Wednesday, August 31, 2011

Raw Food Wednesday: Calabacines Rellenos con Queso, Grape and Tarragon Salad

Raw Food Wednesday 8/31

Calabacines Rellenos con Queso

Grape and Tarragon Salad



Something new for RFW, a riff on last week's cooked version of Calabacines Rellenos -- stuffed zucchini topped with cheese. In this version we used the squee inducing baby zucchini and stuffed them with a cumin and walnut filling.



Starting with the baby zucchini, we first cut them in half and then dipped them in a olive oil & nama shoyu marinade for five minutes. From there they went into the dehydrator for 1 hour.

The next step was to remove the center seed section, so I pulled out my trusty #20 Parisian scoop (a.k.a. tiny melon baller) and got to work.



The filling was roughly 1/4 cup of raw walnuts which were tossed into the same bowl as the leftover zucchini marinade with the addition of some cumin seeds that were freshly ground along with a pinch of Mexican oregano. Normally at this point, I'd get out the Vitamix and pulse down the walnuts, but because it was such a small amount, I crushed them with the mortar and pestle.

After adding the stuffing to the zucchini, they were put into the dehydrator for six hours at 105F.

The finishing touch was a squirt of cashew cheese piped on top of each piece. Yes, I need to work on my piping. ;)

Tuesday, August 30, 2011

Eggplant Parmesan, Roasted Broccoli, Peach and Blueberry Cobbler

Dinner 8/30

Eggplant Parmesan

Roasted Broccoli

Dessert

Peach and Blueberry Cobbler



It's the first full week back at high school for the kids, so we're revisiting an old favorite of our daughter's -- Eggplant Parmesan (recipe). Rounding out the plate was broccoli -- tossed with olive oil, salt & pepper and roasted at 450F for 15 minutes.



We're knee deep in local peaches (that did not come from a can, nor were they were put there by a man, in a factory downtown*) so we made a quick crumble with the addition of some lovely blueberries -- mixed with a pinch of cardamon and a squeeze of lemon juice. The topping was a 2:1 mix of all-purpose flour and whole wheat pastry flour, along with oatmeal, brown sugar, cinnamon, salt and Earth Balance rounding it out.


* I apologize in advance for the earworm.

Wednesday, August 24, 2011

Raw Food Wednesday: Mini-Peppers stuffed with Cashew Cheese, Salad with Carrot Croutons

Raw Food Wednesday 8/24

Mini-Peppers stuffed with Cashew Cheese

Salad with Carrot Croutons



Another in the greatest hits package -- mini-peppers stuffed with a cashew cheese and a salad with carrot croutons.



The cashew cheese (soaked cashews, rejuvelac from quinoa, salt) were added to the peppers and dehydrated for 8 hours at 105F, which made the peppers incredibly sweet (almost cherry tomato-like, as our daughter pointed out).



The salad incorporated a riff from the Trotter/Klein "Raw" book -- take a carrot, peel it into strips, dehydrate for a couple of hours and turn it into a powder, which is then used to coat the cashew cheese, and is then further dehydrated. It adds a gentle sweetness and crunch, much like a crouton.



Saturday, August 20, 2011

Calabacines Rellenos, Hominy & Red Potato Soup

Dinner 8/20

Calabacines Rellenos

Hominy & Red Potato Soup



We had a couple of zucchini leftover from last weeks farmers market, so we tried something new -- making rellenos with them. We also made a smoked corn stock as the base for the hominy and potato soup.



The rellenos started with the zucchini cut in half and smoked for 20 minutes. The filling consisted of soy chorizo, smoked walnuts, cannellini beans, onion, garlic, Mexican oregano, salt & pepper. The zucchini were roasted at 425F for 20 minutes, removed from the oven with the seeds removed using a melon baller. The filling was added, along with a covering of Daiya, then put back into the oven for an additional 15 minutes.

The rellenos came out great -- the roasted zucchini was creamy inside and paired really well with the spicy filling and Daiya.



The soup started with smoked corn stock -- we saved the corn cobs from the corn cakes on Wednesday and smoked them with hickory wood for 25 minutes. It seemed like a natural to pair it with hominy and those red potatoes from the last week.



Next, we seared the cobs in the pressure cooker (with 1 tsp. of canola oil) until the got a little color.



Finally we added 10 cups of water and pressure cooked the cobs for 40 minutes.



The result was liquid gold -- and when used in the soup, it yielded a fantastically deep flavor with a nicely balanced sense of hickory and corn.



The soup turned out so well that both kids asked for seconds. ;)


Friday, August 19, 2011

Smoker Box teaser video

Here's a little teaser video of the intro for a smoker box tutorial we're working on...




