Tasty Bytes - a husband/wife team of geeky cooks

2010-06-18T20:56:00.000-07:00

We've moved! You can check us out over at tastybytescooking.com!

Making your own yogurt. It's easier than you think!

2010-06-08T19:45:00.000-07:00

I know there are a lot of blog entries out there about this subject, but I want to chime in since making homemade yogurt is something that I really enjoy and it can have so many uses. All of three of us adore yogurt. We mix some up with mostly mashed carrots for our little guy and we eat it with fresh organic fruit and local honey drizzled on top. Yogurt is such a versatile food that is ridiculously good for you. You can even make your own yogurt cheese which can be used as a substitute for cream cheese, mayo, etc.

Today, I'm just going to give you a basic run down of how we make yogurt. Soon, I'll post a yogurt cheesecake recipe!

What you need to make yogurt:
- 1 cup starter organic yogurt (PLAIN and whole milk...make sure it has ACTIVE cultures)
- 1 half PASTEURIZED (*NOT* ultra pasteurized) gallon milk (We prefer Organic Valley California Pastures because it is organic, local and grass-fed. They have other local varieties that may be available in your area. Visit their website!)
- 1 crock pot - 2.5 quarts is the ideal size. We have been actually using a little less milk and doing ours in a 1.5 quart crock pot lately.
- 1 thick towel
- Fine mesh strainer (we use a 9 inch one)
- Cheesecloth or coffee filters

1. Pour milk into crock pot. Set on low and let it heat for 2-3 hours.
2. Take pot out of crock pot machine and wrap in towel. Put in unused oven to keep air temp around it nice and even. Let sit 3-4 hours. (It helps to lay the towel flat, place the crock on top, and then wrap the towel over.)
3. After 3-4 hours, take out 1-2 cups of milk and put into a clean bowl. Whisk in your 1 cup of starter yogurt until blended. Put the mixture back in with the rest of the milk.
4. Rewrap in towel, put back in oven, and let it sit 8-10 hours.
5. It's time to strain out the whey! For thicker yogurt, strain longer and for yogurt cheese, put in the fridge and let it strain for 24 hours. We strain ours for about 30 minutes or so for a nice thick yogurt. We just put the clean cheesecloth over the mesh strainer and then put that on top of our large stock pot. :) If you want, you can whip the yogurt in your blender to make it a bit frothier. You can use the whey as a substitute for liquids in baking, blend it into a smoothie, use it to soak beans, etc. It's also very good for you so don't let it go to waste.
6. Put a cup of starter aside in a separate container for next time, and refrigerate it all! Be sure to refrigerate it in a non-reactive (non-metal) container. Enjoy yummy yogurt that you made yourself. :)

Simple Dessert - Tea Soaked Oranges

2010-06-06T09:57:00.001-07:00

One of the advantages to living in California is the abundant organic citrus available year round. Every week, we stock up on it - mandarins, navel oranges for juicing, lemons and limes. It's all so refreshing and makes for a wonderful late night snack. One of our favorite ways to eat our mandarins is to use this little recipe. It makes an elegant and light dessert after a heavy dinner or the perfect sweet treat to satisfy that late night craving. We originally found the recipe over at EatingWell.com, but my version is a little different.

Tea Soaked Mandarins
- 4 fresh organic mandarins, peeled and separated
- 2-3 cups concentrated black tea - I usually make mine with PG tips. Make it as if you're going to have iced tea (so very dark).
- Local honey - a couple tablespoons, depending on your preference
- Cardamom - to sprinkle

1. Prepare tea - I used 4 tea bags to make my 2-3 cups. You want to have enough tea to almost cover up the oranges in a bowl. Let the tea cool to room temperature.
2. While tea is cooling, prepare oranges.
3. Pour tea over oranges and put the bowl of tea & oranges in the refrigerator. Let it marinate for 2 hours or so.
4. Take out and serve oranges with bits of the tea and drizzle over it local honey (I recommend a wildflower honey for this) and sprinkle with cardamom.

Delicious, isn't it?

