Another tempeh “bacon” recipe
After my disappointment in Heidi Swanson’s orange tempeh, one of my blog readers suggested I try her tempeh bacon recipe. My friend Alex contributed the canned chipotles, and I bought the last two packs of tempeh at the local Asian store. The recipe says to marinate at least a couple of hours, but we only let the tempeh marinage for about 20 minutes while we prepared the rest of dinner. We decided to cut the oil slightly (4 Tbs. in a double batch). I included one whole chipotle chile in my 3 Tbs. of adobo spice, because we like things spicy.
- 1 pound tempeh
- 6 tablespoons olive oil (I used 1/4 cup)
- 1/2 cup soy sauce
- 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
- 1/4 cup maple syrup
- 6 tablespoons adobo sauce from a can of chipotle peppers (I included 1 whole chile in my 6 Tbs.)
The tempeh turned out very well. I was worried about all that oil and soy sauce, but it wasn’t too salty or oily or spicy. I would venture to say that the flavoring was just right.
It actually didn’t taste that different than Peter Berley’s barbecued tempeh recipe, which Derek and I have made (a variant of) countless times. I compared the recipes, and Berley calls for more oil (1/2 cup), more maple syrup (1/3 cup), more vinegar (1/2 cup), uses chipotle powder instead of adobo, and adds cumin, thyme, and paprika as well. My typical modified version of Berley’s recipe is actually even more similar to Heidi’s, as I cut the oil and maple syrup down (and also the soy sauce). Also Berley’s recipe is baked not pan-fried. I think I prefer Heidi’s less acidic version, but chipotle powder is certainly more convenient here in Germany where canned chipotles don’t exist. I’d like to do a head to head comparison of the recipes to really see how the flavor profiles differ. If I can get my hands on some liquid smoke, maybe I’ll do a three-way taste test, and throw in Isa’s tempeh bacon recipe, which gets the smoke flavor from liquid smoke rather than chipotles. It calls for even more vinegar than Berley’s (2/3 cup), but less oil (1/4 cup), and less soy sauce (6 Tbs.). It also adds a bit of tomato paste and crushed garlic.
Whole wheat linguine with chard, tomatoes, and chickpeas
This recipe is based on the cook’s illustrated beans and greens recipe. I used to make it with collards or kale, but since I can’t get those greens here I made it with swiss chard and added tomatoes, which blend nicely with the acidity of the chard. Normally I add kalamata olives but I didn’t have any so I added a few spoonsfuls of capers instead. I didn’t have any white beans so subbed in chickpeas.
Serves 4 to 6.
Ingredients
| 3 | tablespoons olive oil |
| 8 | cloves garlic, 5 cloves sliced thin lengthwise, 3 cloves minced (1 Tbs.) |
| 3/4 | tsp. kosher salt |
| 1 | medium red onion, diced small (about 1 cup) |
| 1/2-2/3 | teaspoon hot red pepper flakes |
| 20 | ounces chard, stems halved lengthwise and sliced thinly and leaves sliced into ribbons |
| 3/4 | cups vegetable broth |
| 1 | can (14 1/2 ounces) diced tomatoes with juice |
| 1 | can (15 ounces) chickpeas, drained and rinsed |
| 3/4 | cup pitted kalamata olives, roughly chopped (or 3 Tbs. capers) |
| 10-12 | ounces whole wheat spaghetti or linguine |
| 2 | ounces Parmesan cheese, finely grated (about 1 cup) |
| ground black pepper |
Instructions
- Heat oil and sliced garlic in 12-inch skillet over medium-high heat. Cook, stirring and turning frequently, until light golden brown, about 3 minutes. Using slotted spoon, transfer garlic to plate lined with paper towels. Sprinkle lightly with salt.
- Add onion and chard stems to pan; cook until starting to brown, about 5 minutes. Add minced garlic and red pepper flakes; cook, stirring constantly, until garlic is fragrant, about 30 seconds.
- Add half of chard to pan; using tongs, toss occasionally, until starting to wilt, about 2 minutes. Add remaining chard, broth, tomatoes, and salt; cover (pan will be very full); increase heat to high and bring to strong simmer. Reduce heat to medium and cook, covered, tossing once, until chard is completely wilted. Stir in beans and olives or capers.
- Meanwhile, bring 4 quarts water to boil in dutch oven or 5-6 quart pan over high heat. Add pasta and 1 tablespoon salt; cook until pasta is just shy of al dente. Drain pasta and return to pot. Add the greens mixture to pasta, set over medium-high heat, and toss to combine. Cook until pasta absorbs most of liquid, about 2 minutes. Season with black pepper to taste. Serve immediately, passing garlic chips and parmesan separately.
Note: By draining the pasta before its al dente, and finishing cooking in the brothy sauce, the pasta absorbs the flavors of the sauce and release its residual starch, which helps to thicken the sauce slightly.
Derek really loved this dish, even without the olives. I thought it was reasonably flavorful, but I’m never as excited about beans and greens as he is.
Tofu, bok choy, and caramelized shallots
This is a quick Chinese-inspired dish I whipped up for lunch today.
- 2 Tbs. soy sauce
- 1 tsp. sugar
- 3 cloves garlic, minced (about 1 Tbs.) [optional]
- 1/2 tsp. chili flakes
- 1 Tbs. olive oil
- 1 pound medium firm tofu
- 1 pound bok choy
- 2 shallots
- 1 inch piece fresh ginger , minced (about 1 tablespoon) [optional]
- In a small bowl, mix together the soy sauce, sugar, minced garlic cloves, and chili flakes. Slice the tofu into long rectangles (about .75” x .75” x 2”).
- In a 12-inch non-stick skillet over high heat, heat the olive oil until a drop of water sizzles. Add the tofu in a single layer. Do not move the tofu once you’ve placed it down.
- While the tofu cooks, wash and cut up your bok choy. Break the bok choy into individual leaves, and remove the green part from the white stems. Chop the stems into bite-sized pieces, halving vertically any particular fat stems. When the stems are all chopped, throw them into the pan, filling up any spaces not taken by the tofu, and letting the rest of the pieces rest on top of the tofu.
- When the tofu has browned on the first side, toss everything making sure that each tofu piece ends up on an unbrowned side. While the second side browns, slice the bok choy leaves into fat ribbons, and slice the shallots into 1/4 inch pieces. Add the shallots to the pan. Toss again, getting a third side of each tofu rectangle down this time.
- When the third side of tofu is browned, throw in the bok choy leaves and the soy sauce mixture. Stir fry for about 1 minute, until the leaves are wilted. Eat immediately.
You could serve this over rice or another grain, but we just ate it plain. It’s salty, but not over the top salty. The bok choy stems and shallots get nicely caramelized, and the tofu ends up crisp on the outside and soft on the inside. It’s a satisfying dish.
If you use the ginger, add it about 30 seconds before the soy sauce mixture.
Whole wheat penne with brussels sprouts, falafel crumbs, apples, and rosemary
We recently returned from 10 days in NYC, and were scrambling to figure out what to do for dinner given our uncharacteristically empty fridge and unusually busy schedule. (When you disappear for 10 days there’s a lot to do once you get back!) I left work too late to make it to the Asian and bio stores, so tofu was out, and the Turkish store was already closed. My only option was the local, standard grocery store, where I almost never buy produce. The Brussels sprouts looked reasonably fresh, and both Derek and I love brussels sprouts, so I decided on a simple dinner of pasta with brussels sprouts. I also bought a few tart apples for snacking on.
When I got home I tried to figure out what I could add to bump up the protein content of the meal, and make the pasta dish a little more interesting. I remembered that I had a box of falafel mix in the pantry. Falafel and brussels sprouts didn’t seem like too odd of a combination, so I mixed the falafel mix with water and fried it up as falafel patties in a little oil on the stovetop. I removed them from the pan and then used the same pan for the sprouts. I quartered the brussels sprouts and cooked them over medium heat in my large 12-inch skillet, until browned. When they were almost done I decided to jazz the dish up a bit more, and added one diced granny smith apple, and a heaping spoonful of minced rosemary (from the plant on my windowsill). When the sprouts were cooked through I tossed in some whole wheat penne, and crumbled in a few of the falafel patties. The texture of the falafel crumbles reminded me a little of bread crumbs, but they were more flavorful. The sweet/tart apple contrasted nicely with the heavier flavors of the falafel and brussels sprouts, and the rosemary added a nice “fall” flavor. The dish ended up being tasty, if a little odd. It was also a bit dry, so we ended up drizzling it with a little olive oil at the table. I wish the dish had had more of a sauce, but I never know how to make a non-red sauce like you get at an Italian restaurant, without using 1/4 cup of olive oil per person.
Is there any locally made tempeh available in NYC?
I want to cook tempeh when I’m in NYC, but I’d prefer not to buy the mediocre stuff from Lightlife or White Wave. Does anyone know of any tempeh that’s locally made, or at least better than the national brands? I did an internet search but didn’t find anything.
Kale, leek, mushroom pudding
This morning I got up and decided to use up some of the odds and ends left in the fridge/freezer. I started by roasting a bunch of parsnips, carrots, and a little bit of leftover cauliflower. While the vegetables were roasting in the oven, I used the rest of the leftover vegetables to make a creamy kale, leek, and mushroom pudding. I didn’t measure anything, so all the amounts below are approximate.
- leeks, white and light green parts sliced (~4 cups)
- ~ 1 Tbs. butter
- mushrooms, chopped small (~2 cups)
- kale, finely chopped (I used a 450g box of frozen kale)
- dried oregano (1/2? tsp.)
- ground fennel seed (1/4? tsp.)
- salt and fresh ground pepper
- soy sauce (~1 Tbs.)
- 1 Tbs. nutritional yeast
- 2 tsp. arrowroot
- lowfat milk (~1.25 cups)
- 2 eggs
- 2 Tbs. light cream cheese
- ~1/2 cup fresh basil leaves
- 4 large cloves garlic
- 4.25 ounces cheese (I used a mix of parmigiana-reggiano and manchego)
- In a 3-quart casserole pan warm the butter over medium heat. Add the leeks and saute until lightly browned. Add the mushrooms and cook until the liquid is mostly gone. Add the frozen kale, cover, and cook until the kale is defrosted. Add some dried oregano and dried fennel, salt and pepper, the nutritional yeast, and some soy sauce. Stir to mix.
- Mix the arrowroot in 1 Tbs. of water. Make a well in the center of the vegetables, and add the arrowroot mixture. Cook for a minute or two, until it starts to bubble. Off the heat. Mix the two eggs with the milk and light cream cheese. Beat well. Add the egg mixture to the vegetables, and stir to mix.
- In a mini food processor place the cheese, the peeled garlic cloves, and the basil leaves. Pulse a few times until everything is finely chopped and uniformly mixed. Mix most of the cheese mixture into the vegetables, reserving a little to sprinkle on top.
- Bake uncovered in a 375 degree oven until the casserole is set and top is lightly browned, about 20 minutes.
My notes:
This casserole doesn’t have enough eggs or starchy vegetables in it to really set properly. It’s not sliceable–more scoopable, which is why I called it a pudding rather than a casserole. If I was going to serve this for company, I’d probably make individual puddings in my 1-cup ramekins. The flavor was good, although I couldn’t specifically taste the basil, oregano, or fennel seed. I guess I should have added more. I think a little nutmeg or allspice would also have gone well with these flavors. Surprisingly, no one vegetable really stood out flavor-wise. Each added a distinctive texture however. The mushroom pieces were meaty and a tad rubbery. The kale was slightly fibrous and chewy. And the leeks were silky and a tad stringy. The gestalt of the dish reminded me a little of the traditional Thanksgiving green bean casserole cooked in condensed mushroom soup–but in a good, comfort-food way rather than a cheap, overly-processed way.
Derek also liked the pudding–he said it tasted just like escargot. I suspect it was the strong (almost raw) garlic flavor that he was responding to.
This recipe made approx. 2 quarts of pudding, so I would say 8 side-servings or 4 main dish servings.
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Nutrition Facts
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Serving Size: 1/8 recipe
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| Amount Per Serving | |||||
| Calories | 189 | ||||
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| Total Fat | 7.9g | ||||
| Saturated Fat | 4.7g | ||||
| Trans Fat | 0g | ||||
| Cholesterol | 66mg | ||||
| Sodium | 453mg | ||||
| Carbohydrate | 17.5g | ||||
| Dietary Fiber | 2.8g | ||||
| Sugars | 4.4g | ||||
| Protein | 12.6g | ||||
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Macro breakdown: 37% fat, 26% protein, 37% carbs.
Where to eat in New York City?
Derek and I are going to New York City soon, and I’m looking for great places to eat. Although we’ve been to NYC many times, I can’t really think of that many places that I must return to. I know there must be marvelous places for a vegetarian (and her non-vegetarian foodie husband) to get a great dinner. Do any of you city-dwellers have some favorites you can suggest? If so, please post a comment with your recommendations. Restaurants close to the village are preferred. I’ll post a summary of all our dining experiences after we return.
So far, our tentative plans include Candle Cafe, Blue Hill, Babbo, and maybe Sunday brunch with bagels from Essa Bagels. (Sadly, we can’t get bagels here in Germany).
Autumn tempeh and winter vegetable stew
Fall is here, and parsnips and winter squash are finally in the stores again! I decided to celebrate by trying this recipe from the fall section of Peter Berley’s Fresh Food Fast.
In a medium dutch oven you melt together butter and oil, then add kombu, garlic, ginger, and rosemary or sage. On top of this seasoning layer you place 1 pound of tempeh cubes. The tempeh is then covered with a mixture of water, soy sauce, and maple syrup. Then come the remaining layers: onions, winter squash, parsnip, and carrots, all cut into thick slices or chunks. The casserole is covered, and the stew is brought to a boil, then transferred to a 400 degree oven where it bakes for 25 minutes. Once everything is cooked, the vegetables and tempeh are transferred to a serving bowl, and a mixture of arrowroot and water and soy sauce is mixed in with the juices remaining in the pan, to make a sort of gravy. The vegetables are topped with the sauce and some scallions, and served over a bulgur and buckwheat pilaf.
I didn’t have any kombu, so I just left it out. I cut the olive oil by half, the butter by 25%, and used less soy sauce. I didn’t make the pilaf since I felt like the dish had plenty of starchy vegetables already. I used rosemary for the herb, and hokaiido (red kuri) for the winter squash. I forgot the scallions. Otherwise I followed the recipe’s ingredients exactly.
The first mistake I made was using a 3 quart casserole pan. I only have a 6 quart dutch oven, and that seemed too large. But the 3 quart pan was not large enough. Once all the veggies were layered in the lid couldn’t quite close. I tried cooking it anyway, with the lid mostly closed, but after 25 minute the parsnips were still hard in spots, so I left it in the oven for a while longer, maybe another 15 minutes.
In the end the vegetables were definitely cooked, but they tasted more like boiled vegetables than roasted ones. The onions were particularly slimy and unappealing. The starchy vegetables weren’t overly soft, just bland and not very flavorful. The hokaiido was particularly unpleasant–overly dry and starchy tasting. Maybe I should have added more salt, but I don’t think that alone would have been transformed the vegetables from unappetizing to delicious. I can’t imagine that Berley intended the vegetables to come out as they did. They were just too gross. Could I have really screwed up the recipe somehow?
In conflict with the name, the dish really was not anything like a stew. There was only about 1.5 cups of sauce for almost 3 quarts of vegetables–not even close to a stew in my book.
The tempeh wasn’t bad. It had absorbed all the fat (the vegetables didn’t get any), and was sweet (from the maple syrup and veggie juices) and salty (from the soy sauce). Plus the garlic and ginger added lots of flavor. However, I couldn’t taste the rosemary.
Derek and I ended up eating all the tempeh out of the “stew”, and then I pureed the vegetables together to make a creamy soup. I added some spices and the soup tasted okay, but not great.
Stew: D
Tempeh: B-
Bell peppers stuffed with black beans and quinoa
Stuffed bell peppers are a standard in any 70’s vegetarian cookbook. Despite being a pretty easy way to disguise “brown vegan mush”, they’ve never really become part of my repertoire. Before the summer peppers completely disappear, I decided to try the stuffed pepper recipe from Vegan with a Vengeance.
