Less Words, More Food 14

Wow ,  Can't tell that I like this format of posting .. this is number 14 in this series ! LOL  It is a handy way to to catch up on LOADS of of food pix I have to share with you . Please if you see something you like, just ask , and Ill write it up as a recipe for you .  On the flip side if there is something you don't like , please let me know so I can fix it or avoid it in the future.  This shots go back to April... that's how far behind I am now ... lol , well after this post Ill be caught up to May .  Enjoy :))

My version of Bangers and Mash :))) Loaded of course !  

A great Meatball Pasta bake , and soon to be a blog post ( its next ! ) 

Mmmm just gotta love roasting Beef!!  

The roasted  goodies for a nice hummus!!

Roasted Red Pepper, Onion & Garlic Hummus :)) 

Put it together for cold roast beef , and chips :)) With hummus and a fresh tomato. A Simple and Easy way to get Creative with your leftovers!!  

My new favourite way to make eggs.,, with the onions and garlic in the same pan !  Mmmm gotta love Free range eggs ! 

Another favourite of mine, Bacon ,Egg and Chips!! Mmm

Yeah!! April is done!! Hahahahaha I hope you all have enjoyed this post . As always , all feedback is welcomed.  Have a great day  :))
Happy Eating
Rich

Homemade Butter in your Food Pro :))

A couple of months ago , I did a post on how to make your own butter , the old fashioned way , with a little elbow grease and a mason jar :)  Today Ill show you an easier method, using your food pro. Lots of pictures to explain the whole process :) Enjoy  

Ingredients Required : 

Heavy Cream - I used 750 ml , but 500ml makes for a nice sized batch too. 

Food Processor 

Sea Salt - Optional 

Start with 750ml of heavy cream ( 35% ) Ive owned this food pro for 10 years , and have never had a chance to use the mixer attachment until now. 

Noisy attachment that it is :) lol 

5 minutes or so in.. it will appear that nothing is happening, and then .... 

You get good old fashioned whipping cream :))  :) 

Keep going , the volume will increase almost twofold. 

and just when you think nothing is going to happen ... it starts to change ..  this is about 15 minutes in . 

At about twenty minutes it starts to clump up a little, and the butter milk starts separating. 

Twenty five minutes of constant whirring , and you have butter .. time to strain off the butter milk. 

Add a couple of cups of ice water , and turn it back on for 1 minute. 

Strain off the ice water , and you will have butter!!!  

Mmmmm creamy homemade butter !!!  

I saved the butter milk for making a  loaf of bread :)) 

Pack the butter into a seal-able container , add some sea salt if you like :) This will last for about a month in the fridge.  

That's it!! So simple and easy , and you can add any flavourings you like , herbs, salts , chili.. garlic Mmmmm so many options to enjoy , or keep it plain and add flavour later :)  I hope you have enjoyed this recipe.  Happy Cooking :))

Homemade Butter :))

Why have I not tried this before ?? and the field trip in grade six doesn't count !  If I could do it then, why couldn't I do it now.    So after watching a quick video clip on how to make your own with a food pro, I decided to try a slightly more manual way .    Just using a mason jar and heavy cream.   That's it!!
My other thought was, can I save money by doing this ?? Good butter is $4  to 5 a pound here ( I don't like the cheap butter , it has more than cream and salt ) So can I do it ??   Read below and find out.

Heavy Cream ( 35% ) and a mason jar  with a lid is all you need

Start by pouring half the cream (250ml ) into the mason jar, secure the lid and start shaking ... pretend your one of those paint can shakers in the hardware store and go to it.  This was after ten minutes of shaking ,  I had some very thick cream ... time to switch methods a little. 

I used the handle from a spatula to finish the job ..  10 more minutes of stirring. 

At this point , if you wanted to add flavourings .. this would be the time. I wanted to try a plain unsalted batch before I started messing around.    Salt, Garlic, Fresh Herbs etc.. the list can go on.

This was after 10 minutes of stirring ....  just about there , it will come together quick now.. maybe 2 more minutes. 

Butter!!! I made butter , 22 minutes of shaking and stirring produced this creamy goodness!!  Now just one more step. Reserve the buttermilk ( I used mine for making a loaf of bread )  , and get a cup of ice water ready. 

Put the butter back in the jar, with the ice water and shake for 2 more minutes... drain the water off, and this is what your left with.   

Total time was 24 minutes... and I have butter that should last a month in the fridge. 

