Mushroom and summer squash gratin

Do you ever wake up in the middle of the night and go blue cheese and mushrooms - genius! You wouldn't judge me if I did, correct? What if I told you that I dreamt this up in August? I did. That's where the summer squash comes from. Sautéed mushrooms are tossed with fresh raw garlic, layered between summer squash and filled with a blue cheese white sauce. The joy in serving these is in the red, heart shaped personal ramekins.

This recipe is best prepped in two steps. The first step is to prep the vegetables. The second step is to prep the white sauce.  Any great baking vegetables can be subbed in instead of squash. Serve these piping hot as a main course. Perfect for cooler weather.

Mini mushroom and summer squash gratins
Yield: 4-6

Ingredients for ramekins:
butter, enough to butter 4 individual ramekins
olive oil
16 oz (or about 500 g) of brown cremini, shiitake, and oyster mushrooms
2 to 3 medium summer squash, cut into coins (can sub eggplant, tomato slices, or zucchini)
3 cloves garlic, chopped

Ingredients for the blue cheese cream sauce:
3 tbsp butter
2 tbsp flour
2 cups milk
1 tbsp oregano, dried
salt and pepper to taste
2 oz blue cheese

1. Lightly grease individual ramekin dishes. If you don't have mini casserole dishes than grease an 8" by 8" pan. Preheat the oven to 400 º F (200 º C).
2. Meanwhile, brush any loose dirt off of the mushrooms, remove the stems, and slice the mushrooms into thin slices. Slice the summer squash into thin rounds or coins (1/8"), and chop up the garlic.
3. Heat up the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Once hot, sauté the mushrooms. They should be done in about 12 minutes. Stir the garlic into the mushrooms, allow to heat up briefly, and remove from the pan once aromatic.
4. Add the summer squash to the pan. There should be enough oil. Lightly sauté for 5 minutes and then remove. Allow both the summer squash and mushrooms to cool off by allowing them to sit on a plate. You can prepare the blue cheese sauce.
5. Take a medium sauce saucepan and heat up 3 tablespoons of butter over medium-low heat. Once hot sprinkle in 1 tablespoon of flour and take a whisk and start stirring the flour into the butter. Sprinkle in a bit more, such as the remaining 1 tablespoon of flour, and stir together until the mixture turns golden. Turn the heat down to low and stir in 2 cups of milk while stirring together with the whisk. The sauce will need to be stirred constantly. If you leave it unattended the flour may start to cook and stick to the bottom of the pan, and you will have a lot of lumps in your sauce. The sauce will gradually begin to thicken, but should take no longer than 15-20 minutes.
6. Once the sauce begins to thicken (about 10 minutes), you can add in oregano, and black pepper. Then add crumbled blue cheese and keep stirring to make sure the cheese melts into the sauce. Taste and adjust with salt if needed. About 1/4 of a teaspoon is all you need to give the dish it's added edge. Turn the heat off the sauce.
7. Prep the ramekins: add about a tbsp or two to the bottom of the mini casserole dishes. Layer the mushrooms and summer squash together, and then top each layer with a bit of sauce. Once filled, top the ramekin with sauce and place in a baking sheet or tray to catch any bubble overs. If you are using a casserole dish you can assemble similarly and top with the sauce.
8. Place them in the oven for 30 minutes or until bubbling and golden on top.

Spicy roasted bell pepper peanut sauce

This summer, I had a few opportunities to eat at Epiphany Cafe in downtown Tuscaloosa, AL. Epiphany sources and features Alabama grown produce on their menu (they also go local with their beers, meats, and dairy too). I like sampling the small plates, as they are generous portions to share. Now, I'm not a foodie critic, and I rarely write about restaurant meals, but this place just floors me each time. For someone that cooks a lot, I'm impressed when restaurant meals are something that I would not prepare at home. I want to be impressed. A quick glance at their menu, shows a description of foods and flavors - they really work it. 

Last week, they had a special 3-course menu for restaurant week: hay-smoked scallops served with coin-thin sliced cucumbers and drizzles of soy sauce, flash-fried and crunchy fish with radishes and slivers of dainty grassy chives served over potatoes, and to finish off the meal a rich (I would think brown sugar) pound cake featuring Chilton County peaches. All this for 30 bucks - no splitting though. I ate all of it. 

Each time I've gone, I try to sample new things. They tend to change the menu frequently. One dish that has stuck with me, and that I absolutely adored was a roasted okra with a red bell pepper coulis. If you love okra, you've got to try it roasted. 

After settling in and unpacking the kitchen, one visits the farmers' markets. There was a lot of good looking late summer produce around. Pretty purple and green okra pods, hot peppers, tomatoes, dimpled and firm summer squash, flowers, basil, eggplants. I knew I had to recreate that okra dish. I didn't want to view the menu to see what flavors I had loved so much, I wanted to go off memory, and what we had around. Turning the oven on in the middle of summer here was not the best idea, but so be it when you want roasted okra.  

I made a roasted bell pepper sauce/chutney, and served it over just roasted okra, and topped it with some fresh basil. I served mine alongside some couscous, which proved a bit boring, but was a key sauce soaker-upper. This is a delicious dish. Choose young fresh okra. If the okra is too mature, the seeds will be an unpleasant crunch, and the skins can get too tough and fibrous. Young pods should be 3-4" in length or smaller. 

