Smitten Kitchen Cakes

My first SmittenKitchen baking attempt was a disaster; I thought Irish Car Bomb Cupcakes would be perfect for St Patrick’s Day, considering my love of Jameson, Bailey’s, and stout beer, but my attempt ended up severely stuck the silicone (i.e. notoriously non stick) cups.  However, I was determined to enjoy some of the delicious cakes I’ve seen since I started reading her site.  My second recipe was chosen by my husband for his birthday in August (although I ended up making the cake a few weeks later).  Thankfully he chose a single layer affair without any fancy decorations.  The results were delightful and sentimental (it tasted so much like a torte from the old, but now defunct, Old Europe that I used to eat on our early dates).  This cake was easy, but it tasted like a professional effort.  It is definitely one of my favorite cakes for both its appearance and taste.

For our third legal anniversary, we pondered and agonized over several delectable cakes, and we ended up with the Chocolate Peanut Butter Cake.  The original recipe is for a three layer cake, but I only have two round pans so I made two layers and some cupcakes.  Although I tried to eyeball it, the batter distribution between the pans wasn’t equal which resulted in one layer being much thicker than the other.  I did not overfill the cupcake tins, but the silicone cups were not again not as non stick as I thought they should be when I purchased them.  I also tweaked the recipe a bit: unsweetened not too smooth peanut butter (in lieu of smooth commercial peanut butter) and an entire cup less of confectioner’s sugar for the frosting (next time I will probably knock it back an additional cup).  Deb at SmittenKitchen provides a page of layer cake tips as well as advice with each recipe that have really helped me make better looking cakes.

Buns from the oven

buns proofing

buns cooling

I’m not someone who has to cook everything from scratch, but I am demanding about my food so if I cannot find an easier substitute then I will make it myself.  Thanks to SmittenKitchen for this lovely light brioche bun recipe.  Although I don’t make many baked goods without subbing out some of the bread or all purpose flour with wheat flour; here though, I only traded 1/4 cup of bread flour out for the whole wheat in order to keep the light in the recipe.  As a result they turned out just like the buns I was buying from a local bakery until they started selling defrosted (and as a result deflated) hoagies.  We used them for phillies, and next time I think I will stretch them out into hoagie rolls.  I will also likely trade another quarter cup of bread for wheat flour.

Change the World Wednesdays

I’ve been slack about posting the Change the World Wednesday Challenges from Reduce Footprints, but this week the challenge involves food.  This week if you are an omnivore then go vegetarian one full day, and if you regularly eat veg then go vegan one full day.  Our household will go vegan as much as possible this week (cheese is something I cannot live without).

My extended family and the other meat eaters in my life seem to get hung up on the “missing” protein and fear of tofu.  Just like chicken that isn’t properly cooked and seasoned, tofu will not taste good.  Another issue with tofu seems to be texture; we use extra firm almost all of the time even for marinara (it gets pureed in with the rest of the veggies using the immersion blender).  To make tofu more firm and chewy, press it to remove excess water (between your hands or with a weight) then freeze it.  My husband also likes to bake it for 30 minutes on 350F in a flavorful liquid then add it to the stir fry or salad.

Earlier this week I threw together a nice fresh little meal of quinoa and baked tofu; I messed up by not making enough for lunch the next day.  We had two servings each for a dinner.  Below is the recipe.

Papaya Quinoa

• 1 cup quinoa, rinsed
• 1 cup papaya juice (feel to substitute the fruit juice of your choice)
• .25 cup water
• 1 pound extra firm tofu
• 1 tablespoon tamari or soy sauce
• 2 gloves garlic, peeled and minced
• 1″ fresh ginger root, peeled and minced
• 1 tablespoon oil
• 1 yellow onion, peeled and minced
• 6 or so leaves of kale, de-stemmed and chopped
• 4 carrots, peeled and chopped

Preheat the oven to 350F.  Pour the quinoa into a strainer and rinse it for a few minutes to remove the bitter coating (better safe than sorry on the rinsing because if you skimp you will ruin the entire dish; I speak from sad experience).  Move into a medium sized saucepan and toast for a few minutes over medium heat.  While the quinoa is toasting, slice the tofu into four slabs and press the excess water.  Back to the quinoa, add .75 cups of juice and the .25 cup of water to the pan then increase the heat to high and bring to a boil.  Once it boils, stir it once or twice then reduce heat to medium and cover and allow to cook until the liquid is absorbed (twenty or so minutes).  Once done set aside.

In the meantime, place the tofu in a glass baking dish and cover with the rest of the juice, tamari, garlic, and ginger.  Turn the tofu to be sure both sides are exposed to the liquid.  Bake for about thirty minutes, flipping the tofu halfway through.  It is done when it has a nice crust and smells yummy.

