Peanut Butter Ramen

1 tablespoon olive oil
3 cloves garlic (or 1 t squeeze bottle garlic)
1 teaspoon ginger (I use the refrigerated squeeze bottle kind) 
1 healthy teaspoon green curry paste
4 cups vegetable broth (I use the Orrington Farms vegan no-chicken broth)
1 can lite coconut milk
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
2-3 tablespoons soy sauce or tamari (to taste)
2 tablespoons brown sugar
juice of 2 limes

2  "bricks" of ramen

any variation of the following:
a handful of mushrooms, sliced very thin
handfuls of fresh spinach
broccoli, barely steamed
shredded carrots
cubes of tofu (I use the Trader Joe's packaged teriyaki tofu)
seven-minute eggs

at the table:
sriracha
peanuts, scallions, cilantro, mint, whatever you like

1.  Heat a large, heavy pot; add oil, then garlic, ginger, and curry paste. Reduce heat to low and cook for 2-3 minutes.
2.  Add three cups of broth and the coconut milk. Stir, reduce heat to low, and simmer.
3.  In a medium bowl, whisk peanut butter, soy sauce, sugar, lime juice, and remaining cup of broth.
4.  Add the peanut butter mixture to the broth. Stir. Add a handful of sliced mushrooms at this point if you like.
5.  Simmer 5-15 minutes. Adjust seasoning, adding salt, sugar, or lime to taste.
6. Cook the ramen in a separate pan, undercooking slightly. (Maybe 90 seconds to two minutes in the boiling water.)
7. Scoop noddles into your bowl, add whatever veggies, tofu, whatever. Ladle broth over. Add egg, if using. Top with whatever you like. 

This makes enough for three nice bowls for dinner and enough leftover broth for someone to have a decent bowl tomorrow. However, they'll have to make fresh noodles and reassemble whatever veggies/tofu they like.

Instant Pot Risotto

I joined the Instant Pot cult in December and have been cooking up a storm ever since. I love it.

Made risotto tonight and was absolutely stunned by how good it was. I did some research online but ended up consulting three recipes passed on by friends to get the right proportions. The first try was really good with a few tweaks, reflected here. So good I was asked if I would ever go back to making it the "real" way. Honestly not sure.

2 Tbs olive oil
2 Tbs butter
1 shallot, thinly sliced
1/2 lb mushrooms, thinly sliced
1 1/2 c. arborio rice
1/3 c. white wine
3/4 tsp kosher salt
some black pepper (about four hearty turns of the grinder)
4 c. veggie stock (I heart Orrington Farms vegan broth in "chicken" flavor. Super neutral.)
1 c. frozen peas, thawed
parmesan or pecorino romano, about 1/4 c. at the end and more at the table

Using the "sauté" function, heat the olive oil and butter.
Sauté the mushrooms and shallots for about 2-3 minutes.
Add the rice and sauté for another minute or two.
Add the salt, pepper, and white wine and cook it down until you hear the rice sizzling a bit.
Add the stock all at once and put on the top. Make sure vent is CLOSED. Cancel the sauté function and set to "pressure cook" for 5 minutes. (It will take about 10 minutes to come up to pressure, then five minutes at high pressure.)
Let it release naturally for 10 minutes, then turn the vent to let it release all the way.
Open, stir vigorously for a couple turns, then stir in the peas and about 1/4 c. cheese.
Add a little more hot water water or broth if you like it soupier.
Serve with more cheese and black pepper at the table. 

Vegan option: Use additional olive oil in lieu of butter. Use some miso, nutritional yeast, or vegan parm for the umami in lieu of cheese. 

Granola, Plain and Simple

I don't want coconut or nuts or fruit bits in my granola. Even if I did, I'd add them later. 

Photo represents the one time I added a little quinoa to the mix.

Preheat oven to 300 or 325 depending on whether you like your granola a bit toasty.

Whisk well:
3 Tbs. brown sugar
1 tsp. kosher salt
1/3 c. brown rice syrup or honey or maple syrup (or any combination)
1/4 c. vegetable or olive oil (or combination)
1 tsp. vanilla
dash of cinnamon (optional)
1 egg white (optional)

Add and stir well:
3 c. old fashioned rolled oats (not quick, not steel cut)

Spread onto a parchment-lined pan. Bake for 25-30 minutes, checking often and stirring a bit halfway through. Remove when it's golden brown. Let cool. Break up chunks and store in an airtight container at room temperature. 

