Mushroom Lentil Loaf

I wanted to try my hand at a veggie "meat" loaf... I do love a hearty loaf, and I love the leftovers on a sandwich. I ran across this recipe, and since I love mushrooms, too, I started there. (Vegan dishes need that umami for deeper flavor, and I figured this one would be loaded with it.)

Of course I substituted the eggs for vegan chia "eggs," and the parmesan for "parmezano sprinkles," which I make up in large batches (I use raw cashews, however). Still, I found that while this loaf came out of the oven in loaf form and had great flavor, it was much too crumbly and fell apart. I made some adjustments, and came up with the following recipe - which includes cooked lentils, breadcrumb, and lots of (chia) binder to hold the whole thing together. I also squeezed out the mushrooms and the green veggies after cooking - the veggies stay juicy but don't add extra water). I was really happy with the results.

I recommend doing some of this ahead of time to ease the prep - the peppers can be roasted the day before, and the mushrooms cooked down and refrigerated. I also use my food processor on "pulse" to do all the chopping. I do them all separately, and add them to the mixing bowl as I go.

 Mushroom Lentil Loaf

Ingredients:

• 32 oz. white mushrooms, cleaned, chopped semi-fine
• 3/4 cup nuts (cashews or walnuts work the best) pulsed small but not too fine
• 2 blackened green peppers, peeled, patted dry and chopped semi-fine  (see link for prep - I use a plastic bag to steam them before rinsing and peeling)
• About 1 1/2 cups green beans, asparagus, cooked down spinach, or any combination thereof, squeezed in a clean tea towel after cooling and pulsed semi-fine - I use frozen veggies and just microwave them
• Binder - about 1/2 cup chia or flax powder, added to 2 cups water, whisked, and refrigerated for 15 minutes or more (this is your "egg")
• About 1-2 cups cooked lentils - I followed the instructions and cooked a whole bag, putting the leftovers in the fridge - I'll tell you what I did with the leftovers later
• About 1/4 cup Parmezano Sprinkles
• Seasoning to taste - you can taste a vegan meatloaf mix as you go! I added salt and pepper, cumin, thyme, marjoram, garlic powder, onion powder, chili powder, and dry mustard (about a 1/2 teaspoon of each)
• 2 Tblesp. BBQ sauce
• 2 Tblesp. ketchup
• About 1-2 cups panko breadcrumb, seasoned or otherwise

Topping:

• About 1 cup ketchup
• about 1 1/2 tsp. ground mustard
• about 1/2 cup brown sugar

So after you've given everything a good squeeze in a clean tea towel, pulsed it into the food processor and combined it, it's time to use your noodle. It's a "feel" thing. I leave the breadcrumb until last - then I add it until I feel the mixture is pasty, with enough body to be a little on the stiffer side. Your mixture shouldn't be soupy, and it shouldn't be so dry that you can construct a massive Devil's Tower out of it. Clear enough? You can mess quite a bit with the proportions, but try to make sure that the base is still mostly mushroom mix. This is what keeps it juicy, and less like a dense loaf of bread with ketchup on it, and more like an entrée.

I like to line my pan with aluminum foil, with some sticking out the sides to form handles to pull it out with after it has cooled. Then I spray the lining with nonstick spray.

Mix the topping in a separate bowl, and glaze that sucker. Next time I make this, I'm thinking of doing it in individual muffin tins, just to increase the surface area that will accept glaze. It's all about the glaze.

Bake in a pre-heated oven at 350 for about an hour. If the top gets too brown, cover with more foil (mine doesn't). Shown here with purple cabbage...

Let it cool just a bit, then lift out with your foil handles, and unwrap fully.

Slice.

I like to put more ketchup on mine, because that's just how I do.

Great the next day, with, or course, more ketchup on a sandwich. Stay tuned for leftover lentil ideas.

German-ish Christmas Eve

I've hosted a few holiday meals since I've had the kids, but until this point, they've mostly involved paper plates at service time, lots of extra sticks and leaves in a messy front yard, a microwave I've had no time to clean that mornings splatter out of, and a very pretty vase that I'd put on the table, but forgotten to get flowers for. And I remember these things, because I've had the same two relatives who were only too happy to come over, and point these details out to me. Happy holidays!

