Isa

I don't think I've actually recommended this book here before (for shame!), but it really opened my eyes to a larger repertoire of vegan cooking. It's called Vegan with a Vengeance by Isa Chandra Moskowitz, and it's fabulous really. I love her recipes, and her writing, she's funny, and pragmatic and spunky all at once. Recommended! In fact, her book was the first place I fell over seitan as a meat substitute, a package of which I've got languishing in the fridge passed its "due" date. But it's vacuum packed, so it should be okay still, right?!

You can follow her on Twitter too, @IsaChandra. She makes me laugh there too!

Pointed Cabbage Entré

This recipe is from Nikolaj Kirk's Hverdagsmad, which is a pretty good basic cookbook, nothing special in my opinion ("hverdagsmad" means everyday food, which explains it!), but I came upon this recipe and was really surprised to see pointed cabbage used any other way that as a finely shredded coleslaw ingredient or in a thick sauce as an accompaniment to potatoes. I quite like it, you can prepare the cabbage so that it's softer or crunchier, as you like, and the dressing is a nice protein rich and tangy affair. This can as easily be your dinner entré as it can be the side dish to chicken or anything else for that matter.

It was perfect as the main dish yesterday, with sides of corn and pan-fried halloumi cheese with tomatoes and avocado. A real summer meal.

You'll need:

2 eggs, boiled and chopped
2 tbsp capers, finely chopped
1/2 bunch of parsley, chopped (I used cilantro from my herb patch)
juice and zest of half a lemon (make it organic!), zest needs to be finely grated
1 dl olive oil (I used a mix of olive and flaxseed)
2 pointed cabbages
50 g. butter (I omitted this to save calories)
200 g. firm chèvre (I used a mix of feta and Danish rygeost - it's what I had!)
salt and pepper

Remove the darkest leaves from the cabbage and slice them lengthwise. Cover the bottom of a pot with about 2 inches of water and add salt, butter and cabbage. Cover and steam until the cabbage are still a bit crunchy.

Mix the eggs, capers, parsley and lemon zest with the lemon juice, oil and pepper.

Arrange the cabbage on a serving dish, and crumble the cheese on top of it with your fingers. Drizzle the vinaigrette over it until thoroughly coated, and you're all set!

Best No Knead Bread Yet!

Timewise, this bread takes a while. Effortwise, it's a cinch.

I've made no knead bread many times before, usually a dough that's quicky thrown together in the evening with just a few stirs, and in the morning, dropped in small portions on to a bakesheet. After 25 minutes or so in a cold started oven, it's wonderful breakfast breadrolls. Nothing wrong with that, this recipe just takes it to the next level. It's Jim Laheys' of course. It's everywhere these days, and after, once again, having it presented to me in the paper, I thought, now is the time.

Danish readers can check out the recipe here.

For the Yanks, I shall translate below. Look what you've got to look forward to!







You'll need:

Yeast, the size of a pea (or 1 gram dry yeast)
8 grams of salt
300 grams of water (10.5 oz.)
400 grams of flour (14 oz.)
1 pot with lid that are oven-safe

Here's what you do:

Step 1. Dissolve the yeast in the water (I used room temperature water), and add the remaining ingredients. Stir around in the bowl only until all the flour is moist. Cover the bowl with household film and let it sit out for 12-18 hours. 18 hours is better than 12 hours.

Step 2. Dump the dough onto a floured work surface. Fold it gently a few times. It's a bit runny, so make sure your hands are floured up. Oil the bowl and dump the dough back in for 2 hours of rising.

Step 3. Turn the oven on to 250 Celsius (475 Fahrenheit?) and put your oven-safe pot in to heat through. 30 minutes of its a Creuset, less if it's metal (which I used). When the pot is hot enough, take it out, dump the dough in it, cover with the lid, and bake for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, turn the oven down to 230 Celsius (450 Fahrenheit) and remove the lid. Give it another 15 minutes.

When it's all done, take it out and let it cool off for 2 hours before tucking in.

It's so much better than my old no knead bread, though I haven't tried it as rolls yet, will get back on that. It's chewy, reminiscent of sourdough, in a milder version. It's a very satisfying baking experience!

Red Beans and Yum

This just in!

I've been clearing my cupboards for those half used bags of what not, and decided to put these year old kidney beans to good use in a little something inspired by the red beans and rice I've had on trips to N'awlins in years past. Not much in the mood for meat these days, as bad climate change news is keeping me on the straight and narrow as far as habits go. Cutting meat out of your diet is one of the big ones as far as carbon emissions go, and I was afraid the flavor would take a hit, but with a little help from my friends, and some yummy chipotle powder I got from a friend, it was just perfect! I also substituted rice with bulgur, as it was also laying around in the cupboard, as well as it being healthier.

You'll need:
2 cups of kidney beans, soaked overnight
bulgur
1 can/box of crushed tomatoes
1 bell pepper, your choice of color, diced
1 yellow onion, sliced or diced how you want 'em
2 bay leaves
2 cloves of garlic, crushed and sliced or diced
1 tsp chipotle powder
1 tsp thyme
1 tsp oregano
salt and pepper
flour for thickening

Start by sauteing the onion, garlic and bell pepper in some olive oil in a pot. When they're soft and glassy, throw in the spices for a good mix around. Add the beans, bay leaves, tomatos and a little salt. Fill your pot with water until the ingredients are covered, and let simmer for 20-30 min. I used my pressure cooker since the beans were old-ish, and probably needed a little help. When it's about done, get your bulgur going, as much as you need for as many people as you are, it's usually half bulgur/half water. Taste the beans and add salt and pepper as needed. If it's a little runny, mix som flour with a little water in a bowl and add the mixture slowly over heat until it thickens.

