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The Theme Is … Homemade Ingredients!

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Tasty Kitchen Blog: Homemade Ingredients (Ranch Dressing, from Ree Drummond of The Pioneer Woman)

A long time ago, Ree posted the recipe for her Homemade Ranch Dressing that you see above. It was a recipe born of necessity, considering the vast distance she’d have to drive just to get a packet of ranch dressing mix.

The result was not only yummy but undoubtedly healthier to boot. No benzopropenoleumfragillistic acid in it—just good ol’ herbs, garlic, sour cream, and mayonnaise. And the recipe has saved me a few trips to the (in)convenience store myself.

Which brings us to today’s theme. Tasty Kitchen has a wealth of incredible recipes for all kinds of dishes, and we love that it’s becoming a regular resource for recipe ideas and meal planning. But we also have a number of homemade ingredient recipes that members have shared, just for those emergency situations when you’re out of something that you need. Or maybe you just want a homemade alternative, which often is also the healthier alternative.

Let’s start with baking. To give you an idea of what we have in here, take a look at these:

Tasty Kitchen Blog: Homemade Ingredients (For Baking)

We’ve got Homemade Baking Mix (Bisquick, anyone?) from Noshings, Homemade Butter from Jerseycook, Homemade Brown Sugar from damselindisdress (who knew it was so simple?), and bell’alimento’s Homemade Vanilla Extract.

(I think I’ll stop typing the “homemade” part of the recipe titles now, since that is the theme for today.)

All we have to do now is throw in some baking powder and powdered sugar and you pretty much have all you need to make something yummy in the oven.

What if you’re making lunch or dinner, and need something for your dish? Some ricotta cheese maybe? Or perhaps pizza sauce? Maybe you want to make some pasta but don’t have any of those boxes of noodles. Yep, we’ve got you covered there too.

Tasty Kitchen Blog: Homemade Ingredients (For Pizza and Pasta)Clockwise from the left: ericalea’s awesome-looking Pizza Sauce, Ricotta Cheese from whatsgabycooking, and Pastor Ryan’s incredibly easy and amazingly yummy Pasta.

 
Oh, and if you’re like me and you never have wonton wrappers around when you need them, we’ve got those too. (Thanks, Bob.)

Doing Mexican night instead? Now there’s no need to fret anymore if you run out of taco seasoning, hot sauce, refried beans, or even flour tortillas. (You can even take those flour tortillas and make your own tortilla chips. Then dip them in your homemade sour cream. Which would add mucho, mucho points to your awesomeness factor.)

What if your missing ingredient is a bit harder to find, and the problem isn’t so much the distance to the store but whether or not you can actually find what you need? From marzipan to mascarpone, Nutella to Kahlua, you may be surprised at the list of ingredients you can make at home.

Tasty Kitchen Blog: Homemade Ingredients (Hard to Find)Clockwise from top left: Garam Masala from ilikemonkeys, Ree’s Cranberry Sauce, Nutella from elanaspantry, and Birgit Kerr’s Mascarpone Cheese.

 
 
 
So whether it’s marshmallows that you need, or mayonnaise, or even yogurt, next time you think you might have to make a quick trip to the store just for one item, come visit here first! You just may save yourself that extra drive.

Now it’s your turn. Do you have any ingredient substitutions to share? Any secret tips that you don’t mind making not-so-secret anymore? We’d love to hear them all!

 
 
Update: We have a new Homemade Ingredients category at Tasty Kitchen! Check back for new additions from time to time. Keep those suggestions and tips coming!

 

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Meet Meseidy

Posted by in Meet the Member!

Tasty Kitchen Blog: Meet Meseidy of The Noshery.

 
Don’t adjust your sets, folks. Last week was Noshings, and this week, The Noshery. No relation, except for a shared love for a good … nosh.

Remember that Posole recipe we mentioned in our recent Slow Cooker theme post? And the Banana Chocolate Chip Espresso Cupcakes with Peanut Butter Frosting from the Peanut Butter theme post the following week? (Hint: both are pictured above.) Well, it’s time we all met the woman behind those delectable dishes. Everyone, say hello to The Noshery.

The Noshery is Meseidy (pronounced Má-say-dee). Her names comes to her by way of the early 1970s movie “When Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth,” which her father had seen in Puerto Rico, dubbed in Spanish. He liked the name of a cavewoman in the film (Meseiby), changed the “b” to a “d” and reserved it for his darling firstborn.

Her father joined the Air Force shortly after getting married, and moved from Puerto Rico to Maine, where Meseidy was born on a small base close to the Canadian border. Being in a military family, she’s lived in several places for no longer than 5 years at a time, from as far north as Maine, as far east as Guam, as far south as Florida and Puerto Rico, and as mid-west as Tulsa, Oklahoma, where she currently resides.

