Posts from the ‘Meatless/Vegetarian’ Category

Aug 15

Peach Hand pies With Buttermilk Molasses Glaze For Fiesta Friday #29

Little peach pies

This week for the party I decided to bring dessert, you can never have too much pie IMHO. I got some O’Henry Peaches from Food52 via Frog Hollow Farm, they were expensive but I was intrigued having never heard of O’Henry Peaches and wondered how they taste in comparison to the peaches I get at the green market. Well, let me tell you they are pretty amazing, luscious, tart sweet, juicy, I could go on and on. I don’t think I have had a peach that good since I had some Georgia peaches years ago. So enough about the O’Henry’s, these little pies are pretty special not just because of the peaches. The pie crust is Julia Childs master recipe that never fails me, it’s buttery and flaky and delicious. I thought it would be nice to add a glaze or drizzle to the pies, I found this wonderful full fat farm fresh buttermilk and wondered how that would be as part of the glaze with some molasses. The glaze is wonderful, simply mixed buttermilk, molasses and powdered sugar and drizzled on top of the still warm pies. The glaze is a little tangy, has some depth from the molasses and is great with the peach pie.

As always the main event is hosted by Angie@The Novice Gardener and this weeks co-hostesses are Selma@Selma’s Table love selma and her great blog and Jhuls@The Not So Creative Cook (she is really very creative). Hope you all enjoy!!

Julia Childs Pie Dough Recipe

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1/2 cup cake flour

1/2 tsp salt

6 oz cold butter cut into cubes

4 tbs cold vegetable shortening or leaf lard

1/2 cup ice water

Whisk salt and flour together, add the butter and shortening or lard, using your hands or pastry cutter work into the flour until it resembles crumbs with pieces of the butter the size of peas.Alternately you could use your food processor pulsing it. Add the water and mix with a fork until combined. Don’t over work. Gather it with your hands, divide into two discs and wrap in plastic. Refrigerate overnight or for at least an hour.

Hand pie

Peaches

2 cups sliced peeled peaches

pinch of cinnamon

3-4 tbs flour (depends on how juicy the peaches are)

1/4-1/2 cup organic brown sugar (I went light on the sugar using only 1/4 cup)

Combine everything in bowl and set aside.

Assembling:

Pre heat oven to 375 degrees.

Roll dough quite thin, it should be thick enough that it doesn’t break but try to roll as thin as you can. Cut into rounds and lay on parchment lined baking sheet. Make an egg wash with beaten egg and milk or water. Brush some of the egg wash on the edges of one of the rounds, put a heaping tbs in the middle and place another round on top. Gently press edges together and crimp with a fork that you dip in some flour. Repeat. Cut vent in the top of each pie, brush with egg wash and sprinkle with a little sugar. Place in the freezer for 15 minutes before baking then bake for 35-45 minutes until golden brown. Let cool for about 10 or 15 minutes on a rack then drizzle some of the glaze on top. I like to serve warm.

Buttermilk molasses glaze

1 cup powdered sugar

1 tsp molasses

3-4 tbs cultured full fat buttermilk (if you can find) If not regular low fat works just as well

In small mixing bowl add the powdered sugar, mix the molasses and buttermilk add by the tbs until the glaze is thick and a drizzling consistency.

Flaky pastry tart sweet peaches

Fiesta Friday

Aug 13

86 Comments

Long Bean In Tomato Sauce With Linguine

Long Beans and linguine in tomato sauce

You see in the photo of all the beautiful vegetables given to me by the wonderful lady from New Jersey that there are some very long beans, I have had long beans in Asian cuisine but never actually made them myself. I decided to take this Asian green bean and take them to Italy. This dish is similar to something my Mom made when I was a child. She would cook green beans in tomato sauce,the tomato and green beans were usually from my Fathers garden. It was one of my favorite meals, I loved to grate some pecorino romano cheese on top and eat with bread. I changed it a little adding some linguine to the beans and sauce.

New Jersey’s finest fresh vegetables

Long beans have a distinct flavor similar but not exactly like green beans. If I had to describe it I would say it’s more floral if that makes any sense to you. They are delicious and become very tender when cooked. The beans were cooked with shallot and garlic in tomato sauce from those beautiful fresh tomatoes you see here. You really don’t need a recipe for this, nothing has to be exact, make it according to taste.

Long Beans in tomato sauce:

Approximately 1/2 lb long beans, washed, stem end cut and cut the beans to whatever size you find manageable.

