Ceylon Cinnamon Extract Recipe

After looking all over for Ceylon cinnamon extract and not finding it on line or in any store, I decided to make my own extract. 

Ingredients:

• 8-10 small Ceylon cinnamon sticks (can be found at Whole Foods)
• Vodka

Clean and sterilize a half pint mason jar.  Add the cinnamon sticks and then fill the remainder of the jar almost full with vodka.  Put a lid on the jar and shake.  Note: Lid can be used and does not have to seal.  Store jar in a dark place to conserve flavor.  Shake jar every couple of days.  Cinnamon will be ready in four months. Strain extract and place in a clean jar.  For a stronger cinnamon flavor, the cinnamon sticks can be left in the vodka.

Cinnamon Basics
Flavor Extracts

Homemade Chocolate Syrup

• 2 cup water
• 2 cup sugar
• 1 cup Hersey's chocolate powder (or another natural powdered chocolate)
• 2 tsp natural vanilla extract
• 1 tsp natural cinnamon extract

Mix water, sugar, and chocolate in a pan until the chocolate is moist.  Stir slowly over medium heat until the mixture comes to a boil.  Stir constantly for approximate 3 minutes and then remove from heat.  Once the syrup cools stir in flavor extracts.

Use syrup for chocolate milk or an ice cream topping.  Keeps in the refrigerate for up to two weeks.

Note: Cinnamon extract is not strong enough to make the chocolate taste like cinnamon but it flavors it enough that the syrup does not taste like Hersey's chocolate.

Feingold Stage 1 Baked Chicken and Vegetables Recipe

• 1 chicken (cut up) 
• 2 potatoes (peeled and sliced thin)
• 2 zuchinis (sliced thin)
• 1 large onion (cut in half and then sliced)
• 4 cloves garlic (minced)
• 1/4 cup parsley (chopped)
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil or light in flavor olive oil
• 1 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp dried basil

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.  Cut chicken into pieces and place in a large baking pan.  Layer the potatoes, zuchinis, and onions on top of the chicken in that order.  Sprinkle salt and basil over the chicken and vegetables.  Sprinkle the parsley and mince the garlic over the chicken.  Trickle the oil evenly over the vegetables.  Bake uncovered for one hour.

For Feingold level 2 - add 1/4 tsp black pepper, 2 green peppers (sliced) and 2 large tomatoes (sliced).  

Bread Maker Nan Recipe

• 3 cups (14 3/4 oz) bread flour
• 1 1/16  cup (8 3/4) oz water
• 1 1/2 tsp yeast

Place all ingredients in the bread maker, set to French bread dough setting, and press start.  Once the dough cycle has completed, remove dough and kneed slightly on a lightly floured surface to assure elasticity.  Preheat oven to 450 F with a baking stone on the bottom rack.  Separate dough into 6 equal parts and form into balls.  Flatten each ball out on the floured surface to form a round disk.  Transfer dough to a greased baking sheet and poke flat disks with a fork.  There should be room for three pieces of bread on each sheet.  Place a cooking sheet on top of the baking stone and bake for 10 minutes.  Bread will not be browned but will be cooked and soft.  Bake the second sheet of bread.



Recipe development notes

Flat Bread (Nan) Experiments & Recipe Development

I heard that you can make Afghan style flat bread with just flour, salt and water.  This can be cooked in a frying pan or in the oven.  My goal is to produce a recipe that I can use with a bread machine and that also uses yeast. My hope is that by using the same (lack of ingredients) that is in the traditional nan, then it will be closer to the actual thing.

#1
My first experiment to produced flat bread was edible but a little too tough.  I used an unmeasured amount of all purpose flour and about 10 oz of water and mixed this by hand.  After mixing, I had to add a lot of flour so it was not too sticky and could be kneeded.  I let it stand for about 30 minutes and then formed round flat bread with my hand and baked at 400 degrees.

Suggestions:  I need to get the water and flour quantity right so I don't have to add too much flour afterward.  Also, I should cook at a higher temperature and use a baking stone under the pan. Will also use bread flour next.

#2
I used the recipe I have for French bread dough but did not include other ingredients.  I used yeast 1 1/2 tsp, Bread flour - 3 cups, and water 8 3/4 oz.  The bread machine is mixing this but the setting takes over 3 hours to mix.  If this does not work out, the next trial will be my pizza dough recipe minus the other ingredients.

Here is the Nan Recipe I developed from this experiment.

