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Archives for September 2015

how to store bell peppers

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how to store bell peppers

Bell peppers have been a staple in our diet since we did the Whole 30. They seemed so easy to cut up and eat as a snack, dice up in pasta sauce or put in eggs in the morning that I have kept them on hand since. Plus bell peppers come in a variety of colors so they add a nice pop of color to a dish. The most common are green, red, orange and yellow. Other varieties you can find are purple, white and brown.

Green peppers are an unripe red peppers making red peppers a pepper that is at the end of its shelf life. For that reason green peppers keep longer than red peppers.

Red, yellow and orange peppers are a bit sweeter than green peppers. I prefer to make stuffed peppers out of red because of the sweetness.

Green bell peppers are a staple in Cajun cooking. Instead of mirepoix; carrots, onion and celery Cajun cooking uses the trinity; green bell peppers, onion and celery. Any gumbo or jambalaya recipe should call for these three things.

Season: July-November is when peppers are in season and will taste the best, especially if the are home-grown. They, however, can be found year round at the grocery store.

What to look for when you buy: Regardless of the color of pepper look for peppers that are firm to the touch. Smooth shiny skin, no wrinkles and no blemishes.

How to store: Peppers should be stored in crisper drawer of the fridge for the longest shelf life.

How to cut them: Cut the top off, Cut the bottom off, cut through one side. This will make it easier to remove the seeds and white membranes in the center.

Links to some great recipes I want to try:

quick and easy jambalaya

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Welcome to the first sunday of the football season. In our family this is a very big deal. I grew up a football fan and have become even more of a fan over the years. This is my 11th season playing fantasy football. Like many years I am in multiple leagues this year, three to be exact. The work one, the ladies only league and the family league.

The other two are fun, but the family league is on another level. There is a trophy, which I won in the inaugural season, an active message board with lots of smack talking and some teams even create weekly videos. If you have seen the tv show The League that is what this league is like, minus debauchery and collusion, though sometimes we wonder about the collusion.

This year my fictional team, the Haunting Voodoo Kickers, has relocated to New Orleans. It seems only fitting with this move that food should be my contribution to the league. I was going to share this recipe on the league message board, but think in the spirt of generosity I should share it with everyone.

Not a fancy jambalaya, but the first one I ever had and the one my mom made for years. It was handed down from a friend of hers years ago. Still written in my mom’s handwriting on a recipe card it is one of my most cherished recipes. Jambalaya is actually a big deal in our family. My brother has his version, my parents have theirs and I still roll with tradition. Tom has generously offered to a judge a jambalaya cook-off between the three of us. Feelings are sure to be hurt if that ever happens.

This recipe is quick and easy. If you head to the store now you can have this prepped and ready for tonights dinner. If you are on the east coast you can have it ready for the end of the 4 o’clock games. If you are on the west coast you can have it done for half-time of the late game. Have a great first Sunday of NFL football and GO COLTS!

Jambalaya
Print Recipe
quick and easy weeknight jambalaya.
Servings Prep Time
4 people 15 minutes
Cook Time
45 minutes
Servings Prep Time
4 people 15 minutes
Cook Time
45 minutes
Jambalaya
Print Recipe
quick and easy weeknight jambalaya.
Servings Prep Time
4 people 15 minutes
Cook Time
45 minutes
Servings Prep Time
4 people 15 minutes
Cook Time
45 minutes
Ingredients
Servings: people
Instructions
  1. In a dutch oven, fry bacon. Add onion and cook until transparent. Add green pepper and let soften a little. Add rice cook until opaque and milky,
  2. Add garlic, tomatoes, thyme, salt and pepper. Pour in chicken broth, vermouth if using and bring to a boil.
  3. Reduce heat to a simmer. Add ham and andouille. Cook until water is absorbed. Add shrimp at the end. When shrimp are done serve.
Recipe Notes

Double the batch and freeze for leftovers.

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what is xanthan gum?

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what is xanthan gum

Xanthan gum is one of those strange ingredients you see on all kinds of packaged food and you just have no idea what it is. I know I have picked up a variety of products and wondered what is xanthan gum? That’s not just me is it? If you are with me on what the heck is that stuff, I did the research for you.

Before we get to what it is let’s start with why it is used.

Why is it used
It is called a gum for a reason, it acts as a thickening agent in food but also to help keep emulsions stabilized. An emulsion, is the combining of two ingredients that don’t like to combine. Picture your vinaigrette. The oil and vinegar never seem to want to stay together. When you shake them they stay together long enough to pour the dress and then back to being separate again.

Now when you shop at the store and the salad dressings always seem to be mixed together well that is in thanks to xanthan gum.

