D.I.Y. Delicious: Recipes and Ideas for Simple Food From Scratch (26 page)

Homemade almond milk is so easy to make and is so fresh tasting compared to packaged almond milk. It is great in smoothies, on
Granola Your Way
or
whole-grain porridges
, heated up for hot chocolate, or simply enjoyed as a beverage, sweetened with a little agave syrup or honey and a dash of vanilla extract. The more powerful your blender, the better the results. I make almond milk with an old thrift-store blender just fine, but I have to strain it well. No need to discard the spent almond pulp. Spread it out thinly on a cookie sheet and dry it in a 200-degree-F oven for 6 to 8 hours. Sprinkle it over yogurt or porridge or add to muffins or cookies. You can freeze the dried pulp and use it over time
.

TIME REQUIRED:
20 minutes active; 8 to 12 hours passive

YIELD:
about 5 cups

2 cups (about 8 ounces) whole raw almonds

Soak the almonds in 8 cups water overnight or for up to 15 hours in a bowl in the refrigerator. Puree the almonds, using all of the water, in batches in a blender and strain through a medium-mesh strainer. Pour into a jar or bottle, seal, and refrigerate. The milk will keep, refrigerated, for 5 days.

Chill and shake before serving. Sweeten and embellish to taste with vanilla, cinnamon, honey, maple syrup, sugar, or agave syrup.

There are many variations of this drink, depending on the country of origin. I have heard that the original version came from Spain and is made with tiger nuts (sometimes called chufas), which are actually rhizomes rather than nuts. Some Central American versions contain different kinds of nuts and seeds, like pumpkin seeds. I’ve seen Mexican recipes that contain almonds and milk, instead of water. I settled on this plain rice version made with water, because horchata was probably originally a simple beverage made by people without access to refrigeration. Plus, it’s so creamy and delicious as is, why waste precious dairy?

Most versions contain sugar, but I think agave syrup is excellent here because it dissolves readily in room-temperature liquids. If you want to make this with sugar, you should heat the rice beverage after you blend it so the sugar will dissolve. Depending on your taste, you’ll want to use more sugar than the agave syrup called for here because it is generally 25 percent less sweet than agave syrup. This drink is wonderfully refreshing with spicy food
.

TIME REQUIRED:
30 to 40 minutes active; 12 to 14 hours passive

YIELD:
2 quarts

2 cups long-grain white rice

1 vanilla bean

One 2-inch cinnamon stick

¼ to
cup agave syrup

Ground cinnamon for garnish (optional)

In a food processor or spice grinder, grind the rice to as fine a powder as possible. A spice grinder will do a better job much faster, but you’ll have to do it in multiple batches. A good food processor with a sharp blade will do the job in about 10 minutes. Transfer to a large bowl, and add 8 cups water.

Split the vanilla bean lengthwise and, with the dull edge of a paring knife, scrape the seeds into the watery rice. Add the scraped bean hull and the cinnamon stick. Stir, cover, and refrigerate for 12 to 14 hours.

Remove the vanilla bean hull and cinnamon stick and process the rice mixture in a food processor or blender. Use whichever one has the sharpest blades and most powerful motor. Strain the mixture through a fine-mesh strainer, such as a chinoise (the cone-shaped, very fine mesh strainers used in restaurants). If you don’t own one of these quite expensive implements, strain it through a regular strainer lined with a coffee filter. Stir and taste. It will be a little bit grainy, but if it’s unpleasantly so, strain again. The outcome depends so much on the efficiency of your particular appliances and strainers, so experimentation is necessary.

Measure the resulting liquid. You should have between 7 and 8 cups. Add water to bring the volume up to 8 cups. Stir in agave syrup to taste. Pour it into bottles or jars and refrigerate for up to 5 days. Shake before serving. You may want to add a little ground cinnamon to garnish each serving.

