Cooking from "Scratch"

Cooking from scratch is sometimes simple, sometimes complicated or requires a mixture of experience and knowing what flavors work best with the dish. The southern, down-home recipes on this blog are designed for the new cook as well as the very experienced. All it takes is a little time in understanding the ingredients and steps.

I offer you recipes that I prepare often or recipes that are family traditions. I will tell you in advance if it is one that requires a bit of thought as I sometimes do not measure exact ingredients. These you can experiment with easily and none of them are complicated. That's the best part of scratch cooking, you can claim the dish as your own.

Note to new cooks: from scratch means you start with basic ingredients where nothing is pre-mixed and you have to measure the quantities.

Of course, there are recipes from others that have proven just too good to not share. Like the Best Breadmachine White Bread. It would be wrong to keep that to myself. Then there are those that are simply links to articles I've written elsewhere but they take you directly to the recipe.

We discuss using fresh vegetables, making your own seasonings, growing your own herbs and how to use them. I hope you stay for a while and enjoy using the recipes and suggestions. Leave a comment or share something. I will post the recipe with full credit to you if you do.

For Authentic Flavors and Techniques on Creole Cooking

Non-Glutin Coconut Flour Buttermilk Cornbread

 NOTES:
 This recipe was adapted from http://www.theprudentwife.com/fabulous-food/breakfast-and-breads/541-gf-cornbread-with-coconut-flour.

Since oat milk is naturally sweet (at least sweet enough for my tastes) the stevia and other sweeteners were eliminated. If you like sweet cornbread it is best to use sugar or honey.

This a perfect cornbread for dressing without the sugar, though. Lovely texture.


Combine

• 1 1/2 cups organic yellow corn meal
• 1/3 cup coconut flour
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon sea salt (fine ground)
• 3 tablespoons powdered organic buttermilk

In another bowl or large measuring cup add:

• 1 cup coconut milk
• 3/4 cup oat milk
• 3 large eggs
• 1/4 cup olive oil

Preheat oven to 350.
Spray an iron skillet with pan coating. Add 2 tablespoons of coconut oil to the skillet and put it in the hot oven to melt and warm the pan. Remove from oven to add the mixture.

Pour liquid into dry ingredients and mix well.

Pour into the greased, warm black iron skillet.

Bake in skillet in 350 oven for 30 minutes, make sure it is done. Serve!

Delicious Poached Salmon

Usually I just sprinkle salman steaks with paprika and broil. No salt or other seasoning makes it a delicious, healthy meat alternative. But today I had nearly a full bottle of Pinot Grigio and needed to use it so I made my own poaching liquid. I also prefer to use homegrown herbs and onions but try to use only organic if I need to buy them.


An aside ... do not toss leftover wine even if it's been opened and sitting out for a while (defined as sitting out for more than one day). Use it for cookiing.

There are tons of poached Salmon recipes available but after using a couple of them, I felt they were not flavor-intensive enough for me. They used wine and fresh herbs but were still rather bland. And the instructions required actually cooking the fish by simmering. Do not follow that advice because it is not necessary.

Ingredients and instructions:

• 1 lb Skin-on Atlantic Salmon Filet
• 6 or 7 Fingerling Potatoes (whole)
• 3 Whole Carrots
• 1 bottle Pinot Grigio (750 ML)
• 3 sprigs fresh Dill (leave whole)
• 1 tsp Onion Powder
• 2 sprigs fresh Lemon Thyme (leave whole)
• 1 sprig fresh Oregano (leave whole)
• 3 green onion stalks (use stalks that have strong flavor)
• 1 small Orange, sliced with skin on
• 1 small Sweet Pepper (yellow or red ones make an attractive dish)
• Salt and pepper to taste

Wash Salmon and leave skin on. Check for scales and scrap those off, wash again. Set aside preferably in refrigerator.

Wash veggies and orange, rinse herbs. Slice carrots and orange into 3 to 4 parts. Cut green onion tops in 2 or 3 pieces. Remove seeds from sweet pepper. Place all except potatoes in a skillet (use one that has tight fitting lid). Add wine.

Sprinkle in salt, pepper and onion powder.

Bring all to a boil and simmer until the liquid has reduced by a third. Add potatoes, whole and unpeeled. Liquid should cover most of potato but not completely. Simmer until potatoes are done but still whole. The poaching liquid should be about 1 inch high and slightly thickened. Turn off fire and cover with tight fitting lid. If more liquid is needed. add boiling water or more wine.

