A Thanksgiving Favorite

Vegan Green Bean Casserole

Ingredients:

• 1 can French cut green beans
• 1 1/2 canisters vegan French fried onions
• 1 1/2 cups soymilk
• 1 cube veggie bouillon
• 2-3 Tbs corn starch mixed with 2-3 tablespoon cold water
• 1/2 medium onion, diced
• 1 carrot, diced
• 3/4 cup chopped mushrooms (button, crimini, or portabella)
• 1-2 Tbs vegetable oil
• 1/2 tsp each of garlic, salt, pepper, basil, oregano, sage, marjoram, thyme, and any other herbs to taste

Directions:

Heat soy milk and veggie bouillon in a saucepan, stirring until bouillon cube disintegrates. Do not boil or scald the soy milk. Just heat it.

Sauté onions, carrots, and mushrooms in the veggie oil in a skillet. Add salt, pepper, and herbs and spices.

Mix the starch and water well, and pour into the soymilk/bouillon. Stir well, because this will coagulate pretty quickly. Quickly add the can of green beans, the sautéed veggies, and about half of your French fried onions, and stir well.

Pour that mixture into a casserole dish or pan and top with remaining French fried onions. Bake in oven at about 350° for 10-15 minutes, until the onions begin to brown. Remove from oven.

From: mercyforanimals.org

Vegan Pumpkin Risotto Recipe

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 onion. diced
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 2 cups arborio (risotto) rice
• 1 cup white wine
• 4 cups vegetable broth
• 1 cup canned pumpkin
• 1 tsp fresh ginger, grated or minced
• 1 tsp nutmeg
• 1 tbsp chopped fresh basil
• 1 tbsp margarine
• salt and pepper to taste

PREPARATION:

Sautee the onion in olive oil over medium heat for three to five minutes, or until soft. Add the rice. Allow to cook, stirring, for a minute or two. Slowly add the wine.

Start to add the vegetable broth, 1/2 cup at a time.

Allow the moisture to cook off before adding the next 1/2 cup. Stir frequently.

Add remaining ingredients, stirring well, and cook for just a few minutes, until heated through.

From vegetarian.about.com

Tasty Fall Soup Recipe

Butternut Squash and Pear Soup

This comes from "The New Vegetarian Epicure" by Anna Thomas

Yield: 6-8 servings

Ingredients:

1 pound butternut squash (or acorn squash), (about 10 ounces trimmed and seeded)
1 large yam
2 cups vegetable broth
1 1 2 cups water (should read "one and one-half cups water")
1 stick cinnamon
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons butter
2 medium onions, sliced
3 large Anjou or Bartlett pears
1/3 cup dry white wine
1/4 cup half and half
white pepper to taste
chives or cilantro (optional)

Directions:

Peel, seed, and dice the squash. Peel and dice the yam. Put them both in a pot with the vegetable broth, water, cinnamon stick, and salt, and simmer until tender, about 40 minutes. Discard cinnamon stick.

Melt the butter and gently cook the onions in it, stirring occasionally, until it begins to carmelize. Peel, core, and thinly slice the pears, and add them to the onions. Continue cooking for about 5 minutes, stirring often. Add the wine, cover, and simmer for 10 minutes.

Add the pear mixture to the soup, and puree everything in a blender in batches. Add the cream and some white pepper. Heat the soup again just to a simmer, but do not boil. Serve plain, or garnished with chopped chives or sprigs of cilantro.

(Thanks! Charlee)

File under: tasty

Random thought for a theme - wine & cheese. All dishes have to have wine or cheese as a component (or wine & cheese as a component?).

October Recipes - Round 2

They say that hindsight is 20/20. This morning, with the delicious dishes prepared for last eve only a lingering memory on the palate, I'll do what I can to post the recipes and offer discussion. Though the group was a few short, with Chris combating wild-fires, Kelly tending to the infirm, and Meg at a kegger for her mother's 50th birthday, those in attendance persevered and produced some fantastically tasty treats.

Our kind host for the evening, Patti, set the theme for the evening as Vietnamese food. Without further ado, the recipes:

Banh Bung (warm noodle salad with beef)
Prepared by Suzy & Nigel. Recipe from Cooking Light Magazine. Yields 4 servings.

