Hawaiian Pizza Canapes

Veglets, it's time for another food swap! May I confess to you that these swaps are quickly becoming the highlight of my month? It's true. I am continually amazed and inspired by the creativity of my fellow swappers, and I find the vintage recipes that Christianna chooses for us every month to be hilarious. I mean, look at this month's gem:
An orange Jello salad. With onions and celery. What a quintessentially 50's recipe, right down to the cottage cheese. I'm convinced Christianna chose it just to mess with us.

...I'm kidding. Mostly. Perhaps I'm being too hard on the humble Jello salad. I know that Jello salads were popular in previous generations for a reason-- during the Depression, Jello was an inexpensive way to stretch costly fresh produce into a full dish. They're easy to prepare and can be made to look very fancy by simply packing them into molds before they firm up.
Heck, Jello salads were big in my own childhood. I remember one particular Thanksgiving when an onion Jello salad showed up, prepared by a family member belonging to the Greatest Generation. I have a vivid recollection of my Mother spooning some onto my plate, hissing through her teeth for me to "just try it!"

But for this swap, I just couldn't bring myself to make a Jello salad. Notwithstanding the obvious fact that Jello is an animal product, I frankly hate the texture of these salads. Something about the combination of gelatinous material combined with crunchy vegetables makes my skin crawl.

So instead I began to think about other wacky food combinations of this era that I did like. The orange and the pineapple in the original recipe really stuck out to me and as I've done dessert items for the last three swaps, I thought I would take this recipe in a savory direction. Then it hit me. Hawaiian Pizza! Such a perfectly strange and completely delicious combination of savory and sweet. So reflective of that era of Julia Child and avocado-tinted appliances.

Not at all Hawaiian in origin, the Hawaiian Pizza was invented by a Canadian man in 1962. Traditionally it consists of the standard tomato sauce and mozzarella pizza topped with chunks of pineapple and slices of ham. Before I became a vegetarian, it was one of my favorite types of pizzas to order. Although the thought of tomatoes and cheese and pineapple and ham may sound a little off-putting, something about the combination of sweet and salty and smoky with a little tang makes for one delicious pizza.
I thought I would take the idea of a Hawaiian pizza and translate it into a vegetarian hors d'oeuvres. I marinated tofu in a blood orange (for the color, mostly) and smoked paprika mixture to simulate the ham. And when I fretted that my tofu didn't taste exactly like the ham of my carnivorous memories, my sweetie gently reminded me that "There's nothing more rude than to ask tofu to be more ham-my". She has a point. The tofu is smoky and sweet and delicious. Not exactly like ham, but tasty nonetheless.

And when it came to the base of my crostini, nothing fit the theme quite so well as a buttery round cracker. May I take this opportunity to recommend that you chose a natural/organic brand of buttery round cracker over the ubiquitous Ritz brand? Ritz brand crackers contain both high fructose corn syrup AND partially hydrogenated cottonseed oil. I know we're going retro with this post, but there's no need to put those outmoded and unhealthy chemicals into our bodies.

So serve these at your next Mad Men themed party and raise your martini to the culinary greats who came before us, boldly going where no one has gone before, proudly throwing vegetables into molded Jello salads and slicing pineapple onto pizzas.

"Life itself is the proper binge"-- Julia Child

PREP TIME: about 1 hour, plus time for the marinade

COOKING TIME: about 1/2 hour

MAKES: 10-15 canapes

INGREDIENTS:

for the tofu & marinade:

• one 16 ounce block extra firm tofu
• the juice of 2 blood oranges
• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 1 tablespoon blackstrap molasses
• 1 tablespoon maple syrup
• 1/4 cup rice wine vinegar
• 1/4 cup mellow miso paste
• 2 tablespoons vegan worcestershire sauce
• 1 clove garlic, finely minced
• 2 teaspoons smoked paprika

for the tomato sauce:

• 3 cups grape tomatoes
• 3 large cloves garlic, roughly smashed
• 2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
• pinch red pepper flakes
• sea salt & freshly cracked pepper
• 1 tablespoon minced fresh oregano
• 1/4 cup mascarpone cheese

to put it all together:

• 1 cup fresh pineapple, finely minced
• 1 sleeve buttery round crackers
• fresh oregano leaves, for garnish

DIRECTIONS:

1. Drain tofu of all liquid and wrap in a clean kitchen towel. Place on a plate or a sheet tray. Place another plate or sheet tray on top of tofu and weigh down with your heaviest pot. Press until most of the liquid has been squeezed out, or at least 20 minutes. (Alternately you could use a handy TofuXpress, an item on the top of my wish list!)
2. While the tofu is being pressed, make the marinade. In a large bowl, stir together blood orange juice, olive oil, molasses, maple syrup, rice wine vinegar, miso paste, worcestershire sauce, minced garlic and smoked paprika until all ingredients are thoroughly incorporated.
3. When tofu is completely pressed and drained, pat it dry with another clean towel and cut lengthwise into 1/4" slices. Lay slices in the bottom of a shallow casserole dish with steep sides. Pour marinade over tofu slices, ensuring that all slices are coated. Allow to marinade at room temperature for at least 8 hours or overnight, if possible.
4. The next day, prepare the tomato sauce: preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. In a large bowl, toss grape tomatoes with 3 cloves of garlic, 1 tablespoon olive oil, pinch of red pepper flakes and a healthy sprinkle of sea salt and freshly cracked pepper. Spread tomatoes and garlic cloves out on a sheet tray and place in the oven. Bake until tomatoes are roasted and slightly wrinkly, about 1/2 hour.
5. While the tomatoes are in the oven, remove tofu from marinade. Heat up 1 tablespoon olive oil in a large skillet until the surface begins to shimmer. Working in batches, fry tofu slices until each side is crisped and slightly browned. Watch your heat as you work-- all of the sugar in the marinade can cause the tofu to burn quickly.
6. When all tofu slices have been browned on both sides, cut them into 1/8" squares. Set aside.
7. Remove roasted tomatoes and garlic from oven and place in a blender. With the blender running, slowly stream in remaining tablespoon of olive oil until a smooth sauce is formed. This should yield about 1/2 cup of sauce. If you find your sauce a bit too chunky for your taste, simply stream a little more olive oil into the blender until it reaches a smooth consistency.
8. Place tomato sauce in a large bowl and stir in 1/4 cup mascarpone cheese and 1 tablespoon minced fresh oregano. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
9. Assemble the canapes: spread 1 tablespoon tomato sauce on a buttery round cracker. Top with a teaspoon of minced pineapple and a few tofu squares. Garnish with fresh oregano leaves.

