Ginger Beer

OK, fine, I'll post something.

I made ginger beer. Ingredients include:

• about 1" ginger, finely grated
• juice of a lime
• 3oz simple syrup
• 6oz water
• 6 more oz cold water
• a pinch (like 1/16tsp) yeast

In a saucepan, heat the lime juice, simple syrup, ginger, and 6oz water to boiling. Simmer for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, clean out some vessel to put the ginger beer in. I used empty soda bottles, cleaned with warm, soapy water. When the ginger mixture is done boiling, strain through a fine meshed strainer (or cheesecloth, or paper towel, or coffee filter) into another sterile container. Add the 6oz cold water, then pour into the bottle (when it's no longer hot enough to melt the plastic). Add the yeast. Screw the cap on VERY tightly and shake. Leave on the counter for about 36-48 hours, returning to shake periodically. Be careful, though, because that stuff gets carbonated. When it's carbonated enough, put it in the fridge.

Thoughts: I didn't know you can make your own ginger beer. We have to try this with other stuff, like adding spices to the boiling syrup mixture to impart other interesting flavors. I should probably get glass bottles for a more sterile/professional method of bottling, but it's expensive. The fizz that you get from this method isn't like your standard coca-cola carbonation - the bubbles are much smaller. It has a great texture and flavor.

Disaster Index: 1/10

Piadinas

Inspired by a post on The Kitchn, but we made some modifications.
Ingredients

• 2 c flour
• 1.5 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp salt
• about 2tbsp olive oil
• water until it holds together right

Mix the dry ingredients. Add oil, then add water and mix until it holds together into a dough. Don't overwork. Let it rest for about 30 minutes. Then divide into two balls and roll very thin (1/8") on a well-floured counter. Put on a hot griddle. Add fillings (I think we did ham, cheese, arugula, maybe other stuff) and serve (as a sandwich or as a wrap)

Thoughts: This was pretty easy. It wasn't anything terribly special, but this would be a pretty good way to make a sort of grilled flatbread/pizza for larger groups on short notice. I think that we could stand to add more herbs into the dough, as well. There are possibilities here.

Disaster Index: 1/10

Tapenade 2

Ingredients

• About 2c pitted black olives
• About 2tbsp capers
• About 1tsp garlic powder
• about 2tsp anchovy paste
• 2tbsp olive oil
• about 1tbsp dried basil
• salt and pepper to taste

As you can tell, this is a very scientific recipe. I'm including it because it was slightly different from our previous tapenade, but just as successful. Anyway, just throw everything in a cuisinart and blend with olive oil drizzling in. Cover and refrigerate for at least an hour.

Thoughts: This was pretty great. Very successful. I don't have much to say about it.

Disaster Index: 1/10

Biscuits

Ingredients
This is actually Alton Brown's grandmother's biscuit recipe.

• 2 cups flour
• 4 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 3/4 tsp salt
• 4 tbsp butter
• 1 cup buttermilk

Directions:
Preheat oven to 450.
In a large mixing bowl, combine dry ingredients.
Cut the butter into the dry ingredients and then pinch with your fingers like you would with scones.
Add buttermilk and mix until just combined. Dough should be sticky.
Turn dough out onto a floured surface and fold over onto itself a few times to make sure all the flour etc. is incorporated.
Press into a 1-inch thick round.
Use a 2" biscuit cutter (we used a 2" heart-shaped cookie cutter, which worked ok) and push straight down through the dough. Do not use a glass or a jar or whatever. The cutting surface should be very thin. Otherwise you'll squish the dough, and you don't want that.
Place biscuits on a baking sheet.
Bake until biscuits are tall and light gold on the top, 15 minutes.

Thoughts: These were easy to make and pretty good. We did a half batch and cooked them for 15 minutes and it was too much -- they were dark gold and a little dry. Luckily, the cure for this is to eat them with gravy, which just makes everyone happy.

