Cookistry

Let's just get this out there. I love tomato powder. I use it sort of like tomato paste or tomato sauce, but it's more concentrated, and it doesn't add extra liquid, so it's easy to work with.

So, when my buddies at 37 Cooks hooked up with The Spice House and we could pick anything we wanted, of course I wanted the tomato powder. Along with a few other things.

Well, actually a lot of things. I stocked up on things I use all the time and I also picked up a few new things to try, like the ancho-coffee rub and the porcini salt.

Even before the tomato powder arrived, I knew I wanted to use in in bread, somehow. I've made breads before with tomato powder and cheddar cheese, with tomato powder and olives, and I've made flatbreads with bits of sundried tomatoes.

I even made rolls with a swirl of tomato bread along with white bread.

After I pondered a while, I decided on tomato swirl rolls, and I decided that the swirl would be filled with cream cheese and the Sunny Greek seasoning that I also got from The Spice House.

And then I got to work.

I don't know what it is about swirl rolls, but I love making them, no matter if they're sweet or savory. They're just fun.

And the rolls are pretty much never identical, which I also like. It's not ideal if you're baking for a bakery, but I like the idea that I can have a small roll if that's what I want, or a larger roll. Or one with more or less filling. Because that's how I am. Sort of random and chaotic.

Tomato Rolls with a Herbed Cream Cheese Swirl

For the filling:
8 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
1 tablespoon Spice House Sunny Greek seasoning

For the dough:
1 1/2 cups water
2 1/4 tablespoons Red Star active dry yeast
1 tablespoon sugar
13 1/2 ounces bread flour
1 teaspoon salt
4 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons tomato flour
1/2 cup potato flakes (instant mashed potatoes)

To make the filling:
Combine the cream cheese and herbs in a small bowl and mix until well combined. Set aside at room temperature until needed.

To make the dough:
Combine all of the ingredients in the bowl of your stand mixer and knead until the dough is smooth, shiny, and elastic. Cover the bowl and set aside until the dough doubles in size, about an hour.

When the dough has risen, flour your work surface and heat the oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9x13 baking pan with baking spray.

Turn out the dough and roll it into a rectangle about 11 x 16 inches. With one of the long sides of the dough facing you. spread the filling over the top of the dough, leaving about an inch uncovered on the far side. It can be easier to spread the filling with your fingertips rather than using a spatula.

Roll the dough up, jellyroll-style, and not too tight, and seal the seam when you reach the far end.

If the roll is very uneven, roll and nudge is so it's a fairly even thickness, then cut the roll into 12 even pieces. Place the pieces, with one of the cut sides up, in the baking pan.

Cover the pan and set aside until the dough has doubles, about 30 minutes.

Bake at 350 degrees until lightly browned on top - the sides tend to brown more than the top. Remove the pan from the oven and turn the buns out to cool on a rack.

I received products to work with from The Spice House through 37 Cooks.

Recently, I had a chance to "introduce" my friend Jay Ducote to my buddies at 37 Cooks.

I already had them cheering him on when he was competing on The Next Food Network Star, so I knew they'd love to work with his barbecue and mustard sauces.

I've "known" Jay Ducote for a few years now, although I've never seen him in person. We first "met" when a book publisher chose us - along with quite a few other bloggers - to help promote one of Emeril Lagasse's cookbooks.

Later, some of those same bloggers formed a blogging group called Virtual Potluck, and Jay and I got to know each other a little bit better. Then he competed on The Next Food Network Star ... and since then, he's been a busy guy.

Like shooting a pilot for a show called Deep Fried America on The Travel Channel. Awesome, right?

But we've kept in touch a bit, and when I suggested he send some sauces to 37 Cooks, he thought it was a great idea. Each cook got both the mustard and the barbecue sauce to work with, and it seemed like everyone had fun with the challenge.

I decided to use the mustard sauce in a recipe, and it seemed like it would be the perfect thing to spice up some potatoes. Turn out, I was totally right.

These happened to go perfectly with barbecue ribs. Which just might have been sauced with Jay's barbecue sauce. Funny how that works.

Zippy Mustardy Potatoes

1 1/2 to 2 pounds red potatoes. Or yukon golds.
1 large onion
Salt and pepper, to taste
1 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup (or more, to taste) Jay D's Louisiana Molasses Mustard Sauce

Heat the oven to 350 degrees and have an 8-inch baking dish standing by.

Peel and slice the potatoes about 1/4 thick. Peel, halve and slice the onion about the same thickness.

