Flexitarian Recipes and Reflections

Gnocchi with Tomatoes, Bacon and Watercress

2012-01-24T17:45:00.000-08:00

Sorry, no photo this time. I made this dish on Sunday night and have been meaning to post it. You can find the recipe here.

We substituted the pancetta with bacon simply because our favorite bacon was on sale and we wanted to use it for other purposes this week. I also naturally added more garlic than what was called.

The annoying part of the recipe is that it takes a lot of unexpected time to prepare watercress, a green that I had never even heard of before making this. You have to pull the stems off the leaves. The leaves are small and the stems numerous. Arugula might be slightly less time consuming if you are looking for a substitute. Note that the watercress does complement the other ingredients and works very well in the dish.

It was very tasty and provided some yummy leftovers. I also labeled this dish as vegetarian because it is easy to omit the bacon....and one could even avoid the cheese and make it vegan.

Toasted Pita & Bean Salad

2012-01-23T18:34:00.000-08:00

Tonight we enjoyed Toasted Pita & Bean Salad with some creamy potato & leek soup.

We found the recipe here, but I added more garlic and also cooked the already cooked pinto beans the way the note prepared (simply because I did not read the directions first). The unnecessary boiling of the beans did have good results as I added the garlic and onion to the salad, which worked very nicely!

Also, this post is labeled Vegan as well because it is easy to omit the cheese.

Tortilla and Black Bean Pie

2012-01-19T14:31:00.000-08:00

In the midst of this very cold January week, it's time to think of a heart-warming vegetarian recipe. This recipe is warm, filling and simply tasty......remembrances of the times to come in the midst of the below zero weathered tundra.

Labeled Mexican, simply for the style. Love this dish because it makes my favorite leftovers. This is a recipe with some modifications from a fundraising cooking class at church years ago.

Ingredients:

4 (10-inch) flour tortillas
1 tbsp olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
1 can (4.5oz) chopped chiles
4 cloves garlic
1/2 tsp ground cumin
salt & pepper to taste
2 cans (15 oz) black beans, rinsed and drained
12 oz beer
1 pkg (10 oz) frozen corn
4 green onions, thinly sliced + extra to sprinkle on finished dish
2 1/2 c shredded cheese

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400. Heat oil in skillet over medium heat. Add onions, chiles, garlic, cumin,salt & pepper to taste. Cook, stirring occasionally until onion is softened, 5-7 minutes.

2. Add beans and beer (or water) to skillet; bring to boil. Reduce heat to medium, simmer until liquid is almost absorbed, 8-10 minutes. Stir in corn and green onions; remove from heat. Season with salt & pepper.

3. Lay one tortilla in bottom of 2-quart round casserole dish. Layer with 1/4 of the beans and 1/2 c cheese. Repeat three times, using 1 c cheese on the top layer.

4. Bake until hot and cheese is melted, 20-25 minutes. To serve, slice in wedges and top each piece with additional sliced green onions.

Flexitarian for Good Reasons

2012-01-11T14:51:00.001-08:00

There has been an obvious lack of posting....although not a lack of cooking! I will have to begin posting more soon. In the meantime, here is a link to a podcast I just listened to that truly touches on reasons to go flexitarian. Spoken by Rita Madden, she covers reasons to eat less meat and less food in general as a way to not only strengthen your relationship with God, but also to benefit the world we live in and your own personal lifestyle.

http://ancientfaith.com/podcasts/foodfaithfasting/stewardship_eating

Halloween Favorites

2011-11-06T18:37:00.000-08:00

We had a beautiful, warm Halloween this year as Minnesota seems to be experiencing one of the longest fall seasons in history, so our doorstep was lacking in snow this 20th anniversary of the Halloween blizzard! I still remember trick-or-treating that eventful night and the many other Halloweens with jackets and layers of clothing under our costumes, hoping that someone could still tell what it was we were trying to imitate!

This year we enjoyed a beer, choosing the infamous Surly Darkness just recently released and enjoyed some pumpkin seeds roasted with olive oil and Yaya B seasoning (our go-to spice for EVERYTHING!).

More Apples and Dogs

2011-10-06T15:28:00.000-07:00

We are having a truly beautiful fall week with temperatures in the 80s while the fall colors illuminate the trees and embrace the ground. We are truly getting our fill of the season with our daily walks with the puppy. This weather is rare for us, so why not celebrate with some autumn food and Doug's homebrew: Octoberfest! We made Apple, Sauerkraut & Cheddar Quesadillas (recipe found here) and a side salad with homemade buttermilk dressing (recipe found here). All of it was delicious. I know the quesadillas sound weird, but the flavors really do go well together!

Autumn: A time for dogs and apples

2011-09-25T17:21:00.001-07:00

This morning I not only awoke to my puppy kissing me on my lips, but I later found her hiding in the corner chewing on an apple, which she must have taken off the countertop with her new height (we just started trying to teach her "off"). The day only continued with the theme of apples and dogs as I went to Aamodt's apple farm with the youth group from church and then came home and took Starbuck to the nearby dogpark where she bounced around the open fields and swam to her hearts content. She is energized by the crispness in the air, as are we! At the end of the day, I made an apple pie while Doug and Paulee finished brewing their next beer. My apples were not from the orchard, however! My neighbor's tree is FULL of apples and she gave me a whole bucket full last week.

What I am most happy about with this pie is the crust. I have made apple pies before, but have failed miserably with crusts! Doug and I both approve of this one and it was found here. The crumb apple pie recipe was found in Betty Crocker's cook book and I use it every year!

Fair Food

2011-09-17T20:05:00.001-07:00

I meant to post this during fair season, but alas, I am late! Our Minnesota State Fair is filled with all sorts of crazy foods! My favorites include the deep fried pickle, fried green tomatoes and last, but certainly not least....the garlic fries!!!! I also decided to post a picture of a sculpture found in the arts building which is making my mouth water for perogi!

Mushroom and Goat Cheese Pasta

2011-09-17T20:00:00.000-07:00

I enjoyed a pasta day this summer in which I finally experimented with my Christmas gift (a pasta maker) and made all sorts of variations of ravioli. The picture above is my favorite type: goat cheese, chopped mushroom and chopped basil stuffed ravioli! I tried making wheat dough, but have decided I prefer my pasta to be white, for less "rough" of a taste (not sure what the better word in this situation would be!). It took a bit of time to make it from scratch, but worth it in the end because you can make a lot and freeze it and save it for later!

Next time I use this pasta maker, I plan on making perogi!

Goat Cheese and Strawberry Brushetta

2011-09-16T15:19:00.000-07:00

I made this in the early summer this year when my new strawberries were ripe. Found this tasty recipe here. I used some of my garden strawberries along with some from a nearby Farmer's Market. LOVED it! Makes a great appetizer and/or side dish!

Grilled Tomato, and Smoked Salmon Caprese Napoleon

2011-07-25T18:35:00.000-07:00

Doug and I are preparing for a beer-pairing dinner with some of his friends (who are much more experienced with food than us!) by trying our hand at this appetizer which will be our contribution to the 7 course meal.

The recipe has been created by combining various recipes, collaborating with others, and experimenting ourselves with several errors along the way...and we believe will likely encounter more changes by our August dinner.

We had this as our lunch this weekend and were surprised at how pleasantly filled we were while enjoying the great flavor - these ingredients blend together very nicely!

Serving Size: 2
Ingredients:

8 slices of garden-fresh tomatoes (approximately 2 large tomatoes), slice horizontally creating rounds 1/2 inch thick
1 pkg smoked Salmon 3oz (we used Wild Nova Salmon from Lund's $5.99)
1/2 lb of Pecorino Romano (Italian) Cheese (We purchased from Surdyk's in NE at 12.49/lb)
1 bunch of fresh basil leaves (approximately 10-11 sprigs)
1/4 c red wine vinegar
5/8 c olive oil
salt (to taste)
pepper (to taste)

Directions:

Tomato Preparation: Fire up your grill to a medium-high heat. Lay tomato slices on a large plate and sprinkle salt and pepper to taste on both sides. Then, take a few tbsp olive oil and brush on one side of your tomato slices. Lay the slices on the grill with olive oil sides face down. After 30-45 seconds or until notice of grill marks, rotate your tomato slices to create a cross-hatch effect. When finished, put them back on the plate and set aside.
Vinaigrette Preparation: Add 7-8 sprigs of basil leaves (don't use the sprigs! Just the leaves!) and 3/8lb of Pecorino cheese chunked to a blender. Blend until both are mixed thoroughly. Add red wine and olive oil along with salt and pepper to taste. Puree these ingredients together until they are a uniform color and consistency.
Building the Layers: Using the tomatoes, , salmon, left over cheese sliced very thin, left over leaves of basil and salmon slices, Stack your meal using the following order 4x: Tomato slice, 2 basil leaves, 2 slices of cheese, and 1 slice of salmon. On the very top, place one extra small basil leaf and drizzle vinaigrette over the dish and on the sides of the plate for added color.

Helpful Tips:

Make sure that when stacking, you are paying attention to tomato slice size. Use the bigger slices on the bottom to keep the balance.
Use a tube to poor the vinaigrette. We didn't, but it would have been prettier if we had.
Check the grain of the cheese shavings when cutting for appearance sake.
Cut shaving slices before chunks to prepare, to ensure you create the right size shavings. I would even recommend trying to use a grater to ensure smaller slices. The cheese is very flavorful and thick slices take away from the dish.
You may consider adding a small amount of water to the vinaigrette (I'm talking drops!) to help it drizzle, but it is not necessary.
We ended with extra sauce (enough for 3 more servings), so we use the extra for salad dressing.
Consider making 1 stack of this dish to create mini stacks as a tasty appetizer to serve more people (The stacking is for looks, you end up de-stacking the dish when you eat it anyways!).

Dill Potato Salad

2011-07-20T10:39:00.000-07:00

Click here to find the recipe I used for this one. It is light, simple, and fresh in the summer! I used red potatoes and fresh herbs from Farmer's Market in Maple Grove to make this one. It makes a great side dish. We served it with pasta and tomatoes on baguettes.

Black Raspberry Cordial

2011-07-13T07:46:00.000-07:00

I made Black Raspberry Cordial for the first time this morning using both vodka and gin to see how each turns out. The black raspberries originally came from the back yard of the cabin where my family used to vacation at when I was growing up. My parents took some home with them one summer and it now flourishes in their back yard. Two summers ago, I transplanted some along the fence between our house and the neighbors house and I now have all the black raspberries I will ever need plus some! I love this fruit, it is tasty and fun to harvest. The recipe came from my mom, but I doubt anyone's ever used Nalgene bottles to make it before :) I prepared it in true Russian fashion sipping vodka while making it. It will take about 3 months to ferment....here's hoping!

Ingredients:

4 c berries
4 c vodka or gin
3 c sugar (except I accidentally used 4 c....should be a sweet one!)

Directions:

In a large jar (or in my situation, split ingredients into 2 Nalgene bottles), poor the sugar and then poor the alcohol. Stir until partially dissolved.
Add the berries and stir a couple times.
Cover and put in a dark place for approximately 3 months, stirring it once a week).
When finished, strain the berries out of the cordial using cheesecloth. You can put the cordial in small jars and use as gifts or another jar for yourself. Use the strained berries as an ice cream topping!

Sweet Grilled Shrimp Kabobs

2011-07-12T13:10:00.000-07:00

Click here for this recipe. I used this dish for a Father's Day treat and everyone loved it! It was actually our first time grilling shrimp and it worked well and is highly recommended. Enjoy!

Camp Food!

2011-07-09T11:19:00.000-07:00

A whole balanced meal at St. Mary's Summer Camp this week, consisting of an egg salad sandwich on wheat bread, along with your chips, salad and a fruit cup. Pretty classy. Don't forget the coffee in the random Christmas mug, the milk carton and paper napkin. This kind of a meal must also be eaten along side a walkie talkie and 3-ring camp binder.

We had a great week at camp, unfortunately, however, I forgot to photograph our traditional ethnic dinner which has the best camp food ever including Greek seasoned chicken and feta cheese on salad.

Garden Strawberries

2011-06-23T18:26:00.000-07:00

Last year, we planted our first strawberry plants that came from my parents garden. This year, we had a dozen bloom for the first time -- we are hoping these will spread and create more in the future. In the mean time, we are enjoying the fresh picked strawberries, which are so much more tasty than any store bought ones!

Exploring New England

2011-06-16T12:40:00.000-07:00

Join us this week as we briefly explore New England at our travel blog by clicking here.

Goat Cheese on Toast!

2011-06-13T09:01:00.000-07:00

No picture of the food today....it's an afterthought. So, I put a picture up from last weekend when Doug and I headed to Mill City Farmer's Market to try to find our diva cucumbers without success. We enjoy that market mostly because of it's location, it's always good to walk by the river, which is quite high this year.

Today is officially my first day of summer vacation as a teacher, and what a pleasant breakfast discovery I had. Goat cheese spread out on toasted sourdough bread with raspberries on the side. Delicious! Happy summer, everyone!

Holy Thursday: Cheese Pascha

2011-04-21T21:03:00.000-07:00

Just finished making the Cheese Pascha tonight. It seemed symbolic in a way, making it on Holy Thursday evening after the Matins of Holy Friday tonight with the 12 Passion Gospel Readings. Perhaps it is a poor example of symbolism, but screwing the cheese into place in the wood seemed fitting as we recognize our Lord nailed to the wood of the cross.

Above you can see the wooden mold, which will not be unveiled until Pascha!

Click here to find the recipe I used last year:

Vegan On-the-Go

2011-04-15T12:55:00.000-07:00

Here are some good finds from Cub to help with the lunch plans when I don't have time to cook.

