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< Back Flan Recipe Prep Time: 20 Min Cook Time: 50 Serves: 8 Level: Beginner Ingredients 1 can of condensed milk* 1 can of evaporated milk** 6 eggs 1 8oz pkg. of cream cheese (optional, see note)*** 1 teaspoon of vanilla 2 tablespoons of water Optional 1 cup of sugar Preparation Preheat your oven to 325 degrees. Make the Caramel Sauce In a medium-sized saucepan, place sugar and water, and boil at high heat until the sugar dissolves. NOTE: Some people have had trouble with their caramel taking longer to cook when adding water. To avoid any issues, it's recommended to omit the water and only use sugar when making caramel. When the sugar dissolves, reduce the heat and keep boiling until the syrup becomes light brown caramel. This step will take about 10 minutes. Next, pour the caramel into your oven-proof pan, swirling the caramel to cover the bottom of the pan evenly. Let cool. Mix The Rest Of The Ingredients Place the rest of the ingredients in a blender and process until you have a smooth mixture. Add The Custard Pour the mixture slowly into the prepared pan and cover it with aluminum foil. How To Make A Water Bath For Flan Recipe Place the pan inside a large baking pan. Add warm water to the pan until it reaches about ¾ inch. Bake The Flan Place your flan in the oven for 50 minutes or until it looks firm. The flan will keep cooking while it cools, so do not let it longer in the oven. Let it cool.4. Once the flan has cooled, run a knife between it and the baking pan. Remove The Cooked Flan From Pan Place a large serving plate on top of the pan and invert with a quick move to avoid any liquid caramel from spilling from the pan. Slice, serve, and enjoy. NOTES * Sweetened condensed milk according to the can is measured by weight at 14 OZ/397grams, about 300 ml., this will be about 1 ¼ cup. ** The Evaporated milk has 12 fluid ounces that equal 1 ½ cups. (354ml) *** I do not always have the cream cheese at home and prepare the recipe just omitting the cheese. The flan still come out delicious. Previous Next

< Back Water Pie Prep Time: 20 minutes Cook Time: 60 minutes Serves: 8 Level: Beginner Ingredients 1 9-inch deep-dish pie crust, unbaked 1 1/2 cups water 4 tablespoons all-purpose flour 1 cup sugar 2 teaspoons vanilla extract 5 tablespoons butter, cut into 5 pieces Preparation Preheat oven to 400° and set empty uncooked pie crust on a baking sheet. 1 - 9-inch deep-dish pie crust, unbaked Pour the 1 1/2 cups of water into the pie crust In a small bowl, stir together the flour and sugar together and sprinkle this mixture evenly over the water in the crust. Don't stir! Drizzle the vanilla over the water in the pie crust. Place the 5 pats of butter on top of the mixture Bake at 400° for 30 minutes. Reduce heat to 375° and cover sides of crust if needed to prevent burning. Continue cooking for an additional 30 minutes. Pie will be watery when you pull it out of the oven but will gel as it cools. Allow to cool completely and then cover and place in the fridge until chilled before cutting. Previous Next

