may your days be merry and bright

Okay, so clearly (in Philadelphia, at least) we did not have a White Christmas.  No, definitely not - it was gorgeous, though - around 50 degrees and sunny!  Nevetheless, I felt like the title displayed a nice blessing to begin a new year.  One which, according to some conspiracy theorists/history-ignorant human beings will be our very last one.

I say "Live it up!" then.  What better way to do so than another thrilling and incidental collaboration between my mother and husband?  I continue to be astonished by my new saute pan and am counting the days until I can comfortably add another piece of this addicting cookware to my small-but-adequate urban kitchen.

I'm fairly well convinced that food even looks more attractive in this pan.  I mean, a load of sliced red peppers sauteing with garlic, olive oil, basil, and two big bay leaves is always a beautiful sight, but I believe the reflective nature of my new pan illuminates the beauty, enhancing it even further (I know, it's difficult, but try it!)  To say I'm in love is putting it lightly.

The scent of my red peppers softening and getting all sweet and garlicky was enough to get Angst into the kitchen to be the live studio audience for The Cooking Show with Mommy...

Though I failed to be exciting enough to keep him awake.  I appreciated his support and company, though.  He appreciates warm, squishy things upon which to sleep.  Tonight's dinner was a Red Pepper Risotto, taken from the book Mister gave me for Christmas.  I'd tell you which book, but it's pretty non-descript: the title is Vegetarian and it's a compilation of recipes, so there is no author.  If it's really, really important to anyone still reading after my excessive absence, I will post the editor's name so you can try to dig it up, but it's an older book (I love how Mister knows his way around thrift stores and the store we traded a bunch of books to, for credit toward more books, when we moved last February).

This picture shows again how fortunate I am to have my new, beautiful, easy to cook with, easy to clean All-Clad saute pan.  Although I cooked the rice separately (more on why in a minute) and then added it to the pan, there is NO WAY I would have pulled that off with my 3-qt saute pan.  I would have had to cut the recipe in half to make it fit, especially since I cooked 2 cups of rice to add to that.  Rice tends to triple in volume when cooked, so that's about 6 cups of rice mixed into 3 red peppers and a 28-oz can of diced tomatoes.

By the time everything was cooked and combined, even Angst had grown more interested in dinner.  Saint that he is, Mister scooped up the sleepy kitty to show him what was on the stove.  Angst hates the stove and he hates hot food - it bites him.  That picture was snapped right before he struggled free of the Evil Man carrying him.

Anyway, as you can see, this doesn't look much like a "traditional" risotto, and if you know anything about risotto, you know I committed a cardinal culinary sin by cooking the rice by itself and just adding it to the cooked peppers and tomatoes at the last minute.  Let me explain.

Last night as we were finishing our very tasty dinner, long somen noodles sauteed with tofu, carrots, and asparagus with a homemade teriyaki sauce that didn't suck (following a New Years tradition of our Asian neighbors), Mister and I got into a discussion about his food preferences.  We were discussing the innovative but limiting fixed menu being offered by Vedge for the holiday.  I nearly choked on my noodles when Mister said, "there aren't a lot of foods I don't like, but the ones I don't like I really hate."

So I said:

• mushrooms
• squash
• eggplant
• whole wheat pasta
• tempeh
• quinoa
• "squishy wheat"
• prunes
• raisins
• pretty much any dried fruit, actually
• gnocchi
• ricotta
• sweet potatoes

I could go on.  For heaven's sake, I even have a label on the blog for "Things Mister Hates."

So, there were two reasons I cooked the rice separately.  First, risotto takes a very long time and my hands have typing to do, so I didn't feel like wearing them out by continuously stirring rice for about an hour.  Second, and more important, another Thing Mister Hates is Risotto, so I wanted to make this as un-risotto-like as possible and it seems to have worked since he had two bowls. 

