Halloween Carrot Tzimmes

Happy Halloween!

Celebrating Halloween is actually fairly new to me... When I was growing up, my family didn't celebrate Halloween - the Jewish holiday for "dressing up" was Purim, which takes place in March, so for most of my childhood I eagerly planned my costume for each Spring while most of my friends were planning their costumes for two seasons earlier. Amazingly, it wasn't until I was in college that one of my roommates exuberantly insisted that I improvise a costume on the spot so we could attend a Halloween party, and ever since then I've been hooked on dressing up twice a year! Indeed, I think Zach and I are especially fortunate, as every year we are able to celebrate the holidays both of us grew up with.

Returning to the holiday of the moment, however, this year I thought it would be fun to prepare a Jewish dish for our fusion-of-cultures approach to the holidays! Since Zach isn't a huge fan of pumpkins that aren't safely disguised in the form of cornbread or other baked goods, I decided to turn to another bright orange, Autumn root vegetable - carrots! Carrots are often a central component in the traditional Jewish dish called tzimmes, and, given the success of our savory leek tzimmes last month, I began to envision a classic sweet tzimmes tempered by the notes of onions and rosemary.

Thus, our Halloween Carrot Tzimmes, prepared last night and poised and ready in the slow cooker this morning, swirled with honey, cinnamon, and balsamic vinegar, was born...

Halloween Carrot Tzimmes

2 T olive oil
1 onion, chopped
2 cups vegetable broth
1 1/2 lb carrots, cut into 1" pieces
2 medium sweet potatoes, cut into 1/2" cubes
1 cup raisins
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
2 tsp rosemary
1 tsp cinnamon

~ In a small skillet over medium high heat, saute the onion in the olive oil until the onion is limp and translucent.
~ Scoop the onion into a large stockpot or slow cooker, and stir in the broth, carrots, sweet potatoes, and raisins. Simmer gently until the carrots and sweet potatoes are tender.
~ Stir in the honey, balsamic vinegar, rosemary, cinnamon, and salt and pepper to taste. Simmer for 10 more minutes, and serve warm!

On the blog this time last year... Soy-Glazed Tempeh!

Pumpkin Corn Bread

Less than two days remain until Halloween! The house is festooned with decorations...

and pumpkin cornbread is baking in the oven!

While Zach isn't usually a fan of pumpkin (I know, scandalous at this time of year, right? :-), I've discovered that he does enjoy dishes that combine pumpkin along with other ingredients, and I, of course, have been more than willing to experiment with pumpkin versions of traditionally non-pumpkin dishes... such as cornbread!

I do realize that my mom and grandmother, who, in congruence with their pecan pie philosophy, also firmly believe that any deviation from the family's historic cornbread recipe is blasphemy of the most dangerous sort, would be likely be scandalized by the idea of adding pumpkin to cornbread. However, the combination of pumpkin and corn, two alluringly golden vegetables, seems simply natural to me...

Indeed, the pumpkin added extra moistness and a beautiful layer of nutty sweetness to the cornbread, and I think, perhaps, even my grandmother would be content dipping a wedge of this bread into some stewed tomatoes...

Pumpkin Cornbread

1 cup cornmeal
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 T baking powder
2 T honey
2 egg whites
3/4 cup 1% milk
1 T lemon juice
1/2 cup pureed pumpkin (canned or home-cooked - either option works beautifully)

~ Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Coat an 8X8 baking pan with olive oil cooking spray.
~ Gently stir together the cornmeal, whole wheat flour, salt, and baking powder, and set the mixture aside.
~ Whisk together the honey, egg whites, milk, lemon juice, and pureed pumpkin until well combined and frothy.
~ Fold the dry ingredients into the wet ones, until just combined.
~ Pour the batter into the baking pan, and bake for 20 minutes - until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean. Serve warm, with a bit of butter or vegan marg...

Maple Pecan Pie

Last Sunday night found me doing two very uncharacteristic things - following a recipe nearly to the letter, and preparing a pecan pie from a recipe other than my grandmother's... *gasp* Scandalous, I know... I think before I was born I had to sign a contract pledging never to use any recipe other than The Family Recipe for a classic pecan pie, and, given the true perfection of my grandmother's recipe, I haven't found much cause to rebel... but when Zach oh so casually pointed out the lovely pecan pie on the cover of the November issue of Cooking light, and when I turned to the recipe and saw that it was sweetened with only brown rice syrup and maple syrup, and that the eggs had been reduced from the classic 4 eggs to 2, with the addition of some flour and an egg white, well, I just had to give the recipe a try... Really, shockingly, the only changes I made to the recipe were to use whole wheat flour instead of all purpose, increase the pecans a wee bit, and put the bourbon in the pie instead of in the whipped cream topping, simply because it seemed like a good idea at the time...

The pie rose and set beautifully, baking to a flawless golden brown, and even sliced and served with ease, a challenging feat for a pie, indeed. As Zach is The Pecan Pie Expert, I watched with a mixture of eagerness and trepidation as he sampled his first bite. The reaction?

"Mmmm, ver ver yum..."

Maple Pecan Pie (Adapted from the November 2009 issue of Cooking Light)

1uncooked pie crust, per your favorite recipe
1 cup brown rice syrup
1/4 cup maple syrup
2 T whole wheat flour
1/4 tsp salt
2 eggs
1 egg white
1 tsp vanilla
1 T bourbon
1 cup pecan halves

~ Press the pie crust into a 9" pie plate. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
~ Vigerously beat together the brown rice syrup, maple syrup, whole wheat flour, salt, eggs, and egg white until well blended.
~ Whisk in the vanilla and bourbon.
~ Fold in the pecan halves.
~ Pour the filling into the pie crust, and bake for 45 minutes - or until the center of the pie is set.
~ Allow to cool a bit before serving, but serving while still warm is highly recommended...

