Heather's Bytes

I’m breaking out of my standard human-food recipe post today for some animal munchies! It’s been a pretty eventful week as far as our household animals are concerned: we picked up a new litter of kittens last Saturday to foster until they’re big and old enough to go up for adoption. The five little kitties can be seen live for most of the day at their very own website, at http://thekittenroom.com!

So, in honor of all the four-legged family members in my home, both permanent and temporary, I’m going to share a recipe for dog biscuits that my dogs absolutely adore (I’ve tried treats for the cats but they don’t care for anything beyond catnip!).

I love to make my own homemade dog treats because I like knowing exactly what’s going into them — and what’s not. These biscuits are always a hit, and I swear our two little dogs know when I’m prepping for them, too.

These biscuits are easy and foolproof, but make sure you don’t store it in an airtight container (they’ll get moldy)

Fido’s Favorite Treats

1 cup rolled oats
1/3 cup butter
1 cup boiling water
3/4 cup cornmeal
1 tablespoon sugar
2 teaspoons chicken or beef instant bullion
1/2 cup milk
4 ounces shredded cheddar cheese (1 cup)
1 egg, beaten
2 cups wheat flour (white flour will work, too)

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Grease cookie sheets or line with parchment paper. In large bowl combine rolled oats, margarine and water and let stand for 10 minutes. Stir in cornmeal, sugar, bouillon, milk,cheese and egg. Mix well. Add flour 1 cup at a time, mixing well after each addition to form a stiff dough.

On floured surface, knead in remaining flour until dough is smooth and no longer sticky, 3 to 4 minutes. Roll or pat out dough to 1/2 inch thickness; cut with cookie cutter. Place 1 inch apart on cookie sheets.

Bake for 35 to 45 minutes or until golden brown. Cool completely. Store loosely covered or in the fridge. Makes 3 1/2 dozen large biscuits.

The heavens opened up and the angels rejoiced when I found the original for this recipe. At least they did in my head. Chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream is on my list of top five favorite ice creams – how can you go wrong with such an amazing combination?

Over time I’ve adapted and tweaked it to what my family likes and it’s a hit. If I had another freezer drum for the ice cream maker I’d end up doing a double batch every time I make it. As it is, this makes a very generous quart of ice cream.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough for Ice Cream

1/2 cup butter (room temperature)
1/4 cup sugar
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup Egg Beaters egg substitute
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup plus 2 Tb flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
3/4 to 1 cup semi-sweet miniature chocolate chips

Beat the butter and sugars until well blended, add the egg and vanilla and mix well. Combine the flour, salt and baking soda together and add to the wet dough until well blended. Stir in chocolate chips.

Drop by small bite-sized rounds onto a cookie sheet or plate lined with parchment paper and place in the freezer for at least one hour. Remove from the freezer and, if needed, chop into smaller bits and add to your favorite sweet cream ice cream base during the last minute of mixing, and don’t let it go too long or it’ll get sticky. Freeze and voila!

Now, I only use half of the cookie dough for the ice cream. Anymore than that just won’t fit in my ice cream maker. You can either eat the dough raw, freeze in bite-sized chunks and put into a freezer bag to store for your next batch of ice cream, or bake it on a lined cookie sheet at 350 degrees for about 11 minutes.

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Last summer, Mike and I were brainstorming, trying to come up with ideas for some light summer dinners. One of his suggestions was fish tacos and I agreed to see what I could find. This is significant for two reasons: I don’t like 99% of the seafood I’ve tried (I want to like it, I just don’t), and I’d never had fish tacos before.

I found a bunch of recipes online and discovered that it’s a pretty basic dish. So, since I’m a glutton for punishment, I decided to up the ante a bit with some homemade tortillas, too. Harina is really easy to find here in Las Vegas and is perfect for making some delicious soft flour tortillas. If you can’t find harina at your local stores, though, you can find some recipes online to use instead.

Tortillas are pretty fun to make on your own but they require a little bit of arm strength when rolling them out. Take turns with someone so you don’t get burnt out! Use a cast iron skillet because you don’t want to use any extra fat in the pan (like you’d have to with a non-stick pan), and you have to turn the heat up pretty high. Slap the tortilla in on one side for about 30 seconds, and then flip it over to the other side. I usually just peek to see how dark they’re getting. It’s not rocket science!

Keep them “clam-shelled” in a long paper towel to avoid them sitting in condensation, and then fold over with some aluminum foil to keep them warm and pliable. Just add new tortillas on top and then fold the paper towel and foil back over.

For the fish tacos, I made up a batch of Baja Sauce. Beware, that recipe makes a TON, and even halved it still makes a ton. (And to be honest, we’re kind of over that particular recipe so when I make these again I’m going to dig up something else.)

For the fish I used a package of good frozen fish fillets. We’ve tried frying up our own and just couldn’t seem to get what we wanted. The fillets were perfect and deliciously crispy with no mess. I cut each fillet in half length-wise, then chopped those into threes (for a total of six bite sized pieces per fillet).

To assemble, slather some sauce onto the tortilla, then some crispy shredded cabbage. Next, add the fish, then a little more sauce, and some fresh chopped tomatoes (the ones in the picture above were from our garden last summer).

Needless to say, these are a hit. If you’re serving these to fish taco fanatics, buy two boxes of the good fish fillets since each fillet is the perfect size for one taco.