FROZEN POTATOES: Kickin' Potatoes

FEATURED ITEM:

FROZEN HASH BROWN POTATOES

PHOTO LINK

WHY STORE THIS ITEM:

• Stilltasty.com says they are good indefinitely if stored below 0°
• Hash browns are the best comfort food and it’s always nice to have comfort food in your food storage.
• These guys are not just for potato casserole. Add them to soups, the crockpot, fry them up on the stove top, or wrap in foil and throw in the camp fire

Homemade Item: PESTO

I love pesto. I have a hard time justifying buying it at the store though because it is so expensive for such a little bottle! This summer I set out with a goal in mind: grow enough basil to make my own pesto. Well, I am happy to say that the time finally came when I had enough and now I have lots of homemade pesto for a fraction of the price I would have paid to buy it all. 

My inspiration for this recipe comes from Food Network's Ina Garten and can be found here.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup walnuts

3 tbsp minced garlic

5 cups packed, fresh basil

1 1/2 cups olive oil

1 tsp salt

1 tsp pepper

1 cup shredded parmesan cheese

Step one: lightly toast your walnuts over medium heat for 4-5 minutes.

Once your walnuts are toasted, add them to a food processor along with your garlic, basil, salt, and pepper. Run food processor on high for about a minute to get everything nice and broken up. Once a nice puree is starting to form, slowing add your olive oil - really slowly, almost drop by drop - and continue to process until it is all added in.

Once everything is nice and blended, add in your parmesan.

Pulse just enough to mix the cheese in. At this point your pesto should look something like this:

Pour into clean canning jars and enjoy! I am the only one in my house that eats pesto so I am freezing two of my jars and slowly working on the other. In order to freeze successfully make sure that you put about 1/4 inch of olive oil over the top so that no air can come in contact with the pesto.

Homemade Item: PIE CRUST

This recipe comes to us from this cookbook, which is my new favorite. I got it for my birthday and have loved it ever since.

There are two secrets to a good pie crust. First, keep everything as cold as possible. Second, knead as little as possible. This recipe does a good job at explaining both concepts. I’ve tried my fair share of pie crust and this recipe consistently turns out flake, buttery, and delicious!

Here are the ingredients that you will need:
1 cup butter

2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons vinegar

½ teaspoon salt

Start by cutting some butter up into small cubes and place in the bowl of a stand mixer.

Then dump the flour on top of the butter.

Use your hands to make sure each tiny square of butter is well coated with flour and that no butter squares are stuck together, and then place the bowl in the freezer.

Meanwhile, pour the vinegar into a large measuring cup and dissolve the salt in it. Then place the measuring cup in the freezer and let everything chill for about 10 minutes.

Remove the bowl from the freezer and using the paddle attachment mix the butter and flour together until it resembles coarse cornmeal.  

When the mixture reaches the coarse meal stage, keep the mixer on and slowly pour in the vinegar mixture. 

Keep mixing until the dough forms a ball. It should only take a few minutes and you don’t want to over mix this part.

Dump the mixture out onto a lightly floured surface.

 Divide the dough mass into two sections and then press each section into a disc shape. Try not to knead the dough.

Wrap each disc in plastic wrap and let rest in the fridge for 30 minutes before use. Or place in the freezer for use at a later time.

Kamut: Kamut Fruit Salad

FEATURED ITEM:

Kamut

WHY STORE THIS ITEM:

• Kamut is a type of wheat and has a long shelf life
• It has been known to cause less of an allergic reaction than Hard Red Wheat
• It has a higher protein content than regular Hard White and Red Wheat-which makes it more filling.

Salad RECIPE:

I wanted to try something new in the world of grains, and I was pleasantly surprised with how this turned out.  Once opened Kamut has only about a year shelf life, but like wheat, if stored properly, has been known to be good for up to 30 years. (http://extension.usu.edu/foodstorage/htm/wheat/)  Kamut has a sweeter taste than regular wheat, and is why I enjoy it better in salads.  As with wheat, you can always grind it up into flour.  This recipe originated with one of my favorite Chef's, Chef Brad, but I tweaked it a lot and put in my favorite fruits.  You can find the original recipe here http://www.chefbrad.com/recipes/details.php?recipe=&recipe_id=164

Makes: 8-10 servings

Cook Time: 1 hr 30 min

Ingredients: 2 cups cooked Kamut
                    2 mangos cut into chunks
                    1 peach cut into chunks
                    1 c. of grapes (green or red) cut in half
                     1/4 c. agave nectar
                     1 tbsp. red wine vinegar
                     1/2 tsp. cinnamon (or more if you really like cinnamon)
                     1/2 c cashews
                    

Directions:  You can pressure cook the Kamut ahead of time.  You can also cook it on the stove top--it just takes a lot longer and you need to soak it overnight.  Since I have a pressure cooker here is what I did--I used a 1:2 ratio for Kamut.  So 1 c. of Kamut to 2 c. water.  You have a little extra water at the end so if you want to go down to 1 1/2c of water feel free.  I stuck it all in my pressure cooker for 20 minutes and used the natural release method.  When you are done cover it and stick it in the fridge to cool a little.

In a bowl combine agave nectar, red wine vinegar, and cinnamon.  Add the Kamut to the mixture and mix well.  Add the chopped up fruit.  When you dish it up in separate bowls add a sprinkle of cashews. You don't want to add the cashews and put it in the fridge because they will get mushy.

Tell us what you made!

Please leave a recipe of what you made with this week’s featured item in the comments field or email it to us.