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The (Ridiculously Good) Instant Pot Recipe I Can't Stop Making — Kitchn Love Letters

At Kitchn, our editors develop and debut brand-new recipes on the site every single week. But at home, we also have our own tried-and-true dishes that we make over and over again — because quite simply? We love them. And we decided to start sharing some of our absolute favorites with you. Here's a peek into what we're cooking and eating in our own kitchens.

There is good spaghetti with meat sauce; there is great spaghetti with meat sauce; and then there is this version, made in an Instant Pot, which lives on a level all its own. Make spaghetti in your Instant Pot once, and you may never make it any other way again. I speak from experience.

I first made this recipe about two months ago, and even now when I think about it, the most warm, satisfying feeling ripples through my belly. It was hands-down the best thing I cooked in 2018 (and I cook a lot), and has been the only way I've cooked spaghetti since.

From the first bite it reminded me of an Italian place in my neighborhood that I order from regularly. Despite a lengthy menu, I've only ever ordered their saucy pasta dishes, and what keeps me coming back is the way the sauce expertly blankets and clings to every single bit of pasta. It's like the pasta is sauced from the inside out, and has become my gold standard for what I crave in a saucy pasta dinner. And this Instant Pot spaghetti makes me feel the exact same way.

The recipe makes use of two of the Instant Pot's functions. First you brown the meat with the sauté function. Next is where the magic happens. You break the spaghetti in half (I know, I know! I wasn't into it at first either, but once you taste this, you'll forget all about it), layer it on top of the meat, and then pour in a full jar of marinara and water. And most important of all, you do not stir together until after cooking.

After the eight-minute cook time using the pressure cooker function, I was obsessed with the magical way the sauce (of which there is an ample amount) hugs to each and every strand of spaghetti. We've long heard that a generous splash of pasta water is the best trick for sauce to stick to pasta. Well, cook everything — the pasta, water, and sauce — together in the same pot, and the result is above and beyond. It also means that the noodles soak up the aromas from the sauce, giving far more flavor than something I'd otherwise pull together on the stovetop.

And while it's not necessarily faster than cooking this comforting classic on the stovetop, it does mean you'll have fewer dishes to wash, and that's always a win in my book.

Source: https://www.thekitchn.com/instant-pot-spaghetti-with-meatsauce-265020

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Instant Pot HK Tomato Pork Chops

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So, what are Cha Chaan Tengs?

If you get a chance to visit Hong Kong, you’ll find Cha Chaan Tengs everywhere you go!

These restaurants serve local Hong Kong style comfort food at cheap prices with super fast service (you usually get your food within 5 minutes!) A perfect-fit for Hong Kong’s hectic city lifestyle.

Loved for their big portion, cheap, fast, and all-around comfort food we grew up eating.

And this Instant Pot HK Tomato Pork Chops 港式茄汁豬扒 we’re making today is a classic favorite at Cha Chaan Tengs.

Our version of Hong Kong style Tomato Sauce is very similar to the tomato sauce you get from Cha Chaan Tengs. But, we kicked it up a notch by adding extra ingredients that help intensify the umami flavorings.

Oh yaasss…this tomato sauce works wonder with pork chops…so good!

Enjoy your Instant Pot Pork Chops!~

Print Recipe

Instant Pot HK Tomato Pork Chops

Easy Instant Pot HK Tomato Pork Chops Recipe: Juicy tender pressure cooker pork chops, soaked in delicious umami-packed tomato sauce. Super comfort food that both adults and kids are going to love!

Ingredients

4 boneless pork chops (1.25 inches thick)

Other Ingredients

1 medium onion , sliced

4 garlic cloves , minced

1 small shallot , diced

8 mushrooms , sliced

50 ml tomato paste (roughly 1/5 cup)

2 tablespoons (30ml) ketchup

1 tablespoon (15ml) peanut oil

1 tablespoon (14g) white sugar

1 teaspoon (5ml) Worcestershire sauce

1 cup (250ml) water

Kosher salt and ground black pepper

1 ½ tablespoon (12g) cornstarch mixed with 2 (30ml) tablespoons water

Instructions

Tenderize Pork Chops: Use the back-end of a heavy knife, pound both sides of pork chops to tenderize the meat.

Marinate Pork Chops: Marinate tenderized pork chops for 20 minutes with ½ tsp (2.3g) sugar, ¼ tsp (1.5g) salt, ¼ tsp (1.25ml) sesame oil, 1 tbsp (15ml) light soy sauce, and ½ tbsp (7.5ml) dark soy sauce.

Prepare Pressure Cooker: Heat up your pressure cooker (Instant Pot: press Sauté). Make sure your pot is as hot as it can be when you place the pork chops in the pot (Instant Pot: wait until the indicator says HOT). This will prevent the pork chops from sticking to the pot.

Prepare Other Ingredients: Clean mushrooms with a damp paper towel and prepare remaining ingredients as listed.

Sauté Pork Chops: Add peanut oil in the pot. Ensure to coat oil over the whole bottom of the pot. Add in marinated pork chops, then let it brown for roughly 1 – 1 ½ minute on each side (don’t need to constantly flip the pork chops). Do not let it burn. Remove and set aside.

Brown Onion, Shallot, Garlic, and Mushrooms: Add in sliced onions, diced shallot and stir. Add a pinch of kosher salt and ground black pepper to season if you like. Cook onions and shallot for roughly 1 minute until softened. Then, add garlic and stir for 30 seconds until fragrant. Add in mushrooms and cook for another minute. Taste seasoning and adjust with more kosher salt and ground black pepper if necessary.

Deglaze: Add ¼ cup (63ml) water and fully deglaze the bottom of the pot with a wooden spoon.

Create Tomato Sauce: Add in ¾ cup (188ml) water, 2 tbsp (30ml) ketchup, 1 tbsp (14g) sugar, 1 tsp (5ml) Worcestershire sauce, and 50ml tomato paste (See Tips). Mix well.

Pressure Cook Pork Chops: Place pork chops back with all the meat juice in the pot. Close lid and pressure cook at High Pressure for 1 minute. Turn off the heat and Full Natural Release (roughly 10 minutes). Open the lid carefully.

Taste & Thicken Tomato Sauce: Remove pork chops and set aside. Turn heat to medium (Instant Pot: Press sauté button). Taste the seasoning one more time. Add more salt and pepper if desired. Mix cornstarch with water and mix it into the tomato sauce one third at a time until desired thickness.

Serve: Drizzle the tomato sauce over the pork chops and serve immediately with side dishes!

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Recipe Notes

Tenderize Pork Chops: Make sure to tenderize the pork chops before marinating them. This is an important step.

Mixing in the Tomato Paste: Mixing in 50 ml tomato paste to 250 ml of water should not cause scorching. If you are unsure, just let the tomato paste sit on top of all the other ingredients unmixed. Avoid mixing in the tomato paste if you exceed the 1 cup of tomato paste to 5 cups of water ratio.

*The Total Cooking Time does not include idle/inactive time.

Nutrition Facts

Instant Pot HK Tomato Pork Chops

Amount Per Serving

Calories 314 Calories from Fat 117

% Daily Value*

Total Fat 13g 20%

Saturated Fat 3g 15%

Cholesterol 89mg 30%

Sodium 690mg 29%

Potassium 871mg 25%

Total Carbohydrates 16g 5%

Dietary Fiber 1g 4%

Sugars 11g

Protein 31g 62%

Vitamin A 4.6%

Vitamin C 8.9%

Calcium 2.6%

Iron 9%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

Tips for Instant Pot Pork Chops

1. Best Instant Pot Pork Chops Cooking Time & Method

You wouldn’t want to overcook pork chops as they’ll become tough and dry!

Since pork chops cook in a flash in the pressure cooker, we did an Instant Pot Pork Chops Experiment to find the best cooking time to make perfect pork chops in Instant Pot.

After testing 5 batches of Instant Pot pork chops (I was starting to dream about pork chops in my sleep..hehe~), we found cooking at High Pressure for 1 minute, then Natural Release creates delicious and perfectly cooked pork chops. So this is the cooking time we’ve used to develop this recipe.

2. Purchasing Pork Chops

Try to choose pork chops with some marbling of fat. The pork chops we used were roughly 1.25 inches thick.

3. Tenderizing Pork Chops

Make sure to tenderize the pork chops before marinating them. Do not skip this important step!!

4. Mixing in the Tomato Paste

Mixing in 50 ml tomato paste to 250 ml of water should not cause scorching. If you are unsure, just let the tomato paste sit on top of all the other ingredients unmixed. Avoid mixing in the tomato paste if you exceed the 1 cup of tomato paste to 5 cups of water ratio.

5. Water vs. Chicken Stock

We used water instead of our homemade unsalted chicken stock in this recipe as most Cha Chaan Teng use water (way cheaper) to make this tomato sauce.

Source: https://www.pressurecookrecipes.com/instant-pot-hk-tomato-pork-chops/

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Sheet Pan Balsamic Basil Chicken with Burst Tomatoes

August 27, 2018 by Laurie McNamara

This Sheet Pan Balsamic Basil Chicken with Burst Tomatoes recipe will change your life. A few simple ingredients, a simple marinade and one sheet pan is all you need to put dinner on the table in under an hour. Serve with pasta or zoodles and prepare to fall in love. Serves 4. 

Oh my gosh, you guys. If you want a ridiculously simple dinner, you must make this sheet pan balsamic basil chicken with burst tomatoes ASAP! It’s everything you could imagine it would be. It has flavor for dayyyys because the tomatoes burst and mingle with the balsamic-chicken liquids, creating some saucy action. Your mind will be blown I promise.

As you know, sheet pan dinners are becoming one of my favorite things because they are so convenient! I dedicate at least one night (sometimes two) a week to making/testing sheet pan recipes. Some are just, meh and need some tweaks. But this one hit the nail on the head with it’s first go round.

