Smokin' Grilled Romaine Salad with Roasted Romas & Ricotta Dumpling Croutons

This is the first time I've ever set off the smoke alarm making a salad. However, this is no regular salad. This is a warm, smoky salad that works perfectly as an entrée on a cold night. I got this crazy idea to play around with the classic components of a cold salad by using heat and smoke to transform them into something completely different.

I choose roma tomatoes and romaine lettuce because I knew both ingredients could take some heat without wilting and falling apart. Next I decided to make dumplings for the top rather than croutons. I thought dumplings would be richer and more filling than croutons -- plus the creamy texture paired nicely with the crunch of the romaine.

Makes two servings.

For the salad:

4-6 roma tomatoes (blanched, peeled, and halved)

4 sprigs of fresh oregano

1 whole heart of romaine lettuce (split lengthwise)

olive oil

balsamic vinegar

parmesan cheese

Toss tomatoes together with a few tablespoons of olive oil and the fresh herbs. Roast in a 350 degree oven for 30 minutes. I roasted the garlic for the dumplings at the same time. Pop the tomatoes under the broiler for a few minutes to get some color on them before serving. Get a cast iron grill pan screaming-hot on your stovetop. Dress romaine with equal parts balsamic vinegar and olive oil. Grill each piece cut-side-down for a few minutes or until nicely charred. This is where a lot of the nice smoke flavor comes from. You will know you're doing it right if the smoke alarm goes off right in the middle of making this.

For the ricotta dumplings:

1 small head of garlic (roasted until soft)

1/2 cup ricotta

1 egg

1 cup all-purpose flour

pinch of salt

olive oil

Mix roasted garlic, ricotta, egg, and salt until well incorporated. Fold the flour into the cheese mixture. The more you mix it the tougher the dumplings will be so be judicious about it. Allow the dough to rest for 10 minutes. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Pat dough into a 1/4-inch thick cake on your floured work surface then cut into 1/2 inch cubes using a pastry cutter or butcher knife. Drop the dumplings into the boiling water and keep an eye on them. Once they float to the top, they are ready to be removed and drained. For a crunchy texture, sear them in a hot pan with some olive oil for just a few minutes.

To plate this dish, place a piece of grilled romaine next to a few roasted tomatoes. Top that with some fresh ricotta dumplings, a drizzle of olive oil and balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper, and a little grated parmesan cheese.

Salad will never be the same.

Tapioca Pudding Wars

Tapioca is so simple to make, but you can do so much with it. I secretly like boxed instant tapioca, and I make it often -- especially when my sister and my niece are in town. We had it after the pho and bahn mi lunch TCV cooked in their honor on the day they headed back to the Northwest.

(Honestly, I disdained tapioca when I was growing up and even deemed it 'fish eyes'. Oh, how tastes can change over time!)

So, here's the key tapioca question: from the box or the real thing? Usually I am of the mind that from scratch always trumps a shortcut, but recently, I decided to put the two types of tapioca head to head and judge on taste alone.

The whole tapioca pearls from the cassava plant have to be babied. You will not be eating tapioca in 20 minutes if you use these needy granules. First, they require an overnight soak in water. Then you heat the soaked tapioca with milk, and you have to separate the eggs next. Finally, it's time to add the hot milk mixture to the yolks, and the yolks to the milk and cook it all together until it thickens. So my question this week was...is all of this really worth it? Does all the extra labor and time make a difference?

No. I've decided that it really doesn't matter. The 'real' tapioca pudding I recently labored over for a day and a half sat in my fridge. I avoided it and finally threw most of it out. The texture was too heavy, too eggy, and too weird. The measure of a good dessert in our house is simple. If it is still around the next day, something's wrong with it.

You can have a simple vanilla tapioca with nutmeg on top or make a dark chocolate or citrus version. I like it slightly chilled and with a little nutmeg and sugar on top. I just made it using coconut milk, and that was a nice twist, too.

Grab a little red box of tapioca (it's in the pudding aisle, usually hiding in plain sight way up on the top shelf) and follow the recipe on the back. It's a surprising comfort to make something that tastes so good and takes such little effort.

Vegan Pear-Ginger Olive Oil Crumble

I like how pears ripen quickly but then stay pretty good for a while. I stuck a couple of them in the fridge and soon decided to make little creme brulee dishes of crumble. These are vegan due to the use of olive oil margarine, which complemented the olive oil drizzle on top before baking.