2 cups puree tomato

1 shallot

2 cloves garlic

pinch crushed red pepper flakes

salt and pepper to taste

Optional tbs of butter

Heat some olive oil in a saute pan, add the shallot, garlic and crushed red pepper flakes and saute until they softens, add the beans and toss to combine with the oil and aromatics saute for a couple of minutes. Add the tomato sauce, turn the heat to medium, cover with lid slightly adjar and let cook stirring occasionally until sauce has reduced and beans are cooked through.After the beans are cooked you can add the optional tbs of butter.

Beans in sauce

Cook your linguine or pasta of your choice to desired doneness and add to the tomato and beans, cook for a minute or two. Turn off the heat grate some romano or parmigiano or both on top and toss to combine.

Really good!

Aug 10

114 Comments

A Simple Bread Salad For Fiesta Friday #28

New Jersey’s finest fresh vegetables

I’ll be honest everyone, last week was rough for me. Not only was I extremely busy with work but I have to somehow balance demanding workload with 2 very sick senior dogs who are deteriorating despite my best efforts. According to my Vet he thinks Nando had a minor stroke, Izzy has had a very hard time breathing it seems only one lung is usable, the right side of her heart is enlarged, her trachea and bronchial stem have collapsed. They are also both diabetic. You have to know how much I love my dogs and would do anything to make hem happy and as comfortable as possible. I lacked inspiration to make anything substantial but did get a wonderful surprise via my friend who lives in New Jersey, it seems her neighbor a feisty Italian lady is quite the gardener and although I have never met her in person she picked these beautiful vegetables from her garden for me. There is a story behind her tomatoes, the seeds are from Italy and every year after she harvests the tomatoes she saves the seeds to propagate the species I guess you could say.

Although this salad is very simple and really does not require a recipe it is nonetheless very special. The vegetables are all from the sweet lady in New Jersey who each year lovingly saves the seeds so that the blood line will continue and the Italian tomato lives on year after year. So my offering for this Fiesta Friday hosted and lovingly put together each week by Angie@The Novice Gardener and our amazing co hosts Saucy@ Saucy Gander and Margot@Gather and Graze. If you had to do a double take, yes, Saucy and Margot agreed to stay on as co hosts a second week in a row. That Dame Edna just won’t leave the party, she really knows how to party hard.

Panzanella aka Italian Bread Salad

Some stale bread, a couple of days old is good cut into bite size pieces

Good juicy ripe tomatoes

Shallot

Cucumber

parsley and basil

toasted pine nuts (optional) I love them in the salad

salt and pepper

red wine vinegar and olive oil

Put the bread cubes in a big bowl, mix the tomato, shallot, cucumber with some vinegar and oil, salt and pepper to taste. Pour over the bread, add the chopped basil and parsley and pine nuts. Toss to combine and serve after letting it sit for about 30 minutes. The bread needs to soak up the juices of the tomatoes, vinegar and oil.

Panzanella

Fiesta Friday

Jul 25

113 Comments

Summer Vegetable Cous Cous With Feta And Pine Nuts For Fiesta Friday #26

Cous Cous loaded with Vegetables

I wanted a quick side dish that didn’t require standing over a hot stove, I had some great vegetables that I needed to use and some cous cous in the pantry and thought this will go nicely together. The vegetables I used are tri color small peppers, orange, yellow and red, yellow squash and sweet heirloom cherry tomatoes, I cranked the oven to 400 degree’s prepared the vegetables, drizzled with olive oil and sprinkled with salt and pepper and they were done in 15 minutes. The cous cous is so easy, I’m sure you know what I mean, boil some water, pour it over the cous cous, cover and let sit. I wanted to make this more interesting so I ran to my garden and got some parsley and mint which I chopped, thought well something crunchy like nuts would be nice and I remembered I had some pignoli in the freezer, I quickly toasted them on the stove top. To finish the dish I mixed it all together with some olive oil and the juice of lemon, sprinkled with more pine nuts and crumbled fets on top. Voila, easy, quick and delicious side or meal.

Fiesta Friday #26 is in full swing and I hope you all like my cous cous dish. Angie @The Novice Gardener is always there to make sure things are running smoothly and the co hosts this week, Prudy @Butter, Basil and Breadcrumbs and Jess @Cooking Is My Sport seem to have eyes in back of their heads keeping everything organized and in order. Great work everyone!

So pretty and nutritious

Here is what you will need for 4 servings:

1 summer squash, cut into bite size pieces

10 cherry tomatoes

4 small peppers with seeds removed and cut in half.

