snacks – Page 5 – OwlCat Designs

October 28, 2011December 16, 2017

Pickles

Swiss or German pickles, yes, German-speaking, mine are smart, they can talk. Haha, no, but they are different from what is served here in Pennsylvania (can’t speak too much for other parts of the country since pickles are not usually high on my list of local fare when I travel 🙂 ) But since I am not a big fan of dill, personally thinking it goes well with fish and fish dishes, and should remain there… needless to say, the classic ‘Dill Pickle’ is not my thing.

I will move my sandwich to higher ground to avoid cross contamination with pickle juice, if I was served a pickle after all (If I remember, I usually ask for it to be left off)

Where I am from, pickles are sour. Period. Yes, there are spices used, but none is so dominant that it overpowers all others. We like balance (or close to). Go figure we’re neutral, ha!

So after not eating pickles (besides cornichon) for years, finally the revelation came to me: ‘Make them yourself, it can’t be that hard.’ And it isn’t, in fact it is less work than making jams or preserves.

And now, since I waited the required week to allow the flavors to blend, and I tried the result… Finally, Ladies and Gentlemen, the moment you’ve all been waiting for (drum roll): I am sharing what I did and how to go about it!

You can see the deviant pickle jar in the back left. I used carrots to completely fill the jar. Have not tried that one yet…

Ingredients

4 cups apple cider vinegar
4 cups water
1/4 cup pickling salt
20-25 pickling cucumbers, not waxed

Per Jar: (use quart size wide mouth jars)

1/2 tsp yellow mustard seed
1/8 tsp brown mustard seed (for pretty)
1/8 tsp whole coriander seeds
3-4 black peppercorns
1 bay leaf
1-2 small garlic cloves, peeled
1-2 pieces of shallot (a piece here is about the size of a small to medium garlic clove)

Directions

Bring water in a water bath canner to a boil, sterilizing the jars by cooking for 10 minutes.
In a sauce pan in simmering water, sterilize the lids.
In a large sauce pan, heat the water, cider vinegar and salt, stirring until salt dissolves. Bring to a simmer
Scrub cucumbers and remove jars from water. Empty the water back into the canner, fill jars with the cucumbers, then add the spices to each jar. Fill with vinegar mix, leaving a 1/2″ head space. Center a lid on top and secure with a band. Repeat with remaining cucumbers and jars, when all are sealed, place on canning rack and lower into the boiling water of your water bath canner. Process for 10 minutes, then turn of the heat and let sit in the water another 5 minutes, then gently remove the jars and place on a heat proof surface*, careful not to shake or tilt the jars
Wait till next day to check for seal, place any jars that did not seal properly in the fridge and consume those first.
Wait one week before eating.

*The best way for me is to place the jars on a big wooden cutting board, since they have to sit undisturbed for a week, I can move the whole lot of them without having to tilt and jiggle the jars

Makes 4-5 quart size jars

October 25, 2011December 16, 2017

Pear Almond Muffins

Guess what was on sale at the farmers market this week-end? 🙂 Pears! Yumm! I love pears, when you get them when they are juuust right, juicy, ripe but not too soft. Which is a fine balance and therefore, having bought a bunch I now gotta ‘consume’ them rather quickly. I like apples but, let’s face it, pears are almost regal compared to a ‘commoner’ apple (No offense, Apple, love you too), maybe I just have this opinion because we can now get pretty good apples year round and they ceased to feel special, not being really seasonal anymore whereas pears are just never quite like they are in the fall… or maybe it’s because of this memory of my Mom saying ‘Pears are the queen of fruits’, who knows 🙂 Ahh the things we remember…

Besides eating pears fresh, melt chocolate chips as a sauce ( a personal favorite, use dark chocolate), roasting as a side, or baking a pear upside down cake or Tarte Tatin, oh and don’t forget, making pear vanilla butter (getting to that one later on, but it’s the very best thing you can do with your time if you have pears…and time, promise) what is one to do with a bushel of pears?

Muffins! Quick, easy and portable, now we are talking!

Makes 12 regular size

Ingredients

1/2 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour (I have used all whole wheat, it just gets a bit denser)
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 1/4 cup ripe but firm pear, diced finely (from 1 to 2 pears, depending on size)
1/2 cup coconut palm sugar, sugar or sucanat
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp almond extract
2 tbsp almond butter
2 tbsp oil (you can leave the oil out, the consistency will change a little, but it’s still yum)
1 lg egg
1/4 cup milk (dairy or almond milk)

Directions

In a large bowl, mix together the first four ingredients
add sucanat or coconut sugar, and diced pear and stir to coat
add the remainder of the ingredients and stir until just combined then drop by the table spoons into lines muffin pan
bake in a preheated oven at 400F for 15-20 minutes or until tester inserted into muffin comes out clear
Let cool slightly before serving.

And just like that, they are all gone:)

Gotta get back to the oven, I am seeing some Pear Gingerbread Muffins in my near future…

October 22, 2011December 16, 2017

Roasted Red Pepper and Pumpkin ‘Cream’ Sauce

Glorious colors of fall! Here the leaves have finally turned color and as I am typing this I can see the red and yellow leaves glow in the sunlight, and the bronze and ‘still green’ leaves add depth to the shadows. The birds have returned to the bird feeder in droves, the nights finally have that crisp quality you only experience on an early morning in fall and I am enjoying the view to say the least.

To celebrate fall, with its vibrant orange of pumpkins, golden corn field and that last rest of summer’s warmth int he afternoon, I roasted up a brightly colored, mighty tasty and versatile sauce/dip/spread. Enjoy!

Ingredients

1 red bell pepper
1 cup chopped cooked pumpkin (or canned)
1 tbsp olive oil
1 pinch salt

Directions

Roast whole red pepper until blackened in spots all over by holding it over a gas flame or placing under the broiler, then place in paper bag to cool a bit (the steam will loosen the skin making it easier to peel, added bonus, you won’t burn your fingers as much).
Peel red pepper (don’t have a guy do this, for some reason their hands are not made the same as ours and they cannot handle heat, as per my experience 😉 ) , this works best using a paper towel and literally rubbing the skin off. Cut in half and discard the seeds, then chop flesh.
Place pepper in your food processor or blender. I use a really cute mini processor for sauces and dips. And blend until you have a chunky mess, add the olive oil, blend until fairly smooth.
Add the pumpkin and salt and process some more. The result should not have any chunks left in it but be smooooooth.
Gently reheat to use over pasta, like the Pumpkin Goat Cheese Ravioli for example or chill and use as a spread for sandwiches or serve cold as a dip for veggies. Yields about 1 1/2 cups.

October 18, 2011December 16, 2017

Pumpkin Cheesecake Minis

Ahhh it’s Fall, and I love me some pumpkin cheese cake. But ever notice how heavy that stuff is? I have a hard time finishing those huge pieces one is supposed to eat. How about ~~bite sized, nah, too small~~ maybe 3-4 bites? Now we’re talking! And while we’re at it, make it easy and quick as well.

That’s right, my friends, I want my (cheese) cake and eat it too (could not resist that one) And as you might know, I am not one for letting anything go to waste and so I was going through my fridge to see what’s on hand that might be useful.

The result? SUPER EASY, and besides the crust, NO BAKING! And to top that, you can make these in the toaster oven, in fact they turn out better in the toaster oven 🙂 Win!
Here is my secret weapon of choice: left over pot sticker wrappers! That’s right, and we are going to blind bake (or toasterize) them into crunchy littlte tartlet shells.

You need:

4 oz cream cheese (1/2 bar, pack, block? what do you call that?), softened
3-4 tbsp pumpkin puree (from can)
2 tbsp suconat or coconut sugar
1/8 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp pumpkin pie spice mix
1/8 tsp vanilla
8-10 pot sticker wrappers (or wonton wrappers, trimmed to a round shape)

Directions

Place pot sticker wrappers in individual Madeleine forms or muffin tins, place in toaster oven for about 5-6 minutes, being careful not to let them get too brown, trust me, it goes quickly. On mine I set it right between the light and the dark setting. If your toaster oven has a temp setting, turn it down to 400, but leave it on toast (depending on your muffin cups/ Madeleine forms it might take more or less time, shiny metal reflects the heat…) Alternately, using your oven, bake at 350 for 10 to 12 minutes, or until just slightly golden. They will crisp up more as they cool.
In the meantime place softened cream cheese in a bowl, add the coconut sugar/sweetener of choice, and stir until completely incorporated.
Add spices and pumpkin and mix until uniform.
When the shells are cooled a bit, fill each using a tablespoon.
Refrigerated for min. 1 hour to allow to get firm, prior to serving.