The filling:

3 Bosc pears

3 Granny Smith apples

juice of 1 lemon

1 tbsp. cornstarch

1/4 cup raw sugar

1/4 cup light brown sugar

2 pieces crystallized ginger, minced

pinches of cinnamon, clove, and nutmeg to taste

Peel apples and then pears. (I like to cut off the top and bottom in order to stand them straight up to peel imperfectly -- a little skin left on here and there is fine -- and then I cut off four sections to dice. You want to end up with rustic chunks the size of a bouillon cube.) Pour in half the lemon juice and stir to prevent browning as you go. Mix the rest of the lemon juice with cornstarch and add it. Sugars, ginger, and spices can be incorporated next.

The crumble:

1/4 cup olive oil margarine for dishes and to chop up in crumble mixture

1 cup rolled oats

2 tbsp. brown sugar

1 tbsp. raw sugar

1/4 tsp. salt

olive oil

Butter the dish or dishes you will use, add filling, and set aside. Mix together all other ingredients except olive oil and sprinkle it on top of pears and apples in your dish. Drizzle with olive oil and bake crumble at 350 degrees for 30 to 40 minutes until it's cooked down and top is light brown. You could top this with Greek yogurt or soy ice cream, but we just had it plain in all its gingery, spicy glory.

Enoki Mushroom Ceviche over Plantain Tortillas & Black Bean Purée

Innovation is fairly easy in vegetarian cuisine. All you really have to do is take a preparation that is traditionally meat-based and substitute something vegetarian in its place.

But the art comes in determining what will work and where. I had an idea for a mushroom ceviche floating around in my head for a while, but I didn't know which mushroom to use. I wanted to stay true to the raw nature of ceviche, but raw mushrooms were, well, unappealing to me to say the least. Then I remembered the mild and crunchy enoki, the perfect match.

Enoki Mushroom Ceviche:

14 oz enoki mushrooms

1 lime (juiced)

1/2 green bell pepper (fine dice)

1/4 white onion (fine dice)

1 tablespoon cilantro (minced)

1/2 avocado (fine dice)

hot sauce

olive oil

agave nectar

Trim the stem-end off of the mushrooms and discard. Cut mushrooms into one-inch sections and place into a medium mixing bowl. Rinse diced onion under cold water for 30 seconds, and then add it to the mushrooms along with the lime juice, a dash of hot sauce, a squeeze of agave nectar, and a tablespoon or two of olive oil. Allow that mixture to sit for 20 minutes so the flavors marry. Add the diced avocado, the minced cilantro, and a pinch of salt just before serving.

Plantain Tortillas:

2 ripe plantains

1/4 cup water

salt

canola oil

Peel plantains and roughly chop the fruit. Place fruit and water into a covered microwave-safe bowl and microwave for 2 minutes or until they become soft. Using the paddle attachment on your stand mixer, mix until stiff dough forms. (You may need to add a touch more water.) Next, divide dough into 8 equal balls. Using a tortilla press lined with wax paper -- or just the paper and a rolling pin -- press each ball into a disk. Fry each plantain tortilla in canola oil over medium heat. Drain on paper towels and salt before serving.

Black bean purée:

1 cup prepared black beans

1 Not-Beef bouillon cube

1 chipotle pepper

water

Using an immersion blender or food processor, blend all ingredients until (mostly) smooth. Add water to achieve the desired consistency.

To serve, spoon black beans on a plate and top with a plantain tortilla. Top that with a handful of enoki ceviche and garnish with fresh cilantro leaves, sliced avocado, and your star hot sauce.

Ice

Milestones

We here at TCV just passed 300 posts without even noticing, and now we are up to 150 followers. I would just like to thank each and every one of my readers. I think we have a good thing going here. If you read this blog on a regular basis and you are not a follower, I urge you to become one. I like to know who is out there, ya know?

I'm always open to suggestions and I'm pretty good at answering any vegetarian questions you might have. So, become a follower and get in touch. Thank you for reading.

-TCV

Tomato-Sauce Poached Eggs Over Creamy Polenta With Wilted Spinach

We are fortunate here in the South to have innovative farmers who are able to produce food even in the dead of winter*. Nearly every ingredient in this dish was sourced locally. The eggs are from Donnell Century Farms. The spinach, some of the sweetest and best we have ever tasted, came from Dodson Farms, and the grits are from Delta Grind. (How lucky are we?)

I have taken these ingredients and made them into one of my all-time favorite meals: grits and eggs. I do these a million different ways, but this simple version with an Italian twist is the best of all. I poach my eggs in warm tomato sauce for added flavor and ease of preparation. This is the perfect dish for a cold winter's day.

Spinach:

2 large handfuls fresh spinach

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 cloves garlic (thinly sliced)

salt & pepper to taste

Heat oil and garlic in a large frying pan. Once the oil stats to shimmer, remove the pan from the heat and toss the spinach with the hot oil and garlic. Finish with salt and pepper.