After you turn the tofu at the halfway point, heat the oil over medium heat in your favorite skillet (we can’t live without our seasoned cast iron one). Begin preparing and cutting your vegetables then add them as you cut them.  Grind the pepper over the veggies and allow to cook over medium-low.  By the time the kale’s green has brightened, your tofu should be done.  Cube it and add the entire baking dish to the veggies.  Stir in the coriander and the quinoa and serve.

Tempeh

The next vegetable protein I discovered was tempeh.  While it is still a soy protein, it has a solid texture and more of its own flavor (although still very mild).  We usually get the flax seed flavor for its omega-3 punch.  The first tempeh dishes I cooked I just subbed tempeh for tofu in stir fry.  However, I think tempeh lends itself to sandwiches since it comes in nice square or rectangular packages, and I would much rather have tempeh in my burrito than tofu.

Tempeh Sandwich

• 2 tablespoons miso (I prefer something milder than red, like chickpea or white)
• 4 tablespoon water
• 1 tablespoon lemon or lime juice
• 2 tablespoons tahini
• 1 pound tempeh
• 1 teaspoon oil
• 1-3 cloves garlic
• eight slices of thick, hearty bread
• 1 ripe avocado
• half of a red onion (or less depending on taste)
• 1 cup spinach

Combine the miso, water, and lemon juice to make a paste.  Stir in the tahini.  This is a riff on a dressing recipe from Miso Master, and I usually don’t measure it but rather taste it.  Slice the tempeh into half crosswise, making two rectangles then divide those into four thinner pieces (like dividing a cake layer).  Cook these in a skillet with oil and garlic until they have a nice crusty exterior or bake or grill them.  Divide all of the ingredients for four sandwiches and assemble them without the miso spread as heat kills the beneficial bacteria in miso.  Toss as many onto a panini press as it will hold and toast the bread for a few minutes.  For our wedding we received a Forman grill which works great as a panini press, but before that I would’ve tossed the sandwich into the skillet and used a spatula and some elbow grease and flipped it to toast both sides.  Once it has been toasted spread the miso spread on the top slice then reassemble and cut diagonally for eating ease.  For a vegetarian option, I love this with manchego.

Seitan

My most recent vegetable protein find and probably my favorite is seitan.  It is the meatiest of the vegetable proteins, and as such it lends itself to more fine dining applications, although I think it is just perfect in my lentil and peanut butter stir fry and seitan phillies (even without cheese).  The Laughing Seed works magic and turns seitan into soysage, which I think is so similar to grocery store sausage patties from my childhood that they are perfect for someone scared of vegetarian cuisine.  In the winter I make a delicious stew that I envision should be made with game, but between the mushrooms, seitan, rosemary, and red wine there is no need for game.  The Co-op has had some amazing shiitakes for the past few weeks, so for my honey’s birthday I made him the mushroom bourguignon from SmittenKitchen (I didn’t take any photos, though).  With shiitakes being a bit pricey, I added much cheaper seitan to fill the dish out.  Homemade seitan is really easy to make, especially if you purchase the wheat gluten rather than make your own, but unless you have a pan and the storage to make pounds I think it is more cost effective to purchase it.

mushroom bourguignon from the archives

When thinking about vegetable protein, please don’t limit yourself to the “meat substitutes”.  Lentils, chickpeas, fava beans, mung beans, and quinoa among other grains and beans are fairly good sources of protein with none (or substantially less) of the fat found in animal protein (not to mention the cost benefit).

Local Food Failure

I thought the local food challenge was going to be easier, but alas I was not able to concoct a meal that was completely local without changing my shopping habits more than I was ready to.  I love Hickory Nut Gap Farm eggs, but I wanted to avoid animal protein for both its ecological repercussions and my changing diet.  I found locally fermented tempeh and locally milled flour, but they both cost more than three times their non local options.  The French Broad Food Coop did have some fava beans from either Jake’s Farm in Candler or Gladheart Farms in Asheville, along with local shiitakes from the Mushroom Co-op, Jake’s Farm’s romaine heads, and Gladheart’s local broccoli crowns.

Although I did not complete the challenge as I wanted to, I did try fava beans for the first time.  I love them (even if you have to twice shuck them), and I devoured my fava shiitake dish (garlic, lemon juice, and olive oil being the non local interlopers).  The next step is to either commit to a CSA share, more homegrown food, or to tailgate market shopping.  Last year we did so well with all our victory garden herbs, arugula, kale, and tomatoes, but we completely dropped the ball for this year.

Congratulations to Small Footprints at Reduce Footprints for once again challenging me to see past my own greenwashing.