Note: these are best made and eaten within a day or so, since the crust will soak up the moisture from the filling and get progressively less crunchy.

October 18, 2011December 16, 2017

Reena’s Amba Ma Smoothie

Version 1: Pineapple-Cantaloupe-Raspberry

During the fall months, there is a particular Hindu Holiday ‘Navaratri’ during which believers perform several rituals and practice fasting. It lasts 9 nights and is devoted solely to the Mother Goddess — known regionally as Durga, Bhavani, Amba, Chandika, Gauri, Parvati, Mahishasuramardini…

File:Durgas.jpg

The story goes: After one of the Gods (Brahma) gave the demon Mahish the power not to be destroyed by man (including male Gods) because of doing a good deed for Brahma, Mahish started to cause all sorts of terror. So, the 3 forms of God, Brahma (birth or creation), Vishnu (life or preservation) and Shiva (death or destruction) combined their energies and powers and created a female form of God (Devi or Durga) to destroy the demon, (since no man could vanquish him). She represents the furious powers of all the male gods, and is the ferocious protector of the righteous, and destroyer of the evil. Durga is usually portrayed as riding a lion, and carrying weapons in her many arms.

I’ve also heard “Durga” means ‘invincible‘ and she is the personification of ‘shakti’ or divine feminine force!

Goddess of Victory of Good over Evil

For the fasting part of the ritual, nothing except Milk, nuts and fruit can be eaten during the day. And so I created this yummy smoothie in order to take advantage of all the goodness that’s to be had from milk, nuts and fruits

Ingredients

1 cup milk (that can be almond milk or dairy milk**, your choice)
1 tbsp almond butter (or other nut butter: remember peanuts aren’t really nuts)
1 really ripe banana
1 cup pineapple(fresh or frozen)*
1 cup cantaloupe or mango pieces (fresh or frozen)*
1-2 tbsp raspberries or strawberries (optional)

* Make sure that one of these is frozen. If it is still hot outside, both may be frozen or you could add some ice cubes before blending.

** If using dairy milk, the recipe is no longer dairy free or vegan

Directions

Put all ingredients in the blender, starting with the banana, add fruit, then the almond butter on top and pour the liquid over top.
Blend until smooth.
Enjoy or pack in a cooler or lunchbox and take to work to have throughout the day.

Version 2: with Blueberries…

Ingredients, Version 2

1 cup milk (that can be almond milk or dairy milk**, your choice)
1 tbsp almond butter (or other nut butter: remember peanuts aren’t really nuts)
2 really ripe banana
1/4 cup blueberries (fresh or frozen)*
1 cup peaches or pineapple (fresh or frozen)*

* Make sure that one of these is frozen. If it is still hot outside, both may be frozen or you could add some ice cubes before blending.

** If using dairy milk, the recipe is no longer dairy free or vegan

Directions

Put all ingredients in the blender, starting with the banana, add fruit, then the almond butter on top and pour the liquid over top.
Blend until smooth.
Enjoy or pack in a cooler or lunchbox and take to work to have throughout the day.

And here’s a great thing to do with any leftover smoothie:

Pour into popsicle molds (or any small paper or plastic cups and add one of those wooden sticks they sell at craft stores) and freeze for a sugar free treat later.

October 12, 2011December 16, 2017

‘Summer in a Jar’ (Canned European Plum Compote)

On Saturday we spend part of the day rummaging and discovering our way through a local antique place. I got some great deals on glass custard dishes, and a couple of old glass bottles we’ll be using to store my home made salad dressing (like the Greek Feta Buttermilk Dressing). It was rainy and the the temperature was steadily dropping, so being inside for several hours looking through old kitchen and household items, books and furniture was fun!

