I'm Stuffed

My evaluation: a bit dry and the consistency is a bit weird, but the stuffing's not bad, and maybe I shoulda cooked it longer. Not as good as the Picard-Bohler Canadian Thanxsgivings', but a bit o' sage and rosemary, a better gravy (see entry for red-wine gravy) than the pre-packaged one, and fresh cranberry sauce-- and I think this mock turkey does do the trick. And a lot more conscious I think, seeing as that everyone on this side of the world seems immediately flushed into super Thanksgiving-Xmas material madness.....

(pictured center.....)

Cheese?

Ok, this is not so much theory, but at least we're getting there. This is about cheese. I (used) to love cheese, but since dairy does not so much love me, I've (mostly) stopped eating it for the past year. And, guess what?, over the summer I've realized that I'm not addicted anymore! Check this out...

"Some have argued that the high fat content in cheese (up to 70 percent of its volume, and most of it saturated) and its creamy texture and characteristic aroma make it an especially desirable “comfort food.” Holistic health and nutrition counselor Cynthia Stadd points out, “High fat foods tend to calm us down.”

Amy Lanou, PCRM’s nutrition director, argues that it’s more likely something called casein that makes cheese addictive. “Cheese is a concentrate of protein and fat, and casein is a type of protein found naturally in milk. Caseins convert to casomorphines, which are chemically similar to morphine, when they break down during digestion. It’s these casomorphines that are addictive,” says Lanou. “All mammalian mothers’ milk contains casomorphines so that the young will return to the breast for milk.” Since we are the only mammal that regularly drinks the milk of other animals, Lanou posits that it’s this process that’s behind humanity’s affection for cheese.

Research by Dr. Neal Barnard of PCRM, the author of Breaking the Food Seduction: Behind Food Cravings and Seven Steps to End Them Naturally, has shown that naloxene, an opiate-blocker used to treat morphine and heroin overdoses, reduces the desire for chocolate, sugar, cheese and meat. This suggests, writes Barnard, that “their attraction does indeed come from drug-like effects.”

(This from March/April 2004 E! magazine).

So now this is what I eat instead....It tastes pretty good, and not so gas-making. Cheese? Addictive?

VEGGIE MABU(MABO) TOFU

I think I really impressed both my dad and I when I randomly came up with this today(Mabu tofu is traditionally made with pork, but tvp makes a great replacement), and it turned out to be a success. Yumyumyum. My mom's gone so I've had the duty of cooking for dad who not so conveniently, only eats Chinese food.

p.s. Don't order this at P.F. Chang's. Its a posh Chinese chain in the States, but this dish on their menu is a failure. Inauthentic, too heavy, fried tofu that's overbearing in oyster sauce when its supposed to be light, flavorful and spicy. And cheaper to make than 7 bucks.

You need:
(for 2 ppl)

1 large head of Broccoli

1 Firm tofu (cut into about 1cmx1cm squares)

TVP

chopped or pressed clove of garlic

shaved or shredded ginger

sesame oil

chinese vinegar, or apple vinegar even works

soy sauce

chinese spicy condiment la-jiao, AND/or chili flakes

green onions

steamed rice (separately)

optional - bok choy

optional - sesame seeds

1. Fry onion, garlic, ginger in sesame oil for a few minutes on med heat. Throw in the chopped broccoli, green onions, bok choy and 1/8 cup of water. Cover and let steam for a few minutes.

2. Throw in tofu and TVP, stir. Then put in your sauces- vinegar, soy sauce, spicy stuff and continue to stir on medium heat for about 10-15 minutes. Or until the broccoli is looking soft.

3. Cover and let it cook for about 15 more minutes on low heat. We really want to let the tvp and tofu absorb all the spicy juices.

4. Taste. If not spicy enough add more. If not salty enough add more soy sauce, etc.

5. Top with sesame seeds and serve with steamed rice.

Piece of cake, huh?

VEEGGIE BURGERS!

I give full credit to Kezia for this recipe. I modified here and there to things I had/didn't have, all in all it turned out to be a scrumptious dinner.

"Anything goes veggie burgers"
Ingredients:
Tofu or TVP or Tempeh
Any kind of mashed beans (i used carribean-esque beans, with lime)
or lentils
Tomato paste
peanut butter
soy sauce
worchester sauce
fried onions or leeks
onion or garlic powder
chopped nuts of any kind
flour or wheat germ
corn meal
nutritional yeast
olive oil
grated or mashed carrots
coriander
dill
paprika
egg
liquid smoke (optional)

"This recipe is a work in progress. You just need to add any or all of the ingredients and mash them up in a bowl until they keep ball shape but aren't too dry. Roll them in a mixture of corn meal and sesame seeds. Bake (--or shallow fry, like I did) until they're crispy and firm. These freeze well.

