Scandinavian Comfort Food

This is one of my favorite recipes from Laurel's Kitchen, excluding their bread recipes, of course. I am part Swedish, and my Swedish grandmother used to make Swedish Meatballs for us. That was the only Swedish food I remember eating....ever! So, after I went veg and I found this recipe, I had to try it.

This recipe is not veganizable. Though I did try. I made Hibi some bean balls, without any gravy. She took one bite and said "yuck." So I won't tell you how I made those--if you want to try, let me know how it goes, and the recipe if it's good!

I almost always serve these with mashed potatoes, though noodles are good too (and easier). Serve alongside a green salad, or cooked kale or chard.

Swedish Bean Balls

1 1/2 cups cooked, well-drained beans (you could buy canned, but they're *so* much better if you cook them yourself! You can even cook them the day before and then put them in the fridge, which is what I did this week)
1 cup chopped onion
1 bay leaf
2 tablespoons oil

1 teaspoon lemon zest
1 1/2 teaspoons lemon juice
1 slice whole wheat bread, soaked in milk or water
1 egg, beaten
1/4 teaspoon thyme
dash nutmeg
dash cardamom
3/4 teaspoon salt, divided

1/4 cup dry whole wheat bread crumbs or cooked brown rice, if needed

1/3 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
2 cups milk
1 cup water

Preheat oven to 350.

Mash beans with potato masher, processor, or meat grinder. Saute onion and bay leaf in oil in a large skillet until the onion is golden. Remove about 1/4 cup of the sauteed onion with a slotted spoon and add it to the beans along with lemon peel and lemon juice. Squeeze all the liquid out of the bread (save it for the gravy) and work the bread into the mashed beans along with egg, thyme, spices, and 1/4 teaspoon of the salt. (Omit salt if beans were already salted.)

If you have time, chill the mixture; it's easier to shape the balls when cold. If it seems too loose, add the dry bread crumbs or rice to stiffen it. Form 1 1/2 inch balls and place on a greased baking sheet. Bake 20 minutes, until balls are dry and firm.

Meanwhile, make the gravy. Stir flour into reserved sauteed onions and cook, stirring, until flour starts to brown. Add remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt, pepper, and milk and water. Cook over medium-high flame, stirring frequently, until mixture begins to boil and thickens. Reduce heat to low and simmer another 7 or 8 minutes, stirring frequently.

Remove bean balls from baking sheet and place in the skillet, spooning gravy over them. Cover and let stand for 10 minutes before serving; they need time to soak up some gravy. Serve with mashed potatoes or ribbon noodles.

Makes 12 balls, to serve 4.

Vegetable "Patty Melts"

The Oregonian doesn't pay me to say nice things about their recipes, but maybe they should! I've been finding all kinds of good recipes in the food section lately. I tried this one on Thursday when we went to the Dorothy Day House to serve as "dorm parents" for the evening. Everyone said how tasty it was! It really was very flavorful and very easy as well. Also, it was easy to veganize: I "grilled" them in olive oil rather than butter, and I just left the feta out of Hibi's.

Alas, it's not so easy to cut and paste the recipe here, because I'm not finding the recipe on the Oregonlive website. There's a link for it, but when you click it, no recipe. Well, here comes some typing because it's *that good.*

1 cup canned artichoke hearts drained and halved (make sure it's canned, *not* marinated)
1 cup grape tomatoes or cherry tomatoes, halved (I used bitty ones and didn't bother halving them)
2 roasted bell peppers thinly sliced
6 pepperoncini peppers, thinly sliced
1/2 red onion, thinly sliced
1 tablespoon chopped fresh oregano or Italian parsley
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
sea salt and freshly ground pepper
4 pita breads, cut into 8 half-moons
2 cups loosely packed spinach leaves
4 ounces feta, thinly sliced
2 tablespoons unsalted butter (I used olive oil)

Combine artichoke hearts, tomatoes, red peppers, pepperoncini, onion, oregano and garlic in a large bowl. Drizzle the vegetables with the olive oil and vinegar, season to taste with salt and pepper, and toss to combine.

Place pita halves on a work surface with the opening facing you. Scatter about 1/4 cup of spinach leaves on the bottom of each pita. Divide the vegetable mixture evenly among the sandwiches and lay the feta cheese slices on top of the vegetables.

To grill the sandwiches melt 1/2 tablespoon of the butter in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat and heat it until sizzling. Place 2 pita halves in the skillet to cook for 1 to 2 minutes per side, until they're slightly brown and the cheese begins to melt. Repeat with remaining butter and sandwiches.

Two Desserts

Wow, the Oregonian has had some real winners in the food section recently! Here are two yummy desserts I've made from recipes found there.

Versatile and Delicious Flourless Chocolate Cake
(yeah, that's the name the Oregonian gave it)

Makes one 10-inch cake (8 to 12 servings)
7 ounces semisweet or
bittersweet chocolate, broken into chunks
1 cup unsalted butter (2 sticks)
4 eggs, separated
1 cup granulated sugar (divided)
1/2 cup
unsweetened cocoa (such as Hershey's)
1/8 teaspoon salt
Preheat oven to
350 degrees. Grease the sides and bottom of a 10-inch springform pan. Use the
pan to trace a circle of parchment or wax paper, cut it out and line the bottom
of the pan; grease the paper.

