Pickled Okra

One of Keely's newfound foods is pickled okra. You'll often see it as a garnish for a Bloody Mary. You'll also find them on cheese and charcuterie boards in area Nashville restaurants. After talking about how she loves them, I mentioned, "You do know your grandma has been puttin' up pickled okra for years." Well, evidently she didn't. And just like that, we both added an item to our bucket list. And almost just as quickly, we checked it off.

To begin, I headed to the Franklin Farmer's Market one Saturday morning to buy fresh okra. Love that place! Be sure to choose the smaller stalks; that is, no more than about 4 inches long.

Next up: Savory Spice Shop in downtown Franklin. We have so many wonderful shops on Main Street. This one, by far, tops my list of favorites. I bought peppercorns, coriander seeds, dill seeds, cumin seeds as well as Kosher salt. I trusted store owner Hollie when she advised me to not make a substitute for this type of salt.

Next: Call Mom. That's when I learned that Mom doesn't include all of the seeds I mentioned above. She only uses a garlic clove, red chile pepper, dill seed, and okra in each of her jars. Admittedly, I left the garlic clove out since I didn't want to go back out and shop some more. Next time, I'll include it. Although I still wanted to use the variety of seeds, I did like Mom's 1:2 ratio of the vinegar to water. I found that most recipes used a 1:1 ratio. Keely agreed it didn't have as strong of a vinegar-y, pickled taste, which we both preferred. Also, Mom said she always uses the white distilled vinegar. (I noticed lots of variation in the type of vinegar used in the various recipes on the internet.) She insists the white distilled vinegar is what makes the okra so crunchy. Yes, crunchy. Okra has a bad rap. The misconception is that it is always slimey. Here, though, the texture is similar to a nice, crunchy dill pickle.

The recipe below makes 4 pints. Keely and I made two batches, and we were quite pleased with the way they turned out. The only thing we want to change is to make them a little hotter. So, next time, we'll be splitting the red chile peppers in half. They've already come in handy for making our own cheese and charcuterie boards at home. Last night, they came in handy for garnishing a tray of mini sandwiches for girls' night out. I'm betting they'll come in handy for last minute hostess gifts, too!

Cheese and charcuterie board makes for a perfect appetizer.

Use pickled okra to garnish sandwich trays.

Pickled Okra

Ingredients:

• 1-1/2 to 2 pounds young, small to medium okra pods
• 4 small red chile peppers (Note: Split in half if you want to increase the heat.)
• 1 teaspoon whole peppercorns
• 1 teaspoon coriander seeds
• 1 teaspoon dill seeds
• 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
• 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• 12 sprigs fresh dill
• 4 cloves garlic, whole (Note: Next time, include. We left this out.)
• 2 cups white distilled vinegar
• 4 cups water
• 1/3 cup kosher salt

Directions:

1. Prepare 4 pint-sized canning jars. Some people can by using a water bath method, which is supposed to be safer by killing any bacteria that’s supposed to be killed, but I don’t. Here’s what I do: Heat clean mason jars on a cookie sheet in a 300 degree oven. At the same time, boil the jar lids and rings. (Always use new jar lids, but the rings and jars are reusable.) 

2. Prepare okra. Wash and trim the stem to 1/2 inch. Set on towel to dry.

Wash okra and set on towel to dry.

3. Prepare liquid. Bring the vinegar, water, and salt to a boil.

4. Fill jar. Remove 1 sterilized jar from oven. Place 1 chile pepper, 1/4 teaspoon each of peppercorns, coriander seeds, dill seeds, cumin seeds and red pepper flakes, 2-3 sprigs of dill, and 1 clove of garlic in the bottom of the jar. Fill jar with okra, standing them up vertically, alternating stems up and down.

Fill jar with pepper, variety of seeds, and dill.

Keely adds okra, alternating stems up and down.

5. Add liquid. Pour the boiling liquid over the okra in the jar, leaving about 1/4 inch head space. Using tongs, remove a lid from the boiling water. Blot the lid on a towel and then place on top of the jar, pressing down gently. Screw on the band snugly. Repeat for all jars.