Don't forget now:

Scones with Dried Cherries and Macadamia Nuts

Leek lovers, I had such a lovely "weekend". I put the word in quotes because my days off are Wednesdays and Thursdays, and this particular "weekend" was just wonderful. You see, my mom came to town. And while that fact alone is enough to make for a fantastic time, we really out-did ourselves with the fun this visit. There was laughing and drinking and story-telling. And love. Mom always brings so much love.
We drank wine at Vintage and Tria, we breakfasted at Ants Pants and Hawthorne's Cafe, I gave her a "backstage" tour of my work at Shane's Confectioneries and we had an absolutely sumptuous dinner at Barbuzzo.

Lest you think our time together was merely about eating and drinking (which a good portion of it certainly was, I assure you!) we also took a day to attend the Philadelphia International Flower Show. This was Mom's first time at the show, and although my girlfriend and I have gone to a few in years past, we both agreed this year's was the best yet. The theme was "Hawaii: Islands of Aloha", which was absolutely perfect, as Mom has always loved Hawaii and has big dreams to vacation there some day.

The miniature displays are my favorite, and doesn't this one just shout "Hawaii" to you?

We had such a blast. Despite the pushy crowds and our aching feet, we spent the whole day at the Flower Show, pointing out pretty blooms, gawking at the architectural displays and generally being amazed by the sheer amount of work and planning that goes into the whole thing.

My sweetie was quite taken with the vertical herb garden.

And although we don't see each other often enough, my mother and I fell right back into our old patterns of saying exactly what was on the other person's mind and laughing at the same old jokes. It's so nice to be at that age when you look at your parents as friends and confidantes rather than mere authority figures, isn't it?

Mom shows off her lunch: hand-drawn noodles from Chinatown.

So because my mother's birthday was just a few weeks back and because it's so rare that I get to cook for her, I wanted to bake her a little gift that she could take home and enjoy for breakfast. In keeping with her love of all things Hawaiian, she absolutely adores macadamia nuts. We make a coconut-macadamia nut chocolate bark at work, so macadamias have become the snack of choice in the kitchen lately. I see what Mom loves about them. Sweet and fatty and crunchy, macadamias are just so satisfying.

These scones, adapted from a recipe by my boss (the very talented Davina Soondrum) incorporate the creamy nuttiness of the macadamias with the tart chewiness of the dried cherries. They come together and bake fairly quickly, so they're perfect to make for someone you love. So happy birthday, Mom-- and thank you for a wonderful weekend!

Bain taitneamh as do bheil!

PREP TIME: about 10 minutes

COOKING TIME: 10-15 minutes

MAKES: about eight 3" diameter scones

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 cup whole wheat flour, plus more for surfaces
• 1/4 cup brown sugar, plus more for dusting
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
• 5 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into chunks
• 3/4 cup macadamia nuts
• 1/2 cup dried cherries
• 2 eggs, divided
• 1 cup buttermilk (unsweetened plain yogurt or sour cream would work as well)

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit. Spread macadamia nuts out on a sheet tray and place in oven. Toast until just golden and browned around edges, about 5-10 minutes, checking frequently to ensure nuts do not burn. Coarsely chop toasted nuts and set aside.
2. In a large bowl, stir together all dry ingredients. With a fork or a dough/pastry cutter, incorporate butter until butter pieces are uniformly smaller than peas and mixture is "sandy" looking. Stir in toasted chopped nuts and dried cherries.
3. In another bowl, whisk together one egg and buttermilk. Pour liquid into dry mixture and stir to incorporate fully. Dough will be slightly sticky.
4. Turn dough out onto a floured surface. Form a rough circle with your hands and press circle until it reaches a uniform 1/2" thickness. Do not knead this dough-- overworking causes it to be tough!
5. Using a 3" diameter heart or circle-shaped cookie cutter, cut out pieces as close together on the dough's surface as possible. Place cut pieces on a parchment-paper lined baking sheet.
6. Press remaining dough back together and into a 1/2" thickness. Continue cutting pieces and pressing dough back together until all dough is used up.
7. In a small bowl, whisk remaining egg until fully incorporated. Brush tops of scones with egg wash and sprinkle with a little brown sugar. Place in oven and bake for 10-13 minutes, or until top is browned and bubbly and bottoms of scones are browned but not blackened.
8. Remove from oven and cool on a wire rack. Serve with butter and tea and enjoy with someone you love!

Lemon-Sesame Noodles with Kale and Snow Peas

One of my favorite things about being involved in the blogging community is the constant stream of inspiration that flows from so many talented sources. Whenever I feel like I'm in a rut, I just scroll through my favorite blogs, absorbing all of the beautiful photography and amazing flavor combinations my fellow food writers have created. I madly pin recipes to my "Must Make!" board on Pinterest. (Side note: are you as addicted to Pinterest as I am? It's such a dangerously awesome time-sucker!) And then I take a deep breath, open up my fridge and suddenly, thanks to the creativity of those wonderful bloggers, I know what I'm going to make for dinner.

Now that I'm becoming more active in the Philadelphia blogging/DIY scene, people who I have long admired on the Internet are becoming real life friends. I feel so lucky to be surrounded by people who are as passionate about food, writing and eating as I am.

