Tasty Moment #1: Tundra eats an icecream cone at Big Dipper

This is a new addition to the blog. I was thinking about thew sharing of recipes, when I realized that life has lots of tasty moments. So, in these posts, I will share pictures, videos, and stories featuring the "tasty moments" that occur in my life. I hope they make you smile!

Going to The Big Dipper:

The local ice cream shop gives out doggie cones if you bring your dog with you. My newfie/border collie mix, Tundra, LOVES ice cream!

Cardamom Carrot Bread

Vegetables are a must on a diet. I suggest carrot cake, zucchini bread, and pumpkin pie.
-Jim Davis, Garfield

Fall is my favorite season. Year around, there are great things about each season, great foods that make you feel alive in all sorts of weather, but nothing compares to the comfort food that accompanies the cool weather, changing leaves, and brisk breezes. It is time for soups and casseroles, heavy breads and canned goods.

I love to sit on my front porch, reading a book or simply looking up at the blue sky hovering over the yellow and green side of Missoula's Mount Sentinal, sipping of a cup of coffee and munching a piece of cardamom carrot bread. The flavors mix with the scents in the air and I feel it... it is fall.

Cardamom Carrot Bread
(makes 2 loaves)

2 cup sugar
1 1/2 cups cooking oil
2 eggs
3 cups flour
2 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsp ground cardamom
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp salt
2 tsp vanilla
2 cup carrots (grated fine)

Shred the carrots (I used my food processor... no more grated knuckles!)

Cream the sugar and cooking oil in a medium bowl. Mix. Add the egg.

.

Stir the flour and soda in a smaller bowl.

Then, add the cardamom, cinnamon, and salt.

Pour the dry ingredients in with the sugar mixture.

Add the vanilla and stir.

Fold in the carrots.

Pour the batter into a lightly greased bread loaf pan.

Bake at 325 degrees F for 1 1/2 hour or until lightly brown and a toothpick comes out clean.

Feel Better Potato Soup

“To feel safe and warm on a cold wet night, all you really need is soup.”
Laurie Colwin

If Snoopy were writing this blog, it would start with "It was a cold and rainy night..." As it turns out, I am writing this blog after a weekend of feeling as if the Red Barron was flying loops in my stomach and attacking my digestive tract. It really has been chilly and stormy here in Missoula. The temperatures have been hovering between 40 and 60 degrees and it feels like fall. When I wasn't feeling well, my fiance, Brad, brought me some canned potato soup and some saltines. The thought was wonderful, but the canned soup left a lot to be desired. So, when he left for the baseball game to sell 50/50 tickets to benefit his work at a local home for adults with developmental disabilities, I decided to make some real soup.

Soup is one of those things that can do wonders when you are not feeling up to par. The soup I made is a hearty soup that makes you feel full and comforted on a yucky day.

Feel Better Potato Soup
1/3 pound bacon
3 cloves garlic (minced)
1 large onion
2 cups water
1 cup milk
2 chicken boullion cubes (I use the Lower Sodium kind)
pepper, garlic salt, paprika, and garlic powder (to your taste)
shredded cheese (for garnish)
6 medium carrots (peeled and sliced in big chunks)
10 medium russet potatoes (peeled and cut into chunks)
1 can kernel corn (drained)
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese


Cook the bacon until the fat is just rendered and add garlic.



Add the onions and let it cook together for a while. I cleaned the kitchen while stirring the pot occationally. Then I added the carrotts.






Place the potatoes on top of this mixture and season. Potatoes need a lot of salt, so I put some garlic salt in there too. Just be careful! too much salt can ruin the whole pot and remember it already has bacon in it and soon we will be adding bouillon!
















Allow this mixture to cook together for about 10 minutes, stirring occationally. Add the can of corn and the parmesan cheese to the mix.






Add water and milk and stir. Bring liquid to a rolling boil and add your bullion cubes.




Cover, turn down the heat, and allow to boil, stirring occasionally, for 30-45 minutes or until the potatoes are knife tender. Mush some of the potatoes against the side of the pan and stir before serving.




Top it all off with a little bit of shredded cheese and enjoy the warm soupy goodness!

Peanut Butter Cup Brownies

"There are people who strictly deprive themselves of each and every eatable, drinkable, and smokable which has in any way acquired a shady reputation. They pay this price for health. And health is all they get for it. How strange it is. It is like paying out your whole fortune for a cow that has gone dry."

-Mark Twain

There is something about the combination of peanut butter and chocolate that dissolves on your tongue in a fit of richness. Sometimes we need something simple that will satisfy an urge for a devilishly delectable treat. This is where Peanut Butter Cup Brownies make their appearance in my world. Rich and simple, gooey and chewy, these brownies taste like they are made from scratch, but are simply a slightly doctored box mix.

I first tried these at a baby shower a few years ago. I didn't know the woman who brought them, but I do know that I love her. Well, maybe not love, but I certainly appreciate her introducing me to Peanut Butter Cup Brownies!

