Delicious Greek Apple walnut honey Drizzle

For the past several weeks we have been eating this for breakfast and it never gets old. In fact it just keeps on getting better.

This dish is really easy to make apples, walnuts, Greek yogurt and honey. That's it!! This meal is perfect for the Urban Homestead especially if you are looking for news ways to use your homemade honey, apples from your orchard, walnuts from your trees and possibly Greek style yogurt you made yourself.

Greek Yogurt is an amazing food that provides so many nutrients. 1 cup provides 22 grams of protein, 490mg of Potassium, Calcium, Vitamin B12 and much needed healthy bacteria to aid in digestion. This can be prepared for anytime of the day. And leaves you so full for a really long time. So it's especially good if your watching your weight.


Ingredients: Serving size 1

1 Medium to Large Apple (any Sweet variety Preferably Gala or Fuji)
1/2 half cup of walnuts chunked and crushed
2 Heaping Tablespoons of Greek Yogurt
Your Favorite Honey

Recipe:

Chop and slice the Apple to your liking, place in a serving bowl. Layer three quarters of walnuts over apples, throw on two heaping tablespoons of Greek yogurt, sprinkle remaining crushed walnut over Greek yogurt and drizzle with your best honey.

Enjoy!!

Tsukimi Soba- Authentic Asian dishes at the Homestead

When you think of Urban Homestead cooking... Asian Delicacies usually don't come to mind. But if you take a closer look you will find out that true Authentic Asian cooking is synomounus with Traditional Homestead cooking. As with Homestead Cooking your not going to have every ingredient and therefore you need to supplement certain items. The main goal with Urban Homestead cooking is to use a few items in every dish that has been grown or raised on your city Urban sprawl. Pictured here is one of my favorite Comfort Foods--- Tsukimi Soba aka Buckwheat noodle soup with egg. The combination is to die for. This soup is a perfect detox food for when you want to clear your mind and reset yourself... Here is how I prepared it.......

Ingrediants:

-Dried Buckwheat Noodle
- Bunch of Green Onions finely chopped
- Dried Seawood (Wakame)
-French Fried Onions
-Egg
-2 Cups of water
-1 Teaspoon Hon-dashi http://www.amazon.com/Ajinomoto-Dashi-Soup-Stock-5-28/dp/B0002YB40O
-half Teaspoon of seasalt
-1 Teaspoon of sugar
-2 Tablespoons of Soy Sauce (Kikkoman Soy Sauce, my wife says it has to be Kikkoman)


Cooking Directions:

Noodles: boil buckwheat noodles as per instruction in boiling water. drain and set aside.

Soup: Boil 2 cups of water in a sauce pan. Once its boiled, turn down the heat and put Hon-dashi, salt. sugar and soy sauce. Right before you serve the noodles, put dried seaweed and crack an egg in hot soup and let it cook just enought the egg white gets cooked.

Serve noodles in a big bowl, garnish with sliced green onion, french fried onion. Pour hot soup over the noodle. The last ingredient is to SLURP!!  Make sure you slurp your noodles. Slurping is a Custom in Japan..Its welcomed... To not Slurp shows displeasure with the food. Enjoy!!











 

Pepperoni Cheese Buns

My wife wanted a bread maker for the longest time and after making several loafs of the most delicious bread a human can possibly eat we decided to use one of the many functions on the bread maker to make White Bread Dough. The instructions were pretty easy to follow. The idea came back to me when I was growing up in Jersey City... I could remember many of the mom and pop pizza shops selling amazing italian food and for some reason the thought of a pepperoni cheese roll sprung into my mind.... I told the wife about it and asked for a dough and this began the conquest to use the Bread Maker to Make the Actual Dough... Here is what we did......

After settling the Dough we seperated them into fist size balls.
The first step is to flatten out the ball just enough so that you
can line it with the best mozzarella you can afford.

Then its time to add some of the best Pepperoni you can afford



When you finally have the right amount of filling in the dough
the next step is to fold it over itself and press the edges together
so that it forms a nice round bun

When the buns are complete set in the oven at 400 degrees
For approx 20 mins
When they start to turn slightly brown and still soft to touch
add mozzeralla slices to the top and let melt. Do not burn!!

This is food fit for a fat boys paradise. So delicious, so moist
and soft with the dough and the cheese is just the perfect
combination with the Pepperoni. In one word... AMAZING!!



