Tales from a Veggie Kitchen

White House Honey-Oat Muffins

2010-07-05T15:36:00.000-04:00

I used to have so many cooking magazines. Then I had Quinn. Cooking changed from a labor of love to relying on old stand-by recipes that would get dinner on the table quickly. Now Quinn is a touch older, I'm starting to find more time to cook for the joy of it. I recently re-subscribed to Food and Wine, and this recipe caught my eye as I flipped through the July 2010 magazine. I haven't even sat down and fully read the issue, but I've already made these muffins.

My little boy seems to suffer from a dairy intolerance (and possibly soy as well) so I'm constantly scouting for recipes that are either dairy-free or easy to adapt in that direction. I find when I look for dairy-free/soy-free recipes, I often get discouraged and overwhelmed by how few there are. But if I just go about life, the recipes sometimes find me. This was one such a recipe. I made it with rice milk instead of buttermilk, and I added about a teaspoon of vinegar to the rice milk to curdle it a bit. I also added blueberries, because I had them and I think every muffin is better with a blueberry in it!

The muffins were surprisingly tasty. Despite my modifications, they came out soft and moist (although a bit flat on top). The flavor is definitely honey-like, so not overly sweet. But I liked the addition of the oatmeal, and I think I will definitely make them again. I can't say they were an overwhelming success with the small man, however breakfast is not his favorite meal so the fact some was consumed is considered a success in my book. I'm thinking next time I might try this recipe with fresh peaches....

The original recipe can be found here, on the Food and Wine website.

CSA Farm Share Quiche

2010-06-22T13:49:00.000-04:00

CSA season is in full swing, and I am loving the challenge of so many vegetables and greens to get through each week. We were away this weekend, and so lost two precious days to work on this week's haul. With Friday looming, I needed something quick that would also work on our well stocked fridge to make for lunch.

I zoomed onto facebook quickly in that "the toddler isn't currently in danger so I have 30 seconds to see what's happening" way that I'm sure most parents are familiar with, and am so glad I did. A high school friend has recently started a blog, and had updated it with a quiche recipe. I recalled some frozen crusts lounging in our downstairs freezer, did a quick tally of various greens and veggies I could use in the quiche, calculated the likelihood of getting the quiche made while making and feeding the cranky toddler his lunch ... and decided it was worth the gamble. I'm not going to lie - it was one crazy hour and the kitchen looked a little worse for wear when all was said and done. But the quiche made it into the oven before Q's nap, and was ready for lunch right on time.

Quiche is nothing groundbreaking, but I liked the proportions in this recipe. I used 2 garlic scapes, one and a half small zucchinis and a handful of dandelion greens. Otherwise I followed the recipe as written, although I did add some salt and pepper to the cooked veggies. I did have a little too much filling (aka a little spillage) but that could have been due to my haste and or ingredient adjustments. The flavor was creamy, cheesey and seemed well balanced by the inclusion of the greens. I think this will definitely be a repeater recipe as I'm sure there will be more occasions when I need to use up produce while creating a delicious and not too heavy meal.

EASY BASIC QUICHE

Aroz@lettuceeatlocally.blogspot.com

Pie crust, frozen or home made
4 eggs
2/3 c. half & half/milk or 1/3 c. plain yogurt & 1/3 c. milk
1 c. cheddar cheese
FILLINGS:
1/2 c. chopped broccoli
1/2 c. chopped zucchini
1/4 c. onion
1 garlic scape, finely diced

salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Whip eggs until fluffy and add milk. Meanwhile, saute filling ingredients in olive oil in a pan on medium heat, adding salt & pepper to taste. Add filling mixture to the pie crust and then add egg mixture. Sprinkle cheese over the top and season with salt and pepper. Bake at 375 degrees 35 to 40 minutes. Top will be golden brown. Allow to cool some before serving.

Garlic Scape Pesto

2010-06-11T14:30:00.003-04:00

M. and I have been members of CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) organizations several times in the past. Now we've left New York City and live in the Hudson Valley, we've joined a local, organic farm. It's kind of fun going to the actual farm where the produce is grown to pick it up. And there are nice perks like freezers with grass fed meats for purchase (for M. and the little sprout), delicious whole grain breads for purchase as well as flowers for picking and the farm's herb garden to raid. And Little Sprout loves to watch the chickens in their chicken coop, which makes a trip to the farm a fun family outing.

We purchased a full share, but are clearly going to have to be on our game to keep up as this week's share was quite substantial. Two pounds of mesclun - two pounds. That can be measured by putting a ton of mesclun into the scale, and then when you find yourself cringing at how much mesclun there is realizing you're only at a pound! Two heads of Napa cabbage, two large bunches of greens, two bunches of spring onions, two bunches of mystery greens, two bunches of baby carrots, two bunches of beets (with greens attached - yum!) and a quarter pound of garlic scapes. Oh, there were also 2 pints of strawberries as well. Those we had no problem polishing off.

I had lofty ambitions for the garlic scapes, however time got the best of me. As I switched into "CSA day is coming up - time to empty the fridge" panic last night, I went with the old standby of garlic scape pesto. Now that we are the proud owners of a chest freezer, I planned on freezing most of it for a treat later in the summer using only what we needed for dinner last night. I worked off of this recipe from the Washington Post (which was the first one that came up in my google search that sounded appealing) but I did make a few changes. I eyeballed about a half cup of pignolis instead of using the walnuts called for in the recipe due to (my) personal preference. And I made a batch and a half of the recipe so as to use up all of my scapes. I also discovered myself perilously short on olive oil, and mixed the pesto with a blend of olive oil and pasta cooking water which made for a nice light texture.

The pesto was definitely pungent though - not for the faint of heart (or faint of garlic). I froze some without cheese, as it freezes better that way. And I added enough cheese to our dinner portion to make it taste "right" without really measuring. I served the pasta with a big pile of the sauteed mystery greens, and a mesclun salad. I'd say we've gotten through a pound of the mesclun so far, only a pound to go!

Garlic Scape Pesto

Ingredients:
1 cup garlic scapes (about 8 or 9 scapes), top flowery part removed, cut into ¼-inch slices
1/3 cup walnuts
¾ cup olive oil
¼-1/2 cup grated parmigiano
½ teaspoon salt
black pepper to taste

Method:
Place scapes and walnuts in the bowl of a food processor and whiz until well combined and somewhat smooth. Slowly drizzle in oil and process until integrated. With a rubber spatula, scoop pesto out of bowl and into a mixing bowl. Add parmigiano to taste; add salt and pepper. Makes about 6 ounces of pesto. Keeps for up to one week in an air-tight container in the refrigerator.

For ½ pound short pasta such as penne, add about 2 tablespoons of pesto to cooked pasta and stir until pasta is well coated.

Creamy Tomato Soup

2010-06-10T14:25:00.000-04:00

As I contemplate a summer with minimal air conditioning, this week's cool weather has been a delightful opportunity to get some "warm" cooking in. Turning on the oven doesn't affect the temperature of the house of hours, and cooking stovetop doesn't result in extra sweating. There may not be too many of these days left, so I've been making the most of it.

Yesterday was particularly cool and rainy, and just cried out for tomato soup. I reached for a recipe I've never tried before (but heard good things about) and was pleased to see I had most of the ingredients on hand. Living 20 + minutes from a grocery store these days is making me appreciate recipes that can be prepared from my well (over?) stocked pantry more and more.
I did make a few changes. I used spring onions from our farm share as I didn't have any leeks. And I made a half recipe as I only had 1 can of whole tomatoes in the pantry. We got two adult servings, and two boy sized servings from the recipe. It made a nice lunch when paired with a sandwich and a small salad with farm fresh mesclun greens.

Overall, I really enjoyed this soup. I liked the ease of the preparation, as well as the creamy taste minus a ton of cream. I think my tomatoes could have roasted longer, I pulled them at 35 minutes because I needed to finish the soup. I think they were not quite caramelized enough, but the resulting soup was still very enjoyable. While it doesn't compare to a tomato soup made from fresh tomatoes, it was one of the better recipes utilizing canned tomatoes that I've tried.

And, while I didn't get a perfect food blogger shot of the soup, I did get a picture of my boy shortly after tucking into a bowl of the soup. I suppose that'll have to do.... :)

Creamy Tomato Soup
A Year in a Vegetarian Kitchen by Jack Bishop

2 28-ounce cans whole tomatoes
1 tablespoon light or dark brown sugar
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 medium leeks, white and light green parts, halved lengthwise, washed, and sliced crosswise into thin strips
Salt
1 tablespoon double-strength tomato paste (the kind in the tube)
1/8 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 cups vegetable broth
Cayenne pepper

1. Move an oven rack to the middle position and heat the oven to 475 degrees. Line a large rimmed baking sheet with foil.

2. Drain the tomatoes in a strainer set in a bowl to collect the juices. With your fingers, carefully open the tomatoes, one at a time, letting the juices and seeds drop into the strainer. Place the seeded tomatoes on the foil-lined baking sheet. Sprinkle with the brown sugar and roast until the liquid has evaporated and the tomatoes are just beginning to color, about 20 minutes. Discard the seeds in the strainer and reserve the juice in the bowl. You should have about 2.5 cups strained tomato juice.

3. Melt the butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. When the foaming subsides, add the leeks and 1/2 teaspoon salt and cook, stirring often, until the leeks have softened, about 5 minutes. Add the tomato paste and nutmeg and cook, stirring often, for 1 minute. Add the flour and cook, stirring often, for 1 minute. Whisking constantly, add the vegetable broth until the mixture is smooth (without lumps of flour). Add the reserved tomato juice and roasted tomatoes. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat, cover, and simmer to blend the flavors, about 10 minutes.

4. Puree the soup in batches until perfectly smooth. Return the soup to a clean saucepan and adjust the seasonings, adding salt and cayenne pepper to taste. Warm and serve, or refrigerate in an airtight container for several days and then warm over low heat before serving.

Serves 4.

Hello Blog.

2010-03-20T10:06:00.004-04:00

I've missed you so. I miss documenting the recipes I make (although new recipes are fewer these days). I miss having the time to take pictures of the final result. I miss having a "food diary" to flip through when I'm needing inspiration.

I told myself that this was the year I'd get back into blogging. Doesn't seem to be going so well, does it? My little veggie boy has gotten so big these days - and he's always on the move. We spend our days at playgrounds, playdates and on the go. Cooking has slipped to the side, and I find I use my slow cooker more then any other appliance in the kitchen these days. Occasional bouts of necessitated dairy-freeness (if that's even a word) have encouraged me to head for vegan recipes much more then in the past. And leaving New York City and moving upstate has changed life even more.

Yes, big changes have been afoot in the Veggie Kitchen since last summer. I haven't forgotten about my little blog, and I do hope to come back to blogging regularly soon. Perhaps even this week....

Light Brioche Burger Buns

2009-07-08T08:43:00.002-04:00

I've been wanting to make bread for some time. I've been sitting on the floor playing blocks with my son and dreaming of making foccacia, or rosemary sandwich buns. Weird, i know. But I never found time to work it into my day until now. This recipe caught my eye on Smitten Kitchen, so I dropped what I was doing and got to it! The recipe was published in the New York Times dining section last week.

The recipe was straightforward and easy to follow, although I did end up adding a little extra flour to the dough to make it easier to manage. I tried making the dough in my kitchenaid mixer, however there simply weren't enough ingredients for the dough hook to get around. I think it might work if the recipe were doubled, but otherwise I'd make it by hand. And be prepared for super sticky dough! I also let mine overrise by mistake while running to the grocery store, so my buns were a little flatter then they might otherwise have been. Still, the sweet buttery taste of the buns was worth all the hassle! I don't know if this will become a regular due to the tricky dough (Moomie's recipe is easier to work with) but I will definitely make it again. The taste was truly spectacular, and has inspired me to make more bread!!

I did not photograph my buns (what a surprise!) however Deb at Smitten Kitchen has plenty of gorgeous pictures so I urge you to take a peek. You can find her post about this recipe here.

Light Brioche Burger Buns
Adapted from Comme Ça restaurant in Los Angeles, via the New York Times

Go! Make these! What are you waiting for?

Makes 8 4 to 5-inch burger buns

3 tablespoons warm milk
2 teaspoons active dry yeast
2 1/2 tablespoons sugar
2 large eggs
3 cups bread flour
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
2 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
Sesame seeds (optional)

1. In a glass measuring cup, combine one cup warm water, the milk, yeast and sugar. Let stand until foamy, about five minutes. Meanwhile, beat one egg.

2. In a large bowl, whisk flours with salt. Add butter and rub into flour between your fingers, making crumbs. Using a dough scraper, stir in yeast mixture and beaten egg until a dough forms. Scrape dough onto clean, well-floured counter and knead, scooping dough up, slapping it on counter and turning it, until smooth and elastic, 8 to 10 minutes. The dough will be on the sticky side so it can be a bit messy, but keep in mind that the more flour you knead in, the tougher the buns will get. Try to leave them tackier than you would a round loaf.

3. Shape dough into a ball and return it to bowl. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place until doubled in bulk, one to two hours. (In my freaky, warm apartment this only took an hour.)

4. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Using dough scraper, divide dough into 8 equal parts. Gently roll each into a ball and arrange two to three inches apart on baking sheet. Cover loosely with a piece of plastic wrap lightly coated in nonstick spray and let buns rise in a warm place for one to two hours. (Again, this only took one hour in my apartment and I suspect, you’ll also only need an hour for a second rise.)

5. Set a large shallow pan of water on oven floor. Preheat oven to 400 degrees with rack in center. Beat remaining egg with one tablespoon water and brush some on top of buns. Sprinkle with sesame seeds, if using. Bake, turning sheet halfway through baking, until tops are golden brown, about 15 minutes. Transfer to a rack to cool completely.

Wacky Cake

2009-05-10T10:39:00.003-04:00

How has it been almost a month since my last post? The veggie kitchen has actually been quite busy these days, but the taking pictures and typing up recipes piece of blogging hasn't been going as well. And since that's a key part in keeping a blog going, things have been slow. Hopefully one day soon I'll be able to tell you about the roasted potato gruyere tart we've made, or the brownies, or there was the lemon pasta Mike created...

But this was something I made just this past Friday. One of my mommy friends has a baby with a dairy/soy allergy. Needless to say this means she must pass on most baked goods that come out of my kitchen. Since it was her birthday last week, I decided to make something she could enjoy. And this cake sprang to mind. I made it once years ago, but remembered it as being tasty and EASY. The glaze posed a bit more of a problem for this particular situation. I subbed rice milk for the dairy milk, but was a bit stumped by the butter. My first thought was to buy vegan butter, but when I had it home I realized it contained soy which wouldn't do. As it turned out butter is okay for this friend, and so I did just use regular butter.

The cake was rich and chocolatey. Mike thought the texture was a bit different from a standard cake, however we both enjoyed the pieces I snuck home from the gathering. And the cake was quite a big hit at the social event to which it was taken. No one could believe that it was dairy free (mostly) and easy.

I think this cake's value lies in its versatility. Need an easy vegan cake for a vegan friend? This cake fits the bill. Need a chocolate fix readily filled by ingredients likely to be on hand? Again, this cake will definitely do. I was quite glad only a slice or two came home, as more would have been quite dangerous for Mike and I both! :)

Wacky Cake

From Simple Vegetarian Pleasures by Jeanne Lemlin

"Wacky" cake is so called because it has no eggs in it, and is mixed together in an unusual way. Because it only takes a few minutes to make this cake batter (you don't even have to butter the pan beforehand) you must turn on your oven at least 10 minutes before you begin so it has time to preheat.

1 1/2 cups unbleached flour

1 cup sugar

1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup warm water

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/3 cup vegetable oil

1 teaspoon distilled white or apple cider vinegar

The Chocolate Glaze

1/2 cup sugar

4 tablespoons unsalted butter (or vegan butter)

2 tablespoons milk (I used rice milk for our situation, soy milk would also work)

2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. If using a glass baking dish, heat to 325. A good ten minutes later, begin to make the cake. Place flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, and salt in an 8x8 inch cake pan. Using a fork, stir the dry ingredients together until completely blended and uniform in color with no visible streaks.

2. Pour on the water, vanilla, oil, and vinegar and immediately stir with the fork until completely blended. Using a spatula at this point is helpful for getting batter out of the corners.

3. Put cake in oven and bake for 30 minutes, or until a knife inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean. Cool the cake completely on a wire rack, about 2 hours. This cake is meant to be served out of the pan, not unmolded.

4. To make glaze, combine sugar, butter, milk, and cocoa in a small saucepan and bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Remove pan from the heat, and stir until cool (about 5 minutes). Add vanilla extract, then pour onto cake. Let cool completely before serving (about 1 hour).

For a 9x13 cake, use 1.5 times the recipe and cook about 25 minutes.

For a 9 inch round spring form pan, use 1.5 times the recipe and cook about 50 minutes. (butter and flour the pan before hand, mix batter in large bowl and pour into pan. Unmold after baking).

For a sheet cake, use a 17x11 inch jelly roll pan that has been buttered and floured beforehand. Mix 3 times the batter in a large bowl, and pour into prepared pan. Bake 35 minutes, unmold after baking.

For cupcakes, this recipe as above will make 1 dozen. Place 12 paper liners in a muffin pan. Mix batter in a bowl, then fill liners. Bake 22 minutes.

Brazilian Black Beans - Every Day Food

2009-04-14T09:28:00.002-04:00

I am a big fan of beans. Particularly black beans - I love the versatility of cooking once and having beans to use in a variety of ways for the next few days. These days that quality is key as it relieves the pressure of daily cooking. Cooking dinner every night just isn't going to happen now that Quinn goes to bed at 7 pm on a daily basis. But, recipes like this mean I have something to work with after he goes down.

This recipe caught my eye in a recent Every Day Food issue. I'm pretty faithful to my favorite black bean recipe but I was intrigued by the step of cooking the beets in the beans. It seemed simple enough, but I would have never thought to do it. So I deviated from the norm, and gave the recipe a whirl.

This recipe was simple enough, and yet the taste belied the basic ingredients. There was no discernible beet quality to the beans (we wouldn't have minded if there were), and I liked having a vegetable side ready to go as the beans were done. I ended up mixing beans bought in two different stores which ended up with some beans underdone, but that was my mistake and not terribly detrimental to the dish as a whole. I served the beans with brown rice, sprinkled with the recommended sides seen above in a picture from the Every Day Food website. We also enjoyed simply braised collard greens to round out the meal.

I'm not sure I would make this particular recipe again because I think it is simple enough that I can create something like it in the future without following a recipe. But Mike and I both liked the idea of cooking the beets in the beans, and plan to tinker with that again in the future. And, with some planning ahead (and cooking beans ahead) the final steps in this recipe definitely made it weeknight worthy.

Great Grains Muffins

2009-03-31T09:00:00.001-04:00

I'm really digging muffins these days. They're easy to make, quick and easy to eat in the mornings between wakeup time and first nap time and they give me the feeling that I'm back in the kitchen. Or, back in the kitchen without spending hours and hours slaving over a hot stove.

Last night I decided to whip up a batch of Great Grains muffins from Dorie Greenspan's Baking:From My Home to Yours. This is big for me. They contain no chocolate. None. Not even a bit. And they were quick and easy to throw together. I even made it through assembling the dry ingredients wearing Quinn. But then he'd had it with baking, and it was time to start bedtime. So I recommend this recipe for its ease and simplicity, as well as being baby wearing friendly.

The muffins were sweet, but not overly so. They had a nice crumb, and both M. and I enjoyed one with our breakfasts this morning. I had a feeling M. would really like these muffins (as he is not as big a fan of chocolate as I am) and he was quite pleased with the finished result. I added raisins and sliced dried apricots to my muffins, and thought the combo was good. But cranberries would work, as would any other dried fruit (or nut if you like nuts in baked goods) combo. I also used fat free buttermilk.

Great Grains Muffins
from Baking From My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan
1 cup all purpose flour
1/3 cup whole wheat flour
1/3 cup cornmeal
1/3 cup old-fashioned oatmeal
1/4 cup sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup buttermilk
1/3 cup maple syrup
2 large eggs
1 stick unsalted butter, melted and cooled
3/4 cup quartered, moist, plump prunes or other dried fruit and/or nuts

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Butter or spray a muffin tin.

In a large bowl, whish together the flours, cornmeal, oats, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. In a large glass measuring cup, whisk together the buttermilk, maple syrup, eggs, and melted butter. Pour the liquid ingredients over the dry and gently, but quickly stir together. Don’t worry about being thorough — if the batter is lumpy, that’s fine. Stir in the fruit or nuts, if you are using them. Divide batter evenly among the muffin cups.

Bake for 18-20 minutes or until the tops are gold and a thin knife inserted into the center of the muffins comes out clean. Transfer the pan to a rack and cool for 5 minutes, then carefully lift each muffin out of its mold and onto the rack to cool.

Root Beer Bundt Cake

2009-03-30T08:29:00.004-04:00

One of my favorite things about going to Baked is never knowing what cakes will be offered that day. There are usually three cakes available for purchasing by the slice, and the offerings change daily. I can go craving one cake, but if isn't available that day then I'm FORCED to try something new. Which, as a creature of habit is probably a good thing for me. :)

On one of our trips, M. tried the coca cola bundt cake. He was really taken with it, and asked me to research a recipe so we could make it at home. Well, that never happened. But when I saw the root beer bundt in the Baked cookbook, I decided it would be the perfect dessert for a dinner party we had this weekend. It could be made in advance, and ready to go at the conclusion of the meal. I learned the hard way recently that this is key, particularly these days with babies being a baking factor. I did debate swapping the root beer for coke (which I will do in the future) but we both decided we'd try the "authentic" version first.

The cake was easy to prepare, although it doesn't use a mixer. The wet ingredients (including the root beer) are heated on the stove, and then the dry ingredients are mixed in. The recipe cautions over-mixing. Accordingly, I was very careful not to over-mix. So careful that I actually undermixed and my cake was studded with pockets of flour. Oops. Next time I'll mix a little harder, and not worry so much about it. But the results were still delicious, if a little unusual to the eye. There was also a lot of frosting to this cake. I happen to LOVE frosting, but if you are not such a big fan then I would recommend cutting the glaze recipe in half. I also really liked how easy the glaze was to make - the recipe called for making it in the food processor. A bit unconventional, but oh so quick and easy to whip up!

Overall, the cake was well received by all and the leftovers are still sitting and taunting me as I write. Very very dangerous. :)

Root Beer Bundt Cake
for 1 (10-inch) Bundt cake
From Baked: New Frontiers In Baking by Matt Lewis and Renato Poliafito

for the cake:

2 cups root beer (do not use diet root beer)
1 cup dark unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
1/2 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs

for the frosting:
2 ounces dark chocolate (60% cacao), melted and cooled slightly
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
1 teaspoons salt
1/4 cup root beer
2/3 cup dark unsweetened cocoa powder
2 1/2 cups confectioners’ sugar

For the cake:

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Generously spray the inside of a 10-inch bundt pan with nonstick cooking spray; alternatively, butter it, dust with flour, and knock out the excess flour.

In a small saucepan, heat the root beer, cocoa powder, and butter over medium heat until the butter is melted. Add the sugars and whisk until dissolved. Remove from the heat and let cool.

In a large bowl, whisk the flour, baking soda, and salt together.

In a small bowl, whisk the eggs until just beaten, then whisk them into the cooled cocoa mixture until combined. Gently fold the flour mixture into the cocoa mixture. The batter will be slightly lumpy–do not overbeat, as it could cause the cake to be tough.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 35 to 40 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through the baking time, until a small sharp knife inserted into the cake comes out clean. Transfer the pan to a wire rack to cool completely. Gently loosen the sides of the cake from the pan and turn it out onto a platter.

For the frosting:

Put all the ingredients in a food processor. Pulse in short bursts until the frosting is shiny and smooth.

Use a spatula to spread the fudge frosting over the crown of the Bundt in a thick layer. Let the frosting set before serving, with the ice cream on the side.

Banana Espresso Chocolate Chip Muffins

2009-03-25T07:01:00.003-04:00

I won't tell you when I actually made these muffins. We'll just leave it at it wasn't yesterday, or even this week. Sigh. Getting back into the swing of blogging is harder then I thought. But I am determined to get there ... one day.

All the internet is abuzz with the recent publication of Baked:New Frontiers in Baking. I'm quite spoiled, the bakery Baked is about a twenty minute walk down the road from my apartment. Strolling down to choose a treat has become a new favorite weekend activity. As a result, I'm continually expanding my repertoire of tasty treats and am thrilled so many are included in the cookbook. Their layer cakes are delicious, and I look forward to trying a few at home in the near future. We sampled a slice of the Lemon Drop last weekend, and were quite pleased with the results.

I made this recipe pretty much as is. I did measure espresso from a cup of espresso, but added a bit more. I usually do that as I'm too lazy to stock espresso powder when we have an espresso machine at home. I thought the coffee taste was present but subtle in these muffins, so if you like a stronger flavor you might want to amp the flavor up a bit. These muffins are moist and sweet, and I've kept a few in the freezer for those mornings when I need a bit more of a boost. I got a yield of 16 muffins, however I noted these muffins didn't rise overly much. When I make them again, I might get 12 as I will know I can fill the cups a little bit more then I did this time. And there will be a next time I make these muffins. Banana, chocolate, coffee - how can you go wrong?

