guinnah

Last of the teenage years...

2008-07-21T18:29:00.000-07:00

Today is Ana's 19th birthday - one more year and she will no longer be a teenager. How the hell did that happen? I feel very lucky to be her mom :-)

It has been a busy few days. We only have our exchange student for another week or so. I'm really going to miss her - she has been a delightful addition to our family. We spent the entire day in San Francisco on Saturday - started at the Ferry Building Marketplace at 10 in the morning and didn't get home until 9:30 that night. Our student is from the Basque area so I thought it would be fun to have dinner at Iluna Basque in North Beach. It turned out to be an excellent place for vegetarian, gluten free dining! We had:

eggplant and fresh tomatoes with goat cheese
selection of Basque cheeses with membrillo
crisp shaved potatoes flash fried with herbs and vinegar
spanish tortilla with caramelized onions
roasted red bell pepper with mushrooms and manchego cheese (this was my favorite)
batter fried spanish white asparagus (the only non GF food we ordered)

We even got a picture with the executive chef and owner Mattin Nobilia

The low point of the evening was realizing I'd lost my ticket for the parking garage which was bad enough. But instead of just taking my $26 the guy had to see my driver's license, fill out a form, step out of the booth to write down my license plate, see my driver's license again while the line of cars built up behind me and so on. It was the third parking garage of the day and I'd kept track of five teenage girls without losing any of them so I guess it could have been worse! A great San Francisco day overall!

Battle Mushroom: Garlic Cream of Mushroom Soup

2008-07-16T10:10:00.000-07:00

This recipe began with a challenge from my husband - he'd been in the city and had stopped in at the Ferry Building Marketplace where he soon found himself at the Far West Fungi shop. He came home with a pound each of oyster and shiitake mushrooms which he ceremoniously handed to me and said "Battle Mushroom." I made a simple soup that we both loved - one that I've been wanting to recreate ever since. When I went to my favorite little market yesterday and saw oyster mushrooms for only $3.99 a pound I knew that despite the hot weather, it was time for Battle Mushroom II.

For this soup you will need:

1 pound oyster mushrooms, stems removed and coarsely chopped
1 pound crimini mushrooms, stems removed and coarsely chopped
6 heads garlic
32 oz vegetable broth
32 oz plain unsweetened soy milk
2 T. nutritional yeast
fresh thyme and rosemary
salt, pepper, balsamic vinegar

I based the soup on the garlic cream sauce from the Millenium cookbook. Start with six (yes, six!) heads of garlic and cut about an inch off the top. Place in a small baking dish and sprinkle with fresh thyme and rosemary, then add one cup vegetable broth.
Cover tightly with foil and bake in a 350 degree oven for 11/2 hours until soft and lightly browned, let cool.

In the meantime, toss the chopped mushrooms with some olive oil (or spray oil), salt, pepper and a few splashes of balsamic vinegar. Spread out on a lightly oiled jelly roll pan. You don't want anything too deep or the mushrooms will just steam, not roast. These will roast in a 450 degree oven for about 45 minutes (it's a good idea to stir them up once or twice). I have two ovens so I can braise the garlic and roast the mushrooms at the same time using different temperatures. If you have one oven you could probably meet in the middle (400 degrees) and do both at the same time.

Once the garlic has cooled and you can handle it, squeeze out all the softened garlic into a blender. Add as much soymilk as will fit plus the nutritional yeast. Blend until all the garlic is incorporated. Put this into a large pot and add the rest of the soy milk and the remaining 3 cups of vegetable broth. Heat this up and once the mushrooms are finished add about half of the mushrooms to the pot. I used my immersion blender to blend this together and then added in the rest of the mushrooms. If the people in your household aren't crazy about mushrooms, particularly their texture, you can blend all of it - or none of it. Once everything is added you will need to season with salt and pepper.

The garlic flavor is mellow and tastes like a soup made with cream and butter. I baked bread (again) and this time made individual rolls topped with gomasio (sesame seeds and sea salt). Hubby's reaction was "this is good, will you make it every day?" :-)

Tomato and Goat Cheese Polenta Tart

2008-07-15T11:49:00.000-07:00

It's been a busy few days with our exchange student. We had an additional student Friday through Sunday as her host family was busy with a huge swim meet so we offered to have her stay with us. On Friday night I cooked a big Persian dinner and had one of the other host families over for dinner. It was very impromptu and worked out much better than if we'd tried to plan such a thing!

I was in the kitchen all day yesterday - more gluten free baking using the same recipes as last week. Again, success - I really like this bread! I also made a couple of salads to go with dinner.

