Keto Bandito Low Carb Total Fake-Out Pizza

So I was just texting one of my bffs and she was grilling me about pizza and how in the heck have I lost so much weight recently when I cook the way I like to cook...

Well, the truth is that I love to cook but I don't always eat everything I cook. I mean, I usually do but when it comes to the carb heavy breadstuffs I love to death, I treat those like treats and dreamy delights taken in moderation. Like, maybe once a week. Or that's my goal. It actually works great for me. I shoot for no carbs and in reality, I am substantially low carb by comparison without really counting calories or anything like that. I eat what I want, but not everyday, day after day.

That's because I've been doing keto and intermittent fasting for a couple of years. I learned about keto and fasting while in New Zealand from one of my like-minded and smartasshit girlfriends I was lucky enough to get to know while we were living overseas. Everything she said and that we talked about just made so much sense. In truth, when I examine the times in my life where I've lost a good deal of weight, it was because I was doing this without knowing I was doing it.

Ringing in 2017, I decided to do it on purpose with my girlfriend guiding me on the basics and providing me the right tools to allow me to research it and come to my own conclusions. Not pushy, just super knowledgable and helpful.

So with Sophie on my side, I endeavored and the progress I made shocked me and everyone I knew. It was not only drastic, but it was fast... It was so easy!! I dropped nearly 40 lbs in a matter of 5 months. I couldn't believe it. I wasn't ever hungry, was eating more calories than I ever had in my whole life and barely working out (compared to the effort I've made my whole life). I only started working out 2 months into my program and even at that point, kept it to 3-4 days a week, days off in between and doing more HIIT style 20 minute workouts with some weight training, just because I like it. It never felt like a program, it was that natural for me.

I started to eat less and less and was not very hungry so worked in intermittent fasting once my body became keto adapted. People at work noticed. Friends and family noticed and the boys started working out with me when they came home for the summer. If you can get teenage boys to workout voluntarily... then you know something is working.

It's way too big of a topic to tackle here, but being that I get asked so much and it has now become a staple in my own diet,  I felt I needed to at least post about it. It's one of my favorite cheater recipes that was a go-to when I first started keto. One of the first I ever made, actually and from then on, I was really hooked. It became a kitchen stadium kind of game to me... fun. I only call it cheater because it makes me feel like I'm cheating.... but I'm not!

Anywho, keto pizzas are a bit of kitchen magic. I say magic because I impress myself every time I make it and normally, these ingredients don't make sense together. But they are transformed, mutated in such a clever way! If I happen to have it in the fridge, someone will always eat it before I can ever get to it again. And that's because no one knows it's chock full of cauliflower!

Yep, it can fake out even a hard core pizza maniac. Like Tsunami. Like his oldest son. He's probably our pickiest eater with the least adventurous palette, but he's eaten my keto pizza without even knowing there was anything different about it. Tsunami will now eat it completely willingly if I make it because he also loves it.

Truth is, I don't actually like to share it... I know. Boo to me. But, hey, neither will you because it's the only pizza you can eat half by yourself and not actually feel completely sick over it when you do! Try to eat the whole thing. Go ahead. I dare you. But if you do, ain't no thang but a chicken wang as Tsunami says. You just ate a head of cauliflower. And 2 cups of cheese but hey, you were all keto, my friend. And that, is most certainly a good thang.

Let the games begin.

Keto "Fathead" Pizza Crust:

• 2 cups fresh grated cauliflower
• 2 cups of grated mozzarella
• 2 fresh eggs, beaten

Other Pizza stuff:

• premade pizza sauce
• toppings of choice
• grated cheese of choice but mozz is easy because you use it in the crust ;)
• parchment paper (this is important, worth getting if you don't have any)
• pizza pan or baking sheet of some sort

Prep:

1. Using a manual cheese grater, grate a head of fresh cauliflower. This is commonly referred to as "rice". If you have extra, you can use it like rice in other keto recipes but I like to portion it out into 2 cup portions and vacuum seal those for later use if eating in the near future. Do what you gotta do. I don't use frozen cauliflower rice because it just produces too much moisture and fresh is much easier to get the texture right with little work.
2. Mix everything up in a bowl. Ok, now take a break. You've earned it. That was exhausting.
3. Ok, get up, you're not done. Let's make this into a pizza star. Line your pan with a piece of parchment paper and dump everything from the bowl onto the center of the parchment.
4. I use a 14 inch pan and press the mixture from the center outward to the edges just to create the round shape I want. This is similar to making a pie crust. I use the back of a small juice glass to gently press it out. 

Bake:

1. Preheat oven to 450 F.
2. Prebake your crust without toppings for about 15 minutes or until crust looks golden. This is an important step so your crust doesn't get soggy once the toppings go on. It will look delicious at this stage, but wait... there's more!
3. Add your sauce and toppings and cheese. Go easy on the toppings your first time until you know how heavy they are on your crust. You'll know better the next time if you need to add more or go even lighter. This is kinda personal so I'll let you figure that out.
4. Bake for another 15 minutes or until the cheese on top is bubbly and brown, checking the bottom so you don't get that too dark. I personally like a dark, caramelized bottom but just check in case your oven or pan is running hot.
5. Remove and let the pizza cool for about 5-10 minutes before cutting. It helps the gooey cheese set a bit.

Notes:

**I like a thin crust so I go as thin as possibly without creating any "holes" in my my mixture. Don't worry. It may look to wet but it will keep its shape as long as you don't have any gaps or holes in your shaped "dough". If you like a thick crust or pan style, then go ahead and try it. Just know that your baking times may need to be adjusted to accommodate the thicker crusts.

**I have a cast iron pizza pan that I just love. I preheat the pan in the oven and slide my pizza, still on the parchment, onto the pan using a pizza peel. Use your favorite pizza making tools and see how they work. I've also used a pizza stone, a perforated pizza pan and have even cooked it just on the parchment. A pizza peel, to me, is an invaluable cooking utensil and if you love pizza like we do, you'll find it to be super useful as well.

**I've grilled this on the big green egg! You can grill any pizza so why not? Especially if you're smoking meats. It's just killer.

**This makes adorable mini pizzas for snacks. Remember when I said to try to refrain from eating it after it's prebake? Well, make some minis and do exactly that! Top with some fresh arugula and red onions and it's just crazy good.

**I've done meat lover's pizza and it can stand up to some serious weight if you are somewhat clever with just how you put it all on. Again, don't go crazy. An ounce of each meat, like sausage, bacon, pork belly, pepperoni, prosciutto, whatever, is a lot once it's all loaded. Stick to 3 meats or so and this will rock your little socks.

**My favorite cheeses lately is a 50/50 combo of mozz and Monterrey Jack! A recent discovery when I ran out of mozzarella one night while making like 10 pizzas. We can go through some cheese, dudes. So I took a frozen block of Monterrey Jack, grated it with my remaining mozz and it was so good, the kids said they like the cheese even more. The had no idea, but the feedback was great because I started doing that on purpose and it actually tastes pretty darn fantastic.

Hawaiian Style Aloha Calzones

I could probably dedicate an entire blog to fermentation.