Asparagus, Caramelized Onion, and Mushroom Bread Pudding

Friday was one of those challenging days when nothing really went wrong, per se, but not much went exactly right, either.

I woke up still recovering from a nasty stomach bug that had kept me from work on Thursday night, forcing me to call in sick for the first time since I started my career as a nurse five months ago. After huddling with a cup of tea until the sun finished it's leisurely late October climb up the horizon, I decided that it was high time I started feeling normal again, and thus I can now offer the following piece of advice - based upon personal experience, it is Not a Good Idea to attempt to mow the lawn while you are feeling ill.

After dragging myself and the mower about for an hour or so, I succumbed to the temptation of a warm shower and then marched off to search for fabric for some of my holiday projects... Only to be met with torrential rains as I attempted to dash across the uncharacteristically crowded parking lot dressed entirely inappropriately in a transparent cotton blouse and a tank top.

Meanwhile, poor Zach left his oncology rotation early so he could bring a bunch of paperwork to the hospital where he begins his robotic surgery rotation next week, driving all the way there in the beginnings of rush hour traffic only to discover that he'd left said paperwork all the way back at the oncology practice's main office. When he turned around and began to return to where he started, he found the exit was blocked, and he had to drive about for another hour to find an alternate route. Then, after he finally arrived at the hospital, paperwork in hand, his staff card for the parking garage didn't work, so he had to get that fixed too.

By the time we both arrived home on Friday evening, we were damp and bedraggled... However, how boring indeed would life be without the occasional little irksome moment? Without days that challenge us, we would never be granted the opportunity to rise above the murky temptations of frustration and realize how fortunate we are that the problems at hand are so temporary, so minuscule in the face of a lifetime...

And thus, as I slipped into the kitchen to prepare our dinner that night, I decided we needed some culinary elegance and comfort - a dish to transform the day into a triumph after all. Perhaps some end of summer asparagus, with some earthy mushrooms, caramelized onions, and tangy Swiss cheese... perhaps, a bread pudding.

From that first bite, with one deep sigh, the previous hours dissolved... Friday night, and all day Saturday, everything was right with the world again. We arose refreshed and energized on Saturday morning, fixed a luscious batch of onion and white cheddar stuffed turkey burgers for lunch,

and positively celebrated the chilly, properly Autumnal day awaiting us. Even the kitties were very relaxed...

Perhaps it was just the natural progress of time that brought us a metaphorically more luminescent day on Saturday, but I like to think the magic of a simple bread pudding can change everything...

Asparagus, Caramelized Onion, and Mushroom Bread Pudding

1 T olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
12 oz white button mushrooms, sliced
1 lb asparagus, with the woody stem ends snapped off (and saved for asparagus soup!) and the remaining tender ends cut into 1" pieces
6 slices whole wheat bread, cut into 1" cubes
2 cups 1" milk
2 eggs
1/3 cup finely grated Parmesan cheese
1 tsp basil
4.5 oz low-fat Swiss cheese, grated

~ In a large skillet over medium heat, saute the onion in the olive oil until the onion is golden brown.
~ Add the mushrooms and asparagus, and saute for a few minutes more, until the asparagus is tender. Season to taste with salt and pepper, and set aside.
~ In a medium bowl, beat together the milk, eggs, Parmesan cheese, and basil.
~ Coat a medium-sized baking pan (I used a 5"X10" pan, but this may be an atypical size) with olive oil cooking spray.
~ Scatter half of the whole wheat bread cubes in the baking pan, and spread the asparagus mixture on top.
~ Spread the remaining half of the bread cubes on top of the asparagus mixture.
~ Pour the egg mixture over the bread cubes, pressing down gently on the top layer of bread cubes to make sure they are well submerged.
~ Cover the dish, pop it in the fridge, and let it soak for around an hour (it can soak overnight, as well, if you'd like to make it well ahead of time).
~ Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Bake the bread pudding for 35 minutes.
~ Remove the bread pudding from the oven, sprinkle the top with the grated Swiss cheese, and bake for 10 more minutes - until the cheese on top is nicely melted.
~ Let the bread pudding sit for 10 minutes, then serve warm...

Apple Cider Bread

With Halloween rapidly approaching, I've been contemplating recipes for hot mulled wine and spiced apple cider, which led me to conclude that it's high time I baked something with apple cider! With half a gallon of apple cider poised fortuitously in the fridge, it required only the contented labor of a moment to create a loaf of apple cider bread when I arrived home from work yesterday morning...

Contrary to what the ingredient list might suggest on first glance, dancing with apples and cinnamon, this is definitely a savory quick bread - with no added sweeteners, just a subtle glance of sweetness from the apple cider, and the smokey depth of walnuts and whole wheat flour, a slice of this bread proved to be the paradisiac match for a drizzle of olive oil or a crumble or two of feta cheese... We paired toasted slices of the bread with some leftover Two-Potato Peanut Stew for lunch, and felt we had truly embodied Autumn on a plate...

Apple Cider Bread

1/4 cup applesauce

1/4 cup light, non-hydrogenated vegan margarine or butter

3 eggs

1 cup apple cider

1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour

1 cup all purpose flour

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

2 tsp cinnamon

Pinch of salt

3/4 cup chopped walnuts

~ Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Coat a 9" loaf pan with olive oil cooking spray, followed by a dusting of flour.

~ Beat together the applesauce, vegan marg or butter, eggs, and apple cider until frothy and well blended.

~ Stir in the whole wheat flour, all purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt until just combined.

~ Fold in the walnuts.

