That's it for 2011!

Well, I'm just going to be honest with you - there won't be any more posts until the New Year. As disappointing as that is, that's just the reality of life for us as we head out to Australia in 3 days! Hoping our cat forgives us when we get back after a 2.5 week sojourn into summer time, Tim Tams, and wallabies.

I will recommend just one (okay three!) last recipes for a Christmas or New Years meal. If you're feeling adventurous and not turned off by the concept of green mashed potatoes (actually I think this recipe would still be great even without the green contribution), these are absolutely fabulous and my mom apologized profusely for ever doubting that this could be a good idea after tasting them.The bay leaf simmered in milk adds an amazing flavor to the dish, along with the tiny flecks of carrot, and pureed kale. It has a depth and richness that belies the fairly healthy milk and butter quantities.The recipe I adapted from Epicurious is below.

If you want a wonderfully seasoned vegetarian gravy recipe to go with them, I recommend using the Grit's sage-onion gravy (but leave out the 1/2 tsp of salt! it's pretty salty!)  And one more link for those veggie/vegan people out there: the Grit's tofu meatloaf! So delicious!! Just make sure you don't overprocess the ingredients in the food processor or it becomes pate textured. I wish I could go to this Athens, GA restaurant in person and order every single thing on the menu. One day!


Kale Mashed Potatoes
1 c. milk
8 Tbs butter
2 small carrots, peeled, diced
1-2 large bay leaves
1 large onion, diced
1 large bunch kale roughly chopped (about 6 cups)
2 lbs russet potatoes, peeled, chopped into 2" chunks

1. Combine milk, 2 Tbs butter, carrot and bay leaf in medium saucepan; bring to simmer. Remove from heat; let steep 10 minutes while preparing kale and potatoes.(Consider simmering for 4-5 minutes to cook the carrots a bit more, before steeping).

2. Melt 4 Tbs butter in large skillet, add onion and sauté until light brown, about 8 minutes. Add kale; cover and cook until tender, stirring often, about 25 minutes. Add the kale/onion mixture to the milk mixture and puree with an immersion blender until mostly smooth. (or in a food processor)

3. While the kale cooks, boil the potatoes in salted water until tender, about 25 minutes. Drain well. Return to same pot.

4. Add kale mixture to potatoes and mash to produce fluffy potatoes (alternately you're supposed to mash the potatoes before and then just stir in the kale mixture to produce fluffy potatoes, but some of us are lazy).

5. Season to taste with salt, pepper, and more butter.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Years!

Carrot Rosemary Parmesan Scones

Ah holiday parties - all the perks of being at work and not having to actually work along with consuming 3-4 times your normal calorie and sugar intake in a day :)  December is full of sweets: hot cocoa, hot cider, egg nog, cookies, boxes of chocolate, candy canes etc. so I decided to rebel and bring a plateful of savory scones to my work party. I saw this recipe from Chocolate and Zucchini over 3 months ago and finally took the opportunity to try  it - perfect timing as I had a carrot and the exact amount of chickpea flour on hand. I think the recipe does require some adjustments depending on whether you grate your carrot finely or coarsely, if you use fresh or pre-grated parmesan, if you have to substitute a small amount of shortening in for the butter, and so on. But the dough seems mildly forgiving, even if you have to roll it out twice because you're really bad at estimating 3/4" thickness like me, which is more than I can say for other scone recipes I've baked with! They are quite beautiful with the rosemary needles and orange carrot color, and people apparently enjoyed the bite-sized cuteness of the squares. I however am all for making less, but larger scones next time around!

I am going to be lazy and NOT include the recipe here. Just go to the link. The adjustments I made were as follows:
3/4 c. pregrated parmesan
1 2/3 c. finely grated carrot
Evaporated milk instead of cream (I did end up having to add a bit more than 7 Tbs)
I didn't have the full amount of butter so I subbed in 2 Tbs worth of shortening.
Reduce salt to 1/4-1/2 tsp. IF using SALTED butter!

Enjoy the scones!

Tamarind Chickpea Soup

I was so inspired by this recipe from Orangette's blog for a Tamarind Chickpea soup - a great combination, as she describes, of Indian and Italian flavors mingling together. I made a couple of additions and subtractions - added in some yams since I love those in curries and figured they would contribute a nice sweetness and color to the soup. I also cooked chickpeas from scratch to go in the soup and added kale instead of chard, as it tends to hold up better in leftovers. My soup became more like a stew over time - not much liquid, so it might be better to increase the amount of broth even more - to 4 cups or just enjoy it as is. It was excellent served with cumin-seed pappadums and mint-cilantro sauce; also excellent served over rice if you want to stretch the dish even farther.

Tamarind Chickpea Kale Soup (use a LARGE pot)
1 c. dried chickpeas, soaked overnight and cooked beforehand. (Alternately use 2 15-oz cans chickpeas, well-rinsed)
3 medium yellow onions, coarsely chopped
2 medium zucchini, halved lengthwise and cut into 1/3-1/2" thick hemispheres
2 - 3 sweet potatoes or yams, peeled, and chopped into ~ 1/2" cubes (or something cube like)
10 large leaves kale, ribs removed, coarsely chopped
4-5 large cloves garlic, coarsely chopped
3/4 c. minced cilantro leaves
2 - 4 Tbs ground cumin
2 - 4 Tbs curry powder (I used madras)  
1 - 3 Tbs ground coriander
2 Tbs sweet paprika
2 Tbs dry basil (I used Thai lemon basil)
1 28-ounce can chopped tomatoes (including juice)
1/3 cup red wine vinegar (or apple cider vinegar)
1/4 c. tamarind paste  (I had dried tamarind pulp which I soaked in hot water and pressed through a strainer-- likely easier to just buy the paste)
1 - 2 Tbs packed brown sugar
3 cups vegetable broth
Water
Salt, to taste
Pepper, to taste
Red pepper flakes, optional

1. Heat the soup pot on medium heat with olive oil. Add in the onions, zucchini,  and kale and saute, stirring occasionally for 8-10 minutes.
2. Add the garlic, cilantro, and dried spices (including salt and pepper). Cook for another minute or two.
3. Stir in the tomatoes, chickpeas, sweet potatoes, vinegar, tamarind, brown sugar, and broth. (If it seems like you need more liquid to cover the veggies/chickpeas, you can add a bit more broth or water). Bring the soup just to a boil, and reduce the heat to simmer. Cook for about 1 hour, adding water if necessary.
4. Adjust for seasoning. If you like, add a bit more tamarind (I definitely did this), salt, or pinches of red pepper flakes. When the veggies are tender/the flavors complete, remove and serve with pappadums, mint cilantro sauce, or rice.

