Blog Posts - Page 14 of 75 - Carma's Cookery | Tips for Unleashing Your Kitchen Creativity

Mixed Baked Beans

Post author By Carma Spence
Post date July 20, 2020

Many baked beans recipes call for only one kind of bean. This recipe, however, uses more than one kind — as well as pre-made pork and beans has a primer. Throw in some hot dogs and serve with a salad and you’ve got a meal. Or you can use it as a side to a summer BBQ meat dish. Give it a try and let me know what you think!

Ingredients for Mixed Baked Beans:

1 tablespoon olive oil
 1 medium onion, finely chopped 
1 pound center-cut thick bacon, cut into 1″ pieces 
1/2 cup ketchup 
1/2 cup sugar 
1/2 cup brown sugar, firmly packed 
1 Tablespoon white vinegar
 1 teaspoon brown mustard 
15 oz can dark kidney beans, drained 
15 oz can butter beans, drained
 30 oz can pork and beans, undrained

Ingredient Substitutions:

To lower the sugar content, use tomato paste instead of ketchup and reduce the sugar and brown sugar to either 1/3 cup or 1/4 cup each.
Don’t have white vinegar? Apple cider or red-wine vinegar will work!
Don’t have brown mustard? Try regular or dijon.
Play around with different kinds of beans. Substitute light kidney beans for dark. Use pinto beans for butter beans. Get creative!

Directions for Mixed Baked Beans:

Preheat oven to 350° F.
Sauté onion in olive oil over medium-high heat until it starts to soften. Add bacon and cook until crispy.
With a vented spoon, remove bacon and onions from pan and place on folded paper towels. Blot with extra paper towels to remove as excess fat.
In a large, oven-proof dish, combine ketchup, sugar, brown sugar, vinegar, and mustard. Add all three beans. Stir together.
Add bacon and onions to bean mixture. Stir well to combine.
Bake uncovered for 45 minutes.

I’ve already suggested some ways to make this recipe your own in the suggested ingredient substitutions above. However, you can do even more. Here is some inspiration.

Ad a few cloves of garlic, minced, to spice things up.
Toss in bite-sized pieces of hot dog or sausage.
Add some diced ham.
Use maple syrup instead of sugar.
Use black beans or garbanzo beans instead of either the kidney or butter beans.

Tags beans

Summer Barbecue: Baked Beans and Hot Dogs Are a Great Match

Post author By Carma Spence
Post date July 6, 2020

July is both National Baked Beans Month and National Hot Dog Month. Now there is a match made in summer barbecue heaven!

Summer Barbecue: Baked Beans

It’s summertime and that means barbecue time. This summer’s grilling season will be especially sweet after months of lockdown. One of the more popular side dishes of the season in America is baked beans.

Beans are high in protein, practically fat-free and contain more fiber than many whole grade foods. If you’re watching your carbs, however, they do count even with all that protein.

You can thank Native Americans for baked beans, who originally sweetened them with maple syrup. In the 17th Century, English colonists modified the recipe and began using brown sugar. In the 18th Century, Americans started using molasses to avoid British taxes on sugar.

Summer Barbecue: Hot Dogs

Another summer barbecue favorite is the hot dog. I remember finding a stick, sharpening one end, skewering a dog, and cooking it over an open flame when I was a kid. Yum! Hot dogs are celebrated this month at a variety of festivals across the U.S., including:

Alfred Village Hot Dog Day, Alfred, NY
Annual Hot Dog Lunch, Washington, DC
Boston Hot Dog Safari, Boston, MA
West Virginia Hot Dog Festival, Huntington, WV

You can learn about them and discover more on Wikipedia.

Maple Baked Beans with Hot Dogs

To help you celebrate these two fine foods during your summer barbecue, here’s a recipe that brings them together.

Ingredients:

1 pound dried white beans
6 slices thick-cut bacon, diced
1 large onion, chopped
1 cup real maple syrup
3/4 cup tomato paste
1/4 cup cider vinegar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon prepared mustard
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon paprika
4 large all-beef hot dogs, chopped

Directions:

For best flavor, make at lead one day ahead of time.

Sort and since the beans. Place in a bowl and cover with water. Let soak for 30 minutes.
Drain and repeat one more time. This process will reduce the gas of the beans.
Place beans in a 4-quart Dutch oven and cover with two quarts of cold water. Bring to a boil.
Reduce heat and simmer for 2 minutes, then remove from the heat.
Cover and let stand 1 hour. Drain and rinse beans.
Return beans to Dutch oven; cover with another two quarts of cold water. Bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer for 30-40 minutes or until almost tender.
Drain and reserve liquid.
In a 2-1/2-quart casserole pot, combine beans with all remaining ingredients except the hot dogs.
Cover and bake at 325° for 2 hours. Stir occasionally; add reserved bean liquid, if necessary.
Add hot dogs and bake for an additional 30 minutes or until tender.

Feel free to play around with the recipe. If you want it sweeter, increase the maple syrup and/or the brown sugar. Reduce them if you want it less sweet.

Like a spicier sauce? Increase the paprika or add in some cayenne pepper.

You can also try adding in ham or substituting salt pork for the bacon.

Another idea would be to use sausages such as kielbasa or polish sausage instead of hot dogs.

Another way to add flavor is to grill the hot dogs or sausage before adding them to the beans.

You can even cook this in your slow cooker rather than the oven. Cook it on low all day to really meld the flavors together.

Customize the recipe to suit your and your family’s taste!

Tags beans, hot dogs, monthly food observances, sausage

Cookbook Reviews

Cookbook Review: “175 Best Instant Pot Recipes” by Marilyn Haugen

Post author By Carma Spence
Post date June 29, 2020

Instant Pots are one of the hottest small kitchen appliances on the market right now. While officially categorized as an electric pressure cooker, an Instant Pot is actually a programmable multicooker, with more than one function to help you prepare food with only one appliance. Because it is so versatile, you might not be aware of all you can do with it. That’s why a cookbook like 175 Best Instant Pot Recipes can be such a boon.

Summary of 175 Best Instant Pot Recipes

175 Best Instant Pot Recipes starts off with a short primer on “Instant Pot Basics,” so you will have a good idea of what your multicooker can do. Then it goes right into the recipes, organizing them in the following categories:

Breakfasts
Soups, Stews and Chilis
Main Courses
Side Dishes
Entertaining and Special Occasions
Esserts and Snacks

What Worked for Me

The recipes are easy to read and follow. The reader is given clear information about which function the recipe will use upfront, so they don’t have to read through the recipe to find that information.

The pictures are sufficient enough to get your mouth watering, but not so ubiquitous that it makes the book too stiff to use.

At the beginning of each section, the recipes are listed by which main function they’ll use: Pressure cooker or slow cooker.

This is a simple cookbook that is great for beginners.

What Didn’t Work for Me

I probably would have organized the recipes differently, and there’s not a lot of variety. Many of the recipes are just variations on a theme.

Who would benefit most from 175 Best Instant Pot Recipes?

The author suggests that college students would love having this book and a multicooker because it will help them save money while eating well at the same time. Why eat ramen, when you can have homemade mu shu pork (pg 84)?

Busy moms will benefit for the same reason. Here’s an appliance that will let you plan ahead (as you would for a slow cooker) and make something quickly when you didn’t have time to plan (using the pressure cooker function).

Whether you need to fix it in the morning and eat it at night or have a meal ready within an hour, you’ll be able to find the Instant Pot recipes you need in this book.

Recommendation

Rating for 175 Best Instant Pot Recipes

I’m giving this cookbook four chefs because of its utility. This is a very useful, if not creative, book.

[one_fifth] [/one_fifth]

[one_fifth_last] [/one_fifth_last]

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Specs

Full Title: 175 Best Instant Pot Recipes: For Your Programmable Electric Pressure Cooker
Author: Marilyn Haugen
Paperback: 224 pages
Publisher: Robert Rose
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0778805425
ISBN-13: 978-0778805427 [/one_half]
[one_half_last] [/one_half_last]

Pick up your copy on Amazon.com here.

NOTE: I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. If you’ve read past book reviews, you’ll know that I don’t pull my punches when I believe they are warranted. I also try to provide balanced information so you can make your own decision to read or not read the book, even if you disagree with my opinion.

Tags instant pot, instapot, multicooker

Tools of the Trade

Instapot Basics

Post author By Carma Spence
Post date June 22, 2020

Have you been hearing a lot about instant pots lately? I know I sure have. So I did a little digging and came up with some basic information about the instapot and what you can and shouldn’t use them for.

In this fast-paced modern world, it can be difficult to find the time to do most things other than work and sleep. With the demanding schedules of daily life and the ability to reach most people nearly 24 hours a day, it can be tough to find the time to make delicious healthy food. If you’re interested in making the leap to some carefree cooking, you might be interested in cooking with an Instant Pot.

What is an instapot?

Instapot is a Canadian brand of multicooker. A multicooker is an electronically controlled small kitchen appliance that does the job of a slow cooker, electric pressure cooker, steamer, rice cooker, yogurt maker, browning pan, and warming pot. The idea is to reduce the number of kitchen gadgets by consolidating a few into one piece of equipment.

How is an instapot different from other similar kitchen gadgets?

Unlike a standard pressure cooker, an instapot uses its own electricity and can be programmed up to a day in advance. Therefore it clears a burner on your stove and can, potentially, be more cost-effective.

The main difference between an instant pot and a slow cooker is that it is capable of cooking your food more quickly because of its pressure cooker function.

What can you cook in an instant pot?

There are a variety of things that you can cook in a multicooker. Here is a simple list to give you an idea:

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Yogurt
Rice
Risotto
Pilaf
Casseroles
Soup
Stew
Chili

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Hard-boiled eggs
Oatmeal
Whole chicken
Baked potatoes
Warm salads
Warm dips and fondue
Cake
Puddings and custards

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What can you not cook in an instant pot?

Although you can cook a lot of things in a multicooker, there are limits to what it can do. Here are 5 things that you shouldn’t attempt to make in your instapot.

Deep-fried foods — they won’t get crispy
Cookies — ditto
Noodles — they create too much pressure
Creamy sauces — dairy tends to curdle
Pie — the pie crust will get too soft

There are other things that you should probably shun unless you know what you’re doing, but this is a list of things to avoid that most instapot experts agree upon.

What are the top benefits of using a multicooker?

Why would you want to own and use a multicooker? Here are three of the top reasons>

Cook food while you do other things

One of the primary reasons people shy away from cooking is the time it takes to make a good meal in the standard way. It takes time to cook food on a stovetop. With an Instant Pot, you can cook food very quickly, but you don’t have to be in the kitchen the entire time. There is a warm setting you can use for when the meal is done, so you can catch up on laundry or run a quick errand. On weekends, you can set it to cook and warm food while you complete important household tasks. The kind of freedom that a multicooker can provide is only limited by your imagination.

Makes cooking meat easier

One of the best things about a multicooker is the way that it can cook meat. Usually, meat preparation involves standing over the meat and moving it around periodically, which ties you to the task, making it very difficult to accomplish anything else during that timeframe. With an instapot, you can set it to start and stop cooking at the appropriate time and pursue other activities. Also, you can choose to cook meat without having to thaw it. All you have to do is set the timer to include the thaw time, and the Instant Pot will take care of the rest.

Save money on healthy food

Another upside to using a multicooker is the potentially massive savings on food. You won’t have to eat take out or order food in. You’ll be able to easily make fresh, healthy food at home almost as quickly (possibly even more quickly) than it would take to go out to eat.

Who should consider using an instapot?

Anyone who doesn’t have a lot of time on their hands is a good candidate for using a multicooker. However, it has a lot of benefits that are special to parents. New parents can make their own baby food, even in large batches. It also lets parents prep a meal while they aren’t busy caring for their little one and program it to cook when they are busy with the baby.

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Did I miss anything? What questions do you have about instapots? Ask in a comment below and I’ll work on another post to give you some answers.

Tags instant pot, instapot, kitchen gadgets, multicooker

Recipes

Rice and Fruit Salad

Post author By Carma Spence
Post date June 15, 2020

If you’re making rice for dinner, why not a bit extra to make this salad the next day? This is a great recipe for when it’s just too hot to cook. And it uses fresh fruits that are in season this time of year.

If you are taking this dish to a potluck dinner, wait until you arrive to add the fresh fruit. It will not have to be heated or refrigerated.

Ingredients:

2 cups of cooked long-grain rice, cooled
2 Tablespoons olive oil
2 Tablespoons orange juice
1 Tablespoon vinegar
2 teaspoons chopped shallots
salt and pepper to taste
1 cup chopped fresh peach
1/2 cup fresh blueberries
1/2 cup fresh strawberries
3 Tablespoons chopped almonds

Directions:

Heat a small, dry skillet. Add almonds and stir until toasted.
In a small bowl, whisk together the oil, juice, vinegar, shallots, salt, and pepper.
In a large salad serving bowl, toss together gently the almonds, cooked rice, peach and berries.
Add dressing to salad and toss gently again.

Tags blueberries, Fruit, peaches, rice, strawberries, summer

Cookbook Reviews

Cookbook Review: “175 Best Air Fryer Recipes” by Camilla Saulsbury

Post author By Carma Spence
Post date June 8, 2020

Air-frying is a method of cooking that is healthier than traditional frying methods because it produces similar results with a lot less oil. With Camilla Saulsbury’s 175 Best Air Fryer Recipes, you can easily get started using an air-fryer a variety of fried foods with much less oil, as well as some other recipes you might not expect.

Summary of 175 Best Air Fryer Recipes

If you don’t the first thing about air frying, you’re in good hands with this book. It starts off with the basics: What air frying is, how to select and care for an air fryer and a guide to ingredients you’ll want in your pantry.

Then come the recipes, starting with the “Top 20 Fried Favorites” such as Classic French Fries, Onion Rings, and Buttermilk Fried Chicken. The rest of the book is organized much like other cookbooks:

Breakfast and Brunch
Appetizers and Snacks
Entrées
Vegetables and Sides
Desserts
Sauces, Dips and More

Because an air fryer is simple a self-contained convection oven, you can do a lot more than fry foods in it and Saulsbury gives you plenty of options, such as omelets, seafood, roasted vegetables, and even brownies.

What Worked for Me

175 Best Air Fryer Recipes is meant to be used. The recipes are well organized and in a larger font. The cover and pages are soft enough that most pages stay open, and the color photography, which is printed on thicker, less flexible paper, is kept to a minimum.

What I’d Love to See in the Second Edition

Not everyone can afford — or has the space for — an air fryer, but these recipes look so good. It would be nice to either have alternative methods for each recipe, or at least a section on how to translate the recipe to use a more traditional oven. Research showed me that getting the same results as an air fryer can be possible with other, more common kitchen appliances.

Recommendation

If you have — or are planning to get — an air fryer, this is an excellent cookbook to get you started. I’d be willing to bet that all the recipes you had in mind for your air fryer, are in here. And the book is easy to use, so beginners can use it effectively.

Rating for 175 Best Air Fryer Recipes

[one_fifth] [/one_fifth]

[one_fifth_last] [/one_fifth_last]

[one_half]

Specs

Full Title: 175 Best Air Fryer Recipes
Author: Camilla V. Saulsbury
Format: 288 pages
Publisher: Robert Rose
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0778805514
ISBN-13: 978-0778805519 [/one_half]
[one_half_last] [/one_half_last]

Pick up your copy on Amazon.com here.

Tags air fryer

Creative Cookery

Rainbow Fruit and Veggie Plate Ideas

Post author By Carma Spence
Post date June 1, 2020

As the days get warmer, more and more wonderful fruits and vegetables become available. Since June is National Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Month, I decided to share some creative veggie plate ideas. Whether you are creating one for a gather or just the family, making your display beautiful is always a good idea and makes the food look even tastier!

Everyone knows the traditional veggie plate: Cauliflower, broccoli, carrots, and tomatoes arranged around a bowl of ranch dressing. But when you unleash your kitchen creativity, you can come up with a variety of veggie plate ideas that put that one to shame. In this post, I suggest you add a little fun to your fruit and veggie plate by turning it into a rainbow.

There are so many possibilities for putting this plate together and whether you are completely authentic and do all 7 colors of the rainbow or just 5 or 6, it’s completely up to you. Here are some ideas to get you started:

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