The filled jars are going to be hot, so pick them up with a towel or pot holder and transfer them to a towel lined counter to cool. Once cooled, make sure that each lid is sealed. If the lid pops back when you press it, then the jar is not properly sealed. This should be rare. If this happens, simply refrigerate the jar and begin using it. Set in a cool dry place for 2 weeks.

The hardest part is having to wait for 2 weeks!

Fifth Annual Cinnamon Roll DOE

This week, I taught another class on experimental design concepts. Time for another cinnamon roll DOE! Each year, I have a different theme. Recall the themes from past experiments:

1st Annual Cinnamon Roll DOE: 2012 Red Velvet theme

2nd Annual Cinnamon Roll DOE: 2013 Orange theme

3rd Annual Cinnamon Roll DOE: 2014 Chocolate theme

4th Annual Cinnamon Roll DOE: 2015 Healthy theme

This year's theme was Maple Bacon! It seems bacon is especially popular right now for many foodies:  bacon milkshakes, bacon pancakes, bacon you-name-it. One of our local bakeries sells maple bacon doughnuts that are extremely popular. That's what prompted this theme.

Here are the new questions I wanted this experiment to answer:

1. Does roll size matter? Usually I make rather large cinnamon rolls. What if I made them more like Burger King's cini-minis?

2. Does freezing the starter make a difference? My starter is 27 years old, which is quite unusual. Not surprisingly, I've always nurtured it. When my friend Nancy shared that she froze the starter I gave her because of her two-week trip to Australia, I seriously wanted to gasp. No way! I am so grateful she was so bold to do this because I certainly wouldn't have been so daring. Currently, I have to "feed" the starter every two weeks, so if freezing the starter didn't affect the rolls, that would be a huge find. I would be able to take a break from this type of baking for extended periods of time, if desired.

3. Does freezing the rolls make a difference? I tested freezing the rolls twice before: in the Second Annual Cinnamon Roll DOE as well as the Third Annual Cinnamon Roll DOE. In both of those experiments, I learned that freezing actually hurt. Darn. I still don't want to give up. In these previous experiments, I froze the cinnamon rolls after I baked them. What if instead, I froze the rolls before I baked them? 

4. Is a maple icing better than the plain sugar glaze that I normally use?

5. Should I top the cinnamon rolls with bacon or not?

6. Do males have different cinnamon roll preferences than females?

As before, for those of you who just want to bypass the details and simply find the answers to these questions, simply scroll to the bottom of this post. For the rest of you . . .

Here is another way of listing the factors, or changes, that I wanted to try:

Factor:                   Current Condition:     Change to Try:
A:Roll Size                Large                          Small
B: Starter                  Refrigerated               Frozen
C: Rolls                     Fresh                          Frozen
D: Icing                     Plain                            Maple
E: Topping                No topping                 Bacon topping

F: Gender                 Female                       Male

I made 8 different batches of cinnamon rolls, each with differing combinations of above. (Nerd alert:  I conducted a resolution III,  2^6-3 fractional factorial design with 10 replicates.)

The following four batches were made fresh this morning (not frozen first):

Recipe 1: Small cinnamon rolls made with dough from a refrigerated starter. Topped with maple icing and bacon. Taste tested by a male.

Recipe 2: Large cinnamon rolls made with dough from a refrigerated starter. Topped with plain icing. Taste tested by a male. (This was status quo condition, or the control group.)

Recipe 3: Small cinnamon rolls made with dough from a frozen starter. Topped with plain icing and bacon. Taste tested by a female.

Recipe 4: Large cinnamon rolls made with dough from a frozen starter. Topped with maple icing. Taste tested by a female.

The following four batches were made last week and frozen before baking:

Recipe 5: Small cinnamon rolls made with dough from a refrigerated starter. Topped with maple icing. Taste tested by a female.

Recipe 6: Large cinnamon rolls made with dough from a refrigerated starter. Topped with plain icing and bacon. Taste tested by a female.

Recipe 7: Small cinnamon rolls made with dough from a frozen starter. Topped with plain icing. Taste tested by a male.

Recipe 8: Large cinnamon rolls made with dough from a frozen starter. Topped with maple icing and bacon. Taste tested by a male.