Spicy roasted bell pepper peanut sauce served with roasted okra and couscous

Serves: 4, or 2 hungry people; recipe inspired from Epiphany Cafe, Tuscaloosa, AL

Ingredients:

1-2 red bell peppers 

1-2 hot peppers, or jalapeños 

2 cloves garlic

2-3 tbsp olive oil

1-2 tbsp water

2-3 tbsp parsley, cut off stems

juice of half a lime

1 tbsp soy sauce

large handful roasted peanuts

Roasted okra:

1-2 lbs okra (count 1/2 pound per person)

olive oil

Couscous:

1 cup couscous

1 cup boiling water

Directions:

Turn the broiler on high, and lay out a few red bell peppers and hot peppers on a pan. Broil them until they are nicely charred. Rotating every few minutes until the skins look blistered. Once they are done, set in a heat-proof bowl and cover with a plate. You can set them in the fridge to speed up cooling down time. Boil 1 cup water for the couscous. When the water boils, add the 1 cup dry couscous, stir, and turn off the heat. You can leave the sauce pan with the couscous on the same burner. I think it helps it dry out more quickly. Now, the okra.  

In the same pan, lay out freshly washed okra. Drizzle with olive oil, toss to cover evenly, and roast in the oven at 375º F/ 190º C for about 25 minutes or until baked. Now, the sauce.

In a blender, add roughly chopped parsley, garlic cloves, olive oil, water, the juice of half a lime, 1 tbsp soy sauce, and roasted peanuts. Make sure the bottom of the blender has about 1/2 inch of liquid or more. Blend on low setting, incorporating all the ingredients. Depending on your blender, you might need to scrape the sides of the blender down to incorporate any fly aways. Now, the peppers.

Once the peppers are cool enough to handle, remove the waxy papery skins, and discard the membranes and seeds. Use plastic gloves (or 2 sandwich plastic zip locks) to prep the hot peppers. Once, I rubbed my eye after ignoring the "use rubber gloves" and it was painful enough that now I try and protect my hands from the capsaicin found in peppers. Add the peppers to the blender. Blend until incorporated. Set aside until ready to use. 

Turn out the roasted okra in a nice serving dish. Spoon some of the spicy roasted bell pepper peanut sauce on top, garnish with basil leaves, and serve alongside the couscous. Voilá, lekkere eten! Een echt super lekkere hoofdgerechten die Jeroen Meus jaloers vindt zijn. 

Tofu mushroom étouffée!

Wow. I think there is something addictive in this dish. It tastes so good. I adapted it from the FatFree Vegan Kitchen. I made the roux the traditional (full disclosure: full-fat) way. I'm not a huge fan of eliminating all fats either because I think fats can carry flavors, have a role in absorbing nutrients, contribute to satiety, and good blood sugar regulation. However, her take was quite creative, and I would try it again now that I've made it and understand the steps more clearly. 


The flour used in étouffée is toasted until it becomes a rich toasty brown. Getting the red-brown sauce is done by toasting the flour in a pan. Stir it a lot. You don’t want it to burn. It will smell kind of like chestnuts. I like the addition of soy sauce from the original recipe. Overall, I think this dish actually has a lot going on in terms of prep work, cooking time, and stand-by time. Read the directions all the way through, and then begin. 





Tofu mushroom étouffée
Adapted from the Fatfree Vegan Kitchen's Vegan Sausage and Mushroom Etouffee
Yield: 4-6 servings


Ingredients:
1 cup long-grain rice, prepared according to package directions
2-3 tbsp peanut oil
1 package extra-firm tofu (300 g)
2 ribs celery, chopped, about roughly 
1 medium carrot, chopped into coins
1 small onion, chopped medium dice
1 small bell pepper, cut into 1" chunks
1 cup sliced buttom mushrooms, or about 8-10 sliced, wipe clean then slice
3 cloves garlic, sliced
1/2 cup parsley, divided


Roux
3 tbsp all-purpose flour
2 tbsp peanut oil
2 cups (16 oz) vegetable broth
1 tsp soy sauce
1 tsp red chili powder (or paprika if you want it less spicy)
1/4 tsp cayenne powder
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
1/2 tsp salt (optional)


Cook rice according to package directions. 


If you use a high-qualify pressed tofu (like one from an Asian grocer) you won't really have to press much water out of it. Slice up the tofu into squares, or cubes, really however you want to serve it. Lay it out on a plate and lightly sprinkle with salt. After a few minutes dab the tofu squares with a cloth to pick up the water. Flip and repeat.


Heat up a cast iron pan over medium heat. Pour in 3 tbsp of peanut oil and heat up. When ready add the tofu to the pan, laying out in a single layer and being careful not to overcrowd the pan. Cook on each side until golden-brown, about 14-20 minutes. Remove the tofu, replacing it with the other uncooked ones until all of them have been cooked.


To the same cast iron pan add in the onions and cook until just beginning to get golden brown. There should be enough oil leftover that you won't need to add any new oil. Add in celery, followed by carrots, and bell peppers. Continue to cook about 5 minutes. Add in mushrooms and stir everything carefully so the uncooked mushrooms get distributed evenly.


While you are waiting for the mushrooms to cook down, add 3 tbsp of flour to a new wide skillet or a medium saucepan. Just use a pan that you can make sure and see that the flour is changing. Cook it over medium heat. It won't turn when you're staring at it, but the second you forget about it for longer than 2 minutes, that's when it goes from white to burned. Pay attention and stir it with a whisk once a minute. Give the pan a few good shakes like you're on a cooking show. It will go from white, to golden, to still golden, to still golden, to tan, to brown and toasted. Once done remove the pan from the heat, and if you want remove the flour to a bowl until ready to use.


