So the family had a turkey dinner tonight. I got Tofurkey. Dad popped it into the oven with some carrots, an onion, and the basting sauce. I had the "giblet gravy" (probably won't be requesting that again... I can make a better version without too much trouble). I could eat the Brussels sprouts, potatoes, and Tofurkey. But the dressing came out of a box. The mix contained, you guessed it, poultry in a couple of different forms. I love dressing (a.k.a. stuffing). Must have!
I ran around the kitchen trying to find a suitable substance. I like the wild rice stuff in the Tofurkey, but we eat bread stuffing at my house. I wanted to have some. Dad didn't have much in the way of bread, and he definitely didn't have any stale bread cubes. What's a girl to do? I asked if he had breadcrumbs. In the cabinet, I found Italian breadcrumbs, Italian panko breadcrumbs, and plain panko. Well, maybe it would work. Yup, it did. It isn't quite the same as "regular" dressing, but in a pinch, it's delightful. Here's how:
Melt 2 T. butter (or oil/margarine if you are vegan) in a small saucepan.
Add 1/2 stalk of minced celery.
Saute until it begins to soften.
Add salt (1/2 t.) and pepper (a few vigorous grindings) and a generous dose of poultry seasoning (1 t.). If you don't have poultry seasoning, use a big pinch of rosemary, a good dose of thyme, and some powdered sage if you have it. Stir well.
Mix in 1 1/2 c. of the plain panko and stir to distribute the butter. Add vegetable stock until it is all moist. You don't want it soggy, though, so add it slowly.
It's edible immediately, but I tossed it into a little oven-proof dish and put it in at 350 for ten minutes. Yum!
Saturday, December 24, 2011
Thursday, December 15, 2011
Vegan Vendredi: Specific Stock
I was chatting with my friends at the wine tasting last night, and they suggested that I make a specific recipe for my stock. So, here it is:
1 yellow onion
1 small leek
4 or more cloves of garlic
1 medium sweet potato
1 medium potato
2 carrots
1 large stalk of celery or 2 medium ones
a handful of sun-dried tomatoes (fresh is fine here, too... you need a handful of cherry tomatoes, one large tomato, or 2 Romas)
olive oil
soy sauce
balsamic vinegar
fresh rosemary
fresh thyme
white wine (optional)
Marmite and/or Maggi or Kitchen Bouquet (optional)
bay leaf
Preheat the oven to 375, then start on your veggies.
1. Cut the onion into quarters through the root end and peel off the papery outer layers of skin. A little bit of the papery stuff is fine and adds color. However, too much can make your stock taste bitter. I've only wound up with bitter skin stock once, but it was bad enough that I never wanted it to happen again. (Note: if you forget about this and wind up with bitter stock, sugar and more vinegar will help a bit.) Put the onion into an oiled Pyrex baking dish. (I use 13x9.)
2. Cut the root end off the leek and discard it. Cut off the bottom (white) part and toss it into the baking dish. Pull apart the green leaves on top and rinse well. Leeks are worse than spinach in terms of hiding sand and dirt. As you pull off and clean the leaves, put them into the baking dish as well.
3. Crush the garlic cloves with the side of your knife. The papery skin should peel off easily. If you can see a little green shoot coming out of the garlic, remove it. Toss that in with the onion.
4. Scrub the potatoes well (or peel them). If you're using the ones from the back of your produce drawer, cut out any sprouts. Cut the potatoes into large chunks. I probably got six chunks out of each potato. Put them into the baking tray.
5. Scrub the carrots well (or peel them). Break each carrot into two or three pieces and toss it in with the other veggies.
6. Wash the celery. Cut off the root end and most of the leaves (a few are fine), break it half, and toss it in. (Celery can easily overwhelm a stock, so don't go too crazy with it. If you're nuts about celery, put extra into your mirepoix.)
7. If you're using fresh tomatoes, pull off any stems and cut the larger tomatoes in half. If you're using dried, just throw them in.
7. Drizzle over 1 T. balsamic vinegar, 1 T. soy sauce, and 2 T. olive oil. Sprinkle on some salt and pepper, then toss well. You want everything to have a little sheen on it. If you need to, you can add some more.
8. Add a few sprigs of fresh thyme and one smallish sprig of fresh rosemary. Toss again.
9. Make sure that everything is nicely coated. Try to keep the leek tops, the dried tomatoes, and the herbs somewhat buried, as they are prone to burning.
10. Put that bad boy in the oven. Clean up the kitchen and make yourself a pot of tea. After about 30 minutes, check on your veggies. Give them a toss, then put them back in the oven. Repeat. You'll probably roast the veggies for a total of 60-90 minutes.
11. Bring a small pot of water to boil (or use your electric kettle).
12. Pour the contents of the baking dish into your stock pot. Deglaze the baking dish with the boiling water and a splash of white wine (if using). Scrape up the bits as best as you can, then pour them in with the veggies. Fill the pot about 3/4 full with fresh water. Bring it to a boil, cover partially, then turn the heat down to medium-low. Go about your business for about 45 minutes.
