Vegan Cooking

I like eating less animal products but honestly I know myself I would not become a vegetarian.    However,  I am always looking for meatless recipes that I can serve my family at least once a week that they might actually like.  I won't lie, it has been a struggle. 

When I was in college my eating habits were much closer to a vegetarian than at any other time in my life.  And here is the thing, I felt great and I was at my ideal weight .

Now that I am trying to cook different things I am once again in search of good vegetarian recipes.  I had the opportunity to review this book and I was happy with some of the recipes in the book.   Two of the recipes I enjoyed was the Sweet Potato Pancake and the Roasted Brussels Sprout Salad with Apples and Cranberries. Brussels sprouts are one of those incredibly misunderstood vegetables.  I have found if cooked right they lose that strong and sometimes bitter taste.  Try them you will like  them.

There are several other recipes I am looking forward to making and that is the Scallion Pancakes and there is a good looking recipe for vegetarian chili.

I am sharing the Sweet Potato Pancakes.  These would be great for those of you looking for a different take on the regular potato latke served at Hanukkah or as a side for Thanksgiving.

Sweet Potato Pancakes

1 pound russet potatoes peeled and rinsed
1 pound sweet potatoes peeled and rinsed
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp ground pepper
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil (evoo)
1 white onion finely chopped
3 tablespoons chopped fresh chives
1 c dried bread crumbs
1/4 c evoo or more as needed

Using a grater, grate potatoes into large bowl, Add salt and pepper and mix well.  With clean kitchen towel squeeze excess liquid from potatoes and return to bowl.  

Heat evoo in sauté pan over medium heat.  Add onions and sauté until softened.  Add  onions, 2 tablespoons of chives and the breadcrumbs to the potato mix with the onions.  Heat a skillet with evoo and cook pancakes until lightly brown.  Remove pancakes from pan and let drain on paper towel. If you prefer you can bake the pancakes at 350 degrees for 20 minutes.  Ten minutes per side.       

Garnish pancakes with remaining chives                                    

I received this book from Blogging for Books for this review

What's in Your Pantry

I received a lot of emails from people sharing with me what was in their pantry.  I thought I would share some of them with you.  There seems to be a core group of items that many people have in their pantry such as flour, sugar, pasta, peanut butter, jelly and so on but each person also shared the pantry items that was unique to them.  Those were the items I found interesting because it gave insight in to the type of cooking they did.  I will be sharing some of the feedback with you starting with comments from Mrs. Bear.  See below

 As I try and learn to cook new dishes I find that the food items I stock in my pantry is gradually changing.  I also am trying to buy things I know I am going to need so that my pantry is more organized.  For me this is a very hard thing to do because I like to go to the grocery store and buy interesting things that I never seem to use.  I am a work in progress.

This is a response from Mrs. Bear

I always have oatmeal, bran flakes, corn meal and good old chicken noodle soup in my pantry.  (just in case I need a good dose of sodium and I’m too lazy to make it from scratch) pasta, tomato sauce, grits, vegetarian baked beans, tuna, creamy peanut butter, black beans, tea, flour, sugar, brown sugar, bread crumbs, saltines, wheat thins and lots of other stuff that I probably don’t need.

Thank you to everyone who shared your pantry with me.  I will include other pantries is future posts.

Warm and wonderful

The days are getting shorter and shorter.  This means one thing, winter is coming and that means that using the grill while still possible is not necessarily practical.  It also means more comfort foods and casseroles.  As the one doing the cooking I like making casseroles because it is one dish cooking and for the cooking challenged(ME) it is easier.  I am always in search of a good casserole dish. That is why I like this Chicken Stuffing bake.  It has all the elements of a meal rolled into one dish.  There is chicken, vegetables and bread.  The best part is it takes very little time to prepare which is great especially when I am running late after leaving work. Below is the recipe I found in a Taste of Home cookbook.  Click on the picture of the book if you want more info.

 

Chicken Stuffing Bake

1 can (10 3/4 oz) condensed reduced fat, reduced sodium cream of mushroom soup diluted

1 cup fat free milk

1 package (6 ounce) stuffing mix

2 cups cubed cooked chicken breast

2 cups fresh broccoli florets, cooked

2 celery ribs finely chopped to

1 1/2 cups ( 6 ounces) shredded reduced fat Swiss Cheese

In a large bowl combine soup and milk until blended. Add stuffing with contents of seasoning packet, broccoli, celery and 1 cup of cheese.  Transfer to a 13 x 9 baking dish.

Bake uncovered at 375 degrees for 20 minutes or until heated thoroughly.  Sprinkle with remaining cheese  and bake 5 additional minutes.

Makes 8 servings.  1 cup = 247 calories and has 24 grams of carbs.  For the rest of the nutrition info refer to the cookbook.

