A Month-of-Few Ingredients: Whipped (Aquafaba) "Cream"

When I first heard about aquafaba, I was skeptical. Bean juice to make whipped “cream”. Using aquafaba as a substitute for egg whites in recipes? Hmm. I wondered if these vegan folks were onto something. Low cal and low fat. Each tablespoon has about 3 calories (before you add sugar!). No cholesterol as only meat-products have it.

So, I started trying things with aquafaba (literally “bean water”) for my monthly food column in The Pinewood News. In prepping for this month-of-few ingredients, I realized it would fit here as well. This recipe is only one way to use the ingredient. Check out my column this summer for more recipes using aquafaba.

Mostly people use chickpeas (garbanzo beans) for aquafaba recipes, but you can use any bean's liquid. I haven’t tried black bean liquid yet, but it’s on my list. I wonder if it changes color like the garbanzo liquid does. See, garbanzo bean just looks kinda like pee.

Rushing around like I was that morning, I totally forgot to take a picture of the juice itself, so here is a stock photo from Fotolia. Yeah, it looks like that. It smells like bean juice, too.

One can of garbanzos yielded one cup of aquafaba. I added in the cream of tartar (for stabilization) and whipped it to foamy. Almost immediately it looked like whipped cream or meringue. The consistency, however is more meringue than whipped cream. It’s a marketing ploy to call it whipped cream. Still, I plan to use mine on crustless pumpkin pie and to top chocolate pudding and ice cream. So use it like whipped cream. I’m wondering about topping some chocolate cupcakes with whipped aquafaba.

Or top your lemon curd with it and broil like meringue. You won’t be able to tell the difference. I'm also going to add some mini-chocolate chips to make meringue cookies.

Whipped (Aquafaba) Cream (more than 2 cups)

16 oz can garbanzo beans (chickpeas)

¼ t cream of tartar

1 t vanilla bean paste

½ cup sugar, extra fine (see NOTE)

Drain chickpeas/garbanzos in medium bowl. Save the beans for a later soup or salad.

Put cream of tartar on top of aquafaba and stir around to mix in. Add vanilla bean paste.

Whip the mixture on low speed until foamy white, then turn to medium speed to finish whipping while gradually adding in the sugar in three batches.

When whipped aquafaba reaches a soft mounding stage (holds it shape), stop mixing. I mixed for about five minutes, but it could be ten to fifteen minutes.

Use immediately or refrigerate for up to one week.

NOTE:

Maybe you buy superfine sugar for recipes. I don’t use enough of it to do that. But for this recipe and others, you need a finer sugar that will dissolve quickly in the liquid. I make my own by measuring the sugar I need into my mini-food processor. I pulse it 10-15 times and that makes superfine sugar for recipes without having to store another kind of sugar. By the way, were you to keep grinding away at your white sugar, you would eventually end up with confectioner’s sugar.

DH’s Rating: Five Tongues Up  Even he didn’t expect that.! I had to coax him (okay, guilt him) into tasting this. I mostly don’t have this problem because he doesn’t ususally see me cooking. If he doesn’t know prune juice is in his beef short ribs, he won’t have a preconceived notion right? But he saw me whipping the aquafaba. Suspicious! But he was pleasantly surprised. “You can’t even tell it’s bean juice.” Right. That’s the point! Give the man a prize!

If you liked this recipe, I’d really appreciate you spreading the word on your social media outlets. Here are some pre-made Twitter and Facebook posts you can use or modify.

Tweet: Aquafaba “Whipped Cream” #recipe from @Good2Tweat You’d never guess it’s bean juice! http://bit.ly/2mhVY5t

Facebook: Have you ever tried whipped garbanzo bean juice? No? Well, now’s your chance to have the latest food fad you never heard of on a table near you. Whip up this recipe, literally, for a whipped cream or meringue substitute. Your most discriminating friends or family will never know! http://bit.ly/2mhVY5t

A Month-of-Few Ingredients: Grand Berried Pork

This recipe is from the first book in a culinary mystery series by another author I just discovered. ByCook or by Crook, a Five-ingredientMystery by Maya Corrigan includes--well, look at that--5-ingredient recipes! I am trying several, but for you, I’m sharing her super-tender Grand Berried Pork.

I’ve had a number of e-mail conversations with Mary Ann/Maya, and she is just delightful! I’d love sitting down with her over an adult beverage and talk cooking and mysteries. She just comes across as genuine and interesting.