13. Taste the stock. What does it need? Too strong? Add water. Too sweet? Add some soy sauce. Bitter? Add a pinch of sugar or some maple syrup and a bit more balsamic vinegar. Too watery? Take the lid off and turn the heat up to let it reduce a bit. Just blah? Add about half a teaspoon of Marmite or Maggi.
14. If you have cheesecloth or an old dishcloth, use it to line a colander or strainer. Pour the stock through your filter into your biggest bowl. Go slowly. A lapful of hot stock is no fun. When you're done, press down on the solids with a wooden spoon to extract as much liquid as possible. If you've used cheesecloth or a dishtowel, you can make a bundle and squeeze out even more of the delicious stuff. Just be careful... it's hot!
Your stock is now ready. You can use it immediately in a soup or stew, to cook rice, to make a gravy, or just for a mug of something savory and warm. Otherwise, it will keep for a week in the fridge (longer in the freezer). You can also boil some of it down even more and freeze it in an ice cube tray. This will make super-concentrated little flavor cubes that you can add to a lackluster dish later on down the road. You probably should have a dedicated ice cube tray for this, though... I can't imagine that you'd want even a hint of veggie stock in your lemonade.
1 yellow onion
1 small leek
4 or more cloves of garlic
1 medium sweet potato
1 medium potato
2 carrots
1 large stalk of celery or 2 medium ones
a handful of sun-dried tomatoes (fresh is fine here, too... you need a handful of cherry tomatoes, one large tomato, or 2 Romas)
olive oil
soy sauce
balsamic vinegar
fresh rosemary
fresh thyme
white wine (optional)
Marmite and/or Maggi or Kitchen Bouquet (optional)
bay leaf
Preheat the oven to 375, then start on your veggies.
1. Cut the onion into quarters through the root end and peel off the papery outer layers of skin. A little bit of the papery stuff is fine and adds color. However, too much can make your stock taste bitter. I've only wound up with bitter skin stock once, but it was bad enough that I never wanted it to happen again. (Note: if you forget about this and wind up with bitter stock, sugar and more vinegar will help a bit.) Put the onion into an oiled Pyrex baking dish. (I use 13x9.)
2. Cut the root end off the leek and discard it. Cut off the bottom (white) part and toss it into the baking dish. Pull apart the green leaves on top and rinse well. Leeks are worse than spinach in terms of hiding sand and dirt. As you pull off and clean the leaves, put them into the baking dish as well.
3. Crush the garlic cloves with the side of your knife. The papery skin should peel off easily. If you can see a little green shoot coming out of the garlic, remove it. Toss that in with the onion.
4. Scrub the potatoes well (or peel them). If you're using the ones from the back of your produce drawer, cut out any sprouts. Cut the potatoes into large chunks. I probably got six chunks out of each potato. Put them into the baking tray.
5. Scrub the carrots well (or peel them). Break each carrot into two or three pieces and toss it in with the other veggies.
6. Wash the celery. Cut off the root end and most of the leaves (a few are fine), break it half, and toss it in. (Celery can easily overwhelm a stock, so don't go too crazy with it. If you're nuts about celery, put extra into your mirepoix.)
7. If you're using fresh tomatoes, pull off any stems and cut the larger tomatoes in half. If you're using dried, just throw them in.
7. Drizzle over 1 T. balsamic vinegar, 1 T. soy sauce, and 2 T. olive oil. Sprinkle on some salt and pepper, then toss well. You want everything to have a little sheen on it. If you need to, you can add some more.
8. Add a few sprigs of fresh thyme and one smallish sprig of fresh rosemary. Toss again.
9. Make sure that everything is nicely coated. Try to keep the leek tops, the dried tomatoes, and the herbs somewhat buried, as they are prone to burning.
10. Put that bad boy in the oven. Clean up the kitchen and make yourself a pot of tea. After about 30 minutes, check on your veggies. Give them a toss, then put them back in the oven. Repeat. You'll probably roast the veggies for a total of 60-90 minutes.
11. Bring a small pot of water to boil (or use your electric kettle).
12. Pour the contents of the baking dish into your stock pot. Deglaze the baking dish with the boiling water and a splash of white wine (if using). Scrape up the bits as best as you can, then pour them in with the veggies. Fill the pot about 3/4 full with fresh water. Bring it to a boil, cover partially, then turn the heat down to medium-low. Go about your business for about 45 minutes.
13. Taste the stock. What does it need? Too strong? Add water. Too sweet? Add some soy sauce. Bitter? Add a pinch of sugar or some maple syrup and a bit more balsamic vinegar. Too watery? Take the lid off and turn the heat up to let it reduce a bit. Just blah? Add about half a teaspoon of Marmite or Maggi.
14. If you have cheesecloth or an old dishcloth, use it to line a colander or strainer. Pour the stock through your filter into your biggest bowl. Go slowly. A lapful of hot stock is no fun. When you're done, press down on the solids with a wooden spoon to extract as much liquid as possible. If you've used cheesecloth or a dishtowel, you can make a bundle and squeeze out even more of the delicious stuff. Just be careful... it's hot!
