New food gadget

I'm usually rather frugal and resist large-footprint gadgets in the kitchen, but today I got pulled in. In between buying the lumber for our new raised garden beds and actually building them, E and I found ourselves dreamily wandering around Eggplant, an adorable St. Paul garden store. Right beside the Weck Jars (drool), I saw these.

I've been renting space in Megan's crock for over a year now, and it seems time I get my own (or at least contribute to the fermentation vessel collection). So WFDMers and fans, what do you think I should ferment FIRST? Another batch of sauerkraut? ginger? carrots? green beans? lemons?!

Make some suggestions, and get ready for the grand reveal in 1-4 weeks ...

Rice and bean bowl

This very easy dish was inspired by a delicious meal that I had at Jaime's a few months ago. (Jaime, post on the blog!!) We had intended to make burritos but realized too late that we didn't have any tortillas, so we combined everything in a bowl and voila, had a quick and healthy dinner!

This the version I made for lunch today:

Brown rice
Pinto beans
Yam
Chipotle veganaise
Cilantro and avocado
Salt and pepper

Cube a sweet potato or yam into small chunks and saute in coconut oil for 10-12 minutes. (You could also roast it.) In a saucepan, heat a little olive oil and fry some onion and garlic until slightly browned; add pinto or black beans, a little cumin, and cook until heated. Add the rice into the pot to heat. Make a chipotle-mayo by adding a little adobo sauce (or a chopped chipotle) to some veganaise (or regs mayo). Combine it all in a bowl! Top with avocado, sprouts, cilantro, other veggies, etc.

Wild rice, zucchini, leek and chevre tart

I recently came across a new food blog via The Heavy Table. It's called All About Food, and I was hooked after seeing many wild rice recipes and reading about her Hungarian and German/Czech ancestry. And she talks about the Mississippi River, and I just appreciate midwestern pride, so there we go.

Anyway - I tried her wild rice pie crust this week, and OMG. It's a whole new kind of savory tart crust: chewy, super flavorful, and not so rich as pastry. I also find an appeal to having a whole-food sort of crust - which could be entirely locally sourced except for the lemon. I can't wait to try this crust with a variety of fillings.

The recipe is definitely on the rich side - she recommends that you stick with the heavy cream for the filling, and I would argue that half and half would be a bit lighter and nice too. I really like the zucchini/leek combo, and chevre always reminds me of the year I worked at a small farm making goat cheese in Iowa. The little cheese kitchen was next to the milking room in the barn and always smelled like tart goat milk; there were flies stuck to fly paper all over the ceiling and the farm kittens would wait by the door to drink up the whey. I often went to help pick and package veggies for the CSA shares while the milk pasteurized. Fresh goat cheese with just picked spinach = total bliss as far as I am concerned!

This tart is tasty - though beware of that 10" pie pan. Who has a 10? pie pan?? I happened to have a 10" cast iron, but kind of rare size. I ate the tart with my last jar of pickled beets on some salad greens from WI. And I was able to plant my own lettuce, arugula, beets, and radish before the big rains - so soon I'll be eating out of my own garden. Yay!

green bean and potato salad.

My mom's husband has to have a potato at every meal. And, let's admit it, I love a potato as much as the next person. So, when I was charged with making a side dish for dinner at my mom's house, I searched the well-loved Smitten Kitchen for something fun and fresh and delicious; to liven up the potato as side dish. I settled on the Arugula, Potato, and Green Bean Salad with Creamy Walnut Dressing, with a few modifications based on what we had on hand. You can link to Smitten Kitchen's post in the title.

Here are the modifications I made:

-I used romaine and baby greens in place of arugula, but next time I will make the effort to get arugula because I think the peppery flavor would be really delicious with the rest of the ingredients.

-I used olive oil and a little bit of truffle oil in place of walnut oil because we didn't have any. someday, I will plan ahead and get all the ingredients for a recipe, but usually I end up having to substitute at least one thing and I've averted disaster so far.

So, that's how I made it. It was easy and delicious and it pleased everyone, including the potato purist who used to hate eating anything green until he started growing his own vegetables. So, I'll call it a success. Smitten Kitchen comes through once again.

Coconut-Lime Cookies

These little gems are from Dreena Burton's Vive le Vegan! Simple, Delectable Recipes for the Everyday Vegan Family, also the source of the vegan peanut butter cookie dough that doubles as Steve's bday cake.

