Wordless Wednesday: Albania
Enjoying Vegetarian When You Aren’t Vegetarian
I’ve been writing about my dear Culinary Experimentation Club for over a year now, and tonight I want to tell you a bit about this group of people who mean so much to me.
Once upon a time I didn’t even know these folks, but through one strange and hilarious tale after another we somehow found each other in this crazy world.
At first there were just a few of us, meeting once a week to cook and eat together. Over time more stragglers arrived, strangers for a little while, now beloved faces we can’t wait to see each Monday night.
Darren is our official host each week, granting us free usage of kitchen, pots and pans, dishes and wine goblets. Various roommates pitch in, sharing forgotten ingredients, dashing to the store for last minute items. We all take turns making messes and cleaning them up.
They’re the sort of people you can be yourself with, the ones you can call in the middle of the night when something goes wrong, the folks you know will be there when you need to haul furniture or move apartments.
I wish I could gather them all in the biggest hug to thank them for their love, friendship, and never ending inspiration.
I love you guys. 🙂
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Although none of us are vegetarian, this week was Week Two of Vegetarian Month.
After the mutiny last week (click here for the Vegetarian Pot Roast Rebellion) everyone was in fine form and turned out a fantastic feast of vegetarian, gluten-free deliciousness.
I brought a Roasted Red Pepper Soup made with a chickpea soup stock instead of the traditional chicken broth. Thick, smooth and smoky, it was especially splendid with a dollop of goat cheese swirled in.
Kat and Selwyn prepared platters of marvelously stout Irish cheeses, chevre, and an array of gluten-free crackers. We cleaned them up in short order as we sipped red wine and waited for the rest of the dishes to be done.
Kat also brought an assortment of apple varieties and fresh strawberries which paired beautifully with the strong cheeses.
Cameron worked his magic with tofu turning out two delectable versions: simple smoked and Spicy Cajun Fried. While both were good, the Spicy version was my favorite and made me a true tofu fan.
After Darren’s rousing success with Lemon Risotto, he tried out his new risotto powers with a creamy spinach version that was both hearty and delicate.
Our newest Culinary Experimentation Club member Nicole wowed us with gluten-free Cajun Onion Rings, perfectly spiced then fried to perfection by Toby.
We ended the meal with slices of my Clementine Tart dusted with Kat’s raspberry sugar.
We closed our evening with great talks and rousing games of Uno.
Who are your favorite people to cook with?
Krista’s Roasted Red Pepper Soup
(makes one large stock pot full)
Ingredients:
olive oil
2 yellow onions, chopped
4 medium Yukon gold potatoes, cubed
1/3 cup minced garlic
1 Costco-sized can of roasted red bell peppers (capsicum), drained
12-14 cups stock
(I used chickpea: add 2-3 cups dried chickpeas to soup pot, add 1 quartered onion, 6 cloves garlic, and cover with water. Bring to boil, simmer for one hour. Drain, reserve broth. Use chickpeas for another recipe.)
1 Tbsp fresh thyme leaves
1-2 tsp salt
1 tsp freshly ground pepper
Directions:
- Heat olive in large stock pot over medium heat, add onions and potatoes and cook, stirring often, 5-10 minutes. Add garlic, cook 5 minutes more, stirring to keep garlic from sticking to pot.
- Add stock and bell peppers. Return to boil, simmer partly covered 20-25 minutes.
- If you have an immersion blender, puree in pot. If not, let cool a few minutes then puree in batches in blender or food processor.
Nicole’s Gluten-Free Cajun Onion Rings
(Click here for recipe)
Note: to make gluten-free, substitute gluten-free self-raising flour mixture for the flour.
Krista’s Gluten-Free Clementine Tart
(Click here for recipe)
Wordless Wednesday: Australian Bush Country
Imperial Dragons, Tea Eggs and Cherries in the Snow
The air was frosty and heavy with the sense of impending snow as I drove to cooking club Monday night. How lovely it was to walk in the door and have a piping hot cup of Darren’s Imperial Dragon Well tea to warm me up.