Just the other day, the lovely Georgia of the blog Oh Kitchen, What Won't You Do? sent me a tweet about a recipe she had discovered on the wonderful Simply Recipes. Georgia is one of the organizers of the Philly Food Swap and is very engaged in the Philadelphia food community.

I may have only just met Georgia, but she seems to have my number. The recipe looked amazing-- noodles tossed in a creamy Asian-inspired sauce, topped with veggies? I knew she'd found a winner. The recipe was instantly pinned to the "Must Make!" board and today I decided it was going to be dinner.

Naturally I didn't have all of the ingredients to recreate the recipe exactly, but I used what I had on hand and I must say that I'm really pleased with the results. I hesitated to post this recipe-- perhaps you're tired of lemon-y pasta or noodle-y Asian dishes from me. But really, this is too good not to share. You don't really mind my recent Asian/noodle phase, do you?

...I didn't think so. This dish comes together very quickly, so it's perfect for a weeknight meal. I fully intended to add grated ginger to the dressing like the original recipe calls for, but I just plum forgot. I still think it would be mighty tasty, so if you have some ginger root kicking about, by all means throw it in. And definitely don't neglect to add the kale stems to this dish-- they give a nice crunch to an otherwise texturally homogenous dish.

Bain taitneamh as do bheil!

PREP TIME: about 20 minutes

COOKING TIME: about 30 minutes

MAKES: 4 servings

INGREDIENTS:

for the dressing:

• 1 large onion, chopped into 1" dice (about 2 cups)
• 3 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
• the juice & zest of one lemon
• 1 teaspoon Asian chili oil
• 1/4 cup shoyu
• 1/4 cup mirin or rice wine
• 1 tablespoon mellow miso paste
• 1 tablespoon brown sugar
• 3 tablespoons olive oil, plus more for cooking
• 1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil

for the noodles:

• 8 ounces udon or whole wheat spaghetti
• 2 leaves purple kale, stems removed and chopped into 1/4" rounds, leaves chopped into bite sized pieces
• 2 dried shiitake mushrooms
• 1 cup snow peas, tough spine removed, chopped into bite sized pieces

DIRECTIONS:

1. Place dried shiitake mushrooms in a small, heat-proof bowl.
2. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Ladle out about a cup of boiling water and pour over dried shiitakes. Add noodles to the remaining boiling water and reduce heat to a simmer. Simmer noodles until just al dente. Drain, toss with a drop of toasted sesame oil and set aside. When mushrooms have softened, remove them from soaking water and thinly slice.
3. Meanwhile, heat up 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a large, heavy-bottomed skillet. Add onions and saute until translucent and slightly browned. Add chopped garlic and, stirring constantly, saute for 60 seconds. Remove sauteed onions & garlic from the stove and put in blender.
4. In the same skillet, heat up another tablespoon of olive oil. Add chopped kale stems and sliced shiitakes. Saute for 2-3 minutes, or until mushrooms brown slighly. Add kale leaves and chopped snow peas and saute until kale wilts slightly. Remove from heat and set aside.
5. Make the dressing: add lemon juice & zest, chili oil, shoyu, mirin, miso and brown sugar to the blender containing the sauteed onion & garlic. Run the blender until all ingredients are combined and no onion/garlic chunks remain. With the blender running, slowly stream in 3 tablespoons olive oil and 1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil.
6. Toss noodles in dressing (depending on how sauce-y you like your food, you may have some leftover dressing. It's delicious on salad!) and top with sauteed kale and snow peas. Serve with a glass of warm sake.

Lime-Chipotle Finishing Salt

I know I've been away from this little blog for a while, herbivores. I've missed you all terribly, and not writing for a little while has given me no small amount of anxiety. But the reasons for my absence are good ones-- life has been busy and full and exciting. I'm working on a number of food-related projects, meeting wonderful new people, and reconnecting with old friends. All very good things.

I had the opportunity this week to attend my second Philly Food Swap, and once again I returned home with a bag bursting full of goodies. Peach Habanero Glaze! Dates in Port Wine! Quince Jam! Drunken Cherries in Vodka! Vegan Chocolate-Covered Potato Chips! (Plus many, many more.) Once again, it was such an amazing experience and while the food was all spectacular, I was really struck by just how nice everyone is. The Philadelphia DIY and blogging community is a great group indeed!
I went back and forth deciding on my own contribution, but eventually I settled on finishing salts. Heidi from the ever-amazing 101 Cookbooks wrote a post a few weeks back about Citrus Salts, and it was so beautiful and simple and inspiring, I just knew they would be a big hit at the swap.

So I tinkered with a few flavor combinations of my own, and brought three different versions to swap. I did an Orange Five-Spice Salt, a Lemon-Pepper Fennel Salt and a Lime-Chipotle Salt. And while I was quickly out of all three versions of finishing salts, the Lime-Chipotle was the most requested by far.
This is an incredibly easy condiment to make, and it's tangy, smoky spiciness pairs well with all kinds of Latin food and drink. (Not just margaritas-- try some sprinkled on top of a Bloody Maria!)

So another huge thank-you to the organizers of the Philly Food Swap, and to all of it's participants-- seriously, this is an event I look forward to with such joy. You guys are the best, and my cupboard is full of AMAZING homemade food now!

And on a mostly unrelated note, I just got home from another awesome experience: flipping pancakes all night for BRAT Production's 24 Hour Bald Soprano. This unbelievable theater experience tests the limits of actors and audience members as it runs Eugene Ionesco's absurdist play for 24 consecutive hours. That's right. No breaks, no down time, just 24 hours of live theater. And I had the privilege of cooking pancakes with the amazing Lee Ann Etzold and Christy Parker from 4am to about 8am this morning, serving drunk people, exhausted actors and early morning theater enthusiasts alike.