For dinner I wanted something Italian'ish (Monday nights = Italian) and something that would use up the ridiculous amount of food I've been buying ;-) I found this recipe on the Whole Foods website and decided to give it a spin. The tart was very good - I think next time I will merge it with another tomato tart I like to make with roasted tomatoes. The second baking time in this recipe really just warmed up the tomatoes and I like to have them a little more cooked. I put it under the broiler for a minute but all that did was blacken the sun-dried tomatoes...but still, it was quite tasty. The basil in our garden has not fared well during the recent heatwave coupled with our water rationing. So I omitted the basil and olive oil on top though I'm sure it would have been a welcome addition!
Tomato-Topped Polenta Tart

1 1/2 cups finely ground dry polenta (cornmeal)
2 cups cold water
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup grated Romano or Parmesan cheese
4 ounces soft goat cheese
1 pint sliced cherry tomatoes
1/4 cup thinly sliced sun-dried tomatoes packed in olive oil
1/4 cup loosely packed slivered fresh basil leaves
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

Preheat oven to 375°F. Oil a 10-inch tart pan with removable base with olive oil cooking spray and set aside.

Combine polenta with water in a sauce pan. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to a simmer, stirring constantly for 5 minutes. Stir in the grated cheese and continue to stir 3 to 5 minutes longer. Transfer polenta to prepared tart pan. Spread it evenly over bottom and up sides of pan. Bake until dry and crisp on edges, about 30 minutes.

Remove from oven and spread a thin layer of goat cheese over crust. Arrange cherry tomatoes and sun-dried tomatoes on top of the cheese. Return to oven for 5 to 10 minutes longer, until the cheese is softened and tomatoes are heated through. Before serving, remove the sides from the tart pan and sprinkle top with basil and a drizzle of olive oil.

From: www.wholefoodsmarket.com

Kashk-e bademjan

2008-07-09T18:14:00.000-07:00

Of all the Persian dishes I cook for friends, probably the most popular is kashk-e bademjan. It is the dish that can convert eggplant haters, if not into eggplant lovers, then at least into kashk-e bademjan lovers! We've had it many ways - swimming in oil with large pieces of eggplant (my least favorite) all the way to almost blended. Recently, Hallie and her boyfriend took on the challenge of cooking this for a class project. I provided oversight and entertainment (see below) but they did the work.

The recipe we make is large but it is intentional - it uses the entire jar of kashk which otherwise ends up going to waste.

Kashk-e Bademjan

4 large eggplants, peeled and sliced 1/3-1/2" thick
up to 1 1/2 cups water
2 1/2-3 T. tomato paste concentrate (from tube)
16 oz jar kashk
2 tsp salt
2 onion, very finely diced
8-10 garlic cloves, very finely chopped

Put the eggplant slices on a cookie sheet that is covered with foil and sprayed with cooking spray. Spray both sides of the eggplant and put it under the broiler and cook (turning over once the first side is browned) until it is well browned and soft - falling apart. As you finish a sheet of eggplant, place it into a pot on the stove.

Once all the eggplant is in the pot, add some water (about 1/2 cup). Cook over a low heat, adding a little water at a time until it gets incorporated. I like to break up the eggplant so that there are no huge pieces (a key element if you're using this to convert an eggplant hater). Add about 2 - 3 tablespoons tomato paste concentrate. You want this to be thick, not soupy, so don't add too much water.
Once the eggplant is thoroughly cooked and blended with the water and tomato paste it is time to add the kashk. You can find kashk at Middle East markets or online. It has a unique tartness to it that is difficult to replicate with any other product. I've made a vegan version of this recipe and posted it in the past here but kashk is important for an authentic taste.

Finally, the topping. Start browning the finely diced onion in a little bit of oil. Once it starts to brown add the garlic and keep stirring until everything is very dark and well browned. It's a bit of work to cut the onion small enough but entirely worth the effort. If you are bothered by all that chopping Hallie has come up with a good approach ;-)

Once everything is done spread the eggplant into a dish (we used two pie plates) and sprinkle with the onion and garlic. It is a tradition in our family (albeit a weird one) to put the onion/garlic combo on the eggplant in some kind of design - it is usually some kind of inside joke or holiday theme (e.g. a Christmas tree). Here's what they decided on

We serve this with lavosh or for a gluten free option, corn tortillas. I also make a very quick and easy gluten free flat bread that is good with this - I'll post it one of these days.

Peace.

Gluten free baking - Take Two

2008-07-07T20:53:00.000-07:00

Since my visit to Whole Foods rounded out my flour supply, I decided to try the same recipe I made yesterday but with the modifications suggested by Book of Yum. I made two loaves instead of rolls/hamburger buns this time. One plain and one with golden raisins and walnuts. This recipe is so, so good...I ate the raisin walnut bread warm from the oven with cream cheese. Swoon.

It's interesting to see the difference in the color between the two loaves. My range has two ovens - one gas and one electric. I normally only bake in the electric oven but in an effort to get things moving I used both ovens at the same time (I started at 450 for 10 minutes and then down to 375). The loaf from the electric oven was much darker. Both loaves were delicious and made me very optimistic about our ability to keep up a gluten free diet for hubby. I feel lucky that there are so many people out there who have done all the hard work on these recipes and I surely appreciate it :-)

Gluten free baking - Take One

2008-07-06T22:05:00.001-07:00

Yesterday was my first foray into the world of gluten free baking. My husband decided about a month ago that he would like to try a gluten free diet -we've managed to have a lot of good meals but have just avoided anything that required bread (though we did have some pretty good "panini" on waffles!). We now have an exchange student living with us for a month and last night was our first sit down dinner at home since she's been here. I was confident in serving gluten free pasta but wanted to have some kind of bread to go with our dinner. Even though I didn't have all the right flours I tried out this recipe from Book of Yum. I didn't have brown rice flour so used white rice flour - I also didn't have teff so wasn't able to try her modifications. I shaped them more like a hamburger bun (because I bought some Sunshine burgers to try out) but they didn't last long enough to try it with a burger. They were quite good! I split them in half and brushed them with melted garlic butter, sprinkled with parmesan and bit of salt and broiled them for garlic bread.

