maple bacon crackerjack.

Yes, you read that right. This is popcorn popped in bacon fat, tossed with bacon, peanuts, and maple caramel. Don't make this unless you have guests, and even then, you probably shouldn't make it until right before they arrive so you don't gobble it all up before they get there.

This is not the kind of thing I make often, and in fact I haven't made it in several years. But it's always a huge hit, it screams fall (tailgate food!), and I guarantee people will ask you for the recipe. You can say you made it up--my feelings won't be hurt.

maple bacon crackerjack
adapted from cooking light
makes about 10 cups

ingredients:
5 slices bacon
1/2 c popcorn kernels
1/2 c peanuts, roughly chopped
2 tbsp butter
1/3 c sugar
1/3 c maple syrup
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes (optional, but it makes you eat it a little slower!)

instructions:
Preheat oven to 325. Place bacon in a large pot (this helps reduce the number of dishes you'll have to do later), turn burner to medium and cook until crisp, turning frequently. Remove bacon and drain on paper towels.

Add a couple kernels of popcorn to the pot and set your burner on medium-high. Wait for those kernels to pop, then remove from heat and add the rest of the kernels. Keep off heat for about 30 seconds (this gets all the kernels to the same temperature). Put pot back on the stovetop until most of the kernels have popped, which should happen fairly quickly. You might want to shake the pan a little so none of the kernels burn. Transfer to a large baking sheet and sprinkle the peanuts over the popcorn. Dice the bacon into small pieces and add that as well.

Combine butter, sugar, maple syrup, and salt in small saucepan and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Remove from heat and pour over popcorn-peanut-bacon mixture, tossing to coat (this is pretty messy). Sprinkle with red pepper flakes. Place in the preheated oven for about 10 minutes to crisp it up before serving.

grandma's pickles

About six months ago, I bought a dozen pint-sized jars with the intention of canning something. I made three jars of preserved lemons to give as Christmas gifts and promptly relegated the three-quarters-full box of jars to the back of my pantry, along with my cake decorating supplies and three bags of leftover potato chips from Jason's Deli.

But it's summer now, and high time for preserving any and everything this season has to offer. I thought about making strawberry jam just a little bit too long, and the season passed me by. Cucumbers are starting to come in, though, so I decided to make the cucumber lime pickles my Grandma used to put up. She also made strawberry jam, and peach, too, although the peach often ended up crystallizing in the back of our refrigerator (sorry, Grandma!).

These pickles, though...wow! Besides tasting like my childhood, they are the highlight of any sandwich--sweet and vinegary, crunchy and sharp and stickily delicious. They take some time, 2 or 3 days, but I promise they're worth it. Make them. Make them now.

P.S. - I have nine jars, lids, and tops left and am itching to make some kind of jam or preserves, even though it's too late for strawberry. If you have a good canning recipe for an in-season (or soon to be) fruit or vegetable, please share!

"old south" cucumber lime pickles

cukes, pre-pickling

from Mrs. Wages
makes 12-14 pint-sized jars

ingredients:
7 lbs pickling cucumbers, sliced
1 c Mrs. Wages pickling lime
2 gal water
8 c distilled white vinegar, 5% acidity 
8 c sugar
1 tbsp salt (optional)
2 tsp mixed pickling spices (Ball and Mrs. Wages both make these)

special equipment:
sterilized canning jars, lids, and screw-on tops (sterilize the jars and tops by running them through the dishwasher; instructions for the lids to follow)
boiling water bath canner (I just bought this inexpensive one)

instructions:
Stir together pickling lime and water in canner (without rack; that comes much later). Add cucumbers; cover and let soak for at least two hours or overnight.

Remove cucumbers from lime water; discard lime water. Rinse cucumbers three times under running water. Wash canner and put cucumbers back in it; cover with ice water and let soak for three hours.

Remove cucumbers from water; discard water. Combine vinegar, sugar, salt, and pickling spices in canner. Bring to a low boil, stirring until sugar dissolves. Remove syrup from heat and add cucumbers. Soak 5-6 hours or overnight.

Bring cucumbers and syrup to boil in canner and let boil for 35 minutes. Meanwhile, take out sterilized jars and tops, and boil a small pan of water. Once water boils, place lids in it to sterilize them and turn the heat off. After cucumbers and syrup have boiled for 35 minutes, fill jars with cucumbers and syrup, leaving 1/2-inch headspace (you may have to make more syrup to fill the jars). Remove lids from small pot of water, and top and cap each jar.

Place rack in canner and fill with water. Bring water to a boil, then place jars on the canner rack, making sure the jars are completely covered with water. Bring water back to a boil and leave jars in boiling water for 10 minutes (this step is called processing). Remove jars from water and let sit until cool. If done correctly the jars should seal, and when you press down on the lids they should not pop back up. If they do pop up, try turning them upside-down, pushing the lid in, and letting them sit that way for awhile; sometimes this will seal them. Still no dice? Sorry, you'll need to refrigerate those jars. If the lids don't pop back up, though (yay!), the unrefrigerated pickles will keep indefinitely, probably until next cucumber season. Store in a cool, dry, place, and refrigerate before serving. If you want someone to like you, give them a jar.

a trick grandma taught me

the best thing about the super bowl (no, it's not the commercials)

I couldn't care less about professional football, but I love the Super Bowl. Any event that requires that you have a drink in hand and consume copious amounts of chips and dip gets an A+ in my book. 

But what to make? In my opinion, this is one of the only times during the year when it's perfectly acceptable to throw together sour cream and Lipton onion soup mix and call it an appetizer. But why would you want to do that, when there are so many other options out there? Well, maybe you're having 20 people over to your house and you just don't feel like whipping up a dish with the same number of ingredients as there will be guests.

So, I've come up with a few suggestions depending on your level of commitment and concern for nutrition. I'm dividing these recipes into "classy" and "trashy". This might sound a bit elitist, but honestly I would be happy eating any of the dishes from either category. I'm a little embarrassed that I like some of the trashy recipes, but hey, everyone (okay, almost everyone) wants that kind of food every once in awhile.

"classy" recipes:

apps: 

hot buttered soft pretzels: I've always wanted to make soft pretzels, and King Arthur Flour's recipes consistently deliver.  

yoghurt-spinach dip, 'borani esfanaaj', in the persian manner:  this wins the prize for the longest name. (food52)

spicy maple cashew popcorn:  I like to add bacon to this, and you can substitute whatever nut you have on hand. (Cooking Light)

mains:

"real" texas chili con carne:  I'm not even a big chili fan, but this looks fantastic. (Serious Eats)
caramelized pork banh mi:  an amazingly flavorful sandwich that's worth the prep.

desserts:

jacques torres' chocolate chip cookies:  my roommate made these once, and they were the best chocolate chip cookies I had ever tasted. (Martha Stewart)

the baked brownie:  probably my favorite brownie recipe, by the famed Brooklyn bakery. (Brown Eyed Baker)

"trashy" recipes:
apps:
sausage balls:  I loved these as a kid, which may help explain my childhood physique. (Paula Deen)
ranch oyster crackers:  a family friend used to make these for Christmas gifts, and they are addictive. (allrecipes.com)
italian sausage and cheese dip:  "the ultimate Super Bowl dip"? We shall see. (Better Recipes)

mains:
mexican chicken casserole: starts with a layer of crushed doritos. Enough said. (jam hands)
party ham sandwiches: if you've ever been to a tailgate in the South, you've had these. Don't let the ingredient list throw you--they are delicious. (Southern Living)

desserts:
homemade kit kat bars:  I have yet to try these, but they're on my list. (Serious Eats)
compost cookies:  these straddle the trashy/classy line, as the recipe is from Momofuku Milk Bar, but the ingredient list includes 1 1/2 c of snack foods (I use potato chips and pretzels). (Live! with Kelly)

microwaves are magical.

We're reading Augustine's Confessions for my Formation of the Christian Tradition class, and this has inspired me to make my own public confession. Today I did something I have not done since college...I bought Lean Cuisines. (Gotcha! This will not be a theologically-themed post.)

I'm coming up on Week 5 (I think it deserves the capitalization) of class, and as my time spent reading, writing papers, and working increases, my time in the kitchen decreases an equivalent amount. For the most part I've continued to subsist off of fresh produce, grains, and beans (cheap!), but sometimes you just need a meal that only requires you to pierce plastic with a fork.

Anyway, the recipe I have today is a cross between freshness and convenience. Thanks to my friend Hailey, I happened across this method for microwaving potato chips on Pinterest. I was skeptical but tried it anyway, and it really did work. This week my CSA box has a few sweet potatoes in it so I made a batch of chips with one of those, seasoned with olive oil, sea salt, black pepper, and fresh rosemary. I had them for lunch with what I'm calling an early fall BLT, with tomatoes (still sort of in-season!), thick-cut bacon, sauteed kale, and lemon-garlic mayo. Yum.