It was love after first bite.

First things first, here is what you’ll need: 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar, 2 tablespoon low-sodium tamari, 2 tablespoon honey, 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard and 1 tablespoon olive oil. 1 medium shallot, 1 clove garlic and 3/4 teaspoon dried basil. Salt, pepper, cherry tomatoes and mozzarella. Oh and chicken breast halves. 4 of them.

Next, in a medium bowl, add 1/4 cup balsamic, 2 tablespoons both tamari and honey, 1 tablespoon both dijon mustard and olive oil. Then grate in 1 medium shallot and 1 clove of garlic. Lastly measure in 3/4 teaspoon dried basil and whisk to combine.

Now add the boneless, skinless chicken breasts and toss to combine. Allow the chicken to marinate for 20 to 30 minutes or longer. Whatever you have time for.

Next toss a pint of tomatoes with a little olive oil and a pinch of kosher salt. Once the chicken has marinated, use tongs to remove each piece from the marinade. Let any excess marinade drip off before placing the chicken in the middle of a rimmed, metal baking sheet. Season the chicken with salt and pepper and arrange the tomatoes around the chicken.

Then slip the sheet pan into your preheated 425° oven for 15 minutes.

Finally, after the first 15 minutes, top each chicken breast with 1/4 cup of freshly shredded mozzarella cheese.  Then slide the pan back in the oven and continue baking for an additional 5 to 8 more minutes (depending on the size of your chicken breasts). Furthermore, I also flick on the broiler for a few to give the mozzarella some deep golden spots.

While the sheet pan balsamic basil chicken was doing it’s thing, I prepared the zoodles which only takes 5 to 8 minutes to cook. Resulting in everything being done at the same time.

This is the saucy goodness I was telling you about! ^^^

Serve it as is with fresh basil and red pepper flakes on zoodles or angel hair pasta, maybe even orzo or rice. Drizzle any pan juices over top because that stuff is liquid gold.

The chicken is moist and the tomatoes leave a sauce behind on the sheet pan and acts as a sauce for the chicken. Not that it really needs it. Fresh basil really adds a nice burst of herbaceous freshness and after a sprinkle of red pepper flakes and parmesan, dinner is served.

Enjoy! And if you give this Sheet Pan Balsamic Basil Chicken with Burst Tomatoes recipe a try, let me know! Snap a photo and tag me on twitter or instagram!

My cookbook Simply Scratch : 120 Wholesome Homemade Recipes Made Easy is now available! CLICK HERE for details and THANK YOU in advance!

This Sheet Pan Balsamic Basil Chicken with Burst Tomatoes recipe will change your life. A few ingredients, a simple marinade and one sheet pan is all you need. Serve with pasta or zoodles and prepare to fall in love. Serves 4 in under an hour.

Yield: 4 servings

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Cook Time: about 20 minutes

Total Time: about 25 minutes

Ingredients:

1/4 cup balsamic vinegar

2 tablespoons low-sodium tamari (or low-sodium soy sauce)

2 tablespoons honey

1 tablespoon dijon mustard

1 tablespoon olive oil, plus more for tomatoes

1 medium shallot, grated

1 clove peeled fresh garlic, grated

1/4 teaspoon dried basil

4 boneless skinless chicken breast halves (1-1/2 to 1-3/4 pounds total)

kosher salt

freshly ground black pepper

1 pint cherry tomatoes (I did a mix of cherry and sungold)

1 cup freshly shredded mozzarella cheese

fresh basil leaves, for garnish

red pepper flakes, for garnish

freshly grated parmesan cheese, for garnish

Pasta, rice or zoodles, for serving

Directions:

In a medium bowl whisk together the vinegar, tamari, honey, mustard, 1 tablespoon olive oil, shallot, garlic and basil. Add in the chicken breast halves and toss to coat. Cover and marinate for 30 minutes to 1 hour. Refrigerate if marinating longer than 30 minutes.

Preheat your oven to 425°.

Toss the tomatoes in a little olive oil and kosher salt.

Use tongs to remove the chicken from the marinade, allowing any excess marinade to drip back into the bowl. Place the chicken in the middle of a metal, rimmed baking sheet and season with kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper. Scatter the tomatoes around the chicken.

Slide the sheet pan onto the middle rack of your preheated oven and bake for 15 minutes. Remove and top each chicken breast with 1/4 cup of mozzarella. Slide the pan back into the oven to continue baking for 5 to 8 more minutes. Turn on the broiler to brown the top of cheese -optional. This happens quickly, so watch carefully.

Serve the chicken and burst tomatoes on top of pasta, rice or zoodles. Garnish with fresh basil, red pepper flakes and a little parmesan cheese. Lastly, spoon the pan liquids over top.

[this post contains affiliate links.]

Source: http://www.simplyscratch.com/2018/08/sheet-pan-balsamic-basil-chicken-with-burst-tomatoes.html

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How To Make An Antipasto Salad Platter

posted December 7, 2018 by Gina

For fuss free entertaining, nothing is easier (and prettier) than creating an antipasto salad platter!

And that is why I’m so excited to share this Skinnytaste Fuss-Free Dinner Gift Collection filled with all my DeLallo Foods favorites, all hand picked by me! I love giving the gift of food, it’s the perfect gift box for someone special in your life, I plan on giving these to all my friends and family members that have “everything” and don’t need more “stuff” (like my in-laws)!

Now, if you have been following me for a while, then you know how picky I am about Italian food, and how much we LOVE Delallo Foods. Growing up in New York, we are spoiled with great Italian salumerias and know good quality pasta, cheese and meats. So when I first went to the Delallo Store in Jeanette, Pennsylvania I thought I was in Italian heaven. The great thing is, you can buy most of their stuff online, so you don’t have to travel all the way to Jeanette, PA.

When I came up with this Fuss-Free Dinner Party in a Gift Box I remembered an event my friend Heidi of Foodie Crush hosted, where she threw together a salad platter similar to this that was pure genius. Turns out, her idea came Guiliana who works at Delallo, and always makes entertaining seem so effortless. Just add the greens and veggies, everything else for the platter is in included in the box, plus a package of pasta and a jar of sauce.

Here’s what you will get:

DeLallo Mezzi Rigatoni Pasta 1 lb. DeLallo Pomodoro Fresco Tomato-Basil Sauce 25.25 oz. DeLallo Modenacrem Balsamic Glaze 8.5oz DeLallo Imported Chickpeas 14oz DeLallo Pitted Castelvetrano Olives 10.6 oz. DeLallo Sun-Dried Tomatoes 6.7 oz. DeLallo Grilled Artichoke Halves 12 oz. DeLallo Feta Wedge 8 oz. DeLallo Parmesan Cheese Wedge 8 oz. DeLallo Sweet Sopressata Mini 9 oz. DeLallo Extra Virgin Olive Oil Gift Box

And, if you use the code: SKINNYTASTE you will get 25% off!

You can use any combination of your favorite Antipasto, such as marinated mushrooms, eggplant, etc, your favorite olives (you can use a variety), and your favorite meats and cheese, the possibilities are endless. Once you have all your ingredients, arrange this just before you’re ready to serve, it won’t take long. You can pre-cut everything ahead to save time.

Start with a very large platter.

Pick up some salad greens, such as baby arugula, and some tomatoes and fresh cucumbers.

Arrange the greens in the center of the platter.

Cut up the vegetables and cheese, and slice the sopressata.

Arrange them around the arugula, keeping them all separate.

Open the chickpeas, olives, sundried tomatoes and artichokes and drain, arrange them on the platter.

Set out olive oil, balsamic glaze and your favorite dressings.

Set out some serving spoons or tongs and let everyone help themselves.

Recipe created in partnership with Delallo Foods, a brand I love and use in my kitchen.

posted December 7, 2018 by Gina

Source: https://www.skinnytaste.com/how-to-make-an-antipasto-salad-platter/

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Curly Pasta with Roasted Golden Tomatoes and Sausage

I’m BACK, DID YOU MISS ME? (don’t answer that.)

Because I missed you.

I did!

No, I did!

When you’re out of your regular work slash community rhythm, it totally does a number on your work slash community . . . rhythm. Never mind.

I HAVE PASTA FOR YOU.

And the fabulous thing about this ultra-simp recipe, is that you can totally willy nilly with it. It’s not about perfection. Or measurements. It’s all ’bout that bass, ’bout that bass.

Wait, that’s something else.

Let’s look at this.

I don’t think there’s any other sight that gives me as much deep, unbridled soul explosion as the above. Besides my offspring, my soulmate, my dog blah blah BLAH.

But like, pasta + Italian sausage + golden tomatoes that you’re going to roast until submission + fresh spinach + zingy lemon. Duh, please.

Nothing better.

Nothing.

Nuttin’, honey. (sorry I called you honey.)

You know the drill – brown that sausage, babe. (sorry I called you babe.)

Cook that pasta, bunny. (sorry I called you bunny.)

ROAST THOSE TOMATOES, pigeons. (sorry I called you pigeons.)

This is the thing about them thar ‘maters (my coffee is strong today), depending on the size of them, like cherry vs. grape vs. these wacky plum size ones that I found at the farmer’s market, the roasting time will be different. You can absolutely SLOW roast your tomatoes all day long if you have the time. Like, 250 degrees for a few hours. If you don’t have that time, and need to blitz these beauts to charred bombs of bliss (I dunno), then blast them under a 500-degree oven for like, 30 minutes. Less than that if they’re tiny Tims. (who’s Tim?)

Know what I mean, Vern? (please don’t x out.)

Wherever your life takes you in this, just get them blistered and softened and charred and seductive.

The end.

Except not.

Theeen you’ll toss everything together (even some reserved pasta water because starchy water = life) in a pan, squeeze a bunch of fresh lemon on top, nestle the roasted babies back in, and garnish with so much freshly grated parmesan that you can’t feel your upper torso.