Polenta:

4 cups milk

2 Not Chick'n bouillon cubes

1 cup dry polenta (or grits)

3 cloves garlic, minced

2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 tablespoons white balsamic vinegar

salt & pepper to taste

Bring milk and bouillon cubes to a slow boil. Stir in the rest of the ingredients, and make sure there are no lumps. Simmer uncovered for 40 minutes and stir it every few minutes.

Eggs:

4 eggs

2 cups good-quality tomato sauce

salt & pepper

Bring sauce to a low simmer in a large frying pan. Crack eggs directly into the sauce. Allow eggs to cook for about 10 minutes or until the white has set. To serve, spoon tons of creamy polenta onto the center of the plate; follow with the tomato sauce and then the eggs. Garnish the dish with chopped parsley and freshly-grated parmesan. Serve with a side of wilted spinach.

*BTW, we are so happy that we did the traditional grocery run before all of this snow and ice came down Friday a.m. Even though it looks like we'll be stuck inside until Sunday afternoon or maybe even Monday mid-morning when the temps finally get above freezing, at least we have power and a bunch of stuff like this comforting dish to cook.

King Oyster Mushroom Scallops on Melted Leeks topped with Apple & Cucumber Slaw

I'm still not sure about the texture of king oyster mushrooms. They are chewy. That is to say, they take a lot of chewing, which is a little weird for us vegetarians. So this time I decided to braise them in a mixture of butter, white wine, garlic, and parsley. I left them in a dutch oven for about three hours, and they still were not as tender as I'd like. They were delicious, and I think I'm on the right track; maybe they need more time, or maybe I need to turn up the heat a bit. I really don't know quite yet, but I'll get there. I may ditch the whole braised idea and sous vide it next time...if only I knew how.

+++Update+++ 12/09/10

No need to braise them. Just drizzle them in olive oil, and sear them in a hot pan for about 3 minutes per side.

Here I served the scored and seared mushrooms on a bed of caramelized leeks. The slaw of English cucumber and organic apple was simply dressed in equal parts honey and rice vinegar. I garnished the dish with parsley leaves and drizzled the whole thing with ponzu.

Smoky Sofrito Soup + Chimichurri

1 onion (roughly chopped)

1 Not Chickn' bouillon cube

1//2 chipotle pepper (more if you like it really spicy)

2 cloves garlic

2 carrots (roughly chopped)

3 roasted peppers (red, yellow, orange)

1/2 cup white wine

water

olive oil

salt & pepper

chimichurri (for garnish)

Over medium-high heat sweat the onion and bouillon cube in a few tablespoons of olive oil until the onion is translucent. Deglaze the pan with white wine and reduce until most of the wine has evaporated. Add the rest of the ingredients except the chimichurri to the pot. Add enough water to cover and simmer over medium heat for 15 minutes. Using an immersion blender blend ingredients until smooth. You may strain the soup if you would like it to be more refined or serve it just like it is. Adjust consistency with stock or water. Top with plenty of chimichurri.

Gooseberry Salad

Thank you for your thoughtful suggestions. However, for some odd reason, I could not get away from thinking about gooseberries as little tomatoes. I decided to make a simple salad that would showcase their unique sweet, tart, and pungent flavor.

Makes 2 salads:

mizuna greens

1 dozen gooseberries (halved)

1/4 red onion (sliced into half-moons & rinsed*)

3 tablespoons white balsamic vinegar

1 tablespoons honey

2 tablespoons olive oil

salt & pepper

Whisk together the oil, vinegar, and honey. Add salt & pepper to taste. Add the onion to the mix and allow to marinate for 15 minutes. Add the greens and toss until well-coated. Divide salad between two plates and garnish with gooseberry halves, sea salt, and cracked pepper.

*Always rinse any onion slices that are to be served raw. This process removes that unpleasant acrid flavor that raw onion can sometimes have.

Gooseberries?

My buddy Ben gave me a handful of gooseberries, a small fruit which I had never had before. They remind me of tiny tomatillos with their papery husk. The texture is not unlike a grape tomato, but the flavor is both pungent and sweet. I think it could work well in a sweet or savory dish. My initial thought is to make a parsley, cucumber and gooseberry salad, but I'd love to hear some of your ideas before I dive in.