My family teases that I'm one of the few girls in the world that thinks fermentation is sexy.

Sourdough starters make me giddy and I can tell by one wonderful sniff, the difference between a French and Italian sourdough.

I am addicted to Bulgarian yogurt and make kraut in 5 litre batches. We brew beer, make obstler and scrumpy. I mean, why wouldn't we?

The first time I made kraut for Tsunami, he was utterly speechless and questioned whether or not we'd actually be able to eat that much sauerkraut by ourselves. He looked at me with total disbelief and said, "So... sauerkraut is actually a pickle??!"  Oh, yea baby. It's a pickle!

Me, I could only snicker at him, knowing that he'd never had real sauerkraut before... I mean, not like THIS sauerkraut. My sauerkraut is the real deal.

First time he tried it, he was blown away and as we literally fought over who would get to finish the very last bit left we were eating straight out of the jar with chopsticks.  He then joked that perhaps we need to move up to our 10 litre crock just to make sure we had enough next time. You know, to keep the family peace and all.

I had such a good Italian starter going in New Zealand that I used it in trade with my girlfriends who were just toying with sauerkrauts and kimchi. I even had a kimchi maker from China that could be used for making sake, kimchi, annatto and yogurt that I traded for an Asian pear tree. I mean, I love my gadgets but I also know that I didn't need another device just for those things. Novel, though, and I loved it.

You kinda get the picture...

So when our kids were here for the summer, we made plenty of hot sauce, pickles, bread, cinnamon rolls, buttermilk waffles and pancakes, you name it. And of course, pizza. But not just any pizza...pizza made from my certified sourdough starter from Naples, Italy.

Used for generations to make their world renown pizzas, it was now a staple in my own house. And although no one in my house really knows why, or can quite put their finger on it, my homemade pizzas are money.... and so are my calzones. Our youngest son says he can no longer eat store bought frozen pizzas; he was ruined. No small wonder, though.

Kind of a huge deal for me because when we first started eating pizzas together, they were so skeptical about a homemade pizza that I had to have a backup dinner planned just in case it didn't fly. But fly, it sure did. And now, it's not only the norm, it's a pretty frequent request and it's why it's super easy for me to maintain my very healthy, very active starter.

When I make pizzas, they each get their own. And while this may seem extravagant, the truth is it is also another family peace-keeper. 3 man-children can devour 6 14 inch pizzas in no time. I take the made-to-order pie requests and Tsunami preps the pizza fixings. And the pizza buffet is in full swing.

Tonight however, we were feeling the calzone spirit and opted for this kinda sourdough love instead. It was such a huge success that calzones are the new backpack lunch of choice on the long flights we take to and from the mainland. And it's also become a beach lunch staple, left to heat up in their foil packets on top of the cooler while we do our beach things. (But don't leave them too close to your dog because they like them, too. lol!)

This dough was made with my Italian Camaldoli sourdough starter and left in the fridge for well over a week. Aged dough or fermented dough is outstanding and I never worry about making too much because it keeps and develops even more flavor if it's allowed time to do so.

It also freezes beautifully so even when it's just Tsunami and myself, I always make a double batch and freeze some. In fact, I will freeze calzones whole, uncooked of course, using my FoodSaver vacuum sealer. Makes a quick dinner a snap if you are in the mood for something like that.

Here's how I roll:

1 cup of starter
1 tbsp of salt
6 c of flour
2 tsp yeast
1 tbsp sugar
2 1/2 plus 1/3 cup warm water

I made 4 calzones, 2 large pizzas and it was so freaking good we were almost sad we were so proactive in putting the other two in the fridge. (These, didn't even make it to the freezer they were destined for as someone in my house had planned for another calzone round later in the week.)

We made meat lover's and Hawaiian. The Hawaiian is one of Tsunami's favorite styles of pizza and this one was pretty freaking special given that we made it with our first white pineapple grown in our mini pineapple field in the back papaya grove. I mean, I had hoped... but having recently had another pineapple from a plant grown close by, I thought it would be the Hawaiian Gold. Which, sorry, is nothing to sneeze at and no matter how much you love your Dole...homegrown, ripened and ready fresh pineapple is an absolute wonder of nature. God's food, no doubt about it.

So imagine my utter delight when I opened the fridge to discover that Tsunami had cut up and prepped the pineapple for our pizza lover's feast. It was white. White?! Omg. I squeaked out an indecipherable bunch of mouse chatter over my excitement and quickly snagged a bite. Freaking delightful! Fragrant, perfumey but not overly syrupy sweet. Perfect!

Just in case you aren't familiar, Hawaiian style pizza or calzone toppings goes something like this:

• pineapple chunks
• jalapeno slices
• red onion slices
• ham, bacon, canadian bacon or char siu (something porky; char siu is easy to find on the island)
• spam (yep, here the Hawaiians are just mad about spam but that's not my jam)

Really, you can do anything you like but a Hawaiian style definitely has pineapple regardless of which type of meat you use or don't.

And if you ever get a chance to have or use white pineapple, you should definitely give it a go. Rule of the thumb for gaging a pineapple's ripeness is that if you can smell it, it's ready. And something kinda cool to know is that white pineapple, you can eat the whole thing, including the core as it is sweet and edible, just like the rest of the pineapple flesh you normally eat.

We let none of it go to waste and once a pineapple has flowered and fruited, it will fruit again but it will also multiply! So from one little pineapple, an entire pineapple field will emerge! Pineapple tops can be successfully rooted and grown into full blown pineapple plants to also create a whole pineapple family. Pineapple pups will come from a fruited mommy plant. Where once I only had a handful of plants, I now have a field. If only I can get my lawn guy to avoid them with the lawn mower and weedwacker, all will be right in the Universe.

So even if you don't think you can grow pineapple, you should definitely try it anyway.

And if that's just too much crazy, then just eat it like a Boss.

Oh, and if you need to know how to cook it, just do it like I do the other pizzas I've posted about. I roll out the dough and in the case of calzones, I will fill it then bake at 450 F until golden brown. Usually about 15-20 minutes depending on your oven. If you are making a pizza, then I roll it out let it rise and then prebake it for 7 minutes. Add sauce and toppings then bake at 450 for about 12-15 minutes at 450 F. This is just a guide, as you know, so a lot depends on what style you are making (Calzone or pizza, say), how thick of a crust you've rolled and how dark you like your crust and cheese.

One other idea I forgot to mention is that these calzones.... are great deep fried!

Southern Perfection - Fiesta Pickled Hard Boiled Eggs

Oh guilty pleasure.... this would be one of many. Then again, you can't feel that guilty over eggs, can you? I mean, it's like a perfect food, in my carnivorous opinion. And when you pickle this perfect food, it becomes a double perfect, triple perfect kinda deal.

Yep, we pickle almost anything. And this might turn some people off but way back in the day, pickled eggs were a real treat. For most Southerners, pickled eggs are a common regional delicacy you can still pick up at the corner store or the deli. My mouth waters thinking about it.

Although growing up, the pickled eggs I often encountered were vinegary, delicious, punchy packages with a kick. Often pickled in a beet-colored, vinegary pickling brine or colored with red food coloring or more commonly, hot sauce.