We were a small group this week, many of the others out of town for work or getting ready for a wedding, and we sat companionably in the kitchen visiting away as all sorts of scrumptious smells wafted out of pots simmering on the stove.
At last it was time to eat, one course at a time.
We started with Toby’s Chinese Tea Eggs, beautifully crackled and browned from the marinade. Alas, soy sauce was forgotten in all bustle, so they weren’t quite as dark as they should’ve been, but they were still delicious. Especially with a light dusting of salt.
Jon went rogue with a savory Thai soup instead of a Chinese dish, but after one spoonful not one of us complained. Rich with coconut milk, fish sauce and cilantro, this soup was the perfect warming dish for a snowy night.
Kat and I closed the meal with our own version of Cherries in the Snow. Squares of silky, foam-topped almond gelatin were layered in a bowl and smothered with a decadent Dried Cherry Port Wine sauce steeped with black peppercorns and star anise. Oooeee! At once comforting and exotic, the dish was a light and soothing end to our month of Chinese feasting.
All too soon it was time to bundle up and skid carefully across icy streets to our snow-capped cars and drive home.
What is your favorite cold weather soup?
Jon’s Thai Soup
Ingredients:
4 cans coconut milk
3 Tbs fish sauce
2 cups vegetable broth
1 yellow bell pepper
1 red bell pepper
1/4 of a large green chile
1 cup kale
2 chicken breasts, thinly sliced into medallions
3 Tbs red curry paste
2 tsp curry powder
1/2 onion
1 cup cilantro
Directions:
- Sautee all the vegetables in a dash of olive oil until soft.
- In another pan, add all the coconut milk, broth, fish sauce, and curry. Stir and bring to boil.
- Add the cilantro and the chicken. Boil for a couple minutes until the chicken is cooked through.
- Add the vegetables, return to boil, remove from heat and serve.
Toby’s Tea Eggs
Click here to view the recipe at Steamy Kitchen
Kat and Krista’s Cherries in the Snow
Click here to view the recipe at Epicurious
Notes: we added black peppercorns and star anise to the cherry sauce, and used almond milk in the gelatin.
Celebrating Valentine’s Day with Chinese Food
The wind whipped wildly through the trees as the Single/Significant-Other-Out-of-Town folks of the cooking club gang gathered to celebrate Valentine’s Day with some Chinese comfort food. Darren cracked us up by purchasing a package of Medjool Dates so we could all tell folks we had a date Monday night. 😉
We took things at a leisurely place this time, eating in courses and lingering over each one as we sipped wine and Darren’s hot jasmine tea, and discussed all manner of interesting things.
We started with my soup – a simple garlicky beef broth with scallions and cilantro poured steaming hot over either glassy Mung Bean Noodles or hearty Chai Green Tea Soba Noodles. Each person doctored their bowl with soy sauce and slurped up every last bit.
Next up was Selwyn’s splendid salad of Napa cabbage, broccoli slivers, julienne carrots, red cabbage and a fabulously savory peanut dressing.
Our third course was Toby’s fantastic fried rice with a special sweet Chinese sausage, shredded carrot, egg, and bright green peas.
Last week we had oh-so-authentic “Chinese” chocolate chip cookies for dessert, and tonight we went equally traditional with Selwyn’s divine dark chocolate salted caramels.
It was a marvy evening of great talks and much laughter with dear friends. A perfect Valentine’s Day.
Did you do anything special Monday night?
Selwyn’s Napa and Broccoli Shred Salad with Peanut Dressing
Ingredients for salad:
1/2 head Napa Cabbage, sliced thinly
1/2 cup broccoli shreds
1/2 cup carrot shreds
1/2 cup red cabbage, sliced thinly
1/2 cup snow peas
Crispy Chow Mein Noodles
Ingredients for Dressing:
1 Cup rice wine vinegar
1 Cup canola oil
1 Cup peanut oil
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/2 Cup soy sauce – gluten free
1/2 Cup sesame oil
1/4 Cup agave nectar
2 tbsp minced garlic
2 tbsp minced Ginger
Directions:
- Toss vegetables together in large bowl. Set aside.
