This soup was a huge hit at the Christmas party last night.
4 Tablespoons olive oil
5 Links Sweet Italian Sausage, cooked according to package directions and thinly sliced
2 Cups chopped onions
1 Fennel bulb, chopped (use 1tsp fennel seeds as a substitute)
4-6 Garlic cloves, chopped
2 Teaspoons dried thyme
64 ounces chicken broth
1 16-ounce package frozen cheese tortellini
1 15-ounce can white kidney beans (cannellini), rinsed and drained
6-10 ounces frozen spinach (fresh would be ok too I guess, but I've never tried it)
Salt and Pepper
***PLEASE use a cruelty-free sausage. I've discovered that Whole Foods Market has some of the best Animal Welfare standards in the grocery-chain business.***
-Heat oil in a large heavy soup pot over medium-low heat. Add sausage, onions, fennel, garlic and thyme. Cook for a couple minutes to soften the onions and to blend the flavors.
-Add chicken broth and bring to a boil.
-Add tortellini and beans. Return to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, for 6-8 minutes.
-Add spinach and cook for 3 minutes over medium heat, or until tender.
-Season to taste with salt and pepper.
***A WORD OF WARNING. The tortellini tends to get soggy and soak up a LOT of the broth. If you plan on having this soup over a few days, only add the tortellini as needed.
Sunday, December 12, 2010
Sunday, October 31, 2010
Tom Ka Goong? (Thai Coconut Milk & Shrimp Soup)
I originally posted this recipe as Tom Ka Gai back in January. Since then we have made the choice to eat a vegetarian diet. We started off going completely vegan, but over time have decided that eating fish and free range eggs is ok, but in moderation. (Hey, to each his own, right?) I have altered this recipe to better reflect our dietary choices. I'm not exactly sure if this recipe is authentically Thai anymore, but it IS quite tasty. In Thai, "gai" means "chicken", so we can't exactly use "gai" in the title of this recipe. We are using shrimp, so I guess the name of the soup should be Tom Ka Goong? I suppose you could try using some sort of imitation chicken meat substitute to make it completely vegan, but I'll leave that up to you.
I've made this soup several times this year and have altered the original recipe to make it a LOT easier to prepare. Again, I don't know if it's truly, authentically Thai, but it tastes very, very close to what our local Thai restaurant makes. You'll probably have to experiment with the mixture a bit to get it just right for your tastes, but man, is this stuff good!
This will make about 2 quarts/liters of soup:
1 pound (approximate) uncooked shrimp, shelled, de-veined and tails removed
1 teaspoon oil
1 stem lemongrass, sliced lengthwise
4 cups vegetable broth
2 cans (15 oz.) coconut milk (low fat is ok)
1/2 cup lime juice (reserve the peel from a slice or two to throw in the pot/wok)
1 +1/2 inch piece of galangal or ginger, peeled and sliced (Galangal is hard to find. I can only find it in markets down in the Asian district. Not exactly worth the drive all the way down there for a couple bucks worth, especially when you'll only use 1/4 of the package for this recipe, so regular ginger WILL work in this recipe)
1 teaspoon Thai chili sauce (or 1 teaspoon dried red pepper flakes)
1/4 - 1/2 cup bamboo shoots
1/4 - 1/2 cup oyster mushrooms or a handful of fresh sliced white mushrooms
1/2 cup diced green onion, green part too
1 small tomato, sliced
3 tablespoons fish sauce (essential for that authentic Thai flavor)
Small bunch fresh cilantro
-Saute shrimp in oil w/sliced lemongrass until pink and done.
-Add broth, coconut milk & lime juice, heat until steaming, & just barely bubbling. You don't have to cook this soup very long.
- Add all the other ingredients except cilantro
-Heat through. No need to boil as the shrimp are already cooked.
-Turn off the heat, add a small handfull of chopped cilantro, stir.
-Serve immediately
-ENJOY!
Seriously, that's it.
I've made this soup several times this year and have altered the original recipe to make it a LOT easier to prepare. Again, I don't know if it's truly, authentically Thai, but it tastes very, very close to what our local Thai restaurant makes. You'll probably have to experiment with the mixture a bit to get it just right for your tastes, but man, is this stuff good!