I have to admit, my favorite thing about him hating risotto is how he had forgotten and at what an inconvenient time he remembered.  Two years ago at Christmas, his father took us and his wife to Lacroix, a very fancy and very expensive French restaurant overlooking Rittenhouse Square.  For our side dishes, I selected sweet potatoes, since I never get to have them at home (see the list ^ ) and Mister chose Chestnut Risotto (to my great surprise, having avoided cooking risotto at home for this specific reason).  It came, it looked delicious, and after he picked at it for a few minutes I asked if I could try a bite.  He pretty much told me I could have it all if I wanted, revealing that he had forgotten what risotto was until it arrived.  Ahh.... adventures in fine dining.

So, anyway, Happy New year to any faithful friend who is still reading after my nearly month-long absence.  I haven't resolved to write more frequently, but I do anticipate having more to say going forward, so thank you for your patience - I hope to reward it richly this new year.  Even if it all ends on the Winter Solstice like the Mayans said it would.

winning!

God bless Charlie Sheen.  That man is completely out of his mind, as well as touch with reality.  Unfortunately, I don't think there will ever come a time he will be old and wise enough to look back over some recent interviews and be embarrassed.  I think he truly believes he is winning (and since he's not dead yet, I guess he is).

Fortunately, everyone can win sometimes!  I would not classify my overall life as "winning" and I spend more time than I should dwelling on ways I've disappointed myself, but I've had a few great days lately (though some could definitely be better described as "bi-winning," thank you, Charlie).  Oh, and by the way - Happy May!

Last night, I issued myself another Basket Challenge, since I didn't go food shopping until today.  Well, let me back up - we almost went out to dinner last night, but then we remembered it was Saturday and we don't like crowds of annoying people falling all over the place while we try to walk to a restaurant.  Mister framed it like this: "Why don't we go out tomorrow night, when it's nicer out?"  It was actually cooler today, so.... anyway, I ran up to Superfresh to grab a couple of ingredients and then made a new recipe that I think requires at least one more making before I share the recipe, but I'll show you pictures:

So pretty and colorful while sauteing

Pretty and tasty, though it does need "something more"

So then, with PIFA over, taking with it all of my reasons to screw around and not be productive on my one day off, I did make my way to about a half a dozen shops today to accomplish various errands.  When I set out to start shopping, I wanted to head over to Williams-Sonoma before it closed - I "needed" a flat whisk.  I've been resisting getting one because I already have 5 whisks in various sizes, but I have made one of the items on our new menu before, using one of those 5 whisks, and let me tell you - it doesn't work.  I really needed a flat whisk to make this recipe work.  Here begins a small comedy of errors.

I walked out the door and headed west because as long as I was going that way anyway, I wanted to stop into Salon Sugar and make an appointment to cover up my grays before the upcoming wedding season.  That accomplished, I headed up to Spruce Street to catch a bus to Center City West because I wanted to save a little time.  As the bus was approaching, I pulled out my April Trailpass...and realized it was May.  I put it away and started my trek up to the train station where I waited in the longest line I've ever seen there (people overflowing from the serpentine pen!) and got my new Trailpass so I don't miss the train waiting in line tomorrow... anyway, since the station is only a few blocks from my desired destination, I just strolled down Broad Street, amazed at how clean it was after yesterday's huge PIFA street fair.

It's not every day you see a ferris wheel in the middle of Broad Street in Philadelphia, so I think a person could logically say the PIFA went out in style...

Anyway, after procuring my whisk, I headed across the street to MAC...I mean...I was up there anyway.... whereupon a nice young man with almost as much mascara and slightly less eyeliner than me proceeded to paint my lips with the "perfect" berry shade.  A few moments later and lighter of purse, I headed down to Whole Foods to continue the spending spree for this menu:

1. Penne with Spinach and Chickpeas in Garlic Sauce from Quick Vegetarian Pleasures.  I have had this book for years and neither Mister nor I have a clue where it came from.  We know it came home from one of his tours with him, but we don't know how it got in his bags.  Anyway, I have several favorite recipes in here that have been neglected while I played with my shiny new books.  I decided to blow the dust off the cover and flip through for some old-timey goodness.

2. Spicy Ragout of Vegetables and Tofu, also from Quick Vegetarian Pleasures.  Whereas I have made #1 on many, many occasions, I have never attempted this recipe, so I'm looking forward to seeing how it goes.