1/4 c. unsweetened shredded coconut
1/4 c. plus 2 T. unrefined sugar (I found them to be pretty sweet...I might cut back on the sugar next time)
1-1.5 tsp. lime zest (I'd also add more of this next time. Limey!)
1/4 t. sea salt
1 1/4 c. unbleached all-purpose flour OR to be wheat-free, use white spelt flour (if using spelt, she says to add an additional 1/3 cup)
1 t. baking powder
1 t. baking soda
1/3 c. pure maple syrup
2.5 T. freshly squeezed lime juice
1 t. pure vanilla extract
1/4-1/2 t. coconut extract (I didn't have this, so added extra coconut)
1/4 c. canola oil (a little generous)

Preheat oven to 350. Combine everything up to (and including) the baking soda. In a separate bowl, whisk together everything else until well mixed. Add the wet mixture to the dry and stir through until just well combined (don't overmix). Place large spoonfuls of the batter on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and flatten a little. Bake for 11 minutes, until lightly golden (if you bake for much longer, they will dry out). Let cool for no more than 1 minute on the sheet (again, to prevent drying), then transfer to a cooling rack.

Makes approx. 10-12 medium-large cookies.

Soba and Fried Tofu Salad

I've been feeling really uninspired to cook lately, and whenever that happens, I buy a new cookbook. So, I picked up Jeanne Lemlin's Simple Vegetarian Pleasures at Magers and Quinn the other day (with credit I'd forgotten I had!)--I'm pretty excited about these truly simple recipes!

She recommends serving this one cold, but since I was hungry and couldn't wait (plus have a thing about temperature), I ate it hot. Probably delicious either way!

1 pound extra-firm tofu
1 T. canola oil
1 T. tamari or shoyu
1 pound soba noodles

Dressing:
3 T. tamari or shoyu
3 T. sesame oil
2 T. brown sugar
1 t. hot chili oil
1 T. rice vinegar or red wine vinegar
2 t. grated ginger

1 T. sesame seeds
2 large scallions, thinly sliced
4 cups spinach leaves, washed, then stacked and julienned

1. Fry up the tofu however you like. (I cubed mine and cooked it in a bit of oil and the 1 T. shoyu until it was fairly crispy.)
2. In the meantime, cook the soba noodles.
3. Make the dressing!
4. In a large bowl, combine tofu, soba noodles, and the dressing. Top each serving with a big handful of spinach, some sesame seeds, and a few scallions.

So. easy.

(The photo is heavy on the sesame seeds!)

i am not a vegan. i am not GF. i DO have good taste, which is why erin mckenna is all aces

Hello. I'm the new kid on the WFDM (What's For Dinner Minneapolis) blog-block, so I of course start this first posting off with a mmmmmajor shout out to my fellow food-know-it-alls who have been representing and creating such an inspirational and amazing place on the interwebs. Seriously. Are you new to this site? Bookmark it. Now. And welcome!

Anyhow, as my title indicates: I'm not exclusively vegan. Nor am I exclusively GF. And I say that with as much love as possible for my vegan-y, GF-y brothers and sisters. If it buys me any cred, I will say that I love good food and I love to read/make lists of things to make/eat almost constantly. And that it has everything to do with tastiness, top notch ingredients, and total intention on the part of the cook. It has nothing, per se, to do with whether or not something is vegan or gluten free. I get superdefensive when I hear "It's VEgan? No thanks!" or "Gluten free means it doesn't taste good!" commentary coming from the mouths of folks whom I would otherwise consider to be pretty cool. As far as I'm concerned, they're toats missing out.

So, my vegan and GF friends: I stand with you. I support you. You might say I'm co-opting your dietary preferences and/or values. I might say I'm vegan and/or GF-blind. Either way, I'm doing it with 100% love and respect.

