roasted maple cinnamon almond butter

Being a mega-cheapskate, I've never actually bought almond butter. Sooo, when I came across this recipe I thought I'd finally give it a try. It's SO GOOD. And SO EASY.
I doubled the recipe (link in the title) and got about 2/3 pint. Here it is:

Roast 2 cups almonds + 3 T maple syrup on 325 for about 15 minutes, stirring frequently. Take them out, let them cool for about 10 minutes, and transfer to food processor. Run, scraping sides as necessary, until it turns buttery (this will take awhile). Add 1 t cinnamon, some more maple, 1/2 t salt and some oil if you want a creamier texture.

Chesapeake Tempeh Cakes

OK, so I've never actually had a crab cake (and neither has Isa Chandra Moskowitz), so I can't tell how much these are like their inspiration. Regardless, they are delicious! This recipe is from Moskowitz's wonderful cookbook Vegan Brunch that I bought a year ago in San Francisco. I liked these so much that I'm thinking about making them again for dinner tonight!

Cakes:
8 oz. tempeh
1 c. water
1 T. soy sauce
1 T. olive oil
1 bay leaf
3 T. Vegenaise
1 T. whole-grain mustard (she says stone-ground Dijon is fine, which is what I used)
1 T. hot sauce
1 T. red wine vinegar
1/4 c. very finely chopped red bell pepper (not at all local right now, I know!)
3/4 t. ground ginger
1/2 t. dried oregano
1/2 t. salt
Black pepper
1.5 cups panko breadcrumbs, plus more for dredging
1 finely chopped nori sheet or 1 T. kelp granules for fishiness (this is optional and I skipped it)

Remoulade:
(Mix everything together.)
2 T. Vegenaise
1 T. whole-grain or Dijon mustard
1 T. hot sauce
2 t. capers (try not to get too much brine)

Serve with lemon wedges--this is key!

1. Crumble tempeh into a sauce pan in little bits, and add water, soy sauce (I used shoyu), oil, and bay leaf. (She notes that the tempeh won't be fully submerged, and that's fine.) Cover and bring to a boil. Let boil for 12-15 minutes, until most of the water has evaporated. Stir once during boiling.
2. Transfer tempeh to a mixing bowl, remove the bay leaf, and mash with a fork. Cool for about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. She notes: "Make sure the tempeh is barely warm before you proceed, or the cakes may fall apart when you cook them." Add everything except the bread crumbs and mix well. Add the breadcrumbs (and nori, if using) and use your hands to mix.
3. Heat a thin layer of oil in a skillet over medium heat. Scoop a little less than 1/4 c. batter into your hands and form a ball. (We used a lot of pressure to make the balls so that they wouldn't fall apart.) Flatten into a patty, dredge in the extra panko, and fry for about 4-5 minutes on a side. Done! Drizzle with remoulade. Delish!

Penne alla vodka and stuffed mushrooms

This pasta dish is from a cookbook I've mentioned before--Vegetarian Classics--that I really love but sometimes forget about among my zillion or so cookbooks. I'm now inspired to make her other pasta recipes, because this one is both easy and delicious.

I had the stuffed mushrooms at a party a few years ago, and they've since become my go-to dish for a fall or winter potluck. Read Giada's recipe here.

Penne alla vodka:

2 T. olive oil
4 large garlic cloves, minced
1/4 t. red pepper flakes (I used quite a bit more)
1 1/2 c. canned crushed tomatoes or tomato puree
1/4 c. vodka (I used more but then fretted that it tasted too vodka-y)
1/2 t. salt
1/2 c. heavy cream
1 pound penne
2 T. minced fresh parsley
Freshly grated parmesan cheese

Make pasta.
In a medium-sized saucepan, heat the oil; add garlic and red pepper flakes and cook for 1 minute. Add tomatoes, salt, and vodka, and gently simmer for 10 minutes. Stir in cream and keep warm until the pasta is ready. Drain pasta, return to pot, and mix in sauce. Sprinkle with parsley and cheese.

Milk Punch

So, I've been a little obsessed with smitten kitchen lately, I have to admit. When i saw this recipe last night, I couldn't resist. It's like an eggnog slushie but without the raw eggs. The recipe says to serve it once it's slushy, but I say that it's a little better when it's more frozen. Like a boozy boozy ice cream. But that's just me.

Here's the recipe, or you can click on the title above to link to the much prettier Smitten Kitchen version.

5 cups of a mixture of whole milk/half+half (I used a mixture of heavy cream and skim milk because that's what we had)

1 1/2 cups bourbon, brandy, or whiskey (I used Maker's Mark)

1 cup powdered sugar

1 tablespoon vanilla

whisk all ingredients in a pitcher and freeze until slushy (3-4 hours) or up to one day.

Chocolate cupcakes!

These chocolate cupcakes come from a cookbook that I've wanted for a long time, but couldn't bring myself to shell out $25 for: BabyCakes! (Yup, they're gluten-free, sugar-free, and vegan.) Since I had to return a gift to Anthropologie and couldn't find anything else in the store to exchange for it, I decided this was a good time to buy.

