vegetarian - Its Not Easy Eating Green

Rustic Sweet Onion Tart

May 15, 2013 - 10:42 pm | Appetizers, Baking, Breads and Doughs, Cheese, Grains, Main Dish, Meatless Monday, Recipe, Sides, Summer, Sustainable, Vegetables, Vegetarian

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I was a childhood cooking-show junkie. On sick days at home, while other children would spend their days watching music videos on MTV and “You Can’t Do That on Television” on Nickelodeon, I watched PBS. Hours spent watching Jeff Smith, Martin Yan, Justin Wilson and “The Great Chefs” series. “The Great Chefs” series made me want to become a chef; Martin Yan made me want to be an entertainer, and Justin Wilson just reminded me of my family (not at all cajun but they were a bit of a wacky southern group).

I hated most vegetables though, so I would watch the cooks make recipe after recipe looking for something wonderful that was free of onions, tomatoes, celery and peppers. There was a show I cannot remember the name of with a cook whose name and face are a distant memory; I distinctly remember watching him make a chicken fricassee. It looked so good, and I remember thinking that I would eat it, regardless of onions or no onions. Watching him make this dish made me realize that if I wanted to be a professional cook, that I was going to have to eat the things I did not like.

I’ve written before about teaching myself to like vegetables, one vegetable at a time, by learning how to properly prepare each one. To like onions, I started by teaching myself to make good caramelized onions; not just browned onions, but good and properly melty, gooey, sweet and sticky caramelized onions. Once I had that down, I was in love. Onions show up in just about everything of mine. I think my childhood self would H-A-T-E having me as their parent; and I think I would get really annoyed with my childhood self because the little brat wouldn’t eat anything I made for her. While not little kid-friendly, this tart will agree with older kids and pretty much everyone else. Sweet Vidalia onions, which are in season right now, are the onion of choice, but other sweet onions will work as well.

This recipe is all about balancing flavors. The sweet onions are balanced by briny feta, tangy balsamic vinegar, spicy black pepper and herby thyme. The crust is part of the flavor, not just a shell to hold it. It becomes part of the whole picture, so don’t cut corners and use a pre-made crust. The crust can be a little crumbly, but a rustic look works here, so just work with it until you have a roundish shape and it’s okay if it isn’t perfect; because that is perfect. Enjoy!

Caramelized Onion Tart with Feta and Balsamic
Serves 6

This tart is a fantastic snack, but also makes a wonderful meal when paired with a salad. I love the sheen of the egg wash on the crust, but you could easily leave that out to make this egg free.

1 Recipe Savory Pastry Dough
2 pounds Vidalia Onion (or other sweet onion)
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon fresh thyme, plus another 1/2 teaspoon to garnish
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
2 ounces feta cheese, crumbled
1 egg yolk

Peel the onions and slice very thin; I used a food processor. Heat olive oil in a large skillet with a lid over medium-high heat. When the oil starts to shimmer add the onions and salt. Cover the onions and let cook until they release their liquid, about five minutes, stirring occasionally.

Uncover and reduce heat to medium-low. Cook slowly, stirring frequently until evenly brown and greatly reduced; about another 25 minutes.

Add the thyme and balsamic vinegar and cook another two minutes to let the thyme release its flavor. Remove from heat and allow to cool.

Preheat oven to 375. Roll out the dough to form a roughly 15 inch circle.

Transfer the dough to a piece of parchment paper and spread the onion in a 12 inch circle in the middle of the dough. Sprinkle the feta on to the exposed onion filling.

Turn the edges of the dough over, tucking under any uneven edges to form a 1 1/2 inch edge over the top of the onion filling.

Brush the edges with a light coating of egg wash. Move the tart to a baking pan and bake for 30 minutes or until the crust is a nice even brown. Remove from oven and allow to cool for five minutes. Serve warm or room temperature.

Fun with Real Yams and Pancit Noodles

February 21, 2013 - 3:43 pm | Caribbean, Field Trips, Grains, kid-friendly, Main Dish, Meatless Monday, Pasta, Recipe, Sauces/Condiments, Sides, travel, Vacation, Vegan, Vegetables, Vegetarian

Vegetarian Boston-Style Baked Beans

January 16, 2013 - 5:00 am | Beans, kid-friendly, Local, Main Dish, Meatless Monday, Recipe, Retro Recipes, Sides, Vegan, Vegetables, Vegetarian, Winter

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This past week marked the anniversary of a truly terrible and bizarre piece of Boston history; the great molasses flood of 1919 when a tsunami of molasses covered two blocks of Boston’s North End with a 15 foot wave of hot, sticky molasses. If you take a look at these pictures from the Boston Globe you’ll see the absolute devastation that the molasses flood brought to the densely packed neighborhood. Boston was the center of the molasses universe in those days as the area was home to many rum distilleries. Because of its abundance, molasses also was a key ingredient in local cuisine.

Molasses was the main sweetener for early settlers too. American style baked beans were introduced to the Pilgrims by local Indian tribes. While the Indian tribes used maple syrup and, the Pilgrims used molasses that was readily available and familiar because it was imported to Europe from the West Indies. The early settlers used molasses to sweeten everything from bread to beans to desserts such as Indian Pudding. While many Americans are not familiar with Boston Brown Bread and Indian Pudding, almost everyone is familiar with baked beans. While even today in northern New England they still use maple syrup, using molasses to sweeten the beans turns plain baked beans into Boston Baked Beans. It’s no surprise that the combination of beans and molasses became so popular that it earned Boston the name “Beantown”.