Jalapeño Popper Dip

Yep, you had me at "jalapeño popper dip". Big Red Kitchen changed my life with this recipe - whether for better or worse remains to be seen as I contemplate how many other events, other than football games, I could possibly justify bringing this as an appetizer to :) There are no words to describe the richness and decadence of this dish - nor its delightfully spiciness counterbalanced by the tangy cream cheese. It tastes like a jalapeño popper without all the work of making individually filled/battered/fried jalapeños! It's genius!

Her pics are much nicer than mine and correctly show the dip as NOT being neon yellow, which it's really not so don't be scared off by the above pic! In my defense, I forgot my own camera and it was  difficult to stop eating the dip long enough to take a photo...  The one thing I did notice was that the top crust was so buttery, it seemed a bit overwhelming when paired with buttery crackers. So definitely serve with bread or crackers that don't taste quite so buttery (saltines maybe?) If possible, you could try using one package of light cream cheese to make this dip slightly healthier -- though we all know that's not what real football food is about!

Jalapeño Popper Dip
2- 8 oz packages cream cheese, room temp
1 c mayonnaise
1 c shredded Mexican blend cheese
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
1- 4 oz can chopped mild green chilies
2- 4 oz can sliced jalapeños- use all the juice from one can, reserve the juice from other

1 c panko bread crumbs
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
1/2 stick butter, melted

1. Using a food processor, blend up the chilis and jalapenos until you have fine pieces (but not until it's completely liquid).

2. In the same food processor (or if yours is too small, transfer the chilis to a bowl and use a mixer), add the cream cheese, mayo, parmesan, and mexican cheese and process until smooth. 

3. Spread the dip into a greased 2 quart casserole. 

4. Mix the panko and other 1/2 c. of Parmesan. Pour melted butter over trumb mixture and mix well. 

5. Sprinkle crumb mixture evenly over the dip and bake in a 375° oven for about 20 minutes. The top should be nicely browned and the dip heated all the way  through. Serves 8-10. (or 3 ridiculously gluttonous people with a small amount of leftovers!)

Dumplings!

I have been wanting to cook my own dumplings for awhile. However, with the Christmas season hustle & bustle increasing exponentially by the day, I decided not to bother with making the dumpling dough from scratch (though it's still on my to do list to try). I looked at quite a few recipes trying to find a vegetarian filling that I thought would be tasty and determine whether a pre-cooked filling is preferable. I ended up creating a blend of a couple different recipes and have definitely sided with the pre-cooked filling camp! These take a while to do so a dumpling day with a friend would be far more fun. I think my filling might make about 100-125 dumplings, so you could also cut this recipe in half if you just want enough for a single meal. Or use the extra filling as a taco filling or over steamed rice.

Filling

Raw Dumplings

Beautifully fried/steamed dumplings with sauce

Vegetarian Dumplings
1 1/2 c. finely grated cabbage
1 1/2 c. finely grated carrot
5 green onions, finely chopped
6-8 cloves garlic, minced
1 can water chestnuts, diced
2-3 Tbs minced ginger
sesame oil
soy sauce
rice vinegar
fish sauce (or oyster sauce)
1/2 c. cilantro, finely chopped
dumpling wrappers (100?)
**Optional - can replace some of the veggies with crumbled, marinated tofu

1. Heat 2-3 Tbs sesame oil (or canola oil) in a deep skillet and add ginger and garlic. Saute until fragrant.
2. Add cabbage, carrot, green onions, and water chestnuts. Saute on medium heat for 3-5 minutes until veggies have wilted just a bit. While they cook, drizzle on a bit of soy sauce, rice vinegar, and fish sauce to taste. I probably did one to two circles of the pan with soy sauce and rice vinegar and a couple of dashes of fish sauce. The filling should taste good on its own before it goes in the dumpling. There should be almost no liquid in the pan when you're done cooking.
3. Remove filling from heat and stir in cilantro.
4. Open the dumpling wrappers and keep covered with a damp cloth. Work on one to two wrappers at a time. Place a rounded 1/2 tsp of filling in the centre of the wrapper. Use a finger or brush to moisten along half of the edge of the dumpling. Fold and crimp the edges so it is sealed.
5. Lay out dumplings on parchment paper. If you're going to cook them soon, keep covered with damp cloth. If not, fill a pan and then put in the freezer to freeze. Once the dumplings are completely frozen, put them in a ziplock bag and store for later!
6. To cook. Heat canola oil in a deep skillet with lid. Put 10-12 dumplings in the pan and let cook until browned and a bit crispy on one side. Pour in 1/4 c. water (don't get splattered!) and quickly cover with lid. Let steam 2-3 minutes until cooked.
7. Serve with dipping sauce!

Cooking Doldrums

Honestly, I'm starting to get more than a bit disheartened with my last couple of weeks of cooking. If I believed in jinxes, I would say I was jinxed. I got the flu shot for the first time ever and promptly got a 2 week long cold.

I remade the pumpkin bread recipe that I raved about - half of the bread was perfectly cooked, the other half, when we finally got to it, was a mess of uncooked raw dough. After 65 minutes of baking!!! Utterly baffled. So sure that I mixed everything thoroughly before pouring it into the loaf pan.

I made pie dough - pie dough, something I usually do quite competently. This time instead of using all butter, I actually followed joy of cooking's recipe and used appropriate amounts of shortening and butter instead. I could not get the pie crust off the counter without it tearing into a hundred pieces. The top of my pie looks like I took a bunch of pie dough scraps and flung them haphazardly over the surface - which is basically the only thing I could do.

