GardenFork – Eclectic DIY

Tag: recipe video

  • How To Cut Up Chicken – GF Video

    How To Cut Up Chicken – GF Video

    Wondering how to cut up chicken? The chef term for this is to joint a chicken, but cutting up a chicken is a pretty good term for me.

    When you cut up a chicken instead of buying, lets say, chicken thighs, you save a ton of money. The cost of a whole chicken is not that much more than buying already cut up thighs, for example, and you get a whole chicken to use for other meals.

    How To Cut Up Chicken, Some Tips:

    • Buy poultry shears
    • Wash the cutting board really well
    • Pull out the neck before you start

    I like the poultry shears that come apart for easy cleaning. Super simple way to clean up your tools after breaking down a chicken, and makes it easier to sanitize everything. Mine have good handles so I don’t slip while working.

    Its important to clean your cutting board well after working with meat. I use comet cleanser, because is has some chlorine in it and is scrubs out stains as well. Its easy to cross contaminate, so pay attention to where you are putting your hands after handling chicken and tools.

    Cut Up Chicken

    Pull out the parts! Sometimes I forget to remove the neck and giblets, then I wonder what is going on with this chicken. Even me, the alleged expert has moments like this.

    Consider cooking more than just the breasts or thighs next time, could you use the wings for something? You can make a nice stock with the back of the chicken and some vegetables, for basicaly free.

    That being said, my favorite part of the chicken are the thighs, as they are the easiest to cook. You can overcook the dark meat and it will still taste good. Not true with breasts, you know.

    Do you have any tricks or tips for cutting up a chicken, how about the best way to freeze a chicken after you have cut it up? Please let us know below.

  • Cheater Apple Pie Recipe, aka The Apple Galette – GF Video

    Cheater Apple Pie Recipe, aka The Apple Galette – GF Video

    Simple apple pie recipe hack, this apple galette is much easier to make than a proper apple pie, and tastes and looks just as good. Call it Rustic Apple Pie. Watch the video and check out the recipe below.

    We’ve done a few galette recipes already, and we’ll be doing more, as the form is versatile. Its kinda like a pie tart shell, you can put all sorts of stuff in it, be it sweet or savory. Sign up for our email newsletter to be in the know when we post them.

    Cheater apple pie recipe, aka The Apple Galette

    I call this a cheater apple pie, because its similar to an apple pie recipe, but is less fussy. Roll out dough, drop in fruit, bake, done. Apple pie seems more involved, but we’ll make those too. Now I have ideas for pie in my head. Do you? Let me know below.

    Cheater apple pie recipeThis galette is a low sugar version, a sprinkle of sugar is all I added, and it was fine. I used dried cranberries and learned that its best to have the cranberries tucked under the apples on top of the galette, else they get too crunchy from the oven heat. You could use other dried fruits, but I think we need to eat more cranberries.

    Don’t sweat the pie crust! It’s not rocket science to make a decent crust. Be sure to put the pie dough in the fridge for a while to let it set up. A key ingredient in my pie crust is sugar. It adds a bit of sweetness and crunch to the crust, this same crust would make good rugelach, you know. Have to work on that one. My grandmother made those every Christmas.

    Cheater apple pie recipe

    The apples in this galette get soft, but don’t break down and go mushy, its baked apple slices and cranberries, and goes well with a bit of vanilla ice cream. Some liquid may leak out the side, but that’s ok. Best to bake this on a lined cookie sheet or a greased cast iron flat skillet just in case.

    I used Fuji apples for this, and use my fav apple corer, it makes the prep go fast, I think.