Okay, so I'm starting with a little bile, there, but truly, TRULY, I love to host dinners. And I really do own a plate service, and some serving platters! So I was really excited when our friends Nick and Ania, and their two handsome little fellas could come over for a Christmas Eve dinner. My girls are just old enough to let me get some stuff done, and my sweet husband is only too happy to vacuum for me. (Also, we raked the leaves this year! Woo!)

Nick has a Germanic tattoo on his arm, and Ania is Polish, so I guess those things came together in my head to give me the idea of having a generally Eastern European, completely inauthentic-themed meal. You know - cabbage, potatoes, meat, and a beer or two. That sort of thing.

I started the meal with something that has nothing to do with Eastern Europe, and everything to do with "festive": Brooke's artichoke spinach dip, with toasted pita points.

Then, the one-two punch: the humbly self-titled World's Greatest Cornbread. I wanted to serve some bread with the meal, and nothing gathers compliments like Old Faithful. Also, I have put a piece of this bread on the bottom of a chili bowl many times, so I thought it work well to go under the brisket, and sop up some beefy juices. You see a clear theme now, right? Farm-y, Fourth of July picnic-y, BBQ-y, German-y. Makes sense to me.

Now for the brisket. My success in getting this meal together (with two kids three and under, and a heavier work-week up until the day before) is three-parted: 1) use internet rankings to find new recipes, and combine them with old stand-by's, 2) start everything two or three days ahead of time, and 3) get the groceries delivered. This last part freed up some extra time for me (for doing stuff like ironing tablecloths, and watching more television), and reduced my stress quite a bit. So I went with what was on special on Peapod - brisket!

I had never made it off the grill and in the oven, but my arch-nemesis, Paula Deen, had a very highly rated "Texas Oven-Roasted Brisket" recipe on FoodTV.com. Easy, no-fail, and no mayo or stick of butter added (as is her wont). It was very simple, very tender and we could have fed at least four more people with the 5 to 6 pound brisket. It made lots of juice in the pan that wasn't greasy (I had trimmed off the fat before cooking), and went down over the cornbread. (I did cut the salt down, as some reviewers had recommended). Mmmm. Many thanks to the Smiling Silver Blob for that one. (So mean, but come on. That woman won't rest until we all have diabetes.)

For sides, I didn't want to go too far over to the picnic side of things with lots of mayo. I had to have some warm German potato salad, which I've never made at home. I stumbled on this recipe, and was able to prep everything but the dressing ahead of time. I stored the cooked potatoes and bacon in a ceramic dish, then just took them out and put them over the oven vent on the range top while the brisket cooked. The potatoes warmed through, and I just had to mix the dressing. I've never made dressing like this, but the taste was just what I wanted it to be. It's a keeper!

Lastly, I had to have the stewed red cabbage that I've had in German restaurants. I got lucky again, and Googled up this recipe. Again, it tasted exactly like what I had pictured in my mind, and as a bonus, it might be the easiest thing I've ever cooked in my life. It actually started a small marital rift when Nick said to his wife, "I like this cabbage a lot. I'm not crazy about cabbage, but I would eat THIS cabbage." Don't slight a Polish woman's cabbage.

As usual, I just kept tasting and adding seasoning to everything as I went, which I think is the biggest secret to dinner-party success: taste it before you put it in the serving plate (and I added a bit more sugar to the German potato salad). Everything worked together really well, and I got some new "old stand-by's" out of the deal. Also, all of this stuff re-heated beautifully for almost a week! (I really should have invited more people).

For dessert, we had served coffee with some home-made candy: I got this idea for white chocolate lollipops from Ina Garten (nothing catty to say about that lady, I just love her food), and I made Ritz-cracker cookies, which are peanut butter and marshmallow fluff, inside a Ritz sandwich, rolled in melted Hershey bars. Sadly, I didn't get a picture of the huge batches of candy I made, but ah well! Some things have to fall by the wayside. I'll post about the cookies later... I added a pinch of coarse salt to the top of each of the lollipops, and I think it really worked well with the sweetness of the white chocolate.