3. Sloppy Joes from The Urban Vegan.  I am so looking forward to the new book coming out I kind of can't stand it.  So, while I wait, I'm revisiting some favorites from book #1 and living in the world-traveling, cosmopolitan faerietale world Dynise has constructed for me.

4. Granada Paella, also from The Urban Vegan.  This is my favorite Paella recipe and one of my favorites from the book.  I love the way it tastes and once everything it chopped and in the pot, I can just putter around my kitchen, say, sorting through and throwing out a week's worth of neglected mail.  Not that I would let something like that pile up.  Just a hypothetical situation...

5. Orecchiette con Broccoli, also from The Urban Vegan.  This is the recipe I "needed" the flat whisk for, provoking my travels all around Center City today (in the course of which I found a little hidden/secret kitchen toy store on Walnut St called Kitchenette.  Next time I have a ton of money and nothing to spend it on - yeah, right - I will go there for a shopping spree).

6. Punjabi Peppers and Tofu from La Dolce Vegan.  Just because it's been way too long since the last time I made this. 

Before I tell you about dinner, I want to introduce you to my new kitchen assistant:

Great company while chopping, dicing, sorting, and sauteing.

Tonight, instead of going out, I offered Mister a choice of cuisines (mainly because I couldn't make up my mind between 4 and 6), and asked him if he'd prefer Indian or Spanish.  Apparently, my husband is able to make the distinction between Mexican and Spanish, and therefore recognize how infrequently we eat latino food that isn't inspired by the southern-most tip of the continent, so he chose Granada Paella.

I'm so lucky to have such a pretty measuring dish to measure my one cup of diced red pepper! I don't usually measure the red pepper - I normally just get one pepper, dice it and call it a day.  However, my pepper choices this afternoon included tiny, misshapen, mutant peppers at Whole Foods or the hugest red peppers I've ever seen at Superfresh.  I figured two of the huge ones would equal the three normal-sized ones I had intended to purchase, so in order to make sure I had enough peppers for the other meals, I actually measured this time.  How could I help it when I have such gorgeous kitchen tools?

Doesn't that look delicious?  Believe me - it is.  Now that Mister and I have figured out the hidden location of vegan chorizo sausage, I will make it 100% true to recipe next time, but this time I still diced some Italian-style Tofurky, which is still awesome.

I may not have as much money as Charlie Sheen, or as much fame or nice things or notoriety, and I certainly don't have two "goddesses," but every bite of dinner tonight told me that I most certainly am "winning."

captain multi-tasking

If Catherine Zeta-Jones can be Commander of the British Empire, I can be some kind of home-making superhero, can't I?  I feel quite accomplished even if I didn't get everything on my [always excessive] to-do list done.  My secret?  Slow-simmered food.

I slept a little later than I had planned, but once I had two cups of Chocolate Cappuccino coffee in me, I was in and out of the shower and painting my face in preparation for my exciting trips to Essene and CVS.  After loading up on apples and razors (yes, I know I'm early/late for Halloween, but Easter is on its way), I headed home and got to work on my first two projects.

I've never had Muhammara before but I've heard of it and thought it was fascinating.  It kind of looks like red pepper hummus but it's all hopped up with spiciness.  Today, I tested a recipe for UV2, despite my hatred for onions.

Honestly, although the red peppers and onions look very pretty together, this image made my blood run cold.  When I read the recipe, it called for one small onion, so I thought, "How bad can it be? I can handle one little onion."  I didn't realize how big onions got when you diced them - all of a sudden, my little bitty onion was all over the place.

Anyway, part of the charming parts of the recipe and one of the reasons I made it today is that the longer it cooks, the better it is, or so Dynise said in her introduction to the recipe.  While the peppers and onion were sauteing, I was unpacking one of the last boxes and setting up my bathroom.

