Tomato Couscous

A yummy (and quite pretty) side dish that goes together in a flash!

Serves 2

Ingredients:
1 (14.5 oz) can of tomatoes, diced (you will need the juice)
3/4 cup uncooked couscous (plain)
1 tbsp. olive oil
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. oregano
1/8 tsp. ground cloves
Good pinch of cayenne pepper
1 tbsp. small capers, drained
Vegetable broth or water

Method:
1. Strain the juice from the diced tomatoes until you have about 1 cup of juice. You can squeeze the juice from the tomato pieces if needed. If you don't have enough juice, you can add water or vegetable broth to make it up to 1 cup. Set the tomatoes aside.

2. Combine the juice, olive oil, and oregano in a medium saucepan. Cover and heat to medium high to bring the mixture to a boil. Stir continuously as you add the couscous. Quickly stir in the salt, cayenne, and cloves. Stir to combine and then remove from the heat and cover. Allow the pan to sit for 5 minutes. Fold in the reserved tomatoes and capers. Allow the dish to sit for 2-3 minutes or until the tomatoes are warmed.

Reference:
Tomato Couscous with Capers from Veganomicon.

Rustic White Beans with Mushrooms

Another Veganomicon success! I have yet to find something from this book that I haven't been crazy about...

I made this earlier in the week with tomato couscous (also from Veganomicon) - I'll post the couscous recipe after this one.

Note: you will need dry beans for this recipe. Canned beans will not work so don't try to take the easy way out! It's worth the extra time (and it's not like soaking beans is anything labour-intensive!) :)

Serves 2

Ingredients:
2/3 cup dried white beans (Navy or Great Northern will work well)
1/3 small onion, peeled and sliced into a few pieces (big chunks are OK - don't worry, you will not be eating this)
1 stalk celery, cut into two pieces
1 small carrot, sliced in half lengthwise
1/2 tsp. dried thyme
1 tsp. dried tarragon
Olive oil
1 clove garlic, peeled and minced
1/8 cup onion, finely chopped (original recipe called for a leek)
1/4 lb. mushrooms (any you like really - baby bellas, cremini [I used these], shiitake, white mushrooms [hey, they have the same nutritional value as any of their fancier cousins], or a combination), rinsed and thinly sliced
1/2 tsp. salt
Freshly ground black pepper

Method:
*Before you begin, soak the beans for at least 8 hours. Put them in a bowl with 3-4 inches of water covering them in the morning and they'll be ready to cook when you get home from work.

1. Drain and rinse the beans and transfer them into a large pot. Add 1 cup of cold water, cover, and bring the water to a boil. Boil the water and beans for 3 minutes. Lower the heat to medium; add the onion, celery, carrot, thyme, and tarragon. Cover the pot and simmer for about 45 minutes or until the beans are tender (mine always seem to take longer - I think I let mine simmer for an additional half-hour).

2. Remove the carrot, celery, and onion (you can re-use them if you're planning on making a stock). Lower the heat to low and continue to simmer while you prepare the remaining veggies.

3. About 10 minutes before the beans are done, place the garlic and a little olive oil in a cold skillet. Heat over medium until the garlic sizzles. Add the chopped onion or leek and saute 1-2 minutes. Drain the beans and then transfer this mixture to the beans. Add a little more oil to the skillet and allow it to warm through. Add the mushrooms to the oil. Sprinkle the mushrooms with some salt and saute until most of the liquid has evaporated. Add to the beans.

4. Turn off the heat and season the beans with a little more salt and ground pepper. Allow the beans to stand for a few minutes before serving.

Great with Tomato Couscous.

Reference:
Rustic White Beans and Mushrooms from Veganomicon.

Lattice crust = success!

So it took two tries but my lattice crust turned out quite lovely for a first, um ok second, attempt! :)


Story first and then the procedure..
Thinking everything was ready, I rolled out top crust #1 for my pie. I got the lattice pieces cut and on the pie and ran through to show the hubby. Well, I get back to the kitchen, turn around to stick the thing in the oven and see a mixing bowl with, guess what? A little flour, some cinnamon, nutmeg, sugar, and all-spice. Yes, blondie here had forgotten to mix the apples with the seasoning. Wow... I get distracted far too easily!

So, had to rip off my almost-perfect lattice topping and make a whole new batch of pie dough and then re-cut the whole thing. Ugh... it's really funny now but I was so pissed when I first discovered this! lol
Oh well - trial run, right? :) I actually think the second one turned out just a teeny bit better so I really can't complain.

I used my normal apple pie recipe. Here are the directions for making the fancy schmancy crust.
Arm yourself with the following:
*Plenty of flour
*A clean clear acrylic ruler
*A pastry cutter/ravioli cutter
*A clean countertop or cutting board (well-floured)
*A rolling pin (well-floured!)

Method:
1. After the pastry has chilled in the fridge for 20 or so minutes, give the cutting board and rolling pin a good dust with some flour. Roll out the pie dough as you would for a regular pie crust.

2. Place the ruler on top of the crust (I started in the center and worked out to the sides) and then run the pastry cutter along the ruler in one motion.

3. Move the ruler over about half an inch and repeat the pastry cutter motion. You will end up with a thin strip of pastry with fancy crinkle-cut edges.

