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15 Minutes or Less
July 6, 2011
How to use a spigot to turn a watermelon into a drink dispenser
My first summer in Austin, way back in 2005, I snagged an invite to a backyard barbecue at the house of Andrew Smiley, director of the farm direct program at the Sustainable Food Center.
Andrew was probably the first foodie I got to know in Austin, and though he probably served a dozen amazing dishes at this party — I think it was for July Fourth — the only one that has stuck with me through the years was a watermelon-mint-lime tequila cooler that he served from a watermelon with a spigot screwed in the side.
A spigot in a watermelon? Genius!
With help from Andrew and a nice guy at Home Depot last week, I recreated this nifty serving device for a story about watermelons that ran in today’s paper.
The process for making this watermelon drink server is almost exactly like preparing a pumpkin to carve at Halloween, but you have to have a wok ring or small, but tall baking pan to set the watermelon upright.
Cut off the top and scoop out the insides. Mash the pulp in a strainer over a large bowl or pot to extract the juice. Drill or cut out a hole slightly smaller than the brass or plastic spigot from the hardware store or a plastic faucet from a drink dispenser that you’d buy at a store.
Depending on the kind of spigot you use (I used a 1/2-inch brass one), you might need a nut and/or oversized washer to help keep the spigot from leaking. On my first attempt to fill the watermelon, the spigot leaked, but I was able to stop it by screwing a plastic piece from a sink repair kit that the Home Depot employee helped me pick out when I told him what I was up to. (Thanks for not laughing at my strange little project, nice Home Depot guy!)
Now comes the fun part — what to mix with your watermelon aqua fresca.
Three parts aqua fresca to one part tequila, plus a handful of mint and a few tablespoons of lime juice is Andrew’s surefire recipe, but you could serve it spiked with vodka, white wine or serve it straight with just a little white wine or balsamic vinegar and a pinch of salt.
(For more than 200 ideas for drinks to serve this summer, check out Andrew Schloss’ new book “Homemade Soda,” which includes this recipe for watermelon mint cordial.)
Watermelon Mint Cordial
Big chunk of watermelon, about 1 pound, rind removed, cut into chunks
1/4 cup agave syrup or simple syrup
1/4 cup finely chopped fresh mint leaves
2 Tbsp. white wine vinegar (balsamic vinegar works well, too)
Combine the watermelon, syrup, mint and vinegar in a blender or food processor, and puree until smooth (though there still might be watermelon seeds and shards of mint floating around). Pour the mixture into a strainer set over a small bowl to remove the solid pieces. Gently lift and stir the mixture to help the liquid pass through, without forcing any solids through the strainer.
— Andrew Schloss, “Homemade Soda” (Storey, $18.95)
Some other highlight’s from this week’s watermelon story…
Square watermelons from Japan:
A video from Sarah Pember of The Smart Kitchen on how to pick out a ripe watermelon.
A recipe for grilled watermelon salad with feta and basil-infused olive oil:
Photos by Kyodo News via the Associated Press and Ralph Barrera for the Austin American-Statesman.
Permalink | Comments (1) | Post your comment Categories: 15 Minutes or Less, Drinks, Eating locally
January 31, 2011
How to make chips from kale, spinach, broccoli and other leafy greens
Headed to a Super Bowl party this weekend and aren’t quite what sure to bring to balance the bevy of salty, cheesy and greasy finger foods?
Try crispy, flavorful chips made from leafy greens like Swiss chard, collards, kale, spinach or even leaves from broccoli, cauliflower or Brussels sprouts growing in your garden.
Unlike most potato chips — usually deep-fried discs filled with loads of starch and little nutrients — chips made from leafy greens contain far more nutrients and fiber than just about any other crispy, salty snack you could eat on game day.
(I made these chips with Susan Leibrock of the Sustainable Food Center on FOX 7’s morning show a few weeks ago, but this is an expanded entry that we’re running in the paper on Wednesday.)
To make the chips, just tear the leaves into chip-sized pieces (alternatively, you can leave them whole and make larger chips if you want) and toss with a little olive oil and salt before baking for 15 to 20 minutes at 300 degrees. (If you have the time and want to ensure even crispness, you can flip them halfway through.)