Your stock is now ready. You can use it immediately in a soup or stew, to cook rice, to make a gravy, or just for a mug of something savory and warm. Otherwise, it will keep for a week in the fridge (longer in the freezer). You can also boil some of it down even more and freeze it in an ice cube tray. This will make super-concentrated little flavor cubes that you can add to a lackluster dish later on down the road. You probably should have a dedicated ice cube tray for this, though... I can't imagine that you'd want even a hint of veggie stock in your lemonade.
Monday, December 12, 2011
Meatless Monday: Comforting Soup
So, I realized a few days back that the guy I’ve been seeing is not the one for me. This is unfortunate, because he seems to be rather keen on me. He’s a nice guy, considerate, generous, smart… which makes it extra-sucky that I’m not feeling the chemistry. At first, I decided to give it a try and see if anything developed, but at this point, it seems unlikely that they will. So I need to be the bad guy and put on the breaks. As much as I hate being told that I’m not the one, I still think I ultimately feel worse about needing to tell another person that I’m just not that into him.
Today calls for a comforting dinner. Initially, I was going to make myself a little pot pie or two with the remains of my Fauxfurkey. However, I was dissuaded by a lack of frozen pot pie veggies at the store. (Yes, I’m being lazy.) I decided instead to make my answer to chicken noodle soup. It’s always slightly different, but it’s always good.
Luckily, Trader Joe’s is pretty well-stocked with other things. Here’s what I picked up:
A bag of kale
A container of mirepoix
A box of shitakes
White miso (had to go to Safeway for that)
Earth Balance
How to do it:
Melt 1/8 to ¼ cup of Earth Balance in a big saucepan over medium-high heat. Add a glug or two of olive oil. Dump in the mirepoix and stir.
While it is softening, mince a clove or two of garlic and toss that in. Put in a bay leaf, some tarragon, thyme, and rosemary. (I used dried… if you use fresh, you can add it later on.) Add a splash of whatever white wine you happen to have on hand.
Add some sliced shitakes and the cubed Fauxfurkey (I had about half of mine left, so about a cup of cubes.). If you don’t have Fauxfurkey, you can use a vegan chik’n cutlet. Or leave it out. Whatever.
Add about one and a half or two quarts of water and a big scoop of Better Than Bouillon. (I used the No-Chicken.)
Bring to a simmer. Add half a bag of the kale. (If you decided to skip the faux poultry, you can add a can of drained and rinsed white beans here.) When it gets tender, turn off the heat. Put about ¼ c. of the white miso into a small bowl and add a couple of ladlefuls of the hot broth. Stir until dissolved and pour into the pot. Taste. Season with pepper, soy sauce/Braggs, more herbs, spicy stuff, whatever you like.
Ladle yourself up a big bowlful and eat it, feeling sorry for yourself if necessary. I am reasonably sure that this soup will also cure the common cold if you
Tuesday, December 6, 2011
Soup for a Sickie
I have a dear friend who has been dealing with serious health problems lately and is having trouble eating much of anything. Because I'm such a fan of soup, I decided to make her some broth. She told me that she has been able to manage a simple broth made out of water, Bragg's Liquid Aminos, and nutritional yeast, so I knew those were safe. She's had more trouble with fiber and fat, so I wanted to keep those levels low. I also know that onions and garlic worried her.
I always start my stock by roasting vegetables. You should, too! It deepens the flavor, makes your stock richer, and improves the color drastically. For hers, I tossed five mushrooms, a couple of chopped fingerling potatoes, a cup of fry-cut sweet potatoes, a stalk of celery, and a cup of baby carrots with about 1/8 cup of Bragg's and a teaspoon of olive oil. (I normally use a tablespoon or two of oil for each pound of veggies/scraps.) I put that in the oven at 375.
While that was going, I cleaned up the green part of a leek, a clove of garlic, a few cherry tomatoes, and some onion scraps. I tossed that with a tablespoon of olive oil, a tablespoon of balsamic vinegar, and some thyme and rosemary. Into the oven it went in another dish.
When the first tray was starting to get brown and caramelized, I scraped it into a pot, then deglazed the roasting pan with hot water. I added enough water to cover the veggies, and let them simmer for 20 minutes. I tasted, added some more Bragg's, then drained it through a colander into a bowl. I dumped the veggies back into the stock pot, and added the roasted onions. I deglazed the onion dish, covered the veggies with water, and simmered.
Meanwhile, I strained the non-onion broth through four layers of dish towel into a jar and put the lid on. Because the broth was still so hot, the jar sealed itself. Nice!
I added more Bragg's to the onion broth, then strained it through another four layers of dishcloth. It was very concentrated.
My plan is to drop off my friend's broth tonight. I've labeled it so she knows to dilute the onion broth. I kept the acidic ingredients (tomatoes, vinegar) in there as well. Hopefully the mushroom, carrot, celery, and potato broth is okay for her and helps give her some variety.