Banana Espresso Chocolate Chip Muffins

From Baked: New Frontiers in Baking by Matt Lewis and Renato Poliafito

1 1/2 cups mashed, very ripe bananas (about 4)
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted
1/4 cup whole milk
1 large egg
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp instant espresso powder (I used liquid espresso, and increased to 1 tablespoon)
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 cup (6 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a 12-cup muffin pan with non-stick cooking spray.
In a medium bowl, stir together the bananas, sugars, butter, milk, and egg.
In another medium bowl, whisk together the flour, instant espresso powder,baking soda and salt. Make a well in the middle of the dry ingredients. Pour the wet ingredients into the well and stir just until combined. Fold in the chocolate chips.
Fill each cup about 3/4 full. Bake in the center of the oven for 20-25 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center of the muffin comes out clean.
Let the muffins cool on a cooling rack for 15 minutes. Then remove the muffins from the pan and allow them to finish cooling on the cooling rack. Store up to 2 days in an airtight container.

Smitten Kitchen's Mushroom Bourguignon

2009-02-08T20:53:00.004-05:00

Continuing the Smitten Kitchen recipe roll, we will now discuss the mushroom bourguignon. This recipe grabbed me the second I saw it on the website. The sauce looked luscious, the mushrooms delicious and the bed of pasta - perfection. You can find the blogger's fantastic photos and the recipe here. Beef Bourguignon suddenly became a dish that I didn't know I'd missed until I saw this mushroom alternative. I believe the recipe came out on a Thursday, and I put it on Saturday's menu.

We had company that evening, company I deemed worthy of sharing what I hoped would be mushroomy deliciousness. M ended up making the dish (that whole baby tag-teaming effect again) and reported that the preparations were straightforward. A little chopping, a little braising. And the results? Oh, the results contained the deliciousness I'd hoped for. The sauce was rich, the mushrooms tender and winey and the bed of pasta provided the perfect compliment to the saucy stew. M. did follow the directions on the pearl onions, but our general consensus was that they were too firm. Next time we would parboil them before adding them to the stew, or perhaps try frozen. Ours were fresh, and were just too firm and spicy to meld with the softness of the stew.

Needless to say there were no leftovers that night. I look forward to making this recipe again, perhaps on a night when M. and I are without guests so that there WILL be leftovers we can enjoy on another occasion. In fact, we haven't planned our menu for Valentine's Day yet...

Smitten Kitchen Chocolate Pudding

2009-02-07T09:38:00.003-05:00

Signs I need to post more often:

My last post was on the first day of this year (okay, it is only February but STILL).

It took me a minute to remember how to create a new post. I went to the website first, and was puzzled for a second about how to log in and write a new post.

Ah, lack of sleep. It boggles the mind.

The veggie kitchen has actually been a'cookin these days. Maybe not every day, but at least several times a week. Still, the whole photography blogging piece has been lagging. I'll keep working on it, but in the meantime I want to start sharing what I (we ... cooking is often a tag team event round here) have been up to.

Starting with ... chocolate pudding. Yes, be very impressed.

This week I had a crazy craving for chocolate pudding. Homemade, of course. This was puzzling to me as I didn't grow up with chocolate pudding in a regular dessert rotation at my house. In fact, I don't think we EVER had chocolate pudding. As a young adult, my only concept of chocolate pudding was the small brown JELLO box. It would do from time to time, but nothing to get excited about. But this week, I wanted pudding and I wanted it to be real. I googled for a recipe, and up popped Smitten Kitchen's. I've made several recipes off of her site lately, and figured this would be good place to start.

I was stumped by the lack of whole milk in the house. It isn't something we keep around, and I was afraid that if I made the pudding with skim it wouldn't set. Several of the commenters on Smitten Kitchen seemed to have that problem. But, I plucked up my courage, threw in a half a cup of heavy cream lying around for one half cup of the milk and held my breath. And it worked. Perhaps the pudding would have been richer and lusher had it been made with whole milk, or even 2%. But it was plenty rich and chocolatey for my taste buds, and I like to think that it was perhaps a touch better for me as a result of the lighter milk. A touch.

M. thought the pudding was just okay. When making the pudding, I added 3 oz from a Trader Joe's bittersweet chocolate, and planned on adding 3 oz of semisweet chocolate chips. M. had to take over for me, and he misunderstood my directions and added 3 oz of milk chocolate chips instead. I thought the results were tasty, perhaps milder then had we used the semisweet but still rich and silky smooth. M. thought the quality of the chocolate could have been better and wasn't quite as impressed. Apparently when it comes to chocolate I'm an easy sell!

Still, the recipe came together inside of a half hour, and kept very well for several days in the fridge. Served with a dollop of whipped cream on top, this customer was quite happy and has spent the past couple days in a chocolate cloud of anticipation of the evening's pudding dessert.

You can find the recipe here... along with amazing photographs.

Cinnamon Rolls with Cream Cheese Glaze

2009-01-01T19:48:00.001-05:00

I've always thought it would be fun to host the holidays. We've alternated going to my parents or my husband's family for years, and I've always thought it would be great to have everyone come to us. That way we could plan our menu, serve what we want to serve and just put our spin on the holiday celebration.

Of course, when I had these thoughts I did not think we would take the holiday hosting plunge three weeks after having our first baby. But we did! And it was a ton of work for my husband who did most of the planning, preparing and cooking. But I managed to contribute cinnamon rolls for breakfast Christmas morning. I've always thought cinnamon rolls (or some equivalent "special" breakfast food) should start a holiday. And this year cinnamon rolls popped into my head as the perfect start to the day.

Making them was an experience. I drifted into the kitchen, made part of the dough before going back out to pick up a freshly awakened baby. A short time later I came back in wearing the baby, and finished the dough. The dough rose for a bit longer then the 2 hours called for in the recipe, although it seemed no worse for wear. And after cutting the rolls, I put them into the fridge overnight for their last rise before baking the next day.

I used this recipe from Bon Appetit, and I was really pleased with the results. The glaze made plenty - I am a frosting lover and these were perfectly iced in my book. The rolls were best the first day fresh from the oven, but oven heated leftovers disappeared the next two days as well. I did not get the rolls photographed... I will have to work on that important step in my next recipe, but I will say it felt good to be back in the kitchen. My motivation which abandoned me during pregnancy seems to be back, so hopefully my baby-juggling/cooking skills will continue to develop and I will be posting more regularly soon.

Happy New Year everyone!

Crickets chirping.....

2008-12-13T18:13:00.003-05:00

Hello anyone still out there!!! I'm sorry it's been so long. Here we are looking at the holidays with Christmas quickly looming. My plans to spend the fall busily baking and cooking while awaiting the arrival of my son didn't quite work out. The pregnancy wiped me out more then I expected, and I spent little time in the kitchen. Still, baby boy arrived on November 30th, and M. and I are delighted to be spending lots of time getting to know him. So far Q seems to be a happy little baby, and we both melt at his little smiles.

I hope to get into the kitchen more in the months ahead. Right now I'm being spoiled by both M. and my mom cooking for me (and even more importantly doing laundry!) as I recover and begin to figure out my new routines. We've made some delicious cookie recipes recently, so hopefully those will be a good jumping off point for posting in the future.

So, once again, please check back. I do hope to get back into the swing of posting again soon!

Happy Holidays!

Pomodori al Forno

2008-09-29T09:20:00.004-04:00

Here we are, staring October straight in the face. I've neglected my poor little blog ... again... but there has been a lot of activity in the Veggie Kitchen of late. We've been cooking up a storm - yes, both M. and I have been busy. But, we've been cooking seasonally using fresh ingredients procured from local farmers' markets and haven't really been following recipes. As a result, I've been too lazy to track ingredients, keep measurements recorded or even take pictures of the final result. Bad blogger, I know.

But now that we're moving into fall, I'm beginning to seek recipes and be inspired to keep better track of what I'm doing. Recently I was inspired by Stephanie's post about a recent Molly Wizenberg column in Bon Appetit. The column caught my eye when I read the issue, but it took Stephanie's raves about the recipe to really get me to the farmer's market to buy some tomatoes to try it for myself.

We really enjoyed this recipe. We enjoyed it as recommended at first, and served it on french bread slices over a bed of goat cheese. The creaminess of the goat cheese complimented the tomatoes nicely, and we had to work hard to remember that there were supposedly eight servings in the recipe. Then I used it in a tried and true pasta recipe in place of sundried tomatoes. The leftover Pomodori al Forno worked perfectly, and added a depth of flavor that I don't remember previously. So that experiment was considered a success in my book!

I also reserved the flavored olive oil from the Pomodori al Forno, and have used it in numerous recipes where I thought it would compliment the dish. And so far, the tomatoey taste of the oil has done just that. So the versatility of this one recipe has really impressed me. And it's simple (although time consuming) and tasty to boot! What could be better?

So I will join the ranks of those encouraging everyone to try this recipe. Tomato season is almost over - but there is still time! Hurry! And I apologize for the lackluster picture accompanying this post - we were so busy scarfing down the tomatoey cheesey goodness that taking a picture was an afterthought. :)

[Recipes for pomodori al Forno and Angel Hair with Sund-dried Tomatoes and Goat Cheese can be found by clicking the links above.]

Moomie's Beautiful Burger Buns

2008-08-18T11:47:00.004-04:00

A few weeks ago we held a barbecue to celebrate my belated birthday. M decided he wanted to serve sliders, but we weren't sure where to get small buns. I checked out a local grocery store but was not impressed by what I found. So I decided to try making my own. This recipe has floated around the web with so many different variations that I figured it was a good place to start. It was incredibly easy (especially using the bread machine to make the dough) and I was able to get about 20 or so slider sized buns out of each batch of dough.

The rolls were soft and tender with a nice yeasty flavor. I will definitely tinker with adding fresh herbs and whole wheat flour to future batches to experiment. I think this will be our new "house roll" and I am determined to try other homemade breads using the bread machine in the future.

Moomie's Beautiful Burger Buns

Makes 8 full size burger buns (or approximately 20 miniature buns)

1 cup of water

2 tablespoons of melted butter

1 egg

3 1/4 cups of flour

1/4 sugar

1 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon of instant yeast

1. Place ingredients in order in bread machine. Select dough cycle, and allow to run to completion.

2. Dump dough onto lightly floured surface. Divide into 8 pieces (or smaller pieces if making miniature buns). Slap into shape (dough is pretty sticky). Place on greased cookie dough sheets, cover with a towel and allow to rise for 30-40 minutes.

3. Bake in preheated 375 degree oven for 12-15 minutes. Cool on wire racks.

We toasted the buns on the grill lightly before serving. I also froze leftovers with great success - the buns toasted nicely coming out of the freezer.

Red Lentil-Chickpea Patties

2008-07-31T14:22:00.004-04:00

When I'm off from work, one of two scenarios unfolds. I'm either very motivated in the kitchen, or very lazy. I will have to work hard on falling into the former in the months ahead as I enjoy a little time off before the baby comes.

Last week I had a day off, and was extremely motivated. I decided to make M. a healthy feast for dinner, and picked a recipe I've often looked at but never tried. These patties were great! The filling was really tasty - I found myself scooping little bits as I worked on other components of the dish. I did totally blank on the chilling step - our patties did fall apart a bit so I think chilling them before cooking would have been a good idea. Oh well, next time! The flavor was partly Indian, partly fusion (when paired with the peanut sauce) and had a good blend of both fresh and dried spices. The peanut sauce was quick to prepare and very tasty - I wasn't sure about the maple syrup sweetener but there was no discernible mapleness in the final sauce. I paired the patties with a simple chopped salad.

We both enjoyed this meal, and I will definitely make it again. I think I might try a bun instead of the pita bread next time. Both M. and I felt there was a bit too much pita and not quite enough patty. But we did end up with extra patties, so perhaps ours were a bit small. But overall, a tasty (although not quick!) meal that will definitely be repeated in the future.

Red Lentil - Chickpea Patties

The Healthy Hedonist by Myra Kornfeld

Serves 6

3/4 cup red lentils, sorted and rinsed

1 3/4 cups water

salt

1 15 oz can of chickpeas, drained and rinsed

3/4 pound carrots cut into small dice (1 cup)

1 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp ground coriander

1 cup of peas, fresh or frozen

1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley

1 tsp fresh lemon juice

pinch of cayenne pepper

1/4 cup bread crumbs

6 whole wheat pita breads

shredded romaine lettuce

chopped fresh tomatoes

Spicy Peanut Sauce (recipe below)

Combine the lentils and the water in a medium saucepan, and bring to a boil. Add 1 tsp salt, reduce the heat, and simmer, stirring occasionally, until the lentils are tender, about 20 minutes. The lentils should lose their individual shape and cook into one mass. Cook them as dry as possible without sticking. Stir the cooked lentils with a spoon to break them up, and pour them into a medium bowl. Stir in the chickpeas.

Warm the oil in a medium skillet over medium heat. Add the shallots, carrots, and 1/4 tsp of salt, and cook until the carrots are tender, about 3 minutes. Add the cumin, coriander, and peas, and cook until the peas are tender, 2 minutes. Stir the vegetables into the lentils along with the parsley, lemon juice, and cayenne. Stir in the bread crumbs. Let the mixture sit for ten minutes, or until it is cool enough to handle.

Using your hands, form the lentils into 6 tight patties and place them on a plate. Cover and chill in the refrigerator until very firm, at least 30 minutes.

Warm a tablespoon of oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add the burgers (they are a bit delicate so do not crowd pan). Saute until golden, about 2 minutes. Turn over and saute on other side until golden.

Serve each burger in a pita with Spicy Peanut Sauce, topped with lettuce and tomatoes.

Spicy Peanut Sauce

Makes 3/4 cup

1/3 cup smooth peanut butter

1 tsp curry powder

1/2 tsp salt

1 Tbsp maple syrup

1 Tbsp chopped fresh ginger

1/3 cup water

1 Tbsp fresh lemon juice

1/4 tsp cayenne

1 Tbsp thinly sliced scallions or chives

Combine everything except scallions in a blender, and blend until smooth. Stir in scallions. Store covered and refrigerated.

Chocolate Chip Cookies - New York Times Recipe 7/9/08

2008-07-23T13:42:00.007-04:00

I've already mentioned my love for chocolate chip cookies. Here. Here. And I'll even count here, even though these cookies happen to also contain oatmeal. So, when the New York Times dining section contained a recipe for reportedly fabulous chocolate chip cookies, I knew it was only a matter of time before I would try them. It took me a little time to collect the flours (cake and bread), as well as find the time to make the dough and allow it to sit for the full 36 hours. This is not the cookie recipe to make for instant gratification (although the two I baked up on the first night for scientific purposes were very tasty indeed). No, this is the recipe to make for an event. An event 36 hours from the time of making the batter. These cookies are delicious, probably my favorite to date. They have crisp edges, soft and tender centers and are positively littered with chocolate chippy goodness. Although maybe that's because my hand slipped just a bit when adding the chocolate chips.

M. prefers the cookies sprinkled with a touch of sea salt, but I prefer them plain. I think this recipe is our new hands-down favorite, and will definitely be repeated. But, as mentioned before, only when there's time or an occasion to plan ahead. When you need a cookie right now, then another recipe will serve you better. But when you can plan ahead, then I urge you to try these cookies. And then if you're like me, you'll quickly freeze balls of dough (see above) in the freezer so as to reduce the temptation to eat cookies for breakfast, lunch and dinner while they're around. Yes, they're really that good.

I think I made my cookies a bit smaller then the recipe calls for, even though I made them bigger then I would usually. I do think the size is somewhat important, as a smaller cookie might not develop the crisp/chewy texture that makes the recipe so delicious. I used Ghiardelli 60% bittersweet chocolate chips (with a handful of regular Toll House chips for good measure). And, as I mentioned, I also froze much of the dough into pre-formed balls for easy baking for future chocolate chip cookie cravings. These cookies are way too deliciously dangerous to leave lying around!

Chocolate Chip Cookies

adapted from Jacques Torres

New York Times 7/9/08

Time: 45 minutes (for 1 6-cookie batch), plus at least 24 hours’ chilling

2 cups minus 2 tablespoons
(8 1/2 ounces) cake flour
1 2/3 cups (8 1/2 ounces) bread flour
1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons coarse salt
2 1/2 sticks (1 1/4 cups) unsalted butter
1 1/4 cups (10 ounces) light brown sugar
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons (8 ounces) granulated sugar
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons natural vanilla extract
1 1/4 pounds bittersweet chocolate disks or fèves, at least 60 percent cacao content (see note)
Sea salt.

1. Sift flours, baking soda, baking powder and salt into a bowl. Set aside.

2. Using a mixer fitted with paddle attachment, cream butter and sugars together until very light, about 5 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Stir in the vanilla. Reduce speed to low, add dry ingredients and mix until just combined, 5 to 10 seconds. Drop chocolate pieces in and incorporate them without breaking them. Press plastic wrap against dough and refrigerate for 24 to 36 hours. Dough may be used in batches, and can be refrigerated for up to 72 hours.

3. When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a nonstick baking mat. Set aside.

4. Scoop 6 3 1/2-ounce mounds of dough (the size of generous golf balls) onto baking sheet, making sure to turn horizontally any chocolate pieces that are poking up; it will make for a more attractive cookie. Sprinkle lightly with sea salt and bake until golden brown but still soft, 18 to 20 minutes. Transfer sheet to a wire rack for 10 minutes, then slip cookies onto another rack to cool a bit more. Repeat with remaining dough, or reserve dough, refrigerated, for baking remaining batches the next day. Eat warm, with a big napkin.

Yield: 1 1/2 dozen 5-inch cookies.

Baked Thai-Style Tofu

2008-07-22T10:00:00.001-04:00

Sometimes I make a recipe, really enjoy it but don't make it for years. This recipe is one such favorite. I first made it years ago living uptown with three other roommates. I can distinctly recall being impressed by the tangy, nutty flavor and the sweetness of the roasted peppers but yet years passed before I made the recipe again. I made it again recently, and was again appreciative of the simplicity of the recipe in contrast with the freshness of the end result. Trust me, the picture above doesn't do the dish justice!

I find this recipe to be flexible. With bigger pieces cooked longer, the recipe makes a delicious sandwich stuffer. With the tofu cut smaller (as depicted above) it makes a nice side dish or component of an Asian meal. We rushed this particular batch - the tofu could have done with a little more pressing and the tofu could have baked longer. Still, even though quickly prepared, the dish was delicious and one that will be repeated again before more years pass.

Baked Thai-Style Tofu

Jeanne Lemlin

Serves 3

This method of baking marinated tofu gives it a crispy coating and intensifies all the flavors in the "sauce". You'll also love the ease with which this dish can be put together. A side portion of rice, or plain couscous is the best accompaniment. Don't hesitate to serve this dynamic tofu dish cold; it would make a great lunch to take to work.

The Marinade:

2 tablespoons tamari soy sauce

1 tablespoon oriental sesame oil

1 tablespoon canola oil

1/2 teaspoons minced gingerroot

1 garlic clove, minced

1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

1 pound extra firm tofu, cut into 3/4 inch cubes and patted very dry

1 red bell pepper, cut into thin strips, 1/4 inch by 2 inches

The Sauce

1 tablespoon natural-style peanut butter

2 tablespoons lime juice

1 scallion very thinly sliced

2 teaspoons finely chopped fresh basil, or 1/4 tsp dried

2 teaspoons finely chopped fresh mint, or 1/2 tsp dried

1. Combine the marinade ingredients in a large bowl. Using a rubber spatula, gently fold in the tofu and red pepper to coat them evenly with the marinade. Let sit 30 minutes at room temperature, or up to 8 hours chilled. Toss occasionally.

2. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Place the tofu mixture and any remaining marinade in a large shallow baking dish so that the tofu rests in one layer. Bake 15 minutes, tossing once with a spatula after about 7 minutes.

3. Meanwhile make the sauce by stirring all its ingredients together with a fork. Remove the tofu from the oven. Spoon on the sauce, then, using a spatula toss the ingredients together until everything is well coated. Return the dish to the oven and bake undisturbed for 10 minutes. Let the tofu sit for at least 10 minutes before serving for it is better when warm, and not piping hot.

Blueberry season!!!

2008-07-20T15:57:00.006-04:00

I love blueberry season. I love walking among the stands at the farmer's market, and seeing the pint baskets lined up with their blue jewels sparkling in the sun. I try to buy them as often as possible, and throw them into cereal, bowls of mixed fruit topped with a dollop of whipped cream and even enjoy them alone.

Still, the ultimate blueberry experience has to be a blueberry muffin. I've tried many recipes over the year, but this time I tried one from Cook's Illustrated. M. and I have enjoyed the magazine for the past year, however we recently decided an online subscription would better serve us as it would allow us to access many more recipes then in the bi-monthly printed version. So I selected the Cinnamon-Sugar-Dipped Blueberry Muffin recipe. The muffins seem a bit homely, as they're baked without paper liners. Still, a quick dunk in melted butter and then a swift spin in a cinnamon-sugar mixture creates a soft and tender muffin with a sweet crust. The crumb of the muffin was very tender, despite my worries that I had overmixed ensuring all pockets of flour were mixed in.

I made a few changes to the recipe - I used fresh blueberries instead of frozen. It worked well, although a few bled and exploded into the muffins. Since these were just for us, it didn't make a difference. But if I were making these for an event or company, I might go with the frozen in order to improve the appearance. I also used the microwave to melt the butter for the final dipping step.

We are really enjoying these muffins. I froze most of them, however they are steadily reappearing from the freezer and being consumed at a quick rate. The sweet topping combined with the tender crumb make these muffins really delicious, and I think this recipe will go into regular blueberry season rotation as a result.

Cinnamon-Sugar-Dipped Blueberry Muffins

9/2001

Makes 12 muffins

This recipe does not require a standing mixer, but when making the batter, be sure to whisk vigorously in step 2, then fold carefully in step 3. There should be no large pockets of flour in the finished batter, but small occasional sprays may remain. Do not overmix the batter.

2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour (10 oz)

1 tablespoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon of salt

1 large egg

1 cup granulated sugar (7 0z)

4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly

1 1/4 cups sour cream (10 oz)

1 1/2 cups frozen blueberries, preferably wild

1/2 up granulated sugar

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

4 tablespoons unsalted butter

1. Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 350 degrees. Spray standard muffin tin with nonstick cooking spray.

2. Whisk flour, baking powder and salt in medium bowl until combined. Whisk egg in second medium bowl until well-combined and light colored, about 20 seconds. Add sugar, and whisk vigorously until thick and homogenous, about 0 seconds. Add melted butter in 2 or 3 steps, whisking to combine after each addition. Add sour cream in 2 steps, whisking to just combine.

3. Add frozen berries to dry ingredients, and gently toss to combine. Add sour cream mixture and fold with rubber spatula until batter comes together and berries are evenly distributed, 25-30 seconds (small spots of flour may remain and batter will be thick). Do not overmix.

4. Use ice cream scoop or large spoon to drop batter into greased muffin tin. Bake until light golden brown, and toothpick or skewer inserted into center of muffin comes out clean, 24-30 minutes, rotating pan from front to back halfway through baking time. Invert muffins onto wire rack, stand muffins upright, and cool 5 minutes.

5. While muffins are cooling, mix sugar and ground cinnamon in small bowl until melt butter in a small saucepan. After baked muffins have cooled five minutes, working one at a time, dip tops of muffins in melted butter and then cinnamon-sugar. Set muffins upright on wire rack; serve.

Arepas... a Venezualan favorite.pbrea

2008-06-30T18:20:00.004-04:00

I'm trying to get back into the swing of posting again. Even during my "time off", I did occasionally photograph memorable meals. Once a blogger, always a blogger I guess. So, I'm combing back through the archives to see what I can share.

Several months ago, the gluten free girl posted a wonderful how to make arepas post on her blog. We had some leftover black beans in the fridge, and breakfast was decided. M. and I first tasted arepas, a cornmeal pancakey piece of gluten-free deliciousness, when my parents were living in Venezuala. We were both taken by the arepa's versatility.... arepa with cheese - delicious! Arepa with ham and cheese (if that's your thing) is (reportedly) delicious! My personal favorite is an arepa sliced open like a sandwich with black beans and melted cheese. Mmm!

If arepas interest you, please check out the link above. Shauna's attention to detail (not to mention step-by-step photographs) will encourage you to try this deliciousness for yourself.

And in writing this post, now I want arepas again! :)

I know... I've gone missing again.

2008-06-26T16:11:00.004-04:00

It's amazing how that happens. Four months ago I was busily preparing a cake for the Easter celebration with my in-laws. And then, I found out that the Veggie Kitchen will have a new little veggie arriving in late November.

Almost overnight, my interest in the kitchen faded, my interest in napping increased and M. has resumed primary food preparation duties. Living life without my typical love of cooking and food has been interesting. The cooking magazines are piling up with their recipes untried. The cookbooks live mournfully on the shelf waiting to be taken down and used again. I've even stopped buying new ones - a day M. never thought he'd see!

But rest assured, all is well. As the summer wears on and my workload decreases, I hope to get back into the kitchen more. After all, I will want to try my hand at homemade baby food when that time comes! So, keep checking back. I do hope to return to regular posting one day soon.

Fettucine with Creamy Red Pepper-Feta Sauce

2008-03-21T15:40:00.005-04:00

Every good blogger has back-up recipes lurking around their computer. For every recipe that gets posted, about five or more actually get made. For me, there never seems to be a common thread to the dishes which don't make it on to the blog. Sometimes they have a long recipe which requires too much typing or sometimes they just don't grab me at the time they are made. Still, they are useful in times like this when life has just been too busy to blog.

This recipe was good, but it wasn't great. If I make it again, and I might as the components appeal to me, I will roast my own peppers and use a block of feta bought in water. I used dry crumbles, and the sauce just didn't quite work as a result. There were little flecks of feta that were unappealing, and I do love feta in any shape or form.

So... from my personal archives I do present... Fettucine with Creamy Red Pepper-Feta Sauce! A decent and quick weekday meal which may, with a few adjustments, become something quite delicious. Oh, and do excuse the frozen vegetable side. It is utterly forgetable, but desperate nights call for desperate measures! :)

Fettucine with Creamy Red Pepper-Feta Sauce

The Food You Crave

Ellie Krieger

2 tablespoons of olive oil

1 small onion, chopped

2-3 garlic cloves, peeled and chopped

1 16 oz jar roasted red peppers, drained and chopped

1/2 cup low-sodium chicken broth (or vegetable broth to make vegetarian)

1 cup crumbled feta cheese or a six ounce block

1 lb whole wheat fettucine

salt and freshly ground pepper

2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

Heat oil in a heavy skillet over medium-high heat. Saute onion and garlic until soft, about ten minutes. Add roasted peppers and saute until heated through. Remove from heat, and let cool slightly. Place mixture in the bowl of a food processor with stock and all but two tablespoons of the feta. Process until smooth, about thirty seconds. Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain, reserving 1/2 cup pasta water. Toss pasta with sauce, adding pasta water by the tablespoon, if needed. Sauce should cling nicely to the pasta. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Divide among pasta bowls. Sprinkle with parsley and remaining feta cheese.

Vegetarian Cassoulet

2008-03-13T11:38:00.003-04:00

M. and I love French food. But, being vegetarian, there's a limit to how much I can enjoy the traditionally meat-heavy cuisine. Desserts are no problem, but usually the stews and main dishes involve an animal prepared in some shape or form. This recipe in the current issue of Gourmet caught my eye, and was put on the menu immediately.

The dish was pretty simple to prepare, however I got a late start which meant dinner ended up on the table later then I'd expected. Made with dried beans (prepared the night before), it came together in about an hour and a half (chopping an cooking time included). The bread crumbs were delicious... definitely a key element to the dish. Unfortunately, I was unusually heavy handed with the salt which did affect our enjoyment of the dish somewhat. And, I can't claim that this picture is headed to any food photography hall of fame any time soon. But, this is certainly a dish I will repeat in the future for its speed, homeyness and warm winter comfort.

Vegetarian Cassoulet

Gourmet March 2008

Serves 4-6

Active time 30 minutes, start to finish 1 hr 15 minutes

A leek, carrot and celery mirepoix, cooked until tender with rich white beans, gets a crisp, crunchy texture and delightfully rustic flavor from a garlicky bread-crumb topping flecked with parsley.

For cassoulet

3 medium leeks (white and pale green parts only)

4 medium carrots, halved lengthwise and cut into 1 inch pieces

3 celery ribs, cut into one inch pieces

4 garlic cloves

1/4 cup olive oil

4 thyme sprigs

2 parsley sprigs

1 turkish bay leaf

1/4 tsp cloves

3 19 oz cans of cannellini or Great Northern beans rinsed and drained

1 quart of water

For garlic crumbs

4 cups coarse fresh bread crumbs from a baguette

1/3 cup olive oil

1 tablespoon chopped garlic

1/4 cup chopped parsley

Make Cassoulet

Halve leeks lengthwise and cut crosswise into half inch pieces, then wash well and pat dry

Cook leeks, carrots, celery, and garlic in oil with herb sprigs, bay leaf, cloves and 1/2 teaspoon each of salt and pepper in a large heavy pot over medium heat, stirring occasionally until softened and golden, about 15 minutes. Stir in beans, then water, and simmer partially covered, stirring occasionally until carrots are tender but not falling apart, about 30 minutes.

Make Garlic crumbs while Cassoulet Simmers

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F with rack in the middle.

Toss bread crumbs with oil, garlic and 1/4 tsp each of salt and pepper in a bowl until well coated. Spread in a baking pan, and toast in oven stirring once halfway through until crisp and golden, 12-15 minutes.

Cool crumbs in pan, then return to bowl and stir in parsley.

Finish Cassoulet

Discard herb sprigs and bay leaf. Mash some of beans in pot with a potato masher or back of a spoon to thicken broth. Season with salt and pepper. Just before serving, sprinkle with garlic crumbs.

Under the Weather Chicken-less Chicken Soup

2008-03-10T13:26:00.003-04:00

I woke up today feeling a bit under the weather. Sore throat, tired, headachey and just blah. But, due to one of the children I work with also being under the weather, I had the fortuitous luck to be able to go back to bed and spend the morning at home. And I wanted soup.

I grabbed a couple carrots, an onion, celery and a few cloves of garlic, and within a half an hour I had something soothingly reminiscent of that traditional feel better food Chicken Soup. Obviously, there's no chicken in my soup. But I'd like to think it will help me feel better.

Under the Weather Chickenless Chicken Soup

Serves 4 - 6

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 onion, chopped

3 celery stems, washed and sliced

2 large carrots, peeled and chopped

1 small head of broccoli, or one half larger head, florets separated

4 cloves of garlic

3 cups of vegetable broth

1 can diced tomatoes

1 cup canned chickpeas

1/2 teaspoon salt

freshly ground pepper to taste

1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper

1/2 teaspoon Herbes de Provence

Heat olive oil in large saucepan. Chop onion, and saute on medium-high heat. Add carrots and celery, and saute until vegetables are tender. Add broccoli and garlic. Cook for two minutes, and then add vegetable broth and diced tomatoes. Add chickpeas and seasonings, and simmer for 20 minutes or until vegetables are tender and soup is hot. Enjoy.

M cooks.

2008-03-02T14:33:00.004-05:00

I've had some stressful days related to work lately. Nothing that won't resolve itself in the end, but it has affected my time in the kitchen. Last Wednesday was such a day. I received a wonderful text from M. offering to make me dinner. I gleefully accepted.

There are no recipes to share, since M. makes things up as he goes along. But this meal was truly excellent, both in taste and in the fact it was prepared for me. Being cooked for mid-week was truly a delightful treat.

Top left - rainbow chard chopped and cooked in a little olive oil with salt, pepper and lemon juice.

Top right - sliced portabello mushrooms glazed with basalmic vinegar and red wine.
Bottom right - M explored millet for the first time. He toasted the grains dry, and then created a pilaf by cooking them in vegetable broth, parsley, garlic, salt and pepper as well as a sprinkling of parmesan cheese.
Bottom left - Heirloom (Good Mother Stollard) beans that were soaked, and cooked with a little salt.

We (particularly M.) are all about cooking heirloom beans lately. They are uniquely delicious, and have helped us realize that the merits of cooking dried beans from scratch. Cooking dried beans does take planning and forethought, but the results blow canned beans right out of the water. We got our first batch from www.ranchogordo.com, but a quick google search for heirloom beans will bring up a variety of sources from which they can be obtained. Heirloom beans cost a little more, but taste so much better!

Barefoot Contessa's French Lentil Soup

2008-02-26T19:19:00.004-05:00

I really like soup. I usually make a lot of soup in a winter, however I realized I've relied on old favorites this winter and not really branched out. There are certain classic recipes that I turn to time and time again. This happens to be one of them. It is from the original Barefoot Contessa cookbook, and is flavorful and lentil-y.... in a good way.

This recipe yields a lot of soup. Sometimes I'm really great at making it through a recipe before getting sick of it. This was not one of those times. I hate wasting food, and try very hard to keep it from happening. But sometimes it does. So, if you're cooking for two (or fewer then the 8-10 servings in the recipe, I would consider making a half batch. Or getting one's act together soon to freeze portions. That was my plan, but the act getting didn't quite happen.

So, here's a tried and true which gets made at least once a year in my kitchen. I often forget to say this, but I always sub veggie broth. And doing so would also make it vegan. Enjoy!

Barefoot Contessa's French Lentil Soup
Barefoot Contessa
Recipe by Ina Garten
Serves - 8 -10

1 pound French green lentils, picked over and rinsed
Boiling water
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for serving
3 large onions, chopped
3 medium garlic cloves, minced
2 large leeks, white and tender green parts only, chopped
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
1 tablespoon chopped thyme
1 teaspoon ground cumin
8 celery ribs, cut into 1/2-inch dice
6 medium carrots, cut into 1/2-inch dice
3 quarts chicken stock or low-sodium broth
1/4 cup tomato paste
2 tablespoons dry red wine or red wine vinegar
Freshly grated Parmesan cheese, for serving

In a large heatproof bowl, cover the lentils with boiling water and let stand for 15 minutes. Drain and set aside.
Meanwhile, heat the olive oil in a large pot. Add the onions, garlic, leeks, 1 tablespoon of salt, 1 1/2 teaspoons of pepper and the thyme and cumin and cook over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are very tender, about 20 minutes.
Add the celery and carrots and cook until they begin to soften, about 10 minutes. Add the chicken stock, tomato paste and lentils to the pot. Increase the heat to high, cover and bring to a boil. Uncover, reduce the heat to moderate and simmer, stirring occasionally, until the lentils are tender, about 1 hour. Stir in the red wine and season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve hot with a drizzle of olive oil and a sprinkling of Parmesan.

Note - Lentil soup often thickens as it stands, so it can be helpful to add additional broth to leftovers.

Quinoa Muffins

2008-02-21T17:32:00.000-05:00

I am a creature of habit. Sometimes distressingly so. I tend to follow the same path (give or take a green light or two) when walking to the subway each morning. Every evening when I walk in the door I enjoy a mug of hot Earl Grey tea while catching up on the day's emails. And, for the past two or more months, I've had oatmeal for breakfast just about every workday.

Now, I love oatmeal. It's a nice and hearty breakfast that is both filling, whole grain and healthy. But, sometimes too much of a good thing is still too much. And I reached that point this week. Breakfast had to change.

When I read through food magazines, recipes will often jump out at me but will be put aside until the time is right. This muffin recipe was one such example. I thought it sounded intriguing when I saw it in January. But the mood didn't strike me to make it until this week. These muffins are cool. There's no other way to describe them. Quinoa in muffins - brilliance! The quinoa provides a nutty, chewy texture which is complimented by the sweetness of the brown sugar. And because quinoa contains a lot of protein, one muffin with a swathe of light cream cheese did quite well at keeping the hunger monsters at bay.

Two thumbs up, both as a recipe for an interesting whole grain muffin, and for keeping me from drowning in oatmeal monotony.

Quinoa Muffins
Every Day Food Magazine - January 2008
Makes 12
Prep - 25 minutes
Total time - 1 hour

Every Day Food's notes - Instead of oat or bran muffins, try these moist breakfast treats to fuel your morning. Substitute other chopped dried fruit for the raisins, if you like.

My notes - I baked the muffins in liners sprayed with a quick squirt of PAM because I'm too lazy to do the greasing and flouring step called for in the recipe. And they came out great.

1 cup quinoa, rinsed
1/4 cup vegetable oil plus more for pan
2 cups all purpose flour (spooned and leveled) plus additional for pan
3/4 cup packed dark-brown sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup raisins
3/4 cup whole milk
1 large egg
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1.Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a medium saucepan, bring quinoa and 1 cup of water to a boil. Reduce to a simmer, cover and cook until water has been absorbed and quinoa is tender. 11-13 minutes.
2.Meanwhile, brush a standard 12 cup muffin pan with oil, dust with flour, tapping out excess. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, raisins and 2 cups cooked quinoa. Reserve any leftover quinoa for another use.
3.In a small bowl, whisk together oil, milk, egg and vanilla. Add milk mixture to flour mixture, and stir just until combined. Divide batter among prepared muffin cups.
4.Bake until a toothpick inserted in center of a muffin comes out clean, 25-30 minutes. Cool muffins in pan for 5 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Store in an air-tight container for up to five days.

Additional Every Day Food note - Be careful not to overcook the quinoa or to use more then the required amount of water. The grains of quinoa should be tender but separate, rather then mushy and clumped together.

Vanilla Bean Loaves

2008-02-18T12:26:00.005-05:00

Hello February! January, where did you go? Things have actually been bubbling away here in the Veggie Kitchen, but a number of factors have collided to make my sharing of them somewhat more challenging. First of all, our computer has begun a slow descent into the depths it shall not resurface from. It is old, as computers go, and has begun to struggle to handle the demands I place upon it. It tends to get stuck between wesbites, churning away desperately trying to get somewhere, but stuck in blankness. The other trick of which I am so fond is randomly closing and opening windows on me. That's fun for everyone involved. This growing technological crisis, plus an increase to my work schedule has meant less time spent both on the computer and in the kitchen (at least during the week).

Still, I hope the backlog of pictures and recipes I have will enable to me to move forwards, dragging my unwilling technology partner as I go. Today's offering is a delightful poundcake encrusted with a delicious vanilla-y sugary crust. I made the recipe as written, although I did not take the time to make the vanilla sugar called for in the recipe. Ms. Hesser's instructions are to place a vanilla pod into a pound of sugar and allow to sit for several days. Easy enough to do, but not fast enough for my "I want to bake this cake NOW!" mood experienced on Saturday. Between the tablespoon of vanilla also in the cake, not to mention frequent applications of a vanilla steeped simple syrup to the cooling cake, I did not find this cake lacked vanilla-ness in any way. But, if you are a purist then I suppose a little vanilla sugar will never hurt.

M. and I both liked the crunchy crust created by applying the sugar syrup to the cooling cake. That stuff got everywhere, but the results were worth the sticky fingers (and tables, and utensils, and books and....). I used all of it (although I will admit the last application was primarily dumping the syrup onto the cake because I'd grown a bit weary of delicately applying it with a brush). The cakes were baked on Saturday, sampled and then refrigerated in multiple layers of Saran Wrap. Sunday's tasted was denser but still tasted fresh and delicious. This is a dense and sweet cake, a little definitely goes a long way. Small portions are key to not suffering a tremendous sugar high! But, served with a touch of whipped cream, this was a delicious and easy dessert. Since the recipe makes 2 loaves, this is a perfect cake to make for yourself and a friend (or in my case, M.'s coworkers).
Vanilla Bean Loaves
Cooking For Mr Latte by Amanda Hesser

3 sticks unsalted butter, room temp.
2 1/2 cups vanilla sugar
1 vanilla bean
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
8 large eggs, room temp.
3 cups All Purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt

for the syrup:
1 3/4 cups sugar
2 vanilla beans, split and scraped

1. Heavily butter two 8 x 4 inch loaf pans. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Cream butter and sugar until fluffy and pale. Scrape the vanilla bean and flick the seeds into the mixer, along with the vanilla extract and eggs. Beat to mix.
2. Sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Add to the butter mixture and mix just until smooth. Take the bowl off the mixture and scrap the bottom with a spatula and fold the batter a few times. Divide the batter between the two buttered pans. Bake for 30 minutes, then rotate the pans. Bake an additional 25 to 40 minutes, or until a skewer comes out almost clean.
3. While the loaves are baking, prepare the syrup. In a small pan dissolve the sugar in one cup water over medium heat. Add the vanilla beans and stir a little so the seeds and fragrance disperse. When the sugar mixture is completely dissolved, remove from heat.
4. When the loaves are done, cool for 10 minutes on racks and then turn them out of the pans onto racks over parchment paper. Brush generously with the vanilla syrup on all sides and tops and bottoms. Brush a couple of times as the loaves cool. These cakes store well. They may be wrapped and frozen.

2 fragrant cakes

Golden Winter Soup

2008-01-27T11:57:00.000-05:00

Now that I'm trying to get back in the swing of blogging again, I'm encouraging myself to try recipes that catch my eye. It's easy to get caught up in the week, and rely on thrown together meals just to get by. And that does still happen far too often. But this recipe grabbed me, and I made it two days after receiving the magazine. It was quick to put together, and made a great weeknight meal. I did sub Yukon Gold potatoes for the russets, and I used vegetable broth, not chicken. M. and I both enjoyed the rich yet sweet flavor of the soup, and I would definitely make it again.

Golden Winter Soup
January 2008
Cooking Light's Notes - Leeks and potatoes provide the base for this hearty vegetable soup, and butternut squash adds a hint of sweetness. Gruyere toasts add a salty note.

My notes- I used Yukon Gold potatoes, and vegetable broth.

Ingredients
2 tablespoons butter
5 cups (1/2-inch) cubed peeled butternut squash (about 1 1/2 pounds)
2 cups (1/2-inch) cubed peeled russet potato (about 12 ounces)
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 cups sliced leek (about 2 medium)
4 cups fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
1 cup half-and-half
12 ounces baguette, cut into 16 slices
3/4 cup (3 ounces) shredded Gruyère cheese
3 tablespoons chopped chives
Freshly ground black pepper (optional)

Preparation
Preheat broiler.

Melt butter in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add squash, potato, salt, and pepper to pan; sauté 3 minutes. Add leek; sauté 1 minute. Stir in broth; bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer 20 minutes or until potato is tender, stirring occasionally. Place half of potato mixture in a blender. Remove center piece of blender lid (to allow steam to escape); secure blender lid on blender. Place a clean towel over opening in blender lid (to avoid splatters). Blend until smooth. Pour into a large bowl. Repeat procedure with remaining potato mixture. Stir in half-and-half. Cover and keep warm.

Arrange bread slices in a single layer on a baking sheet; sprinkle evenly with cheese. Broil bread slices 2 minutes or until golden. Ladle 1 cup soup into each of 8 bowls; top each serving with about 1 teaspoon chives. Serve 2 bread slices with each serving. Garnish with freshly ground black pepper, if desired.

Yield - 8 servings

Moosewood Restaurant's Tuscan Bean Soup

2008-01-22T16:55:00.000-05:00

Sometimes recipes surprise you. Sometimes you scan a list of ingredients, and mentally check off in your head that you do have everything required. The recipe doesn't thrill you, but you need something to make for dinner. You start the dried beans cooking in the slow cooker, and later you chop the other ingredients. The soup smells good while cooking, but your expectations remain low. You are happy to skip the whole soup in a blender step by using your stick blender, but otherwise you follow the recipe to the letter.

And you sit down to eat. The first bite is filled with sagey goodness, and the luscious thickness of the beans is comforting on a cold January night. The carrots add a touch of sweetness, and the soup as a whole has a complex flavor that belies the simple ingredients. Both you and your husband enjoy the warmth of the easy yet filling Tuscan Bean Soup.

As the leftovers sit in the fridge, they do absorb a fair amount of liquid. I found that if I wanted to enjoy them as soup, then I had to add water or broth. But, I also found the drier leftover soup made an excellent quesadilla filling. Just throwing that out there, if you're feeling adventurous.

Tuscan Bean Soup
Moosewood Daily Special

2 c. diced onions (about 1 large)
1 c. peeled and diced carrots (2-3 medium)
4 garlic cloves, minced or pressed
1 T. olive oil
15 large fresh sage leaves (or other herbs)
6 c. cooked pinto, Roman, or small red or white beans*
3-4 c. vegetable stock, bean-cooking liquid, or water
salt and pepper to taste

*Beans: 3 15 or 16 oz. cans, undrained. Or, 2 c. dried beans yields about 6 c. cooked.

In a soup pot, saute the onions, carrots, and garlic in the olive oil on medium-low heat until the onions are translucent and the carrots are tender, about 10 minutes. Stack the sage leaves and cut them crosswise into thin strips. Stir the sage into the vegetables. Add the cooked beans and 3 c. of the stock or other liquid. Continue to cook on medium heat, stirring occasionally, until the soup is hot and simmering, 5 to 10 minutes.

Carefully ladle about 3 c. of the soup into a blender and puree into smooth. Stir the puree back into the soup. (Using an immersion blender sparingly also works.) If you wish, add more liquid for a less thick consistency. Add salt and pepper to taste. If necessary, gently reheat the soup. Serve hot.

Feeling Crafty

2008-01-11T15:08:00.001-05:00

I'm finally breaking out the knitting needles on a more regular basis. Okay, the scarf to the left took me almost a year to complete. But that's what happens when you knit for a few days, and then take a month off! :)

Still, Wavy kept me busy and was a great project for me, a new knitter. The hardest part was getting going, and then once I did that the hardest part was keeping going. The pattern is quite repetitive, and so I found I got bored easily. Hence the frequent breaks. If you are a new knitter and plan on trying Wavy, I do recommend that you write out all of the repetitions. The actual written pattern is short, and full of "as row 5" lines which are hard to keep track of. I wrote out each of the 42 lines of the pattern, and then drew ten little empty boxes next to each one. As I finished a line, I checked off a box. Otherwise I would have been hopelessly confused.

And, on to the next challenge. I do have a couple knitting projects waiting to be started in the wings, but first I'm venturing into the world of crocheting. I signed up for a three week beginning crochet class, and the first class was last night. It was great! Obviously challenging, but I think I'm getting the hang of it. On the right you can see my first crochet swatch (the square on the right) and my "homework" on the crochet hook. I'm using the coolest yarn - it's multi-colored purple with strips of blue and pink. Very fun!

It is a New Year.

2008-01-09T18:06:00.000-05:00

Accordingly, it is time to make a new start.

I guess I needed a little bit of a hiatus from blogging. Life happened. But now I hope to get back into it. Back into the kitchen, back into trying new recipes, and back into speaking to the probably now nonexistent people who no longer read my blog since I took so much time off. Helloo!!! (echo, echo!)

Well, this post is definitely for the bakers. I was whiling away an hour at Whole Foods one day last December when I happened across a seat in the cafe with an abandoned New York Times newspaper. Now, I don't normally read the paper during the week but this seemed fortuitous because not only was it a paper which was something new to read, but it was Wednesday which is the Dining and Wine day. So, I flipped through it. There was an interesting article by Mark Bittman about 100 easy to prepare appetizers, an article about one writer's family Christmas cookie tradition.... then I turned the page. There it was in chocolate and raspberry glory - Melissa Clark's Triple Chocolate Brownie Trifle with Raspberries. Up until that point my contribution to Christmas dessert had been in the air, but was now decided. This trifle was too good to pass up.

The trifle involved several steps - making the brownies, making the pudding and making the chocolate whipped cream. Each step was in of itself not too challenging, but all were time consuming especially when considered together. This dessert is truly a labor of love. I had trouble with the pudding. It never really set despite adequate hours in the fridge. But, once mixed into the trifle it wasn't readily apparent and did not hamper anyone's enjoyment of the dessert. The brownies were fudgy, and I did choose to infuse them with rum. The taste was not overwhelming (my brother-in-law who does not drink probably had no idea until I admitted this fact in print) but I would omit were children to be present at the table.

Overall, the dessert was a success. In fact, there were calls from tasters to make this a Christmas family tradition. You never know....

Triple Chocolate Trifle with Raspberries
New York Times, December 19th, 2007

Time: 1 1/2 hours plus 3 hours’ chilling

FOR THE BROWNIES:

1 cup plus 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, more for greasing pan

3 ounces finely chopped unsweetened chocolate

1/2 cup cocoa powder, sifted

2 1/2 cups granulated sugar

3 eggs, beaten

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

3 tablespoons Cognac, rum or bourbon, optional

FOR ASSEMBLY:

1/2 cup granulated sugar

8 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder, sifted

2 tablespoons cornstarch

Pinch salt

1 3/4 cups whole milk

3 cups heavy cream

2 large egg yolks

10 ounces bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped (2 cups)

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/4 cup confectioners’ sugar for whipped cream

1 to 2 pints fresh raspberries.

1. To make brownies, preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9-by-13-inch baking pan.

2. In a large saucepan, melt butter. Remove pan from heat and stir in chopped chocolate until fully melted. Stir in cocoa and sugar until combined. Slowly add eggs, whisking chocolate mixture constantly, then whisk in vanilla. Fold in flour and salt.

3. Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake until just firm, about 25 minutes (do not overbake). Transfer pan to a rack to cool. If using spirits, prick holes in hot brownies and drizzle evenly over pan.

4. In a large bowl, mix together granulated sugar, 3 tablespoons cocoa powder, cornstarch and salt. Whisk in 3/4 cup milk. In a large saucepan, bring remaining 1 cup milk and 1/2 cup cream to a boil over medium heat. Whisk hot milk mixture slowly into cocoa mixture. Return to saucepan. Cook over medium heat, whisking gently, until slightly thickened, about 2 minutes. (A simmering bubble or two is O.K., but do not let it boil.)

5. In a medium heat-resistant bowl, whisk yolks. Whisking them constantly, very slowly dribble about half the cocoa-milk mixture into yolks until fully combined. Pour yolk mixture into saucepan with remaining cocoa-milk mixture, whisking constantly. Cook, whisking occasionally, over medium-low heat, until thickened, about 5 minutes. (Do not let mixture come to a simmer. If pan begins to steam thickly, remove from heat for a few moments and stir well before continuing.) Let cool slightly.