Baked Tofu Spring Rolls + Spicy Peanut Sauce

I was never good at preparing spring rolls which was frustrating, because I love them so much. Every couple of months I would try it again to see if my rice paper skills had improved. Sadly they had not. So, most of the time I just drop by Whole Foods and pick up the vegetarian spring rolls from the sushi case. The other day I dropped by and they were out of the vegetarian rolls in the case, so I asked the gentleman behind the counter if he would mind preparing an order for me. I started to go shop while he worked, but I became mesmerized. I watched him cut and prepare the ingredients for the filling. I watched as he quickly dipped the rice paper (spring roll wrapper) in cold water. I must have looked shocked. I had no idea that's how you treated rice paper. I always soaked them until they were soft then tried to fill them. Whenever I did that they were always mushy and would tear as I attempted to roll them. This was a revelation.

The next day I had to try it at home. I prepared my sauce and my filling then got out the rice paper wrappers. I filled a large pie plate with cold water and dipped the dried wrapper in for just a few seconds. I did make sure to wet the entire surface. the wrapper was still rigid as I placed it on the cutting board and began stacking ingredients in the center. By the time I had everything on the wrapper it was pliable but not mushy. Amazing! All I had to do is to fold each end over and roll it up like a burrito. Now that I know how to use them I dream of different combinations of flavors I can wrap up in these amazing little things.

spring roll filling:

chopped green onion, sliced roma tomato, basil leaves, cilantro, rice stick noodles, sunflower sprouts, tofu, and cucumber matchsticks.

For the spicy peanut sauce:

Whisk together 2 tablespoons each of chunky peanut butter, mirin, soy sauce, sriracha, and water. This is a wonderful sauce that hits so many notes: sweet, salty, and spicy.

For the baked tofu:

1 block firm tofu (sliced in 12-16 pieces)

sesame oil

spicy peanut sauce

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Brush a silpat lined baking sheet with a few tablespoons of sesame oil and arrange tofu slices on the sheet. Brush the tofu with the peanut sauce. Stick it in the oven for about 30 minutes or until the surface begins to look caramelized. This recipe is great in banh mi sandwiches as well.

Smoky Grilled Cheese Panini + Roma Tomato Jam

This was an incredible little grilled cheese. The sweet, tangy tomato jam played perfectly off the smokiness of the grilled bread while the mild provolone provided the perfect backdrop. It may be good enough to win The Grilled Cheese Invitational next year...I may have to make a little road trip.

For the roma tomato jam:

(makes 1.5 cups)

1/4 cup water

1/4 cup sugar

1/4 cup white balsamic vinegar

3 large roma tomatoes (roughly chopped)

1 tablespoon butter

5 or 6 turns of the pepper mill

pinch of salt

All ingredients go into a saucepan. Simmer until the tomatoes break down. This should take about 10 minutes. Using an immersion blender, blend until smooth. Return pan to the heat and allow it to simmer on low until it is thick. It will resemble a thick ketchup. Allow to cool. Store in the fridge for up to two weeks.

For the smoky grilled cheese panini:

*Special equipment: cast-iron grill pan

(serves two)

roma tomato jam

8 slices of provolone

1 loaf ciabatta

olive oil

Slice the loaf in half and trim the ends. Place grill pan over medium high heat. Thinly slice the crust off the top. Save top crust for a later use. Slice each half lengthwise to make the top and bottom of the sandwich. Divide cheese between halves and slather on a few tablespoons of the tomato jam. Drizzle each sandwich with olive oil and place in the grill pan. It should take 2- 3 minutes per side. Serve with your favorite Italian soup.

Lunch Box: Quick & Healthy Veggie Wrap

If you keep good ingredients around, as we do, it isn't hard to piece together a quick, healthy lunch. This wrap, thrown together in about 5 minutes, is proof of that. From the bottom up we have: a whole-wheat tortilla, vegan mayo, sliced roma tomatoes, heirloom lettuce, avocado slices, roasted red peppers, sunflower sprouts, a little crumbled cotija cheese, and a drizzle of white-balsamic vinegar.

When packing a lunch for later you always have to guard against things getting soggy. I love roma tomatoes for anything that has to be prepared ahead of time because they have far less water than a typical slicer tomato. Using romas helps ensure you don't end up with a soggy mess at lunchtime.

If you are trying to eat healthy more often then packing your lunch is a great thing to do. Try pairing a wrap like this one with a pink lady apple and a handful of almonds for your next lunch on the go.

Also, click HERE to check out a few other great lunch box recipes.

Spinach + Artichoke Ravioli Filling

This is a quick and easy ravioli filling, or it can be used as a pasta topping, layered in a lasagna, or baked in a small dish as a dip. Try it, see what you can come up with, and let me know what you think.

about 13 ounces of marinated artichoke hearts (drained)

5 ounces of fresh spinach (blanched and drained)

2.5 ounces of soft goat cheese

1 egg

1/8-1/4 cup of panko breadcrumbs

salt & pepper to taste

Pulse all ingredients except the breadcrumbs in a food processor until well incorporated. Transfer to a bowl, and stir in the breadcrumbs 1/8 of a cup at a time until a dough-like consistency is achieved.