You also can place the leaves on a baking sheet and spray lightly with oil in a pump or aerosol can before seasoning. You can cook them at a higher temperature for less time, but the high heat gives the chips a roasted flavor that you might or might not like. If you own a dehydrator, you can certainly make the chips with an even lower amount of heat, but it will take much longer for them to crisp up.
I used a basil-infused olive oil, which gave the chips an aromatic layer of flavor, so feel free to play around with other flavored oils or oils that naturally have a strong flavor, like sesame oil. You also can add a sprinkle of Parmesan cheese, lemon pepper, curry powder or garlic salt for variety.
Don’t want to show up to the party with hippie chips? Try crushing them into a rough powder and sprinkling on popcorn. (Then you get to bring hippie popcorn.)
As a gardener, it’s a relief to know that I can put those broccoli, cauliflower and Brussels sprout leaves to use. In years past, I’ve harvested the heads or sprouts and composted the rest of the plant. I knew you could sauté or braise the leaves, but I can only eat wilted greens so often before I grow tired of them, no matter how much garlic and butter I use.
There are a lot of ways to eat your greens, including the ever-present creamed spinach dip, but I can’t think of a more party-friendly way to serve them than this.
Permalink | Comments (1) | Categories: 15 Minutes or Less, Cooking
December 16, 2010
15 Minutes or Less: Gingerbread granola
Looking for a quick, easy-to-make food gift that will keep for longer than a day or two and are healthier than cookies?
Check out Texas Oncology’s recipe for gingerbread granola, which is the organization’s annual good-for-you holiday recipe. (Previous recipes include cranberry jalapeño jam and holly jolly biscotti.)
Gingerbread Granola
2 1/2 cups rolled oats
3/4 cup raw slivered almonds
1/4 cup raw sunflower seeds
2 tsp. flax seeds
3/4 tsp. ground ginger powder
3/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp. ground cloves
1/8 tsp. salt
Pinch nutmeg
1/3 cup agave nectar
1 Tbsp. molasses
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup chopped dried apricots
1/4 cup golden raisins
Preheat oven to 300 degrees. In a large mixing bowl, combine the oats, almonds, sunflower seeds, flax seeds, and spices. In a separate bowl, whisk together the agave nectar, brown sugar, and molasses. Pour over dry mixture and stir until incorporated thoroughly.
Evenly spread the granola mixture onto a parchment-lined baking sheet. Bake until dry, stirring occasionally, for about 25 to 30 minutes. Cool slightly before adding apricots and raisins. Once cooled completely, store in an airtight jar or sealed bag.
— Johanna Gordy Brown
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August 3, 2010
How to make a better grilled cheese sandwich
Making grilled cheese sandwiches isn’t rocket science.
At least that’s the way Amy Hildenbrand, co-owner of the grilled cheese food trailer Austin Daily Press, sees it.
Start with good bread and cheese. Add meat and/or veggies and don’t forget the sauce. Press between two hot surfaces, and you have an easy, comforting meal that, if you build it right, can taste downright gourmet.
Hildenbrand, left, along with her business partner Cory Nunez and his girlfriend Melani Feinberg, are getting ready to make their national television debut on Food Network’s “The Great Food Truck Race,” which premieres on August 15. The show, hosted by Tyler Florence, follows seven food trailers on a competition-filled road trip across the country.
Ahead of the series, Hildenbrand gave us some tips on making your own out-of-this-world grilled cheese sandwich.
If you’re making a sandwich with more than two slices of cheese, you’re probably going to want to press it with heated elements on both sides or else the middle isn’t going to get hot and the sandwich will just fall apart. “A $40 sandwich press from Target works just as well as a $300 one from Williams-Sonoma, and you can pick up cat food at the same time,” she says.
Buttered bread works just fine, but mayonnaise on the outside will give you a deeper flavor and crispier crust. For a real taste-explosion, try clarified butter or ghee. Hildenbrand: “It’s like freebasing butter.”
(An old trick leftover from my own childhood: Garlic salt on the outside of the bread.)
