Category: Sauces

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Breakfast Featured Recipes Sauces

Veggie Cream Cheese

Veggie Cream Cheese from www.jasonscooking.com

Veggie Cream Cheese from www.jasonscooking.com

Background Spread Your Veggies

There’s an excellent bagel shop in Douglasville, GA called The Bagel Meister that I used to go to all the time. Unfortunately I’ve moved about an hour away (and no longer commute) so no more delicious Bagel Meister on the way to work for me.

The first time I went in, I was a bagel novice so I ordered a sesame bagel with plain cream cheese. Mrs. Meister was working the intake line that day and she said, “no.”

“Oh yeah,” I responded. “Well then what should I have?”
Her reply changed my bagel order forever. “I’m going to make you an everything bagel, double toasted with veggie cream cheese. You have to taste it before you go because if you don’t like it, I’ll make the sesame bagel for you.”

It was delicious and that’s the only bagel for me now.

Making bagels at home is fun and rather easy but it’s time consuming. Making your own cream cheese flavors, on the other hand, is both quick and easy. I couldn’t find another veggie cream cheese that I liked as much as the Meister’s cream cheese so I decided to make my own.

The RecipeRecipe
Veggie Cream Cheese
 
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Ingredients
  • ¼ Vidalia Onion, roughly chopped
  • ⅓ Red Bell Pepper, stemmed, seeded and roughly chopped
  • 1 Clove Garlic, peeled
  • 1 Hand Full Fresh Parsley, about ⅓ cup
  • 1 Tbs Milk
  • 8 oz Cream Cheese, softened
Instructions
  1. Pulse all of the veggies in a small food process about 10 times until they’re finely chopped.
  2. Transfer the veggies to a cheese cloth or 4 paper towels stacked on top of one another, gather up the corners like one of those camper’s-handkerchiefs-on-a-stick things, and squeeze the moisture out of the veggies.
  3. Add them back into the processor with the cream cheese and milk and process until it’s all mixed together.
  4. Store for up to 2 weeks in an air-tight container in the refrigerator.
Tips and TricksTips and Tricks

If you want to save on calories, use Neufchâtel cheese instead of cream cheese. It’s the stuff that is marketed as low fat or 1/3 less fat cream cheese and is right next to the real stuff in the grocery store.

Feed the FreezerFeed the Freezer

You can certainly freeze this spread but it’ll lose some texture when you thaw it out. To loosen, beat in a little more milk after thawing.

Fun FactsFun Facts

Apparently making your own cream cheese is super easy. Who knew? I’ll add it to the list of things to try!

Categories
Featured Recipes Sauces

Homemade Ranch Dressing

Ranch Dressing from www.jasonscooking.com

Ranch Dressing from www.jasonscooking.com

BackgroundBackground

Everyone knows that ranch dressing is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy. That’s the only way to explain how an American hero like Steve Henson came up with the brilliant idea at his Hidden Valley Ranch to mix buttermilk, mayonnaise and some herbs together to create the beautiful nectar that is Ranch Dressing.

The best news about this sweet sweet nectar is that it’s super simple to make at home and you probably have most, if not all, of the ingredients in your house right now. Grab a mason jar, a bunch of herbs and spices, mayo, buttermilk, sour cream, and a mason jar and make a batch today. You’ll remember this day as the day that your life finally began.

Too much? Nah.

The RecipeRecipe
Homemade Ranch Dressing
 
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Recipe type: Other
Ingredients
  • ½ Cup Buttermilk
  • 2 tbs Sour Cream
  • 1 tbs Mayonnaise
  • 1 tsp Dried Parsley
  • 1 tsp Cracked Black Pepper
  • ½ tsp Dried Chives
  • ¼ tsp Garlic Powder
  • ¼ tsp Kosher Salt
  • ½ tsp Dijon Mustard
  • 2 Dashes Hot Sauce
Instructions
  1. Put all ingredients in a mason jar and shake very vigorously.
  2. Store the dressing in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours before serving. It should keep in the refrigerator for about a week.
  3. Shake again before serving.
Tips and TricksTips and Tricks

As with most things, you can add bacon to this dressing and call it Bacon Ranch Dressing!

Feed the FreezerFeed the Freezer Make Ahead

You can keep this dressing for up to a week in the refrigerator so feel free to make it ahead of time.

Fun FactsFun Facts

Hidden Valley Ranch, the original and most popular brand of ranch dressing, is owned by Clorox.