After about 40 minutes, the onions were finally that magical state of translucent that I've always heard of but never seen since I don't commonly cook onions.  It was pretty neat to see, actually.  Meanwhile, I was industriously emptying a box full of makeup and bandaids and sunscreen and cottonballs and figuring out how to put together the puzzle of my strangely shaped and possibly smaller bathroom.

one of the most esoteric and fabulous ingredients in my cupboard: pomegranate molasses

  

After letting the peppers and onions swim together in boiling oil for about an hour, I poured the melange into my food processor and covered it with walnuts and pomegranate molasses and a few other things (you need to buy this book!).  I was really looking forward to seeing how a dip that didn't involve beans or anything else I could see holding it together was going to look.

It came out looking exactly like it was supposed to - kind of like red pepper hummus, or maybe Martha's sweet potato hummus, and it didn't taste all too different.  I look at it as a slightly healthier and much spicier hummus.  It had a definite kick to it, thanks to one of the things I sauteed with the peppers and onion being more red pepper flakes than I've ever used in a recipe. 

It was a great accompaniment to our dinner: Bulgur and Red Lentil Pilaf with Kale and Olives from The Complete Vegan Cookbook.  When I was at Whole Foods, I was pleased to find red kale, which is a fun color - dark, hunter green with wine-red edges and veins.  I make this dish as often as I remember to because I absolutely love it and the flavors in it, so the way I introduce a little variety is by using different kinds of kale - the first time, I just used regular ol' kale 'cause I didn't know any better (and plain ol' kale is delicious).  The last time I made it, I used lacinto (dinosaur) kale because it's easier to chop, being all not-curly and whatnot.  Also, I think the red kale was a fun addition to the deep purple kalamatas and the creamy red lentils and beige bulgur.  I wish this cookbook had more recipes I enjoyed making, but honestly, this recipe alone is worth the price of the book.

Well, time to clean up and get ready for bed so I can dream of all the fun that awaits me tomorrow through Friday...

a big pot of pasta

Last week, I made a menu that was completely suited to Mister's tastes.  It was kind of my way to make up for all the weird meals I've been making since deciding to make the leap to vegan this summer and since I've started testing for Dynise's forthcoming cookbook.  I absolutely adore the way she writes, the stories she tells as she introduces her recipes, and most of all, the way she convinces me to combined ingredients I wouldn't ordinarily combine or eat something I wouldn't ordinarily eat.  Mister could do without all the adventure sometimes.  That being said, the only recipe he really didn't care for was the Basil-Balsamic Glazed Tofu; everything else he has embraced.

I think I made a new favorite tonight, though: Pasta with Red Peppers and Basil from the upcoming UV2.

Rather artful, the way I scattered those toasted Spanish pine nuts on there, wouldn't you say?  By the way, I don't know what's so special about Spanish pine nuts (not to mention that since they were in the bulk bin at Whole Foods I don't actually have any way to verify that they are really from Spain), but those little suckers are $23/lb!  Fortunately, I only needed 1/2 cup for the recipe.

It's a good thing I also have some recipes from Vegan on the Cheap in the menu, because in the off-season, this particular recipe could be very expensive: $23/lb pine nuts, $4/lb red peppers (and I needed 2lbs), and fresh basil, among other things.  This will be a much more affordable meal around July/August, so keep that in mind if you are a seasonal-ingredients cook who knows you have to buy this book when it comes out.  

After sauteing my 2lbs of red peppers long enough for them to get all soft and roasted-red-peppery, I stirred in the chopped basil and long, lovely strands of Meyer lemon zest.  It's very possible Dynise wanted the kind of grated zest you get from a microplane grater, but I thought the swirly strips of bright yellow zest were so pretty I didn't even chop them smaller.

This photo strongly resembles what Mister imagines heaven to look like.  To quote him directly, "a big pot of pasta is a happy thing."  Sounds kind of like a fortune cookie, doesn't he?  In any case, he was sufficiently delighted with our dinner - enough to have three hearty servings and help me provide a better idea to Dynise as to exactly how many servings this recipe makes.  I can see it traveling well and tasting good chilled with a light garlicky vinaigrette sprinkled over it for a potluck/picnic.

Of course, it's beautiful enough to be an appropriate first course for a dinner on our china with our real silver and crystal, in a room lit by ambient light and music playing softly in the background...

Yes, I am already planning my first dinner party now that we're two weeks away from moving into a home that will allow me to entertain.