Not even cooking related, I tried to make one of my friend's a baby shower present. Yep it also got ruined.

I am getting to the point where I am afeared of baking. I hate to put in the time and effort and love, not to mention the cost of ingredients, and come out with something disappointing or inedible.

Is there any glass half full optimism to this situation?
I finally tried the new york times gluten-free pumpkin dumplings recipe and have to say, pairing them with a coconut milk/masala was pretty darn genius. But I think the recipe could be improved a bit by actually cooking the dumplings in a soup/stew/masala rather than in boiling salted water. And/or adding cumin/coriander to the dumpling dough itself. The recipe did let me use up a large delicata-type squash rather than using canned pumpkin. So I suppose that's a small plus?

Got it from http://villabloggera.com/tag/blah/

Peach Cobbler

The peach cobbler recipe that never fails: Thank you Allrecipes.com! Truly, this cobbler is a joy to my little transplanted Southern heart, not only because it involves peaches (my very favorite fruit), but particularly because of the crust. In this recipe, the batter rises up through the peaches and a ridiculous amount of melted butter to produce an amazingly sweet crunchy edge where it browns and a moist chewy layer of dough underneath. Fantastic when served hot with whipped cream or ice cream and equally delicious when eating by the large spoonful from the pan the next morning for breakfast :)

Peach Cobbler
1/2 c. butter, in a 9 x 13 pan, melted
1 29 oz can sliced peaches (don't use the liquid) (or an equivalent amount of fresh sliced peaches/thawed frozen peaches)
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1 Tbs flour
1 c. white sugar
1 c. all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 small pinch salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1 c. milk 

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. You can put the 9x13 pan with the 1/2 c. butter in the oven to melt as the oven heats.
2. Combine the peaches, 1/2 tsp cinnamon, 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg, and 1 Tbs flour in a large bowl. Stir and set aside.
3. Combine sugar, flour, baking powder, 1/2 tsp cinnamon, 1/4 tsp nutmeg and pinch of salt. Whisk milk into dry ingredients until smooth.
4. Pour batter over melted butter in the 9x13 pan. Spoon peach mixture evenly over batter.
5. Bake for ~ 1 hour, edges should be nicely browned, and the centre should be mostly firm to the touch. Let cool for 5-10 minutes before serving.

Gratuitous Liquid Nitrogen Photos of Making Buttermilk
Ice Cream (sorry no recipe - M. made it up on the spot)

Exciting, no?

Pumpkin Fail! Pumpkin Granola Bars & Pumpkin Frozen Yogurt

I was so excited about this recipe, really really excited. What could be a better fall snack than a pumpkin chocolate chip granola bar? The photos were so pretty, with the shiny blue ribbon and parchment paper packaging, but honestly, I can't for the life of me figure out how this recipe is getting such high circulation on the internet. In retrospect, my common sense alarm should have gone off in a recipe that asked for 3 1/2 c. rolled oats and only 1 c. of liquid -- how are those oats going to cook? The answer is - they're not. Okay and I confess I didn't follow the recipe perfectly - I took out 1/4 c. of brown sugar and I added an egg, but really I don't think that's the reason why these bars are incredibly incredibly chewy. Not like a chewy granola bar chewy but like chewy as in a cow ruminating on cud chewy. As in the only thing I can do with them is try to crumble them up and pour milk over them and pretend I'm eating an oatmeal/cereal hybrid.

And then there was this recipe: Pumpkin Frozen Yogurt - sounds tasty - like frozen pumpkin cheesecake but healthier right? Lesson: Don't be deceived by photos that like some kind of siren calling lure you in promising untold delights only to crash your cooking ship upon the rocks of a grainy/unscoopable/unpalatable dish. Who knows, maybe with vanilla yogurt as opposed to kefir yogurt, it might work, but I doubt the texture would be that different....

*SIGH* Tomorrow is another day right?

More Fall Photos!

Remembrance Day - Walk Around Stanley Park Seawall

Cute Molly Photos! She is obsessed with the rug in front of our sink...

There is lots of rolling...

And grooming... usually followed by more rolling..

 

Pumpkin Extravaganza Continues... Pumpkin Bread!

So I recently did a pumpkin loaf bake-off (competing against myself of course!) to see which of two pumpkin loaf recipes came out on top: the Epicurious recipe for Pumpkin-Walnut Bread versus the food.com recipe for Pumpkin Bread. Now it may well be due to under-baking the Epicurious recipe that it was not my favorite of the two, but I wasn't all that happy with the flavor either. I liked the less cloyingly sweet flavor of the second recipe. When I baked the food.com recipe the first time, I did not have any applesauce on hand so I used 1/2 c. oil in total, and instead of water, I used the whey from kefir cheese! It does produce a smaller loaf (8x4" as opposed to a 9x5"). 

I recently baked this loaf again with a few more variations. I used 1/4 c. homemade applesauce (which had no added sugar), and reduced the sugar in the recipe to 1/2 c. + 2Tbs. I was also a bit lazy and tried substituting 1 1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spices for the spices listed in the recipe below, but I think it is indeed better with the spice amounts shown below. This produces a moist loaf - not sweet at all. If you want a sweet loaf, use 3/4 c. sugar with the applesauce. If you use apple juice instead of water, and decide to add raisins, the bread will be even sweeter still.

Pumpkin Bread
3/4 c. sugar (or reduce to 1/2 c. + 2 Tbs)
1/4 c. oil
1/4 c. applesauce
2 eggs
3/4 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp cloves
1/2 tsp ginger
1/2 tsp all spice
1/2-1 tsp vanilla
1 c. pure pumpkin
1 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 c. + 3 Tbs flour
1/3 c. water, kefir whey, or apple juice
3/4 c. chopped walnuts (optional)
3/4 c. raisins (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and grease an 8 x 4 loaf pan.
2. Whisk sugar, oil and applesauce together. Beat in eggs. Whisk pumpkin, spices, vanilla and water (or juice) in.
3. Sift flour, baking soda and salt into a large bowl.
4.  Stir wet ingredients into dry ingredients until all the dough is moistened. Fold in nuts and raisins.
5. Pour into loaf pan and bake for 70-80 minutes until done.
6. Cool on a rack.