This will make about 2 quarts/liters of soup:
1 pound (approximate) uncooked shrimp, shelled, de-veined and tails removed
1 teaspoon oil
1 stem lemongrass, sliced lengthwise
4 cups vegetable broth
2 cans (15 oz.) coconut milk (low fat is ok)
1/2 cup lime juice (reserve the peel from a slice or two to throw in the pot/wok)
1 +1/2 inch piece of galangal or ginger, peeled and sliced (Galangal is hard to find. I can only find it in markets down in the Asian district. Not exactly worth the drive all the way down there for a couple bucks worth, especially when you'll only use 1/4 of the package for this recipe, so regular ginger WILL work in this recipe)
1 teaspoon Thai chili sauce (or 1 teaspoon dried red pepper flakes)
1/4 - 1/2 cup bamboo shoots
1/4 - 1/2 cup oyster mushrooms or a handful of fresh sliced white mushrooms
1/2 cup diced green onion, green part too
1 small tomato, sliced
3 tablespoons fish sauce (essential for that authentic Thai flavor)
Small bunch fresh cilantro
-Saute shrimp in oil w/sliced lemongrass until pink and done.
-Add broth, coconut milk & lime juice, heat until steaming, & just barely bubbling. You don't have to cook this soup very long.
- Add all the other ingredients except cilantro
-Heat through. No need to boil as the shrimp are already cooked.
-Turn off the heat, add a small handfull of chopped cilantro, stir.
-Serve immediately
-ENJOY!
Seriously, that's it.
Tuesday, August 10, 2010
Fried Cauliflower with Tahini
I've never liked cauliflower. Period. Whenever served to me it was usually overcooked and mushy. Any flavor it had was matched by the telltale "aroma" of dirty gym socks. No amount of butter or salt could defeat it.
I've come to learn that vegetables should never be cooked into mush. They should be cooked lightly, and should be enjoyed as crisp and snappy, delightful additions to the meal.
I discovered this dish at a restaurant recently in Flagstaff, AZ, The Pita Jungle. I pestered the waiter to tell me what was in it, and I backward engineered the recipe as best I could at home. This is the one cauliflower dish the entire family enjoys, even the kids, even me.
Ingredients:
1 head cauliflower, chopped into bite-sized florets
2 TBS olive oil
2-3 cloves minced garlic (or to taste)
8 oz tahini spread (I found mine at Trader Joe's)
A few sprigs of cilantro, chopped
A TBS or two of paprika
1/4 cup pine nuts
Caramelized onions.
A confession to start: I've never been able to successfully make caramelized onions on my own. I always end up burning them. The instructions I've always read called for frying sliced onions in olive oil under very low heat over the course of an hour or so. It's never worked out for me. My sister in law suggested that I add a bit of sugar or honey to the pan once the onions begin to brown. I haven't tried that yet. If anyone has a foolproof way of caramelizing onions, please let me know, as the flavor is essential to this dish. OK, on with the rest of the recipe...
1) Quickly saute the cauliflower in the olive oil and minced garlic until it begins to brown (Hint: Don't crowd the pan),
2) then add the tahini (maybe with some water if it's too thick, stir it all together until the cauliflower is covered.
3) Then stir in enough paprika to turn the sauce a nice pinkish-salmon color.
4) Then stir in the remaining ingredients. Serve immediately.
That's it! Easy! Enjoy!
I've come to learn that vegetables should never be cooked into mush. They should be cooked lightly, and should be enjoyed as crisp and snappy, delightful additions to the meal.
I discovered this dish at a restaurant recently in Flagstaff, AZ, The Pita Jungle. I pestered the waiter to tell me what was in it, and I backward engineered the recipe as best I could at home. This is the one cauliflower dish the entire family enjoys, even the kids, even me.
Ingredients:
1 head cauliflower, chopped into bite-sized florets
2 TBS olive oil
2-3 cloves minced garlic (or to taste)
8 oz tahini spread (I found mine at Trader Joe's)
A few sprigs of cilantro, chopped
A TBS or two of paprika
1/4 cup pine nuts
Caramelized onions.
A confession to start: I've never been able to successfully make caramelized onions on my own. I always end up burning them. The instructions I've always read called for frying sliced onions in olive oil under very low heat over the course of an hour or so. It's never worked out for me. My sister in law suggested that I add a bit of sugar or honey to the pan once the onions begin to brown. I haven't tried that yet. If anyone has a foolproof way of caramelizing onions, please let me know, as the flavor is essential to this dish. OK, on with the rest of the recipe...