Fruit Salad

Lunch 8/19

Fruit Salad



Sometimes, all you need for lunch is blueberries, cherries, melon, grapes and raspberries...


Wednesday, August 17, 2011

Raw Food Wednesday: Zucchini Pasta with Pesto and Wild Asparagus, Corn Cakes with Tomato, Fennel Salad

Raw Food Wednesday 8/17

Zucchini Pasta with Pesto and Wild Asparagus

Corn Cakes with Tomato

Fennel Salad



A "greatest hits of summer" meal tonight -- we're overloaded with basil, zucchini & tomatoes, plus additions from the farmers market (corn, wild asparagus).

The pesto, as always, rocks -- olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, pine nuts and salt all blended in the vita-mix, served over spiral cut zucchini noodles. Tonight we served it along with the wild asparagus. The tips were trimmed off and the body sliced very thinly on the bias, tossed with olive oil and nama shoyu and dehydrated for 1 hr at 105F.



The corn cakes are a perennial favorite (recipe), with the right balance of heat and sweetness, paired with a very ripe heirloom tomato.



We started off with a fennel salad, a riff from Juliano's "Raw" cookbook.


Sunday, August 14, 2011

Hickory-Smoked Tofu with Chanterelle Mushrooms in a Cognac Cream Sauce, Corn Cakes, Roasted Red Potatoes

Dinner 8/14

Hickory-Smoked Tofu

Chanterelle Mushrooms

Cognac Cream Sauce

Corn Cakes

Roasted Red Potatoes



Corn! Potatoes! Chanterelle Mushrooms! A veritable cornucopia, barely contained by the plate.

(or we should have used bigger plates, I don't know)

The tofu was portioned into eight cutlets, smoked with hickory chips for 20-25 minutes, pan-fried in 1 tbs. of olive oil until golden brown (about 5-7 minute per-side) and splashed with 1 tbs. of tamari at the end of cooking.

As I mentioned the other day, the chanterelles are foraged locally, so we take the extra time to thoroughly clean the mushrooms, making sure nobody is hiding in there. We started with about 2 cups of 1/4" thick sliced mushrooms and pan-fried them with 1 tbs. olive oil on med-high heat until all the water was released, about 8-10 minutes. Near the end of cooking they were splashed with 2 tsp. of tamari and cooked for 1 additional minute. Next, we removed the pan from the heat, added 1 tbs. of cognac, returned the pan to the stove, turned the heat down to low, stirred to coat the mushrooms and cooked for 1 more additional minute. Finally, we added 1 cup of smoked cashew cream sauce (recipe, skipping the horseradish) and heated through.

The sauce was plated on top of the hickory-smoked tofu, along with the corn cakes and roasted red potatoes.

The corn cakes (recipe) started with great organic corn, in this case from the Haymaker Farmers' Market in Kent, OH via Heron Hill Farm in Brimfield, OH. It's the first place I stop every Saturday morning at 8:55am.



The second place I stop is the Birdsong Farm stand (from Hiram, OH), this week we picked up these outstanding red potatoes (and they really were red on the inside as you can tell in the first picture). They were split in half and tossed with olive oil, salt and pepper and roasted at 425F for 40-45 minutes.


Wednesday, August 10, 2011

Pizza Three Ways

Dinner 8/10

Pizza



We made three smaller pizzas tonight, all with different sauces -- at the top of the picture is Tomato & Daiya, to the right of that is Chanterelle Mushroom & Arugula with a Smoked Cashew Cream Sauce (recipe, minus the horseradish) and the final one is BBQ Tofu (recipe) for our daughter.






Monday, August 08, 2011

Injera, Kabocha Stew with Okra and Collard Greens

Dinner 8/08

Injera

Kabocha Stew with Okra and Collard Greens



Liz fermented a batch of injera over the weekend -- the short version: mix 2 cups water with 2 cups teff flour, 2 tsp. yeast, a pinch of cumin and fenugreek and 1 tbs. agave and let sit in a warm place for 12-24 hrs., then add 1 tsp. salt.
We cooked the injera in our big carbon steel wok (which is naturally non-stick) using the flat part in the center like we do for crepes.

The stew was a hodgepodge (as opposed to a zackaroni) -- Liz started with 1 tbs. of olive oil over med-high heat and 1 medium red onion, diced. After the onions got a little color, she added 3 cloves of minced garlic, 2 tsp. of berbere, 1 tsp. of smoked paprika, 1 tsp. of sea salt, 1/2 tsp. fresh cracked black pepper and cooked it for one additional minute.