Annie Chun's Kung Pao Noodle Bowl
Amy's Organic Spicy Chili
Amy's Organic Black Bean Vegetable Soup

I love Amy's Spicy organic chili. I have to admit that as I was eating it I had to triple check to make sure I wasn't eating meat, the tofu had a wonderful consistency!

Avocado Reuben

2011-04-13T16:16:00.000-07:00

Apparently I have a lack of posts after Mexico...I will work on catching up with some new Lenten recipes and favorite snacks!

Click here for the Avocado Reuben recipe I found online. I'm not sure this is actually a good blend of flavors and it will probably disgust many of you, but I post it because I actually enjoy it! I think that is because I absolutely love each of the ingredients so much alone that the combination doesn't scare me and I just get excited by eating some of my favorite ingredients all together.

I found the dressing recipe quite helpful in this recipe, however, whether or not you enjoy this meal. It makes a tasty vegan Thousand Island dressing. And, if using this recipe you can cut the it by at least half for the sandwiches, and use the extra for salad dressing.

Mexico!

2011-03-10T20:04:00.000-08:00

And we're off. Join us at http://dougandrebekah.blogspot.com/ as we explore Cabo Pulmo for a week in the Baja Peninsula on the Sea of Cortez. I'm not sure how often we'll be able to access the internet, but we'll do what we can!

Kung Pao Tofu

2011-03-10T19:53:00.000-08:00

A great vegan, lenten dish with a kick! I used the recipe from this site, but changed it according to the ingredients I had/liked better. See my recipe below:

Ingredients:

1 block tofu, firm
1 tbsp oil

1/2 c soy sauce
1 tbsp Sambal Oelek (Chili and Garlic sauce)-you can find this at Cub
1 tbsp Spicy Bean Paste (I used Mona's broad-bean sauce!)
1/2 c red wine vinegar
1 tbsp hot chili flavored oil (Kame-found at Cub)

1/2 onion, chopped
1/2 red bell pepper, chopped
baby bella mushrooms, chopped

Directions:

Freeze the tofu overnight for a more firm, meaty texture (this really works!). Thaw out during the day (I defrosted it in the microwave-about 5-10 minutes).
Squeeze the water out of the tofu and cut into bite-sized cubes and fry in oil until golden brown. Set aside.
Make the Kung Pao Sauce by combining all sauce ingredients in a mixing bowl and mix well, then set aside.
Heat the veggies in a wok until soft, then add the golden tofu and mix gently.
Add the sauce, a little at a time until you get the desired coating. Let the mixture simmer a few minutes to reduce and thicken the sauce.
Serve over rice.

Holy Hawk!

2011-03-07T19:23:00.000-08:00

This hawk knows when Lent begins-we caught him feasting in our front yard yesterday....perhaps in preparation for today?

Cheesefare Week

2011-03-05T11:54:00.000-08:00

Continuing our cheese and beer pairing...here is Doug's home brew IPA and Surdyk's Taleggio Pasturo Italy cheese. It's a creamy, buttery cheese a slightly funky flavor-but delicate enough that it is quite savory. The bread is from our new near-by French bakery Chez Arnaud (we absolutely LOVE the place!)

For the Orthodox, we begin Lent on Monday and to help prepare, we began fasting from meat last Monday, February 28th. On Monday March 6th we add dairy products to our fasting.

So, Doug and I tried to cram in some of our favorite dairy-filled meals before we tell them our good-byes. These were some of the meals we enjoyed:

Sauerkraut Grilled-Cheese Sandwich
Potato and Fennel Cream Soup
Yummy Cheesy Pizza
Gnocchi

Beginning next week, I hope to experiment with more vegan dishes!

Cherry Goat

2011-02-25T14:18:00.000-08:00

Our Valentine's Day meal appetizer: a creamy honey goat cheese from Byerly's with crackers and New Glarus Wisconsin Belgian Red beer!

Advice: We made our traditional sushi dinner following.....this is not a good appetizer for sushi :)

Chinese Basics

2011-02-14T15:22:00.000-08:00

After a grocery trip to Shuang Hur Oriental Market in St. Paul, my friend Mona shared her pictures from her trip to China with me over some tea and dumplings. There is nothing better than sharing good food with a good friend.

Above is the picture of the tea and dumplings. The tea was comforting and relaxing, needing no sugar and I marveled when the small jasmine flowers bloomed in the water. The dumplings were from the market-in the frozen section, and Mona used her magic with spices and bean sprouts to add to their flavor.

The market was full of all sorts of fresh vegetables, seafood and meats-a mouth watering experience for those who crave new foods and find themselves in the usual constraints of the typical Cub or Rainbow Foods.

Mona instructed me on my purchase of three main ingredients to help me experiment with Chinese style cooking: Soy Sauce, Vinegar and Spices. Below is a recipe that I created to use these ingredients for my first time (albeit it involves American groceries from the local Cub). I thought I needed more spice, but Doug really loved it the way it was.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 lb Tender Pork Style Ribs (I used Hormel), cut into long, thin pieces
1/2 red bell pepper, chopped
1/2 orange bell pepper, chopped
1 shallot, chopped
1 pkg mushrooms, sliced
2 tbsp oil
vinegar (cap-full of Chinkiang Vinegar)
Soy Sauce (cap-full of black soy sauce)
spices (2 tsp Spicy Thick Broadbean Sauce)

Directions:

Heat up oil in pan
Add spices to oil (be careful-this will splash)
Add the pork and fry both sides until just browned.
Add vegetables and stir all occasionally until vegetables are soft and the meat is just about done.
Add vinegar for a sour flavor, soy sauce for color and a touch of salt to taste.
Serve with rice and enjoy!

Plantains

2011-02-05T13:19:00.000-08:00

A few weeks ago we made your usual plantains which involved cutting and slicing yellow plantains and frying them in oil until soft. Then we smash them with my "smasher" from the Dominican (notice my good friend demonstrating above) and re-fry them in oil once more. Always good! One time, I even added corn :)

We wanted to make sweet plantains that evening too, but our plantains had not yet turned black. This past week they finally did and it made for a delicious dessert. Below are the directions for sweet plantains.

Ingredients:

2 plantains
1tbsp butter
5 tsp brown sugar
1 tsp cinnamon

Directions:

Slice plantains
fry plantain on stove with butter, cinnamon and brown sugar using medium heat. Leave the lid on and let it cook until plantains turn a golden color.
Turn so both sides get cooked-the butter, sugar and cinnamon turns into a butter cream.
Serve and enjoy (goes well with vanilla ice cream).

Sauerkraut Grilled Cheese

2011-02-02T17:32:00.000-08:00

This is very simple, tasty and quick! I found the recipe here, but below I changed it so it's even less putzy, more quick and tastes the same:

Serving Size: 1 Sandwich

Ingredients:

2 slices dark rye bread (pumpernickel was awesome too!)
Thin slices of Gruyere Swiss cheese
1/3 c drained and heated sauerkraut (we didn't heat it separately and it was fine)
2 tsp butter

Directions:

Place cheese slices and sauerkraut between the rye bread slices.
Spread the butter on the outside of the bread slices and place on pan. Heat on medium high heat and flip when browned and the cheese is just beginning to melt. Heat the other side until browned and cheese has melted (try to remove before cheese is too runny!)

Beer Pairing: Saisons

Gnocchi

2011-01-16T17:09:00.000-08:00

Doug and I have not been too fond of gnocchi whenever we've tried it in restaurants, we've thought it to be boring and dry each time. My understanding of gnocchi changed when my friend Jenny made it for our Christmas dinner and I couldn't eat enough of it. She sent me the link to the recipe and I tried it out. Click here to find it. Doug and I now have a new found appreciation for this potato pasta and it is currently our favorite pasta dish. I copied the ingredients and directions below with some of my comments and I also rearranged the directions to help with timing.

Ingredients:

1/2 c unsalted butter
1 tbsp fresh thyme leaves (prepare ahead of time-it's putzy to take the leaves off the stems)
1 lb potato (The recipe says russet....I just grabbed the cheapest potato at Cub)
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1 large egg, beaten to blend
1/4 c all-purpose flour
1/4 c shaved Pecorino Romano

Directions:

Pierce the potato(es) all over with a fork. Microwave the potato(es) until tender, turning once, about 12 minutes. Cut the potato in half and scoop the flesh into a large bowl; discard the skin. Using a fork, mash the potato well. Mash in the slat and pepper. Mix in 3 tbsp of the egg; discard the remaining egg. Sift the flour over the potato mixture and knead until just blended.
While the potato(es) are cooking, cook the butter in a heavy medium skillet over medium heat until it begins to brown, about 2 minutes. Remove from the heat. Add the thyme leaves. Set aside.
Divide the dough into 4 equal pieces. Roll each piece between your palms and the work surface into a 1/2-inch-diameter rope (about 20 inches long)-a bit of flour on the hands is helpful. Cut the dough into 1-inch pieces. Roll each piece of dough over a wooden paddle with ridges or over the tines of a fork to form grooves in the dough (I used a strange cheese cutter that I happen to have).
Cook the gnocchi in a large pot of boiling salted water until the gnocchi rise to the surface, about 1 minute. Continue cooking until the gnocchi are tender, about 4 minutes longer. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the gnocchi to the hot thyme-butter in the skillet. Toss to coat.
Spoon the gnocchi and butter sauce into a dish. Top with the Pecorino and serve.

Dominican Food

2011-01-11T18:33:00.000-08:00

Last week was Russian Christmas and we had people over for a celebration which included Caribbean food (an idea some of us came up with long ago). I used my recipes I was taught while I taught art in the Dominican-and it was good to taste the delicate flavors that magically enrich each simple ingredient when combined.

My friend from the Dominican, Crystal taught me how to do these recipes step-by-step. My favorite is the simple empanadas and the Tayota/Brocolli Dish, although we also indulged in fried plantains, a shrimp dish, avocados and an orange-milk treat.

Tayota (also called Chayote)/Broccoli Dish:
I don't like cooked broccoli, but something magical happens to this dish that makes me crave it!

Ingredients:

Tayota/Chayote (found in the produce section at Cub, looks like a weird pear)
1 Broccoli
1 Onion, chopped
2 tbsp olive oil
Sea Salt

Directions:

Boil Tayota with broccoli until soft.
Fry onion in oil.
Combine Tayota and broccoli with onion.
Fry until flavored.
Serve with salt to taste!

Empanadas

Ingredients:

3 c flour
1 tsp salt
1/2 c cold water
1 egg
1 egg white
1 tsp vinegar
3 tbsp butter
proximately 10 Cheese slices (flavor your choice)

Directions:

In a bowl, beat water, egg, egg white and vinegar. Set aside
In another bowl, mix 3 c flour and salt
Mix the butter into the flour mix with your hands until in crumbles in with the flour. Make a well in the center of the flour mix and pour the liquid ingredients from the first bowl into the center.
Mix the wet and dry ingredients with a fork until stiff
Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Knead it just until all the flour is incorporated and the dough is smooth
Wrap the dough in plastic and refrigerate for at least an hour.
After refrigerated, roll dough into ten separate circles.
Fill each circle with a bit of cheese and fold dough over.
Use a fork to gently seal the dough by pressing down the edges.
fry the empanadas until golden on both sides in a pan with oil.

Christmas Dinner Recipes

2010-12-31T06:45:00.000-08:00

I hosted Christmas Dinner for my family this year and used all online recipes which seemed to work out pretty well! Below are the dishes and the links to the websites. The gingerbread cookies were my personal favorite, I think they were the tastiest gingerbread cookies I've ever had-I'm not sure how the recipe makes them stand out-you be the judge.

Appetizers

Christmas Chip Dip
Candied Walnuts
Cheese and crackers from Trader Joe's
Pickled Herring from Cub

Entree

Honey Glazed Ham

Sides

Au Gratin Potatoes (Made by mom!)
Dinner Rolls
Spinach Pomegranate Salad

Desert

Egg nog (from previous post)
Gingerbread Cookies

Christmas Around the World

2010-12-21T18:17:00.001-08:00

Since finishing high school, my girlfriends and I have began a tradition of enjoying a holiday meal together and in recent years it has turned to a home-cooked potluck of sorts. This year's theme: Christmas around the world. We each made a vegetarian dish from a different part of the country. I tried my hand at Slovakian perohi for the first time alone trying to remember the tricks I learned from various teachers. I definitely made some mistakes, but I added tricks to my recipe that I think will provide remedies (example-let the filling cool first so it doesn't deform the dough!).

I also recently recieved a recipe for homemade egg-nog from a co-worker and gave it a try-LOVED it! I plan to make it for the fam later this week and to top it off, she said it goes extremely well with ginger-bread cookies.

Perohi

Ingredients for Dough:

3 c flour
1/2 stick butter
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 egg, beaten
1 1/2 tbsp oil
1 1/2 c room-temperature milk

Ingredients for filling:

4 mashed cooked potatoes
1 onion, chopped, sauteed in butter
Shredded Sharp cheddar cheese to taste

Directions:

Make the filling first and allow to chill: Mash 4 large cooked potatoes. Add 1 chopped onion, which as been sauteed in butter. Mix in desired amount of shredded cheddar cheese. Chill until cool-about 1-2 hours.
Make the dough: beat eggs, add oil, milk and beat together. Add flour mixture and knead 3-4 minutes.
Roll the Dough: Roll it thin. I cut mine using a beer class to make round shapes. Place a spoonful of the filling in the center and fold in half and then press the edges down with a fork to seal. Lay on a dry kitchen towel and cover.
Cook the Perohi: Boil in large pot of water and drop them in a few at a time (5 is fine). Boil rapidly for about 4 minutes (they should rise to the top). Place them in a colander and rinse with hot water. Drain.
Serve with sauteed onions and a side dip of sour cream mixed with horseradish.

