Mushroom & Leek Bread Pudding

I spent my junior year of college abroad in Paris, France. For the first time, I was in charge of my own meals, cooking dinner around 5 nights a week. Much to my surprise, I started coming up with some wonderful creations and, wanting to remember the recipes, I started blogging. My blog was the now-defunct Noshes, Thoughts & Reves.

When the vegetarian and I started this blog, it was for several reasons. One was to bring us closer together, to create a way in which we could become excited about food together. It was also a way for me to share my own triumphs and tribulations of cooking mostly vegetarian with a wider audience. In the back of my mind, I think I imagined myself eventually becoming an occasional meat-eater myself, with virtually all my cooking becoming sustainable and vegetarian.

When I adopted the Body Ecology Diet, my food needs changed again and I adapted our diets to become gluten-free and sugar-free. At first, I made a point of making meat or fish several times a week but I slowly got tired of putting so much effort into a meal that only the two of us were eating and, mixed with all the reading I do about why vegetarianism is better, our kitchen produced more and more vegetarian meals.

Sadly, a year after starting the Body Ecology Diet I still have a compromised immune system and tire easily. Last month, I took the inevitable next step and consulted a holistic doctor. He explained that I'm suffering from adrenal fatigue, so I've been focusing more on being good to my body and resting. I'm also taking homeopathic supplements. I am continuing to avoid sugar and gluten, although I can now have sprouted grains. I can't have dairy, potatoes, peppers or eggplant. And I have to eat animal protein at every meal.

So what has this meant for our home? I've started cooking fish and meat again. Not all kinds -- I'm avoiding pork, beef and processed meats -- but it's definitely been a change. We add veggie burgers for the vegetarian to many meals and share a vegetable dish. And I've been eating a lot of eggs. It's taken adjustments but so far it's fun. It means I have to plan meals farther in advance than I was wont to do. And I really miss cheese.

I made this bread pudding for our last dinner party. I adapted it from Ina Garten's Barefoot Contessa Foolproof and I think it's a keeper. We served it with Accidental Turkey and Ratatouille with Penne. Bon appetit!

Mushroom & Leek Bread Pudding
inspired by Barefoot Contessa Foolproof

• 1 1/2 loaves sprouted French bread, diced into bread cubes
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 tablespoon coconut oil
• 4 leeks, sliced (white and light green parts only)
• 1 1/2 pounds cremini mushrooms, sliced
• 1 tablespoon basil, chopped
• 1/4 cup CocoBiotic
• 1 tablespoon special pasta/ratatouille blend
• 1 1/2 teaspoons black pepper, freshly ground
• 1/3 cup Italian parsley, minced
• 4 extra-large eggs
• 1 1/2 cups coconut milk
• 1 cup chicken stock

Preheat oven to 350 F. Spread bread cubes out on a baking pan and bake 15 minutes. It's ok if they get a little browned. Set aside.

Meanwhile, over medium heat, heat oils in a large skillet. Add leeks and cook 8 minutes. Stir in mushrooms, basil, Cocobiotic, spice blend and pepper. Cook 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat and stir in parsley.

In a large bowl, whisk together eggs, coconut milk and chicken stock. Add bread cubes and mushrooms, stirring everything together. Push bread cubes down into liquid so they're as submerged as possible. Set aside for 30 minutes so bread can absorb the liquid. Pour into a 13 x 9 baking dish and bake 45 minutes until custard is set. Serve hot, warm or at room temperature.

Links:

• Mushroom & Leek Bread Pudding from Food Network
• Savory Prosciutto-Gruyere Bread Pudding from Discover Rias Baixas Wines
• Mushroom and Leek Bread Pudding from Noble Pig
• Mushroom and Leek Bread Pudding from Garnish with Lemon
• Mushroom, Leek and Parmesan Bread Pudding from Food & Wine Magazine

Crusty Spinach, Feta and Sun-Dried Tomato Bread Rolls

I know what you're thinking. Have I gone off my rocker? What happened to being gluten-free? That, dear readers, is the beauty of these rolls -- they are gluten-free. And sugar-free. But they don't taste it. The vegetarian's been heating them up for after-work snacks and every time I bite into one my first thought is: "I'm cheating; I'm so going to regret this." But of course I'm not. And I don't.

They're also my most successful venture into gluten-free (and yeast) baking to date! How can it contain yeast and still be sugar-free? The sun-dried tomatoes have enough sugar that the yeast feeds off of them without any sugar necessary! And a successful gluten-free free adaptation of a "normal" recipe that I had bookmarked but couldn't imagine being able to try. What recipe, you ask? This one from Sass & Veracity, a blog I happened to stumble upon while on my endless search on how to sneak more cooking greens (like spinach) into our diet.