Stir the veggies too and now add the garlic and parsley. See what I mean about a lot of stuff going on? It's ok though because you got your rice cooking, you got the veggies done, you got the tofu on the side and ready to go.


Now get your broth ready. Once it's ready stir in about a tsp or small dash soy sauce or Bragg's. In the same pan that you used for the flour, add 2 tbsp of peanut oil and heat up over medium-high heat. Once hot add in toasted flour and whisk until it becomes like a nice chunky paste almost like miso. Gradually pour the broth mixture over whisking the mixture the whole time. It should look like a lovely brownish red sauce. Stir it continuously for 10 minutes or until it starts to thicken. Add the spices and remaining parsley. Continue stirring.


Once it reaches desired thickness, it should be thick without being too thick like a gravy, but thicker than a sauce. It should easily coat, or smother, the veggies. In whatever pan is bigger, pour the sauce in the veggies, or the veggies in the sauce. Remember to add the tofu to the veggies, I like keeping them separate because the tofu stays chewy much longer. Stir together and heat through.


Serve over rice. I like to add the rice into custard cups and turn them out onto a plate for a nice presentation. This dish is really delicious. I love popping open a beer and cranking up the music because it's much harder to leave any of this unattended. Maybe it'll end up as one of your favorites?


Beer pairing: a lemony saison, such as Saison Dupont, or a citrusy light hopped IPA. 

Baked potatoes with lemon, feta, and herbs

Before the holiday break, the hubs and I were invited over for a Christmas party. We ate baked trout that was steamed in foil packets. The seasonings were simple: bay leaves, lemon slices, delicate garlic slices, and olive oil. It was divine. I try not to be judgmental with my vegetarian ways but hot damn that fish was unlike anything that could ever be recreated in the plant kingdom. So sometimes I cheat, but my vegetarian self always wins. I had to recreate those flavors. My idle time is not spent being bored. I got to work.

I use new potatoes, garlic, shallots, lots of fresh chopped parsley, lemon, capers, red kidney beans, generous pours of olive oil and capers. I carefully arrange everything in small cute foil pouches, and then away they go into the oven coming back steaming an hour later. 

Oh heaven. This is vegetarian comfort food. Just in time for Valentine's Day too. I'll cook you this meal if you can come up with a prettier name than what I named it =-). Yes. They are not really cute, the foil gives them a rather industrial appearance, but trust me these are delicious.


Unwrapped baked potatoes








I really wanted to make these last two images an animated gif. I resisted.

Baked potatoes with lemon, feta, and herbs

Serves: 4

Ingredients:

1 packet of aluminum foil, or enough for 4 10" by 10" squares

4-6 small-medium new potatoes, peeled and sliced into 1/2" rounds

scant 1 cup fresh chopped parsley, can sub chopped dill
1/3 cup chopped shallots

2 cloves garlic, chopped fine

1 lemon sliced (enough for 1-2 slices in each pouch)

4 bay leaves

1-2 tsp capers (do not rinse them)

1/2 cup feta cheese 

1-2 cups cooked kidney beans (canned beans are fine)

olive oil

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 º F; arrange everything on a plate, and then lay out foil squares (10" by 10"). 

2. The order in which the ingredients go don't really matter, although it's probably easiest to start with the potatoes. Pour a bit of olive oil onto the middle of the foil. Place a bay leaf on top and then place about 6 slices of potatoes on top. Top with parsley, shallots, capers, garlic and lemon slices. Arrange feta cheese and beans on top. Pour a generous glug of olive oil over the top, crack some fresh black pepper on top, and then fold into pouches like folding an envelope.

Repeat with the ingredients to make 4 pouches. Arrange on a baking sheet and bake in the oven for an hour or less. Serve with some warm crusty bread to soak up the juices. 

Royal tofu with king oyster mushrooms

I vegetarianized this recipe from royal chicken cooked in yogurt from Madhur Jaffrey's Quick and Easy Indian Cooking to royal tofu with king oyster mushrooms (royal theme, get it!). If the yogurt is simmered down, or cooked too long, it will separate. Lower fat yogurts separate a bit more than full fat yogurt. Add the yogurt sauce at the very end, almost as a finishing touch. Give it a quick stir to heat up, then turn the heat off and serve immediately. Serve with some red lentil dhal, rice, and papads. Lekker!

If you use chicken instead of tofu, it can be prepared almost the exact same way; cook the chicken first, and follow the directions here. Although I guarantee that prepping tofu is cleaner, and has much less of an ick factor when cutting and managing. Ew. Raw uncooked meats are *so* gross.

I'm following an online photography class that the hubs showed me from Reddit; I got a new camera, and I'm learning how to use it and become familiar with it. I know some of these pictures on the past few posts have been blurry, but you wouldn't believe me if I told you that I took over 107 images (of mushrooms! of this dish! insanity! of brownies!) and they all managed to be blurry. Boohoo. So, I'm learning.

The full album of the new First Aid Kit is now on the free version of Spotify. See I give you music recs, beer drinking recs (with this dish a cold, crisp, and bland pils - Stella - would be good), and good recipes.

