Home Made Almond Extract

I found this recipe and information about almond extract on Wordpress. Here is the website. http://almondextract.net/

One of most appreciated extracts of any kind is certainly almond extract. Due to its rich and distinctive flavor, It is extensively used in baking and it is one of the key ingredient in number of cookies and cakes recipes. Good part is that it is not difficult at all to make your own very authentic extract. The most important ingredient in doing so will be alcohol which will work as a necessary solvent. This is because alcohol can extract the volatile oils from the nuts –and these oils are the ones that carry with them all the flavors. So follow these easy 5 steps:

Step One – Grind the almonds. The easiest way to accomplish this is by using food processors. You have to be careful here not to over grind them because then they will turn into a cream and butterfly mix. You actually want to grind them to the point where they are the size of soluble coffee or raw sugar.

Step Two – Mix it with alcohol. Place ground almonds inside a glass jar and for each cup of almonds pour in two cups of good quality vodka. Many people prefer to use brandy, but each brandy offers its own blend of aroma and taste. If you want the most neutral flavor, stick with vodka. However, you can always experiment to see which one adds the nicest flavor for you personally.

Step Three – Guard it. Put an air tight lid on a jar and place it in a dark place.

Step Four – Shake it. Once a day, take the jar out and shake it few times. Repeat this every day for around 6 weeks.

Step Five – Strain it. In six weeks, the oil should be inside alcohol mix and the almond extract should be ready. So, strain the liquid through an ordinary coffee filter and pour the extract inside the bottle in which you plan to keep it in. Although you can use any kind and types of bottles, the ones that work the best are darkened, glass ones that do not permit too much light to interact with the extract. Those bottles are then optimally placed in dark, cool and dry places such as cupboards. There they can last for years to com.

You will notice right away that created substance will taste differently than commercial ones you can buy at grocery stores. It is because you made your extract with sweet almonds, the only one you can actually buy in stores. However the commercial producers use bitter almonds which taste quite different. The problem with them is that they can be quite toxic. They actually contain cyanide which is a very poisonous substance. A by product of cyanide creation is a substance called benzaldehyde which is actually responsible for all the rich flavor. Commercial producers through chemical reactions remove toxic cyanide while still keeping benzaldehyde, which makes the finished product perfectly safe for consumption.

Since this is a process that is not best to be experimented at home, you are stuck with sweet almonds only. However, quite a few people decide to enrich their almond extract by using seeds from nectarine and peaches fruits. Then can be found inside fruits pits, and once they are cracked and seeds dried, those nuts give exact essence of bitter almonds. Most likely 2 or 3 of those seeds will not cause you any health problems, but if you want to be on a safe side, it’s always better to stick to your sweet almonds.

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Orange/Ginger Barbecue Mop Sauce

I've been experimenting with orange zest so I decided to try my hand at making a zesty barbecue sauce.  It came out terrific! I hope you like it!

3-4 lbs. pork ribs (2 racks, each cut in half)

salt

pepper

1 large orange, zested, then squeezed (should have 3/4 cup juice and at least 1 tablespoon zest)

1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger

1 tablespoon pressed or minced garlic

1 1/4 cup Ketchup (no high fructose ingredients)

2 tablespoons low sodium soy sauce

2 tablespoons honey

3 tablespoons dark brown sugar

diced green onions (optional garnish)

Lightly salt and pepper ribs and let rest uncovered for 1/2 hour. Mix together the rest of the ingredients. Taste the sauce and add more ingredients if desired. Maybe you like more garlic or ginger or soy sauce...

Grill or smoke ribs as usual. Brush with sauce if grilling, or toss into sauce after smoking. 

Serve immediately. Garnish with green onions, if desired.

For slow cooker: 

1.)   Set slow cooker to LOW. Place two halves of ribs in 4 qt. slow cooker. Pour 1/2 the sauce over them. Place remaining two halves ribs on top of ribs in cooker, pour remaining sauce over them. Cover and cook for 3hours. Rotate ribs. Cover and cook an additional 3 hours, then rotate ribs again. Cover and cook an additional 2 hours. 

2.)    Pre-heat conventional oven to 350 degrees. Carefully transfer ribs to 13 x 9 x 2 inch pan. Set aside.  Pour sauce into a sauce pan and bring to a boil. (I added an additional tablespoon of brown sugar at this point.)  Mix together 1 tablespoon corn starch and enough cold water to form a loose paste. Slowly stir cornstarch mixture into sauce. Don't use it all if you don't need it.  Boil and stir for 1 minute.  Remove from heat.

3.)    Using a ladle, generously pour sauce over each rib half. Bake in oven for 20-25 minutes until sauce is set.  Serve meat garnished with diced green onions, if desired.