Mushroom Powder

This isn't a recipe. I am sure I've posted this before years ago, if not here on Instagram. This is just dried mushrooms blended into a powder. I use it for added umami for just about any savory dish. Eggrolls, gravy, roasts, sauces, Taco seasoning, fajitas, red sauce.

I know people make seasoning mixes with them and add salt etc. I don't usually do that unless I'm making something like Taco seasoning. I just put it in a Mason jar plain and layer my seasonings as I go when cooking. 

Do you make or use Mushroom Powder? 

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Chili Oil

I  don't have a real recipe for chili oil. I just use what sounds good at that time. Garlic, ginger, Sichuan peppercorns, other varieties of peppercorns.  Sometimes I add star anise. It really just depends. I do like to use Avocado oil because it is neutral taste and high smoking point. 
I also heat my spices with the oil. I don't pour hot oil over my spices. This just works better for me. 

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Peasreads: The Condiment Book by Claire Dinhut

This is a fun book that has so many great recipes that are easy and the ingredients are accessible. Clearly written and easy to follow.  I made a tofu marinade from the book and it was excellent.

NATIONAL BESTSELLER • From TikTok sensation Condiment Claire, a quirky and informative guide to the flavor enhancers we can’t get enough of, with dozens of recipes for making and using condiments of all descriptions

Claire Dinhut soared to internet fame tasting and rating hundreds of jams, mustards, and butters, showing how she incorporates condiments into virtually every bite she takes. Often posting from the remote French village where her father maintains a fourteenth-century mill, she delighted followers with her charmingly casual approach to preserving and pickling, showing how easy it is to transform seasonal produce and kitchen odds and ends into homemade condiments that will enhance any meal and create unique gifts.

The Condiment Book captures the role condiments play in defining food cultures around the world, pairing brief histories of flavoring agents from ketchup to kimchi with tutorials on creating unique flavor combos to suit your own palate. In chapters devoted to Butters and Salts, Fruit in Jars, Hot Sauces, Pickles and Ferments, Dips, and of course Mustards and Mayo, Claire guides readers through the making of condiments to give or keep, and offers a handful of “condiment companions” ideal for serving alongside the cook’s handiwork. Helpful charts and graphics give abundant ideas for pairing condiments and flavors, extending the use of these versatile products far beyond the expected.

Packed with lush photos, cheerful “doodles” and the whipsmart observations of a Harvard-educated, bilingual gourmand obsessed with everything salty, spicy, bitter, and sweet, The Condiment Book is the ideal gift for any cook eager to dip a toe into the world of preserving, or any food lover looking for new and exciting ways to use those bottles and jars knocking around their pantry.

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Find more book reviews here under Peasreads.

Amazon reviews Katereviews.

Goodreads reviews.

Thank you, Flatiron Books, Macmillan, for this galley. I was under no obligation to leave a review. All opinions are my own. 

Jeaow Som

Spicy, savory, sweet. Great for a dipping sauce, salad dressing, marinade.

I keep it on hand for spring/summer rolls, salad, egg rolls. On eggs. It's very versatile.

Jeaow Som

1/3 - 1/4 cup Nam Pa (Fish sauce)

1/3 cup water

1-2.5 tablespoons sugar

1/4 cup+ fresh lime juice

3 or 20 Thai bird chilies

3-4 cloves of garlic

MSG optional

Chopped cilantro to taste

ALL of these ingredients should be adjusted to taste. 

Stir the 1 tablespoon of sugar in water to dissolve. Set aside.

In a mortar place the chilies, garlic, and 1 tablespoon of sugar. Pound until the chilies and garlic are broken down.

Add stir in lime juice, fish sauce, and about 1/3 of the water sugar mixture. 

Taste and adjust your seasonings. 

Serve with summer/spring rolls, in Vermicelli salads, with egg rolls. I keep it in the fridge for yum neua, crying tiger salad.

Alternatively you can:

1. Slice Thai bird chilies and garlic.

2. Used a blender/immersion blender for this.

Jeaow For Sour Fruits

This is one of my favorite snacks. It's sweet, spicy, and salty, the mangoes and fruits are tart. My mouth waters everytime I think about it. It makes me crave baby mangoes and sour fruits. My cousins when I used to visit them loved this. Julie used to make this sauce for us and we would go pick fruits like crab apples and other fruits around the neighborhood to snack on. So much fun.

Chili Oil (Jeaw Mak Phet) and Shallot Oil

I love using Chili Oil and Shallot Oil as condiments. They are often seen in many Asian restaurants. They are used for Dim Sum, Congee, in Noodle bowls such as Ramen, Khao Piek Sen, Pho, etc. Just about anything you want to add spice or garlic/shallot flavor to. They are also used in cooking, for stir fry and soup bases. In Laos this would be called Jeaw Mak Phet.

As with a lot of cooking there are no set measurements for these oils.  Play with the flavor combinations to come up with your favorite. In Chinese Chili Oil there is often bay leaf, star anise, sesame seeds sometimes cinnamon. I know the local Ramen place near me adds Sichuan peppercorn which I love and add to mine.  