6. Melt 5 ounces chopped chocolate with butter. Stir until smooth. Stir in vanilla. Cool 5 minutes, then fold into thickened egg mixture. Place plastic wrap directly against pudding (to prevent a skin from forming), and chill until set, about 3 hours. (Pudding and brownies can be made up to 5 days ahead, and refrigerated.)

7. Just before assembling, in an electric mixer, beat remaining 2 1/2 cups cream with remaining 5 tablespoons cocoa powder and 1/4 cup confectioners’ sugar until it forms soft peaks. Scrape down sides and fold in any excess cocoa or sugar.

8. Cut brownies into 1-inch squares. Fit a layer of brownie squares in bottom of a 4-quart trifle, glass, or other bowl. Top with half the pudding, a third of the whipped cream, a third of the remaining chopped chocolate and a third of the raspberries. Repeat layering until all ingredients have been used. Serve immediately, or cover with plastic wrap and chill for up to 24 hours before serving.

Yield: 8 to 10 servings.

Apple Season

2007-09-24T18:41:00.001-04:00

Luckily for us, there were plenty of apples that were ripe and ready to be picked this last weekend. M., myself and two of our friends travelled upstate and picked apples on Saturday. We had a moment of panic as we drove when the sky opened and a torrential downpour soaked us, but when we arrived at the orchard it was dry albeit a bit cloudy.

We roamed the trees, peeking at varieties we'd never heard of (orange pippin?) and tasting as many different kinds as possible. I really liked the Gravenstein varietal that I tasted. Scarlet red in color, it's flavor was bright and sweet. And then there are my favorite Galas and Honeycrisps. When it's apple season, I'm a happy camper!

We brought home 25 pounds of apples. Yes. 25 pounds. There will be a lot of apple treats coming out of my kitchen in the days and weeks to come. And I started last night.

Here is my version of a basic applesauce recipe that floats around the internet. I made it up as I went along, but there's really little way to mess it up. If you want further inspiration, a quick google of crockpot applesauce will bring you more ideas. But here's what I did.

Crockpot Applesauce
6 servings

6-8 apples (I used McIntosh, Gala, and Honeycrisp but any kind will work)
4 quart crockpot (a larger one can be used, however you will need to prepare more apples)
1 tablespoon cinnamon
4 cloves
2 tablespoons sugar (or to taste)

Peel and chop apples. I used a handy dandy apple peeler/corer machine, but a basic peeler and knife will do the trick as well. Put in crock pot. Turn on high for 4 + hours. At the 2 hour point, remove lid and add spices. Replace lid. At the 4 hour point (or when cooked to desired texture), add sugar to taste. Cool, and refrigerate.

Enjoy!

Mezze, part one

2007-09-09T21:26:00.000-04:00

Mezze. It is such a great word. According to Wikipedia, it means a selection of appetizers or small dishes taken with alcohol. What can be more perfect then that? And the alcohol is optional. In fact, I didn't actually know that was part of the definition until now but it certainly makes me love the concept even more. Enjoying a mezze-style meal is like having a little party. So tonight, we had a little mezze. No occasion. Sunday night. Football. Mezze.

The idea of making Middle Eastern food came from two sources. First of all, we went to one of our favorite Middle Eastern restaurants last night. And I mean favorite. Here in NYC, you have to really love a restaurant to return. After all, there are hundreds of thousands of more out there. Why return for just "okay"? But this restaurant in the East Village is fantastic. No menus, $35 for 7 plus courses and just a delicious mezze of food. But last night, they weren't up to their usual standards. Yes, the falafel was outstanding, but the hummus tasted bland. The usual fattoush salad had been changed to an avocado feta salad (also too bland) and there were several other similar changes. I was left wanting more.... wanting the fattoush salad and wanting better tasting hummus. This, coupled with the three eggplants picked from the garden this week planted the idea of making a mezze for dinner tonight into my mind. And then, I just couldn't think of anything else.

Baba Ghanouj is a personal thing. I like mine creamy, smoky from the grill but with enough tahini to make the flavor fuller. M. prefers his thinner and smokier. To each their own. Except that I was the chef tonight. :)

Baba Ghanoush (Roasted Eggplant with Tahini)
Deborah Madison
Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone

1 large or 2 medium eggplants, about 1 1/4 pounds
3 garlic cloves, coarsely chopped
1/4 cup tahini
Juice of 1 large lemon
salt
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Chopped parsley
2 tablespoons of mayonnaise

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Slash eggplant in several places so it won't explode, and then put in pan and bake until the point of collapse (30-40 minutes). Let skin harden and char in a few places to give it a smoky flavor. I cooked my eggplant on the grill for about 40 minutes. Let rest for 15 minutes or so. Peel eggplant, and puree in blender or food processor with the garlic and tahini. Season with lemon juice and salt to taste. I added a couple of tablespoons of mayonnaise to round out the flavor even more. Mayonnaise is a common ingredient in Israeli style baba ghanoush, but again optional. Mound puree in a bowl, create slight depression with the back of a spoon. Pour a little olive oil in to the depression, sprinkle with parsley and serve.

Mojito Madness!

2007-09-06T17:07:00.001-04:00

I've already made my feelings about mojitos known. So, last week I was feeling in a Cuban mood again. I made a nice pot of black beans (the same recipe as in the link above) and cooked up some brown rice. Then, I decided to get creative with some tofu I had lying around.

Now, I do love tofu. But I love flavorful tofu. Tofu marinated and grilled. Tofu sauced and baked. I like interesting tofu. But, I rarely take the time to make it interesting. But this recipe for a Mojito Marinade in one of my cooking magazines from earlier in the summer had lingered in my memory. See, I get a lot of cooking magazines. And while I love flipping through them, to be honest it is a good month when I actually cook something out of one. But often a recipe sticks in my mind and all of a sudden, it MUST be made. I couldn't tell you what else was in the article on marinades that I read all those months ago, but the Mojito Marinade stuck out. So I tried it.

The marinade was easy to assemble (the most time consuming step being grating some lime zest), and after a whir in the food processor - it was done. And, minus the shallots which are not usually an ingredient found in any mojito I've come across, the marinade looked almost good enough to drink. I split the marinade between the tofu, and some sliced vegetables (peppers, zuchini and the like) prepared to grill. After a about a half hour's wait, we were off to the grill.

I really liked this marinade on tofu. The tangy sweetness of the marinade carmelized on the grill, and complemented the somewhat bland taste of the plain tofu. The flavor did not come out as well on the vegetables, however I don't think that I had quite enough marinade for the amount of vegetables I prepared. With more marinade, the flavor might have come through better.

Sadly, my pictures of this meal did not come out well. I forgot to take a picture while plated, and the lighting in the kitchen was poor when I remembered to photograph. But, I plan to make this marinade again in the future and when I do so, perhaps I'll have more photographic luck.

Feeling Lazy These August Days....

2007-08-28T18:45:00.000-04:00

The Veggie Kitchen has actually been producing some yummy things these days, and not by my hands. M. was inspired in the kitchen this past weekend. On Friday he created his own risotto, including creating a broth from garden picked oven roasted grape tomatoes. On Saturday he made butternut squash ravioli using a butternut squash from our garden, and making his own sheets of pasta. I sat back and revelled in not having to cook, and quite happily consumed his delicious results. But like a bad blogger, I neglected to take any pictures.

Scandalous, I know.

The other project that has kept me hopping these days is our current "Rescue the Stray Kittens Living in Our Yard" enterprise we've embarked on. When we moved to the apartment in May, we quickly learned that there were two stray cats who happen about the neighborhood. We've nicknamed them "Stripey" and "Orange", which were our very original attempts at naming them based on their appearances. In late May, we learned that Stripey had a litter of kittens in the yard next door. We were concerned for them, but since it was not our yard we couldn't get to the kittens.

Fast forward to August. All five kittens began hanging out in our yard. We actually think some of them were living in our garden, having gotten in but being too small to climb the wall to get back out. M. has taken up kitten catching, and has successfully captured 4 of the 5 kittens through a variety of means including dumb luck in grabbing one as it ran by, cartoonish traps involving laundry baskets and other creative kitten catching methods.

We have decided to keep one kitten as a companion for Helios (the one pictured at the left and below). They remain unintroduced as the kitten we've chosen had an upper respiratory infection and is currently on antibiotics. Once the antibiotics course is completed, then he can do all the feline leukemia testing necessary to make sure he's safe to introduce to Helios. He's also unnamed at the present. Artemis was a strong contender (until it was realized that the mythological character was female). I am partial to Ezra, but M. prefers Soma. Meanwhile - he remains kitten. He's absolutely adorable, but with him sequestered upstairs, his three siblings sequestered downstairs and Helios running around in between - it's been a little crazy here in Brooklyn. Three litter boxes, five cats needing feeding, one kitten needing twice daily antibiotics .... blogging time has been limited.

Hang in there though - we've decided we MUST give the three siblings to a shelter this weekend if we can't find a home for them. So, hopefully (although we will be sad to say good-bye to the cute little kittens) life will become a bit more normal next week.

How cute am I?

Quinoa, Corn, and Tomato Salad with PARSLEY-Infused Oil, CL August 2007

2007-08-17T17:29:00.000-04:00

I have a very good memory. I tend not to use things like calendars, and can usually keep things in my head until I need them. I usually remember things like dentist appointments months in advance, whether we're out of milk or cat food and when going to a grocery store to buy things for a recipe I can USUALLY remember them.

You know what's coming, don't you? Oh how the mighty fall when they become too confident.

Yes, last week I was all ready to make Quinoa, Corn, and Tomato Salad with Chive-Infused Oil from August's Cooking Light. Went to the grocery store, came home and was halfway through the recipe when I realized - I'd forgotten chives. Ooops. Typically I prefer to make recipes as written the first time through. That clearly was not going to work in this case. So, I grabbed a bunch of parsley which I DID remember to buy and made a couple changes to the recipe.

The results were delightful. This was an excellent salad - M. is particularly fond of quinoa so he was happy and I loved the PARSLEY (not chive) taste that came through from the infused oil. The oil was an additional step, but it really makes the salad and certainly wasn't hard to make. I wouldn't use a purchased equivalent - it really needs to be fresh to add that tangy essence to the salad. Any salad containing fresh corn, tomato and herbs is a winner, especially in the summer. The salad was a hit, so please don't judge it by the picture taken outside at night (as it really doesn't do it justice). I was actually inspired by this salad to create my own Mexican knock-off a few days later (which will be forthcoming on this blog). After all, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.....

Quinoa, Corn and Tomato Salad with Chive-Infused Oil
Cooking Light Magazine
August, 2007

Cooking Light's notes - Brightly colored flavored oil coats the quinoa grains and lends the salad fresh chive flavor. Refrigerate leftover oil to use as a dressing to drizzle over grilled fish or summer vegetables. Garnish with whole fresh chives, if desired

My notes - If, like me, you forget chives, take comfort in the fact that this salad works equally well with parsley. And most likely basil as well, although that combination has not yet been confirmed.

1 1/2 cups water
1 cup uncooked quinoa
1 cup fresh corn kernels (about 2 ears)
1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
1/4 cup finely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
2 tablespoons Chive-Infused Oil
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 garlic clove, minced

Combine 1 1/2 cups water and quinoa in a medium saucepan; bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 10 minutes or until liquid is absorbed. Remove from heat; let stand 10 minutes. Fluff with a fork.

Combine quinoa, corn, tomatoes, and parsley in a medium bowl. Combine Chive-Infused Oil and remaining ingredients, stirring with a whisk. Drizzle over salad; toss well to coat. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.

6 servings - each serving size 2/3 cup

CALORIES 179(34% from fat); FAT 6.7g (sat 0.7g,mono 4.1g,poly 1.3g); PROTEIN 5.2g; CHOLESTEROL 0.0mg; CALCIUM 20mg; SODIUM 145mg; FIBER 2.4g; IRON 2.2mg; CARBOHYDRATE 26.1g

Chive Infused Oil

3/4 cup extravirgin olive oil
1/2 cup (1-inch) slices fresh chives
1/2 teaspoon salt

Place all ingredients in a blender; pulse 6 times or until chives are very finely minced. Strain mixture through a fine sieve into a bowl, and discard solids. Store in refrigerator in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks.

3/4 cup (serving size: 1 1/2 teaspoons)

CALORIES 63(100% from fat); FAT 7g (sat 1g,mono 5.4g,poly 0.6g); PROTEIN 0.0g; CHOLESTEROL 0.0mg; CALCIUM 0.0mg; SODIUM 49mg; FIBER 0.0g; IRON 0.0mg; CARBOHYDRATE 0.0g

Mixed Greens and Nectarine salad....

2007-08-08T10:37:00.000-04:00

...in the night. This recipe caught my eye when reading this month's Cooking Light, so I just had to try it. What wasn't to love? Nectarines, mixed greens and a sweet but tangy vinaigrette mixed at home. Sounded wonderful to me.

This salad couldn't be simpler. Nothing to chop except one juicy nectarine. Nothing to prepare except the dressing, which, once prepared will keep for days in the fridge to make future replications easy to assemble. And the only ingredient I had to purchase was a bottle of walnut oil. Since originally making this salad on Sunday evening, I have replicated it several times. I really like the sweetness of the tangy vinaigrette, and recommend tossing the nectarines and greens in a separate bowl before plating to get the fullest effect of the dressing. Simply pouring a bit on will not do.

Mixed Greens and Nectarine Salad
Cooking Light, August 2007

This simple salad pairs juicy nectarines with a vinaigrette featuring walnut oil. For a delicious fall salad, substitute sliced pears or apples.

Ingredients

4 cups gourmet salad greens
1/4 cup walnut oil vinaigrette (see below)
2 cups thinly sliced nectarines (about 2)

Preparation

Place greens and nectarines in a large bowl. Drizzle with Walnut Oil Vinaigrette; toss gently to coat.

Yield

4 servings (serving size: about 1 cup)

Nutritional Information

CALORIES 83(31% from fat); FAT 2.9g (sat 0.3g,mono 0.6g,poly 1.8g); PROTEIN 1.5g; CHOLESTEROL 0.0mg; CALCIUM 31mg; SODIUM 132mg; FIBER 1.7g; IRON 1mg; CARBOHYDRATE 14.1g

Walnut Oil Vinaigrette

This dressing goes with the Mixed Greens and Nectarine salad.

Ingredients

1/4 cup red wine vinegar
2 tablespoons minced shallots
2 tablespoons walnut oil
2 tablespoons honey
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Preparation
Combine all ingredients, stirring with a whisk. Store in refrigerator for up to 1 week.

Yield

2/3 cup (serving size: about 1 tablespoon)

Nutritional Information
CALORIES 39(62% from fat); FAT 2.7g (sat 0.3g,mono 0.6g,poly 1.7g); PROTEIN 0.1g; CHOLESTEROL 0.0mg; CALCIUM 1mg; SODIUM 118mg; FIBER 0.0g; IRON 0.1mg; CARBOHYDRATE 4g

The "BEST" chocolate chip cookies...

2007-08-03T11:59:00.000-04:00

... that I've come across lately. I actually made these weeks ago, and have been meaning to post them for a while. Still, no time like the present!

This recipe comes from Baking: From My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan which is fast becoming one of my favorite baking resources. Every recipe I've tried has turned out well, and this one is no exception. When I make chocolate chip cookies (which are my absolute favorite and therefore must be distributed as quickly as possible), I usually send some into M.'s office, keep a few around the house for us and freeze some dough balls for quick cookie fixes. I simply prepare a tray as though it were going into the oven, pop it into the freezer instead and then put the dough (once frozen) into a freezer bag or container. Then homemade cookies are only a few moments away! The dough can go into a hot oven frozen, but may require a few extra moments to cook. I'm almost out of my supply... perhaps it will be time to make these cookies again soon. :)

My Best Chocolate Chip Cookies (meaning Dorie Greenspan's best, although I agree)
Makes about 45 cookies

Dorie's notes -
In the category of "Great Chocolate Chip Cookies" these get my vote for the greatest. They are Toll House Cookies' kin, but I think my nips, tucks, tweaks and variation on the basic recipe make them their own kind of wonderful. They're thin and crisp and a bit chewy in the center from just the right mix of sugars - granulated sugar for crispiness and brown sugar for deep caramel flavor.

My notes -
I add an additional step to the recipe, and I freeze the cookie dough after mixing is completed. I find this helps the cookies gain height, and not run into each other as much. I just pop the mixing bowl into the freezer for about 20 minutes or so to chill, and return it between batches. I also just used regular chocolate chips and left out the walnuts due to personal taste. I also was quite lazy about cooling the racks between batches, and the results were still delicious.

2 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt (1 1/4 if you really like salt)
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
2 sticks (8oz) unsalted butter at room temperature
1 cup sugar
2/3 cup (packed) light brown sugar
2 teaspoons pure vanilla
2 large eggs
12 oz bittersweet chocolate chpped into chips, or 2 cups store bought chocolate chips
1 cup finely chopped walnuts or pecans (I omitted)

Center a rack in the oven and preheat to 375 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment or silicone baking mats.

Whisk flour, salt and baking soda.

Working with a stand mixer, preferably fitted with a paddle attachment, or with a hand mixer in a large bowl, beat the butter on medium speed for 1 minute or until smooth. Add sugars and beat for another 2 minutes or so until well blended. Beat in the vanilla. Add the eggs one at a time, beating for one minute or so between each egg.

Reduce speed to low, and add dry ingredients in three portions, mixing only until each addition is incorporated. On low speed or by hand, mix in chocolate and nuts.

(The dough can be covered and refrigerated for up to three days, or frozen. Dough can also be frozen in mounds as discussed above in my notes)

Spoon the dough by slightly rounded tablespoonfuls onto the baking sheets, leaving about 2 inches between spoonfuls.

Bake cookies one sheet at a time, rotating at the midway point, for 10-12 minutes or until brown at edges and golden in the center. They may be soft in the middle, and that's just fine. Pull the sheet from the oven, and allow cookies to rest for one minute. Then carefully transfer with a wide metal spatula to racks to cool to room temperature. Repeat with remainder of dough, cooling the sheets between batches.

Summer's bounty continues...

2007-07-30T21:17:00.000-04:00

We returned from a weekend trip to Washington D.C. to find a tomato explosion in the garden. Tomatoes, tomatoes everywhere! Well, not quite. But from the number of green grape tomatoes lurking about, those words may ring true soon enough. You'll see four red heirlooms in front, with a quite large summer squash and a bowl full of shy little grape tomatoes. Not bad for one day's harvest!

I utilized one of these red, jaunty heirloom tomatoes in a hummus, cheddar cheese and basil sandwich for dinner. It was so tasty that I made two more for lunch tomorrow - one for me and one for M. With my new job keeping me travelling from classroom to classroom during the day, I've lost my access to a fridge and microwave. My busy schedule this summer has made it harder for me to plan around these challenges, and so I've resorted to purchasing food out and about. But, I'm determined to return to my brown bag roots... so hummus tomato sandwich it will be tomorrow!

Do excuse the less then perfect picture ... I was too hungry for more sophisticated food styling tonight! :) You'll see the sandwich at the top, with broccoli also picked from our garden, homemade pickles and the above described tomatoes. Summer's bounty on a plate, if I may say so myself.

One of the charms of having a garden (or a jungle as ours is now resembling) is encountering the random plantlife that develops. If you look to the back of the chair in the produce picture above, you'll notice the "friendly" little weed grabbing hold of the Adirondack chair. Here he is again working his way into our Japanese Maple tree. He continues to demonstrate more then a friendly affection for our Japanese Maple tree despite numerous cutbacks. The weed is a wild grape of sorts (deduced from the presence of a similar one bearing grapes on an opposite wall) and I had wanted it to climb the fence in an orderly fashion. But I fear his days are numbered now....

Where to begin?

2007-07-20T10:51:00.000-04:00

This summer I read a book. A stupendous achievement, I know. But seriously, I read an excellent book. A book that inspires one to really look at the food we eat. A book that inspired me to think consiciously about the food choices I make not in terms of vegetarian versus non-vegetarian, but in terms of locality. Where is the food coming from? Is it really fresh and local? Or is it fresh and local from Wisconsin or California, having travelled many miles creating exhaust to come to New York City?

The book I'm referring to is titled Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver. I highly recommend it to anyone even vaguely interested in any of the above topics I mentioned. But be warned, reading it will cause you to re-evaluate even the quickest of trips to the grocery store. You'll find yourself visiting farmer's markets several times a week (if available). You'll find yourself lugging heavy bags of produce with you as you go about your day, despite the inconvenience and weight. But, you'll feel better for it.

These items were the result of a Saturday at the Farmers Market in Union Square. It's still my favorite market, not only for the number of farmers and sellers who attend but for the fact it is there 4 days a week. 4 days! I cannot pass through it without stopping to browse, and buy. Especially at this time of the year when the stalls are bursting with beautiful produce, fresh fruits and veggies abound along with eggs, meats and cheeses made from the vendors who sell them. It truly is a food lover's paradise.

Still, reading Kingsolver's book not only inspired us to shop from farmers but to become better farmers ourselves. Our garden is booming - look at a few of the wonderful vegetables we've harvested, or will be harvesting soon!

Green peppers, still on the vine.

Butternut squash, growing happily.

Broccoli.

A shy, little eggplant.

Mr. Stripey, an heirloom variety green tomato.

M. and I are certainly not going to live off our tiny garden patch for a year, as Barbara Kingsolver and her family do in her book, but we have made a conscious shift towards more localized and healthy foods obtained at farmers markets not at grocery stores of late. It is an imperfect process, and I do obtain items that I need which cannot be found locally as they are required. And I will continue to do so, but for every imported package of pine nuts I purchase, I feel better about the local purchases that support not only local farmers but taste better as well.

Now, if I could only remember to take more pictures of the dishes I make with these foods, life would simply be perfect. :)

Changes afoot...

2007-07-10T14:44:00.000-04:00

I love having a blog. But sometimes life gets in the way! Sometimes there isn't enough time to cook, bake, photograph and type up the way I'd like to. And then weeks go by, and the catching up seems to become a bigger and bigger task, and it's just easier to keep putting it off.

And here we are almost a month after my last post.

School ended. M. and I went to England for a week, and I've started a new job. Three great reasons for being busy, and they are all true. But the kitchen has been working overtime lately, but that will be its own post. Hopefully tomorrow.

But I'm here... cooking away, if not always photographing and posting away, and enjoying a blisteringly hot NYC day. It's been so hot that I'm almost starting to miss those rainy England days (see picture). Almost. :)

Caprese Pasta Salad

2007-06-18T18:59:00.001-04:00

I am a planner. It is hard for me to be spontaneous and do things on the spur-of-the-moment. But yesterday we enjoyed a leisurely and delicious brunch with friends. The conversation and the food were both excellent, and then suddenly the topic of dinner came up. And just like that, we were hosting an impromptu dinner party. And it was fun! The planner in me had a moment of panic, but then I just went with the flow.

Having established plans to have people to dinner, the next thought that popped into my mind was of course what to make. M. is all about the grill these days. I am loving grilled veggies myself, but M. is loving experimenting with different preparations of meat. So he and our friends were browsing the meat counter at a local butcher's shop. Bored, I browsed around the perimeter of the store looking to see what I could entertain myself with while they shopped. Frozen tortellini, marinated fresh mozzarella balls, sundried tomatoes.... an idea for a pasta salad loosely based on a Caprese salad began to take shape.

This salad was delcious. The creamy cheesiness of the pasta compliments the tangy vinaigrette nicely, and the addition of the fresh parsley wakens what would have been an otherwise bland salad. The amounts in the recipe are based on my recollection of what I did. Feel free to adjust them to your tastes (more vinegar, less mustard etc) and enjoy the results.

We sure did.

Caprese Pasta Salad
original recipe
Serves 6 as a side salad

1 lb frozen (or fresh) tortellini
1/8 pound sundried tomatoes, sliced
1 pint grape tomatoes, halved
1/2 a head of Italian parsley, washed and chopped
1/2 pound marinated mozzarella balls, quartered (bocconcini)

Dressing -
1/4 cup basalmic vinegar
1 tablespoons dijon mustard
3 tablespoons olive oil
splash of red wine vinegar
salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

1. Boil water for pasta. Cook pasta according to directions on package. Rinse and drain.
2. Assemble salad ingredients. Add pasta to salad bowl.
3. Mix vinaigrette. Adjust to taste.
4. Add vinaigrette to salad. Mix until dressing is thoroughly incorporated.
5. Chill until ready to serve.

Sesame Brown Rice Salad with Shredded Chicken and Peanuts - Cooking Light June 2007

2007-06-05T20:00:00.000-04:00

Yes. I am still vegetarian. Yes, I know that the title of this post contains a salad made with chicken. I approached this recipe with a plan, and it was a success. Stay with me.

One of the best skills a vegetarian can acquire is learning how to adapt a recipe. In the beginning, one sees a recipe calling for chicken, beef or some other meat and tosses it aside thinking that it simply cannot be made. Eventually, one learns to be creative. I looked at this recipe in this month's Cooking Light and thought that it would be delicious made with my favorite tofu recipe. And it was. It was delicious, and even M. the non-vegetarian praised the final dish. As previously discussed, he's quite fond of the vegetarian cooking despite being a decided omnivore. But only rarely does a dish make him stop and say with frank appreciation, "This is GOOD!". This salad achieved that lofty status.

And so it is with pride that I offer my recipe for Sesame Brown Rice Salad with Sweet Ginger Tofu and Peanuts. Take it, share it and enjoy!

Sesame Brown Rice Salad with Shredded Chicken and Peanuts
Cooking Light, June 2007

1 cup long-grain brown rice
2 cups shredded cooked chicken breast
1/2 cup shredded carrot
1/3 cup sliced green onions
1/4 cup dry-roasted peanuts, divided
1 tablespoon chopped fresh cilantro, divided
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
4 teaspoons canola oil
1 teaspoon dark sesame oil
2 garlic cloves, minced

RECIPE INSTRUCTIONS
Cook rice according to package directions, omitting salt and fat. Transfer rice to a large bowl; fluff with a fork. Cool. Add chicken, carrot, onions, 2 tablespoons peanuts, 2 teaspoons cilantro, and salt to rice; toss to combine.

Combine juice and remaining ingredients in a small bowl. Drizzle oil mixture over rice mixture; toss to combine. Place 1 1/2 cups salad on each of 4 plates. Sprinkle each serving with 1 1/2 teaspoons remaining peanuts and 1/4 teaspoon remaining cilantro.

CALORIES 393 (30% from fat); FAT 13.3g (sat 2g,mono 6.3g,poly 4g); PROTEIN 27.8g; CHOLESTEROL 60mg; CALCIUM 44mg; SODIUM 424mg; FIBER 4g; IRON 1.7mg; CARBOHYDRATE 40.2g

Sweet Ginger Tofu

The Modern Vegetarian Kitchen - Peter Berley

Yield: 4 to 6 servings (I don't think we've ever gotten six servings out of this delicious tofu!)

1/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup mirin
1/4 cup rice vinegar
2 tablespoons honey
2 Tbs minced gingerroot
2 Tbs light sesame oil -- (note: I only use 1 Tbs)
1 tsp minced garlic
1 pound firm tofu -- rinsed, patted dry, and sliced 1/2 inch thick

Preheat the oven to 350F In a small bowl, combine the soy sauce, mirin, vinegar, honey, ginger, oil, and garlic. Lay the tofu slices in a baking dish that can hold them in a single snug layer. Pour the marinade over the tofu. Bake for 45 minutes, or until the tofu is nearly dry and well browned. Serve hot or cold.

The New Digs

2007-06-03T12:36:00.000-04:00

We are so excited about our new apartment that I can't resist posting a couple peeks. And I also know my mom is dying to see some pictures. So, two birds with one stone yada yada ... Feel free to skip this post if it doesn't interest you - I would totally understand although I do love looking at pictures of bloggers' homes myself.

This is one view of the living room. I took it crouched from one corner, so that's why the angle is a touch off. It's a hard room to photograph, since it is open along one side.

Here's a view from a more central position.

Two views of the kitchen/dining room. One came out a bit blurry - sorry about that!

A couple pictures of the space fast becoming one of our favorites. M. has done all the work on making this a garden. We arrived to one Japanese maple tree and a few planted bulbs, he's done the rest. The large metal ladder is an old-school clothes line tower. A rope would run from the building out to the ladder, but since each apartment needed their own line it had to be tall enough to accommodate the three floors of the building. All the buildings have them, I don't know if they are a Brooklyn thing or common to many cities, but it was a new concept to us.

And, finally perhaps the room most important to those of us who love food but aren't gifted with high speed metabolisms - the home gym. There was a point in time I made it to the gym quite frequently, however in the past couple years my schedule has made that very difficult. As a result, I'm excited to have a means to get moving right here at home. And I'm proud to say I've used the elliptical a fair amount since it arrived, and plan on using it more and more as my schedule eases this summer.

Hope you enjoyed the peek into our new space. Now my kitchen is set up, there will be many cooking and more traditional posts to come. And, with our new grill, the world of outdoor vegetarian grilling is now beckoning. So, make sure to come back and see what's cooking! :)

A Sleepy Sunday Morning...

2007-06-03T12:23:00.001-04:00

Hello internet folks!

I'm back, and as determined to get back into the blogging world as ever! It has been a very long month. While I "know" moving is hard, it really is amazing how long it takes to get life back into order. And we're still not all the way there - we ran out of steam for one last room. Isn't that always the way?

Anyways, there wouldn't have been much to report in the past month. Not too much cooking happened around the move - although we did discover an amazing pizza at our new local delivery restaurant. :)

To celebrate my return to civilization, I treated myself to an indulgent Sunday brunch. I included an order of parbaked frozen croissants in my latest online grocer order, and tried the first one today. It bakes for about 7-10 minutes, and contained every bit of the buttery deliciousness I wanted. The jam is a new favorite of mine. How can you go wrong with Raspberry Peach Champagne Jam - there's a hint of a special occasion in the name alone!

I enjoyed this treat outside on our new patio with a fresh latte by my side. This experience gave me the strength and motivation to update my blog with the several new posts I have waiting in the wings so stay tuned . . .

Superwoman I am not.

2007-04-30T20:53:00.000-04:00

Welcome to our home. Wouldn't you like to stay a while?

Yep, us neither. We move on May 4th, have a busy four day weekend of unpacking planned and then hopefully life will return to normal.

Just a few short weeks ago, I approached the task of moving, working full-time, tutoring multiple children and keeping my blog updated with the utmost confidence. "I am SUPERWOMAN!" I thought. I was positive that I could do all of those things, and keep cooking interesting meals, all while writing interesting and witty blog posts.

You can see how well that turned out.

Yep, we're living in boxes. In the morning, we hop out of bed and scoot around boxes. In the kitchen, I half-heartedly attempt to use up random food as I dodge boxes. The only one happy is Helios. He is a cardboard-loving cat, and there is plenty of cardboard for him to love these days.

So that's my story... I'm looking forward to the summer when I can devote more time to my neglected blog. I hope you'll hang in there with me!

M&M Cookie Deliciousness!

2007-04-16T17:37:00.000-04:00

Where does the time go? I've actually been quite busy in the kitchen. I've baked several delicious things lately, and made several excellent meals (if I may say so myself! :) ). Still, as always, life gets in the way. It's report card season again, and that plus preparations for packing, moving and M.'s recent birthday have kept me busy. I doubt it'll get much better in the next few weeks as we get ready to move. But I'll try to keep up!

Here's something I made to take to New Jersey for Easter. I'd originally thought of making a cake, but having an interview in the city before leaving for the weekend made manipulating a cake on the subway seem unappealing. M&M cookies popped into my head, and were a nice easy cookie to make.

I found a recipe on Allrecipes.com and then made my own changes to it. I did go back to try to link to the original recipe, but I couldn't find it again. My searches for M&M cookie came up empty. A little strange but ... oh well!

Here's the recipe. I would definitely make this cookie again. It was easy, had a nice chewy yet crisp proportion and was completely addictive!

M&M Cookie
originally found at allrecipes.com

1 cup Brown Sugar
1 cup sugar
1 cup butter
2 eggs
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups M&Ms

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix dry ingredients into a medium mixing bowl.

In large mixing bowl, cream sugar and butter with electric mixer or stand mixer. Add eggs, mixing for a minute after each one. Add vanilla, and beat for a minute before scraping down sides and beating again.

Add dry ingredients by half cupfuls until just mixed. Stir in 3/4 cup M&Ms.

Chill for 20 minutes ago, or until cooled and firm. Use dough scoop or tablespoon to measure out dough on to a cookie sheet. Press several of remaining 3/4 cup of M&Ms into top of cookies. Bake for 9-11 minutes (nine will be chewier, eleven will be crispier).

Remove from oven and cool on wire rack. Will keep for several days in airtight container.

Movin' Movin' Movin'

2007-04-03T16:22:00.000-04:00

The Veggie Kitchen will be moving in about a month. As you can see, Helios is tired already. What does that mean right now? Not much. I'm hoping to keep cooking through at least the next couple of weeks. Perhaps the meals will become a bit more eccentric as I use up the wonderful treasures I found in my pantry organization session yesterday (four pounds of red lentils anybody? Anybody?). But this impending move has greatly affected my spring break. We're hoping to move in May sometime, and since April 1st has passed the May apartments are springing up like flowers! I've met with 2 brokers, and I've seen two apartments. Tonight M. and I are seeing three more. And I'm awaiting a possible call to see a fourth in the next hour! It's exhausting this moving thing, and we haven't even started yet.

So, in my downtime between brokers and phone calls and internet searches, I decided to make an old favorite. This recipe comes from one of my favorite blogs and I remember loving it the first time around. Unfortunately this time around wasn't such a big hit. And I don't think that's the recipe's fault, instead I think it is what happens when you A. double a recipe, B. use up older ingredients and C. find out after you've added it that your nutmeg (because you're out of ginger apparently) doesn't smell great. I had hoped this vegan cake would go to M.'s office tomorrow, since he has a vegan coworker who misses out on the usual baked goods I send in. But now I'm not sure. We'll see... perhaps allowing the cake to cool a bit will help.

So, my changes were to use all whole wheat flour since I'm out of all-purpose. I subbed nutmeg (both the not so great and then more fresh grated to try and mask the not so great nutmeg) and a splash of cardamom (because I'm just loving cardamom right now).

If this cake sounds at all appealing to you I urge you to try it, since I think my less then spectacular results were a result of the ingredients.

Coconut Chai Breakfast Cake
Susan V. of Fat Free Vegan

1 cup strong chai tea
1/3 cup uncooked quick (not instant) oatmeal
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup unbleached white flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp ginger (use more for a spicier cake)
3/4 cup vegan sugar (I used demerara)
1/3 cup unsweetened applesauce
1 tbsp vinegar
1/2 tsp almond extract
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup flaked coconut, 2 tbsp reserved

Prepare the chai ahead of time by steeping two teabags (I used decaffeinated Tazo Chai) in one cup of boiling water until cool.

Preheat oven to 350 F. Grease an 8-inch square baking pan.

Combine the dry ingredients (oatmeal through sugar) in a medium-sized mixing bowl. Add the chai, applesauce, vinegar, extracts, and all but 2 tablespoons of the coconut. Mix well, and pour the batter into the prepared pan. Sprinkle with the reserved coconut and bake for about 25 minutes, or until a tester inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Carrot Cake - Cooking Light April 2007

2007-04-02T19:11:00.000-04:00

I just can't get enough of baking these days. I tell myself I'm "using up ingredients before we move" but I think some baking bug has just grabbed me lately. Luckily for M.'s coworkers, the bug is showing no sign of slowing down. For some reason I was totally in the mood for carrot cake this weekend. Not a craving I have very often, but it was a craving I simply had to cater to. So, I took my trusty copy of April's Cooking Light in one hand and my trusty hand mixer in the other and I made some carrot cake!

I did make one major change. I do not care for nuts in baked goods. I barely care for nuts, but if I do choose to enjoy them, they must be solo. So, I left out the pecans. Otherwise I followed the recipe as is, and was thrilled by how easy and tasty it was. The finished cake was moist, spicy and had all the elements of the finest carrot cake for a fraction of the fat. The icing was perhaps a touch runny as opposed to the more typical buttercream-like texture, however it tasted great. And the feedback I got from M.'s coworkers indicated that they agreed. :)

Sorry about the poor lighting on the pictures. I guess it was darker in my kitchen then I thought...

Carrot Cake
Cooking Light - April 2007

Cake:
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (about 6 3/4 ounces)
1 1/3 cups granulated sugar
1/2 cup sweetened flaked coconut
1/3 cup chopped pecans
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
3 tablespoons canola oil
2 large eggs
2 cups grated carrot
1 1/2 cups canned crushed pineapple, drained
Cooking spray

Frosting:
2 tablespoons butter, softened
1 (8-ounce) block 1/3-less-fat cream cheese, softened
3 cups powdered sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Additional grated carrot (optional)

Preheat oven to 350°.

To prepare cake, lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flour, sugar, coconut, pecans, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon in a large bowl; stir well with a whisk. Combine oil and eggs; stir well. Stir egg mixture, grated carrot, and pineapple into flour mixture. Spoon batter into a 13 x 9-inch baking pan coated with cooking spray. Bake at 350° for 35 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool completely on a wire rack.

To prepare frosting, combine butter and cream cheese in a large bowl. Beat with a mixer at medium speed until smooth. Beat in powdered sugar and vanilla just until smooth. Spread frosting over top of cake. Garnish each serving with grated carrot, if desired.

Yield: 16 servings (serving size: 1 piece)

CALORIES 322 (29% from fat); FAT 10.4g (sat 4.2g,mono 3.2g,poly 1.5g); PROTEIN 4.1g; CHOLESTEROL 40mg; CALCIUM 29mg; SODIUM 403mg; FIBER 1.4g; IRON 1mg; CARBOHYDRATE 54.4g

Cooking Light, APRIL 2007

Cinnamon-Cardamom Squares

2007-04-01T16:31:00.000-04:00

I love any opportunity to bake. When a good friend offered to cook an Indian feast for M., me and a few other friends, I welcomed the chance to try a new recipe. The recipe for Dorie Greenspan's Cinnamon Squares practically jumped at me when I took From My Home to Yours down off the shelf. I looked at a couple others, but I kept returning to the Cinnamon Squares. I had all the ingredients, and I even thought that if I added a touch of cardamom to the recipe, it would compliment our Indian feast perfectly.

And the results were divine. The cake is spicy and flavorful with a strong cinnamon and cardamom taste. Still the combination of the flavors remain balanced, especially in contrast to the chocolate. The chocolate frosting compliments the cake perfectly, and the touch of espresso added a new richness and dimension of flavor to the combination of flavors. The cake was easy to prepare, and the results were easy to transport to the dinner. This will be one for the tried-and-true files!

Cinnamon-Cardamom Squares
adapted from Dorie Greenspan's From My Home to Yours
serves 9

For the Cake
1 1/4 cups plus 2 tablespoons sugar
1 T plus 2 1/2 t cinnamon (I used 1 T plus 2 t cinnamon, and 1/2 cardamom)
1 1/2 teaspoons instant espresso powder (I used freshly ground espresso beans)
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 t baking powder
pinch of salt
3/4 cup whole milk (I used 1%)
2 large eggs
1/2 t vanilla
1 stick plus 2 T unsalted butter, melted and cooled
3 oz bittersweet chocolate finely chopped (or 1/2 cup mini-chocolate chips)

For the Frosting
6 oz bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
2 1/2 T unsalted butter, cut into four pieces

Getting Ready
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter an 8 inch square baking pan, and line bottom with parchment or wax paper. Place pan on a baking sheet.

To Make the Cake
Stir two tablespoons of the sugar, 2 1/2 of the cinnamon (or cinnamon/cardamom) and the espresso together in a small bowl.

In a large bowl, whisk the flour, the remaining 1 1/4 cups sugar, the baking powder, salt and the remaining 1 T of cinnamon. In another bowl, mix together milk, eggs and vanilla. Pour the liquid ingredients over the flour mixture, and whisk gently until you have a homogenous batter. Now, using the whisk or rubber spatula, fold in the butter with a light touch until the butter is absorbed. You'll have a smooth satiny batter.

Scrape half of the batter into the pan. Smooth the top. Sprinkle the chocolate over the batter, and dust with the cinnamon-cardamom-sugar mixture. Cover the rest of the batter, and smooth the top again.

Bake for 35-45 minutes, or until cake is puffed and beginning to pull away from the sides of the pan. A thin knife inserted into the middle will come out clean. Transfer cake to a cooling rack, and let it rest for 15 minutes before unmolding it onto another rack. Peel off the paper, invert it onto the first rack, and cool to room temperature right side up.

To Make the Frosting
Put the chocolate and butter in a heatproof bowl, and fit the bowl over a saucepan of simmering water. Cook, stirring gently and often, just until they melt. Be careful not to overheat mixture, the chocolate should be smooth, very shiny, thick and spreadable.

Using an offset metal icing spatula, or table knife, spread frosting in generous sweeps and swirls over the top of the cake. Allow frosting to set at room temperature. Cut cake into 9 squares, each with about 2 1/2 inches on a side.

2007-03-29T16:12:00.000-04:00

Deep down,, I harbor a love of lo mein noodles. Chock full of veggies and tasting sweetly reminiscient of soy sauce and sesame oil, they remind me of my childhood when "take out" Chinese Food from the local Chinese restaurant was a real treat. But in this grown up world of trying to eat healthily, lo mein is an indulgence that I rarely treat myself to.

This recipe attracted me simply because it seemed to be the best of both worlds. Made with real lo mein noodles, it seemed closer then any "fettucine" fried noodle stand-in. And, because it came from Cooking Light, I knew it would be healthier. And these noodles were surprisingly tasty. The bath of sesame oil and soy sauce after the noodles cook gave them the authentic mouthfeel of the higher fat lo mein noodles I recall so fondly. And the addition of the edamame and the greens makes the dish both filling as well as good for you.

M. actually made this one. He reported that once the prep was finished, it came together quite quickly. We made a couple subs - dried shitaake for the wood ear mushrooms and lacinato kale for the mustard greens. But otherwise, the reecipe was executed as written. The bok choy dish on the side was M.'s creation. He prepared a stock of veggie broth, garlic, shallots, ginger, and a few other ingredients. After simmering the ingredients for about an hour, he used them to bathe and cook the bok choy (as well as season the salmon M. prepared for himself on the side).

Vegetable Lo Mein with Edamame and Mustard Greens

Mustard greens' peppery bite contrasts with tender, fresh Asian egg noodles. If you can't find them, substitute fresh pasta such as vermicelli or spaghetti. The leftovers are tasty served warm or cold.

1/2 cup boiling water
1/4 cup dried wood ear mushrooms
2 quarts water
3 cups chopped mustard greens
1 (14-ounce) package fresh Chinese egg noodles
1/4 cup low-sodium soy sauce, divided
1 tablespoon dark sesame oil
2 tablespoons canola oil
1 tablespoon grated peeled fresh ginger
1 1/4 cups (1/4-inch-thick) red bell pepper strips (about 1 medium)
3/4 cup chopped green onions
1 garlic clove, minced
1 1/2 cups frozen shelled edamame (green soybeans), thawed
3 tablespoons hoisin sauce

Combine 1/2 cup boiling water and mushrooms in a bowl; cover and let stand 15 minutes. Drain mushrooms in a sieve over a bowl, reserving soaking liquid. Remove and discard stems. Chop mushroom caps; set aside.

Bring 2 quarts water to a boil in a Dutch oven. Add greens, and cook for 1 minute or until greens wilt. Remove greens from water with a slotted spoon. Plunge the greens into ice water; drain and squeeze dry. Set greens aside.

Return water in pan to a boil. Add egg noodles, and cook for 2 minutes or until done. Drain and rinse with cold water, and drain well. Place noodles in a large bowl. Add 1 tablespoon soy sauce and sesame oil, tossing to coat, and set aside.

Heat canola oil in a wok or large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add ginger; stir-fry 5 seconds. Add mushrooms, bell pepper, onions, and garlic; stir-fry 2 minutes or until bell pepper is crisp-tender. Stir in greens and edamame; stir-fry 30 seconds. Stir in reserved mushroom soaking liquid, noodle mixture, remaining 3 tablespoons soy sauce, and hoisin sauce; cook 2 minutes or until thoroughly heated.

Yield: 6 servings (serving size: 1 1/3 cups)

CALORIES 339 (26% from fat); FAT 9.8g (sat 1g,mono 4.1g,poly 3.2g); PROTEIN 15.8g; CHOLESTEROL 0.0mg; CALCIUM 73mg; SODIUM 710mg; FIBER 4.9g; IRON 2.1mg; CARBOHYDRATE 47g

Cooking Light, MARCH 2007

Chocolate Chip Irish Cream Pound Cake - Cooking Light, April 2007

2007-03-28T18:55:00.000-04:00

Sometimes, a woman just wants some cake. And this weekend was one such an occasion. I got April's issue of Cooking Light, and was thrilled to see this new recipe. I've already made clear my love for the Irish Cream. I don't go much for liquers but I cannot pass up a nice glass of Baileys, either to drink or to bake with. So this recipe had my name all over it.

I did make a couple changes. I didn't have mini-chocolate chips so I used regular. When I make this cake again, I would either procure the mini-chips or WAY up the regular chocolate chip proportion. Quite honestly, a quarter of a cup of regular chips was nowhere near enough. Many slices didn't even have one solitary chip in them! And that's just wrong.

The last change I made was to whip up a quick glaze of confectioner's sugar and Baileys. I think I would do it again, as I think that extra touch of sweetness added to the cake. But it certainly isn't a necessity, so feel free to omit if that doesn't appeal. But if you enjoy Irish Cream liquer, or cake, you can not go wrong with this recipe. The creamy sweet interior coupled with a delightful buttery crust - it is an excellent recipe and one that will be repeated in this kitchen.

Chocolate Chip Irish Cream Pound Cake
Category Finalist, Desserts. "This cake is even better on the second day." --Anna Ginsberg, Austin, TX

1/4 cup semisweet chocolate minichips
1 teaspoon cake flour
2 3/4 cups cake flour (about 11 ounces)
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup fat-free cream cheese, softened
10 tablespoon butter, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 large eggs
3/4 cup Irish cream liqueur
Baking spray with flour
2 tablespoons powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 325°.

Combine chocolate chips and 1 teaspoon flour in a small bowl; toss.

Lightly spoon 2 3/4 cups flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt.

Place cream cheese and butter in a bowl; beat with a mixer at high speed to blend. Add granulated sugar, brown sugar, and vanilla; beat until blended. Add eggs, 1 at a time; beat well after each addition. Beat on high speed 1 minute. With mixer on low, add flour mixture and liqueur alternately to sugar mixture, beginning and ending with flour mixture; beat well after each addition. Fold in chocolate chips. Pour batter into a 12-cup Bundt pan coated with baking spray. Bake at 325° for 55 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes on a wire rack; remove from pan. Cool completely on wire rack. Sift powdered sugar over cake.

Yield: 16 servings (serving size: 1 slice)

CALORIES 308 (30% from fat); FAT 10.1g (sat 5.9g,mono 2.5g,poly 0.5g); PROTEIN 5g; CHOLESTEROL 59mg; CALCIUM 60mg; SODIUM 231mg; FIBER 0.6g; IRON 2.3mg; CARBOHYDRATE 48.9g

Cooking Light, APRIL 2007

Believe it or not there has been some cooking going on....

2007-03-26T17:59:00.000-04:00

... and hopefully I'll have time to post the fruits of my labors later this week.

But first, I wanted to share one of my favorite snacks. It is simple, it is homely and for me it is the ultimate comfort food. I tend to go through popcorn kicks - I'll get it into my mind to make some and then keep making it over the span of a couple weeks. And then I won't make it again for months on end. Right now I think I've started a new kick. So there will be lots of corn a poppin' round here for the next few weeks.

I stopped making microwave popcorn after the whole trans-fat debacle. I'm not going to pretend I live a virtous trans-fat free life, however I do try to minimize wherever possible. And that seemed an easy place to cut it out. I do know there are trans-fat free brands, but one day I caught Michael Chiarello's Food Network show and watched him make it on the stove in a large pan. It blew me away. No fancy popcorn popper needed. Just a big pot with a lid, a cup of popcorn kernels and little bit of oil and voila! Enough popcorn to keep me snacking for several days. So that has become my modus operandi of late.

Here's my recipe:

Popcorn

1 cup popcorn kernels
1/4 cup oil (canola or other mild oil preferred)
salt to taste

Add oil to large pot (the size you would make a batch of soup in). Allow to heat to a gentle sizzle.
Add popcorn kernels and put lid on. Listen to sizzle, shaking occasionally. As popcorn begins to pop, continue to shake occcasionally.

When popcorn pops become more infrequent (several seconds pass between pops) turn off heat. Allow for final pops, and stir with a large spoon. Add salt or flavoring to taste (chili powder, grated cheese etc) and enjoy.

Yield - I find this proportion makes enough for two generous snacks on the spot plus four sandwich baggies stuffed to the brim for later.

Fontina and Mascarpone Baked Pasta

2007-03-12T18:20:00.000-04:00

M. and I like to keep things low-key on Friday nights. We often find ourselves tired and unmotivated, and we typically just stay home and watch a Netflix. This week we branched out and had a few friends to dinner. I had the opportunity to visit a school during the day (in effect a sort-of day off) and thus was more motivated then our typical takeout Friday night fare.

Sometimes when you tinker with a recipe, things go great. This was not one of those times. I subbed rigatoni for penne and I think that altered the sauce to pasta ratio. I also rushed the thickening step in the sauce, so we were left with a thinner sauce with clumps of cheese on pasta that was a touch too big. Now, cheese is cheese and the dish was still good overall. But it wasn't as good as I wanted it to be. I will try again and repeat it in the future, with the appropriate ingredients and minus the rushing. After all, how can rich creamy cheesy pasta be wrong?

I forgot to photograph my version of the dish (which is probably a good thing) so I'll just borrow Cooking Light's!

Fontina and Mascarpone Baked Pasta

Cooking Light - November 2006

The nutty flavor of fontina and creaminess of mascarpone create a delicious updated version of mac and cheese. If your supermarket doesn't stock mascarpone cheese, substitute full-fat cream cheese. For a dinner party, bake the pasta in individual gratin dishes for 15 minutes.

1 pound uncooked penne
1/4 cup all-purpose flour (about 1 ounce)
3 cups fat-free milk
2 cups (8 ounces) shredded fontina cheese
1/4 cup (2 ounces) mascarpone cheese
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Cooking spray
3 (1-ounce) slices white bread
1 tablespoon butter
1 small garlic clove, minced
1 1/2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

Cook pasta according to package directions, omitting salt and fat. Drain; keep warm.

Preheat oven to 350°.

Lightly spoon flour into a dry measuring cup; level with a knife. Combine flour and milk in a large saucepan over medium heat, stirring with a whisk. Cook 10 minutes or until thick, stirring constantly with a whisk. Remove from heat; add cheeses, stirring with a whisk until smooth. Stir in salt and black pepper. Add cooked pasta, stirring to coat. Spoon pasta mixture into a 13 x 9-inch baking dish coated with cooking spray.

Tear bread into several pieces. Place bread in a food processor; process until fine crumbs measure 1 1/2 cups.

Melt butter in a small skillet over medium heat. Add garlic; cook 30 seconds. Remove from heat. Stir in breadcrumbs until well combined. Sprinkle breadcrumb mixture evenly over pasta mixture. Bake at 350° for 25 minutes or until bubbly. Sprinkle with parsley.

Yield: 8 servings (serving size: 1 1/4 cups)

CALORIES 423 (30% from fat); FAT 14.3g (sat 8.2g,mono 3.7g,poly 0.7g); PROTEIN 19.3g; CHOLESTEROL 46mg; CALCIUM 298mg; SODIUM 550mg; FIBER 2.1g; IRON 2.4mg; CARBOHYDRATE 54.6g

Chocolate Decadence...

2007-03-06T17:24:00.000-05:00

.. light!

As far as I'm concerned, a dessert cannot go wrong with chocolate. But I'm quite particular - chocolate and nuts usually will not do. Pure chocolate only need apply! Yep, I definitely have a sweet tooth, and am always looking for tasty ways to keep it in check. This lighter recipe is one way to fit the bill. Chocolatey, relatively easy to prepare and tasty enough to serve for company. Chocolate Decadence was still tasty despite my baker's error. - I think I undercooked it. Pizza stones are not supposed to affect baking times, but ours seems to. I followed the recipe anyways, and the cake came out quite moussey. Delicious, but more like chocolate mousse in the shape of a cake then the cake intended.

Oh well, I'll just have to make it again to get it right!

Chocolate Decadence
Cooking time: About 40 minutes
Prep time: About 25 minutes, plus at least 8 hours to chill
Notes: For longer storage, wrap airtight and chill 2 days or freeze up to 2 months.

Makes: 12 servings

5 ounces bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, finely chopped
2 large eggs
1 large egg white
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/8 teaspoon cream of tartar
1/2 cup plus 1/2 tablespoon unsweetened alkaline-treated (Dutch process) or regular cocoa
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2/3 cup plus 1/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup low-fat (1%) milk

1. Place oven rack in the lower third of the oven, and turn heat to 350 [degrees].

2. With a nonstick cooking spray, lightly coat inside rim of an 8-inch-wide, 1 1/2- to 2-inch-deep round cake pan. Line pan bottom with cooking parchment cut to fit.

3. Place chopped chocolate in a large bowl, and set aside.

4. Break 1 egg into a small bowl. Separate remaining egg. Put yolk with whole egg. Put white in a separate, larger bowl, and add the remaining egg white.

5. Add vanilla to the bowl with yolk. Add cream of tartar to egg whites.

6. Combine cocoa, flour, and 2/3 cup sugar in a 1 - to 1 1/2-quart pan. Mixing smoothly with a whisk, gradually add milk. Stir over medium heat until mixture simmers, about 6 minutes; don't scorch. Stir and cook 1 1/2 minutes longer, then pour hot mixture over chopped chocolate. Stir until the chocolate is completely melted and smooth. Whisk in whole egg and yolk mixture. Set aside.

7. Beat egg whites with cream of tartar at medium speed until whites hold soft peaks. Beating at high speed, gradually add the remaining 1/4 cup sugar, then beat until whites hold stiff but not dry peaks.

8. Stir 1/4 of the egg whites into the chocolate mixture, then gently fold in the remaining whites. Scrape batter into prepared cake pan, and smooth the top.

9. Set cake pan in another pan that is at least 2 inches wider and 2 inches deep. Set pans in oven. Fill outer pan with boiling water to 1/2 the depth of the cake pan. Bake just until center of cake springs back when very gently pressed - it will still be quite gooey inside - about 30 minutes.

10. Lift cake pan from water, and set on a rack to cool. When cake is cool to the touch, cover it with plastic wrap, and chill until thoroughly cold, at least 8 hours or up to 2 days.

11. To release cake, slide a thin knife between rim and cake. Cover pan with a sheet of waxed paper, then invert a flat plate onto paper. Hold pan and plate together and invert; shake gently, if needed, to loosen cake. If cake sticks to pan, place a hot, damp towel on pan bottom for a few minutes; then gently shake pan with plate. Remove pan. Peel off and discard parchment. Invert serving dish onto cake. Supporting with flat plate, turn cake over onto serving dish. Remove flat plate, and discard waxed paper.

12. Cut cake into Wedges with a thin, sharp knife, dipping blade in hot water and wiping clean between cuts. Garnish wedges with raspberries and meringue cream.

Per serving decadence: 153 cal., 34% (52 cal.) from fat; 3.4 g protein; 5.8 g fat (2.9 g sat.); 26 g carbo.; 50 mg sodium; 36 mg chol.

"Veggie" Sausage Rolls

2007-03-03T15:25:00.000-05:00

I've been vegetarian since age 14. Half of my life, actually. Wow, that's weird to say. Before I turned vegetarian, I loved an appetizer my mother would make for my parents' annual Boxing Day Party. Boxing Day is a holiday celebrated in England on the day after Christmas. According to Wikkipedia, there are many possible reasons for the holiday. I particularly like the tradition that Boxing Day was the day when you "boxed" a gift to give to the people who work for you all year long (for example the postman, milkman etc). You can read more here. But, for whatever reason, Boxing Day is the day we would hold our annual open house cocktail party. Since Americans don't celebrate Boxing Day, my parents found that the party was well attended and so the tradition continued throughout the years.

It wouldn't be Boxing Day without sausage rolls. My mother would cook up sausage, roll out puff pastry dough and line strips of dough with the sausage filling. Next, she would roll over the dough and seal with a little egg wash. The process was simple, quick and the yield made the recipe perfect for a cocktail party as many rolls could be quickly produced at one time. I decided to replicate this with "veggie" sausage filling for our Oscar party last week. It was a success, the rolls were easy to prepare and well received by a non-vegetarian crowd. I don't have a picture since my camera was still held hostage at school, but there's still a piece of puff pastry dough in the freezer - perhaps more rolls will be forthcoming in the weeks to come.

"Veggie" Sausage Rolls

My notes - I found one tube of "veggie sausage" was just about enough for one piece of puff pastry dough. I had a little bit of sausage stuffing left, but I was generous in my application of sausauge to the rolls.

1 roll of "Gimme Lean" or vegetarian sausage
1 piece of puff pastry dough, thawed (boxes typically contain 2 pieces)
1 egg

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Beat the egg in a small bowl and set aside.

Open sausage packet, and place in small bowl. Stir with a fork.

Unroll pastry. Roll into square/rectangle and cut into long strips about 2 inches wide.

Spread "sausage" down the center of one strip of puff pastry. Paint egg wash along edge of strip and roll over, pressing dry side of pastry into egg wash. Cut into small 1 inch sized pieces and place on cookie sheet. Brush top of pieces with egg wash. Repeat as necessary.

Bake for about 10-12 minutes or until golden brown. Enjoy!

Spinach and Artichoke Dip

2007-02-28T19:08:00.000-05:00

I love the artichoke. Related to the thistle or not, it is one tasty veggie. For most of the year, I rely on the convenience of canned artichoke hearts. Using canned artichokes is quick and easy, and allows me to choose recipes highlighting the ingredient without a moment of hesitation. But artichoke season is coming up ... and I'm getting ready.

To get into the mood for artichokes, I decided to make this dip for a little Oscar soiree we hosted last Sunday. Neither M. nor I are THAT into the Oscars, but it seemed like a good excuse for a little party. I've made this dip many times before. It works well as is, but higher fat cream cheeses can be substituted without affecting the result. I usually add the whole box of frozen spinach, figuring that if a little spinach is good then more is definitely better. Enjoy!

Spinach-and-Artichoke Dip
From Cooking Light Magazine, September 2000

2 cups (8 ounces) shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese, divided
1/2 cup fat-free sour cream
1/4 cup (1 ounce) grated fresh Parmesan cheese, divided
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
3 garlic cloves, crushed
1 (14-ounce) can artichoke hearts, drained and chopped
1 (8-ounce) block 1/3-less-fat cream cheese, softened
1 (8-ounce) block fat-free cream cheese, softened
1/2 (10-ounce) package frozen chopped spinach, thawed, drained, and squeezed dry
1 (13.5-ounce) package baked tortilla chips (about 16 cups)

Preheat oven to 350°.

Combine 1 1/2 cups mozzarella, sour cream, 2 tablespoons Parmesan, and next 6 ingredients (2 tablespoons Parmesan through spinach) in a large bowl, and stir until well-blended. Spoon mixture into a 1 1/2-quart baking dish. Sprinkle with 1/2 cup mozzarella and 2 tablespoons Parmesan. Bake at 350° for 30 minutes or until bubbly and golden brown. Serve with tortilla chips

Yield: 5 1/2 cups (serving size: 1/4 cup dip and about 6 chips)

CALORIES 148 (30% from fat); FAT 5g (sat 2.9g,mono 1.5g,poly 0.5g); PROTEIN 7.7g; CHOLESTEROL 17mg; CALCIUM 164mg; SODIUM 318mg; FIBER 1.5g; IRON 0.6mg; CARBOHYDRATE 18.3g

Gnocchi with Zucchini Ribbons and Parsley Brown Butter

2007-02-21T21:34:00.000-05:00

Perusing the aisles at my local market, I saw a packet of gnocchi and picked it up. It was a spontaneous, spur of the moment kind of thought, but I decided to go with it for dinner tonight. I originally thought of a baked gnocchi kind of dish, but then that didn't seem too appealing. I searched for ideas online, and came across this dish which I've actually made in the past. It's healthy, fairly quick (although I definitely spent more than twenty minutes prepping) and tastes much richer then it actually is.

I made a few subs. I don't like to do that the first time I try a recipe, but once I'm more familiar I feel more confident swapping ingredients. I didn't have zucchini so I subbed carrots, and I added a few cloves of garlic when I sauteed my red onion (didn't have shallots either). I was pleased with the resulting dish, the buttery taste shone through and the sweet vegetables harmonized with the gnocchi nicely.

Again, this image is courtesy of Eating Well as my camera continues to be trapped at school during my vacation.

Gnocchi with Zucchini Ribbons and Parsley Brown Butter
Eating Well

Thinly sliced ribbons of zucchini and nutty brown butter make for a gourmet supper. Make it a meal: Round out the plate with steamed broccoli rabe sprinkled with parmesan.

Makes 4 servings, 1 1/2 cups each

ACTIVE TIME: 20 minutes

TOTAL TIME: 20 minutes

EASE OF PREPARATION: Easy

1 pound fresh or frozen gnocchi
2 tablespoons butter
2 medium shallots, chopped
1 pound zucchini (about 3 small), very thinly sliced lengthwise (see Tip)
1 pint cherry tomatoes, halved
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon grated nutmeg
Freshly ground pepper to taste
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley

1. Bring a large saucepan of water to a boil. Cook gnocchi according to package instructions until they float, 3 to 5 minutes. Drain.
2. Meanwhile, melt butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Cook until the butter is
beginning to brown, about 2 minutes. Add
shallots and zucchini and cook, stirring often, until softened, 2 to 3 minutes. Add cherry tomatoes, salt, nutmeg and pepper and continue cooking, stirring often, until the tomatoes are just starting to break down, 1 to 2 minutes.
Stir in Parmesan and parsley. Add gnocchi and toss to coat. Serve immediately.

NUTRITION INFORMATION: Per serving: 327 calories; 10 g fat (6 g sat, 0 g mono); 25 mg cholesterol; 48 g carbohydrate; 12 g protein; 5 g fiber; 710 mg sodium; 540 mg potassium. Nutrition bonus: Vitamin C (70% daily value), Vitamin A (35% dv), Calcium (25% dv). Exchanges: 2 1/2 starch, 2 vegetable. 1 medium-fat meat, 1 fat; 3 Carbohydrate Servings

TIP: To make "ribbon-thin" zucchini, slice lengthwise with a vegetable peeler or on a mandoline slicer.

Spelt Salad with White Beans and Artichokes, Cooking Light Jan/Feb 2007

2007-02-20T10:36:00.000-05:00

I bought the ingredients for this dish last week. It didn't make it on to the menu for a variety of reasons, but made a stunning debut last night instead. It was quick, delicious and really satisfying. I still think it odd that such a salad was featured in the January/February issue of Cooking Light instead during the summer months, but that doesn't change the fact that I really loved this recipe.

Reading as many cooking and health magazines as I do, I know that grains like spelt are wonderfully healthy and a marvelous addition to one's diet. But, that doesn't change the fact that when I hold the bag in my hand, I have NO idea what to do with it! Following this recipe made for a structured yet easy first experience. I will definitely make this again, both for the ease of preparation and the versatility of the recipe. I could see adding a variety of ingredients (including but not limited to cubed tofu, chickpeas, hearts of palm, bell pepper, carrots, cucumbers etc) and will treat it as a jumping off point for future experimentation.

My changes this time around - I added a chopped clove of garlic, and sauteed the onion and garlic briefly with a little non-stick cooking spray. I personally don't care for raw onion. I used cannellini beans, and I added one tablespoon of lemon flavored olive oil (one tablespoon regular olive oil and one tablespoon lemon flavored olive oil). I also added half a cup of crumbled feta cheese. And I didn't measure the herbs, but grabbed a big handful and chopped from there.
Spelt Salad with White Beans and Artichokes
From Cooking Light

Spelt (also called farro) is a high-protein grain with a mellow nutty flavor, and it provides an alternative to bulgur for those who have wheat allergies. (Bulgur is a good substitute if you do not have spelt for this dish.) It's nice chilled or at room temperature. Include a cluster of red grapes and crusty Italian bread in your bag.

1 1/4 cups uncooked spelt (farro), rinsed and drained
2 1/2 cups water
1/3 cup chopped fresh mint
1/3 cup chopped fresh parsley
1/4 cup minced red onion
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 (15-ounce) can navy beans, rinsed and drained
1 (14-ounce) can artichoke hearts, drained and chopped

Combine spelt and 2 1/2 cups water in a medium saucepan; bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 30 minutes or until tender and liquid is absorbed.

Combine cooked spelt, mint, and the remaining ingredients in a large bowl, stirring well. Cover and store in the refrigerator.

Yield: 5 servings (serving size: 1 cup)

NUTRITION PER SERVING
CALORIES 204(29% from fat); FAT 6.5g (sat 0.8g,mono 4g,poly 0.9g); PROTEIN 7.4g; CHOLESTEROL 0.0mg; CALCIUM 40mg; SODIUM 437mg; FIBER 4.9g; IRON 3.2mg; CARBOHYDRATE 30.7g

February Break is a wonderful thing!

2007-02-19T14:38:00.000-05:00

The best thing about being a teacher at one of most New York City schools is the week off that comes in the end of February. Rationally, I know that the holiday break wasn't all that long ago. But oh my, was I ever waiting for this vacation with bated breath!

Unfortunately, I left my camera sitting on my desk at school. While I hope to be spending a lot of time in the kitchen this week, my posts will be pictureless. I'm hoping I'll be able to get into the school to get it, but I just don't know if that will be possible. Oh well.

This past weekend M. and I went to Philadelphia. We wanted to get away for just a little bit, and Philadelphia is an easy trip for those of us car-less New Yorkers. We actually took a Greyhound bus, which was quite an experience. All I'll say about that is that it made for some quality people watching.

Highlights of our stay included the Morris House Hotel we stayed in. We also really enjoyed the restaurant we visited for lunch on Saturday called the Tenth Street Pour House, and dinner Saturday night at 20 Manning. Poking around the Reading Terminal Market was also a lot of fun, if a touch crowded around lunchtime on a Saturday.

We're happy to be back, and I'm happy to have some time to get into my kitchen and get cooking. Stay tuned ....

Brrrr!

2007-02-07T18:11:00.000-05:00

It is a little bit chilly up here in the Northeast. I'm not complaining; the sixty degree days we experienced in early January were a bit ridiculous for my wintry tastes. But, there's no doubting that winter with icy winds and breathtakingly biting cold has found us now.

And I made a delightful discovery that will make all the wintry days still to come a little bit more bearable. I found Green and Black's Maya Gold Hot Chocolate. Now, I must confess, I'm really a milk chocolate girl. I prefer it. I'm learning to appreciate dark chocolate, but give me a choice and I'm going for the milk. Maya Gold though is fast becoming an exception. There's something about the hint of orange and the spices that make it seem much sweeter than typical dark chocolate. My other Maya Gold experiences have been in bar form; however, once I saw this little canister lurking at my natural foods store, I knew it had to be mine. Within ten minutes of walking in the door, the scene you see above had unfolded on my kitchen counter.

Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm!

It's report season....

2007-01-30T20:09:00.000-05:00

... and my good cooking intentions have gone out the window. Writing narrative reports at my school is a long and stressful process. Writing them is intense, deadlines have been coming fast and furious and there is still the classroom to run and curriculum to plan. We began writing reports in December and final edits of all subjects (and there are at least 7 or 8) are due Friday.

Hopefully then cooking will begin again. Stay tuned...

Spinach and Kale Turnovers - Cooking Light J/F 2007

2007-01-15T18:38:00.000-05:00

This recipe was a delight. I was shocked by both how easy the filling came together, and how tasty it was when coupled with my homemade pizza dough. The recipe calls for canned pizza dough, but when you use my favorite that mixes up inside of a half hour everything just tastes that much better.

I actually made this recipe for guests on Saturday. The turnover halves pictured are from the two (out of nine!) that were left. I expected people to hear the words spinach and kale and run away screaming, but our guests loved the taste and scarfed them up with gay abandon. Which always makes for a happy hostess. This will definitely be a repeated recipe, as it goes so nicely with a bowl of soup which is how I enjoyed my leftover turnover today. The soup was nothing special, just something I created to use up some veggies left lying around the house. Handful of spinach, half a cup of cannellini beans, some green beans, a can of diced tomatoes, vegetable broth, garlic and onions - basically an everything but the kitchen sink kind of soup.

Spinach and Kale Turnovers
Cooking Light - January/February 2007
Yield - 8 (I got 9)

2 tsp olive oil
1/2 cup of onion chopped
1 garlic clove (I used 2)
1 small bunch of kale chopped (3 cups)
1 (6oz) package of fresh baby spinach
black pepper to taste
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp ground nutmeg
3 oz crumbled feta cheese
11 oz can of refrigerated pizza dough (I made my own)
2 tablespoons of grated parmesan cheese
cooking spray

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Heat oil in large skillet. Add onion and and saute for ten minutes until browned. Add garlic, and cook for one minute or until fragrant. Add kale and spinach and saute till kale is tender (approximately 8 minutes). Stir in pepper, salt and nutmeg. Remove from heat and let cool slightly. Stir in feta.

Separate dough in to 8 pieces that are rolled out in 5-6 inch disks. Spoon 1/3 cup of mixture on each circle, leaving 1/2 inch border. Fold dough over kale mixture until edges almost meet. Bring bottom edge of dough over top edge and crimp edges together to enclose.

Place turnovers on sprayed baking sheet. Lightly coat turnovers with spray and sprinkle with parmesan. Bake for 18 minutes or untill golden brown.

And, in case anyone needs it again, here's my favorite pizza dough recipe. This is the dough I used to make the turnovers.

Whole Wheat Pizza Dough
Eating Well

3/4 cup whole-wheat flour
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 package quick-rising yeast (2 1/4 teaspoons), such as Fleischmann's RapidRise
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon sugar
1/2-2/3 cup hot water (120-130°F)
2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil

1. Combine whole-wheat flour, all-purpose flour, yeast, salt and sugar in a food processor; pulse to mix. Combine hot water and oil in a measuring cup. With the motor running, gradually pour in enough of the hot liquid until the mixture forms a sticky ball. The dough should be quite soft. If it seems dry, add 1 to 2 tablespoons warm water; if too sticky, add 1 to 2 tablespoons flour. Process until the dough forms a ball, then process for 1 minute to knead.

2. Transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface. Coat a sheet of plastic wrap with cooking spray and place it, sprayed-side down, over the dough. Let the dough rest for 10 to 20 minutes before rolling.

makes 12 oz dough, enough for one 12-inch pizza or two 10-inch pizzas

Football, Friends and Brownies.

2007-01-09T19:55:00.000-05:00

My husband is a big football fan. I'm not (and that's an understatement). To keep my sanity, while feeding his football frenzy, it has been his custom over the last few years to meet up with friends every Sunday to watch the games. I'm happy being football-free, and he's happy to hang with the guys.

Apparently this week was a big deal - playoffs or something. :) So instead of the guys hanging at the bar they usually choose for football viewing pleasure, they went to one of the guys' apartments. Less distractions, you see. And so M. asked me to bake something. It's rare he requests a baked treat, so I allowed him to pick from several recipes that didn't involve more than a quick trip to the store. He chose this recipe for Double-Decker Chocolate-Chip Brownies from The Weekend Baker by Abigail Johnson Dodge. I haven't made much from the cookbook, so I was happy to comply. The one recipe I did try looked good, but ended up tossed due to my error (undercooking). So, I was eager to try again.

The one thing that is unique about the recipes in the Weekend Baker is that they utlize unusual steps in the intent of being quicker then most. Don't get me wrong, there are days I'll happily spend hours baking. And then there are days I'd much rather not. And this was the latter. The author regularly calls for melting butter, and then simply adding the dry ingredients. The results of this recipe were well received by the guys, or so the report came back. While they competed with pizza and wings, the double-decker brownies did very well for themselves and not too many were left.

I made a few couple changes but the recipe still worked. My brownie layer was a bit too fudgy - I was out of cocoa powder and NOT returning to the store, so I subbed an equal amount of fancy cocoa mix which had both powder and chunks of chocolate. I wouldn't repeat the recipe this way, but it worked. The chocolate chip layer was delicious - it was hard not to steal crumbs as they fell off of pieces. I chilled the cooked brownies overnight, and this was still a challenging recipe to cut. Perhaps I should have allowed for more warming before wrestling with a knife. At any rate, this would definitely be a recipe I'd repeat in the future. The recipe was quick, easy and made a multitude of brownies. What more could a busy chef ask for?

Chocolate-chip brownie double-deckers

The Weekend Baker by Abigail Johnson Dodge

Makes 2 dozen 2 inch (5 cm) double-deckers

Author’s notes – One afternoon, I was testing both the brownie and chocolate chip cookie recipes for this book and my husband Chris was in the kitchen looking for a sample or two. Eyeing both batters, Chris asked what would happen if they were baked layered together. A great idea and, as it turned out, with a few tweaks to the chocolate chip recipe, I ended up with bar cookies that offer the best of both cookies.

Do aheads

The double deckers can be prepared through step 7, cut, tightly wrapped and frozen for up to one month. There’s almost no thawing necessary, about 20 minutes, as these brownies are delicious even when partially frozen.

For the Chocolate Chip layer

12 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt
1 large egg
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

For the Brownie layer

12 tablespoons unsalted butter cut into 6 pieces
¾ cup unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder, sifted if lumpy
1 ½ cups granulated sugar
¼ teaspoon table salt
2 large eggs
1 ½ teaspoons vanilla
¾ cup all purpose flour

Position an oven rack on the middle rung. Heat the oven to 325 degrees. Lightly grease the bottom and sides of a 9 by 13 inch baking pan.
TO MAKE CHOCOLATE CHIP LAYER -- Put the butter in a medium saucepan and set over medium heat, stirring occasionally until butter is melted. Slide pan from heat and add the brown sugar. Whisk until no lumps remain. Set aside to cool while you make the brownie layer.

TO MAKE THE BROWNIE LAYER -- Put the butter in a medium saucepan and set over medium heat, stirring occasionally until butter is melted. Slide pan from heat and add the cocoa powder. Whisk until mixture is smooth. Add the sugar and salt and whisk until blended. Add the eggs one at a time, whisking after each addition until just blended. Whisk in vanilla with second egg. Sprinkle flour over chocolate mixture, and stir with a rubber spatula until just blended.