Put the chocolate and butter together in the top of a double boiler and
melt over simmering water. (You can make a double boiler by setting a
stainless-steel bowl over a saucepan; the two should fit snugly and the bottom
of the bowl should not touch the water in the saucepan.) Stir to blend and let
cool slightly.

Put the egg yolks into a medium bowl, add about half the sugar and,
with an electric mixer, beat until the mixture is light and thick and it forms a
ribbon when you lift the beater, 3 to 4 minutes.

Fold the chocolate mixture into the egg yolk mixture, then sprinkle the
cocoa powder and salt over the mixture and fold gently until well-blended.

In a separate -- and grease-free -- bowl, beat the egg whites until
they form soft peaks; gradually add the remaining sugar, beating until firm,
glossy peaks form.

Add about a quarter of the beaten egg whites to the chocolate-yolk
mixture and gently fold until blended; carefully fold in the remaining whites,
trying to preserve as much volume as possible.
Gently slide the batter into
the prepared cake pan. Bake until a wooden pick inserted in the center comes out
almost clean (you will still see a few moist crumbs), approximately 40 minutes.
Let the cake cool, in the pan, on a rack for about 10 minutes. Then, run a thin
knife around the inside of the pan to release the cake, and unlatch and remove
the side of the pan. Let the cake cool completely before cutting; it will be
fragile while still warm. As the cake cools, it will collapse like a fallen
souffle -- that's fine.

Serve wedges of the cake plain, or garnish with the topping of your
choice. I like whipped cream, creme frache or even very good sour cream, such as
Nancy's brand. You could also try custard sauce (creme anglaise), either plain
vanilla or flavored with fresh mint; a small scoop of vanilla ice cream, coffee
ice cream, fiore di latte gelato or passion fruit sorbet. I'm not a huge
fruit-and-chocolate person, but if you are, raspberries or raspberry sauce would
be just fine, too. We enjoyed this with freshly whipped cream, with a bit of sugar added.

Here's the second. I have not eaten rhubarb in my adult life before tonight. I think I had rhubarb pie one time as a kid and decided from that that I didn't like rhubarb. I can't believe I let one incident keep me from such a delicious thing! This was almost like having fresh peach pie, but much earlier than you'll see good peaches.

I made two changes to this recipe: first, I didn't add the butter you're supposed to dot on the top of the filling before you put the top crust on, and it was plenty rich. And the second thing is that I didn't do the lattice-top, just a utilitarian plain pie crust. And it worked fine. And is delicious!

Rhubarb Custard Pie

Makes one 9-inch pie
Midwesterners love their rhubarb pie straight up (strawberries are better left for shortcake), and if you try this recipe, we think you'll agree. The secret is eggs, which make a delicate custard that's the perfect counterpoint to the sweet-tart rhubarb. For an 8-inch pie plate, use less rhubarb, about 4 to 5 cups.
1 to 11/2 cups granulated sugar (depending on tartness desired)
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
Dash of ground cinnamon
Dash of ground nutmeg
Pinch salt (optional)
3 eggs, slightly beaten
6 to 8 cups chopped rhubarb, about 2 to 3 pounds untrimmed (6 cups for 9-inch pie plate, 8 cups for 91/2-inch deep-dish pie plate)
Pastry for 1 double-crust pie (see accompanying recipe)
1 to 2 tablespoons butter, cut in small pieces

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a large mixing bowl, combine sugar, flour, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt, if desired. Add beaten eggs and rhubarb, tossing to coat. Pour into pastry-lined pie plate. Dot with butter and top with lattice crust. Bake for 50 to 60 minutes, until filling bubbles and crust is golden brown.

Flaky All-Butter Pastry

Makes two 9-inch crusts, enough for 1 double-crust pie
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup unsalted butter, chilled, cut into cubes (2 sticks)
6 tablespoons ice water

Place the flour and salt in the bowl of a food processor and process to blend. Add the butter and process until well-blended, about 10 seconds. With the machine running, add the ice water and process until the mixture just begins to form a ball, about 10 seconds.

Transfer the dough to a clean work surface and, with the palm of your hand, smear it 2 or 3 times across the work surface until it is smooth and the flour and butter are well-blended. (Do not overhandle it or it will become tough.) Cut the dough in half and form into 2 round disks about 5 inches across. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour and up to 24 hours before rolling out for use. Use half to line the pie plate, the other for the lattice.

Restaurant Review

Hello from Corvallis! Weŕe here for the Life is Good Unschooling Conference, which is great so far! But I wanted to write right away about the terrific breakfast we had before leaving Portland this morning. We went to Helserś which is on NE Alberta. I read a great review on their breakfasts in the Oregonian awhile back, and wanted to go there for awhile. But we don´t often make it out for breakfast. This morning was a perfect opportunity! As soon as we looked at the menu and I saw the Pear Havarti Pie, with creme fraiche and a crumpet and fresh fruit, Paul and Zac and I decided that we all *must* have that. It did not disappoint! So very tasty. It reminded Paul of the apple pankuchen that I make (hereś another version of it, with huckleberries instead of apples) but with cheese, and creme fraiche, and very flavorful and complex.