We've pickled eggs before using our hot sauce brine. I mean....this. is. so. good. So this is my all time favorite way of doing this at home. Tsunami also loves pickled sausage, another deep South picklicious tradition. So we've pickled eggs in pickled sausage brine. You get the picture.

But recently, I decided to make this again after coming across pickled eggs on pinterest, which reminded me to do it again. And I've also been doing batches of quick dill pickles with my favorite cheater pickling spices from Ball. Now, this isn't a traditional fermented pickle but an American-style, vinegar pickle. Both are popular at my house and we go through some pickles, y'all.

I had a bit of the Fiesta Salsa mix from Ball in the pantry, but I've never used it for salsa actually. Instead, I've used it for pickling tomatillos, cherry tomatoes, carrots and onions, which are outstanding in bloody marys. I thought this would be a great flavor profile for the eggs so that's just what I did.

Here is what I used for a half gallon batch:

Ingredients for pickling base:
1/4 c Ball Fiesta Salsa pickling spices
2 tbsp vinegar
4 c hot water
hot water, to top off, if necessary

~12-15 hard boiled eggs
3 sliced jalapeños, optional
1 sliced sweet onion, optional
1 clean half gallon Ball or canning jar with fitted lid, ring

Method:

1. Hard boil your eggs and make sure they are cooled and peeled.
2. In a separate container, mix your pickling base and allow it to cool.
3. Put eggs in the jar and any other goodies you like, then fill with the pickling base. My base above almost filled the jar perfectly but I wanted to ensure there was enough to cover all veggies.
4. This is optional, but I vacuum sealed my jar just to keep things tidy and clean while I let it sit for a few weeks in the fridge to marinate. That is essentially what you are doing. You are marinating these eggs in a vinegary bath of tasty love.

Consider these variations:

• Spicy Portuguese or Italian or Cajun sausage 
• Sliced carrots
• Celery (sounds weird but pickled celery rocks!)
• Hot chilis (I used jalapeños, but my next batch will have Reapers)
• No pickling mix? How about Bloody Mary mix as a pickling brine? I've even seen Tsunami save his pickling juice from his favorite pickle of the week and reuse that. We love spicy so anything with a vinegar base, even the canned pickled jalapenos en escabeche you can find at most grocery stores will work great. My next batch will probably be a full on dilly pickle brine as I have loads of fresh dill in the garden coming.

Rockstar Veg - Deep Fried Brussel Sprouts

Ok, this may not be a long post but it is a cool one. If you have never tried this before, but want to, then run, don't walk to your kitchen fryer. Or your turkey fryer...

Simplicity at it's best. I probably had the most chill Thanksgiving ever this year. No guests. Just me and the Boo and the baby girl.

Now, I won't lie. Felt rather indulgent to have Tgiving all by ourselves. But that's not to say that we wouldn't have loved the company but this holiday, we wanted to hang in Hawai'i. We can plan our mainland visits whenever it suits so that's what we decided to do. And we loved every stinking minute of it.

But, that is not to say we didn't cook. Oh, we cooked... but part of what we discovered when planning our Thanksgiving dinner this year was how luxurious it really is to cook whatever the hell you want and know that there won't be the random dish that some random relative decided was good enough to bring in exchange for the really really good eats the rest of the family slaves away to make and share. Oh yea, there's always "one of those" in every family. But, it's all in the gathering and the total humor of it all, so still, I kinda missed that part.

Anyway, this year, since we could make whatever we want and didn't have to, out of obligation/devotion/madness, make anything we didn't want to, it was stellar!!

Dividing up the cooking in our house, easy. Planning the execution, iffy, but pretty easy and that's only because unlike me, my partner needs almost perfect isolation in the kitchen when he's doing his thing. I can cook in total chaos. Hold a solid convo and cook, no, but still, I can manage. Sergeant Perfection must have order. So, hell, I give him all the space he needs to focus like the Iron Chef he actually is.

Truth be told, I like his serious approach and he delivers and that kind of focus, I appreciate too. We are both curious cats so keeping out of each other's way is harder than it sounds when you want to see what the other is up to. It's professional curiosity, I tell him. And that's the truth. My Star Lord of the Kitchen Stadium. (He's that funny, too.)

We agreed on the whole menu. Agreed on the plan, the execution and worked the plan, as Star Lord expresses it. It was a dream and we both got such a kick out of how easy our dinner was. Almost sans stress entirely. Except he is a Cowboys fan, which we have to excuse and ignore. Other than that, total drama free, complete and utter indulgence.

My favorite thing this Thanksgiving turned out to be the Rockstar Brussel Sprouts. Who knew? Who knew you can make yourself sick eating brussel sprouts? It's a real thing, people. You can. As one of my closest friends pointed out: "of all things to make yourself sick over, you chose brussel sprouts? What the hell, Tinker Bell? I ate 2 pies, you ate 2 lbs of brussel sprouts. I hate you."

But dude, these brussel sprouts were kinda inspired by some hilarious episode of holiday Chopped or something. Guy's Grocery Games. No idea, but I remember saying, hey! That's a damn good idea.

That's just what we did. Fry the turkey. Drop the sprouts. Boom! By the time the bird had rested, the sprouts were perfectly done and boy, oh boy! FREAKING THE BOMB.

I added my own little twist, check this out:
White truffle oil
Fresh parmesan cheese
salt, pepper
minced garlic, optional

Just grated the parm, drizzled in a little truffle oil, salt and pepper and tossed the lot. Done. The garlic, we did the second time we made them in the same week. lol! Seriously, that good.

Dipping sauce (if you need it):
Reaper Aioli or
Thai sweet chili sauce or
your favorite sauce

We used peanut oil for our frying, as usual. I think the temp was right around 350-375 degrees F. I don't think it took more than 10 minutes but you definitely know they are done when they begin to caramelize and look like they may burn. They won't really but you will also see that the brussels will "bloom" like a little flower and open up it's outter leaves ever so slightly. Perfect. If you aren't sure, pop one out and eat it. But careful, they are hella hot right out of the fryer.

A few days later, despite overdoing it the first time, we made them again. Yes, that good... but this time we did it in our little kitchen deep fryer and again, total perfection. And I ate too many, but beside the point.

Now, we had other stuff for Thanksgiving like Star Lord's mother's oyster dressing. Turned out almost perfectly but like I said, he is the perfectionist, not I. I loved it but he knows the bar is kinda high and he also knew that I know if it's not the same as his Mom's. She is a serious, serious pro. Hm, kinda makes some sense, huh? ;)

All day we were both getting texts from Mama expressing concern about the whole process. It was hilarious. But she knows him well and sticking to the recipe ain't one of his strong suits. Still. It was de-freaking-licious. The only thing he said was, "Please don't tell Mama." lol! Ok, Groot. Secret is safe with me.

I have my own take on that recipe I'd love to try and I might just do it one random night next year...Roland, my brother in law's bff, does his mother's oyster dressing and it is also to die for. But his mom's has hot Cajun jalapeno sausage as well as oysters and I love that version, too. But if I tried to do that without a trial run on a less thankful day, it's asking for trouble in the Dirty South.

