Wasabi!

One of my absolute favorite foods is sweet potatoes. They are both savory and sweet, can be made creamy or crunchy, and are all around just perfect. As I was flipping through cookbooks, I was instantly attracted to the recipe for Wasabi Mashed Sweet Potatoes in Moosewoods Restaurant New Classics. To create a complete meal, I made tofu seasoned with Chinese Five-Spice Powder and greens with ginger and garlic. To prepare the tofu, I patted the tofu with paper towels to release the extra moisture, then sprinkled salt, pepper, and Chinese Five-Spice on both sides. I proceeded to brown the tofu in a skillet over medium-high heat. To prepare the greens (they can be any type of green you prefer or have on hand), I simply sauteed garlic and ginger until fragrant in a bit of olive oil, then added the greens and continued to saute until wilted. The ginger from the greens, the Five-Spice from the tofu, and the wasabi and brown sugar from the potatoes complemented each other perfectly to create a harmonous meal of spice and flavor.


Wasabi Mashed Sweet Potatoes (Moosewood Restaurant New Classics)

6 cups cubed peeled sweet potatoes
water to cover
1 tsp. salt
1 Tbs. wasabi powder
1/4 cup butter
salt to taste
pure maple syrup or brown sugar to taste

1. In a covered pot, bring the sweet potatoes, water, and salt to a boil. Lower the heat and simmer until the sweet potatoes are very soft and easily pierced with a fork. Drain, reserving some of the cooking water.
2. Mix the wasabi powder with about 1 1/2 Tbs. of the potato cooking water to make a paste. Combine the drained sweet potatoes, wasabi paste, and butter and mash well. Add a little more of the cooking water, if needed. Add salt and maple syrup or brown sugar to taste.

January Comfort

For Christmas my sister gave us beautiful soup crocks and a handful of soup and stew recipes from Moosewood Restaurant. Ever since Christmas day, I've been itching to make one of the delicious recipes, so I finally did. We decided to make the Pepperpot stew, which has a perfectly seasoned combination of potatoes, peppers, and mustard greens. We paired this tasty stew with flaky biscuits to make for a fabulously cozy meal.


Pepperpot Stew (Moosewood Restaurant Soups and Stews Deck)

Eventhough there are quite a few ingredients in this stew, most of them are probably in your pantry already. Plus, all of the preparation steps don't take too long, so this could definitely be made to comfort and soothe even the busiest of people during the week.

2 Tbs. olive oil
1 cup chopped onion
3 garlic cloves, minced or pressed
1 small fresh chile, minced, seeds removed for a milder "hot"
1 cup diced celery
1 tsp. dried thyme
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 tsp. salt
1 cup diced red bell peppers
1 cup diced green bell peppers
1 cup cubed potatoes (1/2-inch cubes)
4 cups water or stock
1 1/2 cups undrained, canned diced tomatoes (14-oz. can)
1/4 tsp. ground black pepper
1 Tbs. unsulphered molasses
4 cups chopped mustard greens, loosely packed
salt to taste

1. In a nonreactive soup pot on medium heat, warm the oil. Add the onions, garlic, chile, celery, thyme, cinnamon, and salt. Cook, stirring often, for about 10 minutes or until the onions are translucent. Add the bell peppers and potatoes, reduce the heat to low, cover, and cook for 7 to 10 minutes, stirring often, until the bell peppers are just tender.
2. Add the water or stock, the tomatoes with their juice, the black pepper, and the molasses. Cover and cook for about 10 minutes or until all of the vegetables are tender. Add the mustard greens, cover, and cook for 3 to 4 minutes, until just wilted. Add salt to taste.


Featherlight Blue Mountain Biscuits (Moosewood Restaurant Soups and Stews Deck)

2 1/4 cups unbleached white pastry flour or 2 cups all-purpose flour
1 Tbs. baking powder
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1/3 cup vegetable oil
3/4 cup buttermilk

1. Preheat the oven to 450. In a mixing bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and pour in the oil and buttermilk. Using a fork, stir just until mixed--overmixing will make the biscuits tough.
2. Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface and gently knead 5 or 6 times, adding more flour if necessary. Pat or roll out the dough to a 1/2-inch thickness. Cut out 10 to 12 rounds with a biscuit cutter or a glass and arrange them on an unoiled baking sheet. When you place the biscuits touching one another, they seem to rise better.
3. Bake on the top shelf of the oven for 10 to 12 minutes, until golden brown. Serve immediately.

