This may not come as a surprise to anyone, but did you know that you can make popcorn in a microwave? Yes, shocking, I know. But what I dislike about buying bags of prepared popcorn ready to go into the microwave is that they are mostly filled with unpronounceable substances that I would not put in my body given a choice. They are also a ridiculous amount of money for what you get. This afternoon, I went out and bought a bag of regular popcorn for almost nothing. I placed a handful of kernels into a brown paper bag, folded up the top and placed it in my microwave oven for about 2 1/2 minutes. 2 and 1/2 minutes later, I was enjoying a bowl of cheap as dirt popcorn seasoned with my favorite smoked salt. I’m not as surprised at how easy this is as much as I’m blown away by the idea that I hadn’t thought to try this long ago. I’m sure many of you reading this may already know how easy this is, but this was my mini epiphany. Now I can make popcorn flavored with just about anything I like and I don’t have to take out the pot and oil, or pay more than movie popcorn prices for a simple bag of microwaved popcorn. This is, by far, the simplest popcorn recipe I have ever come across and works incredibly well.
Chai is the name for a spiced Indian tea that is generally served milky and sweet. I particularly like chai in the winter, as it is hearty and warming, but I find it quite satisfying as iced chai tea in the summer as well.
As with most food, there is no rule with chai, it is all about personal preference. Find the flavors you like. Experiment with them. Add more, add less of others. In India, chai, like curry, is no one mix. Different regions use different flavors, and even one particular family may make their curry or chai in a completely different manner than the family next door. Basically, find the flavors you like and play with them until you find your preferred taste.
What I do is simple, I take a black tea that I like (it can be a malty Assam, or a lighter Ceylon, or any thing in between. Using a tea bag from the store will work well too since a lot of flavor comes from the spices that steep with the tea, so heck, go ahead and use that bag that came with your Chinese food last night.
My chai ingredients:
Black tea
Green cardamom (crack the pods open)
Black peppercorns
Cinnamon (whole or small pieces, powdered will work, but won’t filter out easily)
Cloves
Ginger
Vanilla Extract (just a few drops)
Milk
Sugar
Directions:
Steep the mix in hot water for about 3 minutes. Add milk and sugar to your taste, it’s really that simple.
I find the best way to make chai is with an infuser basket. Place your selected ingredients in the basket in your cup, and remove when done. You could always toss all the items in a pot and pour the tea through a strainer, whatever is easiest for you.
A “Tourtière” is a meat pie from Quebec, and is a classic part of the Christmas/Christmas Eve réveillon and New Year’s Eve meal (It’s also great when you are having a bunch of people over for dinner and you are sick of making “bangers in a cloud”, another great recipe that I will post soon). While meat pies are found in many cultures and parts of the world, the tourtiere gets its name from the the creature from which it was traditionally made, the “tourte,” or passenger pigeon. These days there is no one filling that makes a tourtiere what it is, it may be made from any type of meat, though the most common ones are made with pork, veal, beef, or a combination of meats (if you hunt dove, it might be an interesting way to prepare the bird, similar to the original recipe). In Quebec, serving this won’t turn heads, but in the US, tourtiere is not so common, and you may get some “what the… Meat pie?” type of comments. Ignore them, and remember… Knives are for threatening, too. This dish has a lot of flavor, and this is one of my favorite touriere recipes. When you try this, you will see why this is so popular up north.
Ingredients:
Pastry dough for a bottom and top crust (store-bought is fine)
1 tablespoon light olive or canola oil
1/2 pound ground pork
1/2 pound ground beef
3/4 cup chopped onion
1 clove garlic, crushed and finely chopped
1/3 cup shredded carrots
1/4 cup finely chopped celery
2/3 cup beef stock
2 tablespoons Cognac
1 teaspoon dried parsley
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon dried sage
1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
1/16 teaspoon ground cloves
1/16 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/16 teaspoon grated nutmeg
Directions:
1. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees F.
2. Roll out your pastry dough and cut into two equal circles, enough to fit a 9-inch pie pan, and line the bottom of the pan with one piece of the dough.
3. In a pan, heat the oil and saute onion, garlic, celery, and carrot briefly. Add the meat and cook until done.
4. Drain the excess oil and add the stock, herbs, spices, and cognac to the pan and simmer over a low to medium heat for about 15 minutes.
5. Allow to sit for about 5 minutes and then spoon the mixture into the pastry crust in the pie pan and cover with the remaining dough.
6. Seal the pie crust, cut a few vents in the top, and design however you please (if you please).
7. Reduce the heat to 350 and bake the tourtiere for 25 to 30 minutes, until the top turns a golden brown.
8. Let cool for a bit and serve while still warm.
This will easily serve 6 to 8 people and the proportions can be increased to be made in a larger pie mold (or pan).