Tonight I took one of the rolls and sliced it thin, rubbed it with a garlic clove, brushed with olive oil and baked in a 450 degree oven until toasted and made crostini with olive tapenade and feta cheese. Again, we were both quite happy with the results. I went to Whole Foods and bought more flour so I'm looking forward to trying it with the modifications given by Sea.

I am thoroughly enjoying our exchange student. She is an absolute delight and best of all - she will eat anything (including tofu - tonight we had Kung Pao tofu). We took her to Berkeley today to see all that Telegraph Avenue has to offer. The girls had a great time and we saw plenty of interesting things;

And we were very curious as we drove behind this van out of the Berkeley Marina - CSI Berkeley!

Two fruit salsas

2008-07-05T16:22:00.001-07:00

We were invited to a 4th of July barbecue at a friend's house - they live on a cul de sac - it was like something out of a tv show. They set up tables in the street, everyone brought out their chairs and we sat around and ate and ate. They barbecued burgers, chicken and hot dogs - we had grilled portobello mushrooms. I used the rest of the dressing from the ginger salad we had recently to marinade the mushrooms and threw in some onion and fresh ginger. Yum. Since I've been on a produce buying binge recently I had a lot of food on hand and wanted to make something I could bring to share. I'd been reading over at Gluten Free Girl about watermelon and how people like to eat theirs. It reminded me of a recipe I'd seen in this cookbook I bought for dh as a joke (he loves nachos and for Christmas I got him a book called "Macho Nachos" - how could I resist?). So I dug it out and made a batch of watermelon ginger salsa. It looked exactly like pico de gallo so the taste was a bit of a surprise.

Watermelon Ginger Salsa
2 cups diced watermelon
1 cup fresh cilantro, diced
1/2 cup flat leaf parsely, diced
1 cup finely diced red onion
1 jalepeno pepper, seeds removed, finely diced
juice of 3 lemons
finely shredded fresh ginger, to taste (I used at least 3 T.)
salt and pepper to taste

The book called for powdered ginger but I had all this fresh ginger on hand and it made a huge difference. I tried the powdered ginger at first but could barely taste it.

Next up was a mango salsa. For this I used two finely diced manila mangoes (the yellow ones - they are the BEST). Some red onion, cilantro, jalapeno, lime, salt and pepper.

I found these organic veggie tortilla chips that were so good with the mango salsa. With the watermelon salsa I put out some blue corn tortilla chips (which, by the way, was the closest I got to any patriotic colors ;-)). The mango salsa was awesome on the mushrooms.

It was a nice relaxing evening - hanging with old friends and meeting some new people. The only thing marring the evening was waking up at 4 in the morning and realizing we hadn't remembered to feed my friend's dog or put him in the house in his crate! So I made a 4 am run to their house to hang out with Henry. He was fine - appreciated his food and then off to bed. No hard feelings. Such is the forgiving nature of dogs.

Siam Orchid Ginger Salad

2008-07-02T20:18:00.001-07:00

Okay...I know I just blogged about this salad a couple of days ago. But I made it again today and without the chaos of getting dinner on the table for company I was able to really appreciate it. This salad is so good it deserved to be singled out this time. The dried peas were a little tricky to track down - I eventually found something at Whole Foods that looked like it would work (and it was only peas, oil and salt instead of an impossibly long list of ingredients). I think avocado would taste great in this mix as well. This is something we will most definitely have again and again....
Ingredients

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 tablespoon sesame oil

1 tablespoon brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

2 tablespoons rice vinegar

1/2 cup fresh ginger, shredded

1/2 cup fresh lettuce, sliced into long, thin strips

1/4 cup carrot, sliced into matchsticks

1/4 cup red onion, sliced into thin strips

1/4 cup dried peas

2 tablespoons roasted coconut meat

1/2 cup roasted peanuts

2 tablespoons roasted cashews

1 tablespoon chopped shallot, fried

Sliced lime, for garnish

Preparation

To make the vinaigrette, add the
olive oil, sesame oil, and brown sugar
to a small bowl and whisk vigorously.
Add cautiously, to taste, a bit of salt,
pepper, garlic powder, and rice vinegar.
Set aside.

To present the salad, arrange remaining ingredients in individual piles, adjacent to one another, on a large plate. Drizzle vinaigrette over each to taste and toss together, making sure to incorporate every ingredient. Add lime garnish (to squeeze on the salad).

Serve immediately. Serves 2.

