Mango Chutney

Let this be a lesson to all of you. Don't rely on me to take pictures of delicious food. I am not to be trusted.

Ingredients
6-8 medium sized very ripe yellow mangos
1 cup chopped dried apricots (or prunes to add more variation)
1/2 cup walnuts
1/4 cup cilantro
1 Tbsp. lime juice
1 tsp. Balsamic vinegar
1/2 tsp. smoked paprika
2 Tbsp. Chile powder
1/2 tsp white sugar
sea salt and pepper to taste

Peel and chop the mangos. They don't have to be uniform, just get it done any way you can, they are slippery jerks. Roughly chop the dried apricots, or prunes, or whatever dried fruit; then add it to your bowl of mangos. Very finely chop the walnuts and cilantro. You want the walnuts to be small enough that they will just stick to the pieces of fruit in the dish, no one wants to try to stab a walnut with a fork. Add the walnuts, cilantro, and remaining ingredients. Gently stir the chutney to get everything coated, then refrigerate for 30 minutes. This goes great with jerk chicken, I think that his name is Steve.

Old-School Standing Arcade

This year for Christmas, I wanted to build something really cool for my son. He's really into Tron right now, so I figured that I would build a Tron themed standing arcade.

The Parts

Electronics

1 - Raspberry Pi (plus cables, SD card, Thumb Drive)

1 - 42" TV (you can adjust schematics for smaller sizes)

2 - small digital arcade joysticks

10 - arcade buttons

header pins, jumper wires, & quick connect wires

Everything else

1 - 4' x 8' x (3/4") sheet of plywood

1 - 8' x 3/4" quarter round moulding

20' - chrome T-moulding

3 - cans black spray paint (flat)

1 - can white spray paint (glossy)

1 - 2'x4' - 1/8" mdf

2 - 3' x 1/4" square wood dowel

2 - 3' x 3/4" square wood dowel

painters tape, wood glue, putty, sand paper

For those who don't know, a Raspberry Pi is a $35 credit card sized computer that runs a version of linux. It supports HDMI and RCA video. Audio can be supplied either with HDMI or a 3.5mm jack  I chose to use this simply because I had one sitting around that I had been using as a web server but no longer needed. If you aren't familiar with linux, it's ok. You don't really need to know anything to get this up and running. If you want to be able to run two 8 way joysticks plus ten buttons, you may want to find a friend that knows how to solder. For a non-solder version, just use two buttons per player, rather than four (plus two more for universal 'start' and 'select' buttons)  Lets get to building this thing!

(Insert delicious adjective) Pot Stickers

I don't usually make posts about any meal that I haven't made more than once; these turned out so perfect on the first go, that I just had to write about them. I really thought that these were going to be a pain-in-the-ole-behind to make, but they were actually very easy. Yields about 15.

Ingredients
3 C. All-Purpose Flour (sifted)
1 C. Warm Water
1 Lb. Ground Pork
1/2 C. Panko Breadcrumbs
2 diced Green Onions
1 T Minced Garlic
2 T Oyster Sauce (or fish sauce)
1 T Soy Sauce
*sesame oil + brewed black tea (both are for cooking)

With a dough hook, or by hand, mix SIFTED flour and warm water. Add a tablespoon or two of water if dough is crumbly. Mix, or hand knead, for 5 min. Let the dough rest, covered, for 15 min.

While the dough is resting, mix all remaining ingredients (except for oil and tea) in a bowl. Set aside.

After dough has rested, knead for 5 more minutes, then allow it to rest for another 5. This will make it very pliable and easy to work with.

Pull off a piece of dough the size of a ping-pong ball. Sprinkle flour on the work surface and roll dough into roughly a 4-5" diameter disc. These tend to be pretty forgiving when it comes to thickness, but generally I shoot for a thickness a bit thinner than a tortilla (about 1mm). Place a heaping tablespoon of the pork mixture onto the dough and then fold it in half and pinch the seam closed. The dough should seal itself pretty easily.

Cooking:
Use a non-stick skillet! Heat over medium-high heat. Add 2 Tbs oil to the bottom of the pan and add the pot stickers. Make sure each pot sticker has the bottom oiled. Pour in the black tea (or regular water) until it comes half way up the pot stickers. Cover the pot, with the lid slightly askew, to allow the liquid to cook off. When the liquid has cooked off, add a little more oil and flip all of the dumplings to brown other side. Once browned, remove from heat.

Ketching Up

Here is a quick and easy recipe for home made ketchup.

Ingredients
2 (6 oz) cans tomato paste
1/2 cup white vinegar
1 1/4 cups water
4 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon garlic powder
1 tablespoon onion powder
1/4 teaspoon allspice
1 teaspoon salt

Mix everything together in a large pot over medium high heat. Allow to simmer while occasionally stirring until it reaches ketchup consistency (10-15 minutes). Done!

JumpUp Jambalaya

This Jambalaya makes you wanna jump up and dance, it's that good! It is creamy, spicy, meaty, and tomato-ee. It can be served all on its own or with a side of french bread or salad. (For a healthier version, replace the heavy cream with 1+3/4 C. Milk + 1/4 Half and Half, replace the Andouille sausage for Jennie-O turkey sausage)

Ingredients
1 Tbs. Olive Oil
2 Chicken Breasts - cubed
2 Andouille Sausage links - sliced
1 lbs Jumbo Prawns
2 Cups Trinity (equal parts diced white onion, celery, green bell pepper)
2 Tbs. Crushed Garlic
1 (6 oz) Can Tomato Paste
2 Roasted - Sweet Red Italian Peppers
2 C. (1 pint) Heavy Cream
1 Lb. Orzo Pasta

Cajun Spice
6 large Dried Bay Leaves
1 Tbs. Smoked Paprika
2 tsp. Fennel seeds
1 tsp. Tarragon
1 tsp. Black Pepper
1 tsp. Red Pepper Flakes
1 tsp. Salt (or to taste)
1 tsp. Cayenne Pepper


Before you begin cooking, prepare the Cajun spice. I like to throw it into a little coffee grinder to crush up the bay leaves and fennel, but it's not a must.

