Baked Barley and My Chinese Covered Casserole Dish

My hot plate is no more. Ever heard of slow-browned beef? I hadn't either, until my hot plate shut off 15 minutes after I started browning some stew meat. The pan and the burner were still hot, but pretty soon I figured out the heat was no longer coming and the beef was barely turning brown (though it was trying!). I gave up on the browning and continued with the recipe. Six hours later, I tried again with another pound of stew meat (this is what happens when you're making a meal for someone and preparing for a potluck too), and the hot plate did the same thing. So I gave up on it again. My landlady is now looking for a new hot plate, preferably something that works this time. :-)

In the meantime, I needed to cook another batch of barley for more barley salad. I decided the barley salad didn't need any more flavoring, and I liked it so much I wanted more of it. Since I couldn't cook the barley on the stove, I searched the net for other ways to cook barley, and I found a Food Network recipe for Baked Barley. But it needs a casserole dish covered with aluminum foil and a lid, and I didn't have anything to suit the purpose, until I searched my cabinets and came up with my Chinese Covered Casserole Dish:

 

I remembered that some of my bowls and plates are oven-safe, so I put one of each together. That's a picture of it inside the toaster oven. I can't help but think it looks Chinese. It doesn't have the foil on it yet because there was no barley inside it yet when I took the picture.

The casserole dish worked wonderfully, and the baked barley came out fine, so here's my version of the recipe. I think this is easier than cooking it on the stove. I left out the butter and salt, since I was going to add feta and other yummy things.

Baked Barley

Combine 2 cups boiling water and 1 cup pearled barley in a 1 1/2 quart casserole dish with lid. Cover the casserole dish with aluminum foil and put the lid on top. Bake at 375 degrees for an hour.

Note: Make sure the lid is oven-safe before you put it in the oven.

Is that a crockpot in the bedroom?

 

Why yes, I think it is! After all, there's a potluck tomorrow, and the corn mini-muffins need to be baked in the oven, so the oven displaces the crockpot...

In other news, I discovered this morning that my stove can only brown one batch of stew meat at a time, and only as much as will fit in an 8" pan. Then it overheats and turns off for who knows how long. I think it's an hour, at least.

Dark Chocolate Low Sugar Peanut Butter Cups

I've always loved peanut butter cups, but I'm pretty sensitive to sugar and I get a headache if something is too sugary. For years I've been wanting to make dark chocolate peanut butter cups, but the filling required way too much powdered sugar to get the right consistency.

Then my mom sent me some defatted peanut flour. At first, I really didn't know what to do with it, but I did some searching online and found that you can use it to make a candy filling. It has a very similar consistency to powdered sugar, so it can replace some of the powdered sugar.

Making the filling

Start with about 1/2 cup to 3/4 cup chunky peanut butter. I get the Wal-Mart brand, and it's a bit too chunky--aren't they supposed to break up the peanut halves?--so I beat it with a meat mallet first to break up the big chunks, and I added a little creamy PB to help.

When you're satisfied with your peanut butter, add a big spoonful of peanut flour. Stir. It should get pretty moldable.

Melt a scant 2 tablespoons of butter in the microwave and stir the butter into the peanut butter mixture. Now it's wet and sticky again.

Stir in confectioner's sugar and salt until the filling is as sugary and salty as you want it. I think I used four small spoonfuls of confectioner's sugar and plenty of shakes of the salt shaker. It does not need to be very sugary, just enough to barely taste the sugar (same for the salt).

Now add peanut flour until it's back to the moldable consistency. Here is the peanut butter filling:

 

By this point, you may also have a mess (see above). Clean up the mess, take a deep breath, and get out the chocolate.

I've found the best source of good cheap chocolate is Trader Joe's. They sell a 500 gram package (that's more than a pound) for around $4. We don't have a Trader Joe's nearby, but I stocked up the last time I was in a city that had one, so I have plenty of chocolate. If all you have are chocolate chips, compare this recipe--they melt chocolate chips with shortening. In any event, you'll need about 3/8 lb. (6 oz.) of chocolate in order to do 25 candy liner sized cups.