    Cheater Apple Pie Recipe, aka The Apple Galette
    Recipe Type: Dessert
    Cuisine: American
    Author: Eric Rochow
    Prep time:
    Cook time:
    Total time:
    Serves: 1 pie
    A simpler version of apple pie, the apple galette is a open faced rustic crust pastry that you can add all sorts of fruits to. Today we use apples and cranberries
    Ingredients
    • 3-5 apples cored and sliced – if the apples are small use more apples.
    • 1 cup of dried cranberries
    • 1-2 tablespoons sugar
    • 1 tablespoon lemon juice
    • lemon zest
    • 1 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch
    • 1 stick of unsalted butter – cold
    • 1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
    • 1 tablespoon sugar
    • 1/2 tsp salt
    • ice water
    Instructions
    1. If possible, make the pie crust a few hours beforehand, or the day before:
    2. Cut the stick of cold butter into 1/2″ cubes, and place in food processor.
    3. Add the flour and sugar and salt.
    4. Pulse the processor until the flour and butter have cut together. it looks kinda like lumpy cornmeal. if you’re not sure, make sure all the butter cubes have been mixed into the flour.
    5. Put this dough in to a bowl, and add ice cold water a few tablespoons at a time. mix the water into the dough until the dough can form a ball. Don’t add too much water and make the dough sticky. If you do, add some more flour to the dough.
    6. Place this dough onto some plastic wrap, shape it into a large hockey puck, and put in the freezer for 10 minutes, or the fridge for 30 minutes. The longer it is in the fridge , the better the dough gets, I think.
    7. Combine in a bowl the apple slices, lemon, sugar, zest, cornstarch, and cranberries. Mix together.
    8. Roll out the dough on a floured board, you want it about 14″ in diameter, about 1/4-1/8″ thick.
    9. Place the pie dough onto a greased cast iron pan or cookie sheet.
    10. Pour the apples into the center of the crust and pull up the sides onto the pile, pinching the dough together to hold it up. Slip any exposed cranberries underneath some apples.
    11. Bake at 400 for about 35-40 minutes. The apples will not break down, but will be soft.
    Cheater Apple Pie, aka Apple Galette Recipe
  • Kale Pesto Recipe – GF Video

    Kale Pesto Recipe – GF Video

    A new kale pesto recipe, one that is simply and brilliant and why didn’t I think of this earlier. Kale pesto. Easy to make and a new way to get more green superfoods into your diet. Here we go.

    This kale pesto recipe is a classic GardenFork ‘Use What You Got’ kine of meal. The short version is take kale, make pesto, mix into pasta, dollop into soup, or spread on toast. This recipe makes a big batch which you can use for a pasta dinner, and then use the remaining pesto for lunch or enhance dinner the next night or two.

    This kale pesto goes nicely mixed into our White Bean Soup recipe. The smooth flavor of the white beans gets spiked with this greens & cheese mix. Nice.

    Kale Pesto Recipe

    In this recipe video I show how we stem the kale. I don’t use a knife,  just stripping the stems off with your hands saves time. I think I learned this technique from watching Sarah Moulton do it on one of her cooking shows.

    You can use whatever kale you have on hand or that is in your garden. I grow a classic green curly kale, and a red russian kale, which has a flat leaf. For this video, I added both into the food processor. Lacinato kale, aka dinosaur kale, also works. Wash off the kale before you start!

    Kale Pesto Recipe

     

    Key here is to use a good quality extra virgin olive oil. Buy the real thing. Cheap extra virgin probably isn’t the real deal, in my opinion. I like to use Pecorino Romano cheese, which has a nice saltiness to it. You can also use Parmesan, but don’t buy any pre-grated cheese, it tastes like stale cardboard.

    Start out with one medium clove of garlic, the garlic flavor will grow if you store the pesto. I like to let the minced or pressed garlic sit out on cutting board for a while before adding it into the processor, I believe it mellows out the bite a bit.

    If you are using this new kale recipe with pasta, drizzle some olive oil over the pasta and pesto just before serving. Make it all work that much better.