- 2 Tbs. olive oil
- 1 cup finely chopped onion
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 cups finely chopped mushrooms
- 1 Tbs. chile powder
- 1 tsp. salt
- 15 oz. tomato sauce
- 1/4 cup water
- 1/2 cup quinoa
- 4 large red bell peppers
- 15-ounce can of black beans, drained and rinsed
- 1 tsp. maple syrup
- fresh cilantro for garnish
The technique is to saute the onions until soft, then add the garlic and mushrooms and cook until dry. Then the chile powder, salt, 1 cup. tomato sauce, water, and quinoa are added, and the mixture is simmered for 20 minutes. Afterwards, the black beans and maple syrup are added to the mixture. The bell peppers are blanched in boiling water for 5 minutes, then filled, topped with the remaining tomato sauce, and baked at 350 for 15 minutes. The peppers are garnished with cilantro before serving.
My notes:
I followed the recipe exactly except I added 1 minced jalepeno with the onion.
The biggest problem I had with this recipe is that 1/4 cup of water was not enough water to cook the quinoa. I think at least 1/2 cup of water, and maybe 2/3 cup is needed. After 20 minutes my quinoa was still in hard, white balls, and I had to add more water and cook it for another 10 minutes.
The flavor of the mixture is good. I wouldn’t have known that there was maple syrup in it, or mushrooms. Since the quinoa is cooked with the veggies and tomato sauce, it doesn’t become extremely light and fluffy–it has more of a gooey texture. The mushrooms and quinoa form a brown, starchy glue that helps the beans stick together, and adds nuttiness and depth. The cilantro garnish added a lot of flavor. The bell peppers, although not overcooked or undercooked, didn’t add that much. They were sweet, and tasted like bell peppers, but the flavor just didn’t meld that well with the filling. Derek said he wouldn’t make this recipe again, but he would make the filling again. He gave the whole recipe a B/B- and the filling a B+/A-. I liked the filling, but didn’t love it. I think the filling might work well in enchiladas or burritos, or maybe could be used to fill zucchini or halved winter squash. I’d give the recipe a B-, and the filling a B.
Skillet green beans with garlic and lemon
I wanted a quick, flavorful green bean dish for dinner last night, and I decided to try this recipe from Cook’s Illustrated “Best Light Recipe” cookbook.
Ingredients:
- 1 tsp. olive oil
- 3 medium garlic cloves, minced or pressed (about 1 Tbs.)
- 1 tsp. minced fresh thyme leaves
- pinch of cayenne
- 1 cup low-sodium vegetable broth (C.I. calls for chicken broth)
- 1.5 pounds green beans, ends trimmed
- 1 tsp. cornstarch
- 1 Tbs. water
- salt and fresh ground black pepper
- 1 Tbs. lemon juice
- 2 Tbs. grated Parmesan
Instructions:
- Heat the oil, garlic, thyme, and cayenne in a 12-inch skillet, until fragrant. Then add the broth and green beans. Turn the heat to medium-high, cover, and cook until the green beans are not quite tender, 6 to 9 minutes.
- Mix the cornstarch with the water to make a slurry. Push the green beans to the side of the pan, and add the slurry to the empty side. Cook until the slurry starts to simmer, then mix it with the green beans. Cook until the green beans are tender and the sauce has thickened, about 1 minute. Remove from the heat, and add the lemon juice and salt and pepper to taste. Stir in the parmesan before serving.
Comments:
I only had about 1 1/3 pounds green beans, but I used the full amount of ingredients. Despite skimping on the beans, the sauce wasn’t too strong. I used arrowroot instead of cornstarch, but otherwise followed the recipe. The green beans tasted fine, but the sauce was very mellow. With all that garlic, I was expecting something with a little more bite (like the lemon/mustard green beans in Modern Vegetarian Kitchen). Derek said that part of the problem was that I overcooked the beans. Although I would have preferred them a bit more crisp, I didn’t think they were very overcooked. They were just very mild tasting. The parmesan and cornstarch really mellow out the bite from the garlic, and the lack of much oil made the whole thing taste just a little wan. Also, I’m not sure why the salt is added at the end instead of with the vegetable broth. The thyme was fine, but not quite the right seasoning for green beans I think. I don’t think I’d make this recipe as is again. At the very least I’d save some raw garlic and throw it in at the very end. Also, I would serve it with rice or another grain to soak up some of the sauce. However, if you like more mellow flavors, and are looking for an easy, very low calorie vegetable side dish, then give this a try.
Rating: B-
Derek: B-
Ten days in Scotland
My blog has languished recently because I haven’t been cooking–I’ve been enjoying other people’s cooking in Scotland. Derek and I spent a week in Edinburgh and three days on the island of Islay. Both were lovely.
I immediately fell in love with Edinburgh. I felt at home from the moment we got on the airport bus and started riding through the suburbs. I liked the Georgian monotony of New Town, the touristy cashmere kitsch of the Royal Mile, and the small town friendliness of Stockbridge. Edinburgh feels like a big, bustling city, yet it’s very easy and fast (and cheap!) to get around on foot and by bus. Plus they’re rebuilding the trams!
I spent most of my week in Edinburgh just walking around, exploring all the different neighborhoods, and checking out the marvelous thrift stores (of which there seemed to be an infinite supply). And I ate. I ate lunch and dinner out every day. After the unvarying German/Italian/Thai of Saarbruecken, it was a pleasure to be able to sample so many different cuisines. Still, as the week wore on, I started to get sick of restaurant food. My normally captious nature blossomed into outright pickiness (as you’ll see in the comments below). But don’t be fooled by all the criticism. I had a lovely time in Edinburgh, and would return in a minute.
Scotland is more vegetarian friendly than Germany–almost every restaurant has at least one vegetarian main dish. That said, the vegetarian fare is pretty predictable. At most restaurants the vegetarian option is risotto, and if not risotto, then it’s almost always ravioli. I enjoy a well-made risotto, and I’ve had some excellent ravioli. (The pumpkin ravioli in a sage cream sauce at Girasole in Pittsburgh comes to mind.) However, when I go to a restaurant and the only vegetarian choices are risotto and ravioli, I become unreasonably acrimonious. So I tried to seek out places with more interesting vegetarian options.
- Tony’s Table: The first night we went to a small, low-key restaurant around the corner from our hotel. I was intrigued by the roast cauliflower & pomegranate harissa starter that’s listed on the webpage, but unfortunately the webpage changes everyday and that wasn’t on the menu. Instead I started with asparagus in lemon butter. The portion was small but the asparagus was perfectly cooked and deliciously lemony. One of our dining companions started with the woodland mushroom soup. I hadn’t ordered it because I figured it would be a creamy soup, but it turned out to be an intensely flavored creamless mushroom broth, with a few mushrooms floating in it. I only had one taste but really enjoyed it. For my main I was hoping to get the dal on the webpage, but on that’s night menu the only options were risotto, and ravioli. I couldn’t believe it! I had specifically picked the restaurant to avoid the dreaded r&r. I had no choice so I gave in and ordered the risotto with preserved lemons, broad beans, and peas. I had to concede that it was excellent. The preserved lemons infused the whole dish with a strong lemon aroma, and I loved the nutty, chewy broad beans. The peas added sweetness. The only downside was that the dish was HUGE. I would have preferred a larger starter and a more reasonable sized main. The mains also came with a side of steamed vegetables, which were fresh and tasty. For dessert I ordered the orange polenta cake. (I was aiming for a citrus trifecta.) I wouldn’t have known that there was polenta in the cake, except that the texture was slighty coarse, kind of like a Passover cake made from matzoh meal. I like Passover cake, and I enjoyed the polenta cake,which went quite well with the fragrant orange sauce. What I really adored, however, was Derek’s treacle tart. It was served with some kind of spicy sauce that was full of warm spices that I couldn’t quite place. The combination of the dark molasses flavor and the warm spices was addictive. One of our dining companion’s ordered the chocolate soup: it was basically a big bowl of melted dark chocolate. My taste was tasty, but I think I would have found it a bit boring if I had ordered it. Tony’s Table charges 20 pounds for three courses. I thought the price was very reasonable given the quality of the food. The atmosphere was pleasant, and the service acceptable, although not especially friendly. I would love to go back, although hopefully the next time I’m there the vegetarian options will be a bit more adventurous. Rating: B+
- Valvona and Crolla Caffe Bar: I was determined to try the pizza at La Favorita, but the restaurant is almost to Leith, and my plans to stop there for lunch never seemed to work out. On the last day of my stay in Edinburgh I tried to make it to La Favorita, but ran out of time, and ended up at the Valvona and Crolla deli. I had heard excellent things about the restaurant in the back, so I stopped for lunch. They had pizza and some other vegetarian options but I opted for a simple pasta with olive oil and some type of mushroom. It was very rich (almost olive oil soup), but very tasty. The pasta was perfectly al dente, and the sauce delicious. It was so good that despite being pretty full I wanted to try a dessert. I opted for the carrot cake, which was nicely spiced but overly dry, with an unappetizing mascarpone icing. I felt like the prices were a bit high for lunch, but they’re only open until 5pm. If I’m back in Edinburgh I’d like to come back, but I’ll make lunch my main meal and only have a light salad or soup for dinner. The caffe is very informal, but very pleasant with lots of light and a high ceiling. I would also like to try the associated Valvona and Crolla VinCaffe. Rating: B.
- Susie’s Wholefood Diner: I hadn’t planned to try this old-school vegetarian diner, but ended up at the University around lunchtime, and it was full of people and looked cozy, so my friend and I decided to try it. We went to the counter to see the options and give our order, and after eying the day’s choices I chose a medium plate, giving me a choice of three dishes. I selected the vegetable enchiladas, a salad of various grated vegetables, and the spanokopita. My friend got the last serving of spanokopita, so I took my two dishes and said I’d wait until the next batch came out of the oven. The flour enchilada looked a lot like my own enchiladas, and tasted pretty similar, except it was filled with various veggies rather than tofu. I normally don’t care for vegetable enchiladas, but this one was quite nice. The sauce was just how I like it, and the filling was simple but tasty. The salad was fine, but not exciting (I think it was not dressed). My friend had gotten the spanokopita, the same salad, and a puree of sweet potatoes, lentils, and millet, topped with a ginger sauce. She said the spanokopita was fine but the sweet potatoes were really good. I tasted the puree and really liked it, so switched my third dish to the puree instead of the spanokopita. I think the server was disturbed by giving me a plate that was only 1/3 full, so he gave me this enormous scoop of sweet potatoes. It was way too much. The sweet potatoes were really good though. I wouldn’t have known there were lentils in it, so I’m guessing they were red lentils cooked til they totally lost all shape. I could easily detect the millet, which added it’s own slightly dry, chewy texture to the dish. The real crown, however, was the ginger sauce. It didn’t taste at all like ginger to me–more like the carmelized, reduced juices that leak out of the sweet potatoes when you roast them. I don’t know how they made that sauce but it was marvelous. The diner was crowded, but very bright and cozy. The food wasn’t at all gourmet, but I enjoyed my lunch and if Susie’s opened a branch in Saarbruecken, I’d be a regular. Despite the counter-service approach, the lunch wasn’t exactly cheap, but I thought that the price was acceptable, especially given the enormous pile of sweet potatoes. Rating: B.
- Kalpna’s: I couldn’t quite tell what I thought of Kalpna’s because we ended up eating there in a group of ten, and someone else was paying the bill and asked the waiter to simply bring “some of everything.” So we got tons of food but I didn’t know what anything was and it became simply overwhelming. I do remember that I quite liked the tandoor mix (vegetables coated in a spicy yogurt marinade and cooked in the tandoor oven). It was much, much better than typical grilled vegetable kabobs. I also really loved one of the dishes that came in an almond, cashew sauce that was incredibly nutty and addictive. The only downside was that it was almost all sauce, with very little in the sauce. The carrot halvah was quite good–almost as good as homemade. The mango lassi was also nice–not too sweet, not too sour, and not too thick. There were definitely dishes I didn’t care for–one memorable dish with a tomato based sauce was so sweet I stopped after one bite. I had trouble evaluating the restaurant due to the crazy circumstances, but the prices were quite reasonable and there were a few standout dishes. I’d definitely try it again. Rating: B.
- Wedgwood: I was looking for more upscale restaurants that offered a vegetarian option other than the inevitable R&R, and came across Wedgwood, which happens to be rated number one on TripAdvisor for Edinburgh restaurants. I don’t know how much that rating means, but the menu looked good to Derek so we decided to give it a try. I started with a watercress “cappuccino”, a twist on the classic English soup. I love the peppery intensity of watercress, and was extremely disappointed by the mild, almost bland cup of soup I was served. Before our mains we were served shot glasses full of some sort of sweet soda (ginger and cranberry maybe?). Somehow the waitress managed to topple mine all over the table, and into my lap. She was quite friendly, however, and I was wearing black, so I didn’t mind very much. We had a good laugh about it. The soda was sweet and tasty, but not unusual. For my main I ordered the intriguing sounding “black eyed peas, beans, vegetables, wrapped in vine leaves, lightly curried saffron broth”. When it arrived I was surprised to find that the “broth” was actually more of a thick, mustard-yellow sauce that spilled out from underneath the stuffed grape leaves. The grape leaves were strongly pickled. I liked the taste but there was simply too much of it, compared to the rather mild filling. The briny leaves overwhelmed the other flavors, so I unwrapped the leaves and just ate the filling and sauce. The filling was plain but pleasant tasting: a mixture of lentils, black eye peas, a grain (bulgur?), and minced vegetables. The saffron sauce definitely tasted like saffron, and I liked it okay, but it’s not quite what I had been hoping for. After removing the grape leaves I thought the dish was fine, and certainly different, but I wouldn’t order it again. One of my dining companions (also a vegetarian) liked my dish alot, and finished off what I couldn’t manage (after finishing her own dish!). She had ordered the fennel, walnut and tomato risotto, which came with a lovely, very fresh side salad. The risotto was quite nice. It was much firmer and drier than the risotto at Tony’s Table, but it was full of flavor, and the walnuts added a surprising crunch to the dish. I definitely want to try making a risotto with walnuts sometime. For dessert I tried the peanut butter pudding with banana ice cream and carmelized bananas. The peanut butter pudding was definitely peanut buttery, and it went nicely with the banana ice cream, but neither the texture nor flavor were quite right. I also didn’t care for the hard, candied surface on the bananas. I would have preferred a simply grilled banana without the distraction of the too-sweet, too-hard surface. Derek ordered the sticky toffee pudding, which was tasty but a bit too sweet and not dark enough I thought. One of our dining companion’s tried the pineapple “gazpacho”, which was light and refreshing. It kind of reminded me of a pina colada. Our other dining companion tried the goats cheese semi freddo with honeyed beetroot, passion fruit, and fennel sorbet. The fennel sorbet tasted like fennel, and the semi freddo was quite nice–it had the sour creaminess that I love in yogurt gelato. Overall I was a little disappointed in Wedgwood. It has creativity, and lots of potential, but wasn’t as successful as Tony’s Table, and was slightly more expensive (for vegetarians). But it was good enough that I would certainly try it again, especially since it was Derek’s favorite restaurant in Edinburgh. Rating: B.
- Sprio: I happened into Sbrio by accident. I wanted to try Sabor Criollo, but there wasn’t much vegetarian, and–more importantly–it was closed. Hungry, we were searching for someplace in Stockbridge to grab a quick lunch. Sprio is a little Italian cafe on a side street. There are seats inside but it was dim and a little depressing, so we sat on stools at a little table out front. There were a number of vegetarian sandwiches and pastas, but none of the combinations suited my tastes (eggplant and blue cheese kept encroaching on otherwise appealing choices). I had them make me a custom sandwich with some Italian smoked cheese, tomatoes, and artichoke hearts. Rather than go with the standard panini I decided to try the Italian flat bread, piadina. It turned out to be quite similar to a flour tortilla, turning my “sandwich” into something more akin to a quesadilla, but not fried. The smoked cheese was tasty, but the sandwich was a little boring. Probably the eggplant and blue cheese would have helped! My friend and I also shared a caprese salad, which was actually tomatoes and mozarella on top of a leafy salad. The ingredients were all quite fresh and I enjoyed the salad, especially the delicious gaeta olives. I’d go back if I was in the neighborhood and I needed lunch, but I wouldn’t make a special trip. Rating: B.
