books

365 day 52

"For our teacher, Eknath Easwaran, who understood the appeal in the eyes of a glossy black calf on its way to the slaughterhouse many years ago and inspired us, and thousands of others like us, to give the gift of life."

- dedication in Laurel's Kitchen

The past couple of days, the mailman (or woman) has been good to me. Yesterday I received my copy of Knit. Sock. Love. and I'm already itching to make some socks, which is weird because I've only made a couple of pairs. It's just the photos. They're gorgeous.

And today, my copy of Laurel's Kitchen came. It's always amazing to find a great vegetarian cookbook, and for some reason, I love them even more if they're old. This cookbook was first published in 1976. This along with the Moosewood Cookbook, which was first published in 1977 are a must have for any vegetarians out there.

Also on the topic of books, I finished The Help by Kathryn Stockett this past weekend. Please read this book. That's really all I have to say. It will make you a better person.

12 Days of Cooking: Day 5 - Tofu Burgers

Now I know that not everyone that reads this blog is a vegetarian, and that's fine. I'm a vegetarian for my own reasons - reasons that I will not push on anyone, nor will I judge anyone for not being a vegetarian. Just wanted to say that first off, because I know a lot of vegetarians who are judgmental and pushy about their beliefs, which I feel makes people dislike vegetarians.

That being said....I do realize that not everyone will enjoy this recipe! It was, however, very good. I left out the mushrooms, as I think mushrooms are totally disgusting, but they probably would have been good for holding the burger patty together a little better.

Ingredients:
1 tbsp olive oil
1 red onion, finely chopped
7 oz Swiss brown mushrooms, finely chopped
11 oz hard tofu
2 large garlic cloves
3 tbsp chopped basil
2 c breadcrumbs
1 egg, lightly beaten
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
2 tbsp sweet chilli sauce
1 1/2 c extra bread crumbs and extra olive oil for shallow-frying

Heat oil in frying pan and cook onions over medium heat for 2-3 minutes, or until soft. Add mushrooms and cook for another 2 minutes (or not. because they're gross.). Cool slightly. Blend 9 oz of the tofu with the garlic and basil in a food processor until smooth. Transfer to a large bowl and stir in the onion mixture, breadcrumbs, egg, vinegar and sweet chilli sauce. Grate the remaining tofu and fold through the mixture, then refrigerate for 30 minutes. Divide the mixture into 6 parts and form into patties, pressing together well. Coat them in the extra breadcrumbs. Heat 1 cm of oil in a deep frying pan and cook the patties in two batches for 4-5 minutes each side, or until golden. Turn carefully to prevent them from breaking up. Drain on crumpled paper towels and season with salt. Serve on bread rolls (toasted!) and with any extra toppings you'd like (we used a salad mixture, tomatoes, and a little cheese).

This was a great, pretty simple and quick meal - and it was good for leftovers the next day! We had sweet potato fries with ours, and molasses cookies for dessert - it was a great meal!

Last night we helped my parents set up their Christmas tree - it was really nice, since our apartment is way too small to fit a tree.

12 Days of Cooking: Day 4 - Oatmeal Pumpkin Bread

This was the first time I was making bread without the help of my bread machine, so I will admit, I was a little nervous. It worked out great though! Instead of using a bread tin like the recipe called for, I used one of our pizza stones, and the bread came out with such a great crust on it - nice, flaky, crispy crust (now I'm wishing the bread wasn't all gone so I could eat some right now!)

It's not the prettiest loaf in the world, but that's okay! I could have done with some more pumpkin flavor, so next time I make it, I think I'll add a little more pumpkin than the recipe calls for. The recipe came from the book Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day, a wedding gift from our dear friend Ashley, who always gives me cooking inspiration!

Ingredients:

1 pie pumpkin (or can of pumpkin puree - I opted to use a real pumpkin and it was fun!)

2 cups lukewarm water

1 1/2 tablespoons granulated yeast

1 tablespoon salt

5 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

1/3 cup honey

1/2 cup old fashioned oats

3/4 cup whole wheat flour

3/4 cup rye flour

4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

neutral tasting oil for greasing the pan

(Skip this step if you use canned pumpkin) Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Split the pumpkin in half starting at the stem and place cut side down on a lightly greased cookie sheet. Bake for 45 minutes. Pumpkin should be very soft all the way through. Let cool & scoop out seeds. Scoop out the roasted flesh of the pumpkin and mash it with a fork or puree in the food processor. Set aside 1 cup for the dough and use the rest for something else pumpkin-y (i saved mine for pumpkin biscuits and will be making them tonight!)

