Cooking Club Season 1, Episode 1

Some ladies and I have decided to get together roughly once a month, each of us bringing a different course, sharing the recipes, learning some new things. Among the group are people who eat meat, don't eat meat, don't do dairy -- lots of diets to take into account. I'm not sure how they all will pan out, but Episode 1 was all vegan and vegetarian, which works for me!

I tackled the vegan entree of Pumpkin Baked Ziti with Cashew Ricotta and Sage Crumb Topping, straight from the Veganomicon cookbook. Other deliciousness was squash/ginger/shallot soup, homemade bread, cheesecake, sweet potato hummus and the first recipe I'll share:

Kale with Peanut Dressing, with instructions by A.A.

1 head of kale
1/4 cup peanut butter
2 Tbsp. soy sauce
1 Tbsp. rice vinegar
A few dashes hot sauce or sriracha, depending on how spicy you like it
water
Ginger, fresh or powder (optional)
Garlic, fresh or powder (optional)
Agave or honey (optional)
Sesame seeds to garnish (optional)
Red onions to garnish (optional)

I put on a pot of boiling water, and while I wait for it to boil I
make my peanut sauce. You may already have a peanut sauce recipe you
love, so feel free to run with that. Mine is a mix of peanut butter,
soy sauce, rice vinegar, hot sauce, and water. I don't really measure,
so the measurements above are really general. I usually heat a blob of
peanut butter in the microwave for 20 seconds. Then pour a little soy
sauce and stir. Then add the rice vinegar and hot sauce, stir again,
taste, adjust, then add a little water to thin it all out. (Sometimes
I'll add those optional ingredients above, but when I'm doing it
quickly, I leave them out.)

Now your water's boiling. Remove all the leaves from the kale stems
and then blanch the leaves in the boiling water for about 1.5-2
minutes, until soft.

Next, put it in an ice bath or run it quickly
under cold water to stop it from cooking further, and to keep it
green. Now you want to get the water out of it so it will soak up the
dressing. You can squeeze it with your hands (this will bunch it up,
but you can separate it again) or dab it with a clean kitchen towel.
Then mix it with the peanut dressing you've made. You can eat it right
away, but I actually like to refrigerate mine a little first.

The kale cooks down a lot, so a whole head of kale really makes about
2 portions.


This was delicious! AA confessed she put a ton of sriracha in it, but that's just fine with me. So good! I can't wait to try this on things other than kale too, as I've been on the hunt for the perfect peanut sauce.

Mushroom Tarts

I found myself with a few random ingredients and decided to make something out of them a couple of weeks ago when some friends were coming over to watch the Golden Globes. You won't see any specific amounts here, since I was just winging it. I'm sure all kinds of stuff would be good added to these, but this is a good starting off point for variations...

I used almost 2 pkgs of crescent roll sheets -- basically the ones without the perforations. I sprayed muffin pans with Pam, then cut squares of the dough and pushed them into the cups. Some covered the whole cup, some didn't -- it didn't really matter in the end.

Ingredients:
1 pkg sliced baby bella mushrooms,
onion and/or shallot
minced garlic
fresh herbs: thyme, sage
Italian bread crumbs
Parmesan cheese (you could easily substitute veggie cheese(s) here!)
salt and pepper

1. First, I sauteed the onion and garlic in a little olive oil, then added the chopped sage and thyme, salt and pepper.

2. Chopped and sauteed almost the whole package of mushrooms -- in the end I could have used more filling, so I should have used the whole thing.

3. After they were all soft and sauteed, I added just a little bit of shredded Parmesan cheese, and a sprinkling of bread crumbs to bind everything together.

4. I divided the filling into the cups, remembering that the dough would puff up a bit upon cooking. I sprinkled extra cheese on top of about half of them, knowing half of the people eating them don't love a lot of cheese.