- David Bann: I had looked at the menu at this more upscale vegetarian restaurant, and dismissed it as the menu looked a little too standard. However, a friend of mine had been to David Bann before and remembered it fondly, so I figured I should give it a try. I went with a group of four and we started with a few starters: the popular thai fritters; potato, olive, caper, sorrel salad; and french fries. The thai fritters were pleasant–I liked the smoked tofu that made up the “heart” of the fritters, and the banana chutney was quite nice as well. The salad was also tasty. I really liked the combination of the briny green olives and the capers, but I could barely detect any sorrel at all. The french fries were not very good, but since we ordered them vegan they were served with a side of hummus! When I first tasted it I wasn’t sure what it was–it tasted creamy and savory and delicious, but I couldn’t place the flavors. Only once my dining companions informed me that I was eating hummus did I figure it out. French fries (even mediocre ones) are really good dipped in hummus! For a main dish I ordered the Organic udon noodles with ginger red pepper sauce and home smoked tofu. For some reason I was expecting more of a brothy dish, but it was actually a big pile of sauced udon noodles. The sauce was tasty–”red” tasting without being very spicy. The smoked tofu on top was a little bland–not as flavorful as the tofu in the thai fritters. I enjoyed my dish, but it wasn’t too exciting or original. I think next time I would pick something different. One of my dining companions ordered the roast aubergine chick pea cake with mash and gravy, and seemed disappointed. He said he couldn’t taste any eggplant, and the small fritters were dwarfed by the huge pile of mashed potatoes they were perched on top of. The mashed potatoes were fine, but boring, and the gravy wasn’t great. My friend ordered the butternut squash, cashew and kohlrabi curry. The presentation was different than I expected–the vegetables were sliced into big, thick rounds, and stacked on top of each other then covered in a thai curry sauce. It was a nice twist on the standard chunky, brothy curry. I nabbed a small taste and the curry tasted fine–like a Thai curry. My friend said that the accompaniments really made the dish however. He was quite happy with his choice. For dessert, I tried the strawberry panna cotta which was reasonably tasty, but the pink creaminess was a little offputting. I don’t know if it was in my head, but it almost tasted a little of artificial strawberry flavoring. The dining companion who ordered it didn’t finish it, but perhaps he was just full. I helped him out. I ordered the orange and vanilla cheesecake, which was fine. It wasn’t the best cheesecake I’ve had, and the orange jelly layer on top was a bit weird, but it was tasty enough that I finished it all. The vegan member of our group had only one choice: raspberry jelly and coconut rum sorbet. I think it’s a bit sad that a vegetarian restaurant can only come up with a single vegan dessert, but he seemed to enjoy it. Overall, I didn’t love anything I tried at David Bann, and I thought the desserts were disappointing–but everything was competently done, the atmosphere was pleasant, and the prices were reasonable. I wouldn’t rush back but if a friend wanted to try the restaurant I would join them. Rating: B.
- A Room in the Town: The second night we were in Edinburgh we had a quite large group with several vegetarians and several non-vegetarians who wanted Scottish food, and were trying to come to a consensus about dinner. We ended up at a Room in the Town. I was quite excited to try the feta, watermelon & rockette salad with a coriander & pink peppercorn vinaigrette, as I have very fond memories of the watermelon, arugula, feta salad at Kaya in Pittsburgh. However, the salad was awful. The watermelon was tasteless and watery, and the dressing was oily and overpowering. I gave the salad to Derek, who liked it. For my main I ordered the Butternut squash, yellow courgette & broccoli in a coconut & red curry broth, chargrilled flatbread. The curry was better than I expected. It wasn’t anything special, but the veggies tasted good and it hit the spot. No one else seemed that excited about their food, however, so we left without ordering dessert. I would be less inclined to return to a Room in the Town than to David Bann, but I would be willing if a friend was set on it. Rating: B-.
- Dusit: I had read nothing but positive reviews of Dusit, a Thai restaurant in the New Town. Derek and I went for lunch, only to discover that the lunch menu is quite short, with none of the interesting-sounding vegetarian options that are on the dinner menu. We asked our waiter if we could order off the dinner menu, and he said sure. We started with the sweet potato and taro fritters. The fritters didn’t excite me that much, but I really liked the sweet chili dip that they were served with. Derek liked the fritters a lot. For our main course we shared the “Son in Law” and the “Pad Med Mamung”. The Son in Law was grilled vegetables in a sweet tamarind, white wine, and brandy sauce. I should have been more cautious–the “sweet” sauce was too sweet for me. I was hoping the tamarind would make it more sour, but it was mostly just sweet. There weren’t that many vegetables either–the dish seemed a little small given the price. The “Pad Med Mamung” was a mix of mushrooms, vegetables, and cashew nuts, in a chilli & chilli jam sauce. I liked this sauce better than the other one, although I was hoping for something a bit more fiery, like the Thai chili paste I make at home. The dish was fine but not stellar. Derek thought the two dishes were best mixed together. The prices were a little high for lunch (although we did order off the dinner menu). Also, Dusit charges for rice, and charges quite a bit. They didn’t have brown rice, but the white rice was quite good–nice and chewy. Overall I was disappointed in Dusit. The menu looked so interesting but I wouldn’t order either of the two “interesting” dishes we ordered again. Rating: B-
- Mezbaan: This south Indian restaurant is close to the King’s Theatre, so we stopped in for an early dinner before going to see a play. The mango lassi was not quite as good as at Kalpna, but nice–not too sweet. I ordered the onion dosa. I wasn’t quite sure what to expect, but I certainly wasn’t expecting the dosa with little bits of onion falling out everywhere! The dosa didn’t quite taste right–not sour enough. The sambar was awful–not at all what I think of as sambar. The coconut chutney was not good either. Derek ordered the masala dosa, and I didn’t think his potatoes tasted anything like masala potatoes. They weren’t very good. I did like the side order of bhindi bhaji that we ordered. The okra was greasy but well-flavored and surprisingly crisp. The side order of channa masala was not as good. It was fine but I wouldn’t order it again. It was hard to tell what my dining companions thought of the meal, since we were so rushed. Once we finally got our food we had to leave for the theatre ten minutes later. To be fair, we did have a very large group. Overall I wasn’t that impressed with the food at Mezbaan, especially since the dosas were not up to par, and it’s supposedly a south Indian restaurant. Still, I enjoyed the okra and I’d try it again if I needed somewhere to eat before the theatre. Rating: B-.
- 21212: Derek organized a group to go to this new restaurant which has been receiving glowing reviews since it opened. None of the dishes were vegetarian, but they modified them all for me to use vegetables instead of meat. The starter was excellent. It was actually “risotto”, but not a very traditional risotto. It was a small bowl of soupy rice, topped with various interesting things which I no longer remember, except for the wonderful slices of dried oranges that had an explosive amount of flavor for how tiny they were. After the starter the rest of the courses were a disappointment. I can’t recall much about the soup, except that it was white and creamy and tasted fine but not like much in particular. In fact, all the courses seemed very similar–white, creamy, rich with a bunch of random vegetables thrown in. In my main course the meat was replaced with white asparagus, which I’m usually not a fan of. However the asparagus was crisp and pleasant tasting. In the middle of the dish was this extremely salty, dough ball. Except for Derek, everyone thought it was gross. Other than the asparagus and the dough ball, the main dish was unmemorable. After our main course we were served a cheese course, and the cheeses were very standard cheeses. Also the wedges of cheese were huge. All the other courses (for which the chefs actually had to do some work) were quite tiny, then they fill us up with massive amounts of standard cheeses. It kind of pissed me off. I ordered the lemon tart for dessert. It was fine, but not as good as the lemon bars from Fine Cooking–they were a tad too sweet and a tiny bit metallic tasting. For the price I was expecting something more interesting and refined. I liked Derek’s dessert better than mine–I can’t remember the details but it was some kind of a banana trifle, but was more interesting than that sounds. Overall I didn’t feel like the food came close to living up to the high prices. The most unforgivable offense was the lack of variation in the courses. There was nothing raw, not variation in color, nothing grilled or baked. Everything was creamy and white and foamy and savory. Unless the prices go down substantially, I wouldn’t go back for dinner. I might go back for lunch, which has fewer courses but also much lower prices. Rating: C
- Pancho Villa: I randomly stopped in this Mexican restaurant for lunch, because I was hungry, it was there, and I love Mexican food. I ordered the enchiladas with lentils and mushrooms, served with refried beans and a salad. The enchiladas weren’t particularly good–the sauce didn’t have enough chili flavor, the filling wasn’t as interesting as it sounded, and there was too much oily cheese on top. The beans and salad were fine, but not exciting. The best thing about the meal was that it was pretty low sodium for Mexican restaurant. Rating: C
I was so busy walking around exploring Edinburgh that I didn’t get many chances to stop and simply sit and read in cafes. I did try the hot chocolate at the cafe “Chocolate Soup”, but I didn’t think it was very good. It was neither chocolaty or intense enough. I also stopped briefly in the “Circle Cafe” before going to the Botanical Garden. The cafe had a really nice, neighborhood feel to it. I tried the “flapjack”, a classic Scottish bar made from rolled oats and butter. It was kind of like a cross between an oatmeal cookie and a blondie. Quite tasty.
Other places I really wanted to try but never quite made it to: La Favorita for the pizza, Chop Chop, Mother India Cafe, Khushi’s or Anna Purna, Nargile, and Wok and Wine. The food at Urban Angel looked simple but the ingredients seemed to be of extremely high quality. I’d like to eat there for lunch next time I’m in Edinburgh. A friend said that the vegetarian Baked Potato Shop made an excellent potato with tofu chili. I had also wanted to try the cardamom bun or hot chocolate, and a sandwich, at Peter’s Yard. I had been interested in trying Roti, but several friends went and no one was impressed.
Unlike Edinburgh, Islay is pretty empty. The scenery is beautiful though, and varied. Within a short distance you pass by forest, sand dunes, rolling green hills, flat pasture land, and many, many sheep and cows (who always seem to be simultaneously eating lunch and letting loose from the other end). Compared to Edinburgh, Islay has only a small number of dining options, and they generally serve much simpler food. Still, every place we checked out had some vegetarian option, and I very much enjoyed the Scottish soups.
- Ferry boat: We ate a bit on the boat over, since we hadn’t eaten lunch and it was dinner time. We shared a veggie burger, which tasted fried but wasn’t particularly tasty. A side of macaroni and cheese wasn’t bad. Also, I hadn’t noticed it but it turns out they had a specials menu with vichyssoise–I think that would have been a better choice, given the high quality of the soups on Islay.
- Maharani: The first night we arrived late, and ate at the Maharani Indian restaurant which was next door to our B&B. We ordered a vindaloo vegetable dish and a side of aloo gobi. The aloo gobi was very oily but the taste of the cauliflower really came through, which doesn’t happen so often at Indian restaurants. I enjoyed it. The vindaloo dish was extremely spicy (and also very oily), and Derek and I only managed to eat half of it.
- Machrie hotel bar: For lunch the next day we ate in the bar at the Machrie Hotel. I ordered a bowl of lentil broth which was actually just lentil soup, and a peanut butter and banana “toasty”. The lentil soup was quite nice, and the toasty was simple but satisfying. Derek had a plate of cheese and crackers, and enjoyed all the different British crackers, especially since we never eat crackers in Germany. The cheese was fine–Derek said it tasted like Giant Eagle cheddar.
- Harbor Inn: Sunday dinner we went to a more upscale hotel: the Harbor Inn, in Bowmore. I started with a bowl of red pepper soup, which tasted like pure blended red bell peppers. It was fine, but just a tad boring. I would have liked a little spice or herb in addition to the peppers. For my “main dish” I ordered an appetizer called a “tartlet”. I thought it would be kind of like a little quiche, but it was more like a stacked pile of vegetables with a sauce and melted cheese on top. I didn’t care for it, but Derek like it and finished it off for me. In return I ate some of the potato gratin which came with Derek’s dish. It was typically rich but tasty. For dessert I ordered a chocolate and ginger souffle, with mint ice cream on the side. The chocolate souffle was not as light as I was expecting, which I was quite happy about. I enjoyed it, but couldn’t detect any ginger. I loved the mint ice cream–it tasted like mint tea made from fresh mint leaves, and went wonderfully with the chocolate. Derek ordered some kind of traditional Scottish dessert made from oatmeal. It contained layers of sweetened oatmeal, something creamy, and lots of raspberries. It was pretty doughy tasting, but strangely satisfying. Even Derek (the berry hater) thought that the raspberries were necessary, however, to cut through the heavy doughiness. Given that I didn’t care for either my soup or my tartlet, I wouldn’t rush to go back for dinner, but I would go back to try some of their other ice creams, like the basil ice cream.
- Ardbeg cafe: Monday morning we went on a tour of the Ardbeg distillery, and then afterwards atelunch at their cafe. I ordered the
carrot soup, and it was really great. It was made creamy by pureeing the carrots, but they also added some grated carrot for texture. There were also detectable bits of leek, thyme, and I think some other herb. The taste was complex and delicious. I also ordered a toasty with cheese and tomato chutney, but the chutney was so sweet that I really disliked the sandwich, and gave it to Derek who likes the sweet/savory combination more than me. After lunch we went on a distillery tour at the Laphroaig distillery. They let us taste the barley after it had been malted and smoked under a peat fire (shown in the photo at right). It was quite nice! I’m surprised that the local cafes don’t used the malted, smoked barley to make bread. - An Taigh-Osda: Monday dinner was at an taigh-osda, a new restaurant that just opened up (pronounced anti-AUST-uh). I found the place a bit pretentious, and the service was a little too fast from one course to another. I skipped the starters and just ordered a main course. I can’t remember the details but the bulk of it consisted of thick disks of various vegetables stacked into a tower. There was eggplant, sweet potato, tomato, onion, etc. The vegetables were all fine, but the dish seemed awfully expensive for just a stack of roasted, oily disks of various vegetable. There was some kind of sweet chutney on the side, which tasted strange to me, and I gave to Derek. For dessert Derek and I shared a sticky toffee pudding, which was tasty but perhaps a tad too sweet.
- Kilchoman cafe: Tuesday lunch we ate at the Kilchoman distillery cafe. I ordered the zucchini and mint soup, which tasted strongly of mint, perhaps a little too strongly. I didn’t love it so I gave the end to Derek, who liked it more than me.
- Port Charlotte hotel bar: Dinner on Tuesday we ate at the Port Charlotte hotel, but we ate on the pub/bar side, not at the more upscale restaurant. I started with a bowl of roasted
vegetable soup. I was expecting something brothy with chunks of vegetables, but it turned out to be a pureed soup. I could definitely taste parsnips, but I’m not sure what else was in it. The taste was sweet and savory and salty–delicious, and very comforting. I’d love to get the recipe. It was the second best soup I had after the carrot soup at Ardbeg. My main was pasta puttanesca. It was okay but not great. The pasta wasn’t quite al dente enough, the olives were just cheap California black olives, and I couldn’t really taste the capers. The portion was also too big. I ate a little but didn’t finish it. Derek and I shared too desserts: bread and butter pudding and the sticky toffee pudding (again). The bread and butter pudding was not great. The bread was tasteless white bread, and I’m never a huge fan of anglaise sauce. The sticky toffee pudding was better than the one at an taigh-osda–the cake was moister and a little darker tasting, and the sauce wasn’t quite so sweet. (It actually tasted like the butter/brown sugar mixture on the bottom of my pineapple upside down cake.)
Given all the excellent soups I had on my trip to Scotland, and the oncoming cold weather, I’m newly inspired to try to find some new soup recipes. If anyone has a soup recipe they love, please post a comment!
Fusion chipotle salsa soy stir-fry
Last night I was emptying out my fridge in preparation for my upcoming trip to Scotland, and I was trying to figure out what to do with about 1/3 cup of leftover chipotle salsa. Good salsa is rare around here, so I didn’t want to just toss it. But good salsa doesn’t seem to last that long, and I was pretty sure it would be moldy by the time I got back from my trip. The salsa was a quite thick, cooked-style salsa, and visually it reminded me a little of a Thai chile sauce. Derek was making sesame noodles with broccoli and cucumber for dinner, so I decided to make a stirfry with the salsa and what I found in the fridge: 4 ounces of tempeh, 2 small zucchinis, and a big bag of green beans. I made a stir-fry sauce out of the chipotle salsa, soy sauce, balsamic vinegar, and a spoonful of maple syrup. It was really tasty! It didn’t really taste fusion–the Mexican flavors in the salsa faded away in comparison to the Asian kick from the soy sauce. But everyone seemed to like it a lot, and it was an easy way to make a tasty stir fry sauce.