Another quick bread

I came across this recipe when I was looking for an easy bread to cook in a limited amount of time (i.e. when you don't have the time to let things rise with yeast). Most quick breads I'm familiar with are either tea breads (pumpkin bread, banana bread, etc.), brown breads (think molasses and Boston), or cornbread - but rarely something I would happily use for a sandwich loaf - until now! Not only that, I also found that I could use up kefir yogurt in place of the buttermilk! Two birds, one stone. It was a good day.

Quick Wheat Bread
2 c. bread flour
2 c. whole wheat flour (I have also tried using 1 c. whole wheat & 1 c. spelt)
1 tsp baking powder
1 pinch salt
1 egg
1 3/4 c. buttermilk (I used 1 1/2 c. kefir yogurt + milk and 2 Tbs vinegar up to the total amount - you can use any combo of yogurt+ milk or just buttermilk)
2 Tbs melted butter, slightly cooled
Optional: Sesame seeds and/or sunflower seeds (herbs might be nice too)

1. Sift dry ingredients together
2. Beat egg in a small bowl, then beat in buttermilk and butter.
3. Fold wet into dry ingredients, adding seeds in.
4. Butter and flour an 8 x 4" pan (this is essential to getting a tall loaf!) and pour batter into pan.
5. Bake at 400 degrees F for ~50 minutes. Bread should sound hollow when tapped on the top.
6. Cool on a rack and then store in a ziplock bag for freshness.

Pumpkin Extravaganza Continues... Pumpkin Scones!

I had so much leftover maple cream cheese frosting from the pumpkin whoopie pies that I decided pumpkin scones were in order. So many recipes to choose from on the internet! Fortunately, Joy of Baking did not disappoint me. I made a couple of alterations to the recipe (surprised? no...) Instead of raisins and pecans, I used crystallized ginger and snuck some kefir yogurt into the recipe in place of the buttermilk. I also upped some of the spices and decreased the vanilla. They were perfect, both with and without frosting.

PUMPKIN SCONES
2 c all purpose flour

1/3 c packed light or dark brown sugar

3/4 tsp ground ginger

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp all spice

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 c cold butter, cut into pieces

1/4 c finely chopped candied ginger

1/2 c buttermilk (or kefir yogurt - if using yogurt, stir in 2-3 Tbs of milk)

1/2 c canned pure pumpkin

1/2 tsp vanilla 

For frosting, see pumpkin whoopie pie post.

1.  Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
2. Sift dry ingredients together in a large bowl (except for ginger).
3. Cut butter into flour mixture using pastry cutter, knives, or forks, until the mixture resembles crumbs.
4. Stir in the ginger.
5. Whisk the buttermilk, pumpkin and vanilla together in a small bowl.
6. Fold wet into dry ingredients in as few strokes as possible (but it should be well-mixed).
7. On a floured surface, knead dough gently 5-6 times. Pat into a circle about 12 inches in diameter and cut into 8 wedges. Place wedges on baking sheet and bake for ~20 minutes.

Quinoa Cakes - Redux

Being that a) the first time we made quinoa cakes they were awesome and b) despite scaling back the recipe for the cooked quinoa, we still had copious amounts leftover, it was time to attempt the recipe again. Unfortunately (or rather fortunately) this time we were out of parsley so we decided to go with a latin theme!  The raw onion and garlic was so much tastier in the cake, the cilantro was fabulous, we used lemon zest and lemon juice --  although next time I would go for lime in the latin flavored version. These are rough estimates of what we put in .... they could definitely have used a third egg for binder so I'm suggesting 3 in the recipe although we only had 2 at the time. Topped with salsa verde and kefir cheese (or sour cream), these were DELICIOUS! Sadly, no leftovers for tomorrow :(

Cilantro Lemon Quinoa Cakes
2 c. cooked quinoa (if you have 3, even better!)
1 medium onion, finely chopped
3-4 cloves garlic, minced
1/3- 1/2 c. finely chopped cilantro
1/3 c. chopped green olives (black olives might work nicely too!)
1/2 c. parmesan
1 c. panko
3 eggs, beaten  (if you use 3 c. cooked quinoa, maybe use 4 eggs)
3-4 Tbs lime juice (or lemon juice) + zest of one lime (or lemon)
2-4 Tbs nutritional yeast
salt/pepper

1. Stir everything together in a bowl.
2. Form into patties.
3. Fry patties until golden brown on each side in good quantity of oil in a hot skillet (cast-iron is great!).
5. Top with yummy condiments!

Swiss Chard and Sweet Potato Gratin

I was so excited to make this dish since we have a not insignificant quantity of chard to finish off from our garden. But making this dish by smittenkitchen made me realize I have absolutely no concept of how much chard it takes to reach 3 lbs worth of greens! At the final count, I ended up with about 2.5 lbs of greens (according to our cheap Ikea scale...) which included chard, spinach, and kale - in addition to some small broccoli florets (why not?).

I ended up cooking the greens and onion about 5 days in advance, whoops! talk about a delay in cooking, but they were no worse for wear when I finally assembled the casserole. Note: owning a mandolin makes slicing 2 lbs worth of 1/8" thick slices of sweet potato fairly easy. I also assembled the casserole in the morning and took it out of the fridge an hour before I planned to start baking it. The dish was in the oven when I turned it on to preheat. These strategies will prevent breaking a glass baking dish. If you have a metal baking pan, no worries.

The bechemel sauce for this dish smells so incredible I was in danger of eating it all before putting any in the casserole. Fortunately I held off, believing that the bechemel in combination with the sweet potatoes, chard, grated gruyere and herbs would be worth the wait. Oh the smell of this casserole filling the house - mouthwatering, stretching patience to the limits! The finished casserole more than surpassed the anticipation and expectation in every deliciously rich bite. I did find the sweet potato flavor very sweet - partly because the recipe has no instructions on how much salt is needed. If I made the dish again, I would try half potato/half sweet potato to tone the sweetness down.

