Rugelach

I was pretty sure that I posted this before, when we first learned how to make rugelach, but I can never find it when I go looking. I made these again last night for the....like, 50th time or something, in the two and half years since I learned how! We all love rugelach.

Apricot Rugelach

1 cup butter, softened
8 oz. cream cheese, softened
2 cups flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup sour cream (optional)
apricot jam (can use another flavor jam, raspberry is good too)
currants or raisins
cinnamon sugar

Cream butter and cream cheese together, preferably in a heavy-duty mixer. Add salt, flour, and sour cream. Mix just until the dough comes together, then divide into four pieces and shape into disks. Refrigerate for an hour or more.

Roll each disk into a neat 8-inch circle, then spread with a thin layer of jam. Sprinkle with a few currants or raisins, then sprinkle cinnamon sugar on top. Cut into 8 wedges. Roll each wedge up starting at the wide edge, leaving a pointy end at the top. Place each piece on a cookie sheet and bake at 350 until lightly golden. Enjoy while still warm!

Chile Relleno Stew

MMMMM. Well, I haven't posted here for a long time, but this one inspired me to post, even if just so I have a record of the recipe for myself. Tonight, all alone, with a refrigerator full of farm-fresh produce, I wanted something to kind of simulate chile relleno but without all the work and spattering grease. So I decided to experiment.

I had extra produce because I am housesitting, and I forgot about the CSA share I was to pick up for the houseowners, and went to the farmer's market yesterday. Which, this time of year, always pulls me into buying more veggies than I can eat anyway! So much yummy produce--anything imaginable in the way of fruits and vegetables are at the farmer's market in August and September.

(I was cooking for just myself, so I'd say multiply this recipe for the number of people you want it to serve. That'll serve second large helpings or you'll have leftovers.)

So, I headed to the kitchen, and roasted two Anaheim chiles. You could use poblanos, but I like Anaheims for my chile relleno, not as spicy as poblanos. I would recommend you roast them in the oven or using a culinary torch. I....ahem....did not use one of these methods and ended up with a flaming pan later, when I took out the chiles and put in butter. (Alison and Chris, if you're reading this, don't worry! Your house didn't burn down. At least not all the way. Kidding!) You don't have to peel the chilies unless you want to or if they have thick skins. Stem and seed them after roasting, and chop coarsely.

Chop one nice yummy tomato coarsely. Cut the kernels off one ear of corn. Then melt a tablespoon of butter in a medium pan and add the tomato and corn and cook while you're chopping the rest. Chop a handful of cilantro coarsely, and slice about 1/3 cup of jack cheese.

Add the cilantro and the chilies to the pan along with salt and pepper to taste. After it's all cooked for a few minutes, lay the cheese over the top. Let it cook for a couple minutes more and then serve. I ate mine on a plate, but this almost begged a bowl.

Really fast, really easy, really yummy! Perfect for a summer evening.

Huevos Rancheros

I really have been cooking in the last six months....just not a whole lot of time or inspiration to post here. But I've been thinking in the last week about several mainstays of our family meals that I could certainly post here--food that is delicious and time-tested as I've made them over and over again.

Here's one that I love to make as a very hearty breakfast or even dinner. I especially love it after coming home from church, when we've fasted for communion, and it's noon or 1 pm and we haven't eaten anything besides communion and high-sugar coffee hour treats. But I really only make it when I have good home-cooked black beans. I used to only make it from home-cooked refried beans, but last time I just made pot beans and this turned out very well, and not refrying deletes a whole extra recipe. I think I like it just fine this way! Anyway, either follow your own favorite pot beans recipe or refried beans recipe or follow my simple recipe. And I really don't make it anymore with canned refried beans, as I just don't think it's worth it. I like to wait until I have the real thing--it's worth the wait.

Pot Beans
Rinse one pound of black beans (or substitute your favorite beans--we like black beans over pinto beans) and put in a large pot with about enough water to 2 1/2 times as much as the level of the beans. I suppose this is probably about 10 cups of water. Add one large onion, peeled and cut into quarters, 2 or more cloves of garlic, peeled, a cinnamon stick or two, a teaspoon of dried oregano, and a dried chili pepper. Bring to a boil and then simmer until the beans are very soft, 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 hours. Add at least one teaspoon salt and pepper to taste. Use as is, or make refried beans.