As before, I asked each student/co-worker who wanted to participate in this experiment to taste a particular batch (or batches) of cinnamon rolls. (A big thanks to all who participated!) Then, each was asked to provide a "likeability" score (using a 1-5 scale) by completing the following survey:

My plan was to collect 10 surveys for each batch, for a total of 80 observations. However, one batch only yielded 7 surveys and another one only had 9. So, admittedly, there were a few missing observations. After analyzing the results, I learned that only the topping (Factor E) significantly affected the likeability score. This is depicted in the chart below by the very long bar.

Even though most of the responses were very favorable, I learned that the topping (Factor E) had the most significant negative effect on the likeability score. Adding the bacon on top actually hurt. What? This surprised me! 

In fact, one of my buddies Brian said, "If you wrap bacon on a shoe sole, I'll eat it."  I would have thought most people would have agreed! :) But this leads me to another significant find. Scores were all over the place when evaluating the bacon topping. However, answers were more in agreement without the bacon topping.

The remaining factors didn't significantly affect the likeability score. I've said more than once that some of the most significant findings in an experiment are those things that are actually insignificant. (Yes, it sounds like a Yogi Berra quote.)

• Roll size doesn't matter. Make cinni-minis if you'd like!
• Freezing the starter doesn't matter. Yeah! Nancy was right. If I want to take a sabbatical from baking, I'll be able to do it now. 
• Freezing the rolls before baking them doesn't matter. This will be so convenient! I'll be able to make many to freeze, then pull out only a few for baking at one time as opposed to baking a whole pan.
• The type of icing in this case didn't help or hurt. The maple icing was more expensive to make, so now I know this additional investment isn't worth it.
• Males didn't have significantly different preferences than females. This surprised me, too. I speculated that males would prefer bacon, but females would not. (Insert your best Tim the Toolman Taylor grunt here.) That just wasn't the case.

Once again, these results were more like the very first cinnamon roll DOE. It looks like I should simply "leave well enough alone." Until next year. . . . 

Brian: "If you wrap bacon on a shoe sole, I'll eat it."

Peach Caprese Salad

I'm really glad that my nephew Silas decided to complete pharmacy school at UT's satellite campus in Nashville. If he lets me, this gives me three years to spoil him. And so it began last night.

Scott and Tina are in town to help him move. While the guys stayed behind to chill, Tina and I hit the farmer's market as well as my favorite Savory Spice Shop in downtown Franklin. Our finds made for a fantastic dinner. We enjoyed grilled chicken, fresh green beans, corn on the cob, and peach caprese salad, my favorite new side! Silas took care of dessert by bringing us Gibson's doughnuts from Memphis. Dear Lord. I see now what the hype is all about.

Back to the peach caprese salad. I had never heard of this variation. Watermelon, yes. Peaches, no. I'm glad Tina likes to experiment because this unexpected twist on the conventional caprese salad is something I will do from now on. The freestone peaches from the farmer's market were amazing. Tina simply combined those with her own home-grown tomatoes, mozzarella balls, then drizzled with balsamic dressing. This one's a keeper!

Ingredients:

• Tomatoes, chopped or sliced
• Peaches, chopped or sliced
• Mozzarella balls
• Basil (fresh)
• Balsamic dressing

Directions:
Arrange first three ingredients on a platter. Top with fresh basil. Drizzle with balsamic dressing.

3-2-1 Cake

We've been eating more low-fat foods lately, but unfortunately it hasn't diminished my sweet tooth. After searching Pinterest (naturally) for some dessert options, I ran across this 3-2-1 cake. It has become a new favorite. This recipe tops my list for fewest ingredients and time to prepare. My kind of recipe!

My first experience with a mug cake was 4 years ago when my cousin Janie shared her  5 Minute Chocolate Mug Cake. It was such a nice way to satisfy your sweet tooth without having to make an entire cake. If you liked that cake, you'll love this one, too. This one has a lighter texture, though. It's more of an angel food texture and less of a dense muffin texture. Even better? How about a nice warm individual serving in only 1 minute? Now we're talking.

This recipe is embarrassingly easy. Only two ingredients:  a box of cake mix (any flavor) and a box of angel food cake mix. That's it. Mix well. I keep it stored in an air tight container.