While she was doing that, I had three other pans going, starting with 2 cups of diced kabocha squash -- pan-fried in olive oil for 5-7 minutes which was stirred constantly so the squash won't scorch. In the second pan was 2 cups of thinly sliced okra, and in the third pan was 2 cups of thinly sliced collard greens.

Once all of those had cooked down (about 10-15 minutes total), I added them to the onion mixture along with a 28oz. can of fire-roasted tomatoes (we like to crush them with a potato masher) and brought to a good simmer. Finally we stirred in 2 tbs. of peanut butter. The whole thing cooked for at least 15-20 minutes until the stew thickened.

We served it hot with the injera, tearing pieces off and using it to scoop up the stew.


Saturday, August 06, 2011

Fettuccine with Chanterelles and Grilled Wild Asparagus

Dinner 8/06

Fettuccine with Chanterelles and Grilled Wild Asparagus



Apparently, there's a guy who forages these beautiful chanterelles locally and then sells them to the co-op. I want to become his best friend. ;)

The wild asparagus also came locally -- this was marinated the usual way -- olive oil, pepper, tamari -- and then grilled.

Put them all together with some fettuccine, and a white wine, nooch & EB sauce and you've got tonight's staycation dinner...


Wednesday, August 03, 2011

Lentil and Seitan Stew in Crepes, Chanterelle Mushrooms, Gravy, Sauteed Zucchini

Dinner 8/03

Lentil and Seitan Stew in Crepes

Chanterelle Mushrooms

Gravy

Sauteed Zucchini



The crepes, as always, are from VwaV. The filling is pressure cooked lentils in veg stock (15-20 minutes) combined with pan-fried seitan, carrot, onion and garlic (15 minutes). The crepes were topped with chanterelle mushrooms and a quick gravy (roux + veg stock + tamari).

Served on the side was a quick saute of zucchini (olive oil, salt, pepper, parsley).


Tuesday, August 02, 2011

Paella

Dinner 8/02

Paella



Paella (recipe) is one of my favorite meals, and one of the joys of making it is that it's different everytime. The base of olive oil, shallot, garlic, smoked paprika, saffron, salt and pepper stayed the same, but tonight's spin on the classic included button mushrooms cooked with garlic and deglazed with sherry, smoked tofu cut into strips, sauteed collard greens (garlic, tamari) and orange bell pepper.

My other favorite part of making it is getting to use my paella pan, because much like an appletini it makes me feel fancy. ;)


Thursday, July 28, 2011

Elvis Fried Tofu, Mushroom Gravy, Grilled Okra, Grilled Corn

Dinner 7/28

Elvis Fried Tofu

Mushroom Gravy

Grilled Okra

Grilled Corn



Grilled Corn! Who would have guessed? ;)

Tonight the corn shared grill space with local okra (from the farmers market). The okra was marinated in a 2:1 mixture of melted soy margarine & tamari, then basted occasionally on the grill with the leftover marinade. You want to make sure the okra is blackened in spots and is cooked through completely.



The Elvis Fried Tofu and Gravy (recipes) is a favorite combo of ours -- smoked tofu, coated with seasoned flour and fried in a cast-iron skillet. The gravy is made in the same pan and uses some of the leftover flour from the tofu as a thickener.


Wednesday, July 27, 2011

Eggplant Fries, Brown Rice Veggie Burgers, Grilled Corn

Dinner 7/27

Eggplant Fries

Brown Rice Veggie Burgers

Grilled Corn



We made the brown rice veggie burgers and grilled corn again -- but tonight's star was the eggplant fries (recipe).



Served with a soy yogurt dipping sauce (soy yogurt, minced pickles, lemon zest, oregano, salt & pepper) it was a perfect match for the incredibly creamy fries.

The trick with these fries is to submerge the eggplant strips in ice water for at least two hours, then drain. They were then coated with seasoned rice flour (za'atar, garlic powder, lemon zest, salt and pepper) and deep fried at 325F about 3-4 minutes per batch.




Thursday, July 21, 2011

Grilled Corn, Mushroom Quesadillas, Guacamole

Dinner 7/21

Grilled Corn

Mushroom Quesadillas

Guacamole



The deeper into summer we go, the simpler the food gets. ;)

More importantly -- our first local organic sweet corn of the year... so worth the wait!


Wednesday, July 20, 2011

Ceci Soup, Grilled Yellow Baby Squash, Pasta Puttanesca

Dinner 7/20

Ceci Soup

Grilled Yellow Baby Squash

Pasta Puttanesca



A trio of simple summer dishes, highlighted by the appearance of baby squash from Farmer Jones.