The bowl weighed close to 300g, I ended up with a 150g ( 1/3 pound )

So did I manage to make it for less than I can buy it for??   Yes .. just !!   I found the cream on sale for $2.50 / 500ml ... I used half of the cream to make 150g of butter...  Since this tasted AMAZING i will compare it to the $5.00 per 450g ( 1 pound ) of butter .   It cost me $1.25 , compared to $1.66 for the store bought. Not a huge savings ...  but Ill take a 25% discount anytime I can get it !!

Simply amazing is how I'm going to describe this butter,  I have not had that many bread and butter sandwiches since I was a kid!!  lol  I will be making this again , the next time will be a batch size , with some flavourings added ..  stick around Butter part 2 will be back !!

I hope you have enjoyed this post .. please feel free to leave comments, suggestions or critiques below.
Happy Cooking!

Wow, 50 posts... done.

Its almost like its someones birthday !!  This is the 50th post for this blog :)) Amazing.  Thank you all for dropping by.   Of course , as soon as I put some pressure on myself to write something fantastic... my brain shuts down the writing side ....  So if you were expecting some glowing report , or recap .. well I'm sorry Hahahaha!!  What Ive decided to highlight today,  is a few of the new series I'm working on.  More of a glimpse of the future, than  a view of the past.

Good Food, Cheap :
Showing how you can eat good food, even on a tight budget with tips and tricks for saving you a bundle. Whether its how to find the best bargains, batch cooking , starting from scratch or buying a whole loin and cutting it up yourself.. it all helps.  

Follow this link for a list of all the GFC posts:
http://richfletchersgoodfoodrevolution.blogspot.com/search/label/good%20food%20cheap

Creative Leftovers :
Something that is a constant around here is, leftovers.  This series is all about showing you how to reuse all that extra food , and turn it into something great to eat .  NO matter how great something tastes , eating it three days in a row can be a real chore.

Follow this link for a list of all the CL posts:
   http://richfletchersgoodfoodrevolution.blogspot.com/search/label/creative%20leftovers


Simple & Easy :


The newest one Ive started , showing you how to eat good food, in about an hour or less.  Just because you don't have much time doesn't mean you can't eat well.

Follow this link for a list of all the S&E posts :
 http://richfletchersgoodfoodrevolution.blogspot.com/search/label/Simple%20and%20Easy


Farm to Fork : 


This one is going to see a lot of posts this year ,  as I delve further into the whole process of how food is grown , how it gets to your table, and whats in it .  Where to buy the good stuff, and what to avoid.

 

Follow this link for a list of all FTF posts :
http://richfletchersgoodfoodrevolution.blogspot.com/search/label/farm%20to%20fork



Less Words, More Food : 


The title explains it all :))

Follow this link for a list of all LWMF posts:
http://richfletchersgoodfoodrevolution.blogspot.com/search/label/less%20words%20more%20food



Appetizers : 


Finger foods, and snacks for entertaining or light dinners.

Follow this link for a list of all APP posts:
http://richfletchersgoodfoodrevolution.blogspot.com/search/label/appetizers


There are a few other series , that are still in the idea stage .  If you have any suggestions as to what you would like to see,  or feedback on the existing series,  please , don't be shy and leave a comment below.   Thanks for making these first 50 posts a success.

Happy Cooking

Rich

Chili n' Pasta Stuffed Red Peppers : Creative Leftovers

I was at a loss the other day , as to what I wanted to make/eat .   I decided on some of my chili , as it was already made ...  and I was in the mood for easy !  While I was letting the chili defrost I thought I ask on my FB Food page , if anyone had a suggestion for a future blog post ....  " Something Stuffed " was the reply , and a light bulb went off !! I could use the chili to stuff some red peppers...   Hmmmmm what to use, i was not in the mood for the usual rice style....   Curly Pasta!!!  That would be perfect , and very filling.   So Rotini it was.  This is such a simple and easy recipe , and can even be prepared ahead of time , that I'm sure it will be used again ( Most likely soon!!! )  Also , a single one of these would make a great appetizer.

Ingredients required : 
I made way too much , this will easily make 12 halves.