The name of her dish comes from cooking pork so tender that older folks, who have trouble chewing meat sometimes, can just let this melt into their stomachs. The recipe is published in the local small-town Maryland newspaper column written by the Codger Cook. In the mystery, Val returns to live with her crusty grandfather after a tragedy changes the course of her life. Soon after settling in, she is caught up in solving a murder that might have been committed by her cousin, a woman she is very close to.

Authors, for your information, Maya Corrigan has one of the best author websites I’ve seen. Check her out and play some games and learn about mystery history and so much more! She inspired me to spiff up my own site.

Grand Berried Pork (serves 4-6)

1 ½ pounds pork tenderloin

2 T oil

3 c fresh cranberries

3/4 c sugar

2/3 c water

Wash cranberries and discard ones too ripe.

Slice pork tenderloin into 1” pieces, then press on each medallion to make ¾” thick.

Pat the meat dry with a paper towel (or it won’t brown).

Put oil in a large skillet and add the meat when the oil sizzles.

Turn each piece when they no longer stick to pan in order to brown both sides.

Drain fat and juices from pan and return meat to the pan.

Add cranberries, sugar, water to meat in pan. Stir.

When the mixture comes to a boil, reduce heat.

Cover and cook at slow boil for 20 minutes, turning pork halfway through.

Add water if cranberries stick. Salt to taste.

NOTE:
Mary Ann/Maya suggests serving with white rice, using the cran-pan sauce as the topping for the meat and rice. I used a brown rice-quinoa mixture.

The original recipe calls for ¾ cup of sugar. Mary Ann and I had conversations about that. Her family likes it less sweet so she uses 2/3 cup of sugar. We like it even tarter and I used only ½ cup sugar. You need to start with a small amount of sugar, taste the syrup in the pan and add more to your taste.

DH’s Rating:  5 Tongues Up!  “The cranberry sauce is right on the edge of too tart, but it’s really good.” I wasn’t sure he’d like this since the other pork tenderloin recipe I’ve made for years is a family favorite requested by my sons when they visit. Hooray! Another way to fix pork tenderloin, a really lean meat we eat a lot.

If you liked this recipe, I’d really appreciate you spreading the word on your social media outlets. Here are some pre-made Twitter and Facebook posts you can use or modify.

Tweet: Culinary #mystery BY COOK OR BY CROOK (Maya Corrigan) cranberried pork #recipe on @Good2Tweat’s blog http://bit.ly/2m8At7i

Facebook: Fruit and pork, a combo meant to be. For something different, try cranberried pork tenderloin tomorrow. Recipe from Maya Corrigan’s culinary mystery, BY COOK OR BY CROOK at http://sharonarthurmoore.blogspot.com/2017/02/a-month-of-few-ingredients-grand.html

A Month-of-Few Ingredients: Knock Your Tops Off Cupcake Frosting

This blog sometimes brings me in contact with wonderful people I have the pleasure of featuring. One such is author Leighann Dobbs who writes culinary mysteries and a whole passel of other genres. Check out her website. I happened on her by lucky accident and am in the process of reading her many works.

The first book in her “Lexy Baker Cozy Mystery” series is Killer Cupcakes. In the book Lexy has to solve the murder of her ex while running her bakery. She is suspected of killing the ex with poison in her signature bakery item, frosted cupcake tops. The book has the recipe  for chocolate espresso cupcakes and frosting. The cupcakes have too many ingredients for this month’s theme, but the vanilla butter frosting is delicious and does fit the criteria. Make the cupcakes on your own! Very good!

Unfortunately for you readers, I am not a cake decorator. Not only do I have to apologize for my photographic skills but also for my decorating non-talent. Apologies to Lee. Your recipe deserves better!

I have an embarrassing confession. This frosting is so good that I almost licked the empty bowl. I kept scraping up those little lines of frosting and eating them as I scraped. This recipe is my new forever-frosting. I can see me adding some Bailey’s Irish Cream, black cocoa powder, or some chocolate shavings. This frosting will take me through to the end of my baking days.

Knock Your Tops Off Cupcake Frosting (frosts 24 cupcakes)

2 sticks butter

3 ½ cups confectioner’s sugar

1/8 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon heavy cream

1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste (can use vanilla extract)

Bake 24 cupcakes of your choice allow them to cool while you make the frosting

Cream the butter, confectioner’s sugar and salt.