This is what has brought me to the altar of Erin McKenna. A friend introduced me to her genius around the time that I began wondering if my kid wasn't experiencing gluten and dairy intolerance. Suffice it to say that he probably is, but either way he is definitely like any other young tyke in that he wants cupcakes, Rice Krispie squares, and donuts 24/7. After tackling Erin's vegan, GF cookies and cupcakes in her 1st book, I advanced to her donut-making lessons last night. And let me tell you, Friend: the results were spectacular:


Yes. They are as good as they look. If you don't believe me, you have two choices. 1) Come over to my home. Don't forget coffee. 2) Go out and buy Erin's newest cookbook TODAY. In the meantime, here's the recipe:

PLAIN CAKE DONUT (makes 12)
Preheat oven to 325 and brush 2 six-mold donut trays with canola/coconut oil. Set 'em aside.

In a large-ish bowl whisk together:
1 cup vegan sugar/evaporated cane juice
3/4 cup white or brown rice flour
1/2 cup garbanzo AND fava bean flour (no, you can't substitute just garbanzo flour. sorry.)
1/2 cup potato starch (don't tell erin: i used 1/4 cup potato and 1/4 cup tapioca starches.)
1/4 cup arrowroot
1.5 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon xanthan gum
1/2 teaspoon fine salt
1/8 teaspoon baking soda

In another bowl, mix together:
1/3 cup melted refined coconut or canola oil (i used canola here. just sayin.)
6 tablespoons unsweetened applesauce
1/4 cup vanilla extract (i empower you to use imitation vanilla, but if your diet/preference - for whatever reason - is contrary to this, that's cool.)

Dump wet ingredients into the dry and employ your spatula. Add up to 1/2 cup of hot water, mixing until everything's just combined. You'll have a thickish batter:


This batter goes into your donut mold: 2.5 tablespoons per mold. Use a toothpick/skewer/knife tip to spread the batter evenly around the mold.

Toss 'em in the oven, rotating once at the 8 minute mark OR whenever they seem ready to be flipped.


You'll know: trust me (think: golden edges). Continue baking for another 7 minutes, or until you've reached the dizzying golden-brown doneness you'd expect.

Let cool in molds for a few minutes. Coat with anything you can imagine: cinnamon-sugar, spiked with cardamom. Melted chocolate chips with a shot of coconut oil, orange zest, and almond extract. Powdered sugar. Erin has many, many stellar ideas. Or just leave 'em naked.

Brew coffee or tea. Send any nearby children outside to play. Enjoy.

THANK YOU, Ms. McKenna.
Love,
VMF

Ginger carrot slaw

A few weeks ago, my sweetie came home with "Put 'em Up," a book full of easy preserving recipes. My first stab at one of the recipes was this ginger carrot slaw.

It's pretty slawsome, if you ask me.


Ginger-carrot slaw
1 lb carrots
1/2 lb radishes
1 red bell pepper
1/4 C salt
2 C distilled white vinegar
1 C sugar
1/2 C shredded ginger


1.) Shred all of the veggies (I used a food processor, but some fancy cutting might lead to some nice, larger pieces ...). Toss veggies with salt and let sit in a colander to drain for 2 hrs.

2.) Rinse thoroughly and squeeze the water out.

3.) Combine vinegar, water, sugar and ginger in a pot and bring to a boil. Stir in veggies and return to a boil.

4.) Put it in some jars and stick 'em in the fridge. They'll keep for at least a few weeks.

Beet Infused Vodka Martini

The inspiration for this post came from two things:
1. I recently had a delicious drink at the Craftsman that included beet infused vodka, lime, and cointreau.
2. I am doing some research about alcohols that are GF (especially because Gin, my fave liquor, is definitely not!)

I discovered that many vodkas (ones made only with potato), all good quality tequilas, and most rums are GF. The folks at Zipps seem very knowledgeable about their GF products - which is helpful because many of the bottles are not labeled. Cointreau, incidentally, is GF.

I came across an excerpt of "Hip Sips" - a cocktail book that includes a beet infused vodka drink. I followed her technique for the infusing. This photo is right after I added the beets - 3 days later the vodka was opaque.

My take on the Craftsman's drink:
Ice cubes for chilling and shaking
3 oz. beet vodka (I used Rain Organics)
1 oz. fresh lime juice
1 oz. cointreau
splash of simple syrup*

Fill martini glass with ice and set aside to chill. Shake ingredients in a cocktail shaker for 10 seconds. Empty ice from glass. Strain drink into glass and drink immediately!

*Recipe thoughts: I am wondering if I add more cointreau if I could eliminate the simple syrup all together?