Change the World Wednesday Challenge from ReduceFootprints

This week the challenge is to be a locavore for at least three (or one full day if you eat min meals) of the twenty plus meals that make up your dining week.  In this town many a restaurant makes it easy; Laughing Seed Cafe has a farm that they source many things from, and many other restaurants either do the same or use local farmers.  Even though my fair city makes it much easier than other places, it is summer, and I love mangoes, which don’t grow in zone 7.  I am embarrassed to say that I don’t know exactly what is in season throughout the year, but thankfully, Appalachian Sustainable Agriculture Project has a friendly chart for the area.

Many a critic of eating local will argue that it is too expensive, and I agree that it can be pricey; however, the trick is to grow it yourself or make friends with someone who does.  My co-worker rents, and she still grows zucchini, red peppers, eggplant, tomatoes, basil, parsley all in containers.  Although this year some unexpected family emergencies gave us a pass on planting our victory (against corporate agriculture) garden, we have big plans for next year.  Alternatively Community Supported Agriculture shares are a great thought for those without the time or the inclination to grow their own vegetables (or the space to raise chickens, cows, goats, etc).

I will post some photos of our local meal, as its content will depend on what Mom has ready for harvest and what the Coop has in stock.

Goodbye Buddha Bagels

With a heavy heart, I report that Buddha Bagels is closed.  Last week when I went in for my weekly bagel pick up, Mystic Journeys was closing so I guess it should’ve clued me to ask if the bagel shop would stay on, but alas it didn’t.  I was not the only surprised customer this morning to read the simple note: “Buddha Bagels is permanently closed.”  Now I have no choice but to follow Smitten Kitchen’s bagel lesson unless anyone knows of a local bagel shop.

Delectable Veg Dinners

Even though Strive Not to Drive is a great way to get one think about transportation, it was much easier for me to cut to meat out of my diet than it has been to cut the oil consumption.  While we do eat animal flesh (eew that sounds a bit gross) on special occasions, at home we are almost exclusively vegetarian (almost because my Alabama man has to bring home his Dad’s gumbo).  I don’t plan on cooking vegan, but I like it when it just happens that way (like with most of the stir fry meals).  Although I have moved from whole cow’s milk to soy back to organic skim or 1% cow’s milk on to almond milk, neither of us can dream of giving up cheese (or fish and seafood for that matter).

Our stand by veg dinner is stir fucking fry, so named because it is so easy that it used to get heavy rotation on the meal calendar.  This week has been my week to cook, and I had menu writer’s block so I had two nights of stir fry.  In my defense both were used to clean out the refrigerator of some forgotten provisions, which is the other big plus.  The third benefit is the you can cheaply pack in the protein; last night I made peanut butter stir fry with tempeh and lentils (rounded out with brown rice, onions, carrots, celery, garlic, ginger, and scallions), and between the two of us we can easily make three meals out of it.

 My honey, the chef, made a meal that is much more aesthetically pleasing.    He created loose terrines with sauteed spinach and onions, baked butternut squash  rounds, goat cheese, and soysage slices.  They were delicious, and they looked so elegant.  I think soysage is the perfect vegetarian starter food because it looks,  tastes, and smells like sausage slices straight from the refrigerated food section.  Laughing Seed serves soysage at brunch every Sunday along with homemade  biscuits and vegetarian (possibly vegan) gravy.

Quick and Simple

 

With the weather roller-coaster, I decided to make miso soup to help us stave off colds.  Miso soup is my chicken noodle as I hate chicken and the memories of overcooked, bloated noodles that haunted the stuff from the cans.  Not only is miso tasty, cheap (16 oz tub for about seven dollars at the Co-op, but for about eight cups of soup I only used two tablespoons), and super healthy but it works wonders by turning a few veggies and some watery stock into a simply satisfying entree way beyond soup.  Unlike other soups, miso is so flavorful that you really only need to warm the stock rather than cook it down.  For an accompaniment (and just be sure that I could eat left over soup for the next few days) I also cooked up some brown rice then sauteed some garlic and kale in sesame oil and garnished it with sesame seeds and peanuts.