A Meal to Warm the Soul

While browsing through some of my cookbooks, I found this recipe for Cottage Cheese-Dill Bread and was immediately intrigued. Adam and I are pretty much obsessed with cottage cheese, always having it in the house. It's getting a little colder here in Oakland, so I figured I would pair this bread with a hearty bean and green tomato-based soup. The bread and the soup turned out perfectly, warming the body and soul, head to toe.

Cottage Cheese-Dill Bread (The New Enchanted Broccoli Forest, Mollie Katzen)

Mollie Katzen suggests eating the bread with a thin spread of cream cheese and cucumber or of raspberry jam. Both are absolutely delicious. Adam and I had several breakfasts of an egg and the bread with raspberry jam.

a little butter or oil for the pan
2 cups unbleached white flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
a scant 1/2 tsp. salt
1 cup cottage cheese
2 eggs
6 Tbs. milk
1/4 cup honey or sugar
4 Tbs. melted butter
3 Tbs. minced fresh dill (or 1 Tbs. dried)

1. Preheat oven to 350. Lightly grease a medium-sized loaf pan.
2. Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt into a medium-large bowl. Make a well in the center.
3. Combine the cottage cheese, eggs, milk, sweetening, and melted butter in a separate bowl and beat well. Add this to the dry ingredients along with the dill, and mix just enough to thoroughly blend. The batter will be fairly stiff.
4. Take your time as you spread it evenly into the prepared pan. Let it bake for 50 minutes, or until a knife inserted all the way into the center comes out clean. Remove from the pan after about 10 minutes, and cool on a rack for another 30 minutes or so before slicing.


Collard and Chickpea Soup

I had originally wanted to make this soup with kale, but there was none to be found at Safeway when I went shopping. So, I settled for collards instead, and the soup turned out wonderfully. Any green you have on hand could be substituted if you don't have any collards available. One of the great things about this soup is that you most likely have all of the ingredients in your pantry or fridge already!

1/2 onion, diced
2 stalks celery, diced
1 (24-oz.) can diced tomatoes
1 (15-oz.) can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
4 cups collard greens, chopped
1 tsp. cumin
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
salt and pepper to taste

1. Saute the onion and celery in olive oil in a medium-large pot on medium heat. When the onion is translucent add the tomatoes and chickpeas. Add approximately 24 oz. of water to the soup. Add the collards and spices; allow greens to wilt and the soup to come to a simmer.
2. Taste the soup and adjust the spices to your liking. Serve piping hot.

Autumn Salad

There's this one small restaurant chain in the Baltimore, Maryland area called Donna's that makes the best roasted vegetable salad. We had some extra arugula left over from the butternut squash pizza and also sweet potatoes and onions, which lend themselves to roasting. When thinking about all those ingredients, I thought of Donna's salad and decide to make my own version. We used only sweet potatoes, onions, and peppers, but you could add any vegetable you have on hand. Adam also added a chicken breast seasoned with rosemary to his. Topping the salad with goat cheese would make a delicious addition, if you wanted to make the salad a little more rich. You could easily make this gorgeous dish for guests by preparing the vegetables before guests arrive, popping them into the oven, and letting them roast while you serve appetizers and cocktails. I can guarantee that everyone will be impressed with the beauty and flavor of this salad.


Roasted Vegetable Salad

The quantities for the vegetables are incredibly loose. The amount that we used, as described below, made approximately three servings. You can't make too many roasted vegetables, in my opinion. Worse-case scenario, you have extras, which you can mix with more greens for lunch salads or simply eat plain.

1 large sweet potato, cubed
1 red onion, chopped
1 small red pepper, chopped
olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
1 cup arugula per person
balsamic vinaigrette or light dressing

1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. Place sweet potato, red onion, and pepper in baking dish. Coat in olive oil, salt, and pepper. Roast in oven for 40 minutes, or until potatoes are completely tender.
3. Portion arugula onto plates and top with roasted vegetables and balsamic vinaigrette. Enjoy this healthy, delicious meal.