She says that because of her tall stature, fair skin, green eyes and complete lack of an accent, most people don’t believe that she’s 100% Puerto Rican. If you ask me, I think there’s a sure-fire way of convincing them without a word. Just hit them with a taste of any one of your incredible Puerto Rican dishes, and you’ll make believers out of them.

Tasty Kitchen Blog: Meet Meseidy of The Noshery (Puerto Rican Dishes)Clockwise from top left: Limber de Coco (Coconut Cream Popsicle), Pastelon (Puerto Rican Lasagna), Bacalaitos (Salted Cod Fritters), Slow-Cooked Puerto Rican Pulled Pork (Pernil), and Sancocho (Puerto Rican Beef Stew).

 
 
 
In Meseidy’s photo above, you see her with her husband Obed. They were married in 2008, and she credits him with saving her from a profession that she no longer enjoyed. The Christmas before they were married, he gave her a DSLR as a gift. She quickly combined her long-standing interest in photography and love for cooking, and launched her food blog, The Noshery, in the summer of 2008.

She enjoys the creativity that can come from cooking and watching people enjoy what she cooks. And if you think her Recipe Box holds mostly Puerto Rican dishes, think again. She’s got everything, from appetizers and sandwiches:

Tasty Kitchen Blog: Meet Meseidy of The Noshery (Appetizers and Sandwiches)Clockwise from top left: Shrimp Cakes, Cuban Sandwich, Southwest Chicken Eggrolls with Avocado Creme Dip, and Brie Stuffed Meatballs and Red Wine Mushroom Sauce Hoagie.

 
 
 
To breakfast and dessert:

Tasty Kitchen Blog: Meet Meseidy of The Noshery (Breakfast and Dessert)Clockwise from top left: Birthday Carrot Cake, Mantecaditos con Guayaba (Shortbread Almond Cookies with Guava), Bacon, Egg and Cheese Toastcups, Pan de Mallorca (Mallorca Bread), and Sweet Potato Biscuits.

 
 
 
And many other dishes from around the world.

Tasty Kitchen Blog: Meet Meseidy of The Noshery (International)Clockwise from top left: Ropa Vieja with Arepas, Crispy Indian Spiced Yogurt Chicken, Almost Carbonara, Herb de Provence Chicken, Pineapple Curry Glazed Chicken Skewers, and a vegetarian Roasted Butternut Squash, Pears and Onions with Blue Cheese.

 
 
So let’s get to the part of the post where we ask Meseidy some questions, and get to know more about the wonderful gal behind all these incredible dishes!

 
 
Q: What are your favorite ingredients or food pairings?
A: My favorite ingredient is Sofrito, which is a staple in Puerto Rican food. It is a puree of onions, peppers, garlic, cilantro, culantro and few other things. It is really handy to have to add some flavor to any food, not just Puerto Rican dishes.

 
Q: Any favorite chefs or food celebrities? Who inspires you?
A: I love Alton Brown because he teaches you about the basics and fundamentals of cooking. Who inspires me? It’s more like what inspires me. I have the cookbook “Cocina Criolla” (Puerto Rican Cookery, English Version) by Carmen Valldejuli that my grandmother gave to my mother, and that was given to me.

 
Q: Do you have a most memorable kitchen flop?
A: When I was 21, I hosted my first Thanksgiving away from home for friends who were also away from home. I wanted to make Arroz con Gandules (pigeon peas and rice) and mistook hot Jamaican peppers for ajies dulce (small sweet peppers) which my grandmother use to grow in her garden when I was little. I was chopping these peppers, which I didn’t know at the time were hot Jamaican peppers, and brushed hair off my face. A few seconds later, the left side of my face was on FIRE! I spent the next half hour with cold cream on my face, right up until my guests arrived. Needless to say, the rice was a little spicy.

 
Q: Other than hot Jamaican peppers (sorry, couldn’t resist), what ingredient gives you the most trouble?
A: Whipping cream. At first I get a good peak, and then it becomes runny.

 
Q: Give us one of your favorite kitchen tips that you wish you’d always known.
A: That rubbing your hands against metal with soap gets rid of strong smells on your hands, like onion, garlic and fish smells. I now have a metal soap-shaped bar that I always use. You can also use a large spoon.

_______________________________________

 
Thank you for answering our questions, Meseidy!

Check out The Noshery’s Recipe Box here at Tasty Kitchen for more of her incredible dishes. She’s got almost 50 recipes in there as of this writing, and in one of those pages, you just might find what’s for dinner tonight! You can also visit her blog The Noshery to learn more about this “Puerto Rican, military brat, newlywed, parent of 4 dogs named Jake, Girly, Buster and Honey, and mother of a camera named Roxy.”