Serve with baked potato wedge topped with dill and paprila. Sprinkle some vinegar over the raw wedges before you put them in the oven to make sure they're yummy and moist inside."

Lentil Squash & Stilton Soup

On Wed, if I can get off work, I'm going to audition for Gordon Ramsey's reality cooking tv show, Hell's Kitchen. Not sure how well I'll do as a veggie, but here's to trying!

Anyway, this is my latest recipe......

-just o' bit of stilton
-1 cup brown/red lentils
-yellow baby squash (easier to cut and peel and stuff)
-1 onion
-2 cloves minced garlic
-bit o' red wine
-1-2 tomatoes
-1 cube veg stock
-1 green chili
Spices: bay leaf, fresh parsley (optional)cinnamon, chili, salt pepp to taste

1. Prepare by cutting up all your veg. Cook your onions in olive oil with the garlic and chili for a bit. Then add the chopped squash (should be cut into tiny bits)
2. Pour in about 4 cups of water and when its begins to boil, dump in your lentils (who are better prepared if soaked in water with a bay leaf overnight, washed and ready to go)......
3. Cover and cook on medium heat for about 30 mins, stirring occasionally to keep lentils for sticking...
4. Once cooked, you probably wanna 'busch' (as Kez and I say) it with a hand blender, or stick it in a blender to make smoooth. Pour back in pot.
5. Turn on low heat, add your spices and red wine.
6. Add a bit of your blue stilton, let it melt in. Should be thick in consistency, almost like dal.
7. To serve, pour in bowl and top with stilton crumbs, walnuts and your fresh parsley.

Drink of choice: a red wine is fantastic with this dish
since i'm broke or lazy
i drank this with the only drinkable thing in my fridge:

Belgium Duvel

Hearty Veg Chili

I've made this recipe dozens of times... very easy, quick, filling, healthy, cheesy, heavy, satisfying, like... totally fart-worthy.

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 onion, chopped
2 bay leaves
1 tablespoon ground cumin
2 tablespoons dried oregano
1 tablespoon salt
2 stalks celery, chopped
2 green bell peppers, chopped
2 jalapeno peppers, chopped
3 cloves garlic, chopped
2 (4 ounce) cans chopped green chile peppers, drained about
1 cup of TVP (soy protein mince)
3 (28 ounce) cans whole peeled tomatoes, crushed
1/4 cup chili powder
1 tablespoon ground black pepper
1 (15 ounce) can kidney beans, drained
1 (15 ounce) can black beans
1 (15 ounce) can whole kernel corn
shredded mozzarella or cheddar cheese

1. First, heat the olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Stir in the onion and garlic, and season with bay leaves, cumin, oregano, and salt. Cook and stir until onion is tender, then mix in the celery, green bell peppers, corn, jalapeno peppers, and green chile peppers. When vegetables are heated through, mix in the TVP. Reduce heat to low, cover pot, and simmer 5 minutes.

2. Mix the tomatoes into the pot. Season chili with chili powder and pepper. Stir in the kidney beans and black beans. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low, and simmer 40 minutes. Add the cheese, stir in and serve.
(optional): sprinkle fresh coriander or basil, parmesan cheese to top


Drink of choice: Terrazas de los Andes, Malbec 2006


"In Zen, they say: If something is boring after two minutes, try it for four. If still boring, try it for eight, sixteen, thirty-two and so on. Eventually one discovers that it is not boring at all but very interesting." -John Cage, _Silence: Lectures and Writings_

Tom Yum Gung Noodle Soup

THAI TOM YUM NOODLE SOUP

I know there hasn't been a lot of theory or recipes going on lately but us Cooksters have been busy on all sides of the world... Just made this tonight with my bro, turned out pretty well so I thought I'd post it.

for 3 ppl
-1.5 cup vegetable broth
-Tom Yum soup paste (a kind of lemongrass + chili concentrate)
-lime leaves or 1/4 slice of a lime
-1 pack of firm tofu, cut into cubes
-vegetables (can be any of the following, but not all coz it'll obviously overdo it): shiitake mushrooms, enoki (long thin white) mushrooms, cherry tomatoes, carrots, green onions, red + yellow pepper, and/or bamboo shoots.
-1-2 cloves diced garlic
-fish or soy sauce
-1 can of coconut milk

for noodles:
-Typically you use rice noodles, which in case you would put into the soup between steps 1 and 2 below. I prefer using thin somen-like wheat noodles-- which in case you need to cook separately from the soup (boil water and cook for only 6-8 minutes!).

for toppings:
-fresh chili (if you like the burning feeling)
-chopped coriander
-crushed peanuts


1. Fry 2TB of Tom Yum paste for approx. 5 mins in sesame or vegetable oil. Then, slowly pour in vegetable broth and heat together on med high heat for about 5-8 mins. Add the minced garlic and tofu (I put the tofu in at this stage to absorb the broth).