From Diablo Magazine April 2005

Birthday Girl

2008-07-02T08:31:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was Hallie's 17th birthday - hard to believe that this little one (taken the day she came home) , has now become this grown up girl...I think the smile is still the same!

Her birthday would usually mean a dinner request of Persian food, her ultimate comfort food. But, the times they are a changing and she asked if it was okay to go out to dinner instead. With her boyfriend. So off they went to one of the nicer restaurants in town which left me home to cook for the three of us who actually like Taco Tuesday! In my efforts to find gluten free recipes that the whole family will like I've been spending a lot of time perusing blogs and am completely smitten by Karina's Kitchen, aka The Gluten Free Goddess. The recipe I made the other night was so good I couldn't wait to try another.

Last night I made her Sweet Potato and Black Bean enchiladas - another winner. I had a couple cheats/modifications. I bought a jar of salsa verde from Trader Joe's and I had some frozen sweet potato fries and used those instead of fresh sweet potato. I took her suggestion of mixing in a little sour cream in the sauce before topping the enchiladas and used a sharp cheddar instead of monterey jack on top. These were so good and the mix of flavors was perfect. Unfortunately I'd been messing around with my camera the night before, screwed up some settings and the result was no pictures. I was able to fix it later!

Today we welcome a new addition to our household - for a month anyway. This afternoon I pick up our exchange student from Spain. We have been e-mailing with her and can't wait to meet her. For the sake of this blog I shall call her Ms. Potato - she knows why. :-)

Pra Ram Tofu, again!

2008-06-29T19:27:00.000-07:00

Last night we had friends over for dinner. Friends we hadn't seen in ages - the type of people you wish lived closer (they are a good hour away) so you could see them more often. Since we all liked the pra ram tofu the other night I decided to make that again. This time I used broccoli and bok choy and made a more complicated peanut sauce (from Nancie McDermott's Real Thai book).

To accompany the tofu I made a salad we first had at a nearby restaurant. The restaurant is called Siam Orchid and they have this Ginger Salad that is very popular. They serve it with all the elements separate but I tossed everything together right before serving it. I quadrupled the recipe - even though there were just four of us, I never know what teenagers will wander in and out of the house wanting food. So that meant 2 CUPS of ginger, shredded - yowza. This salad is not for the faint of heart but wow, the combination of flavors is great. Sadly, no pictures - too much of a rush to get everything onto the table.

I also made rice paper veggie rolls. I found a bag of organic broccoli slaw at Trader Joe's that made for an easy filling (no chopping!). I tossed the broccoli and carrot mix with a little bit of tamari, then put it in the rolls with strips of avocado, sliced green onion and cilantro. These were served with peanut sauce and sweet chili sauce.

They take a little time but they are easy to make and fun to eat!

Finally for dessert we were going to have this little concoction that I called Mango Splits. Slices of fresh mango with coconut sorbet topped with chocolate sauce and toasted coconut. But somehow we never got around to dessert. I think we will survive.

To go with the Thai theme of the night I bought some Singha and Phuket beer which gave us an opportunity for dh to try the gluten free beer I'd picked up for him. I was really surprised - it's not bad at all.

The night ended with two very good things - a soak in the hot tub and hubby and daughter cleaning the kitchen. Perfect!

Tostadas

2008-06-26T13:59:00.000-07:00

Normally this would be the perfect time of year for eating outside but the smoke in the air is thick and awful. Mind you, the actual fires are miles away but the whole Bay Area is just one giant haze. It's weird because looking outside it seems like it would be cold - it looks like any gray November day. But then you step outside and it is 85 degrees - the sun just can't break through.

For the most part, Tuesdays are still "Taco Tuesday" - not always tacos, but some kind of Mexican food. This week we had tostadas - I baked corn tortillas, lightly sprayed with oil on both sides, for about 15 minutes in a 375 degree oven until browned and crispy. Sometimes I turn them over halfway but I usually forget to do that and they come out just fine. I like a food that is forgiving in that way.

I made what I call "cheater's guacamole" - smashed avocado with some diced tomato, lime juice and juice from a jar of pickled jalapenos. When I'm making guacamole for a party I like to add onion, fresh jalapeno, etc. But this version works just fine. We layered on the beans, lettuce, some finely shredded cheddar, guac and salsa. And ate inside.

I hope this all clears up soon. It doesn't feel like summer at all. Add in the fact that we have water rationing in place and the landscaping looks a little sad - well it's all a bit depressing! But to keep it in perspective - I'm here safe and sound and all over the state there are people whose homes are in danger, firefighters whose lives are in danger and I remember that I should, as my dad likes to say- "quityerbellyachin."

Lazy, make that hazy, days of summer

2008-06-24T09:13:00.000-07:00

There are fires burning all over Northern California and the air outside is so smoky and gray it's hard to be outside. We had a fire up the street just two weeks ago so it makes me nervous when I smell all this smoke and hear a siren. We live right near a 6,000 acre regional park that is a great place to take the dogs off leash but it is just miles and miles of dry grass. So I keep my fingers crossed and hope for the best.