Peanut Butter Cup Brownies

1 box fudge brownie mix
(vegetable oil, eggs, and water as recommended on the box)
12 individual Reese's Peanut Butter Cups

Follow the directions on the box to make the brownies. Before putting the pan in the oven, evenly place the peanut butter cups throughout the brownie batter, as shown.






That yellow stuff around the edges? It is the "butter" spray I used to grease the pan. I would not suggest using it. I prefer Crisco baking mix. I looks better and it is easier to clean!





Bake following the guidelines listed on the box!



They are that easy and super delicious!!!

Ravishing Radish Relish

"What do I know of man's destiny? I could tell you more about radishes."

-Samuel Beckett

Radishes are the flavor of earth. They are the essence of root and indulgent darkness. They are not the sweaty, sultry nights of the south, bathed like greens in butter, they are the crisp chill summer evenings of the north. They are little red rebels growing underground into fiery globes that protest upon the tongue. Radishes make mouths water and taste buds tingle in excitement. Radishes appeal to the deep and ruddy soul.

When I bought the packet of radish seeds I wasn't really thinking about what I was going to do with the radishes when (or if) they grew. I saw the picture of the perfect globular roots on the packaging and imagined the crisp crunch between my teeth, the fiery flavor settling on my tongue. I suppose I did imagine eating radishes as I decided to plant them, but I did not imagine that the seeds I placed in the ground, watered and tended to would be so overwhelmingly prolific. I began pulling full grown radishes out of the dark earth of my garden in the last week of June. At first, I sliced them and enjoyed them atop salads. Last week I realized I had more radishes than I could feasibly eat on salads on my own.

I found an abundance of recipes for "Pickled Radishes" and although I am sure this process would preserve the radishes nicely, it just did not seem appetizing. Somewhere in a forum I stumbled upon a recipe for "Radish Relish." Relish seemed like the perfect home for my radishes. Relish should have zing. It should have a little bit of sweetness and a little bit of fire. Radish relish was the solution to my excess radish predicament.

I took the recipe from the forum and adjusted it to my own tastes. It landed somewhere between a relish, a salsa, and a bruschetta topping. Although it is hard to name, it is not hard to eat on top of a bit of crusty bread or a cracker.

Ravishing Radish Relish

2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
2 Tablespoons Sesame Oil
3 Cloves Garlic (minced)
1 Large Onion (chopped)
1 Handful Fresh Basil (chopped)
1 Teaspoon Chili Powder
Italian Seasoning (to taste)
1 Can Diced Tomatoes with Garlic
1/4 Cup Vinegar
Juice of 1 Lemon
2 Cups Sliced Radishes


Heat a medium size pan on the stove top over medium heat. Add the olive and sesame oils. Add the minced garlic and cook for about one minute.
Add the diced onion and basil and saute until the onion just starts to become opaque.


Season with chili powder and Italian seasoning.
Stir in the tomatoes, vinegar, and half of the lemon juice.


Turn heat to low and allow the mixture to simmer while you slice the radishes.
Drizzle the sliced radishes with the remaining lemon juice.
Place the sliced radishes in a bowl or the bottom of a large canning jar.



After about fifteen minutes, pour the hot mixture over the sliced radishes. Allow the mixture to cool to room temperature and then put in the refrigerator to chill overnight.


Serve the relish mixture atop toasted crispy bread or crackers.

Indian Tacos

"Frybread is the story of our survival."

-Sherman Alexie

(All pow wow pictures were taken by me on 7/4/09 at the 111th Arlee Celebration and Pow Wow in Arlee, Montana)

Walking up to the pow-wow grounds is like walking up to any fair or flea market. The dusty earth swirls in the hot summer air. The smell of grease and deep fried foods weigh heavy in your nostrils as you make the trek from your car to the celebration. Colors overawe the eyes looking from shades of skin to shifts of dyes. Yet, something makes it different from a typical state fair feeling… something in the background catches your interest and sight. Constant drumming, the jingling of bells and adornments on the dancers’ elaborate regalia, and the mixture of chant, song, and laughter permeates your ears and takes this ground to a place that is more than earth, more than fried food, jewelry, blankets, and bumper stickers. The pow-wow is community. It is a strong tying point for the Native community, but it also allows a glimpse into the culture for those that are not a member of an indigenous tribe.

My favorite part of the pow-wow is watching the grand entry of the dancers while sitting in the bleachers, indulging in a tasty Indian taco. Indian tacos are a customary treat at pow-wows. The base to any Indian Taco, and what makes an Indian Taco different from other treats is frybread. Frybread has a long and interesting history. It rose from the darkness of the days of manifest destiny, of the times of forced mass migrations

of native people and the poverty and suffering that followed. The original ingredients of frybread were composed purely of government subsidies. Government supplied lard, sugar, and flour gave rise to a new tradition in Native communities. Frybread sits heavy in the stomach much like the history of the tribes in America.