1 cup cous cous

1 cup water boiled

pine nuts about a cup toasted

feta for crumbling

a handful of parsley and mint leaves

salt and pepper

1 lemon juiced

olive oil

Roast the vegetables in a hot oven 400 degrees for approximately 15 miniutes. Remove from oven, you can at the same time toast the pine nuts ( I didn’t think of it at the time but in retrospect it would be a good idea, just watch them carefully stirring frequently or they will burn.

Make the cous cous, when it’s rested the requisite time according to package directions fluff with a fork. Place cous cous, roasted vegetables about 3/4 of the toasted pine nuts,herbs, a little olive oil, lemon juice, season with salt and pepper and toss to combine. Sprinkle the remaining pine nuts and crumble feta on top and serve.

Fiesta Friday

Jul 19

80 Comments

Gluten Free Cherry Crisp

cup of crisp

Crisps or Cobblers or buckles or whatever you want to make are a really simple and delicious way to enjoy summer fruit or berries. I have been wanting to try working with some different flours other than wheat and bought some barley flour. This crisp is so simple and quick to make and I must say the crumble or crisp part is wonderful, I used oats, barley flour, almond flour, butter and organic brown sugar. I bought already pitted and preserved sour cherries, I don’t have a cherry pitter. It took almost no time at all to put this together and I had it for breakfast this morning, don’t judge, think about it, grains, fruit, why not? It would also make a smashing dessert!! I’m also very excited that this is my 300th post!!

Crisp or Crumble

1 stick salted butter softened

1 cup oats (I used Bobs Red Mill, certified GF)

1/2 cup barley flour

1/4 cup almond flour

1/4 cup organic brown sugar

Mix until it’s all incorporated and set aside.

The cherries and make the crisp:

1 quart cherries (I used sour)

Scant 1/2 cup brown sugar (If using sweet cherries only use 1/4 cup)

2 tbs tapioca starch

pinch of sea salt

Pre heat oven to 375 degrees. Mix cherries, tapioca, sugar and salt together and pour into baking dish. I used a rectangular approximately 8×11. Distribute the crumble topping on the cherries, sprinkle with a little course brown sugar (like demerara or Hains organic brown. Bake for approximately 40-45 minutes or until crumble topping is browned and the fruit is bubbly.

I like to serve with a little heavy cream poured on while it’s hot.

Jul 18

93 Comments

Cold Roasted Summer Vegetable Soup Shots For Fiesta Friday #25

Summer Vegetable Soup

I’m not much of a soup person when it’s really hot out, however a cold or room temp soup is perfect summer fare. I had an over abundance of vegetables that I bought at the farmers market that I needed to use and I love roasted vegetables, I put them in salads, eat on their own or as a side they are delicious and very versatile. When I say I had a lot of vegetables I mean a lot, I roasted two 1/2 sheet pans of assorted vegetables, some I ate the others I thought I would make into a soup. This soup is a mix of asparagus, green beans, carrots, red scallions and summer squash. It takes a short time to roast and then you are done with the hot oven and all you will need is your blender or food processor, I simply put the vegetables in the processor, added salt, pepper,creme fraiche and vegetable broth. I garnished with mint and garlic that I fried in some olive oil. You can of course use whatever vegetables you like or have on hand. There really is no recipe. you puree vegetables and add liquid until it’s the desired thickness, I don’t use any spices if you like to add them I think it would be wonderful. Serve warm, cold or room temperature.

Week #25, my how time flies. Well this week our always glowing host Angie@The Novice Gardener has asked two bloggers that were the very first co hosts for Fiesta Friday, Hilda @Along The Grapevine and Julianna @Foodie On Board. We are in good hands my friends

garnish

Here is what I used:

1 bunch asparagus, cleaned and woody stems snapped off (make sure to really clean the heads they can contain sand)

approximately 2 cups green beans stem end snapped off and cleaned

6 small carrots roasted whole with about an inch of the green stem left on

4 yellow summer squash cut into large chunks

4 large red bulb scallions cleaned ends cut ( I didn’t use the long green stems only about an inch above the bulb)

vegetable or chicken broth (enough to thin the soup to desired consistency)

creme fraiche or kefir I added about 1/2 cup

salt and pepper to taste

Mint cut chiffonade

garlic sliced very thinly

Roast the vegetables in a 375 degree oven, I roasted the carrots, squash and onions longer than the asparagus and green beans. About 30 minutes for the carrots etc and 15-20 minutes for asparagus and green beans.

Remove from oven and place in processor with some stock, process until smooth. Pour into bowl and add the creme fraiche or kefir, salt and pepper, do all of this to taste and desired thickness.