< Back Chinese Goose Leg Noodle Soup Prep Time: 2 Hours Cook Time: 6 Hours Serves: 4 Level: Beginner About the Recipe Ingredients For the Goose Legs 4 goose legs, skin on Kosher salt 1 teaspoon ground Sichuan peppercorn 1 tablespoon oil or goose fat 3 thick slices ginger 3 peeled cloves garlic 3 scallions, trimmed 1 star anise OR 1 teaspoon Chinese 5-Spice powder 1 dried chili 1/4 cup Shaoxing wine 2 cups water OR goose stock 1 tablespoon oyster sauce 2 tablespoons light soy sauce 1/2 teaspoon sesame oil For the Soup 1 gallon (4L) chicken stock, game stock, or goose wing broth 2 bok choy 1 package fresh or dried chow mein noodles 2 scallions, thinly sliced 1 cup preserved mustard green, chopped (optional) Preparation 1. Sprinkle goose legs with salt and Sichuan peppercorn. Let sit, uncovered, in the fridge for a couple of hours up to overnight. 2. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Heat the oil or goose fat in an oven-proof skillet over medium-high heat. Add goose legs skin side down to sear. After 2 minutes, reduce heat to medium. Sear for 5 minutes then flip. Cook for another 5 minutes, pour off the fat (keep for other recipes), then add the rest of the Goose Legs ingredients. Bring to a simmer, then transfer uncovered to the oven. Roast 3-6 hours until tender (cooking time will vary with the age and type of bird), adding more liquid if necessary and basting with the liquid in the pan every hour or so. 3. Add the goose, game, or chicken stock to a pot and heat it up gently. 4. Fill another pot with water and bring it to a boil. Slice the bok choy in half lengthwise, then add it to the pot. Boil for 1 minute, then transfer to a bowl of cold water. Add the noodles to the pot and boil for 1 minute or per package directions. Drain noodles, then split them between 4 bowls. 5. Put a goose leg, 1 halved bok choy, 1/4 of the mustard greens and a pinch of sliced scallion on top of the noodles. Ladle hot broth over everything, filling the bowl. Serve immediately. 6. Enjoy! Previous Next

< Back Easy Tahini Prep Time: N/A Cook Time: N/A Serves: appx. ½ cup Level: Beginner About the Recipe Homemade tahini is so easy to make. Our recipe is quick and makes tahini that tastes much better than anything you can buy at the store. Ingredients 1 cup (5 ounces or 140 grams) sesame seeds, we prefer hulled 2 to 4 tablespoons neutral flavored oil such as grape seed, vegetable or a light olive oil Pinch of salt, optional Preparation What is Tahini? Do you know what tahini is? Would you like to find out how to make it at home instead of buying pricey jars at the store? We’ll tell you all about tahini, what you can use it for (yes, it’s more than hummus) and show you how you can easily make it at home. Tahini is a paste made from sesame seeds and is a staple in many cuisines, especially in the Mediterranean and the Middle East. It’s vegan, gluten-free, tastes nutty, and is simple to make. Store-bought tahini is usually made from hulled sesame seeds. This is our preference, too, but you can make it from unhulled and sprouted sesame seeds. Hulled sesame seeds are what you see most often in stores. In our experience, tahini made from unhulled sesame seeds tends to taste more bitter and doesn’t get quite as smooth as when it is made from hulled sesame seeds. Ways to Use Tahini Arguably the most well known way to use tahini is when making hummus. Even though we are huge hummus geeks, we use tahini in many other ways in our own kitchen. Here’s a list of suggestions for how to use tahini, other than in hummus. Make Baba Ganoush, an incredible roasted eggplant dip that, dare I say it, might beat out hummus for our favorite dip. Make your own tahini salad dressing Turn it into a sauce or salad dressing. Serve tahini next to falafel Use it in dessert. Once you have tahini in your fridge (it lasts over a month), we bet you will find yourself adding it to a variety of dishes without direction from us! How to Make Tahini in Minutes Tahini is very, very simple to make. If you have ever made a nut butter like peanut butter or almond butter before you’ll notice it is practically the same process: Grind sesame seeds in a food processor with a little oil until smooth. We have a 10-cup Magimix food processor. It is quite powerful, but most food processors on the market today should do the trick. Tahini Ingredients You only need THREE ingredients to make tahini. Sesame seeds — As I mentioned earlier, we prefer to use hulled sesame seeds. Most often, we will lightly toast the seeds to bring out some of their natural nuttiness, but you can skip this step altogether if you’d like. Oil — To help the tahini turn into a creamy smooth paste, we add a few tablespoons of neutral-flavored oil. A variety of oils work, try avocado oil, light and fruity olive oil, vegetable oil, and grape seed oil. Salt is an optional ingredient, but I always use it. It just makes the tahini taste better. Our Simple Process for Making Tahini Making tahini is easy and only requires a few simple steps. Step 1, Toast the sesame seeds. I love toasting the sesame seeds before making the tahini. The flavor is far superior this way. If you plan to toast the seeds, we recommend doing so on the stovetop and not in the oven. Sesame seeds are tiny and so they burn very easily. To toast the sesame seeds, I throw them into a wide, dry saucepan over medium-low heat then stir constantly with a spoon until the seeds darken ever so slightly in color and become fragrant. Step 2, Process the sesame seeds until crumbly. When the sesame seeds have cooled, we throw them into the bowl of our food processor, shut the lid then process until a crumbly paste begins to form. Step 3, Add oil and process into a smooth cream. To help the tahini turn into an extra smooth paste, we add a few tablespoons of neutral-flavored oil. You can eliminate some of the oil if you would like, but the tahini won’t be as smooth or pourable. To reach a similar consistency as store-bought, we’ve found 3 to 4 tablespoons of oil should do it. After more processing, a few stops to scrape the bottom and sides of the bowl and a little more processing after that, the tahini is done. Extra smooth and ready to use in whatever recipe you like. FAQ: Can I use a blender? Since posting the recipe, quite a few of our readers have asked whether or not a blender will work in place of a food processor when making tahini. I prefer using my food processor, but if you have a high powered blender (like a Vitamix), then you should be able to use it to make tahini. When you do, be sure to scrape down the sides and bottom of the blender often so that all the seeds are incorporated into the sauce. Storing Tips You can keep tahini covered in the refrigerator for a month, maybe a bit more. You might find that after some time in the fridge it separates, like a natural peanut butter would. All you need to do to fix this is stir it well. Making tahini at home is easy and much less expensive than buying from the store. We recommend looking for sesame seeds in bulk bins or at International, Asian, and Middle Eastern markets for the best deals. While tahini can be made from unhulled, sprouted and hulled sesame seeds, we prefer to use hulled sesame seeds for tahini. Tahini can be kept in the refrigerator for a month. Makes approximately 1/2 Cup Directions TOAST SESAME SEEDS Add sesame seeds to a wide, dry saucepan over medium-low heat and toast, stirring constantly until the seeds become fragrant and very lightly colored (not brown), 3 to 5 minutes. Careful here, sesame seeds can burn quickly. Transfer toasted seeds to a baking sheet or large plate and cool completely. MAKE TAHINI Add sesame seeds to the bowl of a food processor then process until a crumbly paste, about 1 minute. Add 3 tablespoons of the oil then process for 2 to 3 minutes more, stopping to scrape the bottom and sides of the food processor a couple of times. Check the tahini’s consistency. It should be smooth, not gritty, and should be pourable. You may need to process for another minute or add the additional tablespoon of oil. Taste the tahini for seasoning then add salt to taste. Process 5 to 10 seconds to mix it in. TO STORE Store tahini covered in the refrigerator for one month. You may notice it separates over time, like a natural peanut butter would. If this happens, give the tahini a good stir before using. Previous Next