    Easy Kale Recipe

    Thanks to Sarah Moulton for the kale stemming tip, you can check out one her cookbooks here:

    Kale Pesto Recipe
    Cuisine: Italian
    Author: Eric Rochow
    Prep time:
    Cook time:
    Total time:
    Serves: 2 cups
    A kale recipe that is a no-brainer but one I had not thought of before. Easy to make and one more way to get your family to eat kale and like it.
    Ingredients
    • 1 good bunch of kale, Stems removed, Enough to fill your food processor.
    • 1 cup extra virgin olive oil
    • 1 cup walnuts
    • 1 1/2 cups of Pecorino Romano cheese
    • 1 medium clove garlic
    Instructions
    1. Mince or press the garlic clove and let it sit while prepping the other ingredients.
    2. If you have time, toast the walnuts in a pan on the stove, toss a few times. Pay attention so you don’t burn them. You can also toast them in the oven
    3. Wash and remove the stems from the kale. Dry the kale as best you can.
    4. Put the kale leaves in the food processor and pour the oil over the leaves.
    5. Process for about 15 seconds and then press the leaves down with a rubber spatula, process again to get the leaves roughly chopped.
    6. Add to the processor the cheese, walnuts, and garlic
    7. Process again, stopping to use the spatula to get everything mixed well.
    8. I prefer a coarse chopped pesto, but process to the consistency you prefer.
  • Carrot Salad Recipe with Sunflower Seeds – GF Video

    Carrot Salad Recipe with Sunflower Seeds – GF Video

    Here’s a carrot salad recipe that’s better than the usual one. No raisins, this one adds toasted sunflower or pumpkin seeds, which works great for me, and I wanted to share it with you.




    Many carrot recipes fail for me, they are too sweet and don’t have the best ingredients in them. This one climbs the ladder, and it should, considering the recipe came from a french bakery cookbook.

    A friend of mine works at the Rose Bakery in NYC, and I tried their carrot salad, and then bought their well done cookbook, Breakfast, Lunch, Tea. This a variation on their carrot salad recipe. They suggest olive oil or sunflower oil for the dressing, I opted for canola. I think olive oil would not work with this, but now that I am writing this, I am wondering if I should try it with olive oil.

    Time to grate some more carrots.

    And on grating carrots – use the food processor, not a box grater. The box grater I have only has large holes for grating, and I don’t like how the carrots look after going through the large holes of the grater. I use the smallest holes of the discs that came with my food processor, and whipped through a bunch of carrots in record time. In the video you can see just how fast and how nice the grated carrot looks.

    When adding the dressing to the carrots, you might want to drain off some of the dressing if it collects in the bottom of the bowl. I found I had too much dressing for the amount of carrots I grated. But this is all eye of the beholder stuff, if you like a lot of dressing, leave it in. I used sunflower seeds in this version, but pumpkin seeds will work also. The small pumpkin seeds, pepitas, are good. The large ones won’t work, I think.



    Carrot Salad Recipe with Sunflower Seeds
    Prep time:
    Total time:
    A nice summer picnic or BBQ side dish, this is adapted from the Rose Bakery cook book.
    Ingredients
    • 8 carrots finely grated in food processor
    • 1 cup pumpkin or sunflower seeds toasted
    • 1/2 cup chopped chives or scallion greens
    • 1/2 cup lemon juice – its ok to use bottled juice
    • 3 tablespoons canola oil
    • 1 tablespoon super fine sugar
    • salt & pepper for dressing
    Instructions
    1. Grate the carrots, and toast the seeds, combine carrots and seeds in a bowl with the chives.
    2. Whisk the lemon juice with the sugar and some salt and pepper. Its best if the lemon juice is warm, so the sugar dissolves well. Mix in the oil to complete the dressing.
    3. Pour the dressing over the salad and toss. If too much dressing collects in the bottom, you might want to pour off some of the dressing, saving it for some other food project.
    4. Taste and add salt and pepper to suite your taste. Be careful with the salt, you can’t undo too much salt.

     

  • How To Make Banana Bread With Mom’s Recipe

    How To Make Banana Bread With Mom’s Recipe

    Moms shows us how to make banana bread with a recipe she has used for years. If you want moist banana bread, I suggest using riper bananas and more of them. You will have to bake the banana bread a little longer.

    Banana bread is one of those comfort foods from childhood that still work. Having a bad day? Have some banana bread. I really like this loaf toasted with some butter on it, served with tea. Nice.