Hildenbrand says it’s important to layer the ingredients correctly from both slices of bread to the middle. Smear mayo, mustard or any kind of sauce or dressing (just about any salad dressing or spread will do: ranch, honey mustard, Italian, vinaigrettes, tapenade or even cream cheese) on the slices, then add cheese and keep meat and veggies in the middle. “Cheese helps seal the sandwich together,” she says.
“You have to have enough cheese to stand up against the bread,” she says. At Austin Daily Press, they use about six slices for the thick French bread, but sandwich bread can only withstand about two slices, maybe three.
We all know the usual suspects (Cheddar, Monterrey Jack for cheese, ham for meat), but just about any cheese will work. Feta, fresh mozzarella and provolone are a few of Hildenbrand’s favorites.
French bread works best because the soft insides absorb the extra liquid and flavors. Things get messy if you use pita, tortillas or flatbread, but you can get away with using an English muffin or a bagel if you heat up the bread slightly to soften it before making the sandwich.
As for meat, don’t stop at lunchmeat. Try meatballs cut in half or leftover steak or roasted chicken cut up into small pieces.
Raw tomatoes, white onions, pickles and strong greens such as arugula or spinach add texture as much as flavor. (Potato chips are another way Hildenbrand likes to add texture to a sandwich. Just make sure they are hearty kettle chips or else they will dissolve into the cheese.)
Grilled vegetables take a little more effort because you have to cook the veggies before making the sandwich, but this is where leftovers can come in handy. “With grilled vegetables, you want some bite to them, but it’s less about how you cook the vegetable than it is about finding the balance,” Hildenbrand says.
“You don’t want two inches of grilled squash between two slices of bread. It’s just like making a regular meal, you don’t want to overload on one particular part of the plate.”
Photo of Austin Daily Press team from Food Network.
Permalink | Comments (3) | Categories: 15 Minutes or Less, Cooking
August 2, 2010
Grape chardonnay sorbet is greater than the sum of its bitter, week-old parts
The wonderful thing about ice creams and sorbets is that the whole is often greater than its parts.
I’ve been meaning to try this Vietnamese coffee ice cream (day-old coffee, sweetened condensed milk and milk, how simple is that?) for a month now, but last week, I found myself with a bag of mediocre grapes and week-old chardonnay.
The bitter-skinned grapes just weren’t that enjoyable to eat, and if I’m only going to have one glass of wine, it’s not going to be a flat white that was only so-so with a freshly pulled cork.
Unsure of exactly how the wine would affect the consistency of the final product, I blindly whipped up this grape chardonnay sorbet and, to my surprise, it turned out great.
Bright flavors and a beautiful texture means I’ll be experimenting with using old wine in sorbets in the not-so-distant future. (Hello, 100-degree weather! I can’t believe it took until August for you to finally show up.)
Grape Chardonnay Sorbet
3 cups green grapes
3/4 cup Chardonnay or other white wine
1/4 cup sugar
2 Tbsp. lemon juice
In a food processor, puree grapes until skins are mostly broken down and the mixture is mostly liquid. Strain out the solids through a sieve or a colander and pour the liquid in a bowl. (I ended up with about a cup and a half of juice.) Whisk in Chardonnay, sugar and lemon juice and freeze in your ice cream maker, according to the manufacturer’s directions.
Oh, and if you missed it this weekend, my colleague Ricardo Gándara had a great profile about the guy at Amy’s Ice Creams who comes up with most of the company’s unique flavors. They have more than 1,000 recipes on file, which I bet is a collection that not even David Lebovitz could rival.
Permalink | | Categories: 15 Minutes or Less, Desserts
July 28, 2010
How to juice (or How I learned to love my grandmother)
Making juice isn’t nearly as complicated as making nice.
For most of my life, my dad’s mother has been this weird figure in my life. I lived near her when I was a small child, but during the 20 formative years during which I really became the person I am today, we had little or no contact.
She was this aunt/grandmother hybrid who always lived far away and to whom my father had his own rocky relationship. But in the past few years, by some magical turn of events, they have reconciled, and although I was always delighted that they were reconnecting, but I was ambivalent about making the effort to do the same.
After all, she was still living a few states away, and I was tending to my own life in Austin.