With my recent efforts to find gluten free recipes that everyone will like, I've been scouring the internet and food blogs to find ideas. Last night I made this pesto zucchini tomato gratin from Karina's Kitchen blog. My god it was fantastic.

The crumb topping made from waffles was perfect - you'd never guess if you didn't know. The combination of the zucchini, tomatoes and artichoke hearts was delicious and the whole thing went together quickly. This got thumbs up all around and is something I will definitely be making again.

Sweet and sour stir fry

2008-06-23T16:09:00.001-07:00

Last night started with ingredients very similar to those I used the other night for Pra Ram Tofu. I had on hand broccoli, red pepper and onion. I also had "veggie pork" from the Asian market. It's not a wheat gluten meat but instead made from mushroom and soy - still, I wouldn't claim it was gluten free because it had an unidentified starch and "vegetarian seasonings." But in an effort to use things on hand and because dh said he was fine with it - I used this in the stir fry. I didn't have much on hand for making a sauce so of course I hit the internet and found a recipe over at Karina's Kitchen for a simple sauce made from vegetable broth and pepper jelly. I thickened it a bit with some corn starch. It was exactly what I was looking for and went really well with the vegetables and mushroom meat substitute. I sprinkled some sesame seeds over the whole thing and served it on basmati rice.

It was a perfect evening for dining outside so that's what we did - the girls were off with their friends, so yet again we had a peek into the empty nest of the future.

Curried Chickpea Salad

2008-06-22T14:07:00.000-07:00

Today was a rare day where a) we all ate lunch and b) ate the same thing at the same time. Weekends can be so unpredictable and we sometimes eat on the run, or just eat little bits and pieces throughout the day. But today I was craving this salad that we'd had recently and I already had a trip planned to my favorite little produce store, so I made sure to pick up the items I'd need to make this.

I found the idea for this in Better Homes & Gardens magazine - they didn't have a recipe but more of a "try this combination" sort of thing. The mix of the sweet grapes with the curry and cayenne is fantastic and on a hot Sunday afternoon it was just the right kind of lunch.

Curried Chickpea Salad
3 cans garbanzo beans, rinsed and well drained
1 bunch green onions, sliced
1 large red bell pepper, diced
1 large carrot, finely shredded
1-2 cups red grapes, halved (I like putting a lot of grapes - put in whatever looks good to you!)

Dressing: plain fat-free yogurt, honey or agave nectar, salt, curry power and cayenne

I didn't measure the dressing - I probably used about 1 cup of yogurt, 1-2 tablespoons honey, a generous amount of curry and salt and cayenne to taste.

I think this one will be in heavy rotation this summer since everyone in the family likes it!

All around the mulberry bush

2008-06-22T10:49:00.000-07:00

Well, it's a mulberry tree actually...

We bought this tree a few years ago from a specialty nursery. My husband grew up in Iran and has fond memories of the mulberries they had there. Here in California there are mulberry trees everywhere but they aren't fruiting trees - just nice big shady trees. After tracking down the variety he wanted, he brought it home and it sat on the side of the house waiting to be planted. And sat. We went on vacation and it didn't get water. We finally planted it months later and it struggled but survived. Then we built our little guest house (affectionately dubbed "The Hut") and it had to be moved. But it proved itself to be the little tree that could - and it did. I was out in the yard yesterday and noticed that it now has berries and several of them are ripe! Our first berries! The first "harvest" was meager but delicious!

Black bean gyros

2008-06-20T12:39:00.000-07:00

I've definitely shifted the way I shop due to the ridiculous price of gas (I've been paying $4.75 a gallon and it is over $70 to fill my car!). I'm much more likely to try to make something out of what I have than run to the store for a specific item. So last night I had stuff to make a salad (baby spinach, fresh mozzarella, heirloom tomatoes and basil) and tried to come up with something to go with it. In the food processor I put:
half an onion
2 cloves of garlic
1 can of black beans, rinsed and drained
1/2 cup walnuts
1/4 cup chickpea flour
salt and cayenne

I dropped this by the spoonful into a frying pan sprayed with oil and flattened them out as thin as possible. I browned them on both sides and very carefully removed them from the pan. We had them on gluten free brown rice tortillas from Trader Joe's, sprinkled with Greek seasoning, fat free plain yogurt and fresh mint. So we decided they were now gyros.

Because I didn't really plan ahead in terms of how we would eat these I didn't season it any particular way. Next time I'll add the Greek seasoning to the mix and instead of plain yogurt make a tzatziki sauce. But they were good and met my two goals for the evening - gluten free and driving free.

Spicy Mushroom Tacos

2008-06-19T09:16:00.000-07:00

There has been a bit of a dietary evolution here in our household - the primary vegan (Hallie) decided she no longer wanted to be vegan, dh is trying to eat gluten free and Ana, well poor kid, she is still the meat eater in the family and that is the one diet I don't accommodate ;-)

So I'm trying to find gluten-free vegetarian meals that we all like. This, of course, is all subject to change.