So, as usual, I did have a longish story for a short recipe. Oh well. C'est la vie au Hawai'i... Hope you enjoy this lovely turn on a classic Thanksgiving staple. I won't be going back to any other way of cooking them any time soon. And I just might make them again this week.

Bad to the Bone Naturally Fermented Sauerkraut

I won't even go into how much sauerkraut I can consume. It's like on a scale... and that's because my normal method of making sauerkraut involves fermenting my veggies in very large Harsch-style fermentation crocks made by Gartopf.

And I have obtained these beautiful vessels and made an enormous amount of sauerkraut over the years because Fall often brings an abundance of cabbage. Whether grown at home in the garden or picked up like irresistible vegetable magnets at some beautiful farmer's market veggie stand, I can never resist the urge to preserve it all for later consumption when fresh greens are less abundant.

10L and 15L crocks make a pretty decent amount of pickled anything, whether it's dill pickles, pickled hot peppers, sauerkraut, kimchi, whatever. It's a lot.  And when they are full, they are heavy. Like, you might strain yourself if you try to lift them. That kinda heavy...

For instance, if you have 15 or more lbs of cabbage, then the larger, traditional glazed clay crocks are the way to go. They aren't cheap and can run anywhere from $85 to over $200, but it's definitely how you want to make a larger batch.

But lo and behold, I stumbled upon this little fermentation container known as the Crazy Korean Kimchi maker. Or something like that. But this company makes them in every size you will ever need.

What I love about this one is that it is fridge-size. If you've ever made kimchi before, you know that it's a fridge or cool cellar, kind of affair. Me, I've always made my kimchi in a click clack style food container that I kept in the fridge. An airtight, container, mind you. Understating it politely, kimchi can be rather aromatic. Especially to those untrained in the ways of kimchi. lol! I love that kind of intense, sucker punch of flavor, for real but not really loving a cheesecake with a hint of kimchi...

Having said that, I love anything naturally fermented. I drink fermented tea, keep sourdoughs, brew beer, kombucha, dabble in charcuterie, cheese. You get the crazy picture... That is to say, I am fascinated by this old fashioned preservation method that has become all but lost and is now considered by most to be a hobby instead of a life or death necessity of feeding the family throughout the winter.

So when I saw this contraption a few years ago on Amazon while looking for a new glass kimchi jar, I had to have it. It seemed ingenious.

Easier to refrigerate and the best part of it is that it has it's own flexible airlock layer that naturally vents the fermentation gases. No weights and no mess or fuss with your fermented vegetables not staying beneath the fermenting brining liquid. That sometimes leads to mold or off flavors and this handy little all in one box does it all and does it very well.

Not one to settle for single-taskers in the kitchen, I wanted to test drive it with a few smaller batch ferments I needed to do recently. For one, I used it to speed up a chili pepper ferment for a microbrew of hot sauce. It was outstanding and the ferment was so perfect after 2 weeks, I could complete the hot sauce I was making with the fermented peppers.

On to bigger and better culinary experiments.

Here's the way I used it for making my first batch of bad-to-the-bone sauerkraut. And yes, at my house, that's now a thing....

Bad to the Bone Sauerkraut Ingredients:
cabbage, sliced thinly with a knife or mandolin slicer
pink Himalayan salt

Brining ratio, if necessary:
2 c water
2 tbsp distilled white vinegar
1 tbsp pink Himalayan salt

1. Slice the cabbage thinly and layer on the bottom of whatever vessel you are using for your ferment. It could be a ceramic or glass jar.
2. Sprinkle salt over the layer of cabbage. Don't have to go crazy here. A light touch will do. Pound with a cabbage muddler/pounder, if you have one and if you make kraut a lot, you will want one. I couldn't find mine, funny enough, so I used the meat pounder.
3. Pound the cabbage layer a bit and then add another layer of salted cabbage. Continue to pound each layer until the cabbage begins to release it's natural water. You will be surprised.
4. At this point, you should have enough natural juices to submerge the now tightly pressed cabbage but if not, add a simple brine using the above ratio until you can fully submerge the cabbage. This container I'm using has a silicone layer with a built in airvac loc and seal. It performs the same function as traditional fermentation weights or plates. If using a more traditional fermenting crock or jar, the cabbage needs to be submerged in its liquid using fermentation stones, weights, a plate, etc.
5. Seal the vessel. Mine above has a locking lid. My other crocks have large stone fitted lids and are sealed with water in a water channel that creates an airtight seal. You can also just use a cheesecloth, muslin or tea towel secured with a rubber band. You want to keep out bugs and insects as well as unwanted bacteria or other airborne contaminants.

When it comes to sauerkraut, like most any other fermented vegetables, it really is a matter of taste. How long you let the fermentation go, depends on how sour you like your ferment. If you are more on the milder side of that fence, then check your kraut after a week and then again after another week. I think I let mine ferment for about 4-6 weeks but because I'm a curious cat, I will check the ferment starting about week 2. I like a super sour kraut so 6 weeks is still a-ok in my book. 

Remember that in times past, our grandparents used to ferment for the entire winter months, keeping their kraut and pickles in really large crocks or barrels even, just pulling out only what would be eaten within a few days, as needed. You need the larger crocks for that, in my opinion, which I have, but I usually just put it all up in jars just in case something goes awry. Like... I forget to keep the water channel full to create the watertight seal and insets get in. That is just suck-o-rama. Super suck-o-rama.

Again, one of the reasons I'm a little smitten with the Crazy Korean Kimchi maker is that it is a smaller, more manageable batch and it solves all of the drama because it keeps everything out while letting the ferment bubble and burp safely away. That's true regardless of whether you are doing a room temperature ferment, a basement ferment or a fridge ferment, like kimchi where you need to stop the fermentation process at some point. 

Me, I just blow stuff up and this can help with that little problem of over-fermenting because it's small enough to store in the 'ol refrigerator. But even that, can sometimes go awry, as you may have heard... so experiment with wild fermentation abandon at your own risk. ;)

One more handy little gadget to mention before I leave you to your fermentation devices. And that, was a pun intended, because this little device has been my newest BFF in addition to the crazy Korean mentioned above. Pickle Pipes. Yup. Mine came in a pack of 4 and they have since become one of the most used pickling gadgets in the house.

The silicone lids fit with wide mouth canning jar rings and creates an airlock with zero hassle. That little nipple thingy has a hole in it like a child's bottle might but is small enough to only let gases out while preventing access to insects, etc. What I have found is that not only are they very useful for fermenting foods. But if you use them to store fresh peppers, it will literally extend the shelf life of your fresh peppers for WEEKS. That's right. I said weeks, my friends. I was harvesting peppers out of my garden over the course of several weeks in order to start a small batch of hot sauce, but at first, I didn't have enough peppers to start. 

I added my fresh peppers to my jar, no liquid of any kind, of course. Just the washed, fresh peppers. Sealed the jar with a pickle pipe and ring, just as is shown above and I was able to collect peppers over the course of several weeks, adding them to my jar until it was full. Then I started another jar and did that until I had 3 half gallon jars full. 

