Soy Beans Don't Have Boobies.....

I am on a quest. A figuring-out-what-the-heck-is-in-my-food quest.

The first step: soy milk.

I have always been a bit confused by soy milk. I mean... Soy beans don't have boobies.... they aren't a mammal.... And yet they make a 'milk' that I have been drinking for 2 years now... hmmmm.

The solution: find a recipe to make my own! Which was much easier than I thought it would be.

Two ingredients: dried soy beans and water. Kind of an underwhelming discovery.

Anyways -  using the beans I found at Fred Meyer the other day, Sunday was the day! I made my own soy milk! And here is how:

Soak a cup of soy beans in 4 cups of water, overnight.

When dry the beans are spherical, but when soaked they expand into little footballs.

Drain beans, replace water and blend to a smooth paste.

Looks a little like a milkshake.

Strain paste over a pot, through a sieve and cheese cloth. Make sure not to push too much through the sieve or little chunks of soy bean will end up in your milk.

Next time I'll use a bigger piece of cloth...

Bring the resulting "milk" to a simmer (around 200 degrees) for 10-15 minutes. Stir frequently and if it starts foaming, stir more.

Add vanilla and a dash of cinnamon during the last 5 minutes of cooking. Pour into a glass jar and cool!

Its pretty darn good actually - sort of a thick, beany horchata. It is a bit too beany tasting... but it is Soy BEAN milk. Not so good in coffee... the milk separates a bit and looks kinda weird...

There is a by-product of this process - a whole bunch of blended up, wet soy bean. Come to find out its called Okara, and is used in a variety of ways in Japanese cooking... So I put mine on a pan and dried it out. I'll let you know when I use it in something...

So, my recipe needs a bit of tweaking. I think a bit more cooking and a little more flavoring and it will be spot on! Next stop: cheese.

You Can Keep Your Ghost Peppers

I cant believe it is already Wednesday! This week has been flying by - but I think I know why.

I had to call out of work on Monday - due to severe stomach ache (and all other assumable symptoms...).

Now why, you may ask, did I have a severe stomach ache? Oh, yes, you can cheat, re-read the title. Uuugghhh yes. I ate the Ghost Pepper. Not a whole one or anything, I'm not stupid, but about a dozen shrimps coated in the stuff. Uuuggghhhhh. And this is where I admit I am not a "chili head (or is it chile..?)." Uuuuggghhhh....

 They looked so harmless!

Here is the funny thing about the whole experience - so I knew what they were. I knew they were coated in the pepper that topped the Scoville scale for some amount of time at 1,000,000 units. See, I saw someone eat one, and he looked pretty much fine. I mean it was obviously a hot bite he just had, but he looked pretty ok. So I ate one, and it was delicious! Hot, but i could taste the fruit also in the coating. So, I ate about 10 more....... then. it. hit. me. 

I think I burned a hole through my stomach. Or maybe just irritated my stomach lining. Or heck, I may not actually have a stomach anymore.... In any case. You can keep your ghost peppers. I don't want them anymore.

On the plus side of this debacle, I went back to work on Tuesday, then was given Wednesday off - so I've used this day to its fullest! Ok... maybe "fullest" is a bit of an exageration... but I have been busy.

Went to breakfast with Ashley.... looked into getting some financial aid (more to come on that tomorrow)... oh yeah I washed the dog.

She does 'pathetic' well...

AND swept and mopped the entire second story of our house... I hate laminant flooring...

Joule followed the mop everywhere... never had the guts to attack it though.

 

But, if you're cheap (like me) or desperate for a floor cleaner, cause you don't have any (..like me), here is a make-it-yourself recipe for floor cleaner. It works REALLY well.

Laminate/Tile Floor Cleaner

1/2 cup white vinegar

3-4 sprays of your favorite multi-surface cleaner

1 sink full (or bucket) of warm water

Mix it all up. Dip your mop in it and go to town on those dirty floors!

Salmonberry Jellam (Jelly/Jam)

Figured I'd post this recipe - the rest of the websites that have one are really quite cryptic.