Ingredients:
1 (3/4-pound) beef tenderloin
1 tbsp. oyster sauce
1 tbsp. soy sauce
1/2 tsp. sugar
8 oz. uncooked fine rice vermicelli or spaghetti
1/2 cup coconut milk
1 tsp. vegetable oil
Cooking spray
1 cup yellow onion, thinly sliced and separated into rings
4 cups bean sprouts
2 cups cucumber, julienne-cut and peeled
1 cup green cabbage, thinly sliced
1 cup carrot, julienne-cut
20 basil leaves
2/3 cup Lime-Vinegar Sauce

Lime-Vinegar Sauce:
1 cup hot water
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
2 tbsp. fresh lime juice
1 tbsp. white vinegar
1 tbsp. fish sauce
1 lg. garlic clove, minced

Directions:

1. To make Lime-Vinegar Sauce, combine first 3 ingredients in a small bowl; stir well. Cool completely. Stir in juice and remaining ingredients. Yields 1 1/4 cups.
   
2. To make the salad, first trim fat from beef. Cut across grain into thin slices; set aside.
3. Combine oyster sauce, soy sauce, and sugar. Stir well; set aside.
4. Bring 3 quarts of water to a simmer in a large Dutch oven. Add rice vermicelli; simmer 2 minutes or just until tender. Drain and return rice vermicelli to pan. Add coconut milk; toss well. Set aside; keep warm.
5. Heat oil in a wok or large nonstick skillet coated with with cooking spray over medium-high heat until hot.
   
6. Add onion; stir-fry 2 minutes.
7. Add beef; stir-fry 3 minutes.
   
8. Add oyster sauce mixture; stir-fry 30 seconds. Remove from heat. Set aside; keep warm.
9. Combine bean sprout, cucumber, cabbage, carrot and basil in a large bowl; toss gently. Spoon bean sprout mixture into each of 4 large shallow bowls; top with beef mixture and 1 cup rice vermicelli mixture. Drizzle with Lime-Vinegar Sauce.

Spring Rolls (er, spring rolls)
Prepared by Kim & Leit using the following recipe.

Ingredients:
1 package spring roll papers
1 package vermicelli rice noodles

Fillings:
Halibut, cooked
Tofu, marinated & fried
Fresh cilantro
Fresh mint
Daikon radish
Blanched yam
English cucumber
Red leaf lettuce
Carrot
Bean sprouts

Dipping Sauce:
Sweet chili sauce - find in any grocery store international aisle
Peanuts, crushed / chopped

Directions:

1. Prepare all your fillings by chopping into matchsticks. Set aside in close proximity to your roll wrapping assembly line.
2. Boil water then cook rice noodles ~6min or until soft. Drain. Rinse with cold water and set aside.
3. Submerge your chopped yams into boiling water for 3 minutes to soften.
4. Boil a pan of water and reduce to medium-high heat. Submerge one wrapper at a time into the water. Cook for 10 seconds. Use spatula to pull out wet wrapper and lay flat on a clean plate to fill your rolls.
5. Stuff each wrapper like you would a mini burrito. Wrap it like a burrito too by tucking the short ends in before you roll it closed and sealed. Place finished rolls on a serving plate or on saran wrap for stage. Do not let rolls touch or they will stick and rip.
6. Crush peanuts and sprinkle on dipping sauce.
7. Rolls will last 1-2 days as long as they’re in Saran Wrap.

Cha Que (cinnamon paté)
Prepared by Zach from the recipe listed at vietnamese-recipes.com.

Ingredients:
1 lb. lean leg of pork, cut into 1 inch cubes

1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon

3 tbsp. Vietnamese fish sauce

1 tsp. Palm or golden granulated sugar

1 tsp. corn flour (I substituted all purpose flour)

1 1/2 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. pepper

1 1/2 tsp. groundnut oil (I substituted olive oil)

Handful basil and coriander leaves, finely chopped for garnishing

Directions:

1. Oil the loaf tin. Put all the ingredients into a food processor and process until they are very finely ground. You can add 2-3 tablespoons of cold water if the mixture is difficult to process.

2. Pour the mixture into the loaf tin and bake in a preheated oven, 350^oF for about 45 minutes until cooked through and firm to the touch.

3. Allow the pate to cool in the tin, then turn it out on to a plate. Sprinkle the top with the chopped herbs.

4. Serve the pate in thin slices, with salad leaves and French bread.

Dau Phap Voi Toi Nghien (french beans with crushed garlic)
Prepared by Zach from the recipe listed at vietnamese-recipes.com.