Sweet Potato-Chard Casserole
1/4 cup butter
1 medium onion, finely chopped
3lbs chard (or a combination of kale/chard/spinach), leaves and stems separated, cut into 1" pieces **if you use kale, don't use the stems at all!**
1/4-1/2 tsp of freshly grated nutmeg
1 c. whipping cream 
1 c. evaporated milk
4-6 garlic cloves, minced
2 Tbs. butter
2 Tbs. flour
2 lbs sweet potatoes (orange ones), peeled and cut into 1/8" thick slices
1/4 c. minced fresh Italian parsley
1 Tbs + 1 tsp thyme
Fine sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1 1/4 c. (about 6 ounces) coarsely grated Gruyére cheese

1. Melt 1/4 c. butter in a large skillet or heavy pot. Add onion, saute over medium low heat until softened. Add kale leaves (if using) and saute for 10-15 minutes until softened. Add chard stems, nutmeg, salt and pepper, keep sauteing, until veggies are tender. Add chard leaves (and spinach, if using) by large handfuls, stir, cover, and let greens wilt (occasionally stirring as needed - you can also add a bit of water if things are sticking to the bottom).
2. Once the greens are wilted, transfer to a colander to drain and press out liquid using a large spoon. (I saved the liquid to add to stock for soups - it's tasty!). Set the chard aside to cool. You can add more salt and pepper to taste as needed.
3. If you haven't already, slice up the sweet potatoes. Submerging them in water will keep them from browning, but they need to be dried before putting in the casserole dish. (Press them with paper towels to dry them). Also, grate the cheese and set aside. Mince the parsley and set aside.
4. Bring cream, evap milk, and garlic to a simmer in small saucepan. Keep covered and set aside.
5. Melt 2 Tbs butter in a medium heavy saucepan over moderate heat and stir in flour. Cook roux, whisking, until mixture gently bubbles/boils. Keep whisking - roux should start to smell cooked and brown ever so lightly (~1-3minutes). Slowly whisk in cream mixture and bring to a boil, continuously whisking, one minute. Add salt and pepper.
6. If you're going to bake the gratin straight away, preheat oven to 400 degrees F. If not, start assembling the gratin: Butter a deep 9×13 baking dish (my pyrex one worked fine). Spread half of the sweet potatoes over the bottom of the dish. Sprinkle with salt, pepper, some parsley/thyme, and a 1/4 c. of Gruyere. Layer half of the chard mixture next, then salt, pepper, parsley/thyme, and 1/4 c. of Gruyere. Pour half of bechamel sauce over the first two layers. Repeat with rest of sweet potatoes, s/p/herbs/cheese, chard, s/p/herbs, rest of the bechemel sauce, then last 1/4 c. of cheese. Try and press everything down into the pan so that the veggies are submerged in sauce. Don't worry if it doesn't look like enough sauce (mine didn't) and it bubbled up just fine/staying quite moist
7. Bake gratin for about 1 hour until golden and bubbly, and most of the liquid is absorbed. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.(I baked mine for about 1.5 hours since it had been in the fridge, the first hour with foil on top, and the last 30 minutes uncovered).

Fall Colors

Pumpkin Whoopie Pies

I feel absolutely ridiculous writing the phrase "whoopie pies". Who came up with the term? Despite its ignoble name, the photos of these soft cookie/frosting filled sandwiches looked so deliciously whimsical and fun, not to mention being perfectly fall-themed with pumpkin/maple syrup flavors, that I couldn't resist trying them out.  They turned out pretty darn cute looking, but I have to say, the taste? It's good, but I don't know that it merits all the effort to create the sandwich cookie. I'm almost certain it would just as good (and easier) as a mini cupcake with frosting.

I cut browneyedbaker's recipe [except for the spices] in half (my quantities shown below) and produced 14 large whoopie pies (I actually used my cookie scooper for these). I would suggest that a 2" ball of dough is just too big.

Pumpkin Cookie Base:
1.5 c all-purpose flour
1 Tbs + 1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 c. sugar
1/2 c.dark brown sugar (I only gently packed mine)
1/2 c. canola oil
1.5 c. cups chilled pumpkin puree
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla extract

Maple-Cream Cheese Frosting:
1.5 - 2 c. powdered sugar
4 oz cream cheese, room temperature (half of a regular sized block)
14 c. butter, room temperature
4-5 tablespoons maple syrup (if you have maple extract, add some of that in)
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1. Line baking sheets with parchment paper and preheat oven to 350 degrees F. (I was actually able to reuse the parchment paper from this recipe for another baking item - almost no cookie residue on it!)
2. Whisk together all the ingredients from flour through salt. Set aside.
3. In a separate bowl, whisk the sugars and oil together. Add in the pumpkin puree, eggs, and vanilla, whisking to combine completely.
4.Add half the flour mixture to the pumpkin mixture and stir until mostly combined, then add the other half of the flour mixture, stirring to combine completely.
5. Drop dough by the heaping tablespoon-full onto the baking sheets, leaving 1" or so between the dough mounds (yes they should be rounded and look dome shaped).
6. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes. The cookies should be firm to the touch and pass the toothpick done-ness test. Remove from the oven and let the cookies cool completely on a cooling rack.
7. To make the filling, beat the butter on medium speed until smooth. Add the cream cheese and beat until smooth. Add half of the powdered sugar, combine, then beat the maple syrup and vanilla in. Continue to beat in the rest of the powdered sugar. Taste for flavor. If good, place in the fridge to firm up.
8. Once the frosting is firmer (right before you want to serve them), you can spread it on a cookie and place another cookie on top. Voila!

Lemon, Olive, and Parsley Quinoa Cakes - Item #6

Well my to do list attack plan has been haphazard to say the least. I checked off the Moroccan spiced spaghetti squash and made plans to take on the chard-sweet potato gratin next. Despite the fact that I precooked the chard/butter/onion component 5 days ago, I have yet to assemble the rest of the gratin. *shrugs* I did already make a second batch of the almond butter banana granola bars though - and replacing the 1/4 c. of raisins with 1/3 c. unsweetened coconut plus baking it in an 11x7 pan (the bar mixture only spread over 3/4 of the pan) was the perfect adjustment to the sweetness level and bar thickness!