< Back 5-Bean Soup Prep Time: 5 minutes Cook Time: 10 minutes Serves: 6 Level: Beginner About the Recipe Ingredients 1 can red kidney beans (15oz.) 1 can garbanzo beans (15oz.) 1 can navy beans (15oz.) 1 can black beans (15oz.) 1 can green beans (15 oz.) 1 pound hamburger Garlic to taste 2 quarts stewed tomatoes *You also add a can of corn, potatoes, celery, carrots, or any other veggie. Maybe some macaroni if you want. That will make it that much heartier. Preparation Cook the hamburger in a stew pot. Once the hamburger has been cooked and drained of excessive fat, add all of the five drained cans of beans and the two quarts of stewed tomatoes. Season to taste with the garlic and any other herbs or spices you like. Cumin or chili would taste good. Cook until heated through and serve hot. That’s it. So easy. So good. Serve by itself or with quick and easy Mile High Biscuits. Previous Next

< Back Caramel Corn Prep Time: 20 mins Cook Time: 1 hour Serves: Level: Beginner About the Recipe Ingredients 12 to 14 cups popped popcorn ¾ cup packed brown sugar ½ cup butter or margarine ¼ cup light corn syrup ½ teaspoon salt ½ teaspoon baking soda Preparation Divide popcorn between two un-greased 9×13 pans. Cook brown sugar, butter, corn syrup and salt over medium heat, stirring occasionally until bubbly around the edges. Continue cooking 5 more minutes and the remove from heat. Stir in baking soda until it goes all foamy (FYI –use one of your larger saucepans or you’ll have a mess on your hands – this is from experience). Pour over popcorn and stir until coated. For crunchier corn, bake uncovered in a 200-degree oven for 1 hour, stirring every 15 minutes. I have never had the patience to do that and so we have just always eaten it sticky and gooey and yummy! Happy food storage eating!