Categories
Featured Recipes Sauces

Homemade Chicken Stock

Homemade Chicken Stock
TemperatureLow SimmerTime4 – 6 hours

Homemade Chicken Stock

BackgroundBackground

If you’re not making your own chicken stock, you should be. It’s incredibly easy to do and way less expensive than the store-bought stuff and it makes your house smell incredible! It does take a bit of time to do so this is best tackled on a Sunday afternoon. I almost always make a big pot of stock after I make a Sunday Afternoon Roast Chicken.

Make sure you check out the Tips and Tricks and Feed the Freezer sections of this recipe for some very helpful suggestions!

The RecipeRecipe
Homemade Chicken Stock
 
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Author:
Recipe type: Other
Ingredients
  • 1 Chicken Carcass, Meat Removed
  • 1 Onion, Quartered
  • 1 Bell Pepper, Quartered
  • 2 Cloves Garlic, Peeled
  • 3 Carrots, Cut into Thirds
  • 3 Ribs Celery, Cut into Thirds
  • 1 Tbs Whole Black Peppercorns
  • About 1 Gallon Water
Instructions
  1. Place all ingredients in a very large stock pot and bring to a boil.
  2. Once everything is boiling, cover and reduce heat to simmer for 3 – 4 hours. Remove the stock from the heat and allow to cool a bit.
  3. Strain stock through a fine mesh strainer into a heat-proof pitcher and discard the bones and spent veggies.
  4. Chill the stock in the refrigerator overnight. Remove the fat that floats to the top, portion and store.
Notes
Substitute the vegetables in this recipe for whatever you have on hand.
For a clearer stock, strain the cooled stock through 4 - 5 layers of cheese cloth.
Tips and TricksTips and Tricks

Freeze your chicken carcasses and veggies that are past their prime in large zip-top bags for use in stocks. When you’re ready to make some stock, you’ll have a stockpile of ingredients that just need a bit of water, heat and time to turn them into stock!

Feed the FreezerFeed the Freezer

Use 8 oz plastic cups to freeze your stock in 1 cup ice blocks. Once it’s frozen, transfer the portions to a large freezer bag for use in all your soups and stews.

Fun FactsFun Facts

The longer you simmer the stock, the more chickeney it’ll taste. A lot of chicken soup recipes don’t use chicken at all, they just use clarified chicken stock.

Categories
Back to Basics Featured Sauces

Quick and Easy Marinara Sauce

TemperatureN/ATime25 mins

sauces_marinara_062614

BackgroundBackground

What’s the difference between marinara and red sauce?  Generally speaking marinara is a quick sauce that only has a few ingredients in it and red sauce or tomato sauce can be a lot more complex and stews for a long time.

Homemade marinara is a perfect sauce for a quick weeknight pasta dinner, the perfect sauce for chicken parmesan, or a great base sauce for pizza and it’s super easy to make!

sauces_marinaraveg_062614
All there is to marinara!

For those of you who like to get the basics and do your own thing, all you do is sauté garlic and onions in olive oil, add canned diced tomatoes (and the juice) and bring to a quick boil and then add in tons of basil and parsley at the last minute.  See?  It’s super easy to make and way better than store bought stuff!

The RecipeRecipe
Quick and Easy Marinara Sauce
 
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This quick and easy marinara sauce is a great addition to your kitchen arsenal.
Author:
Recipe type: Sauce
Ingredients
  • 1 - 2 Tbsp Olive Oil
  • 1 Onion, diced
  • 3 Cloves Garlic, minced
  • Salt and Pepper
  • 2 28 oz Cans Diced Tomatoes
  • ½ Cup Fresh Parsley, Chopped
  • ½ Cup Fresh Basil, Chopped
Instructions
  1. Heat enough olive oil to cover the bottom of a medium pot on medium (plus a bit) heat
  2. Once the oil has heated up, add the onions and garlic, season with salt and pepper and sauté them until they are translucent (about 5 minutes).
  3. Add the two cans of diced tomatoes and bring to a boil.
  4. After everything is boiling toss in the fresh herbs and let cook for about 5 minutes.
  5. Remove from heat and serve with your favorite pasta!
Notes
If the sauce is too chunky for you, you can pulse it a few times with an immersion blender (or use a potato masher in a pinch).
Tips and TricksTips and Tricks

Canned tomatoes?  Yessir!  Canned (and frozen) vegetables are picked at their peak and – most of the time – are canned (or frozen) in the same day.  Grocery store produce is picked before it’s fully ripe so that it can last for the trip from the farm to your house.  There’s nothing wrong with canned tomatoes (as long as tomatoes are the only ingredient in the can).

Feed the FreezerFeed the Freezer

Marinara freezes great for up to 6 months so make a bunch and freeze them in 1 – 2 cup bags.

Fun FactsFun Facts

Many people don’t know the difference between marinara sauce and spaghetti sauce.