French Simmered Pumpkin and Lentils

2 T olive oil
1 large shallot, diced
1 14 0z. can diced tomatoes
1 c green lentils, rinsed
1 1/2 T dried tarragon
1 t dried rosemary
1 T dried thyme
1 t dried garlic
1 t dried basil
1 t white pepper
1 2-lb. pumpkin, peeled, seeded and cubed
1/4 c tomato puree or sauce
2 1/2 c water

Heat oil in large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add shallot and saute 10 minutes, or until onion is translucent and golden. Add tomatoes, lentils, and spices, and cook 2 to 3 minutes more. Stir in pumpkin cubes, tomato puree or sauce, and 2 1/2 c water. Season with salt and pepper.
Reduce heat to medium-low and cook 40 minutes, or until pumpkin and lentils are tender, stirring occasionally and adding more water if needed. Season with salt and pepper.

Serves 8

Good served with baked potatoes. This is an improvization based on the Moroccan Pumpkin and Lentils recipe I tried a while back. J says he likes it even more this way with the French spices. I'd have used fresh spices if I had them, and some white wine in place of water. Next time...

2007 Clos Roche Blanche Gamay T ouraine

This is the wine we've been looking for. The wine of our dreams. Light, mineraly, bashful even. Santa, please bring me a case for Xmas!

Pear Pie

Ingredients
1 frozen pie crust, thawed (Whole Foods brand)
5 cups coarsely chopped peeled pears (about 5 medium, or 6 small)
¼ cup turbinado sugar
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1 tablespoon lemon juice
½ teaspoon ground ginger
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 t Earth Balance buttery spread

Preheat the oven to 425°F. Combine pear and the next 6 ingredients and toss well. Pour pear mixture into pie crust. Dot top of pie with Earth Balance and bake for 20 minutes on the lowest oven rack. Pie is done when fruit is tender and crust is golden brown.

Blueberry Pie

I made this in order to use up the 3/4 bag of organic Trader Joe's blueberries I had in the freezer, but I should double this amount next time because it didn't fill up the pie shell.

1 Whole Foods whole wheat frozen pie crust, thawed
5 c frozen blueberries, thawed under running warm water and drained
2 T fresh squeezed lemon juice
1/4 c flour
1/2 c sugar
1/4 t ground cinnamon
2 T Earth Balance vegan butter substitute, cut into small pieces

Preheat oven to 350. Lightly combine all ingredients except for fake butter in a mixing bowl. Pour mixture into pie shell. Dot the top with butter pieces. Bake for 30 minutes. Let cool before serving.

Almond Bread

Only slightly sweet, a little dry... kind of like a lighter version of a scone. Will be nice for breakfast. Could be muffins but I made 2 small loaves instead.

1 egg
3/4 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. almond extract
1/3 c. sugar
1/4 c. sunflower oil
1 c. soymilk
2 c. flour
1 tbsp. baking powder
3/4 c. almonds, chopped

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Beat egg, salt and sugar until light and fluffy. Add oil in a stream and continue beating. Beat in milk and almond extract. Add flour and baking powder to batter, stirring several times and add to batter, stirring until just mixed. Add nuts. Bake in greased loaf pans for 25-30 minutes.

Pasta with Butternut Squash and Sage

1 medium butternut squash
1 small sweet onion, peeled and diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
Olive oi
Salt and pepper
1/2 cup fresh sage leaves
1 pound farfalle pasta
3/4 cup pine nuts, toasted

Heat the oven to 375°. Cut the butternut squash in half and scoop out the strings and seeds the middle cavity. Flip the squash halves upside down and peel them. Cut the squash into 1-inch cubes. Drizzle with olive oil and roast in a roasting pan, covered, for about 40 minutes or until the squash is soft.

Heat salted pasta water to boiling and cook the farfalle until al dente. Drain and set aside. As the squash finishes roasting, heat about two tablespoons of olive oil in a large high-sided sauté pan. The oil is ready when it pops and sputters. Saute onion and garlic until translucent. Drop the sage leaves and fry for about a minute, or until they begin to just shrivel up.

Remove with a slotted spoon and salt lightly. Crush with the back of a spoon.

Add pasta to the pan, along with the roasted squash mixture. Crumble in the sage. Cook, stirring frequently, for five minutes or until the pasta is heated through and getting crispy on some of the edges. Add the pine nuts and cook for another minute.

