Building Blocks Show Recipes
Building Blocks
Raspberry Chipotle Coulis
Strawberry Coulis
You will need:
- 4 cups frozen strawberries
- ¼ cup sugar
Put it together:
- Cook berries on low for five to ten minutes
- When the berries begin to juice, add the sugar and cook ten to fifteen minutes more
- Remove a few spoonfuls of strawberries, set aside
- Strain
- Rough chop strawberries and add in with the rest
You will need:
- 3 cups frozen raspberries
- 2 tbsp sugar
Put it together:
- Cook berries on low for five to ten minutes
- When the berries begin to juice, add the sugar and cook ten to fifteen minutes more
- Strain
Building Block Uses
Texas Spice Black Cod with Raspberry Chipotle Coulis (Serves 2)
You will need:
- ½ lb. Black cod, cut into two pieces
- Garlic Powder and Onion Powder
- Southwestern Chipotle Rub of your choice
- 1 tbsp. Olive oil
- Building Blocks Raspberry Chipotle Coulis
Put it together:
- Season cod on all sides with garlic powder, onion powder and a generous amount of
Southwestern Chipotle Rub
- Fry in olive oil with skin side down on med-low until bottom is crispy
- Turn heat to low and fry sides and top a few min each (until light brown on the
outside and no longer translucent in the middle)
- Drizzle raspberry chipotle coulis on plate and serve fish on top
You will need:
- Ice
- ½ cup Building Blocks Strawberry Coulis
- 24 oz. of your favorite lemonade
Put it together:
- Fill each glass half full of ice
- Add ¼ cup strawberry coulis to each glass
- Fill with lemonade to the top
For variety, try this recipe with raspberry coulis.
You will need:
- 1 batch or package chocolate pudding
- 1 cup Building Blocks Strawberry Coulis
- 1 cup whipping cream
- 2 tbsp. sugar
- ½ tsp. vanilla extract
- 8 oz. fresh strawberries sliced top to bottom (so they’re heart-shaped)
Put it together:
- Prepare pudding according to package or recipe instructions
- Whip cream, sugar and vanilla extract until soft peaks form and fluffy
- Alternating, layer pudding, strawberry coulis and whipped cream until 1 inch from
top of glass
- Line rim with strawberries and finish layering
For variety, try this recipe with raspberry coulis and line the glass with fresh raspberries.
You will need:
- 1/2 cup ice (4-5 large ice cubes)
- 3/4 cup Building Blocks Strawberry Coulis
- 1/2 cup frozen strawberries
- 1 Large banana
- 1 cup pineapple juice
Put it together:
- Puree ingredients in blender until smooth
Note: If your bananas are ripening before you can eat them, peel, slice and freeze them until you're ready to use them. Using frozen bananas makes a refreshingly cool smoothie.
Building Block
Beef Stock
You will need:
- 1 lb. meat
- 2 1/2 lbs. of marrow and ball and socket bones
- 3 onions (skin on okay, but wash)
- 3 celery stalks
- 3 large carrots
- 1/2 bunch parsley
- Bouquet garni (see instructions below)
Put it together:
- Cut carrots and celery into thirds
- Cut onions into fourths
- Roast meant, bones, onions, celery, carrots together at 400 degrees for 20 minutes until veggies brown slightly and beef juices start running
- Add veggies and meat to pot (I used an 8 qt. pot)
- Add 1 cup wine (red recommend)/li>
- Add bouquet garni
- Fill pot with water just to cover ingredients and bring to a boil
- Turn heat to low and simmer 6 to 12 hours
- Add water to cover veggies/beef as needed
- Skim off impurities as needed (approximately every 30 min)
- 15 min before done, add parsley
- Remove chunks of bones, meat, and veggies from the stock
- Strain the stock with a colander
- Strain the stock with 2 layers of cheesecloth in a fine mesh sieve
Taste and reduce on stove if needed
- Chill in fridge
- Fat will solidify on top, remove before using for cooking or freezing
Notes:
- Do not add salt to the stock. You need to be able to control the amount of salt in the recipes you use your stock in. If it doesn’t taste flavorful enough, reduce it for longer on the stove.
- To purchase beef bones, ask the butcher at your local grocery store. Most grocery stores will have them kept in the freezer section. Alternately, you can purchase them directly from the farmer if your local beef farmer sells direct to the public.
