Brussels sprouts with caramelized shallots - yum!

I'd bookmarked this recipe a very long time back, forgot about it, then found it again. I'm glad I did! Using the food processor made VERY fast work of slicing up all those shallots & brussels sprouts. We also cut the butter in half (using earth balance instead, a vegan margarine - we could as easily use olive oil) and lessened the sugar. Next time we'll try using brown sugar or maple syrup instead. But - yes! This one's a keeper. Courtesy of Epicurious.com

Brussels Sprout Hash with Caramelized Shallots Bon Appétit | November 2007

Molly Stevens

Thinly sliced brussels sprouts are sautéed with shallots in this comforting hash.

Yield: Makes 8 to 10 servings

6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) butter, divided
1/2 pound shallots, thinly sliced
Coarse kosher salt
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
4 teaspoons sugar
1 1/2 pounds brussels sprouts, trimmed
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 cup water

Melt 3 tablespoons butter in medium skillet over medium heat. Add shallots; sprinkle with coarse kosher salt and pepper. Sauté until soft and golden, about 10 minutes. Add vinegar and sugar. Stir until brown and glazed, about 3 minutes.

Halve brussels sprouts lengthwise. Cut lengthwise into thin (1/8-inch) slices. Heat oil in large skillet over medium-high heat. Add sprouts; sprinkle with salt and pepper. Sauté until brown at edges, 6 minutes. Add 1 cup water and 3 tablespoons butter. Sauté until most of water evaporates and sprouts are tender but still bright green, 3 minutes. Add shallots; season with salt and pepper.

Garlic aoli

Garlic Faux Aioli. Speaking of that, get pumped for a:

Recipe!

Straight from a wonderful blog (could it be...seitan?) I just discovered, here's one I plan to try SOON. Actually if you follow the link, I think you might very well feel as I do - you have to try damn near everything!

Ingredients

1 package Silken tofu – Mori Nu style

3 cloves of garlic

2 T mustard

1 T apple cider vinegar

Directions

• Blend it all together in a blender and then let it chill out in the fridge. Put it on your food. Cooking is harrrd.

Celery soup

lovely with some crusty homemade garlic bread, this evening's meal is courtesy of mike, who has been doing the lion's share of cooking lately due to my workload. we had some celery that we feared would succumb to the dreaded limp-celery disease, where it's only good for broth making, so of necessity found this easy, tasty (and healthy) soup. I didn't feel guilty about taking seconds on this, and there's a small serving's worth for lunch tomorrow. this might be good with different herbs - mike added a touch of curry (1 tsp); or sage, dill - use your imagination! other changes: add in roasted veg, or small cubes of potato, stir in a bit of milk - do what you will, because the celery is just lovely in this, holds its own.

added note: I heated the leftover portion today, and added about 1/2 c of cubed, cooked carrot, 1/2 tsp of srichaca sauce, and some salt to taste. even better!

In pursuit of the perfect Chana Masala

This one is a keeper, found via YouTube - the wonderful cook who does vahrehvah.com has posted a video and recipe for one of our all-time favorites. Give this a try! It's different from our other recipe - more 'fruity,' somehow, quite delicious and very low-fat, which is a major plus. You should have smelled the chana masala spices being toasted, the entire house was deliciously redolent - I had taken a nap (knocked out, I think, from the anti-allergy meds I took, and exhausted from an interview journey) and I think the scent awakened me.

Next time we'll up the heat a bit, perhaps using a Thai bird chile pepper rather than the dried red Mexican peppers. Mike found a nice recipe for homemade chana masala powder that we like very well also, so I'll put that first:

Chana Masala Powder
copied from Lisa's Kitchen

1 tablespoon of coriander seeds
2 tablespoons of cumin seeds
2/3 teaspoons of black cardamom seeds
1/3 teaspoons of yellow cardamom seeds
1 2/3 teaspoons of black peppercorns
2 - 3 dried red chillies
1/3 teaspoons of whole cloves

pinch of ground ginger
pinch of mace
pinch of nutmeg
1/3 teaspoon of ground cinnamon
1/3 teaspoon of amchoor powder

Dry roast the seeds, peppercorns, chillies and cloves in a large frying pan over low heat until they begin to brown. Transfer to an electric coffee grinder with the ground spices and grind to a fine powder.


