![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
What I've been cooking & baking
Jan. 25th, 2009 12:43 pmI don't know why it took so long for me to get around to using Flickr. Very convenient.
Anyway, my brother visited us just before Christmas, and I was under the impression that he'd gone vegan. He hasn't- just vegetarian. So, I could have made a bread that called for butter, but instead I used a recipe that called for just a small amount of butter and swapped in olive oil, held my breath, and hoped for the best. It turned out pretty well. I just kind of twisted it into a loose baguette shape and dusted it with herbs, as you can see here. J. liked this shot of it, because he thinks it looks like a worm monster. It was crusty (but not super crusty) on the outside, and soft and moist, kind of medium density, on the inside. I served it with herbed olive oil for dipping and it went over really well.
I also recently made hazelnut-pear bread. it's a quick bread made with baking soda instead of yeast, from this "Eating Well" recipe. I liked it, but next time, I would up the brown sugar to 3/4 cup instead of 2/3 cup, because I thought it could be a little sweeter. It has nice big chunks of pear inside and additional coarsely chopped hazelnuts on top.
Other things I've cooked or baked lately have included:
-Omelet with swiss cheese and asparagus tips. Aspargus goes really well with eggs, I think.
-Whole wheat rotini tossed with olive oil, lots of fresh garlic, tomato chunks and asparagus tips, topped with parmesan and mozerella cheese. Without the cheese, it's just OK, a little bland.
-A vegetable gratin with potatoes, black beans, peppers and mushrooms. I tried a mix of sharp cheddar and reduced-fat cottage cheese in the cheese sauce, and was a little nervous about the cottage cheese. It stayed chunky in the pot on the stove, but once the whole gratin went into the oven, the cottage cheese pretty much melted into the rest of the casserole. I baked this extra long, and the cheese got really brown and crunchy on top. In terms of taste and cheesiness, I think it's one of the best vegetable gratins I've ever made.
-The aforementioned sweet potato/tomato dish, leftovers which became the filling for enchiladas. The enchiladas actually turned out pretty well, if a little odd.
-An artichoke heart sauce to put over cheese ravioli. It's basically sauteeing a can of artichoke hearts in 3 tablespoons of butter, lots of fresh garlic, and a touch of white wine, add salt and pepper, and serve over pasta instead of a tomato or cream-based sauce. I like this a lot.
-English muffin pizzas, with soy sausage and mushrooms. Yum.
-Regular Mexican-spiced enchiladas stuffed with tempeh and black beans. I think these were better the second day because the tempeh had a longer time to absorb the spices.
-Taco salad. I normally make the "chili" for this with MorningStar Farms burger crumbles. I had tempeh on hand (leftover from the echiladas) and decided to swap this in for the crumbles. It was pretty good.
Anyway, my brother visited us just before Christmas, and I was under the impression that he'd gone vegan. He hasn't- just vegetarian. So, I could have made a bread that called for butter, but instead I used a recipe that called for just a small amount of butter and swapped in olive oil, held my breath, and hoped for the best. It turned out pretty well. I just kind of twisted it into a loose baguette shape and dusted it with herbs, as you can see here. J. liked this shot of it, because he thinks it looks like a worm monster. It was crusty (but not super crusty) on the outside, and soft and moist, kind of medium density, on the inside. I served it with herbed olive oil for dipping and it went over really well.
I also recently made hazelnut-pear bread. it's a quick bread made with baking soda instead of yeast, from this "Eating Well" recipe. I liked it, but next time, I would up the brown sugar to 3/4 cup instead of 2/3 cup, because I thought it could be a little sweeter. It has nice big chunks of pear inside and additional coarsely chopped hazelnuts on top.
Other things I've cooked or baked lately have included:
-Omelet with swiss cheese and asparagus tips. Aspargus goes really well with eggs, I think.
-Whole wheat rotini tossed with olive oil, lots of fresh garlic, tomato chunks and asparagus tips, topped with parmesan and mozerella cheese. Without the cheese, it's just OK, a little bland.
-A vegetable gratin with potatoes, black beans, peppers and mushrooms. I tried a mix of sharp cheddar and reduced-fat cottage cheese in the cheese sauce, and was a little nervous about the cottage cheese. It stayed chunky in the pot on the stove, but once the whole gratin went into the oven, the cottage cheese pretty much melted into the rest of the casserole. I baked this extra long, and the cheese got really brown and crunchy on top. In terms of taste and cheesiness, I think it's one of the best vegetable gratins I've ever made.
-The aforementioned sweet potato/tomato dish, leftovers which became the filling for enchiladas. The enchiladas actually turned out pretty well, if a little odd.
-An artichoke heart sauce to put over cheese ravioli. It's basically sauteeing a can of artichoke hearts in 3 tablespoons of butter, lots of fresh garlic, and a touch of white wine, add salt and pepper, and serve over pasta instead of a tomato or cream-based sauce. I like this a lot.
-English muffin pizzas, with soy sausage and mushrooms. Yum.
-Regular Mexican-spiced enchiladas stuffed with tempeh and black beans. I think these were better the second day because the tempeh had a longer time to absorb the spices.
-Taco salad. I normally make the "chili" for this with MorningStar Farms burger crumbles. I had tempeh on hand (leftover from the echiladas) and decided to swap this in for the crumbles. It was pretty good.
