Monday, March 24, 2008

Aunt Wendy's Dilled Green Beans


I canned by myself for the first time today. It was quite an adventure and I learned a lot about what to do differently the next time.
WENDY’S DILLED GREEN BEANS
Ingredients
4 # fresh whole green beans
El Toro Dehydrated Chile Japones (Red Peppers-crushed)
Whole mustard seed
Fresh dill plant
Garlic cloves
5 C cider vinegar (1 ¼ qt.)
5 C. water (1 ¼ qt.)
½ C. salt
7 pint jars
Instructions
Wash beans thoroughly, drain and cut into lengths to fill pint jars
Combine vinegar, water, & salt – heat to boiling
Pack beans into clean, hot jars
Add to each jar:
¼ tsp. hot red crushed peppers
½ tsp. whole mustard seed
2 sprigs fresh dill
1 clove garlic
Pour boiling liquid over beans filling to ½ “ from top of jar
Adjust jar lids
Process in boiling water for 5 minutes starting from the time water in canner is boiling
Remove jars and complete seals if necessary.
Set jars upright 2” apart.
Let cool on wire rack
Store for 5 – 6 months in pantry
Beans canned in August or September make a nice Christmas gift

Pizza Dough

This is the pizza dough recipe I use currently:
3 1/2 cups flour
1 cup warm water
1 package yeast
2 Tbsp honey
1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 tsp. salt
Pour warm water into bowl. Add honey and salt. Mix until well blended. Add yeast and mix. Let sit 5 minutes. Add 1 cup flour and the olive oil and mix until well blended. Add the rest of the flour and mix well.
Knead dough, cover bowl with plastic wrap. Let rise in a warm, dry area 45 minutes. Punch dough down. Cover and let rise another hour to an hour and a half. Roll out dough onto pizza pans.

Sunday, March 23, 2008

Minestrone Soup A La Madeline

This is first soup I have ever made and boy was it a good first try. My friend Erin gave me the recipe as well as some of her leftover ingredients and said it was definitely worth trying. It was so so so good! I chopped the vegetables in the food processor so it was actually really easy to make. Very hearty when the sauce boils down and you just end up with a really thick bowl of soup. I wish it wasn't all gone.

2 brown onions (I used one yellow)
1/2 bunch fresh basil
1/4 bunch fresh cilantro
1/2 bunch flat leaf parsley
6 cups vegetable stock
2 Tbsp soy sauce
2 cubes vegetable stock (I lost the ones I bought so I put in some chicken top ramen flavoring)
13 oz. canned tomatoes
1/2 cup brown lentils
1/2 cup pearl barley
4 bay leaves
2 cloves garlic
2 stalks celery, finely chopped (I didn't have)
2 carrots, finely chopped
1/2 parsnip, finely chopped
1 small turnip, finely chopped
1 can red kidney beans, washed thoroughly
ground pepper
Place the onions, basil, cilantro and parsley in a food processor and blend until finely chopped. In a large soup pot, place vegetable stock, soy sauce, one cup of hot water and stock cubes mixed with one cup of warm water. Stir and add onion and herb mix from the food processor. Place the tomatoes in the food processor and blend; add to soup pot. Add lentils, pearl barley and bay leaves. Cover and cook on low heat. Pass the garlic through a garlic press and add to the pot. Add the celery, carrots, parsnip and turnip to the pot. Cover and cook slowly for 80 minutes stirring occasionally. Season with black pepper. Add the kidney beans and cook for another 10 minutes. Remove the bay leaves.