I couldn't believe my eyes, honestly. I swear to Julia, the peppers I had picked nearly 5 weeks prior were indistinguishable in quality from the ones i had freshly picked that same day. You could not see a bit of deterioration, no soft spots or rotten peppers. Perfect.  The peppers were refrigerated the whole time in my pickle pipe jars. Between the refrigeration and the pickle pipe, the combination allowed me to preserve my fresh pepper harvest over 6 weeks!!! Freaking incredible. So well worth it just for this sole purpose if you grow and eat fresh peppers on a regular basis.

Lickety Splickety - InstantPot Sticky Rice

Please don't be too put off that this is a recipe specific to a particular kitchen appliance. I will try to do a follow up to this post for the over the stove method, but since this is my new go-to, I just had to post it.

Since I am trying to prove the InstantPot's credibility in the kitchen, I do try various recipes to influence the other chef-y in the family. Now, admittedly, I did no one any favors because the first time I made anything in the InstantPot, I made asparagus. It was a horrific disaster. Ruined, and I mean ruined, this awesome bunch of asparagus.

So I've had a little bit of an uphill battle. Me, personally, I am unthwarted and utterly undeterred by a kitchen disaster. I mean, I've blown up my fridge, people, making beer cheese bread. No joke, like shattered the glass shelve that was sadly blocking it's projectile ways... but, I digress.

This, is a HUGELY successful, repeatable and reliable recipe that I am just tickled over. Why? Because it truly makes a more complex task such as traditionally steaming sticky, or glutinous, rice into a set-it-and-forget-it staple. It was a real "aha" moment for me when I made it for the first time. And the InstantPot really did it better than I ever have managed to do it any other way.

So let's get to it, shall we?

InstantPot prep: 
-Instantpot, using standard stainless insert
-Stainless trivet with handles makes it easier, optional
-Stainless bowl that fits your InstantPot

Ingredients:
-1 c sticky rice (If your package says "sweet"or "glutinous" rice, it's the same thing)
-2/3 c cold water to cover rice

Method:

1. Add 1 c water to the stainless insert.
2. Add 1 c sticky rice to stainless bowl and cover with 2/3 c. of cold water. If you have any grains peeking above the water line, push them in the pool with a chopstick or something or they won't cook and be hard little nuggets. No bueno. Don't do this step until you are ready to cook. This rice absorbs water and it may make it mushy if you prep this too far in advance.
3. Place the stainless steel into the center of the trivet and use the handles to gently place inside the InstantPot's stainless steel insert. If you don't have this little trivet, just put your bowl inside. All will be well.
4. Place lid on the InstantPot, locking it into place. Don't forget to turn your pressure valve seal into the closed position. Sometimes I forget and that sucks. You have to start your timer again.
5. Pressure Cook for 12 minutes. Natural release for 5 minutes. Then open that pressure valve up at the 5 minute mark to quick release the rest of the steam. We really want to control the cook time here so that's why I always set the timer for 12 minutes then make sure I am close by to watch the next 5 minutes so I can finish releasing the steam quickly. It's perfect.

Tips: 

You can definitely increase or double the portions of this recipe. The important part: the water in the InstantPot that is used to steam, stays the same regardless of how much rice you are making. Neat, hut? So it's super easy just to multiply the rice and water you need for the rice itself.

If you do double the recipe, you also need to increase the first Pressure Cook to 24 minutes. Natural release after 5 minutes.  I've tried this doubled and it worked fine.

Like I mentioned above, it's best not to add your water to your rice until you are ready to cook. Just what I've found by trial and error. If I prep this too soon, I find it actually changes the balance and make the sticky rice a bit mushy. Not to worry, I just let the rice vent a bit to air out and that takes the mush right out. You'll see what I mean. Bottom line, don't be too proud to mess it up, Mary. Just give it a try and make it how you like it. 

We serve this dish with Thai red curry or Thai mango or papaya salad. It's a great "dipper" rice in that traditionally, you grab a piece of rice with your hands and use it to scoop or push other foods. It absorbs sauces and is just a righteous accompaniment to any spicy, saucy affair.

Jasmine Rice:
Jasmine rice is a more standard long grain rice that is even easier to make. No trivet or stainless bowl necessary as you can do this one right in the stainless steel insert of the InstantPot. Pressure cooking rice is different than steaming... in that pressure cooking requires far less water than the steam method. Once again, the InstantPot shines once you have the correct ratios and process down. Super easy to multiply your servings, too. Same cook time regardless of how much you make, which is cool.

1 c water
1 c jasmine rice
sea salt, optional

1. Super key: rinse your jasmine rice well until the water runs clean. A must whether steaming or doing this in the InstantPot. AND. Do not add your water ahead of time. Just like above, when making sticky rice, you must do this and immediately begin the cooking process or it will goof it all up and be mushy. Trust me.
2. Pressure Cook for 3 minutes and natural steam release for 10 minutes (which basically means you do nothing and just wait 10 more minutes once the 3 minute pressure cook is complete). 
3. Manually release the steam, turning your steam valve to open away from your face, hopefully. Always be careful when venting so stand back; be smart. Perfectly safe to release the vent on your InstantPot as long as you don't stand over it like a dummy.
4. Open the lid immediately and fluff with a fork. This releases any excess moisture and you can put the lid back on to keep warm once you've finished the cook. 

Osso Bucco to you, too! - InstantPot Bucco

Oooh, for all you InstantPotties out there... you are gonna love this! One of my favorite Fall recipes is Osso Bucco but could it be replicated using my InstantPot, I wondered?

This recipe turned out beautifully and although the prepping may be a bit more involved than just a one-pot dump sorta getup, the joy I got just knowing that this knockout of a meal would be ready without much more effort on my part, sorta made me swoon in anticipation.

Whether you are prepping this for serving the same day or the next day, the "doneness" test is really a matter of personal preference. Me? I like the oxtails super tender and falling off the bone BUT still on the bone. You may have to play with this a little bit based on your taste factors, but I found it super easy and just as rewarding to make this dish using the InstantPot.

Get ready, it's so worthy.

Ingredients for Dredging:

• Flour
• Italian seasonings (Rustic Tuscan from Costco is great)
• salt, pepper

Ingredients for Osso Bucco:

• 1-2 lbs of fresh, pre-cut oxtails
• 1-2 fresh carrots, diced
• 1-2 stalks of fresh celery, diced
• 1 red onion, diced
• 2 fresh or dried bay leaves
• a bouquet garni of fresh thyme, rosemary (I tie it in a string to make fishing it out easier later)
• 1 tbsp of Better than Bouillon roasted garlic (optional)
• 1 c of dry white wine
• 3 c of chicken stock
• 2 tbsp of tomato paste

Dredge the meat:
In a lidded container, ziplock, bowl or plate, add about 2 c flour, 1 tbsp of Italian seasonings, salt and pepper. Dredge the oxtails, coating the oxtails well. I use a lidded click-clack style container to make quick work of this, shaking the oxtails in the dredge, with the lid on, of course.