Traditional Yankee cuisine is still available here, although it’s a little harder to find than it used to be. Baked beans and brown bread were the traditional Sunday meal for much of New England for hundreds of years because it can be made ahead of time and kept warm; so locals could observe their religious rules of not cooking on the Sabbath. Now, there are restaurants that still serve traditional baked beans, but they are more of a novelty than a sought-after dish, except maybe by tourists. The real exception to this is Durgin Park – a touristy, yet all the same historical restaurant that still serves traditional Yankee fare. Here you can still get Yankee pot roast, baked beans, brown bread, Indian Pudding and cracker crumb cod. I worked right next to Durgin Park for several years, and it is where I was first introduced to Yankee cooking.

Whenever I want to tackle a traditional dish I’m torn between modernizing it or embracing the traditional recipe. Never has this been more so than with baked beans. Living in New England I feel obliged to make such a traditional dish the way it was intended: the way I first encountered it at Durgin Park fifteen years ago. But, that’s just foolish, because I want to make them vegetarian; that’s not the way they were intended. So, with this recipe I’ve thrown out the rule book and instead embraced the spirit of the original recipe. This is still a hearty winter dish full of rich sweet flavors, but I’ve replaced the fatty pork belly with a hearty dose of veggies. Not really an even trade is it? All the same, this is still a full meal, especially when paired with a slice of the heavy and hearty classic brown bread.

The brown bread is another traditional recipe. For this one I have adapted several very old recipes which I found in a few ancient cookbooks I have around. They all have variations of the same recipe. Most of them call for equal parts of rye and graham flour and corn meal. All of them call for sour milk and baking soda. I noticed that most new recipes for brown bread use whole wheat flour, white flour and corn meal, not rye flour, but why add white flour to a recipe that traditionally calls for something much healthier? The quick bread is sweetened with molasses and steamed – always. I use a Bundt pan (or you can use a tube pan) placed in a dutch oven for steaming instead of the traditional can, but the finished product is still hearty, sweet and the perfect accompaniment for the beans. It’s even better toasted with butter and jam the following morning. Enjoy!

Baked Beans
Serves 8
These beans re-heat beautifully in the microwave. Just add a half cup of water, cover and cook for 10 minutes on 50% power, stirring once half-way through the cooking time.

2 cups great northern or navy beans soaked overnight
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 large onion, chopped fine
1 carrot, chopped fine
1 celery stalk, chopped fine
1 apple, peeled, cored and chopped fine
4 cups water, divided
1/2 cup molasses
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup tomato paste
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
1 bay leaf
1 teaspoon dry mustard powder
1 tablespoon whole-grain mustard
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
1 1/2 teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Heat a medium sauce pan over medium heat. Add the oil and heat until it begins to simmer then add the onions, celery, carrots and apple. Cook until the onions are translucent, about five minutes. While the vegetables are cooking combine the molasses, brown sugar, tomato paste, cloves, bay leaf, mustard powder, whole-grain mustard and vinegar in a small bowl. Add the molasses mixture once the vegetables are soft. Add two cups of water and bring the mixture to a boil.

Place the soaked beans in a large oven-safe dish. Pour the vegetable and molasses mixture over the beans and seal tightly with a piece of foil. Put the baking dish on a baking sheet and place in the oven. Cook for 2 hours.

When 2 hours have passed, remove the pan from the oven and stir the beans. Add the salt dissolved in another cup of water. Recover the beans with foil and return to the oven. Check once an hour stirring the beans and adding more water as needed. The finished beans should be a rich brownish-red in color and very tender. The total cooking time will vary depending on the type of bean you use; about 4 hours for navy beans and 6 hours for the larger great northern bean.

Steamed Boston Brown Bread
Makes 1 large tube pan loaf, about 30 slices
This is essentially a graham flour bread that is leavened with baking soda instead of yeast. Most of us don’t have a steamed pudding pan hanging around, and I don’t even have a 1 pound coffee can. So, this recipe is adapted to use a large dutch oven and a standard metal loaf or Bundt pan. This means that it produces a much larger than normal loaf. If you’re not that into brown bread, you can half this recipe and steam it in a 1 pound coffee can (oh, and the cans really don’t hold one pound of coffee anymore, but people still refer to them as such). Do not use a glass loaf pan for this as it could shatter when steamed on the stove.

2 cup rye flour
2 cup graham flour
2 cup corn meal
2 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 cup molasses
3 cups buttermilk

Grease a 12-cup tube pan or Bundt pan and set aside. Bring 1 inch of water to boil in a large dutch oven set over medium-high heat. While the water boils, combine the flours, salt and baking powder. In another bowl combine the molasses and buttermilk. Pour the buttermilk mixture into the flour mixture and mix until just combined. Scrape the batter into the loaf or Bundt pan and lower the pan down into the boiling water. Cover the pot and reduce the heat to low. Cook the bread until it is firm to the touch, about two hours.

