04.05.12_Coq-au-Vin-Less Coq au Vin

So this recipe does not contain chicken or wine, thus the name Coq-au-Vin-Less Coq au Vin name. However having made the real deal a couple of weeks ago, I see why the blog where I found this recipe still called it Coq au Vin. It had very similar flavors and ingredients, even with the two primary ones obviously missing. However, not having the chicken and the wine (which is often not vegan believe it or not) made it extremely easy to convert to a vegan recipe since Caitlin was coming over for dinner. The recipe called for:

• 1 eggplant, cubed
• salt
• 3 oz tempeh bacon, cut into small strips (we used Lightlife's Smart Bacon)
• 1 block extra firm tofu, pressed and patted dry, cubed
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 10 oz frozen pearl onions (we used fresh)
• 1 lb cremini mushrooms, minced or food processed into tiny pieces
• 6 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 cups vegetable broth
• 1 cup tomato sauce
• 2 bay leaves
• several sprigs fresh thyme
• several sprigs fresh parsley (I used dried)
• 8 oz green beans
• 1 tbsp butter (we omitted for Caitlin)
• 1 cup polenta
• 4 cups water

This recipe had a fair amount of prep but luckily Caitlin and I have a long history of cooking together and it was nice to have her in the kitchen with me helping like the good ol' days. One new thing for me was having to buy fresh pearl onions. The recipe called for frozen but after going to both Safeway and Whole Foods and having no luck, I managed to find a bag of fresh ones. I looked up how to peel them online, hoping to find an easy way. All you have to do is bring a pot of water to a boil, drop in the onions and let them cook for about 2 minutes. Then after cooking put them into an ice bath. Finally cut off the root end and the skins come right off. Still a lot more work than buying a frozen box but good to know for the future if you are in dire of need of pearl onions!

Another prep item was the eggplant. Caitlin diced the it while I pressed the tofu. We put the diced eggplant into a colander, salted, and let sit for 20 minutes or so to draw out the excess liquid and to make it less bitter. While the eggplant sat and the tofu was being pressed, we both cleaned the mushrooms. Maybe there is a better way of doing this, but cleaning mushrooms takes forever, especailly when you have a 1lb of cremini to clean. Finally it was time to start cooking. I put some oil into a pan and sauteed the diced tempeh bacon for a few minutes. Next, I added the tofu, seasoned with S&P, then sauteed for another 5-6 minutes. After the tofu started to brown, I added the diced eggplant, the onions, and the mushrooms which I had pulsed in the food processor to a very fine dice (its easier to hide them from Phillip when they are tiny). About 5 minutes after adding the rest of the veggies, I grated in 6 cloves of garlic. This mixture sautes for a total of 15 minutes (10 minutes after you add the garlic).

Finally, I added 2 cups of veggie stock, a cup of tomato sauce, the green beans, 2 bay leaves, a few sprigs of thyme, and the parsley into the pot. Lower the heat so that the sauce is just bubbling. This simmers for a good 20 minutes or so until it has reduced and thickened. We served the Coq-au-Vin-Less Coq au Vin over polenta and Phillip and I topped it off with some grated Parmesan cheese. We were all pleasantly surprised with the flavor of the dish. Our only complaint was that there was a lot of the same texture, which you know is usually an issue for me. Luckily the fresh green beans and the pearl onions provided a nice crunch as needed. This recipe was not difficult but definitely takes a lot of time to get everything ready since you are working with so much fresh produce that needs to be handled before cooked.

01.29.11_Homemade Spaghetti-O's

Hello again! Phil here with another yummy vegetarian dish for you all. Jonathan found this lovely Spaghetti-O's recipe from the blog Tracey's Culinary Adventures last week, and we knew this one would be a winner. I can't speak for Jonathan, but I am a huge Spaghetti-O's fan, which is why we decided I would take the initiative on this one.

If you recall from my last post, I am not the world's best cook, but with Jonathan across from me in new (large!) kitchen, I figured I could handle it. It's important to note that we made mini-sized version of the eggplant meatballs from a previous post as opposed to her chicken ones to make the meal fully vegetarian.

Mini "meatballs" ready to go into the oven.

After chopping an onion, a stalk of celery, and three small carrots, I sauteed them in a large pot. While they were sauteing, I (poorly) minced three cloves of garlic and added it in. I mixed in 2 1/2 cups of veggie stock and a 28-ounce can of diced tomatoes then simmered the mixture for 20 minutes.

Anybody can cook!

After the carrots softened, I used Jonathan's new immersion blender to make the soup. It took a few minutes of dealing with rogue carrots, but we could really see that creamy orange color coming out of the mixture. I added some salt and pepper and brought the soup back up to a boil.

I have no idea what I'm doing, clearly.

Once the soup mixture was at a boil, I put in two cups of ditalini pasta and let simmer for another 15 minutes. I used a little bit more pasta than she recommended, so we'd have enough for the next day's lunch. The mini meatballs came out at around the same time and looked perfect! Not bad for my first time working with eggplant.

I'm actually surprised with how much it tasted like Spaghetti-O's from the can, though this was much healthier! We both loved the meal and enjoyed it again the next day for lunch. We definitely recommend giving it a try if you're in the mood for a nostalgic meal - without all the sodium!

09.28.11_Eggplant Parmesan Casserole

Our friends Laura and Meghan have had us over for dinner a few times and after seeing all of the delicious things I had made in August, Laura really wanted us to have her over for dinner. We finally found a day that worked and I decided to make this Eggplant Parmesan Casserole that was on my list of things to try. Whenever I have people over for dinner I always try to make something that I can do most, if not all, of the work beforehand so once the guests arrive, I'm not in the kitchen the entire time. This casserole seemed perfect because I could get everything ready, cover it and leave it in the fridge until it was time to put it in the oven.