Called
jamaica
(ha-MY-cuh) in Spanish, this ruby-hued drink is made from the flower of the hibiscus plant and is packed with vitamin C. Steeped in water and sweetened to tame its tartness, this is both refreshing and festive on a hot day, making it a great drink for a party. It’s commonly served in Mexico, unadorned, but at Carrie Brown’s Jimtown Store in California, where I first learned to make it, it’s embellished with citrus, cinnamon, cloves, and cardamom. The amount of sugar is adjustable to taste, and I encourage experimentation with a few sprigs of mint or lemon verbena, a shot of citrus, or a measure of bubbly water. It’s also great for a drink mixer with vodka or gin. Dried hibiscus flowers are widely available in Latin American groceries, health food stores, and specialty groceries
.

TIME REQUIRED:
10 minutes active; 10 minutes passive

YIELD:
makes 1 gallon

2 heaping cups dried hibiscus flowers

1 cup sugar

2 plain organic black tea bags (optional)

In a large pot, bring 1 gallon water to a boil. Turn off the heat, add the hibiscus flowers and sugar, and stir to dissolve the sugar. Add the tea (if using), and let it steep until it cools to room temperature. Strain carefully (it will stain!) and refrigerate for up to 1 week. Serve over ice, plain, or with one of the embellishments noted above.

Following are sources for those items that I feel are essential to the kitchen as well as any difficult-to-find cultures and other items that I have talked about in this book. I always try to look locally whenever possible so as to support my community and lower my impact on the environment, but I recognize that it isn’t always possible to find some of the items here in all areas of the country. Following the sources for equipment and ingredients. I’ve included recommended books and Web sites for further information on some of the techniques in this book such as canning, fermenting, and culturing.

SOURCES

ALEPPO PEPPER
The Spice House
www.thespicehouse.com

BEER YEASTS FOR SOFT DRINKS
The Beverage People
www.thebeveragepeople.com
Oak Barrel Winecraft
www.oakbarrel.com

BONITO FLAKES
Eden Foods
www.edenfoods.com
Sushi and Japanese Market
www.shop.sushiandjapanesemarket.com

CAST-IRON PANS
Lodge Manufacturing Co.
www.lodgemfg.com

CERAMIC CLAY BAKERS
Breadtopia
www.breadtopia.com

CHEESEMAKING CULTURES
AND EQUIPMENT
The Beverage People
www.thebeveragepeople.com
New England Cheesemaking Supply Company
www.cheesemaking.com

DOMESTIC OLIVE OIL
California Olive Oil Council
www.cooc.com
The American Olive Oil Source
www.oliveoilsource.com

KOMBUCHA CULTURES
Anahata Balance
anahatabalance.com/store.html
Cultures for Health
www.culturesforhealth.com

KOREAN CRUSHED RED PEPPER
koaMart
www.koamart.com

PASTA MACHINES
Chef Depot
www.chefdepot.net

PIZZA PEEL AND STONE
Breadtopia—standard peels and
Exo superpeel
www.breadtopia.com
Sur la Table
www.surlatable.com
Zanesville Pottery
www.zanesvillepottery.com

SEA VEGETABLES: KOMBU, NORI, WAKAME
Eden Foods
www.edenfoods.com
Mendocino Sea Vegetable Company
www.seaweed.net
True Foods Market
www.truefoodsmarket.com

SUSTAINABLE SEAFOOD CARDS
Blue Ocean Institute—searchable
directory, downloadable guides
www.blueocean.org/seafood/
seafood-guide
Environmental Defense Fund—down
loadable seafood and sushi guides and
substitutions for red-listed species
www.edf.org
Monterey Bay Aquarium—searchable directory, iPhone app, and downloadable
guides by region
www.montereybayaquarium.org

TORTILLA PRESSES
Greenfeet
www.greenfeet.com
Mex Grocer
www.mexgrocer.com

VINEGAR CROCKS
Barkingside Co.
www.barkingside.com
Brew Beer
www.brewbeer.cc
Oak Barrel Winecraft
www.oakbarrel.com
Wine Guy Supply
www.shop.wineguysupply.com

VINEGAR MOTHERS
Local Harvest
www.localharvest.org

READING RECOMMENDATIONS

GENERAL

Bubel, Mike, and Nancy Bubel.
Root Cellaring: Natural Cold Storage of Fruits and Vegetables
. North Adams, MA: Storey Publishing, 1991.