Begin by heating a large saute pan over medium-high heat and starting the Orzo according to cooking directions. When the saute pan comes to heat, add olive oil to coat the pan, then add chicken chunks. Brown on both sides, then add the sliced sausage links. Stir occasionally until browned. Add pawns, cook until pink. Add the trinity and crushed garlic. After about 1 minute of cooking, add the cajun spice. Allow to cook until trinity becomes soft.

While that is cooking, in a blender or food processor, mix tomato paste and roasted red peppers until smooth. Stir in heavy cream. Reduce heat on saute pan to medium-low. Add tomato-cream mixture to saute pan.

When the Orzo is finished cooking, add it to the saute pan and serve!

Unorthodox Handmade Tortillas

Get authentic tasting tortillas, the unorthodox way! This recipe substitutes coconut oil for the traditional lard. It does leave the tortillas tasting a little bit coconutty, but I actually appreciate the extra flavor when using them for quesadillas or fish tacos. Yields approx. 8 medium tortillas.

Ingredients
2 Cups All-Purpose Flour
1 Teaspoons Baking Powder
1 Tablespoons Salt
1/4 Cup cold coconut oil*
1 Cup Cold Water

In a medium sized bowl, mix first 3 ingredients. Add the coconut oil. Use a pastry cutter, or the whisk attachment on your mixer, until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Add cold water and mix until combined. Once all ingredients are combined, turn out onto floured surface and knead for 5 minutes. Set aside for 30 min for easier shaping.

Shaping:
Divide dough into golf ball sized rounds. If you have a tortilla press, use it! If not, press dough into small disc and place on well floured surface. Starting in the center of the dough and working your way out, use a floured rolling pin to flatten your tortilla. Give your dough about an 1/8 of a rotation and repeat. If you keep both sides of your tortilla well floured, you should be able to flatten it to nearly the thickness of a few sheets of construction paper. A little thicker won't hurt, but try to get them as thin as you can. As you work, remember to keep your unused dough and your uncooked tortillas covered; otherwise you will end up with crackers, not tortillas.

Cooking:
using a Wok:
Here is the unorthodox part of our unorthodox handmade tortillas. I cook the tortillas on the underside of a Chinese Wok. I turn the wok upside down and place it over my gas burner, thus making a little cooking dome. I turn the burner on full heat and let the wok get as hot as it can. Then you just drop a tortilla on top of the dome and wait for about 1 minute; then flip it over for another minute.

using a cast iron skillet:
Heat skillet on med/med-high heat. Once heated, toss the tortilla in and cook until it is nice and bubbly. Then flip it over for another minute.

using an electric griddle:
I set my cheap-o griddle to 400 F (the highest setting). I have a hard time believing that it ever reached that temperature though. Just toss your tortillas on the griddle and cook until bubbly, then flip and cook for an additional minute.

The trick to cooking tortillas is to cook them fast enough that they don't turn into crackers, but not so fast that they burn. It may take some experimentation. I also recommend using either a tortilla warmer or two large plates (one turned upside-down) to store the finished tortillas before serving. If you end up with crackers, instead of tortillas, you can often times save them by placing lightly dampened towel at the bottom of the stack of tortillas.

*You can substitute lard for an authentic tortilla.

Breakfast Cookies

I have been working on this recipe for a while. It's hard to get a cookie texture without using any flour or butter. But I finally did it. It's perfect with coffee or just as a little pick me up snack. Warning: These guys are little, but eating two equals eating a full breakfast. They are packed with fiber though (eating 2 gives you 50% of your daily fiber intake), so you won't find yourself feeling hungry anytime soon.

Ingredients
4 Cups Old-Fashioned Oats
2 Cups Flax Seed
1 Cup Almonds
1/4 Cup Coconut Oil
1 Cup Apple Sauce
1/2 Cup Dark Brown Sugar
1/4 Cup Craisins
1/4 Cup Dark Chocolate Chips
2 t. Cinnamon
2 t. AllSpice
2 t. Nutmeg
1 t. Salt
4 Eggs

Preheat oven to 250 F.
Mix oatmeal, flax, and almonds in a large casserole dish. Melt the coconut oil and mix in with oatmeal. Put apple sauce, brown sugar, cinnamon, allspice, and nutmeg in a saucepan and heat over medium heat. Stir constantly until the mixture is reduced by half. Remove from heat an stir in with oatmeal mixture. Place in oven for 1 hour.

Remove from oven and allow to cool. Sprinkle with salt. If you just left it here, you would have some pretty great granola. But that's not us. We don't just stop all willy-nillie. We must soldier on! Mix the eggs and pour them over the granola that you just made. Now add the craisins and chocolate chips. Mix it all up. Get your hands all up in there (just make sure everything is coated with eggs).

Preheat your oven to 350 F.
Spray a 1/4 cup measuring cup with cooking spray and pack in some of the mix fairly tightly. Drop the mix out onto a cookie sheet (it should hold it's form). Bake the cookies for 15 minutes.

yields 24 cookies.

Nutrition per 1/4 cup cookie:
calories 250 - sugar 8g - (good) fat 13.6g -(bad) fat 1.4g - fiber 7g


(you can eliminate all of the bad fat by not adding the chocolate chips, but I think that they are worth it)