What to do with canned beets

This cake doesn't need chocolate or cocoa powder, but it wants crushed pineapples which I don't have on-hand. Greek yogurt can be used instead of cottage cheese.

https://fountainavenuekitchen.com/sheilas-beet-cake/

Wet ingredients:

• 1/2 cup pineapple chunks (90-100g) with juice
• 1/2 cup diced cooked beets (90-100g)
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/3 cup neutral oil (original recipe calls for 1/2 cup)
• 1/2 yogurt

Briefly process pineapple and beet in food processor, and prepare wet ingredients in a bowl

Dry ingredients:

• 1.5 cups all purpose flour
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 chopped walnuts or pecans (optional)

Mix dry ingredients in their own bowl.

Preheat oven to 350F. Prepare a 9" cake pan (grease and dusted with flour).

Mix wet and dry, then dump into cake pan. Bake for 35 minutes at 350F

Maybe this one if you don't care whether the cake is red when finished:

https://butternutbakeryblog.com/natural-red-velvet-cake/

Roasted canned beets

Deep fried chicken wings

Started here: https://www.lifesambrosia.com/cajun-fried-chicken-wings-recipe/

Don't have "blackening powder" from above recipe, so mixed up:

• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 2 tsp onion powder
• 2 tsp dried thyme
• Pinch of salt (maybe 1 tsp?)

Tasted the dry mix and adjusted until it seemed salty and flavorful enough.

Started preparing dinner late, so skipped the 30 minute rest time in the fridge.

Used 1 egg, glug of milk, no hot sauce b/c kiddo doesn't like spicy.

Used 1 cup flour, 1 tbsp corn starch, another pinch of salt.

Deep fried with induction wok b/c it has the draining rack, outside to minimize cleanup. Get the oil up to 350 F. Wings were "done" when internal temp hits 79 C.

Big hit. Use one tray of wings from No Frills. Not sure about the weight, maybe 1kg? The egg wash pretty much got used up.

For the second go at this recipe, we coated and dusted some carrot chips with the egg wash and flour before frying. This worked out rather well, actually. Next we'll try sweet potato slices.

Lo Mai Gai (糯米鸡)

Ingredients, makes 6 bowls

• 300g or more boneless chicken thigh, cut into 12 pieces
• 1 Chinese sausage (lap cheong) cut into thin slices
• 6 pieces dried shiitake mushrooms, rehydrated
  
• glutinous rice, pre-soaked (see below for quantity)
• chicken stock 
• ginger (optional)
  
• garlic
• shallots or green onion
  
• cooking rice wine
• light and dark soy sauce
• oyster sauce
  
• five spice powder
• ground white pepper
  
• cornstarch
  

Instructions - prep (several hours prior)

• Wash and soak 300 to 350g glutinous rice 4 hours or overnight
• Soak the shiitake mushrooms
• likely needs 1-2 hours, less with warm water
  
• is needed for the chicken marinade, below
• Marinade the chicken for at least 1 hour or overnight:
• 300g or more deboned chicken thigh, cut into 12 or more pieces
• rehydrated shiitake mushrooms, sliced
• 1 tbsp sesame oil
• 1 tbsp cooking rice wine
• 1.5 tbsp light soy sauce
• 2 tbsp oyster sauce
  
• 1 tsp cornstarch
• 1/4 tsp ground white pepper (optional)
  
• minced ginger (optional)

Instructions - cook (about 1.5 hours)

 

Rice:

• 1-2 cloves garlic, to taste, chopped
  
• 1-2 green onions / shallots, to taste, chopped
• Strain the rice
  
• Soak 1-2 lap cheong in warm water, then peel off the skin
• Slice peeled lap cheong on the bias, then stir fry a few minutes, reserving the oil
• Set aside the cooked lap cheong for later.
  
• Saute chopped shallots / green onions with the lap cheong oil (add more cooking oil if needed) 
• Add the chopped garlic, fry until aromatic
• Add the strained rice and stir-fry over medium heat
  
• Add to the rice as it cooks:
• 2 tbsp light soy sauce
• 1 tbsp dark soy sauce
• 1/2 tsp Chinese five-spice powder
• 300 mL chicken stock
• Add 1/2 cup water and stir fry the rice over medium heat until most of the liquid has been absorbed
• Add another 1/2 cup water. Turn off the heat. Stir to mix well.
• Transfer the rice to a plate or bowl and steam over medium heat for 30 minutes, covered.
   

Chicken:

• Stir-fry the chicken and mushroom marinade to brown
  
• Add 1/2 cup water and cook another 5-10 minutes until gravy thickens

 

Combine and finish:

 

• Divide chicken and lap cheong between 6 stainless steel or ceramic bowls 
• Top with the steamed rice 
• Cover each bowl with aluminum foil
• Steam for 15 minutes
• Serve (e.g. invert each bowl over a plate)

Source

https://tasteasianfood.com/lo-mai-gai/

Banana bread (yeast raised)

 

Ingredients

Dry Ingredients:

• 2 3/4 cups bread flour
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt

Wet Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup lukewarm water
• 3 teaspoons active dry yeast
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup Greek vanilla yogurt
• 1/2 cup mashed overripe bananas (about 1 banana)
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 tablespoon canola oil (optional, imo)
  

For the Filling:

• 1/2 cup brown sugar (or less.. I use 1/3 cup)
  
• 1 tablespoon cinnamon (use real cinnamon)
  
• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

Instructions

1. Mix 2-3/4 cups bread flour and 1 tsp kosher salt together in a medium sized bowl, whisking to combine and aerate.
2. In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine 1/2 cup lukewarm water, 3 tsp instant yeast, and pinch of sugar. Leave it to sit for a moment, so that the yeast can start to eat the sugar.
3. When frothy, add the rest of the 1/4 cup sugar, 1/4 cup yogurt, 1/2 cup mashed bananas, and 1 tsp vanilla. Mix well using the dough hook.
4. Add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients and continue to mix with the dough hook on low speed until the sides of the bowl are clean, and the dough begins to be elastic, about 15 minutes.
   
