Almost Vegan

How could I resist a book called Voluptuous Vegan? I bought it long ago, actually as a gift for Matt, and have never (!) cooked from it. This is not for lack of delicious-sounding recipes, but because they've seemed so complicated that they intimidated. It was time. As I looked through, there was one recipe for which I had almost all of the ingredients on hand. I made one dish out of a menu of four recipes. This book is divided into full menus, which would be a nice way to cook for a dinner party, but it was a little fussy for just me and Matt. I made the Millet-Sunflower Croquettes with Smoky Black Bean sauce. I added a salad and replaced the vegan “sour cream” with, well, sour cream, and the meal was very satisfying. So, yes, almost vegan. Now, as we enjoyed the meal (and we certainly did), it occurred to me that avocado could have nicely taken the place of the sour cream, leaving the meal vegan and avoiding the complexity of making a fake cream.


Here is the slightly adjusted recipe with notes as to where I think I could improve it next time:

Finely dice 2 onions (2 cups).

Bring 4 cups of water to a boil in a medium pot.
Add ½ tsp of salt and 2 Tbsp canola or olive oil.
Add ¾ cup millet and ¼ cup corn meal.

Meanwhile, place ½ cup of sunflower seeds in a pan over med-high heat and cook over medium-high heat, shaking the pan occasionally, until toasted.

Heat 1 Tbsp canola or olive oil over medium-high heat. Cook half of the onion until browned.

Preheat oven to 350F.

Stir the onions into the millet mixture. Cook until water is mostly absorbed. Turn off heat and allow to sit. Then stir in the sunflower seeds and 1 tsp dried thyme.
Using a scoop or 1/4-cup measuring cup, form the croquettes and place them on parchment-lined cookie sheet. I used the ¼ cup and it made nice patties. Just make sure to wet the cup or spray it with Pam once in a while so the mixture will release easily.

Bake for 20 minutes or until golden.

Drain and rinse two 15-oz cans of black beans. Add to saucepan with ½ to 1 tsp of chipotle powder or chili powder (Go by taste) and 1 ½ cups water. Place lid on pot, slightly askew to allow some steam to escape. Cook for twenty minutes over medium heat.

Meanwhile, warm 1 Tbsp canola or olive oil over medium. Add 1 cup of the diced onion and 2 diced cloves garlic. Cook about ten minutes.

Stir onions into beans once they are cooked, then puree about half. I do this with an immersion blender, but you could also just remove half and puree in a blender or mash with a fork. Add salt and pepper to taste. Stir in the juice of half a lime.

I served this with a salad of diced avocado, quartered cherry tomatoes, lime juice, olive oil, salt, and pepper. It was delicious!

The plating you see below was also taken from the author's suggestion, which was great because the book does not have photos. Those few tortilla chips were great for picking up the bean sauce that got away.

Cream Scones

Over a year ago, my mother gave me her bread machine and several books of recipes to go with it. I quickly got over the bread machine (Sorry, Mom!) because I find that the texture of the breads is not great, and they tend to taste very similar. However, in one small move toward saving money on groceries, I do want to bake more. That's right, I'm baking bread! I haven't posted about the few loaves I've baked because they're experiments taken right from other blogs, but I will keep you updated.

I think a lot of the recipes I try will be from one book my mom included among the bread machine-specific books. A World of Breads by Dolores Casella was originally published in 1965, but this late edition was printed only 34 years ago! I like how it's laid out as well as the variety of recipes.

The first recipe I took from here was one for Cream Scones. They were rich and delicious, especially served with raspberry preserves and fresh whipped cream. I mixed a bit of sour cream into the cream to give it tang (a recommendation from Mark Bittman), and boy was this a breakfast! The recipe is below.

Preheat oven to 450F.

Grease baking sheet.

Sift together:

1 tablespoon baking powder

½ teaspoon salt

3 tablespoons sugar

2 cups flour

Using a pastry blender or two knives, cut in:

½ cup butter

Blend in:

2 large eggs

½ cup cream (or evaporated milk)

At this point, I added ½ cup dried cranberries, and you could mix in any dried fruit, extract, or even candied ginger!

On lightly floured surface (the dough is sticky), knead the dough lightly and divide into two parts. Roll each half into a circle about ½ inch thick. Cut each of these circles into quarters. Place on baking sheet.

Bake about 15 to twenty minutes. They will become golden; it is pretty clear when they are done.

Those nagging vegetarians

I'm not one to preach (much) about meat vs. no meat, but last week was World Vegetarian Week, and I missed my chance! So I'm just going to share this. Take what you will. I just have to say that it's been almost a year and a half since I've eaten meat (ok, with a few bites here and there). And it's so easy! I have enjoyed cooking AND eating more in that time than I ever had before. And this sense of moral superiority is so much fun. Oh I slay me.

[Link.]