    I don’t recall the name of the cookbook this banana bread recipe comes from, but it was one of those recipe collections put together by a group of people and self published. There are many variations on banana bread, we have one made with coconut here, and a dutch oven banana bread here. But this is mom’s standard and its the one we will learn how to make banana bread with. So here we go.

    how to make banana bread

    I have found that dark metal or glass loaf pans work better for this, I like the browning of the crust. And if you want a taller loaf use slightly narrower pans than the standard loaf pan. The baking time will vary depending on your oven, they are all different.

    I’m all about saving bananas in the freezer. Have some your family wont eat? Put them in the freezer to save for this. They thaw quickly and fall apart in the batter. Nice that you don’t have to jump through all sorts of hoops to prepare them for freezing. Just throw them in. Done.

    Banana Bread – Mom’s Recipe
    Recipe Type: Baking
    Author: Community Baking Book
    Prep time:
    Cook time:
    Total time:
    Serves: 1 loaf
    Here is how to make banana bread, this basic recipe will make a nice loaf, if you want a moist banana bread, add more bananas and bake longer.
    Ingredients
    • 1 cup sugar
    • 1/2 cup butter
    • 3 ripe bananas
    • 2 eggs
    • 2 cups all purpose flour
    • 1 teaspoon baking soda
    • 1/2 teaspoon salt
    Instructions
    1. Mix together the sugar and softened butter with a hand mixer
    2. Add in the bananas and eggs, mix them in.
    3. Mix the dry ingredients together in a bowl with a fork.
    4. Add the dry ingredients into the wet batter and stir to combine, but don’t overmix.
    5. Pour into a greased loaf pan and bake for 1 hour at 350F
  • Roasted Cherry Tomatoes and Polenta Recipe Video

    Roasted Cherry Tomatoes and Polenta Recipe Video

    When you buy too many of those cherry tomatoes at the big store, make this roasted cherry tomatoes and polenta recipe. This recipe takes tired, older cherry tomatoes and concentrates their flavor, drop them on top of a quick pot of polenta, and you have dinner, or part of a big dinner.

    I had bought a large package of cherry tomatoes at the warehouse style food store, the place where you eyes get big and you want to buy lots of stuff because you think its all a good deal, except that you have to cook it all. I have found that buying dried fruits and nuts at the warehouse store is a good deal. I keep them in zipper storage bags and put the nuts in the fridge, they last longer that way.

    The tomatoes sat on the counter for a week – don’t keep them in the fridge – and started to get soft and a bit wrinkled. I cut them in half, put them in an oiled pan, and sprinkled the magic ingredients over them, olive oil and salt. In the oven for 20-30 min, and out come something completely different that what went in there.

    roasted cherry tomato recipe

    The polenta is based on our quick stovetop polenta recipe, using the secret ingredient to cook the polenta faster. Add in some butter, and its a brilliant dish.

    You can top the cherry tomatoes with dried oregano or a mix of italian seasonings, it makes them that much better with little effort. I like to buy the larger container of italian seasoning, it goes on top of lots of foods in our house. Don’t use the best olive oil you have for this, as it is heated, so any subtle flavors are out the window. Use fine salt, not the course kind, as some salt might remain, and not everyone likes to bite down on chunks of salt, ok?

    Roasted Cherry Tomatoes and Polenta Recipe Video
    Author: Eric Rochow
    Prep time:
    Cook time:
    Total time:
    Smart use of cherry tomatoes that are getting a bit old on the countertop. This transforms them into a new delicious thing.
    Ingredients
    • 1 package of cherry tomatoes
    • Olive Oil
    • Fine Salt
    • Dried Italian Seasoning Herb mix or Oregano
    • 1 batch of stovetop or microwave polenta, link is above
    • Hard cheese like Romano or Parmesan
    Instructions
    1. Slice all the cherry tomatoes in half.
    2. Place them in a lined and/or oiled sheet pan, ideally they will fill up tray.
    3. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle salt and seasonings on tomatoes.
    4. Roast for 20-40 minutes at 425F. Keep an eye on them.
    5. Cook a batch of the stove top or microwave polenta.
    6. When the tomatoes are oozing liquid and starting to collapse, they are done.
    7. Spoon polenta into serving bowls and top with tomatoes.
    8. You can drizzle more olive oil over the dish.
    9. Grate cheese over top.