 

 

The Boozy Baker

While you might think that the author is talking about the baker of these goodies, my guess is that really the boozy reference is to the recipes.  Each one has some kind of alcoholic ingredient.  Sweet!  After all the alcohol does technically evaporate during the baking process right?  But the taste lingers so you get the benefit of the flavor without worry. You know how when you sip Amaretto you get this rich golden taste in your mouth and this warm sensation as it trickles down your throat? Adding the liqueur or any alcohol gives you the benefit of the taste without the alcohol content. All bets are off if the alcohol is added after the cooking process.  I will have to explore that in another blog post.

The cookbook The Boozy Baker has some very yummy recipes.  The one that I am including in this post is called Donut Bread Pudding with Tennessee Whiskey.  I tried this recipe because I thought it would make a great brunch recipe for the holidays but you certainly don't have to wait until then.  As you will find out I can't leave well enough and so the next time I make this recipe I plan on making a few changes.  The first thing I plan to change is the alcohol.  I will have to think what my substitution will be. I also might use half and half  to make the custard. Once I make it I will give you an update.  I am thinking of serving it at my next book club meeting with vanilla ice cream. So check back.

Donut Bread Pudding

 4 tablespoons unsalted butter melted

8 store bought plain cake donuts

1/2 c light brown sugar

1/4 tsp ground cinnamon

1/8 tsp Ground nutmeg

2 1/4 c heavy cream or whole milk

1/4 cup Tennessee whiskey

1 tsp vanilla

For the Sauce

1 1/2 tsp cornstarch

2 Tablespoons Tennessee whiskey

3/4 c heavy cream

2 tablespoons granulated sugar

To Make the Pudding

Lightly brush a 9 inch square baking pan with a little bit of the melted butter.  Cut the doughnuts into 1 1/2 to 2 inch chunks. Add them to the pan.

In a large bowl combine the remaining butter, brown sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg.  Add the eggs and whisk until blended. Whisk in the whiskey and the heavy cream and the vanilla. Pour egg mixture over the doughnuts and press down gently with wooden spoon to make sure all pieces are submerged. Allow pudding to stand for an hour or refrigerate overnight.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Cover pudding with aluminum foil, bake 30 minutes.  Remove foil, bake 15 minutes more or until custard is set but soft.

To Make the Sauce

Combine cornstarch and whiskey in small bowl. In a small saucepan combine heavy cream and sugar and heat over high heat whisking constantly for 2 to 3 minutes or until small bubbles form.  Continue whisking and add whiskey mix( it will bubble vigorously).  Continue whisking until sauce is blended and thickens.

What's in My pantry

I have gotten some great responses from my question what is in your pantry.  This is a response from Mrs. Bear

oatmeal, bran flakes, corn meal and good old chicken noodle soup in my pantry. pasta, tomato sauce, grits, vegetarian baked beans, tuna, creamy peanut butter, black beans, tea, flour, sugar, brown sugar, bread crumbs, saltines, wheat thins and lots of other stuff that I probably don’t need.

As with Mrs Bear I find I have a lot of items I really don't need and it is really hard coming up with recipes to use the stuff up but I am trying.  My goal is to have most of the old stuff in my pantry gone by the end of the year.

Strawberries last licks of the seasn

Strawberries

Strawberries are still pretty easy to find in the stores and reasonably priced so I decided to try to make a strawberry bread from a recipe that I have found in the Washington Post. I will include the recipe in this post so that you can try it. The one thing about doing a quick bread recipe is it is exactly that, quick. Quick, usually means easy and good.

A little Whole Wheat Flour 

One thing that I liked about this recipe is that it combined white flour and whole-wheat flour. It changed the flavor from your usual quick bread recipe to one with a little earthier taste.  I feel like it was a little healthier. However if you don't like whole wheat flour use all white flour.

Recipe

Strawberry bread

 

Ingredients

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup whole-wheat flour, preferably pastry flour
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
• 2/3 cup vegetable oil
• 1 1/4 cups hulled, mashed strawberries

---

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 7 1/2- or 8-by-4-inch glass loaf pan with cooking oil spray, then line with enough parchment paper so that the short sides have an overhang (which will help you lift out the baked bread).

Whisk together the flours, sugar, salt, cinnamon and baking soda in a mixing bowl.

Add the eggs and oil, then the mashed strawberries (and their juices), stirring to form a batter that turns a raspberry pink, with visible chunks of strawberries. Transfer to the loaf pan, spreading the batter evenly and into the edges. Bake for about 75 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

Cool in the pan for 5 minutes, then lift out using the parchment paper, transfer to a wire rack to cool before serving.

 

If you make the recipe leave me a comment