If you are making stock for yourself and don't object to onions, then you can roast everything together. If you're not making stock to be eaten on its own, you can also use scraps. Scrub your vegetables before you prepare them, and save the bits that you don't eat in a tightly-covered container. I usually use carrot peelings, bits of garlic and onion (I usually remove the skins, as they can occasionally make the stock bitter), the green part of leek (super good!), mushroom stems, celery strings (not too many, they have a strong flavor), potato skins, and any little end bits that I chop off. I season with soy sauce (use tamari or Bragg's if you don't like wheat), salt, pepper, and fresh thyme, rosemary, and/or bay leaves. It's always different, and it's always good.
I always start my stock by roasting vegetables. You should, too! It deepens the flavor, makes your stock richer, and improves the color drastically. For hers, I tossed five mushrooms, a couple of chopped fingerling potatoes, a cup of fry-cut sweet potatoes, a stalk of celery, and a cup of baby carrots with about 1/8 cup of Bragg's and a teaspoon of olive oil. (I normally use a tablespoon or two of oil for each pound of veggies/scraps.) I put that in the oven at 375.
While that was going, I cleaned up the green part of a leek, a clove of garlic, a few cherry tomatoes, and some onion scraps. I tossed that with a tablespoon of olive oil, a tablespoon of balsamic vinegar, and some thyme and rosemary. Into the oven it went in another dish.
When the first tray was starting to get brown and caramelized, I scraped it into a pot, then deglazed the roasting pan with hot water. I added enough water to cover the veggies, and let them simmer for 20 minutes. I tasted, added some more Bragg's, then drained it through a colander into a bowl. I dumped the veggies back into the stock pot, and added the roasted onions. I deglazed the onion dish, covered the veggies with water, and simmered.
Meanwhile, I strained the non-onion broth through four layers of dish towel into a jar and put the lid on. Because the broth was still so hot, the jar sealed itself. Nice!
I added more Bragg's to the onion broth, then strained it through another four layers of dishcloth. It was very concentrated.
My plan is to drop off my friend's broth tonight. I've labeled it so she knows to dilute the onion broth. I kept the acidic ingredients (tomatoes, vinegar) in there as well. Hopefully the mushroom, carrot, celery, and potato broth is okay for her and helps give her some variety.
If you are making stock for yourself and don't object to onions, then you can roast everything together. If you're not making stock to be eaten on its own, you can also use scraps. Scrub your vegetables before you prepare them, and save the bits that you don't eat in a tightly-covered container. I usually use carrot peelings, bits of garlic and onion (I usually remove the skins, as they can occasionally make the stock bitter), the green part of leek (super good!), mushroom stems, celery strings (not too many, they have a strong flavor), potato skins, and any little end bits that I chop off. I season with soy sauce (use tamari or Bragg's if you don't like wheat), salt, pepper, and fresh thyme, rosemary, and/or bay leaves. It's always different, and it's always good.
Sunday, December 4, 2011
Thanksgiving Special: Dispatching of Leftovers
One of the joys of Thanksgivings is leftovers, or, as Crescent Dragonwagon calls them, deja food. (Cute, isn't it?) While most of our Thanksgiving dinner went home in doggie bags or was eaten over the rest of the weekend, some stubborn bits hung on. Last night, we had more sweet potatoes. We added more butter and salt and mashed the heck out of the glazed ones. Today, we still had some left. What to do?
My solution for the situation is usually soup, and today was no exception.
Sorta-curried Sweet Potato Soup
1 c. onions, cut into chunks
1 lump of ginger, about the size of a walnut, peeled and cut into chunks
3/4 c. baby carrots
1 clove of garlic, peeled
1 T. canola oil
1 c. leftover mashed yams
salt
cayenne pepper
cinnamon
cumin
balsamic vinegar
1 t. Major Grey's chutney
Heat the canola oil in a large pot. Add the onions, garlic, ginger, and carrots. Stir until the onions start to get soft. Add 3-4 c. boiling water. Allow to simmer over medium heat until everything is squishy and the liquid has reduced to about 1 c.
Puree in a blender, adding more liquid as necessary. Add the leftover mashed yams and puree. Again, add more liquid if you need it.
Pour back into the soup pot over low heat. Give it a taste. Season with salt, cayenne, a bit of cinnamon, the cumin, and a few drops of vinegar. (I probably used 1/4 t. salt, 1/8 t. cayenne, a pinch of cinnamon, 1/8 t. cumin, and 1/4 t. balsamic vinegar. How much you add will depend on your taste and how you like to do your yams. Note: this soup probably won't be delicious if you put marshmallows in it.) Add the chutney and stir to blend completely.
My solution for the situation is usually soup, and today was no exception.
Sorta-curried Sweet Potato Soup
1 c. onions, cut into chunks
1 lump of ginger, about the size of a walnut, peeled and cut into chunks
3/4 c. baby carrots
1 clove of garlic, peeled
1 T. canola oil
1 c. leftover mashed yams
salt
cayenne pepper
cinnamon
cumin
balsamic vinegar
1 t. Major Grey's chutney
Heat the canola oil in a large pot. Add the onions, garlic, ginger, and carrots. Stir until the onions start to get soft. Add 3-4 c. boiling water. Allow to simmer over medium heat until everything is squishy and the liquid has reduced to about 1 c.