~ Scoop the batter into the loaf pan, and bake for 1 hour - until a knife inserted in the center of the loaf comes out clean.

~ Serve warm, straight from the oven, or toasted, with butter, vegan marg, olive oil, feta cheese, honey, or any other glorious accompaniment you can imagine...

Giveaway news! Gina of The Candid RD is giving away an incredible collection of yummy goodies from her conference trip to Colorado... One must hurry, though - the giveaway ends at 12PM today, Ohio time! Make haste, make haste! :-)

Two-Potato Stew with Peanut Sauce

While the sudden plummet in temperatures may have taken us by surprise here down South, the chill air is delightfully conducive to hearty stews and casseroles, just the sort of one-dish meals that are so handy to have in the fridge on the nights when I work. Since my 12 hour night shifts (or 13, 14, or 15 hour shifts, given how hectic the night was) are usually successive, the day before my first night of the week at work I typically prepare two one-dish style meals, so that Zach can alternate between the two of them for his supper over the next few nights, and I can take some in a handy little Tupperware for my 1AM "lunch" at work.

There's always something to go along with the one-pot meal, as well - for example, tonight Zach will find roasted green beans and a loaf of freshly baked whole wheat bread - but when cooking ahead of time for several days in the future I find myself instinctively drawn to a main course comprised of the sort of comfort food that can be slid into the oven in one glorious casserole dish, or allowed to linger in the slow cooker until it's reached simmering perfection right when Zach walks through the door at night. Since I sadly don't get to see Zach on the nights when I work (this week, I won't get to see him again until Friday, and even though we're used to the routine now, I'm already counting the hours sorrowfully), I take some small comfort in knowing I'm able to leave little tokens of my affection behind, in the form of his favorite dishes...

Recently, Zach requested the first peanut stew of the season. I fix peanut stews of all sorts quite frequently, with a nod and a smile to my vegan days when peanut butter (and almond butter, and cashew butter) provided a beautiful creaminess for vegan dishes, but the soothing, casual nature of peanut stews seems especially appropriate for the colder months. We're fond of peanut stews for their lovely boost of protein - especially when paired with quinoa - as well as their spicy, alluring flavors. I typically put a bit of sweet potato in any of my peanut stews, since the nutty flavor of sweet potatoes and squashes seems a natural partner for peanuts and peanut butter, but this week, in honor of the first frost (In October? Really?), a monumental and much-discussed event here in the South, I felt we aught to have something particularly cozy, with two kinds of potatoes taking center stage in our bright red dutch oven...

And so, I'll say to Zach as we chat on the phone while I drive to work tonight...

"I'll see you on Friday, My Love... There's peanut stew in the fridge for you..."

** Two-Potato Stew with Peanut Sauce **

1 medium eggplant, cut into 1" cubes

2 medium sweet potatoes

2 medium potatoes (russet, Yukon gold, etc)

2 T canola oil

1 onion, chopped

1 clove garlic, minced

1 (14.5 oz) can diced tomatoes, undrained

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

1/2 tsp ground ginger or 1 tsp grated fresh ginger

1 tsp cilantro

1/2 cup apple cider

1 cup vegetable broth

4 very generously rounded Tablespoons natural peanut butter

1/2 cup roasted peanuts (either unsalted or lightly salted), plus more for garnish

3 cups cooked quinoa or brown rice

~ Place the eggplant cubes in a bowl of salt water, and allow them to soak for about 15 minutes, with a plate or a bowl sitting on top of the cubes to keep them from bobbing out of the water. After they've finished soaking, allow them to drain in a large colander.

~ Cook the sweet potatoes and white potatoes via your preferred method (I simply pop them into the microwave), and cut the cooked sweet potatoes and white potatoes into 1" chunks.

~ In a large soup pot or dutch over over medium-high heat, saute the onion and garlic in the canola oil until the onion is limp and translucent.

~ Reduce the heat to medium, add the drained eggplant cubes, and saute until the eggplant is just beginning to brown.

~ Stir in the tomatoes, cayenne, ginger, cilantro, apple cider, and broth, and bring the mixture to a simmer, adjusting the head as needed to keep the mixture just at a simmer.

~ Stir in the sweet potato and white potato cubes, cover the pot, and allow it to simmer until the eggplant is meltingly tender (usually about 1/2 hour).

~ Right before you're ready to serve the stew, stir in the peanut butter and the peanuts. Season to taste with salt, black pepper, and more cayenne pepper, if you dare... and serve warm, over the quinoa or brown rice, garnished with more peanuts!

Wilted Spinach Salad with Sesame-Marinated Mushrooms

One of the great parts about living on the edge of Atlanta, as we do, poised between the city's mammoth metropolis to our south, into which Zach drives for most of his clinical rotations, and the rural mountains to our north, where I work, is there are so many delights waiting to be discovered - from a new hiking trail in the mountains to a new pub downtown... We discovered our recent favorite downtown hangout purely by accident, while attempting to visit The Brick Store Pub, which we discovered with relative ease thanks to its consistent rating as one of Atlanta's top gastropubs. With over 200 exquisite beers on tap, The Brick Store still holds an unparalleled place in our hearts, but it can get frightfully crowded on the weekends... which led us, one Saturday night a few weeks ago, to Zucca - better known as 'the pub next door to Brick Store.' Even on the weekends, Zucca never has a wait for a cozy booth, likely because they are somewhat the lonely step-cousin of the more glamorous Brick Store, but Zucca's eclectic, "bar next door" decor is endearing, and they have a perfectly lovely on tap selection as well. We've found ourselves drifting there with increasing frequency, but hadn't yet tried their pizza-themed menu, so when we decided to drive into downtown on Saturday for a late lunch, we headed straight to Zucca.