5. I baked them according to a recipe on the side of the roll canister -- about 10 minutes at 350 degrees or so. I just kept an eye on them until the dough started to brown a little.

I realize this is all a little vague, but that's what's good about cooking sometimes -- it doesn't have to be exact. Everyone loved them, so I guess winging it sometimes works!

See the happy faces!!



I think if Scott was alone, he would have rolled around in them. He smacked my hand away when I tried to enjoy one of my own creations.

Pumpkin Soup!

I decided this weekend that I needed to make soup. Maybe because I was fighting a cold yet again, but it's cold, soup is hot -- and there you have it.

I stole my sister's soup cookbook and saw MANY that I will definitely try (um... ginger leek soup, anyone?). Then I remembered that I have three cans of pumpkin puree in my pantry from Thanksgiving. Since I first started going to my squeeze's family Thanksgiving in Champaign, Ill., three years ago, I have been the designated pumpkin-pie-maker.

Due to work and some unforeseen circumstances, our trip was axed the morning we were supposed to leave, and the pies never got made (by me, anyway). I didn't know if pumpkin soup existed, but certainly there is butternut squash soup, and it's practically the same thing, right?

A quick Google search and I was happy with one of the first I found. A good friend just got out of the hospital after a wicked Penicillin reaction during dental surgery (talk about kicking someone while they're down), so I decided to double the batch. Holy hell did it make a lot of soup. Around 20 cups to be exact. That had to be pureed one at a time. That is how said squeeze, me, our two guests, recently-sprung-from-the-hospital-friend (and likely her husband) and yet another sick friend got dinner last night. Buyza Soup Kitchen was born.

Without further ado, here is the recipe (a single batch version, which has 7-10 servings). I'll list the recipe as I found it, then tell you what I added to it at the end. My guess is, you could throw about anything in this soup and it would be delicious.

Ingredients:
6 c. vegetable stock
1 1/2 tsp. salt
4 c. pumpkin puree
chopped fresh parsley
1 c. chopped onion
1/2 tsp. fresh thyme
1 clove minced garlic
1/2 c. whipping cream
5 whole peppercorns

1. Heat stock, salt, pumpkin, onion, thyme, garlic and peppercorns in a pot. (I think next time I will probably saute the onions and garlic in a bit of oil and then add everything else...).

2. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low and simmer for 30 minutes uncovered.

3. Puree the soup (I went with a blender) in small batches - 1 cup at a time (toward then end of my 4,000 cups, I was doing 2 or 3 at a time, but I do think some chunks got through). Some of the people who reviewed the recipe online said they did it right in the pot with a hand mixer too.

4. Return to pan and bring to a boil again.Reduce heat to low and simmer 30 minutes uncovered.

5. Stir in heavy cream. After I made the soup, I realized coconut milk would probably be DELICIOUS in this - and make it vegan. I think I'll try it next time just to see.

6. Pour into soup bowls and garnish with fresh parsley.

NOW for the additions, I made....

I put in extra salt and pepper -- my guess is, if you don't have the peppercorns, obviously you can just use ground pepper.

I also added touches of garlic powder, cinnamon and ginger powder. I think next time I might add some curry too and see how that goes!

The thyme I bought also came with sage, so I put a bunch of that in, not to mention far more thyme than the recipe asked for.

I served it with some French bread -- a good crusty baguette would actually be great with this though.

I just ate it for dinner AGAIN and, after a day to hang out, it's definitely a little spicier than it was last night, but still really good.

For some reason, the idea of making the effort to puree a soup always turned me off from doing it. I am no longer afraid (even 20 cups later). I'm so glad my laziness didn't stop me from discovering this soup!

Martha goes veg!

Martha Stewart made a list of her 50 best vegetarian recipes. Definitely some repeats from the last time she sent out a list like this, but worth the repeats all the same I say.

You can check it out HERE.

WOOL AND WATER: Mmmmm Lentils.....