Pumpkin Continued

The pumpkin muffins only used 1 cup of a large can of pumpkin. What to do with the rest of the pumpkin?! Well the answer is simple--make a pumpkin sauce to top succulent gnocchi. We got the idea from Rachael Ray's 30 Minute Meals, but we created our own version. We paired this with sauteed mustard greens and beans. I really enjoyed mixing the two dishes into one. I thought the flavors melded really well. This meal took less than half an hour start to finish but tasted like it could have taken all afternoon.


Gnocchi with Pumpkin Sauce

1 package gnocchi
1 (24 oz.) can of pumpkin, minus 1 cup
1/4 cup milk
1 tsp. vegetable bouillon
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1 tsp. dried sage
1 cup gnocchi water
salt and pepper to taste
Parmesan cheese

1. Cook gnocchi according to package directions.
2. Meanwhile, place pumpkin in a skillet over medium-low heat. Add milk, vegetable bouillon, nutmeg, and sage to pumpkin, stirring to combine.
3. Once the gnocchi have been thoroughly cooked, add 1 cup of the water to the pumpkin mixture. Drain gnocchi and toss with the sauce. Salt and pepper to taste. Top with
more dried sage and Parmesan cheese.


Greens and Beans

This dish can be made with any type of green you have on hand. It's a healthy addition to any meal, or it can be served with a protein or grain as the entree.

olive oil
1 tsp. minced or grated garlic
greens, chopped into bite-sized pieces
1 (15-oz.) can cannellini beans, rinsed and drained
chili oil
salt and pepper, to taste

1. Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add garlic and allow to become fragrant. Add beans and greens. Wilt greens and heat beans through. Plate, then drizzle with chili oil and top with salt and pepper.

The Best Pizza Ever, Really

Last night, we literally had the best pizza we've ever made--and we've made some pretty good pizza. We, of course, made a grilled pineapple pizza, which I've posted before. We switched it up to accommodate our hot pepper supply. We didn't have any jalapenos, so we (Adam) finely diced a habanero. Beware! Everything you touch for the rest of the night will burn! Trust me. We also made a grilled butternut squash pizza topped with blue cheese and arugula and drizzled with olive oil. Fantastic!


Grilled Butternut Squash Pizza with Blue Cheese and Arugula

1/2 recipe pizza dough, made with 1/2 whole wheat and 1/2 white flour)

1 small butternut squash, peeled and sliced into 1/2-inch thick rounds
olive oil
2 cloves garlic, grated (or crushed)
2 oz. blue cheese, crumbled
1/2 cup mozzarella cheese
1 cup arugula
olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

1. Coat the butternut squash with olive oil and place on a medium heat grill. Grill until tender. Slice into half-moons.
2. Meanwhile, grill the pizza dough on one side. It is ready when it can easily be lifted off the grill. Flip the dough and beginning topping.
3. Spread garlic over the dough (don't be shy with the amount of garlic you use). Drizzle with olive oil and top with a bit of salt and pepper. Arrange squash, crumble blue cheese, and sprinkle mozzarella on pizza. Place back on grill until cheese has fully melted. Top with fresh arugula, drizzle with olive oil, and add salt and pepper to taste.
4. Eat whole pizza.

Lemony Chickpea Goodness

Once again I was looking on 101cookbooks and found a recipe that contained only the ingredients I had on hand. Naturally, it had to be made, especially since it looked so wonderful. And it was! The Lemony Chickpea Stir-Fry recipe is incredibly quick and easy, yet healthy and delicious. I highly recommend making this stir-fry, but feel free to substitute any vegetables for the kale and zucchini. We actually omitted the zucchini and used chard instead of kale (although we had that too). The key to the recipe is the golden crusted chickpeas and lemon combination. As long as that is kept, you can't go wrong. Once again, a fantastic picture can be found on the 101cookbook website.


Lemony Chickpea Stir-Fry (www.101cookbooks.com, Heidi Swanson)

2 tablespoon ghee or extra-virgin olive oil
fine grain sea salt
1 small onion or a couple shallots, sliced
1 cup cooked chickpeas (canned is fine, if you don't want to cook up a pot of dried chickpeas)
8 ounces extra-firm tofu
1 cup of chopped kale
2 small zucchini, chopped
zest and juice of 1/2 a lemon

1. Heat 1 tablespoon of the ghee/olive oil In a large skillet over medium-high heat and stir in a big pinch of salt, the onion, and chickpeas. Saute until the chickpeas are deeply golden and crusty. Stir in the tofu and cook just until the tofu is heated through, just a minute or so. Stir in the kale and cook for one minute more. Remove everything from the skillet onto a large plate and set aside. In the same skillet heat the remaining tablespoon of ghee/olive oil, add the zucchini and saute until it starts to take on a bit of color, two or three minutes. Add the chickpea mixture back to the skillet, and remove from heat. Stir in the lemon juice and zest, taste, and season with a bit more salt if needed. Turn out onto a platter and serve family style.