Serves 4

*I forgot the pine nuts when I made this and it was still fabuous. Original recipe called for roating sqaush with onion, sage and garlic on a baking sheet in the oven but this gassed us all and we had to aerate the house and eat around browned up the garlic and the sage into toasty bits. So I simplified the existing recipe to prevent this happening the enxt time I make this.

Creamy Curried Cauliflower Soup

I took the curried cauliflower recipe from this old post and buzzed it through the blender with about 3 cups of vegetable broth and 1 cup of goat's milk. It made a thick, hearty soup that is nicely spiced.

Pumpkin Pie

This uses coconut milk so it's dairy-free. I used an extra 1/4 to 1/3 c of pumpkin that I had leftover, so it's more spicy and pumpkin-y than it is sweet and creamy rich. But in a good way.

1 frozen pie shell (I like Whole Food's whole wheat brand), thawed
3 large eggs, stirred
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup white sugar
2 Tablespoons cornstarch
1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ginger
1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon allspice
1/4 teaspoon cloves
1/2 teaspoon salt
16 ounces canned pumpkin
1 cup coconut milk

Mix the filling ingredients together. Pour the mixture into the thawed frozen pie shell. Bake for 50-55 minutes at 350 degrees.

*I went a little heavy on the spices and a little light on the sugar, both of which I would play with next time I'm making this. I might also bump up the coconut milk to 1 1/2 cups so it's a little creamier. J said the pie would be perfect as is with some sweet whipped cream on top. At least it didn't feel super decadent when I finished off the last huge slice at 2 a.m. this morning!

Date Syrup

What I rhapsodized over in a recent post I have found online. The gods be praised.

Check out this bit o' history:

"The date palm has flourished in Israel since the Neolithic period near the site of Jericho. It was grown for its leaves (lulav for Sukkot) and general thatching, wood, it was a symbol of immortality or fertility; it had sweet fruit fresh or could be dried, made into date honey or syrup, date liqueur, even the palm leaves could be woven for many items, fibers for ropes and such, woven baskets and brooms, sandals and fans. Apiculture or bee-hive raising was never a major industry of the Jews, and thus it had to be date honey.

Agam Hagalil’s Silan Date Honey is not actually a honey, rather a date syrup that can substituted in its place, this sweet elixir from Israel could put a lot of bees out of business! Use it as a flavorful sweetener in tea or in baking."

Irv and Shelly's Fresh Picks

Last Wednesday I received my first box of produce from Irv and Shelly's Fresh Picks. They deliver fresh, locally-grown organic produce right to your door. And what a bounty- even without the green onions and sweet potatoes they erroneously left out of my order. A gigantic, beautiful head of cauliflower, 2 fuji apples, a bunch of beets, a big head of tat soi greens, garlic chives, a pie pumpkin, a red cabbage and a gigantic portabello mushroom.

I love the cooking challenges presented by the randomness of the week's picks. Here's what's happened to the bounty so far:
I roasted the beets straightaway and had a yummy beet and goat cheese salad with olive oil and balsamic vinegar.
I sauteed the beet greens in a little olive oil and water, but we haven't eaten them yet.
I made a few awesome salads out of the tat soi greens- which I'd never had before. Kind of hearty, peppery in flavor. Went nicely with avocado, beets, cherry tomatoes and goat cheese in a vinagrette. Still have a lot of these green guys to eat though.. Perhaps I'll try cooking with them..
Made the Moroccan Pumpkin and Lentils recipe with the pie pumpkin.
Snipped some of the garlic chives over poached cod, but still have a lot of them left...
Ate the apples.

That leaves the cauliflower (perhaps an Indian curry with it and some peas later in the week); the cabbage (a slaw? another soup? I don't know); and the giant mushroom (risotto!) left to deal with. Also a friend gave me 4 giant stalks of brussels sprouts from his garden, so I've got to roast those up today! He suggested braising and freezing the extras.
How I love the fall harvest!

*Update: Cauliflower became creamy curried cauliflower soup; Giant mushroom was sauteed with garlic, olive oil, basil, sliced zucchini and some cherry tomatoes for a pasta topping (but I ate half of it right out of the pan for lunch, sans pasta!); garlic chives went a little limp in the veggie drawer before they got all used up; red cabbage may become a Japanese sesame type of slaw...

