Food Network Friday: Smoked Sausage, Butternut Squash, and Wild Rice Soup

When I picked the recipe for this week's Food Network Friday I hadn't known what the weather was going to be like. Turns out, this hearty soup was the perfect choice for a cold, blustery autumn week. I made the recipe close to the original, so I'm only going to highlight my modifications.

First: I only made half the recipe for Emeril's Smoked Sausage, Butternut Squash, and Wild Rice Soup.  (This recipe makes a LOT of soup.)





For the sausage: I used the basic recipe for seitan sausages in Vegan Brunch, but changed the seasonings to reflect the flavors needed for this dish.  I used the seasonings for Polish kielbasa in this PPK thread (great resource, by the way) and added a teaspoon of liquid smoke.  I reduced the caraway to 1 tsp as per the comments; that worked quite well if you wish to try it for yourself.

Instead of chicken stock I [rather obviously] used vegetable broth; instead of half and half, I just added more broth. I just wasn't feeling a creamy soup.  (Full disclosure: I also forgot to get Mimicreme at the store and didn't want to drive twenty minutes.)  Besides, the butternut squash puree is creamy enough on its own.  I did find the soup to be lacking a little bit of a certain je ne sais quoi, so I added a tablespoon of smoked paprika and a hefty pinch of cayenne.

Iron Chef Challenge: Lemon and Ginger, Part Deux

Last night brough cocktails; but this morning we have muffins!  I felt a little bad about being so lazy last night with my little drink creation, so this is my guilt getting to me.  Either way these muffins are delicious with a cup of coffee or green tea on a rainy Sunday morning.





Lemon-Ginger Muffins


2 cups all-purpose flour

2 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

2/3 cup organic sugar

3/4 cup soy milk

zest of two lemons

1/4 cup fresh lemon juice

1/2 cup canola oil

1 1/2 tsp vanilla

3/4 cup chopped candied ginger

2 Tbsp organic sugar, preferably coarse


Preheat oven to 350. Line a cupcake tin with paper liners.

Whisk together the flour, sugar, salt, and baking powder in a large bowl.  In a large measuring cup add the lemon juice, zest, oil, vanilla, and soy milk. Whisk together to combine.  Add the wet ingredients to the dry, mixing only until everything is moist.  Fold in the candied ginger.  Fill the cupcake liners until almost full; sprinkle with the extra sugar.  Bake for 24-26 minutes, or until a knife inserted into the center comes out clean.

Iron Chef Challenge: Lemon and Ginger

As difficult a time as I had last week coming up with a dish using both okra and horseradish, I had an even more difficult time this week just narrowing down what to make with lemon and ginger. There were so many possibilities!  Scones, muffins, cookies... I should have made some kind of savory dish, or maybe attempted a vegan panna cotta with lemon zest and candied ginger.  Alas, I came to the last minute and had no idea what to do; so I made a drink. Brilliant!  Well, okay--so it wasn't such a brilliant idea. Not original in the least, really. But it was tasty.  I took the sad little pomegranate I bought last week and used that, some fresh ginger, lemons, and organic sugar to make a syrup. Then I mixed it with a little vodka, and voila! A spicy-sweet-tart cocktail perfect for a Saturday evening.  The syrup would also be good for flavoring iced tea, punch, or any number of other things... So have at it!


Pomegranate-Lemon-Ginger Syrup

seeds from 1 pomegranate

juice and zest from 2 lemons

2" piece fresh ginger, grated on a microplane or finely chopped

1 1/2 cups water

1 1/2 cups organic sugar

Place all ingredients in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil, stirring frequently to let sugar dissolve. Reduce heat and boil for 20 minutes. Pour over a fine mesh strainer into a bowl or large measuring cup. Let cool completely.  Makes about 2 cups.







Pomegranate-Ginger Martini

1/4 cup chilled vodka

2/3 cup pomegranate-lemon-ginger syrup (see above), chilled

Mix well, and serve with a twist of lemon. Serves 2.

PPK MoFo Swap, Part I

I love sending and receiving snail mail. There's something nice about tangible letters and parcels, as opposed to e-cards and Facebook messages.  Today I received the first of two expected care packages in the mail.  (I am swapping with two lovely PPKers.)  little rain sent me this huge box of goodies from Austin, Texas:





Dandies, cheeze sauce mixes, Primal Strips, vegan grahams, hazelnut-flavored agave... and sweet potato butter. (Conspicuously missing from this picture are a Primal Strip and an oat bar that the Rug Rat wanted right away, as well as some nutty chocolate spread.  My loot is even better than it appears in this photo!)  I thought I was decent at making care packages, but little rain completely blew me away with this awesomeness.  THANK YOU!!

Leftovers. Mmmmm....

The peanut-red chili barbecue sauce recipe for this week's Food Network Friday made quite a bit more than I needed for our dinner. I don't like wasting food--especially when it tastes good--so I had to think about how to use the rest of the sauce for lunch. Mary over at Mitten Machen posted a few days ago about roasted acorn squash stuffed with black bean stew, so I figured that I'd try something similar. Instead of a real black bean stew, I simmered about 1 1/2 cups cooked black beans with the remaining sauce (which I think amounted to about two cups) for about twenty minutes; then I ladled it into roasted acorn squash halves.

And the Winner Is...

Rachel, who wrote:

"Cupcakes from Babycakes NYC are the BEST, even though I’ve only had them twice!"







Rachel, please email me at cardamomandcastiron AT gmail DOT com with your mailing address, and I'll send these lovelies off to you!

Food Network Friday: Yucatan Seitan with Peanut-Red Chili Barbecue Sauce

I was so excited to see this week's pick for Food Network Friday after having had to think about a way to veganize kedgeree for over a week. Kelvia over at the Post Punk Kitchen forums picked a Bobby Flay recipe for Yucatan Chicken Skewers with Peanut-Red Chili BBQ Sauce and Red Cabbage Slaw.  When I looked at the recipe I was pleasantly surprised to see that the sauce only needed a couple of changes--and easy ones--to be veganized.  I decided to make only those simple changes, since the sauce looked fantastic by itself.  I made the Mesa barbecue sauce, substituting agave for the honey and vegan worcestershire sauce for the regular.  (Even if you don't make the rest of this recipe, I highly recommend the sauce... It's really lovely.)  For the peanut chili sauce I only had to exchange agave for the honey and "chicken"-style broth for the stock. (You could also use regular veggie broth.) No problem, right?  I was rewarded with a thick and really flavorful barbecue sauce.

The only real recipe innovation had to do with the seitan and marinade.  Since seitan is pretty versatile, I decided to put most of the marinade flavors into the seitan itself, and then make an agave-lime-chili glaze when I cooked it in my cast iron skillet.  (Full disclosure: I did not make skewers at all.  I forgot to buy some, and since it's cold outside I just didn't worry about it. Perhaps not as pretty on the plate, but that's the only difference.)  I used some pineapple and lime juices in the wet mix along with a little agave; in the dry mix I used some garlic powder and cayenne.   After steaming the seitan I browned it in my cast iron skillet; then I added a last-minute glaze of lime juice, agave, and cayenne.

Instead of making the cabbage slaw I served this with a simple spinach salad, some quinoa, and a little diced avocado to temper the heat of the sauce.  I didn't miss the slaw at all, especially now that summer is over. (I for some reason think of cabbage slaws as being summer foods; and rainy, cool weather is hardly reminiscent of July.)






Yucatan Seitan with Peanut-Red Chili Barbecue Sauce


Dry mix:

1 cup + 2 Tbsp vital wheat gluten

3 Tbsp nutritional yeast

1/4 tsp cayenne

2 tsp garlic powder


Wet mix:

6 Tbsp pineapple juice

2 Tbsp tamari

3 Tbsp lime juice

2 Tbsp agave

1 Tbsp canola oil

{+1 Tbsp canola oil, for frying}



For the glaze:

juice of two limes

3 Tbsp agave

1/4 tsp cayenne


Prepare a steamer basket over a bot of boiling water.

Combine the dry ingredients in a large bowl.  In a large measuring cup, whisk together the wet ingredients until well-mixed.  Add the wet ingredients to the dry; mix with a fork until moistened.  Knead the mixture with your hands for about three minutes.  If the dough seems not to be holding together well, add 1 to 2 more Tbsp gluten flour. Divide the dough into two pieces and place in your steamer basket.  Cover the pot and reduce heat to medium-low. Let steam for an hour; then turn off the heat and let sit for 10-15 minutes (covered).

Heat the remaining oil (for frying) in a large cast-iron skillet over medium heat.  Cut the seitan into 1-inch chunks... You don't need to be exact.  Brown the seitan for 4-6 minutes, or until dark golden.  Some dark spots are okay.  Meanwhile, whisk the ingredients for the glaze in a small bowl. Pour the glaze all at once over the browned seitan; stir quickly to coat. Turn off the heat at this point, and let cook for a couple of minutes as the pan cools, stirring frequently to prevent burning.

Serve with the the peanut-chili sauce from Bobby Flay's recipe, some quinoa, and greens.

The Vegan 100

Remember: Today is the last day to enter the gluten-free giveaway.  Post a comment on my post from October 7th by 11:59 p.m. tonight, October 14th. I'll draw a number out of a hat and post tomorrow, the 15th!  And now, another survey! Here are the rules:


1) Copy this list into your blog or social networking site profile, including these instructions.
2) Bold all the items you’ve eaten.
3) Cross out or italicize any items that you would never consider eating.
4) Optional extra: Post a comment on this post linking to your results.


The Vegan Hundred:


1. Molasses
2. Cactus/Nopales
3. Scrambled Tofu
4. Grilled Portobella Caps
5. Fresh Ground Horseradish
6. Sweet Potato Biscuits
7. Arepa
8. Vegan Coleslaw
9. Ginger Carrot Soup
10. Fiddlehead Ferns
11. Roasted Elephant Garlic
12. Umeboshi
13. Almond Butter Toast
14. Aloe Vera
15. H and H Bagel NYC
16. Slow Roasted Butternut Squash
17. White truffle (as long as infused oil counts)
18. Fruit wine made from something other than grapes
19. Freshly ground wasabi
20. Coconut Milk Ice Cream
21. Heirloom tomatoes
22. Orchard-fresh pressed apple cider
23. Organic California Mango (in season Sept-Oct only)
24. Quinoa
25. Papaya Smoothie
26. Raw Scotch Bonnet or Habañero pepper
27. Goji Berry Tea
28. Fennel
29. Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookie
30. Radishes and Vegan Buttery Spread (not yet, but have always wanted to- with a bit of salt)
31. Starfruit
32. Oven fresh Sourdough bread
33. Sangria made with premium fruit and juices (Does organic count as premium?)
34. Sauerkraut
35. Acai Smoothie
36. Blue Foot Mushrooms
37. Vegan Cupcake from Babycakes nyc
38. Sweet Potatoes and Tempeh combo
9. Falafel
40. Spelt Crust Pizza
41. Salt and Pepper Oyster Mushrooms
42. Jicama Slaw
43. Pumpkin Edamame Ginger Dumplings
44. Hemp Milk
45. Rose Champagne
46. Fuyu
47. Raw Avocado-Coconut Soup
48. Tofu Pesto Sandwich
49. Apple-Lemon-Ginger-Cayenne (yes to the combo)
50. Grilled Seitan
51. Prickly pear
52. Fresh Pressed Almond Milk
53. Concord Grapes off the vine
54. Ramps
55. Coconut Water fresh from a young coconut
56. Organic Arugula
57. Vidalia Onion
58. Sampler of organic produce from Diamond Organics
59. Honeycrisp Apple
60. Poi
61. Vegan Campfire-toasted Smores
62. Grape seed Oil
63. Farm fresh-picked Peach
64. Freshly-made pita bread with freshly-made hummus
65. Chestnut Snack Packs
66. Fresh Guava
67. Mint Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies
68. Raw Mallomar from One Lucky Duck, NYC
69. Fried plantains
70. Mache
71. Golden Beets
72. Barrel-Fresh Pickles
73. Liquid Smoke
74. Meyer Lemon
75. Veggie Paella
76. Vegan Lasagna
77. Kombucha
78. Homemade Soy Milk
79. Lapsang souchong
80. Lychee Bellini
81. Tempeh Bacon
82. Sprouted Grain Bread
83. Lemon Pepper Tempeh
84. Vanilla Bean
85. Watercress
86. Carrot you pulled out of the ground yourself
87. Vegan In-Season Fruit Pie
88. Flowers
89. Corn Chowder
90. High Quality Vegan Raw Chocolate
91. Yellow fuzz-free Kiwi
92. White Flesh Grapefruit
93. Harissa
94. Coconut Oil
95. Jackfruit
96. Homemade Risotto
97. Spirulina
98. Seedless 'Pixie' Tangerine
99. Gourmet Sorbet, not store bought
100. Fresh Plucked English Peas

Vegan MoFo Iron Chef Challenge #1: Okra and Horseradish

I was a little worried when this week's Iron Chef ingredients turned out to be okra and horseradish. Don't get me wrong--I love horseradish. I just don't really like okra. You see, I have a bit of a mental block against okra's sliminess.  I wanted to try this week's challenge, though, so I decided I'd pump up the flavor by using mustard and horseradish on the okra and more horseradish in the dipping sauce. Luckily there was minimal slime, as well as maximum awesomeness. This is what I came up with:





Spicy Cornmeal-Crusted Okra with Dipping Sauce


3 cups fresh okra pods

1 cup all-purpose flour, divided


1/2 cup prepared horseradish, divided


1/4 cup Dijon mustard

1 tsp agave

1/2 cup cornmeal

salt and pepper

1/4 cup ketchup

1/2 tsp ground ginger


Preheat oven to 375 degrees; lightly grease a baking sheet.  Measure 1/2 cup flour onto a small plate.  In a shallow dish, stir mustard,  horseradish, and agave until combined. In a third dish, mix the remaining flour, cornmeal, and add a healthy dash each of salt and pepper.

Dredge the okra in the flour first; then dip in the mustard-horseradish mixture; and finally dredge once again in the cornmeal mixture.  Place on the greased cookie sheet.

Bake for 15-18 minutes; then turn and bake for another 5 minutes (until brown).



For the sauce: Whisk the ketchup, remaining 1/4 cup horseradish, and ginger together until combined.

--

Shared at Allergy-Friendly Friday 6/24/11.

In Season: Pears

Pears are one of my favorite autumn fruits; I like them even better than I like apples. So count me one happy shopper when I find locally-grown pears for less than a dollar a pound.  Bartlett, Comice, D'Anjou, Bosc... So many varieties, so little time. This week I bought a few each Bosc and red D'Anjou, as well as one [more-expensive] Asian pear for one of the salads in Vegan Planet (this past week's PPK cookbook challenge selection).







Rug Rat and I have been snacking on the red pears for the past couple of days; I refuse to be fancy with something that tastes so good simply eaten out of hand. I often have a simple latte and a piece of fruit in the morning for breakfast, but instead of a boring banana or handful of dried apricots I have been able to savor these lovely pears instead! Seriously yummy.

Every once in a while I'll splurge on an Asian pear or two. Asian pears tend to be more expensive, but they're by far my favorites.  The taste of a pear with the crispness of an apple? Yes, please.  As I thumbed through Vegan Planet looking for recipes for this week's PPK cookbook challenge I for some reason found myself drawn to the salad chapter. I'm not normally a big fan of green salads once the weather gets cooler, but the combination of a warm walnut dressing, baby spinach, and yes, an Asian pear, piqued my interest. I was not disappointed.






Bosc pears are also great for eating raw, but I wanted to try out the recipe from Veganomicon for tea-poached pears with chocolate sauce with the hopes of adding it as a slightly healthier (and yet still festive) dessert for the holidays.  The pears themselves are fantastic, but I think next time I'll make them without the chocolate sauce and instead serve with a small scoop of vegan ice cream.  The poaching liquid is only slightly sweet, so I think this recipe will be perfect for autumn dinner parties or date nights "in."






What are your favorite pear recipes?

Farmers Market Lovelies

One of my favorite ways to spend a day is to take the ferry in to Seattle and traipse up Western or 1st to the Pike Place Market--especially on 'organic' Wednesdays. Fresh air, smells of coffee and baked goods from across the street, music coming from any number of street musicians... Ahh, the life.






The end of summer brings such color to farmers markets.  Tomatoes, beets, sweet corn... So many choices!







On this particular trip to Seattle I only picked up beets, dinosaur kale, and some peaches for snacking.   These squash blossoms were sure calling my name, though!






And finally some musicians outside the original Starbucks.  The Rug Rat kept asking to stay and listen more, but their set was done and we needed to catch the ferry...







Happy Friday!