To be honest, I was actually pretty skeptical about how these cupcakes would turn out...now I'm a believer! They're delicious. If you're willing to buy a lot of non-traditional baking stuff (totally worth it!), I highly recommend them. (Oh, and because I'm waiting for the frosting to chill, I don't have a pic--they're the ones on the cover.)

Cupcakes:
1 and 3/4 c. garbanzo-fava bean flour
1/2 c. potato starch
1 c. unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 c. arrowroot
1 T. plus 1.5 t. baking powder
1/2 t. baking soda
1/2 t. xanthan gum (fun to buy!)
2 t. salt
1 c. coconut oil
1 and 1/3 c. agave nectar
3/4 c. applesauce (unsweetened)
3 T. pure vanilla extract
1 c. hot water or hot coffee (I used coffee)

Preheat oven to 325 degrees and line muffin tins.
Whisk together all the dry ingredients and then add the oil, agave, etc. (the liquids), stirring until the batter is smooth. Pour approx. 1/3 c. batter into each cup, and bake on center rack for 22 minutes. After 15 minutes, rotate the tins 180 degrees. Let the cupcakes stand in tins for 20 minutes, then cool on a wire rack. Store in an airtight container in the 'fridge for up to 3 days.

Frosting:
1.5 c. unsweetened soy milk
1/2 c. dry soy milk powder
1/4 c. unsweetened cocoa powder (for more milk chocolate-y frosting, replace 2 T. of the cocoa powder with soy milk powder)
1 T. coconut flour
1/4 c. agave nectar
1 T. pure vanilla extract
1 c. coconut oil
2 T. fresh lemon juice

In a blender or food processor, combine everything (except oil and lemon juice) and blend for 2 minutes. Slowly add lemon juice and oil (alternating) until fully incorporated. Refrigerate for 6 hours. Frost!

"Christmas Goose" and Red Cabbage

I was paging through the Schumacher cookbook a few weeks ago, and came upon this recipe for Christmas Goose. Schumacher's was a restaurant in New Prague, MN near my grandparent's farm that made lots of German and Czech foods - a combination of both my maternal grandparents.

Not having yet made a plan for the day, goose roasting and eating with loved ones seemed as good a project as any. Plus I saw that geese were on sale at the Seward (turns out they are pretty pricey). I later learned that my grandfather loved goose, but that my grandma wouldn't let him cook it in the house - only outside (probably on the outdoor stove he used for making maple syrup). The goose turned out delicious. They are much fattier than other fowl (I have plans to render the fat at some point), and also dry out more easily - hence the large amount of water in the recipe. *I also made the Red Cabbage recipe from the cookbook, which was amazing.


1 Goose, 6-7 pounds
1 t. salt
1/2 t. pepper
1 T. caraway seeds
1 large peeled onion
1 quart water
*My Goose was over 9 pounds, which meant longer cooking. I also used almost twice as much of the salt/pepper/caraway.

Remove all internals from the goose cavity (see photo). Save the liver, heart, gizzard, and neck (I used this to make gravy.) Remove wings at elbow joint (this required some bone snapping and the use of a knife). Wash goose thoroughly making sure cavity is clean. Season inside and outside with salt, pepper, and caraway seeds. Stuff cavity with whole, peeled onion. Place in roaster on top of wings and neck bone with one quart of water, breast side up. Cover and bake at 350 degrees for 3 1/2 hours (this one cooked over 4 1/2 hours). Goose is done with this handy tip: pull legs in opposite directions, if they spring back the goose is not done. Please note in the top left photo that the leg was definitely sprawled when removed from oven...no spring action was occurring!

When the goose is tender and ready, drain off water and fat. Return to oven, uncovered for 10 minutes to dry and crisp skin (mine was already dry and crisp, so I skipped that step). They recommend a cranberry-orange sauce, but my dinner party determined that the trifecta of goose, potato, and gravy was a stellar combo. yum.

Super fast couscous bowl

Like Megan, I've been eating a lot of heavy stuff lately (cheesy dough in particular!), so this dish--inspired by a blog post I read about sun-dried tomatoes--is a welcome change. I've been using couscous from a box (Near East's Roasted Garlic & Olive Oil) but it's also really easy to make couscous from scratch.

Because this is something I just throw together, there are no precise measurements:

1) Prepare couscous.
2) In a frying pan, saute garlic and red pepper flakes (to taste) in approx. 2 tablespoons olive oil (I use the olive oil from the sun-dried tomato jar). Add a handful of almonds, stirring frequently so they don't burn. Add chopped sun-dried tomatoes (as many as you'd like) and then a fistful of arugula, cooking until it wilts. Squeeze some lemon juice on everything. Add salt and pepper to taste.
3) Put couscous in a bowl, top with arugula mixture, and add feta or goat cheese. Super easy!