clafoutis? Clafoutis is a sort of pancake, sort of custard, sort of quiche. It is a lovely dessert for fresh fruit, for sure.
You can serve clafoutis plain, or topped with powdered sugar or whipped cream. On a hot day, I like to serve it with a scoop of ice cream.
Clafoutis is really simple to make, too. You start by putting the fruit in a prepared pan. The batter is made in a blender, and takes just a couple of minutes to prepare. You pour the batter over the fruit- and bake.
I used cherries and blueberries in this one, but you can use all sorts of fruits- peaches, plums, raspberries…..
Most people enjoy it as a dessert, but it is also nice with that morning cup of coffee.
I used a combination I thought would make a nice dessert for summer.
Cherry and Blueberry Clafoutis
2 c. pitted cherries, I cut them in half, but you can leave whole
1 c. blueberries
3 eggs
1 c. sugar
3 T. melted butter
½ c. flour
2 t. vanilla extract
1 t. almond extract
pinch of salt
1 c. half and half
powdered sugar, optional
Grease a 9×9-inch baking dish or pie pan. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place cherries and blueberries in the prepared pan. In blender, combine eggs, sugar, butter, flour, flavorings and salt.* Blend until smooth. Add half and half and blend again until smooth. Pour batter over the cherries and blueberries. Bake for 45-50 minutes or until clafoutis is browned around edges and puffed up. Allow to cool and dust with powdered sugar, if you like. It will deflate as it cools. Serves 6.
* You can whisk the ingredients together by hand, if you prefer.
Blueberry Liqueur
I always stock up on blueberries when they are in season. I end up with a lot of frozen berries to enjoy throughout the year. I was cleaning out the freezer awhile ago, and decided to use some of my frozen berries to make blueberry liqueur.
After steeping for several months, I strained out the blueberries last night. I ended up making two different liqueurs. One is unsweetened- just blueberries, vodka, lemon zest and a clove. It is sometimes called an eau de vie- French for water of life- or blueberry vodka.
The other was sweetened a little with a sugar syrup- but you could use honey. That is blueberry liqueur or blueberry cordial. It will be allowed to mature for a couple of weeks.
Both are wonderful.
The color is so pretty and they can be sipped, as is, or used in cocktails. You can use other berries, if you prefer.
I look forward to enjoying these with friends and family.
Blueberry Liqueur
4-c. fresh or frozen blueberries
Sliced and scraped peel of one lemon, optional
1 clove, optional
3-c. vodka or 2 c. vodka and 1 c. brandy
1 c. sugar syrup, optional, recipe follows
Lightly crush berries with a fork. Combine with peels and clove and vodka and steep 3 months. Strain and filter and add sugar syrup. Mature 4-6 weeks.
Sugar Syrup
Simple syrup is made from 1 cup of sugar and ½ cup of water. Bring to a boil, then cool. You will have 1 cup of syrup. Some recipes call for plain sugar and others for honey. Watch when you substitute honey for sugar, as it is sweeter and stronger flavored. Better to use orange or clover honey.
Pesto Potato Salad
This salad always makes me think of a warm summer day. I think it’s because of the basil. During the summer my driveway is lined with pots of basil. I cook with it almost every day. A lot of people first think pasta when you mention pesto. Pesto can be used in a lot of different dishes. Here I’ve paired it up with potatoes. The combination works great together. I always freeze extra basil so I can enjoy it year round.
Pesto Potato Salad
2 lbs. Boiling potatoes, cut into bite sized pieces
1 c. basil leaves
3 T. pine nuts
3 T. olive oil
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/3 c. Parmesan cheese
Salt to taste
Cook potatoes until tender. Cool. In blender combine remaining ingredients, except 1 tablespoon of the pine nuts. Pour blended mixture over potatoes and sprinkle with the reserved nuts. Chill. Serves 6-8.
Black Currant Ice Cream
Black Currant ice cream sounds delicious, and it is. It might be my new favorite ice cream this season. The ice cream requires no special equipment. It comes out rich and creamy with only a small amount of effort. What could be better? This is a great ice cream for kids to make, too.
The recipe came about as almost an afterthought. I had an open bottle of the black currant syrup in the fridge and a pint of whipping cream with a fast approaching expiration date. I whipped cream, added the syrup and froze it. This might just be the easiest ice cream I ever made!
The secret is to whip whipping cream until it is pretty stiff, then stir in a fruit flavored syrup. Once it is mixed, pop in the freezer. The result is a surprisingly nice ice cream.
It was inspired by a similar ice cream I make using whipped cream and chocolate syrup. I figured if it worked with chocolate syrup, it should work with other syrups. I was right. It worked out great. The only negative is an almost buttery mouth feel after eating a whole portion. I decided to alter the recipe a bit by adding some half and half to some of it, just before popping in the freezer. That version was also creamy and smooth, but without the mouth feel I didn’t like.
I am probably being too picky. I had several people try both versions and no one saw a big difference. One person said they preferred the half and half version. Here is the recipe, with variation. I also shared the original chocolate ice cream recipe and a recipe for making your own fruit syrup. Enjoy!!
Black Currant Ice Cream
1 pint whipping cream
1/2 c. black currant syrup, or to taste*
Place whipping cream in a bowl and whip until stiff peaks form. With mixer running, add the syrup. Add until mixture is light lavender color. You can also give it a taste, to be sure. Place mixture in a container with a tight fitting lid and place in freezer. Freeze several hours before trying it. Makes a bit over a quart.
* It occurred to me that besides using different fruit syrups, you could also try using maple syrup or perhaps honey. I make honey ice cream. Honey is pretty sweet, so use a lighter hand when adding it.
Variation: After you add the syrup, stir in ½ cup of half and half or milk. Freeze. Makes about 6 cups.
The recipe that inspired me.
Easy Homemade Chocolate Ice Cream
1 pint whipping cream
1/2 c. chocolate syrup or to taste
Place whipping cream in a bowl and whip until stiff peaks form. With mixer running, add the syrup. Add until mixture is the color of chocolate ice cream. You can also give it a taste, to be sure. Place mixture in a container with a tight fitting lid and place in freezer. Freeze several hours before trying it. Makes 1 quart.
You can use any number of fruit syrups, if you prefer. I find mine at a local grocery store and at an Italian import store. You could also make your own fruit syrup, if you wanted. Here is my recipe for blueberry syrup. It could be adapted to other fruits.
Blueberry Syrup
4 c. blueberries
1 c. water
1 1/2 c. sugar
In saucepan heat berries and water to a boil and boil 2 minutes. Crush berries with a potato masher as they cook. Pour mixture through a fine mesh strainer and press to extract all the juices. Return to pan and add sugar. Boil 2 minutes and strain mixture again. Cool, then refrigerate. Keeps a couple of weeks. Makes about 3 1/2 cups.
