OVEN POACHED EGGS

LIKE MAGIC........POACHED EGGS FROM THE OVEN!!!

The traditional method of cooking a poached egg can be a hassle, to say the least. It's not only messy but you can only cook 2 or 3 of them at a time. I'm here to tell you that there is good news: YOU CAN MAKE POACHED EGGS IN THE OVEN!!!

Give an oversized muffin pan (I think they are called Texas size?) a light misting of vegetable spray and then put a SCANT tablespoon of water in each well. Place a large egg (no shell) in the water and bake them in a preheated 350 oven(my electric oven takes exactly 12 minutes). After 12 minutes, IMMEDIATELY REMOVE the eggs from the pan with a spoon. 

  A PERFECTLY POACHED EGG !!

Whether you are making one or 24, this method

 really works and it couldn't be easier

Since there are several variables in this recipe (pan size, oven temperature, egg size) I suggest you do a "test egg" to determine how long YOUR oven will take.

IMPORTANT NOTE: Just make sure you take the poached eggs out of the pan IMMEDIATELY, so they do not continue to cook.

Don't you just want to

dunk your toast in this one?

ENJOY !!!



ZUCCHINI PICKLE RELISH

This relish is absolutely delicious, and we use it in everything from tuna fish salad, to potato salad, to hot dogs, you name it.....

NO ONE has EVER guessed it is made with zucchini 

It tastes like the 

BEST bread and butter pickle 

relish you have EVER eaten !!!

12 cups unpeeled zucchini (chopped small)

3 cups sweet onion (chopped small)
1 cup celery (chopped small)
2 large red bell peppers (chopped small)
2 cups peeled carrots (chopped small)
1 cup pickling* salt (see important note)
3 cups white vinegar
3 cups granulated sugar
2 teaspoons turmeric
2 teaspoons DRY mustard powder
1 tablespoon celery seed
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1 tablespoon corn starch

Wash and dry the vegetables before cutting them (the only one you should peel is the carrot). Coarsely chop the vegetables, then put them in the food processor (2 or 3 cups at a time) and pulse them a few times to get the pieces small enough for a good relish (but not too small). The chop size should look like this:

Measure the vegetables AFTER you chop 
them in the food processor.

Mix the small chopped vegetables and 1 cup of pickling salt. Place this mixture (covered) in fridge overnight (The salt will draw excess moisture out of the veggies).

IMPORTANT NOTE: After the vegetables have chilled overnight, it is VERY IMPORTANT that you rinse the salt off of them. I rinse the chopped veggies THREE TIMES (in small batches).

Whatever method you choose to rinse the salt off, just make sure you rinse, rinse, rinse then squeeze as much water out of the chopped veggies as you can(I use my salad spinner). Set aside.

In a large, non-aluminum, pot, mix the vinegar, sugar, celery seed, spices and corn starch. Bring to a boil (to dissolve the sugar). Add all of the rinsed vegetables to the pot and bring BACK to a boil. Once it is boiling hard, turn heat to medium low and GENTLY boil everything for 20 minutes, stirring every five minutes or so.

While the relish is simmering, sterilize 7 pint jars and 7 (two piece) screw on lids. I do this by putting the JARS through a hot cycle in my dishwasher. Keep the jars in the (unopened) hot dishwasher after the last cycle.

For the LIDS, I just wash them with hot soapy water, rinse them well and then pour boiling water over them in a large saucepan which I keep HOT on a burner.

Also, while the relish is simmering, bring your canning water to a hard boil, here is how:

 Place a rack on the bottom of a large stock pot (or something to keep the jars up off of the bottom of the pan) and fill the pot with water (water should be deep enough to cover the jars by 2". Bring the water to a full boil.

Now that your relish has boiled for 20 minutes, remove it from the heat and place it in the clean hot jars, leaving 1/4" space at the top of the jars (make sure there are no air pockets in the relish). Wipe the rims of the jars with a clean, hot, wet kitchen towel and screw on the two-piece lids fairly tight. Lower the jars into the already boiling water and keep them in there  10 minutes for half pint jars and 15 minutes for pint jars.

Remove from boiling water and let cool to room temperature on your kitchen counter. As they cool on your counter, you will hear the lids "pop" when they make the correct seal.  If they don't "pop", just keep them in the fridge.

NOTE: Do not use regular table salt for this recipe because the anti-caking agents in table salt cause the relish to discolor.  If you don't have pickling salt, the next best thing to use is kosher salt (but I highly recommend pickling salt).

NOTE: The recipe calls for 12 cups of chopped up zucchini. I have found that if I am a cup short of zucchini, I just add an extra cup of chopped carrots. Works well.

NOTE: This recipe makes 7 pints of relish.

ENJOY !!!

EASY HOME MADE PEPPERONI

Have you ever read the ingredient list on a package of commercial pepperoni or looked closely at a slice of it and wondered what all those "bits" were? Exactly!! A pretty gross thought isn't it?? 

If you want to know exactly what is in YOUR pepperoni, try this super easy recipe. It's just high quality pork and beef plus seasonings baked in the oven at a super low temperature for 6 hours ....and it is delicious, (even picky-picky husband loves it!!)

First of all, keep in mind that when it's all cooked, it's NOT going to be bright red/orange like commercial pepperoni, and it's NOT going to be shaped perfectly round, but that certainly didn't bother us. 

1 pound of ground pork (not sausage)
1 pound of ground beef (lean)
2 teaspoons liquid smoke
2 teaspoons black pepper
2 teaspoons mustard seed
2 teaspoons fennel seed
1 teaspoon paprika
1 to 2 teaspoons red pepper flakes (see notes)
1 teaspoon garlic powder
2 slightly heaping teaspoons salt (see notes)
1 teaspoon sugar
1/4 cup ice water

Grind the dry spices together (I used my mortar and pestle) until they are roughly ground (it doesn't have to be super fine).

Mix the meat, flavorings, ice water and liquid smoke together just until combined. (I use my stand mixer). Cover it well, and chill it for 48 hours (important).

After 48 hours, mix again (gently) and roll the mixture into 2 logs and place them on a foil (or parchment) lined baking sheet (make sure the baking sheet has a lip).

Bake in a pre-heated 200° oven for 6 hours. If you seriously want round pepperoni, turn the logs every 2 hours, but I never do that.  Your house is going to smell wonderful!! 

After 6 hours, they will look like this:

The "pepperoni" logs will be quite firm to the touch when they come out of the oven. If there is some fat on your baked pepperoni "logs", just wipe it off before you chill them, but I seldom have that problem.

                                                                    *******

IMPORTANT STEP:
CHILL PEPPERONI BEFORE 
 YOU SLICE !!

 *******

Let the baked logs cool a little, then wrap them in plastic wrap and chill them until they are very cold before you slice them.  Use a sharp knife and slice the sausages very thin.

This treat is VERY easy to make 

and has a wonderful flavor. 

NOTES: I buy pork butt roast when it's on super sale and grind it, but you can also just buy commercially ground pork (UNSEASONED....not sausage!!)


NOTES: Picky-picky husband is very shy when it comes to "heat" in his food, so I make this recipe with 1 + 1/4 teaspoons of red pepper flakes and it's just right.  If you like a spicier pepperoni, just add more flakes.

NOTES: A note about the color of this pepperoni. To get a bright red/orange color in pepperoni, people use Morton's Tender Quick which has salt, sodium nitrite and propylene glycol in it. Personally, it is not important to us to have that bright red color, so I just use table salt instead of the Tender Quick and it works just fine.  

NOTES: This pepperoni freezes very well.