Cookin' Up a Storm

Friday night we had some new friends over for dinner. We thought we should go all out for them. (We have to impress, right?) We came up with a fantastic menu that really may have been one of our most impressive meals we've ever made--and that's saying a lot, if I may say so myself. For appetizers we had Oven-Dried Tomato on Toast Rounds and Pretzel Goat Cheese Bites. Our main course consisted of Sweet Potato Ravioli with Lemon-Sage Brown Butter over sauteed mixed greens. We ended the night by completely indulging in a Turtle Cheesecake. The food and company couldn't have been better.


Oven-Dried Tomato on Toast Rounds (Cooking Light, October 2006)

This recipe takes a long time to prepare. It's very hands-off, but the tomatoes are supposed to bake for 4 hours. We only had 3 hours, and they still turned out magnificently. I would say to just keep the tomatoes in the oven as long as you can but don't stress if can't bake them for the whole time. We used homemade bread that we then broiled until crisp with a touch of olive oil, but store-bought bread would work just fine. Also, we used dried herbs rather than fresh to lower the cost of the evening. I don't think anyone missed the fresh herbs, because the tomatoes themselves were so incredibly flavorful.

12 plum tomatoes, peeled, seeded, and cut in half lengthwise
3 Tbs. olive oil
2 Tbs. chopped fresh herbs (rosemary, thyme, oregano)
6 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
1 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
1/2 tsp. salt
24 (1/2-inch-thick) slices French bread baguette, toasted
24 fresh basil leaves

1. Preheat over to 250.
2. Arrange tomato halves in a single layer in a 13 x 9-inch baking dish. Drizzle with oil; sprinkle with herbs, garlic, pepper, and salt. Bake at 250 for 4 hours. Place one dried tomato half on each toast round. Garnish each with 1 basil leaf.


Pretzel Goat Cheese Bites

Adam and his brother had a big tub of pretzels to snack on during their drive out west. We still have them. Needless to say, they are bit stale. Instead of throwing them away, I decided to try my hand at making them into breadcrumbs. I thought the idea of fried goat cheese would be fantastic as well, so we combined the two ideas into one. They tasted pretty good, but I don't think I'll be making these again any time soon. But, if you are looking for a new and innovative way to serve cheese, perhaps you want to try this recipe out.

5 pretzel rods, crushed
1 log of goat cheese, sliced into rounds
1 egg white, beaten
canola or vegetable oil

1. Dip the goat cheese rounds in the egg white and then the pretzel bits, making sure to fully cover the cheese.
2. Heat the oil in a non-stick skillet over medium-high heat. Place the pretzel goat cheese rounds in the oil until crispy on both sides. Remove from oil and serve immediately.


Sweet Potato Ravioli with Lemon-Sage Brown Butter (Cooking Light, October 2007)

Here's a way to use the leftover wonton wrappers from the dumplings I made a few weeks ago! We served these ravioli over a bed of sauteed mixed greens. The flavors of the sauce, ravioli, and greens blended perfectly together. I highly recommend serving this dish that way.

1 (1-lbs.) sweet potato
2 Tbs. grated fresh Parmesan cheese
1/2 tsp. salt, divided
1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp. ground nutmeg
24 wonton wrappers
1 large egg white, lightly beaten
6 quarts water
cooking spray
3 Tbs. butter
1 Tbs. chopped fresh sage
1 Tbs. fresh lemon juice
1/8 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
sage sprigs (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 400.
2. Pierce potato several times with a fork; place on a foil-lined baking sheet. Bake at 400 for 40 minutes or until tender. Cool. Peel potato; mash. (I actually just steamed the potato by cutting it into chunks and microwaving in a covered dish with a bit of water. This is a much faster process.) Combine potato, cheese, 1/4 tsp. salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg in a small bowl.
3. Working with 1 wonton wrapper at a time (cover remaining wrappers with a damp towel to keep them from drying), spoon 1 Tbs. potato mixture into center of wrapper. Brush edges of dough with egg white; bring 2 opposite corners to center. Press edges together to seal, forming a triangle.
4. Bring 6 quarts water to a boil Add 8 ravioli; cook 2 minutes or until done. Remove ravioli from pan with a slotted spoon. Lightly coat cooked wontons with cooking spray; keep warm. Repeat procedure with remaining ravioli.
5. Melt butter in a small skillet over high heat. Add chopped sage to pan; cook 1 minute or until butter is lightly browned. Stir in 1/4 tsp. salt, juice, and pepper. Drizzle butter mixture over ravioli. Garnish with sage sprigs, if desired.