With the delivered groceries and the head-start, I was able to help the elder child construct a centerpiece that would bait any plump little German kids into an old witch's oven (if this old witch were into that). I made the squiggles, but she dazzled me with her path creating, shingling and paving ability! As you can (partially) see, we had a lovely street light feature, until the younger child decapitated and ate it...

Incidentally, we bought the Wilton pre-baked gingerbread house, and I was shocked (at demolition time) at how delicious and flaky the gingerbread was. I expected it to taste like plywood, since the function was similar - but it had lots of spice. Lots of sugar, sure... But there's a time and place for that! (And the time is Christmas).

Hope your holidays were as happy as ours were!

Tweaking the Pizza on the Grill

Okay, I'm getting really good at this, and I have to make some notes on what I've been doing: 425 degrees on the stone for 6.5 minutes. Instant polenta underneath for motion... You need some corn meal to slide the pizza off the peel, and onto the pre-heated stone on the grill. I've used stone-ground coarse corn meal, and it's like eating a pizza that's been dropped onto gravel. The instant polenta still has the ball-bearing effect, doesn't burn (like breadcrumb does), and isn't crunchy.

I used Trader Joe's whole-wheat pizza dough. I keep a bunch in the freezer and thaw them on the counter in the bag. The dough ball HAS to be room temperature, and if it is wet and tacky, it has to be well-floured all around before stretching. Then the peel has to be floured, and then a light coating of corn meal spread on. I build the pizza right on the peel. Don't wait too long - it will begin to stick, so get it on the grill.

This temperature is perfect. The dough will cook and rise before the bottom blackens. I check it at about 6 minutes. My grill has a thermometer on the hood. Not as hot: dough doesn't cook. Too hot: blackened crust.

This pizza is topped with mushroom sauce, and leftover sauteed spinach that I had cooked with garlic and onions. The cheese is a shredded mix, with parmesan and Italian herb seasoning added (gives it that pizza flavor). Lastly, I added basil from the garden after cooking.

Game Day, and We Don't Care

BBQ chicken goat cheese pizza for the Superbowl, cuz we're a bunch of snobby a-holes. Here's the link if you wanna make it.

Asian Meatball Soup

I've been way into soup lately, especially with noodles. (By the way, I think you should enter that as a sexy response on your next singles' website chat: "So, like, what are you into?" "Soup.") And I happened to read somewhere that you can use a couple of tablespoons of peanut butter in place of the egg to bind meatballs. So I thought that would lend itself nicely to an asian-inspired meatball soup.

I mixed the meatballs with frozen spinach (thawed and squeezed dry), some Chinese five-spice seasoning (go easy, it has clove in it), seasoning and a little ginger. I used ground turkey meat as usual. Then I sautéed carrot, onion, garlic and celery, and added the broth and the meatballs, then noodles. I simmered it until the meatballs were cooked and the noodles were done, then I garnished with some chive and red bell pepper.



I had my buddies Katie and Marshall over, and served them this soup. Katie said it tasted like soup she'd had as a kid in Singapore, which flattered me... Must be the five-spice. It also helps to serve dinner around 9 pm after everyone has had several beers.

Wayne's Pizza

About six months ago, I found out my cholesterol was slightly high. That was the wake-up call that I needed to lose the last fifteen pounds of pregnancy weight. Coming off Thanksgiving weekend (okay, week if I'm being honest), I'm back to eating big salads and righting myself again. But the week sure was fun while it lasted! And hey... Now that the weight is off, it's all part of the maintenance plan. (Meaning, I can hog out now and then.)

When one of those times comes around, one wicked place to eat is Wayne's Pizza in Arlington Heights, IL. They have a great thin crust pizza (my favorite is spinach and mushroom), and their "nibbles" are amazing. I love the cauliflower bites. I could drink a liter of their ranch dressing (yeah, if that sounds disgusting, try it... And then you tell me). And recently (dammit), I discovered that their chicken wings are my favorite (even over Hooters' wings, which I heard a rumor that they have changed, anyway). This place isn't paying me, so believe me when I say that if you eat here all the time? Your health is gonna suffer. But if you eat at Wayne's now and then... I think it might make your life better.