Urban Critter Stew

 

 

 

This has been the most anticipated meal of the winter season. My Urban Critter Stew it is a mix of critters that I took hunting last season. My hawk Koto and I killed several squirrels, took a few rabbits and even some quail. I saved all these critters and today I made my stew. Um Um Ummmmm Goodness!!! If you taste this stew I will guarantee you will be heading out the next day to shoot some squirrels, rabbits and quail when hunting season starts.

 

This is how I make my Urban Critter Stew:

Materials-

• Crock pot

Ingredients-

• 2-3 squirrel carcasses quartered
• 1 rabbit carcass quartered
• 3-6 quail breast
• 2 cups of water
• 1 glog of Better than Bouillon chicken base
• 1 sweet onion
• Few cloves of Garlic crushed and minced
• 1 stick of butter
• half packet of 15 bean dry bean mix bag
• your favorite hot peppers ( I picked some Cayenne's from the garden and Thai peppers)
• Crushed Black Pepper

Directions-

• If you have a small crock pot like I unfortunately do you have to use half of the dry beans in the 15 bean soup package. (Throw away the seasoning)
• Pour half the packet into the crockpot and fill halfway with water.
• Let set for 24 hours to soften beans.
• After 24 hours pour water out and and rinse beans.
• Add squirrels, rabbit, and quail to crock pot
• Throw in garlic, onions, and sliced peppers
• Take a glog of Better than Boullion chicken base and add it to the 2 cups of warm water and stir until dissolved
• pour into crockpot
• soften 1 stick of butter in microwave and pour into crock pot
• add freshly crushed black pepper
• Cook until Meat is falling off the bones.

This recipe is an exclusive and will make you want to smack your momma. Umm Ummm UMMm Goodness. Enjoy

Pan fried Fingerling Potatoes as a side Dish

Potatoes can easily be identified as one of the major food staple in the United States and the world around. I am almost willing to bet it is in the top three after Rice and Corn and it may even be ahead of corn. But either way, many of us live off of the potato. I was used to eating a whole potato and it became boring. I loss my thrill of potatoes because honestly, if you had one potato you have them all. So if you want to try something new and delicious, while still at the same time eating the same potato, try the fingerlings. The recipe we used was inspired by watching Barefoot Contesa's show.

The recipe we used for our fingerling potatoes was as follows:

1/2 lb of fingerling potatoes
1/2 stick of butter
Sea salt, Black pepper and Fresh Rosemary.

Directions:

1. In a frying pan heat butter until sizzling.
2. Place Fingerling potatoes in frying pan and saute until potatoes start to soften.
3. Add salt to taste and crushed black pepper and cook until fingerling's have softened and formes a slight crust.
4. Add Fresh rosemary, cover again for a approx 2 mins and serve.

Moms NY Cheesecake

There are only a few things that I can name that I absolutely love and will go off of diet for and one of them is NY Cheesecake. I have a weakness for cheescake that can not be matched and recently I visited my mom and she made me an awesome NY Style Cheese Cake that was amzing. She doesn't mind sharing her recipe and I thank her for that, Because I feel every body should experience an awesome cheescake. Enjoy

CRUST:

1 CUP CRUSHED GRAHAM CRACKERS ( ADD ANY CRUSHED NUTS IF DESIRED)
1/2 CUP SOFTENED MARG OR BUTTER ( I PREFER BUTTER)

FILLING AND TOPPING:

5 PKGS (8 OZ EACH) CREAM CHEESE SOFETENED
1 3/4 CPS SUGAR
3 TBS ALL PURPOSE FLOUR
1 TBS GRATED ORANGE PEEL
1TBS GRATED LEMON PEEL
5 EGGS
2 EGG YOLKS
1/4 CUP WHIPPING CREAM
CONTAINER OF COOL WHIP OR 3/4 CP WHIPPING CREAM

1 HEAT OVEN TO 400 DEGREES F. GREASE 9 INCH SPRING FORM PAN.MIX CRUST INGREDIENTS, AND PRESS EVENLY ON BOTTOM OF GREASED PAN.
BAKE 8 T0 10 MINS OR UNTIL GOLDEN BROWN. COOL.ASSEMBLE BOTTOM AND SIDE OF PAN.