(l-r: Christy, me and Lee-- about 5am this morning)

Right now I just feel so lucky to be a part of the Philadelphia theater and food communities, which are both so utterly inspiring and filled with the absolute best people, that I could just cry. I think I need some sleep.

Bain taitneamh as do bheil!

PREP TIME: about 20 minutes

COOK TIME: about 70 minutes

MAKES: about 1/2 cup

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 tablespoons finely grated zest from organic limes (about 2-3 medium limes)
• 1/2 cup kosher or sea salt
• 2 tablespoons ground chipotle peppers

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 225 degrees Fahrenheit. In a large bowl, toss together fresh lime zest and salt, taking care to fully incorporate and break up clumps of zest.
2. Spread salt out on a parchment-paper lined baking sheet. Bake for 70 minutes, or until zest is completely dried out and crumbles easily. (Warning: the citrus oil from the zest can be a bit irritating as it warms in the oven, so I recommend keeping your exhaust fan on for this)
3. Remove salt from oven and allow to cool. Stir in 2 tablespoons ground chipotle pepper. Pour yourself a big margarita with a Lime-Chipotle Salt rim!

Pasta Shells with Lemon-Butter Sauce

Leek lovers, what's your go-to lazy dinner? You know what I'm talking about: the dish you make when there's nothing exciting in the fridge, you're too broke for takeout and you simply don't have the brain juice for anything creative. The dinner you eat in your pajamas front of the television, repeatedly hitting "Play Next Episode" on your Downton Abbey marathon.
My go-to dinner has evolved quite a bit over the last few years, but it started very simply: pasta and cheese. You see, the first time I really had to cook for myself was when I worked in summer stock theater, right out of high school. Crammed into a house with other actors and designers and technicians, all working crazy hours, I learned how to make quick and filling meals with very little money. (My first summer I was paid fifty dollars a week. And I LOVED it!)

So when it was grub time, I would boil and drain pasta, grate some cheese and stir it all together, the warm pasta melting the cheese and bringing these two simple elements together into a gooey, starchy meal.
This dish is a riff on my old standby, and although it may look a little schmancy, it's still basically pasta and cheese. But since I'm on a big acid-y citrus kick these days, I just had to have some lovely lemons with my pasta. And now that I'm getting paid a little more than $50 a week, can you blame me for throwing in a bunch of butter to make a velvety sauce?

...I didn't think so. So let's raise a glass to the continuing evolution of comfort food, and dig into a big bowl of pasta!

Bain taitneamh as do bheil!

PREP TIME: about 10 minutes

COOKING TIME: about 20 minutes

MAKES: a generous serving for one hungry person

INGREDIENTS:

• 4 cups water
• 1 cup dried whole wheat pasta shells
• the juice and zest of one lemon (about 1 teaspoon minced zest, 3 tablespoons juice)
• 4 tablespoons cold butter, cut into chunks
• 1 handful flat-leafed parsley, finely chopped (about 2 tablespoons)
• 1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
• sea salt & freshly cracked pepper, to taste

DIRECTIONS:

1. Bring 4 cups of generously salted water to a boil. Add pasta, reduce heat to a simmer and cook until pasta is just al dente.
2. While pasta is cooking, place lemon juice in a small, heavy-bottomed saute pan over medium heat. Add a few chunks of butter and continually swirl the pan until butter is incorporated into the lemon juice. Continue adding butter a few chunks at a time into the swirling pan until all butter is incorporated and a slightly thick, creamy yellow sauce forms.
3. When pasta is al dente, drain water and place pasta back into cooking pan. Toss pasta with lemon sauce, lemon zest and fresh parsley. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
4. Spoon pasta into bowls and top with grated cheese. Serve with a nice Sauvignon Blanc.

Moroccan Chickpeas & Kumquats over Cauliflower Steaks

Veglets, I think winter is slowly winding down. The other day I had a startling thought: without really putting too much effort into the whole thing, we've been eating pretty locally this past year. Oh, I wouldn't call myself a truly dogmatic locavore by any stretch of the imagination. I haven't given up my olive oil or my chocolate or my spices. But for the most part (with the occasional moment of weakness-- DAMN YOU, avocados!) I haven't splurged on any tropical/wildly unseasonal produce.

Having the CSA really helped with this of course-- although we chose not to get a winter share this time around, the memory of all of that incredibly fresh and vibrant produce has really turned me off of flabby supermarket imports. Plus towards the end of our CSA season we got a ton of storage vegetables that have really kept us going through the winter.
Until recently, of course. Recently I've been on a huge citrus kick. Perhaps my Vitamin C levels are a bit low, perhaps I just need a bit of edible sunshine during these dark days, but I have been buying and consuming citrus like it's going out of style.

Now of course citrus isn't local to Philadelphia. But it is in season this time of year, so I tell myself to justify my wanton purchasing of lemons and limes and clementines.

The other day I was shopping at Whole Foods, minding my own beeswax, when a glistening clamshell of kumquats beckoned to me. "You know you want me", they said in their naughtiest citrine tones. I walked away. They were too expensive. I didn't have any recipes in mind for them.
But somehow they ended up in my cart anyway. How could I resist these little cuties, with their sweet, edible rinds and their pucker-inducing centers?

And just like that, it all came together for me: inspired by this recipe for Cauliflower Steaks with Olive Relish and Tomato Sauce from Bon Appetit, I decided to adapt it for my kumquats and give it a little more funk with some Moroccan flavors.

Although I know it would be awfully snooty of me to say I've improved upon a recipe from Bon Appetit, I will toot my own horn just a bit. This dish is goooood. Tart and spicy, just the thing to wake up your mouth after a long winter.

bil-hana' wa ash-shifa'!

