Refrigerator pickles

It's been a few months since I've made these, but Thia loves them. These are an easy dill pickle suitable for the modern age. Instead of canning them, you store them in the refrigerator, which means you're not making them in large batches. I have successfully made these with large cucumbers sliced into wedges and with whole cocktail cucumbers, and it works equally well either way.

You can use a pickling spice mix instead of the listed herbs and spices, but you'll end up with something just like what you would buy in the store. I recommend the listed herbs and spices as the best option.

Recipe source: Once Upon a Chef.

Ingredients:

1 1/4 cups distilled white vinegar 

3 tbsp kosher salt 

2 tbsp white sugar 

2 cups cold water

1 3/4 to 2 lbs cucumbers prepped (stems cut off, cut into wedges if wanted)

2 tbsp coriander seeds

6 large garlic cloves, peeled and halved

1 tsp mustard seeds

1/4 tsp red pepper flakes 

16 sprigs fresh dill weed

Combine the vinegar, salt, and sugar in a small, nonreactive saucepan, and heat while whisking until salt and sugar are both dissolved. Take off heat and add cold water, then refrigerate until needed. Divide the remaining ingredients between two clean quart jars (or one two quart jar) and cover with the brine. Fill to the top with cold water if needed, then close the jars and store in the refrigerator for 24 hours to one month.

Same-day Sourdough Foccacia

Folks-

I've been planning to make an overnight sourdough Foccacia recently, but haven't had the time to spare. Today I adapted a regular Foccacia recipe from Allrecipes to include sourdough starter discard to add flavor, and the family loved it!

I decorated the top using fresh Italian Parsley, Kalamata Olive slices, sliced grape tomatoes, and sliced garlic cloves to make flowers and a sprig of garlic wheat in the middle, which got a lot of attention from the family. I used the Parsley stems as the stems of the flowers, and chopped the unused leaves to make grass for them to root in.

The original recipe called for Parmesan and Mozzarella cheese to cover it. I chose Parmesan and Romano for the lower half, and sprinkled Nutritional Yeast on the upper half so my lactose intolerant middle child could enjoy it, and she really did (especially the garlic wheat sprig)!

Here's my variation of the Allrecipes Foccacia recipe:

Ingredients:

2 cups + 2 tbsp all purpose flour (304g)

1 tbsp active dry yeast

1 tsp salt

1 tsp sugar

1 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp dry oregano leaves

1 tsp dry thyme

1/2 tsp dry basil

A pinch black pepper 

3/4 cup water

3 tbsp olive oil

100 grams sourdough starter discard 

Cheeses to cover if wanted, or nutritional yeast 

Tomatoes/sliced garlic/Kalamata Olive slices/fresh parsley for decorating

Combine dry ingredients. Add water, olive oil, and sourdough starter discard, then mix until dough comes together. Turn out on a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic. Turn into an oiled bowl and cover with a damp towel to rise in a warm room until doubled, 20 minutes to an hour. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees fahrenheit. Turn the dough onto a greased cooking sheet and press the dough into a rectangle about 1/2 inch thick. Brush top with olive oil, then cover with cheese or nutritional yeast, then decorate. Bake for 12-20 minutes until the edges are just showing color.

Note: You can make this without the sourdough starter discard by using 2 3/4 cup flour and 1 cup water instead. No other changes are necessary to the recipe.

Spanish Rice

Folks-
Obligatory mea-culpa over how long it's been since I posted anything.
Now that I have that out of the way...
I've enjoyed making Spanish Rice as a side dish with my Smoky Southwestern Pot Roast (my first post here!) for several years now. I've found it especially easy to make, and a rather unexpectedly forgiving recipe. You can tell just how versatile it is from the options I give below. The key to making it is the Browning of the rice, and the rice to liquid ratio (follow the instructions for your rice. The below amounts are an average suggested amount.) Feel free to try your own variations! Anything you try here is going to be better than boxed, store-bought rice.
Here's my recipe for Spanish Rice:

2-4 tbsp cooking oil (vegetable, olive, grape seed, or sunflower)
2 cups long grain white rice
3 cups chicken stock OR beef stock OR vegetable stock OR water and bullion cubes to make a stock
1 cup finely chopped onion
1-2 cloves garlic, minced or crushed
1 heaping tablespoon tomato paste OR one cup chopped stewed no-salt tomatoes, drained OR one cup chopped fresh tomatoes
1/2 tsp dried oregano OR 1/2 tsp dried Italian spices

