Reuse Glass Jars!

In today's world of Reduce, Reuse, Recycle...the following idea is nothing new, but bears repeating.

Especially since you need to use SOMETHING to store your freshly made Garlic-Chipotle Love.

My sauce is currently stored in a glass jar that formerly held coconut oil. I really like the shape of this jar. It's taller and skinnier than the peanut butter jars I used to save. The coconut oil jars fit better in the door of my refrigerator.

There was some sort of cardboard or other stiff paper insert in the jar lid which I removed.

I also removed the label, which wasn't easy to do, because this label seemed to be part plastic instead of simply paper based. I did my best to scrap it off. Then I did soak the jar in boiled water to loosen any other label parts and glue. An old credit card works well for scrapping jars clean.

Once the label is removed, it is easy to see what the jar contains.

These jars are great for any homemade sauce, including salad dressing. Being glass, they clean easily in the dishwasher. So far, the lids of these jars have also cleaned well in the dishwasher. Other lids did start to rust a bit in the dishwasher, but the all gold lid of the coconut oil jars seem to have superior rust resistance.

In my cupboard is another jar, formerly filled with banana peppers, that is currently filled with salt. The label is still on this jar. After being forever frustrated by the mess I would make pouring out the proper measure of salt from the large round, spouted cardboard cylinder salt container, I decided that I would put some salt into the 12-ounce jar that has held salt ever since. For over 10 years now, I open this jar, dip my measuring spoon into the jar, gently shake the spoon to level, and continue with my cooking WITHOUT spilling a single grain of salt. The jar is refilled as necessary from the big cardboard cylinder which can be stored in the less accessed area of the pantry.

Any other glass jar ideas?

Garlic-Chipotle Love: Personal Experiments

Today is one of two days a week where I have extra time in the morning...QUALITY extra time...I can treat myself to a nicer breakfast.

My son has recently decided that he shares his parent's love for over-medium eggs. It takes a bit of patience AND practice to disengage the egg from your average frying pan AND flip said egg without breaking the yolk. I've become quite adept at frying these up in the morning for HIM, but until today, I didn't have the time to make myself any.

A recent breakfast conversation detailing all the different ways that you COULD cook eggs initiated a burning desire for some sort of Eggs Benedict...specifically an Eggs Florentine riff of Eggs Benedict. Spinach is one vegetable that marries well with breakfast in my opinion. Getting as many veggies as possible into my daily diet is a personal health goal, so I treated myself to the following fork and knife breakfast:

I use an 8-inch Green Pan, which is supposed to be a safer non-stick pan. There were two kinds available at Target; I purchased the anodized ones. This particular pan has seasoned into an especially ugly black from daily use, BUT the non-stickness of the pan hasn't peeled or flaked or even given a hint of wear. I do use oil in this pan; I don't rely on the non-stick for cooking. I am just able to use less oil I think.

This recipe was created entirely in the above described pan.

1. On a gas stove, heat pan to the 7 of 10 setting. Toast a large slice of sourdough bread. Crunchy bread is good bread for today's breakfast. Place bread on a serving plate.

2. In the pan, wilt a LARGE quantity of spinach. It should be difficult to stir the pan without losing spinach onto the stove top. When you see the spinach begin to wilt. Turn off the pan and continue to let the spinach heat while you...

3. Top the bread with sliced tomatoes. And then add the wilted spinach on top of the tomatoes and bread.

4. Shake your jar of Garlic-Chipotle Love. Use a spoon to drizzle the sauce over the spinach.

5. Add sliced avocado to the top.

6. Fry your eggs. I wipe the pan with a paper towel. Add oil. Swirl. I crack the eggs into a small prep bowl before adding eggs to the pan. I spray my plastic spatula with non-stick spray. I carefully ease the spatula around the edge of the eggs in the pan, gradually releasing more and more egg. Do this very, VERY carefully under the yolk. If you have two eggs, use the spatula to cut them apart in the pan so that you can flip them individually. Tilt the pan up toward the egg as you flip to ease the flop factor. Top the bread and veggies with the eggs.

7. Roughly chop some fresh cilantro. Sprinkle cilantro over the entire dish.

8. Grab a fork and knife and ENJOY!

OMG...SO good.

Garlic-Chipotle Love: Recipe Results

First...OMG...such mouth watering smells. It begins with the oven roasted garlic, so appetizing...I admit that I LOVE the smell of cooking onions, and the smell of roasting garlic is just as fabulous.

I used the smallest sauce pan I own, a 1-quart sauce pan, and I did cover the pan with foil as per the recipe. At the end of the roasting time, the edges of the garlic were a lovely, nutty brown and the plump middles were a rich creamy tan color. The smaller cloves of garlic were definitely more brown than the larger cloves. I tried to use uniformly larger cloves, but some of the cloves proved to be two smaller cloves when I peeled them. Fortunately, the size difference wasn't such that the smaller cloves suffered in the time needed to thoroughly roast the larger cloves. Having similarly sized garlic cloves is something to definitely keep in mind.

I used a small, mini-prep, 2-speed style food processor, which was plenty large enough for the recipe.