Lining the cups

Technically, you're supposed to temper the chocolate, but that requires a candy thermometer (which I don't have), and I'd have to get out the stove and the stove would have to go right on my workspace. If you are fortunate enough to have a normal kitchen, a Google search will tell you how to temper the chocolate. It ends up looking better, more professional. But this is The Modest Kitchen, so here's the method I used.

Before you start, cover your workspace with wax paper. Cut chocolate into small pieces and melt it in a covered bowl in the microwave. Cook it for 30 seconds on 50% power, stir, and repeat those two steps until it's mostly melted.

Using a pastry brush, paint candy liners or mini cupcake liners with chocolate (there's a picture guide at this link). Put each one upside down on the wax paper and let it harden. This may take an hour or two. If you have a normal-size fridge, they will harden more quickly in the fridge. Tempered chocolate should harden very quickly.

 

 

Assembling the cups

When they are hardened, fill each one with the peanut butter filling and flatten it down with clean fingers. Leave a little bit of room at the top. Melt your chocolate again, if necessary. Use a spoon to spoon enough chocolate on the top so that the cup is filled. Let harden again. Store in fridge. Makes 25 candy liner sized cups.

 

Now you have a bit of chocolate left, but not enough to be worth saving. Of course, you don't want to waste it, so the only solution is to eat it. This is the best part.

Tips

My big mistake was that I painted 50 candy liner sized cups (smaller than mini cupcake cups) and then discovered I only had enough filling for 25. Fortunately, I hadn't licked the bowl or the utensils from the filling, so I made another batch of the filling, using the recipe above.

Also, when you're painting the cups, you're not trying to paint a paper-thin layer. It needs to be a couple of millimeters thick. A paper-thin layer will not behave very well, but of course you can still eat it.

When you're working with melted chocolate, tape your wax paper to the counter, and use enough wax paper to really cover the counter. When your hands are covered in chocolate (yes, they will be), you can't protect the counter if the wax paper slides (which it will).

Do not let the chocolate harden on the pastry brush and expect to use it again. Oops. I was so glad to find that a spoon worked better for the second go-round with the melted chocolate.

Honestly, this was a pretty easy recipe, although it did take some time. I just put on something enjoyable to listen to and went at it.

Barley-Feta Salad with Cranberries and Pecans

 

I had some mishaps in cooking this. I burned my fingers on the oven door, burned the pecans, and then spilled them all over the carpet. Still, it really hit the spot tonight, and barley makes you feel so full! I ate it as a main dish, since it has plenty of protein, but it could serve as a side dish in a low-protein meal.

2 1/4 c. water
3/4 c. barley (I used pearled, but unpearled is more nutritious. Cooking directions are for pearled barley.)

3 oz. feta, crumbled
1/4 c. (or however much you want) dried cranberries
1/3 c. (or however much you want) pecans, chopped
2-4 green onions, chopped

1. Put water and barley in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Cover and simmer 25 minutes until barley is tender and most of the water is absorbed. Remove pan from heat, uncover, and let cool for a couple of hours. When barley is cool, drain remaining water and place in large bowl.
2. Toast chopped pecans in a 350 degree oven for 3-5 minutes or until fragrant, stirring every minute. Watch them closely, because they burn easily.
3. Skip this step if you like your green onions raw. I don't, so I put them in the oven for a couple of minutes after I had taken the pecans out.
4. Add feta, cranberries, and green onions to the bowl of barley. Stir. Add pecans right before serving.

Note: If you think you'll have leftovers, put the nuts in a separate bowl and add them at the table. They lose their flavor when stored as part of the salad.

Further note: This salad might need a little more flavoring. I debated adding sesame oil, but my stomach was feeling queasy and I decided to keep it plain. Comment if you have any other ideas!

