Welcome to My Kitchen

New Years resolutions, what are you resolving to change in your kitchen/menu routines? Pantry organization, less food waste, balanced diet are just a few of the changes to consider. An organized pantry can facilitate reduced food waste and incentive for preparing balanced meals.

By this time the new year, any leftovers from holiday meals should have been eaten or put into the freezer to use later. This week I will be giving my refrigerator a good cleaning, removing anything past safe eating, and a list made of items to replace. Many longtime readers will remember, I gather the items in my pantry nearing the use by date and plan them into January menus, or donate to a foodbank. Watch the Welcome to My Kitchen Facebook page for a photo of what I find. If you want to join the fun, share a photo of what you find to use up in your own pantry.

Lentils, one item I need to use up, really do last a long time, but they get a little dried out with age, taking longer to cook. Honey Baked Lentils uses a pound of dry lentils and the addition of diced ham in place of the bacon finishes up the holiday ham.

Honey Baked

Lentils

1 pound dry lentils

1 bay leaf

2 tsp salt

5 cups water

Sauce:

1 tsp dry mustard

1/4 tsp ground ginger

1 Tbsp soy sauce

1/2 cup chopped onion

1 cup water

Topping:

6 slices bacon cut in 1 inch pieces or 1 cup diced cooked ham

1/2 cup honey

In a large Dutch oven, combine lentils, bay leaf, salt and 5 cups water. Bring to a boil, then simmer 30 minutes. Do not drain.

Meanwhile prepare a sauce from the mustard, ginger, soy sauce, onion and 1 cup water. Stir into lentils when done simmering.

Stir in the diced bacon to evenly distribute. Then drizzle the honey over the surface. Cover and bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour. Uncover and continue baking for 10 minutes. Yield: 6 –8 servings.

A variation on this recipe is , brown a pound of ground beef and season with 1/2 tsp liquid smoke and 1/4 cup catsup, then stir into the lentils, instead of or along with the bacon.

Onions keep well in a cool dark place, but often when purchased in bulk, a few end up going bad. Par-cooked onions freeze well for later use in soups and casseroles.

Freezing Onions

1 to 12 large cooking onions, yellow, white or red

2 Tbsp butter or cooking oil per onion.

Peel and dice onion.

Heat butter or oil over medium heat in a large skillet. Add onions and cook, stirring often until onions are translucent. Cool and package in 1 cup amounts and freeze. One cup of onions fits well in a snack size zip closure bag, and can easily be broken in half or fourths for smaller portions.

Canned Pumpkin is another food item purchased for holiday recipes, and ends up languishing in the back of the pantry. Pumpkin Pull-Apart Loaf, a recipe from the Better Homes and Gardens, is a delicious way to repurpose the pumpkin and add a sweet–savory item to a winter brunch menu. With 3 hours of prep time, this recipe can be ready for a late morning brunch.

Pumpkin

Pull-Apart Loaf

3/4 cup milk

1 package active dry yeast

1 cup canned pumpkin

3 Tbsp butter, melted

2 Tbsp granulated sugar

1 egg yolk

1 tsp salt

3 cups all-purpose flour

Filling:

3 Tbsp butter, melted

3/4 cup packed brown sugar

1 Tbsp ground cinnamon

Cinnamon Glaze:

1 cup powdered sugar

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1 Tbsp milk

Optional:

Chopped toasted pecans

In a small saucepan heat milk to 105-115 degrees. In a large bowl, combine warm milk and yeast, stir to dissolve yeast and let stand 5 to 10 minutes or until foamy.

Add 1/2 cup of the pumpkin and the next four ingredients to the yeast mixture. Beat with mixer on medium speed until combined. Add half of the flour, beat on low 30 seconds, scraping bowl as needed. Beat on medium speed 3 minutes. Stir in remaining flour by hand. Shape dough into a ball, surface will be rough. Place in a greased bowl, turning once to grease surface. Cover and let rise in a warm place until nearly double in bulk, 45 to 60 minutes.

Butter a 9 x 5 inch loaf pan and set aside. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Roll into a 20 x 12 inch rectangle. In a small bowl combine the remaining pumpkin and melted butter and spread evenly over dough. Combine brown sugar and cinnamon and sprinkle over pumpkin mixture. Cut dough crosswise into five, 12 x 4 inch strips. Stack strips and cut into six, 4 x 2 inch pieces, leaving the stacks intact. Loosely stager the pieces, cut sides up in the prepared pan. Cover and let rise until nearly double in bulk, about 45 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Bake 35 minutes or until golden, covering loosely with foil the last 10 minutes if needed to prevent overbrowning. Cool in pan on wire rack 10 minutes. Remove from pan and drizzle with glaze made from glaze ingredients. Sprinkle with toasted pecans if desired. Yield:12 servings.

Canned pumpkin amounts hardly ever match recipe amounts, leaving leftovers. Freeze the left over pumpkin in ice cube trays. Cubes are easy to thaw for future recipes, or add a few cubes of pumpkin to thick stews or soups.

Share your favorite use it up recipes with your fellow readers by sending them to Welcome to My Kitchen, Attn. Laura, P.O. Box 151, Odessa, WA 99159 or email pandl@odessaoffice.com. Follow Welcome to My Kitchen on Facebook for photos, recipe tips and other culinary items that don’t fit in the biweekly column. Cut Christmas trees and greenery wreaths and swags make good winter protective mulch around rosebushes and other shrubs, and provide shelter for small birds.