Whole Grain Mustard Vinaigrette

It's the warmer weather that's got us eating more salads! I love fresh crisp salads. I don't use a lot of dressing, I used to drench my salads in dressing as a kid. Now I like just a little for flavor. Because I don't use a lot I like the flavors to be bold. This Whole Grain Mustard Vinaigrette is just that, bold, spicy, and flavorful.
It is whole30 compliant so it has no added sugar, no dairy, no soy, no gluten, no grains. It keeps well in the fridge and if you get the emulsion right it's nice and creamy. If you like a thinner dressing, add a little more vinegar or water.

Non-Dairy Creamer, Paleo Coffee Frappe

Non-Dairy Creamer that is Whole30 and Paleo compliant.

If you've been following my Instagram (@peasknees), you know that I recently finished my first round of Whole30. I had a whole month where I didn't drink any coffee. I drank tea twice with this "creamer" like this, and the rest of the time I drank my tea plain. I have to say I really missed my cups of tea in the afternoon with half and half and sweetener - which is normally one dehydrated Stevia leaf. I still miss sweetener but I found something I really enjoy in both coffee and tea. Cold or hot.  This doesn't taste dairy half and half. But it makes drinks creamy and adds flavor. It's really good.

BLT Salad With Whole Grain Mustard Vinaigrette

I love when the weather gets warmer, I tend to crave crisp lettuce greens and fresh vegetables more. I call it salad weather. I'll eat salads in the winter, I just crave them less when it's cold out. This BLT salad is simple and the vinaigrette can be made ahead and kept in the refrigerator.  The whole salad is a great for meal prep, keep all the vegetables washed and ready, the bacon can be made ahead of time, the steak is optional but it can also be made ahead.

All The Ranch Dressings

Whole 30 and Paleo compliant Ranch Dressing.

There are so many versions of this Ranch dressing out there that it's hard to pick just one. Here is my version for a basic Ranch that is Whole 30 compliant, and some variations. Avocado, Peppercorn, Spicy Chipotle, and Greek. This is a perfect option for when you want a little more than oil and vinegar, or a wedge of lime or lemon and salt and pepper on your salad. By the way, a wedge of lime squeezed over a salad with salt and pepper is so yum.

Jambalaya

Seafood Jambalaya.

 I have been making this same Jambalaya recipe for a couple years now. I got it from a friend online. It's fairly easy to make. I never posted the recipe because there is a bit of eyeballing and tweaking when doing this on the stove top for me. Sometimes I need more water, sometimes less. It's got a lot to do with how tight fitting your lid is on the pot, how much evaporation happens each time, stuff like that. It's not that it's a hard dish to make, it's that it's a hard dish to give concrete measurements for. You'll find that the more you make this the easier it is to tell just by looking in the pot how much stock or water is needed for  rice that isn't too wet. You also don't want it to be crunchy. The plate above I made on the stove top with a medium grain rice. The plate below I made in my electric pressure cooker, Instant Pot. Both methods take about the same amount of time, maybe a bit less time in the Instant Pot.

Quick Vanilla Lemon Curd with Vanilla Bean Yogurt

Let me start off by saying that I will never never make Lemon Curd any other way as long as I have an Instant Pot. It's so ridiculously easy. There's no standing over the stove making sure this doesn't scorch on the bottom. It only takes like nine minutes of cooking time. I keep using my Instant Pot more and more. The yogurt was also made in the Instant Pot. Both were pretty hands off, other than the straining bit for the yogurt.
If you like a certain yogurt that's sold in what looks like deli containers, that's starts with the letter "N". I'm telling you this is better. Granted it's not as sweet, but I prefer not as sweet.
The Lemon Curd is perfect for scones, on top of ice cream, yogurt, in between layers of sponge cakes, on top of cheesecakes. I've eaten it off of a spoon. It also freezes well if you ever need to use up a bunch of lemons.

Pressure Cooker Hatch Green Chile Sauce

It's Chile Season y'all! The girls and I went and picked up our annual stash of Hatch Green Chile this year. We have been so blessed to have a couple of local grocery stores that stock them.Two of which will roast them in big roasters like they do back in the 505. That's New Mexico. This year my oldest chose "hot", we ended up with 40 pounds. The girls helped me peel and deseed them all. 

GPAC Smokey Ancho Chile Seasoning

This seasoning can be used for so many things.

Soups

Stews

Grilling shrimp, fish, chicken, pork, beef, vegetables

Roasting meats, vegetables

With meats in the crock pot- sprinkle it on pork or chicken. Once cooked shred it and serve as pictured above, over a salad, in lettuce wraps and more.

Use it to season tortilla, sweet potato, plantain chips, or potato chips

It has a smokey flavor, a little sweet. The Ancho Chilie powder is where the smokey flavor comes from, if you want less smokey use 1 tablespoon of the Ancho and 3 tablespoons of the chili powder. When used as a rub it caramelizes beautifully! Use as little or as much as you'd like. If you've never used coriander seed it is fragrant and so good. I use my spice grinder to grind it up. It is cilantro seed but does not taste the same.

Pumpkin Spice and Chai Syrup

I saw this on Pinterest. Most of the recipes are standard- one part water, one part sugar, pumpkin, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves.  I adapted those recipes to my tastes. I like my pumpkin spices to pop.  I used the same method for the Chai spiced syrup.