1) Quickly saute the cauliflower in the olive oil and minced garlic until it begins to brown (Hint: Don't crowd the pan),
2) then add the tahini (maybe with some water if it's too thick, stir it all together until the cauliflower is covered.
3) Then stir in enough paprika to turn the sauce a nice pinkish-salmon color.
4) Then stir in the remaining ingredients. Serve immediately.
That's it! Easy! Enjoy!
Thursday, June 3, 2010
Near Perfect Pizza Dough!
I call this "near" perfect because everyone's tastes are subjective. But this recipe makes a darned good one!
I've never liked homemade pizza for one simple reason, the crust always sucked. I happened to be channel surfing with my (then) 3 year old son one afternoon, and he told me to stop when he saw Emeril. Yeah, I think my boy's gonna be a chef someday. Emeril was showing how to make this pizza crust, and whaddya know, it works! I've been using this one for a couple years now. I've also been tweaking it here and there to get it just the way I like it. I'll just give you the basic recipe and then tell about the adjustments I made after that.
First:
1 cup hot water (between 105 and 100 degrees [F])
1 package, or 1 tsp of quick rise yeast
1 tsp sugar
stir together in a small bowl and let the yeast activate for 10 minutes. You'll see that it will begin to get foamy.
Then:
in a mixer (I use a Cuisinart) put in
1.5 cups of flour
1 TBS olive oil
1 tbs salt
Add the activated yeast mixture to the dry ingredients and mix (With the Cuisinart's "K" attachment) until smooth.
(Then switch to the Cuisinarts "dough" attachment and) add
1.5 cups of flour
slowly to the mixture. When it's all in there, turn up the mixer to a somewhat high speed and mix for about 3 minutes more. You may have to add a little more water or flour to get the consistency right. You don't want it too dry where the flour doesn't all absorb. You don't want it too wet where it's sloppy. It should be all together and just a tiny bit sticky. Nothing should be sticking to the sides of the bowl.
Smear 1 TBS olive oil in a large bowl (I use the same cuisinart bowl. Why dirty up another one?) and place the dough ball in it. Roll it around to get it all covered in the oil. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and place it in a warm, quiet place for 90 minutes. I use a slightly warm oven. BE CAREFUL! You're shooting for an oven temperature of about 110 degrees to start. Then just keep the oven off, with the temperature slowly decreasing over the course of the 90 minutes. I've found that the yeast really likes the slightly warmer than room temp. to keep working. If you start off at more than 110 degrees the yeast die off because it's too hot.
After 90 minutes, the dough will have just about doubled in size. Place it on a well floured surface and LIGHTLY punch down. Let the dough rest again for 10 minutes. At this point you can spin or roll the dough into whatever shap you want (square, round, oval, whatever). Add your toppings and bake at 475 degrees for 10-12 minutes.
I have used this recipe for all sorts of pizza crust: Round, Square, deep-dish, thin, calzones, stromboli...
For calzones, don't use sauce. Add all your toppings, carefully fold it over to make a "pizza pocket" and press down the edges to seal. Bake at 400 degrees for 30 minutes. Have warm sauce on the side for dipping.
For stromboli, you can use sauce (traditional) or you can have it later on the side for dipping (I like that better because it's not as sloppy an end result, and besides, my kids like to dip!) , your choice. Basically, make a pizza and roll it into a "loaf". Bake at 400 degrees for 30 minutes.
I've found that a 100% whole wheat crust is really difficult to pull off. It's just too heavy and doesn't rise very well. The best "straight up" whole wheat crust I've been able to make has been a 50-50% mixture of whole wheat and white flour.
I also have ben experimenting with corn flour and gluten flour. Corn flour adds a nice flavor but it's lack of gluten destroys the texture and elasticity of the dough. It can't stick together and falls apart. Gluten flour is great because it adds sooo much protein to the dough, but it tends to make the dough TOO elasticky (is that a word?), making the dough difficult to shape into a large enough pie. You'll stretch out the dough to cover the pan, and you can just watch the dough shrink right back down to the original size of the dough ball.
I also have been experimenting with adding nutritional yeast to the dough to give it more protein and B vitamins, as well as imparting a great parmesan cheese-like flavor.
If you are going to substitute any of the flour quantity with corn flour or nutritional yeast, you'll have to also substitute into the recipe some gluten flour, at a 2:1 ratio. Example: This recipe calls for 3 cups of flour. Substituting 1/2 cup nutritional yeast, you will also need to substitute in 1 cup gluten flour, with 1 and 1/2 cups of white or whole wheat flour remaining.
I've never liked homemade pizza for one simple reason, the crust always sucked. I happened to be channel surfing with my (then) 3 year old son one afternoon, and he told me to stop when he saw Emeril. Yeah, I think my boy's gonna be a chef someday. Emeril was showing how to make this pizza crust, and whaddya know, it works! I've been using this one for a couple years now. I've also been tweaking it here and there to get it just the way I like it. I'll just give you the basic recipe and then tell about the adjustments I made after that.
First:
1 cup hot water (between 105 and 100 degrees [F])
1 package, or 1 tsp of quick rise yeast
1 tsp sugar
stir together in a small bowl and let the yeast activate for 10 minutes. You'll see that it will begin to get foamy.
Then:
in a mixer (I use a Cuisinart) put in
1.5 cups of flour
1 TBS olive oil
1 tbs salt
Add the activated yeast mixture to the dry ingredients and mix (With the Cuisinart's "K" attachment) until smooth.
(Then switch to the Cuisinarts "dough" attachment and) add
1.5 cups of flour
slowly to the mixture. When it's all in there, turn up the mixer to a somewhat high speed and mix for about 3 minutes more. You may have to add a little more water or flour to get the consistency right. You don't want it too dry where the flour doesn't all absorb. You don't want it too wet where it's sloppy. It should be all together and just a tiny bit sticky. Nothing should be sticking to the sides of the bowl.
Smear 1 TBS olive oil in a large bowl (I use the same cuisinart bowl. Why dirty up another one?) and place the dough ball in it. Roll it around to get it all covered in the oil. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and place it in a warm, quiet place for 90 minutes. I use a slightly warm oven. BE CAREFUL! You're shooting for an oven temperature of about 110 degrees to start. Then just keep the oven off, with the temperature slowly decreasing over the course of the 90 minutes. I've found that the yeast really likes the slightly warmer than room temp. to keep working. If you start off at more than 110 degrees the yeast die off because it's too hot.
After 90 minutes, the dough will have just about doubled in size. Place it on a well floured surface and LIGHTLY punch down. Let the dough rest again for 10 minutes. At this point you can spin or roll the dough into whatever shap you want (square, round, oval, whatever). Add your toppings and bake at 475 degrees for 10-12 minutes.
I have used this recipe for all sorts of pizza crust: Round, Square, deep-dish, thin, calzones, stromboli...
For calzones, don't use sauce. Add all your toppings, carefully fold it over to make a "pizza pocket" and press down the edges to seal. Bake at 400 degrees for 30 minutes. Have warm sauce on the side for dipping.
For stromboli, you can use sauce (traditional) or you can have it later on the side for dipping (I like that better because it's not as sloppy an end result, and besides, my kids like to dip!) , your choice. Basically, make a pizza and roll it into a "loaf". Bake at 400 degrees for 30 minutes.
I've found that a 100% whole wheat crust is really difficult to pull off. It's just too heavy and doesn't rise very well. The best "straight up" whole wheat crust I've been able to make has been a 50-50% mixture of whole wheat and white flour.
I also have ben experimenting with corn flour and gluten flour. Corn flour adds a nice flavor but it's lack of gluten destroys the texture and elasticity of the dough. It can't stick together and falls apart. Gluten flour is great because it adds sooo much protein to the dough, but it tends to make the dough TOO elasticky (is that a word?), making the dough difficult to shape into a large enough pie. You'll stretch out the dough to cover the pan, and you can just watch the dough shrink right back down to the original size of the dough ball.
I also have been experimenting with adding nutritional yeast to the dough to give it more protein and B vitamins, as well as imparting a great parmesan cheese-like flavor.
If you are going to substitute any of the flour quantity with corn flour or nutritional yeast, you'll have to also substitute into the recipe some gluten flour, at a 2:1 ratio. Example: This recipe calls for 3 cups of flour. Substituting 1/2 cup nutritional yeast, you will also need to substitute in 1 cup gluten flour, with 1 and 1/2 cups of white or whole wheat flour remaining.
Wednesday, June 2, 2010
Wine Pairing
Does red wine go with a tofu stir fry? I'm using red miso... Oh well, after a couple glasses, it won't matter anyway.
Sunday, May 9, 2010
Vegan Ricotta... Outstanding!