Prep the InstantPot for Bucco:

1. On Saute mode, add a tbsp of coconut oil and a tbsp of butter or ghee.  
2. Sear the oxtails, browning on all sides. I find that I have to turn the Saute function back on a few times but I didn't mind that. It seems that the Saute function prevents the pot from getting too hot so I didn't burn them at all, which was kinda nice as a fail safe.
3. Once the oxtails have all been browned, I remove them from the InstantPot to a clean plate so I can saute the veggies and let the browned meat rest in the meantime.
4. Add the chopped veggies and tomato paste, stirring to incorporate and being careful not to let it burn as the sugars in the tomato paste will start to caramelize. 
5. If you start to see it sticking, then go ahead and add the white wine to help with the deglazing of the browning bits while the veggies saute a few minutes more. 
6. Once the tomato paste has been incorporated, add the rest of the chicken stock, the bay leaves, the Better than Bouillon if you are using it and the bouquet garni of fresh herbs.
7. Put the InstanPot lid back on. Press Cancel to stop the Saute mode.
8. Select Pressure Cook for 40 minutes and leave it to steam vent naturally. I usually cook this overnight so once this goes off, I will put it on Stew mode just to cover my overnight cooking goodness. This is entirely optional and might be handy if after the first Pressure Cook, using natural steam release, the meat isn't as tender as you'd like.

I don't usually add any additional salt until after it's done cooking as the BtB contains a good bit of sodium. If you need it, add salt and pepper to taste just before or at serving time when you can taste it properly.

Other traditional garnishes:

• Zest of a lemon or orange
• fresh rosemary and thyme
• fresh parsley
• lemon wedges

Serving Suggestions:

I typically serve this dish with pasta or gnocchi of some sort. One of my go-to starches is orzo pasta but you can use whatever you prefer, including rice, baked potatoes, baked baby reds, veggies, whatever floats your bucco boat.

I was pretty blown away by how good this turned out. It is a simple recipe really and the hardest part is just prepping the diced veggies and browning the meat. If you can do that, then you can rock the house with this dish. 

I don't think, however, that if I was serving more than 4 people, that I'd use this method unless I had two intantpots. In that case, I'd just do it the old fashioned way and slow cook in the oven using a Creuset of some sort at 325 for 3-4 hours or so. 

Thai Red Curry with Southern Fried Smoked Duck

Alright. Don't get all weird about the smoked duck. The true nature of this dish is all about the red curry. And this particular red curry is almost vegan in that until you add the smoked duck or whatever protein you choose, it's pretty much vegan except for the fish sauce. Ok, guess it can't be vegan, but you get the idea. A blank slate of goodness...

Thai red curry is one of my all time favorite meals. I love it with just about any protein you can think of; I don't discriminate. As long as the curry sauce, which is the star, is right, mama's all right. And I can always judge a Thai restaurant by two things: it's red curry or tom kha. And since Thai food is quite a popular affair in our house, red curry has in recent years, become quite a BFD.

The most interesting red curry development in my household is that out of all the red curries you can typically get in most restaurants, roasted duck seems to be our family favorite.

Our kiddos tried red curry for the first time in New Zealand last year and granted, the restaurant we used for this Thai Experience was pretty fantastic. We do a sorta family date night. A date night, but like with the whole family. lol! It actually became a thing for us, complete with taking the train, the bus or the ferry, whichever suited our purpose, into the downtown action of Wellington.

We'd see an early evening movie and head out on foot for dinner afterwards, catching the bus home because we would usually be just late enough to miss our last ferry but definitely on time for the last bus home to Day's Bay. Yep, the whole family riding the bus. Hilarious and super entertaining, not just for me, but for everyone else on the bus as well. But memories like that... priceless; definitely something we all remember quite fondly.

And Roasted Duck Curry was always the highlight of the Saturday family date night if Thai food was the craving of the day. And it often was.

Recently, while debating the eternal "What's for dinner?" question, our middle son asked why we couldn't just make roasted duck curry at home. Oh, and sticky rice.  Can't forget the sticky rice.  And thus another inspirational culinary challenge was ignited.  All systems a-go.

Except we'd never really made roasted duck before.  Hence, our inspiration for this family favorite became the bar and the bar was rather high. Lucky for us, Costco carries the quack.

Unthwarted by the newness of this particular bird, we just aim for what we know best. Our smoker. But Tsunami doesn't just smoke this lovely little ducky, he brines it in our fermented pickled pepper brine from one of our hot sauce batches. He also throws in some aromatics like lemongrass, kaffir lime leaves and ginger. All of which, is grown organically in our garden. If you don't have this kinda malarkey going on in your kitchen, totally ok. This brine is really just a very light water, salt, vinegar mixture. You could easily get away with white wine. ;)

Once our bird was brined for 24 hours, it was removed, patted dry and thanks was given because that bird was about to get smoked with cherry and mesquite then, wait for it...deep fried. Just like a good 'ol Southern Thanksgiving turkey, y'all!  All I can say about this is that this feathered friend nearly didn't make it to the curry, even though it was simmering low and slow on the stove. Yep, Southern Fried Smoke Duck was now in a class all it's own and could definitely be the ultimate scene-stealer. So good you might slap yo' mama and yo' papa if they tried to take too much of a nibble!

If you do not have access to duck and you prefer something more familiar like roasted (even rotisserie) chicken, then by all means, let that protein choice reign supreme. But... if you are a little daring... stretch, my friend and grab yo'self some duck. Splurge and indulge on something extraordinary once in a while. Even if you don't know what the hell you are doing, seriously.

As I said earlier, before I got off the quacking track here, the real star of this show is the red curry. So let me not dally dally any further.

Thai Red Curry Sauce:

• 1 tbsp Thai red curry paste (more or less to taste, we use about 4 heaping tbsp!)
• 1 tbsp palm sugar or to taste
  
  **This seems to be an important, if not key, ratio. Doesn't matter how much curry paste you use if you stick to the same ratio of palm sugar. Start with 1 tbsp of each and never add more curry paste or palm sugar until the previous bit has been completely dissolved and incorporated.
• 1 cup or so of coconut cream (I buy mine in the tetrapaks at the Asian grocery store)
• 2 13.5 oz cans of coconut milk
• 1 stalk of lemongrass, bottom 8 inches or so
• 4-5 fresh or frozen kaffir leaves (fresh are always more fragrant)
• 1 carrot, washed and sliced on the diagonal
• 1 c green bell pepper, cut into 1 inch chunks
• 1 c red grape cherry tomatoes, washed and left whole
• 1 sweet onion, sliced
• 1 c fresh pineapple or pitted lychee, optional
• 8 tbsp of fish sauce
• 8 tbsp fresh lime juice
• Fresh Thai basil and/or cilantro to garnish
• Fresh Thai chilis, optional
• And drum roll.... protein of your choosing

