Recipes for "homemade everything"

Cut the stems off the jalapeños. Take a tiny taste of one and if it’s spicy, remove some or all the seeds, if you’d like. Zhoug is supposed to be spicy, but you can adjust the spice level to your liking. Roughly chop and add them to the food processor along with the garlic. Pulse a few times until coarsely chopped.

Simply Recipes / Alison Bickel

Add the cilantro, parsley, ground cumin, ground cardamom seeds, and ground coriander, and pulse until the herbs are coarsely chopped. After a few pulses, stop and scrape down any big pieces of herb stuck to the side of the bowl, then pulse again.

Simply Recipes / Alison Bickel

Add the olive oil, lemon juice, sugar, and salt, and pulse until the mixture is evenly combined. It will not be smooth. It will be chunky and coarse with visible pieces of herbs and garlic.

If your zhoug seems too stiff, pulse in water, 1 tablespoon at a time and up to 3 tablespoons, to loosen it up.

Simply Recipes / Alison Bickel

Taste the sauce and add more salt, sugar, or lemon juice, if needed. It should be spicy, lemony, bright, and fresh.

Transfer the zhoug into a bowl or lidded container. Drizzle a little bit of olive oil on top to lightly cover it, about 1 tablespoon. Tightly cover it with plastic wrap or a lid. Let it rest for a minimum of 1 hour on your kitchen counter for the flavors to meld. Anything longer than an hour, pop it into the fridge.

Zhoug can be refrigerated for up to 1 week.

Did you love the recipe? Leave us a review in the comments!

Simply Recipes / Alison Bickel

Simply Recipes / Alison Bickel

In a small bowl, add the chili powder, salt, cumin, granulated garlic, granulated onion, oregano, coriander, and black pepper. Use a small whisk or fork to stir the ingredients together.

Simply Recipes / Marta A Rivera Diaz

Transfer the taco seasoning into a clean, lidded jar. Store it in a cool, dry place for up to 2 years.

Did you love the recipe? Leave us stars below!

Simply Recipes / Marta A Rivera Diaz

Combine horseradish, vinegar, sugar, and salt in the bowl of a food processor or blender; pulse until blended. Carefully remove the cover of the processor or blender, keeping your face away from the container.

Cover and store horseradish in the refrigerator for up to one month.

If you plan to store the giardiniera outside the fridge for any length of time, you will need to heat your jars in a hot water bath after filling them. This recipe will yield 6 pint jars.

Because the jars will be processed in the water bath for more than 10 minutes, it is not necessary to first sterilize the jars before you fill them. Just make sure the jars are clean. Skip the water bath if you plan to refrigerate the pickles the whole time.

To heat the jars for canning, place the jars in a large canning pot. Fill the pot with warm water so that it comes up at least 1 inch above the jars. Bring to a boil, then keep at a gentle simmer until it’s time to can.

Wash the lids and bands in hot, soapy water.

Add the vinegar, sugar, water, salt, fennel and celery seeds, and red pepper flakes into a large pot set over high heat. Stir and simmer until sugar is dissolved and mixture is boiling. Add the vegetables to your pickling mixture and simmer for 30 seconds. Then remove from heat.

Simply Recipes / Nick Evans

Remove the jars from the canner, dumping the hot water inside the jars back into the canner. Set them on a clean dish towel on the counter.

Divide the bay leaves, garlic, and peppercorns among the jars.

Ladle the vegetables into the prepared jars, leaving 1/2 inch of space between the vegetables and the top of the jar. Then, pour the pickling liquid into each jar, covering the vegetables—keep 1/2 inch of headspace.

Wipe the rims clean with a paper towel. Place a clean lid on each jar and secure finger-tip tight with the band.

Simply Recipes / Nick Evans

Simply Recipes / Nick Evans

If you plan to store the giardiniera outside the fridge, you will want to process the filled jars in a hot water bath.

Return the filled jars to the same canning pot with its already hot water. The water level should be at least 1 inch above the top of the jars; add more water to the canner, if needed. Bring the water to a full rolling boil for 10 minutes.

If you live at high altitude, add 5 to 10 minutes to the processing time. Over 5,000 feet elevation? Process the jars for 20 minutes. When in doubt, process for longer.