Last night I experimented and made what I call spicy mushroom tacos. Basically just a soft taco using chopped mushrooms for the filling. I often make "sausage" this way for lasagna and decided to give it a try with Mexican seasonings. I removed the stems and cleaned two pounds of white mushrooms. Then finely chopped them by hand (the food processor is easier but it makes it too mushy). I added in a homemade taco seasoning mix (with some crushed red pepper, cumin, chili powder etc), then let it sit for a couple of hours while we went off to yoga. These are the mushrooms before cooking.

To cook the mushrooms I sprayed a large saute pan with cooking spray and added the mushrooms. It takes awhile for them to release their liquid - after that I kept cooking until they were well browned.

I'll be honest - when I started out making these they were just going to be mushroom tacos. But if you take a close look at the pictures you will see many, many red pepper flakes. Wow this mixture was HOT. Thus they became spicy mushroom tacos.

For the tacos we used soft corn tortillas and loaded them with mushrooms, white cheddar, chopped green leaf lettuce, homemade guacamole and tomatoes.

They were surprisingly good and luckily the heat of the mushrooms was tempered by the guacamole and lettuce. I think next time I'll tone down the heat a little ;-)

Vegetarian Dinners Around the World

2008-06-18T17:03:00.000-07:00

I mentioned way back in September(!) that I had donated Vegetarian Dinners Around the World at a school auction. I've been a bit behind on the dinners - luckily the highest bidders are good friends of ours or they would be demanding their money back!

The first dinner I made for them was a noodle salad with Asian coleslaw and baked vegetable eggrolls.

The noodle salad is from the Fields of Greens cookbook and is a favorite of ours:

Chinese Noodle Salad with Citrus and Spicy Peanuts

Spicy peanuts:

1 cup raw shelled peanuts

1/2 teaspoon oil (such as peanut, canola or vegetable)

1/4 teaspoon paprika

1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1/4 teaspoon salt

Marinade:

Grated peel of 1 orange

1/2 cup orange juice

2 1/2 tablespoons grated fresh ginger

3 tablespoons rice vinegar

3 tablespoons sherry vinegar

1/3 cup sesame oil

2 teaspoons sugar

1/4 cup light soy sauce

1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and minced

1/2-1 teaspoon hot chili oil

Salad:

1 (16-ounce) package thin Chinese noodles or vermicelli pasta

1 medium carrot, peeled and cut into thin matchsticks

2 ounces snow peas, strings removed, sliced into thin matchsticks (about 1/2 cup)

2 green onions, thinly sliced

1/2 cup thin matchsticks of daikon radish

3 tablespoons chopped cilantro

1. To prepare the spicy peanuts: Combine the peanuts, oil, paprika, cayenne and salt, stirring well to coat. Place in a small baking pan and toast in a preheated 350-degree oven 10-12 minutes, until the nuts are golden. Set aside.

2. To prepare the marinade: Combine the orange peel and j

uice, ginger, rice and sherry vinegars, sesame oil, sugar, soy sauce, jalapeno and chili oil.

3. To prepare the salad: Bring a large pan of water to the boil, add the noodles and time according to package directions. Drain well and transfer to a large bowl. Add the marinade and set aside while preparing the vegetables.

4. Bring a small pan of water to the boil; add the carrot and snow peas and time 30 seconds. Drain and rinse with cold water to stop the cooking. Pat dry and add to the noodles.

5. Add the green onions, radish and cilantro. Refrigerate if making the salad ahead. Remove from refrigeration 1 hour before serving. (Refrigeration can make the flavors less intense. Save a little of the marinade to add to the salad just before serving.) Stir in the peanuts just before serving.

The Asian Coleslaw is a recipe I've made many times and it is pretty flexible as far as what vegetables you add.

I don't remember how I made the eggrolls - I know the filling was chopped mushrooms with carrots and cabbage and other things and I baked them.

Lots of help I know. But they were really good and I'm sure just about any combination of chopped veggies would be fine - I did saute the veggies first. Baking them makes them a bit chewier than a fried egg roll but it's far less guilt!

I didn't get pictures of the other dinners I made. The second dinner was eggplant curry with basmati rice, spicy potato and pea samosas and raita salad of grapes and mint. The most recent dinner was spanakopita (from the Moosewood cookbook), avgolemono soup which I hadn't made in years (yes, I made it with eggs but not chicken stock), and a huge Greek salad. I still owe them a Persian dinner, Italian and Mexican. So more to come!

Pra Ram Tofu

2008-06-17T19:31:00.000-07:00

Tonight I'm home alone - Hallie is off at family camp with her boyfriend and his family, Ana is off to her boyfriend's house (there is a theme building here...). Dh (my boyfriend ;-)) is at a meeting. While foraging for something to make I found some leftover peanut sauce from the other night and a package of firm tofu. I don't have bok choy which I would normally put in pra ram tofu but I had a red bell pepper and used that instead (along with broccoli and red onion).

I always have rice so I got that going in the rice cooker (which we affectionately call Hello Kitty because of the silly little Twinkle Twinkle Little Star chime it makes).