     

  • 5 No Knead Bread Recipe Tips – GF Cooks Video

    5 No Knead Bread Recipe Tips – GF Cooks Video

    Make better bread with these 5 no knead bread recipe tips I’ve learned from baking this great bread. The original recipe is great, but with a few baking tips, its even better. Below are links to our other no knead bread videos. Watch our tips video here and then tell us your bread baking tips in the comments below.


    The basic no knead bread recipe can be changed up several ways, we did a steel cut oatmeal no knead recipe video here, that adds a neat oat flavor to the bread.
    First a big thank you to Jim Lahey, and his book, My Bread, The No Knead Method. He also has a pizza book, My Pizza.

    Using parchment paper has been a lightbulb for me. I’m not sure where I learned it from, but I used to flop the dough in to the dutch oven with some unfortunate results. Now I simply lower the bread dough in to the hot dutch oven. Its OK that the parchment sticks out of the lid, not a problem.

    5 no knead bread recipe tips

    Using a digital scale to measure your ingredients makes a huge difference! Yes, I am a convert to this method, as you can tell. The drag and scoop method makes for inaccurate measuring. Why does the bakery bread taste better? They use a scale to measure their ingredients.

    We love our dutch oven, but you don’t absolutely need one to bake the no knead bread recipe. Any oven proof bowl that has a lid that wont melt will work. Corning Ware kind of stuff is what we are talking about here big casseroles, etc.

    You can make cool designs in your bread, we use scissors, but you can use some serrated knives, and this fancy bread baking tool called a Lame. Dust the top of the dough before you cut into it. What kind of flour do you dust your bread with? I’d like to read about what people are using.

    Yes, you can make a whole wheat no knead bread, but from what I’ve found, the 100% whole wheat breads don’t come out great. We usually add up to 30% whole wheat to bread flour. Works pretty good.

  • Lentils Recipe with Carrots and Coriander Video

    Lentils Recipe with Carrots and Coriander Video

    Here’s a lentils recipe we make often when its cold. I call it wow winter comfort food. I don’t remember the first time I had lentils but I’m pretty sure it was probably a can of Progresso lentil soup, which is not the worst thing, but again it wasn’t the greatest thing. But now you can make the greatest thing: a lentils recipe with carrots and coriander.

    I’m not a vegetarian, but this is a vegetarian and vegan recipe, and that doesn’t mean it doesn’t tast great. It tastes more than great. Wow winter comfort food. I’m pretty sure I read about the addition of coriander seeds first in the NY Times, Martha Rose Shulman has written about lentils there.

    There are many different kinds of lentils, for this recipe, I like to use the Goya Pardina lentils. You could also use French green lentils or just a regular round brown lentils. The brown lentils tend to break apart, but then, that’s what that kind of lentil is supposed to do. I recently went to an Indian food market, and there were shelves with all kinds of lentils. They are called Dal by the way, so don’t ask for lentils, just look for Dal, OK?

    Lentils Recipe

    Canada, interestingly enough, produces the most lentils in the world. India is the second biggest grower, understandably. Lentils are a great protein source and has good fiber, besides tasking great. Green lentils have more fiber than red lentils, FYI, according to Wikipedia.

    The secret to this dish is coriander seed coriander powder or ground coriander you want coriander seed would you contact might have to search all of it if you have a Indian grocery store or a light room foods grocery store coriander seed little later

    Coriander seeds are like little flavor bombs. This is one of those simple recipes where the sum is greater than the ingredients.