The recipe calls for 3 tablespoons of the chipotle peppers in adobo sauce. From the can, I fished out two peppers with a tablespoon measuring spoon. I correctly guessed that the peppers would equal two tablespoons once I roughly chopped them. Then I scooped out one tablespoon of the adobo sauce.

What I WILL do differently next time: I should have taken a clue from the pictures of the ingredients in the cookbook. The peppers look like a puree in the photo. I should have just added the entire can to the food processor and pureed the contents together. Then, I could have easily measured out three tablespoons. (My cutting board would stay cleaner, too.) I did puree the remaining contents in the can in the food processor. I used a 1-cup plastic storage container to store the puree.

I roughly chopped the cilantro. I pressed the cilantro into the 1/4-cup measuring cup. I likened it to firmly packed brown sugar...except it was cilantro. And I kept pushing cilantro into the measuring cup until it would no longer stay flattened in the cup and would begin to overflow.

I zested the lime straight into the food processor bowl. Chef Pam learned that this is the proper methodology when adding zest to a recipe when she took a cooking class at a specialty kitchen supply store. Something about the oils? If you use a cutting board, you lose some of the oils?

I used the full salt. Iodonized salt.

Even though Chef Sanchez calls this recipe a sauce, I was very surprised that this recipe resulted in such a sauce...a very saucy, drippy, pour-able sauce. I thought that it would WAY thicker for some unknown reason. And I was also surprised that it made SO MUCH sauce. My yield was about 50% higher than the stated yield of the recipe. I don't know if my oil didn't evaporate (or whatever the appropriate cooking term would be) as expected in the oven, or what. I stored the recipe in a 2-cup glass jar and I would guesstimate that the jar was 75% full.

The recipe is yummy. Not quite the as flavorful as I expect it will be tomorrow. If this sauce is similar to other spicy food, it should increase in heat overnight. It could also take some time for the flavors to all develop together. I definitely think that letting this sauce have time to mature is a requirement before using this sauce.

It strikes me that this recipe is widely open to personal preference in terms of ingredient quantity and ratios. You may like it more or less spicy, more or less garlic-y, more or less tangy, more or less herb-y. Only you can determine what you really like and go with that.

I think the real test of how I think it tastes will be determined tomorrow. In the interest of developing an easy to reference body of knowledge, I will post any further thoughts regarding this recipe in the comments. Remember, comments regarding your personal experiences can only help others and really make this as complete a work as possible. Comments will remain open for posts like this for just that reason.

Peeling Garlic

As I sit here typing, my 12 cloves (give or take) of garlic are roasting in 1 cup of oil in a small sauce pan, covered in foil, in a 300 degree oven. Thus, I can say with authority that a garlic peeling tool is a highly desirable tool for preparing Garlic-Chipotle Love.

You place an unpeeled garlic clove into the rubber-like tube. Use the palm of your hand to roll the tube on your kitchen counter top, just as you would roll a lemon to release its inner juice, only don't press QUITE as hard, or you may crush the garlic clove...and the whole point of using the tube is to keep the clove whole and uncrushed. Out will pop a lovely clean clove of garlic and a MESS of peels. However, the mess is easily endured as it takes literally minutes to clean what amounts to almost the entire head of garlic for the recipe.

Because I own this tool, I haven't had to do the following, but I have heard that you can use one of those rubber tools intended to help you get a good grip on a jar to assist in opening said jar to also peel garlic. I refer to those flat, sometimes odd shaped devices that are commonly given away at trade shows or similar events. If you have one of these, and not an actual garlic peeler tool, do try to use it and report how well it works.

I am using canola oil in my first attempt at Garlic-Chipotle Love. I have been debating the purchase of a large quantity of canola oil because I have been thinking that I should make my own mayonnaise with all the egg yolks that I currently toss down the drain every morning while preparing breakfast. Canola oil mayo can be very expensive, but in my attempts to reduce soy, it is something that I prefer to buy over the more mass marketed brands. I made mayo once with olive oil and it was just too much flavor actually; It was weird to eat the flavor of the olive oil in mayo. I think I do prefer more neutral mayo.

Back to the Love recipe...

I will be able to put the food processor to work later today to finish the recipe. I will report the results tomorrow.

First Recipe Selected

This is the first recipe on our agenda.

The book is copyrighted, and thus, I am NOT going to be sharing these recipes here on the blog. However, I WILL provide whatever links I can for those who do not have access to the book. I'm excited because my hold status is "in transit" at the library...any day now, I should get my hands on this book.

Garlic-Chipotle Love is a base recipe. A sauce. Something that doesn't really stand on its own, but instead is a listed ingredient in other recipes. I have found it posted online in several different places, but I would recommend that you read the recipe here:

http://www.amazon.com/Simple-Food-Flavor-Unforgettable-Mexican-Inspired/dp/1451611501/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1326134029&sr=8-1

Using the LOOK INSIDE! link, you can read the cook book's introduction and see this recipe in the virtual pages of the cook book itself.