The soup was thrown together at the last minute -- so don't worry about amounts, go with whatever looks right to you. It started with a base of onion, celery, carrots, salt and pepper, which were sweated for 5 minutes, then we added the ceci (chickpeas), tomatoes, veg broth, parsley and a shot of tamari for umami. ;)



The squash (yellow and green) were split in half and given a quick dunk in a marinade of olive oil, pepper and tamari and grilled face down, rotated for the nice hatch marks, and flipped to finish -- about 15-17 minutes in all -- you want to make sure they're cooked all the way through. They were "melt in your mouth" delicious!



Our son made his specialty, pasta puttanesca with kalamata olives, button mushrooms & seitan sausages in a spicy tomato sauce (onion, garlic, celery, San Marzano tomatoes, salt, pepper, red pepper flakes, pinch of sugar and capers) over fusilli.



Monday, July 18, 2011

Small Plates, Loosely Joined

Dinner 7/18

Cucumber in Vinegar Sauce

Grilled Figs stuffed with Blue Sheese

Steamed Artichoke

Shishito Peppers with Lemon Juice and Sea Salt

Tapenade

Blini with Vegan Caviar



Or as we like to call it -- Monday night. A collection of small plates, loosely joined (apologies to David Weinberger).



Steamed Artichoke with a dipping sauce of melted Earth Balance, lemon juice and a wee pinch of sea salt.



Cucumber in Vinegar Sauce -- roughly a 2:1 ratio of apple cider vinegar to agave, with a pinch of salt & pepper.

Around the outside ('round the outside), Grilled Figs, stuffed with Blue Sheese, drizzled with "Just Like Honey."



Shishito Peppers (nice combo of flavor and heat) -- stir-fried and finished with a squirt of lemon juice & pinch of sea salt. Served on the French bread



Leftover from the Bastille party, vegan caviar on blini (and tapenade shown above).



Saturday, July 16, 2011

Bastille Day 2011: Seitan Roulade, Petite Pomme de Terre, Ratatouille, Haricot Verts, Blini with Vegan Caviar, Tapenade, Mushroom & Walnut Pate

Bastille Day 2011 7/16

Seitan Roulade

Petite Pomme de Terre

Ratatouille

Haricot Verts

Blini with Vegan Caviar

Tapenade

Mushroom & Walnut Pate

Dessert

Chocolate and Coconut Milk Ganache Tart with Sea Salt



We had our annual Bastille Day party, sharing many of our favorite dishes with our friends Anna & Phil and Laura & John.



The Seitan Roulade was the focal point of the main plate. Shown here after the seitan was seared with the addition of the collard greens and mushrooms. It was finished by rolling and trussing the seitan with twine and then baked for 15 minutes at 350F. Surprisingly, after watching the seitan video so many times while editing it, I still had to go back and look at the broth amounts. ;)

(Also, 1100+ views on the video so far? Wow!)

Rounding out the plate were Petite Pomme de Terre, Haricot Verts and Ratatouille -- which we smoked the eggplant and zucchini for 15 minute in cherry wood. Here's the rest of the recipe.

Ratatouille

2 tbs. olive oil
1 medium onion, sliced
2 garlic cloves, minced
salt and pepper to taste
1 tsp. herbes de provence
1 medium eggplant, diced
2 medium zucchini, diced
2 tbs. nutritional yeast
3-4 medium tomatoes, roughly diced
2 tbs. parsley, chopped

In a large saute pan, heat the 1 tbs. olive oil and lightly brown the sliced onions. Add the garlic for the last two minutes, along with the salt, pepper and herbes de provence.

While that's cooking, in a separate large saute pan (or wok), add the additional 1 tbs. of olive oil and the diced eggplant, diced zucchini, and cook until lightly browned.

Combine the eggplant and zucchini with the onions and garlic back into the pan and sprinkle the nutritional yeast over all of the ingredients, stir to incorporate, and cook for a couple of minutes.

Turn the heat down to low, add the diced tomatoes, stir to incorporate. Cook until thickened -- about 10-15 minutes, stirring occasionally. The final result should look fairly stew-like. Add the chopped parsley, check for seasoning.

At this point it's ready to eat -- or you can put the ratatouille in an au gratin dish, sprinkle a little extra nutritional yeast on top and bake it at 350F for 15 minutes to firm it all up.







We started with apps: Tapenade, Blini with Vegan Caviar (recipe) and Mushroom and Walnut Pate.

