Veganomicon

I have no plans to give up eating meat, let alone become a vegan, but if I did the new cookbook we picked up in Boston, Veganomicon: The Ultimate Vegan Cookbook, would be the guide to do it with. I had read about it elsewhere, but when I picked it up in the bookstore so many recipes stood out that I broke the three book rule Bob and I had made for ourselves. (We were in Cambridge, our apartment was in the North End, and we still planned on being tourists around town, so we imposed a rule on ourselves in order to avoid lugging a ton of books around. Of course, we both bought more books than were allotted, then I had a brilliant idea to just take the T all the way to the JFK Library and Museum since it was on the same line forgetting that you also need to take a bus to the museum. Then, the museum didn't have a coat/bag check, so we ended up lugging a ton of books around, rules and brilliant ideas notwithstanding).

So tempting were the recipes that most of the drive home was spent with me quietly flipping through the book, then shouting out, "Acorn Squash and Black Bean Empanadas!," "French Lentil Soup with Tarragon and Thyme!," "Eggplant Potato Moussaka with Pine Nut Cream!," "Pumpkin Baked Ziti with Caramalized Onions!," and on and on. We even had to stop at the grocery store on our way into town for ingredients for dinner that night.

So far, in the week and a half that we've had the book, we've made Grilled Yuca Tortillas, Curried Carrot Dip, Sun-Dried Tomato Dip, Portobello Salad with Spicy Mustard Dressing, Quinoa Salad with Black Beans and Mango, Pineapple Cashew Quinoa Stir-Fry, Potato and Kale Enchiladas, and Curried Udon Noodle Stir-Fry. All the dishes have been healthy and fresh and tasty and a few will make it into the regular rotation (in particular both stir-fries and the enchiladas). And while I'm not quite ready to join the vegan revolution, I might attend a rally or two in support of the cause.

Curried Carrot Dip
from Veganomicon
This dip is great simply spread on crackers or pita, but we ate most of it in sandwiches. Spread some on a tortilla, throw in some veggies and avacado, roll it up and enjoy.

1 pound carrots, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch chunks
1/4 cup roasted sunflower seeds (salted or unsalted are ok, just adjust the amount of salt later)
2 tsp grapeseed or other vegetable oil
1/2 tsp minced garlic
1 tsp curry powder
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/4 tsp salt
1 tbl fresh lemon juice

1. Bring a small pot of water to a boil. Boil the carrots for 7-10 minutes until soft. Drain and let cool just until they are no longer steaming.
2. Place the sunflower seeds in a blender or food processor and process into crumbs.
3. Add all remaining ingredients and blend until smooth, scraping down the sides of the processor as you go.
4. Taste for salt and adjust the spices and lemon. Transfer to a covered container and refrigerate until ready to use (at least 30 minutes).

A Tale of Two Biscottis (or Aw, Nuts)

A small group of friends and I get together every week or so to knit. Sometimes we go to a coffee shop and sometimes we meet at one another's houses. Last week I offered to host and the host usually bakes some kind of cookie or cake and we drink tea, and eat dessert and knit. All this sounds very sweet and dainty, which it isn't at all, ever, but especially not these days since we just finished up our contribution to this project.
Back to the food. The baking is a little more challenging of late as one friend has a small list of foods she can't eat while she's breastfeeding -- dairy, nuts and soy. Since she can have eggs it's really not so hard, sort of like vegan baking but without having to use the weird powdered egg substitute. Plus, it's an interesting challenge, makes me think even more that I already do about what I'm making, and reminds me how lucky I am to never have been allergic to anything (knock on wood).
As I started to think of what to bake, one of the first (usually) dairy-free sweets that came to mind was biscotti. I browsed and browsed Epicurious for a recipe, and clicking link after link, every time thinking I'd just found the perfect thing, only to be dissuaded by the negative comments (future blog post idea: "Comments: Culinary god-send or Curse"). I finally stumbled upon a Ginger Almond Biscotti that sounded perfect and set about whipping them up. Just as I was spreading them out on the pan and patting myself on the back for coming up with something so delicious and dairy-free, I remembered that almonds are nuts, and Megan can't have nuts. Never fear, though, I was a good hostess and made a second batch of biscotti. This time with my trusty and well-tested chocolate hazelnut recipe, subbing dried cherries for the nuts.


Chocolate Cherry Biscotti*
Both the biscotti were delicious, and for the two of us that could eat both, one of us voted for the ginger and the other for the chocolate. Either way, the recipes are incredibly simple, even with the fact that the cookies need to be baked twice. Plus, biscotti will keep for up to two weeks in an airtight container, so next time I might just make both on purpose.

Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees
Oil a long-ish baking sheet

2 cups flour
1/4 cup cocoa
1 cup sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp cinnamon
2 eggs
2 egg whites
1 tbl coffee (I just use whatever's left in my coffee pot from the morning, but I think the original recipe called for mixing 1 tbl hot water with 2 tsp instant coffee. It might give you a stronger coffee flavor if you like that.)
1/3 cup dried cherries (or chopped hazelnuts)

1. In a large bowl, combine flour, cocoa, sugar, baking powder and cinnamon.
2. Beat eggs and add to the dry mixture.
3. Stir in coffee and cherries, mixing until dough is wet and smooth. This takes a little work to do by hand, but a wooden spoon works nicely. It will be very thick, but it will all come together.
4. On the baking sheet, shape the dough into two long logs, about 8 inches long and 3 inches wide. Bake the logs for 25-30 minutes.
5. Remove from the oven and cool for 15 minutes. Turn the oven down to 325. Cut the log on a diagonal and return slices to the baking sheet, laying them on their side. Bake for an additional 20 minutes. Remove from the oven, cool on a rack and enjoy dipped in coffee or tea.

*I have no idea where this recipe is from. It's been on a small scrap of paper with my cookbooks for the last 8 years or so. How it's managed not to get lost from Boston to Chicago to Seattle to Syracuse is a mystery. Luckily, it now lives on Google's servers.

Spring Has Sprung...

... well, at least it has in our kitchen. There is a slight chance of snow this coming weekend, but last Sunday was the perfect spring day. To commemorate the season, we got up early and went looking for the elusive peregrine falcon at a bird refuge about 30 minutes from Syracuse. We saw a few osprey, no falcon, but heading out of town for a Sunday drive along the two lane highways outside Syracuse was a great way to start spring. To continue the celebration, we made the Spring Vegetable Risotto and Poached Salmon from this month's Cook's Illustrated for dinner after we returned home.

Spring Vegetable Risotto

I haven't made risotto that often, and still haven't really since Bob took over after step 3, but I've found the Cook's Illustrated techniques to be spot on. And the leftovers are delicious as well -- not quite as silky and creamy as the night of, but a satisfying and warming lunch. Also, while the Gremolata definitely adds a fresh note to the dish, I'd say it's optional. Even though I had saved it I found I wasn't remembering to put it on the leftovers.


Gremolata
2 tbl. minced, fresh parsley, stems reserved
2 tbl. minced, fresh mint leaves, stems reserved
1/2 tsp. grated lemon zest

Risotto
1 lb. asparagus, tough ends snapped off and reserved, cut into 1/2-inch thick pieces
2 medium leeks, 2 cups chopped dark greens reserved, white and light green parts halved lengthwise and sliced thin
4 cups chicken broth
3 cups water
5 tbl. unsalted butter
Salt and pepper
1/2 cup frozen peas
2 medium garlic cloves, minced
1 1/2 cups arborio rice
1 cup dry white wine
3/4 cup grated Parmesan
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice

1. Combine all the gremolata ingredients and set aside.
2. Place reserved leek greens, asparagus ends, parsley and mint stems, broth and water in a sauce pan and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat to medium low, partially cover and simmer 20 minutes. Strain broth through a fine-mesh strainer into a bowl, then return to sauce pan, cover and set over low heat to keep warm.
3. Heat 1 tbl butter in a large Dutch oven over medium heat. Add asparagus spears and salt and pepper to taste. Cook, stirring occasionally until asparagus is crisp-tender, about 5 minutes. Add peas and continue to cook 1 minute. Transfer vegetables to a place and reserve for later.
4. Melt 3 tbl butter in the same Dutch oven over medium heat. Add leeks, garlic, 1/2 tsp salt and 1/2 tsp pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until leeks are soft, about 5 minutes. Add rice and cook, stirring frequently, until grains are translucent around the edge, about 3 minutes. Add wine and cook, stirring frequently until fully absorbed, 2-3 minutes.
5. When wine is fully absorbed, add 3 cups hot broth to the rice. Simmer, stirring every 3 to 4 minutes, until liquid is absorbed and the bottom of the pan is almost dry, about 12 minutes.
6. Stir in a 1/2 cup hot broth and cook, stirring constantly, until absorbed, about 3 minutes; repeat with additional broth about 3 or 4 times until rice is al dente. Off heat, stir in remaining tbl. butter, Parmesan and lemon juice. Gently fold in reserved asparagus and peas. Serve immediately, sprinkling each serving with gremolata.

Last Days of Winter (I hope)...