Egg Nog
This recipe makes about 13 cups worth (serves about 7-8 people)

Ingredients:

3 eggs, separate yolk and whites -there are pasteurized eggs at Cub Foods-get these to be safe from salmonella!
1/3 c sugar
3/4 c bourbon
1/4 c brandy
1 1/2 c milk
3/4 tsp nutmeg
pinch of cream of tartar
1/3 c heavy whipping cream

Directions:

In a large bowl with mixer at low speed, mix egg yolks with sugar. Then beat at high speed about 10 minutes or until it is thick and lemon colored, frequently scraping.
Carefully add in the bourbon and brandy, 1 tbs at a time to keep the eggs from curdling.
Cover and chill at least 20 minutes (the longer, the better! I did about an hour and it worked great).
Mix the yolk mixture with milk and nutmeg
In a large bowl at high speed, beet the egg whites until soft peaks form (adding a pinch of cream of tartar can help form peaks)
In a small bowl using the same beaters with mixer at medium speed, beat heavy whipping cream until peaks form.
With wire whisk, fold egg whites and cream into yolk mixture until just blended.
Sprinkle with nutmeg and serve!

The Perfect Storm

2010-12-11T18:36:00.000-08:00

The perfect beer for the evening of the winter storm weekend. A good treat after a hard day's work!

Mushroom Moussaka

2010-12-11T06:32:00.000-08:00

This was a recipe found in Delicious Vegetarian by Bay Books. This recipe originally called for eggplant, but I did not think that the flavors blended well. I loved the potatoes in this dish, so I substituted the eggplant with extra potatoes. Makes for a good advent meal that is both filling and tasty and works well as leftovers!

Ingredients:

2 large potatoes, cute into 1/1 inch slices
1 oz butter
1 onion, finely chopped
4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 16 oz packages mushrooms, sliced
1 14 oz can chopped tomatoes
1/2 tsp sugar
1 1/2 oz extra butter
1/3 c all-purpose flour
2 c ilk
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 1/2 oz grated Parmesan

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 F
Melt the butter in a frying pan over medium heat. Cook the onion, stirring for 3-4 minutes, or until soft. Add garlic and cook for 1 minute. Increase the heat to high, add the mushrooms stirring for 2-3 minutes, or until soft. Add the tomato, reduce the heat and simmer rapidly for 8 minutes, or until reduced. Stir in the sugar.
Melt the extra butter in a saucepan over low heat. Add the flour and cook for 1 minute, or until pale and foaming. Remove from the heat and gradually stir in the milk. Return to the heat, stirring until it boils and thickens. reduce the heat and simmer for 2 minutes. Remove from the heat and, when the bubbles subside, stir in the egg and Parmesan.
Greases a shallow 6 c oven proof dish. Spoon one third of the mushroom mixture into the dish. Cover with the potato. Repeat and finish with the remaining mushroom mixture. Pour on the sauce and smooth the top. Bake for 30-35 minutes and serve.

Jewish Cooking

2010-12-01T17:01:00.000-08:00

Experimenting with different vegetables during the meatless advent season. Cooked some vegetable side dishes the other day from a Jewish cookbook from Doug's grandpa-they were pretty tasty! We especially liked the flavor of the artichoke dish, except for the fact that I cooked the whole artichoke when I shouldn't have. Consequently, it was tougher than necessary. I have never cooked with artichokes before-it's a very baffling, but delicious vegetable. Here are the two recipes we used/adapted from Marlena Spieler:

Sweet and Sour Cucumber with Fresh Dill
(inspired by leftover dill!)

Ingredients:

1 cucumber
1 1/2 onion, thinly sliced
1 1/2 tbsp sugar
4 tbsp cider vinegar
1 1/2 tbs water
1 1/2 tbsp chopped, fresh dill

Directions:

In a bowl, mix together the sliced cucumber and onion, season with salt and toss together until thoroughly combined.
Add the sugar, cider vinegar, water and chopped dill to the cucumber mixture. Toss together until well combined.

Artichokes with Garlic, Lemon and Olive Oil

Ingredients:

2 globe artichokes
juice of 1 lemon + extra to acidulate the water
2 tbsp olive oil
1/2 onion, chopped
5 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
2 tbsp chopped fresh parsley
1/2 c dry white wine
1/2 c vegetable stock
salt & pepper

Directions:

Put lemon juice in a bowl to acidulate it.
Prepare the artichokes. I think this is how you do it: Peel the stem and cut into bite size pieces and put in acidulated water. Cut off the outer leaves of the artichoke-the hard ones! Discard these. Cut the inner part of the artichoke in quarters and put it in the water.
Heat the oil in a pan, add the onion and garlic and fry for 5 minutes until softened. Stir in the parsley and cook for a few seconds. Add the wine, stock and drained artichokes. Season with half the lemon juice, salt and pepper.
Bring the mixture to the boil, then lower the heat, cover and simmer for 10-15 minutes until the artichokes are tender. Lift the artichokes out with a slotted spoon and transfer to a serving dish.
Bring the cooking liquid to the boil and boil until reduced to about half its volume. Pour the mixture over the artichokes and drizzle over the remaining lemon juice. Taste for seasoning and cool before seasoning.

Any "Artichoke tips?" Let me know! I love the flavor, but really am quite baffled!

Book Club Treats

2010-11-17T18:44:00.000-08:00

A couple weeks ago, we had our first book club meeting with friends-discussing the Russian short story, The Death of Ivan Ilych by Leo Tolstoy. We decided to go with the Russian theme where we all shared a sort of Russian dish (which ended up as an Eastern European mix) to have at dinner before the book discussion. I made my family recipe of Halupki (which is a Slovakian dish), and there was also delicious Russian potato & mushroom soup, a noodle casserole and some yummy desserts with sips of jezynowka between.

I am posting a link to a Russian Tea Cake recipe here-perhaps to inspire you during the season of Christmas cookies-enjoy!

Garden Reflections

2010-11-11T14:12:00.001-08:00

After an amazingly long fall season, I finally dug out some of my plants. How did it go? Everything worked great this year except my tomatoes never turned red! I had one red tomato and a few grape ones that turned....so what did I do? I made a lot of fried green tomatoes, which were a fun change (although I would have much rather have had some juicy red ones!).

Our herbs were fantastic, however-PLENTY of basil, cilantro, rosemary, parsley and mint, which were used in our summer dishes heartily.

And a special treat-our apple tree bloomed this year, allowing us to enjoy some fresh apple crisp!

Fried Green Tomatoes

Ingredients:

4 large, firm green tomatoes, cut into thick slices
1 c yellow cornmeal
2 large eggs
1/2 cup vegetable oil

Directions:

Put cornmeal in a bowl.
Lightly beat eggs in another bowl.
Heat oil in a skillet over medium heat.
Dip tomatoes in egg and dredge in cornmeal.
Fry tomatoes in a single layer until golden brown (about 3 minutes per side).
Let drain on a paper-towel-lined plate.

Harvest Hot Dishes

2010-11-06T11:41:00.000-07:00

We finally had our first frost just over a week ago-an terrific feat for anywhere in Minnesota. So what better way to warm up in the middle of the week than by good old Minnesotan hot dishes?

Surprisingly, none of us had made these dishes before because we haven't had to take over that job in our families yet. Needless to say we learned some lessons....Next time I will chop my beans into smaller pieces before hurriedly tossing them whole in my tator-tot hot dish. An extra plus is that these dishes were all vegetarian!

Here's my recipe amidst its imperfections for the Tator Tot Hot Dish:

Ingredients:

1 chopped onion
3 stalks chopped celery
2 tbsps olive oil
1 can cream of mushroom soup
3 cloves garlic
3 tbsp milk
1 (32 oz) pkg frozen tator tots
1 c shredded coby jack cheese
1 lb green beans, trimmed (CHOP NEXT TIME!)
1 c mushrooms, chopped
1 can cream style corn

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Saute garlic, onion and celery in olive oil until tender. Add mushrooms about halfway through.
Put ingredients into large mixing bowl.
Add soup and milk and beans
Mix well.
Add frozen tator tots & corn to mixture.
Spray a casserole dish with non-stick spray.
Pour mixture into dish.
Cover with cheese.
Bake at 350 for 45-50 minutes until cheese is melted and just barely starting to brown.
Cool slightly before serving.

"Hoppy" Halloween!

2010-11-01T15:32:00.000-07:00

Doug picked out special beers to consume at a Halloween gathering-all with spooky titles. Our favorite: Surly Darkness! Doug and Paul spent an entire day at its release last weekend in Brooklyn Center, so it was eagerly consumed by all. The "Hoppiest" vote goes to the Devil Dancer :)

Potato and Fennel Soup with Warm Rosemary Scones

2010-10-04T14:58:00.001-07:00

I love homemade soups, and this one turned out to be a treat, found from Anne Sheasby's Vegetarian Soups. It turned out to be my introduction to fennel, which is apparently anise...think black-licorice-tasting-spice. It was an adventure finding it at Cub Foods, having to explain it to the check-out lady and then figuring out how to fit it into the refrigerator. Then, I had no idea how to prepare it. I ended up just chopping the whole bulb and putting it into the soup, I left the stems not knowing what else to do with them. To my surprise, it all worked and the scones were an excellent compliment! It was nice to use fresh herbs from the garden.

Soup Recipe

Ingredients:

6 tbsp butter
2 onions, chopped
1 tsp fennel seeds, crushed
3 fennel bulbs, coarsely chopped (I had no idea either, so I bought "one fennel thing" and it worked)
2lb potatoes, thinly sliced
5 c vegetable stock
2/3 c heavy cream
salt and pepper
1 tbsp fresh chives to garnish

Directions:

Melt the butter in a pan. Add the onions and cook for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally , until soft. Add the fennel seeds and cook for 2-3 minutes. Stir in the fennel and potatoes.
Put the lid mostly on the pan (allow some breathing room). Cook gently for 10 minutes until soft.
Pour in the stock, bring to a boil, cover and simmer for 35 minutes.
Leave the soup to cool slightly, then puree it in a food processor or blender until smooth. Press through a sieve (strainer) into the rinsed pan.
Stir in the cream with seasoning to taste. Reheat gently but do not boil. Add chives for garnish.

Scones Recipe

Ingredients:

2 c self-rising flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
2 tsp chopped fresh rosemary
1/4 c butter
2/3 c milk
1 egg, beaten, to glaze

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 450F
Grease a baking tray. Sift the flour, salt and baking powder into a bowl. Stir in the rosemary, then rub in the butter. Add the milk and mix to form a soft dough.
Knead very lightly (I do this in the bowl). Break into approximately 12 pieces.
Roll the pieces into balls and set on pan. Brush with the egg and bake on the prepared baking tray for 8-10 minutes, until risen and golden. Cool on a wire rack until warm.

Mussels in GumballHead

2010-10-03T13:21:00.000-07:00

This past summer, we stopped in Munster, Indiana on our way to Michigan at Three Floyd's Brewery & Pub and enjoyed their mussels cooked in gumballhead beer. It was another food high, one that we desperately would like to recreate.

When Doug recieved Gumballhead in a beer trade, we attempted a recreation, but we couldn't remember all the ingredients (wish I would have thought of looking at their menu before re-creating...), so it didn't turn out the way we hoped. It was good, but not good enough.

The point is then, that mussels can be cooked in beer and taste exquisite. When we figure out how to do it, we'll post it.

Cheese Challenge

2010-10-02T04:11:00.000-07:00

We are working on a cheese challenge. We've always truly enjoyed cheese, but now we would like to understand it (It's also another excuse to have some beer)! We will try to occasionally splurge on cheese and pair it with a beer. Our first challenge: comparing Montenebro Spain with Bucheron French Chevre. Both were purchased from Surdyk's in NE, and the Montenebro we have had before. The Bucheron was something we thought familiar from our trip to Europe, so we wanted to see which we liked better.

Both were exsquisite, but the Montenebro wins. We enjoy the mold taste and tart finish. The Bucheron was softer, a flavorful goat cheese, but less funky and more dry. Both went very well with Orval Trappist beer.

Lemony Marinated Antipasto

2010-09-18T06:02:00.000-07:00

I've been a bit busy, so I have some catching up to do with posting. I made this dish a couple a weeks ago trying to find a reason to finish our homemade sausage still in the freezer. It's actually meant to be an appetizer, but it worked well as our main course too. I'm looking forward to using it as a dish to bring to gatherings in the future. It's also another way to use leftover sausage after Pascha/Easter.

It came from my Better Homes and Gardens Bridal Edition Cook Book, but I changed the recipe a bit including using andouille sausage instead of Italian.

Ingredients:

2 links of andouille sausage (or Italian)
1 tbsp cooking oil
1/3 c olive oil
2 tsp finely shredded lemon peel
1/4 c lemon juice
2 tbsp snipped fresh basil
2 tsp dried Italian seasoning, crushed
4 cloves garlic, minmced
1 12-oz jar roasted red sweet peppers, drained and cut into bite-size strips (look for the $1.50 jar at Cub)
12 ounces mozzarella cheese, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1 c pitted kalamata olives

Directions:

In a large skillet cook sausage links in coooking oil over medium heat about 10 minutes or until sausage is throoughly cooked, turning frequently to brown evenly. Remove from heat; cool. Cut the cooked sausage links into 1/4-inch slices; set aside.
Meanwhile, for dressing, whisk together olive oil, lemon peel, lemon juice, basil, Italian seasoning and garlic; set aside.
Mix cooked sausage, red pepper strips, cheese cube, and olives in a large bowl and serve mix in dressing. Season with salt to taste.

Notes:

More spice in this dish would be good-perhaps spicy roasted red peppers next time!
It holds well in the refrigerator-in fact it can be quite tasty if left in the refrigerator overnight to soak up the spices.