Royal tofu with king oyster mushrooms
Serves: 4

Ingredients:
1 package extra-firm tofu, drained and pressed.
2 tbsp peanut oil for pan frying tofu
4 king oyster mushrooms quartered, or 2 cups regular white button mushrooms, sliced
(Note: measure out whole mushrooms then slice)
1/2 tsp mustard seeds
1/4 cup red onion slices, plus about ¼ cup more finely diced onion for garnish
1 bay leaf
4 whole cardamom pods (remove, when you serve)
2 cinnamon sticks (or ½ tsp cinnamon)
few cloves
¼ cup raisins
2 tbsp slivered almonds

For yogurt sauce:
1 cup yogurt
1 tbsp chopped ginger
2 cloves garlic slivered
1 tsp coriander
1 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1/2 cup chopped cilantro and chopped green onions
salt to taste

Directions:

1. Press the tofu and set aside. Meanwhile add about ½ tbsp of oil to a cast iron pan or non-stick skillet (medium-high heat) and saute the mushrooms. Remove from the pan once done.
2. Make the yogurt sauce by combining the yogurt with ginger, garlic, coriander, cumin, cayenne powder, cilantro, and green onions. Adjust for salt and spices.
3. Add enough peanut oil (2 tbsp or less) to the cast iron or non-stick pan and heat over medium-high. Cut the tofu into cubes, and lightly salt. Once the pan is hot, add the tofu to the pan being careful not to crowd the pan. Don’t touch the tofu for at least 5-7 minutes. Let it sit there until it begins to get golden on the brown. Even then, try not to touch it. Give the pan a few shakes, once the tofu becomes unstuck, it’s ready to flip. Be patient. Continue adding tofu to the pan, and cooking it the same way. You’ll end up with perfect pan-fried golden tofu. Remove from pan once done.
4. To the same pan, add in mustard seeds. They should pop fast. Then add in onion slices, bay leaf, a few cloves, whole cardamom pods, and cinnamon sticks.
5. Toss in a handful of raisins and almonds. Once the raisins begin to plump (it should be very fast), add in tofu and mushrooms, and follow it up with the yogurt sauce. Stir it around enough to heat everything through, then turn off and serve immediately. Garnish with extra cilantro and finely diced onion.

Peanutty noodles

I was trying to make pad thai tonight when I realized I was completely out of tamarind paste. Since my only options for obtaining this crucial ingredient are the ethnic stores in town (which all are closed after 6 pm) I came up with this erroneous pad-thai inspired noodle dish. S and K, this recipe is largely from you guys, since you shared a similar recipe with me a few years back.

Sauteed tofu and these distelzwam mushrooms lend a meaty bite; this dish is 75% veggies and 25% noodles. Distelzwam are king trumpet mushrooms found in the oyster family of mushrooms. They are the largest types of oyster mushrooms. I bought them from the Mushroom Guy at the Heverlee market. This dish tastes like stir fried veggies in a peanut-sauce all mixed up with noodles, and served piping hot. While not authentic, it certainly made it on our list of faves.

Press the tofu first. Then cut up all the veggies, it should take you about 20-30 minutes depending on how fast you can cut up everything. Have all the veggies cut up before you get started. This pairs excellently with a cold spicy saison (such as St. Feuillien Saison).

Peanutty noodles
Ingredients: listed in order of use
Serves: 4
1 package tofu, drained and pressed
liberal amounts of peanut oil (I probably used about ¼ cup total).
3 distelzwam mushrooms quartered, or 1 cup whole button mushrooms, quartered
1 red bell pepper, cut into strips
1 cup sugar snaps or snow peas, kept whole
1 cup vegetable broth
1 clove garlic, chopped
1 tbsp fresh ginger, chopped
½ cup peanut butter, natural style - don't use sweetened pb!
3 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp or more rice wine vinegar
1 tbsp toasted sesame seeds
red chili flakes to taste (1 tsp for spicy; 1/2 tsp for medium; 1/4 tsp for mild)
½ cup red onion, sliced fine
3 cups shredded napa or savoy cabbage, chopped fine
1 large bunch of green onions chopped (enough for about ½ cup, be liberal they melt into the dish)
8 oz rice noodles, cooked according to package directions.
cilantro for garnish

Directions:
Have all the stir-fry ingredients ready. I managed to use 4 burners, with my main saute pan ready for the veggies, a (new!) cast iron pan for the tofu, a large pot for the rice noodles, and a medium saucepan for the sauce. Stir-fry ingredients: red bell peppers, sugar snap peas, red onion slices, mushrooms, cabbage, green onions, and tofu.
Sauce ingredients: garlic, ginger, vegetable broth, peanut butter, soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, toasted sesame seeds, red chili flakes, and liberal amounts of fresh green onions (to taste).

1. Heat up 2 tbsp of peanut oil in the cast iron over medium-high heat. Once hot add in tofu making sure to not crowd the pan. Don’t touch them for at least 5 minutes. They will start to become golden on the bottom. Even then, don’t touch. Just pick up the pan, give it a whirl to move the oil around, and set down to allow the tofu to cook.
2. In your saute pan (medium high heat) or wok (high heat). Add in about 1 to 2 tsps of peanut oil, once hot add in the mushroom and stir fry until they look seared and golden. Remove.
3. Add in peppers and stir fry until they look seared and golden. Add in sugar snaps. The sugar snaps will brighten, once they brighten remove everything. Remove them from the pan and shut the heat off.
4. Check the tofu, begin to flip them over when golden brown and crisp on the bottom; remove cooked pieces, replacing them with new ones. The cast iron should ensure that the tofu pieces don’t stick. Having a really nice quality pressed tofu is the key. My Belgian friends always complain about tofu because the commercially available tofu sucks (Alpro I’m calling you out). It’s too wet and spongey. The Thai/Korean markets have excellent pressed tofu, slightly tangy, and so perfectly pressed it looks like paneer. Remove the tofu to a plate once all the pieces are golden-brown. If there is any oil left in the pan, carefully pour it into the saute pan.
5. Start heating up the water for the rice noodles.
6. In the medium saucepan, add the veggie broth, ginger, garlic, peanut butter, soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, red chili flakes, toasted sesame seeds, and chives. Cook over medium heat stirring occasionally until the sauce thickens (should take 10-12 minutes).
7. Add rice noodles to the large pot of boiling water. Boil for about 2 minutes and shut the heat off. Add a tsp of oil to the water and let the noodles soften up; the oil should keep them from sticking.
8. Add oil to the saute pan or wok, if needed and turn the heat back on. Once hot, add the red onions and stir them around until they begin to wilt and look cooked, add in green onions and cabbage. Stir everything together for about 4-5 minutes. Add in the red bell peppers, snow peas, and mushrooms (to heat them back up).
9. Drain the rice noodles into a colander, and add them into the saute pan along with the sauce. Mix together carefully by folding the sauce through the noodles (this will also reduce the amount of splatters on your arms).
10. Garnish with cilantro and serve immediately.