 
 

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ABC Meatball Soup

Posted by in Looks Delicious!

Tasty Kitchen Blog: ABC Meatball Soup. Guest post by Jaden Hair of Steamy Kitchen.

 
One of my dreams is to write a children’s cookbook. One that doesn’t promote sneaking brussels sprouts in brownies or spending an hour carving a bunny rabbit out of an apple. Not that I don’t think it’s cute, but I just don’t have an hour to play with an exacto knife on my vegetables and fruit.

So how do I get my kids to eat vegetables? Most of the time it’s easy, as long as the vegetable is a “not-tomato.” And I’ll confess that one of my tricks is to cut the vegetables so small that it’s too much of a bother for them to pick them out one by one.

You see, my kids are hungry and impatient just like me, and I sure know how to work it.

With a soup like this, my kids are so preoccupied with spelling silly words like “poopypants” and “gyarwk” (Nathan doesn’t quite know how to spell yet) that they really don’t notice or mind the vegetables.

 
 
 
Tasty Kitchen Blog: ABC Meatball Soup. Guest post by Jaden Hair of Steamy Kitchen.

These meatballs are made out of ground turkey, and are shaped into teensy tiny-sized “boulders,” perfect for kiddy mouths.

My assistant, Shelisa, whipped together this soup for my kids while I was frantically arranging and rearranging Japanese mushrooms for a client photoshoot.

Here’s the recipe for the ABC Meatball Soup.

How do you get your kids to eat and enjoy their vegetables?

 
 

Printable Recipe

ABC Meatball Soup

See post on steamykitchen’s site!
4.50 Mitt(s) 2 Rating(s)2 votes, average: 4.50 out of 52 votes, average: 4.50 out of 52 votes, average: 4.50 out of 52 votes, average: 4.50 out of 52 votes, average: 4.50 out of 5

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Difficulty: Easy

Servings: 4

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Description

Combining fun, the chance to spell silly words, and vegetables cut so small that it’s too much work to pick them out, this soup is one of the ways I get my kids to eat and enjoy their vegetables.

Ingredients

  • ½ pounds Dry ABC-shaped Pasta
  • 4 ounces, weight Fresh Baby Spinach, Chopped
  • 2 Tablespoons Olive Oil, Divided
  • _____
  • FOR THE TURKEY MEATBALLS:
  • ½ pounds Ground Turkey
  • ½ teaspoons Kosher Salt
  • Freshly Ground Pepper, to taste
  • ¼ cups Breadcrumbs
  • 1 whole Egg
  • ¼ teaspoons Poultry Seasoning
  • _____
  • FOR THE SOUP:
  • 1 whole Carrot, Diced
  • 1 stalk Celery, Diced
  • ½ whole Bell Pepper, Diced
  • ½ whole Small Onion, Diced
  • ½ teaspoons Ground Cumin
  • ½ teaspoons Ground Coriander
  • 2 cups Prepared Chicken Broth (or Vegetable Broth)
  • 2 cups Water

Preparation Instructions

There are a couple of tricks here. Sauté your vegetables first before adding the broth so that you get a nice mellow, sweet caramelization going on with the vegetables. Also, cook your pasta separate from the soup, and then combine them at the end just before serving. Dry pasta releases flavorless starch (which is why your pasta water is cloudy), and you don’t want that in your precious soup.

1. In a large bowl, combine the meatball ingredients and roll into three-quarter inch meatballs.

2. Heat a large pot over medium-high heat with just half of the olive oil. When hot, add the meatballs, not touching. Cook the meatballs until browned on all sides, about two minutes. You don’t have to cook the meatballs through, as you will be adding them back into the soup to finish cooking. Scoop out the meatballs and set aside.

3. Pour in the remaining olive oil, and when hot, add the diced carrots, celery, bell pepper, onion. Sauté until the vegetables have softened, about two minutes. Season with the ground cumin and ground coriander. Give it a good stir. Pour in the chicken broth and water. Add the meatballs back in. Bring to a boil then turn the heat to low and let simmer for 20 minutes.

4. In the meantime, boil a pot of water and cook the pasta according to package instructions. Drain and set aside.

5. When the soup is ready, taste and season the soup with salt to your liking. Stir in the chopped spinach and the cooked pasta. Simmer for an additional 2 minutes and serve.

 
 
_______________________________________

Jaden Hair is a food writer, television personality, and food photographer based in Tampa Bay, Florida. Find more of her recipes in her blog, Steamy Kitchen, where you can also read more about Jaden’s new book, The Steamy Kitchen Cookbook, and the rave reviews it’s received!