Ravioli with Basil Pesto

2010-09-05T11:54:00.000-07:00

When Doug and I re-created our European experience in food for our families, we also included ravioli with basil and pesto. Cinque Terre, Italy is the region of the birthplace of pesto. It is mixed with cheese, garlic, olive oil and pine nuts, and then poured over pasta. They are proud of their basil which grows abundantly on their terraces. Below are the steps to make this Cinque Terra creation, and above you can see a photo of the terraces in Cinque Terra, the process of making ravioli and our table setting for the European meal.

Making the Ravioli
Click here to find the directions I followed to make the ravioli, stuffed with ricotta cheese. This actually worked without a pasta machine or ravioli dish, but I am considering investing in one for the future so that my pasta is not so thick. To get around not having a ravioli dish, I simply pressed the dough down with a fork and trimmed the ends with a pasta cutter.

Basil Pesto
In a food processor, blend 3 cups of basil,two cups of olive oil and four cloves of minced garlic. Have pine nuts and Parmesan cheese shavings ready on the side.

Pour the pesto over the ravioli and add pine nuts and Parmesan to taste!

Blue Nile Ethiopian Restaurant

2010-09-02T15:23:00.000-07:00

Doug and I have been here before, but this time we went with friends, all of which made a pact to try such unique cuisine in Mpls/St. Paul once a month...you'll be seeing more blog posts....

We enjoyed the authentic Ethiopian cuisine with it's surprisingly good beer selection (including Surly, Summit, and craft brewers on tap). The Blue Nile is near the corner of Lake Street and Lyndale Avenue in Minneapolis. It is a decorative place with murals both inside and out and a nice sized patio for outdoor dining. Some of us shared sample platters-a very traditional thing to do, and Doug and I both ordered individual plates. It is finger food, but you use their bread biddeena to pick it up. You can make out some of the food/platters and murals above.

Motoi Restaurant

2010-08-29T19:03:00.000-07:00

Earlier this week we enjoyed a dinner at Motoi in Uptown, with a nice half-off gift card. We both loved the sake and the food consisted of creative blends, although we felt the portion size could be larger. We enjoyed our meal after a bike ride from Minneapolis to St. Paul and back again via the green-and were delightfully refreshed by the fruity sake.

Doug and I shared our meals on the roof top. We ordered the Bulgogi which included marinated beef with kimchi (eat them together for the best taste!) and the mussels made in a wok with homemade sausage, sake and mint. See the pictures above!

Helpful Hint: The sake is pricey-try to make it in time for half-price sake happy hour.

Mussels in Basil, Olive Oil and Lemon Sauce with Tiramisu

2010-08-25T18:42:00.000-07:00

This week I am working to recreate some of the European dishes we had this summer, the best I can with American ingredients. I am going to be making a big meal for our family this Sunday of European cuisine, so I am practicing and experimenting with ingredients before hand. We have been eager to attempt the mussel dish we had in Cinque Terre, Italy and I'm very happy with how it turned out tonight!

Mussels in Basil, Olive Oil and Lemon Sauce
I could not actually find this recipe, so I looked up how to make actual mussels and then used ingredients from memory-so this is an original recipe.

Serving Size: 2

Ingredients:

1 lb fresh mussels (make sure that when you buy them they are kept over crushed ice and appear fresh and alive)......Note: This is super affordable at Cub foods....$5 per pound
1/2 c olive oil
4 cloves chopped garlic
juice of 1 lemon
sliced lemon for garnish
chopped fresh basil to taste (we have plenty of this in our garden)

Directions:

Wash the mussels under cold running water and remove the "beards," the hairy things that sometimes stick out from their shells. Drain well.
Pour oil in a large saute pan and heat over medium heat. Add the garlic and cook for approximately 3 minutes, or until lightly browned. Add the mussels and basil. Stir well and cook for about 3-5 minutes or shortly after all the mussels open (Discard any that do not open). As soon as the mussels open, stir in the lemon juice.
Pour the mussels and the sauce into a large serving bowl. Garnish with sliced lemons.

Tiramisu
This was a desert we had in Cinque Terre on our anniversary night. I don't think I'll ever be able to re-create it, but here is a recipe I found that tastes mighty good none-the-less. I found it here and added my tweaks and notes to it below.

Serves: 6

Ingredients:

1/2 lb marscapone cheese
3 egg yolks
2 pkgs ladyfingers (soft ones found in the frozen section at Byerly's)
4 Tbsp sugar
4 Tbsp brandy (we used Bourbon Whiskey and it was delicious)
1/4 c whipping cream
2 c strong espresso coffee, cooled
3 egg whites
Hershey's cocoa powder

Directions:

Make the espresso coffee and set aside to cool.
Beat cheese, egg yolks, 2 tbsp sugar and 2 tbsp brandy.
Beat egg whites until stiff and shiny (I also used a bit of cream of tartar to help it stiffen)
Whip cream.
Gently fold egg yolk mixture, egg whites and cream together.
Mix espresso with remaining sugar and brandy.
Dip lady fingers in espresso mixture and line baking dish (I used a 9x9 square dish). Alternate layers of ladyfingers and cream; ending with cream.
Dust VERY LIGHTLY (we put too much on and couldn't stop coughing) with cocoa powder. Refrigerate. Serve at room temperature.

Complimentary Dishes

Served with Jinx Proof from Three Floyds brewery (we stopped there in Indiana on our way to MI this summer)-an excellent match to the mussels!
Served with a French baguette which was baked with olive oil for a nice crispy side
We also had some random goat cheese that was on sale at St. Paul cheese shop-doesn't go well with the food, but we just love cheese.....

Birthday Crab Legs & Caipirinha

2010-08-19T05:59:00.000-07:00

We were in Europe for my brother's birthday, but had promised to make him a dinner of his favorite food.....crab legs-as much as you can eat! We were very impressed at how simple they were to prepare and how incredibly delicious they were.

I called grocery stores all over and found that Cub Foods had the best prices, and we were tipped off that they taste great too, so we bought the frozen bags at Cub....just over 5 lbs.

Paulee also came prepared with a summer drink mix, Caipirinha, the national drink of Brazil-which complemented the crab legs.

Caipirinha Beverage

Ingredients:

lowball glass
2 lime wedges + extra
1 tsp honey
4-8 fresh mint leaves (we used dragon mint from the garden)
muddle
crushed ice
cachaca (2-3 oz)
sugar cane stick

Directions:

Muddle mint leaves, honey and lime wedges into a lowball glass.
Fill lowball glass with crushed ice.
Fill glass with cachaca (2-3oz).
Stir and serve, garnished with a sugar cane stick and lime wedge.

Crab Legs

Let frozen crab legs thaw
Place crab legs on grill and brush with olive oil
Grill on each side about 1 1/2 min
crack open and enjoy!
We also dipped ours in melted butter (clarifying the butter wasn't working for us-but it didn't seem to matter) with minced garlic!

We also served homemade mashed potatoes, which went with the meal very well.

Croissants

2010-08-15T10:37:00.001-07:00

After our Europe trip and having many home made croissants at bed and breakfasts, I decided that I was going to learn how to make them myself-they are always my favorite. I went to Google and simply tried the first recipe I saw. Big mistake. That was one of the most poorly written recipes and I had no idea it would take so long. Click here to see the recipe. I simplified it and adapted it below in an order that made more sense to me.

They were well worth the wait-I think they were the best I've had! And the best part is that now I get to have them as my sandwich bread this week!

Ingredients:

3 tbsp flour
3 sticks softened butter
4 cups, all-purpose flour (& extra on hand)
2 tsp salt
2 Tbsp sugar
2 pkg dry yeast
1/2 c warm water
1 1/2 c warm milk
1/2 c warm half & half
1 egg
1 Tbsp water

Directions

Prepare the dough. In a mixing bowl, blend 2 cups of flour with salt and sugar. Dissolve yeast in warm water and add it and the warmed milk and half-and-half to the flour mixture. Blend for about 2 minutes.
Stir in additional flour, 1/4 c at a time, to make a soft, but not sticky dough (it will stiffen when chilled). (Add more flour as necessary) Knead under a dough hook for 5 minutes to form a solid mass. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour-allowing it to cool and rise.
While the dough is chilling, sprinkle 3 Tbsp flour over butter and blend together with hands. On a piece of tinfoil, work butter into an approximate 6" square. fold the sides of the foil over the butter. Place in the refrigerator until chilled (should not break when bent, but should not have any "ooze"). This takes approximately 1/2 hour, but depends on the type of butter used.
Place the dough on a floured surface and with the hands press it into a 10' square. Unwrap the block of butter and lay it on the dough. Bring each point of dough into the center, overlapping hte edges at least 1". Press the dough into a neat package. With a rolling pin, roll the dough into a rectangle, approximately 8" x 18" (Size not a big deal).
Fold the length of dough into thirds, as for a letter. Roll into a rectangle. This time, fold both ends into the middle and then close, as one would a book. The dough will now be in four layers. Wrap the package of dough in a cloth (an old tea towel is good) that has been soaked in cold water and wrung dry. Place the wrapped dough in the refrigerator to relax and chill for 1 to 2 hours.
Remove the dough from the refrigerator and place on the floured work surface. Unrap, roll out, and fod in thirds, as for a letter. This is the final turn before it is rolled out and cut into croissants. Dampen cloth again and wrap loosely around the dough. Place the package in a plastic bag so moisture will be retained. Leave in the refrigerator 4 to 6 hours or over night.
Sprinkle work surface with flour. Roll the dough until it is a generous 10" by 38" rectangle (about 1/4" thick). Cut the strips lengthwise to make two 5" pieces. Mark the strip into triangles, 5" wide on the bottom. Cut through the dough with a pizza cutter or knife. Separate the triangles and roll the dough into the traditional croissant shape, by rolling the triangle from the bottom to the point. Place the croissants on a baking sheet and allow to rise for 1 to 2 hours, in which they will double in volume.
Preheat the oven to 475 degrees.
Mix together the egg and 1 Tbsp of water. Baste the croissants with the egg mixture.
Bake for approximately 15 minutes. Allow them to cool on a rack before serving.

Notes:

I ended up leaving my dough in the refrigerator for about 2 days before baking the croissants and it turned out fine.
The measurements are not useful for me (I put them in for those of you who it helps), as long as your dough is always about 1/4 inch thick, the croissants should turn out fine.

Baptism and Pizza

2010-08-11T18:20:00.000-07:00

Last weekend Doug and I spent in Michigan becoming godparents to baby Jack, the new baby of close friends.

Jack had his first communion after his baptism (shown above),and afterwords we celebrated communion with friends through cooking! A group of us went grocery shopping for whatever ingredients looked good and came up with some delicious pizzas for everyone to share.

The Crust: Boboli pizza crust, a delicious pre-made creation

The toppings: We lost track of all that we added! Some of the pizzas included an olive oil base, others had the traditional tomato sauce. One of the pizzas was topped with fresh caught salmon from lake MI (thanks to Josh), and another included seasoned shrimp. Some included mushrooms and/or roasted red peppers and a hit of spicy peppers. Many were also topped with fresh basil and feta or goat cheese.

How did we decide how to combine the ingredients? By tasting it as we made it asking each other for advice.

Traveling

2010-07-09T05:37:00.001-07:00

Join Doug and I as we explore cuisine (and other things) abroad in Europe! We leave today-first stop: Amsterdam. You can follow us at our adventure blog here. Many tales to come!

Rosemary Potatoes & Avocado and Blue Cheese Salad

2010-07-07T14:56:00.000-07:00

This was a random meal put together after a farmers market trip, but well liked. We are convinced that many will not agree with the combination of ingredients for both recipes, but because we personally love each of these flavors-it somehow worked for us. The rosemary potatoes was a complete whim using the potatoes from the market and the lavender from my garden. The salad was inspired by the fresh salad and blue cheese from the market and the recipe was found here, but adapted according to the ingredients that we had on hand. So, if you are feeling experimental-try these flavors out!

Avocado and Blue Cheese Salad

Ingredients:

1/2 c olive oil
1/4 c white vinegar
2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
2 tbsp honey
4 garlic cloves, pressed
1 tbsp sugar
1 c crumbled walnuts
2 avocados, peeled and chopped
crumbled blue cheese to taste
salad greens

Directions:

Whisk together the oil, vinegar, lemon juice, honey and garlic. Remove a3 tbspoons vinaigrette, reserving remaining ingredients.
Toss walnut pieces with 3 tbsp vinaigrette in a separate bowl or plastic zip-lock bag; add 1 tbsp sugar, tossing to coat.
mix ingredients together and drizzle with vinaigrette.

Rosemary Potatoes

Ingredients:

5 small red potatoes
2 sprigs fresh rosemary
3 cloves of garlic
2 tbsp olive oil

Directions:

Cut potatoes in half and boil until tender
fry potatoes in oil in fry pan with garlic and lavender

Tomato and Basil Soup with Yogurt

2010-07-05T13:59:00.000-07:00

I found this recipe in my Vegetarian Soups cookbook by Anne Sheasby. It's original title is Chilled Tomato and Basil-Flower Soup. But, I changed it-we liked it better warm, we didn't have basil flowers, and we slightly changed the ingredients and the directions. We absolutely loved this dish and served it with Greek Olive Ciabatta bread that we picked up at Breadsmith on Grand Avenue in St. Paul after church yesterday morning-a perfect combination-especially with fresh ingredients! This is by far better than my other tomato basil soup on this blog.

Ingredients:

1 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, finely chopped
3 garlic cloves, pressed
2 1/2 c vegetable stock
4 medium sized tomatoes
20 fresh basil leaves
1 tsp balsamic vinegar
1 1/2 tbsp lemon juice
2/3 c plain yogurt (one lunch box sized cup)

Directions:

Heat the oil in a pan and add the finely chopped onion and garlic. Fry the onion and garlic in the oil for 2-3 minutes until soft and transparent, stirring occasionally.
Add 1 1/4 c of the vegetable stock and the chopped tomatoes to the pan. Bring to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer the mixture for 15 minutes. Stir it occasionally to prevent it from sticking to the base of the pan.
Allow the mixture to cool slightly , then transfer it to a food processor and process until smooth. Press through a sieve placed over a bowl to remove the tomato skins and seeds.
Return the mixture to the food processor and add the remainder of the stock, half the basil leaves, the vinegar, lemon juice and yogurt. Process until smooth. Pour into a bowl and serve either warm or chilled (we prefer warm).

