A Rare Posting - A Recipe for the Masses

So this is a special edition of my blog post... Courtesy of my lovely wife.

Last weekend I attended a framing party for Help Portrait. I brought a bucket, yes literally a one gallon bucket, of Peppernuts that my wife had made. They were a hit. When I left two hours later the bucket was drained as several people took ziplock bags of them home with them.

Many of the folks who attended asked for the recipe and tonight Nathan reminded me that I need to get this recipe out there; or else. So here it is.

Peppernuts 

Ingredients:

3 cups white sugar
1 cup brown sugar
1½ cups of butter
3 eggs
1½ tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. nutmeg
1 tsp. cloves
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. ginger
1 tsp. allspice
1 tsp. oil of anise
9-10 cups of flower
(Optional - ½ to 1 cup of crushes nuts; peanuts, walnuts, hazelnuts, etc.)

Steps:

1. Cream together sugars and butter.
2. Add eggs and set aside.
3. In a new bowl, sift together all dry ingredients. Add to creamed mixture from Step 1 with oil of anise.
4. Kneed thoroughly on lightly floured board or using a mixer with a dough-hook. Do not try and use a mixer without a dough-hook or you will burn it out. No dough-hook means kneed by hand.  
5. Two options for Step 5 pick one:
• Option 1: Roll dough into long ropes, ¾ inch in diameter. Using scissors, snip into ½ inch long segments.
• Option 2: Split the dough in half and roll each half flat until it is ¼ inch thick. Cut into 1"x1" squares. 
6. In Step 7, start with a small batch, of six or so, and experiment with how your oven cooks.
7. Bake at 325° for 12 minutes. 

*IMPORTANT - Do not over bake. At twelve minutes these will be crispy cookies or nuggets, depending on your choice in Step 5. If you go over twelve minutes and they will burn. If you take them out at nine or ten minutes, the center will be firm but chewy, a little like salt water taffy in texture. You can experiment with this timing to get the results you want.

Dinner as Delicious Art

I have had this particular dish more times that I can count. It is a traditional Korean dish called Bi Bim Bap.

Bi Bim Bop consists of the following:

• Anything you want.

That is true. You can really put anything in there you want to. But just to give you an idea of where you can start, here is what is in our Bi Bim Bop:

• Sticky Rice
• Fresh Spiniach (not canned)
• Sugar Snap Peas
• Carrots
• Cucumbers
• Mushrooms
• Bean Sprouts
• Beef cooked in Bulgogi Marinade
• 1 fried egg
• Rooster Sauce

To prepare this meal, everything but the Bean Sprouts and cucumbers are stir fried in small amounts of Sesame Oil. Don't over cook the veggies. The mushroom should remain firm, the carrots should retain their snap. The spinach should be loose, but not like it is out of a can.

The meat, which could be pork, chicken or beef, should be thinly sliced and cut into bite-size pieces before cooking on a medium-low heat until done. Add the Bulgogi sauce for the last five minutes of cooking the meet.

Cook the eggs how you like them, just remember you need one egg per dish being served.

Once everything is done, leave each ingredient in separate bowls and allow each person to dish their own. To prepare each dish, start with a scoop of sticky rice, and use a spoon to spread the rice up the sides of the bowl. Now add each ingredient to taste. Lay the fried egg on top of it all and add Rooster sauce to your taste. Take a photo of your art, then mix everything together and eat. Yummy.

I once ate this meal for lunch and dinner for week, in the quantity you see here. Without changing my physical activity, I lost 4 pounds that week. So not only is it delicious and beautiful, it is healthy and filling.

Make your own and share your artistic dinner creation.