Cut Salmon into 3 or 4 parts and add to skillet. Do not add additional heat. Allow to "cook" without simmering. Just place pieces in skillet, cover and let sit in the hot poaching liquid.

Serve with green beans, salad, corn on cobb.

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Organic Homemade Pan Coating

Make your own pan coating using organic ingredients. Save money, control quantity.

Here is a simple recipe that reduces our carbon footprint on the planet. Use it for coating cake pans for quick release...

All you need are equal parts of these organic ingredients:

• Flour (King Arthur unbleached whole grain, Red Mill, etc)
• A healthy oil (olive oil should be fine but I haven't tested it; I don't Canola either) (coconut tastes great)
• Organic Shortening (Spectrum Naturals Organic)

 You can use a blender or food processor but a hand mixer and bowl makes cleaning up easy and cuts down on waste.

Beat on low until mixture is smooth with no lumps.

Scrap into storage container with lid.

Coating lasts for years if kept refrigerated.

Watermelon Salad, Simple and Refreshing

This is a beautiful salad that is healthy, refreshing and impressive. You wouldn't think of using onions, no matter how sweet, with this traditional summer fruit but this salad is so good.

NOTES:
I prefer to eat and use seasonal fruits with a greater preference for organic or homegrown.
Watermelon must be sweet even though the raspberry vinegar will add sweetness.

Ingredients:

• 1 Sweet Watermelon (seeded or seedless)
• 1 Medium Vidalia or Maui Onion
• 1/2 Cup Fresh Basil
• Raspberry Vinegar
• Salt and Pepper to taste

Cut watermelon in half and cut out fruit into manageable chunks, not too small and not too large. Place in serving bowl or container that will hold all the ingredients.

Wash, peel and slice onion as thin as possible. Lay on top of watermelon chunks.

Wash, dry and slice basil into thin strips. Lay on top of watermelon chunks and onion slices.

Mix so that ingredients that they are evenly mixed.

Sprinkle the salad with salt and pepper to taste.

Sprinkle salad with raspberry vinegar.

Chill and allow to sit at least an hour before serving.

Nopales (Cactus) Tacos



Fresh Nopales, properly trimmed. Buy them in local Mexican markets or cut some fresh from a neighbor's yard.



Nopales are cactus, a truly wholesome and nutritious vegetable that lends itself to a lot of platforms. It is very low in Saturated Fat and Cholesterol. It is also a good source of Riboflavin, Vitamin B6, Iron and Copper, and a very good source of Dietary Fiber, Vitamin A, Vitamin C, Vitamin K, Calcium, Magnesium, Potassium and Manganese.Read More http://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/vegetables-and-vegetable-products/3030/2#ixzz27WRAdfZd . It's texture is like perfectly cooked string beans. For this recipe, we are making Peasant Tacos (Tacos Indio) that are suitable for all vegans, low carbs diets, carnivores and taco lovers.

Ingedients:

• Corn Tortillas

• Olive Oil or pan spray (or a grill if you prefer not to saute)

• 1 bag of fresh Nopales (or pick your own but they have to be tender and cleaned of all stickers, especially those almost invisible hairy ones)

• White onions

• Boiling Water

• Sliced Avocado

• Slice Tomato

• Queso Fresco, Panela or Queso Blanco (Mexican Cheeses)

Wash the Nopales leaves and make sure all stickers and spiny hairs are removed. As in picture below, slice leaves no larger than 1/2 inch wide and no longer than 3 inches. Rinse again and set aside. Slice onion in half and then make 1/8 inch half slices.

Heat a skillet, preferably an iron one, and add olive oil, just enough to coat the bottom. If you are using pan spray, do not heat the skillet first. Saute the oinions until they are brown and then add the Nopale slices. Saute both ingredients until Nopales are heated through. Add enough boiling water to almost cover. Cover with lid and let ingredients cook until all water is gone. Heat tortillas on grill or open flame on stove.



Slice Nopales evenly for proper cooking



Place tortillas on serving plate, add cooked Nopale/Onion mixture. Top with sliced avocados, tomatoes and crumbled cheese. You can also use any salsa you prefer but a nice green one will really accent the flavors. 



Tacos Indio (Poor Man's Taco) are great for Vegans along with just being outright delicious and healthy for everyone



 Or, try serving the Nopales as a salad using larger chunks of cheese, red onions and cilantro.

Use the dish as a salad instead of tacos