Sea Salt

2010-07-03T13:40:00.001-07:00

Today we went on a bike ride beginning at the Farmer's Market in the Mill City Ruins, along the lakes-Calhoun, Harriet and Nakomis, to Minnehaha Falls, where we ate ate delicious seafood at the restaurant Sea Salt. The top picture shows our two plates (crab cake sandwich and an oyster po boy) along with some refreshing beers. The bottom picture is us on July 2nd, 2006 right after Doug proposed, four years ago yesterday- a fitting trip for us this week. We then biked back impressed by Minneapolis's excellent bike trails/paths to take advantage of.

The Fruits of the Season

2010-06-25T20:04:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, I was able to pick the first black raspberries from my bushes that I planted last year! They are abundant and I'm excited for more (this is the first of the crop). I was just listening to a podcast on ancient faith radio by Fr. Meletios Webber "Finding God in the Ordinary," (which you can access by clicking here) in which he mentions the apostles fast and how it keeps us finding God in this ordinary in this extraordinary long fast period. I think it's fitting that the black raspberries bloom during this time period-something ordinary, but beautiful and delicious when avoiding animal products.

Pizza on the Farm

2010-06-23T06:35:00.000-07:00

Yesterday afternoon I went with my girlfriends on a venture to a pizza farm in Stockholm, WI (an hour and 45 minute drive from the cities). It was worth the drive! They are only open one night a week-Tuesdays and they grow all their ingredients! You have to come prepared for a picnic-you create your own table and supply drinks, plates, and utensils. We shared 1 basil pesto pizza and one Italian sausage, both of which were amazing with mouth watering fresh flavors! We spent our entire evening there eating, drinking our wine and walking the farm watching the sun set. Click here for another write up on it by Heavy Table.

Bacon-wrapped Shrimp with Basil-garlic Stuffing

2010-06-15T06:22:00.000-07:00

This was a dish I made for my dad's birthday meal a month ago. This dish gave me a pure food high-it was a delicate, but extremely rich flavor to savor. The dish was a bit putzy, but simple enough-and completely worth twice the labor for the taste!

I came across the recipe here . The only adaptations were of course extra garlic, and we used medium sized shrimp because that's what we had on hand. Also, for the sauce, we used Lawry's Caribbean Jerk sauce-which was absolutely perfect!

Gazpacho with Avocado Salsa

2010-06-13T17:18:00.000-07:00

While we were at the farmer's market a couple weeks ago, we also bought some fresh produce that we decided to put to good use! We made a light and delicious dinner of gazpacho soup with avocado salsa and a side of our favorite garlic sourdough bread from the Mill City Farmer's Market. The recipe is adapted from a book I recently found Vegetarian Soups by Anne Sheasby (Sheasby's recipe was more complicated). I've been looking for more vegetarian soups than minestrone, vegetable medley or black bean-and I find this book to have many tasty soup ideas! This would also make an excellent side dish or appetizer on a hot summer's day. If your tongue is sensitive, beware-the chilis in this dish make it quite spicy (we also used a bit extra than this recipe calls for).

Gazpacho Ingredients:

4 medium sized tomatoes
1 cucumber
1 red (bell) pepper, halved, seeded and chopped
1 fresh green chili, seeded and chopped
3-4 cloves garlic, chopped
2 tbsp olive oil
juice of 1 lime
juice of 1 lemon
a few drops of Tabasco sauce
handful of basil leaves

Avocado Salsa Ingredients:

1 ripe avocado
1 tsp lemon juice
1 in piece cucumber, died
1/2 red chili, seeded and finely chopped

Directions:

Place the tomatoes in a bowl and cover with boiling water. Leave for 30 seconds, then peel off the skin, remove the seeds and finely chop the flesh
Thinly peel the cucumber, cut it in half lengthwise and scoop out the seeds with a teaspoon. Discard the inner part and chop the flesh.
Place the tomatoes, cucumber, red pepper, chili, garlic, olive oil, citrus juices and Tabasco in a food processor or blender and blend until well combined but still chunky. Season with salt to taste. Chill for 2-3 hours (we chilled it for about a half hour and it was fine).
Just before serving, make the avocado salsa. Halve the avocado, remove the pit, then peel and dice. Toss the avocado in the lemon juice to prevent it from browning, then place in a serving bowl and add the cucumber and chill. Mix well and serve on top of the gazpacho!

Sts Peter and Paul Fast

2010-06-13T17:12:00.000-07:00

In the Orthodox Faith, we are currently in the middle of the Sts Peter and Paul Fast. This fast is unique in that the length of the fast changes from year to year. The Orthodox Church observes this fast that begins the Monday after the Sunday of All Saints. It is always one week after the Sunday of Pentecost, so the length of this fast changes each year depending on when Pascha is. This year the fast started May 31st and goes through June 29th. June 29th is the feast day of the apostles. Check out this website for more information by clicking here.

However, because I have not had the time to post as much lately, I will be inserting non-fasting posts as well, from meals I've made pre-Sts Peter and Paul fast :) Enjoy!

Celebration Beer, Belgian Stlye!

2010-06-11T06:07:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was my last day teaching high school for the school year. These past couple weeks involved crabby students, very early mornings and late evenings trying to stay on top of all the activities. I am tired, and my lovely husband had this delicacy waiting for me to enjoy on my first night without papers to grade-nothing like a tasty beer to gladden the heart :)

Westvleteren 12. This bottle can only be found through a visit and appointment with a monastery in Belgium. Actually, it's a place where we are headed this summer (stay tuned for an upcoming travel blog). We plan on riding a bike to this monastery in the middle of the country to have this very beer with some of their home made cheese! Hopefully the weather will allow this to happen when we are there.

A deep mahogany body with a dark fruit flavor (raisin, plum balanced with a healthy dose of an unidentified warm spice aroma). It is warming without being hot (a perfect comfort beer for the end of a long year) and robust while remaining airy! Truly delicious!

Farmers Market Trout Salad

2010-05-29T19:12:00.000-07:00

Today we made it to both the Minneapolis Farmers Market and the Mill City Farmers Market (Shown above). Both places make my mouth water and it is hard to leave. Last year we used our purchases to make a trout salad and we have been craving it ever since! So, we made it again. It was just as good as last year, more prep work and money than we would usually spend on a home made meal, but it was well worth it! Each fresh taste blends together perfectly, providing a great food high.

The beer pairing with Merry Monk's Belgian did not complement it as well as we hoped, but it was tasty, none-the-less.

Salad Ingredients:

arugula
lettuce
sliced radishes
sliced grape tomatoes
garden herb mantary jack cheese
garden fresh basil
smoked trout
thinly sliced red onion
chopped boiled asparagus
citrus thyme

Dressing Ingredients:

4 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp white wine vinegar
1 tbsp lemon juice
2 tsp horseradish sauce

Directions

Mix all the salad ingredients (or some of them) in a bowl to serve.
Whisk together dressing ingredients in a separate bowl, pour over the salad and serve!

Salmon & Lemon Basil Marinade

2010-05-20T19:30:00.000-07:00

I was craving fish like crazy last weekend, so amidst our busy weekend we took a couple hours to both prepare dinner and eat it before chaperoning high school prom. We headed to Cub and picked out some juicy looking salmon. I tried to find a good recipe for marinade, but became frustrated and made up my own. As a side dish, we chopped some veggies, basted them in oil and ate them on the side-a perfect complement. Here is the recipe for the marinade that I used:

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon honey
2 tbsp white wine
1 tbsp lemon
2 tbsp basil, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 tbsp olive oil

Directions:

Mix the ingredients in a plastic, zip lock bag. Immerse the fish in it and place in the refrigerator for at least one hour, turning the fish occasionally.
Make sure to put as much marinade on the fish as possible while you grill-we continually basted.

Strawberry-Rhubarb Compote

2010-05-16T18:35:00.000-07:00

I transplanted my grandpa's rhubarb into my garden last year so I've had to wait a year to pick it for the first time. So, naturally, because the rhubarb was the first thing that popped in my garden, I have been very excited to eat it.

I couldn't resist the bright red rising from the dirt, so decided last week to make strawberry-rhubarb compote instead of rhubarb-strawberry (due to lack of rhubarb, which I probably should have let grow more before harvesting).

I used the recipe from my book (a recent read) French Women for all Seasons-only reversed the recipe it so that it was more strawberry heavy than rhubarb, which ended up working very well! The rhubarb was a perfect accent-very sweet and delicate! Below is my adapted recipe:

Ingredients:

1/3 c sugar
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1 tbsp lemon juice
8 very small stalks of rhubarb, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
2 cups strawberries, washed, drained and sliced

Directions:

Combine the sugar and cinnamon. Put the lemon juice into a saucepan with 1/4 cup water and the rhubarb. Stir in the sugar-cinnamon mixture. Cover and cook over low heat until tender (app. 10 minutes).
Add the strawberries, and cook a few more minutes.

Serve cold with yogurt, or warm either by itself, with whip cream, or our favorite-over vanilla ice cream!!!!

Chinese Dumplings!

2010-05-14T14:40:00.000-07:00

These pictures are from an awesome dumpling dinner we had a couple weeks ago with our good friends Ryan and Mona. Our whole dinner was dumplings, which Mona prepared three different ways: fried, steamed and boiled. There were two different kids of mixture in the dumplings-one was beef and cilantro and the other had pork and tomatoes.

Because Mona had it all prepared it was easy for us to help. We simply stuffed the dough with the premixed raw meat, pinching the ends closed. Then Mona cooked them and served.

Doug and I enjoyed the fried beef dumplings best-what a filling and delicious meal!

Flatout Wrap Pizza

2010-05-11T17:43:00.000-07:00

This recipe was completely inspired by my coworker, Michelle. She has been eating amazing healthy foods and discovered Flatout Bread on her journey (you can see the website for Flatout here). Turns out it's a healthy bread that can make for some delicious pizza!

Here is the recipe Michelle provided me with that I made last week, which is a healthier version than the second recipe, which I created tonight with my left-over veggies. My mouth is re-watering just writing about it. I made a second one to set aside for lunch tomorrow :)

The Recipe Michelle Uses:

Serving Size: 1 person
Ingredients:

1 piece of Flatout bread (Italian or multigrain)
1/3 c Heart Healthy Tomato Sauce
1/4 c chopped onions
1/4 c chopped mushrooms
1/2 c maxed of mozzarella cheese
1 tsp garlic, minced

Directions:

Bake the bread alone on a baking sheet in the oven for 7 minutes at 350 degrees.
Take out the bread and layer the bread first with sauce and then the toppings.
Bake the bread with the toppings in the oven for 13 minutes at 350 degrees.

Health Concern:
(Michelle claims that this have 13g fat, 39.1carbs, 28.8gprotein, and 355 calories) Try to eat just one!

My Recipe:

Serving Size: 1 person
Ingredients:

1 piece of Flatout bread (multigrain)
1/3 c Homemade basil pesto
1/4 c chopped green onions
1/4 c chopped mushrooms
4 grape tomatoes, sliced
1 very small handful of goat cheese crumbs

Directions:

Bake the bread alone on a baking sheet in the oven for 7 minutes at 350 degrees.
Take out the bread and layer the bread first with pesto and then the toppings.
Bake the bread with the toppings in the oven for 13 minutes at 350 degrees.

A Mother's Hands

2010-05-09T17:41:00.000-07:00

One of my many quirks include the admiration of hands. A hand can tell a lot about someone-the work they do, their mannerisms, their anxiety, and the list goes on.

I chose to honor a mother's hands today because I believe that in addition to being one of the essential tools in cooking, they are also an expression of the heart.

This picture depicts my mother's hands right before my marriage ceremony. These hands are extemely gentle, careful and the fingernails are slightly chewed from the natural worries of a mother.

God's love pours through these hands-like Him, she holds onto us throughout our life. "Do not fear, for I am with you, do not be afraid for I am your God. I will strengthen you, I will help you. I will uphold you with my victorious right hand. Yes, all who are incensed against you shall be ashamed and disgraced. For I, the Lord your God, hold your right hand; it is I who says to you "Fear not, I will help you" (Isaiah 41:10).

My favorite meals and treats made by my mother:

Chocolate Chip Meringues
Homemade Ruben Sandwiches-she had the perfect touch with these!
Leg of Lamb
Russian Tea Cakes

Cinco de Mayo

2010-05-06T05:12:00.000-07:00

So, it's the day after Cinco de Mayo and we didn't actually have this meal yesterday, but we did have this meal last week. It's more of a Mexican-wanna-be recipe, but tasty none-the-less. My only complaint is that it felt like it was too putzy. In the end, however, we did have delicious leftovers and satisfied tummies ;)

Thinking about Mexico in general reminds me of our trip again a year ago in Cabo Pulmo-it's fun to remember trips like that. The picture above is from a day trip into Santiago, an oasis town in Baja Mexico that has a fresh water waterfall-you can see it in the background. We went for a swim in that small water hole, where you could swim right under the falls. It was probably the most refreshing dip I've ever had!