This is simply an awesome substitute for ricotta made out of tofu. Use it in lasagna, manicotti, or whatever else you like. It's so close to the real thing even your staunchest carnivores will have a hard time figuring out it's vegan.
Ingredients
1 pound firm tofu, pressed
2 tsp lemon juice
2 tsp olive oil
1 clove garlic, minced
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 cup nutritional yeast flakes
handful fresh basil leaves, chopped fine
dash fresh black pepper
Directions
You should first press the tofu. Place the block of tofu in a pan, pie plate, or shallow/wide bowl, and place something else similar on top. Add a few pounds on top and let it sit. I use two pans and an old 10 pound dumbell plate on top, but whatever you have handy will work. After about 20 minutes you'll see that about a 1/2 cup or so of the juice has been pressed out of the tofu.
In a large bowl, mush the pressed tofu up with your CLEAN hands, until it's crumbly.
Add lemon juice, garlic, salt and pepper and basil. Squeeze through your fingers repeatedly until it reaches the consistency of ricotta cheese. May take 2-5 minutes.
Add olive oil, stir with fork. Add nutritional yeast and combine all ingredients well. Cover and refigerate until ready to use.
Use this instead of ricotta filling in your favorite Italian dishes. It's simply outstanding, really!
Ingredients
1 pound firm tofu, pressed
2 tsp lemon juice
2 tsp olive oil
1 clove garlic, minced
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 cup nutritional yeast flakes
handful fresh basil leaves, chopped fine
dash fresh black pepper
Directions
You should first press the tofu. Place the block of tofu in a pan, pie plate, or shallow/wide bowl, and place something else similar on top. Add a few pounds on top and let it sit. I use two pans and an old 10 pound dumbell plate on top, but whatever you have handy will work. After about 20 minutes you'll see that about a 1/2 cup or so of the juice has been pressed out of the tofu.
In a large bowl, mush the pressed tofu up with your CLEAN hands, until it's crumbly.
Add lemon juice, garlic, salt and pepper and basil. Squeeze through your fingers repeatedly until it reaches the consistency of ricotta cheese. May take 2-5 minutes.
Add olive oil, stir with fork. Add nutritional yeast and combine all ingredients well. Cover and refigerate until ready to use.
Use this instead of ricotta filling in your favorite Italian dishes. It's simply outstanding, really!
Thursday, April 15, 2010
You Get What You Order
Our oldest, Miss Prima is a remarkably old soul. She can sometimes see through the most complex, grown-up situation and boil it down to the simplest terms.
Tonight, as I was tucking her into bed, she began to explain to me how some kids in her class were giving her grief about her continued belief in Santa Claus, The Easter Bunny and The Tooth Fairy. We went round in circles for what seemed like hours about how God only makes people because he loves them, about how He came up with the concept of free choice. He created this world, and all of us because he wants us to love him back, but he doesn't want to force us. Otherwise, how would he be able to decide who gets to go to heaven or not? If someone chooses not to believe in Santa Claus et al, then I guess they will no longer be visited by said same. Hey, it's their loss in the long run.
I was wrapping up my "sermon" when her light bulb clicked on. "Oh, you get what you order in life!", which has been something we've been trying to teach her for what seems like forever. "Yes!", I replied, "You do!"
She went on, "If you believe that the Tooth Fairy is nothing but some guy in a tutu, then that's all you're gonna get: Some guy in a tutu."
"Yes, dear. You're absolutely right."
Tonight, as I was tucking her into bed, she began to explain to me how some kids in her class were giving her grief about her continued belief in Santa Claus, The Easter Bunny and The Tooth Fairy. We went round in circles for what seemed like hours about how God only makes people because he loves them, about how He came up with the concept of free choice. He created this world, and all of us because he wants us to love him back, but he doesn't want to force us. Otherwise, how would he be able to decide who gets to go to heaven or not? If someone chooses not to believe in Santa Claus et al, then I guess they will no longer be visited by said same. Hey, it's their loss in the long run.
I was wrapping up my "sermon" when her light bulb clicked on. "Oh, you get what you order in life!", which has been something we've been trying to teach her for what seems like forever. "Yes!", I replied, "You do!"
She went on, "If you believe that the Tooth Fairy is nothing but some guy in a tutu, then that's all you're gonna get: Some guy in a tutu."
"Yes, dear. You're absolutely right."
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