DIY catch-up

That's DIY catch-up, not catsup. I've been doing various do-it-yourself kitchen projects over the summer, and here's the rundown on what's worthwhile. I tweaked the recipe for homemade taco seasoning by adding some smoked paprika for flavor and cornstarch for a little thickening power. The changes were minor, so I just changed the recipe in the original episode.

Brad and Cass are a tad less enthusiastic, but Mom and I love the quick pickled avocado from a relatively recent issue of Cook's Illustrated. The pickled avocado was good with posole and our new-favorite lentil sloppy joes, though I think the avocado would add even more to a plain burger that's less strongly flavored than the sloppy joes. The recipe is below.

Looking through back issues of Cook's Illustrated on RBdigital, I also came across their recipe for DIY pomegranate molasses. They had the good idea of using a wide skillet to speed evaporation, so this is a 20-minute recipe versus the hour-plus needed for the one I posted last year for use in the massaged kale salad with pomegranate vinaigrette. This one also uses a lot less sugar and no lemon juice, so it'll only keep for a month or so in the fridge, but it also only uses two cups of pomegranate juice (instead of four), so you can use it up faster too. I edited the original episode to include both recipes to make it easier to compare and pick and choose between the two.

Finally, I made some homemade chili powder using dried New Mexico chiles I found in the cupboard. I wouldn't consider this an essential upgrade to store-bought chili powder, but it's got great flavor and is a pretty simple project (as long as you've already got a dedicated spice grinder), so it may be worthwhile if you're in the mood. The recipe is below

Quick Pickled Avocado

Adapted from Cook's Illustrated (Jan/Feb 2020)

Time: <8 minutes

There's enough pickling solution that you should be able to pickle two avocados if you like. Serve the pickled avocado with burgers, sloppy joes, chili, posole, whatever you like.

118 grams (½ cup) distilled white vinegar
118 grams (½ cup) water
1 tablespoon (12 grams) granulated white sugar
2 teaspoons table salt or 1 tablespoon fine salt salt or 4 teaspoons Diamond Crystal kosher salt
1 ripe but relatively firm avocado (see note)

    1. Measure the vinegar, water, sugar, and salt into a small bowl or pint jar. Whisk until the sugar and salt are dissolved.
    2. Halve and pit the avocado. Cut the flesh into ¼ inch slices. Submerge the avocado in the pickling solution. Park in the fridge for at least 30 minutes and up to 2 hours. Serves 4.

Chili Powder

Adapted from Cook’s Illustrated (Mar/Apr 2020)

Time: 15 minutes

1 teaspoon cumin seeds
½ teaspoon dried oregano, preferably Mexican
57 grams/2 ounces dried New Mexico chiles, stemmed, seeded, and torn into ½-inch pieces (1½ cups)
1 tablespoon (6 grams) paprika
½ teaspoon garlic powder
¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper

Place the cumin seeds and oregano into a dedicated spice grinder.* Fill the spice grinder with enough chile pieces that you can still get the top on. Grind to a powder, then add more chile and repeat and until all of the pieces are finely ground. Transfer to a clean spice jar. Measure in the paprika, garlic powder, and cayenne. Stir with a chopstick. Store in the pantry for up to a year. Makes ~⅓ cup.

*You probably won’t want to use the same grinder to grind up your coffee beans after making this chili powder.