Truffle Chex Mix

Chex Mix is a party staple. From football games to holiday gatherings, a combination of Chex cereals and other tasty bites makes for a crunchable snack.

Want to level up your next batch of Chex Mix? A little truffle salt and some veggie chips give Chex Mix a whole different flavor profile.

Here’s the recipe for you to try:

6 tablespoons of butter
2 tablespoons of Worcestershire sauce
1 1/2 teaspoons of Truffle Salt
3/4 teaspoon of garlic powder
9 cups of Chex Cereal
1 cup of mixed nuts
1 cup of pretzels
2 cups of vegetable chips (Terra Exotic Mediterranean chips)

Procedure:

1. Heat oven to 250 degrees.
2. Melt butter in microwave.
3. Stir seasonings in with butter.
4. Mix all ingredients together.
5. Bake for an hour, mixing every 15 minutes or so.

Baby Nathan Bars (Scotcharoos)

Ingredients:1 c sugar
1 c light corn syrup
1 1/2 c peanut butter
6 c crispy wheat, or rice cereal
1 c butterscotch morsels (6 oz) bag
1 c chocolate chips,(6 oz) bag

Procedure:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

1. In a saucepan over low heat, heat sugar, corn syrup and peanut butter to a smooth consistency, stirring constantly to avoid burning. Pour hot mixture over cereal in a bowl and mix well.

2. Pat into a greased 9-by 13-inch baking dish. Sprinkle butterscotch morsels and chocolate chips over top. Bake until the butterscotch and chocolate melts and spreads over cereal mixture. Cool and cut into squares.

Pork Tabungao (White Squash With Pork)

Ingredients:

1 T oil
1 garlic clove, minced
1 lb pork, sliced in small pieces
1/4 t pepper
1/4 t monosodium glutamate
4 T patis
4 T msg (optional)
1 medium onion, sliced
1 medium tomato, diced
1 T dried shrimp, opt
1 c button mushrooms
1 c water
1 small white squash (opu), sliced into 1 x 1/4 inch
3 lb kabatiti (sequa), peeled and cut into 1/2″ pieces

Procedure:

1. On medium-high heat, brown garlic in oil. Add pork, pepper, MSG and 2 tbsp. patis. Cook until pork is lihtly browned. Add tomato, onion and dried shrimp, stirring until onion is done.

2. Add mushrooms and water. Bring to boil. Add sliced squash and remaining patis. Simmer on medium heat for 10 minutes or until squash is done. Serve hot.

How to Make Kettle Potato Chips

Between our regular grocery list and trips to the farmers market, we ended up with too many potatoes in the house. An obvious solution – make some potato chips. Sure, it’s faster to buy a bag of Kettle brand chips from the store, but they never taste as fresh and you’re limited to the standard seasonings and flavors. Making your own potato chips allows you to choose the type of oil. While I used the canola oil we have on hand, I considered tracking down some California Rice Oil Company oil, after recently reading in Cook’s Illustrated that the smoke point is much higher than canola or peanut oil. You can also use seasoned salts like truffle salt or fennel salt to subtly enhance your potato chip flavor. A two-staged frying process was used to achieve a crisp golden brown chip.

Ingredients
Potatoes, sliced
24oz Canola, peanut, or California rice oil
Truffle salt

Equipment
Cast iron dutch oven
Thermometer
Mandolin slicer

Procedure
1) Heat oil in cast iron pan, with thermometer in oil to make sure temperature reaches 300 degrees.
2) As oil heats, clean your potatoes and slice with mandolin slicer set to approximately 2mm. Place sliced potatoes in a bowl of water to keep them from turning brown.
3) Remove slices from water and pat dry on paper towels, place enough slices in oil to have one layer covering the surface of the oil.
4) Allow slices to blanch, cooking until they turn from a shiny color to a more matte appearance. Remove from oil with a slotted spoon and place in a pan lined with paper towels to absorb excess oil.
5) After blanching all potato slices, increase the temperature of the oil to between 350-375 degrees.
6) Repeat process of layering chips in the oil, this time cooking them until they turn a golden color (or until crisp with purple or blue potato slices).
7) Remove from oil and place on paper towels to absorb excess oil, season with your favorite salt while still hot.

How to Make Pita

If you have a standing mixer, pitas are really easy to make. We make them and I freeze them. These pitas actually have pita pockets. The first time I made them, the pockets weren’t very puffy but they tasted just as great. If you get a flat pita, don’t fret. The taste is the same.

Ingredients:

3 and 1/2 cups of flour
1 pack of yeast (I used a pack and a tiny bit of the next for better results)
1 and a 1/2 cups of water
1 tablespoon sugar
1/2 a tablespoon of salt
2 tablespoons of olive oil

Directions:

1. Put flour in mixer with dough hook and add yeast.
2. Add water, sugar, salt, and olive oil . Mix until you get a slightly sticky, shiny dough.
3. Place a tiny bit of oil in the bowl, roll the dough in the oil and let dough rise until doubled in size.
4. Heat oven to 500 degrees.
5. Divide into balls and let rest for 10 more minutes.
6. Roll into flat discs and place in oven for 5- 7 minutes. Stay close to the oven and keep checking until the pitas have little golden areas.

Pitas can be frozen and reheated in a microwave.

How to Roast Garlic

Roasted garlic has a sweet, less pungent taste than regular garlic. It can be served next to your favorite meat dish or spread on warm, fresh bread.

Ingredients:
Garlic
Olive oil
Aluminum foil

1. Heat oven to 450 degrees.

2. Peel off outer layer making sure to keep cloves intact (it will be hard to peel the bottom part but you can leave that on). Slice off the top revealing the cloves. See picture.

garlic 025

2. Brush with olive oil.
3. Wrap in aluminum foil and place in oven for one hour.

garlic 029

4. Remove from oven and check to make sure it is soft. Squeeze out garlic and enjoy.

Roasted Garlic Ideas:

Add to mashed potatoes, rice or risotto.
Add to your favorite hummus.
Layer it with cheese on crackers.