Ubiquitous Lentils

Ubiquitous spicy lentils

I make this dish when I remember to cook lentils, because the recipe makes a lot of lentils, and the dish can go in everything. These ubiquitous lentils were used to top a salad, as a side dish to enchiladas, they were stuffed inside calzones, and were consumed after Friday happy hour. I've been cooking up plain lentils and beans lately to have on hand to add to many other dishes. Pre-cooked plain beans and lentils can be added to soups, pastas, salads, top pizzas, thrown into burritos or quesadillas, or put on toast. Canned varieties are a fine substitute, but home-cooking them is easier and cheaper. I must have been thinking about Herbivoracious's Mexican cowboy beans when I made this, so I'm dedicating these lentils to that delicious blog.

I just got done reading Mark Bittman's essay Cooking Solves Everything: How Time in the Kitchen Can Save Your Health, Your Budget, and Even the Planet. If your familiar with Bittman, you'll know he writes about food and cooking with a real food real ingredients mentality. As a cook, it was inspirational and reminded me how important it is to share cooking, in whatever fashion, with others because home-cooked meals made from largely unprocessed foods are rare. If you cook simple healthy foods on a daily basis you have the ability to impact behaviors of others around you because cooking and feeding people involves people to react to what you are putting in front of them whether it tastes good or bad.

Cooking and sharing meals changes the perceptions of the how and what of cooking meals. Cooking impacts health because by cooking on a daily basis you have the ability to cook healthy foods and serve yourself normal portions of food, and avoid prepared foods that derive the majority of their flavor from salt (either as sodium or MSG), fat, sugar, and other flavor enhancers. These foods, the bulk of which are highly processed, or restaurant and fast foods, are bad for health. Bad. Bad. Bad.

Cooking, while not as obvious as it seems, supports local food economies. Bittman argues that cooks, that cook a lot get selective about ingredients, and are tuned into the cost of the food they are buying; they purchase seasonally, not because they are dedicated locavores, or trendy foodies, but because cooks purchase and select the foods they cook with. Most grocery stores, while they stock huge varieties of fresh fruits and vegetables, run the best deals on seasonal produce. The best part about this, is that it's usually right in front of you as you go into any grocery store.

I have been following the Food Day events that have been going around nationally. My friend, Alyse, helped organize the NC Food Day where they organized over 1060 lbs of fresh fruits and veg for needy families. The Food Day campaign aims to raise awareness and action on local foods policies to support local food economies, promote sustainable agriculture, protect the environment by exposing big agribusiness marketing and manufacturing, and improve nutrition and chronic disease knowledge. It fits closely with the Bittman's essay because cooking is a one-step action to supporting better health and stronger food economies.

Ubiquitous Lentils

Ingredients:

olive or peanut oil for sauteing

1 onion, chopped

2-3 cloves garlic, minced

a tad bit of beer to reduce (optional)

2 tomatoes, chopped, or diced plain canned tomatoes

salt to taste

1 chipotle pepper, chopped

1 tsp herbs (optional, such as oregano or thyme)

1 tbsp cumin

2-3 cups cooked lentils, more or less, or 2 cans of lentils, rinsed and drained.

water to bring everything together, or broth

Fresh squeeze of lime

Directions:

1. In a wide and deep saute pan, cook onions and garlic together in olive oil over medium-high heat. After they start looking golden, reduce them a bit with a splash or two of beer. You can use any variety you like. You don't have beer? No worries, just skip. Cooking and quaffing a beer are side by side activities in my book. I tend to drink a lot of Belgian strong golden ales (such as Duvel), so I used a few splashes just to see what it would taste like, it was good.

2. It will sound fancy and smell good. Stir in the tomatoes, salt, chopped chipotle peppers, herbs and cumin. Stir it all around, and then add the cooked lentils.

3. Add in the broth or water and cook until combined and reduced down a bit. Should take about 20 minutes, or less. Squeeze with lime and serve. Can store up to a week in the fridge.  

5-bean chili with Leffe brown beer and chipotle peppers

I try to cook beans from scratch because I like that they aren't too processed, but I use canned beans too. To make it easier to use dried beans, I'll share how I normally prep them. I either soak the beans, in a huge bowl filled with lots of water, first thing in the morning, or I soak them overnight. If you soak them in the morning, you can cook the beans when you prep dinner; if you soak overnight, you can cook them first thing in the morning. They can cook, mostly ignored, in a large soup stockpot, or pressure cooker, or crock-pot (see this post on cooking beans and lentils). Once done cooking, you can store the cooled beans and broth in the fridge until ready to use. If you start doing this 2 days per week, you'll have lots of healthy beans to throw into random dishes. For example, stirring in a cup of mixed beans into a pasta dish, topping a salad, filling a burrito with them, or beans on toast. Or perhaps some spicy chili for a cool fall day?

