Pinto Beans (Instant Pot)

 1 pound dried pinto beans, rinsed and picked over for debris

1 yellow onion, chopped

1 jalapeno, seeded and halved

1/2 pound bacon, chopped

3 cloves garlic crushed

2 small cans chopped green chiles

1 T cumin

1 T chili powder

1 t salt

1 t pepper

Set Instant Pot to saute. Cook bacon until fat is rendered. Remove bacon but leave fat. Saute onion and jalapeno in bacon fat until softened and translucent. Add in garlic, cumin and chili powder. Cook for 1 minute. Add 6 cups water, pinto beans reserved bacon and green chilis. Cook on high pressure for 60 min sealed. Release  steam or vent naturally. Remove lid, add salt and pepper to taste. If you like the beans thicker you can continue cooking on saute (low or medium) with lid off until they reach your desired thickness. 

ATK Blueberry Muffins with Lemon Sugar

Ingredients

Lemon Sugar Topping

• ⅓ cup granulated sugar
• finely grated zest from 1 lemon

Blueberry Muffins

• 2 cups blueberries about 10 ounces
• 1 cup + 1 teaspoon granulated sugar
• 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
• 2 ½ teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 2 eggs room temperature
• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter melted and cooled slightly
• ¼ cup canola oil
• 1 cup buttermilk room temperature
• finely grated zest of 1 lemon optional; use it if you like lemon
• 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract

Instructions

Lemon Sugar Topping

1. Mix the sugar and zest together until the sugar is moistened.

Blueberry Muffins

1. Bring 1 cup berries and 1 teaspoon sugar to simmer in small saucepan. Cook, mashing and stirring berries frequently, until berries have broken down, mixture is thickened and reduced to ¼ cup, about 6 minutes. Cool to room temperature, 10 to 15 minutes.

2. Whisk dry ingredients in large bowl. Whisk 1 cup sugar and eggs in medium bowl until thick and homogeneous. Slowly whisk in the fat until combined. Whisk in buttermilk, lemon zest (if using) and vanilla until combined. Fold wet mixture and remaining berries into flour mixture until just moistened (lumpy is fine). If the batter seems loose, let it mellow for 5 minutes (and start on those dishes, sigh), and it will thicken up.
3. Divide among 12 greased muffin cups (batter should completely fill cups). Spoon 1 teaspoon cooked berries into center of each mound; gently swirl into batter using a toothpick and a figure-eight motion. Sprinkle lemon sugar over muffins.
4. Bake at 425F until tops are golden and just firm, 17 to 19 minutes. Cool in muffin tin for 5 minutes, then transfer to wire rack and cool 5 minutes before serving.

Smashed Potatoes

From RecipeTinEats

Ingredients:

1.5 lb small potatoes or 2 - 2.5 lb medium potatoes

1 tbsp salt (for boiling)

2 tbsp butter , melted

1 tbsp olive oil

3/4 tsp salt (for sprinkling)

1/4 tsp black pepper

Finely chopped parsley, optional garnish

Directions:

Cook potatoes: Bring a pot of water to the boil, add 1 tbsp salt. Cook potatoes until soft - small ones should take around 20 to 25 minutes, medium ones might take 30 minutes. It's ok if the skin splits. Alternatively, steam or microwave them.

Preheat oven to 400°F.

Drain the potatoes and let them dry in the colander for 5 minutes or so.

Smash! Place on the tray then use a large fork or potato masher to squish them, keeping them in one piece. Thin = crisper. Thicker = fluffier insides. (Both good!) More nubbly surface = better crunch!

Steam dry again: Leave on the tray to steam dry for 5 minutes or so - makes them crispier!

Drizzle with butter, then olive oil. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Bake for 45 minutes (small potatoes) to 55 minutes (medium) or until deep golden and crispy. Do not flip!

Serve hot, sprinkled with parsley if desired.

Medieval Armored Turnips

From The Imperfect Diet

Ingredients:

5 or 6 small turnips 

1 ½ cups (6 ounces) mozzarella or provolone

½ cup (4 ounces) Parmesan

4 tablespoon (1/2 stick) butter, melted, plus additional soft butter for the dish

2 teaspoons Poudre Douce (recipe to follow)

 

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees, peel turnips then boil them until tender, about 20 minutes, and allow them to cool.  Meanwhile, grate or slice the cheese very thinly, and grate the parmesan.  Slice the cooled turnips about 1/8 inch thick. Coat the bottom of a deep 9 x 9 or 9 inch round baking dish with butter.  Arrange the ingredients inlayers that are as thin as possible, first the cheese, then turnips, then butter then spice, repeat the layers until all ingredients are used.  Top with more cheese, bake until the cheese is just melted around 15 minutes.