The end.

Except not.

Because theeeeeen you’ll take your fork and lightly mash down on the tomatoes, and they’ll lusciously morph into sauce with the lemon and pasta water, creating an irresistible flavor volcano in your face hole.

The end.

For real this time. Maybe.

Curly Pasta with Roasted Golden Tomatoes and Sausage

Ingredients

About a pound and a half vine tomatoes of your choice

1-2 Tbs. extra-virgin olive oil

1 pound Italian sausage

2 cups cellentani pasta, (or your favorite small curly pasta)

5 cups baby spinach

1 lemon

Freshly grated parmesan, for garnish

Coarse salt and pepper

Instructions

Preheat your oven to 400. Place the tomatoes on a baking sheet, and drizzle with olive oil and a pinch of salt. You can even cut them in half, if they’re on the larger size. Which is what I probably should have done. Roast for about an hour, cut side up, until they’re charred and blistered all over.

In a large pot of salted water, boil the pasta until al dente, according to package directions.

In the meantime, brown the Italian sausage in a large skillet until cooked through, about six minutes.

Reserve about a cup of the starchy pasta water, and transfer the cooked pasta to the sausage, along with the spinach, juice of a lemon, and a bit of the pasta water. Stir and let wilt and marry for a minute or two. Taste right now, and season with a pinch of salt and pepper, if needed.

Nestle the tomatoes in the pasta, along with a healthy sprinkling of grated parmesan. Serve immediately!

You can mash the tomatoes into the sauce before serving, if you like. YOU DO YOU.

Serve 4-ish.

7.6.7

172

http://bevcooks.com/2018/08/curly-pasta-with-roasted-golden-tomatoes-and-sausage/

For the love, get in that.

Source: http://bevcooks.com/2018/08/curly-pasta-with-roasted-golden-tomatoes-and-sausage/

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Gluten-Free Vegan Pancakes

These gluten-free vegan pancakes are made with oat flour, and are surprisingly fluffy! They have quickly become a family favorite, and I love that they are egg-free.

How to Make Gluten-free Vegan Pancakes

Oat flour is one of my favorite gluten-free flours because it’s affordable and easy to find in stores, but make sure you look for “certified gluten-free” on the label to avoid cross-contamination. You can make your own flour by simply grinding gluten-free rolled oats in a coffee grinder or blender.

In my experience, oat flour needs eggs to “fluff up,” but I finally figured out a way around that by using aquafaba, which is the liquid leftover from a can of chickpeas. (Or any other variety of bean.) Aquafaba whips up just like egg whites, adding lift to vegan recipes like this one.

I found that you get the best stability, and the most fluffiness, when you add a pinch of cream of tartar to your aquafaba mixture. It’s helps provide the same structure in recipes that eggs do.

If you don’t have aquafaba on hand, I also have you covered. I found that using arrowroot starch and additional water can also replace eggs in this vegan pancake recipe, so I’ve included that variation in the notes below the recipe.

I’ve also included two methods for preparing these pancakes. You can cook them the traditional way, on a skillet or griddle on the stove, or you can bake them, to cook several at once, without added oil. Either way, they’re delicious!

Gluten-Free Vegan Pancakes

These Gluten-Free Vegan Pancakes are amazingly FLUFFY without using eggs! I love how quick and easy they are to make, with an option to use aquafaba, or not.

Keyword: aquafaba, oat flour, pancakes, vegan

3 tablespoons aquafaba (liquid from chickpeas)

1/8 teaspoon cream of tartar

1 cup oat flour (certified gluten-free, if needed)

3 to 4 tablespoons coconut sugar

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 tablespoon olive oil

1/3 cup water

1/8 teaspoon fine sea salt

2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar

Preheat your oven to 350ºF and line a baking sheet with parchment paper (for baked pancakes) or preheat a skillet over medium-low heat on your stove top (for skillet pancakes).

In a large bowl, whisk together the aquafaba and cream of tartar until foamy, about 1 to 2 minutes.

Add in the oat flour, 3 tablespoons of the sugar, baking powder, oil, water, and salt and stir until a smooth pancake batter is formed. Stir in the vinegar last, which will react with the baking powder, adding a little extra fluffiness to the pancake batter. Taste the batter and add 1 more tablespoon of sugar, if desired. (My family prefers them a little sweet.) This batter will thicken as it rests, so feel free to add extra water, just 1 teaspoon at a time, if it thickens while cooking the pancakes to help make it pour-able again.

FOR BAKED PANCAKES: Pour the batter 1/4 cup at a time onto the lined baking sheet. It should spread into small pancakes, so leave room for them to spread a bit when baked. Bake at 350ºF until the centers feel firm to a light touch, about 8 to 10 minutes. There's no need to flip them this way, and the whole batch can cook at once.

FOR SKILLET PANCAKES: Grease the preheated skillet, and pour 1/4 cup of the pancake batter into the center. Wait for the middle of the pancake to bubble, about 4 to 5 minutes on medium-low heat. (If the heat is too high, they can burn-- just like traditional pancakes!) Use a spatula to flip the pancake when it looks sturdy enough, then cook on the other side for another 3 to 4 minutes. Remove from the pan, and repeat with the remaining batter, greasing the pan each time to help prevent sticking.

Serve the pancakes warm, with fruit and/or maple syrup, as desired.

Per pancake: 123 calories, Fat: 4g, Carbohydrates: 16g, Fiber: 1g, Protein: 3g

Recipe Notes:

To make this recipe without aquafaba, omit the aquafaba and cream of tartar. Instead, use 1/4 cup of arrowroot or tapioca starch and increase the water to 1/2 cup total.

You can omit the oil if you prefer an oil-free pancake. Just add 1 more tablespoon of water, if needed to thin out the batter. The pancakes are just slightly gummier in texture without the oil, but still totally enjoyable.

If you’d like a recipe with buckwheat flour, try my Baked Buckwheat Banana Pancakes instead.

As always, if you try something different with this recipe, please leave a comment below letting us know what you tried. We can all benefit from your experience!

–

Reader Feedback: Have you worked with aquafaba before? What’s your favorite way to serve pancakes? My kids just like theirs with peanut butter on top– no syrup!

Source: https://detoxinista.com/gluten-free-vegan-pancakes/

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Kajur Imli Ki Chatni / Date Tamarind Chutney (Chaat)

1. Place the tamarind, jaggery and dates in a 2L pressure cooker.

3. or just enough to cover the contents.

4. Close the lid with the weight and cook on high flame. That is the flame should just about cover the bottom of the pan. Make sure it does not reach the sides since it would cause burning of the handles.

5. Cook for 2 whistles , around 6 minutes.

6. Switch off the heat and let the pressure settle down.

7. This is how it looks upon opening.

8. Add rest of the ingredients along with 1-1/2 cups water and blend to a smooth puree. You can either use a hand blender or transfer to a food processor. Do a taste test and adjust the seasoning to your preference.

Source: http://chefinyou.com/recipe/sweet-tamarind-chutney

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Self-Care Interview Series: Erin Lovell Verinder

Erin Lovell Verinder is a herbalist, nutritionist and energetic healer living in the wilds of the Byron Bay hinterland in Australia, working with clients locally in her Sydney clinic and worldwide via Skype.

Routine

— Is routine important to you or do you like things to be more open and free?

I honestly love both. I keep certain parts of my day very structured especially around work days and where I can, I claim open space. I follow structure to bring in the foundations of support that are essential for me to thrive and maintain my balance. Like slow mornings, connecting to nature, enjoying a whole nourishing breakfast. But then I open up my days where possible to flow & allow spontaneity.

— What do your mornings look like? If they differ from day to day, describe your ideal morning.

I keep my mornings slow and sacred, it’s been a very intentional movement towards this over the years. I wake with the sunlight pouring into our bedroom, we live in an old church and the light in here is just next level serene. I always keep the blinds open to allow my body rhythms to harmonize with the sun and moon cycle. This regulates your cortisol and melatonin in such a fundamental way. I allow myself to wake slowly, no rush, no jump out of bed, no alarms, no startle response! I will then take time to do some stretching sequences with conscious breath, and then sit for a 20 minute meditation. Followed by a morning dog walk around our very green country town. Other mornings it’s a swim in the ocean with my husband and a lazy lay on the sand. After this, it’s breakfast time. I brew a tea, or make a tonic and take that out into the garden. I really feel it’s so important to have a whole breakfast, and we really honour that in our household, we sit and chat and connect over a meal before the day unfolds. I do my absolute best to only engage in anything work related after 8am and completely screen free before then is the daily goal.

— Do you have any bedtime rituals that help you sleep well?

Yes! I am super ritualistic about the evening wind down. I ensure I am off all screens at least two hours before sleep. I feel this is so greatly important to allow our bodies to align and flow into the yin cycle of the night. I switch off all overhead lights and only use very warm low light lamps as the sun sets. This is another trick to converse with your body to wind down, let go of any tasks and prep for rest. I read, write, listen to music and savour evenings for creative flow and conversation with my husband.

— Do you have any kind of mindfulness practice? 

Many. I practice conscious breath and meditation as my main allies. But I also spend A LOT of time with plants, growing, making, conversing and in nature scapes. This is for me the ultimate mindfulness practice of oneness, presence and connection.

Sustenance

— Describe your typical or ideal meal for each of these:

Breakfast – Scrambled eggs with turmeric, garlic and greens, avocado and some home fermented veggies on the side. 

Lunch – Wild caught Mahi Mahi with tarragon, parsley, lemon and garlic cooked in ghee, on top of a bed of greens with some roasted sweet potato on the side. (Literally one of my favourite dishes ever)

Snack – I love smoothies. Often a smoothie, my current fav is Strawberries, cashew nut butter, cashew nut mylk, collagen, hemp seeds, tocos, cinnamon, vanilla powder & ashwaganda powder.