I’ve found a way to make iced tea with no bitterness, and it doesn’t become cloudy. It’s called cold-brewed iced tea. Iced tea is something I have around all year, but there’s something about a cold glass on a hot day that makes me shiver with anticipation, and iced tea is still a nice winter beverage for those who like cold drinks. The tannins in the leaves can add astringency (which equals bitterness) to iced tea that I prefer to avoid. By cold brewing the iced tea rather than using warm water, you can still extract all the great flavors without a lot of tannins. Don’t even get me started on “sun tea.” The bacterial levels in that stuff are enough to make me sick just thinking about it; leaving a jar of tea in the sun for a few hours is just not a good idea. “Sun tea” is a potential bio-hazard and iced tea made this way should be avoided.
I’ve been cold brewing my iced tea for years, and this really works. This iced tea is great, and incredibly easy to make. I only wish I had known about this when I was younger.
Ingredients
1 cup loose black tea (or 10 teabags), or flavored tea of your choice
12 cups water
Directions
1. Place the tea leaves or bags in a large pitcher with a top (you can use only 1 cup of tea leaves, or fewer bags if you prefer a lighter tea).
2. Add the water and place in the refrigerator for at least 8 hours, I generally let them soak overnight.
3. Strain the tea or remove the bags and drink!
I like to put in a slice of lemon and a sprig of mint, but you can do anything you like. I sometimes add mango nectar, but any fruit juice works very well too. You are only limited by your imagination. Iced tea combines with almost any fruit flavor, so any juice works well.
For “Sweet Tea” I just add a little simple syrup, which dissolves easily in tea unlike sugar. Having a southern belle for a wife I always have a lot of tea and simple syrup around and my iced tea is her sweet tea.
Simple Syrup (also known as Bar Syrup or Rock Candy Syrup) is a mixture of sugar and water. Usually combined in the ratio of one part water to two parts sugar, it is very simple to make and useful to have around. It is the perfect sweetener for iced tea and other cold beverages as the sugar is already dissolved and will mix into a cold liquid without leaving undissolved sugar granules on the bottom of your glass. It is also used in mixed drinks, baking, and candy making. My favorite use is making sweet tea, though.
To make a simple syrup you first bring the water to a boil, add the sugar and gently stir. Once the sugar is fully dissolved, remove the pot from the heat and allow it to cool. Do not let the liquid boil for too long or it may become too thick, or caramelize, or a host of other problems that make for bad simple syrup. The resulting liquid is easily stored in the refrigerator in a plastic squeeze bottle or jar which should make it easy to add to beverages as necessary.
You may see recipes for simple syrup using a 1:1 ratio of sugar to water. While this will certainly work, it will spoil much more quickly, and since I like to have a lot around, particularly in the summer for iced tea, I find that the 2:1 sugar to water ratio is a better solution (pun intended). If you have problems with crystallization, add a small amount of honey or corn syrup when you are dissolving the sugar to help make the syrup more stable. The presence of different types of sugar (fructose, for example) in the mix will help prevent the sugar (sucrose) from crystallizing during storage.
By adding any kind of spice or flavoring during the heating you can make interesting syrups to have around for any occasion. Vanilla, cranberry, cardamom, lavender, there is no end to the flavors you can add. Pretty much anything you can imagine may be used to flavor simple syrup, so don’t fear to experiment.
Tip summary Tip #1 – 2:1 sugar/water is the best ratio for storage. Tip #2 – Don’t over boil. Tip #3 – Add a touch of honey or corn syrup if crystallization is a problem. Tip #4 – Add flavors for fun.
0 Comments 
This may not come as a surprise to anyone, but did you know that you can make popcorn in a microwave? Yes, shocking, I know. But what I dislike about buying bags of prepared popcorn ready to go into the microwave is that they are mostly filled with unpronounceable substances that I would not put in my body given a choice. They are also a ridiculous amount of money for what you get. This afternoon, I went out and bought a bag of regular popcorn for almost nothing. I placed a handful of kernels into a brown paper bag, folded up the top and placed it in my microwave oven for about 2 1/2 minutes. 2 and 1/2 minutes later, I was enjoying a bowl of cheap as dirt popcorn seasoned with my favorite smoked salt. I’m not as surprised at how easy this is as much as I’m blown away by the idea that I hadn’t thought to try this long ago. I’m sure many of you reading this may already know how easy this is, but this was my mini epiphany. Now I can make popcorn flavored with just about anything I like and I don’t have to take out the pot and oil, or pay more than movie popcorn prices for a simple bag of microwaved popcorn. This is, by far, the simplest popcorn recipe I have ever come across and works incredibly well.