I used a still-oily non-stick skillet to crisp up the tempeh and green beans. (I julienned the tempeh first.) Then when the tempeh and green beans started to brown I poured in the stir-fry sauce, which I had watered down so that the tempeh would have some liquid to cook in. I added the zucchini, which I had cut into thin planks, and covered to cook everything through. When the green beans were tender-crisp I took off the lid and led the sauce cook down until it was more of a glaze. I sprinkled the dish with fresh cilantro before serving. Delicious. I’d definitely make this “recipe” again.
Orange pan-glazed tempeh
I was looking for a tempeh dish that would go well with spring rolls, and decided to try the recipe for orange pan-glazed tempeh that’s on the 101 cookbooks blog. The pictures look pretty, and Heidi says “This might be the best tempeh recipe I’ve highlighted to date.” Based on that strong recommendation, I decided I had to try it.
The recipe was disappointing. The instructions work, and everything cooks just as specified, but my friend Alex and I both thought that the tempeh was simply boring. I could definitely taste the orange juice, but that was pretty much the only flavor that stood out. The ginger didn’t come through, I couldn’t taste the coriander seeds, nor could I detect any lime. It pretty much just tasted like fried tempeh cooked in orange juice. Plus, the recipe is pretty high calorie. I followed the instructions exactly, except I didn’t have mirin so used rice vinegar instead. I can’t imagine that 1.5 Tablespoons of mirin could have really made that much of a difference. If anything, I thought the recipe was too sweet and needed more vinegar/acid, not less. I don’t think I’d make this recipe again, but if I was going to, I’d probably at least double the amounts of all the seasonings, and maybe cut down the maple syrup and add more soy sauce.
Rating: B-
Simple sweet spiced chard
I made some chard tonight that was fantastic. Derek said that if he was served it in a fancy restaurant, he would be impressed. It’s a pretty simple dish, but it was just really tasty and interesting tasting. I think it was the garam masala that really put it over the edge. I’m not sure where this particular garam masala came from–I might have made it myself? When you first smell it, it smells quite sweet–like cloves or allspice. A cheap commercial garam masala usually skimps on the more expensive spices, so if yours doesn’t smell of cloves or allspice you might need to add a little extra. It’s funny, I’ve tried Italian chard recipes that call for raisins, and I never liked the addition of the sweet raisins to the chard. But the sweet spices and the chard went perfectly together, especially with the salty, briny soy sauce flavor to balance things out. Last week I made a much oilier chard recipe (probably the same amount of chard and 2 Tablespoons of oil, and 2 Tbs. of garlic), but this one–despite being low fat–was much tastier.
I didn’t measure everything, so the measurements below are only approximate. I do know that I had exactly 4 very densely packed cups of raw chard, because I had it leftover from another dinner and I just managed to barely shove it all into one quart-sized tupperware.
- 1 tsp. olive oil (this I measured)
- 2/3 cup chopped red onion
- 1.33 cups chopped chard stems
- 1 very large clove of garlic (maybe two teaspoons minced?)
- 1/2? tsp. garam masala (see note above)
- 2.67 cups chard leaves
- 2 tsp. soy sauce
- 1/4 cup of water
Heat the oil in a 12-inch non-stick or cast iron skillet. When the oil is hot, add the onion and saute over medium-high heat until starting to brown. Add the chard stems, and saute until starting to brown. Add the garlic and garam masala, and cook for about one minute. Add the chard leaves and stir. Mix the soy sauce into the water and pour evenly over the chard. Cover immediately to trap the steam. Cook for about five minutes, until the chard is softened but still bright green. Do not overcook. Serve immediately.
I think this made about 3 cups of cooked chard. I know it seems strange that 4 cups of raw chard would turn into 3 cups of cooked chard, but the raw chard was really packed tightly, and when I measure cooked greens I don’t pack them that tightly. Derek and I easily finished the whole dish between the two of us, but it’s probably more like four normal-person servings.
Update Sept 12, 2009: I made this again last week and it didn’t turn out quite as well, I’m not sure why. I don’t think there was enough garam masala, for one. I tried again tonight and this time used 1 tsp. of garam masala, which was better, but still not as good as the first time. I didn’t measure my chard stems, but I used a total of 2 pounds, 9 ounces damp chard leaves. I think perhaps it was a bit too much chard for the amount of seasoning. It wasn’t quite salty enough.
Barbecued seitan
I’ve tried grilling vegetables on a barbecue grill, but I’ve never liked what I’ve produced. The vegetables are simply not that tasty. I’ve had marvelous grilled veggies at restaurants, so I know it’s possible, but clearly I don’t know the secret. I was invited to a barbecue yesterday, and struggling to come up with something vegetarian to bring. I finally remembered this recipe for barbecued seitan “ribz”, on the fat free vegan blog, that I’d been meaning to try
I made the recipe as specified, with tahini, except I didn”t have any smoked paprika, so I used regular sweet paprika and added in a little chipotle powder. I made the dough then let it rest for an hour in the oiled pan while I went to the gym. When I returned I tried to shape it to fit the pan. I didn’t get it perfectly square, but it mostly filled my 8×8 pan. I baked my seitan for 25 minutes, then I poured my 1 cup of (homemade) barbecue sauce on top, and let it sit in a tupperware until the barbecue.
At the barbecue I put it on the grill, but I didn’t realize how hot it was and by the time I checked it the seitan was already burning. You’d think seitan would like the heat, but it’s actually pretty dry and cooks really fast, unlike zucchini which has more moisture. I flipped the seitan when I saw that it was burning, and then proceeded to burn the other side! The pieces on the edges didn’t burn as much and they were delicious. The seitan had a more bready texture than most seitans, but was still pleasantly chewy. I liked the texture and the flavor a lot. The flavor was mostly from the barbecue sauce, but also from the seasoning in the seitan. I’ll definitely make this again next time I have a barbecue to go to, and hopefully I won’t burn it again!
Besides the seitan I brough watermelon, and made mint lemonade, and zucchini, all of which were a hit. I made the lemon/garlic/mint zucchini from Fresh Food Fast, and let them marinade in the dressing all day. I cut the zucchini along the bias to try to make the pieces bigger and less likely to fall through the grill. However, my zucchini were pretty small and we still lost quite a few of the end pieces. Next time I would buy bigger zucchini for grilling. The zucchini came out well. The ones that were really blackened and soft didn’t have much zucchini flavor, and the ones that weren’t browned at all were undercooked, but the ones with just a few flecks of brown were perfect. I could stil taste the marinade on them, but I think it would have been even better to throw the cooked zucchini back in the tupperware with the rest of the marinade and give it a quick toss before serving.
Summer corn and zucchini lasagna
It’s been a year since I made this lasagne, but now that there’s finally corn in the market I can make it again! Originally posted August 7, 2008.
When I saw corn at the market I felt a sudden desire to make a light, summery, white lasagna. Rather than use tomato sauce, I thought I could top the lasagna with the slightly caramelized and jewel-like tomatoes that crown Cook’s Illustrated’s latest gratin recipe. This was a great idea–it made a beautiful presentation and the tomatoes were delicious. The rest of the lasagna turned out great as well–it held together perfectly, was very flavorful, and looked gorgeous.
- 1 3/4 pounds ripe tomatoes (about 4 large), sliced 1/4 inch thick
- 1 1/2 pounds zucchini or summer squash (you’ll need about 2 large or 4 small), sliced lengthwise into 3/16 inch long “ribbons”
- salt
- 2 Tbs. olive oil (half to cook the corn, and half to drizzle over the tomatoes)
- 3 small red onions (about 10 ounces), sliced into thin rings
- 3 Tbs. minced garlic (about 12 to 15 cloves)
- 4 cups of corn kernels, from 4 ears of corn
- 1/2 tsp. chili flakes
- 2.5 Tbs. minced fresh thyme leaves
- 2 Tbs. butter
- 2 Tbs. arrowroot powder or cornstarch
- 3 cups low-fat milk
- black pepper
- 16 whole wheat lasagna noodles + a few extra for tasting / tearing
- 2.5 ounces parmigiana reggiano
- 8 ounces of fresh Buffalo mozzarella (one large ball)
- 1 can pizza sauce (about 1.75 cups)
- Step one, dehydrate the veggies:
- Slice the squash and tomatoes.
- Toss zucchini and summer squash ribbons with 1 teaspoon salt in large bowl; transfer to colander set over bowl. Let stand until zucchini and squash release at least 3 tablespoons of liquid, about 1 hour. Gently wipe the ribbons with a towel to remove any excess salt and moisture.
- Place tomato slices in single layer on a wire cooling rack and sprinkle evenly with 1/4 teaspoon salt; let stand 30 minutes. Turn the slices, sprinkle with another 1/4 tsp. salt, and let stand another 30 minutes.
- Step two, prepare the corn and white sauce:
- Slice the onions, mince the garlic and thyme, and cut the corn off the cob.
- Heat 1 Tbs. olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. When hot, add the onions and saute until just wilting and shiny, about 1 to 2 minutes. Add the corn, garlic, and chili flakes and saute for about 3-10 minutes, until the corn loses it’s starchiness but is still crisp (this will depend a lot on how tender and fresh your corn is). Add the thyme, about 1/2 tsp. salt, and black pepper to taste.
- Push the vegetables to the side of the pan.. In the free side, melt the butter. Add the arrowroot and make a slurry. When the slurry is bubbling and slightly thickened, pour in the milk, and whisk. Bring to a simmer and cook until just slightly thickened, about 3 minutes. Mix the vegetables with the milk and off heat.
- Step three (start this step only if the vegetables are done dehydrating): cook the noodles and assemble the lasagna:
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Salt the water, and cook the noodles according to package directions, but making sure to leave them just slightly on the too al dente side. The extra noodles are for tasting, or in case some break (Derek’s suggestion). When you take the noodles out of the water, make sure not to tear them, or let them stick together when they cool. Lay them over the sides of the bowls/colanders/pots you’ve already gotten dirty while cooking.
- While the noodles are boiling, grate the parmigiano and tear the mozzarella into pieces.
- Assemble the lasagna: add 3/4 cup pizza sauce to the bottom of a 9- by 13-inch baking dish (or use two 8×8x2 inch square dishes). Lay down four cooked noodles, and top with strips of squash, so that the strips are touching and cover all available space. This should use up half the squash. Add half the corn/milk mixture. Add another layer of noodles, the rest of the pizza sauce (about 1 cup), and the mozzarella. Then repeat the noodle, squash, corn layer, and lay down the final layers of noodles. Top with a single layer of tomatoes, overlapping them very slightly on the edges, so there’s no uncovered spaces. Brush evenly with 1 Tbs. olive oil, sprinkle with pepper, and evenly spread the parmigiana reggiano over the top.
- Step four, bake the lasagna:
- Prepare the oven: put one shelf in the lower-middle, and the other near the top. Preheat to 375 degrees.
- Bake for 50 minutes on the lower middle oven shelf. Turn the heat to 400, move the lasagna to the top shelf and bake for another 10 minutes, to brown the parmigiana and tomatoes.
- Remove from the oven and let stand for 15 minutes.
Makes 8 very large servings or 12 smaller servings.
Timing: Plan ahead if you want to make this recipe–you’ll need to start the process probably 3 hours before you want to serve dinner. It’s definitely labor intensive, but it’s a nice way to spend a Sunday afternoon, and the last hour (when the lasagne cooks) is mostly hands-off.
Sauce: In the end, the lasagna didn’t end up totally white–when putting together the lasagna, Derek objected to a tomato sauce free lasagna, so we ended up adding a bit of leftover pizza sauce. I think it was a nice addition–it didn’t make the lasagna taste too traditional, but added another layer of flavor. We’d been eating a lot of tomato / basil dishes lately, so I decided to mix it up and go with fresh thyme as my herb instead of basil. The thyme was nice, but I ended up garnishing the lasagna with a few ribbons of fresh Thai basil, which were lovely.
Noodles: I wanted a thin, fresh noodle, like the one shown in 101 cookbook’s 1000 layer lasagna, but I never made it to the noodle shop in the Disconto Plaza, so I ended up buying whole wheat lasagna noodles at the local Biofrischmarkt. They were a bit of a pain because I decided I should cook them first, but they weren’t too heavy or strong-tasting, as I had feared, but added a nice earthy base for all the summer veggies. It’s possible I could avoid cooking them if I left my white sauce really soupy and covered with tin foil, but then the tomatoes wouldn’t have a chance to carmelize.
Derek contributed the round of fresh buffalo mozzarella from the local cheese shop, and parmigiano. The final lasagna ended up being a bit too greasy, but I didn’t measure ingredients very well. Everything above is very much a guess. I’m going to have to make it again and measure more carefully, to get the right proportions of veggies, salt, and fat. I actually only made an 9×9 lasagna, using 8 lasagna noodles, which made 4 very large servings. As a result, I had to guess at some of the amounts above. More or less veggies and cheese might be needed. However, it was so much work it was silly to make such a small lasagna. When I make it again I’ll definitely use a 9×13 pan instead.
Rating: B+
Derek: A-
Derek wants to try this recipe without any mozzarella, since he said he couldn’t really taste it in the final dish. It’s certainly not enough mozarrella to see strings between the layers of noodles. I think if we do cut the cheese we should add a bit more fat, perhaps another half Tbs. of olive oil each for the tomatoes and corn. Derek also thought that the tomatoes could use more parmesan–he suggested doubling it to 5 ounces.
Second attempt July 27, 2009:
This time I made one pyrex 8×8 pan and one non-stick 9×9 pan, and I had pretty much the right amount of filling. However, the lasagna in the dark non-stick pan was a little browned on the bottom.
I bought Denree whole wheat lasagna noodles at the bio store and I had major problems cooking them. They all instantly stuck together, and they seemed to take forever to cook. When I pulled them out most of the noodles tore. I don’t remember that happening last time. I’m not sure why–maybe I didn’t have enough water for the number of noodles? Last time I only made one pan so I only had to cook half the number of noodles. Maybe I have to do them in two batches? Since so many of my whole wheat noodles fell apart I made the second pan with white no-cook Barilla noodles. I was worried that the white sauce was too dry for the no-cook noodles (it had thickened substantially while sitting). So I added a bit more milk to the white sauce to make it more liquidy. In retrospect, although this was fine for the no-cook noodles, this was a bad idea for the pre-cooked whole wheat noodles. The extra moisture made the lasagna a bit soupy and it didn’t hold together well. What I should have done was soak the no-bake noodles in hot tap water for 10 minutes (according to CI). The lasagna with the white no-cook noodles held together better and was less soupy, but the noodles were not nearly as flavorful. Cooks Illustrated described the Barilla noodles as “Like fresh pasta” but “a little too thin” and “slightly limp.” I think that’s an accurate description, if you add “lacking in wheaty flavor.” Also, strangely, the whole wheat pasta lasagna tasted significantly spicier; I have no idea why. I forgot to garnish the top with fresh basil. Everyone loved the tomato topping–the best part, we agreed.
I also had trouble this time pushing the corn mixture aside to make the white sauce. Even in my 12 inch skillet there simply wasn’t enough room. Next time maybe I will make the bechamel in a separate pot. I didn’t have any arrowroot, so I used potato starch. Next time maybe I’ll just use white flour as the thickener.
Step 2 took me basically an hour to do. Prepping the thyme is particularly labor intensive. So as soon as I was done with the corn white sauce I moved on to boiling the noodles. I should have been bringing my water to a boil as soon as I started sauteing the onions.
Derek said it wasn’t as good as last time (we’re not sure why), and dropped his rating to a B. Maybe I used more oil or cheese last time? The first time I made the lasagna I noted that it was “just a tad greasy,” but this time the lasagna didn’t taste greasy or extremely rich.
We served this with a harissa flavored salad from Berley’s cookbook Fresh Food Fast. The salad had green beans, yellow was beans, chickpeas, and red onions in a lemon, garlic, cumin, cayenne dressing. It was pretty tasty, and went okay with the lasagne.
Pasta and Squash with Tomatoes, Basil, and Pine Nuts
I made this recipe tonight and liked it so much I decided to repost it. It was originally posted on August 17, 2006.