That's it. Serve it up, pick out the bay leaves if you've got kids, and enjoy!

ps - I happened to add some pimentos that I had in a jar, and I added that along with the pimento water. I like the pimento flavor, but the water made it too acidic. I rememdied this by throwing in a teaspoon of baking soda at the very end. It neutralized the flavor just fine, but if you want to make this addition as well, I'd recommend a little caution!

Kimchi

One should only be so lucky to be invited to one of Mina's kimchi slave mines. It sounds ominous, but really, all it is is a bunch of folks standing around getting chili paste up to their elbows while they smother cabbage, daikon, carrots and spring onions in it before stuffing in a jar and calling it kimchi. Then, she makes yummy Asian delicacies for you to eat before heading home with your new acquisition. Kimchi is so photogenic. And it tastes great with scrambled eggs, among other things. You should be so lucky!

Easy Hot Lunch - Udon Noodle Soup

Yeah so, culinary adventures are just not my thing these days. I'm into sandwiches, easy homemade pizzas and pasta dishes lately. The more time I spend thinking bigger, better thoughts about my master plan (which encompasses everything), the less time I have to thinking about dinner.

I wanted a hot lunch the other day, despite my lack of creativity, and I luckily spied a package of forgotten udon noodles in the back of the fridge, hooray! So easy.

Hot water. Add udon.



Boil as the package instructs. Add miso (mine's vegan). Then I add a small handful of chopped spring onions and canned corn.



At the very end I add cubes of silky tofu. Don't heat them too much, or they'll disentegrate.



Less than five minutes. Hot lunch. So good.

Soupe Marocaine - Harira

As followers of my other blog know, I am in Morocco! I'm two weeks in, in a month stay at our "old haunt" in Essaouira. It's absolute bliss. We've been adopted by some locals, who are kind, so kind. We've been in the country, treated to the hospitality of Moroccan farmers, and their daughter Latifa has continued spreading the love. Yesterday, by celebrating Mikael's birthday (a week late) with cake, Moroccan crêpes, and the traditional soup for breaking the fast of Ramadan, harira.

I love this soup. I could eat it every day without getting bored. This also because each Moroccan person/family/restaurant makes their own variation. It can be vegan, vegetarian or with lamb, chicken or beef. However which way you like it. The main points of reference in this soup are the spices, chickpeas, lentils, tomatos, herbs and vermicelli pasta. Beyond that, you can pretty much do what you like. And it'll still taste fabulous!

Here's lovely Latifa, dishing it out for us and our friend the real estate agent here, Salah. I made sure to watch her closely, making mental and real notes. So here, I will first write out which ingredients you will be needing, and approximately how much, after that, there's a lot of gefühl going on. No matter, the outcome will be tasty. I promise. This particular version is vegetarian, but can be made vegan by using only olive oil, vegetable stock cubes and omitting the egg.



2 cups of chickpeas, soaked overnight
1 cup of small, dark green lentils, (pretty sure it was puy)
1 onion, finely chopped
2 tomatos, grated or finely diced
2 cups of finely chopped celery
1 cup of finely chopped coriander
2 eggs, whisked
a small handfull vermicelli pasta
3 tbsp spice mix: equal parts turmeric, powedered safran, powdered ginger
tsp pepper
salt to taste
3 tbsp tomato purée
1-2 tbsp smin (Moroccan rancid butter), or ghee
olive oil
2 vegetable boullion cubes
1 bay leaf

In a large pot (Latifa used a pressure cooker) mix the onion, tomato, chickpeas, lentils, celery, coriander and spices with a big dollop of the olive oil and heat up for a bit, stirring occasionally. After a few minutes, when the spices have released their flavor, and the vegetables and herbs are wilted a bit, add a cup of water and the tomato puree and bring to a boil. Add more water, until the pot is about 3/4 full. Now, this is where Latifa put the lit on the pressure cooker, and let it work its magic for half an hour. If you don't have a pressure cooker, I think you'll need to let this simmer for at least an hour, probably two.

Fast forward. After 30 minutes of pressure cooking, or after your hour or two of regular cooking, mix the flour well with a cup of water. Add slowly, little by little, to the still simmering pot, stirring all the while. Let it bubble and thicken. It must thicken, so if you need to make more flour/water and add it, please do, this soup must be thick! Add your bay leaf and stock cubes, and a small handfull of vermicelli pasta. Also, add more water, if necessary. While the pasta are cooking, add the whisked egg, slowly and little by little, while stirring. You should have something that resembles the "egg drop" in Chinese Egg Drop soup. When your pasta are done, add the smin (or ghee or olive oil), remove the bay leaf, and you should be done! Enjoy with bread if you like, but this is quite hearty by itself!

I hope its everything and more. This soup is made for hangovers, cold nights, sickly children or just whenever. I shall amend the recipe as I continue my Harira making career! Bon Appetit!