Enchiladas Verdes
Ingredients:

1 lb boneless, skinless chicken tenderloins
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 tsp salt
5 flour tortillas
1 c onion
1 c mushroom, chopped
1 15 oz can black beans (Kaners with Cumin and Chile Spices)
1 c black olives, sliced
2 tbs olive oil
1 tsp sea salt
1 tsp dried oregano
4 c enchilada sauce (Old El Paso)
1 8oz can green Mexican salsa (La Costena)
Non-stick spray
5 tortillas (click here to see the recipe I used to make my own, otherwise our favorite store bought ones are Ready-to-cook Flour Tortillas, El Burrito Mercado-found at your local Cub)

Directions:

Place chicken and salt in a medium saucepan. Add enough water to cover by at least an inch. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat. Simmer until chicken is cooked through (approximately 15 minutes).
Let chicken cool on a plate. When cool enough to handle, shred.
Coarsely chop 1/2 c cilantro and toss with chicken.
Saute the mushrooms, onion, and garlic. Add salt and oregano.
In a large mixing bowl, combine the chicken, beans, olives, and mushrooms.
In a separate bowl, put the enchilada sauce.
Use non-stick spray to lightly coat a large ovenproof baking dish.
Cook your tortillas in a fry pan on medium heat until done on both sides. You are now ready to roll your enchiladas.
Dip a tortilla into the sauce bowl, covering it on both sides. Then fill with chicken and bean mixture and roll up the tortilla. Place it in the baking dish, seam side down. Continue until all five are finished. After all the tortillas are filled and rolled in the baking dish, cover with the remaining red sauce and vegetables. Spread the green salsa over the dish.
Bake in the oven at 350 degrees for 25 minutes with the dish uncovered.

Black Bean Avocado Salad
Click here to see the recipe I used. When you get a ripe enough avacado, it really melts into the mixture for a great flavor. This makes a good side dish to the enchiladas.

Reflections:

I think it would be exciting to make your own Verde sauce, but I was already complaining at the time and effort put into this meal-however, it is something to consider.
Good beer pairing: Southampton Saison!

Seven Basil Pesto Pasta

2010-05-03T15:59:00.000-07:00

We have an aero garden that allows us to grow herbs productively all year round. Currently we are well into our basil production and this recipe allows for a very tasty way to use basil pesto. Because we had a handful of kalamata olives leftover, along with half a bag of pine nuts and some medium shell pasta, we were able to cook this meal during our busy weeks without grocery shopping.

Basil Pesto:

Ingredients:

2 cloves garlic, minced
3 cups fresh basil
2 tablespoons pine nuts
¾ c olive oil
2 tablespoons lemon juice

Directions:

Blend all together in a food processor. Add salt to taste.

Pasta:

Instructions:

Cook Medium Shell Pasta According to instructions.
Saute onions in a small amount of oil in a frying pan.
Heat pesto in a fry pan until hot. Add onions.
Pour Pesto mixture over pasta. Sprinkle with sliced kalamata olives and parmesan cheese if you have some.

Serve with some wine and bread if you have it!

BASIL PESTO TIP:

I just recently learned from Doug's co-worker, who learned from Rachel Ray that you can freeze basil pesto and pop it out of ice cube trays for later use. I have been doing this with my extra basil and just put some ice cubes on some pasta today and heated it up for my lunch-it works!

Venison Sausage

2010-04-28T15:51:00.000-07:00

This was one of our freezer items during the two weeks of an almost empty fridge (a gift from Doug's dad during hunting season). It was a perfect Sunday evening meal when still recovering from a late Saturday night.

My brother happened to be over and I was apologizing profusely that we had nothing to offer when these were found in the back of the freezer. It turned out to be a meal that my brother was thrilled about and even cooked himself (he took over "host duty"). He boiled them until cooked and then simply fried them in some olive oil until golden. A beautiful flavor! We ate them on a bun, but it wasn't necessary-they were flavorful enough.

Although, we hadn't been grocery shopping in a while, we did manage to still have plenty of beer on stock-a great companion for the sausage-Brooklyn Black Ops!

Polpo Alla Griglia

2010-04-27T19:17:00.000-07:00

I have not posted in a while due the sheer business of life. In fact, I've cooked very little in the past couple of weeks and did no grocery shopping until yesterday. After this post, I will post some random meals I scrounged for during that time just for kicks :)

Doug's birthday was last weekend, so there was no need to cook, but rather a desire to venture out and try some fine dining. We went to the Butcher Block Restaurant in Nordeast right across from Surdyk's. There we found the most amazing mouth watering appetizer we have ever had. Polpo Alla Griglia-grilled octopus! I never imagined that octopus could be so tender and flavorful. We would like to go back and just have octopus for a meal rather than an appetizer.

Pascha Leftovers: Potato Salad

2010-04-11T19:40:00.000-07:00

By the end of Bright week, we usually still have left over ham and eggs, but are done with the eating of ham sandwiches. Potato salad seemed the perfect solution to free us from our leftovers in a new fashion! Below is a created recipe developed after speaking to my mom and trying to use what I had in the fridge. All of the ingredients were leftovers except the celery and potatoes! It made for an excellent salad, but could have been a bit creamier (either by adding more sour cream or Miracle Whip).

We also opened the freezer to see what meat we had left-over before Lent started and decided to pull out the ground lamb, which makes for excellent lamb patties, which we ate with the potato salad (ignore the burst of flame in the picture, not sure how Doug managed that one-but it lights up the salad well). Lamb patties are prepared the same as burgers, except I added Greek seasoning and instead of ketchup, mint jelly is far more complimentary on the bun.

We were able to enjoy our meal outside today! Wonderful weather-a truly beautiful evening!

Ingredients:

4 large potatoes
6 hard boiled eggs
3 stalks of celery, chopped
1/2 red onion, chopped
1/2 c chopped or shredded cooked ham
1 c shredded basil leaves
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 c sour cream
2/3 c Miracle Whip
2 tbsp Dijon mustard
1/2 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper
1 tsp paprika

Directions:

Boil the potatoes with the skins on for approximately 20 minutes. Take potatoes out and set aside until cool to touch.
Chop potatoes and eggs (all except 1 egg) and place in serving bowl.
Add ham, basil, celery, onion, garlic, sour cream, miracle whip, mustard, salt and pepper to the mix
Sprinkle with paprika and last remaining egg (sliced) for presentation.
Chill until ready to serve.

Kulich-Pascha Bread

2010-04-06T06:35:00.000-07:00

This is a hard bread to make, simply because you need to time it correctly. In the past, I have done it Friday night and set my alarm for various times throughout the night to get up and need the bread after the rises. I have also done it on Friday during the day and gone home between services to need the bread between the rises. This year I was able to begin it on Thursday afternoon and worked on it from 4pm-11pm, allowing for a nights sleep before the long evenings ahead.

Although doing it throughout the night on Friday can be a pain as you are trying to get some rest from fasting and preparing for the long service and all-nighter on Saturday, it is very fitting to do it Friday night as it is a similar action of remaining watchful throughout the night- a chance to get up, prepare the bread and say a few prayers between.

Ingredients:
1 1/2 pkg dry yeast
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
1/2 c sweet butter
1 c sugar
Lemon glaze
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
1/2 c lukewarm water
1/2 c milk
3 eggs
2 tsp grated lemon peel
4 1/2 c flour

Directions:

Dissolve yeast and sugar in water
Over medium heat, blend butter and mild
Beat room-temperature eggs umtil thick.
Gradually beat in sugar, lemon peel, vanilla, salt, yeast and milk mixture. Slowly add 2 1/2 c flour. Beat 5 minutes with electric mixer until smooth.
Add remaining flour and knead on floured board until smooth. Place in greased bowl, cover and set in warm place until doubled in bulk (about 3 hours).
Punch down, knead out air bubbles, divide to bake in 2 small bowls. Grease bowls very well. Add dough, cover and set in warm place until doubled in bulk (2 1/2-3 hours).
Bake at 325 degrees on lowest rack for 50-60 minutes. Cover top with foil if it browns too quickly.
Let stand in bowls 10 minutes, then ease out of bowls. Cool sideways on rack, turning to keep shape. When cool, stand up, ice with lemon glaze and top with four leaves of basil in the shape of a cross.

In the past, I have also added golden raisins to the recipe. Raisins provide great extra sweetness and flavor, however, they tend to also create air holes in the bread and make it a bit more crumby.

Cheese Paskha

2010-04-06T06:20:00.000-07:00

This is the first dish I made for the Paschal season, and I made it on Thursday to allow the mold to set before dishing it out on Sunday. It is easy to spread and goes great on a ham sandwich made with kulich. Many of these recipees call for almonds to be mixed in, but I adapt the recipe due to the allergies in my family (I do, however, outline the cheese mold with whole almonds for decoration that can be picked off).

Ingredients:
1 lb unsalted sweet butter
1 1/2 c sugar
1 vanilla bean (5-8 inches long)
7 hard-cooked egg yolks, sieved
4 2/3 c large-curd cottage cheese
1/2 c golden raisens
1/2 c marachino cherries
2 tsp lemon juice
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp grated lemon peel
1/8 tsp salt
2/3 c whipping cream
2/3 c dairy sour cream
2 pkgs whole almonds
Purple Basil leaves, if desired

Directions:

Line 2 1/2 quart paskha mold with double-thickness damp cheesecloth, letting cheesecloth hang over edge 3 inches.
Cream butter and sugar in large mixer bowl until light and fluffy. Split vanilla bean. Remove seeds; mince pod. Stir seeds and pod into butter mixture; beat at medium speed 1 minute.
Beat egg yoks and cottage cheese into butter mixture. Stir in lemon juice, vanilla extract, cherries, raisins, vanilla extract, lemon peel and salt.
Whip cream in chilled bowl.
Fold whipped cream and sour cream into cottage cheeses mixture; spoon into prepared mold. Fold overhanging cheesecloth over cheese mixture; cover with lid. Elevate mold for drainage in shallow pan. Place wight on lid; refrigerate until firm, at least 24 hours.
Unmold cheese mixture onto serving platter; remove cheesecloth. Decorate with whole almonds and basil leaves.

Christ is Risen! Indeed He is Risen!

2010-04-06T06:09:00.000-07:00

After the midnight service which goes until approximately 3am, the priest blesses our baskets full of the food we gave up for Lent. Here is our basket awaiting the blessing-some of it still wrapped to help it keep through the long service.

After the blessing, everyone sits down to eat and shares the traditional foods-a favorite is always to find who has the most powerful horseradish :) It is a time of fellowship and Joy in honor of the feast.

I will share some of these recipes for you in the next posts.

Pascha Preparations

2010-03-30T08:03:00.000-07:00

The first three days of Holy Week, we have "Bridegroom Services," which are services full of watchful anticipation of what is to come on Sunday. The Troparion, sung in the service has words that best express the emotion:

Behold, the Bridegrom comes at midnight,

and blessed is the servant whom He shall find watching;

and again, unworthy is the servant whom He shall find heedless.

Beware, therefore, O my soul, do not be weighted down with sleep,

lest you be given up to death

and lest you be shut out of the Kingdom!

But rouse yourself, crying: “Holy, holy, holy, are You, O our God!”

Through the Theotokos have mercy on us!

This week, we work to be mindful of ourselves so that we may be ready to receive Christ in his resurrection.

While we endure this spiritual journey we also experience it physically through fasting-eating very little this week. This coincides with the preparations we make around the home and with the food as we ready for the big feast. Food directly relates to the spiritual experience as we feast on the feasts of feasts: Pascha.

I went grocery shopping yesterday and it is thrilling to see my fridge full of dairy and meat so that I may begin the cooking this week. I believe that the food always tastes exceptional on Pascha, not only because you haven't eaten those foods for a long time, but also because I don't know any other time of year in which the food is cooked with such thought and love. We work to prepare our baskets symbolically and tastefully to please our relatives and friends at an agape meal.

Preparations for this Pascha feast always starts before Lent with the making of the sausage. It is tradition for the men to gather and perform this task. I thought I would post a picture of this sausage extravaganza to show the amount of work that went into it, courtesy of Doug (I've never done it, so no recipes!). This is usually everyone's favorite thing to first indulge in on Pascha with a bit of horseradish!

Greek Shrimp Salad

2010-03-28T18:24:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, we had sushi in honor of Lazarus Saturday (a fish, wine and oil day in the Lenten Fast) and we discovered yet another trick! We cooled the rice quicker by fanning it with a traditional fan :)

Today, Palm Sunday, I found this recipe on the back of a bag of shrimp-tasty! It also called for pine nuts and feta cheese, which we didn't add, but would probably be great. We served it with fresh bread and some dipping oil.

Ingredients:

1 lb cooked shrimp, tails removed
1 c chopped cucumber
1 c grape tomatoes, halved
1 c kalamata olives, halved
1 c chopped red onion
1/2 c Greek Vinaigrette Dressing

Directions:
Mix all in a bowl!

Felafel with Tomato Salsa

2010-03-25T18:24:00.000-07:00

This is a filling meal of pita bread and toppings of felafel, salsa and hummus. The Salsa recipe came from my Delicious Vegetarian Food book by bay books, but it has several of my adaptations to it. The pita bread and hummus recipes are both products of looking at various recipes for ideas and also using cost-effective ingredients. Enjoy!

Salsa
Ingredients:

2 tomatoes
1/2 cucumber, chopped
1/2 green pepper, chopped
2 tbsp chopped fresh parsley
1 tsp sugar
1 tbsp sriracha sauce
1/2 tsp lemon zest
2 tbsp lemon juice

Directions:

Place all the ingredients in a bowl and mix well.

Pita Bread
Ingredients:

1 tbsp active dry yeast
1 tsp sugar
2 tbsp olive oil
3/4 c warm water
3 c flour
1 tsp salt

Directions:

In one large bowl, add water, olive oil, yeast, salt and sugar. Let stand for five minutes
Put flour in a separate large bowl
Using your hands, gradually add wet ingredients to the flour and knead with your hands until dough comes together. Cover and leave in a warm spot for about 30 minutes.
Divide dough into six pieces and roll out into 8-10 inch rounds that are about 1/4 inch thick.
Baste both sides of rolled dough pieces with olive oil. Fry the bread in a hot skillet on both sides until browned.

