I Am SO Glad I Am A Carnivore

Today I accomplished something that I have wanted to do for many years. Perhaps all my life.

Well ever since I read the Little House on The Prairie books at least.

I made Beef Jerky.

Oh be still my little carnivore heart.

And it was so easy. So, so, so easy. I will admit that I didn’t take pictures of the entire process because, really, it is so simple.

Oh FINE! I forgot to take pictures of the process. You people are so picky about things. And the other reason that I didn’t take pictures, besides the fact that I forgot to do so, was that I hadn’t ever done this before and so I wasn’t sure if you would ever see this up on the blog.

But in the words of Gene Kranz, “Failure is NOT an option!”

I used my dehydrator of course. That is why I have it I think. But the world wide web tells me that you can also make Beef Jerky in your oven. If you are oven inclined then go and find those directions and strike out!

This is what I did.

I took a 3 pound piece of Eye of Round, put it in a plastic bag and stuck it in the freezer for an hour, just to firm it up a bit. You could use London Broil if you prefer. Just make sure that whatever cut of meat you use is a lean piece of meat without much marbling. Too much fat will make the jerky go rancid.

There is nothing worse than a rancid jerk!

While the meat is chilling and firming mix together:

1 cup soy sauce
1 cup brown sugar
the juice from one orange
1 tablespoon garlic powder
2 teaspoons onion powder
2 teaspoons ginger powder
1 tablespoon red pepper flakes
1 tablespoon honey
1/2 teaspoon salt

Put all of the marinade in a microwave safe container and cook for 1 minute on high. take out and set aside.

Take the meat out of the freezer and cut in 1/8 inch thin slices across the grain. I used my very sharp CutCo knife. You could also use a Mandolin if you have one. Put the meat slices and the marinade in a plastic ziploc bag or a plastic container with a lid. Gently shake it to make sure that the meat and marinade are all cozy and getting busy.

Put the happy couple in the refrigerator overnight. Don’t peak! They don’t want to be disturbed.

The next day take the meat slices out, lay them on paper towel and dry them thoroughly. Then lay them out on the dehydrator trays, set the temp to the highest setting (about 165F) and let them work for 5-6 hours.

The house will smell like a meatapalooza all day and you will occasionally break out into spontaneous bouts of drooling.

When the meat is dry, chewy and crispy at the edges turn off the dehydrator and let the jerky cool. Then store in a cool, dry place for up to a month.

That is if it lasts that long. I can tell you that this first batch is going to be gone in a very short period of time.

Strawberry Fluff

It is HOT today.

I hate hot weather.

I need something cool to soothe the sizzling. I need Strawberry Fluff. And you need it too. You need to know how to make this frightening simple and totally addicting bit of yumminess.

It is the perfect end to a hot and sizzling summer day.

And it is oh so simple. I love simple.

I will admit that the following pictures are not up to my usual. Blame the heat. Blame my overexcitement. Blame the fact that my brain had been fried from two hours in the back garden on a day when the temp was in the 90s. Blame whatever you want.

I will try to do better next time.

This is all that you will need. Not too many ingredients and there is BUTTER and SUGAR! What more can anyone ask.

You will also need some pretty containers to serve the fluff in. I lovelovelove these very cool canning jars. I found them at Wally Mart. They spoke to me from way back on a top shelf. They called to me and said that I had to take them home. I was powerless to resist.

Mix 1/4 cup sugar to the graham cracker crumbs. Mix them all around.

Melt the butter and then add it to the crumb mixture. Use a fork to incorporate the butter until all the crumbs are lovingly coated with beautiful butter.

I am really hungry at the moment for some reason.

Evenly divide the crumbs between 8 containers or pretty dishes. Keep back about 1/4 cup of the crumbs to sprinkle on the top of the fluff. Set the containers aside.

Next put all the cut up strawberries into a bowl and crush them a bit, to release the strawberry juice. Let them sit for a bit and then strain the strawberries and the juice, saving the juice. Measure out the juice. You will need 1/3 cup of liquid. If you don’t have enough strawberry juice then just add enough water until you have 1/3 cup.