Refried Beans
In a large saute pan, saute onion and garlic in oil. When the onion is softened, begin adding beans (and bean liquid) by the ladle-ful. Add two or three ladles-full and then mash with a wooden spoon while stirring, then keep adding beans and cooking and stirring. If you have an immersion blender this is a good time to use it! But it's fine to leave it somewhat chunky. Continue cooking until the liquid is cooked off to make a nice bean paste. Season with more salt and pepper, if desired.

Now, how I do this is to make refried beans with homemade flour tortillas, cheese, sour cream, guacamole, and radishes or other veggies for dinner one night. We call it Mexican night, and now that I'm thinking about it, I did blog about it a couple of years ago. And then I have nice pot or refried beans leftover for the Huevos Rancheros.

Huevos Rancheros
For each serving:
Heat up your beans, about two or three spoonsful for each serving.
Fry one corn tortilla in oil on a skillet over medium heat. Be patient while frying and let it get nice and crispy, as this will affect how easy it is to cut it with your fork later, making for easier eating. Fry on both sides until nice and browned all over, pressing down with a spatula for even frying. Place the tortillas on individual plates.
On the same skillet, fry an egg for each serving. I fry them over-easy style, but you can fry them however you like them best. Season with salt and pepper.
Spread the beans on the tortillas, then place an egg on each one. Add jack cheese, salsa, and sour cream or creme fraiche.

Delicious!

Birthday Shortcake

Yesterday we celebrated Paul's 40th birthday! A big occasion! He's never been one for regular cake on his birthday. He likes pie or another kind of dessert. And falling in June, his birthday can take advantage of all kinds of summer fruit (plus enjoying it outside!).

We decided on Strawberry Shortcake this year. But with a twist! The shortcake is a Lemon Lavender Shortcake that I came up with myself! I used a scone recipe from Joy of Cooking for the shortcakes and added lemon and lavender. And just when our lavender in the garden is perfect for baking with!

Strawberry Lemon-Lavender Shortcake

For the shortcake:
Stir together 2 cups flour, 1/3 cup sugar, 1 tablespoon baking powder, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1-2 teaspoons finely-ground lavender buds (grind in a coffee grinder) and the zest of one lemon. Stir in 1 cup heavy cream and the juice from one lemon. Stir in enough extra cream for the mixture to just come together--use a light hand in mixing. Knead in the bowl just until the dough forms a rough ball and transfer to a floured surface. Roll out to about an inch thick and either cut out rounds or cut into squares. Place the pieces on a baking sheet and bake at 425 for 12-15 minutes, until golden brown.

For the strawberries:
Hull and slice 2 to 3 pints of strawberries. Place in a bowl and add sugar to taste--about 1/4 cup--and a handful of chopped fresh mint.

To assemble:
Split the shortcakes in half. Place one or two shortcakes on each plate and spoon strawberries on top. Dollop plenty of whipped cream on top of that. Enjoy!

Oh, yes, I even made a vegan version of this for Hibi. And it was surprisingly good, too! Instead of adding cream, just cut in 6 tablespoons of vegan shortening, then add enough non-dairy milk for the mixture to come together. Continue as directed. I've seen vegan whipped creams on the market but we didn't think of getting this in time....she enjoyed it plenty without the whipped cream!

Vegan Biscuits and Gravy!

I've been wanting to figure out a good way to make vegan biscuits and gravy, and this morning I made some scrumptious ones! Oh, so good! I got the inspiration from a retreat center cookbook I have, but I changed it enough that I'm taking credit myself. :-)

First, make the biscuits:

Stir together 2 cups flour (you can use part whole wheat or other flour, but I used all white this morning), 2 teaspoons baking powder, 1/2 teaspoon baking soda, and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Cut in 6 teaspoons non-trans-fat shortening (like Spectrum) until well-blended and the pieces of shortening are very small, about the size of grains of rice. Stir in 3/4 cup plain soy yogurt, then moisten the dough with enough soy milk for it to all come together. Knead just a few times in the bowl, then pat it out in a smooth layer on the counter or a large cutting board dusted with flour. Pat out to about 3/4 inches. Cut out with a biscuit cutter or a large cookie cutter and put on a cookie sheet. Bake at 450 for about 10 minutes, until golden brown and raised.

Make the gravy: toast 2 1/2 cups cashews in the oven--you can put them in while the oven is preheating for the biscuits and leave them until they're done, even with the biscuits in there too. In a small skillet, saute half a chopped onion in 2 tablespoons olive oil over low heat. In a blender, put 1/4 teaspoon pepper, 2 cups water, 2 teaspoons tamari (soy sauce), and whatever herbs you want--I used fresh rosemary and thyme from my garden. When the cashews are done, add them and blend until smooth (or pretty smooth). Add the cashew slurry to the onions and cook over low heat until heated through. Add more water for a thinner gravy. Add salt if desired.