Chana Masala
copied from (with full and grateful credit): http://www.vahrehvah.com/recipedetails.php?recipe_id=3259

200	grams	channa (1 15.5 oz. can
25	grams	channa masala pdr (2 Tbs)
1	springs	coriander leaves (I increased this quite a bit as I love cilantro)
1	pinch	cumin
1	tbsp	ginger garlic paste
2	green	chillies
1		lime
3	tbsp	oil
2		onions
1	to taste	salt
2		tomatoes (or 2 15.5 cans of diced tomatoes)
1	pinch	turmeric (optional)
few	piece	whole garam masala (1 bay leaf, several cloves, several cardamom pods, 1 stick of cinnamon)

Soak dried chickpeas (chole) in water overnight or to cook the same day soak them in warm water for atleast 5-6hrs Pressure cook chole Drain the chole, reserve the liquid Chop up onion, tomatoes Heat oil in a deep saucepan and add cumin seeds whole garam masala When the cumin seeds change color add chopped onion to it and saute till they are brown Add the Ginger-garlic paste to it and saute for couple of minutes Add all the tomatoes dry powders to it and saute add salt Saute the tomatoes till they are soft and mushed up, Add the chole to the mixture and mix gently so that chole are properly coated in the mixture Add the reserved water depending on the gravy you need, check and adjust the seasoning Simmer the stove and cook covered for 5-6 minutes and garnish it with cilantro leaves Serve it with bhature, puri or chapatti with sliced onion and lemon wedge by the side

mayonnaise - a must try!

"1 part soymilk gets whizzed in the blender for a minute. while still whizzing it, you add in 1 part neutral tasting oil (canola or sunflower), and let it whizz for another minute or so, then add in some regular vinegar, and when it thickens, add a bit of salt. you gotta get the amount of vinegar right, but besides from that part, it's pretty damn amazing. and so easy that you'd think it's a joke." - posted by Smoothie, at http://www.postpunkkitchen.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=86389

Thai Golden Curry with Tofu

This is copied (and amended) from The Ethnic Vegan blog - I've also bookmarked the coconut tomato rice to try VERY soon! It was delicious but I'd like to make a few changes to suit our tastes.

"For best results, rinse the block of firm tofu, then stand it on its side and slice the narrowest edge into four slices. Then lay it flat and cut into about 2-inch cubes. This way, the slices will be only ½-inch thick and will cook more evenly."

2 T cup light olive oil
1 medium yellow onion, finely chopped
1 1/2 Tbs. fresh ginger, minced
3 cloves minced garlic
1 16-ounce package firm tofu, rinsed
1 14-ounce can light coconut milk
1/2 tsp. red pepper flakes
2 tsp. hot paprika
1 1/2 tsp. curry powder
1 Tbs. soy sauce (or Bragg's)
2 tsp. agave nectar OR 3 tsp. sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
1 large carrot, peeled and thinly sliced
1 6-ounce package baby spinach leaves
6-8 leaves fresh basil, chiffonade (rolled up & thinly sliced so they look like ribbons)

1. Dry-fry the tofu in a large cast iron pan, pressing gently to get the water out, turn & continuing to gently press until it's all golden brown. Remove it from the pan and set it aside.
2. Place 2 Tbs. olive oil, onion, ginger, and garlic into your pan. Cook at medium heat stirring occasionally until onion is transparent, about 3 minutes.
3. Now add your tofu back in, then add coconut milk, peanut butter, pepper flakes, paprika, curry powder, soy sauce, agave nectar, and salt. Stir well.
4. Spread carrot slices on top, and add spinach leaves. Cover tightly and cook on low heat for 15 minutes. Add basil chiffonade and mix before serving over rice or noodles.

