'moo's wild rice

a couple of months ago, for hanukkah, my mamoo sent me a kris a bag of moose lake wild rice. we were super excited because, duh!, wild rice is good stuff!!! last night we decided to bust it open with this lovely little concoction. it's a simple assembly of (our star of the evening) wild rice, roasted vegetables and tempeh all drizzled with a tasty little sauce. it's one of those simply yummy things that you can take in many directions to use up whatever you have that needs using. i love those kinds of dinners.

back over christmas (yes, this is turning into a belated holiday post apparently) we took a trip to jungle jim's in cincinnati which is a gigantic supermarket with an overwhelmingly large international section. since we were flying home we tried to limit ourselves to purchases that were small, light, cheap and not of the liquid or gel variety. spices fit the bill nicely so this sauce took advantage of (annoying ingredient alert!) lemongrass powder. if you don't have any i'm sure using fresh would be even better.

mamoo's wild rice concoction
ingredients, what to do and such:
first cook your wild rice according to package instructions.

toss brussels sprouts, cauliflower and a handful of whole peeled garlic cloves with a little oil and salt and pepper. roast at 350 until nice and...roasty.

while the vegetables are roasting pan fry tempeh chunks in a bit of oil. when they start to brown add some balsamic vinaigrette (because that's what's almost done in the fridge) and cook a few minutes longer.

now for the sauce! whisk all of these things together:
juice of one orange (about 1/2 cup)
1 tablespoon minced ginger
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon mirin
2 teaspoons rice vinegar
1 1/2 teaspoons lemongrass powder
1/4 teaspoon sesame oil
chili flakes to taste

to assemble, put the rice in a bowl and drizzle with sauce. top with tempeh and vegetables and drizzle with more sauce. you're done!

-d

on another note, kris and i leaving for a long weekend in kauai tomorrow! i hope to return with lots of foodish things to share.

Chocolate Tart

A few weeks ago, I hosted a little impromptu dinner party with a friend. The inspiration was Julia Child – one of our shared idols – and so something French was in order. The plan was a quiet evening, making a very “French Chef” dinner, followed by a viewing of Julie/Julia. We settled on coq au vin – a true classic, and perfect for winter entertaining. I searched around for something decadent yet simple for dessert, and found the following recipe. It comes from Alice Waters, and was really a breeze to make. I was a bit suspicious of the Pâte Sucrée at first; it mixed up like a cookie dough – creaming the butter and sugar together, then adding wet and dry ingredients. And it was very sticky.

But I went with it, and in the end was rewarded with a short, buttery crust – the perfect foil for a rich, creamy ganache filling. (Make sure to splurge on a good chocolate here). The tart takes a bit of time to set up, so make it before your guests arrive, and they can oooh and ahhh over it while you’re making dinner. And it’s perfect for times when dinner for two turns into dinner for seven, because just a little slice is enough!

We ended up serving it with whipped cream (with a hint of rum mixed in) and it was the perfect end (or beginning) to a night of good times with good friends.

Sweet Tart Dough

from Alice Waters, The Art of Simple Food

8 tablespoons (1 stick) butter, softened

¹/₃ cup sugar

¼ teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon vanilla extract

1 egg yolk

1 ¼ cups all purpose unbleached flour

Beat together the butter and sugar until creamy. Add the salt, vanilla, and egg yolk, and mix until combined. Finally, add in the flour, mixing well, stirring and folding until there are no dry patches. Chill for at least 4 hours or overnight until firm. (Note: I chilled the dough for about 1 hour, and it rolled out nicely).

Chocolate Tart

from Alice Waters, The Art of Simple Food

1 disk of Sweet Tart Dough

6 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped

1 cup heavy cream

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Roll the dough into a 12-inch circle. Lightly prick the dough with a fork. Line a 9-inch tart pan with the dough, lightly pressing the dough into the pan. Roll the rolling pin over the top of the tart pan to remove any excess dough. Patch any cracks with excess dough. Let the tart rest for at least 10 minutes in the freezer. Prebake the tart shell for 15 minutes, until light golden brown. Check the pastry halfway through the cooking, and pat down any bubbles that may have formed. Let cool and unmold.

