chipotle red pepper hummus
August 6, 2011
This hummus has a bit of a kick to it, what with the chipotle and all. Great straight-up on a cracker. Spread it on a grilled veggie sandwich. Pile it on a veggie burger. It’s a variation of the hummus endorsed by Buddhist monks that I posted back in March 2010 and it rocks. I think they’d agree. And if you want to go smokey, not spicy, simply substitute the chipotle with smoked paprika.
2 cups chickpeas, cooked
2 inches ginger, peeled and cut into coins or grated
4 garlic cloves, peeled
1 tsp cumin seeds, toasted and ground
1 tsp coriander seeds, toasted and ground
1/2 tsp chili chipotle powder
2-3 tbsps olive oil
1/4 to 1/2 cups of tahini
Juice of 2 lemons
1 roasted red pepper, skin and seeds removed
Salt
Prepare the chickpeas (either cook dried chickpeas or rinse canned chickpeas). Puree chickpeas with remaining ingredients and about 1/4 cup of water. Check consistency. If you want it less stiff, add more olive oil, tahini, and/or lemon juice. Add salt to taste.
two potato vindaloo
July 27, 2011
You probably know that vindaloo is an Indian curry dish. But you probably didn’t know that the name vindaloo is derived from the Portuguese dish “Carne de Vinha d’ Alhos” which is a dish of meat, usually pork, with wine and garlic. Crazy, no? The dish was originally modified in Mumbai by the substitution of vinegar for the wine, and the addition of red Kashmir chillies. It then evolved into the vindaloo curry dish in Goa, with the addition of plentiful amounts of traditional spice. The following recipe is plentiful, indeed, on the spice front so if you don’t have all of them, go out and get some. They are worth the time and effort – for all sorts of recipes, not just this one. I’ve adapted this recipe from Ottolenghi to streamline it a bit and modify the balance of texture and flavour! It’s sweet. It’s spicy. It’s hot. It’s satisfying. It’s great on a heap of freshly cooked plain rice.
8 cardamom pods, seeds extracted and crushed
1 tbsp ground cumin
1 tbsp ground coriander
1/2 tsp cloves
1/4 tsp turmeric
1 tsp sweet paprika
1 tsp ground cinnamon
2 tbsps olive or safflower oil
12 shallots, sliced
1/2 tsp brown mustard seeds
1/2 tsp fenugreek seeds
25 curry leaves
2 tbsps chopped fresh ginger
pinch red pepper chili flakes, in line with your tolerance for heat
6 ripe tomatoes, chopped, or a can of whole tomatoes
1/4 cup cider vinegar
1 3/4 cups water or stock
1 tbsp sugar
sea salt
3 cups baby potatoes, quartered
2 red bell peppers, roughly chopped
2 – 3 cups sweet potato, cut into chunks
cilantro, chopped
Heat oil in a large heavy pot or dutch oven. Add the shallots with the mustard and fenugreek seeds. Saute on medium-low heat until shallots are brown. Stir in all the spices, curry leaves, ginger, chili flakes and cook for another 2 or 3 minutes. Next, add the tomatos, vinegar, water, sugar and some sea salt. Bring to a boil, then leave to simmer, covered, for about 20 minutes.
Add the potatoes and simmer for another 20 minutes. For the last stage, add the sweet potato and bell peppers. Make sure all the vegetables are just immersed in the sauce (add more water if necessary) and continue cooking, covered, for about 40 minutes, or until the potatoes are tender.
Remove the lid and leave to bubble away while sauce thickens a bit. Add a healthy portion of chopped cilantro. Serve on plain rice and garnish with a bit more cilantro or some mint.
tian
July 24, 2011
According to wikipedia, a tian is a tall, conical earthenware cooking vessel used in the Alpes-Maritimes area of France, with most of them being produced in the town of Mougins. It is traditionally made from red clay and used to cook a traditional braised vegetable stew also called tian. Today, the modern version of vegetable tian is not a stew, but a freeform composite of roasted vegetables baked in a shallow dish. What wiki failed to mention is that it’s damn yummy.
2 tbsps olive oil
2 large onions, sliced
4 cloves of garlic, minced
1/2 cup white wine
sprigs of thyme
1 small eggplant, sliced
2 red peppers, sliced
4 small zucchini, sliced
2 large tomatoes, sliced
a bunch of basil
1 tbsp cane sugar
sea salt and pepper
Heat olive oil in a heavy skillet. Add onions and saute until they start to get soft. Add garlic and thyme and continue to saute until garlic becomes aromatic. Add white wine and cook down until you are left with a onion stew. Place onion mixture in the bottom of a casserole. Start to add your layered vegetables, starting with eggplant, then adding peppers, then adding zucchini. Before adding the final tomato layer, add a layer of basil. With each layer, brush vegetables with olive oil and sprinkle with sea salt and pepper. After adding the final tomato layer, sprinkle the tian with sugar. Bake in an oven at 400 degrees for 1 hour. Serve hot or warm.
tartelettes aux herbes du jardin
July 21, 2011
I just posted the fantabulous tarte aux abricots. In the same fantabulous magazine I found tartelettes aux herbes du jardin. Now I have to say that one of my favourite things about spring and summer are the fresh herbs. I have come to love, and rely on, fresh herbs. I don’t mind dried but they don’t hold a candle to fresh. So supermarket-basil, supermarket-thyme, supermarket-rosemary have to do in the dead of winter but as soon as they start popping up in the garden in the spring, I literally jump for joy. This little vegan French herby tartelette brings out the best of what you have in the garden, alongside herb’s best friends, onions and tomatoes. Again, God love the south of France.
