Kitchen Montage: Steaks, Soups, Sautes, Pizzas and Sundaes!

Happy Groundhog Day, everyone!  Phil didn't see his shadow, so spring is coming soon!   In the meantime, I wanted to share some wintery things I've been making lately.

Dawn's Philly 'Shroom Steak with Caramelized Onions, Garlicky Spinach and Roasted Beets.  Rosemary Sweet Potato Fries. 

The Cayenne Kicker: organic cayenne, freshly grated ginger, fresh squeezed organic lemon juice, and organic apple juice.  This drink effectively got rid of a cold I wasn't trying to catch!

T

Thai Curried Chickpeas and Broccoli (I served it with Coconut Lime Rice).  I can't find my recipe notes for this anywhere...boo! It was SO good. I know I used freshly grated ginger and garlic, some spices, olive oil, etc. just not really sure how I did it.  Oh well.

Quick Matzo Ball Soup. 

There was also a great Pea Soup, very simple and delicious. 

Oh, I made some rosemary fries to go with the soup! :-)

And an amazing Spinach Linguini with Artichoke Tomato Pesto :

You can see the my CSA pesto (I used a few cubes) swirled into our CSA jarred tomato sauce which I sauteed with lots of garlic and olive oil.  

Then, I had a craving for my Lemon Garlic Eggplant and I actually found organic eggplants at Wegmans last week!

Also had me a craving for homemade vegan pepperoni, so I made me a batch o' that...almost to the exact day of last year's pepperoni making! 

And what better thing to put Vepperoni and Eggplant on than Toaster Oven Pizzas??

Toaster Oven Pizza with CSA Marinara, Lemon Garlic Eggplant, Homemade Vegan Pepperoni and I think Follow Your Heart Mozz under there.

While I was making the pepperoni and the eggplant, we had to eat something! 

(Yves Pepperoni, FYH Mozz, spices, and CSA Marinara).

And you gotta have dessert, right??

 Blueberry "cupcakes" with Vanilla Glaze 

I used a muffin recipe but don't tell my son!

Vanilla "cupcake" with Chocolate Ganache 

We had an Almost Spring Sundae Party when it was near 70 degrees here on Wednesday:

SoDelicious Vanilla Ice Cream with Soyatoo Whipped topping and Organic Chocolate Sauce and Chocolate Sprinkles!

TJ's SoyCreamy Vanilla Ice Cream with Fresh Strawberries, Soyatoo Whipped Cream and Rainbow Sprinkles.  OMG.

Tonight I made a nice batch of seitan steaks (Tami's recipe from AVK, it's amazing!) and my Crispy Chipotle Seitan Gorditas.  They'd be great for a Superbowl party or a Wow it's Sure Quiet and this Store is Sure Empty, Everyone Must be Watching the Superbowl Party.  I'm also craving something like tofu "wingz" so I might make those tomorrow and maybe some nachos, too...

Hope you guys are having a great weekend!  It's snowing here right now. 

What the heck, Phil?

XOXO

Shine Your Saddle and Fill Your Saddlebag!

Member makin' those Candied Cowboys the first week of MoFo?

Course you do!  And you also remember I said we were gonna use 'em in a celebratory drink at the end of MoFo?  Well, now's the time with Sandy comin' right for the Homestead, ya'll may not be hearin' from The Sheriff for a little bit, so we's gonna celebrate a bit on the early side of dawn.

Well, here she is, in all her glory…

The Shiny Saddle and The Candied Sunflower Raisin Saddlebag! 

The Shiny Saddle: Ketel One Vodka, Candied Cowboy Juice, Candied Cowboys.  My, that horse sure is spunky.  She must be takin' part.

To make your own Shiny Saddle, you need:

Candied Cowboys (candied jalapenos).  A teaspoon of her juice, a few of her peppers.

Two Hosses.  

Two Ounces of Ketel One, this ain't no tarantula juice*!

Shake vodka and cowboy juice in a shaker with ice, put a few of the peppers in the bottom of the glass.  Pour nice and slow now, don't disturb those boys at the bottom!

If you do it right, the little one’ll get all sleepy on ya’!

The Candied Saddlebag: 

1/4 Cup of Organic Sunflower Seeds, 3 Tablespoons of Dried Squash Seeds, and 2 Tablespoons Organic Raisins.  Mix yer seeds with about 2 teaspoons of that there Candied Cowboy Juice, and about one Tablespoon of oil.  Toast yer seeds on low heat in a cast iron pan, about 5-10 minutes until nice and golden.  

Mix with them raisins and you got yerself A Saddlebag!

Yup!

Now, drink one for me because the whole Homestead's closed until Wednesday 'cause of Sandy.  

Homesteadin' it October 1st through October 31st, 2012

*Tarantula juice=cheap whisky

P.S. This is also my entry into Vegan Iron Chef, yeeeeehah!

Look Out, The Sheriff's in Town!

The Sheriff's in town! 

His Horses.

After six straight hours in the kitchen today, thankfully, I'm still above snakes.

I needed a little "who hit John."

So, I put a wiggle on, and got me to the saloon, uh, well, to Wegmans.


The Outlaw.
He made an ordinary fight look like a prayer meetin'.

I drank the outlaw.

Pomegranate Molasses for your Valentine

For easy, yet sophisticated drinks: Put your Pomegranate Molasses in anything, about 1 tsp to start, up to a tablespoon per drink, depending on how strongly flavored you like it.  It's great in any kind of alcohol, really.  You could also make Pomegranate Kir Royals (put some molasses in champagne), mix with gin or with vodka (pomegranate martinis), etc. etc.  You can't go wrong.  

Here it is in whiskey. 

For super easy, yet highly sophisticated dessert(s): Vanilla Ice Cream with Pomegranate Molasses.  

It's an unbelievably delicious combination.  Can't believe I haven't been eating this all my life.

If you are serving this for Valentine's Day, I highly suggest you do not serve it in a coffee cup. But, it's kinda chic, I guess, if done in a cute cup, not the one you normally drink out of every morning.

My favorite soy-based ice cream is Trader Joe's Soy Creamy Vanilla, made with mostly organic ingredients (definitely organic soy milk).

Also, you can make a Pomegranate Molasses Theme, and have more Pomegranate Molasses flavored things, like as a marinade for tofu/tempeh/seitan, or in a salad dressing, or anything else you can think of.  

To find it: try your supermarket's Middle Eastern section if they have one, or order it on Amazon.  It is used frequently in Middle Eastern cooking.  It's AMAZING.  And if you are local, yes, they have it at Wegmans! 

<3 Have a lovely Valentine's Day <3