Bouquet Garni:
You will need:
- Few springs thyme
- 4 celery leaves
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 Tbsp. peppercorns
- 2 cloves garlic (smashed, skins removed)
- Cheesecloth and cotton string
Put it together:
- Put ingredients in cheesecloth and tie with cotton string
Building Block Uses
Meat Pie (Serves 4)
You will need:
- 1 cup Building Blocks Beef Stock
- ¾ lb. ground beef
- 1 medium sized carrot, diced
- ½ a large or 1 small onion (white or yellow), diced
- 4 oz. mushrooms, sliced
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 Tbsp. tomato paste
- 3 Tbsp. all-purpose flour
- 2 tsp. fresh thyme or ¼ tsp. dried, ground
- Salt, pepper
- Olive or canola oil
- 1 whole wheat pie crust
- Puff pastry or fillo dough
- 1 egg
- ¼ cup red wine
Put it together:
- Pre-bake pie shell according to pie shell recipe or package instructions
- Heat ½ Tbsp. oil in a large frying pan over medium-low heat
- Sauté onion until it begins to brown
- Add carrots
- Sauté carrots and onion until brown
- Add thyme
- Add salt and pepper to taste
- Set onions and carrots aside
- Add ½ Tbsp. more oil to the pan
- Sauté mushrooms
- Move mushrooms to the side of the pan, add a little more oil and sauté the garlic (be careful not to burn – garlic cooks quickly)
- Season with salt and pepper to taste
- Set mushrooms and garlic aside
- Brown meat in the pan
- Add back in all veggies
- Mix in tomato paste & flour
- Use red wine to deglaze the pan
- Add 1 cup beef stock, mix, and cook on medium, stirring often until it makes a nice, thick gravy
- More beef stock may be added if the gravy looks too dry or flour if too runny (remember sauce will thicken a bit in the oven too)
- Taste and season with salt and pepper if needed
- Put the filling in the pie crust just to the top – there may be left-over filling
- Whisk the egg and brush the edges of the crust
- Put puff pastry on top, trim excess pastry and poke holes
- Brush the top with egg
- If using fillo dough, put one layer on at a time and spray or brush each layer lightly with oil (5 layers total), then trim excess dough and poke holes
- Bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes, or until crust is golden brown
You will need:
- 6 cups Building Blocks Beef Stock
- 1 lb. beef stew meat or ground beef, cut into ½ inch cubes
- ¾ cup dried barley
- 1 carrot, diced
- 1 medium onion, diced
- ½ cup corn
- 1 can diced tomatoes (14.5 oz)
- Olive or canola oil
- Salt, pepper
Put it together:
- Put stock and tomatoes (with juice) in large soup pot to begin heating up
- Sauté carrot and onion on med-low heat in 2 tbsp. oil until soft, add to stock
- Season meat with salt and pepper
- Cook meat on medium in 1 tbsp oil until brown on all sides (no oil necessary for ground beef) , add to stock
- Add corn and barley to stock
- Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, then turn heat to low and simmer for 45 minutes
- If necessary, add more stock or water to soup as it cooks
- Season with salt and pepper to taste
You will need:
- 2 cups Building Blocks Beef Stock
- 1 lb. sliced roast beef
- 2 Tbsp. butter plus more for bread
- 1 Tbsp. corn starch
- French baguettes (enough for four sandwiches)
- 8 oz. sliced Swiss cheese
Put it together:
- Melt butter in pan on medium-low heat
- Add corn starch and stir for about a minute on medium-low heat
- Wisk in beef stock
- Add roast beef and cook on medium until meat is heated up
- Use the remaining liquid for dipping
- Cut baguettes into six inch sandwiches and in half horizontally and butter
Put cheese on top halves
- Broil on high just until cheese is melted
- Pull meat out of the stock mixture and assemble sandwiches
- Use the remaining liquid for dipping
Building Block
Lard
You will need:
Put it together:
- Preheat oven to 225 degrees F.