In saute pan coat with olive oil, add garlic and when it just starts to turn a light brown add the mint, saute until mint is crisp and garlic is a nice light brown, remove to paper towel. When serving sprinkle some on top of each serving you can also add a dollop of sour cream.

Roasted summer vegetable soup

Fiesta Friday

Jul 15

84 Comments

Black And White Orzo With Roasted Cherry Tomatoes And Ricotta Salata

Orzo Mediterranean Style

When in Whole Foods last week I saw in the bulk pasta section several different types of pasta that are all locally made (Brooklyn) die cut and organic, I loved the look of the black and white orzo so decided to give it a try. Now I love orzo, I remember a Greek friend used to make a baked orzo dish with tomatoes that was wonderful. This is not baked and it’s not Greek but it does have Mediterranean flavors. It’s simple to make and can be served hot or cold. No recipe needed make it according to taste, if you don’t have black and white orzo use whatever you have available. I had some heirloom cherry tomatoes grown on a rooftop in Brooklyn, the basil and parsley came from my garden, I think the ricotta salata is Italian in origin but for the most part this dish is made with ingredients made or grown locally, I love that! You can add whatever herbs you like, I chose basil and parsley. This is simple to make, no recipe required, tailor to your tastebuds and is good hot or cold.

Makes 2 servings

12 (approximately) cherry tomatoes

2-3 cloves garlic skin removed

1 cup orzo

handfull basil and parsley

ricotta salata (a little less than a cup cubed or broken into small pieces)

olive oil

salt and pepper

Heat oven to 375 degrees, lay parchment or foil on 1/4 sheet pan, place the tomatoes whole on the sheet pan along with the garlic, drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper, Roast for 20-30 minutes or until tomatoes are soft, a little caramelized and have given off some of their juices, the garlic should also be soft. Remove from the oven to cool. While tomatoes are roasting boil the orzo, I like it al dente it took about 15 minutes. Drain and put in bowl, chop the basil and parsley and ricotta salata and add to bowl, Smash the garlic with a fork and mix with the tomatoes, add to the orzo and toss to combine. Before serving check for seasoning and drizzle some good olive oil on top.

Jun 19

72 Comments

A Guest Post, Light French Crepes

Crepes Suzette courtesy Elsa La Pintade Aixouse

This beautiful recipe comes all the way from France from the beautiful Elsa of La Pintade Aixoise. Now anyone who has read my blog on a fairly consistent basis knows I am a big fan of Julia child. I have used her recipe for crepes for much longer than I care to admit and it’s perfect, I love it, but I am always excited to try a new recipe especially one that is “light. Elsa’s crepes contain no butter in the batter and I was skeptical but you know what, it really produces a wonderfully light crepe. Who knew. I always trust the French when it comes to the culinary arts, they know their stuff. This post was actually supposed to be a part of my basics series a few months ago but Elsa had a baby and was away from blogging for a while. I am so happy she is back and posting again. I do love her blog, there are several fantastic blogs that I follow from France and they are all amazing. Look at her post for the classic Crepe Suzette or her gorgeous Macaron or her Apple Cardamom Tarts

I had to try her recipe and it was easy to make and the crepes are perfect. Be sure to let your batter sit in the refrigerator for at least an hour. Have melted butter and brush ready to brush onto your crepe pan and make sure the pan is hot enough before adding the batter and swirl and swirl so that you have a thin coating on the entire pan. It’s really easy and crepes are always impressive and I love that they can be breakfast or an elegant dinner or dessert. The recipe makes a lot of crepes, I like to freeze them with a sheet of parchment in between each crepe and slipped into a ziplock bag. Remove what you need let come to room temperature and heat in the oven or quickly in a fry pan.

Breakfast crepes

Light french crêpes

Unlike pancakes, the french crêpes are very thin. The light can be seen through.
For 20 items of 8 inches diameter :

Pastry flour: 8.8 ounce
Salt: 2 pinch
Eggs: 4 large
Half fat milk: 2 US cups
+
A flavor of your choice:
1tsp of rhum or triple sec (orange alcool),
1tsp of orange flower water,
1 packet of vanilla sugar,
a grated citrus peel…
+
Butter or shortening for cooking

Pour pastry flour and salt in a bowl. Dig a well and put eggs into it.
Stir with a whisk. Keep carefully stirring in the center of the bowl, flour and eggs will stir together and lumps will be avoided.

Add 1/3 milk and the flavor of your choice, keep stirring at the center. Then add little by little the rest of the milk till the batter be completely homogeneous.
Whisk firmly two or three time perfectly scrubbing the edges of the bowl.Let the batter rest during an hour before cooking.

Stir the batter.
In a hot 8 inches diameter frying pan, let melt a 1/2 tsp of butter and drop the excendent with absorbing paper. Stir on the frying pan a 1/4 cup of the batter.
Turn quickly the frying pan to spread the batter very thinly all over it.
When edges of the crêpe get golden and move away from the frying pan, flip the crêpe with a wooden spatula and get the other side golden.

May 24

86 Comments

The Virtuous Lacto-Fermented Vegetable For Fiesta Friday

Mixed Vegetables

You will probably think I am terribly boring bringing lacto-fermented vegetables to a party. But wait until you taste them, they are absolutely delicious and go so well with any number of savory dishes. I found some beautiful carrots. kirby cucumbers, sugar snap peas and spring onions at the farmers market and decided to try my hand at lacto-fermentation. I recently read about the health benefits you get from eating vegetables preserved in this manner on the wonderful website Healthy Green Kitchen it sounded delicious and super easy to do, mind you I am not one who is adept at preserving anything. So this is my offering for the party, crunchy healthful lacto-fermented vegetables.

I am very excited to participate in Fiesta Friday #17 and this weeks hosts are Jhuls@the not so creative cook and Selma@selma’s table and Alex@Dinner Daydreams. Of course I can’t forget the always effervescent Angie who put this whole party together. Thanks Angie and our lovely hosts.

Lacto Fermented Mixed Vegetables

Makes 2 large Weck Canning jars

3-4 kirby cucumbers cleaned and cut into quarters

4 small carrots. cut in half and halved again

4-6 scallions with part of the green cut off, cleaned and ends trimmed

approximately 1 cup sugar snap peas

4 cloves garlic, smashed

4 tbs sea salt

2 tsp peppercorns, I used a mix

1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes

Wash your jars with warm soapy water. Place all the vegetables, salt, garlic, peppercorns and crushed pepper in large non reactive bowl and toss to combine. Let sit for 15 minutes stirring frequently to coat the vegetables with the salt.

Fill the jars with the vegetables and top off with spring or filtered water leaving about an inch space at the top. Make sure your vegetables are covered or completely submerged in the water. Place lid on the jars and secure. Let sit on the counter for 2-4 days. They are now ready to eat. Refrigerate after opening.

Pretty vegetables

May 18

64 Comments

Spaghetti With Broccoli And Garlic And Parmigiano Lemon Bread Crumbs

Pasta and broccoli

There are so many delicious sweet treats for Fiesta Friday #16 that I decided I would bring a savory dish. I make this often, practically every week, it’s one of my favorite quick and simple meals. I find that making some of the components of the dish in the morning really help this to come together quickly for dinner. I like to make the breadcrumbs and steam the broccoli in the morning. The breadcrumbs taste so good when they are made a few hours ahead of the meal. I also steam the broccoli in the morning and saute in the evening before serving. There really is no recipe per say for this dish, but here are the list of ingredients and instructions.

Fiesta Friday #16 is hosted by Elaine@foodbod and Stacey@10 legs in the kitchen and to find out more about Fiesta Fridays and hopefully join the party visit Angie’s lovely site The Novice Gardener. I must say I am having a blast participating, there are so many great cooks, we all have fun!

Broccoli- cut into bite size pieces

2 cloves garlic thinly sliced

pinch of red pepper flakes

spaghetti or pasta of your choice

approximately 1/4 cup chicken broth or pasta water

Bread crumbs (preferably fresh bread crumbs)

1 clove garlic minced

olive oil

parmigiano grated

pinch of lemon zest (zest of half a lemon)

black pepper a few turns of the pepper mill

salt if needed

Mix bread crumbs, lemon, parmigiano and black pepper. In saute pan heat some olive oil and add the minced garlic, now add the breadcrumbs and saute until toasted a golden brown. Remove the bread crumbs and set aside, don’t clean the pan use the same pan for the broccoli.

Steam broccoli to your desired doneness, for this dish I like it pretty soft, probably softer than most of you would want to cook it. I steam it for about 8-10 minutes. Put the water (be sure to add salt to the water) on for the spaghetti, when boiling vigorously cook to al dente and remove, save some of the water. To your saute pan add olive oil, garlic and pepper flakes, saute until the garlic softens and starts to turn a very light brown. Add the broccoli and stir until it’s covered with the oil and garlic, saute for a few minutes, add the chicken broth or reserved pasta water and cook for a few minutes, add the pasta and toss with the sauteed broccoli and cook for just about a minute. Remove from pan. Top the spaghetti with the bread crumbs and serve. I like to add more cheese.