Carroll, Ricki.
Home Cheese Making: Recipes for 75 Delicious Cheeses
. North Adams, MA: Storey Publishing, 2002.

Coyne, Kelly, and Erik Knutzen.
The Urban Homestead: Your Guide to Self-Sufficient Living in the Heart of the City
. Port Townsend, WA: Process Media, 2008.

Fallon, Sally.
Nourishing Traditions: The Cookbook that Challenges Politically Correct Nutrition and the Diet Dictocrats
. Revised Second Edition. Washington, DC: NewTrends Publishing, Inc., 2001.

The Gardeners and Farmers of Centre Terre Vivante.
Preserving Food Without Freezing or Canning: Traditional Techniques Using Salt, Oil, Sugar, Alcohol, Vinegar, Drying, Cold Storage, and Lactic Fermentation
. Foreword by Deborah Madison. White River Junction, VT: Chelsea Green Publishing, 1999.

Katz, Sandor Elix.
Wild Fermentation: The Flavor, Nutrition, and Craft of Live-Culture Foods
. Foreword by Sally Fallon. White River Junction, VT: Chelsea Green Publishing, 2003.

Morash, Marian.
The Victory Garden Cookbook
. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, Inc., 1982. (Out of print; find used copies on BetterWorldBooks.com, eBay.com, or Amazon.com)

Prentice, Jessica.
Full Moon Feast: Food and the Hunger for Connection
. Foreword by Deborah Madison. White River Junction, VT: Chelsea Green Publishing, 2006.

PET FOOD

Billinghurst, Ian, DVM.
The BARF Diet
. 4th Ed.: SOS Printing Pty Ltd., 2001.

Nestle, Marion.
Pet Food Politics: The Chihuahua in the Coal Mine
. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 2008.

Pitcairn, Richard H., DVM, PhD, and Susan Hubble Pitcairn.
Dr. Pitcairn’s Complete Guide to Natural Health for Dogs and Cats
. 3rd Ed. New York: Rodale, 1982.

CANNING BOOKS WITH CHARTS

Devine, Lauren, and Judi Kingry, eds.
Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving
. Toronto, ON, Canada: Robert Rose, 2006.

Jarden Home Brands.
Ball Blue Book of Preserving
. 100th Anniversary Ed. Muncie, IN: Alltrista Consumer Products, 2004.

Rodale Food Center, and Susan McClure, eds.
Preserving Summer’s Bounty
. Emmaus, PA: Rodale Press, 1990.

HELPFUL WEB SITES

Angelic Organics—Vegetable Storage Section
www.angelicorganics.com

Canning Processing Charts
www.scribd.com/doc/13902942/Canning-Processing-Charts

Fankhauser’s Cheese Page
biology.clc.uc.edu/fankhauser/Cheese/CHEESE.HTML

Lists of farms where you can pick your own fruit, with canning advice
www.pickyourown.org

Mother Earth News
www.motherearthnews.com

First off, there are a few people without whom this book would never exist. I have to thank Susan Fleming, who gave me the confidence to think book-size big when I first conceived of this concept as a series of blog posts (and for supporting me throughout the process). Thanks to Raquel Dadomo and Haven Bourque, for reading the proposal with critical, but constructive, eyes and helping me get it off my computer and over to Chronicle Books. Thanks also to my Aunt Mil and all my other cooking relatives, for giving me the curiosity to investigate how things work in the kitchen, and for sharing the family recipes! Thanks to Jeff Fleming and Alice Grubb, for sharing the plum harvest.