Autumn Abundance Fiesta Pasta

Lately some really colorful seasonal vegetables have been abundantly harvested and affordable in larger quantities. I have been on a bell pepper kick right now, along with zucchini and tomatoes. With a little leftover pasta, I pan fried some red onion, yellow bell pepper, cherry tomatoes, whole, sliced carrots (leftover from the julienne vegetables of sushi making) chick peas and capers. I tossed all this together with a little olive oil, oregano, and red pepper flakes, salt and pepper and this really hit the spot. Fresh, a lot of nutrients from different vegetables, and filling. In this one-serving dish, I used a little leftover pasta from the night before, and it was just enough to fool me into thinking I was having a big meal, when most of what I was eating was vegetables. It didn't weigh me down at all and I felt great afterwards ;)

Sushi Ideas Revisited

I recently used up the rest of my sushi rice with the intention of feasting with friends after frisbee :) Well as it turns out there were lots of other fun things to do that night, a birthday party, a block party, etc etc, so we decided to postpone yet another feast night. Which means of course, that I have to use up the sushi rice and eat all the sushi by myself. How sad (zing!).

Since I'm also in a phase of transition into a vegan diet, I wanted to use up what I had left of the eggs (and I finally did this morning when I made migas, mmmm) and other non-vegan ingredients in my fridge. So I made some combinations of sushi fillings that were both vegan and me-gan. For more detailed instructions on making sushi, check out my original sushi post from my successful first attempt.

Some combinations:
egg omelet with cream cheese
carrot and tuna with mayo and wasabi
tofu and shitake mushroom
marinated and pan seared tofu and zucchini
bell peppers and zucchini

I liked the egg omelet and tuna the best (unfortunately they're not vegan), but I realized if I'm going to make vegan sushi, I'm going to have to do more with the marinating, or use some less conventional ingredients.

Ideas I was thinking of include:
asparagus
tempura vegetables
tempeh
bean sprouts

What else would you use?

Mac 'N' Cheese

So a planned fondue night never happened. Too many people out of town or sick or.... well it doesn't matter. But the fact is, that I had so much cheese in my fridge from a long over due 'fondue fundue' night, that I wanted to find a new way to use it.

After a long summer of over indulgence and laziness, debauchery, rowdiness, long nights out admiring the midnight sun, music, frisbess golf, beaching it, boozing it, too little exercise, excess in all the wrong places, basking in the unadulterated bliss that is living in a flat without roomates, without responsibility and basically reverting back to my freshman in college days (sans dorm living and video games), it is time that I say enough is enough.

The nights are cooling, and in mid-August in Helsinki, it is apparent that fall is soon upon us. In Helsinki that means, back to school, classes, student parties, more gigs for me at the Fair Center, rain, darkness, and did I mention, cold weather? Some of these aspects are fresh and exciting. The start of a new season means the start of a new impetus for change. Change in direction, change in possibilities, change in dress, change in seasonal foods (Brussels sprouts are coming soon!) and change in diet.

I've recently decided to try a vegan diet for some time. I won't be surprised if it doesn't last very long. I know this doesn't sound like I have a lot of faith and commitment to this, but the truth is that I've gone vegan several times and never with the intent on permanence. I believe in many facets of a vegan lifestyle and greatly admire those that choose to adhere to these rather strict principles, but I know myself well enough to know that this is just not something that ultimately fulfills my need to champion a cause. If I champion a cause it is in self discovery, and I've already discovered that the vegan thing doesn't stick to me very long.

However, I've chosen, and with that in mind, it's time to purge my refrigerator (also for my impending and dangerously close move). I won't throw food out just because of my recent decision. Worse than indulgence and excess is wastefulness, in my opinion. Cheese is something I love to indulge in. I love cheese of all kinds, smelly, sharp, soft, curded, peppered, holey... you name it. But let's face it, it's not exactly health food. It is, however, comfort food. And with that in mind, to ease the sense of failure after a fizzled fondue party, I indulged in some television and Mac N Cheese making.