4 cups of your favourite Chili ( Ill be doing a Chili blog post soon, stay tuned !! )
2 cups of dried rotini pasta
6 Red Bell Peppers ( or the colour of your choice )
Mozzarella , One slice per half.
Feta Cheese - One small cube per half ( Teaspoon sized )
Olive Oil
Sea Salt & Black Pepper
Basil

It all starts with a pot of chili :))  

Red Bell Peppers,  cut in half lengthwise , with the seeds removed ( a sharp knife and a spoon work well for this ) 

Boil, and drain the pasta as per the package, you can under cook it if you like, as it will be going into the oven for about 30 minutes.  Mix it well with the chili .  ( This shot is from the day after , it filled most of this pot ) 

Simply fill the pepper halves... 

You can add some fresh onions , or mushrooms ..  whatever makes you happy 

A little bit of Feta , and a 3/16" thick slice of Mozzarella , basil and S&P and into a 350F oven for 20 minutes ,  then 5 minutes ,  or so,  more on grill ( Keep an eye on it after the 20 minutes )  

Thats it!!  Its time to eat.  I had two halves for dinner,  one for brunch the next day .  

Ive been practicing my camera work , this is without a flash ,  what do you think ?? :)) 

Of course , there is always the option of skipping the red pepper altogether lol as I did for this midnight snack :))  I also switched out the Feta for cheddar and added a couple of dashes of Lea & Perrins .

There you have it ,  a Simple and Easy way  to be Creative with Leftovers...  or a great little Appetizer that can be made ahead of time.  If you have any comments or questions please follow the link below.
Happy Cooking!! :)

Simple and Easy Pulled Pork : Good Food , Cheap

Ive been meaning to get to this one for well over a month,  I must admit it slipped through the cracks lol .  A request from a friend reminded me that I never did actually finish this post , just got as far as uploading the photos.  Now , like making chili , or gumbo there are a million different ways to go about making a pot of pulled pork and I'm sure more than a few people have a very strong opinion on it :))  What I'm making here , is the simple and easy method.. just a few minutes prep and the slow cooker does the rest !!  

What you will need :  Makes approx 16 servings 

1 Large smoked pork shoulder -                $8.00 for 8lbs on sale 

--  Please note , when using a commercially smoked piece of pork DO NOT add any more salt.  I made that mistake once , and it was almost inedible.  

5 or 6 medium red or white onions             $3.00 for 10lbs = $ 0.60

2 large utility carrots                                    $ 3.00 for 10lbs = $ 0.25 

6 or 7 cloves of garlic                                   $ 3.00 for 3 heads = $ 0.50

3 hot dried chili ( You decide the heat here ... I should have used 6 !  )  

Chili Powder 

Black Pepper

Hot Sauce & Worcestershire Sauce 

1L of homemade Beef or chicken stock - prefer the beef  ( 4 cups ) - 

                                                   Total Cost $ Under $10.00  , or about 65 cents a serving 

Assemble your ingredients :)  Wash and peel the carrots 

I like to give the pork shoulder a good rinse first , to help remove any excess salt.  Then score the fat to the meat , using about 3/4 to 1" squares. 

IN a hot skillet, quickly give all the sides a little colour :)) 

Meanwhile , back at the slow cooker. I added the rough chopped carrots , beef stock , dried chili , Lea & Perrins, and some Bourbon Street Bad hot sauce for a southern kick :)   I set it to high for the first hour , then its slow and low the rest of the time!  Add a tablespoon or two of chili powder too 

Add the pork shoulder to the pot, lol and this is my BIG crock pot.  You my need to move things around a little :) 

IN the same pan I browned the pork in, give the onions and garlic a quick sizzle. Add them to the pot, and cover the lid.  Check back in a hour. 

IT should look something like this , and start to smell amazing . 

I ended up letting mine simmer for a good 8 hours,  you can get away with 4 or 6 .. but I like 8 .. makes it just fall  apart ! 

Remove the carrots , and get in there with a couple of serving forks.  Shred it well. 

Of course a sample is required to test the seasoning :)) 

Sampling the pulled pork ... plain so I can judge the flavours :))Mmmmm good!!  

Later I added some extras, a little red pepper, onion and mushrooms, on a toasted garlic ciabatta roll!!  

I also turned some into a loaded jacket potato :))
http://richfletchersgoodfoodrevolution.blogspot.com/2011/01/creative-leftovers-pulled-pork-n-beans.html

That's it ,  Its only about twenty minutes worth of work , and the rest is just waiting :))  Sampling is allowed so its all good :)) So what do you think of my latest Good Food , Cheap post ?  Any comments or suggestions are greatly appreciated :)  Happy Cooking !