I've used the Belgian Leffe brown beer for this because it has a balanced subtle sweetness, and I like the malty notes it left in the chili. Use any brown or amber beers (or really any beer you feel like dumping into a soup pot) with a nice body and aroma. Plus it's always cool to cook with beer. 

5-bean chili with Leffe brown beer and chipotle peppers

Ingredients: listed in order of use

Yield: 4 servings, about 1 and 1/2 cups

1 and 1/4 cup dried beans, (any mixture of dried black beans, chickpeas, kidney beans, pinto beans, white beans) soaked and cooked; Canned beans are totally fine too. Use 2 or 3, 14 oz cans of different canned beans.

1 tsp olive oil

1 red onion

1 bay leaf

2 cloves garlic, chopped

1 cup Leffe dark beer, slightly more if foamy at first (let it reduce by half), 

1 cup chopped green bell pepper

2 Tbsp chili powder (recipe below)

1 small canned chipotle pepper, about 1 tbsp chopped pepper, add more for extra heat

remainder of beer

1 cup canned diced tomatoes

1 cup corn, frozen or canned

1 tbsp fresh lime juice

cilantro to garnish

1/2 tsp salt (to taste if not enough)

yogurt and shredded cheese (optional for garnish)

Chili powder:

1 T of smoked paprika

1 T cumin

1 T oregano (or other mixed herbs such as thyme, mint,)

1/8 tsp cayenne powder

1/4 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp salt

This is a variation that can be adjusted to your taste and preference. The smoked paprika is very delicious in this dish. I'd recommend adding a tsp to the chili just before serving. Mix all the spices together in a small bowl and set aside until ready to use.

Directions:

1. Saute onions and garlic in the olive oil. Once the onions turn a bit golden, add in 1 cup or more of the beer. It will foam and settle down, releasing a delicious smell. Let it reduce by half, then add in the green bell peppers.
2. Add in 2 T of the spice mixture and the chipotle peppers (a chopped chipotle pepper should be about 2 tbsp).
3. Add the cooked beans to the pot along with the about 1 cup of the bean broth. If using canned beans, rinse and drain them (it removes the salty brine taste), and use 1 cup water instead. Pour the rest of the beer into the chili, along with 1 cup of chopped tomatoes. Stir to combine, turn up heat and simmer for 30 minutes. Before serving add in 1 cup of canned corn (if using frozen corn add it in 10 minutes before the chili is done). Stir in rest of beer and 1tbsp of lime juice.

Top with a dollop of plain yogurt, shredded cheese and garlic bread.

Butternut squash and pear soup

This is an excellent soup, I often heat some up for breakfast in the morning with a slice of toast. I make this soup as soon as butternut squash hits the markets. No blender, no problem. Just mash the contents with a potato masher in the roasting pan and add them in. It makes a chunky soup, but soup is soup. Since the main ingredients are roasted first then made into soup, this makes an excellent soup to make on the weekends, or if you have some free time at home. The prep is all in cutting the squash, but most of the time is spent idly.

Butternut squash and pear soup

Yield: 4-6 servings, 1 or 1 and 1/2 cups each.

Ingredients:

1 butternut squash, chopped in half and seeds removed, leave the peel on.

3-4 pears, peeled and cut in halves, seeds removed

large handful fresh thyme, washed and left whole

4 garlic cloves, unpeeled and left whole

olive oil as needed

coarse salt

1 red onion chopped fine

1/4 cup white wine

2 cups vegetable broth, or water

1/2 cup milk (soymilk or cream is fine too)

salt as needed

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 400º F or 200º C. Wash and scrub the squash and pears. For cutting the butternut squash, leave them unpeeled. I like to lay the squash down and cut it in half along the shortest width, the middle of the squash. Then take each side, place them cut side down on a cutting board so they don't slip, and cut them in half; the top half into two halves, and the bottom into two halves exposing the seeds in the middle. Scoop out the seeds and save them. You can roast them (see note at end of post). For the pears, peel them, cut them in half and remove the seeds and stem.

1. Wash the thyme and leave it whole.
2. Peel the garlic cloves and leave them whole. You can give them a quick smash if you want.
3. Pour about 1 and 1/2 teaspoons of olive oil in a roasting pan. Place the pear halves, butternut squash halves (the fleshy part should be touching the bottom of the pan), garlic cloves, and thyme in a roasting pan. Pour about 1-2 teaspoons of additional olive oil on top and sprinkle with coarse salt.
4. Roast in the oven for 30 minutes to an hour. The longer roasting time will help the juices caramelize, the squash is done when golden brown on top and is easily pierced with a fork or knife. Let cool on countertop.
5. When the squash is cool enough to handle, peel the skin off. It should come off very easily. Remove the thyme from the stems. Leave everything in the pan.
6. In a medium size soup stockpot, heat up about 1 tsp of olive oil. Add in the chopped red onions and cook until nice and golden. Add in wine and let reduce. Add the squash, thyme, pears, garlic and all the roasting juices.
7. Add in vegetable broth and bring to a simmer. If you have an immersion blender, turn down the heat and gradually blend everything together. Alternatively, you can place half the contents in a blender (allow space in the cover for steam to escape, and repeat as necessary), and blend together. Returning the blended soup to the pot. Once it reaches a creamy silky consistency, stir in the milk or cream, and heat up.