Despite the frightful wind and chilling drizzle that descended upon Georgia early Saturday morning, we braved a stroll around the East Court Square neighborhood shops before letting the wind blow us, gratefully, inside. After letting our hands thaw out a bit (as Southerners, we're somewhat sheepishly not used to the necessity of keeping winter gloves in the car ready for a moment's notice), we settled in contentedly with a Paulaner Hefeweizen for Zach and a locally brewed blueberry ale for me. The blueberry ale blew me away - it was a little light for my typical tastes, as I usually prefer a beer with a bit more of a stronger finish, but the blueberry notes were flawless, with just a hint of pure, sweet-tart fruitiness.

We then shared a Caesar salad, and I immediately fell in love with the pub's mismatched plates...
Caesar salads are so rich, and I'd forgotten to ask for the dressing on the side, so the salad was a bit more decadent than we'd planned, but still delicious...

Then, since we were splurging, we shared a small, personal-sized pizza with fresh basil and marinated mushrooms. Pure Pizza Heaven!!

We lingered over our lunch for hours, enjoying the simple pleasure of a weekend, one of the rare moments in this hectic life when time is truly our own...

(Zach concentrating very intently on a football game... :-)

Back home that night, when we felt it was time for a late, light supper, we were in the mood for something very light after our rich, creamy lunch... Since the wind was still howling fiercely, we decided on a salad - specifically, a warm salad!

Marinated shiitake mushrooms, wilted spinach, a tangy sesame dressing, giggling over a movie... Ah, I miss our weekend already.

Wilted Spinach Salad with Sesame-Marinated Mushrooms

2 T apple cider vinegar
3 T soy sauce
1 T honey
1/2 tsp red chili paste (such as Korean gochujang, Yemenite skhug, etc)
1 1/2 tsp toasted sesame oil
1/2 T canola oil
8 oz thinly sliced shiitake mushrooms
6 cups baby spinach leaves

~ To make the dressing, in a small bowl whisk together the apple cider vinegar, soy sauce, honey, red chili paste, and sesame oil.
~ In a large skillet or wok, heat the canola oil over high heat, add the shiitake mushrooms, and seer quickly, tossing frequently, until the mushrooms are tender and have begun to release their juice.
~ Reduce the heat to medium, stir in the dressing, and simmer just long enough to scrape any browned bits off the bottom of the pan - you don't want any of your dressing to evaporate.
~ Reduce the heat to low, fold in the spinach, and continue to fold gently until the spinach just begins to wilt.
~ Serve immediately...

On the blog this time last year... Brownie Pudding!

Apple-Bran Oatmeal

Firstly, a giant thank you to Sangeetha of Kothiyavunu for incredibly generously bestowing not one, not two, but four awards upon this humble blog! Sangeetha, truly, you are too kind...

Because these awards don't specify a number of fellow bloggers to whom I can pass the gifts along, I am thrilled to give these four awards to all of my fellow bloggers! Y'all are the greatest!

You, my wonderful blogger friends, have also helped me approach the gradually dropping temperatures with more enthusiasm than usual... As one who is perfectly content when the thermostat hovers around 110 degrees Fahrenheit, but begins to shiver as soon as the temperature dips below 70 degrees, I usually brace myself to endure, rather than celebrate Autumn and Winter. This year, however, how could one resist the enthusiasm of Gina, of The Candid RD, who creates glorious, creative pumpkin dishes (even pumpkin burgers!) with such evident joy that even I, upon reading her posts, want to run outside and glory in the crisp fall air. Or Steph, of steph chows, who is already baking pumpkin pies (stunningly beautiful, heart-shaped ones, too!), and thus reminds me that I can already start planning for Thanksgiving, one of my favorite holidays! So, when I awakened yesterday morning to find the house thermostat read 63 degrees inside the house, I didn't despair... First, I set about cleaning the whole house, bow to stern, and then went through my morning workout, thinking that the combined flurry of activity would surely warm me up. I was adamant about not turning on the heat - after all, we're in Georgia, where one isn't supposed to need heating elements in October... Several hours, a clean house, invigorated muscles, and a warm shower later, I was still cold, and rather hungry as I hadn't yet fixed breakfast... and thus, with all the glorious oatmeal and Autumn inspiration provided by my lovely fellow bloggers in mind, and since Zach, who, amazingly, doesn't like oatmeal, was at his oncology clinical rotation for the day, I decided to fix a bowl of oatmeal! I was in the mood for something hearty, something Fall-spiced, so I added a diced Granny Smith apple, a handful of raisins, a generous helping of cinnamon, and, for added fiber, a scoop of wheat bran! I then simply stirred everything up with a cup of skim milk and popped it in the microwave... (I would have simmered the oatmeal on the stove-top, but I had removed all the grates from our gas burners and installed them in the dishwasher during my cleaning frenzy, thus inadvertently incapacitating my stove...)

When the oatmeal emerged, steaming contentedly, I was delighted to discover that the wheat bran had added an extra-creamy texture to the oatmeal, while happily absorbing the nutty flavor of the oats... For added protein and even more creamy, nutty flavor, and in true blogger style, I added a scoop of peanut butter on top! Peanut butter and oatmeal is seriously the best flavor combination imaginable... I hadn't quite thought about just how much the oats and bran would puff up and expand, however, and suddenly found myself with two whole servings...

so I had one serving for breakfast...

and the other, that afternoon, for lunch!

Indeed, I've never had a batch of oatmeal quite that good before...

Apple-Bran Oatmeal

*Note: This batch makes two servings - feel free to halve or double the recipe as you please...

1 Granny Smith apple, diced

1/4 cup raisins

1/2 cup rolled oats

1/4 cup wheat bran

1 1/2 cup skim milk or vanilla soymilk, almond milk, etc (for the vegan version!)