Simply Recipes / Nick Evans

If you are not processing these jars in a water bath, they will keep in the fridge for about 3 months.

Remove the jars from the pot using tongs or a jar lifter. Let cool slowly to room temperature. Once cooled, be sure to check seals on jars . The lid—not the metal band—should be drawn down into the jar because of the vacuum seal. You can take the metal bands off and carefully turn the jars upside down. A well-sealed jar won’t leak.

Store sealed jars in a cool, dry place for up to 1 year, but for the best flavor and texture, enjoy the giardiniera within 6 months. Once opened—you can enjoy them after 4 days—refrigerate for up to 2 weeks.

Did you love this recipe? Give us some stars below!

Simply Recipes / Nick Evans

If you are using a pizza stone, preheat it in the oven for at least 20 minutes so it is nice and hot as well.

If you are using my sauce recipe, stir together the ingredients. The sauce recipe makes just enough for one large pizza. You can easily double it if you are making more than one pizza.

Roll out dough on a lightly floured surface. If it's hard to roll, let it rest for 5 minutes so it can come to room temperature. For a large pizza, I like to roll my dough into about a 14-inch diameter circle.

Transfer the dough to a lightly dusted pizza peel. Alternatively, fit it into a large cast-iron.

Add sauce in a light layer all over the pizza, leaving about 1/4-inch crust around the edges. Chop half of the pepperoni and sprinkle it over the sauce. Top the pizza with grated cheese and the rest of the pepperoni. Season with black pepper.

If you're using a pizza stone, carefully slide pizza into the center of the preheated pizza stone. Cook for 6 minutes, then rotate the pizza halfway so it cooks evenly. Cook for another 6 to 8 minutes, or until the crust is golden brown and charred in spots.

If you're using a skillet, press the dough into a cast iron skillet and add toppings. Place the skillet over a high heat burner for 2 minutes to get it preheated and get the crust cooking right away. Then transfer to a 500 °F oven and bake for 10 to 12 minutes, or until the crust is golden brown.

Use pizza peel to slide pizza out onto a cutting board. Let the pizza rest for a minute and slice into pieces. Season with fresh oregano (optional). Serve while warm with a side salad.

Stir together the softened butter and honey, then serve alongside the pizza for crust dipping.

Store leftover pizza in the fridge for up to three days. Reheat pizza in a sturdy skillet over medium heat with a drizzle of oil. Cover skillet with a lid and cook until the cheese has melted and crust is crispy.

Did you love the recipe? Give us some stars and leave a comment below!

For easy cleanup, I like to lay down a sheet of newspaper to use as a work surface.

If you have an electric spice grinder or mortar and pestle, grind the thyme and oregano until they are not quite a powder. This extra step helps release more flavor, plus it allows the herbs to better combine with the other ingredients.

Grab a medium bowl. Add the herbs, then measure all of the remaining ingredients into it.

The shortcut way to combine the seasoning is to get a whisk and mix it until it’s all blended and uniform in color. However, I find the paprika tends to clump up, so I often sift everything together into a larger bowl using a mesh strainer.

I have a giant mortar and pestle and I like to just grind and mix everything up in there since less dust seems to get kicked up than with sifting.

Whether whisking or sifting, if your sinuses are sensitive, it’s smart to wear a face mask for this step.

Transfer your Cajun seasoning to a jar or small container with an airtight lid. Getting ground spices into the narrow neck of a bottle or jar can be tricky; I grab a sheet of paper, fold it vertically, put the seasoning on it, and then carefully lift it to form a funnel of sorts. Set the folded end of the paper into the neck of the jar and slowly tip the paper up. If the jar gets full, try tapping it on the counter a few times; the seasoning will settle, creating more space.

Keep your seasoning away from heat and light and it will stay fresh for about a year; after that, the flavors fade, but it’ll still be fine to use.

Did you love the recipe? Leave us some stars below!

What’s in your ideal blend of Cajun seasoning? Tell us all about it in the comments.

Gather all ingredients.

Mix sage, thyme, marjoram, rosemary, nutmeg, and black pepper in a small bowl.

Transfer seasoning to an airtight container.

Label and store with your other spices.