Scrape batter into prepared baking dish and spread evenly with offset or rubber spatula. Set aside while you finish chocolate chip layer.
TO FINISH CHOCOLATE CHIP LAYER -- In a small bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, and salt. Whisk until well blended. Once the butter mixture has cooled, add the egg and vanilla to it and whisk until blended. Stir in the chocolate chips.

Drop the dough over the brownie batter in large scoopfuls and spread evenly with spatula. Bake until a toothpick or cake tester inserted into the center comes out with small, gooey clumps of brownie sticking to it (about 40 minutes). Don’t overbake, or they won’t be fudgy. Transfer baking pan to a rack to cool completely.

Using bench scraper or knife, cut into small squares measuring about 2 inches across. The cooler the double-deckers are, the cleaner cutting will be but these fudgy treats will always leave some sticky crumbs on the knife.

New Year ... new blog.

2007-01-07T19:50:00.000-05:00

Well, maybe not a new blog but at least a renewed attempt to get back into the blogging swing. I confess, my couple months off have been quite disastrous. I'm completely out of the habit of photographing food, and could have posted many a recipe had I only remembered to take a picture.

Oh well, here we go in 2007. Light and healthy (for the most part) and cooking up a storm. That's my new year's resolution, and I'm beginning with a delightful Cooking Light recipe for Cavatappi with Vodka Sauce. M and I both love a good vodka sauce. The creamy lusciouness of the sauce coating the nooks and crannies of pasta shapes - heaven on earth. However the cream and butter that makes a vodka sauce taste good isn't so great for one's overall health. Except perhaps on special and oh so indulgent occasions.

So, I wanted to try this Cooking Light version and see if it was up to snuff. Would it do for our vodka sauce cravings without doing in our waistlines? And the answer is yes. I made a couple mistakes when making the recipe, and it was still good enough to repeat and correct in the future. I didn't cook the sauce at a high enough heat to burn off all the vodka, and I didn't have enough of one kind of pasta to make the recipe. I'm notorious for always buying pasta, and having our pantry swim in about ten boxes of different kinds of pasta. So this time I figured I must have the right amount of pasta at home, and I didn't. So we had it with a mix of farfalle, and whole wheat fusilli. And the recipe was still a keeper!

Cavatappi with Vodka Sauce
From Cooking Light
Luscious, creamy vodka sauce gets into every nook and cranny of the spiral-shaped cavatappi. You can also use fusilli or penne.

My notes - I added peas because M. is a big fan of peas with his vodka sauce. And I never turn down an extra veggie!

8 ounces uncooked cavatappi pasta (about 3 cups)
1 tablespoon butter
2/3 cup finely chopped onion
1 garlic clove, minced
1 (8-ounce) can tomato sauce
4 teaspoons all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon water
3/4 cup half-and-half
1/2 cup 2% reduced-fat milk
1/3 cup vodka
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon ground red pepper
1/2 cup (2 ounces) grated fresh Parmesan cheese
2 tablespoons finely chopped basil

Cook pasta according to package directions, omitting salt and fat. Drain.

Melt butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add onion and garlic; cover and cook 3 minutes or until tender. Add tomato sauce; simmer, partially covered, 8 minutes or until thick. Combine flour and water, stirring with a whisk until smooth. Add flour mixture to pan; cook 1 minute. Add half-and-half, milk, vodka, salt, and pepper; bring to a boil. Stir in cheese. Reduce heat to low; cook 3 minutes or until cheese melts, stirring frequently. Add pasta; toss to coat. Sprinkle with basil.

Yield: 4 servings (serving size: about 1 1/3 cups)

CALORIES 449 (27% from fat); FAT 13.3g (sat 8g,mono 3.4g,poly 0.5g); PROTEIN 16.6g; CHOLESTEROL 36mg; CALCIUM 275mg; SODIUM 784mg; FIBER 3.2g; IRON 2.7mg; CARBOHYDRATE 55g

Cooking Light, MAY 2003

Gone fishing.

2006-12-13T18:33:00.000-05:00

Okay, I'm taking a break. Work is too busy, the holidays are too busy and I just don't have time to post much right now. Instead of lurking around the internet and feeling guilty, I think I'll just give myself a an official excuse to try to relax and enjoy this special time of year (as much as a class of special education children the week before a vacation will let me).

Please check back after the New Year, I anticipate that this veggie kitchen will be up and running by January 2nd or so. I'll be ready to cook and post again, and get back to the usual routine. I leave you with a crock-pot mushroom stroganoff I made at some point in time, but didn't post. Baked acorn squash, kale, roasted potatoes and mushroom stroganoff. Mmmmmmm!

I bid you all adieu until January 2nd or so. Happy Cooking, Happy Holidays and Happy New Year!

Two weeks later...

2006-12-06T18:53:00.000-05:00

... still alive, just busy busy busy.

We had a wonderful trip to Florida for Thanksgiving (what seems like eons ago), and my mother came to visit us this weekend just past. We had a great visit - we did some of the touristy New York things like visit the Christmas tree at Rockefeller Center. I've lived here for many years, and never actually done that. And my mom came to talk to my class about Christmas traditions in my family. We have a seasonal family traditions curriculum in place right now, so her visit fit right in. There was actually a surprising amount of cooking happening, but just no time to post. One of these days I'll catch up... maybe.

Until then, some pictures.

A fall feast featuring roasted butternut squash, mashed sweet potatoes, braised kale and cauliflower gratin.

Everyone's favorite - FONDUE!

Helios and the Christmas tree get to know each other a little better.

And, watching the skaters at Rockefeller Center.

Mac and Cheese....

2006-11-21T18:34:00.000-05:00

... when you've got to be good while being bad. This is my go-to, quick and easy, not TOO sinful but still mac and cheese recipe. It shows up every couple of weeks, and is always greated with a smile from all who taste. Is it gooey drippy cheesey goodness? No, its a Weight Watchers recipe. But it does use REAL (not reduced fat) cheddar cheese, which to me is a big part of its richer taste despite being a light recipe. And, it's pretty quick to throw together. Assemble bake and enjoy within an hour (45 minutes if you are particularly organized and speedy). Although, this batch came out a bit over-done. The texture on the left side of the picture is more typical.

Sometimes you've just got to have the macaroni and cheese!

Off to Florida for Thanksgiving - now it's finally gotten cool in New York City I'm off to warmer pastures. Figures. Nothing like keeping this topsy turvy weather going ...

Macaroni and Cheese
Weight Watchers Versatile Vegetarian Cookbook
Serves 4

(I usually leave out the basil and the tomato)

1 1/2 cups elbow macaroni
1 cup 1% low-fat milk
1/2 onion -- grated (I used a whole one)
2 tablespoons unbleached flour
2 garlic cloves -- crushed
1/2 teaspoon dry mustard (about 1 heaping tsp)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
pinch nutmeg
4 ounces sharp cheddar cheese
1 tomato -- diced (very large or 2)
1 tablespoon chopped basil (fresh about 1/2 cup)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Cook the macaroni according to package directions. Drain and keep warm.

In a large saucepan bring the milk, onion, flour, garlic, mustard, salt, pepper, and nutmeg to a boil. Cook, stirring constantly, until thickened, 3-4 minutes. Stir in the cheese in batches until it's melted and the sauce is smooth; stir in the macaroni, tomato, and basil.

Transfer the mixture to a shallow 1-quart casserole. Bake until golden, 35-40 minutes; cool slightly before serving.

Per Serving (excluding unknown items): 247 Calories; 11g Fat (38.5% calories from fat); 13g Protein; 25g Carbohydrate; 1g Dietary Fiber; 32mg Cholesterol; 478mg Sodium. Exchanges: 1 Grain(Starch); 1 Lean Meat; 1/2 Vegetable; 1/2 Non-Fat Milk; 1 1/2 Fat.

Cornichons Forever!

2006-11-20T20:16:00.000-05:00

One of the perks of a childhood spent overseas is that you encounter new foods. At first the new foods are exciting, then they become familiar and soon they are incorporated into your repetoire and comforting as a result Except, I didn't discover cornichons as a child. Oh well.

When M. and I were in Switzerland for our honeymoon a few years back, we fell in love with fondue. To this day, fondue has become the "romantic meal" for us as a couple. Valentine's Day? Fondue. Dreary weather outside and we need a wintry boost? Fondue. And, one of our favorite things about discovering fondue in Switzerland were the cornichons or little French pickles served along the cheese. Yes, cheese and pickles. Tiny, tart, mouth puckeringly brisk pickles dipped into smooth and creamy cheese. Yum. So, cornichons have become a must-have for fondue night.

Last week on my way home from work, I had a craving for a sandwich. I could picture it in my mind - soy bologna, dijon mustard mixed with light mayo and chopped cornichons, and a little bit of cheddar cheese. Needless to say, I made it happen not only that night but the next night as well.

Mmmmm... so that's my random food concoction for the week. What are yours? What weird but delicious food combinations float your boat? Do share....

Leek and Golden Potato Soup

2006-11-16T18:54:00.000-05:00

Here is the soup recipe I mentioned yesterday. It was really quite good. As I've said before, Weight Watchers recipes are hit or miss. But this one was a big, low-fat hit. And the directions couldn't be easier. Really.

Leek and Golden Potato Soup
WW New Complete Cookbook
Makes 6 servings

WW Notes - When you substitute all-purpose potatoes with buttery-tasting Yukon Golds, there's no need to add butter or oil to get a wonderfully rich-tasting soup. Once considered a specialty ingredient, these light skinned potatoes can now be found at most supermarkets.

My notes - I added garlic. Can't have soup without garlic. And I carmelized the leeks in some cooking spray. Yes, the nutrition police will pick me up shortly for my rebellion I'm sure. My recipe modifications are in italics.

4 Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/2 inch pieces
4 large leeks (about 2.5 pounds) white and pale green parts only, cleaned and chopped
1 large oinion, chopped
5 cups fat-free chicken (I used veggie) broth
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

1. Combine the potatoes, leeks, onion, broth and pepper in a large pot and bring to a boil. Spray pan with cooking spray. Add leeks and saute over medium high heat. Add onion. Saute until brown and flavorful. Add garlic as leeks and onions begin to look dry (about a minute before you are ready to add broth). Add 1 cup of broth, and deglaze pan with spatula/spoon. Add rest of broth, potatoes and pepper. Reduce heat and simmer, covered, until veggies are tender (20-25 minutes). Remove from heat and cool for 10 minutes.

2.Transfer mixture to a blender and puree, working in batches if necessary, to prevent overflow. Mix with hand blender in pot until desired texture.

Lazy lazy lazy....

2006-11-15T19:35:00.000-05:00

... that would be me.

I did actually make a surprisingly delicious Potato Leek soup over the weekend. But it's kinda late, I'm kinda tired and hungry. So it'll have to keep for a day when I feel like typing a recipe since I just googled and couldn't find it online. Instead I'll show you my latest "throw it together and see what happens" meal.

I call it - Kitchen Sink Fajitas. Since everything short of the proverbial kitchen sink made its way into the dish.

Talk about lazy food photography - love the blob of sour cream! Food photographers of the world relax - I'm not quitting my day-job.

Kitchen Sink Fajitas

1 pack "chicken strips" (fake chicken)
1 pack "steak strips" (fake steak - I usually find both varieties in the refridgerated section of the grocery store)
1 onion - sliced into thin strips
1 pack sliced portabello mushrooms
1-2 green peppers depending on taste (I used three tiny purple ones from our CSA but whatever)
1 can of diced tomatoes with jalepenos
1/2 fajita spice
1/4 cup store bought salsa
1 can of kidney beans, rinsed and drained
3 cloves of garlic
salt
pepper

Slice onion into rings, and saute in cooking spray/splash of oil. Once onions begin to brown, add fake meat strips, peppers, portabellos, fajita spice and stir. When pan begins to get too hot and ingredients begin to dry out, add diced tomatoes. Add beans and salsa and garlic, salt and pepper to taste.

I served this concoction with 7 grain/flax tortillas, roasted butternut squash, frozen mixed vegetables and mashed sweet potatoes. We have a multitude of sweet potatoes right now (about 6 pounds worth to be exact), and so I got rid of some over the weekend by making mashed sweet potatoes. This recipe yielded a lot - we got 6 servings out of the fajita filling alone. But topped with a little cheese and sour cream, M. and I scarfed up the fajita leftovers QUITE happily! :)

Continuing the parade of favorite dishes...

2006-11-12T20:08:00.000-05:00

... comes this oldie but goodie. This recipe, tantalizingly called Fettucine and Tofu with Finger-Licking Peanut Sauce, is quick to throw to together and easily modified to whatever ingredients are on hand. You'll notice the broccoli in my picture, and the absence of broccoli in the recipe. And I didn't have scallions - so no scallions were harmed in the making of my dish. I only had baby carrots, and so I roughly chopped them and skipped the grating step. When I've made this dish in the past, I've thrown in various vegetables from the vegetable drawer with little impact on the overall recipe. If you were putting in significantly more veggies then called for, you may want to consider doubling the sauce. But generally I find the proportion of sauce to noodles appropriate (and I like things SAUCY!). I also brown the tofu in a skillet before adding. That's my personal preference, but I don't think I personally would enjoy the dish as much if the tofu weren't browned and cooked. And I've used whole wheat fettucine, regular fettucine, spaghetti (whole wheat or regular) and various other incarnations of pasta. I don't think the dish would work with shapes like rigatoni or farfalle, but anything long and noodley would sub very well

This time, I served the noodles with vegetarian Thai dumplings and sauteed greens. And the entire dish went from prep to eat in about 40 minutes, which isn't too bad at all for a weeknight.

Fettuccine and Tofu with Finger-Licking Peanut Sauce
Cooking Light

1/2 cup fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
1/4 cup chunky peanut butter
1/4 cup low-sodium soy sauce
3 tablespoons brown sugar
2 tablespoons rice vinegar
2 teaspoons grated peeled fresh ginger
2 teaspoons chile paste with garlic
4 garlic cloves, minced
8 ounces uncooked fettuccine
1 pound firm tofu, drained and cubed
1 cup (2-inch) sliced green onions
1 cup shredded carrot

Combine first 8 ingredients in a small saucepan. Cook over medium heat 5 minutes or until smooth, stirring frequently. Remove from heat.

Cook pasta in boiling water 8 minutes, omitting salt and fat. Add tofu, onions, and carrot; drain. Place pasta mixture in a large bowl. Add peanut butter mixture; toss gently.

Baked Oatmeal - Breakfast of Champions

2006-11-08T19:19:00.000-05:00

This is yet another favorite recipe round here in the Veggie Kitchen. It's kind of a busy week, parent teacher conferences, and I'm falling back on all the favorites to get me through. This one is my go-to breakfast for busy weeks because I can slice it, nuke it for a minute, slap some yogurt on top and eat. Breakfast start to finish in about 1 minute and thirty seconds. Works for me.

This is also a very forgiving recipe. Don't like cinnamon? Leave it out. Crazy for nutmeg - throw it in! Don't do skim milk, well then do whatever you prefer instead. Got Craisins kicking around - fantastic. Leave out the raisins. You get the idea.

The last thing I like about this recipe is the yield. 8 servings = 4 days of breakfasts for M. and myself and that equals less to worry about. And that works for me.

Baked Oatmeal
Quaker Oats Recipe
Serves 8

2 1/4 cups Quick cooking oats, uncooked
or 2 3/4 cups Old Fashioned oats, uncooked
2/3 cup firmly packed brown sugar
3/4 cup raisins or Craisins
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt -- optional
3 1/3 cups skim milk
4 egg whites -- lightly beaten
(or 1/2 cup egg substitute, or 2 eggs)
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 tablespoon vanilla
fat free milk or nonfat yogurt and fruit -- optional

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Spray 8-inch glass baking dish with cooking spray.

In large bowl, combine oats, sugar, raisins, cinnamon and salt; mix well. In medium bowl, combine milk, egg whites, oil and vanilla; mix well. Add to dry ingredients; ix until well blended. Pour into baking dish.

Bake 55 to 60 minutes or until center is set and firm to the touch. Cool slightly.

Serve topped with milk or yogurt and fruit, if desired. Store leftover oatmeal tightly covered in refrigerator.

Creamy Broccoli Chowder

2006-11-06T20:39:00.000-05:00

So I still have all this backlogged stuff that I made but never posted, however sifting through it just isn't seeming appealing. So... eh. I'll just move on.

Last night I made one of my favorite recipes. This soup usually pops up several times a winter, if not more. It is relatively quick to throw together, relatively healthy YET cheesey (an important distinction in my book) and filling to boot. The recipe originally came from Eating Well, just one of the many cooking magazines I subscribe to (and sometimes even read). And, I can't quite recall but I think it is from a couple years ago now. But, as I said already, this is an oldie but a goodie and never goes out of rotation in my house.

I've got a close-up shot of this soup - mostly because I was too lazy to take it out of the pan and serve it in a bowl to photograph.

Broccoli Chowder
Eating Well Magazine - Winter 200-?

1 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
1 large onion -- chopped (1 1/2 cups)
1 large carrot -- diced (1/2 cup)
2 stalks celery -- diced (1/2 cup)
1 large potato -- peeled and diced (1 1/2 cups)
2 cloves garlic -- minced
1 tbsp all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp dry mustard
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
3 1/2 cups vegetable broth or reduced-sodium chicken broth (two 14-ounce cans)
1/2 pound broccoli crowns -- cut into 1-inch pieces, stems and florets separated
1 cup grated reduced fat cheddar cheese
1/2 cup reduced-fat sour cream
1/8 teaspoon salt -- or to taste

Heat oil in a dutch oven or large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add onion, carrot and celery; cook, stirring often, until onion and celery soften, 5 to 6 minutes. Add potato and garlic; cook, stirring, for 2 minutes. Stir in flour, dry mustard and cayenne; cook, stirring often, for 2 minutes. Add broth and broccoli stems, bring to a boil. Cover and reduce heat to medium. Simmer, stirring occasionally, for 10 minutes. Stir in florets; simmer, covered, until broccoli is tender, about 10 minutes more.

Transfer 2 cups of the chowder to a bowl and mash; return to the pan. Stir in cheddar and sour cream; cook over medium heat, stirring, until the cheese is melted and the chowder is heated through. Season with salt.

Makes about 6 servings, 1 cup each.

Per serving: 179 calories; 8g total fat (3g sat, 3g mono); 15 mg cholesterol; 23g carbohydrate; 7g protein; 4g fiber; 351mg sodium

Tale of a Happy Kitty

2006-11-01T19:33:00.000-05:00

I was totally planning on catching up and posting some of the things I've made in the past week. But then I was at the pet store. And I bought kitty litter, and refills for Helios' Alpine Scratcher. And his glee and excitement and catnip-induced happiness was just too adorable to resist.

So, I bring you - the Tale of a Happy Kitty

It takes so little to make them so happy! A feel good ending to yet another day.

Happy Halloween!

2006-10-31T19:08:00.000-05:00

Hey, look at that. It's been almost a week since I posted. Oops.

I have been cooking - the recipes and the pictures just haven't been making them onto the blog.

At any rate, Happy Halloween. Here's my contribution to Halloween festivities.
We had a small celebration at school, but nothing too grandiose. Which is fine by me. I like the idea of Halloween, but I'm not the best about costumes - I just don't enjoy dressing up! But my socks were a big hit with the kids, although I felt quite weird heading to work at 6:45 am with the power suit crowd! Me, my socks and a sea of business suits. Good times.

I like the idea of Halloween, so last night I carved a pumpkin. He's nothing that special, but he was fun to carve and his seeds were quite tasty roasted.

Have a spooky night!

Gooey Apple Sheet Cake

2006-10-25T14:35:00.000-04:00

I'm swimming in apples. Or I could be. If there were a swimming pool out there, I might actually be able to fill it. Well maybe not a swimming pool but we could definitely fill a wading pool. Anyways, our CSA keeps throwing apples at us as fast as I can use them. Actually, faster since they're piling up on the counter. And I'm funny about apples. I love them, but I prefer them sliced. I'm weird that way. So I carry apples back and forth to school, but don't really eat them. I've already mentioned my preference for sliced apples which is tricky in a classroom environment, but the more pressing issue as to why these apples live in my bag going back and forth to school is that I never seem to have much time to eat apples during the day. I obviously can't eat them when the kids are around because I'm busy doing other things, and after school I'm too busy becauseI want to go home. The time I could take to wash the apple, slice it and eat it is also time I could spend copying math or reading homework. And after a long day at school, the second takes preference. So the apples are accumulating faster then they're being consumed.

So, yes we have an apple pile-up situation. Last Saturday we went over to a friend's house for dinner, and I volunteered to make something with apples for dessert. I decided to try this recipe which used a grand total of 2 apples. But two more then I would have otherwise used, so I guess that's good. I halved the cake - there were only 6 of us, after all. The recipe listed below is the full 9 x 13 sheet cake version, not the halved version. I made it in a glass 8 x 8 ish pan, and it came out really well. The flavor was sweet, but the texture was both nice and gooey and yet crunchy and full of bite. Don't be fooled by the picture - it is a somewhat unusual looking cake but it does taste great! And, the picture isn't mine. It's from the original website. I forgot to take a picture before I toted the dessert uptown.

Gooey Apple Sheet Cake
Diana's Desserts
serves 24

My notes - Again I halved this recipe with great success baking in a glass 8 x 8 dish. I didn't have buttermilk, and so I added half a tablespoon of vinegar to milk in order to curdle and create a buttermilky type substance. I googled for buttermilk substitutions - no I'm not that clever on my own. I think I used the whole 2 cups of apples, though, as part of my plan to use up as many apples as possible. The cake was delicious, and the recipe will be repeated!

For the Cake:
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups granulated sugar
1 cup butter
2 eggs
1 tsp. baking soda
½ cup buttermilk
1 generous cup shredded apples
1 tsp. ground cinnamon

For the Topping (to be put over cake batter BEFORE baking cake):
3 cups powdered sugar
8 oz. cream cheese
2 eggs
¼ cup oatmeal

Garnish, (optional)
Sliced apples

For Cake:
Melt butter, stir in sugar and eggs. Add flour and baking soda alternately with buttermilk, mixing well. Fold in shredded apples, the raisins, and the pecans. Spread batter into well greased (or sprayed) 13 x 9 baking pan. (Mix Topping ingredients and put over cake BEFORE baking).

Bake in a 350ºF (175ºC) oven for 35-45 minutes. If using a convection oven, bake for 25 minutes. If desired, garnish cake with sliced apples.

For Topping:
(Mix and put over cake batter BEFORE baking)
3 cups powdered sugar
8 oz. cream cheese
2 eggs
¼ cup quick cooking oats

Mix all ingredients together and put over cake batter BEFORE baking.

Chickpea and Swiss Chard Soup

2006-10-23T21:35:00.000-04:00

Sometimes a recipe suprises you. You scan the list of ingredients and think, "Sure - why not!" and make the recipe. And then, you're surprised. You re-read the ingredients, searching for the source of the deliciousness, and just have to accept that this particular recipe is more than the sum of its parts.

That happened to me on Saturday when I made this soup. The ingredient list - not so impresssive. I only had one carton of vegetable broth, and so I had to add water which I strongly-will-go-out-to-the-store-to-buy-more-but-not-on-this-day prefer not to do with soups. And yet, it was amazingly tasty. My batch came out thin, despite the pureeing step, but the broth was garlicky and spicy in a quite pleasing way. And Swiss chard and chickpeas - could it be more healthy?

We're enjoying the leftovers, I'll say that much. And, if this soup serves 4, then we're talking some really big people. Maybe our bowls are smaller than most, but we've already had six servings from this soup and I'm not even up to the second Tupperware container yet. That's a lot of soup. And I do like soup.

Chickpea and Swiss Chard Soup
Jeanne Lemlin
Simple Vegetarian Pleasures

serves 4 as a main course - if you're a giant. Serves at least 8 in a bowl of soup/roll/cheese kind of way.

Jeanne's notes - The building of layers of flavor in thick vegetable stews makes them especially inviting, but equally appealing to me are simple soups with just a few ingredients whose flavors are transported in tasty broth. Although you can enjoy this soup just after making it, it will benefit from being made a few hours in advance so the stock can really develop the garlicky undertones.

My notes - I used 4 cups of veggie stock, and 4 cups of water. I was unexpectedly heavy handed with the crushed red pepper (darn that spoon/sprinkle confusion), and added close to a teaspoon. I also used about 2 tablespoons of olive oil. And, I used my hand blender to puree some of the soup.

1/4 cup olive oil
1 medium onion, finely diced
8 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
8 cups vegetable stock, store-bought or homemade
2 tablespoons of tomato paste mixed with 1/2 cup of water
4 cups freshly cooked or canned chickpeas (2 16 0z cans)
8 cups of finely shredded Swiss chard leaves
1 teaspoon salt

1. Heat the oil in a large stockpot over medium heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring often, for 3 minutes. Mix in the garlic and crushed red pepper flakes, and saute for five minutes or until onion is tender.
2. Add the stock, tomato paste mixture, and chickpeas and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to a lively simmer, and cook for ten minutes. Stir in the Swiss chard and salt, and simmer ten minutes.
3. Remove 2 cups of the soup and puree it in a blender or food processor. Return it to the pot.