Note: When the squash is done roasting, you can lay out the washed butternut squash seeds on a baking tray and roast them on low heat. I just add a tad bit of oil and a sprinkling of salt. They take about 20-25 minutes at 200º F.

Easy refrigerator pickles

Khavanu turns 3 today. I started blogging (I still find that word awkward) as a way to share recipes and  store my favorite recipes online. I didn't think I'd stick with it. It has grown into something I really enjoy doing. Some outcomes I'm generally happy about are that my photography skills have improved, I've grown as a cook, and I've been able to see how progress has been made in the garden. After moving to Belgium a year and a half ago, I began including travel posts. However, my writing is still awful! Isn't it?

My goals, since this is a kitchen sink of ideas, are:

- to try out more regional Belgian (or other) foods in the upcoming posts and cook more foods with beer.

- Write better, clearer instructions from recipes that have been tested at least three times.

- Challenge myself to write more nutrition public health posts.

In keeping with my goals, and honoring my very first dorky post, here is my tried and true version of refrigerator pickles (which I've been using and adapting from Alton Brown's Good Eats!). I've made these pickles dozens of times. The cucumbers came from my garden and are a mixture of bush cucumbers and lemon cucumbers.

Easy refrigerator pickles

Yield: 3 jars, 8 oz each

Ingredients, listed in order of use

Sterilized jars and lids, such as 3 8 oz ball jars, or a mixture of other clean glass jars and lids

4-6 small-medium cucumbers

multiple cloves garlic (1 smashed clove for each jar)

1 onion, sliced in rings or half-rings

1 cup water

1 cup cider vinegar

1/2 cup white wine vinegar (or champagne vinegar if you can find it)

1/2 cup sugar

2 tbsp plus 2 tsp kosher salt

1 tsp mustard seeds

1 tsp coriander seeds

1/4 tsp turmeric

1 tsp pickling spice (optional)

Directions:

1. With all clean utensils prep the cucumbers by slicing into 1/4" slices or prep them as spears. Place 1 smashed garlic clove in each jar. Fill with cucumbers and onions, and set aside.
2. In a non-reactive medium sauce-pan combine water, cider vinegar, white wine vinegar, sugar, and salt. Stir to combine. Add in mustard seeds, coriander seeds, turmeric and pickling spice and heat up over medium-high heat. Bring to a simmer and let it simmer for 4 minutes to wake up the spices.
3. Fill each jar with the pickling liquid, and let stand. Top the jars with any remaining liquid. Once cooled off, tighten the lids and place in the fridge.

The pickles should be ready in as little as 3 days, but a week is better for them to set. You can easily double the recipe if you have more pickles or jars. 

Lemongrass tofu with soy-sesame sauce and sticky rice

I made this dish for a friend that is interested in preparing more dishes with tofu. It's a simple stir-fry so if you don't have lemongrass or ginger just leave them out. The soy-sesame sauce is fast to prepare. Sticky rice absorbs the sauce much better than long-grain jasmine or basmati, but this could be served over noodles too.

My secret to successful golden pan-fried tofu is pressing extra-firm tofu for as long as possible, 30 minutes or longer. To get started, first press the tofu. Unwrap it from the package, drain the water and set the tofu in a colander or drainer (either over a bowl, or the sink so the water can drain out). Place a plate over the tofu and stack cans of beans or other heavy objects on top. The weight will help expel the water from the tofu. Next, begin cooking the rice, and then prep and cut up the veggies. If you are fast vegetable chopper, you can also use the time the tofu is pressing to make the soy-sesame sauce, or prep it while the tofu is cooking. Fresh lemongrass and ginger are added towards the very end of cooking time.

Other good stir-fry veggies include cabbage, bean sprouts, and even cherry tomatoes. Feel free to add or remove items to use up what you have.

Lemongrass tofu with soy-sesame sauce and sticky rice

Serves: 4

Ingredients (listed in order of use)

1 package tofu, pressed and drained, and then cubed into 1" chunks

2 cups sticky rice (sushi rice), prepared with 1.5 times as much water as rice, or according to package directions

2 tbsp peanut oil

1 package mushrooms, wiped clean and quartered

1 red bell pepper, in strips

1 cup snow peas

2, 4" stalks of fresh lemongrass or enough to equal about 1 tbsp chopped (see note)

1 and 1/2 tsp fresh ginger, chopped

Note: To prep the lemongrass, use a small pairing knife and cut the stalk in half length-wise. Remove the first or second layers, it'll reveal a purplish interior. Finely chop the lemongrass stocks starting from the root end. It will become tougher about 3" inches up from the root end. For the ginger, peel the skin away with a pairing knife or veg peeler, and finely chop.

For soy-sesame sauce:

3 tbsp soy sauce

1 tbsp rice-wine vinegar

1 tsp toasted sesame oil

1 tsp sesame seeds, toasted

3 spring onions chopped, chop the long part of the greens in 1" segments

1 clove garlic, minced fine

1/4 tsp or more red chili flakes

Directions:

1. Heat up a large stir-fry pan or wok over medium-low heat. Add in 1 tsp of sesame seeds and toast until the seeds become golden. Move them around the pan often, so they won't burn. Set aside.

2. Add 2 tbsp of peanut oil to the same pan and increase the heat to medium-high heat. Once hot, add in tofu chunks. Don't touch them or move them around. Let them sit for about 5-7 minutes until the bottom 1/4" of the tofu squares look like they are turning golden. The tofu will take 15-20 minutes to become lovely, golden, and crispy. Carefully, take a spatula and lift the tofu gently up. It's ready when it gives. The length of time will depend on your pan (non-stick vs iron). When the tofu is removed easily, flip it over so the other sides can cook.