Hibi had the Yukon Gold Potatoes, which she says had a whole bunch of onions. :-) It smelled good and she was very happy about it, but I can´t get any more info out of her than that! When she asked for a vegan version of the dish, which the menu lists as having eggs with it, not only were they willing to omit the eggs but also offered veggie sausages to replace them.

We will definitely be back!

When we got into Corvallis, we went to the local co-op, which we were pleased to find a tasty lunch menu at, as well as being able to fill up our mini-fridge at the hotel with stuff for lunch and munchies. And we´re also very happy with the locally-owned hotel we were lucky enough to find a room at (after they were sold out--today when we got in we asked if they´d had any cancellations and happily for us, they had!). Itś Salbasgeon, which I´ve been thinking is an awfully weird name...I found out today that itś name is after three Oregon fish: SALmon, BASs, and and sturGEON. Cute, eh? I do wish they´d chosen a different name. But cool hotel. :-)

Pasta with Asparagus, Leeks, and Ricotta

Well, here's another spring-time pasta with no picture! Sorry about that. I *thought* about taking a picture this time....

Hibi doesn't like asparagus so I didn't bother to make a vegan version of this one.

Anyway, during the last week in Lent I was craving a pasta dish with ricotta. Then this week, I bought some asparagus at the farmer's market. So I put this dish together like this.

Prepare two bunches of asparagus by snapping off tough ends (save for making vegetable broth!) and then break or cut asparagus into bite-sized pieces. Trim the dark green leaves from one big leek or two small ones, trim the root, and then slice in half lengthwise. Chop into 1/4 inch pieces and then rinse like crazy to get all the grit and dirt out.

Start a big pot of water for pasta boiling. Cook one pound of penne (or whatever pasta you want).

In a saute pan, heat 1 tablespoon olive oil and one tablespoon butter. Add asparagus and leek and saute until nice and tender, but not mushy. Add salt and pepper to taste, and a pinch of nutmeg. When the veggies are tender, turn the heat off and add one cup of ricotta and two tablespoons of butter, cut up. Stir until the butter is melted. Toss with pasta and pass the parmesan!

Holy Thursday Artichoke Pasta

In the Orthodox church, we fast from all meat, dairy, and eggs during Lent and Holy Week. On weekdays, there's even a restriction on using oil and wine. While I no longer follow the oil restriction strictly, I do wait until weekends in Lent to cook anything overtly oily. During Holy Week, we pretty much go down to two meals a day, since we have Presanctified Liturgy on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, and the Divine Liturgy to commemorate the first Holy Supper that Jesus instituted with his disciples. Before liturgies we don't eat anything. So lunch and dinner is all we eat during Holy Week, except for Friday. So, it seems like quite a feast when, on Thursday, because of the commemoration, we are allowed wine and oil. I made this special and tasty, but pretty easy dinner tonight.

Artichoke Pasta

Hopefully you can find the little baby artichokes, because they are the easiest to use in this pasta. The baby ones don't have a choke, so you don't have to scrape one out. Artichokes are kind of needy in the way of preparation, but they're worth it!

Buy about 6-8 baby artichokes to feed a family of four. Trim as usual---taking off all the outer leaves, until you get to light green leaves. Trim off the pointy ends, and trim the stem. Cut into quarters and if there is a choke, scrape it out. Plunge each piece into cold water with lemon juice as you work.

Saute four sliced cloves of garlic in a couple of tablespoons of olive oil. Add the artichokes and a big sprig of rosemary, cut into pieces small enough to fit into your pan. Stir and cook for a few minutes, then add about 1/2 to 3/4 cup of white wine. Cover and cook on low heat for half and hour to 45 minutes, until very tender. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Cook a pound of pasta--angel hair is my favorite--and toss with olive oil. Combine with artichokes and serve.

Delicious. This is one dish that there's never leftovers of. We were all fighting for the last bit!

Pascha Bread and Pascha Cheese

I've been getting lots of hits on my regular blog for google searches for these, so I thought I'd re-post the recipes for those preparing for this Sunday's big feast! I make a Pascha bread (Easter bread) every year, along with the cheese spread. We always eat every crumb.

Paska Bread (from the Lenten cookbook Food for Paradise, adapted for home use)
2 packages dry yeast (or 4 teaspoons)
¼ cup lukewarm water
1 cup melted butter
¾ cup milk
5 cups unbleached white flour
½ cup sugar
1 teaspoon salt
4 eggs
diluted egg

Dissolve yeast in water and set aside. Combine in a large bowl butter and milk. Sift together white flour, sugar, and salt. Add the yeast mixture to the cooled wet ingredients. Beat eggs and add alternately with the dry ingredients. Knead until smooth, adding flour as needed. Let rise until doubled in bulk; it rises quite quickly and high. Punch down, knead and put into prepared greased pans (use a big round pan, or a couple of smaller pans). Allow to rise until doubled in bulk. Decorate the tops with crosses made from rolled dough. Brush the tops with diluted egg. Bake in preheated 350 oven for about an hour. Remove from the pan while hot, running a knife around the edges if necessary. Gently tip loaves out onto towels and cool on racks. This traditionally is not frosted or baked with fruit.Delicious slathered with the Pascha cheese.