1/2 tsp cinnamon

2 T natural peanut butter

~ In a large, microwave safe bowl, stir together the apple, raisins, oats, wheat bran, milk or soymilk/almond milk, and cinnamon.

~ Lightly cover the bowl, and microwave at 2 minute intervals, stirring after each interval, until the liquid has been absorbed and the apples are tender. Feel free to add a bit more liquid if you like...

~ Divide the oatmeal into two bowls, and serve each with a tablespoon of peanut butter on top!

On the blog this time last year... Apple-Pear Sauce!

Tangy Stovetop Babaganoush

With such a plethora of continually emerging, novel kitchen gadgets to assist and amuse us in the kitchen, it's easy to accept the most basic of kitchen components, such as an oven, as permanent fixtures. However, when specialkphd, of The Special K Treatment, told me about her Unbake Yourself challenge, inspired by her current oven-less living arrangements, I was immediately flooded with memories of my own times cooking without an oven... When my college roommates Lisa, Emily and I lived in a cozily cramped 12X12 dorm room for 2 years, rather than placidly accepting the college cafeteria as our primary source of sustenance, we determinedly and enthusiastically learned to cook nearly everything in our elderly, cantankerous, college-provided microwave. Lisa perfected microwave-poached salmon, Emily turned the microwave into the perfect venue for fluffy puddings and creme-filled pies, and I, after a few mishaps, even came up with recipes for cupcakes and elaborate layer cakes baked in the microwave. When I lived in England for the summer, my drafty and much beloved flat boasted a kitchen barely large enough to hold a small refrigerator and a two-burner stovetop. Infatuated as I was with the stone walls of Cambridge's narrow streets and an incredibly fortuitous view of King's College Chapel just around the corner from my flat, I was perfectly content to subsist on sauteed veggies, abundant berries, and luxurious and astoundingly inexpensive Scottish smoked salmon, but I did so long to be able to bake to chase away the chill in the thick, damp, dreamy air...

Hence, I should surely pause with gratitude more often before I slip a tray of vegetables into the oven to roast... For most of her life, my paternal grandmother prepared incredibly lavish Sabbath meals in her minuscule, oven-less Jerusalem apartment, wisely telling us, with a plucky smile "at least I have electricity!"

Returning to the challenge at hand, however... During my microwave days, the one dish I wasn't able to prepare without an oven was roasted eggplant. Nothing, it seemed, could replicate the smokey, creamy flavors that magically emerge when an eggplant spends some quality time in a 475 degree oven. Babaganoush, one of my favorite foods, seems impossible to prepare without the heady depths of roasted eggplant. I'm a firm believer in the nothing is impossible adage, however, and thus last week I embarked upon the creation of a babaganoush that doesn't require roasting - an eggplant dip that also carries the added benefit of a much shorter prep time, making it more appropriate for unexpected guests than the unhurried hour roasting requires.

(Alas, eggplant is so inescapably brown... Truly, though, this dip hides a powerfully flavorful surprise beneath it's ordinary, unaesthetic exterior!)

The answer was enchantingly simple - boosting the flavor with sweet-tangy balsamic vinegar, honey, and caramelized onions yielded babaganoush with an incredibly addictive flair...

Tangy Stovetop Babaganoush

1/4 cup olive oil
1 onion, chopped
2 large eggplants, diced
½ cup honey
½ cup balsamic vinegar
1 tsp cumin
Pinch of cayenne pepper
salt and black pepper to taste
Za'atar or minced parsley, for garnish

~ Soak the eggplant in salted water for 5-10 minutes, then drain and dry.
~ Heat the olive oil in a large skillet.
~ Add the onion and sauté over high heat until the onions are limp and golden.
~ Add the eggplant and cook until lightly browned (4-5 minutes), stirring occasionally.
~ Reduce the heat to low, and add the honey, vinegar, cumin, and cayenne. Season to taste with salt and pepper, cover the skillet, and continue to cook until eggplant is very tender - approx. 1/2 hour.
~ Scoop the eggplant mixture into a food processor, and puree until smooth (making sure to allow an escape route for the steam while pureeing).
~ Garnish with the za'atar or minced parsley and serve warm, with pita or whole wheat crackers...

Black Russian Brownies

Such a glorious, peaceful weekend, the past three days... The forecast called for rain all weekend, but the weather stubbornly remained flawless - sunny, breezy, and in the 70s each day. With all the excitement and going-out that occurred last weekend, it felt so perfect and special to savor simply spending time with just the two of us together this weekend. On Friday night we had ambitiously planned to drive into Atlanta to visit one of our favorite downtown pubs, but after a long week we both decided that staying home, fixing tacos, and watching a movie sounded infinitely more enjoyable... and relaxing...

Saturday morning we popped up early, eager to try a cozy, funky new diner that just opened near our house, where we both ordered feta and spinach omelets that were flawless in every way. We spent the rest of the day happily browsing and window shopping at our respective favorite stores - Frye's electronics for Zach, where I contentedly played computer chess while he perused intricate computer parts far beyond my comprehension (I'm rather proud of the fact that I can now differentiate between a graphics card, RAM, and a processor on visual observation - I'm not too worried about my ability to actual analyze the infinitesimally small details of each of the aforementioned objects... ;-)

(Zach building our new computer last summer, a highly impressive feat in my mind...)

followed by a Whole Foods browsing trip in my honor, where, I am proud to say, I managed to only purchase a pound of quinoa from the bulk dry goods section - we're officially saving for our wedding now, which I think is the best of all possible reasons to economize!