- Cut leaf lard into 1-2 inch cubes
- Arrange on broiler pan so the cubes of lard will stay on top and liquid will drip into the pan below
- Cook for 3-4 hours
- Use a metal strainer/colander lined with two layers of cheesecloth to strain the liquid fat collected in the bottom of the pan into a glass bowl
- Chill immediately
- Wrap the chilled lard very well so that it does not absorb odors and keep in the refrigerator for about three months or the freezer for about a year
Building Block Uses
Whole Grain Biscuits (Makes 10-12 biscuits)
You will need:
- 2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
- 1 Tbsp baking powder
- 1 tsp salt
- ¼ cup + 1 Tbsp Building Blocks Show Lard
- 1 egg
- ½ cup rice milk
Put it together:
- Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.
- Mix flour, baking powder and salt with whisk in large bowl.
- Cut in lard: massage flour into the lard with your fingers until crumbly.
- Mix in egg and all but a couple tablespoons of rice milk with a fork.
- Add in the rest of the rice milk a tablespoon at a time until the dough is wet but not sticky.
- Turn out dough onto the counter and barely kneed a couple of turns. Be careful not to over work.
- Roll ½ inch thick and cut 2 ¾ inch circles with biscuit cutter (if you use a glass, the edges will pinch and biscuits will not rise properly – no twisting either).
- Pat the dough scraps together, roll and cut more biscuits.
- Put biscuits onto a baking stone or parchment lined cookie sheet either with edges touching (if you want soft edges) or not (if you want crispy edges).
- Bake 10-12 minutes until lightly golden brown.
Tip:
- To make this recipe with cow’s milk, use only ¼ cup lard and substitute rice milk for whole milk.
You will need:
- 1-2 quarts Building Blocks Show Lard
- 1-3 lbs sweet potatoes
- Seasoning: You can use a paprika or brown sugar based meat or taco seasoning or make up your own with ingredients like salt and paprika or brown sugar and cinnamon
- Special tools: large soup pot, cooking thermometer, wire strainer (aka Asian strainer or spider) or metal slotted spoon, mandoline (optional)
Put it together:
- Scrub sweet potatoes, cut in half and put into a large pot.
- Cover with cold water and bring to a boil.
- Boil for 7-10 minutes. This step is very important because softening the potatoes brings out the flavor. The more you boil the better the flavor, but you need to balance that with a good French fry texture and keeping the skin on. The more you boil, the easier the skin comes off.
- Take potatoes out of the hot water and let cool until you can handle them easily. Slice potatoes slightly larger than the fries you want as they will shrink slightly while frying. I recommend a 7mm julienne. A mandoline can be extremely useful for making conformed fries.
- Put lard in a heavy soup pot and heat slowly on med-low heat until 300 degrees F.
- Fry potatoes a handful at a time for 3 minutes and drain immediately onto paper towels. This is the first frying.
- Let the potatoes sit for at least ten minutes (but up to a couple hours okay).
- While the fries are resting, turn the heat up just slightly, so that it is closer to 350 degrees F. Make sure that the lard is not smoking. This is very important for both safety and tastiness.
- Fry the potatoes for 1-3 minutes depending on how brown and crispy you want the fries. This second frying is what gives the fries their characteristic texture.
- Remove the fries with an Asian strainer or metal slotted spoon and season immediately.
Tip:
- Crispiness: It seems counter intuitive, but to make crispier fries, you turn down the heat. This allows the fries to lose more of their moisture before burning.
- Lard may be re-used once or twice if filtered first. Filter the lard while it’s still in a liquid state (but not burning hot) by straining it through a fine mesh sieve lined with a couple layers of cheesecloth or a coffee filter.
Building Block
Red Sauce (Sunday Gravy)
You will need:
- 2-3 tsp olive oil
- 1 lb. pork spare ribs, ribs cut apart
- 1 lb. Italian mild sausage
- 1 lb. veal, cubed
- 5 large (1 lb 12 oz) cans Italian whole peeled tomatoes (lightly chopped in blender)
- 1 onion, chopped
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 can tomato paste (6 oz)
- 3 basil leaves chopped finely
- 3 T parsley chopped
- 2 T sugar
- ½ cup red wine
Put it together:
- Heat olive oil in stock pot on med high heat
- Add the spare ribs and lightly brown, but do not cook fully (5-10 min)
- Using tongs, put ribs in a large bowl and set aside
- Add sausage to the pot and brown lightly
- Add sausages to the meat bowl
- Add veal to pot and brown lightly
- While the veal is cooking, open up the tomato cans
- Add veal to meat bowl
- Brown onion and garlic in the pot on med high
- Add tomato paste to onions and fill the empty tomato paste can with water and add
- Cook for 30 seconds
- Lightly chop tomatoes (eat can separately) in blender with a quick pulse (just a couple seconds)
- Add tomatoes to the pot
- Add basil, parsley, sugar and red wine, stir
- Add meat back in
- Cook on medium heat simmering for 2 hours or until veal shreds into the tomatoes and meat starts falling off the bones
- Pull meat out and serve as a side
Tip:
- Use sauce in baked ziti, lasagna, manicotti or your favorite pasta.