Cream Cheese Paskha (also adapted from Food for Paradise)
1 pound softened cream cheese
2/3 cup sour cream
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/2 sticks softened butter
2/3 cup confectioner's sugar
golden raisins (optional)
slivered almonds (optional)

Cream the butter and add the cheese, continuing to cream them both. Add sugar and vanilla. Next stir in the sour cream and raisins and almonds in desired quantities (I never use the raisins or almonds). Spoon into bowls and decorate the top. This will keep for about a week in the fridge....I think. Our supply usually peters out about 5 days after Pascha. It is delicious as a spread on Pascha bread or bagels.

Kali Anastasi! (A Good Resurrection!)

Restaurant Review

The famous and wonderful Jennifer passed through Portland today, along with her mom, and met Hibi and me for lunch at Veganopolis. I'm so glad Jennifer wanted to go there because I have never been there before, though I keep meaning to. I think that when I'm not fasting for Lent (which entails a vegan diet) I think, eh, vegan food...I want cheese. But I don't think it was just that I've been deprived of cheese for several weeks with no end in sight yet that I absolutely *loved* the food at Veganopolis! It was scrumptious. I had the Mediterranean Sandwich, which was a cashew ricotta blended with sun-dried tomatoes, kalamata olives, basil pesto, artichoke hearts, all inside a ciabbata roll. The ciabatta seemed kind of like a cross between ciabatta and a croissant, as it was full of layers and was very crispy on the outside. I couldn't believe how good it was! Along with it (for a small extra fee) I had roasted potatoes with gravy in one side bowl and garlic ketchup in another. Yum! Now, hours later, I still have a wonderful taste in my mouth. I had a tasty lavender lemonade with it. Jennifer had the lasagna, which was a white lasagna. She said it had some kind of cream sauce, and lots of zucchini and spinach, and that it was very flavorful. Hibi had the Canadian sandwich which she also reported to be good.

A slice of oreo cake was shared by some at our table (I won't tell who!) but it looked awfully good. I had a couple of slurps of a chocolate milkshake that was also very good and chocolatey.

They have a buffet at Veganopolis, and they have a great idea for it. You can take whatever you want from the buffet, and then you pay by the pound. Isn't that a great idea? Then less food is going to be wasted, because if people know they are going to have to pay for it, they're less likely to take food they're not going to eat.

I will definitely be back, and next time I'm taking my whole family!

Late Winter Bruschetta

Tonight it was just the kids and me at dinner, as Paul was in Eugene with the university students from our parish, serving liturgy and having a catch-up time with them. So I chose something easy and tasty that we all like, Bruschetta. That entailed picking up a baguette from Di Prima Dolci, along with greens and jarred roasted red peppers and a can of Great Northern Beans from New Seasons. The little bit of shopping time was offset by the quickness of the recipe--I even had time to run to the library to get Hibi, who had forgotten that we had choir practice tonight and would have been there until 9 pm if I hadn't reminded her to come home.

Late Winter Bruschetta

Cut one baguette into slices or, make long pieces by cutting it in half horizontally and then into pieces with crust on the bottom of each. (Does that make sense?) Toast the pieces in the oven at 450 degrees, or use your broiler. When they are toasted, brush each with olive oil. I didn't rub them with garlic as I do most bruschetta, because there is garlic in the bean paste, which is plenty of garlic.

Meanwhile, process one or two cans (I used one for the three of us) of Great Northern beans or other white beans in a food processor, along with one clove of garlic. Drizzle the juice of one lemon in during processing. Scrape into a bowl.

Saute one bunch of the greens of your choice (I used rapini, also known as broccoli rabe) in a bit of oil.

To serve, make each piece of bruschetta with a smear of bean paste, some roasted red pepper, and greens on top. Enjoy!

Sushi!

My friend Jennifer told me a long time ago that I should try making sushi. She sent me her recipe for it, and I had good intentions of doing so. Now, her cookbook is out and I still hadn't made sushi....along with that, someone on the Patrick's Point campout, a fellow vegetarian, made sushi while camping! And she said to me in astonishment, "you've never made sushi???" So, I knew I had to try it someday. Jennifer had told me it was easy, but I didn't really believe her. :-) Now I know it's easy, though just a tad time-consuming....in the same way as it's time-consuming to cook dried beans, it just takes a while to cook. Well worth the effort, though!

Anyway, I'm not going to try to duplicate her recipe here. It's a process that needs some attention, and Jennifer explains it all in her book. Sadly, I'm not finding a recipe on her website for sushi, but if you like sushi it's well worth the price of the book just for this recipe. (Plus you get all the rest of the recipes included!)