I! Have Made! Pasta! (Spinach Gnudi)

I've already admitted to the whole universe, here on this blog, that I'm not the greatest Italian in the world because I don't ALWAYS make my own sauce (that's because that world that I live in? It's the REAL one. Join me, there are babies here... Messy, but worth it!) Anyway, now I'll tell you another purulent, grotesque truth: I don't make my own pasta.

The last time I tried to make homemade pasta was when I was in grade school, with my father (who was Sicilian, and from New York, and bought his pasta from the store like most other Italian-Americans). We tried the same ravioli roller thingie that everyone else purchased during the time in the eighties when Julia Child, the Galloping Gourmet, and Jeff Smith were at the height of their popularity, and Dad sat with a pad and pencil next to our 13-inch black-and-white TV set every Sunday, trying not to miss any ingredients. (See if you can name all the technologies I pre-date with that sentence... It's fun!) We tried it once and only once. We kneaded and re-kneaded, rolled and re-rolled, cooked fillings, pressed and patted, and created a gigantic mess that culminated in the two of us declaring "Oh, eff this" and going to Arby's. Our roller thingie, along with all the other roller thingies from the eighties, ended up in a garage sale. Perhaps we aimed too high.

That's why I knew that when I saw this recipe from Giada (Yes! Yes, I AM the Everyday Italian!) it was ju-u-ust right. I had never heard of gnudi. They are a ricotta and flour dumpling that is larger than gnocchi, but smaller than... I dunno, a big meatball. I made mine smaller than hers, about the size of a Chicken McNugget (that way there is more sauce per bite). It came together so quickly, and just worked. No special knowledge or equipment needed. And it was filling yet light. It was just delicious. One thing you should know: the mixture may be kind of wet in the proportions she states... Just add a tiny bit more flour at a time until the dough is still moist and pliable, but not sticky. Then be sure to dust each in flour before dropping in the water. Simple enough to make on a weeknight.



I stored the leftovers with the sauce, and they re-heated beautifully. I printed this recipe, cut it out, and glue-stick-ed it into my recipe index file. Now with THAT commitment, you know I loved it!

Lamb and Feta Burger

Did I say I was doing these burger posts beginning July 4th? My, how time flies! Well, it might take me until next summer, but I'll get the rest of these alternative burgers up. I'M BUSY. In fact, the dedicated reader will spot the backdrop in this next picture: the kitchen I moved out of in January of 2008. But I remember how good these burgers were!



This ground lamb burger is based on a recipe I have printed in Bob Sloan's wonderful book, "Great Burgers." I based it on his "Lamb and Feta Burger with Cumin-Yogurt Dressing." I'd reprint it here for you, but A) I'm not sure I have permission to do that, and B) I didn't really follow it closely anyway. I found ground lamb at Joe Caputo's (but any real butcher is likely to have it, just probably not "the Jewel's," as Dad would say). I seasoned it simply, added a packet of crumbled feta, some toasted pignolis, and dried Italian seasoning. The yogurt dressing was greek yogurt with cumin and lime juice, and I sautéed the spinach with some simple seasoning, and finished it with some red wine vinegar at the end. And I didn't measure anything.



I served them on pitas as Bob recommended. They were a bit rich (the lamb has a rich flavor), but nice for a new option.

Spinach and Feta Scrambled Eggs

It's been a rough week. The baby has had the flu, and now she looks to be getting a cold. On top of everything else, we had to call a service repairman about our garbage disposal (something about someone shoving too many sweet potato peels down at once... Just wait until I get my hands on that no-good, lazy cook we've got), and today the dishwasher conked out.

If you're like me, and you feel like the subject of a Loretta Lynn song right about now, here's a timesaver: thaw and drain a package of spinach (squeeze that sucker good), and scramble it with a bunch of eggs and a package of feta cheese. You can reheat a bit of it each morning for a few days, along with some frozen waffles and coffee. You may poo-poo this idea and choose to eat only freshly scrambled eggs, but as Loretta says: "here in Topeka," my good food snob, "the coffee's boilin' over and the warsh needs a' hangin'/ one wants a cookie and a' one wants a' changin'/ Lord, one's on the way."