Enter, The Juicer.
In today’s column, I wrote about how her giving me an old Champion juicer when she recently moved to Austin was like a peace offering after all these troubled years. (I told you the cover she made for it makes it look like a Scottish terrier.)
It’s much more complex than that, of course, but there’s a lot to be said about food (and food gadgetry) being a language of love.
I’m having fun making all kinds of juice with this new-to-me beast of a juicer, which I’m sure would grind meat if I put it to task, but I’m enjoying even more this newfound grandmother-granddaughter connection. It takes two to reboot a stalled relationship, and for the first time in our lives, we are two adults who are playing on the same team.
Have food or kitchen appliances played a role in a reconciliation in your life? If not, are you a juicing guru with tips to share?
Permalink | Comments (4) | Categories: 15 Minutes or Less, Drinks
June 25, 2010
15 Minutes or Less: Making a zoo of cupcakes
Like most 3-year-olds, my son has developed a bit of a sweet tooth.
We tried to avoid giving him sugar-loaded foods, but as sweets lovers ourselves, it’s hard to tell him he can’t have a cookie when you’re nibbling on one in the first place.
But moderation in everything, right?
This week, we made cupcakes together (and by together, I mean I made them while he sat in at the kitchen counter trying to get the wrapper off the sprinkles) and instead of leaving the whole batch at the house, which would mean a daily battle over how many he should get to eat, I dolled out one to each of us and then I brought the rest to share with my co-workers.
Pretty cute, huh?
I wish I could take total credit for baking these bad boys from scratch, including the icing, but I had the help of a few new products from Duff Goldman, the guy behind the Food Network’s “Ace of Cakes.” (I don’t usually write about national products like this, especially $9 cake mixes or $24 fondant, but the cupcakes turned out pretty moist and delicious and I wouldn’t have been able to put them together in less than 15 minutes without the assistance of pre-made fondant.)
But who am I kidding, it’s the cheap animal-shaped cookie cutters from IKEA that made this project blogworthy.
Fondant’s consistency makes it perfectly suited to be cut with cookie cutters, and if you have gelatin, glycerin and a willingness to experiment, you can try your hand at making it at home. (I came across a few recipes that relied on marshmallows instead of gelatin and glycerin. Have any of you tried it either way?)
Duff’s fondant tasted pretty good, definitely better than most fondant found on wedding cakes but not as good as a rich buttercream frosting. I only used about a quarter pound of the two pound container, which means I’ve got plenty left for more zoo cupcakes.
Just don’t tell Julian.
Permalink | | Categories: 15 Minutes or Less, Cooking, Desserts
March 31, 2010
Five tips on making a better cheese plate
There are few things as complex as cheese. It’s not that complicated to make, but the results are so varied that even people like Juliet Harbutt who spend their entire lives learning about cheese always have more to learn.
Harbutt was in Austin last week for a cheese tasting at Central Market, where her new collection of British cheeses is available. Fashion designers are better known for their collections than cheese experts like Harbutt, but it’s the same idea except that she didn’t make most of the cheeses. Of the thousands of British cheeses she’s tried, she picked 16 that would be available for sale in Central Market stores. Many of the cheeses haven’t been available in U.S. stores until now.
Her new book, “The World Cheese Book,” is a nicely illustrated guide to more than 750 cheeses, any of which would make a find addition to a cheese plate at your next party.
At a tasting last week, Harbutt led us through a tasting of her cheese collection and gave tips on how to recreate a similar experience at home.
1. Serve both red and white wine. Or beer. The adage that red wine goes with hard cheese and white with soft cheeses isn’t a good way to tell which goes with what. It’s not about being snobby, but rather serving wine that won’t get in the way of the cheese flavors. Some wines, particularly strong reds, will totally wipe out the flavor of the cheese, which defeats the purpose of serving the cheese. Beer, on the other hand, is an underappreciated accompaniment to wine, so feel free to skip wine altogether.
2. Serve cheese at room temperature. We’ve all heard this before, but many of us still take cheese out at the last minute before cutting up and arranging the plate. Remove from the fridge and unwrap cheese an hour before serving.