And these fit the bill perfectly. Have them plain, as a snack, with a plate of Burrata & Tomatoes, an Asparagus Tortilla, Sungold Tomato & Cannellini Bean Dip or Watermelon, Feta and Arugula Salad. And of course a glass of Research Cab. Bon appetit!

Crusty Spinach, Feta and Sun-Dried Tomato Bread Rolls
adapted from Sass & Veracity

• 1 pound spinach
• 1 1/2 tablespoons (two packages) active dry yeast
• 1 tablespoon kosher salt
• 2/3 cup feta, crumbled
• 1 cup sun-dried tomatoes, julienned
• 3 egg whites
• about 2 1/2 cups lukewarm water
• 6 1/2 cups gluten-free all-purpose flour, plus additional
• Cornmeal (no more than 1/4 cup)

Pour two inches cold water into a pot and add spinach. Place heat on high and steam 5-10 minutes, until spinach is wilted. Remove and drain. When cool, wrap spinach in a clean dishtowel and ring out excess moisture. Set aside.

In a large bowl, stir together yeast, salt, spinach, feta and tomatoes. Place egg whites into a measuring cup and add lukewarm water until you have 3 cups of liquid. Stir into the spinach mixture. Add flour one cup at a time and stir gently with a wooden spoon just until combined. Cover bowl with a clean dishtowel and place in a cold, turned-off oven for 2 hours to rise (this is always the scary part for me!).

After dough has risen (phew!), prepare your baking pan: place a sheet of parchment paper on it and sprinkle with cornmeal. Now divide your dough into ten even-sized pieces. The dough will be a little sticky but easy to work with (at least mine was). If you need to, sprinkle with a little bit of extra flour. Roll (in your hands) into a ball, then place on your prepared baking pan. Repeat nine more times with the rest of the dough. Place in the oven for 30 minutes to rest.

Remove pan from oven and allow to rest an additional 30 minutes. Place a tray (I used a roasting dish) on the bottom rack of the oven and preheat to 450F.

After dough has rested sufficiently, dust the tops of the rolls with flour and snip an X into the top of each with clean kitchen scissors. Slide the baking pan with the dough into the oven, on an upper shelf. Fill up a measuring cup (or two) with VERY hot water -- as hot as your tap can get. Pour this water into the dish at the bottom of the oven. Close the door quickly (you're creating steam to help the rolls cook evenly. Bake 20 minutes. Cool before serving. Enjoy!

Links:

• Crusty Spinach, Feta and Sun-Dried Tomato Bread Rolls from Sass & Veracity
• Sun-Dried Tomato and Feta Rolls from MyRecipes.com

Monthly Cooking Adventure: Stuffed Potatoes

We have too many cookbooks. Which shouldn't be that surprising, considering my mom's a trained librarian (and cookbook author) and the vegetarian's parents are bibliophiles. Some might say that, really, it was inevitable. But when you live in an apartment and have resorted to piling books up next to the bookcase and have completely given up on arranging them in alphabetical order (I told you my mom's a librarian), it's time to admit you have a problem.

So I've made a rule -- I have to use my cookbooks more. And I'm not allowed to buy any more unless I'm planning on using that one within the week. Which brings us to this month's Monthly Cooking Adventure, affectionately titled "We survived Hurricane Sandy."

Now, really, what better way to celebrate surviving a natural disaster than with comfort food? And, to me, comfort food means Jewish food. I wanted something really celebratory but not tied to any particular holiday. So I bought a new cookbook, Jerusalem: A Cookbook, filled with Palestinian and Jewish recipes from that mythical city. Beautiful photography and evocative spices -- this is one of the most taste-inspiring cookbooks I've ever seen.

So for our Monthly Cooking Adventure, we made two dishes: Stuffed Potatoes and Latkes. Ottolenghi and Tammi stuffed their potatoes with beef but I vegetarianized ours with chickpeas (half I still stuffed with beef). We had some stuffing left over which was delicious fried up as mini veggie (and beef) sliders. Serve over couscous, rice or rustic white bread with a spicy Cabernet Sauvignon.

I'm submitting these to Slightly Indulgent Tuesday and Gluten Free Fridays.