Poudre Douce

 Mix the following together:

4 ½ tsp cinnamon

1 tsp ground ginger

1 tsp grains of paradise [substitute black pepper if needed]

pinch of nutmeg

pinch of galangal [similar to ground ginger, can omit if needed]

1 cup sugar

Spinach Artichoke Dip

Ingredients: 

1 block cream cheese, softened

1 cup mayo

1 pint sour cream

1 package frozen spinach, thawed & drained

1 small jar of artichoke hearts, chopped

1 package Knorr leek or onion dry soup mix.

Directions:
Combine all. Serve with chunks of bread, pita chips, or crackers.

Note: the dip is best if made a day - or at least a few hours - before serving

Sourdough Bread

100 grams active sourdough starter

200 grams water

300 grams bread flour

1 1/2 teaspoon salt

Mix sourdough starter and water in a bowl. Add in flour and salt. Mix until a shaggy dough forms and all flour is incorporated. Cover with a damp towel or a lid just set on top, not sealed. Rest dough for 30 minutes. 

"Turn" dough by using your hands or a rubber spatula by grabbing from underneath the dough and pulling up and over the top of the dough. Turn bowl a quarter turn and do it again. Do this about 8 times. 

Let dough rest 30 minutes and turn again. Repeat by letting rest and turning 1 or 2 more times until you have a smooth dough. 

At this point, cover bowl with the lid or plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight or up to 4 days. 

When you're ready to bake, prepare your proofing vessel (I use a round 8 inch atorage container) by lining with parchment paper.  Remove dough from the bowl and place on a floured counter. Do one more turn by pulling from bottom and stretching up over the top. You're trying to build up some surface tension on the bottom of the loaf. It should be nice and smooth. Flip uour dough over and tuck the edges under to create a nice smooth top. Place dough in parchment paper lined vessel, lightly cover and allow to rise until when you press a finger in it, the dent remains. This can take several hours since sourdough does not rise as fast as commercial yeast. 

At least  30 minutes before you want to bake, place a heavy dutch oven in a cold oven and preheat to 450 degrees. You want it to be good and hot. 

Lift the dough out of the container and place on counter. Make a slash across the loaf about 1/2 inch deep. Use the parchment paper to lift into the hot dutch oven and spray with 5 or 6 sprays of water. Cover and bake for 25 to 30 minutes with the lid on. Remove from oven and lift with parchment and place back on the oven shelf for an additional 5 to 10 minutes until it is as brown as you like it and an instant read thermometer reads 200 degrees in the center of the loaf. 

Allow to cool before slicing for best texture, or just hack it up and eat it slathered with butter. 

This recipe can easily be doubled or quadrupled. Bread freezes nicely in a ziplock bag, but you will lose the delicious crunchy crust. 

How to maintain sourdough starter:

If you keep it at room temperature it needs to be fed every 24 to 48 hours. Feed by mixing in water and flour approximately of the same amount as the starter. Make sure your container is large enough for it to double in size.

If you keep it refrigerated, it needs to be fed every 2 weeks. I remove it from the fridge, pour half into a separate jar, feed them both then leave one out on the counter with the lid just sitting on top to bake with and cover the 2nd jar and put back in fridge. Starter is active when it is bubbly and has doubled in size.

ATK Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookies

 From America's Test Kitchen. This recipe is a pain in the butt, but it makes delicious cookies!