You may want to add a touch of salt upon serving, as we did (and we do not ordinarily use salt). I may just add a bit of lemongrass to see what happens. This is super-easy but it needs a couple something-or-others. I will definitely cook this again!

Whole wheat bread (bread machine)

This was posted by thewrongumbrella at the Postpunk forum, and has very quickly become my regular recipe. I made a few changes, which are noted. This makes very good hamburger buns, too!

ingredients:
1 1/4 cups water
2 tbsp canola oil
1 1/3 tsp salt
2 tbsp (turbinado) sugar

3 1/4 white whole wheat flour*
I add: 2 T ground flax seeds
1/4 cup vital wheat gluten
1 pkg active dry yeast (1 1.4 tsp - 1 1/2 was too much, resulting in a puffy, empty top)

Add ingredients in the order listed. Turn on machine. The end!

* I like to sub spelt flour for a cup of this

possible marinade

this may be good for tofu (or seitan, etc):

ORANGE CHILI GINGER MARINADE

1 cup orange marmalade
1 cup ketchup
1/2 cup wine vinegar
2 tablespoons garlic, minced
1 onion, finely minced
1 tablespoon fresh ginger, minced
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon ground cumin seed
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper
1 teaspoon each salt and crushed black pepper

Combine all ingredients and use for marinating beef, lamb, pork or chicken for 2-5 hours before grilling.

Submitted by: CM, on Cooks.com at http://www.cooks.com/rec/view/0,1633,134181-252197,00.html

Spring!

Taken at the Raleigh arboretum at the end of February.

Potato Pierogi

copied from the Postpunk kitchen forum - a posting from 2005!

Dough:
3 c. flour
egg replacer equivalent to 1 egg
1/2 to 3/4 c. warm water
2 T. vegan sour cream

Potato filling:
2 lbs. potatoes
1 lb. onions
1 T. sour cream
2 t. salt
fresh ground pepper to taste

Make the filling:
Peel and cut the potatoes, and boil in salted water until tender. In a food processor or blender, mince and partially puree the onion. Drain the potatoes, transfer to a large bowl, and mash. Add the onion, sour cream, salt and pepper to the mashed potatoes and combine well. Let cool.

Make the dough:
In a large bowl, (or mixer), combine the flour, salt, egg replacer, water, and sour cream, and knead into a soft dough. Divide the dough in half, forming two dough balls.

Make the pierogi:
Roll each ball of dough, one at a time, on a floured surface to about 1/16 of an inch thickness (pretty thin, but still workable). Using a round cookie cutter or similar device, cut rounds of dough (about 3 inches in diameter), and remove extraneous dough from your work surface (you'll use up this dough later, re-rolling it to make more pierogi).

Put a large pot of water on to boil while completing the next steps.

Spoon about a teaspoon of the filling into the middle of each dough round. Moisten the edge of one-half of each dough circle, and fold and stretch the other half over the filling, meeting the other, moistened edge; press the edges together well to seal the pierogi (you can use your fingers, a fork, whatever works).

Add salt to your pot of boiling water and gently drop several pierogi into the pot. Allow pierogi to cook for about 8 minutes or so (pierogi will rise to the top). With a slotted spoon, remove pierogi, one at a time, and transfer to an oiled baking sheet to cool.

Melt some soy margarine and let cool a bit. Brush the pierogi with the melted margarine.

If pan-frying: pan-fry pierogi until lightly browned on both sides, Add some finely chopped onion to the pan and saute a bit longer. Serve with a side of vegan sour cream.

If baking: preheat oven to 300F. In a baking dish, place the pierogi in a single layer, sprinkle with breadcrumbs, cover and bake for 25-30 minutes. Top with sauteed onion before serving.