Prep for the Winter: Oven-Drying Your Own Fresh Herbs!

Sadly, the bountiful spring and summer fruit & veggie season has come to an end, but luckily the fall brings another crop of amazingness! The crisp apples, versatile yams, onions at their peak, and who could forget pumpkins?

To prepare for the changing seasons, my hubby so helpfully snipped & brought in an abundance of fresh herbs from our herb garden. They were really growing out of control (in a good way), and seemed to be hanging on to life- a perfect time to snip and reap the benefits of these puppies for the winter!

Drying your fresh herbs to use all winter long is not only a great way to prevent wasting the herbs, but also facilitates creativity and continued fun in the kitchen! This winter I need to make sure I got my grip on fun in the kitchen:)

Here is what I've tried so far for Oven-Drying my fresh herbs...I used this method thus far for fresh Rosemary, Oregano & Sage...

Directions:
Printable Recipe

1. Pre-heat your oven to 150-200 degrees.


2. Wash your herbs with cold, running water to remove any dirt, bugs, dust or other yuckies. Spread the clean herbs out on clean kitchen towels, blot with paper towel and let the herbs air-dry for 20 minutes or so. (Herbs need to be totally dry before you place in the oven)


3. Use your fingers to strip the leaves from the stems and spread the leaves out on a baking sheet prepared with a piece of parchment paper.


4. Bake the herbs for about 15 minutes, with the oven door cracked open.


5. Test the herbs for dryness; take a few leaves and crush them with your fingers-a.) if they crumble very easily then the herbs are done! or b.) if the leaves do NOT crumble very easily, hence there is still some moisture within the leaves, bake for 2-3 more minutes, test again...until the herbs crumble easily...(see video)...

6. Continue to crush the dried herbs and store in a tightly sealed container! Enjoy!

You Could Also Try...

• I washed and dried some old dried herb containers, labeled them correctly with their new contents and filled them with MY dried herbs!
• You could also use small ziplock-type containers for storage!

How To...Care for Your Cast-Iron Skillet

When you get a brand new cast-iron skillet or pot, you MUST season it before use. This "seasoning" creates a natural, non-stick surface to the pan and prevents it from rusting. How to Season:

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
2. Begin by smoothing a handful of shortening (Crisco) all over your skillet, and I really mean ALL OVER (top, bottom, sides, handle, everywhere!!).
3. Place your skillet on a baking sheet that has been covered with a piece of foil (for easy clean up). Bake the skillet for about 20-25 minutes.
4. Carefully, remove the skillet from the oven, drain off any extra grease, and place it back onto the baking sheet- except this time place it upside down. Bake it for 1 1/2 hours.
5. Do not remove the skillet from the oven after the time is up-just turn the oven off and let the oven cool naturally inside.
6. Now your skillet has been seasoned!

Maintaining Your Skillet:

Clean your pain when it is still warm/hot, but do not use soap (I know this sounds weird, but you don't want to clean off all the "seasoning"). Just gently brushy off food particles under warm water.

Good Tips for Your Skillet:

• DO NOT boil water in your cast iron skillet, or else it will start to rust
• Designate one specific kitchen towel for your cast-iron, as it can leave smudges and stains on your towels.
• With good care, your cast-iron can last a lifetime!
• Store your cast-iron in a cool, dry place.

How To...Make Perfect Hard-Boiled Eggs

The chickens that laid the eggs that inevitably sit in our fridge would probably flip out if they realized that most of us have NO CLUE how to properly hard-boil an egg! Well, lets get serious...chickens these days have a lot of things to flip out about, but I won't even start on that. Anyways, I feel like there is so much wrong info out there on how to make a good boiled egg and most of us end up with a nasty green line around the yolk (which is from overcooking) or with an egg we can't peel cleanly (which usually means your eggs were too fresh to boil). My mama has always had the best tip for this and it's never proved me wrong- go Gina!

Ingredients & Recipe:

Printable Recipe

• As many eggs as you want(not fresh eggs, i.e. not straight from the grocery store), in a single layer in a pot (the eggs should be comfortable in the pot, not squished together). Allow them to get to room temperature and then pour enough luke-warm water to cover the eggs by 1-2 inches. A new tip I've learned along the way is to add a dash of white vinegar into the pot at this point, which helps the eggs stay together JUST in case there are any cracks.
• Bring the water up to a boil over medium heat. Once you have a decent boil going, turn the heat down to medium-low, put the lid on the pot, remove from heat and set your timer for exactly 10 minutes.
• After 10 minutes, give your eggs an ice bath or run the pot under cold, cold water for a few minutes.
• I've heard some cooks that crack each egg a little to allow some cold water to get inside. I do not prefer this method, but you might love it!
• I usually will then place the eggs in a bowl filled with cool water and a few ice cubes, set the bowl in the fridge for a few hours and then eventually transfer the eggs back to the egg carton for use later!