Mix the yeast and salt with the water, melted butter and honey in a 5-quart bowl, or a lidded food container (not airtight).

Mix in the oatmeal, pumpkin and flowers without kneading, using a spoon, a 14-cup capacity food processor or a heavy-duty stand mixer. If you're not using a machine, you may need to use wet hands to incorporate the last bit of flour (I didn't use a machine and had no problem getting everything together to make a dough. It takes a little longer, but when you don't have a machine to use, your hands are the best machine!).

Cover and allow to rest at room temperature until the dough rises and collapses, approx. 2 hours.

The dough can be used immediately after the initial rise, though it is easier to handle when cold. Refrigerate in a lidded (not airtight) container and use over the next 9 days (The amount of dough this recipe makes can make up to 3 loaves of bread, but I recommend using it all fresh. I made it into two loaves and the first was significantly better tasting than the second, which I baked 2 days later).

On baking day, lightly grease a 9x5x3 inch nonstick loaf pan. Dust the surface of the dough with flour and cut off a 1 1/2 pound piece (cantaloupe sized). Dust with more flour and quickly shape into a ball by stretching the surface of the dough around to the bottom on all four sides, rotating the ball a quarter turn as you go (if you do what I did and take the pizza stone route, you can make a bigger loaf).

Place the dough in the prepared pan (or stone!) and allow to rest and rise for 2 hours, or 40 minutes if you're using fresh dough.

20 minutes before baking, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F, with an empty broiler tray for water on any other shelf that won't interfere with the rising bread.

Place the loaf on a rack near the center of the over. Pour 1 cup of hot tap water into the broiler tray and quickly close the over door. Bake for 45-50 minutes, or until deeply browned and firm. Allow to cool before slicing or eating.

Definitely recommend this recipe - the bread was just delicious! And if you're like Jake and me, you'll have a hard time waiting until the bread is cooled off to eat - I mean, who doesn't love fresh, warm, soft bread right out of the oven?

And for all you in warmer places than myself, we've had terrible wind around here making the 19 degree temperatures feel like -1 and -2, so I've been making myself at home, well, at home! Although Jake convinced me to go out and take a walk the other night - it was beautiful!

Hope you're all staying warm! And can you believe Christmas is only 11 days away???

12 days of cooking: day 3 - black bean and rice soup

As simple as this recipe sounds (and was!) it was so perfect for a chilly late fall evening. Something that can be made very quickly and simply, this was very filling, super yummy, and really healthy! The recipe comes from an old International Vegetarian cookbook I bought at a used bookstore when we lived in Portland.

Ingredients:
1 lb (about 2 1/2 cups) dried black beans
6 cups water
4 cups veggie stock
1/4 cup olive oil
1 large onion, finely chopped
4 to 6 cloves of garlic, minced or pressed
1 1/2 teaspoons each of cumin and oregano leaves
2 tablespoons salt
1 1/2 cups cooked rice
2-3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
2 cups sour cream
4 green onions, including tops, thinly sliced
6 radishes, thinly sliced
lime or lemon wedges

Rise beans and sort through, discarding any foreign material. Drain well. Place beans and water in a 4 to 5 quart kettle and bring to a boil over high heat. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer until beans swell and absorb most of the water (30-45 minutes). Add stock and continue simmering, covered, until beans are tender (about 1 hour.)
Meanwhile, heat oil in frying pan over medium heat. Add onions, garlic, cumin and oregano and cook until onion is soft. Set aside.
In a blender or or food processor, whirl about 2 cups of the beans and a little broth until smooth. Return puree to kettle. Stir in 2 teaspoons salt, onion mixture, rice and vinegar. Cook over medium heat until soup is steaming.
Serve with sour cream, green onions, radishes and lemon or lime wedges on the side.

The great thing about this recipe is that it requires very minimal supervision, and the beans can be left cooking while you do other things. And if you don't have time to use dried black beans, you can opt for canned and have dinner ready even faster! I left off the sour cream, green onions and radishes, and added fresh cilantro and topped with a little cheddar cheese. It was delish!