Dinner – San choy bow, with a rainbow of veggies & lots of bold ginger flavour in vibrant cos lettuce cups.

— Do you do caffeine and in what form? If not, what is your drink of choice in the morning?

I actually do not, I am completely stimulant free. I have not always been, but just find myself so very sensitive to any stimulants these days. I used to love love love a great spicy black chai tea but since going caffeine free I have replaced it with a dandelion chai blend I make myself that is just so warming and grounding I adore it. Plus no crazy energy spikes and lows, so thats a plus!

— Do you have a sweet tooth and do you take any measures to keep it in check?

At the same time when I let go of stimulants, I completely let go of sweets- even natural sweeteners. In the past I have been an avid lover of raw chocolate and quite the connoisseur (ha) but these days I make my own carob chocolate that has no sweetener in it at all. I love carob as it’s very sweet naturally so you can get away with no added sweeteners. I pair it with vanilla powder and they work synergistically to give a natural sweetness that I find so comforting.

— Are there any particular supplements, herbs, or tinctures/tonics that you take regularly and find to be helpful with your energy level and general wellness?

I do utilize supplement support as needed, this shifts as my body shifts. I love Vitamin C on so many levels but particularly for its adrenally restorative healing elements, so it is absolutely in my daily supplement routine, alongside Magnesium citrate on the daily. With herbs, I will vary what I am taking depending on my needs. I add herbal powders and medicinal mushrooms to my tonics and smoothies. Currently my favourites are Withania (Ashwaganda) and Reishi. I also am a huge lover of infusions (long loose leaf herbal brews) and always have a big jar of an overnight infusion with me to sip throughout my day. My most utilized blend would be Nettle leaf, Oat straw and Hibiscus. Earthy, calming, tangy and nourishing.

Exercise

— Do you exercise and do you have a particular exercise routine that you repeat weekly? 

Years go I had a heinous back injury, I herniated multiple discs from overexercising. My approach and relationship to body movement completely shifted after this, from rigorous to gentleness. It is still an area of my life I have to encourage myself back to and approach more as an act of self love. Taking care of my temple. I walk my pups daily, I love pilates and swimming, I have begun the be.come project and absolutely LOVE the approach to body movement with body positivity, inclusivity, no need for any equipment and in the comfort of my own home. This all feels really supportive and a mix of gentle yet effective support for me and my body.

— Do you find exercise to be pleasurable, torturous or perhaps a little of both? How do you put yourself in the right mindset in order to keep up with it?

I am not a natural athlete by any measure! I have recently connected to how emotional it can be to return to body movement when you have been through a big physical injury/body change/life change. So for me the way I psyche myself up to do a session is to come from self love, to know this is a loving act of care for my body. That really helps me so much. Also knowing there are no rules to how you must move your body, allow exercise to meet your vibration- yin, yang and all between. Shifting the type of body movement I do with my menstrual cycle/hormones is so key. Be your own compass.

Beauty

— What is your idea of beauty – external, internal or both?

Authenticity, when someone is just purely themselves and at ease with it. I find it absolutely stunning.

— What is your skincare approach – face and body?

Oils, oils and more oil. I swear by the dewy hydration of oils. I am pretty low maintenance with skin care, and have noticed I need a lot less intervention since moving to the sea and swimming in the ocean most days. The salt magic is so nourishing for the skin. I also find the sun very healing, contrary to the fear of UV rays we have been indoctrinated with! I use a homemade herbal balm for a lot of applications, hair mask, makeup remover, and moisturizer. It is a power packed plant based mix, and such a heavenly blend. I also use Ritual oil, a moringa and blue lotus oil as a body moisturizer.  I am in my mid 30’s and really notice my skin responds so well to the dewy goodness of oils. I practice dry body brushing also, which I feel is so wonderful to aid stagnation and lymphatic flow. I use a jade roller which I keep in the fridge for extra lymphatic cooling, and use on my face every few days with oil. I always end my showers with cold water, to add in a hydrotherapy element. I wear very little makeup, but when I do it is always natural, as clean as can be. I love RMS and Ere Perez.

— Are there any foods, herbs or supplements you find to be helpful to your skin/hair/general glow?

The importance of a vibrant whole foods diet and hydration is EVERYTHING! So many compounds in our foods, fruit + veggies are anti aging and collagen boosting anti oxidant heros. I drink 3+ litres of filtered water daily and do my very best to eat a rainbow of seasonal organic fruit/veggies daily and honestly I rely on this to support my health, skin and hair primarily. I do add in a marine based collagen daily to either smoothies or tonics. Also I am in a stage of encouraging my hair to grow, and am using nettle, rosemary and horsetail infusions as a hair rinse. I also massage in olive oil and rosemary oil into my scalp, truly it is so simple and aids hair growth.

— Do you have any beauty tips/tricks you’ve found to be especially useful throughout the years?

A low tox life is key. Keep your stress in check, move your body, eat as clean as possible – mostly plants, organics or pesticide free produce, clean water and clean air. The most incredibly glowy humans I know follow this ethos. This has been my guideline and I am often told I really do not look my age. I am so at ease with ageing but it is always nice to hear you are maintaining a youthful glow!

Stress, etc.

— Do you practice any consistent routines in order to avoid stress? 

I really do. I work for myself and direct all of my offerings at this point. This can be demanding and means “work” can have a never-ending feel. There are always so many thoughts, needs and energy streams flowing into my work life. I also feel when you work as a space holder and in the healing realms, your energy output can be hefty. Burn out is high in this line of work, as you truly want to assist so deeply to aid others, we can often throw our needs to the side. I have learnt this many times in my years as a clinician/healer. I implement a lot of consistency with a structured clinic week~ limiting the amount of clients I see weekly to where I feel my energy is at and how many clients I can truly be present for. I balance myself with time off, away from screens, in nature and welcome in receiving energy to counteract my giving energy. My self care practice is the core of how I seek balance. I am actually freakily good at giving back to myself, which I believe enables me to do what I do!

— If stress cannot be avoided, what are your ways of dealing with it?

For me, it is much healthier to come at it head on.. (typical Aries answer!) I do my finest to address the stressors, and clear the way. Whether this means a mountain of admin,  which is often a stressor for me as I not a natural lover of admin. I bunker down, switch off all other distractions, play some flute music or chants, burn some incense and get in the zone. When I exit that zone I feel so accomplished and reward myself with an ocean swim, or a nature walk to balance out the mental space I have been in.

— What measures do you take when you sense a cold/general feeling of being under the weather coming on?

First and foremost I rest. Immunity can be a very strong conversation our bodies communicate to us with the message of needed REST. My go to supplement and herbal approach is to take a high dose of Vitamin C consistently in divided doses throughout my day, I also add in zinc supplements. I always have an immune focused liquid herbal tonic in my first aid support cabinet, so I begin this at a high frequent dose to meet the acute presentation of a cold/virus~ generally dosing up to 4 x daily. Usually it will have Echinacea, andrographis, elderberry, manuka, thyme in it. I love medicinal mushrooms to support immunity so I will take a blend of Reishi and Chaga in higher doses. I avoid raw foods and focus on lots of cooked warming nourishing food to feed the cold, congees, broths, soups, stew. I also make fresh oregano, thyme with sliced lemon & ginger tea. If I really honour the rest that is needed, the cold/rundown feelings will shift very swiftly.

— How do you reconcile work-time with free-time? Do those things overlap for you or do you keep them distinctly separate?

The best thing I ever did was to get a separate work phone. I have a dedicated phone that my clients can contact me on, so in my free time it is left at home or on silent. This has helped me enormously create healthy boundaries. I also do not have my work emails on my phone, so I do not check them at all unless I am sitting down at my computer to work. It is so important to be available to your own process and own life, especially when you are in the field of assisting others. These simple interventions help fortify those boundaries greatly for me.

Motivation

— Describe the actions you take or mindset you try to tap into in order to stay on track with your self-care practice and being nice to yourself?

I return to softness with myself if I lose my way a little. I do my best to not judge or engage in negative self talk. I soften and return to my centre. We all have patterns we are cycling. Although I feel I am quite a master of my own self care practice I definitely can get caught up in my workload a fair bit. One thing I do consciously do is to book a treatment in weekly in some form, usually a bodywork-massage session. I find this tactile healing so restorative.

— What do you consider to be the single most important change you’ve made to your routine or lifestyle in terms of wellness?

I recently moved from the mountains to the sea, although they are both completely beautiful nature rich locations I was very much in need a big environment change for my own health and wellbeing.  Having lived in a very cold environment mountain side for 10 + years I was craving the warmth, the salt and the sun. Being by the ocean and soaking up the sun rays has been so fundamentally healing for me at this point. Total game changer! The power of changing your environment is so potent when you feel the call to do so.

— How do you deal with periods characterized by a lack of inspiration or procrastination?

I acknowledge that this too shall pass, it is transient. I do my best to trust my own creative genius. I am quite a forward motion person, so when I am feeling uninspired it absolutely can get me down. I am naturally a procrastinator in many ways, which can be so frustrating but saying that I also have the ability to then smash out the tasks in an uncanny way! I often find when I am not in such a wonderful place with myself I feel that sense of stagnation, so I do my very best to get to the roots of that stagnation. Often it takes me getting into nature to be re inspired, crafting out some quiet space to re energize and tackle the task head on. I try to ask myself what is the block, and unpack the block to free up the energy flow.

— A book/movie/class that influenced your view of self-nourishment or self-care.

As cheesy at it sounds I LOVED Practical Magic, the witchy plant potions and the apothecary Sandra Bullock’s character opened was a total inspiration for me as teenager.. & still is now (lol).

Knowledge

— What was your path to becoming a herbalist, nutritionist, and energetic healer? How do all of those practices interweave for you?