Mix cream and vanilla paste and add little at time to butter mixture to desired consistency.

Cut off the tops of the cooled cupcakes right where the cupcake top meets the liner. I used a serrated bread knife. Frost the tops and refrigerate if not serving right away.

NOTE:

I cut off the tops and then experimented with fresh baked cupcake tops and ones that sat couple of hours. It was easier (for me) to frost the dryer cupcake tops because it was easier for me to handle them. I did keep some cupcakes intact.

DH’s Rating: 5 Tongues Up   He had a split reaction. He loved the frosting, but he wanted it on the whole cupcake. He didn’t like the proportion of cupcake to frosting. So, the next night I put a whole frosted cupcake on his dessert plate. He said, “Is it allowed to have two?” You betcha. He ate two whole cupcakes, which he never does!

If you liked this recipe, I’d really appreciate you spreading the word on your social media outlets. Here are some pre-made Twitter and Facebook posts you can use or modify.

Tweet: KILLER CUPCAKES frosting #recipe from @LeighannDobbsBooks on @Good2Tweat’s blog http://bit.ly/2kTNTUp

Facebook: Are you someone who loves the cupcake top more than the whole cupcake? Try cupcake tops with this delicious frosting from Leighann Dobbs’ Killer Cupcakes culinary mystery. http://sharonarthurmoore.blogspot.com/2017/02/a-month-of-few-ingredients-knock-your.html

A Month-of-Few Ingredients: Salmon Tacos

At my house, the thinking is “cook once, eat it again and again in new ways”. That means fixing larger amounts than needed for one meal. You do it, too, I know. It’s smart. It’s economical for time. And it gives you a chance to flex that “creative cook gene” a bit.

One of our favorite ways to re-purpose (so much better than calling it leftovers, right?) is with grilled salmon. Sometimes it becomes part of my world-famous (okay, only locally-famous) quiche.

Another way to use the extra salmon DH grilled using my citrus marinade is in fish tacos. We sometimes use hard shells I make by baking them at 400 degrees for a few minutes nestled between the upside down cups of a muffin tin until they get hard. They’re not the even shape of store bought, but they’re fresher.

But most of the time, we eat the salmon tacos on soft flour or corn tortillas. Delicious either way. Here’s how I make my five-minute salmon tacos:

Salmon Tacos (serves 3-4)

2 large salmon filets, already grilled

¾ cup salsa

1 ½ cups coleslaw mix

2 tablespoons cole slaw dressing (sometimes I use poppyseed dressing)

Put coleslaw mix in a small bowl and toss with dressing. Set aside.

Put salsa into small skillet and heat. Break up salmon into small chunks and toss into the skillet.

Stir around until all pieces are coated and bubbly. Remove from heat.

Spoon salmon onto tortillas and top with coleslaw. Eat and enjoy!

As with most of our Southwest meals, I serve this with black beans and Mexicorn.

NOTE:

You can add cheese, tomatoes, or any other ingredient you put on tacos, but we like them like this. In this recipe, you could use salmon cooked another way, but we like the flavor that grilling adds to the salmon.

DH’s Rating: 5 Tongues Up  “I feel so virtuous when I have salmon tacos. My heart is so healthy.”  He talks like that sometimes.

If you liked this recipe, I’d really appreciate you spreading the word on your social media outlets. Here are some pre-made Twitter and Facebook posts you can use or modify.

Tweet: Salmon tacos are good for you, low-cal, and a healthful-fat way to eat dinner. See #recipes from @Good2Tweat at http://bit.ly/2lVd7WD

Facebook:  See Parsley, Sage, and Rosemary Time for a salmon taco recipe you can make in less than five minutes using cooked salmon. Check out Sharon Arthur Moore’s take on this healthful taco at http://bit.ly/2lVd7WD

Month-of-Few Ingredients: Water Infusions

I am not a water drinker. This is a problem, given I live in the desert southwest. Now, I will drink water with certain restrictions. Because I know it’s good for me. Because my health matters. But I have to remind myself to do so. DH is a huge water drinker. Out of the tap, even. Ugh!

When I remember, I put a container of water next to my desk. That helps. Unless, I get so involved in writing that I don’t remember to sip. I mean, I get so involved sometimes my coffee is cold before I remember to drink it. And I LOVE coffee in the morning.