Puree in a blender, adding more liquid as necessary. Add the leftover mashed yams and puree. Again, add more liquid if you need it.
Pour back into the soup pot over low heat. Give it a taste. Season with salt, cayenne, a bit of cinnamon, the cumin, and a few drops of vinegar. (I probably used 1/4 t. salt, 1/8 t. cayenne, a pinch of cinnamon, 1/8 t. cumin, and 1/4 t. balsamic vinegar. How much you add will depend on your taste and how you like to do your yams. Note: this soup probably won't be delicious if you put marshmallows in it.) Add the chutney and stir to blend completely.
Friday, November 25, 2011
Thanksgiving Special: Fauxfurkey (Poultry-Inspired Seitan Roast with Homemade Yuba Skin)
I must be cracking up. I decided for some bizarre reason to make my own seitan roast this year. I intended to buy yuba wrappers/tofu skins, but Whole Foods did not seem to have any. Instead of substituting something else or doing without, I decided to make them myself. Yes. I'm that nuts.
For those of you who don't know, yuba is the skin that forms on top of soy milk when you heat it. It's served in a number of ways. People will wrap foods in it. They'll serve it as noodles in soup. I've had it sauced, with vegetables.
To me, it seemed like the perfect "skin" for my "turkey."
So, how in the hell do you do it? I checked the internet. The directions I found suggested that you heat soy milk to just below the boiling point, then remove it from the heat, wait until the skin forms, pick it off with chopsticks, then repeat. I tried that, and had some success. However, the skins were pretty small and delicate. They sat in sad little lumps on the plate, drying into slightly crunchy, sticky little wads. Not so appetizing, but I persevered.
I got wrapped up in another task, and when I looked over, my soy milk was at a full rolling boil, covered with a skin.
Crap! I thought. I ruined it!
Not so. As it turns out, letting the milk come to a boil and heat longer made the skin thicker. After loosening the edges from the pan, it lifted easily, and stayed in one piece.
At this point, I gently pulled it from the chopsticks and rinsed it in cold water, carefully rubbing out the folds. Because I needed to make a quantity of them (and I'd learned that they dry out), I layered them between damp paper towels until I'd made enough.
I probably made about ten like this before I was done. I covered it all with a dishcloth and put it in the fridge.
Time to make the seitan. I'd had the most success following the recipe for Seitan O'Greatness, so I decided to borrow the method and liquid-to-gluten proportion.
1 1/2 c. (minus 1 T.) vital wheat gluten
1 T. besan (if you don't have this, just use all gluten... I'm sure it will work fine)
1/4 c. nutritional yeast
1/2 t. salt
1/4 t. pepper
1/2 T- 1 T. minced fresh herbs (I used thyme, rosemary, and sage)
Mix this together into a bowl.
Add:
1 1/4 c. stock (I used Better Than Bouillon No Chicken)
1 clove of garlic, pureed in 1/4 c. water
2 T. oil
1 T. soy sauce
Mix it together, then knead a few times. Set aside while you prepare the foil and skin.
Lay out a sheet of aluminum foil. Brush with olive oil and sprinkle with salt, pepper, minced fresh herbs, and a dash of paprika or cayenne. Lay the yuba wrappers out on top, overlapping slightly.
Put the seitan dough on top, then roll it as tightly as you can. Put it into the oven for one hour at 325. After one hour, pull back the foil and drizzle with more oil (and some white wine, if you like it) so the top gets crispy. Continue to cook for half an hour. Remove from the oven and let rest for a few minutes before slicing thinly.
Note: don't cook this on the bottom oven rack, or the bottom will get charred.
Bonus: Gravy (can be vegan or lacto-vegetarian)
Heat some flavorful veggie stock in a saucepan. You probably will need about 2 c. or so. Keep it warm while you work on the rest.
Mince one clove of garlic and about half of a small shallot. You should have a total of about 1/8 a cup of veggies. Then, mince half a small onion. You should now have about 1/4-1/3 c. of minced veggies.
Melt 1 1/2 T. butter or Earth Balance and 1 1/2 T. neutral oil over medium-low heat in a small saucepan. Add the minced veggies and cook until they get soft. Add 3 T. flour and stir until smooth. Add the stock and stir until incorporated. You might want to use a whisk. Let bubble and thicken. If it becomes too thick, add more stock (or some white wine).
Season with thyme, sage, rosemary, salt, pepper, Marmite, Maggi, Kitchen Bouquet... whatever tastes good!
For those of you who don't know, yuba is the skin that forms on top of soy milk when you heat it. It's served in a number of ways. People will wrap foods in it. They'll serve it as noodles in soup. I've had it sauced, with vegetables.
To me, it seemed like the perfect "skin" for my "turkey."
I got wrapped up in another task, and when I looked over, my soy milk was at a full rolling boil, covered with a skin.
Not so. As it turns out, letting the milk come to a boil and heat longer made the skin thicker. After loosening the edges from the pan, it lifted easily, and stayed in one piece.