3. Buy cheese the day of or day before serving, and store in wax paper. Wax or parchment paper is a staple in most pantries, so when you get home from the store or cheese shop, remove cheese from plastic wrap and rewrap the cheese in wax paper. Tape the label that was stuck on the plastic to the new wrap so you can remember which cheese is which. “Every day, cheese has a new vintage,” Harbutt says, so it probably won’t taste the same as it tasted in the store, especially if you bought it a week earlier.
4. Don’t stress out about cheese selection. You could spend all day at the cheese counter, trying every cheese to find cheeses that precisely complement each other, or you can serve cheeses that you like. Pick out a handful of cheeses you want second of or, better yet, get guests involved by asking them to bring a cheese along a certain theme (country of origin, milk type, category or curious name, for instance).
5. Spiff up the cheeseboard with fruit, jam, nuts, bread, crackers or herbs, but remember that less is more. With both cheese and whatever you choose to serve with it, don’t overwhelm the plate with too many choices. Three cheeses and two accompaniments is plenty. Plan for a few ounces of cheese per person, which means you don’t need a $20 chunk of each cheese to satiate the crowd. Any reliable cheese store will cut a piece of cheese as small as you’d like, so don’t be afraid to ask for a fraction of a pound.
http://www.chow.com/blog/2010/03/where-the-cheese-nerds-play
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January 7, 2010
Backyard citrus, greens make for summer salad in January
Citrus salads are for summer, right?
Not if you’re a locavore in Central Texas. As I wrote yesterday, this serious cold snap that is sweeping across the nation will drop temperatures in the Austin area to below freezing for longer than most lettuce, spinach, bok choy, radishes and Swiss chard can handle.
Rather than risk losing the precious little lettuce and spinach I’ve been able to grow in my backyard garden over the past few months, I harvested almost all of it yesterday for a giant salad last night. A colleague at work brought in half a dozen grocery bags full of yellow grapefruits, which sent me on a hunt for a grapefruit vinaigrette. I was delighted to find this salad that uses both the flesh of the grapefruit and its fragrant juice.
You can find the detailed recipes on the Daily Green site, but the gist of the dressing is equal parts Dijon mustard and balsamic vinegar mixed with grapefruit juice, a few capers, sugar and salt and whisked together with olive oil.
Permalink | Comments (2) | Categories: 15 Minutes or Less, Cooking, Food in your backyard
December 11, 2009
15 Minutes or Less: Bacon-wrapped green beans
File this one under “random”:
Just when I thought the bacon-and-green beans combo couldn’t get any better, a friend of ours made this recipe for bacon-wrapped green beans that is one of those instant classics for entertaining. It’s easy, adaptable (I’ll be making them with fresh green beans soon) and sure to please even the vegetable haters among your guests.
Bacon-Wrapped Green Beans
1 package of bacon
3 cans whole green beans
1 stick of butter
2 Tbsp. soy sauce
2 Tbsp. brown sugar
1 1/2 tsp. garlic powder
Slice bacon pieces in half. Gather five or so beans and wrap bacon around them. Secure with a toothpick. Place clusters in a 13-inch by 9-inch glass dish. Melt butter in a saucepan with the rest of the ingredients. Pour sauce over clusters and bake at 400 degrees for 35 minutes or until bacon is cooked.
—The Maness family
Permalink | Comments (1) | Categories: 15 Minutes or Less, Cooking
November 23, 2009
Pumpkin puree, from scratch
Canned pumpkin shortage or not, it’s good to know how to puree a pumpkin.
Gourds of all kinds can be roasted, pureed and then added to stews, risotto, muffins, mashed potatoes and, a favorite this time of year, pie.
Libby’s has warned of a canned pumpkin shortage, but even if there is plenty of canned pumpkin to go around this week, consider making your own for a fresher Thanksgiving pie.
Pumpkin Puree
You’ll need: 1 small pumpkin (jack-o-latern-sized pumpkins are often tough and less flavorful than the “pie pumpkins” available at most grocery stores this time of year), a blender or food processor
To make your own pureed pumpkin (or butternut or acorn squash), just slice off the top half inch of the pumpkin, which includes the stem, and cut the flesh into quarters. Scoop out the seeds and stringy insides, which can be easily cleaned, seasoned and roasted.