Put the last 3/4 cup of sugar into a heavy bottom pan. Add an envelope of unflavored gelatin. Mix them together.

Add the 1/3 cup of strawberry juice to the sugar/gelatin mixture. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly until…….

The mixture boils. Do not walk away while you are completing this stage. Believe me when I tell you that it will go from hot to boiling over in a very quick amount of time.

Not that I would know anything about that.

Moving on.

Add the gelatin mixture to the crushed strawberries. Put the whole bowl into the freezer and chill until the gelatin, you know, gels. It shouldn’t take long. Just give it a stir every once in awhile.

Once things are cooled enough take the bowl out of the freezer and add the Cool Whip. Fold the Cool Whip into the strawberries until it is all lovingly mixed together.

Evenly divide the fluff between the containers. Sprinkle with the remaining graham cracker crumbs and refrigerate until time to serve.

Or just stand by the sink and spoon it right into your mouth. It is so delicious that you…….

Never mind.

Is it time for dessert yet?

Oh heck, I will just have dessert for dinner.

>>>> Strawberry Fluff <<<<

Grandma’s Lemon Chiffon Cheesecake

When I was growing up this recipe was what I thought Cheesecake was. We went to Grandma and Grandpa Pringle’s house for Sunday dinner at least once a month and I knew that dessert would be pie or “cheesecake”. 

Imagine my surprise the first time that I had “real” cheesecake and it wasn’t what Grandma had always made.

But I will let you in on a little secret.

I like this recipe just as much as any cheesecake recipe that I have ever made. It is YUMMY. And best of all there is no baking involved and you can have the whole thing done in under an hour.

My kind of dessert.

I will admit here that I didn’t take pictures of the process. It is very easy. And when I was taking the pictures I was in a hurry to actually get the dessert done because I was serving it that night.

This stuff is SOOOOOO good. A graham cracker crust topped with a heavenly mixture of cream cheese, cool whip, sugar and lemon jello. Yes, I said lemon jello.

My mouth is watering.

You can make this one of two ways. Grandma always made it in a pie plate. A graham cracker crust topped with the cheesecake mixture.

I actually like to make it into individual servings. They look so cute and everyone thinks that you are a genius when you serve them.

Oh look! There is just enough left for a small extra serving for the cook. 

We are ALL about quality control here at Chez Knit

 Grandma’s Lemon Chiffon Cheesecake

52 Food Adventures #4 - Homemade Yogurt

Here at Chez Knit we continue to strive to be economical and healthy at the same time.

And also I just like knowing that I can make these things from scratch just because I think that we all consume too many things that have too many additives.

People have been making yogurt for many years before Salton came up with a yogurt maker like the one my Grandmother Amsler had when I was growing up. I hate kitchen gadgets that have only one purpose so I knew there had to be a way to make yogurt with common household items. Thank you Pinterest for helping me find the way.

Getting off soap box now.

Let me tell you something. I really don’t like yogurt all that much. Oh I have tried to like it. You know it is something that you SHOULD like and that so many other people eat and love but……we just never could get along.

Until now that is. Until I took the time to make my yogurt from scratch.

Oh Momma.

And because I love all of you I am going to tell you how I did it. You will love me. And curse me when you find out how many hours this really takes.

Lets get started shall we. The original recipe and instructions came from Bacon In My Pocket and I have to tell her an eternal THANK YOU!

There aren’t too many ingredients thankfully. I didn’t take pictures of the pots that you will need to use. If you download the recipe they are listed.

Can I tell you how much I love these lids. I find them at Wally Mart during the canning season and buy as many as I can. You can’t “can” with them but they are super for storage lids.

You will also need a large cooler. Go ahead and pour in a gallon of almost boiling water, close the lid and leave it.

You must have a thermometer. Don’t think you can guess. I know because that was what I did the first time I tried to make yogurt. It wasn’t a pleasant outcome. And I had not excuse because I had a thermometer handy.

Put your milk into your heavy bottom pot and start to heat it up slowly. You are going to want to get to 190F and once there you are going to turn the heat down and hold the milk at 190F for 10 minutes. While you are doing this you can sterilize the quart jars and just leave them in the hot water until you need them. Heating the milk slowly will take a while just so that you know.