Stuffed Portabellas aka Leftover Magic

Okay, you have to believe me when I say that I am a better cook than a food photographer and therefore, these taste way better than this looks. looked before I removed the photo because it looked so very awful.

Stuffing for caps, mix together all ingredients:
2 cups of grain/carb (brown rice, orzo, cous cous, bulgur, leftover pilaf, what have you)
2 cups sauteed veggies (onion, garlic, fresh spinach, grated carrot, etc.)
1/2 t. basil
1/2 t. oregano
1/4 t. red pepper flakes
1 T. olive oil
salt and pepper liberally
Optional: 1/2 c. crumbled feta or 1/4 parmesan or romano (decrease salt if using romano) or whatever cheese you like

4 big portabella mushroom caps, stems removed, brushed clean with a damp paper towel

olive oil

balsamic vinegar

optional: bread crumbs

Generously, oil a Pyrex baking pan with olive oil. Lay the caps smooth side down in the oil. Splash the caps with some nice balsamic vinegar. Mound 1 cup of the stuffing on top of each cap, flattening the stuffing and pressing all over the cap. At this point, feel free to sprinkle on some bread crumbs or a bit more romano cheese for extra crispy topping.

Bake at 375 for about 25-30 minutes or until the top is nice and crispy and the mushroom is cooked through and releasing its juices.

Adventures with Pesto

Perfect on a radish.

Pesto is a glorious thing and I make it all summer. My Grandma Nance made it and served it with "the homemades" -- big flat ribbons of homemade egg pasta. Pesto is basically a way to spoon summer onto anything you like.

However, when I recently promised Becky I would share my pesto "recipe" with her, I realized I don't actually have one.  I use whatever green I have (basil, lemon basil, mint, parsley, baby spinach, arugula, or some combo of two of those things), and stuff it into the food processor. Throw in garlic, or none, or, once a year, garlic scape if you are lucky enough to have some. Turn the machine on, drizzling olive oil in while the blades work their magic. 

I like pesto quite smooth so the food processor works best.

Then the nuts. Usually pine nuts, but maybe pistachios, or even almonds. And oh, if it's parsley I'm mixing up, lemon zest tastes right. Then I fold in a few heaping tablespoons of pecorino-romano if it's classic pesto (basil, spinach, or arugula.) But I just saw this recipe on Food52 which called for feta...


So basically, you can't go wrong. And if I needed a recipe, I'd start with my favorite guy, Mark Bittman's, with a little less olive oil than he calls for, and then start improvising as soon as you can.

Birthday Dinner, Part One: Cheese Pizza & Crust Recipe

My kids made me a fantastic birthday dinner Thursday night, complete with setting a fancy table and Top Chef style descriptions of the menu. I couldn't be prouder. Charlie chose cheese pizza as his contribution. The broccoli casserole and molten chocolate cake recipes will follow.

Fancy table, including chocolate milk fixins.

Flowers, natch.

Charlie's finished product.

2 cups warm water

pinch of sugar or smidge of honey

teaspoons active dry yeast

2 tablespoons olive or vegetable oil

5 cups flour (plus extra for handling the dough)

2 teaspoons salt

(corn meal for peel or pan)

1. Measure water into large bowl.  Add the sugar/honey and yeast.  Wait 5 minutes.
2. Stir in the oil.
3. Add 2 cups of the flour and the salt.  Stir with a wooden spoon.
4. Gradually add in the rest of the flour.  Mix with a wooden spoon until it gets too thick, then mix with your hands.  If you need to, add extra flour to keep it from being too sticky.
5. Turn onto a floured work surface.  Knead, pound, and stretch for about five minutes until dough is no longer sticky.
6. Let your dough rest for 1 hour.  Divide and shape into a pizza shapes on a cookie sheet, or pizza peel if using stone.  Dust sheet or peel with plenty of cornmeal.  Top with sauce, toppings, and/or cheese.
7. If using a stone, transfer to pizza stone with a peel.
8. Bake at 500+ degrees for about 8-12 minutes or until crust is golden brown and cheese is bubbly. Watch it closely, the time is approximate.

Vegetarian Tortilla Soup

This soup may be the most customizable meal ever. The base is vegan and with a variety of toppings, you can make it whatever you want. Great for a dinner party. In fact, it debuted at the inaugural meeting of the Order of the Purple Finch.  Serves 8.