New York Cheesecake (Betty Crocker's Cookbook)

We made this decadent cheesecake and then drizzled caramel and hot fudge on top with chopped pecans to make a Turtle Cheesecake. The recipe calls for a flour crust, but we opted for a Vanilla Wafer cookie crust. We made this by pulsing the cookies in a food processor and mixing it with melted butter. Let me just say that this is the most heavenly delicious dessert I have had in a long time.

crust (of your choice)
5 packages (8 oz. each) cream cheese, softened
1 3/4 cups sugar
3 Tbs. all-purpose flour
1 Tbs. grated orange peel, if desired
1 Tbs. grated lemon peel, if desired
1/4 tsp. salt
5 large eggs
2 large egg yolks
1/4 cup whipping cream

caramel
hot fudge
pecans, chopped

1. Make crust.
2. Heat oven to 475.
3. Beat cream cheese, sugar, flour, orange peel, lemon peel, and salt in large bowl with electric mixer on medium speed about 1 minute or until smooth. Beat in eggs, egg yolks, and 1/4 cup whipping cream on low speed until well blended. Pour into crust.
4. Bake 15 minutes.
5. Reduce oven temperature to 200. Bake 1 hour longer. Cheesecake may not appear to be done, but if a small area in the center seems soft, it will become firm as cheesecake cools. (Do not insert a knife to test for doneness because the hole could cause cheesecake to crack.) Turn off oven; leave cheesecake in oven 30 minutes longer. Remove from oven and cool in pan away from drafts on wire rack 30 minutes.
6. Without releasing or removing side of pan, run metal spatula carefully along side of cheesecake to loosen. Refrigerate uncovered about 3 hours or until chilled; cover and continue refrigerating at least 9 hours but no longer than 48 hours.
7. Run metal spatula along side of cheesecake to loosen again. Remove side of pan; leave cheesecake on pan bottom to serve.
*8. Drizzle with caramel and hot fudge, and top with chopped pecans. Indulge!

Fun with Greens

This past week we decided to change up our normal diet of spinach with other greens. We found a bag of mixed greens at Trader Joe's with , kale, chard, collard, and mustard greens. Since we were already changing up our normal routine, we decided to vary our normal risotto recipe as well. We made risotto with broth and wine, added the greens to wilt, and then topped it with the leftover Spicy Pepitas and extra spices. The dish ended up being a wonderfully hearty autumn meal and definitely different from your average risotto.


Mixed Greens Risotto with Spicy Pepitas

You could use any combination of greens you wish. I would stick to the hearty greens like kale, chard, and collards rather than spinach so they will hold up to the intense spices that are also mixed in. The recipe for the Spicy Pepitas is in my last post, "Flavor Explosion!"

1 Tbs. olive oil
1 small onion, chopped
3/4 cup Arborio rice
1/2 cup white wine
3 1/2 cups vegetable broth (or whatever broth you prefer)
3 cups mixed greens, chopped
1 tsp. cumin, chili powder
salt and pepper, to taste
Spicy Pepitas
cumin, chili powder, and paprika

1. Heat oil in a medium to large saucepan or pot. Add onion and saute until translucent, and then add rice. When rice has browned slightly, pour in the wine, stirring until combined. In small portions, pour in the broth while stirring. Continue adding the broth until the rice has become tender (you may or may not use all of the broth, and it is possible that you will need a bit more). Mix in the greens until slightly wilted. Stir in cumin, chili powder, salt, and pepper.
2. Serve the risotto by topping it with the Spicy Pepitas and sprinkling it iwith cumin, chili powder, and paprika.