Split the biscuits and ladle gravy over. Enjoy!

Vegan Doughnuts!

Oh my! We are going to have a great Lent! (If you're just stumbling upon this blog and wondering, we are Greek Orthodox and just starting Lent next Monday.)

Recently the fabulous Jennifer Schmoo came visiting our house! And she came bearing a gift. She brought My Sweet Vegan, a treasure for vegans and Lenten-fasters! I immediately said "We're going to have a good Lent..."

We started using it before Lent since Hibi is a vegan, and her birthday was on Tuesday. These wonderful doughnuts are what we had for breakfast. I made up the dough the night before, put it in the fridge, then on Tuesday morning when I got up I formed the doughnuts and let them rise. They were ready for frying when it was time for breakfast, and yum, what a breakfast it was! Not even us non-vegan cheese-fare people were complaining.

Now, normally I would post the recipe. My understanding is that recipes cannot be copyrighted, and I'm within my rights to post them on my blog. But the author of this cookbook Hannah Kaminsky, is still a teenager! She also homeschools. And I find it so amazing that she could come up with such a tasty compilation at such a young age, that I am going to urge you to buy the book rather than posting the recipe. If you are at my house, you are welcome to copy it yourself. :-)

Also I would usually link to the Powells site rather than Amazon, but Powells doesn't seem to have it yet. Hey, Hannah, you should sell your book to Powells! It is definitely up Portland's alley.

Also, the night before we took the Root Beer Float Cupcakes from this book to a gathering as a birthday cake. They were also scrumptious! Definitely a good resource for those of us who avoid dairy and eggs at least part time.

Note: After I posted this, I thought I should add a thought on enjoying food during Lent: I realize the point of fasting is not to circumvent the rules and make something that tastes as good as the original that we aren't eating. However, as a former neighbor at seminary once said, you can fool your tastebuds but you can't fool your body! I think this is true and we do feel differently during Lent because of what we are not eating. Also, though, the fast is loosened on weekends which is when we would be enjoying things like this. It seems so much more of a treat when you've been fasting strictly all week.

Chocolate Chip Cookies

Mystery solved! I can remember baking chocolate chip cookies where they turned out nice and plump, chewy and delicious. Then, several years ago, something changed. My cookies would spread in the oven and become paper-thin and too crumbly. I quit making them because it just didn't seem worth it. Hibi started making vegan chocolate chip cookies, with shortening and soy milk, and they came out better than my non-vegan ones! So, that made me think it had to be one of the components that are not in vegan cookies. I thought of eggs, but when I began keeping my own chickens again it didn't improve. I figured it was some change in commercial ingredients that came from the different treatment of farm animals. But I remained in the dark about what specifically it was.

Well, I don't know if that assumption was correct, but it turns out that it has to do with the butterfat content of the butter. I don't remember who it was who suggested it in conversation recently, but someone said "try European butter." My first thought was: uber-expensive Plugra? Wow, is that what it'll take for good cookies? But I found Straus European-Style butter at New Seasons and tried it out last night.

And it was definitely worth it! My cookies still came out crunchier than I like them but that was just because they got left in oven too long. But they have such a nice buttery flavor and they're plump and delicious. I used the recipe from my Kitchen Aid booklet. Oh, yeah, I bought myself a used Kitchen Aid mixer with my Christmas money, and I'm enjoying it a lot! In fact, I said I was still going to knead bread by hand, but I haven't done so since I got my Kitchen Aid.

Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup butter, softened
2 eggs
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
3 cups flour
12 oz. semi-sweet chocolate chips

Place sugars, butter, eggs and vanilla in mixer bowl. Mix on speed 2 (on a kitchen aid--low speed) and mix about 30 seconds. Stop and scrape bowl. Turn to speed 4 (medium speed) and beat about 30 seconds. Stop and scrape bowl.

Turn to Stir speed. Gradually add soda, salt, and flour and mix about 2 minutes. Turn to speed 2 and mix about 30 seconds. Stop and scrape bowl. Add chocolate chips and mix on stir speed for about 15 seconds.

Drop by rounded spoonfuls onto greased baking sheet, about 2 inches apart. Bake at 375 for 10 to 12 minutes. Remove from baking sheets immediately and cool on wire racks.

Enjoy!