vanilla frozen treat

I have been on the campaign to find something that tastes like vanilla ice cream.  My tummy and eggs are not always a happy duo.  I think this is a keeper

Vanilla Frozen Treat

1 cup hempmilk

1 cup soaked rawcashews and the water they are soaked in (to make a cup)

1/2 cup sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

The night before, put your raw cashews in a jar and bowl and cover with twice as much water.  Let soak.

Measure out a cup and the water they were soaked in.  Blend in a blender.

Warm the hempmilk, sugar, and vanilla together in a pan over medium heat until the sugar is dissolved.

 

Put the hempmilk mixture in the blender with the blended cashews.  Blend.  Freeze in a ice cream maker or put in a bowl in the freezer and stir every two hours over a four to six hour period. 

Let freeze.

It will freeze very hard.  Let it sit out about 15 minutes before trying to scoop.

This is so yummy!  I am thinking about trying to change it a bit.  Maybe add a little bit of vodka, champagne, or rum to make it softer.  Maybe leave out the soaking water.  More experimentation!  (evil laugh!)

green chile enchiladas

Going out for Mexican food can be difficult.  Especially when  you have been spoiled and I have been spoiled for a long time.  I knew someone from Mexico who would cook for me in grad school.  We travel to Arizona and New Mexico.  I try to make what we eat and like.  Sometimes Russell regrets it.  This recipe came out of that.

Green Chile Sauce

3 tablespoons olive oil

1 large onion, chopped

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 to 2 cup roasted hatch chiles or green chiles, chopped

2 cups vegetable broth

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon ground coriander.

In a skillet over medium heat, pour the oil.  Let heat a bit and then add the onion.  Let brown and then add the chiles and garlic.  Cook this done for a bit and then add the vegetable broth, salt, and coriander.  

Let cook about 15 minutes.  Blend with an immersion blender or in a regular blender.  To thicken, cook a little longer.  The original recipe called for beef or chicken stock and flour to thicken and I chose to make it gluten free and vegetarian.

Green Chile Enchiladas

1 recipe green chile sauce (above)

1 pound dry beans

3 tablespoons olive oil

1 onion, chopped

1 large sweet potato, peeled and cubed

4 cloves of garlic, sliced

1 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon smoked paprika

1/4 teaspoon ground ancho chile

1/4 teaspoon ground chipolte chile

1 package corn tortillas

In a pot, place the beans.  Rinse.  Cover and let soak over night.  Drain and recover with water.  Bring to a boil and then turn down to a simmer.  Cook until the beans are soft.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.  In a cast iron pan or oven proof pan, put the sweet potato, onion, and garlic.  Drizzle with olive oil.  Put in oven.  Roast ten minutes.  Stir.  Roast ten minutes.  Stir.  Roast ten minutes.  Stir.  Roast ten minutes.  Remove from the oven.  Turn the oven down to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

 

Add the sweet potatoes, onion, and garlic to the beans.  Blend them up a bit but not completely.

In the baking dish size of your choice, put some green chile sauce.  Then lay down a corn tortilla.  Then layer the bean mixture.  

The last layer should be a corn tortilla and green chile sauce on top.

Bake about a half hour at 350 degrees or until bubbly.

There is a bit of fire in this dish so you may wish to calm it down with flour tortillas or new mexican sopapillas.

I like it!

ginger cinnamon soda

I run so hard that I have been under the weather this weekend.  Good for the book pile, not so good for everything else.  Even my puttering slows down.

I have spent some time in the kitchen.

 

This is what my stove top looks like on I day I am under the weather and home.  I thank Russell for all his help.

I was making syrup and decided to add in some cinnamon sticks.  I did not think think that I was going to post about this, but it was so good that I had to share.

Ginger Cinnamon Syrup

1 cup water

1 cup sugar

1 piece of ginger the size of your fist, skinned and sliced

6 cinnamon sticks.

In a pan, place the sugar, water, ginger, and cinnamon sticks.  Bring to a boil and then turn down to simmer for 15 minutes.  Turn off the heat and let sit for about a half an hour.

 

Strain the syrup into a jar.

The syrup is the most beautiful color!  

Put an inch of syrup in the bottom of an eight ounce glass or similar.  Add ice and soda water.  Stir.

This is pretty fabulous if you like ginger and cinnamon.  Enjoy outside!  Hopefully, you are not having thunderstorms and can be outside!

blackberry buckle

It was really a toss up about I was writing today but since I am still craving blackberry buckle, it won hands down.  A buckle is a cakey fruit dessert.  Or is it a fruity cake dessert?  I do not think it matters because it is just yummy.  There is a bottom layer of cake, a middle layer of fruit, and a top layer of crisp.  I simplified mine a bit and made the crisp sugar.  

Blackberry Buckle

1 cup plus two tablespoons butter

1 cup plus 1 tablespoon sugar

3 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 1/4 cup flour

3/4 teaspoon baking soda

3/4 teaspoon cream of tartar

3/4 cup heavy whipping cream, milk, or hempmilk

10 ounces frozen blackberries

1/4 cup sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.  Grease a 9 in springform pan.

 

In a bowl, cream the butter and the sugar together.

 

Mix in the eggs and vanilla.

 

Mix in 3/4 cups of flour.  Then 6 tablespoons of cream.  Mix in 3/4 cups of flour.  Mix in the rest of the cream.  Mix in the last of the flour, baking soda, and cream of tartar.

 

Pour the batter into the prepared pan.  Sprinkle the blackberries over the top and the sprinkle with sugar.

Bake one and half hours or until a knife interested comes out clean.

 

If you can possibly wait, this is actually better the next day but it is pretty wonderful straight out of the oven.  It is difficult not to eat it all at one sitting!

bean salad for when it is hot out, not warm, hot!

We like beans in this house but when it is most hot, it is difficult to eat hot beans.  I started making bean salad.

i start with an empty salad bowl.

I start with 1 to 2 cups of Rancho Gordo white beans.  Yes, I buy expensive dry beans and mail order but we taste a huge difference.  I put them in the crockpot, rinse, and let cook all day on low and they are fabulous.  The pot liquor that comes off them is yummy but for this salad, I rinse the beans.

 

The vegetables can change dependent on what I have.  I added roasted eggplant here.  I have also added tomato and cucumber.  You could add anything you would like to eat in a salad.

 

Chopped onion and garlic are a must.  I prefer roasted garlic when I have it but some garlic is pretty much a must.

 

I always chop an avocado into it.  It makes Russell smile.

 

Mix it up a bit.  Drizzle some good olive oil over it.  A sprinkle of salt and pepper and the salad is done.

Depending on what our mood is, I serve it with toast that has a drizzle of olive oil on it or corn chips.  It is very good.

Thanks to Russell for taking the picture today!  <muah>