I was always drawn to the esoteric realms and the mystery of nature. As a little girl I loved being outside, I loved the flowers, the trees, the plants, the grasses, the oceans, the mountains. I loved being an observer and always felt so held when I was in nature. As soon as I began to understand that plants could have a positive effect on our health, it just fascinated me. Learning about folklore of plant medicine, applications and remedies drew me into a language I wanted to be fluent in. I believe that much of our call to the plant path is remembering, these plants have been with us through our ancestral lines for eons. My career began really at the age of 16 with energetic healing, I met a group of wild women up north in Australia and was welcomed into circles, introduced to the concepts of healing, and recognized as a student of these realms. I learnt reiki which led to crystal healing, then to sound healing, colour therapy, kinesiology.. I went to a college for 2 years to learn energetic healing in depth and graduated by the age of 19 holding full in depth sessions on auric healing and clearing energetic blockages. For me it felt too much too soon. So I went and travelled, met my husband in the USA and studied a whole lot more. When I returned to Australia I wanted to anchor my knowledge of healing with more grounded modalities so I began studying Naturopathic medicine. I forked off into a Bachelor of Western Herbal Medicine and Nutritional Medicine. I loved learning about plants and food as medicine, I loved the union of science and grass roots knowledge. Over years of being in practice, I have found that there is no way or no need to seperate these modalities. I weave them all in together to ultimately support the client in a very holistic way. I approach my practice with this lens of perception. I lead with intuition, and merge functional testing, pathology testing, traditional folk medicine, evidence based plant medicine, nutritional medicine, and energetics all to support. I believe there are always energetics involved in a health presentation, along with the demand for nutritional healing as powerful ally, and herbal medicine to assist, shift and support. Aligning these healing modalities is a potent combination. Essentially the basis of Naturopathic Medicine is individualised care, no one case is the same. This ethos rings true to me, there is not one client I have worked with that is the same as any other. How can we approach health in one way, or believe there is one remedy for one presentation? It goes against the nature of our uniqueness! My practice is about honouring the individuals path, story and health goals.

— You put a lot of emphasis on gut health in your practice and believe it to be the root to all balanced health. Can you talk a little bit about why you see this as such an important aspect of wellbeing? 

“All diseases begin in the gut” – Hippocrates had it right!

So many issues stem from the gut, it is the root of our health. With the emergence of continued evolving science we are seeing so much more information come to light around the microbiome/microbiota, which is truly wonderful. Much of our immunity is linked with gut health, it impacts mental health greatly with our “second brain” residing in the gut producing neurotransmitters, it is involved in the auto immune expression, it defines our ability to absorb and produce nutrients/vitamins/minerals, it impacts our metabolism, it is directly connected to our stress response and digestion responds accordingly.. And so much more… I work very closely with digestive healing with each and every one of my clients as I believe this is a key element to balanced health and shifting imbalanced symptoms. Many of my clients present with poor digestion and we dig like detectives to get to the roots, often it is a leaky gut like picture – with parasites, yeast overgrowths or SIBO which we generally detect via functional testing. Once we have a good sense of what is actually happening in the gut, we go in with a supportive treatment plan – lifestyle, supplemental, nutritional and herbal interventions. It always astounds me how health can transform so greatly, from imbalanced to balanced with the right support, intention and dedication. Our bodies are so wise, and so willing to transform.

— What is your favorite way of incorporating herbal medicine into your (or your clients’) everyday life?

I personally incorporate it in so many ways. I make my own products and use them on my skin and in my home on the daily, I drink herbal teas and infusions daily and use tonic herbs to support my body/being. I have a herbal garden that is buzzing right now, so connecting with the plants via gardening is medicine to me. There is something so potent about growing and caring for a plant and utilising her healing, knowing the story of the plants beginnings enhances the healing power I believe. For clients~ it really depends but I do always advise infusions to become a part of their everyday lives. They are so very simple and accessible, basically a long brewed overnight tea! If you are working with me in a session we will touch on many ways to incorporate plant medicine into your life, from the herbs that are suitable for your current process, to cleaning up your skin care with more plant love, to working with herbal tablets/liquid tonics for marked support.

Fun and Inspiration

— What is something you are particularly excited about at the moment?

This next year feels so full of creativity, as I expand and launch multiple new offerings. Right now I am in a potent brewing stage, so I look forward to it all coming to fruition!

— What do you do to unwind or treat yourself?

Days off at the beach, going into the bush, gardening in my medicinal plant patch, reading a great book, screen free days, massages, hugs with my husband & dogs.

— A book/song/movie/piece of art to feed the soul:

Book – Braiding Sweetgrass – Robin Wall Kimmerer Song –  Stay – Cat Power/ Ba Movie –  Call me by your name Piece of Art –  A oil pastel pencil drawing gifted to me by my husband and family by my dear friend and incredible creator Chanel Tobler called “Curves like jam”

— Is there anyone you would like to hear from next in this interview series?

Emily L’ami from Bodha, she is a scent magician.

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Source: http://golubkakitchen.com/self-care-interview-series-erin-lovell-verinder/

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10 Cookware & Tableware You Should Get from Japan

Not sure what cookware and tableware you should check out while visiting Japan?  Here are 10 things that are worth bringing back in your suitcase from Japan.

One of the most frequently asked questions I receive from JOC readers is what cookware and tableware they should buy when they visit Japan. With limited suitcase space, I understand I can’t suggest everything.  Living in the U.S., I have trouble finding certain Japanese cookware and tableware from local stores or online stores, so I made a recommended list here for you.

My suggestions are really for someone who enjoys cooking Japanese food frequently and appreciates Japanese household items (if that’s not you, these also make great gift ideas for that person in your life who loves Japanese culture and cuisine!).  If you’re lucky, you may be able to purchase these items easily where you are, but generally, these items are pretty difficult to find and can be very expensive compared to the price you pay while you’re in Japan.

Thank goodness my kids’ clothes are not giant yet, so I could lease some of their suitcase space for these items (and let them carry it for me)!  I hope you find the list helpful and insightful. 

1. Adjustable Stainless Steel Otoshibuta (Drop Lid) 落とし蓋

Otoshibuta or drop lid is an essential Japanese cooking gadget for all kinds of simmered foods. It’s a kitchen tool that is not so common outside of Japanese cooking, hence it’s hard to find it in kitchen shops in the U.S.

For the longest time, I’ve been waiting for someone or some company to sell these adjustable stainless steel otoshibuta on Amazon, but no luck yet. MTC Kitchen sells it for $19, but you can find an otoshibuta for less than $10 in Japan. This particular one above is around ¥800 ($8). So grab one (or two for your Japanese cooking buddy) when you visit Japan!

2. Tamagoyaki Pan 玉子焼きフライパン

Yes, there are some non-stick Tamagoyaki pans such as this copper Tamagoyaki pan available on Amazon. But the quality of some pans I purchased before was not very good. If you do make tamagoyaki for your children’s bento or for your breakfast regularly, you might as well stop by a kitchen store and get one while visiting Japan. Here you can find my favorite T-fal brand in the picture below (top left) at Tokyu Hands in Shibuya store.

See all the choices of brands and sizes? These are much better quality and less expensive compared to ones you can find on Amazon.

3. Ladles お玉

You may think I’m silly for listing a ladle on your Japan shop list. But true story… I had a really hard time finding the perfect ladle for serving miso soup. All the ladles I purchased in the U.S. are a bit too big to serve into standard size miso soup bowls. I may sound picky, but I’ve purchased enough ladles to try and all the ladles that I end up keeping are all from Japan. Let me say this, the size, shape, angle of the stem, and the material of these ladles from Japan are just perfect. I rest my case.

Here I took the picture at Kappabashi Kitchen Town.  So many different sizes, shapes, and utility of ladles!  I also recommend visiting supermarkets (especially the one that has a 2nd floor for home and kitchen goods), Tokyu Hands, and even department store kitchen floor. Try holding the ladles and see the difference!

4. Rice Bowls & Miso Soup Bowls お茶碗・お味噌汁椀

Rice bowls and miso soup bowls are something that we use daily for Japanese families. We have MANY, many variations of rice bowls and miso soup bowls in Japan. High-quality wooden miso soup bowls that are made in Japan are hard to find in the US. While you’re traveling in Japan, grab some wooden bowls. They are light, easy to bring back, and make your daily miso soup more fun and elegant!

I bought these rice bowls with Mount Fuji drawings that come with assorted colors. They bring a smile to my children and me every day.  Find the one that makes you smile whether the bowl has a cute cat drawing or beautiful cherry blossoms, or it might be the right color that attracts you.

5. Bamboo Baskets

Bamboo products are so much easier to find in Asia. Japan offers amazing hand-woven bamboo products that are made in Japan. There are a lot of bamboo specialized stores and you might spot them while traveling, especially when you visit Kyoto, Takayama, Kamakura, and more traditional cities.

6. Ramen Bowls

Unlike donburi (rice bowl dish) bowls that rims go straight up, ramen bowls have a wide opening on the top with rim going outward.  This is especially helpful when your ramen has lots of toppings.

See the picture above? My ramen in a donburi bowl look very clustered, but when you serve the noodles in the ramen bowl, the ingredients have room to present themselves.

And, you can actually see the soup!  So, if you’re a huge ramen fan, do get some ramen bowls when you’re in Japan.  Good quality and good looking ramen bowls are so hard to get in the U.S.  I got mine at Kappabashi Kitchen Town.

On the other hand, if you love donburi dishes, do get a variety of donburi bowls. Donburi is very common meal in Japan, hence we have SO MANY kinds of beautiful donburi bowls.

7. Chopsticks & Chopstick Rests

Even years before I started photo shooting my recipes, I’ve been a collector of chopstick rests. Something about them that is so attractive. Maybe because they are small and I love everything miniature.