On Saturday night, we decided to have a romantic candlelight dinner at home... I fixed a simple but elegant rice noodle pasta dish with caramelized onions, along with roasted broccoli and another batch of the graham flour biscuits, since Zach enjoyed them so much the first time around...

and then for dessert... I felt like fixing something naughty...

I adore Black Russian cocktails, but rarely indulge in them as they are so decadent... but as I stood, glancing casually at the Kahlua and vodka sitting innocently on their pantry shelf, thinking absent minded about how Black Russian cocktails are truly a dessert in cocktail form, an idea started to blossom... Perhaps a Black Russian Brownie?

And create a Black Russian Brownie I did... Unlike most baked goods with alcohol, where the liquor of choice adds a subtle background note, a line of harmony to the melody of the dessert, these brownies are seriously tipsy brownies. The alcohol is harmlessly baked away, of course, but every bite still explodes with heady vodka and Kahlua, leading the rich chocolate to new levels of debauchery... Very grown-up, naughty brownies, indeed.

Black Russian Brownies

3/4 cup whole wheat flour
3/4 cup all purpose flour
1 1/3 cup raw turbinado sugar
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 cup dark chocolate chips
1/4 cup light non-hydrogenated vegan marg or butter
1/2 cup Kahlua
1 tsp vanilla
2 eggs, beaten
1/8 cup vodka

~ Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line an 8X8 baking pan with aluminum foil or parchment paper, and coat the lining with olive oil cooking spray.
~ In a large bowl, lightly whisk together the whole wheat flour, all purpose flour, raw sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt.
~ Combine the dark chocolate chips and the vegan marg or butter, and microwave for 30 seconds at a time until the chocolate and marg or butter have almost completely melted. Stir them together for a bit until they are melted all the way.
~ In another bowl, whisk together the chocolate mixture, with the Kahlua, vanilla, beaten eggs, and vodka until well combined.
~ Pour the wet ingredients into the flour mixture, and stir until just combined.
~ Pour the batter into the baking pan, and bake for 20 to 30 minutes - until the brownies are just set. Serve warm or cool, after first carding everyone present at the table... ;-)

Graham Flour Biscuits

One of the brilliant things about being a foodie is that one becomes the proverbial kid in a candy store - every moment, every meal, every trip to the grocery store is filled with opportunities for discovery. A new flavor, a new ingredient, a new prep method, and foodies such as ourselves are filled with a vibrant kind of enthusiasm usually reserved for one's first camping trip or one's first pet caterpillar at the tender age of 6. As foodies, we've learned to cherish the details - the curve of a single rosemary leaf, the ridges in a grain of quinoa.

So when Kathleen emailed me her recipe for graham flour biscuits, you can imagine my tizzy of enthusiasm: "Graham flour? Graham flour? I've never baked with graham flour before! I have to go find some immediately!"

I recollected seeing graham flour a time or two previously, but I had somehow foolishly consigned it to "something used to make homemade graham crackers," a project which is still floating vaguely on the "things to try in my spare time" list... However, Kathleen informed me that graham flour possesses endless possibilities for both sweet and savory baking. She's used it for both breads and muffins so far, with stellar results. So I tracked down a box, and examined it closely, with the air of a small child squinting through a microscope...

Graham flour has much the same nutritional profile as whole wheat flour, as it is a whole wheat flour, but what sets graham flour apart is its coarser texture, which adds a lovely tactile dimension to the biscuits I whipped up last night, courtesy of Kathleen's fabulously flavorful recipe...

Whenever I bake bread for dinner, I always make sure it's ready just a few minutes before the rest of the meal, as Zach likes to have a little slice before dinner, rather like the bread course in a restaurant. If we're having biscuits, he'll usually have half of a biscuit for his appetizer, and then the other half with the meal. Last night, though, he took a nibble of a graham flour biscuit, said "mmmm, these are really good," and then proceeded to have two biscuits before dinner and another with dinner, turning the biscuits into his main course! Truly, they are just that good...

Who knows what we'll discover next?

Graham Flour Biscuits

1 cup whole wheat graham flour
1 cup all-purpose flour
4 tsp baking powder
1 T raw turbinado sugar
3/4 tsp salt
2 T salt-free seasoning blend, such as Mrs. Dash
1/4 cup light nonhydrogenated vegan marg or butter, melted
1 cup 1% or skim milk or 1 cup light vanilla soymilk (for the vegan version!)

~ Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. Coat a large baking sheet with olive oil cooking spray.
~ In a large mixing bowl, stir together all the dry ingredients.
~ Pour in the melted marg or butter, along with the milk or soymilk, and stir until well combined.
~ Scoop the dough, approx. 1/8 cup at a time, in dollops onto the baking sheet.
~ Bake for 10 minutes - until the biscuits are just set on the inside and lightly golden on the outside. Serve warm, with a bit of butter or vegan marg...

** The possibilities for new foodie experiences are endless... For a fabulous new culinary challenge, be sure to visit The Special K Treatment for the Unbake Yourself event! **

Hearty Autumn Cholent

Starting on Friday night of last week, these past 6 days have all been part of the 8 day long Jewish holiday of Sukkot! (I'll never forget the puzzled faces of my college friends when I first tried to explain Sukkot to them during our freshman year: "Suk-what?" :-) As I'm sure you've already noticed, given my ramblings about Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, Autumn is the season for Jewish holidays, raisin Challah bread, and honey cakes. As always, I am deeply moved and touched by all of your kind words on my notes and mutterings about the holidays from my family's cultural history - Jewish, Deep South Southern, a little bit of who knows what... :-).

It's rather fortuitous that Sukkot lasts for 8 whole days, because it requires a bit of prepratory construction... As a celebration of the latter part of the Old Testament Exodus story, in which the Jewish people spent 40 years in the desert after the Exodus from slavery, the sukkot holiday involves building a tent! A big, wooden, open-roofed tent, where all meals are served for the whole week... Naturally, as a child I thought this was the most glorious holiday - imagine camping in your own front yard for a whole week, complete with lavish picnics for every meal, and you have Sukkot in a nutshell.