I've got my second loaf of Pumpkin Oatmeal Bread in the oven as I type, and can't wait to tell you all about it!

It's also snowing again - we got a couple of inches last night and are expecting a couple more through tomorrow evening. This is the second Sunday in a row that it's been snowing, and we've been enjoying the snowy mornings by walking down to the local bakery, enjoying some coffee and a bagel and walking home, taking in the beautiful cold snow.

The kitties are also enjoying their snow days :) 

And I'm getting some more Christmas knitting done!

Hope you are enjoying your Sunday afternoon!

12 Days of Cooking - Spicy Butternut Curry

This recipe come from a book I got at Ross for like $3 called Pumpkin, Butternut & Squash: 30 Sweet and Savory Recipes. It's really a cute little book - lots of great pictures, and who doesn't love pictures of food? However, this is the first recipe I've made from this book, and the recipe had a few errors in it. The final dish turned out okay - I should have served it with some rice - but all in all I think I'd give it a 3 out of 5.

 (picture from Amazon)

I, of course, took no pictures, but I assure you - it was quite the orange dish! Very pretty to look at, if nothing else! The recipe is below, with my changes in bold.

Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons sunflower or peanut oil (The first error came with the amount of oil - I found that it was not even close to enough oil to stir fry everything that needed to be stir fried. I added the 2 tablespoons, and within just a few minutes, it was gone and things were starting to burn a little. I just eyeballed it and added what I thought would help get me through - maybe another 3 or so tablespoons.)
• 1 tablespoon mustard seeds
• 1 lb. butternut squash, peeled, seeded and cut into 1-inch cubes
• 2 onions, finely sliced (I found 2 onions to be a bit much - I used one complete onion and probably could have used less)
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed
• 1 inch fresh ginger, peeled and grated
• a pinch of ground turmeric
• 1 lb. tomatoes, peeled and coarsely chopped
• 1 cup heavy cream (I subbed half & half)
• 1 large package of spinach (I left this out)
• a pinch of ground cumin or garam masala
• sea sald and fresh ground pepper

Heat the oil in a non-stick skillet or wok, add the mustard seeds and stir fry until they pop. Add half the butternut and all of the onions and stir fry gently until onions are soft and translucent. Add garlic, ginger, salt and pepper and stir fry for one minute. Add turmeric and stir fry for one minute more. Add the tomatoes and remaining butternut, bring to a boil (this was a little strange to me, as the only liquid that was in the mixture was the juice from the tomatoes. I found that I needed to kinda squish the tomatoes a little in order to get most of the juice out, which was barely enough to cover the bottom of the skillet. The more it cooked, the more juice they produced, but I would keep a close eye on it for the first few minutes to make sure it doesn't burn), then reduce the head and simmer, covered, for about 20 minutes, or until tender. Add the cream, bring to a boil and simmer, stirring until thickened. Add spinach and cumin or garam masala, cover, and steam for 2 minutes until the leaves collapse.

I would definitely serve this with rice if I were to make it again.

Up next? Gingerbread!!

12 Days of Cooking

So with the holiday season upon us, I've decided to try a fun new thing. In years past, Jake and I have done a "12 days of Christmas" type thing where we gave each other a small, ridiculous gift for the 12 days leading up to Christmas. This year, we've decided we don't need to keep buying stupid crap to junk up our house, so I've instead decided to do "12 days of cooking"!

Starting tomorrow and going until Christmas, I'll be trying out 12 new recipes. I've gone through and picked them all out, and I'll be posting them here, along with a review of each one. Since there are 25 days until Christmas (starting tomorrow) I won't be doing a new recipe every day (I mean, I know my limits here people), but it will be more like every other day.

Here's a list of what I'm planning on making:
- Tofu Burgers
- Gingerbread
- Veggie Curry
- Butternut Squash and Sage Pizza
- Tomato and Lentil Dahl
- Oatmeal Pumpkin Bread
- Spicy Butternut Curry
- Pumpkin Biscuits
- Spinach-Feta Bread
- Black Bean and Rice Soup
- Butternut Risotto
- Golden Tofu and Cauliflower Soup

It should be fun!

Also, I'm totally wanting a pair of Toms for Christmas (hint, hint).