Optional (any or all of these):
1/4 tsp paprika or chili powder
1 tbsp chopped green pepper
1/4 tsp ground cumin
1/4 - 1/2 tsp turmeric

Heat the cooking oil in a pot over high heat. Brown the rice just until it is somewhat translucent. Add the onion, garlic, tomato paste or tomatoes, and if you're using it, the green pepper, and continue to cook until the vegetables are tender. Add stock and spices and bring to a rolling boil. Cover and reduce heat to very low, and summer for 20 minutes. Do NOT lift the lid to check on it! Use a glass-top pot if you might want to do this. Turn the heat off and allow the rice to rest covered for five minutes before fluffing with a fork.
You can optionally stir-in a pound of browned and drained hamburger meat, diced and cooked chicken or turkey, shredded pork, or fish to make this a main-course, or serve it as a side-dish with my Smoky Southwestern Pot Roast, or with tacos, encheladas, or other Mexican foods.
Just try it already! It's a breeze! Honest!

Quick and Easy Fried Artichoke Hearts

Folks-
Two posts in one day? Yep. After posting my fried chicken recipe, I decided to add a note to the fried artichoke recipe I was sure I'd posted a long time ago. Guess what? I'd never posted it in the first place!
In case you're unfamiliar with fried artichoke hearts, they're often sold at county fairs in the central coast of California. They're delicious, but expensive, and only available for a week each year! Not good!
So, I had to come up with something. Now, the cheapest place I've found frozen artichoke hearts is Trader Joes.
Oh, and Aaron lost another tooth today. Congratulations, little Bob!
Here's the recipe!

Quick and Easy Fried Artichoke Hearts
1 Cup Beer Batter Mix
1 Tbsp Italian Seasoning
2/3 Cup Water
1 Package Frozen Artichoke Hearts

Heat up oil in a deep fryer to 375 degrees. Mix together beer batter, Italian Seasoning and water. Coat the frozen Artichoke Hearts with the Beer Batter Mixture and drop into the hot oil. Fry for 5-7 minutes, drain, and allow to cool until edible on parchment paper or paper towels.
If you don't have a deep fryer, heat 1/2 inch of oil in a large skillet over medium heat until a drop of the batter bubbles freely when dropped in (or 375 degrees.) Fry the battered artichokes in one side for 4-5 minutes, then flip them and continue frying for another 3-4 minutes until a light brown. Remove from oil, drain, and allow to cool on parchment paper or paper towels.
Good served with drawn butter or mayo.

Fruit Salads

Folks-
Here's another couple of Zap 190 recipes from my mom (Eleanor Perl.) Both are fruit salads, so it seemed to make sense to put them together. The first is my mom's Waldorf Salad, and the second is her Dodie Salad, named after a co-worker of mine at Pacific Western Bank back in the late '80's.

Waldorf Salad:

Ingredients:
3 Apples, peeled, cored, and diced
2 Medium Bananas, sliced
1 Cup Diced Pineapple
1/4 Cup Chopped Walnuts
1/4 Cup Small Marshmallows (optional)
1/4 Cup Mayonnaise
1/4 Cup Milk
2 Tablespoons Sugar

Toss fruits, walnuts, and marshmallows together in a large bowl. In a small bowl, mix together mayonnaise, milk, and sugar. Use the mayonnaise mixture as a salad dressing over the fruit.

Dodie Salad

Ingredients:
3 Apples, peeled, cored, and diced
2 Kiwi Fruit, peeled and sliced
2 Cups Grapes
2-3 Bananas, peeled and sliced
1/2 Cup Diced Pineapple
1 Starfruit, peeled, sliced, and de-seeded (optional)
(Any other fruit you may think of)
1 Pint Non-fat Yogurt
1/4 Teaspoon Coconut Flavoring
1/4 Cup Shredded Coconut
3 Tablespoons Sugar

Toss together all of the fruit excepting the Kiwi or Starfruit slices. In a separate small bowl, mix together the yogurt, coconut, coconut flavoring, and sugar into a dressing. Pour the dressing over the tossed fruit, and use the Kiwi and/or Starfruit slices to decorate the top of the salad.