4. Repeat until you have 10-12 pastry strips.

5. Carefully pick up the pastry strips and place them one at a time on top of the pie filling. Again, start in the center by making a cross shape with two strips. Work out towards the sides of the pie alternating under and over with the strips (now I'm wishing I'd taken step-by-step photos... if I make an apple pie at Christmas I'll do that for you!)
i.e.: You'll have the cross at first. Let's say the vertical piece is lying on top of the horizontal piece that made the cross. For the next piece (a vertical piece), you will want to make it go under the horizontal piece of crust (so, don't press down any pieces until you are completely happy with the results/everything is in place). The piece after that will need to go over the horizontal piece. And so on and so on... I hope this makes sense it's rather hard to explain!
Once all the pieces are in place, press the edges into the bottom pie crust which should reach the top of the pie plate. Brush with a little milk and bake.

Oh, and don't forget to mix the apples with the seasonings before tossing them in the bottom crust ;)

Dear Guitar Hero (aka: next door neighbour)

Good Lord, man, it's 8:30 am on a HOLIDAY! Shut up with the bad guitar playing!

What the heck is wrong with people..? Seriously, guitar at 8:30 am? On Thanksgiving? Some people would appreciate being able to sleep in on a day off. I'm up (shopping online... lol) - I always get up early - but my poor husband is trying to sleep. I really hope you can't hear this in the master bedroom. And it's not even good... that's the worst part!

Sheesh... oh well, he only lives in his townhouse a couple days a week so at least we don't have to hear this every morning but still (and he is our only attached neighbour so I suppose it could be worse) but come on! Bit rude, don't you think?

Thanksgiving 2008 Menu

As promised, here is the plan for Thanksgiving this year. It's really not much different from last year since I had lots of repeat requests from family members... oh well, made it easy to plan!

I still need some kind of appetizer but I'll think of something! I still have a week :)

Main meal
Turkey - My mother-in-law is taking care of that.
Vegetable Filo Roll Extravaganza (Moosewood) for me (yum!)
Sausage and cornbread stuffing
Cornbread and fruit stuffing (vegetarian; I'm just using this recipe and skipping the chicken-apple sausage and changing veg broth for chicken broth)
Brussels sprouts amandine (I have no clue how to spell that word for "with almonds" - and I took 5 years of French... my teachers would be ashamed)
Green beans amandine (for the people who don't like Brussels sprouts - ie: my brother and DH's family... don't know what they're missing!)
Brown sugar glazed carrots
Some type of potato (still have to figure that bit out. My dad does amazing things with sweet potatoes and orange.. maybe I'll have to borrow his recipe and make those)
Homemade cranberry sauce (my mom is taking care of that but it will just be plain cranberry sauce so I might make another version that is a little more adventurous.. I have a couple recipes I've been needing an excuse to try!)
Homemade apple sauce (I'll do this)

Desserts
Apple pie (from me) - I'm going to try to make a lattice crust
Pumpkin pie (my mom's)
Pumpkin bread (MIL's)
I think my mom mentioned something about minced pies (yummy British Christmas dessert that we, naturally, add lots of booze to!) and a fruit cake (Australian version from my Welsh aunt who has lived in Australia for 20 years [my family is just so fabulously international...lol] - nothing close to the brick-esque American fruit cakes! Sorry... but people actually eat [and enjoy!] our fruit cake)

In other words, far too much food for 7 or 8 people! But isn't that half the fun of the holidays? :) Actually, thinking of the appetizer, I may just say sod it since we have so many flipping desserts!

Menu - November 22-28

Ah... a blissful week off :) I am on Thanksgiving break from work and I'm done with school (talk about something to be thankful for) so I'll be enjoying a week off - hopefully spending lots of time in the kitchen discovering some new things and dusting off old favourites.

We won't be having Thanksgiving until Saturday, Nov. 29 since my dad will be on a plane coming home from Italy (must be nice, eh?!) on Thanksgiving day. My in-laws are hosting but I've volunteered to do most of the cooking so I'll post my T-day menu in a minute.

I'm still trying to decide if I want to brave the crowds (and insane car parks) and go shopping on "Black Friday".... maybe if people get me their wish lists before then!

Saturday (11/22) - Grilled veggie pitas with lemon saffron rice and a salad for me; fish sticks with cauliflower (shocks me that my picky husband loves cauliflower!) and salad for DH.

Sunday - Tuna melt/caprese panini for lunch; homemade ravioli for dinner (Italian sausage for H, sundried tomato and olive for me)

Monday - Split pea and lentil soup with salad for me; Parmesan pork chops for DH

Tuesday - Stuffed baked potatoes (I'll add some BBQ chicken with homemade BBQ sauce for DH)

Wednesday - Quinoa and black bean stuffed tomatoes (I could eat these every day!) for me; beef stew for DH (he always jokes that he doesn't understand how his veggie wife can make such great beef stew)

Thursday - Spaghetti with homemade marinara/marinara with homemade meatballs

Friday - Pineapple-cashew quinoa stir-fry (mmmm); margarita salmon for DH

Have a lovely Thanksgiving!

I'm back! With a little addition... ;)

I took a little break so I could focus on finishing my Masters degree! Yes, I have turned in my very last assignment! What a lovely feeling :)
The little addition, by the way, is the MAT (Master of Arts in Teaching) I now get to add at the end of my name... heh
Er, maybe I should wait until I get something official from the university before I jinx something!

I need to actually blog the new things I made during all that time off..!