- In medium bowl whisk together all dressing ingredients until smooth.
- Toss dressing with salad and top with Crispy Chow Mein Noodles.
Krista’s Garlicky Beef Noodle Soup
Ingredients:
2 boxes organic beef broth
1 bunch scallions, sliced thinly
6-8 garlic cloves, minced
handful fresh cilantro
sprinkle of dried red chilies
1/2 tsp Chinese 5-Spice
soy sauce to taste
Fresh cilantro
cooked and drained noodles (I used Chai Green Tea Soba Noodles and Mung Bean Noodles)
Directions:
- Combine first six ingredients in saucepan. Bring to boil, lower heat and simmer 10 minutes.
- Place noodles in bowl, pour broth over them, add soy sauce to taste and sprinkle with fresh cilantro.
Toby’s Fried Rice with Sweet Chinese Sausage
(Click here for recipe)
Hot Chinese Food On A Cold Night
When my Culinary Experimentation Club chose Chinese as our theme for February, I was delighted! I’ve been craving noodle soup something fierce and knew that would be the very first thing I made. (Please forgive the blurry state of some of these photos! I’m getting used to new settings on my little camera. :-))
As everyone knows, an authentic Chinese dinner begins with piping hot Ceylon tea (brewed from whole leaves by Darren) and…
…chocolate chip cookies. 🙂 At least OUR Chinese dinner started this way. Mostly because all of our dishes took extra time to prepare and we were absolutely ravenous well before they were done!! But Mike – the maker of these oh-so-chewy and decadent delights – assured us that all was kosher since the recipe came from his grandmother who was 1/5th Chinese. We all readily believed his claim and grabbed another cookie.
The kitchen was filled with the scent of garlic and fresh ginger and all sorts of splendid spices as various pots bubbled and steamed. At last all was ready and we clustered around the dining room table to eat.
We started with my spicy Chinese Noodle Soup with Prawns. I loved it so much I came home and made another batch the very next day! I used gluten-free pasta for the noodles and they worked beautifully. The broth was rich with ginger, scallions, garlic, chilies, and soy sauce, filled with thinly sliced savoy cabbage and matchstick-sized carrots and topped with fresh cilantro. Mmm, mmm, good! Our sinuses were clear in no time flat, I tell ya!
Kat made fluffy white rice and Robin sauteed bok choy with crispy pieces of toasted garlic. Delicious!
Selwyn sliced and diced furiously and whipped up a succulent beef stir-fry with brightly colored bell peppers and snow peas.
Kat closed our evening with bowls of vivid Purple Yam and Coconut Ice Cream. I’ve never had it before but I’m huge fan now. 🙂
I can’t wait to see what everyone brings next week to Round Two of our Chinese food celebration.
What is your favorite Chinese food?
Krista’s Chinese Noodle Soup with Prawns
Ingredients:
2 quarts organic free-range chicken broth
3-4 inch piece of fresh ginger, peeled and chunked
6-8 garlic cloves
4-6 scallions, sliced
soy sauce to taste, about 2-4 Tbsp
1 rounded tsp Chinese 5-spice
1/2 red chili (or more if you want it really spicy), seeded and diced fine
2 cups savoy cabbage, thinly sliced
1 carrot, cut into matchstick-sized pieces
1-2 cups prawns or shredded chicken
1 package noodles (soba, angel hair pasta, egg noodles, etc)
1 cup fresh cilantro
Directions:
- Dump all but 1/4 cup broth into sauce pan and begin to heat.
- In food processor add 1/4 cup broth, ginger and garlic and blend until ginger and garlic are shredded. Add to broth.
- Add scallions, soy sauce, 5 spice and chili and bring to boil.
- Add cabbage and carrot. Reduce heat to medium and simmer 15-20 minutes or until carrot is soft.
- Bring separate pot of salted water to boil, add noodles and cook until done. Drain.
- Add prawns to broth and cook about 5 minutes until prawns are pink and cooked through.
- Pile noodles in bottom of bowl, ladle over broth and top with cilantro.