The chips taste like they're baked rather than fried, but they are about as crunchy as kettle chips, which I love. They're a great option if you want something snacky but not junky. You can change these up with whatever flavors you'd like, and serve them with a dip if you want--they're definitely sturdy enough to handle it. Here are a few flavor suggestions:

-sweet potato chips with cinnamon and sugar and a side of maple syrup
-regular potato chips with seasoned salt and a side of ketchup (easy, and a good substitute for seasoned fries!)
-potato chip "nachos" with bacon, cheddar, sour cream, and scallions (not exactly healthy, but I bet they would be delicious!)

microwaved (sweet) potato chips
makes about two servings, easily multiplied
per serving:  88 cal, 2.4g fat, 15.8g carb, 2g fiber, 1.1g protein, 2+ weight watchers 

ingredients:
1 medium potato or sweet potato, sliced into thin disks (a mandolin would be helpful
   here, although mine turned out fine without one)
1 tsp oil
seasoning of your choice

instructions:
Toss potato slices with oil and seasoning, and place in a single layer a microwable dish (I used a casserole). Microwave on high for 2-3 minutes. Flip the slices over and microwave for another 2-4 minutes, keeping an eye on them to make sure they don't burn. Let cool--they will crisp up as they cool.

grilled pizza, my new obsession

 

Although I've expanded my culinary horizons quite a bit since I was a child, I remain the same as my ten-year-old self in one respect:  pizza is still my favorite food. It's bread, cheese, vegetables, and (usually salty and fatty) protein all rolled into one--so how could I have found anything better in the last 15 years?

For most of my life, my pizza intake was limited to what I could find in restaurants and the freezer aisle of the grocery store. Eventually I graduated to baking homemade pizzas in the oven, adding better-quality ingredients along the way--a little whole-milk mozzarella here, some fresh basil there, perhaps a dash of Italian red pepper flakes to top it off. But I always baked my pizzas in the oven, partly because that's all I had and have, and partly because no other method occurred to me.

Then three weeks ago, my life changed. I grilled pizza for the first time.

Okay, so maybe "life-changing" is a bit of an overstatement, and maybe it wasn't the first time I had thought of grilling pizza, but for some reason I had never gotten around to trying it. Over the 4th of July weekend, the perfect opportunity presented itself:  I was at the beach with a giant gas grill, my dad to man it, and two impulse-bought balls of pizza dough from Whole Foods.

I was amazed at how easy it was; the whole thing went off without a hitch. I liked it so much that despite not having a grill of my own, I have found ways to grill pizza two more times in the two weeks since.

So if you have a grill, have a friend who has a grill, or can afford to buy a grill, you should try this. As long as you're prepared when you actually start grilling, it takes very little effort. The only special equipment you need is something to brush the crust with oil and tongs to flip the pies. Make sure to have your ingredients and equipment ready and waiting when you put the dough on the grill. The pizza cooks amazingly fast, so you won't have a lot of time to get everything on there.

Yep, that's my foot.

You can top your pizza with whatever you like, but here are a few of my favorite combinations:
-olive oil base with mozzarella, feta, tomatoes, bacon, & basil
-tomato sauce base with mozzarella, sausage, mushrooms, & spinach
-barbecue sauce base with mozzarella, blue cheese, chicken, caramelized onions, &
  cilantro
-olive oil base with brie, pear, brown sugar, and arugula

grilled pizza
inspired by The Kitchn and Serious Eats

ingredients
pizza dough (I've made my own using Peter Reinhart's recipe, but Whole Foods has
  very good white, wheat, and multigrain versions)
olive oil (nothing fancy, although I like to infuse mine with garlic)
toppings of your choice

instructions
Preheat the grill. Depending on whether you go with charcoal (better flavor) or gas (more precise), the specifics of this step vary.

If you're making more than one pizza (which you should), preheat your oven to 200 degrees to keep the first pizzas you make warm while you grill the others.

Prepare the dough by stretching or rolling it into thinnish circles. You don't want to dough to tear when you put it on the grill or flip it, so you might want to make it a little thicker than normal. Since I've been making a few pizzas at a time, I stack my rounds of dough on a cookie sheet with foil in between, making sure to brush each layer with oil so they don't stick to the foil or to the grill!

Prepare your toppings and put them all together, so you can put them on the pizza quickly. Also have a small bowl of oil to brush the pizza with if it looks dry when grilling or sticks at all.

When the grill is preheated, use the foil to pick up a round of dough, and flip it onto the grill. Cook until the bottom looks done and begins to char just a little, anywhere from 2-8 minutes, depending on how hot your grill is.

Using your tongs, flip the dough over, then arrange (or throw, depending on how much time you have) your toppings on the cooked side. If your grill has a cover, cover the pizza during this part so the cheese melts more thoroughly.

Once the bottom is done, slide the pizza off the grill and onto a cookie sheet. If you have more to go, keep your already-made pizzas in the oven until ready to serve.