Pancake/Waffle Mix

I realized today that I took my mom's copy of the recipe for waffle mix, so I'm posting it here to give it back to her.

Pancake/Waffle Mix
This recipe is adapted from the More-with-Less cookbook.

2 c. white flour
2 c. whole wheat flour
2 c. buckwheat flour
1 T. salt
6 T. baking powder (that's 1/4 c. plus 2 T.)
6 T. sugar
2 c. powdered milk
1 c. wheat germ

Mix well and store in an airtight container in cupboard.

To use:
Combine in a bowl:

1 egg (beaten with fork)
1 c. water
2 T. oil
1 1/2 c. pancake mix

Cook as pancakes or waffles.

On Saving Time and Conserving Dishes

Here are some tips I've discovered to make things easier in a small kitchen without much counter space (or a dishwasher).

• If the plate isn't dirty, use it again. On days I don't cook, I often use just one bowl and one plate in a day (plus about 5 pieces of silverware).
  
  
• When I'm alone, I use plastic water bottles rather than drinking glasses. I keep four water bottles in the fridge and refill them after I drink them (replacing them every few weeks). Then I don't have to make ice and can use my shoebox freezer for other things. I also don't need to wash drinking glasses unless I have company.
  
  
• When chopping vegetables, it's really nice to have a trash bowl (so you don't have to keep opening the trash can), but I don't like to use that much counter space or wash a bowl for that. Instead, I put wax paper on the counter next to my cutting board, and I collect the scraps there. When I'm done cutting, I gather up the wax paper and put it in the trash, and the counter is clean for whatever comes next.
  
  
• I also have saved a couple of jar lids (about 5" diameter, 1" deep) from jars that I threw out. These only serve as trash bowls and don't have to be washed well.
  
  
• Use the microwave rather than the stove. Some examples:
  
  
  • Corn on the cob: Shuck corn. Wet a paper towel, squeeze out most of the water, and wrap the paper towel around the corn. Microwave on high 3 minutes for one ear. I usually microwave one ear as I'm shucking the next one.
    
    
  • Mashed potatoes: Cube potatoes and place in microwave-safe bowl. Add a couple of tablespoons of water and cover. Microwave on high 8 minutes or until potatoes are tender. Mash.
  
  I don't think I'll ever do either of those on the stove again--the microwave is so easy!
  
  
• Use parchment paper on your cookie sheet when baking. Parchment paper is usually sold near the wax paper and aluminum foil, and you put it on the cookie sheet before you put on the cookies/biscuits/whatever. Each piece can be reused a few times. (Warning to bakers: It won't work for spritz cookies, since they need to adhere to the cookie sheet when they come out of the spritz press.)
  
  
• Cookie sheets or baking pans can also be lined with aluminum foil. This is especially good for savory things, so that the grease doesn't get baked onto your pan.
  

Oatmeal Dark Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars

When I was looking for a recipe for chocolate chip cookie bars, I knew it wouldn't exactly be healthy, but at least I wanted one that had some good stuff (read: fiber) in it and wasn't too sugary. I liked this recipe because it has (roughly) equal amounts of cookie dough and oats, so one day I made it in someone else's oven and discovered it had way too much sugar. The pan size it requires is too big to fit in my toaster oven, so today I modified the recipe for my 9 x 6.5" pan, cut way back on the sugar, and substituted dark chocolate chips. I was delighted with the result, so I'm posting it here.

 

Oatmeal Dark Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars

Ingredients:
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened (you can soften it in the microwave on power 1--it usually takes 30 sec to 2 min)
3/8 cup brown sugar, packed
1 egg yolk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
3/4 cup all-purpose flour (can use mix of white and wheat flour)
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 pinch of salt (this is what happens when you halve a recipe...)
1 1/2 cups rolled ("old-fashioned") oats
6 ounces (1 cup) dark chocolate chips