When the bread has finished steaming use a pair of tongs inserted into the center of the tube to raise the pan out of the pot of water. You can use a paper towel to soak up any water or moisture that has collected around the edges of the bread. Heat an oven to 325 degrees. Bake the bread for about 20 minutes to dry out the edges of the bread and prevent the bread from becoming sticky. When the bread is done, remove and cool for ten minute before turning the bread out onto a wire rack. Serve immediately warm or toasted the following day. Can be kept covered for three days or frozen for two months.

A Month of Legumes, Week 2: Chickpea Fries

January 2, 2013 - 7:08 am | Sides, Vegetables, Vegetarian

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With all the celebrating last week, I forgot to mention that I’m making good on a year old promise. Some of you may remember that last year I planned to do a series of recipes using the best winter staple: beans, or more particularly legumes. Of course last year I was severely lacking the energy to get up from the couch, much less do a series of posts on anything. So, last week’s Hoppin’ John Cakes was the first of these recipes and today’s post is edition number two. Never fear, these recipes aren’t the beans you fear. These recipes showcase how versatile legumes really are. From black-eyed peas to chickpea flour, I’ll show that the star of winter cooking is not really a food to fear but one that is your best weapon against the mid-winter lack of produce blues.

There’s a store down the street from me that sells an almost complete line of Bob’s Red Mill products. I love to go in and buy bags of things I’ve never seen anywhere else, or things that just look interesting. This is how I’ve come across coconut flour and the 13 bean mix that I love so dearly in winter for soup. It’s also how I came to discover chickpea flour. What’s not to like now that one of my favorite beans is in flour form, and I can do so much more with it.

First I tried adding a bit of it to pancakes. Don’t try chickpea pancakes; take my word on that one. After that disaster, I decided to see what other people were making with it. Time after time, I ran into people making chickpea fries, but they were all deep fried. We’re not really frying in the house these days, so I wanted to come up with a recipe that would bake well. Turns out, that’s easy because they just bake up beautifully. I boosted the flavor level from the recipes I saw by adding a little garlic and oregano to my chickpea mix before firming it up. The finished product is crispy on the outside and soft and only slightly beany on the inside. Served with tzatziki, like this delicious recipe from David Lebovitz, these fries will be a huge hit whenever you serve them. Who knows, you may even fool the kids with these. Enjoy!

Baked Chickpea Fries
serves 8
This recipe can easily be doubled or halved for a large or small crowd. If you have a convection oven, bake these at 400 for an even crispier outside.

2 cups chickpea flour
4 cups water
2 cloves garlic
2 tsp chopped fresh oregano
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground pepper
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
salt for seasoning

Prepare a loaf pan by lining with parchment or waxed paper to create a sling for the chickpea mush. Spray with non-stick baking spray and set aside.

Heat water in a large, heavy bottomed saucepan until boiling; add salt. When water comes to a rolling boil whisk chickpea flour into water in a slow steady stream. Continue to whisk until almost no lumps remain, but if there are small lumps then that’s okay. Stir in pepper, garlic and oregano. Cook for an additional minute stirring continuously. Remove from heat and pour into the prepared loaf pan. Cover with plastic wrap and allow to cool. Refrigerate until cold, about two hours.

Heat oven to 450 degrees. Remove from fridge and release from pan.

Using a sharp knife, slice the fries into sticks the length of the short side of your loaf pan and 1/2 inch thick.

Brush fries with the olive oil, sprinkle with salt and bake until just beginning to brown and crispy, about 25 minutes, turning once during baking.

Happy New Year – Hoppin’ John Cakes

December 28, 2012 - 10:45 pm | Earth Friendly, Grains, Green, Holiday, Main Dish, Meatless Monday, Recipe, Sides, Southern, Vegan, Vegetables, Vegetarian, Winter

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Although the new year is not quite here yet, I’ve already begun to celebrate it’s arrival. Since the Mayan’s were wrong about the end of the world last week, I now feel the need to hurry up and enjoy myself before we all slide off the Fiscal Cliff. So, I kicked off a week long party by reinventing a southern new year’s tradition; Hoppin’ John.

Southern tradition dictates eating peas on New Year’s Day. Different parts of the south do this differently. Some parts say you need to eat black-eyed peas, others say it needs to be peas and rice, other parts say peas and greens. In low country cooking, it needs to be Hoppin’ John served on rice. Hoppin’ John is a pea dish made most often with black-eyed peas and ham hock. Whatever the combination, the eating of peas on New Year’s Day is supposed to bring you luck and wealth in the coming year.

I’m not really picky; all of the above sounds good to me. Well, almost all of it. I’m not a greens fan. I know, I know. How dare I claim to know anything about southern cooking and hate greens. It’s like an New Yorker hating pizza. But there you have it. I think my distaste is rooted in the smell of mustard greens cooking all day in my house when I was a child. On days when my grand-mother was down in the kitchen cooking up a mess of greens, I would hide out in my room, sometimes even burying my head in my pillow to hide from the stench. It takes a lot to get that smell out of your mind.

But now I’m the grown-up. I’m supposed to like vegetables. So, as the good girl that I am I decided to turn greens and peas into something I could like, even love. Mixing a mild in-season green like kale with the rice and peas the flavor became something to get excited about. Forming the rice, peas and greens into a patty, dredging it in corn meal and frying it makes this traditional dish into something strangely more southern. It tastes of the south. The total flavor is nothing but satisfying: crunchy cornmeal, homey peas and rice and the rich flavor of greens. Several people even commented that it reminded them of fried okra. It can be a little crumbly to work with, but it’s worth it in the end because of the crunch and the flavor. Alone or with a generous splash of hot sauce, these are perfect for a home cooked meal with nothing but a salad or a piece of fish. Or if you are entertaining for New Year, you can start the party in style and make these into small appetizers. I can’t promise that they will bring you wealth or luck in the new year, but they will make you popular. Enjoy!

Hoppin John Cakes

Makes 16-3” cakes or 32 small hors d’oeuvres size cakes

I love these cakes fried up with just a splash of hot sauce. Depending on your rice and peas, you may need to stir in a tablespoon of flour to make these stick when forming them into cakes. The baking soda used in the cooking of the kale helps keep it’s nice bright green color.

1 cup dried black-eyed peas
1/2 small onion, chopped fine
1 cups medium grain rice
1/2 small bunch of kale (take the other half bunch and make kale chips – everyone else is)
1 teaspoon steak seasoning or rib seasoning with natural smoke (two of my favorites are Adams Rib Rubb and Penzey’s Chicago Steak Seasoning)
2 teaspoons hot sauce such as Crystal
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 cup corn meal
bacon drippings or vegetable oil for frying

Pick over the dried peas to make sure there are no rocks, pebbles or debris. Soak them overnight or bring the peas to a boil and let boil for five minutes.

Turn off the heat and let them sit for 1 hour. Cook the peas without any seasoning until just tender, about 30 minutes. When they are tender, drain off the cooking liquid and season with 1/2 teaspoon of salt and two teaspoons of hot sauce.

Set aside to cool.

While the peas are cooking, add the onion and 1/2 teaspoon of salt to a medium pot without any oil. Saute on medium-low heat until the onion is translucent, 7-10 minutes.

Add two cups of water and steak or rib seasoning and bring to a boil. Add the rice, cover tightly and reduce the heat to low. Cook for twenty minutes or until the liquid is absorbed and the rice is tender.

To cook the greens, remove the stem from the leaves and chop the kale into 1 inch pieces and rinse well.

Add to a pot with a 1/2 cup of water, a 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda and a 1/2 teaspoon of salt. Cook over medium heat stirring frequently until the kale is wilted.

Cover and continue to cook until the kale is tender, about another five minutes. When tender, drain off the cooking liquid and squeeze the extra liquid out of the greens.

Combine the greens, rice and peas together and season to taste.

Form the cakes by pressing the mixture into a round cookie or biscuit cutter or down into a ring mold.

Small cakes can be formed by pressing the mixture into the desired size with your hands.

You want the mixture to be tightly packed to prevent the cakes from crumbling. If they do start to crumble, you can add a tablespoon or two of flour to the mixture. Carefully dredge the cakes in corn meal.

Heat a thin layer of oil (about 1/8” deep) in a large pan over medium heat. When the oil is hot, add the cakes in batches cooking for about five minutes a side.

They should be very crispy and dark golden brown on both sides. Repeat with remaining cakes adding more oil as needed until all the cakes are done. Serve hot with lots of extra hot sauce.

Butternut Squash Pastitsio

October 4, 2012 - 9:27 am | Autumn, kid-friendly, Local, Main Dish, Meatless Monday, Pasta, Recipe, Vegetables

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Growing up in Texas, we always celebrated fall like everyone else. We talked about the season changing, decorated with colorful leaves and pumpkins and made apple treats. However, it was all a ruse. The season didn’t change (for another few months at least). The leaves didn’t change, and apples didn’t grow well anywhere within a thousand miles of us. Autumn in Texas was a whole heck of a lot like summer, just slightly cooler, with the same humidity, and with school.

Then I moved to Massachusetts: Autumn Central. I marveled at the huge wooden crates of gourds, squash and pumpkins that lined the roads of Western Massachusetts and wondered how it was possible for the whole country to eat all those squash. I learned to love the smell of wet fallen leaves, cold nights and crisp days. I went apple picking, and learned that layering clothes was more than fashion sense, and I was introduced to a whole new food group; winter squash. Texas had winter squash, but they were foreign foods, and why bother with them in a place that overflowed with the intoxicating mix of Southern, Mexican, Cowboy and Cajun cuisines.

My squash experience was not love at first bite; anything but. The first decade I lived up here I avoided the summer squash’s mushy long lasting winter cousins. New England cuisine is all about subtleties while Texan cuisine is anything but. Texas cuisine tends toward grandiose flavors. New England Puritans would have nothing of that. Gulf seafood is frequently heavily seasoned, but cod is often adorned with nothing but cracker crumbs, butter and lemon. Yankees enjoy butternut squash soup, Texans eat spicy chili and gumbo. Well, I could go on and on but you get the idea. Over time I decided that if I was going to live up here I needed to learn to eat like a local. I started to play with squashes and taught myself to make the basics; butternut squash soup and roasted acorn squash

Squash and I are good friends now. I love the natural sweetness and the versatility of autumn’s harvest, and that brings me to today’s meatless meal; Butternut Squash Pastitsio. Pastitsio is a traditional Greek pasta dish that layers pasta with a cinnamon seasoned ground lamb sauce and is topped with a Parmesan cheese laced Bechamel sauce. I’ve never been a huge fan of the meat version of this dish. The combination of cinnamon, pasta and lamb never really did much for me. However, when you substitute the meat with roasted butternut squash and you get something really special. This dish retains all the warm comfort of the original, but with a distinctly autumn flavor. It’s one of those dishes that’s enjoyed by the whole family. Enjoy!