This year, I was reminded by wonderful Johanna of Green Gourmet Giraffe of a classic Jewish dish that I hadn't fixed in far too long - cholent. Dating all the way back to 1180, cholent arose from the Jewish custom of not actively cooking new dishes on the sabbath, the day of rest, which resulted in Jewish families placing a large stew pot, filled with all the ingredients for a meal, close to the fire to simmer and heat slowly over the entire sabbath day. Cholent was also the ideal way for poor farming and shopkeeping families to provide an economical, nourishing meal for family members and guests alike. Traditionally a thick stew, based around a combination of vegetables (usually potatoes, carrots, and other root vegetables), grains (typically rice, wheat, or barley), and legumes (most often beans of some sort, which could pre-soak as well as cook in the cholent broth), it's easy to see how cholent is entirely suited to the icy Eastern European winters from which it arose.

Vegetable stews are often traditional main courses during the holiday of Sukkot, both in celebration of the Fall harvest (timed exactly at the end of Israel's harvesting season, Sukkot is at heart a Fall harvest festival) and for practical reasons - when one is dining outside, in the evening, in October, a warm stew is most welcome...

Cholent is an utterly adaptable dish, and this year, just as I saw my mother do nearly every Friday afternoon throughout my entire childhood, I simply put a little of this, and a little of that, into the stew pot, and then merely stirred occasionally as the aroma wafted throughout the house, very effectively chasing away the gloom of yet another thunderstorm outside our windows.

Every week, my father would ask the same question: "The ingredients are so simple - how can this taste so good?" And every year, my mother would simply smile: "It's magic..."

Hearty Autumn Cholent

1 lb turkey sausage, casings removed OR 1 lb. sausage style soy crumbles, such as Morningstar Farms brand

3 cups vegetable broth

3 potatoes, cut into 1/2" cubes

2 onions, cut into 1" chunks

1 (14.5 oz) can pinto beans, undrained

1 (14.5 oz) can chickpeas, undrained

1 cup corn kernels, fresh or frozen

1 lb roasted chicken, coarsely shredded OR 1 lb tempeh, cut into 1" cubes

1 1/2 T apple cider vinegar

1/8 cup minced parsley

1 T rosemary

2 cups cooked brown rice

Minced chives, for garnish

~ In a small skillet coated with olive oil cooking spray, cook and crumble the turkey sausage or the sausage style soy crumbles until nicely browned.

~ Scoop the turkey sausage or the soy crumbles into a large stockpot or slow cooker, and stir in the broth, potatoes, onions, pinto beans, chickpeas, corn, roasted chicken or tempeh, vinegar, parsley, and rosemary.

~ Allow the stew to simmer, either in the stockpot or in the slow cooker, for as long as you fancy... At the very least, it needs about 5 hours to properly allow everything to meld together and the potatoes to become gloriously, meltingly tender... If you put it on a low setting, it can simmer happily for up to 12 hours.

~ 2 hours before you want to serve the cholent, stir in the cooked brown rice, and add more broth if the mixture is becoming too thick.

~ Serve it nice deep bowls, steaming hot! You can garnish with some minced chives, if you fancy...

Rice Noodle Salad with Tamarind Sauce

Such a glorious, whirlwind culinary weekend it's been! The wonderful visit with our friend Donald continued, as the 3 of us attempted to fit 2 years worth of chatter into the past few days! We wanted to give Donald a taste of Atlanta's culinary scene, so on Friday afternoon Donald and I had lunch at my favorite nearby Indian restaurant, and then as soon as Zach came home from his clinical rotation that evening we headed off to downtown Atlanta, first to play trivia and have a round of pumpkin ale at a local pub,

(Zach with his "wait a second, why are you taking my picture?" expression... :-)

and then to savor a glorious late night meal on the patio of our favorite Greek restaurant, Avra Taverna.

(Donald and Zach having a lively debate...

while we all assembled and nibbled the most transcendent gyro... Needless to say, we had tons of leftovers, for more than one night of delicious memories!)

On Saturday night we had a big group of friends over for dinner, and Donald and I shared the cooking duties in our noisy, festive kitchen - I fixed my eggplant salad and some simple turnip greens, with Kahlua pecan pie and classic pecan pie for dessert, and Donald treated us to a glorious polenta dish with an apple cream sauce!

Of course, throughout the weekend Zach and Donald scheduled plenty of catching-up and video game playing time as well, while I happily kept pace with the piles of dishes resulting from the nearly constant cooking... :-)

My personal favorite meal of the weekend, though, emerged from the simple act of rummaging through the pantry. October's No Crouton's Required event, created by Lisa of Lisa's Kitchen and Jacqueline of Tinned Tomatoes, and hosted this month by Jacqueline, celebrates soups and salads created by ingredients already inhabiting our pantries. When I first read the theme I was immediately struck by Jacqueline's wisdom in choosing such a topic. While I am frequently fueled by spontaneous grocery store inspiration, just as often the humble ingredients waiting patiently in our blessedly stocked pantries can work unsurpassed magic! Such was the case on Thursday night, when I happened to pick up a jar of tamarind paste I've had in our pantry for quite some time (luckily, it has a rather long unopened shelf-life), and realized that I've never quite figured out how to use this mysterious ingredient. Since, fortuitously, a professional chef happened to be sitting in our living room, I was able to ask for Donald's advice, and he immediately and generously suggested that we figure out a dish with tamarind paste for supper that night.