The trees behind my house are changing color, the first touches of fall, the first signs of frost (it only went down to 37 at my house, yipee!), and I have to come to terms with the fact that summer is definitely, absolutely over. No more denial. It’s FALL! Don’t get me wrong I LOVE fall, it’s just I really, really, REALLY liked summer this year and it’s hard to let go of something dear. In order to be able to take advantage of end of summer, super ripe, bursting with flavor European plums (aka prune plums, they are the smaller, oval purple/blue ones, that look a bit hazed over vs shiny) for a little while longer, I decided to cook them up into a compote, that can be used on Crêpes, pancakes or eaten as s desert (cold or warmed up) with some whipped cream or stir into greek yogurt as a treat!

or over cottage cheese…

If you live near an Italian or even Russian Market, you might have an easier time finding this old world favorite as not all stores are carrying them in our area and the seasonal availability is limited to a short window of opportunity. At my parents garden in Switzerland they would usually ripen sometime in late August or early September.

Today, after having found a nice (hopefully not quite yet) last batch at the farmers market, Now let’s see if we can make that preserving magic happen, for when fall or winter really hits and we are all longing for something that tastes of SUMMER!

Ingredients

5 cups prune plums, halved, pitted (or 4 cups plums and 1 cup apple)
1 -3 tbsp sucanat/rapadura*, raw sugar or other real sweetener of choice
1 1/2 cups water
1 tbsp lemon juice
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 tbsp tapioca
3 pint canning jars and lids, bands, washed in the dishwasher
21 qt water bath canner with canning rack
small sauce pan with boiling water ( to sterilize lids)

Directions

Prep the canner: fill with required amount of hot water and bring to a simmer. Heat water in small sauce pan, add the lids to it and bring to a simmer.
In a medium sauce pan, combine the plums with the rest of the ingredients above and bring to a gentle simmer, stirring occasionally . Keep at a simmer of 5 minutes, then remove from heat, cover and set aside.

If your jars are still hot (they juts came out of the dishwasher) sit them on a kitchen towel and fill one at a time with the compote, using a ladle and a canning funnel, leaving a 1/2″ head space (If they are cold, heat them submerged in the canner, in order to prevent them from breaking from the quick temperature change)
Wipe rim with clean paper towel, so not compote or juice clings to the top, then center one of the prepares lids on top, then tighten band (not too much, juts fingertip tight) with your fingertips only! When all the jars are filled and lidded (is that a word?), place them on the canning rack an lower into your canner, making sure all jars are covered by 1″ of water.

Bring the water in the canner to a boil and process for 30 minutes, adjusting for altitude
When time is up, turn off heat and leave them in the water bath for another 5 minutes, then lifting the rack up an hooking it to the sides of the pot, remove the jars gently (don’t shake or tighten or anything) place on a kitchen towel to cool off completely.
check in 24 h if the seal is secure (Lid does not flex up and down when pressed in the middle) place any not properly sealed jars in the fridge and eat quickly (just the content, please)
Label and store, or gift 🙂

October 9, 2011December 16, 2017

Hummus

A few years back, I decided to try and cook chickpeas instead of getting the canned variety. I got a pound bag, soaked them overnight, and cooked them the next day. I have never looked at legumes the same way again. The flavor is incomparable, the taste of freshly cooked chick peas is almost nutty, yummy!

Now what I do is I will soak a couple of different varieties of dried beans and go on a bean cooking spree: Cooking a pound at a time in my Zyliss Pressure cooker (depending on the size cooker you got, you might be able to do more than one pound) after they are done and cooled, I portion them out in individual ‘servings’, usually in snack size zip top bags (have you noticed, they seem to only be available as store brand?) and freeze. Then whenever I want to make a bean soup, hummus or a salad, I just defrost what I need and can skip the high sodium and whatever else might live in those cans of beans. For soups, I literally just drop the frozen parcel in, hummus you gotta let it defrost in the fridge overnight or use your microwave.

