Recipe: Tzaziki
Posted by Jenny Lewis Categories: Appetizers, Snacks, Recipes, Condiments, Dairy, Mediterranean
I can’t even come up with words to properly convey my feelings for tzaziki. Cool, creamy, and fantastic with everything from vegetables to steak. It’s incredibly easy to make, and incredibly easy to customize to your own taste.
Ingredients:
- 2 cups plain yogurt (this can be regular yogurt or Greek yogurt, fat free or as fatty as you’d like, as long as it’s plain)
- 1 cucumber, peeled and seeded
- 1 or 2 pinches of salt
- 1/4 cup fresh mint
- 3 cloves of fresh garlic or 1 tablespoon of pre-minced garlic from a jar
Click to continue reading Recipe: Tzaziki
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My friend Becky gave me this vinaigrette recipe - I tried it, and it was delicious! I love vinaigrette dressing for salad, they are light and tasty. She got the recipe from “America’s Test Kitchen Family Cookbook.“
Makes about 1 cup
Prep Time 10 minutes
INGREDIENTS:
- 3/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
- 3 Tablespoons vinegar (I usually use basalmic, but the recipe calls for red or white wine vinegar)
- 2 teaspoons minced shallot or red onion (sometimes I’ll even use a bit of a mild yellow onion instead)
- 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
- 1 1/2 teaspoons minced fresh herbs (thyme, oregano, basil, tarragon, parsely, rosemary or a combination, also you can use about 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme, rosemary or oregano)
- 1 garlic clove, minced
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon pepper
DIRECTIONS:
Shake all of the ingredients together in a jar with a tight-fitting lid. The dressing can be refrigerated for up to 7 days. When you want to use the dressing, remove from the refrigerator a couple hours ahead of time and bring to room temperature, then shake vigorously to recombine before using. If you are going to use the dressing in a few days you can just leave it out.
Muffuletta Tea Sandwiches Recipe
Posted by Janie Franz Categories: Lunch, Recipes, Summer Cooking, Condiments, Salad, America, Southern, Parties
These tea sandwiches are spicy and make a great addition to a summer tea. They are based on the New Orleans favorite Muffuletta, a garlicky olive salad. You can also add thinly sliced meats to the cheese if you wish.
Ingredients:
- 1 pkg. steak buns (6) (with sesame seeds if possible)
- Olive Salad - Recipe Below
- 12 slices Havarti Cheese, sliced paper thin
- Herb Butter - Recipe Below
Olive Salad
- 1/3 cup green olives, pitted, minced
- 1/3 cup kalamata olives, pitted, minced
- 2 garlic cloves, finely minced
- 1/4 cup parsley, finely minced
- ½ tsp. oregano, finely minced
- 1/4 tsp. pepper
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 2 drops green pepper sauce
Preparation:
Mix all ingredients together.
Herb Butter
- 1/4 cup butter, softened
- 1 tsp. garlic, minced finely
- 1 tbsp. roasted red bell pepper, minced
- 2 tsp. parsley, minced
- 1/4 tsp. lemon juice
- 3/4 tsp. Dijon mustard, coarse stone ground
- 1/4 tsp. each, marjoram, chives, oregano, tarragon (or any combination of fresh herbs), finely minced
Preparation:
Mix all ingredients into the softened butter.
Slice buns, if they aren’t pre-sliced. Butter inner side of each bun. Spoon 1 tsp. of Olive Salad on the bottom halves of the buns. Top with 2 slices of cheese each and the buttered bun tops. Slice into quarters. Let the Muffuletta sit for at least an hour and then serve.
Pepper was used to pay taxes in ancient times and even rents in England in the Middle Ages. One of it’s first internal uses was as a medicinal remedy for intestinal problems and to treat the fevers of malaria and cholera over 4,000 years ago. Considered an appetite stimulant by many healers, pepper soon found its way into culinary uses, adding its fiery, pungent flavor to many dishes.