"Aw, gee, I hope it ain't twins uh-gain!"

Brooke's Artichoke Dip

Now that I've posted about baking something from scratch (even if I didn't do the cooking), I have to post about something simple to make, or I may end up with a rash. And, eyw, no one wants that.



When I was a freshman in college (age 19, I think), my friend Brooke would also be home, because she was still in high school. Her house was on my way back to route 17, which I took through Dwight and over to I-55 to Bloomington. And what a sad, dark journey that was, especially in winter. So Brooke's house was something I could look forward to, and help stave off the inevitable homesickness I got from going back to school on a Sunday night. I don't remember the particulars surrounding this visit, or what season it was, but I do know she and her mom sent me back to school with two slices of "white pizza" with artichoke hearts. I unwrapped the slices from their tin foil before I went to bed that night. That's because when I was 19, what I really liked to do was stay up too late, eat too much 'round the clock, and complain about why I was gaining weight, sluggish, and still a virgin.

Anyway, I was totally knocked out by what I was eating. I thought it was one of the tastiest things I'd ever eaten, and it wasn't even warmed up, as I was instructed to eat it. Brooke gave me the simple recipe, and I've used it countless times since:

2 cups mozzarella cheese
1 cup parmesan (FINELY grated -- the powdery kind)
1 cup mayonnaise (I now use Hellman's Reduced Fat, the greatest lowfat mayo ever)

To that, you can add:

1 bag of rinsed-until-thawed artichoke hearts, broken up a bit with your fingers (canned works too, but the frozen ones are much fresher-tasting), as Brooke taught me originally,
or/and
1 box frozen spinach, thawed and drained (I started doing this sometimes later),
or/and
1 jar drained mushrooms
or/and
a little smoked shredded jack cheese across the top (this is a "new" alternative)
and
garlic seasoning, salt and pepper to taste

Pat dry any veggies you are using with a bunch of paper or one "real" towel. Mix well until combined, and then, in one version, you can place the dip in an oven-safe container (as in the photo above). Bake it for 45 minutes or so at about 350, and check on it. I like to put it under the broiler for a minute or two at the end, and serve it with pita bread or chips. Alternatively, you can spread it on a Boboli crust instead of the casserole dish, brushed beforehand with olive oil, and with some crushed garlic scattered about (then you can serve it as a white pizza).

As many times as I've made this, I've probably screwed it up just as many times. Benefit from my mistakes... Here are some things you should not do:

• Do not add the mushrooms/spinach/artichoke hearts until they are VERY dry, drained and then toweled off.


• Do not "eyeball" the measurements. Of COURSE I have attempted that, and it has always bombed, and the end result is "mayonnaise-y." When done properly, there is no hint of the mayo at the end. This was the first dish I made my husband, ever, and there was too much mayo in it. He was reluctant to try it again. (Now he likes it, knowing what it is supposed to taste like.)


• Don't over-salt it. The parmesan is already pretty salty.


• Do not forget the parmesan. Famously, I talked this dish up like crazy to my friends in college, made it, and served it to my friend Fred without adding the parmesan. The end result was too gross to even get into describing.


• Do not use shredded parmesan instead of grated parmesan. I find that it throws off the proportions.

Let ye all take heed. I know Brooke is laughing by now.

Anyway, when I make this for Chris and I as opposed to bringing it to a party, we have a lot left over. I found a third use for it: the dip makes great grilled sandwiches later on!



Just spread the cold, refrigerated dip between bread slices, or with grilled turkey as I've done here. Grill it as you would a grilled cheese. Delish.

Thanks for the recipe, Brooke! Hope I got it right. Love to you and your mom!

Trader Joe's Green Soup

This is a simple soup I like to make from my booty from Trader Joe's. TJ's used to offer a frozen mixed greens bag, containing spinach, broccoli, green beans, and edamame. At our location, however, the mix disappeared around the time of the Great Spinach Scare, and hasn't reappeared since. Now I have to buy each vegetable, and add them separately. I mean, this soup used to be so simple. Now I have to open four individual bags. Sheesh, what am I, some kind of soup-making machine?