Instructions:
1. Cream butter and sugar with electric mixer on high.
2. Beat in egg and vanilla.
3. Mix flour, salt, and baking soda in a separate bowl.
4. Add flour mixture to butter-sugar mixture, beating on low or medium.
5. Stir in oats, beating on low. Last, add chocolate chips and stir them in the same way. (If the dough is too stiff, you might want to use your hands instead.) You can substitute raisins or chopped nuts for some of the chocolate chips, if you prefer.
6. Flatten cookie dough into a greased 9 x 6.5" baking dish. It's ok for there to be a few cracks in the dough, but mostly it should be flat.
7. Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes, or until lightly golden and cookies are set in the middle. If you're unsure, test with a knife (it'll probably get chocolate on it, but it shouldn't come out with any cookie dough on it).
8. Cool for 20 minutes; cut into 1-inch squares.

To use a 9 x 13" pan, follow these directions:

Ingredients:
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened (you can soften it in the microwave on power 1--it usually takes 1-2 min)
3/4 cup brown sugar, packed
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (can use mix of white and wheat flour)
1 teaspoon baking soda
pinch of salt
3 cups rolled ("old-fashioned") oats
12 ounces (2 cups) dark chocolate chips

Follow instructions above for mixing. Bake in a 9 x 13" pan for 30-35 minutes.

Breaded Okra

I love breaded okra. It's one of those comfort foods that Mom made when I was growing up. It's also very healthy and very tasty.

The ingredients are pretty simple: cut-up okra, Italian-flavored breadcrumbs, and canola oil spray. If your can is almost empty (like mine was), have another one ready, because you're probably going to need it.

 

Spray the pan with canola oil spray and heat it up on the stove over normal heat (something like medium to medium-high).

 

Now add the okra and spray the okra.

 

Add some breadcrumbs and spray again. Keep spraying and adding breadcrumbs (making sure to stir the pan often) until you've added enough breadcrumbs:

 

Keep stirring. When it looks like this, you're done:



It's so easy and so yummy! No fried okra for me, thank you. I'll take breaded okra any day.

An Army of Peaches

Look! It's an army of peaches!

 

Fruits and Vegetables

Last time I went to the store, I bought two heads or stalks of celery. Which one is it? The usage seems to change depending on who you're talking to. The French part of the label says it's a foot of celery, so voici two feet of celery:



Then I cut one of them up into sticks, like so:



The water in the glasses helps them to stay fresh and crisp. I finished that celery off in two days, so it's time to cut some more.

I also bought and cut up two pounds of carrots:

As to fruit, I bought these peaches (plus about five more) intending for them to last a week:

The peaches go marching three by three...

They look so nice, don't they? But they were all grainy and mushy inside, so they went marching back to the store where they came from, so I could get my money back. I replaced them with these:

That will last for a couple of days. On Friday, a store nearby will have peaches on sale for 49 cents a pound, so I'll stock up then.

Baked Barley Pudding

After I had dinner last night, I started in on this recipe. I came across it because a cookbook that someone had given me included a recipe for a dessert with barley in it. I didn't like the particular recipe, but I was intrigued by the possibility of a dessert with barley. I did some google searches, and eventually I settled on this recipe from Taste of Home.

The recipe I used was for a very rich rice pudding, but with barley instead. I lightened it quite a bit, though. I love rice pudding, and I've experimented in the past with lighter versions of it, so I have an idea of how that works. Besides, dessert with protein is a good idea when you're eating vegetarian. (The More-with-Less cookbook has a lot to say about how desserts can have nutritional value.)

I must have been crazy to start another recipe when my kitchen looked like this:

 

but I did it anyway. I don't usually wash dishes as I go, because I don't have a drying rack; I lay them on the counter to dry them. And when I'm cooking, I don't have any counter space to spare, so the dishes wait.

The recipe said to bake it in 8 ramekins, but I don't have that many, so this is what I managed to scare up:

 

They almost look pathetic, don't they?