If you don't live in the Southwest, you may have trouble locating the ingredient: canned chipotle chiles in adobo sauce. Like Chef Pam said yesterday, I also have this in my pantry. Maybe you haven't even heard of this before. It is essential that you find this ingredient.

It is usually sold in small cans in the Mexican, or ethnic section, of many grocery stores. Buy the smallest can you can. You will still have leftovers. It is a very flavorful, smoky, spicy ingredient. A little goes a LONG way. The leftovers will store well in any airtight container in the fridge.

It is sold on amazon.

To whet your appetite, and increase your enthusiasm for making your base sauce, I can provide you with an idea of what you can do with it. I have been able to locate online three of the recipes that use Garlic-Chipotle Love.

1. Chipotle Garlic Mashed Potatoes

http://www.tipsonlifeandlove.com/self-help/simple-food-big-flavor-recipe-chipotle-garlic-mashed-potatoes

2.Roast Chicken with Love Butter

http://www.orangecoast.com/blogs/tasteoforangecounty/blogentry.aspx?BlogEntryID=10296611

3. Mussels with Beer:

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/s_756568.html

Personally, I'm excited for the roast chicken. It will probably be the first recipe I try. But that is for another post on a different day.

So let us know...can you find the key ingredient for this first recipe?

What We Are Doing Here

I think that we are going to start with the book, Simple Food, Big Flavor by Aaron Sanchez.

I think the organization of the book is conducive to our project here.

First, Chef Sanchez has a recipe for a basic ingredient, like "Garlic-Chipotle Love." You can find this recipe online. The recipe yields 1 cup of sauce that should keep for up to 2 weeks in a tightly sealed container in the fridge or up to 1 month in the freezer.

Then, Chez Sanchez provides recipes that use the basic ingredient, like "Chipolte-Garlic Mashed Potatoes." You can also find this recipe online. The mashed potato recipe uses only 1/4 cup of Garlic-Chipotle Love, which means you would still have 3/4 cup of Garlic-Chipotle Love to use in a different recipe.

It makes sense for us all to make the basic recipe. Then we each can pick at least 2 recipes that require this basic ingredient. It'll be interesting to see what appeals to everyone. It will also be interesting to see if hearing about someone's experience with a recipe that didn't originally seem appetizing changes our minds about whether or not we want to make it.

We can share our successes (and failures) in how we actually cook the recipes. For instance, I can tell you right now that I would definitely make the mashed potato recipe. I may not make it exactly as written. I will probably use non-fat milk instead of whole. And because potatoes are cheap and generally well-liked, I might try it more than once, using a different potato (like yukon golds), and/or using a different cooking technique.

I made mashed potatoes in my crock pot for Christmas. I needed to limit what had to be cooked on the stove top and also what was prepared last minute. I cooked cut potatoes in the crock pot, mashed in a standing mixer, and placed the mashed potatoes back into the crock pot for buffet service. Very successful experiment overall. The potatoes were not as creamy as I would have prefered, but I think that was not because of the crock pot, but because of the amount of fat and liquid I added when I mashed them.

We can also share our meal ideas. And what did you do with the leftovers? These are the things that I think will be helpful for incorporating new recipes into our cooking repertoire.

There appear to be 15 basic recipes. Even so, I think we can focus on one basic recipe with two sub-recipes a month. This should be a slow, achievable pace. I imagine that it will keep the fun in the project and alleviate any pressure that would make this culinary adventure into a chore. It's also a reasonable enough minimum goal that allows us to cook something we didn't plan to cook because of someone's influence here.

So what do you think? Good plan?

Introductions

My name is Anita Latte. Sort of.

I participate in an online forum all about Disney called the DisBoards. Not understanding the creativity that could be involved in my forum username, I actually used a name that was based on my REAL name. You can't change your username there UNLESS you have done something like what I did, using your real name instead of a pseudonym. When I requested the change, I had the hardest time coming up with an available name there...so I ended up being TxRabbit.

Not because I eat so many veggies.

Even though I do.

The name was more of an inspiration based on the character in Pooh's tales called Rabbit. The bossy, want-to-be-organized and yet, forever dealing with disasters character seemed a pretty good match for myself at the time.

And THEN, inspiration hit. In the form of imitation.

My family used to play an online mass player computer game. You could submit a custom name for your character for approval. One of my friends was named "Anita Mocha." I introduced myself to her just because I was so impressed with her name. I thought to myself...if EVER I have the opportunity to create another pseudonym, I will call myself Anita Latte.

Because I love me some Cinnamon Dolce Lattes.

Nonfat.

Light Whip. When I'm feeling indulgent. No whip when I'm not.

And so, when I joined the CruiseCritic forum, I named myself Anita Latte.

And now, I'm quite attached to this name.

I feel an affinity for anyone that is actually named Anita in real life.

I don't care if your user name here is your real name, or another name that you happen to love for whatever reason...but IF your user name here differs from what I have come to know you as over in one of the forums where I spend WAY too much time...please comment here to reintroduce yourself.

And even if you have never introduced yourself to me anywhere else, please introduce yourself here so that we all can know who all is along for this ride.

Tomorrow, we will talk about more details as to what this ride is really all about.