January 11th, 2012 / Comments
It’s not to late to make a New Year’s resolution. Rather than resolving to go to the gym three times a week, or to sort out the extra clothes at the back of my closet, or to re-read at least one classic before the daffodils appear; I have resolved to have an empty fridge when it’s time to travel to Italy in March.
Rainbow Carrots
(I wanted to share my most recent painting, Rainbow Carrots, even though carrots have nothing to do with this post. )
The first step is to dispose of all of the half-filled jars of mystery sauces that have accumulated since we returned from Italy last spring. The second, and perhaps more difficult part is resisting the jars of exotic sauces at the market. I will make do with only three jars of sauce, mustard, ketchup and mayonnaise. The mustard is grainy Dijon mustard, the ketchup is what remains of the homemade ketchup I made as a Christmas gift for Charles, and I will make mayo as we need it.
Usually, mayo is made with either an egg yolk or a whole egg but recently I made Maionese de leite, a mayonnaise that comes from Portugal. This creamy, egg free sauce, made with milk and flavored with a hint of garlic is less sticky and bit more watery than traditional mayo but it can be substituted for traditional mayo. An immersion blender is necessary to make it. Here’s how I did it:
| Portugese Milk Mayo from a Vermont Kitchen |
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Recipe type: Condiment
Author: Carol Egbert
Prep time: 10 mins
Total time: 10 mins
Serves: 1 1/2 cups
Creamy egg-free mayo with a hint of garlic and five colorful variations. An immersion blender is necessary for this recipe.
- 1/3 cup cold milk
- 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
- 1/2 small garlic clove
- pinch of cayenne
- 1/2 cup canola oil
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- pinch kosher salt
- Combine milk, lemon juice, garlic and cayenne pepper in a tall, 2 cup container.
- Whip with an immersion blender for 45 seconds, until frothy.
- Combine oils and, with blender on high speed, slowly add oil to milk mixture, gradually increase quantity of oil. Move blender up and down to incorporate the oil.
- Continue whipping until mixture is thick.
- Season with salt to taste.
- Milk mayo will last up to a week in the fridge.
Mayo Sauces
Pink Ginger Mayo – Combine 1 teaspoon ketchup, 1 heaping teaspoon minced pickled ginger and a pinch of cayenne with 1/4 cup mayo. Lovely with steamed shrimp.
Golden Curry Mayo – Saute 1/2 teaspoon black mustard seeds and 1 small onion, diced, in 2 teaspoons vegetable oil for 4 minutes, add 1/2 teaspoon curry powder and 1/2 teaspoon turmeric, cook 1 minute more. when mixture is cool, combine with 1/2 cup mayo. Combine with cooked chicken and grapes for chicken salad.
Rosy Tomato Mayo – Combine equal parts mayo and ketchup for a zesty sandwich spread.
Dilly Green Mayo – Combine 1 teaspoon of minced fresh dill, minced flat leaf parsley, and chopped capers with a rounded tablespoon mayo. Thin with lemon juice. Top steamed new potatoes for a quick potato salad.
Sunny Lemon Mayo – Add i teaspoon grated lemon zest and 2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice with 1/4 cup mayo. Perfect for poached fish, steamed broccoli or in Waldorf salad.
2.1.7
Homemade mayonnaise is delicious whether it’s traditional egg based mayo or creamy milk mayo but, if your New Year’ resolution is to spend less time in the kitchen, mayo from the grocery store is the right choice for you. Happy New Year!
Here’s a link to my recipe for Mayo made with eggs.
Download and print a label for your homemade mayo here.
December 14th, 2011 / comments
When I was a child, one of my jobs was to refill the large, red plastic tomato with ketchup. My sister and I squeezed that tomato to squirt ketchup on French fried potatoes, grilled American cheese sandwiches, hamburgers, hot dogs and scrambled eggs. When I moved to Washington, DC, I wanted to be sophisticated and cosmopolitan. I listened to classical music, read the articles as well as the cartoons in the New Yorker and banished ketchup from my kitchen.
… read more
November 9th, 2011 / comments
Soon it will be Cooking Season. Thanksgiving is coming and then there’s December, filled with family birthdays, parties and holidays. Lots of time will be spent at the market gathering food to refill the fridge and pantry.
There will be weeks of marathon of mixing, stirring, slicing, dicing, creaming and blending. It was time to make meals that are simple to prepare, have a limited number of ingredients and are even better the second time around. Corn Chowder is one way to do that. … read more
August 17th, 2011 / comments
Quinoa is the seed from a plant related to beets, spinach and tumbleweed. Who knew? Tumbleweed makes me think of Gene Autry singing ‘… rolling along with the tumbling, tumbleweed’, but quinoa originated in the Andes Mountains where it has been an important food for more than six thousand years.
A gluten free, complete protein it was called the ‘mother of all grains’.
With all of this to recommend it, I decided to add it to my pantry. My first quinoa creation was a resounding failure – a mushy mixture that tasted like wet laundry, (Actually, I have never eaten wet or dry laundry, but that’s the best description I can come up with). … read more
May 17th, 2011 / comments
In Vermont, even in the third middle of May can be cool enough to have a fire in the wood stove, a perfect night for a soup and toast dinner.
The dark pink lentils in my pantry, labeled either as Red or Egyptian lentils in the market, don’t have a seed coat so they will disintegrate into a smooth puree as the soup cooks. Here’ s how I made it.
January 31st, 2011 / comments
Pre-game activities begin after lunch, the game, liberally dotted with commercials, starts at six, is interrupted by the half-time show, then more of the game, and finally the wrap-up. It’s no wonder that most hotels offering Super Bowl packages have a four-day minimum stay – it must take at least two days to recover.
I’m not a football fan. My mind wanders with the interminable delays. I worry about mortal injuries to the referees and camera operators when I see enormous bodies, protected by even more enormous plastic helmets and shoulder pads flying through the air and landing in heaps. I’ve been told that the creative commercials that debut on Super Bowl Sunday are enough reason to watch but I’d rather be putting finishing touches on Super Bowls, Super Platters and Super Sweets to sustain Super Friends who are eating and drinking, cheering and booing in front of the television.
One Super Bowl party website suggested, “serve everyone’s favorite high fat, finger-licking snack foods. After all, your television set is the focal point, not the food.” (Those are fighting words to a cook.) Another site suggested serving “salami, pepperoni, cheese whiz, chips and dips, beer and hot sauce, zingers like salami & cheese stuffed pepperochini.” (I wonder if beer and hot sauce is new mixed drink?) Tailgate classics like Buffalo wings, chili, and layered dips are all possibilities, but I want Super Food, healthy food that is not fussy to prepare and has enough flavor to be a bit of a distraction from the game.
Chickpeas and chickpea flour, also called besan and gram flour, are on the Super Food team I’m inviting to be part of my Super Bowl menu. They taste good and are an excellent source of protein, fiber, iron, potassium and B vitamins. It takes only a minute to make the batter for Besan flatbread that can be served either hot from the oven or at room temperature. It meets my requirements for a super finger food.
Hummus, a party regular at my house, is also a Super Snack. This blend of ancient ingredients – chickpeas, sesame seeds, lemon juice, garlic and olive oil is readily available at the market but when made at home it is absolutely fresh, with a minimum number of ingredients and is preservative free. When combined with warm pita bread, it is a complete protein that will build muscles so necessary for passing and blocking on the gridiron. (Not bad for a non-sports writer!) Best of all, homemade hummus costs half as much and is at least twice as good as store bought. I took a bowl of hummus, surrounded with carrot sticks to a potluck lunch last Sunday and it disappeared before the chocolate chip cookies.
Here’s how I made Besan Flat Bread and Hummus: … read more