INGREDIENTS

2 1/4 cups all purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

14 Tablespoons butter

1/2 cup sugar

3/4 cup packed brown sugar

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 teaspoin almond extract

1 egg

1 egg yolk

1 1/2 cup chocolate chips

3/4 cup chopped nuts

1. Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 375 degrees. Line 2 large (18- by 12- inch) baking sheets with parchment paper. Whisk flour and baking soda together in medium bowl; set aside.
2. Heat 10 tablespoons butter in 10 inch skillet over medium-high heat until melted, about 2 minutes. Continue cooking, swirling pan constantly until butter is dark golden brown and has nutty aroma, 1 to 3 minutes. Remove skillet from heat and, using heatproof spatula, transfer browned butter to large heatproof bowl. Stir remaining 4 tablespoons butter into hot butter until completely melted.
3. Add both sugars, salt, and extracts to bowl with butter and whisk until fully incorporated. Add egg and yolk and whisk until mixture is smooth with no sugar lumps remaining, about 30 seconds. Let mixture stand 3 minutes, then whisk for 30 seconds. Repeat process of resting and whisking 2 more times until mixture is thick, smooth and shiny. Using rubber spatula or wooden spoon, stir in flour mixture until just combined, about 1 minute. Stir in chocolate chips and nuts (if using), giving dough final stir to ensure no flour pockets remain.
4. Divide dough into 16 portions, each about 3 tablespoons (or use #24 cookie scoop). Arrange 2 inches apart on prepared baking sheets, 8 dough balls per sheet. Smash down slightly to flatten tops.
5. Bake cookies 1 tray at a time until cookies are golden brown and still puffy, and edges have begun to set but centers are still soft, 10 to 14 minutes, rotating baking sheet halfway through baking. Transfer baking seet to wire rack; cool cookies completely before serving.

Cannoli Cheesecake

 From Life, Love and Sugar

CRUST

• 15 graham crackers, finely crushed, about 1 sleeve (Or 1/2 package of oreos and 1/2 sleeve of graham crackers)
• 2-3 Tbsp melted butter
• >>> Mix together until a "wet sand" consistency results. Add more melted butter as needed to achieve this. Press into a springform pan and set aside.

FILLING

• 20 ounces ricotta Cheese
• 12 oz mascarpone cheese
• 1 cup sugar
• 3 tbsp all purpose flour
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 tbsp vanilla extract
• 4 large eggs, room temperature

WHIPPED CREAM

• 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream, cold
• 5 tbsp powdered sugar
• 3 tbsp ricotta Cheese (Or just all of the leftover ricotta and mascarpone from making the filling; use around 1-2 c of whipping cream if taking this route)
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• Mini chocolate chips

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 300°F.

2. In a large bowl, mix the ricotta cheese, mascarpone cheese, sugar and flour on low speed until combined and smooth. Be sure to use low speed to reduce the amount of air added to the batter, which can cause cracks, and to make sure you don’t over mix. Scrape down the sides of the bowl.
3. Add the cinnamon and vanilla extract. Mix on low speed until well combined.
4. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing slowly to combine. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed to make sure everything is well combined.
5. Pour the cheesecake batter into the crust and spread evenly.
6. (If you do not care about cracks forming in your cheesecake, skip this step. Note: Cracks will not be visible as the cheesecake will have a topping) Place the springform pan inside another larger pan. Fill the outside pan with enough warm water to go about halfway up the sides of the springform pan. The water should not go above the top edge of the aluminum foil on the springform pan.
7. Bake the cheesecake for 1 hour and 45 minutes, or until the edges are set and the center is still jiggly when moved (but not liquidy).
8. Turn off the oven and leave the cheesecake in oven with the door closed for 30 minutes. Do not open the door.
9. Crack oven door and leave the cheesecake in the oven for another 30 minutes. This cooling process helps the cheesecake cool slowly to prevent cracks.
10. Remove the cheesecake from the oven, then remove the pan from the water bath and remove the aluminum foil. Refrigerate the cheesecake until completely cooled and firm, 6-7 hours or overnight.
11. When the cheesecake is ready to serve, make the whipped cream.
12. To make the whipped cream, add the heavy whipping cream, powdered sugar, ricotta cheese and vanilla extract to a large mixer bowl. Whip on high speed until stiff peaks form.
13. Spread the whipped cream on top of the cheesecake, then sprinkle with mini chocolate chips and a little additional powdered sugar, if desired.
14. Remove from springform pan and serve. Cheesecake is best for 3-4 days.

Ruthie's 7-Layer Bean Dip

Layer in a low bowl:

1. 2 cans of Frito bean dip (regular flavor)

2. 3 ripe medium avocados

3. Mix together - 2 Tbsp or less of lemon juice, 1 c of sour cream, 1/2 c of mayo, and 1 pack of Lawry's taco seasoning

4. 1 small can (3.8 oz) of black olives, sliced

5. 3 firm Roma tomatoes, diced w/ seeds removed

6. 3 green onions, chopped

7. Grated cheddar cheese