Disaster Index: 2/10

Black Bean and Espresso Chili

Ingredients

• olive oil
• 2 large onions, chopped
• 1 large, dried, hot pepper (we don't know what kind. It was in a bag of miscellaneous dried hot peppers)
  
• 1/8 cup instant espresso powder
• 1 tbsp cayenne powder
• 1 tbsp ancho chili powder
• 1/8 cup ground cumin
• 1/8 cup dried oregano leaves
• 1 28-oz can crushed tomatoes
• 1/6 cup honey
• lots of garlic
• 1lb dried black beans
  
• 1 cup chicken stock
• 1 cup beef stock
• 1/4 lb ground beef
  
• salt
• 1 tbsp cinnamon

Do a quick soak on the black beans, and then also let them sit for several hours. You'll see why.
Heat oil in large, thick-bottomed pot over medium-high heat. Add onions and garlic and cook until onions are tender.
Mix in espresso powder, chili powders, cumin, and oregano. Cook 1 minute.
Add tomatoes, honey, and the dried pepper.
Bring to a simmer, and let cook for 10 minutes.
Add beans, stock, beef, and cinnamon. Bring to a boil over high heat.
Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer uncovered until the mixture thickens. Sorry, you'll have to stir constantly. Theoretically, this should take 30 minutes.
Before you eat this, you'll probably need to remove the dried pepper skins. You don't want to eat that.
Eat the rest.

Thoughts: this didn't really go well at all. The worst part was that I guess we didn't soak the black beans ahead of time enough. Like, we soaked them for 8 hours, which is the recommended time, but even after three hours of cooking the chili, they weren't soft. I'm not sure how to prevent this in the future. I guess what we recommended above (a quick soak followed by a normal soak) would be a good place to start. Also, it was just a pain in the ass to cook. If you don't stir it 24/7, it sticks to the bottom of your pan. But you can't really stir it 24/7 because the tomato sauce spits all over you. Seriously, our stove looked like a war zone. Dan thought the flavor was good, but I was just so disappointed by the texture of the beans that I don't even care. Next time, I think we'll try doing it in the slow cooker or something. AND I couldn't really taste the espresso powder, which was supposed to be the most exciting thing about this recipe. Dan says he would make it again with a slow-cooker. I would rather just find a new recipe. I don't know. It's pretty good with cornbread though.

Disaster Index: 4.5/10

Tres Leches

Ingredients

• 1 cup flour
• 1.5 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 5 whole eggs
• 1 cup sugar, divided into 1/4 and 3/4 cups
  
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1/3 cups milk
• 1 can evaporated milk
• 1 can sweetened, condensed milk
• 1/4 cups heavy cream

Preheat oven to 350.
Grease a 9x13 " baking pan.
Combine flour, baking powder, and salt in large bowl.
Separate the eggs, and beat the yolks with 3/4 of the cup of sugar until the yolks are pale yellow.
Stir in milk and vanilla. Pour egg mixture over the flour mixture and mix to combine.
Beat egg white on high until soft peaks form. With mixer running, add the remaining 1/4 cup sugar. Whites should be stiff.
Fold egg white mixture into the batter. Be gentle.
Pour into the pan.
Bake for 35-45 minutes until toothpick comes out clean. Remove from baking dish and transfer to another dish with a rim/ridge.
Combine condensed milk, evaporated milk, and heavy cream together. When the cake is cool, pierce cake with fork all over. Pour the milk mixture slowly over the cake. If you like a wetter tres leches cake, use all the milks. If you like a slightly drier one, reserve 1 cup of the milk.
Allow cake to absorb milks for 30 minutes. Eat.
You should top this with whipped cream, also.

Thoughts: Fucking amazing. That is all.

Disaster Index: 1/10

Fennel and Greens Soup

Sometimes you just can't have enough soup. That time is all the time.

Ingredients

• olive oil
• salt and pepper
  
• 1 tbsp butter
• 1 fennel bulb, trimmed and chopped
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 1 lb mixed leafy greens (kale, swiss chard, mustard greens, collards, whatever)
• 6 cups stock
• oz spinach
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
• garnish of dill or fennel

Heat oil and butter and add salt, fennel, onion, and pepper. Cook until the vegetables are slightly browned, 7-8 minutes. Everything should be soft.
Add leafy greens (no spinach yet) and stock to the pot and simmer, uncovered, until greens are tender, about 30 minutes. Stir in the spinach and cook until just wilted (maybe 1 minute).
Puree the soup in your blender or by using a stick blender. Return to heat and add the heavy cream and lemon juice. Heat on low until desired temperature.
Also good with Parmesan cheese.

Thoughts: Delicious, but I can't get enough vegetable soup. This is my favorite style of soup -- cook everything, blend it, return to heat and add dairy. It's a pretty simply formula, and one that yields awesome soup every time. I don't think Dan is nearly as crazy about soup as I am, so he probably wouldn't give this a 1, but it was pretty much a 1. I'll give it a 2 just to prevent arguments.

Disaster Index: 2/10