So, in the picture above you see sushi, in the top middle. The fillings I used were avocado slices, grated carrot and fried tofu strips. Clockwise, there's pickled ginger which was recommended with the sushi and it has a very interesting flavor. Next is edamame which you can buy in frozen packages--it just needs a quick boil and then you can pop the beans out into your mouth. Then there is a tiny bit of wasabi, which is spicy enough that you don't need any more than that! I put a tiny dab on my plate and just barely touched the sushi to it before dipping it in soy sauce, which is what's in the bottle and what the empty ramekins are for. Paul liked the wasabi in great smears, though, and I had to mix up extra for him.

I bought the tools I'd need at Uwajimaya. If you live in the Northwest you can get everything you need there. The only thing I'd do differently is that I bought a kit that included the wooden tub for mixing and cooling the rice in, along with three wooden rice paddles and a bamboo mat. Though I already had a mat, the extra one did come in handy, as Hibi helped me roll sushi. The paddles, however, were too small and after much tossing and cooling of rice my hands were ready to call it quits. Before I make sushi again I will buy longer-handled paddles.

Raisin Bread

Yum! The first day of Lent is a good day to make raisin bread. This is one of my two Laurel's Kitchen staple recipes--the other being Buttermilk Bread. When I want totally vegan bread I make this. It's so good that when I went to take a picture of it, I found that *somebody* had pulled raisins right out of the top to eat them, after being told that we must wait until the bread is cooled to cut it. It's really better that way--if you cut more than just the heel off while it's warm, it just flattens the bread. So, the one on the right has no heel on its backside. :-)

Blini

Here's another recipe we make almost every year during Cheesefare Week (see post below for explanation of Cheesefare). It's from the Russian Orthodox tradition. We like to eat blini with sour cream, melted butter, beets and beet greens, cheese, etc. Hibi can eat the veggies, but other than that, she's really on her own this week! That's okay--she's looking forward to next week, when we'll be eating nothing but vegan food. For 7 weeks! She'll love it.

My favorite memory of blini....oh, I have two memories of eating blini. The first was the first time I ever made them. It was with the help of our friend Matthew Duskas (Matthew, are you out there somewhere? Drop me a line!) who had eaten them before and had an interest in cooking but didn't have a kitchen, as he lived in the dorms at Holy Cross seminary. So he came over and we cooked together. We invited other people from our building over to eat blini, and we served it with beets, which I also had not eaten up until that time (mainly because my mother did not like beets. Isn't it crazy the inherited food dislikes we have?). We stuffed ourselves on the delicious food and the great company. I was so full! And then I waited for the fullness to subside and it didn't. Eventually I realized I had the stomach flu. I'll spare you the details. Fortunately for me, I'm not one of those people who associates food so strongly with sickness that I couldn't enjoy the food again. I still love blini!

My second memory was when my step-grandfather, whom I just called Grandpa even though he didn't marry my grandmother until I was 17, and my children called Great Grandpa, died. He was 98, and he lived a wonderful, full, long life. I was there with him when he died--the only person I've ever witnessed pass away, and it was a beautiful, tragic, very poignant experience. Lots of family came for the funeral, including family from my grandmother's second marriage (this was her third). I decided that while everyone was in town I'd like to invite them all over and have a family meal at our house. I always enjoyed cooking.....but I had two strikes against me: one, that it was on short notice, and I was busy with the funeral and all that, and two, we lived way out an hour from Fresno and shopping for food would have taken time away from the actual cooking. So, I decided to not make one unified menu, but just to take all the dinners I'd planned for that week and make them all. It was a lot of delicious, very diverse food and everyone enjoyed learning about the Russian Orthodox tradition of blini, which was one of the things I served. It was so much fun and I'd definitely do it again!

So, with no further ado, here's the recipe for Blini. Oh, one further ado: I have played around with the rising times a lot. It can take a lot. Today, I did the first two steps and then I'm going to leave it all afternoon. I think you could probably shave off some time from one rising and add it to another rising. You can even make it one day and put it in the fridge for the next day.

Buckwheat Blini (for cheesefare week)



Ingredients

2 ½ teaspoons active dry yeast
1 teaspoon sugar
½ teaspoon salt
1 cup buckwheat flour (note: buckwheat flour, if not available from your supermarket, can be obtained at most natural foods stores)
2 cups lukewarm milk
1¼ cups all-purpose flour
¼ cup sour cream
3 eggs, separated
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
½ cup heavy cream
Melted butter for cooking
Choice of garnishes (i.e. melted butter, caviar, sour cream, chopped hard boiled eggs, sautéed mushrooms, onions and scallions, etc. I like them with butter and sugar.)

Mix the yeast, sugar, salt, and buckwheat flour together in a large bowl. Stir in the milk. Cover and leave to rise until bubbly, 1 to 1 ½ hours.
Stir in the all-purpose flour, the sour cream, egg yolks, and butter, mixing well. Cover again and leave to rise for 2 hours.
Beat the egg whites until stiff but not dry. Whip the cream until it forms soft peaks. Fold the egg whites and cream into the batter. Cover and let rise for 30 minutes.
Heat one or more crepe pans or small skillets. Brush with melted butter. Take about 2 tablespoons of batter and pour in onto a hot pan, swirling with the back of the spoon to make a pancake that’s about 5 inches in diameter. Cook over medium heat until bubbles appear on the surface and the underside is brown, approximately 1 minute. Turn and cook briefly on the other side (the second side should not be as brown). Repeat this procedure for each pancake, greasing the skillet beforehand.
Serve immediately. Right off the griddle is the best way to eat them!

Cheese Soup in Breadbowls

It's Cheesefare week in the Orthodox church once again. That's one of the weeks in preparation for Lent to begin (next Monday) where we have already said goodbye to meat on Sunday (though in this household we said goodbye long ago) and we focus on getting our fill of cheese, milk, eggs, and other goodies that we will not be partaking of during Lent.

I posted this recipe last year on my regular blog, and as I was preparing to make it this week I thought I'd post it again here. It is one of our favorites--all of us except Hibi, who never liked it anyway!

This recipe is one of our traditional Cheese Fare week's recipes. I now use a recipe for bread dough from Laurel's Kitchen Bread Book, an all whole wheat bread (I recommend the Buttermilk Bread recipe), and just use about a half a loaf's worth for each bread bowl. Shape into a tight round and place on a greased cookie sheet to rise and bake. After it's baked and cooled, cut off the top and scoop out the inside, being careful not to get too close to the outside wall. But you can, if you wish, use white bread dough, even the store-bought kind. We all think the whole wheat bread stands up nicely to the strong cheesy/beery flavor of the soup.

Here's the soup recipe:

Cheese Soup

1/4 cup butter

1/2 cup chopped onions

1/2 cup chopped carrots

1/2 cup chopped celery

1/4 cup flour

2 1/2 cups milk

1 cup beer

2 teaspoons worchestershire sauce (a vegetarian version is available at natural foods stores)

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon dry mustard

1/4 teaspoon tabasco sauce

2 cups sharp cheddar cheese

2 tablespoons grated parmesan cheese

In a large saucepan over medium heat, melt butter and saute vegetables until tender. Add flour, stirring constantly until flour is no longer raw. Reduce heat; stir in beer, worchestershire sauce, salt, mustard, and tabasco. Simmer 10 minutes. Add cheddar and parmesan cheese and stir until melted; do not boil. Ladle into bread bowls and serve.

Sweet Potato Veggie Burgers

Yum! I tried a new recipe today, from last Tuesday's Food section of the Oregonian. They were even Vegan if you use vegan mayo (or don't have any)! I'm trying to write it fast here, because somehow, after we got the burgers in the oven (and before I had the mayo whipped up) the article disappeared. The kids say it's a single-use recipe. :-) I'm assuming it'll eventually turn up, but then we did take out the recycling, and who knows where it ended up? I looked on the Oregonian's website, but alas, the Oregonian doesn't list *all* of it's recipes online. Stupid Oregonian. Oh, yeah, they did bring us a great recipe--I won't complain too much.

So, here's what I can reconstruct:

Sweet Potato Veggie Burgers

2 cups diced garnet sweet potatoes
1 cup rolled oats (I used 1/2 cup oat flour instead)
1/2 cup ground roasted peanuts
1/2 cup chopped cilantro
1 teaspoon minced fresh ginger
2 minced cloves of garlic
2 tablespoons lime juice
1/2 cup minced onion
1 teaspoon ground cumin
salt and pepper to taste

Cook the sweet potatoes in a saucepan, covered with water, for about 10 minutes until they are tender. Drain and let cool for 10 minutes or so. Put all ingredients into a bowl and squish the mixture together with your hands. The recipe said to form 4 patties, but we recommend 6--they were too big and squashy. (But awfully tasty!)

I cannot reconstruct the mayo since I didn't make it. Instead, I made homemade mayonnaise and made it into aioli by adding two cloves of garlic that I'd ground in my mortar and pestle.

I served this on homemade whole wheat buns. You don't have to make them homemade....but if you have the desire to, it sure did add to it! I'd definitely use whole wheat even if they are store bought. Oh, and lettuce, and everyone else in my family used ketchup. But I did not.

If I remember any ingredients I forgot to list, I'll add them. I hope this is right! Hey, if anyone has last weeks' Food section, let me know if I got all the ingredients right!

Two dinners and a breakfast

Wow, what a last couple of weeks I've had! A week ago Thursday, the kids and I went on the road and headed south to California. It was the Metropolis' annual Presvyteres Retreat (Presvytera is the title for a priest's wife in the Greek Orthodox Church). I had the great idea of adding on some things to do while we were in California: first, of course, was to visit my 101 year old grandmother. She lives close to St. Nicholas Ranch, where the retreat would be held. I decided to drive instead of fly because my parents are out of town and wouldn't be able to drive me over to see Grandma. Also, then I could take the kids and they could see her too. Then, I also had the great idea of picking up Zac's best-friend-in-the-whole-world, Isaiah, in San Francisco, and he could spend the weekend with us, which is just what Zac's been craving. While in San Francisco, I went out to breakfast with my brother Bruce and sister-in-law LaDonna. We went to Crepevine, one place I'd always meant to make it to in San Francisco but never did until now. Wow, was it good! I had their Santorini crepe, as I was in the mood for a sweet crepe, and was a little taken aback that it came with not only whipped cream, but also ice cream! For breakfast! Okay, I'm cool with that. Yum, it was so good.