How to... make curry sauce

1. In a heavy bottom soup pot, fry your curry paste on medium, stirring constantly so as not to burn. Once it has heated through, it will begin releasing oils. 
2. Add in your matching tablespoon of palm sugar, still stirring. Turn down your heat to low if it seems like the curry is getting too hot too fast. The palm sugar just needs time to incorporate a bit.
   *I buy palm sugar in large disks or in small jars. If you can only find the disk form, it is so easy to grate with a hand grater or microplane. I can find the scoopable kind in little plastic tubs at my Asian grocery store, which works great too. If you can't find palm sugar (and yes, it's worth the effort and keeps a very very long time), you could substitute light brown sugar or regular sugar.
3. Add 1 can of coconut milk, stirring continuously to incorporate. Once it has been incorporated, you can add the second can. If you need more curry paste, add it and it's matching palm sugar, remembering your one to one ratio. Always make sure it is dissolved before adding more curry paste and/or palm sugar. We like this ration but if you find it is a tad too sweet, back off the palm sugar. Same is true of the red curry. This is really made to taste.
4. Add lime juice and fish sauce.
5. Add your aromatics. I take the lemongrass stalk and bash the crap out of the root end with the back of my chef knife or meat tenderizer. This releases the oils and will perfume the curry so nicely. Leaving the stalk in tact also makes it easier to remove prior to serving. 
6. Crush your kaffir lime leaves in your hand by rolling them a bit. This also releases the oils in the leaves. Add them to your curry. I leave them whole to make it easier to remove although some just leave these in even during serving. Personally, I don't like to serve anything that isn't digestible just in case you, too, have a goofball at the table that might try to eat it. Just sayin...
7. Add your coconut cream, stirring well. Let curry sauce continue to simmer on med-low, turning down heat if it gets too hot.
8. At this point, I usually start my jasmine or sticky rice. I'll link my Instapot (love this!) recipe for foolproof glutinous (sticky) rice soon but we either serve this with jasmine, sticky or an aged Basmati rice.
9. I prep the rest of the ingredients, including the veggies and fruit, but won't add them to the curry until about 8-10 minutes just prior to serving. That's just me. I like a crunchy vegetable with texture but you can cook your veggies to your own taste.

Serve over a bed of jasmine or Basmati rice and add your sliced duck or chicky in a dazzling way on top. Or not... If you are making sticky rice, we usually serve that on the side as some prefer to dip their rice into their curry. It's a personal preference kinda jam. 

*A note about curry paste:

Sure, you can make your own and I highly recommend that you do. I also have a kicking recipe for homemade red curry paste but I haven't tried it yet. But when I do... look the f out. In the meantime, (not even I have the time for all my kitchen lab fantasies) do what I do every time and use this or your favorite pre-made paste.

I have a vacuum sealer so I will reseal my curry paste after every use just to keep it from oxidizing and to keep it fresh until I can use the whole container up. Works pretty well.

Brown Butter Seared Scallops with Mushroom and Artichoke Risotto

I've had great risotto before. I actually really really love a good risotto and have made a few in my day. Ridiculously simple to make, it just doesn't get the credit or attention it deserves, in my opinion.

I'm no stranger to this beautiful short grain rice and I have long admired it's versatility. Although truth be told, I've only ever made risotto and arancini with it. But hallelujah! Once you see how wonderfully easy it is, you may be inspired to cook it more often.

Still, risotto isn't something of an everyday thing for us and it only recently grabbed my attention when we ventured out to a wonderfully chill spot in Hawi called Bamboo. We've passed it many times before as Hawi is one of the most reknown stops during the North Kohala scenic mountain drive on the way to the beaches in North Kohala. This is our 'hood' or at least, it's one of the charming little towns as we head to our favorite beaches. We stop for coffee, shaved ice, tacos (oh yea...tacos) and now we know just how special this little hole in the wall is, too.

They have a house special that is served with the fresh-caught local ahi seared tuna, crispy tempura shrimp and seared scallops on a bed of lemon coconut risotto. I mean, wtf? How good does that sound. It is to die for. Inspiring, obviously.

Reasonably priced, with super friendly Hawai'ian ladies that run the show here, its easy to see why it is especially popular with the locals. But it must be even more of a treat for any tourist that may accidentally-on-purpose stumble upon this super relaxing spot during a trip to the Hawai'i Island. Every bit as awesome as it sounds, I assure you.

Naturally, I could not wait to do this dish at home! Tsunami had something equally awesome for his main but all throughout the meal he kept eyeing my dish somewhat longingly. I finally couldn't take the sad eyes anymore and let him have the rest. And it's all he's talked about since.

We do not lack a 5 star dining menu in our house and we have found a certain thrill in being able to cook a meal like this at home for a fraction of the price. But we've also had family visiting the last several months so we've had plenty of opportunity to try our chops at some spectacular sunset dining moments of our own. 

I mean, the seafood here on the "big" Island is really exceptional and we are lucky enough to have a Costco that gets plenty of it. From King crab to super fresh poke, it's worth the effort of driving to the other side of the island if you have a hankering for something special but don't want to spend a few hundred bucks just for something ok... cuz, like anywhere else, you can certainly run into this experience on the island, too.

Alas, my story grows long so let's cut to the yumalicious chase, shall we?

This dish has two main parts:

Scallops:

• 3-4 scallops per person
• garlic powder
• salt, pepper
• butter
• coconut oil

Risotto:

• 1 cup of Arborio rice (risotto)
• 4 cups of chicken stock
• 1 cup of white wine
• 2 tbsp butter or olive oil or both
• 1 small onion or half a medium size onion, diced finely (shallots or leeks are awesome, too!)
• 2-3 cloves garlic minced
• 4-5 mushrooms, sliced thin
• 3-4 artichoke hearts quartered (optional)
• sprig of fresh thyme, stems removed, leaves chopped
• sprig of fresh oregano, stems removed, leaves chopped
• zest of a lemon, for garnish
• fresh chives, for garnish
• 1 cup freshly grated parmesan, more for serving

*Secret key ingredient: Better than Bouillon Beef paste, about 1/2 tsp per cup of liquid mixed into each cup of warm stock or liquid. I do this as I go because I never know how much stock I'll actually need. They have lots of flavors, even a Vegan veggie base, so if that's the flavor profile you want, go ahead and rock it.

Now the beauty of it is that risotto can be made to have any flavor profile you choose. I'm doing a classic chicken stock despite this being a scallop dish simply because they did it that way at the restaurant and the depth of flavor was delicious. Secondly, I happen to have homemade chicken stock in the fridge and that certainly saves me a bit of time. Also, my chicken stock was made with white wine for a French onion soup I had made earlier so this was wonderfully serendipitous. You really can use what you have on hand. And the Beef flavored concentrate I mentioned above, just added a bit of depth but I could have easily kept to an all chicken or seafood base as well.

A word and hint about Better than Bouillon: Another great hack that Tsunami's mother introduced me to recently was this awesome secret ingredient I will NEVER be without again in the pantry. BtB, let's just call it that for short, is just what it says it is. It is WAY BETTER than bouillon ever could be. And I swear to Julia, it has been my secret on almost ever meal I've made in the last few weeks. I can buy it in the larger jars at Costco, which is worth every penny, as it can be used to make a quick stock or broth but even more importantly, it can take your own homemade stocks and broth to a whole new level. A little goes a very long way and you do always need a hot liquid to dissolve it properly so the best tip that Momster gave me was to always mix it up in a different vessel so you can be sure it has dissolved properly, then add it to your stock or sauce or whatever. Seriously. We've made gravy, soups, z steak roasts, you name it... And last night, I used it in the risotto and because of the mushrooms, it really enhanced the depth of flavor a great deal. I keep both the beef and chicken flavors on hand at all times. It's THAT good. Actually, I keep all flavors by BtB on hand as it really is a great kitchen staple.

