LIPTON ONION SOUP MIX CLONE

We are approaching "party fixin's" season and many of us will be making dips and other recipes that require an envelope of onion soup mix. This recipe tastes JUST LIKE LIPTON ONION SOUP MIX (well, actually it tastes even better because it's such a full flavor).

It's made of pantry staples and it has no soy; it's gluten free; no MSG; you can use low sodium bullion and you can pronounce ALL of the ingredients (not to mention it is very budget friendly).

I am NEVER buying boxed

Lipton Onion Soup mix again!!

 

This clone recipe is GREAT for dips, pot roast, meat loaf, or anything you would normally use the onion soup mix for.

 

4 tablespoons DRY instant minced onion (toasted)

2 tablespoons LOW SODIUM beef bullion granules

1/4 teaspoon onion powder (not onion salt)
1/4 teaspoon DRY parsley flakes

1/8 teaspoon celery seed CRUSHED (important ingredient)

1/8 teaspoon paprika
1/8 teaspoon black pepper

 

Equals a  single 1 1/4 oz.

envelope of soup mix.

 

NOTES: It is not necessary, but I toast the DRY instant minced onion in a hot DRY pan for a few minutes (watch it closely). When it turns golden, remove from the pan immediately or it will continue to get darker. Toast them until they are this color:
 

 

NOTES: Make sure you crush the celery seed (and don't leave it out). A mortar and pestle or spice grinder work well for this.

 

 

 

NOTES: If you use the GRANULAR TYPE beef bullion (and you are going to make a sour cream type dip) you'll have to mix everything together and let it sit in the fridge for 20 minutes or so........so the bullion granules can dissolve. After 20 minutes, just stir and the granules will disappear.

 

NOTES: This sounds like a LOT of onion, but it is just right!!

 

 



SWEET BABY RAYS BARBECUE SAUCE CLONE

We love thick and sweet barbecue sauce, and our favorite (for years) has been Sweet Baby Ray's brand.  Recently, I did an panic-internet search for something similar to SBR barbecue sauce because I had one of those "I forgot my grocery list on the kitchen counter again" days at the market and dinner was planned around grilling.

Well, I found this recipe on a ton of web sites, all crediting www.halfbakedharvest.com, so I thought I would give it a try and we were thrilled with the results.  I hope you like it too.



Bacon wrapped Shrimp coated with

BBQ Sauce and Baked

 

 

1  1/4 cups regular ketchup
1  cup dark brown sugar (gives much better flavor than light brown)
1/4  cup molasses
1/4  cup pineapple juice
2  teaspoons hickory liquid smoke
2  1/2 teaspoons ground dry mustard
2 teaspoons paprika
1/2  teaspoon garlic powder (not salt)
pinch of cayenne pepper
1  1/2 teaspoons kosher salt (not fine table salt)
1 teaspoon black pepper

Put everything into a saucepan and whisk it together. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to slow simmer and simmer 5 to 15 minutes, depending on how thick you want it to be.

You can use this immediately or store in fridge for a week or so or portion it out and freeze it for future use. 

NOTE: If you don't have kosher salt, you can use regular table salt, just use LESS, since kosher salt and table salt measure very differently.





 Happy Grilling!!

KETCHUP

In your busy, hectic and over-accounted-for day; making homemade ketchup is probably not a big priority ...........I get that. But if you find yourself with a little extra time, this ketchup is WELL WORTH the minimal effort it takes to whip it up. It is not only inexpensive to make (uses every day pantry staples), but it is sweetened with honey, so it is REALLY-REALLY tasty!!

6 ounce can of tomato paste
1/4  cup honey
1/2  cup white vinegar
1/4  cup water
3/4  teaspoon salt
1/4  teaspoon onion powder
1/8  teaspoon garlic powder (not garlic salt)

Whisk everything together until smooth and then bring to a boil. Turn the heat down and simmer slowly for 20 minutes (whisking every five minutes or so).

Cool and store covered in refrigerator. This recipe makes just over a cup of ketchup, but you could easily double or triple the recipe with no other adjustments.

NOTE: In my humble opinion, this ketchup is just perfect, but if you like your ketchup with a little "heat" to it, just add some cayenne before cooking.

HOME MADE CREME FRAICHE

Creme Fraiche is all the rage on the Food Network cooking channels, but it is one of those ingredients that I've been too stubborn old fashioned to try, until now.

Well, my curiosity got the better of me and creme fraiche went onto my grocery list. You can imagine my shock when I saw the price of it (at least at our market) was $7+ per cup!!! That's just crazy.

So in my penny pinching thrifty mindset,(and wanting to know what all the creme fraiche hubbub was about), I set out to see if I could MAKE it. I was shocked at how easy, cheap (and fun) it is to do.  Yes, it takes a couple days to make, but 99.999% of that time is just waiting for it to "cure".

2 cups of heavy whipping cream (at least 45% butterfat)
3 tablespoons buttermilk (OR) plain yogurt (see note)

That's it!!

Mix the two ingredients together well, and put it into a very clean glass jar. Cover it loosely and let it sit on your kitchen counter for 24 hours (room temperature should be 70° to 75°).

It's good if you give it a quick stir after 8 hours, but that isn't absolutely necessary.

After 24 hours, it will still seem a little thin, but that's OK. Put a lid on the jar and put it in the fridge for another 24 hours. After 24 hours in the fridge, it will thicken up and be ready to use in any recipe that you would normally use sour cream for.

 

The flavor will be very mild at this stage, but it will get tangier the longer it sits in the fridge (keeps about 7 to 10 days).

People say it is the "mild cousin" to America's commercial sour cream, but I think it is much tastier than that. Of course, the flavor of your creme fraiche will depend on the "flavor" (quality) of whipping cream, and brand (quality) of buttermilk.

Creme fraiche is excellent for baking sweet AND savory dishes. It is much more tolerant to heat (than commercial sour cream), so it works well in gravy or sauces and makes killer mashed potatoes!! Sweetened, it is nice over any dessert, especially fresh fruit. Can you tell that I am a recent convert??

NOTE: Many of the recipes for creme fraiche (that are online) insist on using UN-pasteurized cream, but I couldn't find it, so I just used regular pasteurized heavy whipping cream and it worked fine.

NOTE: The buttermilk or yogurt that you use HAS to have live cultures in it. The buttermilk at our market was low fat and didn't mention "live cultures", so I opted for the same amount of organic unflavored yogurt with live cultures and it worked very well.