Miso Soup

1. Press and drain one half pound of firm or extra firm tofu, then dice or you can crumble it
2. Peel and chop one medium onion in a medium to fine dice
3. Peel and dice three to five cloves of garlic
4. Peel and cut one medium to large carrot into thin discs or half moons
5. Cut three pieces of kombu (assuming pieces are 1-2 x 5-8 inches); I have also used a few sheets of wakame cut into one inch squares
6. Heat a tablespoon or two of sesame oil over medium-high heat
7. Add the onions and tofu (be careful of the oil splatter from the wet tofu) and cook until tofu has browned a bit
8. Add the garlic, carrots, and kombu then pour three cups of veggie stock plus one cup of water into the pan
9. Bring the stock to a boil and then reduce to a simmer for five to ten minutes or just enough to heat the liquid and soften the kombu (if using the wakame don’t add it until after the stock has boiled)
10. While the stock is heating, thin two tablespoons of miso paste (I usually use red or chickpea) with water to give it the consistency of creamy salad dressing
11. Remove the stock from the heat and temper the miso paste with some of the soup; the soup should not be too hot as you will kill the probiotics and reduce miso’s health benefits
12. Once the soup is serving temperature, combine the miso liquid and the soup then serve
13. This stores fine in the refrigerator, but I have never been able to keep it for more than a few days.  When reheating be sure not to boil the soup.

 

miso soup

 

 

Monday was on the other end of the temperature scale when my husband made his meal plan and did his shopping so he grabbed arugula, a pear, walnuts (which also went into the pesto), and yummy, stinky bleu cheese.  I think the red onion got lost, but he reduced some balsamic vinegar which I whipped into a nice, sweet dressing with olive oil.  Not being a fan of the walnuts, I supplemented the crunchiness factor with sunflower seeds.  It was a classic bistro salad, and topped off with some coarsely ground pepper I wanted to germinate some arugula seeds and get them into some dirt.  Although this arugula was fine, it pales in comparison to the spicy yet freshly sweet stuff we harvested from last year’s victory garden before the rising temperature cooked the bitterness into it.  The pear was wonderfully ripe and sweet with that beloved grainy texture; with it being so out of season I can’t tell if my taste buds were being nostalgic.  Of course my favorite was the cheese; it had the creaminess of gorgonzola with the tangier bite of danish blue.

 

arugula, pear, and bleu salad

 

bleu close-up

homemade truffles

For the first time ever I made chocolate truffles.  I had been much intimidated about the prospect of making truffles, but really it was much easier and less time consuming than I ever imagined.  Although the results were not as good as the French Broad Chocolate Lounge, I was quite satisfied (as was my husband).  I followed Smitten Kitchen’s recipe for the most part; being lazy and not inclined to don latex gloves, I did not coat the truffles with the ganache or the cocoa powder.  I also treated them like drop cookies (partly my laziness but mostly not having tips and a pastry bag), and to reduce the trash, I used my silicone pastry mat in lieu of the parchment paper.  I made two rounds as I had enough leftover chocolate when I decided to skip the ganache coating; for my first round, I didn’t have enough freezer space so I hardened them in the refrigerator for about forty-five minutes or so, and on the second round I cleaned the freezer so the truffles could spend thirty minutes hardening off.  However, both times (even after spending a day stored in a storage container in the refrigerator) they melt just a bit on your fingers while being consumed.  Any thoughts would be welcome (although I guess I could just eat them whole).  I foresee many a future batch, and some will be flavored with Bailey’s and others with Jameson’s and maybe others will have creme de menthe.

Forays into Smitten Kitchen

The past two nights I have cooked up Smitten Kitchen fare; both nights have been smashing successes.  Friday was a simple snack of a dinner as we both ate late lunches.  My honey was a bit put off by the thought of eggs and red sauce, but I trusted the photos.  The only thing I missed was the side of cooked greens, although I think kale would have been more appropriate as we hold different opinions as to how cooked spinach should be.

On our toasted bread I added some cheap deli swiss, and I made the red sauce spicier and threw in an extra glug or two of wine  (shiraz).  The extra wine gave the sauce this really intense red color, and the flavor was married nicely with the spice.  My  honey even went and poached another egg with the tiny bit of leftover sauce; this will certainly make it onto the quick and easy  dinner rotation.  Making this in the summer will require some victory garden basil with victory garden tomato sauce, and  maybe Mom’s backyard eggs.

Last night got off to a late start because even though I remembered to run the store for the noodles, I managed to forget that I  had consumed the last of the cooking wine.  The mushroom bourguignon was well worth the wait.  Due to all the simmering  and reducing, this is too time consuming to be on the quick dinner rotation, but it is certainly easy and could be prepared while  completing some other task.  Being the garlic lovers we are, I doubled the two cloves called for, but on the next round I think I  will double it again and possibly add some more onion.  Another thought would be to add seitan.  Also I don’t understand why  a roux wasn’t called for; it would have been easier to combine into the stew, and it would have provided some extra nutty  complexity as well as gorgeous glossiness.  In lieu of the egg noodles, I opted for whole wheat; I don’t like sour cream, but my honey enjoyed it with his dish.

creminis

onions and carrots

reducing the wine

mushroom bourguignon

Thanks to Smitten Kitchen for such a beautiful website with delicious food; in fact, Smitten Kitchen was nominated for three Bloggies.  Vote here!