2 cups dry macaroni or other small pasta (I used spirals)
1/3 cup butter
1 onion, finely diced
3 tablespoons of plain flour
1 1/2 cups milk
2 teaspoons of prepared yellow mustard
2 cups grated cheese (I used a 50/50 mixture of guyere and swiss, though many recipes suggest cheddar if it is available)
1/4 cup breadcrumbs

1.) Boil the pasta in salted water until al dente (this means 'slightly undercooked' for those of you not familiar with Italian ;) Drain and set aside.
2.) Melt the butter in a large saucepan. Add the onion and cook until softened, about 5 minutes.
3.) Stir in the flour gradually, mixing well.
4.) Take off the heat and stir in the milk gradually. Return to heat and stir as it thickens, several minutes.
5.) Lower the heat and stir in 3/4s of the cheese, mustard, and salt and pepper to taste.
6.) Mix the pasta and cheese sauce well. Spoon into a buttered, oven safe dish. Top with remaining cheese and bread crumbs (I also sprinkled some paprika on)
7.) Bake at 180C for 15 minutes.

Enjoy!

Bagel Favorites

I wanted to share some pictures of my favorite bagel topping combinations. As I am now making bagels all the time, I'm sure I'll be posting more of these bagel topping posts and I'd love to hear some feedback about your favorites as well :)

Sunflower seed bagel, hummus, lettuce, cucumber, tomato slices and bean sprouts.

Lox and shmear: kirjolohi, cream cheese, 1 slice tomato each, diced red onion, capers...

The Accidental Hedonist has a few notes on the perfect lox and capers bagel. He has an air of haughty, self-proclaimed expertise on this subject, especially when taste buds are rather subjective. But nevertheless, he provides some good culinary advice if trying this for the first time.

Pasta with Chantrelle, Thyme and Leek Cream Sauce

Chantrelles are abundant in Finland this time of the year. I'm visually attracted to these mushrooms for their yellow hue and trumpet shape. So pretty! But I also like the earthy taste they take on when cooked. Raw, they really do not have much taste at all. Some good parings with chantrelles are leeks, tomatoes, goat cheese, salmon, thyme and the list goes on. You can see a long list of recipe ideas for chantrelles here.

Pizza Dough

Better than delivery, making your own pizza is rewarding because it saves you money and you can personalize it as much as you want. Making the pizza dough is rather easy if you are familiar with making bread. Pizza dough flour is available rather easily, but regular flour would be just fine. To be honest I don't know what the difference with the pizza dough flour. But I've used both and never noticed the difference.

Sweet and Sour Pickled Vegetable Salad

I've long wanted to figure out the whole pickling deal. I don't know why it really took me so long. I guess it just sounded complicated. It sounded like a lot of mason jar sterilizing, large bubbling vats, and endless storage space (or friends to give this stuff away to). Friends I have, storage space and patience for mason jar sterlizing....? maybe not. BUT browsing through my terrific Thai cookbook I realized that many recipes call for pickled vegetables, and it's not hard to do in the slightest!

Different recipes also call for different types of pickling. The pickling I've done here requires a large amount of sugar, which is why the salad is called 'sweet and sour'. The sour comes from the rice wine vinegar. The flavor combination really works here. And it's another fun way to incorporate the ever healthy bean sprouts into a recipe.

This recipes makes about 2 large lunch meal salads, or 4 small side salads.

The prep time of this recipe is 2.5 hours, because of the time you will allow the vegetables to pickle in the brine. Besides that, the work involved will take you no more than 10 minutes.

Pickled vegetables:

1 carrot, julienne

1/2 cucumber, julienne

1/2 cup rice vinegar

1/2 cup water

1 cup sugar

1 tsp salt

Salad:

1 cup Chinese cabbage, chopped

1 cup bean sprouts, washed

2 scallions, diced

1/2 large red chilli, sliced on the diagonal

2 tbs soy sauce

juice of 1 lime

2 tbs crushed peanuts or cashews

1.) Start by making the brine for the pickled vegetables. This requires that you boil the water, vinegar and sugar until the sugar has dissolved and cool the mixture.