Xanthan gum also makes dressings thicker. If you made a buttermilk ranch dressing from scratch it might seem runny compared to that Hidden Valley bottled stuff. I haven’t checked but it would be a good guess that Hidden Valley has xanthan gum to thank for that.

A big use for xanthan gum is gluten-free baking. With the absence of gluten something is needed to keep the dough together and produce a product that is desirable or similar to traditional baked goods.

Other places you may see xanthan gum: toothpaste and ice cream

What is it
Xanthan gum is a by-product of fermented corn. More accurately it is the fermentation of the sugars; glucose, sucrose, or lactose. In the United States this typically comes from corn. After fermentation this is dried and ground into a powder that we call xanthan gum.

Pros: your salad dressing looks pretty in the bowl, your toothpaste looks the same everyday and your ice cream is nice and thick and creamy.

Cons: It is made from corn. The corn in the United States is largely GMO so if that is important to you xanthan gum might be something to avoid unless the product is stated to be GMO Free, or comes from a store that doesn’t sell GMO products.

Processed level: 1

Natural, Chemical, or Other: Natural

 

Processed levels:
1-it is a long shot, but you could technically make it at home
2-it comes from something you know but that was a long time ago in a galaxy far far away
3-you need a masters or a PhD and a lot of lab equipment to make this.

Natural-comes from something grown or once living that has been cooked or processed to create a different product. This doesn’t neccesarily mean it is good for you just that it started its life as something you are familiar with.

Chemical-It was made in a lab mixing chemicals or a combination of natural products. This does not necessarily mean it is bad for you just that it doesn’t resemble any animal, plant or mineral.

Other-I don’t know where this come from and personally wouldn’t touch it with a 10-foot pole.

life update september

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lifeupdate912015

 

The last time I gave you an update was the end of May. That doesn’t seem like a long time on a calendar, but it feels so much longer to me. This is likely because I have crammed so much into those three months.

When I last left you I was just about to start culinary school. I finished the first two classes, with straight A’s. That has to be the first time I have ever said that. I wasn’t a horrible student I just only did as much work as needed to get a B. I was always okay with that until culinary school. The new semester of classes has started and I have one class, Intro to baking. It is kicking my butt. The schedule is very demanding, Mon-Thurs 7:30-12:20 for 4 weeks. Which means my 20+ chapter textbook must be covered in that time. You wouldn’t think it but culinary school provides as much homework as any class I have ever taken.

Home

After buying our first lawn mower we realized more flower beds would be the perfect solution to spending less time mowing. We have started a large shade garden in the front yard which will look great when it grows in. We are putting in a fire pit area in the back plus another shade garden. There are lots of planned gardens. In a few years it will all look great, but right now it looks like that awkward stage when you grow out a short haircut.

We did get a new deck. The old deck was built off the ground and had a railing and it blocked of the view of the yard when we were sitting at the kitchen table. That was our big remodel this year and will be great when we get it stained and sealed in a few weeks. Fingers crossed we can do a bathroom next year.

We will be finishing up a bunch of indoor painting projects over the cooler winter months. I am really excited to see my own design and color palette on the walls.

School

As I mentioned I got straight A’s. So far I am on pace to get an A in my third class as well. The first class was basic foods and covered different cooking methods for meat, soups, stocks and other similar culinary techniques. It was a great foundation and a confidence boost. I know more than I think I do. This semester is intro to baking and I am loving it. We just finished pies and I can already tell there will be more pie recipes coming soon. I loved working with the dough, it was so relaxing. The four weeks of class goes by really quickly. Which is good and bad. I am looking forward to having more blog time as I have all kinds of ideas.

Blog

While I haven’t had a lot of posts up lately and probably won’t for the next few weeks I feel so good about where the blog is headed. I have been working a lot behind the scenes to make this blog a place where people can learn and connect with others over food. There are new graphics coming and a couple new series that will compliment the how to store and eat posts. I also have some great information coming on grocery shopping, how to get your first Thanksgiving dinner on the table. That last one came to me just the other day and I can’t wait to get started on it. We are going to have a lot of pre-thanksgiving meals around here.

One thing I am really excited about is the Cookbook Club. We are a small group on facebook right now but I look forward to getting more people in there to talk about cookbooks and connect with other people who love cooking. It is going to be a lot of fun as we find new cookbooks to feature and discuss. Please come join us!

I am working on some other projects that I hope will be live in the coming months, but I am trying to not bite off more than I can chew as well so I will keep you posted as those develop.

What would you like to see more of on the blog? Recipes? Tips? Something completely different?

 

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