Building Block Use
Whole Wheat Baked Ziti
You will need:
- 1 lb whole wheat penne
- 4 cups Building Blocks Show Red Sauce
- 1 lb whole milk mozzarella, cubed
- 1 lb ricotta
- 1/2 cup pecorino romano
- 2 eggs
Put it together:
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
- Cook pasta until al dente and drain
- Mix eggs, mozzarella, ricotta, pecorino in a large bowl
- Add pasta and sauce to cheese mixture
- Put in pan(s)
- Optional - Add 1/2 lb sliced mozzarella on top
- Optional - Brown and mix in 1 lb ground Italian sausage
- Cover with foil and bake 50 minutes at 400 degrees F.
- Optional - Take foil off and brown 10 minutes
Building Blocks
Vegan White Sauce (Makes 1 cup)
You will need:
- 2 tbsp. vegan margarine
- 3 tbsp. flour
- 1 cup rice milk
- Salt, fresh ground white pepper
- Spices (depending on final recipe)
Put it together:
- Melt butter in small pot over medium heat
- Whisk in flour
- Cook for a few minutes, stirring constantly until light brown (roux should come together)
- Add rice milk a few tablespoons at a time, mixing in between additions until it starts to look creamy, then add in ¼ cup at a time. You can add more or less milk depending on how thick you need the sauce for your recipe.
- Salt and pepper to taste
- Add spices
You will need:
- 1/2 tbsp. olive oil
- 1/4 cup diced onion
- 2 cloves garlic, diced
- 2 tbsp. vegan margarine
- 3 tbsp. flour
- 1 cup rice milk
- Salt, fresh ground white pepper
- Spices (depending on final recipe)
Put it together:
- Heat olive oil in small saucepan over medium heat
- Sauté onion until soft
- Add garlic to onion and sauté a couple of minutes
- Melt margarine into onion
- Add flour and stir to combiner
- Cook for a few minutes, stirring constantly until light brown (roux should come together)
- Add rice milk a few tablespoons at a time, mixing in between additions until it starts to look creamy, then add in ¼ cup at a time. You can add more or less milk depending on how thick you need the sauce for your recipe.
- Salt and pepper to taste
- Add spices
Building Block Uses
Creemy Shroomy Veggies on Crusty Bread (vegan) (Serves 4)
You will need:
- 1 ½ tbsp. olive oil + extra for drizzling over bread
- ¼ cup diced white or yellow onion
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 tbsp. vegan margarine (I use Earth Balance)
- 3 tbsp. flour
- 1 cup rice milk at room temperature
- 1/3 lb in season mushrooms(ex. shitake or morel), sliced
- Handful of snow peas, stringed and trimmed
- 3 sundried tomato pieces (from jar packed in olive oil), rough chopped
- 1 sunburst squash (1/5 of a lb.), sliced into bite-sized pieces
- ½ a zucchini (1/5 of a lb.), sliced into bite-sized pieces
- Salt and fresh ground black pepper
- 4-6 slices of crusty bread
Put it together:
- Place oven rack in top position and preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
- Heat ½ tbsp. olive oil in small saucepan over medium heat
- Sauté onion until soft
- Add garlic to onion and sauté a couple minutes
- Melt margarine into onion
- Add flour and stir to combine
- Cook roux (mixture of flour and fat) a few minutes
- Stirring, add rice milk 1/4 cup at a time until sauce becomes thin enough to pour but is still thick enough to coat the back of a spoon (you may need more or less than 1 cup)
- In a separate medium to large pan, heat 1 tbsp. olive oil over medium heat
- Sauté mushrooms and all vegetables until tender, but still holding shape
- Pour white sauce over vegetables and mix
- Season to taste with salt and fresh ground black pepper. Keep warm while toasting bread.