 

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The Theme Is … Peanut Butter!

Posted by in The Theme Is...

Tasty Kitchen Blog: The Theme is Peanut Butter! (Nutter Butter Balls, recipe submitted by TK member Bakerella)

 
Today, March 3rd, is National Peanut Butter Lovers’ Day. Does anyone know how they schedule these food holidays? Because I’d like to suggest a National All-You-Can-Eat Dessert Lovers’ Day, and I imagine there may be some specific protocol in place for such requests.

In any case, we support just about anything that focuses on food around here, so let’s join the fun and give all the peanut butter lovers out there something to celebrate! Bakerella gets us started with her Nutter Butter Balls in the top photo. She uses only three ingredients, and oh, what she can do with those three.

Bakerella’s recipe reminds us that peanut butter and chocolate make excellent partners, and boy, have we got some more great partnerships here. Starting from the top left and going clockwise, we see in the photo below the classic Peanut Butter Buckeyes from Angie Arthur, awesome cookies with a surprise creamy filling called Magic Peanut Butter Middles from Karly Campbell, guiltykitchen’s elegant sweet and salty Idle Hand Bars that have pecans, hazelnuts, and pink Himalayan salt (they’d make wonderful little gifts), and of course, we had to include cookincanuck’s Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup and Chocolate Cheesecake Bars. The title pretty much says it all.

Tasty Kitchen Blog: The Theme is Peanut Butter! (PB and Chocolate)

 
 
 
You know what else really goes with peanut butter? Bananas. And what happens if you keep the chocolate, add bananas, and then, for good measure, throw some coffee in the mix?

Tasty Kitchen Blog: The Theme is Peanut Butter! (Banana Chocolate Chip Espresso Cupcakes with Peanut Butter Frosting from The Noshery)

You get Banana Chocolate Chip Espresso Cupcakes with Peanut Butter Frosting from The Noshery.

It might be enough to convert some banana-haters (*cough*Ree*cough*) out there.

Of course, peanut butter isn’t just for dessert. It gives wonderful body to savory dishes, too. Like the Spicy Chicken Peanut Noodles from gitskt below on the left, and Ree’s Spicy Peanut Pasta Salad to the right. And because March is apparently also National Sauce Month (the sauces must have good lobbyists on their side to get an entire month to themselves), and as you know, we’re all about maximizing potential here, take a look at the Gluten Free Tangy Peanut Sauce below from elanaspantry that covers both food holidays.

Tasty Kitchen Blog: The Theme is Peanut Butter! (Savory Dishes)

 
 
 
Peanut butter is so versatile, and there are so many other wonderful recipes I didn’t get to include here. If you have any favorite peanut butter recipes, we’d love to hear them! Do you have any strongly-entrenched preferences? Do you like chunky, creamy, plain, honey roasted … or are they all good to you as long as they end up in your tummy?

I’ll get us started, because my answer is simple. My two favorite ways to have peanut butter are either in a PB&J sandwich, or in a spoon.

And yes, you guessed it. We’ve got a recipe for that, too.

Tasty Kitchen Blog: The Theme is Peanut Butter! (Homemade Peanut Butter, recipe submitted by TK member Ali of Gimme Some Oven)Homemade Peanut Butter from Ali @ gimmesomeoven

 
 

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Coffee Toffee Bars

Posted by in Baking, Step-by-Step Recipes

WINNERS – Here are the winners of the KitchenAid mixers: Jamie M. – “We made Cookie Salad last night with girl scout cookies, it was delish!” Kimberly – “We wanted something fruity and spring-like, even though it was February. I had 3 kinds of berries in the freezer, along with some rhubarb–and combined a few […]

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Meet Nicole

Posted by in Meet the Member!

  Have you wondered who that lovely lady is behind the camera in the photo above? The one responsible for giving us those wonderful Sugared Cranberry Pecan Shortbread cookies above, which are a delicious cross between Pecan Sandies and Walkers Shortbread? Well, wonder no more. Today, we’ll all get to meet Nicole, known to us […]

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How to Open An Avocado and Keep All 10 Fingers!

Posted by in Kitchen Talk

  I love my guac! And if a big bowl is in front of me with fresh tortilla chips, I can eat the entire thing in one sitting. Just don’t expect me to share any of it! To make a big bowl of guacamole (I love saying that word), you have to start with lots […]

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The Theme Is … Slow Cooker Recipes!

Posted by in The Theme Is...

  Because Ree is in the big city today, and will likely spend a good deal of her 48-hour stay there either rushing to go somewhere or being rushed somewhere else, today seemed like a good day to slow things down a bit. In many different ways, we’re all rushing. And sometimes, the last thing […]