If you are in Japan, you will see a lot of cute stores that sell kitchen and home goods. I love to stop by to check out some unique chopstick rests and chopsticks whenever I get a chance. Instead of buying a set of 4-5 pairs, I only buy one chopstick rest and a pair of chopsticks that I love from each store. I enjoy picking out which chopsticks and chopstick rests that would go well together, and everyone would have a different set.  The mismatch is supposed to be fun!

8. Magewappa Bento Box

Bento (lunch box) is not only for children, adults can also enjoy it at school, work, or even at home. These wooden bento boxes, called the Magewappa (曲げわっぱ), not only is environmentally friendly, but they also make your lunches so much more appetizing and presentable.

It’s a lot more inexpensive to buy bento boxes in Japan than trying to buy online. You can purchase Magewappa at any tableware and bento stores, but it’s a lot easier to go to Tokyu Hands or a bento box section of the kitchen floor in department stores.

I forgot to mention. Bento box for adult is also great for portion control and perfect for those who try to lose some weight (aka me…).

9. Chiffon Cake Pans

I love baking chiffon cakes, so several years ago I bought two different cake pans (17cm and 20cm) in Japan and brought them home with me. Japanese chiffon cake pans are affordable and SUPER easy to use. I like that they come with a slim and tall shape, which are great when comes to making beautiful looking chiffon cakes compared to a flatter angel food cake pan. 

This aluminum chiffon cake pan from Asai Shoten (浅井商店) is VERY famous and you can go to the store in Kappabashi Kitchen Town to find them.

With these pans, you can make my Meyer Lemon Chiffon Cake, Green Tea Chiffon Cake, Orange Chiffon Cake, and Earl Grey Chiffon Cake.

10. Plates & Bowls

Some people enjoy shopping for clothes and shoes, but I enjoy getting new kitchen gadgets, pots and pans, and my endless love – plates and bowls. I especially love ceramics from Japan that are so delicate, unique, and of course, handmade.

Some of the plates and bowls are from my grandmother, so they are sentimental pieces to me. My mom kept them in boxes for me knowing that I would need these for Just One Cookbook. I am just happy that I can continue to use this special heirloom tableware.

Picture below – Things I brought back in 2018: Mostly from my mom and grandma’s collections and a few gifts from my friends.

Picture below – Things I brought back in 2018: These are actually from Thailand – I brought them to Japan, and then brought them back to the US.

Picture below – Things I brought back in 2018: These white plates are all from Le Baise in Kappabashi Kitchen Town in Tokyo.

Picture below – Things I brought back in 2018: Unfortunately, this happened a few times, even though I had carefully wrapped them individually. I’ll be going to a Kintsugi Workshop to fix my grandmother’s tea bowl in San Francisco this November.

Picture below – Things I brought back in 2017: Ceramics from my trip to Bangkok on top and the rest are Japanese ceramics.

Picture below – Things I brought back in 2016: Majority of ceramics are from a department store Takashimaya in Yokohama. The rest are from my mom.

Have you brought back anything for your kitchen while visiting Japan? What are your favorites? Comment below and share your stories with us!

Sign up for the FREE Just One Cookbook newsletter delivered to your inbox! And stay in touch on Facebook, Google+, Pinterest, and Instagram for all the latest updates.

Source: https://www.justonecookbook.com/things-i-brought-back-from-japan/

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A Baker’s Guide to Cookie Scoops

Make your drop cookies the best they can be with cookie scoops!

Cookie scoops are among my most recommended baking tools. I have several in different sizes, and they get used quite frequently. For those of you unfamiliar with cookie scoops, they are spring-loaded scoops that help you scoop and measure batters and dough.

Despite referring to them as cookie scoops, they aren’t just for cookies! I also use for portioning muffins, cupcakes, and other times I need to portion dough evenly. I even use them for transferring cake batter to Bundt pans with less mess. They’re also great for scooping ice cream (of course) and whipped cream. (Don’t forget them for cooking, too. They’re so helpful for making things like meatballs!)

Cookie scoops come in lots of sizes to suit whatever you need. They are available in tablespoon sizes, but you may also find them available in disher sizes. (Look for the size on the inside of the scoop.) Those sizes are a reference for ice cream scooping. For instance, a #20 scoop would give you 20 scoops from a quart of ice cream. So, the bigger the number, the more scoops you’ll get and the smaller they’ll be. Those numbers aren’t necessarily all that helpful if you’re scooping cookie dough, though. So, here is a guide that shows those disher sizes in tablespoons as well as their volume in ounces.

All that data is wonderful, isn’t it? You are now armed with plenty of info to get you scooping. What all of that can’t tell you, though, is how big your baked cookies will be. There are just too many factors involved to make that kind of prediction. Different doughs spread differently due to ingredients, temperature, pans, and many other things. You can have a rough idea, though, with some common sense. A tablespoon of dough isn’t likely to give you a huge 4-inch cookie, right?

There are other sizes, too, but these are the most likely to be helpful in baking. I have a range of sizes to fit lots of uses. As you can see, most of the sizes don’t fit a perfect tablespoon size, so just choose something that’s close. If you need 2 tablespoons of cookie dough, then a #30 scoop is just fine. These are the cookie scoops that I use most:

Cookie Scoop Sizes in My Kitchen

Here’s one more tip for you about using a cookie scoop. Don’t make a rounded scoop. You want to make a dome shape that’s flat on the bottom to make sure you’re using the correct amount of dough. If your recipe directs you to make balls of the dough, I recommend scooping first and then forming a ball.

There are so many advantages to using cookie scoops. They’ll easily give you the same size cookies, muffins, or whatever you’re scooping. Keeping everything the same size and portion will help those things bake evenly. If you have some portions smaller or larger, they will not need the same baking time and can create inconsistent results. Having every cookie or muffin or cupcake the same size is also visually appealing and satisfies the perfectionist in me.

Now that you’re armed with all this knowledge of cookie scoops, I hope you’re inspired to get baking. Once you’ve used scoops for making cookies or muffins or whatever else you’re scooping, I think you’ll come to find them indispensable!

Great Ways to Use Cookie Scoops

We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.

Source: https://bakeorbreak.com/2018/08/cookie-scoops-guide/

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Greek Yogurt Apple Streusel Cake

Greek Yogurt Apple Streusel Cake - Easy Apple Coffee Cake Recipe

We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.

​​

Source: https://toriavey.com/toris-kitchen/greek-yogurt-apple-streusel-cake/

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Almond Joy Protein Shake

Well good morning, you lovely soul! What’s going on with you? I’m just over hear waking up extra early from being so sore. My workout yesterday made me feel like my forearms were going to explode. And as much as I weirdly like the pain after a workout, I’m not looking for swole forearms. Just not what I’m going for.

You guys…Christmas is NEXT WEEK!! What the hells bells? It came up so damn fast this year! I’m actually heading out today to shop for our white elephant gift exchange AND birthday shop for both my husband and best friend. Both of them have birthdays close to Christmas so they often are forgotten about. So today I’m trying to find the perfect gifts for the two of them. Fingers crossed I can be creative for once in my life.

But get this. My best friend decided she wanted to do a little 5k for her birthday. And since it’s so close to Christmas, it’s an ugly sweater run. They give you an ugly sweater and hand you some hot chocolate with kahlua at the end of the race. The thing is, the day of the race is suppose to be 7 degrees F here. SEVEN! I hate the cold and I hate running as my primary exercise. But I love my best friend and will do whatever she wants to do for her birthday. Even if she is trying to freeze all of her friends to death. So here’s hoping that she decides that brunch and stuffing her face with birthday cake sounds more appealing. COME ON, LAURA, BE NORMAL!

Oh yay, I get to see my brother in law soon!! He is coming in to town with his girlfriend and we are gonna do all sorts of family stuff! I can’t wait to squish his little face! He’s the absolute best and is a senior in college so it’s so fun to keep seeing him grow up every year! He’s almost out in the real world! So cool!!

Ok, that’s all I have to talk about today. Now go make this shake because it’s super easy and extra tasty!! Oh yeah, and PS – stay tuned for THREE holiday inspired recipes next week that you’ll definitely want to have at your holiday celebration!!

Prep Time 5 mins

Total Time 0:05

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spread out sliced almonds and shredded coconut on a baking sheet and baking for 8-10 minutes, until coconut and almonds are slightly browned and fragrant.

Place about ¼ cup of the toasted almonds and coconut into a blender along with all the rest of the ingredients and blend until completely smooth.

Use a little extra honey to line the rim of 2 glasses then dip the glasses into the extra almonds and coconut. Pour shake mixture evenly in 2 glasses then top with extra almonds and coconut!

by juli

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You May Also Like:

Piña Colada Protein Shake

Pumpkin Pie Protein Smoothie

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I may be compensated through my affiliate links in this post, but all opinions are my own. This compensation helps with expenses to keep this blog up and running!

Source: http://paleomg.com/almond-joy-protein-shake/

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Peanut Butter Blondies with Peanut Butter Cups

Peanut Butter Blondies are a peanut butter lovers dream.  Add peanut butter to a traditional blondie and then top them off with peanut butter cups!

I am definitely a blondie fan, truth be told, I would take a blondie over a brownie every time.  How about you?

What is the difference between a blondie and a brownie?

You probably already know what a brownie is,  a dense, chocolately, cake like bar cookie.  A blondie is pretty much a brownie without the chocolate.  Traditionally, blondies are made with butterscotch chips and brown sugar and I have a delicious butterscotch blondie recipe here.

Today’s version of a blondie is a little different than the traditional blondie because instead of butterscotch, it is full of peanut butter goodness. I love the traditional blondie but after tweeking it to create this peanut version I think I may like these better!

How to Make Peanut Butter Blondies

Mix your wet ingredients together first. Beat your butter, peanut butter and sugar together until they are nice and fluffy.  Add in eggs and vanilla and mix until combined.

Mix all your dry ingredients together in a separate bowl and then add into wet ingredients.  The trick is to not over beat your peanut butter blondies.  Combining the dry ingredients together first helps prevent overmixing.  Mix just until combined.