Mushroom + Eggplant Meatballs over Homemade Pappardelle

You can almost always tell how busy I am with work by looking at my blog. If it is neglected as it has been for the past week, you can rest assured that I am buried in assignments and deadlines. I'm one of the lucky ones: I love my job. Being extremely busy at work is what my dad calls "good problems."

Make no mistake: I never stop cooking or taking pictures of the dishes that I prepare. I simply run out of time to type up the recipe and come up with something halfway interesting to say about it. I have a backlog of beautiful photos of salads, soups, breakfasts, and pastas that I may get around to posting someday.

I spend time in the kitchen every day because cooking, for me, is the best stress relief there is. I love getting in the there and chopping, kneading, and creating. These tasks always crescendo into a delicious meal. (Okay, not always!) With that meal comes the time it takes to enjoy it sitting at the table at home. It feels relaxing even to describe it.

So, tonight we had meatballs over homemade pappardelle with red sauce. Here is how I made the meatballs:

1 beaten egg

1/3 cup grated parmesan cheese

1/3 cup chopped parsley

2 tablespoons tomato sauce (more for brushing)

2/3 cups panko

2 cups mushroom meat

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Fold ingredients together. Don't overwork it. Using a medium ice cream scoop, drop one portion into the palm of your hand. Pass the ball back-and-forth between your palms until a roundish ball forms. Place ball onto a silpat-lined baking sheet. Repeat until mixture is used up. It should make 6-8 large meatballs. Bake for 20 minutes. Brush each meatball with tomato sauce and stick it back in the oven for 10-15 more minutes or until the tomato sauce has turned a deep red. Serve on pasta with fresh parsley and grated parmesan.

Homebrew Ha-Ha in Edible Memphis

When I picked up the new winter 2010 issue of Edible Memphis magazine, I was pleased to find my photo on the cover. The photo goes along with a story I wrote about the trials and tribulations of homebrewing. I learned the secrets of brewing from Dale Skaggs and Mike Lee, and then tried it on my own. How did it go? Pick up the new issue and find out.

Trufflemania

The goal was to create and consume a few simple dishes that would showcase the subtle, elegant flavor of my prized black truffle. I enlisted the help of my good friend Michael Hughes, who is equally enthusiastic about the flavorful fungi.

We discussed and revised the menu over the next few days settling on four courses. Each dish was designed to place the truffle in a different role to see how well the flavor and texture worked with different ingredients. Michael, who is a sommelier by trade, picked two wonderful bottles of wine to go with the meal. Click HERE for specifics on the wine and to read his take on the event.

The first course was a wonderfully bright salad made with sliced heirloom tomatoes, pickled fennel, sunflower sprouts, and truffle oil. I pickled the thinly sliced fennel in equal parts rice vinegar and sugar. I left them in the solution for six hours before serving. The truffle oil was a nice earthy foil for the salad's bright acidity.

Next we dove into a simple miso soup made with white miso paste, small cubes of firm tofu, winter greens, green onions, and shaved truffles. White miso is the mildest miso paste with its slightly sweet, fermented flavor it tastes similar to unfiltered sake.

The warm miso broth caused the truffle to become very aromatic. These flavors went very well together. The addition of the sliced green onions lent a light, grassy note that the dish needed. This is something I would make again.

The third course was, in my opinion, the best of the evening. It was a rich souffle of sautéed cremini and porcini mushrooms, aged comté cheese, and sliced truffles. The dish was Michael's idea, but he had never made a soufflé before. I walked him through the steps as we put it together. I was concerned that the delicate flavor of the truffle would be lost among the other ingredients, but that did not happen. This was the hit of the evening.

We couldn't stop there. I prepared a simple carbonara with homemade pasta, cream, eggs, smoked sea salt, and shaved truffles. It was simple and delicious. I particularly loved the way the truffle tasted with the addition of the smoked salt (a thoughtful gift from my sister-in-law).

It was a truly memorable meal. The Wife, Michael, and I were joined by my old friend Justin, who was in town for the holidays. So, needless to say, at the end of the night we were all truffled-out. However, I feel that I understand the complex flavor of the truffle much better after our little experiment.

Next on the wish list: a white truffle. I'll keep you posted.

Happy New Year!

We want to wish all of you a happy new year. This has been a great year here at The Chubby Vegetarian with roughly 160 recipes created and posted to our site just for you. Next time you're planning dinner for you or your friends, use the search function in the right-hand column to find the perfect vegetarian dish.