Arrange the onions and potatoes in the prepared pan. Mix the cream and mustard and pour it over the onions and potatoes. Cover the baking dish with aluminum foil. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour, 15 minutes, then uncover the pan and bake another 15 minutes uncovered.

Serve hot.

I received Jay's sauces via 37 Cooks for a post on our group blog.

A local restaurant serves a small side of what they call pickled vegetables. They're mostly cauliflower, with a few bits of other things, and they're spicy.

I've become sort of addicted to them. Every time I go, I ask for extra.

I figured they'd be easy to make, but wasn't motivated to work on the recipe until I got some Chicken Salt through the blog group 37 Cooks. Upon doing a little sniff test of the different varieties, I decided that the Red Pepper Chicken Salt had enough of a kick to make my cauliflower spicy.

Because I like the color that turmeric adds to pickled vegetables, I added turmeric salt, as well. The first time I made it, I thought it was good, but not quite spicy enough. So I made it again, with more Red Pepper Salt. Now, it's perfect.

Since this is so simple to make, I decided to make just a small jar of it, but if you decide you love it, you can double or triple or quadruple the recipe.

These are quick pickles, so they stay nice and crisp. Since they're not preserved, you'll need to store them in the refrigerator.

Pickled Spicy Cauliflower

Cauliflower florets to fit pint jar
2 teaspoons red pepper Chicken Salt
1/2 teaspoon turmeric Chicken Salt
1/2 cup white vinegar
1 cup water

Cut the cauliflower into bite-size pieces and fit as many as possible into a pint jar. Add the red pepper and the turmeric Chicken Salt.

Put the vinegar and water into a microwave-safe container. I used a glass measuring cup, so just one container for measuring and heating. You could also heat this on the stove in a pan. Heat to boiling.

Pour the hot water into the jar and screw the cover on firmly. Shake the jar to make sure the spices get nicely mixed in. Let the jar come to room temperature, then refrigerate until chilled.

This is done as soon as it's chilled, but it continues absorbing flavors as it sits.

I received products from Chicken Salt via 37 Cooks.

My friends at General Mills supplied my other buddies at 37 Cooks with some cereal to play with, and of course I had to play along. We each got the new versions of Trix, Chocolate Cheerios, and Golden Grahams. Three cereals I'd never tasted before.

The new versions have all natural colors and flavors, which is a good thing.

After doing some taste tests, I decided to combine the Chocolate Cheerios and the Golden Grahams, and I decided I wanted to combine them in a s'mores-like item.

I fiddled around a bit and hit a home run with s'mores bars with just a little bit of peanut butter. The peanut flavor isn't super-strong, but it adds a savory note to the sweet marshmallow.

Then I started thinking about the toasted flavor you get from heating a regular s'mores over a fire.

The answer was simple. I added more marshmallows to the top of the bars and hit them with my culinary torch. Just like when you're toasted them over the fire, some of them toasted golden brown, and then there were a few that got a bit blackened. Perfect!

To guild the lily a little more, I melted some chocolate and drizzled it on top of the bars. Because more chocolate is always okay.

While these are certainly sweet, they're not crazy sweet. Which makes me happy

Peanut Butter S'mores Bars

4 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons creamy peanut butter
10 ounces marshmallows, plus more for garnish
Pinch of salt
3 cups Golden Grahams cereal
3 cups Chocolate Cheerios
1/2 cup chocolate chips

Spray a 9x13 pan with cooking spray or butter it.

In a heavy-bottomed saucepan, melt the butter and peanut butter on medium heat. Add the salt, then add the marshmallows, and cook, stirring, just until the marshmallow melt.

Add the cereals and stir to coat all the cereal with the marshmallows.

Turn the mixture out into the prepared baking pan. Wet your hands with cool water and press the mixture down evenly into a pan. Re-wet your hands as needed to keep the marshmallow from sticking. You could also use a spatula, but hands are easier.

Cut one or two large marshmallows into small pieces. Or, if you have mini marshmallows, cut them in half. Arrange the marshmallow bits randomly on top of the bars.

Use a torch to soften the marshmallows, then use a spatula to spread and affix them to the top of the bars. If you have gaps in the bars, you can tuck marshmallow in there. Use the torch again to toast the marshmallows.

Melt the chocolate chips in a microwave-safe measuring cup, heating in 30-second increments and stirring in between heating, until the chocolate is melted and easily pourable.

Drizzle the chocolate over the bars in a random pattern.

Let the bars cool completely (and make sure the chocolate has hardened again) before removing from the pan. Cut into bars.

I received cereal to work with from General Mills via 37 Cooks.