Stuffed Potatoes in Tomato Sauce
adapted from Jerusalem: A Cookbook

Tomato Sauce:

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 5 cloves garlic, crushed
• 1 yellow onion, finely chopped
• 2 stalks celery, finely chopped
• 1 carrot, peeled and finely chopped
• 1 chile colorado, finely chopped (optional)
• 2 1/2 teaspoons caraway seeds, ground in a coffee grinder
• 1 teaspoon allspice, ground
• pinch smoked paprika
• 1 1/2 teaspoons Hungarian paprika
• 1 28-ounce can fire-roasted diced tomatoes
• 1/2 tablespoon lime juice
• 1/2 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/8 teaspoon black pepper

Stuffed Potatoes:

• 1 pound ground beef (or 1 can chickpeas, blitzed in a food processor until crumbly)
• 2 cups cracker crumbs (blitz crackers in a food processor)
• 1 yellow onion, finely chopped
• 4 cloves garlic, crushed
• 1/2 cup Italian parsley, finely chopped
• 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon, ground
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/8 teaspoon black pepper, freshly ground
• 2 large eggs, beaten
• 13 Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled and halved lengthwise
• 1 1/4 cups water
• 2 tablespoons cilantro, chopped

Start with the tomato sauce. Heat olive oil in a large, lidded frying pan (if you're doing two batches, do two pans) over low heat. Add garlic, onion, celery, carrot and chile (if using) and saute 10 minutes. Add caraway seeds, allspice and paprika and cook another 2 minutes, until very fragrant. Add tomatoes, lime juice, lemon juice, salt and pepper and bring to a boil then remove from heat and set aside while you make the potatoes.

In a bowl, combine beef (or chickpeas), cracker crumbs, onion, garlic, parsley, cinnamon, salt, pepper and eggs. Mix them very well, using your hands to make an even paste. The consistency should resemble meatballs or veggie burgers.

Using a teaspoon, hollow out potatoes (this is best done with a friend as it's mindless work but time-consuming), leaving a sturdy enough shell that the stuffing won't escape -- about 2/3-inch thick. Save potato innards for latkes or soup (they're in small enough pieces that you won't have to grate them). Stuff meat (or chickpea) mixture into potatoes, pushing it down so it's packed well and completely fills potato.

Return tomato sauce pan to a low flame and add potatoes, pushing them snugly into the sauce, filling facing upward. You will probably have to squeeze them very close together (or even use two pans). Just make sure they don't overlap. Add water (pour it gently!) to the sauce so that it just reaches the tops of the potatoes but doesn't cover the stuffing. Cover and let cook, simmering, for 1 hour. Remove lid and reduce 5 more minutes. Serve over rice (if desired), garnished with cilantro. Bon appetit!

Links:

• The Ultimate Stuffed Potato from Food Network
• Papas Rellenas Con Chorizo or Chorizo Stuffed Potatoes from Spicie Foodie
• Wonderful Stuffed Potatoes from SparkRecipes.com
• Vegetarian Stuffed Potatoes from Food.com
• Crockpot Cheddar Stuffed Potatoes from Southern Food and Recipes

Allspice Pasta

Sometimes I think I should hand in my "foodie" card. I almost always use tomato sauce from a jar, I buy canned beans and lentils rather than making my own and I've never made fresh pasta. Well, while the MTA was still under-performing as a result of Hurricane Sandy and the vegetarian was still home from work because his office was powerless, I decided to change one of those things. So, even with no pasta maker, the vegetarian and I tried our hands at making gluten-free pasta from scratch.

Before beginning, I did some research on pasta-making, both gluten-free and regular. The regular recipes taught me to use my food processor to make the dough and that, if I didn't mind making my pasta malfatti, I could just cut it with a knife. The gluten-free recipes all seemed terribly daunting, talking about using extra egg yolks and various combinations of flours. Yikes! I wasn't interested in a trip to the grocery store, so I just went with gluten-free all-purpose flour and the two eggs we had in the fridge. I also added some allspice (my current obsession) because, really, what's the point of homemade pasta if you don't add your own flavorings?

So ... how did it turn out? Interesting. It wasn't my favorite thing I've ever cooked, though it wasn't terrible either. For some reason, it tasted "meaty" to me (the vegetarian disagreed) -- possibly as a result of the garbanzo flour in my mix? The vegetarian did find it heavy, a common complaint with gluten-free pastas and pizzas. With some (jarred) tomato sauce, it was dinner. And next time? I guess I'll have to start experimenting with different flours (not to mention spices). Suggestions welcome!


Allspice Pasta

• 1 1/2 cups + additional as necessary gluten-free all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon allspice
• 2 eggs
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 tablespoons water

In a food processor, combine flour and allspice. Slowly add in eggs (one at a time), olive oil and water. Pulse until just combined. Remove dough to a lightly-floured cutting board and roll out as thinly as possible. Using a sharp knife, cut dough into strips. Cook into boiling water for a few minutes, until it rises to the top. Bon appetit!