Zucchini Soup with Cinnamon, Cumin and Goat's Milk

Original recipe calls for buttermilk, but I substituted goat's milk here and it's still very yummy. The fennel seed is a pivotal flavor here.

2 1/2 c veg broth (Imagine No-Chicken broth)
1 lb. zucchini, cut into chunks
1 T olive oil
1 small onion, chopped (1 c)
1/2 t minced serrano chile, or to taste
1/2 t whole fennel seed
1/2 t ground cinnamon
1 1/2 c goat's milk
Chopped cilantro or mint, for garnish
Kime wedges, for garnish

Bring broth to a boil in large saucepan over medium heat. Add zucchini, reduce heat to low, and simmer, covered, for 4 to 5 minutes, or until zucchini is barely tender and bright green. Cool.
Meanwhile, heat olive oil in skillet over medium heat. Add onion, serrano, fennel seed, cinnamon, and cumin, and saute for 7 to 10 minutes, or until onion is soft. Cool.
Place zucchini and onion miztures into blender and pulse until well chopped but textured. Transfer to bowl, stir in milk and season with salt and pepper. Chill at least 2 hours. Serve garnished with sprinkling of cilantro and lime wedges.

Serves 4

Moroccan Pumpkin and Lentils

2 T olive oil
1 large onion, diced (about 1 1/2 c)
1 jalapeno chile, seeded and sliced
1 14 0z. can diced tomatoes
1 c green lentils, rinsed
1 T paprika
1/ t cayenne pepper
1 t cumin
1 2-lb. pumpkin, peeled, seeded and cubed
1/ c tomato puree
1/4 c chopped cilantro, for garnish

Heat oil in large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add onion and jalapeno and saute 10 minutes, or until onion is translucent and golden. Add tomatoes, lentils, and spices, and cook 2 to 3 minutes more. Stir in pumpkin cubes, tomato puree, and 2 1/2 c water. Season with salt and pepper.
Reduce heat to medium-low and cook 40 minutes, or until pumpkin and lentils are tender, stirring occasionally and adding more water if needed. Season with salt and pepper. Garnish with cilantro and serve hot.
Serves 8

*Good over quinoa!

Mashed Sweet Potatoes with Coconut Milk and Ginger

There isn't more to it than the title implies. I roasted 5 sweet potatoes in the oven for an hour at 400. Then masked them up with 1/2 can of coconut milk (full fat, not light... rrrrow) and a tablespoon of minced ginger. And whoa. I've been eating it in the evenings when I get a sweet craving because it's quite dessert-y. I guess for official dessert I could add eggs and make it a custard next time. But this is a good T-giving/X-mas variation next time we're bringing a dish. Makes 5-6 servings.

Creamy Pea Soup

This soup is made with goat's milk as an experiment and I think the tang of the goat's milk compliments the other flavors nicely. Regular milk or soy milk could certainly be used instead. It's a fast and easy soup.

1/2 package frozen peas
1/2 onion, diced
1 box Imagine No-Chicken broth
1 t white pepper
1 t dr1ed thyme
1/2 t salt, optional
1/2 c goat milk

Combine all ingredients except milk in a deep saucepan. Bring to a boil on medium heat. Let it all cook together for 15 minutes. Then transfer to a blender and process until smooth. Add goat's milk and process until jst incorporated.
Serves 4.

Pecan Pie

I've always loved pecan pie even though it's usually too sweet for my liking. I'd never made it before but J suggested it tonight and I used what I had in the pantry. I've never bought or cooked with corn syrup, and as a rule I avoid eating it. But I think in this case the rice syrup and the date syrup don't just make this pie more healthy, but the give it more of a depth of flavor too. The date syrup I inherited from someone I used to work with and I had never tasted or cooked with it before today. Wow. I love the stuff. I hope it's not too hard to find because I'm going to make it a pantry staple from now on.

1 Whole Foods brand whole wheat frozen pie crust, thawed
1 c chopped pecans
3 T Earth Balance butter substitute, melted
3/4 c date syrup
3/4 c brown rice syrup
3 eggs
1/2 t cinnamon
1/4 t nutmeg
1/8 t salt
1 T flour

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Beat the eggs in a mixing bowl. Add date syrup, rice syrup, spices, Earth Balance and salt, and mix well. Stir in pecans and flour. Place mixture into an unbaked 9-inch pie shell. Bake for 40 minutes or until firm in the center. Cool.

**Added later: WOW. Date syrup. My new best pantry friend. So good over oatmeal and roasted squash. Please let me find you at a Middle Eastern grocery somewhere. Whole Foods does not carry you.

Quick Gumbo

This can easily be vegetarian without the sausage, or by using Boca sausage. In this case I used andouille-flavored chicken sausage.

2 T olive oil
3 cloves garlic, pressed
3/4 onion, chopped
1 package of frozen red, yellow and green pepper strips (365 brand)
1 28 oz. can diced tomatoes
1 15 oz. can red kidney beans, drained and rinsed
1 T cajun spice
4 spicy veg or chicken sausage links, cut into 1" pieces
3/4 c rice (white or quick-cooking brown)
8 oz. frozen cut okra

Heat oil in large, deep pan over medium heat. Add garlic and onion and saute until fragrant. Add pepper strips and stir. Cook 4 minutes.
Add tomatoes, beans, Cajun spice, and sausage. Bring to a boil, and stir in rice. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover and simmer 15 minutes. Add okra and simmer 10 minutes more, or until rice is cooked, but not sticky.

Coq Au Vin

Having very few experiences cooking meat, and even fewer using the slow-cooker, I found this recipe to be an easy success. Good with a baguette and butter, or without to keep it gluten and dairy free.

2 lb. boneless, skinless chicken thighs (if frozen, be sure they are thawed)
1 t salt
1/2 t pepper
3 T olive oil
1 12 oz. box white or baby bella mushrooms, quartered
3 carrots, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
1 medium onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, pressed
1/2 c broth (veg or chicken)
1 1/2 c dry red wine
2 fresh thyme sprigs

Rinse chicken and arrange on a sheet of wax paper or a plate. Season both sides with salt and pepper.
Heat 2 T olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add chicken, smooth side down, and cook 3 minutes per side, or until lightly browned. Remove chicken and set aside. Heat remaining 1 T olive oil in same skillet; saute mushrooms 3 to 5 minutes, or until edges begin to brown. Add carrots, onion, and garlic, and season with salt; cook 10 to 12 minutes or until vegetables begin to soften. transfer vegetables and broth to slow cooker. Arrange chicken on top. Add wine and thyme sprigs.
Cover slow cooker and cook on med-low for 6 to 7 hours.

*J liked this dish a lot but I thought it was a little too "dark tasting"

Granola

This proved to be a good way of clearing out my pantry of misc. nuts and seeds so that I can go restock with a fresher supply when it comes to baking and sprinkling on salads and hot cereal. Next time I make this though I've got to get the stuff off of the baking sheet before it cools and turns into concrete. It's a terrible mess scraping it all off of there. Maybe transferring the hot mixture into a bowl or spreading it out onto wax paper will work better.

2 c rolled oats
1 c mixed seeds (flax, sunflower, pumpkin, sesame)
1 c mixed chopped nuts (walnuts, almonds, pecans, hazelnuts, pistachios)
1/2 t salt
1/2 honey
1/3 c sunflower oil
1 T vanilla extract
1 c assorted dried fruit (dried cranberries, raisins, dried blueberries, goji berries)

Prehear oven to 350 F. Combine oats, seeds, nuts, and salt in a bowl. Whisk together honey, oil, and vanilla and stir into dry ingredients. Spread granola on baking sheet coated with nonstick cooking spray.
Bake 15 to 18 minutes, or until golden brown, stirring once or twice during baking. Cool until dry and crunchy.
Break granola into bite-size pieces and stir in dried fruit. Store in airtight container.

Azuki Bean, Sweet Potato and Quinoa Stew

1 can Eden Aduki beans, drained and rinsed

1 large sweet potato, cut into 1" cubes

3/4 c quinoa

2 c vegetable broth (Imagine No-Chicken broth)

1 medium onion, diced

1-2 cloves garlic, minced or pressed

1 T cumin

1 T tumeric

1/2 T ginger powder

1/2 T cinnamon

2-3 T olive oil

Warm olive oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add spices and stir until spices release their fragrance (about a minute or two). Then add onion and garlic and stir until translucent. Add vegetable broth to prevent spices from scorching. Add sweet potato and azuki beans. Stir, cover, and let simmer for 20-30 minutes, or until sweet potatoes are tender and cooked through. Stir in quinoa and let cook for 10 minutes or until quinoa is done (the little tails emerge from the quinoa seeds and they resemble commas). Stew should be quite soupy when quinoa is added and then the quinoa absorbs the rest of the liquid. More broth may need to be added as quinoa cooks.

Makes 6 servings

*This is really good served with collard greens sauteed in a little garlic and olive oil

Blueberry Muffins 2.0

3 cups of all-purpose flour
1 Tbsp baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 c sunflower oil
1 cup sugar
2 large eggs
1 1/2 cup plain yogurt

1 1/2 cups blueberries
1 Tbsp flour (if using defrosted frozen berries)

Preheat oven to 375°F. Whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt and set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, mix oil and sugar together. Add eggs one at a time, beating until incorporated after each one.

Beat in one half of the dry ingredients until just incorporated. Beat in one third of the yogurt. Beat in half of the remaining dry ingredients. Beat in a second third of the yogurt. Beat in the remaining dry ingredients and then the remaining yogurt. Again be careful to beat until just incorporated. Do not over beat. Fold in the berries. If you are using frozen berries, defrost them first, drain the excess liquid, and then coat them in a light dusting of flour.

Use a standard 12-muffin muffin pan. Coat each muffin cup lightly with canola oil spray. Distribute the muffin dough equally among the cups. Bake until muffins are golden brown, about 25 minutes. Test for doneness. Set on wire rack to cool for 5 minutes. Remove muffins from the tin and serve slightly warm.

Makes 11 huge muffins

St. Vincent 2006 Muscadet.

And the wine that was enjoyed with the lentil ragout...

St. Vincent 2006 Muscadet.

I've been on a Muscadet kick lately. This one is the boggiest yet. That's a compliment. I like the peaty, stoney flavor of this grape and this bottle shows that off nicely.

Lentil and Green Bean Ragout with Red Chard

Improvised this one last week and J quickly awarded it "top 5 favorite meals" status. It's up there for me too. I made it again last night with fresh thyme instead of dried and with a Muscadet instead of Vourvay wine. Measurements are approximate as well.

1-2 T butter
2 cloves garlic, pressed
1-2 shallots, minced
1 1/2 c fresh green beans, trimmed
2 c Melissa's ready-to-eat lentils (this is a great shortcut that makes this a quick meal)
2 15 oz. cans of diced tomatoes, undrained
1/3 c dry white wine
1 1/2 T dried tarragon
1 1/2 T dried or fresh thyme
1/2 T salt
1/2 T white pepper

Melt butter in a deep pan over medium heat. When it starts to foam add shallots and garlic. Stir until fragrant and translucent. Add lentils and tomatoes with juice from the can. Add all other ingredients except for green beans, cover and let simmer for 5-10 minutes. Then add green beans and continue simmering for 15 minutes or until green beans are soft and flavors have come together.

Serve with chilled white wine, fresh crusty French bread and butter and sauteed red chard. Makes 6-8 servings.

****tone the spices down! Did I mistype when I made a big "t" for "tablespoon?"


Sauteed Red Chard (serves 2)

1 bunch of organic red chard
1-2 T olive oil
1-2 t water
1 T balsamic vinegar

Heat oil in a pan. Trim center rid out of chard leaves and cut remaining chard into large pieces. Add chard to pan with water and cover. Watch closely, stir once or twice. Chard is done when it is wilted but bright in color. Finish by tossing with vinegar.

Clos de la Fine 2007

Domaine des Herbauges
Muscadet Cotes de Grandlieu Sur Lie

A good drinker on its own, didn't do anything special with a roast chicken and salad, but then drunk with some sugar cookies from our favorite place (no average sugar cookie) it was sublime. Something about Muscadet and butter... what is it?

Chateau Haut Nadeau Bordeaux 2005

Very fragrant right out of the bottle. Rich, deep flavor with notes of cherry and more tannins than I've entertained in a while.

Francois Pinon Vouvray 206 Cuvee Tradition

I'm not sure how many more wines like this I'll be able to consume without abducting myself for the Loire Valley to lick some yummy, mineral-y, wet rocks and down many many bottles of reds and whites. But oh, the whites.

Had this by itself and with a light stirfry meal. Would like to try again with something spicy since it really hangs on the palate. I can't recall but we had a Gerz recently with an Indian curry that had fabulous cleansing powers as well.

Chocolate White Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 1/2 c flour

1/4 t salt

1 t baking soda

1/3 c unsweetened cocoa powder

1/4 c brown sugar

1/4 c sugar

1/2 c oil

2 eggs

1/2 t vanilla

1/2 c sweetened coconut (shredded or flaked)

1 c coarsely chopped nuts (I used almonds)

1/2 10 oz. package white chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 375. In a medium mixing bowl, mix together flour, salt, baking soda and cocoa powder. In a separate bowl, beat sugars, oil and eggs until smooth. Beat in vanilla and coconut. Gradually add dry ingredients and mix together until thoroughly blended. Stir in nuts and chocolate chips. Spray baking sheets with cooking oil spray. Drop dough by heaping tablespoonfuls onto the greased sheets. Bake for 10 minutes.

Applesauce Spice Cake

From Nov. 2006 issue of Real Simple. This cake came together in a snap. Dumping all of the ingredients into a saucepan of melted butter makes it a fast one. Original recipe calls for 1 c of raisins, but I left them out this time.

2 c flour

2 t baking soda

1/2 t salt

1 stick unsalted butter

1 c sugar

1 2/3 c applesauce

2 t ground cinnamon

1 t ground ginger

pinch ground nutmeg

1 t vanilla extract

2 large eggs

Heat oven to 350. Butter and flour (or spray with canola spray) a 9-inch springform or round cake pan. (I used the bundt attachment in my springform.) In a small bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, and salt. In a large saucepan, over medium heat, melt the butter. Remove from heat and stir in the sugar, applesauce, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, vanilla, and eggs. Add the flour mixture and stir just until combined. Pour into prepared pan. Bake cake until a tester inserted in the center comes out clean, 35 to 40 minutes*. Transfer pan to a wire rack to cool for 10 minutes. Using a knife, loosen the cake from the pan. Invert it onto a serving plate. Sprinkle cake with confectioner's sugar, slice into wedges, and serve with ice cream.

*Actual cook time for me was 55 minutes.

Roasted Beets with Sour Cream and Dill

I tried to replicate the yummy beet side dish we had at the bistro last week, and while this didn't taste like it (maybe I erred on the side of simplicity.. is there an obvious spice missing?), this turned out yummy in its own right. 

10 small beets, ends trimmed

olive oil

2/3 c sour cream

4-5 T chopped fresh dill

Mix together sour cream and dill. Set aside.

Preheat oven to 375. Put beets in covered casserole dish with a drizzling of olive oil. Roast in oven for about 1 hour. Let cool. I'm sure there's a better way, but what I do is rub the skins off once beets are cool enough to handle. Cut skinned beets into slices. Top with sour cream mixture. Can be served warm or cool. Makes about 6 servings.

Pineapple-Jicama Salsa

I made this once before and served it over grilled turbot. I'm not sure what recipe it was derived from, but there was so much leftover after the fish was gone I was content to eat it straight and call it a salad. This one ended up with more heat from only 1/2 a serrano than I expected, but I still found it to be nosh-able by itself. J whipped up some chicken & black bean tacos with it this afternoon. 

1 whole pineapple, peeled and diced

1 whole jicama (small), peeled and diced

1/2 serrano pepper (or less)

juice of 1 1/2 limes

1/4 chopped fresh cilantro

1/2 red onion, diced

Combine all ingredients in a bowl.

Sardines

Have I said enough good things about sardines? This has been another pregnancy mainstay. They're more flavorful than canned tuna, do not poison fetus and I with mercury, and are high in Omega 3's for brain-developing goodness. Not too shabby in the protein and iron departments either. My preferred kind is the wild caught skinless & boneless sardines packed in water. 

I had been throwing a can together with a little mayo and some capers and calling it a day.. maybe spreading it on some whole grain bread with some fresh slices of tomato if I was feeling particularly fancy. But today I added a few elements from the salmon sandwiches of last week's shower: chopped green onion and horseradish... upping the zazz quotient considerably. 

The Last Supper?

Two weeks from D-Day and good friend V suggested we make a date at the restaurant where she works. As the lack of action on this blog for the past few months might indicate, I've been cooking little and eating like a toddler: i.e. plain chicken and slices of avocado will go down as favorite pregnancy dinner of all time. The "flavors together" concept most dear to the fundamental nature of cooking has been on the outs with me this entire trimester, with a few notable exceptions. This meal, for one.

J and I ordered a full dinner from the menu only to be surprised by additional plates of things V felt we should try. This made for quite a feast- and plenty of leftovers.

We got to Bistro C at 6 and were seated in a romantic window seat in the front of the restaurant where we could watch the rain coming down in their outdoor gardens and the people rushing by on Lincoln Ave. Within the hour the restaurant filled up around us, but our location still felt very private and intimate (and I'm quite sensitive to feeling crowded in lately!). Our initial server came over and explained the specials, but then V saw us and took over. We didn't expect such treatment, but soon she had a glass of champagne in each of our hands as a proper start to what would be an epic 3-hour meal that consisted of:

A carmelized onion strudel appetizer

A salad consisting of a soft-boiled egg atop a creamy mash of celery root beside some poached asparagus

A shaved fennel salad with pea shoots

(J, reserving his red meat trists for such nights out:) Boeuf Bourguignon

(Me, the constant chicken-eater:) Roasted chicken with wild mushroom ragout and onions frites

Brussels sprouts with brown butter

Roasted beets with dill cream

Buttery mashed potatoes

With this I enjoyed a nice glass of Clos Chanteduc Cotes-du-Rhone, 2006 and J had the Malbec (Chateau Lagrezette, Zette, Cahors 2003).

J found a little room to help me with dessert, the lemon tart with Chantilly cream, and V brought out a scoop of Bistro C's homemade mango sorbet for good measure.

This meal will go down in infamy. What a celebration of our soon-to-be next adventure. 

April Showers

Today was my baby shower and while friends generously offered their hosting services, I felt adamant about making the food myself. (Acupuncturist K laughed at hearing this, saying that last year family members had to twist her arm not to cater her own wedding.) 

With mimosas and tea sandwiches as the rubric, I commenced with making several varieties of teeny sandwiches, improvising a bit, keeping the mayo to a minimum.. so these recipes are approximations.

Also served: a fresh fruit salad of kiwi, blackberries, blueberries, honeydew, cantaloupe, and pineapple; a cheese board of smoked gouda, herbed chevre, and brie with water crackers; vegetable crudites; white bean hummus; nuts; a yummy spicy tuna salad on crackers brought by V; ginger biscotti made by my mom; an artful and delicious yellow buttercream cake with a branch of acorns sketched on it in dark chocolate brought by Jenny; and the incredibly large, heavy, dense, rich Chocolate Genache Cake I ordered from Bleeding Heart Bakery. (Any disparaging remarks I've made in the past about BH's homemade seitan are expunged from the record with the excellent service I received when ordering this cake, and the cake itself left no dark chocolate diehard unwowed.)

As for those teeny sandwiches...

Curried Chicken Salad

8 cooked chicken breasts (Trader Joe's sells a bag of frozen chicken breasts that are hormone free and cook up quick and easy... this has been my cooking mainstay for the last few months. I cooked up about 8 of these in a little olive oil, let them cool and then chopped them up for the chicken salad)

3/4 c finely chopped walnuts

4 celery stalks, finely chopped

salt, to taste (approx. 2 t)

mayonnaise, enough to moisten (approx. 1/2 c)

curry powder, to taste (approx. 1 T)

loaf of fresh country white bread

With a rolling pin I flattened the pieces of bread. I'm not sure why I did this. Maybe to make them denser like the little cocktail bread slices I had seen in the store (which, by the way, are full of corn syrup and weirdness). Mixed up all ingredients and spread on these flattened pieces of bread, making half a dozen or so proper-sized sandwiches. Then I cut these into two-bite pieces, so I got about 2 dozen little sandwiches out of them. 

Smoked Salmon Sandwiches

4 T minced green onion

4 T minced fresh dill

4 T capers

3 t prepared horseradish

approx. 1/2 c mayonnaise

pepper to taste

8 oz. smoked salmon

6 oz. cream cheese

1/2 loaf pumpernickel bread

Mix together green onion, dill, capers, horseradish, mayo and pepper. Roll out slices of bread (again, for same reasons stated above.. not necessary). Spread mixture onto one slice of bread. On other slice of bread spread cream cheese and cover with salmon slices. Put them together, cut into quarters or more, and repeat. Again, I think I got about 2 dozen sandwiches out of this. The horseradish gives the spread a great kick.

Other sandwiches I made, which don't really warrant detailed recipes here: Egg salad with fresh dill, and cucumber sandwiches with cream cheese and green onion.

Roasted Acorn Squash stuffed with Curried Quinoa and Chickpeas

This was not a very methodical preparation since I roasted the squash, and while it was roasted I decided to do the rest. So in the future I'm sure some of these steps can be combined.

Split an acorn squash in half, scoop out seeds and strings, put face down in 1/4 inch of water in a roasting pan. Cover pan and bake for 1 hour in a 400 degree oven.

In a saucepan, boil 2 1/2 c of water. Add 1 1/2 c quinoa. Lower heat and stir occasionally until most of water is absorbed and quinoa looks like little commas. In another pan, I heated a tablespoon or two of olive oil and sauteed two pressed garlic cloves. I would have done some onion too, but we were out. Add to that a 19 ox. can of chickpeas and 2 t curry power. Stir. Add a tablespoon or two of water to give mixture a little "sauce" and to prevent spices from scorching. Cook on medium heat for 5 minutes or so. Chickpeas should taste thoroughly curried. To this I added 1/2 c of sliced almonds and the quinoa. The quinoa still had some water in it, so at first the mixture looked a little loose, but soon the water cooked out and it all came together quite nicely. I would have added some chopped parsley for color and flavor if we had it. Next time!

Had this with lacinato kale sauteed in olive oil and garlic.

Blueberry Muffins

How To Cook Everything single-handedly gave us our crash course in fish cookery a few years ago when we first started to decommission our vegetarian status. And we love the weekly Minimalist feature the author does in the NY Times. But this muffin recipe requires some tweaking.

While attractive as all get-out, and look, they're smooching, I goofed and used baking soda instead of baking powder. I wondered why one would want the b soda flavor so present, muscling out the yummy fresh blueberries I felt lucky to bag this time of year. My mistake! And though I low-balled the 1/2 c of sugar, I was wanting for more sweetness, and moisture, in the final analysis. (But maybe those two things too were the result of my soda/powder mixup.)

3 T canola oil
2 c all-purpose flour
1/2 c sugar, or to taste
1/2 t salt
3 t baking powder
1 egg
1 c milk
1 c fresh blueberries
1/2 t fresh lemon zest

Preheat oven to 400. Grease muffin pan.
Mix together dry ingredients in a bowl. Beat together the egg, milk, and oil. Mae a well in the center of the dry ingredients and pour the wet ingredients into it. Using a large wooden spoon or rubber spatula, combine the ingredients swiftly, stirring and folding rather than beating, and stopping as soon as all the dry ingredients are moistened.
Spoon the batter into the muffin tins. I got 7 huge muffins out this. Bake 20-30 minutes.

Essenza di Malvasia ICT 2006

Since my wine habit has been limited to sips and drams these last few months, pregnancy supernose was delighted to encounter this one, the sips of which were worth the 6th toe.

A nice dry white, full, with crisp acidity, good structure, and very fruity.

More information, en Deutch!

Producers: Vinosia, Campania
Jahrgang/Vintage: 2006
Rebsorte(n): 100% Malvasia Grape (s)
Alkoholgehalt/Alcohol content: 13%

Genuss/Enjoyment:
Empfohlene Lagerzeit/Recommended storage time: 2007 - 2009
Höhepunkt/Peak: 2008
Empfohlene Trinktemperatur/Recommended temperature: 8-10 ° C.

A few more months and I'll be revisiting this bottle with gusto.

The Chicken Sandwich, deconstructed, plus brussels sprouts

Thankfully vegetables are making a comeback as far as my preg palate is concerned, but I crack myself up to think that this meal is a prime example of my new eating style. I've had a hard time eating out lately because of a problematic situation with "flavors together." Even if they're flavors I like. I have to taste everything separately. Or so says month 6 of pregnancy. So here: rotisserie chicken breast, sliced avocado, sliced cheddar cheese and b sprouts. Period.

Apparently from now on, I'm eating like a child. Also good: melted chocolate smeared on a banana topped with chopped walnuts. Mmm.