PREP TIME: about 30 minutes, plus 24 hours soaking time for chickpeas

COOKING TIME: about 45-50 minutes

MAKES: about five 1 cup servings

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 cup dried chickpeas, soaked overnight
• 1 strip kombu
• 1 large head cauliflower
• 2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
• 1 medium onion, cut into 1/4" dice (about 1 cup)
• 4 large cloves garlic, minced finely (about 2 tablespoons)
• 1/2 cup oil-packed olives, drained and minced finely
• 1 tablespoon capers, rinsed under cool water and minced finely
• 4 ounces fresh kumquats, cut into 1/4" rounds horizontally
• 1 cup dry white wine
• 1 dried bay leaf
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 2 teaspoons ground cumin
• pinch red pepper flakes
• one 28 ounce can crushed fire roasted tomatoes (I highly recommend Muir Glen brand)
• sea salt and freshly cracked pepper, to taste
• chiffonaded fresh parsley, for garnish

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Drain soaked chickpeas and rinse thoroughly with cool water.
2. In a large, heavy-bottomed stock pot, combine drained chickpeas, kombu strip and enough water to cover beans completely. Bring pot to a boil and immediately reduce heat to a simmer. Simmer until beans are tender, about 45-55 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, remove leaves and slice off thick stem of cauliflower. With the stem side down, cut the cauliflower into 1/2" thick "steaks". Loose pieces and whole florets will flake off-- don't fret, just set those aside and keep your slices at an even thickness.
4. Heat up 1 tablespoon olive oil in a heavy-bottom skillet until surface begins to shimmer. Working in batches, sear both sides of each cauliflower steak until they are a nice deep brown color. Place seared steaks on a sheet tray. When all steaks have been seared on both sides, sprinkle with salt & pepper and place sheet tray in oven. Roast until just tender, about 10-15 minutes. Remove from oven and set aside.
5. While the cauliflower steaks are roasting, wipe out skillet and heat up remaining tablespoon olive oil until surface begins to shimmer. Add onion and saute until soft and slightly browned. While onion is being sauteed, finely chop loose pieces of cauliflower until a minced texture is achieved. Add minced cauliflower, garlic, olives and capers to browned onions and saute 1 minute more, stirring frequently.
6. Add 1 cup white wine, dried bay leaf, cinnamon, cumin and red pepper flakes to onion mixture and stir to combine. Turn up the burner until mixture begins to simmer rapidly. Allow to simmer until most of the wine is reduced, stirring frequently. Be careful not to over-reduce-- a sticky mess will result!
7. When most of the white wine liquid is gone, reduce heat and add can of fire-roasted tomatoes and sliced kumquats. Bring mixture to a gentle simmer and, stirring frequently, simmer for 5-10 minutes or until sauce thickens a bit. Remove and discard bay leaf.
8. When chickpeas are tender, remove from heat and drain, discarding kombu strip. Stir cooked chickpeas into tomato sauce. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
9. To serve, place roasted cauliflower steaks on the bottom of a plate and top with tomato sauce. Garnish with chiffonaded fresh parsley. Enjoy citrus season and the end of your winter!

Wild Rice Horchata

It's Burwell General Store recipe swap time again, carrot nibblers! Seems like this month has just flown by, right? I am really digging these swaps-- I have made so many wonderful new blogging friends and the recipes chosen for us to adapt have proven to be so inspiring and motivating. And yet as the deadline approached for this particular post, there I was, staring at another vintage recipe Christianna had pulled from a dusty cookbook, wondering what the hell to make of it.
You see, I have another food confession to make to you, dear readers: I don't care for dressing. Or stuffing, or whatever your family called the side dish crammed inside your traditional Thanksgiving turkey. Whether it be bread or rice based, dressing never really did it for me, even in my meat-eating days.

So when the recipe for Wild Rice Dressing popped up on this month's recipe exchange, I stifled a groan. Ugh, stuffing.

Determined not to make stuffing, this month I tinkered around with a few wild rice dishes: an Asian-inspired salad, like this one from the lovely Sprouted Kitchen. A vegan Cream-of-Mushroom soup with wild rice. A side dish with carrots and oranges, loosely based on the one we made for our final dinner in culinary school. And all of these dishes were... good. Okay. Edible, even. But not even close to what I'd call inspired. I was officially having a Wild Rice Crisis.

But then, weirdly enough, the weather intervened with my Wild Rice Crisis. We had an incredible warm spell-- at the end of January, in Philadelphia. Last week the temperatures flirted with seventy degrees, fooling snowdrops into blooming prematurely and me into wearing a skirt without my thermal tights. Bare legs in January, how shocking! How wonderful! How confusing!

I'm lucky enough to live in the Italian Market section of Philadelphia, which is ripe for a name change as it is home to a huge population of Mexican (not to mention Korean and Chinese and Vietnamese and other Asian/Latin American) people and shops. In the heat of the summer it wouldn't be unusual at all for me to grab a Vietnamese banh mi sandwich for lunch from one shop and a glass of Mexican horchata from the shop a few doors down to wash it down.

So during our recent weird heat wave it was horchata, that cool milky rice drink that I found myself craving. Traditionally made from soaked rice or other grains, seasoned with cinnamon and lightly sweetened, this frothy drink is just the thing to quench your thirst on a hot January day.

And just like that, my Wild Rice Crisis was resolved. Hey, if various cultures use chufa (Spain), sesame seeds (Puerto Rico) and morro seeds (El Salvador) to make their horchata, why couldn't I use wild rice? So I did. And it was gooooooood. And I hope you'll make it too.

Maybe you'll wait until your weather is warm. That's good, I can't say that I personally would enjoy horchata in the dead of a (normal) winter. But the next time a heat wave hits your area and you find yourself craving that magical combination of cool and creamy and refreshing and light, I hope you'll think of horchata and reach for that bag of wild rice that has been lurking in the back of your cabinet.

Bain taitneamh as do bheil!