Butternut Squash Pastitsio – Click here for a printer-friendly version of this recipe
serves 4-6

1 butternut squash (about 1 small squash), peeled, seeded and cubed into one-inch chunks
4 teaspoons olive oil, divided
1 small onion, finely diced
½ cup white wine
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon fresh thyme
1 bay leaf
2 cups crushed tomato
1 teaspoon salt, divided
8 oz tube shaped pasta such as penne, rigatoni, or macaroni

Bechamel Sauce:
1 1/2 cups milk
1 1/2 tablespoon butter
1 1/2 tablespoon flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 cup shredded Gruyère cheese

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. Toss butternut squash with 2 teaspoons of olive oil and 1/2 teaspoon of salt.

Roast on a lined baking sheet until just tender, about 30-35 minutes. Remove from the oven and set aside.

While the squash is roasting bring a large pot of water to a boil and boil pasta according to the directions on the box, removing from the water while the pasta is still very al dente. Drain and rinse with cold water to stop the cooking process and set aside.

Heat a dutch oven or heavy-bottomed pan over medium heat. Add remaining two teaspoons of olive oil and heat until it begins to shimmer. Add the onion and 1/2 teaspoon of salt. Sauté until onion is soft and translucent, about five minutes. Add minced garlic, cinnamon, bay leaf and thyme.

Continue to cook for about 1 minute or until very fragrant. Add wine and stir, scraping up any bits off the bottom of the pan. Add the tomatoes and bring to a simmer. Reduce the heat to low and cover. Simmer for about fifteen minutes.

While the tomato sauce cooks make the Bechamel sauce by melting the butter in a small saucepan over medium heat.

When the butter bubbles, add the flour and cook, stirring constantly for a minute or two so that the flour cooks. Whisk the milk into the flour and butter roux carefully being sure to mix the roux well into the milk so that clumps do not form. Heat until just simmering stirring frequently. Once the sauce simmers, stir in the Gruyère. Stir until the cheese melts and season to taste with salt and pepper.

If your clan is a picky bunch (like mine), then blend your sauce in a food processor or blender until smooth then return the sauce to your cooking pot.

(If you are one of the lucky few that has a family that does not mind chunks, then disregard the previous step and poo poo on you!) Fold butternut squash and pasta into sauce and pour into a greased casserole dish pushing the mixture down into the casserole so that the pasta mixture is evenly packed into the casserole dish.

Pour the Bechamel over the pasta mixture and carefully spread over the top of the dish.

Place in oven and bake for about 30-40 minutes, or until the edges are bubbly and the top is starting to color.

Hurricane Ploughman’s Lunch

August 28, 2011 - 10:28 pm | FOOD, kid-friendly, Main Dish, Meatless Monday, Recipe, Uncategorized

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As I sat down to write the beginning of this post, all of New England was preparing for a hit by Irene on Sunday as a tropical storm. While watching non-stop breaking news coverage, I strongly suspected that the weather forecasters were practicing worst-case scenario weather reporting. Yet I realized we were not immune from the threat of damage, especially as we have a dying tree hanging over our power lines. I prepared for the possibility of living without power for several days by stocking up on bottled water, cans of tuna, loaves of bread and lots of peanut butter.

Going meatless is a natural way of eating when the power is out. I wanted to serve my family healthy meals that were more than just peanut butter sandwiches and carrot sticks. While I was thinking of the meatless meals I’ve had in my life that were not hot or cooked meals, my thoughts kept returning to a great lunch I had in a pub near the British Museum in London. It consisted of cheese, bread, pickled onions, pickle relish, ham, apples and beer: a Ploughman’s Lunch. While I’m sure that many a ploughman ate such a meal countless times in the history of England; it seems probable that the name Ploughman’s Lunch was actually the result of an advertising campaign by the British Milk Marketing Board in the 1960s. An interesting post about the origins can be found at Martyn Cornell’s Zythophile blog. Regardless of the origins it’s a great meal that lends itself naturally to a meatless preparation.

I was not terribly concerned with making an authentic Ploughman’s Lunch; instead I wanted to recreate the feeling and taste of a British pub meal with the ingredients I had on hand that I knew my family would eat. For example, one of the key ingredients of a classic Ploughman’s Lunch is Branston Pickle which is a brownish gloop of pickle relish that my American palate does not tolerate; instead I offered cucumber slices. For the pickled onions I “pickled” red onion in balsamic vinegar which I served with fresh greens and local tomatoes. I cut slices of the cheeses I had on hand (which happened to be Cabot Vintage Cheddar, Edam and some Grana Padano), piled on red grapes, slices of apple, and slices of a hearty wheat bread. I also offered some homemade beer and black pepper mustard that I made a few weeks ago. The mustard just seems to get spicier and spicier as the days go by, but it goes fantastically with cheddar and just about anything. And of course there was beer; a tasty Long Trail Pale Ale that matched the weather and the food. Of course the beer was not for Little Guy; he had a fruit punch that also matched very nicely.

I’ve included recipes for the onions and the mustard. The onions are almost too simple to call a recipe, but they are tasty none-the-less. The mustard is a recipe from America’s Test Kitchen. I added the black pepper that gives it an additional kick. This is serious mustard for serious mustard fans. It turns a good hot dog into gourmet fare!

