creamy | The Foodies' Kitchen

Homemade Almond Butter

I like to make things at home that you would normally get at the store, such as jams or marshmallows. It occurred to me that I wanted to try to make peanut butter at home, except… we had half a jar in our cabinet. I decided to try almond butter instead, so for all my fellow do it yourself folks out there, here’s the recipe I tried.

I wanted to make a small batch of it, so I tried my mini chopper which I figured would work pretty much the same way a food processor would. It did work, but I was afraid it was going to crack! I could’ve kept going to get a smoother appearance, but I feared for my little appliance. Don’t worry about the time it takes to make this. You do need to be patient, it takes a while.

So my tip would be, use your trusty food processor for this. Leave that poor mini chopper alone.

I had sliced almonds at home, so that’s what I used. You can use whole almonds, or any other type of nut for that matter. I think I want to try cashew butter next, or a mix of nuts.

Health Tip: The number one health benefit of almond butter is that it is good for the heart. It is rich in monounsaturated fats, which are the type of fats that reduce levels of cholesterol and decrease the risk of heart ailments. Dipping your biscuit in almond butter or spreading it on top of your bread certainly gives your heart a healthy boost.

Helga

Almond Butter

Recipe from Heather Eats Almond Butter

Ingredients
2 cups of almonds

Special Equipment: Food Processor

Procedure:

The first step is optional: Preheat oven to 350F to roast your almonds. Spread them on a cookie sheet and roast for 10-15 minutes. Stir them a couple of time to keep them from burning.
Place the almonds in a food processor and let the machine do its job.
First you’ll notice the almond butter will start to pulverize. Scrape down the sides of the food processor from time to time with a rubber spatula (with the power off, of course).
As the nuts are being processed they will begin to clump. This is the butter starting to form.
Keep going! It will creamy, but you do need to keep the processor going for about 13-15 minutes.

Note:

You can add different things to it at this point such as: salt, vanilla, honey, cinnamon, maple syrup. I kept mine plain, and just drizzled honey on top after I spread some on a slice of bread.

04:13 PM
3 Comments
- almond butter, creamy, homemade, nuts, spread
0

Arborio Rice Pudding with Coconut Milk

Even though the holidays are over, a chill is still in the air and we all crave comforting food. This recipe is a version of rice pudding, except instead of using regular rice I used arborio rice, which you use to make risotto. The starch from this variety gives the rice pudding an extra creaminess. I also used a mixture of different types of milk: regular, evaporated, condensed and coconut milk. The first three are from a recipe Mariano’s grandmother makes for her infamous rice pudding and his family can eat bucketfuls of it.
I added coconut milk out of curiosity. The result is a smooth, rich and creamy rice pudding with a hint of nutty coconut flavor.

When you make rice pudding, you combine rice with milk and you stir and add more milk as necessary until the rice is tender and the mixture reaches the desired thickness. At least, that’s the method I know. For this recipe I combined this procedure and the procedure you use to make risotto, meaning I let the milk get consumed and I continued adding more to cook.

If you feel the mixture is too thick, just add more milk (the regular type). Sugar is also something to consider. Personally, I prefer a creamy and smooth rice pudding that is not too sweet. This is where you can adjust the amount of sugar you put it. The recipe calls for 6 tablespoons and 1/2 can of condensed milk. You can omit the sugar altogether if you think the sweetness from the condensed milk is enough, or use half of it. To be honest, I did find that 6 tablespoons was a bit too sweet, for my taste.