The great thing about having an ice cream maker is that I can make ice cream any time I want to - and any flavor I like.

And then sometimes it starts with a flavor or product that I want to use in an interesting way. Sometimes it's something I found in a store. Sometimes it's something I found hiding in a corner of the pantry. Sometimes it's a new product that I got from a company.

This time around, I had some hibiscus flowers in syrup that I wanted to use. They came to me through 37 Cooks from the Wild Hibiscus Flower Company, and I thought the flavor would be lovely in ice cream.

If you're not familiar with 37 Cooks, go check out the blog and see what we've been up to lately.

When I was brainstorming the ice cream recipe, I decided that I wanted something besides hibiscus flavor. I chose white chocolate for its mild flavor, and I added a bit of vanilla for the deepness of flavor it adds.

And ... I decided to make the ice cream eggless, to let the delicate flavors shine through.

The result is a creamy ice cream with a sweet, fruity, floral flavor. The color is a very pale mauve; barely discernible unless you're looking for the color.

For the white chocolate, I used a bar of Lindt white chocolate, which weighed 4.4 ounces. If you buy a different brand that is a little larger or smaller, it's perfectly fine.

White Chocolate and Hibiscus Ice Cream

4.4 ounces (a little more or less is fine) white chocolate
1 cup milk
2 cups heavy cream
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup hibiscus syrup (from hibiscus flowers in syrup)
1 teaspoon lemon juice
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3/4 cup sugar

Chop the white chocolate into small pieces and place in a microwave safe bowl or measuring cup. Add the milk. Microwave in 30-second increments, stirred after each heating session, until the chocolate melts completely.

Combine all of the ingredients, including the milk and chocolate mixture in a bowl. Stir until the sugar is completely melted. Cover the bowl and refrigerate the mixture until it is completely chilled. I usually mix it up the day before I want to churn it.

When the mixture is fully chilled, churn in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer's instructions. Transfer to a container and freeze until firm.

I received product from Wild Hibiscus Flower Company through 37 Cooks in order to create recipes.

Did you miss me?

I planned on taking some time off for the holidays and coming back right after the first of the year. But ... that didn't happen. Honestly, I don't know if I'm completely back yet. I have some recipes that I made that are blog-worthy, though, so there will be at least a few more posts this month.

While I was slacking off, I has one old post that suddenly got popular. It was my recipe for Pressure-Fried Chicken. I'm not sure if pressure cooking in general has gotten popular, or if people have a sudden urge to do dangerous things in the kitchen. But that post was my most-viewed since I took my little break. Heck, it probably would have been my most popular, even if I didn't take a break.

Meanwhile, I got some samples of hibiscus products from a company called Wild Hibiscus Flower Company through the group 37 Cooks. If you're not familiar with 37 Cooks, it's a group that's pretty much just for fun. And, trust me, it's a lot of fun. There are bloggers and non-bloggers in the group, so you'll see recipes there from people you won't see anywhere else.

So ... one of the items I got was hibiscus flowers in syrup.

I've been a huge fan of hibiscus flowers long before I actually knew what they were. They show up in a lot of herbal teas, adding red color and a fruity sort of flavor. You can find them dried in Mexican stores, where they're called jamaica (ha-my-ka). And now, there are flowers in syrup.

The syrup was my favorite part, but I thought the flowers made a really pretty garnish.

I made my own sparkling water using a soda maker, but you can use bottle water or any fizzy drink you like. If you use a sweetened beverage, omit the agave - it will probably be sweet enough.

Sparkling Hibiscus Lemonade

1 tablespoon hibiscus syrup (from jar of hibiscus flowers in syrup)
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 1/2 teaspoons agave syrup
Sparkling water (or soda) to fill glass
1 hibiscus flower for garnish

Combine the hibiscus syrup, lemon juice, and agave in a glass. Fill with sparkling water and stir. Add the hibiscus flower. Serve.

You can, of course, add ice, if you like. But if the sparkling water is cold, you might not need it, depending on how chilled you like your beverages.

The larger your glass, the more diluted your flavors will be, so adjust as you like. And adjust the sweetness, tartness, too.

I received samples via 37 Cooks for my use in this challenge.

I've always liked Chex Mix, but I've never really found that ultimate recipe that I wanted to make over and over again.

Until now.

The inspiration for this creation was traditional Chex Mix, of course, but also a popcorn mix that's sold at my local farmer's market. That mix includes a spicy cheese popcorn mixed with caramel corn. I don't buy it often, because I devour it way too fast.