Now first, let me preface that this dish is not Pad Thai. I'm not entirely sure what goal we had in mind when Donald and I opened a bottle of wine and started mixing a sauce while we waited for Zach to arrive home, but the end result, although the ingredients do bear a resemblance to Pad Thai, is actually a salad - much thicker than Pad Thai, spicier and not as sweet, and well, really just not Pad Thai at all... but oh mercy, is it delicious.

Here's to cooking with friends, and the inspiration one can conjure from the depths of the pantry!

Rice Noodle Salad with Tamarind Sauce

4 T tamarind paste

1 T soy sauce

1 T honey

2 T rice vinegar

1 T lime juice

1 T red chili paste (you can use any spicy red pepper paste you have on hand, from Korean Gochu-jang to North African/Middle Eastern Zhug or Harissa)

6 oz rice noodles

2 T canola oil

1 lb. firm tofu, cut into 1/2" X 1" strips

1 onion, chopped

4 cloves garlic, minced

2 eggs, beaten

4 green onions, minced

1/2 cup chopped roasted peanuts

~ Mix the tamarind paste with a little bit of hot water - just enough to make the tamarind paste pliable.

~ Whisk the soy sauce, honey, rice vinegar, lime juice, and red chili paste all together into the softened tamarind paste, until well combined, and set aside.

~ Cook the rice noodles in a large pot of boiling water for 5 minutes. Drain the rice noodles, and immediately plunge them into a large bowl of cold water to keep them moist.

~ Drain the rice noodles right before you're ready to heat your work.

~ Set a wok over high heat for a few seconds until the bottom and sides of the wok are heated. Swirl in the canola oil, coating the sides well, followed by the tofu, the onions, and the garlic. Season the wok's contents with salt and pepper while you're tossing the wok frequently, to keep everything moving about and browning on all sides.

~ When the tofu strips are heated through and nicely seared on the sides, pour in the tamarind sauce and toss to coat, then immediately add the rice noodles and beaten eggs to the wok, and stir/toss rapidly so the eggs will thoroughly coat the noodles while they cook. If some of the tofu strips break up in the process all is still well - they will simply become part of the sauce. When the noodles are heated through, your eggs will be cooked and your dish is nearly ready to serve!

~ Remove the wok from the heat, stir in the green onions and peanuts, season to taste with salt, pepper, and more red chili paste, and serve the salad hot or cold!

Black Bean Panini

What's even better than cooking lesions in your very own kitchen with a chef who graduated from the Natural Gourmet Institute, cooked on the line in NYC Michelin 3-Star restaurants, and managed his own restaurant in St. Croix?

When this chef is also your good friend, and the two of you are chatting a mile a minute while cooking together in the kitchen!

When Zach and I were first dating and he started introducing me to his friends, I was of course a bit nervous, meeting the guys with whom he'd been friends since high school, and there was usually an awkward introduction stage before I was able to feel my comfortable self again. When I first met Zach's friend and collage roommate Donald, however, there wasn't a single moment of awkward silence - I asked him a question about cilantro, we wound up talking about cilantro for over an hour, a feat I didn't even know was previously possible, and we've been fast friends ever since. Between Donald's travels and our move away from Louisiana, however, it had been over 2 years since Zach and I had seen him, so you can imagine our enthusiasm when Donald emailed Zach last week with the news that he was driving to Georgia for the weekend...

Zach and Donald toasting Donald's arrival in Georgia!

Luckily, I was off work on Thursday, Donald's first day visiting with us in Georgia, and I quickly compiled an elaborate list of sightseeing possibilities in Atlanta from which Donald could choose as his fancy dictated. Glancing up from the printed brochures, however, Donald instead smiled and simply asked "want to go to the grocery store?"

We wound up driving into downtown Atlanta anyway, but with a tastier goal in mind, to visit my favorite downtown farmers' market, eventually returning home with a bag of apples, 2 eggplants, a bottle of hot sauce, some locally grown organic chicken, a little bag of black lentils, and a square of homemade tofu.

While I know that because of the pressures of daily lives, grocery shopping usually needs to be a brief affair (although I typically manage to drift off into the joys of browsing anyway...), I love those days when the single, focused act of selecting produce merges seamlessly with friendly chatter into a lingering act apart from time, when one is able to pause with a friend and examine the curve of every eggplant, the scent of each apple...

By the time we arrived back at the house, it was time for lunch, and while I whisked together some salad dressing ingredients, Donald gathered the most simple of ingredients, and then magically transformed them into panini before my eyes...

Donald's Black Bean Panini

1 T olive oil

1/4 tsp granulated garlic

1 tsp olive oil

1 clove garlic, minced

2 scallions, thinly sliced diagonally

1 (14.5 oz) can black beans, drained

4 slices whole grain bread (We used a loaf of Yeastless Whole Wheat Focaccia I'd baked the day before...)

2 slices jalapeno-jack cheese

~ In a small bowl, whisk together the 1 T olive oil and the granulated garlic, and set aside

~ In a small saucepan over medium heat, saute the minced garlic, the scallions, and the pinch of salt in the 1 tsp olive oil just until the scallions begin to release juices.

~ Stir in the black beans, and cook until heated through.

~ Remove the black bean mixture from the stove, and mash the black beans with a fork to form a coarse paste.

~ Spread the black bean paste thickly on 2 slices of bread, and top each slice with the other slices of bread.

~ Brush the outsides of both sandwiches with the olive oil and garlic mixture.

~ In a grill pan or panini press over medium-high heat, sear the sandwiches on one side until golden brown and slightly crispy.

~ Flip each sandwich over, and immediately top each sandwich with one slice of jalapeno-jack cheese. Continue to cook the panini until they're golden brown on the second side. Serve immediately, toasty warm!