The yuba does stick to itself (and look like a condom, according to pretty much everyone who sees it) at this point.
Time to make the seitan. I'd had the most success following the recipe for Seitan O'Greatness, so I decided to borrow the method and liquid-to-gluten proportion.
1 1/2 c. (minus 1 T.) vital wheat gluten
1 T. besan (if you don't have this, just use all gluten... I'm sure it will work fine)
1/4 c. nutritional yeast
1/2 t. salt
1/4 t. pepper
1/2 T- 1 T. minced fresh herbs (I used thyme, rosemary, and sage)
Mix this together into a bowl.
Add:
1 1/4 c. stock (I used Better Than Bouillon No Chicken)
1 clove of garlic, pureed in 1/4 c. water
2 T. oil
1 T. soy sauce
Mix it together, then knead a few times. Set aside while you prepare the foil and skin.
Lay out a sheet of aluminum foil. Brush with olive oil and sprinkle with salt, pepper, minced fresh herbs, and a dash of paprika or cayenne. Lay the yuba wrappers out on top, overlapping slightly.
Note: don't cook this on the bottom oven rack, or the bottom will get charred.
Bonus: Gravy (can be vegan or lacto-vegetarian)
Heat some flavorful veggie stock in a saucepan. You probably will need about 2 c. or so. Keep it warm while you work on the rest.
Mince one clove of garlic and about half of a small shallot. You should have a total of about 1/8 a cup of veggies. Then, mince half a small onion. You should now have about 1/4-1/3 c. of minced veggies.
Melt 1 1/2 T. butter or Earth Balance and 1 1/2 T. neutral oil over medium-low heat in a small saucepan. Add the minced veggies and cook until they get soft. Add 3 T. flour and stir until smooth. Add the stock and stir until incorporated. You might want to use a whisk. Let bubble and thicken. If it becomes too thick, add more stock (or some white wine).
Season with thyme, sage, rosemary, salt, pepper, Marmite, Maggi, Kitchen Bouquet... whatever tastes good!
Thanksgiving Special: Roasted Brussels Sprouts
Ah, Brussels sprouts. So many people hate them, so few love them. If you've only ever had the boiled variety, I can't really blame you if you are in the "hate it" camp. They are quite cruciferous.
You'll need:
2 lbs. of Brussels sprouts, trimmed and picked over (cut any large ones in half)
2 T. white wine
2 T. olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
a pinch of sugar
Put the wine and olive oil into a large bowl along with the salt, pepper, and sugar. Mix with a fork until emulsified. Put in the Brussels sprouts and toss gently to coat. Pour into a large baking tray and put it into the oven with whatever else is cooking. Give the pan a shake every once in awhile. Ours were the size of marbles, so took about 25 minutes at 325.
Thanksgiving Special: Butter-Glazed Carrots
Butter-Glazed Carrots:
2-2 ½ pounds of carrots
1 stick of butter (Earth Balance if you're vegan)
salt and pepper
Peel the carrots and slice on the bias. Parboil until they are mostly cooked, but still have some bite to them. (Depending on the size of your carrots, this will take 4-7 minutes.)
Set aside. You can refrigerate them at this point if you’d like to. Just dunk them in cold water so they stop cooking. When it’s time to glaze them, melt the butter in a large skillet. Add salt and pepper, then the carrots. Stir gently until the carrots are coated and heated through. You can sprinkle with herbs if you’d like to. Parsley or chives would be nice.
Thanksgiving Special: Brown Sugar-Glazed Yams
Brown Sugar-Glazed “Yams”
What we call yams are actually a variety of sweet potato. A real yam is a starchy root that grows in South America. They are not easy to find up here. For the sake of simplicity, though, I’ll be referring to the tuber as a yam.
4 large garnet yams
1/3 c. brown sugar
¼ stick butter
3 T. water
salt to taste
Peel the yams and cut into chunks. Cook most of the way in boiling water. If you want to, you can blanch them in cold water and refrigerate them at this point.
Melt the butter over medium heat in a large skillet or pot with the sugar, salt, and water. When the mixture is smooth and bubbling, add the yams. Stir to coat and heat through. Dot the top with more butter if you like it. You can also sprinkle on some brown sugar.
Thanksgiving Special: Dressing/Stuffing
Dressing:
1 bag of bread cubes, 12 oz. (if you make your own, do it at least a day or two in advance so they get sufficiently dry)
1 c. chopped onion
1 c. chopped celery
minced fresh herbs (sage and rosemary, a bit of thyme)
salt and pepper
1 stick butter (use Earth Balance if you are vegan)
1 ½ to 2 c. stock
Melt the butter in a large stockpot over medium-low heat. Add the onions and celery and sauté slowly until tender. Add the herbs and salt and pepper. Stir. Add the bread cubes and toss until they are coated. Slowly add the stock, about half a cup at a time, until the dressing is moistened. Pack it into a casserole dish. It will need to bake at 350 for 30 minutes. If you made it ahead of time and refrigerate it, you’ll need to cook it longer or let it come to room temperature before you put it in the oven.