How To...Bake Tofu

My friend Dana reminded me that tofu is a very under-appreciated food. She and I are very used to using it in stir-fry, but tofu a very flexible ingredient and can be tossed into a variety of vegetarian meals. If you don't really know the first thing about tofu, you may want to check out this earlier post for the basics.

More specifically, baking tofu is a great way to push a variety of flavors/marinades into the soy product, so it can then be used in a variety of recipes. Tofu is famous for taking on whatever flavors it is surrounded by, so you really can use whatever marinades and tastes that would match your meal.

Baking Tofu:

1. Follow my earlier post to press your tofu (you're essentially draining all the water from the tofu)


2. Slice, chop, cube, crumble your tofu as you like. Marinate it in your favorite marinade for at least 30 minutes.


3. Now, simply assemble the marinated tofu on a cookie sheet (which you should spray with cooking spray), and bake in the oven, low and slow, at 300 degrees for 1 1/2 hours, turning or tossing the tofu every 20 minutes or so, to allow for browning on all sides. (When we bake the tofu we are trying to take the moisture out of it, leaving the flavor behind). If you do not have 1 1/2 hours to bake the tofu, then turn the oven up to a higher temperature and cook for less time (remembering to turn it more often).

Now, check out my tofu recipes for a few new ways to use this baking method. Together we can demolish the rumors that tofu is yucky and tasteless!!!

How To...Make Beautiful Scrambled Eggs

Tonight we're having breakfast for dinner! My hubby and I have both had pretty nutso days at work and with nothing really prepped for dinner, he suggested doing a quick yet filling breakfast for dinner.

I'm pretty sure that cooking eggs was one of the very first things I learned to do in the kitchen when I was a little tot- my mom would help me beat the eggs and then we'd magically watch them set and scramble in the warm pan. I felt so accomplished and proud of myself! After some experience, I learned how to make "eggs, over-medium", A.K.A. "ding-ding eggs" as I called them (because it's only fitting that you "ding" your toast into the goey egg yolk as you eat), and honestly, this is when my heart-felt interest in cooking began to cultivate.

Anyways, through the years I learned a great tip for making really wonderful scrambled eggs. It won't necessarily effect the taste per se, but there is nothing grosser than a fork full of rubbery, flat scrambled eggs.

In order to create light, fluffy, cake-like scrambled eggs that have a show-stoppingly beautiful yellow color, simply scramble in 1/8 teaspoon of Cream of Tartar per 2 eggs. And remember not to overcook the eggs, as they will continue to cook another 30 seconds after you take them off the heat.

Tell me how it goes for you, email me at niche.klebba@gmail.com

How to...? Pressing Tofu

I actually really like Tofu and appreciate what a flexible food it is! Tofu is basically made from soybeans and water, so it is a vegetarian food, and is pretty high in protein and calcium. There are a variety of "types" of tofu but when it comes down to it, you either have "Silken" or soft tofu, OR "regular" or more firm tofu.

I add Silken tofu when I make a fruit smoothie to add protein. I've actually tricked my husband into trying my tofu smoothies in the past and he had no idea there was anything "weird" in it!

You see firmer types of tofu used a lot in Asian cooking, and since I learned how to prep the tofu better, I've been able to use it successfully in a variety of stir-fry dishes. Usually when you take the tofu out of its container, it has been soaking in water, so it is pretty moist when you begin. In order to get the tofu ready for cooking, follow these simple steps:

Pressing Tofu:

1. Drain the block of tofu and cut it as your recipe directs.

2. Lay the tofu out onto a few layers of paper towel.

3. Top with a few more layers of paper towel and place a heavy pan or plate on top.

4. Let the tofu sit for 10-15 minutes with the pressure on it, gently pressing down on occasion.

How to...? Butternut Squash Edition

Fall is one of the most wonderful seasons for food! First off, I LOVE PUMPKIN EVERYTHING! Pumpkin bars, pumpkin pie, pumpkin soup, pumpkin spice lattes... And aside from that, all the yummy winter root vegetables are in season and ready for me to enjoy!

I read Cooking Light Magazine religiously, as well as a variety of food sites and blogs, and there has been a plethora of Butternut Squash recipes in the mix. Well, that happens to be a food I'm not too experienced on. I learned a lot from reviewing these simple steps on how to cut this type of squash, and now I'm ready to try a new recipe this weekend!