Discover how to use whole dried chiles for more depth, flavor and nuance By IVY MANNING Photography by WENDI NORDECK You wouldn't be caught dead with a tin of preground pepper, and your nutmeg is always freshly ground from the source. But when a recipe calls for chile powder, you reach for a jar. What's wrong with that, you ask? Not only that, but store-bought chile powders limit you to whatever chiles the manufacturer has decided to use -- usually New Mexican or ancho. Chicken Enchiladas "Now, even when I make Texas-style chili, I use reconstituted chiles rather than chile powder," Zukin says. With that in mind, we're sharing our go-to recipe for a rich, warming chile sauce you can use to add instant depth and heat to a long list of recipes, from chicken enchiladas to chunky buffalo chili. The recipe makes a ton, so you'll have plenty of sauce to tuck into your freezer for later. Chile primer There are seemingly a million chile pepper varieties out there. Guajillo: These "little gourds" are dried mirasol chiles. Sources Mercado Don Pancho: 2000 N.E.
Brownie Mosaic Cheesecake Behold, a gorgeous four-part cheesecake in all of its glory: Oreo crumb crust. Creamy cheesecake. Fudgy brownies. WOW. Although the cheesecake is comprised of four components, it wasn’t complicated at all to put together, so please don’t be intimidated! We need to talk about the crust. The cheesecake itself has the perfect texture – wonderfully creamy and melts in your mouth. Craving more cheesecake? One year ago: Hearty Beef Stew with Sweet Dinner Rolls
Behind the Bites: Homemade Mexican Hot Sauce This recipe starts with onion, garlic and four jalapenos. The peppers are kept whole with ribs and seeds for that extra fire that they provide. I simply chopped each jalapeno into five or six slices and tossed it in the pot. Once the base has cooked a few minutes and starts to soften up I add the tomatoes and chiles. I had never worked with the Pasilla de Oaxaca chile, it’s smoked and ads a meaty bacon or ham-type of flavor. After the chiles have toasted and the tomatoes start to surrender some of their liquid I add the chicken broth. Before transferring it to a blender, I took it off the heat for a while just to let it cool – I think it is a bit easier to work with when it’s not as hot. I actually made much more than what I thought I would be making for this batch - about 2 quarts - which is enough for about six thousand tacos. I decided to make this hot sauce to get rid of some dried chiles I had left in the pantry. Eat well, cook often ...
Blueberry-Vanilla Panna Cotta This panna cotta — an Italian specialty — has the pure flavor of fresh cream and vanilla bean, with a slightly thickened, custardlike consistency. Dotted with fresh blueberries, it makes a showstopping dessert for spring and summer. Blueberry-Vanilla Panna Cotta 2 1/2 tsp. (1 package) unflavored gelatin 1/4 cup milk 2 cups heavy cream 1/4 cup sugar 1 vanilla bean 1 tsp. vanilla extract 2 cups blueberries, plus more for garnish In a bowl, sprinkle the gelatin over the milk. In a saucepan over medium heat, stir together the cream and sugar. Remove the vanilla bean. Just before serving, run a thin knife around the inside of each ramekin and invert onto a dessert plate.
Mexican Red Chili Sauce Recipe Ingredients 3 dried Ancho (sometimes called pasilla in the US*) chiles OR 2 Ancho and 2 Guajillo chilesWater1 large clove garlic2 whole cloves, crushed2 black peppercorns, crushed1/2 teaspoon of salt, more to tasteOlive oil * According to Diana Kennedy, Pasilla chilies are a long and skinny variety of chile, while Ancho chilies (dried poblanos) are shorter and wider. However, in certain parts of Mexico, the Ancho chile is called Pasilla, and because of immigration, is commonly known as Pasilla in many parts of the US. Method 1 Working on one chile at a time, use a paring knife to cut a slit all the way down one side of a chile. 2 Heat a large skillet on medium heat. 3 Add the chilies to a small saucepan and add enough water so that they are just covered. 4 Reserving the soaking water, remove the chilies from the pan and place in a blender. 5 Pour the sauce through a sieve into a skillet. Makes a little more than 1 cup.