Sunday, November 20, 2011
Countdown to Thanksgiving: Cranberry Sauce
Ah, cranberries. For years, we ate the canned kind. The scratch of the can opener, followed by the shlorp of the red cylinder exiting the can, were very much parts of the Thanksgiving experience. I loved the sweet-tart-bitter flavor of the condiment.
My Gran would make her own. I was fascinated by this as a child. I had always figured that there was some sort of magical alchemy that took place in the cranberry sauce factory that gave the berries their look and texture. Not so. What's more, unlike most homemade dishes, these turned out prettier than the "real" version!
One year, I decided to try making them myself. There was a recipe on the bag. (Sort and rinse cranberries. Boil one cup each white sugar and water. When sugar dissolves, add cranberries. Turn down heat and allow to simmer 5-10 minutes, or until most of the berries have popped. Put berries through a Foley mill. Refrigerate. That is all.)
Being who I am, I decided that I was going to augment the berries and make them my own. I made one batch using ginger, honey, and apricot nectar. It was tasty and the most brilliant color, but a bit intense. The real winner was my spiced whole berry sauce. It's the simplest thing you can imagine, and tastier than the plain version.
1 c. apple cider
1 c. lightly packed dark brown sugar
1 bag cranberries (rinse and sort)
1 stick cinnamon
Bring the cider and sugar to a boil with the cinnamon stick.
When the sugar is dissolved, turn down the heat and add the berries.
Simmer 5-10 minutes, or until most of the berries have popped.
Fish out the cinnamon stick. Put the berries into a bowl, cover, and refrigerate. If you prefer a smooth sauce, you can put this through the food mill, or press it through a strainer. Do this while it is still warm, or it won't work.
Bonus recipe:
Christmas in Cape Cod
Make the spiced cranberries, but do not put into a bowl yet. Use a ladle to scoop up as much liquid as possible. Pour into a glass over ice and add some vodka (how much depends on how much juice you have, and which relative has cornered you in the kitchen). I like to top it off with a splash of club soda as well.
My Gran would make her own. I was fascinated by this as a child. I had always figured that there was some sort of magical alchemy that took place in the cranberry sauce factory that gave the berries their look and texture. Not so. What's more, unlike most homemade dishes, these turned out prettier than the "real" version!
One year, I decided to try making them myself. There was a recipe on the bag. (Sort and rinse cranberries. Boil one cup each white sugar and water. When sugar dissolves, add cranberries. Turn down heat and allow to simmer 5-10 minutes, or until most of the berries have popped. Put berries through a Foley mill. Refrigerate. That is all.)
Being who I am, I decided that I was going to augment the berries and make them my own. I made one batch using ginger, honey, and apricot nectar. It was tasty and the most brilliant color, but a bit intense. The real winner was my spiced whole berry sauce. It's the simplest thing you can imagine, and tastier than the plain version.
1 c. apple cider
1 c. lightly packed dark brown sugar
1 bag cranberries (rinse and sort)
1 stick cinnamon
Bring the cider and sugar to a boil with the cinnamon stick.
Simmer 5-10 minutes, or until most of the berries have popped.
Fish out the cinnamon stick. Put the berries into a bowl, cover, and refrigerate. If you prefer a smooth sauce, you can put this through the food mill, or press it through a strainer. Do this while it is still warm, or it won't work.
Bonus recipe:
Christmas in Cape Cod
Make the spiced cranberries, but do not put into a bowl yet. Use a ladle to scoop up as much liquid as possible. Pour into a glass over ice and add some vodka (how much depends on how much juice you have, and which relative has cornered you in the kitchen). I like to top it off with a splash of club soda as well.
Wednesday, November 16, 2011
Preparing for Thanksgiving
As my family's resident cook, I'll be preparing the Thanksgiving meal. We'll have around ten people this year. So what are we eating?
Mashed potatoes
Butter-glazed carrots
Green beans with shallots and almonds
Roasted Brussels sprouts
Brown sugar-glazed garnet sweet potatoes
Herbed bread stuffing
Cranberry sauce (spiced whole berry and plain jellied)
Pumpkin pie
Apple pie
Rolls (alas, these will not be homemade)
Classic relish tray
The family is eating turkey and turkey gravy. I've decided to try my hand at Fauxfurkey. My plan includes crispy yuba skin. I should probably practice this at least once before Thanksgiving rolls around. Are you all familiar with the Seitan O'Greatness recipe? It's amazing. I will be using a similar method (baking it, wrapped) in order to get an awesome texture. Wish me luck, folks, I'll probably need it! I will, of course, be making plenty of amazing vegetarian gravy for the veg folk at the table.
Mashed potatoes
Butter-glazed carrots
Green beans with shallots and almonds
Roasted Brussels sprouts
Brown sugar-glazed garnet sweet potatoes
Herbed bread stuffing
Cranberry sauce (spiced whole berry and plain jellied)
Pumpkin pie
Apple pie
Rolls (alas, these will not be homemade)
Classic relish tray
The family is eating turkey and turkey gravy. I've decided to try my hand at Fauxfurkey. My plan includes crispy yuba skin. I should probably practice this at least once before Thanksgiving rolls around. Are you all familiar with the Seitan O'Greatness recipe? It's amazing. I will be using a similar method (baking it, wrapped) in order to get an awesome texture. Wish me luck, folks, I'll probably need it! I will, of course, be making plenty of amazing vegetarian gravy for the veg folk at the table.