The day I made this, I used half raspberries, half salmonberries, I had three reasons for this. One, salmonberries have very little delicious flavor of their own. They don't taste bad! They just don't have MUCH taste at all. Two, salmonberry seeds have an astringent quality to them, kind of a sour tang that leaves the back of your tongue a bit tingly - so I wanted to remove a bunch of them. Which brings us to reason three... by removing a bunch of the seeds, I just didn't have enough pulp with the salmonberries alone...

Also, something great about the following recipe, is that I made it scalable. If you have more berries just scale the recipe up! Also, I think using wild blackberries would be a delicious addition!

Salmonberry Jellam

* 2 cups mixed salmonberries & raspberries (1 cup puree/juice)
* 1.4 cups sugar
* 1 tbls pectin



Recipe

1) Blend half of your berries. Smush puree through a strainer, discard seeds (try doing this to most of the salmonberries). Mush up the other berries - leaving a bit chunky (this combo makes it a Jellam vs a jelly or jam). Mix everything together to get 1 cup puree. Measure out sugar into a bowl and set aside - its going to look like a TON of sugar. Remember, these berrys aren't really sweet on their own and the sugar is the preservative in this recipe.

2) In a small pot, mix berries with pectin (I use Sure-Jell). Stirring frequently, bring to a full boil over medium high heat (till it boils regardless of how much you stir). Mix in sugar and stir vigorously till combined. Bring to a boil again, boil for EXACTLY ONE MINUTE.

3) Immediately, remove from heat and pour into sterilized jars. Cover with 2 part lids. Boil in water bath (not sitting on bottom of pot and covered by at least an inch of water) for 10 minutes.

4) Remove from bath, listen for popping lids! Enjoy!

Makes about 2 cups worth. The not full one to the left, I didn't put in the waterbath, just let it cool on the counter, then put it in the fridge for immediate consumption!

"Chorizo" Beans: Vegan Delicious-ness!

Here is a new one to add to your list of weekly staples - it's literally that good! I fed it to a friend and her kids and they LOVED it on chips - THEN I told them it was soy/vegan and they just giggled and kept eating.

If you don't care about the healthy-ness of it all, use the real chorizo (but make sure to cook it all the way though), and sprinkle it with cheese at the end (Cotija or Jack).

"Chorizo" Beans

Ingredients:

• 1 tbls olive/canola oil
• 1 fresh poblano or anahiem or 2 jalapenos, finely diced
• 1/3 cup onion, finely diced
• 1 clove garlic, smooshed/minced
• 6-8 ounces Soyrizo (or other chorizo-like product)
• 1 can black beans (or pinto or whatever kind)
• 1 tomato, finely diced
• 1/4-1/2 cup vegetable broth (or chicken, if not veggy)
• small handfull fresh cilantro, finely chopped
• 1/2 lemon or lime, juiced

Directions:

In a medium/large skillet heat oil over medium heat. Add the onions and chile - cook for 5ish minutes. Then add garlic and cook for another 2-3, or until everything is getting translucent and tender. (To keep the recipe low-fat, I tend to add a couple tablespoons of water into the pan whenever I think things are cooking/browning too quickly)

When cooked, put the peppers and onions into a bowl off to the side, cause now you need the pan to cook the "chorizo" or in this case Soyrizo (which is my soy chorizo product of choice, you can use whatever). Since its already cooked through, you're basically just going to want to heat it through and add a bit of brown color to it.

While the "meat" cooks, drain and rinse the beans. Reserve half of them in a bowl, then mush up the other half.

When the Soyrizo is done - add the pepper/onion mixture, tomato, and all the beans. Stir and cook for just a minute or so, then add the broth and cilantro. It should be kinda runny - so if its not, add more broth.

Bring this to a boil, then down to a simmer and cook for 10-15 minutes, stirring occasionally, or until it has thickened. Once to that point - remove the pan from the heat, stir in the lemon/lime juice and ENJOY!

Served burrito style with some shredded lettuce and fresh onion.

Great for tacos, burritos, with corn chips or even a fried egg!