We were lucky in the storm. We lost power for about 30 seconds and only lost a few small limbs from the trees. While my street was spared the worst of it, Irene was no laughing matter. We were lucky and we are grateful for that. Instead of nibbling on our Ploughman’s Lunch by candlelight, we chowed on it while watching the mid-season premiere of Doctor Who. It just seemed like the right thing to do. Enjoy!

Balsamic “Pickled” Onions – Click here for a printer-friendly version of this recipe
makes 1 cup

1 small red onion, sliced thin
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon black pepper
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

In a medium bowl combine sliced onion, salt, pepper, olive oil and vinegar.

Toss well to combine and let sit for at least an hour (overnight is better). Serve with salads, cold platters or on sandwiches.

Beer and Black Pepper Mustard – click here for a printer-friendly version of this recipe.
makes 1 ½ cups

Based on a recipe from America’s Test Kitchen

1/4 cup brown mustard seed
1/4 cup yellow mustard seed
1/2 cup cider vinegar
1/4 cup pale ale or other full bodied beer
2 teaspoons black pepper, freshly ground
2 teaspoons brown sugar
3/4 teaspoons salt

In a small bowl combine mustard seeds, vinegar, beer and pepper. Stir well, cover and refrigerate for at least eight hours or overnight.

Scoop mustard, salt and brown sugar into a food processor and blend until the desired consistency is reached. Scrape into an airtight container and refrigerate. The mustard will continue to develop flavor for several days. Can be stored for several months in the refrigerator.

Corn Chowder and the Bad Gardener

August 21, 2011 - 9:38 pm | FOOD, kid-friendly, Main Dish, Meatless Monday, Soup, Summer, Uncategorized

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If you are regular reader of this blog, you may remember that I consider myself the world’s worst gardener. Every spring I start thinking about what to plant, always full of hope and sure that this is the year I’m going to actually grow something and reap the fruits (and veggies) of my labor. This year my season’s worth of efforts reaped six grape tomatoes and two pods of okra for us humans. The wildlife ate well though. The chipmunks ate all the seeds, the groundhog ate the basil, and the deer ate every-stinking-thing else. They even eat the green tomatoes once they reached some mysterious deerlicious state. Every leaf off the parsley and okra plants is gone too, leaving green stems sticking out of the ground.

So you’re probably not too surprised that I don’t try to grow my own corn. I dream of it. See, in my imagination I’m a regular farmer. In the spring I visualize tall thick tomato plants heavy with ripe fruit. I plan on canning things, making pies, sauces and other goodies from what I’ve grown. I think that neat rows of corn as high as an elephant’s eye would look great in the spot of my yard currently overtaken with Japanese Knotweed. In my vision I’m a bit like a Disney princess feeding the deer an apple from my tree laden with fruit and laughing with the chipmunks. But in my dream even the Snow White version of myself hates the groundhog.

Alas, my reality is weekly trips to the local farmer’s market. Not that the farmer’s market is bad, but it’s slightly less romantic than plucking ripe tomatoes a la the Disney Martha Stewart. Luckily for me it’s a good year for the local corn here in New England. Every time I pick up another batch it’s even better than the time before. I’ve had corn on the cob so many times in the past month that think I might start sprouting cobs. So, it’s time to branch out, pull out the soup pot and get to chowdering.

Equipped with a slab of salt pork and a quart of cream, pretty much anyone can make good chowder. But, a rich and satisfying vegetarian version not loaded down with quarts of heavy cream is a little harder. I wanted a nice full flavor; one not only loaded with sweet corn flavor, but also with the flavors of lot of veggies, herbs, and the nutty bite of sharp aged cheddar.

I cut out some, but not all, of the fat by switching from cream to half and half and cutting back on the amount. I also replace the the usual rendered pork fat with a restrained amount of olive oil. To achieve both creamy texture and rich corn flavor I use corn kernels cut off the cob, and also corn grated like in my recipe for creamed corn. The result is a rich and satisfying soup brimming with summer sweet-corn flavor.

The final secret to the success of this recipe is in the garnish. By topping the soup with grated or crumbled aged sharp cheddar, you give each person a burst of flavor that is still melting into the soup as they stir it around and eat it. The flavor gives up gradually, letting the sweetness of the corn hit the palate before giving way to the tang of the cheese. This is not one of those chowders that tastes of nothing but the pure sweet flavor of summer corn. I figure if I wanted that, I’d just make more corn on the cob. Rather it’s a burst of hearty flavors mixed with the best of summer sweet corn to make a soup you’ll be happy you’ve made. Enjoy!

Vegetarian Corn Chowder with Aged Cheddar – Click here for a printer-friendly version of this recipe
serves 8

The secret to the rich flavor is in the aged cheddar. I love Cabot Cloth-Bound Cheddar for its intense almost nutty flavor, but any aged sharp cheddar will do. Be sure to not only cut off and grate the corn, but to scrape the cobs. Doing so will add so much extra corn pulp and starch that it really boots the creaminess and corn flavor of the soup.