Sunday, November 13, 2011
Sunday Suppers: Sexy Soup
Part of why I cook is that I love to nourish others. Good food, prepared with love, is good for the spirit as well as the body. While I may grumble about the wet weather and darker days, there are a few things I love about winter and fall. One is, of course, soup. I love soup and always have.
Fall and winter invite soup. It’s cold, dark, and wet outside. Spending the evening in a warm kitchen, stirring a bubbling pot is time well spent. Soup warms and comforts long before you take the first bite. The smells of your aromatics fill the kitchen. Your fingers warm as you chop the ingredients. You “taste” the wine on a regular basis to make sure it’s okay to put into the soup. Maybe that’s just me.
Summer soups are also delicious, but just aren’t the same. While all of the chopping does have the same sort of meditative quality, there’s something magical that happens when you make a hot soup.
Now why did I say sexy soup? There’s a secret… I don’t want to be single forever. I’ve heard that the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach (and at least a few of my mom’s friends have wondered aloud why I’m not married when they try my cooking). Sexy soup is my attempt to bring the comforting, warming quality of soup together with something a little fun and flirty, because who doesn’t want a little something sexy in their life?
The first recipe is probably not great as a seduction recipe. While onions are aphrodisiacs, they are not necessarily the sexiest-smelling ingredient out there.
Rich Onion Soup with Cheese Toasts
1 leek, trimmed, cleaned, and sliced (white and light green part only)
3 yellow onions, peeled and sliced
4 cloves of garlic, peeled and minced
½ a stick of butter (yes, really)
1-2 quarts of water (depending on the size of your onions)
Better Than Bouillon No Beef
Sherry
Fresh thyme
Pepper
Toss the butter into a large soup pot and heat over medium. You can start with less if you worry about that sort of thing. While it melts, chop your veggies. Toss them in and stir to coat with butter. Let it sit over medium heat until everything is soft. I probably left it for 20 minutes. Stir it every so often. If it starts to stick, you can add a bit more butter and/or some oil. Once everything is meltingly soft, add 1 quart of boiling water. I just fill my electric kettle and pour that on. Stir well. Add 2 T. of Better Than Bouillon and stir until it dissolves. Add about 1 T. fresh thyme leaves and a generous grating of black pepper. Add sherry to taste (I used about 1/8 c.). Let simmer for five minutes, then taste. If it’s too salty, add some more water. If it seems watery, add more Better Than Bouillon. Keep warm while you make the toasts.
Turn on the broiler. Put a few slices of bread under it. Keep an eye on them! Once the tops get toasty, remove from the oven. Wait until cooled slightly. Butter the untoasted sides, add a thin layer of Marmite (Vegemite is usable, too) and a slice of cheese. I used white cheddar, but you can use anything. Put back under the broiler. Watch carefully. A fire in your oven is not sexy. Neither is blackened toasts. Once the cheese is melted and bubbly (even a bit brown), remove from the oven. Dish up the soup and serve with a toast on the side. You can dip the toast in the soup, or put it in your bowl and let everything soak up.
Velvety Roasted Butternut Squash Soup
This soup is a bit more on the sexy side. It’s got a vibrant color, a more subtle flavor (no halitosis!), and is loaded with healthy things. It’s warm and comforting, but has a touch of sophistication. It’s classy enough to take home to Mom and Dad, too.
Do this ahead of time:
1 butternut squash
5 cloves of garlic, peeled but whole
kosher salt
pepper
olive oil
fresh thyme (1.5 teaspoons of the leaves)
Pour yourself a glass of wine. Trust me, you’ll want it. Use a big knife to cut the top off of the butternut squash. Then cut it lengthwise into quarters. Scoop out the seeds. Now, cut it crosswise into chunks. If the squash is especially large or malformed, you might want to make the pieces smaller. Start drinking your wine. Using a small, sharp knife, peel the squash. (You can do it later, but unless you are doing this step way in advance, you risk burning your fingers.)
Put the squash pieces into a glass baking dish as you finish peeling them. Drizzle with olive oil (I used 2 T.), sprinkle with salt, grate on some pepper, toss in the thyme, and then put in the garlic. Toss everything together, coating with your fingers. Put it into the oven. Leave it there, shaking the pan once in awhile, until everything is easily pierced with a knife.
Now, pop that into a large saucepan with one cup of white wine (I used chardonnay) and three cups of boiling water. Let it simmer until everything gets mushy, then pop it in the blender until smooth. You might need to add more water or wine to get the texture right. Taste and add salt and agave nectar as needed. I probably used ½ t. salt and 1-2 t. agave nectar. I also tossed in a shake of cayenne and a sprinkle of ground ginger. It’s good!
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