First off the peanut sauce: equal parts light coconut milk, chunky peanut butter and vegetable broth (the batch I made the other night was 1 1/2 cups of each). Heat the coconut milk until it starts to boil, add in the peanut butter and get it mixed in then add the broth. Season with finely ground red pepper flakes, lime juice and salt. For this dish I thin the sauce with either water or additional broth. This is not a low fat sauce by any means but making a batch that size was enough for two different recipes.

For the tofu, slice it fairly thin and press it dry with paper towels. Put the pieces on a baking sheet sprayed with oil then spray top liberally with cooking spray and put it in a 450 degree oven for about 40 minutes. I checked it at 30 minutes to remove any thinner pieces that were getting too brown. Here is the tofu before and after the baking:

Next I steam some broccoli in a saute pan with a bit of water until just lightly cooked. Remove from the pan. Then increase the heat (pour out any remaining water if necessary) and saute a sliced red pepper and some red onion. Add the broccoli back in, the peanut sauce and the tofu. Serve over basmati rice and sprinkle with additional red pepper.

Yum! This is based on a dish we get at our favorite Thai restaurant. We like the home made version every bit as much as the restaurant version.

brushing off the cobwebs

2008-06-17T19:11:00.000-07:00

Well let's see - I made it back here before another year was up! So much has been going on. I last posted in September...in November we had a big birthday party for my parents - my mom was turning 80 and my dad 85. I did all the invitations and centerpieces and helped with the menu, etc. The party was a huge success!

Just two days after the party, ON my dad's 85th birthday, he had a massive stroke. Enough already! I'm happy to say he has recovered quite well - still some speech issues but not bad at all. They were able to come down here for a visit in May and even made it to a Giant's game.

So there has been a bit of stress and a lot of phone calls. We aren't going anywhere this summer so I'm hoping it will be a chance to regroup and energize. We shall see.

a year in review

2007-09-17T20:34:00.000-07:00

It has been a whole year since I posted - always at the back of my mind but never quite getting onto the screen. It was a busy, busy year and when push came to shove blogging was an indulgence I didn't have time for. I didn't read many blogs either - each day was a quick check of e-mail, a look at the news and then on my way. And so, I thought I'd do a year in review...

In the last year I've been to Mexico:

Twice!

The second trip we had FIVE teenage girls with us (counting ours...). People thought we were crazy but they were so fun:

I saw one daughter off to junior prom:

and the other to the senior ball:

I saw my daughter graduate from high school in June:

We saw lots of things that California has to offer -

Wine tasting in Sonoma with our best friends:

Hanging out in Santa Barbara:

And also got to see the opening game for my Ducks this year!

These are some of the highlights. Sadly, the most memorable happening of the year was the sudden passing of my older sister. She'd had a history of brain aneurysms and suffered a brain hemorrhage on July 25, and passed away two days later. It was a grueling two days in intensive care with many decisions to be made.

and in the midst of all these things - yes, there has been cooking! My cooking has changed a little to accommodate all the preferences in our family. I donated "Vegetarian Dinners Around the World" at a school auction (6 full dinners to be delivered every other month for a year) and that will be my next food post.

So there you have it - a quick look at the past year. I'll try to post more often :-)

Two Americans in Paris

2006-09-17T17:15:00.000-07:00

I'm still here! We'd just started getting settled into the rhythm of the school year when hubby and I took off for Paris to celebrate our 20th(!) wedding anniversary. This picture was taken at the Chateau de Versailles :

Pretty much every picture we took we had the same comment "we look old!" Especially compared to this wedding day photo :

We had a wonderfully relaxing time. It's hard to believe it's been 20 years! wow.

I had actually cooked some really good new recipes before we left but I ended up deleting the photos before uploading them. oops. I will have to take another stab at them. I will close with some dog photos instead :-) We are fortunate to live a very short walk away from a regional park that is over 5,000 acres - and allows dogs to be off leash. This is about 1/8 mile from my front door:

Bella and Renzo think it is their own personal space and can really tear up those hills:

Tired pooch - Bella:

Renzo:

Tomorrow I'm off to Berkeley Bowl to do a huge shopping trip. Then - back in the kitchen!

Caramelized fig tart with pecan crust

2006-08-27T15:40:00.000-07:00

I'm always up for a challenge (well, usually) so when Urban Vegan mentioned her tART contest I got to thinking of what I could make. I didn't want to go to the store so that limited my options. As luck would have it we have two extremely prolific fig trees so I started there. I found a recipe on epicurious.com that looked like it would be easy to veganize. I also happened to have all the other ingredients I'd need on hand.

I was in the middle of preparations when dh decided to take the dogs for a walk. Since he couldn't persuade one of the girls to go with him I told him I'd go along. So off we went - two people, two very happy dogs and one burner still on. Now, you'd think after the blackened tofu incident I would be a little more cautious. You may be thinking perhaps an assisted living facility might be in order... In any case - the girls were home and had the figs started burning they would have been able to handle it. As it was, we came home to some really deliciously caramelized figs - not burned at all. If the dogs had been up for a longer walk it might have had a less happy ending. I don't know that I'd do it that way again but it worked out this time.