1 1/4 cups flour
1 cup semolina
1/4 olive oil
mixed herbs, chopped
1/2 tsp salt
10 cl water
6 red onions, chopped
thyme
15 capers, chopped
7 black olives, pitted and chopped
3 tbsps olive oil
10 cherry tomatoes, chopped in half
fresh basil
sea salt
For the pastry: Put flour, semolina, herbs, sea salt and oil in a mixer. Start to mix while adding 10 cl of water until pastry starts to form into a ball. Cover in plastic wrap and let sit for one hour in the fridge.
For the filling: Heat oil in a heavy saucepan. Add onions and cook until onions are soft and transparent. Add a little salt, chopped capers and chopped olives. Set aside. Chop the tomatoes in half.
Divide the pastry into 6 rounds. Roll out each round until they are about 3 mm thick. Place fresh basil on top of each round. Then cover with a healthy serving of the onion mixture. Top with a few cherry tomatoes with the outsides facing up. Pinch the sides of the pastry so they form a nice enclosed shell. Bake at 350 degrees for about 35 minutes. Serve with a nice salad and baguette. Fini.
tarte aux abricots
July 20, 2011
So it was a lazy hazy day in Prince Edward County and I was lying on the beach (see my view above) at Sandbanks Provincial Park. One of our favourite places to go. I was drinking a little chilled local rosé, reading some mags, and enjoying the sound of the kids frolicking. I had made it through a bunch of design magazines and decided to move on to Maisons Coté: Nos 100 Meilleures Recettes de Vacances. Did I hit the jackpot or what? I was expecting a lot of cheese, meat, and all those lovely foodstuffs associated with the French and instead I got a treasure trove of Mediterranean-inspired dishes that, lo and behold, happened to be vegan. God love the south of France. Feast your eyes on the tarte aux abricots below, only made with nectarines. Have you seen anything look as tasty as that?
220 grams flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
4 tbsps Grand Marnier
1 pinch of white pepper
3 tsps olive oil
5 tsps marmelade, of your choosing
a handful of apricots
a handful of currants
First, let me apologize for the following translation. Now, here’s what to do. In a mixer, combine the flour, baking soda, Grand Marnier, pepper, adding the olive oil last. Mix just until it forms a ball. Press the pastry into a pastry dish with your fingers and prick with a fork. Spread the marmalade onto the pastry and cover with apricot halves (rounded side facing up). Brush the surface with a little more marmalade and the currants. Bake at 375 degrees for about 25 minutes or until the crust is golden.
garlic scape pesto
July 19, 2011
There is an exception to every rule. In my world view there is very little that’s black and white and instead we live in nuance shades of gray. And so it is with my garlic scape pesto – beware you vegan followers – which is, alas, not vegan. But I love it. And I grow garlic, a lot of it. And while you can use scapes in soup, or sautéed or in dressings and sauces, I think pesto is perhaps their highest form. So I bring to you the v:gourmet exception which will make pasta sing, and will adorn any good crostini with pizazz. For those of you not familiar with the elegant garlic scape, they are the stems that grow up from the plant, twisting and turning, and producing a flower at the end. I should know – I just harvested 3000 of them! Bring it on.
2 cups garlic scapes, roughly chopped
2/3 cup parmigiano, grated
2/3 cup pine nuts
sea salt and pepper
2/3 cup olive oil
You can lightly sauté the garlic scapes or use them raw. Whichever route you take is good so throw them into a food processor with the parmigiano, pine nuts, sea salt and pepper. Blend thoroughly while slowly adding olive oil. Once blended to your desired consistency, taste, and adjust seasoning. Eat immediately or keep in the fridge for a couple of weeks or freeze to enjoy all year round.
olive panko and garlic stuffed tomatoes
July 18, 2011
I mentioned in my mushroom parcel recipe that the inspiration for those little parcels of delight was from a new cookbook that I’m loving! called Plenty. Here’s another one. This could be a side-dish, it could be a main with a little salad and baguette to provide company. It could be a nice antipasto-type starter. Totally versatile, quick, colourful, and scrumptious. Nothing pretentious – just plain old goodness in a nice package. And with tomato season almost upon us (I had my first local cherry tomato just yesterday; it’s coming folks!) what could be better?
4 – 6 medium tomatoes (ripe but firm)
1 large onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
12 black olives, pitted and roughly chopped
2 tbsps olive oil
1/4 cup panko or course bread crumbs
2 tbsps chopped fresh herbs of your choice
1 1/2 tbsps capers, chopped
salt and pepper
Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Trim off about 3/8 inch from the top of each tomato and discard. Use a little spoon or a melon baller to remove the seeds and most of the flesh, leaving a clean shell. Lightly salt the inside of the tomatoes and place upside down in a colander, to drain off some moisture.