But back to my restrictions: For me to drink water it has to be really cold, and the water has to have flavor. Not chlorine! Yuck! We use a water filtration so I take the taste of tap water out of my drink. But then, I put good flavors back in.

What kind of flavor then? Well, I put “stuff” into my water. One of my writing partners, Annie Weissman, gave me an infuser water container. Unfortunately, it is not handy right now, but at the top is a stock photo that is similar. You put strawberries (or something) in the basket in the middle, fill with water, and then drink it. Yum. I can do that. Over and over. I usually just fill an ugly quart container with ingredients and water. That's why I'm not showing you that. Today I'm drinking orange peel and cucumber.

Sometimes I use a single fruit, herb/spice, or vegetable. I’ll put cucumber in the water or lemon. If I have an orange for lunch, I put the orange peel into a glass and fill it with water. I slice some strawberries and add to water. I drop in some mint leaves. I pick rosemary or basil and crush it a little to release the flavor. See, I don’t need a lot of flavor. Just a little dab will do me.

Here are some recipes for you to try that are a little more adventuresome. Go to the sites below for some gorgeous pictures of water infused with fruits, vegetables, and herbs. You will likely muddle your infusee to release flavors. Muddle means to crush a little. Hopefully, these combinations will encourage you to experiment on your own.

Try:

Orange slices with vanilla

Drop an ice cube of frozen juice (cranberry, orange, pear, etc.) into the water

Cinnamon sticks simmered then cooled. Add a few drops to water

Cucumber, lime, strawberry, and mint

Lemon, raspberry, and rosemary

Orange, blueberry, and basil

Lime, ginger root, and basil

Lime and mint

Watermelon, honeydew melon, and mint

Cucumber, mint, and jalapeno

Lemon and thyme

Orange, cinnamon stick, cardamom, and whole cloves

Pear and fennel

Pear and vanilla

Lemon and lavender

Strawberry and mint

Lemon, mint, and cucumber

Watermelon and basil

Blackberry and mint

Apple and cinnamon stick

Mix of citrus-lemon, lime, grapefruit, orange, tangerine, blood orange in any combo

Strawberry and jalapeno

Peach and ginger root

Lemon, lime, and mint

NOTE:

Check out these sites for some more info on nutritional value of water infusions and for more recipes. Then go hunting for others. There’s a lot out there. You could have a different combination every day.

https://www.yahoo.com/makers/skip-the-high-calorie-sodas-and-drink-more-water-128168488400.html

http://dish.allrecipes.com/fresh-ideas-for-making-infused-water/

http://dailyburn.com/life/recipes/fruit-infused-water-recipes/

DH’s Rating: 0 Tongues Up  Okay, this was predictable. He doesn’t like anything in his water and seems not to notice all the chemicals in tap water. So, trust me, these are great combinations. He just can’t tell that.

If you liked ideas, I’d really appreciate you spreading the word on your social media outlets. Here are some pre-made Twitter and Facebook posts you can use or modify.

Tweet: Infused waters are delicious, good for you, low cal, no fat ways to get and stay hydrated. See #recipes from @Good2Tweat at http://bit.ly/2lZ0lm4

Facebook: Flavored waters made with fruits and vegetables keep you hydrated and provide an extra boost of vitamins and minerals with a low cal, no sugar drink. Drop the sodas and go au naturel. See Parsley, Sage, and Rosemary Time for recipes at http://bit.ly/2lZ0lm4

Month-of-Few Ingredients: Nutty Chocolate-Nutella Croissants

Yum! Chocolate and Nutella and nuts. What could be better? If you’d only known, you could have served this at the end of your Valentine’s Day dinner.

Sandy Bremser, one of my writing critique partners is a fan of chocolate croissants. And one of my on-line writing friends, Martha Reynolds wrote a series in which the main character indulges her love of chocolate croissants. And why not? Oozy, gooey chocolate on flaky layers. I repeat. Yum!

I adapted this chocolate croissant recipe from one with two ingredients to make it into four.

And I think the two additional ingredients up the wow factor. You will notice that one of the ingredients is one on my “scared of” list: puff pastry. But since the earlier recipe worked out swell, I decided to give it another go! Besides, the stuff comes two to a box.

To make it easier, these are not rolled up from a triangle, but from a rectangle. The non-conventional shape just adds to the charm, don’t you think?