In the meantime I got distracted by Item #6's recipe from Joy the Baker. My first impression upon taking a bite of these cakes (as a vegetarian) was OMG this is the most wonderful texture ever!  Topped with ketchup, it's like the best non-seafood cake in existence (but still full of protein!). Crispy on the outside, chewy on the inside, with the green olives' brined flavor providing a nice undertone to the saltiness.

My only disappointment was the lack of lemon and parsley flavor. I expected the brightness of the parsley and citrus tartness/acid to really stand out and it just didn't live up to it. When I make these again (is tomorrow too soon??), I will increase the parsley to 1/2 c. and add 1-2 Tbs lemon juice in addition to the zest. Also, I did sauté the onion and garlic briefly before stirring into the batter as I've had previous traumatic experiences of bites of raw onion in fried patties  --  but in retrospect I'm wondering if that may have contributed to the lack of punchy flavor? So next time, I'll try adding those ingredients in raw. The quiona batter was actually quite moist and I ended up adding an extra 4 Tbs of spelt flour + a couple Tbs of panko rather than having to add in any liquid to get the batter to stick together.

Lemon, Olive, and Parsley Quinoa Cakes
1 cup raw quinoa
2 cups water
1/4 teaspoon salt
4 large eggs, beaten
1 medium yellow onion, diced
4 cloves garlic, diced
1/2 cup grated parmesan
1/3 cup coarsely chopped green olives
1/3 cup chopped parsley
1 tablespoon lemon zest
1 cup panko bread crumbs
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper (or heaping 1/4 tsp of powdered ground black pepper)

1. In a medium saucepan, bring quinoa, water, and 1/4 tsp salt to a boil. Reduce heat and let simmer, covered, for ~20-24 minutes until quinoa is cooked.  Remove from heat and transfer to a metal bowl to let cool (can put in fridge to speed this along).
2. In a large bowl, combine all ingredients from the onion through black pepper and add the cooled quinoa in.  Stir thoroughly.

3. Whisk the eggs together and then stir into the large bowl of ingredients. The mixture should be fairly moist, but if needed you can add a bit of water or flour/more panko. If you're not sure of the consistency, you can do a "test cake" and see if ti holds up!
4. Shape quinoa mixture into patties (dipping your fingers in cool water will help). We got 14 patties that were about 3 inches in diameter.
5. In a frying pan, heat 2-4 Tbs olive oil (I probably used closer to 4-5Tbs olive oil in a cast iron skillet). On medium heat, fry the quinoa patties until nicely browned on each side. Set on paper towel to cool.

Quick and Easy

Gnocchi with broccoli and scape pesto

When you need a meal that's fast and easy and delicious, it's helpful to have a package of potato gnocchi lying around. If you have a package of potato gnocchi around, and your boss has a small garden and brings you a romanesco broccoli head, it may occur to you to saute the broccoli (and leaves!) to go with the gnocchi. If you saute the broccoli and leaves to go with the gnocchi, you may want to use the leftover olive oil from frying sage leaves for frying the broccoli. And if you fry up broccoli in a bit of sage-flavored olive oil, you may want to add some homemade scape pesto that's been sitting in your freezer. And if you add some homemade scape pesto, you may want to go ahead and use the last little broccoli and cauliflower florets harvested from your garden. And if you do all these things, you may well sigh contentedly after your quick and easy meal at the incredible deliciousness that 4 ingredients can make.



Romanesco Broccoli
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romanesco_broccoli



Sunday gleanings

Well originally this morning I told myself - that's it, no technology today, have a sabbath rest from the internet! Of course, did I listen to myself? Not so much. It's so hard when you use the internet to call far-away family and friends, or if you want to boast about your latest cooking adventures on the only day you really have time to do so....   I guess there's always next Sunday. Actually since it is Sunday, I have had this quote floating around in my head about being with God  that continually brings a smile to my face:

God
and I have become
like two giant fat people living
in a tiny
boat.

We
keep bumping into
each other
and laughing.
(Shams-ud-din Muhammad Hafiz)

 

And now back to food. We had a couple of friends over for dinner last night; one has extreme dietary restrictions. She offered to bring her own leftovers for herself, but I couldn't bear not to be able to feed her food that I made so I ended up with an all vegetable soup (kale, carrots, onion, celery, tomatoes, parsley) plus chickpeas from scratch - no vegetable broth shortcuts which can have unexpected ingredients in them - and I found an actual bread that works for her! A flat bread that made her rejoice in its similarity in taste to cornbread when she hasn't been able to eat anything with corn for a couple of years. Apparently it's Italian in origin and, since it only contains chickpea flour, oil, salt, and spices,  it's gluten-free, sugar-free and vegan!!! I tried two versions of the recipe (Version 1, Version 2) and the second was my favorite for the crispiness (due to more oil and the way the batter is added to oil).

So for Version 1, I used a 9x13" metal baking pan. I brushed the pan with a bit of olive oil and added 2 Tbs of olive oil into the batter when beating it. I baked for about 20-30 minutes and did not take the time to broil it as I was trying to finish baking version 2 in the oven simultaneously. The texture is like a flat cornbread, soft, and crackles on the top as it bakes. For this version, I added ground toasted cumin as the spice.

For Version 2, I used a cast iron skillet and poured the 4 Tbs of olive oil in per the directions. This meant that when the batter was poured in, oil was both underneath the batter and rose up to cover the batter, leading to all around crispiness. I did have to bake this version for something like 30-40 minutes, due to the thicker layer of batter in the pan. For this version, I added dried rosemary which was another lovely flavor. I did NOT add the onion.

Version 2: Chickpea-Rosemary Flatbread

Moroccan-Spiced Spaghetti Squash

The last squash from our garden

Everything "from scratch" can take a while if you want to accomplish it all on the same day, which is why I frequently ended up cooking things after I've just finished dinner -- getting ahead on the next recipe. I was so pleased with the way this meal worked out and being able to reuse parts of the ingredients in other parts of the meal. I soaked the chickpeas the night prior, and boiled them away for about an hour with 1 quartered onion, 5 cloves garlic, 1/2 tsp asafoetida, 3 sprigs parsley, and a bit of celery, adding salt at the end.