Meanwhile, put the onion, garlic, olives and 1 tbsp of the oil in a medium pan and cook on low heat for 5 to 6 minutes, to soften the onion completely. Remove from the heat and stir in the bread crumbs, herbs, capers, and some pepper. Taste and add salt if you like.
Fill the tomatoes up with the herb stuffing, pressing down gently as you go. You want a nice dome of stuffing on top. Place the tomatoes in a greased ovenproof dish and drizzle lightly with the remaining oil. Bake for 35 to 45 minutes, or until the tomatoes soften. Serve hot or warm.
traditional slaw
July 18, 2011
A few weeks back I posted a stinging nettle slaw which was an interesting wild food twist on the traditional coleslaw that we all know and love. I did a more traditional slaw at the farm over the holidays and it was a huge hit. Just like the kind you’d find at an old fashioned strawberry supper, only better. You do need veganaise for it and while I try to steer clear of replacements and specialty ingredients, it does hit the spot in the right recipe. In fact, the kids now prefer it to mayo so I always keep a jar in the fridge.
1/2 head red cabbage, shaved
1/2 head green cabbage, shaved
5 carrots, grated
1/2 red onion, sliced very thinly
2/3 cups veganaise
2 tbsps apple cider vinegar
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp dijon a l’ancienne or just plain dijon
1 tbsp poppy seeds
sea salt and pepper to taste
Chop cabbages, carrots, and onions. Mix the rest of the ingredients to make a dressing. When you’re happy with the dressing, toss with the cabbage and carrot and you’re done. It really couldn’t be easier.
beet salad two ways
July 18, 2011
I’m back. We were just on holiday without an internet connection so I couldn’t blog all the tasty things we were trying. So get ready – I have a whole whack of new ideas, fresh inspiration, and seasonal goodies for you to cook up during these lazy, hazy days of summer. First on the list? Beet salad two ways. It’s pretty much the same recipe, just two different incarnations depending on what’s in the cupboard. Both sound a little weird but they are awesome and complex with both sweet and savory. To boot, beets are in season so get thee to a farmer’s market and pick up some fresh local varieties like the bull’s blood beets I used in the first recipe and the chiogga’s I used in the second. Chiogga? Also called the candy cane beet, or bullseye beet it’s a pink stripped heirloom treasure from Italy.
8 small beets, cooked and peeled
2 oranges, sectioned and chopped
1/2 red onion, minced finely
3 tbsps fresh parsley, chopped
5 tbsps black olives, pitted and chopped
3 tbsps olive oil
1 1/2 tbsp red wine or sherry vinegar
sea salt and pepper
Cook the beets, let cool, and peel. Chop into quarters or eights. Peel the oranges, section, and chop into small chunks. Chop onion, parsley, and olives. Throw chopped ingredients, along with all the others, in a bowl and toss. Adjust seasoning to taste.
For version two simply switch up the olives for sun-dried or slow-roasted tomatoes. The first is more dark and earthy. This second recipe is brighter and lighter befitting a picnic on the beach with a bottle of rosé and a good book.
wild mushroom parcels
June 26, 2011
I got a new cookbook the other day that I’m very excited about. It’s called Plenty: Vibrant Vegetable Recipes from London’s Ottolenghi. The author, Yotam Ottolenghi, is not veg or vegan but has a deep respect for all things green and grain. He says that despite being a meat eater, “my vegetarian image was rightly based on the fact that I was brought up in Israel and Palestine and was exposed to the multitude of vegetables, pulses, and grains that are celebrated in the region’s different cuisines…This is why vegetarian cooking didn’t turn out to be a chore for me. I like meat and I like fish but I can easily cook without them. My grandmother’s vinegar-marinated zucchini, or ripe figs we used to down before dinner, are as substantial and basic as any cut of meat I used to have.” Amen. So this is the first of Ottolenghi’s recipes I’m going to try and expect to bring to you v:gourmetians. I veganized them as he added cream, and I switched up a few of the herbs. But it’s all good. We’re having these tasty little aromatic bundles for lunch with wild rice. Full stop.
3.5 cups mixed wild mushrooms
3.5 cups baby button mushrooms
5 baby potatoes
4 garlic cloves, crushed
fresh thyme, oregano, basil
2 tbsps sherry
4 tbsps olive oil
sea salt and pepper
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Cut 4 square sheets of parchment paper 14 inches long and wide.
Wipe the mushrooms clean using a wet cloth or a little brush. Leave them whole or cut them into large pieces, depending on their size. Cut the potatoes into 3/8-inch-thick slices.
In a large bowl, gently toss together all of the ingredients using your hands. Take care not to break the mushrooms. Taste and adjust the amount of salt and pepper.
Divide the mix between the paper sheets. Lift the edges and scrunch them together to create tight bundles, then secure with ovenproof string. Lift the parcels onto a baking sheet.
Place in the oven to cook for 17 minutes. Take out and leave to settle for 1 minute. Serve the parcels sealed, allowing the diners to open them up themselves.
v:gourmet 