Homemade all-purpose Mexican seasoning

I spent a while last year experimenting with chili, and finally came up with a mix that seemed to work as a general multipurpose Mexican seasoning. I add it to chilis, tacos, hot bean dip. etc, etc, etc. I doubt it's particularly authentic, but it does the trick.
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All-purpose Mexican Seasoning
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8 tbsp chili powder
4 tbsp cumin
2 tbsp salt (or to taste)
2 tbsp black pepper
4 tsp dark brown sugar (I used molasses sugar, but demerara is also good)
4 tsp cocoa
2 tsp garlic powder
2 tsp onion powder (I couldn't find this so bought freeze dried onion pieces from a Chinese supermarket and crushed them)
2 tsp oregano
2 tsp paprika
2 tsp smoked paprika (change ratio of smoked to normal paprika to your desired smokiness level)
1 tsp cinnamon

Pinterest Success #1: Rosemary Parmesan Crackers & Texas Trash Dip

In common with many others, I spend more time pinning things to Pinterest and less time actually making things, but I finally tried out some new recipes. Some worked, some didn't. These are the ones that worked.

First up are the Rosemary Parmesan Crackers (see here for the recipe). These were tasty indeed, and I will definitely make these again (though in greater numbers). For once, something I made actually resembled the picture on the website.

(LEFT: picture from Alexandra's Kitchen blog, RIGHT: fuzzy photo demonstrating my efforts minus the garnish)

Secondly was the Texas Trash dip. It's basically all refried beans and large amounts of cheese - what could go wrong? No pictures of my efforts this time, but I'm highly endorsing this and will do this again.

(Picture & recipe from Life as a Lofthouse blog)

The only changes I made were to halve the amounts, replace the sour cream with creme fraiche, replace Monterey Jack with Edam, and the taco seasoning with a tbsp of my homemade chili mix.

 
I am making a general pre-new year resolution to actually DO rather than PIN. Or, at least, get the ratios of doing to pinning to a more appropriate level.

Cheesy fun

I'm getting into cheesemaking again. I'm easing myself back in gradually by starting with paneer. Totally easy to make and great to cook with.

Ingredients
4 pints full fat millk
4 tbsp lemon juice or 1 tsp citric acid dissolved in a little water (approx 1/4 cup)
Spices of your choice

1. Bring the milk to a rolling boil, stirring regularly
2. When foamy,  add the lemon/citric acid, turn down the heat and, and cook for 10-15 seconds
3. Continue to stir off the heat until the curds and whey separate, then leave for about 10 minutes to set
4. Ladle the curds into a muslin and keep aside the whey.
5. Rinse the curds under warm water then leave to drain. I add the spices at this point, then put a weight on top of the tied muslin to help consolidate it all.
6. After a couple of hours it's ready to eat.

I've found it's ace if you coat it in smoked paprika then fry it up with some bacon in a tomatoey sauce. Either that or go classic with curry. The whey you can either use in place of water in breadmaking, or I keep it in the fridge and add it instead of water to pasta sauces, etc. It gives it an every so slightly creamy edge. It lasts in a fridge as long as your milk normally does.

I used citric acid to precipitate this one, and added black pepper. You can see I didn't really pay much attention and the spice isn't exactly evenly spread. Citric acid can be pretty hard to get hold of, as people think you are going to cut it with heroin, but some places are ok. Barnitt's in York is where I get mine. They clearly don't care if housewives are addicted to class A drugs.

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Lashings and lashings of ginger beer

I recently ventured once more into the home production of alcoholic beverages. This time it was ginger beer. I looked around and there are lots of recipes, so I adapted a few. I sampled my first bottle this weekend and it was rather delicious!

Highly explosive, but delicious ginger beer and the jar of sediment

To start off the plant:

In a jar, mix together

4g active dried yeast (or 14g/0.5oz fresh)
3/4 pint of water
2tsp ginger 2tsp sugar Leave for 24 hours, then feed the plant with 1tsp root ginger and 1tsp sugar daily. After a week, mix thoroughly and strain into a jug.


To make one bottle (approx 2 1/2 pints):

Dissolve 170g sugar into half a pint of hot water.
Add the juice of half a lemon and a quarter of the strained mixture.
Add 1.25 pints of lukewarm water and stir well.
Decant into a bottle and mature for another week. The bottle may need burping as a lot of gas will build up.


(This next part is speculative as I've not bottled up my second batch yet)
Put the remainder of the strained liquid back into the jar and top up with warm water to replace what you've taken out, and start feeding again with 1tsp sugar daily. The ginger may not need topping up.

A week later repeat the bottling process.

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I've already got my next drink experiment planned. I've just been out harvesting elderberries!

Your mother was a hamster...

Squeaky cheese

I am a huge dairy fiend and recently got to eat proper cheddar cheese curds. They are amazingly tasty so I set about trying to find out how to make them. Turns out it's a bit tricky without complicated ingredients, but on my travels I found this recipe for Queso Blanco.

It looked ridiculously easy so I've given it a go. I changed the quantities of the recipe though, to suit those who don't eat a crazy amount of cheese:

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QUESO BLANCO

1 litre whole milk
2 1/2 tablespoons of lime juice
salt

I first heated the milk on a medium heat in a saucepan until it reached 185 degrees Fahrenheit (just before boiling).


Then added the lime juice to separate the curds and whey. This simmered for 2 minutes at the same medium temperature.


The cheese was then decanted into a cheesecloth-lined colander to drain the whey, and sprinkled with salt.

At this point you can add anything you like. I was going to add roasted red peppers, but I couldn't get the jar open, so I opted for just a sprinkle of black pepper.



The linen is then tied over the tap to drain for another four hours (or overnight).


I can't wait to try this later. I'm also keeping the drained off whey for making ricotta tomorrow :)

Sweet potato, halloumi and rocket salad

On request by my mother, Lisa and Alison, here is the recipe for a fail-proof starter or lunch. This is also for the beneift of Marios, being the only Cypriot I know. Knowing my luck he probably hates halloumi ;o)

I originally got it from my friend Jen on the night we ate (or tried to eat) the most epic cheesecake I have ever seen, which was made from about 6 kilogrammes of chocolate... Alas I don't have *that* particular recipe...

So:

Serves 4 as starter or 3 for lunch

Ingredients:
500g sweet potatoes, sliced to about a centimetre thickness
3 tbsp olive oil
250g halloumi cheese
75g rocket

For the dressing:
5 tbsp olive oil
3 tbsp clear honey
2 tbsp lemon/lime juice
1 1/2 tbsp black onion seeds (kalonji)
1 red chilli deseeded and finely sliced (or I use chilli oil instead)
2 tbsp chopped lemon thyme
salt and pepper


To make:
1. Mix together the dressing ingredients. Sniff as required.



2. Par-boil the sweet potatoes in lightly salted water for 2 minutes, then drain and fry for 10 minutes


3. Slice the cheese and grill on a lightly-oiled foil-covered grill for about 3 minutes or until nicely browned

4. Put rocket on the plate and pile on the sweet potato, haloumi and dressing.




...and that's it. Warning though - the dressing is very sweet so you may like to cut down the honey content a bit. You absolutely can't do it without black onion seeds though, they are a-ma-zing!



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