The other thing I realized is that if you are making tART for a contest where photography is a big part of it choosing a recipe where the crust and filling are all shades of BROWN probably isn't the best strategy. As I always say, I am a work in progress.

Caramelized fig tart with pecan crust

Filling:
12 ounces Calimyrna figs, stemmed, chopped
1 cup water
6 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon chopped peeled fresh ginger
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon (packed) grated lemon peel

Crust:
Almond meal
6 oz pecans, toasted, cooled
heaping 1/2 cup sugar
scant 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
pinch salt
Energ-G egg replacer - 1 egg

3 oz. chocolate chips

For Filling:

Combine all ingredients in heavy medium saucepan. Stir over medium-high heat until sugar dissolves and mixture boils. Reduce heat to medium, cover and cook until figs are very tender, about 35 minutes. Uncover and simmer until liquid is absorbed and filling is thick, stirring occasionally, about 5 minutes (or if you take your dogs for a walk and forget the stove is on...30 minutes).

Transfer filling to processor. Using about 5 on/off turns, process just until mixture holds together. Transfer to small bowl; cool filling. (Can be prepared 3 days ahead. Cover and refrigerate.)

For Crust:

Preheat oven to 350°F. Place round tart pan with removable bottom onto waxed paper. Trace outline of pan bottom on paper; set paper aside. Line pan with heavy-duty foil. Grease foil; dust with almond meal. Combine pecans, sugar, ginger and salt in processor; finely grind nuts. Add egg replacer and process until moist clumps form. Using moistened fingertips, press 3/4 cup dough over bottom and up sides of prepared pan (crust will be thin). Bake crust until puffed and dry looking, about 14 minutes. Transfer pan to rack; press bottom of crust lightly to flatten. Cool crust completely. Maintain over temperature.

Stir 3 ounces chocolate in top double boiler set over simmering water until melted. Spread over bottom of crust. Spoon filling over chocolate.

Press remaining dough over traced circle on waxed paper, filling outline completely. Using paper as aid, turn dough circle over onto tart, aligning carefully; peel off paper. Pinch edge of crust and top dough together to seal.

Bake tart until top is golden and dry looking, about 28 minutes. Cool tart completely in pan on rack. (Can be prepared ahead. Wrap in foil and store 1 day at room temperature or refrigerate up to 5 days.) Push up pan bottom to release tart. Peel off foil from bottom.

We survived the first week of school!

2006-08-26T10:35:00.000-07:00

It was hard getting back into the groove but we all managed. The weather has been beautiful - cool in the mornings leading up to very warm afternoons, then cooling down again at night. Perfect!

I've always tried to take a first day of school picture - and one of these days I will gather them all together. I took one on Tuesday and then dug out this other one that was their first day of preschool - 13 years ago. It has really been just a blink of an eye, those 13 years...

I did a little cooking this week - made some taquitos with black beans and soy cheese that were baked in the oven - they fell apart a little bit but they tasted good! I also made a curried "chicken" salad. I used to make this back when we ate chicken and I think I made it once with tofu and didn't like it so much. I probably have better ways to prepare the tofu now so I should try that again - but I had a couple boxes of Gardenburger chik'n patties so I pan fried those and chopped them up for this salad. I used this recipe from epicurious.com substituting vegan version of mayo and yogurt. I also used apple instead of mango, almonds instead of cashews and added raisins. It was the perfect dinner for a busy school night - I'd made it in the morning and it was ready when we were. I sent the leftovers in Hallie's lunch and she said all her friends tried it and like it... It is, however, one of those things that doesn't photograph all that well:

I've also realized that I need to do some updating on this blog - there are so many great blogs that I read but that I don't have links to on this page. It's on my list! I hope everyone is having a great weekend!

Plum Galette

2006-08-23T15:58:00.000-07:00

The craziness that is the school year has begun. And other than dropping one kid off for soccer practice on the wrong day and leaving half an hour early today (they start late on Wednesdays) - it's gone okay ;-)

Our dinner with friends the other night went well. I made pasta with garlic cream sauce and it was as awesome as the last time I made it. Truly - an amazingly rich tasting sauce without a drop of cream. My friend told me a funny story from the last time they were over for dinner. That time I made tostada salads and used the smartground taco/burrito soy meat. My friend's 9 year old daughter was talking about the dinner on their way home and how much she liked the salad. But then she said in a worried voice "did they eat the meat that was in it? I think they ate meat mom!"

We also had some delicious bruschetta with heirloom tomatoes and basil. My birthday is next week and it happens to fall the day before Millenium Restaurant holds its annual heirloom tomato dinner. So we will be having my birthday dinner a day late so that we can try this menu. I can't wait!

For dessert I made a really simple but delicious plum galette.

I had bunch of organic plums I'd gotten at the Berkeley Bowl and a single pie crust in the freezer. I used this recipe from epicurious.com. It was easy since I already had a crust. I didn't leave enough of a border to really wrap the dough up and over the edges but that gave me more room for plums. For a topping other than their suggested crème fraîche I made spiced rice dream from the Millenium cookbook. It made an excellent topping and complemented the plum flavor perfectly.