For the ganache, put the chocolate in a heat-proof bowl. Heat the cream until just boiling, pour over the chocolate, and let sit for 30 seconds. Stir until the chocolate is melted, and the chocolate is smooth and glossy. Pour into the tart shell while the ganache is still quite warm and liquid, gently tapping and jiggling the shell to even out the filling. Let sit at room temperature for at least an hour to set.

(Note: use any leftover dough to make little jam thumbprint cookies. They bake at 350 degrees for about 12 minutes, and make a nice little snack!)

Enjoy!

~ e

Curried Lentil Dip

While searching for something meat-free to take to a Super Bowl party, I came across this recipe. Food52 is one of my new go-to sites for interesting recipes, and this one was no exception. This dip is simple and yet complex, with the warmth and richness of cinnamon and curry mixed with the humble lentil. Because I happened to be out of veggie stock, I threw in some sliced carrots and slivered leeks with the onion and garlic for added flavor. The carrot also provided nice little pops of color in the finished dip. I also used parsley in place of cilantro, and the dip was still delicious!

This recipe makes quite a lot of dip – 5 people put a decent dent in it, but there are still plenty of leftovers. You could also serve as an entrée when served over rice.

Curried Lentil Dip

Adapted from Food52.com

Serves 6 to 8

1 can of coconut milk

1 ½ cup dried red lentils (rinsed)

1 onion, large, minced

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 carrots, peeled and thinly sliced

2 small leeks, rinsed and sliced

saltthinly

1 tablespoon dried fresh ginger

1 tablespoon olive oil

½ teaspoon each ground cumin, turmeric, cumin, and black pepper

2 teaspoons garam masala (or other – I used Muchi) curry powder

¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes

¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon

2-3 Bay Leaves

3 tablespoons parsley (fresh), chopped

Place can of coconut milk in freezer 20 minutes before starting to cook. Open can and remove solidified coconut butter from the top to use in sautéing. Reserve the rest of the coconut milk.

In a sieve rinse lentils and drain.

In a 2-quart heavy saucepan cook onion, garlic, and a couple pinches of salt in 2 tablespoons coconut milk fat over moderate heat, stirring, until golden.

Add ginger and cook, stirring, 1 minute.

Add lentils, coconut milk, 3 cups water and gently boil, uncovered, until lentils fall apart, about 20 minutes.

While lentils are cooking, take a small heavy skillet and heat the olive oil over moderate heat until hot but not smoking and cook cumin, stirring, until a shade darker, about 30 seconds.

Add curry powder and other remaining spices and cook, stirring, until fragrant, 15 to 30 seconds. Stir hot spice oil into lentils.

Let curry stand, covered, 5 minutes to allow flavors to develop. Stir in cilantro and add salt to taste.

Serve with either Sweet Potato Chips or over rice as a side dish.

Enjoy!

~ e

breakfast quinoa

kris and i have bagels for breakfast every weekend and it's a little routine that i love. but this weekend kris is in boston and since i know he'll be coming back with the good stuff i decided to take a saturday off from bagels to try out something that's been on my list...breakfast quinoa! just like oatmeal you can dress this up to your tastes but here's what i did.

breakfast quinoa
ingredients:
1/2 cup quinoa
1/2 cup almond milk, 1/2 cup water
blueberries
toasted almonds
cinnamon
maple syrup

first toast the quinoa in a dry pan for a few minutes, this gives it a nice toasty, nutty flavor. cook the quinoa in the water and milk covered at a low simmer* for about 15 minutes or until the quinoa is tender and most of the milk is absorbed. remove from heat and add blueberries, syrup, cinnamon and almonds and a splash more milk if desired. eat it!

theoretically this should serve two but since i'm here all by my lonesome i ate it all. this made for a very filling breakfast and i did not really get hungry again until dinner time. that was no fun...i like lunch!

so the verdict? while this is yummy and a nice way to switch things up i went ahead and got bagel fixin's for sunday morning. what can i say? i'm a creature of habit i suppose.