5. Add the 1 tbsp canola oil and continue mixing until the dough turns silky smooth.
6. Lightly coat a separate mixing bowl with oil. Form the dough into a ball and place it into the bowl. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap or damp cloth.
7. Place the bowl in a warm place and allow to rise until doubled in size, about an hour.
8. When the dough is ready, combine brown sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg together in a bowl, whisking together so the spices are well distributed.
9. Coat a bread loaf pan with oil or bacon grease. Dust with flour.
10. Flour your work surface, then knead the dough for about 5-8 minutes, until the dough is soft and supple. Work the dough slowly, or it will be tough.
11. Use a rolling pin to roll out the dough into a flat rectangle, about 9x12 inches.
12. Spread the brown sugar mixture over the rectangle, leaving 2-3 inches sugar free at the edge of the dough.
13. Roll the dough, jelly roll style, from the shorter end of the dough. Pinch to seal the ends and seam.
14. Put the dough in the loaf pan. Cover it with the same plastic wrap, and allow to rise until doubled, about half an hour to 45 minutes.
15. Preheat the oven to 325°F about 10 minutes before dough is fully risen.
16. Remove the plastic wrap and bake for 35-40 minutes, until the bread is golden brown.
17. Allow to cool for about 10 minutes in the loaf pan, then remove and let cool completely on a wire rack before attempting to cut.

 Updates:

- After making poolish for pizza several times now, 3 tsp of active dry yeast seems like a lot if you are not in a rush. The flavor of bread develops better with a longer rise time, so why not use as little yeast as possible and let it do its thing? If worried about the other ingredients (yogurt, banana) going bad, refrigerate the dough and plan on a 10+ hour rise?

- 14 October 2024: trying it with 2 tsp of active dry yeast, but still rising at room temperature. Update: it was fine.

- 20 October 2024: trying it with 1/2 tsp active dry yeast, and letting it rise at room temperature. Update: this wasn't great. The dough was too "wet" and I kept adding flour to compensate. The baked bread was too dense, not great eating.

- 11 Jan 2025: pizza flour instead of all-purpose, 3 tsp of instant yeast, and 1 banana from the freezer, defrosted. The dough came away from the sides of the mixing bowl within minutes, so I kneaded it by hand for 10 minutes or so. Then back into the mixer to mix with 1 tsp light olive oil before letting rise in ceramic bowl with metal pot lid on top.

Rescue notes

- if the dough is very sticky after the first rising, throw it back into a mixer and add more flour using the dough hook to knead it. When it can be handled, do the jelly-roll thing with the sugar and cinnamon. Flour is food, so the dough might benefit from a longer second rising time.

Original source:

https://www.bluebonnetbaker.com/banana-yeast-bread/

Bran muffins

Makes 12 regular sized muffins, or 6 regular and 12 mini.

Dry ingredients:

• 150 grams plain flour (standard grade or all-purpose flour)
• 120 grams wheat bran
• ¼ teaspoon table salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda (bicarb/bread soda)
• 100 grams light brown sugar (white sugar ok)

Wet ingredients:

• 1 egg, lightly beaten
  
• 250 grams (mL) milk
• 60 grams vegetable oil

Whisk dry ingredients together.

Mix wet ingredients together, then loosely mix into dry ingredients.

Bake in lined muffin tins at 350F or 180C for 20-25 minutes.

Source

https://saltyginger.com/easy-bran-muffins/

Carrot Ginger Soup

 

• 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
• 1/2 medium yellow onion, chopped
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
• 3 garlic cloves, smashed
• 1 pound carrots, roughly chopped (2x 500mL jars of canned carrots)
  
• 1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger
• 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
• 3 cups vegetable broth
• freshly ground black pepper
• 1 teaspoon maple syrup, optional
• coconut milk for garnish, optional

1. Heat the oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add the onions, salt and pepper and cook until softened, stirring occasionally, about 8 minutes. Add the smashed garlic cloves (they’ll get blended later) and carrots to the pot and cook 8 minutes more, stirring occasionally.

2. Stir in the ginger, apple cider vinegar, and broth. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for 30 minutes.

3. Let cool slightly and transfer to a blender. Blend until smooth. If your soup is too thick, add a little water. If you would like your soup a little sweeter, add the maple syrup.

4. Serve with a drizzle of coconut milk, if desired.

 Source:

https://www.loveandlemons.com/carrot-ginger-soup/

Teriyaki sauce

Garlic (1-2 cloves, to taste)

1 cup mirin

1 cup sake

1 cup low-sodium soy sauce

sugar to taste

 

Simmer for 10 minutes before adding sugar to taste.

References

Youtube, Pro Home Cooks, "Why Every Cook Should Master Teriyaki Chicken"

Pro Home Cooks recipe