Cabot Cloth-Bound Cheddar

2 tablespoons olive oil
2 small sweet onions (or 1 large), finely chopped (about 2 ½ – 3 cups)
2 stalks celery, finely chopped, about ½ cup
1 carrot, finely chopped, about ½ cup
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 ½ teaspoons thyme, finely chopped
1 teaspoon sage, finely chopped
¼ cup flour
4 cups (1 quart) vegetable stock
1 ½ pound potatoes, peeled and cut into ¼” cubes (about 3 large potatoes)
6 ears fresh corn (see below for prepping instructions)
1 ½ cups half & half
8 ounces sharp aged cheddar, grated or crumbled
fresh snipped chives
salt and pepper to taste

To prep corn:

Using a knife, cut kernels off three ears of corn and set aside but do not throw away cobs.

Use a cheese grater to grate remaining three ears of corn into a large bowl.

Working one ear at a time, drizzle a small amount of water over each of the six ears of corn.

Hold the ear of corn over the bowl with the grated corn and use the back of a knife to scrape the remaining corn pulp and starch into the bowl. Repeat with all of the ears of corn.

You should end up with about 1 ½ cups of cut corn and a little over 2 cups of the grated corn and corn pulp. Keep the two types of corn separate because you add them at different times.

For soup:

Heat olive oil in a large stock pot or dutch oven over medium heat.

When oil starts to shimmer add onions, carrots, celery and ½ teaspoon of salt.

This is what soft translucent veggies look like. No need to brown the veggies.

Saute until vegetables are translucent and soft; about 10 minutes.

Add thyme, sage, garlic and flour and continue to cook stirring frequently until fragrant and flour is no longer raw. Gradually stir in vegetable stock, one cup at a time to prevent lumps. Add potatoes and grated corn with corn pulp. Bring to a simmer and reduce heat to low. Cook, stirring and scraping the bottom of the pot until potatoes are just soft, about 15 minutes.

Add half & half and cut corn kernels. Bring just back to a simmer and season to taste.

To serve, ladle 1 ½ cups of soup into a bowl. Top with one or two tablespoons of crumbled or grated cheddar and a sprinkle of snipped chives.

Ugh, do not get me started on the wrinkles in the fabric. I ironed it twice with steam, and the darn things kept coming back.

Bean Tostadas

August 16, 2011 - 10:24 am | FOOD, kid-friendly, Main Dish, Meatless Monday, Mexican, Recipe, Salad, Sustainable, Uncategorized

9 Comments

In many foods quality and popularity come from the simplicity of flavors. A perfectly in-season, ripe fruit comes to mind, a grilled steak with nothing but salt and pepper, a egg fried in butter, a hunk of warm bread with extra virgin olive oil for dipping, or a summer tomato with nothing but a little salt. Other foods, however excel when flavors build layer by layer to create a delightfully complex combination of textures and tastes. Tostadas win big by being literally and figuratively layered.
A traditional tostada from Mexico is not much more than a crispy fried corn tortilla with a few small bites of meat and toppings on it. It’s a snack not a meal. However, while the Mexican tostada is street food, the Texas tostada is a meal. When I was growing up there, almost every taqueria in Houston had tostadas on the regular menu of favorites. Tucked in between the flautas, tacos and enchiladas were the less popular, but none the less ubiquitous tostada plate. It was usually a pair of flat and crispy corn tortillas topped with beans (usually refried), ground beef, cheese, sour cream and fresh chopped tomatoes all buried under a mountain of thinly shredded iceberg lettuce. A bowl of salsa, sometimes two different kinds, were always on the table for topping off the tostadas. They were light enough to keep you from hating life the rest of the day, but more than enough to make a meal.
Now that I live in New England, I have to make them at home. I’ve noticed that with all the toppings, it’s easy for the meat to get lost. Which of course means that if the beans and other toppings are flavorful enough to make up for it, you won’t even miss the meat if it’s not there. To make them meatless, I use a combination of beans and avocado to take the place of meat. Then I top them with finely chopped romaine, greek yogurt (or sour cream) shredded Colby jJack cheese and fresh salsa roja. It may not be the most authentic tostada you will ever have, but it’s very good, and it’s a great Meatless Monday meal. Enjoy

Mild Salsa Roja – click here for a printable version of this recipe
Makes 1 cup
I love this salsa because it’s easy, authentic (except for the lack of heat) and tastes good on so many different things. It will keep for several days and is very good served cold or warm. To make a hotter salsa leave the seeds in the jalapenos, or substitute hotter chilis such as Serrano for the poblano.

½ onion, peeled and quartered
2 large tomatoes, halved and cored
1 jalapeno pepper, halved with seeds removed
2 cloves garlic
1 poblano pepper, halved with seeds removed
½ teaspoon salt
1 large handful cilantro, leaves only

Heat a large skillet over high heat for two or three minutes until hot. Add the peppers, tomatoes, garlic, and onions.

(I should have halved and seeded the poblano before charring; it would have been faster)

Rotate the vegetables in the pan until all sides are slightly charred.

(I should have grabbed the full-sized processor, it would have been faster)

When charred, move the vegetables to a food processor, add cilantro and pulse until well blended, but with some texture still remaining. Add salt (season to taste). Serve warm or cold.