Ingredients

1 can chickpeas or equivalent frozen, defrosted
3 tbsp lemon juice
2 tbsp tahini ( sesame seed paste)
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp salt (use less if using canned)
1/8 tsp ground white pepper
1 dash cayenne pepper
1 to 3 tbs water

Directions

Blend all ingredients in a food processor/blender, adding water until desired consistency is reached.

Serve as a dip with toasted pita chips or vegetables, or thin and use as a spread on grilled veggies

Unfinished Business: Grilled Mediterranean Eggplant with Hummus spread: taking advantage of the summer like weekend, we fired up the grill and had these puppies with a juicy, lean and clean bison steak 🙂

And Sunday night’s dinner, you ask? Oven roasted salmon with a coriander-paprika glaze… As I said, unfinished business, stay tuned, I will get to it 🙂

October 4, 2011December 16, 2017

Perfectly Roasted Chestnuts

Every day I drive past these trees which in the past week or so have started dropping their load of chestnuts onto the street. I was contemplating stopping and asking if I could pick some, when this morning there was a sign: “chestnuts for sale!” Awesome, I love chestnuts! I think part of their fascination is, they are one of the only true seasonal food left.

my freshly bought treasure, at home on the deck

I love fall, the colors of the leaves, seeing you breath in the crisp morning air…

Just as much as pumpkins are a symbol for fall throughout the new world, in Switzerland where I was born, it’s chestnuts that ring in the shorter days.
Warming your hands on a bag of freshly roasted chestnuts while walking through the Christmas market in November, and of course, our annual family vacation to the italian speaking part of Switzerland: Ticino

Ascona, TI

Valle Verzasca, TI: of course the pictures are from pretty weather 🙂

where we would don our rain coats (it usually rained A LOT whenever we were there in the fall) and boots and go pick bags of chestnuts, trying not to let them sting you under your fingernail (I remember that pain too). Then at night my Dad would make a fire in the fireplace and we would roast and eat the bounty of the day.

I will not go into details about the one time we decided to take a couple of bags back home after vacation and kept them in the kitchen, just trust me, whenever you have chestnuts, keep them OUTSIDE on the balcony, or you’ll be ~~chasing the inhabitants of the bad chestnuts~~ paying the price for weeks…

🙂 Ah memories! I also remember that although fresh and good, they were not always easy to peel. We scored them, even got the special ‘chestnut scorer’ tool, but often the inner skin would stick and you’d have to gnaw it out of the shell…

But today after researching, I have found the perfect, fool proof way to roast fresh chestnuts so they are easy to peel, ust like from the street vendor!

Ready?

First you need fresh chestnuts (they should look full and plump and shiny if they are dull pass on them, they are not fresh and might be moldy or dry)
score them either across or in a X pattern through the shell on one side. There are several ways to do this, but the easiest way I found is to hold the chestnut either on a cutting board or up in your hand and cut with a serrated knife or small paring knife.
Bring a pot of water to a boil, (this is the whole trick, yes, you boil them first) drop the chestnuts in and cook for about 10 minutes.

pre-boiled chestnuts in my grill basket, ready to go on the grill

Drain and roast.
Again two different ways this can be done, the easiest is your gas grill outside, using one of those grilling baskets. (Or in a baking dish in the oven: Preheat to 425, roast for 15-20 minutes, shaking the pan or stirring twice)
Grill about 5 minutes per side, and WIN! you will have perfect chestnuts!

Yummy!

(the whole ‘…roasting on an open fire’ might be more romantic than practical, but the grill works GREAT.