Steps for an awesome risotto:

1. Saute onion, garlic, mushrooms, thyme and oregano in a little butter on medium heat until the onions are just starting to become translucent.
2. Add a cup of uncooked Arborio rice to the pan and mix well with the aromatics.
3. Add 1 cup of white wine and continue to stir on medium until all of the liquid has been absorbed. This is pretty much the only rule in risotto! No more liquid until the first bit is absorbed. That's it. The magic. If you can chill and be patient, this will turn out pretty perfectly. Also, the heat may need to be turned down a bit just so it is simmering gently. You do not want it to stick or burn so stirring and monitoring it the whole time is also pretty key. Don't try to multi task here. 
4. Once the wine is absorbed, add a cup of chicken stock (with 1/2 tsp of Better than Bouillon added in) and repeat this process. You will do a minimum of 4 cups of liquid, including the wine, and may even need a fifth so I have at least 4 cups of stock on hand before starting. With each addition of liquid, you will see the rice get plumper as you go and you don't want it too al dente nor do you want it too mushy, so I find this 4 cup mark to be my personal "threshold of doneness".
5. When you add the 4th cup, that's when I start the scallops and stir the artichoke hearts into the risotto if you are having them. Once this has been absorbed, mix in the grated parmesan, turn down the heat to low or off (if serving right away) and cover with a lid.

Steps for the scallops:

1. Scallops need to be thawed, if frozen and patted dry with a paper towel. You want them very dry, which will help create a good sear. 
2. Season each side lightly with garlic powder, black pepper and salt.
3. Heat 2 tbsp of butter and 2 tbsp of coconut oil on medium high heat in a non stick pan.
4. Sear the scallops on each side, about 3-4 minutes per side. Scallops cook very fast and the key to a good sear is to put them in a hot pan and gently shake the pan to keep them from sticking. There is a bit of an art to cooking a scallop right and this is a guideline only because it may take longer with larger scallops or less time if you have smaller scallops. When they are brown, they are usually done, regardless. If you cook them too long, they become rubbery and gross. Personally, I never worry about undercooking scallops because I love them raw, as sushi, so I err to the side of caution so I don't overcook them and ruin the delicate flavor and texture.

A word and hint about parmesan: At my grocery store in the deli section, we have a cheese cabinet with specialty cheeses. Our store carries the little individually wrapped cheeses for lunches and snacks, etc. We have found that this is the best way to buy fresh parmesan because one little one ounce square is the equivalent to about a cup of grated parmesan! And it's super easy to grate the little squares because nothing goes to waste or gets too warm when you are grating up such a small hunk. It's ingenious, actually, and while we can only get one kind of parmesan this way, it's still such a great go-to kitchen hack that it's worth sharing, for sure. It also means that your parmesan stays fresher longer and doesn't get all hard once you open it up because you are just using what you need, when you need it.

Serve the scallops on a bed of risotto garnished with chives, more grated parmesan and the zest of a ripe lemon. Yes, the lemon zest is totally optional, but I like serving lemon wedges on the side because the pop of acid goes well with this rich risotto and the zest adds such a bright note that really makes the dish for me. Some people like nutmeg; I like lemon zest.

How to Hoisin like a Rockstar

So we are stuck at home waiting out an afternoon rain shower in order to go out and harvest the massive amount of collard greens sitting in the garden.  In the meantime, we feel the need to finish making these beautiful spare ribs that have been smoking and creating a hunger in the neighborhood since the wee hours of the morning.

Tsunami needs to make his ginger teryaki glaze to finish them off on the grill, which was also his marinade for the ribs that are currently in the smoker. We've used this awesome ginger-infused sauce in our Hibachi recipes numerous times even in the last couple of weeks. It's that good... So much so that what would seem like an impossible feat, we are actually out of his stand-by sauce that he literally made a gallon of just a week or so ago. Seems we are also out of hoisin sauce, which is not surprising given that it's a main ingredient in our go-to-Teriyaki-Bachi sauce. 

I will definitely post that recipe as well but, as usual, I got inspired. Partially, I wanted to see if I could avoid going into Honoka'a just for hoisin. It's not that far, but jeez, what's in hoisin anyway, Alexa? 

Turns out hoisin is comprised of many good yummy things I knew I already had on hand. I didn't have any peanut butter so my recipe calls for cashew butter, although many recipes I saw used peanut butter. Again, remember my mission: make a hoisin substitute without going to the store. lol! And it was just freaking delicious. So much so I don't know that I'll ever use peanut butter when I make this but you can decide that for yourself.

Ingredients

• 4 tablespoons soy sauce.
• 2 tablespoons smooth cashew butter (just a handful of cashews pulsed in my bullet)
• 1 tablespoon dark brown sugar.
• 2 teaspoons rice wine vinegar.
• 1 garlic clove, finely minced.
• 2 teaspoons sesame seed oil.
• 1 teaspoon hot sauce (more or less to taste)
• 1/8 teaspoon black pepper.

So, as I mentioned, I didn't have peanut butter or cashew butter, for that matter. But I did have roasted and lightly salted cashews. Given that I've made cashew butter before many times, I just decided that I'd make the cashew butter by adding a handful of cashews and everything else in the recipe to a Ninja bullet processor. It worked like a charm and was delicious!

And I was quite proud of myself when I handed it to Tsunami to complete the mission. He sorta rolls his eyes suspiciously like, wtf is this? But then I just do a sweet stare down, smiling expectantly. It took about 15 seconds longer than it should have but eventually,  he obeys the voodoo I just put on him and tastes it. Oh yea... that's what I thought, Freakshow. Lick it up.

He doesn't say a word but takes the package from my hands and skedaddles off to the kitchen to finish the go-to-Teriyaki-Bachi sauce that will become my next post. If I don't get sidetracked. Fingers crossed. 

In the time it took to Google and whip out the Ninja, the rain has somehow turned into a bit of an extended downpour. It's only been a few minutes but now, I'm really inspired to get the greens going. Ah, screw it. I put on my Wellies and head out to the garden to harvest about 5 lbs of collard greens. In the misty, warm rain. How sucky. lol! Hardly. Totally fun in a big kid way and well worth the pretend sacrifice I am making in the effort to go out right now. I could wait. But I don't. Collard greens are a perfect foil for our very-Teriyaki ribfest we have in the works and it just couldn't wait a minute more.

But check it... now we know how to hoisin and hopefully, so do you! Even if you don't go through quite as much hoisin as we do, it's still kinda cool to know that it's pretty easy to make and it's more than likely that you have most of these ingredients on hand as well.

Next stop on this Hoisin train: Go-To-Teriyaki-Bachi Sauce