-d

flaxseed falafel

as i have mentioned before i love trying out new falafel recipes. kris found one on sfgate awhile ago and we finally got around to trying it this weekend. the recipe is packed with flax (both ground and whole seeds) which i suppose gives it an extra nutritional boost, since flax is suposedly so good for you and stuff, as well as a slightly different flavor and texture. other than that it was mostly the usual falafel-y suspects: chickpeas, parsley, lemon juice and some yummy spices including cayenne which gave these just a perfect amount of heat.

what really set these apart from my other falafel making experiences was that i did something i don't like to do. i fried them. i'm always torn between the superior crunch that frying gives and the healthiness/easiness of baking. well i went with frying this time for two reasons 1. the recipe only calls for a shallow fry not deep frying so it was really frying for wimps and 2. we finally got our hands on a bottle of rice bran oil that we read an article about and is supposed to be the best for frying and is "healthy" too blahblahblah.

i loved these! while the shallow frying made a nice crunchy top and bottom the middle stayed a little squishy which then made for great, not dried out leftovers after a night in the fridge. and because i can't make a falafel dinner but must make a falafel feast i also made flatbread, tahini, slaw and the tzatziki recipe that was with the falafel recipe. phew! here's the recipe with vegan substitutions.

flaxseed falafel
(from sfgate.com)
for the tzatziki:
1 cup cucumber, peeled, seeded, diced into 1/2 -inch cubes
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 cup low-fat plain soygurt
1 cup vegan sour cream
1/2 teaspoon sugar
2 cloves garlic, minced
1-1 1/2 tablespoons chopped fresh dill (or add dried to taste)
for the falafel:
2 cans garbanzos, drained, liquid reserved
1 clove garlic, crushed
1/2 cup ground flaxseed
1/2 cup chopped parsley
1/4 cup fresh-squeezed lemon juice
1/2-3/4 teaspoon salt + more to taste
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
3/4 cup bread crumbs
3 tablespoons whole flaxseed
1 tablespoon cornstarch mixed with 3 tablespoons water
2 tablespoons olive oil, or rice bran oil if you've got it

to prepare the tzatziki: mix diced cucumber with salt, place in a colander set over a bowl; cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for one hour. Rinse off the salt, drain well and dry cucumber on several thicknesses of paper towels. in a bowl, combine cucumber with yogurt, sour cream, sugar, garlic and dill. cover and chill at least 30 minutes and up to four hours.

to prepare the falafel: place garbanzos, garlic and 2 tablespoons reserved garbanzo liquid in a processor and pulse about 5 times, until coarsely chopped. add ground flax seed, parsley, lemon juice, salt, coriander and pepper and pulse just until mixture is combined. It should retain some texture. divide into 16 portions and shape into patties about 1 inch in diameter. combine bread crumbs and whole flax seed in a shallow dish.

in another shallow dish, combine cornstarch and water. dip each patty in the cornstarch mixture, then lightly dredge in crumb mixture. set on a rack over a baking sheet to dry for half an hour. heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat and add oil. brown falafel well on both sides, turning once.

-d

Karls' Sausage

On New Year's Eve, just before cooking up quite the feast, Lynne, Han, A. and I headed up to Saugus to visit Karl's Sausage. A Boston-area institution since 1958, Karl's offers a wide array of tradition German meats, house-cured bacon, and imported goods. They have a German mustard (like the stein pictured above), German gummi snacks, German cookies, German breads . . . you get the idea. It is a mecca for German food lovers. In addition to picking up bacon for New Year's brunch, and a cured meat that I can't remember the name of (but it was smoky and delicious) we also snagged a few links of bauernwurst and weisswurst. We cooked both up a few days later - the weisswurst is boiled, and the casing is removed before eating. We split the bauernwurst, the grilled it in a cast iron grill pan. The weisswurst was really mild and soft, while the bauernwurst was a heartier, meatier sausage. Both were perfect, paired with a white beer, and best enjoyed on a cold winter day!

tuscan white bean soup

robin, author of vegan fire and spice, was kind enough to send me a list of some of her favorites from the book. one of the recipes on the list was one that kris and i had bookmarked to make so that's where we began and i must say tuscan white bean soup, you were delicious!!! this is exactly the soup you crave on a chilly winter day - it's fresh and hearty and comes together in a snap. and did i mention really yummy? you've got onion, carrots and celery in a tomato broth with a perfect hint of spice and a generous sprinkle of fresh basil. add to that some white beans and you're looking at a complete meal in a bowl. we took the suggestion to add a bit of pasta to the mix for an even bigger soup! though i must say i think we went a little heavy on the pasta because our leftovers for dinner tonight were more of a pasta dish....but that's ok cause with the overnight transformation it's like we weren't really eating leftovers.

i feel like i've found my groove with this book now and look forward to more recipes for the rest of the month.

-d