Today we had friends and family over to help usher in the new year. As a starter I made pecan and black-eyed pea hummus, then I served cornbread bread pudding topped with black-eyed peas, mixed greens and tofu pork rinds. If I could remember what all went into it, I'd tell you, but honestly, this holiday season has been a blur.

We are looking forward to 2010 in the hope that it will yield many great meals with friends both new and old.

Black Truffle

I scored this beautiful black truffle at the Whole Foods Market yesterday. It is about the size of a half-dollar. My head is on fire with possibilities. I invited my friend Michael over to have a truffle-off. We plan to make several small plates so we can experiment with this rare gem. We have already discussed a duxelle souffle with shaved truffles, a tofu-truffle-miso soup, and a truffled pasta carbonara. The idea is to keep the dishes simple to let the flavor of the truffle shine through. The Wife has already told me that she is not having truffles for dessert. We'll see...

Tofu & Truffle "Pork" Rinds

Two weeks ago I walked out of the Viet Ho market with a huge bag of frozen tofu skins. I had never seen anything like them before, and I had no clue what I was going to do with them. I admit it -- I do love to get challenging ingredients just to see where my imagination will take me. So, the skins sat in my freezer for a few weeks. They were busy mocking me every time I opened it to get some ice or a bit of frozen tomato sauce. Then today it struck me: pork rinds....sort of!

I rarely ever fry anything in my kitchen, but I just knew if I fried up those tofu skins they would puff up like pork rinds -- and believe it or not, I was right. To season them, I used some black truffle salt because everyone knows that truffles are the bacon of the future. Right? You knew that, right?

Ingredients:

Bean curd sheet

Canola oil

Black truffle salt

Pour a 1/4 inch layer of canola oil in a small frying pan and set over medium heat. Tear bean curd sheet into two-inch strips. Fry one at a time, turning once. It will take only a few seconds for the skin to crisp. Drain on paper towels. Sprinkle each with a little truffle salt. Enjoy hot or at room temperature.

Gifts for the Foodie in Your Life

1. Mandolin slicer (mine is a Norpro Deluxe)

2. Silpat

3. Global chef's knife

4. Microplane grater

5. Food processor (Cuisinart 14-cup)

6. Cast-iron grill pan

7. Stainless steel measuring cups

8. Chopper & scraper

9. Bamboo cutting board

10. Pizza stone

I couldn't live without these tools in my own kitchen. Give any or all of these things to the one you love. They'll smile. They'll thank you. (Then you can tell 'em to make you some dinner.)

Muscavado-Poached Satsumas

Lousiana's Plaquemines Parrish satsuma oranges wound their way into town this week and a brown bag full of them serendipitously fell into our laps. What to do, what to do? Well, we figured, why not put them on drop biscuits instead of jam? We still had some dark brown, molasses-flavored muscovado sugar left over from last year's Christmas gifts, and we figured not much is better than a skilletful of warm spiced orange wedges. This could be done with any number of oranges, and it releases the sweetness of them while erasing any lingering tart flavors.

Peel and separate 4 oranges. Put them into a frying pan with a tablespoon of brown sugar, 1/2 cup of water, a few quick zests of lemon, and a pinch of cinnamon. Cook it over medium-high for about 8 minutes or until the water evaporates. Serve warm at breakfast.

Easy Horchata

This isn't the traditional way to make horchata, but it suits me just fine. Don't let the simplicity of this little treat fool you. It's very delicious. Make this to go along with tacos or enchiladas or my poblano tamales. The sweet rice milk is the perfect foil for spicy food.

Makes two servings

2 1/2 cups vanilla rice milk

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon (a little extra for sprinkling)

a squeeze of agave nectar (two squeezes if you like it sweet)

enough ice to fill two tall drinking glasses

Place the milk, cinnamon, and agave into a cocktail shaker and shake vigorously for about 30 seconds. You want it to get a nice little foam on top. Pour mixture over ice and sprinkle the top of each with a little more cinnamon.

In December Drinking Horchata

I just can't resist this catchy little song about my favorite rice-milk drink. Click HERE to check out Vampire Weekend singing about drinking horchata in a balaclava.

Unreal Chicken Pot Pie

Click HERE for the new and improved version of this dish!




I like to call it unreal chicken pot pie because it is u-n-r-e-a-l how good it tastes, and I use fake (unreal) chicken in the recipe. This is one of the few things that The Wife requests on a regular basis. It is simple to make, and she always helps out by making the crust. She says that every good Southern girl should be able to make a pie crust from memory. Here is how she remembers it:

Pot pie crust:

1 1/2 cups flour

1/4 cup canola oil

1 cup ice water

pinch of salt

pinch of sugar

1/2 tsp baking powder

**** Place all ingredients except water in the food processor with the dough blade. Turn it on and add the water one tablespoon at a time until the dough comes together. Wrap in plastic and stick it in the fridge for 20 minutes.****

Roll 1/2 of the crust out and fit into a pie plate. Reserve the other half for the top. Preheat your oven to 375 degrees.