Without adding oil, salt or pepper, place the quarters on a roasting pan and roast at 350 degrees for 40-60 minutes.
Once fork tender, remove from the oven. Let cool, and peel off skin and then puree in a blender or food process until smooth. (Add water a teaspoon at a time if it seems dry.)
Permalink | Comments (1) | Categories: 15 Minutes or Less, Cooking
October 12, 2009
Kitchen Confession: I like ramen noodles
I eat — and quite like — ramen noodles.
Ramen noodles straight from the bag are pretty blah, but with just a few tweaks, the fried-then-dried noodles can be the base of a downright delicious meal.
Broccoli and sesame oil are my go-to add-ons, but after an impromptu survey on the Interwebs this weekend, it seems you all have some mighty sophisticated ways of preparing one of the cheapest foods in the grocery store (see below).
This week, I’ll need your inspiration. For a story next week, Ian and I are embarking on a seven-day ramen noodle challenge. Can we eat ramen once a day for the next week and not get sick of it?
Unlikely, but we’re sure going to try.
We started yesterday with my standard broccoli-sesame oil ramen, and tonight, we’re making a stir fry.
Many of you said you add vegetables (spinach, asparagus, peas, peppers, green onions, mushrooms, greens, carrots, celery) and an egg or meat (chicken, shrimp or beef, depending on the flavor of the noodles you start with). Soy sauce, sesame oil, sweet chili sauce, lime and even a handful of cilantro also help kick up your ramen.
Christy Cramer has this suggestion for adding an egg to create something similar to egg-drop soup: Add beaten egg while water is boiling, stir with chopsticks so it cooks in “ribbons.”
Ricardo Guerrero ditches the MSG- and sodium-filled seasoning packet and uses spices like garlic powder and paprika instead.
Jenn, aka @treelight, is among the ramen lovers who adds cheese to the dish. (I might have to actually try this to understand its appeal.) Kim chee, the pickled condiment/relish from Korea, with a fried egg are Jenny Wang’s favorite add-ins.
Ramen fanatics have created one of the most interesting online food communities, which find crazy things like these ramen lapel pins or ramen T-shirts.
Ramen blogs abound, which surely will guide us on this week’s ramen binge, but I’m still looking for your suggestions. Has anyone dared try to make a ramen dessert, like this coconut ramen pudding? Do any restaurants in Austin serve authentic ramen? Which grocery store has the best ramen selection? (I was disappointed that my regular H-E-B only had two brands of ramen blocks.) What are your favorite ways to prepare it?
Ramen lapel photo from ramenramenramen.net. Other photos by Addie Broyles.
Permalink | Comments (12) | Categories: 15 Minutes or Less, Cooking, Kitchen Confession
October 8, 2009
15 minutes or less: Pear sorbet with cardamom, ginger
How do you take a bunch of ugly pears and turn them into something divine?
Just blend them with a little sugar to make pear sorbet. That second-hand ice cream maker I bought a while back is earning its keep in my kitchen with yet another delicious dessert.
I bought a few pounds of nearly overripe pears specifically to make sorbet. After digging around on the Internet, I combined several recipes to make my own treat:
Cardamom Ginger Pear Sorbet
5 cardamom pods
1/4 tsp. ground ginger or a few slices of fresh ginger
2 cups water
1/2 cup sugar
5 overripe pears, peeled and chopped
In a pan, combine water, sugar, cardamom pods and ginger and simmer for five to 10 minutes to make a cardamom ginger syrup. Let cool. Put syrup and pears in blender and puree. Strain mixture through a sieve and pour into ice cream machine. Freeze sorbet according to manufacturer’s directions. Once mixture turns into a thick slush, pour into a container and freeze overnight.
Note: Adding splash of brandy or other liquor to the syrup will create a softer, more desirable consistency after freezing overnight.
Permalink | Comments (2) | Categories: 15 Minutes or Less
September 29, 2009
What to do with pork belly leftovers? Tacos!
Leftovers are just part of the deal with cooking pork belly. From a single 10-pound slab of pork belly I bought last week for a story that comes out tomorrow, I made three batches of belly, which gave us enough leftovers to feed our family and the neighbors for at least a week.
Most butchers will cut a pork belly to size, but you have to call ahead. (The pork belly I bought at Longhorn Meat Market was frozen solid and had the skin on, so definitely call ahead so you know what you’ll be getting.)
However, two of the best meals we’ve had during this five-day pork belly binge were made with leftover meat. A Fabi and Rosi-inspired spinach salad with apples, walnuts, blue cheese and crispy slices of pork belly was divine, but last night’s pork belly tacos with coleslaw were even better.
Cooked pork belly pulls apart nicely after it’s been in the fridge for a day. It was much easier than shredding chicken and twice as flavorful. When served with rice (topped with fried sage leaves, above), vegetables and this smoky ancho coleslaw, it was the best pork belly meal I’ve made so far.
Ancho Coleslaw
3/4 cup mayonnaise
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. sugar
1 tsp. ancho chile powder (to taste)
1 tsp. smoked Spanish paprika
squeeze of lemon juice
3 Tbsp. apple cider vinegar
1/2 medium cabbage, chopped
1/2 small red onion, thinly sliced
Put cabbage and red onion in a bowl. Combine other ingredients in a small bowl and whisk until combined. Pour over cabbage and toss. Let rest in fridge for about 30 minutes before serving.
Permalink | Comments (3) | Categories: 15 Minutes or Less, Cooking
September 10, 2009
Adding some chewy umph to your yogurt
Fiber has been all the health rage for quite some time, but yogurt-makers — and Jaime Lee Curtis, it seems — are finally figuring out what some of us have known for years: yogurt is a great vehicle for beefing up your fiber intake.
Activia with added fiber is a relatively new product from Dannon, and I’ve been buying lots of it lately because the newspaper has $1 off coupons nearly every week and my regular grocery store usually has it on sale for $2 for a four-pack (which means I’m paying 25 cents per cup, which is a great deal even if you weren’t looking for the extra fiber).
But for years, I’ve been adding wheat germ or wheat bran to yogurt to make it a little heartier.
Wheat bran, the outer shell of a wheat kernel, has an impressive 12 grams of fiber per ounce, which is about third of your recommended daily fiber intake. Wheat germ, the grain’s central core, has less fiber but more protein.
Wheat bran and wheat germ are both products removed from wheat when it’s made into flour, but they shouldn’t be used interchangeably in baking.
However, when it comes to yogurt, oatmeal or smoothies, you can add either for a boost of fiber and nutrients.
(And if you’re lucky, Jamie Lee will invite you to talk vaguely about your bowel movements on a national television ad!)
Permalink | Comments (1) | Categories: 15 Minutes or Less
June 24, 2009
Forget octomom. How about an octodog?
Boiled hot dogs are at the lowest end of the hot dog-eating train (which isn’t very long, all mechanically separated meat parts considered).
That is, unless we’re talking octodogs.
Oh, what four cuts of a knife can do!
This was a staple of many childhoods, and now that I have my own kid, I’ve revived the art of making hot dog animals (mainly marine animals, but I’m hoping to branch out soon).
You can buy devices to help you cut hot dogs into octodogs, but you can carve many an animal with just a knife. I made the snake and a seal/whale with just a few cuts as I waited for the water to boil.
Quick, totally edible (especially if there are ketchup and a bun involved) and way more fun than a regular dog.
Astute readers will have already seen the categories area of Relish Austin, where you can find What’s in Your Fridge Fridays (sorry for missing last week! I’ll make it up to you), Food in Your Backyard and Bloggerly Love, where I’m posting recipes and other interesting tidbits from local bloggers.
Now you’ll see 15 Minutes or Less, where I’ll throw posts that are about food or drinks that take little time to make.
I almost called it “Cook for a kid in 15 minutes or less,” but who am I kidding: When I’m making a quick bite for him, I’m just as likely to eat, so I try to make things as interesting as possible for an often frazzled and rushed working mom. Cheese quesadillas, anyone?
Permalink | Comments (1) | Categories: 15 Minutes or Less, Playing with your food