Meanwhile, I cooked the barley in the water and added the milk after 10 minutes, as per directions. It said to bring to a boil and simmer uncovered, and I think I turned the heat down too low, or my stove may have overheated and turned off (it does that from time to time), or maybe I should have covered it. Of course, the problem with covering it is that the water can't evaporate. Anyway, I was way over the amount of time the recipe said to cook the barley, and I still wasn't sure if it was "almost tender." How do you know if something is almost tender?

 

Finally I decided it had cooked enough and I took it off the stove and stirred in the half-and-half, sugar, eggs, and vanilla. It called for 1/2 cup of sugar, but that seemed like a lot as I was pouring it in, so I didn't use the entire 1/2 cup. It was still way too much sugar.

Now it's time to put away the stove and get out the oven. First I had to clear off this whole counterspace:

 

I got the oven preheating, and pretty soon I put the 9 x 9 pan in the oven. There was no room for the smaller pan and its ramekin, so it had to wait for the next batch.

 

I was most of the way through the cooking time when I realized I had forgotten to add the cinnamon and the golden raisins. Oops. At least there was still one unbaked ramekin, so I gave it some raisins and cinnamon.

After about 35 minutes, the two little ramekins were done, and the second big one went in. I also rotated the pan, because things in the back of the oven burn easily. I belatedly added the cinnamon to the top of the two little ramekins, and I tried to drop a few raisins through the hole(s) created when I stuck the knife in to see if it was done.

 

I gave the ramekins a few minutes to cool before I took a spoon and attacked one of them. It was liquidy, which I expected since it had just come out of the oven. It had way too much sugar (I got a sugar-headache), and the barley was really chewy. Live and learn.

For the next half-hour, I kept checking the big ramekins every 7 minutes. I think I dropped at least two knives on the floor. I was getting tired and frustrated. Finally the big ramekins were ready. If you look closely, you can see a raisin on the skin on top of the left one, from when I tried to add the raisins after it came out of the oven.

 

I was so glad when they were done, and I was even happier when they were cool enough to put in the fridge. I managed to eat both of the little ones, since I didn't have a place for them in the fridge. I probably could have put them under the freezer, but things put there tend to freeze (ever tried to cook with half-frozen eggs?) and I was afraid the glass might break.

Today I did dishes. Lots and lots and lots of dishes. Then I really, really cleaned the kitchen sink, because it needed it.

I had some more of the barley pudding this afternoon. When I went to bed last night, I was contemplating throwing it in the trash, but I decided it wasn't that bad and I didn't want to waste it. It actually tasted a lot better today, though it's still too sugary.

In light of all I learned, here is my modified version of the recipe. I may actually try it again, but not at the end of a long day of cooking.

Baked Barley Pudding

1-1/4 cups water
1/2 cup uncooked medium pearl barley
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 cups milk
1 cup half-and-half (may use 1/4 cup skim milk and 3/4 cup half-and-half)
1/3 cup sugar (or less)
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup golden raisins
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

The directions are copied straight from their website. Make sure you cook the barley long enough, and don't forget to add the raisins and cinnamon...

Directions

In a large saucepan, bring water to a boil. Stir in barley and salt. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add milk; cook over medium-low heat for 10 minutes or until barley is almost tender, stirring frequently. In a bowl, whisk the cream, sugar, eggs and vanilla; gradually stir into the barley mixture.

Spoon into eight greased 6-oz. custard cups. Sprinkle with raisins and cinnamon. Place custard cups in two 9-in. square baking pans. Fill both pans with boiling water to a depth of 1 in. Bake, uncovered, at 350° for 30-35 minutes or until a knife inserted near the center comes out clean. Store in the refrigerator. Yield: 8 servings.

Nutty Quinoa Salad and Seitan Cutlets

I got quinoa last week, mainly because it was a complete protein, and I've been wondering what to do with it. Last night I looked it up in The New Basics Cookbook, which is a fantastic cookbook that I think everyone should have. It describes all the vegetables, grains, types of rice, etc, and how to cook them and what they're best used for. Anyway, it had a recipe for Nutty Quinoa Salad, and it looked good, so I decided to try it.