2. Add the vegetables and turn heat on high. Squeeze the lime juice over the veg, or just throw those lime leaves in. After about 10 mins of stirring and cooking on high, taste the broth-- if its too thin, add more paste; if its too spicy, don't fret... leave it be...(coconut milk will dull it a lot later). Cook another 5-7 mins or so.

3. Add the coconut milk and a teaspoon of fish/soy sauce. Stir for another 5 mins, add more paste for spice as desired.

4. To finish off: in a large noodle bowl, add the desired amount of noodles and Tom Yum soup mixture. Top with a healthy portion of cilantro, and sprinkle an equally healthy portion of crushed peanuts over.

Enjoy!!

P.S. And the drink of choice tonight was Sapporo Beer.

Risotto Gone Wrong?

I say wrong because when I finally looked up how risotto is supposed to be made, I was totally off the mark. This is a recipe I invented from sheer guessing, and some trial-and-error. But I've been told it’s pretty damn good. Better than that pre-packaged paella I got in Spain anyway.

FOR 2-3 PPL
FOR THE RICE:
1 cup risotto rice, since i usually can’t afford or find it I use jasmine rice.
1 cube veg stock
1 TB butter

FOR THE RISOTTO:
olive oil or butter
1 red and yellow pepper- cut into little squares
1/2 cup peas and/or carrots
1/2 cup of mushrooms
1 onion
4 cloves garlic
1/2 lemon’s juice
mozzarella and/or parmesean cheese
(if pesky, nice to add seafood- prawns or mussels or squid)
1 can of tomatoes (contains about 5-6 small tomatoes)
1/2 cup white wine or beer
salt / pepper
spices: 1tsp thyme, 1tsp chili, 1TB parsley
fresh chopped basil OR coriander (you choose which you prefer, i prefer coriander)

Cooking the rice:
1. If you have your own way of cooking rice, or a rice cooker, go for it. I’ve heard so many different ways of cooking rice- my mom has always taught me 1-1...but with risotto or thai rice, I have learned to use 1.25 cups of water to 1 cup of rice. After you’ve washed the rice, add that amount of water to the rice in a pot.
2. Throw in the butter and stock and mix well. Now turn the heat on to high and wait for it to almost start boiling. Immediately switch to the lowest heat setting you can, put a lid over and let it steam.

*Preheat oven to 200C*
NEXT:
1. Fry onions and crushed garlic in about 2tb of olive oil OR 3 tb of butter until browned on medium heat. Throw in seafood now if you are using it and saute for a bit, with the lemon juice, or else throw it in with all your fresh veg. Add wine or beer. Add thyme, chili, parsley, salt. Cook for about 15-20 minutes...
2. Check on the rice- if its near completion turn the heat on it completely off. You don’t want it overcooked since you are going to eventually cook even more in the oven! Mushy risotto rice is not good...
3. Throw in your tomatoes into the mixture, add half the chopped coriander. Now, combine the rice and veg risotto mixture together, in which ever bowl is bigger! Stir a bit on low heat for about 5-10 mins, add the rest of the coriander.
4. Once your rice has sufficiently absorbed the risotto mix (its ok if a bit of water is left, since it’ll evaporate in the oven), then pour all into a square baking dish. Sprinkle over in the cheese and pop into oven.
5. Cooking time varys, either when you’re cheese is starting to brown or else, just approx 30 mins.

Enjoy, dude.

Easy Veggie Taco Salad

Just got back from Barcelona, wish I could post some local recipe acquired there... but alas, my brain was overly fried (har har) by the good (and bad) music at Primavera fest. Anyway, the festival beer was overpriced and got addicted to 7euro Taco Salad and ate it everyday.... whilst knowing I coulda made it for the same price to serve 2-3 ppl at once! So here's something I frequently make, esp good if you're broke living in norway. You can buy thrdr taco dinner kits (10 shells, salsa, and spices (tho i prefer my own)) for 14kr ('bout 1 quid).

In Greedy Ants:
*(for easy guacamole)
2-3 thingies of garlic, pressed
1 avocado
1 finely chopped tomato
half lemon

(for taco salad:)
*taco shells, my partner and i usually eat 5-6ea. coz we're pigs
*shredded mozzarella cheeze
*sour cream
*garlic, onions chopped
*head of lettuce- shredded
*2 peppers, red green or/and yellow, cut into strips
*2-3 choppes tomatoes
*small courgette (zucchini for ya yanks), cut finely
*TVP (dried mince) or if you're pesky like me, prawns
*fresh coriander finely chopped (can mix with guacamole too)
*spices: CUMIN, chili, paprika, turmeric, garlic powder, oregano, pepper
*beer

OK. I like to serve my taco salads in an overperfect way, so its about timing the layers. The final product looks sumthang like this:

-------------->dollop of salsa on, dollop of sour cream on,

------------>guacamole on/with coriander on,

---------->mozzarella cheeze on,

--------->mince and veg mixture on top of,

-------->shredded lettuce

-------> crushed nachos
=======DA==PLATE=================

1. First thing is to make the guacamole, a dull job often easier with if you have what Kez & I call a "boosher" (blender, hand or small). Since I usually don't, I use the next best thing, my boyfriend. He mashes these up in a bowl with a fork-- the avocados, with finely pressed/chopped garlic, then squeezes all the lemon juice on top. Stirs in tomatoes and pops in fridge until the grand finale.