Where did the 3-2-1 name come from? That's another thing I love about this recipe. The directions are easy to remember as well:

• 3 tablespoons of combined cake mix
• 2 tablespoons of water
• 1 minute in the microwave

I serve it with a heaping tablespoon of fat free Cool Whip on top, but that's optional I suppose.

 Give it a try. I chose a chocolate version (of course). However, my brother and sister-in-law tried a carrot cake version and loved it. Tina topped hers with vanilla frozen yogurt and walnuts. In her words: "Scrumptious!" Need I say more?

3-2-1 Cake

Ingredients:

• 1 box of cake mix, any flavor
• 1 box of angel food cake mix

Directions:
Combine cake mixes. Stir to combine. Store in air tight container.
For one "cup cake," mix 3 tablespoons of combined cake mix with 2 tablespoons of water in a microwave safe mug. (You don't even need to spray it first with Pam.) Microwave for 1 minute. Top with Cool Whip, frosting, or other desired toppings (optional).

Caramel French Toast

This week, our tennis captain, Margaret Ann, hosted a brunch to kick-off the spring Nalta season. We enjoyed two different types of quiche from The Puffy Muffin as well as their poppy seed bread. Fresh fruit was served as a healthy choice, but I'm not sure anyone had the willpower to refuse her caramel French toast. If you're looking for a decadent, yet easy, perfect recipe for brunch, look no further. This stuff was amazing!

After we enjoyed the meal and conversation, our fearless captains gifted each of us with our new team uniform: bright, fluorescent yellow shoe laces. :D (Thanks Mam and Nancy!) They definitely brought us luck as we won our season opener in our new A-3 division.

I'm predicting this is going to be one special season. In fact, they all have been. It takes a pretty special team to advance to a new division every season. Admittedly, I'll be especially embracing every moment given that Keely is now part of team Overserved . . . as my partner!

Caramel French Toast

Ingredients:

• 1-1/2 cups packed brown sugar
• 3/4 cup butter
• 6 tablespoons light corn syrup
• 10 French bread slices, torn (or homemade sourdough bread!)
• 4 eggs, beaten
• 2-1/2 cups milk
• 1 tablespoon vanilla
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 3 tablespoons sugar
• 1-1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 cup butter, melted

Directions:
In medium saucepan, combine brown sugar, 3/4 cup butter and corn syrup. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly for 5 minutes until bubbly. Pour syrup evenly into a lightly greased casserole dish. Place torn bread over syrup.
Combine eggs, milk, vanilla, and salt. Stir well and pour over bread. Cover and refrigerate at least 8 hours or overnight.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine sugar and cinnamon and sprinkle on top. Drizzle melted butter over top. Bake uncovered for 45-50 minutes or until bubbly and golden brown.

Whole30 Potluck

On January 1, I accepted a new Whole30 challenge along with a group of ladies in our neighborhood committed to "Eating Good in the Hood." It's tough, I tell ya. But, so worth it. Essentially, it's a strict version of the Paleo diet: no grains, no dairy, no legumes, no alcohol, no sugar . . . for 30 days. While I have been quite satisfied typically having eggs for breakfast, salads for lunch, and some kind of meat and roasted veggies for dinner, admittedly boredom has set in.

So, last night, I was happy to host a Whole30 potluck for our small group. Just what I needed! We had such a variety of fantastic dishes.

Eating Good in the Hood:  Jocelyn, Jennifer, Anna, Martha, Dana, and Sadira

I made bison & butternut cocoa chili from the Practical Paleo cookbook by Diane Sanfilippo. I was hesitant because, honestly, who wants chocolate in their chili? I almost talked myself out of making it, but I'm glad I just went ahead and trusted the recipe. It was surprisingly really good! On a cold, wintery night, it's so nice to have a chili option without legumes. I substituted beef for the bison and actually used closer to 2 lbs of meat instead of 1 lb for a heartier, thicker chili.

Bison & Butternut Cocoa Chili

Dana made Asian meatballs from Nom Nom Paleo. I would have never thought to use sweet potatoes instead of a bread filler. Delicious! In fact, I'm looking forward to adding a few of the leftovers to compliant spaghetti sauce. Mmmmm.