This has been an especially disappointing winter in Syracuse, weather-wise. When I moved here a year ago, I was actually fairly excited to be moving back to a place where an inch of snow didn't cause mass panic and a three-hour commute home. Living in Seattle I missed waking up to fresh snow on a regular basis, and as much as people tried to convince me that I could drive to the mountains whenever I needed a fix, winter just wasn't the same. (Note to Seattlites: Driving to play in the snow for 3 hours is not the same as watching it fall out your window.)
So, moving to Syracuse, I was ready for some snow. I mean, this is the town with the largest snow plow in the world. We average 115 inches a year and in the 92-93 season there were 192 inches of snow. But, it's been a year of freezing rain and a cycle of snow/melt, snow/melt, so nothing stays on the ground and instead of cross-country skiing and snowshoeing I've been doing a lot of running outdoors.
To top it all off, we've had some really bitter cold days. And a cold day with no snow, I mean, what's the point? So last Friday, the first day of spring, was still soup weather. Since my new husband caught some sort of plague in Montana, and I'd been eating in restaurants for nearly a week because of our trip to Boise, we decided on a simple Thai-Style Hot and Sour Soup. With just a little kick to it, it was entirely satisfying, even if the Syracuse weather has been less so.
Hot and Sour Soup (adapted from this recipe)
This is how I made it, but as you can see from the original recipe, you can use your imagination and throw in whatever meat/seafood/veggie combo sounds good to you.

4 cups chicken or vegetable broth (I use the Imagine brand No-Chicken Broth)
2 cups water
4 cloves of garlic, minced
1 thumb-sized piece of ginger, finely grated or chopped
2 tbl. soy sauce
1 tbl. fish sauce
1 tbl. rice wine vinegar
1 tbl. brown sugar
1 tbl. lime juice
1 tsp. chili sauce
2 cups diced tofu
Handful of fresh shitake mushrooms, sliced
1-2 cups bok choy, roughly chopped
3 small carrots, sliced
2 eggs
Fresh cilantro or basil (optional)

1. Heat broth and water in a large stock pot. Add garlic, ginger, soy sauce, fish sauce, vinegar, brown sugar, lime juice and chili sauce. Bring to a boil and allow to simmer while you add the remaining ingredients.
2. Add tofu and vegetables, simmer for 5-7 minutes until tofu is heated through and vegetables are cooked, but still crisp.
3. Crack eggs into a cup and beat lightly with a fork. Slide eggs into the soup and stir immediately. (Just a couple stirs if you want bigger, fluffier pieces of egg, rapid stirring if you want the egg shredded.)
4. Taste and add more fish sauce or soy sauce if it's not salty enough. Ladle into serving bowls and garnish with cilantro or basil, if desired.

Excuses, excuses

Well, I guess I got a little tuckered out after all the food I made last Sunday, because I was very lazy about cooking last week, and I've got to say, I don't really have a good excuse. Part of it was that we really needed to go to the grocery store. But, I guess that doesn't actually work when I live a half-mile from our little food co-op and within very easy driving distance of several other food stores.

Maybe it's because work has been so busy this week, that by the time I'm finished and have done some sort of exercise I'm just too tired to come up with anything. But that's not really an excuse either since a) I work from home and b) all I have to do is work, hang out with Bob, get some exercise, and maybe meet up with friends. Really, if I can't get a meal made nowadays what would I be eating if I had kids and a commute? And although Bob is a great cook, he's not much for improvising, so throwing something together sans trip to the market won't really work there. Plus, when he cooks it means I do the dishes, and I really hate doing the dishes.

But, I'm feeling back in the groove now. I made some cupcakes for the fantastic send-off-to-our-elopement brunch our friends Megan and Dan threw for us on Sunday, and they were all deliciousness with their cream cheese icing. (Well, there was the complete disaster batch when I couldn't find my muffin pans and thought I might be able to just prop up some cupcake liners in a pan. If anyone out there tries to google "how to bake cupcakes with no muffin tins," I'm here to tell you, it doesn't work). Then, there was the strange recipe for Spicy Chickpea Soup that was not spicy, nor did it look anything like the photo in Food and Wine, but with a few tweaks turned out tasty enough to get a phone call in the middle of the afternoon from Bob just to tell me how good the soup was when he ate it for lunch today.


Spicy Chickpea Soup

The original recipe didn't call for any onions or garlic, which immediately made me suspicious. Then, after I did the first step of blending the ingredients, my base was the most unpleasant shade of peachy-pink you could imagine. So, I started with onions and garlic and added a lot more tomatoes and tomato paste to turn it red, and it did end up very good in the end.

