Love Hummus !

Love homemade hummus !!   I made two for a neighbor's pool party  .. on the left is a spicy chili, roasted garlic and basil .. on the right , a roasted red onion , thyme and fresh garlic :))  MmmmMmmm just add some 9 grain crackers and your set ! Total cost for both $5 ( 20 people snacks worth ) The garlic & herbs were from my own garden too , making it extra special :)

#Simplegoodfood #GoodfoodCheap #RichsgoodFood ..
Here is one of my original recipes for hummus    :

http://richfletchersgoodfoodrevolution.blogspot.ca/2010/11/roasted-red-pepper-garlic-hummus.html
     

Winter Sowing, Gardening in January

Its winter , Its cold and dark outside , not what you would call good growing weather !! Despite that I always seem to get an itch to get out there and do something ... which due to living in Canada , is usually impossible !   That was until last year , when i discovered winter sowing :))  Such a wonderful, simple way to get your hands in the dirt again , planting seeds ...  

 Winter Sowing Chili Peppers, Basil & Zucchini to start// mostly b/c that was what I had on hand , and I could only scavenge 3 containers this week :)) More to follow ! 


Garden Tip :I highly recommend keeping a garden journal , point form is just fine , it will come in handy , and once you have a few years in the book , a very handy reference esp. if your like me and like to try experiments and tend to forget where or what they were ! Hahaha 

Required :
Good Quality , or Organic Potting Soil
Clean plastic jugs , 2L to 4L sizes , Gallon milk jugs seems to work best
Seeds , organic or heirlium
Sharp Scissors or Knife
Duct Tape
Permenant Marker

 

Simply cut the jug , about 4 iches from the bottom .. almost all the way around , leaving a short side as a hinge ...   fill with soil to just below the cut . 

 

The seeds will need to breathe ...  so a few slashes or cuts around the top are required . ( 6 to 8 seems to be fine )  Also.. use that marker !  If you have more than a few jugs it will be near impossible to keep them all straight without labels! 

 

Pop your seeds in ... I over seed slightly , with the expectation of thinning them out come spring .   If your soil is really dry , you will want to add a little water at this point .. not soaked , damp is good enough .  

 

Duct Tape to the rescue ...   Tape up the cut, all the way round.  Bring your jugs outside ...  somewhere away from dogs if you have them , or they will become pee magnets !  No further coverings are required , if it snows , just leave them be ... no worries at all :)

It is really that simple ... come spring as the weather warms up , mother nature will do her thing ... the seeds will sprout , and the plastic container will act as a mini greenhouse giving your plants the much need protection during the delicate phase ... 

I do hope this helps you get a jump start on spring ... I will be following up with at least two more posts :))

Peace, Love & Happy Gardening

Rich

One Pan Roast Chicken Dinner

I love roasted dinners, and they are even better if you dont have a mountain of dishes to wash afterward too !   Here's a simple, one pan method that will have you happy and full in about an hour .

 

Ingredients :
1 Broiler Sized Chicken
4 medium potatoes
1 head of broccoli
1 onion

Marinade for chicken:

1 cup yogurt
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 tablespoon honey
1 good pinch of dried basil
Salt n Pepper

 

A couple of hours before your ready to cook , take a mixing bowl , and add the marinades ingredients .. stir well .. and add the chicken , turning to cover all .  Cover and place in fridge for at least 2 hours , more is just fine ( I have left it over night before )

 

When ready , preheat the oven to 350F , and grab a large baking tray .
Chicken in the middle breast side up , pour the extra marinade over top.
Slice the Spuds into thick 1" wedges , and arrange  around the tray .. a light drizzle of oil , and a pinch of salt and pepper will help out .
Into the oven for 40mins

 

After 40 minutes , I like to have a look , and turn the potatoes .
Now , is the time to add the broccoli  ( again S&P and a drizzle of oil help )
Set the timer for 20 minutes and relax



Thats it...   portion out the chicken how you like , add a few spuds and a spear of broccoli and you have a delicious , healthy, one pan dinner :)
I hope you enjoy


Peace, Love and Good Food

Oven Baked Garlic and Chili Scotch Eggs

Growing up , Scotch Eggs were a once or twice a year treat :) Usually when Mum was going to change the oil in the chip pan ...  as deep frying these is the tradition way , and it makes a big mess of your oil .  So ... In the interest of saving some $$ on oil , and choosing a healthier option , I chose to try and bake them .  First time for me , up until this point every one I have ever eat has been deep fried .   Here goes nothing!!

Ingredients:    (Makes 5 Eggs)

1lb of ground pork ( sausages out of their casings )
7 Large Eggs , Free range prefered
1 heaping TSB of Chili Powder
1 heaping TSB of dehydrated garlic chips ( or a couple of cloves minced )
1 TSB of dried basil
Sea Salt and Pepper to your own taste
Several dashes of Lea & Perrins
2 cups of bread crumbs
3 TBS of oven safe oil ( Sunflower )


Step One : Hard Boiled Eggs

Fill a large pot ( i used 8 quarts ) with water , put your eggs in , brings to a soft boil , simmer for one minute and then take pot off the heat to cool down,  leave at least 10 minutes ... then you can dunk the eggs in cold water and start peeling .


Step Two : The Meat

Crack one egg into a mixing bowl , add the pork , chili , garlic and basil and about 2/3 a cup of bread crumbs ... Mix until well blended and has a slightly sticky texture :)
Preheat your oven to 375F

Step Three : Make the Ball

Grab one egg .. and a handful of pork mix , I like to flatten it out , should look like the photo below this , and be almost enough to wrap around the egg, pretend your making large meatballs is the method , and soon the whole egg will be covered







Step Four  : Egg Wash & Bread Crumbs

Pour the remaining bread crumbs onto a plate , and whisk up an egg and a splash of water in a bowl... take each pork wrapped egg, and gently roll in the egg wash , then onto the bread crumb plate , keep going till they are all breaded :)





 

Step Five : Oven Time

Assemble your scotch eggs on a Sunflower oiled baking sheet , and into the 375F oven they go
Total cook time was 30 minutes

 

 

Step Six : Make em Even

 I set my timer to go off every ten minutes .. gently , roll the eggs around on each ten , after twenty minutes they should start getting some colour !

 

 

Step Seven : Rest

On a clean kitchen towel , or paper towel , nestle your eggs in and cover , leave them for five minutes .

 

Step Eight : Enjoy

Hot or cold your choice , I prefer mine hot ...  I like to quarter mine and sprinkle with a little hot smoked paprika .

 

That is it :) I do hope you have enjoyed this post !  What did you think of the new format ? I tried to make it a little more recipe-ish :)

I would love to hear how it went if you try this.

Peace , Love and Happy Scotch Eggs !   

Homemade Crusty Bread

Okay ....   Enough already , Ill write the recipe !!  hahahaha I must have had 20 requests for this bread recipe :)   So here it is :)  

I must add this has become my favourite bread of all time ...   nothing Ive made or had can beat the crunchy crust with the chewy soft interior , and as a bonus its a very flexible recipe , can be made with or without a blender with equal success.

This post outlines , my first attempt at making this , almost a year ago now ...  since then I have made well over 50 loaves , using a wide variety of flours and flavours :)

Ingredients for a double batch :)

12 Cups of Flour , can be a variety of combinations for this one it was 10 cups AP, 2 cups 12 Whole Grains  , if using Whole Wheat I use 8 AP , 4 WW
2 Teaspoons Dry Yeast
7 Teaspoons Sea Salt
6 Cups Warm Water

The rest is optional ...  for this batch I used

4 Cloves of garlic, Minced
1 Large pinch of dried basil
2 dutch onions , minced

Mix all the dry ingredients first 

Stir in water

I did this batch by hand , using two wooden spatulas , took about 5 minutes ...   A stand mixer will do the same, in about the same time ...  should be a sticky mess

Cover with plastic wrap , and leave on counter for 18 - 24 hours 

Should at least double in size over night  - At this point you will want to put your dutch ovens into a oven , preheat t 450F ( about 20 minutes or so )  

On a well floured surface , divide into whatever sized loaves you like ..  this will require a bit of effort ...  you do not want them sticky ..  

Drop the dough into the HOT dutch ovens ...  no oil required, just a hot pot!  

Cover and into the 450F oven for 30 minutes...   Just for fun I tried one in a silicone bread pan , with tin foil as a lid , remove the lids after 30 minutes , and continue cooking for another 15 minutes 

After 45 minutes ... you will have something like this !!!  Mmmmmm

This is my 6.5 Q dutch oven, makes a really nice big oval bread !  

The silicone pan worked out just fine 

Thats it ... let them cool on a rack , as long as you can , and then grab some butter and dig in ! 

Nice bonus, if done right ...  no clean up!!  Just a quick wipe of the pot!  

I hope you try this out, and come to love it as much as I do ...

Peace, Love and Good Food!