Homemade Vanilla Extract | Eliza Domestica This stuff is so ridiculously easy to make. All you need is some cheap vodka, a few vanilla beans, a mason jar, and time. Lots-o-time. But that time part is easy when you store it away and just forget about it for a couple of months. Okay, it happened to me. The bright side to this tragedy is it made my kitchen smell delicious for a couple of days. As far as vanilla beans go, you have quite the option to pick and choose from. I think a jar of this would make a nice gift to a special baker in your life or even as a housewarming gift. To get this party started, slice each vanilla bean in half (almost), lengthwise. Place into a mason jar and fill with vodka then seal tightly with a lid. Ingredients 3-4 vanilla beans Cheap vodka Mason jar with a tight seal. Cut each vanilla bean in half, leaving a half inch connected at on e end. Place in a cool dark place, like the back of your cupboards and let it set for 2 months or longer. Remember to give it a good shake every couple of weeks.
Restaurant Style Salsa & A Giveaway for The Pioneer Woman’s NEW Cookbook Restaurant Style Salsa & A Giveaway for The Pioneer Woman’s NEW Cookbook Today is an exciting day! Ree’s (The Pioneer Woman) NEW cookbook comes out today! I am so excited for Ree and her latest book, The Pioneer Woman Cooks: Food From My Frontier. What is the best part of going out to a Mexican restaurant? The recipe is super easy to make. You can find Ree’s Restaurant Style Salsa recipe in The Pioneer Woman Cooks: Food From My Frontier, along with lots and lots of other delicious recipes. The giveaway is now CLOSED! And now for the giveaway! To enter to win a signed copy of Ree’s new book, Food From My Frontier, leave a comment on this post telling us if you like your salsa mild, medium, or hot! The giveaway is open until Friday, March 16th at 11:59 p.m. A few of my food blogging friends are also celebrating Ree’s new book, make sure you check out their posts: And don’t forget to sign up for our cookbook, Cookie Cravings, email list!
Caramel Filled Chocolate Cake Cookies (a.k.a. Rolo Cookies) Yes, my love for pie runs deep. However, do you know how much I love cookies? If I was ever going to start another food blog (and no, that is not going to happen…I barely sleep as it is!) Our holiday card this year included some miscellaneous data like how many dishes I washed this year (9,015), trips to the market (732), and cookies I baked (472) – in hindsight I think all those numbers are a little conservative. Anyway, a month or so ago I was trying out a bunch of new cookie recipes, and shouted on Facebook my utter frustration that none of them were any good. Apparently 4th time is a charm. These were a home run. Caramel Filled Chocolate Cake Cookies (a.k.a. Ingredients • 1 (12 ounce) package Rolos • 1 box Devils Food Cake mix, sifted • 2 eggs • 1/3 cup vegetable oil • 1/2 cup powdered sugar Directions Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine cake mix, oil, and eggs. Roll in powered sugar and place on a greased cookie sheet. Bake for 10 minutes. (slightly adapted from Six Sisters Stuff)
Chunky Pico De Gallo | VIKALINKA <div class="greet_block wpgb_cornered"><div class="greet_text"><div class="greet_image"><a href=" rel="nofollow"><img src=" alt="WP Greet Box icon"/></a></div>Hello there! If you are new here, you might want to <a href=" rel="nofollow"><strong>subscribe to the RSS feed</strong></a> for updates on this topic.<div style="clear:both"></div></div></div> I can’t believe it took me so long to share one of my favourite things to eat with you friends! However, summer is upon us, and since even England is reluctantly warming up, it calls for colourfully fresh outdoor dining. This salad is something that appears on our table any season of the year but tastes best in the summer when the tomatoes are ripe and flavourful. Ingredients: Method:
Sweet potato, balsamic-caramelized onion and goat cheese galette When Whole Foods Yorkville in Toronto offered me the chance to participate in the “Blogger Gobbler” challenge around Canadian Thanksgiving, I was intrigued. A challenge involving creating a holiday recipe with two secret ingredients – sweet potatoes & 365 Balsamic Vinegar. A challenge to say the very least. We had free range with what type of dish we could make from appetizers to dessert (!) and I thought long and hard about this and finally decided on a hearty main dish to make for our vegetarian guests over Thanksgiving. So often a vegetarian’s lot during holiday meals ends up being a cobbled-together plate of side dishes and I wanted to make something special for our non-meat eating guests that everyone would be able to enjoy. Sweet potato galette with balsamic-caramelized onions and goat cheese Total time Author: Mardi Michels Recipe type: Main Cuisine: Vegetarian Who knew – sweet potatoes and balsamic vinegar – a match made in heaven! And guess what?