For the pot pie filling dice:

2 medium carrots

2 medium ribs of celery

1 medium onion

1 medium potato

2 cloves of garlic

2 Quorn Naked Chick'n Cutlets

1 handful of fresh parsley

Throw all of that into a large pot with some olive oil, salt, pepper, one chicken-style bullion cube, and one cup of frozen green peas. Allow the mixture to cook on medium-high for about five minutes, and then create a well in the middle by pushing everything up against the sides of the pot. In the well you just created, melt four tablespoons of butter. Sprinkle four tablespoons of flour on top of the melted butter, and whisk the flour and butter together. Allow flour mixture to cook for a few minutes, but keep it moving around the pot so it does not burn. Pour in a cup of milk and stir the whole thing together. Once the mixture has thickened, pour the whole thing into a your pie plate, cover it with the remaining crust and bake for 40 minutes. I like to put and egg wash on the top crust about half way through so the top is a nice, brown color.

Whew! O.K. it looks complicated, but it isn't. Let me know if you have any questions.

Banana-Ricotta Muffins with Walnuts

I love banana bread, but the texture is somehow...off. That first warm slice is good, but after a couple of hours, a weird, tough graininess sets in, and no one really wants to eat it anymore. Muffins in general, are just better-tasting, and also keep longer when put in the fridge and warmed up the next day. Also, the addition of ricotta makes them have a texture that's more like cake. Perfect paired with cold rain and hot white tea.

Banana-Ricotta Muffins with Walnuts

1 1/2 large bananas, mashed

1/3 cup cream or milk

1/2 cup ricotta

1/2 cup canola oil

1/2 tbsp. vanilla

1 3/4 cup flour

1/2 cup raw sugar

1/2 cup light brown sugar

1 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. baking soda

1/4 tsp. salt

Topping:

1/2 cup walnuts

2 tbsp. light brown sugar

pinch of salt

Whisk wet ingredients and dry ingredients separately. Stir together until just mixed. Pour batter into oiled muffin tins; sprinkle each with topping. Bake at 375 degrees for about 30 minutes. Run a knife around the edges

as soon as you take them out -- this makes it easier to pop them out ten minutes later.

Polenta Pancakes w/ Pear + Clementine, & Vanilla Bean Compote

Someone around here loves pancakes; someone else is repelled by them. The dedicated pancake fan is committed to whipping up a stack just about every Sunday, so she is always searching for a new recipe that will tempt TCV to cross to the other side, if only on the weekends: a way-overboard breakfast of starch, butter, and maple syrup. Chocolate chip pancakes recently failed as a lure, but here is the latest try, which was slightly more successful:

Polenta Pancakes (recipe adapted from newyorktimes.com):

½ cup Delta Grind cornmeal

pinch of salt
1 tablespoon raw sugar

1 cup AP flour

1/2 cup wheat flour
1 tsp. baking powder
2 eggs
1¼ cups milk

olive oil for skillet

Whisk cornmeal with 1 1/2 cups of water and a pinch of salt. Bring to a boil, whisk, lower heat, and whisk for a few more minutes until it is thickened. Set aside. Whisk dry ingredients and wet ingredients separately, then stir together until just combines. Brush skillet or double-burner pan with olive oil. Set to medium heat and pour on batter for pancakes. When they bubble, flip them.

Pear, Clementine, and Vanilla Bean Compote:

2 yellow pears

3 clementines

1 tbsp. vanilla sugar or raw sugar

half a vanilla bean

Peel ripe yellow pears and dice them. Squeeze the juice and pulp of 3 clementines over them. Add sugar. Slice open and scrape out half of a vanilla bean into the mix, and then throw it in and stir. Heat for one to two minutes. Pour over polenta pancakes along with a pat of butter and a drizzle of maple syrup.

(Oh, yeah -- we recently took advantage of a really good deal on vanilla beans on amazon.com -- just $15 for an entire bag!)

Vegetarian Chili Two Ways

We had a bunch of friends over on Sunday night for chili and corn muffins. I couldn't decide whether I should make my famous chipotle-chocolate chili or to try something new and make my own version of a white chili spiced with cumin. I finally decided...I would make both. I was a one-man chili cook-off on a mission to make both versions spicy and delicious. The contrasts were interesting. The chipotle chili was dark and smoky with just a hint of chocolate while the white chili was fresh and bright because of the addition of fresh hot peppers and tomatillos.