Add the mixture to a 9 x 13 prepared pan.  Be sure the pan is greased or lined with parchment paper.  I prefer parchment paper because then I can lift the blondies out of the pan to slice them.

Evenly place your peanut butter cups on the batter and press into the batter.  I used 28  of the miniature peanut butter cups, placing them in a row of 4 x 7.  Be sure and cut into 28 bars so that way you get a peanut butter cup in every square of peanut butter blondies!

Bake at 350 degrees F for 25-30 minutes until the edges are golden brown.  Don’t over bake.  I like my blondies a little chewy.  Cool to room temperature and then drizzle with melted chocolate and peanut butter.  I melt both in the microwave but you can also do so in a double broiler.

Allow the chocolate and peanut butter to set up before cutting into bars.  Cut into 28 bars so that you end up with a peanut butter cup in each bar.  You don’t want anyone to fell cheated!

Your peanut butter lovers are going to be in heaven and there is definitely enough chocolate in these to make your chocolate lovers happy too.  I shared them with my neighbor because I knew I would eat way too many!  This is the text I received, “Oh my, those peanut butter bars are amazingly sinful!”  Guess she liked them!

Some of my other favorite bar cookies:

Peanut Butter Blondies Recipe

Peanut Butter Blondies

Peanut Butter Blondies are a peanut butter lovers dream.  Add peanut butter to a traditional blondie and then top them off with peanut butter cups!

Course: Bar Cookies

Cuisine: American

Keyword: peanut butter blondies

Servings: 28 servings

Calories: 220 kcal

Author: Leigh Anne

Ingredients

3/4 cup butter softened

1/2 cup peanut butter creamy

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

2 cups all purpose flour

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp baking soda

28 mini peanut butter cups unwrapped

1/2 cup chocolate chips melted

1/3 cup peanut butter melted

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Grease a 9 x 13 pan with cooking spray or line with parchment paper.

In a large bowl, beat together butter, peanut butter and sugars.  Beat until light and fluffy.

Add in eggs and vanilla, stir until combined.

In another bowl, mix together flour, salt and baking soda.  Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and mix until just combined.

Place batter into prepared pan.

Press Reese's peanut butter cups into batter.  Place in a 4 x 7 row.  Bake 25-30 minutes or until golden brown.

Cool and then drizzle with melted chocolate and peanut butter.  Allow to set up before cutting.

Nutrition Facts

Peanut Butter Blondies

Amount Per Serving

Calories 220 Calories from Fat 108

% Daily Value*

Total Fat 12g 18%

Saturated Fat 5g 25%

Cholesterol 25mg 8%

Sodium 198mg 8%

Potassium 94mg 3%

Total Carbohydrates 25g 8%

Dietary Fiber 1g 4%

Sugars 17g

Protein 4g 8%

Vitamin A 3.6%

Calcium 2%

Iron 4.3%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

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Hi – I’m Leigh Anne! Food, family and friends are three of my favorite things. I love sharing easy, delicious recipes and entertaining ideas that everyone will love. When she started her blog, Your Homebased Mom, over 9 years ago she had no idea that it would one day house over 2,400 recipes and ideas! .

Latest posts by Leigh Anne (see all)

Source: https://www.yourhomebasedmom.com/peanut-butter-blondies-with-peanut-butter-cups/

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Cauliflower Pizza Crust Review

This cauliflower pizza crust review is for all those people who like to be gluten-free and for the parents who like to hide vegetables in their kid’s food.

After posting my Caulipower Pizza Review, I became aware of other players in the cauliflower crust word. First among them is Trader Joe’s.

TJ’s makes both a cauliflower crust and a broccoli kale crust and I just had to try both of them. Whole Foods produces a cauliflower crust as well.

Before I get into these packaged crusts, you should know that my favorite gluten-free crust is a portobello mushroom see: portobello mushroom pizza.

None of the cauliflower crusts are simply cauliflower. I am pretty sure that cauliflower needs something to hold it together to make a crust and all of these brands come up with different binding agents.

Before we get into the different types, you should know that none of these reminded me of actual pizza. I think the fluffy, gluten-filled crust is hard to replicate without wheat flour.

First up is Trader Joe’s!

Both of the Trader Joe’s crusts are a bit different than a regular pizza crust because you bake them for about 20-24 minutes before you add toppings.

This cauliflower crust uses corn flour and potato starch to hold it together. Here are the nutrition facts for 1/6 of the pizza:

80 calories, 0 g fat, 0 g saturated fat, 17 g carbohydrates, 1 g sugar, 1 g protein, 1g fiber, 220 mg sodium, 2 Freestyle SmartPts

The flavor and texture was surprisingly good and I would happily put sauce, cheese, and toppings on this and not feel deprived. This crust had a chewiness that was a little like actual bread.

I would buy this again.

This crust was $4.

I know this next crust isn’t cauliflower but I had to try it. The casher told me that he loved this crust with pesto and veggies.

This broccoli/kale crust uses corn flour and potato starch to hold it together. Here are the nutrition facts for 1/6 of the pizza:

70 calories, 0.5 g fat, 0 g saturated fat, 15 g carbohydrates, 0 g sugar, 1 g protein, 0g fiber, 230 mg sodium, 2 Freestyle SmartPts

If you don’t like broccoli or kale, avoid this crust because it tastes like them. I actually really liked the flavor and texture of this crust and think it would be an excellent addition to any quick dinner. Again, it had a nice chewiness and would stand up well to sauce and cheese. Way to go TJs!!

This was $4.50.

Whole Foods has their own 365 Everyday Value brand and there is some good stuff. This was the most expensive of all the cauliflower crusts at $6.

The WF take is to add chickpea flour, mozzarella cheese, eggs, and potato flour along with some basil, thyme, oregano, and marjoram to make a product that approximates actual pizza dough.

Here are the nutrition facts for 1/4 of the pizza:

110 calories, 4 g fat, 2 g saturated fat, 14 g carbohydrates, 0 g sugar, 6 g protein, 1 g fiber, 105 mg sodium, 3 Freestyle SmartPts

This crust has a ton more protein than the other brands (and less sodium). My problem is that it was gummy and tasted like potatoes. I didn’t like the flavor (very bland) and I don’t think a pizza made with this would be good. Also, it was the most expensive crust!!

Finally, I took a look at Caulipower, which is the most affordable at $2 per crust.

They used brown rice flour and cornstarch to hold this one together.

Here are the nutrition facts for 1/6 of the pizza:

85 calories, 3 g fat, 1 g saturated fat,13 g carbohydrates, 1 g sugar, 2 g protein, 2 g fiber, 50 mg sodium, 3 Freestyle SmartPts

I overcooked this one a bit as you can see.

This had a good flavor but had more of a crunch to it and was pretty thin. I did not sense any cauliflower when I ate this and I am wondering how much is cauliflower and how much is brown rice flour.

I did think this was pretty tasty and I would use it for my gluten-free friends if I didn’t have a Trader Joe’s in the neighborhood.

Have you tried any of these crusts? What did you think?

Other posts you might like:

Caulipower Pizza Review

This is a Caulipower pizza review and, no, I did not mess up the spelling of “cauliflower”.....

Love Pizza? Try This 100 Calorie Version

You know what? It isn't that hard to make healthy pizza. Pizza would always be pretty healthy if we chose not to put 1/2 pound of cheese on every slice....

Source: https://snack-girl.com/snack/cauliflower-pizza-crust-review/

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Instant Pot Low-Carb Zuppa Toscana Soup

posted by Kalyn Denny on January 8, 2019

If you’re a fan of Instant Pot soup, you’re going to love this Instant Pot Low-Carb Zuppa Toscana Soup! Use Pressure Cooker Recipes to find more soups to make in the Instant Pot!

Click here to PIN Instant Pot Low-Carb Zuppa Toscana Soup!

I’m still enjoying sunny Costa Rica but this Instant Pot Low-Carb Zuppa Toscana Soup is a new recipe I had ready to go so I could share it with you while I’m here! Sometimes when a recipe idea pops into my mind I’ll google it to see if there are lots of other bloggers who have already made similar things. But when I had the idea for a low-carb version of Zupppa Toscana Soup, I didn’t need to google it. I knew there would be other bloggers who had made their version of this tasty soup, and I didn’t care. I love the ingredients in Zuppa Toscana soup so much I wanted to make it even if it wasn’t that original or creative.

And wow, was it ever a winner! My version of Zuppa Toscana has bacon, my favorite spicy Italian sausage, onion, garlic, chicken stock, chopped cauliflower, red pepper flakes, chopped kale, heavy cream, and Parmesan cheese to add at the table. How can anything with those ingredients possibly taste bad? I know some people aren’t big on cauliflower or kale, but all these ingredients are a big yes from me!

And because the onion, garlic, and sausage are cooked in the Instant Pot before you lock the lid and cauliflower cooks in a flash in the Instant Pot, this soup is super quick! So when you need a quick dinner that’s easy, tasty, and low-carb, give this Instant Pot Low-Carb Zuppa Toscana Soup a try!

Start by chopping the bacon, onion, cauliflower, and the kale. You could do that ahead and keep those ingredients in containers in the fridge if you want to be ready to cook when you get home from work. Set the Instant Pot to SAUTE and HIGH temperature, add the chopped bacon and cook until it’s nicely crisp. Remove bacon with a slotted spoon. If there’s a huge amount of bacon fat you can remove some (or not) but leave at least a tablespoon of bacon fat to cook the onion. Turn Instant Pot down to SAUTE and NORMAL temperature; add chopped onion and cook 2-3 minutes. Then add the minced garlic and cook another minute.