So! After we got done with all that wonderfulness and got home on Monday, we were ready for a break (but weren't to get too long of one right away). We got home at around 3 pm on Monday, and I sure didn't feel like going to the grocery store and doing a whole lot of cooking. So, I took stock of what we had in the house and just whipped up a little stew.

Lentil Vegetable Stew

Saute one onion
and a couple of cloves of
garlic, chopped, in a tablespoon
of olive
oil. Add 1 1/2 cups lentils and a handful of sun-dried tomatoes,
chopped or torn,
and stir for a minute or so. Add one quart of water or
vegetable stock. Bring to a boil and then lower
heat. Cook for 15
minutes.

Add two
cubed potatoes (I left the skin on), half a head of
cabbage,
shredded, and 4-5 carrots,
sliced. Pour in enough water and/or stock to
just cover everything. Toss in a couple of sprigs of thyme and a teaspoon
of salt and pepper to
taste. Cook until everything is tender. Serve
with parmesan cheese.

We then headed to Seattle the next day (we're suckers for punishment) adding up to 2300 miles the kids and I were in the car, over three states, in 7 days. Yikes! This time the drive was for a regional clergy family dinner with our bishop. It was nice, and we had good food--a rarity at these things!

Recently we went to Pambiche--a Cuban restaurant. We all just loved it! So, I knew I had to try to replicate the black beans we had there, and especially the frituras names (I don't know how to put the little squiggly line over the n to make it an "enyay"). Yam fritters--we liked them so much, we ordered a second plate, and would have ordered more but we were all full by then. So, while perusing my Jack Bishop cookbook A Year in a Vegetarian Kitchen (one of my favorites, and the one I'm using most these days) I found a recipe for Caribbean Sauteed Plantains and Black Beans. So, I made that, along with a recipe I found on the web for yam fritters. I served these dishes along with a chunked mango, and though it was different from what we ate at Pambiche, it was so good! I didn't realize, though, until I was slicing the plantains that the recipe called for almost black plantains, and the ripest ones I found at New Seasons were dark green. It was still good, and they are cooked this way as well, but I think I would have sliced them into skinnier bits and cooked them like french fries.

Everything was vegan, except that the fritters call for an egg. I just took a portion out before I added the egg, and they seemed to fry up just fine. Maybe the egg is superfluous.

Plantains:

Cut off the pointy ends of two almost black
plantains. Cut into two inch slices. Make slits in the
skin, and peel off with your fingers. Saute in 2 tablespoons
olive oil. Turn once, and cook until brown but not
blackened. Remove from pan and add salt to
taste. Cover to keep warm.

Black Beans:

Saute four cloves garlic, minced, and one jalepeno, minced, in 1 tablespoon
olive oil. Cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add two 15 oz. cans rinsed and drained black beans (I used
the equivalent of home-cooked beans), 2/3 cup orange
juice, and two tablespoons lime
juice. Cook for about 5 minutes, until the juices are nearly
absorbed. Add 2 tablespoons chopped cilantro
and salt to taste.

Serve plantains over the black beans. Serve Black Beans, Plantains,
Frituras, and Mango with slices of lime for
drizzling.

"Home Sick" Soup

Paul is sick today. So when he finally felt like eating something, I offered to make him the soup I like when I'm sick. It's very quick and easy to make, and you can leave out or substitute a lot of the ingredients in it if you don't have them, because who wants to go anywhere when they're sick? As long as you have flavorful broth and an egg or two, you can make this soup.

Italian Parmesan Egg Soup

Bring 3 cups of vegetable broth to a simmer. While it's heating, stir together one or two eggs, 2 tablespoons grated parmesan, a tablespoon of dry bread crumbs, one tablespoon chopped parsley (I subbed green onion today), and one minced garlic clove.

When the broth is simmering, add the beaten egg mixture and stir vigorously until the egg is set, about a minute or less. Ladle into a bowl (or bowls) and sprinkle a bit of nutmeg on the top.

Indian Dinner

Hibi really likes this meal, and it's becoming one of my favorites. Last night we had Lentil Saute with Indian Flavors, Indian sauteed cabbage, and brown rice.

Here's how to make it.

Start rice cooking (brown rice takes longer than white rice to cook). Bring to a boil two cups of water, add 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1 cup of rice. Stir until the water comes to a boil again, then lower to a bare simmer and cover. Let cook for...?...I think about 40 minutes or so.

Bring a saucepan of water to a boil. Add 1 cup lentils and boil until lentils are tender, about 30-40 minutes.