~Helga

Arborio Rice Pudding with Coconut Milk

A The Foodies’ Kitchen Original Recipe
Serves 8

Ingredients:

1 cup Arborio rice
2 1/2 cups whole milk + more during cooking (about 1 1/2 cups)
6 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla
1/2 can condensed milk
1 can evaporated milk
1 can coconut milk
1 cinnamon stick

Procedure:

In a large pot, mix the Arborio rice, cinnamon, sugar, and whole milk. Cook (uncovered) over medium heat for 10-15 minutes, stirring until the milk starts to evaporate.
Meanwhile, in another pot mix the rest of the ingredients (condensed, evaporated and coconut milk), and bring them to a simmer. Once the 15 minutes have passed, incorporate this mixture into the pot with the Arborio rice,remove the cinnamon stick and continue cooking over medium heat for another 10 min, stirring. At this point, you can adjust the amount of sugar you want to put it, depending on your taste.
Now, lower the heat to low, and continue cooking for another 25-30 minutes. Keep stirring! You need to add a little more milk, and I didn’t measure this part! when I thought it was starting to get too thick, I just added a few extra slushes of milk as the cooking process went on (you’ll probably add about 1 1/2 extra cups of milk) . I didn’t want to be too thick, remember that it will get thicker as it cools.
Check to see if the rice is cooked through, we don’t want any al dente qualities here. If you need a few minutes more, 5 or so, just keep adding a little bit more milk.

10:06 AM
2 Comments
- Arborio, creamy, Dessert, Milk, pudding, Rice
2

Rump Culotte with Mushroom Sauce (In Spanish: Puyazo entero)

My husband is a meat lover, while doing our monthly grocery shopping, he picked out rump culotte so we could prepare it at home. For our Spanish speaking readers, rump culotte is: puyazo entero. It took me a few hours of research to figure out what the word for puyazo is, by the way! Hope I got it right.

This particular beef cut is usually sliced, and grilled. I had never thought about roasting the whole thing, nor had I heard of anyone prepare it in this manner. But, it’s beef… how bad could it be?
I knew I had to prepare a sauce for it, and I knew just which one. My favorite creamy mushroom sauce.

As you can see from the pictures, the recipe was successful! It does take quite a while to cook though. Cook it until it reaches 165 degrees on your meat thermometer, it should take 1 hour. After 60 minutes, check the temperature. Don’t cook it for longer than 65-70 minutes, unless you like your meat well done.

I used Williams Sonoma’s Argentine Rub (Thanks Tía and Liza!), you can use your favorite spice rub, or simply season with salt and pepper.

Rump Culotte with Mushroom Sauce

A The Foodies Kitchen Recipe
Serves 3

For the Culotte:

Ingredients:
1 rump culotte (3lbs)
Salt and Pepper to taste, or
Spice Rub (Optional)
1 tbsp olive oil
1/2 cup of red wine

Procedure:

Preheat oven to 350 F.
Start to heat a grilling pan, or any other heavy pan
Leave the fatty part of the culotte in, but use a sharp knife to score it (make a grid pattern without cutting all the way through)
Rub well with salt and pepper on both sides.
Add olive oil to your HOT pan, and brown the culotte on all sides. About 4 minutes each side.
Place culotte on a baking dish
Pour wine over it
Cook until thermometer registers 165 C for medium rare. (about 60 minutes). Cook uncovered!, if you feel it is getting too dry, keep adding a little more wine to the baking dish.
After it has reached the desired temperature, let it rest for 10 minutes before you cut it.

While the beef is cooking, make your sauce.

Mushroom Sauce

Ingredients:

1 small white onion, finelly chopped
1 cup cream
1 cup sliced mushrooms (any variety)
3 springs of fresh thyme
1/2 cup white wine
2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
2 teaspoons olive oil
1 tbsp flour + 1/2 cup chicken stock or milk

In a medium sized pot, heat olive oil.
Add the chopped onion, let it soften up about 3 minutes
Add the sliced mushrooms and thyme, let cook for about 5 minutes over medium heat.
Add white wine and scrape off the bottom of the pot, to get all the flavors in.
Incorporate the cream and season with salt and pepper.
I’ve told you before, and I’ll tell you again: This is not the proper way to thicken up a sauce… but… that’s how I did it!
Dissolve 1 teaspoon flour into 1/2 cup of COLD chicken stock (or milk). Add this mixture to your sauce, while passing through a small sieve. It does the trick.
Keep the sauce warm over low heat.

To assemble, cut the culotte into thick slices and spoon sauce over it. We recommend serving this dish with mashed potatoes, or browned small potatoes and a nice green salad.