Here is a delicious looking lentil dish, posted by another fellow Michigan crafter. Check it out!

WOOL AND WATER: Mmmmm Lentils.....

Best kale dish and super easy too!

This recipe comes from my crafting partner in crime Jay (pictured* with me at our 2009 Detroit Urban Craft Fair booth). I was kind of a kale freak this summer, but never really found the perfect recipe. This one sounded sooooo good when Jay told me about it, I asked her to pass it on. Here it is!


Ingredients:
Kale (I like the dark purple kind best, with the stems removed and chopped coarsely)
sliced almonds
dried tart cherries
shallot
red wine vinegar or lemon juice
salt and pepper
olive oil

• Saute shallot, almonds and cherries in a little olive oil until shallots are soft.
• Add kale and toss around until wilted. sprinkle with salt and pepper and a little lemon juice or vinegar.
• Serve over a bed of couscous (for extra flavor, use broth instead of water when cooking the couscous)


* Photo by Tafari

The return of the blog: Italian Eggplant Ragout

Four months without an entry? Does that even constitute a blog? Among my New Year's Resolutions (there will be some this year, for a change), is to get back to blogging. I've done a poor job of late, especially with my half-hearted attempts at a daily "Michigan Etsy Shop of the Day" over on Monkita Knits.

Not without good reason, I suppose. I've been nannying and knitting myself ragged. I see the light at the end of the Christmas-rush-order tunnel and I'm going to start with a few blogs in the next week or so (hopefully). For months I've been taking pictures of the delicious things I've been cooking (though few and far between), so now it's time to go back through iPhoto and catch up.

Up first is something I made last week, actually: Italian Eggplant Ragout, a vegan dish from the May 2008 Vegetarian Times



Eggplant can be a good hearty meat substitute and it's full of antioxidants. It's very good for people looking to lower their cholesterol too.

Serves 6

2 medium eggplants (I used one large and it was quite a bit)
2 Tbsp. salt
2 Tbsp. olive oil
1 large onion, chopped (about 2 c.)
2 cloves garlic minced (about 2 tsp)
1 15 oz. can diced tomatoes, drained
1 15 oz. can chickpeas, rinsed and drained
2 Tbsp. capers
1 tsp. sugar
1/4 c. chopped fresh parsley

1. Half and seed eggplants. Cut into 3/4-inch chunks and toss with salt in a bowl. Let sit for 30 minutes, then drain, rinse and pat dry. This draws out the bitter juices of some eggplants and helps it hold its shape and not get mushy while cooking.

2. Heat olive oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add onion and saute about 5 minutes, until softened. Add garlic and cook 1 minute more, until fragrant.

3. Stir in tomatoes, chickpeas and eggplant. Reduce heat to medium-low and cook 15 minutes or until eggplant is tender but not mushy. I stirred mine often to make sure everything cooked as evenly as possible.

4. Stir in capers and sugar, and cook about 2 minutes more. Fold in parsley and season with black pepper.




Enjoy!

On the side that night, I made some crispy rosemary potatoes, so I figured I'd take a picture of those too!

Cut up any combination of potatoes you like -- I used a few sweet potatoes and a couple of large redskin potatoes.




Preheat oven to 425

1. Peel potatoes (I left the skin on my reds) and cut into about 1-inch chunks.

2. Put in pot and fill with water until potatoes are just covered. Bring to a boil and let boil for about 5 minutes.

3. Drain and return to pan. Toss in 2-3 Tbsp. of butter and a drizzle (about 1 Tbsp.) of olive oil and coat potatoes.

4. Chop fresh rosemary (how much is up to you -- I used quite a bit and it still didn't seem like very much!), add to potatoes, along with salt and pepper to taste.

5. Spray a couple of cookie sheets/cake pans with PAM if you have it, then spread potatoes in a single layer. Bake for about 20 minutes, tossing at least once, until your desired crispiness is reached.

They are flavorful and delicious!