Crunchy Almond Crackers

These are great with spreadable soft cheeses, but they do not hold up to dipping and break apart easily. If you want these gluten free, leave out the all purpose flour and the oil, but I find the AP flour adds some much-needed strength to the crackers. 

Ingredients:

• 1 large egg 
• 1 Tablespoon Oil
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1 cup Fine ground Almond Flour
• 1/4 cup All Purpose Flour

• sprinkle of kosher salt or sesame seeds

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F.
2. Whisk together the egg, oil, salt, and pepper.
3. Add the almond flour and AP flour and stir until the mixture comes together.
4. Place the dough onto a sheet of parchment.
5. Press the dough out, then top with another piece of parchment. Roll the dough to 10" x 12" and 1/8 inch thick. This is hard and takes some time.
6. Remove top paper, and use a pizza wheel or knife to cut 1' squares.
7. Sprinkle kosher salt or sesame seeds on top and press in lightly with the rolling pin a little.
8. Move crackers, on the parchment, to a baking sheet.
9. Bake the crackers for 14-16 minutes, until they're light golden brown. The crackers around the perimeter will brown more quickly, feel free to remove them as the center one continue to cook.
10. Cool crackers on a rack completely before storing airtight.

Yield: about 10 dozen 1 inch crackers.

The Best Pumpkin Pancakes Ever

Pumpkin Pancakes
Serves: 9

We made these during the Christmas holiday this year when friends slept over after an awesome game night. Everyone loved them! I have scaled the recipe to use an entire can of pumpkin puree. Enjoy!

Wet Ingredients
-------------------------------------
2 1/4 Cups Milk 
1     Pumpkin Puree Can (15 oz) 
2     Eggs 
3     Tablespoons Vegetable Oil 
3     Tablespoons Vinegar 

Dry Ingredients
--------------------------------------
3     Cups All Purpose Flour 
4 1/2 Tablespoons Brown Sugar 
1     Tablespoon Baking Powder 
1 1/2 Teaspoons Baking Soda 
1 1/2 Tablespoons Pumpkin Pie Spice 
3/4   Teaspoons Salt

Irish Pork Stew

Recipe By:Chef John
Instant Pot Conversion: Matt Sargent

2 1/2 lbs of boneless pork shoulder with fat removed and cut into 2-inch cubes
salt and ground black pepper to taste
1 Tbs vegetable oil
1 Tbs butter or ghee
1 large onion, chopped

3 cloves garlic, minced
2 Tbs all-purpose flour
1 bay leaf
1 tsp caraway seed
1 (12 fluid ounce) bottle dark beer (such as Guinness)
1 1/2 cups chicken broth
3 carrots, cut into 1-inch pieces
2 stalks celery, cut into 1-inch pieces
2 sweet potatoes, cubed and divided
1/4 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
3 Tbs balsamic vinegar
12 Brussels sprouts, halved
3 cups mashed cauliflower, or as needed
1 tsp chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley, or to taste

3D Printed Leg Cookie Cutter

This is where a couple of my hobbies have come together in a unique way.

My daughter pointed out a recipe for a Christmas cookie that resembles the famous lamp from the movie "A Christmas Story".

In the recipe, (here) they provide a link to a stencil to use when cutting out the leg shapes for the cookies.

That struck me as something that could be done better with a cookie cutter. Since I recently acquired a 3D printer and have gained some very modest 3D modelling skills, I thought I could make a cookie cutter that filled the bill - it is the exact same size and shape as the stencil that is provided in the recipe.

Here is what I came up with:

And as a gift to you, here is the 3D model so that you can print out a cookie cutter too!

Leg Cookie Cutter.STL

Here is the link to it on Thingiverse.com : Leg Lamp Cookie Cutter

Or if you want to simply buy two already printed, send me an email or visit ebay (link coming soon) and buy a set.

Happy Holidays!

Matt

Habanero Peach Hot Sauce

This past Spring, I gave a good friend of mine some the Red Habenero seedlings I started. He planted them and gave him a bumper crop of red habeneros. He found this recipe online and modified it a bit and came up with a very good hot sauce recipe. Here it is:

Ingredients:
      7 Red or Gold Habanero peppers
      1 (15.5 ounce) can sliced peaches in heavy syrup
      1/2 1/4 cup dark molasses
      1/2 cup yellow mustard
      1/2 3/4 cup light brown sugar
      1 cup distilled white vinegar
      2 tablespoons salt
      2 tablespoons paprika
      1 tablespoon black pepper
      1 tablespoon ground cumin
      1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
      1/2 teaspoon ground allspice

Directions:

1. De-seed and chop the peppers. If you want more heat, leave the pith and seeds, if you want less, leave them out. Note, these are pretty hot peppers, so there is plenty of heat when you just use the flesh. If your peppers are particularly hot, use fewer peppers, if they are somewhat mild, use more.
2. Put the peppers, peaches (including syrup), molasses, mustard, brown sugar and vinegar into a blender and blend until very smooth.
3. Add salt and spices and blend until combined.
4. Pour mixture into a non-reactive saucepan and place on medium heat until the hot sauce is just simmering.
5. Barely simmer for about 30 minutes. Taste and adjust spices if needed.
6. Prepare 1 pint or smaller canning jars and lids or hot sauce bottles (follow manufacturer's directions on how to prepare and use those type bottles) by sterilizing them in boiling water.
7. Fill jars with nearly boiling hot sauce, wipe jar lips with clear cloth dipped in white vinegar, place lids on jars just finger tight.
8. Put jars in boiling water bath covering the tops by at least 1 inch.
9. Process according to the size of the container, pints for 10 minutes and less time for smaller containers.
10. Allow to cool in water for 10 minutes, then remove to a cool until the lids pop. If any lids do not pop, just put those in the fridge and keep cool. Note, the sauce bottle tops will not pop . Refrigerate containers after they are opened.