DO NOT think you can go and do something else. Stay in the kitchen and read the paper and check the milk every 5 minutes. Stir it VERY frequently. If you scorch the milk it is unusable as yogurt.

Even if you are doing everything right you are still going to get the milk concrete that forms on the bottom of the pan. It is a pain to get off but you will just have to live with it.

Once your milk has been at 190F for 10 minutes you then have to cool it down. The quickest way is just to sit the pan in the sink in an ice bath. Stir the milk gently until it reaches 120F.

See, 120F on the dot.

Now thoroughly stir in your yogurt starter. I actually use a whisk so that it is well incorporated.

If you are making Vanilla Yogurt you will also add the sugar and the vanilla. All those little dark things in the vanilla extract? Those are vanilla beans from my homemade extract.

{{{{{Shivers of joy}}}}}

Now pour the soon to be yogurt into the hot mason jars. I would suggest you use a measuring cup or ladle to do this. I did but evidently I still couldn’t help making a mess.

Yogurt in waiting

Check the water temp in your cooler. It should be around 120F. Put your jars into the cooler and add enough very hot tap water (120F) to the cooler to bring the water level up to 1/4 of the way up the sides of the jars. Close the lid of the cooler tightly. Set your timer for 5 hours and go do something else.

DO NOT OPEN THE COOLER

DO NOT TAKE THE JAR OUT AND TURN IT OR JIGGLE IT TO SEE IF “IT IS WORKING”

LEAVE IT.

After the 5 hours is up take the jars out of the cooler and put them in the back of your refrigerator and let them cool down over night.

And then next morning???

Oh be still my beating heart. Creamy and smooth. Slightly sweet with a wonderful hint of vanilla.

Oh the smoothies in my future!

>>>>> Homemade Yogurt<<<<<

Sea Foam Salad or What To Do With That Lime Jello

We have all been confronted with it.

You know, that box of Lime Jello that you inexplicably bought at the grocery store. Most likely because there was a “sale”. But then you got home, you looked at it and thought,

What the HECK was I thinking! Lime Jello?? I don’t even know what to do with Lime Jello!

Well, I am going to help you with that dilemma, because I have the perfect recipe to use what I consider as one of the most useless ingredients on the planet, lime jello, to make the most fabulous salad.

This isn’t TECHNICALLY adhering to the rules for “52 Food Adventures” but I am going to go with it because I am going to bet that most people have never cooked with Lime Jello. I wouldn’t unless I was using this recipe. It is Tuesday and I was out of ideas. Dandy love me and she won’t mind.

Oh I should tell you that here at Chez Knit there is some controversy about this “salad”. There are some who feel that the more proper designation for this recipe would be “dessert”. I will let you decide. I just call it deeeeeeeeelicious.

These are all the ingredients that you are going to need. Just 5 little things to bring you bliss.

Remember to include your progeny in the joyful process of cooking. Here Shoe Queen demonstrates her love for Sea Foam Salad.

Drain the canned pears but remember to reserve the pear juice. You will need it later.

Smoosh up the pears and set them aside. They will be added in a bit. I would suggest that you smoosh them up fairly fine. It is OK to have little bits of pear in the salad but not big chunks.

That is just a really disgusting color. This is 1 cup of the pear juice mixed with the box of jello and then heated in the microwave until very hot but not boiling. The jello has dissolved and the whole thing smells like a giant vat of green liquid Lifesavers.

If you have all the time in the world you can just let the jello/juice mixture cool to room temperature on it’s own. Or, you can help it along a bit.

While the jello is cooling you need to beat the cream cheese and the cream together until they are married and ready to go off on their honeymoon.

I didn’t take a picture of that. It was just too personal.

Then it is time to introduce the jello/juice to the mixture. Just pour it in and turn on the mixer. But don’t turn it on with too much vigor because you will then be cleaning lime jello off the walls…

Not that I would know anything about that mind you.

Moving on.