Asian Meatballs

We were lucky that Sadira shared not one, but two of her Asian-inspired dishes.  Chicken tinola was a delicious soup made with chicken, bok choy, green papaya, onions, celery, garlic, ginger, and salt. The link above is a similar recipe from the internet that will serve as a starting point because Sadira is bad about cooking without a recipe. I'm jealous as I only wish I could cook like that!

Chicken Tinola

Sadira also made japchae. It was probably the biggest hit of the night. Pasta has always been one of my favorite dishes, so I've been using spaghetti squash or zoodles as a healthy substitute. However, I didn't even know this product existed. You make it just like spaghetti noodles, but it is made from sweet potato starch noodles. This will definitely become a pantry staple for me from now on. (Thanks, Sadira, for gifting me with my first bag!) As before, I've provided a link to a recipe for japchae online since Sadira doesn't use one. She used chicken instead of beef, though. I'm pretty sure there were no leftovers!

Japchae

Jocelyn made detoxifying chicken vegetable soup. I don't know how I overlooked taking a close-up of her with this amazing soup. (Sorry, Jocelyn!) It's the soup in the upper right hand corner in the photo below. With this soup, I learned so much about the healing properties of turmeric. Who knew? Don't let the healthy-sounding name stop you from trying this. Whole30 or not, this is a soup that I will be making from now on. So satisfying!

Detoxifying Chicken Vegetable Soup (see top right)

Anna made a side dish, combining beef, sweet potatoes, squash, onions, salsa, and taco seasoning. Anna, like Sadira, is also guilty of not using a recipe. :) I need to be more daring with combinations like this because it is very, very good!

Martha brought a Paleo salad made with organic mixed greens, spinach, roasted almonds, dried cranberries, and avocado. It was tossed with a wonderful dressing made from olive oil, sweet onion, balsamic vinegar, dry mustard powder, sea salt, an pepper. Such a beautiful presentation!

Paleo Salad

Since desserts are off-limits for Whole30, I served mixed fruit to round out the meal.

I also provided samples of RxBars, my go-to protein bar that is quite tasty. They're great for ballgames or movies when everyone else heads to the concession stand. The sweetness comes from dates. I even love their tagline: No Added Sugar, No GMO, No Dairy, No Soy, No Gluten, No B.S. :)

I'm so grateful for this night of fellowship. Great food. Great conversation. I learned so much! My last ten days of Whole 30 will be a piece of cake . . . the healthy kind, that is!

Second Annual Westhaven Cookie Exchange

Today marked our neighborhood's Second Annual Cookie Exchange. It was so nice seeing familiar faces from last year's swap, and what a wonderful way to meet new neighbors, too! As before, each participant shared why she brought the particular cookie of choice. The stories brought smiles, giggles, and even some tears.

Each person was asked to bring 6 dozen cookies of one kind. Given that there were 18 participants, everyone was able to gather 4 cookies of each kind. Each of us left with a beautiful display of 18 different varieties.

I brought molasses crinkle cookies since Dad had a part in making the molasses I used. It was a great way to "pay it forward."

Molasses Crinkle Cookies

Here are the other wonderful varieties (in no particular order).

Ginger Zingers

5 Ingredient Sugar Cookie

Pumpkin Cookies with Browned Butter Frosting

Coconut Macaroons

Red Velvet Cookies (aka Procrastination Cookies) 

Fudge

Amish Sugar Cookies

Sour Cream Drop Cookies

Classic Spritz Cookies

Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter Sensations

Holiday Vanilla Pudding Cake Cookies 

Pecan Sandies/Wedding Cookies

Peppermint Chocolate Chip Cookies

Red Velvet Cookies

Christmas Cookie Bars

Flourless Peanut Butter Cookies 

Sugar Cookies 

Brigadeiro

Thanks again to Sadira Ebert for agreeing to spearhead this event and to the other committee members for helping organize it. One improvement from last year was the addition of champagne, warm cider, and other drinks. In fact, we'll be changing the name next year to "Cookies and Cocktails." I'm predicting an increase in participation. Wouldn't you agree?