Hummus
Ingredients:

1 tbsp lemon juice
1 15.5 oz can chick peas, drained
1 1/2 big spoons of Tahini (in my case it was an Asian ground sesame substitute, which worked fine too and was much less expensive!)
4 cloves garlic
salt

Directions:

Blend ingredients together using a food processer.
Add oil to make it more smooth if necessary and a small amount of water.
Garnish with kalamata olives and basil :)

Felafel
Ha! For this I cheated and bought a pre-made mix in the foreign section at Cub in a box :)

Eggplant and Cilantro Tostadas

2010-03-25T18:16:00.000-07:00

I promised to post the recipe that was my side dish with the portabello mushroom sandwiches. Here is the recipe with adaptations from my Delicious Vegetarian Food cookbook by bay books.

Ingredients:

1/4 eggplant, chopped
3/4 red pepper, chopped
1/2 red onion, cut into thin wedges
2 large cloves garlic, minced
2 tbsp olive oil
1 french baguette (or bread of your choice)
1 small ripe tomato, chopped
2 tbsp chopped fresh mint
2 tbsp chopped fresh cilantro
2 oz slivered almonds, toasted

Directions:

Preheat oven to 475 degrees. Place the eggplant, pepper, onion and oil in a large bowl and mix until the vegetables are well coated in the oil. Spread the vegetables in a single layer in a large baking pan. Bake for 15 minutes then turn and bake for 10 minutes, or until tender. Transfer to a bowl, add the garlic and season.
Bake the bread Add the tomatoes and herbs to the vegetables
Spoon the vegetable mixture onto the bread and sprinkle with the almonds. Serve immediately.

Reflections:

We ran out of bread, but the leftovers made a great side-dish salad for lunch during the week :)

Portabello Mushroom Sandwich

2010-03-22T19:16:00.000-07:00

About a year ago, Doug and I attempted to make a delicious portabello mushroom sandwich, but our attempt ingrained the experience of rotting wine and squeaky oil texture into our memories and we have been tortured by the thought of re-creating it ever since.

But this time, it worked!!! It is actually one of the best portabello sandwiches we've had. Here is the recipe:

Ingredients (to serve 2):

2 Portabello mushrooms
2 buns (bakery style is best)
1 avacado
spinach leaves
1/2 red onion, cut into thin wedges
1/2 red pepper, chopped
2 tbsp oil
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar

Directions:

Fry up red onion and pepper into a fry pan in 1 tbsp oil. When they are almost finished cooking, add 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar to mix.
Fry up Mushrooms in pan with 1 tbsp oil. make sure to do both sides until flattened.When they are are almost finished, add 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar.
Put all on bun according to taste, including sliced avocado and spinach leaves.
Add favorite condiments to taste.

Reflection:
We served this with a great spread on a baguette. I will give you the recipe soon, but for now you can see it in the picture :)

Vegan Pesto & Pasta Dish

2010-03-21T16:54:00.001-07:00

I found this recipe posted on a Facebook group here called "Orthodox Lenten Recipes." I followed it with a few adaptations including omitting sun dried tomatoes (which would be tasty, but also costly). We both enjoyed the blend of flavors and look forward to our leftovers.

Ingredients:

3 oz (minimum) fresh basil
3 cloves garlic
1/2 lemon juice container
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp capers
1 handful shelled walnuts
1 handful pine nuts

Directions:

Put all the ingredients in a food processor until blended. Serve over pasta of your choice.

Reflections:

We used Penne pasta because it was on hand. It was delicious, but twirly pasta would cling to the nut pieces better.
We also fried leftover chopped mushrooms and shallots in oil and some balsamic vinegar and added it to the pasta-a great addition.
Finally we sliced some kalamata olives that we had on hand-another paired flavor.

Vegan Dolmades

2010-03-21T12:29:00.000-07:00

This is one of my favorite dishes that I used to treasure on very occasional outings to Greek restaurants until I learned how to make it myself! It is very tasty and I look forward to making it with lamb after Pascha. I also would like to figure out the egg lemon sauce they usually serve it with in restaurants. Until then, this made an excellent surprisingly filling lunch. In the past when I have made it, it is accompanies other dishes, but for Lent, they are filling by themselves.

The following recipe is from a cookbook The Essential Mediterranean Cookbook with slight adaptations.

Ingredients:

1 jar of vine leaves in brine (there is a $4 jar at cub-avoid the $7 one!)
1 c medium grain rice
1 small onion, finely chopped
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 oz pine nuts, toasted
2 tbsp currants
2 tbsp chopped fresh dill (we did not use this time to save money and it tasted fine)
1 tbsp finely chopped fresh mint
1 tbsp finely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
1/3 c olive oil
2 tbsp lemon juice
2 c vegetable stock

Directions:

Soak the vine leaves in cold water for 15 minutes, then remove and pat dry. Cut off any stems. Reserve some leaves to line the saucepan and discard any that have holes or look poor. Meanwhile, soak the rice in boiling water for 10 minutes to soften, then drain.
Place the rice, onion, olive oil, pine nuts, currants, herbs and salt and pepper, to taste, in a large bowl and mix well.
Lay some leaves vein-side down on a flat surface. Place filling in center of each, fold the stalk end over the filling, then the left and right sides into the center, and finally roll firmly towards the tip. Repeat with the remaining filling and leaves.
Use the reserved vine leaves to line the base of a large, heavy-based saucepan. Drizzle with 1 tbsp olive oil. Add the dolmades, packing them tightly in one layer, then pour the remaining oil and lemon juice over them.
Pour the stock over the dolmades and cover most-way to stop the dolmades moving around while cooking. Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat and simmer, covered, for 45 minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon. Serve warm or cold.

St. Patrick's Day

2010-03-17T19:30:00.000-07:00

Okay.....So we broke the vegan & vegetarian diet today. My mom's Irish heritage called for a day to recognize St. Patrick.

We enjoyed a home-cooked (way to go mom!) traditional feast of cabbage and corned beef with some side dishes of potatoes, carrots, and Irish Soda bread. My contribution was the soda bread, a recipe I've been using the past couple years that came from combining ideas and adding new ones along the way.

Beer pairing: Doug picked out Summit's Unchained #3 India Rye Ale, which was an excellent match with the corned beef!

Irish Soda Bread:

Ingredients:

1 c raisins/currants
1 1/2 c water
2 c all-purpose flour
1/3 c granulated sugar
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp baking soda
3 tbs cold butter
1 c sour cream
1 large egg, beaten
1 tbsp melted butter
cinnamon-sugar blend

Directions:

Preheat oven and grease and flour a 9 x 5 inch loaf pan
Blend flour, 1/3 c sugar, baking powder, soda and cold butter with hands until mixture is like meal.
In a mixing bowl, whisk sour cream & egg together, stir into dry mixture just until moistened. Carefully fold in raisins/currants.
Transfer into prepared pan. Bake for 35-45 minutes, until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pan for 10 minutes; turn out onto a rack.
Brush with melted butter and sprinkle with cinnamon-sugar blend.

Below is the Kontakian for St. Patrick:

From slavery you escaped to freedom in Christ's service:
He sent you to deliver Ireland from the devil's bondage.
You planted the Word of the Gospel in pagan hearts.
In your journeys and hardships you rivaled the Apostle Paul!
Having received the reward for your labors in heaven,
Never cease to pray for the flock you have gathered on earth,
Holy bishop Patrick!

You can find out more about him by clicking here.

Veggies in Curry over Rice

2010-03-17T19:22:00.000-07:00

This meal we made late Monday evening is a favorite meal of ours throughout the year with multiple variations. This time we simply prepared rice, cooked some chopped veggies (green peppers, onions, garlic, mushrooms) in oil until tender. Then we added the shrimp to the dish with the coconut curry sauce (from Target, Archer Farms brand).

In the past we've really enjoyed a Thai Green Curry Jar from Trader Joe's. They make for simple meals in which you can use your favorite veggies or whatever is on hand-an excellent Vegan Lenten dish!

Enchilada Awakenings

2010-03-14T20:04:00.001-07:00

Today we made the vegan enchiladas again, and again they were delicious, only this time I made my own tortillas from scratch (yes, there are papers in the background....all of which still need to be corrected!). The tortillas were good, except I cheated and used some margarine to create them. Click here to find the tortilla recipe I followed.

Doug also took one of the extra tortillas and made chips out of it by frying it in oil.....amazing!

This meal along with the beautiful weather today reminded Doug and I about our trip last year during spring break to Cabo Pulmo, Mexico-a secluded vacation spot with an amazing reef in rural Mexico. One afternoon we went to a nearby local's home where a lady named El Vira sold homemade food. The only complication was that to order them we had to speak Spanglish which was translated through her 8 year old grandson, who also did not know English. We had no idea what we really ordered, especially when she reacted very confused when we tried to say "no meat" in our enchiladas-but it worked! We had the most delicious bean enchilades from her kitchen. I have no picture of them, but below is a lovely day from that trip.

Kimchi and Ramen

2010-03-07T12:44:00.000-08:00

This is a quick lunch Doug and I threw together after church today (the flowers were handed out in church today for Sunday of the Holy Cross). It is a simple dish of Ramen noodles topped with kimchi. We found the kimchi at the local grocery store, but kimchi is at its best when you have it homemade (we'll have to do that sometime!). It is a quick and tasty meal (think back to your college days!). To avoid beef broth, don't use the season packets when making the Ramen, simply add soy sauce to the noodles instead.

Clay Pot Eggplant and Mushrooms

2010-03-06T18:03:00.000-08:00

Did you know that clay pot recipes can provide the perfect Lenten meals? Because of the way it cooks food with steam, it doesn't require any oil-so as long as you cook a meat and dairy-less meal, you are set!

This recipe was initially found when searching for vegan clay pot recipes online here. We followed the recipe, but made small changes including adding mushrooms and extra garlic. See the recipe below:

Ingredients:

1 medium eggplant, chopped into bite-sized cubes
5 cloves garlic, chopped
1 small onion, chopped
1 1/2 c chopped portabella mushrooms
1/4 c red wine
2 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp maple syrup
1 tsp corn starch

Directions:

Soac the clay pot in lukewarm water for 15 minutes. Do not pre-heat the oven.
Place everything into the clay pot except the cornstarch.
Place covered pot into oven on the lowest rack and turn the heat onto 450 degrees. After the pot has been in the oven for 1/2 hour, add the corn starch and stir. Keep the pot in the oven for 15 more minutes.
Serve and enjoy!

Reflections:
We enjoyed it. We're just not sure what to serve it with. We served it over rice, which was okay, but we believe there is something better out there to serve it with. Help us out if you can!

Tomato Couscous

2010-03-03T17:32:00.000-08:00

This recipe is from my mom (who found it in a random Nature Sweet Tomato Company pamphlet). She recommended adding the mushrooms and more tomatoes than the original recipe. I just added more garlic (as usual). Turned out to be delicious! In fact we couldn't stop eating it-especially Doug. Below is our recipe:

Ingredients:

3 c vegetable stock
1 1/2 c couscous (I just used the whole box)
1 tbsp olive oil
2 10 oz containers of grape tomatoes, halved
1 c mushrooms, chopped
1/4 c fresh spinach leaves, torn in small pieces
1/4 c chopped walnuts, toasted
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 shallot, minced
1 tbsp fresh chopped basil
course salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Directions:

Place stock in a large sauce pan over high heat. Bring to a boil and remove immediately from heat. Add couscous, stir and cover. Let stand 5 minutes or until liquid is absorbed.
Meanwhile, heat oil in a large saute pan over medium high heat. When hot, add tomatoes, mushrooms, spinach leaves, walnuts, garlic, and shallot. Saute for 3 minutes or until tomatoes start to soften. Add basil and toss well. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Fluff couscous with a fork and transfer to serving bowl. Add tomato mixture and gently combine. Serve at room temperature.

Serves 6.

Reflections:

This would be wonderful in the summer with the fresh garden tomatoes and basil alongside some grilled chicken or kofta kebabs.
Thanks mom!
My dad says this recipe is tastier on the second day....hooray for leftovers!

Lost Sheep

2010-03-02T17:21:00.000-08:00

I tried to cook a vegan Shepherd's pie yesterday...perhaps the title alone sets it up for failure-how can you have shepherd's pie without the sheep? Or maybe the Shepherd needs to gather better ingredients for her flock?

I will not post a picture of the dish because it is deceiving. It actually looked and sounded great, but the ingredients did not come together as well as hoped. I found the recipe here-the same website with the delicious enchiladas. The ingredients were all to my liking so I eagerly tried it, the only adaptations were not adding carrots and replacing it with corn.

I can't quite figure out how, if possible, to make this better. Is it possible to have successful mashed potatoes using soy milk? Is there another trick? I did not like the tomatoes as part of the dish, but I'm stumped at what else to add. If you have advice, please share.

Vegan Bean and Potato Enchiladas

2010-02-23T18:52:00.001-08:00

Mexican without cheese?! This is such an unheard of concept for Doug and I, but we finally found a recipe we approve of without it. I found the recipe here and it is truly delicious and filling. Here it is with our adapted ingredients:

Serves 5 (which may mean extra yummy leftovers for you!)