- Spread bread slices out on baking sheet
- Drizzle with a few tablespoons of olive oil
- Season with a pinch each of salt and pepper
- Bake until golden brown, 5-10 minutes
- Serve creemy mushrooms and veggies over toasted bread
You will need:
- 1 lb. true cod
- ½ cup Building Blocks Show Vegan White Sauce
- 1 lb. mixed vegetables (ex. onion, carrot, zucchini, yellow squash, red bell pepper, mushroom, corn)
- 8 sheets phyllo dough
- ½ cup olive oil
- Salt and fresh ground pepper to taste
- 1/8 tsp. garlic salt
Put it together:
- Slice vegetables into bite-size, flat pieces, toss in a couple tablespoons of olive oil, garlic salt and black pepper
- Spread on a cookie sheet and bake at 400 degrees F. for 15 minutes or until vegetables are fork tender (carrots and some other vegetables will take longer), flipping once or twice
- Prepare white sauce
- Cut cod into 4 pieces
- Prepare phyllo: lay one sheet, brush lightly with oil and repeat to make 4 sheets thick
- Cut stack of phyllo in half (cut should be parallel to short side)
- Place one piece of cod at the end of a phyllo stack
- Top with a tablespoon of sauce
- Add a few pieces of vegetables to the top of the cod and top with another tablespoon of sauce
- Fold dough sides up lengthwise then wrap up fish in the dough
- Trim any excess dough and brush top with oil
- Repeat for the rest of the fish and dough
- Bake at 375 degrees F. for 25-30 minutes or until dough is golden brown and fish is cooked through
Tips:
- Once completed, uncooked phyllo wrapped cod freeze very well. Wrap individually or put into sandwich bags, then wrap in foil and label with the date and contents. Move them from the freezer to the refrigerator 24 hours before you plan to eat them and then bake as instructed above.
- When grilling veggies for the wrapped cod, grill some extra to serve as a side. Add a salad and you have a healthy, easy meal.
- This recipe works well with whole wheat phyllo too.
You will need:
- 1 batch Building Blocks Show Whole Grain DF Biscuits
- 1 lb. pork breakfast sausage patties
- Approx. 4 tbsp. flour
- 1 cup rice milk
- Salt and fresh ground black pepper
Put it together:
- Bake biscuits according to directions.
- Brown sausage patties over medium heat, breaking into small pieces.
- Do not drain pork fat. Stir in 1 tbsp. of flour at a time until flour has absorbed all the fat, but mixture is not too dry (you may need more or less than 4 tbsp.)
- Cook for a few minutes to incorporate.
- Add rice milk ¼ cup at a time, incorporating well in between additions, until you have a lot of creamy gravy (you may need more or less than 1 cup).
- Add a little salt and a lot of fresh ground pepper to taste.
Tip:
- Rarely, if you have very lean sausage, you may need to add some fat (canola oil, margarine, etc.) to the pork fat to make a good amount of gravy.
You will need:
- 2 tbsp vegan margarine
- ¼ of a small white onion, diced finely
- 1 large bunch of fresh spinach
- 1 tbsp flour
- 1 cup rice milk
- 1 nutmeg or 1/8 tsp. ground nutmeg
- Salt, fresh ground black pepper
Put it together:
- Sauté onion in 1 tbsp margarine until translucent, keep in pan.
- Wash, but don’t dry spinach, then chop
- Steam spinach in steamer basket in separate pot with about 1 inch of water (but not so much that the water actually touches the spinach) and simmer 1-2 minutes. Spinach should be wilted, but still bright green. Drain, pressing to get excess water out.
- Add 1 tbsp more margarine to pan with onions, melt
- Add 1 tbsp flour, stir
- When flour has absorbed all of the fat, slowly add rice milk, stirring with whisk to incorporate. If you don’t add too much rice milk at once, it won’t get lumpy.
- Grate in 1/8 tsp nutmeg or use 1/8 tsp ground nutmeg
- Add in chopped spinach
- Salt and pepper to taste