Anyway, what I do is brown and chop Joe's feta and spinach chicken sausages, then add them to the Crockpot. In the slowcooker, I also add a bit of each veggie (frozen right out of the bag), about a cup or two of aneletti or other small pasta, diced onion and garlic to taste, and enough chicken broth to fill the thing. I just let it all simmer together until the pasta is cooked (on high).

Make sure to pile it high with parmesan or romano when you dish it up, of course...

Pesto and Goat Cheese Pasta and Taters

I'm even more eager than before to sell our condo and get into a home, since our last trip to my in-laws home. As if the smallish kitchen wasn't motive enough, my "MIL," Wilma, had a bountiful crop of fresh herbs growin' like crazy in her backyard. She grows a lot of them in pots, so this would technically be possible for us, since we have a large balcony. However, it faces north, so while this is pleasant because the sun is never direct, it isn't great for growing summer herbs, since the sun is never direct. For now, I'll just have to settle for hacking into her large basil and tomato supply, and trucking them home with me.



Pesto is so simple to make with a food processor, and you can use lots of different things as your "base" -- such as artichoke hearts, spinach, or in this case, basil. Layer up your washed herbs, begin with just a drizzle of olive oil, and about a quarter cup of toasted pignolis (I reserve another quarter cup for later.) Add about three cloves garlic, a good shake of parmesan or romano, salt and pepper, a small shake of red pepper flakes, put the top on and give it a few pulses. Then, while whirring continuously, drizzle up to a half cup more extra-virgin olive oil through the opening. I don't measure, I just whir until it looks like the consistency I want. Then I add the juice of one lemon. Lastly, I add the remaining pignolis (pine nuts) and pulse a couple of times (I do this because I want some crunch, and I don't want all the pine nuts completely pulverized.)

Have you ever combined pasta and potatoes? You can, you know. I heated my leftover potatoes and squash, and in a separate pot I boiled whole-wheat pasta. Then I tossed in frozen artichoke hearts and green beans at the last moment, just until they thawed and heated. Then I strained the whole pot, and added the potatoes and squash, and the pesto. I also crumbled in some goat cheese, and added diced tomatoes to the top.



The dish was so rich and yet fresh all at the same time. The buttery cinnamon and coriander seasoning I had used lightly on the potatoes gave the dish such a depth and additional dimension, though I think just using plain boiled potatoes would have been very tasty, too. As another note, you can use toasted walnut pieces if you can't find pignolis.



The leftovers of this dish reheated very nicely, though they did not hang around for long!

Chicken Roll-Ups

I based these on something I saw Giada De Laurentiis do on Food TV. Of course I didn?t bother to check her recipe. And I gave it a name that I'm sure is much more white-trash than whatever she gave it (probably Florentine something-or-other). But here's how I do it, and they come out great!

chicken cutlets, either pounded flat between plastic wrap or purchased scallopini-style
1 pkge. frozen spinach
1 egg
parmesan cheese
thinly sliced ham or prosciutto (as many slices as will cover your chicken cutlets)
fresh or dried sage
chicken broth (I use the cartons)
about a 1/4 cup white wine
butter and extra virgin olive oil
2 Tblesp. flour
toothpicks or skewers -- not the dyed kind (will dye the chicken. Guess how I discovered this).

Lay out your thin cutlets, and cover each with the ham or prosciutto. In a separate bowl, mix the (rinsed and drained -- squeeze it well) spinach and 1 beaten egg, plus some salt and pepper and a handful of parmesan. Spread the spinach on the chicken. Roll the cutlets and pin the edges with toothpicks. Heat a small amount of olive oil in a skillet, and brown the rolled chicken on all sides. Place rolls in a casserole dish, and finish cooking in the oven for about 30 minutes at 375 degrees, or until done. Meanwhile, in the pan you browned in, add a bit more oil and a pat of butter and melt together. Add a tablespoon or two of flour until you have a roux. Add wine and chicken broth a little bit at a time, allowing sauce to thicken after each addition. Add until you have the consistency you want for your gravy. Add salt and pepper to taste, and sage or even poultry seasoning. Serve over chicken, with toothpicks removed (after it is cooked, the chicken will stay together).

Goes great with artichoke hearts with bleu cheese, and Jon Stewart.