Chex Mix can be spicy, but I thought that the addition of cheese and sweetness would make it unbeatable. Turns out I was right.

The mix of sweet toffee-coated nuts, spicy buffalo flavored nuts, crunchy buttery toasty cereal, all coated in salty savory cheese powder makes perfect snack mix.

Cheese powder can be found online from spice shops, or from companies that sell popcorn supplies. There is also a cheese-flavored popcorn topping that you can find at grocery stores, but I don't recommend it - it can be way too salty, well before you taste enough cheese.

Even so, taste the cheese powder before you start. If it seems salty, you can skip the salt in the recipe and keep the saltiness in mind as you add the cheese powder.

The nuts I used were from Truly Good Foods supplied to me via 37 Cooks for a blogging challenge.


Cheesy, Spicy, Sweet and Nutty Snack Mix

3 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 teaspoons worcestershire sauce
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon onion powder
Pinch of garlic salt
5 cups Chex cereal (mixed or all one type)
1 cup Cheerios cereal
1 cup Buffalo Nuts
1 cup Butter Toffee Peanuts
1/4 to 1/2 cup cheese powder

Put the butter on a large sheet pan and place it in the oven while you heat it to 250 degrees. When the butter is melted, add the worcestershire sauce. Sprinkle on the salt, onion powder, and garlic powder so it's fairly well evenly distributed.

Add the cereals and stir and toss to coat the cereal with the butter and seasonings.

Place the pan in the oven and cook for 45 minutes, stirring every 15 minutes.

After 45 minutes of baking, add 1/4 cup of cheese powder and stir. The cheese will stick to the cereal. Add more cheese powder, if desired. I added another 2 tablespoons and I was happy with that, but more would not be terrible, either.

Add the nuts and stir to combine.

Cook an additional 15 minutes, then remove the pan from the oven and let the mix cool before storing.

This makes about two quarts worth of snacks, which is fine for family use, and it's simple enough to make again and again and again and again whenever you want more.

Ahem.

But if you're making this for a party, I suggest doubling or quadrupling the recipe. It will disappear pretty quickly in a setting where people are nibbling.

These may be the absolutely best cookies I've ever made. I'm serious about that. Oh, I love chocolate chip cookies and peanut butter cookies and other cookies just fine. But these cookies are different. The texture is at the same time light, yet crumbly. Crunchy yet delicate.

The flavor is buttery with a whisper of almond. The praline pecan is the perfect topper adding an extra nut flavor that compliments the almond, along with the crunchy sweetness of the praline cookie.

These remind me a little bit of almond cookies that I used to get from a Chinese take-out restaurant, but these have a little more chew and they're not as sandy.

They're really great. You should try them.

The Praline Pecans I used were from Truly Good Foods supplied to me via 37 Cooks for a blogging challenge.

Pecan Praline Almond Cookies

2 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter at room temperature
1 1/4 cups sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon almond extract
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
Praline Pecans (one to top each cookie)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.

Combine the flour, baking soda, and salt in a small bowl and set aside.

Beat the butter, sugar, vanilla extract, and almond at medium speed in a medium bowl with an electric mixer or a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Beat for a few minutes, until the mixture is fluffy.

Drizzle the oil in while continuing to beat the butter mixer at low speed.

Add the flour mixture in several additions, beating just enough to blend it well.

Use a small scoop to form balls of dough. Try for about 24 cookies, but more or less is fine - it just depends on how large you want the cookies to be. They will spread a little and puff up as they bake.

Place the balls on the baking sheets, leaving room between them to spread. Flatten the cookies with the palm of your hand, then place one praline pecan on top of each cookie.

Bake at 350 degrees until the cookies are lightly browned, 13-17 minutes, depending on the size of the cookies. If you're baking 2 sheets of cookies at a time, you'll probably want to swap them around after about 10 minutes of baking.

Remove the cookies from the sheets and let them cool completely on a rack. Continue forming and baking cookies until all the dough is used.

When I was a kid, my mom made a salad that was incredibly simple: it was nothing but sliced tomatoes, salt, black pepper, white vinegar, and white sugar.

It almost sounds too simple, right?

The fanciest ingredient was the farm-fresh or home-grown tomatoes. Because of course this was only made in summer when tomatoes were in season.

But fresh summer tomatoes don't need a whole lot to make them wonderful. With that salad, every single ingredient served to enhance the tomato flavor.

I usually make this salad at least once over the summer, sometimes making it more sweet, and other times edging towards the puckery-tart. But this time, I decided to change things up a bit. Instead of using sugar, I decided to use honey. And not just any honey - I used clover honey creme from Honey Ridge Farms.