I’ve often tried to make this sort of light/summery pasta dish without a lot of success. Unless I use a large amount of olive oil or parmesan in the past the dish has always seemed rather bland. But this recipe is light and delicious! This is based on a recipe from Cook’s Illustrated, but I cut the oil significantly, and increased the garlic, tomatoes, chili flakes, and basil amounts. I give options for a number of ingredients depending on how rich, spicy, starchy etc. you want your dinner to be.
Serves 2-3 as a main dish. For 3 use the larger amount of pasta.
- 1.25 pounds zucchini and/or summer squash (about 2 medium) halved lengthwise and then cut crosswise into 1/2-inch pieces
- kosher salt
- 4.5 ounces whole wheat farfalle or penne (or up to 7 ounces for a more starchy, less vegetable-y dish)
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil (add another 1 Tbs. at the end for a richer dish)
- 3 large cloves garlic, minced or pressed through garlic press (about 1 tablespoon)
- 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes (1/4 tsp. if you don’t like spicy food)
- 1 pint grape tomatoes, each tomato halved (or 2.5 cups diced tomatoes, preferably a mix of red and yellow or orange)
- 1/3 cup firmly packed chopped fresh basil (or up to 2/3 cup if you love basil and want more of a salad feel to the dish)
- 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
- 1/8 cup pine nuts, toasted (2 Tbs.)
- 2 tablespoons grated parmigiano-reggiano cheese (about 1/2 ounce, or 4 Tbs. for a richer dish)
- may need salt to taste (depends on how well you removed the salt from the zucchini)
- freshly ground black pepper
Game plan:
- Prepare the zucchini and set it aside to drain for 30 minutes.
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil.
- Get out a large serving bowl. Prepare all the seasonings and raw vegetables, and add to bowl. Mince the garlic and measure the chilic flakes and set aside in a small bowl.
- Add the pasta to the boiling water.
- Cook the zucchini.
- Drain the pasta. Add the zucchini and pasta to the serving bowl. Sprinkle on parmesan. Stir to combine and serve immediately.
Instructions:
- Zucchini: Wash and slice the squash. Toss the squash with 2 teaspoons kosher salt in a medium bowl; transfer to large colander, set colander over bowl, and let stand 30 minutes. After the 30 minutes are up, spread the squash evenly over double layer of paper or dish towels; pat dry with additional towels and wipe off residual salt. (You can skip the drying step if you want, but the zucchini won’t caramelize quite as well.) Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a 12-inch skillet over high heat until just before the oil starts to smoke; swirl to coat pan. Add the squash and cook, stirring occasionally, until golden brown and slightly charred, 5 to 7 minutes. In the last minute add the garlic and red pepper flakes. Add the cooked zucchini to the serving bowl and toss to combine.
- Pasta: Bring 2 quarts water to rolling boil, covered, in a stockpot. When the water comes to a boil, add 2 teaspoons kosher salt (or 1 teaspoon table salt) and pasta, stir to separate, and cook until al dente. Drain and add to the serving bowl.
- Raw vegetables and seasoning: Wash, dry, and chop the basil and add to the serving bowl. Halve or quarter the tomatoes and add to the bowl. Add the balsamic vinegar. Toast the pine nuts and add to the bowl. Sprinkle on the parmesan and freshly ground black pepper.
Note, if you’re going to double the recipe you really need to cook the squash in two batches, since if you crowd the pan the squash will not brown. Also, if you do not have a 12 inch skillet you might also want to cook the squash in more than one batch.
Rating: B+
Derek: B+
This dish is a little low on protein, so I would make sure to eat a higher protein meal for lunch. Or serve the dish with a bowl of Italian flavored chickpea or lentil soup. But other than being low on protein the stats are surprisingly good. The dish has lots of vitamins, and a surprising amount of iron!
Turkish Red Lentil Soup
An old recipe that was originally posted on Oct 3, 2006.
Based on a recipe from the AMA cookbook. I’ve made this soup many times. I particularly like it for breakfast. It’s pretty authentic I think, since a Turkish friend makes a very similar soup, except he fries dried mint in oil before adding it to the soup, and adds some white rice with the lentils.
Heat in a large (3-5 qt?) saucepan or Dutch oven:
- 2 Tbs. olive oil (you can probably reduce this to 1 Tbs. if you want)
Add:
- 1 medium carrot, coarsely chopped
- 1 celery rib, sliced
Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables begin to soften and brown, about 6 minutes. Add:
- 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
- 1.5 Tbs sweet paprika
- 1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper
Cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Then stir in:
- 5.5 cups vegetable broth (unsalted) or water and bouillon
- 1.5 cups red lentils, rinsed
- 1 cup chopped, seeded tomatoes (I used canned diced tomatoes)
- 1.5 Tbs tomato paste
- 3/4 tsp salt
Bring to a boil, reduce the heat to medium-low, and simmer, covered, until the lentils are very tender and almost completely dissolved, about 30 minutes. After the lentils are cooked you’ll need to add more water (about 2 cups) to achieve the consistency of a very thick soup.
Garnish with fresh minced mint, plain yogurt, and lemon juice.
Yields about 7.5 cups?
My Notes:
I made this today but I ran out of paprika so only had about half the amount. Thes soup turned out less vibrantly red and more brownish, and was somewhat bland. I really like the yogurt in it though. Something about the combination makes even nonfat plain yogurt taste incredibly rich and sweet.
Rating: B (This is a solid recipe that I enjoy. It’s also healthy and filling and easy to make. However, I wouldn’t fight for the leftovers.)
Derek: B (He enjoys it with the mint and yogurt but says it’s not terribly exciting.)
Summer rice salad
I was looking for something to do with some yellow and red bell peppers, and I found a recipe in Jack Bishop’s Complete Italian Vegetarian Cookbook for a summer salad made with arborio rice. I normally just use arborio rice for risotto, so I was excited about trying something new with it. The rice is boiled in salted water like pasta, until al dente (about 16 minutes), and then mixed with a vinaigrette and allowed to cool before the vegetables and herbs are mixed in.
Bishop says to peel and seeds the tomatoes and cucumber, but I just seeded the tomatoes, and peeled neither. If I made this again, I wouldn’t even bother to seed the tomatoes. I think the pulpy parts would add more tomato flavor. My cucumbers were the little tiny ones that have small seeds–maybe if you have big, waxy American cucumbers it would be worth seeding and peeling them. I didn’t have fresh parsley, but I doubled the basil to two tablespoons. I also forgot to add the one garlic clove that Bishop calls for. The salad tasted okay, but was a bit boring, and the ratio of rice to vegetables seemed too high. I added one red bell pepper, another kirby cucumber, and two more small tomatoes to the salad. The extra veggies helped, but it was still a little boring. Derek thought it needed pesto, and I agree that it definitely needed more than 2 Tbs. of herbs. After my tweaks the salad was pleasant eaten with scrambled eggs and garlicky chard for lunch, but I wouldn’t make it again without making some additional changes.
Here are the ingredients, with my suggested changes:
- 1.5 cups Arborio rice
- salt
- 1 Tbs. white wine vinegar
- 1 medium garlic clove, minced
- fresh ground black pepper
- 3 Tbs. olive oil
- 4 small, ripe tomatoes (about 1 pound)
- 1 medium yellow bell pepper, diced
- 1 medium red bell pepper, diced
- 3 small kirby cucumbers, diced
- 10 kalamata olives, pitted and chopped
- 2 Tbs. minced parsley
- 2 Tbs. minced basil leaves
Rating: B-
Two fall recipes from Fresh Food Fast
In the past month I’ve made a number of really tasty recipes from the Spring section of Peter Berley’s cookbook Fresh Food Fast. This week I tried two from the fall section. I know it’s June not September, but it’s been a cool Spring and there are very few locally grown vegetables at the market. I figure if I’m buying vegetables from Southern France, Spain, or Italy I might as well buy cauliflower, tomatoes, and mushrooms. However, after trying these two recipes I regretted the decision to stray from the spring menus, as I didn’t like the two fall recipes as much. I’m going back to the spring menus. Next up: sesame noodles with tofu “steaks” and baby bok choy.
The first recipe was for a wild mushroom fricassee over farro. First, there are a few minor problems with the recipe.
- The ingredient list calls for 3 Tbs. of olive oil, but the instructions only ever say to use 2 Tbs. of the oil (with the mushrooms). The onion is cooked in butter, so I’m not sure where the last tablespoon of olive oil is supposed to go. I simply left it out.
- The header says that farro is another word for spelt. From what I can tell, farro is not spelt; it is a different variety of wheat called emmer wheat. However, there is clearly some confusion about the name, and it’s possible that in some locations/times the name farro has been used to describe spelt as well as emmer wheat.
- The header says that farro can be cooked on the stove top in about 25 minutes, but my farro was more than al dente after about 25 minutes simmering on the stovetop. My farro took about 40 minutes to soften. Also, even after cooking the farro for 40 minutes I had water left. I would try 3.5 cups of water for 1.5 cups of farro. Is it possible that my heat was just too low, and if I had raised the heat the farro would have cooked in 25 minutes and used up all the water?
The recipe came out as I imagine it was supposed to taste–roasted, slightly chewy mushrooms in an earthy, wine-y sauce, seasoned with herbs of the forest (rosemary, thyme, parsley). I only cut the fat down slightly, using just under 2 Tbs. of olive oil and almost the full 2 Tbs. of butter. Despite all the fat, the dish didn’t taste particularly rich to me. (Certainly not like the rich mushrooms I’ve gotten as appetizers at restaurants.) The dish simply didn’t excite me. I don’t think there is really anything wrong with the recipe, it just didn’t suit my palate. Derek liked it a little better than me, but wasn’t excited enough to seek out the leftovers.
This recipe has a certain similarity to the mushroom-wine flavored stroganoff in Vegan with a Vengeance, but this one has more mushrooms and less sauce. Although I liked the higher proportion of mushrooms, I prefer that recipe over this one. In that recipe the intensity of the wine and herbs and mushrooms are balanced by the addition of a little mustard, soymilk, and nutritional yeast, and the addition of seitan adds textural variety. This recipe was just too strong and uniform tasting for me to eat as a main dish. As a few bites in an appetizer it would have been fine, but I got sick of it quickly. One thing that I liked in this recipe (more than the VwV one) was that more of the mushroom’s texture was preserved. Nonetheless, despite being able to recognize each of the mushrooms, I was disappointed to find that I couldn’t taste the individual mushrooms at all. I had splurged and bought a number of expensive mushrooms like chantarelles, oysters, and shiitakes, but in the end they all tasted exactly the same to me. I felt like I had wasted my expensive mushrooms. I don’t think I’ll make this recipe again. I did like the combination of the farro and mushrooms though. Next time I make the VwV stroganoff recipe I’m going to try serving it on farro instead of pasta. I might also try cooking the mushrooms for the stroganoff dish in the oven instead of on the stovetop.
The second recipe I made from the fall section was pasta with spicy cauliflower, chickpeas, and cherry tomatoes. I was intrigued by the idea of cooking a pasta sauce on a baking sheet in the oven, and I had all the ingredients except the delicata squash (which I’ve never seen in Germany) so I thought I would give it a shot, substituting green beans for the squash. I was a little nervous about leaving my baking sheet in a 500 degree oven without anything on it. I’m not sure what the coating is on the baking sheets that came with my German oven, but if it’s some kind of non-stick stuff then maybe leaving it empty in a 500 degree oven is not the best idea. I did it anyway.
The ingredient list is a little vague. (What is a “small” cauliflower, or a “medium” red onion or carrot?) The instructions say that the vegetables should fit in a single layer on the baking sheet. My baking sheet was very large, yet still my vegetables seemed to be too crowded. I’m not sure whether I would say that they formed a single layer or not, but I felt like it was too much for a half pound of pasta. I was surprised to find that Berley has you toss the vegetables with 3/4 white wine before putting them in the oven. The blanched vegetables contributed a bit of water of their own (despite being drained), and in the end the cookie sheet seemed to have too many vegetables and too much liquid on it. Nonetheless, I put the cookie sheet in the oven. I was watching the thermometer in the oven, and the temperature quickly dropped after I had put in the vegetables, from 500 to around 300. I thought it would come back up but even after 15 minutes it had only gotten to 350 (I had to open it once to stir the vegetables, according to Berley). I don’t know if this temperature drop is a problem, or normal. My oven is brand new and a good quality brand. Whatever the reason, my vegetables ended up steaming a bit. They still got browned on top, but when I pulled them out the colors were a bit muted, and everything was still a bit soupy. The onion was particularly faded looking and unappealing.
I tossed the vegetables with the pasta and added the garnishes, but it just didn’t taste that good. I couldn’t detect either the saffron or the cumin, or the acid from the white wine. Mostly it just tasted like somewhat sodden vegetables and oil. Despite reducing the oil from 8! Tbs. to 6 Tbs., I found the dish to be too greasy. Derek didn’t care for it either.
I’m guessing that if my cookie sheet had been less crowded. my oven had been able to get back up to temp, and I had used all the oil, then this recipe would have come out better. But I don’t really have any confidence that I would be able to carry it off with another try. Even if I could, the seasoning is a bit boring I think, and there’s too much oil. I won’t be making this recipe again. I’d prefer to make a cauliflower curry, an oven-roasted tomato sauce, or even the saffron flavored broccoli and cauliflower recipe from 101 cookbooks.
Two other complaints about the (otherwise quite excellent) cookbook. The index is, as always, incomplete. Here are just a few examples: When I look up asparagus I find only one recipe mentioned, but I know for a fact that asparagus is an ingredient in at least four menus. I couldn’t find sugar snap peas under either peas, sugar, or snap. There’s no entry for mint, despite the fact that the tabouleh recipe calls for 2 cups of it! I remembered there was a harissa dish but couldn’t find it under either harissa or Moroccan. Also, I would like it if the recipes came with at least a short introduction–something about why Berley likes the recipe, or chose to put it in the book, or a story about the recipe. Some of the recipe headers are about the recipe, but many are not. Instead, they often provide comments about one particular ingredient, or list variations or substitutions.
Roasted tomato pasta sauce
Sitting on my counter yesterday were a number of cherry tomatoes that had started to go a bit soft. They were still good, but not fresh enough to eat out of hand. I thought I would turn them into a nice (and fast) pasta sauce, by roasting them in the oven on a cookie sheet. I roughly followed the instructions in a Cook’s Illustrated recipe, but I halved the recipe and made a few changes.
- 1 small shallot, sliced thin
- 2 Tbs. olive oil
- 1 pound cherry tomatoes (about 1.5 pints), each tomato halved pole to pole
- 1/4 tsp. salt + extra for pasta water
- 1/8 tsp. red pepper flakes
- 1/8 tsp. ground black pepper
- 3/4 tsp. sugar
- 1/2 Tbs. balsamic vinegar
- 2 cloves garlic, sliced thin
- 1/3 pound whole wheat rigatoni
- 2 Tbs. torn basil leaves
- parmesan cheese, grated
Instructions
- Adjust oven rack to middle position; heat oven to 350 degrees.
- In a large bowl, gently toss the tomatoes with 5 tsp. of oil, salt, pepper flakes, black pepper, sugar, vinegar, and garlic. Spread in even layer on rimmed baking sheet (about 17 by 12 inches). In the same bowl, toss shallots with 1 teaspoon oil; scatter shallots over tomatoes.
- Roast until edges of shallots begin to brown and tomato skins are slightly shriveled (tomatoes should retain their shape), 35 to 40 minutes. (Do not stir tomatoes during roasting.) Remove tomatoes from oven and cool 5 to 10 minutes.
- While tomatoes cook, bring 2 quarts water to boil in large stockpot. Just before removing tomatoes from oven, stir 1 tsp. salt and pasta into boiling water and cook until al dente. Drain pasta and add to the large bowl you used for the tomatoes. Using a metal spatula, scrape the tomato mixture into the bowl on top of the pasta. Add the basil and toss to combine. Serve immediately, sprinkling cheese over individual bowls.
My changes: The recipe calls for 1/2 pound of pasta but I think that’s too much for the amount of sauce, so I made 1/3 pound. I didn’t have quite enough cherry tomatoes so I also used some small, dark-brown tomatoes I had bought for sandwiches. I missed the shallot instructions, and just mixed them in with all the other ingredients, rather than lying them on top of the tomatoes. I didn’t measure my balsamic vinegar, just sprayed some on top of the tomatoes.