< Back Greek Salad Prep Time: 10 minutes Cook Time: Serves: 4 Level: About the Recipe Ingredients Dressing ¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil 3 tablespoons red wine vinegar 4 garlic clove , minced 1 teaspoon dried oregano , more for sprinkling 1 teaspoon dried dill ¼ teaspoon Dijon mustard 1 teaspoon sea salt , to taste Freshly ground black pepper For the salad 1 English cucumber , cut lengthwise, seeded, and sliced ¼-inch thick1 green bell pepper , chopped into small pieces 2 cups halved cherry tomatoes 5 ounces feta cheese , cut into ½ inch cubes ⅓ cup thinly sliced red onion ⅓ cup pitted Kalamata olives Preparation Mix everything together and enjoy this amazing. salad! It is a family favorite! Previous Next

< Back Salted Herbs Prep Time: 10 minutes Cook Time: Serves: Multiple Level: Beginner About the Recipe Ingredients 1 cup chopped fresh chives 1 cup chopped fresh savory 1 cup chopped fresh parsley 1 cup chopped fresh chervil 1 cup grated carrots 1 cup chopped celery leaves 1 cup chopped green onions ¼ - ½ cup salt. Preparation In a large bowl, combine all ingredients except salt. Layer 1” of herb mixture in the bottom of a crock or glass bowl and sprinkle with some of the salt. Repeat layers until all of the herb mixture and salt is used. Cove and refrigerate for at least 2 weeks. Drain off accumulated liquid and pack herb mixture into jars. Refrigerate until ready to use. *Note: If you don’t have fresh ingredients, use the dried instead and adjust for taste. Previous Next

< Back 5 Minute Bread Easy fast homemade bread! Previous Next

< Back Shredded Mexican Chicken (Café Rio inspired) Prep Time: 5 minutes Cook Time: Crockpot 5-7 hours Serves: 20 Level: Beginner About the Recipe Ingredients 5 lbs Chicken Breast – boneless skinless 1 small bottle Zesty Italian Dressing 1 tablespoon Chili Powder 1 tablespoon cumin 3 cloves garlic, minced Preparation 1. Mix all ingredients together in a large crock pot. 2. Cook in crockpot on high for 5-7 hours. 3. Remove chicken and shred with fork. 4. Reserve a small amount of juice and pour over shredded chicken to keep moist. 5. Keep warm to serve. This is best served on a tortilla or in a bowl with shredded cheddar cheese, black or pinto beans, lime rice, cut up red and green leaf lettuce, pico de gallo, guacamole, fresh cilantro, parmesan cheese, fresh lime slice, and tomatillo dressing. Previous Next

< Back Homemade Hot Cocoa Mix Easy, delicious hot chocolate! Previous Next

< Back Baked Beans Prep Time: 10 minutes Cook Time: 1 1/2 hours Serves: 20 Level: Beginner About the Recipe Ingredients 3 - 2 ½ lbs. cans of Great Northern Beans (or 9 – 15.8 oz. regular size cans), drained 1 ¼ cup brown sugar 1 cup white sugar 1 teaspoon onion powder OR 1 small onion, diced 1 ½ teaspoon dry mustard ¼ teaspoon salt 1/8 (pinch) black pepper 2 tablespoons softened butter 1 small green pepper, diced (optional) 6+ bacon strips Preparation After the beans are drained, add all the above ingredients, except bacon, and mix together. Pour into a small roasting pan and place bacon strips on top of mixture. Bake uncovered at 350 for about 1-1 ½ hours. Check periodically and if the beans start to look a little dry on top, stir them up and continue baking. All of the ingredients above can be adjusted to personal taste. Also, if you don’t have dry mustard, don’t fret, just use the prepared mustard to taste. Happy picnicking! Previous Next