Simple Ranchero Beans - click here for a printable version of this recipe
(based on Rick Bayless Brothy Beans found in Authentic Mexican, by Rick Bayless. William Morrow and Company, 1987.)
makes 2 cups

1 cup pinto beans, soaked overnight or simmered for 5 minutes and then left to soak for 1 hour.
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 small onion, finely chopped (about ½ cup)
2 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon taco seasoning (I prefer Penzey’s)
½ teaspoon salt or more to taste

Once beans have soaked, drain off liquid and cover with 2 cups of fresh water. Place over medium heat and add garlic, onion and olive oil. Once the beans come to a simmer, cover and cook until very tender, about 1 ½ hours, adding more water as necessary to just cover the beans. Season with taco seasoning and cook for another five minutes. Season with salt to taste.

Ranchero Bean Tostadas with Salsa Roja – click here for a printable version of all the recipes in this post

Many of these toppings are optional. You can build your tostada with anything you think sounds good. There is no reason you can’t use pre-made salsa and beans, but it tastes so much better when you make it yourself.

8 6-inch corn tortillas
oil for frying tortillas
1 recipe simple ranchero beans (recipe above)
mild salsa roja (recipe above)
sliced avocado
sliced romaine lettuce
shredded Colby Jack cheese
sour cream or plain Greek yogurt
chopped fresh tomatoes

Pour one inch of oil into a medium skillet and heat on medium-high heat until hot, but not smoking.

Drop tortillas in one at a time and cook until golden brown on each side; about a minute a side. Remove to a pan lined with paper towels for draining.

Build your tostadas starting with beans, salsa roja, cheese, avocado, lettuce, sour cream (or yogurt) and chopped tomatoes. Serve immediately.

Firecracker Coleslaw

July 5, 2011 - 3:02 am | Meatless Monday, Salad, Sides, Summer, Uncategorized

4 Comments

It’s been a great 4th of July weekend. We’ve done it all. From the beach to the ice cream shop to the bbq for dinner. Little Guy’s sleeping after another full day of playing with fire trucks, his kiddie pool and sandbox and in his newly redesigned play room. The only thing on my 4th of July checklist we didn’t do was go see fireworks. We were going to take Little Guy, but when he complained that the vacuum was too loud we decided that maybe we should wait another year. So, I’m watching the Boston Pops on television as I write this.

Today is Monday and it’s supposed to be Meatless Monday. We had chicken, and it was wonderful. I had planned on having a simple pasta with marinara for dinner tomorrow to make up for it, but it looks like we’re having leftovers now. I don’t feel bad about it though because we are celebrating the birth of this country and summer and each other and it’s been pretty fantastic. I am going to share the most dee-lish-ous barbecued chicken recipe with you soon, but for tonight I still have a meatless recipe for you.

A few years ago I was at some sort of food tasting for barbecue ideas, and one of the stands was sampling firecracker coleslaw. I don’t remember the vendor who featured the sample, but the coleslaw was one of the best I’d had. It was colorful and full of crunchy veggies with a sweet and sour flavor and a kick of heat. I’ve been playing around with recipes since then to try to replicate the flavor. What I now make and call firecracker coleslaw is far better than that sample I had years ago, and it’s the perfect side to serve on hot summer days. The lack of mayo keeps this salad light, and with only two tablespoons of olive oil it’s not to bad on the waistline either. I really hope you like this as much as I do.

I’ve tried a few things over the years to give the coleslaw the bright colors that make it look like fireworks. The sample I had years ago used purple cabbage but I didn’t like how the color bled all over the other veggies. Instead I use regular cabbage with carrots, red bell pepper and red onion. For burst of fire in your mouth I use the vinegar from jalapenos in the dressing. My crowd is a big fan of bite, but not of heat so I only use the pickle juice from the jalapenos, but if you have a higher tolerance for heat, I recommend chopping up a few of the pickled jalapenos and adding those into the salad as well. Something I love in other coleslaw recipes is the celery seed, so I have those in this slaw too, but I’ve also added brown mustard seeds to give another kick of flavor and great texture to the salad. Now that I’m watching the fireworks, I also realize that the seeds help with the fireworks illusion. They looks like the little sparkles in the fireworks. Yea me!

Summer’s only just now getting hot here in New England, and there is still loads of opportunities to impress your friends and frenemies with this burst of healthy flavor this summer. Enjoy!

Firecracker Coleslaw

serves 6-8 as a side

1 bag pre-cut classic coleslaw
2 large carrots, cut in matchsticks or grated
1 red bell pepper, cut in matchsticks
1/2 small red onion, sliced very thin

Dressing:
1/2 cup cider vinegar
1/3 cup white sugar
2 tablespoons jalapeno pickling juice
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon brown mustard seeds
1/2 teaspoon celery seeds
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
2 tablespoons olive oil

Chop all of the vegetables and toss in a large bowl.

In another bowl whisk all of the dressing ingredients together.

Pour the dressing over the vegetables and toss so that everything is evenly coated. Cover and refrigerate for at least three hours.

You can make this coleslaw as soon as three hours before serving or up to twenty-four hours in advance. Before serving drain off excess liquid and reserve a quarter cup of it to pour over the finished salad. Discard the rest of the liquid.

Tag Archives: vegetarian

Rustic Sweet Onion Tart

Fun with Real Yams and Pancit Noodles

Vegetarian Boston-Style Baked Beans

A Month of Legumes, Week 2: Chickpea Fries

Happy New Year – Hoppin’ John Cakes

Butternut Squash Pastitsio

Hurricane Ploughman’s Lunch

Corn Chowder and the Bad Gardener

Bean Tostadas

Firecracker Coleslaw

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