Combine everything but the alcohol for the infusion, mixing the ingredients well, and then divide between two 1-quart (32oz) mason jars, adding an equal amount of alcohol to each (you can also do this in one jar if you have a jar that’s big enough). Seal the jars and shake.

During the infusion period, shake the jar once a day. The color should turn brown, and the taste will be so bitter as to be undrinkable.

After infusing, strain the mixture using a sieve, then filter through cheesecloth, a coffee filter, or a mesh superbag.

Bring the water to a simmer in a saucepan, then stir in the sugar until dissolved. Remove from heat and let cool fully.

Slowly stir the cooled simple syrup into the bitter, infused alcohol.

Make sure the infusion and simple syrup are at the same temperature, and add the syrup into the infusion, not vice versa. If your Campari turns cloudy after mixing, there's a fix. Find it here.

Adding simple syrup will also dilute the Campari to roughly the same proof as store-bought Campari.

If you are put off by the color, or simply want it to resemble store-bought Campari, add red food coloring until it settles at that bright, rosy hue you recognize.

Transfer your Campari to a clean bottle or jar and store away from direct sunlight.

Your Campari will never truly go bad if kept in a cool, dry place. If you are storing half-empty bottles in the light for over a year, you may notice changes owing to oxidization and an eventual evaporation, but the Campari itself is still safe to enjoy.

In a medium heatproof bowl, add the gochugaru, red pepper flakes, Japones chili flakes, ground Sichuan peppercorns, sugar, mushroom bouillon powder, and salt. Mix until combined. Add the ginger and set aside.

Simply Recipes / Frank Tiu

Simply Recipes / Frank Tiu

Place a strainer over a bowl or cooling rack over a baking sheet and set aside.

In a medium saucepan, add the peanut oil and shallots. Place over medium heat and cook gently for about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally to separate the shallots into individual rings. In the beginning, the shallots will look purply pink and vibrant. About halfway through, the shallots will start to look pale, almost translucent, with a light yellow color. After 15 minutes, the shallots start to take on a very light brown color.

If the shallots are cooking too quickly, adjust the heat—you want them to fry slowly and gently.

Simply Recipes / Frank Tiu

Add the garlic to the shallots and stir. Fry until the shallots are light golden brown and the garlic slices start to take on some color around the edges, about 10 minutes. The shallots and garlic might still look "soft" at this point but they are completely ready—if you fry them until they look nicely browned in the oil, they will likely burn. They will crisp up and take on more color once you lift them from the oil.

Simply Recipes / Frank Tiu

Remove the garlic and shallots with a slotted spoon or a skimmer. Let drain and cool in a strainer or on a cooling rack.

Simply Recipes / Frank Tiu

Simply Recipes / Frank Tiu

Place the oil back in the saucepan. Heat over medium-high heat to 360°F. Pour the hot oil over the spices and stir. The mixture will sizzle.

Simply Recipes / Frank Tiu

Simply Recipes / Frank Tiu

Let the spice oil cool for 30 minutes or until it reaches room temperature. Remove the ginger slices. Stir in the fried shallot rings and garlic chips.

Simply Recipes / Frank Tiu

Simply Recipes / Frank Tiu

Transfer the homemade chili crisp to a mason jar and store in a cool area for up to a month or in the fridge for longer.

I like to give my chili oil a stir before each use to get all the delicious crisps that have settled at the bottom. If you run low on chili oil, add a few tablespoons of oil to stretch the chili crisp.

Love the recipe? Leave us stars and a comment below!

Simply Recipes / Frank Tiu

If you are grinding your own bay leaves, process about 20 whole dried bay leaves in a spice grinder until broken down into a fine powder, about 30 long (3-second) pulses.

Whisk together all ingredients in a small bowl until evenly combined.

Simply Recipes / Photo by Jen Causey / Food Styling by Margaret Dickey / Prop Styling by Lydia Pursell

Simply Recipes / Photo by Jen Causey / Food Styling by Margaret Dickey / Prop Styling by Lydia Pursell

Transfer to an airtight jar or container. Store in a cool, dry place for up to 6 months. After that, the seasoning will still be fine to use, but its flavor will have faded somewhat.

Love the recipe? Let us know with a rating and review!

Simply Recipes / Photo by Jen Causey / Food Styling by Margaret Dickey / Prop Styling by Lydia Pursell