My tomatoes cooked significantly faster than they were supposed to. I think it was due to a combination of factors: I halved the recipe, so the cookie sheet wasn’t as full; I left the fan on in my own; and my cookie sheet is a very dark black. According to CI, the halved recipe was supposed to serve 2 to 3, but I thought that the amount of sauce was a little skimpy even for two people. For two people I think next time I would use 1.5 pounds tomatoes, and up all the other ingredients by 50%, except the olive oil.
The sauce was quite good–the tomatoes were still quite pulpy and clung to the pasta, but despite not really being saucy they did taste like a sauce. I was afraid that the tomato skins would be tough or annoying, but I didn’t even notice them. The sauce had a very roasted flavor, from the browned bits of shallot and tomato skin. I would make this recipe again, but next time I would serve something else substantial and low-calorie alongside it. I think I could eat infinite bowls of pasta and this tomato sauce without feeling full. Maybe a white bean soup or a chickpea salad would be a nice accompaniment, or a big bowl of steamed vegetables tossed with lemon juice and fresh herbs?
On a second try I doubled the recipe, and it still didn’t really fill my cookie sheet, so next time I’ll try 2.5 pounds of tomatoes. I didn’t have shallots, so used a small red onion instead, which was also good. I served the pasta sauce with polenta and a dish of zucchini and eggplant and egg in a little Thai red curry. It was a nice dinner.
Thai-ish tofu and green beans with whole wheat pasta
I threw together this dish for lunch today, with various things I scrounged from the fridge. I didn’t measure, so all amounts are a guess. This recipe is similar to one I posted last year for green beans, red peppers, and tofu in a Thai chili paste, but its less fiery, and the addition of pasta and nutritional yeast and sesame seeds makes it taste a bit more co-op pan-Asian and a bit less Thai.
- 2? Tbs. toasted sesame seeds
- 2-4? tsp. oil
- small onion
- 1/4 – 1/3 pounds very firm tofu
- salt
- nutritional yeast
- black pepper
- 2 scallions
- about 3 cups of green beans
- 1/4? cup white wine
- 1? Tbs. soy sauce
- 1/4? cup water
- 1/2-1? tsp. Thai red curry paste
- 2 cups of cooked, chunky, whole wheat pasta
- 1/2 cucumber (with peel), cut into 1-inch chunks
- a small handful of mint and a small handful of basil, torn into small pieces
- Wash and snap green beans. Slice the onion into rings. Cube the tofu into 1-inch cubes.
- In a medium pan (I used a 3 quart slope-sided pan), toast the sesame seeds over medium-high heat. When the seeds start to brown and smell fragrant, pour them onto a large plate or bowl.
- In the same pan, add enough oil just to lightly coat the bottom. Heat the oil on medium-high until hot, then add the tofu and onion rings in a single layer. Sprinkle on salt and nutritional yeast, and let cook until the bottom has browned. Meanwhile, chop up a few scallions. Use a metal spatula to scrape up the tofu and stir it around so another side gets browned. When the tofu is brown enough for your taste, add the chopped scallions and sprinkle on more yeast and some black pepper. Fry briefly just to wilt the scallions, then remove the tofu and onions to the plate with the sesame seeds. Use your metal spatula to try to scrape up any cooked on tofu bits, but you won’t be able to get them all. That’s okay.
- Keep the pan on medium-high and add a little more oil to the now-empty pan, and when the oil is hot add the green beans. Stir-fry the beans briefly, until all the beans are slightly browned. Then add the Thai red curry paste and the cooked pasta. Stir to distribute. Add a little white wine, soy sauce, and water to deglaze the pan. Immediately cover the pan and let the green beans steam for a few minutes, until they’re just tender crisp. Meanwhile, cut up the cucumber and tear the herbs. Remove the lid and cook on high until almost all of the liquid has evaporated, and all that’s left is a bit of glistening glaze. Remove the pan from the heat, throw in the tofu and onions and sesame from the plate, the cucumber, and the torn mint and basil leaves. Stir to coat everything with the glaze.
- Serve immediately.
This dish made a very satisfying lunch for two. The basil was essential I thought. The mint and basil combo was good, but if you just have basil that would work as well. (Thai basil would be especially good.) The onion added a little depth and sweetness, and the little bit of curry paste added a nice bit of spice. I also liked the earthiness that the sesame seeds added. It might seem odd to add cucumber to a cooked dish like this, but it adds a moistness and crunch that is a nice contrast to the cooked green beans and soft tofu. If you don’t have cucumbers, radishes or halved cherry tomatoes might also work well. If I make this again, the only thing I might add is a little garlic when I add the green onions.
I wouldn’t make this recipe with white pasta. It really needs something more hearty. If you don’t have whole wheat pasta, then maybe just serve it over brown rice or another whole grain. If you don’t have curry paste probably any chili paste or even dried chili flakes would be fine. If you don’t have white wine then maybe use a little mirin or rice wine vinegar to add a bit of acid. If you don’t have a very firm tofu, you might want to press some water out of your tofu. The lack of moisture in the tofu really helps it to brown well. Otherwise you’ll need to cook the tofu at a lower temperature and allow more time to cook all the water out, so that the tofu can brown.
I removed the tofu and onion from the pan before adding the green beans because I thought that if I didn’t the pan would be too crowded, and the green beans wouldn’t brown, and the tofu and onions would become soggy when I steamed the green beans.
Derek said this dish was delicious. The vegetables were nice and crisp, the onions added a nice depth of flavor, and the tofu was excellent. It was the essence of simple, ingredient-oriented cuisine. “If only I could get this sort of thing at a restaurant in Saarbruecken,” he lamented. Rating: A-.
Moroccan tempeh tagine with spring vegetables
I finally found tempeh in Saarbrücken. I’m so excited! It’s a beautiful tempeh too: big and fat and covered in a soft white layer that looks almost like paper. I tried to take it off at first before I realized it was part of the tempeh. Rather than use the tempeh in one of our old tempeh recipes, we decide to try a new one from Peter Berley’s Fresh Food Fast. We chose one of the spring menus: charmoula baked tempeh with vegetable couscous. Apparently charmoula is a spicy moroccan marinade. Derek was worried, as he claims not to like moroccan food but I thought the combination of spices looked good.
Basically you make a marinade with olive oil, cilantro, lemon juice, garlic, paprika, cumin, coriander, and cayenne. You cube the tempeh and place it in a large skillet, then pour the marinade over it, cover, and simmer until the liquid is absorbed. After the suggested simmer time, however, our liquid was only half absorbed. We decided to eat it anyway. I’m glad we didn’t keep cooking it, because the marinade was really tasty! In any case, I can’t imagine the tempeh ever absorbing all that liquid, no matter how long we cooked it for. Tempeh is simply not that absorbent.
Berley’s spring menu 2 also calls for a spring vegetable couscous, but I used bulgur instead. I screwed up though, in that I added the vegetables with the bulgur, and by the time the bulgur was cooked the vegetables were all faded looking instead of a pretty bright green. I forgot how much longer bulgur takes to cook than couscous. Next time I’d cook the bulgur separately and just add in the cooked vegetables once it was done. The bulgur dish had onions, mushrooms, asparagus, and snow peas (we couldn’t find sugar snaps). It made a really nice base for the tempeh dish–the bulgur absorbed all the sauce nicely and the vegetables added a bit of crunch.
Our tempeh had a great texture. I’m not sure if it’s the brand I bought, or if it’s the process of simmering it in the marinade, but it was meltingly tender–not a texture I associate with tempeh. The flavors in the marinade completely masked the strong tempeh flavor that I don’t care for. To me the soupy marinade really did taste Moroccan, just without all the typical carrots etc. in a Moroccan tagine. The asparagus, mushrooms, and snow peas were actually a really nice combination with the moroccan flavors. I’d definitely make this dish again. I think it would be a great dish to serve for company, especially for someone who’s never tried tempeh before. Next time, however, I’ll find couscous.
The one thing I didn’t like about the dish was that after cooking the cilantro turns a sort of putrid green color. I think I will add some more fresh cilantro once it’s done to brighten the dish up. Also, as always, I think the salt and fat need to be reduced. We added 1/3 cup olive oil instead of 1/2 cup, and 1 1/4 tsp. kosher salt instead of 2 1/2 teaspoons. Even with these reductions the dish is still very rich and very salty. It tasted like restaurant food!
One last comment: In FFF the recipe is called “charmoula baked tempeh,” but the tempeh is simmered on the stovetop not baked. I wonder if that’s a mistake, or if Berley simply has a loose definition of baking?
Berley’s menu also includes a carrot mint salad with currants. I really like the combination of the carrots and currants, and the bright orange salad contrasts nicely with the green vegetables and darker colors of the tempeh. However, the salad was just a tiny bit bland, in my opinion. I could barely taste the mint, so I added another tablespoon, but it still wasn’t very minty. Next time I would double the mint. The currants add sweetness, and the lemon juice adds acid, but it still wasn’t quite as peppy as I would like, so I added a touch of pineapple juice, which added both a little more sweet and a little more acid. I also tossed the salad with some aleppo pepper (maybe 1/2 tsp?), which added a warm heat that I enjoyed. This salad is definitely a good start, but it needs a bit of work to be perfect, I think. I might also try cutting out the olive oil, since the tempeh dish already has plenty of fat for one meal. Also, I would double the recipe and make 2 pounds of carrots, especially if you own a food processor. Carrot salad makes nice leftovers.
Update June 14, 2009:
I made the tempeh dish again, but I multiplied it by 1.5 because we had 4 people at lunch and I was hoping to have some leftovers. I didn’t make extra of the bulgur, however, as we had too much of it last time. The proportion of bulgur to tempeh was better this time, although still we had a little too much bulgur I think. Since I had so much tempeh, I didn’t have a pan large enough to fit all the tempeh squares in a single layer. I decided to use my dutch oven to cook it instead of a skillet, because I was worried that even a 12 inch skillet wouldn’t be bit enough. Even though the tempeh wasn’t completely covered, the texture was still quite nice and soft. I made sure to stir it a few times so that every tempeh square got his “5 minutes of fame.” I cooked the tempeh for about 25 minutes, but I think it was too long because almost all of the liquid was absorbed. (And I said it couldn’t happen!) Next time I’ll just cook it for the suggested 15 minutes. Also, next time I make the tempeh I’m going to try cutting the oil even more, and see if the recipe is still as good..
I couldn’t find sugar snap peas so I just used real peas from the farmer’s market. They worked well. I cooked the bulgur ahead of time so that the vegetables didn’t get overcooked. I added a skimpy 1/2 tsp. of kosher salt to the bulgur, but I think next time I’d add a full 1/2 tsp, as the bulgur was slightly undersalted. I’d also add a little salt or soysauce to the vegetables while they cook.
Update August 14, 2009:
I’ve now made this recipe four times! The last time I threw in some frozen spinach and just ate the tempeh with the spinach. It was good, and the spinach helped brighten up the muted green and orange colors. The last two times I cut the oil to 1/4 cup and used the full 1 pound of tempeh (my tempeh blocks here are only 12-14 ounces). The tempeh was definitely not as rich tasting, but still was extremely tasty. I think both 4 Tbs. of oil and 5.33 Tbs. of oil are good–it just depends whether you’re in the mood for really oily and really tasty, or less oily and a little less decadent. Again, I forgot to save a little cilantro for the end for the bright green effect. I’m sure I’ll be making this recipe again, and I’ll try to remember to add some cilantro at the end next time. We didn’t quite have enough sauce these last two times. I think next time I might try adding a little extra water to make sure that there’s enough yummy liquid leftover.
This time I served the tempeh over quinoa, which was excellent. The flavors went well together, and the quinoa effectively sops up all the great sauce. I also made the sweet spiced chard that I recently posted to my blog. We liked the combo a lot, although I did miss having something raw and a little crisp. If I’m inspired next time, I might make the chard and the carrot salad!
Update Sept 12, 2009:
After making this recipe a half dozen times I figured I better post the recipe! Below are my version of the ingredients and instructions, slightly modified from Berley’s original recipe. This recipe makes 7 medium-sized servings.
Ingredients:
- 1/3 to 2/3 cups olive oil (depending on how rich you want it–Berley calls for 7/8 cup! I usually use 1/2 cup)
- 1 1/2 cups chopped fresh cilantro (not tightly packed)
- 7 garlic cloves, chopped
- 1/2 cup + 1 Tbs. freshly squeezed lemon juice
- 3 cups of water
- 2 tsp. kosher salt
- 1 Tbs. + 1/2 tsp. sweet paprika
- 1 Tbs. + 1/2 tsp. cumin seeds
- 1 3/4 tsp. coriander seeds
- 3/4 to 1 tsp. cayenne
- 1 3/4 pounds soy tempeh, cut into 1-inch cubes
Instructions:
- In a 3 or 4 quart pot, mix the olive oil, 1 cup of the cilantro, the lemon juice, the garlic, the water, and the salt. In a spice grinder or mortar, grind the paprika, cumin, coriander, and cayenne. Mix the ground spices into the olive oil. Cube the tempeh, and add it to the pot, stirring to cover all the tempeh with the marinade.
- Over high heat, bring the mixture to a simmer. Reduce the heat, cover, and simmer for 10 minutes. Remove the cover, stir to submerge any tempeh that’s not in the liquid, and simmer for another 5 minutes, until the liquid is slightly reduced. You want it to be pretty soupy, however, so don’t reduce all the liquid.
- When the tempeh is soft, stir in the remaining 1/2 cup chopped cilantro, and serve over a grain which will absorb the delicious “pot liquor.”
On my last attempt I served the tempeh with the carrot salad, plain quinoa, and a simple mix of steamed green vegetables. It worked well.
Rating: B+
Derek: A
Scrambled eggs with spinach and sweet onions
Last night we tried another recipe from the Spring section of Fresh Food Fast. The recipe actually called for dandelion greens, not spinach, but I’ve never seen dandelion greens in German (except perhaps by the side of the road), and the recipe says other tender greens like spinach and chard can be substituted. I also cut down on the oil and cheese in the original recipe, and simplified the recipe a bit. Here’s my modified version (for 2 people):
- 1 Tbs. olive oil
- 1/2 large onion, chopped
- 1/8 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes
- 1/2 pound washed leaf spinach, coarsely chopped
- 4 large eggs
- 2 ounces crumbly goat cheese
- 1/8 tsp. salt
Instructions: Warm the oil in a large skillet on medium high heat. When the oil is hot, add the onion and red pepper flakes. Meanwhile, chop the spinach. When the onion starts to brown around the edges, add the spinach and saute briefly, until the spinach is wilted. Meanwhile, whisk together the eggs, goat cheese, and salt. Raise the heat to high and pour the egg mixture evenly over the vegetables. Scramble the eggs, turning off the heat just before the eggs appear done, so that they’re not overcooked. They’ll finish cooking in the pan.
For the original recipe, buy the cookbook. You won’t regret it!
I halved the oil and cheese in the recipe because 1 Tbs. of olive oil and 2 ounces of cheese per person just seemed a bit excessive, especially if you also have oil with your baby artichokes (the other recipe in this spring menu). With bitter dandelion greens the fat would help to cut the bitterness, but with mild spinach that much fat is simply not necessary. We couldn’t find baby artichokes, however, so we paired this dish with some leftover lentil chili instead.
Berley says that spinach can be subbed for the dandelion greens, but he doesn’t say to skip the blanching step. I understand blanching dandelion, which can be very bitter, but I can’t imagine blanching spinach for 2 to 3 minutes! I wonder if this is simply an omission, or if he really would blanch spinach and chard as well?
The scrambled eggs didn’t taste very eggy. The predominant flavor was actually the onion, which tasted very sweet. I could also taste the spinach, but the egg was in the background, and I couldn’t taste the goat cheese at all, although I’m sure it added to the richness of the dish. After my first bite my first thought was “tofu scramble,” (but not in a bad, day-glo turmeric way). Derek said that the dish actually reminded him a lot of egg foo young, which is apparently a very fried Chinese egg and onion omelette.