Mushroom and Walnut Pate

1 tbs. olive oil
1 small onion, diced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tbs. fresh thyme
salt & pepper

1 tbs. olive oil
1 tbs. Earth Balance
2 cups of mushrooms, sliced
salt & pepper

2 tbs. sherry
1/2 cup walnuts, toasted
1/2 tsp. lemon juice

In a large saute pan over medium-low heat add the olive oil and onion and slowly cook until it's deeply caramelized (but not burnt) about 15 to 20 minutes. Just before it's finished add the garlic and cook for one additional minute. Remove from the pan and set aside.

While the onion and garlic is cooking, add the olive oil and Earth Balance to a wok (or large saute pan) over med-high heat. Add the mushrooms along with a pinch of salt and pepper. Cook until the mushrooms release all of their liquid, about 10 minutes. Add the sherry, stir to combine and cook for one additional minute. Remove from the wok and add to the onions. Let cool 10 minutes.

In a vita-mix or high speed blender, add the mushrooms, onions and garlic, (toasted) walnuts, lemon juice, 1/2 tsp of salt and pepper and puree until smooth -- you might need to do it in batches depending on how big your container is. Check for seasoning.




For dessert, Liz made the Chocolate and Coconut Milk Ganache Tart with Sea Salt -- I didn't get a picture because there wasn't anything left to shoot seconds after serving it, so here's what it looked like when we made it last time. ;)


Thursday, July 14, 2011

Brown Rice Veggie Burgers, Sweet Potato Fries

Dinner 7/14

Brown Rice Burgers

Sweet Potato Fries



Liz tweaked this veggie burger recipe from Food & Wine -- subbing Daiya Pepperjack and pressure cooking the brown rice (22 minutes, @7.5 psi / first ring) which sped up the process considerably. The pumpkin seeds are a nice addition, and the burgers held together very well from the starch in the brown rice.

The sweet potato fries were tossed with olive oil, salt & pepper and roasted on a sheet pan in a single layer in a 425F oven for 20 minutes, then flipped and roasted for another 10 minutes or so. Sweet Potatoes can be tricky -- they can go from barely caramelized to black in 3 minutes, so keep an eye on them once you flip them.

Wednesday, July 13, 2011

Cappellini, Cherry Tomatoes and Zucchini

Dinner 7/13

Cappellini, Cherry Tomatoes and Zucchini



Pasta and salad that's not a pasta salad ;)

A light summer meal of fresh seasonal veggies with a quick sauce, tossed with cappellini on a bed of Romaine lettuce topped with some basil -- a big bowlful of win!

The sauce started with shallots & garlic sauteed in olive oil with some salt, pepper, fresh thyme & parsley. then the tomatoes and zucchini were added in and cooked for a few minutes. Next, a 1/2 cup of white wine was added and reduced down by half. Finally, 1 tbs. of earth balance was added and melted along with 2-3 tbs. of nutritional yeast. Stir to combine, check for seasoning and add in the cooked cappellini, toss to coat and place on a bed of chopped romaine lettuce and top with some chopped basil. Serve hot.


Sunday, July 10, 2011

Spinach Ravioli, Arugula Salad with Crutons and Tomatoes

Dinner 7/10

Spinach Ravioli

Arugula Salad with Crutons



Once we opened the wonton/dumpling wrappers for the gyoza the other night, we needed to find a way to use the rest of the package -- and ravioli fit the bill.

The ravioli were filled with a tofu ricotta (extra firm tofu, crumbled, nutritional yeast, salt, pepper, nutmeg, parsley) and wilted spinach. Once folded over, they were sealed with a cornstarch slurry (1:1 cornstarch & water). Then they were boiled roughly 2 minutes in salted water until they floated to the surface. Finally, they were finished by tossing the ravioli in a warm pan of melted Earth Balance.

Accompanying the ravioli was a simple arugula salad with toasted crutons (garlic olive oil, salt, pepper, parsley, thyme, nooch) and tomatoes.


Wednesday, July 06, 2011

Gyoza, Scallion Pancakes, Stir Fry with Yuba

Dinner 7/06

Gyoza

Scallion Pancakes

Stir Fry with Yuba



The always fantastic scallion pancakes (recipe) were paired with the equally tasty gyoza (or potstickers) -- filled with a mix of napa cabbage, shallots, ginger and garlic, which were seared, then steamed with a little tamari to finish in the wok.



We found some yuba sheets the other day and decided to marinate (with a mix of tamari, hoisin, rice vinegar and pinch of sriracha), and then pan fry and shred them as accompaniment to the stir-fry. We've got a couple of other ideas to try out on the yuba, but it made for a nice change of pace in the stir-fry.