PREP TIME: about 15 minutes, plus 24 hours soaking time

COOKING TIME: about 10 minutes

MAKES: about 5 cups

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 cup white basmati rice
• 1 cup wild rice
• 1 whole vanilla bean
• 6 cups water
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 2 cups unsweetened almond milk
• 1/4-1/2 cup agave nectar, to taste
• ground cinnamon, for garnish

DIRECTIONS:

1. In a stand blender, combine basmati and wild rice. Pulse until a fine powder is achieved. If you can't get your rice ground finely, don't worry too much, just pulse until rice is broken up as much as possible. Place ground rice in a large heat-proofed bowl and set aside.


2. Split vanilla bean in half lengthwise and with the flat of your knife, scrape out the seeds. In a heavy-bottomed saucepan, combine 6 cups water, vanilla seeds & pod and cinnamon stick. Bring mixture to a boil.
3. Remove from heat and pour boiling water into ground rice bowl. Stir to combine ground rice, water and aromatics. Place a ceramic plate over the bowl to discourage curious pets and dust. Allow mixture to sit out at room temperature for 24 hours.

4. After 24 hours, you'll have a sludge-y gray mixture like the picture above, with almost all of the liquid absorbed into the rice. Don't despair, this gray sludge is going to taste delicious soon!
5. Working in batches, scoop spoonfuls of the soaked rice into a piece of damp fine-meshed cheesecloth. Over a large bowl, squeeze out all of the liquid you can from the ground rice. Your yield won't be super-high-- I was only able to squeeze out about 2 cups of "rice juice". Discard rice solids and aromatics, rinse cheesecloth and repeat until all soaked rice has been thoroughly juiced. This is a rather tedious process, but don't give up-- as soon as you're done, the rest of the horchata comes together in a snap.
6. After all of the rice mixture has passed through the cheesecloth, add 2 cups almond milk and stir to combine. Add agave nectar, 1/4 cup at a time, until desired sweetness is reached.
7. Serve over ice with a sprinkle of ground cinnamon as a garnish.

Hey, why don't you:

Apple-Ginger Bread Pudding with Whiskey Sauce

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I turned 33 this week, veggie fanatics. It was a great birthday. My co-workers treated me to dinner and a delicious house-made Rauch Bier at Triumph Brewery, my gal got me this very silly present, my friends bought me beers and picklebacks at Sugar Mom's and my boss bought me a bottle of very fine whiskey.

Birthdays are my favorite holiday. Not just my own (although my day was truly the bee's knees this year), but the idea of lavishing attention and presents and food on someone you care about is just so appealing.
And cake! What would a birthday be without a birthday cake, right?

Well, I have a confession for you, herbivores. Are you ready? It's just the tiniest bit shameful. Okay, here goes:

...I don't really care for cake.

It's true. There are certain exceptions, of course: a moist carrot cake with cream cheese frosting, a traditional Jewish apple cake, angel food cake that's slightly stale... I can really get behind all of those cakes. But the traditional vanilla or chocolate cake with buttercream frosting? Meh. As my mother would say, "it's just not worth the calories".
And speaking of my mother, when I was a little girl, we had a very special birthday tradition. Raised in a strictly no-high-sugar-breakfast-cereal kind of family, she relaxed her rules every year on my birthday. She would toast me up a big slice of whole wheat bread, slather it with butter (my love of butter is completely genetic) and dust it with cinnamon and sugar. Heavenly.

So this year I decided to honor this tradition and bake myself a "birthday cake" that reminded me of my favorite birthday breakfasts. Now that I'm firmly in my 30's, I topped this bread pudding with a decadent whiskey sauce created by the Handlebars Food & Saloon in Silverton, CO for their own bread pudding. I know my mom will approve.

So here's to birthdays, to celebrating the people in our lives, and to taking the time one day a year to reflect upon getting older and (hopefully!) wiser.

Bain taitneamh as do bheil!

PREP TIME: about 30 minutes of active time, up to 24 hours inactive prep

COOK TIME: about 30 minutes

MAKES: about 8 one cup servings

INGREDIENTS:

for the pudding:

• one 11 ounce whole wheat French baguette
• 6 large eggs, beaten
• 4 cups half & half
• 1 1/2 cups brown sugar
• 1 handful candied ginger, finely minced (about 1/4 cup)
• 1 tablespoon cinnamon
• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 3 medium Granny Smith apples, peeled and cut into 1/4" dice (about 4 cups)
• 2 tablespoons maple syrup

for the whiskey sauce:

• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 pound salted butter
• 1 large egg, beaten
• 2 tablespoons whiskey (I used good old Jim Beam, but use whichever whiskey/bourbon/scotch/rye you love best)

DIRECTIONS:

1. When purchasing your bread, try and see if you can get a day-old baguette. If not, cut the fresh baguette in very angled slices and leave out overnight, or until stale.
2. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. In a large bowl, combine beaten eggs, half & half, brown sugar, candied ginger and cinnamon. Slice stale bread slices into 1" squares and arrange in the bottom of a well-buttered 9" by 13" casserole dish.
3. Pour half & half mixture over the bread squares and press down to ensure all squares are evenly soaked. Set aside to allow the bread to absorb the liquid.
4. Meanwhile, heat up 3 tablespoons butter in a heavy-bottomed skillet. Stirring constantly, brown the butter. (Great tutorial on browning butter here.) Add apple pieces and saute until apples are softened and slightly browned. Add maple syrup and, stirring constantly, coat the apples until the syrup reduces a bit and apples are sticky and caramelized. Immediately remove from heat.
5. Spoon the caramelized apples over the soaked bread, stirring slightly to thoroughly incorporate.
6. Bake pudding for 30 minutes, or until the center is set and not jiggly. Remove from oven and allow to cool.
7. While pudding is in the oven, make the whiskey sauce: place a saucepan filled halfway with water on the stove. Bring to a boil, and immediately reduce heat to a simmer. Set a large metal bowl on top of the simmering water. (Use a pot holder or a towel to touch the bowl after it goes over the water-- it will get very hot very quickly!) In the metal bowl, whisk together 1/4 pound salted butter and brown sugar until butter is melted and sugar is incorporated. Add egg and whiskey and continue to whisk until sauce thickens.
8. To assemble, use a round pastry cutter to portion cooled bread pudding. Spoon whiskey sauce over the top. And if you're anything like me, you'll pour yourself some bourbon over rocks to toast another birthday!