Report Card Season

2006-10-21T13:30:00.000-04:00

Three words. That's where I've been all week. That, and other things that have kept me late at school.

On Tuesday I used one of my "quick dining solutions" to create dinner and leftovers for lunch on Wednesday.

I took this . . . ----->

and this . . . ---------->

. . . to create this. Pasta with veggies and jarred sauce, quick garlic toasts and sauteed flat beans. Not too shabby, but hardly inspiring fare. And that was the highlight of my cooking this week. Beyond that, cans of soup were as inspired as I got.

And then the week ended. I didn't see M. much this week. Between his trip to Montreal and the two playoff baseball games he went to, he was simply gone most of the week. So, I decided it was time for a Friday date night. Inspired by Kate at A Pie In the Sky we went to Applewood, a restaurant in Park Slope. I made the reservation, didn't tell M. where we were going and watching him try to figure it out was hilarious! Park Slope is in a different direction then we usually head in when dining, so he was very confused.

We absolutely loved our meals. The food was delicious, the portions were reasonable and we enjoyed the chance to sit back and relax. I started with a trumpet mushroom which was sliced and sauteed, and served over roasted barley and parmesan shavings with a creme fraiche sauce. M. started with a venison ragu served over several perfectly fluffy (or so he told me, it wasn't a dish we could share) gnocchi on a bed of pureed butternut squash. My main dish was a vegetarian pot-au-feu which was a stew of seasonal vegetables served over creamy polenta and braised in a porcini broth. M. enjoyed haddock over a bed of mustard greens and roasted cauliflower. Both courses were deliciously satisfying, and left room for dessert. We ordered two and shared - I ordered the tarte tatin which came with creme fraiche ice cream, and M. ordered the olive oil cake served with roasted figs and marscapone cheese.

Living in New York, we're spoiled. There are so many great restaurants out there, why would you go back to one unless it were truly special. This one was that special, and the owners' use of organic seasonal fare means that our next visit might have a very different menu. At the very least, I'll take my mom there for dinner on her next visit. It's the kind of dining that's hard to find in her part of Florida - and I think she'd love it.

This has turned out to be a long post, so I'll end here with a seasonal picture of Helios. Unfortunately, he'd just seen something worth investigating and moved half a second after the picture was taken, but I still thought it was cute.

A Simple Supper Stand-by...

2006-10-16T20:34:00.000-04:00

Well, I mustered some energy last night but not enough to prepare the soups I'd planned. Instead I reverted to an old favorite. This is another quick and easy meal (seems to be a trend around here these days) that can go from freezer and cupboard to plate within twenty minutes. I of course used veggie broth, and added some fresh garlic to the broth as it heated. The fresh herb (I used flatleaf parsley) and the sprinkle of parmesan cheese are key - don't leave them out! I served with cheesey garlic toasts, and both M. and I enjoyed a simple yet warming Sunday supper.

Cheese Tortellini in Light Broth
Giada De Laurentiis
Every Day Italian
serves 4

4 cups low-salt chicken broth
Freshly ground black pepper
1 (9-ounce) packages refrigerated cheese tortellini
2 tablespoons chopped fresh Italian parsley leaves
3 tablespoons grated parmesan cheese

Pour the broth into a heavy large saucepan. Cover and bring to a boil over high heat. Season the broth with pepper, to taste. Add the tortellini. Simmer over medium heat until al dente, about 7 minutes.

Ladle the broth and tortellini into soup bowls. Top with parsley and Parmesan and serve.

Under the weather.

2006-10-15T13:57:00.000-04:00

The only thing coming out of my veggie kitchen with any regularity is mugs of steaming hot tea. M. has had a cold since the middle of last week. I did well fighting it off until the weekend, but we went to a wedding on Friday night. Staying out late, lots of glasses of wine and having way too much fun has resulted in us both feeling under the weather all weekend long. Yes, not much cooking happening round here.

I am expecting an online grocery delivery this afternoon. Pure genius that online grocery thing. I'm not always organized enough to plan my menus in advance, but when I am and the food just appears - it's wonderful! The service we use also provides some wonderful shortcuts like parbaked bread, prepared veggies that only need heating in the microwave and other items that help out with busy/under-the-weather weeks. You'll see more than a couple of these items pop up this week. If I feel better perhaps I'll muster enough energy to make some soup for dinner tonight. If not... stay tuned. In accordance with my mood, I have several crock pot recipes slated for the week. If I'm not in the mood to cook, maybe my crockpot can do it for me.

Achoo! Time for more tea.

Blah.

2006-10-11T18:46:00.000-04:00

It wasn't a good day.

It is raining. A lot.

There was that whole small plane crashing into a building thing that happened on the Upper East Side today. There always seems to be something here in NYC. People (for good reason based on the past five years) freak out.

Teaching in special education was NOT fun today. My assistant was out sick, and with behavioral kids that equals an off-the-wall day. They don't like change.

What is my prescription for a bad day? Mac and Cheese for Dinner. Annie's to the rescue!

So I don't lose my food blogger status, here's a recipe I made on Sunday. Initially, I was unimpressed. But when I heated myself a slice of pizza in the toaster oven last night, it was surprisingly tasty. So I re-evaluated the recipe. But then microwave-heated leftovers for lunch today were only okay. So, I'm not sure. The issue is the crust. On Sunday it was too doughy. Last night it was delicious. And at lunch, it was too spongey. But the topping was nice and cheesey, and I of course used meatless Italian sausage. I'm sure M. would tell you real sausage would be even better, although he is quite a fan of many of the meatless sausage products out there.

Blah.

Sausage and Vegetable Deep-Dish Pizza

Unlike our other pizzas, the crust for this is intended to be thick. Use a spatula to serve its substantial squares straight from the pan.

Sauce:
Cooking spray
2 cups chopped zucchini
1/4 cup chopped onion
1 (8-ounce) package mushrooms, sliced
1/4 cup white wine
1/8 teaspoon black pepper
2 cups fat-free garlic-and-onion pasta sauce (such as Muir Glen Organic)
8 ounces hot turkey Italian sausage

Dough:
2 teaspoons honey
1 package active dry yeast (about 2 1/4 teaspoons)
1 cup warm water (100° to 110°)
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (about 11 1/4 ounces), divided
1 tablespoon yellow cornmeal
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons olive oil

Remaining ingredients:
1 1/2 cups (6 ounces) shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese
1/2 cup (2 ounces) grated Parmesan cheese

To prepare sauce, heat a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add zucchini, onion, and mushrooms to pan; sauté 7 minutes or until vegetables are lightly browned. Add wine and pepper; cook 1 minute or until liquid almost evaporates. Stir in sauce. Remove from heat; cool.

Remove casings from sausage. Cook sausage in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat until browned, stirring to crumble. Drain; add to sauce.

To prepare dough, dissolve honey and yeast in 1 cup warm water in a large bowl; let stand 5 minutes. Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Add 2 1/4 cups flour, cornmeal, and salt to yeast mixture; stir until a soft dough forms. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Knead until smooth and elastic (about 6 minutes); add enough of remaining flour, 1 tablespoon at a time, to prevent dough from sticking to hands (dough will feel sticky). Place dough in a large bowl coated with cooking spray, turning to coat top. Cover and let rise in a warm place (85°), free from drafts, 45 minutes or until doubled in size. (Gently press two fingers into dough. If indentation remains, dough has risen enough.)

Position one oven rack in the middle setting. Position another rack in the lowest setting. Preheat oven to 475°.

Brush a 13 x 9-inch baking pan with oil. Turn dough into pan. Gently press dough into pan and up the sides of the pan. Lightly spray surface of dough with cooking spray. Cover with plastic wrap; let stand for 5 minutes. Remove plastic wrap; discard. Spoon sauce mixture into crust. Bake on the bottom rack at 475° for 20 minutes. Remove from oven.

Combine cheeses; sprinkle evenly over sauce. Bake on middle rack an additional 15 minutes or until crust is golden brown and cheese melts. Cool 10 minutes on a wire rack. Cut into 6 squares.

Yield: 6 servings (serving size: 1 square)

CALORIES 434(27% from fat); FAT 12.8g (sat 5.9g,mono 4.1g,poly 1.4g); PROTEIN 24.6g; CHOLESTEROL 45mg; CALCIUM 336mg; SODIUM 682mg; FIBER 3.9g; IRON 3.8mg; CARBOHYDRATE 54.2g
Cooking Light, SEPTEMBER 2006

Bring on the seasonal baking!

2006-10-10T19:16:00.000-04:00

I'm really getting into the swing of things now. Bring on the pumpkin! Bring on the apple! Although, the two 1/2 bushels sitting in my classroom might be a bit too many apples, but that's another story. Anyways, my light english muffin/laughing cow cheese breakfast combo wasn't doing it for me this week. I tend to fall into food ruts - I'll eat the same thing (particularly for weekday breakfasts) until I get totally sick of it. Then I'll revert to a previous favorite, eat it daily until sick of it, and so on. So, I decided to make some muffins and retire the english muffin and laughing cow cheese combo for a while.

This recipe sounded intriguing. Between the whole wheat flour and the entire can of pumpkin - it sounded kind of healthy. Of course I threw in some chocolate chips to take care of that! :) These were delicious - quite ugly-looking if truth be told, but if you like pumpkin you'll enjoy the taste at least. They're dense, but chewy and held me over until lunch time quite nicely.

Emily's Pumpkin Spice Muffins

My notes - I found this recipe on the Cooking Light community board. I don't know who Emily is, but her muffins were delicious! And again, I made as written using a whole can of pumpkin and throwing in about a third of a cup of chocolate chips. Also, if you're vain about how your muffins appear then I suggest smoothing over the tops of the batter once in the pan. I didn't, and as you can see from the picture, the way they went in is the way they came out. This was a very dense batter.

Serving Size : 12

1/4 cup butter -- softened
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup low fat sour cream
1/4 cup 2% milk (normally I'd use skim -- but I've got 2% right now)
1 2/3 cup pureed pumpkin
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
3/4 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp cloves - heaping
1 tsp cinnamon - heaping
1 cup all purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt

Preheat over to 350 degrees.

Cream butter and sugars. Add the sour cream and next 7 ingredients (milk
through cinnamon) beat well.

Stir together flours, baking soda and salt in a small bowl. Add to wet
mixture and beat until combined.

Pour batter into muffin tin sprayed with cooking spray. Bake until a
toothpick tests clean - about 35 minutes.

Apple Picking

2006-10-08T15:09:00.000-04:00

On Friday, my class went apple-picking. This was a Lower School fieldtrip, and so the five classes in the Lower School went together. Parents were invited, a few therapists from the school accompanied us and off we went. So, here's the thing about fieldtrips. They're quite stressful for teachers! And this was even more so, simply because I didn't plan it and thus there were moments of ambiguity that are killer for kids with special needs. Standing around and waiting - definitely leads to trouble with any kids, especially the ones I teach. But we survived. The other thing that made this trip in particular stressful is the fact that parents of special education students vary tremendously in their personalities, and ability to chaperone. There is a saying in special education, "The apple doesn't fall far from the tree." Some of the parents of my students have similar issues to my students, and so having them as chaperones really means I have to watch the parents as well as my kids! But all in all it was a success. No blood was shed (minus a student who lost his tooth into his sandwich), and we all made it back to school in one piece!

When I got home, I was exhausted. Way too tired to cook. But, I did have a burst of energy that lasted long enough for me to whip up the Irish Cream Brownies from Cooking Light's October 2006 issue. I'm really loving the October issue, and have cooked a surprising number of recipes from it in recent weeks. This one was another winner.

I have a love/hate relationship with Cooking Light baked dessert recipes. Sometimes they're just too lightenend, and therefore don't taste good enough to warrant the calories. Or, they taste great, really aren't that light at all and thus the serving size is tiny to make the recipe qualify as light. This recipe had neither problem, and was an all out winner. The brownies were dense, fudgey and you could taste the Bailey's in a pleasing way. The serving size was appropriate, and the recipe was really easy to prepare. I had them in the oven ready to go within ten minutes, which is a definite plus. And, they taste great chilled from the fridge so this would be a great recipe to make ahead. I am so taken with this recipe that I think I might make it again to serve to the teachers at my weekly team meeting on Tuesday (thank goodness for three day weekends). Even if I don't, I know this will be a recipe I will often repeat both for the ease of preparation and just how wonderfully the brownies came out.

Irish Cream Brownies
Cooking Light, October 2006

My notes - I made this recipe with the new Chocolate Mint Bailey's. I think this only added to the recipe, but I would make the recipe again with regular Bailey's Irish Cream if it were on hand.

1 cup flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1/4 cup butter
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup egg substitute
1/4 cup Bailey's Irish Cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Cooking spray

Preheat oven to 350°.

Lightly spoon flour into a dry measuring cup; level with a knife. Combine flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt in a small bowl, stirring with a whisk.

Place the chocolate chips and the butter in a large microwave-safe bowl. Microwave at HIGH 1 1/2 minutes or until the chocolate chips and butter melt, stirring every 30 seconds. Cool slightly. Add sugar and next 3 ingredients (through vanilla extract), stirring well with a whisk. Microwave at HIGH 1 minute or until sugar dissolves, stirring every 30 seconds. Fold in the flour mixture, stirring just until moist. Spread batter in a thin layer into a 9-inch square baking pan coated with cooking spray. Bake at 350° for 20 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out almost clean. Cool on a wire rack.

Yield: 16 servings (serving size: 1 brownie)

NUTRITION PER SERVING fo CL's recipe
CALORIES 145(30% from fat); FAT 4.9g (sat 3g,mono 0.9g,poly 0.2g); PROTEIN 2.5g; CHOLESTEROL 8mg; CALCIUM 8mg; SODIUM 93mg; FIBER 1.1g; IRON 0.9mg; CARBOHYDRATE 23.8g

Yay for soup!

2006-10-05T19:55:00.000-04:00

Helios loves boxes. I left out a box that held a case of seltzer and you can just see what happened....

I have many more pictures but ... oh, wait this is a cooking blog. Don't miss Helios's last minute debut in Weekend Cat Blogging over at The Hidden Paw. Well, the last cooking project I did was way back on Monday. I tried the Butternut Squash Leek soup from the latest Cooking Light. I really just love soup. My only issue with it is that it makes so much! It takes us a while to work through a six or eight serving batch of soup.

This soup was okay. It wasn't bad, but there are so many great butternut squash soup recipes out there. This particular one just didn't blow me away. You couldn't really taste the leeks, although I did think the roasted garlic was a nice touch. I of course used veggie broth, not chicken. So, a tasty soup that was quick to throw together (especially when you cheat and buy pre-peeled and de-seeded butternut squash) but probably won't be repeated.

Butternut Squash-Leek Soup
October 2006

Cooking Light's Notes - "I love my local organic farmers' market and like to cook with seasonal fare. I'm a professional organizer and include seasonal recipes in my newsletters for my clients. This was last winter's recipe." It's great as a side or a light main dish with a salad. -Shannon Simmons, Redding, CA

1 whole garlic head
4 teaspoons olive oil
6 cups thinly sliced leek (about 4 large)
4 cups (3/4-inch) cubed peeled butternut squash (about 1 medium)
2 cups water
2 cups fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth (I used vegetable)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper Preheat oven to 350°.

Remove white papery skin from garlic head (do not peel or separate the cloves). Wrap head in foil. Bake at 350° for 1 hour; cool 10 minutes. Separate cloves; squeeze to extract garlic pulp. Discard skins.

Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add leek; sauté 5 minutes or until tender. Stir in garlic, squash, 2 cups water, broth, salt, and black pepper; bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer 10 minutes or until squash is tender. Place half of squash mixture in a blender. Remove center piece of blender lid (to allow steam to escape); secure blender lid on blender. Place a clean towel over the opening in the blender lid (to avoid splatters). Blend until smooth. Pour pureed soup into a bowl. Repeat procedure with remaining squash mixture.

Yield: 6 servings (serving size: about 1 cup)

CALORIES 167(19% from fat); FAT 3.5g (sat 0.5g,mono 2.2g,poly 0.6g); PROTEIN 4.1g; CHOLESTEROL 0.0mg; CALCIUM 144mg; SODIUM 351mg; FIBER 5.3g; IRON 3.3mg; CARBOHYDRATE 33.5g

2006-10-04T19:09:00.000-04:00

Sometimes you have a day where people just don't seem to want to do their jobs. And everyone annoys you. Teachers don't pick up their class from gym so your class falls apart waiting. And then the gym teacher only half-jokes about not coming back from her honeymoon in a month because your class is was so awful during gym. Then you go to an hour long meeting led by someone who attended the exact same workshop as you did on this particular curriculum this summer when you could be doing so many other productive things. And then you (as part of the staff) get blamed for things not your fault (if only I had psychic powers to know what the Health Department does or doesn't want under the sink) because you happen to be one of five teachers who have not yet left the waste of time meeting.

But maybe, if you're lucky, you have this curry waiting for you at home. Spicy, rich and easy to throw together, this recipe is a keeper in the Veggie Kitchen household. The fresh ginger is really important, and if you're a fan of cilantro (as we are), pile it on because it just makes the dish better! I served it over brown rice, but I think it would be equally excellent over barley or couscous or even perhaps noodles. Yum.

Tomato Chickpea Curry
Cooking Light, October 2006

Cooking Light's Notes - Serve over steamed brown rice as a side with grilled chicken or pork. Look for garam masala in the spice section of the supermarket or Asian grocery store. Substitute yellow mustard seeds for the brown, or stir in 1 1/2 teaspoons dry mustard or 1 1/2 tablespoons prepared mustard with the chickpeas if you don't have mustard seeds.

Lycopene count: 19 milligrams per serving.

1 tablespoon canola oil
1 cup chopped onion (1 small)
1 tablespoon minced peeled fresh ginger
1 garlic clove, minced
2 teaspoons garam masala
1 1/2 teaspoons brown mustard seeds
1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon ground red pepper
1/2 cup light coconut milk
1 tablespoon chopped seeded jalapeño pepper
1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric
2 (15 1/2-ounce) cans chickpeas (garbanzo beans), rinsed and drained
1 (28-ounce) can diced tomatoes, undrained
1 (8-ounce) can no-salt-added tomato sauce
3 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro

Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add onion, ginger, and garlic; cook 5 minutes. Stir in garam masala, mustard seeds, and red pepper; cook 2 minutes, stirring frequently. Stir in coconut milk and remaining ingredients except cilantro; bring to a boil.

Reduce heat, and simmer 35 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat; stir in chopped cilantro.

Yield: 6 servings (serving size: 1 cup)

NUTRITION PER SERVING
CALORIES 213(26% from fat); FAT 6.2g (sat 1.2g,mono 2.4g,poly 2.3g); PROTEIN 7.4g; CHOLESTEROL 0.0mg; CALCIUM 81mg; SODIUM 459mg; FIBER 8.6g; IRON 3mg; CARBOHYDRATE 34.3g

Fall is here!

2006-10-02T18:05:00.000-04:00

I love fall. I love the crisp coolness in the air. I love the change in the light - a bright summer day is definitely not the same as a bright fall day. I love sweaters, and yet not being strapped into winter coats (yet). I love apples, squash, pumpkin and all the foods of fall especially roasted veggies and rich, creamy soups. And when I don't live in New York City, I love the colors of fall. We're a little short on foliage 'round these parts, but I remember living upstate and just the gloriousness of fall color. So this is absolutely my favorite time of year.

When I saw these cookies on Crystal's blog, I knew that I just had to try them. They just look so ... fall-y! The candy corn, the chocolate - they're like Halloween in a cookie! I initially wanted to test drive them at home before making them with my class. And I'm glad I did. I was thrilled to see Crystal's note that they could be made without a mixer, however I really kind of struggled with this dough. It was very crumbly and I found it tricky to work with. No way would I want my students getting as frustrated as I did as I tried to roll it into little shapes for baking! I did double it, perhaps that's where the error lies. But at any rate, the recipe is quick, the results are cute and the teachers attending my class's weekly team meeting tomorrow afternoon will be required to dispose of the results.

I've got another couple cooking projects happening in the kitchen. It is amazing how motivated I feel on days when school is closed! It's like a little cooking (and laundry :( ) gift! But, I'll share those projects as the week wears on just to keep life interesting. No point in revealing all my secrets in one day when I can stretch a week's worth of posts out of them...

Chocolate Candy-Corn Cookies
Courtesy of Poco-Cocoa aka Crystal

4 tablespoons unsalted butter, very soft
1/2 cup sugar
1 large egg yolk
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
about 36 candy corns

Preheat oven to 325˚F. Place butter and sugar in a medium bowl; beat with a wooden spoon until combined. Beat in egg yolk, vanilla, baking powder, and salt. Add flour, and mix until a dough forms.

Scoop out level teaspoons of dough, and roll into balls (chill dough briefly if it becomes to soft to handle). Place balls on baking sheets, 2 inches apart.

Bake, rotating sheets halfway through, until edges are firm and cookies are dry to the touch (do not let cookies color), 10 to 12 minutes.

Remove from oven; gently press a candy corn into center of each cookie (surface of cookies may crack slightly). Cool on sheets 1 minute; transfer to a rack to cool completely.

Notes: You can make a non-chocolate version by eliminating the cocoa powder and increasing the flour to 3/4 cup.

Makes about 36 cookies.

Crystal's source: Everyday Food magazine.

Yawn.

2006-10-01T13:48:00.000-04:00

As anticipated, this week was a blur. Going away for the weekend is wonderful, however I felt quite unprepared to be thrown back into the business of the week. The children were challenging, I felt unplanned and as a result this week just felt stressful. Curriculum Night was a success, however, and the parents seem quite pleased with how the year has started. So that's a pleasant relief not to have that pressure hanging over my head anymore. Now I'm enjoying a quiet Sunday with added bonus of school being closed tomorrow making my day even more of a treat. I'm taking it easy, the fact that I've been burning the candle at both ends lately with not enough sleep and working 12 hour days has resulted in a little tickle in the back of my throat. My body is telling me to stop and recoup, or another cold will be here soon. And so I am. Helios and I tackled the Sunday Times this morning, and I've got a stack of magazines waiting to be read this afternoon. Is it bad when the October issues start arriving before you've even read September?

Here's a meal I actually made on Tuesday evening, but it carried us through the rest of the week nicely. This is my go-to instant soup meal savior. A roommate from a few years back introduced me to it, and the broth is amazingly tasty despite coming from a box. In a perfect world I wouldn't need to resort to soup mix from a box, but sometimes it's the difference between take-out and going hungry so I refuse to view it as a bad thing. And in this case I supplemented with CSA veggies on the brink of no return which made the soup even yummier. A little rosemary, a bunch of parsley and M. and I were in matzoh ball heaven! Neither M. nor I come from an even remotely Jewish background, but we love this soup. So, I have nothing to balance the quality of these matzo balls with but as far as we're concerned this is a quick and tasty meal with leftovers we both look forward to.

And what else could be better then that?

Ithaca is Gorges.

2006-09-24T22:41:00.000-04:00

Where did last week go? I have no idea.

This post's title comes from a popular shirt seen both upstate in Ithaca, NY and down here in NYC. One can't go for more than a few days without seeing the vivid green and the large white letters proclaiming that Ithaca is Gorges. This weekend, M. and I were upstate to attend a college friend's wedding. The weather wasn't the best, but we didn't let that damper our expedition to upstate New York where we both spent our undergraduate years. Studying at Cornell, one quickly gets used to dreary and rainy weather as that is what it does for much of the year (when not snowing of course!). Today on our way home, we drove into Ithaca and strolled down memory lane for a bit. We had hoped to walk about the campus, but it was raining too hard for that. The picture at the left shows one of the many gorges left by long-gone glaciers that dot the Ithaca landscape. The rain paused long enough for one brief photo-op, so I grabbed it!
As the rain picked back up again, we hopped back into the car and drove around. We admired the new buildings that had cropped up since our last visit, marvelled at the dedicated students up and running around on a rainy Sunday morning and then settled for a dim-sum brunch at our favorite Thai Restaurant. Visiting this restaurant while in Ithaca has become a tradition, and I can't think of a visit that hasn't included at least one meal at the Thai Cuisine. Sunday brunch is particularly special as it is menu-free and entirely dependent on the offerings that day. Served dim-sum style, it's an opportunity to taste a variety of dishes that I know I (a conservative menu-orderer who finds favorites and sticks to them) would not ordinarily try. The waiters show a variety of options, and you can choose to try any number of specialties for $2.50 a plate. We were in foodie heaven. The dishes ranged from a fried radish cake with a spicy cucumber sauce, vegetarian pad thai (their recipe is the standard to which I hold all pad thai recipes), steamed bok choy with a tamarind curry sauce, crab cakes (M.'s favorite), steamed Thai broccoli in mushroom sauce, and there were so many more that I can't even remember. We definitely didn't leave hungry.

And now we're home, contemplating another week. This week I have Curriculum Night at my school. This means at least one very late night while I present myself and my classroom to the parents of my students, as well as multiple hours of preparation. A college friend pops into town tomorrow night, and so no cooking wil be done as we meet up with people to celebrate his visit. I gave myself the goal of using my slow cooker more this year - perhaps this will be the week to get going on that pact! Have a happy Monday everyone....