7 Pepper Birthday Chili

Whats your favourite Birthday meal ??   Mine is a nice juicy steak, with a jacket potato ... but this year for the first time in ages , birthday dinner with Mum ( We share the same Bday ) was a few days early ...  leaving me with a big question ... What to have on my Birthday !!   It didnt take long to realize Id been craving chili all month .. so Chili it was !!    Simple, Good Food !

Basic Ingredients ( I dont cook with a recipe , or even write anything down hahaha )

2 lbs of Ground Beef from local butcher
2 large mexican sausages from local butcher
1 lb of braising steak , Crossrib - Flour for dusting
4 tins of Beans ( Unico , 3 Red Kidney , 1 Romano ) - I prefer dried , but am using up old stock
2 large sweet red peppers
2 large chili peppers
2 cayenne chili peppers
6 long green chili peppers
3 small dried red chili peppers ( Very hot ! )
8 medium onions
1 head of garlic
1/2 tin of chipolte peppers
2 green bell peppers
1 pint of dark ale
1 pint roasted tomato sauce ( Homemade )
1 quart of stewed tomatoes ( homemade )

Chili Powder, L&P, Sea Salt & Black Pepper

Start by sauteing the onions ...  transfer to slow cooker when done 

Next step, the beef , best to add flavour here , chili powder, S&P, L&P, and half the can of beer 

 In the meantime,  I rinsed and boiled the tinned beans ... rinsed again and added to the slow cooker

While the beef is browning ... add in the beans, stewed tomatoes , and roasted tomato sauce 

Once the ground beef has finished, add the sausages , and cubed and flour dusted steak ..   just need to brown these , then add to the slow cooker 

Once done with frying ...  use the other half of the beer to deglaze the pan , add to the slow cooker, this is some amazing flavour here !  

Its starting to look like chili :))   Let simmer for 2 hours 

Once the base chili has simmered , its time to add the peppers in for the last 1 to 2 hours of cooking 

All sliced and diced, and ready for the pot!! 

Five hours after slicing the onions ...  CHILI!    Mmmm its time to eat ! 

The leftovers....  usually i portion this out and freeze it up for easy meals later , this time I decided to pressure can it ...   a future post maybe ??

MmmmMmmm  I do hope you enjoy my spicy chili , this one was quite the sweat inducing bowl of goodness !!  I wouldnt change a thing .. but if your not a big fan of spicy, i would cut back considerable of the hot peppers and add more sweet :)

Don;t forget , you can always follow the daily fun over at https://www.facebook.com/RichsGoodFood

Peace, Love and Good Food to everyone !
Rich

Starting My Garden Early

Last year when I started this blog , the growing season had pretty much ended ... So I was not able to delve into the growing side of Good Food .   Now that spring is here , I can :))  Our last frost date here is the 3rd week in May ,   most years I usually try and push that date by a couple of weeks , with mixed results. This year , I'm trying to get smart about it all, Ive FINALLY started a garden journal , instead of just scribbling things on a calendar ! I started planted seeds March 28th ,  more than a month earlier than I have before.   With  the help of a little mini greenhouse I built on the bottom shelf in my kitchen , and a few cold frames.. I'm hoping for this to be my most successful year ever :))  I also got a real jump start on things by planting 3 rows of garlic , and a couple of onions last fall :)) Things are looking good !!

I turned the bottom third of a kitchen shelf into a propagator/grow room .

This was the 1st green thing in my garden ,  The garlic I planted last October :))  I used the leaves I raked up as a mulch to help them thru our winters.  

On the warm days Ive been bring them outside to start hardening them off.  

I tried a row of Romaine , directly sowed on 3/28 ..  took a bit but it came up , the pot to the right was started the same day ( but inside ) a cold frame is covering this lettuce patch . 

Planting the lettuce ,  I like to soak the soil 1st to make it easier to separate these tiny plants 

Things are growing well,  everything has sprouted ,  Ill have lots of tomatoes this year , maybe even enough to do my canning with :)) 

I never planted enough Basil ,  but that will not be the case this year , 60 or so have been started so far , with at least that many being started today  as well.  

Peas sure do sprout quickly .. 5 days and they have already broken ground.  

Red Peppers are a different story , these took about 3 weeks to pop up  

Mystery seeds , I'm thinking Squash or Cucumber . 

My Garden in the early morning light ,  I free-cycled most everything in my garden ,  the cold frames are old packing crates , and cupboard doors  :))

 My Good Food Revolution is changing for the better , look for more gardening , and farming posts , as well as recipes, food porn , and kitchen tips & tricks :)
 Since its Earth Day today , its time to move away from the PC , and go plant something .   Happy Gardening !!