Links: 

• Fresh Pasta from Food Network
• Fresh Gluten-Free Pasta from Epicurious.com
• Healthier Italian Pasta Salad from Sugar-Free Mom
• Tuscan Vegetarian Pasta from Food.com
• Slow Cooker Pasta Meat Sauce with Ground Turkey from The Yummy Life

Passover Cooking: Chopped Eggs with Chives

Whew! Between Passover, work and both of us taking turns getting sick, it's been AGES since we've posted anything! And, truth be told, other than holiday cooking, our kitchen hasn't been seeing much action lately either. We even skipped March's Monthly Cooking Adventure. But now April's halfway done (time really does fly!) and I've ventured back into the kitchen.

Today's recipe is a quickie and extremely versatile. I often make it during Passover (in various permutations) and it's delectable with matzoh. Drier than typical egg salad, you could even eat it with a fork or, after the holiday, serve it with slices of bread. Normally in my family we make chopped eggs and onions. But I decided I didn't want to go through the trouble of cooking any onions (and substantial amounts of raw onions are the only food that gives me heartburn). So I embraced spring and brought a lighter touch to my eggs with some chives. I also had some tarragon languishing in the fridge so I added that in for a touch of sweetness. This makes a wonderful breakfast, lunch, snack or, alongside some couscous (or quinoa) mixed with cucumbers, dried figs and fontina d'Aosta, a light dinner. Bon appetit!

Chopped Eggs with Chives

• 6 eggs, hard-boiled
• 15-20 chives, finely chopped
• leaves from 6 sprigs tarragon
• 1/2 teaspoon white pepper
• 3 tablespoons chicken fat or olive oil

Place all ingredients in a wooden bowl and, using a mezzluna, chop coarsely. Serve at room temperature.

Links to inspirational recipes:

• Asparagus and Chopped Egg Salad with Lemon-Chive Dressing from The Chalkboard
• Egg and Herb Salad from Recipes for Health

Chunky Banana Bran Muffins

Without a doubt, February has been the banana month. I think it's something about the weather (not that it's been particularly wintry this month but bear with me): when it's cold, I crave sweets. Not sugar so much but definitely fruits. And heavier foods. And spices (especially cinnamon). All of these lead me to baking, hence the influx of muffins.

So when the end of the month rolled around and it was time for our Monthly Cooking Adventure, I knew I wanted to make something with bananas. I was inspired by a recipe from Ina Garten's Barefoot Contessa at Home. I wanted to make the flavor more complex, however, so I added a sour undertone with creme fraiche and lemongrass. Not wanting the sour to be overpowering, in went some sweet cinnamon and nutmeg. That led us to "theme" the evening "Breakfast for dinner" so some Beet Pancakes with Pomegranate Syrup came along for the ride. To round it all out, we drank the vegetarian's Pomegranate Mimosas. Bon appetit!

Chunky Banana Bran Muffins
inspired by Barefoot Contessa at Home

• 2 cups wheat bran
• 2 cups buttermilk
• 8 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1/2 cup light brown sugar
• 4 tablespoons creme fraiche
• 3 medium eggs
• 2/3 cup blackstrap molasses
• zest from 1/2 orange
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 teaspoons lemongrass, minced very finely
• 1/2 teaspoon safflower oil
• 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon, ground
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon nutmeg, freshly ground
• 2 cups raisins
• 2 bananas, diced
• 2 cups walnuts, chopped

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. If desired, fill muffin pans with paper liners. In a medium-sized bowl, stir together wheat bran and buttermilk. Set aside. In a food processor, cream together butter and sugar for 5 minutes.

Add creme fraiche, eggs, molasses, orange zest, vanilla extract, lemongrass and safflower oil, pulsing 1-4 times and then scraping down the sides after each addition. Add the bran-buttermilk mixture and pulse another 4 times. In a clean large bowl, stir together cinnamon, flour, baking powder, baking soda and nutmeg. Add to food processor in three stages, pulsing 5 times and scraping down the sides after each addition. Don't overmix! Fold in raisins, bananas and walnuts. Fill muffin pans full with batter and bake 25 minutes. Makes 24 muffins.

Links to other banana cinnamon delicacies:

• Banana Muffins with Cinnamon Sugar Streusel from OliePants
• Cinnamon Swirl Banana Bread from Big Mama's Home Kitchen
• Banana Vanilla Cinnamon French Toast from Mama to 4 Blessings
• Cinnamon Banana Bread from Man and Van Moving Blog
• Banana, Blueberry, Cinnamon and Strawberry Yogurt Muffins from Bakersbeans