2 INCREASE OVEN TEMP TO 475. IN LARGE BOWL, BEAT CREAM CHEESE, SUGAR, FLOUR, ORANGE AND LEMON PEELS WITH ELECTRIC BEATER ON MEDIUM SPEED ABOUT 1 MINUTE OR UNTIL SMOOTH. BEAT IN EGGS, 2 EGG YOLKS AND 1/4 CUP WHIPPING CREAM, BEATING ON LOW SPEED UNTIL WELL BLENDED. POUR INTO BAKED CRUST BAKE 15 MINUTES.

3 REDUCE OVEN TEMP TO 200 AND BAKE 1 HOUR LONGER. TURN OFF OVEN, LEAVE CHEESECAKE IN OVEN FOR 30 MINUTES LONGER. REMOVE FROM OVEN AND COOL IN PAN

4 WITHOUT RELEASING OR REMOVING SIDE OF PAN, RUN SPATULA CAREFULLY ALONG SIDE OF PAN TO LOOSN CHEESECAKE. REFRIGERATE UNCOVERED FOR ABOUT 3 HRS OR UNTIL CHILLED, AND CONTINUE REFRIGERATING FOR ABOUT 9 HRS.

5 IN CHILLED BOWL BEAT 3/4 CUP WHIPPING CREAM WITH ELECT BEATER ON HIGH SPEED UNTIL STIFF. SPREAD WHIPPED CREAM OVER TOP OF CAKE AND DECORATE WITH ANY DESIRED NUTS OR FRUIT (MY FAVORITE IS FRESH STRAWBERRIES)

6 ALTERNATE TO THE WHIPPING CREAM, FOR THE TOPPING YOU CAN USE ANY COOL WHIP AND TOP IT OFF WITH YOUR FAVORITE FRUIT.

BON APPETITE!

Georgian Clam Chowder with Old Fashioned Ham and Cheese Pannini

That's right Georgian clam chowder. Believe it or not Georgia has a working shellfish market that is not widely known. One of the things I want to do is promote Georgia food of all kinds and what better way than to promote Georgia Shell fish. I honestly believe that Georgia Shellfish can compete and chowder can compete with any of the new england sort. This recipe can be made with any type of clams. But for the sake of those who can not find fresh Clams and they only have fresh vegetables and herbs this recipe is prefect. As you will quickly see what makes this Clam chowder so different from it's new england counter part is the use of fresh sweet corn. Absolutely delicious. This is an Urban Homestead Orginal derived from our use of fresh clams. Canned clams are use as a substitute for those living in areas where fresh seafood is scarce. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

1 cup of chopped onion

2 cups of chopped celery

4 cloves of garlic(finely chopped)

1/2 stick of butter

2 large red potatoes(diced)

2 sweet white corn(peeled from the husk)

2 bottles clam juice http://www.theperfectpantry.com/2006/10/clam_broth.html

2 tsp of Clam base http://www.amazon.com/Better-Than-Bouillon-Clam-Base/dp/B00016LA8O/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=grocery&qid=1240617170&sr=1-1

3 cans of chopped clam in clam juice http://www.buythecase.net/product/22816/snows_chopped_clams/?engine=yahooshopping

16 oz of half&halffresh dill(chopped)

3 tbs of corn starch

Step:

1- In a soup pot, saute chopped garlic, celery and onion in butter until veges are soft.

2- throw diced potatoes in the pot and blend with step 1

3- pour bottled clam juice and 2 tsp of clam base. Let it cook until potatoes get tender in slow heat

4 -throw corn and half and half and reduce to low heat(Never boil)

5 -put canned chopped clam(with juice) in 4

6- put some chopped fresh dill

7 -mix cold water corn starch and stir in the soup to thicken

8- garnish with fresh dill

Cilantro garlic lime grilled chicken marinade

Using a combination of fresh herbs and pre-packaged seasonings, these grilled chicken thighs came out delicious from only being soaked in the marinade for approximately 1hr and a half. The flavors were explosive and the thighs as they should be were so juicy. The marinade we came up with was:


1 packet of Goya chicken bouillon
7 cloves of finely chopped garlic
10 tbs of finely chopped fresh cilantro
1/2 tsp of dry sage powder
1 tsp of onion powder
1/2 tsp of crushed red pepper
5 tbs of squeezed lime juice
1tbs olive oil

Mix ingredients and soak 4 chicken thighs in marinade for approximately 1 and 1/2 hrs before grilling.