Squeeze the Italian sausage out of the casings into the Instant Pot and cook the sausage while you break it apart with a plastic or wooden turner (not metal, which might scratch the pot.) If you’re using turkey Italian sausage it may release some water, but keep cooking until that’s evaporated and the turkey is starting to brown. Then add the chopped cauliflower, chicken stock, red pepper flakes, salt, fresh-ground black pepper, and the cooked bacon. Lock the lid and set the Instant Pot to MANUAL and HIGH temperature, TWO MINUTES.

After the cooking time of two minutes is up, use QUICK RELEASE to release the pressure. Set the Instant Pot back to SAUTE and HIGH temperature, add the chopped kale, and simmer the soup 4-5 minutes (or until kale is done to your liking.) Turn heat down to LOW (and let the soup cool down a bit if it’s bubbling). Then stir in the cream and heat it through. (Don’t boil after the heavy cream is added.)

Serve hot, with plenty of freshly-grated Parmesan cheese to add at the table.

More Low-Carb Soups in the Instant Pot:

The BEST Low-Carb Instant Pot Soup Recipes ~ Kalyn’s Kitchen 50 Amazing Low-Carb Instant Pot Soup Recipes ~ Slow Cooker or Pressure Cooker Instant Pot (or Stovetop) Low-Carb Loaded Cauliflower Soup ~ Kalyn’s Kitchen Instant Pot Chicken Fajita Soup ~ All Day I Dream About Food Instant Pot Low-Carb Ham and Cabbage Soup ~ Kalyn’s Kitchen

Weekend Food Prep:

This recipe has been added to a new category called Weekend Food Prep  to help you find recipes you can prep or cook on the weekend and eat during the week!

Instant Pot Low-Carb Zuppa Toscana Soup

Yield: about 8 servings

Total Time: 22 minutes, plus additional cooking time or individual ingredients

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 2 minutes pressure cook time, plus additional cooking time for individual ingredients

If you’re a fan of Instant Pot soup, you’re going to love this Instant Pot Low-Carb Zuppa Toscana Soup!

Ingredients:

3 thick slices bacon, but into short cross-wise slices (Use more bacon if you prefer.)

1 yellow onion, chopped small

1 T minced garlic (garlic from a jar is fine for this)

5 links (19.5 oz.) hot or mild Italian Sausage (see notes)

4 cups chopped cauliflower (one small head)

6 cups chicken stock or canned chicken broth (4 cans chicken broth is slightly more than 6 cups, but it will be fine)

pinch red pepper flakes

salt and fresh-ground black pepper to taste

4 cups chopped kale

1 cup heavy cream (or use half and half or milk if you prefer)

freshly-grated Parmesan to add at the table

Directions:

Slice the bacon crosswise into short rectangular strips. Chop onion, cauliflower, and the kale. (I would use large pieces of kale, cut the kale away from the ribs, and then chop. But you could use pre-chopped kale or baby kale if you prefer.

Set the Instant Pot to SAUTE and HIGH temperature, add the chopped bacon and cook until crisp. Remove bacon with a slotted spoon. Remove some bacon fat (or not) but leave at least a tablespoon of bacon fat to cook the onion.

Turn Instant Pot down to SAUTE and NORMAL temperature; add chopped onion and cook 2-3 minutes. Then add the minced garlic and cook another minute.

Squeeze the Italian sausage out of the casings into the Instant Pot and cook the sausage while you break it apart with a plastic or wooden turner (not metal, which might scratch the pot.)

Then add the chopped cauliflower, chicken stock, red pepper flakes, salt, fresh-ground black pepper, and the cooked bacon. Lock the lid and set the Instant Pot to MANUAL and HIGH temperature, TWO MINUTES.

After the time to cook to pressure and cooking time of two minutes is up, use QUICK RELEASE to release the pressure.

Set the Instant Pot back to SAUTE and HIGH temperature, add the chopped kale, and simmer the soup 4-5 minutes (or until kale is done to your liking.)

Turn heat down to LOW (and let the soup cool down a bit if it’s bubbling). Then stir in the cream and heat it through. (Don’t boil after the heavy cream is added.)

Serve hot, with freshly-grated Parmesan cheese to add at the table.

Low-Carb Diet / Low-Glycemic Diet / South Beach Diet Suggestions: This Instant Pot Low-Carb Zuppa Toscana Soup is a good soup recipe for any low-glycemic or low-carb diet. Soup with bacon and heavy cream would be outside the approve fat guidelines for the South Beach Diet, but I bet you could make a pretty tasty soup using lower-fat ingredients if you’re a South Beach fan.

Find More Recipes Like This One: Use the Diet Type Index to find recipes suitable for a specific eating plan. You can also Follow Kalyn’s Kitchen on Pinterest to see all the good recipes I’m sharing there.

Nutritional Information? If you want nutritional information for a recipe, you can sign up for a free membership with Yummly and use the Yum button on my site to save the recipe and see the nutritional information. Another option is entering the recipe into this Recipe Nutrition Analyzer, which will calculate it for you.

posted by Kalyn Denny on January 8, 2019

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Source: https://kalynskitchen.com/instant-pot-low-carb-zuppa-toscana-soup/

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Kate Middleton prefers this pizza topping to pepperoni

When you’re royalty, you can be just as picky as you choose about food. And the Duchess of Cambridge definitely has her pizza preferences, and she's not afraid to share them with the youth of today.

The Best Pizza in Every State

In a video shared to Twitter by Rebecca English, the ideally named royal correspondent for the Daily Mail newspaper, Prince William’s wife is seen making pizza with grade school students at King Henry’s Walk community garden in north London.

Their passionate pizza discussion runs the gamut. One young boy suggests cucumber as a pizza topping, and the duchess reacts with mock horror. Moving on to discuss toppings she does like, the royal has a suggestion.

“Does anyone ever put bacon on a pizza? Bacon’s great,” she says. The kids sound a little unsure, but she gamely sells them on it. “I quite like that actually,” the duchess says. “It’s like having pepperoni but it’s not as spicy.”

Some pizza lovers on Twitter found this a shocking indictment of the duchess’ ability to appreciate hot foods, but I think she was just playing to the room – kids likely do find pepperoni spicier than bacon. Especially if she was referring to typical English bacon, which is closer in taste to Canadian bacon than traditional American bacon.

And then one of the kids has a question that stumps the duchess: Has the queen ever had pizza?

“That is such a good question,” answers the diplomatic duchess. “I don’t know…maybe the next time I see her, should I ask?”

Now the queen has had 92 years of traveling the world and dining on internationally renowned meals from the world’s best chefs. It seems likely that she’s been served pizza at some point, perhaps on a visit to Italy.  Though we would guess it was a very upper crust affair, probably went undocumented by photographers, and silverware was almost certainly used. Queen Elizabeth II is not one for scooping up a skinny New York-style slice with her hands. Here’s a look at what the British royal family really eats at home.

Source: https://www.thedailymeal.com/kate-middleton-thinks-pepperoni-pizza-spicy-prefers-bacon/012219

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Pork Tenderloin with Figs, Onions and Olives

Have you ever paired pork tenderloin with figs? If not, you’re in for a real treat. As you know pork goes very well with fruit, think apples and pork, but when paired with sweet and luscious figs the flavor combination is beyond words!

The pork tenderloin gets marinated for a while, then gets roasted with sweet red onions, green and black olives and plumped out poached fresh figs.

For years, five to be exact, we tried growing our own figs, we have the most beautiful, healthy looking fig tree with enormous leaves, but not one fig has ever been produced, we have a dud, and we might just pull it out this year and attempt to buy another variety and start over, but it’s hard when the leaves look this good.

So in the meantime when I see a display of figs like this I jump for joy and grab a couple of boxes.

The figs were unblemished, in premo condition, sweet and ripe, what more could a girl ask for!

These little jewels got placed into a poaching liquid to cook down and concentrate their flavor a bit, and to create the most delicious, syrupy sauce which will act as a beautiful glaze for the pork tenderloin.

What you have here is a sweet and savory combination that balances quite nicely with the briny olives and herbs.

Make this please, it’s pure decadence!

Pork Tenderloin with Figs, Onions and Olives

Make this when fresh figs are nice and ripe for a delicious combination of sweet and savory

1 pork tenderloin about 1½ lbs. ( silver skin removed)

1 dozen fresh, ripe figs, cut lengthwise

green and black olives some cracked and pitted, a good handful

1 large red onion, quartered leaving the stem and root attached

MARINADE INGREDIENTSFOR PORK

2 tablespoons, fig preserves

2 tablespoons grainy mustard

2 small garlic cloves, crushed

1 tablespoon each of thyme and rosemary leaves

salt and pepper

POACHING LIQUID FOR FIGS

¼ cup of red wine and ½ cup of water or all water if you prefer

¼ cup or so of sweetner, honey, brown sugar or white sugar

¼ cup or so of fig preserves or fig butter

First, you want to poach your figs so they can cool down and have the syrup thicken..

In a saucepan, on low heat, add everything in but the figs just until the sugar dissolves, then put your figs in and poach them on low until they absorb the flavors and plump up and you see the juice oozing out, depending on how ripe your figs are you may need to add a little more liquid while it's poaching. When finished let it cool down and thcken up.

Marinate the pork tenderloin by making a paste of the chopped herbs, garlic, mustard, fig preserves, salt and pepper and a drizzle of olive oil.

Rub marinate all over the pork tenderloin and let it sit for at least a half hour.

Sear the pork tenderloin on all sides, getting a nice golden brown.

Place the seared tenderloin into a baking dish along with your quartered and fanned out red onion and the olives.

Add the plumped up and thickend figs all around the baking dish and spoon some of the thick syrup on the top and sides of the seared tenderloin, this will act as a glaze.

Roast at 400F for 20 minutes or until internal meat thermometer reaches 145

Let it rest 5 minutes before slicing.

Make sure each serving has a little bit of everything.

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Source: https://www.prouditaliancook.com/2018/08/pork-tenderloin-with-figs-onions-and-olives.html