Natural Tomato Pasta Sauce

• 1/2 cup olive oil (or enough to layer the bottom of the pan)
• 1 Onion (finely chopped)
• 1 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp pepper (optional)
• 2-3 cloves garlic (finely chopped)
• 5-6 Roma tomatoes (chopped)
• 3 x green onions (chopped)
• cilantro (about 1/4 tsp)
• oregano (about 1/4 tsp)
• basil (about 1/4 tsp)

Saute unions in the oil on high until browned.  Stir in garlic, salt and pepper and cook until the garlic smell starts to become strong.  Stir in tomatoes and sprinkle in cilantro, oregano, and basil to taste.  Cook tomatoes on medium to medium high for several minutes and then stir in green onions. Continue cooking and stirring occasionally until the tomatoes become a chunky sauce and the liquid evaporates enough for the oil to rise. 

Stir in noodles and serve.

How to make Quality Chocolates

There are many ways to make chocolates with minimal effort.  However, making quality chocolate will require a little more work.  To make chocolate the easy way, simply melt baking chocolate, stir in a little natural shortening, mix with nuts and then drop spoonfuls on wax paper.  This way of making chocolate is entirely acceptable, but the problem you'll find is the chocolates do not keep well.  Adding shortening softens the chocolate, but the chocolates will melt easily when left out of the refrigerator.  Furthermore, chocolates left out for a day or two will develop a gritty texture.  So, if you've tried this method and are ready for the next step, you may be in for a little more work.  However, the extra effort is well worth it.

Choosing The Right Type of Chocolate

The First Step will be choosing the right type of chocolate.  Chocolates made with baking chocolate, chocolate chips, and chocolate bars will end up with a bad texture if left at room temperature.  When making high quality chocolates, you must find chocolate that is called "Couverture" chocolate.  This is usually sold in big blocks or little medallions.  Although, couverture chocolate rarely has artificial ingredients, some included artificial vanilla.  So be sure to check the ingredients or the manufacture website before purchasing.

Where to Find Couverture Chocolate

If you usually buy chocolate in a grocery store, you may find it a little more difficult to find couverture.  There are plenty of options to choose from when looking on-line; however, it may not always be the right time of year to ship chocolate.  Some distributors will only ship in times of the year when it is cool enough and some will charge you extra to pack the chocolate with special cold packs.  A good price for couverture chocolate is anywhere from $10 to $12 a pound.  Paying for shipping and packing materials will make it much more pricy.   Overall, the best way to get couverture chocolate is to find a local specialty store that sells it.   I googled gourmet stores, chocolate shops, and confectionery shops.  Most of these places will only sell prepared chocolates, but don't be afraid to ask around.  I called a local chocolate shop and the owner gave me the name and address of a nearby coffee shop that also sold candy and couverture chocolate.

How to Make Chocolate with Couverture

Once you find your couverture chocolate, it is time to start making chocolates.  When making the easy chocolates, all you had to do is melt it and you were pretty much done.  However, with couverture, you will need to temper the chocolate.  This process can be a little tricky, but not impossible.  I had good results after my second attempt.  I recommend reading several different guides to tempering chocolate before trying it.

Tempering Chocolate

1. Use a double boiler or a mettle bowl over a pan of water.  
2. Chop one half pound of chocolate.  Set aside one third of the chopped chocolate and put the other two thirds in the double boiler or metal bowl.
3. Slowly heat the chocolate.  I heat it on medium-low or (the 4 setting).  Stir chocolate as it begins to melt.  There are exact temperatures you can use for when to remove the chocolate; however, you can tell that the temperature has been reached once the majority of the chocolate in the pan has melted.  
4. Remove the pan and set it on top of a paper towel to dry the bottom.  It is important never to let water get in the chocolate.  Water or steam can cause the chocolate to clump.  So it is also best to get the chocolate away from the stove as in case the water in the double boiler has come to a boil.  
5. Stir in the remainder of the chocolate and continue stirring with a spatula until it is all melted.  
6. Continue string until the mixture is shiny.  This is the hard part since you will need to continue stirring for 15 minutes.  The first time I tried tempering chocolate, I thought I was done stirring the chocolate after 5 minutes.  However, this was not sufficient and the chocolate ended up with a gritty texture.  Your arm may feel like its going to fall off, but it is important to keep stirring for at least 15 minutes.  The chocolate also needs to cool to a point where it does not appear easy to pour.
7. Once your chocolate gets to this point, you should slowly reheat the chocolate so that it can be poured into molds.  The best way to do this is by placing it on the double boiler on low (setting 3 or 4) and stir every few minutes.  
8. At this point, your chocolate will be ready to pour into molds.  Once the molds are ready, refrigerate or freeze them until they are firm (approximately 5 minutes).  Then turn the molds out and wrap the individual chocolates in wrapping foil.
9. Testing your tempering.  I like to test how I have done with tempering by leaving a few pieces of chocolate out of the refrigerator.  I take a bite the first day, second day, and third day to see how the texture is.  If you tempering was a success, the chocolate should still have a smooth texture on the third day.  If it was not tempered well, then the texture will be gritty.