For an interesting article on the tumultuous history of frybread, follow this link:

http://www.smithsonianmag.com/people-places/frybread.html

Its history may be tumultuous, but fry bread has worked its tasty way into the Native American culture. When I was a kid, my mom used to make fry bread for us and would often make it when my brothers' boy scout troop met at our house. When she made it, she brushed it with butter and sprinkled it with sugar and cinnamon to turn it into a sweet treat. I knew I loved the taste and texture of her fry bread recipe, so I asked her to send it to me instead of looking up a random recipe online. I later learned that this was a good thing, because fry bread recipes all have similar ingredients, but vary greatly between tribes. According to a friend of mine, frybread from the Crow and Cheyenne tribes tends to be thicker and chewier. Whereas southwestern and west coast tribes tend toward a crisper, thinner bread. My mamma's recipe is a nice balance: crisp outside crust with a soft bready bubbles interspersed throughout.

Mamma Susie's Frybread

4+ cups flour
5 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup sugar
(sugar is optional: if you are making indian tacos leave the sugar out, if you are going to top the bread with cinnamon and sugar or butter and honey put the sugar in!)
1 pkg dry yeast
2 cups warm water
vegetable oil for frying








Mix dry ingredients, add warm water, mix into dough with floured hands.

Pat the dough out on a floured surface,

adding more flour if needed.

Take a large piece of dough (a little bigger than a biscuit) and pull it out into a misshapen circle (try as you may, your circle will not be circular!).

Deep fry in 365 degree oil until well browned.

If you are using a frying pan like we did, be sure to flip your fry bread to brown

each side!

I had to work all day, so I enlisted the help my good friend and fellow Indian taco enthusiast to make the chili to top the tacos. She was happy to provide a steaming crock pot of her own "cheater chili," as she called it. It may be cheating, but it sure is tasty!

Vickie's Cheater Chili
2 15 oz can pinto beans 1 15 oz can kidney beans 2 small cans tomato sauce 2 lbs fresh salsa, medium 1 cup frozen corn
1 lb ground beef, bison, pork or turkey
(the chili pictured is made with ground bison)
1 medium diced onion
1/2 tsp garlic
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 tsp chili powder

Combine beans, tomato sauce, salsa, and frozen corn in crock pot on high. While these ingredients are heating up, brown the meat and onion. Add meat to crock pot and season with garlic, pepper, and chili powder. Stir all ingredients together well. Cook on high for 2 hours, or on low for 6-8. Stir occasionally, adding more seasoning if desired. (Note: added salt is not necessary because the canned beans already contain a healthy amount of sodium.)
To make the Indian tacos:

Cut up some tomatoes, onion and lettuce to top the tacos.

Finally you layer all of the beautiful ingredients into an amazing amalgam of goodness:

Frybread, chili, lettuce, onion, tomato, and cheese, all topped off with a dollop of sour cream!

Peanut Butter Jelly Cookie Time!

"Think what a better world it would be if we all, the whole world, had cookies and milk at about three o'clock every afternoon and then lay down on our blankets for a nap." -Robert Fulghum

One day I looked into my refrigerator to find I had an abundance of the delicious raspberry jam that my fiance's grandmother makes every year. Neither Brad nor I are big fans of Jam/Jelly. Don't get me wrong, it's tasty stuff, but I don't regularly make PB&J sandwiches or anything else that contains jam, for that matter. So, I googled recipes for raspberry jam. I found a potential recipe for a raspberry vinaigrette that I may try at a later date, but nothing that looked particularly appealing to me at the moment. I wanted something simple that I wouldn't have to make a special trip to the grocery store to get a bunch or ingredients and would use a lot of jam.

So, I decided to make something up!

I mixed up a batch of peanut butter cookie dough from an old standard recipe I had been taught years ago:

1 cup crunchy peanut butter
1 egg
1 cup sugar
1 jar of the jam of your choice

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Blend ingredients (peanut butter, egg, sugar) until they are well mixed and form a dough as shown above
(the pictures represent the recipe quadrupled)

Get out your jam or jelly and remove the lid before you start to ball the dough. This way your hands aren't covered in oil when you try to open the jar.





Be sure to line your cookie sheet with parchment paper. If the jam gets on the cookie sheet and goes into the oven it will crystallize and be impossible to clean.

Form the dough into 1 inch balls and space evenly on the cookie sheet.

Create an indention in the center of each dough ball by 'squishing' it with your knuckle.

Fill the holes with the jam of your choice. I use the tip of a butter knife to distribute the jam

Bake the cookies at 350 degrees for 8-12 minutes. Keep an eye on them! They should be darker brown around the edges. If you don't cook them long enough, they will fall apart. If they are cooked too long, they lose their "peanut butter and jelly sandwich essence" as a friend of mine called it. Sometimes your first batch has to be a test batch to see the right amount of time for your oven. After allowing them to cool for 10-15 minutes on the cookies sheet move them to the counter (protected with wax or parchment paper) to finish cooling.

Mmmmm tasty! These cookies have become one of my most requested treats by friends, relatives, and co-workers! The quadrupled recipe made approximately 130 cookies and they were gone in 3 days! Before distributing them I made this cute jar to thank Grandma for the jam (and return her jam jar at the same time!):