…and they are gone

October 3, 2011December 16, 2017

Surprise Visit ‘Cake-to-Biscotti’ (Vorrats Cake)

My sweet tooth hijacked me completely today. I think it the days getting shorter and the nights colder. Makes me wanna eat cake. Or at least make some and have on hand for when I want some, or need some because of a surprise visit or something (okay, this might just be an excuse, since I am really not sure just how long I will be able to keep my hands off of them)
The German title translates to something along the lines of stock/supply/storage cake since it is baked in canning jars and can then be kept for up to 6 months

( yeah right, as if anyone is going to manage that)

The idea is that before you serve it or gift it, you remove cake from the jar, slice it thin and bake it up till crisp, = biscotti.
Ideal with tea or coffee 🙂
In the background: that’s what they are supposed to look like, foreground, ‘first try’ with 12 oz jelly jars… I basically had to carve the cake out of the jars and slice them lengthwise

You wanna make sure you use wide mouth pint jars from Ball. Or any other jar that is truly straight on the inside and DOES NOT curve in at the top for the lid to thread on. I tried it with 12 oz jelly jars, they LOOK straight on the outside, but as we all known, it’s the inside that matters much more than the outside 🙂

Ingredients

4-5 canning jars, pint size
5 eggs
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup sugar
3 cups (+ 2 tbsp*) Flour
1 cups ground almond or hazelnuts, divided
1/2 cup almonds and/or hazelnuts
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 stick butter, melted

Directions

butter and coat jars with 1/4 cup of the ground almonds
In a big bowl in warm water bath, beat eggs, salt and sugar until light and airy
remove from water bath, beat a little more then stir in vanilla and gently mix in flour, baking powder, ground almonds and whole nuts
fold molten butter into mixture
Fill canning jars about half with mixture, tap several times to remove any air bubbles. Close jars and cover lids with aluminum foil
Preheat oven to 350 F. Place large rimmed baking sheet in lower part of the oven and fill as much as possible with hot water, place jars right above that on the rack.
Bake 1 1/2 hours. Let cool in the glass.
To enjoy, open jar, remove cake. If you got the truly straight pint jars, it’s a piece of cake (could not resist that one) will keep up to 6 months
When unexpected guests show up, not to worry, you’re prepared! Pop a jar open, cut into 1/4″ thick slices and bake in a 250 F oven until crisp!

Mmmmhhh!

only fill about half way up

baking (this time the right jars…)

this is the lemon versions ( will be up soon, still lives in metric land right now)

sliced and ‘biscotti-ed’

September 28, 2011December 16, 2017

Pumpkin Muffin Bites

Alright, i admit it: I am suffering from a pumpkin addiction at the moment, and while were at it, I have an obsession with bananas. It all started with trying to use up all those severely ripe bananas in the summer. I would buy bananas, thinking:’ good snack, conveniently packaged’ and then have an apple instead.
So I have come up with countless ways of using up those ‘end of the week, less than pretty, by themselves inedible’ (I prefer them just a bit green) bananas without having to whip up banana bread every time. Now it’s gotten to the point where I purposely buy extra bananas to let ripen fully. They are cheap, readily available and much better for you than sugar. And get quite sweet when they get to ‘really ripe’ status. So I started using bananas as natural sweetener. (Using alternates to sugar has become more and more important to me since my boyfriend was diagnoses with diabetes last year.

And telling everyone about my quest for the perfect pumpkin latte (recipe to come soon) and my woes in finding canned pumpkin, I had several friends donate cans they found at stores. Soooo… Now I have lots of seasonal pumpkin and once a can is open, well you better use it up 🙂
That’s where these come in:

Pumpkin Muffin Bites!

Ingredients

1 Mashed very ripe banana
1/2 cup pumpkin puree
2 tblsp cashew butter
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 -1/2 tsp Cinnamon
1/8-1/4 tsp Pumpkin pie spice
1-3 tblsp Sucanat*, Rapadura or date sugar
1 tsp Baking powder
1/2 cup Ground almonds/ almond flour
1/2 cup Chickpea flour
Pecan halves for garnish

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 F and line mini muffin pan with muffin cup liners.
Mash up the ripe banana, add the pumpkin and the nut butter and stir until no lumps remain. Add Sucanat, stir.
Stir in vanilla and spices, then add the chickpea and almond flours along with the baking powder and mix until combined
drop into mini muffin pan lined with paper muffin cups by the teaspoon full and garnish each one with a pecan half.
Bake in middle of preheated oven at 350F for 10-15 minutes, or until toothpick comes out clean.
Cool on rack.

* Sucanat and Rapadura are dried sugar cane juice, not bleached, not refined

Super yummy, but the color before they are baked is rather questionable…just saying