Oh goodness! A very belated entry

2010-06-04T15:21:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone. Sooooooo..... yeah. It's been busy. VERY busy. INCREDIBLY busy...which is great for us, but stinks for you guys! We haven't had time to compile recipes and with that, take photos. Okay...let's face it. It's mostly that I'd like to add some photos to this darn blog, but the little one keeps us running around all day long. We're adjusting though and hopefully soon, we'll get back to photos and yummy recipes.

For now...here's an old entry I wrote back during the holiday season, but never got around to posting. No pictures, sorry!
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The recipe for today is always a big hit at our holiday parties. Since my husband and I live far away from our families back in the Midwest, we have hosted “orphan” Thanksgiving and Christmas celebrations almost every year since moving to California. We have over our friends who are also separated from their families for the holidays and have a lovely feast. It’s so nice to be able to share the holidays with our California family, plus as you know, Jacob and I love to cook! So the more, the merrier!

Garlic Cheesy Potatoes

Ingredients:
- 4 large potatoes (our personal favorite variety is Yukon Gold)
- Homemade chicken broth (or low sodium store bought) - have at least 3 cups available
- 2 Tablespoons Organic Salted Butter (we get our butter and cheese from Spring Hill Cheese Company at our local farmers market)
- Seasonings - Simply Organic's Garlic Pepper, Garlic Powder, and sea salt
- Organic Cheese - this is usually a "whatever I have in the house blend". I try to get a nice blend of sharper cheeses to really cut through the starchiness of the potatoes. My general blend is 1/4 cup Asiago (fresh or aged), 1/4 cup Parmesan/Romano blend, and 1/4 cup cheddar. If you prefer milder cheeses, I recommend a blend of colby jack, mild cheddar, and then parmesan/romano.

Directions:
Wash, peel, and quarter 4 large potatoes. Heat up 1 1/2 cup chicken broth and 1/2 cup water, once bubbling, put in potatoes. Cook potatoes until soft, but not overly mushy. Broth/water mix should have cooked off quite a bit. Add extra broth/water if it is cooking off a little too fast. :)

Put potatoes in bowl. I personally use my pastry dough blender to mash my potatoes..mash potatoes up with another 1/2 cup broth and 2 tablespoons of butter. Season to taste. Throw in more broth as needed until you get a nice fluffy, whipped texture (don't want it to be too wet). Then, blend in the cheeses! Taste test. Add more cheese, seasoning or salt to your own personal taste. One of the reasons I prefer to use homemade or low sodium broth is so that all guests can salt to their own preference. Using regular store bought broth can create potatoes that are too salty.

Do NOT serve until you are ready to sit down at the table or they may be gone before you get there. TRUST me on this.

Simple Asparagus, Mushroom and Chicken Risotto

2009-11-18T13:18:00.000-08:00

Wow. It's been awhile. We had our son, Elliot, on July 15th! He came in at a whopping 11 pounds 2 ounces and 22.5 inches long. :) He's now a big ol' 4 month old with 2 teeth (that he's had for two months!). He keeps us on our toes, so we haven't had as much time to document our cooking adventures. Sorry about that!

I've got a quick little recipe today that serves 3-4 people. No pretty pictures for this one. Jacob is a slow poke when it comes to taking photos and I was too hungry to wait. Hehe! Again, I must emphasize the importance of fresh, local, and preferably organic ingredients. Treat yourself. It's worth it to spend a little extra dough (wah wah, bad food joke) on your food. This is the stuff that fuels you and you deserve PREMIUM! :D Okay, enough jokes. Seriously though, buy local, buy fresh, and buy organic. Reduce your carbon footprint and help yourself be healthier and eat tastier food. I'd also like to add a special shout out to Healthy Family Farms, our favorite place to get chicken and pork products from. We get one of their pasture fed (no corn/no soy) birds every week and it never disappoints. This recipe uses leftovers from our weekly roasted chicken in two ways - the shredded chicken itself and the deliciously potent stock we make from the carcass. Yay Healthy Family Farms!

Here's the recipe...

