Any Excuse

Yesterday I decided to throw together a special dinner for St. Patrick's Day. I don't have many decorations for the spring holidays (St. Patty's or Easter) but I do try to make it a point to display what little I have because Molly loves it. I know we're not Irish but we love any excuse to do something fun around here.

Corned beef is one of the main things I miss as a vegetarian. I'd rather have corned beef on St. Patrick's day than turkey on Thanksgiving. I've managed to live without either one for a while now. I know that the above picture doesn't look like a very exciting substitute but I promise you that those humble little potatoes and sprouts turn into something magical when you throw in a little bit of ghee...

I actually used two small pans to roast all of these guys so they could get some good surface area on the hot dish and get all nice and brown. I roast them on the better side of 45 minutes at 400 degrees. I pan cooked some Tofurkey Italian sausage and tossed them in with the veggies. This might've been the best sprouts I've ever made. Molly and Chris devoured them. I used to use olive oil but I'm a firm ghee convert now. There is a local supplier in West Windsor who makes their own organic ghee from grass fed cows. They will most likely be at the WW Farmer's market this coming season and you can also get their awesome product at Whole Foods on Route 1.

This is my tiny set up. I found that knitted clover at a thrift store years ago and I've used it every year since then. The eggs are s+p shakers. I also have a great brooch with a real preserved four leaf clover in it that I found on our last trip to Red Bank.

I realized that I didn't have any Irish soda bread so I remedied the situation today. McCaffrey's doesn't have bad soda bread. My favorite comes from Delicious Orchards in Colts Neck. We had Guinness in the fridge but I went for a Stella Artois. Nobody pinched me so I believe it's safe to assume that I got away with it.

A Southern Tradition

Where I grew up, every year had to start out with some black eyed peas if you want it to be a good one! I decided to get a solid leg up on my beans by soaking them last Tuesday and then slow cooking them over the next three days in my crock pot. I seasoned them up the way I do all of my beans: an onion (the color doesn't really matter), at least four cloves of bruised garlic, 3-4 small bay leaves and some sea salt. This never fails to yield a satisfying pot of grub.

The black eyed peas are traditionally accompanied by greens. Some say collards but I don't really know for sure if your choice is limited. Since I did such a good job with my peas, I let Trader Joe's give me a hand with the rest. They sell a bag of chopped mix greens so all I had to do was dump them in boiling water and let them simmer. My bases were covered because it was a mixture of collards, mustard and turnip greens. They turned out absolutely fantastic and I will definitely be buying those guys again!

The cornbread....not so much. I made it from a TJ mix that only called for an egg, milk and oil. I let my pan preheat in the oven with some ghee and then added the batter once it was nice and hot. This was total yankee cornbread. Way too sweet for me. This is a common problem up in these parts. McCaffrey's also has incredibly sweet cornbread. It tastes like it should have chocolate icing on top. The best place I've found to buy cornbread, so far, has been Wegmans.

There is an important detail in the second picture that must be discussed: pepper sauce. As hard as it is to find cornbread up here, it was even harder to find pepper sauce. I think we scored some at Shop Rite but it's difficult to remember because we bought it a long time ago. I just refill it with white vinegar. It tastes absolutely awesome on greens. You don't need pork fat to knock those guys right out of the park.

The peas are supposed to bring good luck and the greens are for money. Here's hoping for a healthy and prosperous 2010 for all of us!

Bring us some noggy pudding

During the past few weeks, I've been to several holiday parties. The group of knitters that comes into the bookstore on Thursdays had their shindig earlier in the month. A few weeks ago, one of the ladies, Susan, brought in some leftover bread pudding that she had made for the holidays. She said it was made with eggnog. I usually don't care for it but that didn't deter me from sampling the dish. I must have had a wild hair that day. I'm glad I didn't skip out because it was good! I asked her for the recipe and she wrote it down for me. Not only is it tasty, it's easy!

Instead of bread, she uses Italian panettone. I have to admit that I normally skip over these guys at the grocery store but at the same time, I've always been curious about them. I was excited for the excuse to pick one out from the display at Trader Joe's.

The recipe is simple:

1 Italian panettone

1 quart of eggnog (Do not use lite! Get the real deal!)

4 eggs

1 tsp nutmeg

1 tsp of vanilla

Break up the bread and put it into a casserole dish. Whip the eggs, nog, nutmeg and vanilla together and pour it over the top. I used a ladle for more even and controlled distribution. Bake it for 50 minutes to an hour at 350 and then you get this...