Base:
1 large onion
4-6 cloves garlic
1 red pepper, seeded and roughly chopped
1 poblano, seeded and roughly chopped
2 carrots, peeled and chopped
1 1/2+ cups fresh tomatoes (or frozen roasted tomatoes, or 1 14-oz can of tomatoes)
1 can of tomato paste
6 cups of veggie broth
1 t. cumin
2 t. ground coriander
cayenne, spicy paprika, or New Mexican red pepper to taste (I used 1 t. New Mexican)
olive oil
salt to taste

In dutch oven, sautee onion and garlic until fairly soft. Add spices. Add peppers and carrots. Sautee 5-10 minutes. Add tomatoes, paste, and broth. Simmer until all ingredients are very soft. Add more water or broth as necessary. Remove from heat. Puree using immersion blender. Adjust to your desired thick/thin-ness. Adjust seasoning and salt to taste.

Now, here's the good part. Ladle, steaming hot, into bowls over crushed corn tortilla chips (NOT Tostitos or some crappy fake chips, use the real thing) or strips of corn tortilla, oven toasted with a little oil. Let people top the soup with things like:

oven-roasted corn
oven-roasted grape or cherry tomatoes
diced white onion or scallions
finely chopped radishes
black beans
chopped cilantro
avocado or guacamole
limes, quartered for squeezing
chopped hard boiled egg
sour cream
cheese: chihuahua, goat, or jack
sauteed tofu or seitan

Try to have the toppings (other than the sour cream) at room temp so they don't cool the soup too much.

The Much Requested Famous Beer Bread

I can't take any credit for this wondrous stuff, the lovely Stephanie Lieber found this on-line and introduced the Lunch Bunch (more on that later) to the wonder that is... beer bread.  


Since then, tens of friends have made this bread hundreds of time.  Julie Tippett Simon even dubbed it the "Sell My House" Beer Bread because she baked a loaf and finally (after years of trying) got two offers on her house THAT day! And her daughter's doll is even named "Beer Bread." The stuff is legendary!


It's also fast and infinitely flexible. Try cheddar and chives with Stella, or a nutty dark beer with some Gruyere. 


3 c flour
3 t baking powder
1 t salt
1/4 c sugar
12 oz bottle of beer
1/4 cup melted butter (olive oil?  vegan spread?)


Preheat oven to 375.
Sift (or not) dry ingredients into a large mixing bowl.
Pour beer over it and stir. No kneading necessary.
Transfer to a greased loaf pan.
Pour melted butter over the top.
Bake 50 minutes. Cool 15 minutes.

Fauxstess Cupcakes

Originally known as Six Minute Chocolate Cake from Moosewood Restaurant Cooks at Home.

Barbara served these yummy cupcakes at Book Group and we were blown away by how delicious and "Hostess-cupcake-like" they were! I took it a step further and have experimented with stuffing them with a bit of buttercream, cream cheese frosting, or (gulp) some Marshmallow Fluff for true Hostess-y goodness.

Please note that the cake is vegan and the ganache can be, too. This recipe only makes 12 cupcakes, which is kind of nice/appropriate, unlike lots of recipes that make 24.

 Next time I make these, I am for sure going to pipe on the little loop-de-loops.

Cake:

1 1/2 cups flour

1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1 cup cold water or coffee (I keep "high-quality" instant coffee granules in the house for recipes)

2 tsp vanilla

2 tbs vinegar

Preheat oven at 375.

• Sift together dry ingredients into a bowl.
• Combine liquid ingredients (except for vinegar) in 2 cup measuring cup and pour into dry ingredients mixing with a fork or small whisk. When batter is smooth, add the vinegar and stir quickly until evenly distributed.
• Distribute evenly into a 12-cupcake pan, lined with cupcake papers.
• Bake 20 minutes.  (If you're out of cupcake papers and desperate for chocolate and need to make this as a cake, bake for 25-30 minutes in an ungreased 9x9 or 9 in round pan.)
• Optional, but really very important, step: Cool cupcakes completely. Use a melon baller or small spoon to scoop out a little depression in the top of each cupcake. Fill with Fluff or frosting of your choice. Cover with icing.

Icing:
1/2 pound bittersweet chocolate

1/4 cup hot water, milk or 1/2 and 1/2

1/2 tsp vanilla

For the icing just put all the ingredients together into a measuring cup and heat in in the microwave until you can whisk them together to make a smooth glaze. Spoon it over the cooled cupcakes and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes before serving.