I got the honey through 37 Cooks (and by the way, this recipe will also be published on the 37 Cooks blog), and I really wanted to find a way to use the honey in its purest form not cooked into something. Short of eating it with a spoon (which I might or might not have done - it's really good!) I was stumped.

Well, I could have drizzled it on ice cream or English muffins. Despite those being delicious ideas, they wouldn't have been a very good recipe. But when I brought tomatoes home from the farmer's market, I had the idea of using the honey with the tomatoes.

Well, then. Salad.

Tomato Salad with Thyme and Honey

1/2 large red tomato (beefsteak, if you can find them)
1/2 large green or yellow tomato
Pinch of salt
Several grinds of black pepper
Leaves stripped from 1 spring fresh thyme
Honey creme, as needed
Red wine vinegar, as needed

Remove the core from the tomato and slice into thin wedges. Arrange the slices on a plate - I alternated the red and green, but you could put all red on one side of a the plate and all green on the other.

And of course you could use just one large tomato. Or use several tomatoes to make a whole platter for a party.

Sprinkle on salt and grind on the pepper, then strew the thyme leaves on top. Drizzle on the honey cream in thin strands. I used a fork to portion the honey.

Drizzle on just a little bit of vinegar. I know you've seen this on TV, where you put your thumb over most of the opening of the bottle and just shake on a small amount here and there.

Serve.

You can refrigerate the leftovers, but the tomatoes tend to get a little soft. They still taste good, but the presentation isn't as nice.

I also received a bottle of Honey Balsamic Vinegar from Honey Ridge Farms which was outstanding. Check out my recipe for honey balsamic glazed onions that I used on Italian sausage sandwiches.

This time of year, there's pretty much always some kind of soup happening. I make enough to last a few days, and when that's gone, another soup makes its appearance. I like to vary the soups, so every new batch is significantly different from the one before.

So ... if the tomato noodle soup is nearly gone, the next one might be chicken and rice. That could be followed by ham and bean or cream of mushroom. Later, it might be beef barley or split pea. Some soups have meat in them, some have a meat (or poultry) base, and some are completely vegetarian.

There's a lot of soup around here.

So when my buddies at 37 Cooks hosted a challenge sponsored by Bilinksi's sausage and they sent chicken, kale, and balsamic sausage ... well, the first thing I thought of was soup.

I decided to amp up the chicken content by using chicken stock and chicken thighs along with the chicken sausage. There's no doubt at all that this is a chicken soup.

If you happen to have cooked chicken to add to the soup, you can skip cooking the thighs in the stock - the stock won't be quite as rich, but it will still be pretty terrific.

Chicken-Sausage Chicken-Thigh Chicken Noodle Soup

1 tablespoon olive oil
4 chicken thighs
1 quart chicken stock
6 carrots
1 onion
6 scallions
1 teaspoon poultry seasoning
1 tablespoon minced parsley
Salt, to taste
1 cup dry pasta (I used farfalle, but any shape is fine)
3/4 cup frozen peas
1/4 cup corn kernels
12 ounces Bilinski chicken sausage

Heat a Dutch oven or other heavy-bottomed pot on medium heat and add the olive oil. When the oil is hot, add the chicken thighs, skin-side down. Cook until the skin is nicely browned, then flip the pieces over and cook on the other side until browned.

Add the chicken stock. Cover and simmer until the chicken thighs are cooked through and tender - figure on 45 minutes to an hour.

Remove the chicken thighs and skim the fat off the top of the stock.

If you prefer, you can do this step ahead of time and refrigerate the stock, which makes it easier to peel off the solidified fat.

Remove the skin from the chicken thighs and remove the meat from the bones. Shred or chop the chicken meat and refrigerate until needed.

Add a quart of water to the stock.

Peel and slice the carrots into rounds. Add them to the stock. Peel and dice the onion and add the diced onion to the stock. Slice the scallions into rounds - using the white parts tender green parts - and add them to the stock. Add the poultry seasoning and parsley.

Taste for seasoning. If the stock was salted, you may not need more now, but if it was unsalted, add salt as needed.

Simmer the vegetables in the stock until they are tender.

Add the pasta and cook until al dente, then add the peas and corn.

Slice the chicken sausage into rounds - or slice on a slight bias to create ovals. Add the sausage and the reserved chicken thigh meat to the soup. Taste for seasoning again and add salt, if needed. Cook for another minute or two, just enough to warm the chicken sausage and meat.

Serve hot.

I received chicken sausage at no cost to me from Bilinski through 37 Cooks.