I took an informal poll at the end of the night, and there was no clear winner. Everyone seemed to love both recipes as they both delivered on the chili promise: a hearty, spicy, belly-full of goodness. Some people put them both in the same bowl as I did, and others had a bowl of white followed by a bowl of chipotle and then another bowl of white. I love to see people go back for seconds at my house, so I'm elated to see some going for thirds.

Here are both recipes so you can decide for yourself:

Chipotle + Chocolate Chili:

4 1/2 cups prepared beans ( mix: pinto, black, red kidney)

2 medium onions (diced)

1 tablespoon ancho chili powder

2 "Not-beef" bouillon cubes

1/2 a beer

2 bell peppers (red, green, orange: diced)

1 large can fire-roasted tomatoes

3 chipotle peppers (from a can)

2 dried pasilla peppers (stems removed)

6 cloves garlic

1 box white wave chicken style seitan (drained)

1 small can of diced, fire-roasted tomatoes

1 square of dark chocolate

1 pat of butter

olive oil

salt & pepper

In a large soup pot or dutch oven sauté onions with a few tablespoons of olive oil, ancho chili powder, and bouillon cubes until onions start to brown. Add the bell peppers and deglaze pot with beer. Allow most of the beer to evaporate. Pulse seitan in the food processor until finely chopped (like ground beef), and add it to the pot. Into the food processor place the large can of tomatoes, chipotle, pasilla, and garlic, and blend until almost smooth. Pour mixture over the onions and peppers, add the beans, small can of tomatoes, the chocolate, and the butter. Add enough water to cover. Simmer for at least one hour. The longer it cooks, the better it gets. Add salt and pepper to taste.

White Chili w/ Tomatillos + Mushrooms

2 cups prepared cannellini beans

2 cups prepared flageolet beans

1 large white onion (diced)

2 shallots (diced)

2 tablespoons cumin

2 "Not-chick'n" bouillon cubes

1/2 cup white wine

2 yellow bell peppers (diced)

6-8 tomatillos (peeled and washed)

20 oz white button mushrooms

2 jalapeno peppers (stem removed)

1 serrano pepper (stem removed)

2 tablespoons chickpea flour

olive oil

salt and pepper

Pulse mushrooms in the food processor until finely chopped, toss with a few tablespoons of olive oil, roast in a 350 degree oven for 15 minutes. Set aside. In a large soup pot or dutch oven sauté onion and shallot with olive oil, cumin and bouillon cubes. Once the onion is translucent, add the peppers and deglaze the pan with the white wine. Cook until most of the wine has evaporated. Pulse tomatillos and hot peppers in the food processor until finely chopped. Add mixture to the pot along with the beans and mushrooms. Add enough water to cover and simmer for one hour. Whisk chickpea flour with some of the broth and add it all back to the pot. Cook for another 10 minutes. (This will thicken the chili.) Add salt and pepper to taste.

In addition to the chili, I made a buffet of toppings consisting of white cheddar, aged cotija, cilantro, green onions, sour cream, guacamole, and fresh lime wedges. I also made a huge pot of rice and got out every hot sauce I own (which is a lot of hot sauce). At the last minute, The Wife had me chop apples for a crumble, and she made the crunchy topping for it. It was the perfect dinner party for a cold and drizzly Sunday night.

Cranberry-Apple + Curry-Ginger Chutney

"What were those blood-red rings we used to eat at holiday meals?" I asked my family recently. "And why in the world didn't we make our own cranberry sauce?" The red rings were from cored, unpeeled apples and the cranberry sauce was, of course, canned. I guess our focus was on the always-homemade things like the perennial Christmas cauliflower soup or miniscule, buttery pecan tarts instead of on the lowly cranberry.

But now we know it is so easy to make your own cranberry sauce. There is no valid reason not to! I checked out the back of an interesting jar of chutney at a fancy little market this month, valiantly tried to memorize the ingredients, and then made up this version instead of the cranberry-orange one I usually do. (I didn't know if using organic cranberries would make a difference, so I sprung for them and gave it a shot, and I found out it really was worth it...the usual sharp, over-sour flavor was gone.)

Cranberry-Apple + Curry-Ginger Chutney

2 pints organic cranberries

1 cup of raw sugar

2 big pink lady apples, peeled and diced

one inch of fresh ginger root, microplaned

1 1/2 tsp. sweet yellow curry

1/2 cup tangerine juice

Mix it all up in a saucepan and set heat to medium. Stir occasionally; soon you'll hear the cranberries pop. As soon as that occurs, set heat to simmer. You still want to see individual cranberries and apple pieces, so the whole production should take about an hour, tops. This is great on stuffed acorn squash or tofu cheesecake.