2.) Pour the brine over the jullienne vegetables in a large jar or bowl and let marinate (or pickle) for at least 2 hours. I left mine in the fridge so they would be nice and cold with my salad.

3.) Meanwhile, prepare the rest of the salad ingredients.

4.) Drain the pickled vegetables, reserving the liquid. Add the vegetables to the salad.

5.) To make the dressing, add the soy sauce, lime juice and 1/4 cup (125ml/4 fl oz) of the pickling brine.

6.) Sprinkle with the nuts and serve.

Grilled Polenta with Blue Cheese Cream Sauce, Spinach and White Beans

The best polenta is made slowly over a double boiler, but if you're strapped for options and for time, most will never be able to tell the difference between instant and the slow cooked. While most recipes call for water and a little bit of parmesan cheese, I use vegetable broth and a 'lot bit' of parmesan cheese. If you don't have time to make polenta and let it cool before making this dish, you may skip the grilling of the polenta squares, and serve it soft on a plate, with the vegetables and sauce.

My favorite part of this recipe though is the sauce made of blue cheese and rosemary. This makes the dish rich and delicious and this recipe has made the ranks of my comfort food, up there with pizza, mac 'n cheese, and fried eggs :)

Serves: 4

Takes about 30-40 minutes (depending on the polenta cooling time)

1 cup instant polenta

4 cups vegetable broth

1/2 cup of grated parmesan

1 small onion, diced

3 cloves garlic

100 grams, of fresh or frozen spinach

1 can northern or white beans, drained and  rinsed

5 ounces good quality blue cheese

1/2 cup cream

2 tsp rosemary

salt and pepper

olive oil

flour for dusting

1.) Start by making the polenta in advance, according to the directions on the type of polenta you've bought. Typically there is a 1:4 polenta to liquid ratio, and I like to get the broth boiling and slowly pour in the polenta whilst stirring. If possible, I also try to keep a lid partially on, because boiling polenta that hasn't thickened yet has a tendency to spatter.

2.) Once the polenta has thickened, spread it evenly onto a baking sheet, or in my case, a buttered cake tin.  Allow to cool in this shape so that it will be easier to cut, and later, grill.

3.) In a skillet, heat oil to medium and add the garlic and onions and fry until soft, which should only take a few minutes.

4.) Add the beans and the spinach. Or if using frozen spinach you can add that first and allow to thaw before adding the beans. Heat through, or until spinach has wilted. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

5.) Meanwhile, in another saucepan, crumble the cheese and add the cream and rosemary until cheese has melted. Season and remove from heat.

6.) With the polenta, cut squares or triangles and dip them into the flour, if you have semolina flour it's better because of the nice golden hue. Shake off the excess flour and grill the polenta in a small bit of olive oil until golden on either side.

7.) Serve the grilled polenta with the spinach and beans piled on and a generous portion of sauce.

I realize I haven't been labeling servings per recipe, nor cooking time. It's true that sometimes I make very small recipe versions, which renders only 2, or even 1 serving. I live alone and like to cook every day. (I also don't have a microwave, so reheating dishes often takes as much heating and energy as the initial cooking.) As much as I love leftovers, I don't love them the 3rd or 4th day, so I tend to reduce recipes to half. From now on, I'll do my best to make this more apparent!

Other things I realize I often do is switch between metric or European measurements and American measurements. Though I know think in terms of Celcius and kilometers, I still haven't figured out how the heck to cook with deciliters and grams, ounces, etc. Furthermore, I don't even own a measuring cup! My calculations are based on my Muumi coffee mugs, which I believe to hold about 3 deciliters (a little more than a cup) and that's what I 'measure' with. (don't be mad at me). Cooking is not a science, it is an art!

Stir Fried Garlic Bean Sprouts and Shrimp

I'm glad to have a few new ways to eat bean sprouts, other than in a salad and on a delicious hummus and sunflower seed bagel. This made a super easy side dish, but could also be paired with rice or egg noodles to make a main dish. If using pre-cooked shrimp, this is a fast and easy recipe that everyone will eat right up.

2 tbs vegetable oil
4 cloves of garlic, diced
1 1/2 cups of cooked, peeled and deveined shrimp, if using large shrimp, you may want to coarsley chop them
1 1/2 cups of bean sprouts, washed and drained
2 tbs fish sauce
2 tsp sugar
2 large scallions, diced
1 tsp white pepper

1.) Heat the oil in a large wok or skillet. Add the garlic and fry briefly until golden.
2.) Add the shrimp and heat through or cook if the shrimp are still raw.
3.) Add the fish sauce, sugar, and scallions and cook for a few more minutes until the scallions are softened.
4.) Add the bean sprouts and white pepper, toss, remove from heat and serve immediately.

Kua Curry with Shrimp Dumplings and Pineapple

For a special lunch, this light spicy, sweet seafood dish is a treat. :)

The dumplings look harder than they are. And the sauce combines the red curry paste you've stashed in your fridge from last time, or bought premade so no sweat (until after the spices set in)

Dumplings

1/4 tsp white pepper

1 tbs coriander

1 clove garlic

2 tsp ginger

200 grams white fish filets (I used siika, frozen)

1 cup cooked shrimp, peeled, and deveined (again, I used frozen mini shrimp)

1/4 coconut cream

1 egg

1 tbs fish sauce

Curry

3 tbs Red Curry Paste

1 cup coconut milk

2 tbs palm sugar (or regular sugar is fine)

2 tbs fish sauce

2 cups pineapple chunks

basil

4 Kaffir lime leaves

1.) For the dumplings, create a paste with all of the herbs and spices in a pestle and mortar.

2.) If using frozen fish, like me, lightly steam the fish for about 8 minutes until soften and then grind this also in the pestle and mortar. Remove any obvious bones first if possible.

3.) Do the same with the shrimp. First steam them if necessary, when cooked and peeled and ready, grind also in a pestle and mortar or chop finely.

4.) In a mixing bowl, mix fish, shrimp, spices, a small amount of coconut cream at a time, egg, and fish sauce. If this mixture does not hold together in a ball after held in your fist, add a little bit of flour to the mixture.

5.) Combined the curry ingredients  and simmer for 5 minutes until fragrant, saving the pineapple chunks and basil til the end.

6.) Add the dumplings gently adn cook thoroughly in the boiling curry sauce for about 10 minutes to ensure the fish is cooked through. Add the basil and pineapple.

7.) Serve with jasmine rise.

Stuffed Mushroom Salad

I had about 10 button mushrooms left in the fridge, a smidgen of pesto left, and I finally remembered this salad that I've been wanting to make for a long time. Usually salads are something I throw together at the last minute to accompany a meal, and this one requires slightly more thought, but it doesn't have to. In the original recipe, raw mushrooms were stuffed with pesto. In mine, I decided it might be nice to bake the mushrooms after being stuffed to let the oils and herbs marinate and soften the mushrooms. This serves 2 if you're working with leftovers, like me. Feel free to up the anti if you've got guests because this is a simple yet delicious and impressive salad.

10 buttom mushrooms

1/2 cup basil pesto

50 grams oakleaf or butter lettuce

50 grams arugula (rukola)

10 black olives, pitted and halved

about 5 or 6 large sundried tomatoes, diced

tablespoon of torn fresh basil

parmesan shavings (garnish)

2 tbs olive oil

2 tsp white wine vinegar

1/2 tsp dijon mustard

1.) Heat the oven to 170C. Remove the stalks from the mushrooms gently, leaving the caps intact. Spoon the pesto into the caps. Bake 15 minutes or until soft and brown. Let cool.

2.) Whisk together ingredients for the dressing. Set aside or in the fridge.

3.) Mix the lettuce and arugula on separate plates, top with the mushrooms, basil, olives, sundried tomatoes and parmesan.

4.) Drizzle the dressing to serve.

Vegetarian Reubens

Sloppy goodness! This is a delicious invention, born to the United States of Jewish (German or Lithuanian) immigrants. So shall I claim it as American or German or Lithuanian? Doesn't matter, but surprisingly this sandwich is not well known in Europe.

I made some rye bread for the purpose of these sandwiches, but that's about all I made by hand for this recipe. Otherwise, it's incredibly easy! Since this recipe omits the corned beef, you can double bulk up on the sauer kraut if you like. If you don't like sauer kraut, maybe you should try another one of my sandwhich recipes.

For one sandwhich:

2 slices of rye bread, dark rye or Jewish rye

1-2 slice(s) of Swiss or Edam cheese

4 tbs prepared sauer kraut

dill pickle slices

1 tbs mayo

1 tbs ketchup

butter for frying

1.) Pile the cheese, sauer kraut, pickles, and mayo and ketchup between the two slices of bread.

2.) Either with the bread buttered in advance, or some butter in a hot skillet, gently fry the sandwich on either side until it's golden and the cheese has melted.

3.) Enjoy. Simple as that. (Have a few napkins handy!)

Penang 'Duck' Curry

Another from 'Travels with Thai Food', I was so excited browsing this book looking for ways to use all these fresh green beans when I found this recipe and thought to myself, I have a can of mock duck in my pantry that I've been waiting for the perfect opportunity to use. This is it.

I used again a paste of Penang Red Curry Paste (the small tub I bought from the Asian market lasts a long time). This was so quick and easy but looked elegant and tasted divine. This serves 2 but it could have easily been increased by using more green beans and grapes (1 can of 'duck' is a lot for just 2 servings in the end- then again I'm not much of a 'meat' eater)

1 cup coconut milk

3 tbs red curry paste

2 tbs fish sauce

2 tbs sugar (or palm sugar if you have it)

1 can mock duck (or a whole Chinese roast duck, knock yourself out)

1 large fresh red chilli

1/4 cup crushed cashews

6 Kaffir lime leaves

250 grams green beans, trimmed and washed

basil

1/2 cup seedless red grapes, halved with stems removed

1.) Mix the coconut milk and curry paste in a wok or frying pan and heat on high.

2.) Add the fish sauce, lime leaves and sugar, cook for another few minutes.

3.) Add the duck, chilli and green beans and heat through.

4.) Add the grapes and basil just moments before serving. They are best not overcooked.

5.) Sprinkle the cashews over the duck and serve with jasmine rice.

Soft Pretzels

I love soft pretzels: at a baseball game, the movies, the mall, on a warm summers day, or any other of these special occasions that a soft pretzels invokes in my memories. They're good covered in sugar and cinnamon, rolled with raisins, sesame or poppyseeds, or jalopeno peppers, garlic, and a number of other 'flavors' that are now popularized by places like 'Auntie Annes'. But the real classic is just plain kosher salted.

And I like mine with plain yellow mustard on them, and later, with spicy dijon. I remember when being in Berlin's Weinachtmakt, trying the 'real thing' for the first time. When I kindly asked 'senf, bitte' (mustard, please?) the kioskee looked at me with a look of either language barrier confusion or just plain horror that I would adulterate such a pure and honest to goodness German basic with something meant for 'Weisswurst' with 'Kraut', not for 'Bretzeln'! It didn't matter, I paid for my Brezel and then walked from Kiosk to Kiosk looking for one that would loan me a squirt or two of mustard. When I finally took that first bite: euphoria.

What people usually don't realize about pretzels, is that the only 'real' pretzel is the 'Laugenbrezel', or the pretzel that's been given a bath in lye before being baked. It's said that the pretzel was invented this way by accident, when a baker dropped the pretzel into the bucket of lye water used for cleaning utensiles. In any case, I won't be using sodium hydroxide (lye) but rather sodium bicarbonate (baking soda) which is much more readily available :)

1 1/2 cups of warm water

1 tbs sugar

1 package active dry yeast (about 7g in packages in the US, but if you're buying packages in Europe they come in packages of 11 grams, so don't use the entire thing)

5 cups of flour (approximately, will depend on how absorbant your flour is)

half a stick of softened butter (2 ounces or 60 grams)

2 tsp kosher salt

5 cups of water

1/3 cup of baking soda

1 egg yolk beaten with a tbs water

vegetable oil or butter for greasing the pan

kosher salt for sprinkling (I used karkea suola)

1.) Combine water, sugar, salt and yeast in a large mixing bowl and stir briefly. Let it stand for about 10 minutes to proof the yeast, or until the yeast is frothy.

2.) Add the butter and flour, slowly, half cup at a time until well incorporated and the dough pulls away from the bowl. The dough should be soft, but no longer sticky. Knead for about 5 minutes (I use my bare hands the good old fashioned way, but if you have a stand mixer the dough hook will save you the wrist action)

3.) Remove the dough from the bowl, clean out the bowl, lightly grease it with vegetable oil, and put the ball of dough back into the bowl and lightly cover it with a clean dish towel or plastic wrap. Allow it to rise to double its size in a warm place, about 50 minutes depending on how warm the place and how active the yeast)

4.) Preheat the oven to 230C (450F). Prepare the greased pans and start the 5 cups of water with the baking soda boiling on the stove.

5.) Cut the dough into 12 equal sized pieces. One by one, roll the pieces out like a snake on a well floured surface to about 2 feet (about half a meter). Taking the ends of the 'snake' pull the dough into a 'U' shape and then cross the ends over one another and press them into the bottom of the 'U' to get a traditional pretzel shape.

6.) One by one, drop the pretzels gently into the boiling soda water. They should be left for approximately 30 seconds each and removed with a large, flat spatula, preferably one with slotted holes to allow the water to drain off. Place boiled pretzels on to the greased baking sheets. You'll notice that the bagels grow in the boiling water. If you think this is too big or too small for your preferences, readjust the size of the preboiled pretzels accordingly.

7.) Brush the boiled pretzels with the egg yolk and water mixture and sprinkle with the salt. Bake the pretzels for about 15 minutes or until a nice brown color has emerged.

8.) Cool about 5 minutes before eating (I know it'll be worth the wait).

'Chicken' Salad Sandwich

Chicken salad is something I've missed since being a vegetarian. I don't know why, particularly, because as a child, chicken was repetitive and mayo repulsive (in my humble 10 year old opinion). Maybe it brings back memories of summers spent with family and friends. In particular I remember a chicken salad recipe by the great D family that included red grapes. Since then the D's have introduced lots of novel ideas into the lives of many a grateful Marylander, and we're blessed to have them in our lives. At the time, however, such novel ideas about fruit in savory lunch salads was exotic.

And why do I have such vivid memories of one day in Bluff Point eating this salad? I think small food experiences like this, and many others along the way, have really expanded my appreciation for food. (The D's also make notoriously good wild rice, chocolate mousse, Irish soda bread, and brie with figs, mmmmm....) In any case, I had a craving, and ran out to get some soy substitute. The same brand that makes textured soy that resembles beef makes a white version that resembles chicken. Every chick gets to fake it every once in a while, right?

I don't have the original D family recipe here, but I deliver a recipe that worked well enough for me :)

2 cups dry 'soijasuikaleet'
2 cups chicken broth
2 stalks celery, finely diced
1/4 cup diced scallions, green parts included
3/4 cup mayonaise
1 tbs dijon mustard
2 tsp lemon juice
salt and pepper, to taste
parsley, dill or tarragon (optional)
1/2 cup halved red grapes (optional but recommendable!)

1.) Boil the chicken broth, add the soy and stir, or continue boiling, until the water has been absorbed by the soy. Since textured soy brands vary quite often, I might even suggest adding the boiling hot broth slowly to the soy until the soy has absorbed as much liquid as possible (since some will have less absorbency than others). Since the soy I used comes in larger strips, after absorbing the hot liquid, I allow it to cool and then dice into smaller pieces for this.
2.) Add the rest of the ingredients and the soy 'chicken' in a bowl.
3.) Eat this by the spoonful or on a sandwhich, however you like.