3. While the tofu cooks, prepare the soy-sesame sauce. Add soy sauce, rice-wine vinegar, sesame oil to a bowl, and adjust for taste. Add in toasted sesame seeds, the white part of the spring onions, chopped garlic and red chili flakes. Stir everything together and set aside.

4. Remove the tofu from the pan and set it aside on a large plate. There should be enough oil (about 1 tsp) leftover in the pan, if not add in 1 tsp of peanut oil. Turn heat up to medium-high or high, and add in mushrooms. Cook 5-6 minutes stirring often, and then add in red peppers, cook 4 minutes, and then add in snow peas, and cook another 2-3 minutes, or until the snow peas turn bright green.

5. Once all the veggies are cooked, add the cooked tofu to the pan, add the ginger and lemongrass, and remaining spring onion greens to the pan. Combine and stir together for 1 minute.

6. Place rice in a bowl, cover the rice with about 1 cup of the stir-fry, and top everything with 1 and 1/2 tbsp of soy-sesame sauce.  

Seitan Tikka Masala

This dish is similar to the tofu tikka masala kebabs, but uses seitan instead. While it comes together very quickly, let the seitan marinade for at least 30 minutes. Use the time it's resting to prep the salads and papads. Serve the seitan tikka over a salad garnished with lemon wedges and papads. The seitan looks kind of funny, but has a chewy meaty taste. I would recommend trying it. 

Tikka marinade/sauce

Naked seitan (looks like brown sponge chunks without the sauce) 

Dressed up seitan 

For the marinade/sauce:

½" piece of ginger, chopped fine (optional)
2 cloves garlic, chopped fine
¼ tsp red chili powder
½ tsp coriander seeds and 1/4 tsp fenugreek seeds toasted and ground together (omit fenugreek if you can’t find it)
¼ tsp salt
1 tsp cumin
1 tbsp paprika (smoked paprika, if you have it)
3 tbsp yogurt (or heavy cream)

For the tikka:

1 package seitan rinsed and patted dry, cut into chunks

1 red bell pepper, cut into strips about 1" thick

1 green bell pepper, cut into strips about 1" thick

Olive oil or peanut oil for stir-frying

For the salad:

Any lettuce or salad mix greens will do. Can also serve with grated carrots, corn, tomatoes, onions, lettuce. Garnish with lemon wedges and papads.

Directions:

1. Mix all ingredients for the marinade, taste, and adjust seasonings if necessary. Add in seitan to the marinade sauce, coat well, and let marinade for at least 30 minutes.

When ready to cook:

2. Cook bell peppers in 1 tsp of oil (e.g. olive oil or peanut oil) over high heat until they are sauteed and cooked. Stir frequently. Once done, remove from pan. Should take 4-5 minutes.

3. Turn heat down to medium and add 1 tsp of oil to the pan. Add in marinaded seitan along with the tikka sauce. Cook on each side 3-4 minutes. The bottom of the pan will start to dry up and will stick.

4. Add the peppers back into the pan along with ¼ cup of water. Stir together. The sauce will thicken up in less than a minute. Remove from heat and serve immediately.

Bean and beet way-better-than meat balls

Bean beet balls on top of some pasta



Beets are lovely eh?



Prepping the beans and beets





These bean balls are made out of mashed kidney beans and a small shredded beet. They come together quickly needing minimal kitchen tools. Omit the beets if you don't have them, they aren't necessary, I just liked the idea of how the beets give them a nice color and nutritional boost. If using a food processor, process very lightly; a potato masher and 10 minutes is fine if you want to do it the lazy way. Just add ingredients one-by-one and mash in a large bowl. Chilling the filling allows it to set, but if pressed for time can be omitted. Be liberal with the spices - thyme, basil, marjoram, or any mixture can easily replace oregano. 

Yield: ~20 balls

Ingredients:

1-2 tbsp garlic chopped

about 1 and ½ cups cooked kidney beans, or 1, 14 oz can kidney beans rinsed and drained

½ tsp salt

½ tsp paprika

1 tsp oregano

pinch cayenne

1 egg, beaten

1 small beet shredded

¾ cup bread crumbs

¼ cup oats

1 tsp water

olive oil to fry

Directions:

1. Add chopped garlic and kidney beans to a bowl. Begin to mash together lightly add in shredded beet and continue to mash until the mixture begins to come together. This should take 5 minutes. Add in salt, paprika, oregano, and cayenne pepper. Continue to mash together. Stir in beaten egg and 1 tsp water and combine. The mixture will be sticky. Add in 2 tbsp of bread crumbs and oats and continue to mix together until the bean mixture can hold together well enough (without crumbling).
2. Place the bean mixture in the fridge for 10 minutes.
3. When done, roll the bean mixture into small balls. Place them on a tray or plate and allow to chill for 15 minutes.
4. When ready to cook, add 1-2 tbsp of olive oil to a wide non-stick skillet. Heat over medium heat until hot. Add in half the balls and cook until golden 5-7 minutes. Carefully turn balls over so that each side gets cooked. Remove cooked bean balls and add the second batch to the pan. You might need to add additional 1 tbsp of olive oil. The bean balls tend to soak up oil, so cook them on medium heat until golden 15-20 minutes total for all of them. I leave them in the pan on low-heat so they are warm when the rest of the meal is ready.
5. Serve on top of pasta or in anything.