Pepper was first grown in India, and today that country produces half of the world’s supply. It traveled to Malaysia, Indonesia, and Southeast Asia 2,000 years ago. Today, pepper is also grown in Sri Lanka, China, Madagascar, and Brazil.
Add a bit of salt to baked goods. It will balance the flavors of the sweets.
A pinch of salt to egg whites will increase their volume when you whip them for meringue.
Salting eggplant will make them sweat out their bitterness.
Don’t salt steaks before grilling. They will brown but be drier because the salt will draw out the moistness from the center. Salt afterwards.
Always add a bit of salt to any bread recipe. It will have a finer texture and more flavor. But, add it after you have proven the yeast (after the yeast froths) or mix it in with the flour.
Add some extra zing in your recipes by adding a different kind of pepper to your favorite dishes. There are four different pepper varieties, though they are really from the same plant.
Green peppercorns are treated with sulphur dioxide to preserve their green color. They are not usually dried, but preserved in salt, brine, or vinegar. They can also be frozen, dehydrated, and freeze-dried. They have a mild flavor and can be eaten whole, without grinding.
The mainstay of the pepper family is black pepper and has a strong flavor. Green peppercorns are picked, boiled briefly, then spread to dry. As they dry, the peppercorns turn black. They are sold whole for grinding in a pepper mill or commercially ground and put in tins.
Click to continue reading Types of Ground Pepper
So, you thought salt was salt, right? Well, all salt is still sodium chloride, but salt comes from different sources in the world and have different textures and subtleties of flavor. There are three main types of salt: table salt, pickling salt, and rock salt. A cheap non-food grade salt, rock salt comes in bigger crystals and is used to melt ice quickly when making ice cream or for clearing your sidewalk. Pickling salt is used to make dill pickles or other brine vegetables. It is similar to table salt, except it will cake and clump.
Click to continue reading Types of Salt
Salt has been with us for thousands of years. The Egyptians used salt to preserve mummies 3,500 years ago, and the Chinese were using salt some 5,000 years ago for medicinal purposes. Salt was used in pottery making, preserving meat and fish, dying cloth, and cleaning a variety of objects. Our grandparents knew that their livestock needed salt and provided large blocks of salt, called salt licks, for their cattle. Today, it has 14,000 known uses, including seasoning our food.
In various times in ancient history, salt has been used for currency. In ancient Greece, slaves were bought with salt. Therefore, if someone acquired a lazy slave, it was said that the slave “wasn’t worth his salt.“
Salt also has been the cause of social unrest and even warfare. In England, British monarchs gained revenue for their treasuries through taxes on salt. These were often steep for a commodity that was so essential that made a loyal subject turn smuggler, bringing in shipments of plain salt. Even Thomas Paine, the Revolutionary War journalist and political activist, wrote of the high British salt tax shortly after the Revolutionary War.
In many cultures, even today, it is polite to offer guests bread and salt. Giving the bride and groom salt on their wedding day is considered good luck.
Sesame Thai Salad Dressing Recipe
Posted by Janie Franz Categories: Quick Meals, Recipes, Condiments, Salad, Far East
This simple Sesame Thai Salad Dressing recipe requires just four simple ingredients. This one is especially good when poured over leaf lettuce, mandarin oranges, cooked asparagus, and slivered almonds:
Sesame Thai Dressing
Ingredients:
- 1/4 cup white vinegar
- 1/4 cup sesame oil
- 1 teaspoon brown sugar
- 1/4 cup soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon Hoisan sauce
Put all ingredients into a bowl, add the oil, and whisk together.
A Simple Balsamic Vinegar Dressing
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Quick Meals, Recipes, Condiments, Salad
Here is a recipe for a great-tasting homemade Balsamic Vinegar dressing!
Balsamic Vinegar Dressing
- 1/3 cup vinegar
- 1/3 cup oil
- 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
- ½ teaspoon marjoram
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon shallot, minced (optional)
- 1/4 teaspoon pepper
Put all ingredients in a small bowl. Combine by whisking or using an emulsion blender.
TIP: Chef Scott suggests soaking the shallot in vinegar to take the bite out before mincing it.
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