Mesculine Salad with Roasted Almond, prawns and Raspberry Vinaigrette

Our first harvest this year was a very bountiful Mesculine Lettuce variety. It was great to see a mixture of butter and arugula lettuce along with a few other varieties grow together to form our cool weather crop.

Here is how we prepared our Mesculine salad:

1 pound shelled and deveined medium cooked shrimp
1/2 cup of sliced almonds
1 cup cherry tomatoes
1/4 teaspoon pepper
7 cups of Mesculine salad
Raspberry vinaigrette

Roast sliced almonds in the oven
Mix shrimp, tomatoes and pepper in a glass bowl.
Place freshly picked Mesculine salad in shrimp mix.

Toss in Roasted almonds
Garnish with Raspberry vinaigrette to taste over individual salad

Chicken pesto panini

Paninis' are a great quick meal to make when time is of the essence. The most ideal way to make paninis at the homestead is to make your own pesto, bake your own bread and use chickens that you have grown for meat. Back in the day paninis were invented from using old bread that was hard and should have been thrown out. But instead the italians took this bread and stuffed it with goodies and compressed it under high heat to exploit the crust. It was a great way to use old bread and it became very popular.

For this meal we bought some bread from the bakery. Most Paninis are made with focaccia bread, but pretty much any type of bread can be used to make paninis'. We were unable to get some, so we resorted to fresh sub rolls. In the near future we hope to bake our own breads. It will mean so much more when we can do everthing right here. As for the recipe we used:

1 chicken breast

2 rolls

5 Grape tomatoes cut in half

Pesto sauce

5 whole baby portabella sliced

1/2 cup of baby spinach

1/4 cup of grated mozzarella

Preperation:

Boil or grill chicken breast. Do not over cook. Slice cooked chicken breast. Cut bread into half and assemble fresh veggies and chicken slices onto bread. Paste pesto to top portion of bread. Assemble sandwhich and compress under high heat until cheese has melted.

Serve with soup, salad or chips.

Aglio olio Peperoncino (Spaghetti with garlic oil red pepper)

Ingredients:
2 ts crushed red pepper
4 garlic cloves
3 tbs olive oil
1 lb prawns
2 -4 cups of any spinach like green (we used Pakchoy and Asian Spinach)
3 tbs of chopped parsley
15 grape tomatoes
1/2 a pack of spaghetti

Preparation:
Saute the crushed red pepper and garlic in the olive oil in a small frying pan over low heat. When the garlic is golden and the pepper dark brown, add chopped parsley, tomatoes and prawns. Cook pasta one minute prior to package directions (ex. package says 10 mins cook time, your cook time will be 9 mins) save 1/2 cup of pasta water, drain the pasta thoroughly and pour pasta into the pan of seasoned olive oil and add greens, pour 1/2 cup of pasta water into pan. Bring the flavored olive oil to a high heat until pasta is well mixed with garlic pepper sauce. Serve immediately.

Freshly Layed Eggs makes a Delicious Flan

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 1 hour

My Wife Used for Ingredients:
1 & 1/2 cup sugar
6 Medium or Large Freshly layed eggs
1 14oz can sweetened condensed milk
2 13 oz cans evaporated milk
1 teaspoon vanilla

Preparation:
Preheat oven to 325 degrees. You will need 6 (ramekins-the ceramic bowl in the pic) or other specialty flan cook ware and a large baking pan to put them in.

Pour 1 cup sugar in warm pan over medium heat. Constantly stir sugar until it browns and becomes caramel. (If you warm sugar to long it will become bitter; you might want to add just a cap full of water but it is not required) Quickly pour approximately 2-3 tablespoons of caramel in each ramekin, tilting it to swirl the caramel around the sides. Reheat caramel if it starts to harden.

In a mixer or with a whisk, blend the eggs together. Mix in the milks then slowly mix in the 1/2 cup of sugar, then the vanilla. Blend smooth after each ingredient is added.

Pour custard into caramel lined ramekins. Place ramekins in a large glass or ceramic baking dish and fill with about 1-2 inches of hot water. Bake for 45 minutes in the water bath and check with a knife just to the side of the center. If knife comes out clean, it's ready.

Remove and let cool. Let each ramekin cool in refrigerator for 1 hour. Invert each ramekin onto a small plate, the caramel sauce will flow over the custard.

Recipe Copied and modified from: http://mexicanfood.about.com/od/sweetsanddesserts/r/easyflan.htm