When I opened the quinoa, it smelled a little strange, so I decided it would be a good idea to rinse it--except that it was too small and would go through the holes in my colander. So I lined a bowl with a clean dishrag, put in the quinoa, then the water, and then lifted the quinoa out using the dishcloth. Rinse and repeat.

 
 
 

Then you cook the quinoa and water, add the raisins, and cook a bit more until the water's absorbed. My stove is a bit finicky about coming to a boil if the saucepan is big--after all, it's only a 6-inch burner--but it did pretty well. It took a little longer than the recipe, but that's normal. Then it looks like this:

 

It said to remove from the heat and spread it in a thin layer on a baking sheet to cool. I completely disregarded this instruction, because I didn't want to have to wash the baking sheet, and I had nowhere to put the baking sheet anyway. So I put it in a bowl and added the green onions (so they would cook a little with the steam). Pretty soon I learned why they want you to spread it out: otherwise, it sticks together in a big glob. That's okay by me. After all, it's The Modest Kitchen.

I started in on the Seitan Cutlets, which I made like the Chicken Cutlets Mom used to make. I was a little dubious about the lump of seitan I was using, because it had been in the fridge a few days, but I tried a little bit and it tasted all right, so I kept going. I sliced the seitan:

 

Then I dipped the slices in egg and bread crumbs and sauteed them in the pan.

 

 

When I was done, I didn't want to waste the egg, and it hadn't been contaminated by raw chicken or anything, so I scrambled the leftover egg with some of the leftover breadcrumbs.

 

Back to the quinoa salad. I added the peanuts, mandarin oranges, and some toasted sesame oil. The recipe calls for regular sesame oil, but it wasn't available at either of the nearby grocery stores, except an extra-virgin sesame oil (???) that cost more than $8. I was planning to add some canola oil if I needed a little more oil, but I don't like oily food, and a couple of tablespoons of toasted sesame oil seemed like plenty.

 

Then I sat down for dinner, and I soon realized that I hadn't added the mint or the orange zest. I was too hungry to go back to food prep, so I just added a little mint and orange zest to the portion on my plate. The quinoa salad was good--it really tasted gourmet. Unfortunately, most of the seitan had gone bad. A couple of the slices tasted ok, but most of them tasted like chewy fish. Ick. The egg, however, was fantastic. I have to do that again sometime.

After dinner, I added the mint and orange zest to the rest of the salad. Here's the final version:

 

Nutty Quinoa Salad
from The New Basics Cookbook

1 cup quinoa
2 cups water
1/2 cup golden raisins
1/4 cup sesame oil (I used a tablespoon or two of toasted sesame oil)
3 green onions, white bulb and 3 inches green, sliced
1/2 cup unsalted roasted peanuts
1/2 cup canned mandarin orange sections, drained (I used an entire small can, because I didn't want to waste the leftovers)
2 tablespoons chopped fresh mint leaves (I used much less, probably 10-15 leaves)
2 teaspoons grated orange zest

1. Combine the quinoa and water in a large saucepan and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat, cover, and simmer for 10 minutes. Then add the raisins and continue cooking until all the liquid has evaporated, 5 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat and spread the mixture out on a baking sheet. Let it cool completely.

2. In a large bowl, combine the quinoa and raisins with all the remaining ingredients. Toss gently and serve.

4 to 6 portions


Seitan Cutlets

Egg(s)
Italian style bread crumbs
Sliced seitan
Oil

Put egg and breadcrumbs in separate bowls. Beat egg. Dip slices of seitan in egg and then breadcrumbs to coat.

I think this would have been good, if I hadn't used too-old seitan, and if I hadn't cooked the seitan too long when I first made it (see previous post about seitan). I'll chalk that up to experience and try again, because this really is promising.


Scrambled Egg(s) with Breadcrumbs

Scramble egg(s) as usual, but add Italian-style breadcrumbs when you add the egg. Yum.