Ingredients:

3 tsp. vegetable oil

1 onion, finely chopped

4 cloves garlic, finely chopped

3 lg. green chilies, deseeded and sliced thinly diagonally

1 tsp. Ground coriander

1/2 tsp. ground cumin

2 ripe tomatoes, blanched, skinned,

1 lb french beans, washed, trimmed and halved

1/2 tsp. sugar

1/4 tsp. salt

2 tbsp. fresh coriander, chopped

Directions:

1. Heat the oil in a wok and stir fry the onion, garlic and green chilies, stirring constantly, for 2 minutes.

2. Add the coriander and cumin, stir vigorously and add the chopped tomatoes and French beans.

3. Stir and cover the wok for 5 minutes.

4. Remove the cover, add the sugar and a little salt, and stir again for 1 minute.

5. Add the coriander, stir for 30 seconds and transfer to a warm serving dish.

Pumpkin Soup with Lemongrass & Cilantro
Prepared by Patti using a recipe from Regent Seven Seas Cruises.

Ingredients:
2 tbsp. peanut oil
2 tbsp. shallots, minced
2 tsp. ginger, minced
2 hot Thai chilis, minced
4 cups chicken stock
3/4 cup coconut milk
1 tbsp. lemongrass, finely chopped
2 tbsp. fish sauce
2 cups pumpkin puree
1/2 tsp. palm sugar
1 tbsp. fresh lime juice
1/3 cup cilantro root or stems and leaves, chopped
3 tbsp. roasted peanuts, chopped (for garnish)
3 tbsp. scallions, sliced (for garnish)
Salt & pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Heat oil in medium sauce pan.
2. Sautee shallots, ginger and chiles over moderate heat, stirring, for three minutes.
3. Add the stock, coconut milk, lemongrass, fish sauce, pumpkin and sugar. Bring to a simmer, then cook, uncovered, over low heat, stirring occasionally, for about 10 minutes.
4. Add lime, cilantro, salt and pepper. Puree with a stick blender until creamy (strain if you want it with no chunks).
5. Serve immediately and sprinkle with peanuts and scallions.

Mango Cheesecake (soufflé?) with Vietnamese Coffee
Recipe forthcoming. Prepared by Karen.

I daresay that every dish served at the meal was fantastic (certainly better than the borek I attempted last month). Hopefully, pictures will be on the way from Karen at some point soon, so until then, happy eating and please offer your comments.

Sunday, Bloody Sunday

How do you start your Sunday mornings off?

Fill highball (or pint glass) half-way with ice
Add vodka
Add 2-3 dashes Worcestershire sauce
Add celery seeds
Add heat (cayenne pepper, chili garlic sauce, tabasco, etc..)
Add sliced pickles
Add tomato/clamato/V8 juice
Garnish with celery / olives / more pickles / as you see fit.

Drink and enjoy!

A couple of great dessert blogs and a recipe

If you have some spare time, check out this great cupcake blog (thanks! Karen) and the Joy of Baking link on the right. I know with temps beginning to drop I have the urge to bake more and more, or at least ask Zach to whip up some tasty baked goods. Yum, the house smells so good while making the treats from these websites.

Here's another great recipe. Good ol' fashioned peanut butter cookies. The recipe is adapted from The New Best Recipe from the editors of Cooks Illustrated. Definitely one of our go to cookbooks.

2 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
16 tablespoons (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened but still cool
1 cup packed light brown sugar
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup extra crunchy unsweetened all natural peanut butter
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper or spray with nonstick cooking spray.
2. Whisk flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl and set aside.
3. Either by hand or with an electric mixer, beat butter until creamy. Add sugars, beat until fluffy, about 3 minutes, stopping to scrape down sides of the bowl. Beat in peanut butter until fully incorporated, then the eggs one at a time, and then the vanilla. Gently stir the dry ingredients into the peanut butter mixture.
4. Working with generous 2 tablespoons each, roll the dough into 2-inch balls. Place on baking sheets spacing them 2 1/2 inches apart. Press each dough ball twice with a dinner fork dipped in cold water to make a crisscross design.
5. Bake until the cookies are puffed and slightly browned around the edges, but not the top, 10 to 12 minutes, rotating the baking sheets front to back and top to bottom half way through. Cool cookies on the baking sheets until set, about 4 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.