Chickpeas from scratch - thanks Deborah Madison!

The squash was cut in half and microwaved to cook it. I used this recipe for the Moroccan-Spiced Spaghetti Squash but amended it a bit: sautéing a chopped onion with the minced garlic until tender in olive oil, adding in the spices (double the amount), and about 2 c. worth of chickpeas with the cooked squash, until all warmed through and seasoned.

Onion, garlic, chickpeas, squash, and spices

To prepare the couscous dish, I boiled 2 cups of the broth from the chickpeas with a cinnamon stick for 10 minutes before pouring it over 1 c. couscous and 1/2 c. raisins and letting sit until the couscous is cooked and raisins were plump.

Served on top of a bed of couscous
with raisins and parsley

Serve the squash over the couscous and top with lots of fresh parsley. You could also try adding yogurt or lemon juice.

I ended up with leftover chickpeas and broth, so I'm thinking these might be used to together for some kind of italian soup....  but for a rest! and leftovers!

Banana Almond Butter Granola Bars

Success! I have at last found a recipe for granola bars that does not use honey or sugar. Thanks to Anja for posting this recipe. Almond butter and banana serve as a binder and the bar is filled with oats, nuts, and dried fruit. I substituted walnuts for the almonds, dried cranberries for the cherries, and used a combination of pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, and sesame seeds in the 1/4 c. mixed seeds. The only change I would make is including dried coconut (instead of the cranberries) and adding some salt. It was actually quite sweet with the banana, the natural almond butter, and dried fruit.

Before baking

In terms of baking - I used a 9x5" loaf pan. This produces a very thick granola bar - it's probably more accurate to describe it as a baked oat bar (not so much crunchy), but I suspect if you cooked it in an 8x8" pan, it might get much crunchier. The thickness of the bars is about 1 1/4" or a bit more. I also baked it for about 35 minutes to get a bit of a crunchy crust on the top.

Cut into squares!

So excited to take these for snacks!

Fuzzy Logic

Do you ever wake up in the morning and wonder what on earth you were thinking the previous night? How your decision making process came up with an entirely unlogical conclusion?

Yep logic fail. Yesterday = work day. Getting up at 7am, cycling for 40 min, heading off to work, getting home at 6:30pm. Gulping down dinner before driving off to our new minister's covenanting service. In the car was a shopping list and bags, like somehow after the service ended (at 8:30pm) I would go to Superstore and stock up on much needed supplies. By the time I got to my house at 9pm, I decided no, far too late, best to just call it a night. EXCEPT, what do I do once I make it indoors? Oh, nothing much, just cook some chickpeas from scratch (they had been soaked overnight), make some banana almond butter granola bars, and cook spaghetti squash. And it only took until 11:42 pm.... at which point, wife had already been asleep for 1.75 hrs. Yep, we know who was the smarter of the two. And it's also the first fall morning of rain...  come on motivation!

The good news is, thanks to my late night escapades, a) healthy snacks for my weird 10:30-11 am tummy rumbles, and b) almost everything is prepped for making Moroccan Spiced Spaghetti Squash tonight!

My TO-DO List

Clearly, after a couple of days of too much computer work at my desk, I have been distracting (ehem tormenting) myself by reading food blogs. I have started creating a list of recipes that I want to cook this fall, but who knows when I will have time! Anyone with other good fall themed recipes featuring squash, kale, apples, root vegetables, etc. let me know.

Squash-black bean soup (done!)

Sweet potato/chard gratin  (DONE!)
Apple challah
Yogurt semolina cake
Moroccan spiced spaghetti squash (DONE!)
Honey cake
Olive and parsley quinoa cakes  (DONE!)
Veggie meat from scratch
Brussel sprouts salad with cornbread croutons
Banana pecan granola bars
Almond butter granola bars (DONE!)
Winter pasta (kale sauce)
Pumpkin Dumplings with Masala Sauce (DONE!)
Roasted Vegetables in Kalamata Olive Galette
Pumpkin Scones (DONE!)

Spaghetti Squash Black Bean Soup with Kefir Cheese

The saga of squash soups continues! With all the black bean broth left over from my crockpot black beans and a new batch of chipotle sauce, I decided this was a perfect opportunity for another take on squash soup. The pureed black beans and broth were a lovely texture addition to the soup and the tangyness of the kefir cheese with toasted cumin seeds was perfect.

Squash Soup with Black Beans (makes a LOT - approximately 4 L of soup)
2 spaghetti squash, cooked and peeled
2 lbs sweet potatoes, peeled, chopped, and roasted (approx 40 min in a 400 degree F oven with olive oil)
4 celery ribs, chopped
3 large carrots, peeled and chopped
2 large onions, chopped
6 cloves garlic, chopped
8 c. water
500 mL bean broth + 2-3 c. black beans pureed with 2 c. broth (a total of ~ 3/4 L was added)
4-6 Tbs ground cumin
1/4 - 1/2 c. Chipotle sauce
1/4 c. apple cider vinegar (or fresh lime juice)
salt and pepper to taste

1. Once the squash and sweet potatoes are cooked, sauté the onion, celery, carrots, and garlic in olive or canola oil until the onions are translucent and all the veggies are fragrant.
2. Add water, cumin, squash, sweet potatoes and bean broth and bring to a boil. Simmer until all the veggies are soft (or not if you like texture). Use an immersion blender to puree the soup.
3. Add in the pureed black beans, chipotle sauce, cider vinegar, and salt to taste. Let simmer for another 20-30 minutes and adjust seasonings as needed.

Excellent served with more chipotle sauce for those who like it spicier, or kefir cheese stirred together with a bit of salt and ground toasted cumin seeds. (Alternately you could add sour cream)

Photo to come

Simple Foods

This week has been long and hectic what with cleaning our old apartment and finishing up all those last chores. Although looking at the sink and shower in our new apartment, I have to say we were far kinder to the next tenants than the people who lived here before us .... Also, I decided it must be true that I am a bit of a foodie given that as I have been practicing counting daily gratitudes for the past week that usually 9 out of 10 of my gratitudes for the day seem to revolve around food: ie. the smell of mint chocolate tea, the golden orange yolk of a free range brown egg, the tingle of chipotle burn on your lips, a perfectly moist cupcake... and so on :)

Regardless, it has been a week of simple foods, and yet for some reason, likely the quality of ingredients, the flavors have more than compensated for the lack of finesse.