I also came across this really delicious looking recipe for beet infused tequila with rosemary infused simple syrup...which I tried (this is an addendum now). Kinda strange. I maybe like my tequila straight up.

Lemon Almond Cupcakes - GF

I have been eying this recipe for awhile, and finally got around to testing it out this week. The recipe: Almond and Lemon Cake is from Kitchen Therapy - and is gluten and dairy free. I opted to half the recipe and make cupcakes instead. The almond flour is really delicious (ground up almonds) - and the lemon is nice and spring tasting.


A couple of recipe notes:
1. They turned out a little sweet. I would cut the sugar down next time.
2. I could not bring myself to use all that powdered sugar for a glaze, which isn't necessary, but the extra lemon is nice. Thus my glaze ended up very thin, sort of running over the edges of each cupcake. I wonder if I could replace any sugar with cornstarch??
3. I ground almonds in a coffee mill, but I think a food processor works too.
4. I have never heard of this term "thick-ribbon stage" - but decided it was when the egg/sugar mix became thicker than a thin stream. Ribbons are so relative!?
5. For cupcakes, I reduced the heat to 325 and baked for 15-20 minutes.

vermicelli salad.

just so you all don't think that all i do is bake and never eat actual food...here's a recipe from the rebar cookbook. i was craving something fresh and summery and this really hit the spot.

dressing:

1 cup hot water

4 tbsp brown sugar

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 jalapeno, seeded and minced

1 tsp sriracha sauce

4 tbsp fish sauce (or substitute soy sauce)

2 tbsp soy sauce

6 tbsp lime juice

salad:

2 cups shredded lettuce

1/2 package rice noodles

4 scallions, minced

1/2 cucumber, sliced

2 carrots, grated

2 tomatoes, chopped (i left these out because i didn't have any)

4 tbsp chopped cilantro and mint

2 tbsp cashews

1. dissolve sugar in hot water and let cool. stir in garlic, jalapeno, soy and/or fish sauce and lime juice. whisk thouroughly to combine.

2. follow instructions on package to cook noodles. strain and rinse with cold water. shake excess water from the noodles and gently toss with sesame oil.

3. to assemble salads, place shredded lettuce in the bottom of each serving bowl, add fresh herbs, then noodles, then veggies, then dressing, sprinkle with cashews and more fresh herbs.

eat!

Soft Rye Pretzels

This recipe is, once again, from Good to the Grain by Kim Boyce. I've yet to be disappointed by anything I've made from her book.

Dough
1package (2 1/4t) active dry yeast
1T honey
1 c rye flour
2 1/2 c all purpose flour
1T kosher salt

Bath
1/2 c baking soda

1. In a large bowl, dissolve the yeast in 1 1/2 cups of warm water, add honey, then stir in the flours and salt.
2. Dump the dough onto a floured surface and kneadin up to 1/2c of all purpose flour until the dough is tacky, soft, and supple, about 10 min.
3. Place dough in a greased bowl and cover with a towel until doubled in size, about 1 1/2 hours.
4. While the dough is rising, heat your oven to 450 degrees and oil or butter 2 baking sheets. Place racks in oven so one is on the bottom third, the other onthe top third. (This is a trick I've learned from this book and it seems to make everything cook really evenly.)
5. Once the dough has risen, turn it out onto a lightly floured board and divide it into 12 pieces. Roll each piece into a thin log with tapered edges about 17 inches long and then form into appropriate pretzel shape.6. Place the shaped pretzels on the oiled baking sheets and let them rise for 15-20 min.
7. Fill a large pot with water and bring to a boil. Once the pretzels are proofed and the water is boiling, add the baking soda. (This will bring back memories of science class volcanoes of baking soda/vinegar.)
8. To prepare the pretzels,gently place them in the boiling water and cook for 30 seconds on each side. Pat off any excess water and transfer back to the baking sheets. Sprinkle liberally with sea salt.
9. Bake for 15-18 minutes, rotating the sheets halfway through baking.
10. Transfer to a cooling rack.

11. Eat! They're best when warm (but you can heat them up in the toaster oven

the next day and they're still delicious). We ate them just plain but next time I think I'll try them with spicy mustard (Uncle Pete's Sweet Hot Mustard, perhaps) or potentially with some jalapenos and cheddar cheese in the dough...I'll keep you posted.