I made it for a party with some friends the other night and it went over quite well! I've had it warm and cold and it's delicious either way! You could probably even add a touch of rum or brandy to the batter before baking. It couldn't hurt!

This was a hectic, yet wonderful holiday season for me and I hope that it was equally joyful for anyone reading this. Merry Christmas!

The Journey (Part 3)

The past few days have been a baking whirlwind. I guess that meeting Nigella really brought out the domestic goddess in me!

I let my fruitcake mixture sit for a few extra days but it was fine in the fridge. I could have done the baking by Friday but I was obviously busy that day! Saturday saw a bit of a more pressing matter....

These bananas needed to get taken care of! I wanted to have a backup for people who think they don't like fruitcake and also for those who are allergic to nuts since they have pecans in them. I decided to, once again, use the banana bread with chocolate chips and ginger recipe from A Homemade Life. Nine ultra ripe bananas yielded quite a bit of cake!

Two big loaves and four mini loaves. Perfect for teachers and coworkers. I am probably going to take one to my French teacher tomorrow since it's my last class. I didn't forget about the Paris posts on Tuesday. I have a really good one cooking up but I need to get my hands on all of the components first! It won't be ready by tomorrow.

Anyways, back to my fruitcakes. I had two jars of buttery spiced fruit and rum mix to work with. That ended up making two big cakes and six minis!

I was dying to use my St. Nicholas mold I got in Germany. There were some issues but I think I managed to salvage it. Whew! It's a real shame to let any of this stuff go to waste! I would not have been happy! It looks a bit messed up on the bottom but it's the cake that was meant for the house anyways.

These are the six minis. For the next two weeks, the cakes will be periodically basted in Kirschwasser. The flavor will mature and they will be ready to give as gifts. They'll be done on December 21st so I barely made it! I need to start them earlier next year. The longer they have to sit, the better they are! I heard that they start them at the end of October in England. I am going to aim to do the same thing!

We'll see if it actually happens.

The Journey (Part 2)

I removed my rum plumped fruit (aka macerated fruit) from the jar tonight and marched onward to the second step.

I figured that I probably had enough fruit for three large loaves of cake so I tripled the recipe. That means, I put a ton of butter in it! I also added the sugar, spices and unfiltered apple cider.

I let it all simmer for a while and relished the lovely scent. My house only smells like this one day a year and I absolutely love it!

I let the pot and the precious contents cool and then put it back into the jar. The liquid was slightly thicker. I actually had to use a second jar because there was much more than what I started with due to the additional ingredients.

Now it has to sit in the fridge for two days.

The Journey (Part 1)

I started the almost three week journey to fruit cake today. Yes, I said fruit cake.

It's a personal tradition now for me to make Alton Brown's Free Range Fruit Cake recipe for the holidays. I enjoy the process and it's delicious!!! Fruit cake has a bad wrap but this is seriously good stuff and the people who are lucky enough to receive it as gifts RAVE about it.

Step one is to soak the dried fruits in spiced rum for 24 hours.

We have cranberries, cherries, currants, golden raisins, candied ginger, prunes and apricots combined with the zest from one lemon and one orange.

More to come...

Thanksgiving Takeout

I figured I'd better write about this while it's still somewhat relevant! You get two posts today since the laptop ate my brotchen post yesterday.

For the second year in a row, I've relied on McCaffrey's, a local grocery chain, to supply me with a yummy alternative to turkey for Thanksgiving. So far, I haven't been sorry. They offer what is basically a vegetarian pot pie that is loaded with seitan and dressing. I usually order the smaller version which is $16.99 and I am able to pick it up that morning before they close. It's up to me to bake it and that usually takes about an hour to an hour and a half. I baste it with butter and stick it in a 375 degree oven. It also comes with gravy! Last year it was sort of bland but they improved their game plan this year because it was really awesome!

It's a good size too. I ate my fill of it for Thanksgiving and still had a ton of it leftover to share with some friends last night. It reheats really well in the oven.

I know it's difficult to imagine Thanksgiving without turkey. This is my 3rd turkeyless holiday and it's getting easier. Especially when there's usually so many delicious sides to choose from...

My mother-in-law always makes a dish of stuffing outside of the turkey. She also makes killer stuffed mushrooms that I will try to get the recipe for and post someday. They're seriously good. She actually made her own cranberry sauce too! Needless to say, she was busy! Top that plate off with some mashed potatoes and brussels sprouts and I had it going on! I didn't even have room for sweet potatoes. I had to eat some food off of my plate first! I was just as full and happy as the people who ate turkey.

We also repeated our pumpkin pie order from Cranbury Delights this year as well. I didn't get a picture of it before it got eaten up.

Click here for a listing of McCaffrey's locations. It really is a great place to shop.

Cranbury Delights

64 N Main Street

Cranbury, NJ 08512

609-409-6777

Dias de los Muertos

Last Sunday, I took down my Halloween decorations (I was pretty impressed with myself for being so quick about it!) and I used the space that was occupied by my haunted village to put up my Dias de los Muertos altar. I used lot of TLC and I think it came out pretty good. A friend of mine told me that I'd obviously forgotten some of my Halloween decor but I told him that this was something different. I agree that it looks a bit morbid but The Day of the Dead or All Souls Day is actually very beautiful.

As I was adding the various elements to my altar, I fondly recalled the loved ones that have passed on from this world. Grandparents, my friend Pat, Chris' brother Adam.... I used those serene moments to send thanks for their impact on our lives and to hope that they all know how much we still love and miss them.

I cooked a huge meal and invited some people over. One family was sick but we were fortunate that the Grady family was able to make it. I know it's a Mexican holiday but I cooked Indian food. I was seriously craving it. I did make a banana bread in my new skull pan. It turned out really cool...

This is actually the recipe from A Homemade Life for banana bread with chocolate chips and candied ginger. It wasn't planned to far ahead. The fact that I had four very ripe bananas in my fruit basket sealed the deal!

It was a huge pan so I doubled the recipe. It turned out really nice. I had enough leftover to send home with my guests and to offer up to my Tuesday knitters and they were all swooning over it.

The Grady's just welcomed their second child, a baby boy, into the world on October 2nd. I was holding him and just reveling in his newness. The circle of life really is a wonderous thing.

Cinco de Mayo....a few days later.

There's a lot of controversy surrounding Cinco de Mayo.  Some Mexicans seem to get all in a huff over the fact that we choose to have our friends over for good eats and drinks on May 5th.  I don't let it bother me.  And they shouldn't let it bother them!  I mean, it's sort of a tribute!  Who doesn't love Mexicanesque type edibles?  It's one of the more vegetarian friendly fares so I never have to worry about starving to death. It also seems to bring out the best in everyone because it's the type of food that just makes people happy!  (Especially my husband!)  I have great memories of taco and burrito night when I was growing up.  It's a perfect excuse to get together and have some fun!  I don't see it as an excuse to drink...I see it as an excuse to EAT! Chris used to work with this Mexican guy at UPenn who never had a burrito in his life until he came to the U.S.  Go figure.

This year, I had a potluck and we had a reasonably large group of people over!  They all contributed something.  I made a big pot of brown rice, a pot of black beans and a pot of pinto beans, some salsa and some guacamole.  I also made a burrito pie from a recipe inspired by an article I saw in Family Fun magazine.  It was a huge hit!  I used vegetarian chorizo in place of beef and each layer had either refried pinto or black beans.  I also sprinkled in some caramelized onions and frozen corn.  

My salsa recipe has not changed much in the ten years I've been making it.  It isn't revolutionary or different.  The list of ingredients is a basic round up of the usual suspects.  I combine them by feel so it's difficult to really jot down exact measurements.  I can tell you that I always make my salsa the day before I plan to serve it because it's always better the next day.

I painted this bowl as a gift for Chris a few years ago when we were dating.  The man LOVES salsa and all of the associated foods that come along with it.  I always joke that if we ever need to spice up our love life, I just need to wrap myself up in a tortilla shell.  

The guacamole is more simple.  I made a huge batch for Cinco de Mayo and it got completely tapped.  The dark spots you see there are the pits.  I keep them in the guacamole because it helps to keep the avocados nice and fresh.  This bowl has ten mashed avocados in it!  I just add juice from one and a half limes along with salt and pepper to taste.  Some people also throw in sour cream but I really love the taste of avocados so I don't add much to it.  It's like the part in Love Actually where the guy is holding up the sign.

From Kale to Chocolate

I didn't want to give the wrong impression about this blog by posting all of that kale yesterday! Ha!

These bad boys are my Easter weakness. I usually allow myself two per year and I cashed my last one in yesterday. We still have plenty of chocolate in the house! My husband brought a ton of it back from Germany! It blows Cadbury out of the water (surprise?) but I still enjoyed my Cream Egg very much.

See you next year!