Chop one onion (yes, I know traditionally Indian cooking doesn't use those.....if you don't want them, use asafetida instead, or not at all). Saute at low heat in 1 tablespoon of olive oil until done and somewhat browned, about 12 minutes. Add 1/2 teaspoon curry powder and two cloves minced garlic. Cook until aromatic, about 1 minute. Add the cooked and drained lentils and cook until warmed through. To make a saucier lentil saute, add some water and cook for 5 or so minutes. You can add chopped mint to this dish if you wish.

Meanwhile, shred half a head of cabbage and wash thoroughly. Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a skillet and add one tablespoon minced fresh ginger, 1 teaspoon garam masala (a spice mix), and 1/2 teaspoon mustard seeds. Laugh while the mustard seeds pop all over the place, or just add the cabbage before they begin popping. In any case, add the cabbage and cook until nicely wilted and smells wonderful.

I like to put all these on a plate, in separate thirds, and add a dollop of plain yogurt in the middle. They get mixed as I eat it. Yum! It's completely vegan except for the yogurt. I suppose you could use soy yogurt but Hibi doesn't care for it.

Almost there!

Man, I am exhausted. I'm getting too old for this! But it's a good exhausted. We closed escrow on our house on Thursday (yay!) and the seller is now in the process of moving out. He's supposed to be out by 5 pm tomorrow and we move in on Monday! We went over this afternoon and he showed us all the ins and outs of how the house works. We are all so happy to finally be HOMEOWNERS!

On Thursday evening, we were invited by a family from the church to come to dinner, then go to The Grotto to hear one of the daughter's high school Christmas concert. The Grotto has a big Festival of Lights every year and I'd wanted to get over there to see it this Christmas season, but I probably would have let busyness keep me away. I'm so glad this family invited us to come with them because the place was beautiful and the concert was wonderful. It was nice to get away from packing for an evening, too.

Vegan Cornbread

Happy Thanksgiving! I wanted to take a break from the dinner preparations to write down how I made some absolutely delicious cornbread last night. We're in Tucson at my in-laws house, and all the family is here. Last night Mom had the family's traditional Coward Lush (vegetable soup) for dinner, and she was making cornbread to go with it. It had eggs and milk in it, so I said I'd make some vegan cornbread, too. I thought I had a recipe for vegan cornbread in my Laurel's Kitchen Bread Book, which I brought along to make rolls from for Thanksgiving, but when I looked there was none. So I adapted my favorite cornbread recipe from that book and came up with the best vegan cornbread I've had!

So, here it is.

Vegan Molasses Cornbread

Stir together 1 3/4 cup cornmeal, 1 cup whole wheat flour, 3/4 teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon baking powder, and 1/2 teaspoon baking soda in a medium mixing bowl.

In a quart-size liquid measure, mix together 2 1/4 cups soy milk, 3 tablespoons walnut oil(or other tasty oil), 3 tablespoons molasses (I used blackstrap--loading on the calcium, too!) and a tablespoon of apple cider vinegar.

Stir the liquids into the dry ingredients and pour into a greased 8X8 pan or a round cake pan. Bake at 350 degrees for about 40-45 minutes, until a toothpick comes out without wet batter. Cut into squares or wedges and enjoy!

Chile Relleno

Here's the recipe I burned my poor hands on. They're feeling better, though--I think I'm going to get away with no ice, this time. It came close, though!

First, start the poblanos (or other mild peppers, like Anaheims, but make sure they're suitable--have thick enough flesh for some handling, and not too skinny) roasting. I pop mine in the toaster oven. We usually eat two each, and Zac eats one or one and a half. But the number depends on how large your peppers are, too. Tonight, I did seven and we'll have a couple left over for tomorrow. :-) (I've offered to stuff Hibi's with soy cheese, but this is one meal she's not crazy about and she's okay with making her own.)

Start some brown rice cooking--I usually make one cup rice to two cups water. Brown rice takes longer than white rice to cook, so you need to begin it before you start with anything else.

Make the ranchero sauce: In a large-ish saucepan, combine 1 tablespoon peanut or olive oil, 4 medium tomatoes, chopped, 1 small chopped onion, 1 minced garlic clove, one minced jalepeno (make sure to wear hand protection!), 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano, and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Bring to a boil, then lower the heat. Cook for around 15 minutes or so, until the tomatoes are soft and everything is well blended.

Chiles: after the peppers have roasted and cooled, peel the skin off. Make a slit (or use one that appears naturally) and carefully remove as many of the seeds as you can.

Grate some Jack cheese, about a pound. You could use cheddar or muenster but I like jack for rellenos. Take a handfull of cheese and squish it into a cylinder. Insert it into a pepper. Fill the peppers until they have plenty of cheese, but aren't over-full. Close them as best as you can, and squeeze them gently to keep them closed.

Sprinkle the peppers with flour to coat them.

Separate three eggs, and beat the whites until stiff. Beat in 1/8 teaspoon salt, then the yolks, one at a time.

Heat 1/2 inch of oil in a heavy skillet. Dip each pepper into the egg and then put it in the pan, as many as will fit without being crowded. Fry until golden on the bottom, then turn and fry on the other side.

Serve the peppers with rice alongside, with ranchero sauce over the peppers or over both.