Tag Archives: diy food gifts

Homemade Hot Chocolate Mix–DIY Hot Chocolate Mix

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DIY Hot Chocolate Mix-How to make Homemade Hot Chocolate Mix

DIY Hot Chocolate Mix-How to make Homemade Hot Chocolate Mix

 

I have been so busy these past few weeks, too busy to even think about putting up a blog.  That is not to say that I have not been thinking about you guys. I have so many great recipes that I want to share with you, but they will have to wait until the new year.  I wanted to share a few Holiday recipes with you as I prepare them for my family and friends.  This recipe for hot chocolate is one such recipe.  It makes a great gift and it’s not overly complicated to make.  I added the mix to some mason jars and purchased some white tops  to replace the metal lids to give them a more elegant look.  Add a ribbon, and you’ve got a perfect food gift for a loved one, not to mention some fantastic hot chocolate mix for yourself!

 

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Ingredients

8 oz semi-sweet organic chocolate  bar ( 70%-100%)

1 cup of unsweetened baking chocolate powder

1 cup of  organic sugar can sub with maple sugar

2 tablespoons of cornstarch

 

Directions: Place the chocolate bar into the freezer so that it’s frozen solid before you process this mix.  It Should not take longer than 10 minutes for it to freeze.  Roughly chop the frozen chocolate bar,

Place it and all of the other ingredients into a food processor,

Blend until the ingredients are completely powdered–about 2 minutes.

Once powdered, transfer to an air tight container.

When ready to use, add 2-3 tablespoons of the hot chocolate mix to 1 cup of milk– You can use any kind of milk you like, you can also use water.  Bring the milk/water and hot chocolate mix to a boil in a sauce pan.

Top hot chocolate with marshmallows–get my recipe here-– and enjoy! So easy, and so delicious!  Page is in love with hot chocolate now thanks to this recipe!  Happy Holiday’s everyone!!!

 

How to make Onion Powder–DIY Onion Powder

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DIY Onion Powder--How to make Onion Powder

DIY Onion Powder–How to make Onion Powder

Recently I was chatting with some professional chefs online one of them was talking about using dried powders like garlic and onion in a recipe that he was playing with.  He wanted to know where he could find better quality powders.  The discussion quickly went from people being helpful, to people questioning whether any chef of good standing would ever use a dried product versus a fresh product. One person in particular, said absolutely not!  Others, said of course and then went on to make a case for when dried spices are needed, and in those cases how using dry spices make the dish better.  The discussion got me thinking about how often I use dried spices, and what dry ingredients I use.  The truth is that I am one of those cooks, who relies heavily on fresh ingredients.  The produce bin in my refrigerator is always stocked with, fresh thyme, parsley, mint, cilantro, basil, and whatever other herb is in season–ALWAYS.  I can’t imagine cooking without the use of fresh herbs.  At the same time, my cupboards are stocked with the dried version of all the fresh herbs that I just mentioned, and many, many other dry spices, like garlic powder, cumin, tarragon, onion powder…the list could literally fill this page!  If you’ve been following my blog, then you know that I make many of my own spices.   When the person in that forum asked about sourcing onion powder, my immediate thought was, why not just make it? So I did.  It’s a simple process, but the onion powder that you get from this process is the best that you will probably ever taste–or smell–the smell had me salivating–this is the stuff that great onion dips, and soups are built from!

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Prep time: 10 minutes

Cook time: 6-8 hours–

Ingredients:

2 large onions sliced thinly

Directions: Evenly spread the sliced onions on a dehydrator sheet.

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If using an oven, place the onions on a parchment lined bake sheet. Set the temperature on your dehydrator to 125F.  If using an oven, set it to the lowest possible setting 150F.  Let the onions dehydrate until brittle, then remove and let cool.

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Once the onions have cooled, place them in a spice grinder/coffee grinder and blend into a powder.  Stop here if you want onion flakes,

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Transfer to an airtight container until ready to use.

 

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Preserved Lemon Salt–How to make Sour Salts

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Preserved Lemon Sour Salt

Preserved Lemon Sour Salt

This blog has been a year in the making. Sour salts and the use of sour salts first caught my attention after reading an article in Bon Appetite Magazine about  how the chef at State Bird Provisions was using sour salts to brighten up dishes, and make use of an ingredients that would otherwise not get used.  His approach was simple, dehydrate something as simple as a preserved lemon, grind it into a powder, and boom you’ve created a flavorful salt without even trying.  After reading that article, I knew that I wanted to try making a preserved lemon salt.  I put it on my list of things to blog about, but never got around to it–it has been almost a year since I read that article! Of all the sour salts I have on my list to make, the preserved lemon sour salt has always intrigued me the most–that and a lime pickle salt–I love a good lime pickle! My first thought was to make my own preserved lemons and lime pickle.  But rather than make you all–and myself wait for me to make a preserved lemon, which would further prolong me making this sour salt, I thought  I’d just skip ahead a few steps and buy some preserved lemon’s from my local Whole Foods. Christmas is just a few weeks away, and since I’m giving these salts away as gifts I cant wait to make preserved lemons from scratch.

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Makes about 4 ounces of sour salt.

Prep time: 5 minutes

Drying time: 2hrs

Ingredients:

4 preserved lemons (sliced thinly)

Directions: Pre-heat oven to 150F if using an oven.  If using a dehydrator set it to 135F. Place preserved lemon slices evenly onto your dehydrator sheets, if using a stove,  spread over a wire rack set inside of a bake sheet.

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Bake or dehydrate  until hard and brittle, it took about 1.5 hours in my dehydrator. Once slices are hard and crisp, transfer to a spice mill/ blender and grind until powdery,

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Transfer the powder to an air tight container.

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You’ve just created a gourmet salt.  You can sprinkle this on chicken, and fish.  Add it to my North African Lamb Stew, or to some grilled lamb chops, the possibilities are endless.

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