Bleu Cheese Grits with Kale & Sweet Potatoes

I'm a savory breakfast kind of gal. I've never really been into pancakes or french toast or waffles (with my mother's waffles being a huge exception, of course...) or anything that's overly sweet & sticky in the morning. Sure, every now and then I get a craving for a big stack of pancakes smothered in maple syrup. But when eating out for breakfast, I tend to stick to the savory basics: eggs (sunny side up if you please), veggie sausage, hashbrowns and a big piece of toast to sop up all of that delicious mess.

And of course, grits. Oooooh, grits. Raised a Yankee, we didn't have grits on our breakfast table when I was growing up. But my Texan girlfriend loves them, and they have gradually become my favorite part of breakfast. And I do like them savory-- I know a lot of people like sugar or honey in their grits, but to me there's something just so satisfying about a big bowl of salty, corny goodness first thing in the morning.

Not to mention they are the perfect vehicle for any vegetable you have lying about-- a great way to sneak a little more nutrition into breakfast. And butter. And cheese.
Okay, so this isn't diet food. But it's comforting and delicious and a little decadent, even. Perfect for a lazy weekend breakfast, elegant enough to serve to guests.

I prefer the heartier taste of coarsely ground cornmeal for my grits, almost like a polenta. But if you like the milder hominy grits, rock on with your bad self. Savory grits have endless possibilities-- try different vegetables, different greens, different cheese... there is no wrong way to eat grits!

Bain taitneamh as do bheil!

PREP TIME: about 15 minutes

COOKING TIME: about 30 minutes

MAKES: 2 servings

INGREDIENTS:

for the topping:

• 1 medium shallot, thinly sliced (about 1/2 cup)
• 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
• 1 small sweet potato, peeled & cut into 1/2" dice (about 1 cup)
• 3/4 cup vegetable stock
• 1 small carrot, peeled & finely grated (about 1/4 cup)
• 1 large clove garlic, thinly sliced (about 1 tablespoon)
• 2-3 large lacinato or dinosaur kale leaves, thick stems removed, finely chopped (1 cup, loosely packed)
• sea salt & freshly cracked pepper, to taste
• generous pinch red pepper flakes

for the grits:

• 1/2 cup grits (for a gluten-free dish, be sure to seek out grits that have been packed in a gluten-free facility, such as Bob's Red Mill brand)
• 2 cups water
• 1/2 cup finely shredded smoked bleu cheese
• sea salt & freshly cracked pepper, to taste
• 2 pats of butter, to top off

DIRECTIONS:

1. In a large, heavy-bottomed saucepan, heat up 1 tablespoon olive oil until the surface begins to shimmer. Add sliced shallot and saute until soft and slightly browned, stirring frequently to prevent burning. Add sweet potatoes and saute for 2 minutes more, until sweet potatoes are slightly browned.
2. Add vegetable stock and shredded carrots to shallots & sweet potatoes and increase heat until the stock begins to boil. Cover the saucepan and allow stock to boil for 2-3 minutes, until sweet potatoes just begin to soften. Remove cover and allow stock to boil rapidly, until liquid is evaporated and sweet potatoes are soft. Stir frequently to prevent sticking.
3. Add garlic and chopped kale and saute for 2 minutes more, until kale is bright green and slightly wilted. Season to taste with salt, pepper and red pepper flakes. Remove from heat and transfer vegetables to another bowl. Cover bowl and place on the stovetop to keep warm while you prepare the grits.
4. In the same saucepan, combine water and grits with a pinch of salt. Bring mixture to a boil and immediately reduce heat to a simmer. Simmer, stirring frequently, until most of the water is absorbed and grits are fluffy and porridge-like. Stir in grated smoked bleu cheese and stir to combine. Season with salt and pepper.
5. Divide grits between two bowls. Place a pat of butter on top of each bowl. Spread the vegetable mixture over the grits. Serve immediately with a big pot of coffee and prepare to start your day!

(photos in this post taken by the very talented Deborah Holloway, who, like a true Texas girl, gobbled up the pictured grits as soon as she put down the camera)

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Lentil Shepard's Pie with Goat Cheese Mashed Potatoes

Herbivores, do you ever play that game with yourself where you try to remember exactly what you were doing a year ago? You try to summon up the events of the day ("Well, it was a Wednesday, so at this time I was probably waiting for the bus...") and you try to remember how you were feeling and what lay ahead for your past self.

I've been doing that a lot lately for some reason, remembering my twice-weekly travels back and forth from Philadelphia to New York, the seemingly endless shuffle between work and school and back again, the world of culinary adventures opening up to me.

I am remembering learning how to properly cut an onion, how to use a wok, how to roll out a vegan pie crust, how to identify a myriad sea vegetables, how to put together Macrobiotic and Aryuvedic meals, how to make a beurre monte sauce (more on that later), how to make gluten-free pie crusts... the list goes on and on.

In short, after some time away from culinary school, the basic tenets are flooding back to me in a strange sense-memory way. I'm finding myself using the techniques I learned in an instinctual manner, which is, I suppose, the whole point of going to culinary school, graduating, and continuing to work in food. School is supposed to make these things second nature, supposed to make you produce quality food consistently, without much conscious thought.
And I still hear the voices of my instructors in my ear, even when I'm cooking alone. I hear Chef Barbara tsk-ing over my vegetable cuts ("Keep them uniform!"), I hear Chef Rich scolding me for salting my food only at the end ("Seasoning the food at the end of cooking is like putting on makeup after your date!") and I hear Chef Jay reminding me not to fussy with my salting ("Season from a great height!").