Scrambling the eggs with the onions and spinach in the pan prevents large, fluffy curds from forming, so the texture wasn’t very scrambled egg-ish. Next time I make this I will try what cook’s illustrated suggests when making a “hearty scramble”: remove the vegetables from the pan before adding the eggs, and cook off any moisture left in the pan, as too much water makes scrambled eggs weepy and rubbery. Then gently fold the vegetables back into the eggs. I’m worried that it will be hard to distribute the vegetables, and the flavors won’t permeate the dish as well, but I’ll try it and report back. Also, since I couldn’t taste the reduced amount of cheese, I might try subbing the cheese for 1/4 cup of milk. (According to CI the water and fat in the milk keep the eggs from becoming tough by getting in between the protein strands, and preventing them from joining too tightly, and helping to incorporate pockets of steam into the eggs as they are folded.) A bit of goat cheese could be crumbled on top of the dish for flavor.
One more note about salt. This was the first recipe in FFF where I didn’t feel the need to halve the salt. The salt level was perfect for me, but Derek thought it was a bit low. However much salt you use, make sure to salt your eggs before cooking, as CI says that salt affects the electrical charge on the protein molecules in eggs, and reduces the tendency of the proteins to bond with each other, which means a looser network and more tender eggs.
The basic scrambled egg recipe we use, from Cook’s Illustrated, except slightly less butter:
Ingredients
| 4 | large eggs |
| 1/4 | teaspoon table salt |
| Ground black pepper | |
| 1/4 | cup milk |
| 1/2 | tablespoon unsalted butter |
Instructions
- Crack eggs into a medium bowl. Add salt, pepper, and milk. Whip with a fork until streaks are gone and color is pure yellow; stop beating while the bubbles are still large.
- Meanwhile, put butter in a 10-inch nonstick skillet, then set the pan over high heat. When the butter foams, swirl it around and up the sides of the pan. Before foam completely subsides, pour in beaten eggs. With a firm plastic or silicon spatula, push eggs from one side of the pan to the other, slowly but deliberately, lifting and folding eggs as they form into curds, until eggs are nicely clumped into a single mound, but remain shiny and wet, about 1 minute. Serve immediately.
Rhubarb compote
We had a friend staying with us a while back who was raving about a very simple rhubarb dessert: stew the rhubarb with a little sugar and water until it falls apart. To serve, add to a small bowl and pour cold cream around it. I liked the flavor combination of the sour rhubarb and sweet cream, but the texture was quite odd. The rhubarb was kind of stringy and a little gelatinous. Derek, ever couth, dubbed it “rhubarb snot.” After that, I had trouble finishing the rest of my dish.
In Peter Berley’s cookbook Fresh Food Fast there is a recipe for rhubarb compote with maple syrup and crystallized ginger. He says to simmer the rhubarb for 5 to 7 minutes until the rhubarb is tender, but not falling apart. Since he says the rhubarb shouldn’t fall apart, I figured it was safe. Derek tried to stop me, arguing that the texture was going to be just like the previous attempt, but I wanted to give it a try. After five minutes, however, my rhubarb had again reached the “snot” stage. What am I doing wrong?
Berley’s recipe calls for chunks of crystallized ginger. The recipe doesn’t say so explicitly, but I thought the chunks were supposed to dissolve into the compote. In 5 minutes, however, they had only softened. The toothsome chunks seemed odd in the soft rhubarb stew. Berley says to serve the compote with creme fraiche or sour cream. I served mine with creme fraiche, and thought it was tasty, better even than the cream. I’m not sure I could tast the maple syrup though, and unless I bit into a ginger cube I didn’t really taste the ginger.
Rating: D (Unless I figure out the snot thing)
Lentil-ish Chili or Chili-esque Lentil Soup
I love chili, and so I was intrigued when 101 cookbooks posted a recipe for a vegetarian chili made out of lentils and chickpeas and grains. Despite being a bit skeptical about a chili made from lentils, I immediately wanted to try it.
I followed the directions except that I couldn’t find a serrano so subbed in a jalepeno pepper (with seeds), and I haven’t seen whole chipotle peppers here (canned or dried), so I used 1/2 tsp. chipotle powder instead. Finally, I haven’t seen crushed tomatoes in Germany, so I used a can of whole tomatoes, breaking them up with my hands before adding them to the soup. I used a combination of big, pale green lentils and tiny black lentils. I used some kind of fast-cooking German barley and medium grind bulgur wheat. For the vegetable broth I used a mixture of salted and unsalted Rapunzel bouillon cubes, but I ended up adding another 2 tsp. of kosher salt as well.
My lentils took more than 45 minutes to cook–more like an hour. Perhaps my “simmer” was too low, but I was having problems with all the liquid rising, and the bottom of the pan drying out and burning. You really need to stir this every five minutes or so to keep the bottom from burning.
After the lentils were cooked and I tasted it, I decided my whole tomatoes didn’t cut it and added another small can of diced tomatoes. I would have added even more but that’s all I had. It also didn’t taste enough like chili, so I added more chili powder and more cumin. I added the final 2 cups of water as well. After that it tasted pretty good. I really wanted to add some salsa, because I thought it needed some acid and punch and more tomato flavor, but I didn’t feel like opening one of my precious few jars of salsa. The chili was a bit spicy, but I probably could have added another 1/2 tsp. of chipotle powder without it being too hot.
As warned, this made a huge pot. My 6 quart dutch oven was full to the brim after my final additions. Really I should have used an 8 quart pot. Six quarts of chili is a lot. I think if I made this again (and I’m likely to), I would make only half or three quarters of the recipe, depending on if I am having company or not. Overall, it didn’t quite seem like chili, but it didn’t quite seem like lentil soup either. The recipe lies somewhere in between the two. Whatever you call it, it’s hearty and satisfying and pretty healthy. We ate it with a big salad and cornbread / corn muffins, and it was quite a nice meal I thought.
The chili was quite tasty with feta, but I liked it best with creme fraiche.
Rating: B
Derek: B
Hummus
I’m updating this old post to include a new hummus recipe that I just created. It’s based on the recipe for Lemon Walnut Hummus in Peter Berley’s cookbook Fresh Food Fast, but I made a few substitutions/alterations, and created Pepita Hummus instead. If I ever have a bit of cooked pumpkin around I think I might try adding a 1/4 cup to make a pretty, orange “pumpkin” hummus.
This is a small recipe because I currently only have a mini food processor. If you have a larger one, by all means double the recipe.
- 1/4 cup pepitas
- 3/4 tsp. cumin seeds
- 3/8 tsp. coriander seeds
- 1 1/4 cups drained, soft chickpeas
- 2 Tbs. olive oil
- 2 Tbs. freshly squeezed lemon juice
- 2 small to medium garlic cloves
- scant 1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper
- 1/2 tsp. coarse kosher salt (possibly less or more depending on how salty your beans are)
- 1 Tbs. water or bean cooking liquid
Instructions:
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees (in order to warm up your pita bread).
- In a small to medium skillet over medium heat, toast the pepitas until they start to pop and smell fragrant.
- While the pepitas toast, add to the bowl of a food processor: chickpeas, oil , lemon juice, garlic, cayenne, and salt. Puree until it won’t puree anymore. Then, when the pepitas are toasted, transfer them to a spice mill and grind to a powder. Add the ground pepitas to the food processor and puree again.
- In the same skillet, add the cumin and coriander seeds and toast for 30 seconds, until fragrant and slightly darkened. Transfer to a spice grinder and grind to a powder. Add the spices to the food processor, and puree until smooth. If the blades won’t turn and the hummus is not yet smooth, add water, 1 Tablespoon of water at a time, until it’s smooth.
- Serve with warmed pita bread.
Adding the freshly ground pepitas and spices really makes this recipe. It’s so fragrant and roasted tasting that it’s really quite unlike hummus. Derek objected to the hummus appellation, and called it “chickpea spread.” The texture is thick and just a little fluffy, but not too airy and not too rich. I ate the hummus for lunch on warmed pita bread, with some yogurt spread (yogurt, lemon juice, garlic, and salt), sliced tomatoes, and marinated cucumbers. It was a delicious and satisfying lunch. All I was missing was a few kalamata olives. I also had the hummus for lunch with Berley’s tabbouleh recipe. Although I wasn’t a big fan of the tabbouleh by itself, with the hummus it was quite tasty.
Original post from March 15, 2007:
I used to make hummus all the time when I lived in the co-op in college, but unfortunately I don’t remember what recipe I used. I’m relatively picky about hummus. I like the Sabra brand pretty well, but not many of the other store brands.
Cook’s Illustrated Light Hummus
- 1 (15-ounce) can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
- 6 Tbs. water
- 3 Tbs. juice from 1 large lemon
- 2 Tbs. tahini
- 1 Tbs. extra-virgin olive oil
- 3/4 tsp. salt
- 1/2 small garlic clove, minced or pressed through a garlic press (about 1/4 tsp.)
- pinch cayenne pepper
- Process the chickpeas, water lemon juice, tahini, 2 tsp. of the oil, salt, garlic, and cayenne together in a food processor until very smooth, 1 to 1.5 minutes, stopping to scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatual as needed.
- Transfer the hummus to a serving bowl; cover and refrigerate until the flavors meld, about 30 minutes. To serve, make a well in the center of the hummus, and drizzle in the remaining tsp. of olive oil.
My Notes:
The first time I made this I followed the recipe and I thought it was too thin, and too salty, but pretty good otherwise. The second time I made it I reduced the water to 2 Tbs., and the salt to 1/2 tsp, and left out the final drizzle of olive oil. It was still salty, but better. The hummus tastes good to me—the right combo of lemon to garlic to nuttiness—but for some reason I’ve been having trouble getting myself (or Derek) to eat it. Maybe we’ve just not been in a hummus mood.
CI says that the hummus can be refrigerated for up to 2 days, but that seems like an underestimate to me.
Derek’s friend said he has the best hummus recipe in the world. I asked him for it and he then admitted he didn’t really have a recipe per se, but that the secret ingredients are peanut butter and lemon zest. So I tried making this recipe, adding a tsp. of peanut butter, and the zest of one lemon. I was surprised that with only a tsp. of peanut butter I could taste it, but indeed I could. Derek thought it was better before the additions, however. I do like the idea of using the zest instead of just tossing it though. You know what Dr. Greger says…
I made this a second time following the recipe very closely, and I thought it was fine but Derek really didn’t like it, I have no idea why. He wouldn’t touch the stuff.
Buttermilk strata with mushrooms and leeks
This is another recipe from Peter Berley’s cookbook Fresh Food Fast. Derek bought a loaf of white bread at the cheese store, and then left for the states before eating much of it. I tossed it in the fridge and then decided to use the stale loaf in this strata recipe.
- 6 large eggs
- 2 cups buttermilk
- 1/4 pound whole-milk ricotta cheese
- 1/2 cup finely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
- 2 medium leeks, thinly sliced
- 3 Tbs. extra virgin olive oil (I used 2)
- 2 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
- 1 Tbs. fresh thyme leaves (I only had about 2 tsp., so I added in another 1/2 tsp. of dried thyme leaves)
- 2 tsp. kosher salt (I used 1 tsp.)
- 1/2 tsp. freshly milled black pepper
- 1 pound portobello mushrooms, stems removed and caps diced (I used about 15 ounces of white mushrooms, with the stems)
- 1/2 cup dry white wine
- 1/2 pound day-old, country-style artisanal bread, cut into 1-inch cubes
- 1/4 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese
The basic strategy is:
- Mix together the eggs, buttermilk, cheese, and parsley in a bowl.
- Brown the leeks in a large, dry oven-proof skillet, then add the oil, garlic, thyme, and salt. Saute briefly then add the mushrooms and wine. Bring to a simmer and stir in the bread cubes.
- Pour the egg mixture over the top and stir to combine everything. Sprinkle the top with grated cheese, and bake at 450 until the strata has set, about 25 minutes.
If you want the full instructions, buy the cookbook!
Notes:
I used a 12 inch anodized aluminum cast iron pan with 2 side handles. I’m actually not sure if it’s supposed to go in an oven at 450 degrees, but it looked okay when I took it out. Berley recommends a 10-inch saute pan, but my 12-inch pan was totally full, and it’s rather deep, so I don’t see how this recipe would fit in a ten inch pan.
I cut the salt by 1/2, and thought the salt level was perfect. If you like things more salty maybe use 1.25 tsp. I also cut the oil to 2 Tbs., and it still seemed perfectly rich. I didn’t measure how much parmesan I added, but it couldn’t have been more than an ounce. The flavor of the dish was good, and especially tasty when I got a big chunk of bread, but the more leek-y bites I didn’t care for as much. Perhaps I put in too much of the green part. The texture of the leftovers was good, but when it was just out of the oven I occasionally got a “soggy bread” bite. Perhaps I should have cooked it for another 5 minutes.
This recipe works well. The dish is beautiful to look at, holds together well, and tastes fine. Despite all the positives, I’m not sure whether I would make this recipe again. It took quite a bit of work, and despite tasting good, neither Derek nor I really wanted to eat any of the leftovers. I really don’t know why, but for some reason it just did not appeal to us. It took me about 35 minutes to get it in the oven, and another 10 minutes to clean up, plus 25 minutes to bake. If I had help I probably could have gotten it done in 20 minutes. Still, it didn’t quite seem like a weeknight recipe to me. There were just too many different ingredients to buy and chop.
I must admit, however, that the recipe is a nice dish for spring. I got new leeks and parlsey and thyme and eggs from the farmer’s market. The leeks had a very hard core, the texture of a stiff rhubarb stalk. I’d never come across a leek with a hard core before, and wasn’t sure if I should try to cut it up or discard it. I ended up saving it for vegetable broth (along with the leek greens, parsley and thyme stems, and a few bruised mushrooms). If anyone knows what to do with hard leek stems, please post a comment.
Berley suggests a spring menu of this strata and asparagus roasted with garlic and lemon. I think it sounds like a nice combination. However, at first glance it seemed kind of silly to suggest roasting the asparagus. Unless you have two ovens, you have to wait for 25 minutes for the strata to be done to start cooking the asparagus. Then I thought about it more and I realized that it probably takes 5-10 minutes to prep the asparagus and garlic, and another 5-10 minutes to clean up from both dishes. So in the end the wait isn’t really that long. Plus, the strata has to cool down for 5-10 minutes, which is just enough time for the asparagus to cook. Also, once the oven is on you might as well use it to roast the asparagus. Perhaps you can even cook both dishes in the oven at the same time? Another option would be to just steam the asparagus on the stovetop.
Berley doesn’t say how many this strata recipe serves, but it’s quite large. I think with 3 bunches of asparagus this dish would serve eight.
Vegetarian Tortilla Soup
I’ve tried to make tortilla soup before, and although I don’t know exactly what the chicken-based version tastes like, I know that I’ve never achieved it. Recently, however, I tried a recipe for tortilla soup from Peter Berley’s cookbook “Fresh Food Fast.” The key innovation is that he uses a miso broth instead of a simple vegetable broth. I thought it would be strange–miso soup with lime in it–but it was delicious, and tasted like (what I imagine) tortilla soup is supposed to taste like. It definitely tasted Mexican rather than Japanese.
- 1 head garlic, cloves separated and smashed
- 1 small bunch cilantro (about 1/2 cup coarsely chopped leaves plus the stems for the broth)
- 6 corn tortillas
- 1 large ripe avocado, sliced
- 2 limes (1 for juicing and 1 for cutting into wedges)
- 2 cups bite-sized broccoli florettes
- 1 medium carrot, halved lengthwise and sliced thin on the bias
- 1 jalepeno pepper (with its seeds), sliced into very thin rings
- 1/4 cup red miso or 1/2 cup white miso
For precise instructions buy the cookbook!
Berley makes a simple broth with a head of garlic (cloves smashed but not peeled), and the stems from a bunch of cilantro. I tasted the broth and I could definitely taste the garlic, but the cilantro was pretty subtle. Then vegetables are added to the soup and cooked until crisp-tender, and then the miso and cilantro are mixed in. Finally, tortilla strips and lime-soaked avocado are spooned into each bowl.
The vegetables cooked in the soup are broccoli, carrots, and jalepeno. Adding broccoli and carrots to tortilla soup is not traditional, but they both went well with the other flavors. The jalapeno I had from my mother’s garden was hot but not too hot. Berley’s recipe says to fry strips of corn tortillas, but we can’t get corn tortillas in Germany so we used wheat tortillas. They were tasty but pretty rich tasting. Between the avocado and tortilla chips the soup was quite rich. I think the soup would be very tasty even without the tortilla chips, and more of an everyday kind of meal, rather than a special-occasion soup. The second time I made the soup I threw in a few strips of commercial corn chips. They weren’t as good as freshly-fried corn tortillas, but they added the right corn/oil taste, and were much simpler.