2. OK, now, let's get cooking. Chop up garlic and onions and carmelize at med heat with about two tablespoons of olive oil (ooh did I get some good ones in spain!). Once browned, throw in the mince, turn heat up. Mince is extremely dry so you gotta keep adding some water to it to make it fully realize itself. I usually use a half cup of beer to do the trick instead.

3. Once mince looks like its browning too, add in the courgette, then the peppers. Turn heat down a bit. Stir for about 5-10 mins. Then gradually start adding the spices... Add more water if necessary...At this moment, you wanna turn on/preheat your oven to about 180C and get ready to stick those tacos in soon.

4. Cook mince mixture for about another 20-26 mins on low heat, you want the veg to soften but not overly mush. Does that make sense. 10 mins to their approximate finish, stick in your tacos.

5. Once your mince+veg mixture is done, and your tacos look sufficiently heated up (they should sizzle but don't overcook! no more than 10-15 mins), throw all the tacos in a bowl and crush 'em. Nacho size or smaller.

6. Now the layering begins. Like the above diagram, basically make a bed with the warm nachos on each plate. Follow with a good fat portion of the lettuce. Then top with the mince+veg, then, etc. etc. Voila! You're now ready to serve.

BUEN PROVECHO!!!!
Extras: If time and money permits, here's things I've also added to my taco salad:
-Chopped Jalepenos on the side, or in the mince+veg mix, fresh chili does the same
-Mexican Rice on the bed of lettuce
-If you have time or wanna be fancy, making the taco salad inside an edible fried tortilla bowl. Mmmm!

Wino Roast: Not good to Drink, but good to Roast

Here it is the first Recipe...

For the Roast:
Handful of Walnuts, coarsely ground
Handful of Hazelnuts, coarsely ground
Bunch of Sunflower seeds
about 1/2 cup-ish of brown lentils (they are yummier)cooked with a mushroom bouillon cube
3-4 celery stalks and 1 leek sautéed in Red Wine
some ground flax
oat or wheat germ
corn meal
1 egg
sage, rosemary, thyme, parsley, ground coriander, cayenne pepper
soy sauce
veggie Worcestershire sauce

Cook the lentils, sauté the celery and leek, chop or grind the nuts then mix all the ingredients together in a bowl. Grease a loaf pan and add the 'roast'. Top with more corn meal and drizzled olive oil (we did this to add more 'crunch', but all of it is pretty crunchy - what with the nuts). Bake for 45 minutes at 200C or 400F. With about 20 minutes left, make the gravy.

Red Wine Gravy:
margarine or olive oil
sage, rosemary, cayenne, thyme, ground coriander
soy sauce
about 1 cup-ish red wine
3 Tb corn starch
cold water

Melt the margarine, or add the olive oil to a small saucepan. Add the spices, soy sauce and red wine. We made enough to make a good bunch of gravy, so add ingredients as you like. Bring them to a boil. Mix the corn starch with a bit of cold water and add to the pot. Boil for a minute or two until it thickens. Add more corn starch if needed (or more water if too thick!) Pour into your bestest gravy boat and serve!

So, some notes about our cooking style. We are usually a bit improvised and philosophical in our meal preparation. As students we have a bit of a 'make do' attitude - financial constraints come into play, as do the availability of certain ingredients in certain locales. For example, his meal came about due to some undesirable items in the fridge - icky organic red wine and parsnips (I don't want hearty root veg in May!). Today was super rainy and cold and we got wet when we were out buying socks and bathing suits and shoes, so a hearty roast at last seemed appropriate. The bad wine was made delectable by adding richness the meatlessness. We served it with roasted carrots and parsnips and, of course, mashed potatoes.

This is our dessert.
Or more precisely, digestif.
Some bitters from Denmark.
We will assume that it's vegetarian.
Tastes like fennel. Wait, aniseed.







A bit more theory later...

SUNDAY ROAST

Ok. This has to be a short first post. Namely, we like food and we do theory. We met and we ate and talked theory. But, that's about it for this post since we're in the process of cooking up a nice veg Sunday Roast. It's gonna burn if we don't attend to it. Pictures and Recipes to follow...