Monday Night: Cheese toast with homemade salsa verde and perfectly fried eggs.

Tuesday Night: Toast with sauteed kale (from the garden) and less perfectly fried eggs....  and I started a crockpot full of black beans!

Wednesday Night: Black beans, rice, sautéed kale (from the garden), and shredded cheese. Magnificently easy and delicious.

And I learned a new trick -- once the black beans are done, sauté the kale in a cup or so of the bean broth and simmer until almost all the liquid is gone to really pull more flavor into the kale. You could easily top this bowl of goodness with chopped tomatoes, salsa, sour cream, etc, but this was just right for us.

Thursday Night: BBQ Tofu, Southern Greens, and Cornbread. A cornbread recipe that is "the one" as in you will never need another one and never desire another one. It comes from Bernard Clayton's New Complete Book of Breads -- a whole section on cornbreads, but this recipe is the one with a giant star next to it and the scribbled phrase, "This is it!"

BBQ Tofu is my new go-to-protein that I can put onto roast any time of the day or week that I have 40 minutes and store for up to a week in the fridge. Slice up a block of firm or extra firm tofu into 1/4" pieces. Pour BBQ sauce into the bottom of a 9x9" baking dish (or something relatively that size) and lay out all the tofu strips, covering with more BBQ sauce. Roast at about 375 degrees F for 40 minutes, checking to make sure the sauce doesn't evaporate to the point of burning. This recipe is especially good for overly thin BBQ sauce as it will concentrate into a nice thickened coating on the tofu.  You can then use the tofu  as sandwich filling or as an entree that just needs to be reheated to go along with southern greens and cornbread.

Southern Greens (Adapted from Rachel Ray)
2 Tbs butter
1/4 - 1/2 medium onion, chopped
A skillet full of greens: I had a mix of kale, chard, and beet greens. If you do use kale in your mix, I recommend cooking it for twice as long as something like chard as it takes much longer to soften. (Can also use collard greens)
3 Tbs white vinegar
2 1/2 c. water
2-3 tsp sugar
1- 3 tsp Hot sauce (Tabasco)

1. Melt butter in the skillet, add onion and saute until golden.
2. Add in the greens (kale first if you have a mix), vinegar, water, sugar and hot sauce (start small and work your way up).
3. Cover and let simmer for 20-30 minutes. Add beet greens and chard as appropriate for the cooking time. You can remove the lid and let some of the liquid simmer off or save the liquid for broth.
4. Taste and add more vinegar/sugar/hot sauce as needed. Note, the kale tasted much spicier than the broth so be careful about adding tabasco liberally and only tasting the broth :)

Cornbread (the best cornbread ever IMHO)
1 c. all purpose flour
1 c. cornmeal
4 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1/4 c. sugar
1 cup milk
2 eggs room temperature
1/4 c. butter, melted
1 c. frozen corn kernels (optional - but I always put it in!)
1/2 - 1 c. shredded cheese and/or diced jalapenos (optional)

1. Sift dry ingredients together.
2. Beat eggs together, then beat in milk and then butter.
3. Stir wet into dry ingredients, adding in corn/cheese/jalapenos at the end - stirring the batter just until moistened all the way through.
4. Pour into a greased 9x9" baking pan or a greased cast iron skillet and bake at 375 degrees F for 20-25 minutes. The top should be a bit browned and test for done-ness with a knife/cake tester.

Autumn Flavors: Squash Soup with Chipotle Sauce

The air is turning cooler and trees are starting to resemble living flames. The garden is being stripped of its final summer burst of produce and winter rye is planted. We also have a shelf full of squash to consume. To inaugurate our new apartment, my friend M came over to cook and "christen" the apartment for its soon to be many culinary adventures. We doubled this Epicurious recipe for a squash-sweet potato soup with a chipotle sauce that is drizzled over the top. Just fabulous.  Of course we tweaked it a little bit too ......

Squash-Sweet Potato Soup
3 lb squash (we used half acorn and half spaghetti squash, but you could use butternut, acorn, etc. - we roasted the acorn squash w/ olive oil and microwaved the spaghetti squash to cook it)
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 lb sweet potatoes (2 large), roasted in the oven with olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
1 leek, chopped
1-2 Tbs chopped ginger
8 to 10 cups veggie broth
1- 2 apples, peeled and cored, chopped
Pepper and salt to taste

1. Per the directions on the website, you need to cook the squash and sweet potatoes first.
2. Saute the onion and leek in olive oil. When almost done add in the ginger.
3. Add in the broth and apples, bring to a boil. Simmer until apples are tender. (You can reserve part of the broth until you know the soup is the consistency you want)
4. Add in squash, sweet potatoes, pepper and salt. Simmer 10 minutes, then puree with an immersion blender.
5. Serve in bowls, drizzled with chipotle sauce (see below)

Chipotle sauce
1 small yellow onion (or half of a large onion), chopped
2-4 cloves garlic, minced
2 dried ancho chiles
1 chipotle chiles (canned or dried - we used canned)
2 c. water
2 Tbs toasted cumin seeds (or freshly ground cumin)

1. Saute onion and garlic in a bit of oil until golden.
2. Add water, cumin, and chiles. Bring to a boil and simmer for 30 minutes or so, until dried chiles are tender.
3. Puree in a blender. Add water or spices as needed for right consistency/flavor.

Pumpkin Ale - What Says Fall Better?

Tour of the New Place

Entry Closet - All the Camping Stuff Fits!

Entry Hall way

Entry way to Living Room

Living Room

"Pantry"

Dining Room/Kitchen

Kitchen view #1

Kitchen view #2

Bedroom

Bedroom

Bathroom (A Shower with a Tub!)

Somehow I will survive the lack of counterspace... somehow .... I'm pretty sure the untouchable ceilings, huge windows, patio, and giant living room will make up for it :)