Nutty Chocolate-Nutella Croissants (makes 4 croissants)

1 frozen puff pastry sheet, thawed per directions

1/3 cup mini-chocolate chips

2 tablespoons Nutella

¼ cup chopped pecans (or walnuts or other nut)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line your baking pan with parchment paper or Silpat sheet.

Open the puff pastry sheet on a floured cutting board and divide into four rectangles.

On the bottom third of each rectangle, place ¼ of the mixture. Fold over the bottom third, then bring the top third down to cover the edge.

Place the croissants on the prepared baking sheet, seam-side down. Bake until golden brown, about 15 minutes. Check the oven after 12 minutes to monitor.

Serve warm or at room temperature, or quickly heat them up the next day for an extra gooey, chocolate croissant.

DH’s Rating: 5 Tongues Up  I like chocolate. DH LOVES chocolate. This was right up his alley!

If you liked this recipe, I’d really appreciate you spreading the word on your social media outlets. Here are some pre-made Twitter and Facebook posts you can use or modify.

Tweet: What’s better than chocolate croissants? This #recipe for EASY Nutty Chocolate-Nutella Croissants by @good2tweat at http://bit.ly/2lKAIcH

Facebook: On Sharon Arthur Moore’s blog, Parsley, Sage, and Rosemary Time, see her easy Nutty Chocolate-Nutella Croissants at http://bit.ly/2lKAIcH

A reminder:

House rules for what counts as an ingredient:

Salt and pepper are not ingredients.

Oil is not an ingredient when it’s for the cooking pan, not the recipe.

Water is not an ingredient.

Month-of-Few Ingredients: Pruney Beef Short Ribs

This recipe for Braised Beef Short Ribs just sounded interesting to me, and the prune juice could be, umm, beneficial to those of a certain age.

Did you know Epicurious has a bunch of 3-ingredient recipes on their site? Check them out for some easy-to-do dishes. As you may know, Epicurious is synonymous with interesting recipes.

I made this one as is, no modifications. I know! Shocking, isn’t it? The directions are as written on the site.

This recipe also allows you to practice your braising skills. Remember, braising is fry first, stew in liquid for hours.

So I called it Pruney Beef Short Ribs because of the obvious ingredient, prune juice. But also, more subtly, you know what happens to your skin when you soak in hot liquid for a while? Voila! You could be doing the second part of braising when you take a bubble bath.

I served this on buttered, parsleyed whole wheat noodles and a salad. Very satisfying.

Braised beef short ribs (serves 6-8)

3 pounds, bone-in beef short ribs

Salt and freshly ground pepper (I used sea salt)

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 cup prune juice

1 cup teriyaki sauce

Preheat oven to 350°F. Season ribs with salt and pepper. Heat oil in a Dutch oven or large ovenproof pot over medium-high. Working in batches if necessary, sear ribs until browned on all sides, 8–10 minutes. Transfer ribs to a plate. 

Drain fat from pot. Add prune juice, teriyaki sauce, and 1 1/2 cups water. Bring to a simmer and return ribs to pot. Cover pot, transfer to oven, and braise until beef is very tender and falling off the bone, 2–3 hours. 

Transfer ribs to a platter. Bring liquid in pot to a boil on stovetop. Cook, uncovered, until liquid is reduced to a glaze, 12–15 minutes. Season with salt and pepper; pour over ribs.

NOTE: Next time, I think I’ll add some cut up “dried plums” (marketing) to the sauce for more texture and taste.

DH’s Rating: Four Tongues Up  Me: “What did you think?” Him: “Tasty.” Me: "I had a secret ingredient. Can you tell what it was?” I told him. He was speechless.

If you liked this recipe, I’d really appreciate you spreading the word on your social media outlets. Here are some pre-made Twitter and Facebook posts you can use or modify.

Tweet: Pruney Beef Short Ribs are MUCH better than the name! This #recipe for dinner tonight by @good2tweat at http://bit.ly/2kJMXSH

Facebook: Have a couple of hours? Fix this in 15 minutes and put in the oven for 2-3 hours. Delicious Pruney Beef Short Ribs on Sharon Arthur Moore’s blog, Parsley, Sage, and Rosemary Time. http://bit.ly/2kJMXSH

A reminder:

House rules for what counts as an ingredient:

Salt and pepper are not ingredients.

Oil is not an ingredient when it’s for the cooking pan, not the recipe.

Water is not an ingredient.