1/2 cup chopped onion
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 tbsp olive oil
3 15.5-oz cans of chickpeas, drained and separated
1 13.5-oz can of light coconut milk
1 28-oz can whole peeled tomatoes, separated
1/4 cup apple juice
1/4 cup cilantro leaves
1/2 tsp garam masala
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp curry powder
1 cup chicken or vegetable broth
2 tbsp tomato paste (I just put in a few healthy squirts from the tube I keep in the fridge, feel free to use one of those small cans. It might be more than I used, but I think it will be fine, and I hate when I have a third of one of those cans floating around).
Salt and pepper
Red pepper flakes
Plain low fat yogurt (optional)

1. Heat oil in a dutch oven over medium-low heat. Add garlic and onions and cook until tender and fragrant, about 5 minutes.
2. In a blender combine two cans of chickpeas, coconut milk, half of the tomatoes and their juices, apple juice, cilantro, garam masala, ground ginger, and curry powder until very smooth.
3. Transfer contents of the blender into the dutch oven with the onions and the garlic. Add the chicken stock, tomato paste and remaining whole, peeled tomatoes. (You have a few options on how you add them. You can chop them up first, or add them whole and crush them up with the back of a spoon, or do what I do, which is grab a tomato and crush it in my hands right into the pot until all the tomatoes are gone, then add the remaining juices from the can.)
4. Season with salt, pepper and red pepper flakes and simmer for at least 30 minutes. It was tasty the first night I made it, but the flavors really melded and developed overnight. If desired, serve with a dollop of plain yogurt.

Not-so-lazy Sunday

Sundays have always been one of my favorite days. I think it all stems from when I was a waitress. The restaurant I worked at for years was closed on Sundays so it was a guaranteed day off, one where I never had to look at the clock to make sure I could run all my errands before my 5 o'clock shift started. Back then I probably went shopping to spend some of the tips that were burning a hole in my pocket and blew off doing my homework in favor of hanging out with friends. Whatever it was, it was my day.

Now, Sunday is still my favorite day, but mostly because I spend so much of it in the kitchen. I love to have the time to prep some food for lunches during the week and make a dish that takes a little more effort for dinner. Lately my habit has been to listen to the most recent podcast of "The Splendid Table" for the first hour or so of cooking. This routine is especially comforting in winter in Syracuse, and with the rain turning the snow into mud and slush yesterday, I could think of no place better to be than my kitchen.

So, what did I make, you ask? I made granola to have on hand for breakfasts and red lentil soup with lemon that is so simple and so satisfying I understand why Melissa Clark of the New York Times has made it her go to lentil soup recipe. And for dinner we cooked up some 'Eye of the Goat' heirloom beans, spicy braised greens and homemade flour tortillas. All in all, pretty productive for a day that became my favorite because it didn't involve work.

Market Day, Winter

Like a lot of food nuts across the country, my husband Tom and I are committed locavores, doing our best to cook with local and seasonal ingredients. Cooking seasonally requires ‘cooking in reverse’. I used to find a recipe then shop for the ingredients. Now I find the ingredients at the market, or discover them in our Community-Supported-Agriculture basket, then find or create recipes to match what is supplied. I suppose an economist could turn this into an equation of the dreary science – this is moving from ‘demand dictating diet’ to ‘supply creating a demand’, in this case, demand for something yummy, seasonal, and local. In upstate New York, however, this is the time of year we fall off the locavore wagon. We rely on the Syracuse Food Co-op for produce. Trips to the über-Wegmans in DeWitt are more frequent (it used to be the mega-Weg, but now it is so large it has leaped to ‘über’). But we do manage to get ourselves to the regional farmers market.

How quickly it will become apparent that I know nothing about farming. What does a farmer do during the winter in upstate New York? Getting ready for the next season, certainly. Happily, some of them bring their long-storing produce to the regional farmers market. The market is alive in early February, even on a dark, overcast day. On Saturday, we loaded up our basket with onions, Empire apples, Savoy cabbage, and garlic (a bit battered). From Wendy, the owner of Sweet Grass Farm in Vernon, New York, we bought a broiler chicken. Another long storer that I hadn’t seen and we sprung upon at the market – parsnips, grown in Clyde, New York. The plan is to puree them and serve them up with the chicken from Wendy’s farm, roasted into deliciousness. Surprisingly, the farmer from Clyde admitted he hadn’t tasted parsnips. He told us his father and grandfather grew them, so he does too. I’m really grateful; the taste of parsnips is amazing.

Since I’ve had one ear tuned to the political conversation going on at the national level, I wonder what do farmers do for health insurance, is this a group of people that are vulnerable to going without? So many jobs in food production and creation appear to be hard on the body - burnished skin, long periods standing or stooping, a farmer’s hands bigger than seem possible for her frame, stiffened by arthritis.

One last stop after the market takes us to Squadrito Foods, 412 Ash Street, on the north side of Syracuse. The owners make their own delectable version of Italian sausage every week. We buy it all year long. Returning to the stove, there’s fun to be had with local food even on this dark winter’s day. By mid-afternoon I notice something subtle in the quality of the light outside that tells me the days are getting longer and the sun is returning. And I’m getting ready to use Squadrito’s Italian sausage and local Savoy cabbage in Cook’s Illustrated (March/April issue) ‘Hearty Tuscan Bean Stew’ recipe.