Picnic Time

Ryan and Christina visited this weekend, and we had a picnic in the Azalea Garden behind the Art Museum on Sunday. The weather was absolutely perfect. We put our blanket under a big tree and enjoyed an afternoon together in this spot that really makes me feel so lucky to live where we do. I think Matt has some pics of the park somewhere, so I will try to post them.

Anyway, the food. We had some veggies and dip, some watermelon and these tiny, early strawberries that Christina picked up at Headhouse Square:


The fruit was almost a tease--it tasted reminiscent of what watermelon and strawberries should taste like, but really just got us excited for real summer fruit!

Our main course was a pasta salad, and we shared some great Garlic-Chive Cheddar, also from the Farmer's Market. We also had a pitcher of sangria, which was delicious, but which I don't recommend as most of your fluids on a hot day. Matt and I, at least, were pretty wiped!

I took inspiration for the pasta salad from this Ellie Krieger recipe, but changed it up a bit. I had a nice white Rigatoni leftover from vodka sauce we made the night before (coming soon), and at the market I picked up an inexpensive bunch of pea shoots, which I hadn't had before. They were great! A leaf that felt and cooked like baby spinach, but tasted like snap peas. So, with that ultimate spring ingredient, I adjusted the recipe a bit.

Light Spring Pasta Salad

8 ounces rigatoni or other short pasta (whole wheat would be okay, but these flavors are delicate, and the chewy white pasta worked great)
1/2 cup walnut pieces or halves
1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese
2-3 scallions, sliced, white parts onnly
1 1/2 cups chopped baby spinach leaves, or if you're lucky enough to find them, pea shoots and leaves!
1 tablespoon walnut oil
2 tablespoons sherry vinegar
1/2 tsp. dried oregano
Salt and pepper to taste

Boil Pasta. Place spinach or pea shoots on bottom of strainer, and strain the cooked pasta over the leaves to wilt them. Run under cold water to stop it all cooking and cool it down.

Mix in the rest of the ingredients. Toss well, and toss again before serving.

Simple and delicious! I think this would also improve in the fridge over several hours, or be good for a couple days' lunches.

Eat it!

I emailed this to a few of you already, but decided, why have a blog if not to post fun things like this? Thanks to Shapely Prose for finding [this video].

Rhubarb

For a big dinner at my sister's house Saturday night, I simmered a bunch of chopped rhubarb with a little water (enough to get the cooking started) and a lot of sugar (coating the rhubarb). Once it was broken down, I poured it over vanilla ice cream and sprinkled a honey-sesame granola over it. I love this simple use of a seasonal fruit. The sourness was just enough to be tasty (except for Mollie, who found it too sour), and it was a hit. One friend pointed out that the taste was reminiscent of a sour applesauce, and it's a great description. A few of us tried it raw, because Mike used to nibble on it as a kid. Trust me, it's better cooked!



Anyway, I had one large stalk left, a half pound--just enough for this rhubarb coffeecake. This recipe is a great introduction to one of my favorite blogs, Smitten Kitchen. Deb writes beautifully about great recipes, and takes amazing photographs of them. I'm sure I'll be mentioning her blog plenty.

This cake was delicious. All the fruit, which went in raw and cooked down in the cake, kept it super-moist, and the sourness is perfect with a sweet batter and savory crumb. And all those crumbs thrilled the hubby, who has an affection for Entenmann's-style cakes. This was so easy to make, there's really no reason to buy the packaged one. I had all the ingredients on hand, and Deb suggests trying other fruits as well.

I have another coffeecake recipe I tried last summer with blueberries; I'll have to try it again soon for comparison's sake.

Is there anybody out there?

So, I no longer am working in the food industry. Since my last post in November, after a true false start, I got and quit a job at a cafe/caterer. Food is back to being a fun hobby instead of a stressful job, and I'm very excited. So, in order to occupy my potentially idle mind and get back to cooking and baking yummy things, I am going to try again with this blog. My plans are to post about one baking and one cooking attempt per week, with other things sprinkled in as well. Maybe I'll get to a point of original recipes, but mostly it will be trying things out from other blogs and recipe sites. Keep an eye out for rhubarb coffeecake.

Meanwhile, another spring dish. I cooked Fiddleheads for the first time last spring, and I was desperate to catch them in their short, early spring growing season this year. And thanks to the Fair Food Farmstand at the Reading Terminal Market, I did! So, a couple of weeks ago, I used them in a Maggie original recipe. I cooked scallions in a combination of (a lot of) butter and olive oil, then added the fiddleheads and cooked for seven or eight minutes, then added shiitake mushrooms. I seasoned it with salt, pepper, and thyme, and served it all over fresh egg fettucine, also from RTM. It was a great combination of flavors and textures, and I highly recommend trying out these yummy, unusual vegetables next year. Here are some pictures: