Cranberry Sauce

Posted: December 19, 2010 | Author: onewomaninaricefield | Filed under: Uncategorized | Leave a comment »

Strangely enough, I had never tried cranberry sauce till Jake and I went to a little dinner shindig at Brad’s house. It was pretty good. And not long after trying it, Safeway had a sale on cranberries. So I thought, why not make my own cranberry sauce? It’s worth a shot and it might be fun. So since I got sick the other day and have to stay indoors with tissues and cough syrup so I don’t infect anyone else, I decided to spend this evening cleaning and organizing my house from the craziness of the last week of classes and exams (I normally don’t do ANYTHING but study those last 2 weeks, and that includes the minimum amount of housework). I also figured it would be the perfect opportunity to try out a pretty simple cranberry sauce recipe I found online. I really wanted to try Chery’s recipe from the Bluffton Alum foodies website, but I sadly do not own a crockpot. So I had to find a stovetop non-crockpot version. A simple Google search usually offers some pretty decent selections. I usually browse through about 5 recipes to get a good idea of the things that are the same in most of them, and then narrow down to a good recipe from there. You can find the recipe for cranberry sauce here.

Cranberry Sauce

1 cup raw sugar
1 cup orange juice
4 cups (1 12-oz package) fresh cranberries
cinnamon
nutmeg
cloves

1. Wash and pick over cranberries.
2. In a saucepan bring to a boil orange juice and sugar, stirring to dissolve sugar.
3. Add cranberries, return to a boil.
4. Reduce heat, simmer for 10 minutes or until cranberries burst.
5. Now add all the cinnamon, nutmeg and clove.
6. Remove from heat.
7. Cool completely at room temperature and then chill in refrigerator. Cranberry sauce will thicken as it cools.

Cranberry sauce base makes 2 1/4 cups.

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Vegan “Chicken” Noodle Soup

Posted: December 18, 2010 | Author: onewomaninaricefield | Filed under: Uncategorized | Leave a comment »

I’m SICK! BLEH! And so OBVIOUSLY I need chicken noodle soup to make me feel good and keep my throat happy. Once again, I was stuck indoors with a limited amount of ingredients. But luckily I live very close to New Frontiers. So I bundled up and headed across that odd expanse of empty land bordering the store that always reminds me of T. S. Eliot’s “The Wasteland” as I’m walking across it. My mission: to find some of that elusive No-Chicken Chicken broth and egg noodles so I could make “chicken” noodle soup. Now, I’ve never actually tried this no-chicken chicken broth, but I heard tell of its wonders from one of my many cookbooks. After trying the recipe below I can say that it is okay, but certainly doesn’t taste like real chicken (I was holding out a small amount of hope for that, which was probably foolish, I know). I would like to make this again once when I wasn’t sick. I think maybe I couldn’t taste as well that day as normal because it didn’t really taste like much of anything. However, the next day when I heated up the leftovers (I was feeling slightly less like death that day) I thought it tasted a lot better. So my advice to you is to have some spices on hand if you find that it is not taste-y enough for you. I tried my best that day so here’s what I have to give you below.

Vegan “Chicken” Noodle Soup

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 small onion
2 cloves garlic
1 block firm tofu
basil (to taste)
dill (to taste)
black pepper (to taste)
salt (to taste)
no-chicken chicken broth
1 package egg noodles
nutmeg (to taste)

1. Add olive oil, onion and garlic to a small saucepan. Saute 2-5 minutes or till veggies are tender.
2. Add basil, dill, black pepper and salt. Saute 2 more minutes.
3. Add tofu. Saute 5-8 minutes.
4. Add no-chicken chicken broth to the pan.
5. When broth starts bubbling, add in noodles.
6. Cook soup 10 minutes more, or until noodles are tender.

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Chinese Shrimp Congee

Posted: December 18, 2010 | Author: onewomaninaricefield | Filed under: Uncategorized | 3 Comments »

Of course I would get sick on the day my final paper is due. Typical. So there I was, sitting around, typing away and sniffling and being all around pathetic as hell when I decided I’d had enough of it all and I needed a nice warm, salty, soupy something to put in my stomach to make me feel less like death. But what did I have to make a soup with? Not much, really. I didn’t want to spend a lot of time on anything because I needed to write my paper. I also didn’t want a cream soup because I was worried the milk would make me even grosser than I already felt. So I reached for my Chinese cookbook and found a recipe for congee, which is one of my favorite breakfast foods in China. I decided to follow the basic recipe but alter it a bit so that I could make my favorite kind of congee…the kind with shrimp. I know, I know, but I do occasionally eat seafood because it makes Jake really happy, so I actually did have some shrimp in the freezer. Anyway, you can find the recipe I used below. For the un-altered version you’re just going to have to go to the Cookbooks page up on top and click on the link to buy the book. Be warned though…this was not a cheap cookbook. It is out of print so I paid about $25 for it. But to me it was worth it because it has been tested and approved by former Americans who taught English in China and has been found to be the most accurate Chinese cookbook (so far).

Chinese Shrimp Congee

1 generous cup short-grain rice
3 1/4 quarts water
shrimp (lots or a little, as many as you feel you want in the congee)
2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon white pepper
6 scallions, finely sliced

1. Wash the rice and place in a large pot with the water.
2. Cover, and cook for about 2 hours, stirring regularly.
3. Add the salt and pepper and shrimp.
4. Stir well, then return to a boil for a couple more minutes.
5. To serve, spoon into bowls. Top with the scallions. (You can also add things like fresh ginger, soy sauce, or fried bread…the kind you find in Chinese markets…to top it. This is my favorite way to eat it.)

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Moroccan Saute

Posted: December 16, 2010 | Author: onewomaninaricefield | Filed under: Uncategorized | Leave a comment »

Went to the Vegetarian Times website to find another new recipe to try. Had a ton of garbanzo beans in the cupboard that I felt like I needed to use and stumbled upon this little beauty. Every time I have to make something using curry powder I get all worried that I’m somehow going to screw it up in such a major way that no one will ever forgive me. That didn’t happen this time. This was a really tasty dish. Try not to cook your couscous in too much water (next time I’ll measure it instead of attempting to eyeball it). Find the recipe here. If I were you I’d maybe cut this recipe in half. It made a TON of food and Jake and I were absolutely shocked. I didn’t even have enough fresh veggies to put the exact amount in the pan and thank goodness because it would’ve been a disaster of overeating proportions.

Moroccan Saute

1 box quick-cooking couscous
1/2 tsp. olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
1 tsp. curry powder, or to taste
1/2 tsp. plus 18 tsp. ground cinnamon
2 cloves garlic, pressed
2 (15 oz.) cans garbanzo beans, rinsed and drained
2 medium zucchini, sliced in quarters
2 cups chopped tomatoes or 15-oz.
can diced tomatoes, drained
2 cups frozen sweet corn
1/2 cup chopped cilantro

1. Cook couscous according to package directions.
2. Meanwhile, in large nonstick skillet, heat oil over medium heat.
3. Add onions and cook, stirring often, 4 minutes.
4. Stir in curry powder, cinnamon and garlic, and cook 1 minute.
5. Add zucchini, beans, tomatoes, corn and 1 cup water, and simmer, stirring occasionally, 10 minutes. If mixture is too dry, add more water as needed.
6.Season with salt, pepper and cilantro.
7.Fluff couscous with fork, and spoon into serving dish. Top with vegetable mixture and serve hot.

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Alaskan Tomato Soup

Posted: December 16, 2010 | Author: onewomaninaricefield | Filed under: Uncategorized | Leave a comment »

Tis the season to eat lots and lots of soup! Autumn (particularly) and winter (when I get to stay inside with slippers & fuzzy blankets & books & coffee) are fun for many reasons and one of them is that this is the time of year when everyone starts eating soup. I got this recipe from the Vegetarian Times website, choosing it because it sounded a) easy b) delicious and c) my boyfriend is from Alaska. I don’t think there is actually anything particularly Alaskan about it, I just think (via the story preceding the recipe) that whoever named this recipe decided to call it “Alaskan” because the gal that came up with it is from there. Not very imaginative, but Vegetarian Times does so many wonderful things with the cooking of vegetarian/vegan food that we can forgive them every once in a while. To find the un-Erined recipe please go: HERE!

Alaskan Tomato Soup

2 Tbs. olive oil
1/2 medium red onion, diced (about 1/2 cup)
6 cloves garlic, minced (about 2 Tbs.)
1 14-oz. can diced tomatoes with sweet onion
1 14-oz. can plain tomato sauce
4 oz. silken tofu, mashed (about 2/3 cup)
1 low-sodium vegetable bouillon cube
1/2 cup couscous
1/4 cup chopped parsley
2 Tbs. chopped oregano
2 Tbs. chopped basil

1. Heat olive oil in large pot over medium heat.
2. Add onion and garlic, and sauté 5 minutes, or until onion is translucent.
3. Stir in tomatoes, tomato sauce, tofu, bouillon cube and 3 cups water.
4. Bring to a simmer, and add couscous, parsley, oregano and basil.
5. Cook 5 minutes, or until couscous is tender.
6. Season with salt and pepper, and serve hot.

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Hazelnut and Apple Stuffing

Posted: December 8, 2010 | Author: onewomaninaricefield | Filed under: Uncategorized | 1 Comment »

Confession: I have never eaten stuffing in my life. Well, maybe once, when I was little. I think I tried it, decided it was absolutely awful and never touched it again. Until this past weekend. Jake and I were invited to a Bailey’s and Kahlua making party. I asked if there was anything they wanted me to bring. Jake brought home the answer “they want you to make salad dressing.” I thought this was kind of odd because my family just goes out and buys a bunch of Ranch dressing bottles, but whatever. I was all ready to make some really rad orange-yogurt salad dressing when I thought perhaps I’d better call one of the guys and make sure no one had any allergies that I didn’t know about. When I talked to him he seemed confused as to why I was making salad dressing. Turns out he meant “dressing” as in “stuffing” and my boyfriend misunderstood. Easily fixable. But as I have previously mentioned, I’d never actually eaten stuffing and had no idea how to make it. Enter Vegetarian Times, my life saver. I found a recipe for Chestnut and Apple Stuffing but couldn’t for the life of me locate the chestnuts at the local Safeway. So Jake and I decided that hazelnuts would work just as well. We had to crush them using my mortar and pestle (my last gift to myself from when I got paid in the beginning of November…this was the 1st time we used it), but they ended up working just beautifully. I also used vegetable stock rather than the fake-chicken stock which also ended up just fine. Everyone seemed to love it and people said it was some of the best stuffing they’d had so I left that party with my ego particularly well fed as well as with a growler full of homemade Baileys. You should all give this a try too! Oh…and I tried it as well (OBVIOUSLY) and I have now decided that I like stuffing just fine.

Hazelnut & Apple Stuffing

10 slices whole-wheat bread, cubed
10 slices hearty white bread, cubed
1 14-oz. tube soy “sausage,” crumbled
1 Tbs. olive oil
1 large white onion, chopped (1 1/2 cups)
5 ribs celery, sliced (1 1/2 cups)
4 cloves garlic, minced (1 Tbs.)
2 tart apples, peeled and diced
1 cup hazelnuts
1/8 cup chopped ground sage
1 1/2 cups vegetable broth

1. Preheat oven to 325°F.
2. Spread bread cubes in roasting pan, and bake 10 to 15 minutes, or until toasted.
3. Coat nonstick skillet with cooking spray and heat over medium-high heat.
4. Add soy sausage, and cook 5 minutes, or until browned.
5. Toss sausage with bread cubes in bowl.
6. Heat oil in same skillet over medium heat.
7. Add onion, celery, and garlic, and sauté 1 minute.
8. Reduce heat to low, cover, and cook 7 minutes more.
9. Stir in apples, chestnuts, and sage. Cover, and cook 5 minutes, or until apples are crisp-tender.
10. Add to bread mixture.
11. Increase oven heat to 350°F.
12. Coat 13- x 9-inch baking dish with cooking spray.
13. Toss stuffing mixture with broth, and season with salt and pepper.
14. Spoon into prepared baking dish.
15. Cover with foil, and bake 20 minutes.
16. Remove foil and bake 15 minutes more, or until top is browned and crisp.

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Thanksgiving Sweet Potato Chive Bread

Posted: December 7, 2010 | Author: onewomaninaricefield | Filed under: Uncategorized | Leave a comment »

I decided that I wanted to make a loaf of bread for Thanksgiving dinner. My parents were here visiting me in Flagstaff and I wanted to make them something special. My boyfriend made the meat dish for the evening by marinating a pork loin overnight in garlic, onions and a bottle of dark (porter) beer, then wrapping it in deli counter bacon, sprinkling it with salt and pepper and covering it in pineapple rings. I couldn’t eat it since I’m a vegetarian, but everyone else said it was fantastic and I have a lot of faith in my boyfriend’s cooking skills. My mom made scalloped corn, which I requested. I’ll have to put her recipe up for that sometime in the future. I made mashed potatoes and thought I’d attempt a sweet potato bread. I ended up taking a recipe I admired from the Food network website and altering it by adding chives rather than raisins. I have never made bread before, so this was definitely an experiment for me. It wasn’t perfect, but it was not a total disaster either. I’m happy with how this came out the first time around and the next time I decide to make bread from scratch I’ll go into the recipe with a teeny tiny bit more know-how than before. That’s a successful cooking and learning experience, everyone.