Simple Asparagus, Mushroom, and Chicken Risotto
- Chicken Stock - 3 cups of stock - we make ours from our chicken leftovers. If you don't have enough, just use a cup of water and add extra herbs
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1-2 tablespoons butter
- 1 cup Arborio rice
- 1 small red onion, chopped into 1 inch pieces
- 1 bunch of asparagus, fresh. Chop into little 1/2 inch to 1 inch pieces.
- 6-8 small brown mushrooms, fresh. Slice 'em!
- Left over roasted pasture fed chicken, shredded. (This is leftover from our regular Roasted Chicken & Veggies on Sundays.. a recipe will be coming in the next few days for that!)
- Thyme, Garlic, Pepper, Salt to flavor as you prefer. :)

1. Saute onion with butter and oil for 2-3 minutes
2. Still in rice and cook for 1-2 minutes
3. Add water, simmer until moisture is almost completely cooked off. Then, do the same, about a cup at a time for the stock. Be sure to keep on stirring this. Stirring is important to get the texture correct!
4. When you add the last cup of stock, be sure to add the mushrooms, asparagus and leftover roasted chicken. :)
5. Once it is creamy instead of "wet", you're done! Serve warm. Feel free to sprinkle some parmesan cheese on there.

Takes about 30-45 minutes, depending on how slow you simmer. :) I usually chop the veggies while the first two cups of liquid simmer to save on prep time.

Boozy Brownies

2009-06-28T10:56:00.000-07:00

Back in September 2007, I wrote this entry over in the LiveJournal Community “coeliac_recipes”. I thought I’d share it with you today as it is one of my favorite recipes to make when we have a group of friends over for a game night. Alcohol + chocolate = crazy delicious! :) Sorry, no pictures! I haven't made these since being pregnant since the alcohol doesn't cook off.

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So recently I glutened myself on purpose. It is the first time I've ever done it and of course, I regretted it immediately afterward. I had two bites of "boozy brownies" at a party. They just were too amazing to resist.

I decided to create my own version of the boozy brownies based on my friend's recipe, some internet influence, and my own creativity.

For the brownies, I used the Pamela's basic brownie recipe then got boozin'!
Here is the recipe from Pamela’s Products.

Brownies - dense and deep chocolate
1/2 cup melted butter
4 ounces melted unsweetened chocolate (I personally always add one extra ounce, making it 5 ounces of chocolate. Yum!)
1 cup sugar (I use vanilla sugar)
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract (I always add a little extra)
1 cup Pamela's Baking & Pancake Mix
Nuts or chocolate chips (optional)

Preheat oven to 350°. Melt chocolate and mix with melted butter. Add eggs, vanilla and sugar, and beat. Add Pamela's Baking & Pancake Mix and combine. Add optional nuts and/or chocolate chips. Bake in a lightly greased 8-inch square pan for 20 to 25 minutes, done when a toothpick inserted comes out with crumbs. Do not overbake!

Now…it’s my turn!
After removing brownies from the oven, pour on top anywhere between 1/4 cup to 1/2 cup spiced rum or bourbon (depending on your alcohol dependence ;)). Let sit for 5-10 minutes then put in fridge until cool.

While the boozy chocolaty goodness is cooling, make frosting!

1/2 cup butter softened
1 cup powdered sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla or a partial vanilla bean (to taste – I’m a bit of a vanilla nut!)
3-4 tablespoons Spiced Rum

Blend until smooth! Put in the refrigerator to help thicken. If still too runny due to too much booze, use a little Pamela’s Baking Mix to thicken up the frosting.

Once everything is cool, spread on brownies, re-refrigerate to thicken again and then ENJOY!! :)

Aw heck, why not one more? Cup pies!

2009-06-07T19:02:00.000-07:00

I was going to hold off and post this later this week, but the picture is just too delicious not to share right away. Something I forgot to mention is that Jacob and I are ardent supporters of local and organic produce. We shop the local farmers markets, primarily the one in Burbank. Many of our ingredients come from the local farmers (from the honey to the produce). It makes a huge difference in flavor!

So what is this yummy recipe that just could not wait? Why, it's Cherry Strawberry Honey Cup Pies (gluten free, of course!).

To kick this off, you have to make the cup pie crusts. I use the pie crust recipe over on Pamela's Products' website titled "Pie Crust". It yields one 9" pie crust OR in this case, 10 delicious little cup pie crusts with just a pinch leftover. I sprayed a little olive oil into the muffin pan and then pressed the crusts into each cup. It takes a little while, but it is well worth the effort. Just follow the directions over on Pamela's website. I think it is important to mention that this crust is a very buttery, cookie like crust. It is NOT flaky like your traditional pie crust. So, if you are making these with a regular ol' pie crust recipe, you may want to take that into consideration.