After reading the recipe I decided to one and a half the recipe since they said it made a very small amount and I did not want to run out of food. The recipe took a little while just because you had to roast the eggplant for 35-45 minutes first, let it cool, and then make the casserole before baking it for about 50 minutes. This was another time when I wish I owned a mandolin. My slices of eggplants were uneven to say the least but they still turned out ok. If you do not have parchment paper I would recommend getting some. I used foil that I covered with oil but the eggplant still stuck some. Eggplant always gets so flimsy once it's roasted anyway flipping it halfway through was a little frustrating so if you can get the parchment paper it will probably make your life a lot easier.

While the eggplant was roasting I got everything else ready. I mixed the panko bread crumbs, Parmesan cheese, oil and S&P and set aside for later to top the casserole. I also mixed together the ricotta cheese, Parmesan cheese, egg yolks, and S&P. I ended up using a little more cheese (shock) then the recipe called for because in my opinion you can never have enough cheese. I then made the sauce by browning some garlic, adding a can of crushed tomatoes, and tossing in some fresh basil at the very end (easy homemade sauce ever).

Once the eggplant was roasted and cooled, I started layering the casserole. For some reason in my mind I was imaging this dish would be like a noodle-less lasagna with layers of eggplants instead of noodles. This was definitely the wrong way to thing about it. I could not spread out the ricotta mixture like you would with a lasagna because the eggplant is not sturdy enough. I ended up just putting dollops of the mixture around the baking dish and assumed once it was in the oven the cheese was going to melt and spread out anyway. After creating several layers, I put the casserole into the oven for 25 minutes. The recipe called for covering the casserole with foil sprayed with non-stick spray for this part. I'm not sure why spraying the foil was necessary. I guess if you filled your baking dish to the brim and the foil was touching the casserole but mine was not. After the 25 minutes, I sprinkled the panko-parmesan mixture on top, put it back in the oven for another 20-25 minutes until it was golden brown.

I sprinkled a little bit of fresh basil on top for color and we were ready to eat. Laura brought a salad with pears and a balsamic vinaigrette from Whole Foods and I toasted up some garlic bread while the casserole was resting. The casserole was delicious and both Phillip and Laura really enjoyed it. Like the original recipe says, it does not make an enormous amount of food like casseroles typically do so if you are trying to feed more than two I would definitely increase the original recipe. Thanks to Tracey's Culinary Adventures for the great recipe!

08.12.11_Tapas

Friday Night Tapas: Eggplant Meatballs, Greek Salad Skewers, Baked Brie, Parmesan Chickpeas, Salsa and Guacamole, Gouda Cheese, and Butterfly Shrimp for the non-Vegetarians

My parents have started a tradition of having their own version of "tapas" every Friday. This week they invited me and Phillip to come out and join them. They graciously agreed to make mostly vegetarian dishes so that Phillip and I would have enough to eat. My mom's menu consisted of Greek salad skewers, salsa and guacamole, a baked brie, and butterfly shrimp for them. I offered to make a couple of things to bring as well and decided on eggplant meatballs, Parmesan roasted chickpeas, and a wedge of Gouda cheese for Phillip (he doesn't like brie).

The chickpeas were super simple. Just drain, rinse and let dry for 15 minutes before tossing them in a mixture of olive oil, Parmesan cheese, garlic powder, salt and a pinch of cayenne. Then pop them in a 400 degree oven for about an hour. We all really liked the super crunchy chickpeas so I think if I were to make these again I would let them go a little bit longer to make them extra crunchy. These would make a great healthy snack if you are craving something crunchy/salty throughout the day. I copied the blog where I found the recipe and served the chickpeas in the tin they came out of to give a cute homemade touch to the table.

Next up were the "meatballs." I have always found working with eggplant a bit arduous. For this specific recipe you had to peel the eggplant (not an easy task when you are using a cheapo peeler that you have had for 5 years) then dice the eggplant, salt it, and let it sit for an hour in a strainer to get out a majority of the bitter liquid in the eggplant. After letting it sit for an hour I then also squeezed the cubes of eggplants with my hands, as the recipe recommended, to get out as much liquid as possible so that the "meatballs" would not fall apart. Obviously none of this was difficult but still a fair amount of prep to do before even getting started.

While the eggplant was sitting in the strainer, I sauteed the onion and garlic and mixed together the rest of the ingredients. I did not mix them all together in the Cuisinart like the recipe called for, but rather just used my hands. Finally it was time to saute the eggplant itself. After about 15 minutes I put the eggplant into my baby Cuisinart, gave it a quick pulse. I added the eggplant paste into the dry ingredient mixture and then it was good to go. Using a tablespoon created the perfect bite-sized "meatballs." 25 minutes in the oven and they were good to go. We could not get over how delicious the eggplant meatballs were. They were definitely a crowd favorite and we had no leftovers. I would definitely make these again and serve over pasta for a main dish. Delicious. A special thanks to http://midwestveg.com for this great recipe!

The other dishes that my sister, Rachel, prepared were also super simple and delicious. The Greek salad skewers were just half a cherry tomato, a cube of feta cheese, and a piece of cucumber on a toothpick. We put olives on half of them for our parents but neither of us like olives so we left them off of ours. We served the skewers on a platter that was covered in Balsamic Vinegar dressing. For the brie, it was a mixture of apricot preserves, mixed with cran-raisins, diced jalapeno and dried apricots. Rachel sliced the brie horizontal and spread half of the mixture in the middle of the wheel of brie before popping it in the oven until it was melty and gooey. She then put the rest of the apricot mixture on top before serving. I'm not usually a fan of baked brie but this was really tasty.