The main problem I have with the recipe is that it calls for 6 cups of water and 1/2 cup of white miso. Berley says you can substitute red miso to “bring it up a notch.” I’m not sure how salty white miso is, but 1/2 cup of red miso in that much soup would be unbearably salty. I added 1/4 cup of red miso to start and the soup was salty but tasty. More would have definitely made the soup too salty, however. The second time that we made the soup, we didn’t think 1/4 cup of miso was quite enough, so I had Derek add another 2 Tbs. On our second try the recipe made about 6 bowls of soup.
If you don’t fry your own tortilla strips, this recipe can definitely be made in other 30 minutes. Berley includes it in a menu with a medley made from white rice, kidney beans, green peas, and cheese. The dish was reasonably tasty, but pretty rich and not that exciting. It’s mildness was a reasonable foil to the intense soup, but both dishes were quite rich. I would have paired the soup with a lighter bean dish and more vegetables. I’m not sure I would make the bean dish again, although Derek liked it more than me. I was impressed that the two dishes together took exactly an hour to make (and mostly clean up from). If I made the menu again, I could probably do it in under an hour. The second time I made this soup I paired it with a black bean salad–highly seasoned black beans over a lettuce, tomato, and pepper salad. It was a reasonable combination but I didn’t get the recipe quite right. I was trying to recreate the black bean salad at La Feria in Pittsburgh, but I failed.
I’ll definitely make this soup again, especially if I can get my hands on jalepenos, corn tortillas, and ripe avocados.
Rating: B+
French no-mayo potato salad
Derek picked this recipe out of the Cook’s Illustrated light recipe. It’s a light potato salad recipe, with a vinaigrette instead of mayo. Unlike a typical American potato salad, the French version uses sliced potatoes, and is served warmed or at room temperature (never cold). It’s much more refined and elegant than the typical American mayo-laden, pickle-studded potato salad.
Tips from CI: It’s important to slice the potatoes before boiling them so that the slices don’t break apart. Plus the potatoes cook more evenly and you don’t have to burn your fingers trying to cut hot potatoes. To keep the potato slices from getting damaged over overcooked, CI has you lay the potatoes on a baking sheet and pour the vinagrette over them, and let them cool before moving them to a bowl. To cut back on oil, CI recommends adding some of the potatoe cooking water which is starchy and so acts as a binding element to hold the salad together and keep the potatoes from drying out. CI says that white wine can also be used. They also blanch the garlic to tone down the aggressive raw garlic flavor.
- 2 pounds medium red potatoes (about 6, 2.5 ounces each)
- 6 cups of water (1/3 reserved for the salad)
- 2 tablespoons salt (or reduce a bit if you’re salt sensitive)
- 1 medium garlic clove, peeled
- 1.5 tablespoons white wine or champagne vinegar
- 2 tsp. Dijon mustanrd
- 2 Tbs. olive oil
- 1/2 tsp. ground black pepper
- 1 small shallot, minced (about 2 Tbs.)
- 4 Tablespoons mixed french herbs (CI recommends equal parts chervil, parsley, chives, tarragon)
- Bring the potatoes, water, and salt to a boil in a large saucepan, then reduce to a simmer. Skewer the garlic on a fork tine and lower it into the simmering water for about 45 seconds, then cool it under cold running water. Simmer the potatoes uncovered until they are tender, about 5 minutes. (A thin bladed paring knife should slip into and out of the potato slice with no resistance.) Drain the potatoes, reserving 1/3 cup cooking water. Arrange the potatoes on a rimmed baking sheet, ideally in a single layer.
- Mince the garlic, and combine in small bowl with the oil, reserved cooking water, vinegar, mustard, and pepper. Drizzle the dressing evening over the warm potato slices. Let stand for 10 minutes.
- Chop the shallots and herbs and toss them together in the vinaigrette bowl. Move the potatoes to a serving bowl, and add the shallot-herb mixture. Mix carefully.
My notes: My potatoes were a bit larger than called for and so my potato slices looked a bit large and awkward. I misread the recipe and accidentally added 1/2 cup of cooking water, so my salad was slightly wet, but still very tasty. I had white potatoes not red, and as a result the potato salad was not quite as pretty as it should have been. I couldn’t find fresh chervil or tarragon, so I used a little frozen box of minced “French herbs” that I bought in the grocery store. I added the herbs to the dressing before drizzling it over the potatoes, which seemed to work fine. I used a white balsamic vinegar, which tasted fine. Overall I thought the potato salad was very tasty, although perhaps just a tad too salty. My friend Alex really liked it–she said it was the best potato salad she’d ever had, and kept “encouraging” me to post the recipe. Derek and my mother were less enthusiastic. First of all, they argued that the recipe could not be called potato salad, perhaps because the potatoes were sliced instead of cubed. Also, they just thought the recipe was a bit boring. I thought it was delicious, however, and I’ll definitely make it again.
Passover apple rhubarb crisp
This recipe is based on a generic crisp recipe from Cook’s Illustrated. I adapted it to make it kosher for passover, and to use the beautiful spring rhubarb.
For the topping:
- 6 tablespoons matzoh cake meal
- 1/4 cup light brown sugar, packed
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1/4 teaspoon table salt
- 5 tablespoons unsalted butter , cut into 1/2-inch pieces and chilled
- 3/4 cup pecans or whole almonds
For the fruit:
- 2 1/2 pounds apples, equal parts granny smith and mckintosh, cut into one-inch chunks (about 5 cups)
- 2-3 stalks rhubarb (about 2 cups sliced)
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1.5 tablespoons lemon juice
- 1/2 teaspoon grated lemon zest from 1 lemon
- 1/2 tsp. grated fresh ginger (optional)
Instructions
- For the Topping: Place the nuts in a food processor workbowl fitted with steel blade.Pulse the nuts to a medium chop. Pour the mixture into a small bowl. Next, place the matzoh meal, brown sugar, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt in the food processor. Add chilled butter and pulse until mixture moves from dry sand-like appearance with large lumps of butter to a coarse cornmeal texture, about three 4-second bursts. Add to the nuts, and distribute evenly. The mixture should resemble crumbly sand. Do not overmix or the mixture will take on a smooth, cookie-dough-like texture. Refrigerate mixture while preparing fruit, at least 15 minutes.
- For the fruit: Toss cut fruit, sugar, lemon juice, and zest in medium bowl.
- Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and heat oven to 375 degrees. Scrape fruit mixture with rubber spatula into 8-inch square (2 quart) baking pan or 9-inch round deep dish pie plate. Distribute chilled topping evenly over fruit; bake for 40 minutes. Increase oven temperature to 400 degrees; bake until fruit is bubbling and topping is deep golden brown, about 5 minutes longer. Serve warm with ice cream.
Serves 6-8.
To make a larger crisp that serves 10-16, double all the ingredients, use a 13 x 9-inch baking pan, and bake for 55 minutes at 375 degrees, without increasing the oven temperature. Instead of apples, you can use stone fruit cut into half-inch wedges. If using plums, Cook’s Illustrated recommends adding one tablespoon quick-cooking tapioca to the fruit mixture, to keep it from being too juicy.
Cook’s Illustrated recommends peeling the fruit (including the apples), but I like the peels, so I leave them in.
Update May 24th, 2009:
I tried the rhubarb crisp recipe from Berley’s Fresh Food Fast. It calls for 1.5 pounds of rhubarb (about 4 long stalks) and 3/4 sugar mixed in with the fruit. I thought the balance of sour to sweet was pretty good. There’s also 1/4 cup brown sugar in the crumb topping. The recipe has you simmer the sugar and rhubarb and zest of one orange in a saucepan for 5 minutes. I wonder if it’s really necessary. I hate getting a pot dirty if it’s not essential. Maybe if you don’t pre-soften the rhubarb then the crisp topping starts to burn before the rhubarb is cooked all the way? Perhaps another strategy would be to put the rhubarb and sugar in the pan and cook it in the oven while you make the crisp topping. I wonder if that would work?
In the final crisp I couldn’t taste the orange zest at all. In fact, I made it once without the orange zest and it tasted exactly the same. Orange zest is healthy, so add it if you have it, but if you don’t have an orange around don’t worry about it.
Berley’s crisp topping recipe is a bit odd–it always seems kind of dry and sandy to me. I much prefer the Cook’s Illustrated recipe which includes nuts as well, and has more body.
Passover spinach matzoh lasagne
For Passover this year I wanted to make Peter Berley’s spinach mushroom vegan tart, but I didn’t have enough time to figure out how to make a kosher-for-Passover crust. I did try making an almond, matzoh meal crust held together with butter, but it just turned to crumbly sand. Instead, I ended up making this matzoh spanokopita (spanomatzikah? matzokopita?) recipe from Gourmet magazine for the main dish. Although it’s certainly rich and cheesy, it doesn’t taste overwhelmingly rich. I call it spanokopita, and although the flavors are similar, it would need significantly more feta and butter to deserve the name. I simplified the recipe significantly, by using a stick blender instead of a stand blender and skipping the matzoh soaking and spinach squeezing steps. Here is my modified version of the recipe:
- 1 medium onion, finely chopped
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 (10-ounce) packages frozen chopped spinach, thawed
- 1/3 cup plus 2 tablespoons chopped dill, divided
- 1 (16-ounce) container cottage cheese
- 2 cups whole milk (1.5 cups may be plenty)
- 3 large eggs
- 1/4 teaspoon grated nutmeg
- 1 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon pepper
- 6 ounces feta, crumbled (1 1/2 cups), divided
- 6 matzos (about 6 inches square)
- Preheat oven to 400°F with rack in middle. Oil a 13- by 9- by 2-inch (3-quart shallow) baking dish
- Chop the onion, then cook with the oil in a large heavy skillet over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until golden, 12 to 15 minutes.
- Meanwhile, in a large bowl, add the cottage cheese, milk, eggs, nutmeg, and 1/2 teaspoon each of salt and pepper. Use a stick blender to purée until smooth. Add in 4 ounces of the crumbled feta. Reserve 1.5 cups in a separate bowl.
- When the onion is golden, add the spinach to the skillet and cook, stirring occasionally, 5 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in 1/3 cup dill, 3/4 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Add the spinach mixture to the large bowl with the milk mixture.
- Arrange 2 matzos side by side in the baking dish. Break up matzohs to fill in any cracks. Pour in half of the pinach filling. Cover with 2 more matzos, then pour in remaining filling. Put remaining 2 matzos on top and pour the reserved cottage-cheese mixture over them. Sprinkle with the remaining 1/2 cup feta.
- Bake, uncovered, until golden and set, 30 to 35 minutes. Cool 10 minutes, then serve sprinkled with remaining 2 tablespoons dill.
Serves 8.
This recipe is relatively easy to make–just one skillet and a big bowl are required. I didn’t time it, but I wouldn’t be surprised if I could make it and clean up in under 30 minutes. The lasagna held together very well when sliced (probably due to the eggs), and looked quite pretty on the plate. I baked it ahead of time for the Passover seder, and then reheated it. The topping became slightly hard and dried out, but otherwise it was very good. The first time I made this, I only had about 1 cup of feta, so I didn’t put any on top. Even without the melted cheese topping, I quite liked the recipe, and the top looked beautiful. Both times I forgot to sprinkle dill on top after baking. There are only a few more things that I might change about this recipe. I might try reducing the amount of milk slightly, to 1.75 or 1.5 cups, since I’m not soaking the matzoh ahead of time. I might also try it sometime with lowfat milk, as I usually don’t have whole milk around, and had to buy it just for this recipe. Finally, to simplify the recipe, it would be worth skipping the “reserve the milk mixture” step, and just pouring a bit of the spinach mixture on top of the final matzoh.
Rating: B+
Derek said this recipe is “very good, tasty, B+”.
Passover apple nut cake
A friend made this Passover apple nut cake many years ago, and I remember it being huge and fluffy and delicious. I asked her for the recipe, but never got around to making it. Finally, almost ten years later, I came across the recipe scribbled on a piece of paper, and decided to give it a try for Passover.
Beat together in a large bowl:
- 6 eggs
- 2 cups sugar
Then beat in:
- 1 cup peanut oil
- 1 rind of lemon
Stir together and add to egg mixture, blending well:
- 2 cups matzoh cake meal
- 2 tsp. potato starch
Pour half the batter into a greased 9×13 pan. Mix and spread over batter:
- 5 McIntosh apples, peeled, cored, sliced
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
- juice of 1 lemon
Pour on the other half of the batter, and sprinkle over the top
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1/4 tsp. cinnamon
- 1/2 cup chopped walnuts or pecans
Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour 15 minutes.
Changes: I can’t get matzoh cake meal in Germany so I put some regular matzoh meal through my mini-processor. I also can’t find McIntosh apples, so I used a variety of different apples. Finally, I remember that when my friend made the cake it was tall and fluffy, so rather than making it in a 9×13 pan I used a (greased) 8 cup bundt pan, and poured the extra batter into my cast iron skillet.
The cake broke into two pieces when I tried to get it out of the bundt pan–I guess I should have buttered it and floured it. But other than that, it tasted pretty good. I liked the texture a lot–the matzoh meal gives it a different texture than a normal cake, but I quite enjoyed the coarser crumb. The cake was nice and apple-y, but overly sweet. It has a *lot* of sugar. I think all the sugar helps replace the missing flour, but next time I would make a few alterations. I would use butter instead of peanut oil. I would try reducing the sugar by a quarter or a third, and I would add more nuts. The nuts were the best part, but they were few and far between.
Rating: B
Curried Red Lentil Soup
I have a recipe for Turkish red lentil soup that I like a lot, but today I was in the mood for something a bit different, and decided to try this curried red lentil soup recipe from Peter Berley’s Modern Vegetarian Kitchen.
- 1.5 cups split red lentils, rinsed
- 2 quarts cold water
- 1 large onion, finely diced
- 1 carrot, sliced
- 1 celery ribs with leaves, halved lengthwise and chopped
- 2 Tbs. unsalted butter or light sesame oil
- 1 Tbs. mellow curry powder
- 3/4 – 1 tsp. coarse sea salt
- serve with chopped fresh cilantro and plain lowfat or whole milk yogurt
- Combine the red lentils, water, and 1/2 tsp. salt in a 4 to 5 quart pot. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low and simmer until the lentils are tender, about 30 to 45 minutes.
- Meanwhile, chop the vegetables and make the curry powder. Combine the vegetables, butter, curry powder, and 1/2 tsp. salt in a skillet. Saute over high heat for about 2 minutes until the vegetables start to brown. Reduce the heat to low, cover, and cook for 15 minutes.
- When the lentils are cooked, add the vegetables and their juices to the pot with the lentils. Simmer the soup for 5 to 10 minutes, until the flavors have combined.
- Serve with a sprinkle of chopped cilantro in each bowl, and a big dollop of plain yogurt.
Berley’s recipe called for kombu but I didn’t have any so I just left it out. He gives a recipe for mellow curry powder in his book, which is a bit odd in that it calls for caraway seeds. It didn’t actually smell like curry powder to me, and the soup didn’t exactly taste curried. However, the soup did taste good with the yogurt and cilantro. It definitely needed the yogurt though–without it the soup tasted too plain. Derek liked the soup as well. He said he wouldn’t rave about it, but it was very good, despite the fact that he claims to “not be a soup person.” He liked the big slices of carrot, said the texture and flavor was really nice. Derek did add a bit more of the curry powder to make the soup stronger tasting, however. Berley’s recipe for mellow curry powder makes about 1/3 cup, and I made 1/4 of it, which yielded a little more than a Tablespoon. Next time I’d just go ahead and throw the whole thing in. Also, I’d add the salt to the curry powder to help grind up the spices, rather than adding it directly to the vegetables.
Curry powder, modified slightly:
- 1.5 tsp. coriander seeds
- 3/4 tsp. cumin seeds
- 1/4 tsp. caraway seeds
- 1/4 tsp. fennel seeds
- 1/4 tsp. black peppercorns
- 1 slightly heaped tsp. turmeric
- 1/4 tsp. ginger
- slightly heaped 1/4 tsp. cinnamon
- large pinch of cayenne pepper
Rating: B
Derek: B/B+