The filling is where I come in.

Cherry Strawberry Honey Filling

2 cups fruit - in this case, 1 1/4 cup pitted cherries and 3/4 cup strawberries

1/2 cup water

2 tablespoons lemon juice

1/4 cup vanilla sugar (I make mine with bourbon beans & sugar)

1/4 cup wildflower honey

2 tablespoons corn starch

Cook the fruit and half cup water for 7 minutes. Add lemon juice and continue cooking for another 3 minutes. Toss in the sugar and honey and blend. Now, the key with the corn starch is to SLOWLY put the starch in, gradually thickening the filling. If you go too fast, you'll end up with corn starch globs. It's not a huge deal, but it isn't as pretty and the filling will end up being a little thin. Once this is done, turn off heat. Let cool 5 minutes then transfer to a bowl and let it finish cooling off in the fridge. Voila! You now have pie filling that is delicious.

I fill the pies up as we're ready to eat them to avoid a soggy crust. It makes a delicious, well contained dessert that isn't quite as messy as conventional pie.

Enjoy!

Welcome to the inaugural post of Tasty Bytes!

2009-06-07T17:53:00.001-07:00

Hey everyone. Welcome to the first posting from Tasty Bytes - a husband/wife team of geeky cooks. We're happy to have you here. This blog will be the place we share our original recipes or recipe modifications. We are by no means professional chefs and to be honest, we're not the best about measuring things, but we'll do our best here to keep our recipes clear, concise, and measured so that you can recreate them in your own homes.

Just a heads up that everything we make is GLUTEN FREE. This means that it is free of wheat, barley or rye. At the moment, we don't make our own flour blend, but use the awesome baking mix by Pamela's Products. I highly recommend Pamela's to anyone who is baking or cooking gluten free.

I guess the best way to kick this off would be to introduce "the team".

That's me, Michelle, currently knocked up (35 and a half weeks) with our first child. I'm a voice actor here in Los Angeles. It's a pretty sweet gig. I get paid to play pretend which is FANTASTIC since I never truly grew up. I've always loved to cook and bake. The first time I went "off recipe" was by accident when I was 13. I was baking zucchini bread to enter in the county fair. I accidentally grabbed corn syrup instead of the oil! I realized my mistake and just kind of improvised the rest of the recipe trying to compensate. It ended up turning out to be an amazing loaf of bread and I got a blue ribbon! I was hooked with being creative in the kitchen from then on.

This is my husband Jacob. He's a software engineer for a major company. He also likes to play around with photography, is a talented musician, and is a great cook. He's quite the guy, right? Jacob wasn't much of a cook until after we got married our sophomore year of college. One night, Jacob decided to surprise me by making orange chicken with homemade sauce. It was then he discovered that not only did he LIKE to cook, but he was quite good at it too!

Well that's enough rambling about us! Let's get on to a recipe or two.

The first recipe we're going to share is Vanilla Lemon-Limeade. This is based off of a vanilla lemonade recipe I found when I first discovered how awesome vanilla is when it's straight from the bean. I can't find the source anymore as I've had it handwritten on a post it note for awhile now.

Vanilla Lemon-Limeade

2 lemons & 2 limes
3/4 cup turbinado "raw" sugar
1 vanilla bean
6 cups cold water

Throw 2 cups of water in a blender with 3/4 cup raw sugar. Wash the fruit well and slice in half. Juice the fruit and scrap the pulp into the blender. Toss in half the rinds (making it half lemon/half lime). Take a knife, and split the vanilla bean length wise. Scrap out the vanilla caviar into the blender. Then toss in the scraped beans as well. Let stand in blender in refrigerator for 24 hours. Remove vanilla bean and rinds. Add the remaining 4 cups water and blend on low. If you'd like, you can strain it, but I just toss in a glass with some ice and it is good to go! Ahh, refreshing.

Well, I hope you enjoy this recipe! We'll have more coming later this week including Cup Pies and Cheesy Garlic Mashed Potatoes.