Don’t be alarmed by the slightly broken look of the mixture. It is fine and will even out when you add the cool whip.

Add the mashed up pears and continue to mix.

Then add the entire container of Cool Whip and let the mixer GENTLY mix it all together. No need to beat it within an inch of it’s life. You could even fold the stuff in like Julia Child would probably do.

Nah, just use the mixer.

And finally, when you have mixed it all together, put it in the serving bowl and let it sit in the frig for 4+ hours until it is thoroughly set, you have………….

Sea Foam Salad. Try not to eat it all in one sitting. Your waist line might never forgive you.

Oh and just a word of warning. If you have longish hair and you are the one making the salad and you decide to clean off the mixer paddle but licking it clean.

You might want to pull back your hair.

Just a suggestion.

>>>>>     SEA FOAM SALAD   <<<<<

International Bundles of Joy

Fillo dough. I love fillo dough.

Pot stickers. I love pot stickers.

And this recipe combines both in a symphony of international goodness and joy.

I will tell you right off the bat that I forgot to take a picture of the ingredients needed for this recipe. But if you go to the bottom and click on the link provided then you will get the entire recipe so you won’t need a picture.

But, the first thing that you will need is ground pork. And for some reason my local grocery store didn’t have any ground pork. They ALWAYS have ground pork, until I really needed it. What is a girl to do when the grocery store doesn’t have any ground pork and she needs to make a recipe?

Why if you have a nice Kitchen Aid mixer and an even nicer husband who bought a bunch of attachments for it you ground the pork yourself.

You can TOTALLY skip the whole grinding the meat yourself step. I would have if Heinens hadn’t utterly failed me. But I do have to say that there is something SO satisfying about stuffing meat down the little hole at the top and having it come out ground from the side.

Moving on.

Next you take 1 cup of finely shredded cabbage, put it in a bowl and pour boiling water over it. Then you let it sit for 15 minutes, just to wilt it a bit. At the end of that time drain it, dump it into a towel and squeeze the heck out of it. Get as much water out as you can. When you have squeezed it as dry as the Sahara add it to the ground pork.

Next peel and slice two nice and pungent slices of ginger. Then finely chop them and add to the ground pork.

And yes I realize that there is a hair on the ginger. I realized that it was there just after I took the picture. The ginger had, at one point, flown out of my hand and landed on the floor. AFTER I had already sliced off what I needed. I have a dog remember. I took care of it.

Then you spend time chopping up one spring onion and 1/2 cup of water chestnuts and then add them to the pork. I forgot to take a picture of that process so you will just have to imagine it or better yet do it.

And if you are REALLY lazy (like me) instead of taking the time to finely chop all those things you just run everything back through the grinder. Well it was already dirty so why not!

Then there is some salt and sugar and sesame oil to be added. Didn’t take pictures of that either. When you are all done mixing everything up, put some plastic wrap over the bowl and refrigerate the pork for an hour or so.

When your pork mixture is nice and chilled you need to take your fillo dough out, lay it out on the counter and QUICKLY cover it with plastic wrap AND a damp towel. This stuff dries out so fast. And once it is dried out there is no working with it.

Melt some butter. Everything is made better with the addition of butter. Do not use margarine. For this recipe it has too much water content. It has to be butter.

Take one sheet of fillo dough, lay it out and quickly brush the entire surface with melted butter. Repeat with a second layer and a third layer. Then when you lay down a fourth sheet of fillo dough DO NOT slather it with butter. Just leave it dry. When this is done then cut the fillo stack into 8 equal squares. At first I used my pizza cutter but I really think that a big and sharp knife does a better job.

Put a dollop (1/2 teaspoon) full of pork mixture on each square. Then working one square at a time brush water on all the edges of the square and then draw up all the edges to form a sort of bundle.

They should look like this. Or perhaps something a bit more artful. This is the best I have ever been able to come up with.

Then pop them into the oven. While they are baking you can whip up the Ginger Dipping Sauce that goes with the recipe.

After 20 long and anxiety filled minutes………

Try not to eat all of them in one sitting.

Click on the link below to get the recipe.

International Bundles of Joy