    Lentils Recipe with Carrots and Coriander

    Lentils Recipe with Carrots and Coriander Video
    Recipe Type: Vegetarian
    Prep time:
    Cook time:
    Total time:
    Serves: [url:1][img:1]
    Healthy lentils make a great weekday dinner.
    Ingredients
    • 1 cup pardino or green lentils, if possible
    • One medium onion, chopped as you like, not super fine.
    • 1 heaping tablespoon coriander seeds
    • One lb bag of carrots chopped into 1-2″ pieces
    Instructions
    1. Pour a few glugs of vegetable oil into a medium pot, you want to coat the bottom of the pot, and not a thin coat either.
    2. Drop in the chopped onions when the oil is hot.
    3. After about 5 minutes, add in the coriander
    4. Brown the onions until they are clear and the edges are getting the burn brown look to them.
    5. At the same time, in a medium small saucepan, bring 2 1/4 cups of water to a boil.
    6. Rinse the lentils, and when the water is boiling, add in the lentils.
    7. Set the lentils to simmer covered.
    8. When the onions are cooked down to your liking, add in the lentils and chopped carrots, and cover the pot and simmer for 20 minutes.
    9. Take off the lid of the pot, and allow the liquid to cook down a bit.
    10. Check the lentils, they should not be crunchy.
    11. Add salt, mustard, and vinegar to your taste.

    Lentils Recipe With Carrots

     

  • Dr Pepper Pulled Pork Slow Cooker Recipe – GF Video

    Dr Pepper Pulled Pork Slow Cooker Recipe – GF Video

    Pulled Pork is a GardenFork favorite, and I’ve heard of adding soda to the slow cooker, so here is our Dr Pepper Pulled Pork Slow Cooker Recipe. I like how the soda adds some sugar-caramel flavor, plus that raspberry taste that Dr Pepper has. Plus it was just fun to put this together to see what happened. What did happen was a great pulled pork. Add a side of our easy coleslaw recipe and you are good to go for a summer BBQ. Yet another great slow cooker recipe

    We used a smaller pork shoulder for this recipe, but you can use a large one if you have a large slow cooker. The cut of shoulder we use is also called a Pernil, you might see that on the label at the butcher. We like skin on and bone in, but you can use a boneless pork butt if that is what you have. Use what you got. The skin, aka fat cap, adds flavor, and you peel it off after the pork shoulder has spent its time in the crock pot.

    Dr Pepper may sound like an odd choice, but I like it. I do not drink a lot of soda, but Dr Pepper has that cola taste with a touch of raspberry that makes me want to try it with this. Colas in general have sugar and caramel, which work well for slow cooking meats, I think.

     

    A key tool to have here is a gravy separator, which I did not own until recently, but I’m glad I have it. After the pork is cooked, pour the cooking liquid into the gravy separator, and add some of this braise liquid back into the pork after it is pulled apart. I’ve seen a bunch of recipes that toss this cooking liquid, not sure why.

    Cole Slaw is a must for pulled pork, and we have a companion video with an easy Coleslaw recipe here. I like apple cider vinegar in my slaw, and sweet tomato BBQ sauce in BBQ pork.

    Dr. Pepper Pulled Pork Slow Cooker Recipe

    3-4 lb pork shoulder, bone-in, skin on

    1 bottle Dr. Pepper

    1 medium onion, chopped into rough chunks

    This is one of those throw it all in and turn it on pulled pork recipes. Some people brown the pork before braising it, and we have another pulled pork slow cooker recipe where you can do a dry rub overnight here. But this is super simple

    Take all three ingredients and put them in the slow cooker. You want the Dr. Pepper to cover about 2/3 of the pork shoulder.

    Put the cover on the slow cooker and turn it on Low and let it go for 5  hours, check it with a fork. If the pork is not falling apart tender, put the lid back on and let it go longer, check again in an hour. Repeat.

    Once cooked, remove the pork, and pour the braise liquid into a gravy separator. Remove the fat cap and shred the pork with two forks.

    Pour the braise liquid over the pork, using the separator to avoid adding the liquid fat back into the pork.

    This is best when put in the fridge overnight, but you can dress it right away with BBQ (sparingly) and have at it.

    The accompanying Coleslaw recipe is here.

    cole slaw vid