Sweet Potato Chive Bread

2 envelopes (1/4-ounce each) active dry yeast
1/2 cup warm water (about 110 degrees F)
1/4 cup sugar
Pinch of salt
Pinch of freshly ground black pepper
3 tablespoons butter, melted
2 eggs, beaten
1 small sweet potato, baked, peeled, and mashed
3 1/4 cup flour plus 1 tablespoon
1 cup chives
2 tablespoons butter

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Lightly grease a mixing bowl and baking sheet.
3. In a mixing bowl, whisk the yeast and water together, until the yeast dissolves.
4. Add in the sugar, salt, pepper, and butter. Mix well and let rest for 15 minutes.
5. Stir in the eggs and sweet potatoes.
6. Mix the flour and chives together.
7. Fold in the flour, 1/2 cup at a time, working with your hands until all the flour is incorporated.
8. Form the dough into a small ball and sprinkle the dough with the remaining tablespoon of flour.
9. Place the dough in a lightly oiled bowl, turning the dough once to cover with the oil.
10. Cover the bowl with a clean cloth and let rise until doubled in size, about 1 1/2 hours.
11. Punch the dough down and roll into an oval loaf about 8 inches by 3 inches.
12. Place the loaf in the center of the prepared baking sheet. Cover and let rise until double in size, about 45 minutes.
13. Bake the bread for about 40 minutes, or until golden.
14. Remove the bread from the oven and transfer to a wire baking sheet and let cool.
15. Slice the bread and serve with butter.

**Note: I added in the chives all on their lonesome when I made this. When I do it again, I will saute them for a few minutes in butter first to let them release some of their flavor and then add them, butter and all, to the bread. I would also, perhaps, add in another sweet potato and see how that changed the taste.**

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Tina Nordström’s Apple drink with Vanilla Vodka

Posted: December 5, 2010 | Author: onewomaninaricefield | Filed under: Uncategorized | Leave a comment »

My family loves to watch cooking shows, particularly ones on PBS (we still have “farmer vision” as my mother has always maintained the viewpoint that cable would make us all too lazy). Saturday mornings will normally find the tv at the ol’ homestead in Ohio fixed on PBS where various cooking shows can always be found. A favorite of mine was always “New Scandanavian Cooking” (I’m not sure if it’s even still on anymore) because the food was beautiful and so was the scenery. So when we all decided to post holiday appropriate alcoholic drinks here, the only thought in my head was that show and a particular recipe that I’d always wanted to try out. The really crazy thing about this recipe is that I made it first earlier this week and by now (today) they have evidently updated their website and the recipe is no longer available. Oh no! Sadness! So I will link you to the cooking show’s website HERE, but unless I’m missing something the recipe is no longer available there. I think it’s because the gal that created it is no longer on the show. Anyway, here it is…

Tina Nordström’s Apple Drink with Vanilla Vodka
(Serves 6 people)

5 wine glasses
5 tablespoons dark honey
1 cup ABSOLUT VANILLA
2 pints unsweetened apple juice
5 whole cloves
1 vanilla pod (or the equivalent in vanilla extract)
2 cinnamon sticks

1. Put one tablespoon of honey into each of 5 wine glasses.
2. Add 3 tablespoons of ABSOLUT VANILLA into each glass.
3. Combine the apple juice and spices in a saucepan and bring it to a boil for a few minutes.
4. Let it cool for a couple minutes (the liquid should not be boiling but should still be warm).
5. Strain and divide it between the 5 wine glasses.
6. Stir briefly and serve immediately.

**NOTE: Sometimes I alter this recipe by floating berries (raspberries, blueberries and cranberries tried so far) in the recipe. Usually adding them right after the honey and letting them sit and stew in the honey and vodka while I prep the apple drink part.**

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Curried Red Lentil Soup

Posted: December 1, 2010 | Author: onewomaninaricefield | Filed under: Uncategorized | Leave a comment »

I have never tried red lentils and they always look so lovely. I finally decided to search the Vegetarian Times website for a good recipe involving red lentils and stumbled upon this soup. It was an experiment both in lentil-y-ness and celery-ness. Reason being is that celery is one of my most hated vegetables. However, being a vegetarian, I realize that I need to learn how to eat as many veggies as I possibly can. So we’ll call this soup a step in the right direction. Jake and I got a nice loaf of bread from New Frontiers that had small chunks of kalamata olives baked into it. It was really great for dipping into the soup.

Curried Red Lentil Soup

2 cups red lentils, sorted and rinsed
1 qt. low-sodium vegetable broth
1 large onion, finely chopped (2 cups)
4 celery stalks, finely chopped (1 1/2 cups)
2 large carrots, finely chopped (1 1/2 cups)
2 cloves garlic, minced (2 tsp.)
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
1 Tbs. curry powder
1 tsp. ground cumin
2 Tbs. lemon juice

1. Bring lentils, vegetable broth, and 4 cups water to a simmer in large pot.
2. Skim away foam that rises to top. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
3. Add onion, celery, carrots, and garlic; simmer, uncovered, 20 minutes.
4. Add cilantro, curry powder, and cumin, and cook 20 minutes more, or until lentils are soft.
5. Season with salt and pepper, if desired, and stir in lemon juice.

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