Confident Kitchen

So easy and so much better than store-bought.  Personally, I hate store-bought marshmallows and found that once again, making my own tastes so much more appealing than settling for factory-made.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup powdered sugar
• 2 packets unflavored gelatin
• 1/2 cup cold water, divided
• 1 cup regular sugar
• 1/4 cup light corn syrup
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1 egg white
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• vegetable oil

Directions:  In mixing bowl, combine 1/4 cup water and 2 packets gelatin.  Set aside.

Oil a 9×11 baking dish.  Sprinkle half of the powdered sugar over oil using a fine-mesh strainer.  Set aside.

In saucepan bring sugar, 1/4 cup water, corn syrup, and salt to a simmer.  Heat until candy thermometer reaches 240?, then pour over water/gelatin mixture.  Beat on high for 10 minutes or until mixture is white and fluffy.

Meanwhile, beat 1 egg white until it is white and forms stiff peaks.  I used my immersion blender with whisk attachment for this stage, but you can also use the electric stand mixer after first mixture is done.

Add egg whites and vanilla to gelatin mixture, beat to combine.  Pour into prepared baking dish.  Sprinkle the rest of the powdered sugar over mixture, then place dish in the fridge for 3 hours, minimum.

When marshmallows have set, slide a thin knife around the edges, then using your hands, pull out of the pan.  Cut into squares.  Store in air-tight container.

Recipe adapted from Smitten Kitchen

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On Sunday, I bought 6 flats of organic strawberries from Tiny’s Organics, who has a stall at the Broadway Farmer’s Market on Sunday afternoons. When you buy in bulk, most vendors will give you a discount. In this case, they gave me 10% off and they threw in a 7th flat of strawberries for free, bringing the total to an amazing 42 pints of strawberries.

It took 90 minutes to hull all of the strawberries and pack them into bags. Tuesday, I brought them to a friends’ house and taught them how to make jam. It’s easy to do in small batches (so you don’t have to buy 42 pints like I did).

The quick and easy method: hull strawberries. Place 8 cups berries into a large pot and bring to a simmer on the stove for 10 minutes. Add 6 cups sugar and 1/3 cup lemon juice. Stirring often, simmer for 15-20 minutes. While berries are simmering, place 8-10 jars in the top rack of your dishwasher and run through the rinse cycle to sanitize (or boil in hot water for 2 minutes). In a small pot with water, boil lids with rubber seals for 2 minutes. Turn burner off and let strawberries sit for 2 minutes. Ladle into jars, leaving 1/4″ room at the top. Wipe down the rims with a paper towel and center lid on top of jar. Screw outer band over lid and place each sealed jar into a big pot of water. Bring to a boil and cover for 10 minutes. Remove jars from pot and as they cool, listen for each “pop” as the seal takes. Now you have jam. Store in a dark cupboard or pantry.

Last note: you can easily make different variations by adding in fresh chopped herbs right before ladling into the jar. We added fresh mint and fresh tarragon to two different batches. You can also add lime zest for a really intense flavor.

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Linguine seasoned with a teaspoon butter, dash of salt and fresh ground pepper.  Topped with 1/6 cup grated Parmesan cheese, 1/4 cup sugar snap peas, 2 Tablespoon sauted garlic spears, 1 slice crumbled bacon, 1/4 cup chopped red bell pepper, and 1/4 cup sliced cherries.

Very interesting flavor combinations.  Sweet and savory, the cherries (first of the season here in the Seattle area) were tart, while the sugar snap peas and red bell pepper were sweet.  Cooked pasta and bacon complimented the fresh vegetables and fruit.  All in all, we’re going to experiment more with cherries in the future.  This was very good.

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This soup is not vegetarian, but can be made that way by skipping the bacon.

Ingredients:

• 3 pieces bacon
• 1 yellow onion, chopped
• 2-3 garlic spears (or use cloves of garlic)
• 1.5lbs asparagus
• 2 cups broth (chicken or veggie)
• dab of yogurt or sour cream
• olive oil, salt, pepper

Snap off ends of asparagus.  Toss with olive oil, salt, and pepper in a baking dish, bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes.  Set aside.  In a large pot, cook bacon.  Remove bacon, chop into pieces, and place back in pan along with onion and garlic spears.  Saute until the onion is soft, then add asparagus back in.  Pour in chicken broth.  Transfer to a blender or food processor, or use an immersion blender:  blend until you reach desired consistency.  I prefer mine to have a light texture, so I only blend for a few pulses in a food processor.  Ladel into bowls, add dab of yogurt or sour cream, serve with bread.

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Ingredients:

• 2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 cup butter, softened
• 1 1/2 cups white sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup dried lavender

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). In a small bowl, stir together flour, baking soda, and baking powder. Set aside.
2. In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until smooth. Beat in egg and vanilla. Gradually blend in the dry ingredients. Add lavender and stir until just mixed.  Wrap in plastic and freeze for 20 minutes.
   
3. Roll dough out on floured surface.  Cut into desired shapes (I just used a small dish to cut cookies into thick rounds).  Place onto ungreased cookie sheets.
4. Bake 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven, or until golden. Let stand on cookie sheet two minutes before removing to cool on wire racks.

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This isn’t a recipe, per se, just a simple way to enjoy early summer.

Halve cherry or sugar plum tomatoes, sprinkle with fresh basil strips. That’s all. Easy, delicious.

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Ingredients:

• Leftover rice
• bell pepper, chopped
• frozen corn
• garlic tips (otherwise known as garlic spears)
• 1 egg
• butter
• oil
• oyster sauce
• soy sauce

Melt a dab of butter in a hot pan.  Crack the egg into the pan and break the yolk.  Slightly scramble, then cook in a thin layer.  Remove from pan.  Add drop of oil (up to a Tablespoon) into the pan, add rice, bell pepper, garlic tips, and corn.  Fry until the rice starts to brown, then add in egg (chopped), dab of oyster sauce, and drop of soy sauce (you don’t need much of the sauces to enhance the flavor).  Stir until all ingredients are hot.  Serve.

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Ingredients:

• Goose breast
• huckleberry syrup
• quinoa
• red bell pepper
• asparagus
• salt and pepper to taste

Using a sharp knife, score the goose breast 1/4″ deep on both sides. Marinate in huckleberry syrup for an hour. Heat oven to 350, and place sliced bell pepper skin-side up on foiled baking sheet just below the heating element. Roast for 5 minutes or until skin is starting to blacken. Remove to a paper bag and let steam 5 more minutes. Remove skins, chop bell pepper.

Bake goose with syrup at 350 for 20 minutes or so. Pull meat out just before it’s done, let rest on a cutting board to finish cooking through residual heat.

Meanwhile, cook quinoa according to instructions, parboil asparagus in the cooking water for 3 minutes. Remove asparagus, cut into bite-size pieces. Fluff cooked quinoa with fork.

Combine bell pepper, asparagus, salt, pepper, and quinoa. Serve in bowl. Slice goose breast and layer on top of quinoa mix.

Note: I added a little bit of olive oil to the cooked quinoa and we were not very satisfied with the result. Will skip this step in the future.

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Ingredients: handful of linguine, clove of garlic (minced), salt and pepper to taste, 1 tablespoon butter, and a handful of chopped red bell pepper.

Instructions: cook linguine. Drain and heat garlic & butter in hot pan. Return pasta to pot, salt and pepper to taste. Serve in bowl and top with red bell pepper.

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