Ingredients:

5 flour tortillas (our favorite is Ready-to-cook flour Tortillas, El Burrito Mercado)
1 c of onions, chopped
2 potatoes
1 15oz can black beans (we used Kaners with Cumin and Chili spices)
1 c mushrooms, chopped
1 c black olives, sliced
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp sea salt
1 tsp dried oregano
2 c enchilada sauce, canned (we used Old El Paso)
2 c spaghetti sauce, from a jar (we used Hunts Classic Italian Zesty & Spicy)
1 8oz can green Mexican salsa (we used La Costena)
non-stick spray

Directions:

Peel the potatoes, cut into fourths and boil until almost done, but still firm.
While the potatoes are boiling, saute the onions and mushrooms in oil until onions are transparent. Add salt and oregano.
Dice the potatoes into small cubes.
In a large mixing bowl, combine the cooked potatoes, the beans, olives, mushrooms and sauteed onions.
In a separate bowl, combine the enchilada and spaghetti sauce and mix well.
Use non-stick spray to lightly coat a large ovenproof baking dish.
Cook your tortillas in a fry pan on medium heat until done on both sides. You are now ready to roll your enchiladas.
Dip a tortilla into the sauce bowl, covering it on both sides. Then fill with vegetable bean mixture and roll up the tortilla. Place it in the baking dish, seam side down. Continue until all five are finished.
After all the tortillas are filled and rolled in the baking dish, cover with the remaining red sauce and remaining vegetables.
Spread the green salsa over the dish.
Bake in the oven at 350 degrees for 25 minutes with the dish uncovered.

Reflections:
Doug thinks it was just fine, but I always enjoy extra spice to my food-perhaps chili peppers or jalapenos with the onions next time?

We served it with some avocado sprinkled with sea salt on the side.

Mean Woman Pasta

2010-02-21T18:28:00.000-08:00

I found this recipe last year during Lent and have made it several times throughout the year because I love the blend of flavors. Click here to see the recipe I found.

My adaptations:

I have used penne instead of buying the shells-and that works just fine too.
I have also sprinkled crumbled goat cheese on the top when it's not lent.
I have cut off the stems of the pepperoncinis, which makes it easier to eat and adds more spice to the pasta.

This recipe is a fabulous one to use for lunches during the week. The flavor gets stronger after a couple days instead of weaker. I highly recommend making it in bulk!

Vegan Udon Noodle Stir Fry

2010-02-20T05:49:00.000-08:00

Lenten Dish #1-inspired by a cookbook, but Doug and I were too picky about the vegetables being used. So, we modified it using the vegetables we enjoy and ended up changing the whole recipe. It also made for excellent leftovers during the week!

Ingredients:

2 packs of udon noodles
1 pkg extra firm tofu, cut into long, thin strips
6 scallions, cut into 2 inch lengths
1 yellow pepper, chopped
1 green pepper, chopped
1/4 cup fresh chopped basil
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 tbsp vegetable oil
2 tbsp soy sauce (preferably Japanese)
2 tbsp mirin
2 tbsp sesame seeds
1 tbsp fresh grated ginger

Directions:

Boil water. Once the water is boiling, add both packages of the udon noodles and cook for 6 minutes, or until tender. Drain and rinse under hot water.
Heat 1 tablespoon of the oil in a wok until hot, then add the tofu and one tablespoon of the soy sauce. Cook on medium heat until tofu begins to brown.
Add scallions, bell peppers, garlic, ginger and another tablespoon of oil. Stir fry until veggies are tender. Add the noodles, basil, remaining soy sauce and mirim. Sprinkle sesame seeds over dish and stir until well mixed.
Serve and enjoy!

*Tastes extra good when salted!

Lenten Break

2010-02-20T05:45:00.000-08:00

In Eastern Orthodox Christianity, we have begun the Great Fast. The recipes from here on will be vegan as many practicing Orthodox attempt to fast from both meat and dairy in preparation for Holy Pascha (Easter).

Feel free to contact me with recipes to help myself and others through the seemingly long Lenten fast!

If you are not Orthodox or vegan, don’t worry-the best recipes will come around Easter with the making of the traditional celebratory foods!

Click here for more information about Lent in the Orthodox Church.

Valentine's Day Dinner: Swordfish Sushi

2010-02-15T07:10:00.000-08:00

We began making our own sushi on occasion when we found out how simple and less expensive it is to make than order at a restaurant-especially when you buy the fish that is on sale at your local market. Another plus about making it at home is you actually get your fill of the sushi. To get full on sushi at a restaurant means you also have to spend a small fortune.

Since we haven't had sushi in a while, we thought it would be the perfect Valentine's Day meal. We had an enjoyable evening sitting at a table together eating sushi as we made it while listening to The Current's Valentine's Day selections, having great discussions while switching between wine and beer.

Ingredients:

3 c uncooked short grain sushi rice (the becomes app. 9 c of cooked rice)
1 c sushi vinegar with seasoning
1 1/2 tbs sesame seeds
1 cucumber peeled with the seeds scooped out, cut lengthwise and halved into 1 cm thick slices and sprinkled with sesame seeds.
1 avocado cut into long thin slices, salted with sea salt
1 pkg of nori sheets
1 tube wasabi paste
1 fillet (app. 3/4 lb) sashimi grade swordfish, cut into long strips of preferred thickness (we like them to be app. 1/4 - 1/2 inch thick, whatever we can fit into the wrap).
sushi soy sauce
you will also want a sushi mat (usually $3 at Cub)

*NOTE: This is too much rice and fish to make sushi. We always make extra to have some fish with just rice. If you don't want extra, use 2 c uncooked rice and less than 3/4 lb of swordfish.

Directions:

Make the rice according to the directions. When finished, mix in sushi vinegar. lay rice out on large plate. Cover with wet paper towels until cool.
Cut the nori sheets in half following the grain of the creased lines.
Lay one nori sheet on the sushi mat, rough side up.
Spread rice on top of sushi mat, leaving 1/2 inch of space on each end of the nori. It is easier to spread if you have a bowl of warm water next to you that you can dip your fingers in to handle the rice. There is a paddle option as well, but I find that it works best if I use my hands. Dip your fingers back into the bowl of water to remove some sticky rice from your hands.
Spread a dab of wasabi paste over the rice and arrange a slice of cucumber, avocado and swordfish in the center vertically in a row (see picture).
Dab both ends of the nori without rice with some water. This will help it seal.
Bring one end of the nori up and roll away from you around the cucumber, avocado and fish. Then continue to roll it using the mat, squeezing gently.
Slowly unwrap it and remove it from the mat. Cut into slices using a sharp knife.
Repeat the same process until you run out of ingredients.
To eat it, dip in bowl with mixed soy sauce and wasabi paste.

Reflections:

This would make an excellent vegan dish without the fish added to it. You could fill the sushi with your own favorite ingredients!
We have had this sushi with tuna before and truly prefer the tuna over the swordfish (we only bought the swordfish because it was on sale). The swordfish is a more delicate flavor, and is slightly fishier. We also noticed that it was a little tougher than tuna.

Chinese New Year

2010-02-13T22:16:00.001-08:00

Tonight we had an amazing dinner cooked by our close friend Mona, who always creates delicious food and each time she makes it, it is even more tasty. Having grown up in China she learned quite a few tricks from her mother in the kitchen.

One of my favorite dishes, which is in the picture of the table setting behind the dumplings is a stir-fry tofu-absolutely delicious. Here's the home recipe:

FRIED TOFU AND LEEKS

Ingredients:

Vegetable Oil
Oyster Sauce
Leeks, chopped into 1/2 inch pieces
Soft Tofu, cut into thin slices

Directions:

Fry the tofu in the vegetable oil until golden. Add the Oyster sauce and the leeks and fry until tofu is browned.

Veggie Panini with Avacado and Havarti

2010-02-09T19:26:00.000-08:00

Because this week is the last week to eat dairy products-I’m trying to use cheese as much as possible in my food choices. Below I found a delectable way to use Havarti cheese. This is my own recipe-enjoy!

Makes 1 sandwich:

Ingredients:

¼ avocado cut in thin slices
Fococcia bread (in this case it was Parmesan fococcia)
A few onion slices
2 Mushrooms, chopped
1 tbsp chopped olives
2 thin and small slices of a tomato
1 tbsp olive oil
2 thin slices of Harvarti cheese

Baste:

1 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp dried basil
1 clove garlic, minced

Directions:

In a small frying pan, fry onions and mushrooms in olive oil. Set aside when golden.
Spread chopped olives on one side of bread. Layer with avocado slices, tomato, slices of Havarti cheese, mushrooms and onions.
Create a baste by mixing olive oil, basil and garlic in a small bowl.
Baste the remaining bread on the inside. Close the sandwich. Baste the top and bottom of the sandwich to keep the bread from sticking to the Panini grill.
Grill using the Panini press and enjoy!

Beer and Cheese Snack

2010-01-31T18:44:00.000-08:00

My husband and I love our beer and we discovered a great pairing last night drinking Orval Trappist Ale-a delicious Belgian style beer, with Montenebro Spain, a funky ripe goat cheese (a spontaneous buy while bar hopping in Northeast at Surdyk's). Today we have it with Goose Island Matilda, another Belgian style beer, which works as a substitute, but not the same as that lovely Orval Trappist with its spectacular brettanomyces-a wild yeast flavor to go with the barnyard cheese flavor. This doesn't sound nearly as good as it tastes. Trust me and try it out!

Shepherd's Pie

2010-01-27T19:18:00.000-08:00

It was my mom's birthday today, so I made her my Shepherd's pie-a treat I compiled after visiting Ireland and tasting several different varieties and mixing my favorite ingredients.

The picture shows the side dish of parsnips....you can see the shepherd's pie next to the bread behind the Baileys. Next to the bread is also a horseradish cream sauce for the parsnips.

Ingredients:

-1 1/2 lbs ground lamb
-1 chopped onion
-1-2 c. chopped carrots
-3 big potatoes
-1 stick of butter
-1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
-salt & pepper
-1/2 c. Guinness
-1 can cream corn
-bread crumbs
-Parmesan cheese
-Paprika
-2 cloves of garlic, minced
-thyme and rosemary

Directions:

Peel and quarter potatoes, boil in salted water until tender
While boiling, melt 4 tbsp butter in large fry pan
Add half lamb and cook, stirring occasionally until well browned on all sides (app. 3 min). Remove the lamb from the pan and set aside in med. bowl. Heat remaining lamb and cook, stirring occasionally, until well-browned on all sides. Transfer the lamb into a bowl.
Reduce heat to medium and saute onions, garlic and carrots in butter until tender over medium heat. Stir in thyme, rosemary and browned lamb. Bring to boil, reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer till lamb is tender. Add beer as necessary to keep moist. Place mixture in baking dish.
Mash potatoes in a bowl with remainder of butter; season to taste. Add excess stock from meat.
Put can of corn on top of meat layer. Distribute mashed potatoes on top. Rough up with fork so there are peaks that will brown. Sprinkle with cheese, paprika and bread crumbs for crispy finish.
Cook in 400 degree oven until bubbling and brown (ap. 30 min). Broil for last few.

Results:
Not the first time I've made it....I love this meal! I did, however, manage to make the largest kitchen mess in history...I not only broke our coffee pot while trying to catch a mysterious flying jar from a top shelf, but I also managed to spill beer and splatter potatoes from a loose mixing pot bowl. It was a catastrophe mixed with all my other minor spills. I'm hoping I'll have this down some day!

Feta Veggie Quiche

2010-01-23T16:26:00.000-08:00

Here's a recipe for quiche that I made by combining several yummy looking recipes :)

Ingredients:

1 (9 inch) pie crust
4 eggs
1 cup milk
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
½ cup chopped onion
½ cup chopped fresh mushrooms
½ chopped green pepper
¼ cup crumbled Greek Feta
1 clove garlic, minced
¼ tsp salt
¼ tsp black pepper

Directions:

Preheat an oven to 450 degrees F. Line pie pan with pie crust, and place a double layer of aluminum foil over the crust. Bake in the preheated oven for 5 minutes, and then remove foil. Continue baking until crust begins to set, about 5 minutes; remove from oven. Reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees F.
Place on rack and let cool while preparing remaining ingredients.
In large skillet, melt butter. Add onion, green pepper and mushrooms. Sauté until vegetables are softened.
Add garlic, salt and pepper. Mix well. Remove from heat.
Spoon vegetables into crust.
Sprinkle with Feta crumbs.
Whisk together eggs, milk and flour. Pour over vegetables and cheese.
Season with salt and pepper.
Bake quiche at 350 degrees F for 40 minutes. Quiche is done when knife inserted in center comes out clean. Cover edges of crust with foil if crust begins to brown too quickly.

Reflections:
I skimped out on the crust and bought the cheapest I could find, so it didn't add to the flavor. This makes me wonder....what's a good quiche crust? I'm going to have to look into crust recipes. Also, next time I would chop the vegetables more fine in hopes for a better consistency! I'm also wondering what a good herb would be to top it off with...

Taste and See that the Lord is Good

2010-01-20T19:20:00.000-08:00

I have had the unfortunate experience of loosing three dear ones already this year, which has interestingly brought my attention to the comfort of food.

"To love good food is a measure of our love of life. Food preparation teaches us to do everything we can to make life palatable, spicy, comforting, full of love." (-unknown)

This quote was on the remembrance card of my dear great-aunt Jeanne last week. On the card was also a picture of her holding a beautiful delicious looking bunt cake. It reminded me that with loving hearts time is spent on a meal to make others happy. When we fast, we also give our food to others out of love. That love is an offering - a prayer, a sweetness that touches not only our hearts, but encompasses our physical senses of sight, taste, smell and touch, so that we can experience that love to its fullest, reminding me of another passage recently read,

In one of the Sayings of the Desert Fathers, we read how a certain monk's cooking was very popular. The other fathers once asked him what was special about the recipe or the ingredients, but he denied that there was anything except plain boiled lentils. After much persuasion, he admitted his secret: at every stage in the preparation of the dish, he was accustomed to say a prayer of repentance.

Magdalen, Sr. Children in the Church Today: An Orthodox Perspective.Illustrated
byTatiana Misijuk. Crestwood, New York: St. Vladimir's Seminary Press.Print.

No wonder why the bread was so popular-the sweetness of loving prayer manifests itself in the food! I feel that food is a gift from God given to us to experience a piece of his love by taking care of each other through nourishment, comfort, and joy - strengthening us beyond our physical needs.