Back to the shepard's pie. January has been blowing icy blasts all over Philadelphia lately, so this seemed like just the thing to chase away winter's chill. And great minds seem to be thinking alike, as I'm seeing a ton of shepard's pies popping up all over the blogosphere. I fell in love with The Fig Tree's idea of using roasted garlic & goat cheese in the mashed potatoes, so I stocked up on lentils and taters and carrots and got cooking.

Alone in my kitchen, I carefully chopped all of my vegetables evenly, cooked my lentils just right and even got fancy with a piping bag for the mashed potato top. The whole time I was remembering and smiling to myself, marveling as my hands instinctually did what my brain had to painstakingly learn just one short year ago.

This isn't of course to say that you have to go to culinary school to make a shepard's pie. But parsnip munchers, the next time you're in the kitchen, use your cooking time as a meditation on all the things you've learned this past year, all of the tasks that at one time seemed so difficult and are now instinctual. Big or small, our experiences teach us how to be better people.

And that is something to be grateful for indeed.

Bain taitneamh as do bheil!

PREP TIME: about 30 minutes

COOKING TIME: about 1 1/2 hours

MAKES: about 8 one cup servings

INGREDIENTS:

for the base:

• 2 cups French green (Puy) lentils
• 1 cup red wine
• 2 cups water
• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, divided
• 2 medium onions, cut into 1/4" dice (about 2 cups)
• 2-3 medium carrots, cut into 1/4" quarter moons
• 3 tablespoons fresh thyme leaves, removed from stems and finely chopped
• 6 ounces crimini mushrooms, cut into 1/2" dice
• 3-4 leaves lacinato (dinosaur) kale, stems removed, chopped into bite-sized pieces
• sea salt and freshly cracked pepper, to taste

for the top:

• 3 pounds Yukon Gold or russet potatoes, peeled and cut into even 1" chunks
• 4 cups vegetable stock
• 4 cups water
• 1 head garlic
• 4 ounces herbed chevre or soft goat cheese, thinly sliced
• 1/4 cup buttermilk, plus more as needed
• sea salt and freshly cracked pepper, to taste

for the sauce:

• 2 cups red wine
• 1 teaspoon honey
• pinch of sea salt
• 2 teaspoons dried tarragon
• 1 tablespoon cold unsalted butter

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Cut the top of the head of garlic off and wrap the whole thing loosely in aluminum foil. Place in the oven and roast until fragrant and very soft, about 45 minutes. When garlic is tender, allow to cool slightly and squeeze out roasted cloves, discarding papery skins. Set aside.
2. Meanwhile, cook potatoes and lentils. Spread lentils out on a sheet pan or clean counter and sift through them, discarding any stones or stems. Rinse lentils in cold water. Place lentils, 1 cup red wine and 2 cups water in a large, heavy-bottomed stockpot. Bring mixture to a boil and immediately reduce heat to a simmer. Simmer until tender, about 30-40 minutes. When lentils are done, remove from heat, drain through a fine mesh and toss with a little olive oil. Set aside.
3. While lentils are simmering, place the chopped potatoes in another heavy-bottomed stockpot with 4 cups of vegetable stock and 4 cups of water. Bring mixture to a boil and immediately reduce heat to a simmer. Simmer until potatoes are extremely tender, almost falling apart. When potatoes are done, drain liquid and place potatoes back into stockpot with a loose lid to keep them warm & moist.
4. While the lentils and potatoes are bubbling on the stove and the garlic is roasting in the oven, heat up 1 tablespoon olive oil in a saute pan until the surface of the oil begins to shimmer. Add chopped onion and saute until soft and browned. Add carrot quarter moons and fresh thyme and saute for 5 minutes more, until carrots just begin to soften.
5. Remove onions & carrots from pan and set aside. Heat up another tablespoon of olive oil in saute pan. Add mushrooms and saute until mushrooms have lost their liquid and begin to brown, about 5 minutes. Add chopped kale and cooked onions & carrots to pan. Season with salt & pepper. Saute until kale turns bright green, about 2 minutes. Remove from heat, stir cooked lentils into vegetable mixture and set aside.
6. Prepare the mashed potato topping: pass cooked potatoes and roasted garlic through a potato ricer. (Alternately you can do this in a stand mixer or even with a hand-held potato masher for more rustic results, but a potato ricer will get you the fluffiest topping). Stir in goat cheese and buttermilk until a smooth consistency is reached. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
7. Prepare the sauce: in a small saute pan, combine 2 cups red wine, 1 teaspoon honey and 2 teaspoons dried tarragon. Bring mixture to a boil and reduce by almost half, stirring occasionally to prevent sticking. When mixture looks thick (but not too syrup-y: be careful not to over-reduce!), reduce heat and half-remove the pan from the burner. Place the cold butter in the pan and continually swirl the pan until butter is melted. When butter is melted, turn off burner. Congratulate yourself for successfully beurre monte-ing a sauce!
8. Grease a 9" by 13" casserole dish. Place lentil & vegetable mixture on the bottom and spread evenly through the dish. Pour red wine sauce over lentils and vegetables. Place mashed potatoes in a piping bag with a large star tip and make whatever design you like on the top of the pie. Or you can simply spread the potato mixture over the lentils with a spatula and use a fork to make a cross-hatch design.
9. Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until mixture is heated through. Place casserole under broiler for 5 minutes (definitely keep an eye on it, though-- those things can take your food from brown to burned fast) or until top is crisped and browned.
10. Serve with a glass of red wine and toast to the new and amazing things you'll learn this year.

And because this post has made me all nostalgic, I couldn't stop myself from posting this wonderful video about my culinary alma mater. It may seem cheesy, but that place truly did change my life and I am so eternally grateful for my experience there. Check it out: